A ' TID Y ' PR A C TITIONER . 5 1 



' Mr. William Day, I think V 



On being informed that he had made a good guess 

 — that I was in reality the very person, and that I 

 wished to know the nature of the business he had with 

 me, if any, he said : 



' I am the holder of a bill of yours for £300, over- 

 due.' 



I was annoyed, and replied plainly : 



' If you hold such a document it is a forgery, for I 

 have but one bill out in the world, and that is one to 

 Mr. J. B. Starkey for £300, which is not due.' 



To this he immediately replied : 



' There are two ; come to my office and I will show 

 both of them to you. ' 



' If you have a second one,' I answered, ' it must 

 be an old bill that has been already paid.' 



' No,' he said ; ' there are two, and I have advanced 

 the money on both.' 



This I knew to be an untruth, contradicted as it 

 afterwards was by Mr. Starkey himself. He (Mr. 

 Starkey) assured me over and over again he would 

 see his 'tidy' little friend, who would immediately 

 give up the old one, which should be forwarded to me. 

 On this understanding, unfortunately, I allowed the 

 matter to drift, till I had a writ. Starkey then came 

 and implored me to take no notice of it, assuring me 

 that the bill should be paid, and that the old and new 

 bills should be given up together. I foolishly trusted 

 to his word, allowing the thing to remain open until 



4—2 



