THE MAN IN THE WINDOW
of the great, selfish city, looking first for a "profitable position," and finally for a "job" with which to support life. Yesterday he had broken his last dollar. Of this he had spent fifteen cents for a bed in a miserable place in the Bowery, and had been kept awake all night by a man in the next room with delirium tremens.
Now he walked in at Harvey & Harris's. He had a letter of introduction to the firm, but he hated to present it, for it seemed like a "pull," and he wanted to go through life on his own merits, he told himself, or else not go. That was the reason he had put this off as a last resort. He walked to the office in the rear of the great store.
"Whom do you wish to see?" asked a dapper little salesman, eying Young's big shape and dusty shoes superciliously.
Young was tired and cross. "Your employer," he answered curtly.
"You do, eh? What do you want to see him about?" The little man was annoyed.
"That concerns him and me."
The little man tried to smile sarcastically.
186
