The next morning Grant took an early breakfast, and walked briskly toward the depot to take the first train for New York.
The fare would be a dollar and a quarter each way, for the distance was fifty miles, and this both he and his mother felt to be a large outlay. If, however, he succeeded in his errand it would be wisely spent, and this was their hope.
At the depot Grant found Tom Calder, a youth of eighteen, who had the reputation of being wild, and had been suspected of dishonesty. He had been employed in the city, so that Grant was not surprised to meet him at the depot.
“Hello, Grant! Where are you bound?” he asked.
“I am going to New York.”
“What for?”
“A little business,” Grant answered, evasively. Tom was the last person he felt inclined to take into his confidence.
“Goin' to try to get a place?”
“If any good chance offers I shall accept it—that is, if father and mother are willing.”
“Let's take a seat together—that's what I'm going for myself.”