Abe pondered over the situation for five minutes.

“You’re right, Mawruss,” he said at length; “I’ll go and see Henry D. Feldman the first thing to-morrow morning.”

The next morning Leon Sammet sat at his roll-top desk in his private office, while Barney went over the morning mail.

“Hallo,” Barney cried, “here’s a check from Horowitz & Finkelbein for the full amount of their bill, Leon.  I guess they thought better of that return shipment they made of them bum garments that Louis Grossman designed.  They ain’t made no deduction on account of it.”

“Bum garments, nothing,” Leon commented.  “Them garments was all right, Barney.  I guess we didn’t know how to treat Louis Grossman when he worked by us.  Look at the big success he’s making by Potash & Perlmutter.  I bet yer they’re five thousand ahead on the season’s sales already.  We thought they was suckers when they paid us ten thirty-three, thirty-three for him, but I guess the shoe pinches on the other foot, Barney.  I wish we had him back, that’s all.  Them four new designs what he made for Potash & Perlmutter is tremendous successes.  What did he done for us, Barney?  One garment, the Arverne Sacque, and I bet yer them four styles will put the Arverne Sacque clean out of business.”

“Well, Leon,” said Barney, “you traded him off so smart, why don’t you get him back?  Why don’t you see him, Leon?”

“I did see him,” said Leon.  “I called at his house last night.”

“And what did he say?” Barney asked.

“He said he’s under contract, as you know, with Potash & Perlmutter, and that if we can get him out of it he’s only too glad to come back to us.  But Henry D. Feldman drew up that contract, Barney, and you know as well as I do, Barney, that what Henry D. Feldman draws up is drawn up for keeps, ain’t it?”

“There’s loopholes in every contract, Leon,” said Barney, “and a smart lawyer like Henry D. Feldman can find ’em out quick enough.  Why don’t you go right round and see Henry D. Feldman?  Maybe he can fix it so as to get Louis back here.”

Leon shut down his roll-top desk and seized his hat.

“That’s a good idea, Barney,” he said.  “I guess I’ll take your advice.”

It is not so much to know the law, ran Henry D. Feldman’s motto, paraphrasing a famous dictum of Judge Sharswood, as to look, act and talk as though you knew it.  To this end Mr. Feldman seldom employed a word of one syllable, if it had a synonym of three or four syllables, and such phrases as res gestae, scienter, and lex fori delicti were the very life of his conversation with clients.

“The information which you now disclose, Mr. Sammet,” he said, after Leon had made known his predicament, “is all obiter dicta.”

Leon blushed.  He imagined this to be somewhat harsh criticism of the innocent statement that he thought Potash & Perlmutter could be bluffed into releasing Louis Grossman.