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diff --git a/old/52872-0.txt b/old/52872-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 1e82d24..0000000 --- a/old/52872-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6852 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Harry Harding's Year of Promise, by Alfred Raymond - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Harry Harding's Year of Promise - -Author: Alfred Raymond - -Release Date: August 22, 2016 [EBook #52872] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARRY HARDING'S YEAR OF PROMISE *** - - - - -Produced by Donald Cummings and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - HARRY HARDING’S - YEAR OF PROMISE - - _By_ - - ALFRED RAYMOND - - - [Illustration: _The_ - GOLDSMITH - _Publishing Co._ - - CLEVELAND OHIO] - - MADE IN U.S.A. - - - - - _Copyright, 1917, by_ - CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - I PLANNING THEIR YEAR OF PROMISE 1 - II WHAT CAME OUT OF A BIN 10 - III DECLARING WAR ON THE PERCOLATOR 20 - IV AN EVEN EXCHANGE OF CONFIDENCES 28 - V AN UNPROMISING DAY 40 - VI HARRY SPEAKS HIS MIND 54 - VII TEDDY BURKE, AVENGER 65 - VIII A SANE LUNATIC 76 - IX THE PARTY OF THE THIRD PART 84 - X TEDDY BEGINS HIS FALL CANNING 93 - XI THE MARTIN MINUTE MEN 100 - XII THE BOY WHO COULD FORGIVE 111 - XIII THE ERRAND OF MERCY 121 - XIV TEDDY SCENTS A MYSTERY 132 - XV THE PLOT THICKENS 143 - XVI AN UNLUCKY DISCOVERY 153 - XVII DECORATING A DÉBUTANTE 163 - XVIII A QUEER TWIST OF FATE 173 - XIX TEDDY’S DARKEST HOUR 185 - XX ALL FOR THE SAKE OF TEDDY BURKE 196 - XXI AN UNEXPECTED FRIEND AT COURT 211 - XXII THE BEAUTY OF EFFICIENCY 220 - XXIII A BELATED RECOGNITION 235 - XXIV ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL 248 - - - - -HARRY HARDING’S YEAR OF PROMISE - - - - -CHAPTER I - -PLANNING THEIR YEAR OF PROMISE - - -Under a huge horse-chestnut tree, at the foot of a pretty bit of green, -sloping lawn, a curly-haired boy lay stretched at ease, his blue eyes -glued to the last page of an open book before him. Harry Harding -emitted a deep sigh of satisfaction as he read: - -“When the last golden sunset rays touched with tender glory the Kingdom -of New Hope, once the Kingdom of Despair, the formerly unhappy king, -now happy in the knowledge of well-doing, hurried to the lonely spot -in the forest where the tall pines whispered and sung. He hoped to -meet again the queer little man who had promised him the secret of -happiness. He waited there until the darkness fell, but no one came. -Tired at last of the still blackness and the sighing of the pines, he -called out in a loud voice, ‘Little man, where are you? The Year of -Promise is ended. I have done your bidding faithfully. The Kingdom of -Despair is now the Kingdom of New Hope. My happy subjects adore me and -I have found peace. Show yourself once more, little friend, that I may -thank you.’ - -“Still no one came and he found no wonderful casket. Only the evening -breeze sang on through the sentinel pines. But, as the king listened, -he was sure he heard it murmur: ‘Continue to do well. Every year comes -to you as a Year of Promise. It lies within yourself to make it a Year -of Fulfillment. This is the true secret of----’” - -Whack! A carefully-aimed apple struck the open book with a force -that sent it flying from the absorbed reader’s grasp. From behind a -neighboring tree a freckled face peeped out. It was lighted by two -dancing, black eyes and crowned with a mop of brilliant red hair. - -“No use hiding. I’ll get you!” Leaping to his feet Harry made a dash -for the tree that sheltered the mischievous marksman. - -Emitting a war whoop of pure joy the red-haired boy left his refuge -and tore across the lawn and around the corner of the little bungalow, -his victim in hot pursuit. After circling the house several times, -his quarry still in the lead, Harry brought strategy to the chase. -Turning about, he ran in an opposite direction just in time to nab the -offender as he rushed around a corner at reckless speed. - -“I’ve caught you!” Harry proceeded to administer a mild punishment, -which merely served to bring shouts of wild glee from the unrepentant -apple thrower. “Now go and pick up my book,” he commanded. With a final -shake he released his wildly wriggling catch. - -“Go and pick it up yourself,” invited the red-haired boy with a grin. -Nevertheless, he strolled over to where the maltreated book helplessly -sprawled. Raising it he presented it to Harry with a chuckle. “Here’s -your old book, but don’t think you’re going to read it. You’ve been too -busy with it all afternoon.” - -“All right, I won’t. I’ve finished it, anyway.” Tucking it under his -arm, Harry dropped down beneath the tree and beckoned to his companion. -“Sit here, Teddy, and let’s talk.” - -Teddy Burke responded to the invitation with a bounce and a flop that -pitched Harry on his side in the short green grass. The will to gambol -about like a very frisky young lamb was strong within Teddy on this -beautiful July day, and the process of settling himself for a talk was -accomplished with difficulty. - -“What have you been reading about that kept you so quiet?” was his -curious question, as he finally came to rest at Harry’s left. - -“It’s a dandy book.” Harry fingered the dark green cover with evident -affection. “I bought it for only ten cents at an aisle sale, just -before we came out here for our vacation. It’s all short stories. I -like the last one best, though. It’s called ‘The Secret of Happiness,’ -and it’s about a king----” - -“Huh, I guess it’s a lot of old fairy tales,” sniffed Teddy. “Catch me -reading ’em. I like stories about fellows that went on voyages round -the world and discovered islands and things that nobody else’d ever -heard of.” - -To those who have read “HARRY HARDING, MESSENGER 45,” Teddy Burke -and Harry Harding are already familiar acquaintances. In that volume -was recorded the manner in which they met, their ready entrance into -mutual friendship and how, together, they began their business life -as messengers in Martin Brothers’ department store. Many incidents, -serious and laughable, fell to their lot as members of the great -store family. While Teddy, in spite of numerous mischievous pranks, -flourished in his new surroundings, Harry’s early days of work were -brimmed with bitter misfortune. But he met trial and discouragement -with a staunch heart, and amply proved himself worthy of the reward his -persevering stand for the right brought him. - -The winning of a prize of twenty dollars in gold afforded him the -coveted opportunity to take his mother into the country for a brief -vacation. In this project he was joined by Mrs. Burke and her son -Teddy, and the last Saturday of the delightful two weeks freedom from -toil found the four happy idlers spending their final vacation hours -together at the cozy bungalow where their combined finances had enabled -them to pass this brief, pleasant season together. - -“You’re not the only one that likes adventure stories,” smiled Harry -in answer to Teddy’s derisive fling at fairy tales. “I like them, too. -But the stories in this book are not about old witches and enchanted -castles and such things. They’re allegories.” - -“What’s allegories?” Teddy eyed Harry as though he wondered whether -they might not be some rare species of animal of which the Zoo could -not boast. - -“An allegory is--let me see--well, it’s a story that seems like a fairy -tale but isn’t.” - -“Must be even worse, then,” discouraged Teddy. - -“No; it’s better,” contradicted Harry. “It tells you a story, but -it teaches you a lesson at the same time. Now this one I was just -reading----” - -“I don’t want to hear anything that sounds like a lesson.” Teddy made -a grimace of disgust. “I hate to think about going to that old night -school.” - -“That’s what you said about day school, but you liked it just the same. -You’re a humbug, Teddy Burke.” - -“I ain’t.” Teddy resorted to inelegant defense. “Let’s not talk about -school. Go on and tell me your old story.” - -Harry regarded Teddy out of affectionate blue eyes. “You’re a fraud, -then,” he teased. - -“I wouldn’t let any other fellow call me that, but you don’t count. Now -go ahead with your yarn.” - -“Thank you.” Harry bowed ironically. “Well, this allegory is about a -king who ruled over the Kingdom of Despair. It was called so because -everything in it went wrong. And that was his fault because he was so -hateful and harsh with his subjects. After a while these poor people -got up a plot to take the kingdom away from him, and he found it out. -He didn’t know what to do so he went out into a big pine forest all by -himself to think things over. While he was there he met a queer little -man who gave him a terrible scolding and made him see how mean he was. -He felt very bad and said if he only had another chance he’d do better. -So the little man said that if he meant what he said, he’d give him a -year to keep his promise. If he failed, then he’d lose his kingdom and -his life, too. But if at the end of the year the people still wanted -him for king he was to come back to the pine woods and there he would -find a wonderful casket in which was the secret of happiness. - -“So the king went back to his kingdom and set all the poor prisoners -free that he had hidden away in underground dungeons. Then he called -all the people of the kingdom together and told them that he was going -to do better by them. He told them of the wonderful casket and promised -if they would let him be king for another year he would divide the -secret of happiness with them when he got it. So they said they would -help him and promised not to take his kingdom from him.” - -“And did he behave himself?” was Teddy’s matter-of-fact question. Fairy -tale or allegory, he was interested in the doings of the repentant king. - -“You can better believe he did. He was good as gold for a whole year -and instead of going on hating him, his subjects grew to love him.” - -“Did the little man give him the casket when the year was up?” - -“Listen and I’ll read it to you. I had just finished it when you shied -that apple at me.” - -Harry opened the book to the last page and again read the concluding -paragraphs. - -“So _that’s_ an allegory,” mused Teddy. “Hm! It’s not so slow. I kind -of like that idea about the Year of Promise. Say, Harry, it’s something -like us, isn’t it? When we go back to Martin Brothers’ next Monday it -would be kind of fun to pretend it was _our_ Year of Promise. Now, -wouldn’t it?” - -“I was thinking that when I first read it.” Harry looked pleased to -find that Teddy had made the same application of the allegory. “It -_will_ be our Year of Promise, Ted, and it’s up to us to make it our -Year of Fulfillment.” - -“I guess it is.” Teddy considered the idea gravely, his impish face -becoming solemn. “I’m going to try to behave--if I can. No more -throwing baseballs over balconies for me. That’s about the worst -thing I did last year, except punching Howard Randall and wearing a -stewpan for a hat and pestering the Gobbler--I mean Miss Newton.” Teddy -launched into a further enumeration of his iniquities. - -“Just think of all the good things you did,” reminded Harry. “What -about helping Miss Newton when she lost her purse and----” - -“Oh, can it!” The red that sprang to Teddy’s cheeks threatened to rival -that of his hair. “It’s funny I didn’t get fired. I’m going to be -pretty careful what I do this year, though.” - -A faint smile curved Harry’s lips at this earnest declaration. Knowing -Teddy as he did, he doubted his chum’s ability to steer prudently clear -of scrapes. Mischief and the red-haired boy were one. - -“You needn’t smile.” Teddy had marked the amused flicker. “I’m going to -be so good all the time that it’ll make you dizzy.” - -“Then I sha’n’t be able to work.” - -Teddy giggled as his quick fancy pictured Harry reeling helplessly -about Department 85, as the result of his own perpetual good behavior. -“I guess you won’t get very dizzy,” he predicted. - -“No; I don’t believe I shall. Still, it isn’t what we _say_ we’re going -to do that counts, Ted. It’s what we really _do_.” Harry’s bantering -tone changed to one of deep conviction. “It’s just as the pine trees -whispered to the king. We’re going back to the store on Monday to begin -our Year of Promise, and if we do our level best with each day of it, -then it can’t help but be a Year of Fulfillment, too.” - - - - -CHAPTER II - -WHAT CAME OUT OF A BIN - - -“No, Madam, you can’t settle your transfer here. You’ll have to go -to that desk down there. Four aisles below.” Miss Welch’s indexing -pencil pointed with a determination that invited the zealous clamorer -for settlement to seek further. “Down there,” she repeated, as the -woman fixed her placid gaze on a spot far up the aisle, then aimlessly -wandered around a corner of the desk to implore fresh information from -a nearby salesperson. - -“Can you beat it?” muttered the disgusted exchange clerk. “Tell ’em to -go down the aisle and they rubber up and don’t go neither way but sidle -around the desk and hold up a sales. Just like that. If I was a---- -Why, hel-lo, Kiddo!” Miss Welch’s monologue ended in a cry of pleasant -surprise. “If it ain’t Harry Harding! Now where did _you_ drop from? -Look at the boy! Growed an inch in two weeks; and see the tan. Some -little vacation, _I_ guess. How about it?” - -“Oh, Miss Welch, I’m ever so glad to see you.” Harry shook the exchange -clerk’s extended hand with joyful fervor. “I was afraid maybe you’d be -away on your vacation, and I wanted to see you.” - -“Listen to the kid. He wanted to see me. Well, I’m exhibiting at -the same old stand. Maybe I didn’t miss you, too, Harry. I got your -postcard. I knew you couldn’t slight your old friend Irish.” - -“Of course I couldn’t. Whenever I thought about the store, I thought of -you and that was every day. I had a splendid time, but I’m glad to be -back, though. When are you going on your vacation?” - -“Not until the last of August. Martin Brothers just can’t bear to give -me up. If you hear a noise like a roof falling in around the last of -next month you’ll know I’ve went off for a two weeks’ hunting the -joy-bug, and the shebang has collapsed.” Pretty Miss Welch’s dimples -were in evidence as she made this astonishing statement. - -“I shouldn’t be surprised if it would,” Harry responded with boyish -gallantry. “I know books and jewelry’ll miss you.” - -“So will Smarty Barty. He’s ordered black already. I hate to leave -_him_, with the hate left out.” - -Harry’s sensitive face clouded momentarily. The mention of his ancient -enemy brought back the memory of long-unredressed wrongs. - -“Is he pretty cross now?” was his sober question. - -“_Now?_” Miss Welch’s eyebrows went up. “Take it from me, kid, he was -born with crankitis and never got cured. He could take a bite out of -one o’ them triple plate card trays over there and not hurt his teeth. -But away with S. B. How’s the boy? You certainly look fine. I heard you -speak your little piece up in Martin Hall. I was sorry I didn’t see you -that night to praise you for the hit you made. Now tell me where you -went and all about it.” - -Harry responded with a brief but eager account of his vacation, to -which the exchange girl kept up a running fire of encouraging comment. - -“I’ll have to leave you,” he said at last. “There’s going to be a -mid-summer sale, beginning to-morrow, and I’ve a lot of books to bring -down from the stock-room.” - -“Don’t forget Number 10,” was Miss Welch’s pertinent reminder, as he -turned away. “Wedding presents, misfits and general junk exchanged -while you wait.” - -Smilingly Harry walked down the aisle in the direction of the elevator -that would take him to the stock-room. How pleasant it was to see -Miss Welch again, and to greet the members of his department. Yet on -entering the store how strange it had seemed not to go to the assembly -room for roll call. He and Teddy now reported at the regular time-desk -for the men. Instead of being obliged to report at half-past seven -o’clock, their time limit was set at eight. Not until the first of -October would they again go to school; then only twice a week and after -the business of the day was over. This last they had learned from Mr. -Marsh when they had reported at his desk that morning. - -As the elevator came to a jiggling stop, and the boy was about to step -in, a tall figure loomed up beside him, brushed him out of the way as -though he had been a troublesome fly, and crowded into the cage ahead -of him. Only the flashing of his blue eyes betrayed Harry’s annoyance -at the rudeness. The next second the car was speeding upward, but that -second revealed to the boy the author of the discourtesy. It was Mr. -Barton who had thrust him aside. If the crabbed aisle manager was aware -of the lad’s presence in the car, he gave no sign of it. His scowling -face was fixed on the operator’s back and when the car stopped at the -fifth floor he fairly bolted out of it. - -“Pipe that old crank?” The operator, a youth of perhaps twenty years, -turned to Harry with a grin. “He’s a sick man, he is. Pretty near every -mornin’ he hits my car about this time and beats it for the hospital. -His ugliness has struck in an’ gives him a pain, I guess.” - -“Do you know him?” Harry looked his surprise at learning Mr. Barton’s -destination. - -“Sure I know him. So do you. I run this car the day he took you up to -Prescott’s office. That was some crime, but you got clear all right. I -heard about it. A guy downstairs tipped me off.” - -“It was a mistake all around.” Harry was too much of a man to take -advantage of the opportunity to disparage the unjust aisle manager. -“Why does he go to the hospital so much?” he inquired, with a view to -leading the operator away from the unpleasant past. - -“He’s got the dis-pep-shy. The pep’s struck to his stommick and makes -it ache. I heard him tellin’ another floor-walker ’bout it one morning. -He can’t get nothin’ to cure it. Too bad, ain’t it? I’d turn on the -salt water, but cryin’ hurts my eyes,” he concluded with a derisive -grimace. - -“No wonder he’s so cross. I never knew he had dyspepsia.” In spite of -his dislike for Mr. Barton, Harry could not help feeling a trifle sorry -for the unfortunate victim of so painful a malady. - -“I wouldn’t lay awake nights thinkin’ about it,” was the operator’s -succinct advice as Harry stepped out of the cage at the tenth floor. - -“I never lie awake nights thinking about anything,” he retorted -sharply. The boy’s utter lack of sympathy jarred on him. He could not -help wondering, as he made his way to the section reserved for the book -stock, whether, after all, Mr. Barton could really be blamed for his -perpetual snarling. Long since he had forgiven the aisle manager for -the injustice which had merely been the means of placing him under the -guidance of Mr. Rexford. His ready sympathy awakened by what he had -just heard, Harry was sure that if at any future time his path should -cross Mr. Barton’s, he would be charitable enough to make allowances. - -“Hello!” he exclaimed. “What’s been happening here, I’d like to -know.” His active mind swung from the subject of Mr. Barton’s woes to -confront a most astonishing change in the stock designed for the sale, -which he had arranged so neatly before starting on his vacation. In -the bins where order had reigned supreme, the hapless volumes were -jumbled together in reckless confusion. Uneven piles of books, that the -lightest touch would scatter, rose from various points on the floor. -Wherever his eye chanced to rest, Harry marked plentiful signs of -dust. The hand of neglect lay heavy upon his treasures, and he emitted -a low whistle of consternation as he investigated a nearby bin in -which crazily commingled an expensive edition of the great poets and a -quantity of low-priced books for boys. - -His whistle at least was productive of instantaneous results. Hearing a -sudden shuffling sound behind him, he whirled. From a bin at the lower -end of the stock-room a black, tousled head emerged. It was followed by -a long, wiry body that gradually straightened itself. A pair of thin -arms stretched themselves lazily. From under a thatch of black, rumpled -hair two half-shut black eyes resentfully viewed the newcomer. The -stretching process continued, and a wide mouth opened more widely in a -yawn. - -“Whada you want?” came the ill-natured challenge, issued between yawns. - -“Who are you?” Harry returned in crisp, business-like tones. - -“I’m the stock boy. Who you whistlin’ for? What’s missin’ downstairs? A -fellow can’t more’n get up here until somebody’s after him.” - -“The stock boy!” Harry’s tone registered incredulity. “How long have -you been stock boy? Where is Fred Alden?” - -“How do I know where he is? I’m no direct’ry. I’ve been here a week, -but that’s none of your business. If you’re talkin’ about the kid that -had this job before me, he’s left.” - -“Why did he leave?” Harry’s eyes grew wide at this news. - -“Ask the employment office. Now whada you want? I got a lot to do and I -can’t stop to fool around with you.” - -“You seemed to be very busy--sleeping when I came here.” Harry launched -this barb merely by shrewd guess. - -It struck home. The tall boy’s sallow face grew red. He made a menacing -step forward. “Cut that out,” he growled. “Say what you’re after and -beat it.” - -“So _you_ are the new stock boy.” Harry regarded the other lad with a -calm, unfearing glance. “I must say that I am surprised. As it happens, -I came up here to _work_. So I’m going to stay. I can see that I shall -find plenty to do. If you’ve finished your nap it might be a good idea -for you to get busy, too.” - -“You’re a fresh kid.” The tall boy continued to advance threateningly, -his fists doubled for battle. “Are you goin’ to get out?” - -“No; I’m not. You might as well put down your fists for I sha’n’t fight -you. I’m here to work, not to fight. I’m not the least bit afraid of -you. If you _must_ fight, I’ll meet you anywhere you like outside the -store.” - -For a moment the two boys faced each other in silence, Harry coolly -defiant, his adversary too greatly enraged for speech. The determined -glint in Harry’s eyes, backed by his fearless demeanor, warned the -bully to caution. Step by step he backed slowly away from the fight for -which he apparently yearned. “I’ll fix you yet, freshie,” he muttered. -Turning a prudent back on danger he shuffled toward the bin he had -recently occupied and began pitching into it the tottering heaps of -books that lay nearest to his ruthless hands. - -“This is a nice mess,” was Harry’s inward comment, as he stood -speculating where to begin the much-needed reform. “How did Mr. Rexford -ever happen to hire such a stock boy? I’m surprised that Mr. Atkins -hasn’t reported him. Somebody must have been asleep at the switch or -that lazy bully would never be working for Martin Brothers.” - -With a sigh he dropped to his knees and began a piling up of the famous -poets, preparatory to transplanting them to their proper sphere. To -find Henry W. Longfellow sandwiched between “The Boy Castaways of -Snake Island” and “Umbasi, the Zulu Chief,” was an outrage that called -for instant reparation. He wished now that he had stopped to make a -few general inquiries before coming to the stock-room. Knowing that -Mr. Rexford was seldom in the department before nine o’clock, he had -lingered on the selling floor after receiving his orders from the -assistant buyer only long enough to greet a few of the salespeople and -to speak to Miss Welch. - -A repeated whacking and banging of books at the lower end of the -stock-room conveyed to Harry the fact that the unwilling laborer had -decided to work. The precise value of his noisy effort was yet to be -determined. Harry was not optimistic regarding the final result. From -what he had already discovered it was likely to be a thorough jumble. -But where was Mr. Atkins, who had charge of the incoming shipments of -books and who attended to the marking of their prices? It was not in -the least like him to allow a stock boy to thus neglect the surplus -stock. Harry now remembered that he had not seen the man about as he -passed through the receiving room. - -“I hate to go and tell tales the minute I come back to the store,” was -his reflection as he energetically delved and straightened the untidy -bins. “Perhaps they’ve kept this fellow so busy he hasn’t had time to -set things straight. But just the same he was asleep. I know he was. -If he’s going to be so lazy, I’ll work hard and keep the stock looking -nice anyway. That is, unless he loafs all the time. I’m going to find -out who he is and all about him. Mother says it doesn’t need to make -much difference to one what other people do or don’t do. It’s what one -does or doesn’t do oneself. I’m going to do my work just as if I were -the only stock boy here. If this boy isn’t playing fair with Martin -Brothers, somebody will be sure to find it out and without my saying a -word about it to anyone.” - - - - -CHAPTER III - -DECLARING WAR ON THE PERCOLATOR - - -But while Harry Harding was wrestling with a difficulty that had risen -on the very threshold of his Year of Promise, Teddy Burke had made a -most triumphant return to the humble kingdom of house furnishings. From -Mr. Everett, the buyer, down to Miss Newton, the Gobbler, Teddy was -hailed as a long-lost brother. - -“I am very glad to see _you_ back again, 65,” was Mr. Duffield’s -beaming greeting, and this genial sentiment was echoed by the others of -the department as Teddy flitted about among them, his thin little hand -stretched forth in ready comradeship, his freckled face wreathed with -smiles. - -“Well, Reddy, how’s business?” was Sam Hickson’s jovial question. -Having made the round of the department, Teddy now proceeded to line -himself up beside his old friend for a brief chat before his duties of -the day grew too brisk to permit further social amenities. - -“That’s a nice question to ask me,” sniffed Teddy. “How do you s’pose -I know how business is when I’ve been off in the country enjoying -myself?” - -“Well, you’ve answered it just the same,” teased the salesman. -“Enjoying yourself in the country was your business, wasn’t it?” - -“I guess you must have been chewing smart-weed,” retorted Teddy. -“Wonder if I’d be as smart if I ate some. Tell me where you get it and -I’ll try it.” - -“Same place where you get yours,” grinned Hickson tolerantly. “It only -agrees with red-headed folks.” - -Teddy’s jolly giggle at this witticism was infectious. Hickson laughed, -too, out of sheer pleasure at seeing his little friend again. - -“I’ll bet this kettles and pans crowd down here missed me,” was Teddy’s -next modest assertion. - -“You are just right about that. We all got a good rest. No more peace -in kettles and pans with you running around loose.” - -“I’ve reformed.” Teddy made this amazing statement with the air of one -who has donned the difficult mantle of reform with the utmost ease. - -“I didn’t quite get that.” Sam Hickson’s hand cupped his ear as an -assistant to hearing. - -“I’ve reformed.” Teddy repeated his announcement, looking slightly -ruffled. “I’m going to bee-have just like an angel. You watch me and -see. I’m going to give kettles and pans the biggest s’prise they ever -had.” - -Sam Hickson laughed uproariously. “I’ll warrant you will,” he agreed. -“You’ve already given ’em a few shocks along the line of ‘bee-having.’ -I guess they can stand a few more.” - -“I guess they can.” Teddy’s wide, roguish smile again sprang into -evidence. It faded as he leaned forward to peer owlishly at a short, -rotund young man who had just come into view from around a towering -pile of tinware on a table at their left. “Say, who’s he and where’d -he come from? I’ve seen him every two minutes since I struck 40, but I -haven’t been introduced to him yet.” - -Hickson shrugged his shoulders. - -“He’s our new assistant buyer. Willard left, you know, just before you -went on your vacation. What have you got to say about that? Look him -over. Name him and you can have him to take home with you.” There was -decided rancor in the man’s voice. - -Teddy made thoughtful inventory of the neat young man, surveying him -curiously from his aggressively smooth black hair to his narrow, -glistening shoes. An expression of seraphic innocence lurked in the -youngster’s black eyes as he murmured, “He--he--looks like a--one of -those fat, shiny little coffee-pots--a----” Teddy wrestled with the -word. “A percolator!” he cried out triumphantly. - -“Ha, ha, ha!” shouted Hickson. “You hit it that time, Reddy!” His face -sobered, however. The stout young man had heard both Teddy’s shrill -accents and Hickson’s accompanying burst of laughter. Now he charged -briskly down upon the culprits, rebuke in his eye. Luckily for them, -he had not the remotest idea that he was the object of their mirth. He -was merely aware of undue boisterousness in his vicinity that warranted -stern reproof. - -“What is the cause of so much noise?” he rapped out sharply. “How much -have you on your book, Hickson? And you,” he glared at Teddy, “go to -your own department. Don’t loiter here.” - -“I have to stay here.” Teddy regarded the questioner with the wistful -gaze of a prisoner. - -“What are you waiting for? Why must you stay here?” came the curt -challenge. - -“I’m not waiting for anything.” - -“Then you don’t have to stay here. Go----” - -“But I _do_ have to stay here,” contradicted Teddy with gentle, -tantalizing dignity. “I belong in this department. I’m s’prised that -you didn’t know it.” - -“Humph!” With an indignant snort the stout young man wheeled and -trotted off up the aisle. - -Apparently deep in enumerating his sales, Sam Hickson’s broad shoulders -were shaking with silent merriment during this interesting bit of -dialogue. - -“Oh, you Reddy!” he gasped when the disturber had passed out of -hearing. “That’s the time you put one over on--on the Percolator.” - -“What’s the matter with him, anyhow?” Teddy personified disgust. “I -s’posed everybody here had seen _me_ this morning. His ears must be -better’n his eyes. What’s he got to say about the way we act? Mr. -Willard never used to talk like that.” - -“I know it.” Hickson grew suddenly glum. “I’m going to tell you -something, Teddy, but keep it to yourself. This fellow is a -trouble-hunter! He’s got a game to play and I can see through him. I’ve -had my eye on him ever since he hit 40, and, between you and me, he’s -after Mr. Everett’s job. He’s what you call an efficiency man.” - -“I didn’t call him that. I called him a percolator. He’s just like one. -I’ll bet when he gets mad he fizzles up, the way those coffee-pots do -when the demonstrator pours hot water into ’em.” - -“He doesn’t get mad,” grumbled Hickson. “I wish he would. I’d feel then -that he was a man instead of a bossing machine.” - -“He might get mad some day,” predicted Teddy hopefully. “I’d like to -see him bubble up.” His fertile brain was already beginning to consider -ways and means by which this greatly desired result might be attained. -“Do you b’lieve he’s after Mr. Everett’s job?” The little boy shot a -peculiar glance at the gloomy-faced salesman. - -“I don’t believe it, I’m sure of it.” - -“Then I sha’n’t reform just yet.” Teddy drew himself up, mischievous -purpose in his declaration. “I’m going to make the old Percolator -bubble up. I’ll make him boil over so many times he’ll wish he’d never -heard of house furnishings. Course, if he lets Mr. Everett alone, -I’ll let him alone. But if he thinks he is going to be buyer of this -department instead of Mr. Everett, then he’d better look out. Mr. -Everett’s the best buyer that ever lived, and I’m going to fight for -him.” - -“You’re a good little friend, Teddy.” Sam Hickson patted the lad’s -slender shoulder. “You’d better go slow, though. You can’t do anything -much except get yourself into trouble for your pains. I’m sorry I said -anything. Maybe I’m wrong about it. Only I can’t help noticing things.” - -“What things?” persisted Teddy. - -“Oh, this fellow, Jarvis, that’s his name, runs to the front with -everything. Then he’s hard on the people in 40. Follows us up all the -time. Calls us down if we lose a sale. Won’t let us say a word to each -other. If he sees two of us standing together he chases us. When we -_are_ busy selling, he butts in with a crazy lot of talk and spoils -the sale. It makes the customers mad, but he can’t see it. Miss Newton -went to Mr. Everett about it the first time he bothered her. Mr. -Everett told him to quit it and he went to the front and told some kind -of a yarn that got Mr. Everett a call down. First one he’s ever had and -he’s been with Martin Brothers eight years. If this Jarvis can do that, -and here less than two weeks, what will he do when he’s been here a -year?” - -“Maybe he won’t be here a year.” Again confidence lurked in Teddy’s -speech. - -“You mean maybe _we_ won’t be here, but _he_ will.” Hickson was far -from optimistic. “There’s a customer. They’re few and far between these -hot days.” The salesman moved away, leaving Teddy to ponder over this -new unpleasant state of affairs. - -“Sixty-five.” Mr. Duffield’s voice sounded the beginning of action. - -Teddy darted off, obedient to the call. From that time on he found -no further chance to reflect over what he had heard. When he went to -his luncheon at twelve o’clock, he was kept busy by Harry and his boy -friends. Both Harry and Teddy had become too well known and liked among -the store messengers to escape notice when they appeared in the lunch -room. - -It was not until the two boys had passed the lunch-room time-desk on -their way back to their respective departments that Teddy found an -opportunity to say, “I’ve got something to tell you.” - -“I’ve something to tell, myself,” was Harry’s quick response. “We’ll -have to wait until after the store closes, though.” - -“Wait for me outside. No more assembly for us. I’m kind of sorry. I’ll -miss the line up.” - -“So shall I,” nodded Harry. “So long.” - -The two boys separated, each with his own problem to consider. - -The moment that Teddy reached Department 40, his alert eyes scanned the -wide expanse of house furnishings until they sought out a certain neat, -rotund person against whom he had vowed to wage a determined campaign. -Teddy strolled calmly down one aisle, then began a furtive dodging in -and out among the engines of housekeeping until he reached a spot where -he could conveniently observe without being observed. He studied the -elegant Mr. Jarvis with a thoughtful gaze that a philosopher might well -have envied, then he stole stealthily away to presently appear at a -distant end of the department. Had Mr. Jarvis been aware that he was -under the close surveillance of one small, red-haired, mischievous boy, -it would not have in the least disturbed his bland equanimity. But he -was destined to learn quite a number of things about Teddy Burke that -had nothing to do with efficiency, as he saw it. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -AN EVEN EXCHANGE OF CONFIDENCES - - -Across the street from Martin Brothers’ great store a very impatient -Teddy Burke was keeping a fidgeting vigil for Harry Harding. The -moon-faced clock on a neighboring tower showed twenty-five minutes to -seven. Indifferent to the ever-moving procession of eager home-seekers, -traveling their accustomed evening trail toward food, rest and -recreation, Teddy stood firmly planted against the sheltering wall of a -cigar store, well out of the path of the surging stream of pedestrians. -To active Teddy, thirty-five minutes of waiting seemed a long period -of time. He had taken up his watch at precisely six o’clock and now he -was growing restless. Only the reassuring thought that Harry would not -fail him kept him lingering on the corner. He sighed with relief as he -finally sighted Harry across the street, and, forsaking the friendly, -sustaining wall, advanced to meet his dilatory partner. - -“Did you think I was never coming?” greeted Harry. “I’m sorry to be so -late. I had to finish a job I began right after lunch. There’s to be -a mid-summer sale, beginning to-morrow. I was afraid I’d have to stay -longer, but Mr. Brady said I could hustle the stuff down early in the -morning.” - -“Oh, I s’posed you was lost in the stock-room, or twenty thousand -leagues under a truck, or up the elevator to the North Pole, or -captured by the trouble-hunters of 84,” invented Teddy derisively. - -Harry smiled whimsically. “I was in the stock-room, but not lost. -I was in a truck, but not twenty thousand leagues under it. I went -up the elevator, but only as far as the tenth floor, and I met a -trouble-hunter, but wasn’t captured.” - -“You talk like the answer to a riddle,” snickered Teddy. - -“And _you_ talk like a catalogue of boys’ books,” retorted Harry -good-humoredly. - -“I don’t feel like one,” grumbled Teddy. “I feel hot under the collar. -I’m mad. I’m so mad the freckles on my face hurt.” The boy’s black eyes -blazed an accompanying declaration of wrath. - -“What has happened?” Quick concern was mirrored in the sympathetic -glance Harry shot toward Teddy. Evidently his chum’s day had not been -free from annoyance. - -“It’s that old Percolator,” was the somewhat mystifying response. “He’s -got it in for Mr. Everett.” - -The announcement that so innocuous an article as a coffee-pot should -aspire to revenge might well have amazed Harry. The pronoun “he” was -enlightening, however. Teddy was merely resorting to his disrespectful -naming habit. - -“I suppose ‘he’ looks like a percolator?” The corners of Harry’s mouth -twitched suspiciously. - -“Yes, he does,” snapped Teddy. “Round and fat and shiny and hard. He’s -the new assistant buyer and he makes me sick.” - -“Have you told him his new name yet?” teased Harry. Privately, he had -jumped to the conclusion that Teddy’s grievance was not very serious. -“What did he call you down for?” - -“This is no joke,” flung back Teddy. “It’s serious.” He plunged into -a recital of his encounter with the stout young man, ending with -Hickson’s confidence. “I asked Mr. Hickson if I could tell you about -it,” he added, “and he said he guessed you could be trusted to keep -still.” - -“That was nice in him.” Harry looked pleased. Through the agency of -Teddy he and the red-haired salesman were on very friendly terms. “And -you say that this Mr. Jarvis is an efficiency man?” - -“Yep; he’s crazy. That’s just the same thing. I’d like to say something -about him to Mr. Everett, but I don’t know what to say or how to say -it.” - -“You’d better not.” Harry shook his head. “If Mr. Everett doesn’t know -it, I don’t believe he’d like to hear it from his stock boy. If he does -know it, then telling him that you know it, too, wouldn’t help him any. -All you can do is to keep your eyes open and your mouth shut. If you -see a chance to do something nice for Mr. Everett, go ahead and do it. -But don’t try to injure this other man. That would put you on the same -level with him.” - -“Oh, I’ll let him live,” assured Teddy sarcastically. “I won’t say that -he’ll have a real happy life, though. Can up the Percolator before he -does his winter canning’s goin’ to be my motto.” - -“Look out that _you_ don’t get canned,” was Harry’s warning advice. - -“I’d rather it’d be me than Mr. Everett,” Teddy returned, ungrammatical -but loyal. “I’ll watch myself. I gotta stay in 40 now to fight for the -man that’s good to me.” - -“I know how you feel. I hope you’re mistaken about this Mr. Jarvis. -Maybe he’s just fussy and not really underhanded.” - -“Time’ll tell,” prophesied Teddy gloomily. “What happened to you -to-day? You said you’d something to tell me.” - -It was Harry’s turn to make a recital of his day’s difficulties. -A brief stay in the book department after luncheon had put him in -possession of several facts that pertained strictly to his disagreeable -acquaintance of the stock-room. The boy’s name was Leon Atkins. He was -the son of the man in the book receiving room. Fred Alden had left the -store directly after Harry had gone on his vacation and Mr. Atkins had -asked Mr. Rexford to give his son the position thus open. The boy had -made regular application in the employment office and at Mr. Rexford’s -request had been placed in Department 84. He was far from a model stock -boy, but Mr. Rexford had been out of the city for over a week and, -consequently, was not aware of the youth’s delinquency. All this Harry -now related to Teddy, who listened with due solemnity. - -“I guess he’ll get fired when Mr. Rexford comes back,” was his sage -observation when Harry had finished. “I wouldn’t stand for a lazy kid -like that. He might make folks think you wasn’t any good either.” - -“I’ve thought of that. Still, I wouldn’t care to complain to Mr. -Rexford. Mr. Denby told me that poor Mr. Atkins has had an awful time -with this boy. He was expelled from school and after that he went to -work. He’s had half a dozen positions and lost them all. Mr. Atkins -only gets twenty dollars a week and he has a wife and six children to -support. This boy is the only one old enough to work, and his father -needs his help. I’m sorry for Mr. Atkins.” - -“I’m sorry for _you_,” snorted Teddy. “You’ll be sorry for yourself, -too, if you let this fellow put it all over you and say nothing.” - -“He sha’n’t impose upon me.” Harry’s lips set in a decisive line. “I’m -going to do my work just the same as if he weren’t around. Then he -can’t hurt me.” - -“If he gets too smart just show him to me.” Teddy puffed out his chest -like a belligerent bantam rooster. - -“Ha, ha!” Harry’s boyish laugh rang out. - -“You think I couldn’t settle him?” sputtered Teddy. - -“He’s twice as large as you, Ted. Thank you, just the same, but I’m not -afraid of him. All I ask is for him to let me alone.” - -“I’ll bet I could lick him.” A mere matter of size was nothing to the -undaunted Teddy. Privately, he registered a vow to get in immediate -touch with the bully and find out his weak points. - -“There isn’t going to be any fighting if I can help it. That’s not what -I’m in the store for. Maybe if he sees that he can’t bother me, he’ll -mind his own business. I hope so. By the way, Teddy, I’m going to start -for the store to-morrow at the same old time.” - -The two boys had reached the point where their ways diverged as Harry -made this announcement. - -“I’m not. Catch me getting in before I have to. Eight o’clock for mine.” - -“Then I won’t see you here in the morning. Good night.” Harry turned -away. - -Teddy’s freckled face fell. “Aw, rats!” he muttered. “Hey, there!” - -Harry turned, trying hard not to smile. He knew how to deal with Teddy. -His decision had been reached after sober thought. He was confident -that it would be wise for him and his chum to adhere to their original -hour for entrance in the store. He had expected a revolt on Teddy’s -part and calculated accordingly. - -“You wait here for me in the morning,” commanded the little boy. “I -guess I can stand seven-thirty, if you can. Good night. Don’t you -forget. I’ll be here same as ever.” - -“I’ll wait for you. Good night.” - -With a farewell wave of his hand to Teddy, Harry set off to cover the -few blocks that lay between him and home, his mind busy with Teddy’s -problem rather than his own. He had already chosen his own course and -intended to stick to it. A happy little smile played about his lips as -he recalled his partner’s ungrudging loyalty not only to him but to Mr. -Everett. Were Mr. Rexford in Mr. Everett’s position Harry felt sure -that he would leave no stone unturned in his effort to be of service to -this esteemed friend. He hoped, however, that Mr. Everett would have -no need of his chum’s kindly offices. Close acquaintance with Teddy had -taught him that the inflammable youngster was quite apt to catch fire -from a single spark. That which loomed large on his horizon to-day was -likely to dwindle into insignificance to-morrow. Before the end of the -week, Teddy’s opinion of Mr. Jarvis might undergo a marked change. - -Taking the narrow stairs two at a time, Harry burst into the tiny -living-room, and swooped down upon his mother as she sat stitching away -for dear life on a half-finished blouse. - -“My land, Harry, you are a regular cyclone,” she protested. Her sewing -slipped from her lap as she wound her arms about her tempestuous son -and returned his bear-like hug. - -“That’s because I’m anxious to let you know how much I love you, -Mothery. After spending every day for two whole weeks with you, you -can’t blame me for trying to make up to-night for missing you to-day.” - -“I’ve missed you, too.” The little woman sighed and patted her son’s -curly head. “I am afraid that two weeks in the country completely -spoiled me. I certainly had a wonderful rest, but now I must sew as -hard as I can to pay for taking a holiday.” - -“You needed it, Mothery. I wish you could have lived in that dandy -bungalow all summer.” Harry’s happy face clouded. “It’s a shame for -you to have to come back to this hot old city and sew, sew, sew.” - -“We ought to be thankful for even two weeks away from it, Son,” -reminded his mother gently. “How did you get on at the store to-day? -You are awfully late to-night. I waited to eat supper with you, though. -I can’t bear to eat alone. I suppose I’ll have to, when you begin night -school.” - -“Only two nights a week. It doesn’t begin until October. I had a pretty -good day. Mr. Rexford’s away, so I couldn’t see him. I saw Miss Welch. -She’s as pretty and funny as ever. The stock boy that worked with me -has left. I met the new one to-day, but he isn’t much like Fred. His -name is Leon Atkins, and his father is in the receiving room of 84.” - -Mrs. Harding listened interestedly as Harry rattled off this -information. She was always glad to learn of his doings at the big -store, yet she never made the mistake of questioning him too closely. - -“Speaking of Mr. Atkins reminds me, Mothery, that I want to ask you -something. It would be very hard for a man to support a wife and six -children on twenty dollars a week, wouldn’t it?” - -“I should say it would.” Mrs. Harding nodded with emphasis. “It -would take pretty close managing to do it. With rent and food and -clothing--children are so hard on shoes--twenty dollars would melt -away like snow in the sun. But what made you ask me that?” - -“Oh, Mr. Denby, the new fiction salesman, told me that about Mr. -Atkins. I was thinking that he must be glad that his son can work and -earn something to help him. You see, Mothery, it’s just like this. I -don’t like this new boy very well, and I’m afraid he doesn’t like me. -It isn’t going to be pleasant for us to work together. I feel as though -I ought to be nice to him because he’s helping his father earn their -living. But it’s going to be hard to get along with him.” - -“What sort of boy is he?” Mrs. Harding regarded her son with an anxious -face. “I hope he isn’t a bad, worthless boy, Harry?” - -“He’s a big bully, and he hates work.” Harry’s young voice rang with -disapproval. “He wanted to fight me in the stock-room this morning. Of -course, I wouldn’t think of doing such a thing in the store. But if he -tries to bother me outside the store, I’m afraid I’ll have to pitch -into him and give him a good licking. I don’t want to do it. If Mr. -Keene heard of it he might discharge us both. He needs the work and so -do I.” - -“What does Teddy think about it?” Mrs. Harding did not appear shocked -at her quiet son’s sudden warlike attitude. - -“Oh, he says he’ll do it himself if I say the word. Only this boy’s -about twice as big as Ted.” - -Their eyes meeting, mother and son laughed. Mrs. Harding’s face grew -grave instantly as she said: “I don’t like to think of your getting -into a fist fight, Harry. Such things are brutal and better avoided. -But you must not forget that you have as much right to stand up for -yourself as any other boy. I believe if you try hard you can find some -other way to make this boy respect your rights.” - -“I’m going to try, of course. But, Mothery, if I should come home from -work some evening with a black eye, you’ll know what’s happened. I’m -only telling you this beforehand so that you’ll understand if anything -like that _does_ happen. If you say I mustn’t then I won’t, no matter -what he says or does.” - -Mrs. Harding looked long at the earnest young face of her boy. “I’m -not going to say you mustn’t,” she returned rather wistfully. The -realization that Harry was rapidly coming into man’s estate filled her -with a curious sense of sadness. The curly-haired baby whose first -tottering steps she had so patiently guided had little to do with -this resolute, keen-eyed youth at her side. “You must do as your own -conscience dictates. Above all things, Harry, I wish you to be a good -man and true; the kind of man your father was. If you were to pick a -fight with some boy merely because you didn’t like him, you’d only be -wronging yourself. But if it were the other way round, remember even a -worm will turn. But if some of these fine evenings you _do_ come home -with a black eye, well--I suppose I’ll doctor you up, cook you an extra -good supper and ask no questions.” - - - - -CHAPTER V - -AN UNPROMISING DAY - - -On entering the stock-room the following morning Harry was agreeably -surprised to find no trace of his unwilling fellow-worker. Far from -feeling the loss of the pugnacious Leon’s presence, he flung himself -energetically into loading his truck with tempting bargain books, -designed to arouse the enthusiasm of heat-fagged shoppers, and put new -life into sluggish mid-summer trade. During the hot, breathless days of -July and August those who have the wherewithal to buy books, turn their -steps resolutely away from the scorching cities to the revivifying -atmosphere of seashore and mountain. At such season, the lure of even -the newest fiction wanes into insignificance. It is only when hazy -September flashes forth her first faint signals of nearing Autumn that -the reign of literature begins anew and comes rapidly into its own as -the nights gradually chill and lengthen. - -Due to Mr. Rexford’s tireless effort, the book department of Martin -Brothers’ never languished, even during the sultry summer months. -Year after year he had labored to build up trade that would withstand -the attacks of hot weather and vacation flitting. The sale for which -Harry was now preparing was an annual event, which invariably brought -satisfactory patronage. As he placed pile after pile of gaily-jacketed -books for boys and girls into the deep truck, he halted briefly now -and then to peep between the alluring covers, wistfully wishing that -he might own them all. Purchased by Mr. Rexford from a firm that had -fallen into the receiver’s hands, this particular lot of juvenile -literature, though undamaged, had been marked down from higher prices -to the modest sum of fifty cents. - -“My, but I’d like to have some of these,” murmured the lad, as he -fingered an especially attractive volume. “Fifty cents is too high for -me, though. If I ever get rich I’m going to have all the books I want. -But I must stop looking at these beauties or I’ll never get my truck -filled.” - -Thrusting temptation resolutely aside, Harry rapidly emptied the -contents of the bin into the waiting truck and trundled it out of the -stock-room in the direction of the freight elevator. - -“Jerk those books out o’ there and hustle back t’ the stock-room,” -ordered a surly voice, as he wheeled his load into the midst of the -tables reserved for the sale. “Think I c’n wait all day for you? I -gotta get this table filled up.” - -“Oh, good morning. I was wondering what had become of _you_. I thought -you might be lost or overcome with the heat. It’s very warm this -morning, isn’t it?” Harry addressed the black-haired, scowling youth of -the previous afternoon’s encounter with ironic politeness. - -“Fresh as ever, I see,” sneered the other. “But I ain’t going to notice -you now. I gotta work. Put those books on that table and don’t be all -day about it.” - -His loud tones were purposed to reach the ears of a man who was -striding down an adjacent aisle. The man paused. Three or four long -steps brought him to where the lads were standing. - -“What’s this? What’s this?” he snapped. “You go on about your business -and let this boy alone. He wants to work if you don’t.” - -The rebuke fell directly upon Harry, for the man was Mr. Barton and he -had deliberately and without justice espoused the cause of the real -offender. - -Harry measured the aisle manager with a cool, direct glance. Without -a word he turned to the truck and began the work of unloading his -freight. For an instant Mr. Barton glared at the boy’s back, then went -on his ill-natured way minus the satisfaction which an angry retort -on Harry’s part would have afforded him. He had never forgiven the -lad; the very sight of him aroused animosity. After the trouble over -the missing money he had deemed it prudent to keep very quiet. In -Mr. Rexford, Harry Harding had a champion whose influence Mr. Barton -respected and feared. Now though he had come upon Harry purely by -chance, he had been unable to resist showing his spite. - -His blue eyes blazing, poor Harry was making short work of his task. He -was perfectly sure that Leon Atkins had designed to make him appear in -the wrong. Knowing Mr. Barton’s fault-finding disposition he had thus -raised his voice with malicious intent. - -“He, he, he!” chuckled Leon. “That’s the time you got yours. How do you -feel now, Smarty?” - -Harry made no reply to the taunt. Diving into the truck for the -remaining books, he piled them on the table, then paused, undecided -whether to commence their arrangement or to take his truck and be off. -As it was his usual custom to help with the tables, he peered about in -search of the highest stack of one title. Finding it, he shoved it into -position at the back of the table and began to build up smaller piles -around it. - -“Never mind that, 45. Hurry back to the stock-room and bring down some -more books.” The querulous voice of a saleswoman interrupted his -cogitations. “Don’t stand there and dream. Mr. Brady is anxious to have -these tables ready before the customers get here. I am to have charge -of them during the sale. Leon will fix the books as soon as you bring -them down. Now run along and don’t keep me waiting.” - -“All right.” Pleasantly obedient, Harry started away, pushing the -truck before him. As assistant buyer, Mr. Brady’s wishes were law in -Mr. Rexford’s absence. Yet, as he proceeded toward the elevator, the -boy experienced vague resentment toward the dictatorial saleswoman. He -had frequently suspected that she disliked him, and he often wondered -why. Now he pondered a trifle bitterly on the change that two short -weeks had wrought in his beloved realm of books. Yesterday he had been -briefly disappointed at the absence of Mr. Rexford. Following that had -come the annoying meeting with Leon Atkins and the news of Fred Alden’s -departure from the store. This morning it was again Leon Atkins; -and Mr. Barton, too. Harry had fancied himself free from the aisle -manager’s further persecution. Now Miss Breeden had spoken sharply to -him. He longed with all his heart for Mr. Rexford’s speedy return. -Everything went so smoothly when he was about. - -“It’s babyish in me to mind such little things,” was his inward -reproof, as he shoved his truck out onto the tenth floor. “That Atkins -boy isn’t worth minding, and I am not surprised to have Mr. Barton call -me down. I always thought he’d do it if ever he got the chance. I guess -Miss Breeden didn’t mean to be cross. She’s only anxious about getting -the tables fixed.” - -This philosophical view of things brought a ray of comfort to light the -gloom of the morning. Bravely shaking off his depression, Harry rolled -the truck into position before a partially filled bin of cheaper books -for boys that would presently flash forth their own special merits -for public approval and purchase. He was back on the selling floor -with them in an incredibly short time, where Miss Breeden not being in -evidence he had surly directions from Leon to “dump ’em down there on -the floor and get out.” - -Directly afterward he was sent out to a neighboring store to purchase a -copy of a book which was out of stock. Failing to secure it there, he -went on to another store, and, still unsuccessful, tried a book shop -several blocks further down Commerce Street. In so doing Harry knew -that he was within his own particular province. Mr. Rexford himself had -issued the instruction that whenever he was sent out of the store in -quest of a special book he was privileged to go from shop to shop until -he obtained it. - -It was twenty-five minutes past nine when he left Martin Brothers, but -it was a quarter to eleven when he returned, the product of his search -under his arm. Casting his eyes over the stretch of tables he spied the -assistant buyer in the clutches of a customer, whose flushed, indignant -face showed patent indications of her displeasure. On one side of Mr. -Brady ranged Mr. Barton, wearing a thundercloud frown; on the other was -Miss Breeden, looking equally glum. - -“But, Madam,” Harry heard Mr. Brady expostulate, “you can see for -yourself that the price mark in this book is ‘50 cents.’” His -forefinger pointed out the pencilled symbols on the white of the pasted -inside leaf at the back of the book. “It was originally a dollar book, -marked down to half price.” - -“Then why do you stick up a sign advertising your books at thirty-five -cents, when they’re fifty? That’s what I’d like to know. This salesgirl -takes the book and makes out a check for thirty-five cents. When it’s -handed to the girl at the desk, _she_ says it’s half a dollar. How am I -to know that you’re not overcharging me? I must say this book doesn’t -look as if it was worth half a dollar, let alone its ever having been a -dollar. I can go to Dunlap’s and buy all the boys’ books I want for a -quarter apiece.” - -“Come with me, Madam. I will show you that there is a noticeable -difference between this and a thirty-five cent book. No doubt this -book has merely been laid on that table by mistake and become mixed -with the cheaper stock.” With the patient air of a martyr, Mr. Brady -led the way to the fatal table. He was followed by a procession of -three. Picking up the first volume on which his hand chanced to rest, -he said: “There, you can judge for yourself, Madam.” - -The customer stared, then judged. “Why, they’re almost alike!” she -exclaimed. “If that,” she touched the book the buyer had chosen for -comparison, “is thirty-five cents, this one isn’t worth any more.” - -Before she had finished judgment, Mr. Brady’s face had turned a dull -red. He cast a dark glance at the pricemark of his unlucky choice, -muttered unintelligibly and, one after another, hastily examined -a succession of books. Fixing stern eyes on Miss Breeden, he said -shortly: “This is really too bad. You have made a thorough jumble of -this table. Part of these books are one price; part another.” His tone -prophesied further reckoning when the customer had departed. - -“But do I get this book for thirty-five cents?” persisted the customer -impatiently. “Please don’t keep me waiting. I have to make a train.” - -“No, Madam, that book is fifty cents. I regret to say that a serious -mistake has been made in the arrangement of this table.” - -“Then I don’t want it. Give me my money back. I’ll go to Dunlap’s, -then I’ll know what I’m paying for.” The now irate woman made a -determined bolt for the desk, pursued by Mr. Barton and Mr. Brady. - -Miss Breeden’s face also registered wrath, as she watched the trio -descend upon the desk of remittal. Happening to catch sight of Harry, -who was quietly awaiting the opportunity to deliver his purchase into -Mr. Brady’s hands, she darted up to him. - -“_You_ made all that trouble,” she hissed. “That was all _your_ fault. -I told you not to meddle with the books on that table. Now the store -has lost a customer who will go out and tell people that we have two -prices for a book. Mr. Brady will blame me for your carelessness, and -Mr. Barton will rave because he has to void my check. This isn’t the -first trouble you’ve made for me, either. Last Spring----” - -Angry as she was, the young woman broke off abruptly, leaving Harry -uninformed of the nature of at least one offence. Under the scathing -tirade he had grown very white. He had heard the beginning of the -customer’s complaining, and, although he had not followed the quartette -to the table, he guessed what had happened. He knew if no one else -knew that Leon Atkins rather than he was the author of the unfortunate -mix-up. - -“Miss Breeden,” he replied, his low, even accents contrasting sharply -with the woman’s shrill tones, “you told me not to stop to fix those -books, but you _didn’t_ tell me not to put them there. You _saw_ me -do it and you didn’t say a word about that. When I brought down these -cheaper books you weren’t around and that new stock boy told me to put -them on the floor. I supposed they were to go on another table. I would -have had more sense than to mix them like that.” - -“That’s right. Try to crawl out of it. Just you wait until I tell Mr. -Brady.” Miss Breeden flounced off in a rage, leaving Harry to stare -soberly after her. It was evident she did not believe him. - -“I guess I’m in for it,” he shrugged. “If she had let me fix that table -I’d never have made such a mistake. Where was she that she didn’t -notice it herself? It was Leon who mixed those two lots of books, but -it’s her fault that they stayed mixed. I can’t tell Mr. Brady that. -It isn’t nice for a man to shift the blame onto a woman’s shoulders.” -Harry had decided ideas on the subject of chivalry. - -Though Harry did not know it, the charge of the special sales tables -had not troubled Miss Breeden seriously. On entering the store that -morning she had immediately asked for a shopping pass, returning to her -post only a moment or two before Harry had deposited his first load of -books. After giving him directions to go back to the stock-room, she -had wandered up the aisle to gossip with another saleswoman, leaving -Leon to arrange the books at his own sweet will. - -As has been already stated, Leon Atkins and the proverbial busy bee -were not even distantly related. While Miss Breeden’s eyes were upon -him he worked, but the instant she went shopping his brief energy -vanished. The number of fifty-cent books that Harry had brought down -had been sufficient to fill the table. Due to his lack of skill in -arranging them, a good-sized vacant space appeared on the table when -he had finished. His knowledge of books and prices being limited and -his interest in them still less, he carelessly bundled the second -consignment of cheaper books into that vacant space. To complete the -outrage, he hastily consulted the back of one of that lot, confiscated -one of the two “35 cts.” signs that graced the next table, and hoisted -it triumphantly over the havoc he had created. - -The instant the customer was lost to view around an elevator shaft, Mr. -Barton and Mr. Brady formed themselves into an inquiry committee. - -“What do you mean by allowing that table to get in such a mess, Miss -Breeden?” censured the assistant. - -“Give me your book,” ordered Mr. Barton. “That check must be voided. It -seems to me----” - -With lips compressed for fight, Miss Breeden tendered her salesbook to -the aisle manager. He made cabalistic signs on it with a blue pencil -and scrawled a huge “voided” across the page. Before he could deliver -the stinging reproof that lay on his lips, a summons from the exchange -desk sent him galloping up the aisle. - -“That table was all right when I came back from shopping,” was Miss -Breeden’s angry defence. “It was 45 who put those books there. I told -him not to when he brought down the first load, but you can see for -yourself how much good it did.” - -“You should have noticed it,” was the unfeeling rebuke. - -“How could I? I was busy. I never thought 45 would keep on putting -books there when I told him not to. I waited on several customers for -thirty-five cent books and didn’t notice anything out of the way.” Miss -Breeden craftily refrained from stating, however, that the books she -had sold were from the next table. - -Her excuses, however, were not sufficiently good to ward off Mr. -Brady’s sharp lecture. Strange to say she made no mention of Leon’s -disastrous hand in the matter. Unfortunately for Harry, Mr. Brady also -had not observed the other boy at work at the table. The assistant had -been engaged with a traveling salesman in Mr. Rexford’s office. From -there he had been called to the selling floor in time to officiate as -pacifist to the offended customer. - -In consequence of all this, Mr. Brady was not in a lamb-like mood as -the boy approached to deliver the book he had been sent out to buy. -Harry squared his shoulders to meet the impending scolding. He knew he -was doomed to receive a rebuke which he did not merit. - -“See here, Harding,” lashed out the man, “why don’t you do as you are -told? If you can’t, this department doesn’t need you.” The arraignment -that followed cut Harry to the quick. He longed to cry out the truth, -but boyish chivalry to a woman and the distaste for shifting the blame -on the shoulders of a boy who needed work held him silent. All he could -find words to utter was, “I am very sorry, sir. It won’t happen again.” - -“You won’t be here if it does,” were the assistant’s parting words. -Seizing the book Harry proffered, he turned on his heel and strode into -the buyer’s office. - -Sick at heart, Harry walked dejectedly toward the table of disaster. -Miss Breeden was already there, engaged in separating the figurative -sheep from the goats. Pausing uncertainly for a moment, he directed -his course toward the elevator. Again he wondered painfully why it -was that the young woman appeared to dislike him so heartily. What -did she mean by saying he had already made trouble for her? He could -recall no such instance. Why had she said “last Spring,” then abruptly -checked her speech? His distressed mind reviewed the events that had -transpired since his advent into Department 84. He could recall but one -disquieting incident. It had to do with the exposure of Mr. Farley, the -thieving salesman, and in no respect even remotely touched Miss Breeden. - -“I am afraid my Year of Promise isn’t going to be very promising,” was -his rueful thought. “I don’t know why Miss Breeden doesn’t like me and -I certainly sha’n’t ask her. I’ll just find out for myself. As for that -Atkins boy, I’ve a few things to say to _him_, and I’m going to say -them before this day is over.” - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -HARRY SPEAKS HIS MIND - - -For reasons best known to herself, Miss Breeden had chosen to make -Harry the scapegoat for Leon Atkins’ sins of omission. In her heart -she knew exactly who was at fault. Although she had shielded Leon from -the assistant’s displeasure she did not intend that he should escape -scotfree. The moment she had finished bringing order out of disorder, -she set out on a diligent hunt for him about the department. The object -of her search, however, was elusive as well as lazy. After a fruitless -march about the narrow aisles of 84, she gave up her quest and directed -her attention strictly to the business of selling books. - -Thus the real culprit dodged at least one evil. After leisurely -strolling about the first floor on pleasure bent and being ordered out -of half a dozen departments in which he had no excuse for loitering, -he retired to the stock-room for a nap. But there he ran into another -evil, full tilt. - -“I’ve been waiting for you,” was Harry Harding’s sharp salute as the -tall, ungainly youth slouched into sight. - -“Well, you see me now, don’t you? Whada you want?” With Leon, this last -had become a challenge to be used on the world at large. - -“I want to tell you that the next time you make a mess of a table, like -the one you fixed this morning, you are going to take the blame for -it.” Harry was advancing on the newcomer with an air of purpose that -brought the latter to a sudden standstill. - -“What’s wrong with you, you boob?” he growled, doubling his ready -fists. “Whada you mean by such smart talk?” - -“Just what I say. You took that last lot of books I brought down and -put them on the wrong table. You got me into trouble by it. I stood for -it because--well, it doesn’t concern you to know why. But I won’t stand -for it again. The next time I have books to bring down I’ll fix them -on the table myself and don’t you dare interfere with me. I thought -perhaps we could work together, just as Fred and I always did, but I -see we can’t. Hereafter you do your work and I’ll do mine; then I won’t -be blamed for your faults.” - -“You’re a nut,” sneered Leon. “You’re so crazy you don’t know what -you’re talkin’ about. I guess I can fix a table a whole lot better’n -you, freshie.” - -“Can you?” Harry smiled bitter sarcasm. “Just ask Miss Breeden about it -and see what she says.” - -“You’ve been tellin’ lies about me! I’ll fix you!” Leon made a vicious -lunge at Harry, his voice rising to a howl. - -“Here, here!” Mr. Atkins had recognized the familiar bellow of his -offspring and hurried to the scene. “What’s all this racket about?” - -“He won’t let me alone, Pa. He keeps pestering me all the time.” Leon -pointed a grimy, accusing finger at Harry. - -Mr. Atkins rose to the duties of fatherhood. “You let my son alone, -you young puppy, or I’ll report you to Mr. Rexford as soon as he comes -back,” he threatened, glowering at Harry. “Now get to work, both of -you.” - -“I’m not bothering your son, Mr. Atkins,” burst forth Harry in -indignation, “and I’m not going to let him bother me, either.” - -“Don’t talk back to me.” Mr. Atkins’ small, black eyes snapped fire. -“Do as I say. Get to work. Leon, you come with me.” - -“I wish he’d stay with you,” muttered Harry under his breath, as the -persecuted one shambled off after his parental bulwark of defense. “I’d -like to tell Mr. Rexford a few things, too. But I won’t. I’ve warned -that boy to let me alone, and I’ll see that he does it without any help -from other people.” - -Nevertheless, his sturdy determination to keep his grievances to -himself could not prevent Harry from seeing that his future path was -more than likely to be carpeted with nettles. It hurt his pride to feel -that, instead of advancing, he seemed doomed to be thrust back into the -unhappy rut from which Mr. Rexford had rescued him. What hurt him most -was the knowledge that he was in no sense to blame for the train of -unfortunate events that had dogged his return to the store. From those -who were most intimately concerned in them, he could expect neither -fair dealing nor justice. - -As he took up his half-completed task of making the untidy stock-room -presentable, Harry mentally lined up the disturbers of his peace and -gave himself over to sombre speculation. First of all, there was Leon. -It was useless to dream that this slothful, quarrelsome boy and he -could ever be friends. They had nothing in common. The only solution of -this problem lay in an alert avoidance of the ill-natured youth. - -Second came Mr. Brady. He was laboring under a false impression. -Conscientious, daily work, perfectly performed, would perhaps -counteract it. Third, Mr. Atkins was now arrayed against him by -reason of the family tie. Then, too, there was Miss Breeden’s strange -hostility to be considered. If only Fred were here, he might be able -to discover the source of it. He had always cheerfully affirmed that -he “knew the book department like a book.” Without his help there was -small chance of learning the cause of the saleswoman’s grudge. - -Last of all, there was Mr. Barton. Harry regarded him as the least of -his woes. Mr. Rexford could be relied upon to see that _he_ kept his -place. Mr. Barton always “walked softly” when the energetic buyer was -about the premises of 84. The very fact that the crabbed aisle manager -had dyspepsia was sufficient to excuse him. Harry wondered if Miss -Welch knew that the man was thus afflicted. As his mind reverted to the -pretty exchange clerk, he was inspired with a sudden idea. He would -privately ask Miss Welch to find out for him, if she could, what it was -that Miss Breeden cherished against him. - -At lunch time he paused at exchange desk Number 10, only to find Miss -Welch busily engaged in ministering to a long line of petitioning -shoppers. Directly after luncheon he left Teddy to volubly mourn his -loss and hurried back to the exchange desk, determined to devote the -last fifteen minutes that were his to the business of inquiry. To his -deep disappointment, the line had lengthened and he was forced to leave -the questions he longed to ask until a more convenient season. - -Afternoon brought him the task of moving and rearranging a colony of -popular-priced shelved books that were to take up their residence on -the other side of the department. He did his work so well as to win -from Mr. Brady the somewhat grudging admission, “I see you can do -things right when you try, Harding.” Even this doubtful praise sounded -sweet to Harry and he forgivingly crossed Mr. Brady off his black list -of oppressors. - -It was well after five o’clock when the last of his charges found -itself tightly fitted into its new home. Harry glanced at the clock, -then at the exchange desk. It was invaded now by a lone woman of -meek aspect. He saw Miss Welch’s dimples in evidence as she called a -messenger, then pointed down the aisle with her pencil. This meant that -she was in a good humor. - -“This ought to be a good time to ask her,” decided Harry, as he watched -the customer leave the desk. “I won’t wait to wash my hands. I’ll go -over there now while I have the chance.” - -“There goes one woman that’s willing to do as she’s told. Ain’t it -funny, the difference in some people?” Miss Welch straightened up with -a sigh of relief and pushed back a refractory curl. “Well, if here -isn’t 45! What have _you_ got to be trotted back into stock? I s’pose -that cut glass punch bowl you bought don’t go good with the kitchen -furniture. Or mebbe you bought the ‘Lives of the Presidents,’ thinking -it was ‘My Great Aunt’s Last Stand as a Cook.’ If you’ve read it you -can’t bring it back and exchange it for a tennis racquet. We’re strict -here, we are.” - -Miss Welch’s ferocious scowl vanished in a merry laugh as she saw -Harry’s grave face break into smiles. “That’s more like it, old -Sobersides. I thought you’d come to tell me you was dead and what kind -of a floral piece you wanted us to take up a collection for. But now I -see you’re no dead one. What’s on your mind, Kiddy? Tell your troubles -to your old friend Irish.” - -“That’s just what I’m going to do. I mean, I’m going to ask you if -you’ll help me about something.” - -“Sure I’ll help you. What is it?” Miss Welch leaned forward, her blue -eyes two shining signals of good will. - -“It’s about Miss Breeden,” began Harry in a low voice. “She--I--always -had an idea she didn’t like me, and----” - -“You should worry,” interrupted the listener with a boyish grin. “She -didn’t put the ‘u’ in universe. You ought to feel happy. She’s got some -healthy little hate for yours truly, but I’m not crying my eyes out -about it. After what happened in 84 last Spring you couldn’t expect -we’d be her bosom friends, could you?” - -Harry pricked up his ears at the words “last Spring.” It looked as -though he had come to the right person for information. Miss Welch -evidently knew something hinging on that fateful season that he did -not. His hands nervously gripped the edge of the desk as he regarded -the exchange clerk with a puzzled frown. He could think of but one -incident in which he and Miss Welch had been concerned at that time. - -“But I don’t see how----” His perplexity deepened. - -Miss Welch’s keen mind had already grasped the situation. “So _that’s_ -the way the wind’s began to whistle, has it?” A knowing smile curved -the corners of her red lips. “I guess I ought to of wised you to a -few things, Innocent, but I never thought of _her_. Anyway, you ain’t -supposed to run a social register. You see it was just like this, -Kiddy. When you spotted Farley helping himself and a few others to -Martin Brothers’ goods, you put an awful crimp in Breeden’s plans. She -was, mebbe she is now for all I know, getting ready to be Mrs. Farley.” - -“What?” Harry gasped his amazement. - -“You heard me say it. They was going to get married. Just like that. -Now you know why Farley was trying to annex upholstery and a few other -departments. Poor Breeden didn’t know he was crooked. I give her credit -for that. Still, she wasn’t exactly hilarious when he got fired for -stealing. That’s why you can’t never be her little brother Harry. She -isn’t thinking about adopting me for a sister, neither.” - -“Oh!” A sorrowful expression settled on Harry’s sensitive features. “I -never knew. I’m sorry all that had to happen. But I couldn’t----” - -“Course you couldn’t,” comforted Miss Welch. “You did what was right, -Harry. You wasn’t to blame any more’n I was. Nobody was to blame, but -Farley. When you’ve held down a store job as long as I have you’ll know -that such things can’t happen without hurting some innocent party. -What’s she been doing or saying to you?” Miss Welch became fiercely -inquiring. - -Harry reluctantly repeated the saleswoman’s words to him. “I couldn’t -think what she meant,” he ended. “I suppose she thought I knew. I can’t -blame her now, but I’m sorry she feels that way toward me.” - -“You can’t stop Niagara Falls, so you might as well let ’em go on -falling,” consoled Miss Welch. “Just you keep out of her way and don’t -let her get anything on you. If she gets too gay, put me wise and I’ll -read her a few lines that she won’t find on her application card.” - -“Oh, you mustn’t ever say a word to her, Miss Welch,” entreated Harry. -“Now that I understand, I’ll try not to make her mad. I’m not afraid, -you know. My mother says no one can really hurt a person if that person -isn’t doing wrong himself.” - -“Some straight talk,” nodded Miss Welch, “but it don’t always work in -a place like this. I’ve seen pretty good people get theirs because -somebody else had a knife out for ’em. You can’t always squash the -trouble-bug by being an angel. Mind, I ain’t saying she’s out for -_your_ scalp. Only just you be careful and don’t let her double-cross -you.” - -“I will,” promised Harry. “Thank you ever so much, Miss Welch.” - -“Anything else on your mind? Now’s the golden dumping time.” - -“No.” Harry shook his head. “Oh, yes; there is. I wanted to ask you if -you knew what makes Mr. Barton so cross?” - -“Ask me something easy. I never could guess riddles. I don’t believe he -knows himself.” Miss Welch shrugged her shoulders. - -“A boy told me that he has dyspepsia,” informed Harry. “He says Mr. -Barton goes up to the hospital almost every day.” - -“I’ve heard that myself. I never sent him a card of sympathy, though. -Dyspepsia don’t excuse the way he performs. I tell you he’s got -crankitis and there isn’t no cure for that. Forget him. What do you -care what he has, so long as he lets you alone? Here he comes now, the -precious pet. Beat it before he chases you.” - -Harry glanced over his shoulder, but did not move from his stand before -the desk. He had no mind to scurry off like a frightened rabbit at -Mr. Barton’s approach. Nevertheless, he braced himself for a scolding. -The aisle manager was sure to accuse him of loitering. Greatly to his -surprise, the man paid no attention to him, but passed on hurriedly in -the direction of the little room where he kept his supplies. - -“Never even saw you,” congratulated Miss Welch. “I guess you was wise -not to run. He looked kind of sick, didn’t he? Mebbe I’d better send -him that card, after all.” She giggled at the thought. - -Harry smiled absently. His thoughts were on the tall, gaunt aisle -manager, who had made his early days in the store so unhappy. But it -was not of those dark days he was thinking. He dwelt only upon the -haggard face and pain-filled eyes of the man who had just passed. A -curious wave of sympathy swept over him. He wondered if Mr. Barton had -a home and someone to care for him when his hard day’s work was done. -But he did not dream as he stood there how much was yet to come from -that random, kindly thought. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -TEDDY BURKE, AVENGER - - -The return of Mr. Rexford to Department 84 marked the beginning of a -respite from the misfortunes that had visited Harry. Two days after his -unexpected clash with Miss Breeden the buyer walked into the department -and resumed his kindly but undisputed sway. Mr. Rexford was a man who -thought twice and spoke once. Consequently, his speech was productive -of instant results. Conscientious to a degree he worked untiringly for -the good of the firm who employed him and insisted on the same loyalty -from the members of his department. - -It did not take him long to reach a correct estimate of Leon Atkins. -After one exceedingly brief but crushing interview with the man in -authority, Leon turned over a new leaf in a hurry and made craven -promises to “do better.” Privately, however, he had no intention of -redeeming himself. When under Mr. Rexford’s critical eye he proceeded -with the utmost caution. When the stock-room sheltered him from the -latter’s observation, his pretended energy fell from him like a cloak. - -After the mid-summer sale was over and the stock that remained unsold -was again put to rest in the tenth-floor bins, to reappear later when -the fall trade had quickened, the book department settled down to the -inevitable lull that August always brought. This did not mean that no -one wanted to buy books. There were always the libraries which required -attention at all seasons of the year. Their needs helped swell the -summer trade, and many regular customers browsed about 84’s tempting -aisles. The mail-order, also, gave good account of itself and with the -various consignments of new books that were continually arriving, Harry -Harding always found plenty to do. - -The very fact that Leon was a shirker incited Harry to do his utmost to -keep things moving. To frequently stumble upon the sluggard, asleep in -a bin or deep in a book, was naturally an aggravation. Yet Harry never -complained to Mr. Rexford of his companion’s worthlessness, neither did -he appear to notice what went on day after day under his very eyes. For -one thing he was at least thankful. Leon no longer persisted in his -former mania to fight. Not that he had relinquished it. Although Harry -could not then know it, the other boy was merely biding his time. -While trade was dull and Mr. Rexford was so much in evidence about 84, -it behooved him to go cautiously. Later, when the department had swung -into its usual business stride and Mr. Rexford had his hands full, -he resolved to renew his persecution of Harry. So long as the latter -allowed him uninterrupted liberty to shirk and was foolish enough to do -double work in consequence, Leon was content to let matters rest. - -Yet patient, long-suffering Harry Harding was not the only one who -knew the exact truth about Leon. Mr. Atkins was well aware of his -troublesome son’s deficiencies. Far from taking him to task for -them and insisting that Leon should do his share of the work of the -stock-room, he stolidly ignored the truth and on all occasions treated -Harry with a gruffness that was both unnecessary and unreasonable. The -marked contrast between this neat, industrious, courteous boy and his -own untidy, lazy, impudent son galled him beyond measure. - -Instead of admiring Harry for his good qualities, he appeared to resent -them. Harry’s devotion to duty made his son’s lack of it altogether too -apparent to suit him. He was in constant fear that some day Harry might -suddenly turn and make a complaint to headquarters that would result in -Leon’s discharge from the store. With that thought ever before him, he -kept up an attitude of menacing suspicion toward the boy, hoping thus -to intimidate Harry into remaining silent regarding Leon’s laziness. - -Quick-witted Harry was not slow to discover this. He understood that -Mr. Atkins feared him on account of Leon and felt sorry, rather than -indignant. More than once he was on the point of going to the man -and assuring him that he could rest easy on that score. Only the -possibility of being misunderstood held him aloof. Manfully ignoring -that which he could not change, he delved unceasingly through the long, -hot days of August, making silence and endeavor his watchwords. As the -majority of his orders emanated from Mr. Brady, he was able to keep -fairly clear of Mr. Atkins, whose work lay, for the most part, in the -receiving room. Nevertheless, the lad was always on his guard against -squalls which were quite likely to blow from that quarter in the -twinkling of an eye. - -The middle of September brought with it vast consignments of new books -from the numerous publishing houses. It also brought a heat wave that -July might well have envied. Day after day the sun beat down upon the -city, as though determined to visit a special penalty upon its wilted -inhabitants. Even the nights obstinately refused to be cool, and as -one fierce, sultry, rainless day merged into another, the heat became -well-nigh unbearable. - -“You don’t catch me walking home this night,” grumbled Teddy Burke, as -he and Harry met on the corner at the end of a particularly trying -afternoon. “Me for a street car. I don’t b’lieve it’s ever going to get -cool. Maybe it wasn’t hot in 40 to-day. Even the old wash boilers and -coffee pots were jawing about it.” - -“You don’t say so!” Harry raised amused brows. “I suppose you heard -them?” - -Teddy grinned. “Well,” he confessed, “I fell over a wash boiler and -it groaned, and I dropped a coffee pot and it rattled. I s’pose that -was about as much as they could do. Mr. Hickson says that even the -ice-boxes had a grouch. One of ’em pinched his finger when he went to -shut the door of it.” - -“You’re a funny boy.” Teddy’s quaint fancies were always vastly -entertaining. “Sometimes I almost wish I were down there in house -furnishings with you. You and Mr. Hickson always find something to -laugh at.” - -“What’s the matter with books?” inquired Teddy. “Don’t you like ’em any -more?” - -“Oh, books are all right and so is Mr. Rexford,” sighed Harry. “Only I -wish some of the people in 84 were like Mr. Hickson. I miss Fred Alden -a good deal. He was always cheerful and funny and wasn’t afraid of -work.” - -“How’s the Clothes-pole behaving?” On first glimpse of the lengthy -Leon, Teddy had immediately likened him to the above wash-day prop. -“He’s about as fat as one,” had been his discerning comment, “only -he isn’t half so useful. Still, that’s what he looks like, and that’s -what I’m going to call him when he isn’t around.” Thus named, Leon was -destined so to remain in Teddy’s imaginative mind. - -“The Clothes-pole, as you will call him, is the laziest boy I ever -saw.” Harry’s voice quivered with vexation. “When he’s in the -stock-room he doesn’t do much except read and sleep. It’s a shame! I’ve -been doing his work all summer, but I’m getting pretty tired of it. His -father knows it, too, but he doesn’t seem to care much. I just wish Mr. -Rexford would come up some day and catch him asleep in one of those -bins.” - -“Maybe he will.” A daring idea had sprung to life in Teddy’s fertile -brain. His freckled face grew preternaturally solemn; a sure sign that -he was planning mischief. - -“He hardly ever comes up to the stock-room.” Harry had failed to catch -the significance that lay behind Teddy’s casual remark. - -“Is that so?” Teddy relapsed into sudden silence, as he considered ways -and means of bringing Leon’s ill-timed siestas to an end. “Aw, see -here!” He had become aware that they had left the corner behind them -and were well up the street. “Didn’t I say I wasn’t going to hoof it -home?” - -“Come on,” urged Harry. He had slyly begun the homeward walk, knowing -that Teddy would keep pace with him from sheer force of habit. “You -don’t want to ride in one of those crowded cars. It’s a lot better for -us to be out in the air, even if it is so warm.” - -“Might as well keep on now,” grumbled Teddy. “Say, when does the -Clothes-pole generally take his nap?” - -“Whenever he gets a chance. There’s one big bin at the end of the -stock-room that he is fond of. He goes to lunch at one o’clock and as -soon as he gets back he crawls into it. He puts a truck close to the -bin. After he gets in he rolls the truck in front of it and then no one -can see him.” - -“Lazy loafer,” was Teddy’s scornful opinion. “But see here, Harry. You -ought to report him. Don’t you know what it says on the application -card about reporting anyone you see doing something against Martin -Brothers? You signed it, you know.” - -“Yes, I know. I’ve thought of that a good many times, but I can’t make -up my mind to report him. I’ve tried to even up for it to the store by -doing his work. You see I know what it is to be poor. My mother had a -hard time taking care of just the two of us before I went to work. Even -with what help I give her, it’s pretty bad. Everything costs so much -now. If it’s hard for us, what must it be for poor Mr. Atkins with that -large family of his? It’s better for this boy to be with his father. He -might be a good deal worse off away from him. Mr. Atkins is afraid I’m -going to make a fuss about Leon. That’s why he is so cranky to me. He -never used to act like that before his son came to the store to work.” - -“You make me tired.” Teddy’s impish face registered his disapproval. “I -wouldn’t be good to folks that treated me so mean. I’d treat ’em mean, -too. What’s the use of working your head off for that Atkins pair? -Either one of ’em would get you fired if he could. I’d do as I promised -on my application card, if I was you. Suppose somebody found out about -the way the Clothes-pole loafs? Then you might get blamed for knowing -about it and not saying a word.” - -“I’ve thought of that, too,” confessed Harry, “but I guess I’ll have to -take chances against it. As long as I keep the stock-room looking neat -and tidy, no one can say much. What Leon does when he’s downstairs on -the floor is none of my business.” - -“I hope he does something awful then,” scowled Teddy. “Anyway, he won’t -last long. See if he does.” - -On just what grounds the resourceful Teddy based his prophecy he -neglected to mention. The following morning, however, he was hardly in -his department before he approached good-humored Mr. Duffield and asked -solemn permission to leave the floor. - -“Very well, Teddy, you may go. Don’t stay away long and don’t get into -any mischief.” The placid little aisle manager felt it necessary to add -this last mild admonition. - -“I never get into mischief.” But the roguish gleam in the boy’s black -eyes told a different story. - -Mr. Duffield merely smiled behind his stubby gray mustache. He knew -Teddy Burke. - -Straight through Department 40 toward the nearest basement stairs Teddy -flitted. - -“What’s your hurry?” called out Sam Hickson as Teddy flashed past him -with a grin. - -“I’ve got business to ’tend to,” he flung back over his shoulder. - -“More likely it’s mischief,” muttered the salesman. “I can always tell -when that youngster is up to something.” - -Up the stairway route to the third floor Teddy scurried, scorning to -wait for an elevator. Reaching the third-floor landing, he steered -directly for Mr. Keene’s office. There Teddy had a friend on whom he -proposed to call. - -“Why, good morning, Teddy.” The brown-haired, pink-cheeked girl glanced -up from her typewriter with a welcoming smile. She had ushered himself -and Harry into Mr. Keene’s office on the day they had applied for work. - -“Good morning, Miss Phelps.” In the presence of this delightful person -for whom Teddy cherished unbounded respect, Teddy’s usually ready -speech left him. - -“Did you come to see Mr. Keene?” - -Teddy shook his ruddy head. “No; I came to see you.” His bright eyes -met the young woman’s surprised gaze rather shyly. Since his advent -into Martin Brothers he had come to know Miss Phelps fairly well, but -he was now not at all sure of how she might regard him once he had -explained the nature of his visit. - -“Well, what can I do for you?” asked Miss Phelps, quickly noting the -lad’s embarrassment. - -“Oh, I thought--I wanted to ask you---- Say, do they use this kind of -typewriters all over the store?” - -“Yes.” Miss Phelps secretly wondered at the question. “At least, I -believe so.” - -“If you wrote a notice on this,” Teddy touched the machine, “and didn’t -sign any name to it, then no one would know where it came from?” he -continued eagerly. - -“I suppose not. But what a funny question!” A faint pucker appeared -between Miss Phelps’ dark brows. - -“Um-m!” Teddy studied the typewriter with due solemnity. Fishing in his -coat pocket he brought forth a bit of paper on which appeared a single -sentence. “If I asked you to typewrite this for me, would you do it?” - -Miss Phelps took the paper and studied it with some curiosity. “I can’t -do it unless you tell me why you want it,” she said. - -Teddy turned red and was silent. Then his impish grin came slowly and -widely into evidence. “All right. I’ll tell you.” - -He had not proceeded far before his listener began to smile. Then she -laughed outright. “You are a naughty boy,” was her indulgent reproof, -“but I’ll help you out this time. Your intentions are good and I don’t -know but I’d do the same if I were you. Wait a minute.” - -Opening a drawer of her desk she selected a small-sized sheet of office -stationery, fastened it in the machine and began a rapid clicking of -the keys. “There you are. Take it and run, and don’t you ever tell -anyone I typed it.” - -“Thank you ever so much. Hope I can do something for you some day.” -Teddy clutched the sheet of paper and darted away with as much speed as -was decorous to that vicinity. The further progress of his plan meant -the climbing of two additional flights of stairs, but he mounted them -with gleeful abandon. - -At the extreme end of the fifth floor was a tiny railed-in space that -held a single desk. As Teddy approached it he became joyfully aware -that it held no occupant. Luck was certainly with him. Noiselessly -swinging the wooden gate behind him, he slipped to the desk, and, -drawing out a slide, deposited his precious paper carefully upon it, -then discreetly fled from the spot. He had successfully carried out his -part of the plan. It remained for others to carry out the rest. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -A SANE LUNATIC - - -At precisely two o’clock that afternoon, Leon Atkins sought the -seclusion of the cradling bin, where he was wont to take his afternoon -nap, and shoved a sheltering truck in place before it. After a -strenuous morning’s labor in the book department, to which he had -been driven by Mr. Brady like a lamb to slaughter, Leon felt the need -of rest. But the god of sleep had scarcely weighed down his willing -eyelids when he was brought back to earth by the loud, protesting -rumbles of the screening truck. - -Forgetting his limited quarters, the slumberer sat up with a jerk that -brought his head in violent contact with the top of the bin. “Ouch!” he -ejaculated, ruefully rubbing the injured member. This mishap faded into -insignificance, however, as his drowsy eyes came to rest on an angry -face peering into his stronghold. - -“Come out of there, you young loafer,” commanded a sharp voice. “This -is a nice time to sleep! Where do you think you are? If this is a -sample of these bins, I guess they do need inspecting.” - -Leon hastily emerged amid a torrent of sarcastic rebuke that fell from -the lips of a small, energetic man whose sharp eyes seemed to cut -straight through him. - -“Whada you want?” The usual challenge fell from the lips of the -transgressor. - -“You’ll find out.” The man turned on his heel and began a shrewd -peering into the adjoining bin. Around the stock-room he went, -examining every nook and corner of it with the air of a bloodhound hot -on the scent of a criminal. Every now and then he ran his finger over a -stack of books, or about the inside of a bin, then examined it with the -air of a scientist. - -Leon watched him in open-mouthed consternation. As it happened he -had been alone in his glory until disturbed by this strangely-acting -intruder. As the man continued to peek and prowl, the watcher began to -wonder if he were crazy. A coward at heart, he promptly decamped for -the security of the receiving room. His father, not he, should deal -with this lunatic. - -“Pa, there’s a nut in the stock-room,” was his alarmed cry, as he -sighted his parent. “He’s peekin’ in the bins and actin’ like he was -crazy. He jumped all over me.” - -“In the stock-room?” Mr. Atkins raised startled eyes from a pile of -books and headed for the scene of danger on the run. He, at least, was -valiant. Several young women who were engaged in marking books dropped -their pencils and followed him. From the safety of the door a group of -frightened faces viewed the little that was to be seen of the madman. -For the moment the major part of him was lost in the depths of a bin. - -“Stand back, girls.” Mr. Atkins forged boldly toward the danger spot. -The lunatic was now slowly backing out of the bin. His attention -arrested by the sound of voices, he peered owlishly over one shoulder. -Mr. Atkins gave a gurgling gasp of amazed disgust. In the madman he -recognized an inspector whose business it was to wage unending warfare -against dust. - -The dust man straightened up and favored the unexpected audience with a -scowl. He was far from pleased with the results of his investigation. -The immaculate cleanliness of both books and bins did not accord with -the typed notice which he found on his desk, which stated, “Kindly -inspect bins in book stock-room, tenth floor, at 2.00 P. M.” Trained -to implicit obedience of orders he had followed this particular -command to the letter, expecting to discover a liberal coating of his -enemy, dust, on everything in that vicinity. He had set forth on his -mission with blood in his eye only to stumble upon a lazy boy and lay -bare a dustless condition of affairs that filled him with indignant -disappointment. He had a feeling of having been cheated and he -determined that the sluggard who had roosted in the bin should pay for -it. - -“You won’t find any dust in this place.” Mr. Atkins had fully recovered -from his recent shock. “I’d like to know who reported such a thing.” - -This was exactly what the dust man yearned to know. Still, he had -no intention of admitting it. Someone had made a mistake, that was -certain. He had not the slightest suspicion that he had been sent on -a wild-goose chase. At the “front” was an august body of individuals -who explained their motives to no one. He had been sent on the trail -of dust and dust was missing. All he could do now was to return whence -he had come. His mission had not been without fruit. He would at least -have something to say to the book buyer. Without deigning to reply to -Mr. Atkins’ hostile comment he marched out of the stock-room and to the -nearest elevator. - -The total collapse of Leon’s madman theory sent a very sheepish group -of employees back to the marking room. Mr. Atkins lingered, however, to -inquire into details. But Leon had none to give him. He was craftily -mute regarding his interview with the indefatigable dust destroyer. -Now that he knew the man’s business he was no longer alarmed at his -threat. Very likely the fellow had forgotten about him already. - -Thus comforting himself, Leon made a pretence of work until his father -had vanished into the receiving room. After a few minutes’ interval, -during which no one appeared, he deemed himself safe from interruption. - -Again coiling his lazy length to fit the limits of the bin, he was -about to draw his truck in place when the sound of brisk approaching -footsteps assailed his ears. Giving the truck a vigorous shove he was -about to crawl from the bin when a stern voice addressed him. - -“So this is the way you do your work, young man.” - -Leon scrambled awkwardly to his feet to confront a person who in no -sense resembled a lunatic. This severe-featured person, who fixed him -with a withering eye, was Mr. Brady. - -“I wasn’t doing nothin’,” he mumbled, hanging his head. - -“I know you were not, but I propose you shall. If you can’t be trusted -in the stock-room we don’t want you. If I catch you lounging in a bin -again, or even hear that you are shirking I’ll see that you don’t stay -long in this store. Now get downstairs and don’t come up here again -this afternoon unless I send you. Go to Mr. Denby and he’ll give you -something to do that will keep you awake.” - -Mr. Brady waited only long enough to see Leon on the move, then he -strode into the receiving room. - -“Atkins,” he called sharply, “if you can’t make that boy of yours work, -he can’t stay in this department. We are not going to pay him for -lounging in the bins when he ought to be hustling.” - -“I am sure there has been some mistake,” began Mr. Atkins -apologetically. “Leon never----” - -“Don’t tell me that. I caught him coming out of a bin. I’m not the only -one who has seen him using the bins for a bed, either. See that he -keeps busy or out of the store he goes.” - -Without further words Mr. Brady stalked from the receiving room. The -discomfited father muttered under his breath, then hurried into the -stock-room in time to meet his erring son at the door. - -“Were you in one of those bins when Mr. Brady came up here?” he -snapped, taking Leon by the collar. - -“Aw, let me alone,” whimpered Leon. “I was just lookin’ in the bin and -he thought I was loafin’. He don’t know what he’s talkin’ about. I’ll -bet that fresh Harding kid tattled somethin’ about me and that’s why -Brady hot-footed it up here.” - -Mr. Atkins slowly relaxed his hold. Mr. Brady’s words, “not the only -one who has seen him using the bins for a bed,” struck him forcibly. -Strangely enough he did not connect the dust man’s visit with that of -the assistant. Resentment of Harry made it easy for him to fix the -blame on the industrious lad. - -“Where is Harding?” he growled. - -“Downstairs, I s’pose. How could he send Brady up here if he wasn’t? -That smarty has it in for me, I tell you. He’s jealous of me.” - -“I’ll ’tend to him,” menaced the wrathful father, “but you see to it -that you behave yourself.” - -“I’m behavin’. Now quit jawin’ me. I gotta go downstairs and help -Denby. Brady just said so.” - -“Go on then, and don’t fool along the way.” Mr. Atkins gave his son -an ungentle push through the doorway and returned to his own domain, -inwardly vowing vengeance on that “tattle-tale” Harding. - -Serenely unconscious of the shoals ahead of him, Harry entered the -marking room late that afternoon to meet with a stormy reception. Mr. -Atkins pounced upon him with a flow of vituperation of which every word -was “tattle-tale.” - -“I don’t know what you mean, Mr. Atkins,” he said helplessly. “I -haven’t said a word to Mr. Brady about your son.” - -“Don’t lie to me. Who told him Leon used the bins to sleep in, if you -didn’t? You know it isn’t so.” - -“I know it _is_ so.” Harry sprang into nettled defense at the ugly word -“lie.” His blue eyes grew steely. “Your son takes a nap in that end bin -every day. I supposed you knew it.” Harry could not resist this one -thrust. “But you must not say to me that I told Mr. Brady so, because I -didn’t.” - -“I’ll say what I please. You told Brady and I know it. You don’t like -Leon and you pick on him all the time. But it’s got to be stopped. You -let him alone or you’ll be sorry.” - -“I came up here to say to you that Mr. Rexford wishes to see you in his -office before you go home.” Completely ignoring the man’s threat, Harry -wheeled and walked into the stock-room, wondering with all his might -what had happened to raise such a storm. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -THE PARTY OF THE THIRD PART - - -“Something queer happened this afternoon,” were Harry’s first words, as -he and Teddy started homeward that night. - -“Is that so?” Teddy shot a sidelong glance at his companion, then -sternly repressed his ever-ready grin. “What was it?” - -“Oh, someone told Mr. Brady about Leon going to sleep in the bin. I -don’t know much about it. I don’t even know how it started. But Mr. -Atkins blamed me for it and gave me a terrible talking-to. Everything -has gone wrong since that boy landed in 84. I don’t care so much about -the scolding, but he told me I lied and that’s pretty hard to swallow.” - -“Who do you s’pose told him--Mr. Brady, I mean?” Teddy tried hard to -keep his voice steady. He wanted to shout with laughter. His scheme had -worked. The next moment he began to feel extremely serious. He had not -reckoned on involving Harry in it. - -“I don’t know. I suppose somebody besides me saw him asleep there. -Really, I’m glad of it. Mr. Atkins isn’t nice to me, anyway. What he -said this afternoon doesn’t hurt me because it isn’t true.” - -“And you don’t care at all?” inquired Teddy anxiously. - -“No, I don’t. Isn’t it funny, though? I said only yesterday that I -wished Mr. Rexford would catch Leon asleep in the bin. I got my wish; -only it was Mr. Brady who found him out instead of Mr. Rexford. Or else -somebody told Mr. Rexford and he sent Mr. Brady up to the stock-room. -He wouldn’t come himself for anything like that. But whichever way it -was, I had nothing to do with it.” - -“But _I_ did,” announced Teddy, visibly proud of his achievement. - -“_You?_” Harry stopped short in his tracks and stared incredulously at -Teddy. “Did you go to Mr. Rexford, or----” - -“I did not.” Teddy glared offended innocence of tale-bearing. “What do -you think I am, anyway?” - -“You are as clear as a dark night,” jeered Harry. “First you say you -did and then you say you didn’t. How am I to know what you mean?” - -Teddy’s grin rivaled that of the famous Cheshire cat. “Some puzzle,” he -snickered. “I’ll bet you can’t guess who it was that told?” - -“I sha’n’t try.” Harry rested a grateful hand on the red-haired boy’s -shoulder. “Whoever it was, you were back of him. You’re a loyal -pardner, Ted.” - -“It was the dust man.” Teddy’s revelation ended in a gleeful chuckle. -“It was this way,” he continued. Then followed a detailed account of -his ingenious method of exposing Leon. - -Harry could not help laughing immoderately as Teddy proceeded with his -story. “I don’t see how you ever happened to think of the poor dust -man. He has troubles enough of his own without being dragged into such -a scheme. You are a dangerous person, Ted.” - -“He didn’t know he was the goat,” asserted Teddy humorously. “What he -doesn’t know won’t make his head ache. All I’m sorry for is that the -Atkins man jumped you.” - -“Don’t let that worry you,” returned Harry lightly. “As long as I do my -work he can’t say anything very terrible about me.” - -“I’m glad of that.” Teddy appeared vastly relieved. “If he gets too -smart, let me know. I might make _him_ behave, too.” - -“You mustn’t try to fight my battles, old fellow,” objected Harry. “You -might get into trouble. I’m much obliged for what you did. It was kind -in you and you really did the store a good turn as well as helping me. -No one got hurt by it except Leon and it was coming to him.” - -“It wasn’t anything,” deprecated Teddy. “I wonder what happened when -the Dustless Duster blew into the stock-room? I wish you’d find out’n -tell me.” - -“I will,” promised Harry. “How are things going in your department? You -haven’t said much lately about that Mr. Jarvis.” - -“Huh!” snorted Teddy. “The old Percolator is still percolating around -40. Now that the Clothes-pole’s had a good walloping, I’ve got to see -what I can do in the coffee-pot line. Mr. Everett’s been having an -awful time with him. He butts in everywhere and talks like a book about -efficiency and such stuff. He’s always bubbling up at nothing. Somebody -ought to can him and jam the lid down tight.” Teddy did not add that -he cherished fond hopes of being that “someone.” His method was to do -first and crow afterward. - -For several days following his triumph in Harry’s behalf, Teddy -patiently lurked in Mr. Jarvis’ wake, the light of mischievous purpose -in his bright eyes. Thanks to him, Harry was no longer inflicted with -Leon’s slothful presence in the stock-room. Mr. Brady had decreed that -the idler should remain on the selling-floor where he would be under -close supervision. When sent on necessary errands to the tenth floor, -he was too rigidly timed to admit of his lingering there. Thus Harry -came into the luxury of deserved peace and Teddy turned his active -mind to a study of his own affairs. - -The advent of Mr. Jarvis into Department 40 as assistant buyer had -announced the beginning of trying days for the inhabitants of that -useful realm. Nathan Jarvis was an efficiency crank of the deepest dye. -Furthermore, he had an ambition to rule, which a prospective king might -have envied. From assistant to buyer was only a step. Secretly he had -determined to take that step. In his own estimation he was far more -capable to buy house furnishings than Mr. Everett, and he purposed that -sooner or later those in authority at Martin Brothers should be made to -see it. - -Their wits sharpened by constant contact with humanity, the salespersons -in 40 were not slow to see what was afoot. One and all they were up in -arms. Under Mr. Everett’s firm but kindly direction they had been happy. -He had treated them as equals, and they had ever shown their appreciation -by loyal, painstaking effort. He put them upon their honor and rarely -interfered with them. His assistant, Chester Willard, had also followed -his chief’s example. Now he had gone and in his place had bobbed up a -strange, unfriendly person who buzzed about the department like a huge -blue-bottle fly, and blazed a trail of rebellion wherever he buzzed. - -Had those active in the management of the big store known the -disturber’s true character, Mr. Jarvis’ outlook would not have been -rosy. The “square deal” was among the most revered traditions of Martin -Brothers. Nathan Jarvis had been careful to create the impression of a -man eager and ready to make every moment count toward the good of his -employers. He lectured earnestly and convincingly to the superintendent -on the beauty and necessity of efficiency as an asset to commercial -success. Hailing him as a really valuable acquisition he was already -regarded by those who put result before method as a person of unusual -judgment and ability. - -Black-eyed Teddy Burke, however, entertained no such fallacies -regarding the lively Mr. Jarvis. What he did entertain was a growing -desire to worst the usurper at his own game and thus glorify Mr. -Everett. While Mr. Jarvis secretly planned to oust the man who stood -between him and authority, Teddy was equally resolved upon displaying -Mr. Jarvis in his true character. - -This was easier planned than accomplished. As a mere stock boy, his -influence amounted to less than nothing. But the will to wage war -amounted to a good deal. So did his respect for Mr. Everett. These -weapons, in conjunction with so devastating a force as the ingenious -Teddy, spelled breakers ahead for the ubiquitous assistant. To all -outward appearance the red-haired boy was innocence personified, but -secretly his mind was a maze of darkly designed pranks. He only lacked -the opportunity to let them loose on the offender and he was serenely -confident that said opportunity would presently knock at his door. - -Late one afternoon, as he sat on the lower shelf of a table tightly -wedged between two immense stewing kettles, the sound of an unpleasantly -familiar voice smote his ears. It proceeded from the other side of the -very table under which he had crouched for a moment’s rest after a long, -busy day on his feet. - -“What this department lacks, Mr. Seymour, is an efficient hand to guide -it,” purred Mr. Jarvis. “The old methods of doing things are rapidly -disappearing. To-day our motto must be, ‘Save time by eliminating -all unnecessary motion.’ Think what glorious results we should have -from this department if we adhered strictly to this rule. Since my -appointment here, I have endeavored to do this. But in the face of the -opposition which I am obliged daily to encounter from _all_ sides, I -find it uphill work. Mr. Everett is, unfortunately, of the old school.” -The assistant sighed audibly. - -“You have the right idea, Mr. Jarvis,” was Mr. Seymour’s hearty reply. -“We need such men as you in the store. I am sure that Mr. Edward Martin -would be interested to hear your views in regard to the changes you -advocate in this department.” - -“I hardly feel that I ought to go to him,” deprecated the assistant -modestly. “It might appear to Mr. Everett as though I were taking these -matters above his head. It puts me in a rather delicate position. You -understand?” - -“Perfectly, Mr. Jarvis,” rejoined Mr. Seymour. “But don’t let that -trouble you. I will speak to Mr. Martin myself. My position here -insures me the freedom of doing so. I am sorry that Mr. Everett does -not uphold your views.” - -“It makes my position here a trifle difficult.” Hypocritical sadness -lurked in the wily assistant’s answer. “If we could only work together -without so much needless friction, then----” - -The remainder of this deceitful speech was lost to Teddy, as the two -men walked on up the aisle, unaware that a certain thin, ruddy-haired -youngster had been an unwilling listener to their talk. Teddy had -deemed it indiscreet to betray himself. It meant a double lecture on -lounging, which he felt he did not deserve. After a moment’s safe -silence had ensued a mop of red hair, followed by a small, tense body, -rose from its kettle fortress. Teddy watched the satisfied pair, as -they paraded the length of the department. He made a derisive face at -their retreating backs. - -“So that’s the way he does it,” pondered the little boy. “No wonder Mr. -Everett got jumped on at the front when he tried to help Miss Newton. -The old, slippery Percolator is certainly working hard to get Mr. -Everett out of here. I s’pose eliminate means to cut out. I’ve got to -get on the job and do something for my best boss. I’ve got to begin my -Fall canning.” - - - - -CHAPTER X - -TEDDY BEGINS HIS FALL CANNING - - -As the early October days waxed and waned, Teddy trailed his quarry -with the watchfulness of a sleuth. But Mr. Jarvis was not to be caught -napping. His self-lauded efficiency guarded him like a sentinel. He -buzzed, bubbled, nagged and tyrannized all in the name of the store. -Whatever and whoever he set out to reform, he pounced upon with an -awe-inspiring energy that none could combat. Even the Gobbler in her -most offended moments could not out-gobble him. - -“I never saw the beat of that man!” she exclaimed almost tearfully to -Teddy. “I can’t do a thing to please him. Here you and me have spent -pretty near a whole morning stacking these pans the way he wants ’em -and now he says it’s not the way he told me. I’d go to Mr. Everett -about it, but after what happened that other time I don’t like to. He -has enough to bother him since this miserable fault-finder came down -here.” - -“It’s too bad,” sympathized Teddy. “Mr. Hickson told me what he did to -Mr. Everett when you went to him. Never mind, Miss Newton, p’raps he -won’t be here always.” - -“He’ll be here long after poor Mr. Everett’s gone,” was the woman’s -gloomy prediction. “He’s one of the under-handed kind that won’t play -fair. When you think you’ve got him he switches things so as to make -you look like the guilty one.” - -“Sixty-five! Boy!” sounded the call. - -“Gotta go. I hear his gentle voice. I’m awful sorry, Miss Newton. I’ll -come back as soon as I can and help you.” With a genial nod of promise, -Teddy trotted off in the direction of the call. - -“Here, boy. Get these buckets out of the way.” Mr. Jarvis stood -surrounded by a vast array of large galvanized pails. From an almost -bare table, Sam Hickson was removing the last of them to a place on -the floor beside others of their kind. The salesman’s close-cropped -red hair seemed positively to be standing on end with rebellion. His -good-humored mouth drooped sullenly, and he looked as though he yearned -to say unutterable things. - -“Get a step-ladder. Be lively now. These buckets must all be put in -place instantly. I can’t understand why it should take so long to do -such a simple task. _I_ could have done it easily in ten minutes.” - -“You couldn’t if you stopped to wait on customers,” flashed Hickson, -coloring angrily. - -“That’s no excuse. It should have been done before the customers began -to arrive,” blandly reminded the assistant. “Now you are wasting time -arguing. Get to work and fill this lower rack with buckets. By the -time you’ve finished the boy will be here with the ladder. The idea of -allowing all that space on those racks to lie idle!” - -“Those racks are very unhandy for buckets,” retorted Hickson. “We tried -them and the saleswomen had so much trouble reaching up to them that -Mr. Everett said not to use them.” - -“Never mind what Mr. Everett says. _I_ am doing this. Don’t talk back -to me, either. Get busy.” Mr. Jarvis took decided umbrage at the -mention of Mr. Everett. - -Hickson said no more. Fighting savagely for self-control he laid hands -on a couple of the largest-sized pails and moved toward the despised -rack. - -“Not those large buckets,” objected the taskmaster. “Use your brain. -The smallest sizes must go on the lower rack; the larger ones above.” - -Hickson accepted the correction in morose silence and with a shrug of -his broad shoulders endeavored to carry out instructions. - -“Ah!” Mr. Jarvis emitted a satisfied cluck. “Here is our ladder. It -took you long enough to get it, boy. I could have done it in half that -time.” - -“Could you?” Teddy simulated a solemn, wide-eyed admiration that nearly -convulsed the abused Hickson. - -“I could.” Mr. Jarvis took his questioner seriously. “Set it there. Now -Mr. Hickson----” - -“Young man, will you please wait on me?” A plaintive voice was heard at -the assistant’s elbow. - -“Certainly you shall receive attention.” Mr. Jarvis beamed patronizingly -on the woman. “What can we show you this morning?” - -“I’d like to look at a small oven. You see I do light housekeeping -and----” - -“What _you_ need, Madam, is a fireless cooker. You have no idea of the -time and labor you can save by installing one in your home. Now the -fireless cooker which we principally handle is a marvel of----” - -“I wouldn’t have one in the house.” The plaintive tones took on a shade -of belligerence. “I came to see an oven and it’s an oven I want. If you -don’t care to show it to me I guess I can go somewhere else. If I don’t -know my own mind, then I don’t know who does.” - -“Hickson, show this lady what she _says_ she wants.” Mr. Jarvis lost -interest suddenly in the customer. He waved her away as though in a -hurry to be rid of her. “Here, 65, you can put these buckets on the top -shelf. _I_ will hand them up to you. Set the ladder right there. Now, -hustle.” - -Teddy ran up the five steps of the ladder with the agility of a monkey. -The assistant seized a bucket in each hand, and, rising on his capable -toes, delivered them to the waiting Teddy. For the next five minutes -the efficiency man was in his glory. From a safe distance several -salespeople watched the scene with scornful grins. - -“I gotta move my ladder.” Teddy skipped down from his perch and shoved -the ladder along a few feet. - -“A little farther the other way. Right there. Now step lively. Two -minutes more will see us finished.” - -Teddy again ascended like a bird and waited. Four more buckets clanked -to rest on the heights. Only a lonely duo now adorned the floor. Mr. -Jarvis swooped down on them, then poised one of the pair in reach -of Teddy’s thin fingers. Teddy gazed soulfully down upon the round, -up-turned face of his helper. He leaned a trifle forward as though -to take the bucket. The ladder gave a sudden, threatening lurch. In -a wild effort to regain his balance, he waved the huge bucket over -the efficiency man’s head. Very curiously it turned upside down and -descended. - -The remaining bucket in Mr. Jarvis’ hand left it and careered down the -aisle with a wild rumble. But the bucket that had recently parted from -Teddy’s hand was denied that pleasure. It had found a resting-place and -remained fixed. - -Then the delighted spectators to the moving scene were treated to -a spectacle that furnished them with hilarious memories for many a -long day afterward. The hitherto inanimate bucket became miraculously -endowed with a short, pudgy body and a pair of furiously flapping arms -that had formerly belonged to Mr. Jarvis. Down the aisle it staggered, -crashing full tilt into a table of saucepans, a number of which bounced -to the floor in noisy resentment of the invasion. - -Stranger still, the magic bucket came into possession of speech. A -tumult of unintelligible sounds, such as only an animate infant bucket -could be expected to make, flowed forth from under it. Then its brief -debut into the animate was over. Violently it severed connections with -the body it had appropriated and hit the floor with a rattle and roll. - -“Oh, Mr. Jarvis, did it hurt you?” Two round, solicitous, black eyes -met those of the sputtering efficiency man. While Mr. Jarvis’ head -was imprisoned in its galvanized cast, Teddy had indulged in a silent -extravagance of glee that nearly spilled him off the ladder. He was now -as solemn as a judge. Angelic pity shone from his freckled face. - -“You--you----” Mr. Jarvis was absolutely bereft of speech suitable to -the crime. - -“I almost fell off the ladder myself,” comforted Teddy gently, “but -accidents have to happen sometimes. I guess I better pick up those -saucepans. If Mr. Seymour came along and saw them all over the floor he -mightn’t like it.” - -“What are all these pans doing on the floor?” a stern voice broke in. -Mr. Everett had come upon the scene just in time to miss the accident. -“See that they are put straight at once, Teddy. Such a litter is a -disgrace to the department, Jarvis.” - -Mr. Everett marched on down the aisle, secretly exultant that for once -he had caught his obnoxious assistant to rights. The efficiency man’s -face took on a poppy-red hue. For once he was dumb. The rapidity with -which things had happened fairly dazed him. - -“Pick up those pans,” he muttered. With one awful glance at the author -of the disaster he took himself off to the far side of the department -to think things over. - -Teddy gazed dreamily after him. Reaching into his coat pocket he drew -forth a tiny, leather-covered book. From another pocket he produced -a stubby pencil. Resting the book on a step of the ladder he wrote -briefly, “October 6. Canned the Percolator.” After it he made a long, -black mark. “Some time he’ll stay canned,” was his sage prophecy. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -THE MARTIN MINUTE MEN - - -“Well, Reddy, you did it.” Sam Hickson regarded the grinning knight -of the ladder with mirthful eyes. Half an hour had elapsed since Mr. -Jarvis’ temporary eclipse, and the redoubtable Teddy had purposely -sought out his friend to hear his views on the subject. - -“It was just like a play, wasn’t it?” chuckled Teddy. “Where the -villain gets canned in the last act and the hero comes up and gives him -the ha, ha! I was glad Mr. Everett got a chance at him. It took all the -bubble out of him.” - -“I’m glad you haven’t got it in for me,” retorted Hickson. “You’re not -a safe person to be on the outs with.” - -“Friendship is a golden tie,” murmured Teddy. “My last year’s copy-book -said so, and I say so, too.” - -“Much obliged.” The salesman slapped Teddy on the back with appreciative -vigor. - -“I didn’t say anything about knocking your friends down, though.” The -affectionate blow caused Teddy to ruefully rub the spot between his -thin shoulders where it had descended. “I’m not made of wood.” - -“You’re made of mischief,” laughed Hickson. “You’re chuck full and -running over with it.” - -“P’r’aps. Say, did that funny woman who wanted the oven buy one?” - -“No, she’s poking around here yet. She says she can’t make up her mind -until she looks things over. Maybe she wasn’t mad at Jarvis. She says -he thinks he is too smart. I hope she buys. It’s going to be a dull -day. Somebody just told me that it’s raining outside.” - -“Hm-m!” Teddy cast a roving glance across the department. “I guess I’d -better do a little work for a change. I’ll see you later.” He sauntered -off in the direction of the spot devoted to the display of ovens. From -afar he had glimpsed the woman who did not admire Mr. Jarvis. “Maybe I -can help her pick out an oven and get a sale for Mr. Hickson,” was his -kindly thought as he approached the undetermined customer. - -“I’ll open that door for you, Madam.” The woman was tugging fruitlessly -at the obstinate door on an oven that had caught her fancy. - -“Oh, thank you.” She favored this unexpected helper with a pleasant -smile. “Why, you are that boy who was standing there when that horrid -man tried to tell me that I didn’t know what I wanted. Who is that man? -I asked the salesman who showed me these ovens, but he didn’t hear me, -I guess.” There was a note of menace in her question that was not lost -on Teddy. - -“Oh, that is our assistant buyer. His name is Mr. Jarvis. He’s an -efficiency man.” - -“He’s not half so efficient as he might be,” snapped the woman. “Now -that I know his name I’m going to report him. This seems to be a good -oven.” Engaged now in peering into it, she did not mark the seraphic -joy on a small freckled face. - -“It’s a very good oven,” assured Teddy glibly. “If you’d like to buy it -I’ll get Mr. Hickson to wait on you.” - -“Very well. Have you a pencil and paper? I wish you’d put down that -man’s name and the number of this department. I shall write to this -firm about him.” - -Teddy got out his notebook and pencil. With deep satisfaction he tore -a leaf from the back and inscribed on it, “Mr. Nathan Jarvis, Dept. -40.” Before he put the book away he turned to the front page and -wrote, “October 6. Canned again by a customer.” A second sinister mark -followed this pertinent item. “That’s pretty good for one day,” he -murmured, as he tucked the record of the morning’s preserving in his -pocket. “If he gets bottled a few more times, he can have a label and -be put in Martin Hall for a decoration. Pickled Percolator would look -nice.” Teddy giggled to himself as his whimsical imagination pictured -the plump assistant unhappily confined in a huge glass jar, a gigantic, -awe-inspiring monument to the pickler’s art. - -Although Teddy’s sworn crusade against Mr. Jarvis might easily be -criticized, it must also be remembered that his motive, at least, was -prompted by loyalty alone. Had the assistant been merely a disagreeable -factor in the department the lad would have accepted him as such and -foreborne to play on him more than an occasional mischievous prank. Mr. -Jarvis, however, was engaged in an enterprise of the most contemptible -nature. By false words and gross misrepresentation he was laboring to -cut the ground from under Mr. Everett’s feet. - -Teddy knew this. His sturdy boy nature revolted at the very idea of -such unfairness. What he yearned to do was to expose the assistant’s -shortcomings to the public. He was too shrewd to be deceived by Mr. -Jarvis. He knew, as well as others in the department knew, that the -man was not even a truly capable assistant. His knowledge of the stock -he burned to become buyer of was not sound. Moreover, his methods -of running the department were too unsettled and flighty to insure -success. His superiors had yet to learn this. Now that the bugle call -for efficiency was blaring its warning note throughout the business -world, he was possessed of a valuable ally. Teddy believed that his -duty lay in catching the plotter in his own net. - -For a week after the fatal bucket episode, Mr. Jarvis had considerably -less to say than usual. The sixth of October had not been a red-letter -day for him. First of all he had been made the victim of what he -privately knew to be an intentional accident. Mr. Everett’s untimely -appearance on the scene had spoiled the arraignment he had purposed to -let loose on Teddy. The buyer’s reprimand had put him to rout. Later he -was glad he had said nothing to the lad. The red-haired boy’s air of -calm innocence would have proved impregnable. - -Three mornings afterward he had been summoned to the superintendent’s -office as a result of blandly accusing a woman of not knowing her own -mind. In the face of the indignant letter that he had been coldly -requested to read, his volubility deserted him. He was forced to listen -to a number of pointed remarks relating to courtesy to customers -and admonished that it was the policy of the store to humor rather -than antagonize the public. Nothing was left him save to apologize -hypocritically for what must “surely have been a misunderstanding,” and -retire with dark thoughts concerning “meddlesome women.” - -“The Percolator looks as if he’d like to bite to-day,” confided Teddy -to Harry Harding several days later, as the two sat eating their -noonday luncheon. Although Teddy was not aware of it, Mr. Jarvis had -that morning been taken to task by Mr. Everett for making a change in -the arrangement of certain stock, contrary to the buyer’s order. In -consequence, the assistant was immersed in his own wrath, and presented -a most war-like appearance as he marched up and down the confines of 40 -on the hunt for trouble. - -“You’d better be careful he doesn’t bite you,” was Harry’s playful -caution. - -“He’s afraida me,” grinned Teddy. “I’m such a good boy I scare him. If -he got after me, Mr. Everett’d take my part.” - -“But suppose you did something so bad that Mr. Everett couldn’t help -you?” Harry was merely teasing, but Teddy took it seriously. - -“I never do anything bad,” he boasted, elevating his sharp chin to a -lofty angle. “I’m s’prised at you, Harry Harding.” - -Harry’s boyish laugh rang out. “I was only joking, Teddy,” he -apologized. “I know you wouldn’t do anything very terrible. Dustless -Dusters and buckets that walk are your limit.” - -Teddy acknowledged his crimes with a snicker. “I’ve gotta turn over a -new leaf,” he announced. “Night school’s going to begin to-morrow. Did -you know it?” - -“Yes; I found out this morning. Mr. Marsh sent a messenger around the -store with a notice. I suppose you signed it, too.” - -“Yep. I wonder if we’ll like night school? Last year I was mad as hops -because I had to go to day school. Remember?” - -“I certainly do. How about it this year?” - -“Oh, I’d just as soon go. I don’t want to grow up a dummy. Besides, -it’s only two nights a week. I hope Mrs. Martin’ll give us a good -supper,” ended Teddy waggishly. - -Both boys giggled at the bare idea of the stately wife of the senior -partner in the rôle of cook for a horde of hungry boys. - -“I don’t care much what I have to eat. It’s school I’m thinking of.” -Harry’s eyes glowed at the prospect of resuming his studies. - -“Huh!” snorted Teddy. “I guess when I work all day I oughta have a good -supper. If I don’t like the stuff they give us to eat, I’ll make up for -it when I get home. What I like best is that we are going to be soldier -boys. We’ll be joining the ‘Martin Minute Men’ now. Some name.” - -“I suppose it came from the Minute Men in the Revolutionary war,” mused -Harry. “It’s a dandy name. Seems fine to think of being men instead -of just boys. We are to drill an hour after supper each night before -school begins.” - -“Yes, and we’ll wear khaki uniforms like the real soldiers and in -summer we can go to camp, and whenever our country needs us we’ll be -all ready to go. Hurrah for the good old United States!” Teddy’s voice -rose shrilly as he waved his spoon fantastically on high. - -“Sh-h-h!” cautioned Harry. The little boy’s joyful outcry could be -heard above the clatter of dishes and busily humming voices. - -But Harry’s warning came too late. The roomful of lively boys had heard -the cheer and now echoed it with a noisy fervor that made the walls -ring. - -“Now are you satisfied?” laughed Harry, as the tumult gradually -subsided. - -“I didn’t think I was hollering so loud.” Teddy appeared a trifle -abashed. “Anyhow, who’s going to care? Nobody that loves his country -could scold you for hurrahing for it.” - -Teddy was still more confused when in the next moment he found himself -and Harry completely surrounded by a crowd of merry-faced boys, all -talking at once. - -“What’s the matter with the U. S.?” demanded Arthur Worden joyfully. -“And what’s the matter with Teddy Burke?” - -“Nothing’s the matter with either of ’em,” was Howard Randall’s -tribute. His fat face was beaming approval of Teddy. Out of their early -squabbles had sprouted firm friendship. - -“We were talking about school,” explained Harry, “and Ted got excited -over being a Minute Man.” - -“We’re all crazy to get our uniforms,” put in another boy eagerly. “I -hope I’ll be in the same company with you fellows. We all have to go up -to Martin Hall to-night.” - -The lads lingered about the table until the last moment of their lunch -hour. Teddy and Harry were deservedly well-liked and outside of Leon -Atkins’ dislike for Harry, neither had an enemy among the boys of the -store. - -Teddy’s fears in regard to the supper that night were groundless. The -management of Martin Brothers furnished for their young men a plain but -substantial meal that was exactly suited to their needs. Both lads were -supremely happy as they sat at table in the great dairy lunch room with -a goodly number of other young men, still the raw material from which -was to come the new life and blood of the great establishment that -housed and protected them. - -Again they thrilled with pride as they sat beside their comrades in -Martin Hall and listened to the inspiring speeches of Mr. Keene and -Mr. Marsh. Then came a general looking-over and registering of the two -companies. These were named Company D and Company E to distinguish them -from those of the store messenger force who had yet to graduate from -day school. All those whose last names began with one of the first -thirteen letters of the alphabet were consigned to Company D. The -others fell to Company E. - -Company D, to which Harry and Teddy now belonged, had Tuesday and -Friday assigned to them for their school work. Company E went to school -on Monday and Thursday nights. At the conclusion of the registration -and assignments Mr. Keene again mounted to the stage and addressed his -flock. - -“Boys,” he said, “I am glad to see that you are glad to come back to -school. You’ve shown us that to-night by your attention and enthusiasm. -This year you are going to do more than be good pupils. You are going -to be good soldiers. That means a great many different things. I know -that there isn’t a boy here to-night who wouldn’t willingly lay down -his life for his country.” - -Mr. Keene was interrupted by a frantic burst of cheers. He smilingly -waited for the demonstration of applause to die away. Then he continued: - -“Your cheers prove you are patriots. Love of country is the highest -form of patriotism, but there’s another kind of patriotism that counts, -too. It is loyalty to the house that employs you. If you try to do the -best that is in you for those who are trying to do their best for you, -then you are patriots. A patriot at work will become a patriot at war. -Wherever you may be placed, boys, whether it’s in this store or in the -trenches, be loyal to your trust; obedient to your orders. Whether it -means business or war, remember you are on the firing line and must -prove yourselves to be good soldiers. That’s all.” - -Mr. Keene smilingly nodded down at the rows of upturned faces. As he -left the stage he received a tribute of boyish adoration that echoed -and re-echoed through the great hall. There was but one Mr. Keene. - -“I guess anybody’d want to be a good soldier just to please Mr. Keene,” -glowed Teddy, when, half an hour later, the chums trotted homeward -together through the crisp, starry October night. - -“He’s splendid.” Harry reinforced Teddy’s enthusiasm. “Isn’t it -wonderful, Ted, that we can work in a store like this?” - -“Yep. I’m going to stay in Martin Brothers’ store till I’m dead. When -I get too old to be superintendent, I’m going to get a job in the -transfer gathering up packages.” - -“If you ever got to be superintendent, you’d have money enough to live -on when you were too old to work,” smiled practical Harry. - -“That’s so,” admitted Teddy, “but I wouldn’t have much fun. I’d rather -hustle a truck than get old and sit in the sun and have only crackers -to eat and think about the Dragoness and the Clothes-pole and the -Percolator and all my dear friends. I guess I won’t grow up. I’d rather -stay a red-haired boy with 65 for a number.” - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -THE BOY WHO COULD FORGIVE - - -With the beginning of school a fresh era of interest arrived for Harry -and Teddy. As October waned, faded and finally gave up the ghost in the -icy arms of November, the two boys found themselves in the thick of -many happenings. Being soldiers was a never-ceasing source of delight -to them. They looked forward with the eagerness to their semi-weekly -drill which preceded lessons. Companies D and E were recruits to the -regular Minute Men of the store and were under the efficient guidance -of a retired officer of the National Guard. A wound received while with -his regiment on the Mexican border had unfitted him for the further -strenuous service required of the regular militia, but he proved an -admirable instructor and Martin Brothers were highly gratified to -obtain him for their purpose. - -The night school was a true commercial institute. Its curriculum of -study included such subjects as would be most useful to a working -boy. Arithmetic, English, spelling and simple book-keeping were taught -in the first year’s course. One evening was devoted to arithmetic and -English; the other to spelling and book-keeping. As the night school -did not take the students from their store duties, it remained in -session until the last week of December to reopen immediately after the -annual counting of stock. - -As a soldier boy Teddy was in his glory. When not at drill, he marched -about, his thin little body erect with military precision. At home -he was never tired of going through the manual of arms for his proud -mother’s benefit, and more than once in Department 40 an obliging broom -or mop furnished him with a make-believe gun with which to exploit his -newly learned tactics of war for the benefit of his friend Sam Hickson. - -Affairs in house furnishings had been progressing a trifle more -smoothly of late for Mr. Everett. A two-weeks’ illness had removed his -guileful assistant from the lists. During that time the department -had thriven and rejoiced, and the worried expression on the buyer’s -clean-cut face had completely disappeared. In the fervor of being a -good soldier, Mr. Jarvis’ absence suited Teddy down to the ground. “I’m -sorry for anybody that’s sick, but I can’t cry because the Percolator’s -not percolating for a while. I gotta lot of business of my own to tend -to and if he was flying around here I’d just have to fly after him.” -Teddy had confided this to Hickson, who laughingly agreed that Mr. -Jarvis’ absence was a good thing for everybody all around. - -In Department 84, Harry Harding was also proceeding far more peacefully -through November than he had hoped. Mr. Atkins was too much rushed -by the heavy consignments of books that daily poured in upon him to -trouble himself greatly about Harry. Since Mr. Brady had established -lazy Leon on the selling floor, where he could be watched, a load had -been lifted from both Mr. Atkins’ and Harry’s shoulders. The latter -could readily have given points to the proverbial busy bee. Work, when -uninterrupted by the disagreeable Leon, was a pleasure, and he waded -into it for all he was worth. - -The early part of November found him dividing his time between -the stock-room and the department. On the selling-floor he was at -everyone’s beck and call, where he was so uniformly cheerful and -willing as to create a constant call from the various salespeople for -his services. Miss Breeden alone held aloof. Whatever she wished done -she ordered Leon to do and this showed Harry plainly that she had not -forgiven him for the unfortunate incident of last year. - -It was while he was helping Mr. Denby arrange a table one snowy morning -that he made a discovery. Mr. Barton was missing from his usual -environment. As the day passed he failed to materialize and Harry -wondered vaguely where he was. Three days passed and still he was not -among those present. A strange young man walked about the missing aisle -manager’s domain and from Mr. Denby, Harry learned that Mr. Barton -was ill. In answer to his query, “What is the matter?” the salesman -shrugged and replied that he didn’t know, nor did he seem to care. - -“What ails Mr. Barton, Miss Welch?” It was now the fourth day of the -man’s absence and after making fruitless inquiry about the department -Harry had come to the pretty exchange clerk for information. Why he was -so anxious to find this out he did not know. From within had sprung a -certain strange prompting to inquire into the cause of Mr. Barton’s -malady. - -“Poor Smarty Barty’s in bad,” informed the exchange clerk. “He’s got -something the matter with his stomach, I guess. He was sicker than the -sickest the last day he was here. I almost felt sorry for him. After -all it ain’t no fun to be down and out in a boarding house with no one -to care whether you live or croak.” - -“I thought he had a home.” Harry frowned thoughtfully. - -“Now who’d wanta live with him?” demanded Miss Welch with fine disgust. -“He’d wear out the patience of a saint. Just like that.” She snapped -her fingers. “Say, it’s awful for me to talk so, now isn’t it? But -never mind, maybe I’m just a teeny bit sorry for him. Poor old Smarty.” - -“Of course you are,” nodded Harry. “You are too nice and kind not to -care when someone’s in trouble.” - -“Listen to him. Soft soap, Kiddy, soft soap.” Miss Welch dimpled -prettily at the compliment. - -“It’s not soft soap. I mean it. Where does he live, Miss Welch?” - -“You’ve got me, boy. Wait a minute now. Come to think of it his address -is kicking around this desk somewhere. Was you thinking of paying him -a visit?” The girl’s voice held a note of good-natured raillery. She -fumbled obligingly about her desk. “Here it is. Amos Barton, 6143 -Wayland Street. That’s way up on the north side.” - -From his pocket Harry took a note-book and gravely copied the address. -“Want to go with me, Miss Welch?” he asked. “I’m going there to-night -as soon as I’ve had my supper.” - -“Sure I’d go, but I’ve got a date with a coupla girls to take in a -show. The tickets are bought, too. Don’t you get lost out there.” - -“I can find it. I’m sorry you can’t go. I’ll tell you about how I came -out to-morrow.” - -“Be sure you do, Harry. Is this the pattern counter?” She repeated the -question of a sad-faced man who peered timidly at her through his -glasses. “I hope not yet.” Her dimpling sally made the sad man smile. -“Over the other side, two aisles to the right. - -“Now what do you think of that?” she giggled, after watching the man -depart. “The idea of sending a _man_ out to buy a pattern. I’ll bet he -can’t tell a bath-robe from an evening dress. No wonder he looked like -a whole buncha gloom.” - -“Maybe he’s a tailor,” guessed Harry. “I must go. Thank you for the -address.” - -“Keep the change and buy an aeroplane. Give my regards to _Mister_ -Barton and tell him I miss him. You needn’t say it’s a good miss, -though.” - -More than once during that day Harry debated within as to whether or -not he had best call on Mr. Barton. He had told Miss Welch that he -intended to go, but still he was not quite sure that it was the thing -to do. On the way home he confided his project to Teddy, who received -it with derisive hoots. “Catch me going to see that old crank!” was the -little boy’s scornful exclamation. - -Mrs. Harding, however, viewed it from a different angle. “If you feel -that it is right to go, Harry, then go by all means. I am glad to see -you can sympathize with another in distress.” - -That settled it. The moment he had finished his supper, Harry put -on his hat and coat and set out through a blinding flurry of snow -that had begun to fall before Teddy and himself had reached home that -evening. It was several blocks to the point where he could catch a -Wayland street car, but he plodded manfully along, frequently brushing -the snow from his face. - -It was a fairly long car ride to 6143 Wayland Street. The house in -which Mr. Barton lived was a four-story brick structure set in the -middle of a row of similar residences. A stout, gray-haired woman with -hard blue eyes answered his ring. When he timidly asked for Mr. Barton -she frowned as though seized by an unpleasant memory. - -“He’s not here,” she said shortly. “They took him to the hospital -yesterday. I’m too busy to wait on a sick man and he didn’t have any -place else to go. He groaned and took on something awful. He owes me -for his board for this week, but I suppose I’ll get that. Are you any -relation of his?” - -Harry smiled faintly. He was dreadfully disappointed. “No; I work in -the same store he does. Will you please tell me to what hospital he was -taken?” - -“To the Cameron. Did you come here with his salary? If you did, I’ll -just take care of it. I can keep his board out of that.” - -Harry had hard work not to betray the indignation he felt as he -answered: “I only came to see how he was. I don’t know anything about -his affairs.” The woman’s unfeeling attitude made him doubly sorry for -the helpless man left to the mercy of strangers. - -“Well, he’s not here. You’d better go to the hospital.” She closed the -door in his face with a decisive slam. - -Harry walked away from the house undecided what to do next. He had no -idea of the location of the Cameron Hospital. “Maybe I’d better look -for a drugstore and telephone. I can’t go home and rest until I find -out about him,” was his thought. Two blocks further up the street the -red and green light of a drugstore shone. He hurried there, hastily -consulted a telephone directory and taking his only nickel, his carfare -home, telephoned the hospital. - -He was informed that Mr. Barton was there and “doing nicely.” Harry did -not know that this trite phrase was used to describe all conditions of -a patient, whether lightly or seriously ill. No, he could not see Mr. -Barton in the evening. He was in a ward. Visiting hours were on Monday -and Friday afternoons between two and four o’clock. He could come then. - -“A lot they know about it,” smiled the nettled lad, as he hung up the -receiver. “I’ll have to ask for some time off and go. Thank goodness, -to-morrow’s Friday. It looks pretty bad. Poor Mr. Barton. Now I’ll have -to walk home. I’ll get there late, too. Mothery’ll be worried.” - -It was half-past ten when a veritable snow-man stamped into the -Harding’s little living room. Harry was wholly correct in thinking that -his mother would worry. - -“Child alive, what made you stay so late?” she cried, her brown eyes -full of anxiety. “I thought something awful had happened to you.” - -“Not a bit of it. Wait till I get off my coat and I’ll kiss you.” - -“Take off those wet shoes and clothes and get into your pajamas and -bathrobe. Hurry now, or you’ll catch cold. I’ll fix you some hot milk.” -The little woman bustled about in behalf of the returned wanderer. - -Ten minutes afterward Harry was comfortably arrayed and curled up at -his mother’s feet, a cup of steaming milk in his hand. “My, but this is -comfy. Now listen, Mothery, while I tell you about Mr. Barton.” - -“The poor thing!” Mrs. Harding brimmed with sympathy at Harry’s story. -“Be sure you get off to-morrow and go to see him. But why didn’t you -wait till morning, Son, to telephone? That was an awful walk for you to -take.” - -“I couldn’t, dear. I couldn’t rest until I found out about him. Are -they good to folks in hospitals?” - -“If you have the money.” Mrs. Harding’s reply was tinged with -bitterness. “It’s all right if you can pay. If you can’t they do the -best they can for you, I suppose. They have so many patients who are -too poor to pay their way that they get so they don’t sympathize much -with them. I should think an aisle manager could pay his way. He must -get twenty-five dollars a week.” - -“I don’t know. I’ll have to find out.” Harry viewed his cup of milk -with a sober gaze. “I was just thinking how much I’ve got to be -thankful for. You and health and work and a home. And Mr. Barton hasn’t -anyone. I never told you, Mothery, but he wasn’t very good to me last -year. I thought then that I hated him. I found out just lately the -reason he was so cross. He’s had dyspepsia for years. He might have -been real pleasant if he’d been well. It just shows that one person -never knows much about what’s going on inside another person, after -all.” - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -THE ERRAND OF MERCY - - -“And he’s in a hospital! Well, what do you know about that?” Miss Welch -regarded the bearer of this astounding information with the air of one -who is completely flabbergasted. “The Cameron, did you say? That’s not -so far from here. ’Bout a mile, I guess. And you’re going to see him. -Well, take it from me, you’re the whitest kid I know.” - -Harry colored a trifle at this blunt tribute to himself. “I’m going -this afternoon. Mr. Brady said I could.” - -“Did you tell him what you wanted to get off for? I’ll bet you my hat -you didn’t.” - -Harry’s color deepened as he shook his head. “I thought I’d find out -all about Mr. Barton first,” he explained. “If I had told Mr. Brady -that I went to Mr. Barton’s boarding house last night, he might have -thought it funny. Maybe he wouldn’t have let me off. He might have -said it wasn’t necessary and just telephoned the hospital himself. -That wouldn’t suit me. I want to see him myself.” - -“Foxy little kiddo,” commented Miss Welch. “That’s just about Brady’s -speed. Talk about hospitals! You might as well try to pry open a safe -with a toothpick as to get those frosties to talk over a ’phone. They’d -say, ‘he’s doing nicely’ if he was at his last gasp. That’s a little -sidetrack they’re fond of laying. I know. I had a brother down with -typhoid at the Stevenson a coupla years ago. I almost had to break down -the doors to get to see him.” - -“The man on the telephone said last night that Mr. Barton was doing -nicely,” admitted Harry. “I didn’t know they always said that. It’s -a good thing I asked off. After I’ve seen him I’ll know if there’s -anything I can do for him. That lady where he boards didn’t seem to -care for anything except what he owes her.” - -“She’s no lady,” contradicted Miss Welch. “She must have a chunka rock -for a heart. I wonder if poor old Barty had any coin? It’s a chilly day -for him if he’s broke.” - -This was a point which Harry also had gravely considered. “Would the -store pay him his salary just the same if he were sick a long time?” -was his anxious question. - -“Nope. They hardly ever do it in such a big place as this. Of course, -there’s the store beneficiary. He’ll get something every week from -that as long as he’s sick. Not more than six or seven dollars, though. -That might see him through, but seven-dollar-a-week patients don’t get -any better treatment than the free ones. They chuck ’em together in the -same wards and serve ’em all alike. That’s what they did to my brother, -and we paid seven.” - -Harry left the exchange clerk’s desk considerably enlightened on the -subject of hospitals. Now that he was ready to embark on his errand of -mercy, he was somewhat concerned as to his reception at the Cameron. -“I suppose hospitals have to be as strict as stores,” he reflected. -“Probably they have so many poor folks to look after they can’t afford -to treat them better.” In reality this is the precise truth as regards -the majority of hospitals in a large city. Except in the case of those -which have been liberally endowed, a constant struggle goes on to meet -the heavy demands made upon them by poverty-stricken humanity. - -The boy’s heart beat a trifle faster that afternoon, when at five -minutes to two o’clock he stopped for a moment at Miss Welch’s desk to -tell her he was about to set forth on his pilgrimage of comfort. - -“Have you any word to send to Mr. Barton?” he asked. “You said for me -to stop and see you when I was ready to go.” - -Miss Welch gave a short, embarrassed laugh. Reaching under her desk she -brought forth a long, narrow pasteboard box, bearing the name of a -nearby florist. - -“I couldn’t let you beat me to it, Harry,” she said almost -apologetically. “When I went to lunch this noon I blew myself to these -carnations. They ain’t much, but mebbe they’ll help some.” She did not -add that the silver dollar they had cost her was her week’s spending -money. - -“Oh, Miss Welch, you are splendid! I know he’ll like them. It will help -me, too, to be able to give them to him. Then he won’t think it queer -of me to go to see him. Besides, he’ll be glad to know you remembered -him and are sorry he’s sick.” - -“Away with you!” Miss Welch’s eyes were misty as she waved Harry off -on his errand. “Who’d ever thought I’d be sending posies to Smarty? -It’s that blessed boy’s fault.” She dashed her hand across her eyes -and plunged with relief into crisp discussion with a woman who vainly -strove to exchange a wedding present of silver for cash. - -The Cameron Hospital was situated on the corner of Tremayne and Harris -Streets, a distance of about fourteen blocks from Martin Brothers. It -was a huge, overwhelming, gray stone building, extending almost the -length of the block. Harry felt curiously timid and insignificant as he -mounted the wide stone steps. He had never before entered a hospital -and the prospect dismayed him. Half expecting to be rebuffed by the -grim-faced man at the door, he was agreeably surprised to receive -prompt attention when he had explained his errand. - -The ward in which Mr. Barton lay ill was on the fourth floor. Carefully -following directions, he presently reached it to be challenged at the -door by a white-capped nurse. Again Harry was called upon to state his -business, then followed the young woman into a long room and down a -wide aisle formed by row after row of narrow white beds. - -“Here is a visitor for you, Mr. Barton.” The nurse had halted beside -the very last left-hand bed in the row. Standing directly behind her, -Harry’s heart was filled with pity as he caught sight of Mr. Barton’s -familiar features, now too plainly stamped with suffering. He lay with -closed eyes, which opened languidly at sound of the nurse’s voice. -An expression of unbelieving amazement swept his gaunt face as he -recognized his caller. - -“Good afternoon, Mr. Barton.” Harry smiled and held out his hand. “I -heard you were sick, so I thought I’d come to see you.” - -Without speaking, the man weakly clasped the proffered hand. In his -tired eyes was a dumb agony of contrition that words could never have -expressed. “I’m glad to see you, my boy. It was kind in you to come,” -he said faintly. - -“I would have come to see you before, but I didn’t know you were so -sick. I’ve brought you some flowers. Miss Welch sent them. She is sorry -for you, too.” Briskly Harry opened the box and displayed the pink, -fragrant token of sympathy. “Aren’t they cheerful?” he asked, holding -them up. “Before I go I’ll ask the nurse to put them in water and set -them on that little table. Then you can see them all the time.” - -To his utter consternation, Harry saw a tear roll down the sick man’s -cheek. “This won’t do at all,” he decided. “I’ve got to cheer him up. -I’d better pretend not to notice and start in and tell him about last -night.” With a gay, boyish laugh he began: “I went to your house last -night, Mr. Barton, and got caught in a snow storm. I was a regular -snow-man by the time I got home. It was an awful night, but it’s nice -out to-day, only the streets are full of snow.” - -To his relief no more tears fell. A flash of interest crossed the sick -man’s face as he heard this information. “What--did--the woman at my -boarding-house say to you?” he inquired. - -“Oh, she said you had left there for this hospital yesterday. So -I telephoned right away to ask about you. I wanted to see you -because--well--I hoped I could do something to help you. I wish, if you -feel you’d like to, that you’d tell me just how things are with you.” - -Mr. Barton studied Harry in silence. Something in the lad’s direct, -friendly gaze compelled confidence. He sighed, then said huskily, -“Things look pretty bad for me, Harry.” It was the first time he had -ever addressed Harry by name. Formerly it had always been, “Boy,” or -“45.” - -“Would you care to tell me just how bad they are?” queried Harry -gently. “You can trust me, you know.” - -“I know that.” Mr. Barton sighed again. “You’re a good boy and I’ve -been very unjust to you.” - -Harry made a quick gesture of dismissal. “Just tell me about yourself,” -he urged. “How serious is your sickness and must you stay here long -before you’re well again?” - -“It’s my stomach,” replied the man. “I’ve had trouble with it for -years. I always thought it plain dyspepsia, but there’s a complication -that only an operation will cure. But it’s too expensive. Not only the -operation, but afterward. I’d have to rest for several months. I can’t -afford to do that, and yet I can’t afford to lie here. I don’t know -what to do. I’ve never saved any money. I’ve just been able to live on -my salary and send a little each month to a sister who’s an invalid.” -His speech trailed to a despairing whisper. - -“I see how it is,” Harry nodded seriously. “If you could somehow get -enough money for the operation and afterward, you’d be all right. -Perhaps if you’d send for Mr. Edward Martin and tell him this, he -might help you.” - -“I couldn’t do that.” The aisle manager shook his head stubbornly. -“I’ve never asked anyone for help yet and I’d rather die than do it -now.” A dull flush of humiliation rose to the pale cheeks. “He has so -many demands made on him. I couldn’t do it. Could you?” - -“I don’t believe I’d like to,” confessed Harry. “Still, there ought to -be some way out for you. I’m going to try to find it. I’ll think as -hard as I can and next Monday I’ll try to come here again. If I can’t -I’ll write you.” - -“You’re a good boy; a good boy,” repeated Mr. Barton. “I don’t deserve -it. I never did anything for you except make you trouble. You shame me, -Harry.” Again he appeared on the verge of breaking down. - -“Now, Mr. Barton,” Harry laid his hand lightly on that of the sick man. -“You mustn’t think of that. It’s not good for you. We’re going to be -friends from now on and I’m going to help you. I must hurry back to -the store at once. Oh, yes, I wanted to ask you, will your beneficiary -money pay your board here?” - -“Yes; it’s seven dollars a week and that is what I am entitled to draw. -There is one thing I’d like to ask you to do. Draw the salary that’s -coming to me from the store and pay my board at Wayland Street. It’s -nine dollars. There’s just about money enough owing me to pay it. Ask -the nurse for a pen and paper and I’ll write you an order. Give it to -the pay-master and he’ll give you the money. I haven’t anyone else that -I can ask. I could write to the store, but it would be quicker for me -to have you attend to it. Will you do it?” he quavered anxiously. - -“Of course I will.” Harry’s pity was doubly aroused. What a dreadful -thing it was to be so lonely and friendless! - -As Harry left the hospital with the order for Mr. Barton’s salary in -his pocket, his mind was painfully bent on how he might accomplish the -impossible. He was not afraid to go to the senior partner of the store -with Mr. Barton’s case, but in the face of the man’s strong objection -he was loath to do so. During the balance of the afternoon he devised a -number of wild schemes to help the stricken aisle manager, every one of -which he renounced as impracticable. - -It fell to Teddy Burke, however, to present him with an idea that he -marveled he had not thought of himself. Harry related the details of -his visit to Teddy as they trudged home from work through the snowy -night. Although the little boy kept up a running fire of skeptical -comment, he was none the less deeply impressed. - -“I know what I’d do if I was you,” came Teddy’s inspiration. “I’d give -a show and then take the money and give it to his nibs.” - -“A show!” Harry looked startled. “What kind of a show and where could -we give it?” - -“Well, let me see.” Teddy considered owlishly. “You could have--I know -what you could have. You could have a show in Martin Hall with singing -and dancing and such stuff. You’d better go to Mr. Keene and tell him -about this Barton fellow and why you want to have a show. Then, if he -says it’s a go, I’ll ask Miss Verne to help. She knows all the people -in the store that do stunts. We could have it the evening before -Thanksgiving and have notices all over the store that it’s a benefit -for a sick employee. You don’t have to say who he is.” Teddy paused -after this brilliant outburst. - -“Teddy Burke, you’re a real genius. That’s a dandy idea. I’ll see Mr. -Keene to-morrow.” - -“I’d just as soon sing if you want me. That ought to count some,” -offered Teddy pompously. “Everybody made a fuss over me when I was in -that play last year.” - -“Oh, you will be the star performer,” promised Harry happily. “We’ll -have to hurry to do it, though. It’s only a little over two weeks until -Thanksgiving.” - -“I’ll do my part, if you do yours. If we make a lot of money for old -Smarty, who’s had all the smartness taken out of him, we’ll be some -folks with the people in the store.” - -“See here, Ted, I hate to say it, but if we do this we ought not to let -anyone know that we were back of it. It would be better to have Mr. -Keene and Miss Verne take the credit. We are just boys, you know. If -we went around saying it was our show, people might not care to come. -I don’t want any glory. I want the money for Mr. Barton.” Harry shrank -from the thought of letting his right hand know the deeds of his left. - -“I s’pose that’s so.” Teddy saw his dreams of becoming a public -benefactor vanishing in thin air. “Folks might say that a show got up -by a coupla kids wasn’t much. We’d better let Mr. Keene and Miss Verne -run it. That is, if we have it. Anyhow, I’m going to sing, and believe -me, I’ll be some little old singer, just to make up for that time I -called Smarty a crank and got you into trouble.” - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -TEDDY SCENTS A MYSTERY - - -Mr. Keene’s astonishment at Harry’s proposal, made on the following -morning, was soon swallowed up by his readiness to carry out Harry’s -laudable plan. “It takes a pretty broad-minded boy, Harry, to suggest -helping a man who once made matters uncomfortable for him,” he said -with a significance that brought the blood to the boy’s cheeks. Mr. -Keene had learned from Mr. Marsh of Harry’s trials of the previous year. - -“He needs help,” was Harry’s quiet reminder. “I think giving a show -would be a nice way to help him. Teddy Burke was the one who thought of -it. I didn’t know what to do. We don’t care to have anyone but you and -Miss Verne know that we had a hand in it.” - -“I will talk with Miss Verne about it this afternoon,” promised Mr. -Keene. - -Here Harry’s part in the plan ended. Confident that Mr. Keene would -set things in motion, he went light-heartedly back to his department, -patiently to await further developments. Already he felt assured that -Mr. Barton’s chances for proper treatment and health were rosy. - -True to his promise, Mr. Keene sent for Miss Verne that very afternoon. -An hour’s earnest consultation put Harry’s plan in a fair way of being -speedily accomplished. The next day Miss Verne went about the store -interviewing those whose special talents would be needed for the coming -benefit. Mr. Keene also busied himself in seeing to it that a goodly -number of typed notices were established at various points of the store -where they would attract the most attention. At his own expense he gave -orders for the printing of tickets of admission, setting the price at -the modest figure of thirty-five cents. He had wisely reckoned that a -crowded house at the price was more to be desired than one half-filled -at fifty cents. - -By the time the tickets were ready, the performers were diligently -rehearsing for the event and the whole project proceeded with a -smoothness that promised brilliant fulfillment and many dollars. - -Aside from Teddy, Harry, Mr. Keene, Mr. Marsh and Miss Verne, only one -other person in the store had been let into the secret. Privately, -Harry had confided the whole affair to Miss Welch. The exchange clerk -expressed her delight in her usual warm-hearted, if inelegant fashion, -and clamored to be allowed to sell tickets. Mr. Keene had already given -ten tickets to each boy on the store messenger force with smiling -orders not to return one of them. He had also shrewdly offered a -prize of five dollars to the boy who should sell the most tickets and -competition ran high. - -Several days previous to the entertainment, the first lot of tickets -ran out and another lot was hastily printed. Many of them had been -purchased by the employees of the store who were ready and willing to -contribute their mite to so worthy an object. But customers and members -of employees’ families rallied to the cause and it was generally -conceded by those intimately interested in the benefit that on the -great night Martin Hall would be filled to overflowing. - -Teddy Burke was down on the programme for two songs. In consequence, he -was highly pleased with himself. Every night he rehearsed them at home -with his mother at the piano. On the evening before the benefit, Mrs. -Harding and Harry were to take dinner with the Burkes, and Teddy was -to sing them for his friend’s edification. Mrs. Burke and Mrs. Harding -were, of course, in possession of the inside facts of the benefit. It -was in the natural order of things for Harry to confide in his mother. -Teddy, however, who delighted in being impressive, had exacted his -mother’s solemn vow of secrecy before imparting to her the information. - -The one bitter drop in Teddy’s cup of satisfaction was Harry’s -interdiction which forbade him to acquaint his friend Sam Hickson -with the inside facts of the coming benefit. The red-haired salesman -obligingly bought two of the tickets Teddy had for sale with the -flattering comment, “I guess it won’t kill me to hear you sing, Reddy.” -His accompanying smile plainly said that it was solely on that account -that he bought them. - -“Are you going to take your girl?” was Teddy’s pointed question. - -“Do I have to tell that?” grinned the man. - -“Sure you do, when _I_ ask. You tell me that and some day, ’bout two -years from now, I’ll tell you something that’ll s’p’rise you.” - -“What if I’m dead by that time?” teased Hickson. - -“Aw, keep it to yourself.” Teddy prepared to take himself off. “I don’t -want to know, anyway.” - -“Then I’ll tell you. I’m going to take my mother. She’s my best girl.” - -“My mother’s going to be there, too. Let’s introduce our mothers to -each other. You wait till the benefit’s over and I’ll bring mine around -to where you are.” - -“That’s a go.” Hickson looked well pleased. - -“I’ve sold twenty-eight tickets,” boasted Teddy. “I’ve got two more -yet to sell. Guess I’ll ask the perky Percolator to buy ’em. Just for a -joke, you know.” - -“Better not,” advised Hickson. “He’s as cross as two sticks since he -came back. Being sick upset his calculations, I guess.” - -“Oh, I was only fooling.” Teddy really meant it. Yet later in the day, -when the two tickets still reposed in his pocket, he changed his mind. -Sidling up to the assistant, his black eyes two wells of seraphic -confidence, he said sweetly: “Would you like to buy a coupla tickets -for the benefit, Mr. Per--Jarvis? They are only thirty-five cents -apiece. It’s to help a man who’s very sick.” - -Mr. Jarvis threw up his plump hands in an impatient gesture. “Don’t -say tickets to me, boy. I have been asked a dozen times to buy tickets -for that ridiculous affair. Benefits are a needless nuisance. If this -man, whoever he is, had saved his money he would not have become a -public burden. He failed to practise efficiency; now others are asked -to pay for his failure to provide for himself. Such improvidence is -disgraceful.” - -Teddy’s freckles stood out darkly against the angry red that burned -behind them. “S’pose _you_ got sick and hadn’t anyone or anything to -help you. Wouldn’t you be glad if somebody gave you a benefit?” - -“I cannot imagine any such situation,” came the pompous answer. “My -efficient methods protect me against any emergency. Instead of wasting -Martin Brothers’ time selling tickets, you had better attend to -business. Come with me and I will give you something useful to do.” - -“Something useful” turned out to be the distasteful labor of -transferring a flock of unwieldy kettles from their abiding place on -the under shelf of a table to the same lowly position beneath another. -When Teddy had thumped the last one into place he rose to his feet -filled with wrath and bedecked with dust. Thoughts of compassion for -Mr. Barton, which had swayed him since the preparations for the benefit -had been in full swing, were now obliterated by his old desire to -torment Mr. Jarvis. - -“Wish I could make him eat his old efficiency,” was Teddy’s savage -reflection, as he started for the lavatory to wash his grimy hands. -“I’ve been so busy selling tickets I’m ’fraid I’ve neglected Mr. -Jarvis. I’ll have to get on the job again. My efficiency tells me it’s -about time to do some more canning.” - -Yet for several days following Teddy’s renewal of his crusade, Mr. -Jarvis bustled about house furnishings, triumphantly uncanned. Anxious -to make up for lost time the assistant had again resumed his badgering -of the salespeople in 40. He and Mr. Everett were continually at -loggerheads, and the old, worried frown had returned to the buyer’s -brow. Teddy was indefatigable in his efforts to catch Mr. Jarvis at a -disadvantage, but the latter trotted about the department, scathing in -his fault-finding, himself unscathed. - -Three days before Thanksgiving found Teddy divided between anticipation -and despair. Anticipation of the entertainment which was to be held -Thanksgiving eve; despair of catching Mr. Jarvis off his guard. As he -stood eyeing his pet aversion, who was superintending the disposal of a -consignment of long-handled floor brushes with the gentle behavior of -a section boss, Teddy wished with whimsical cruelty that said brushes -would suddenly rise up and thump him. - -“Why, Teddy Burke, how are you? I haven’t seen you since you left day -school.” A soft voice broke in on his vengeful meditations. - -Teddy whirled about at sound of the clear, sweet tones, to confront -Miss Leonard, his teacher of last year. The young woman smiled radiant -pleasure at sight of her pupil and held out her hand. The boy shook it -with joyful fervor. He was very glad to see Miss Leonard. - -“I’m ever so glad to see you,” he said, looking up rather more shyly -than was his wont. “How did you happen to be down here? Don’t you work -in the store now?” He noted that Miss Leonard wore her coat and hat. -“You used to be in the mail-order department afternoons, didn’t you?” - -“Yes. I am still in the store. I teach in the mornings, but in the -afternoons I go about the store and do a great many different things. -Some days I am in the Correspondence or the Bureau of Adjustment. -Then, too, I work in the Catalogue or Comparison departments. But just -now, well, I’m doing something else.” She smiled mysteriously. “If you -happen to see me down here now and then in the next few days, don’t be -surprised.” - -“I won’t.” Teddy wondered mightily as to the nature of Miss Leonard’s -enterprise, but he asked no questions. He had a conviction that it -would not be proper. If Miss Leonard had wished him to know she would -have told him. Nevertheless, his ever ready curiosity came to the -front. When she left him after a moment’s pleasant conversation, Teddy -had fully decided to find out a few things for himself. - -After Miss Leonard had left him to walk slowly about the department, he -flitted after her, keeping at a safe distance. He watched her eagerly -as she stopped Miss Newton. He saw Miss Newton wag her head and point -toward an elevator. He noted, too, that instead of going directly to -it, Miss Leonard waylaid Sam Hickson and addressed him. Hickson’s -lips moved in an answer. Miss Leonard nodded and smiled. Instead of -proceeding to the elevator she turned and walked out of the department -in an opposite direction. - -“Say, do you know that pretty young lady with the brown hair? She spoke -to you.” Teddy had hastily pursued Hickson to ask the question. - -“What lady? Oh, I know. You mean that woman who asked me where she -could find down pillows? No; I never saw her before.” - -“Humph!” ejaculated Teddy. “That’s funny.” - -“Why is it----” began Hickson, but Teddy had already scuttled up a side -aisle to where Miss Newton was laboriously counting her sales. - -“Did a brown-haired, pretty lady just ask you where the elevator was, -Miss Newton?” quizzed the boy, his black eyes full of curiosity. - -“Why, no.” Miss Newton looked up from her sales book. “A young woman -asked me where school supplies were. I told her first floor, and -directed her to the nearest elevator.” - -“Thank you.” Teddy had departed as suddenly as he appeared. A moment -afterward his red head bobbed up in the immediate vicinity of Sam -Hickson. - -“You back again!” teased Hickson. “Where did you beat it to so quick?” - -“See here, I’ve got something on my mind. It’s the Mystery of Miss -Leonard; or, why does a teacher ask questions?” - -“You’ve got me. Talk English. I’m no mind reader.” Hickson leaned -against a table and beamed tolerantly at his small questioner. - -“That lady that spoke to you is Miss Leonard, my teacher last year. -She’s been in the store quite a while. She knows where everything is, -but she goes and asks you and Miss Newton ’bout where things are. I was -talking to her just before she stopped you. She used to be in the mail -order afternoons. Now she says she goes all over the store. She said I -needn’t be s’prised to see her down here again soon. Now what do you -s’pose she’s doing?” ended Teddy, bent on unravelling the mystery. - -“How should I know?” Hickson said lazily. “I’m not hired to keep tabs -on her. By George!” His indolent expression vanished. “I wonder if -she’s being sent around as a spotter? I’m glad you told me that, Teddy.” - -“What’s a spotter?” Teddy demanded. - -“A spotter is one who spots,” defined Hickson humorously. - -“Clear as mud,” jibed Teddy. “Spots what?” - -“Salespeople, of course. This girl has been sent around to find out -if we know where the different departments are. Customers are always -kicking because they get directed wrong. Every once in a while the -front sends girls around to ask questions. They ask you where such and -such a thing is? If you don’t answer correctly, they get your number -and report you. Then the front gives you a call down. Salespeople -are supposed to know where everything is, so that they can direct -customers. See?” - -Teddy considered. “Could she report anyone; buyers or assistants or -aisle men?” - -“Anyone at all. The higher up they are the worse it is for them,” was -Hickson’s cheering information. - -“I guess I’ll go’n take a look at the demonstrator. She might give me -a hand out. She’s been making little cakes all day. I’ve had three -already. I might bring you one.” - -Teddy strolled toward the stove-haunted regions in charge of the kindly -demonstrator. But his mind was not on cakes. He stared at that stout, -amiable person with vacant eyes, and when she presented him with cake -number four he thanked her and absent-mindedly stuffed it into his -pocket, thereby reducing Hickson’s promised treat to crumbling ruins. - -No; Teddy Burke’s mind was not on cakes. His fertile brain was seething -with a brilliant idea in which cakes played no part. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -THE PLOT THICKENS - - -Thanksgiving Eve saw Martin Hall crowded to the doors. With the -prospect of a day’s rest and feasting ahead of them, the sympathies of -those in attendance had gone out to the lonely sufferer in the Cameron -hospital. A few of the employees had guessed his identity, though they -could not be sure of it. In so vast a business establishment as Martin -Brothers it was hard to trace the comings and goings of one particular -individual. It was gossiped about Mr. Barton’s domain that he was -the man for whom the benefit was to be held, yet so well did the few -who were in the secret keep it that no one knew the exact truth of -the matter. The very fact that the sufferer’s identity had not been -disclosed lent a piquant air of mystery to the benefit. - -It is always the needy who respond first to the call of charity. -Those who know best the pinch of poverty give most ungrudgingly of -the little they have. Those who work hardest for their daily bread -understand best the tragedy of being caught unawares by sickness. -Although many of the higher-salaried men and women of the store had -bought tickets, only to pass them on to others or return them to be -resold, the greatest rallying to the standard had been done by the -humbler employees. - -An unusually good programme had been arranged, for the store boasted -of many clever singers, dancers and elocutionists. Miss Verne had -worked unceasingly. Aided by one or two professional friends outside -the store, several attractive singing and dancing numbers had been -perfected and from beginning to end the audience was delighted with -what was offered for their amusement. - -The honors of the evening, however, were divided between Teddy Burke -and a young girl whose really remarkable dancing proved a veritable -sensation. Teddy’s high soprano voice had never rung out more clearly -and sweetly. Miss Verne had taken great pains in the selection of his -songs and he was encored until he positively rebelled and refused to -show himself further on the stage even to bow. - -But the wildest demonstration of the evening occurred when immediately -preceding the final number, Mr. Keene made a speech, thanking the -audience and announcing that over four hundred dollars had been cleared -as the result of the benefit. He wished them all a happy Thanksgiving, -and sent them home with the pleasing reminder that they had helped to -bring a wonderful Thanksgiving to one in need. If Mr. Keene had had -his way he would have liked to call Harry Harding to the stage and -introduce him as the author of the affair. He even suggested this to -the boy, who became so distressed that he relinquished the idea. - -Down in the audience, seated between his mother and Mrs. Burke, Harry -Harding’s earnest face irradiated happiness. He had no desire for -glory. He was glad that he would not even be called upon to go to see -Mr. Barton again. Mr. Keene had taken all that off his hands. Harry -had visited the sick man three times. On his second visit he had told -the aisle manager that his case had been laid before Mr. Keene and -that plans for a benefit were in progress of being carried out. Of his -own part in the affair he had said nothing, and so adroitly had he -managed that Mr. Barton had accredited the benefit to Mr. Keene. He -was intensely grateful, however, to Harry for his kindness and humbly -promised the boy that, once back in the store, he would make ample -amends for the past. - -Due also to Harry’s suggestion, Mr. Keene had interviewed the -superintendent, who promised that Mr. Barton should be reinstated in -his former position whenever he was able to return to the store. Thus -Harry was content to remain a nameless force for good, but he could -not know that the results of his splendid behavior were to be far -reaching. - -“Maybe that wasn’t a great little show,” was Miss Welch’s opinion, as -she left the hall that night in company with several girl friends. -“I’ll bet Barty’ll sing a Thanksgiving hymn. I know one person that -ought to get a lotta stars in his crown for that benefit.” She -neglected to state the identity of that person. Miss Welch could keep -her own secrets. - -On Thanksgiving Day the Burkes and the Hardings made merry together -under Mrs. Burke’s hospitable roof. Teddy and Harry spent a long, -delightful day with Teddy’s numerous games. It ended after supper with -an old-fashioned sing at the piano, when everybody warbled with a will -and no one criticized the quality of the singing. - -The Friday after Thanksgiving was a busy day for Teddy Burke. While -he did his work in his usual brisk, commendable fashion, he kept a -starboard eye out for the return of Miss Leonard. To his intense -disappointment she did not appear. Still he had strong hopes of -Saturday. It was usually a banner day in house furnishings, and should -Miss Leonard be sent there, she might easily trip a busy salesperson -who was too much rushed to use caution in replying to her apparently -innocent inquiries. - -“The Percolator is pretty perky to-day, isn’t he?” remarked Teddy to -Hickson, as he stopped for a word with the salesman when on his way to -lunch. - -“He’s the limit,” growled Hickson. “Do you know what he did yesterday? -He told Seymour that the way Mr. Everett ran this department was a -disgrace to the store. Someone, I won’t say who, heard him. You know -Seymour. He believes everything he hears and runs to Mr. Edward Martin -with it.” - -“But can’t Mr. Everett prove that it isn’t so?” Teddy frowned in -troubled fashion. - -“How can he, except by his returns?” demanded Hickson savagely. “If -this fellow keeps things in such a hub-bub here, we’re going to lose -sales and the department’ll run behind. He keeps Mr. Everett in such a -stew that he can’t do as well as if he wasn’t half worried to death. -The best man can’t stand everything. This dub has made ’em believe that -he’s the king of tin pans. How’s anyone going to prove that he isn’t -until Mr. Everett’s out of here and he gets a chance to queer himself? -When the mischief’s done, it’ll be too late. If Everett once goes out -of here, because of this ignoramus, he’ll get something better. He’ll -never come back here. These people up above can’t see it. I can.” - -“So can I,” agreed Teddy. “If Mr. Everett goes, I’ll go too. I guess -that’d be some loss to Martin Brothers!” - -“Ha, ha!” jeered Hickson. “You certainly think a lot of yourself, don’t -you? Who are you, anyhow?” - -“I’m _Mr._ Burke, and I’ve got feelings. I’m going to lunch.” Teddy -stalked grandly toward the elevator. The moment he had turned his back -on Hickson he snickered. Then his mirth died away as he muttered: “I -hope I see Miss Leonard to-day.” - -About the middle of the afternoon Teddy’s hopes were realized. He spied -his former teacher at the far end of the department moving slowly up -and down the aisles formed by the tables, her interest apparently -absorbed by the various engines of housekeeping. As she continued to -wander innocently about, every now and then she halted a salesperson -to converse briefly. At the conclusion of one of these momentary -interviews Teddy saw her take a little book from her shopping bag and -write in it. Directly after that she stopped Mr. Duffield as he hurried -by her. The alert watcher then noted that she pointed out to the aisle -manager the salesperson she had just addressed, and again jotted -something down in her book. - -“Mr. Duffield’s in it,” was the boy’s wise conclusion. “Guess I might -as well get in the game, too.” - -Marching jauntily up to the teacher, Teddy boldly addressed her. “Good -afternoon, Miss Leonard. Looks as if you’d catch a lot of folks this -afternoon. It’s so busy down here, though. You can’t blame the sales -much if they give you a wrong direction.” Teddy presented the acme of -affability as he launched this dart. - -It struck home. Miss Leonard flushed to the roots of her brown hair. -She frowned with vexation, then she laughed. “You are a wise little -boy, Teddy. Who told you so much?” - -“Oh, I’m not ’sactly blind.” Teddy grinned cheerfully. “Say, Miss -Leonard, I know a fellow here who doesn’t know where some of the things -in this store are. He thinks he does, but he’s got another think -coming. One day he sent a man clear to the fourth floor for sporting -goods. They’re on the balcony, you know.” Teddy’s sad experience of the -previous year with a refractory baseball had irrevocably fixed in his -mind the location of sporting goods. - -“Those are the very persons I wish to trip,” returned Miss Leonard. -“You see, Teddy, of late there have been so many complaints from -customers who have been misdirected by employees of the store -that something had to be done about it. Just a little while back -the management distributed printed lists of the location of every -department in the store, which every person was supposed to study. I -wish you’d point this man out to me. I’ll test him.” - -“See that fat man over there?” Teddy pointed toward a not far distant -spot where a plump, sleek individual stood raptly gazing at a select -company of blue and white agate ware that adorned a long, low shelf. -“He’s the one. Ask him--ask him where soda straws are. His name’s -Jarvis. He’s an efficiency crank and our assistant buyer.” - -Miss Leonard looked a trifle blank. As a matter of fact, she herself -did not know the answer to this simple question. Privately, she -determined to find out. Still it would never do to admit such ignorance -to this guileful child. - -“Thank you, Teddy,” she said with an elaborate carelessness that in no -wise deceived the wide-awake youngster. Her change of face had already -informed him of her defective information. - -“If he doesn’t answer right will he get reported?” was Teddy’s eager -question. - -“He surely will,” smiled Miss Leonard. “If he preaches efficiency he -ought to practice it.” - -“That’s what I think.” Teddy wriggled with wicked satisfaction. “If -I see you writing in your book after you ask him, I’ll know that he -didn’t know.” - -Miss Leonard cast a quizzical glance at the small plotter. “Would you -like me to report him, Teddy?” was her amused question. - -“Well, if a fellow doesn’t know where things are, I s’pose he ought to -be reported.” Teddy took an evasive but firm stand for duty. - -“I suppose so.” The teacher flashed Teddy a mischievous glance and -moved briskly down upon the unsuspecting victim. Assuming the -bewildered air of a shopper who implores guidance she paused before the -smug assistant and inquired sweetly, “Will you please tell me where I -can find soda straws?” - -“Soda straws?” Mr. Jarvis repeated uneasily. “Oh, yes. Certainly, -Madam, delighted to be of service to you. Soda straws are--they are--at -the soda fountain, of course.” - -“But where is the soda fountain?” - -“It is----” Mr. Jarvis gulped nervously. His efficient manner of living -flouted the delectable concoctions of the soda fountain. Hence he was -unprepared to disclose the location of so useless a haunt. “You will -find it on the first balcony.” Providentially, he had chanced to recall -seeing ices served there at small tables. He wildly guessed the soda -fountain to be in the immediate vicinity of these tables. - -“Thank you.” Miss Leonard turned abruptly away in time to hide the -dimpling smile that lighted her attractive features. Retiring to a safe -distance she gleefully recorded Mr. Jarvis’ wild attempts at direction. -She had no doubt that from some safe nook a pair of mischievous black -eyes were bent on her as she made the fatal record. But before she -wended her steps officeward, she passed through a wide, high-arched -doorway that divided house furnishings from a flourishing commercial -village devoted to women’s wear. On and on she went through busy seas -of feminine apparel; through an enterprising display of trimmed hats. -At the very end of the basement, where a huge sign spelled “Subway,” -she turned a corner and brought up at a hissing marble fountain, -surrounded by long counters before which sat rows of persons busily -engaged in the partaking of delicious cheer. - -Leaning over an end of the counter she beckoned a white-jacketed young -man. “Can I buy soda straws here?” she questioned. - -“No, Miss. We don’t sell them here. You’ll find them all the way back -in house furnishings.” He darted away to appease a clamoring patron. - -“The little imp!” muttered Miss Leonard. She was not referring to the -white-coated young man. Nevertheless, she smiled and continued to smile -as she made further notes in her faithful journal, then sought a nearby -elevator. - -Meanwhile, in Department 40, Teddy Burke was also engaged in making a -few notes. A new line now appeared in his tiny leather-covered book. It -read: “November 30th. Canned again.” - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -AN UNLUCKY DISCOVERY - - -On the following morning Mr. Jarvis was distinctly nonplussed by a -summons to the office of the system manager of Martin Brothers. Once -there he was shown a neatly typed report of his lapses of yesterday -and sarcastically taken to task for his lack of knowledge in regard -to store geography, and, yet more reprehensible, his ignorance of a -certain very humble portion of his own stock, namely soda straws. - -To complete his humiliation he was handed a printed list of the store’s -departments and their location and curtly requested to study it. The -manager’s dry comment, “One of the first principles of store efficiency -should consist in a thorough knowledge of the store itself,” rankled in -the assistant’s soul. He left the office consumed with a dull, helpless -rage against the unknown spotter who had brought him to grief, little -dreaming that the prime offender marched daily about Department 40. - -In some peculiar manner, explainable only by a certain Titian-haired -youth, the story of Mr. Jarvis’ fatal attempts at direction crept -about the department and the salespeople of 40 enjoyed a good laugh -at his expense. Although Teddy could not know it, his little joke on -the assistant had been the means of striking the first definite blow -for Mr. Keene. The shrewd system manager had not been impressed by Mr. -Jarvis, and he mentally ticketed the assistant as a man of pretension -rather than worth. Later this secret opinion was destined to be brought -to bear on a number of conditions in house furnishings hitherto -unrevealed. - -But while Teddy Burke was sailing serenely along from one day to -another, Harry Harding’s working hours were not filled with unalloyed -content. With the beginning of December the book department saw the -first stirrings of the rush, which, until Christmas, made it one of the -busiest spots in the store. - -The vast amount of books that had to be carted from the stock-room to -the department made Leon Atkins’ frequent presence on the tenth floor a -disagreeable necessity. The moment he was out of Mr. Brady’s sight he -fell back into his slothful habits. True, he no longer napped in the -bins, neither did he distinguish himself by any really useful effort. - -He deemed it prudent, however, to let Harry strictly alone. He firmly -believed that Harry had been the one to call Mr. Brady’s attention -to his derelictions, and he was a trifle afraid to court a further -exposure. Intent on exacting petty revenge, he made it a point to -aggravate Harry by every possible means that would defy detection. -To return from his luncheon only to find a certain bin he had left -in perfect order reduced to chaos was a common occurrence with -Harry. Books which he placed in one bin had a trick of mysteriously -disappearing at the very time they were needed. Later, after he had -listened to the grumbling of the salespeople because he had failed to -produce instantly the stock they required, a distracted search would -reveal them roosting placidly in an alien bin. - -Harry knew only too well by whose hands his truck was spirited away -on a busy morning when he needed it most. Unable to secure the loan -of another truck he had toiled wearily throughout a whole day lugging -heavy piles of books downstairs by hand. When in desperation he had -spent almost the whole of the following morning in frantic search for -his missing truck, he had finally discovered it in a remote corner of -the tenth floor securely chained and padlocked to a staple in the wall. - -Harry felt that he was above noticing such petty meannesses. Were he to -accuse Leon as author of them he knew that the latter would make loud -denial. He had no wish to reopen the squabbles of early Fall. Still, -the frequent admonitions of the impatient members of the department, -“Now do try to hurry those books down, 45,” or “What makes you so slow, -boy?” cut him to the quick. - -Of late it seemed to him that Mr. Rexford had treated him a trifle less -kindly than was his wont. He sadly wondered if anyone had complained -of him to the buyer. Before he had gone on his vacation he and Mr. -Rexford had been on the most friendly terms. As a matter of fact, the -increasing business of the department had completely occupied the -buyer. Only one adverse criticism against Harry had reached his ears, -but that was a long one. - -In speaking to Mr. Brady of the boy’s usefulness, the assistant had -said with a shake of his head: “Harding is not the boy he was last -year. You’ve spoiled him by making too much of him. That Farley affair, -together with winning that prize for his address last June, has given -him a swelled head. He’s one of the sly, quiet kind that pretends to -be an angel, but just the same he’s careless and a trouble maker. When -he’s in the stock-room he picks on Atkins’ boy all the time. Atkins -himself told me so. He’s getting so he can’t be relied on to fix a -table right. He mixed one for Miss Breeden a while ago and we had a row -with a customer over two-priced books under a one-priced sign. I called -Miss Breeden down for inattention to her stock, but it was more young -Harding’s fault than hers.” - -“It is hard to believe all that, Brady,” had been Mr. Rexford’s -incredulous reply. - -“Can’t help it. It’s the truth,” Mr. Brady had insisted. He was really -honest in this. Mr. Atkins and Miss Breeden had done their best to thus -impress him. - -Mr. Rexford had silently reserved judgment of Harry until hearing -the boy’s side of the story. Twice he had set out to seek the lad -and question him. Both times he had been interrupted in his quest. -Afterward business stress had driven it from his mind. If he had -chanced to encounter Harry face to face an understanding would have no -doubt ensued, but, as it happened, he saw him only from a distance and -at times when he was occupied with other things. And thus an intangible -shadow rose between the boy who was ever earnestly striving to do his -best and the man whose good opinion he valued above all. - -Several mornings after Harry had rescued his truck from durance vile, -his work took him to the selling-floor for the morning. A long row of -shelves that ended where the jewelry department began were awaiting a -refilling of titles temporarily out of stock. The shelves were under -the charge of a pleasant young woman who handled the rebound fiction -and her confidence in Harry was sufficient to allow him to go on with -the work she had begun while she served a steady stream of customers. -From his position before the shelves, he glanced now and then toward -the exchange desk where Miss Welch reigned supreme. He also had an -excellent view of the jewelry department and in his boyish way he -marveled at the number of people who were able to purchase the costly -articles that lay beyond his reach. - -At either end of a counter very close to him which was devoted to -the display of expensive rings lounged a detective. During the month -of December the great department stores are obliged to keep an -especially vigilant watch over their jewelry sections. At such a time -light-fingered gentry are always abroad and each year the stores suffer -from their depredations. - -It was in one of the occasional glances which Harry leveled at the ring -counter that his cursory attention became fixed on a well-dressed woman -who was engaged in critical examination of a small tray of rings. Harry -watched her in fascination as she tried on one ring after another and -held up a plump white hand to view the effect. Now and then she turned -for approval to her companion, a slender, very blonde young woman with -shifty blue eyes. By the alert watch which the salesman behind the -counter kept on the tray Harry knew that the rings must be valuable. - -At length the woman narrowed her field of selection to one ring, a -good-sized ruby set between two equally large diamonds. She held it -up for her companion’s inspection. The blonde girl shook her head and -shrugged her disapproval of it. Harry noted that she immediately turned -her eyes to another part of the tray. While the elder woman focussed -the salesman’s attention, Harry saw the other’s slim fingers dislodge -a ring at the extreme edge of the tray. She regarded it casually, made -a move as though to return it to its velvet bed, examined it again -and carelessly laid it on the counter close beside the tray. Had the -salesman been less occupied he might have noticed this. His attention, -however, was on the prospective buyer of the other ring. The woman -was holding it toward him, her forefinger on the ruby. As she touched -it she shook her head vehemently. The man smiled a refutation of her -protest. Reaching into a coat pocket he drew forth a small lens. -Holding it to his eye he took the ruby ring from the older woman’s hand -and peered at it through his glass. - -Just then Harry saw something which made him grow hot and cold. While -the salesman was thus engaged, the older woman kept her eyes directly -on him. One plump hand lightly grazed the edge of the tray as she -leaned far forward. With the swiftness of lightning it left the counter -and dropped to her side, carrying with it the ring which the younger -woman had carelessly neglected to replace. - -Amazement of the daring theft dazed the boy for an instant. Then he -realized that he must act with all speed. It was evident that he had -seen something which had not been observed by even the detectives. He -glanced toward one end of the counter to note that one of them had -disappeared. At the other end stood Mr. Prescott, his gaze focussed on -a group of women near him. - -For a second the obnoxious duty of fastening theft upon a woman caused -Harry to falter briefly. Then he squared his shoulders and walked -resolutely to where Mr. Prescott stood. A backward glance informed him -that the two pilferers were still at the ring counter. Had he looked -back once more he would have discovered that the blonde young woman was -no longer in evidence. Her companion alone remained there, still deep -in conversation with the salesman over the ruby ring. - -“Mr. Prescott.” Harry’s voice sank to a breathless whisper. “Come -quick. I saw a woman steal a ring. She has it in her coat pocket now. -She’s still at the counter talking to the salesman.” - -Mr. Prescott’s eyes narrowed. His face became an emotionless mask as he -muttered without perceptible movement of the lips, “Which is she? Don’t -point. Walk toward her, stop for a second directly behind her, then -walk on. Don’t look back at me.” - -Implicitly Harry followed the detective’s directions, then went back -to his work. He dared not look again toward the ring counter, although -he knew nothing would happen there. Mr. Prescott would trail the woman -entirely out of the store before seeking to detain her. When an hour -later he was summoned to Mr. Prescott’s office, he went trembling -in every limb. Having done his duty to Martin Brothers, a painful -experience was ahead of him. - -As the door of the detective’s office closed behind him, he -instinctively felt that something had gone wrong. True, the prisoner -was there, seated on an oak bench, the picture of raging innocence. -Mr. Prescott, too, looked like a thundercloud as he beckoned Harry to -his desk. “Is this the woman you say you saw steal a ring?” he coldly -questioned. - -Harry quailed inwardly, but his tones were firm as he replied: “Yes, -sir. This is the woman.” - -“He lies,” burst forth the prisoner furiously. “I wouldn’t dream of -doing such a dreadful thing!” - -“Please be still, Madam,” snapped the detective. “I’ll hear what you -have to say later.” Scowling at poor Harry, he continued: “What kind of -a ring was it? Tell me what you saw.” - -“I can’t describe the ring, sir.” Harry went on to relate what he had -seen. - -“It’s not so,” shouted the accused. “I was alone. A young woman who -stood beside me asked me several questions about the prices of the -rings in that tray, but she was a stranger to me. I never saw her -before. I merely spoke to her because she spoke to me. Your store will -pay for this insult! I’ll bring suit against Martin Brothers.” - -“Now, now, Madam. Not so fast. If you have been unjustly accused we -will do all in our power to make reparation. I have sent for one of our -woman detectives. You will have to submit to being searched.” - -“Let her search me then,” defied the prisoner. “I am not afraid. The -idea of taking a boy’s word against a customer’s! Oh, you’ll regret -this.” - -“You may go, Harding.” Mr. Prescott’s face was an angry red as he -issued the stern command. The woman’s censure had flicked him on the -raw. Remembering Harry’s clever work in the case of Farley, he had -taken the boy’s word and made the arrest. Now he wondered if he had -made a fool of himself. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -DECORATING A DÉBUTANT - - -Sick with humiliation, Harry hurried from the office. He was conscious -of having done his duty, yet the woman’s amazing willingness to submit -to search filled him with consternation. He had seen her drop the ring -into her coat pocket. If it were not there now, then where could it be? -What had become of her companion? Ah, that was it. In some mysterious -fashion, known only to a shoplifter, she had passed the ring into the -blonde girl’s keeping. Yet she declared that her companion at the -counter was not her companion but a stranger. Harry did not believe -this statement. Yet how was he to prove that she had spoken falsely? If -the ring were not found in the woman’s possession, it would place him -in an unenviable position. He was quite sure of that. - -The moment he returned to the department, Mr. Brady pounced upon him. -“Where were you, 45? I’ve been looking for you for the last twenty -minutes.” - -On receiving the summons from Mr. Prescott, Harry had not asked -permission to leave the floor. His work took him so constantly from the -department to the stock-room that he had not counted on being missed. -Not wishing to explain the nature of his brief withdrawal, he had for -once taken a chance. - -“Mr. Prescott sent for me,” he replied in a low tone. - -“What!” exclaimed Mr. Brady. Sudden suspicion leaped into his face. -“Why did he send for you? What have you been doing?” - -Harry grew distressed. “_I_ haven’t been doing anything wrong,” he -faltered. “A woman took a ring; I saw her take it and reported her to -Mr. Prescott.” - -“Humph! You’ll gain more by attending to your work and letting the -detectives run their own affairs,” grumbled the assistant. “Now get -busy and finish those shelves. Then go up to the stock-room and bring -down a load of those ‘Children’s Classics.’ Miss Porter’s waiting for -them.” - -Harry was thankful that Mr. Brady did not exhibit much interest in his -disastrous attempt at sleuthing. He wished with all his heart that he -had not seen the theft of the ring. Where and how would the affair end? - -Directly after luncheon a second summons came from Mr. Prescott. -This time Harry was careful to obtain Mr. Brady’s permission. It -was grudgingly given and the boy had hardly turned away before the -assistant made straight for Mr. Rexford’s office, disgust written in -his face. - -Harry’s second interview with Mr. Prescott was one that lingered long -and painfully in his memory. The prisoner had departed, vindicated and -threatening. A thorough search of her clothing by a woman detective -had revealed no trace of a ring. The salesman had been interviewed and -declared that he had missed none of his stock. Privately he was not at -all sure of this, but he was too cowardly to say so. A missing ring -meant trouble for him. - -Mr. Prescott was in a fine fury. He had taken too much for granted and -he knew it. Were he to complain of Harry to the front, he was quite -likely to court censure for acting merely on the word of a boy, without -waiting to see for himself. He had been too sure of Harry. On this -account he was doubly bitter and the scathing words he hurled at the -cause of his discomfiture would ordinarily never have issued from his -lips. He ended with, “You’ve made a nice mess of things. This woman -will sue the store for heavy damages and it’s all _your_ fault. But -_I’ll_ be the one that will have to take the blame. Now get out of -here, and, after this, try to mind your own business.” - -Harry went with flaming cheeks and quivering lips. But another ordeal -was still before him. He had hardly returned to the floor when he -received notice from Mr. Brady that Mr. Rexford wished to see him. - -“What is this Mr. Brady tells me, Harry, about you seeing a woman steal -a ring?” Although the buyer’s tone was kindly, it lacked much of its -old heartiness. - -Harry’s heart sank. He read faint disapproval of himself in the -question. Briefly he rehearsed the sordid details of the affair. Mr. -Rexford listened thoughtfully and not without interest. - -“You may be right about the other woman being a confederate,” he mused. -“Still the whole thing looks rather bad for you. I wouldn’t think -too much about such things if I were you, Harry. Leave them to the -detectives. That’s their business.” - -“But I _saw_ her take it, Mr. Rexford,” was Harry’s distressed cry. “If -I saw someone stealing a book from your department, wouldn’t you want -me to report it to the detectives before they got away with it?” - -This was a poser. Mr. Rexford’s grave face relaxed a trifle. “I suppose -I would. Still you may have been mistaken to-day.” - -“I wasn’t mistaken. I saw her take it. I know the other woman slipped -away with it. I’m going to keep my eyes open. If I ever see that -light-haired woman again I’ll know her.” - -Mr. Rexford frowned. “I’m afraid that Farley affair put foolish ideas -in your head, my boy,” he said with a touch of impatience. “You must -remember that you belong to the book department, not the detective -bureau. Brady tells me that you are not so dependable as you were last -Spring before that happened. I think a great deal of you, Harry, and -I’m anxious to give you every opportunity. But you can’t succeed in -this business if your mind is on something else. Think it over and see -if I’m not right.” - -“I try to do my very best, Mr. Rexford.” Utterly crushed by the -unexpected and undeserved lecture, Harry could think of nothing else to -say. “I’m sorry about to-day. I thought I was doing right.” - -“I won’t say that you weren’t. Still you’ll find it better in the long -run to busy yourself so thoroughly with your own work that you won’t -have time to watch what goes on outside your department. I’m saying -this to you in all kindness.” - -“Thank you. I’ll try to follow your advice.” For a moment he stood -silent, fighting back his outraged feelings. He longed to tell -Mr. Rexford that Mr. Brady had somehow received an entirely wrong -impression of him. He wished he could find words to tell him about Miss -Breeden and Leon Atkins, but he could not bring himself to the point of -doing so. With a long, sorrowful glance at the man whom he revered, -the man who did not understand, Harry turned and left the office. His -wonderful Year of Promise bade fair to be a Year of Failure. - -When on the way home from work that night Harry poured forth his woes -to Teddy, the little boy was divided between the excitement of the -shoplifting episode and wrath against Leon Atkins. - -“The old Clothes-pole’s to blame for it all,” he sputtered. “All the -things he is Mr. Brady thinks you are. It’s a shame. Why didn’t you -tell Mr. Rexford every single thing? Catch me keeping my mouth shut and -gettin’ blamed for what that dub does. Mr. Rexford must be a fathead or -he’d see with his eyes.” - -“You mustn’t speak so of Mr. Rexford.” Harry became immediately on the -defensive. “He’s a splendid man. Just think of all he’s done for me.” - -“He’d better get busy and do some more then,” grumbled Teddy. “I’m -going to watch out an’ can the Clothes-pole before he cans you.” - -“Let him alone, Ted,” Harry warned sharply. “I’m not going to see you -get into trouble on my account. I’ve told you that before. I oughtn’t -to have said a word to you about it.” - -“Huh, I’d find it out anyhow,” boasted Teddy. “Don’t you worry. I c’n -take care of myself and you, too.” - -“Thank you.” Harry smiled at Teddy’s boast. “I know you’d fight for -me to the finish. You mustn’t bother trying to get even with Leon. It -isn’t worth while.” - -Teddy’s views in this matter differed widely, however. Although he said -no more on the subject, he privately singled out Leon Atkins as his -next experiment in the canning line. With the innocence of a dove and -the eyes of a hawk he made it a point now and then to ask permission to -leave the floor. Once out of house furnishings he was prone on these -occasions to bob up in the aisles of 84. As it happened, Harry never -chanced to meet his little friend on one of these brief excursions. The -nearer drew the holidays the more he was confined to the stock-room. -Leon Atkins, however, was much in evidence on the selling-floor, and -Teddy had a splendid chance to study Harry’s enemy and decide what he -could do to worst him. - -This proved a hard nut to crack. Teddy was not at home in books, -therefore he dared take no liberties. Still, he did not despair. -According to his philosophy, something was sure to turn up at the -psychological moment. - -Several evenings after he and Harry had enjoyed their confidential -chat regarding Harry’s troubles, Teddy received the glorious privilege -of an early pass home. It meant that instead of waiting until twenty -minutes to six for the closing bell, he was free to leave the store at -fifteen minutes past five. With the gracious sanctioning bit of paper -in his hand, Teddy scudded joyfully for the time desk. Slipping on his -overcoat as he ran, he hurried out into the keen, wintry air. A minute -saw him hustling confidently in a customer’s entrance of the store. -Straight toward the book department he headed. His bright eyes peered -eagerly over that realm of literature until they glimpsed Harry at the -far end laboriously bending over a truck. - -“Have you ‘The Stock Boy’s Revenge; or, Cutting the Clothes-pole up for -Kindling?’” squeaked a high falsetto voice in Harry’s ear. - -Harry straightened up with a start to see an impish, freckled face -grinning down at him. - -“Teddy Burke! How you startled me! What in the world are you doing -here, with your hat and coat on?” - -“I’m out early. It’s a reward for bein’ good.” Teddy’s grin widened. -“Ain’t you glad I came?” - -“Of course. Wish I was through work, too. Never mind, it’s almost half -past five. Take a walk around the department, Teddy. I’m busy just now. -You’ll have to go as soon as the bell rings. Wait for me across the -street.” - -“All right. So long.” Teddy strolled away on the hunt for the -Clothes-pole. He had seen Leon at a distance as he entered 84, now -he yearned for a closer inspection. “Don’t he think he’s it?” was -his mental opinion as from behind a protecting table he watched the -ungainly youth. His black head cocked a little to one side, Leon was -trying the effect of a large black and white picture at various points -of a table he had apparently just finished arranging. Disposing of the -picture to his satisfaction, he next fished a fat blue pencil from his -pocket and proceeded to sharpen it, glancing about furtively as he did -so. A stentorian call of “56” from the aisle man sent him suddenly -ambling off in the direction of the voice. - -Hardly had he responded when Teddy left his post of observation and -planted himself squarely in front of the table. With a gurgle of joy he -pounced upon the pencil that Leon, for some unknown reason, had left -lying on a pile of books. Teddy examined it thoughtfully. He was about -to tuck it securely between two towering piles of books where it would -defy detection, when his eyes came to rest on the picture which Leon -had jauntily set upright on a central wedge of books. It represented -a very pretty young woman in a low-cut, much befrilled evening frock. -Underneath the figure appeared the words, “The Débutante, by Marcia -Sheldon.” - -Teddy slowly spelled the one mystifying word. It did not specially -please his fancy. “Some name,” he murmured. “Maybe it’s Rooshun.” -Making a face at the smiling girl, Teddy went back to the pencil. He -drew it gently across the back of his hand. The result was a wide blue -mark. With the mild eyes of a ministering angel, he glanced calmly -about him. No one was paying the slightest attention to him. Scattered -about the department the salespeople were busily engaged in counting up -their books. - -Teddy reached a stealthy but powerful hand toward the lonely young -débutante and whisked her off her literary perch. A thin little hand, -clutching a blue pencil, traveled with amazing swiftness over the young -woman’s radiant features. - -“There, I guess she is ready to go most anywheres,” he chuckled, as he -set the picture in place. - -Clang! It was the first closing bell. - -“Guess I’ll have to leave you.” Teddy giggled and wagged his head at -the picture in derisive farewell. “Good night, Deebuttanty. Don’t be -s’prised if some other folks are s’prised when they see you to-morrow -morning.” Hastily depositing the blue pencil at the foot of the -picture, Teddy shook the dust of 84 from his feet and flitted through -a nearby entrance to the street, well pleased with his fantastic -conception of art. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -A QUEER TWIST OF FATE - - -The first person to receive the surprise which Teddy Burke had -predicted was Mr. Brady. What amazed and displeased him the following -morning was to behold a hilarious crowd of customers and salespersons -gathered about a table which displayed for its feature the remarkable -novel of modern society entitled, “The Débutante.” - -“What’s the meaning of this?” was his curt question as he forged into -the middle of the group. As the query left his lips he became petrified -with astonishment at the mysterious and cruel change that had assailed -the much-heralded society bud over night. Her sweetly smiling lips were -now decorated with a huge, bright-blue, upcurving mustache for which -a certain gentleman of royalty might well have yearned. Her soulful -eyes were hidden by round blue goggles, through which she appeared to -squint at the world. Around her hapless throat hung an ornamental blue -chain that would have more fittingly graced the neck of a benighted -heathen. Worse yet, her pretty ears had been extended to triangular -points. Altogether she was a most remarkable specimen of original but -terrifying art. - -“Who did that?” Mr. Brady choked with rage as he ripped the offending -picture from the table. “Why didn’t some one of you take it down at -once?” - -“It was so funny,” giggled Miss Porter. - -Scenting trouble in the air the few customers who had happened to swell -the group now moved off with smiling faces. - -“It’s a disgrace to this department,” stormed the assistant. “Go and -attend to your stock, all of you.” He shooed the lingerers away with an -impatient sweep of his arms. - -Remembering that he had set Leon Atkins to arranging the table the -previous afternoon he immediately suspected him of the outrage. The -next instant saw him clumping down the main aisle of the department, -the decorated débutante in one hand, on the trail of the miscreant. -His search ended when he bumped squarely into Leon Atkins, who was -lumbering toward him from the opposite direction. - -“Whada----” began Leon. This tone underwent a quick change. “Oh, excuse -me, Mr.----” - -“I’ll excuse you. Look at this!” The assistant thrust the blue and -white outrage before Leon’s eyes. - -Leon caught one glimpse of the picture and burst into laughter. - -“You’ll laugh on the other side of your face, young man, before I’m -through with you. You did this.” - -“Aw, cut it out. You’re daffy!” Amazed at the accusation, Leon forgot -to whom he was speaking. “Aw, excuse me, Mr. Brady. I didn’t mean that. -I was so taken back I spoke ’fore I thought. D’y’ think I did that?” He -pointed to the picture. “Not on your life.” - -“But you were the last one at that table,” persisted Mr. Brady. - -“Can’t help it. It wasn’t me that done it. Catch me carryin’ a blue -pencil. It’s against the rules of the store, ’less you’re a boss.” Leon -delivered this reminder with an air of virtuous wisdom. “Mebbe it was -45 that did it. Seems to me I’ve seen him with a blue pencil up’n the -stock-room. I won’t say for sure.” - -Although Leon was by nature a sluggard, his wits now sprang to work. -Only too well he recalled laying down the blue pencil he had been -sharpening to answer the call of the aisle manager. He now wondered -what had become of it. He calculated shrewdly that if it had been found -on the table Mr. Brady would now have it in his possession. Further, he -would have demanded of Leon if it belonged to him. Leon decided within -himself that the pencil had somehow escaped notice. He determined to -hunt for it as soon as he could and summarily dispose of it. - -Mr. Brady stared at him, as though half inclined to credit the -insinuation against Harry which Leon had just voiced. “This doesn’t -look like Harding’s work,” he declared. “How could he have done it -without your knowing it? It was after five o’clock last night when you -came to me for this picture. It was all right when I gave it to you. -Besides, he was away over on the other side of the department unloading -a truck. I remember seeing him.” - -Leon shrugged his shoulders. “I can’t tell you nothin’ about it, ’cept -that it was pretty near half past when I set that there picture on top -of a stacka books. It was all right then. Just’s I did it, Mr. Drayton -calls me and I goes to see what he wants. After that the bell rang and -I beat it outta here.” - -“Humph! Then how did _this_ happen?” Mr. Brady again thrust the -offending picture at Leon. - -“How do you s’pose I know?” whined the boy. “How do lotsa things happen -’round this dump? How did Miss Breeden’s table get mixed up that day? -You better ask 45 a few things. I ain’t done nothin’.” - -“This department is not a dump,” rebuked Mr. Brady severely. “Don’t let -me hear you again refer to it as such. As for this outrage, I’m going -to sift it to the bottom. If I find you’ve lied to me, I’ll have you -discharged.” - -“I tell you I didn’t do it,” called Leon after the assistant’s -retreating form. “Gee,” he reflected. “I gotta find that pencil. If I -find it I guess I know where I can hide it.” - -Making his way to the table from which the cruelly transformed -débutante had been mercifully snatched, Leon prowled cautiously about -it, at the same time keeping up a prudent watch for danger. Making sure -that he was not under special observation, he leaned upon a corner of -it, his black eyes roving desperately over its closely packed contents. -Of a sudden he emitted a grunt of satisfaction. Coyly resting between -two piles of books he had glimpsed the object of his search. When Teddy -Burke had flung it aside to beat a hasty retreat, it had rolled off the -book on which he had placed it and dropped to a shallow shelter between -the two stacks of volumes where Leon had discovered it. - -“I gotta hustle,” was his next thought as he moved with unusual speed -toward a stairway. Once on the tenth floor he hoped fortune would favor -him. Whether he could put into execution the cowardly act that he -purposed depended on two things. - -Up in the stock-room Harry Harding was manfully endeavoring to bury his -sorrows in zealous toil. The instant he had reported to Mr. Drayton -that morning he had gone directly to the tenth floor. A huge bulk -of surplus stock was awaiting a brief abiding place in the bins, and -Mr. Brady had decreed that it must be put there without delay. An -innate sense of neatness prompted Harry always to remove his coat -while performing a task of this nature. When Leon slouched into the -stock-room, Harry was energetically at work in his shirtsleeves, his -back turned to the other boy. - -Leon halted to grin sardonically at the patient, hurrying lad, too -deeply engrossed in his task to discover that he was not alone. His -straying, furtive glance leaped from Harry to a blue serge coat that -hung on a nail within easy reach. Breathlessly Leon tiptoed to it. -His hand glided into a convenient pocket. Then, silently as a shadow, -he withdrew and darted toward a stairway. He preferred the labor of -ascending and descending nine flights of stairs to risk being seen on -an elevator. - -Toward noon Harry finished his work. He was just about to draw on -his coat when Mr. Atkins appeared in the doorway of the stock-room. -“You’re wanted downstairs, 45,” he said roughly, then vanished into the -receiving room. - -Hastily donning his coat, Harry caught the first elevator down to -the department. The summons no doubt meant nothing more than the -appointment to some new task. Despite Mr. Brady’s disbelief that Harry -was up to the mark, he depended on the boy a great deal more than he -ever took the time to stop and realize. - -“Where’s Mr. Brady?” was Harry’s question of Mr. Denby. “Have you seen -him lately?” - -The fiction salesman cast Harry a curious glance. “He’s in the office -with Mr. Rexford. You’re due to catch it. It’s too bad. I’ll bet my -week’s salary you didn’t do it. Don’t let Brady put it all over you, -Harry.” - -“Didn’t do what?” Harry’s voice rose in bewildered anxiety. “Oh, Mr. -Denby, please tell me what you mean.” - -“By George, I will. I’ve got a right to warn you before----” - -A hand suddenly dropped on Harry’s shoulder. “You’re wanted in Mr. -Rexford’s office, 45. Don’t loiter here.” Mr. Drayton was frowning down -upon him. - -With one desperate, appealing look at Mr. Denby, Harry started for the -buyer’s office, his heart in his throat. - -“Good morning, Harry,” greeted Mr. Rexford as the boy entered. Mr. -Brady merely glared and said nothing. Other than the boy, only the -two men occupied the office. The buyer swung round from his desk and -leveled a peculiarly searching glance at Harry. Reaching to one side -of his desk his hand settled on something. “Do you know anything about -this, my boy?” He held the ill-fated picture up to Harry’s gaze. - -For an instant Harry was seized with a wild desire to laugh. No one -could view Teddy’s fanciful handiwork unmoved. With an effort Harry -kept his features sober. Amazement quickly conquered his inclination -for mirth. “How could I possibly know anything about it?” His reply -contained a note of wonder. - -“There, Brady. I hope you are satisfied.” Mr. Rexford’s comment was -tinged with cool reserve. He had given small credence to the tale the -assistant had brought him. - -“I’m _not_ satisfied. I wouldn’t take the word of any of these boys. -They are all alike when it comes to mischief. Now listen to me, 45. Are -you positively sure you know nothing of this?” - -“I am.” Harry lifted his head in a proud gesture of denial. “I know -nothing whatever about it. I can’t understand why and of what you are -accusing me. Won’t you please tell me?” His blue eyes sadly sought Mr. -Rexford’s. - -“Between five and half-past five yesterday afternoon, Harry, someone -deliberately took this picture from a table, spoiled it and then -returned it to the same table,” related Mr. Rexford. “Mr. Brady at once -suspected young Atkins. He denied it, but said something that led Mr. -Brady to suspect you of having a hand in it.” - -“Oh-h!” Harry drew a long, agonized breath. Again he had Leon to thank -for this new difficulty in which Mr. Brady seemed determined to place -him. - -“It is not only the spoiling of the picture that matters,” continued -the buyer gravely. “You see it has been marked with a blue pencil. You -know the rule regarding blue pencils.” - -“Yes, sir.” Harry’s response was very faint. Suddenly he brightened. -“But I never carry a blue pencil, Mr. Rexford. I wouldn’t dream of -doing so. This is the kind I always use.” - -Harry’s hand went to his left coat pocket. He made a curious, gasping -sound, then allowed it to remain there. - -“Let’s see the kind of pencil you use,” rasped the assistant. In that -audible intake of breath he read guilt. - -Slowly Harry’s clenched hand left his pocket and unclosed. On his -outstretched palm lay a blue pencil. - -“I knew it!” exploded the assistant. “You see now, Mr. Rexford? He -lied.” - -“Harry, I can’t believe----” - -“You mustn’t believe, Mr. Rexford.” Harry’s interruption rang out -with a fierce intensity that made the two men stare. All the pent-up -bitterness of his young soul flashed into hot words. “This pencil -doesn’t belong to me. I never put it there. I won’t stand for such -injustice. I won’t be accused of what I didn’t do. Do you hear me? I -won’t! I won’t!” - -“Harry, Harry!” remonstrated the buyer. Yet he gloried in the lad’s -vehement outburst. The boy’s whole bearing indicated truth and -innocence. - -“I can’t help it.” Harry refused to be thus checked. “Ever since I came -back from my vacation things have gone wrong for me. Neither of you -will ever know what I’ve had to put up with, because I’m not going to -tell you. But I’m not to blame for this. I’m going to leave the store -as soon as you’re through with me. There are some things a fellow can’t -and won’t stand.” - -“You are not going to leave the store,” put in Mr. Rexford firmly. “I -believe you, Harry.” - -“I don’t,” contested Mr. Brady stubbornly. “I’ve told you again and -again that this boy’s a sneak. If you choose to pet him and shut your -eyes to----” - -“That will do, Brady.” Mr. Rexford held up an imperative hand. -“Whatever I may choose to do is no concern of yours. Now I wish this -matter dropped. Don’t let me hear of it again.” With a decided hand he -ripped the troublesome picture across and dropped it into the waste -basket. “You may go,” he commanded the assistant. - -“Have it your own way,” Mr. Brady flung back over his shoulder as he -sought the door. - -Alone together man and boy faced each other. “Now, Harry, I wish you -to tell me what you meant by saying that things have gone wrong with -you.” Mr. Rexford rose and laid a kind hand on Harry’s shoulder. - -The boy’s lip quivered. He made no reply. Gradually mastering himself, -his mouth set in the old firm line of secrecy. “I’m sorry, Mr. Rexford, -but I can’t tell tales. You--oh, please don’t ask me to.” - -“All right, I won’t. I know you didn’t use a blue pencil on that -wretched picture,” mused the man. “Yet the other boy insists that -he didn’t. It may have been some mischievous messenger from another -department. Around half-past five he would not have been noticed.” - -Harry lifted a startled face to the buyer. He never heard the word -“mischief” without associating it with Teddy Burke. A swift flashing -panorama of facts crossed his brain. Teddy had sworn to be even with -Leon. Teddy had visited the department at that time last evening. Leon -had been arranging the table. It was all plain except the blue pencil. -Yet he could not betray Teddy. As he fitted the pieces of the puzzle -together he became painfully aware of Mr. Rexford’s acute survey. - -“What is it, Harry? I believe you have guessed the guilty party. -Whom do you suspect? Speak up. I told Brady to drop it just for your -sake, but if it is one of the messengers, I’ll take it up. I won’t -countenance strange boys making my department ridiculous.” - -Harry wavered between affection for Teddy and loyalty to Mr. Rexford. -“I’m not sure, Mr. Rexford. I do suspect someone. I can’t tell you his -name.” - -Mr. Rexford looked displeased. Harry’s secrecy piqued him. Under his -quiet, kindly exterior lay a strong vein of stubbornness. Harry had -aroused it. Yet his dignity would not permit him to continue the -argument. “Very well,” he said coldly. “I won’t try to force your -confidence. You may go.” - -As Mr. Rexford abruptly turned away from him to his desk, Harry saw a -towering wall suddenly erect itself between him and the man he revered. -His lips moved as though to make a last appeal, but no sound came from -them. With a long, anguished look at the stern figure before the desk, -Harry left the office with the bitter knowledge that one small boy’s -mischief had been the means of cutting him off from his best friend. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -TEDDY’S DARKEST HOUR - - -Once outside the office Harry’s thoughts were again directed toward -leaving the store. Nothing would ever be the same again between himself -and Mr. Rexford. The old friendly relations were now broken forever. -Mr. Rexford had defended him, and he had repaid the buyer’s kindness by -refusing to reveal the identity of the author of the mischief. Yet he -had not found it within his heart to betray Teddy. Had he done so, Mr. -Rexford might have decided to take the matter higher. That would have -meant dismissal from the store for Teddy. Harry could not bear to think -of it. - -But should he leave the store under a cloud? He knew himself to be -guiltless of any wrong doing. To leave Martin Brothers now would appear -as a direct admission not only of guilt but of failure. Resolutely -Harry put that thought away from him, also. He would stay. Some day -the clouds might lift. Some day Mr. Rexford might understand. There -was also the question of Teddy to be considered. Were he to acquaint -the impish little boy with the havoc he had created, Teddy would rush -to Mr. Rexford and confess his sins. He was too much of a man to allow -Harry to bear the brunt of his iniquities. That would probably mean -Teddy’s dismissal, too. Harry resolved that he would bear his cross in -silence. - -If Harry had entertained any doubt of Teddy’s innocence, it would have -been rudely dispelled by a question which the latter asked at luncheon -that day. - -“Say,” he blurted, fixing his round, child-like eyes on Harry. “What’s -a deebuttanty?” - -Harry did not fall into the trap. He divined instantly that Teddy -was burning to know the result of his prank. Assuming an elaborate -carelessness he was far from feeling, Harry replied, “I guess you mean -débutante.” He spelled the word. - -“Yes, that’s it. Is it Rooshun?” - -“No; it is a French word. It means a young lady who is just coming out -in society. What made you ask?” - -“Oh, I just wanted to know.” Teddy’s face fell. He wondered if -his splendid effort had amounted to nothing. “Very likely the old -Clothes-pole saw it and took it away ’fore anyone else got a look at -it,” was his disappointed reflection. He was on the point of telling -Harry what he had done. Then he changed his mind. It might not strike -Harry as a particularly clever trick. Nevertheless, as he returned to -house furnishings that afternoon he felt rather pleased with himself. -At least he had done his best to get the obnoxious Clothes-pole into -trouble. It was not his fault that Leon had thus escaped. Had he known -the true state of affairs he would have been a most distressed and -repentant Teddy. - -As Christmas drew nearer, however, Teddy was privately worried over the -peculiar change in Harry. He seemed sad and dejected. On the way home -after work he said little, allowing Teddy to do most of the talking. -The merry, boyish laugh with which he usually responded to his chum’s -funny sallies had quite deserted him. He had also ceased to confide the -annoyances he daily underwent at Leon’s hands. Teddy became possessed -of the idea that Harry’s subdued demeanor was entirely due to fresh -persecution. He longed more than ever to worst Harry’s enemy by holding -him up to the whole store in his true colors. Since the affair of the -picture he had not dared to more than skirt the book department. It was -now overrunning with salespersons hired for the grand Christmas rush. -Whatever he might find to do to add to Leon’s discomfiture was certain -to be observed. - -Night school was also an unsafe place for his operations. Unsafe in -that Teddy did not choose there to court risks. His semi-weekly drill -was the pride of his heart. While at it he had no inclination for -mischief. Although Leon was in company D, to which Teddy belonged, -the little boy kept his distance. Love of drill and school were too -strong to admit of trifling. To Teddy they were as things apart from -his usual prankish self. Occasionally while at his studies he would -forget himself far enough to make a derisive face at the ungainly -figure lounging at a desk on the opposite side of the room. He would -then concoct elaborate methods of “getting even,” only to let them die -a quick death as he made a fresh attack on his lessons. - -On the last evening of school, preparatory to its close until after -the holidays, Teddy left the dairy lunch for the fifth-floor barracks, -feeling unutterably lonely. Due to an overwhelming amount of night work -to be done in Department 84, Harry had been excused from school. He had -eaten supper with Teddy, then hurried back to work, leaving his chum to -make his disconsolate way upstairs to drill. - -In this dark mood Teddy scornfully eschewed taking one of the few -elevators now running and clumped dejectedly up the long flight of -stairs, pausing at each landing for a brief rest. Rounding the corner -of the third flight he halted to peer aimlessly down the long aisle -that opened into the picture department. Of a sudden his gaze came -to a focus on a tall, ungainly figure, bobbing about the decorative -entrance that was one of the beauty spots of the store. In that bobbing -form Teddy instantly recognized Leon Atkins. Here and there he flitted, -poking at one object, laying irreverent fingers on another. Now he -dipped grotesquely forward to seize what looked like a long, slender, -black stick. Pausing, he juggled the stick, catching it in one hand or -the other, balancing it first on the end of his nose then on the tips -of his long fingers. His eyes becoming riveted on something directly -in front of him, Teddy saw him raise the long, black stick on high and -leap forward as though about to annihilate an enemy. - -“What’s the Clothes-pole up to?” wondered Teddy. Soundlessly he stole -along the polished floor toward the cavorting Leon. The entrance to -“pictures” was illuminated by an overhanging arc light turned on for -the benefit of the night workers, most of whom were now at supper. By -its white radiance Teddy was able to discern clearly the object of -Leon’s capering attentions. It was a huge oil painting reposing on a -strongly built easel. - -On either side of the entrance to the galleries an imposing bronze -dragon supported from one upraised, gripping paw a gaily-colored -lantern of painted silk. These fantastic beasts were of Chinese origin. -In consequence, they owned many tortuous curves, from which terrifying -spines and points stood out in every direction. Under the lanterns -their savage heads drooped low, with glaring eyes, snarling jaws and an -array of sharp-pointed, bristling whiskers. A little to the right of -one of them stood the easel, its precious freight apparently under the -crouching watch of his formidable dragonship. - -Unaware of an audience to his manoeuvers, Leon brandished his weapon -and went through the performance of charge, retreat and charge again. -Curious to discover why the picture should call forth such unusual -action on the part of the sluggard, Teddy took advantage of the other’s -preoccupation to slip softly nearer. - -If in the past Dame Fortune had attended Teddy Burke, for once she -basely deserted her small favorite. As Teddy noiselessly advanced, -he had just time to glimpse a remarkably realistic representation -of a battle scene with a regiment in furious attack. Then something -happened. He caught a fleeting vision of a lengthy body plunging -riotously forward. This time Leon charged farther than he had intended. -Unable to check himself he dashed plump into the easel and fell -sprawling under it. The heavy canvas swayed, tottered, poised briefly -in air and descended sidewise like a huge avalanche. - -Crash! The major part of the heavily framed painting hit the floor -with a noise not unlike thunder. Simultaneous with the crash came an -ominous ripping sound. The baleful Chinese guardian had added to the -effect by impaling a side of the ill-fated painting on one of his -numerous murderous horns. - -Teddy darted forward, uttering a shrill cry of horror. Leon, however, -stood not upon the order of his going. Picking himself up, he tore -off in the direction from which Teddy had come and clattered down the -stairs, craven fear lending wings to his feet. - -“Stop!” yelled Teddy. Turning to pursue Leon, he felt himself being -spun about by the momentum of a heavy gripping hand on his shoulder. - -“Caught in the act!” roared a fearsome voice. It proceeded from the -owner of the gripping hand, a big man, who glared threateningly down -upon his captive. “Tried to run away, eh? But I got you, you young -vandal!” - -Teddy tried to twist himself free of that iron grasp. “Let me go,” he -choked, his black eyes blazing. “I didn’t do it. You’ve got the wrong -boy.” - -“Oh, no, I haven’t,” was the sarcastic reply. “Don’t try to put -anything like that over on me. You’re the only boy I’ve seen so far.” -Not for an instant did the cruel hold relax. - -Having heard the ominous crash from the interior of the picture -department, two more men now came running to the scene. - -“Whew!” ejaculated one of them. Both stared aghast at the wreck. -Stooping over the other grasped the maltreated painting, partially -raising it from the floor. The man who had indulged in the horrified -exclamation now sprang to the assistance of his companion. Between them -they disengaged it from the dragon’s horn and held it upright. - -But it was a sorry sight. The spiked bronze protuberance had been -the means of ripping a long gash in the canvas, which cut in two a -particularly fine figure of a soldier. - -“This is a positive crime,” burst forth the big man. “The picture’s -ruined. It’s one of the Martin collection, you know. Belongs to Mr. -Edward. It used to hang above the central archway on the third floor. -He had it moved up here over Christmas because he thought it would -look nice at this entrance. I was telling him only yesterday that I -wouldn’t risk a valuable painting like that on an easel. It _was_ worth -five thousand dollars. It’s not worth five now, thanks to this little -ruffian.” He cast a withering glance at poor Teddy. - -“I didn’t do it,” shrieked Teddy, his freckled face white with -righteous rage. “I won’t be blamed for something I didn’t do!” -Unknowingly, Teddy had uttered Harry’s very words of a few days past. - -“Tell that to the marines,” sneered the big man. “If you didn’t, who -did?” - -“It was another fellow. I’m not saying who. He was here before I -got here. He had that in his hand.” Teddy pointed to Leon’s hastily -discarded implement of warfare. It was a woman’s black silk umbrella, -tightly rolled. It lay on the floor precisely where Leon had fallen. “I -was going up to the barracks and when I got to this floor I saw this -fellow waving it around in front of that picture. I wondered what he -was doing, and I came up to see. Just’s I got here, he smashed into -the easel with it and tipped it over. Then he ran down those stairs. I -yelled at him, but he kept on running. That’s the truth. I never went -near the old picture.” - -“You’re a pretty foxy kid to cook up a mess of yarns as quick as all -that,” jeered his captor. - -“They’re not yarns,” contradicted Teddy. “I don’t tell lies.” - -“Oh, keep quiet, you little rat,” growled the big man, giving Teddy an -ungentle shake. - -“What do you suppose Mr. Edward’ll say when he hears about it?” said -one of the two men who had run to the scene. - -“Search me,” retorted the big man gloomily. “He’s got himself to blame -for putting the picture here. He’ll fire this rowdy, but what’s that -amount to when the damage is done?” - -It amounted to a good deal to Teddy Burke. “Won’t you please believe -me?” he pleaded, very near to tears. “I told you the truth. I did, I -did.” His voice rose to a desperate wail. - -“Maybe the boy is on the square,” suggested the other of the two men. -He had been somewhat impressed by Teddy’s plea. - -“Forget it,” growled the big man. “These boys are all alike. You can’t -believe any of them. They’re always ready for mischief and just as -quick to wriggle out of it. I’m going to take him to Keene. He’s up at -the barracks. These kids all work for him. He’ll read the riot act to -this one and can him. If he don’t, Mr. Martin will. He’ll froth at the -mouth when he sees this.” He jerked his head toward the picture. - -Teddy’s dejected face brightened at mention of Mr. Keene. There at -least, was someone who would believe him. “I wish you _would_ take me -to Mr. Keene,” he cried out vehemently. “He’ll see, if you won’t, that -I’m telling the truth.” - -“My, what a brave boy!” jibed the big man. “Come on. We’ll see how much -stock Keene’ll take in that fairy tale of yours.” - -To the little red-haired boy came the most dreadful moment of his short -life when he was marched into the well-filled drill room ahead of the -determined picture salesman. His Titian head drooped in shame as the -man loudly recounted the misdeed in which he had played no part to the -superintendent of the store messenger force. - -Mr. Keene made no comment as the salesman blared forth the wretched -tale. His kind eyes rested gravely upon Teddy, as though he could not -believe what he was hearing. - -“Leave this boy to me,” he said, when the man had finished his recital. -“Go over there, Teddy, and sit down. I will talk with you later.” - -Burdened with shame, Teddy sought a bench at one side of the room. -He seated himself upon it too crushed even to think. Five minutes -afterward the drill began. Teddy watched it with unseeing eyes. To -him the ranks of uniformed boys were as so many shadows. He did not -even try to ascertain if Leon were among them. But Leon was not there. -He, too, had been excused that evening to help in Department 84. His -presence at the entrance to the picture department had been due to -one of the numerous jaunts about the store which he was prone to take -whenever the fancy seized him. - -The next hour seemed a year to poor Teddy. Would the endless tramp of -feet never cease? Those boys must be tired. It was ages since they had -begun to drill. Ah, it was over at last. They had broken ranks and now -were trooping to the smaller side room to put away their equipment. -Mr. Keene would soon be ready for him. The superintendent was looking -toward him. Teddy sat up from the despondent attitude into which he -had fallen. From his usually rougish face every vestige of color had -fled. But one thought lived behind his anguished eyes. Would Mr. Keene -believe him? - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -ALL FOR THE SAKE OF TEDDY BURKE - - -It was noon the next day when a red-haired boy, his black eyes blurred -with tears, stumbled his way to the coat-room and called for his hat -and coat. Teddy Burke was no longer an employee of Martin Brothers. -After the hardest morning he had ever known, Teddy had been discharged -from the store. He had not gone down easily to defeat. Neither had he -been unaided in his efforts to establish his innocence. Mr. Keene had -believed in him. So had Mr. Marsh and Mr. Everett. All three had fought -for him, but without avail. Mr. Edward Martin, highly incensed at the -wreck of the picture, had decreed that the boy who was responsible for -it should be discharged. - -If Teddy had not clung so tightly to his own peculiar code of honor, -he could easily have cleared himself. No amount of quizzing had -succeeded in making him reveal the identity of the boy whom he had -declared guilty of the outrage. Mr. Keene, Mr. Marsh and Mr. Everett -understood Teddy’s code and respected it. Usually lenient, for once Mr. -Edward Martin was adamant. He believed Teddy to be the author of the -mischief and that he was merely trying to foist the weight of his own -depredation on another’s shoulders. - -It was all over now. He, Teddy Burke, was an outcast, while Leon, the -coward who had run away from his guilt, was still working in the store. -And Harry, too, was as yet ignorant of his dismissal. Teddy had not -seen Harry after leaving the barracks on the previous night. In some -way he had missed Harry and been obliged to tramp gloomily home alone. -He had not tried to see his chum that morning, but had taken a street -car to the store. He had not confided to his mother what hung over him. -He had hoped that matters might turn out all right. Now he was going -home to tell her all. In the evening he would wait across the street -from the store for Harry. He preferred to pour out his sorrows then as -they once more trudged the dear old path together. - -But when Harry met him that evening on the corner, he was already in -possession of the whole story. “I knew you’d be here,” he greeted, as -he caught Teddy’s outstretched hand in sympathetic pressure. “Ted, it’s -awful. I couldn’t believe it. I know you didn’t do it.” - -The quiet assurance in Harry’s voice caused Teddy to gulp briefly. -“You’re a real chum,” he faltered. “Course I never did it. It was -that--that Clothes-pole.” He jerked out the appellation as though it -burned his tongue. - -“Teddy Burke! You don’t say so?” Harry cried out in amazement. His -mouth set hard as he said crisply, “Tell me everything that happened.” - -Teddy complied, his tones gradually steadying as he related what had -taken place on the night before. “I tried to get even with him for your -sake, but he canned me all right,” Teddy concluded sadly. - -“It’s the most unjust thing I ever heard of,” was Harry’s indignant -protest. “Really, Teddy, it seems as though you should have spoken.” - -“You wouldn’t’ve,” retorted Teddy. “You wouldn’t’ve told, any more’n I -did. I thought I was going to tell on him, but I couldn’t.” - -“He deserved it,” reminded Harry sharply. “I don’t know whether I would -have kept still about him or not. I haven’t said a word about what he’s -done to me. Still I believe I’d just as soon go to Mr. Martin with what -he’s done to you.” - -“Don’t you dare! I won’t have it. If you did, every fellow in the store -would be down on you. I can stand it. I’m going to try to get a job in -another store. Mr. Keene said he’d give me a good reference and so did -Mr. Everett. It can’t ever be the same, though. I thought a lot of -Martin Brothers’ store. It’s a good thing they’re having that Christmas -house-party show of fashions in Martin Hall. If they’d had a play and -I’d been in it, it would’ve been pretty bad for me. Never you mind. -Some day Mr. Martin’ll know it wasn’t me that smashed his picture. -Things like that always come out some time.” - -Harry comfortingly agreed with Teddy, doing his best to console the -injured boy as they walked slowly home together. Secretly he was -resolved to try in some way to prove Teddy’s innocence. If he could -think of any means to entrap Leon into a confession he would do his -utmost to bring it about. - -At home with his mother, Teddy’s plan of seeking employment in another -store met with a decided check. “I never heard of such injustice,” -sputtered Mrs. Burke. “The idea of accusing my boy of such mischief and -of lying! No, Teddy Burke, you can either go back to school or stay at -home with me. I’ll not have you run the risk of any more trouble in -stores. I’d go and tell this Mr. Martin exactly what I think of him, if -you weren’t so determined that I shouldn’t.” - -Teddy chose to remain at home. He had a firm belief that sooner or -later he would be vindicated. School had no charm for him. He wished -to work, and to work in Martin Brothers. He resolved to keep up his -studies at home and patiently await the day of recall to the store he -loved. - -Every night, fair or stormy, found him on the corner waiting for Harry, -always with the wistful question, “Heard anything to-day?” - -Christmas had come and gone. January was almost over. The two boys -had spent as merry a Christmas day together as was possible under the -existing cloud that hung over Teddy. Yet it lacked much of the joy of -that of the previous year. Thus far, Harry had gleaned nothing in the -way of even the most indirect admission of his fault from Leon. Harry’s -own days were far from happy. He seldom saw Mr. Rexford nearer than -across the department, and never spoke to him except to pass the time -of day. Of late Leon Atkins had been unusually innocuous, for him. He -was still cowering under the weight of his guilt, and was in constant -fear that the day might dawn when he would be found out and discharged -from the store. - -What worried Teddy most of all was his inability to help Mr. Everett. -True, he had done much toward vanquishing the ambitious Mr. Jarvis, -yet he had been always on the lookout for a chance to turn the balance -in Mr. Everett’s favor. His wonderful plan that had to do with the -unmasking of the pretentious assistant could never be carried to a -finish now. Since the morning of his dismissal, Teddy had not set -foot in the store. Twice, however, while waiting for Harry, he had -encountered his friend, Sam Hickson, to learn from him that Mr. Jarvis -was still doing his best, or rather his worst, to supplant Mr. Everett. -His fault-finding had been the means of causing two of the salesmen -to resign, who had been longest in the department. Miss Newton was -muttering darkly of sending in her resignation. Even Hickson himself -declared that he wouldn’t stand it much longer. He brought a grain of -comfort to poor Teddy’s sore heart by telling him how greatly he was -missed in house furnishings. The boy who had replaced him was far from -satisfactory. Mr. Everett, too, deplored the loss of his little friend. -He had expressed very plainly to Hickson his disapproval of Teddy’s -discharge. - -Harry Harding was the only person, however, to whom Teddy spoke his -mind freely. Harry alone knew the inside facts of the picture disaster. -It hurt him severely to see his chum so unhappy. He missed the funny -sayings and the air of exuberant jollity that belonged to the old -Teddy. The new Teddy went about immersed in a gloom utterly foreign -to his usual sunny self. Harry sometimes wondered if the sober-faced, -sad-eyed lad that greeted him so wistfully at the close of each day -could be the same boy whose cheerful chatter had made the road home -merry. - -“If only I could do something to help Teddy,” was Harry’s constant -wish. In his desperate desire to restore his chum’s good name, Harry -sought the quick-witted, far-seeing Miss Welch. Omitting only the name -of the real culprit he laid Teddy’s case before her one morning in -early February. - -“Hmm!” commented the exchange girl as she mentally balanced the pros -and cons of the affair. “Your little chum has certainly got in wrong, -Kiddy. He oughtta’ve squealed on the other fella. Too bad no one else -was around. If I was a certain red-headed youngster I’d watch for that -sneak that did it. One of these nights I’d give him a beating he’d -remember. That’s what I’d do. I’d make him tell or I’d punch his head -off.” Miss Welch doubled a small white hand and waved it threateningly. - -“He couldn’t, Miss Welch. The boy that’s guilty is twice his size. -Teddy’s small for his age. He’s strong, though, but not strong enough -to tackle the other boy and punish him.” - -“Well, why don’t you do it for him?” urged Miss Welch. “I’ll bet you -could fight if you got good and mad. Now’s your time to do it.” - -Harry regarded Miss Welch in stupefaction. How had she guessed what -had been in the back of his head ever since Teddy’s discharge from the -store? Long ago he had hinted to his mother that the day might come -when he would be forced to use his fists on Leon Atkins. - -“Miss Welch,” he said solemnly, “more than once I’ve thought of doing -that. After Ted left the store I made up my mind that the first time -this boy interfered with me, I’d fight him. But I hate to start on him -unless he does something to earn his licking. If I did, he might not -confess, but he _would_ make a big fuss. Then I’d get discharged and -Teddy’s case would stay just as it is.” - -“I get you.” A shrewd twinkle lurked in Miss Welch’s blue eyes. The -phrase “the first time he interfered with me,” had caused her to put -two and two together. Harry, it seemed, had reason to believe that -the culprit would interfere with him. This could hardly come about -unless the two were frequently brought together. Miss Welch had -already learned by using her eyes that Leon Atkins was as a thorn to -Harry’s flesh. So he was the real offender. She calmly stored up this -information against a time of need. - -“You’ve been ever so good to me,” Harry continued, “and I know that if -you could help me in this, you would. I’m going to ask you to keep your -eyes and ears open in case you might find out something that would help -Teddy get his place back again.” - -“You can count on me, Harry. I’ll say a good word or do a good deed for -both you and your friend, if the chance comes my way. Count on Margaret -Welch to the last drop of the hat.” - -Harry left the desk feeling more hopeful than he had for days. Miss -Welch was so clever. If anyone could help Teddy, she was the very -person. And she had advised him to give Leon a whipping. Harry smiled. -Despite her slangy manner of speech she was so delicately pretty that -the advice sounded strange from her red lips. - -As February dragged its changeable way toward March, the thought of -pummeling the truth from Leon took a decided stand in Harry’s mind. -Often as he watched the hateful coward, shambling about the stock-room, -he experienced a savage desire to spring upon him and compel the truth -from his lying lips. - -“This won’t do at all,” he reflected one Saturday morning as he found -himself halting in his work to stare longingly at Leon. Under a flimsy -pretense of work, the latter sat Turk fashion before a bin, deep in the -reading of a paper-covered dime novel he had smuggled into the store -inside his coat. “It’s awful for me to be always wanting to hit him.” - -The intense concentration of Harry’s gaze beat across the narrow space -between them, causing Leon to stir uneasily. Slowly, as though against -his will, his eyes left the paper-covered book and came to rest on -Harry. “Well, whada you gapin’ at?” he growled. - -“Nothing,” retorted Harry. Disgust of Leon overcoming prudence, he -added, “Oh, pardon me. I believe I was looking at _you_.” Swinging -about, Harry returned to his task of filling a truck. - -Two seconds later he became aware that an angry face was peering down -at him over the truck. “Think I’m nothin’, do you? You’ll find out who -I am!” He gave the truck a vicious shove that sent it rumbling down the -room. - -Harry sprang to his feet. It may be said in his favor, however, that in -spite of his private pugilistic desires, he had not intended to draw -Leon into a quarrel. His sarcastic answer had been nothing more than -an outward expression of his contempt for the bully. Given that he had -determined to punish Leon with his fists, he would never have selected -the store as a battleground. - -“Let that truck alone and go on about your business,” he commanded. “I -want nothing whatever to do with you.” Turning abruptly away he started -in pursuit of the dislodged truck. A clutch on his shoulder caused -him to whirl about, his eyes blue steel. “Take your hands off me, you -_coward_!” The word slipped out unawares. - -With a wrathful howl Leon made a lunging pass at him, his right fist -doubled. The blow landed squarely on Harry’s chest, knocking him -backward against a bin. Before he could recover his balance Leon -swept down upon him like a hurricane. For a moment or two Harry was -completely at his mercy. But the tide soon changed. Realizing that -the fight for which he had yearned was now thrust upon him, he forgot -everything except the knowledge that the time had come to strike for -Teddy’s honor. - -Although shorter than Leon, Harry was strong and sturdily built. -More than once he had engaged in friendly wrestling bouts with the -boys of the Winthrop school. Never before had the experience of a -real fight been his. Nevertheless, he gave good account of himself. -Now on his mettle he fought his way free of the bin and rapidly took -the aggressive. Leon struck out wildly, too much amazed at Harry’s -whirlwind tactics to fight with any degree of skill. Step by step, -under a hammer of relentless blows, he was being forced back into a -corner of the stock-room. - -“I’ve got you.” Harry slammed him into the corner with both hands. -“Now listen to me, and don’t you dare yell for your father. If you do, -you’ll be licked to a finish before he can get to you. You and I are -going to settle a few things right here. You are the one who spoiled -that big painting. You’ve let Teddy Burke suffer for it because he -was too white to give you away. You’re going to tell me that you did -it. Now tell me, or I’ll begin punishing you all over again.” Two -determined hands pinned him back with an iron grip. - -Leon began to whimper. “You’ll tell on me if I say I did.” Indirectly -he had confessed. - -“No; you’re going to tell on yourself. Promise to go downstairs and -tell Mr. Keene the whole thing, or take another licking. You’ve got -one black eye. You might as well have two. Hurry up now, or----” Harry -jammed the thoroughly cowed Leon a little harder against the bin. He -hated to do it, yet what he had begun must be finished. - -“I did it! I’ll tell him! Lemme go!” Regardless of Harry’s warning, -Leon emitted a loud howl of “Pa-a!” - -Harry relaxed his hold. There was no need of further punishment. He had -wrung from the coward the desired confession. But he did not intend -to stop there. He was resolved to escort Leon to Mr. Keene’s office -without further delay, no matter what Mr. Atkins might say or do. -Keeping a grim watch on Leon, he vigorously brushed his dusty clothing -with his hands, smoothed his disheveled hair and straightened his -collar and tie. - -Though the door between the stock and receiving rooms was closed, the -anguished howl of his offspring was borne to Mr. Atkins’ ears. Flinging -open the barrier that separated him from his son, he crossed the -stock-room on the run. - -“Pa,” wailed Leon, “_he_ almost killed me. Look’t my eye! He pitched -onto me and I wasn’t doing nothin’.” The hopeful scion of the house of -Atkins was indeed a sorry sight. - -“You young scamp!” The enraged Mr. Atkins made a dive for Harry. - -“Keep your hands off me, Mr. Atkins.” Swerving quickly to one side, -Harry eluded the man’s grasp. His tense voice held a note of command -that caused Mr. Atkins to lower his too-ready arm. - -Unbeknown to those concerned in the little drama there had been an -unseen witness to the fight. With the coming of Mr. Atkins, a man who -had stood in the half-open door at the lower end of the stock-room had -slipped quietly away. Who he was and how much of the turbulent scene he -had understood was something which Harry was later privileged to learn. - -“I’m pretty near dead, Pa,” whined Leon miserably. “My eye’s shuttin’ -up. He made me tell a lie. He said he’d half kill me if I didn’t.” - -“That’s not so,” cut in Harry, his eyes an accusing flame. “You told -the truth a minute ago because I made you. You’re not telling it now.” - -“You be careful what you say about my son,” stormed the father. “I’m -going to send for Mr. Rexford to come up here and tend to you. I’ll -show him how you’ve abused Leon.” - -“I wish you would,” defied Harry. “Send for Mr. Keene, too. Leon has -something to tell him. If you don’t send for him, I’ll make your son -go to him.” - -“I ain’t,” shrieked Leon. “Don’t you do it, Pa.” He began to weep -noisily. - -“Leon!” admonished Mr. Atkins. “Don’t be a baby. I’m not going to send -for Mr. Keene and you are not going to his office. Come into the other -room, both of you. Don’t _you_ try to run,” he warned Harry. - -Harry made no reply as he walked quietly into the receiving room ahead -of the belligerents. But his heart had become suddenly heavy. Under -present circumstances Mr. Rexford was the last person he wished to -see. Over him rushed the sickening sense of defeat. He had given Leon -the long-deferred whipping, only to realize that in all probability it -would be productive of nothing save his own dismissal from the store. -He had no one to prove that Leon had attacked him. No one had heard the -confession he had forced from the other boy. It was his word against -Leon’s, and Mr. Atkins was wholly on his son’s side. Undoubtedly Leon -would now whine out a fabrication which Harry had no means of proving -was false. If Mr. Rexford still had any faith in him, he would soon -lose it. Worse, he might forbid Harry to send for Mr. Keene. - -If Leon stuck to his own brand of story, Harry would then find himself -precisely in the position of Teddy Burke. Suppose he were to reveal -the true story of the damaged picture? Would Mr. Rexford believe him? -Harry believed that he would at least investigate the matter. Leon -was too cowardly to stand out long under any such investigation. Yet -there was Teddy and his inexorable code. Teddy had followed it. It -had led him out of the store. Now it was about to claim Harry, for he -had resolved that, even to save himself, he would not tell what Leon -refused to confess. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -AN UNEXPECTED FRIEND AT COURT - - -Mr. Atkins’ telephoned summons soon brought Mr. Rexford to the -stock-room. He listened without comment to Leon’s garbled account -of Harry’s transgressions. He allowed Mr. Atkins to say his say, -uninterrupted. When they had both relieved their injured feelings by -forceful speech he turned sternly to Harry. “And what have you to say -to all this, young man?” - -Harry winced at the harshness of the question. “I did not force a fight -on this boy,” he quietly denied. “I warned him to let me alone. He -wouldn’t. I gave him something of what he deserved. I am sorry that -it had to happen here. I am very glad that I whipped him in an unfair -fight. I would not have done him up so thoroughly except for a certain -reason which I won’t tell. He knows that reason, but he is afraid to -tell it. I made him promise to go to Mr. Keene on account of it. I know -now that he never intended to do it. I was going to send for Mr. Keene -to come here, but it wouldn’t be of any use. That is all I have to say.” - -Mr. Rexford studied Harry long and earnestly. What had come over the -lovable, courteous Harry Harding of last year? What was all this -mysterious talk about a “certain reason” and “going to Mr. Keene?” -Why had this frank-faced boy become so curiously secretive in the -past few weeks? And that affair of the blue-pencilled picture. Harry -had also refused to reveal whatever he knew of that. With a flash of -that rare breadth of spirit which made him the great man he was, Mr. -Rexford suddenly experienced a feeling of the utmost tolerance toward -Harry. Ranged beside the too-spiteful father and the bullying son, -Harry looked every inch the man. He was secretly glad that the latter -had trounced lazy Leon. No doubt he deserved it. Mr. Rexford had never -liked him. Only out of pity for the father’s hard lot had he allowed -the boy to remain in his department. - -“Come with me, Harry,” he commanded not ungently. “I’ll talk with -you later, Atkins. And you,” he frowned upon Leon, “take this to Mr. -Drayton.” As he spoke he had drawn a pad and pencil from a coat pocket. -On it he now scribbled, “Send this boy home for the day. Rexford.” - -Leading the way to the stock-room, he entered, Harry following. “Close -the door,” he said. “Now, Harry, what is all this about? Can’t you -trust me?” - -A quick rush of tears blinded Harry’s eyes. Somehow the shadow had -lifted. Boy and man had once more set their feet on the old -friendly ground. Harry now saw Mr. Rexford in a new light. Here was, -indeed, a friend, his father confessor, to whom he might pour out his -heart without fear. “I’ll tell you everything,” he said simply. “Just -as I’d tell my father if he were living.” - -“My boy, I never imagined that such a state of affairs existed.” The -buyer’s brows were drawn together in a scowl that had deepened as he -listened to Harry’s terse sentences. “When I think of all you’ve had -to endure from that young rascal! It must be stopped. And it was your -friend Teddy who decorated the advertising card. No wonder you didn’t -care to tell me. About the painting, I don’t know what to say. It’s my -duty to straighten out that snarl.” - -“Teddy wouldn’t like it,” pleaded Harry. “I’ve spoken of it to you as -I would to my father. Unless Leon owns up of his own accord, Teddy -wouldn’t feel right about it if either you or I took it to the front. -If someone else outside had seen it happen--but no one did.” - -“You boys have set for yourselves a strenuous code to live up to,” -mused the buyer. “In itself it is commendable. Yet in this instance I -think you have been over-scrupulous. But I won’t have this Leon in my -department. That’s settled.” - -“His father needs his help,” reminded Harry. “He has a very hard time -to get along. His son is better off with him.” - -“Yes; I know that is true. Still there is my side to consider. I can’t -harbor useless lumber in my department. I’ll have to think things over. -I’m not sure yet what ought to be done about that painting.” - -Harry’s heart sank as the buyer left the stock-room. What did Mr. -Rexford intend to do? He sighed as he laid hands upon his truant -truck and rolled it into place. Now that Mr. Rexford had gone he -hoped Mr. Atkins would not seek him to deliver further condemnation. -Half-heartedly, he took up his work on the bin he had begun to -dismantle when Leon had attacked him. He became suddenly erect as he -heard the sound of an opening door. - -“Are you 45?” In the lower doorway of the stock-room stood a store -messenger. - -“Yes.” Harry’s heart began to pound violently. “Did you want me?” - -“Uh, huh. Mr. Keene sent me up here after you,” grinned the boy. - -“Did you go to the department for me?” was Harry’s anxious question. - -“Nope. He knew you was up here. He sent another kid over to 84, -though. Something doing, all right.” - -“I’ll go with you.” So Mr. Rexford had decided that it was his duty -to break the confidence. Harry sighed. What would Teddy Burke say? -He wondered if his chum would ever forgive him. His dignity forbade -questioning the boy, who seemed bursting with something he longed to -but dared not say. - -Mr. Keene’s office held two occupants besides the superintendent. One -was Leon Atkins, livid with fear. He had not found time to seek the -aisle manager with Mr. Rexford’s note before Mr. Keene’s messenger had -swooped down upon him. The other--Harry viewed him in silent amazement. - -“Come here, Harding.” Mr. Keene waved Harry into a chair at one side of -his desk. “I understand you and this boy,” he nodded toward Leon, “had -a fight in the stock-room this morning.” - -“Yes, sir.” Harry raised steady eyes to the superintendent. - -“How did it happen?” Mr. Keene’s tone was kindly rather than harsh. - -“I’d rather not say.” A quick flush sprang to the lad’s cheeks. - -“Did you begin it?” - -The flush mounted higher. “No, sir.” - -“Aw, he----” burst forth Leon. - -“Be quiet!” thundered Mr. Keene. “I am not yet ready to talk with you. -Now, Harry, I happen to know that you”--he paused significantly--“did -not begin the fight. I know a number of things which I am very glad to -learn. I understand why Theodore Burke left the store under a cloud. I -know, too, who was responsible for the injury to Mr. Edward Martin’s -painting. I am not sure that you and Burke were quite correct in your -behavior, but I am sure that you were inspired by what you believed to -be the best of motives. Ordinarily I would not countenance a fight such -as came off on the tenth floor this morning. Such things have no place -in a store like this. Yet it is a pretty poor sort of boy who won’t -stand up for himself. - -“Now, Atkins.” Leon began to quake visibly as Mr. Keene addressed him. -“You are to tell me exactly how you came to do the mischief to Mr. -Martin’s painting.” - -“Aw----” Leon’s voice forsook him. He gulped, sighed, then dashed a -hand across his eyes. “I--was--goin’ to drill,” he stammered brokenly. -“I--I saw a pitcher of a--lotta--men fightin’. One--of--’em had a -sword--and was--leadin’ the rest. Then I saw--a--rain stick--standin’ -by the railin’. Some’n had forgot it. I was tryin’ to do like -the--fella in the pitcher--and--I--I--smashed into the thing it -stood on. It--it--fell down--an’ I run. Just’s it keeled over--I saw -that--red-headed kid from house furnishings. He’d been lookin’ at me. -He yelled at me--but I beat it.” Leon was now too frightened to tell -anything save the plain truth. - -“Is this what Burke told you?” Mr. Keene asked Harry. - -“Yes, sir,” came the low reply. - -“You tried to make this boy come to me and confess?” - -“Yes, sir,” still lower. - -“That is all I require of you, Harry. You may go. Oh, yes. I am sure -you will be glad to know that I am going to send word by messenger to -Theodore Burke. Do you think he will come back?” - -“I _know_ he will.” Harry’s face broke into sudden radiance. How he -wished he might be with his chum when he received Mr. Keene’s message. - -“Would you like to be that messenger?” Mr. Keene smiled at the boy’s -delight. - -“Oh, Mr. Keene!” Impulsively Harry’s right hand shot out. He had quite -forgotten that there was a difference in their positions in the store. - -The superintendent met it with his own. “We can’t afford to lose such -boys as you and your friend,” he said simply. “I am sure Mr. Edward -Martin will agree with me. Come back in half an hour and I will give -you a note for Theodore.” - -Harry had a wild desire to shout at the top of his lungs as he sped -down the stairs to his department. It was all so marvelous; so -unbelievable. And Mr. Rexford had had no hand in bringing Leon to -justice. - -It was precisely one hour later when Mrs. Burke called down the stairs -to her son, “Do answer the door-bell, Teddy.” - -Teddy, however, was already on the way to answer that jubilant, -insistent ring. “I guess it’s the laundry man,” he muttered. “I’ll -tell him we’re not deaf.” Opening the door to confront the clamorous -purveyor of laundry, Teddy’s black eyes grew saucer-like. “Harry -Harding!” he shouted. “Are you fired, too?” - -Harry’s gay laugh held a note of exaltation that Teddy instantly -caught. His freckles stood out darkly under his suddenly paling skin. -“Is it--is it----” - -“It is,” caroled Harry. “Read this.” He thrust a square envelope into -his chum’s hand. - -Teddy tore it open, his hands shaking. The next instant a resounding -war-whoop rent the quiet hall and floated up the stairs. Mrs. Burke -wondered vaguely if the laundry man had suddenly gone mad. That -unearthly whoop had surely not emanated from her listless, sober little -son. In his exuberant joy, Teddy Burke did something of which he was -ever afterward a trifle ashamed. He flung his two wiry little arms -about Harry and hugged him. - -Seated side by side on the living-room davenport, Teddy and Harry spent -a blissful half hour in rejoicing over the wonderful way in which -Teddy’s vindication had come about. - -“But see here, Harry, you haven’t said yet who the fellow was that put -me straight with the store. How did anybody know, when you didn’t tell -’em? I know you said you told Mr. Rexford everything, but you will have -it that he wasn’t the one.” - -“I’ve been saving it for the last,” smiled Harry. “Oh, Ted, you can -never guess in a thousand years who it was that told. It was,” Harry’s -smile grew broader, “your friend--the Dustless Duster!” - -Hearing a second whoop more blood-curdling than the first, Mrs. Burke -descended to find, not a demented laundry man, but a small, red-haired -son whose fantastic capering about the room pointed strongly to the -suspicion that insanity lurked within her own gates. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -THE BEAUTY OF EFFICIENCY - - -When on the next morning Teddy Burke returned to Department 40 he was -hailed as a hero and petted outrageously by his delighted friends in -house furnishings. Mr. Jarvis, however, appeared not to see him. He was -deeply disgusted to behold “that red-headed imp” again entering into -what he fondly dreamed of making his undisputed domain. He had never -reckoned Teddy Burke as an obstacle until after it had slowly dawned -upon him that a Teddyless department was highly conducive to his peace -of mind. Luck had recently favored him in that two days before Teddy’s -return Mr. Everett had succumbed to a severe attack of bronchitis -that promised to keep him away from house furnishings for at least -two or three weeks. Mr. Jarvis was now bent on making his temporary -reign of buyer a permanent one. He did not, therefore, classify the -reinstatement of 65 as an undisguised blessing. - -“Where’s Mr. Everett?” was Teddy’s first inquiry of Sam Hickson after -making the rounds of 40 and receiving its joyful approval of his -return. “I want to see him most of all. He fought like a good one for -me the day I got fired. That was some day! Whew! I’ll never forget it.” - -“Mr. Everett’s sick,” informed Hickson gloomily. “He’s got bronchitis. -Couldn’t have come down with it at a worse time. Your friend the -Percolator worried him into it, I guess. Poor fellow, he’s had his -hands full with the crazy loon.” - -“That’s too bad.” Teddy showed real concern. “Where does he live? I -might go’n see him.” - -“I wish you would!” exclaimed Hickson heartily. “He thinks a lot of -you, Reddy. Maybe you could get him to change his mind.” - -“Change his mind about what?” Teddy’s face registered round-eyed alarm. -He wondered if Hickson could mean---- - -“He’s going to resign.” The salesman spoke Teddy’s thought. “Just -before he was taken sick he told me that another store’d made him a -good offer. More salary than he gets here. He’d rather not take it. -He’s built up this department and he loves it. But he can’t stand -Jarvis. When you spoke of going to see him it just came to me that -you’d be the very one to let him know how much we need him here. He’s -promised to take me with him. I’ll go, of course. But I hate like sixty -to leave Martin Brothers. They’ve been fine to me.” - -Teddy gasped. His whole world seemed to be on the verge of tumbling -down about him. Without Mr. Everett and genial Sam Hickson, what a -desert spot 40 would become! He would go, too. Still, there was Harry -to think of and Mr. Keene. Besides, no other store had a school like -Martin Brothers, or a military company like the Minute Men. - -“It’s _awful_,” he breathed, aghast at the dreadful prospect. “If I -hadn’t got fired I’d have done my last canning before this and sealed -up the can.” - -“You had your own troubles,” sympathized Hickson, “but you behaved like -a brick. I’m glad that young sneak got his. The story’s gone all over -the store.” - -“I guess I’m some hero.” Teddy puffed out his chest. - -“You’ll do, but don’t go and spoil it all by getting a swelled head,” -was Hickson’s dampening advice. - -“I won’t.” Teddy grinned, quite unoffended at this jolt. “I’ve got to -get busy an’ look after the perky Percolator. He must have missed me a -lot.” - -“I noticed he did run up and kiss you this morning,” jibed the salesman. - -“I’da punched his fat face if he had,” threatened Teddy, looking utter -repugnance of such a horrible possibility. - -At luncheon that day, the first with Harry in many weeks, Teddy -remarked sourly: “I lost a lot of time by getting fired. The old -Percolator’s been buzzing around to beat the band. Mr. Everett’s sick. -Mr. Hickson says he’s going to resign from kettles and pans. I’m going -to see him one of these nights. I found out where he lives. Mr. Hickson -says Mr. Everett’ll be glad to see me.” - -“I’m sure he will,” nodded Harry. “Oh, Ted, I’ve got something funny to -tell you. One day while you were out of the store I was talking to Miss -Welch about you. I didn’t tell her that it was Leon who spoiled Mr. -Martin’s painting, but she said that something I said made her suspect -him. You see I asked her to watch out and if she ever heard anything -that might help to prove you didn’t do it, to let me know. Of course -she doesn’t get much chance to leave her desk, but she remembered a man -in the store who goes all over it. She’s known him ever since she came -here.” - -“The Dustless Duster?” guessed Teddy. - -Harry nodded. “Miss Welch told him the whole story. She even told him -Leon’s name and described him. Mr. Ferris, that’s the Dustless Duster’s -real name, said he knew Leon was a bad boy. He told her about reporting -him for sleeping in the bin, and that he’d seen Leon poking around the -store in all sorts of places where he had no business to be. He began -to keep his eye on the precious Clothes-pole. He thought if he could -catch him doing any more mischief, he would take him to Mr. Keene and -scare him into telling about the painting. So, to please Miss Welch, -every once in a while when he was near the book stock-room, he’d poke -his head in the lower door to see how Leon was behaving. But he never -caught him at anything until the morning we had the fight. We didn’t -see him but he saw us and heard everything we said. So you see you owe -a whole lot to the kind Dustless Duster.” - -“I wish I could do something grand for him,” replied Teddy, his small -face aglow. “I’m going to if I ever get a chance. Say, Harry, what a -lot of nice men there are in this store.” - -“The finest in the world,” came the enthusiastic response. “Mr. -Rexford’s first with me, though, and Mr. Keene next. A while back I -thought my Year of Promise was going to be a big fizzle, but it’s -getting better every minute. There’s only one thing I wish was -different. I wish that business about the ring hadn’t happened. It -makes me feel silly every time I think of it. Still I know I wasn’t -wrong.” - -“Oh, I wouldn’t care about that,” consoled Teddy. “You did your best. -These people that steal for a living are too sharp for boys like us.” - -“I never dare look at Mr. Prescott. I always feel ashamed. I haven’t -seen him much lately, but I suppose I shall next month. There’s going -to be a great big sale in silverware, so he’ll be around jewelry, I -guess.” Harry did not seem elated at the prospect. - -“That’s nothing to cry about. Think of me and the Percolator. -Some little puzzle.” Teddy looked as solemn as though his was the -responsibility of bearing the weight of the world upon his thin -shoulders. - -Afternoon found him trailing his plump aversion with a will born of his -devotion to Mr. Everett. Now alone at the helm, Mr. Jarvis was rapidly -discovering how difficult it was to be in half a dozen places at once. -If he remained in the office to receive and argue with the numerous -traveling salesmen who were forever dropping in, he was obliged to let -the department run itself. Then, too, he was not fitly equipped to meet -these bland-faced, smoothly-spoken sons of commerce whose business -it is to exalt their own wares above those of a rival manufacturer. -Their steady flow of irresistible argument bewildered him. To hide his -ignorance of this branch of Mr. Everett’s work he met these men with a -high and mighty manner intended to cover up his lack of knowledge of -house furnishings. - -Naturally, they went away highly disgruntled, to talk him over among -themselves when they chanced to encounter one another in a certain -hotel in the city to which most of the travelers engaged in selling -house furnishings gravitated as a kind of wayside home. It is the most -usual thing in the world for traveling salesmen who carry similar lines -of goods to hang together when their day’s work is done. Rivals though -they may be, their favorite pastime consists in congregating to talk -about the lines of goods which they make their living by selling. Among -them Mr. Everett was known and respected, whereas Mr. Jarvis was dubbed -a “joke” and a “mistake.” - -Mr. Jarvis, however, was not aware of these very personal opinions of -himself. Privately, he yearned to put aside his haughty manner, to -buy right and left of these insistent clamorers. He had been ordered, -however, to buy lightly and use the utmost judgment in purchasing -that little. Martin Brothers were not taking chances on a man who had -still to prove his superiority over Mr. Everett. True, Mr. Jarvis was -in line for promotion, should Mr. Everett resign his position, as it -was rumored that he intended to do. But Mr. Jarvis’ future as buyer of -Department 40 was still vague. - -But while the ambitious assistant wrestled with the buying problems of -Mr. Everett’s department, the salespeople in kettles and pans heartily -welcomed his frequent absences from the selling floor. The rumor that -Mr. Everett intended to resign had been wafted about the department -with the result that it went far toward ruining the strict but -kindly discipline the buyer had ever maintained. A curious spirit of -insurrection, which had long lain dormant, sprang suddenly into life. -Threats of “The day Mr. Everett’s resignation goes in, mine goes in, -too,” became a familiar mutter about the department. - -When first the news of the buyer’s illness had been received, his flock -had been inspired with the desire to do their level best for his sake. -They had continued to remain in this beatific state until word of his -impending resignation had reached them. Then their good resolutions -were swallowed up in revolutionary mutterings. Their minds continually -on this sore subject, their salesmanship suffered in consequence. No -longer did they work with might and main to make the day’s receipts -count. They served with due courtesy customers who wished to buy, but -no one went out of his or her way to bring in additional sales. They -made no concerted plan to revolt. They simply did so, each in his own -fashion. - -The second week of Mr. Everett’s absence Mr. Jarvis was taken to task -for the falling off of sales in Department 40 and admonished to do -better. The next evening he held a meeting of the salespeople under -his charge after the store had closed. He lectured touchingly on the -beauty of efficiency in selling to a company of young men and women who -listened to him with the stolid faces of wooden Indians. And the next -day’s receipts dropped a trifle lower. - -“Halt!” challenged Sam Hickson late one afternoon as Teddy Burke -flitted past him. - -Teddy halted, assuming a strictly military carriage. - -“March!” ordered the salesman. “March back here a minute. I’ve got -something on my mind.” - -“I’m s’prised,” beamed Teddy, trotting back. “I never would have -thought it.” - -“That’ll do,” warned Hickson. “Look here, I thought you were going to -see Mr. Everett? If you went, you kept pretty still about it.” - -“I didn’t go.” Teddy came to instant sobriety. “I’ve been waiting.” - -“Waiting for what?” - -“To jam on the lid. Don’t you understand? If I could go to Mr. Everett -and say, ‘Don’t resign. The perky Percolator’s canned,’ he’d come back -to 40 when he got well.” - -“You’ll never go then,” predicted Hickson. “You’re crazy, Reddy. You -can’t wish the fellow out and watch him go. It would take something -pretty serious to rush him out of here. You and I aren’t the kind to -try any crooked work.” - -“I wouldn’t do anything dishonest to him for the world.” Teddy flared -up like a torch. “You must have a nice idea of me, Mr. Sam Hickson.” - -“Now don’t get excited,” placated the man. “Didn’t you hear me say that -you and I weren’t that kind?” - -“Y-e-s. Anyhow, something might happen.” - -“It’ll have to happen in a hurry then, or it’ll be no use,” was -Hickson’s disheartened opinion. - -“I’m going to go and sit on one of those big whales o’ clothes hampers -down by the office an’ think,” announced Teddy. “I don’t want you to -come talking to me’n disturb my think-tank, either.” - -“I’ve got something better to do,” laughed his friend. “I’m going to -count up my book.” - -With a backward grin over one shoulder, Teddy strolled thoughtfully -toward the clothes hamper. Testing it carefully to insure that even his -light weight upon it would not result in catastrophe, the boy seated -himself. Chin on hands, buried in thought, he resembled a wise young -owl on a perch. - -“Where can I find Mr. Everett?” A crisp voice broke up Teddy’s -meditations. - -“At home in bed,” leaped to Teddy’s lips, but courtesy prevailed. “Mr. -Everett is sick, sir,” was what he did say. “He hasn’t been here for -over three weeks.” - -“You don’t say so! Hmm! Who is his assistant and where will I find -him?” - -Teddy was about to go in search of Mr. Jarvis, but changed his mind. He -decided that he felt like indulging in a little further conversation -with this tall, good-looking stranger who smiled upon him so pleasantly. - -“His assistant’s Mr. Jarvis. He’s an efficiency man.” - -“You don’t say so!” repeated the stranger, raising his eyebrows. His -amusement appeared to deepen. - -“Yep.” Teddy forgot himself. “He knows all ’bout efficiency.” - -“And does he like to talk about it?” a peculiar gleam shot into the -man’s eyes. - -“Does he?” Teddy warmed to the subject. “He eats it alive. He c’n talk -yards of it and never lose his breath.” - -“That is good. I am interested in efficiency myself. Where did you say -I would find him?” - -“I didn’t say.” Teddy’s brief liking for the pleasant stranger -vanished. Here was another efficiency crank. Sliding from his makeshift -throne he peered up and down the department. “There he is, down among -the ice-chests.” The little boy turned a scornful back on the man -and marched off. “Wait till he tries to sell the Percolator a ton of -tinware or a kitchen stove,” muttered the lad. “He’ll get his head -froze off. Funny. He looked nice. Not a bit like a fishy old fishiency -fish. Guess I’ll watch him get the freeze.” - -Teddy watched and saw something that made him open his eyes. At first -glance it looked as though his prediction would be verified. Almost -instantly the assistant’s haughty stare broke up in a fatuous smile. -“What do you know about that?” wondered Teddy, as he saw the two men -shake hands. “I s’pose they found out that they were both fishy fishes.” - -In this Teddy had made a most accurate guess. Thanks to his own -yearning for conversation he had put in the stranger’s possession a -most valuable method of approaching the unapproachable assistant. As -it happened the man represented a house against whom Mr. Everett had -a grudge of long standing. For several years he had refused to buy of -them, due to a fault which they had of taking orders at one price and -delivering them at another a trifle higher than quotation. Mr. Everett -had been supported by the firm in his refusal to deal with them, and -for a long time they had not ventured to send a representative to call -on him. - -The pleasant stranger had heard of the assistant from a friendly -traveler staying at the same hotel with him and had determined to take -advantage of Mr. Everett’s absence to try to place an order. It is to -be doubted whether he had any extreme interest in efficiency, but he -hailed it as a trusty bridge on which to place his feet. - -Mr. Jarvis was naturally delighted at last to meet a man after his -own heart. In triumph he led him into Mr. Everett’s office, there to -extoll the beauties of efficiency to his heart’s content. At the end of -a two-hour session the smiling stranger left with a good-sized order on -his book, while Mr. Jarvis was equally certain that he also had done -well. - -The result of his well-doing did not become manifest until several days -had passed. A call to the system manager’s office sent him hurrying -there in the hope of being informed of Mr. Everett’s resignation as -buyer, followed by his appointment to the position. His interview with -the manager was totally different from expectation. He was informed -that he had bought neither wisely nor well. In a heart-to-heart talk -with that august individual it soon became evident that Mr. Jarvis knew -very little about the relative merits and prices of kettles and pans -and less about the firms that manufactured them. Efficiency of his sort -withered beside the clear business judgment of Mr. Everett. - -But the worst was yet to come. The following day Mr. Jarvis again held -down a chair in the assistant manager’s office to learn what that -far-seeing individual thought of him as a business man. He had not -been placed in his proper sphere, the manager concluded and suggested -pertinently that if he cared to remain in the store another position -suitable to his somewhat peculiar abilities might be found for him. - -At the end of that session Mr. Jarvis returned to the department which -he in a few short weeks had so nearly succeeded running into the rocks. -But he did not remain there. No, indeed. He collected his possessions -and shook the dust of Department 40 from his feet without so much as -a farewell word to kettles and pans. And the next elevator bore him -upward to that mysterious haunt known as the Bureau of Adjustment, -where in settling the claims of a claim-hungry public his fatal -efficiency might soar unheeded and undisturbed. - -“Who stole the perky Percolator?” demanded Teddy Burke on the morning -following Mr. Jarvis’ flight from house furnishings. “I haven’t seen -his sweet face this morning.” - -Sam Hickson laughed happily. “You won’t see it unless you go up to the -Bureau of Adjustment. He bubbled up once too often, I guess, and the -system manager got him.” - -“Why, when, what for?” almost shouted Teddy in wild excitement. - -“I don’t know much about it. I only know he’s gone. Duffield just -told me. I hope Mr. Everett hasn’t sent in his resignation yet. If he -hasn’t, he might come back.” - -“And is the Percolator canned for good?” gasped Teddy. - -“He sure is.” - -“Then I’m going to see Mr. Everett to-night.” Teddy skipped joyfully -up an aisle to interview Miss Newton on the subject. Miss Newton was -busy, however, with a customer. She looked so amiable and smiling that -he decided she had heard the news. Seized with a brilliant thought he -jerked the little leather-covered book from his pocket. There was just -room on the page for one more item. So he wrote, “March 14. Canned for -good, but not by me.” - -And it was not until some time afterward that Teddy Burke learned just -how important a part he had played in the final canning of the “perky -Percolator.” - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - -A BELATED RECOGNITION - - -When Teddy Burke left the store that night to make his call on Mr. -Everett he was in a most jubilant frame of mind. A great honor had come -to his friend Sam Hickson. Hardly had Teddy left him to interview Miss -Newton when Hickson had been summoned to the system manager’s office. -There he received the surprise of his life. He was notified that he had -been selected to replace Mr. Jarvis as assistant buyer. Mr. Everett -had been consulted by telephone and approved the proposed change. It -was expected that Mr. Everett would be able to resume his duties on -the following week. Hickson thrilled with joy at this news. It was -equivalent to saying that his chief had not resigned after all. - -As a matter of fact, Mr. Everett _had_ done so, by formal letter, -on the day previous to Mr. Jarvis’ downfall, his resignation to -take effect one month after date of notification. Beyond the terse -statement, “for personal reasons which I shall not divulge,” the buyer -had set forth no direct cause for his act. The system manager was in -possession of numerous facts which he shrewdly brought to bear upon -the matter. Mr. Everett had not advocated Mr. Jarvis’ appointment as -his assistant. Instead, he had wisely recommended Samuel Hickson as -best fitted to serve in that capacity. He had been overruled, however, -by others, who had believed Mr. Jarvis to be the right man for the -position. As the system manager himself had emphatically sided with Mr. -Everett, it now gave him exquisite pleasure to be able to say, “I told -you so.” A long telephone conversation had ensued between him and Mr. -Everett, which resulted in the removal of Mr. Jarvis to the Bureau of -Adjustment. - -Teddy Burke was ushered into Mr. Everett’s comfortable bachelor -quarters that evening, his freckled face alive with friendly joy. He -had planned to conduct himself in a manner befitting one who makes a -call. The sight of his beloved buyer completely banished his laudable -ideas of dignity. He behaved exactly like red-haired, roguish Teddy and -no one else. Seated opposite Mr. Everett, who lounged luxuriously in -a big easy chair, Teddy forgot himself and proceeded to convulse his -chief with a somewhat sheepish account of his numerous experiments in -the canning line. He proved himself such good company that Mr. Everett -insisted that his young entertainer should dine with him. Accordingly, -Mrs. Burke was consulted by telephone and Teddy, in the seventh heaven -of bliss, remained to break bread with his chief. - -That was a gala evening for him. For days afterward he was prone to -dwell fondly upon the glories of that dinner to Harry Harding. On his -part, Harry was only too willing to listen to whatever it pleased Teddy -to tell and retell. During the long winter so much unpleasantness had -befallen the chums that their common misfortunes had strengthened -wonderfully the bond between them. With Leon Atkins’ discharge from the -store, peace and safety had come to Harry. With Mr. Everett again in -Department 40 and Sam Hickson acting as his assistant, Teddy’s cup of -happiness overflowed. - -“There’s only one thing that makes me feel sorry that the perky -Percolator’s gone into the adjusting business,” confided Teddy to Harry -as they strolled home under a reddening March sunset. “To-morrow’s -April Fool’s Day. I wanted to give him the Zoo’s number and ask him -to call up Mr. Lion. I might write it and leave it up at the Bureau -to-morrow before he gets there.” - -“Don’t you do it,” advised Harry. “Let him alone and stick to kettles -and pans. Then you won’t get into trouble. You’ve had enough for one -year.” - -“I guess that’s right.” Teddy squinted reflectively. “Mr. Everett says -if I watch my p’s and q’s I might be his assistant some day. Only I’ll -have to grow a lot. I’m an inch taller’n last year, anyhow. That’s -growing up some.” - -“I’m almost three inches taller than I was last year,” said Harry with -pardonable pride. “I hope I’ll grow up to be as tall as Father was. He -was six feet.” - -“You better get a grow on then,” grinned Teddy. “I saw Miss Verne -to-day. She wants me to sing at an entertainment. It’s to be the last -of May in Martin Hall. It’s a benefit for another sick man in the -store.” - -“That reminds me, Mr. Barton’s coming back next week. Miss Welch told -me. He wrote her a letter. He said in it he was going to write to me, -too. He’s entirely well. Isn’t that fine? He’ll be back at a busy -time. Next week’s the big silver sale. I suppose Mr. Prescott’ll be -in jewelry. He must hate me. He scowls at me every time I meet him as -though he’d like to gobble me up.” - -“I guess I’ll have to give him a name,” suggested Teddy. “Let me see. -Three Eyes sounds pretty good. He’s s’posed to have one eye in the back -of his head. If he’d used it, p’raps that woman wouldn’t’ve got away -with the ring.” - -Harry laughed a little at Teddy’s inspiration. “You can’t ever make him -believe she took it,” he remarked with some bitterness. “I hope nobody -tries to steal anything next week while I’m looking at him or her. If I -reported it, Mr. Prescott wouldn’t believe me.” - -“Oh, I don’t s’pose anyone will,” was Teddy’s cheerful comment. -“Silverware’d be pretty hard to steal.” - -Harry agreed that it would and dropped the subject. Mr. Prescott’s -appearance in the jewelry department on the following Monday afternoon -again brought it to mind. The big sale had begun with a rush of -customers that made jewelry a hive of industry. The sale was an annual -event and many persons took advantage of it with a prudent eye to -future wedding or holiday gifts. - -Up and down the humming aisles walked Mr. Barton, strangely transformed -from the crabbed, hard-faced aisle manager of the past to a pleasant, -mild-mannered man whose eyes still held a hint of suffering. He was -thinner than of old, but moved with an alertness that bespoke a return -of strength and health. Whenever he chanced to encounter Harry he -smiled at him in a fashion that bespoke his everlasting gratitude. As -for Miss Welch, she and “Smarty Barton” were in a fair way to become -excellent comrades of work. - -Though jewelry buzzed with importance, books had slid into an unusual -state of placidity after an early Easter. Gardening and nature study -were now coming rapidly to the front and a great changing of tables -went on daily. - -As the week progressed, the jewelry department grew busier. - -“Beats everything I ever saw the way these people spend their money,” -grumbled the cashier in jewelry, whose cage was situated next to the -exchange desk. Her remark was addressed to Miss Welch. The latter had -just concluded an elaborate argument with an irate woman who insisted -that she exchange a damaged cut glass bowl for a perfect one. - -“You’re lucky,” was Miss Welch’s grim assurance. “You can take their -money and keep your mouth shut. But me! I have to take their sass and -talk like an angel. If I told that customer once, I told her ten times -to take that bowl to the Bureau of Adjustment. But no, she couldn’t -see it. She bought it here and here’s where she’s going to stick till -she gets another. ‘Madam,’ I says to her, ‘you can stand here till the -store closes if you want to, but I can’t do nothing for you.’ But she -wouldn’t believe I was giving it to her straight. So I had to call -Barton and he led her away, she telling him about ‘that snippy girl’ -as far’s I could hear her. If I don’t come to work to-morrow you’ll -know I died of a broken heart over being called a snip. If to-morrow -wasn’t Saturday I’d take a rest. This desk is the main pavilion of -Trouble-hunters’ Resort.” - -“I’m glad to-morrow’s Saturday,” sighed the cashier. “This has been a -heavy week. Three or four times a day this cash box runs over. I’ve got -about a thousand dollars in it now. I hope Mr. Wiggins sends someone -down pretty soon to get it. He generally has a messenger down here -after it before this. Must be he’s forgot.” - -“It oughtta be a man,” declared Miss Welch reprovingly. “It ain’t safe -to trust all that money to a girl.” - -“Oh, I don’t know. The elevator’s only a step and these boxes the -messengers carry are safe enough. They’re lock boxes. He’s always had -special messengers to do it. They’re not cash girls. They’re grown up -women and oughtta know their business. All this talk about girls not -being able to do as well as men makes me sick.” The cashier pouted, -looking rather nettled. “I b’lieve in woman’s rights, I do.” - -“Don’t get huffy,” dimpled Miss Welch. “I’m something of a suffragette -myself. I was only saying what _I_ thought. This is a free country, -ain’t it, Kiddy?” This to Harry Harding, who had stopped before her -desk to speak to her. Harry was the bearer of a note from his mother -asking Miss Welch to take supper with the Hardings on the next Friday -evening. Harry had intended to deliver the note that morning. A call to -the stock-room had caused him to forget it until that very moment. He -now extended it to her, saying, “Here’s a note from my mother, Miss -Welch. What was it you asked me?” - -“Forget it. I’m busy.” Miss Welch began a hasty exploration of the -square white envelope. “Aren’t you the nice kid?” she beamed as she -finished reading the prettily worded missive of invitation. “I’ll be -there, both feet first. For goodness’ sake, don’t tell your mother -that. She’ll think I was brought up in a barn. I’ll write her an -answer to this before I go home. I hope the whole town don’t get the -exchange craze while I’m trying to do it. I’m liable to write, ‘Dear -Mrs. Harding: No, we don’t exchange men’s shirts at this desk. You -better see the aisle man. I accept with pleasure your kind invitation -to go two aisles to the right and all the way back, etc.’ That’s about -what I’d be writing.” Miss Welch indulged in a merry laugh at her own -expense in which both Harry and the cashier joined. - -“You’re awful funny,” giggled the cashier. “I--oh, here you are! About -time someone got busy with this.” She wagged her head toward the -well-filled cash box. - -A slender, fair-haired young woman dressed in the customary store -black, relieved only by a wide, white collar, stood before the desk, -lock box in hand. - -“How much have you for me? Tell me quickly. I must get back upstairs.” -She spoke imperiously, at the same time producing a small receipt pad -and pencil. - -“Oh, I guess you can wait a minute. You kept me waiting,” was the -cashier’s stolid retort. - -Shrugging her shoulders, the young woman stepped into the cage beside -the cashier and began to transfer the bulk of the money to the now -open lock box, leaving only a small percentage of notes for change. -Scribbling a receipt for the amount she had taken, she signed it with -an illegible scrawl and prepared to depart in a hurry. - -“Wait a moment.” A boyish form resolutely barred the messenger’s path. -A determined hand caught her by the arm. With a haughty stare at the -offender she jerked herself free. - -“Let me go,” she hissed. “What----” - -Harry Harding’s fingers clutched the young woman’s arm in a tighter -grip. Her appearance at the desk had awakened in his brain a curious -recollection of something unusually unpleasant. As he continued to -stare at her, that which at first had been merely a disagreeable -impression deepened to an alarming knowledge. - -“I will _not_ let you go,” he returned, his young face set and stern. -“Mr. Barton!” Raising his voice he hailed the aisle manager, whom he -sighted a short distance off. Miss Welch and the cashier were staring -in dumb surprise. An instant and Mr. Barton was at his elbow. - -“What’s the trouble here, Harry?” he asked, amazed at the strange -tableau. - -“Make this boy let go my arm. He must be crazy. I’m in a hurry. Make -him let go, I say.” A pair of pale blue eyes, scintillating with rage, -flashed an accompaniment to the furious command. - -“She’s not a messenger from Mr. Wiggins’ office,” Harry cried out. “I -know she isn’t. Send for Mr. Wiggins and let him identify her. She’s -the ring woman, Miss Welch!” - -“Great goodness!” exploded Miss Welch. “Hang on to her, Mr. Barton, -good and hard. I’ll bet Harry knows what he’s talking about.” - -Dropping the cash box the young woman made a furious struggle to break -away. Her action was in itself so suspicious as to condemn her. Harry -relinquished her to Mr. Barton’s stronger guardianship. By this time a -crowd had begun to collect. Miss Welch was already busy telephoning Mr. -Wiggins. A man at the far end of the department glimpsed the crowd and -now came toward it on the run. - -“What’s all this?” he asked gruffly. - -“Mr. Prescott,” Harry’s tones held a suspicion of triumph, “this is the -woman who got away with the ring last Christmas. I told you I’d know -her if ever I saw her again. Ask her about it. Ask her, too, what she -was trying to do with that cash box.” - -Before Mr. Prescott could answer, a second man pushed his way to the -center of the crowd. “Is this the girl?” he questioned, his voice -unsteady with fright. - -“That’s the one.” It was Miss Welch who answered. - -“I never saw her before. Where’s the money?” The query ended almost in -a shout. - -“It’s here, and you may thank this boy for it.” Mr. Barton nodded over -one shoulder, still holding firmly to the now cowering imposter. “This -is your case, Prescott. Better take charge of it.” - -The detective’s face was a study as he moved forward to collect his -own. “You’d better come with me,” he said to Harry. “I may need you.” - -Harry was not at all proud of making one of the trio that set out for -a neighboring elevator. Yet this time he knew that what he had done -was beyond criticism. It remained now for Mr. Prescott to extract the -true story of the ring from his prisoner. Once shut off from all means -of escape, the woman’s remarkable assumption of bravado in a measure -left her. She could not very well deny the raid on the cash box, but -pretended ignorance of the affair of the ring. It was a long, wordy -battle to which Harry was compelled to listen. In the end the woman -broke down and confessed not only the theft of the ring, but that she -was also one of a gang of professional thieves. No amount of argument, -however, could persuade her to reveal either their identity or their -whereabouts. - -It was at this juncture that Mr. Prescott allowed Harry to go, with, -“I’ll see you later, my boy. I’ve a good deal to say to you.” - -Meanwhile, down in the jewelry department a radiant-faced young woman -was singing Harry’s praises to Mr. Barton. - -“That boy’s shooting upward like a rocket,” she exulted. “What’s more -he’s going to stay up. He’s got a wise head on his shoulders. I’m glad -he got a chance to show Prescott a thing or two.” - -“He’s a smart boy and a good one,” agreed the aisle manager. “He did a -great deal for me. You know he spoke to Mr. Keene about me when I was -sick. That’s how Mr. Keene came to know of it and started the plan for -the benefit.” - -“Mr. Keene nothing,” retorted Miss Welch. “He’s the one that cinched -the idea for that benefit. Him and that red-headed kid he runs with. -They planned it out, but kept it under their hats because they was -afraid to let folks know it for fear they’d think the show wasn’t much -if two youngsters steered it. He’s a wonder, that boy. I supposed you -knew the rights of it, if no one else did. Well, I guess Mr. Keene and -me must have been the only ones in the know. It’s only one more star in -Harry’s crown.” - -“I never knew. I----” Mr. Barton wheeled and walked away, too much -overcome for further speech. He wondered if Mr. Edward Martin knew the -truth. He determined to find out from Mr. Keene. If the senior partner -were not in possession of the facts, then his own duty lay before him. -Mr. Martin should learn from his lips the story of one boy’s golden -deed. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV - -ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL - - -“So you are Harry Harding. Sit down here, Harry. I should like to talk -with you.” The senior partner of Martin Brothers waved a distinctly -embarrassed boy into a chair opposite his own and surveyed the lad with -an earnest, kindly gaze. - -Inwardly Harry was wildly cogitating the reason for this interview -which had been thrust upon him. It could hardly pertain to the affair -of the cash box. It was four days since that had happened. In four -days an excitement of that nature has ample time to die out in such -a busy world of trade. Yet Mr. Martin did not seem displeased; quite -the contrary. His singularly youthful dark eyes, which contrasted so -sharply with his gray hair and mustache, were filled with friendliness. - -“Mr. Keene has told me so much that is good of you, I thought I should -like to see the boy who has looked out so thoroughly for my interests -and for those of my employees. Your prompt action saved the store a -loss on last Friday. You are greatly to be commended for it.” - -“It was all in the day’s work, sir,” Harry replied, his already flushed -face turning pinker. “I only remembered the woman’s face and suspected -she wasn’t a real messenger.” - -“It takes a pretty smart boy to remember a thing like that at the right -moment,” smiled the senior partner. “Mr. Prescott tells me you were -instrumental in breaking up that chain of thieving last year. He says -he would like to have you on his staff. Do you wish me to place you -there?” - -“Oh, no, sir!” Harry expressed emphatic disapproval of such a change. -“I shouldn’t like to be a detective in the least. I just happened to -get into both those affairs.” - -Mr. Martin smiled whimsically. “You’re rather different from the -average youngster. Most boys would jump at a chance to become a sleuth. -What would you like to become?” he questioned, staring hard at Harry. - -“A business man, sir. I’d like to learn a lot about a big store like -this; about the way things are done here. Then if ever I had a chance -to go into business for myself, I know just what to do and how to do -it.” - -“So you’d prefer becoming a business man. I should say you had already -made a fair start. How would you like some day to be a book buyer?” - -Harry’s answer came somewhat haltingly. - -“I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve thought a good deal about that. In one -way I’d like it and in another way I wouldn’t.” - -“Tell me just what you mean,” tactfully urged the man. - -“I think----” began Harry. “You see it’s like this. If I were some day -to go into business for myself I don’t believe it would be in books. -I don’t know yet just what it would be. I won’t know, either, for -a long time to come. I’d like to stay with Mr. Rexford, of course. -Still in another year I ought to be something more than a stock boy. -I don’t want to be a salesman, and even if I knew enough I couldn’t -be an assistant by that time. I’d still be considered too young for -such a responsible position.” Drawn out to speak of what lay nearest -his heart, Harry had quite forgotten his brief embarrassment. He was -opening his mind to his interested listener in the same frank fashion -in which he might have talked to Teddy Burke. - -“I understand,” nodded Mr. Martin. “As you say you are still rather -young to talk with any certainty of your future. But you’ve made a good -start, young man; a good start. Keep on in the same way and some day -you’ll find yourself where you hope to be. You can’t do it in a day, -or a month, or a year. You must build your future, stone upon stone. -It won’t be easy. Nothing worth having is easy to get. Remember that. -Now, Harry, I am very glad to have met you; glad to have such a boy as -you in my store. I shall not forget you. Every now and then I shall -send for you to come to me to ask you how you are progressing.” - -“Thank you, Mr. Martin,” Harry rose, believing the pleasant interview -to be at an end. “I shall try always to have good reports to bring -you.” He was about to say “good morning” and depart when the senior -partner halted him. - -“Wait a moment,” he commanded. Picking up a sealed envelope on his -desk he tendered it to the amazed boy. “This is for you, with Martin -Brothers’ heartiest thanks. You are not to open it until you are in -your own home.” - -Harry drew back, the ruddy color leaving his cheeks. “Oh, I -couldn’t----” he stammered. - -“This envelope does not contain what you think it holds,” returned Mr. -Martin, his eyes twinkling. “Whatever it contains I insist that you -accept it.” - -Reluctantly Harry took the envelope. A sudden mist flashed across his -blue eyes. He tried to speak, but could not. For an instant the whole -room became a blur. Then he managed to articulate an unsteady, “I thank -you, Mr. Martin. Good morning.” Completely unnerved by his astonishing -good fortune, he cast an eloquent look toward the man at the desk and -hurried from the office. - -Regaining Department 84 his first move was to seek Mr. Rexford’s -office. He felt that he ought to tell the buyer of his recent call on -the senior partner. The day following the affair of the cash box, Mr. -Rexford had come to him and said: “Well, Harry, I hear that you saved -the store considerable money yesterday. Hereafter Prescott will have -to look out for his laurels. I understand he is anxious to have you -transferred to his office. You don’t want to go, do you?” And Harry had -answered with a decided, “I do not.” Mr. Rexford had appeared vastly -relieved at the reply and offered Harry his hand in unspoken apology -for certain brusque speeches he had given utterance to, directly after -the trouble over the stolen ring. - -It was now most disappointing to the boy to find Mr. Rexford’s office -deserted of his presence, just when he wished most to see him. Later -he learned from Mr. Brady, who, since Leon’s removal, had grown quite -friendly, that the buyer had gone out of the city for a day or two. So -Harry hugged his good news until lunch time, when he could relate it to -Teddy. - -Teddy was vastly impressed. “I guess you’re it,” he observed, his black -eyes glowing. “What do you s’pose is in that envelope? Let’s see it.” - -Harry took the envelope from a coat pocket. Teddy hefted, pinched -and fingered it in crafty speculation. “It’s quite heavy. Maybe it’s -a picture of Mr. Martin,” he guessed. “He might want you to have it -to remember him by.” His accompanying grin belied the seriousness of -his guess. “Wouldn’t you like to have me walk clear home with you -to-night?” he asked slyly. - -“You funny Teddy,” laughed Harry. “Of course I would. I was going to -ask you to.” - -There was one other person to whom Harry felt bound to confide his -good news. That person was Margaret Welch. On his way from luncheon he -sought her desk. - -“Why, here’s Nick Carter the second!” exclaimed the jolly exchange -clerk. - -“Don’t tease me,” protested Harry, smiling. “I want to tell you -something.” Modestly he spoke of the honor that had so recently been -his. - -“Well, I never!” Miss Welch became all smiles. “You certainly are the -candy kid. Be sure you tell me to-morrow what was in that envelope. -And Prescott’s aching to get hold of you! But none of that Sherlock -business for yours. Say, Harry, I wanted to ask you something, but I -kept forgetting it. How did that girl put over that cash box stunt? -You was up in Prescott’s office when she was. Did she tell? Now don’t -cry. I know you hate to talk about it. Still you can oblige your friend -Irish for once. Her middle name’s Rubber.” - -Harry’s face had clouded as Miss Welch brought up the subject he had -resolutely put behind him. Her final speech made him smile. “She -told Mr. Prescott that she had been watching the cashier in jewelry -for a week. She had a cash box made to look like those in the store. -The receipt pad she had was almost the same as those they use in Mr. -Wiggins’ office. She thought no one would notice the difference until -after she got away. It was easy enough to dress in black like the store -girls, I suppose.” - -“Hm! She must have figured out the whole cash system pretty well,” -mused Miss Welch. “Say, Harry, did you know Breeden’s going to leave -Saturday night?” - -“No.” Harry showed some surprise. “It’s funny, Miss Welch, but Miss -Breeden has been quite nice to me lately. I never thought she would be -after what happened last Spring.” - -“Ha, ha!” Miss Welch seemed vastly amused. “There’s a reason, and this -is it. Breeden’s going to be married soon, not to Farley, but somebody -else. She and Farley smashed their wedding ring plans right after New -Year’s. I heard about it just a few days back.” - -Harry went back to his work feeling that the last ghost had, indeed, -been laid. - -“Let’s take the street car home,” was Teddy’s audacious proposal after -work that night. - -“You’re more curious about what’s in that envelope than I am,” laughed -Harry. - -“Course I am. I want to see Mr. Martin’s picture,” grinned his -unabashed chum. - -It was a thrilling moment for Harry when with Teddy at his left, his -mother at his right, he tore open the concealing envelope, to find a -small pasteboard-covered book, bearing the printed legend, “Martin -Brothers’ Bank.” Underneath was written, “Harry Harding.” - -“Hooray!” shrieked Teddy. - -Harry had already opened the book. He gasped, then overcome, hid his -face against his mother’s ever ready shoulder. “Mothery!” he whispered -in choking ecstasy. - -Harry suddenly raised his head from his mother’s shoulder, his blue -eyes shining. “I thought last year that the twenty-dollar gold piece -was splendid. But, a hundred dollars! I’m going to give it straight to -you, Mothery!” - -“You’ll do no such thing,” declared Mrs. Harding with a shake of her -head. “This money is yours and you must keep it in the bank and try to -add a little to it whenever you can. That’s what Mr. Martin means you -to do.” - -“I’m going to write a letter to Mr. Edward Martin to-night,” announced -Harry. “I’d like to have him know how much this means to me.” Fondly he -patted the bank book. - -“Summer’s coming,” observed Teddy irrelevantly, his black eyes dreamy. - -“So it is. I know what made you think about it just now, too. You’re -remembering last vacation and----” - -“The Year of Promise,” supplemented Teddy. “It’s been some year, -hasn’t it?” - -“Yes, it has. When we sat under that tree last summer and read that -story, I never thought we were going to have such a queer winter in the -store. My mother says nobody can become great or broad-minded without -having troubles,” mused Harry. - -“I think my mind _is_ broader,” returned Teddy seriously. “My head’s -bigger than it was last year.” - -Harry burst into rollicking laughter. Teddy glared reproof, then -giggled. “It’s so,” he contended. “I wear a size larger hat’n I did a -year ago. That’s a sign, all right.” - -“There are lots of other signs besides that,” reminded Harry warmly. -“I’m lucky to have you for my chum, Teddy Burke.” - -“You mean just the other way ’round.” Teddy’s thin hand sought Harry’s -in a firm renewal of their boyish covenant. Builded upon the foundation -of loyalty, theirs was a friendship that would defy time and change. - - -THE END - - - - - Transcriber’s Notes: - - --Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_). - - --Printer's, punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently - corrected. - - --Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved. - - --Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved. - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Harry Harding's Year of Promise, by Alfred Raymond - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARRY HARDING'S YEAR OF PROMISE *** - -***** This file should be named 52872-0.txt or 52872-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/8/7/52872/ - -Produced by Donald Cummings and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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