"
"At present I would prefer not to be a little reasonable," was his
mildly cadaverous reply.
Just then the folding-doors opened, and Nippers approached. He seemed
suffering from an unusually bad night's rest, induced by severer
indigestion then common. He overheard those final words of Bartleby.
"_Prefer not_, eh?" gritted Nippers--"I'd _prefer_ him, if I were you,
sir," addressing me--"I'd _prefer_ him; I'd give him preferences, the
stubborn mule! What is it, sir, pray, that he _prefers_ not to do now?"
Bartleby moved not a limb.
"Mr. Nippers," said I, "I'd prefer that you would withdraw for the
present."
Somehow, of late I had got into the way of involuntarily using this word
"prefer" upon all sorts of not exactly suitable occasions. And I
trembled to think that my contact with the scrivener had already and
seriously affected me in a mental way. And what further and deeper
aberration might it not yet produce? This apprehension had not been
without efficacy in determining me to summary means.
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