e brass rail in the window, thrust it upon the astonished
Bindle, and fled into the back room.

For some seconds Bindle had stood looking from the fruit to the door
through which his brother-in-law had disappeared, then, replacing it on
the rack, he had quietly left the shop, muttering: "It takes a long
time to get to know even yer own relations. Queer ole card, 'Earty."

CHAPTER XII

BINDLE AGREES TO BECOME A MILLIONAIRE

I

As the intervals between Mr. Hearty's invitations for Sunday evenings
lengthened, Bindle became a more frequent visitor at Dick Little's
flat, where he could always be sure of finding jovial kindred spirits.

Both Mrs. Hearty and Millie missed Bindle, and broadly hinted the fact
to Mr. Hearty; but he enjoyed too well his Sunday evening hymns to
sacrifice them on the altar of hospitality. Millie in particular
resented the change. She disliked intensely the hymn-singing, and she
was greatly attached to "Uncle Joe."

At Dick Little's flat Bindle found ample compensation for the loss of
Mr. Hearty's very uncordial hospitality.

"Mrs. Bindle ain't at 'er best Sunday evenin's," he had confided to
Dick Little. "'Er soul seems to sort of itch a bit an' 'er not able to
scratch it."

He was always assured of a welcome at Chelsea, and the shout that
invariably greeted his entrance flattered him.

"Different from ole 'Earty's 'Good-evenin', Joseph,'" he would remark.
"I'd like 'Earty to meet this little lot."

One Sunday evening, about nine o'clock, Bindle made his way round to
the flat, and found Dick Little alone with his brother Tom, who was
spending the week-end in town. Bindle had not previously met Tom
Little, who, however, greeted him warmly as an old friend.

"P'r'aps I'd better be goin'," suggested Bindle tentatively, "seein' as
you're----"

"Not a bit of it," broke in Dick Little; "sit down, mix yourself a
drink; there are the cigars."

Bindle did as he was bid.

"We were talking about Gravy when you came in," remarked Tom Little.

"An' very nice too, with a cut from the joint an' two vegs.," remarked
Bindle pleasantly.

Dick Little explained that "Gravy" was the nickname by which Mr.
Reginald Graves was known to his fellow-undergraduates. "We're about
fed up with him at Joe's," Tom Little added.

"An' 'oo might Joe be, sir, when 'e's at 'ome, an' properly labelled?"
enquired Bindle.

"It's St. Joseph's College, Oxford, where my brother is," explained
Dick Litt