midnight
Dick had recovered his natural spirits , since it was impossible for a boy of his buoyant disposition to hug worry to his heart for any great length of time . Mr. Goodwyn could find no fault in his conduct ; he was intelligent , quick , respectful and accurate ; and yet the cashier kept tabs of his movements as though constantly looking for a weak place in his armor . Would he find it after a while ; could the boy continue to be as perfect right along as he seemed just now , and should the time come , was Mr. Goodwyn mean enough to look upon an accidental mistake as a crime ? This was what made Dick anxious ; anyone was apt to make a slip once in a while -- in the bookkeeping department it happened every month when they were taking off their trial balance , and then hours had to be consumed , and midnight gas burned until the error was found and rectified ; but what was an ordinary mistake with one person might be magnified into an enormous blunder in another . Accordingly , having this uneasy feeling in connection with Mr. Graylock 's vindictive animosity , Dick was put on his guard one day when the cashier sent him with a note to the department store . He had not been in it since that day when Pliny told him about the talk between Archibald Graylock and the cashier . As he entered the big building it seemed to him that there was a difference in the air of things somehow ; the clerks behind the counter were actually taking things easier than he had ever known them to do , and several were even conversing together -- why , he actually heard a low laugh as he passed along , something that had hitherto been unknown in the Graylock store .