"Where from?"
"New York State."
"What brings a boy like you so far from home? Is there anyone with you?" demanded the man suspiciously.
"No; I wish there was. I had a companion, but he got a call to go home on account of his mother's sickness."
"And you pushed on?"
"Yes."
"What are you after—it isn't game, for you've got no gun."
"No; I'm after a chance to make a living, as much as anything."
"Couldn't you make a living at home?"