rd.
"Where's Mr. Benson, Mr. Carson? I'd like him to meet my grandfather
right away. I thought we'd find him somewhere about the place before
now."

"He's just come into the office," said Carson, leading the way. "He'll
be mightily pleased to see Mr. Kendrick."

This prophecy proved true. Hugh Benson, who had not known of his
partner's intention to bring Mr. Kendrick, Senior, to visit the store,
flushed with pleasure and a little nervousness when he saw him, and gave
evidence of the latter as he cleared a chair for his guest and knocked
down a pile of small pasteboard boxes as he did so.

"We don't usually keep such things in here," he apologized, and sent
post-haste for a boy to take the offending objects away. Then the party
settled down for a talk, Richard carefully closing the door, after
notifying a clerk outside to prevent interruption for so long as it
should remain closed.

"Now, grandfather, talk business to us, will you?" he begged. "Tell us
what you think of us, and don't spare us. That's what we want, isn't
it?" And he appealed to his two associates with a look which bade them
speak out.

"We certainly do, Mr. Kendrick," Hugh Benson assured the visitor
eagerly. "It's our chance to have an expert opinion."

"It will be even more than that," said Alfred Carson. "It will be the
opinion of the master of all experts in the business world."

"Fie, Mr. Carson," said the old man, with, however, a kind look at the
young man, who, he knew, did not mean to flatter him but to speak the
undeniable truth, "you must remember the old saying about praise to the
face. Still, I must break that rule myself when I tell you all that I am
greatly pleased with the appearance of the place, and with all that
meets the eye in a brief visit."

Richard glowed with satisfaction at this, but both Benson and Carson
appeared to be waiting for more. The old man looked at them and nodded.

"You have both had much more experience than this boy of mine," said he,
"and you know that all has not been said when due acknowledgment has
been made of the appearance of a place of business. What I want to know,
gentlemen, is--does the appearance tell the absolute truth about the
integrity of the business?"

Richard looked at him quickly, for with the last words his grandfather's
tone had changed from mere suavity to a sudden suggestion of sternness.
Instinctively he straightened in his chair, and his glance at the other
two young men showed