They entered the quiet, modest dining-rooms, and secured a table in a corner, away from the busy throng of city men, who were hurriedly discussing their luncheons. "It always amuses me to watch the city man in here," said Jack. "He has not a minute to spare, and his food disappears with lightning-like rapidity. I wonder if it does him any good, or if he has the faintest idea of what he is eating." "He cannot get much enjoyment out of it; I have tried it myself, and know what it means." "In your clerking days?" said Jack. "Yes, we never had much time to spare; it's different now. There is too much time and too little money." Jack saw his friend was hungry, and ordered a substantial meal, which he was glad he had cash enough to pay for. "I have not had such a good feed for many a long day," said Harry Marton with a sigh of regret that luncheon was at last over. "It has been as bad as that?" said Jack. "Yes, and occasionally I have had to starve for twelve hours. There is no man I have more pity for than the clerk out of work. He has to look respectable, or there is no chance of obtaining a situation; and when he gets work, his pay is miserably small. I assure you, Jack, I have tramped the city until I am sick of the whole thing. Nothing but refusals, even from men I knew when in my father's office. I wonder why parents are so anxious to bring up their children to respectable starvation. I have seen scores of good fellows dining off a piece of bread and a cup of tea, when a square meal would have been a Godsend to them. I think it is false pride in many cases; there's too much of the 'gentlemanly occupation' in this world." "You speak from experience, I know very little about it," replied Jack, "but I can quite believe all you say. Tell me how you came to think of going to the colonies."