“There, Ben, I think that will do,” he said when the clock struck nine. “You have done a good evening’s work, and I think you will make a good impression at rehearsal. Will you meet me at the stage door at two o’clock, or let us say, a little earlier?”
“I will be there twenty minutes before the time, Mr. Wilkins.”
“By the way, Ben, I forgot to say that you will be paid at least fifteen dollars a week, or possibly more.”
Fifteen dollars a week! It quite took away Ben’s breath. Even a single week at that rate of remuneration would set him on his feet.
“That is more than I earn at selling papers,” he said with a smile.
“So I suppose. I think it will be better for you to give up selling papers on the street while you are an actor.”
“I can hire Tom Hooper to sell for me. He took my place at the restaurant, but he has got tired of it already.”
“That would be a good idea.”
The next morning Ben met Tom Hooper on the Bowery and proposed to him to take his place for a time.