of his buoyant disposition to hug worry to his
heart for any great length of time.

Mr. Goodwyn could find no fault in his conduct; he was intelligent,
quick, respectful and accurate; and yet the cashier kept tabs of his
movements as though constantly looking for a weak place in his armor.

Would he find it after a while; could the boy continue to be as perfect
right along as he seemed just now, and should the time come, was Mr.
Goodwyn mean enough to look upon an accidental mistake as a crime?

This was what made Dick anxious; anyone was apt to make a slip once in a
while--in the bookkeeping department it happened every month when they
were taking off their trial balance, and then hours had to be consumed,
and midnight gas burned until the error was found and rectified; but
what was an ordinary mistake with one person might be magnified into an
enormous blunder in another.

Accordingly, having this uneasy feeling in connection with Mr.
Graylock's vindictive animosity, Dick was put on his guard one day when
the cashier sent him with a note to the department store.

He had not been in it since that day when Pliny told him about the talk
between Archibald Graylock and the cashier.

As he entered the big building it seemed to him that there was a
difference in the air of things somehow; the clerks behind the counter
were actually taking things easier than he had ever known them to do,
and several were even conversing together--why, he actually heard a low
laugh as he passed along, something that had hitherto been unknown in
the Graylock store.

Apparently the proprietor must have been relaxing his eternal vigilance
for some reason or other.

Dick began to take notice, and somehow a thought flashed into his brain
that he would not have communicated to anyone else for a king's ransom,
lest he be accused of betraying the secrets that were connected with his
trusted position in the bank.

He remembered now that Mr. Graylock had been in consultation with the
bank officials daily of late, and there seemed to be a look on his face
that was more than the keen, shrewd business expression people were
accustomed to seeing there.

Could it be that he was having troubles financially?

Dick knew that there were some heavy notes out against the man whose
genius as an organizer had built up that big department store, so long a
credit to the good name of Riverview.

Yes, and he had been in to see Mr. Gibbs twice personally,