"Have you no brother or sister?"
"Yes, I have a little sister, ten years old."
"And a brother?"
"I have a half-brother—ten years older than myself," answered Paul, with evident hesitation.
"And does he help your mother also?" inquired the young lady.
Paul shook his head.
"We don't see much of him," he answered. "He isn't very steady, and is more likely to ask help of us than to give it."
"And he is a strong, young man!" exclaimed the young lady, indignantly. "Why, he can't have any sense of pride or honor."
"Not much. We can do better without him than with him."
"It is lucky for your mother and sister that you are different from him."