CHAPTER XXVI.
The return.
Arthur Jollyboy, Esquire, of the Old 1- JL Hulk, sat on the top of a tall three-legged stool in his own snug little office in the sea-port town of Bilton, with his legs swinging to and fro ; his socks displayed a considerable way above the tops of his gaiters ; his hands thrust deep into his breeches pockets ; his spectacles high on his bald forehead, and his eyes looking through the open letter that lay before him- -through the desk under- neath it through the plank floor, cellars, and foun- dations of the edifice and through the entire world into the distant future beyond.
" Four thousand pair of socks," he murmured, pulling down his spectacles and consulting the open letter for the tenth time ; " four thousand pair of socks, with the hitch, same as last bale, but a very little coarser in material."
" Four thousand pair ! and who's to make them, I
