IN WHICH PHIL IS PERPLEXED ABOUT CERTAIN INVOICES.
"What's the matter, sir? Are you sick?" I asked, startled by the deadly
pallor on the cheeks and lips of the junior partner.
"I don't feel very well, but I shall be better in a moment," he
replied, faintly.
"What shall I do for you?"
"Nothing, Phil; I feel better now. I'm subject to these ill turns in
the summer. I shall be all right in a few minutes. I'll bring down
those invoices to-morrow. I bought my boat last year, hoping to cure
myself of them by using exercise in the fresh air."
I waited a few minutes, and he recovered in a great measure from the
sudden attack; but he was still pale, and appeared to be very nervous.
"The doctor told me if I attended to business so closely, I should
break down altogether," he continued, rising from his chair.
"Well sir, I hope you will take a vacation, then," I answered, full of
sympathy.
"I can't do it; that's the trouble. I hoped I should be able to take my
trip round the lake this summer, but I don't see how I can do it. I
have to do all the buying for the concern, and attend to all the
finances. Mr. Collingsby, you know, really does nothing. The whole
establishment rests on my shoulders, and I find I am yielding under the
heavy load."
"I hope I shall soon be able to do more to help you," I replied.
It had occurred to me that the concern had been running itself for
several weeks, for Mr. Whippleton had not been in the office half the
time. I supposed, therefore, from what he said, that he was buying
lumber, or attending to the finances of the establishment, in his
absence, for he appeared to have injured his health very seriously.
From "the speech of people," and from an occasional remark he dropped
himself, I had learned that he was engaged in land speculations, but I
was not willing to believe that these could add very much to his work.
"You have done very well, Phil," said he, kindly. "You have been
faithful, and you have kept your books remarkably well; but taking a
trial balance isn't your forte yet."
"I know I'm stupid, sir."
"Far from it, Phil. I never knew a young man of your age who had so
deep an insight into the science of accounts as you have; but you can't
do everything at once."
"Thank you, sir; you are very kind. Perhaps the taking of trial
balances is not my forte; but it seems to me that those invoices, when
you bring them, will make it all right. Forty thousand dollars added to
the stock will leave a balance of thirty thousand in favor of the
concern."
"Very likely you are right, after all, Phil. Indeed, I think you must
be. You are always correct about everything."
"O, no, sir; I don't pretend to be always correct, but I try to be so,"
I replied, blushing at the compliments showered upon me.
"But, Phil, you should not attempt to do what you don't understand."
"I thought I was perfectly competent to make out a trial balance, sir."
"Undoubtedly you are. It isn't that," he interposed, with a pleasant
smile. "There are certain details of the business which you don't
understand, and you can't make out a correct trial balance without
including those details."
"I supposed I understood all about the business, and perhaps it would
have come out all right if I had only had those invoices."
"I don't know how that might have been. But suppose Mr. Collingsby had
seen your statement, that the firm had lost ten thousand dollars in six
months."
"I did not intend to show it to him."
"Still he might have seen it. You might have left it on the desk, and a
single glance at it would have alarmed him, when, you can see for
yourself, the business is paying a large profit."
"I made the statement only for you, and I showed it to you in order to
have my blunder pointed out."
"You did perfectly right, Phil, but an accident might have happened,"
said he, walking to the desk where my sheets were still lying.
He picked them up, tore them into a great many pieces, and threw them
into the waste basket.
"At the end of the year we will make out a trial balance together," he
added.
I did not like to see the result of so much hard labor destroyed;
especially as, by Mr. Whippleton's own showing, the figures would be
correct when he produced the missing invoices. But I had my rough
draft, which I had carefully copied, in the desk, and I intended to
carry this home, in order to ascertain at some future time whether my
figures were correct or not. When I obtained the invoices I could tell
whether I had made a failure or not in the act of taking a trial
balance. I was not satisfied that I was so utterly stupid as my
employer made me out to be.
"Those bills ought to have been entered on the lumber book," said I,
when the junior partner had disposed of my papers.
"That's of no consequence at all. The lumber book is a humbug," he
replied; "I don't believe in it; indeed, I had even forgotten that
there was any such book. The firm don't recognize it, and I think it is
liable to lead us all into blunders and errors, as it has you."
He went to the other side of the desk, where the objectionable volume
lay, turned over its leaves, and glanced at its pages. He was still
very nervous, for the effects of his sudden attack of illness appeared
not to have left him.
"No reliance whatever can be placed on this book, and I am disposed to
destroy it."
"I thought it was a very good thing. Faxon uses it a great deal, and
says he can tell what stock he has on hand, when a customer comes,
without going out of the counting-room."
"It is not reliable. The only way to know what stock we have is by
looking it over."
Very likely he would have destroyed it if Mr. Collingsby had not called
him into the private counting-room at this moment. He evidently had a
hearty grudge against the book, which I thought was entirely
groundless.
"Mr. Whippleton don't think much of your lumber book," said I, when the
head salesman came in a moment later.
"Why, what's the matter with it?" asked the man.
"He says it is not reliable."
"I think it is; and since I adopted it, two or three other concerns
have kept one like it, after asking me about it. What's the reason it
isn't reliable?"
"You may neglect to enter invoices or sales."
"Your ledger wouldn't be good for anything if you neglected to carry
all your items to its pages."
I was about to specify more particularly that the firm had about forty
thousand dollars' worth of stock on hand more than appeared in the
lumber book, when Mr. Whippleton returned. He evidently understood what
I was doing, and told me to make up the bank account.
"You needn't say anything to Faxon about his book. Let him keep it, if
he wishes to do so," said he.
"I did say something to him."
"You did? What did you say?"
"I only told him you didn't think his book was reliable."
"That's no more than the truth, but you need not mention the matter
again. It will only make unpleasant feeling. Smooth it over if he says
anything more about it, and let the matter drop."
I was rather puzzled, but I went on with the bank account.
"And by the way, Phil, you needn't say anything to Mr. Collingsby about
those invoices," he added, a little while after.
"I shall not be likely to do so. He hardly ever speaks to me, and I
never do to him, unless it is to answer a question."
"He's very fussy and particular. It was careless in me to leave those
papers at home, but it is all right now. This is a fine day, Phil, and
we will take a sail about four o'clock if you like."
I did like; I always liked to take a sail. I had been with him a dozen
times already, and had been promoted to the position of able seaman on
board, for I had taken the helm, and actually worked the boat alone for
hours at a time. I had been out with the junior partner in some pretty
heavy blows, and enjoyed them too. In fact, I considered myself as
competent to handle the Florina as I was to make out a trial balance. I
looked into the theory of sailing a boat, and understanding the
principles, I found the practice easy.
After the business of the day was done, we embarked, and sailed with a
stiff breeze to the head of the lake. Mr. Whippleton was more than
usually kind and considerate, but he appeared to be thoughtful and
troubled. He gave me the helm, and went into the cabin as soon as we
were out of the river. He sat at the table, with a pencil and paper,
and seemed to be absorbed in some difficult calculation.
At dark we were off Indiana City. I reported to Mr. Whippleton, and he
came on deck. He told me to come about, and I did so without any
assistance from him. He talked a little about the business of the firm,
but soon relapsed into silence. His manner was somewhat strange, but I
attributed it to his ill health. We had an abundant supply of
provisions on board, such as crackers, sardines, lambs' tongues; and we
usually took our supper on board, as we did not return to the city till
nine or ten. Sometimes we cooked ham and eggs, beefsteak, or a mutton
chop, and made coffee. I was cook and steward generally, but this time
my employer brought up some eatables, and we took our supper in the
standing-room. I noticed that he had no appetite, and I was really
afraid that he would be seriously ill.
The next day I carried home all the papers relating to my trial
balance, and locked them up in my valise. Mr. Whippleton staid in the
counting-room all day for the next week, but nothing more was said of
my unfortunate attempt to prove my zeal. He did not, however, bring the
missing invoices, and I ventured to mention the matter again. He had
forgotten all about them, but would attend to it the next day.
Another week elapsed before he produced them. I looked them over, and
they appeared to be correct. They were in the ordinary forms, with the
printed headings of the establishments at which the lumber had been
purchased. As soon as he gave them to me I took up the lumber book.
"You needn't enter them on that book, Phil," said the junior partner;
"I don't believe in that book, and I won't have anything to do with it.
File them away, and don't say anything about them to any one."
Of course I obeyed my orders, but I confess that I began to think
something was wrong. The Whippleton idea of honesty was not very high.
The cash amounts of these invoices had been paid, and I supposed the
lumber had been received in the yard. But Mr. Whippleton was a partner
in the concern, and he could not mean to cheat himself. My curiosity
was excited, but as a clerk I had no right to meddle with what did not
concern me.
When I went to bed that night I could not sleep, for my mind would
dwell upon the mysterious invoices. I heard the clock on a church
strike twelve, and still I was awake. A few minutes later I heard a
knock at my door. Mrs. Whippleton had been sick for a week, and I found
that the summons came from her nurse. The landlady was worse, and she
wanted to see me at once. I hastily dressed myself, and went to her.
"Phil, I know you are honest; everybody says so. I want to see you,"
said she, as I entered.
I could not imagine what my honesty had to do with the matter, but I
waited for an explanation.