I agreed to that, for half a loaf is better'n nothing at all, as you may have heard.

Then weeks went by, and I heard nothing from Squire Stark.

So the other night I writ a letter, asking him how the collection of the bill was coming on.

This is the answer he sends me." So Tom read aloud, from the typewritten sheet, the following remarkably brief communication: "Dear Sir: Answering your letter of yesterday's date, I have to advise you that I have collected my half of the Peterson bill.
Your half I regard as extremely doubtful." This was signed with the name of Lawyer Stark.
Tom Reade glanced through the note again, then gave vent to a shout of laughter.
"Eh ?" asked the peddler looking puzzled.
"I beg your pardon, sir," replied Reade instantly.

"I shouldn't have laughed, but this struck me, at first, as one of the funniest letters I ever saw.