"I thought as much," said Cutts very coolly. "That's precisely what I
said to old Hasherton, the chairman, the day after the secretary bolted.
I told him he should send round notice to the fellows at a distance,
warning them not to cash up; but it seems that the list of subscribers
had gone amissing, and so the thing was left to rectify itself."

"Bolted! You don't mean Mr Glanders, of the respectable firm of Glanders
and Co?"

"Of course I do. I wonder you have not heard of it. That comes of living
in a confounded country where there are neither breeches nor
newspapers--help yourself--and no direct railway communication. Glanders
bolted as a matter of course, and I can tell you that I thought myself
very lucky in getting hold of as much of the deposits as cleared my
preliminary expenses."

"Cutts--are you serious?"

"Perfectly. But what's the use of making a row about it? You look as
grim as if there was verjuice in the sherry. You ought to thank your
stars that the thing was put a stop to so soon."

"Why--didn't you recommend me to apply for shares?"

"Of course I did, and I wonder you don't feel grateful for the advice.
Every body thought they would have come out at a high premium. I would
not have taken six pounds for them in the month of September; but this
infernal potato business has brought on the panic, and nobody will table
a shilling for any kind of new stock. It was a lucky thing for us that
we got a kind of hint to draw in our horns in time."

"And pray, since the concern is wound up, as you say, how much of our
deposit-money will be returned?"

"You don't mean to say," said Cutts, with singularly elaborate
articulation--"You don't mean to say that you were such an inconceivable
ass as to pay up your letter of allotment? Well--I never heard of such a
piece of deliberate infatuation! Why, man, a blacksmith with half an eye
must have seen that the game was utterly up a week before the calls were
due. I don't think there is a single man out of Scotland who would have
made such a fool of himself; indeed, so far as I know, nobody cashed up
except a dozen old women who knew nothing about the matter, and ten
landed proprietors, who expected compensation, and deserved to be done
accordingly. You need not look as though you meditated razors. The
Biggleswade concern will pay for this more than thirty tines over."

"I'll tell you what, Cutts," said I in a paroxysm, "this is a most
nefarious transaction,