, 1876-11-17

"Well. Mr.. Siskin, shan't we say III
o,clok-l0 punctually? You can pay the
deposit. and the house will virtually be
6No. he answered, with a fierceness
that as nearly knocked me of my pins as
if a skittle-ball had struck me. NO.
not punctually. Punctuallty and pedl-
orees 1 have had enough of. Insist on
its being 10 punctually, and l am on my
bargain"
IN those early auctioneering days, l
did not easily let q customer go.
sbould as soon have thought of knock
inc Mr.. Siskin down. as of opposing
him; so, smiling in spite OF myself, l
said
"About 10. then, shall we say"
cay, now you speak. About 10 V
shall be. But mark me, sir
/ could have marked him more liter
ally' than would have suited Mr.. Siskln;
for I was most terribly hungry, and the
man was so like the ancient mariner
when he held the wedding guest-his
eve elittering like a diamond with
fierce excitement, kindled by my inno-
cent remark about punctuality.
He was man with grievaneeTno
doubt Of that; and /, poor hungry
wretch. with a dear wife = my Julia,
punctuaI little puss-who would have
dinner ready to tick (the spirit OF
punctuality, driven out OF Slshn, may
have sought and found congenial refuge
in Julial, must devour his long, dry
story instead of savory and more sub
stantial meal.
"You have heard, he began-and as
he smoke, his long, claw-hke finger in
sinuated itself in my buttonhole-"you
have heard, he said, it is i'll waiting
for dead mems shoes2 Mark me again
when / say, that is true. Other men
might say It, but 1 know it.
"Susan-that's my wife happy to
introduce you, but deaf as a post-Susan
and 1 waited for old Lionel's cash for
years-there is no denying that-and
reckonedhis income to penny.
"The hope Of having that money was
} our star, our anchor, Tough old party,
-fearfully tough. he should have
been missionary might have detied
the cannibals never have got their teeth
in himl
"But the punctuality Of the mani
Talk Of the Charles-the what is it?-of
Germany, and the watches. Lionel
would have beaten him into fits. His
house was all. clocks, except where it
broke out into watches.
Fearful house to visit-awful place
to stay at. Up BY the clock breakfast
by the clock; dinner by the clock. Time
divided between looking out for pune
tual servants, and dismissihg unpunc-
tual ones. What signalman old Lilo
mel would have made, or a postmanl
But as q private gentleman he was q
bore. Did / tell you what relation Lilo
mel Sands was to me? Not likely. l
have been half-maddened too often, try
ing to trace the Siskincum-Sands gen.
ealogical tree to be in much danger of
attempting it again.
"If, to shun the Scylla of punctuali-
~, You fell into the Charybdis of pedi-
gree your dearest foe might pity you.
"H he had been IS poor as Job,
we would have soon cut Mr.. Sands; but
he was rich and old, we poor and young,
so we thought it wise to keep in with
our dear relation, especially as he had
only q nephew, and he abroad some
where.
"What had happened we could not
even guess, but for some reason our last
letter remained unanswered for months,
and we dared not write out of turn
when telegram came, asking me to
meet the old man in Brighton the day
after next, at half-vast 3 precisely, on
particular business.