"Then, as to your board," continued Mr. George, "your father said that you might do as you pleased about that. He would pay it, or you might, and be allowed five francs a day for it."
"Five francs is about a dollar, is it not?" asked Rollo.
"Yes," replied Mr. George, "very nearly. But you had better not reckon by dollars, now, at all, but by francs altogether. That's a franc."
So saying, Mr. George took a silver coin out of his pocket, and showed it to Rollo. It was nearly as large as a quarter of a dollar, or an English shilling, but not quite. A quarter of a dollar is worth twenty-five cents, an English shilling twenty-four, and a franc about twenty cents.
"You can have five of those a day to pay your own board with."
"And how much would it cost me at a boarding house, in Paris, to pay my board?" asked Rollo.
"Why, we don't board at boarding houses in Paris," said Mr. George. "We have rooms at a hotel, and then we get breakfast and dinner wherever we please, at coffee rooms and dining rooms all over the city, wherever we happen to be, or wherever we take a fancy to go. You can get a very excellent breakfast for a franc and a half. A beefsteak, or an omelet, and bread and butter and coffee."
"That's enough for breakfast," said Rollo. "And then, dinner?"
"You can get a first-rate dinner for two francs, or even less. That makes three francs and a half."
"And tea?"