walked out.

He appeared to have a very extraordinary and miscellaneous connection,
and very odd calls he made, some at great rich houses, and some at small
poor ones, but all upon one subject: money. His face was a talisman to
the porters and servants of his more dashing clients, and procured him
ready admission, though he trudged on foot, and others, who were denied,
rattled to the door in carriages. Here he was all softness and cringing
civility; his step so light, that it scarcely produced a sound upon
the thick carpets; his voice so soft that it was not audible beyond the
person to whom it was addressed. But in the poorer habitations Ralph
was another man; his boots creaked upon the passage floor as he walked
boldly in; his voice was harsh and loud as he demanded the money that
was overdue; his threats were coarse and angry. With another class of
customers, Ralph was again another man. These were attorneys of more
than doubtful reputation, who helped him to new business, or raised
fresh profits upon old. With them Ralph was familiar and jocose,
humorous upon the topics of the day, and especially pleasant upon
bankruptcies and pecuniary difficulties that made good for trade. In
short, it would have been difficult to have recognised the same man
under these various aspects, but for the bulky leather case full of
bills and notes which he drew from his pocket at every house, and the
constant repetition of the same complaint, (varied only in tone and
style of delivery,) that the world thought him rich, and that perhaps
he might be if he had his own; but there was no getting money in when it
was once out, either principal or interest, and it was a hard matter to
live; even to live from day to day.

It was evening before a long round of such visits (interrupted only by
a scanty dinner at an eating-house) terminated at Pimlico, and Ralph
walked along St James's Park, on his way home.

There were some deep schemes in his head, as the puckered brow and
firmly-set mouth would have abundantly testified, even if they had been
unaccompanied by a complete indifference to, or unconsciousness of, the
objects about him. So complete was his abstraction, however, that
Ralph, usually as quick-sighted as any man, did not observe that he was
followed by a shambling figure, which at one time stole behind him with
noiseless footsteps, at another crept a few paces before him, and at
another glided along by his side; at all times regardin