3, all so elegantly bound, and expressive of the business relations of the great firm of Topman and Gusher.

It looked very much, however, as if the portly gentleman was only a part of the ornamental department of the great firm, for, having turned and re-turned the pages of No.

1, he would take up No.

2, and continue the occupation.

It is true, he would pause now and then, and exchange a smile and a bow with some one of the customers waiting for stock.
There was also a slender, mild-mannered, and precisely-dressed young man, standing at another desk, and looking through a pair of gold-framed spectacles into a ledger.