One of them soon approached, and Ann Eliza repeated her
request. He received it affably.

"Mr. Loomis? Go right down to the office at the other end."
He pointed to a kind of box of ground glass and highly polished
panelling.

As she thanked him he turned to one of his companions and said
something in which she caught the name of Mr. Loomis, and which was
received with an appreciative chuckle. She suspected herself of
being the object of the pleasantry, and straightened her thin
shoulders under her mantle.

The door of the office stood open, and within sat a gray-
bearded man at a desk. He looked up kindly, and again she asked
for Mr. Loomis.

"I'm Mr. Loomis. What can I do for you?"

He was much less portentous than the others, though she
guessed him to be above them in authority; and encouraged by his
tone she seated herself on the edge of the chair he waved her to.

"I hope you'll excuse my troubling you, sir. I came to ask if
you could tell me anything about Mr. Herman Ramy. He was employed
here in the clock-department two or three years ago."

Mr. Loomis showed no recognition of the name.