On arriving at the store he found Mr. Treat alone, and was greeted with the question,--
"Hello! Here's Aunt Nancy's young man! How's the old lady after her trip to the grove?"
"I'll warrant that. When folks want to go off for a good time they invite Nancy Curtis, reckonin' she'll do whatever work there is without grumblin', an' they ain't far out of the way, either. Did the deacon get his full share of that Mocha she bought?"
"I don't know, sir; but I guess so, I didn't hear him findin' fault."
"Then you can count on his havin' been filled up; _he_ don't buy very much of that kind of coffee when it's him as has to foot the bills."
Jack had no interest in this subject, and changed it abruptly by saying,--
"Well I reckon it was. That cow has been in the family quite a spell."
"It'll be hard on Aunt Nancy not to have the milk."
"I 'low you're 'bout right, sonny; it helped make up a good bit of the old woman's livin', an' she hasn't so much money but that a dollar makes a big difference."
"That's true, an' I've come to see if I can't help her out in some way."
"You?" and Mr. Treat looked up in surprise. "Why, I thought you hadn't any great amount of cash on hand."
"And I haven't; but I thought perhaps I might make a trade with you."
"Want to have a dicker of some kind, eh? Well, what have you got to show up?" and Mr. Treat selected from a pile of pine wood a convenient stick to whittle, as he assumed a more comfortable attitude preparatory to indulging in his favorite pastime of "dickering."
"I haven't got anything, sir; but thought there might be work I could do around here till I'd earned enough to buy Aunt Nancy another cow."
Jack stammered and hesitated until it was a positive pleasure both to himself and the storekeeper when the speech was finally ended.
"What can you do?" Mr. Treat asked thoughtfully as he fashioned with infinite care the bit of wood into a toothpick.
"Almost anything, sir. I'd be willin' to work very hard if I could get the job."
"Have you got any idea what the jobs 'round here might be?"
"It don't make any difference; I'm not afraid of bucklin' down to them."
"I want to get enough to buy a cow for Aunt Nancy."
Mr. Treat was silent for a moment as if revolving some very weighty matter in his mind, and said slowly,--