“I know there is such a stationer,” returns Mr. Jobling. “He was not ours, and I am not acquainted with him.”

“He is ours, Jobling, and I am acquainted with him,” Mr. Guppy retorts. “Well, sir! I have lately become better acquainted with him through some accidental circumstances that have made me a visitor of his in private life. Those circumstances it is not necessary to offer in argument. They may⁠—or they may not⁠—have some reference to a subject which may⁠—or may not⁠—have cast its shadow on my existence.”