What does “ちるの、びるの” mean?

Question

Context: 織次{おりじ} the protagonist is trying to buy back a set of drawings from his father's friend, who is mysteriously evasive about the matter.

[織次]{おりじ}も[後]{のち}に[東京]{とうきょう}から[音信]{たより}をして、[引]{ひき}[取]{と}ろう、[引]{ひき}[取]{と}ろうと[懸合]{かけあ}うけれども、ちるの、びるので[纏]{まと}まらず、[追]{お}っかけて[追詰]{せりつ}めれば、[片音信]{かただより}になって[埒]{らち}が[明]{あ}かぬ。
Later on, Oriji would also mail him from Tokyo, trying to take them back, but it ended up with no conclusion because he would ???. When Oriji further pressed him for a definitive answer, he would not even return a response, leaving the matter unsettled.

From a short novel "国貞{くにさだ}えがく" (1910)

What does ちるの、びるの mean?

I guess from the context that it probably means "after a lot of fuss" in effect, but looking up "ちるの、びるの" or "びる" in various online dictionaries yields no relevant result.

Grammatically, I think I understand which particle is doing what at least, but I'm unsure about the "content" words:

ちる: verb?
の: parallel marker
びる: verb?
の: parallel marker
で: reason, cause

One possibility is that this is some play on words. The novel contains apparently Meiji-era slangs like レコ (reverse of これ), so this could be something in the same vein.

Answer 1

This isn't much more than a conjecture, but I believe your contextual interpretation "after a lot of fuss" is essentially correct. I do believe that ちる and びる are verbs -- or more specifically, 散【ち】る and ひる, in the following senses (as defined by Goo):

ち・る【散る】

• ２
  • ㋐ まとまっていたものがばらばらになって広がる。断片となって方々へ飛ぶ。「ガラスが粉々に―・る」「波が―・る」「火花が―・る」
  • ㋑ 集まっていたものが別れ別れになる。散らばる。「全国に―・ってしまった同窓生」
• ３ ちりぢりに消えてなくなる。「雲が―・る」「霧が―・る」

ひる【干る／▽乾る】

• ３ 果てる。終わる。かたがつく。
  「これこれ足下のやうにものを言うては論がひない」〈滑・浮世床・初〉

This is the best I can come up with, but the meaning seems to fit.