that?'
The throbbing in his breast increased to such a degree, that Guly felt as if he could not breathe. He reached up and laid one white delicate hand upon the desk tightly, for support, then summoning all his courage, he elevated his voice, and went on, mechanically, to repeat what, in calm moments, he knew as well as A B C, but which now seemed to be a sort of dead memory, which would desert him every moment.
'Louder, sir!' again shouted his tormentor, as his voice unconsciously lulled again. 'What do you want to play the fool in this way for? If you know it, speak up.'
There was a sudden turning of heads by the clerks nearest the desk towards the spot, attracted by the unusually loud tone of the proprietor. Guly felt, rather than saw, that he had become the object of attention, and with a last effort raised his voice, and commenced another number, but suddenly he ceased altogether, the white hand slid from the desk, and he fell fainting at Delancey's feet.
Wilkins sprang quickly forward, with a hot flush burning on either cheek, and lifted the boy like a baby in his arms. As he did so he cast a look full of deep and mysterious meaning upon Delancey. It was a look difficult for a mere observer to interpret, but the merchant quailed visibly beneath it, and turned aside his head.
Wilkins bore the quiet figure in his arms farther back into the shadow of the staircase, and placing him in a large chair which stood there, bathed his temples with camphor water, and held it to his nostrils, gazing upon him meanwhile with an intense and anxious gaze. At length the snowy lids, with their curve of golden lashes, trembled slightly, then opened wide, and the blue eyes were raised an instant, appealingly, to the face which bent kindly over him.
'A drop of water, Mr. Wilkins, if you please.'
It was brought, and he drank eagerly.
'Are you better?'
'Yes, Wilkins, almost well.'
He dropped his head upon his hand a moment, and those to whom he was visible saw 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.
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 of the merchant's seat at the high desk when they found him, and, as usual had his coat off, reading.
He looked up, apparently a good deal surprised, as they put the question to him, and exclaimed, rather dryly:
'Why, you don't say you're going to church!'
'Certainly, Mr. Wilkins. Won't you go with us?'
'Ah! not I.'
'Do you never go?'
'I used to, but it was a long time ago. You forget that I have been in New-Orleans five years.'
'No, we don't forget that. Mr. Hull said, the other day, that Mr. Delancey would never get as good a clerk as you again, or one that would be as faithful, and remain with him so long. But does being here a few years make any difference about going to church?'
'I'm afraid you'll find so.'
'How can you spend so much unoccupied time without church, Wilkins?' said Guly, earnestly, stepping up on the chair round, and seating himself quietly on the head clerk's knee.
Wilkins flung down the novel he had been reading, and, reaching out his strong arms, clasped both hands round the slender figure sitting there, and, throwing back his head, looked thoughtfully into the boy's blue
