"I will tell you what I will do. Besides paying you regularly for his board, I will allow you his labor, and that will be worth considerable."
"What can he do?"
"He can do what other boys do. You can take him into your shop, and set him to pegging shoes. It won't hurt him a bit, though it may trouble his pride a little."
"But will he be willing to go into the shop? He was expecting to go to college."
"I don't think much of you if you can't compel him to do it."
Mr. Huxter reflected a moment. John's work would be worth at least five dollars a week, and this, added to the six he would receive from his sister, would certainly pay munificently for John's board.
"Well, that is a consideration. We'll call it a bargain," he admitted.
"Very well; I think you'll find your account in it," said Mrs. Oakley, in a tone of satisfaction.
"Couldn't you pay me a quarter's board in advance?"
To this Mrs. Oakley assented with some hesitation.