"How long have you been your own man?" he inquired.
"I've only just begun," Ben admitted.
"Are your parents dead?"
"No, sir; they're alive."
"Then I advise you to go back to them. We don't receive any boys into our employment, who do not live with their parents."
The gentleman returned to his writing, and Ben saw that his case was hopeless. His disappointment was greater than before, for he liked the looks of the proprietor, if, as he judged, this was he. Besides, boys were wanted, and his size would be no objection, judging from the appearance of the other boys in the store. So he had been sanguine of success. Now he saw that there was an objection which he could not remove, and which would be very likely to stand in his way in other places.