Of late, finding that he had but to ask to receive at once, Brian had carried the game on even more recklessly than before. He had long since demanded--almost immediately after the return from Paris--that an account should be opened in his name at a bank into which he could pay the sums received from Comethup; he felt, he said, that it looked so much better to write cheques for what was wanted. But a thousand pounds per annum will not stretch sufficiently to cover everything, and the moment arrived when Comethup was informed that his own account was considerably overdrawn. And there were still two months to wait before Miss Charlotte Carlaw would pay in anything more. For himself it did not matter, although even he would be put to it for small personal expenses. But he sat in trembling fear that Brian might make a demand upon him any day, a demand which for the first time he would be unable to meet. While he was puzzling helplessly over the matter the demand arrived, borne by Mr. Robert Carlaw, who wore a troubled countenance. He had of late been the go-between of the cousins; he still lived in his son's house, and was chiefly useful in entertaining dull visitors and performing petty offices for which Brian had no time nor inclination. His method when seeking Comethup was a simple one: he did not care to go near the house, but caught the first small boy on whom he could lay hands and gave him a few coppers to take a note to the house, addressed to Comethup. The note was invariably couched in the same pitiful strain, imploring his dear nephew to grant him an interview in the street, where he was humbly waiting with despair tugging heavily at his heart. "My dear, dear boy," he exclaimed fervently on this occasion, "how can I thank you? If, like Brian, I were a poet I could compare you to the sun at midday, to the blessed rain from heaven upon a parched earth. Not being a poet, although I once had some pretensions in that direction, I am compelled to say 'Bless you, my dear boy, bless you!'" "Well," said Comethup, as they paced slowly down a side street, "what's the matter?"