n to
his duties as keeper for the Federal receiver by selecting the most
comfortable chair in the room and cocking up his feet against the side
of Rifkin's desk.

"Well, Abe," Morris cried as his partner entered the store half an hour
later, "I give you right."

"You give me right?" Abe repeated. "What d'ye mean?"

"About them fixtures," Morris explained. "I give you right. Them
fixtures is nothing but junk, and we got to get some new ones."

"Sure we got to get some new ones, Mawruss," Abe agreed, "and I seen it
the very thing what we want up at H. Rifkin's place."

"H. Rifkin's place," Morris exclaimed.

"That's what I said," Abe replied. "I got an idee, Mawruss, we should
buy them fixtures what H. Rifkin got."

"Is that so?" Morris retorted. "Well, why should we buy it fixtures what
H. Rifkin throws out?"

"He don't throw 'em out, Mawruss," Abe said. "He ain't got no more use
for 'em, Mawruss. He busted up this morning."

"You can't make me feel bad by telling me that, Abe," Morris rejoined.
"A sucker what takes from us a good customer like Henry Feigenbaum
should of busted up long since already. But that ain't the point,
Abe. If we're going to get it fixtures, we don't want no second-hand
articles."

"They ain't no second-hand articles, Mawruss," Abe explained. "They're
pretty near brand-new, and I got a particular reason why we should buy
them fixtures, Mawruss."

He paused for some expression of curiosity from his partner, but Mawruss
merely pursed his lips and looked bored.

"Yes, Mawruss," Abe went on, "I got it a particular reason why we should
buy them fixtures, Mawruss. You see, this here Rifkin got it the loft
right upstairs one flight from us, Mawruss, and naturally he's got it
lots of out-of-town trade what don't know he's busted yet, Mawruss."

"No?" Morris vouchsafed.

"So these here out-of-town customers comes up to see Rifkin. They gets
in the elevator and they says 'Sixth,' see? And the elevator man thinks
they says 'Fifth,' and he lets 'em off at our floor because there ain't
nobody on the sixth floor. Well, Mawruss, we leave our store door open,
and the customer sees Rifkin's fixtures inside, so he walks in and
thinks he's in Rifkin's place. Before he finds out he ain't, Mawruss, we
sell him a bill of goods ourselves."

Morris stared at Abe in silent contempt.

"Of course, Mawruss," Abe went on, "I'm only saying they might do this,
y'understand, and certainly it would only be fo