"What is the matter with him?" asked the chief accountant.
The young workman laughed.
"I believe," he replied "that my uncle expected the check."
"Well, well!" the chief accountant waved his hand. "There is nothing more to be said. You will find your shop; one of the porters will take you to it; you will have all the broken things that used to be sent out, kept for you to mend, and—and—all that. What we want a cabinet-maker for in the brewery, I do not understand. That will do. Stay—you seem a rather superior kind of workman."
"I have had an education," said Harry, blushing.
"Good; so long as it has not made you discontented. Remember that we want sober and steady men in this place, and good work."
"I am not certain yet," said Harry, "that I shall be able to take the place."
"Not take the place? Not take a place in Messenger's brewery? Do you know that everybody who conducts himself well here is booked for life? Do you know what you are throwing away? Not take the place? Why, you may be cabinet-maker for the brewery till they actually pension you off."
"I am—I am a little uncertain in my designs for the future. I must ask for a day to consider."