Crosbie, when he heard this, became very angry; and Musselboro, perceiving this, got out of his chair, so that he might be in readiness to prevent any violence, if violence were attempted.  ’It really is no good your staying here,’ he said.  ’You see that Broughton has been drinking.  There is no knowing what he may say or do.’

‘You be blowed,’ said Broughton, who had taken the arm-chair as soon as Musselboro had left it.

‘But you may believe me in the way of business,’ continued Musselboro, ’when I tell you that it really does not suit us to renew the bill.  We’re pressed ourselves, and we must press others.’

‘And who will do it for me?’ said Crosbie, almost in despair.

’There are Burton and Bangles there, the wine-merchants down in the yard; perhaps they may accommodate you.  It’s all in their line; but I’m told they charge uncommon dear.’

‘I don’t know Messrs Burton and Bangles,’ said Crosbie.

’That needn’t stand in your way.  You tell them where you come from, and they’ll make inquiry.  If they think it’s about right, they’ll give you the money; and if they don’t, they won’t.’

Mr Crosbie then left the office without exchanging another word with Dobbs Broughton, and went down into Hook Court.  As he descended the stairs he turned over in his mind the propriety of going to Messrs Burton and Bangles with the view of relieving himself from his present difficulty.  He knew that it was ruinous.  Dealing even with such men as Dobbs Broughton and Musselboro, whom he presumed to milder in their greed than Burton and Bangles, were, all of them, steps on the road to ruin.  But what was he to do?  If his bill were dishonoured, the fact would certainly become known at his office, and he might even ultimately be arrested.  In the doorway at the bottom of the stairs he stood for some moments, looking over at Burton and Bangles’, and he did not at all like the aspect of the establishment.  Inside the office he could see a man standing with a cigar in his mouth, very resplendent in his new hat—­with a hat remarkable for the bold upward curve of its rim, and this man was copiously decorated with a chain and seals hanging about widely over his waistcoat.  He was leaning with his back against the counter and was talking to someone on the other side of it.  There was something in the man’s look and manner which was utterly repulsive to Crosbie.  He was more vulgar to the eye even than Musselboro, and his voice, which Crosbie could hear as he stood in the other doorway, was almost as detestable as that of Dobbs Broughton in his drunkenness.  Crosbie did not doubt that this was either Burton or Bangles, and that the man standing inside was either Bangles or Burton.  He could not bring himself to accost these men and tell them of his necessities, and propose to them that they should relieve him.  In spite of what Musselboro had just said to him, he could not believe it possible that he should succeed, were he to do so without some introduction.  So he left Hook Court and went out into the lane, hearing as he went the loud voice of the man with the turned-up hat and the chain.