"Oh, wouldn't it?" returned Black-Eyes, and then stood as if absorbed in contemplating a vision of bliss that he could never hope to realise.
"Here, take this penny and buy some then," said I. "I'm sorry, I have not another pin for you. Good-bye, children."
"Oh, thank you, missis. Say 'Thank you, and take your cap off;'" this to his wee companion. Then, "You shall have the pin first, Johnny, or maybe the shop lady will give us another."
Black-Eyes put his arm lovingly round the less child's neck, and led him into the fish shop in a state of delight which it was worth a good many pennies only to witness. And I could not help lingering to see the children with the materials for what would be to them a feast.
Beside, when one thought over this little scene, there were a good many lessons to be learned from it. Little as the elder child was, he was guarding a brother or companion weaker, younger, more helpless still.
There was the patience with which he waited for a windfall, and the sturdy honesty which made him unwilling to use it until he was quite sure it would be right to do so. There were good manners and gratitude for a small kindness, which the natural longing for a banquet of winkles would not let him forget.
There was not only this example to the less child, but the lesson in civility which made Black-Eyes wait for his companion's thanks to be added to his own. And there was the delightful unselfishness that resolved to give the younger the first turn in using the pin, and the love which threw the guiding arm round his neck.
How easy it would have been for Black-Eyes to appropriate the penny, or absorb the lion's share of the little coming treat,—to dole Johnny out a winkle now and then, and to reserve to himself the use of the pin, so that the other could never have the felicity of extracting his own dainty morsel.
But, in turning my back upon this little picture, I felt satisfied that, if anything, the younger would have most and best of what had to be shared, and that his interests were safe in the hands of his companion. I left the well-lighted thoroughfare and turned into a dim side street, but, as I passed on, I seemed still to see the faces of my little friends, and often since I have recalled, with pleasure, that scene to my memory.
I witnessed another picture not far from the spot where Black-Eyes and I became acquainted. I saw it in the broad daylight, and the actors were two boys, each about a year apart, and as much older than the former two. This is a world of contrasts, and these street pictures proved it.