think it's about right, they'll
give you the money; and if they don't, they won't."

Mr. Crosbie then left the office without exchanging another word with
Dobbs Broughton, and went down into Hook Court. As he descended the
stairs he turned over in his mind the propriety of going to Messrs
Burton and Bangles with the view of relieving himself from his
present difficulty. He knew that it was ruinous. Dealing even with
such men as Dobbs Broughton and Musselboro, whom he presumed to be
milder in their greed than Burton and Bangles, were, all of them,
steps on the road to ruin. But what was he to do? If his bill were
dishonoured, the fact would certainly become known at his office, and
he might even ultimately be arrested. In the doorway at the bottom
of the stairs he stood for some moments, looking over at Burton and
Bangles', and he did not at all like the aspect of the establishment.
Inside the office he could see a man standing with a cigar in his
mouth, very resplendent with a new hat,--with a hat remarkable
for the bold upward curve of its rim, and this man was copiously
decorated with a chain and seals hanging about widely over his
waistcoat. He was leaning with his back against the counter, and was
talking to some one on the other side of it. There was something in
the man's look and manner that was utterly repulsive to Crosbie. He
was more vulgar to the eye even than Musselboro, and his voice, which
Crosbie could hear as he stood in the other doorway, was almost as
detestable as that of Dobbs Broughton in his drunkenness. Crosbie did
not doubt that this was either Burton or Bangles, and that the man
standing inside was either Bangles or Burton. He could not bring
himself to accost these men and tell them of his necessities, and
propose to them that they should relieve him. In spite of what
Musselboro had just said to him, he could not believe it possible
that he should succeed, were he to do so without some introduction.
So he left Hook Court and went out into the lane, hearing as he went
the loud voice of the man with the turned-up hat and the chain.

But what was he to do? At the outset of his pecuniary troubles, when
he first found it necessary to litigate some question with the De
Courcy people, and withstand the web which Mortimer Gazebee wove so
assiduously, his own attorney had introduced him to Dobbs Broughton,
and the assistance which he had needed had come to him, at any rate,
without trouble. He did no