“And it has been a worry,” said Old Toby, shaking his head. “More'n you think for. Ye see, it snarled me all up so's I warn't my own master.”
“I see.”
“Ye see, Ged was allus after me to go inter court an' back up his claim ag'in you on that Perkins Tract.”
“I see,” said Henry Sherwood again, nodding.
“On the other hand, you wanted me, if I knowed which was right, to witness, too. If I'd witnessed for Ged, ev'rybody wuld ha' thought I done it because he had a mortgage on the farm.”
“I s'pose so,” admitted Uncle Henry.
“Or, if I helped you, they'd ha' thought you'd bribed me—mebbe helped me git square with Ged.”
“I couldn't. Too poor just now,” said Uncle Henry, grimly. “But I'd the mind for it, Toby.”
“Well, there ye be. Whichever way the cat jumped, I'd lost the respect of the community,” said the old lumberman. “But now I am independent, I don't give a dern!”
Mr. Sherwood looked at him expectantly. Toby's “wizzled” face shone.