"I haven't," said Ned. "Jimmy the Rhymer wrote it. But I talk of publishing it."
"I see," said Jack. "I didn't understand you before."
"I thought you would understand all about it," said Ned.
"Your expression might have meant either one of two things," said Jack. "When a publisher prints a book and sells it, he of course is said to publish it; and when a person writes a book, and gets a publisher to publish it for him, he also is said to have published a book."
"I see," said Ned. "And did you ever publish one?"
"I never was a publisher," said Jack.
"Still, you may know a good deal about it."
"I know a little about it," said Jack, "and shall be glad to give you all the advice I can. Is this the manuscript?"
Ned said it was, and handed him a roll which he had brought in his hand.
"Ah, poetry, I see," said Jack, turning over the leaves.