ONE gentleman was little and the other one was large. The large one was very tall and very straight. He wore a suit of fine broad-cloth, and in his polished linen shirt front a great diamond sparkled like a star. His boots were of patent leather, and so bright you could almost see your face in them. He had on new brown kid gloves, and carried an elegant silk umbrella, with a silver handle on which was engraved his monogram.
The little one was very short and very crooked, with a hump on one shoulder, and a limp in his gait. His clothes were thread-bare; his cap was ragged; his shoes had holes in them; his little hands were bare, and red with cold. He held a clumsy newspaper bundle in his arms.
The two stood side by side upon the curb-stone of a crowded street, waiting for a chance to cross. The little one looked up at the large one with admiration. "What a fine gentleman!" he thought. Suddenly a poorly-clad old woman, carrying a great basket of clothes, came from the opposite direction. As she neared the sidewalk, she dodged suddenly, to avoid a cart that was passing, and stumbled against the tall gentleman, her basket of clothes knocking out of his grasp the umbrella with the monogram on the silver handle. With an angry glance and a muttered oath, he gave her a rough shove to one side, while he stooped to recover the umbrella. The little one had seen it all.
He threw down his newspaper bundle, while with one hand he caught the old woman, and with the other kept her basket from being overturned in the gutter.
"You're a gentleman—that you are!" she said fervently, putting one of her hands with tenderness on the threadbare coat which covered the poor misshapen back.
But the tall one did not hear. He had crossed the street. And the little one was surprised.—The Outlook.