This would probably be his last duty, and it would be well done.

He was childless, sixty-five years old, and had been idle for years.

Now he would show his neighbors something of his skill and his power to command.

He did not need the pay; he needed the occupation and the being in touch with the things about him.

For the last fifteen or more years he had nursed a sorrow and lived the life almost of a recluse.