As he had promised himself, Dick applied to Mr. Graylock in the morning for a position.
The big store was not very busy at that time, most of their trade coming in the afternoon and evening, so that he found the proprietor in his office engaged in dictating letters to a girl stenographer.
When he had finished he beckoned to Dick to come into his cubby-hole den where an opening afforded him a chance to keep his eye on all that was going on in the store, from bookkeepers to the clerks behind the various counters.
Mr. Archibald Graylock was a very stern and harsh man, with an eye that seemed to penetrate to the very soul of the party with whom he held converse.
Those in his employ led a dog's life of it, for he would brook no trifling, and from the time they entered the door until they left not one minute could they call their own; no one might tell just when that cold, calculating green eye was fixed upon them; so there never was the least sign of skylarking or even friendly communion in that big establishment while the proprietor was present, and that meant pretty much the live-long day, and every day in the week.
Dick had never liked him; no one else did for that matter, though many people toadied to Mr. Graylock simply because he was reputed to be one of the richest merchants in Riverview.
And since he had heard how this man had, like a big bully, frightened his poor little mother with his ugly threats, Dick disliked him more than ever; but since he had come here seeking employment he knew that it would be foolish for him to give any indication of such a feeling.
"Sit down there, boy," said the big man, indicating with a lordly gesture a chair so placed that while he talked he could also keep an eye on the store by means of that special opening.
When he spoke in a bragging or a bullying tone Archibald Graylock was accustomed to elevating his voice so that the men at the bookkeepers' desk could easily hear all he said; perhaps he could not help being loud in his ways, but there were those who said he did it simply to make an impression on his employees, and show the groveling worms what a great man they served.
Dick sat down, holding his hat between his hands, and not feeling at all confident that he would have even a chance to accept any offer at the hands of this nabob of Riverview, for he fancied that Mr. Graylock, by his frown, meant to simply make use of the opportunity to read him a lecture, haul him over the coals, and then perhaps publicly insult him.