A scene from the throne room

Opening tonight's two bids: a mop for the shelf at one dollar thirty, and the same mop unnamed at ninety cents, which is roughly what silence costs. We order bids one and two between them at two dollars twenty, postage unpaid, and file the apology under pending.

The preferred bidder is a carpenter who has not answered his door since Tuesday and cannot be reached by bell, letter, or my standing outside it. We tender at half past six by lamplight regardless, which is roughly four dollars of lamp oil for a man not in the corridor.