Well, he would damn the extra expense and take the boy along with him! Purdy was at a loose end, and would no doubt rise like a fish to a fly at the chance of getting to town free of cost.

After all, why be hard on him?
He was not much over twenty, and, at that age, it was natural enough--especially in a place like this--for a lad to flit like a butterfly from every cup that took his restless fancy.
Restless?
...

h'm! It was the word Purdy had flung back at him, earlier in the evening.

At the time, he had rebutted the charge, with a glance at fifteen months spent behind the counter of a store.

But there was a modicum of truth in it, none the less.