"Thank you, sir. I will bid you good-by, with thanks for your kindness."
"If you are not pressed for time, I will send you on an errand."
"All right, sir. I shall be glad to be of service to you."
"Here is a Mexican dollar. You may go to the store and bring me a dozen eggs. If there is any change you may keep it."
"Thank you, sir."
"A dollar in!" thought Burns, as he turned away from the cabin. "I think I can turn it to a better use than spending it in eggs. That was a profitable call. I made a gold watch and a dollar by it. The old man can't pursue me, that's one comfort, thanks to his spinal complaint."
"That is a very clever fellow," reflected the old man when Burns had started on his errand. "A bit too religious to suit my taste. Still he seemed grateful for the little I did for him. If he had a little more push and get-up-and-get about him he would succeed better. Why, he isn't more than forty, and he confesses himself a failure. Why, at forty I considered myself a young man, and was full of dash and enterprise. Now I am sixty and tied to my seat by this spinal trouble. However, I've got something laid by, and, old as I am, I feel independent, as far as money goes."
Half an hour--an hour--passed, and still the old man found himself alone. His messenger had not come back.
But there came up the path a tall, muscular figure, who greeted the old man in a bluff, off hand way.
"How are you, Luke?" said the old man. "I was feeling lonely. I am glad to see you."