d, I peeped behind the screen, and lo!
Bartleby was there.

I buttoned up my coat, balanced myself; advanced slowly towards him,
touched his shoulder, and said, "The time has come; you must quit this
place; I am sorry for you; here is money; but you must go."

"I would prefer not," he replied, with his back still towards me.

"You _must_."

He remained silent.

Now I had an unbounded confidence in this man's common honesty. He had
frequently restored to me sixpences and shillings carelessly dropped
upon the floor, for I am apt to be very reckless in such shirt-button
affairs. The proceeding, then, which followed will not be deemed
extraordinary.

"Bartleby," said I, "I owe you twelve dollars on account; here are
thirty-two; the odd twenty are yours--Will you take it?" and I handed
the bills towards him.

But he made no motion.

"I will leave them here, then," putting them under a weight on the
table. Then taking my hat and cane and going to the door, I tranquilly
turned and added--"After you have removed your things from these
offices, Bartleby, you will of course lock the door--since every one is
now gone for the day but you--and if you please, slip your key
underneath the mat, so that I may have it in the morning. I shall not
see you again; so good-by to you. If, hereafter, in your new place of
abode, I can be of any service to you, do not fail to advise me by
letter. Good-by, Bartleby, and fare you well."

But he answered not a word; like the last column of some ruined temple,
he remained standing mute and solitary in the middle of the otherwise
deserted room.

As I walked home in a pensive mood, my vanity got the better of my pity.
I could not but highly plume myself on my masterly management in getting
rid of Bartleby. Masterly I call it, and such it must appear to any
dispassionate thinker. The beauty of my procedure seemed to consist in
its perfect quietness. There was no vulgar bullying, no bravado of any
sort, no choleric hectoring, and striding to and fro across the
apartment, jerking out vehement commands for Bartleby to bundle himself
off with his beggarly traps. Nothing of the kind. Without loudly bidding
Bartleby depart--as an inferior genius might have done--I _assumed_ the
ground that depart he must; and upon that assumption built all I had to
say. The more I thought over my procedure, the more I was charmed with
it. Nevertheless, next morning, upon awakening, I had my doubts--I had
somehow