erely momentary inconvenience, and a few days will
set it all right Good-bye; I hope we'll meet again."

And he shook the man's hand cordially in his own strong fingers, and
passed out with a full heart and a very choking throat.

When he turned into the street, he walked along without choosing his
way. His mind was too much occupied to let him notice either the way or
the passers-by; and he sauntered along, now musing over his own lot, now
falling back upon that trustful heart of the poor waiter, whose position
could scarcely have inspired such confidence.

"I am certain that what are called moralists are unfair censors of their
fellow-men. I 'll be sworn there is more of kindness and generosity and
honest truth in the world than there is of knavery and falsehood; but
as we have no rewards for the one, and keep up jails and hulks for the
other, we have nothing to guide our memories. That's the whole of it;
all the statistics are on one side."

While he was thus ruminating, he had wandered along, and was already
deep in the very heart of the City. Nor did the noise, the bustle,
the overwhelming tide of humanity arouse him, as it swept along in its
ceaseless flow. So intently was his mind turned inward, that he narrowly
escaped being run over by an omnibus, the pole of which struck him, and
under whose wheels he had unquestionably fallen, if it were not that a
strong hand grasped him by the shoulder, and swung him powerfully back
upon the flag-way.

"Is it blind you are, that you didn't hear the 'bus?" cried a somewhat
gruff voice, with an accent that told of a land he liked well; and Tony
turned and saw a stout, strongly built young fellow, dressed in a sort
of bluish frieze, and with a bundle on a stick over his shoulder. He was
good-looking, but of a more serious cast of features than is common with
the lower-class Irish.

"I see," said Tony, "that I owe this good turn to a countryman. You're
from Ireland?"

"Indeed, and I am, your honor, and no lie in it," said he, reddening, as
if--although there was nothing to be ashamed of by the avowal--popular
prejudice lay rather in the other direction.

"I don't know what I was thinking of," said Tony, again; and even yet
his head bad not regained its proper calm. "I forgot all about where I
was, and never heard the horses till they were on me."

"'Tis what I remarked, sir," said the other, as with his sleeve he
brushed the dirt off Tony's coat. "_I_ saw you was like