deal. On the other hand I shall gain the nicest woman, and
surely it must be right to take, though it be for life, the nicest
woman in the world. She will supply what is wanting in my character;
together we shall attain a goal; alone I shall attain none. In twenty
years I shall be a foolish old bachelor whom no one cares for. I have
stated both cases--on which side does the balance turn?"

The balance still stood at equipoise. A formless moon soared through
a white cloud wrack, and broken gold lay in the rising tide. The
sonorous steps of the policeman on the bridge startled him, and
obeying the impulse of the moment, he gave the officer the letter,
asking him to post it. He waited for some minutes, as if stupefied,
pursuing the consequences of his act even into distant years. No, he
would not send the letter just yet. But the officer had disappeared
in some by-streets, and followed by the spirits of future loves, Mike
ran till he reached the post-office, where he waited in nervous
apprehension. Presently steps were heard in the stillness, and
getting between him and the terrible slot, Mike determined to fight
for his letter if it were refused him.

"I met you just now on the bridge and asked you to post a letter;
give it back to me, if you please. I've changed my mind."

The officer looked at him narrowly, but he took the proffered
shilling, and returned the letter.

"That was the narrowest squeak I've had yet," thought Mike.

When he returned to the cottage he found Frank and Thigh still
together.

"Mr. Beacham Brown," said Thigh, "is now half-proprietor of the
_Pilgrim_. The papers are signed. I came down quite prepared. I
believe in settling things right off. When Mrs. Escott comes in, we
will drink to the new _Pilgrim_, or, if you like it better, to the
old _Pilgrim_, who starts afresh with a new staff and scrip, and a
well-filled scrip too," he added, laughing vacuously.

"I hope," said Mike, "that Holloway is not the shrine he is
journeying towards."

"I hope your book won't bring us there."

"Why, I didn't know you were going to continue--"

"Oh, yes," said Thigh; "that is to say, if we can come to an
arrangement about the purchase," and Thigh lapsed into a stony
silence, as was his practice when conducting a bargain.

"By God!" Mike thought, "I wish we were playing at ecarte or poker.
I'm no good at business."

"Well," he said at last, "what terms do you propose to offer me?"

Thigh woke up.