“Yes, when I drew your attention to it.”
“I paid back every cent of it in gold.”
“Where did you get the gold?” sneered Mr. MacClaren. “How did you come in possession of it? There’s another point that may need a little explaining.”
“You know as well as I do that we take gold over the counter in exchange for goods.”
“Correct. But whenever we do we keep a record of the transaction. In auditing your books, I found no such record.”
“The more you talk the farther you get away from the subject under discussion. You asked me what was wrong here and I told you. Your own nephew assaulted me without cause. Not only that, but he made a very serious charge against me, a charge without any foundation whatsoever.”
“Whose word can I take for that?” inquired Mr. MacClaren sarcastically and angrily.
“Mine.”
“But I do not consider that your word is sufficient. You’ve lied to me repeatedly. You lied to me this afternoon. Your conduct generally is so deceitful and dishonest that I think I was perfectly justified in asking for your resignation.”
“By doing that you haven’t hurt my feelings in the least. For some time past, I have been seriously thinking of quitting the service anyway. In fact, not long ago I completed arrangements to take charge of an independent trading post shortly to be established at Caribou Lake.”