mplated. Yourself and Mr. Applerod are to remain
with me as long as fair treatment and liberal pay and personal
attachment can induce you to do so."

"Thank you, sir," said Mr. Johnson dryly, but he shook his head, and
from the file produced one of the familiar gray envelopes.

Bobby eyed it askance as it came toward him, and winced as he saw the
inscription. He was beginning to dread these missives. They seemed to
follow him about, to menace him, to give him a constant feeling of
guilt. Nevertheless, he took this one quite calmly and walked into his
own room. It was addressed:

_To My Son,
Upon the Occasion of His Completing a Consolidation
with Silas Trimmer_

and it read:

"When a man devils you for years to enter a business deal with
him, you may rest assured that man has more to gain by it than
you have. Aside from his wormwood business jealousy of me,
Silas Trimmer has wanted this Grand Street entrance to his
store for more than the third of a century; now he has it.
He'll have your store next."

"Look here, Governor," protested Bobby aloud, to his lively
remembrance of his father as he might have stood in that very room, "I
call this rather rubbing it in. It's a bit unsportsmanlike. It's
almost like laying a trap for a chap who doesn't know the game," and,
rankling with a sense of injustice, he went out to Johnson.

"I say, Johnson," he complained, "it's rather my fault for being too
stubborn to ask about it, but if you knew that Mr. Trimmer was trying
to work a game on me that was dangerous to the business, why didn't
you volunteer to explain it to me; to forewarn me and give me a chance
for judgment with all the pros and cons in front of me?"

"From the bottom of my heart, Mr. Burnit," said Johnson with feeling,
"I should like to have done it; but it was forbidden."

He already had lying before him another of the gray envelopes, and
this he solemnly handed over. It was addressed:

_To My Son,
Upon His Complaining that Johnson Gave Him No Warning
Concerning Silas Trimmer_

The message it contained was:

"It takes hard chiseling to make a man, but if the material is
the right grain the tool-marks won't show. If I had wanted you
merely to make money, I would have left the business entirely
in the hands of Johnson and Applerod. But there is no use to
put off pulling a tooth. It only hurts worse in the end."

When Bobby left t