“Then you can get another boy.”
“That isn’t so easily done as you may suppose. I can’t get any of the boys round here to work for me—I’m sure I don’t know why—and new ones don’t come along every day. I don’t fancy being left without one to do the chores myself.”
“If you did them all, you wouldn’t work as hard as I do,” said his wife, contemptuously, and not altogether without a basis of truth.
“You can’t expect a woman to know anything about a man’s work,” said Mr. Brackett, in a complacent tone of superiority.
“I know I could do all your work, and get done in half the day,” said his wife.
Mr. Brackett shrugged his shoulders, and was about to saunter off, when his father-in-law made his appearance.
“Mr. Brackett,” said he, “if you can spare Henry and your horse and team, I would like to have him drive me over to Jefferson this afternoon.”
“Really, father,” said Brackett, who did not like the proposal, for it would throw upon his shoulders some of Andy’s work, “I’d like to oblige you, but it would be very inconvenient. You see, Henry’s got his work to do, and——”
“I didn’t ask it as a favor,” said Mr. Dodge. “I mean to pay you for the boy’s services, and also for the horse and team.”
Now, money was the god of both Mr. and Mrs. Brackett, and this put quite a different face on the matter.