girl, and they called her Micah. Father wouldn't have none of us
christened Jonah, because he said he was real mean; but we had
Nahum, and Habakkuk Zephaniah and Haggai Zechariah; and when my time
came there was nothing left but Malachi, and father said we had
better finish the job: and so Malachi I was. It is a blessing,"
continued Malachi frankly, "that Habakkuk Zephaniah and Haggai
Zechariah died when they were babies; for none of us would have
known what to call them; as it is, I am mostly called Mealy Murphy
down my way."

"There's a gentleman waiting to see you, sir," observed Malachi,
dropping his clasp knife dexterously into the waste-paper basket.
"Wouldn't give his name. Seems in a mighty hurry by the way he has
been walking all over the shop," he continued, sotto voce, as he
dipped his pen into the ink again. "I wonder what the governor would
say if he had heard him whistling like a penny steamer and playing
old Sallie with the pen-wipers and sealing-wax. A lively sort of
bloke as ever I see."

Malcolm walked rapidly to the door and opened it; as he did so, a
look of surprise and pleasure crossed his face at the sight of a
handsome, fair-haired youth, lying back on his easy-chair, with his
feet resting on a pile of ledgers.

"Hallo, Cedric!" he exclaimed in a cordial tone. "What on earth has
brought you up to town on the hottest day of the year? No, stay
where you are," as his visitor attempted to rise, and Malcolm put
his hands lightly on the boy's shoulders, pressing him gently back
against the cushions. "I never sit there myself unless I am lazy."