"I'll tell you what it is, Teddy, Ikey'll make an awful good clerk for us when we buy our stand, an' after we get him mended. He can sell papers or shine boots with the best of 'em, for I've seen him work."
Teddy suggested that they might not have a sufficient amount of business to warrant their hiring a clerk; but Carrots had his own ideas on the subject, and could not easily be persuaded that an assistant would not be an absolute necessity when the green-painted establishment with its bootblacking outfit was opened.
The idea that he was to have an opportunity for working, without being forced to run around the streets, pleased Master Cain wonderfully, and this, in addition to the relief from pain, served to put him in the best possible humor.
He promised to repay the boys, not only the twenty-five cents which was to be given the doctor in the form of boot-polishing, but also for such provisions as he might eat while one of their household; and agreed, in case Teddy finally concluded it would be desirable to hire him as a clerk, to do his work faithfully and honestly.
"We'll have the stand before two weeks go by, an' I reckon you'll be right there helpin' us with it," Carrots said, enthusiastically, as he once more prepared the bed for the invalid, and saw to it that there was food enough on hand to satisfy his wants during the coming day.
It was later than their usual time for retiring when the boys finally lay down to sleep; but, despite this fact, they were awake next morning as early as on any previous occasion, and, before leaving, Carrots again cautioned Ikey against allowing his presence in the box to be known.
"You needn't be worried," the invalid replied. "Now my leg doesn't ache so bad, I can keep mighty still, no matter what happens. Yesterday I had to turn over pretty often to rest it, an' was 'fraid sometimes the folks would hear me."
Then the boys clambered over the fence once more, and another day's work was begun.