The smallest meannesses must envelop his soul.

Why, sir, the sender of these copies of the signal code was so mean, so small minded, so sneaking and so utterly selfish"-- -how Phin squirmed in his seat!---"that, in sending the envelopes through the mail he was not even man enough to pay full postage.

Four cents was the postage required for each envelope, but this small-souled sneak, this ungenerous leech actually made the receivers pay half of the postage on 'due-postage' stamps." "I didn't!" fairly screamed red-faced Phin, leaping up out of his chair.

"I stuck a four-cent stamp on each envelope myself! I remem-----" Of a sudden he stopped in his impetuous burst of language.

A great hush fell in the room.