of an eye would have given him less pain than the
parting with his boy, though he felt from the first that the lad would
go.

Nothing could be determined without consulting Jim, and as the
conversation had destroyed the desire for further sport, they packed
their fishing-tackle and returned to camp.

"The boy was'n't got up for my 'commodation," said Jim, when the
proposition was placed before him. "I seen the thing comin' for a week,
an' I've brung my mind to't. We hain't got no right to keep 'im up here,
if he can do better. Turk ain't bad company fur them as likes dogs, but
he ain't improvin'. I took the boy away from Tom Buffum 'cause I could
do better by 'im nor he could, and when a man comes along that can do
better by 'im nor I can, he's welcome to wade in. I hain't no right to
spile a little feller's life 'cause I like his company. I don't think
much of a feller that would cheat a man out of a jews-harp 'cause he
liked to fool with it. Arter all, this sendin' the boy off is jest
turnin' 'im out to pastur' to grow, an' takin' 'im in in the fall. He
may git his head up so high t'we can't git the halter on 'im again, but
he'll be worth more to somebody that can, nor if we kep 'im in the
stable. I sh'll hate to say good-bye t' the little feller, but I sh'll
vote to have 'im go, unanimous."

Mr. Benedict was not a man who had will enough to withstand the rational
and personal considerations that were brought to bear upon him, and then
the two boys were brought into the consultation. Thede was overjoyed
with the prospect of having for a home companion the boy to whom he had
become so greatly attached, and poor Harry was torn by a conflict of
inclinations. To leave Jim and his father behind was a great sorrow; and
he was half angry with himself to think that he could find any pleasure
in the prospect of a removal. But the love of change, natural to a boy,
and the desire to see the wonders of the great city, with accounts of
which Thede had excited his imagination, overcame his inclination to
remain in the camp. The year of separation would be very short, he
thought, so that, after all, it was only a temporary matter. The moment
the project of going away took possession of him, his regrets died, and
the exit from the woods seemed to him like a journey into dreamland,
from which he should return in the morning.

How to get the lad through Sevenoaks, where he would be sure to be
recognised, and so reveal the hiding-pl