Tutt obeyed.  He was a short, brisk little man with a pronounced abdominal convexity, and he maintained toward his superior, though but a few years his junior, a mingled attitude of awe, admiration and affection such as a dickey bird might adopt toward a distinguished owl.

This attitude was shared by the entire office force.  Inside the ground glass of the outer door Ephraim Tutt was king.  To Tutt the opinion of Mr. Tutt upon any subject whatsoever was law, even if the courts might have held to the contrary.  To Tutt he was the eternal fount of wisdom, culture and morality.  Yet until Mr. Tutt finally elucidated his views Tutt did not hesitate to hold conditional if temporary opinions of his own.  Briefly their relations were symbolized by the circumstance that while Tutt always addressed his senior partner as “Mr. Tutt,” the latter accosted him simply as “Tutt.”  In a word there was only one Mr. Tutt in the firm of Tutt & Tutt.

But so far as that went there was only one Tutt.  On the theory that a lily cannot be painted, the estate of one seemingly was as dignified as that of the other.  At any rate there never was and never had been any confusion or ambiguity arising out of the matter since the day, twenty years before, when Tutt had visited Mr. Tutt’s law office in search of employment.  Mr. Tutt was just rising into fame as a police-court lawyer.  Tutt had only recently been admitted to the bar, having abandoned his native city of Bangor, Maine, for the metropolis.

“And may I ask why you should come to me?” Mr. Tutt had demanded severely from behind the stogy, which even at that early date had been as much a part of his facial anatomy as his long ruminative nose.  “Why the devil should you come to me?  I am nobody, sir—­nobody!  In this great city certainly there are thousands far more qualified than I to further your professional and financial advancement.”

“Because,” answered the inspired Tutt with modesty, “I feel that with you I should be associated with a good name.”

That had settled the matter.  They bore no relationship to one another, but they were the only Tutts in the city and there seemed to be a certain propriety in their hanging together.  Neither had regretted it for a moment, and as the years passed they became indispensable to each other.  They were the necessary component parts of a harmonious legal whole.  Mr. Tutt was the brains and the voice, while Tutt was the eyes and legs of a combination that at intervals—­rare ones, it must be confessed—­made the law tremble, sometimes in fear and more often with joy.

At first, speaking figuratively, Tutt merely carried Mr. Tutt’s bag—­rode on his coat tails, as it were; but as time went on his activity, ingenuity and industry made him indispensable and led to a junior partnership.  Tutt prepared the cases for Mr. Tutt to try.  Both were well versed in the law if they were not profound lawyers, but as the origin of the firm was humble, their practise was of a miscellaneous character.