"Wait till he gets to work, mother. I guess he'll have appetite enough. I mean he shall earn his board, at any rate."
"I hope we won't have no trouble with him, Aaron."
"You needn't be afraid, mother."
"Somehow, Aaron, you never did manage to keep boys very long," said Mrs. Bickford, dubiously.
"Because their folks were weak, and allowed 'em to have their own way. It'll be different with this boy."
"What makes you think so?"
"Because his uncle is anxious to get rid of him. He told me the boy, till lately, had imagined he was goin' to have property. He's supported him out of charity, dressin' him like a gentleman, sendin' him to school, and spendin' a pile of money on him. Now he thinks it about time to quit, and have the boy learn a trade. Of course the boy'll complain, and try to beg off, but it won't be no use. Stephen Watson won't make no account of what he says. He keeps a horse himself, and has promised to have him shod at my shop."
"Well, it may be for the best; I hope so."
Aaron Bickford felt a good deal of confidence in himself. He understood very well that Kit was averse to working in his shop, but he meant to make him do it.
"I'd like to see the boy I can't master," he said to himself, complacently. "Years hence, when the boy has a forge of his own, he'll thank me for perseverin' with him. There's money to be made in the business. Why, when I began I wasn't worth a hundred dollars, and I owed for my anvil. Now I own this house and shop, and I've got a tidy sum in the bank."