As the boy sat contentedly eating his breakfast, a slight sound near his feet attracted his attention. “Is that you, Jack?” he quickly asked.
Jack replied by licking his hand and pressing closely to his side.
“Dear Jack!” said the blind boy, fondly laying his cheek upon the faithful dog’s head. “If you hadn’t nestled so closely to me last night and kept me warm, I believe I should have frozen to death. Here, you shall have part of my breakfast, I don’t need it all;” and he offered the Fire-Dog a generous piece of his buttered roll.
Jack took the offering very reluctantly, as if he would have preferred to have the blind boy eat it himself, but accepted it in order not to hurt his new friend’s feelings.
“You eat so slowly, I don’t believe it tastes so good to you as it does to me, Jack,” said the blind boy, as Jack slowly chewed the soft roll, “and it has butter on it too. I should think you would like that.”
Jack was trying hard to dispose of a mouthful his kind little friend had just given him when the firemen returned from their breakfast. In fact, Jack did like the bread, but he thought he ought not to take the blind boy’s breakfast. He looked really ashamed of himself when the men entered and Reordan remarked,—
“Why, you mustn’t give your breakfast away to Jack, young chap, you must eat it yourself. We’ve brought him some leavings from the place where we take our meals, that he likes a great deal better than what you’ve got. Aren’t you hungry, kid? Don’t you like your breakfast?”
“Yes, indeed,” replied the boy, quickly. “It tastes splendid; but Jack was so good to me last night that I wanted to give him some of it.”
“Don’t you worry about him, Sonny,” replied one of the men. “We’ll look out for Jack all right;” and he opened a package of bones and scraps of meat which he set before Jack.
“Now, if you’ve had all you want to eat,” said the captain, who just then entered, “suppose you give an account of yourself.”