"I think we ought to wait till he gets better," said Joe, "'cause he was goin' in with us, an' it don't seem fair to have the show when he's so sick."
"That's foolish," said Ben, with a sneer. "If he hadn't come up to the pasture the other day you wouldn't have thought anything 'bout him, an' he'd been out to the poor-farm, where he belongs now."
"If he hadn't come up there," said Toby, "I'd never known how lonesome he was, an' I'd gone right on havin' a good time without ever once thinkin' of him. An' if he hadn't come up there, perhaps he wouldn't have got hurt, an' it seems almost as if I'd done it to him, 'cause I took him to the circus."
"Don't make a fool of yourself, Toby Tyler!" and Ben Cushing spoke almost angrily. "You act awful silly 'bout that feller, an' father says he's only a pauper anyway."
"It wouldn't make any difference if he was, 'cause he's a poor lonesome cripple; but he ain't a pauper, for old Ben's goin' to take care of him, an' he pays Uncle Dan'l for lettin' him stay here."
This news was indeed surprising to the boys, and as they fully realized that Abner was under the protection of a "circus man," he rose considerably in their estimation.
They were anxious to know all about the matter, and when Toby had told them all he could, they looked at the case in such an entirely different light that Ben Cushing even offered to go out in the field, where he could be seen from the windows of the room in which Abner lay, and go through his entire acrobatic performance, in the hope the sight might do the invalid some good. Leander Leighton also offered to come twice each day and play "Yankee Doodle," with one finger, on the accordion, in order to soothe him.
But Toby thought it best to decline both these generous offers; he was glad they had been made, but would have been much better pleased if they had come while it was still believed Abner's only home was the poor-house.
When the boys went away, Toby pleaded so hard that Aunt Olive consented to his sitting in the chamber where Abner lay, with the agreement that he should make no noise; and there he remained nearly all the day, as still as any mouse, watching the pale face on which death seemed already to have set its imprint.
Each day for two weeks Toby remained on watch, leaving the room only when it was necessary, and he was at last rewarded by hearing Abner call him by name.