"I shall be passing presently, and I'll call," said Dick,
winking his eye significantly. "The waiter's quite help-
less. The goods are gone, Fred, and there's an end of it."

In point of fact, it would seem that the waiter felt this
wholesome truth, for when he returned for the empty plates
and dishes and was informed by Mr. Swiveller with dig-
nified carelessness that he would call and settle when he
should be passing presently, he displayed some perturba-
tion of spirit, and muttered a few remarks about "payment
on delivery," and "no trust," and other unpleasant sub-
jects, but was fain to content himself with inquiring at
what hour it was likely the gentleman would call, in order
that being personally responsible for the beef, greens, and
sundries, he might take care to be in the way at the time.
Mr. Swiveller, after mentally calculating his engagements
to a nicety, replied that he should look in at from two
minutes before six to seven minutes past; and the man
disappearing with this feeble consolation, Richard Swiveller
took a greasy memorandum-book from his pocket and made
an entry therein.

"Is that a reminder, in case you should forget to call?"
said Trent, with a sneer.

"Not exactly, Fred," replied the imperturbable Richard,
continuing to write with a business-like air, "I enter in this
little book the names of the streets that I can't go down
while the shops are open. This dinner to-day closes Long
Acre. I bought a pair of boots in Great Queen Street last
week, and made that no thoroughfare too. There's only
one avenue to the Strand left open now, and I shall have
to stop up that to-night with a pair of gloves. The roads
are closing so fast in every direction, that in about a
month's time, unless my aunt sends me a remittance, I shall
have to go three or four miles out of town to get over the
way."

"There's no fear of her failing, in the end?" said Trent.

"Why, I hope not," returned Mr. Swiveller, "but the
average number of letters it takes to soften her is six, and
this time we have got as far as eight without any effect at
all. I'll write another to-morrow morning. I mean to
blot it a good deal and shake some water over it out of the
pepper-castor, to make it look penitent. 'I'm in such a
state of mind that I hardly know what I write '--blot--' if
you could see me at this minute shedding tears for my past
misconduct '--pepper-castor--' my hand trembles when I

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