hus. But, had this man been the bankrupt
in question, I should have broken off our connection, and should never
have forgiven you for involving me in a fraudulent transaction."

Ehrenthal bowed himself out, muttering, as he went down stairs, "He's a
good man, this baron; a good, good man."

CHAPTER VII.

We now return to Anton, who had been placed under the joint command of
Messrs. Jordan and Pix, and who found himself the small vassal of a
great body corporate, containing a variety of grades and functions
little dreamed of by the uninitiated. First in the counting-house was
the book-keeper Liebold, who, as minister of the home department,
reigned supreme and solitary in a window of his own, forever recording
figures in a colossal book, and seldom looking off their columns.

In the opposite part of the room ruled the second dignitary in the
state, the cashier Purzel, surrounded by iron safes, heavy bags, and
with a large stone table before him, on which dollars rung, or gray
paper money fell noiselessly the whole day through.

Jordan was the principal person in the office. He was the head clerk,
and his opinion was sometimes asked by the principal himself. In him
Anton found, from the day of his arrival, a good adviser, and an example
of activity and healthy common sense.

Of all the clerks under Jordan's superintendence, the most interesting
to Anton was Baumann, the future missionary. Not only was he a truly
religious man, he was an admirable and infallible accountant. But,
besides all these, the firm had some officials who did not live in the
house. One was Birnbaum, the custom-house clerk, who was seldom visible
in the office, and only dined with the principal on Sundays. Then there
was the head of the warehouse department, Mr. Balbus, who, though by no
means a cultivated man, was always treated by the chief with great
respect; and, as Anton heard it said, had a mother and sick sister
entirely dependent upon him.

But of all these men, the most aggressively active, the most despotic in
his measures, was Pix, the manager of the provincial traffic department.
His domain began in the office, and extended throughout the house, and
far into the street. He was the divinity of all the country shopkeepers,
who looked upon him as the real head of the business. He arranged the
whole exports of the house, knew every thing, was always to be found,
and could do half a dozen things at once. Like all dignitaries, he