“You are quite right. I was a fool, and I am willing to admit it.”
It was not long before Paul and his new friend reached the hotel, which is in the block above the Fifth Avenue.
“Come upstairs with me,” said the young man.
“If you wish it,” answered Paul.
“I do; I have some business with you, but I won’t keep you long.”
Paul followed his new acquaintance into a handsomely furnished chamber on the third floor. He involuntarily thought of the poor tenement house room in which he and old Jerry made their home, and he wondered whether it would ever be his fortune to be as well lodged as the traveler from Missouri.
“Why not?” asked Paul, hopefully.
“Sit down,” said the stranger, pointing to a chair. “I won’t keep you long.”