"Is that true?" asked Bert, stopping short, and surveying his friend with a look of dismay.
"Yes; I wish it wasn't."
"What is the reason?"
"The squire has bought a pegging machine, and he has hired a man from out of town to run it. So he will have no need of us."
"How soon is he going to put it in?" asked Bert, with a sinking heart.
"Next Monday. At the end of this week we shall be discharged."
"What are you going to do?" Bert inquired, after a pause.
"I shall be all right. I have an uncle who keeps a store in Bradford, and I am going there to tend in the store, and shall board in the family. What shall you do?"
"I don't know," answered Bert soberly. "This has come on me so suddenly, that I haven't had time to think."
"There's precious little chance for a boy in Lakeville, unless he goes to work on a farm."