d Sir Thomas
would sleep for a while in his chair. But the old clerk never stirred
till thus dismissed. It was now eleven, and Sir Thomas knew very well
that Stemm would be in his closet. He opened the door and called,
and Stemm, aroused from his slumbers, slowly crept into the room.
"Joseph," said his master, "I want Mr. Ralph's papers."

"To-night, Sir Thomas?"

"Well;--yes, to-night. I ought to have told you when he went away,
but I was thinking of things."

"So I was thinking of things," said Stemm, as he very slowly made his
way into the other room, and, climbing up a set of steps which stood
there, pulled down from an upper shelf a tin box,--and with it a
world of dust. "If you'd have said before that they'd be wanted, Sir
Thomas, there wouldn't be such a deal of dry muck," said Stemm, as he
put down the box on a chair opposite Sir Thomas's knees.

"And now where is the key?" said Sir Thomas. Stemm shook his head
very slowly. "You know, Stemm;--where is it?"

"How am I to know, Sir Thomas? I don't know, Sir Thomas. It's like
enough in one of those drawers." Then Stemm pointed to a certain
table, and after a while slowly followed his own finger. The drawer
was unlocked, and under various loose papers there lay four or five
loose keys. "Like enough it's one of these," said Stemm.

"Of course you knew where it was," said Sir Thomas.

"I didn't know nothing at all about it," said Stemm, bobbing his head
at his master, and making at the same time a gesture with his lips,
whereby he intended to signify that his master was making a fool of
himself. Stemm was hardly more than five feet high, and was a wizened
dry old man, with a very old yellow wig. He delighted in scolding all
the world, and his special delight was in scolding his master. But
against all the world he would take his master's part, and had no
care in the world except his master's comfort. When Sir Thomas passed
an evening at Fulham, Stemm could do as he pleased with himself; but
they were blank evenings with Stemm when Sir Thomas was away. While
Sir Thomas was in the next room, he always felt that he was in
company, but when Sir Thomas was away, all London, which was open to
him, offered him no occupation. "That's the key," said Stemm, picking
out one; "but it wasn't I as put it there; and you didn't tell me
as it was there, and I didn't know it was there. I guessed,--just
because you do chuck things in there, Sir Thomas."

"What does it matter,