“He can pay, all right, Mr. Saunders. His name is Willard Morris. His father——”
“I know. All right.”
“But why didn’t you take the five?” asked Willard, when Tom repeated the conversation outside. “Every dollar helps, you know.”
“Yes, but it didn’t seem quite fair, when I was sort of half buying it myself.”
“No, that’s so. Now you’d better talk to your father first, and then I’ll say my piece.”
CHAPTER III
MR. BENTON SAYS YES
Mr. Benton was at his desk, in the little, partitioned-off office, and the boys quite filled the tiny space. Perhaps Tom’s father had been thinking about the plan since the evening before, and had changed his views, for it required hardly any persuasion to gain his agreement. “Yes, Tom, I’ll advance you fifty dollars, if you decide to buy it,” he said, when Tom had explained. “But you mustn’t come to me for any more afterward, because I simply can’t let you have it. We’ll make a business proposition of it, and you’ll pay me back the fifty from time to time. Is that satisfactory?”
“Yes, sir; thank you.”
“Very well. When do you want the money?”