"He's a poor half-witted fellow, an old friend of mine, Duchess," said Lloyd with the utmost calmness. "He is a man of family, and once had a large fortune; but he lost every sixpence on the turf, and that quite turned his brain. He's eccentric, as you see, but perfectly harmless; a few of us make him a little allowance, on which he lives, and he thinks this gives him a claim upon us, poor fellow! I--Yes, yes; I'm coming!" he called to Mr. Foxey, for that gentleman had recommenced bellowing, "Hi, Lloyd!" with redoubled vehemence; "I'm coming!--I think I had better go down and calm him, Duchess, if you will excuse me." And with a bow Gilbert Lloyd leisurely retreated from the stand. He smiled so pleasantly--he knew he was still under observation--at Mr. Foxey, who was waiting for him in front, that that worthy, who had been somewhat doubtful of the wisdom of the course he had pursued, felt perfectly reassured and said, "Hallo, Gil., my boy! sorry to call you away from such stunnin' company; but I want a word with you." It was not until they had walked a few paces and were well out of sight of the people in the stand that Lloyd caught his companion tightly by the arm, and said, "You infernal drunken old idiot, how dare you come and annoy me when you saw me with my friends?" "Come, I say, drop that," said Foxey, "you're pullin' my arm off; don't you hear?" "You scoundrel, I'll have your head off if you don't take care! What fool's game is up now? What do you want with me? Have you anything really to say, or is it only to repeat the rubbish of last night?" "What rubbish? what did I say last night? I didn't--no, of course I didn't; I recollect now. I know what I'm doin' fast enough, and what I can do." "And I know what I can do, and what I will do too, if you interrupt me again when I'm talking with friends, and that is, have you moved off the course by the gend'armes as a drunken nuisance." "O, that's it, is it?" said Foxey, glowering at him, and speaking in a dull thick voice. "Moved off the course! a drunken nuisance, eh? You'll sing a very different toon to this, Master Lloyd, before I've done with you. O, you can't come the high jeff over me," he continued, raising his tone; "for all your standin' in with big swells now; we know what you were once; we know--" "Will you be quiet, you old fool, and say what you want?" said Gilbert, turning fiercely upon him. "What I want? Ah, that's more like it! What I want? Well, that's easily told, and that's more than most people can say. What I want is money." "I gave you money last night--more than you can have spent, or ought to have spent." "Ah, that's more like it: what I _can_ spend--Well, no matter. However, that's not the way I mean in which I want money. Look here, Gilbert Lloyd; I'm tired of this cadging life; I'm sick of hikin' up and down from one gamblin'-place to another; I'm disgusted with the Continent, and the foreigners, all the lot of 'em."