The figure almost passed from sight while Samuel stood wrestling with the problem. He shrunk from the task before him; he was afraid of Charlie Swift, afraid of his cynical smile, and of his merciless sneering. But his duty was clear before him—as clear as that of any soldier, who in the midst of love and pleasure hears the bugle call. He might not be able to do anything for Charlie. But he must try!
And so he turned and followed the old peddler to his home.
CHAPTER XX
“So you've let them turn you into a mission stiff!” said Charlie Swift, when the two were seated in his room.
“A what?” exclaimed Samuel perplexed.
“A mission stiff,” repeated the other. “One of the guys that gets repentance!”
Samuel experienced a sudden chilling of the ardor with which he had come into the room. The old grin was upon the other's face; and the boy realized with a sudden sinking of the heart how hard and savage he was. Finnegan was a babe in arms compared with Charlie Swift.
To convert him would be a real task, a test of one's fervor and vision. Samuel resolved suddenly upon diplomacy.