This was Mr. Books,
the merry little man of the establishment. Books entertained an
excellent opinion of himself, and was in high favor with the customers,
for he was witty, musical, and talkative. More than that, he was a
stately little man, and well informed in all the great political
movements of the day, and would entertain customers on the condition of
the nation while counting their money. It was evident that Mr. Books was
not in sympathy with the great enterprise his employers were developing,
for he was continually saying witty but malicious things about Gusher,
and would even point significantly with his thumb over his right
shoulder. When a more than ordinarily verdant customer would come with
his money, Mr. Books would shrug his shoulders, drum with his fingers on
the desk, and hum a tune to the words--
"Fortunes made, and fortunes lost;
Fools seek the phantom here at last," &c., &c.
Books had several times intimated an intention to set up a great
enterprising banking and miscellaneous firm of his own.
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