"Now that ain't a bad idea, Tode," said Mrs. Hunt, looking up from
her work. "Of course the boys would buy good homemade food instead of
the trash they get from the cheap eatin' houses, an' Nan, I shouldn't
wonder if you could earn more that way than by workin' at these bags."

Nan considered the matter thoughtfully, and finally agreed to give it
a trial, and Tode went off highly pleased.

It took him two weeks to save enough to start his stand even in the
simplest fashion, but when he did open it, he at first did a
flourishing business. In the beginning the boys patronised him partly
from curiosity and partly from good fellowship, but Nan's cookery
found favour with them at once, and "Tode's Corner" soon became the
favorite lunch counter for the city newsboys, and Tode's pockets were
better filled than they had been since Mr. Carey's death.

For several weeks all went well, and the boy began to consider himself
on the high road to fortune, but then came a setback.

One day his stand was surrounded by a crowd of boys all clamoring to
be served at once, when the big fellow who had taken possession of
Tode's newspaper route, months before, came along. He had never
forgotten or forgiven the boy for getting the better of him on that
occasion, and now he thought he saw a chance for revenge.

Creeping up behind the group of hungry boys, he suddenly hit one of
them a stinging blow on the face, and as this one turned and struck
back angrily at him, the big fellow flung him back with all his
strength against Tode's stand. The stand was an old one and
rickety--Tode had bought it secondhand--and it went down with a crash,