The Portland daily press., 1880-09-18

''And now, Mr.. Quisby, let us get to our
business" said l. with considerable
amount of firmness.
| Certainly, my dear Mr.. Spatchberry,"
| replied that gentleman; this matter has
been for long time in hand, and | can as
| sure you, am as anxious as you are that
| it should he wound up before @epart. This
| will, trust, be our last business meeting;
| not, l trust, our last meeting as friends.
| You know your dear uncle and l, Mr..
| Spatchberry-Ah. have another glass of
| that excellent wine, sir You must excuse
this weakness even in professional man,
Mr.. SpatcHberry." AID the rascal at
tempted t. wipe away a tear
| He kept on muddling and Numbering
| in this fashion. He was always losing pa
| pers, producing the wrong ones, and saying
he had left his documents at his private
residence. When l asked for particular pa
| pers he said, "Yes, my dear sir; | am COM
| ing to that presently" But he never came
to it. When asked him to produce state
ment of the accounts he said he had left THE
| book at home, but expected the boy with it
| every moment. AT last he pulled out his
| watch, and said,-
| 'Dear! dear! it is just 4 o'clock. 1 fear
we shall be obliged to have another meeting
| to finally wind matters up. find have an
| other ,ppointment, and am rather late as
it is. l am sure you will excuse me, my
dear Mr.. Spatchberry, your uncle's old
friend, you know"
| had been gradually boiling as l listened
| to his impotent excuses and his puerie
drivel during the whole time had been Sit
| ting with him; and now-when / found he
was as far off the 'ettlement as ever-that /
should have to put off my wedding all ON
| accou of his procrastination and vacilla-
tion-my indignation knew no bounds.
No, sire' l said, bringing my fist down
| with such bang on his table that l sent
bots of ink all over his buff wais tcoat, and
pens flying all over his room. 81 don't stir
from this room till you render some account
| of your executorship! 1 believe you have
| spent the money, sir. l believe you have
concealed some documents and tempered
| with others. l believe you to be liar, and
a S inlier, and a thief! There, sir! don't
move from here, and you don't move from
| here, sir, un ii you give me some satisfacto-
| ry explanation
my dear Mr.. Spatchberry,'' said he, grad
ually edging towards the door, as he put on
his hat, pray calm yourself. You'll be sor-
ry that you've said all these hard things
against your unce's old friend. If you'll
come and see me tomorrow my clerk will
| bring all the books. will draw cheque
| for the amount due to you, and everything
Will be right. But you must really excuse
me. 1t is quarter of an hour past my time
| now
| Tomorrow, Mr.. Quisby, will be too later'
| roared. ''Now, sir; n w! At this very
moment, will have settlement! Excuse
| you, sir? Certainly not,'-
Quisby had opened the door and was Gid
ing into the lobby by that time. took up
my hat, determining to walk with him, and
| give him bit OF my mind by the way. He
opened the inner door, and then returned,
| as if he were about to make some proposi-
1 a n r,1np
| REALLY, Mr.. Spatchberry, you must ex-
cuse me. Good morning."
| Excuse you, sir! Mop roared. 81 will
follow you wherever you go. l will cling to
| you, and give you in charge of the first DO
| liceman l meet
| With that made rush at him, but he
was too quick for me. l just slipped through
the inner door, catching the handle in nv
coat-tail pocket, and pulling it to behind
me. had just touched his coat, the pom
derous massive, be-clamped and be-riveted
| iron-plated oak was savagely flung back on
me like sledge hammer, knocking me al
most senseless, and fattening all the breath
out OF my body. heard the latch go with
cruel glibness, and l knew that my case
was hopeless. say that was knocked al
most senseless, because Pm certain didn't
lose my senses for the first few minutes.
and after the shock of the first blow was
over, have distinct recollection of hear
| ing the wheels of Hanson cab speeding
over the stones in the lane below.
In spite of all my pain and annoyance,
believe my first thought was of the very
comical nature of my position. Ny nose,
which, by the way, is prominent and
somewhat well-shapen organ, was fattened
against sharp-edged rivet. 1t was bleed
ing, but, l am glad to say, not broken. The
back OF my head felt as though it were COM
ing Off; a brass knocker was smashed into
my cerVlcal Vertebre, or my cervical verte-
brse into brass knocker, l could not say
which; one eye gazed on the outer world
through the letter-slit, the other was exposed
to terrible draught by means of crack in
the timber of the door. There was a door
handle driven violently into the small of my
back; there was the mark of keyhole in
dehbly impressed on my stomach, and one
OF my ribs felt as though it was broken NV
1eet were turned in to such an extent that I
did not know which were my heels and
which my Toes, and my legs felt as if the
calves had changed places with the shins. |
was pressed so tightly against the inner
door that could feel the grain OF the wood.
and knew the position of every knot and ir-
regularity in the surface. Indeed I bad
map of the whole country most accurately
embossed on my back. l had one frort tooth
broken and thu lee loosened, and [ had the
feeling as if all my buttons were sewn tight
ly onto my skin. A fly was craving slowly
over my forehead, but could not raise nv
hand to brush him off. l had not space to
Initiate my lungs properly, and my only sup |
ply of fresh al. was through the letter-slit.
This was nice situation to be in. GER |
tainly. 1t would be bad enough of itself, |
but when, added to this, had the reflection |
that my confidential lawyer was evidently |
the most internal scamp that ever existed, |
and that my marriage would have to be put |
off, indeed would probably never take place,
ground my loosened teeth with rage, and |
would have stamped my feet with vexation,
but had no room to stamp them. A ray |
OF hope comes to me; l can just get my hand |
high enough to reach the latch, and if that |
rascally Quisby had only slammed the door,
l might have chance of liberty even now. |
Alas! alas! I find that double-dyed villain
not only slammed the door but locked it as |
well. give up all hope of being let out for |
many days, for know there are few people
come up and down this staircase, and none |
ever venture so high as the third floor. l |
wonder what time it is. My watch has |
stopped, know. for the glass is smashed, |
and | can feel bits of it working through |
my walstcoat lining and pricking me. 1 am
quite losing all power of speech. My breath |
is getting so short that could not possibly |
scream if l tried. hear footsteps ascend |
ing the staircase. l know they will not |
iously. Yes, they are coming up. Slowly,
steadily, YEARLY, clump, clump, clump. 1t
is the postman. He approaches Quisby's |
door. He pops letter through the slit. The |
corner of it goes right into smy eye, and it
iutters down to my feet. 1t is letter from
Pet. know IL is. 1t is scented with her
favorite perfume. recollect now she said
she would post me letter round to Quisby's |
containing something of the utmost impor-
lance. Here's nice position to be in With
an important letter from your ladylove with
in yard of your hand, and you are unable |
to reach it! l try to speak to the postman,
but my tongue refuses to articulate. l give |
faint groan. He stops, says something
about "Hardenne's ghost again." and trips
lightly down the staircase.
recollect having read somewhere of
man being bricked up, and of his making
one gigantic exertion, where he discovered
the weak point of the brick-work, and bring
ing the whole fabric about his ears, and es-
Gaping from his prison. l wonder, if l were
to flex all my muscles at once, and distend
my body, should l be able to burst one door