To tell you the truth, that boy is a mystery to me.

Sometimes I think that, bad as he seems to be, Nick isn't quite all yellow; that there's a little streak of white in his make-up." "Why, you surprise me, Hugh, when I hear you say that, and after all you've seen of his mean ways, too.

Think how he started to beat poor Owen up that night; yes, and for years back he's been a big bully, trying to have things his own way, and ruling by might of his fists.
Why, nearly everybody in Scranton believes him to be utterly irreclaimable.

What makes you say such a queer thing ?" "I may be mistaken after all," said Hugh, slowly, "but here's a singular thing I saw only yesterday.

I haven't mentioned it to a living soul, but it set me to thinking, and wondering whether, after all, if a big hulking fellow like Nick were given a fair chance to make good, he mightn't change and astonish the neighborhood.
"I was going along a side street when I got a thrill.