“Eighteen months; perhaps longer. By the time I get back, I suppose you will have become quite a man of business.”
“I hope so,” said Harry.
“How do you like my friend Fairchild?”
“He has been quite kind to me. I think I shall like him.”
“Keep on, and some time you may be as rich as he,” said the captain, closing the remark with a laugh, for which our hero could see no good reason.
“I should like to be rich, for my mother’s sake,” said Harry, seriously.
“For your mother’s sake, of course. Let me see,—what’s the name of the town you come from?”
“Vernon.”
“Ah, yes, I think I’ve heard of it. A small place, isn’t it?”