not their business to discover what Humplebee could do, and wished to do,
but to make him do things they regarded as desirable. Humplebee was marked
for commerce; he must study compound interest, and be strong at discount.
Yet the boy loathed every such mental effort, and the name of 'business'
made him sick at heart.

How he longed to unbosom himself to his father! And in the first week of
his holiday he had a chance of doing so, a wonderful chance, such as had
never entered his dreams. The town possessed a museum of Natural History,
where, of course, Harry had often spent leisure hours. Half a year ago a
happy chance had brought him into conversation with the curator, who could
not but be struck by the lad's intelligence, and who took an interest in
him. Now they met again; they had one or two long talks, with the result
that, on a Sunday afternoon, the curator of the museum took the trouble to
call upon Mr. Humplebee, to speak with him about his son. At the museum was
wanted a lad with a taste for natural history, to perform at first certain
easy duties, with the prospect of further advancement here or elsewhere. It
seemed to the curator that Harry was the very boy for the place; would Mr.
Humplebee like to consider this suggestion? Now, if it had been made to him
half a year ago, such an offer would have seemed to Mr. Humplebee well
worth consideration, and he knew that Harry would have heard of it with
delight; as it was, he could not entertain the thought for a moment.

Impossible to run the risk of offending Mr. Chadwick; moreover, who could
hesitate between the modest possibilities of the museum and such a career
as waited the lad under the protection of his powerful friend? With nervous
haste the draper explained how matters stood, excused himself, and begged
that not another word on the subject might be spoken in his son's hearing.

Harry Humplebee knew what he had lost; the curator, in talk with him, had