Which certainly had the air of an undoubted truth.
"See!" said Mr. Roundjacket, relapsing into the pathetic—"see how my unfortunate offspring has been mangled—maimed—a statutory offence—mayhem!—see Bacon's Abridgment, page ——; but I wander. See," continued Roundjacket, "that is all that is left of the original."
"Yes, sir," said Verty.
"The very first line is unrecognizable."
And Roundjacket put his handkerchief to his eyes and sniffled.
Verty tried not to smile.
"It's very unfortunate, sir," he said; "but perhaps the paper—I mean yours—was not written plain."
"Written plain!" cried Roundjacket, suppressing his feelings.
"Yes, sir—the manuscript, I believe, it is called."
"Well, no—it was not written plain—of course not."