In
the bank and out of it he was polite, considerate and always
agreeable. During these first days Jed fancied that he detected in
the young man a certain alert dread, a sense of being on guard, a
reserve in the presence of strangers, but he was not sure that this
was anything more than fancy, a fancy inspired by the fact that he
knew the boy's secret and was on the lookout for something of the
sort. At all events no one else appeared to notice it and it
became more and more evident that Charlie, as nine-tenths of Orham
called him within a fortnight, was destined to be the favorite here
that, according to his sister, he had been everywhere else.
Of course there were a few who did not, or would not, like him.
Luther Small, the deposed bank clerk, was bitter in his sneers and
caustic in his comments. However, as Lute loudly declared that he
was just going to quit anyhow, that he wouldn't have worked for old
Hunniwell another week if he was paid a million a minute for it,
his hatred of his successor seemed rather unaccountable. Barzilla
Small, Luther's fond parent, also professed intense dislike for the
man now filling his son's position in the bank. "I don't know how
'tis," affirmed Barzilla, "but the fust time I see that young
upstart I says to myself: 'Young feller, you ain't my kind.' This
remark being repeated to Captain Sam, the latter observed: 'That's
gospel truth and thank the Lord for it.
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