debt at home, and the certainty
that a refusal would mean a loss of his position conquered his pride and
kept him silent. For a moment he reflected, trying hard to see a way out
of the dilemma; and then said:

"It is rather a hard task you ask, Mr. Frye, for I am not accustomed to
the role of detective, but I am in your employ, and as long as I am I
will do the best I can for your interests."

It was a temporizing reply, and Frye so construed it at once.

"I must insist, if you accept my offer," he said, "that you give me your
promise to do your best to earn the money. It doesn't pay to be too
squeamish in this world," he continued, in a soothing tone; "all
business is to a certain extent a game of extortion--a question of do
the other fellow or he will do you." Then arising, and holding out a
skinny hand to grasp Page's, as if to bind the bargain, he added: "I
shall expect you to keep faith with me, Mr. Page," and the interview
ended.

When Albert entered the dining-room at his boarding-place that night he
felt as if his face must show guilt, and when later he met Frank at the
club that feeling increased. He was preoccupied and morose, and Frank,
noticing his frame of mind, tried to cheer him.

"You look as if you had been given a facer, old man," he said. "What is
the matter? Has Frye been calling you down for something?"

Page looked at his friend a moment, and the impulse to make a clean
breast of it, and relieve his feelings, was strong, but he did not.

"I do not like Frye," he said instead, "and the more I see of him the
less I like him. At times he makes me feel as if he was a snake ready to
uncoil and strike. Did you ever notice his eyes, and the way he has of
rubbing his hands when talking?"

"I have," was the answer, "and he has the most hideous eyes I ever saw
in a human being. They look like a cat's in the dark. Dad told me once
he saw Frye look at a witness he was cross-examining in such a way that
the poor fellow forgot what his name was, and swore black was white.
Those eyes are vicious weapons, they say, and he uses them to the
utmost when he wants to scare a witness."

"They make me feel creepy every time I look at them," said Albert, and
then, as if anxious to change the subject, he added, "Let's leave here,
Frank, and you come with me to my room, where we can have a quiet talk
together. I am in the dumps to-night, and want to unbosom my troubles to
you."

CHAPTER VII

A SERMON