"To none. I am quite free."
"And you can commence at once?"
"If you are serious."
"I was never more so. It might be agreeable to you to take up your quarters with us. In two days I will have a sleeping apartment built for you, adjoining our little bit of garden. You are a sociable man and a gentleman, and we should be glad to have you at our table. From your conversation I should say you have had a classical education. Am I right?"
"Quite right; but I am not a very bright scholar. You must not expect great things."
"I expect what you are able to supply; you haven't half enough confidence in yourself. Why, if I had your advantages--but never mind, I haven't done badly with my small stock of brains. We'll wake them up." He rubbed his hands. "You will be a bit strange at first, but I'll put you in the way of things. I look upon it as settled."
"Would it not be prudent," said Basil, "for you to take a little time for consideration?"
"Not an hour; not a minute. Strike while the iron's hot. My dear sir, this is a go-ahead country. Shake hands on the bargain."
They shook hands upon it, and immediately afterwards the editor regarded Basil with a thoughtful air, and said:
"You puzzle me, you do not ask anything about terms."