as studying the practice
of the law. It was Saturday; and except that he had a matter of four
hundred pounds in his pocket, which it was his duty to hand over to the
British Linen Company's Bank, he had the whole afternoon at his
disposal. He went by Princes Street enjoying the mild sunshine, and the
little thrill of easterly wind that tossed the flags along that terrace
of palaces, and tumbled the green trees in the garden. The band was
playing down in the valley under the Castle; and when it came to the
turn of the pipers, he heard their wild sounds with a stirring of the
blood. Something distantly martial woke in him; and he thought of Miss
Mackenzie, the daughter of a retired captain of Highlanders, whom he was
to meet that day at dinner in his father's house.

Now, it is undeniable that he should have gone directly to the bank; but
right in the way stood the billiard-room of the hotel where Alan was
almost certain to be found; and the temptation proved too strong. He
entered the billiard-room, and was instantly greeted by his friend, cue
in hand.

"Nicholson," said he, "I want you to lend me a pound or two till
Monday."

"You've come to the right shop, haven't you?" returned John. "I have
twopence."

"Nonsense," said Alan. "You can get some. Go and borrow at your
tailor's; they all do it. Or I'll tell you what: pop your watch."

"O yes, I daresay," said John. "And how about my father?"

"How is he to know? He doesn't wind it up for you at night, does he?"
inquired Alan, at which John guffawed. "No, seriously; I am in a fix,"
continued the tempter. "I have lost some money to a man here. I'll give
it you to-night, and you can get the heirloom out again on Monday. Come;
it's a small service, after all. I would do a good deal more for you."

Whereupon John went forth, and pawned his gold watch under the assumed
name of John Froggs, 85 Pleasance. But the nervousness that assailed him
at the door of that inglorious haunt, a pawnshop, and the effort
necessary to invent the pseudonym (which somehow seemed to him a
necessary part of the procedure), had taken more time than he imagined;
and when he returned to the billiard-room with the spoils, the bank had
already closed its doors.

This was a shrewd knock. "A piece of business had been neglected." He
heard these words in his father's trenchant voice, and trembled, and
then dodged the thought. After all, who was to know? He must carry four
hundred pounds about wit