Indeed he had kept no account of these double-fanged little documents; he had signed them whenever told to do so, and had even been so preposterously foolish as to sign them in blank.

All he knew was that at the beginning of every quarter Mr.M'Ruen got nearly the half of his little modicum of salary, and that towards the middle of it he usually contrived to obtain an advance of some small, some very small sum, and that when doing so he always put his hand to a fresh bit of paper.
He was beginning to be heartily sick of the bill-discounter.

His intimacy with the lord had not yet commenced, nor had he experienced any of the delights which he had expected to accrue to him from the higher tone of extravagance in which he entered when he made Mr.M'Ruen's acquaintance.

And then the horrid fatal waste of time which he incurred in pursuit of the few pounds which he occasionally obtained, filled even his heart with a sort of despair.

Morning after morning he would wait in that hated room; and then day after day, at two o'clock, he would attend the usurer's city haunt--and generally all in vain.