"No, sir; I shall want money worse than I ever have yet when I part with Jack. Thank you for the offer, but I cannot sell my dog."
"That is a foolish boy," said the colonel, turning to a friend as Harry went off down the street whistling to his dog; "I made him a good offer. You know my boy Frank is an invalid, and it was to gratify a whim of his that I offered the boy twice the worth of the dog."
"I heard your offer, and I confess I thought it very liberal," replied the friend; "has the boy rich parents, that he can afford to reject such offers?"
"No; Danvers is only a day laborer, and I do not suppose the boy ever had five dollars pocket money in his life."
"Humph!" was the expressive rejoinder of the friend; then the subject was dropped.
There was a missionary convention in progress in the town where Harry Danvers lived. Harry was not specially interested in missions, though he was a Sunday-school scholar and a member of a Mission Band; but someway he did not get interested in the Band. And I suspect that boys generally fail to become interested in the Mission Bands. Can you tell why it is that our missionary societies are so largely made up of girls?
Harry had no thought of going to any of the meetings in progress, but at tea time his sister Alice said:
"Harry, they say that the teacher from the school where our Band supports a pupil is going to speak to-night at the First Church; let's go down."
"I don't want to hear any missionary women speak," said Harry.
"But, my son, if your sister wants to go, you will not refuse to go with her?" said Mr. Danvers.