At the side of the door were placards, stating that all sorts of persons were wanted. “One hundred waiters” were wanted. “Twenty-five male cooks” were wanted. “One hundred young men were wanted to drive express-wagons.” “Fifty men as porters were wanted.” “Seventy-five young men were wanted as clerks in stores.” “One hundred boys were wanted in all sorts of places.” Wade wondered he had not come upon any such place before. He had been wandering all over the city in search of a place; and here was one where hundreds of young men and boys were wanted. It was just the place for him; for, among all these situations, he was sure he could find one that would exactly suit him, especially as he was not very particular what kind of work he did. He was willing to be a waiter in a saloon, an errand-boy, or a clerk: he was even willing to buckle right down to hard work. With his hand on his money, he ascended the stairs, and found the sign, “Employment Office,” on a door which he opened and entered. The room he went into was a small office, the walls of which were covered with “wants” like those he had seen at the street-door. Behind a short counter was a dapper-looking man with a hook-nose, who smiled sweetly upon the anticipated customer. He was dressed in plaid clothes, and had a great diamond in his shirt-bosom which was big enough to qualify him to be a hotel-clerk. “Good-morning, sir: what can we do for you?” asked the man, who called himself an “employment broker,” and for short reduced the term to simple “broker.” “I want to get a place to go to work,” replied Wade, as intent on business as the broker. “One dollar, if you please,” added the man of places, holding out his hand to receive the fee. “What’s that for?” asked the young man from the country, rather taken aback by this early demand. “For one dollar we register your name; and, as soon as we find a place that will suit you, we put you into it without any further charge,” replied the broker. “I am willing to give you a dollar if you will get me the place,” added Wade, who did not think it was just the thing to take the pay before the work was done; but then, he was “one from the country.” “We don’t do business in that way. We can’t keep an office open for those that want places for nothing: we have been fooled too many times for that,” said the man, with a knowing wink. “What sort of a place do you want?” “Cashier in a restaurant,” replied Wade confidently. “The paper says, a young man with one hundred dollars.” “Have you the money?” “I have.” “That’s another thing,” replied the broker. CHAPTER XXXV. THE BENEVOLENT BROKER. “Must I pay a dollar before I can find out what sort of a place this one is?” asked Wade, who concluded that he should not negotiate on this basis.