Tom, The Bootblack or, The Road to Success

INTRODUCING TOM, THE BOOTBLACK. «How do you feel this morning, Jacob?» asked a boy of fifteen, bending over an old man crouched in the corner of an upper room, in a poor tenement-house, distant less than a quarter of a mile from the New York City Hall. «Weak, Tom,» whined the old man, in reply. «I – I ain't got much strength.» «Would you like some breakfast?» «I – I don't know. Breakfast costs money.» «Never you mind about that, Jac