Tom bowed.

“I presume he has some thought of marriage, and has awakened to the fact that the life of an idler is a worthless one.  So he contemplates becoming a merchant.  With his help we shall be able to expand our business and thus benefit both.  I said I accepted his offer conditionally.”

Noticing the hesitation of his employer, Tom interposed:—­

“Mr. Warmore, there is no call for you to make this explanation.  No man could have been kinder to me than you have been.  I will not deny that I was disappointed, when I found myself checked on the next to the highest round of the ladder, but not a word of complaint can ever be heard from me.  I should be an ingrate to utter it.  I shall give you the best service of which I am capable, as I have done in the past.  My gratitude you shall have always.”

“Those manly word have decided me to say two things:  From the beginning of the year your salary shall be the same as that of Mr. Martin who has left.  The condition upon which I have agreed to accept Mr. Catherwood as a partner is that he shall devote one year’s hard work to the business.  He thinks he can acquire the necessary knowledge best by becoming a bookkeeper, since he could hardly be expected to begin where you and the rest did.”

Repeating his thanks to his employer for the goodness he had always shown toward him, Tom Gordon bowed himself out.

Sure enough, the next day Mr. Catherwood took his place at the bookkeeper’s desk.  Mr. Martin agreed to stay a week in order to explain everything necessary to him; and none could have applied himself more assidiously than the young man, whose whole thoughts seemed to have been centered on that of dress and the other sex.

Tom Gordon soon discovered the cause of Mr. Pitcairn’s remark to the effect that Catherwood was not such a bad fellow when you came to know him.  He wrote an excellent hand, understood the theory of bookkeeping, and mastered that branch of the business so quickly that Mr. Martin was dismissed with thanks at the end of three days.

True, he wore eyeglasses, parted his hair in the middle, and was an exquisite in his dress.  When he chose he could be courteous to those around him.  Most of the clerks were pleasantly disappointed by his manner.

Tom Gordon, as in duty bound, yielded full respect to the one who was not only his superior in position, but who was likely, in the course of time, to become his sole employer.  But the young man was sensitive, and soon became convinced that Mr. Catherwood did not feel especially friendly toward him.  It was not in anything he said or did, but rather in his manner.  It made Tom uncomfortable; but he resolved to make the best of it, and, if he could not force Mr. Catherwood to like him, he could at least compel his respect.

“He must have seen me laughing at him on the steamboat, when he missed his chair; possibly he suspects I had something to do with his mishap.  It is natural that he should feel resentful toward me, but I hope it will wear off.”