Carrie said:  “Mark my words, Charles, some misfortune is about to happen.”

I said:  “Nonsense, dear.”

In the evening Lupin arrived home early, and seemed a little agitated.  I said:  “What’s up, my boy?” He hesitated a good deal, and then said:  “You know those Parachikka Chlorates I advised you to invest 20 pounds in?  I replied:  “Yes, they are all right, I trust?” He replied:  “Well, no!  To the surprise of everybody, they have utterly collapsed.”

My breath was so completely taken away, I could say nothing.  Carrie looked at me, and said:  “What did I tell you?” Lupin, after a while, said:  “However, you are specially fortunate.  I received an early tip, and sold out yours immediately, and was fortunate to get 2 pounds for them.  So you get something after all.”

I gave a sigh of relief.  I said:  “I was not so sanguine as to suppose, as you predicted, that I should get six or eight times the amount of my investment; still a profit of 2 pounds is a good percentage for such a short time.”  Lupin said, quite irritably:  “You don’t understand.  I sold your 20 pounds shares for 2 pounds; you therefore lose 18 pounds on the transaction, whereby Cummings and Gowing will lose the whole of theirs.”

February 19.—­Lupin, before going to town, said:  “I am very sorry about those Parachikka Chlorates; it would not have happened if the boss, Job Cleanands, had been in town.  Between ourselves, you must not be surprised if something goes wrong at our office.  Job Cleanands has not been seen the last few days, and it strikes me several people do want to see him very particularly.”

In the evening Lupin was just on the point of going out to avoid a collision with Gowing and Cummings, when the former entered the room, without knocking, but with his usual trick of saying, “May I come in?”

He entered, and to the surprise of Lupin and myself, seemed to be in the very best of spirits.  Neither Lupin nor I broached the subject to him, but he did so of his own accord.  He said:  “I say, those Parachikka Chlorates have gone an awful smash!  You’re a nice one, Master Lupin.  How much do you lose?” Lupin, to my utter astonishment, said:  “Oh!  I had nothing in them.  There was some informality in my application—­I forgot to enclose the cheque or something, and I didn’t get any.  The Guv. loses 18 pounds.”  I said:  “I quite understood you were in it, or nothing would have induced me to speculate.”  Lupin replied:  “Well, it can’t be helped; you must go double on the next tip.”  Before I could reply, Gowing said:  “Well, I lose nothing, fortunately.  From what I heard, I did not quite believe in them, so I persuaded Cummings to take my 15 pounds worth, as he had more faith in them than I had.”

Lupin burst out laughing, and, in the most unseemly manner, said:  “Alas, poor Cummings.  He’ll lose 35 pounds.”  At that moment there was a ring at the bell.  Lupin said:  “I don’t want to meet Cummings.”  If he had gone out of the door he would have met him in the passage, so as quickly as possible Lupin opened the parlour window and got out.  Gowing jumped up suddenly, exclaiming:  “I don’t want to see him either!” and, before I could say a word, he followed Lupin out of the window.