"But it's no job for a gentleman!" protested the younger Mr. Hinman, looking very much aghast.
"Then I don't know whether or not the owner of these woods would consent to your leaving your father's property here," replied Prescott, as he turned on his heel.
Dr. Hewitt had watched the scene with a good deal of amusement. Now the physician turned to see whether his patient were as comfortable as possible.
"My man," said the doctor, to the boss tramp, "you hold my patient as comfortably and skillfully as though you had once been a nurse. Were you ever one?"
"No, sir," replied the tramp. "It just comes natural."
"I've been looking for a man to work for me," continued Dr. Hewitt, regarding the tramp with calculating eyes. "I believe that you've got in you the making of a real man if you'd only stop being a tramp. How would you like to try it out?"
"I dunno," replied the boss tramp, looking a bit staggered.
"If you go to work for me, I don't want you to take it up as a casual experiment," went on the man of medicine. "I haven't any time for experiments. But, if you'll declare positively that you're going to make a useful man of yourself, and that you'll live up to what I expect of you, I'll take you on. I won't have an idler about my place, and I won't tolerate any use of alcohol. If you shirk or drink—-even once out you go. But I'll start you at ten dollars a month and board, and raise you—-if I keep you—-two dollars a month until you're getting thirty dollars a month and board as a steady thing. Are you man enough to take me up, and to make it worth my while to take you on?"
"Yes," replied the boss tramp huskily, after a struggle with himself.
"All right, then, we'll see how much a man you are. By the way, what's your name?"