The conclusion of the matter was that Nat should enter the factory on Monday, and that his mother should open the subject to him as soon as he came home.
CHAPTER IX.
OPENING THE SUBJECT.
The door suddenly opened, and in rushed Nat, under great excitement, with his eyes "as large as saucers," to use a hyperbole, which means only that his eyes looked very large indeed.
"Sam Drake has killed little Trip," said he to his mother.
"Killed Trip!" reiterated his mother, with great surprise.
"Yes; he kicked him down the steep side of Prospect Hill, and he is stone dead."
"What did he do that for? Had he any trouble with Frank?"
"No, mother; he did it because he is an ugly boy, and for nothing else. He is always doing some wrong thing. The teacher told him the other day that he had more difficulty with the scholars than all the other boys put together. Frank and I didn't want he should go with us; but he and Ben came along and went without being asked to go."