This question would have confused some boys, had they been in the place of Felix; but it did not affect him in the slightest degree, though the keen and practiced eye of the banker watched him closely.
“Why, don’t you remember that Wormley & Jollup had a big strike in their factory?”
“Yes, the papers printed a great deal about it.”
“Well, you see, they couldn’t get any trunks made; so business got dull in the store.”
“They wouldn’t give in to the strikers, I believe?”
“No; and the result was they had to let a lot of us go.”
“It was an unfortunate affair. But I suppose you got a recommendation from Wormley & Jollup?”
“Yes, sir,” said Felix, with all the assurance of one who was telling the truth; “there it is—signed by Mr. Jollup himself.”
The letter was highly complimentary to Felix Mortimer.
“No one could ask for a better recommendation than this,” said the banker, looking as if he thought he had found a prize in the boy before him.