noon
`` This is n't earning a living , '' he reasoned . `` Unless I do better I 'll have to try selling papers or blacking boots . '' One morning he did try selling papers , under the tutorship of Dick , but the effort was not a success . By noon he had earned exactly nineteen cents and had sixteen papers still on hand . `` I guess you was n't cut out for a newsboy , '' said Dick , frankly . `` What you want to do is , to get a steady job in a store or office . '' `` Yes , but the jobs are mighty scarce , '' answered Nat .