Gwen handed over the bills to the young man without a moment’s delay.
“Wait now, let’s count it again to make sure, and I will give you a receipt for the amount.”
“Oh, that’s not necessary, is it, Miss Helen?”
“Certainly not!” And then Helen blushed to think how short a time had elapsed since she had expressed all kinds of doubts about the honesty of this man, because, forsooth, he had been given power of attorney over a paltry $83.59! Here she was advising this little mountain waif to hand over to Dr. Wright what seemed to them a large fortune without even a receipt.
George Wright smiled and quietly wrote a receipt for the amount.
“It would be safer to let me carry this money for you because it might get out that you have it, and it would be easier to get it from you than me. I will deposit it at the Virginia Trust Co. in Richmond, and will send you the bank book immediately. You can invest it or not as you see fit. It would bring in forty-five dollars a year if you put it in the savings bank.”
“Oh, that would be enough for me to go to school on and even be a boarder at school! But I want some of it to buy a new mule for Aunt Mandy. Josephus is so old and feeble.”
“You had better not tell Josh you think so,” laughed the doctor. “But will you be contented, child, just to stay on in the mountains for the rest of your life?”