eleven o'clock
`` He is a merchant , has a large store there , and keeps a great many clerks . He 's been plagued to death lately with one of his boys , -- when he sent him home with bundles , he 'd open them and help himself ; and my brother told me last night , if I could warrant him a boy who was perfectly honest , he 'd take him home with him , pay his fare down , and do well by him . I thought of you right away , and I told my brother that you were just the boy for him , -- you 'd be as true as steel ; but then , if you 're going to keep on at school , it 's all up . '' Mr. Minium did not add , that he had kept his brother until eleven o'clock the night before , telling him Tip 's history , -- what a boy he had been , how he had changed , how he was struggling upward ; and , finally , the whole story of the examination , -- the failure , the downfall , the public confession ; nor how his brother had listened eagerly , and had said , with energy , after the story was finished , -- `` Such a boy as that ought to be helped ; and I 'm ready to help him . '' None of this did Tip hear , but he stooped down for his basket when Mr. Minturn had finished speaking , with a bright blush on his cheek . It was something for a boy like him to be called `` as true as steel . '' `` Yes , '' he said decidedly ; `` I 'm going to keep on at school , that 's certain .