"Well, my boy, I'm in a tight place. I came here from Iowa, with my wife, expecting to meet a cousin who had promised to get me employment. I find he has left Tacoma. So here I am, with less than five dollars in my pocket and no prospect of work. I'm not a coward, but I don't mind saying I'm afraid to think of what will become of us."
An idea came to Andy.
Here was a chance to secure a nurse.
"Is your wife used to sickness?" he asked. "Could she take care of a sick man?"
The woman brightened up.
"I took care of my father for a year," she answered. "I'm a middlin' good nurse."
"She's the best nurse I know of," put in her husband.
"All right! Then I can find you employment. An acquaintance of mine, an old man—as old, probably, as your father—is sick with grip at the Tacoma House. He will pay you liberally. Can you come with me at once?"
"Yes, and be glad to."
"Come, then. You will be paid twenty-five dollars a week."