'I mean, I don't want to stay any longer, sir,' I replied, my voice trembling with emotion.
'But you must stay, Edmund,' said Mr. Rollins, in his harsh, imperative way. 'Your uncle indentured you to us till you are twenty-one, and you can't go.'
'I shall go, sir,' I replied, with less respect than he deserved. 'My uncle indentured me to the old firm; I am not bound to stay with the new.'
Mr. Russell looked grieved, but in the same mild tone as before, he said:
'I am sorry, Edmund, very sorry, to hear thee say that. Thee can go if thee likes; but it grieves me to hear thee quibble so. Thee will not prosper, my son, if thee follows this course in life.' And the moisture came into the old man's eyes as he spoke. It filled mine, and rolled in large drops down my cheeks, as I replied:
'Forgive me, sir, for speaking so. I do not want to do wrong, but I can't stay with John Hallet.'
'Why can't thee stay with John?'
'He don't like me, sir. We are not friends.'
'Why are you not friends?'
'Because I know him, sir.'