In childhood, he scarcely considered me inferior to himself certainly, as good as any other boy with whom he played; but the time had come when his _friend_ must become his _slave_.
So we were cold, and we parted.

It was a sad thing to me, that, loving each other as we had done, we must now take different roads.

To him, a thousand avenues were open.

Education had made him acquainted with all the treasures of the world, and liberty had flung open the gates thereunto; but I, who had attended him seven years, and had watched over him with the care of a big brother, fighting his battles in the street, and shielding him from harm, to an extent which had induced his mother to say, "Oh! Tommy is always safe, when he is with{238} Freddy," must be confined to a single condition.

He could grow, and become a MAN; I could grow, though I could _not_ become a man, but must remain, all my life, a minor--a mere boy.