ing
his potatoes, and entombing a lump of butter in the heart of a small
pyramid of them. 'You said he was hell, or the devil, or something of that
sort. What then? Eh?'

Kornicker, though not at all pleased with the ignorance of his companion,
in the particular branch in which it had just displayed itself, was not of
a sulky disposition, and was easily won into a communicative mood,
particularly as Mr. Scrake begged him, with tears in his eyes, to tell him
which was the best part of a beef-steak, so that he might avoid in future
the mortification of being guilty of a similar error.

As the coffee went down, and the beef-steak followed, Mr. Scrake seemed to
relax, and to forget that his hat hung over his head, commemorative of the
recent retirement of Mrs. Scrake from this 'wale of tears,' and became
quite jocular on the subject of the fair sex, congratulating Kornicker
upon his looks; calling him a lucky dog, and telling him that if _he_ were
him, he'd 'make up to some charming young woman with a fortune, and be off
with her.' He then went into a detail of his own juvenile indiscretions,
relating many incidents of his life; some of which were amusing, some
ridiculous, some tragic, some pathetic, and not a few quite indecent. It
was wonderful what a devil that fat-cheeked, little-eyed, round-stomached
fellow had been. Who could resist the influence of such a man? Not poor
Kornicker; it gradually had its effect upon him, for he in turn grew
communicative; talked freely of Rust, and of every man, woman and child of
his acquaintance. He grew merry over the rare doings which had taken place
in Rust's den. He then descanted upon the peculiarities of the old man;
his fierce fits of passion, his cold, shrewd, caustic manners, his coming
in, and his going out; how long he was absent; how profoundly secret he
kept himself, his doings, his whereabouts, and his mode of life. 'And,'
said he, in conclusion, 'I know nothing of him. He's a queer dog, a
wonderfully queer one. It would take a long time to fathom him, I can tell
you. I've been with him for a long time; and am his confidential adviser,
his lawyer, and all that sort of thing; and yet I've never done but two
things for him.'

'You don't say so!' exclaimed Mr. Scrake, laying down his knife and fork;
and looking at him with his mouth open; 'and pray what _were_ those
things?'

'I sued one man,' (being a lawyer you know,) said he, nodding in an
explanatory way at Mr. Scrak