The pages were wet and stuck together. The binding was warped.
Sally was starting down the path toward the Crawford cabin when Abe
called after her.
"Wait! I'm coming with you."
He thrust the book inside his buckskin shirt. Sally tried to comfort
him, but Abe kept wondering what Mr. Crawford was going to say. He was a
little scared of Josiah. Some of the boys called him "Old Bluenose"
because of the large purple vein on the side of his nose. It made him
look rather cross. He probably would want Abe to pay for the book, and
Abe had no money.
He opened the Crawford gate and marched up to the kitchen door. Josiah,
his wife Elizabeth, and Sammy, their little boy, were having breakfast.
When Abe explained what had happened, Mrs. Crawford patted his shoulder.
He liked her. She was always nice to him, but he knew that her husband
was the one who would decide about the book. Josiah took it in his big
hands and looked at the stained pages.
"Well, Abe," he said slowly, "I won't be hard on you. If you want to
pull fodder three days for me, that ought to pay for the book."
"Starting right now?"
"Yep, starting right now.
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