Fame and Fortune | Page 2

only received six dollars a week.
Feeling that it was time to change their quarters to a more respectable portion of the city, they one morning rang the bell of Mrs. Browning's boarding-house, on Bleecker Street.
They were shown into the parlor, and soon a tall lady, with flaxen ringlets and a thin face, came in.
"Well, young gentleman, what can I do for you?" she said, regarding them attentively.
"My friend and I are looking for a boarding-place," said Henry Fosdick. "Have you any rooms vacant?"
"What sort of a room would you like?" asked Mrs. Browning.
"We cannot afford to pay a high price. We should be satisfied with a small room."
"You will room together, I suppose?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"I have a room vacant on the third floor, quite a good-sized one, for which I should charge you seven dollars apiece. There is a room on the fourth floor, not so large, which you can have for five dollars each."
"I think we'll look at that," said Richard Hunter.
"Very well, then follow me."
Mrs. Browning preceded the boys to the fourth floor, where she opened the door of a neat room, provided with two single beds, a good-sized mirror, a bureau, a warm woollen carpet, a washstand, and an empty bookcase for books. There was a closet also, the door of which she opened, showing a row of pegs for clothing.
"How do you like it?" asked Fosdick, in a low voice, turning to his companion.
"It's bully," said Dick, in admiring accents.
I may as well say here, what the reader will find out as we proceed, that our hero, in spite of his advance in learning, had not got entirely rid of some street phrases, which he had caught from the companions with whom he had for years associated.
"Five dollars is rather a steep price," said Fosdick, in a low voice. "You know I don't get but six in all."
"I'll tell you what, Fosdick," said Dick; "it'll be ten dollars for the two of us. I'll pay six, and you shall pay four. That'll be fair,--won't it?"
"No, Dick, I ought to pay my half."
"You can make it up by helpin' me when I run against a snag, in my studies."
"You know as much as I do now, Dick."
"No, I don't. I haven't any more ideas of grammar than a broomstick. You know I called 'cat' a conjunction the other day. Now, you shall help me in grammar, for I'm blessed if I know whether I'm a noun or an adjective, and I'll pay a dollar towards your board."
"But, Dick, I'm willing to help you for nothing. It isn't fair to charge you a dollar a week for my help."
"Why isn't it? Aint I to get ten dollars a week, and shan't I have four dollars over, while you will only have two? I think I ought to give you one more, and then we'd be even."
"No, Dick; I wouldn't agree to that. If you insist upon it, we'll do as you propose; but, if ever I am able, I will make it up to you."
"Well, young gentleman, what have you decided?" asked Mrs. Browning.
"We'll take the room," said Dick, promptly.
"When do you wish to commence?"
"To-day. We'll come this evening."
"Very well. I suppose you can furnish me with references. You're in business, I suppose?"
"I am in Henderson's hat and cap store, No. ---- Broadway," said Henry Fosdick.
"And I am going into Rockwell & Cooper's, on Pearl Street, next Monday," said Dick, with a sense of importance. He felt that this was very different from saying, "I black boots in Chatham Square."
"You look like good boys," said Mrs. Browning, "and I've no doubt you're honest; but I'm a widow, dependent on my boarders, and I have to be particular. Only last week a young man went off, owing me four weeks' board, and I don't suppose he'll ever show his face again. He got a good salary, too; but he spent most of it on cigars and billiards. Now, how can I be sure you will pay me your board regular?"
"We'll pay it every week in advance," said Dick, promptly. "Them's our best references," and he produced his bank-book, showing a deposit of over one hundred dollars to his credit in the savings bank, motioning at the same time to Fosdick to show his.
"You don't mean to say you've saved all that from your earnings?" said Mrs. Browning, surprised.
"Yes," said Dick, "and I might have saved more if I'd begun sooner."
"How long has it taken you to save it up?"
"About nine months. My friend hasn't saved so much, because his salary has been smaller."
"I won't require you to pay in advance," said Mrs. Browning, graciously. "I am sure I can trust you. Boys who have formed so good a habit of saving can be depended upon. I will get the room