'Oh,' said the G. B., 'I'll trust to your honour. Between gentlemen,
you know--and ladies'--he made a beautiful bow to Alice--'a word is as
good as a bond.'

Then he took out a sovereign, and held it in his hand while he talked to
us. He gave us a lot of good advice about not going into business too
young, and about doing our lessons--just swatting a bit, on our own
hook, so as not to be put in a low form when we went back to school.
And all the time he was stroking the sovereign and looking at it as if
he thought it very beautiful. And so it was, for it was a new one.
Then at last he held it out to Dicky, and when Dicky put out his hand
for it the G. B. suddenly put the sovereign back in his pocket.

'No,' he said, 'I won't give you the sovereign. I'll give you fifteen
shillings, and this nice bottle of scent. It's worth far more than the
five shillings I'm charging you for it. And, when you can, you shall
pay me back the pound, and sixty per cent interest--sixty per cent,
sixty per cent.'

'What's that?' said H. O.

The G. B. said he'd tell us that when we paid back the sovereign, but
sixty per cent was nothing to be afraid of. He gave Dicky the money.
And the boy was made to call a cab, and the G. B. put us in and shook
hands with us all, and asked Alice to give him a kiss, so she did, and
H. O. would do it too, though his face was dirtier than ever. The G. B.
paid the cabman and told him what station to go to, and so we went home.

That evening Father had a letter by the seven-o'clock post. And when he