"I didn"t have any change."
"Did you know he was a newsboy, Aunt Eliza?" asked Mrs. Tracy.
"Yes; he told me so. You speak of it as if it were something to his discredit."
"It is a low business, of course."
"Why is it a low business?"
"Oh, well, of course it is only poor street boys who engage in it."
"I am aware that Luke is poor, and that he has to contribute to the support of his mother and brother. I hope, if you were poor, that Harold would be willing to work for you."
"I wouldn"t sell papers," put in Harold.
"I don"t suppose Luke sells papers from choice."
"Aunt Eliza, I don"t see why you should so persistently compare Harold with that ragged errand boy of yours."
"Is he ragged? I am glad you noticed it. I must help him to a new suit."
This was far from a welcome suggestion to Mrs. Tracy, and she made haste to add: "I don"t think he"s ragged. He dresses well enough for his position in life."
"Still, I think he needs some new clothes, and I thank you for suggesting it, Louisa."
The next day, Luke, to his surprise, was asked to ac company Mrs.
Merton to a ready-made clothing house on Clark Street, where he was presented with a fine suit, costing twenty dollars.
"How kind you are, Mrs. Merton!" said Luke.
"I didn"t notice that you needed a new suit," returned the old lady, "but my niece, Mrs. Tracy, spoke of it, and I was glad to take the hint."
It was in the afternoon of the same day that Luke, having an errand that carried him near the lake sh.o.r.e, strolled to the end of North Pier. He was fond of the water, but seldom had an opportunity to go out on it.
"How are you, Luke?" said a boy in a flat-bottomed boat a few rods away.
In the boy who hailed him Luke recognized John Hagan, an acquaintance of about his own age.
"Won"t you come aboard?" asked John.
"I don"t mind, if you"ll come near enough."
In five minutes Luke found himself on board the boat, He took the oars and relieved John, who was disposed to rest.
They rowed hither and thither, never very far from the pier. Not far away was a boat of the same build, occupied by a man of middle size, whose eccentric actions attracted their attention. Now he would take the oars and row with feverish haste, nearly fifty strokes to a minute; then he would let his oars trail, and seem wrapped in thought.
Suddenly the boys were startled to see him spring to his feet and, flinging up his arms, leap head first into the lake.
CHAPTER XX
AMBROSE KEAN"S IMPRUDENCE
Luke and his companion were startled by the sudden attempt at suicide, and for an instant sat motionless in their boat. Luke was the first to regain his self-possession.
"Quick, let us try to save him," he called to John Hagan.
They plunged their oars into the water, and the boat bounded over the waves. Fortunately they were but half a dozen rods from the place where the would-be suicide was now struggling to keep himself up. For, as frequently happens, when he actually found himself in the water, the instinct of self-preservation impelled the would-be self-destroyer to attempt to save himself. He could swim a very little, but the waters of the lake were in lively motion, his boat had floated away, and he would inevitably have drowned but for the energetic action of Luke and John. They swept their boat alongside, and Luke thrust his oar in the direction of the struggling man.
"Take hold of it," he said, "and we will tow you to your own boat."
Guided and sustained by the oar, the man gripped the side of Luke"s boat, leaving the oar free. His weight nearly overbalanced the craft, but with considerable difficulty the boys succeeded in reaching the other boat, and, though considerably exhausted, its late occupant managed to get in.
As he took his place in the boat he presented a sorry spectacle, for his clothes were wet through and dripping.
"You will take your death of cold unless you go on sh.o.r.e at once,"
said Luke.
"It wouldn"t matter much if I did," said the young man, gloomily.
"We will row to sh.o.r.e also," said Luke to John Hagan. "He may make another attempt to drown himself. I will see what I can do to reason him out of it."
They were soon at the pier, and the three landed.
"Where do you live?" asked Luke, taking his position beside the young man.
The latter named a number on Vine Street. It was at a considerable distance, and time was precious, for the young man was trembling from the effects of his immersion.
"There is no time to lose. We must take a carriage," said Luke.
He summoned one, which fortunately had just returned from the pier, to which it had conveyed a pa.s.senger, and the two jumped in.
Luke helped him up to his room, a small one on the third floor, and remained until he had changed his clothes and was reclining on the bed.
"You ought to have some hot drink," he said. "Can any be got in the house?"
"Yes; Mrs. Woods, the landlady, will have some hot water."
Luke went downstairs and succeeded in enlisting the sympathetic a.s.sistance of the kind-hearted woman by representing that her lodger had been upset in the lake and was in danger of a severe cold.
When the patient had taken down a cup of hot drink, he turned to Luke and said: "How can I thank you?"
"There is no need to thank me. I am glad I was at hand when you needed me."
"What is your name?"
"Luke Walton."