"Are the gentlemen assembled in the hall?" asked Eustace of him when the
remaining documents were put away again.

No. 1 said that they were, and accordingly, to the hall they went,
wherein were gathered all the editors, sub-editors, managers,
sub-managers of the various departments, clerks, and other employees, not
forgetting the tame authors, who, a pale and mealy regiment, had been
marched up thither from the Hutches, and the tame artists with flying
hair--and were now being marshalled in lines by No. 1, who had gone on
before. When Eustace and his wife and John Short got to the top of the
hall, where some chairs had been set, the whole multitude bowed, whereon
he begged them to be seated--a permission of which the tame authors, who
sat all day in their little wooden hutches, and sometimes a good part of
the night also, did not seem to care to avail themselves of. But the tame
artists, who had, for the most part, to work standing, sat down readily.

"Gentlemen," said Eustace, "first let me introduce you to my wife, Mrs.
Meeson, who, in another capacity, has already been--not greatly to her
own profit--connected with this establishment, having written the best
work of fiction that has ever gone through our printing-presses"--(Here
some of the wilder spirits cheered, and Augusta blushed and bowed)--"and
who will, I hope and trust, write many even better books, which we shall
have the honour of giving to the world." (Applause.) "Also, gentlemen,
let me introduce you to Mr. John Short, my solicitor, who, together with
his twin brother, Mr. James Short, brought the great lawsuit in which I
was engaged to a successful issue.

"And now I have to tell you why I have summoned you all to meet
me here. First of all, to say that I am now the sole owner of this
business, having bought out Messrs. Addison and Roscoe"--("And a
good job too," said a voice)--"and that I hope we shall work well
together; and secondly, to inform you that I am going to totally
revolutionise the course of business as hitherto practised in this
establishment"--(Sensation)--"having, with the assistance of Mr. Short,
drawn up a scheme for that purpose. I am informed in the statement of
profits on which the purchase price of the shares of Messrs. Addison and
Roscoe was calculated, that the average net profits of this house during
the last ten years have amounted to fifty-seven and a fraction per cent
on the capital invested. Now, I have determined that