He seemed surprised--as a man is apt to do, who, proposing to play the bully, finds himself bullied instead. His hat had fallen off; he himself had almost fallen too. “Who the devil are you, sir?” “Saving a reference to any acquaintance of yours, that is the question which I should like to put to you, sir.” Picking up his hat, he came towards me, with a blusterous air. “I want to see Philip Lawrence--at once.” “Do you indeed! That’s unfortunate. You have come to the wrong place for your want to be supplied. Mr. Philip Lawrence doesn’t happen to be in.” “Tell that tale to some one else; don’t try it on me; I’ve heard it before. I’ll wait till he is in.” “By all means; let me show you the way inside.” Taking him by the collar of his coat, I conducted him through the doorway, across the hall, and into the front room--where Mr. and Mrs. Morley were still clinging to each other, as if under the impression that the end of the world at last had come. The visitor was a big, black-haired man, inclined to puffiness, whose whiskers and moustache seemed to have been blackleaded, they shone with such resplendence. He was clad in gorgeous attire. “What do you mean by such disgraceful behaviour?” I inquired. “On my word, that’s good!” He was settling in its place the collar of his coat. “Seems to me that the boot’s upon the other foot.” He turned to Mr. Morley. “Who is this man?” “This man,” I explained, to save Mr. Morley trouble, “is a person who is competent to resent any impertinence which you may offer. So, if you have come to play the bully, you will have every opportunity afforded you to play your very best.” “Don’t talk to me like that, sir, you don’t know who I am. If I’d liked I might have made Philip Lawrence bankrupt four and twenty hours ago; only I thought I’d give him a chance. But I’m not going to stand that sort of thing from you.” “Pray how could you have made Mr. Philip Lawrence bankrupt?” “I hold overdue bills of his for £5000. Some men would have made him bankrupt on the nail, and run him up a tidy bill of costs. I’m too soft-hearted; I gave him a chance. But I’ve had enough bother already; I’m not going to have any more. If a satisfactory arrangement isn’t made before I leave this house, there’ll be trouble.” “So you are the person who habitually trades in forged acceptances.” “Forged acceptances! What--what the devil do you mean, sir?” Unless I was mistaken, he increased in puffiness. “You know. You were aware that they were forged, and by whom. You had a hand in arranging the whole matter; buying them for a song, with the intention of securing as much out of Mr. Philip Lawrence as you possibly could.” The gentleman began to bluster. Plainly he was not happy.