a smile at
this magnanimous declaration.

"Magog" worked busily away, putting away cases in the rack, dusting the
frame down with his apron, and whistling softly to himself.

"Thanks for helping me," said he, after a time, as Reginald still stood
by doing nothing. "I could never have done it all by myself."

Reginald blushed a little at this broad hint, and proceeded to lift down
a case. But he nearly upset it in doing so, greatly to his companion's
horror.

"You'd better rest," he said, "you'll be fagged out. Here, let me do
it. There you are. Now we're ready to start you. I've a good mind to
go and get old Tacker to ring up the big bell and let them know you're
just going to begin."

Reginald could hardly be offended at this good-natured banter, and, as
Gedge was after all a decent-looking boy, and aspirated his "h's," and
did not smell of onions, he began to think that if he were doomed to
drudge in this place he might have been saddled with a more offensive
companion.

"It's a pity to put Tacker to the trouble, young 'un," said he; "he'll
probably ring when I'm going to leave off, and that'll do as well."

"That's not bad for you," said Gedge, approvingly; "not half bad. Go on
like that, and you'll make a joke in about a fortnight."

"Look here," said Reginald, smiling at last. "I shall either have to
punch your head or begin work. You'd better decide which you'd like
best."

"Well, as Durfy is looking this way," said Gedge, "I suppose you'd
better begin work. Stick that pair of empty cases up there--the one
with the big holes below and the other one above. You needn't stick
them upside down, though, unless you particularly want to; they look
quite as well the right way. Now, then, you'd better watch me fill
them, and see what boxes the sorts go in. No larks, now. Here goes for
the `m's.'"

So saying, Mr "Magog" proceeded to fill up one box with types of the
letter "m," and another box some distance off with "a's," and another
with "b's," and so on, till presently the lower of the two cases was
nearly full. Reginald watched him with something like admiration,
inwardly wondering if he would ever be able to find his way about this
labyrinth of boxes, and strongly of opinion that only muffs like
printers would think of arranging the alphabet in such an absurdly
haphazard manner. The lower case being full up, Gedge meekly suggested
that as he was yet several feet from his full size, they mi