"Because I am needy, too."

"But you were not always poor?"

"No; I inherited a moderate fortune from my father. It was only within a
short time that I learned from my guardian that it was lost. I left the
boarding school where I was being educated, and came to the city to try
to make a living."

"But surely your guardian would try to provide for you?"

"He is no longer in the city."

"Who was he?" asked Otis Goodnow.

"Mr. Benjamin Fielding."

"Is it possible? Why, I lost three thousand dollars by him. He has
treated you shamefully."

"It was not intentional, I am sure," said Rodney. "He was probably drawn
into using my money by the hope of retrieving himself. He wrote me that
he hoped at some time to make restitution."

"You speak of him generously, my lad," said Mr. Mulgrave. "Yet he has
brought you to absolute poverty."

"Yes, sir, and I won't pretend that it is not a hard trial to me, but if
I can get a chance to earn my own living, I will not complain."