Mr. Moncton took him apart, and they entered into a deep and earnest conversation: of which, I am certain, from the significant glances which, from time to time, they directed towards me, I formed the principal topic.
At length the conference was over, and my uncle left the office without giving me a parting word or glance. When he was fairly out of hearing, all the clerks gathered round me.
"Who is he?"
"Mr. Moncton's nephew," was the short man's reply to the eager questioners.
"Is he sent here to be a spy?"
"To learn the profession."
"That babe! Is the man mad. It will kill the child to chain him to the desk all day."
"Poor fellow; he is the orphan son of his brother," said another. "I have seen him at church with Mrs. Moncton."
"Well, Robert Moncton is a hard man," said a third.
"Hush! gentlemen," interposed Mr. Bassett, the senior clerk. "It is not right to make such remarks in the lad's hearing. Mr. Moncton doubtless does for the best. Come, my little fellow, you and I must be good friends. Your uncle has placed you under my charge, to initiate you into all the mysteries of the law. I have no doubt we shall get on famously together. But you must be diligent and work hard. Your uncle hates idlers; he is a strict master, but one of the ablest lawyers in London. Let me tell you, that to be articled to him is a fortune in itself."