"What is your business?"

"I keep a store, but I should want him to work on land part of the
time."

"Do you live hereabouts?"

"Over at Cranston."

"If you'll come to the house, we'll talk the matter over. The boy's a
good boy, and we want to get a good place for him. His mother was a
widder, and he's her only son. He's a smart, capable lad, and good to
work."

"I've no doubt he'll suit me. I'll take him on your recommendation."

"We should want him to go to school winters. He's a pretty good scholar
already. His father was a larned man, and used to teach him before he
died. If he had lived, I reckon Herbert would certainly have gone to
college."

"I'll agree to send him to school in the winter for the next two years,"
said Holden, "and will give him board and clothes, and when he's twenty-
one a freedom suit, and a hundred dollars. Will that do?"

"I don't know but that's reasonable," said Captain Ross, slowly. "The
boy's a bit high-spirited, but if you manage him right, I guess you'll
like him."

"I'll manage him!" thought Abner Holden. "Can I take him with me to-