Mrs. Manning sighed, for she rightly interpreted that no place in the shop was to be offered to Mark.
"Ahem!" said the squire, changing the subject; "you have a boarder, I understand?"
"Yes; Mr. Taylor makes his home with us."
"A sensible move on his part. It was a strange thing to live in the woods by himself so many years. I hope he will be able to pay his board."
"He pays regularly every week," answered the widow.
"I presume he's quite poor?"
"Mark thinks he has considerable money, but I have no means of judging, except that he pays his bills promptly."
Squire Collins shrugged his shoulders.
"Mark is an inexperienced boy," he said. "The truth is, as I understand, old Anthony receives a small pension from some relatives in New York. It can't be much, but I hope, for your sake, that he has enough to pay his board."
Mrs. Manning began to wonder whether this was what Squire Collins came to talk about. She was soon more fully informed.