“I wish I had one to give you.  I retired from business two years since, and have no employment for anyone.”

“Thank you, sir; I should have liked to serve you.”

“But I’ll tell you what, my young friend, I have a considerable acquaintance among business men.  If you will give me your address, I may have something to communicate to you ere long.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Hector drew a card from his pocket, and added to it the number of Mr. Ross’ house.

“I am much obliged to you for your kind offer,” he said.

“You don’t look as if you stood in need of employment,” said the gentleman, noticing the fine material of which Hector’s suit was made.

“Appearances are sometimes deceitful,” said Hector, half smiling.

“You must have been brought up in affluence,” said Mr. Davidson, for this was his name.

“Yes, sir, I was.  Till recently I supposed myself rich.”

“You shall tell me the story some time; now I must leave you.”

“Well,” thought Hector, as he made his way homeward, “I have had adventures enough for one morning.”

When Hector reached the house in Forty-second Street, he found Walter just rising from his lessons.

“Well, Hector, what have you been doing?” asked Walter.

“Wandering about the city.”

“Did you see anybody you knew while doing so?”

“Oh, yes!  I was particularly favored.  I saw Allan Roscoe and Guy—­”

“You don’t say so!  Were they glad to see you?”

“Not particularly.  When Guy learned that I was staying here, he proposed to call and make your acquaintance.”

“I hope you didn’t encourage him,” said Walter, with a grimace.

“No; I told him that we were generally out in the afternoon.”

“That is right.”

“I suppose you have been hard at work, Walter?”

“Ask Mr. Crabb.”

“Walter has done very well,” said the usher.  “If he will continue to study as well, I shall have no fault to find.”

“If I do, will you qualify me to be a professor in twelve months’ time?”

“I hope not, for in that case I should lose my scholar, and have to bow to his superior knowledge.”

“Then you don’t know everything, Mr. Crabb?”

“Far from it!  I hope your father didn’t engage me in any such illusion.”

“Because,” said Walter, “I had one teacher who pretended to know all there was worth knowing.  I remember how annoyed he was once when I caught him in a mistake in geography.”

“I shall not be annoyed at all when you find me out in a mistake, for I don’t pretend to be very learned.”

“Then I think we’ll get along,” said Walter, favorably impressed by the usher’s modesty.

“I suppose if I didn’t know anything we should get along even better,” said Mr. Crabb, amused.

“Well, perhaps that might be carrying things too far!” Walter admitted.