“You were in the army,” stated Thara. “You were with what they call the engineers, doing special work?”
Another nod from Phil.
“The job will be one hundred dollars a week,” asserted Thara. “It is to study some papers that they call patents and give reports if they are practical.”
“Sounds great,” enthused Phil. “Whose office do I work in?”
“Some office?” queried Thara. “No, that would be too much expense. The hotel room is reserved for you, along the street here, at the Sans Souci.”
“The Sans Souci,” repeated Phil. “That sounds expensive in itself. Still, since I’m starting at one hundred a week -”
“None of the expense is yours. The hotel room; it will be paid for each week in advance, by the person who will wish the work done with the patents.”
If money had come floating through the air, Phil Harley couldn’t have been more amazed. Still, he’d heard of fabulous business dealings in New York, and getting off to a quick start like this was probably the type of break that occurred every day.
They were rising from the table, Phil and Thara, the girl awaiting the decision that she was to take back to her unknown friend. Phil wasn’t long in rendering it.
“I’ll take the job,” he said, “and gladly. Maybe we should go out and celebrate right now.”