“I beg to decline your offer, Mr. Snodgrass,” said Walter, politely. “I have thought of changing my business before, but was unwilling to leave the professor. As we are strangers, I need have no further hesitation.”
“Young man,” said Snodgrass, “I think you are making a mistake. It will not be so easy getting another place as you suppose.”
“Perhaps not, but I can afford to live a few weeks without work.”
“Your savings will soon go”—Snodgrass knew nothing of Walter's prize money—“and then what will you do?”
“Trust to luck,” answered Walter, lightly.
Nahum Snodgrass shook his head gloomily. He thought Walter a very foolish young man.
Had Walter lost his position two months earlier it would have been a serious matter to him, but now, with a capital of nearly a thousand dollars, he could afford to be independent. As he expressed it, he could afford to be idle for a few weeks. Still, he didn't wish to remain unemployed for a long time. He felt happier when at work, but wished to secure some employment that would be congenial.
“Mr. Snodgrass,” said the professor, “I think you are making a mistake in not employing Walter Sherwood.”
Nahum Snodgrass shrugged his shoulders.
“I don't mean to pay away all my profits to an assistant,” he said.