"I have been disappointed, sir," was the candid reply.
"I am not surprised to hear it. A boy brought up as you have been cannot
rough it like a farmer's son or a street boy."
"I think I could, sir; but I should not like to."
"Precisely. Now, I am not sure that you acted wisely in undertaking a
task so difficult, since it was not necessary, and your stepfather could
hardly have refused to support you at home. However, as you have taken
the decisive step, we must consider what is best to do under the
circumstances. What work have you been doing?"
"I have been selling tea for the Great Pekin Tea Company."
"How have you succeeded?"
"I have not been able to pay expenses," Frank admitted.
"How have you made up the difference?"
"I brought about fifty dollars with me from home."
"Is it all used up?"
"I had thirty-five dollars left, sir, but a day or two since one of my
fellow boarders opened my trunk and borrowed it without leave."
"Of course you won't recover it?"
"I don't think there is much chance of it, sir."
"Then probably your money is nearly exhausted?"
Frank did not like to admit his poverty, but owned up that he had less
than two dollars.
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