"I'll gladly help you," said Comethup. "How much money do you want? I am afraid I haven't very much."
"Well, have you got five pounds you can spare?"
Now it happened that within the past year Miss Charlotte Carlaw, in the pride of her heart, had been in the habit of breaking her promise to the captain and forwarding sums of money to Comethup whenever she could find an excuse for so doing--whenever, for instance, he had made a big score at cricket, or had written her a letter with which she was particularly pleased. Moreover, as every bill--and they were not many--which he contracted was promptly paid, without question, by his aunt, he found it somewhat difficult, as a mere schoolboy, to get rid of all the money he had, although it seemed to slip through his fingers pretty quickly. Only on the previous day Miss Carlaw had sent him twenty pounds in bank notes, with a message to the effect that, as he was visiting the captain, he would probably want some money to spend, and ten pounds was for that; and, as he was now a gentleman at large and his school days were left behind, he would want some further money in his pocket, and ten pounds was for that.
"I don't think five pounds is much good to you," said Comethup. "Hadn't you better take ten?"
"By all means," exclaimed Brian, with much alacrity. "Hadn't the least idea you'd got so much. By George! I shall be a millionaire; ten pounds will last a deuce of a long time."
Comethup put his hand into his pocket and produced the money. "Don't you think," he said, "that it would be better for you to go and see my aunt--_your_ aunt, too, you know--and tell her what you mean to do? She's awfully good, and I know that she----"
"No, thanks, I'd rather not; I had one experience with the old girl, and that was enough. Oh, I'll get on capitally. And if I want anything more, I can easily come to you. You won't mind, will you?"
"Not a bit," said Comethup. "I'll give you our address in London, and you can write to me. I shall be up there in a week's time."
He wrote it down on the back of an envelope and gave it to Brian. They shook hands again quite heartily, and Brian, retaining Comethup's hand for a moment, said, in his friendly fashion: "Wish me luck. I'm going to set the Thames on fire, if ever a man set it flaring yet. You know what that means, don't you? They say that of any one who's going to do something more wonderful than any one else. I know what's in me; I know what I can do. And that wretched old sleepy hollow where you and I once lived, Comethup--I've done with the infernal place. It shall be proud of me some day--proud to think that I lived there, that I was born there; oh, I'll make them whisper my name with awe, and condone all my past offences. Good-bye, old chap; it's awfully good of you, and some day, when I'm rich and famous, I'll pay it back--I will, indeed. Good-bye; I'll write and let you know how I get on. But you'll hear of me--oh, you'll hear of me."