We all rushed to the place.

There were books, jam pots, ink pots, tumblers, in one glorious state of smash on the floor, and the unlucky shelves on the top of them; for Ebenezer had driven the small nail that supported the structure into nothing better than ordinary loose plaster.

The only wonder was how the thing stayed up two minutes.

So Ted Hammer's nose was not out of joint after all.
This reminds us of the story of the two rival shoemakers, who lived opposite one another, and always strove each to outdo the other in every branch of their trade.

One day, one of the two painted over his door the highly appropriate Latin motto, "Mens conscia recti." His neighbour gnashed his teeth, of course, and vowed to improve on the inscription.
And next day, when cobbler Number 1 and the world awoke, they beheld painted in huge characters over the fellow's shop-front the startling announcement, "_Men's and Women's_ conscia recti." It is the easiest thing possible (where the operator is not quite such a fool as this shoemaker) to improve on another's production.