"Would you advise me to keep them or sell if I have the chance?"
"To keep them, by all means. I shall keep mine. If, however, you wish to sell, I will myself pay you five hundred dollars each."
"Then I may consider myself worth twenty-five hundred dollars," said Chester, in a tone of satisfaction.
"Yes, and more if you are willing to wait."
"I think Mr. Bruce only gave twenty-five dollars apiece for them."
"Very likely. Mine only cost thirty dollars each."
"I shall begin to look upon you as a rich man, Chester," said Arthur Burks.
"Only a rich boy," corrected Chester, laughing. "I haven"t begun to shave yet."
"I think I shall commence next week," remarked Arthur, rubbing his cheek vigorously.
"Since you own property in our neighborhood, Mr. Rand," said Prof.
Nugent, "why don"t you make us a visit?"
"I hope to some day when I can afford it," replied Chester, "but I didn"t know till you told me just now that my lots were worth more than a trifle."
"If ever you do come, don"t forget to call on me at the university. It is located in Salem, Oregon. I may be able to take a trip to Tacoma with you."
"Thank you, sir. I should like nothing better."
The next afternoon Chester chanced to enter the Fifth Avenue Hotel. He went through the corridor and into the reading room to buy a paper.
What was his surprise to see his recent acquaintance, Paul Perkins, sitting in an armchair, reading a Minneapolis journal.
"Why, Chester!" exclaimed Mr. Perkins, cordially, as he rose and shook Chester"s hand vigorously. "It does my heart good to see you. I was intending to call at your office to-morrow."
"You wouldn"t have found me, Mr. Perkins."
"How is that?"
"I have been discharged."
"By that rascal, Mullins? It"s a shame. I must see if I can"t find you another position."
"Thank you, but it is not necessary. I have a place already."
"Good! Is it in the real estate business?"
"No, I am engaged on _The Phoenix_, a new weekly humorous paper, as one of the regular staff of artists."
"Whew! That is good. Do you get fair pay?"
"Twenty-five dollars a week."
"You don"t say so. That is surprising. How much did you get at the other place?"
"Five."
"Then this is five times as good. You ought to give Mr. Mullins a vote of thanks for bouncing you."
"I don"t think he meant to benefit me," said Chester, smiling.
"Do you have to work hard? What are your hours?"
"I have none. I work at home and select my own hours."
"Are you through work for the day?"
"Yes."
"Then you must stay and dine with me. It is four o"clock. We can chat for an hour, and then go to dinner."
"Thank you. I will accept with pleasure. Did you have a pleasant journey?"
"Yes; but I should have enjoyed it better if you had been with me. I called at the White House and shook hands with the President."
"Did you tell him you wanted an office?"
"No office for me. I would rather have my own business and be my own master. Washington"s a fine city, but give me Minneapolis."
"I may call on you in Minneapolis sometime, Mr. Perkins."
"I hope you will. You"ll find it worth visiting. It"s a right smart place, if I do say it."
"I have seen a professor from a university in Oregon, and he has given me good news of my lots in Tacoma. I have five, as I think I told you.
He offered me five hundred dollars apiece cash down."
"Don"t you take it! They"re going a good deal higher, now that the railroad is nearly completed."
"So he told me."
"I congratulate you on your good luck, Chester. I am sure you deserve it. But you haven"t told me why you were "bounced.""
"Mr. Mullins said I wasted time in going his errands. It wasn"t true, but it was only an excuse to get rid of me. He took his cousin Felix in my place."
The two friends went to dinner about six o"clock. At seven they came downstairs and sat in the lobby on a sofa near the door.
Through the portal there was a constant ingress and egress of men--a motley crowd--business men, politicians, professionals and men perhaps of shady character, for a great hotel cannot discriminate, and hundreds pa.s.s in and out who are not guests and have no connection with the house.
"It is a wonderful place, Chester," said Mr. Perkins. "Everybody seems at home here. I suppose everybody--everybody, at least, who is presentable--in New York comes here sometime during the year."
Just then Chester uttered a little exclamation of surprise. As if to emphasize Mr. Perkins" remark, two persons came in who were very well known to the young artist. They were David Mullins and d.i.c.k Ralston.
Mullins heard the slight exclamation and turned his head in the direction of the sofa on which Chester and his friend were sitting. So did Ralston.