The day had been so crowded with novel
impressions that it seemed an age
He took me to an apartment in a poor tenement-house and
introduced me to a tall, bewhiskered, morose-looking, elderly man
and a smiling woman of thirty-five, explaining that he had paid
them in advance for a month's board and lodging. When he said,
"This is Mr. Levinsky," I felt as though I was being promoted in
rank as behooved my new appearance. "Mister" struck me as
something like a title of nobility. It thrilled me. But somehow it
seemed ridiculous, too. Indeed, it was some time before I could
think of myself as a "Mister" without being tempted to laugh.
"And here is some cash for you," he said, handing me a five-dollar
bill, and some silver, in addition. "And now you must shift for
yourself. That's all I can do for you. Nor, indeed, would I do more
if I could. A young man like you must learn to stand on his own
legs. Understand? If you do well, come to see me. Understand?"
There was an eloquent pause which said that if I did not do well I
was not to molest him.
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