The speaker was Sam Barker, and the young man addressed was a clerk in the office of Henry Dalton & Co. He gazed with wonder and amusement at the grotesque figure before him. "Have you business with Mr. Dalton?" he inquired. "I should think I had," said Sam. "Is he in?" "Not yet. He'll be here presently." "All right. I'll wait." Carefully parting the tails of his coat, Sam coolly deposited himself in an office chair, and looked about him. "Are you in business for yourself?" asked the clerk. "I have been," said Sam, "but I'm goin' to work for Mr. Dalton now." "Did Mr. Dalton hire you?" "Of course he did. He's goin' to pay me five dollars a week. How much does he pay you?" "That's a secret," said the young man, good-naturedly. "Is it? Well, I'll excuse you." "You're very kind. That's a stylish coat you've got on." "Isn't it?" said Sam, proudly, and rising from the chair he turned around in order to display fully the admired garment. "Who is your tailor?" "I forget his name, but he hangs out on Chatham Street. I only bought this coat yesterday." "Don't you think it's a little too long?" "Maybe it is," said Sam, "but I don't mind it. I can cut it down if I want to. Maybe they've got another like it, if you want one." "I'm supplied just at present," said the young man. "What do you expect to do here?" "I'm to be the errand boy. Does the boss work you very hard?" "Oh, no, he's reasonable. How did you happen to get in with him?" "I brought home his little boy. The little chap was cryin' round the streets, when I met him and took him home." "Oh! you're the boy I heard him speak of. Well, you're in luck, for Mr. Dalton is an excellent employer." "Have you been with him long?" "About four years." "Do you think he'll raise me soon?" "That will depend a good deal upon yourself. If you work faithfully, no doubt he will." Sam made a resolution to work faithfully, but then he found it easier to make resolutions than keep them. "There's Mr. Dalton now," said the clerk. Sam rose and faced his employer. The latter looked at him in some surprise, not immediately recognizing under the strange dress the boy whom he had engaged. "Who are you?" he asked. "I'm the new boy," said Sam. "Don't you remember you told me you'd hire me at five dollars a week?" "Oh, you are the boy, are you? Why, you look like an old man! Where did you raise that coat?" "I bought it." "It makes you look like your own grandfather." "Does it?" said Sam, rather taken aback. "I thought it was stylish." "You better exchange it. I don't want a boy in my employment to be dressed in that way. You'll be taken for an old gentleman from the country." Sam smiled, but looked rather disturbed. "I don't know as the man will take it back," he said. "Go and see. I'll give you a couple of dollars. He will change it if you pay him something extra." "I'll fix it," said Sam, accepting the money with alacrity. "Shall I go now?"