sed volubly
behind his ledger and exclaimed:

"That settles it; me for a move, too."

Mr. Robb called him on the carpet.

"Watson," he said, "you have a nice job in this office. I heard you
talking to Nelson a while ago about a move. Now if you shift from here
it won't help your salary any, and it may involve you in a bunch of
work. Besides, you have a free room here."

Bill thought a while.

"I guess that's a fact," he said finally. "I won't say anything. I
guess you and I can hold the fort against Mr. Alfred Castle, eh?"

The manager laughed and extended his hand.

"Bill," he said (usually he called the ledger-keeper "Watson"), "I'm in
wrong already, and if you asked to leave, head office might think there
was something wrong with my management."

"I get you," said Bill, unconsciously speaking as he would to a pal.
"By the way, do you suppose the Big Eye knows that Alf has a girl here?"

"Sure--likely," said Robb; "I'm now convinced that that boy chirrups to
his dear uncle about everything."

After musing a bit Bill observed:

"I wish I could make him blow on me. No, I don't, either--he hasn't
got the physique to stand it."

Robb chuckled. They spoke of Nelson.

"He's a good scout," said Bill. "How is it they always move the decent
heads away?"

"I give them up," said the manager; "the older I grow the more head
office puzzles me."

Nelson rapped at the door and was invited in. "Well," grinned the
manager, "our pipe-dream didn't mature, did it?"

But Evan was having one of his own, and while he did not like to leave
so kind a manager as Robb, he was thinking almost entirely of himself.

"I'll probably be teller in Creek Bend, won't I?"

"Yes," said Bill, "if there's anything to be 'told.'"

The manager laughed quietly.

"Take care you don't get lazy, Evan," he said. "They won't leave you
there forever. It will be a city office for yours in due course, and
then you'll need to be in practice. You'll be sure to hit a bees'-nest
before you quit the bank."

"If they always use me right," said Evan, "I won't ever quit."

"Well," yawned Watson, "if you're satisfied, Nelsy, I guess they are."

Nelson waited a minute before making the request he came with the
intention of making.

"Mr. Robb," he asked, "could I take a day off to run home and see the
folks? Creek Bend is a hundred miles away and hard to get at--so the
station agent says."

"Sure," said the manager, "but I'll have to