noon
I was due at seven in the morning . I was always there several minutes before seven . One morning the old gentleman came in real early and found me at work , while a couple of the other boys were reading the papers and waiting for the seventh strike , and before most of the stock boys had shown up . At noon I would wrap bundles , take a blacking pot and mark cases , run the elevator or do anything to `` keep moving . '' I did not know that an eye was on me all the time ; but there was . At the end of a year the old gentleman called me into the office and said : ` Billie , you 've done more this year than we have paid you for ; here 's a check for sixty dollars , five dollars a month back pay . Your salary will be $ 25.00 a month next year .