through the dusky panes of the counting house for him
to read the entries in a much-thumbed memorandum book, which he held in
his hand.

A small, thin boy, with a pale face and anxious expression, significant
of delicacy of constitution, and a too early acquaintance with want and
sorrow, was standing by him, earnestly watching his motions.

"Ah, yes, my boy," said Mr. H., as he at last shut up the memorandum
book. "Yes, I've got the place now; I'm apt to be forgetful about these
things; come, now, let's go. How is it? Haven't you brought the basket?"

"No, sir," said the boy, timidly. "The grocer said he'd let mother have
a quarter for it, and she thought she'd sell it."

"That's bad," said Mr. H., as he went on, tying his throat with a long
comforter of some yards in extent; and as he continued this operation he
abstractedly repeated, "That's bad, that's bad," till the poor little
boy looked quite dismayed, and began to think that somehow his mother
had been dreadfully out of the way.

"She didn't want to send for help so long as she had any thing she could
sell," said the little boy in a deprecating tone.

"O, yes, quite right," said Mr. H., taking from a pigeon hole in the
desk a large pocket book, and beginning to turn it over; and, as before,
abstractedly repeating, "Quite right, quite right?" till the little boy
became reassured, and began to think, although he didn't know why, that
his mother had done something quite meritorious.

"Well," said Mr. H., after he had taken several bills from the pocket
book and transferred them to a wallet which he put into his pocket, "now
we're ready, my boy." But first he stopped to lock up his desk, and then
he said, abstractedly to himself, "I wonder if I hadn't better take a
few tracts."

Now, it is to be confessed that this Mr. H., whom we have introduced to
our reader, was, in his way, quite an oddity. He had a number of
singular little _penchants_ and peculiarities quite his own, such as a
passion for poking about among dark alleys, at all sorts of seasonable
and unseasonable hours; fishing out troops of dirty, neglected children,
and fussing about generally in the community till he could get them into
schools or otherwise provided for. He always had in his pocket book a
note of some dozen poor widows who wanted tea, sugar, candles, or other
things such as poor widows always will be wanting. And then he had a
most extraordinary talent for finding out all the sick s