“No, ma’am, I didn’t have a chance. I just found it.”
“There may be forty or fifty dollars, but it isn’t on that account I should have regretted losing it. It contained a receipt for a thousand dollars which I am to use in a law suit. That is very important for it will defeat a dishonest claim for money that I have already paid.”
“Then I’m glad I found it.”
“You are an honest boy. You seem to be a poor boy also.”
“That’s true, ma’am. If I was rich I wouldn’t black boots for a livin’.”
“Dear me, you are one of the young street Arabs I’ve read about,” and the lady looked curiously at Mike through her glasses.
“I expect I am.”
“And I suppose you haven’t much money.”
“My bank account is very low, ma’am.”
“I’ve read a book about a boy named ‘Ragged Dick.’ I think he was a bootblack, too. Do you know him?”