onstituted his world to him, and he would not quit it. A chance mention
of Fagan's name in the proceedings of the trial gave occasion at last
for interruption, and MacNaghten said,--

"By the way, Fagan is a difficult fellow to deal with. You know him
well, I believe?"

"Know him. Ay, that I do, sir. I have known that den of his since it was
an apple-stall. My first post-obit was cashed by his worthy father. My
last bill"--here he laughed heartily--"my last bill was protested by the
son! And yet the fellow is afraid of me. Ay, there is no man that walks
this city he dreads so much as me!"

Curtis was so much in the habit of exaggerating his own importance,
and particularly as it affected others, that MacNaghten paid but little
attention to this remark, when the other quickly rejoined,--

"If you want to manage Fagan, take me with you. He 'll not give you
money on my bond, nor will he discount a bill for my name's sake; but he
'll do what costs him to the full as much,--he 'll tell you the truth,
sir. Mark that,--he 'll tell you the truth."

"Will you accompany me to his house to-morrow?" asked Dan, eagerly.

"Ay, whenever you will."

"I 'll call upon you at ten o'clock, then, if not too early, and talk
over the business for which I want your assistance. Where are you
stopping?"

"My town residence is let to Lord Belview, and to avoid the noise and
turmoil of a hotel, I live in lodgings," said Curtis, slowly, and with
a certain pomposity of air and manner; suddenly changing which to his
ordinary jocular tone, he said: "You have, maybe, heard of a place
called Fum's Alley. It lies in the Liberty, and opens upon that classic
precinct called 'The Poddle.' There, sir, at a door over which a straw
chair is suspended,--it's the manufacture of the house,--there, sir,
lives Joe Curtis."

"I 'll be with you at ten," said Dan; and, with some pass-ing allusion
to the lateness of the hour, he led the way back into the town, where
they parted.

CHAPTER XIX. "FUM'S ALLEY, NEAR THE PODDLE"

MacNaghten's object in seeking an interview with Fagan was to ascertain,
in the first place, who that claimant to the estate was whose views he
advocated; and, secondly, what prospect there might be of effecting
some species of compromise which should secure to my mother a reasonable
competence. Although, in his isolation, he had grasped eagerly even
at such co-operation as that of Curtis, the more he thought over the
matter, the