"I am sorry to hear that. I always had a good opinion of him; and come, now, to see if I can"t interest you in his favour."
Everton shook his head.
"I don"t wish to have any thing to do with him."
"It pains me to hear you speak so. What has he done to cause you to feel so unkindly towards him?"
"He attacked me in another newspaper, wantonly, at the very time he was employed in my office."
"Indeed!"
"Yes, and in a way to do me a serious injury."
"That is bad. Where did the attack appear?"
"In the Gazette."
"Did you trace it to him?"
"Yes; or, rather, it bore internal evidence that enabled me to fix it upon him unequivocally."
"Did you charge it upon him?"
"No. I wished to have no quarrel with him, although he evidently tried to get up one with me. I settled the matter by notifying him to leave my employment."
"You are certain that he wrote the article?"
"Oh, yes; positive."
And yet the very pertinence of the question threw a doubt into the mind of Mr. Everton.
The gentleman with whom he was conversing on retiring went to the office of the Gazette, with the editor of which he was well acquainted.
"Do you remember," said he, "an attack on Mr. Everton, which, some time ago, appeared in your paper?"
The editor reflected a few moments, and then replied:
"A few months since, two or three articles were published in the Gazette that did refer to Everton in not a very kind manner."
"Do you know the author?"
"Yes."
"Have you any reasons for wishing to conceal his name?"
"None at all. They were written by a young man who was then in my office, named Tompkins."
"You are certain of this?"
"I am certain that he brought them to me in his own ma.n.u.script."
"Everton suspected a man named Ayres to be the author."
"His a.s.sistant editor at the time?"
"Yes; and what is more, discharged him from his employment on the strength of this suspicion."
"What injustice! Ayres is as innocent as you are."
"I am glad to hear it. The consequences to the poor man have been very sad. He has had no regular employment since, and his family are now suffering for even the common necessaries of life."
"That is very bad. Why didn"t he deny the charge when it was made against him?"
"He was never accused. Everton took it for granted that he was guilty, and acted from this erroneous conclusion."
"What a commentary upon hasty judgments! Has he no employment now?"
"None."
"Then I will give him a situation. I know him to be competent for the place I wish filled; and I believe he will be faithful."
Here the interview ceased, and the gentleman who had taken the pains to sift out the truth returned to Everton"s office.
"Well," said he, on entering, "I believe I have got to the bottom of this matter."
"What matter?" asked Everton, looking slightly surprised.
"The matter of Ayres"s supposed attack upon you."
"Why do you say supposed?"
"Because it was only supposed. Ayres didn"t write the article of which you complain."
"How do you know?"
"I"ve seen the editor of the Gazette."
"Did he say that Ayres was not the author?"
"He did."
"Who wrote it then?"
"A man named Tompkins, who was at the time employed in his office."
Everton sprang from his chair as if he had been stung.
"Tompkins!" he exclaimed.