He did not recognise him, but he looked a respectable lad, and so, when he proposed they should go along the road together, Tom cheerfully assented, for any company was better than none, he thought.
"Beastly place London is," said his new friend when they had exchanged a few words, in which he detected that Tom had recently come from the country.
"Don't you like it?" asked Tom, in some surprise, for this long row of lighted shops, and the pleasant bustle of the street was almost like fairyland to him.
His new friend made a wry face, but did not reply immediately to his question.
"Things are pretty dull here sometimes, and there is no friendliness among people like there is in the country. You look at your neighbour as though he was a wild beast bent upon eating you up, and so you are afraid to speak to him."
Tom laughed. "I don't think I am much afraid of strangers," he said, "or I should not be walking with you."
"Ah! That just shows you have not been here long enough to get spoiled. I knew at once by the friendly look in your face that you had not been here long. Come up to get a place in some office, I suppose?" said his new friend, looking at him curiously.
"I have got a place," replied Tom. "My uncle has lived in London for years and years, and he got me a place, and I live with him."
His companion gave a prolonged whistle. "I wonder he hadn't told you never to talk to strangers when you came out for a walk," he said.
"He doesn't know I am out," replied Tom. "I'm not a baby, either, that is likely to lose its way, so aunt said I might come out for an hour if I liked."