Mr. Cook shook him cordially by the hand.
"We have just been speaking about you," he said. "How have you fared in your search for employment?"
The boy told him.
"Mossvale is so small, there is hardly any chance," he added.
"Your mother tells me that you have an idea you could do better in New York," went on the minister. "It is a big place, and nearly every one is almost too busy to notice a new-comer."
"I know that. But I should watch my chances."
"And there are many temptations there that never arise in such a place as this," continued Mr. Cook earnestly; "and it very often takes all the will power a person possesses to keep in the straight and narrow path."
"I wouldn't do what wasn't right!" burst out Richard. "I'd starve first!"
Mr. Cook looked down into the clear, outspoken face before him.
"I believe it," he declared. "You have had a good training, thanks to your mother and father. Well, I have advised her to let you try your luck in the great metropolis."