"I wonder how much money he has got?" thought Pliny. "Perhaps he'd lend me two dollars. I'll ask him, if I have a chance."
Pliny proposed to borrow, not because he needed the money, but because he liked to levy contributions upon any available party, with a very faint idea of repaying the same. The money would go to swell his deposit at the savings bank. It was very commendable, of course, to save his money, but not at the expense of others, as Pliny too frequently did.
"I have moved you out of the spare room," said Mrs. Tarbox, when our hero asked permission to retire, "and put you in the same room with Pliny. I suppose you won't mind?"
"Just as you please, Mrs. Tarbox," said Frank, though he would have preferred to have passed the night alone.
"Could you make it convenient to lend me two dollars?" asked Pliny, as they went up to bed together.
"Not just now," answered Frank. "When I get something to do I shall not need to be so careful of my money."
"One dollar would answer," persisted Pliny.
Without a word, Frank drew a dollar bill from his pocketbook and handed it to Pliny.
"Now," he thought, "I shall not feel under any obligations to the family."
"You're a good fellow, even if you are poor," said Pliny, in high good humor.