As he replaced his watch in his pocket and re-buttoned his coat over his
firm, broad chest, he lifted his eyes, and saw a young man standing
before him.

"Do you want me?" asked the statesman, with the direct brevity of his
practical character.

"Mr. Egerton," said the young man, with a voice that slightly trembled
and yet was manly amidst emotion, "you have a great name, and great
power; I stand here in these streets of London without a friend, and
without employment. I believe that I have it in me to do some nobler
work than that of bodily labour, had I but one friend,--one opening for
my thoughts. And now I have said this, I scarcely know how, or why, but
from despair, and the sudden impulse which that despair took from the
praise that follows your success, I have nothing more to add."

Audley Egerton was silent for a moment, struck by the tone and address of
the stranger; but the consummate and wary man of the world, accustomed to
all manner of strange applications and all varieties of imposture,
quickly recovered from a passing and slight effect.

"Are you a native of?" (naming the town which the statesman represented).

"No, sir."

"Well, young man, I am very sorry for you; but the good sense you must
possess (for I judge of that by the education you have evidently
received) must tell you that a public man, whatever be his patronage, has
it too fully absorbed by claimants who have a right to demand it, to be
able to listen to strangers."