'Yes, _sir_; Alice that _is_, and Mrs. Augustus Cragin that is _to be_--when I get a new set of teeth. Good night,' and saying this, he took up his cane, and left the office. When he was gone, Hallet said to me: 'Do you desire to have David a witness to our conversation?' 'I want him to be a _party_ to it. We can come to no arrangement without his coöperation.' Hallet asked the bookkeeper in. When he was seated, I said: 'Well, Mr. Hallet, what do you propose to do for your son?' 'To treat him as I do my other children. Do all but acknowledge him. That would injure _him_.' 'That is not important. But please be explicit as to what you will do.' 'David tells me that his inclinations tend to business, and that you have meant to take him into your office. I will take him into _mine_, and when he is twenty-one, if he has conducted himself properly, I will give him an interest.' 'I shall be satisfied with no _contingent_ arrangement, sir. I know Frank will prove worthy of the position.' 'Very well; then I will agree definitely to make him a partner when he is of age.' 'Well, Mr. Hallet, if Frank will consent to come, I will agree to that with certain conditions. I told his mother, when she was dying, that I would consider him my own child; therefore I cannot give up the control of him. He must regard me and depend on me as he does now. Again, I cannot let him come here, and have no home whose influence shall protect him from the temptations which beset young men in a large city. David must take him into his family, and treat him as he treated me when I was a boy, and--this must be reduced to writing.' Hallet showed some emotion when I spoke of Frank's mother, but his face soon assumed its usual expression, and he promptly replied: 'I will agree to all that, but I would suggest that the fact of his being my son should not be communicated to him; that it be confined to us three. I ask this, believe me, only for the sake of my family. 'I see no objection to that, sir, and I think, Frank, for his own sake, should not know what his prospects are.' Hallet signified assent, and turning to David, I asked: 'David, what do _you_ say? Will you take him?' 'I will,' said the old bookkeeper, showing in his expenditure of breath the close economy which was the rule of his life. 'Nothing remains but to arrange his salary and the share he shall have when he becomes a partner,' I remarked to Hallet. 'Will an average of seven hundred a year, and an eighth interest when he's twenty-one, be satisfactory?' 'Entirely so. An eighth in your house will be better than a quarter in ours. As it is now all understood, let David draw up the papers. We will sign them, and leave them with him till I see Frank.'