"That would be about half of my receipts, and you would get your money back in ten days. I don't care about making such a bargain as that."
"You'll have to give up your business, then," said Phil.
"No, he won't," said Jesse Burns. "I will give him the use of mine, and won't charge him a cent."
"Thank you, Jesse. You are a true friend," said Grit warmly. "You are doing me a great favor."
"And I am glad to do it. Suppose we pull to land? There are three persons at the landing who look as if they wanted to be ferried across."
Grit seized the oars and impelled the boat to land. As Jesse had said, there were three persons waiting, a gentleman and two ladies, who at once engaged the services of the young boatman.
For this service he received thirty cents, and, finding two persons at the other end who wished to come to Chester, the first hour in his new boat brought him fifty cents.
Grit's spirits rose. His misfortune was not irremediable, after all. He had feared that his means of living were taken away, and though he had money enough to buy a new boat, he did not dare to do so, lest Brandon should also sell that.
"I'll give him a piece of my mind," he thought. "It's contemptible to come home and live on us, and then to take away my means of living."