"How dare you correct your gov'nor?" said Dick, with comic
indignation. "'I'll cut you off with a shillin', you young dog,' as
the Markis says to his nephew in the play at the Old Bowery."
CHAPTER XIX
FOSDICK CHANGES HIS BUSINESS
Fosdick did not venture to wear his new clothes while engaged in his
business. This he felt would have been wasteful extravagance. About
ten o'clock in the morning, when business slackened, he went home,
and dressing himself went to a hotel where he could see copies of
the "Morning Herald" and "Sun," and, noting down the places where a
boy was wanted, went on a round of applications. But he found it no
easy thing to obtain a place. Swarms of boys seemed to be out of
employment, and it was not unusual to find from fifty to a hundred
applicants for a single place.
There was another difficulty. It was generally desired that the
boy wanted should reside with his parents. When Fosdick, on being
questioned, revealed the fact of his having no parents, and being
a boy of the street, this was generally sufficient of itself to
insure a refusal. Merchants were afraid to trust one who had led
such a vagabond life. Dick, who was always ready for an emergency,
suggested borrowing a white wig, and passing himself off for
Fosdick's father or grandfather. But Henry thought this might be
rather a difficult character for our hero to sustain. After fifty
applications and as many failures, Fosdick began to get discouraged.
Pages:
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137