“But why should it have gone down when he died, except that he'd unloaded it on the public for a lot more than it was worth?”
Samuel's jaw fell. “I never thought of that,” he said.
“Go on,” said Charlie.
Then Samuel told how he was starving, and how he had gone to Professor Stewart, and how the professor had told him he was one of the unfit. His companion had taken his pipe out of his mouth and was staring at him.
“And you swallowed all that?” he gasped.
“Yes,” said Samuel.
“And you tried to carry it out! You went away to starve!”
“But what else was there for me to do?” asked the boy.
“But the Lord!” ejaculated the other. “When it came time for ME to starve, I can promise you I found something else to do!”
“Go on,” he said after a pause; and Samuel told how he had saved young Lockman's life, and what happened afterwards.