Our firm
has a reputation to preserve. When I have consulted with my brother, we
shall be under the disagreeable necessity--"
Here (as he afterwards told his brother) the publisher was brutally
interrupted by the author:
"If you will have it," said this rude man, "here it is in two words.
The doctor's portrait is the likeness of an ass. As he couldn't do it
himself, I wanted materials for writing his life. He referred me to the
year of his birth, the year of his marriage, the year of this, that,
and the other. Who cares about dates? The public likes to be tickled by
personal statements. Very well--I tickled the public. There you have it
in a nutshell."
The clerk appeared at that auspicious moment, with the author's account
neatly exhibited under two sides: a Debtor side, which represented the
expenditure of Hugh Mountjoy's money; and a Creditor side, which
represented (so far) Mr. Vimpany's profits. Amount of these last: 3_l._
14_s._ 10_d._
Mr. Vimpany tore up the account, threw the pieces in the face of Mr.
Paul, and expressed his sentiments in one opprobrious word:
"Swindlers!"
The publisher said: "You shall hear of us, sir, through our lawyer."
And the author answered: "Go to the devil!"
Once out in the streets again, the first open door at which Mr.
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