But it will be a queer thing if your father 's son has n't . I knew him all his life . A better man never lived nor , before his accident , a smarter one . I 'll give his son a chance , anyhow . If you take after your dad you 'll get on all right . '' Ernest had not been in the store very long before Mr. White concluded , with a gratified chuckle , that he did take after his father . He was hard-working , conscientious , and obliging . Customers of all sorts , from the rough fishermen who came up from the harbour to the old Irishwomen from the back country roads , liked him . Mr. White was satisfied . He was beginning to grow old . This lad had the makings of a good partner in him by and by . No hurry ; he must serves long apprenticeship first and prove his mettle ; no use spoiling him by hinting at future partnerships before need was . That would all come in due time . David White was a shrewd man . Ernest was unconscious of his employer 's plans regarding him ; but he knew that he stood well with him and , much to his surprise , he found that he liked the work , and was beginning to take a personal interest and pleasure in the store . Hence , he went home to tea on this particular afternoon with buoyant step and smiling eyes . It was a good world , and he was glad to be alive in it , glad to have work to do and a dear little mother to work for . Most of the folks who met him smiled in friendly fashion at the bright-eyed , frank-faced lad . Only old Jacob Patterson scowled grimly as he passed him , emitting merely a surly grunt in response to Ernest 's greeting . But then , old Jacob Patterson was noted as much for his surliness as for his miserliness .
Nobody had ever heard him speak pleasantly to anyone ; therefore his unfriendliness did not XXXXX all dash Ernest 's high spirits .
If after as at before for in that to with