“I will go down and order some.”
While Gilbert was gone, Randolph said, “I am glad Gilbert has got a place, for he is poor and needs it. My father has done a great deal for him; but then he can afford it, for he is a rich man. I have no friends in this neighborhood; but I thought I would come down to see how he was getting along.”
“Gilbert ought to be very grateful,” said Mr. Ingalls, dryly.
“I think so, too. It is not every poor boy who has a rich man to help him.”
Here Gilbert re-entered with the water, and shortly after Randolph left.
“What do you think of him, Mr. Ingalls?” asked Gilbert.
“He seems to think a good deal of himself,” said the young man. “He referred to you in a very patronizing way.”
Gilbert laughed.
“His mother has spoiled him,” he said; “she is the most disagreeable woman I ever saw. If Randolph had been brought up differently, he might not show so much foolish pride. I like his father best of the three.”
Gilbert little suspected that the man whom he praised had been, thus far in life, his worst enemy.