"I shall take care that he doesn't get in here again, and then I won't
have to be to the trouble to put him out."

Joe Cuttle indulged in another of his silent fits of laughter and then
returned to his furnaces, which he had to feed pretty constantly while
the great engine was using the steam.

The forenoon passed without further incident, and Larry was somewhat
relieved that he had not yet seen the superintendent.

He feared that the latter might ask some questions about his father's
absence which it would be embarrassing not to answer.

"Perhaps mother will tell me something about it when I get home," was
his thought, as he hurried along the narrow street which led to his
dwelling.

But again he was disappointed. His dinner was ready when he came in, but
Mrs. Kendall only sat at the table in silence and attended to his wants.

Larry felt as though he could not restrain the growing feeling of
apprehension caused by his mother's looks and strange reticence. They
were so unlike her usual cheerfulness when he came home from school or
the shop, and he could see that she had grown yet paler than when he
left her at the breakfast table in the morning.

He had only a few minutes before he must return to the shop. Yet he
lingered at the door, cap in hand.

"Mother, what is it?" he pleaded, as she glanced toward him.