He set his lips hard together, saying to himself that this was the beginning of the end.

At that same moment quite a thrilling scene was taking place in the private office, which would have unnerved the old cashier completely had he known of it.  It so happened, in exploring the nooks of the office, Kendale had by chance touched another bell, the bell communicating with the suit department, which was in charge of Mr. Conway’s pretty daughter, Miss Margery.  When that bell tapped it meant that the young lady was to make all possible haste to the private office, to which she had been summoned, and this the young girl proceeded to do, not without some little trepidation, however.  Fair Margery Conway had a secret romance in her life, a romance which no one in the wide world would ever have guessed.

For many a long day she had been secretly in love with Mr. Lester Armstrong, her father’s assistant, of whom; she had heard him speak so much and praise so highly.

She admired him immensely.  Many a time she made excuses to speak with her father a moment in their private office.  No one in the wide world guessed that grave, handsome Lester Armstrong was the attraction that brought her there.

She had many a casual chat with him, and somehow the hope grew in her heart that he was not altogether indifferent to her.

Once, when she had started home in the pouring rain, he had gone out of his way to see her safely to her destination under the shelter of his umbrella.

He had only been courteous, but she had built up many a hope from this little incident alone.

She had not seen very much of Lester Armstrong since that never-to-be-forgotten day, but her father had told her that he usually asked each morning:  “How is your daughter, Miss Margery?” and once her father had said: 

“Of all the young men whom I have met, I have the greatest regard for Lester Armstrong.  Such young men are the salt of the earth.  There is a future before him.  When he earns a dollar he puts by more than half of it against a rainy day.  He is not extravagant.  Few young men making his salary would dress so very plainly and make his clothes do him as long.  He has no bad habits; he neither smokes nor drinks, and that is something you can say of very few young men nowadays.”

Margery looked up into her father’s face with shining eyes.  She made no answer, but a vivid flush crept up into her cheeks, and the little hands that were busy with the teacups trembled a little.  She knew quite well that in the depth of his heart her father was hoping that she and Lester Armstrong would take a fancy to each other, and that in time that fancy might ripen into love, and instead of being only acquaintances, she and the assistant cashier might be nearer and dearer to each other.