And so the little woman, when she retired, felt that the spirit of his
father had indeed descended to the son, and that she need not have any
fear with regard to Dick making his way in the world.
As he had promised himself, Dick applied to Mr. Graylock in the morning
for a position.
The big store was not very busy at that time, most of their trade coming
in the afternoon and evening, so that he found the proprietor in his
office engaged in dictating letters to a girl stenographer.
When he had finished he beckoned to Dick to come into his cubby-hole den
where an opening afforded him a chance to keep his eye on all that was
going on in the store, from bookkeepers to the clerks behind the various
counters.
Mr. Archibald Graylock was a very stern and harsh man, with an eye that
seemed to penetrate to the very soul of the party with whom he held
converse.
Those in his employ led a dog's life of it, for he would brook no
trifling, and from the time they entered the door until they left not
one minute could they call their own; no one might tell just when that
cold, calculating green eye was fixed upon them; so there never was the
least sign of skylarking or even friendly communion in that big
establishment while the proprietor was present, and that meant pretty
much the live-long day, and every day in the week.
Dick had never liked him; no one else did for that matter, though many
people toadied to Mr.
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