which sapped both courage and initiative.

They were passing through the hallway from the dining-room to the
library, and as Compton concluded what was equivalent to Jimmy's
discharge, he had stopped and turned toward the younger man. They were
standing near the entrance to the music-room in which Elizabeth chanced
to be, so that she overheard her father's words, and not without a smile
of satisfaction and relief.

"Mr. Compton," replied Jimmy, "no matter what you do with me, you simply
must not let those C.P.A.'s go until they have completed their work. I
know something of what it is going to mean to your business, but I would
rather that the reports come from them than from me."

"What do you mean?" asked Compton.

"I didn't want to be the one to tell you," replied Jimmy. "I preferred
that the C.P.A.'s discover it, as they will within the next day or
two--you are being systematically robbed. I suspected it before I had
been there ten days, and I was absolutely sure of it at the time I
suggested you employ the C.P.A.'s. You are being robbed at the rate of
approximately one thousand dollars a week."

"How?" asked Compton.

"I would rather you would wait for the report of the C.P.A.'s," returned
Jimmy.

"I wish to know now," said Compton, "how I am being robbed."