"When his father died he came into the title and property; the estate, which was not entailed, had been heavily mortgaged, and since then every year the burden had been increasing until it was very doubtful if at the present time a forced sale of the property would cover his liabilities. The mortgagees were pressing for a large sum of interest overdue, and Vancome’s solicitors had done all in their power to raise this money, but as yet without success. I therefore called on a firm of rather second-rate bill discounters, and had an interview with Mr. Marsden, the senior partner, who had some interest in the mortgage. "I have always adopted one method in dealing with business men, which has proved on the whole successful. I will endeavour to describe it to you briefly, as it may be of service. Each man’s honesty lies on a certain plane, and the types can for convenience be classified under four heads. "No. 1, which is rarely met with, may be called the natural inclination level. "No. 2, the advantageous moral level, which, except under severe temptations, it is equally safe to trust. "No. 3, the reflecting level. "No. 4, the fear of detection level. "More men set their honesty down on No. 3 platform than on all the rest put together, and as Mr. Marsden was among the majority, it will be as well, therefore, to explain more fully what is meant by the definition. "This type is honest or dishonest simply through the way it is approached. If you go to it in a meek and quiet spirit, carrying all the guilelessness of your nature on your head, and all your cunning wrapped in a napkin, it will meet you frankly, treat you moderately fairly, and protect you with almost tender solicitude from the jaws of any of the No. 4 type. This way of approach is, moreover, safest in dealing with all business men, for if you come on one by mistake whose honesty is altogether absent, such method will incite to greed, and your wolf will be less careful to keep on his sheep-skin. "I learned this lesson when quite a youth from the relation who has since left me a great part of his fortune. He was one of the most successful men in London, and when I asked if he would tell me the secret of his power, he replied in his queer and enigmatical way--’I have sucked in knowledge through every pore, and studied men always from behind the mask of stupidity; those who wish to be thought wise must be content to remain fools; for in the light of seeming wisdom, the bats hang head downwards in their safe retreat indistinguishable from the dirt around; but they flutter in the dull face of stupidity, and may easily be knocked down and trampled upon. Nevertheless,’ he continued, winking at me, ’it is good sport sometimes to cast off the veil, and to give these people a taste of your power; then the poor wretches will go away blubbering that you have hurt them, and the world, knowing how stupid you are, will say that you must have been mad.’