“But, monsieur, my mother has all she needs now, and I am going to earn some money to-day.”
“Oho! you are very confident, aren’t you? How do you know that you will find work to-day, that it will be a good day for you?”
“Why! monsieur, it very seldom happens that a whole day passes without someone employing us; a man would have to be very unlucky to have that happen.”
“And you think that you are in no danger of such bad luck? Well, tell me how you expect to earn money for your mother?”
“By doing errands, monsieur, as that is my business.”
“And how much do you get for an errand usually?”
“Why, that depends, monsieur, on how far I have to go; and then some people are more generous than others.”
“But about how much?”
“Twelve sous, fifteen sous, sometimes twenty sous; but that’s not often, unless we carry bundles.”
“And you take without a murmur whatever anyone chooses to give you?”