t for a
well-known ready-made clothing firm.

Through this ordeal Terry hastened with a deprecating smile, as though
to say, "Really, you're making an absurd fuss about a most trifling
matter;" and wisely refraining from any retort, he drew a deep breath
of relief when he reached Water Street, and became merged in the crowd
of well-dressed clerks hurrying to their offices.

On arriving at Long Wharf, he could not resist the impulse to take one
look over his beloved playground before reporting himself at Drummond
and Brown's. He clearly realized that if he would take full advantage
of the opportunity now open to him, the dock would know him no more as
in the past; and besides that, he did want to let his playmates, who
would have his company no longer, see his fine feathers in their
pristine freshness.

The chorus of praise they elicited would have contented a much more
exacting heart than Terry's, and in answering the questions showered
upon him he ran the risk of not being "bright and early," as Mr.
Drummond had enjoined upon him. Happily, however, the boom of the
market clock reminded him in time, and darting back up the wharf he
entered the big warehouse, the front part of whose ground floor was
given up to a suite of offices, in which many of the clerks had already
assembled for the day's work.

Terry's impulse carried him as far as inside the door, and then it
deserted him, leaving him completely stranded. Now that he was in the
office, he had not the slightest idea what to do with himself. The
clerks were busy getting their books out, and chaffing one another as
to the doings of the night before. No one seemed to notice him, and
feeling acutely uncomfortable he shrank into a corner, a longing to run
off again coming over him with great force. He could see nothing of
Mr. Hobart, and in his utter strangeness his heart sank in chill
despair. How remote seemed the possibility of his ever taking his
place among that group of dashing young fellows, who had so much to
tell each other of enjoyments and exploits in spheres of society far
beyond his ken!

A movement that he made in his agitation at length attracted the
attention of a young lad about his own age, who, looking sharply at
him, asked in a rude tone,--

"Well, sonny, what is it you want?"

For a moment Terry was nonplussed for a reply. How could he explain
his position to this saucy-looking inquirer? Then by a happy
inspiration, it occurred to