18. "Yes," resumed Uncle Ben, quietly, "for your eyes. I will give you
chloroform, so it will not hurt you in the least, and you shall have a
beautiful glass pair for nothing, to wear in their place. Come, a dollar
apiece, cash down! What do you say? I will take them out as quick as a
wink."
19. "Give you my eyes, uncle!" cried Harry, looking wild at the very
thought, "I think not." And the startled little fellow shook his head
defiantly.
20. "Well, five, ten, twenty dollars, then." Harry shook his head at every
offer.
21. "No, sir! I wouldn't let you have them for a thousand dollars! What
could I do without my eyes? I couldn't see mother, nor the baby, nor the
flowers, nor the horses, nor anything," added Harry, growing warmer and
warmer.
22. "I will give you two thousand," urged Uncle Ben, taking a roll of bank
notes out of his pocket. Harry, standing at a respectful distance, shouted
that he never would do any such thing.
23. "Very well," continued the uncle, with a serious air, at the same time
writing something in his notebook, "I can't afford to give you more than
two thousand dollars, so I shall have to do without your eyes; but," he
added, "I will tell you what I will do, I will give you twenty dollars if
you will let me put a few drops from this bottle in your ears. It will not
hurt, but it will make you deaf. I want to try some experiments with
deafness, you see. Come quickly, now! Here are the twenty dollars all
ready for you."
24. "Make me deaf!" shouted Harry, without even looking at the gold pieces
temptingly displayed upon the table. "I guess you will not do that,
either. Why, I couldn't hear a single word if I were deaf, could I?"
25. "Probably not," replied Uncle Ben. So, of course, Harry refused again.
He would never give up his hearing, he said, "no, not for three thousand
dollars."
26. Uncle Ben made another note in his book, and then came out with large
bids for "a right arm," then "left arm," "hands," "feet," "nose," finally
ending with an offer of ten thousand dollars for "mother," and five
thousand for "the baby."
27. To all of these offers Harry shook his head, his eyes flashing, and
exclamations of surprise and indignation bursting from his lips. At last,
Uncle Ben said he must give up his experiments, for Harry's prices were
entirely too high.
28. "Ha! ha!" laughed the boy, exultingly, and he folded his dimpled arms
and looked as if to say, "I'd like to see the man who could pay them!"
29. "Why, Harry, look here!" exclaimed Uncle Ben, peeping into his
notebook, "here is a big addition sum, I tell you!" He added the numbers,
and they amounted to thirty-two thousand dollars.
30. "There, Harry," said Uncle Ben, "don't you think you are foolish not
to accept some of my offers?" "No, sir, I don't," answered Harry,
resolutely. "Then," said Uncle Ben, "you talk of being poor, and by your
own showing you have treasures for which you will not take thirty-two
thousand dollars. What do you say to that?"
31. Harry didn't know exactly what to say. So he blushed for a second, and
just then tears came rolling down his cheeks, and he threw his chubby arms
around my neck. "Mother," he whispered, "isn't God good to make everybody
so rich?"
DEFINITIONS.--8. Dis-con'so-late, filled with grief. 13.
Re-proach'ful-ly, with censure or reproof. 18. Chlo're-form, an oily
liquid, the vapor of which causes insensibility. 19. Startled, shocked.
De-fi'ant-ly, daringly. 23. Af-ford', to be able to pay for.
Ex-per'i-ments, acts performed to discover some truth. 27.
Ex-cla-ma'tions, expressions of surprise, anger, etc. 28. Ex-ult'ing-ly,
in a triumphant manner. 30. Treas'ures, things which are very much valued.