“Gilbert has been in the habit of coming to me every week for his board. I ought to have left directions at the office with Seymour to pay him in my place.”
He forgot that Mrs. Briggs was not aware of this arrangement. She was not slow in expressing her dissatisfaction.
“You don’t mean to say that that boy lived on you!” she exclaimed.
“I pay his board, if that is what you mean by living on me.”
“That is what it amounts to. Why permit this?”
“Surely, you don’t expect that Gilbert will pay all his expenses out of five dollars a week,” said her husband.
“Why can’t he get along as well as other boys?”
“Other boys have no friends able to help them. Gilbert’s father was my friend, and I mean to stand by him.”
“How much do you allow him for board?”
“Six dollars a week.”