"Andy, you have succeeded admirably. I shall have great pleasure in keeping my promise and paying you eighty dollars, or one per cent, on the purchase money."
"That will be very acceptable, Mr. Crawford. I don't often earn eighty dollars in one day."
In reply to Mr. Crawford's inquiries, Andy gave a detailed account of his visit, and his employer drew a check for eighty dollars, which he placed in his hands.
"Now that I see what you can do," he said, "I shall send you out again."
"Perhaps you will find my services too expensive."
"No. In addition to my regular percentage I receive an extra hundred dollars for getting the full eight thousand dollars."
Andy cashed the check, and deposited the money in a savings bank. He did not pay it to Mr. Crawford on account of the land in Tacoma, for it occurred to him that he might have occasion to use it.
In this he proved correct.
Three weeks later he received a letter from his father. Sterling Grant was a farmer, little used to writing letters, and Andy knew that there must be some special reason for his writing at this time.
He opened the letter quickly, and this was what he read: