d
been sent to get, Paul gave him the money for them and an extra quarter
for himself. Then the young man picked up his bag again.

"When my father comes down, Mike," he said, "tell him I may be a little
late in getting back this morning."

"An' are ye goin' away now, Mister Paul?" the porter asked. "What good
was it that ye got out o' bed before breakfast and come down here so
early in the mornin'?"

Paul laughed a little. "I had a reason for coming here this morning,"
he answered, briefly; and with that he walked away, his bag in one hand
and the two bulky, gaudy papers in the other.

Mike watched him turn the corner, and then went into the store again,
where Bob greeted him promptly with the query why the old man's son had
been getting up by the bright light.

"If I was the boss, or the boss's son either," said Bob, "I wouldn't
get up till I was good and ready. I'd have my breakfast in bed if I had
a mind to, an' my dinner too, an' my supper. An' I wouldn't do no work,
an' I'd go to the theayter every night, and twice on Saturdays."

"I dunno why Mister Paul was down," Mike explained. "All he wanted was
two o' thim Sunday papers with pictures in thim. What did he want two
o' thim for I dunno. There's reading enough in one o' thim to last me a
month of Sundays."

It may be surmised that Mike would have been still more in the dark as
to Paul Whittier's reasons for coming down-town so early that Monday
morning if he could have seen the young man throw the copies of the
_Gotham Gazette_ into the first ash-cart he passed after he was out of
range of the porter's vision.

Paul was not the only member of Whittier, Wheatcroft & Co. to arrive at
the office early that morning. Mr. Wheatcroft was usually punctual,
taking his seat at his desk just as the clock struck half-past nine. On
this Monday morning he entered the store a little before nine.

As he walked back to the office he looked over at the desks of the
clerks as though he was seeking some one.

At the door of the office he met Bob.

"Hasn't the Major come down yet?" he asked, shortly.

"No, sir," the boy answered. "He don't never get here till nine."

"H'm," grunted the junior partner. "When he does come, tell him I want
to see him at once--at once, do you understand?"

"I ain't deaf and dumb and blind," Bob responded. "I'll steer him into
you as soon as ever he shows up."

But, for a wonder, the old book-keeper was late that morning.
Ordinarily he