ECONOMY AND CREDIT. 179 



would sell those things sharp. I don't quite like thi 

 looks of things ; people are throwing birds in the 

 market in all directions, and I heard that up in the 

 Karoo the drought is so bad, that they are letting them 

 go for a mere song." Juvenis is now beginning heartily 

 to wish he had never given that nod to the auctioneer 

 that made him the possessor of these birds. The three 

 months' credit he got has nearly run out, and he sees 

 nothing for it but to ask the auctioneer to renew the 

 bill. To this the auctioneer probably consents, after 

 some demur, but insists on £100 of it being paid. 

 Juvenis is now driven to going to his merchant, and 

 getting an advance of this amount on his next plucking. 

 The merchant looks grave, tells him that the late fall in 

 feathers is much heavier than the papers admitted, that 

 his private advices from London are that they are likely 

 to go even lower in the next few months ; but he knows 

 Juvenis' s word can be relied on, and writes him the 

 necessary cheque. 



Juvenis now begins to see that it was no slip of 

 Mr. W.'s and Mr. S.'s, the two dealers at the sale, that 

 they did not buy. In fact, if he had only known it, 

 those men had hardly bought a head of stock for them- 

 selves for months past. They had long since seen an 

 unsteadiness in the commercial barometer. The last 

 bank statements had shown them much, numbers of 



