human
I think I shall like it ever so much, answered Dodger.
gpt
Everybody seems to be wideawake.
human
Do you think you will like it better than New York?
gpt
I think a poor boy will have more of a chance of making a living here. In New York I was too well known. If I got a place anywhere some one would recognize me as Tim Bolton's boy--accustomed to tend bar--or some gentleman would remember that he had bought papers of me. Here nobody knows me, and I can start fair.
human
There is a great deal in what you say, returned Leslie.
gpt
What do you think of trying to do?
human
First of all I will write a letter to Florence, and tell her I am all right. How long does it take a letter to go from here to New York?
gpt
About seven days.
human
And it took us over four months! That seems wonderful.
gpt
Yes; there is a great difference between coming by sea around Cape Horn and speeding across the country on an express train.
human
If I could only know how Florence is getting along, Dodger said, anxiously.
gpt
I suppose she thinks I am dead.
human
You forget the letter you gave to the vessel we spoke off the coast of Brazil.
gpt
Yes; but do you think it went straight?
human
The chances are in favor of it. However, your idea is a good one. Write, by all means, and then we will discuss future plans.
gpt
What are your plans, Mr. Leslie?
human
I shall try to secure a reporter's berth on one of the daily papers-- the _Call_ or _Chronicle_. I will wait a few days, however, as I have a few hundred dollars by me, and can afford to take a little time to look around.
gpt
I wish I were as well provided; but I have less than twenty-five dollars.
human
Don't worry about that, Arthur, said Randolph, laying his hand affectionately on the boy's shoulder.
gpt
I shall not allow you to want.
human
Thank you, Mr. Leslie, said Dodger, gratefully.
gpt
It's something new to me to have a friend like you. But I don't want to be any expense to you. I am large enough and strong enough to earn my own living.
human
True; and I feel sure you will have a chance in this enterprising city.
gpt
Do you think I would answer for such a place?
human
I don't see why not. At any rate, 'nothing venture, nothing gain.' You may as well go around and inquire. And, by the way, as your suit is rather shabby, let me lend you one of mine. We are of nearly the same size.
gpt
Thank you, Mr. Leslie.
human
Fine feathers make fine birds, you know, and a neat dress always increases the chances of an applicant for employment, though, when it is carried too far, it is apt to excite suspicion. I remember a friend of mine advertised for a bookkeeper. Among the applicants was a young man wearing a sixty-dollar suit, a ruffled shirt, a handsome gold watch and a diamond pin. He was a man of taste, and he was strongly impressed with the young man's elegant appearance. So, largely upon the strength of these, he engaged him, and in less than six months discovered that he had been swindled to the extent of eight hundred dollars by his aesthetic bookkeeper.
gpt
Then I will leave my diamond pin at home, said Dodger, smiling.
human
Suppose they ask me for recommendations?
gpt
I will go with you and indorse you. I happen to know one or two prominent gentlemen in San Francisco--among them the president of a bank--and I presume my indorsement will be sufficient.