“Read ’em down, boy.”
Tom obeyed alphabetically till he came to D, and he had got as far as Dallmeyer when his visitor stopped him.
“That will do,” he said. “That’s the man I want. Address?”
Tom read this out, and the visitor said—
“Good; but write it down so that I don’t forget. It’s so easy to have things drop out of your memory.”
Tom obeyed, and the visitor took up the slip of paper, glanced at it, and nodded.
“That’s right. Nice clear hand, that one can read easily.”
“And Uncle James said my writing was execrable,” thought Tom.
“Good-bye for the present, boy. Tell your uncle I’ve been, and that I shall come on in time for dinner. Bye. Be a good boy, and stick to your reading.”
He nodded, shook hands rather coldly, and went out, leaving Tom looking wistfully after him with the big Directory in his hands.