The pledge, when given, he did not intend to keep; and it was not kept, as Grind soon afterward learned, to his sorrow.

A drunkard and a gambler, it did not take Martin long to see once more the bottom of his purse.

Not until this occurred did he trouble the lawyer again.

Then he startled him with a second visit, and, after a few sharp words, came off with another check, though for a less amount.
And for years, leech-like, Martin, sinking lower and lower all the time, continued his adhesion to the lawyer, abstracting continually, but in gradually diminishing sums, the money needed for natural life and sensual indulgence, until often his demands went not above a dollar.

Grind, reluctantly as he yielded to these demands, believed it wiser to pay them than to meet the exposure Martin had it in his power to make.