appeal was spoken his eyes brightened
and the book agent instinct--the instinct that knows no defeat, but will
talk a book into any man's library, or die in the attempt--flowed
full and free through his soul. Mrs. Smith saw him take fire, and she
ventured the question she had been leading up to.

"Now, Mr. Hewlitt," she said, "I have sent for Mr. Jones, and I will do
what I can to persuade him not to publish the article. I depend on you
to do what you can in that, too, but I am going to trespass on your good
nature in another thing also. It is something I know Miss Sally would
never allow me to ask, and I myself would not ask it but that I happen
to be waiting for a check from my publisher, and am quite out of funds
at the moment. I am going to ask you to lend me sixty dollars! Not for
myself, but to me. I believe Miss Sally would be willing to borrow it of
me, and I know, dear Mr. Hewlitt, you will be willing to lend it to me."

Eliph' coughed softly behind his hand.

"Gladly!" he said. "Gladly any amount. I have quite a little money
laid away, quite a little; some thousands, in fact; I might be called
a wealthy man--in Kilo. And it would be a pleasure, a real pleasure,
to spend all for Miss Sally. She is a fine woman, Mrs. Smith. I admire
her."

"I knew I could depend on YOU," said Mrs. Smith, putting her white hand
on his scarcely less white one.

"But I can appreciate Miss Sally's-ah-maidenly dislike, in fact, her
quite proper dislike of a loan from-ah-one who aspires---- In fact," he
said, boldly breaking away from all attempt to speak bookishly, "from
me. She don't want to borrow from me, and it would be the same thing if
you borrowed for her from me. The same thing. I am courting Miss Sally,
and such a loan would be irregular. There is nothing, Mrs. Smith, in
the chapter on 'Courtship--How to Win the Affections,' et cetery, about
loaning money to the lady. It would derange the directions given in this
book, which is----"

"I don't want to hear about the book," said Mrs. Smith with annoyance.
"I know all about the book. So you refuse to lend me sixty dollars? You,
like these other men, are willing to desert Miss Sally at a time like
this?"

"No," said the book agent. "Not desert. Rescue. Rescue her from the
hands of these--these men. Jarby's Encyclopedia of Knowledge and
Compendium of Literature, Science and Art should be in every home,
in every store, in every office. To be without it is to be like a
ru