of the revenue laws, and manage the immaculate saints of the custom-
house. As far as the firm had dirty, disagreeable, perplexing work to
do, Mr. Fox was to do it. Whenever it came in contact with the majesty
of the law and government, Mr. Fox was to represent it. Whenever some
Israelite in whom _was_ guile sought, on varied pretext, to wriggle
out of the whole or part of a bill, the wary Mr. Fox met him on his
own plane and with his own weapons, skirmished with him, and won the
little fight.

I would not for a moment give the impression that Mr. Allen was in
favor of sharp practice. He merely wished to conduct his business on
the business principles and practice of the day, and it was not his
purpose, and certainly not his policy, to pass beyond the law. But
even the judges disagree as to what the law is, and he was dealing
with many who thrived by evading it; therefore the need of a nimble
Mr. Fox who could burrow and double on his tracks with the best of
them. All went well for years, and the firm was saved many an
annoyance, many a loss, and if this guerilla of the house, as perhaps
we may term him, had been as devoted to Mr. Allen's interests as to
his own, all might have gone well to the end. But these very sharp
tools are apt to cut both ways, and so it turned out in this case. The
astute Mr. Fox determined to serve Mr. Allen faithfully as long as he
could faithfully and pre-eminently serve himself. If he who had
scrambled from the streets to his present place of power could reach a
higher position by stepping on the great rich merchant, such power
would have additional satisfaction. He was as keen-scented after money
as Mr. Allen, only the latter hunted like a lion, and the former like
a fox. He mastered Mr. Allen's business thoroughly in all its details.
Until recently no opportunity had occurred save work which, though
useful, caused him to be half-despised by the others who would not or