Involuntarily the young man sighed.  If he had remained with Jasper, there was little doubt but that his name would have been the one now associated with his in a copartnership.  Parker was the young man who had betrayed the conversation between Claire and Mr. Melleville.  His end in doing this was to gain the favour of Jasper, and thus secure the place left vacant by the departing clerk.  He had succeeded in his purpose.  Jasper offered him the situation, and he took it.  Five years afterward, in which time Jasper had made money rapidly, he was elevated to the position of partner, with a fair interest in the business.  He had been honest toward his employer, because he saw that through him there was a chance to rise.  Honest in heart he was not, for he never scrupled to overreach a customer.

Edward Claire, as we have remarked, sighed involuntarily.  His own prospects in life were not what are called flattering.  His situation with Mr. Melleville was now worth five hundred dollars a year, but his family had increased, and with the increase had come new wants.  The condition of Mr. Melleville’s business gave him no encouragement to hope for a larger income while in his service.  Several times during the last two years he had made application for vacant places, but without success.  Sometimes he felt restless and discouraged, as his vision penetrated the future; but there was ever a cheerful light at home that daily dispelled the coming shadows.

Scarcely had the sigh lost itself on the air, when a hand was laid on his arm, and an old acquaintance said—­

“Ah, Edward!  How are you?”

Claire seeing the face of his friend, returned the greeting cordially.

“What have you been doing with yourself?” asked the latter.  “It is months, I believe, since I had the pleasure of meeting you.”

“Busy all day,” returned Clare, “and anchored at home in the evening.  So the time is passing.”

“Pleasantly and profitably, I hope,” said the friend.

“Pleasantly enough, I will own,” was answered; “as to the profit—­if you mean in a money sense—­there is not much to boast of.”

“You are still with Melleville?”

“Yes.”

“At what salary?”

“Five hundred.”

“Is that all?  How much family have you?”

“Three children; or, I might say four; but the fourth brings us three hundred dollars a year for her maintenance.”

“That is something.”

“Oh yes.  It is quite a help.”

“By the way, Edward—­the new store we just past reminds me of it—­your old friend Jasper has just given one of his clerks, named Parker, an interest in his business.”

“So I am aware.”

“Jasper is doing first-rate.”

“He is making money, I believe.”

“Coining it.  The fact is, Edward, you never should have left him.  Had you kept that situation, you would have been the partner now.  And, by the way, there was rather a strange story afloat at the time you took it into your head to leave Jasper.”