After a while a rangy, well-grown boy came up the corridor, whistling noisily. Willie had a good opportunity to observe him as he came down the long passageway. There was a swagger about the lad’s carriage that suggested conceit or at least self-complacency. The boy’s cap was tilted rakishly over one ear. Even before Willie could see his face distinctly, he felt sure the lad before him was a “smarty.” When the boy drew close enough so that his features could be distinguished plainly, Willie was certain that his guess was correct. In fact, he saw at once that the fellow was more than “smart.” He was tough. A leering, ugly expression was plainly marked on his face. Hard lines were already stamped about his mouth and eyes. And Willie knew without ever hearing the boy speak, that his talk would be vulgar and profane. He was the more certain when the lad came blustering into the office, laid his hand on the swinging gate, and pushed it open. The first two fingers of the hand were stained a deep brown, from cigarettes. The lad pushed through the gate, which he allowed to slam shut with a bang. He glanced into all the rooms of the suite, probably trying to discover if he was on hand before the boss. He saw no one but a few minor clerks who had come in while Willie was waiting at the door. Then he returned to the little railing, and facing Willie, said in a coarse voice, “Whatcha want?” “I’m the new office boy,” said Willie, quietly, feeling an instant and instinctive dislike for the lad before him. “You are, hey?” said the lad, giving Willie an ugly stare. “Well, you’re a deuce of an office boy!” and the fellow swore noisily. Then, after another stare, he went on, “Whose cradle did they rob to get you, huh?” At this reference to his size, Willie flushed angrily. The lad who was talking to him was a full head taller than Willie, and yet he was a full year younger. Willie, of course, did not know that, but he instantly guessed that the office boy had not had nearly as much schooling as he himself had had. Willie was right, for the office boy had never even gotten into high school. Willie’s impulse was to make an angry and cutting reply, but he restrained himself. It wouldn’t do, he thought, to get into a quarrel with his predecessor before he himself was actually installed in office. And no sooner had Willie thought that than it occurred to him that perhaps the lad before him was trying to pick a quarrel with him. He might want to discredit him, or he might want to give him a beating. There wasn’t any question that the lad probably could whip him in a fight. Not only was the boy a head taller than Willie, but he probably weighed forty pounds more than Willie. So Willie decided to take a tight rein on himself. He sat still and made no reply.