“Oh, Tom, how brave you are! Something of the kind has been floating in my own mind, but I should never have had the courage to try without you.” When the true history of the world comes to be written it will be seen how much in this remarkably formative period in England was commenced in just such a simple manner as this talk between our two friends. It was on a cold, drizzling night, when the London streets were as uncomfortable as only London streets can be, that two well-dressed young ladies went up to a group of boys, all somewhere in their teens, and invited them to come in and have a cup of hot coffee and some buttered toast. The fair, smiling faces of the girls and their friendly and gracious manners forced the boys to courtesy, and eight of them—about half the number—consented. They looked at their dirty hands and boots when they were taken into the drawing-room with comical seriousness. “Oh, never mind!” said Tom. “Look at my boots; you cannot keep clean on such a night as this. Have the coffee while it is hot. And here are some potted beef sandwiches. Perhaps you have not yet had your teas?” The boys laughed. “We have had our teas,” said one. “A hextra meal don’t make no difference to the likes of us.” And so, indeed, it seemed; for the coffee and eatables disappeared in almost no time. The boys were not as much surprised as boys would have been twenty years before, at the invitation. “They are trying another dodge on us, that’s all,” whispered one to his mates; but they looked with a little curiosity when the plates and cups had been collected; and when, for a moment or two, the ladies had left the room, a brisk bit of betting went on. “Ten to one on Music!” “Thirteen to one on Sign the Pledge!” “Twenty to one agin Gambling—look out!” “We cannot tell how glad we are to see you,” said Tom, rather nervously, as she took her seat. “You can spare time to stop a little while, cannot you?” “That depends,” said one. “I’ve got a pressing engagement—very pressing, indeed; but I’m always ready to oblige a lady, specially such a stunner as you, miss.” “Thank you; much obliged for the compliment. Well, we are going to tell you a story. You like tales, don’t you?” “Yes; but not true ones, mind.” “Very well. Miss Miller will tell the first and I the second.”