Ben began to think he had better avoid too great intimacy with Sylvanus Snodgrass.
CHAPTER XIV.
THINGS AT WRAYBURN.
While Ben is considering how he can find employment, we will go back to Wrayburn.
Jacob Winter felt very sorry over Ben’s running away. His stepson was a strong boy and would have been of considerable service on the farm even if Mr. Flack had not agreed to take him. But what troubled Jacob most was the fifty dollars a year which the shoemaker had agreed to pay him.
Then, too, he felt that Ben had defied his authority, and had come out victorious. It was not pleasant to be worsted by a boy.
He felt obliged to go round to Silas Flack’s shop and inform him of what had happened. The shoemaker looked up when the farmer entered the store.
“Good morning, Mr. Winter. How are you this morning?”
“Tollable, but I’ve had something to vex me.”
“What’s that?”