"Sho! How'd that happen?"
"Mr. Chick thought it must be old age."
"Well I reckon it was. That cow has been in the family quite a spell."
"It'll be hard on Aunt Nancy not to have the milk."
"I 'low you're 'bout right, sonny; it helped make up a good bit of the old woman's livin', an' she hasn't so much money but that a dollar makes a big difference."
"That's true, an' I've come to see if I can't help her out in some way."
"You?" and Mr. Treat looked up in surprise. "Why, I thought you hadn't any great amount of cash on hand."
"And I haven't; but I thought perhaps I might make a trade with you."
"Want to have a dicker of some kind, eh? Well, what have you got to show up?" and Mr. Treat selected from a pile of pine wood a convenient stick to whittle, as he assumed a more comfortable attitude preparatory to indulging in his favorite pastime of "dickering."
"I haven't got anything, sir; but thought there might be work I could do around here till I'd earned enough to buy Aunt Nancy another cow."