“No, sir,” answered Hector, promptly.
“Even if you had, do you think you would have self-control enough to avoid entering saloons and gratifying your tastes?”
“Yes, sir.”
“That is well. Do you play pool?”
“No, sir,” answered Hector, wondering whither all these questions tended.
“I ask because playing pool in public rooms paves the way for intemperance, as bars are generally connected with such establishments.”
“I don’t even know how to play pool, sir,” said Hector.
“Do you ever bet or gamble?” continued the merchant.
“No, sir.”
“You will understand why I ask all these questions when I tell you that I have a nephew now nineteen years of age, who does all these things. He is not only my nephew, but my ward. I have a moderate sum of money in my charge which belongs to him—enough, if he were a young man of correct habits, to buy him an interest in a respectable business. That use I had proposed to make of it when he reached twenty-one, or rather, to recommend to him, but for his yielding to temptation in more than one form, and, finally, running away from my protection.”