The captain frowned ever so slightly. “So you have been bitten by the detective bug, too, have you?” he said.
“No, sir,” answered Henry. “I have no wish to be a detective, but I do want a job. You see, sir, I was graduated from high school only last June, and I want to get to work just as soon as I can. There do not seem to be many very good jobs open to a fellow in a little town like Central City.”
“I see. It always seems that way. Distance lends enchantment to view. But never mind about that. What luck have you had here?”
“About the worst possible,” said Henry, with a grim laugh. “Willie wasn’t in town, and won’t be for two or three weeks. And Roy Mercer, another of my friends, who is wireless man on the Lycoming, is at sea and won’t be in port for at least a week. And so I can’t find a soul I know.”
“But what took you to Staten Island?”
Henry hung his head. “You see, Captain Hardwick,” he said slowly, “I—I—didn’t exactly know what to do until Willie or Roy got back, and I thought maybe I could find some friends in Staten Island. I came here looking for them, but they have moved. It sort of upset me, and I went down to the water-front to think what I should do. Then I fell overboard.”
The captain looked at Henry searchingly. “You look big enough and experienced enough to take care of yourself for a week, even in New York. Why didn’t you go to a hotel and make yourself comfortable while you waited for your friends?”
“I’d have been only too glad to do so, Captain, but you see—you see—I came here expecting to be Willie’s guest—and I wasn’t prepared to—to——”
“Out with it,” said the captain. “You mean you haven’t the money, and you were worried about how to get along.”
“That’s exactly the case,” said Henry. “You see, Captain, my father is dead, and I had to work while I went to school, so it put me behind a little. Willie wanted to help me get a job, and he offered to take care of me while I was here. I had enough money to pay my car fare here and back, but that is about all. So you see I couldn’t very well go to a hotel.”