"My! what a blunder! And with a new book coming out, too. I wish I could have had the handling of that 'story.'"
"I don't think Vickars would have liked that."
"No, I suppose not. You Britishers seem to be afraid of publicity. It almost amounts to a disease."
"We are getting over it by degrees. I assure you there are British authors who are quite reconciled to the immodesty of newspaper puffs. But not men like Vickars. He is one of those who stand in proud silence, and is content to wait for his recognition."
"Well, I guess he'll have to wait till there's skating in Hades. The standing apart business is all very well if you've got the dollars and don't care; but if you haven't, it means starvation." He rose from the table, and said, "Shall we go?"
"Well, there's one thing I want to ask you first," said Arthur, "and as you haven't mentioned it, it seems I must. I want to know if you can put me in the way of earning my living in New York?"
"But, my dear sir, I thought you were just travelling through for pleasure."
"I was afraid that you were under that misconception, and I apologise for not undeceiving you sooner. The plain truth is, I have a very little money in my pocket, no particular experience of life, and my bread to earn."
"Dear me!—dear me! That sounds serious."
"It may easily become so."