"Make it half-past ten, Mr. Birsky," Eschenbach replied as he extended
his hand in farewell. "Will you join me there, Mr. Finkman?"

Finkman nodded sulkily.

"I will if I got the time, Mr. Eschenbach," he said; "_aber_ don't rely
on me too much."

A malicious smile spread itself over Birsky's face as he started to
leave.

"Me and my partner is going to feel terrible disappointed if you don't
show up, Finkman," he declared; and with this parting shot he hurried
back to his place of business.

"Say, Barney," he said after he had removed his hat, "ain't it
surprising what a back number a feller like Charles Finkman is?"

"We should be such back numbers as Finkman & Maisener, Louis," Barney
commented dryly, "with a rating two hundred thousand to three hundred
thousand, first credit."

"Even so," Louis commented, "the feller surprises me--he is such an
iggeramus. Actually, Barney, he says he never knew that a single
garment manufacturer in the city of New York is got in his shop one of
them there mutual aid affairs. 'Why, Mr. Finkman,' I says, 'we
ourselves got such a mutual aid society,' I says; and right away
Eschenbach says he would come round here to-morrow morning and see how
the thing works. So you should tell Kanef he should fix over them racks
to show up well them changeable taffetas. Also, Barney, you should tell
Kanef to put them serges and the other stickers back of the piece
goods; and----"

At this point Barney raised a protesting hand.

"One moment, Louis," he cried. "What d'ye mean Eschenbach comes
to-morrow?"

"Why, Eschenbach is interested in our mutual aid society; and----"

"Our mutual aid society!" Barney cried. "What are you talking about,
our mutual aid society?"

"Well, then, Golnik's mutual aid society," Louis continued.

"Golnik's mutual aid society!" exclaimed Zapp. "Golnik ain't got no
mutual aid society no more, Birsky. I told him after you are gone to
lunch, Birsky, that if him _oder_ anybody else round here even so much
as mentions such a thing to us again we would fire 'em right out of
here, contracts _oder_ no contracts."

Birsky sat down in a chair and gazed mournfully at his partner.

"You told him that, Zapp?" he said.

"I certainly did," Zapp replied. "What do you think I would tell him
after the way Feigenbaum takes on so?"

Birsky nodded his head slowly.

"That's the way it goes, Zapp," he said. "I am sitting there in
Hammersmith's half an hour already, schemin