The Red Seal [9]
in hand, entered the cage and was carried up to the fourth floor of the Wilkins Building. Several business acquaintances stopped to chat with him as he walked down the corridor to his office, and it was fully fifteen minutes before he turned the knob of the door bearing the firm name - ROCHESTER AND KENT, ATTORNEYS - on its glass panel. As he stepped inside the anteroom which separated the two offices occupied respectively by him and his senior partner, Philip Rochester, a stranger rose from the clerk's desk.
"Yes, sir?" he asked interrogatively.
Kent eyed him in surprise. "Mr. Rochester here? " he inquired.
"No, sir. It am in charge of the office."
"You are!" Kent's surprise increased. "I happen to be Mr. Kent, junior partner in this firm."
"I beg your pardon, sir." The dapper clerk bowed and hurrying to his desk took up a letter. "Mr. Rochester left this for you, Mr. Kent, before his departure last night."
"His departure!" Kent deposited his suit-case on one of the chairs and tore open the envelope. The note was a scrawl, which he had some difficulty in deciphering.
"Dear Kent," it ran. "Am called out of town; will be back Saturday. Saunders gave me some of his cheek this afternoon, so I fired him. I engaged John Sylvester to fill his place, who comes highly recommended. He will report for work to-morrow. Ta-ta - PHIL."
Kent thrust the note into his pocket and picked up his suit-case.
"Mr. Rochester states that he has engaged you," he said. "Your references -?"
"Here, sir." The clerk handed him a folded paper, and Kent ran his eyes down the sheet from the sentence: "To whom it may concern" to the signature, Clark Hildebrand. The statement spoke in high terms of John Sylvester, confidential clerk.
"I can refer you to my other employers, Mr. Kent," Sylvester volunteered as the young lawyer stood regarding the paper. "If you, desire further information there is Mr. Clymer and -"
"No, Judge Hildebrand'S recommendation is sufficient." And at Kent's smile the clerk's anxious expression vanished. "Did Mr. Rochester give you any outline of the work?"
"Yes, sir; he told me to file the papers in the Hitchcock case, and attend to the morning correspondence."
"Very good. Has any one called this morning?"
"No, sir. These letters were addressed to you personally, and I have not opened them," Sylvester handed a neatly arranged package to Kent. "These," indicating several letters lying open on his desk, "are to the firm."
"Bring them to me in half an hour," and Kent walked into his private office, carefully closing the door behind him. Opening his suit-case he took out his brief bag and laid it on the desk in front of him together with the package of letters. Instead of opening the letters immediately, he tilted back in his chair and regarded the opposite wall in deep thought. Philip Rochester could not have selected a worse time to absent himself; three important cases were on the calendar for immediate trial and much depended on the firm's successful handling of them. Kent swore softly under his breath; his last warning to Rochester, that he would dissolve their partnership if the older man continued to neglect his practice, had been given only a month before and upon Kent's return from eight months' service in the Judge Advocate General's Department in France. Apparently his warning had fallen on deaf ears and Rochester was indulging in another periodic spree, for so Kent concluded, recalling the unsteady penmanship of the note handed to him by the new clerk, John Sylvester.
Kent was still frowning at the opposite wall when a faint knock sounded, and at his call Sylvester entered.
"Here are the letters received this morning, sir, and type-written copies of the answers to yesterday's correspondence which Mr. Rochester dictated before leaving," Sylvester explained as he placed the papers on Kent's desk. "If you will o.k. them, I will mail them at once."
Kent went through the letters with care, and the new clerk rose in his estimation as he read the excellent
"Yes, sir?" he asked interrogatively.
Kent eyed him in surprise. "Mr. Rochester here? " he inquired.
"No, sir. It am in charge of the office."
"You are!" Kent's surprise increased. "I happen to be Mr. Kent, junior partner in this firm."
"I beg your pardon, sir." The dapper clerk bowed and hurrying to his desk took up a letter. "Mr. Rochester left this for you, Mr. Kent, before his departure last night."
"His departure!" Kent deposited his suit-case on one of the chairs and tore open the envelope. The note was a scrawl, which he had some difficulty in deciphering.
"Dear Kent," it ran. "Am called out of town; will be back Saturday. Saunders gave me some of his cheek this afternoon, so I fired him. I engaged John Sylvester to fill his place, who comes highly recommended. He will report for work to-morrow. Ta-ta - PHIL."
Kent thrust the note into his pocket and picked up his suit-case.
"Mr. Rochester states that he has engaged you," he said. "Your references -?"
"Here, sir." The clerk handed him a folded paper, and Kent ran his eyes down the sheet from the sentence: "To whom it may concern" to the signature, Clark Hildebrand. The statement spoke in high terms of John Sylvester, confidential clerk.
"I can refer you to my other employers, Mr. Kent," Sylvester volunteered as the young lawyer stood regarding the paper. "If you, desire further information there is Mr. Clymer and -"
"No, Judge Hildebrand'S recommendation is sufficient." And at Kent's smile the clerk's anxious expression vanished. "Did Mr. Rochester give you any outline of the work?"
"Yes, sir; he told me to file the papers in the Hitchcock case, and attend to the morning correspondence."
"Very good. Has any one called this morning?"
"No, sir. These letters were addressed to you personally, and I have not opened them," Sylvester handed a neatly arranged package to Kent. "These," indicating several letters lying open on his desk, "are to the firm."
"Bring them to me in half an hour," and Kent walked into his private office, carefully closing the door behind him. Opening his suit-case he took out his brief bag and laid it on the desk in front of him together with the package of letters. Instead of opening the letters immediately, he tilted back in his chair and regarded the opposite wall in deep thought. Philip Rochester could not have selected a worse time to absent himself; three important cases were on the calendar for immediate trial and much depended on the firm's successful handling of them. Kent swore softly under his breath; his last warning to Rochester, that he would dissolve their partnership if the older man continued to neglect his practice, had been given only a month before and upon Kent's return from eight months' service in the Judge Advocate General's Department in France. Apparently his warning had fallen on deaf ears and Rochester was indulging in another periodic spree, for so Kent concluded, recalling the unsteady penmanship of the note handed to him by the new clerk, John Sylvester.
Kent was still frowning at the opposite wall when a faint knock sounded, and at his call Sylvester entered.
"Here are the letters received this morning, sir, and type-written copies of the answers to yesterday's correspondence which Mr. Rochester dictated before leaving," Sylvester explained as he placed the papers on Kent's desk. "If you will o.k. them, I will mail them at once."
Kent went through the letters with care, and the new clerk rose in his estimation as he read the excellent