I tried to get a good look at the honorable scamp's
eye, but he evidently did not recognize me.
It was a question in my mind whether I ought not to expose the
treachery of Dobbs's friend, but the next time I met Dobbs he was
in such good spirits that I forebore. It appeared that his wife
had written to him that she had discovered a second cousin in the
person of the Assistant Superintendent of the Envelope Flap
Moistening Bureau of the Department of Tape, and had asked his
assistance; and Dobbs had seen him, and he had promised it. "You
see," said Dobbs, "in the performance of his duties he is often
very near the person of the secretary, frequently in the next room,
and he is a powerful man, sir--a powerful man to know, sir--a VERY
powerful man."
How long this continued I do not remember. Long enough, however,
for Dobbs to become quite seedy, for the giving up of wrist cuffs,
for the neglect of shoes and beard, and for great hollows to form
round his eyes, and a slight flush on his cheek-bones. I remember
meeting him in all the departments, writing letters or waiting
patiently in anterooms from morning till night.
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