Couldn't read? At his age, Tobias would have expected... ah right, the kid wasn't from Britain, but from the United States where apparently not all children went to school. Barbaric.

"Alright listen, son. I have a few things to do in town. Meet me back here at three 'o clock and we can discuss the terms." It would be a good test to see whether the kid was reliable and responsible. More importantly, he intended to see that priest to see whether the kid was telling him the truth. In his experience, priests didn't just put kids in hotel rooms like that. Didn't they have orphanages? If the kid was lying, he'd know he didn't want him on the farm. "It's quite a long way out, though. Ye won't be able to travel up and down every day, as we start early at t' farm. So ye'll need to stay somewhere closeby for the time ye work there."