Mr. Weatherley looked at his employee curiously.
"Have you ever been there, then?" he inquired.
"Once or twice, sir," Arnold admitted.
"Not on the twenty-eight shillings a week you get from me!"
"Quite true, sir," Arnold assented. "My circumstances were slightly different at the time."
Mr. Weatherley hesitated. This young man's manner did not invite confidences. On the other hand, he was genuinely curious about him.
"What made you come into the city, Chetwode?" he inquired. "You don't seem altogether cut out for it—not that you don't do your work and all that sort of thing," he went on, hastily. "I haven't a word of complaint to make, mind. All the same, you certainly seem as though you might have done a little better for yourself."
"It is the fault of circumstances, sir," Arnold replied. "I am hoping that before long you will find that I do my work well enough to give me a better position."
"You are ambitious, then?"