The Herlihy Boy House-Sitting Service

The Herlihy Boy introduces himself as the ideal person to look after a house while its owner is away. His request to water the plants becomes a persistent appeal to bring in the mail, then to sleep in the owner’s bed. Standing beside him, Mr. O’Malley treats every hesitation as an intolerable injustice and grows louder with each plea. The boy gradually drops the useful chores and bargains for a place to live, while his advocate reaches a state of furious distress. The sales pitch ends with the boy presenting himself as perfectly self-assured despite everything the prospective customer has just witnessed.