He told me more than one land-owner had
wasted money in this county groping for coal. He would not waste his
money nor dirty his fingers. But he thanked me for my friendly zeal, and
rewarded me with ten shillings."
"Oh!" cried Walter, and hid his face in his hands. As for Mary, she put
her hand gently but quietly on Hope's shoulder, as if to protect him from
such insults.
"Why, children," said Hope, pleased at their sympathy, but too manly to
hunt for it, "it was more than he thought the information worth, and I
assure you it was a blessed boon to me. I had spent my last shilling, and
there I was trapesing across the island on a wild-goose chase with my
reaping-hook and my fiddle; and my poor little Grace, that I--that I--"
Mary's hand went a moment to his other shoulder, and she murmured through
her tears, "You have got _me_."
Then Hope was happy again, and indeed the simplest woman can find in a
moment the very word that is balm of Gilead to a sorrowful man.
However, Hope turned it off and continued his theme.
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