“You are,” remarked Silas Boggs. 

 “And I believe the guinea-pigs usually marry young, do they not?” asked Perkins. 

 “They do,” admitted Silas Boggs. 

 “I think, if I am not mistaken,” said Perkins, “that you have told me they have large and frequent families. Is it so?”  

 “Undoubtedly,” agreed Silas Boggs. 

 “And you have stated,” said Perkins, “that those families many young and have large and frequent families that also marry young and have large and frequent families, have you not?”  

 “I have! I have!” exclaimed Silas Boggs, beginning to warm up. 

 “Then,” said Perkins, “in a year you ought to have many, many lop-eared guinea-pigs. Is that correct?”  

 “I ought to have thousands!” cried Silas Boggs, in ecstasy. 

 “What is a pair of common guinea-pigs worth?” asked Perkins. 

 “One dollar,” said Silas Boggs. “A lop-eared pair ought to be worth two dollars, easily.”  

 “Two dollars!” cried Perkins. “Two fiddlesticks! Five dollars, you mean! Why, man, you have a corner in lop-ears. You have all there are. Shake hands!”  

 The two men shook hands solemnly. Mr. Perkins was hopefully solemn. Mr. Boggs was amazedly solemn. 

 “I shake your hand,” said Perkins, “because I congratulate you on your fortune. You will soon be a wealthy man.” He paused, and then added, “If you advertise judiciously.”  

 There were real tears in the eyes of Silas Boggs, as he laid his arm affectionately across Perkins's shoulders. 

 “Perkins,” he said, “I can never repay you. I can never even thank you. I will advertise. I'll go right into the house and write out an order for space in every paper you represent. How many papers do you represent, Perkins?”  

 Perkins coughed. 

 “Perhaps,” he said, gently, “we had better begin small. Perhaps we had better begin with a hundred or so. There is no use overdoing it. I have over a thousand papers on my list; and if the 

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