Wait and Hope

A little hump-backed man was behind the counter.

"Want to hire a boy?" asked Ben.

"Are you the boy?"

"Yes."

"What can you do?"

"I am willing to do anything."

The hunchback grinned.

"Then perhaps I can give you a situation. Will you work for three dollars a week?"

Ben reflected.

"That will do, with strict economy," he thought, "till the factory takes me on again."

"I'll come for a few weeks, at that rate," he said.

"But perhaps you won't like your duties," said the hunchback, grinning in a curious manner.

"What would be my duties?"

"I should paint you red, and have you stand outside the door, as an Indian," was the answer.

Ben didn't relish the joke.

"You'd better take that position yourself," he retorted. "Nobody'd know the difference."

"Get out!" roared the cigar dealer angri