Page:Bound to be an Electrician.djvu/100

84 Franklin took all these petty annoyances good-naturedly, and went his own way. He was in hopes of ere long getting into the regular electrical department, where, he felt certain, he would be better treated.

But one day something happened which brought the boy's true character to the surface, and surprised even those who had imagined he had some "sand" in him.

Among the boys who worked in the far corner of the shop, boxing screws, was a pale and sickly lame lad not over twelve years of age. The lad's name was Harry Leclair, and he was the only son of a widow who was once well-to-do, but was now exceedingly poor. There was something the matter with Harry's left foot, which caused him to cut an awkward figure when he walked, and in addition to this the poor boy was not over bright, he having suffered from a fall upon his head when an infant.

The boys and young fellows in the shop never tired of poking fun at this lad, much to Franklin's disgust. They would steal his crutch and his overcoat, and once they took his hat and compelled him to walk home bareheaded, and they did a thousand and one other things to worry and annoy him.

Harry Leclair was not one to take these matters calmly, and he would scold and rave at them, and