On this occasion Captain Stubber was forthcoming after a delay of about a quarter of an hour. During that time Cousin George had stood in the filthy little parlour of the house of call in a frame of mind which was certainly not to be envied. Had Mr. Boltby also been with Captain Stubber? He knew his two creditors well enough to understand that the Jew, getting his money, would be better pleased to serve him than to injure him. But the Captain would from choice do him an ill turn. Nothing but self-interest would tie up Captain Stubber's tongue. Captain Stubber was a tall thin gentleman, probably over sixty years of age, with very seedy clothes, and a red nose. He always had Berlin gloves, very much torn about the fingers, carried a cotton umbrella, wore--as his sole mark of respectability--a very stiff, clean, white collar round his neck, and invariably smelt of gin. No one knew where he lived, or how he carried on his business; but, such as he was, he had dealings with large sums of money, or at least with bills professing to stand for large sums, and could never have been found without a case in his pocket crammed with these documents. The quarter of an hour seemed to George to be an age; but at last Captain Stubber knocked at the front door and was shown into the room. "How d'ye do, Captain Stubber?" said George. "I'd do a deal better, Captain Hotspur, if I found it easier sometimes to come by my own." "Well, yes; but no doubt you have your profit in the delay, Captain Stubber." "It's nothing to you, Captain Hotspur, whether I have profit or loss. All you 'as got to look to is to pay me what you owe me. And I intend that you shall, or by G---- you shall suffer for it! I'm not going to stand it any longer. I know where to have you, and have you I will." Cousin George was not quite sure whether the Captain did know where to have him. If Mr. Boltby had been with him, it might be so; but then Captain Stubber was not a man so easily found as Mr. Hart, and the connection between himself and the Captain might possibly have escaped Mr. Boltby's inquiries. It was very difficult to tell the story of his love to such a man as Captain Stubber, but he did tell it. He explained all the difficulties of Sir Harry's position in regard to the title and the property, and he was diffuse upon his own advantages as head of the family, and of the need there was that he should marry the heiress. "But there is not an acre of it will come to you unless he gives it you?" inquired Captain Stubber. "Certainly not," said Cousin George, anxious that the Captain should understand the real facts of the case to a certain extent. "And he needn't give you the girl?" "The girl will give herself, my friend." "And he needn't give the girl the property?" "But he will. She is his only child." "I don't believe a word about it. I don't believe such a one as Sir Harry Hotspur would lift his hand to help such as you." "He has offered to pay my debts already."