"Nothing bad, I hope," responded the boy, with a laugh.
"I guess not, either," said Mr. Wright; "but I tell you I was taken aback when he came over to my house the other day and actually asked my forgiveness for whatever wrong he had done me, and promised to be a good neighbor from this time forward. Little by little I got the whole story of how you rescued him, and then I knew the cause of the change in him. I tell you, the day of the impossible hasn't come yet."
And Budd thought so a few days later when he received from Mr. Benton himself a fine gold watch as a token of gratitude for the noble favor he had done him.
On one of the inside cases was Budd's name, and the date of his brave act. The outside cases were plain, with a single exception. The upper lid was engraved with an olive-leaf--emblematic of the peace that was now fully assured between the lad and himself.
"Who would have thought the old miser would have been so generous!" exclaimed Judd, as he looked the watch over.
"Or possessed so much poetic sentiment," added Mr. Boyd, laughingly.
"He must have had some good in him, with all his faults, or ho would never have so quickly changed," said Budd, thoughtfully.
A declaration his companions readily accepted.
[CHAPTER XXIV.--THE FIRM'S PROFITS.]
The story now moves forward a few weeks. It is November, and Thanksgiving is close at hand. The fishing season is also nearly over. In fact the business of the young firm has for some time been principally the shipping of oysters to the neighboring towns and cities. Not that they had beds of these delicious bivalves, but had made arrangements with the owner of an extensive plat a a few miles up the bay to market the oysters on shares.