"  With  Jim  an'  Bob,  sir."

"  Haven't  you  a  father  or  mother?"

He  shook  his  head.  "  Father's  drunk  and  mother's
dead,"  he  answered.  I  saw  my  train  coming,  and
hurried  up  the  stairs,  leaving  a  small  silver  piece  in
the  boy's  hand.  With  his  last  answer  still  sounding
in  my  ears,  I  took  a  seat  in  the  car,  and  forgot  to


NUMBER  TWENTY-FOUB  187

get  out  until  I  heard  the  guard  call  the  station  be-
yond mine.
The  next  night  Bill  met  me,  and  held  out  his
hand  with  some  money  in  it.
"  It's  the  change,"  he  said,  "  from  last  night.  Jim
said  it'd  pay  best  in  the  end  to  give  it  back.  He
says,  'hon'sty's  the  best  pulusy,  'specially  with
gents.'"

I  explained  that  I  had  given  the  money  away,  but
he  looked  at  me  fully  a  minute  before  he  cried,  "  Oh,
thank  yerl  Hi  I  won't  Jim  an'  Bob  an'  I  hev  a
treat !"  He  put  down  his  papers  and  flung  up  his
cap  with  a  "  Hooray !  Whoop !  Jim  I"  And  I  con-
fess it  was  with  rather  a  thick  voice  I  asked  for  my
ticket  at  the  station  window'.  "Eight  cents,"  I
thought,  "  and  it's  a  bonanza  to  him."

One  night,  not  long  after  this,  no  "  Little  Bill "
put  in  an  appearance;  instead,  one  of  the  larger
boys  met  me  with  a  "  Post."  "  There's  a  letter  writ
on  the  top,"  he  volunteered.  And  so  I  found  on
looking :

"  Dere  Mister  Post.  Little  Bill  is  sorter  sik,  but
Jim  will  giv  you  the  paper  every  nite.
