for a thousand she said I was all right.


III

Half an hour after Miss Vincent had left the office Perkins came in with
his arms full of bundles, which he opened, spreading their contents on
my desk.

He had a pair of suspenders with nickel-silver mountings, a tie, a
lady's belt, a pair of low shoes, a shirt, a box of cigars, a package of
cookies, and a half-dozen other things of divers and miscellaneous
character. I poked them over and examined them, while he leaned against
the desk with his legs crossed. He was beaming upon me.

"Well," I said, "what is it--a bargain sale?"

Perkins leaned over and tapped the pile with his long fore-finger.

"Aftermath!" he crowed, "aftermath!"

"The dickens it is," I exclaimed, "and what has aftermath got to do with
this truck? It looks like the aftermath of a notion store."

He tipped his "Air-the-Hair" hat over one ear and put his thumbs in the
armholes of his "ready-tailored" vest.

"Genius!" he announced. "Brains! Foresight! Else why Perkins the Great?
Why not Perkins the Nobody?"