CHAPTER X.
A STRAY SHILLING.
"Whose shilling is this on my desk?" inquired Mr. Ashley of Samuel Lynn, one morning towards the close of the summer.
"I cannot tell thee," was the reply of the Quaker. "I know nothing of it."
"It is none of mine, to my knowledge," remarked Mr. Ashley.
"What shilling is that on the master's desk?" repeated Samuel Lynn to William when he returned into his own room, where William was.
"I put a shilling on the desk this morning," replied William. "I found it in the waste-paper basket."
"Thee go in, then, and tell the master."
William did so. "The shilling rolled out of the waste-paper basket, sir," said he, entering the counting-house and approaching Mr. Ashley.