“Well, it’s all right now, mother,” he said, smiling.  “You are not sorry I did it?”

“Sorry!  I am proud of you.”

“I am not proud of my hands,” said Ben.  “Look at them.”

They were chafed and bleeding, having been lacerated by his rapid descent from the tree.

“Come home, Ben, and let me put some salve on them.  How they must pain you!”

“Wait till the fire is all over, mother.”

The gallant firemen did all they could, but the store was doomed.  They could only prevent it from extending.  In half an hour the engine was taken back, and Ben went home with his mother.

“It’s been rather an exciting evening, mother,” said Ben.  “I rather think I shall have to find a new place.”

CHAPTER XV BEN LOSES HIS PLACE

Ben did not find himself immediately out of employment.  The next morning Mr. Crawford commenced the work of ascertaining what articles he had saved, and storing them.  Luckily there was a vacant store which had once been used for a tailor’s shop, but had been unoccupied for a year or more.  This he hired, and at once removed his goods to it.  But he did not display his usual energy.  He was a man of over sixty, and no longer possessed the enterprise and ambition which had once characterized him.  Besides, he was very comfortably off, or would be when he obtained the insurance money.

“I don’t know what I shall do,” he said, when questioned.  “I was brought up on a farm, and I always meant to end my days on one.  Perhaps now is as well any time, since my business is broken up.”

This came to the ears of Squire Davenport, who was always keen-scented for a bargain.  His wife’s cousin, Mr. Kirk, who has already been introduced to the reader, had, in his earlier days, served as a clerk in a country store.  He had no capital, to be sure, but the squire had plenty.  It occurred to him as a good plan to buy out the business himself, hire Kirk on a salary to conduct it, and so add considerably to his already handsome income.  He sent for Kirk, ascertained that he was not only willing, but anxious, to manage the business, and then he called on Mr. Crawford.

It is unnecessary to detail the negotiations that ensued.  It was Squire Davenport’s wish to obtain the business as cheaply as possible.  The storekeeper, however, had his own estimate of its worth, and the squire was obliged to add considerable to his first offer.  In the end, however, he secured it on advantageous terms, and Mr. Crawford now felt able to carry out the plan he had long had in view.

It was in the evening, a week after the fire, that the bargain was struck, and Ben was one of the first to hear of it.

When he came to work early the next morning he found his employer in the store before him, which was not usual.

“You are early, Mr. Crawford,” he said, in evident surprise.