“But we have no right to take your money—the money you have to work so hard for. No, no; we can’t take that.”
“No, no,” cried the lame boy.
“You leave things to me,” laughed Frank. “It will be all right. Think how lonely I should have been if I had not found you for companions. It is the greatest pleasure I have in life to aid you.”
“But we can’t take your money.”
“No, no!”
“I do not wish you to take it as a gift,” said Merry. “I will loan it to you, you know. It will not be much, anyway. What did the doctor have to say to-day?”
“Oh, he said I was doing well,” answered little Nell. “He said I was not strong, and I came very near having a fever, but I will be all right very soon.”
“Well, that is encouraging. He told me last night that I might bring you some fruit, but you must eat sparingly of it. I bought some as I came home.”
“Oh, how good you are to us!” cried the girl, with a graceful sob. “You have such a kind heart! Once it seemed that the world was full of bad, cruel people; but, since we met you, I know it is not true.”
“No, Nellie, there is far more good in the world than anything else. Human beings are peculiar. Sometimes a person may seem very bad and wicked when all it needs is the right influence to develop in him the most surprisingly noble qualities. Never lose confidence in human nature.”