"Isn't that rather hard on an old neighbor?"

"You are a boy, Andy, and don't understand. Business is business."

"Well, come in."

Mr. and Mrs. Grant were sitting by the fireplace. They looked calm, not
sorrowful, as the squire anticipated.

"Ahem! My friends, I am sorry for you!" said the squire, in a
perfunctory way. "Life is full of disappointments, as we read in the
Scriptures."

"What do you propose to do with the farm, squire?" asked the farmer,
calmly.

"I may sell it, if I can find a purchaser. I haven't thought much about
it."

"That is right, squire. It isn't well to count your chickens before they
are hatched."

It was Andy who spoke.

"Andrew, you are very flippant," said the squire, displeased. "I
apprehend that there is very little doubt as to my having the farm to
sell."

"What do you suppose is going to become of my father?"