wondering what he could do, and the more he wondered the less light he
saw through the fog. He put on his hat and went into the other room.

'Henry,' he said to his partner, 'do you know anybody who would lend me
twenty thousand pounds?'

Henry laughed. The idea of anybody lending that sum of money, except on
the very best security, was in itself extremely comic.

'Do you want it to-day?' he said.

'Yes, I want it to-day.'

'Well, I don't know any better plan than to go out into the street and
ask every man you meet if he has that sum about him. You are certain to
encounter men who have very much more than twenty thousand pounds, and
perhaps one of them, struck by your very sane appearance at the moment,
might hand over the sum to you. I think, however, George, that you would
be more successful if you met the capitalist in a secluded lane some
dark night, and had a good reliable club in your hand.'

'You are right,' said George. 'Of course, there is just as much
possibility of my reaching the moon as getting that sum of money on
short notice.'

'Yes, or on long notice either, I imagine. I know plenty of men who have
the money, but I wouldn't undertake to ask them for it, and I don't
believe you would. Still there is nothing like trying. He who tries may
succeed, but no one can succeed who doesn't try. Why not go to old
Longworth? He could let you have the money in a moment if he wanted to do