Your quarters here put me out
of conceit with my own."
"Why, you live in a good house," said Larcher, helping himself in turn.
"Good enough, as they go; what the newspapers would call a 'fashionable
boarding-house.' Imagine a fashionable boarding-house!" He smiled. "But
my own portion of the house is limited in space. In fact, at present I
come under the head of hall-bedroom young men. I know the hall-bedroom
has supplanted the attic chamber of an earlier generation of budding
geniuses; but I prefer comfort to romance."
"How did you happen to go to that house?"
"I saw its advertisement in the 'boarders wanted' column. I liked the
neighborhood. It's the old Knickerbocker neighborhood, you know. Not much
of the old Knickerbocker atmosphere left. It's my first experience as a
'boarder' in New York. I think, on the whole, I prefer to be a 'roomer'
and 'eat out.' I have been a 'paying guest' in London, but fared better
there as a mere 'lodger.'"
"You're not English, are you?"
"No. Good American, but of a roving habit. American in blood and
political principles; but not willing to narrow my life down to the
resources of any one country. I was born in New York, in fact, but of
course before the era of sky-scrapers, multitudinous noises, and
perpetual building operations."
"I thought there was something of an English accent in your speech now
and then."
"Very probably. When I was ten years old, my father's business took us
to England; he was put in charge of the London branch.
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