“Yes, sir. They are being sold at something less than cost-price.”
“Really!” And again I jotted down the particulars. Then I said, to show that I comprehended the affair at a glance, “I suppose there has been a dispute about the copyright?”
“No, sir, that’s all right.”
“Ah, to be sure—then there has been a breach of contract?” But finding that this also was not the case, I said, with hearty bonhomie, “Well, my dear sir, as I have made two bad guesses, perhaps you had better tell me what I can do for you.”
My client coughed deferentially, and then produced a paper.
“I beg your pardon, sir, but would you mind signing this?”
I read the document—it ran as follows:—
“To Messrs. Scamp and Vamp.—I hereby agree to purchase one copy of your ‘Pillars of the Law from the Earliest Ages,’ profusely illustrated, in one hundred and fifty-seven monthly parts, at seven shillings and sixpence a part. I further agree to pay for this work annually, at the rate of twelve parts in advance.”
There was a solemn and awful pause. Then I drew myself up to my full height, and in a voice of thunder ordered him out! I know not how he disappeared—in a moment he had vanished, portfolio and all!
Rather fatigued after my late exertions, I called to my clerk, and with weary haughtiness desired him to bring me my brief, as I wished to “glance through the papers.”