“What is your name?”
“Frank Merriwell.”
“You have never done any hard work. Your hands show that.”
“No, sir.”
“I don’t understand why you want such a job.”
“Because I must do something, and I think I would like to become a locomotive engineer.”
“Why are you forced to work, Mr. Merriwell? You look like a young man of means.”
“I have lost every dollar I had in the world. I was in college, but the loss of my fortune forced me to leave. When I knew I must do something, I resolved to try to get a job on a railroad. That is all, sir.”
“Parents living?”
“My mother is dead.”