“I am glad to make your acquaintance, Mr. Drummond,” said the newcomer, politely.
“How do you do?” said Joshua, awkwardly.
“Mrs. Foster says you will be willing to take a roommate. I am sure we should get on well together. At first, I was a little doubtful, but now that I have seen you I shall be glad to take the room.”
“I should like it, too,” said Joshua, flattered by the stranger’s words.
“Then it is agreed; I will come to-night. Five dollars a week, I think you said, Mrs. Foster?”
“Yes, sir. It would be eight dollars if you roomed alone.”
“Precisely. We shall be worth three dollars a week to each other, Mr. Drummond. That is what I call a good arrangement, to secure an agreeable roommate, and be paid for it.”
The newcomer was a middle-sized man, of easy manners and fluent speech. Joshua, who was not much accustomed to the world, was quite captivated by his politeness and compliments, and the prospect2 of having him for a roommate was rather pleasant than otherwise. He was tired of solitude3, having no friend in Chicago, and thought he would like company.
Mr. Remington moved to his new quarters in the evening about eight o’clock. Joshua was alone, finding the time hang rather heavily upon his hands.
“Have you been long in Chicago, Mr. Drummond?” asked Remington.
“Only four days.”
“You came from the East, I suppose?”
“From New York.”
“Ah, indeed! Big place that.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Do you expect to stay here long?”
“Well,” said Joshua, hesitatingly, “that depends on whether I can get a place. I am looking for something to do.”
“Indeed! I thought you already in business.”
“Did you?”
“Yes, you have a business air about you.”
Joshua was quite pleased at the compliment.
“I have been in my father’s store some.”
“To be sure. I knew you must have some experience. Well, a young man of your appearance ought to find a situation very quick.”
“I’ve been looking around for two or three days, but I can’t find anything yet.”
“That’s because you are a stranger. Did you ever think of going into business for yourself?”
“That takes a good deal of money, don’t it?”
“Not so very much.”
“I have only got four hundred dollars,” said Joshua. “Of course, that isn’t enough.”
“It isn’t much, to be sure. Still you might obtain a partnership4 in a small business for that.”
“What sort of business?” asked Joshua, interested.
“I am not prepared to say on the instant, but I will think the matter over, and see what I can do for you.”
“I wish you would. You see I don’t know anybody here, and that goes against me.”
“To be sure. I was about to propose something to you, but I don’t know that you would think it worth your while.”
“What is it?” said Joshua, eagerly.
“I keep a fancy goods store, and find more to do than I like. I need an assistant, but I can only offer six dollars a week. You might be willing to take up with that till something better offers.”
“Yes, I’ll take it,” said Joshua, promptly5, for his fruitless applications for employment had made him ready to accept anything at all decent.
“Of course, I know that it is not enough for a young man of your business experience and abilities, Mr. Drummond, but if I can do better by you after a while, I will.”
Joshua knew that he was without experience, and was not sure about his abilities, but he did know that it would not do to draw upon his principal continually, and was thankful to accept the salary offered.
“How lucky I am!” he thought. “Mr. Remington seems such a perfect gentleman. I think we shall get along first-rate. If my father had only treated me that way, I never would have left home.”
“What are you going to do this evening, Mr. Drummond?” said his new friend.
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t know how to play.”
“Then I’ll teach you. You’re old enough to learn and everybody plays nowadays.”
“Does it cost much to learn?” questioned Joshua.
“Not much; but of course I pay, as I invite you.”
Joshua made no further objections, but left the house in company with Mr. Remington, who took his arm, and talked socially, like an old friend. Joshua was more and more charmed with him.
After a five minutes’ walk they reached the billiard hall. It was a large room, containing twelve tables.
“I think we will try a pocket-table. It is easier for a beginner. select a cue, Mr. Drummond.”
Joshua didn’t know what a cue was, but, following his companion’s example, selected one from a rack against the wall.
“Now,” said Mr. Remington, after the balls were placed, “the principle of the game is very simple. With this ball, you must try to hit two others. If you succeed in doing it, you count three, or if you succeed in sending either ball into any one of the four pockets, you count three. If you do both, it counts you six. One hundred is the game. I will take the first shot, which is difficult for a beginner, and then you take your turn.”
He made the shot, but without counting. Next Joshua, under his direction, made a shot, and by what billiard-players call a “scratch,” hit two balls, sending one into a pocket.
“Bravo! good shot! You have played before, haven’t you, Mr. Drummond?”
“I never saw a billiard table before,” said Joshua, elated. “Now it is your turn.”
“No, since you succeeded, you are to keep on. I foresee that you will make an excellent player.”
“It’s a first-rate game,” said Joshua.
“Yes; I was sure you would like it; now it is my turn.”
It would be wearisome to detail the progress of the game. Remington, who was really a skillful player, “played off,” and helped his adversary7 to such an extent that he made a respectable score. Joshua was elated, and found the billiard-room a much more attractive place to spend the evening than his room at the boarding house.
“Come,” said Remington, at the close of the game, “you must be thirsty. Let us have something to drink.”
Joshua understood that his companion proposed to bear the expense, and therefore made no objection.
“What will you have, Drummond?”
“What are you going to take?”
“A sherry cobbler.”
“I’ll take one, too.”
“Two sherry cobblers, and mind you make them strong enough.”
Joshua imbibed8 the drink through a straw, in imitation of his companion. Not being used to liquor of any kind, it exhilarated him, and made him feel happy and sanguine9. He had never liked Chicago so well before.
“This is seeing life,” he thought. “I’ve come to the right place. I haven’t been here a week, and got a situation already. I guess I’ll write to Sam in a day or two, and let him know how I’m getting along. I’m glad I left Stapleton.”
“Well, Drummond,” said Mr. Remington, who had become more familiar as their acquaintance progressed, “if you’re ready, we’ll go back to our room. You know you’ll have to go to business to-morrow.”
“All right, Mr. Remington. Do you think you can raise my salary soon?”
“No doubt of it. I’ve taken a fancy to you, and shall push you right along.”
“I’m sure I’m much obliged to you.”
“I have been in the habit of judging men, and as soon as I saw you I felt sure that you would suit me.”
“Did you?” said Joshua, flattered.
“At once. Of course, I did not know but you might already be engaged in business. If you had been, I would not have offered you an engagement, as I would scorn to take a good clerk from another man. To let you into a little secret, I’ve got a nephew who is expecting the place. I suppose he will be angry when he hears I have taken a stranger. But, though I would like to oblige him, he would not suit me at all. He hasn’t got the ‘snap’ in him. He’ll never make a good business man. It takes a smart man to succeed in Chicago.”
All this was very gratifying to Joshua. Nobody had ever taken a fancy to him before; nobody had ever detected his superior business abilities; yet here was a stranger, a man of discrimination and business experience, who had selected him in preference to his own nephew. No wonder Joshua felt elated.
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1
landlady
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| n.女房东，女地主 | |
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2
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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3
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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4
partnership
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| n.合作关系，伙伴关系 | |
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5
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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6
billiards
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| n.台球 | |
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7
adversary
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| adj.敌手，对手 | |
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8
imbibed
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| v.吸收( imbibe的过去式和过去分词 )；喝；吸取；吸气 | |
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9
sanguine
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| adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的 | |
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