“I mean to,” said Julius, promptly. “I want to grow up respectable.”
“If you want to, you probably will. You’ll have a better chance at the West than you would in New York.”
“If I stayed there, I’d be a bootblack all my life,” said Julius. “There ain’t no chance for a boy like me to rise. I wouldn’t want to be a bootblack,” he added reflectively, “when I got to be old and gray-headed.”
“No, it wouldn’t be an agreeable business for an old man to follow. But I’ve got off the track.”
“Off the track!” repeated Julius, looking out of the window.
“Oh, I didn’t mean that. The cars are all right. But I meant to say, that I had got away from what I meant to say. I think I owe you something for your saving me from losing my watch.”
“Oh, that’s nothing,” said Julius.
“To me it is a great deal, and I want to show my sense of the favor. Is there anything in particular you would like?”
“I don’t know,” said Julius, thoughtfully. “I might like a jack-knife.”
“That isn’t enough. As I said, I have particular reason to value my watch and chain. Did you ever have a watch yourself?”