“Here’s ten dollars. Please take it—aw—please, Charley.”
“All right; anything to oblige.”
“What ’ve you got in sight in the job line?”
“Well, there’s a chance at night clerking in a little hotel where I was a bell-hop long time ago. The night clerk’s going to get through, but I don’t know just when—prob’ly in a week or two.”
“Well, keep after it. And please come down to see me—the old place—West Sixteenth Street.”
“What about the old girl with the ingrowing grouch? What’s her name? She ain’t stuck on me.”
“Mrs. Zapp? Oh—hope she chokes. She can just kick all she wants to. I’m just going to have all the visitors I want to.”
“All right. Say, tell us something about your trip.”
“Oh, I had a great time. Lots of nice fellows on the cattle-boat. I went over on one, you know. Fellow named Morton—awfully nice fellow. Say, Charley, you ought to seen me being butler to the steers. Handing ’em hay. But say, the sea was fine; all kinds of colors. Awful dirty on the cattle-boat, though.”
“Hard work?”