Get off to bed with you this instant . '' Chester crept off to his garret chamber with a very sullen face . He was too used to being sent to bed without any supper to care much for that , although he was hungry . But his whole being was in a tumult of rebellion over the injustice that was meted out to him . `` I wo n't stand it ! '' he muttered over and over again . `` I 'll run away . I wo n't stay here . '' To talk of running away was one thing . To do it without a cent in your pocket or a place to run to was another . But Chester had a great deal of determination in his make-up when it was fairly roused , and his hard upbringing had made him older and shrewder than his years . He lay awake late that night , thinking out ways and means , but could arrive at no satisfactory conclusion . The next day Mrs. Elwell said , `` Ches , Abner Stearns wants you to go up there for a fortnight while Tom Bixby is away , and drive the milk wagon of mornings and do the chores for Mrs. Stearns . You might as well put in the time ` fore harvest that way as any other . So hustle off -- and mind you behave yourself . '' Chester heard the news gladly . He had not yet devised any feasible plan for running away , and he always liked to work at the Stearns ' place . To be sure , Mrs. Elwell received all the money he earned , but Mrs. Stearns was kind to him , and though he had to work hard and constantly , he was well fed and well treated by all . The following fortnight was a comparatively happy one for the lad . But he did not forget his purpose of shaking the dust of Upton from his feet as soon as possible , and he cudgelled his brains trying to find a way .
On the evening when he left the Stearns ' homestead , Mr. Stearns paid him for his fortnight 's work , much to the boy 's surprise , for Mrs. Elwell had always insisted that all such XXXXX should be paid directly to her .
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