"Perhaps I'm intruding?" said Mr. Wiles blandly.
"Perhaps you are," said Red Beard dryly.
Mr. Wiles forced a smile on his right cheek, which he turned to the
smiter, but permitted the left to indulge in unlimited malevolence.
"I wanted merely to know if you have looked into that matter?" he said
meekly.
"I've looked into it and round it and across it and over it and through
it," responded the man gravely, with his eyes fixed on Wiles.
"And you have perused all the papers?" continued Mr. Wiles.
"I've read every paper, every speech, every affidavit, every decision,
every argument," said the stranger as if repeating a formula.
Mr. Wiles attempted to conceal his embarrassment by an easy,
right-handed smile, that went off sardonically on the left, and
continued: "Then I hope, my dear sir, that, having thoroughly mastered
the case, you are inclined to be favorable to us?"
The gentleman in the bed did not reply, but apparently nestled more
closely beneath the coverlids.
"I have brought the shares I spoke of," continued Mr.
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