“Yes, I will tell you, for I think you are a true friend. My mother is married again, and my stepfather from the first disliked me. I think it is because my mother had money, and he feared she would leave it to me. So he got up a false charge against me of dishonesty. My mother became cold to me, and I—left home. I am of a sensitive nature, and I could not bear the cold looks I met with.”
“How long ago was this?”
“About six months since.”
“You came to New York directly?”
“Yes.”
“Where did you get the money to come?”
“I came by it honestly,” answered Edward, quickly. “I had a deposit in a savings bank, put in during my own father’s life. I felt I had a right to use this, and I did so. It brought me to New York, and kept me here till I got a place in an insurance office.”
“And you managed to live on five dollars a week?”
“Yes; it was hard, but I went to the cheapest eating houses, and I—got along.”
“But you had no money to buy clothing.”