Imagine my dismay when he replied with a loud guffaw: "It's no
use. If you want the good old truth, I've got the chuck!"

August 7.--Mr. Perkupp has given me leave to postpone my holiday a
week, as we could not get the room. This will give us an
opportunity of trying to find an appointment for Willie before we
go. The ambition of my life would be to get him into Mr. Perkupp's
firm.

August 11.--Although it is a serious matter having our boy Lupin on
our hands, still it is satisfactory to know he was asked to resign
from the Bank simply because "he took no interest in his work, and
always arrived an hour (sometimes two hours) late." We can all
start off on Monday to Broadstairs with a light heart. This will
take my mind off the worry of the last few days, which have been
wasted over a useless correspondence with the manager of the Bank
at Oldham.

August 13.--Hurrah! at Broadstairs. Very nice apartments near the
station. On the cliffs they would have been double the price. The
landlady had a nice five o'clock dinner and tea ready, which we all
enjoyed, though Lupin seemed fastidious because there happened to
be a fly in the butter. It was very wet in the evening, for which
I was thankful, as it was a good excuse for going to bed early.
Lupin said he would sit up and read a bit.

August 14.--I was a little annoyed to find Lupin, instead of
reading last night, had gone to a common sort of entertainment,
given at the Assembly Rooms. I expressed my opinion that such