"Well, it is nice to hear you say all that, Richard, for it tells me
that your heart is true, and that no matter what befalls I can depend on
my boy's love. But there's no use crossing a river before we come to it.
I shall offer no opposition to you doing any honest work that comes your
way during vacation; and if times have not improved when school opens
again, I suppose I must endure the thought of your continuing on. You
have always been a lucky fisherman, and what you bring home has been so
sweet and palatable that it seems to me you could easily find purchasers
for all you could catch," she said, leaving him, to begin to look after
the supper that was cooking on the stove.
"Only if everything else fails can I try that," he explained. "You see
one can't depend on the fish to do their part of the contract. Some days
they refuse to bite at all, and then other days are stormy. But I've got
several ideas that I'm bound to try out, and I'm going to start
to-morrow."
That was all he said, for Dick never liked to boast in advance of what
he expected to accomplish, having learned from sad experience that very
often a snag is apt to sink the craft freighted with hopes, and when
least expected.
He busied himself setting the table, while his mother lighted the lamp
and prepared to serve their frugal meal.
It was a time of year when very little came in from the small garden
that lay back of the house, and which they took care of in common, Dick
doing all the hard work and his mother some of the weeding; later on
they expected that the proceeds from this patch would provide many a
good meal, should the weather smile upon their united efforts.
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