“I do not think so; and I prefer to take work that offers itself, rather than to seek it in vain.”
“Very well, young boss. Here we are,” said Adler, as they turned the corner, and were at once deafened by a tremendous crash, and choked by a great enveloping grayish-white dust.
“There!” exclaimed Adler, as soon as by coughing and sneezing he had in some measure cleared his air pipes, “there! that was the plastering from some failing partition wall. It was an accident, of course. They never intended a wall to come down like that; but you see they can’t always prevent it, any more than miners can always prevent a caving in or an explosion. So you see, sir, the work is not only dirty, but dangerous.”
“So much the more suited to me,” muttered Harcourt under his breath.
“I hope no one was hurt by the falling of that wall,” said Adler, hurrying on to the scene of destruction, closely accompanied by Harcourt. The workmen employed on the job were waiting for the cloud to clear away.
To Adler’s anxious inquiries they answered that no one was hurt, no one having been near the wall when it fell. Adler inquired for his own boss, and was directed where to find him.
He went, still accompanied by Harcourt.
The “boss,” a tall, hard-featured, dark-skinned man, with gray hair and beard, and clothed in a business suit, received the workman with a kindly smile, but said:
“You are an hour behind time, Adler. I shall have to dock you a quarter of a day.”
“I know that, sir, and I am sorry, but couldn’t help it.”