“Yes, sir. He—he wasn’t willing to have me pay his bill like that. But of course I’m going to do it. He says that pump isn’t his; says it belongs to you and that you owe him for storing it.”
“What!” Mr. Cummings stared and then burst into a laugh. “Well, of all the tight-fisted old rascals! Suppose I oughtn’t to say that before you, though,” he added apologetically. Tom maintained a composed silence. “Wants me to pay him storage, does he? By George, he certainly has plenty of cheek!”
“He says he lugged the pump out there, and it’s your place to bring it back, sir. He says he notified you about it when he found it wouldn’t work right.”
“Maybe he did,” responded Mr. Cummings grimly. “But we’ve got more to do than run around the country after broken machinery.”
[“I was wondering, sir,” said Tom, “if after I’ve paid that bill I couldn’t have the pump.”]
[“I was wondering, sir,” said Tom, “if after I’ve paid that bill I couldn’t have the pump”]
“Well, that’s for your uncle to say, isn’t it?”
“He says it belongs to you, sir.”