Your little bird has two
legs, hasn't it?"

"Most birds have," laughed Paul.

"I mean two legs in a pair of trousers," explained the junior partner,
rumpling his grizzled hair with an impatient gesture.

"You see how uncomfortable it is to be shadowed," said Paul, turning
the topic as his father entered the office.

That Saturday afternoon Mr. Whittier and Mr. Wheatcroft agreed on the
bid to be made on the steel rails needed by the Springfield and Athens
road. While the elder Mr. Whittier wrote the letter to the railroad
with his own hand, his son manoeuvred the junior partner into the
outer office, where all the clerks happened to be at work, including
the old book-keeper. Then Paul managed his conversation with Mr.
Wheatcroft so that any one of the five employees who chose to listen to
the apparently careless talk should know that the firm had just made a
bid on another important contract. Paul also spoke as though his father
and himself would probably go out of town that Saturday night, to
remain away till Monday morning.

And just before the store was closed for the night, Paul Whittier wound
up the eight-day clock that stood in the corner opposite the private
safe.

IV

Although the Whittiers, father and son, spent Sunday out of town, Paul
made an excuse to the friends whom they were visiting, and returned to
the city by a midnight train. Thus he was enabled to present himself at
the office of the Ramapo Works very early on Monday morning.

It was so early, indeed, that no one of the employees had arrived when
the son of the senior partner, bag in hand, pushed open the street door
and entered the long store, at the far end of which the porter was
still tidying up for the day's work.

"An' is that you, Mister Paul?" Mike asked in surprise, as he came out
of the private office to see who the early visitor might be. "An' what
brought ye out o' your bed before breakfast like this?"

"I always get out of bed before breakfast," Paul replied. "Don't you?"

"Would I get up if I hadn't got to get up to get my livin'?" the porter
replied.

Paul entered the office, followed by Mike, still wondering why the
young man was there at that hour.

After a swift glance round the office Paul put down his bag on the
table and turned suddenly to the porter with a question.

"When does Bob get down here?"

Mike looked at the clock in the corner before answering.

"It'll be ten minutes," he said, "or maybe twenty, b