“No! Get out o’ my way!”
“Haven’t you, honestly? I’m in a beastly fix, Mr. Crump. I’ve got to get hold of five dollars somewhere. I tried Mr. Pounder and he wouldn’t loosen up a bit. I’d pay it back by Saturday, cross my heart!”
Mr. Crump grasped his broom more firmly, straightened his bent back and observed the boy with pardonable amazement. As long as he had been with the school, and that was many years, no one had ever tried to borrow money from him. Perhaps it pleased his sense of importance or perhaps something of earnestness in Hugh’s voice appealed to him, for after a moment’s scrutiny he asked quite mildly:
“What’s your name?”
“Ordway.”
“Oh, you’re the English boy, be you? And you’ve got to have five dollars, have you? Ain’t any of your friends got that much?”
“I dare say, but they’re all over at the field, and I’ve got to have the money right off, within a few minutes. I can’t explain, but that’s the way it is. I say, I’d be jolly glad to pay you six for the loan of five until Saturday.”
“Would you now? I want to know! How do I know I’d get it, eh?” Mr. Crump chuckled. “Five dollars is a sight of money for a poor man to risk.”
“But I tell you I’d pay you back!”
“Oh, you do, eh? I been told things before in my life, young man.”