"Thank you, I should."
"I also wish you to see it, that you may understand my directions in regard to the care of it. Follow me, if you please. We will first go down into the basement."
Mrs. Hoffman rose. Paul kept his seat, not sure whether he was included in the invitation or not.
"Your son can come, too, if he likes," said Mrs. Talbot, observing his hesitation.
Paul rose with alacrity and followed them. He had a natural curiosity to see the rooms they were to occupy.
They descended first into the basement, which was spacious and light.
It consisted of three rooms, the one in front quite large and pleasant. It was plainly but comfortably furnished. The kitchen was in the rear, and there was a middle room between.
"These will be your apartments," said Mrs. Talbot. "Of course I have no objection to your moving in any of your own furniture, if your desire it."
"We have only ourselves to move in," said Paul. "We were burned out early this week."
"Indeed! You were unfortunate."
"I thought so at the time," said Mrs. Hoffman, "but if it had not been for that Paul would not have called upon Mr. Preston and we should not have heard of you."
"Were you able to save nothing?" asked Mrs. Talbot.
"Scarcely anything."
"If you are embarrassed for want of money," suggested Mrs. Talbot kindly, "I will advance you fifty dollars, or more if you require it."
"You are very kind," said Mrs. Hoffman gratefully; "but we have a sum of money, more than enough for our present needs, deposited with Mr.
Preston. We are not less obliged to you for so kind an offer."
Mrs. Talbot was still more prepossessed in favor of her visitors by the manner in which her offer had been declined. She saw that they had too much self-respect to accept assistance unless actually needed.
"I am glad to hear that," she said. "It is not all who are fortunate enough to have a reserve fund to fall back upon. Now, if you have sufficiently examined the basement, we will go upstairs."
While passing through the upper chambers, Mrs. Talbot gave directions for their care, which would not be interesting to the reader, and are therefore omitted.
"I had intended," she said, "to offer you the use of the upper chambers, but they are so far off from the basement that it might be inconvenient for you to occupy them. If you prefer, you may move down two bedsteads to the lower part of the house. I have no objection to your putting one in the dining-room, if you desire it."
"Thank you, Mrs. Talbot; I should prefer it."
"Then you may consider yourself at liberty to do it. I believe I have now said all I wanted to you. Can you come here next Tuesday?"
"Yes, we will do so."
"By the way, I forgot to inquire the size of your family."
"I have only one other child, a little boy of eight."
Mrs. Talbot heard this with satisfaction, for she was aware of the destructive propensities of children, and preferred that the family in charge should be small.
"I believe I have nothing further to say," said Mrs. Talbot. "Should anything else occur to me, I will mention it to you on Tuesday when you come here permanently."
Paul and his mother took their leave. When they were in the street, Paul inquired:
"Well, mother, what do you think of Mrs. Talbot?"
"I like her very much. She seems to be a real lady."
"So I think. She seems to be very kind and considerate."
"We are very fortunate to get so good a home and save the entire rent."
"It will save us two hundred and forty dollars a year."
"We shall be able to save up considerable money every year."
"But there's one thing I want to say, mother. As we are in so much better circumstances, there will be no need of your working on neckties any more."
"Are you going to discharge me from your employment, Paul?" said his mother, smiling.
"Not unless you are willing, mother; but you will have enough to do looking after the house."
"I would rather keep on making neckties. It is a work that I like. In return I will hire my washing done, and all the rougher work."
"Perhaps that will be better," said Paul; "but you can do both if you like."
"I don't mean to lead an idle life, Paul. I should not feel happy if I did. I was always fond of sewing--that is, in moderation. When I made shirts for that establishment in Broadway, for such low prices, I cannot say that I enjoyed that very much. I am glad to be relieved of such work, though at that time I was glad to get it."
"Those days have gone by forever, I hope, mother. I am young and strong, and I don't see why there isn't as good a chance for me to succeed as for other poor boys who have risen to wealth and eminence.
I am going to work for success, at any rate. But we shall have to make some purchases before Tuesday."
"What kind of purchases?"
"Jimmy and I are out of clothes, you know. My entire wardrobe has been consumed by the devouring element, as the reporters say. Now, being a young man of fashion, I don't quite like being reduced to one suit and one shirt, with other things in proportion."
"If you could wait, I would make you some shirts."
"But I can't wait. I shouldn't feel like wearing the shirt I have on more than a fortnight."
"I hope not," said his mother, smiling.
"Suppose I should be invited to a party and be obliged to decline with thanks, on account of having only one shirt. My reputation as a young man of fashion would be gone forever."
"So I should think."
"To-morrow I will buy a couple of shirts, and these will last me, with the help of the washerwoman, until you can make me some new ones. Then I will go to Bookair's tomorrow, and take Jimmy with me and buy new suits for both."
"I am afraid you are getting extravagant, Paul."