Robb chuckled. They spoke of Nelson.
"He's a good scout," said Bill. "How is it they always move the decent heads away?"
"I give them up," said the manager; "the older I grow the more head office puzzles me."
Nelson rapped at the door and was invited in. "Well," grinned the manager, "our pipe-dream didn't mature, did it?"
But Evan was having one of his own, and while he did not like to leave so kind a manager as Robb, he was thinking almost entirely of himself.
"I'll probably be teller in Creek Bend, won't I?"
"Yes," said Bill, "if there's anything to be 'told.'"
The manager laughed quietly.
"Take care you don't get lazy, Evan," he said. "They won't leave you there forever. It will be a city office for yours in due course, and then you'll need to be in practice. You'll be sure to hit a bees'-nest before you quit the bank."
"If they always use me right," said Evan, "I won't ever quit."