Evidently they
were not used to seeing strange boys. The silence was soon broken,
however, by one of the boys calling out, "Why, fellers, thet's the
chap what's been workin' fer Hiram Tinch." This announcement was
enough to make Archie an even greater object of interest than before,
for the boys seemed to think that any person who could work for Farmer
Tinch, and come out of the ordeal none the worse for wear, must be
something wonderful. Archie was soon on good terms with them all,
however, and told them of his plan of going to New York. The boys were
all attention, and soon he was the hero of the occasion. When the bell
rung for the afternoon service he was still telling them of the things
he was going to do, and none of them wanted to go into the church.
Archie persuaded them to enter, however, but he was not surprised to
meet them all along the road when he left Tinch's early Monday
morning.
It was almost time to go to bed when they reached the farmhouse that
night, so Archie went at once to his attic, being anxious to start
fresh on his journey the next day. He was now determined to push on as
rapidly as possible, hoping to reach the city within three or four
days. He was somewhat afraid that he wouldn't be able to do this, but
he was going to try, anyhow.
At daylight Monday morning he was on the way, and when the various
boys he met the day before said good-bye to him and wished him good
luck, he felt that his stay at Tinch's had not been without benefits
of some sort.
Pages:
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43