Some time after Pete had disappeared, the store-keeper, going over his
stock, missed a heavy-caliber six-shooter. He wondered if the boy had
taken it. Both did not care so much for the loss of the gun as for the
fact that Pete might have stolen it. Later Roth discovered a crudely
printed slip of paper among the trinkets in the showcase. "I took a
gun and cartriges for my wagges. You never giv me Wages." Which was
true enough, the storekeeper figuring that Pete's board and lodging
were just about offset by his services. In paying Pete a dollar a
week, Annersley had established a precedent which involved Young Pete's
pride as a wage-earner. In making Pete feel that he was really worth
more than his board and lodging, Annersley had helped the boy to a
certain self-respect which Pete subconsciously felt that he had lost
when Roth, the storekeeper, gave him a home and work but no pay. Young
Pete did not dislike Roth, but the contrast of Roth's close methods
with the large, free-handed dealings of Annersley was ever before him.
Pete was strong for utility. He had no boyish sense of the dramatic,
consciously.
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