s
before him and he was deliberately comparing the boys' boots with these.
When he came to Dick's boot he turned carelessly to the master and said:

'This is our man.'

'Richard Haddon, the first boy on the back seat.'

The chiropodist did not look up.

'Boy with red hair,' he said. 'Mixed up in that Cow Flat road affair.
Evidently an enterprising nipper, on the high road to the gallows.'

Joel Ham drew thumb and forefinger from the corners of his mouth to the
point of his chin, and blinked his white lashes rapidly.

'No,' he said, quite emphatically; 'I don't often give advice--sensible
people don't need it, fools won't take it--but you might waste time by
regarding that boy's share in this business from a wrong point of view.
If he has had a hand in it--and I have no doubt of it since his foot
appears--think of him at the worst as the accomplice of some scoundrel
cunning enough to impose upon the folly of a romantic youngster stuffed
with rubbishy fiction, and gifted with an extraordinarily adventurous
spirit.'

This was perhaps the longest speech ever made by Joel Ham in ordinary
conversation since he came to Waddy, and it quite exhausted him. The
stranger yawned pointedly.

'Where does he live?' he asked.

'Third house down the road. Mother a widow.'

'Right. You might make an excuse to send him home presently. You are a
discreet man, Mr. Ham.'

'In everybody's business but my own, Mr. Downy.

The stranger took up his parcel and marched out, and the boots having
been restored to their owners work was resumed. About twenty minutes
later Dick was called out, and Joel presented him with an envelope.

'Take that note to your mother, Ginger, will you? Stay a moment,' he
said, as Dick turned away. He took the boy by the coat and blinked at him
complaisantly for a moment.

'When in doubt, my boy, always tell the truth,' he said.

Noting a puzzled expression in Dick's face, he condescended to explain.

'When you're asked many questions and want an answer, tell the truth.
Lies, my boy, are for fools and rogues--remember, fools and rogues.'

Dick set his lips and nodded; and the master, after regarding him
curiously for a moment, actually patted his head--an uncommon exhibition
of feeling on his part that caused the scholars to gape with wonderment.

When Dick reached his home he was astonished to find his mother seated in
the front room with her handkerchief to her eyes, crying quite violently.
Opposite