Then he did odd jobs for the neighbors, and picked up perhaps
as much more. Mrs. Larkin had some skill as a dressmaker,
but Groveton was a small village, and there was another in the
same line, so that her income from this source probably did not
average more than three dollars a week. This was absolutely
all that they had to live on, though there was no rent to pay;
and the reader will not be surprised to learn that Luke had no
money to spend for watches.
"Are you tired, Luke?" asked his mother, after supper.
"No, mother. Can I do anything for you?"
"I have finished a dress for Miss Almira Clark. I suppose
she will want to wear it to church tomorrow. But she lives
so far away, I don't like to ask you to carry it to her."
"Oh, I don't mind. It won't do me any harm."
"You will get tired."
"If I do, I shall sleep the better for it."
"You are a good son, Luke."
"I ought to be. Haven't I got a good mother?"
So it was arranged. About seven o'clock, after his chores
were done--for there was some wood to saw and split--Luke set
out, with the bundle under his arm, for the house of Miss Clark,
a mile and a half away.
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