"A boy like you couldn't earn much. Wait till I am dead and then you can go where you like."
This would always close the discussion, for Ernest did not like to consider such a contingency. Peter represented his world, for he had no one to cling to except the man whom he supposed to be his uncle.
Now, however, the time had come when he could go forth and enter upon a career. Accordingly he declined Joe Marks' offer to take him into the store. He understood very well that it was only meant in kindness, and that he was not really needed.
"You don't need me, Joe," he said. "You are very kind, but there must be real work for me somewhere."
"Well, my lad, I won't stand in your way, but I've known you a long time, and I shall hate to lose sight of you."
"I'll come back some day, Joe--that is, if I am prosperous, and can."
"If you are not prosperous, if you fall sick, and need a home and a friend, come back, then. Don't forget your old friend Joe Marks."
"I won't, Joe," said Ernest heartily.
"You've got another friend here, Ernest," added Luke Robbins. "I'm a poor man, and my friendship isn't worth much, but you have it, all the same."
Ernest grasped the hands of both. He felt that each was a friend worth having.