happy. He had that morning at the breakfast table asked his father to
give him a boat like Will Paine's, but Mr. Davis had answered by a
decided refusal.

"You don't need any boat," he said, sharply.

"It wouldn't cost very much," pleaded Halbert.

"How much do you suppose?"

"Will Paine told me his father paid fifty dollars for his."

"Why don't you borrow it sometimes?"

"I can't borrow it. Will started a day or two since for boarding
school."

"Better still. I will hire it for you while he is away."

"I thought of it myself," said Halbert, "but just before he went away
Will lent it to the factory boy," sneering as he uttered the last two
words.

"Do you mean Robert Rushton?"

"Yes."

"That's only a boy's arrangement. I will see Mr. Paine, and propose to
pay him for the use of the boat, and I presume he will be willing to
accede to my terms."