"It is worth six," he said. "The last tenant paid that much without a word."
"He was rich," suggested the other. "No one but a man of means would pay that."
"He was not rich," protested Brekling. "He was as poor as a rat. I know that, for he was a countryman of mine, and there are no rich Poles."
The man with the bent shoulders counted out five dollars in small coin upon a table.
"I will pay a month in advance," said he.
The little man looked at the pile of silver for a moment; unable to resist, he said:
"Very well, I will take it. But the room is worth more."
He scraped up the money and put it away in his pocket; the other took off his hat and laid it upon the table and looked about with the manner of a man at home.
"Have you any other lodgers?" he asked.