"Say, you Joe!" shouted Uncle Eben indignatly, "wha' foh yo' done sett'n' heah?"

   "Rest'n'," said Joe Brennan, taking another bite from his apple.

   "Ain't yo' gwine git dem trunks home to-day?" demanded the old darkey.

   Joe seemed to consider this question carefully before he ventured to commit himself. Then he looked at Colonel Hathaway and said:

   "What I want t' know, Boss, is whether I'm hired by the hour, er by the day?"

   "Didn't Uncle Eben tell you?"

   "Naw, he didn't. He jes' said t' go git the trunks an' he'd gimme a dollar fer the trip."

   "Well, that seems to settle the question, doesn't it!"

   "Not quite, Boss. I be'n thinkin' it over, on the way, an' a dollar's too pesky cheap fer this trip. Sometimes I gits twenty-five cents a hour fer haulin' things, an' this looks to me like a day's work."

   "If you made good time," said Colonel Hathaway, "you might do it easily in four hours."

   Joe shook his head.

   "Not me, sir," he replied. "I hain't got the constitution fer it. An' them hosses won't trot 'less I lick 'em, an' ef I lick 'em I'm guilty o' cru'lty ter animals—includin' myself. No, Boss, the job's too cheap, so I guess I'll give it up an' go home."

   "But you're nearly at the station now," protested the Colonel.

   "I know; but it's half a mile fu'ther an' the hosses is tired. I guess I'll go home."

   "Oh, Gran'pa!" whispered Mary Louise, "it'll never do to leave our trunks lying there by the railroad tracks."

   The Colonel eyed Joe thoughtfully.

   "If you were hired by the day," said he, "I suppose you would do a day's work?"

   "I'd hev to," admitted Joe. "That's why I 'asked ye how about it. Jes' now it looks to me like I ain't hired at all. The black man said he'd gimme a dollar fer the trunks, that's all."

   "How much do you charge a day?" asked the Colonel.

 Prev. P 5/134 next