, 1886-03-25

possibly not have found business matters
work 80 smoothly as they have. II you
discharge me with the notion of intro
ducing new blood into the house you
will have 10"
MIR. Penn Interrupted the merchant,
with a wave OF his hand, I'VE must in
this world be men OF business first and
humanitarians afterward. l have given
your case the fullest constellation, and
in acknowledgement of your services, as
well as by way of compensation, I pro-
pose to make you q weekly allowance
until you get employment. But that you
must go l have made up my mind. You
will please make no further observations
upon the decision at which | nave ar
rived, or | shall be Obliged to request you
TO leave my presence. | think it but fair
to tell you, however, that the principal
reason for my deciding to take a partner
is that | am going to be married-that is
when the consent Of the young lady's
father has been obtained
well sir" said the clerk, -of all
periods in life, surely the eve Of mar
rage should most naturally inspire kind
actions. You are about to make yourself
d1 ItDDl as hhiiAah DtAhk al IOonAbA1
be, vet you wish to ~inaugurate that
period by reducing to want and ruin an
old and tried servant. l know you too
well, sir-or, rather, | think too well Of
you-not to be sure that if you carry out
this latter intention your conscience must
prick you in after life"
Mr.. PENN said Greysark severely. Il
told you not TO handy words with me, 30
let me hear no more. / am now going
to Brighton. Do not omit to forward all
letters to my address there. You will
please be particular in this. | must say,
Mr.. Penn, that l am not a little aston
ished that, remembering, as you must,
what l have done for you. and how with
your furnished name you might long ere
this nave been begging your bread but for
me, you should presume to offer me ad-
vice on my WI affairs. But | will say
no more
The clerk fingered on in the room, as
II in hopes that some straw might still be
left to clutch at. Then he said: ~Mr.
Greysark, you observed Just now that the
fact of your marriage depends upon the
consent of the young lady's father"
Those were my words, Mr.. Penn" re-
piled the merchant.
IF he should refuse his consentgr said
Penn.
Refuse, Mr.. PENN Refuselr exclaimed
Greysark. -Such a thing is simply i'm
possible, simply too ridiculous to be en-
tertained for a moment. The head of
the house of Jonathan Greysark & Co., l
should imagine, was a fit match for any
one"
$50 you may think, sir" said Penn,
quietly; but fathers sometimes hold
strange opinions"
MIR. Penn, you are insolent sirl" almost
reared the merchant, rising in his chair,
and glaring at his clerk with furious
eyes.
Penn fumbled in his pockets and con
tinued, still quietly, well, sir, in this
case the fathers opinion does happen to
differ from yours, and he refuses his
sanction to his daughters marriage"
Jonathan Graysark started from his
chair, his face perfectly livid, his eyes
forth a letter from his pocket, unfolded
it, and as if UNCONSCIOUS of the storm he
had raised, resumed:
You have addressed this letter to Mr..
Robert Fleming, the father of Phyllis, the
young lady to whom you have been pay
ing your addresses. l, for family reasons,
with which you are quite familiar, pre-
fer to be known in my circle of %acquant-
ance as Robert Fleming. Phyllis is my
daughter, and l re-"
mo, no don't go on !" shouted Grey
sark in a voice of supplication.
In the course of a few weeks Phyllis
Penn became Mrs. Jonathan Greysark,
and the style of the firm in Rood-lane
was altered to G~reysark, Penn & Co..
London Truth.