"That is rather more than I ought to pay just for a room," said Oliver.
"I'll tell you how you can get it cheaper," said John Meadows.
"How?"
"Take me for your room-mate. I'll pay a dollar and a half toward the rent."
Oliver hesitated, but finally decided to accept John's offer. Though his fellow-clerk was not altogether to his taste, it would preventhis feeling lonely, and he had no other acquaintances to select from.
"All right," he said.
"Is it a bargain?" said John, delighted. "I'll give my Bleecker Street landlady notice right off. Why, I shall feel like a prince here!"
"Then this is better than your room?"
"You bet! That's only big enough for a middling sized cat, while this——"
"Is big enough for two large ones," said Oliver, smiling.