"And what's more," Denry pursued, "I'll collect 'em for five per cent,
instead of seven-and-a-half. Give me a free hand, and see if I don't get
better results than _he_ did. And I'll settle accounts every month,
or week if you like, instead of once a quarter, like _he_ does."

The bright and beautiful idea had smitten Denry like some heavenly
arrow. It went through him and pierced Mrs Codleyn with equal success.
It was an idea that appealed to the reason, to the pocket, and to the
instinct of revenge. Having revengefully settled the hash of Mr Duncalf,
they went into church.

No need to continue this part of the narrative. Even the text of the
rector's sermon has no bearing on the issue.

In a week there was a painted board affixed to the door of Denry's
mother:

E.H. MACHIN, _Rent Collector and Estate Agent_.

There was also an advertisement in the _Signal_, announcing that
Denry managed estates large or small.


III

The next crucial event in Denry's career happened one Monday morning, in
a cottage that was very much smaller even than his mother's. This
cottage, part of Mrs Codleyn's multitudinous property, stood by itself
in Chapel Alley, behind the Wesleyan chapel; the majority of the
tenements were in Carpenter's Square, near to. The neighbourhood was not