'Right you are,' said the boy, jumping off the mile-stone. 'I'll risk it for a shilling.'
Side by side they tramped up the snowy drive till they saw the light shining through the glass in the front door. Then the tramp drew aside, and John went boldly up the steps. The clang of the bell had scarcely died away before the door was opened by an elderly butler.
'Can I see the Squire?' asked John, in as brave a voice as he could muster.
'Show him in at once, Williams; show him in at once,' called out an impatient voice at the back of the hall.
The butler stepped back. 'I don't think, sir,' he said, 'that this is the gentleman you are expecting.'
'How do you know what gentleman I am expecting? 'Show him in at once, I tell you.'
'You'd better come straight in,' said the butler, shrugging his shoulders. He led the way across the hall, and ushered John into a comfortably furnished library. An old gentleman was sitting by the fire, enveloped in rugs. He leant forward and peered into John's face. Then he fell back wearily into his cushions. 'Dear, dear! another disappointment,' he groaned. 'Take him away, Williams.'
But John, having penetrated into the lion's den, did not mean to be dismissed so easily.
'Please, sir,' he began, hurriedly, 'I want to know whether you will give my mother a little longer to pay her rent. We have had a very hard time. Mr. Tucker is going to turn us out.'
'You must go and see Mr. Tucker about that,' answered the old man, indifferently. 'I leave all such matters to him; or, stay,' he added, 'I am expecting Mr. Harold to-night. You can come in and see him about it next week if you like.'