"Ten dollars. I want you to better yourself, you know."
"You are very kind, sir," said Paul, gratefully, "but I am afraid I can't earn as much as that."
"Possibly not. Few boys of your age are worth as much. But you rendered me yesterday a great service. You saved me from robbery. How much now do you think my wallet contained?"
"A hundred dollars," guessed Paul, to whom that seemed a considerable sum for a man to carry about.
"Over two thousand!" answered Mr. Bradford, quietly.
Paul's face showed the amazement he felt.
"Isn't it imprudent to carry round so much?" he suggested.
"I had the amount paid me in Milwaukee, in bills, and had no resource but to take it in that form. But for you that wretch would have got off safely with it. You see, therefore, that you have saved me more than enough to pay your wages for two years, even on the liberal scale I suggest."
"I was very fortunate to fall in with you, Mr. Bradford. It has given me the opening I have wanted for a long time."
"I hope it may prove fortunate for both of us. Consider yourself, then, already in my employ. After breakfast I shall send you to Chicago for my own physician, under whose care I hope myself to go thither this afternoon."