“I refuse to give you any and I am going away.”
The above dialogue occurred in a room on the top floor of a great tenement house, and a strangely picturesque scene was presented. An old man with frowzy hair, and deep-set eyes illuminating a dark and wrinkled face, sat by a table. Opposite to the old man was a bright-faced lad of thirteen or fourteen. The furnishings of the room were reasonably comfortable and on the table burned a flickering candle. Indeed the whole scene was weird and strange in the extreme.
The lad was kneeling on a stool and his elbows were resting on the table, and there was a serious and earnest look upon his bright face; and the shadow deepened when the old man repeated:
“Yes, I am going away and I refuse to give you anything.”
“Are you treating me right?” asked the lad, in a wistful tone of entreaty.
“Yes.”
“No, you are not. I have worked hard. I am penniless; I am but a boy, you are rich. You do not mean to leave me penniless?”
“All that you say is true. You did help me to earn the money; you did serve me well; but I have repaid you in full. I owe you nothing.”
“How so?”
“You have been my pupil; you excel your master; you are the most wonderful trick ventriloquist in the world; you will have no trouble in earning money; you can make a fortune greater than mine; you were an apt pupil. You have a better chance than I, lad, and you owe all to me. I have supported you well; I have educated you. You speak three different languages, and the man does not live in the world who can excel you as a magician or a ventriloquist. Your education and your talents are your fortune.”