"I agree to that, but that is more than many of us can say. If we all could say it with justice, we should have a very different world from what we have at present."
"Besides," said Paul, who, though he liked praise, wanted to be just, "there is some one else, a boy, too, who had more to do with the affair than I."
"Who was that?"
"The boy who told me the house was to be entered."
"Tell me all about it. I told you I knew all about it, but there is one thing the paper does not explain how you found out the plans of those villains."
"I will tell you, sir. One day I saw a boy in front of the eating-house where I usually dine, who looked hungry. I have known what it was to be hungry myself, and I pitied him. So I asked him in and gave him some dinner. I think it was the next day that he came round and asked me if I did not live in Mr. Talbot's house on Madison avenue. He said the man he lived with and another were intending to break into it and rob the safe. They seemed to know that my mother and myself were the only ones who occupied it."
"How old a boy was he?"
"I don't know his age. He looks about twelve, but he may be older."
"What do you suppose made him bring you the information?"
"I think he felt grateful for the dinner I gave him."