ed in it. He liked the air of method and system which even the
simplest thing wore; he liked the stated hours for certain duties; the
set programme of employment laid out for each; the set places for every
thing that was to be handled; the very bells, as with their different
tongues they called him hither and thither to different duties, were all
so much music to him. He did not know why he chuckled so much over his
work; why, at the sound of one of his bells, he gave that quick spring
which was so rapidly earning him a reputation for remarkable promptness;
but in truth there was that in the boy which met and responded to all
these things. Every bit of the clock-work machinery filled him with a
kind of glee.

There was another reason why Tode enjoyed his hotel life. He had
discovered himself to be an epicure, and an amazing quantity of the good
things of this life fell to his share--no, hardly that--but disappeared
mysteriously from shelf and jar and box, and only grave,
innocent-looking Tode could have told whither they went. Mince-pies, and
cranberry-pies, and lemon-pies, and the whole long catalogue of pies,
were equal favorites of his, and huge pieces of them had a way of not
being found. Poor Tode, his training-school had been a sad one; the very
first principle of honesty was left out of his street education, and the
only rule he recognized was one which would assist him in not being
discovered. So he eluded sharp eyes and hoodwinked sharp people; he
commended himself for being a cute, and, withal, a lucky fellow. On the
whole, although Tode was certainly clad in decent garments, and slept in
a comfortable bed, and was to all outward appearances earning a
respectable living, I can not say that I think he was really improving.
There were ways and means of leading astray in that hotel, to which even
his street life had not given him access; and if anybody's brain ever
appeared ripe for mischief of any sort, it was certainly Tode Mall's.
Any earthly friend, if he had possessed one, would have watched his
course just now with trembling terror, and made predictions of his
certain downfall. But Tode had no friend in all that great city; not one
who ever gave him a second thought. Christian men came there often, and
were faithfully served by the boy whose soul was very precious in their
Master's eyes, but his servants never thought to speak a word to the
soul for the Master. Why should they?--it was a hotel, and they had