"I don't know exactly, but Wall street and free silver had something to do with it."
"Had you no money saved up to fall back upon at such a time?"
"Yes, ma'am; but the savings bank went to the wall and my three hundred, which I had been five years getting together, went with it."
"Can't you get a job as porter rather than beg?"
"There's a thousand men waitin' for all the 'porter' jobs. Lady, you don't know it, but half the population of this country is out of work."
"Where can you get a bed for a nickel?" asked Chiquita, dubiously.
"On the west side at one of the 'Friendship' houses."
"You mean a whole bed and room by yourself?"
"Oh, no, lady, just a shelf to lie on, perhaps an old quilt to cover up with. This costs a nickel; in some places we get a 'claim' on the floor for two cents."
"You say a 'claim' on the floor; you don't pay for sleeping on the floor?" said Chiquita, drawing back in amazement.