another of yer capers, Tom Noman. There never was a man
on the earth meaner'n ye air!"

But Mr. Goodenough, who knew his neighbors well, could in no way account
for the boy's willingness to endure what he knew he must be suffering,
and finally his curiosity got the better of him; for, meeting Matt one
day as he was returning from the nearest village, he drew up his horses
and said:

"Matt, do you know you are the profoundest example of human patience I
ever saw?"

"No; is that so?" replied Matt, with a laugh. "What makes you think so?"

"Well," remarked Mr. Goodenough, leaning on his wagon-seat and looking
down into the smiling countenance before him, "I have lived here beside
Tom Noman and his wife for a dozen years, and know them well enough to
be sure that an angel couldn't long stand their fault-finding, and yet
you have actually been there six weeks, and are still as cheerful as a
lark on one of these beautiful spring mornings. Will you explain to me
how you manage to stand it?"

While he was speaking a far-away look had come into Matt's eyes, and a
shudder shook his robust frame, as though he saw something very
disagreeable to himself; but he answered, quietly enough:

"Mr. Goodenough, there are some things in this world harder to bear than
either work or unkind treatment, and I prefer even to live with Tom
Noman's family rather than to go back to the life I have left
behind me."

With these words, Matt started up his oxen and went on, leaving Mr.
Goodenough to resume his way more mystified than ever.

On the first day of June, Matt asked Mr. Noman for the previous month's
pay.

They were at work in the cornfield, and the boy's request took his
employer so by surprise that his hoe-handle dropped from his grasp.

"Me pay ye now!" he exclaimed. "What air ye thinkin' of?"

Then, as though another idea had come to his mind, he said,
persuasively:

"Ye don't need no money, an' 'twill be better to have yer pay all in a
lump. Jest think how much it'll be--sixty dollars! an' all yer own."

"But I have a special use for the money," persisted Matt; "and, as I
have earned it, I should think you might give it to me."

He spoke all the more emphatically because he knew that Mr. Noman had
quite a sum of money by him, and that he could easily pay him if he
chose to do so.

For reply, Mr. Noman put his hand into his pocket, and, taking out his
wallet, opened it. From it he drew the paper of agreement that Matt