Sadie stooped and kissed him and then went out.  She was moved, but there was nothing to be said.  Her father was not a sentimentalist, but he had never failed her and would not do so now.  When she sat down in her room, however, her face was grave.  Her courage was high, but she felt half afraid.  Although she loved Bob Charnock, life with him might be difficult.  He was older than she and knew much more, but she must lead him and be firm where he was weak.  It was a hard task for an ignorant girl, but she resolved to carry it out.

Next morning Keller went down the street and entered a wooden building filled with gaudily painted mowers and plows.  He was not the man to waste time when he had made a plan, and moreover felt that he had not much time to lose.  Finding the implement dealer in his office, he sat down, breathing rather hard.

“You don’t look very spry this morning,” the dealer remarked.

“I don’t feel so bright.  The boys have been rushing me the last week or two.  Say, trade is booming now!”

“It surely is.  I could sell more machines than I’ve got, but I’ve got a lot of money standing out, and after the bad harvest last fall, don’t know who to trust.”

They compared notes about their customers, and presently the dealer remarked:  “Charnock was in a few days ago, asking about a new wagon, a mower, and some small tools.”

“Ah!” said Keller, rather sharply.  “Then it looks as if he meant to hold on!  He reckoned, not long since, that he’d have to quit.  But what did you tell him?”

“To come again.  I’d like to keep Bob Charnock up, but guess it’s dangerous.  Owes me a pile.  How does he stand with you?”

Keller supplied the information, and the other looked thoughtful.  “Didn’t know it was quite so bad as that.  I allow I’d better not let him have the goods.”

“Well, I reckon he’s trying the new man at Concord.  Smith said he met him there yesterday.”

The dealer frowned.  He hated to think of a customer going to somebody else.  In fact, this was, for a debtor, an unpardonable offense.

“Charnock’s trouble is that he’s not quite straight.  Ought to have stayed with me, told me how he was fixed, and let me see what I could do.  If he’s going to deal with the new man, I’d better pull him up and try to get my money back.”

“You can’t get it,” said Keller dryly.  “He can’t pay now, and if you let him go on until harvest, you’ll have a crowd of others with long bills fighting for what’s left.”

“Looks like that,” the dealer agreed.  “Well, I’d have liked to keep him going if he’d stayed with me, but I can’t stand for losing the dollars he owes.  What are we going to do about the thing?”

Keller explained his plans, and after some argument the other agreed.  The decision they came to would bring Charnock’s farming to an end, but Keller left the office with some doubts.  His scheme was going to succeed, but he wondered whether he had indulged Sadie too far.  Much depended on her firmness, and she might find the job harder than she thought; but on the whole he imagined she would be equal to the strain.