Jim smiled feebly.
"Oh, I've been hungrier than this," he said; "but I'll be glad to begin work to-morrow morning."
"I'm not sure you're fit. But come into the next room—we are just going to have supper."
Jim hesitated and drew back, but Ralph insisted upon it; and yet, when a plate of meat was placed before him, he couldn't eat.
"Excuse me," he said, his eyes filling, "but the little ones ain't had nothing to-day, and they can't bear it as well as me. If you wouldn't mind me taking it home instead?"
Ruth sprang to her feet in a moment.
"I'll let you have plenty for the little ones," she said, with trembling lips. "Now eat your supper, and enjoy it if you can." And she ran off into the pantry and quickly returned with a small basket full of food, which she placed by his side.
"That ain't for me?" he questioned.
"For you to take home to your mother and the children."
He laid down his knife and fork and rose to his feet.