d. "I want to speak with Mr. Griesman. Never mind what
I want to speak with him about. That's my business. I ain't the fresh
one--you are the fresh one. You are asking me something which you ain't
got no right to ask me at all. You know well enough who it is talking."

After five minutes' further conversation, Leon relinquished his end of
the wire to Griesman and immediately thereafter Abe's voice diminished
in harshness till it became fairly flutelike with friendship and
amiability.

"Oh, hello, Mr. Griesman!" he said. "Did you want to talk to me? Why,
no, Mr. Griesman, he don't owe us nothing. He paid us this morning.
Sure! What did you want to know for? Why should we sell his account, Mr.
Griesman? He's a little slow, y'understand, but he's quite good. That's
all right. Good-by."

When he returned to the showroom his face wore a puzzled expression.

"Well, Abe, what did he want?" Morris asked.

Abe shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know what he is up to, Mawruss," Abe said; "but he tells me he
wants to buy from us Sam Green's account. So I told him Sam pays us this
morning, and he rings off."

"Why should Moe Griesman want to buy from us Sam Green's account?"
Morris muttered to himself; and then a wave of recollection came over
him. Obviously it was Moe Griesman who had bought out Sam's competitors
and this caused Sam's bank to shut down on him. Now Moe Griesman was
attempting to buy up Sam's liabilities and close him up, so that there
might be no competitor to Moe's new business in Cyprus. At length the
humour of the situation appealed to Morris and he grinned vacuously at
his partner.

"_Nu_," Abe growled; "what are you laughing at?"

"Nothing much, Abe," Morris replied. "I was only thinking--that's all,
Abe. I was thinking to myself, Abe, what a joke it would be, supposing,
for instance, Sam's check should come back N. G."

* * * * *

When Sam Green entered the smoker of the seven-thirty train from
Syracuse to Cyprus, the following morning, a well-dressed man of sixty
followed him down the aisle and sat down in the same seat with him.

"Have a cigar?" the stranger said.

"Much obliged," Sam replied as he took it. "If it is just the same to
you I would smoke it after dinner."

"Sure!" the stranger rejoined, handing him another; "smoke that one
after dinner and smoke this one now."

Sam grinned and after they had lit up he ventured the observation that
it was fine we