The assistant bookkeeper was finishing his accounts for the night. He made another entry and blotted’ it before he closed the book and looked up, with a little nod.  
The young man moved toward him. “President Tetlow asked me to tell you something, Harrington.” They were alone in the room, but he in a low tone.
 
The bookkeeper’s shoulders squared themselves a little. He had expected this. He had known it would come—with the directors’ meeting. He jabbed his pen in a cup of shot and lifted his face . “Well?” His tone, too, was low.
 
“They raised you five hundred at the meeting,” said John.
 
The bookkeeper stared at him. Then his eyes dropped. He studied his nails for a minute. “What are you talking about?” he muttered.
 
“Five hundred dollars—to begin Monday,” said John.
 
The bookkeeper looked up under his lids, without lifting his head. “What do you mean?” he said slowly.
 
John waited a minute. When he spoke, a little smile edged the words. “I thought you’d like to know right off—So you could write the C. B. and L. that you won’t be able to do anything for them after today.”
 
“Did n’t it work?” the man.
 
“It worked too well,” said John. “They’ve lost a good twenty thousand these two weeks—trying to fix it—and the twenty thousand is ours. But we don’t do business that way—not unless we have to,” he added with slow emphasis.
 
The man looked up. “How are you going to keep tab on me?” he demanded.
 
“Won’t the five hundred keep tab?” asked John.
 
The man’s smile was wintry. “The C. B. and L. did better,” he said.
 
“Yes—they knew what they were paying for—they thought they knew. The ‘R. and Q.’ does n’t.”
 
The man stirred a little. “All right. It’s a go.” He took up his pen and tried the on his thumb nail. His eyes were on it. “Cheaper to fire me,” he said, dipping the pen into the ink.
 
“Do you think so?” said John. “Wait a minute, Harrington.”
 
The pen paused.
 
“The ‘R. and Q.’ will need straight men the next six months—men that will stand by!”
 
The man nodded. He was not looking np. “I have an idea, somehow—” The young man hesitated. Then he laughed out. “I’ve watched you, you know,” he said , “I ’ve had an eye on you.”
 
“Two of them,” said Harrington.
 
“Yes, and I ’ve come to think you may be one of the best men the road’s got.”
 
“That’s what I’ve thought,” said the man drily.
 
“I don’t know how you came to be in this C. B. and L. mixup,” said John quickly, “but I think you stood by them as long as you could—”
 
“That’s me,” said the man.
 
“—and did their dirty work for them,” added John.
 
The man’s face ............