“How much will it be, Mrs. Sweetser?” he asked.
“Oh, you’re quite welcome to all you’ve had,” said the good woman, cheerily. “It’s plain farmer’s fare.”
“I never tasted a better dinner,” said Carl.
Mrs. Sweetser seemed pleased with the compliment to her cooking.
“Come again when you are passing this way,” she said. “You will always be welcome to a dinner.”
Carl thanked her heartily, and pressed on his way. Two hours later, at a lonely point of the road, an ill-looking tramp, who had been reclining by the wayside, jumped up, and addressed him in a menacing tone:
“Young feller, shell over all the money you have got, or I’ll hurt you! I’m hard up, and I won’t stand no nonsense.”
Carl started and looked into the face of the tramp. It seemed to him that he had never seen a man more ill-favored, or villainous-looking.