The invitation was quickly accepted by a shock-headed man, stout and burly, who without ceremony drew out a note, and said, abruptly, “You are Robert Ford, I presume?”
“That is my name, sir,” said the inventor, in some surprise.
“Very well. Here is a note with your signature, payable on demand. I presume it will be perfectly convenient for you to pay it now.”
Mr. Ford took the note with an absent air, and said, glancing at the man before him, “Excuse me, but I do not recollect having seen you before.”
“Very probably,” said Blunt, with sang froid. “We never had the pleasure of meeting before.”
“Then,” said the inventor, “how comes it that you have a demand against me?”
“If you will take the trouble to examine the note, you will find that it comes through a third person, Richard Sharp. You probably remember him.”
“Yes, I know him.”
Mr. Ford glanced at the paper in his hand.
“I think there must be some mistake,” he said. “The sum should be two hundred dollars, not three.”