What’s that to you?” returned Rudolph. “It’s a boy I picked up, and have taken care of, and this is his gratitude to me. A few days since he ran away from me, and I’ve had a long chase to find him.”
“Is this true?” asked Ben, turning to Tony.
Some of it is true,” said our hero. “I’ve been with him ever since I could remember, and I ran away because he wanted me to join him in robbing a house. He calls me his son, but I know he is not my father.”
“How do you know?” demanded the tramp sternly.
Didn’t you say so just now?”
“It was none of the old man’s business, and I didn’t care what I told him.”
“There’s something within me tells me that there’s no relationship between us,” said Tony boldly.
Is there, indeed? Is there anything within you tells you you are going to get a good flogging?”
“No, there isn’t.”
“Then you needn’t trust it, for that is just what is going to happen.”