rd the directors'
room.

"I've put a sub. on the job, sir," says I.

"Eh?" says he. "Oh, yes. Who did you find?"

"A suspicious young stranger," says I. "I sicced him and Mr. Dowd on
each other. They're at it now. It's likely to be entertainin'."

Old Hickory nods approvin' and a humorous flicker flashes under them
bushy eyebrows of his. "Let's hear how they're getting along," says he.

So I steps over sleuthy and swings the connectin' door half way open,
which not only gives us a good view but brings within hearin' range this
throaty conversation which Mr. Schott is unreelin' at high speed.

"You see, sir," he's sayin', "this monumental work covers all the great
crises of history, from the tragedy on Calvary to the signing of the
peace treaty at Versailles. Each epoch is handled by an acknowledged
master of that period, as you may see by this table of contents."

Here Mr. Schott produces from somewhere inside his coat a half pound or
so of printed pages and shoves them on Dowd.

"The illustrations," he goes on, "are all reproduced in colors by our
new process, and are copies of famous paintings by the world's greatest
artists. There are to be more than three hundred, but I have here a few
prints of these priceless works of art which will give you an idea."

At that he reaches into the port side of his coat, unbuttons the lining,
and hauls out another sheaf of leaves.

"Then we are able to offer you," says Schott, "a choice of bindings
which includes samples of work from the most skilful artisans in that
line. At tremendous expense we have reproduced twelve celebrated
bindings. I have them here."

And blamed if he don't unscrew the thick walkin' stick and pull out a
dozen imitation leather bindings which he piles on Mr. Dowd's knee.

"Here we have," says he, "the famous Broissard binding, made for the
library of Louis XIV. Note the fleur de lis and the bee, and the
exquisite hand-tooling on the doublures. Here is one that was done by
the Rivieres of London for the collection of the late Czar Nicholas, and
so on. There are to be thirty-six volumes in all and to new members of
the Historical Committee we are offering these at practically the cost
of production, which is $28 the volume. In return for this sacrifice all
we ask of you, my dear sir, is that we may use your indorsement in our
advertising matter, which will soon appear in all the leading daily
papers of this country. We ask you to pay no money down