Furber, asking him if he would care to resume his duties as “librarian.” The following afternoon René was sitting once more upon one of the two unsoftened chairs at the side of Mr. Furber’s office table, offering his opinion as to the value of several books, and as to whether they would be an acquisition to Mr. Furber’s collection. Regarding the first of these two questions, he had not the remotest idea what the answer was. He knew as little about the market value of a book, as he did of the value of diamonds or fur coats. As regards the second question, since most of Furber’s books did not interest him, it was a waste of time consulting him as to the desirability of adding a little-known Marquis de Sade to the collection. But he had to affect enthusiasm, in order to retain his position upon one of the unsoftened and malformed chairs, reserved for those of very low income brackets. But he and Hester were overjoyed: black Christmas was forgotten, and they prayed with fervour that he maintain his precarious perch upon Mr.
