There were exceptions
to this rule, however. An old farmer who had brought a load of wheat to
the station listened to the tale, asked a great many questions about
the case, and said, finally,--
"I s'pose you're all doin' all you can to help him along?"
The by-standers looked at one another, but no one answered in the
affirmative. One man at last found words to say, "Why, he's tryin' to
help hisself along, and we're watchin' to see how he'll succeed. Now, I
was along by his place this mornin', an' seen him carryin' in the last
wood from his wood-pile. 'Sam,' I hollered, 'don't you want to buy a
load of wood? I've got some I want to sell.' 'I need it,' said Sam,
'but I ain't got a cent.' Well, mebbe I'd have trusted him for a load
if he'd asked me, but it occurred to me to stand off an' see how he'd
manage it. It's cold weather now, an' if he don't get it some way, his
family'll go cold. I went by there again at noon-time, but he hadn't
got none yit."
"He's as independent like," said another, "as if he hadn't never been
in jail."
"You're a pack of heartless hogs!" roared the farmer, getting into his
wagon and driving off.
"Can't see that he's any different from the rest of us," muttered one
of the by-standers.
Could the group have known the trouble in the new cobbler's heart, as
he bent all day over his work and thought of the needed wood, their
interest in the subject would have been enhanced.
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