The young fellow did not feel more at his ease than the elder meant he should in taking the chair to which the general waved him from where he lay in bed; and there was no talk wasted upon the weather between them.
"I suppose I know what you have come for, Mr.Burnamy," said General Triscoe in a tone which was rather judicial than otherwise, "and I suppose you know why you have come." The words certainly opened the way for Burnamy, but he hesitated so long to take it that the general had abundant time to add, "I don't pretend that this event is unexpected, but I should like to know what reason you have for thinking I should wish you to marry my daughter.

I take it for granted that you are attached to each other, and we won't waste time on that point.

Not to beat about the bush, on the next point, let me ask at once what your means of supporting her are.

How much did you earn on that newspaper in Chicago ?" "Fifteen hundred dollars," Burnamy answered, promptly enough.
"Did you earn anything more, say within the last year ?" "I got three hundred dollars advance copyright for a book I sold to a publisher." The glory had not yet faded from the fact in Burnamy's mind.
"Eighteen hundred.

What did you get for your poem in March's book ?" "That's a very trifling matter: fifteen dollars." "And your salary as private secretary to that man Stoller ?" "Thirty dollars a week, and my expenses.