"It's all right." He drew out a ledger from beneath the desk. "What's your letter?"
"Letter?" The man looked startled for a moment.
"Yes, initial of your last name."
"G."
The manager found the letter, thrust in his finger, opened the page indicated and shoved the book over the desk towards the applicant. He handed him his pen.
"Write your name, your age, and what you're native of." He indicated the columns.
The man took the pen. He seemed at first slightly awkward in handling it. The entry he made was as follows:
"Louis C. Googe—thirty-four—United States."
The manager glanced at it. "That's a common enough name in Maine and these parts," he said. Then he pointed through the window. "That's the shed over there—the middle one. The boss'll give you some tools till you get yours."
"Thank you." The man put on his cap and went out.