“Yes, sir,” said Dodger, looking up inquiringly. “I hope you are satisfied with me?”
“Yes, I think I may say that I am. You don’t seem to be afraid of work.”
“I have always been accustomed to work.”
“That is well. I was once induced to take the son of a rich man in the place you now occupy. He had never done a stroke of work, having always been at school. He didn’t take kindly to work, and seemed afraid that he would be called upon to do more than he had bargained for. One evening I was particularly busy, and asked him to remain an hour overtime.
“ ‘It will be very inconvenient, Mr. Tucker,’ said the young man, ‘as I have an engagement with a friend.’
“He left me to do all the extra work, and—I suppose you know what happened the next Saturday evening?”
“I can guess,” returned Dodger, with a smile.
“I told him that I thought the duties were too heavy for his constitution, and he had better seek an easier place. Let me see—I kept you an hour and a half overtime last Wednesday.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You made no objection, but worked on just as if you liked it.”