His brother shook the watch, opened it, and made several attempts to set it going, but all to no purpose.
“I guess it’s a job for a jeweler,” he said at last regretfully. “Of course, I’ll pay whatever it costs to have it fixed.”
“By the time you get through settling with Jed Muggs, you won’t feel much like paying anything else,” retorted Aaron, “Give me the watch and I’ll take it down town in the morning and leave it to be mended. Chances are it’ll never be as good again.
“I’m dead tired now,” and again he yawned. “If you folks don’t mind, I guess I’ll be getting to bed.”
They were only too glad to speed him on his way. Nobody ever attempted to stop him, when he was ready to retire. It was the one thing he did that met with everybody’s approval.
His brother went up with him to see that everything had been made ready for his comfort, and then, bidding him good-night, came back to his wife.
He smiled at her whimsically, and she smiled back at him tearfully.
“Been a good deal of a siege,” he commented.
“Hasn’t it?” she agreed. “But, oh, Mansfield, whatever in the world are we going to do about Teddy?”
He frowned and studied the points of his shoes.