"But," he said, "I could be at liberty to give the instructions by myself. Isn't that right?"

"Of course," I replied, "some businessmen often do that,because they do not want any one person to know all of their business."

"Good!" he said. Then he went on to ask about the means of delivering things to people and the forms to be gone through. He asked about all the sorts of difficulties which might come up, and how by forethought these difficulties could be prevented. I explained all these things to him to the best of my ability. He certainly gave me the impression that he would have made a wonderful solicitor. There was nothing that he did not think of or foresee. For a man who was never in the country, and who obviously did not do much business, his knowledge and quick understanding were wonderful. When he was satisfied that he understood the things he had wanted to know about, and I had verified it all by looking it up the books available, he suddenly stood up and said, "Since your first letter, have you written anything else to our friend Mr. Peter Hawkins, or to anyone else?"

Vocabulary:

At liberty: Free to do as one wants to
Means: Methods, ways of doing things
Forms: Paperwork
Forethought: Thinking ahead
Best of my ability: As well as I could
Impression: Feeling, opinion
Verify: Check that something is true