“You’ll go with me, Sam, to the country sometime, won’t you? I’ve got a plan and I’ll need you to help me carry it out. Will you go?”
“Sure!” said Sam in quite a different voice from any reluctant assent he had ever given before. “Sure, I’ll go!”
“Thank you, Sam,” said Michael more moved than he dared show, “And now that’s settled I want to talk about this room. I’m going to have five little kids here tomorrow early in the evening. I told them I’d show them how to whittle boats and we’re going to sail them in the scrub bucket. They’re about the age you and I were when I went away to college. Perhaps I’ll teach them a letter or two of the alphabet if they seem interested. They ought to know how to read, Sam.”
“I never learned to read—” muttered Sam half belligerently. “That so?” said Michael as if it were a matter of small moment. “Well, what if you were to come in and help me with the boats. Then you could pick it up when I teach them. You might want to use it some day. It’s well to know how, and a man learns things quickly you know.”
Sam nodded.
“I don’t know’s I care ’bout it,” he said indifferently, but Michael saw that he intended to come.
“Well, after the kids have gone, I won’t keep them late you know, I wonder if you’d like to bring some of the fellows in to see this?”
Michael glanced around the room.
“I’ve some pictures of alligators I have a fancy they might like to see. I’ll bring them down if you say so.”
“Sure!” said Sam trying to hide his pleasure.