"Hih, hih!" chuckled the little man, for the first time looking up, as he received his treasure; "hih, hih."
His one eye, with its odious expression, lit suddenly upon Guly's face, and became illuminated instantly with a new light. It regarded him earnestly, and though he stepped back to avoid the gaze, the immense head, with that one eye burning in it, turned still toward him, on the slim, wrinkled neck.
"You pick me up, Monsieur?"
Guly smiled, and nodded.
"Hih, hih; I am obliged to you; will you keep the boys away till I get started?"
"They shall not touch you."
Taking one more earnest look of Guly, he threw his weight upon his long crutches, and swung away between them, with the skirts of his coat, as usual, trailing behind him.
"You have met this miserable object every morning, for more than a month, now, Guly, and he has always begged for alms, and you have never refused. How do you know whether he is worthy or not?" said Arthur.
"His deformity is sufficient to testify to that, brother."
"With your salary, I can't imagine how you can afford it."