same place. And this pursuit of the Assistant Manager had continued for
several years, often, too, in the most curious fashion; and though Jones
had never exchanged a single word with him, or been so much as noticed
indeed by the great man, the clerk understood perfectly well that these
moves in the game were all part of a definite purpose. Never for one
moment did he doubt that the Invisibles behind the veil were slowly and
surely arranging the details of it all so as to lead up suitably to the
climax demanded by justice, a climax in which himself and the Manager
would play the leading _roles_.

"It is inevitable," he said to himself, "and I feel it may be terrible;
but when the moment comes I shall be ready, and I pray God that I may
face it properly and act like a man."

Moreover, as the years passed, and nothing happened, he felt the horror
closing in upon him with steady increase, for the fact was Jones hated
and loathed the Manager with an intensity of feeling he had never before
experienced towards any human being. He shrank from his presence, and
from the glance of his eyes, as though he remembered to have suffered
nameless cruelties at his hands; and he slowly began to realise,
moreover, that the matter to be settled between them was one of very
ancient standing, and that the nature of the settlement was a discharge
of accumulated punishment which would probably be very dreadful in the
manner of its fulfilment.

When, therefore, the chief cashier one day informed him that the man
was to be in London again--this time as General Manager of the head
office--and said that he was charged to find a private secretary for him
from among the best clerks, and further intimated that the selection
had fallen upon himself, Jones accepted the promotion quietly,