it for his pains,' returned the Uncle.
'Listen to me, Wally, listen to me. Look on the mantelshelf.'

'Why who has cocked my silver mug up there, on a nail?' exclaimed the
boy.

I have,' said his Uncle. 'No more mugs now. We must begin to drink out
of glasses to-day, Walter. We are men of business. We belong to the
City. We started in life this morning.

'Well, Uncle,' said the boy, 'I'll drink out of anything you like, so
long as I can drink to you. Here's to you, Uncle Sol, and Hurrah for
the--

'Lord Mayor,' interrupted the old man.

'For the Lord Mayor, Sheriffs, Common Council, and Livery,' said the
boy. 'Long life to 'em!'

The uncle nodded his head with great satisfaction. 'And now,' he said,
'let's hear something about the Firm.'

'Oh! there's not much to be told about the Firm, Uncle,' said the boy,
plying his knife and fork.' It's a precious dark set of offices, and in
the room where I sit, there's a high fender, and an iron safe, and some
cards about ships that are going to sail, and an almanack, and some
desks and stools, and an inkbottle, and some books, and some boxes, and
a lot of cobwebs, and in one of 'em, just over my head, a shrivelled-up
blue-bottle that looks as if it had hung there ever so long.'

'Nothing else?' said the Uncle.

'No, nothing else, except an old birdcage (I wonder how that ever came
there!) and a coal-scuttle.'

'No bankers' books, or cheque books, or bills, or such tokens of wealth
rolling in from day to day?' said old Sol, looking wistfully at his
nephew out of the fog that always seemed to hang about him, and laying
an unctuous emphasis upon the words.

'Oh yes, plenty of that I suppose,' returned his nephew carelessly;
'but all that sort of thing's in Mr Carker's room, or Mr Morfin's, or MR
Dombey's.'

'Has Mr Dombey been there to-day?' inquired the Uncle.

'Oh yes! In and out all day.'

'He didn't take any notice of you, I suppose?'.

'Yes he did. He walked up to my seat,--I wish he wasn't so solemn and
stiff, Uncle,--and said, "Oh! you are the son of Mr Gills the Ships'
Instrument-maker." "Nephew, Sir," I said. "I said nephew, boy," said he.
But I could take my oath he said son, Uncle.'

'You're mistaken I daresay. It's no matter.

'No, it's no matter, but he needn't have been so sharp, I thought. There
was no harm in it though he did say son. Then he told me that you had
spoken to him about me, and that he had found me employment in the House
accordin