“I don’t think he will be hard to please. Good-evening, madam. Good-night, Gilbert. You must call and see us often.”
Mr. Briggs withdrew, and Gilbert sat down on the bed and tried to realize his new position. Less than a week had elapsed since he left school. Now he had entered on a business career in New York. It made him feel years older, but he did not shrink from his new responsibilities. He rather liked them.
CHAPTER X.
THE NEW BOARDING-HOUSE.
Not long after Gilbert took possession of his room, the bell rang for dinner. As at most New York boarding-houses, the last meal of the day was dinner, not supper. Gilbert heard an adjoining door open, and, leaving his own room, followed the occupants down to the dining-room, which proved to be in the front basement.
The room was deep, and allowed of a long table, large enough for the accommodation of sixteen boarders. Mrs. White, the landlady, did not herself sit down to the table, but superintended the servants, who acted as waiters.
“Where shall I sit, Mrs. White?” asked Gilbert.
“You may sit here, between Mr. Ingalls and Miss Brintnall.”
Neither of these persons had appeared, but Gilbert took the seat pointed out.
One by one the boarders entered, until the table was full. Gilbert looked about him with considerable curiosity. Mr. Ingalls proved to be a young man of twenty-five, who was employed in a wholesale stationery store in William Street. Miss Brintnall was an elderly-looking young lady, who was engaged as teacher in one of the public schools of the city. Her face was of a masculine type, and Gilbert was not surprised to hear that she was a strong advocate of woman’s rights.
Just opposite were seated Mr. and Mrs. Theophilus Bower. He was clerk in a dry goods house, and had been but three months married. He was an inoffensive young man, with hair parted in the middle, who appeared to be very fond of his young wife, who wore long ringlets, and seemed quite a fitting match for her husband. Gilbert was rather amused by the manner in which they addressed each other.