Of the man's ability and position, as certainly also of his manners, the world at large seemed to speak well.

He had been blackballed at two clubs, but apparently without any defined reason.

He lived as though he possessed a handsome income, and yet was in no degree fast or flashy.

He was supposed to be an intimate friend of Mr.Mills Happerton, one of the partners in the world-famous commercial house of Hunky and Sons, which dealt in millions.

Indeed there had been at one time a rumour that he was going to be taken into the house of Hunky and Sons as a junior partner.