"No, they are safe. I have kept only two dollars, thinking you might need some groceries."
"Yes, I do, Grit. They go off faster, now that we have another mouth to feed."
"Suppose you make out a list of what you want, mother, and I will go up to the store this evening. I may as well save Mr. Brandon from temptation."
His mother made a list, and Grit, putting it in his pocket, walked up to the village.
The groceries, with a pound of steak, cost a dollar and ninety cents.
As Grit took the bundles and walked homeward, he thought to himself.
"Mr. Brandon wouldn't feel very well repaid for his trouble if he should take all I have left. He ought to be satisfied with free board, without expecting us to supply him with pocket-money besides. I wonder what he would say if he knew how much money I have deposited with Fred Lawrence?"
Grit congratulated himself that his stepfather was not likely to make this discovery, but in this he reckoned without his host.
Mr. Brandon made the discovery that same evening. How it came about will appear in the next chapter.