So saying, Mr. George took a newspaper out of his pocket and began to walk away, adding, as he went,—
"I'll sit down here and read my newspaper till you have got your ticket, and then we will go into the waiting room."
"But, uncle George," said Rollo, "why did not you get me a ticket when you got yours?"
"Because," said Mr. George, "among other reasons, I did not know which class carriage you wished to go in."
"Why, uncle George!" exclaimed Rollo, surprised. "I must go in the same carriage that you do of course."
"Not of course," said Mr. George. "I have got a ticket in the first class; and I should like to have your company in my car very much if you choose to pay the price for a first-class ticket. But if you choose to take a second or a third-class ticket you will save, perhaps, half your money."
So saying, Mr. George went away and left Rollo to himself.
This was the way that Mr. George always treated Rollo when he was travelling with him. He left him to act for himself and to take care of himself in almost all the emergencies that occurred. He did this, not because he wished to save himself the trouble of taking care of a boy, but because he thought it was much better for boys early to learn to take care of themselves.
The manner in which Mr. George thus threw the responsibility upon Rollo seemed sometimes to be a little blunt. One would suppose, in some of these cases, from the way in which he spoke and acted, that he did not care at all what became of Rollo, so coolly and with such an air of unconcern did he leave him to his own resources. In fact, Rollo was frequently at such times a little frightened, or at least perplexed, and often, at first, felt greatly at a loss to know what to do. But, on reflecting a little upon the subject, he usually soon succeeded in extricating himself from the difficulty; and then he was always quite proud of having done so, and was pleased with his uncle George for having given him the opportunity. So Mr. George, having learned by experience that Rollo liked, on the whole, to be treated in this way, always adopted it; and in carrying it out he sometimes spoke and acted in such a way as might, under other circumstances have appeared somewhat stern.
The idea of taking a second-class car for himself in order to save a portion of his money, while his uncle went in one of the first-class, took Rollo's imagination strongly, and he was half inclined to adopt it.