Thereupon the man in drab, who had taken a seat by the side of poor Mr. Markham, and had crossed his extended legs and clasped his long fingers, leaving only his thumbs at liberty to move, screwed up his lips as tight as a miser’s purse, and, as if economical of words, uttered through the nose a sound which no vowels or consonants in any European alphabet are competent to express, either severally or conjointly. As it oftentimes occurs that words are used when no meaning is conveyed, so does it on the other hand sometimes happen that much meaning is conveyed when no words are uttered. Thus it was on the occasion to which we now allude. Mr. Markham was familiar with the above-named unwriteable sound; and he knew that it indicated in the mind of him, through whose nose it passed, a feeling of compassion and a promise of kindness. Turning to Mrs. Markham, the visitor said, “Mary Markham, this is thy son, probably.” On this, Horatio Markham took occasion to speak to the creditor, and began by saying, “I am very much concerned, sir, for the unpleasant situation in which my father is now placed; but I believe we shall be able to surmount the difficulty, if not immediately, at least in a very short time.” “Do thee, indeed?” said the Quaker; and without making more reply, or vouchsafing to the young gentleman any farther attention, he directed himself again to the elder Markham, and said to him, “Thy son is a promising young man.” “I have reason, Mr. Wiggins, to be very well pleased with my son; he is indeed a blessing to us.” “Neighbour Markham, my name is Wiggins; but my name is not Mister. But let us proceed to business; for to that intent I came hither.” Thereupon the creditor thrust his long arm into a deep side-pocket, and extracted therefrom a long black letter-case, and from that letter-case he drew out the letter which he had received from Mr. Markham. “Neighbour,” said the Quaker, “thee might be disposed to think that I had forgotten thee, seeing that thy letter did not receive an immediate answer: but I was willing to see thy other creditors to know how they stood inclined towards thee. So yesterday we had a meeting.” “A meeting of my creditors!” exclaimed Mr. Markham, with great emphasis of grief; “Oh God! that I should ever come to this!” “Thee will come to something worse, neighbour Markham, if thee don’t leave off taking the name of the Lord in vain,” replied Mr. Wiggins; “but thee is impatient; thee will not listen. I tell thee that there has been a meeting of thy creditors, and they are sorry for thy misfortunes, and they are disposed to assist thee. They respect thy integrity; but they would not have thee take the name of the Lord in vain. It is a sad thing, neighbour, to want money; but it is worse to want patience: thee will never get rich by putting thyself in a passion. But thy creditors will not trouble thee at present. They besought me to tell thee that they would wait thy own time.”