t hazy, and he had certainly made a mistake. But, as he
walked from his home to Quartpot Alley, he little dreamed of the
treachery with which he had been treated. "Has Phineas Finn been
here?" he asked as he took his accustomed seat within a small
closet, that might be best described as a glass cage. Around him lay
the debris of many past newspapers, and the germs of many future
publications. To all the world except himself it would have been a
chaos, but to him, with his experience, it was admirable order. No;
Mr. Finn had not been there. And then, as he was searching among the
letters for one from the Member for Tankerville, the injunction was
thrust into his hands. To say that he was aghast is but a poor form
of speech for the expression of his emotion.

He had been "done"--"sold,"--absolutely robbed by that wretchedly
false Irishman whom he had trusted with all the confidence of a
candid nature and an open heart! He had been most treacherously
misused! Treachery was no adequate word for the injury inflicted
on him. The more potent is a man, the less accustomed to endure
injustice, and the more his power to inflict it,--the greater is the
sting and the greater the astonishment when he himself is made to
suffer. Newspaper editors sport daily with the names of men of whom
they do not hesitate to publish almost the severest words that can
be uttered;--but let an editor be himself attacked, even without
his name, and he thinks that the thunderbolts of heaven should fall
upon the offender. Let his manners, his truth, his judgment, his
honesty, or even his consistency be questioned, and thunderbolts
are forthcoming, though they may not be from heaven. There should
certainly be a thunderbolt or two now, but Mr. Slide did not at first
quite see how they were to be forged.

He read the injunction again and again. As far as the document went
he knew its force, and recognised the necessity of obedience. He
might, perhaps, be able to use the information contained in the
letter from Mr. Kennedy, so as to harass Phineas and Lady Laura and
the Earl, but he was at once aware that it must not be published.
An editor is bound to avoid the meshes of the law, which are always
infinitely more costly to companies, or things, or institutions, than
they are to individuals. Of fighting with Chancery he had no notion;
but it should go hard with him if he did not have a fight with
Phineas Finn. And then there arose another cause for deep sor