Page:Clement Fezandié - Through the Earth.djvu/116

96 take care of myself. On the contrary, I have had more practical experience than many young men of twenty-one."

"You have not always been poor, William. I can see that by your speech and manners."

"No sir; only two years ago we had everything we wanted. In fact, I was destined to become a mechanical engineer, and was studying with that end in view when my father died. Somehow, his partner, in settling up the business, managed to keep everything for himself, and left nothing for us."

"Could n't you sue him?"

"That, unfortunately, is what my mother did; and she spent what little money we had in trying to get the rest back. But the result was, she lost all. Then I was taken from college and sent to work in a shop at very low wages, while mother tried to give private lessons and do sewing at home. Our friends helped us a little at first, but soon became tired of doing so. And then mother fell ill, and we gradually ran into debt.

"The crisis came yesterday. When I went to work in the morning I found my employer had failed, and that thenceforward I was without a position. When our landlord, to whom we owe