at would be
the boy in the sleigh. So he clapped his hands and cried out,
excitedly:

"Oh! may I? And will Miss Lucy please go away, and somebody send me
back my clothes?"

"Certainly. Everybody shall clear out except you and me," said the
physician, pulling a brown paper parcel from beneath his arm and
tossing it upon the foot of the cot.

So Miss Armacost and nurse Brady went away and the doctor closed the
door behind them. Then he unfastened the mysterious parcel and spread
before Towsley's wondering gaze a complete suit for a boy of Towsley's
size. Everything was there, down to the shoes and stockings, though
all were of coarse material.

"Oh, ginger! Ain't that prime? For me? Are they for me, doctor?"

"If they fit."

"Oh! they'll fit. Anything fits me."

"Velvet knickers and plumed hats?"

The lad, who had tried to spring out of bed, and had succeeded only in
climbing out rather slowly and shakily, looked up with a twinkle in
his eye; then he answered very seriously:

"Yes, sir; even them. I'd hate 'em. I'd hate to have the fellows see
me in 'em; but I'd wear them forever, rather than make her cry again.
I can't get over that. To s'pose that she, a rich lady living on the
Avenue, should cry over an Alley kid! It ain't nice to think about,
her saying I've got to be her only, 'one precious.' I'll about die of
lonesomeness; but--it's the wandering kindness, you know, sir. I'll
pass it on, and maybe it'll all come right. Do you s'pose she'll make
me sit in front of a window and be dressed up, and make myself a show
for the fellows to come and gibe at?"

"Those shoes all right, eh? Look here, Towsley. I'm not a 'supposing'
sort of a man. I've no time to speculate over things. I have to take
them as they come and keep hustling. That's pretty much the way it is
in the newspaper business, isn't it?"

"Yes. You just believe it."

"I do. Well, though I rarely give away advice--that being a luxury I
dare not afford, in general--I'm going to present you with a bit now,
as a kind of keepsake: Don't you stop to worry or 's'pose' anything.
Life's too short. Just keep hustling. Do right, as near as you can,
straight along and all the time, and let results take care of
themselves or leave them to the Lord who will do it for us. And
remember one other thing: If you do a kindness to anybody you have to
like them. Fact; you can't help it. You will like them, whether or no.
Now I didn't care a nickel about you till I