"No; he went away to sea, and he came home and went away again; but somehow I never saw him. It is twenty years now since he went away last, and was never heard of, nor his ship—so, of course, he's dead long ago. But what does it matter about Bob? And these are office hours; and there will, really, be things said if we go on talking—do go away."
Harry obeyed, and left him; but he went straight to the office of the chief accountant and requested an interview.
The chief accountant sent word that he could communicate his business through one of the clerks. Harry replied that his business was of a nature which could not be communicated by a clerk—that it was very serious and important business, which must be imparted to the chief alone; and that he would wait his convenience in the outer office. Presently he was ushered into the presence of the great man.
"This is very extraordinary," said the official. "What can your business be, which is so important that it must not be intrusted to the clerks? Now come to the point, young man—my time is valuable."
"I want you to authorize me to make a little examination in the junior clerks' room."
"What examination, and why?"
Harry gave him the fragment of the letter, and explained where he found it.
"I understand nothing. What do you learn from this fragment?"
"There is no date," said Harry, "but that matters very little. You will observe that it clearly refers to my cousin Josephus Coppin."
"That seems evident—Josephus is not a common name."