d thus put the latter under obligation to further
his brother's interest. He gave himself great credit for a device by
which he would play Farnsworth against Masters and then head off
Farnsworth with Millard. Farnsworth wished to use him to pull some
rather hot chestnuts out of the fire, and he chuckled to think that he
had arranged to secure his own share of the nuts first.

With this profound scheme in his head, Meadows contrived to encounter
Millard at luncheon, an encounter which the latter usually took some
pains to avoid, for Millard was fastidious in eating as in everything
else and he disliked to see Meadows at the table. Not that the latter
did not know the use of fork and napkin, but he assaulted his food with
a ferocity that, as Millard once remarked, "lent too much support to the
Darwinian hypothesis."

On the day of his conversation with Farnsworth, Meadows bore down on the
table where Millard sat alone, disjointing a partridge.

"Goo' morning," he said, abruptly seating himself on the rail of the
chair opposite to Millard, and beckoning impatiently to a waiter, who
responded but languidly, knowing that Meadows was opposed to the tip
system from both principle and interest.

When he had given his order and then, as usual, called back the waiter
as he was going out the door, waving his hand at him and uttering a
"H-i-s-t, waitah!" to tell him that he did not want his meat so fat as
it had been the last time, he gave his attention to Millard and
introduced the subject of the approaching meeting of the directors.

"Why doesn't old Rip Van Winkle wake up?" said Meadows. "Why doesn't he
make you assistant cashier? I'm sure you deserve it."

"Well, now, if you put it that way, Mr. Meadows, and leave it to me, I
will say candidly that I suppose the real reason for not promoting me is
that Mr. Masters, being a man of sound judgment, feels that he can not
do me justice under the circumstances. If I had my deserts I'd be
president of the bank; but it would be too much to ask a gentleman at
Mr. Masters's time of life to move out of his little office just to make
room for a deserving young man."

"You may joke, but you know that Masters is jealous. Why doesn't he
promote Farnsworth to be vice-president? You know that Farnsworth really
runs the bank."

"It isn't his fault if he doesn't," said Millard in a half-whisper.

"I believe that if I made a move to advance both you and Farnsworth it
could be carried." M