"Well," yawned Watson, "if you're satisfied, Nelsy, I guess they are."
Nelson waited a minute before making the request he came with the intention of making.
"Mr. Robb," he asked, "could I take a day off to run home and see the folks? Creek Bend is a hundred miles away and hard to get at—so the station agent says."
"Sure," said the manager, "but I'll have to 'fix' the head office travel-slip."
"What's that?" asked Evan.
Mr. Robb showed him a slip of paper to be signed by the manager of the branch left and the branch arrived at, also by the transient clerk. This slip records the time to a minute and allows no stop-over or visits en route. Neither does it permit of delay in leaving.
Evan suddenly decided he would not bother going home. He explained to Watson later that he considered it crooked to tamper with the travel-slip and thought he would be a cad to let the manager run the chance of further incurring head office displeasure by altering it.
"By heck," said Bill, "you've got to let some of that good conscience run out if you ever expect to stay in the bank."
"Well, Bill," was the reply, "when I find that I can't be honest in the bank I'll get out of it."
Watson remembered that remark years afterwards.