“No,” said Archie, laughing, “it isn’t quite so bad as all that; and it is bound to come right in the end.”
“You are talking very hopefully, lad. I could trace a resemblance in your face to someone I knew the very moment I sat down. And there is something like the same cheerful ring in your voice there used to be in his. You really are a chip of the old block.”
“So they say.” And Archie laughed again, pleased by this time.
“But, you know, lad, you are very young to be going away to seek your fortune.”
“I’ll get over that, sir.”
“I hope so. Of course, you won’t go pottering after gold!”
“I don’t know. If I thought I would find lots, I would go like a shot.”
“Well, take my advice, and don’t. There, I do not want to discourage you; but you better turn your mind to farming—to squatting.”
“That wouldn’t be very genteel, would it?”
“Genteel! Why, lad, if you’re going to go in for genteelity, you’d best have stayed at home.”