"I guess I won't stop here," said Joe, "My money wouldn't keep me
here more than an hour or two."

"At any rate, Joe, you must dine with me," said Folsom. "Then you
may start out for yourself."

"You must dine with me, both of you," said Carter.

Folsom saw that he was in earnest, and accepted.

The dinner was plain but abundant, and all three did justice to it.
Joe did not know till afterward that the dinner cost five dollars
apiece.

After dinner the two friends sat down to talk over old times and
mutual friends, but Joe felt that there was no time for him to lose.
He had his fortune to make. Still more important, he had his living
to make, and in a place where dollars were held as cheap as dimes in
New York or Boston.

So, emerging into the street, with his small bundle under his arm, he
bent his steps as chance directed.




CHAPTER XII

JOE FINDS A JOB