Rich, eager to be released, struck with good will; the sparks flew all over the shop, and a second heat put the iron in such shape that Mr. Richardson required no further help. Rich flung off his leather apron, washed himself in a bucket, and wiped the smut from Mort's cheek with a towel that did not put on much more dirt than it took off, when they left to cleanse themselves more effectually at the house.
The dwelling was old, out of repair, and consisted of three rooms on the ground floor, but two of them plastered, and a low attic. If Morton felt depressed by finding his friends in such wretched quarters, he could not but admire and wonder at the energy and cheerfulness with which Rich, his father, mother, and uncle bore up under their reverses. The girls, however, appeared chagrined and depressed, and seemed to him completely heart-broken. They were considerably older than Rich, some children having died between them. Rich, and Morton, after supper went to walk, the former observing that by reason of their limited accommodations there was no opportunity for conversation in the house. Following a footpath that led along the bank of the river, they entered a noble orchard, just commencing to blossom. It lay upon a declivity sloping to the river. Passing through it, they came to a swale sprinkled with elms, and commanding a fine view of the river, and flung themselves on the grass side by side.
"Rich," said Morton, "do you know what has surprised me more than anything else I have met with here?"
"I should think the pickle you found me in when you came into the shop."
"No; it is to find yourself and your parents in such good spirits. Most men, after having met with so great and sudden a reverse, would have become entirely disheartened, and I expected to find you completely prostrated."
"The cheerfulness is not assumed for the occasion, Mort."
"I know that, you could not deceive me in such a matter."
"Believe me, as far as I am concerned, and were it not for my sisters, and seeing my parents compelled to renew in their old age the hardships of their youth, I should be happier to-day than for the last year and a half, for I have now a clear conscience."
"What have you done? What crime have you committed to set your conscience in arms?"