"I'll think of it," returned the boy soberly. "I reckon you're right. I know Miss Taylor don't think much of us. But I'm tired of waiting; I want to get to work."
Miss Smith laid a kindly hand upon his shoulder.
"I've been waiting thirty years, Robert," she said, with feeling, and he hung his head.
"I wanted to talk about it," he awkwardly responded, turning slowly away. But Miss Smith stopped him.
"Robert, where is the land Cresswell offers you?"
"It's on the Tolliver place."
"The Tolliver place?"
"Yes, he is going to buy it."
Miss Smith dismissed the boy absently and sat down. The crisis seemed drawing near. She had not dreamed the Tolliver place was for sale. The old man must be hard pressed to sell to the Cresswells.
She started up. Why not go see him? Perhaps a mortgage on the strength of the endowment? It was dangerous—but—