a kind of box asked his business, and when he heard his name, said that
the "Guvnor" had sent down word that he was go up at once--third floor,
first to the right and second to the left. So up he went, and when
he reached the indicated locality was taken possession of by a
worried-looking clerk who had evidently been waiting for him, and almost
thrust through a door to find himself in a big, worn, untidy room. At
a huge desk in this room sat an elderly man, also big, worn, and
untidy-looking, who waved a long slip of galley-proof in his hand, and
was engaged in scolding a sub-editor.

"Who is that?" he said, wheeling round. "I'm busy, can't see anyone."

"I beg your pardon," answered the Major with humility, "your people told
me to come up. My name is Alan Vernon."

"Oh! I remember. Sit down for a moment, will you, and--Mr. Thomas,
oblige me by taking away this rot and rewriting it entirely in the sense
I have outlined."

Mr. Thomas snatched his rejected copy and vanished through another door,
whereon his chief remarked in an audible voice:

"That man is a perfect fool. Lucky I thought to look at his stuff. Well,
he is no worse than the rest, in this weary world," and he burst into a
hearty laugh and swung his chair round, adding, "Now then, Alan, what
is it? I have a quarter of an hour at your service. Why, bless me! I
was forgetting that it's more than a dozen years since we met; you
were still a boy then, and now you have left the army with a D.S.O. and
gratuity, and turned financier, which I think wouldn't have pleased your
old father. Come, sit down here and let us talk."