230 Daniel Pratt 



his crutches. This was the beginning of the service 

 into which Daniel voluntarily entered. The clock 

 could hardly be more accurate than he was each day 

 when he started off to take the boy to school. I 

 knew the weight of the child upon his back was no 

 trifle, but I never saw him flinch for a moment, 

 although I have seen him lie in the shade and rest 

 all day from the fatigue which the effort had occa- 

 sioned. This, however, never prevented his going 

 promptly to carry his charge home as soon as school 

 was dismissed. 



This friendship with the apparently friendless 

 child kept Daniel from wandering away with the 

 people who showed him kindness. He was just as 

 hungry for kind words and caresses as ever ; but 

 he seemed to feel that he now had a duty to per- 

 form, and he never neglected it. I had long made 

 it my practice not to interfere with his actions, for, 

 aside from his habit of wandering away, his conduct 

 was blameless. He was therefore at liberty to help 

 the lame boy as much as he chose, and right royally 

 did he do it. 



One night I had been working at my desk until 



