The Rules of the Game

late at the office, which would earn him Harvey's marked disapproval. Bob could not see that it mattered much whether he was late or not. Generally he had nothing whatever to do for an hour

er murk parted noiselessly, as though the effect were prearranged; a blue sky shone through on a glint of bluer water;

creak of the rollers smoothing out the tennis courts; he could almost recognize the voices of the fellows perching about, smell the fragrant reek of their pipes, savour the sweet spring breeze. The library clock boomed four times, then clanged the hour. A rush of feet from all the recitation rooms followed as a sequence, the opening of doors,

ining him with

camp reports

the clock. He had bee

he camp reports, but instead of taking them directly to Bob for correction, as had been his habit, he la

y ran ten thousand? Why, it's preposterous! Saw it myself. It has a

gone, Fox read fu

ing's dead wrong. We never cut all th

on the desk. After a se

s to have got in the wrong column. You want to be a little more careful, Jim. N

used to respon

most every report we've filed. I've cut them out. Now, Mr. Fox, I don't have much to say, but I'd rather do a thing myself than do it over a

fully. Then after a mome

e outer office, and Fo

?" he asked. "Ho

. Don't think it isn't that. But it's new to me,

w long you

over fou

ck in his ch

n his head, he practically does the clerical work for them all, and he never seems to hurry. Also, he can

ht the stub of a

rying. Either you're a damn fool or this college education racket has had the same effect on you as on most other young cubs. If you're the son of your father, you can't be entirely a damn fool. If it's the college

ackwater of a tenth-floor office, full of infinite little statistics that led nowhere, that came to no conclusion except to be engulfed i

ers will be moved now. It will be busy there. We shall take the eight o'clock tr

er as coach, he had told some very high-spirited boys what he considered some whole

ir," he

Fox. "Jim!" he shot out in his penetrating v

. Harvey handed it to him without comment, and at once turned back to hi

ollowed him

n," he whispered, furtive

o the mill offi

ardly expect to jump right into the head office at first. I didn't much think you could hold d

ors rose and fell, burdened with the mass of indeterminate things. Truck horses, great as elephants, magnificently harnessed with brass ornaments, drew drays, big enough to carry a small house, to the loading platform where they were quickly laden and sent away. From an opened upper window came the busy click of many typewriters. Order in apparent confusion, immense activity at a white heat, great movement, the clanging of the wheels of commerce, the apparition and embodiment of restless industry-these appeared and vanished, darted in and out, were plain