Desk and Debit Part 19

"No, you didn't. You ought to have spoken to me the moment you found anything wrong about the books."

"I was not sure that anything was wrong, sir. Mr. Whippleton said they were all right. When I found the invoices were missing, I spoke to him about them, and in about two weeks he brought them from his rooms."

"But you knew that the lumber of these invoices was not entered on the lumber book."

"Mr. Whippleton said he did not recognize the lumber book, and told me not to say anything to Mr. Faxon about them," I pleaded. "He was my employer, and I had to do what he ordered me to do."

"I'm your employer as much as he," protested the senior.

"That's very true, sir; but I never talked with you about the books or the business. You hardly ever spoke to me, sir."

"What has that to do with it, Mr. Philips?" demanded he, sternly.

"I did not feel at liberty to speak to you about your partner. Besides, sir, I hoped it would all come out right."

"You had no business to hope anything at all about it."

"I have done the best I knew how, sir. As you seem to be dissatisfied with me, I don't wish to have anything more to do with the matter. I told Mr. Whippleton I wanted to leave this morning. I am ready to go now."

"Go! Do you want to leave me now, when everything is in confusion?"

"Yes, sir; I want to leave if you are not satisfied."

"I'm not satisfied; but if you leave, I shall believe that you are a party to the villany that has been carried on in the counting-room. I thought you were on very intimate terms with Mr. Whippleton, your employer, sailing with him, and spending your Sundays on the lake with him."

"I never was in a boat with him on Sunday in my life, sir," I protested, vehemently.

"Well, he was out in his boat every Sunday, and I supposed, as you went with him at other times, you did on Sundays."

"No, sir; I did not. He was very kind to me, and I was grateful to him for it."

"You seem to be," sneered the dignified senior.

"He treated me with a kindness and consideration which I never received from his partner; and I shall always thankfully remember that, whatever else in him I may desire to forget," I replied, smartly, for I was cut to the soul by the cold and harsh words and manner of Mr. Collingsby, after I had exposed the rascality of his partner.

"No impudence, young man."

"I should like to leave at once, sir."

"You can't leave."

"I think I can, sir."

"If you do, I will send an officer after you. In my opinion, you and Whippleton have been altering the books to suit your own purposes."

"It looks so, after I have called your attention to these invoices--don't it, sir?" I replied, with becoming indignation.

"Why didn't you speak of them before, then?"

"Because I was not sure that anything was wrong till last night."

"Pray what did you discover last night?" asked the senior, with a palpable sneer.

"I discovered that Mr. Whippleton was very anxious to raise a large sum of money. This morning I told him squarely what I thought he had been doing, but he promised to convince me that it was all right this afternoon. But in spite of all he said, I told you about the invoices this forenoon."

"You didn't speak soon enough."

"While you are reproaching me, Mr. Whippleton is raising money on the notes of the firm."

"And you want to desert me!"

"I do, when I am accused of being concerned in his frauds."

"Perhaps I was hasty," added Mr. Collingsby, biting his lip. "I did not mean to say that you profited by his fraud."

"I think he has exposed the whole thing," said Mr. Faxon.

"We will consider this matter at another time. What's to be done?"

"Go to the banks, the bankers, and the brokers, and find Mr.

Whippleton," I replied.

"Will you a.s.sist, Mr. Philips?"

"I will; but I should like to go to St. Louis to-night."

"We will see about that. Call a carriage for me, Mr. Faxon. Now, stop him, if you can. Have him arrested! The villain has swindled me out of seventy or eighty thousand dollars," continued Mr. Collingsby, bustling about the room, and apparently forgetting that he was a sick man.

Sore as I felt about the reproaches which had been so unjustly heaped upon me, I was interested for the welfare of the firm. I ran all the way to the two banks where we did our business. I was too late. At the two Mr. Whippleton had discounted about twelve thousand dollars' worth of the paper. I heard of him at several banks and offices, and as the notes of Collingsby and Whippleton were as good as gold in the market, he had no difficulty in negotiating them. Though I could not follow him everywhere that he had been, I was satisfied that he had turned the notes into cash. I could not find him, and I went to the counting-room for instructions, for I expected to find the senior partner there.

"Have you seen Mr. Whippleton, Robert?" I asked, when I found that the entry clerk was alone in the counting-room.

"He was here half an hour ago."

"Where is he now?"

"I don't know; he didn't say anything, but he had his overcoat on his arm."

"Has Mr. Faxon been in?"

"No; only Mr. Whippleton. What's the matter, Phil? Everybody seems to be in a stew to-day."

"There's an awful row brewing. What did Mr. Whippleton do?"

"He went to the safe, and looked over the pages of one of the books.

What's the matter?"

"He has been using the money of the firm for his own speculations, and in my opinion he means to run away with all the cash he can put his hands on."