"Don't you think I would save you from it, master?" said old Toby imploringly. "Remember what his mother was—a witch woman, if ever there was one. Don't you think old Toby would save you from that, master?" And there was no doubt of the old man being genuinely concerned for his master's welfare.
"Now look here, that talk about Mrs. Hunter being a witch is all moonshine, and I mean to give the lad a trial here in the stable. If you choose to come back and overlook things for me, well and good; but if you won't work with the lad fairly and squarely, as an Englishman should, then say so at once, and I shall know what to be about."
"Why, master, he's bewitched you as well as me," said the old fellow complainingly.
"Very well; if you think that, keep away from The Magpie for the future, and we will manage the stables by ourselves without your help," said the landlord.
But this did not at all suit old Toby, much as he might dislike Eric, and even fear him, as he doubtless did; for to lose his occupation entirely would never do; so he went back to his seat grumbling about new men and new ways; which the landlord understood well enough as a slight reminder that he could not boast of being born in Summerleigh, as Toby himself could.
The landlord did not wish old Toby to give up his post as ostler of The Magpie. It would pay him much better to keep old Toby, and to have Eric to do his work, for Toby by himself drove customers away, but since he had come back, it would not do to let him say he would not work with Eric; so that the landlord was quite as much disposed to settle the matter in a friendly fashion as the old ostler was.
So, while Eric was set to sweep up the stable and yard, Tyler talked to the old man, and at last it was settled that he should come every day and overlook the affairs of the stables, while Eric was to do the actual work, and get his food from the kitchen, which, with occasional tips from customers, would be considered remuneration enough—at least for the present.
[CHAPTER II.]
AT THE MAGPIE.
ERIC HUNTER'S quiet life had made him thoughtful beyond his years, and old Toby's invectives, while they did not surprise him very much, awoke once more the fears that had tortured him ever since the doctor had told him his mother could not live long.