"Well, Martha," said Mr. Gurney, after Ashton had departed, "would
it be safe for us to employ him?"

He asked this in all sincerity; for he was a man who consulted his
wife in relation to all his business affairs. He said, "he looked
upon marriage as a partnership, the wife being an interested
member of the firm." And as he firmly believed this, he made it a
rule never to enter into any business transaction without seeking
her counsel, in regard to it, and he boasted that some of the best
hits he had made in business had been the outcome of acting upon
her advice.

"Well, my dear," she said in answer to his question, "I am
strongly in favor of giving him a chance. He is certainly a man of
more than ordinary intelligence, and he could not have that ease
and grace of manner which he possesses in so eminent a degree had
he not associated with the best society. It is certainly a great
pity he has become a victim of strong drink, but, then, if he had
not he would never have applied for the situation."

"But, Martha," interjected Mr. Gurney, "do you think it would be
in conformity with sound wisdom to engage him after the confession
he has made?"

"Yes, James, I really do, and one of the strongest reasons for my
thinking so is because of that confession. If he had protested he
had not been drinking, as most men in his circumstances would have
done, then I should have opposed your engaging him, but he was so
straightforward that he has certainly enlisted my sympathy in his