Psmith in the City

id from his stool with a satisfied sigh, and dusted his waistcoat. 'A commercial crisis,' he said, 'has passed. The job of work which Comrade Rossiter indicated

ext, or-happy thought-to take the present batch down to the post, and so get out into the sunshine and fresh air

. The cry will go round, "Psmith has gone! Some rival institution has kidnapped him!" Then they will see my hat,'-he built up a foundation of ledgers, planted a long ruler in the middle, and hung his hat on it-'my gloves,'-he stuck two pens into the desk and hung a lavender glove on each-'and they wil

sses in his ledger, and they moved off down the aisle. No movement came from Mr Rossiter's l

down as mere idlers. Triflers. Butterflies. It would be a wholesome corr

Mike. 'I thought you were going to the 'Varsity. Why the dicke

upply of doubloons in the old oak

ys is,'

th admirable promptitude. It is the same with me. I fancy we are both born men of Commerce. In a few years we shall be pinching Comrade Bickersdyke's job. And talking of Comrade B. brings me back to my painful story. But I shall never have

O!' sai

ing two portions of porridge, 'you may remember that a serious crisis in my affairs had

he was a manager

ly vibrating ganglions to a mere frazzle. Recovering myself, I made a few blithe remarks, and we then parted. I cannot say that we parted friends, but at any rate I bore him no ill-will. I was still determined to make him a credit to me. My feelings towards him were those of some kindly father to his prodigal son. But he, if I may say so, was fairly on the hop. And when my pater, after dinner the same night, played into his hands by mentioning that he thought I ought to plunge into a career of commerce, Comrade B. was, I gather,

this bally bank. If Bickersdyke's got his knife into us, he can make it jolly warm for

e will have a jolly good try at making life a nuisance to us; but, on the other hand, I pr

f a master at school, you could always rag and so on. But here you can't. How can you rag a man who's sit

But you do not know all. I do not propose to do a thing in the bank except work. I shall be a model as far as work goes. I shall be flawless. I shall bound to do Comrade Rossiter's bi

? You won't see him. He'll go

him earnestl

ng the bell, and gathered in the cigar or cocoanut according to cho

o you

allowing me just as large an allowance as he would have given me if I had gone to the 'Varsity. Moreover, while I was still at Eton he put my name up for his clubs, the Senior Conservative among others. My pater belongs to four clubs altogether, and in course of time, when my name comes up for election, I shall do the same.

d, and ate s

hes to emend any little traits in my character of which he may disapprove, he shall never say that I did not give him the opportunity. I shall mix freely with Comrade Bickersdyke at the Senior Conservative Club. I shall be his constant companion. I shall, in short, haunt the man. By these strenuous means I shall, as it were, get a bit of my own back. And now,' said Psmith, rising, 'it might be as well, perhaps, to return to the bank and resume ou

said Mike, 'the

orried Comrade Rossiter at all. I regard Comrade Rossiter as an elder brother, and would not cause him a moment's heart-burning for worlds. However,

nt was moving restlessly about in the n

cion of a worried look on our chief's face? It seems to me that the