"
Paddy's homely face was beaming as he said, "Shure, an' I'm glad ye
like him, Dick, me boy. Can ye kape a secret if I tell ye? His
mother's dead and I begged him, and when he's a bit bigger, if I can
rare him, he shall be your very own."
Dick fairly gasped with delight, as the little warm bundle was put into
his arms, for he had never had a pet, or anything living, of his own,
to love since his father died.
"And his name's 'Pat,' unless there's something you'd like better, and
I'll kape him till he's big enough to look after himself."
Suddenly Dick's face changed, and a sob came into his throat as he
said, "Oh, Paddy, it's so good of you to offer him, but they'll never
let me have him to keep. There is nowhere I could hide him, and Tim
would hurt him every time he came near."
"Bad luck to him then, for a ondacent spalpeen as he is. It's a shame
how they trate you. Oh, oi know, without telling. But shure, ye won't
be there for ever. They've no claim on ye at all, at all. The bit of
money your father left, and the insurance, have paid for your keep over
and over, to say nothing of the work you're doing for that lazybones
all the while. If you could only get to Ironboro' now, and find your
Uncle Richard, he'd see you righted.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25