Dunn wheeled round till he stood full before him, and thus they remained for several seconds, each staring steadfastly at the other. “You don't mean to say, Hankes--” He stopped. “I do, sir,” said the other, slowly, “and I say it advisedly.” “Then there must be some gross mismanagement, sir,” said Dunn, haughtily. “This must be looked to! Except that loan of forty-seven thousand pounds to Lord Lacking-ton, secured by mortgage on the estate it went to purchase, with what has this Bank supplied us?” “Remember, sir,” whispered Hankes, cautiously glancing around the room as he spoke, “the loan to the Viscount was advanced by ourselves at six per cent, and the estate was bought in under your own name; so that, in fact, it is to us the Bank have to look as their security.” “And am I not sufficient for such an amount, Mr. Hankes?” said he, sneeringly. “I trust you are, sir, and for ten times the sum. Time is everything in these affairs. The ship that would float over the bar at high water would stick fast at half-flood.” “The 'Time' I am anxious for is a very different one,” said Dunn, reflectively. “It is the time when I shall no longer be harassed with these anxieties. Life is not worth the name when it excludes the thought of all enjoyment.” “Business is business, sir,” said Mr. Hankes, with all the solemnity with which such men deliver platitudes as wisdom. “Call it slavery, and you 'll be nearer the mark,” broke in Dunn. “For what or for whom, let me ask you, do I undergo all this laborious toil? For a world that at the first check or stumble will overwhelm me with slanders. Let me but afford them a pretext, and they will debit me with every disaster their own recklessness has caused, and forget to credit me with all the blessings my wearisome life has conferred upon them.” “The way of the world, sir,” sighed Hankes, with the same stereotyped philosophy. “I know well,” continued Dunn, not heeding the other's commonplace, “that there are men who would utilize the station which I have acquired; they'd soon convert into sterling capital the unprofitable gains that I am content with. They 'd be cabinet ministers, peers, ambassadors, colonial governors. It's only men like myself work without wages.” “'The laborer is worthy of his hire,' says the old proverb.” Mr. Hankes was not aware of the authority, but quoted what he believed a popular saying. “Others there are,” continued Dunn, still deep in his own thoughts, “that would consult their own ease, and, throwing off this drudgery, devote what remained to them of life to the calm enjoyments of a home.” Mr. Hankes was disposed to add, “Home, sweet home;” but he coughed down the impulse, and was silent. Dunn walked the room with his arms crossed on his breast and his head bent down, deep in his own reflections, while his lips moved, as if speaking to himself. Meanwhile Mr. Hankes busied himself gathering together his papers, preparatory to departure.