The second morning after his sudden return to town, Mr. Vermont was in his sitting-room, which was very plainly furnished indeed, partaking of a breakfast so simple that his fashionable friends would scarcely have believed the evidence of their own eyes.  When he had finished, and the table had been cleared, he went over to the roll-top desk which stood in an angle by the window, and opened it, disclosing piles of letters, sheets, of closely written foolscap and slips of memorandum forms.  On the corner of the desk stood a telephone, which communicated with Harker’s private room, downstairs in the offices; they were dignified by the name of Harker’s “Bank,” and were, of course, those of the moneylending business which was carried on by Vermont in that name.  Taking up the receiver now, he asked Harker to come up to him as soon as possible.

Within the next few minutes, George Harker was standing before the master he both hated and feared.  He was very tall, with a thin, lined face, from which all light and hope seemed to have fled.  His whole being appeared wrapped up in attendance on Jasper Vermont.  He watched him eagerly now, not speaking until he was spoken to, but simply waiting patiently, doggedly, till his master was ready to attend to him.

Vermont drew the heap of various papers towards him—­with keen eyes and quick brain grasped the multitude of facts they set forth, checked the long column of figures, struck the balances; and, with a nod of satisfaction, looked up at the man before him.

“All right, Harker, as far as I can see—­and, as you know, that’s all the way and a little beyond.  But we must do better than that.  Where’s the private account?”

“Here, sir,” said Harker, in a dry, rasping voice, somewhat like the creaking of an old, rusty-hinged door.

“Where?—­oh, yes, I see.  Oh, Paxhorn has come to us, has he?  Writing poetry is not a paying game, eh?  Or is it the fine, grand company that runs away with the golden counters?  Well, all fish—­or idiots—­that come to our net are welcomed, no matter what wind drives them.  Thirty per cent. from Paxhorn.  No more?”

“I could not get any more, sir,” said Harker earnestly; “I tried—­tried hard—­indeed I did, I assure you.  I would not give in until he threatened to go to another office.”

“Hem! well, I suppose it’s the truth; though, of course, all moneylenders are rogues—­and you’re only a moneylender, you know.”  He looked up for a moment to laugh at the logical joke.  “Who backs his paper?  Lord Standon.  Oh, my lord is pretty deep in our books already, isn’t he?  Where are his statistics?”

“Here, sir,” said Harker, taking one of the papers from the heap.

Jasper Vermont glanced at it, and laid it down again with an evil smile on his face.

“Oh, he’s good for more than that, Harker; but be cautious.  We’ll lend him another ten thousand; but put on five per cent.  Lords must pay, to set the fashion to commoner folk.  By the way, Captain Beaumont——­”