“See here, fellers, it’ll cost considerable money to go there, won’t it?”
“Bob an’ I’ve ’greed to pay for everything. We’ve been savin’ up to give you a good time, an’ it’ll be done in style.”
“Hold on a minute,” and Josiah spoke hurriedly, as if almost ashamed of what he was about to say. “I’d like to see the place, ’cause I want to know how the ocean looks; but when I think of that little match-girl without anybody to help her, it don’t seem’s if it was right to spend so much money jest for fun.”
“Do you mean to say we oughter give it to her?” Tom asked in surprise.
“It would do more good than for us to spend it havin’ a swell time.”
“You wouldn’t have much money if you staid ’round here givin’ it to every feller that was hard up,” Tom replied quite sharply. “There’s more’n a hundred jest as bad off as she is, an’ we can’t help ’em all. Both of us give her a few pennies when we’ve had a good day’s work; but sometimes it’s tough scrapin’ to get enough for ourselves.”
“Now don’t spoil all our fun,” Bob added. “You’ve come down where you never was before, an’ we wanter kind of square up for the good time out to the farm; but how are we goin’ to do it if you get soft on everybody what’s in trouble? Let’s go to Coney Island now, an’ to-morrow, if you say so, we’ll give her a nickle apiece.”
Josiah realized that he ought not interfere with the plans of his friends, neither was it for him to say whether they should devote their money to almsgiving, and he replied:—
“I’ll tell you what I wish you’d let me do: I haven’t got a great deal of spare cash; but I’d like to take her with us, an’ am willin’ to pay all she costs. It’ll be a big thing for her, an’ won’t spoil our fun.”
Tom and Bob hesitated, because they were just a trifle uncertain as to how Master Foss might fancy this unexpected addition to the party; and Josiah continued, in order to make his meaning more plain:—