“I have received a proposal to invest a part of my money—only one-fourth—in a business downtown, and shall accept. I don’t need to increase my income, but I think I shall be less likely to yield to temptation if I have some fixed employment. I shall be so situated that I can do as much or as little as I please. As to yourself I have put an advertisement in a morning paper for a teacher, and expect some applicants this morning. I want you to choose for yourself.”
“I am afraid I shan’t be a very good judge of teachers. Shall I examine them, to see if they know enough?”
“I think, from what you say of your ignorance, that any of them will know enough to teach you for the present. The main thing is to select one who knows how to teach, and whom you will like.”
“I wish you were a teacher, Mr. Spencer.”
“Why?”
“Because then I should have a teacher whom I liked.”
“Thank you, Tony,” said the young man, evidently gratified. “The liking is mutual. I think myself fortunate in having you for my companion.”
“The luck is on my side, Mr. Spencer. What would I be but for you? I wouldn’t be a tramp any more, for I am tired enough of that, but I should have to earn my living as a newsboy or a bootblack, and have no chance of getting an education.”
So the relations between Tony and his new friend became daily more close, until Mr. Spencer came to regard him as a young brother, in whose progress he was warmly interested.
A tutor was selected, and Tony began to study. His ambition was roused. He realized for the first time how ignorant he was, and it is not too much to say that he learned in one month as much as most boys learn in three. He got rid of the uncouth expressions which he had acquired in early life, and adapted his manners to the new