The eager rush and hurry of the people crowding the sidewalks
impressed Rob with the idea that they were all behind time and were
trying hard to catch up. He found it impossible to walk along
comfortably without being elbowed and pushed from side to side; so a
half hour's sight-seeing under such difficulties tired him greatly.
It was a beautiful afternoon, and finding himself upon the Lake Front,
Rob hunted up a vacant bench and sat down to rest.
Presently an elderly gentleman with a reserved and dignified
appearance and dressed in black took a seat next to the boy and drew a
magazine from his pocket. Rob saw that he opened it to an article on
"The Progress of Modern Science," in which he seemed greatly interested.
After a time the boy remembered that he was hungry, not having eaten a
tablet in more than twenty-four hours. So he took out the silver box
and ate one of the small, round disks it contained.
"What are those?" inquired the old gentleman in a soft voice. "You
are too young to be taking patent medicines."
"There are not medicines, exactly," answered the boy, with a smile.
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