Page:Bound to be an Electrician.djvu/34

18 dition, Franklin set out for the shop of which he had spoken.

It was a long low place, with dirty windows. The shelves were full of bells, wire, batteries, and similar things. In the rear, near a couple of windows, was a work-bench, and here the youth found the proprietor of the place hard at work figuring on the cost of putting electrical appliances in a new house that was being built on Hillside avenue.

"Good morning, Mr. Fells," said Franklin politely.

"Hullo, Bell, is that you?" cried the man looking up. "Say, is that true your father was hurt on the railroad last night?"

"Mr. Bell is my uncle," returned the youth. "Yes, he had his collar bone fractured."

"Too bad. How did it happen?"

Franklin related the details, as they had been told to him by one of the men. Mr. Fells worked and listened at the same time.

"No use talking, tain't safe to jump from the train till she stops," he commented.

"That is true."

"It will keep your uncle to home for a long spell, I take it."

"Yes, Sir, and it's a very bad thing, not only for him, but for the family as well."

"I suppose 'tis. He was only working on salary, wasn't he?"