ression, lit suddenly upon Guly's face,
and became illuminated instantly with a new light. It regarded him
earnestly, and though he stepped back to avoid the gaze, the immense
head, with that one eye burning in it, turned still toward him, on the
slim, wrinkled neck.

"You pick me up, Monsieur?"

Guly smiled, and nodded.

"Hih, hih; I am obliged to you; will you keep the boys away till I get
started?"

"They shall not touch you."

Taking one more earnest look of Guly, he threw his weight upon his long
crutches, and swung away between them, with the skirts of his coat, as
usual, trailing behind him.

"You have met this miserable object every morning, for more than a
month, now, Guly, and he has always begged for alms, and you have never
refused. How do you know whether he is worthy or not?" said Arthur.

"His deformity is sufficient to testify to that, brother."

"With your salary, I can't imagine how you can afford it."

"A picayune a day is a mere trifle; I save for him what I might
otherwise spend in selfish indulgence."

"Well, charity begins at home. _I_ can't afford to be so benevolent."

"Whoso giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord," replied Guly, with a
smile, as they entered the store.

CHAPTER XXII.

"I love that soul so nobly proud,
That misery cannot blight;
The soul that braves the jeering crowd,
And sternly claims its right."

Anon.

Guly took his place with a more cheerful heart than the early morning
had promised him; for the consciousness of having performed a kindly
deed, imparted a buoyancy to his spirits, which on the previous night he
had almost fancied he could never experience again. He had been in his
place but a few moments, when a lady entered to purchase some
embroidery. The article she desired was an expensive one, and the
contents of the whole box were searched before she found it. As Guly was
folding it for her, he perceived, as he held it between him and the
light, that there were several threads broken here and there between the
delicate fibres of the work, as if it had been eaten by an insect. He
immediately pointed out the defect to his customer. She examined it, and
finding that the piece had suffered in the same way throughout, she
expressed her thanks to him warmly for having made her aware of the
imperfection, and also manifested her regret at not being able to take
the article under such circumstances, for she had intended it as a
b