Pulling himself up quickly, he put both hands into his pockets to hold the rest of the money in, and hurried on as fast as he could.
As he flopped through the gate, he half heard Tom Murphy say:
“Those nails kinder went back on you, didn’t they, William?”
When Mr. Prescott took the money, Billy held up his foot so that Mr. Prescott could see his shoe, then he told him about the money.
Mr. Prescott seemed to take in the situation, and he seemed not to mind much about the money, for he said:
“We shall have to charge that up to profit and loss.”
Billy found a piece of string to tie his sole on, and, that very night, as soon as he got home, Aunt Mary gave him a pair of new, rubber-soled shoes.
That was Thursday. The next Monday—Mr. Prescott paid the men on Monday—when Mr. Prescott gave Billy his little brown envelope, Billy said:
“If you please, sir, I shall feel better if you will take out the dollar that I lost.”
Then something happened. It seems as though Satan must have got into Mr. Prescott’s mind, and must have had, for a moment, his own wicked way. That seems to be the only way to explain how a man like Mr. Prescott could say such a thing as he did to a boy like Billy.