“I decided to wait till next week----” he began. Then, catching sight of Lucy, he stopped. She rose. The even red color flowed up over his face and he stood undecided an instant. Then he shook hands formally. “Are you keeping well this hot weather?” he inquired stiffly. “Very well, thank you.” “And how is Dimmie?” “He’s well, too, thank you,” she replied. “Excuse me. I must see a man at Layard’s before lunch,” he explained awkwardly, going out. He did not return. “Jim Sprague is growing more peculiar every day,” John complained to Lucy, as the sound of Jim’s steps died away. “He’s become impossible to get along with, even in business.” Lucy did not speak. She sat down near John, her face averted. “I was going to tell you last night,” he continued, “but didn’t. He has offered me his share of the business--at a low price--in fact almost nothing--and on liberal terms: time payments. He has an offer from Layard’s and wants to get out. It’s far and away a better position than I had with them. That shows what kind of a friend _he_ was.” Lucy stared at the papers on the table before her. “I think you’d better buy it,” she advised at last. “I think so too,” John agreed. “I couldn’t do it alone because I’m very badly in debt now----” Lucy looked up at him startled--“but Mathews thinks he’s had enough of bookkeeping. He’s been at it fifteen years now, and has got something laid by, and he’ll go in with me. His experience with Layard’s will be very useful to us. What do you think?” Lucy shivered slightly. “I think that will be the best scheme,” she declared without hesitation. “All right,” concluded John, “I’ll begin to make plans that way, then. Now you sit here a minute, Lucy, while I go across the hall to a lawyer’s office about this contract, and then we’ll go and get lunch together.” And John passed into the corridor. Lucy rose again and, walking rather unsteadily to Jim’s desk, laid her hands softly upon it. She rested so for a minute. Then she went slowly to the window opposite the street and gazed across the roofs to the tall building in which Layard’s offices were situated. THE END TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES Spelling errors and typos were corrected. A new Table of Contents was created for this edition. New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the public domain. Text between _underlines_ represent italics.