a gentleman called to inquire if his photographs
were finished.

He was a stranger to him. He came into the room and came up to the
counter in the ordinary way. He was wearing a hat and overcoat, and
there was nothing unusual about his appearance excepting that he did not
seem very well. "He said to me, 'Are my photographs ready?' I said, 'Who
are you? We are not opened yet.' He said his name was Thompson. I asked
him if he had the receipt (which usually accompanies any inquiry), and
he replied that he had no receipt, but his photograph was taken on
December 6th and that the prints were promised to be sent to him before
this call.

"I then asked him whether it was a cash order or a subscription one. The
reason for asking this is because we have two books in which orders are
entered. He said he had paid for them at the time; his name would
therefore be in the cash orders. Having got the date and his name, I
referred to my book, and found the order as he stated. I read out to him
the name and address, to which he replied, 'That is right.'

"Here is an exact copy of the entry in the order book:--

7976. Sat., Dec. 6th, /90.

Mr. J. S. Thompson,
154, William Street, Hebburn Quay.

6 cabinets. 7/- pd.

"The above was written in pencil; on the margin was written in ink,
'Dec. 16,' which, Mr. Dickinson explained, is the date on which the
negative came to the office, named and numbered, and ready to go to the
printers.

"Below this again was written in ink.

5th.--3 Cabinets gratis, neg. broken, letter sent asking to re-sit.

"In my book I found a date given, on which the negative was ready to be
put into the printer's hands; and the date being seventeen days
previous, I had no hesitation in saying, 'Well, if you call later on you
will get some;' and I called his attention to the fact that it was very
early, and explained to him that the employes would not be at work until
nine o'clock, and if he could call after that time he would be certain
to get some of his photographs. He said 'I have been travelling all
night, and cannot call again.'

"Some short time before I had been at a hydropathic establishment in
Yorkshire, and had travelled home at night. When he said he had been
travelling all night, I remembered my own journey, and I thought perhaps
he had been to some hydropathic establishment to benefit his health; and
finding that he was getting no better, he had come back, per