It seemed that all his troubles would be at an end if he might remain in that peaceful place, as the little woman had suggested, and he knew full well that he could never hope to find as pleasant an abiding place.
As the matter presented itself to his mind, he was not at liberty to accept the generous invitation unless the story of why he left New York was first told; and once Aunt Hannah was aware that he had transgressed the law by passing counterfeit money, it seemed certain she would look upon him as a sinner too great for pardon.
He believed it was better to go without explanations than be utterly cast off by the little woman whom he was rapidly beginning to love, and, in addition, forfeit her friendship forever. So long as she could only guess at the reasons for his flight, she might think of him kindly, and, perhaps, in time, he would be able to prove that he was worthy of confidence.
“I’ll come back when I’m a man, an’ then she’ll have to believe I didn’t mean to do anything so terrible bad when I passed the lead nickel,” he said to himself, in an effort to strengthen the resolution just made. “It would be mighty nice to live here, an’ what a good time Snip could have!”
Then he tried to convince himself that his pet should be left behind; but the thought of going away from that charming home—which might have been his but for the carelessness in handling the counterfeit money—leaving behind the only friend he had known for many a long day, brought the tears to his eyes again.
“I’ll have to take the poor little man with me, an’ it’ll come mighty rough on him!” he said with a sob. “I reckon he thinks this kind of fun, when he can chase butterflies an’ birds to his heart’s content, is goin’ to last, an’ he’ll be dreadfully disappointed after we leave; but I couldn’t get along without him!”
Gladys interrupted his mournful train of thought, and perhaps it was well, for the boy was rapidly working himself into a most melancholy frame of mind.
She and Snip came tearing into the barn as if there was no other aim in this life than enjoyment, and so startled the sorrowing Seth that he arose to his feet in something very nearly resembling alarm.
“If you jump like that I shall begin to think you are as nervous as Aunt Hannah,” she cried with a merry laugh. “She insists that between Snip and me there will no longer be any peace for her, unless we sober down very suddenly; but do you know, Seth, that I’ve lived here with no other companion than the dear old woman so long, it seems as if some good fairy had sent this little fluff of white to make me happy. I had rather have him for a friend than all the children in the neighborhood, which isn’t saying very much, in view of the fact that the two Dean boys and Malvinia Stubbs are the only people of nearabout my age in this section of the country.”
“I believe Snip thinks as much of you as you do of him,” Seth replied gloomily. “I never knew him to make friends with any one before; but perhaps that was because he saw only the fellers who liked to tease him. If I wasn’t mighty mean, he’d stay here all the time.”