She looked at it dubiously. “Oh, it is honest,” he laughed; “there’s no taint of charity about it. Such high-handed crimes against justice must be made to suffer the penalty. It has set me to thinking, too, that it is time something was done toward establishing justice for these helpless poor. Why, the case would never have been won if I had not employed some of the best talent in the city.”
“And that, of course, is costly.”
“Of course; often more than the little sum in question. By the way, have you seen the head of this distressed family down-stairs?”
“I saw him for a few moments last night. He seems to be a gentleman in bearing and acquirements, but he wears a depressed, hopeless expression and a listless, half-hearted manner, that I can see are a constant thorn in the side of his more energetic, if enfeebled, wife.”
“Well, no wonder, if half the story she tells is true. This seems to me a case of genuine humanity; one that appeals directly to a man’s soul if he has one. That man ought to be given work.”
“True, but he says he has sought for it far and wide.”
“I don’t think he need seek any further. I have a friend who is a wholesale grocer down on S—— W—— Street, and in relating the story to him, he offered the position of porter at eight dollars a week. Not a munificent salary, certainly, but a good deal better than nothing.”
“Oh, I am so glad!” exclaimed Margaret. “And how happy that poor wife will be. I’ve grown very much interested in her, for the reason that such an ambitious spirit seems to dwell within the enfeebled body. How terrible it is when body and spirit are so at odds!”
“Terrible indeed! I really hope the good news of a place for her husband will act as a tonic. I leave the matter entirely in your hands and empower you to deliver the message.”
“I will go now, if you will excuse me. I am in a hurry to tell the good news.”