"But don't you see that he robbed you then?"
"Why, no. It wasn't his fault. The stock went down when he died."
"But why should it have gone down when he died, except that he'd
unloaded it on the public for a lot more than it was worth?"
Samuel's jaw fell. "I never thought of that," he said.
"Go on," said Charlie.
Then Samuel told how he was starving, and how he had gone to Professor
Stewart, and how the professor had told him he was one of the unfit.
His companion had taken his pipe out of his mouth and was staring at
him.
"And you swallowed all that?" he gasped.
"Yes," said Samuel.
"And you tried to carry it out! You went away to starve!"
"But what else was there for me to do?" asked the boy.
"But the Lord!" ejaculated the other. "When it came time for ME to
starve, I can promise you I found something else to do!"
"Go on," he said after a pause; and Samuel told how he had saved young
Lockman's life, and what happened afterwards.
"And so he was your dream!" exclaimed the other. "You were up against
a brace game, Sammy!"
"But how was I to know?" protested the boy.
"You should read the papers. That kid's been cutting didoes in the
Tenderloin for a couple of years. He wasn't worth the risking of your
little finger--to say nothing of your life."
"It seems terrible," said Samuel dismayed.
"The trouble with you, Sammy," commented the other, "is that you're
too good to live.
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