"Give a dog a bad name, Chester—you know the rest. We don't seem to have made a very good impression in Charmount. I never knew I looked so much like a double-dyed villain."
"I have noticed it many times and it has caused me much pain."
"It might distress me, if we both were not in the same boat."
"We have often been in the same boat, but I don't know that we ever shall be again. Ah, you have one friend in Charmount."
"Who is he?" asked Alvin, with quick interest.
"It's a she; cast your eye toward the telegraph office."
As Alvin did so, he saw the sweet-looking telegraphist in the door and watching proceedings. He could not resist the temptation to touch his fingers to his lips and waft them toward her. Nothing daunted, she replied similarly, whereat most of the spectators were shocked.
"I should hold her in tender regard," said Alvin, "if she didn't ask such a big price for a look at Mike's telegram."
"How much does she want?"
"Fifty thousand dollars."