"No, I am not. You don't do half that you ought to."
"Very well. Then I will leave the store."
"All right. Make out your account, whatever it is, and I will pay you off."
This was all that passed between Mr. Vollar and his clerk, but it showed that they were of the same opinion regarding Sam seeking another branch of business. The proprietor was perfectly willing to let him go, and Sam was willing to be released from the shackles he had worn for so long without any promise of promotion. Once out of the store he was his own master. He need not get up until he felt like it; and, besides, wasn't there a pearl-mine all ready for him to work? It is true he didn't know where that pearl-mine was, but—by George! Come to think of it, he still had two strings to his bow. He would seek an interview with Joe Lufkin before the sun set, tell him what Hank had discovered, and depend upon getting it out of him.
"That's my best hold," he muttered, as he took down the book and turned to his account. "Of course he can't get the money out of the bank, for Bob's got that shut up until he comes back, but he can demand to know where that pearl-stream is. I tell you, that is worth thinking of."
In a few minutes the clerk had his account made out and presented it to Mr. Vollar with a receipt made out in full. It was a mighty small sum of money that he had due him, not more than three dollars and a half, but he was certain that by the time that was gone he would have a hundred times that sum in his pocket.
"There's your money, Sam," said the jeweller, picking up the receipt and looking at it. "I should be much better satisfied if you were going to leave me to go into some honorable business."
"You are not satisfied with me, and so I quit," replied Sam.
"That's all nonsense," replied Mr. Vollar, who felt some anxiety in regard to his clerk. Sam had been with him so long that he hated to have him go on such a wild-goose chase as pearl-hunting. "I know that you never would have thought of going if you hadn't been here when Bob Nellis came in."
"I must say that it gave me a show," said Sam, who thought he might as well tell the truth and be done with it. "I know I don't stand much chance, but at the same time I may come to you with as much money as I could earn here in six months. I needn't ask you to keep this still?"