followed the party, evidently because he did not know what else to do with himself.
“Couldn’t you say a word to your uncle in my favor, Dory?” said he on the way to the lake. “He knows all the storekeepers, and a word from him would make a place for me.”
“He won’t recommend you, because he knows nothing at all about you,” replied Dory. “Why don’t you join the school, as he asked you to do?”
“I should make nothing for my father by doing that,” added Bolingbroke. “I want to help him pay his interest-money.”
“How much can you do for him when you get only four dollars a week?” asked Dory. “You would have to pay three for your board, and that would leave you about fifty to pay for your clothes, washing, and all other expenses. You would be just as well off at the end of the year, and so would your father, if you went to the school.”
“But the idea of becoming a carpenter or a greasy machinist!” exclaimed Bolingbroke with a curl upon his lip.
“I thought you wanted to earn money to help your father. A little oil on your hands won’t
hurt you,” replied Dory, rather disgusted with his companion.
“I am sure my mother won’t let me become a mechanic, but I will speak to her about it tonight. I suppose I can go down with you in the Goldwing: I have no other way to get home.”
“Certainly, I have room enough. But how will you get the sloop Mr. Longbrook gave you up to Genverres?”