The young secretary went white, and his fingers dropped from the keys of
the typewriter.

"Sir!"

It was a moment of crisis.

"Well?" asked Lars Larssen sharply.

"A letter like that, sir...!"

"You don't care to go to Canada?"

"It's not that, but----" He stammered, and stopped short.

Lars Larssen allowed a moment of silence to give weight to his coming
words. He drew out a cheque-book from his breast-pocket and very
deliberately said: "Make yourself out a cheque for a usual month's
wages, and bring it to me to sign. That will be in lieu of notice."

Arthur Dean took the cheque-book with shaking fingers and went to the
adjoining room.

When at length he came back, he found the shipowner making out a
telegram. He stood in silence until the telegram was given into his
hand, open, with an order to send it off to London. His glance fell
involuntarily on the writing, and he could see that the wire was to call
over somebody to replace him.

"I don't think this will be necessary, sir," said Dean, with a tremor in