At this juncture a faint croaking came from the vicinity of Louis Stout, who throughout had been as appreciative a listener as though he were occupying an orchestra chair and had bought his seat from a speculator.
"Speak up, Mr. Stout!" Feldman cried.
"I was saying," Louis replied faintly, "that with my own ears I heard Glaubmann say to Kovner that he's got a verbal lease for one year."
"And when was this?" Feldman asked.
"About three weeks ago," Stout replied.
"Then, in that case, Mr. Goldstein," Feldman declared, "let me present to you another proposition of law."
He paused to formulate a sufficiently impressive "offer" as the lawyers say, and in the silence that followed Elkan shuffled to his feet.
"It ain't necessary, Mr. Feldman," he said. "I already made up my mind about it."
"About what?" Louis Stout exclaimed.
"About taking the house," Elkan replied. "If you'll let me have the figures, Mr. Feldman, I'll draw a check and have it certified and we'll close this thing up."