"That stands for Benjamin; so yours is the longest after all."
"That's so, I never thought of that. Everybody calls me Ben."
Ben hesitated. If he said "Brandon" he would be discovered, and his pride stood in the way of that. Finally he determined to give a false name; so he answered after a slight pause, which Charles did not notice, "My other name is Hooper,--Ben Hooper. Didn't you ever know anybody of my name?"
"Is he as old as you?" asked Ben, striving to speak carelessly.
"He is older if he is living; but I don't think he is living."
"He ran away from home when he was ten years old, and we have never seen him since."
"He wrote one letter to his mother, but he didn't say where he was. That is the last any of us heard from him."
"What sort of a chap was he?" inquired Ben. "He was a bad un, wasn't he?"
"No, Ben wasn't a bad boy. He had a quick temper though; but whenever he was angry he soon got over it."
"His father punished him for something he didn't do. He found it out afterwards; but he is a stern man, and he never says anything about him. But I guess he feels bad sometimes. Father says he has grown old very fast since my cousin ran away."
"Is his mother living,--your aunt?" Ben inquired, drawn on by an impulse he could not resist.
"Yes, but she is always sad; she has never stopped mourning for Ben."
"Did you like your cousin?" Ben asked, looking wistfully in the face of his companion.
"Yes, he was my favorite cousin. Poor Ben and I were always together. I wish I knew whether he were alive or not."
"Perhaps you will see him again some time."
"I don't know. I used to think so; but I have about given up hopes of it. It is six years now since he ran away."
"Maybe he's turned bad," said Ben. "S'posin' he was a ragged baggage-smasher like me, you wouldn't care about seein' him, would you?"
"Yes, I would," said Charles, warmly. "I'd be glad to see Ben again, no matter how he looked, or how poor he might be."
Ben looked at his cousin with a glance of wistful affection. Street boy as he was, old memories had been awakened, and his heart had been touched by the sight of the cousin whom he had most loved when a young boy.
"And I might be like him," thought Ben, looking askance at the rags in which he was dressed, "instead of a walkin' rag-bag. I wish I was;" and he suppressed a sigh.