“Thank you, we’ve eaten,” answered Paul.
“Coom, laddies, and have a bite mair,” urged Tammas. “’T will do ye no harm this cowld nicht.”
Chuck, the half-breed cook, at this juncture placed a plate piled high with bread upon the table, and this offered a temptation too great to resist. They were longing for bread above all things in the world, and with a “Thank you” they took the seats assigned them without further objection.
“Ye’ll be bidin’ wi’ us the winter, and ye must no be backward,” encouraged Tammas.
They were not in the least backward. They ate a great deal of Chuck’s indifferent, soggy bread, sopped in black molasses, and thought it delicious, and each drank at least three cups of strong tea.
“And did ye see the master?” asked Tammas when supper was over and all were seated about the hot stove.
“Yes,” answered Paul, “and he told us we could stay only tonight.”
“Did he say that now?”
“’E needs men. ’E’s short’anded, and ’e needs more men,” broke in Amos. “Tomorrow ’e’ll be hengaging you.”