"
"Would you like to go back?"
"He would," said Phil, pointing to his companion. "I would like
to stay here, if I had a good home."
"What kind of a home have you? With whom do you live?"
"With the padrone."
"I suppose that means your guardian?"
"Yes, sir," answered Phil.
"Is he kind to you?"
"He beats us if we do not bring home enough money."
"Your lot is a hard one. What makes you stay with him? Don't
the boys ever run away?"
"Sometimes."
"What does the padrone do in that case?"
"He tries to find them."
"And if he does--what then?"
"He beats them for a long time."
"Evidently your padrone is a brute. Why don't you complain to
the police?"
Phil shrugged his shoulders, and did not answer. He evidently
thought the suggestion an impracticable one. These boys are wont
to regard the padrone as above all law. His power seems to them
absolute, and they never dream of any interference. And, indeed,
there is some reason for their cherishing this opinion. However
brutal his treatment, I know of no case where the law has stepped
in to rescue the young victim. This is partly, no doubt, because
the boys, few of whom can speak the English language, do not know
their rights, and seldom complain to outsiders--never to the
authorities.
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