"Oh! Your hand shakes, does it?" repeated his young employer, with a light laugh. "That's a bad sign, is it not, Mr. Reardon?"
"Perhaps, sir, you think that I drink too much?" said Matthew, interrogatively.
"I did not say so."
"But you looked it, sir."
"Did I! Well, anyhow, I have heard that it is a bad sign when a man like you in the prime of life complains of his hand shaking."
"It would be a hard matter," said Matthew, bitterly, "to get too much to drink out of the wages I receive, if I were ever so inclined."
"If you are not satisfied," replied Mr. Heighington, "all you have to do is to say so. There are dozens to be found any day who would gladly do the work for less."
"Hundreds! Sir," added Matthew, gloomily; "the more's the pity. But I did not mean to complain; a man cannot afford to complain who has a wife and two little children depending upon him—any more than he can afford to drink!"
"Very well," answered Mr. Heighington, with a keen glance. "Give him the papers, Marshall," added he, turning to the head clerk. "And—I say, Reardon—take care and not let your hand shake next time."
Matthew turned away in silence, and they heard him coughing as he went out into the cold air.