“And that you undertook to do what you might have done by this time, if you had made a prompter use of circumstances,” snarled Lammle.

“Hah! That,” remarked Fledgeby, with his hands in the Turkish trousers, “is matter of opinion.”

“ Mr. Fledgeby,” said Lammle, in a bullying tone, “am I to understand that you in any way reflect upon me, or hint dissatisfaction with me, in this affair?”

“No,” said Fledgeby; “provided you have brought my promissory note in your pocket, and now hand it over.”

Lammle produced it, not without reluctance. Fledgeby looked at it, identified it, twisted it up, and threw it into the fire. They both looked at it as it blazed, went out, and flew in feathery ash up the chimney.