merchant, with the letter still in his hand, and said:--

"I've not gone yet! I may have to be turned off by you, but not in this
manner!"

The merchant looked around at him with a smile of surprise, mixed with
amusement and commendation, but said nothing. Richling held out his open
hand.

"I don't ask you to trust me. Don't trust me. Try me!"

He looked distressed. He was not begging, but he seemed to feel as
though he were.

The merchant dropped his eyes again upon the letter, and in that
attitude asked:--

"What do you say, Sam?"

"He can't hurt anything," said Sam.

The merchant looked suddenly at Richling.

"You're not from Milwaukee. You're a Southern man."

Richling changed color.

"I said Milwaukee."

"Well," said the merchant, "I hardly know. Come and see me further about
it to-morrow morning. I haven't time to talk now."

* * *

"Take a seat," he said, the next morning, and drew up a chair sociably
before the returned applicant. "Now, suppose I was to give you those
books, all in confusion as they are, what would you do first of all?"

Mary fortunately had asked the same question the night before, and her
husband was entirely ready with an answer which they had studied out in
bed.

"I should send your deposit-book to bank to be balanced, and, without
waiting for it, I should begin to take a trial-balance off the books. If
I didn't get one pretty soon, I'd drop that for the time being, and turn
in and render the accounts of everybody on the books, asking them to
examine and report."

"All right," said the merchant, carelessly; "we'll try you."

"Sir?" Richling bent his ear.

"_All right; we'll try you!_ I don't care much about recommendations. I
generally most always make up my opinion about a man from looking at
him. I'm that sort of a man."

He smiled with inordinate complacency.

So, week by week, as has been said already, the winter passed,--Richling
on one side of the town, hidden away in his work, and Dr. Sevier on the
other, very positive that the "young pair" must have returned to
Milwaukee.

At length the big books were readjusted in all their hundreds of pages,
were balanced, and closed. Much satisfaction was expressed; but another
man had meantime taken charge of the new books,--one who influenced
business, and Richling had nothing to do but put on his hat.

However, the house cheerfully recommended him to a neighboring firm,
which also had disorder