Page:Burnett - Two Little Pilgrims' Progress A Story of the City Beautiful.djvu/180

160 "So did I," he said reflectively. "So did I. Quite alone."

Meg and Robin glanced at each other.

"Yesterday Rob and I came by ourselves," said Meg next, and she said it gently. "But we were not lonely and to-day we have Ben."

The man turned his eyes on the boy.

"You're Ben, are you?" he said.

"Yes," Ben answered. "And but for them I couldn't never have seen it—never."

"Why?" the man asked. "Almost everybody can see it."

"But not me," said Ben. "And I wanted to more than anyone—seemed like to me. And when they roomed at our house last night, mother was going to give me the fifty cents, but—but father—father, he took it away from us. And they brought me."

Then the man turned on Robin.

"Have you plenty of money?" he asked unceremoniously.

"No," said Rob.

"They're as poor as I am," put in Ben. "They couldn't afford to room anywhere but with poor people."

"But everybody"—Meg began impulsively, and then