"Never mind," said the newsboy; "it's better than nothing, and you'll get more pupils, sooner or later."
The boy himself worked as never before, getting up before sunrise and keeping at it with "sporting extras" until almost midnight. In this manner he managed to earn sometimes as high as ten dollars per week. He no longer helped Pepper around his resort, and the pair compromised on three dollars per week board money from Nelson. The rest of the money our hero either saved or offered to Gertrude. All he spent on himself was for the suit, shoes, and hat he had had so long in his mind.
"I declare, you look like another person!" cried the girl, when he presented himself in his new outfit, and with his hair neatly trimmed, and his face and hands thoroughly scrubbed. "Nelson, I am proud of you!" And she said this so heartily that he blushed furiously. Her gentle influence was beginning to have its effect, and our hero was resolved to make a man of himself in the best meaning of that term.
One day Nelson was at work, when George Van Pelt came along.
"How goes it, George?" asked the boy.
"Nothing to brag about," returned Van Pelt. "How goes it with you?"
"I am doing very well. Made ten dollars and fifteen cents last week."
"Phew! That's more than I made."
"How much did you make?"