A maid had been assigned to look exclusively after her wants, and she could have her meals served in her room or else have them with the family as she liked.

But Shirley, not caring to encounter Mr.Ryder's cold, searching stare more often than necessary, said she would prefer to take her meals alone.
Left to herself, Shirley settled down to work in earnest.

Mr.
Ryder had sent to her room all the material for the biography, and soon she was completely absorbed in the task of sorting and arranging letters, making extracts from records, compiling data, etc., laying the foundations for the important book she was to write.

She wondered what they would call it, and she smiled as a peculiarly appropriate title flashed through her mind--"The History of a Crime." Yet she thought they could hardly infringe on Victor Hugo; perhaps the best title was the simplest "The History of the Empire Trading Company." Everyone would understand that it told the story of John Burkett Ryder's remarkable career from his earliest beginnings to the present time.

She worked feverishly all that evening getting the material into shape, and the following day found her early at her desk.