saying "Good evening," in that tone of voice which always intimates a desire for a good riddance. This hint is too broad ever to be mistaken; so the sponge and his victim back out. _Mr. Warner_ is a merchant, and all merchants in plays are the "noblest characters the world can boast," and very rich. Thus it has happened that _Warner_ has, through a money-agent, one _Grub_, been enabled to lend, at various times, large sums of money, to _Lady Norwold_--her ladyship being one of those who, dreading "what will the world say?" is by no means an economist, and prefers "ruin to retrenchment." As security for these loans, the lady deposits her jewels, suite by suite, till the great object of all _Warner's_ advances gets into his possession--namely, a bracelet, which is a revered relic of the Norwold family. So far _Warner_, in spite of a troublesome ward, and his late visitors, is happy; but he soon receives a letter, which puts his happiness to flight. His daughter, who has been on a visit in Paris, became, he now learns, united some months before, to _Charles Norwold_, and a governess in his father's family. By further inquiries, he learns that the son is discarded, and is, with his wife, consigned to beggary, for fear of--"what will the world say?" The fourth act exhibits one of the scenes of human life hitherto veiled from the eyes of the most prying--a genuine specimen of the sponge species--at home! Actually living under a roof that he calls his own; in company with a wife who is certainly nobody else's. She is ironing--_Tarradiddle_ is smoking, and, like all smokers, philosophising. Here we learn the _Honourable Charles Norwold_ and his wife have taken lodgings; hither they are pursued by _Hilary_, who has managed to ingratiate himself with _Warner_, and undertaken to trace the merchant's lost daughter; here, to _Pye's_ astonishment, he finds his friend and sponge. Some banter ensues, not always agreeable to the Captain, but all ends very pleasantly by the entrance of _Warner_, who discovers his daughter, and becomes a father-in-law with a good grace.