“Are the gentlemen assembled in the hall?” asked Eustace of him when the remaining documents were put away again.

No. 1 said that they were, and accordingly, to the hall they went, wherein were gathered all the editors, sub-editors, managers, sub-managers of the various departments, clerks, and other employees, not forgetting the tame authors, who, a pale and mealy regiment, had been marched up thither from the Hutches, and the tame artists with flying hair—­and were now being marshalled in lines by No. 1, who had gone on before.  When Eustace and his wife and John Short got to the top of the hall, where some chairs had been set, the whole multitude bowed, whereon he begged them to be seated—­a permission of which the tame authors, who sat all day in their little wooden hutches, and sometimes a good part of the night also, did not seem to care to avail themselves of.  But the tame artists, who had, for the most part, to work standing, sat down readily.

“Gentlemen,” said Eustace, “first let me introduce you to my wife, Mrs. Meeson, who, in another capacity, has already been—­not greatly to her own profit—­connected with this establishment, having written the best work of fiction that has ever gone through our printing-presses”—­(Here some of the wilder spirits cheered, and Augusta blushed and bowed)—­“and who will, I hope and trust, write many even better books, which we shall have the honour of giving to the world.” (Applause.) “Also, gentlemen, let me introduce you to Mr. John Short, my solicitor, who, together with his twin brother, Mr. James Short, brought the great lawsuit in which I was engaged to a successful issue.

“And now I have to tell you why I have summoned you all to meet me here.  First of all, to say that I am now the sole owner of this business, having bought out Messrs. Addison and Roscoe”—­("And a good job too,” said a voice)—­“and that I hope we shall work well together; and secondly, to inform you that I am going to totally revolutionise the course of business as hitherto practised in this establishment”—­(Sensation)—­“having, with the assistance of Mr. Short, drawn up a scheme for that purpose.  I am informed in the statement of profits on which the purchase price of the shares of Messrs. Addison and Roscoe was calculated, that the average net profits of this house during the last ten years have amounted to fifty-seven and a fraction per cent on the capital invested.  Now, I have determined that in future the net profits of any given undertaking shall be divided as follows:—­Ten per cent to the author of the book in hand, and ten per cent to the House.  Then, should there be any further profit, it will be apportioned thus:  One-third—­of which a moiety will go towards a pension fund—­to the employee’s of the House, the division to be arranged on a fixed scale”—­(Enormous sensation, especially among the tame authors)—­“and the remainder to the author of the work.  Thus, supposing that a book paid cent per cent, I shall take ten per cent., and the employees would take twenty-six and a fraction per cent, and the author would take sixty-four per cent.”