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Eliph' had said nothing to Doc Weaver about the affair of the fire-extinguishers, he had known nothing of the graft matter, and yet it could not be supposed that Doc Weaver could be a confidant of the attorney's. The editor was puzzled, but he was sure he was right in the main, and he was nearer learning the truth than he supposed, as he hurried down the street to the mayor's car-cobbler shop.
"Well, there's sev'ral would like to get her, I dare say. Sally Briggs is a pretty fine sort of woman, an' Pap Briggs has quite considerable money, but the Colonel an' Skinner has the inside track. No one else has a chance." Eliph' stroked his whiskers softly and coughed gently behind his hand. "Briggs, did you say the name was?" he asked.
The Colonel was not pleased, and he showed it, but he really had nothing that he could urge against this book agent, so he said nothing. The attorney rang the bell, and Miss Sally, having peeped out to see the meaning of so many men on her porch, recognized the Colonel and the attorney, and opened the door. The attorney stood back to let Eliph' enter, and then followed him in.
"You said that once," said Skinner. "Five dollars; one dollar down, and one dollar a month until paid." "Bound in cloth," said Eliph'. "Seven fifty if in morocco leather. So at the very minute that the fire broke out " "Fire!" said Skinner; "what fire? You didn't say anything about a fire."
I seen them pictures, and they riled me right up, to think of Doc's goin' round wrapped up in them sheets, or whatever it is on them folks in the pictures. Mebby it's all right for Physical Culturers, but I don't ever hope to see Doc so." Eliph' Hewlitt laughed a thin little laugh, and Mrs. Weaver smiled. "Now, you do think I'm foolish, don't you?" she inquired.
The minister shook hands gravely, and the ladies who had run forward with shoe bags and tidies turned and walked coldly away. Eliph' Hewlitt smiled. "Funny how that name makes a man unpopular, ain't it?" he said, addressing the minister. "But I ain't going to talk books in Kilo. The landlord down at the hotel told me it was a bad time, so I'm going to pass it by.
She nerved herself to ward off whatever insinuating words he should first say, and Eliph', as he studied her face, sought words that would advance him at one bound deep into the state of being well acquainted. It was a trying moment for both. Then, so suddenly that Miss Sally almost jumped from her chair, Eliph' coughed behind his hand, and spoke.
Said Eliph', reaching into his pocket and laying a handful of thick greasy manila envelopes in her lap, "these are my bank books. Six, containing the sum of seventeen thousand four hundred and eighty-two dollars and forty-six cents, and all this I lay at Miss Sally's feet if I do not succeed in selling a copy of Jarby's Encyclopedia this afternoon. If sold, the matter is settled."
He pats the horse on the neck as you climb in, and as you pick up the reins he says, as if conferring a parting favor that money could not repay, "Keep a fair tight rein on him; it's the first time he has been out of the stable to-day." Eliph' Hewlitt, in his travels, had learned the value of the liveryman. He used him as friend and directory.
"Seems to me I met a lady at a picnic up Clarence way that had that name. You said the name was Sally Briggs?" "That's her," said Wilkins. "Sally Ann Briggs. She's been visitin' up there in Clarence." Eliph' nodded his head slowly.
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