“The younger man is Ralston, the gambler,” said Chester, in excitement, when they were near enough to recognize the figures of the two.
“Halt a minute, and let us hear what it is all about,” returned Mr. Perkins.
“I am hungry,” said the old man, pitifully, “and I have no money for a bed. Have pity on me, Dick, and give me something.”
“You ought not to have come here,” returned Ralston, roughly. “Why didn’t you stay in the country, where you had a comfortable home?”
“In the poorhouse,” murmured the old man, sadly.
“Well, it’s no worse for being a poorhouse, is it?”
“But is it right for me to live there when you are rich and prosperous?”
“How do you know I am rich and prosperous?”
“By your dress. And there’s a diamond in your shirt bosom. That must be valuable.”
“It’s about all I own that is valuable. It was a fool’s errand that brought you here. You had better go back,” and Ralston prepared to go on.