Dredlinton lounged into the office a few minutes later. Phipps welcomed him without any particular enthusiasm, but promptly dismissed the typist to whom he had been dictating. "It happens that you are just the man I want to see," he declared. "Sit down." Dredlinton sank a little wearily into an easy-chair, after a glance of disappointment at the retreating figure. "Can't think why you always have such damned ugly girls about you, Phipps," he yawned. "Gives me the creeps to look at them." Peter Phipps smiled as he drew a box of cigars from his desk. "Then I will tell you the reason, my friend," he said. "For pleasure there is no one who appreciates beauty more than I do. For business I have a similar passion for efficiency. The two are never confused in my mind." "Regular paragon, aren't you!" Dredlinton murmured. "Why did you want to see me, by the by?" "What happened last night?" Phipps asked a little abruptly. "I obeyed orders," Dredlinton told him. "I told her ladyship that I should be home to dinner and probably bring some friends. I was a little late but she waited." Phipps smiled maliciously. "She didn't dine with Wingate, then, or go to the theatre?" "She did not," Dredlinton replied. "I put the kibosh on it, according to orders." Peter Phipps pushed the cigars across the desk towards his companion. "Try one of these before you enter upon the labours of the day," he invited, "and just see what you think of these figures." Dredlinton glanced at the papers carelessly at first and then with genuine interest. They were certainly sufficiently surprising to rouse him for a moment from his apathy. "Marvellous!" he exclaimed. "Marvellous indeed," his Chief assented. "Now listen to me, Dredlinton. Why are you sitting there, looking like a whipped dog? Why can't you wear a more cheerful face? If it's Farnham's cheque you are worrying about, here it is," he added, drawing an oblong slip of paper from the pigeonhole of his desk, tearing it in two, and throwing it into the waste-paper basket. "A year ago, you told me that the one thing in the world you needed was money. Well, aren't you getting it? You have only to run straight with us here, and to work in my interests in another quarter that you know of, and your fortune is made. Cheer up and look as though you realised it." Dredlinton crossed and uncrossed his legs nervously. His eyes were bloodshot and his eyelids puffy. Notwithstanding careful grooming, he had the air of a man running fast to seed. "I am nervous this morning, Phipps," he confided. "Had a bad night. Every one I've come across, too, lately, seems to be cursing the B. & I." "Let them curse," was the equable reply. "We can afford to hear a few harsh words when we are making money on such a scale." "Yes, but how long is it going to last?" Dredlinton asked fretfully. "Did you see the questions that were asked in the House yesterday?" Phipps leaned back in his chair and laughed quietly.