"Oh, yes, sir. Specially when you make so much that you don't
miss it."

Gilder's thick gray brows drew down in a frown of displeasure,
while his eyes opened slightly in sheer surprise over the
secretary's unexpected remark. He hesitated for only an instant
before replying with an air of great dignity, in which was a
distinct note of rebuke for the girl's presumption.

"The profits from my store are large, I admit, Sarah. But I
neither smuggle my goods, take rebates from railroads, conspire
against small competitors, nor do any of the dishonest acts that
disgrace other lines of business. So long as I make my profits
honestly, I am honestly entitled to them, no matter how big they
are."

The secretary, being quite content with the havoc she had wrought
in her employer's complacency over his charitableness, nodded,
and contented herself with a demure assent to his outburst.

"Yes, sir," she agreed, very meekly.

Gilder stared at her for a few seconds, somewhat indignantly.
Then, he bethought himself of a subtle form of rebuke by
emphasizing his generosity.

"Have the cashier send my usual five hundred to the Charities
Organization Society," he ordered. With this new evidence of his
generous virtue, the frown passed from his brows. If, for a
fleeting moment, doubt had assailed him under the spur of the