"Coming immediately," said the clerk; and two minutes later there did actually appear in the doorway the large figure of an old solicitor who had been consulting with the lawyer himself.

The lawyer was a little, squat, bald man, with a dark, reddish beard, light-colored long eyebrows, and an overhanging brow.

He was attired as though for a wedding, from his cravat to his double watch-chain and varnished boots.

His face was clever and manly, but his dress was dandified and in bad taste.