! This might probably be explained, and the five thousand
pounds might be added to the twenty-five thousand pounds. But the
explanation would be necessary, and all his pride would rebel against
it. On that night when by chance he had come across his brother,
bleeding and still half drunk, as he was about to enter his lodging, how
completely under his thumb he had been! And now he was offering him of
his bounty this wretched pittance! Then with half-muttered curses he
execrated the names of his father, his brother, of Grey, and of Barry,
and of his own lawyer.

At that moment the door was opened and his bosom friend, Septimus Jones,
entered the room. At any rate this friend was the nearest he had to his
bosom. He was a man without friends in the true sense. There was no one
who knew the innermost wishes of his heart, the secret desires of his
soul. There are thus so many who can divulge to none those secret
wishes! And how can such a one have a friend who can advise him as to
what he shall do? Scarcely can the honest man have such a friend,
because it is so difficult for him to find a man who will believe in
him. Augustus had no desire for such a friend, but he did desire some
one who would do his bidding as though he were such a friend. He wanted
a friend who would listen to his words, and act as though they were the
truth. Mr. Septimus Jones was the man he had chosen, but he did not in
the least believe in Mr. Septimus Jones himself. "What does that man
say?" asked Septimus Jones. The man was the lawyer of whom Augustus was
now thinking, at this very moment, all manner of evil.

"D----n him!" said Augustus.

"With all my heart. But what does he say? As you are to pay him for what
he says, it is worth while listening to it."

There was a tone in the voice of Septimus Jones which declared at once
some diminution of his usual respect. So it sounded, at least, to
Augustus. He was no longer the assured heir of Tretton, and in this way
he was to be told of the failure of his golden hopes. It would be odd,
he thought, if he could not still hold his dominion over Septimus Jones.
"I am not at all sure that I shall listen to him or to you either."

"As for that, you can do as you like."

"Of course I can do as I like." Then he remembered that he must still
use the man as a messenger, if in no other capacity. "Of course he wants
to compromise it. A lawyer always proposes a compromise. He cannot be
beat that way, and it is s