leave him alone.

George Wilson made his living by freighting--that is, carrying goods
from place to place by waggons, as there was no rail by which to send
things. Sometimes, when he took extra long journeys, he would have to
leave his wife and boy for some weeks to keep each other company.

'Take care of your mother, Jack, my boy,' he would say, before
starting. 'She has no man to look after her or do things for her but
ye till I get home.' And right well did the little fellow obey orders.
He was a most helpful boy for his age, and was devoted to his mother,
who was far from strong. He got up early every morning, and did what
are called the _chores_ in America; these are all the small daily jobs
that have to be done in and around a house. First, he chopped wood and
lit a fire in the stove; after that he carried water in a bucket and
filled the kettle, and then leaving the water to boil, he laid the
breakfast-table and ground the coffee.

When breakfast was over, he ran off to school, and afterwards had many
a good romp with his cousins, Steve, Hal, and Larry Byrne, who lived
quite close to his home. Jack was very fond of his Aunt Sue; she was
so like his gentle mother. He often ran in to see her, but he always
fled when he heard his Uncle Mat coming, whose loud, rough voice
frightened him.

Jack was very sorry for his cousins, as they did not seem to care a bit
for their father; indeed, at times they were very much afraid of him,
and Steve, the eldest, who was a big fellow, nearly sixteen, told Jack
that if it wasn't for his mother, he would run away from home and go
off to be a cowboy, instead of working as a miner with his father. But
he knew what a sad trouble it would be to the poor woman if he went
away from her, and he was too good a son to give her pain.

When his father was away freighting, Jack, even while he was at play,
kept a good look-out across the prairie, watching every day for his
return. He could see for miles, and when he spied the white top of the
familiar waggon appearing in the distance, he would rush home shouting,
'Mother! Mother! Daddy's coming! I see the waggon ever such a long
way off.' And then the two would get to work and prepare a nice supper
for him.

Jack could help his father, too, when he arrived home, for there were
four tired horses to unharness, and water, and feed. Jack knew them
all well; Buck and Jerry in front as leaders, and Rufus and Billy
harnessed to t