of true faith with gross superstition, pained Dennis; and his face
showed it, though he said nothing.

"There," said the gentleman, "I did not mean to hurt your feelings,
but to the educated in our land these things seem very childish."

"I should serve you none the worse," said Dennis, with quiet dignity,
"if I believed that the duty I owed to you I owed also to God."

Mr. Ludolph looked as if a new idea had struck him, smiled, and said:
"Most people's religion, as far as my experience has gone, is not of
this practical kind. But I believe that I can trust you, and your face
and story are worth much more to me than this letter. A scamp might
possess that as well as an honest youth like you. Now, as to terms:
I will give you forty dollars a month for the first two months, and
then, if you develop and take well to the work, I will give you sixty."

Dennis thought that this, with close economy, would enable him to live
and support his mother and sisters, and he accepted the terms.

"Moreover, to show the advantage of telling a straightforward story,
you may sleep in the store: the building will be safer for having some
one in it. I will pay you at the end of every week as long as you suit,
so that you can commence sending something to your mother immediately.
You see that I take an interest in you," said the shrewd man, "and
expect you to take an interest in my business, and work for me as for
yourself."

Simple, honest Dennis could not see that Mr. Ludolph cared infinitely
more for himself than for all the world combined, and made it his