he wakened, but not yet light. He heard the man in the barn with the
horses, so jumping up hastily he dressed and went out to help him, with the
hope that he could remain and work about the barn, though this was not the
kind of work he had wished for.

"Have you need of a hand around the barn?" he asked the man after a while.
"If you have I should like a job."

"No, I can manage all there is to do very well," was the discouraging
reply.

"Do you know of any work around here I could get?"

"Not a thing. You are most too young to stand the work in the oil-fields,
and that is about all there is to do this time of year. I shall go over to
the house now for my breakfast, and you look after things while I am gone
and then you may go get yours," said the man, who felt genuine pity for the
boy.

Austin enjoyed the warm breakfast and the kindness of the housewife who
gave it to him. Before he left, the man handed him almost a dollar in
change, another act of kindness.

Taking his suitcase again in his hand Austin proceeded on his uncertain
journey. The money the stableman had given him would be sufficient to carry
him to the village where his grandparents lived, and as he had heard that
Wilbur was there, he decided to cease looking for his friend and go on to
his grandparents' home and get assistance from his brother. He thought this
would be only fair, for Wilbur had borne no responsibility, while he
himself had given all his wages for the support of the family.