accountant had said nothing, considering, perhaps, that the Mt. Alban
ex-manager had been "called" substantially enough in the reduction of
his salary.

Robb had been quiet since his latest rebuke, and since the drunk
following it had not been absent from duty a single day. All the same,
he had been drinking steadily, quietly. Nelson often felt like doing
something about it; he had no idea what. Always when the impulse came
to him he closed his half-opened lips, leaned back in his chair, and
kept his troubled thoughts to himself.

May was past her prime. The "Island" was becoming more popular every
night, and the Sunday crowds at Scarboro grew rapidly. Robb and Evan
walked down University Avenue to the bank.

"Well, we'll have a rest to-morrow," said Robb. "I'm getting to be an
old man, and as long as I remember we've celebrated the 24th."

"I guess we always will remember Queen Victoria," replied Evan, "but
I'm going to work tomorrow. Jack has to transfer his ledger, and I
promised to help him."

Robb looked daggers at a robin.

"There you are," he said, in a soft, ominous tone; "that's the bank.
They give a fellow a post that keeps him going night and day, Sundays
and holidays, knowing that if he gets up against it absolutely, some
other mark will chip in and help him out. They get the greatest
possible labor out of the least possible staff at the lowest possible
figure."

Evan smiled, and repeated another bank chestnut handed down from time
immemorial among the staff as a valuable exotic intended to satisfy the
ambitions of those who had them:

"That's supposed to be good business, isn't it--economy?"

"Economy be hanged!" said Robb, "and good business be ----! Good
business, my dear boy, is giving reasonable value. Whether you are a
farmer, a merchant, an employe or an employer, good business consists
in delivering the goods, or paying cost of delivery, as the case may
be. One of the most valuable articles on earth is Labor, and when a
man buys it a decent price should be paid. The Bible is a wise old
book; doesn't it say that 'the laborer is worthy of his hire'?"

Robb spat against the curbing and went on.

"Do you know why banks build so many fine structures throughout the
country, and how it is they can afford to purchase the best locations
in all the cities?"

"I have often wondered," said Evan, meekly.

"I'll tell you: it's because of dividends that can't be declared. The
banks' pr