As Grant and his companions entered the outer office a tall, thin man, carrying a much-worn Gladstone bag, brushed past them and vanished down the street. The lame youth glanced at the fellow's face, then he turned to Nattie with a low whistle.
"There's a queer thing," he said. "If that man wore side whiskers, I would wager anything that he was Mr. Willis Round himself."
CHAPTER VI. MR. BLACK RECEIVES A SURPRISE.
"You don't say?" ejaculated the lad, stopping near the door. "Why, perhaps it was. Wait, I'll follow him and see."
Before either Grant or Mori could offer an objection, Nattie darted from the office into the street. There were several clerks in the counting-room, and they eyed the newcomers curiously. At the far end of the room was a door leading into the private office of the firm.
A hum of voices came from within. Grant waited a moment undecided what to do, then he approached a clerk, and asked him to announce to Mr. Black that Grant Manning wished to see him on important business. The message produced immediate results.
The fellow had hardly disappeared when the senior member himself stalked majestically into the outer apartment. Waving an official document in one hand, he glowered at the lame youth and exclaimed, in a harsh voice:
"Your call will do you no good, sir. I have already instituted the suit. I suppose you have come to beg for time, as usual?"