He didn't even wait to let me choose my own food.
"Two oyster sandwiches and—a cup of coffee," he barked.
While I ate he stepped outside and talked with another friend.
"Good-bye," he was bidding me, extending a tiny hand, the back of it covered with steel-coloured hairs, "you'd better go back up to Jersey—just heard your daddy is very sick there ... he might need your help."
I thought cautiously. Evidently he knew nothing of my father's having been sent home by his lodge. I affected to be perturbed....
"In that case—could you—advance me my fare to Haberford?"
I'd wangle a few dollars out of him.
My grandfather's answer was a silent, granite smile.
"—just want to see what you can cajole out of the old man, eh? No, Johnnie—I'll leave you to make your way back in the same way you've made your way to Washington ... from all accounts railroad fare is the least of your troubles."