“Of course they were,” answered Rudolph, but not without hesitation. “Ain’t I your uncle?”
“I don’t know. Are you?” returned Tony searchingly.
Haven’t I told you so a hundred times?” demanded Rudolph impatiently.
Yes,” said the boy slowly, “but there’s no likeness between us. You’re dark and I am light.”
“That proves nothing,” said the elder tramp hastily. “Brothers are often as unlike. Perhaps you don’t want to look upon me as a relation?”
The boy was silent.
Are you getting ashamed of me?” demanded Rudolph, in a harsh tone.
I am ashamed of myself,” said Tony bitterly. “I’m nothing but a tramp, begging my bread from door to door, sleeping in barns, outhouses, in the fields, anywhere I can. I’m as ignorant as a boy of eight. I can just read and that’s all.”
“You know as much as I do.”
“That don’t satisfy me. When I grow up I don’t want to be——”