He smiled. My naive way of saddling myself upon him, along with a lot of possible responsibilities was doubtless amusing to a hard-headed financier like Bolton. I saw nothing out of the way in such an arrangement at the time. It struck me as a splendid idea, in fact. But he made allowance for my juvenile point of view. Shifting his cigar to the other corner of his mouth he surveyed me critically for a few seconds, crinkling his black brows thoughtfully. “I’ll do it,” he finally assented. “The position ought to be a sinecure. Run in to-morrow morning at ten-thirty, and we’ll step around to the courthouse and have the thing legally executed. You’re staying at the old place, I suppose?” “I’m going to,” I replied. “I haven’t been at the house; I came straight here from the train.” “Well, run along, son,” he said good-naturedly. “I’d take you home to my family, only I don’t happen to possess one. I live at the club—the Arion—mostly.” “Oh, by the way,” he called to me as I neared the door. “How are you off for funds?” “To tell the truth,” I owned, rather shamefacedly, “I’m getting in pretty low water. I think I’ve some change at home, but I’m not sure. Dad never gave me a regular allowance; he’d just send me a check now and then, and let it go at that. I’m afraid I’m a pretty good spender.” “You’ll have to reform, young man,” he warned, mock-seriously. “Here”—he dug a fifty dollar bill out of his pocket-book—“that’ll keep you going for a while. I’ll keep you in pocket money till this administrator allows you a monthly sum for maintenance. Don’t forget the time, now. Ten-thirty, sharp. Ta ta.” And he hustled me out of the office in the midst of my thanks. I was thankful, too, for I’d put it mildly when I told him that I was getting near the rocks. I was on them. I’d paid my last cent for a meal on the train that morning. And while I did feel tolerably sure of finding some loose silver in the pockets of my clothing at home, I knew it would not amount to more than four or five dollars. Oh, I was an improvident youth, all right. The necessity for being careful with money never struck me as being a matter of importance; I’d never had to do stunts in economy, that was the trouble. From the bank I went straight home. We hadn’t kept a very pretentious establishment, even though Sumner _pere_ had gone on increasing his pile all through the years since we’d moved to the city. A cook and a house-maid, a colored coachman and a gardener—the four of them had been with us for years, and old Adam was waiting by the steps for me when I came up the walk, his shiny black face beaming welcome. I had to go to the stable and look over the horses, and tell Adam that everything was fine, before the old duffer would rest.