ose, and, with Wilkins at his side, again approached the desk where
Mr. Delancey had resumed his stiff position, leaning back in his chair.

"He will finish, if you please, sir," said Wilkins, with the respectful
bow of an inferior, but at the same time fixing his eyes sternly on the
merchant's face.

Mr. Delancey assumed an air of attention, and Guly, taking his old
station in front of him, commenced in a clear, distinct voice, and
repeated the table unfalteringly, from beginning to end.

"There! why couldn't you have done that in the first place, without
acting such a namby-pamby farce, I'd like to know?"

"I had not the power, sir."

"Well, what do you s'pose you're good for in a dry goods store, anyway,
eh? Look at that!" and he lifted one of the boy's small white hands by
the tips of the fingers, and held it towards the light, as if he would
look through it, then dropped it with a contemptuous "Umph!"

"What shall we do with him, Wilkins?"

"Give him the embroidery department. His hands are just fit for such
delicate work, and besides it will just put him under my eye."

"Poh! he'll make such ruinous mistakes, that I'll never be able to stand
it, sir. Give him Harper's place in the thread and tape, up here, then
he'll be under my eye."

Guly shuddered.

"He'll do well, sir, in the place I propose," Wilkins returned quietly,
but firmly. "With a little instruction, I'll answer for him; and there's
a freer circulation of air down there, something he needs."

"Well, take him along, and see what you can do with him. I expect
nothing more than that he'll die on my hands, before he's earned enough
to pay his funeral expenses."

Wilkins turned, and beckoned the boy to follow him.

CHAPTER IV.

_The First Sunday at Church._

Wilkins was head clerk in the establishment, and although he had all the
books to keep, his work was lighter than that of any of the rest. He
went to work later in the morning, and left it earlier at night. Besides
being book-keeper, he was a sort of a superintendent of the whole
concern; and the clerks looked up to him as second only to the
proprietor himself. To win Wilkins' favor was to propitiate Mr.
Delancey: a fact well known, and acted upon.

Guly's beauty, or gentle disposition, had evidently gained for him,
through Wilkins, the best stand in the store. His work was light and
agreeable, he had no heavy lifting to do, and the Beautiful, which in
any form was delightful