When they had all taken their seats, a few moments of silence ensued. This was occasioned by the necessity which arose for the three smokers vigorously to puff their pipes, which had burnt low; and perhaps there was some little reluctance, on the part of Mr. Caske and his friends, to resume the conversation which had been in progress previous to the entrance of Mr. Durnford. When the pipes had been blown up, and were once more in full blast, there was no longer any excuse for silence. Mr. Caske, being the host, was then the first to speak. He had known his minister too well to invite him to partake of the refreshment with which he was regaling his friends.

He was a small, rotund man, with shining, rosy cheeks, and a husky voice.

"All well with you, Mr. Durnford?"

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Caske; but I am afraid I intrude?"

He was conscious of some constraint on the part of the company.

"I fear," he resumed, "that I have interrupted some important business?"

and he looked around with an air of enquiry.

Mr. Caske airily waved his long pipe.

"Oh no, sir," he said, lightly, "nothing of consequence"--here he glanced at his friends--"we were, ah--talking about our friend, ah--"the Golden Shoemaker.""

Mr. Caske was secretly anxious to elicit the minister"s opinion of "Cobbler" Horn.

"Ah," exclaimed Mr. Durnford, with an intonation in which sarcasm might not have been difficult to detect, "and what about "the Golden Shoemaker"?"

Mr. Caske looked at Mr. Botterill and Mr. Kershaw; and Mr. Kershaw and Mr. Botterill looked first at each other, and then at Mr. Caske.

"Well," replied Mr. Caske, at length, "he"s being more talked about than ever."

"Well, now," asked the minister, "as to what in particular?"

"Chiefly as to the way he"s squandering his money."

"Oh, I wasn"t aware Mr. Horn had become a spendthrift! You must have been misinformed, Mr. Caske," and Mr. Durnford looked the brewer intently in the face.

"Ah," said Mr. Caske, somewhat uneasily, "you don"t take me, sir. It"s not that he spends his money. It"s the rate at which he gives it away. He"s simply flinging it from him right and left!"

As he spoke, Mr. Caske swelled with righteous indignation. Money, in his eyes, was a sacred thing--to be guarded with care, and parted with reluctantly. No working man could have been more careful with regard to the disposal of each individual shilling of his weekly wages, than was Mr. Caske in the handling of his considerable wealth.

"He"s simply tossing his money from him, sir," he reiterated, "as if it were just a heap of leaves."

"Yes," said Mr. Botterill, "and it doesn"t seem right."

Mr. Botterill was a tall man, with glossy black hair and whiskers, and an inflamed face. He seemed never to be quite at ease in his mind, which, perhaps, was not matter for surprise.

Mr. Kershaw next felt that it was his turn to speak.

"Ah," he said, "this kind of thing makes a false impression, you know!"

Though a man of moderate bodily dimensions, Mr. Kershaw had a largeness of manner which seemed to magnify him far beyond his real proportions. He spread himself abroad, and made the most of himself. He had actually a large head, which was bald on the top, with dark bushy hair round about.

His face, which was deeply pitted with small-pox, was adorned with mutton-chop whiskers, from between which a very prominent nose and chin thrust themselves forth.

"Yes," broke in Mr. Caske, "people will be apt to think that everybody who has a little bit of money ought to do as he does. But, if that were the case, where should I be, for instance?" and Mr. Caske swelled himself out more than ever.

Mr. Durnford had hitherto listened in silence. Though inclined to speak in very strong terms, he had restrained himself with a powerful effort. He knew that if he allowed these men to proceed, they would soon fill their cup.

"Well, gentlemen," he now remarked quietly, "there is force in what you say."

Mr. Caske and his two friends regarded their minister with a somewhat doubtful look. Mr. Caske seemed to think that Mr. Durnford"s remark made it necessary for him to justify the att.i.tude he had a.s.sumed with regard to "Cobbler" Horn.

"Perhaps, sir," he said, "you don"t know in what a reckless fashion our friend is disposing of his money?"

"Well, Mr. Caske, let us hear," said the minister, settling himself to listen.

"Well, sir, you know about his having given up a great part of his fortune to some girl in America, because she was the sweetheart of a cousin of his who died."

"Yes," said Mr. Durnford, quietly, "I"ve heard of that."

"Well, there was a mad trick, to begin with," resumed Mr. Caske, in a severe tone. "And then there"s that big house in the village which, it"s said, all belongs to him. He"s fitting it up to be a sort of home for street arabs and gipsy children; and it"s costing him thousands of pounds that he"ll never see again!"

"Yes, I know about that too."

"Then, you will, of course, be aware, sir, that he gives more to our church funds than any half-dozen of us put together."

"Yes," broke in Mr. Kershaw, with his obtrusive nose. "He thinks to shame the rest of us, no doubt. And they say now that he"s going to employ two town missionaries and a Bible-woman out of his own pocket. Is it true, think you, sir?"

"It is not unlikely," was the quiet reply.

There was a note of warning in both Mr. Durnford"s words and tone; but the admonitory sign pa.s.sed un.o.bserved.

"Well, then," resumed Mr. Caske, "think of the money he gave away during the winter. He seemed to want to do everything himself. There was hardly anything left for any one else to do."

Mr. Durnford smiled inwardly at the idea of Mr. Caske making a grievance of the fact that there had been left to him no occasion for benevolence.

"It was nothing but blankets, and coals, and money," continued Mr. Caske.

"And then the families he has picked out of the slums and sent across the sea! And it"s said he"ll pay anybody"s debts, and gives to any beggar, and will lend anybody as much money as they like to ask."

At this point Mr. Botterill once more put in his word.

"I heard, only the other day, that Mr. Horn had announced his intention of presenting the town with a Free Library and a Public Park."

"It"s like his impudence!" exclaimed Mr. Kershaw.

"After that I can believe anything," cried Mr. Caske. "The man ought to be stopped. It"s very much to be regretted that he ever came into the money.

And what a fool he is from his own standpoint! When he has got rid of all his money, it will be doubly hard for him to go back to poverty again."

Mr. Caske was speaking somewhat at random.

"Don"t you think, sir," he concluded, with a facetious air, "that Providence sometimes makes a mistake in these matters?"

The question was addressed to the minister.

"No, never!" exclaimed Mr. Durnford, with an emphasis which caused Mr.