"Yes, sir. When I met you I hadn't a cent in the world."
"Haven't you any way to make a living?"
"Yes, sir. I could sell papers if I had enough money to set me up in business."
"Does it require a large capital?"
"Oh, no, sir," said Frank, smiling, "unless you consider fifty cents a large sum."
"Fifty cents!" repeated the old gentleman, in surprise. "You don't mean to say that this small sum would set you up in business?"
"Yes, sir; I could buy a small stock of papers, and buy more with what I received for them."
"To be sure. I didn't think of that."
Mr. Bowen was not a man of business. He had an ample income, and his tastes were literary and artistic. He knew more of books than of men, and more of his study than of the world.
"Well, my boy," he said after a pause, "how much do I owe you for doing this errand?"