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Mark Manning's Mission
Mark Manning's Mission / The Story of a Shoe Factory Boy
CHAPTER I.
THREE YOUNG HUNTERS
Two boys, with guns on their shoulders, were crossing a meadow towards the Pecasset woods. These were situated about a mile from the village, and were quite extensive. The two boys were James Collins and Tom Wyman, the first, the son of a large shoe manufacturer, the other the son of the village postmaster. They were about of a size, and had the appearance of being sixteen years of age. They were very intimate, the second being a satellite of the first, who in right of his father's wealth considered himself the first boy in Pecasset. Tom flattered his vanity by acknowledging his pretensions, and this gave him his position of favorite with the young aristocrat.
"I should like to be a hunter," said Tom, as they walked along.
"A fine hunter you'd be," said James, in a tone by no means complimentary, for he didn't feel it necessary to flatter his humble companion. "You never hit anything, you know."
"Come, James, that's a little too strong," said Tom, in a tone of annoyance. "I don't pretend to be as good a shot as you are, but still I have hit a bird before now."
"When it was perched on a fence, eh?"
"No, on the wing."
"Who saw you do it?"
"I was alone."
"So I thought," said James, laughing.
"I did it, really. Of course I can't shoot as well as you."