“All right, mother; I'll take the money, but I shall be sure not to need it.”
“It is best to be prepared for emergencies, Herbert.”
“If I am going to-morrow morning, I must split up enough wood to last you while I am gone.”
“I am afraid you will tire yourself. I think I can get along with what wood there is already split.”
“Oh, don't be afraid for me. You'll see I'll come back as fresh as when I set out. I expect to have a stunning appetite, though.”
“I'll try to cook up enough for you,” said his mother, smiling.
Herbert went out into the wood shed, and went to work with great energy at the wood pile. In the course of an hour he had sawed and split several large baskets full, which he brought in and piled up behind the kitchen stove.
Mrs. Carter could not be expected to feel very deep grief for the death of her uncle. It was now more than six years since they had met. He was a selfish man, wholly wrapped up in the pursuit of wealth. Had he possessed benevolent instincts, he would have offered to do something out of his abundance for his niece, who he knew found it very hard to make both ends meet. But he was a man who was very much averse to parting with his money while he lived. He lived on a tenth of his income, and saved up the rest, though for what end he could not well have told. Since the death of Mr. Carter, whose funeral he had not taken the trouble to attend, though invited, he had not even written to his niece, and she had abstained from making any advances, lest it might be thought that she was seeking assistance. Under these circumstances she had little hope of a legacy, though she could not help admitting the thought of how much a few hundred dollars would help her, bridging over the time till Herbert should be old enough to earn fair wages in some employment. If he could study two or three years longer, she would have been very glad, for her son had already shown abilities of no common order; but that was hardly to be thought of.
“There, mother, I guess I've sawed wood enough to last you, unless you are very extravagant,” said Herbert, reentering the kitchen, and taking off his cap. “Now is there anything else I can do? You know I shall be gone two days, or a day and a half at any rate.”
“I think of nothing, Herbert. You had better go to bed early, and get a good night's rest, for you will have a hard day before you.”