“This is the best day’s work I ever did,” Mr. Emblem went on.  “To remember the letter, word for word, and everything!  Mr. Arbuthnot has, very likely, finished the whole business by now.  Thousands—­thousands—­and all for Iris!”

“Look here, Mr. Emblem,” said the lawyer angrily.  “You’ll not only be a bankrupt if you go on like this, but you’ll be a fraudulent bankrupt as well.  Is it honest, I want to know, to refuse to pay your just debts when you’ve put by thousands, as you boast—­you actually boast—­for your granddaughter?”

“Yes,” said the old man, “Iris will have thousands.”

“I think, sir,” said Lala Roy, “that you are under an illusion.  Mr. Emblem does not possess any such savings or investments as you imagine.”

“Then why does he go on talking about thousands?”

“He has had a shock; he cannot quite understand what has happened.  You had better leave him for the present.”

“Leave him!  And nothing but these moldy old books!  Here, you sir—­you James—­you shopman—­come here!  What is the stock worth?”

“It depends upon whether you are buying or selling,” said James.  “If you were to sell it under the hammer, in lots, it wouldn’t fetch a hundred pounds.”

“There, you hear—­you hear, all of you!  Not a hundred pounds, and my Bill of Sale is three-fifty.”

“Pray, sir,” said Lala Roy, “who told you that Mr. Emblem was so wealthy?”

“His grandson.”

“Then, sir perhaps it would be well to question the grandson further, he may know things of which we have heard nothing.”

The Act of 1882, which came into operation in the following January, is cruel indeed, I am told, to those who advanced money on Bills of Sale before that date, for it allows—­it actually allows the debtor five clear days during which he may, if he can, without being caught, make away with portions of his furniture and belongings—­the smaller and the more precious portion; or he may find some one else to lend him the money, and so get off clear and save his sticks.  It is, as the modern Shylock declares, a most wicked and iniquitous Act, by which the shark may be balked, and many an honest tradesman, who would otherwise have been most justly ruined, is enabled to save his stock, and left to worry along until the times become more prosperous.  To a man like Mr. David Chalker, such an Act of Parliament is most revolting.

He went away at length, leaving the man—­the professional person—­behind.  Then Lala Roy persuaded Mr. Emblem to go upstairs again.  He did so without any apparent consciousness that there was a Man in Possession.

“James,” said Lala Roy, “you have heard that your master has been robbed.  You are reflecting and meditating on this circumstance.  Another thing is that a creditor has threatened to sell off everything for a debt.  Most likely, everything will be sold, and the shop closed.  You will, therefore, lose the place you have had for five-and-twenty years.  That is a very bad business for you.  You are unfortunate this morning.  To lose your place—­and then this robbery.  That seems also a bad business.”