It's your own fault that
you are not still a salesman in the city."

Eben took the cigar from his mouth, and thought rapidly.

"Well," he said, after a pause, "if I agree to do this, what will you
pay me?"

"What will I pay you?"

"Yes, will you pay me ten dollars a week--the same as I got at Hanbury &
Deane's?"

"Ten dollars a week!" ejaculated Ebenezer, "I don't get any more than
that myself."

"I guess there's a little mistake in your calculations, father," said
Eben, significantly. "If you don't make at least forty dollars a week,
including the post office, then I am mistaken."

"So you are--ridiculously mistaken!" said his father, sharply. "What
you presume is entirely out of the question. You forget that you will
be getting your board, and Tom Tripp only received a dollar and a half a
week without board."

"Is that all you pay to Herbert Carr?"

"I pay him a leetle more," admitted Ebenezer.

"What will you give me?"

"I'll give you your board and clothes," said Ebenezer, "and that seems
to be more than you made in Boston."

"Are you in earnest?" asked Eben, in genuine dismay.

"Certainly. It isn't a bad offer, either."

"Do you suppose a young man like me can get along without money?"

"You ought to get along without money for the next two years, after the
sums you've wasted in Boston. It will cripple me to pay your bills," and
the storekeeper groaned at the thought of the inroads the payment would
make on his bank account.

"You're poorer than I thought, if seventy-five dollars will cripple
you," said Eben, who knew his father's circumstances too well to be
moved by this representation.

"I shall be in the poorhouse before many years if I undertake to pay all
your bills, Eben."

After all, this was not, perhaps, an exaggeration, for a spendthrift son
can get through a great deal of money.

"I can't get along without money, father," said Eben, decidedly. "How
can I buy cigars, let alone other things?"

"I don't want you to smoke cigars. You'll be a great deal better off
without them," said his father, sharply.

"I understand; it's necessary to my health," said Eben, rather absurdly.

"You won't smoke at my expense," said Ebenezer, decidedly. "I don't
smoke myself, and I never knew any good come of it."

"All the same, I must have some money. What will people say about a
young man of my age not having a cent in his pocket? They think my
father is very mean."

"I'll allow you fifty c