utward voice allude to Eames, the curse in his inner
thoughts was uttered against himself.

Johnny was allowed to make his way down to the platform, and there
find his own carpet-bag. One young porter, however, came up and
fraternised with him.

"You guve it him tidy just at that last moment, sir. But, laws, sir,
you should have let out at him at fust. What's the use of clawing a
man's neck-collar?"

It was then a quarter past eleven, but, nevertheless, Eames appeared
at his office precisely at twelve.

CHAPTER XXXV

Vae Victis

Crosbie had two engagements for that day; one being his natural
engagement to do his work at his office, and the other an engagement,
which was now very often becoming as natural, to dine at St. John's
Wood with Lady Amelia Gazebee. It was manifest to him when he
looked at himself in the glass hat he could keep neither of these
engagements. "Oh, laws, Mr Crosbie," the woman of the house exclaimed
when she saw him.

"Yes, I know," said he. "I've had an accident and got a black eye.
What's a good thing for it?"

"Oh! an accident!" said the woman, who knew well that that mark had
been made by another man's fist. "They do say that a bit of raw beef
is about the best thing. But then it must be held on constant all the
morning."

Anything would be better than leeches, which tell long-enduring
tales, and therefore Crosbie sat through the greater part of the
morning holding the raw beef to his eye. But it was necessary that
he should write two notes as he held it, one to Mr Butterwell at his
office, and the other to his future sister-in-law. He felt that it
would hardly be wise to attempt any entire concealment of the nature
of his catastrophe, as some of the circumstances would assuredly
become known. If he said that he had fallen over the coal-scuttle, or
on to the fender, thereby cutting his face, people would learn that
he had fibbed, and would learn also that he had had some reason for
fibbing. Therefore he constructed his notes with a phraseology that
bound him to no details. To Butterwell he said that he had had an
accident,--or rather a row,--and that he had come out of it with
considerable damage to his frontispiece. He intended to be at the
office on the next day, whether able to appear decently there or not.
But for the sake of decency he thought it well to give himself that
one half-day's chance. Then to the Lady Amelia he also said that he
had had an accident, and had