The stranger's expression softened.
"You are fond of books, then?"
"I love 'em, sir!"
"Do you read every day?"
"Not since I came to London, for we have no books except our lesson books at school."
"Mm—mm! Should you like to read if you had the opportunity?"
"Wouldn't I?" burst out Samuel, with enthusiasm.
"I think we can arrange matters then. A boy who swims with Leander down London Strand, causing people to take him for a sneak thief, ought surely to have books to read," and pressing a yellow card into Samuel's hand, he continued,—
"This is a ticket to a circulating library in Cheapside. By showing this to the librarian you can draw as many books as you like. Good day, my young gentleman!"
Without waiting to hear Samuel's exclamations of gratitude, the stranger was off, leaving the boy overjoyed in the street.