overseers; don't cry, Harry. Hope for the best."

"No use of hoping against such a man as Jacob Wire. If he don't starve
me, he will work me to death. I would rather die than go there."

"Well, well; don't take on so. Perhaps something can be done."

"Something shall be done," added the boy, as he rose from his seat,
with an air of determination in keeping with the strong words he
uttered.

The keeper's presence was required in the barn, and he left Harry
musing and very unhappy about his future prospects. The thought of
becoming a member of Jacob Wire's family was not to be entertained.
The boy was a pauper, and had been brought up at the expense of the
town; but he seemed to feel that, though fortune and friends had
forsaken him, he was still a member of the great human family.

Jacob Wire, with whom it was proposed to apprentice him, had the
reputation of being a hard master. He loved money, and did not love
anything else. His heart was barren of affection, as his soul was of
good principles; and though he did not literally starve his family and
his help, he fed them upon the poorest and meanest fare that would
support human life. The paupers in the poorhouse lived sumptuously,
compared with those who gathered around the board of Jacob Wire.

The keeper knew this from experience, for years ago, before he had
been appointed to his present situation, he had worked for Wire; and
age and prosperity had not improved him. The more he got, the more he
wanted; the fuller his barn and storehouse, the more stingy he became
to those who were dependent upon him.

Harry West was a good boy, and a great favorite with the keeper of the
poorhouse. He was always good-natured, willing to work, and never
grumbled about his food. He was not only willing to take care of the
baby washing days, but seemed to derive pleasure from the occupation.
For all these reasons, Mr. Nason liked Harry, and had a deep interest
in his welfare; something more than a merely selfish interest, for he
had suggested to the overseers the propriety of binding him out to
learn some good trade.

Harry was sad and disheartened; but he had unlimited confidence in the
keeper, and felt sure that he would protect him from such a calamity
as being sent to Jacob Wire's. After he had carried the windfalls into
the shed, he asked Mr. Nason if he might go down to the river for a
little while. The permission given, he jumped over the cow yard wall,
and with his eye