“And I am in a wholesale stationery store not far from Wall Street. If you have no better company, we might go down-town together in the morning.”
“Thank you, I should like company.”
“That is, if you walk; I never ride except on stormy days.”
“Nor shall I. It’s only two miles, I believe.”
“Scarcely that; some think two miles a long walk. My brother from Boston, who was here for a while, complained a good deal of the long distances in New York. In Boston business men have much less distance to travel.”
“I never was in Boston,” said Gilbert. “Is it a pleasant city?”
“It is the ‘Hub of the Universe,’ you know; so Dr. Holmes calls it, at any rate. Yes, it is a pleasant city, but small, of course, compared with New York. How did you happen to come to this boarding-house?”
“I saw a notice outside that boarders would be taken.”
“I hope you will like it.”
“I hope so. I am not very difficult to suit.”