and said humbly that he ventured to hope, when the sale of the
business came on, Mr. Joseph would let him have a chance.

"You?" asked Joe. "I never thought of you. But why not? Why not, I
say? Why not you as well as anybody else?"

"Nobody but me, Mr. Joseph, knows what the business is, and how it
might be improved; and I could make arrangements for paying by regular
instalments."

"Well, we'll talk about it when the time comes. I won't forget.
Sailors, you know, can't be expected to understand the value of shops.
Say, James, what does the commodore do all day?"

"Sits in there and adds up his investments."

"Always doing that--eh? Always adding 'em up? Ah, and you've never got
a chance of looking over his shoulder, I suppose?"

"Never."

"You may find that chance, one of these days. I should like to know,
if only for curiosity, what they are and where they are. He sits in
there and adds 'em up. Yes--I've seen him at it. There must be
thousands by this time."

"Thousands," said the assistant, in the belief that the more you add
up a sum the larger it grows.

Joe walked into the back shop and tried the safe.