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1. A _____ is a numerical descriptive measure of a population.
A) sampling distribution
B) parameter
C) statistic
D) parametric statistic

2. A _____ is any quantity computed from values in a sample.

A) sampling distribution
B) parameter
C) statistic
D) parametric statistic

3. The _____ distribution of a statistic is the probability distribution of the statistic.

A) limiting
B) exponential
C) normal
D) sampling

4. A psychologist randomly samples 28 clinically depressed patients and subjects each

patient to a standardized battery of tests. The average battery test score for the sample
is 128. In this example, the number 128 is a:
A) parameter.
B) sampling distribution.
C) statistic.
D) random variable.

5. In order to better understand the student body, a college administrator takes a census of
all students currently enrolled at the school. From the census, he finds that the range of
ages at this school is 41 years. In this example, 41 years is a:
A) parameter.
B) statistic.
C) sampling distribution.
D) random variable.

Page 1
 6. A sample of 82 mice is observed from birth until they are 1 year old. The total amount
of growth experienced by each mouse is recorded. The median amount of growth of
these mice is 4.5 centimeters. In this example, 4.5 centimeters is a:
A) parameter.
B) sampling distribution.
C) statistic.
D) random variable.

7. All statistics are:

A) characteristics of a population.
B) fixed quantities.
C) round variables.
D) random variables.

8. A simple random sample (SRS) of size n is BEST defined as a sample selected in such a
way that every possible sample of size n:
A) will be selected.
B) has the same chance of being selected.
C) has a randomly assigned chance of being selected.
D) has some chance of being selected.

9. A population of sports teams is comprised of 26 individual teams. We wish to

randomly sample 4 teams for observation. If each team has an equal likelihood of
being selected, what is the probability that any given sample of size 4 will be selected?
A) 1/14,950
B) 4/14,950
C) 1/358,800
D) 4/358,800

10. We wish to survey high schools in a particular city. If the city has 22 high schools and
we want to select 5 of them, how many unique samples of size 5 are possible?
A) 3,160,080
B) 5,153,632
C) 26,334
D) 2.384 × 1015

Page 2
11. In the normal process of simple random sampling (SRS), samples are almost always
drawn without replacement. Why is this a problem for the assumptions involved with a
true SRS?
A) Since the samples are drawn without replacement, there will never be enough
samples to accurately calculate a meaningful statistic.
B) Since the samples are drawn without replacement, the process is not really random.
C) Since the samples are drawn without replacement, the samples are not truly
independent as the probability of one sample is affected by previous selections.
D) Since the samples are drawn without replacement, this creates complexity, which
violates the assumption of simplicity.

12. The problems associated with sampling without replacement in the simple random
sample process are negligible provided the:
A) sample is large enough relative to the population size.
B) population is small enough relative to the sample size.
C) sample and the population are of roughly the same size.
D) population is large enough relative to the sample size.

13. We wish to record the results from two six-sided die rolls. How many unique
outcomes are possible?
A) 15
B) 36
C) 30
D) 64

14. Consider the following discrete population distribution:

X 2 4 6 8
P(X = x) 0.13 0.34 0.23 0.30

We randomly draw samples of size 5 from this population using the simple random
sampling technique. If we know that x = 5.4, x = 2.069, what is the mean and
standard deviation of the sampling distribution of sample means?
A)
B)
C)
D)

Page 3
15. If the population is normal, the sampling distribution of x will be:
A) exactly normal for any sample size.
B) approximately normal for any sample size.
C) exactly normal only if the sample size is large enough.
D) approximately normal only if the sample size is large enough.

16. What effect does increasing the sample size (n) have on the sampling distribution of x ?
A) The mean of the distribution gets smaller.
B) Sample size has no effect on the sampling distribution of x .
C) The variability of the sampling distribution gets smaller.
D) The mean of the distribution gets larger.

17. x is an unbiased estimator of . This means that the:

A) standard deviation of the sampling distribution of x is the same as the standard
deviation of the underlying distribution (the population) that we want to estimate.
B) mean of the sampling distribution of x is the same as the mean of the underlying
distribution (the population) that we want to estimate.
C) variance of the sampling distribution of x is the same as the variance of the
underlying distribution (the population) that we want to estimate.
D) standard deviation and variance of the sampling distribution of x are the same as
the standard deviation and variance of the underlying distribution (the population)
that we want to estimate.

18. According to the Central Limit Theorem, as the sample size (n) from a non-normal
population increases:
A) the mean of the sampling distribution of x becomes closer to , the population
mean.
B) the sample standard deviation goes down.
C) the sampling distribution of x increasingly approximates a normal distribution.
D) there is less problem with non-representative sample bias.

19. Suppose we sample from a population that is heavily skewed right. If the sample size
(n) is large (say, n > 30), then it is safe to model the sampling distribution of x using a
_____ distribution.
A) discrete
B) continuous
C) log-normal
D) normal

Page 4
20. If the sample size is large (n > 30), then regardless of the population distribution, which
of the following summarizes the sampling distribution of random variable ?
A)
B)
C)
D)

21. In the natural world, the number of measurable variables that follow a normal
distribution is quite remarkable. Many of these measurable variables are actually the
sum of other independent (causal) variables. The Central Limit Theorem helps explain
this phenomenon because the Central Limit Theorem states that:
A) all measurable variables follow a normal distribution.
B) for a sufficiently large number of variables, the sum of these variables will be
approximately normally distributed.
C) for large sample sizes, all measurable variables will follow a normal distribution.
D) because nature is normative, variables found in nature will be at least
approximately normal.

22. Heights of children entering kindergarten are normally distributed with a mean height of
103 cm and a standard deviation of 1.27 cm. What is the probability that a random
sample of 8 children will have an average height more than 103.5 cm?
A) 0.8665
B) 0.6517
C) 0.3483
D) 0.1335

23. The speed at which an automated assembly line produces a product follows a normal
distribution with mean production time of 32.20 seconds and standard deviation of 1.05
seconds. A full production run from this line consists of 20 completed products. What
is the probability that a full production run will take less than 32 seconds on average to
produce?
A) 0.4247
B) 0.1977
C) 0.1900
D) 0.5753

Page 5
24. An exponential population has parameter  = 0.012 (hence,  = 83.33, 2 = 6944.44).
What is the probability that a random sample of 41 from this population will average
between 81 and 84?
A) 0.5199
B) 0.0160
C) 0.0000
D) 0.0913

25. A heavily right-skewed population has a mean of 28 and a standard deviation of 2.

What is the probability that a random sample of 5 from this population will average less
than 27?
A) 0.1314
B) 0.3085
C) 0.6915
D) Since the sample size is small and the population is non-normal, the sampling
distribution of x cannot be assumed to be normal.

26. The survival times of adult mosquitoes exposed to a commonly used synthetic pesticide
(Phenothrin) follows a gamma distribution with mean time until extermination of 48
seconds and a standard deviation of 15.18 seconds. What is the probability that a
random sample of 40 mosquitoes will have an average survival time between 47.5 and
48 seconds?
A) 0.0832
B) 0.4207
C) 0.4880
D) 0.0120

27. Since ,
A) p̂ will always be the same as p.
B) p̂ is unbiased for p.
C) p̂ must always be < p.
D) p̂ will always be > p.

Page 6
28. Concerning the sampling distribution of p̂ , what is the significance of both np > 5 and
n(1 – p) > 5?
A) It is impossible to make any inference on p using p̂ unless this is so.
B) The sampling distribution of p̂ will be approximately normal if these are both
met.
C) It is only possible to use p̂ to estimate p if either one of these requirements is met.
D) The value of p̂ will be very close to p if and only if the sample size is large
enough for both statements to be true.

29. If n > 30, we know that the sampling distribution of p̂ will be:
A) approximately normal.
B) exactly normal.
C) suitable for estimating the unknown parameter p.
D) n > 30 alone tells us nothing substantial concerning the sampling distribution of
p̂ .

30. For after-hours emergencies, doctors often use a messaging/paging service to allow
patients to contact them. If it is known that 30% of the patients who call the messaging
service fail to leave a message for the doctor, what is the probability that out of 80
randomly sampled calls, more than 30 will fail to leave a message?
A) 0.0512
B) 0.9279
C) 0.3750
D) 0.0721

31. It is believed that 15% of people who fly on commercial airliners are “very concerned”
about the safety of the carrier they have chosen. If this is accurate, what is the
probability that out of 150 randomly selected people who fly on commercial airliners,
between 20 and 25 of them are “very concerned” about the safety of the carrier which
they have chosen?
A) 0.1333
B) 0.0333
C) 0.4314
D) 0.7157

Page 7
32. Suppose we know that the proportion of objects in a population that have a particular
characteristic of interest is 0.10. Are there any concerns if we want to calculate
probabilities for the sampling distribution of p̂ where n = 40 using a normal
approximation?
A) Since n is large, our only concern with using a normal approximation will be the
small amount of variability in the sampling distribution of p̂ .
B) Since n is small here, the sampling distribution of p̂ should not be assumed
approximately normal.
C) Since p̂ < 0.5, the sampling distribution of p̂ should not be assumed
approximately normal.
D) If npˆ < 5, then a normal approximation is not appropriate.

33. Recent homebuyers from a local developer allege that 30% of the houses this developer
constructs have some major defect that will require substantial repairs. To test this
allegation, we randomly sample 20 homes constructed by the developer and find that
two of the homes did indeed have some major defect. If the allegation is correct, what
is the probability of observing at most two defective homes out of a random sample of
20?
A) 0.0256
B) 0.1000
C) 0.0300
D) 0.9744

34. If a population is skewed, based on the Central Limit Theorem what is a good rule of
thumb for assuming the sampling distribution of x is approximately normal?
A) np > 5
B) n > 30
C)  > 30
D) n < 30

35.
If the population proportion is 0.38, what is if we calculate p̂ using 20 samples?
A) 0.0118
B) 0.1085
C) 0.0190
D)
Since n is small, we cannot calculate accurately.

Page 8
36. Forty-five percent of voters favor candidate A. We can be 67% sure that out of 200
randomly selected voters, at least how many will favor candidate A?
A) 90
B) 87
C) 134
D) 93

37. An industrial fan is designed to move 2500 cubic feet of air per minute, on average.
Under normal operating conditions, the standard deviation of air volume moved by this
fan is 300 cubic feet per minute. If the fan is operating as designed, what is the
probability that the average of 30 randomly selected measurements of fan capacity will
be less than 2000 cubic feet per minute?
A) 0.0475
B) 0.0000
C) 0.9525
D) 0.913

38. A department store claims that their average customer satisfaction rating is 28.5. We
believe that this is too high so we randomly sample 40 customers and find a sample
average of 25.2. If the standard deviation of customer satisfaction for this store is 13.1,
what is the probability of observing a sample at least this far below the claimed mean,
assuming the claim is true?
A) 0.9441
B) 0.4013
C) 0.0559
D) 0.2500

39. In a major city in the northwest United States, 28% of the days experience some period
of rain. What is the probability that more than 12 days out of a random sample of 31
days experience some period of rain?
A) 0.0918
B) 0.0806
C) 0.9082
D) 0.3871

40. Let X be the miles per gallon of a particular vehicle.

Suppose X ~ N( = 18.5,  = 2.2). Find P(18.2 < x < 19) if n = 5.
A) 0.6950
B) 0.9839
C) 0.1467
D) 0.3129

Page 9
41. There are 268 words in the Gettysburg Address. How many ways are there to select a
simple random sample of 10 words from this population?
A) 26.8
B) 1.11 × 1010
C) 4.44 × 1017
D) 4.68 × 1064

42. Suppose you are interested in determining the average word length in Lincoln's
Gettysburg Address. You decide to estimate this average word length by using a
sample of 10 randomly selected words. Which method should result in a simple
random sample of 10 words from the Address?
A) Have a student select 10 “representative” words from a copy of the Address.
B) Obtain a copy of the Address on a page of paper. Close your eyes and point the
tip of your pencil on the page five times, each time selecting the word that your
pencil lands on/nearest.
C) Obtain a list of the 268 words in the Address. Number the words. Use a random
number generator to determine which 10 words to select.
D) Select every 27th word in the Address.

43. Which statement about the Central Limit Theorem is TRUE?

A) The Central Limit Theorem states that the sample mean x is always equal to the
population mean .
B) The Central Limit Theorem states that the sampling distribution of the population
mean  is approximately normal provided that n > 30.
C) The Central Limit Theorem states that the sampling distribution of the sample
mean x is approximately normal for large sample sizes (n > 30).
D) The Central Limit Theorem states that the sample mean x is equal to the
population mean  provided that n > 30.

44. Consider a large population with a mean of 150 and a standard deviation of 27. A
random sample of size 36 is taken from this population. The standard error of the
sampling distribution of the sample mean is equal to:
A) 4.17.
B) 4.50.
C) 5.20.
D) 5.56.

Page 10
45. The standard error of a statistic used as an estimator of a population parameter is the:
A) standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the statistic.
B) variance of the sampling distribution of the statistic.
C) same value as the population standard deviation.
D) square root of the population variance.

46. If the monthly rent of all one-bedroom apartments in a small town are known to be
normally distributed with a mean of $175 and a standard deviation of $35, which
amount would be the highest individual rent that you might expect to find?
A) $195
B) $210
C) $245
D) $280

47. If a population has a variance of 64 and we take a simple random sample of size 25,
what will the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of x be?
A) 0.32
B) 0.625
C) 1.60
D) 3.125

48. In a recent study, it was reported that the proportion of employees who miss work on
Fridays is 0.15, and that the standard deviation of the sample proportion p̂ is 0.025.
However, the report did not indicate the sample size n. What was the sample size?
A) 26
B) 58
C) 102
D) 204

49. A math professor once claimed that 90% of her students pass a particular class of hers.
To check this claim a random sample of 150 students who had taken this class found
that 129 passed the class. If the professor is correct, what is the probability 129 or
fewer of the students in such a sample would pass the class?
A) 0.9484
B) 0.0516
C) 0.5516
D) 0.4484

Page 11
50. Which statement about the sampling distribution of the sample proportion p̂ is TRUE?
A) The mean of the sampling distribution will equal the population proportion p.
B) An increase in the sample size n will result in a decrease in the standard error of
p̂ .
C) The sampling distribution will be approximately normal provided that np > 5 and
n(1 – p) > 5.
D) All the answers are true.

51. If a population proportion is 0.8 and a sample of size n = 100 is to be randomly selected
from this population, what will the standard deviation of the proportion p̂ be?
A) 0.0258
B) 0.0355
C) 0.0400
D) 0.0538

52. If the standard error of the sampling distribution of a sample proportion is 0.02049 for
samples of size 500, then the population proportion must be either:
A) 0.2 or 0.8.
B) 0.3 or 0.7.
C) 0.6 or 0.4.
D) 0.15 or 0.85.

53. In a study whose results were published in the British Medical Journal (Willis et al.,
2004), researchers tested whether dogs' sense of smell can be helpful in detecting cancer
in humans. Each dog used in the study was presented with seven urine samples to smell,
with only one of the urine samples coming from a patient suffering from bladder cancer.
Taken as a group, the dogs were tested on 54 trials and they correctly identified the
urine from the cancer patient in 22 trials. If the dogs were just guessing and so had a
probability of success p = 1/7, what is the probability they would be correct in 22 or
more of the 54 trials?
A) 0.000
B) 0.042
C) 0.087
D) 0.168

Page 12
Answer Key
1. B
2. C
3. D
4. C
5. A
6. C
7. D
8. B
9. A
10. C
11. C
12. D
13. B
14. C
15. A
16. C
17. B
18. C
19. D
20. A
21. B
22. D
23. B
24. D
25. D
26. A
27. B
28. B
29. D
30. D
31. C
32. D
33. A
34. B
35. A
36. B
37. B
38. C
39. A
40. D
41. C
42. C
43. C
44. B

Page 13
45. A
46. D
47. C
48. D
49. B
50. D
51. C
52. B
53. A

Page 14
Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
 CHAPTER XXIV.
The few months slipped away and the birthday came, or at least the
day that was always celebrated as such; for though neither Mrs.
Ganderby nor any of the other people under the shadow of the old
butternut-tree had the least idea when or where the record should
have been made, the doctor called him just twelve when he first saw
him, and insisted upon a birthday every year that same day in
October.
Aleck went to the store an hour before time to catch him and have
his talk out before people began to come in. But early as he was,
Thorndyke was there before him, and a customer too; so Aleck
retreated into the sheltered corner behind the desk to wait his
opportunity. Thorndyke gave him a nod and a radiant look as he
came in, for these birthdays were times when, for one day in the
year, the “all but me” was forced to flee away; the doctor had always
planned some excursion, and managed that he could bear it; and
the little room, that had seemed such a paradise the first time he
saw it, was gradually filling up with treasures, more and more
beautiful every year, until the walls would hardly hold anything more.
Uncle Ralph’s was missing this time, but all the rest were there, even
to old Joan’s; and the flowers that had always come from Nelly since
the very first, “went ahead,” as Aleck called it, of all that had ever
come before. The doctor was in high spirits, and Thorndyke thought
“the princess” had never been so bewitching in her gentle, lovely
ways. He couldn’t say “All but me” this morning; he had almost
forgotten it, and there was actually a bit of color in his cheeks, and
the great eyes shone as Aleck had not seen them since that day he
stood before the window so many years ago.
Aleck sat and watched him as he went about to fill the prescription
waited for.
“Good for him!” he said to himself; “the boy looks gay this morning.
But I declare I wish I didn’t remember how he looked that miserable
day at the school. That thing between his shoulders was hardly
worth noticing then; I wonder the boys saw it at all—and now! It
seems as if it almost buried that splendid head and face of his, and I
know the pain is always there by the patient, wistful look out of his
eyes. And his step that flew down the street so that I couldn’t catch
him that day! It never breaks now from that slow, noiseless way it
has. Well, it’s no use thinking what might have been, and I suppose
I should never have had him here if all had gone well. Will that man
never be ready to go? Ah, there he is actually steering for the door!”
But at the same instant somebody else came in, only a little child,
however, wanting something that would take but a moment. So
Aleck possessed his soul in patience; there surely would not be any
one else in, it was so early.
But what was the matter with Thorndyke?
The child stood innocently enough before the counter, but
Thorndyke’s face was growing white, the glow was gone, and sharp
lines coming in its place, and the thin fingers trembled so that it
seemed as if the package never would be tied. But it was done at
last, and Thorndyke handed it to the child with the same smile and
the same gentle “Anything more?” that the customers had learned to
expect. But when the door was shut, Aleck started. What was the
matter? Thorndyke was leaning against the wall, his lips pressed
tightly together, and the great veins showing blue and hard on his
forehead.
“What is it, Thorndyke?” said Aleck, springing towards him.
Thorndyke covered his face with his fingers, and his whole frame
quivered as Aleck had never seen it before, but as the doctor saw it
once under the overhanging of the old rock.
“O Aleck, I cannot bear it! Didn’t you see? I can bear anything else.
I can let a strong man look down at me, but that wondering, pitying
look of a little child! That is the one thing I cannot bear! Oh, why
must I always be a soldier? I am so tired, and I had almost forgotten
I was one to-day!”
Aleck drew him quickly into the shelter of the desk, and got his arm
round his neck.
“There, there, rest a little if you are so tired! you are the bravest
little soldier in all the world, and the lightest weapons are the
hardest to stand against sometimes. Is that the reason you always
get out of the way when a child comes in? I noticed it, but I never
knew. Why didn’t you tell me? Don’t, old fellow! don’t mind. I’ve got
lots I want to say to you this morning, and I thought it should be
such a happy day. If you only knew, if you only would believe how
wonderful you are to every one! The doctor and Nelly would think
they had nothing in the world to be proud of, if it weren’t for you;
and you know what Uncle Ralph thought and everybody else is
finding out. And as for fighting, you get victories every day where
the strongest of us would go down.”
But Aleck had to wait awhile for his talk. The next customer that
came in saw the queer little form going about just as usual, but
Aleck knew it was no time for him, and waited till evening when he
got Thorndyke by himself in his own room, the fire crackling and the
room shining as if there had never been such a thing as a shadow in
the world.
“Now, old fellow,” he began, after he had been going on merrily for a
while, “I’ve got a little business proposal to make. I want you to buy
me out.”
The great eyes opened in amazement.
“Buy you out, Aleck! What do you mean?”
“I mean exactly what I say,” and then Aleck told him all the sacrifice
it had been to him to go into the store to begin with, how he had
done it for Nellie’s sake and his uncle’s, and how he had gone
steadily through the whole college course out of hours, as well as it
was possible to do by himself.
“I had an idea, you see, of slipping off and leaving the coast to you,
you were doing so splendidly and Uncle Ralph was so proud of you;
but that night he talked to me about the partnership, I saw it would
not do then. But now, why not? I know he thought I should always
stay, but if he sees how things go among us at all, he sees what it
would be to me to get away, and I know what he would say. We’ll
never take the name down, old fellow, it shall be Halliday still, and
I’ll hang about more or less till you have one more birthday, and
when you are twenty-one, up goes ‘Halliday & Thorndyke,’ and I
leave you to your own devices altogether.”
“But Aleck, where are you going? What do you want to do?”
“What do I want to do? I want to get my profession: what I have
always wanted, and what my father wanted for me. He thought I
should be a lawyer, I know, but I should never make one in the
world; there is only one profession for me, and I am going to the
headquarters you and I think most of. I’m going to study with Dr.
Thorndyke. Why shouldn’t a man be a doctor if he wants to?”
“All but me!” The doctor had meant to make one of him, Thorndyke
knew that very well. However that was neither here nor there. Aleck
was going to leave him; that was all to be thought of now.
“But Aleck!” he cried, and then stopped himself. Aleck had sacrificed
everything all these years, because his uncle wanted him; he should
never know what the store and life would seem, when he hadn’t him
at his side any longer!
“Only you know—why, Aleck, I can’t buy you out! you know very
well what I have wouldn’t buy a corner of the store.”
“Well, put that in, if you’re not afraid to risk it, and you shall have
the whole profits of the business from to-day onward; and if you
manage the old concern as well as I know you can, you will own the
whole of it before many years. Uncle Ralph would like it, I know, and
I don’t see why we sha’n’t be jolly all around.”
“But Aleck!” said Thorndyke again, “I can’t do it! It would be just
taking what belongs to you and putting it in my pocket. I never will
do it in the world.”
“Well now, wait a minute,” said Aleck. “I haven’t finished my remarks
about it. In the first place, there’s more than I know what to do
with, without it, and in the second place, I owe it to you if there
wasn’t, for you have made life in the store a different thing to me a
thousand times over. Do you think I could ever have kept up heart if
I hadn’t thought so much of your being there every day, or could
ever have been patient through it all if I hadn’t seen such a little
fighter at my side? So that’s settled so far, and now in the third
place, I can’t desert the ship, unless you will take the whole
command, and if you do you ought to have the whole profits. And in
the fourth place,” and Aleck put his arm around his future partner’s
neck again in a most unbusinesslike way, “in the fourth place, it’s all
in the family, whatever you do and have, you dear, little old soldier?
Don’t you know nobody could be closer to us all? Flesh and blood
couldn’t bring it any nearer, and if we’re so proud of you now, what
will it be by-and-by?”
Nobody could resist Aleck. It was all settled with the doctor and
Thorndyke and everybody else, just as he would like it, and before
they really knew what he was about, and Thorndyke very soon
found himself really steering the ship, and Aleck only “hanging about
more or less,” as he had said. A good deal “less,” Thorndyke
thought, but it was better than losing him altogether, and he was
determined he should never know how he missed him.
 CHAPTER XXV.
Tom sauntered into Halliday’s now and then, as he always had, but
Thorndyke saw something, he couldn’t tell what, that worried him
more and more; at all events Tom looked more hopeless and forlorn
every time.
“What a man you’re making, Thorndyke!” he said one day; “it was in
you, I suppose, and it wasn’t in me; that’s the difference. But you
don’t know what a chance you’ve had. Did Aleck ever badger you or
crowd you in all the time you were together?”
“Aleck! Why, you know him, Tom!”
“Yes, I suppose so; only I can’t imagine anybody’s leaving you in
peace and quiet all the time. Well, I might have made something,
perhaps, if I’d been here, though not much, probably. I always was a
stupid, blundering fellow, and never should have been of much
account, anyhow. I’m none at all now, though, and I’d give up and
let everything go to the bottom, if there was nobody that thought he
could hold on to me if I didn’t. They’ll find out their mistake some
day; but I suppose I ought to hold on till they do.”
“You wouldn’t like any one else to say that,” said Thorndyke, greatly
troubled.
“Well, it’s not very amusing, but I do hear it every day of my life,
and so I suppose it must be the truth, even if there are some people
kind enough not to tell me so.”
A customer came before Thorndyke had time to answer, and Tom
left the store with a slow, listless step. Work was waiting for him,
however, and lively enough to stir him up and make him forget
whether he could do it well or not, and when this happened, he was
sure to do it well. If he had known how often the other partners
thought so, it would have changed everything; but he came almost
altogether in Hal’s way, and by the time he had done with him, he
couldn’t believe that any kind word he had from the others was
more than out of charity, and he never had a summons into the
counting-room without expecting to be told what a stupid fellow he
was, and wondering that it did not come.
But this time “stupid” certainly wasn’t the word. Tom was getting
more and more on his mettle as buyers came thicker and faster, and
he “was making things fly,” as Aleck would have called it, in a way
that Hal almost looked on with envy. Business hours were just
coming to a close when his run was over, and he stood near the
door having a word with his last customer, and with a record of sales
that made him feel as if he was somebody, for a few minutes at
least.
“Oh, by the way,” said the customer, “I want a drygoods-box. What
is that one worth, and can I have it?”
“Yes,” said Tom, “you can have it; about fifty cents will cover it, I
suppose.”
He handed him the amount, and Tom put it in his vest-pocket, and
went on laughing and chatting a few moments, feeling his extra
spirits a luxury he was tempted to extend over as much ground as
possible, and in fact they lasted him fairly home, and even the ghost
of them came back with him to business hours in the morning.
But the sound of Hal’s voice calling for the hoosier general dispelled
all that was left in a minute; there was nothing that tormented Tom
like that nickname, and it seemed as if it never would be done with.
Even if it was dropped once in a while, until he began to flatter
himself it had really gone under, up it came again, always at a
moment when he felt least like bearing it, and he was sure to see
some of the younger clerks daring to grin; and what could he say if
they did? Hadn’t he made a blunder that almost any of them would
have been disgraced for; and if the junior partner chose to remind
him of it, he supposed they had a right to grin.
He got through with what Hal wanted, but it seemed to him Hal
gave him a peculiar look now and then. There was no mistake about
it, and it came oftener and oftener as the day went on. What did it
mean? It followed him home after hours, and worried him every
time he knew where he was through the night. What had he done
now, and how many people would hear of it as soon as he did? He
should hear of it soon, he was sure, for the same look was there
when he came in the next morning.
“Sent in your accounts, since Thursday’s sales, general?” asked Hal.
“Why, yes, of course,” said Tom.
“Oh, very good,” and the look was more significant than ever.
Poor Tom was miserable again. Should he ever get through life, and
be done with it? Unluckily he had to get through to-day first, and it
dragged miserably enough, but the next promised no better. There
was the look again, and the same question: “Sent in your accounts,
general?”
What did it mean? He couldn’t get Hal to say that it meant anything,
but the same look and the same question came every day, until it
seemed to Tom he should go distracted, and he was divided
between thankfulness and agony when he heard Mr. Vickery, the
next partner, ask suddenly,
“What do you mean, Fenimore? I’ve heard you ask Haggarty that
same thing every day for a week; doesn’t he send in his accounts as
a matter of course?”
“I don’t know that he doesn’t,” said Hal, “but I’ve noticed a little
deficiency, and I’ve been waiting to see it made up.”
“Deficiency!” exclaimed Tom; “what do you mean?”
“Perhaps you thought the item too trifling for a place in the books,”
said Hal, with the old intolerable taunt in his tone; “there are people
who don’t like to trouble themselves about trifles.”
“Not business people,” said Mr. Vickery, “and Haggarty knows that
well enough; if there is anything wrong, it had better be set right as
soon as possible,” and he looked searchingly in Tom’s face.
Tom’s desperation gave him boldness for once, as he stepped in
front of Hal.
“Tell me what you mean!” he exclaimed. “Wait a moment, Mr.
Vickery, if you please, and hear what he means.”
“Oh, nothing of any consequence, only that I saw you make a sale
the other day and put the money in your pocket, and I’ve seen no
return of it in your accounts.”
Mr. Vickery’s look was piercing now; Tom stood bewildered for a
moment, and then thrust his finger into his vest-pocket with a sharp
exclamation such as no one in the store had ever heard him use
before.
“I sold a drygoods-box the other day,” he said, “and upon my word
and honor I have never thought of it from that moment to this! You
know how we had been worked that day, Fenimore, and I had two
hours to come after that though it was past time to close then.
There is the money, and there it might have been till next year, if
you had not reminded me of it, but I think it is the first time my
memory has defrauded the house of even such a sum as fifty cents.”
“Possibly,” said Hal, with the sneer still on his face; “but it may be
well to look out for it in the future;” and he turned to his books
without another word.
“Let it pass, Haggarty,” said the other partner gravely; “it was a trifle
to be sure, but the world is built on trifles, and that is one of the first
things to be remembered in business.”
Tom turned away with tight-shut lips and a white face. How many
had overheard the conversation? There were plenty within reach of
it, at any rate, and he might be called a thief all through the store
before night! And even if he escaped that, he did not believe Mr.
Vickery would ever feel sure of him again. Hal knew better, but he
had come very little in the second partner’s way.
 CHAPTER XXVI.
All the rest of that day, Tom went about his work like a wooden
thing; he answered questions and handled things that came in his
way, but his thoughts were running heavily back and forth over the
long dreary years since Mr. Willoughby picked him up in his chaise,
and always coming round to the same miserable point at last. How
brave and patient he had meant to be, how faithful he had tried to
be, through it all, for the sake of those at home, and how he had
meant to deserve all the promotion he should ever get, and let the
firm feel he had repaid them well for all they did for him. And who
had ever taken the slightest notice whether he did or not, who had
ever been the wiser for it all? And now that it was almost over, now
that he thought such recompense as money could give was just
before him, to be shunned and sneered at for a thief!
Who had even noticed? He remembered suddenly what Aleck had
said to him, that dark terrible time, about One who always did, and
was always ready to help.
“Yes,” he said, “I know it. I lived on that all the next year, and I
never felt so much like a man in my life; but since I came here, that,
and everything else that had any life in it, seems to have been
driven out of me. If I could have hung on to it, it might have helped
me through everything. It’s my own fault that I didn’t, I suppose,
but after a fellow gets to feeling so horridly as I have from one
year’s end to another, he lets go of everything sometimes. If I could
only have gone somewhere else! There’s Thorndyke now, he never’ll
know what a chance he had there, with Aleck always next to him!
But there’s an end to everything, and I’ll—”
But up came once more the thought of “the rest at home.” If he left
the store, and went out into the world, how many more years might
it be before he could be worth anything to them! And where could
he go, and what could he do, if he went out from Fenimore’s with
such whisperings as were likely to follow him! And yet, it seemed to
him another day there would be worse than a thousand deaths. That
day was done, at last, at all events, and Tom, as he passed out into
the dark, saw no one, and scarcely knew where he was. But a
familiar voice sounded in his ears.
“I say, Haggarty, what a hurry you’re in!”
He turned and saw Davis, his old schoolfellow at the professor’s. He
had not seen him from that time, until a few days before. He only
knew that he went abroad directly after graduating, and had
returned within a fortnight, “for a visit.”
“Why, man alive,” he said, as a gaslight fell on Tom’s face, “what’s
the matter with you? How white you are! Are you sick?”
“I wish I were,” said Tom, “and sick enough to have an end come to
it all,” and then shocked at having said so much to Davis, he stopped
suddenly.
“Hallo!” said Davis, “what’s the matter? Is luck bad to-day?”
“I don’t know,” said Tom, “some people never have any, you know.
How are you?”
“Look here,” said Davis, drawing Tom’s arm through his, “come along
and let’s understand about this. We’re old friends you know. There’s
no use in being down about the way the game goes; take heart and
throw again, that’s all.”
They walked away, and Davis began to talk of old times and of the
changes that had come. “And to think of you being left head of the
family and going to business! I was expecting you over there every
year for a while, till I found out how things were. Tell me how you
like it;” and he went on with one question after another, until before
Tom could believe it himself, he had drawn from him a pretty good
idea of how matters stood.
“I wouldn’t stay there,” said Davis; “I’d clear out and be found
missing some bright morning.”
“Perhaps you would,” said Tom, “with nobody looking to you to be
anything to them, and more money than you know what to do with.”
“Oh, is that the difficulty? I didn’t know that was the case; but it
isn’t the worst thing in the world to be got over. I can tell you a way
to ease matters off and get a start on your own feet before a very
long time;” and drawing Tom’s arm closer, he dropped into a low,
confidential tone.
“But I can’t!” exclaimed Tom, starting back in horror, as Davis came
to his point at last.
“Hold on,” said Davis, and went on talking rapidly in the same low
whisper without giving Tom a chance for another word.
“Look here!” said Tom, stopping in his walk, and turning on Davis
like some desperate creature driven to bay at last; “what do you
take me for? Do you mean to insult me?”
“Pooh!” said Davis, in the most imperturbable tone, regaining his
hold on Tom’s arm and drawing him into step again; “don’t fly out
with a fellow for trying to befriend you. There are slow ways of
getting on in the world, and quicker ones for those who can’t afford
to wait, that’s all; and I thought you were in a hurry. If you agree,
I’ll introduce you to as gentlemanly a set of fellows as you know,
and I’ll warrant you a welcome, for the truth is we want one more,
of just your measure too, to make our set complete. Don’t make up
your mind in a hurry; it’s early yet. Meet me here again at nine
o’clock.”
“But I tell you I wont,” began Tom. “I don’t want to hear any such—”
“Pooh!” interrupted Davis again; “what’s the use of toiling a dozen
years under somebody’s thumb when you might make enough to
stand on your own feet in as many months? The world owes us a
living, anyhow, and I don’t see why handling a bit of paper skilfully
isn’t quite as much the gentlemanly thing as measuring away with a
yardstick half a lifetime. Just come up like a man, and I’ll be
responsible for the rest.”
It was seven o’clock, and for an hour and a half Tom pushed drearily
up and down the streets through a drizzling mist, but the fog lay
thicker and darker in his own brain. What should he say; what
should he do? He must do something, for he would rather die than
have another year like the last. Rather die? Of course he would; but
people don’t always die for the wishing, and who would there be to
take his father’s place if he should?
These thoughts crowded and whirled, and then came Aleck’s words,
those words spoken so long ago, but never forgotten, “Some One
that always notices.”
“I can’t help it,” he cried; “I believe I’m desperate. I’ve tried to do
my best all these years, and what’s the use? as Davis says. Oh, if I
only had one friend that really cared for me that I could go to and
tell everything! I should have, I suppose, if I was worth it, and Hal
would have respected me if I’d been worth it; but he never did, and
of course nobody else did, only they were kind enough to keep it out
of sight.”
If Tom could only have seen Thorndyke at that moment, and known
what he was thinking of as he sat at his desk, with papers pushed
away and his eyes fixed somewhere a good way beyond, with a
pained and troubled look!
“Hoosier general!” he was saying to himself; “I wonder what that
means? Something that Tom winced under, that was plain enough. I
don’t see how Fenimore finds it in his heart to worry him so, and I’m
sure there’s more of it going on than Tom knows how to get along
with. I wish I could do something to help him out of it. I wish I could
get him over here; it would be such a comfort now that Aleck is out
of the way so much! But he’s doing so well there, and he’s worked
his way almost to the top of the ladder, I could never ask him. I
heard Fenimore praising him to the rest of the firm the other day,
and I don’t wonder.”
But Tom didn’t hear; he plodded up and down without knowing that
he was tired, and that he had eaten not a mouthful since morning,
and that the drizzling mist had penetrated and chilled him through.
He was only thinking of the store and of the hour of going back, and
that if he did not soon find some way of escape by which he could
still hold on to his duty at home, he was afraid he should let go of it!
Oh, why was he left so? Why could not his father have lived? The
city bell struck eight, and the echo of Davis’ voice seemed to repeat
his words.
“Come up like a man!”
“Like a man!” echoed Tom again. “Like a counterfeiter and forger!
What did he want me to bring him Fenimore & Co.’s signature for?
He thinks there’s nothing decent in me, like the rest of the world, I
suppose. But no one ever thought I could quite make a thief yet!”
He started with a sudden stab of recollection.
“Yes, they have, too! Hal called me a thief, and tried his best to
show me off for one! What difference does it make if I go with
Davis? And who cares, whatever I do?”
Nine o’clock struck at last, and as he reached the lamppost Davis
had marked as a rendezvous, a figure stepped from behind it.
“Oh, here you are! That’s the right kind of a fellow!” whispered
Davis, slipping a hand into Tom’s arm. “Now come along and I’ll
introduce you to some of my friends.”
“Stop!” said Tom, squaring himself, “I’ll tell you in the outset, I want
nothing to do with any black work you may have going on; but if
you can take me somewhere where it’s warm and bright, let’s go. I
can’t walk here all night, and I can’t go home and talk to people, to
save my life.”
 CHAPTER XXVII.
The Cumbermede was ploughing her way merrily under a favoring
breeze; her home run was half made, and everything had prospered
as if Captain Carter were making his first voyage under a propitious
star. His dream was realized at last, and he stood commander on his
own quarter-deck. And commander he was indeed; every one on
board found that out very speedily, for Carter had aimed at
perfection from the day he shipped as a raw hand, and the eight
years of holding fast to his motto hadn’t made him less devoted to
it. Perfect order, perfect discipline, perfect action, nothing less was
accepted; but somehow, instead of the thankless working, like
wooden things, that most of them had always found a sailor’s life to
mean, every one sprang to his duty with a will, and the ropes were
pulled to a merry tune, instead of the unearthly guttural groan that
served just as well to keep the time on many a ship.
Almost all were new hands this voyage. Penfield had disappeared
long ago, and only the first mate and one of the crew had ever seen
the vessel before. But that one stood by like one of her own timbers,
“long-limbed Jake.” His name had been on the ship’s papers ever
since the voyage when Carter had transferred him to his own watch,
and restless as sailors are, always believing the last vessel they sail
in the worst that ever ploughed the sea, no departing ship’s
company could ever tempt him away with them. He reappeared as
regularly as repairs were made and cargo entered, and his only
restless times were before Carter came aboard; as soon as his voice
was heard, all right, and Jake was himself again, and the best man
in the ship’s crew, all officers agreed.
It was rather hard times for Jake, this voyage. It seemed to him life
would never be anything again, now that Carter no longer had the
watch. But the something, Jake couldn’t have told what, that
reached his heart, and kindled a spark of life there, with that first
“Belay there, my hearty!” had kept its hold ever since, and did not
need many words to help it. The “Take care of yourself, Jake, and
there’s a berth for you next voyage if you want it,” as Carter went
ashore, and the “On hand again, my man?—that’s all right,” as he
came aboard for another voyage, set Jake about his business with a
new glow, and the spark grew brighter, and the bit of life warmer, as
every trip went on. He had been restless, this time, dreading lest he
shouldn’t get his greeting now that Carter came as captain. But
there it was, just the same, and with the same hearty tone and
friendly look, and with that and his pride in seeing him take
command, Jake had enough to live on, though the distance was
doubled between them, and orders could never come direct from
him again; he should hear his voice at any rate, and could watch for
his coming on deck. What it had all been to Jake, Carter could never
know, for he couldn’t know all the deadly blackness that had filled
his heart that night of Penfield’s watch; and he couldn’t see all the
thoughts and memories that crowded the murderous hatred out, as
Jake lay in his bunk that night, sobbing like a baby.
They had come back so many times since, that it seemed as if the
very bunk would know them.
“It may be true after all,” they began that night, “it may be true after
all, what she always taught me, that I’ve got a soul of my own, and
the One that made it cares what becomes of it. If He cares for me,
mayhap it would be a pity not to care for myself. I might even think
of what the old woman at home is always saying, and wonder if it
could be true. I can remember the day when it did seem as if I was
something more than a dog, and it’s not so many years aback,
either; but I’ve been told I wasn’t, till I began to think other folks
were right. It’s a hard feeling, though, and goes against a man, if he
is a man. And he wouldn’t have looked at me like that if he hadn’t
thought I was one!”
It was the same thing over and over many a night, only stronger and
clearer as time went on, until Jake’s thoughts ventured a little farther
still.
“And if it should be true, that there’s a man in me after all, mayhap
there’s something in more of what she had to say. She said the One
that made me was looking for something from me; but if he is, he
sees plain enough I’ve made a poor cruise of it so far. I’m a good
many points out of my course, there’s no mistake about that; the
only question is how I’m to get back again. She used to say he’d
help me; that he died to bring my reckoning right, and he was ready
to head me towards port again. Maybe it’s true. I wouldn’t have
believed it once, but they say he’s better than the best of us, and if
he’s got more the heart of a man in him than the mate has, he must
be ready to lend a hand. Maybe he could bring me to my bearings
again, if he’d take the wheel; and I’d set my sails square to the
wind, if he would, for it comes rough on a man when he really
believes he might make port, and knows he’s drifting on the rocks.
And as for anything he wants of me, if there’s more pleasure in
bearing a hand or shifting a course for him than there is for the
mate, I should draw my pay in advance a hundred times over.”
Out from that dark, comfortless bunk, out from that heart so lately
full of bitterness and revenge, went the first upreachings of faith and
loyalty towards Him who was waiting and watching for them—the
first faint “ay, ay, sir,” to orders that were to save him from going
down a wreck. Jake did not know they were the first yielding to
whispers he would never listen to before; but the Whisperer knew
and cherished them as only He knows how to do. And many a night,
as the voyages went on, He drew nearer and said more; and as Jake
listened, the lonely heart reached out more strongly towards the
Voice, and fell nearer and nearer into its course, the homeward track
of a soul that God has called.
 CHAPTER XXVIII.
The Cumbermede had passed the line of gentle winds, and had
struck a point where strong ones and even storms might be looked
for. Still the sailors took no notice of the clouds; they believed too
strongly in luck, and the new captain had been running in a “streak”
of it ever since he hoisted anchor for the outward trip; he would get
in all safe, no fear of that. But the captain had less faith in his star,
and more in watchfulness, and was more frequently on deck as
every day went by.
“I don’t like those clouds there to starboard, Morton,” he said to his
first officer one afternoon; “they look a little ugly to me.”
The mate took a sharp look towards them.
“I don’t believe there’s much in them,” he said, “and they’re to
leeward of us, too, or have been, rather; the wind’s getting round a
trifle, I see.”
“That’s just it,” said the captain; “and if it gets round a little farther
we may find out what’s in them before night. Keep a good lookout,
and I’ll be on deck again in half an hour.”
Before the half hour had passed the wind had shifted decidedly, and
was blowing very brisk from where the clouds lay.
“Reef the topsails,” said the captain the moment he came up.
“Ay, ay, sir,” said the mate, and passed the order to the men. But the
winds worked faster than the men could, and before the order was
fairly executed it was time to issue another, and still another
followed. All hands were called, and in another half hour the vessel
was driving, close-reefed, before a constantly increasing gale. “A half
a gale,” as the sailors called it at first, then “a gale of wind,” and by
the time the darkness gathered, “a living gale of wind.”
The captain’s voice could be heard clear and sharp above the
tempest for some time, but at last it was almost impossible for either
his or the mate’s to be distinguished, though there was little to do by
that time but to let the vessel drive.
“I don’t know what’s coming of this, Morton,” said the captain during
a moment’s lull; “but, however we come out, we’ve done all we can.”
“I’m afraid we have, sir; but I can’t think this will last much longer. It
seems to be holding off a little just now; and it would be hard to see
anything go wrong so near home, and after such a run as we have
had.”
But the momentary lull seemed only to have redoubled the strength
of the tempest; the beating and the roar increased until it seemed as
if every sail, close-reefed as it was, would be carried away. At last,
through all the commotion, a sharp, tearing crash and a heavy fall
announced that the foretopmast had yielded to the strain.
“Clear away there!” shouted the captain, and the men sprang
forward with their axes. It was almost impossible to do anything,
with the vessel pitching as if she would go under with every wave,
but the work must be done, and the captain’s voice was heard now
above everything.
But something else was not heard: a broken spar, just above the
captain’s head, was swaying back and forth, crackling and snapping
for one instant before it should come down. Only Jake’s eye, raised
for one instant, caught sight of it. To shout or to gesture through the
roar and darkness would have been vain; only a momentary flash of
lightning had shown the danger to Jake. In one instant, almost like
the lightning itself, he was at the captain’s side.
“Stand from under!” he shouted, and pointed upward. The captain
sprang aside, Jake turned to do the same, but a pitch of the vessel
destroyed his balance. The one second taken to recover it, was the
one second too late. With a crash near enough now to be heard over
all, the spar was down, and Jake—? Where was he? Overboard? For
one moment it seemed so, but another flash showed him lying
senseless against the windlass. If he could but have known that it
was the captain himself who sprang toward him, lifted him up, and
drew him to a place of safety?
In another half hour, as if the storm with this last cruel blow had
wreaked its vengeance, it had passed away, a fine steady breeze
was all that remained of its force, and the clouds were breaking in
rifts along the sky. And with just such a momentary uncertain light
as the moon was sending through them, Jake’s consciousness was
returning; enough, though to show him that the captain was
standing by his bunk and holding water to his lips. That moment
repaid Jake for all the bygone years that had made his life a
wretchedness.
“On hand again, my man? That’s all right! I was afraid you had
shipped for another voyage, and all for my sake too!”
If Jake could only have told him what was in his heart! He would
have given worlds to do it, but he could not speak.
“You saved my life, my hearty, and I shall remember that I owe it to
you,” said the captain again.
Jake made a tremendous effort. He would speak! “No, captain,” he
said, “I owed it to you before! Ever since the night you took me into
your watch. I did not know I had a soul, before that, or that
anybody cared for it if I had, but when I found you did, I believed
Another might. I’ve lived for you ever since, and have tried to live a
little for Him, if He’d accept it, and I’d have died for you any day. If I
do now, it’s all right, and more than I ever thought He’d grant me.
It’s only shipping for another voyage, as you say, and if he takes me
safe to port, you’ll follow.”
When the morning sun rose over a calm blue sea, Jake’s voyage was
ended, and the Divine hand he had reached out to grasp, in the
loneliness of his comfortless bunk, that night so long ago, had
steered him safely home!
 CHAPTER XXIX.
At the moment Carter was listening to the few words Jake could
summon strength to utter, Thorndyke sat in a little office Aleck had
enclosed for him at one side of the store, where he could slip away
for a little rest now and then without really leaving his new
responsibilities, and once more Tom and his fortunes came
uppermost in his thoughts.
“I wonder what has become of Haggarty,” he was saying to himself.
“I can’t remember when he has been in here. And he didn’t look
right, the last time he came. There was a while he seemed quite
himself again, but he went down lower than ever before long. I wish
I could find out what is going wrong with him. It can’t be anything
at the store, for Hal’s making a trip abroad for the firm, and wont be
back for another month, and I know the senior partners think well of
Tom. Indeed, I suppose he’ll go in himself before long, and yet
something is certainly dragging on him. He looks worried and keeps
out of the way. I’ve a great mind to go up to the house and see if I
can get hold of him.”
Thorndyke got up from his easy chair, a very different affair from the
piece of workmanship old Enoch had been so proud of years ago,
and went out into the darkness.
“So tired to-day,” was the entry he had made that morning in his
pocket journal, the only visible friend that ever heard a word about
the pain, or how the battle went; only the great Captain himself
heard the rest. “So tired to-day! Should give out utterly if I could
leave the store.” But he wanted to find Tom! It was a long walk from
the store, but that did not signify; he could rest when he reached
there.
No, Tom was not at home and no one could tell him where he might
be found. So he turned and retraced his steps—it is a great thing to
be used to being tired! It was after midnight when Tom passed
Halliday’s and took the same way Thorndyke had gone so wearily
over a few hours ago.
“Good night, Haggarty,” Davis’ voice was saying, “don’t be so down,
man! What can you expect after letting you share our good times so
long, but that we should want a little work out of you some day? All
play and no work makes Jack a poor boy, and you’ll just have to let
us have that signature. If we make a handsome thing out of it, you
go halves, and you certainly couldn’t ask anything more. Perhaps
you don’t realize that you’re a little mixed up with us already, one of
us, to all intents and purposes, and we could make that plain
enough if we chose. We have a claim upon you, mind that.”
Tom plunged on into the darkness hardly knowing or caring which
way he took; not a star was to be seen, not a footstep stirred the
stillness after Davis’ tread had died away.
Suddenly that echo of Aleck’s words came again, ringing in his ears,
“Some One who always sees; who never thinks it beneath him to
notice.”
Tom pressed his hands to his forehead. No, no, he could not think of
that! He dared not think of it now! If he had only held on to it once!
If he could only think, now, that he had one friend who cared for
him!
 CHAPTER XXX.
The clouds that had made the night so dark were all gone the next
morning, and the sun shone brightly as Aleck called at the doctor’s
to get Thorndyke over to the store early; he wanted to look over
some papers preparatory to the new business arrangement, and he
knew evening was no time for Thorndyke to undertake extra work.
Old Joan’s face glowed with pride and delight at what was going on,
but she tried her best to conceal it.
“It’s no favorin’ the wee bairn,” she said, “to fling a’ the doors wide,
and tak him into the very heart o’ the establishment. Ilka customer
that casts a shadow inside kens he has been the heart and soul o’ it
a’ for years, an’ it’s only acknowledging the truth before the world,
to put his name where a’ can read it. And I’m persuaded it is ower
muckle to bring upon a pair o’ shoulders like his the whole burden o’
sic a house, wi’ the lives and health o’ half the city, and a’ the wisest
o’ the doctors dependin’ on him to fill their needs, and Mr. Aleck
steppin’ aside, and offerin’ nae muir help, whatever the pinch may
be!”
“Well, well, Joan, his head will make up for his shoulders, you know
that very well, and he must have all the help he needs, let Aleck go
when he will. Perhaps he’ll be picking up a junior partner for himself
after he comes to be owner of the whole thing, and that wont take
so many years either, eh, little man?” and the doctor gave
Thorndyke a look that wasn’t at all ashamed to show how he felt
about the matter, at least.
Business hours were early at the Fenimores’, too, and Tom was at his
post as usual, other people would have said, but for himself, he
could hardly have been sure whether he was there or not; he
seemed to be walking in a maze, some terrible dream of perplexity
and desperate resolve, and it grew darker and heavier as the hours
wore on.
“Mixed up” with Davis and his associates? One of them to all intents
and purposes? Did Davis dare say that? And if Davis could pretend
to a claim on him he would push it to the utmost, Tom knew.
Then why shouldn’t he let them have the signature if they wanted it,
and if that was the only way out of trouble on every side? A whole
life in that store was worse than a hundred deaths, and if Davis
should give him shares in a “handsome thing,” as he called it, he
might go to the ends of the earth, and have money to send back to
those that needed it. And after all, could a real thief feel much more
miserable and low than Hal had always kept him since they first
came together?
He passed heavily by the counting-room as the hours drew to a
close, and started as he heard the senior Fenimore’s voice calling
“Haggarty!”
Was the truth discovered? Was there any way in which Davis would
dare play him false and betray him as “mixed up” with his own
companions?
“Why, what is the matter with you?” asked Mr. Fenimore, as Tom’s
white face answered the summons. “Are you sick to-day?”
“No, I am not sick,” said Tom. “I was up rather late last night, it is
true.”
“Well, take care of yourself to-night, then; you don’t look right; but
just step in here a moment, if you please. I want to be out for
perhaps a quarter of an hour, if you can remain here. Perhaps you
can finish looking over these letters, and make some minutes of
them.”
Tom sat down and leaned his head upon his hands. What was the
matter with it? It throbbed and whirled strangely.
“Yes, I can do it,” he said drearily, as if trying to rouse himself. “I
should despise myself for ever; but I have always had somebody to
despise me. I wonder if it would be a very different thing.”
He glanced at a scrap of paper fallen near him, on which “Fenimore
& Co.” had been trying a new pen half a dozen times. He looked at it
again, and then started wildly to his feet.
“Yes, it would be a different thing! They cannot make me do it, Hal
Fenimore and the whole set of them together! I haven’t the stuff to
make a man of in me, of course, or Hal would never have twitted
and crowded me all my life as he has; but I’ve always been able to
declare to myself he lied when he said I did not do my best, and I
always will! But oh, why do I have to fight like a man, and a brave
one too, if I never was given the soul of one to begin with?”
He seized the letters and began to look them over. Black, white, or
gray were they? He could not tell. He only saw one question written
all over them. Would Davis dare, would he be able to get him into
trouble? He had meant that ugly phrase “mixed up” as a threat, Tom
knew very well; could he manage to bring it to the ears of Fenimore
& Co.? It would be an end to the partnership, drawing pretty near
now, if he should. And what then?
A sudden thought flashed into his mind. If any mercy, even in a dark
disguise, should set him free from Fenimore’s, there was Carter! He
had heard Aleck talk of what Carter was to the meanest man he had
on board. He would go before the mast with him, if he could but find
him. Thorndyke always knew when he came in. He would ask
Thorndyke.
“I wont keep you any longer, Haggarty,” said Mr. Fenimore’s voice
behind him; “and indeed I would advise you to call hours ended and
take care of yourself. You’re not well to-day, I am sure.”
Tom turned and left the store. He would go to Halliday’s. The sooner
he got a promise from Thorndyke to let him know when Carter came
in, the better.
Halliday’s was a place where every one seemed to like an excuse to
drop in; there was always some one there enjoying the light and
warmth and comfortable feeling he could hardly have explained to
himself.
The early twilight had fallen, and the outside air was bitterly cold as
Tom opened the door, and the feeling of comfort reached even his
heavy heart for an instant, as he stepped inside.
Thorndyke was busy with a solitary customer, and two heavy-coated
policemen stood with their backs to Tom, taking a moment’s respite
from the cold outside, and “warming up” for the next hour’s duty.
“Anything lively in your beat to-day?” asked one of them listlessly, as
he stretched his hands toward the glowing fire.
“Well, not a great deal,” replied the other. “We came down on a nest
of pretty dark-feathered birds, up in —— street, but we’ve had an
eye on them for some time.”
“Do they belong here?” asked the first.
“No, not more than one of them at least, but there’s a young shoot
of one of the best houses in the city that I’ve had my suspicions they
were trying to make friends with, of late. Can’t quite vouch for it,
though, and wouldn’t if I could, for I don’t think they’ve got any
harm out of him yet, and doubt if they ever would.”
The policemen left the fire, and passed out by an opposite door, the
customer followed, and Thorndyke looked up at Tom. One look was
enough. Tom’s face had told Thorndyke the secret, and Tom knew
he had read it.
“For heaven’s sake, Tom,” said Thorndyke, “don’t stand there looking
like that! There will be some one in in another moment. Here, come
into my office, there’s some one coming this instant. See if this glass
of water will make you look like a live man again, and wait there till I
come.”
The customer wanted a prescription that took time; hours the
minutes seemed to Tom, and then Thorndyke came. Tom looked up
at him with a white, hopeless face.
“You will despise me now,” he said slowly. “Of course you never
thought much of me; you couldn’t, kind as you were, though I did
mean to do as well as I could. But you were kind, and I had rather
all the world knew I had disgraced myself, than that you should have
found it out.”
“Tom,” said Thorndyke, in a low pitying tone that thrilled him
through, “tell me what is the matter here! Are you in trouble about
money?”
“No,” said Tom, “or at least, not much; it is worse than that! Those
fellows seemed to be friends, they wanted me with them, and I
wanted friends so much! They never let me see any harm, and it
always seemed so light-hearted and gay when they were; but I
knew there was harm, and I ought to have loathed it all, as I really
did in my soul all the time! They wanted me to forge Fenimore &
Co.’s name for them; that was all their friendliness was aimed at
from the beginning, I suppose. They did not get it, thank Heaven,
but they came too near it, nearer than I ever dreamed they could.
And now, if they’ve got into trouble themselves, and my name is
going to be whispered along with theirs, who is ever going to know
how far I went with them? Who’s going to believe that they kept me
half-blinded till the last moment, and that then I had determined to
refuse what they wanted, though I couldn’t see a bright spot before
me for half my life in any other track!”
“Oh why didn’t you come to me?” cried Thorndyke bitterly, and then,
with a sudden check upon himself—“but, Tom, you never would have
turned to friends like these if you hadn’t been in trouble to begin
with. Something has gone wrong with you longer than that, for I
have seen it.”
Tom looked in his face with a troubled cry.
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