The clerk left the house in a very contented frame of mind. He determined to resign his situation the next morning, and claim the stipulated weekly allowance.
CHAPTER IX. HOW MATTERS WERE ARRANGED.
After the clerk had left him, Paul Morton began to consider what was best to be done. He had at first been inclined to despise this man as insignificant and incapable of mischief, but the interview which he had just had convinced him that on this point he was mistaken. It was evident that he was in the clerk's power, and just as evident that the latter wanted to be bought off.
"After all, it is not so bad," he said to himself, "he has his price; the only question is, whether that price is an exorbitant one or not. I must make the best possible terms with him."
There was another question to be decided, and that related to his ward—young Robert Raymond.
Should he send him back to school or not?
While he was pondering as to this question, an idea occurred to him.
Why should he not kill two birds with one stone, by placing his ward in the charge of James Cromwell, with a liberal allowance, to be deducted from his ward's income for his trouble? Not that he considered the clerk, of whom he knew next to nothing, and that little not to his credit, a suitable person to have the charge of a boy. But then, he was not a conscientious guardian, and his only desire was, so to arrange matters as best to subserve his own interests. Besides, there were certain plans and hopes which he cherished that could best be subserved by a man not over scrupulous, and he judged rightly that James Cromwell would become a pliant tool in his hands if he were paid well enough for it.