ins, drily.

"I wonder if she means anything," thought Sam

CHAPTER VIII.

SAM'S TEMPTATION.

A month passed, a month which it is safe to say was neither
satisfactory to Sam nor his employer. The deacon discovered that the
boy needed constant watching. When he was left to himself, he was sure
to shirk his work, and indulge his natural love of living at ease. His
appetite showed no signs of decrease, and the deacon was led to remark
that "Samuel had the stiddyest appetite of any boy he ever knew. He
never seemed to know when he had eaten enough."

As for Mrs. Hopkins, Sam failed to produce a favorable impression upon
her. He was by no means her ideal of a boy, though it must be added
that this ideal was so high that few living boys could expect to
attain it. He must have an old head on young shoulders, and in fact be
an angel in all respects except the wings. On these Mrs. Hopkins
probably would not insist. Being only a boy, and considerably lazier
and more mischievous than the average, there was not much prospect of
Sam's satisfying her requirements.

"You'd better send him to the poorhouse, deacon." she said more than
once. "He's the most shif'less boy I ever see, and it's awful the
amount he eats."

"I guess I'll try him a leetle longer," said the deacon. "He aint had
no sort of bringin' up, you know."

So at the end of four weeks Sam still continued a member of the
deacon's household.

As for Sam, things were not wholly satisfactory to him. In spite of
all his adroit evasions of duty, he found himself obliged to work more
than he found agreeable. He didn't see the fun of trudging after the
deacon up and down the fields in the warm summer days. Even his meals
did not yield unmingled satisfaction, as he had learned from
experience that Mrs. Hopkins did not approve of giving him a second
slice of pie, and in other cases interfered to check the complete
gratification of his appetite, alleging that it wasn't good for boys
to eat too much.

Sam took a different view of the matter, and felt that if he was
willing to take the consequences, he ought to be allowed to eat as
much as he pleased. He was not troubled with the catechism any more.
The deacon found him so stolid and unteachable that he was forced to
give up in despair, and Sam became master of his own time in the
evening. He usually strayed into the village, where he found company
at the village store. Here it was that he met a youth who was desti