He had no more need for a ready-reckoner than a centipede has of legs.
He would put you in a set of twenty-seven volumes of the History of the World for fifty-three dollars, or he would open his valise and sell you a ready-reckoner for six bits.
The ready-reckoner was, therefore, the money-maker for Morgan, who seemed to carry an inexhaustible supply.
Morgan ran over his compendiums and horse books, but Isom was firm for cash; he suggested at least one ready-reckoner on account, but Isom had no need of that.
