had every hope that he would send us orders for many a cargo for Asiatic
delivery."

"And he had gone through every job in this office, from office boy to
sales manager in the lumber department and from freight clerk to
passenger agent in the navigation company," Matt Peasley supplemented.

"I admit all of that. But did you consult me when you decided to send
him out to China on his own?"

"Of course not. I'm boss of the Blue Star Navigation Company, am I not?
The man was in charge of the Shanghai office before you ever opened your
mouth to discharge your cargo of free advice."

"I told you then that Henderson wouldn't make good, didn't I?"

"You did."

"And now I have an opportunity to tell you the little tale you didn't
give me an opportunity to tell you before you sent him out. Henderson
_was_ a good man--a crackerjack man--when he had a better man over him.
But--I've been twenty years reducing a tendency on the part of that
fellow's head to bust his hat-band. And now he's gone south with a
hundred and thirty thousand taels of our Shanghai bank account."

"Permit me to remind you, Mr. Ricks," Mr. Skinner cut in coldly, "that
he was bonded to the extent of a quarter of a million dollars."

"Not a peep out of you, Skinner. Not a peep. Permit me to remind _you_
that I'm the little genius who placed that insurance unknown to you and