Tears began to stream down the cheeks of the unfortunate man, who now covered his eyes with a big, rough hand.
"If you will make an honest effort, I'll stand by you. I'll be your friend through thick and thin," the minister added. "There's something good in you or you wouldn't be having a dream like that."
"Nobody has ever talked to me this way," poor Blenkinsop sobbed. "Nobody but you has ever treated me as if I was human."
"I know—I know. It's a hard old world, but at last you've found a man who is willing to be a brother to you if you really want one."
The poor man rose from the table and went to the minister's side and held out his hand.
"I do want a brother, sir, an' I'll do anything at all," he said in a broken voice.
"Then come with me," the minister commanded. "First, I'm going to improve the outside of you."
When they were ready to leave the house, Blenkinsop and his dog had had a bath and the former was shaved and in clean and respectable garments from top to toe.
"You look like a new man," said Mr. Singleton.
"Seems like, I felt more like a proper human bein'," Blenkinsop answered.