Of course Ben accompanied his friend to Cambridge. He was vastly surprised when he learned that Nat was not to bear them company; but after one or two questions he subsided; for he had come to understand that Nat only told those things which he desired to tell.
And as the two rode away down the street, the lad from Wyoming turned to the Porcupine who sat upon a bench before the “Dragon” and said:
“Well, midget, what do you think?”
The little eyes of the dwarf seemed to read what was in his tall friend’s mind. He nodded toward the riders who were now some distance away.
“About him?” he asked.
“Well—yes.”
“I like him,” said the Porcupine. “I like him same as you do, and same as every one does. But he’s got a good many things to explain before I’d trust him.”
“I think,” remarked Nat, soberly, “that’s about what I think too.”
That afternoon the two paid a visit to Paul Revere at his shop in North Square; and Nat had a long talk with the engraver as he worked industriously at a plate.
“I can lose no time,” said the man at the beginning, by way of apology. “I’m taken away from my work so often now that I must improve each moment I can snatch.”