uld! Oh, Willie, I'm so glad!"

Willie did not know whether to be glad or not. He could not but hope, as
Gerty and True did, that it might prove the dawning of some good
fortune; but he had reasons for believing that no offer from this
quarter could be available to him, and therefore made them both promise
to give no hint of the matter to his mother or Mr. Cooper.

On Thursday Willie presented himself at the appointed time and place.
Mr. Clinton, a gentlemanly man, received him kindly, asked but few
questions, and telling him that he was in want of a young man to fill
the place of junior clerk in his counting-room, offered him the
situation. Willie hesitated; for, though the offer was most encouraging,
Mr. Clinton made no mention of any salary; and that was a thing the
youth could not dispense with. Seeing that he was undecided, Mr. Clinton
said, "Perhaps you do not like my proposal, or have made some other
engagement?"

"No, indeed," answered Willie, quickly. "You are very kind to feel so
much confidence in a stranger as to be willing to receive me, and your
offer is a most welcome one; but I have been in a retail store, where I
obtained regular earnings, which were very important to my mother and
grandfather. I had far rather be in a counting-room like yours, sir, and
I think I might learn to be of use; but I think there are numbers of
boys, sons of rich men, who would be glad to be employed by you, and
would ask no compensation for their services, so that I could not expect
any salary, at least for some years. I should indeed, be well repaid, at
the end of that time, by the knowledge I might gain of mercantile
affairs; but, unfortunately, sir, I can no more afford it than I could
afford to go to college."

The gentleman smiled. "How did you know so much of these matters, my
young friend?"

"I have heard, sir, from boys who were at school with me, and are now
clerks in mercantile houses, that they received no pay, and I always
considered it a perfectly fair arrangement; but it was the reason why I
felt bound to content myself with the position I held in an apothecary's
shop, which, though it was not suited to my taste, enabled me to support
myself, and to relieve my mother, who is a widow, and my grandfather,
who is old and poor."

"Your grandfather is----"

"Mr. Cooper, sexton of Mr. Arnold's church."

"Aha!" said Mr. Clinton, "I know him. What you say, William, is true. We
do not pay any salary to our youn