"I will trust him, and this very week I'll tell him so!"
It happened that he met the boy on his way from school.
"How go the lessons, boy?" he asked kindly.
For some reason Gyp was not afraid.
"This is Friday, and I've had every lesson perfect this week. I'm going over to tell Aunt Judith. She'll be glad!"
"Don't you tell the folks at home?" queried Captain Atherton.
"They don't care much," Gyp said with downcast eyes. Then, as if to excuse their lack of interest, he said:
"I guess they don't understand why I'm bound to study."
"I understand, my boy, just why you are working so hard, and I'm proud of you! Come, and tell me about the weeks like this, when things go smoothly, and come just as quickly if things, instead, go roughly. Let me help you over the hard places, Gyp, for when you are out of school I'll employ you. Now, work hard at school, knowing that when you have completed the course you're to be employed by me."
"Oh, sir, I'll work for you with all my strength," cried the grateful boy. "You believe in me, you trust me, and I'll be true!"