To business that we love, we rise betime,
And go to it with delight.

—Antony and Cleopatra.

Harry had not long been installed in his uncle's office (his parents had gladly consented, and appeared greatly pleased with the proposal made by Mr. Bruce) ere he became quite a favourite with the majority of the clerks, and especially so with Mr. Small, the manager.

Thomas Small was quite a character in his way. He had been one of the chief landmarks in connection with the establishment of Bruce and Co. for upwards of ten years, and had occupied the position of confidential clerk for fully half that time.

Short, thin, and wiry-looking, he walked with quick, short steps, his eyes continually cast forward, as if he were intent on reaching some distant object which would elude him if he once took his eyes from their close, attentive gaze.

Trained to the position of a mercantile clerk, he had acquired such habits of fastidious punctuality and close application to business, that his office stool had almost become a necessary part of his existence. It was whispered that in his younger days his heart had been softened by feelings of the tender passion, but whether he had been crossed in love or suffered some great disappointment never became known for a certainty; all that could be page 33 definitely ascertained was that he now regarded womankind as a harmless necessary evil, whose existence never seemed to make the remotest impression upon him one way or the other.

So far as could be observed, Small had never any further dealings with the opposite sex than was unavoidable in his fixed periodical settlements with his landlady at his lodgings, or an occasional discussion with his laundress over some article of his linen which had been returned “done up” in a state not altogether to his liking, for the busy little man was particularly difficult to please in connection with his collars and cuffs, and plumed himself not a little on a superior taste in these matters.

Small was deeply devoted to his employer, and studied his interests in every possible way. He was allowed almost entire control of the office arrangements, and all the clerks were subject to his direction and supervision. With unfailing regularity every morning since he assumed his present position he had opened the office, and was the last to leave after seeing everything in order when the clerks had gone each evening. To have been two minutes late, or to have found any of the clerks waiting for him, he would have considered an everlasting disgrace. The keys of the different safes were in his keeping, and except the one held by the cashier and his assistant which gave access to one safe only, he never allowed any hand but his own to touch them. The position of assistant-cashier and book-keeper was the one allotted to Harry, to effect which it became necessary to supplant the clerk then holding the office, who was transferred to another post.

The young man thus displaced, Herman Lane, had not been long in the employment of the firm, but he had displayed an aptitude for his work which was particularly gratifying to Small, and led to his being trusted in page 34 many ways he could not otherwise so soon have expected. When it became necessary that Herman Lane should make way for Harry, it might have been noticed that the transfer was anything but agreeable to him, and a close observer of his manner would have seen that he cherished towards Harry feelings the reverse of friendly, although he did his best to disguise them. During the few days on which he continued to discharge his old duties, he seemed more than ever engrossed in his work, and went about the office without appearing to notice any of his fellow clerks.

One morning, after Harry had been about three weeks in the office, Mr. Bruce had just entered his private room, and begun to look over the letters lying on his table, when Small entered quietly, and shut the door. Accustomed to these interviews with his manager, Mr. Bruce did not give any attention to him, but went on reading the letter before him. When he had finished this and taken up another, he looked at Small, who stood on the opposite side of his table. Observing at once that Small had something of unusual importance to communicate, he held out his hand for the letter which he saw in his manager's hand. It ran thus—

Your let to us of the 6th inst., the contents of which considerably surprised us, reached here yesterday. No such order as that mentioned in your letter was ever forwarded by us, nor can we accept the draft you have made on us. We need scarcely add that we will afford you all the assistance in our power towards clearing up this matter.

“Why, Small, what is this? What was the order?”

“An order for about £400 worth of wheat, accompanied page 35 by a remittance for £100, and a request to draw for the balance and all charges. Here is the letter. The signature seems the same, although there is nothing else beyond the use of the firm's paper to establish the bona fides of the order.”

Mr. Bruce examined and compared both letters. They were written on similar sheets of paper, but in different handwriting, while the signatures seemed alike. After a moment's reflection he said—

“Well, Small, what's to be done? Have you thought over the matter?”

“No, sir, I haven't considered fully yet. At first I thought we should at once put the police here in possession of the facts, then it occurred to me that possibly the better plan would be to get White, Shaw, and Co, to employ a detective in Melbourne. Probably we should consult the authorities here.”

“It is evident we have no bungling apprentices at the work to deal with. It would be well to act at once.”

After some further consultation it was agreed to submit the letters that afternoon to Mr. Goodend, the chief of the Dunedin police, and act by his advice.

Small accordingly waited on Mr. Goodend, and placed all the facts before him, when it was determined that nothing further should be said about the matter, but that arrangements should be made to get a detective not generally known in Melbourne to enter the office of Messrs. White, Shaw, and Co. as a clerk for the purpose of dealing with the case. Mr. Goodend explained that if the affair were a well-planned fraud, it was possible that further orders would be sent, in which case he was to be communicated with at once.

That same day as the office was being closed for the lunch hour, Herman Lane accosted Harry as he passed page 36 into the street, and asked if it was he who had cleared the P.O. box of the Melbourne mail.

“Yes, I got the letters last night. I was at the office with Mr. Small, and went along directly the mail came in.”

“Did you get any letters for me?”

“No, there were only letters addressed to the firm.”

“Oh! a small mail then?”

“Yes, three letters, I think. I gave them at once to Mr. Small.”

“Who cleared the box this morning?”

“I did; there were no more Melbourne letters.”

Evidently disappointed, Harry's questioner offered no further remark, and presently they parted, the one to pursue his way along Princes Street, the other to lunch hastily at a restaurant and then find his way to a hotel in Rattray Street, where his visit was evidently expected by two young men, whose appearance betokened their connection with the class whose dealings are most frequently at the card table, and whose intellectual recreation consists in the perusal of books of such a nature that each can claim to be the author of his own.

“Well, my boy,” began the taller and better-looking of the two, as Herman entered the room, “you see we are waiting patiently for you. Are you going to redeem your bits of paper to-day?” taking from his pocket a number of I.O.U.'s.

“No, not all; but here is £10. Give me the papers for that.”

“And when may we expect more?” with a knowing wink at his companion.

“Don't be afraid, I wont keep you waiting long. I expect enough by next mail to clear off everything.”

“Right you are, we'll not be too pushing.”

page 37

The other man, who had remained silent during the foregoing transaction, now approached Herman, and clapping him on the shoulder, said—

“Come, old man, don't think of going till you've had your revenge. Let us have a quiet half-hour before you go back to business.”

Not receiving any reply, he acted on the assumption, as he well knew, that he had a willing victim. The door of the room was locked, and until considerably after the time at which Herman should again have been at the office the shuffling and dealing of cards occupied his whole attention, with the result that when he rose to leave, the I.O.U.'s so lately redeemed had found their way back again to the pocket of his friend, and taken with them a companion to bear evidence of the fact that in the brief space of thirty minutes he had lost at cards more than would become his legitimate earnings during the next three weeks.

When Herman reached the office, Small was calling for him, and he accounted for his lateness with the explanation that one of the boarders at his lodgings was ill, and had asked him to call round and get the doctor to go up to the house at once.