Mr. Lord patted him on the head, gave him two large sticks of candy,
and, what was more kind and surprising, considering the fact that
he wore glasses and was cross eyed, he winked at Toby. A wink from
Mr. Lord must have been intended to convey a great deal, because,
owing to the defect in his eyes, it required no little exertion,
and even then could not be considered as a really first class wink.
That wink, distorted as it was, gladdened Toby's heart immensely
and took away nearly all the sting of the scolding with which Uncle
Daniel greeted him when he reached home.
That night -- despite the fact that he was going to travel with the
circus, despite the fact that his home was not a happy or cheerful
one -- Toby was not in a pleasant frame of mind. He began to feel
for the first time that he was doing wrong; and as he gazed at
Uncle Daniel's stern, forbidding looking face, it seemed to have
changed somewhat from its severity, and caused a great lump of
something to come up in his throat as he thought that perhaps he
should never see it again. Just then one or two kind words would
have prevented him from running away, bright as the prospect of
circus life appeared.
It was almost impossible for him to eat anything, and this very
surprising state of affairs attracted the attention of Uncle Daniel.
"Bless my heart! what ails the boy?" asked the old man, as he peered
over his glasses at Toby's well filled plate, which was usually
emptied so quickly.
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