PAY-DAY. 
for one would naturally suppose the very reverse of 
this would be the feeling. Could it be that this sort 
of feeling was increased and added to by the fact the 
manager was only second, when his employer was 
resident, that he was not periya durai ? It may be, 
something of a feeling of, smallness would enter into 
his mind, for we are not at all times conscious of 
what is, or may have been, the root of many feelings 
constantly springing up in the human heart ? Who can 
know^ it ? It is a mystery even to its owner. 
Mr. Perean was very punctual in paying his people : 
he always did it every month. A short time before 
pay-day he would say: “Meek, how much money 
will you require ? The people must be paid on Sa- 
turday.’’ The reply would be : “ The check-roll is 
done up, and the balance due is £90, and on reckon- 
ing my own pay and other sundry items £100 at least 
will be necessary.” “ One hundred pounds !” says Mr. 
Perean : “ absurd, impossible. Why I have £80 in the 
house, and have made the calculation that £70 is ample 
for estate payments, which will leave a balance of 
£10 to pay my own servants. You will find I am 
quite right, and it is enough. Here it is, take it away 
and pay the people at once.” Mr. Meek shrugged hit 
shoulders, but knew very well it was useless remon- 
strating. He took the money away, paid it out at 
far as it would go, and, when it was done, shook 
the empty bag in the sight of the fellows whose 
names stood at the bottom of the roll, leaving them 
to wait until such time as a further supply was foi th- 
coming. When next pay-day came round, a repetition 
of what we have stated took place, with this additonal 
aggravation that the balance unpaid in the month 
before had to be paid also. Of course Mr. Perean 
could not understand this : he was under the impress 
sion everything had been paid, at all events ought 
to have been. “This will never do. We shall get 
a bad name Mr. Meek. Why are you so careless 
and negligent ? You ought to have paid every one 
last month, and you know perfectly well the calculation 
I made was most liberal and ample.” Mr. Meek 
could have said something in his own defence, but 
he did n’t, knowing that it was quite useless. Poor 
fellow ! What a pity nobody taught him the simple 
form of estate accounts : would n’t he soon have had 
the upper hand of Mr. Perean, for all he would have 
to do would be to request payment of his balance 
due, or that his accounts be challenged, questioned, 
and examined. In the disputes he had with his 
superior about the amount of money required, the 
former never would look at the check-roll, declaring 
it was useless; he had paid £80 last pay-day, and 
