By this time Tom had reached his own house, the stranger walking slowly by his side.

“From the appearance of your house I shouldn’t suppose you were very rich.”

“Rich!” echoed Tom. “We have all we can do to live.”

“Who do you mean by we?”

“My mother, and sister, and myself.”

“Doesn’t John Simpson help you?”

“He has given me a chance to peg in his manufactory, and paid me fifty cents a day, which is considerably below the regular wages in other establishments. If you call that helping us, then he has helped us.”

“That I call rather mean, since he has plenty of money.”

“So do I; but we never asked him for help. All I wanted was fair wages for my work.”

“Did you ever ask him to increase your small pay?”