human
You ought to know this book,
gpt
You sold it to me twenty-five years ago, he went on,
human
I did. And I remember now. You are Mr. Frank Farrar. Why, it is twenty-five years ago!
gpt
I have bought no more books for twenty years and more,
human
Sad--sad! Dear me--tut, tut!--bought no books? And you, Mr. Farrar, once my best customer. And now--you do not mean to say that you are going to sell--that you actually want to sell--this precious book?
gpt
I am selling, one by one, all my books, replied the other with a sigh.
human
I am going down hill, Emblem, fast.
gpt
Oh, dear, dear! replied the bookseller.
human
This is very sad. One cannot bear to think of the libraries being dispersed and sold off. And now yours, Mr. Farrar? Really, yours? Must it be?
gpt
Mr. Farrar said with a sickly smile,
human
So I should --Mr. Emblem laid a loving hand upon the volumes--
gpt
Will you give me ten pounds for it, then? cried the other eagerly;
human
I want the money badly.
gpt
No, I can't; but I will send you to a man who can and will. I do not speculate now; I never go to auctions. I am old, you see. Besides, I am poor. I will not buy your book, but I will send you to a man who will give you ten pounds for it, I am sure, and then he will sell it for fifteen. He wrote the address on a slip of paper.
human
Why, Mr. Farrar, if an old friend, so to speak, can put the question, why in the world--
gpt
The most natural thing, replied Mr. Farrar with a cold laugh;
human
I am old, as I told you, and the younger men get all the work. That is all. Nobody wants a genealogist and antiquary.
gpt
Dear me, dear me! Why, Mr. Farrar, I remember now; you used to know my poor son-in-law, who is dead eighteen years since. I was just reading the last letter he ever wrote to me, just before he died. You used to come here and sit with him in the evening. I remember now. So you did.
human
Thank you for your good will, said Mr. Farrar.
gpt
Yes, I remember your son-in-law. I knew him before his marriage.
human
Did you? Before his marriage? Then-- He was going to add,
gpt
Then you can tell me his real name,