plainly unhappy. And Eddie was a worry to him too:
he should be working for himself and Aunt Amy, instead of being a burden
to them. As "head of the family," he said so, and even went so far as to
say he thought Riversdale now a secondary consideration, and his own
savings in future would not go to the bank, but to buy little delicacies
for his aunt and cousin. When he heard about the timber-yard, he said at
once that Eddie should accept the situation. "One office is just like
another, Eddie," he cried; "tea or timber, what does it matter? one has
to go through the same routine to begin with. Besides, we must do
something to help Aunt Amy."

So Eddie agreed to accept Uncle Gregory's proposal.

"Bravo, Eddie, old fellow! I knew when it came to the point that you
would act rightly and generously," Bertie cried earnestly. "And if we're
both very saving, you may still be able to have classes in the evening,
and when I get a little rich you shall return to your painting; but we
must both put our shoulders to the wheel now, old boy, and be as saving
as ever we can."

"I've nothing to save," Eddie replied. "I've no salary for three years.
Still, I'll write to Uncle Gregory to-night: the sooner I begin the
better."

[Illustration: "THEY ARRIVED AT THE HALL DOOR" (_p. 355_).]

No one knew what an effort it cost Eddie to give in; still, in spite of
his pride and vanity, he was a right-hearted, independent lad at heart,
and the idea of being a burden to Aunt Amy was simply intolerable. When
Mr. Murray heard of his resolution, he puckered up his eyebrows, and
talked to himself for fully five minutes, then he patted Eddie on the
shoulder, and said he was glad he had sufficient real pride to enable
him to put his false pride in his pocket, and declared that he would
never lose his self-respect and the respect of others by honest hard
work. "But work for three years you _shall_ not!" he cried, suddenly.
"They must give you a small salary to begin with." So Eddie, the lofty,
the haughty, the often intolerant Eddie, went to the timber-yard with a
tolerably good grace, and when, at the end of the first week, he placed
his earnings in Aunt Amy's hands, he felt positively happy. Very soon
after, owing to the kind intervention of Mr. Murray, Bertie got
permission to live with Aunt Amy, his uncle paying ten shillings a week
extra for his board and lodgings, so that in all he had a pound, and it
seemed quite a large sum of money. Of cou