sir?” he asked, his teeth chattering as he spoke.

“Why, I’m afraid not,” said Mr. Broadstreet. “I’ve just sent away all my goods.”

The man’s face fell. He touched his hat again and was humbly turning away, when the other laid his hand lightly on his shoulder.

“You seem to be really suffering with the cold, my friend,” he said in such gentle tones that his “learned brothers upon the other side” would not have recognized it; “and that’s a little too bad for Christmas Eve.”