Phil, the Fiddler Part 11

The gloves afforded some protection, but still both boys were very cold.

They were in Brooklyn, having crossed the ferry in the morning. They had wandered to a part not closely built up, where they were less sheltered, and experienced greater discomfort.

"Can't we go in somewhere and get warm? pleaded Giacomo.

"Here is a grocery store. We will go in there."

Phil opened the door and entered. The shopkeeper, a peevish-looking man, with lightish hair, stood behind the counter weighing out a pound of tea for a customer.

"What do you want here, you little vagabonds?" he exclaimed, harshly, as he saw the two boys enter.

"We are cold," said Phil. "May we stand by your stove and get warm?"

"Do you think I provide a fire for all the vagabonds in the city?" said the grocer, with a brutal disregard of their evident suffering.

Phil hesitated, not knowing whether he was ordered out or not.

"Clear out of my store, I say!" said the grocer, harshly. "I don't want you in here. Do you understand?"

At this moment a gentleman of prepossessing appearance entered the store. He heard the grocer's last words, and their inhumanity made him indignant.

"What do these boys want, Mr. Perkins?" he said.

"They want to spend their time in my shop. I have no room for such vagabonds."

"We are cold," said Phil. "We only want to warm ourselves by the fire."

"I don't want you here," said the grocer, irritably.

"Mr. Perkins," said the gentleman, sharply, "have you no humanity? What harm can it do you to let these poor boys get warm by your fire? It will cost you nothing; it will not diminish your personal comfort; yet you drive them out into the cold."

The grocer began to perceive that he was on the wrong tack. The gentleman who addressed him was a regular and profitable customer, and he did not like to incur his ill will, which would entail loss.

"They can stay, Mr. Pomeroy," he said, with an ill grace, "since you ask it."

"I do not ask it. I will not accept, as a personal favor, what you should have granted from a motive of humanity, more especially as, after this exhibition of your spirit, I shall not trade here any longer."

By this time the grocer perceived that he had made a mistake.

"I hope you will reconsider that, Mr. Pomeroy," he said, abjectly. "The fact is, I had no objections to the boys warming themselves, but they are mostly thieves, and I could not keep my eyes on them all the time."

"I think you are mistaken. They don't look like thieves. Did you ever have anything stolen by one of this cla.s.s of boys?"

"Not that I know of," said the grocer, hesitatingly; "but it is likely they would steal if they got a chance."

"We have no right to say that of anyone without good cause."

"We never steal," said Phil, indignantly; for he understood what was said.

"Of course he says so," sneered the grocer. "Come and warm yourselves, if you want to."

The boys accepted this grudging invitation, and drew near the stove.

They spread out their hands, and returning warmth proved very grateful to them.

"Have you been out long?" asked the gentleman who had interceded in their behalf, also drawing near the stove.

"Since eight, signore."

"Do you live in Brooklyn?"

"No; in New York."

"And do you go out every day?"

"Si, signore."

"How long since you came from Italy?"

"A year."

"Would you like to go back?"

"He would," said Phil, pointing to his companion. "I would like to stay here, if I had a good home."

"What kind of a home have you? With whom do you live?"

"With the padrone."

"I suppose that means your guardian?"

"Yes, sir," answered Phil.

"Is he kind to you?"

"He beats us if we do not bring home enough money."

"Your lot is a hard one. What makes you stay with him? Don't the boys ever run away?"

"Sometimes."

"What does the padrone do in that case?"

"He tries to find them."

"And if he does--what then?"

"He beats them for a long time."

"Evidently your padrone is a brute. Why don't you complain to the police?"