“That’s a first-rate way to make a stew, that thy Aunt Mercy gave thee yesterday,” he said, gravely, to Tiny, on one of these occasions; “but I thought if I took the mutton, and a few carrots and potatoes, along with it, it would stand a good deal better chance of getting made than if I didn’t!”
And Tiny and Johnny delightedly agreed that it would.
Mr. Leslie came home, one evening, looking a little troubled.
“I haven’t seen Jim at his usual place for two or three days,” he said; “and if I could only have remembered the street and number of his lodgings, I would have made time to go and ask after him. Please write the address on a card for me, dear, and I’ll go to-morrow, or send if I can’t go.”
The happy days in the country had by no means made Tiny and Johnny forget Jim, in the hot and weary city; and, as Mr. Leslie often saw him at his stand, messages were exchanged, and gifts of fruit and flowers sent, which cheered his loneliness not a little, for he missed them more than even they could guess. Aunt Mercy and Uncle Isaac had heard a good deal about him, too, by this time; and it so happened that they had come to a decision concerning him that very day.
So now Aunt Mercy said,—
“I was going to speak to thee of that lad this very evening, Friend Leslie. Our hired man, David, is obliged to leave us next month, and I have taken a notion to ask thy young friend to take his place. The work will not be heavy through the winter, and by spring, with good care and good food in the meantime, he might well be strong enough to keep on with David’s work, until our time for hiring extra help comes. And we think it would be well if he could come at once, while David is still here to instruct him, and we would pay him half wages until David leaves. Would thee object to laying our proposal before him, if thee sees him to-morrow?”
The applause which followed this speech quite embarrassed Aunt Mercy; but she was made to understand very clearly that Mr. Leslie would not have the slightest objection to undertaking her mission.
Tiny and Johnny were confident that Jim would come the very next day; and when Mr. Leslie saw the blank faces which greeted him as he returned, the next evening, alone, he pretended that he meant to go back to the office immediately.