"Have you? Where are you now?"
"No. 12 Crescent Place."
Now Maurice knew that Crescent Place was in a fashionable quarter of the city. It astonished him that our hero, whose salary was but five dollars a week, should live in such a neighborhood.
"Twelve Crescent Place?" he repeated. "How much board do you pay?"
"That's a secret between me and the landlady," said Tom. "If you'll come round and see me this evening, you can judge for yourself."
Having a strong curiosity about Tom's circumstances, Maurice accepted the invitation.
"Perhaps there are two Crescent Places," he thought. "I don't believe he can afford to live in a fashionable boarding-house."
"Mr. Mordaunt," said Tom, when they were getting ready for supper, "I've invited a friend to call this evening."
"That's right. I shall be glad to see him."
"It's that boy that loves me so much, Maurice Walton. He's awfully jealous of me—tries to snub me all the time."