"'You will be a man,' said he; 'you will listen to reason.' He uttered these words not as a query, but as an assertion of fact. "'I shall do as I have said,' was my reply, and I walked toward the door. "'But you do not mean to say that you refuse to become a partner?' he ejaculated in amazement. "'That is just what I mean. I tell you once for all that I will not be a party to such crimes as you propose to commit.' "'Then I warn you, young man,' he thundered, losing his self control, 'that if you attempt to thwart me in my business I shall make it uncomfortable for you in this city. "'Yes, I tell you now once for all, that you will find me the most unmerciful enemy that was ever known. I have too much at stake to let a fool of a man upset me. "'Do you think that the world will credit the utterances of a nobody as against mine? Why, you will be lodged in an insane asylum. I shall have that matter fixed at once. "'By the way, where are the bonds that I entrusted to your care last week?' "'What bonds?' I demanded hotly. For even then I saw the purport of the question. "'What bonds? Ah, that will not satisfy a jury.' "And the banker chuckled at the thought that he had struck upon the proper weapon with which to crush me. "In the confidence of his own power, and no doubt as a means of avoiding publicity, he thought that the affair had gone to a point where he might appear magnanimous. "'I do not hold any ill will toward you,' he continued, 'it is as a friend that I speak. You are suffering from a sensitive conscience, which is out of place in this age and generation. "'I can pity you, but of course it would be impossible for me to allow sentiment to rule me in business. "'We will let this evening pass out of our minds. You will return to your duties, and in the future let my outside matters be distinct from your work and concern. But remember, not a word of this to any one.' "As the last few words were spoken we walked as if by common impulse toward the door. "I bade him good-night, and the next minute I found myself on the sidewalk. It was winter, and the cold bracing air soon made me alive to the events that had occurred in such quick succession in the banker's parlor. "My mind was in a flurry. What was I now to do? Did my silence at parting indicate that I had accepted his offer to return to work as his clerk? "With a muddled brain I walked on and on until I found I had reached the entrance of the Park at Fifty-ninth street and Fifth avenue. I entered the park and sank exhausted upon a bench. "Then I began to review the words of our interview. "It all became clear to me. I was in the power of an unscrupulous man. He could throw me into prison at a word; if this was not to be desired he could have me declared insane and put in an insane asylum. My word was as naught against his. So I determined to work in his bank until I could get the evidence that I needed to prove my case.