“Well,” he replied, slowly. “I think he wants a young fellow for the coming season, and hadn’t hired any one the last I knew. But I think you must be a stranger in these parts?”
“Yes,” the youth answered, briefly.
And then, thanking the man for his information, he turned away.
“I thought so,” Mr. Goodenough called after him, “else you wouldn’t want to go there to work.”
The boy scarcely gave heed to the remark at the time; but it was not long before he learned, by hard experience, the meaning of it.
A quarter of a mile up the road he reached a gate, and, passing through it, hastened down the narrow lane till he came to a long, low, dilapidated house; but in the darkness, which had by this time fallen, he was not able to form any definite idea of his surroundings.
A feeble light issued from a back window, and, guided by that, he found the rear door of the building.
To his knock there was a chorus of responses. Dogs barked, children screamed, and above the din a gruff voice shouted, “Come in!”
A little disconcerted by the unusual sounds, the boy, instead of obeying the invitation, knocked again.
Then there was a heavy step across the floor, the door swung open with a jerk, and a tall, raw-boned man, shaggy-bearded and shock haired, stood on the threshold.