“I guess I am,” agreed Ted, “but, anyhow, I’m not goin’ back to West Park School again.”
“Was that your school? I’ve been going to the Winthrop School. It’s on the North Side. I’d be in high school next year if I kept on.”
“So would I,” nodded Teddy, “but not for mine. I’d rather work.”
“I’d rather go to school,” sighed Harry, “but I can’t.”
“Say, wouldn’t it be funny if we’d both get a job at Martins’?” queried Teddy.
“What makes you think they need boys there? There was no advertisement in the paper.”
“Oh, I know a boy that quit there yesterday for an office job, and he told me that there was always a chance there for a fellow that wasn’t afraid to work.”
“Is that so?” Harry brightened visibly. “Suppose we go down there right away,” he proposed. “What time does the store open?”
“Half past eight.” Teddy Burke took a dollar watch from his pocket and consulted it, saying, “It’s twenty after now. We can walk all right and be there by 8:45. That’s early enough.”
Without further parley the two boys set out for Martin Brothers’ Department Store, the largest retail concern of its kind in the city. Accustomed as they were to the roar of the city streets, they talked on earnestly in their boyish voices, oblivious to the noise.