"He is ill; he is feeble with age; he is weighed down with misfortune. I am come, Mr. Joseph, to ask your help for him."
"My help for him? Why, can't he help himself?"
"Four or five years ago he incurred a debt for one who forged his name. He needed not to have paid that money, but he saved a man from prison."
"Who was that? Who forged his name?"
"I do not name that man, whose end will be confusion, unless he repent and make amends. This debt has grown until it is too large for him to pay it. Unless it is paid, his whole property, his very means of living, will be sold by the creditor."
"How can I pay him back? It is three hundred and fifty pounds now," said Joseph.
"Man, thou hast named thyself."
Joseph stammered but blustered still.
"Well—then—what the devil do you mean—you and your forgery?"
"Forgery is one crime: you have since committed, perhaps, others. Think. You have been saved once from prison. Will any one save you a second time? How have you shown your gratitude? Will you now do something for your benefactor?"