"He'll quiet down."
"Hold fast," Samuel continued; and then he put his hand to his
forehead, and swayed slightly. "I--I'll have to sit down a moment, I'm
afraid. I feel sort of dizzy."
"Are you hurt?" cried the stranger anxiously.
"No," he said--"no, but I haven't had anything to eat to-day, and I'm
a little weak."
"Nothing to eat!" cried the other. "What's the matter?"
"Why, I've been out of a job."
"Out of a job? Good heavens, man, have you been starving?"
"Well," said Samuel with a wan smile, "I had begun to."
He sat down by the roadside, and the other stared at him. "Do you live
in Lockmanville?" he asked.
"No, I just came here. I left my home in the country to go to New
York, and I was robbed and lost all my money. And I haven't been able
to find anything to do, and I'd just about given up and got ready to
die."
"My God!" cried the other in dismay.
"Oh, it's all right," said Samuel. "I didn't mind."
The stranger gazed at him in perplexity. And Samuel returned the gaze,
being curious to see who it was he had rescued. It was a youth not
more than a year or two older than himself. The color had now come
back into his face, and Samuel thought that he was the most beautiful
human being he had ever seen. He had a frank, open face, and laughing
eyes, and golden hair like a girl's. He wore outing costume, a silk
shirt and light flannels--things which Samuel had learned to associate
with the possession of wealth and ease.
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