He would pay for my
board and lodging, and give me a commission on all the orders I
obtained. Forthwith I sat down to a "square meal," and ate--my
conscience, how I ate!'
'You were not eminently successful in that pursuit, I think?'
said Jasper.
'I don't think I got half-a-dozen orders. Yet that good Samaritan
supported me for five or six weeks, whilst we travelled from Troy
to Boston. It couldn't go on; I was ashamed of myself; at last I
told him that we must part. Upon my word, I believe he would have
paid my expenses for another month; why, I can't understand. But
he had a vast respect for me because I had written in newspapers,
and I do seriously think that he didn't like to tell me I was a
useless fellow. We parted on the very best of terms in Boston.'
'And you again had recourse to pea-nuts?' asked Dora.
'Well, no. In the meantime I had written to someone in England,
begging the loan of just enough money to enable me to get home.
The money came a day after I had seen Sterling off by train.'
An hour and a half quickly passed, and Jasper, who wished to have
a few minutes of Marian's company before it was time for her to
go, cast a significant glance at his sisters.
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