Even
the police might not have done it. But, then, police approval is
not a certificate of character to one who has lived the best part
of his life in Mulberry Street. They drove Harry Hill out of the
business after milking him dry. Harry Hill kept a dive, but he
was a square man; his word was as good as his bond. He was hardly
a model citizen, but in a hard winter he kept half the ward from
starving; his latch-string hung out always to those in need. Harry
was no particular friend of mine; I mention him as a type of some
to whom objection might be made.
But then the police would certainly disapprove of Dr. Parkhurst,
whom I am glad to call by the name of friend. They might even object
to Bishop Potter, whose friendship I return with a warmth that is
nowise dampened by his disapproval of reporters as a class. There
is where the Bishop is mistaken; we are none of us infallible,
and what a good thing it is that we are not. Think of having an
infallible friend to live alongside of always! How long could you
stand it? We were not infallible, James Tanner!--called Corporal
by the world, Jim by us--when we sat together in the front seats of
the Old Eighteenth Street Church under Brother Simmons's teaching.
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