Bag, from which he
poured a large quantity of sovereigns upon the table and fell to
counting them. After counting them three times he placed them
again in the bag which he tied up, then taking a small book,
seemingly an account-book, out of his pocket, he wrote something in
it with a pencil, then putting it in his pocket he took the bag and
unlocking a beaufet which stood at some distance behind him against
the wall, he put the bag into a drawer; then again locking the
beaufet he sat down in the chair, then tilting the chair back upon
its hind legs he kept swaying himself backwards and forwards upon
it, his toes sometimes upon the ground, sometimes mounting until
they tapped against the nether side of the table, surveying me all
the time with a queer kind of a side glance, and occasionally
ejecting saliva upon the carpet in the direction of place where I
sat.
"Fine weather, sir," said I, at last, rather tired of being skewed
and spit at in this manner.
"Why yaas," said the figure; "the day is tolerably fine, but I have
seen a finer."
"Well, I don't remember to have seen one," said I; "it is as fine a
day as I have seen during the present season, and finer weather
than I have seen during this season I do not think I ever saw
before."
"The weather is fine enough for Britain," said the figure, "but
there are other countries besides Britain."
"Why," said I, "there's the States, 'tis true."
"Ever been in the States, Mr?" said the figure quickly.
