“Yes, I know.”
“So I can lend you the money as well as not.”
“You are a good fellow, Albert, but I don’t think I ought to take the money.”
“Oh, you can pay it back—with interest, if you insist upon it.”
“Thank you, Albert. I won’t refuse so kind an offer. My mother would let me have the money, but she was foolish enough when she married to give all she had to Mr. Winter, and now he doles her out a quarter at a time, and she has to ask for that. You won’t hardly believe me, Albert, but she hasn’t had a new dress for a year.”
“I can believe it fast enough. Jacob Winter is the meanest man I ever heard of, and everybody in town says so. I don’t blame you at all for leaving him. Won’t you be sorry to be away from your mother?”
“I can’t tell you how much I shall miss her, Albert,” answered Ben, gravely, “but I hope to provide her a better home some day. I can’t do it by staying here. You must go over and see her some time, Albert.”
“So I will. Of course you will write to me.”
“Yes, if I have any good news.”
“By the way, Ben, how much money did your mother have?”