“There’s your boy.”

“I never writ a letter to him in my life. Fact is, Tom, I ain’t much on writin’; I can handle a rifle a good deal better than a pen. My boy doesn’t expect a letter from me.”

“It seems to me if my father were away traveling, I should want to hear from him.”

“I reckon you would, but there’s a difference in families. Ours isn’t a writin’ family.”

“When did you see your boy last?”

“Only a few weeks ago.”

“And when do you expect to see him again?”

“In a year, likely, if things come round right. He’s all right, and got good care taken of him, so there’s no use worryin’. Your mother’s well fixed, too, isn’t she?”

“Yes, I suppose she’s very comfortable. She is keeping house for a rich farmer, and wants for nothing.”

“Then, don’t you go to borrering trouble.”