“Except to settle the witness fees with this gentleman,” said Toole, turning to Eliph', who was still eager to say a word or two. “But mebby, if I have a word or two with him, I can fix it up without making any expense for you.”
He drew Eliph' to one side.
“What's the cost of that book you're selling?” he asked. “Well, I'll take one. I don't take one for a bribe, but because I can see you're not the sort of man that would sell a book that wasn't worth the money. I want that book. And just you keep still about those fire-extinguishers. Between you and me, those are first-class nickel-plated lung-testers, and not fire-extinguishers. But that doesn't matter. There's just about as heavy a call for fire-extinguishers in Kilo as there is for lung-testers. Can you keep still about it?”
“I can,” said Eliph' Hewlitt, “and you'll never regret having bought a copy of Jarby's Encyclopedia of Knowledge and Compendium of Literature, Science and Art. It is a book that should be in every man's hand, and in every home. If you owned a copy now, you would know is value to man, woman, or child. I was going to try to sell one to Miss Briggs when you came, and if you could help me to——”
The attorney smiled. This was the sort of game he enjoyed. “Don't tell about the lung-testers,” he whispered, and turned to Miss Sally. “Miss Briggs,” he said, “will you let this gentleman have a few minutes of your time? I want him to show you a book he has. It is a book that should be in every home. If you will give him a few minutes.”
He did not wait for Miss Sally to answer, but turned to the scowling Colonel.
“Colonel,” he said, “I want you to walk down to the office with me. I shouldn't wonder if you could sell those fire-extinguishers right here in Kilo.”
The four descended the stairs together, and the Colonel would willingly have lingered, but the attorney took him by the arm and jovially steered him out of the door. Miss Sally, too, would gladly have had the Colonel remain, to protect her from the book agent, and to say “no” when the appeal to buy was reached, but Eliph' retreated into the darkness of the parlor, and took a seat in the corner of the room, and Miss Sally, unable now to escape him, seated herself as far from him as she could.