But no, she wouldn't like it. So he did something else
instead.
"John," he said, one morning, "I'm going to raise your salary to a hundred
dollars a month." Instantly from the lad's bright eyes there shot a look of
triumph.
"Thanks, Mr. Gale," was his hearty response.
"And in the meantime, Johnny, I want you to take a good solid month off."
"All right, sir, thank you," John replied. "But I guess it won't be quite a
month. I don't feel as if I needed it."
The next day at the office he appeared resplendent in a brand-new suit of
clothes, a summer homespun of light gray set off by a tie of flaming red.
There was nothing soft about that boy. No, Johnny knew how to look out for
himself.
And Roger went up to the farm.
CHAPTER XXIII
George met him at the station, as he had done a year before. But at once
Roger noticed a difference. In the short time since his father's death
certain lines had come in the boy's freckled face, and they gave him a
thoughtful, resolute look. George's voice was changing. One moment it was
high and boyish, again a deep and manly bass. As he kept his eyes on the
horses and talked about his mother, his grandfather from time to time threw
curious side glances.
"Oh, yes," George was saying, "mother's all right, she's doing fine. It was
pretty bad at first, though. She wouldn't let me sit up with her any--she
treated me like a regular kid. But any fellow with any sense could see how
she was feeling.
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