"Don't you live with your father?"
"My father is dead. I am helping to support my mother and sister."
"Why, that is too bad!" said the young man, in a tone of sympathy. "I am out of work, too, but then I am rich."
"I am not troubled in that way," said Rupert, smiling.
"I live with my mother. I am glad she is out of the city, so that she won't see me in my present condition."
"Don't you think of working, sir? I shouldn't think you would know how to pass the time."
"I only lately returned from Europe. I may go into business after awhile. To be sure I don't need to earn anything, but if I have some steady employment I shall be less likely to disgrace myself."
"May I ask your name, sir?"
"Certainly. My name is Frank Sylvester, I hope you are not a newspaper reporter."