This Dick had the reputation of being a scape-grace and a
ne'er-do-well. He was about the age of John Haynes, but had not
attended school for a couple of years, and, less from want of
natural capacity than from indolence, knew scarcely more than a
boy of ten. His father was a shoemaker, and had felt obliged to
keep his son at home to assist him in the shop. He did not prove
a very efficient assistant, however, being inclined to shirk duty
whenever he could.
It was upon this boy that John Haynes fixed as most likely to
help him in his plot. On his way home from school the next
afternoon, he noticed Dick loitering along a little in advance.
"Hold on, Dick," he called out, in a friendly voice, at the same
time quickening his pace.
Dick turned in some surprise, for John Haynes had a foolish
pride, which had hitherto kept him very distant toward those whom
he regarded as standing lower than himself in the social scale.
"How are you, John?" he responded, putting up the knife with
which he had been whittling.
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