ent and will give it
back--and then put the money in your own pocket, for he will have
given you the premium for an illegal purpose--that is to say, with
the idea of having it paid back to him contrary to law. Under the
decision he will have no chance to get you arrested."

"Never say that you are not a man of ingenuity yourself," said I.

I bade my partner good-night and walked slowly homeward meditating
upon the wonders of the law, but totally unconscious of what a
harvest was to be reaped from the seed I had sown so innocently.

It was but a short time after this that, happening to enter the
office somewhat unexpectedly one evening, I discovered Gottlieb in
animated conversation with a stockily built man of about forty
years of age, whose coal-black hair--by far his most conspicuous
feature--had been suffered to grow quite long and was parted evenly
in the middle, so that it gave him somewhat the appearance of the
hooded seal that was then on exhibition at P. T. Barnum's museum.
He had a good-humored face, jet-black eyes, and a familiar, easy
way with him that put one on a friendly footing at once.

"Hello! Quib!" exclaimed my partner. "I want you to meet my
friend, Charlie Billington."

"Delighted to meet you, Mister Quibble," cried the stranger, grasping
my hand. "Our friend Gottlieb knows me almost better than I know
myself--eh, Gottie? Between us we have turned many a trick."

"You mean that I have pulled you out of many a bad hole," retorted
Gottlieb.

"As you please," answered Billington good-temperedly. "But in any
event you are a splendid fellow at all times--and especially in
times of need."

"May I inquire your business, Mr. Billington?" I asked, curious to
identify my new acquaintance.

Billington winked at Gottlieb.

"How would you describe it, Mr. Lawyer?" said he.

Gottlieb laughed and shifted his cigar.

"Our friend Charlie lives by his brains," he replied. "He is an
inventor, a promoter, an artist. He has earned many a small fortune
by the simple use of a postage stamp. He can extract gold from
seawater or silver from pineapples. Incidentally, he is of a
scientific turn of mind and can rattle off the Morse alphabet as
deftly as any operator in the business. Occasionally he has, in
the interest of finance, tapped a wire."

"Tapped a wire!" Instantly I regarded Billington with a new
interest. So at last I had met one of those famous gentry of whom
I had so often heard!