When Uncle Jacob read this letter, he smiled.
"It is what I expected," he said to himself. "Albert Marlowe is thoroughly selfish, and so, I think, are his wife and son. I must find some other way of helping Bert."
The day succeeding the receipt of Uncle Jacob's letter, the squire met Bert in the post-office.
"Have you been writing to Jacob Marlowe?" he asked.
"Yes, sir."
"I suppose you asked him to urge me to take you back into the factory?"
"No, sir."
"At any rate, he has done so; but I allow no one to interfere in my business affairs. You hear, do you?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then remember it!" and Squire Marlowe turned his back rudely upon Bert.