They all promised and were glad of the opportunity.
This was the first intimate talk with the gang.
Two days later, while the gentleman was very busy in his office, into the room came one of the little visitors followed by some of the gang, he was limping and crying as if his heart would break. He paid no attention to any one in the office but made directly for the gentleman, who seeing him, excused himself from his business friends and said to the boy,
“Well, now, what has happened to you?”
“A man shoved me off de sidewalk into de gutter and me foot struck a piece of glass,” he replied, between sobs. His foot was bloody, and the more blood he saw the louder became his cries. He was taken into a near-by hotel, his foot carefully washed, a handkerchief tied over the wound, his tears wiped away, and when back into the office he said:
“I thank you, sir.”
He picked up his bundle of papers, all pain had disappeared, the smiles again came to his pretty face, and with his friends, left the office, singing a popular air.
The result of this little act of duty added fifty new friends.