human
Hello--what?
gpt
I said, Hello, grafter,
human
Why?
gpt
I guess you know that as well as I do.
human
I don't. What is it? Out with it. Fire away.
gpt
A grafter is a fellow with an underground pull for getting hold of what belongs to some one else. At least that's what I understand by it--
human
It's very much what I understand by it, too. But have I ever got hold of anything of yours?
gpt
Yes, confound you! You've taken my job--the job I've waited for ever since 1885.
human
Did waiting for it make it yours? If so, you would have come by it more easily than I did. I worked for it.
gpt
Worked for it? Haven't I worked for it, too? Haven't I been in this office for going on seventeen years? Haven't I done what they've paid me for--?
human
I dare say. But I've done twice what they've paid me for. That's the secret of my pull, and I don't mind giving it away. You mayn't like it--some fellows don't; but you'll admit it it's a pull you could have had, as well as I. Look here, Green, he continued, in the same quiet tone,
gpt
I'm sorry for you. If I were in your place, I dare say I should feel as you do. But if I _were_ in your place, I'll be hanged if I shouldn't make myself fit to get out of it. You're not fit--and that's the only reason why you aren't going as resident manager to Rosario. You're labelled with the year '1885,' as if you were a bottle of champagne--and you've forgotten that champagne is a wine that gets out of date. You're a good chap--quite as good as your position--but you're not better than your position--and when you are you won't be left in it any longer.