a few waggon-loads of silks and ribbons to such
a well-backed capitalist, where as much individual
secrecy of operation, with as much promptitude
of payment, was ensured, as if the
transaction had been one where stolen property
was passing between a thief and a receiver. In
this case, although caution and secrecy were
observed, there was no pressure of any criminal
law and its administration which rendered this
absolutely necessary. The parties to the operation,
if any notice had been taken of it, were,
on the one hand, an established tradesman of
name and repute, who was clearing out old
goods to make room for new ones; and, on the
other hand, an equally established auctioneer, of
equal name and repute, who was well supported
by a spotless and powerful banking-house, and
who was receiving and dealing with these goods
as per instructions delivered. It is true that
after the sale is concluded, and the advance of
two-thirds cost value with interest is deducted,
together with certain sale-room charges and
commission, there will be no balance worth
mentioning to hand over to the seller of the property.
This will involve a considerable loss that
must fall upon somebody's shoulders, and
not, perhaps, upon the shoulders of the
tradesman who has secured and disposed of
the money paid in advance; but this is no
business of any impertinent magistrates, any
prying police-officers, or any troublesome policemen.

If, in the fulness of time, and the rottenness
of a trading smash, such an habitual indulgence
in secret sale-room dissipation is found to lead
to something very like a fraudulent bankruptcy,
there are the proper tribunals appointed to
deal with this difficulty, and the fearful
penalty of a three months' suspension of certificate.

This was the ever ready means of converting
heavy stock-in-trade into portable and circulating
cash, of which Mr. Lilyseed had very
frequently availed himself. He had not been under
the same necessity to preserve an impenetrable
secrecy, which weighs upon most traders who
drink at the same fountain. The money he had
received from these sales had been faithfully
applied to his creditors, as far as it would go, and
the balances which it left against him were of
little importance in the case of so good a
customer. The money he had received from the
Happy-go-Lucky Fire Insurance Company after
the devouring element had feasted upon its
prey, was thus left securely in his possession, as
a basis for future operations. This was no
inconsiderable sum, for the account of losses that
he rendered exhibited the utmost amount of
property destroyed at the utmost of prime cost
valuation. He always, somehow or other, forgot
to mention the waggon-loads of goods that had
been disposed of at the sale-rooms, and no one
ever stepped forward to jog his memory. The
Happy-go-Lucky Insurance Company never
expressed any doubts, or raised any difficulty about
paying Mr. Lilyseed's alarming claim, or if they
did, there was no one to carry them beyond the
closed doors of the board-room. The system
they worked upon was supposed to produce ultimate
profit out of present losses; and in a
trading association which spent an enormous
sum in advertising every year, it was, perhaps,
wisely thought that the prompt discharge of
large claims was the best advertisement to
increase an already gigantic business. A favourable
feature in Lilyseed's case was the fact that
his account-books were never destroyed nor even
mutilated. The provincial gas explosions and
fires, as well as the metropolitan burn-out, had
all occurred at night, and at an hour when the
books and papers were all secured in an invulnerable
iron cupboard. This may have had its desired
effect upon the minds of the insurance
managers: in fact, it must have had an influence.

If Mr. Lilyseed was dissatisfied with the manner
in which the Happy-go-Lucky Company had
settled his last claim, it was not long before he
had substantial reason to be far more dissatisfied.
When his new shop was completed, and stocked
more closely with valuable goods than it had
ever been before, he had the unexpected mortification
of having his insurance rejected. The
Happy-go-Lucky Company had become prudent
at last, and while they made no remark
about past calamities, they steadily refused to
receive any present or future premiums from
Mr. Lilyseed. The game was a losing one,
regarded from every point of view; and years after
the clerks in the office had made up their minds
upon this point, the board of directors had
become dimly aware of it. Mr. Lilyseed was
politely advised to try a few other large offices in
the same line of business; but he was too clever
and complete a tradesman to give himself any
such unnecessary trouble. He knew it would
be fruitless, and he kept his money. It is
strange that from that moment he was never
troubled with the devouring element.

A few months passed in what may be barely
called a legitimate trade, brought on another
attack of Mr. Lilyseed's speculative energy. It
wanted but a few weeks to the fourth day of a
certain January on which most of those
manufacturers' bills would have to be paid, that had
been drawn for the new stock-in-trade of the
clever and complete tradesman. Mr. Lilyseed
found himself very rapidly getting into a corner.
It was not a corner in which he suffered from
the scarcity of money, but a corner in which he
had plenty of that coveted article, and wished
to keep it. The cloven hoof began to be a little
—just a little—apparent in Mr. Lilyseed's
little counting-house. He saw no chance
of preying any longer upon the Happy-go-Lucky,
or any similar company, and he began
to turn his own attention towards his creditors.

Mr. Lilyseed, for once, took a very unusual
step with him—he consulted his solicitor, Mr.
Darky. Mr. Darky was not a professional
gentleman of any very great moral principle, but he
was thoroughly grounded in the etiquette and
routine of his business.