Ben tried, in his rough, honest way, to comfort him, but without
success; and it was not until the boy's grief had spent itself that
he would listen to any reasoning.
All this time the monkey had remained perfectly quiet, submitting
to Toby's squeezing without making any effort to get away, and
behaving as if he knew he had done wrong, and was trying to atone
for it. He looked up into the boy's face every now and then with such
a penitent expression that Toby finally assured him of forgiveness
and begged him not to feel so badly.
XIII: TOBY ATTEMPTS TO RESIGN HIS SITUATION
At last it was possible for Toby to speak of his loss with some
degree of calmness, and then he immediately began to reckon up what
he could have done with the money if he had not lost it.
"Now see here, Toby," said Ben, earnestly, "don't go to doin'
anything of that kind. The money's lost, an' you can't get it back
by talkin'; so the very best thing for you is to stop thinkin' what
you could do if you had it, an' just to look at it as a goner."
"But --" persisted Toby.
"I tell you there's no buts about it," said Ben, rather sharply.
"Stop talkin' about what's gone, an' just go to thinkin' how you'll
get more. Do what you've a mind to the monkey, but don't keep
broodin' over what you can't help."
Toby knew that the advice was good and he struggled manfully to
carry it into execution, but it was very hard work.
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