drily. "And how long had you been like that?"

"Two or three days--more or less," answered Lauriston. "You see, I've been
expecting money for more than a week--that was it."

"Has it come?" she asked.

"No--it hasn't," he replied, with a candid blush. "That's a fact!"

"Will it come--soon?" she demanded.

"By George!--I hope so!" he exclaimed. "I'll be hard up again, if it
doesn't."

"And then you offer to do for five what you might easily get ten for!" she
said, almost reproachfully. "Let me give you a bit of advice--never accept
a first offer. Stand out for a bit more--especially from anybody like my
cousin Melky."

"Is Melky a keen one, then?" enquired Lauriston.

"Melky's a young Jew," said Zillah, calmly. "I'm not--I'm half-and-half--a
mixture. My mother was Jew--my father wasn't. Well--if you want money to
be going on with, and you've got any more gold watches, you know where to
come. Don't you ever go with empty pockets in London while you've got a
bit of property to pledge! You're not a Londoner, of course?"

"I'm a Scotsman!" said Lauriston.

"To be sure--I knew it by your tongue," asserted Zillah. "And trying to