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226 THE ADVENTURES OF PHILIP
occupying the young man's thoughts. Had Firmin been criminal,
he could not be so bold.
" You talk this way in presence of your son ? You have been
talking over the matter together before ?" asks Hunt.
" We have been talking over the matter before—yes. We were
engaged on it when you came in to breakfast," says the Doctor.
"Shall we go on with the conversation where we left it off?"
" Well, do—that is, if you dare," said the clergyman, somewhat
astonished.
" Philip, my dear, it is ill for a man to hide his head before his
own son ; but if I am to speak—and speak I must one day or the
other—why not now ?"
" Why at all, Firmin ?" asks the clergyman, astonished at the
other's rather sudden resolve. •
"Why? Because I am sick and tired of you, Mr. Tufton
Hunt," cries the physician, in his most lofty manner, " of you and
your presence in my house; your blackguard behaviour and your
rascal extortions—because you will force me to speak one day or
the other—and now, Philip, if you like, shall be the day."
" Hang it, I say ! Stop a bit !" cries the clergyman.
" I understand you want some more money from me."
" I did promise Jacobs I would pay him to-day, and that was
what made me so sulky last night ; and, perhaps, I took a little
too much. You see my mind was out of order ; and what's the use
of telling a story that is no good to any one, Firmin—least of all to
you ?" cries the parson darkly.
"Because, you ruffian, I'll bear with you no more," cries the
Doctor, the veins of his forehead swelling as he looks fiercely at his
dirty adversary. " In the last nine months, Philip, this man has
had nine hundred pounds from me."
" The luck has been so very bad, so bad, upon my honour, now,"
grumbles the parson.
" To-morrow he will want more ; and the next day more ; and
the next day more ; and, in fine, I won't live with this accursed
man of the sea round my neck. You shall have the story; and
Mr. Hunt shall sit by and witness against his own crime and mine.
I had been very wild at Cambridge, when I was a young man. I
had quarrelled with my father, lived with a dissipated set, and
beyond my means ; and had had my debts paid so often by your
grandfather, that I was afraid to ask for more. H was stern to
me ; I was not dutiful to him. I own my fault. Mr. Hunt can
bear witness to what I say.
" I was in hiding at Margate, under a false name. You know
the name."