“Don’t your brother work on the farm when he is out of work?” asked Captain Gildrock, who was beginning to get an inkling of the situation.
“Neither of us ever did any thing on the farm. Mother has never been willing that we should work on a farm,” replied Bolingbroke. “Father wants us to do something else.”
“Do your two sisters do any thing? How old are they?”
“Elinora is twenty, and Fatima is twenty-two. They have never done any thing.”
“I dare say they are both engaged, and their future is marked out,” suggested the captain with a smile.
“Neither of them is engaged, and there is nothing to indicate their future.”
“I suppose you have all been to school?”
“We are all graduates of the Genverres high-school.”
“Indeed!” exclaimed Captain Gildrock significantly, as though the last item of information explained the situation fully to him. “Why don’t you learn a trade?”
“Learn a trade!” ejaculated Bolingbroke. “I never thought of such a thing.”