Willie and Joe want to leave but Matty is determined to stay. On the morning that Willie and Joe are planning to go home, their school teacher Mr Funnell turns up. He is an old friend of Mr Walsh. Mr Funnell realises that Matty would like to stay and work on the farm. He advises Matty to speak more to Mr Walsh.
The next day Mr Walsh, Joe, Willie and Mr Funnell take the sheep to market. Matty stays back at the farm and works. Jessica hangs around asking him lots of questions and Matty suddenly gets angry with her. She goes off into the mountains on her own. Mrs Walsh has to visit her brother and Matty is left alone on the farm. A storm comes and Matty sends Betsy the dog to look for Jessica. Betsy does not return. Matty goes into the mountains to look for the girl but he cannot see because of the mist. Eventually he finds her and spends half the night helping to protect her on the wet mountainside. They are rescued. Matty wakes up in bed the next day with his mother by his side. He is a hero for rescuing Jessica. Mr Walsh offers him a job on the farm and his parents agree. Matty is finally very happy.
background to the story
There are many people who do not do very well at school but who later go on to do great things. For example, Winston Churchill, one of Britain’s most famous prime ministers, was considered to be a mediocre pupil at school but became a world famous leader.