The Brother Clerks | Page 9

his lips move earnestly for a moment or two.
"I can go on without any trouble, I think," he said, in a voice of gentle
earnestness, referring to his unsaid table.
"You needn't say any more unless you would like to," returned Wilkins;
"I am sure you know it."
"I would rather," said Guly, firmly.
He rose, and, with Wilkins at his side, again approached the desk where
Mr. Delancey had resumed his stiff position, leaning back in his chair.
"He will finish, if you please, sir," said Wilkins, with the respectful
bow of an inferior, but at the same time fixing his eyes sternly on the
merchant's face.
Mr. Delancey assumed an air of attention, and Guly, taking his old
station in front of him, commenced in a clear, distinct voice, and
repeated the table unfalteringly, from beginning to end.
"There! why couldn't you have done that in the first place, without
acting such a namby-pamby farce, I'd like to know?"
"I had not the power, sir."
"Well, what do you s'pose you're good for in a dry goods store, anyway,
eh? Look at that!" and he lifted one of the boy's small white hands by
the tips of the fingers, and held it towards the light, as if he would look
through it, then dropped it with a contemptuous "Umph!"

"What shall we do with him, Wilkins?"
"Give him the embroidery department. His hands are just fit for such
delicate work, and besides it will just put him under my eye."
"Poh! he'll make such ruinous mistakes, that I'll never be able to stand
it, sir. Give him Harper's place in the thread and tape, up here, then he'll
be under my eye."
Guly shuddered.
"He'll do well, sir, in the place I propose," Wilkins returned quietly, but
firmly. "With a little instruction, I'll answer for him; and there's a freer
circulation of air down there, something he needs."
"Well, take him along, and see what you can do with him. I expect
nothing more than that he'll die on my hands, before he's earned enough
to pay his funeral expenses."
Wilkins turned, and beckoned the boy to follow him.
CHAPTER IV.
The First Sunday at Church.
Wilkins was head clerk in the establishment, and although he had all
the books to keep, his work was lighter than that of any of the rest. He
went to work later in the morning, and left it earlier at night. Besides
being book-keeper, he was a sort of a superintendent of the whole
concern; and the clerks looked up to him as second only to the
proprietor himself. To win Wilkins' favor was to propitiate Mr.
Delancey: a fact well known, and acted upon.
Guly's beauty, or gentle disposition, had evidently gained for him,
through Wilkins, the best stand in the store. His work was light and
agreeable, he had no heavy lifting to do, and the Beautiful, which in
any form was delightful to him, was constantly before his eyes. In
addition to this, the clerk who stood next to him, on his right hand, was

a most estimable and kind young man, of the name of Hull; who used
every effort to assist his young neighbor, in learning to correctly
perform his work, and by his own example, taught him patiently to
endure its tediousness. This, together with the frequent and
kindly-tendered instructions of Wilkins, enabled Guly, who was
naturally very quick, to readily acquire the knowledge requisite for his
situation; and with his brother, nearly opposite, to speak to occasionally,
and to see all the time, he felt that he was highly favored.
As Mr. Delancey had never shown any interest in the matter of their
board, they still continued to "victual," as Wilkins called it, at the
restaurant, and sleep at the store. By dint of working a little before
going to bed every night, the brothers, without reminding Wilkins of
his promise to "see to it," had managed to make their sleeping
apartment present a very habitable appearance.
As every moment of their time, since their arrival, had been taken up
with business, they remained in their room the first Sunday, without
going to church; feeling that for each of them to pour into the fond
breast of their distant mother all the thoughts, feelings, and events,
which they had experienced since they had left her side, would be as
acceptable to Him whose day it was, as to attend church, leaving her to
mourn in anxious uncertainty as to their safety or happiness. The
succeeding Sabbath, however, they rose early, and, after performing
their devotional exercises, prepared themselves to attend public
worship.
While waiting for the bell to ring, they sought Wilkins, for the purpose
of inquiring what church Mr. Delancey attended. Wilkins had taken
possession