himself an ardent friend of the Church, and a sincere Christian: but, by virtue of the quality to which I have before alluded, he had brought himself to look upon this poor clergyman as guilty of a most flagrant piece of wickedness; and was forging, _con amore_, the bolt to be presently levelled at so enormous an offender. But a few minutes before their arrival, moreover, an incident had occurred to the doctor, which had roused him into a kind of frenzy: he had been interrupted by an applicant to be sworn to some matter or other, for which the doctor was entitled to the usual fee of one shilling. The deponent had only half-a-crown; so the doctor had to take out his purse, and give him the difference, with a muttered curse; and you may guess the scene which ensued on the deponent's presently returning, and requesting that the sixpence which the doctor had given him might be changed, being _a bad one_!--Mr. Runnington was prepared to go fully into his case before Dr. Flare; but on catching sight of him, he looked so startling a contrast to the calm and affable Sir Charles Wolstenholme--so like a hyena squatting in his den--that his heart suddenly failed him; and after observing, that instead of interrupting the doctor at that time, he would immediately lay a written case before him, he and Mr. Pounce made their escape into the open air; the former looking so relieved of apprehension, that Mr. Pounce almost died with laughter. But it occurred to Mr. Runnington, that, in the present stage of the business, Mr. Pounce was just as satisfactory an adviser as Dr. Flare could be--and he determined upon being guided by Mr. Pounce, whom he immediately instructed to retain Dr. Flare; and then talked over the whole case in all its bearings--the result being, that Mr. Pounce entirely corroborated the view taken by Sir Charles Wolstenholme, and pointed out so clearly and forcibly the peculiar advantages attending the contemplated mode of procedure, that Mr. Runnington nearly made up his mind on the spot, to venture on the experiment; but at all events undertook to give his final decision within twenty-four hours' time. The next morning, however, he received information from Mr. Pounce, which was calculated to quicken his motions; viz. that Mr. Titmouse was moving, and had just "_warned the caveat_,"[15] with a view to discovering who his opponent was, and what was the ground of his opposition. Now, this chanced to occur on the very day of Lord De la Zouch's arrival in London; his servant calling at Mr. Runnington's office with a note requesting his attendance in Dover Street, within a few hours of Mr. Runnington's receiving intelligence of the movement of Mr. Titmouse. The result of a very long and anxious discussion between Mr. Runnington and Lord De la Zouch was, that his Lordship acquiesced in the expediency of the course suggested to him, viz. to suspend for a month or two carrying into effect the scheme which he had formed for extricating Mr.