As week by week his balance at the Ashdown Savings Bank kept on melting away, he vowed to himself, not once but a hundred times--generally when on his way home with empty pockets--that he would never cross the threshold of the "Bons Frères" again. But by the time next evening, or the evening after that, had come round, he was again under the influence of the fatal fascination, so that even while telling himself he would not go, his feet would lead him, almost as it seemed in his own despite, in the direction of the railway station; and when once he got as far as that he knew there was no going back for him. At length the day came when he drew his last sovereign out of the Bank, yet even then he lacked the strength of mind to put his foot down and say resolutely to himself: "Not a single step further will I advance on the pleasant but delusive path which has already led me to the brink of ruin." Instead of that, he began to borrow money here and there among his many friends and acquaintances, but chiefly from Mr. Howes. Mr. Howes was a bachelor, and a thrifty man to boot, and had a pleasant little banking-account of his own. He made no demur about lending Frank a few pounds now and again, being careful to take his I.O.U. in return. In all probability the young man would one day be taken into partnership, and Mr. Howes calculated that whatever sums he might now disburse in the way of loans would be repaid him many times over, if not in one form then in another, after that event should have come to pass. It is to be said in his favor that, although he sometimes wondered why Frank stood in need of such frequent loans, he had not the remotest suspicion of the purpose to which the money was really put. Since Mr. Avison had spoken to him, Frank had to all seeming developed into one of the most sober and steady-going of Bank officials. As already stated, all his gambling was done at Dulminster.