CHAPTER XXIII. AN APARTMENT AT MORLEY’S HOTEL.
Bernard was shown up-stairs to an apartment on the second floor. He was ushered into an anteroom, where four persons were already sitting. These Bernard inferred were applicants for the post of traveling companion.
When he entered, the others regarded him with interest, and, as it seemed, with amusement. His youth made it seem ridiculous in their eyes for him to aspire to the position advertised.
Bernard, too, was interested in taking stock of his competitors.
One was a tall young man, of about thirty-five, dressed in a tightly fitting suit, the coat buttoned up to the throat. Whatever his qualifications might be, he looked stiff and uncompanionable.
His next neighbor was considerably shorter, quite smartly dressed, and his face wore a self-satisfied smirk, as if he had a remarkably good opinion of himself. Another was a man of at least forty, with a middle-aged look, and an air of discouragement about him.
The fourth was an awkward looking young man, not over twenty-one, who seemed bashful and ill at ease. He was just from the university, where he had not quite completed the full course, and, whatever his scholarship might be, looked inexperienced and unpractical.
A man servant appeared, and looking about him doubtfully, signaled to the first mentioned applicant to follow him. While he was closeted with the advertiser, the others were expectant and ill at ease. They feared that choice would be made of the first applicant.