of starting on the return journey till rather late, later than the note would lead Julia to expect her father.  But as the carrier was not one to change his habits for anybody, that could not be helped and Captain Polkington made the best of it.  Julia was not likely to be anxious about him, he was sure; and since he was going to tell her all about his doings, it might as well be late as early.  By this time he had quite got rid of any qualms—­if he ever had them—­about the method of getting and the intention of spending the note.  He had almost forgotten that it had not always been his, and was quite sure that he was doing the right thing—­for others as well as himself—­in the difficult circumstances which seemed to beset him more than the common run of men.  Cheered by these thoughts he endured the discomforts of the journey with moderate patience; he almost felt that he was suffering them in a good cause, for the sake of Johnny and Julia.

The town was large and the centre of a large district, not at all like the retired gentility of Marbridge, very much bigger and busier.  Captain Polkington, who had lived quietly so long, felt rather lost and bewildered at first in the bustling intricate streets; there were so many people, especially among the shops, they were always getting in his way.  He only made one purchase before lunch; he would have plenty of time in the afternoon, he thought, and would be better able to decide what to buy when he had seen things and had a meal.  The purchase made before lunch was at the wine merchants, it was whisky.

He lunched at the best hotel; that and the whisky made a rather bigger hole in the five pound note than one would have expected.  Still, as he told himself the whisky really was a vital matter with winter coming on, a necessity, not a luxury, for all of them—­Johnny would be better for a little—­he used to like a glass in the old days; and Julia would certainly be the better for it, working as she did in the cold.  It was a medicine for them all, not himself alone.  The lunch was the only personal extravagance and really, seeing what he was doing for the others, there was no need for him to grudge that to himself.

So he lunched and then the trouble began.  He was not clear quite how it happened; at least, owing to the confusion there always was in his mind between facts as they were, as he wished them to be, and as they appeared in retrospect—­he was never able to explain it thoroughly.  There were other men lunching at the same time; he still had the Polkington faculty for making friends and acquaintances; he still, too, had the appearance and manner of a gentleman, if of somewhat reduced circumstances.  He apparently made acquaintances; exactly how many and what sort is not certain, the account was very confused here.  There was a whisky and soda in it, two whiskies and sodas, or even three; a cigar, a game of billiards—­perhaps there was more than one game, or some other game besides