“I was sent for by Mrs. Cunningham,” said Paul.
“Yes, the missis is expecting you. Come right in!”
Paul observed, as he followed the girl upstairs into a sitting room on the second floor, that the house was very handsomely furnished—and came to the natural conclusion that the occupants were rich.
“Just take a seat, and I’ll tell the missis,” said the girl.
Paul sat down in a plush covered arm chair, and looked about him admiringly. “I wonder how it must seem to live in such a house as this,” he reflected. And then his thoughts went back to the miserable tenement house in which he and his grandfather lived, and he felt more disgusted with it than ever, after the sight of this splendor.
His reflections were interrupted by the entrance of a pleasant faced lady.
“Are you the boy I sent for?” she asked, with a smile.
“Yes, ma’am,” answered Paul, respectfully, rising as he spoke.
“I suppose you know why I want you,” proceeded the lady.
“Yes, ma’am; I was told there were only ladies in the house, and you wanted a man to sleep here.”