'Let me see the man that will make me,' said Dockwrath.
Mr. Crump looked very apologetic and not very comfortable. 'There is a difficulty, gentlemen; there is a difficulty, indeed,' he said. 'The fact is, the gentleman should not have been showed into the room at all;' and he looked very angrily at his own servant, James.
'He said he was 'mercial,' said James. 'So he did. Now he says as how he's a lawyer. What's a poor man to do?'
'I'm a commercial lawyer,' said Dockwrath.
'He must leave the room, or I shall leave the house,' said Moulder.
'Gentlemen, gentlemen!' said Crump. 'This kind of thing does not happen often, and on this occasion I must try your kind patience. If Mr. Moulder would allow me to suggest that the commercial gentlemen should take their wine in the large drawing-room up stairs this evening, Mrs. C. will do her best to make it comfortable for them in five minutes. There of course they can be private.'
There was something in the idea of leaving Mr. Dockwrath alone in his glory which appeased the spirit of the great Moulder. He had known Crump, moreover, for many years, and was aware that it would be a dangerous, and probably an expensive proceeding to thrust out the attorney by violence. 'If the other gentlemen are agreeable, I am,' said he. The other gentlemen were agreeable, and, with the exception of Kantwise, they all rose from their chairs.
'I must say I think you ought to leave the room as you don't choose to abide by the rules,' said Johnson, addressing himself to Dockwrath.
'That's your opinion,' said Dockwrath.
'Yes, it is,' said Johnson. 'That's my opinion.'
'My own happens to be different,' said Dockwrath; and so he kept his chair.
'There, Mr. Crump,' said Moulder, taking half a crown from his pocket, and throwing it on the table. 'I shan't see you at a loss.'
'Thank you, sir,' said Mr. Crump; and he very humbly took up the money.
'I keep a little account for charity at home,' said Moulder.
'It don't run very high, do it?' asked Snengkeld, jocosely.
'Not out of the way, it don't. But now I shall have the pleasure of writing down in it that I paid half a crown for a lawyer who couldn't afford to settle his own dinner bill. Sir, we have the pleasure of wishing you a good night.'
'I hope you'll find the large drawing-room up stairs quite comfortable,' said Dockwrath.
And then they all marched out of the room, each with his own glass. Mr. Moulder leading the way with stately step. It was
