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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Brave and Bold, by Horatio Alger
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Brave and Bold
+
+Author: Horatio Alger
+
+Posting Date: March 17, 2011 [EBook #9990]
+Release Date: February, 2006
+[This file was first posted on November 6, 2003]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRAVE AND BOLD ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Aldarondo, Dave Morgan and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+BRAVE AND BOLD
+
+
+Or
+
+
+THE FORTUNES OF ROBERT RUSHTON
+
+
+By
+
+
+HORATIO ALGER JR.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+THE YOUNG RIVALS.
+
+The main schoolroom in the Millville Academy was brilliantly lighted,
+and the various desks were occupied by boys and girls of different ages
+from ten to eighteen, all busily writing under the general direction of
+Professor George W. Granville, Instructor in Plain and Ornamental
+Penmanship.
+
+Professor Granville, as he styled himself, was a traveling teacher, and
+generally had two or three evening schools in progress in different
+places at the same time. He was really a very good penman, and in a
+course of twelve lessons, for which he charged the very moderate price
+of a dollar, not, of course, including stationery, he contrived to
+impart considerable instruction, and such pupils as chose to learn were
+likely to profit by his instructions. His venture in Millville had been
+unusually successful. There were a hundred pupils on his list, and there
+had been no disturbance during the course of lessons.
+
+At nine precisely, Professor Granville struck a small bell, and said, in
+rather a nasal voice:
+
+"You will now stop writing."
+
+There was a little confusion as the books were closed and the pens were
+wiped.
+
+"Ladies and gentlemen," said the professor, placing one arm under his
+coat tails and extending the other in an oratorical attitude, "this
+evening completes the course of lessons which I have had the honor and
+pleasure of giving you. I have endeavored to impart to you an easy and
+graceful penmanship, such as may be a recommendation to you in after
+life. It gives me pleasure to state that many of you have made great
+proficiency, and equaled my highest expectations. There are others,
+perhaps, who have not been fully sensible of the privileges which they
+enjoyed. I would say to you all that perfection is not yet attained. You
+will need practice to reap the full benefit of my instructions. Should
+my life be spared, I shall hope next winter to give another course of
+writing lessons in this place, and I hope I may then have the pleasure
+of meeting you again as pupils. Let me say, in conclusion, that I thank
+you for your patronage and for your good behavior during this course of
+lessons, and at the same time I bid you good-by."
+
+With the closing words, Professor Granville made a low bow, and placed
+his hand on his heart, as he had done probably fifty times before, on
+delivering the same speech, which was the stereotyped form in which he
+closed his evening schools.
+
+There was a thumping of feet, mingled with a clapping of hands, as the
+professor closed his speech, and a moment later a boy of sixteen,
+occupying one of the front seats, rose, and, advancing with easy
+self-possession, drew from his pocket a gold pencil case, containing a
+pencil and pen, and spoke as follows:
+
+"Professor Granville, the members of your writing class, desirous of
+testifying their appreciation of your services as teacher, have
+contributed to buy this gold pencil case, which, in their name, I have
+great pleasure in presenting to you. Will you receive it with our best
+wishes for your continued success as a teacher of penmanship?"
+
+With these words, he handed the pencil to the professor and returned to
+his seat.
+
+The applause that ensued was terrific, causing the dust to rise from
+the floor where it had lain undisturbed till the violent attack of two
+hundred feet raised it in clouds, through which the figure of the
+professor was still visible, with his right arm again extended.
+
+"Ladies and gentlemen," he commenced, "I cannot give fitting utterance
+to the emotions that fill my heart at this most unexpected tribute of
+regard and mark of appreciation of my humble services. Believe me, I
+shall always cherish it as a most valued possession, and the sight of it
+will recall the pleasant, and, I hope, profitable hours which we have
+passed together this winter. To you, in particular, Mr. Rushton, I
+express my thanks for the touching and eloquent manner in which you have
+made the presentation, and, in parting with you all, I echo your own
+good wishes, and shall hope that you may be favored with an abundant
+measure of health and prosperity."
+
+This speech was also vociferously applauded. It was generally considered
+impromptu, but was, in truth, as stereotyped as the other. Professor
+Granville had on previous occasions been the recipient of similar
+testimonials, and he had found it convenient to have a set form of
+acknowledgment. He was wise in this, for it is a hard thing on the spur
+of the moment suitably to offer thanks for an unexpected gift.
+
+"The professor made a bully speech," said more than one after the
+exercises were over.
+
+"So did Bob Rushton," said Edward Kent.
+
+"I didn't see anything extraordinary in what he said," sneered Halbert
+Davis. "It seemed to me very commonplace."
+
+"Perhaps you could do better yourself, Halbert," said Kent.
+
+"Probably I could," said Halbert, haughtily.
+
+"Why didn't you volunteer, then?"
+
+"I didn't care to have anything to do with it," returned Halbert,
+scornfully.
+
+"That's lucky," remarked Edward, "as there was no chance of your getting
+appointed."
+
+"Do you mean to insult me?" demanded Halbert, angrily.
+
+"No, I was only telling the truth."
+
+Halbert turned away, too disgusted to make any reply. He was a boy of
+sixteen, of slender form and sallow complexion, dressed with more
+pretension than taste. Probably there was no boy present whose suit was
+of such fine material as his. But something more than fine clothes is
+needed to give a fine appearance, and Halbert's mean and insignificant
+features were far from rendering him attractive, and despite the
+testimony of his glass, Halbert considered himself a young man of
+distinguished appearance, and was utterly blind to his personal defects.
+
+What contributed to feed his vanity was his position as the son of the
+richest man in Millville. Indeed, his father was superintendent, and
+part owner, of the great brick factory on the banks of the river, in
+which hundreds found employment. Halbert found plenty to fawn upon him,
+and was in the habit of strutting about the village, swinging a light
+cane, neither a useful nor an ornamental member of the community.
+
+After his brief altercation with Edward Kent, he drew on a pair of kid
+gloves, and looked about the room for Hester Paine, the lawyer's
+daughter, the reigning belle among the girls of her age in Millville.
+The fact was, that Halbert was rather smitten with Hester, and had made
+up his mind to escort her home on this particular evening, never
+doubting that his escort would be thankfully accepted.
+
+But he was not quick enough, Robert Rushton had already approached
+Hester, and said, "Miss Hester, will you allow me to see you home?"
+
+"I shall be very glad to have your company, Robert," said Hester.
+
+Robert was a general favorite. He had a bright, attractive face, strong
+and resolute, when there was occasion, frank and earnest at all times.
+His clothes were neat and clean, but of a coarse, mixed cloth, evidently
+of low price, suiting his circumstances, for he was poor, and his mother
+and himself depended mainly upon his earnings in the factory for the
+necessaries of life. Hester Paine, being the daughter of a well-to-do
+lawyer, belonged to the village aristocracy, and so far as worldly
+wealth was concerned, was far above Robert Rushton. But such
+considerations never entered her mind, as she frankly, and with real
+pleasure, accepted the escort of the poor factory boy.
+
+Scarcely had she done so when Halbert Davis approached, smoothing his
+kid gloves, and pulling at his necktie.
+
+"Miss Hester," he said, consequentially, "I shall have great pleasure in
+escorting you home."
+
+"Thank you," said Hester, "but I am engaged."
+
+"Engaged!" repeated Halbert, "and to whom?"
+
+"Robert Rushton has kindly offered to take me home."
+
+"Robert Rushton!" said Halbert, disdainfully. "Never mind. I will
+relieve him of his duty."
+
+"Thank you, Halbert," said Robert, who was standing by, "I won't trouble
+you. I will see Miss Paine home."
+
+"Your escort was accepted because you were the first to offer it," said
+Halbert.
+
+"Miss Hester," said Robert, "I will resign in favor of Halbert, if you
+desire it."
+
+"I don't desire it," said the young girl, promptly. "Come, Robert, I am
+ready if you are."
+
+With a careless nod to Halbert, she took Robert's arm, and left the
+schoolhouse. Mortified and angry, Halbert looked after them, muttering,
+"I'll teach the factory boy a lesson. He'll be sorry for his impudence
+yet."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+PUNISHING A COWARD
+
+Mrs. Rushton and her son occupied a little cottage, not far from the
+factory. Behind it were a few square rods of garden, in which Robert
+raised a few vegetables, working generally before or after his labor in
+the factory. They lived in a very plain way, but Mrs. Rushton was an
+excellent manager, and they had never lacked the common comforts of
+life. The husband and father had followed the sea. Two years before, he
+left the port of Boston as captain of the ship _Norman_, bound for
+Calcutta. Not a word had reached his wife and son since then, and it was
+generally believed that it had gone to the bottom of the sea. Mrs.
+Rushton regarded herself as a widow, and Robert, entering the factory,
+took upon himself the support of the family. He was now able to earn six
+dollars a week, and this, with his mother's earnings in braiding straw
+for a hat manufacturer in a neighboring town, supported them, though
+they were unable to lay up anything. The price of a term at the writing
+school was so small that Robert thought he could indulge himself in it,
+feeling that a good handwriting was a valuable acquisition, and might
+hereafter procure him employment in some business house. For the
+present, he could not do better than to retain his place in the factory.
+
+Robert was up at six the next morning. He spent half an hour in sawing
+and splitting wood enough to last his mother through the day, and then
+entered the kitchen, where breakfast was ready.
+
+"I am a little late this morning, mother," he said. "I must hurry down
+my breakfast, or I shall be late at the factory, and that will bring
+twenty-five cents fine."
+
+"It would be a pity to get fined, but you mustn't eat too fast. It is
+not healthful."
+
+"I've got a pretty good digestion, mother," said Robert, laughing.
+"Nothing troubles me."
+
+"Still, you mustn't trifle with it. Do you remember, Robert," added his
+mother, soberly, "it is just two years to-day since your poor father
+left us for Boston to take command of his ship?"
+
+"So it is, mother; I had forgotten it."
+
+"I little thought then that I should never see him again!" and Mrs.
+Rushton sighed.
+
+"It is strange we have never heard anything of the ship."
+
+"Not so strange, Robert. It must have gone down when no other vessel was
+in sight."
+
+"I wish we knew the particulars, mother. Sometimes I think father may
+have escaped from the ship in a boat, and may be still alive."
+
+"I used to think it possible, Robert; but I have given up all hopes of
+it. Two years have passed, and if your father were alive, we should have
+seen him or heard from him ere this."
+
+"I am afraid you are right. There's one thing I can't help thinking of,
+mother," said Robert, thoughtfully. "How is it that father left no
+property? He received a good salary, did he not?"
+
+"Yes; he had received a good salary for several years."
+
+"He did not spend the whole of it, did he?"
+
+"No, I am sure he did not. Your father was never extravagant."
+
+"Didn't he ever speak to you on the subject?"
+
+"He was not in the habit of speaking of his business; but just before he
+went away, I remember him telling me that he had some money invested,
+and hoped to add more to it during the voyage which proved so fatal to
+him."
+
+"He didn't tell you how much it was, nor how it was invested?"
+
+"No; that was all he said. Since his death, I have looked everywhere in
+the house for some papers which would throw light upon it; but I have
+been able to find nothing. I do not care so much for myself, but I
+should be glad if you did not have to work so hard."
+
+"Never mind me, mother; I'm young and strong, I can stand work--but it's
+hard on you."
+
+"I am rich in having a good son, Robert."
+
+"And I in a good mother," said Robert, affectionately. "And, now, to
+change the subject. I suspect I have incurred the enmity of Halbert
+Davis."
+
+"How is that?" asked Mrs. Rushton.
+
+"I went home with Hester Paine, last evening, from writing school. Just
+as she had accepted my escort, Halbert came up, and in a condescending
+way, informed her that he would see her home."
+
+"What did she say?"
+
+"She told him she was engaged to me. He said, coolly, that he would
+relieve me of the duty, but I declined his obliging offer. He looked mad
+enough, I can tell you. He's full of self-conceit, and I suppose he
+wondered how any one could prefer me to him."
+
+"I am sorry you have incurred his enmity."
+
+"I didn't lose any sleep by it."
+
+"You know his father is the superintendent of the factory."
+
+"Halbert isn't."
+
+"But he may prejudice his father against you, and get you discharged."
+
+"I don't think he would be quite so mean as that. We won't borrow
+trouble, mother. But time's up, and I must go."
+
+Robert seized his hat and hurried to the mill. He was in his place when
+the great factory bell stopped ringing on the stroke of seven, and so
+escaped the fine, which would have cut off one-quarter of a day's pay.
+
+Meanwhile, Halbert Davis had passed an uncomfortable and restless night.
+He had taken a fancy to Hester Paine, and he had fully determined to
+escort her home on the previous evening. As she was much sought after
+among her young companions, it would have gratified his pride to have it
+known that she had accepted his company. But he had been cut out, and by
+Robert Rushton--one of his father's factory hands. This made his
+jealousy more intolerable, and humiliated his pride, and set him to work
+devising schemes for punishing Robert's presumption. He felt that it was
+Robert's duty, even though he had been accepted, to retire from the
+field as soon as his, Halbert's, desire was known. This Robert had
+expressly declined to do, and Halbert felt very indignant. He made up
+his mind that he would give Robert a chance to apologize, and if he
+declined to do so he would do what he could to get him turned out of the
+factory.
+
+At twelve o'clock the factory bell pealed forth a welcome sound to the
+hundreds who were busily at work within the great building. It was the
+dinner hour, and a throng of men, women and children poured out of the
+great portals and hastened to their homes or boarding houses to dine.
+Among them was Robert Rushton. As he was walking homeward with his usual
+quick, alert step, he came upon Halbert Davis, at the corner of the
+street.
+
+Halbert was dressed carefully, and, as usual, was swinging his cane in
+his gloved hand. Robert would have passed him with a nod, but Halbert,
+who was waiting for him, called out:
+
+"I say, you fellow, stop a minute. I want to speak to you."
+
+"Are you addressing me?" asked Robert, with a pride as great as his own.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then you had better mend your manners."
+
+"What do you mean?" demanded Halbert, his sallow face slightly flushing.
+
+"My name is Robert Rushton. Call me by either of these names when you
+speak to me, and don't say 'you fellow.'"
+
+"It seems to me," sneered Halbert, "that you are putting on airs for a
+factory boy."
+
+"I am a factory boy, I acknowledge, and am not ashamed to acknowledge
+it. Is this all you have to say to me? If so, I will pass on, as I am in
+haste."
+
+"I have something else to say to you. You were impudent to me last
+evening."
+
+"Was I? Tell me how."
+
+"Did you not insist on going home with Hester Paine, when I had offered
+my escort?"
+
+"What of that?"
+
+"You forget your place."
+
+"My place was at Hester Paine's side, since she had accepted my escort."
+
+"It was very presumptuous in a factory boy like you offering your escort
+to a young lady like Miss Paine."
+
+"I don't see it," said Robert, independently; "and I don't think it
+struck Hester in that light. We had a very agreeable walk."
+
+Halbert was provoked and inflamed with jealousy, and the look with which
+he regarded our hero was by no means friendly.
+
+"You mustn't regard yourself as Miss Paine's equal because she
+condescended to walk with you," he said. "You had better associate with
+those of your own class hereafter, and not push yourself in where your
+company is not agreeable."
+
+"Keep your advice to yourself, Halbert Davis," said Robert, hotly, for
+he felt the insult conveyed in these words. "If I am a factory boy I
+don't intend to submit to your impertinence; and I advise you to be
+careful what you say. As to Miss Hester Paine, I shall not ask your
+permission to walk with her, but shall do so whenever she chooses to
+accept my escort. Has she authorized you to speak for her?"
+
+"No; but----"
+
+"Then wait till she does."
+
+Halbert was so incensed that, forgetting Robert's superior strength,
+evident enough to any one who saw the two, one with his well-knit,
+vigorous figure, the other slender and small of frame, he raised his
+cane and struck our hero smartly upon the arm.
+
+In a moment the cane was wrested from his grasp and applied to his own
+person with a sharp, stinging blow which broke the fragile stick in two.
+
+Casting the pieces upon the ground at his feet, Robert said, coolly:
+
+"Two can play at that game, Halbert Davis. When you want another lesson
+come to me."
+
+He passed his discomfited antagonist and hastened to the little cottage,
+where his mother was wondering what made him so much behind time.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+THE SPECIAL DEPOSIT.
+
+Stung with mortification and more incensed against Robert than ever,
+Halbert hastened home. The house in which he lived was the largest and
+most pretentious in Millville--a large, square house, built in modern
+style, and with modern improvements, accessible from the street by a
+semi-circular driveway terminating in two gates, one at each end of the
+spacious lawn that lay in front. The house had been built only three
+years, and was the show-place of the village.
+
+Halbert entered the house, and throwing his hat down on a chair in the
+hall, entered the dining-room, his face still betraying his angry
+feelings.
+
+"What's the matter, Halbert?" asked his mother, looking up as he
+entered.
+
+"Do you see this?" said Halbert, displaying the pieces of his cane.
+
+"How did you break it?"
+
+"I didn't break it."
+
+"How came it broken, then?"
+
+"Robert Rushton broke it."
+
+"The widow Rushton's son?"
+
+"Yes; he's a low scoundrel," said Halbert bitterly.
+
+"What made him break it?"
+
+"He struck me with it hard enough to break it, and then threw the pieces
+on the ground. I wouldn't mind it so much if he were not a low factory
+boy, unworthy of a gentleman's attention."
+
+"How dared he touch you?" asked Mrs. Davis, angrily.
+
+"Oh, he's impudent enough for anything. He walked home with Hester Paine
+last evening from the writing school. I suppose she didn't know how to
+refuse him. I met him just now and told him he ought to know his place
+better than to offer his escort to a young lady like Hester. He got mad
+and struck me."
+
+"It was very proper advice," said Mrs. Davis, who resembled her son in
+character and disposition, and usually sided with him in his quarrels.
+"I should think Hester would have more sense than to encourage a boy in
+his position."
+
+"I have no doubt she was bored by his company," said Halbert, who feared
+on the contrary that Hester was only too well pleased with his rival,
+and hated him accordingly; "only she was too good-natured to say so."
+
+"The boy must be a young brute to turn upon you so violently."
+
+"That's just what he is."
+
+"He ought to be punished for it."
+
+"I'll tell you how it can be done," said Halbert. "Just you speak to
+father about it, and get him dismissed from the factory."
+
+"Then he is employed in the factory?"
+
+"Yes. He and his mother are as poor as poverty, and that's about all
+they have to live upon; yet he goes round with his head up as if he were
+a prince, and thinks himself good enough to walk home with Hester
+Paine."
+
+"I never heard of anything so ridiculous."
+
+"Then you'll speak to father about it, won't you?"
+
+"Yes; I'll speak to him to-night. He's gone away for the day."
+
+"That'll pay me for my broken cane," said Halbert, adding, in a tone of
+satisfaction: "I shall be glad to see him walking round the streets in
+rags. Perhaps he'll be a little more respectful then."
+
+Meanwhile Robert decided not to mention to his mother his encounter with
+the young aristocrat. He knew that it would do no good, and would only
+make her feel troubled. He caught the malignant glance of Halbert on
+parting, and he knew him well enough to suspect that he would do what
+he could to have him turned out of the factory. This would certainly be
+a serious misfortune.
+
+Probably the entire income upon which his mother and himself had to
+depend did not exceed eight dollars a week, and of this he himself
+earned six. They had not more than ten dollars laid by for
+contingencies, and if he were deprived of work, that would soon melt
+away. The factory furnished about the only avenue of employment open in
+Millville, and if he were discharged it would be hard to find any other
+remunerative labor.
+
+At one o'clock Robert went back to the factory rather thoughtful. He
+thought it possible that he might hear something before evening of the
+dismission which probably awaited him, but the afternoon passed and he
+heard nothing.
+
+On leaving the factory, he chanced to see Halbert again on the sidewalk
+a little distance in front and advancing toward him. This time, however,
+the young aristocrat did not desire a meeting, for, with a dark scowl,
+he crossed the street in time to avoid it.
+
+"Is he going to pass it over, I wonder?" thought Robert. "Well, I won't
+borrow trouble. If I am discharged I think I can manage to pick up a
+living somehow. I've got two strong arms, and if I don't find something
+to do, it won't be for the want of trying."
+
+Two years before, Captain Rushton, on the eve of sailing upon what
+proved to be his last voyage, called in the evening at the house of Mr.
+Davis, the superintendent of the Millville factory. He found the
+superintendent alone, his wife and Halbert having gone out for the
+evening. He was seated at a table with a variety of papers spread out
+before him. These papers gave him considerable annoyance. He was
+preparing his semi-annual statement of account, and found himself
+indebted to the corporation in a sum three thousand dollars in excess of
+the funds at his command. He had been drawn into the whirlpool of
+speculation, and, through a New York broker, had invested considerable
+amounts in stocks, which had depreciated in value. In doing this he had
+made use, to some extent, of the funds of the corporation, which he was
+now at a loss how to replace. He was considering where he could apply
+for a temporary loan of three thousand dollars when the captain entered.
+Under the circumstances he was sorry for the intrusion.
+
+"Good-evening, Captain Rushton," he said, with a forced smile. "Sit
+down. I am glad to see you."
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Davis. It will be the last call I shall make upon you
+for a considerable time."
+
+"Indeed--how is that?"
+
+"I sail to-morrow for Calcutta."
+
+"Indeed--that is a long voyage."
+
+"Yes, it takes considerable time. I don't like to leave my wife and boy
+for so long, but we sailors have to suffer a good many privations."
+
+"True; I hardly think I should enjoy such a life."
+
+"Still," said the captain, "it has its compensations. I like the free,
+wild life of the sea. The ocean, even in its stormiest aspects, has a
+charm for me."
+
+"It hasn't much for me," said the superintendent, shrugging his
+shoulders. "Seasickness takes away all the romance that poets have
+invested it with."
+
+Captain Rushton laughed.
+
+"Seasickness!" he repeated. "Yes, that is truly a disagreeable malady. I
+remember once having a lady of rank as passenger on board my ship--a
+Lady Alice Graham. She was prostrated by seasickness, which is no
+respecter of persons, and a more forlorn, unhappy mortal I never expect
+to see. She would have been glad, I am convinced, to exchange places
+with her maid, who seemed to thrive upon the sea air."
+
+"I wish you a prosperous voyage, captain."
+
+"Thank you. If things go well, I expect to come home with quite an
+addition to my little savings. And that brings me to the object of my
+visit this evening. You must know, Mr. Davis, I have saved up in the
+last ten years a matter of five thousand dollars."
+
+"Five thousand dollars!" repeated the superintendent, pricking up his
+ears.
+
+"Yes, it has been saved by economy and self-denial. Wouldn't my wife be
+surprised if she knew her husband were so rich?"
+
+"Your wife doesn't know of it?" asked the superintendent, surprised.
+
+"Not at all. I have told her I have something, and she may suppose I
+have a few hundred dollars, but I have never told her how much. I want
+to surprise her some day."
+
+"Just so."
+
+"Now, Mr. Davis, for the object of my errand. I am no financier, and
+know nothing of investments. I suppose you do. I want you to take this
+money, and take care of it, while I am gone on my present voyage. I
+meant to make inquiries myself for a suitable investment, but I have
+been summoned by my owners to leave at a day's notice, and have no time
+for it. Can you oblige me by taking care of the money?"
+
+"Certainly, captain," said the superintendent, briskly. "I shall have
+great pleasure in obliging an old friend."
+
+"I am much obliged to you."
+
+"Don't mention it. I have large sums of my own to invest, and it is no
+extra trouble to look after your money. Am I to pay the interest to your
+wife?"
+
+"No. I have left a separate fund in a savings bank for her to draw upon.
+As I told you, I want to surprise her by and by. So not a word, if you
+please, about this deposit."
+
+"Your wishes shall be regarded," said the superintendent. "Have you
+brought the money with you?"
+
+"Yes," said the captain, drawing from his pocket a large wallet. "I have
+got the whole amount here in large bills. Count it, if you please, and
+see that it is all right."
+
+The superintendent took the roll of bills from the hands of his
+neighbor, and counted them over twice.
+
+"It is quite right," he said. "Here are five thousand dollars. Now let
+me write you a receipt for them."
+
+He drew before him a sheet of paper, and dipping his pen in the
+inkstand, wrote a receipt in the usual form, which he handed back to the
+captain, who received it and put it back in his wallet.
+
+"Now," said the captain, in a tone of satisfaction, "my most important
+business is transacted. You will keep this money, investing it according
+to your best judgment. If anything should happen to me," he added, his
+voice faltering a little, "you will pay it over to my wife and child."
+
+"Assuredly," said the superintendent; "but don't let us think of such a
+sad contingency. I fully expect to pay it back into your own hands with
+handsome interest."
+
+"Let us hope so," said the captain, recovering his cheerfulness. "Our
+destinies are in the hands of a kind Providence. And now good-by! I
+leave early to-morrow morning, and I must pass the rest of the evening
+with my own family."
+
+"Good-night, captain," said the superintendent, accompanying him to the
+door. "I renew my wish that you have a prosperous and profitable voyage,
+and be restored in good time to your family and friends."
+
+"Amen!" said the captain.
+
+The superintendent went back to his study, his heart lightened of its
+anxiety.
+
+"Could anything be more fortunate?" he ejaculated, "This help comes to
+me just when it is most needed. Thanks to my special deposit, I can make
+my semi-annual settlement, and have two thousand dollars over. It's
+lucky the captain knows nothing of my Wall Street speculations. He
+might not have been quite so ready to leave his money in my hands. It's
+not a bad thing to be a banker," and he rubbed his hands together with
+hilarity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+THE VOICE OF CONSCIENCE.
+
+When the superintendent accepted Captain Rushton's money, he did not
+intend to act dishonestly. He hailed it as a present relief, though he
+supposed he should have to repay it some time. His accounts being found
+correct, he went on with his speculations. In these he met with varying
+success. But on the whole he found himself no richer, while he was kept
+in a constant fever of anxiety.
+
+After some months, he met Mrs. Rushton in the street one day.
+
+"Have you heard from your husband, Mrs. Rushton?" he inquired.
+
+"No, Mr. Davis, not yet. I am beginning to feel anxious."
+
+"How long has he been gone?"
+
+"Between seven and eight months."
+
+"The voyage is a long one. There are many ways of accounting for his
+silence."
+
+"He would send by some passing ship. He has been to Calcutta before,
+but I have never had to wait so long for a letter."
+
+The superintendent uttered some commonplace phrases of assurance, but in
+his own heart there sprang up a wicked hope that the _Norman_ would
+never reach port, and that he might never set eyes on Captain Rushton
+again. For in that case, he reflected, it would be perfectly safe for
+him to retain possession of the money with which he had been intrusted.
+The captain had assured him that neither his wife nor son knew aught of
+his savings. Who then could detect his crime? However, it was not yet
+certain that the _Norman_ was lost. He might yet have to repay the
+money.
+
+Six months more passed, and still no tidings of the ship or its
+commander. Even the most sanguine now gave her up for lost, including
+the owners. The superintendent called upon them, ostensibly in behalf of
+Mrs. Rushton, and learned that they had but slender hopes of her safety.
+It was a wicked thing to rejoice over such a calamity, but his affairs
+were now so entangled that a sudden demand for the five thousand dollars
+would have ruined him. He made up his mind to say nothing of the special
+deposit, though he knew the loss of it would leave the captain's family
+in the deepest poverty. To soothe his conscience--for he was wholly
+destitute of one--he received Robert into the factory, and the boy's
+wages, as we already know, constituted their main support.
+
+Such was the state of things at the commencement of our story.
+
+When the superintendent reached home in the evening, he was at once
+assailed by his wife and son, who gave a highly colored account of the
+insult which Halbert had received from Robert Rushton.
+
+"Did he have any reason for striking you, Halbert?" asked the
+superintendent.
+
+"No," answered Halbert, unblushingly. "He's an impudent young scoundrel,
+and puts on as many airs as if he were a prince instead of a beggar."
+
+"He is not a beggar."
+
+"He is a low factory boy, and that is about the same."
+
+"By no means. He earns his living by honest industry."
+
+"It appears to me," put in Mrs. Davis, "that you are taking the part of
+this boy who has insulted your son in such an outrageous manner."
+
+"How am I doing it? I am only saying he is not a beggar."
+
+"He is far below Halbert in position, and that is the principal thing."
+
+It occurred to the superintendent that should he make restitution Robert
+Rushton would be quite as well off as his own son, but of course he
+could not venture to breathe a hint of this to his wife. It was the
+secret knowledge of the deep wrong which he had done to the Rushtons
+that now made him unwilling to oppress him further.
+
+"It seems to me," he said, "you are making too much of this matter. It
+is only a boyish quarrel."
+
+"A boyish quarrel!" retorted Mrs. Davis, indignantly. "You have a
+singular way of standing by your son, Mr. Davis. A low fellow insults
+and abuses him, and you exert yourself to mate excuses for him."
+
+"You misapprehend me, my dear."
+
+"Don't 'my dear' me," said the exasperated lady. "I thought you would be
+as angry as I am, but you seem to take the whole thing very coolly, upon
+my word!"
+
+Mrs. Davis had a sharp temper and a sharp tongue, and her husband stood
+considerably in awe of both. He had more than once been compelled to
+yield to them, and he saw that he must make some concession to order to
+keep the peace.
+
+"Well, what do you want me to do?" he asked.
+
+"Want you to do! I should think that was plain enough."
+
+"I will send for the boy and reprimand him."
+
+"Reprimand him!" repeated the lady, contemptuously. "And what do you
+think he will care for that?"
+
+"More than you think, perhaps."
+
+"Stuff and nonsense! He'll be insulting Halbert again to-morrow."
+
+"I am not so sure that Halbert is not in fault in some way."
+
+"Of course, you are ready to side with a stranger against your own son."
+
+"What do you want me to do?" asked the superintendent, submissively.
+
+"Discharge the boy from your employment," said his wife, promptly.
+
+"But how can he and his mother live?--they depend on his wages."
+
+"That is their affair. He ought to have thought of that before he raised
+his hand against Halbert."
+
+"I cannot do what you wish," said the superintendent, with some
+firmness, for he felt that it would indeed be a piece of meanness to
+eject from the factory the boy whom he had already so deeply wronged;
+"but I will send for young Rushton and require him to apologize to
+Halbert."
+
+"And if he won't do it?" demanded Halbert.
+
+"Then I will send him away."
+
+"Will you promise that, father?" asked Halbert, eagerly.
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Davis, rather reluctantly.
+
+"All right!" thought Halbert; "I am satisfied; for I know he never will
+consent to apologize."
+
+Halbert had good reason for this opinion, knowing, as he did, that he
+had struck the first blow, a circumstance he had carefully concealed
+from his father. Under the circumstances he knew very well that his
+father would be called upon to redeem his promise.
+
+The next morning, at the regular hour, our hero went to the factory, and
+taking his usual place, set to work. An hour passed, and nothing was
+said to him. He began to think that Halbert, feeling that he was the
+aggressor, had resolved to let the matter drop.
+
+But he was speedily undeceived.
+
+At a quarter after eight the superintendent made his appearance, and
+after a brief inspection of the work, retired to his private office. Ten
+minutes later, the foreman of the room in which he was employed came up
+to Robert and touched him on the shoulder.
+
+"Mr. Davis wishes to see you in his office," he said.
+
+"Now for it!" thought Robert, as he left his work and made his way,
+through the deafening clamor of the machinery, to the superintendent's
+room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+DISCHARGED.
+
+The superintendent sat at an office table writing a letter. He did not
+at first look up, but kept on with his employment. He had some remnants
+of conscience left, and he shrank from the task his wife had thrust upon
+him.
+
+"Mr. Baker tells me you wish to see me, Mr. Davis," said Robert, who had
+advanced into the office, by way of calling his attention.
+
+"Yes," said the superintendent, laying down his pen, and turning half
+round; "I hear a bad account of you, Rushton."
+
+"In what way, sir?" asked our hero, returning his look fearlessly.
+
+"I hear that you have been behaving like a young ruffian," said Mr.
+Davis, who felt that he must make out a strong case to justify him in
+dismissing Robert from the factory.
+
+"This is a serious charge, Mr. Davis," said Robert, gravely, "and I hope
+you will be kind enough to let me know what I have done, and the name
+of my accuser."
+
+"I mean to do so. Probably it will be enough to say that your accuser is
+my son, Halbert."
+
+"I supposed so. I had a difficulty with Halbert yesterday, but I
+consider he was in fault."
+
+"He says you insulted and struck him."
+
+"I did not insult him. The insult came from him."
+
+"Did you strike him?"
+
+"Yes, but not until he had struck me first."
+
+"He didn't mention this, but even if he had you should not have struck
+him back."
+
+"Why not?" asked Robert.
+
+"You should have reported the affair to me."
+
+"And allowed him to keep on striking me?"
+
+"You must have said something to provoke him," continued the
+superintendent, finding it a little difficult to answer this question,
+"or he would not have done it."
+
+"If you will allow me," said Robert, "I will give you an account of the
+whole affair."
+
+"Go on," said the superintendent, rather unwillingly, for he strongly
+suspected that our hero would be able to justify himself, and so render
+dismissal more difficult.
+
+"Halbert took offense because I accompanied Hester Paine home from the
+writing school, evening before last, though I did with the young lady's
+permission, as he knew. He met me yesterday at twelve o'clock, as I was
+going home to dinner, and undertook to lecture me on my presumption in
+offering my escort to one so much above me. He also taunted me with
+being a factory boy. I told him to keep his advice to himself, as I
+should not ask his permission when I wanted to walk, with Hester Paine.
+Then he became enraged, and struck me with his cane. I took it from him
+and returned the blow, breaking the cane in doing it."
+
+"Ahem!" said the superintendent, clearing his throat; "you must have
+been very violent."
+
+"I don't think I was, sir. I struck him a smart blow, but the cane was
+very light and easily broken."
+
+"You were certainly very violent," continued Mr. Davis, resolved to make
+a point of this. "Halbert did not break the cane when he struck you."
+
+"He struck the first blow."
+
+"That does not alter the question of the amount of violence, which was
+evidently without justification. You must have been in a great passion."
+
+"I don't think I was in any greater passion than Halbert."
+
+"In view of the violence you made use of, I consider that you owe my son
+an apology."
+
+"An apology!" repeated Robert, whose astonishment was apparent in his
+tone.
+
+"I believe I spoke plainly," said the superintendent, irritably.
+
+"If any apology is to be made," said our hero, firmly, "it ought to come
+from Halbert to me."
+
+"How do you make that out?"
+
+"He gave me some impertinent advice, and, because I did not care to take
+it, he struck me."
+
+"And you seized his cane in a fury, and broke it in returning the blow."
+
+"I acknowledge that I broke the cane," said Robert; "and I suppose it is
+only right that I should pay for it. I am willing to do that, but not to
+apologize."
+
+"That will not be sufficient," said the superintendent, who knew that
+payment for the cane would fall far short of satisfying his wife or
+Halbert. "The cost of the cane was a trifle, and I am willing to buy him
+another, but I cannot consent that my son should be subjected to such
+rude violence, without an apology from the offender. If I passed this
+over, you might attack him again to-morrow."
+
+"I am not in the habit of attacking others without cause," said Robert,
+proudly. "If Halbert will let me alone, or treat me with civility, he
+may be sure that I shall not trouble him."
+
+"You are evading the main point, Rushton," said the superintendent. "I
+have required you to apologize to my son, and I ask you for the last
+time whether you propose to comply with my wishes."
+
+"No, sir," said Robert, boldly.
+
+"Do you know to whom you are speaking, boy?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"I am not only the father of the boy you have assaulted, but I am also
+the superintendent of this factory, and your employer.".
+
+"I am aware of that, sir."
+
+"I can discharge you from the factory."
+
+"I know you can," said Robert.
+
+"Of course, I should be sorry to resort to such an extreme measure, but,
+if you defy my authority, I may be compelled to do so."
+
+So the crisis had come. Robert saw that he must choose between losing
+his place and a humiliating apology. Between the two he did not for a
+moment hesitate.
+
+"Mr. Davis," he said, boldly and firmly, "it will be a serious thing for
+me if I lose my place here, for my mother and I are poor, and my wages
+make the greatest part of our income. But I cannot make this apology you
+require. I will sooner lose my place."
+
+The bold and manly bearing of our hero, and his resolute tone, impressed
+the superintendent with an involuntary admiration. He felt that Robert
+was a boy to be proud of, but none the less he meant to carry out his
+purpose.
+
+"Is this your final decision?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Then you are discharged from the factory. You will report your
+discharge to Mr. Baker, and he will pay you what you have earned this
+week."
+
+"Very well, sir."
+
+Robert left the office, with a bold bearing, but a heart full of
+trouble. If only himself had been involved in the calamity, he could
+have borne it better, but he knew that his loss of place meant privation
+and want for his mother, unless he could find something to do that would
+bring in an equal income, and this he did not expect.
+
+"Mr. Baker," he said, addressing the foreman of his room, on his return
+from the superintendent's office, "I am discharged."
+
+"Discharged?" repeated the foreman, in surprise. "There must be some
+mistake about this. You are one of our best hands--for your age, I
+mean."
+
+"There is no dissatisfaction with my work that I know of, but I got into
+a quarrel with Halbert Davis yesterday, and his father wants me to
+apologize to him."
+
+"Which you won't do?"
+
+"I would if I felt that I were in fault. I am not too proud for that.
+But the fact is, Halbert ought to apologize to me."
+
+"Halbert is a mean boy. I don't blame you in the least."
+
+"So I am to report my discharge to you, and ask you for my wages."
+
+This account was soon settled, and Robert left the factory his own
+master. But it is poor consolation to be one's own master under such
+circumstances. He dreaded to break the news to his mother, for he knew
+that it would distress her. He was slowly walking along, when he once
+more encountered Halbert Davis. Halbert was out for the express purpose
+of meeting and exulting over him, for he rightly concluded that Robert
+would decline to apologize to him. Robert saw his enemy, and guessed his
+object, but resolved to say nothing to him, unless actually obliged to
+do so.
+
+"Where are you going?" demanded Halbert.
+
+"Home."
+
+"I thought you worked in the factory?"
+
+"Did you?" asked Robert, looking full in his face, and reading the
+exultation he did not attempt to conceal.
+
+"Perhaps you have got turned out?" suggested Halbert, with a malicious
+smile.
+
+"You would be glad of that, I suppose," said our hero.
+
+"I don't think I should cry much," said Halbert. "It's true then, is
+it?"
+
+"Yes; it's true."
+
+"You won't put on so many airs when you go round begging for cold
+victuals. It'll be some time before you walk with Hester Paine again."
+
+"I shall probably walk with her sooner than you will."
+
+"She won't notice a beggar."
+
+"There is not much chance of my becoming a beggar, Halbert Davis; but I
+would rather be one than be as mean as you. I will drop you a slight
+hint, which you had better bear in mind. It won't be any safer to insult
+me now than it was yesterday. I can't lose my place a second time."
+
+Halbert instinctively moved aside, while our hero passed on, without
+taking farther notice of him.
+
+"I hate him!" he muttered to himself. "I hope he won't find anything to
+do. If he wasn't so strong, I'd give him a thrashing."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+HALBERT'S DISCOMFITURE.
+
+Great was the dismay of Mrs. Rushton when she heard from Robert that he
+was discharged from the factory. She was a timid woman, and rather apt
+to take desponding views of the future.
+
+"Oh, Robert, what is going to become of us?" she exclaimed, nervously.
+"We have only ten dollars in the house, and you know how little I can
+earn by braiding straw. I really think you were too hasty and
+impetuous."
+
+"Don't be alarmed, my dear mother," said Robert, soothingly. "I am sorry
+I have lost my place, but there are other things I can do besides
+working in the factory. We are not going to starve yet."
+
+"But, suppose you can't find any work?" said his mother.
+
+"Then I'll help you braid straw," said Robert, laughing. "Don't you
+think I might learn after a while?"
+
+"I don't know but you might," said Mrs. Rushton, dubiously; "but the
+pay is very poor."
+
+"That's so, mother. I shan't, take to braiding straw except as a last
+resort."
+
+"Wouldn't Mr. Davis take you back into the factory if I went to him and
+told him how much we needed the money?"
+
+"Don't think of such a thing, mother," said Robert, hastily, his brown
+cheek flushing. "I am too proud to beg to be taken back."
+
+"But it wouldn't be you."
+
+"I would sooner ask myself than have you do it, mother. No; the
+superintendent sent me away for no good reason, and he must come and ask
+me to return before I'll do it."
+
+"I am afraid you are proud, Robert."
+
+"So I am, mother; but it is an honest pride. Have faith in me for a
+week, mother, and see if I don't earn something in that time. I don't
+expect to make as much as I earned at the factory; but I'll earn
+something, you may depend upon that. Now, how would you like to have
+some fish for supper?"
+
+"I think I should like it. It is a good while since we had any."
+
+"Then, I'll tell you what--I'll borrow Will Paine's boat, if he'll let
+me have it, and see if I can't catch something."
+
+"When will you be home, Robert?"
+
+"It will depend on my success in fishing. It'll be half-past nine, very
+likely, before I get fairly started, so I think I'd better take my
+dinner with me. I'll be home some time in the afternoon."
+
+"I hope you'll be careful, Robert. You might get upset."
+
+"I'll take care of that, mother. Besides, I can swim like a duck."
+
+Robert went out into the garden, and dug some worms for bait. Meanwhile,
+his mother made a couple of sandwiches, and wrapped them in a paper for
+his lunch. Provided thus, he walked quickly to the house of Squire
+Paine, and rang the bell.
+
+"Is Will home?" he asked.
+
+"Here I am, old fellow!" was heard from the head of the stairs; and
+William Paine, a boy of our hero's size and age, appeared. "Come right
+up."
+
+"How did you happen to be at leisure?" he asked. "I supposed you were at
+the factory."
+
+"I'm turned off."
+
+"Turned off! How's that?"
+
+"Through the influence of Halbert Davis."
+
+"Halbert is a disgusting sneak. I always despised him, and, if he's done
+such a mean thing, I'll never speak to him again. Tell me all about it."
+
+This Robert did, necessarily bringing in Hester's name.
+
+"He needn't think my sister will walk with him," said Will. "If she
+does, I'll cut her off with a shilling. She'd rather walk with you, any
+day."
+
+Robert blushed a little; for, though he was too young to be in love, he
+thought his friend's sister the most attractive girl he had even seen,
+and, knowing how she was regarded in the village, he naturally felt
+proud of her preference for himself over a boy who was much richer.
+
+"What are you going to do now?" asked Will, with interest.
+
+"The first thing I am going to do is to catch some fish, if you'll lend
+me your boat."
+
+"Lend you my boat? Of course I will! I'll lend it to you for the next
+three months."
+
+"But you want it yourself?"
+
+"No. Haven't you heard the news? I'm going to boarding school."
+
+"You are?"
+
+"It's a fact. I'm packing my trunk now. Come upstairs, and superintend
+the operation."
+
+"I can't stay long. But, Will, are you in earnest about the boat?"
+
+"To be sure I am. I was meaning to ask you if you'd take care of it for
+me. You see, I can't carry it with me, and you are the only fellow I am
+willing to lend it to."
+
+"I shall be very glad of the chance, Will. I've been wanting a boat for
+a long time, but there wasn't much chance of my getting one. Now I
+shall feel rich. But isn't this a sudden idea, your going to school?"
+
+"Rather. There was a college classmate of father's here last week, who's
+at the head of such a school, and he made father promise to send me. So
+I'm to start to-morrow morning. If it wasn't for that, and being up to
+my ears in getting ready, I'd go out fishing with you."
+
+"I wish you could."
+
+"I must wait till vacation. Here is the boat key."
+
+Robert took the key with satisfaction. The boat owned by his friend was
+a stanch, round-bottomed boat, of considerable size, bought only two
+months before, quite the best boat on the river. It was to be at his
+free disposal, and this was nearly the same thing as owning it. He might
+find it very useful, for it occurred to him that, if he could find
+nothing better to do, he could catch fish every day, and sell at the
+village store such as his mother could not use. In this way he would be
+earning something, and it would be better than being idle.
+
+He knew where the boat was usually kept, just at the foot of a large
+tree, whose branches drooped over the river. He made his way thither,
+and, fitting the key in the padlock which confined the boat, soon set it
+free. The oars he had brought with him from his friend's house.
+
+Throwing in the oars, he jumped in, and began to push off, when he heard
+himself called, and, looking up, saw Halbert Davis standing on the bank.
+
+"Get out of that boat!" said Halbert.
+
+"What do you mean?" demanded Robert.
+
+"You have no business in that boat! It doesn't belong to you!"
+
+"You'd better mind your own business, Halbert Davis. You have nothing to
+do with the boat."
+
+"It's William Paine's boat."
+
+"Thank you for the information. I supposed it was yours, from the
+interest you seem to take in it."
+
+"It will be. He's going to let me have it while he's away at school."
+
+"Indeed! Did he tell you so?"
+
+"I haven't asked Ma yet; but I know he will let me have it."
+
+"I don't think he will."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"If you ever want to borrow this boat, you'll have to apply to me."
+
+"You haven't bought it?" asked Halbert, in surprise. "You're too poor."
+
+"I'm to have charge of the boat while Will Paine is away."
+
+"Did he say you might?" asked Halbert, in a tone of disappointment and
+mortification.
+
+"Of course he did."
+
+"I don't believe it," said Halbert, suspiciously.
+
+"I don't care what you believe. Go and ask him yourself, if you are not
+satisfied; and don't meddle with what is none of your business;"
+
+"You're an impudent rascal."
+
+"Have you got another cane you'd like to have broken?" asked Robert,
+significantly.
+
+Halbert looked after him, enviously, as he rowed the boat out into the
+stream. He had asked his father to buy him a boat, but the
+superintendent's speculations had not turned out very well of late, and
+he had been deaf to his son's persuasions, backed, though they were, by
+his mother's influence. When Halbert heard that William Paine was going
+to boarding school, he decided to ask him for the loan of his boat
+during his absence, as the next best thing. Now, it seemed that he had
+been forestalled, and by the boy he hated. He resolved to see young
+Paine himself, and offer him two dollars for the use of his boat during
+the coming term. Then he would have the double satisfaction of using the
+boat and disappointing Robert.
+
+He made his way to the house of Squire Paine, and, after a brief pause,
+was admitted. He was shown into the parlor, and Will Paine came down to
+see him.
+
+"How are you, Davis?" he said, nodding, coolly, but not offering his
+hand.
+
+"I hear you are going to boarding school?"
+
+"Yes; I go to-morrow."
+
+"I suppose you won't take your boat with you?"
+
+"No."
+
+"I'll give you two dollars for the use of it; the next three months?"
+
+"I can't accept your offer. Robert Rushton is to have it."
+
+"But he doesn't pay you anything for it. I'll give you three dollars, if
+you say so?"
+
+"You can't have it for three dollars, or ten. I have promised it to my
+friend, Robert Rushton, and I shall not take it back."
+
+"You may not know," said Halbert, maliciously, "that your friend was
+discharged from the factory this morning for misconduct."
+
+"I know very well that he was discharged, and through whose influence,
+Halbert Davis," said Will, pointedly. "I like him all the better for his
+misfortune, and so I am sure will my sister."
+
+Halbert's face betrayed the anger and jealousy he felt, but he didn't
+dare to speak to the lawyer's son as he had to the factory boy.
+
+"Good-morning!" he said, rising to go.
+
+"Good-morning!" said young Paine, formally.
+
+Halbert felt, as he walked homeward, that his triumph over Robert was by
+no means complete.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+THE STRANGE PASSENGER.
+
+Robert, though not a professional fisherman, was not wholly
+inexperienced. This morning he was quite lucky, catching quite a fine
+lot of fish--as much, indeed, as his mother and himself would require a
+week to dispose of. However, he did not intend to carry them all home.
+It occurred to him that he could sell them at a market store in the
+village. Otherwise, he would not have cared to go on destroying life for
+no useful end.
+
+Accordingly, on reaching the shore, he strung the fish and walked
+homeward, by way of the market. It was rather a heavy tug, for the fish
+he had caught weighed at least fifty pounds.
+
+Stepping into the store, he attracted the attention of the proprietor.
+
+"That's a fine lot of fish you have there, Robert. What are you going to
+do with them?"
+
+"I'm going to sell most of them to you, if I can."
+
+"Are they just out of the water?"
+
+"Yes; I have just brought them in."
+
+"What do you want for them?"
+
+"I don't know what is a fair price?"
+
+"I'll give you two cents a pound for as many as you want to sell."
+
+"All right," said our hero, with satisfaction. "I'll carry this one
+home, and you can weigh the rest."
+
+The rest proved to weigh forty-five pounds. The marketman handed Robert
+ninety cents, which he pocketed with satisfaction.
+
+"Shall you want some more to-morrow?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, if you can let me have them earlier. But how is it you are not at
+the factory?"
+
+"I've lost my place."
+
+"That's a pity."
+
+"So I have plenty of time to work for you."
+
+"I may be able to take considerable from you. I'm thinking of running a
+cart to Brampton every morning, but I must have the fish by eight
+o'clock, or it'll be too late."
+
+"I'll go out early in the morning, then."
+
+"Very well; bring me what you have at that hour, and we'll strike a
+trade."
+
+"I've got something to do pretty quick," thought Robert, with
+satisfaction. "It was a lucky thought asking Will Paine for his boat.
+I'm sorry he's going away, but it happens just right for me."
+
+Mrs. Rushton was sitting at her work, in rather a disconsolate frame of
+mind. The more she thought of Robert's losing his place, the more
+unfortunate it seemed. She could not be expected to be as sanguine and
+hopeful as our hero, who was blessed with strong hands and a fund of
+energy and self-reliance which he inherited from his father. His mother,
+on the other hand, was delicate and nervous, and apt to look on the dark
+side of things. But, notwithstanding this, she was a good mother, and
+Robert loved her.
+
+Nothing had been heard for some time but the drowsy ticking of the
+clock, when a noise was heard at the door, and Robert entered the room,
+bringing the fish he had reserved.
+
+"You see, mother, we are not likely to starve," he said.
+
+"That's a fine, large fish," said his mother.
+
+"Yes; it'll be enough for two meals. Didn't I tell you, mother, I would
+find something to do?"
+
+"True, Robert," said his mother, dubiously; "but we shall get tired of
+fish if we have it every day."
+
+Robert laughed.
+
+"Six days in the week will do for fish, mother," he said. "I think we
+shall be able to afford something else Sunday."
+
+"Of course, fish is better than nothing," said his mother, who
+understood him literally; "and I suppose we ought to be thankful to get
+that."
+
+"You don't look very much pleased at the prospect of fish six times a
+week," said Robert, laughing again. "On the whole, I think it will be
+better to say twice."
+
+"But what will we do other days, Robert?"
+
+"What we have always done, mother--eat something else. But I won't keep
+you longer in suspense. Did you think this was the only fish I caught?"
+
+"Yes, I thought so."
+
+"I sold forty-five pounds on the way to Minturn, at his market
+store--forty-five pounds, at two cents a pound. What do you think of
+that?"
+
+"Do you mean that you have earned ninety cents to-day, Robert?"
+
+"Yes; and here's the money."
+
+"That's much better than I expected," said Mrs. Rushton, looking several
+degrees more I cheerful.
+
+"I don't expect to do as well as that every day, mother, but I don't
+believe we'll starve. Minturn has engaged me to supply him with fish
+every day, only some days the fishes won't feel like coming out of the
+water. Then, I forgot to tell you, I'm to have Will Paine's boat for
+nothing. He's going to boarding school, and has asked me to take care of
+it for him."
+
+"You are fortunate, Robert."
+
+"I am hungry, too, mother. Those two sandwiches didn't go a great ways.
+So, if you can just as well as not have supper earlier, it would suit
+me."
+
+"I'll put on the teakettle at once, Robert," said his mother, rising.
+"Would you like some of the fish for supper?"
+
+"If it wouldn't be too much trouble."
+
+"Surely not, Robert."
+
+The usual supper hour was at five in this country household, but a
+little after four the table was set, and mother and son sat down to a
+meal which both enjoyed. The fish proved to be excellent, and Robert
+enjoyed it the more, first, because he had caught it himself, and next
+because he felt that his independent stand at the factory, though it had
+lost him his place, was not likely to subject his mother to the
+privations he had feared.
+
+"I'll take another piece of fish, mother," said Robert, passing his
+plate. "I think, on the whole, I shan't be obliged to learn to braid
+straw."
+
+"No; you can do better at fishing."
+
+"Only," added Robert, with mock seriousness, "we might change work
+sometimes, mother; I will stay at home and braid straw, and you can go
+out fishing."
+
+"I am afraid I should make a poor hand at it," said Mrs. Rushton,
+smiling.
+
+"If Halbert Davis could look in upon us just now, he would be
+disappointed to find us so cheerful after my losing my place at factory.
+However, I've disappointed him in another way."
+
+"How is that?"
+
+"He expected Will Paine would lend him his boat while he was gone, but,
+instead of that, he finds it promised to me."
+
+"I am afraid he is not a very kind-hearted boy."
+
+"That's drawing it altogether too mild, mother. He's the meanest fellow
+I ever met. However, I won't talk about him any more, or it'll spoil my
+appetite."
+
+On the next two mornings Robert went out at five o'clock, in order to
+get home in time for the market-wagon. He met with fair luck, but not as
+good as on the first day. Taking the two mornings together, he captured
+and sold seventy pounds of fish, which, as the price remained the same,
+brought him in a dollar and forty cents. This was not equal to his wages
+at the factory; still, he had the greater part of the day to himself,
+only, unfortunately, he had no way of turning his time profitably to
+account, or, at least, none had thus far occurred to him.
+
+On the morning succeeding he was out of luck. He caught but two fish,
+and they were so small that he decided not to offer them for sale.
+
+"If I don't do better than this," he reflected, "I shan't make very good
+wages. The fish seem to be getting afraid of me."
+
+He paddled about, idly, a few rods from the shore, having drawn up his
+line and hook.
+
+All at once, he heard a voice hailing him from the river bank:
+
+"Boat ahoy!"
+
+"Hallo!" answered Robert, lifting his eyes, and seeing who called him.
+
+"Can you set me across the river?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Bring in your boat, then, and I'll jump aboard. I'll pay you for your
+trouble."
+
+Robert did as requested, with alacrity. He was very glad to earn money
+in this way, since it seemed he was to have no fish to dispose of. He
+quickly turned the boat to the shore, and the stranger jumped on board.
+He was a man of rather more than the average height, with a slight limp
+in his gait, in a rough suit of clothes, his head being surmounted by a
+felt hat considerably the worse for wear. There was a scar on one
+cheek, and, altogether, he was not very prepossessing in his appearance.
+Robert noted all this in a rapid glance, but it made no particular
+impression upon him at the moment. He cared very little how the stranger
+looked, as long as he had money enough to pay his fare.
+
+"It's about a mile across the river, isn't it?" asked the stranger.
+
+"About that here. Where do you want to go?"
+
+"Straight across. There's an old man named Nichols lives on the other
+side, isn't there?"
+
+"Yes; he lives by himself."
+
+"Somebody told me so. He's rich, isn't he?" asked the stranger,
+carelessly.
+
+"So people say; but he doesn't show it in his dress or way of living."
+
+"A miser, I suppose?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"What does he do with his money?"
+
+"I only know what people say."
+
+"And what do they say?"
+
+"That he is afraid to trust banks, and hides his money in the earth."
+
+"That kind of bank don't pay very good interest," said the stranger,
+laughing.
+
+"No; but it isn't likely to break."
+
+"Here? boy, give me one of the oars. I'm used to rowing, and I'll help
+you a little."
+
+Robert yielded one of the oars to his companion, who evidently
+understood rowing quite as well as he professed to. Our hero, though
+strong-armed, had hard work to keep up with him.
+
+"Look out, boy, or I'll turn you round," he said.
+
+"You are stronger than I am."
+
+"And more used to rowing; but I'll suit myself to you."
+
+A few minutes brought them to the other shore. The passenger jumped
+ashore, first handing a silver half-dollar to our hero, who was well
+satisfied with his fee.
+
+Robert sat idly in his boat, and watched his late fare as with rapid
+steps he left the river bank behind him.
+
+"He's going to the old man's house," decided Robert. "I wonder whether
+he has any business with him?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+THE OLD FARMHOUSE.
+
+The stranger walked, with hasty strides, in the direction of an old
+farmhouse, which could be seen a quarter of a mile away. Whether it had
+ever been painted, was a question not easily solved. At present it was
+dark and weather-beaten, and in a general state of neglect.
+
+The owner, Paul Nichols, was a man advanced in years, living quite
+alone, and himself providing for his simple wants. Robert was right in
+calling him a miser, but he had not always deserved the name. The time
+was when he had been happily married to a good wife, and was blessed
+with two young children. But they were all taken from him in one week by
+an epidemic, and his life was made solitary and cheerless. This
+bereavement completely revolutionized his life. Up to this time he had
+been a good and respected citizen, with an interest in public affairs.
+Now he became morose and misanthropic, and his heart, bereaved of its
+legitimate objects of affection, henceforth was fixed upon gold, which
+he began to love with a passionate energy. He repulsed the advances of
+neighbors, and became what Robert called him--a miser.
+
+How much he was worth, no one knew. The town assessors sought in vain
+for stocks and bonds. He did not appear to possess any. Probably popular
+opinion was correct in asserting that he secreted his money in one or
+many out-of-the-way places, which, from time to time, he was wont to
+visit and gloat over his treasures. There was reason also to believe
+that it was mostly in gold, for he had a habit of asking specie payments
+from those indebted to him, or, if he could not obtain specie, he used
+to go to a neighboring town with his bank notes and get the change
+effected.
+
+Such was the man about whom Robert's unknown passenger exhibited so much
+curiosity, and whom it seemed that he was intending to visit.
+
+"I wonder whether the old man is at home!" he said to himself, as he
+entered the front yard through a gateway, from which the gate had long
+since disappeared. "He don't keep things looking very neat and trim,
+that's a fact," he continued, noticing the rank weeds and indiscriminate
+litter which filled the yard. "Just give me this place, and his money
+to keep it, and I'd make a change in the looks of things pretty quick."
+
+He stepped up to the front door, and, lifting the old-fashioned knocker,
+sounded a loud summons.
+
+"He'll hear that, if he isn't very deaf," he thought.
+
+But the summons appeared to be without effect. At all events, he was
+left standing on the doorstone, and no one came to bid him enter.
+
+"He can't be at home, or else he won't come," thought the visitor. "I'll
+try him again," and another knock, still louder than before, sounded
+through the farmhouse.
+
+But still no one came to the door. The fact was, that the old farmer had
+gone away early, with a load of hay, which he had sold; to a
+stable-keeper living some five miles distant.
+
+"I'll reconnoiter a little," said the stranger.
+
+He stepped to the front window, and looked in. All that met his gaze was
+a bare, dismantled room.
+
+"Not very cheerful, that's a fact," commented the outsider. "Well, he
+don't appear to be here; I'll go round to the back part of the house."
+
+He went round to the back door, where he thought it best, in the first
+place, to knock. No answer coming, he peered through the window, but saw
+no one.
+
+"The coast is clear," he concluded. "So much the better, if I can get
+in."
+
+The door proved to be locked, but the windows were easily raised.
+Through one of these he clambered into the kitchen, which was the only
+room occupied by the old farmer, with the exception of a room above,
+which he used as a bedchamber. Here he cooked and ate his meals, and
+here he spent his solitary evenings.
+
+Jumping over the window sill, the visitor found himself in this room. He
+looked around him, with some curiosity.
+
+"It is eighteen years since I was last in this room," he said. "Time
+hasn't improved it, nor me, either, very likely," he added, with a short
+laugh. "I've roamed pretty much all over the world in that time, and
+I've come back as poor as I went away. What's that copy I used to
+write?--'A rolling stone gathers no moss.' Well, I'm the rolling stone.
+In all that time my Uncle Paul has been moored fast to his hearthstone,
+and been piling up gold, which he don't seem to have much use for. As
+far as I know, I'm his nearest relation, there's no reason why he
+shouldn't launch out a little for the benefit of the family."
+
+It will be gathered from the foregoing soliloquy that the newcomer was a
+nephew of Paul Nichols. After a not very creditable youth, he had gone
+to sea, and for eighteen years this was his first reappearance in his
+native town.
+
+He sat down in a chair, and stretched out his legs, with an air of being
+at home.
+
+"I wonder what the old man will say when he sees me," he soliloquized.
+"Ten to one he won't know me. When we saw each other last I was a
+smooth-faced youth. Now I've got hair enough on my face, and the years
+have made, their mark upon me, I suspect. Where is he, I wonder, and how
+long have I got to wait for him? While I'm waiting, I'll take the
+liberty of looking in the closet, and seeing if he hasn't something to
+refresh the inner man. I didn't make much of a breakfast, and something
+hearty wouldn't come amiss."
+
+He rose from his chair, and opened the closet door. A small collection
+of crockery was visible, most of it cracked, but there was nothing
+eatable to be seen, except half a loaf of bread. This was from the
+baker, for the old man, after ineffectual efforts to make his own bread,
+had been compelled to abandon the attempt, and patronize the baker.
+
+"Nothing but a half loaf, and that's dry enough," muttered the
+stranger. "That isn't very tempting. I can't say much for my uncle's
+fare, unless he has got something more attractive somewhere."
+
+But, search as carefully as he might, nothing better could be found, and
+his appetite was not sufficiently great to encourage an attack upon the
+stale loaf. He sat down, rather discontented, and resumed the current of
+his reflections.
+
+"My uncle must be more of a miser than I thought, if he stints himself
+to such fare as this. It's rather a bad lookout for me. He won't be very
+apt to look with favor on my application for a small loan from his
+treasure. What's that the boy said? He don't trust any banks, but keeps
+his money concealed in the earth. By Jove! It would be a stroke of luck
+if I could stumble on one of his hiding places! If I could do that while
+he was away, I would forego the pleasure of seeing him, and make off
+with what I could find. I'll look about me, and see if I can't find some
+of his hidden hoards."
+
+No sooner did the thought occur to him than he acted upon it.
+
+"Let me see," he reflected, "where is he most likely to hide his
+treasure? Old stockings are the favorites with old maids and widows, but
+I don't believe Uncle Paul has got any without holes in them. He's more
+likely to hide his gold under the hearth. That's a good idea, I'll try
+the hearth first."
+
+He kneeled down, and began to examine the bricks, critically, with a
+view of ascertaining whether any bore the marks of having been removed
+recently, for he judged correctly that a miser would wish, from time to
+time, to unearth his treasure for the pleasure of looking at it. But
+there was no indication of disturbance. The hearth bore a uniform
+appearance, and did not seem to have been tampered with.
+
+"That isn't the right spot," reflected the visitor. "Perhaps there's a
+plank in the floor that raises, or, still more likely, the gold is
+buried in the cellar. I've a great mind to go down there."
+
+He lit a candle, and went cautiously down the rickety staircase. But he
+had hardly reached the bottom of the stairs, when he caught the sound of
+a wagon entering the yard.
+
+"That must be my uncle," he said. "I'd better go up, and not let him
+catch me down here."
+
+He ascended the stairs, and re-entered the room just as the farmer
+opened the door and entered.
+
+On seeing a tall, bearded stranger, whom he did not recognize, standing
+before him in his own kitchen, with a lighted candle in his hand, Paul
+Nichols uttered a shrill cry of alarm, and ejaculated:
+
+"Thieves! Murder! Robbers!" in a quavering voice.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+THE UNWELCOME GUEST.
+
+The stranger was in rather an awkward predicament. However, he betrayed
+neither embarrassment nor alarm. Blowing out the candle, he advanced to
+the table and set it down. This movement brought him nearer Paul
+Nichols, who, with the timidity natural to an old man, anticipated an
+immediate attack.
+
+"Don't kill me! Spare my life!" he exclaimed, hastily stepping back.
+
+"I see you don't know me, Uncle Paul?" said the intruder, familiarly.
+
+"Who are you that call me Uncle Paul?" asked the old man, somewhat
+reassured.
+
+"Benjamin Haley, your sister's son. Do you know me now?"
+
+"You Ben Haley!" exclaimed the old man, betraying surprise. "Why, you
+are old enough to be his father."
+
+"Remember, Uncle Paul, I am eighteen years older than when you saw me
+last. Time brings changes, you know. When I saw you last, you were a
+man in the prime of life, now you are a feeble old man."
+
+"Are you really Ben Haley?" asked the old man, doubtfully.
+
+"To be sure I am. I suppose I look to you more like a bearded savage.
+Well, I'm not responsible for my looks. Not finding you at home, I took
+the liberty of coming in on the score of relationship."
+
+"What, were you doing with that candle?" asked Paul, suspiciously.
+
+"I went down cellar with it."
+
+"Down cellar!" repeated his uncle, with a look of alarm which didn't
+escape his nephew. "What for?"
+
+"In search of something to eat. All I could find in the closet was a dry
+loaf, which doesn't look very appetizing."
+
+"There's nothing down cellar. Don't go there again," said the old man,
+still uneasy.
+
+His nephew looked at him shrewdly.
+
+"Ha, Uncle Paul! I've guessed your secret so quick," he said to himself.
+"Some of your money is hidden away in the cellar, I'm thinking."
+
+"Where do you keep your provisions, then?" he said aloud.
+
+"The loaf is all I have."
+
+"Come, Uncle Paul, you don't mean that. That's a scurvy welcome to give
+a nephew you haven't seen for eighteen years. I'm going to stay to
+dinner with you, and you must give me something better than that.
+Haven't you got any meat in the house?"
+
+"No."
+
+Just then Ben Haley, looking from the window, saw some chickens in the
+yard. His eye lighted up at the discovery.
+
+"Ah, there is a nice fat chicken," he said. "We'll have a chicken
+dinner. Shall it be roast or boiled?"
+
+"No, no," said the old farmer, hastily. "I can't spare them. They'll
+bring a good price in the market by and by."
+
+"Can't help it, Uncle Paul. Charity begins at home. Excuse me a minute,
+I'll be back directly."
+
+He strode to the door and out into the yard. Then, after a little
+maneuvering, he caught a chicken, and going to the block, seized the ax,
+and soon decapitated it.
+
+"What have you done?" said Paul, ruefully, for the old man had followed
+his nephew, and was looking on in a very uncomfortable frame of mind.
+
+"Taken the first step toward a good dinner," said the other, coolly. "I
+am not sure but we shall want two."
+
+"No, no!" said Paul, hastily. "I haven't got much appetite."
+
+"Then perhaps we can make it do. I'll just get it ready, and cook it
+myself. I've knocked about in all sorts of places, and it won't be the
+first time I've served as cook. I've traveled some since I saw you
+last."
+
+"Have you?" said the old man, who seemed more interested in the untimely
+death of the pullet than in his nephew's adventures.
+
+"Yes, I've been everywhere. I spent a year in Australia at the gold
+diggings."
+
+"Did you find any?" asked his uncle, for the first time betraying
+interest.
+
+"Some, but I didn't bring away any."
+
+Ben Haley meanwhile was rapidly stripping the chicken of its feathers.
+When he finished, he said, "Now tell me where you keep your vegetables,
+Uncle Paul?"
+
+"They're in the corn barn. You can't get in. It's locked."
+
+"Where's the key?"
+
+"Lost."
+
+"I'll get in, never fear," said the intruder, and he led the way to the
+corn barn, his uncle unwillingly following and protesting that it would
+be quite impossible to enter.
+
+Reaching the building, he stepped back and was about to kick open the
+door, when old Paul hurriedly interposed, saying, "No, no, I've found
+the key."
+
+His nephew took it from his hand, and unlocking the door, brought out a
+liberal supply of potatoes, beets and squashes.
+
+"We'll have a good dinner, after all," he said. "You don't half know how
+to live, Uncle Paul. You need me here. You've got plenty around you, but
+you don't know how to use it."
+
+The free and easy manner in which his nephew conducted himself was
+peculiarly annoying and exasperating to the old man, but as often as he
+was impelled to speak, the sight of his nephew's resolute face and
+vigorous frame, which he found it difficult to connect with his
+recollections of young Ben, terrified him into silence, and he contented
+himself with following his nephew around uneasily with looks of
+suspicion.
+
+When the dinner was prepared both sat down to partake of it, but Ben
+quietly, and, as a matter of course, assumed the place of host and
+carved the fowl. Notwithstanding the shock which his economical notions
+had received, the farmer ate with appetite the best meal of which he had
+partaken for a long time. Ben had not vaunted too highly his skill as a
+cook. Wherever he had acquired it, he evidently understood the
+preparation of such a dinner as now lay before them.
+
+"Now, Uncle Paul, if we only had a mug of cider to wash down the
+dinner. Haven't you got some somewhere?"
+
+"Not a drop."
+
+"Don't you think I might find some stored away in the cellar, for
+instance?" asked Ben, fixing his glance upon his uncle's face.
+
+"No, no; didn't I tell you I hadn't got any?" returned Paul Nichols,
+with petulance and alarm.
+
+"I mean to see what else you have in the cellar," said Ben, to himself,
+"before I leave this place. There's a reason for that pale face of
+yours." But he only said aloud, "Well, if you haven't got any we must do
+without it. There's a little more of the chicken left. As you don't want
+it I'll appropriate it. Nothing like clearing up things. Come, this is
+rather better than dry bread, isn't it?"
+
+"It's very expensive," said the miser, ruefully.
+
+"Well, you can afford it, Uncle Paul--there's a comfort in that. I
+suppose you are pretty rich, eh?"
+
+"Rich!" repeated Paul, in dismay. "What put such a thing into your
+head?"
+
+"Not your style of living, you may be sure of that."
+
+"I am poor, Benjamin. You mustn't think otherwise. I live as well as I
+can afford."
+
+"Then what have you been doing with your savings all these years?"
+
+"My savings! It has taken all I had to live. There isn't any money to be
+made in farming. It's hard work and poor pay."
+
+"You used to support your family comfortably when you had one."
+
+"Don't--don't speak of them. I can't bear it," said Paul, his
+countenance changing. "When I had them I was happy."
+
+"And now you're not. Well, I don't wonder at it. It must be dismal
+enough living alone. You need somebody with you. I am your nephew and
+nearest relation. I feel that it is my duty to stay with you."
+
+The expression of dismay which overspread the old man's face at this
+declaration was ludicrous.
+
+"You stay with me?" he repeated, in a tone of alarm.
+
+"Yes, for a time at least. We'll be company for each other, won't we,
+Uncle Paul?"
+
+"No, no; there's no room."
+
+"No room? You don't mean to say that you need the whole house?"
+
+"I mean I cannot afford to have you here. Besides I'm used to being
+alone. I prefer it."
+
+"That's complimentary, at any rate. You prefer to be alone rather than
+to have me with you?"
+
+"Don't be offended, Benjamin. I've been alone so many years. Besides
+you'd feel dull here. You wouldn't like it."
+
+"I'll try it and see. What room are you going to give me?"
+
+"You'd better go away."
+
+"Well, uncle, we'll talk about that to-morrow. You're very considerate
+in fearing it will be dull for me, but I've roamed about the world so
+much that I shall be glad of a little dullness. So it's all settled. And
+now, Uncle Paul, if you don't object I'll take out my pipe and have a
+smoke. I always smoke after dinner."
+
+He lit his pipe, and throwing himself back in a chair, began to puff
+away leisurely, his uncle surveying him with fear and embarrassment. Why
+should his graceless nephew turn up, after so many years, in the form of
+this big, broad-shouldered, heavy-bearded stranger, only to annoy him,
+and thrust his unwelcome company upon him?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+UNCLE AND NEPHEW.
+
+Paul Nichols looked forward with dismay to the prospect of having his
+nephew remain with him as a guest. Like all misers, he had a distrust of
+every one, and the present appearance of his nephew only confirmed the
+impressions he still retained of his earlier bad conduct. He had all the
+will to turn him out of his house, but Ben was vastly his superior in
+size and strength, and he did not dare to attempt it.
+
+"He wants to rob, perhaps to murder me," thought Paul, surveying his big
+nephew with a troubled gaze.
+
+His apprehensions were such that he even meditated offering to pay the
+intruder's board for a week at the tavern, if he would leave him in
+peace by himself. But the reluctance to part with his money finally
+prevented such a proposal being made.
+
+In the afternoon the old man stayed around home. He did not dare to
+leave it lest Ben should take a fancy to search the house, and come upon
+some of his secret hoards, for people were right in reporting that he
+hid his money.
+
+At last evening came. With visible discomposure the old man showed Ben
+to a room.
+
+"You can sleep there," he said, pointing to a cot bed in the corner of
+the room.
+
+"All right, uncle. Good-night!"
+
+"Good-night!" said Paul Nichols.
+
+He went out and closed the door behind him. He not only closed it, but
+locked it, having secretly hidden the key in his pocket. He chuckled
+softly to himself as he went downstairs. His nephew was securely
+disposed of for the night, being fastened in his chamber. But if he
+expected Ben Haley quietly to submit to this incarceration he was
+entirely mistaken in that individual. The latter heard the key turn in
+the lock, and comprehended at once his uncle's stratagem. Instead of
+being angry, he was amused.
+
+"So my simple-minded uncle thinks he has drawn my teeth, does he? I'll
+give him a scare."
+
+He began to jump up and down on the chamber floor in his heavy boots,
+which, as the floor was uncarpeted, made a terrible noise. The old man
+in the room below, just congratulating himself on his cunning move,
+grew pale as he listened. He supposed his nephew to be in a furious
+passion, and apprehensions of personal violence disturbed him. Still he
+reflected that he would be unable to get out, and in the morning he
+could go for the constable. But he was interrupted by a different noise.
+Ben had drawn off his boots, and was firing them one after the other at
+the door.
+
+The noise became so intolerable, that Paul was compelled to ascend the
+stairs, trembling with fear.
+
+"What's the matter?" he inquired at the door, in a quavering voice.
+
+"Open the door," returned Ben.
+
+His uncle reluctantly inserted the key in the lock and opening it
+presented a pale, scared face in the doorway. His nephew, with his coat
+stripped off, was sitting on the side of the bed.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Paul.
+
+"Nothing, only you locked the door by mistake," said Ben, coolly.
+
+"What made you make such a noise?" demanded Paul.
+
+"To call you up. There was no bell in the room, so that was the only way
+I had of doing it. What made you lock me in?"
+
+"I didn't think," stammered the old man.
+
+"Just what I supposed. To guard against your making that mistake again,
+let me have the key."
+
+"I'd rather keep it, if it's the same to you," said Paul, in alarm.
+
+"But it isn't the same to me. You see, Uncle Paul, you are growing old
+and forgetful, and might lock me in again. That would not be pleasant,
+you know, especially if the house should catch fire in the night."
+
+"What!" exclaimed Paul, terror-stricken, half suspecting his nephew
+contemplated turning incendiary.
+
+"I don't think it will, mind, but it's best to be prepared, so give me
+the key."
+
+The old man feebly protested, but ended in giving up the key to his
+nephew.
+
+"There, that's all right. Now I'll turn in. Good-night."
+
+"Good-night," responded Paul Nichols, and left the chamber, feeling more
+alarmed than ever. He was beginning to be more afraid and more
+distrustful of his nephew than ever. What if the latter should light on
+some of his various hiding places for money? Why, in that very chamber
+he had a hundred dollars in gold hidden behind the plastering. He
+groaned in spirit as he thought of it, and determined to tell his nephew
+the next morning that he must find another home, as he couldn't and
+wouldn't consent to his remaining longer.
+
+But when the morning came he found the task a difficult one to enter
+upon. Finally, after breakfast, which consisted of eggs and toast, Ben
+Haley having ransacked the premises for eggs, which the old man intended
+for the market, Paul said, "Benjamin, you must not be offended, but I
+have lived alone for years, and I cannot invite you to stay longer."
+
+"Where shall I go, uncle?" demanded Ben, taking out his pipe coolly, and
+lighting it.
+
+"There's a tavern in the village."
+
+"Is there? That won't do me any good."
+
+"You'll be better off there than here. They set a very good table,
+and----"
+
+"You don't," said Ben, finishing the sentence. "I know that, but then,
+uncle, I have two reasons for preferring to stay here. The first is,
+that I may enjoy the society of my only living relation; the second is,
+that I have not money enough to pay my board at the hotel."
+
+He leaned back, and began to puff leisurely at his pipe, as if this
+settled the matter.
+
+"If you have no money, why do you come to me?" demanded Paul, angrily.
+"Do you expect me to support you?"
+
+"You wouldn't turn out your sister's son, would you, Uncle Paul?"
+
+"You must earn your own living. I can't support you in idleness."
+
+"You needn't; I'll work for you. Let me see, I'll do the cooking."
+
+"I don't want you here," said the old man, desperately. "Why do you come
+to disturb me, after so many years?"
+
+"I'll go away on one condition," said Ben Haley.
+
+"What's that?"
+
+"Give me, or lend me--I don't care which--a hundred dollars."
+
+"Do you think I'm made of money?" asked Paul, fear and anger struggling
+for the mastery.
+
+"I think you can spare me a hundred dollars."
+
+"Go away! You are a bad man. You were a wild, bad boy, and you are no
+better now."
+
+"Now, Uncle Paul, I think you're rather too hard upon me. Just consider
+that I am your nephew. What will people say if you turn me out of
+doors?"
+
+"I don't care what they say. I can't have you here."
+
+"I'm sorry I can't oblige you by going, Uncle Paul, but I've got a
+headache this morning, and don't feel like stirring. Let me stay with
+you a day or two, and then I may go."
+
+Vain were all the old man's expostulations. His nephew sat obstinately
+smoking, and refused to move.
+
+"Come out to the barn with me while I milk," said Paul, at length, not
+daring to leave his nephew by himself.
+
+"Thank you, but I'm well off as I am. I've got a headache, and I'd
+rather stay here."
+
+Milking couldn't longer be deferred. But for the stranger's presence it
+would have been attended to two hours earlier. Groaning in spirit, and
+with many forebodings, Paul went out to the barn, and in due time
+returned with his foaming pails. There sat his nephew in the old place,
+apparently not having stirred. Possibly he didn't mean mischief after
+all, Paul reflected. At any rate, he must leave him again, while he
+released the cows from their stalls, and drove them to pasture. He tried
+to obtain his nephew's companionship, but in vain.
+
+"I'm not interested in cows, uncle," he said. "I'll be here when you
+come back."
+
+With a sigh his uncle left the house, only half reassured. That he had
+reason for his distrust was proved by Ben Haley's movements. He lighted
+a candle, and going down to the cellar, first securing a pickax, struck into
+the earthen flooring, and began to work energetically.
+
+"I am sure some of the old man's money is here," he said to himself. "I
+must work fast, or he'll catch me at it."
+
+Half an hour later Paul Nichols re-entered the house. He looked for his
+nephew, but his seat was vacant. He thought he heard a dull thud in the
+cellar beneath. He hurried to the staircase, and tottered down. Ben had
+come upon a tin quart-measure partly filled with gold coins, and was
+stooping over, transferring them to his pocket.
+
+With a hoarse cry like that of an animal deprived of its young, his
+uncle sprang upon him, and fastened his claw-like nails in the face of
+his burly nephew.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+ROBERT COMES TO THE RESCUE.
+
+The attack was so sudden, and the old man's desperation so reinforced
+his feeble strength, that Ben Haley was thrown forward, and the measure
+of gold coins fell from his hand. But he quickly recovered himself.
+
+"Let me alone," he said, sternly, forcibly removing his uncle's hands
+from his face, but not before the claw-like nails had drawn blood. "Let
+me alone, if you know what is best for yourself."
+
+"You're a thief!" screamed Paul. "You shall go to jail for this."
+
+"Shall I?" asked Ben, his face darkening and his tone full of menace.
+"Who is going to send me there?"
+
+"I am," answered Paul. "I'll have you arrested."
+
+"Look here, Uncle Paul," said Ben, confining the old man's arms to his
+side, "it's time we had a little talk together. You'd better not do as
+you say."
+
+"You're a thief! The jail is the place for thieves."
+
+"It isn't the place for me, and I'm not going there. Now let us come to
+an understanding. You are rich and I am poor."
+
+"Rich!" repeated Paul.
+
+"Yes; at any rate, you have got this farm, and more money hidden away
+than you will ever use. I am poor. You can spare me this money here as
+well as not."
+
+"It is all I have."
+
+"I know better than that. You have plenty more, but I will be satisfied
+with this. Remember, I am your sister's son."
+
+"I don't care if you are," said the old man, doggedly.
+
+"And you owe me some help. You'll never miss it. Now make up your mind
+to give me this money, and I'll go away and leave you in peace."
+
+"Never!" exclaimed Paul, struggling hard to free himself.
+
+"You won't!"
+
+His uncle repeated the emphatic refusal.
+
+"Then I shall have to put it out of your power to carry out your
+threat."
+
+He took his uncle up in his strong arms, and moved toward the stairs.
+
+"Are you going to murder me?" asked Paul, in mortal fear.
+
+"You will find out what I am going to do," said Ben, grimly.
+
+He carried his uncle upstairs, and, possessing himself of a clothesline
+in one corner of the kitchen, proceeded to tie him hand and foot,
+despite his feeble opposition.
+
+"There," said he, when his uncle lay before him utterly helpless, "I
+think that disposes of you for a while. Now for the gold."
+
+Leaving him on the floor, he again descended the cellar stairs, and
+began to gather up the gold coins, which had been scattered about the
+floor at the time of Paul's unexpected attack.
+
+The old man groaned in spirit as he found himself about to be robbed,
+and utterly helpless to resist the outrage. But help was near at hand,
+though he knew it not. Robert Rushton had thought more than once of his
+unknown passenger of the day before, and the particular inquiries he
+made concerning Paul Nichols and his money. Ben Haley had impressed him
+far from favorably, and the more he called to mind his appearance, the
+more he feared that he meditated some dishonest designs upon Paul. So
+the next morning, in order to satisfy his mind that all was right, he
+rowed across to the same place where he had landed Ben, and fastening
+his boat, went up to the farmhouse. He reached it just as Ben, having
+secured the old man, had gone back into the cellar to gather up the
+gold.
+
+Robert looked into the window, and, to his surprise, saw the old farmer
+lying bound hand and foot. He quickly leaped in, and asked:
+
+"What is the matter? Who has done this?"
+
+"Hush!" said the old man, "he'll hear you."
+
+"Who do you mean?"
+
+"My nephew."
+
+"Where is he?"
+
+"Down cellar. He's tied me here, and is stealing all my gold."
+
+"What shall I do? Can I help you?"
+
+"Cut the ropes first."
+
+Robert drew a jackknife from his pocket, and did as he was bidden.
+
+"Now," said Paul, rising with a sigh of relief from his constrained
+position, "while I bolt the cellar door, you go upstairs, and in the
+closet of the room over this you will find a gun. It is loaded. Bring it
+down."
+
+Robert hurried upstairs, and quickly returned with the weapon.
+
+"Do you know how to fire a gun?" asked Paul.
+
+"Yes," said Robert.
+
+"Then keep it. For I am nervous, and my hand trembles. If he breaks
+through the door, fire."
+
+Ben Haley would have been up before this, but it occurred to him to
+explore other parts of the cellar, that he might carry away as much
+booty as possible. He had rendered himself amenable to the law already,
+and he might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb, so he argued. He was
+so busily occupied that he did not hear the noise of Robert's entrance
+into the room above, or he would at once have gone upstairs. In
+consequence of the delay his uncle and Robert had time to concert
+measures for opposing him.
+
+Finally, not succeeding in finding more gold, he pocketed what he had
+found, and went up the cellar stairs. He attempted to open the door,
+when, to his great surprise, he found that it resisted his efforts.
+
+"What makes the door stick so?" he muttered, not suspecting the true
+state of the case. But he was quickly enlightened.
+
+"You can't come up!" exclaimed the old man, in triumph. "I've bolted the
+door."
+
+"How did he get free? He must have untied the knots," thought Ben. "Does
+the old fool think he is going to keep me down here?"
+
+"Unlock the door," he shouted, in a loud, stern voice, "or it will be
+the worse for you."
+
+"Have you got the gold with you?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then go down and leave it where you found it, and I will let you come
+up."
+
+"You're a fool," was the reply. "Do you think I am a child? Open the
+door, or I will burst it open with my foot."
+
+"You'd better not," said Paul, whose courage had returned with the
+presence of Robert and the possession of the gun.
+
+"Why not? What are you going to do about it?" asked Ben, derisively.
+
+"I've got help. You have more than one to contend with."
+
+"I wonder if he has any one with him?" thought Ben. "I believe the old
+fool is only trying to deceive me. At any rate, help or no help, it is
+time I were out of this hole."
+
+"If you don't open the door before I count three," he said, aloud, "I'll
+burst it open."
+
+"What shall I do," asked Robert, in a low voice, "if he comes out?"
+
+"If he tries to get away with the gold, fire!" said the old man.
+
+Robert determined only to inflict a wound. The idea of taking a human
+life, even under such circumstances, was one that made him shudder. He
+felt that gold was not to be set against life.
+
+"One--two--three!" counted Ben, deliberately.
+
+The door remaining locked, he drew back and kicked the door powerfully.
+Had he been on even ground, it would have yielded to the blow, but
+kicking from the stair beneath, placed him at a disadvantage.
+Nevertheless the door shook and trembled beneath the force of the attack
+made upon it.
+
+"Well, will you unlock it now?" he demanded, pausing.
+
+"No," said the old man, "not unless you carry back the gold."
+
+"I won't do that. I have had too much trouble to get it. But if you
+don't unlock the door at once I may be tempted to forget that you are my
+uncle."
+
+"I should like to forget that you are my nephew," said the old man.
+
+"The old fool has mustered up some courage," thought Ben. "I'll soon
+have him whining for mercy."
+
+He made a fresh attack upon the door. This time he did not desist until
+he had broken through the panel. Then with the whole force he could
+command he threw himself against the upper part of the door, and it came
+crashing into the kitchen. Ben Haley leaped through the opening and
+confronted his uncle, who receded in alarm. The sight of the burly form
+of his nephew, and his stern and menacing countenance, once more made
+him quail.
+
+Ben Haley looked around him, and his eyes lighted upon Robert Rushton
+standing beside the door with the gun in his hand.
+
+He burst into a derisive laugh, and turning to his uncle, said: "So this
+is the help you were talking about. He's only a baby. I could twist him
+around my finger. Just lay down that gun, boy! It isn't meant for
+children like you."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+ESCAPE.
+
+Though he had a weapon in his hand, many boys in Robert's situation
+would have been unnerved. He was a mere boy, though strong of his age.
+Opposed to him was a tall, strong man, of desperate character, fully
+resolved to carry out his dishonest purpose, and not likely to shrink
+from violence, to which he was probably only too well accustomed. From
+the old man he was not likely to obtain assistance, for already Paul's
+courage had begun to dwindle, and he regarded his nephew with a scared
+look.
+
+"Lay down that gun, boy!" repeated Ben Haley. "I know you. You're the
+boy that rowed me across the river. You can row pretty well, but you're
+not quite a match for me even at that."
+
+"This gun makes me even with you," said Robert, returning his look
+unflinchingly.
+
+"Does it? Then all I can say is, that when you lose it you'll be in a
+bad pickle. Lay it down instantly."
+
+"Then lay down the gold you have in your pockets," said our hero, still
+pointing his gun at Haley.
+
+"Good boy! Brave boy!" said the old man, approvingly.
+
+"Look here, boy," said Haley, in quick, stern tones, "I've had enough of
+this nonsense. If you don't put down that gun in double quick time,
+you'll repent it. One word--yes or no!"
+
+"No," said Robert, resolutely.
+
+No sooner had he uttered the monosyllable than Haley sprang toward him
+with the design of wresting the gun from him. But Robert had his finger
+upon the trigger, and fired. The bullet entered the shoulder of the
+ruffian, but in the excitement of the moment he only knew that he was
+hit, but this incensed him. In spite of the wound he seized the musket
+and forcibly wrested it from our hero. He raised it in both hands and
+would probably in his blind fury have killed him on the spot, but for
+the sudden opening of the outer door, and entrance of a neighboring
+farmer, who felt sufficiently intimate to enter without knocking. This
+changed Haley's intention. Feeling that the odds were against him, he
+sprang through the window, gun in hand, and ran with rapid strides
+towards the river.
+
+"What's the matter?" demanded the new arrival, surveying the scene
+before him in astonishment.
+
+"He's gone off with my gold," exclaimed Paul Nichols, recovering from
+his stupefaction. "Run after him, catch him!"
+
+"Who is it?"
+
+"Ben Haley."
+
+"What, your nephew! I thought he was dead long ago."
+
+"I wish he had been," said Paul, wringing his hands. "He's taken all my
+money--I shall die in the poorhouse."
+
+"I can't understand how it all happened," said the neighbor, looking to
+Robert for an explanation. "Who fired the gun?"
+
+"I did," said our hero.
+
+"Did you hit him?"
+
+"I think so. I saw blood on his shirt. I must have hit him in the
+shoulder."
+
+"Don't stop to talk," said Paul, impatiently. "Go after him and get back
+the gold."
+
+"We can't do much," said the neighbor, evidently not very anxious to
+come into conflict with such a bold ruffian. "He has the gun with him."
+
+"What made you let him have it?" asked Paul.
+
+"I couldn't help it," said Robert. "But he can't fire it. It is
+unloaded, and I don't think he has any ammunition with him."
+
+"To be sure," said Paul, eagerly. "You see there's no danger. Go after
+him, both of you, He can't hurt ye."
+
+Somewhat reassured the neighbor followed Robert, who at once started in
+pursuit of the escaped burglar. He was still in sight, though he had
+improved the time consumed in the foregoing colloquy, and was already
+near the river bank. On he sped, bent on making good his escape with the
+money he had dishonestly acquired. One doubt was in his mind. Should he
+find a boat? If not, the river would prove an insuperable obstacle, and
+he would be compelled to turn and change the direction of his flight.
+Looking over his shoulder he saw Robert and the farmer on his track, and
+he clutched his gun the more firmly.
+
+"They'd better not touch me," he said to himself. "If I can't fire the
+gun I can brain either or both with it."
+
+Thoughts of crossing the stream by swimming occurred to him. A sailor by
+profession, he was an expert swimmer, and the river was not wide enough
+to daunt him. But his pockets were filled with the gold he had stolen,
+and gold is well known to be the heaviest of all the metals. But
+nevertheless he could not leave it behind since it was for this he had
+incurred his present peril. In this uncertainty he reached the bank of
+the river, when to his surprise and joy his eye rested upon Robert's
+boat.
+
+"The boy's boat!" he exclaimed, in exultation, "by all that's lucky! I
+will take the liberty of borrowing it without leave."
+
+He sprang in, and seizing one of the oars, pushed out into the stream,
+first drawing up the anchor. When Robert and his companion reached the
+shore he was already floating at a safe distance.
+
+"He's got my boat!" exclaimed our hero, in disappointment.
+
+"So he has!" ejaculated the other.
+
+"You're a little too late!" shouted Ben Haley, with a sneer. "Just carry
+back my compliments to the old fool yonder and tell him I left in too
+great a hurry to give him my note for the gold he kindly lent me. I'll
+attend to it when I get ready."
+
+He had hitherto sculled the boat. Now he took the other oar and
+commenced rowing. But here the wound, of which he had at first been
+scarcely conscious, began to be felt, and the first vigorous stroke
+brought a sharp twinge, besides increasing the flow of blood. His
+natural ferocity was stimulated by his unpleasant discovery, and he
+shook his fist menacingly at Robert, from whom he had received the
+wound.
+
+"There's a reckoning coming betwixt you and me, young one!" he cried,
+"and it'll be a heavy one. Ben Haley don't forget that sort of debt. The
+time'll come when he'll pay it back with interest. It mayn't come for
+years, but it'll come at last, you may be sure of that."
+
+Finding that he could not row on account of his wound, he rose to his
+feet, and sculled the boat across as well as he could with one hand.
+
+"I wish I had another boat," said Robert. "We could soon overtake him."
+
+"Better let him go," said the neighbor. "He was always a bad one, that
+Ben Haley. I couldn't begin to tell you all the bad things he did when
+he was a boy. He was a regular dare-devil. You must look out for him, or
+he'll do you a mischief some time, to pay for that wound."
+
+"He brought it on himself," said Robert "I gave him warning."
+
+He went back to the farmhouse to tell Paul of his nephew's escape. He
+was brave and bold, but the malignant glance with which Ben Haley
+uttered his menace, gave him a vague sense of discomfort.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+REVENGE.
+
+In spite of his wounded arm Ben Haley succeeded in propelling the boat
+to the opposite shore. The blood was steadily, though slowly, flowing
+from his wound, and had already stained his shirt red for a considerable
+space. In the excitement of first receiving it he had not felt the pain;
+now, however, the wound began to pain him, and, as might be expected,
+his feeling of animosity toward our hero was not diminished.
+
+"That cursed boy!" he muttered, between his teeth. "I wish I had had
+time to give him one blow--he wouldn't have wanted another. I hope the
+wound isn't serious--if it is, I may have paid dear for the gold."
+
+Still, the thought of the gold in his pockets afforded some
+satisfaction. He had been penniless; now he was the possessor of--as
+near as he could estimate, for he had not had time to count--five
+hundred dollars in gold. That was more than he had ever possessed before
+at one time, and would enable him to live at ease for a while.
+
+On reaching the shore he was about to leave the boat to its fate, when
+he espied a boy standing at a little distance, with a hatchet in his
+hand. This gave him an idea.
+
+"Come here, boy," he said.
+
+The boy came forward, and examined the stranger with curiosity.
+
+"Is that your hatchet?" he asked.
+
+"No, sir. It belongs to my father."
+
+"Would you mind selling it to me if I will give you money enough to buy
+a new one?"
+
+"This is an old hatchet."
+
+"It will suit me just as well, and I haven't time to buy another. Would
+your father sell it?"
+
+"Yes, sir; I guess so."
+
+"Very well. What will a new one cost you?"
+
+The boy named the price.
+
+"Here is the money, and twenty-five cents more to pay you for your
+trouble in going to the store."
+
+The boy pocketed the money with satisfaction. He was a farmer's son, and
+seldom had any money in his possession. He already had twenty-five cents
+saved up toward the purchase of a junior ball, and the stranger's
+gratuity would just make up the sum necessary to secure it. He was in a
+hurry to make the purchase, and, accordingly, no sooner had he received
+the money than he started at once for the village store. His departure
+was satisfactory to Ben Haley, who now had nothing to prevent his
+carrying out his plans.
+
+"I wanted to be revenged on the boy, and now I know how," he said. "I'll
+make some trouble for him with this hatchet."
+
+He drew the boat up and fastened it. Then he deliberately proceeded to
+cut away at the bottom with his newly-acquired hatchet. He had a strong
+arm, and his blows were made more effective by triumphant malice. The
+boat he supposed to belong to Robert, and he was determined to spoil it.
+
+He hacked away with such energy that soon there was a large hole in the
+bottom of the boat. Not content with inflicting this damage, he cut it
+in various other places, until it presented an appearance very different
+from the neat, stanch boat of which Will Paine had been so proud. At
+length Ben stopped, and contemplated the ruin he had wrought with
+malicious satisfaction.
+
+"That's the first instalment in my revenge," he said. "I should like to
+see my young ferryman's face when he sees his boat again. It'll cost
+him more than he'll ever get from my miserly uncle to repair it. It
+serves him right for meddling with matters that don't concern him. And
+now I must be getting away, for my affectionate uncle will soon be
+raising a hue and cry after me if I'm not very much mistaken."
+
+He would like to have gone at once to obtain medical assistance for his
+wound, but to go to the village doctor would be dangerous. He must wait
+till he had got out of the town limits, and the farther away the better.
+He knew when the train would start, and made his way across the fields
+to the station, arriving just in time to catch it. First, however, he
+bound a handkerchief round his shoulder to arrest the flow of blood.
+
+When he reached the station, and was purchasing his ticket, the
+station-master noticed the blood upon his shirt.
+
+"Are you hurt, sir?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, a little," said Ben Haley.
+
+"How did it happen?" inquired the other, with Yankee inquisitiveness.
+
+"I was out hunting," said Ben, carelessly, "with a friend who wasn't
+much used to firearms. In swinging his gun round, it accidentally went
+off, and I got shot through the shoulder."
+
+"That's bad," said the station-master, in a tone of sympathy. "You'd
+better go round to the doctor's, and have it attended to."
+
+"I would," said Ben, "but I am called away by business of the greatest
+importance. I can get along for a few hours, and then I'll have a doctor
+look at it. How soon will the train be here?"
+
+"It's coming now. Don't you hear it?"
+
+"That's the train I must take. You see I couldn't wait long enough for
+the doctor," added Ben, anxious to account satisfactorily for his
+inattention to the medical assistance of which he stood in need.
+
+When he was fairly on board the cars, and the train was under way, he
+felt considerably relieved. He was speeding fast away from the man he
+had robbed, and who was interested in his capture, and in a few days he
+might be at sea, able to snap his fingers at his miserly uncle and the
+boy whom he determined some day to meet and settle scores with.
+
+From one enemy of Robert the transition is brief and natural to another.
+At this very moment Halbert Davis was sauntering idly and discontentedly
+through the streets of the village. He was the son of a rich man, or of
+one whom most persons, his own family included, supposed to be rich; but
+this consciousness, though it made him proud, by no means made him
+happy. He had that morning at the breakfast table asked his father to
+give him a boat like Will Paine's, but Mr. Davis had answered by a
+decided refusal.
+
+"You don't need any boat," he said, sharply.
+
+"It wouldn't cost very much," pleaded Halbert.
+
+"How much do you suppose?"
+
+"Will Paine told me his father paid fifty dollars for his."
+
+"Why don't you borrow it sometimes?"
+
+"I can't borrow it. Will started a day or two since for boarding
+school."
+
+"Better still. I will hire it for you while he is away."
+
+"I thought of it myself," said Halbert, "but just before he went away
+Will lent it to the factory boy," sneering as he uttered the last two
+words.
+
+"Do you mean Robert Rushton?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"That's only a boy's arrangement. I will see Mr. Paine, and propose to
+pay him for the use of the boat, and I presume he will be willing to
+accede to my terms."
+
+"When will you see him?" asked Halbert, hopefully.
+
+"I will try to see him in the course of the day."
+
+It turned out, however, that there was no need of calling on Mr. Paine,
+for five minutes later, having some business with Mr. Davis, he rang
+the bell, and was ushered into the breakfast-room.
+
+"Excuse my calling early," he said, "but I wished to see you about----"
+and here he stated his business, in which my readers will feel no
+interest. When that was over, Mr. Davis introduced the subject of the
+boat, and made the offer referred to.
+
+"I am sorry to refuse," said Mr. Paine, "but my son, before going away,
+passed his promise to Robert Rushton that he should have it during his
+absence."
+
+"Do you hold yourself bound by such a promise?" inquired Mrs. Davis,
+with a disagreeable smile.
+
+"Certainly," said the lawyer, gravely. "Robert is a valued friend of my
+son's, and I respect boyish friendship. I remember very well my own
+boyhood, and I had some strong friendships at that time."
+
+"I don't see what your son can find to like in Robert Rushton," said
+Mrs. Davis, with something of Halbert's manner. "I think him a very
+disagreeable and impertinent boy."
+
+Mr. Paine did not admire Mrs. Davis, and was not likely to be influenced
+by her prejudices. Without inquiry, therefore, into the cause of her
+unfavorable opinion, he said, "I have formed quite a different opinion
+of Robert. I am persuaded that you do him injustice."
+
+"He attacked Halbert ferociously the other day," said Mrs. Davis,
+determined to impart the information whether asked or not. "He has an
+ungovernable temper."
+
+Mr. Paine glanced shrewdly at Halbert, of whose arrogant and quarrelsome
+disposition he had heard from his own son, and replied, "I make it a
+point not to interfere in boys' quarrels. William speaks very highly of
+Robert, and it affords him great satisfaction, I know, to leave the boat
+in his charge."
+
+Mrs. Davis saw that there was no use in pursuing the subject, and it
+dropped.
+
+After the lawyer had gone Halbert made his petition anew, but without
+satisfactory results. The fact was, Mr. Davis had heard unfavorable
+reports from New York the day previous respecting a stock in which he
+had an interest, and it was not a favorable moment to prefer a request
+involving the outlay of money.
+
+It was this refusal which made Halbert discontented and unhappy. The
+factory boy, as he sneeringly called him, could have a boat, while he, a
+gentleman's son, was forced to go without one. Of course, he would not
+stoop to ask the loan of the boat, however much he wanted it, from a boy
+he disliked so much as Robert. He wondered whether Robert were out this
+morning. So, unconsciously, his steps led him to the shore of the river,
+where he knew the boat was generally kept. He cast his eye toward it,
+when what was his surprise to find the object of his desire half full of
+water, with a large hole in the bottom and defaced in other respects.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+TWO UNSATISFACTORY INTERVIEWS.
+
+Halbert's first emotion was surprise, his second was gratification. His
+rival could no longer enjoy the boat which he had envied him. Not only
+that, but he would get into trouble with Mr. Paine on account of the
+damage which it had received. Being under his care, it was his duty to
+keep it in good condition.
+
+"I wonder how it happened?" thought Halbert. "Won't the young beggar be
+in a precious scrape when it's found out? Most likely he won't let Mr.
+Paine know."
+
+In this thought he judged Robert by himself. Straightway the plan
+suggested itself of going to the lawyer himself and informing him of
+Robert's delinquency. It would be a very agreeable way of taking revenge
+him. The plan so pleased him that he at once directed his steps toward
+Mr. Paine's office. On the way he overtook Hester Paine, the young lady
+on whose account he was chiefly incensed against Robert. Being as
+desirous as ever of standing in the young lady's good graces, he
+hurriedly advanced to her side, and lifting his hat with an air of
+ceremonious politeness, he said:
+
+"Good-morning, Hester."
+
+Hester Paine was not particularly well pleased with the meeting. She had
+been made acquainted by her brother with the quarrel between Halbert and
+Robert, and the mean revenge which the former had taken in procuring the
+dismissal of the latter from the factory. Having a partiality for
+Robert, this was not likely to recommend his enemy in her eyes.
+
+"Good-morning, Mr. Davis," she said, with cool politeness.
+
+"You are very ceremonious this morning, Miss Hester," said Halbert, who
+liked well enough to be called "Mr." by others, but not by Hester.
+
+"Am I?" asked Hester, indifferently. "How so?"
+
+"You called me Mr. Davis."
+
+"That's your name, isn't it?"
+
+"I am not called so by my intimate friends."
+
+"No, I suppose not," said Hester, thus disclaiming the title.
+
+Halbert bit his lips. He was not in love, not because he was too young,
+but because he was too selfish to be in love with anybody except
+himself. But he admired Hester, and the more she slighted him the more
+he was determined to force her to like him. He did, however, feel a
+little piqued at her behavior, and that influenced his next words.
+
+"Perhaps you'd rather have the factory boy walking beside you," he said,
+with not very good judgment, if he wanted to recommend himself to her.
+
+"There are a good many factory boys in town," she said. "I can't tell
+unless you tell me whom you mean."
+
+"I mean Robert Rushton."
+
+"Perhaps I might," said Hester.
+
+"He's a low fellow," said Halbert, bitterly.
+
+"No one thinks so but you," retorted Hester, indignantly.
+
+"My father was obliged to dismiss him from the factory."
+
+"I know all about that, and who was the means of having him sent away."
+
+"I suppose you mean me."
+
+"Yes, Halbert Davis, I mean you, and I consider it a very mean thing to
+do," said Hester, her cheeks flushed with the indignation she felt.
+
+"He attacked me like the low ruffian that he is," pleaded Halbert, in
+extenuation. "If he hadn't insulted me, he wouldn't have got into
+trouble."
+
+"You struck him first, you know you did. My brother told me all about
+it. You were angry because he walked home with me. I would rather go
+home alone any time than have your escort."
+
+"You're very polite, Miss Hester," said Halbert, angrily. "I can tell
+you some news about your favorite."
+
+"If it's anything bad, I won't believe it."
+
+"You'll have to believe it."
+
+"Well, what is it?" demanded Hester, who was not altogether unlike girls
+in general, and so felt curious to learn what it was that Halbert had to
+reveal.
+
+"Your brother was foolish enough to leave his boat in Rushton's care."
+
+"That is no news. Will was very glad to do Robert a favor."
+
+"He'll be sorry enough now."
+
+"Why will he?"
+
+"Because the boat is completely ruined."
+
+"I don't believe it," said Hester, hastily.
+
+"It's true, though. I was down at the river just now, and saw it with my
+own eyes. There is a great hole in the bottom, and it is hacked with a
+hatchet, so that it wouldn't bring half price."
+
+"Do you know who did it?" asked Hester, with the momentary thought that
+Halbert himself might have been tempted by his hatred into the
+commission of the outrage.
+
+"No, I don't. It was only accidentally I saw it."
+
+"Was Robert at the boat?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Have you asked him about it?"
+
+"No, I have not seen him."
+
+"Then I am sure some enemy has done it. I am sure it is no fault of
+his."
+
+"If your brother had let me have the boat, it wouldn't have happened. I
+offered him a fair price for its use."
+
+"He won't be sorry he refused, whatever has happened. But I must bid you
+good-morning, Mr. Davis," and the young lady, who was now at her own
+gate, opened it, and entered.
+
+"She might have been polite enough to invite me in," said Halbert, with
+chagrin. "I don't see how she can be so taken up with that low fellow."
+
+He waited till Hester had entered the house, and then bent his steps to
+Mr. Paine's office, which was a small one-story building in one corner
+of the yard.
+
+The lawyer was sitting at a table covered with papers, from which he
+looked up as Halbert entered the office.
+
+"Sit down, Halbert," he said. "Any message from your father?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"No legal business of your own?" he inquired, with a smile.
+
+"No, sir, no legal business."
+
+"Well, if you have any business, you may state it at once, as I am quite
+busy."
+
+"It is about the boat which your son lent to Robert Rushton."
+
+"I shall not interfere with that arrangement," said the lawyer,
+misunderstanding his object. "I told your father that this morning," and
+he resumed his writing.
+
+"I did not come to say anything about that. The boat wouldn't be of any
+use to me now."
+
+"Why not?" asked the lawyer, detecting something significant in the
+boy's tone.
+
+"Because," said Halbert, in a tone which he could not divest of the
+satisfaction he felt at his rival's misfortune, "the boat's completely
+ruined."
+
+Mr. Paine laid down his pen in genuine surprise.
+
+"Explain yourself," he said.
+
+So Halbert told the story once more, taking good care to make the damage
+quite as great as it was.
+
+"That is very strange," said the lawyer, thoughtfully. "I can't conceive
+how such damage could have happened to the boat."
+
+"Robert Rushton don't know how to manage a boat."
+
+"You are mistaken. He understands it very well. I am sure the injury
+you speak of could not have happened when he was in charge. You say
+there was not only a hole in the bottom, but it was otherwise defaced
+and injured?"
+
+"Yes, sir, it looked as if it had been hacked by a hatchet."
+
+"Then it is quite clear that Robert could have had nothing to do with
+it. It must have been done by some malicious person or persons."
+
+Knowing something of Halbert, Mr. Paine looked hard at him, his
+suspicions taking the same direction as his daughter's. But, as we know,
+Halbert was entirely innocent, and bore the gaze without confusion.
+
+"I don't see why Robert hasn't been and let me know of this," said Mr.
+Paine, musing.
+
+"He was probably afraid to tell you," said Halbert, with a slight sneer.
+
+"I know him better than that. You can testify," added the lawyer,
+significantly, "that he is not deficient in bravery."
+
+"I thought I would come and tell you," said Halbert, coloring a little.
+"I thought you would like to know."
+
+"You are very kind to take so much trouble," said Mr. Paine, but there
+was neither gratitude nor cordiality in his tone.
+
+Halbert thought it was time to be going, and accordingly got up and
+took his leave. As he opened the office door to go out, he found himself
+face to face with Robert Rushton, who passed him with a slight nod, and
+with an air of trouble entered the presence of his friend's father.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+HALBERT'S MALICE.
+
+Robert was forced, by Ben Haley's, taking possession of his boat to give
+up for the present his design of recrossing the river. He felt bound to
+go back and inform Paul of Ben's escape.
+
+"He has carried off my gold," exclaimed Paul, in anguish. "Why didn't
+you catch him?"
+
+"He had too much start of us," said Robert's companion. "But even if we
+had come up with him, I am afraid he would have proved more than a match
+for us. He is a desperate man. How much money did he take away with
+him?"
+
+"More than five hundred dollars," wailed the old man. "I am completely
+ruined!"
+
+"Not quite so bad as that, Mr. Nichols. You have your farm left."
+
+But the old man was not to be comforted. He had become so wedded to his
+gold that to lose it was like losing his heart's blood. But was these no
+hope of recovery?
+
+"Why don't you go after him?" he exclaimed, suddenly. "Raise the
+neighbors. It isn't too late yet."
+
+"He's across the river before this," said Robert.
+
+"Get a boat and go after him."
+
+"I am willing," said our hero, promptly. "Where can we find a boat, Mr.
+Dunham?"
+
+"There's one about a quarter of a mile down the stream--Stetson's boat."
+
+"Let's go, then."
+
+"Very well, Robert. I've no idea we can do anything, but we will try."
+
+"Go, go. Don't waste a moment," implored the old man, in feverish
+impatience.
+
+Robert and Mr. Dunham started, and were soon rowing across the river in
+Stetson's boat.
+
+"Whereabout would he be likely to land?" asked the farmer.
+
+"There's my boat now," said Robert, pointing it out. "He has left it
+where I usually keep it."
+
+Quickly they rowed alongside. Then to his great sorrow Robert perceived
+the malicious injury which his enemy had wrought.
+
+"Oh, Mr. Dunham, look at that!" he said, struck with grief. "The boat is
+spoiled!"
+
+"Not so bad as that. It can be mended."
+
+"What will Will Paine say? What will his father say?"
+
+"Then it isn't your boat?"
+
+"No, that is the worst of it. It was lent me by Will Paine, and I
+promised to take such good care of it."
+
+"It isn't your fault, Robert?"
+
+"No, I couldn't help it, but still it wouldn't have happened if it had
+not been in my charge."
+
+"You can get it repaired, so that it will look almost as well as new."
+
+If Robert had had plenty of money, this suggestion would have comforted
+him, but it will be remembered that he was almost penniless, dependent
+on the fish he caught for the means of supporting his mother and
+himself. Now this resource was cut off. The boat couldn't be used until
+it was repaired. He felt morally bound to get it repaired, though he was
+guiltless of the damage. But how could he even do this? One thing was
+clear--Mr. Paine must at once be informed of the injury suffered by the
+boat. Robert shrank from informing him, but he knew it to be his duty,
+and he was too brave to put it off.
+
+But first he must try to find some clew to Ben Haley. He had now a
+personal interest in bringing to justice the man who had made him so
+much trouble. He had scarcely got on shore than the boy who had sold Ben
+Haley the hatchet, strolled up.
+
+"Who was that man who came across in your boat?" he asked.
+
+"Did you see him?" asked Robert, eagerly.
+
+"To be sure I did," said Tom Green, with satisfaction. "I sold him my
+old hatchet for money enough to buy a new one, and he give me a quarter
+besides for my trouble."
+
+"I wish you hadn't done it, Tom," said Robert, gravely. "See what he's
+done with it."
+
+Tom Green opened his eyes wide with astonishment.
+
+"What did he do that for?" he asked.
+
+"To be revenged on me. I'll tell you what for another time. Now I want
+to find him. Can you tell me where he went?"
+
+"No; I left him here, while I went to the store for a new hatchet."
+
+The old hatchet was found under a clump of bushes. Robert took
+possession of it, feeling that he had a right to it, as part
+compensation for the mischief it had done.
+
+"We'd better go to the railroad depot, Mr. Dunham," he said. "He'd be
+most likely to go there."
+
+"You're right. We'll go."
+
+They walked rapidly to the station, but too late, of course, for the
+train. The station-master was standing on the platform, superintending
+the removal of a trunk.
+
+"Mr. Cross," said Robert, "I want to find out if a particular man left
+by the last train. I'll describe him."
+
+"Yes," said the station-master, "that's the man I was wondering about.
+He had a wound in the shoulder."
+
+"He got that from me," said Robert.
+
+"Sho! you don't say so," returned the station-master, in surprise. "He
+said he was out hunting with a friend, and his friend's gun went off
+accidentally."
+
+"I don't believe he feels very friendly to me," said Robert, smiling.
+"He's stolen five or six hundred dollars in gold from old Paul Nichols."
+
+"It'll about kill the old man, won't it?"
+
+"He feels pretty bad about it. For what place did he buy a ticket?"
+
+"For Cranston; but that ain't no guide. When he gets there, he'll buy a
+ticket for further on."
+
+Had there been a telegraph station, Robert would have telegraphed on to
+have Ben Haley stopped, but there was none nearer than the next town. He
+determined to give information to a justice of the peace, and leave the
+matter in his hands. But Justice in a country town is slow, and it may
+as well be stated here, before anything was done Ben Haley was out of
+danger. But Robert was destined to fall in with him at a future day.
+
+This business attended to, Robert bent his steps to Mr. Paine's office.
+This brings us to his meeting with Halbert Davis at the door. He was
+slightly surprised at the encounter, but was far from guessing the
+object of Halbert's call.
+
+Mr. Paine looked up as he entered, and had no difficulty in guessing his
+errand.
+
+"What can I do for you, Robert?" he asked, kindly.
+
+"I bring bad news, Mr. Paine," said our hero, boldly plunging into the
+subject which had brought him to the office.
+
+"It's about the boat, isn't it?" said the lawyer.
+
+"What, do you know about it?" asked Robert, in surprise.
+
+"Yes; a disinterested friend brought the news."
+
+"Halbert Davis?"
+
+"The same. He takes a strong interest in your affairs," added the
+lawyer, dryly. "Now tell me how it happened."
+
+Robert gave a full explanation, the lawyer occasionally asking a
+question.
+
+"It seems, then," he said, "that you incurred this man's enmity by your
+defense of Mr. Nichols' money."
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"It was incurred in a good cause. I can't blame you, nor will my son. I
+will get Mr. Plane, the carpenter, to look at the boat and see what he
+can do to repair it."
+
+"Some time I will pay you the cost of the repairs, Mr. Paine. I would
+now if I had any money; but you know how I am situated."
+
+"I shall not call upon you to do that," said the lawyer, kindly. "It was
+not your fault."
+
+"But the damage would not have happened if Will had not lent the boat to
+me."
+
+"That is true; but in undertaking the defense of Mr. Nichols you showed
+a pluck and courage which most boys would not have exhibited. I am
+interested, like all good citizens, in the prevention of theft, and in
+this instance I am willing to assume the cost."
+
+"You are very kind, Mr. Paine. I was afraid you would blame me."
+
+"No, my boy; I am not so unreasonable. It will save me some trouble if
+you will yourself see Mr. Plane and obtain from him an estimate of the
+probable expense of putting the boat in order."
+
+Robert left the office, feeling quite relieved by the manner in which
+his communication had been received. A little way up the road he
+overtook Halbert Davis. In fact, Halbert was waiting for him, expressly
+to get an opportunity of enjoying his discomfiture at the ruin of the
+boat.
+
+"Hallo, Rushton!" he said.
+
+"Good-morning, Halbert!"
+
+"Are you going out in your boat this afternoon?" asked Halbert,
+maliciously.
+
+"You know why I can't."
+
+"I wonder what Will Paine will say when he sees the good care you take
+of it."
+
+"I don't believe he will blame me when he knows the circumstances."
+
+"You ain't fit to have the charge of a boat. I suppose you ran it on a
+rock."
+
+"Then you suppose wrong."
+
+"You won't be able to go out fishing any more. How will you make a
+living?"
+
+"Without your help," said Robert, coldly. "You will probably see me out
+again in a few days, if you take the trouble to look."
+
+"How can you go?"
+
+"Mr. Paine has asked me to see Mr. Plane about repairing the boat."
+
+"Is he going to pay the expenses?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then he's a fool."
+
+"You'd better not tell him so, or he might give you a lesson in
+politeness."
+
+"You're a low fellow," said Halbert, angrily.
+
+"You are welcome to your opinion," returned Robert, indifferently.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+ON THE RAILROAD TRACK.
+
+Robert saw the carpenter, according to Mr. Paine's instructions, but
+found him so busy that he would not engage to give his attention to the
+boat under a week.
+
+The delay was regretted by our hero, since it cut him off from the
+employment by which he hoped to provide for his mother. Again Mrs.
+Rushton was in low spirits.
+
+"I am sorry you couldn't agree with Halbert Davis, Robert," she said,
+with a sigh. "Then you could have stayed in the factory, and got your
+wages regularly every week."
+
+"I know that, mother, but I am not willing to have Halbert 'boss me
+round,' even for a place in the factory."
+
+"Then, Robert, you quarreled with the man you took across the river."
+
+"I think I did right, mother," said Robert. "Don't get out of spirits. I
+don't expect to succeed always. But I think I shall come out right in
+the end."
+
+"I am sure I hope so."
+
+Mrs. Rushton was one of those who look on the dark side. She was
+distrustful of the future, and apt to anticipate bad fortune. Robert was
+very different. He inherited from his father an unusual amount of
+courage and self-reliance, and if one avenue was closed to him, he at
+once set out to find another. It is of this class that successful men
+are made, and we have hopes that Robert will develop into a prosperous
+and successful man.
+
+"I am sure I don't see what you can do," said Mrs. Rushton, "and we
+can't live on what I make by braiding straw."
+
+"I'll tell you what I'll do," said Robert, "I'll go on Sligo Hill and
+pick blueberries; I was passing a day or two ago, and saw the bushes
+quite covered. Just give me a couple of tin pails, and I'll see what I
+can do."
+
+The pails were provided, and Robert started on his expedition. The hill
+was not very high, nor was its soil very good. The lower part was used
+only to pasture a few cows. But this part was thickly covered with
+blueberry bushes, which this season were fuller than usual of
+large-sized berries. Robert soon settled to work, and picked steadily
+and rapidly. At the end of three hours he had filled both pails,
+containing, as near as he could estimate, eight quarts.
+
+"That's a pretty good afternoon's work," he said to himself. "Now I
+suppose I must turn peddler, and dispose of them."
+
+He decided to ask ten cents a quart. Later in the season the price would
+be reduced, but at that time the berries ought to command that price.
+
+The first house at which he called was Mr. Paine's. He was about to
+pass, when he saw Hester at the window. Pride suggested, "She may
+despise me for being a berry peddler," but Robert had no false shame.
+"At any rate, I won't be coward enough to try to hide it from her."
+Accordingly he walked up boldly to the door, and rang the bell.
+
+Hester had seen him from the window, and she answered the bell herself.
+
+"I am glad to see you, Robert," she said, frankly. "Won't you come in?"
+
+"Thank you," said our hero, "but I called on business."
+
+"You will find my father in his office," she said, looking a little
+disappointed.
+
+Robert smiled.
+
+"My business is not of a legal character," he said. "I've turned
+peddler, and would like to sell you some blueberries."
+
+"Oh, what nice berries! Where did you pick them?"
+
+"On Sligo."
+
+"I am sure mother will buy some. Will you wait a minute while I go and
+ask her?"
+
+"I will wait as long as you like."
+
+Hester soon returned with authority to buy four quarts. I suspect that
+she was the means of influencing so large a purchase.
+
+"They are ten cents a quart," said Robert, "but I don't think I ought to
+charge your father anything."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because I shall owe him, or rather Will, a good deal of money."
+
+"I know what you mean--it's about the boat."
+
+"Did your father tell you?"
+
+"Yes, but I knew it before. Halbert Davis told me."
+
+"He takes a great interest in my affairs."
+
+"He's a mean boy. You mustn't mind what he says against you."
+
+Robert laughed.
+
+"I don't care what he thinks or says of me, unless he persuades others
+to think ill of me."
+
+"I shall never think ill of you, Robert," said Hester, warmly.
+
+"Thank you, Hester," said Robert, looking up into her glowing face with
+more gratification than he could express. "I hope I shall deserve your
+good opinion."
+
+"I am sure you will, Robert, But won't you come in?"
+
+"No, thank you. I must sell the rest of my berries."
+
+Robert left the house with forty cents in his pocket, the first fruits
+of his afternoon's work. Besides, he had four quarts left, for which he
+expected to find a ready sale. He had not gone far when he met Halbert.
+The latter was dressed with his usual care, with carefully polished
+shoes, neatly fitting gloves, and swinging a light cane, the successor
+of that which had been broken in his conflict with Robert. Our hero, on
+the other hand, I am obliged to confess, was by no means fashionably
+attired. His shoes were dusty, and his bare hands were stained with
+berry juice. He wore a coarse straw hat with a broad brim to shield him
+from the hot sun. Those of my readers who judge by dress alone would
+certainly have preferred Halbert Davis, who looked as if he had just
+stepped out of a band-box. But those who compared the two faces, the one
+bright, frank and resolute, the other supercilious and insincere, could
+hardly fail to prefer Robert in spite of his coarse attire and
+unfashionable air.
+
+Halbert scanned his rival with scornful eyes. He would have taken no
+notice of him, but concluded to speak in the hope of saying something
+disagreeable.
+
+"You have found a new business, I see," he said, with a sneer.
+
+"Yes," said Robert, quietly. "When one business gives out, I try
+another."
+
+"You've made a good choice," said Halbert. "It's what you are adapted
+for."
+
+"Thank you for the compliment, but I don't expect to stick to it all my
+life."
+
+"How do you sell your berries?"
+
+"Ten cents a quart."
+
+"You'd better call on your friend, Miss Hester Paine, and see if she
+won't buy some."
+
+"Thank you for the advice, but it comes too late. She bought four quarts
+of me."
+
+"She did!" returned Halbert, surprised. "I didn't think you'd go there."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"She won't think much of a boy that has to pick berries for a living."
+
+"I don't think that will change her opinion of me. Why should it?"
+
+"It's a low business."
+
+"I don't see it."
+
+"Excuse my delaying you. I am afraid I may have interfered with your
+business. I say," he called out, as Robert was going on, "if you will
+call at our house, perhaps my mother may patronize you."
+
+"Very well," said Robert, "if I don't sell elsewhere, I'll call there.
+It makes no difference to me who buys my berries."
+
+"He's the proudest beggar I ever met," thought Halbert, looking after
+him. "Hester Paine must be hard up for an escort if she walks with a boy
+who peddles berries for a living. If I were her father, I would put a
+stop to it."
+
+The same evening there was a concert in the Town Hall. A free ticket was
+given to Robert in return for some slight service. Mr. Paine and his
+daughter were present, and Halbert Davis also. To the disgust of the
+latter, Robert actually had the presumption to walk home with Hester.
+Hester laughed and chatted gayly, and appeared to be quite unconscious
+that she was lowering herself by accepting the escort of a boy "who
+picked berries for a living."
+
+The next day Robert again repaired to Sligo. He had realized eighty
+cents from his sales the previous day, and he felt that picking berries
+was much better than remaining idle. Halbert's sneers did not for a
+moment discompose him. He had pride, but it was an honorable pride, and
+not of a kind that would prevent his engaging in any respectable
+employment necessary for the support of his mother and himself.
+
+Returning home with well-filled pails, he walked a part of the way on
+the railroad, as this shortened the distance. He had not walked far when
+he discovered on the track a huge rock, large enough to throw the train
+off the track. How it got there was a mystery. Just in front there was a
+steep descent on either side, the road crossing a valley, so that an
+accident would probably cause the entire train to be thrown down the
+embankment. Robert saw the danger at a glance, and it flashed upon him
+at the same moment that the train was nearly due. He sprang to the rock,
+and exerted his utmost strength to dislodge it. He could move it
+slightly, but it was too heavy to remove. He was still exerting his
+strength to the utmost when the whistle of the locomotive was heard.
+Robert was filled with horror, as he realized the peril of the
+approaching train, and his powerlessness to avert it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+THE YOUNG CAPITALIST.
+
+The cars swept on at the rate of twenty miles an hour, the engineer
+wholly unconscious of the peril in front. Robert saw the fated train
+with its freight of human lives, and his heart grew sick within him as
+he thought of the terrible tragedy which was about to be enacted. Was
+there any possibility of his averting it? He threw himself against the
+rock and pushed with all the strength he could command. But, nerved as
+he was by desperation, he found the task greater than he could compass.
+
+And still the train came thundering on. He must withdraw to a place of
+safety, or he would himself be involved in the destruction which
+threatened the train.
+
+There was one thing more he could do, and he did it.
+
+He took his station on the rock which was just in the path of the
+advancing train, and waved his handkerchief frantically. It was a
+position to test the courage of the bravest.
+
+Robert was fully aware that he was exposing himself to a horrible
+death. Should he not be seen by the engineer it would be doubtful
+whether he could get out of the way in time to escape death--and that of
+the most frightful nature. But unless he did something a hundred lives
+perhaps might be lost. So he resolutely took his stand, waving, as we
+have said, his handkerchief and shouting, though the last was not likely
+to be of any avail.
+
+At first he was not seen. When the engineer at last caught sight of him
+it was with a feeling of anger at what he regarded as the foolhardiness
+of the boy. He slackened his speed, thinking he would leave his place,
+but Robert still maintained his position, his nerves strung to their
+highest tension, not alone at his own danger, but at the peril which he
+began to fear he could not avert.
+
+Reluctantly the engineer gave the signal to stop the train. He was only
+just in time. When it came to a stop there was an interval of only
+thirty-five feet between it and Robert Rushton, who, now that he had
+accomplished his object, withdrew to one side, a little paler than
+usual, but resolute and manly in his bearing.
+
+"What is the meaning of this foolery?" the engineer demanded, angrily.
+
+Robert pointed in silence to the huge rock which lay on the track.
+
+"How came that rock there?" asked the engineer, in a startled tone, as
+he took in the extent of the peril from which they had been saved.
+
+"I don't know," said Robert. "I tried to move it, but I couldn't."
+
+"You are a brave boy," said the engineer. "You have in all probability
+saved the train from destruction. But you ran a narrow risk yourself."
+
+"I know it," was the reply; "but it was the only thing I could do to
+catch your attention."
+
+"I will speak to you about it again. The first to be done is to move the
+rock."
+
+He left the engine and advanced toward the rock. By this time many of
+the passengers had got out, and were inquiring why the train was stopped
+at this point. The sight of the rock made a sensation. Though the peril
+was over, the thought that the train might have been precipitated down
+the embankment, and the majority of the passengers killed or seriously
+injured, impressed them not a little. They pressed forward, and several
+lending a hand, the rock was ousted from its its position, and rolled
+crashing over the bank.
+
+Among the passengers was a stout, good-looking man, a New York merchant.
+He had a large family at home waiting his return from a Western
+journey. He shuddered as he thought how near he had been to never
+meeting them again on earth.
+
+"It was providential, your seeing the rock," he said to the engineer.
+"We owe our lives to you."
+
+"You do me more than justice," replied the engineer. "It was not I who
+saved the train, but that boy."
+
+All eyes were turned upon Robert, who, unused to being the center of so
+many glances, blushed and seemed disposed to withdraw.
+
+"How is that?" inquired the merchant.
+
+"He saw the obstruction, and tried to remove it, but, not being able to
+do so, took his station on the rock, and, at the risk of his own life,
+drew my attention, and saved the train."
+
+"It was a noble act, my boy; what is your name?"
+
+"Robert Rushton."
+
+"It is a name that we shall all have cause to remember. Gentlemen,"
+continued the merchant, turning to the group around him, "you see before
+you the preserver of your lives. Shall his act go unrewarded?"
+
+"No, no!" was the general exclamation.
+
+"I don't want any reward," said Robert, modestly. "Any boy would have
+done as much."
+
+"I don't know about that, my young friend. There are not many boys, or
+men, I think, that would have had the courage to act as you did. You may
+not ask or want any reward, but we should be forever disgraced if we
+failed to acknowledge our great indebtedness to you. I contribute one
+hundred dollars as my share of the testimonial to our young friend."
+
+"I follow with fifty!" said his next neighbor, "and shall ask for the
+privilege of taking him by the hand."
+
+Robert had won honors at school, but he had never before been in a
+position so trying to his modesty. The passengers, following the example
+of the last speaker, crowded around him, and took him by the hand,
+expressing their individual acknowledgments for the service he had
+rendered them. Our hero, whom we now designate thus appropriately, bore
+the ordeal with a self-possession which won the favor of all.
+
+While this was going on, the collection was rapidly being made by the
+merchant who had proposed it. The amounts contributed varied widely, but
+no one refused to give. In ten minutes the fund had reached over six
+hundred dollars.
+
+"Master Robert Rushton," said the merchant, "I have great pleasure in
+handing you this money, freely contributed by the passengers on this
+train, as a slight acknowledgment of the great service which you have
+rendered them at the risk of your own life. It does not often fall to
+the lot of a boy to perform a deed so heroic. We are all your debtors,
+and if the time ever comes that you need a friend, I for one shall be
+glad to show my sense of indebtedness."
+
+"All aboard!" shouted the conductor.
+
+The passengers hurried into the cars, leaving our hero standing by the
+track, with one hand full of bank notes and in the other the card of the
+New York merchant. It was only about fifteen minutes since Robert had
+first signaled the train, yet how in this brief time had his fortunes
+changed! From the cars now rapidly receding he looked to the roll of
+bills, and he could hardly realize that all this money was his own. He
+sat down and counted it over.
+
+"Six hundred and thirty-five dollars!" he exclaimed. "I must have made a
+mistake."
+
+But a second count turned out precisely the same.
+
+"How happy mother will be!" he thought, joyfully. "I must go and tell
+her the good news."
+
+He was so occupied with the thoughts of his wonderful good fortune that
+he nearly forgot to take the berries which he had picked.
+
+"I shan't need to sell them now," he said. "We'll use a part of them
+ourselves, and what we can't use I will give away."
+
+He carefully stored away the money in his coat pocket, and for the sake
+of security buttoned it tight. It was a new thing for him to be the
+custodian of so much treasure. As Halbert Davis usually spent the latter
+part of the afternoon in promenading the streets, sporting his kids and
+swinging his jaunty cane, it was not surprising that Robert encountered
+him again.
+
+"So, you've been berrying again?" he said, stopping short.
+
+"Yes," said Robert, briefly.
+
+"You haven't got the boat repaired, I suppose."
+
+"Not yet."
+
+"It's lucky for you this is berrying season."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because you'd probably have to go to the poorhouse," said Halbert,
+insolently.
+
+"I don't know about that," said Robert, coolly. "I rather think I could
+buy you out, Halbert Davis, watch, gloves, cane and all."
+
+"What do you mean?" demanded Halbert, haughtily. "You seem to forget
+that you are a beggar, or next to it."
+
+Robert set down his pails, and, opening his coat, drew out a handful of
+bills.
+
+"Does that look like going to the almshouse?" he said.
+
+"They're not yours," returned Halbert, considerably astonished, for,
+though he did not know the denomination of the bills, it was evident
+that there was a considerable amount of money.
+
+"It belongs to me, every dollar of it," returned Robert.
+
+"I don't believe it. Where did you get it? Picking berries, I suppose,"
+he added, with a sneer.
+
+"It makes no difference to you where I got it," said our hero, returning
+the money to his pocket. "I shan't go to the almshouse till this I is
+all gone."
+
+"He must have stolen it," muttered Halbert, looking after Robert with
+disappointment and chagrin. It was certainly very vexatious that, in
+spite of all his attempts to humble and ruin our hero, he seemed more
+prosperous than ever.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+
+A VISIT TO THE LAWYER.
+
+Mrs. Rushton was braiding straw when Robert entered with his berries.
+
+"Couldn't you sell your berries, Robert?" she asked.
+
+"I haven't tried yet, mother."
+
+"The berrying season won't last much longer," said his mother,
+despondently.
+
+"Don't borrow trouble, mother. I am sure we shall get along well."
+
+"You feel more confidence than I do."
+
+"I just met Halbert Davis in the street."
+
+"Have you made up with him?"
+
+"It is for him to make up with me."
+
+"I am afraid you are too high-spirited, Robert. Did Halbert speak to
+you?"
+
+"Oh, yes," said Robert, laughing. "He takes a great interest in my
+affairs. He predicts that we shall come to the poorhouse yet."
+
+"He may be right."
+
+"Now, mother, don't be so desponding. We've got enough money to pay our
+expenses for more than a year, even if we both stop work."
+
+"What can you mean, Robert?" said his mother, looking up in surprise.
+"You must be crazy."
+
+"Does that look like going to the poorhouse?" asked Robert, drawing out
+his money.
+
+Mrs. Rushton uttered an exclamation of surprise.
+
+"Whose money is that, Robert?"
+
+"Mine!"
+
+"You haven't done anything wrong?"
+
+"No, mother; I thought you knew me too well for that. I see you are
+anxious to hear how I obtained it, so I'll tell you all about it."
+
+He sat down, and in brief words told his mother the story of the train
+and its peril, how he had rescued it, and, lastly, of the generous gift
+which he had so unexpectedly received. The mother's heart was touched,
+and she forgot all her forebodings.
+
+"My son, I am proud of you," she said, her eyes moist. "You have done a
+noble deed, and you deserve the reward. But what a risk you ran!"
+
+"I know it, mother, but we won't think of that, now that it is over. How
+much, money do you think I have here?"
+
+"Two or three hundred dollars."
+
+"Six hundred and thirty-five! So you see, mother, we needn't go to the
+poorhouse just yet. Now, how much better off should I have been if I had
+kept my place in the factory? It would have taken me more than two years
+to earn as much money as this. But that isn't all. I have been the means
+of saving a great many lives, for the train was sure to be thrown down
+the embankment. I shall remember that all my life."
+
+"We have reason to be grateful to Heaven that you have been the means of
+doing so much good, Robert, while, at the same time, you have benefited
+yourself."
+
+"That is true, mother."
+
+"I shall be afraid to have so much money in the house. If it were known,
+we might be robbed."
+
+"I will leave it with Mr. Paine until I get a chance to put it in a
+savings bank. He has a safe in his office. At the same time I will carry
+him some berries as a present. It won't be much, but I should like to do
+it on account of his kindness about the boat. I will offer now to bear
+the expense of its repair."
+
+After washing his hands and adjusting his clothes a little, for Robert,
+though no fop like Halbert, was not regardless of appearances,
+especially as he thought Hester might see him, he set out for the
+lawyer's office.
+
+"Excuse my bringing in my berries," said Robert, as he entered the
+office, "but I want to ask your acceptance of them."
+
+Many persons, under the supposition that Robert was too poor to afford a
+gift, would have declined it, or offered to pay for it, thinking they
+were acting kindly and considerately. But Mr. Paine knew that Robert
+would be mortified by such an offer, and he answered:
+
+"Thank you, Robert; I will accept your gift with thanks on one
+condition."
+
+"What is it, Mr. Paine?" inquired our hero, a little puzzled.
+
+"That you will take tea with us to-morrow evening, and help us do
+justice to them."
+
+"Thank you," said Robert, not a little pleased at the invitation, "but I
+shouldn't like to leave my mother at home alone."
+
+"Oh, we must have your mother, too. Hester will call this evening, and
+invite her."
+
+"Then," said Robert, "I can answer for myself, and I think for her, that
+we should both be very happy to come."
+
+The lawyer's social position made such an invitation particularly
+gratifying to Robert. Besides, he was led to value it more on account of
+the persistent efforts of Halbert to injure him in the general
+estimation. Then, too, it was pleasant to think that he was to sit down
+to the same table with Hester, as her father's guest, and to receive a
+call from her at his own house. Nothing that Mr. Paine could have done
+would have afforded him an equal amount of gratification.
+
+"There is one other matter I wanted to speak to you about, Mr. Paine,"
+he said. "Will you take care of some money for me until I get a chance
+to deposit it in the savings bank?"
+
+"Certainly, Robert," was the reply, but the lawyer's manner showed some
+surprise. He knew the circumstances of the Rushtons, and he had not
+supposed they had any money on hand. "How much is it?"
+
+"Six hundred and thirty-five dollars," answered Robert, producing it.
+"Will you count it, and see if it is all right?"
+
+"Is this your money?" asked the lawyer, laying down his pen and gazing
+at Robert in astonishment.
+
+"Yes, sir," said Robert, enjoying his surprise. "I will tell you how I
+got it."
+
+So the story was told, with a modest reserve as to his own courage, but
+still showing, without his intending it, how nobly he had behaved.
+
+"Give me your hand, Robert," said Mr. Paine, cordially. "You have shown
+yourself a hero. We shall be proud of your company to tea to-morrow
+evening."
+
+Robert flushed with gratification at the high compliment conveyed in
+these words.
+
+What did he care then for Halbert Davis and his petty malice! He had the
+approval of his own conscience, the good opinion of those whom he most
+respected and a provision against want sufficient to avert all present
+anxiety.
+
+"There is one thing more, Mr. Paine," he added. "It's about the boat
+Will was kind enough to lend me."
+
+"Have you seen the carpenter about repairing it?"
+
+"Yes, sir, and he will attend to it as soon as he can spare the time.
+But that was not what I wanted to say. I think I ought to bear the
+expense of repairing it. I would have spoken about it at first, but then
+I had no money, and didn't know when I should have any. Will you be kind
+enough to take as much of my money as will be needed to pay Mr. Plane's
+bill when it comes in?"
+
+"Certainly not, Robert. It was not your fault that the boat was
+injured."
+
+"It wouldn't have happened if I had not borrowed it. It isn't right that
+the expense should fall on you."
+
+"Don't trouble yourself about that, Robert. I am able and willing to pay
+it. It is very honorable in you to make the offer, and I like you the
+better for having made it. Won't you need any of this money for present
+expenses?"
+
+"Perhaps I had better take the thirty-five dollars. Mother may be in
+want of something."
+
+Robert received back the sum named, and returned home, much pleased with
+his interview.
+
+About seven o'clock, sitting at the window of the little cottage, he saw
+Hester Paine opening the front gate. He sprang to his feet and opened
+the door.
+
+"Good-evening, Robert," she said. "Is your mother at home?"
+
+"Yes, Hester. Won't you come in?"
+
+"Thank you, Robert. Father has been telling me what a hero you were, and
+it made me feel proud that you were a friend of mine."
+
+Robert's face lighted with pleasure.
+
+"You compliment me more than I deserve," he answered, modestly; "but it
+gives me great pleasure to know that you think well of me."
+
+"I am sure that there is no boy in Millville that would have dared to do
+such a thing. Good-evening, Mrs. Rushton. Are you not proud of your
+son?"
+
+"He is a good son to me," said Mrs. Rushton, with a glance of affection.
+
+"It is such a splendid thing he did. He will be quite a hero. Indeed, he
+is one already. I've got a New York paper giving an account of the
+whole thing. I brought it over, thinking you might like to read it."
+
+She displayed a copy of a great city daily, in which full justice was
+done to Robert's bravery. Our hero listened with modest pleasure while
+it was being read.
+
+"I don't deserve all that," he said.
+
+"You must let us judge of that," said Hester. "But I have come this
+evening, Mrs. Rushton, to ask you to take tea with us to-morrow evening,
+you and Robert. You will come, won't you?"
+
+Mrs. Rushton was pleased with this mark of attention, and after a slight
+demur, accepted.
+
+I do not intend to give an account of the next evening, and how Robert,
+in particular, enjoyed it. That can be imagined, as well as Halbert's
+chagrin when he heard of the attention his rival was receiving in a
+quarter where he himself so earnestly desired to stand well. I must pass
+on to a communication received by Mrs. Rushton, a communication of a
+very unexpected character, which had an important effect upon the
+fortunes of our hero.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+
+THE MESSAGE FROM THE SEA.
+
+It was not often that Mrs. Rushton received a letter. Neither she nor
+her husband had possessed many relatives, and such as either had were
+occupied with their own families, and little communication passed
+between them and Captain Rushton's family. Robert, therefore, seldom
+called at the post office. One day, however, as he stepped in by a
+neighbor's request to inquire for letters for the latter, the postmaster
+said, "There's a letter for your mother, Robert."
+
+"Is there?" said our hero, surprised, "When did it come?"
+
+"Yesterday. I was going to ask some one to carry it round to her, as you
+don't often call here."
+
+He handed the letter to Robert, who surveyed it with curiosity. It was
+postmarked "Boston," and addressed in a bold business hand to "Mrs.
+Captain Rushton, Millville."
+
+"Who can be writing to mother from Boston?" thought Robert.
+
+The size of the letter also excited his curiosity. There were two stamps
+upon it, and it appeared bulky. Robert hurried home, and rushed into the
+kitchen where his mother was at work.
+
+"Here's a letter for you, mother," he said.
+
+"A letter for me!" repeated Mrs. Rushton.
+
+"From Boston."
+
+"I don't know who would be likely to write me from there. Open it for
+me, Robert."
+
+He tore open the envelope. It contained two inclosures--one a letter in
+the same handwriting as the address; the other a large sheet of foolscap
+rumpled up, and appearing once to have been rolled up, was written in
+pencil. Mrs. Rushton had no sooner looked at the latter than she
+exclaimed, in agitation: "Robert, it is your father's handwriting. Read
+it to me, I am too agitated to make it out."
+
+Robert was equally excited. Was his father still alive, or was this
+letter a communication from the dead?
+
+"First let me read the other," he said. "It will explain about this."
+
+His mother sank back into a chair too weak with agitation to stand,
+while her son rapidly read the following letter:
+
+                             "BOSTON, August 15, 1853.
+
+  MRS. RUSHTON, DEAR MADAM: The fate
+  of our ship _Norman_, which left this port now
+  more than two years since, under the command
+  of your husband, has until now been veiled
+  in uncertainty. We had given up all hopes
+  of obtaining any light upon the circumstances
+  of its loss, when by a singular chance information
+  was brought us yesterday. The ship
+  _Argo_, while in the South Pacific, picked up
+  a bottle floating upon the surface of the water.
+  On opening it, it was found to contain two
+  communications, one addressed to us, the other
+  to you, the latter to be forwarded to you by
+  us. Ours contains the particulars of the loss
+  of the _Norman_, and doubtless your own letter
+  also contains the same particulars. There
+  is a bare possibility that your husband is still
+  alive, but as so long a period has passed since
+  the letters were written it would not be well
+  to place too much confidence in such a hope.
+  But even if Captain Rushton is dead, it will be
+  a sad satisfaction to you to receive from him
+  this last communication, and learn the particulars
+  of his loss. We lose no time in forwarding
+  to you the letter referred to, and remain,
+  with much sympathy, yours respectfully,
+
+                              WINSLOW & CO."
+
+Mrs. Rushton listened to this letter with eager and painful interest,
+her hands clasped, and her eyes fixed upon Robert.
+
+"Now read your father's letter," she said, in a low tone.
+
+Robert unfolded the sheet, and his eyes filled with tears as he gazed
+upon the well-known handwriting of the father whose loss he had so long
+lamented. This letter, too, we transcribe:
+
+                             "November 7, 1851.
+
+  MY DEAR WIFE AND SON: Whether these
+  lines will ever meet your eyes I know not.
+  Whether I will be permitted again to look upon
+  your dear faces, I also am ignorant. The good
+  ship _Norman_, in which I sailed from Boston
+  not quite three months ago, is burned to the water's
+  edge, and I find myself, with five of the
+  sailors, afloat on the vast sea at the mercy of
+  the elements, and with a limited supply of food.
+  The chances are against our ever seeing land.
+  Hundreds of miles away from any known
+  shores, our only hope of safety is in attracting
+  the attention of some vessel. In the broad pathways
+  of the ocean such a chance is doubtful.
+  Fortunately I have a few sheets of paper
+  and a pencil with me, and I write these
+  lines, knowing well how improbable it is that
+  you will ever read them. Yet it is a satisfaction
+  to do what I can to let you know the
+  position in which I stand.
+
+  But for the revengeful and malignant disposition
+  of one man I should still be walking
+  the deck of the _Norman_ as its captain.
+  But to my story: My first mate was a man
+  named Haley--Benjamin Haley--whose name
+  you will perhaps remember. He was born in
+  our neighborhood, or, at all events, once lived
+  there, being the nephew of old Paul Nichols.
+  He was a wild young man, and bore a bad reputation.
+  Finally he disappeared, and, as it
+  seems, embraced the profession of a sailor. I
+  was not prepossessed in his favor, and was not
+  very well pleased to find him my second in
+  command. However, he was regularly engaged,
+  and it was of no use for me to say anything
+  against him. I think, however, that he
+  suspected the state of my feelings, as, while
+  studiously polite, I did not make an effort
+  to be cordial. At any rate, he must have taken
+  a dislike to me early in the voyage, though
+  whether at that time he meditated evil, I cannot
+  say.
+
+  After a time I found that he was disposed
+  to encroach upon my prerogatives as captain
+  of the vessel, and issue commands which he
+  knew to be in defiance of my wishes. You can
+  imagine that I would not pass over such conduct
+  unnoticed. I summoned him to an interview,
+  and informed him in decided terms
+  that I must be master in my own ship. He
+  said little, but I saw from his expression that
+  there could thereafter be no amicable relations
+  between us.
+
+  I pass over the days that succeeded--days
+  in which Haley went to the furthest verge of
+  insolence that he felt would be safe. At
+  length, carried away by impatience, I reprimanded
+  him publicly. He grew pale with
+  passion, turned on his heel, and strode away.
+  That night I was roused from my sleep by the
+  cry of 'Fire!' I sprang to my feet and took
+  immediate measures to extinguish the flames.
+  But the incendiary had taken care to do his
+  work so well that it was already impossible.
+
+  I did not at first miss Haley, until, inquiring
+  for him, I learned that he was missing, and
+  one of the ship's boats. It was evident that
+  he had deliberately fired the ship in order
+  to revenge himself upon me. His hatred
+  must have been extreme, or he would not have
+  been willing to incur so great a risk. Though
+  he escaped from the ship, his position in an
+  open boat must be extremely perilous.
+
+  When all hope of saving the ship was
+  abandoned, we manned the remaining boats
+  hastily, putting in each such a stock of provisions
+  as we could carry without overloading the
+  boats. Twenty-four hours have now passed,
+  and we are still tossing about on the ocean.
+  A storm would be our destruction. At this
+  solemn time, my dear wife, my thoughts turn
+  to you and my dear son, whom I am likely
+  never to see again. There is one thing most
+  of all which I wish you to know, but can hardly
+  hope that these few lines will reach you. Just
+  before I left home, on my present voyage, I
+  deposited five thousand dollars with Mr. Davis,
+  the superintendent of the factory, in trust for
+  you, in case I should not return. You will
+  be surprised to learn that I have so much
+  money. It has been the accumulation of years,
+  and was intended as a provision for you and
+  Robert. I have no reason to doubt the integrity
+  of Mr. Davis, yet I wish I had acquainted
+  you with the fact of this deposit, and placed
+  his written acknowledgment in your hands.
+  My reason for concealment was, that I might
+  surprise you at the end of this voyage.
+
+  When this letter comes to hand (if it ever
+  should come to hand), in case the superintendent
+  has not accounted to you for the money
+  placed in his hands, let Robert go to him and
+  claim the money in my name. But I can hardly
+  believe this to be necessary. Should I never
+  return, I am persuaded that Mr. Davis will
+  be true to the trust I have reposed in him,
+  and come forward like an honest man to your
+  relief.
+
+  And now, my dear wife and son, farewell!
+  My hope is weak that I shall ever again see
+  you, yet it is possible. May Heaven bless you,
+  and permit us to meet again in another world,
+  if not in this!
+
+  I shall inclose this letter, and one to my
+  owners, in a bottle, which I have by me, and
+  commit it to the sea, trusting that the merciful
+  waves may waft it to the shore."
+
+Here Captain Rushton signed his name.
+
+The feelings with which Robert read and his mother listened to this
+letter, were varied. Love and pity for the husband and father, now
+doubtless long dead, were blended with surprise at the revelation of the
+deposit made in the hands of the superintendent of the mill.
+
+"Mother," said Robert, "did you know anything of this money father
+speaks of?"
+
+"No," said Mrs. Rushton, "he never told me. It is strange that Mr. Davis
+has never informed us of it. Two years have passed, and we have long
+given him up as lost."
+
+"Mother," said Robert, "it is my opinion that he never intends to let us
+know."
+
+"I cannot believe he would be so dishonorable."
+
+"But why should he keep back the knowledge? He knows that we are poor
+and need the money."
+
+"But he has the reputation of an honorable man."
+
+"Many have had that reputation who do not deserve it," said Robert.
+"The temptation must have proved too strong for him."
+
+"What shall we do?"
+
+"I know what I am going to do," said Robert, resolutely. "I am going to
+his house, and shall claim restitution of the money which father
+intrusted to him. He has had it two years, and, with the interest, it
+will amount to nearer six than five thousand dollars. It will be a
+fortune, mother."
+
+"Don't be hasty or impetuous, Robert," said his mother. "Speak to him
+respectfully."
+
+"I shall be civil if he is," said Robert.
+
+He took his cap, and putting it on, left the cottage and walked with a
+quick pace to the house of the superintendent.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+
+A DISAGREEABLE SURPRISE.
+
+Mr. Davis was seated in his office, but it was his own personal affairs
+rather than the business of the factory that engaged his attention. He
+was just in receipt of a letter from his broker in New York, stating
+that there were but slender chances of a rise in the price of some
+securities in which he had invested heavily. He was advised to sell out
+at once, in order to guard against a probable further depreciation. This
+was far from satisfactory, since an immediate sale would involve a loss
+of nearly a thousand dollars. Mr. Davis felt despondent, and, in
+consequence, irritable. It was at this moment that one of the factory
+hands came in and told him that Robert Rushton wished to see him.
+
+The superintendent would have refused an interview but for one
+consideration. He thought that our hero was about to beg to be taken
+back into his employ. This request he intended to refuse, and enjoyed in
+advance the humiliation of young Rushton.
+
+"Good-morning, sir," said Robert, removing his hat on entering.
+
+"I suppose you want to be taken back," said the superintendent,
+abruptly.
+
+"No, sir," said Robert. "I have come on quite a different errand."
+
+Mr. Davis was disappointed. He was cheated of his expected triumph.
+Moreover, looking into our young hero's face, he saw that he was
+entirely self-possessed, and had by no means the air of one about to ask
+a favor.
+
+"Then state your business at once," he said, roughly. "My time is too
+valuable to be taken up by trifles."
+
+"My business is important to both of us," said Robert. "We have just
+received a letter from my father."
+
+The superintendent started and turned pale. This was the most unwelcome
+intelligence he could have received. He supposed, of course, that
+Captain Rushton was alive, and likely to reclaim the sum, which he was
+in no position to surrender.
+
+"Your father!" he stammered. "Where is he? I thought he was dead."
+
+"I am afraid he is," said Robert, soberly.
+
+"Then how can you just have received a letter from him?" demanded Mr.
+Davis, recovering from his momentary dismay.
+
+"The letter was inclosed in a bottle, which was picked up in the South
+Pacific, and brought to the owners of the vessel. My father's ship was
+burned to the water's edge, and at the time of writing the letter he was
+afloat on the ocean with five of his sailors in a small boat."
+
+"How long ago was this? I mean when was the letter dated."
+
+"Nearly two years ago--in the November after he sailed."
+
+"Then, of course, he must have perished," said the superintendent, with
+a feeling of satisfaction. "However, I suppose your mother is glad to
+have heard from him. Is that all you have to tell me?"
+
+"No, sir," said Robert, looking boldly in the face of his former
+employer. "My father added in his letter, that just before sailing he
+deposited with you the sum of five thousand dollars, to be given to my
+mother in case he never returned."
+
+So the worst had come! The dead had revealed the secret which the
+superintendent hoped would never be known. He was threatened with ruin.
+He had no means of paying the deposit unless by sacrificing all his
+property, and it was doubtful whether even then he would be able wholly
+to make it up. If Robert possessed his acknowledgment he would have no
+defense to make. This he must ascertain before committing himself.
+
+"Supposing this story to be true," he said, in a half-sneering tone,
+"you are, of course, prepared to show me my receipt for the money?"
+
+"That my father carried away with him. He did not send it with the
+letter."
+
+All the superintendent's confidence returned. He no longer felt afraid,
+since all evidence of the deposit was doubtless at the bottom of the sea
+with the ill-fated captain. He resolved to deny the trust altogether.
+
+"Rushton," he said, "I have listened patiently to what you had to say,
+and in return I answer that in the whole course of my life I have never
+known of a more barefaced attempt at fraud. In this case you have
+selected the wrong customer."
+
+"What!" exclaimed Robert, hardly crediting the testimony of his ears;
+"do you mean to deny that my father deposited five thousand dollars with
+you just before sailing on his last voyage?"
+
+"I certainly do, and in the most unqualified terms. Had such been the
+case, do you think I would have kept the knowledge of it from your
+mother so long after your father's supposed death?"
+
+"There might be reasons for that," said Robert, significantly.
+
+"None of your impertinent insinuations, you young rascal," said Mr.
+Davis, hotly. "The best advice I can give you is, to say nothing to any
+one about this extraordinary claim. It will only injure you, and I shall
+be compelled to resort to legal measures to punish you for circulating
+stories calculated to injure my reputation."
+
+If the superintendent expected to intimidate Robert by this menace he
+was entirely mistaken in the character of our young hero. He bore the
+angry words and threatening glances of his enemy without quailing, as
+resolute and determined as ever.
+
+"Mr. Davis," he said, "if there is no truth in this story, do you think
+my father, with death before his eyes, would have written it to my
+mother?"
+
+"I have no evidence, except your word, that any such letter has been
+received."
+
+"I can show it to you, if you desire it, in my father's handwriting."
+
+"We will suppose, then, for a moment, that such a letter has been
+received, and was written by your father. I can understand how, being
+about to die, and feeling that his family were without provision, he
+should have written such a letter with the intention of giving you a
+claim upon me, whom he no doubt selected supposing me to be a rich man.
+It was not justifiable, but something can be excused to a man finding
+himself in such a position."
+
+Robert was filled with indignation as he listened to this aspersion upon
+his father's memory. He would not have cared half so much for any insult
+to himself.
+
+"Mr. Davis," he said, boldly, "it is enough for you to cheat my mother
+out of the money which my father left her, but when you accuse my father
+of fraud you go too far. You know better than any one that everything
+which he wrote is true."
+
+The superintendent flushed under the boy's honest scorn, and, unable to
+defend himself truthfully, he worked himself into a rage.
+
+"What! do you dare insult me in my own office?" he exclaimed, half
+rising from his desk, and glaring at our hero. "Out of my sight at once,
+or I may be tempted to strike you!"
+
+"Before I leave you, Mr. Davis," said Robert, undauntedly, "I wish you
+to tell me finally whether you deny the deposit referred to in my
+father's letter?"
+
+"And I tell you, once for all," exclaimed the superintendent, angrily,
+"if you don't get out of my office I will kick you out."
+
+"I will leave you now," said our hero, not intimidated; "but you have
+not heard the last of me. I will not rest until I see justice done to my
+mother."
+
+So saying, he walked deliberately from the office, leaving Mr. Davis in
+a state of mind no means comfortable. True, the receipt had doubtless
+gone to the bottom of the sea with the ill-fated captain, and, as no one
+was cognizant of the transaction, probably no claim could be enforced
+against his denial. But if the letter should be shown, as Robert would
+doubtless be inclined to do, he was aware that, however the law might
+decide, popular opinion would be against him, and his reputation would
+be ruined. This was an unpleasant prospect, as the superintendent valued
+his character. Besides, the five thousand dollars were gone and not
+likely to be recovered. Had they still been in his possession, that
+would have been some compensation.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+
+A DENIAL.
+
+Robert left the superintendent's office in deep thought. He understood
+very well that it would be impossible to enforce his claim without more
+satisfactory testimony than his father's letter. If any one had been
+cognizant of the transaction between Mr. Davis and his father it would
+have helped matters, but no one, so far as he knew, was even aware that
+his father had possessed so large a sum as five thousand dollars. Had
+Captain Rushton inclosed the receipt, that would have been sufficient,
+but it had probably gone to the bottom with him. But, after all, was it
+certain that his father was dead? It was not certain, but our hero was
+forced to admit that the chances of his father's being alive were
+extremely slender.
+
+Finding himself utterly at a loss, he resolved to call upon his firm
+friend, Squire Paine, the lawyer. Going to his office, he was fortunate
+enough to find him in, and unengaged.
+
+"Good-morning, Robert," said the lawyer, pleasantly.
+
+"Good-morning, sir. You find me a frequent visitor."
+
+"Always welcome," was the pleasant reply. "You know I am your banker,
+and it is only natural for you to call upon me."
+
+"Yes, sir," said Robert, smiling; "but it is on different business that
+I have come to consult you this morning."
+
+"Go on. I will give you the best advice in my power."
+
+The lawyer listened with surprise to the story Robert had to tell.
+
+"This is certainly a strange tale," he said, after a pause.
+
+"But a true one," said Robert, hastily.
+
+"I do not question that. It affords another illustration of the old
+saying that truth is stranger than fiction. That a letter committed to
+the deep so many thousand miles away should have finally reached its
+destination is very remarkable, I may say Providential."
+
+"Do you think there is any chance of my father being yet alive?"
+
+"There is a bare chance, but I cannot encourage you to place much
+reliance upon it."
+
+"If he had been picked up by any vessel I suppose he would have
+written."
+
+"You would doubtless have seen him at home before this time in that
+case. Still there might be circumstances," added the lawyer, slowly,
+"that would prevent his communicating with friends at home. For
+instance, his boat might have drifted to some uninhabited island out of
+the course of ordinary navigation. I don't say it is at all probable,
+but there is such a probability."
+
+"Is there any chance of making Mr. Davis return the money my father
+deposited with him?"
+
+"There again there are difficulties. He may demand the return of his
+receipt, or he may continue to deny the trust altogether."
+
+"Won't the letter prove anything?"
+
+"It may produce a general conviction that such a deposit was made,
+since, admitting the letter to be genuine, no one, considering
+especially the character of your father, can readily believe that in the
+immediate presence of death he would make any such statement unless
+thoroughly reliable. But moral conviction and legal proof are quite
+different things. Unless that receipt is produced I don't see that
+anything can be done."
+
+"Perhaps my father might have put that in a bottle also at a later
+date."
+
+"He might have done so when he became satisfied that there was no chance
+of a rescue. But even supposing him to have done it, the chances are
+ten to one that it will never find its way to your mother. The reception
+of the first letter was almost a miracle."
+
+"I have no doubt you are right, Mr. Paine," said Robert; "but it seems
+very hard that my poor father's hard earnings should go to such an
+unprincipled man, and my mother be left destitute."
+
+"That is true, Robert, but I am obliged to say that your only hope is in
+awakening Mr. Davis to a sense of justice."
+
+"There isn't much chance of that," said Robert, shaking his head.
+
+"If you will leave the matter in my hands, I will call upon him
+to-night, and see what I can do."
+
+"I shall feel very glad if you will do so, Squire Paine. I don't want to
+leave anything undone."
+
+"Then I will do so. I don't imagine it will do any good, but we can but
+try."
+
+Robert left the office, making up his mind to await the report of the
+lawyer's visit before moving further.
+
+That evening, the lawyer called at the house of the superintendent. Mrs.
+Davis and Halbert were in the room. After a little unimportant
+conversation, he said:
+
+"Mr. Davis, may I ask the favor of a few minutes' conversation with you
+in private?"
+
+"Certainly," said the superintendent, quite in the dark as to the
+business which had called his guest to the house. He led the way into
+another room, and both took seats.
+
+"I may as well say to begin with," commenced the lawyer, "that I call in
+behalf of the family of the late Captain Rushton."
+
+The superintendent started nervously.
+
+"That boy has lost no time," he muttered to himself.
+
+"I suppose you understand what I have to say?"
+
+"I presume I can guess," said the superintendent, coldly. "The boy came
+into my office this morning, and made a most extraordinary claim, which
+I treated with contempt. Finding him persistent I ordered him out of my
+office. I need not say that no sane man would for a moment put
+confidence in such an incredible story or claim."
+
+"I can't quite agree with you there," said the lawyer, quietly. "There
+is nothing incredible about the story. It is remarkable, I grant, but
+such things have happened before, and will again."
+
+"I suppose you refer to the picking up of the bottle at sea."
+
+"Yes; I fail to see what there is incredible about it. If the
+handwriting can be identified as that of the late Captain Rushton, and
+Robert says both his mother and himself recognized it, the story becomes
+credible and will meet with general belief."
+
+"I thought you were too sensible and practical a man," said the
+superintendent, sneering, "to be taken in by so palpable a humbug. Why,
+it reads like a romance."
+
+"In spite of all that, it may be true enough," returned the lawyer,
+composedly.
+
+"You may believe it, if you please. It seems to me quite unworthy of
+belief."
+
+"Waiving that point, Robert, doubtless, acquainted you with the
+statement made in the letter that Captain Rushton, just before sailing
+on his last voyage, deposited with you five thousand dollars. What have
+you to say to that?"
+
+"What have I to say?" returned the superintendent. "That Captain Rushton
+never possessed five thousand dollars in his life. I don't believe he
+possessed one quarter of the sum."
+
+"What authority have you for saying that? Did he make you his
+confidant?" asked the lawyer, keenly.
+
+"Yes," said the superintendent, promptly. "When last at home, he called
+at my house one day, and in the course of conversation remarked that
+sailors seldom saved any money. 'For instance,' said he, 'I have
+followed the sea for many years, and have many times resolved to
+accumulate a provision for my wife and child, but as yet I have scarcely
+done more than to begin.' He then told me that he had little more than a
+thousand dollars, but meant to increase that, if possible, during his
+coming voyage."
+
+To this statement Squire Paine listened attentively, fully believing it
+to be an impromptu fabrication, as it really was.
+
+"Did he say anything about what he had done with this thousand dollars
+or more?" he asked.
+
+"A part he left for his wife to draw from time to time for expenses; the
+rest, I suppose, he took with him."
+
+Mr. Paine sat silent for a moment. Things looked unpromising, he
+couldn't but acknowledge, for his young client. In the absence of legal
+proof, and with an adroit and unscrupulous antagonist, whose interests
+were so strongly enlisted in defeating justice, it was difficult to see
+what was to be done.
+
+"I understand then, Mr. Davis," he said, finally, "that you deny the
+justice of this claim?"
+
+"Certainly I do," said the superintendent. "It is a palpable fraud. This
+boy is a precocious young swindler, and will come to a bad end."
+
+"I have a different opinion of him."
+
+"You are deceived in him, then. I have no doubt he got up the letter
+himself."
+
+"I don't agree with you. I have seen the letter; it is in Captain
+Rushton's handwriting. Moreover, I have seen the letter of the owners,
+which accompanied it."
+
+The superintendent was in a tight place, and he knew it. But there was
+nothing to do but to persist in his denial.
+
+"Then I can only say that Captain Rushton was a party to the fraud," he
+said.
+
+"You must be aware, Mr. Davis, that when the public learns the facts in
+the case, the general belief will be the other way."
+
+"I can't help that," said the other, doggedly. "Whatever the public
+chooses to think, I won't admit the justice of this outrageous claim."
+
+"Then I have only to bid you good-evening," said the lawyer, coldly,
+affecting not to see the hand which the superintendent extended. The
+latter felt the slight, and foresaw that from others he must expect
+similar coldness, but there was no help for it. To restore the money
+would be ruin. He had entered into the path of dishonesty, and he was
+forced to keep on in it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+
+ROBERT'S NEW PROJECT.
+
+Mr. Paine called at Mrs. Rushton's cottage, and communicated the
+particulars of his interview with the superintendent.
+
+"It is evident," he said, "that Mr. Davis is swayed by his interests,
+and feeling legally secure, prefers to defraud you rather than to
+surrender the five thousand dollars."
+
+"I wouldn't have believed it of Mr. Davis," said Mrs. Rushton; "he is
+considered such a respectable man."
+
+"I have heard rumors that he is dabbling in speculations, and I suspect
+he may find it inconvenient to pay away so large a sum of money."
+
+"He had no right to speculate with my mother's money," said Robert,
+indignantly.
+
+"You are right there. He should have invested it securely."
+
+"Mr. Paine," said Robert, after a pause, "I have an idea that father is
+still living, and that some day I shall find him."
+
+The lawyer shook his head.
+
+"There is not one chance in ten that he is living," he said. "It is only
+a fancy of yours."
+
+"It may be, but I can't get it out of my head."
+
+"I hope you will prove correct, but I need not tell you of the many
+arguments against such a theory."
+
+"I know them all, but still I believe he is living. Mr. Paine,"
+continued Robert, earnestly, "I feel so strongly on the subject that,
+with my mother's permission, I, mean to go out into the world in search
+of him."
+
+"I must say, Robert," said Mr. Paine, "I did not expect such a visionary
+scheme from a boy of your good sense. You must see yourself how wild it
+is."
+
+"I know it," said our hero; "but I want to take a year, at any rate, to
+see the world. If, at the end of that time, I discover no trace of my
+father, I will come home content."
+
+"But what will become of your mother during that time?"
+
+"I will leave four hundred dollars in your hands for her. The rest I
+will draw for my own uses."
+
+"But you don't expect to travel round the world on two hundred dollars,
+surely?" said the lawyer.
+
+"I shall work my way as far as I can," said Robert. "I can't afford to
+travel as a gentleman."
+
+"Suppose you find yourself without money in a foreign land?"
+
+"I am not afraid. I am willing to work, and I can make my way."
+
+"Surely, Mrs. Rushton, you do not approve Robert's scheme?" said Mr.
+Paine.
+
+But to his surprise he found that Mrs. Rushton was inclined to regard it
+favorably. She seemed to share Robert's belief that her husband was
+still living, and that Robert could find him. She was not a woman in the
+habit of reasoning, and had no conception of the difficulties in his
+way. The money left behind in the hands of Mr. Paine, supplemented by
+her own earnings, would be enough to maintain her for two years, and
+this thought made her easy, for she had a great dread of poverty and
+destitution.
+
+When the lawyer found how Mrs. Rushton felt on the subject, he ceased
+his objections to the plan; for, though he had no confidence in our
+young hero's success in the object he had in view, he thought that a
+year's tour might benefit him by extending his knowledge of the world
+and increasing his self-reliance.
+
+"How soon do you wish to start, Robert?" he asked.
+
+"It will take me a week to get your clothes ready," said Mrs. Rushton.
+
+"Then by a week from Monday I will start," said Robert.
+
+"Have you formed any definite plans about the manner of going?"
+
+"I will go to New York first, and call on the gentleman who got up the
+subscription for me. I will tell him my story, and ask his advice."
+
+"The most sensible thing you could do. As to the money, I will have that
+ready for you. Of course, you will call on me before you go."
+
+The superintendent had made up his mind that Robert would spread the
+report of the deposit, and nervously awaited the result. But to his
+relief he observed no change in the demeanor of his fellow-townsmen. He
+could only conclude that, for reasons of his own, the boy he had wronged
+had concluded to defer the exposure. Next he heard with a feeling of
+satisfaction that Robert had decided to go abroad in quest of his
+father. He had no doubt that Captain Rushton was dead, and regarded the
+plan as utterly quixotic and foolish, but still he felt glad that it had
+been undertaken.
+
+"If the boy never comes back, I shan't mourn much," he said to himself.
+"His mother is a weak woman, who will never give me any trouble, but
+this young rascal has a strong and resolute will, and I shall feel more
+comfortable to have him out of the way."
+
+When Robert got ready to leave he made a farewell call on the lawyer,
+and drew two hundred dollars of his money.
+
+"I don't know but one hundred will do," he said. "Perhaps I ought to
+leave five hundred for my mother."
+
+"You carry little enough, Robert. Don't have any anxiety about your
+mother. I will not see her suffer."
+
+Robert grasped his hand in earnest gratitude.
+
+"How can I thank you?" he said.
+
+"You need not thank me. I had a warm regard for your father, and shall
+be glad to help your mother if there is any occasion. Not only this, but
+if in your wanderings you find yourself in a tight place, and in want of
+help, write to me, and I will help you."
+
+"You are a true friend," said Robert, gratefully. "I wish my father had
+intrusted his money to you instead of to the superintendent."
+
+"I wish he had as matters have turned out, I should have taken care that
+your interests did not suffer."
+
+"Oh," exclaimed Robert, fervently, "if I could only find my father, and
+bring him home to confront this false friend, and convict him of his
+base fraud, I believe I would willingly give ten years of my life."
+
+"That question can only be solved by time. I, too, should earnestly
+rejoice if such an event could be brought about. And now, Robert,
+good-by, and Heaven bless you. Don't forget that you can count always on
+my friendship and assistance."
+
+On the way home Robert fell in with Halbert Davis. Halbert, of course,
+knew nothing of the claim made upon his father, but he had heard that
+Robert proposed to leave home. He was both sorry and glad on account of
+this--sorry because he had hoped to see our hero fall into poverty and
+destitution, and enjoy the spectacle of his humiliation. Now he was
+afraid Robert would succeed and deprive him of the enjoyment he had
+counted upon. On the other hand, Robert's departure would leave the
+field free so far as concerned Hester Paine, and he hoped to win the
+favor of that young lady in the absence of any competitor. Of this there
+was not the slightest chance, but Halbert was blinded by his own vanity
+to the obvious dislike which Hester entertained for him.
+
+Now when he saw Robert approaching he couldn't forego the pleasure of a
+final taunt.
+
+"So you're going to leave town, Rushton?'" he commenced.
+
+"Yes, Davis," answered Robert, in the same tone. "Shall you miss me
+much?"
+
+"I guess I shall live through it," said Halbert. "I suppose you are
+going because you can't make a living here!"
+
+"Not exactly. However, I hope to do better elsewhere."
+
+"If you're going to try for a place, you'd better not mention that you
+got turned out of the factory. You needn't apply to my father for a
+recommendation."
+
+"I shan't need any recommendation from your father," said Robert. "He is
+about the last man that I would apply to."
+
+"That's where you are right," said Halbert. "What sort of a place are
+you going to try for?"
+
+He knew nothing of Robert's intention to seek his father, but supposed
+he meant to obtain a situation in New York.
+
+"You seem particularly interested in my movements, Davis."
+
+"Call me Mr. Davis, if you please," said Halbert, haughtily.
+
+"When you call me Mr. Rushton, I will return the compliment."
+
+"You are impertinent."
+
+"Not more so than you are."
+
+"You don't seem to realize the difference in our positions."
+
+"No, I don't, except that I prefer my own."
+
+Disgusted with Robert's evident determination to withhold the respect
+which he considered his due, Halbert tried him on another tack.
+
+"Have you bidden farewell to Hester Paine?" he asked, with a sneer.
+
+"Yes," said Robert.
+
+"I suppose she was very much affected!" continued Halbert.
+
+"She said she was very sorry to part with me."
+
+"I admire her taste."
+
+"You would admire it more if she had a higher appreciation of you."
+
+"I shall be good friends with her, when you are no longer here to
+slander me to her."
+
+"I am not quite so mean as that," said Robert. "If she chooses to like
+you, I shan't try to prevent it."
+
+"I ought to be very much obliged to you, I am sure."
+
+"You needn't trouble yourself to be grateful," returned Robert, coolly.
+"But I must bid you good-by, as I have considerable to do."
+
+"Don't let me detain you," said Halbert, with an elaborate share of
+politeness.
+
+"I wonder why Halbert hates me so much!" he thought. "I don't like him,
+but I don't wish him any harm."
+
+He looked with satisfaction upon a little cornelian ring which he wore
+upon one of his fingers. It was of very trifling value, but it was a
+parting gift from Hester, and as such he valued it far above its cost.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+
+A DISHONEST BAGGAGE-SMASHER.
+
+On the next Monday morning Robert started for the city. At the moment of
+parting he began to realize that he had undertaken a difficult task. His
+life hitherto had been quiet and free from excitement. Now he was about
+to go out into the great world, and fight his own way. With only two
+hundred dollars in his pocket he was going in search of a father, who,
+when last heard from was floating in an open boat on the South Pacific.
+The probabilities were all against that father's being still alive. If
+he were, he had no clew to his present whereabouts.
+
+All this Robert thought over as he was riding in the cars to the city.
+He acknowledged that the chances were all against his success, but in
+spite of all, he had a feeling, for which he could not account, that his
+father was still living, and that he should find him some day. At any
+rate, there was something attractive in the idea of going out to
+unknown lands to meet unknown adventures, and so his momentary
+depression was succeeded by a return of his old confidence.
+
+Arrived in the city, he took his carpetbag in his hand, and crossing the
+street, walked at random, not being familiar with the streets, as he had
+not been in New York but twice before, and that some time since.
+
+"I don't know where to go," thought Robert. "I wish I knew where to find
+some cheap hotel."
+
+Just then a boy, in well-ventilated garments and a rimless straw hat,
+with a blacking box over his shoulder, approached.
+
+"Shine your boots, mister?" he asked.
+
+Robert glanced at his shoes, which were rather deficient in polish, and
+finding that the expense would be only five cents, told him to go ahead.
+
+"I'll give you the bulliest shine you ever had," said the ragamuffin.
+
+"That's right! Go ahead!" said Robert.
+
+When the boy got through, he cast a speculative glance at the carpetbag.
+
+"Smash yer baggage?" he asked.
+
+"What's that?"
+
+"Carry yer bag."
+
+"Do you know of any good, cheap hotel where I can put up?" asked Robert.
+
+"Eu-ro-pean hotel?" said the urchin, accenting the second syllable.
+
+"What kind of a hotel is that?"
+
+"You take a room, and get your grub where you like."
+
+"Yes, that will suit me."
+
+"I'll show you one and take yer bag along for two shillings."
+
+"All right," said our hero. "Go ahead."
+
+The boy shouldered the carpetbag and started in advance, Robert
+following. He found a considerable difference between the crowded
+streets of New York and the quiet roads of Millville. His spirits rose,
+and he felt that life was just beginning for him. Brave and bold by
+temperament, he did not shrink from trying his luck on a broader arena
+than was afforded by the little village whence he came. Such confidence
+is felt by many who eventually fail, but Robert was one who combined
+ability and willingness to work with confidence, and the chances were in
+favor of his succeeding.
+
+Unused to the city streets, Robert was a little more cautious about
+crossing than the young Arab who carried his bag. So, at one broad
+thoroughfare, the latter got safely across, while Robert was still on
+the other side waiting for a good opportunity to cross in turn. The
+bootblack, seeing that communication was for the present cut off by a
+long line of vehicles, was assailed by a sudden temptation. For his
+services as porter he would receive but twenty-five cents, while here
+was an opportunity to appropriate the entire bag, which must be far more
+valuable. He was not naturally a bad boy, but his street education had
+given him rather loose ideas on the subject of property. Obeying his
+impulse, then, he started rapidly, bag in hand, up a side street.
+
+"Hold on, there! Where are you going?" called out Robert.
+
+He received no answer, but saw the baggage-smasher quickening his pace
+and dodging round the corner. He attempted to dash across the street,
+but was compelled to turn back, after being nearly run over.
+
+"I wish I could get hold of the young rascal!" he exclaimed indignantly.
+
+"Who do you mane, Johnny?" asked a boy at his side.
+
+"A boy has run off with my carpetbag," said Robert.
+
+"I know him. It's Jim Malone."
+
+"Do you know where I can find him?" asked Robert, eagerly. "If you'll
+help me get back my bag, I'll give you a dollar."
+
+"I'll do it then. Come along of me. Here's a chance to cross."
+
+Following his new guide, Robert dashed across the street at some risk,
+and found himself safe on the other side.
+
+"Now where do you think he's gone?" demanded Robert.
+
+"It's likely he'll go home."
+
+"Do you know where he lives?"
+
+"No.--Mulberry street."
+
+"Has he got any father and mother?"
+
+"He's got a mother, but the ould woman's drunk most all the time."
+
+"Then she won't care about his stealing?"
+
+"No, she'll think he's smart."
+
+"Then we'll go there. Is it far?"
+
+"Not more than twenty minutes."
+
+The boy was right. Jim steered for home, not being able to open the bag
+in the street without suspicion. His intention was to appropriate a part
+of the clothing to his own use, and dispose of the rest to a pawnbroker
+or second-hand dealer, who, as long as he got a good bargain, would not
+be too particular about inquiring into the customer's right to the
+property. He did not, however, wholly escape suspicion. He was stopped
+by a policeman, who demanded, "Whose bag is that, Johnny?"
+
+"It belongs to a gentleman that wants it carried to the St. Nicholas,"
+answered Jim, promptly.
+
+"Where is the gentleman?"
+
+"He's took a car to Wall street on business."
+
+"How came he to trust you with the bag? Wasn't he afraid you'd steal
+it?"
+
+"Oh, he knows me. I've smashed baggage for him more'n once."
+
+This might be true. At any rate, it was plausible, and the policeman,
+having no ground of detention, suffered him to go on.
+
+Congratulating himself on getting off so well, Jim sped on his way, and
+arrived in quick time at the miserable room in Mulberry street, which he
+called home.
+
+His mother lay on a wretched bed in the corner, half stupefied with
+drink. She lifted up her head as her son entered.
+
+"What have you there, Jimmy?" she asked.
+
+"It's a bag, mother."
+
+"Whose is it?"
+
+"It's mine now."
+
+"And where did ye get it?"
+
+"A boy gave it to me to carry to a chape hotel, so I brought it home.
+This is a chape hotel, isn't it?"
+
+"You're a smart boy, an' I always said it, Jimmy. Let me open it," and
+the old woman, with considerable alacrity, rose to her feet and came to
+Jim's side.
+
+"I'll open it myself, mother, that is, I if I had a kay. Haven't you got
+one?"
+
+"I have that same. I picked up a bunch of kays in the strate last
+week."
+
+She fumbled in her pocket, and drew out half a dozen keys of different
+sizes, attached to a steel ring.
+
+"Bully for you, old woman!" said Jim. "Give 'em here."
+
+"Let me open the bag," said Mrs. Malone, persuasively.
+
+"No, you don't," said her dutiful son. "'Tain't none of yours. It's
+mine."
+
+"The kays is mine," said his mother, "and I'll kape 'em."
+
+"Give 'em here," said Jim, finding a compromise necessary, "and I'll
+give you fifty cents out of what I get."
+
+"That's the way to talk, darlint," said his mother, approvingly. "You
+wouldn't have the heart to chate your ould mother out of her share?"
+
+"It's better I did," said Jim; "you'll only get drunk on the money."
+
+"Shure a little drink will do me no harm," said Mrs. Malone.
+
+Meanwhile the young Arab had tried key after key until he found one that
+fitted--the bag flew open, and Robert's humble stock of clothing lay
+exposed to view. There was a woolen suit, four shirts, half a dozen
+collars, some stockings and handkerchiefs. Besides these there was the
+little Bible which Robert had had given him by his father just before he
+went on his last voyage. It was the only book our hero had room for, but
+in the adventurous career upon which he had entered, exposed to perils
+of the sea and land, he felt that he would need this as his constant
+guide.
+
+"Them shirts'll fit me," said Jim. "I guess I'll kape 'em, and the close
+besides."
+
+"Then where'll you git the money for me?" asked his mother.
+
+"I'll sell the handkerchiefs and stockings. I don't nade them," said
+Jim, whose ideas of full dress fell considerably short of the ordinary
+standard. "I won't nade the collars either."
+
+"You don't nade all the shirts," said his mother.
+
+"I'll kape two," said Jim. "It'll make me look respectable. Maybe I'll
+kape two collars, so I can sit up for a gentleman of fashion."
+
+"You'll be too proud to walk with your ould mother," said Mrs. Malone.
+
+"Maybe I will," said Jim, surveying his mother critically. "You aint
+much of a beauty, ould woman."
+
+"I was a purty gal, once," said Mrs. Malone, "but hard work and bad luck
+has wore on me."
+
+"The whisky's had something to do with it," said Jim. "Hard work didn't
+make your face so red."
+
+"Is it my own boy talks to me like that?" said the old woman, wiping her
+eyes on her dress.
+
+But her sorrow was quickly succeeded by a different emotion, as the door
+opened suddenly, and Robert Rushton entered the room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+
+A GOOD BEGINNING.
+
+Jim started to his feet at the sight of the equally unwelcome and
+unexpected visitor. His mother, ignorant that she saw before her the
+owner of the bag, supposed it might be a customer wanting some washing
+done.
+
+"Good-morning, sir," said she, "And have yez business with me?"
+
+"No," said Robert, "I have business with your son, if that's he."
+
+"Shure he's my son, and a smart bye he is too."
+
+"He's a little too smart sometimes," returned our hero. "I gave him my
+carpetbag to carry this morning, and he ran away with it."
+
+Mrs. Malone's face fell at this unexpected intelligence.
+
+"Shur an' it was a mistake of his," she said. "He's too honest entirely
+to stale the value of a pin, let alone a carpetbag."
+
+Meanwhile Jim was rapidly reviewing the situation. He was not naturally
+bad, but he had fallen a victim to sudden temptation. He was ashamed,
+and determined to make amends by a frank confession.
+
+"My mother is wrong," he said; "I meant to kape it, and I'm sorry.
+Here's the bag, wid nothing taken out of it."
+
+"That's right, to own up," said Robert, favorably impressed with his
+frank confession. "Give me the bag and it'll be all right. I suppose you
+were poor, and that tempted you. I am poor, too, and couldn't afford to
+lose it. But I'd rather starve than steal, and I hope you will not be
+dishonest again."
+
+"I won't!" said Jim, stoutly. "I'll go with you now to a chape hotel,
+and won't charge you nothin'."
+
+"I've got a boy downstairs who will take it. Don't forget what you said
+just now."
+
+"No, I won't," said Jim. "Shure if I'd known what a bully young
+gentleman you was, I wouldn't have took it on no account."
+
+So Robert descended the stairs, having by his forbearance probably
+effected a moral reformation in Jim, and confirmed in him the good
+principles, which, in spite of his mother's bad example, had already
+taken root in his heart. If the community, while keeping vigilant watch
+over the young outcasts that throng our streets, plying their petty
+avocations, would not always condemn, but encourage them sometimes to a
+better life, the results would soon appear in the diminution of the
+offenses for which they are most frequently arrested.
+
+His new guide shouldered Robert's carpetbag, and conducted him to a
+hotel of good standing, managed on the European system. Dismissing the
+boy with the promised reward, Robert went up to his room on the fifth
+floor, and after attending to his toilet, sallied out into the street
+and made his way to the warehouse of the merchant who had been
+instrumental in raising the fund for him.
+
+"Mr. Morgan is engaged," said a clerk to whom he spoke.
+
+"I will wait for him, if you please," said Robert.
+
+"Is it any business that I can attend to?" asked the clerk.
+
+"No, I wish to see Mr. Morgan himself."
+
+Mr. Morgan was engaged with two gentlemen, and our hero was obliged to
+wait nearly half an hour. At the end of that time, the merchant
+consented to see him. He did not at first recognize him, but said,
+inquiringly, "Well, my young friend, from whom do you come?"
+
+"I come from no one, sir."
+
+"Have you business with me?"
+
+"You do not remember me, Mr. Morgan. Do you remember when the cars came
+so near running off the track a short time since at Millville?"
+
+"Certainly I do," said Mr. Morgan, heartily; "and I now remember you as
+the brave boy who saved all our lives."
+
+"You gave me your card and told me I might call on you."
+
+"To be sure, I did, and I am very glad to see you. You must go home and
+dine with me to-day."
+
+"Thank you, sir, for your kind invitation."
+
+"This is my address," said the merchant, writing it in pencil, and
+handing it to Robert. "We dine at half-past six. You had better be at
+the door at six. We will then talk over your plans, for I suppose you
+have some, and I will do what I can to promote them. At present I am
+busy, and am afraid I must ask you to excuse me."
+
+"Thank you, sir," said Robert, gratefully.
+
+He left the office, not a little elated at his favorable reception. Mr.
+Morgan, judging from his place of business, must be a man of great
+wealth, and could no doubt be of essential service to him. What was
+quite as important, he seemed disposed to help him.
+
+"That's a good beginning," thought Robert. "I wish mother knew how well
+I have succeeded so far. I'll just write and let her know that I have
+arrived safe. To-morrow perhaps I shall have better news to tell."
+
+He went back to his hotel, and feeling hungry, made a substantial meal.
+He found the restaurants moderate in price, and within his means.
+
+Six o'clock found him ringing the bell of a handsome brownstone house on
+Fifth avenue. Though not disposed to be shy, he felt a little
+embarrassed as the door opened and a servant in livery stood before him.
+
+"Is Mr. Morgan at home?" inquired Robert.
+
+"Yes, sir," said the servant, glancing speculatively at the neat but
+coarse garments of our hero.
+
+"He invited me to dine with him," said Robert.
+
+"Won't you walk in, sir?" said the servant, with another glance of mild
+surprise at the dress of the dinner guest. "If you'll walk in here,"
+opening the door of a sumptuously furnished parlor, "I will announce
+you. What name shall I say?"
+
+"Robert Rushton."
+
+Robert entered the parlor, and sat down on a sofa. He looked around him
+with a little, pardonable curiosity, for he had never before been in an
+elegant city mansion.
+
+"I wonder whether I shall ever be rich enough to live like this!" he
+thought.
+
+The room, though elegant, was dark, and to our hero, who was used to
+bright, sunny rooms, it seemed a little gloomy. He mentally decided that
+he would prefer a plain country house; not so plain, indeed, as the
+little cottage where his mother lived, but as nice, perhaps, as the
+superintendent's house, which was the finest in the village, and the
+most magnificent he had until this time known. Its glories were wholly
+eclipsed by the house he was in, but Robert thought he would prefer it.
+While he was looking about him, Mr. Morgan entered, and his warm and
+cordial manner made his boy guest feel quite at his ease.
+
+"I must make you acquainted with my wife and children," he said. "They
+have heard of you, and are anxious to see you."
+
+Mrs. Morgan gave Robert a reception as warm as her husband had done.
+
+"So this is the young hero of whom I have heard!" she said.
+
+"I am afraid you give me too much credit," said Robert, modestly.
+
+This modest disclaimer produced a still more favorable impression upon
+both Mr. and Mrs. Morgan.
+
+I do not propose to speak in detail of the dinner that followed. The
+merchant and his wife succeeded in making Robert feel entirely at home,
+and he displayed an ease and self-possession wholly free from boldness
+that won their good opinion.
+
+When the dinner was over, Mr. Morgan commenced:
+
+"Now, Robert, dinner being over, let us come to business. Tell me your
+plans, and I will consider how I can promote them."
+
+In reply, Robert communicated the particulars, already known to the
+reader, of his father's letter, his own conviction of his still living,
+and his desire to go in search of him.
+
+"I am afraid you will be disappointed," said the merchant, "in the
+object of your expedition. It may, however, be pleasant for you to see
+something of the world, and luckily it is in my power to help you. I
+have a vessel which sails for Calcutta early next week. You shall go as
+a passenger."
+
+"Couldn't I go as cabin-boy?" asked Robert. "I am afraid the price of a
+ticket will be beyond my means."
+
+"I think not," said the merchant, smiling, "since you will go free. As
+you do not propose to follow the sea, it will not be worth while to go
+as cabin-boy. Besides, it would interfere with your liberty to leave the
+vessel whenever you deemed it desirable in order to carry on your search
+for your father."
+
+"You are very kind, Mr. Morgan," said Robert, gratefully.
+
+"So I ought to be and mean to be," said the merchant. "You know I am in
+your debt."
+
+We pass over the few and simple preparations which Robert made for his
+long voyage. In these he was aided by Mrs. Morgan, who sent on board,
+without his knowledge, a trunk containing a complete outfit,
+considerably better than the contents of the humble carpetbag he had
+brought from home.
+
+He didn't go on board till the morning on which the ship was to sail. He
+went down into the cabin, and did not come up until the ship had
+actually started. Coming on deck, he saw a figure which seemed familiar
+to him. From his dress, and the commands he appeared to be issuing,
+Robert judged that it was the mate. He tried to think where he could
+have met him, when the mate turned full around, and, alike to his
+surprise and dismay, he recognized Ben Haley, whom he had wounded in his
+successful attempt to rob his uncle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+
+A DECLARATION OF WAR.
+
+If Robert was surprised, Ben Haley had even more reason for
+astonishment. He had supposed his young enemy, as he chose to consider
+him, quietly living at home in the small village of Millville. He was
+far from expecting to meet him on shipboard bound to India. There was
+one difference, however, between the surprise felt by the two. Robert
+was disagreeably surprised, but a flash of satisfaction lit up the face
+of the mate, as he realized that the boy who had wounded him was on the
+same ship, and consequently, as he supposed, in his power.
+
+"How came you here?" he exclaimed, hastily advancing toward Robert.
+
+Resenting the tone of authority in which these words were spoken, Robert
+answered, composedly:
+
+"I walked on board."
+
+"You'd better not be impudent, young one," said Ben, roughly.
+
+"When you tell me what right you have to question me in that style,"
+said Robert, coolly, "I will apologize."
+
+"I am the mate of this vessel, as you will soon find out."
+
+"So I supposed," said Robert.
+
+"And you, I suppose, are the cabin-boy. Change your clothes at once, and
+report for duty."
+
+Robert felt sincerely thankful at that moment that he was not the
+cabin-boy, for he foresaw that in that case he would be subjected to
+brutal treatment from the mate--treatment which his subordinate position
+would make him powerless to resent. Now, as a passenger, he felt
+independent, and though it was disagreeable to have the mate for an
+enemy, he did not feel afraid.
+
+"You've made a mistake, Mr. Haley," said our hero. "I am not the
+cabin-boy."
+
+"What are you, then?"
+
+"I am a passenger."
+
+"You are telling a lie. We don't take passengers," said Ben Haley,
+determined not to believe that the boy was out of his power.
+
+"If you will consult the captain, you may learn your mistake," said
+Robert.
+
+Ben Haley couldn't help crediting this statement, since it would have
+done Robert no good to misrepresent the facts of the case. He resolved,
+however, to ask the captain about it, and inquire how it happened that
+he had been received as a passenger, contrary to the usual custom.
+
+"You will hear from me again," he said, in a tone of menace.
+
+Robert turned away indifferently, so far as appearance went, but he
+couldn't help feeling a degree of apprehension as he thought of the long
+voyage he was to take in company with his enemy, who doubtless would
+have it in his power to annoy him, even if he abstained from positive
+injury.
+
+"He is a bad man, and will injure me if he can," he reflected; "but I
+think I can take care of myself. If I can't I will appeal to the
+captain."
+
+Meanwhile the mate went up to the captain.
+
+"Captain Evans," said he, "is that boy a passenger?"
+
+"Yes, Mr. Haley."
+
+"It is something unusual to take passengers, is it not?"
+
+"Yes; but this lad is a friend of the owner; and Mr. Morgan has given me
+directions to treat him with particular consideration."
+
+Ben Haley was puzzled. How did it happen that Mr. Morgan, one of the
+merchant princes of New York, had become interested in an obscure
+country boy?
+
+"I don't understand it," he said, perplexed.
+
+"I suppose the boy is a relation of Mr. Morgan."
+
+"Nothing of the kind. He is of poor family, from a small country town."
+
+"Then you know him?"
+
+"I know something of him and his family. He is one of the most impudent
+young rascals I ever met."
+
+"Indeed!" returned the captain, surprised. "From what I have seen of
+him, I have come to quite a different conclusion. He has been very
+gentlemanly and polite to me."
+
+"He can appear so, but you will find out, sooner or later. He has not
+the slightest regard for truth, and will tell the most unblushing
+falsehoods with the coolest and most matter-of-fact air."
+
+"I shouldn't have supposed it," said Captain Evans, looking over at our
+hero, at the other extremity of the deck. "Appearances are deceitful,
+certainly."
+
+"They are in this case."
+
+This terminated the colloquy for the time. The mate had done what he
+could to prejudice the captain against the boy he hated. Not, however,
+with entire success.
+
+Captain Evans had a mind of his own, and did not choose to adopt any
+man's judgment or prejudices blindly. He resolved to watch Robert a
+little more closely than he had done, in order to see whether his own
+observation confirmed the opinion expressed by the mate. Of the latter
+he did not know much, since this was the first voyage on which they had
+sailed together; but Captain Evans was obliged to confess that he did
+not wholly like his first officer. He appeared to be a capable seaman,
+and, doubtless, understood his duties, but there was a bold and reckless
+expression which impressed him unfavorably.
+
+Ben Haley, on his part, had learned something, but not much. He had
+ascertained that Robert was a _protégé_ of the owner, and was
+recommended to the special care of the captain; but what could be his
+object in undertaking the present voyage, he did not understand. He was
+a little afraid that Robert would divulge the not very creditable part
+he had played at Millville; and that he might not be believed in that
+case, he had represented him to the captain as an habitual liar. After
+some consideration, he decided to change his tactics, and induce our
+hero to believe he was his friend, or, at least, not hostile to him. To
+this he was impelled by two motives. First, to secure his silence
+respecting the robbery; and, next, to so far get into his confidence as
+to draw out of him the object of his present expedition. Thus, he would
+lull his suspicions to sleep, and might thereafter gratify his malice
+the more securely.
+
+He accordingly approached our hero, and tapped him on the shoulder.
+
+Robert drew away slightly. Haley saw the movement, and hated the boy the
+more for it.
+
+"Well, my lad," he said, "I find your story is correct."
+
+"Those who know me don't generally doubt my word," said Robert, coldly.
+
+"Well, I don't know you, or, at least, not intimately," said Haley, "and
+you must confess that I haven't the best reasons to like you."
+
+"Did you suffer much inconvenience from your wound?" asked Robert.
+
+"Not much. It proved to be slight. You were a bold boy to wing me. I
+could have crushed you easily."
+
+"I suppose you could, but you know how I was situated. I couldn't run
+away, and desert your uncle."
+
+"I don't know about that. You don't understand that little affair. I
+suppose you think I had no right to the gold I took."
+
+"I certainly do think so."
+
+"Then you are mistaken. My uncle got his money from my grandfather. A
+part should have gone to my mother, and, consequently, to me, but he
+didn't choose to act honestly. My object in calling upon him was to
+induce him to do me justice at last. But you know the old man has
+become a miser, and makes money his idol. The long and short of it was,
+that, as he wouldn't listen to reason, I determined to take the law into
+my own hands, and carry off what I thought ought to come to me."
+
+Robert listened to this explanation without putting much faith in it. It
+was not at all according to the story given by Mr. Nichols, and he knew,
+moreover, that the man before him had passed a wild and dissolute youth.
+
+"I suppose what I did was not strictly legal," continued Ben Haley,
+lightly; "but we sailors are not much versed in the quips of the law. To
+my thinking, law defeats justice about as often as it aids it."
+
+"I don't know very much about law," said Robert, perceiving that some
+reply was expected.
+
+"That's just my case," said Ben, "and the less I have to do with it the
+better it will suit me. I suppose my uncle made a great fuss about the
+money I carried off."
+
+"Yes," said Robert. "It was quite a blow to him, and he has been nervous
+ever since for fear you would come back again."
+
+Ben Haley shrugged his shoulders and laughed.
+
+"He needn't be afraid. I don't want to trouble him, but I was bound he
+shouldn't keep from me what was rightly my due. I haven't got all I
+ought to have, but I am not a lover of money, and I shall let it go."
+
+"I hope you won't go near him again, for he got a severe shock the last
+time."
+
+"When you get back, if you get a chance to see him privately, you may
+tell him there is no danger of that."
+
+"I shall be glad to do so," said Robert.
+
+"I thought I would explain the matter to you," continued the mate, in an
+off-hand manner, "for I didn't want you to remain under a false
+impression. So you are going to see a little of the world?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"I suppose that is your only object?"
+
+"No. I have another object in view."
+
+The mate waited to learn what this object was, but Robert stopped, and
+did not seem inclined to go on.
+
+"Well," said Haley, after a slight pause, "as we are to be together on a
+long voyage, we may as well be friends. Here's my hand."
+
+To his surprise, Robert made no motion to take it.
+
+"Mr. Haley," said he, "I don't like to refuse your hand, but when I tell
+you that I am the son of Captain Rushton, of the ship, _Norman_, you
+will understand why I cannot accept your hand."
+
+Ben Haley started back in dismay. How could Robert have learned
+anything of his treachery to his father? Had the dead come back from the
+bottom of the sea to expose him? Was Captain Rushton still alive? He did
+not venture to ask, but he felt his hatred for Robert growing more
+intense.
+
+"Boy," he said, in a tone of concentrated passion, "you have done a bold
+thing in rejecting my hand. I might have been your friend. Think of me
+henceforth as your relentless enemy."
+
+He walked away, his face dark with the evil passions which Robert's
+slight had aroused in his breast.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+
+OUT ON THE OCEAN.
+
+We must now go back nearly two years. Five men were floating about in a
+boat in the Southern ocean. They looked gaunt and famished. For a week
+they had lived on short allowance, and now for two days they had been
+entirely without food. There was in their faces that look, well-nigh
+hopeless, which their wretched situation naturally produced. For one
+day, also, they had been without water, and the torments of thirst were
+worse than the cravings of hunger. These men were Captain Rushton and
+four sailors of the ship _Norman_, whose burning has already been
+described.
+
+One of the sailors, Bunsby, was better educated and more intelligent
+than the rest, and the captain spoke to him as a friend and an equal,
+for all the distinctions of rank were broken down by the immediate
+prospect of a terrible death.
+
+"How is all this going to end, Bunsby?" said the captain, in a low
+voice, turning from a vain search for some sail; in sight, and
+addressing his subordinate.
+
+"I am afraid there is only one way," answered Bunsby. "There is not much
+prospect of our meeting a ship."
+
+"And, if we do, it is doubtful if we can attract their attention."
+
+"I should like the chance to try."
+
+"I never knew before how much worse thirst is than hunger."
+
+"Do you know, captain, if this lasts much longer, I shall be tempted to
+swallow some of this sea water."
+
+"It will only make matters worse."
+
+"I know it, but, at least, it will moisten my throat."
+
+The other sailors sat stupid and silent, apparently incapable of motion,
+
+"I wish I had a plug of tobacco," said one, at last.
+
+"If there were any use in wishing, I'd wish myself on shore," said the
+second.
+
+"We'll never see land again," said the third, gloomily. "We're bound for
+Davy Jones' locker."
+
+"I'd like to see my old mother before I go down," said the first.
+
+"I've got a mother, too," said the third. "If I could only have a drop
+of the warm tea such as she used to make! She's sitting down to dinner
+now, most likely, little thinking that her Jack is dying of hunger out
+here."
+
+There was a pause, and the captain spoke again.
+
+"I wish I knew whether that bottle will ever reach shore. When was it we
+launched it?"
+
+"Four days since."
+
+"I've got something here I wish I could get to my wife." He drew from
+his pocketbook a small, folded paper.
+
+"What is that, captain?" asked Bunsby.
+
+"It is my wife's fortune."
+
+"How is that, captain?"
+
+"That paper is good for five thousand dollars."
+
+"Five thousand dollars wouldn't do us much good here. It wouldn't buy a
+pound of bread, or a pint of water."
+
+"No; but it would--I hope it will--save my wife and son from suffering.
+Just before I sailed on this voyage I took five thousand dollars--nearly
+all my savings--to a man in our village to keep till I returned, or, if
+I did not return, to keep in trust for my wife and child. This is the
+paper he gave me in acknowledgment."
+
+"Is he a man you can trust, captain?"
+
+"I think so. It is the superintendent of the factory in our village--a
+man rich, or, at any rate, well-to-do. He has a good reputation for
+integrity."
+
+"Your wife knew you had left the money in his hands?"
+
+"No; I meant it as a surprise to her."
+
+"It is a pity you did not leave that paper in her hands."
+
+"What do you mean, Bunsby?" asked the captain, nervously. "You don't
+think this man will betray his trust?"
+
+"I can't say, captain, for I don't know the man; but I don't like to
+trust any man too far."
+
+Captain Rushton was silent for a moment. There was a look of trouble on
+his face.
+
+"You make me feel anxious, Bunsby. It is hard enough to feel that I
+shall probably never again see my wife and child--on earth, I mean--but
+to think that they may possibly suffer want makes it more bitter."
+
+"The man may be honest, captain: Don't trouble yourself too much."
+
+"I see that I made a mistake. I should have left this paper with my
+wife. Davis can keep this money, and no one will be the wiser. It is a
+terrible temptation."
+
+"Particularly if the man is pressed for money."
+
+"I don't think that. He is considered a rich man. He ought to be one,
+and my money would be only a trifle to him."
+
+"Let us hope it is so, captain," said Bunsby, who felt that further
+discussion would do no good, and only embitter the last moments of his
+commander. But anxiety did not so readily leave the captain. Added to
+the pangs of hunger and the cravings of thirst was the haunting fear
+that by his imprudence his wife and child would suffer.
+
+"Do you think it would do any good, Bunsby," he said, after a pause, "to
+put this receipt in a bottle, as I did the letter?"
+
+"No, captain, it is too great a risk. There is not more than one chance
+in a hundred of its reaching its destination. Besides, suppose you
+should be picked up, and go home without the receipt; he might refuse to
+pay you."
+
+"He would do so at the peril of his life, then," said the captain,
+fiercely. "Do you think, if I were alive, I would let any man rob me of
+the savings of my life?"
+
+"Other men have done so."
+
+"It would not be safe to try it on me, Bunsby."
+
+"Well, captain?"
+
+"It is possible that I may perish, but you may be saved."
+
+"Not much chance of it."
+
+"Yet it is possible. Now, if that happens, I have a favor to ask of
+you."
+
+"Name it, captain."
+
+"I want you, if I die first, to take this paper, and guard it carefully;
+and, if you live to get back, to take it to Millville, and see that
+justice is done to my wife and child."
+
+"I promise that, captain; but I think we shall die together."
+
+Twenty-four hours passed. The little boat still rocked hither and
+thither on the ocean billows. The five faces looked more haggard, and
+there was a wild, eager look upon them, as they scanned the horizon,
+hoping to see a ship. Their lips and throats were dry and parched.
+
+"I can't stand it no longer," said one--it was the sailor I have called
+Jack--"I shall drink some of the sea water."
+
+"Don't do it, Jack," said Bunsby. "You'll suffer more than ever."
+
+"I can't," said Jack, desperately; and, scooping up some water in the
+hollow of his hand, he drank it eagerly. Again and again he drank with
+feverish eagerness.
+
+"How is it?" said the second sailor,
+
+"I feel better," said Jack; "my throat so dry."
+
+"Then I'll take some, too."
+
+The other two sailors, unheeding the remonstrances of Bunsby and the
+captain, followed the example of Jack. They felt relief for the moment,
+but soon their torments became unendurable. With parched throats,
+gasping for breath, they lay back in agony. Suffering themselves,
+Captain Rushton and Bunsby regarded with pity the greater sufferings of
+their wretched companions.
+
+"This is horrible," said the captain.
+
+"Yes," said Bunsby, sadly. "It can't last much longer now."
+
+His words were truer than he thought. Unable to endure his suffering,
+the sailor named Jack suddenly staggered to his feet.
+
+"I can't stand it any longer," he said, wildly; "good-by, boys," and
+before his companions well knew what he intended to do, he had leaped
+over the side of the boat, and sunk in the ocean waves.
+
+There was a thrilling silence, as the waters closed over his body.
+
+Then the second sailor also rose to his feet.
+
+"I'm going after Jack," he said, and he, too, plunged into the waves.
+
+The captain rose as if to hinder him, but Bunsby placed his hand upon
+his arm.
+
+"It's just as well, captain. We must all come to that, and the sooner,
+the more suffering is saved."
+
+"That's so," said the other sailor, tormented like the other two by
+thirst, aggravated by his draughts of seawater. "Good-by, Bunsby!
+Good-by, captain! I'm going!"
+
+He, too, plunged into the sea, and Bunsby and the captain were left
+alone.
+
+"You won't desert me, Bunsby?" said the captain.
+
+"No, captain. I haven't swallowed seawater like those poor fellows. I
+can stand it better."
+
+"There is no hope of life," said the captain, quietly; "but I don't like
+to go unbidden into my Maker's presence."
+
+"Nor I. I'll stand by you, captain."
+
+"This is a fearful thing, Bunsby. If it would only rain."
+
+"That would be some relief."
+
+As if in answer to his wish, the drops began to fall--slowly at first,
+then more copiously, till at last their clothing was saturated, and the
+boat partly filled with water. Eagerly they squeezed out the welcome
+dregs from their clothing, and felt a blessed relief. They filled two
+bottles they had remaining with the precious fluid.
+
+"If those poor fellows had only waited," said the captain.
+
+"They are out of suffering now," said Bunsby.
+
+The relief was only temporary, and they felt it to be so. They were
+without food, and the two bottles of water would not last them long.
+Still, there was a slight return of hope, which survives under the most
+discouraging circumstances.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+
+FRANK PRICE.
+
+The ship _Argonaut_, bound for Calcutta, was speeding along with a fair
+wind, when the man at the lookout called:
+
+"Boat in sight!"
+
+"Where away?"
+
+The sailor pointed, out a small boat a mile distant, nearly in the
+ship's track, rising and falling with the billows.
+
+"Is there any one in it?"
+
+"I see two men lying in the bottom. They are motionless. They may be
+dead."
+
+The boat was soon overtaken. It was the boat from the ill-fated
+_Norman_, Captain Rushton and Bunsby were lying stretched out in the
+bottom, both motionless and apparently without life. Bunsby was really
+dead. But there was still some life left in the captain, which, under
+the care of the surgeon of the ship, was carefully husbanded until he
+was out of immediate danger. But his system, from the long privation of
+food, had received such a shock, that his mind, sympathizing with it, he
+fell into a kind of stupor, mental and physical, and though strength and
+vigor came slowly back, Captain Rushton was in mind a child. Oblivion of
+the past seemed to have come over him. He did not remember who he was,
+or that he had a wife and child.
+
+"Poor man!" said the surgeon; "I greatly fear his mind has completely
+given way."
+
+"It is a pity some of his friends were not here," said the captain of
+the ship that had rescued him. "The sight of a familiar face might
+restore him."
+
+"It is possible, but I am not sure of even that."
+
+"Is there any clew to his identity?"
+
+"I have found none."
+
+It will at once occur to the reader that the receipt would have supplied
+the necessary information, since it was dated Millville, and contained
+the captain's name. But this was concealed in an inner pocket in Captain
+Rushton's vest, and escaped the attention of the surgeon. So, nameless
+and unknown, he was carried to Calcutta, which he reached without any
+perceptible improvement in his mental condition.
+
+Arrived at Calcutta, the question arose: "What shall we do with him?" It
+was a perplexing question, since if carried back to New York, it might
+be difficult to identify him there, or send him back to his friends.
+Besides, the care of a man in his condition would be a greater
+responsibility than most shipmasters would care to undertake. It was at
+this crisis that a large-hearted and princely American merchant,
+resident in Calcutta, who had learned the particulars of the captain's
+condition, came forward, saying: "Leave him here. I will find him a home
+in some suitable boarding-house, and defray such expenses as may be
+required. God has blessed me with abundant means. It is only right that
+I should employ a portion in His service. I hope, under good treatment,
+he may recover wholly, and be able to tell me who he is, and where is
+his home. When that is ascertained, if his health is sufficiently good,
+I will send him home at my own expense."
+
+The offer was thankfully accepted, and the generous merchant was as good
+as his word. A home was found for Captain Rushton in the boarding-house
+of Mrs. Start, a widow, who, thrown upon her own exertions for support,
+had, by the help of the merchant already referred to, opened a
+boarding-house, which was now quite remunerative.
+
+"He will require considerable care, Mrs. Start," said Mr. Perkins, the
+merchant, "but I am ready and willing to compensate you for all the
+trouble to which you are put. Will you take him?"
+
+"Certainly I will," said the warm-hearted widow, "if only because you
+ask it. But for you, I should not be earning a comfortable living, with
+a little money laid up in the bank, besides."
+
+"Thank you, Mrs. Start," said the merchant. "I know the poor man could
+be in no better hands. But you mustn't let any considerations of
+gratitude interfere with your charging a fair price for your trouble. I
+am able and willing to pay whatever is suitable."
+
+"I don't believe we shall quarrel on that point," said the widow,
+smiling. "I will do all I can for your friend. What is his name?"
+
+"That I don't know."
+
+"We shall have to call him something."
+
+"Call him Smith, then. That will answer till we find out his real name,
+as we may some day, when his mind comes back, as I hope it may."
+
+From that time, therefore, Captain Rushton was known as Mr. Smith. He
+recovered in a considerable degree his bodily health, but mentally he
+remained in the same condition. Sometimes he fixed his eyes upon Mrs.
+Start, and seemed struggling to remember something of the past; but
+after a few moments his face would assume a baffled look, and he would
+give up the attempt as fruitless.
+
+One day when Mrs. Start addressed him as Mr. Smith, he asked:
+
+"Why do you call me by that name?"
+
+"Is not that your name?" she asked.
+
+"No."
+
+"What, then, is it?"
+
+He put his hand to his brow, and seemed to be thinking. At length he
+turned to the widow, and said, abruptly:
+
+"Do you not know my name?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Nor do I," he answered, and left the room hastily.
+
+She continued, therefore, to address him as Mr. Smith, and he gradually
+became accustomed to it, and answered to it.
+
+Leaving Captain Rushton at Calcutta, with the assurance that, though
+separated from home and family, he will receive all the care that his
+condition requires, we will return to our hero, shut up on shipboard
+with his worst enemy. I say this advisedly, for though Halbert Davis
+disliked him, it was only the feeling of a boy, and was free from the
+intensity of Ben Haley's hatred.
+
+No doubt, it was imprudent for him to reject the mate's hand, but Robert
+felt that he could not grasp in friendship the hand which had deprived
+him of a father. He was bold enough to brave the consequences of this
+act, which he foresaw clearly.
+
+Ben Haley, however, was in no hurry to take the vengeance which he was
+fully resolved sooner or later to wreak upon our young hero. He was
+content to bide his time. Had Robert been less watchful, indeed, he
+might have supposed that the mate's feelings toward him had changed.
+When they met, as in the narrow limits of the ship they must do every
+day, the forms of courtesy passed between them. Robert always saluted
+the mate, and Haley responded by a nod, or a cool good-morning, but did
+not indulge in any conversation.
+
+Sometimes, however, turning suddenly, Robert would catch a malignant
+glance from the mate, but Haley's expression immediately changed, when
+thus surprised, and he assumed an air of indifference.
+
+With Captain Evans, on the other hand, Robert was on excellent terms.
+The captain liked the bold, manly boy, and talked much with him of the
+different countries he had visited, and seemed glad to answer the
+questions which our hero asked.
+
+"Robert," said the captain, one day, "how is it that you and Mr. Haley
+seem to have nothing to say to each other?"
+
+"I don't think he likes me, Captain Evans," said Robert.
+
+"Is there any reason for it, or is it merely a prejudice?"
+
+"There is a reason for it, but I don't care to mention it. Not that it
+is anything I have reason to regret, or to be ashamed of," he added,
+hastily. "It is on Mr. Haley's account that I prefer to keep it secret."
+
+"Is there no chance of your being on better terms?" asked the captain,
+good-naturedly, desirous of effecting a reconciliation.
+
+Robert shook his head.
+
+"I don't wish to be reconciled, captain," he said. "I will tell you this
+much, that Mr. Haley has done me and my family an injury which, perhaps,
+can never be repaired. I cannot forget it, and though I am willing to be
+civil to him, since we are thrown together, I do not want his
+friendship, even if he desired mine, as I am sure he does not."
+
+Captain Evans was puzzled by this explanation, which threw very little
+light upon the subject, and made no further efforts to bring the two
+together.
+
+Time passed, and whatever might be Ben Haley's feelings, he abstained
+from any attempt to injure him. Robert's suspicions were lulled to
+sleep, and he ceased to be as vigilant and watchful as he had been.
+
+His frank, familiar manner made him a favorite on shipboard. He had a
+friendly word for all the sailors, which was appreciated, for it was
+known that he was the _protégé_ of the owner. He was supposed by some to
+be a relation, or, at any rate, a near connection, and so was treated
+with unusual respect. All the sailors had a kind word for him, and many
+were the praises which he received in the forecastle.
+
+Among those most devoted to him was a boy of fourteen, Frank Price, who
+had sailed in the capacity of cabin-boy. The poor boy was very seasick
+at first, and Captain Evans had been indulgent, and excused him from
+duty until he got better. He was not sturdy enough for the life upon
+which he had entered, and would gladly have found himself again in the
+comfortable home which a mistaken impulse had led him to exchange for
+the sea.
+
+With this boy, Robert, who was of about the same age, struck up a
+friendship, which was returned twofold by Frank, whose heart, naturally
+warm, was easily won by kindness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+
+THE NEW CAPTAIN.
+
+The voyage was more than half completed, and nothing of importance had
+occurred to mark it. But at this time, Captain Evans fell sick. His
+sickness proved to be a fever, and was very severe. The surgeon was in
+constant attendance, but the malady baffled all his skill. At the end of
+seven days, it terminated fatally, to the great grief of all on board,
+with whom the good-natured captain was very popular. There was one
+exception, however, to the general grief. It is an ill wind that blows
+good to no one, and Ben Haley did not lament much for an event which
+promoted him to the command of the vessel. Of course, he did not show
+this feeling publicly, but in secret his heart bounded with exultation
+at the thought that he was, for the time, master of the ship and all on
+board. He was not slow in asserting his new position. Five minutes after
+the captain breathed his last, one of the sailors approached him, and
+asked for orders, addressing him as "Mr. Haley."
+
+"Captain Haley!" roared the new commander. "If you don't know my
+position on board this ship, it's time you found it out!"
+
+"Ay, ay, sir," stammered the sailor, taken aback at his unexpected
+violence.
+
+Robert mourned sincerely at the death of Captain Evans, by whom he had
+always been treated with the utmost kindness. Even had he not been
+influenced by such a feeling, he would have regarded with apprehension
+the elevation to the command of one whom he well knew to be actuated by
+a feeling of enmity to himself. He resolved to be as prudent as
+possible, and avoid, as far as he could, any altercation with Haley. But
+the latter was determined, now that he had reached the command, to pick
+a quarrel with our hero, and began to cast about for a fitting occasion.
+
+Now that Captain Evans was dead, Robert spent as much time as the
+latter's duties would permit with Frank Price. The boys held long and
+confidential conversations together, imparting to each other their
+respective hopes and wishes. Haley observed their intimacy and mutual
+attachment, and, unable to assert his authority over Robert, who was a
+passenger, determined to strike at him through his friend. His
+determination was strengthened by a conversation which he overheard
+between the boys when they supposed him beyond earshot.
+
+"I wish Captain Evans were alive," said Frank. "I liked him, and I don't
+like Captain Haley."
+
+"Captain Evans was an excellent man," said Robert.
+
+"He knew how to treat a fellow," said Frank. "As long as he saw us doing
+our best, he was easy with us. Captain Haley is a tyrant."
+
+"Be careful what you say, Frank," said Robert. "It isn't safe to say
+much about the officers."
+
+"I wouldn't say anything, except to you. You are my friend."
+
+"I am your true friend, Frank, and I don't want you to get into any
+trouble."
+
+"I am sure you don't like the captain any better than I do."
+
+"I don't like the captain, for more reasons than I can tell you; but I
+shall keep quiet, as long as I am on board this ship."
+
+"Are you going back with us?"
+
+"I don't know. It will depend upon circumstances. I don't think I shall,
+though I might have done so had Captain Evans remained in command."
+
+"I wish I could leave it, and stay with you."
+
+"I wish you could, Frank. Perhaps you can."
+
+"I will try."
+
+Haley overheard the last part of this conversation. He took particular
+notice of Robert's remark that he would keep quiet as long as he
+remained on board the ship, and inferred that on arrival at the destined
+port our hero would expose all he knew about him. This made him uneasy,
+for it would injure, if not destroy, his prospect of remaining in
+command of the _Argonaut_. He resented also the dislike which Robert had
+cautiously expressed, and the similar feeling cherished by the
+cabin-boy. He had half a mind to break in upon their conversation on the
+spot; but, after a moment's thought, walked away, his neighborhood
+unsuspected by the two boys.
+
+"They shall both rue their impudence," he muttered. "They shall find out
+that they cannot insult me with impunity."
+
+The next day, when both boys were on deck, Captain Haley harshly ordered
+Frank to attend to a certain duty which he had already performed.
+
+"I have done so, sir," said Frank, in a respectful tone.
+
+"None of your impudence, you young rascal!" roared the captain, lashing
+himself into a rage.
+
+Frank looked up into his face in astonishment, unable to account for so
+violent an outbreak.
+
+"What do you mean by looking me in the face in that impudent manner?"
+demanded Captain Haley, furiously.
+
+"I didn't mean to be impudent, Captain Haley," said Frank. "What have I
+done?"
+
+"What have you done? You, a cabin-boy, have dared to insult your
+captain, and, by heavens, you shall rue it! Strip off your jacket."
+
+Frank turned pale. He knew what this order meant. Public floggings were
+sometimes administered on shipboard, but, under the command of Captain
+Evans, nothing of the kind had taken place.
+
+Robert, who had heard the whole, listened, with unmeasured indignation,
+to this wanton abuse on the part of Captain Haley. His eyes flashed, and
+his youthful form dilated with righteous indignation.
+
+Robert was not the only one who witnessed with indignation the captain's
+brutality. Such of the sailors as happened to be on deck shared his
+feelings. Haley, looking about him, caught the look with which Robert
+regarded him, and triumphed inwardly that he had found a way to chafe
+him.
+
+"What have you got to say about it?" he demanded, addressing our hero,
+with a sneer.
+
+"Since you have asked my opinion," said Robert, boldly, "I will express
+it. Frank Price has not been guilty of any impudence, and deserves no
+punishment."
+
+This was a bold speech to be made by a boy to a captain on his own deck,
+and the sailors who heard it inwardly applauded the pluck of the boy who
+uttered it.
+
+"What do you mean by that, sir?" exclaimed Haley, his eyes lighting up
+fiercely, as he strode to the spot where Robert stood, and frowned upon
+him, menacingly.
+
+"You asked my opinion, and I gave it," said Robert, not flinching.
+
+"I have a great mind to have you flogged, too!" said Haley.
+
+"I am not one of your crew, Captain Haley," said Robert, coolly; "and
+you have no right to lay a hand on me."
+
+"What is to prevent me, I should like to know?"
+
+"I am here as a passenger, and a friend of the owner of this vessel. If
+I receive any ill-treatment, it shall be reported to him."
+
+If the sailors had dared, they would have applauded the stripling who,
+undaunted by the menacing attitude of the captain, faced him boldly and
+fearlessly. Haley would gladly have knocked him down, but there was
+something in the resolute mien of his young passenger that made him
+pause. He knew that he would keep his word, and that, with such
+representations as he might make, he would stand no further chance of
+being employed by Mr. Morgan.
+
+"I have an account to settle with you, boy," he said; "and the
+settlement will not long be delayed. When a passenger tries to incite
+mutiny, he forfeits his privileges as a passenger."
+
+"Who has done this, Captain Haley?"
+
+"You have done it."
+
+"I deny it," said Robert.
+
+"Your denial is worth nothing. I have a right to throw you into irons,
+and may yet do it. At present I have other business in hand."
+
+He left Robert, and walked back to Frank Price, who, not having Robert's
+courage, had been a terrified listener to the colloquy between him and
+the captain.
+
+"Now, boy," he said, harshly, "I will give you a lesson that you shall
+remember to the latest day of your life. Bring me the cat."
+
+The barbarous cat, as it was called, once in use on our ships, was
+brought, and Captain Haley signaled to one of the sailors to approach.
+
+"Bates," he said, in a tone of authority, "give that boy a dozen
+lashes."
+
+Bates was a stout sailor, rough in appearance, but with a warm and
+kindly heart. He had a boy of his own at home, about the age of Frank
+Price, and his heart had warmed to the boy whose position he felt to be
+far from an enviable one.
+
+The task now imposed upon him was a most distasteful and unwelcome one.
+He was a good sailor, and aimed on all occasions to show proper
+obedience to the commands of his officers, but now he could not.
+
+"Captain Haley," he said, not stirring from his position, "I hope you
+will excuse me."
+
+"Is this mutiny?" roared the captain.
+
+"No, Captain Haley. I always mean to do my duty on board ship."
+
+"I have told you to flog this boy!"
+
+"I can't do it, Captain Haley. I have a boy of my own about the size of
+that lad there, and, if I struck him, I'd think it was my own boy that
+stood in his place."
+
+This unexpected opposition excited the fierce resentment of the captain.
+He felt that a crisis had come, and he was determined to be obeyed.
+
+"Unless you do as I bid you, I will keep you in irons for the rest of
+the voyage!"
+
+"You are the captain of this ship, and can throw me in irons, if you
+like," said Bates, with an air of dignity despite his tarred hands and
+sailor jacket. "I have refused to do no duty that belongs to me. When I
+signed my name to the ship's papers, I did not agree to flog boys."
+
+"Put him in irons!" roared the captain, incensed. "We will see who is
+captain of this ship!"
+
+The mandate was obeyed, and Bates was lodged in the forecastle, securely
+ironed.
+
+The captain himself seized the cat, and was about to apply it to the
+luckless cabin-boy, when a terrible blast, springing up in an instant,
+as it were, struck the ship, almost throwing it upon its side. There was
+no time for punishment now. The safety of the ship required instant
+action, and Frank Price was permitted to replace his jacket without
+having received a blow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+
+THE CAPTAIN'S REVENGE.
+
+The storm which commenced so suddenly was one of great violence. It
+required all the captain's seamanship, and the efforts of all the crew,
+to withstand it. However reluctant to do it, Captain Haley was forced to
+release Bates from his irons, and order him to duty. The latter worked
+energetically, and showed that he did not intend to shirk any part of
+his duties as seaman. But the result of the storm was that the vessel
+was driven out of her course, and her rigging suffered considerable
+injury. The wind blew all night. Toward morning it abated, and, as the
+morning light broke, the lookout described a small island distant about
+a league.
+
+The captain looked at it through his glass, and then examined the chart.
+
+"I can't make out what island that is," he said.
+
+"It is not large enough," suggested the mate, "to find a place on the
+map."
+
+"Perhaps it is as you say," said Captain Haley, thoughtfully. "I have a
+mind to go on shore and explore it. There may be some fresh fruits that
+will vary our diet."
+
+This plan was carried out. A boat was got ready, and the captain got in,
+with four sailors to row.
+
+Just as he was about to descend into the boat, he turned to Robert, who
+was looking curiously toward land, and said:
+
+"Rushton, would you like to go with us?"
+
+It was precisely what Robert wanted. He had a boy's love of adventure,
+and the thought of exploring an island, perhaps hitherto unknown, struck
+his fancy, and he eagerly accepted the invitation.
+
+"Jump in, then," said Haley, striving to appear indifferent; but there
+was a gleam of exultation in his eye, which he took care to conceal from
+the unsuspecting boy.
+
+Swiftly the boat sped through the waters, pulled by the strong arms of
+four stout sailors, and, reaching the island, was drawn into a little
+cove, which seemed made for it.
+
+"Now for an exploring expedition," said the captain. "Boys," addressing
+the sailors, "remain near the boat. I will soon be back. Rushton," he
+said, turning to our hero, "go where you like, but be back in an hour."
+
+"Yes, sir," answered Robert.
+
+Had it been Captain Evans, instead of Captain Haley, he would have
+proposed to join him; but, knowing what he did of the latter, he
+preferred his own company.
+
+The island was about five miles in circumference. Near the shore, it was
+bare of vegetation, but further inland there were numerous trees, some
+producing fruit. After some weeks of the monotonous life on shipboard,
+Robert enjoyed pressing the solid earth once more. Besides, this was the
+first foreign shore his foot had ever trodden. The thought that he was
+thousands of miles away from home, and that, possibly, the land upon
+which he now walked had never before been trodden by a civilized foot,
+filled him with a sense of excitement and exhilaration.
+
+"What would mother say if she should see me now?" he thought. "What a
+wonderful chance it would be if my father had been wafted in his boat to
+this island, and I should come upon him unexpectedly!"
+
+It was very improbable, but Robert thought enough of it to look about
+him carefully. But everywhere the land seemed to be virgin, without
+other inhabitants than the birds of strange plumage and note, which sang
+in the branches of the trees.
+
+"I don't believe any one ever lived here," thought Robert.
+
+It struck him that he should like to live upon the island a week, if he
+could be sure of being taken off at the end of that time. The cool
+breezes from the ocean swept over the little island, and made it
+delightfully cool at morning and evening, though hot in the middle of
+the day.
+
+Robert sauntered along till he came to a little valley. He descended the
+slope, and sat down in the shade of a broad-leaved tree. The grass
+beneath him made a soft couch, and he felt that he should enjoy lying
+there the rest of the day. But his time was limited. The captain had
+told him to be back in an hour, and he felt that it was time for him to
+be stirring.
+
+"I shall not have time to go any further," he reflected. "I must be
+getting back to the boat."
+
+As this occurred to him, he rose to his feet, and, looking up, he
+started a little at seeing the captain himself descending the slope.
+
+"Well, Robert," said Captain Haley, "how do you like the island?"
+
+"Very much, indeed," said our hero. "It seems pleasant to be on land
+after being on shipboard so many weeks."
+
+"Quite true. This is a beautiful place you have found."
+
+"I was resting under this tree, listening to the birds, but I felt
+afraid I should not be back to the boat in time, and was just starting
+to return."
+
+"I think we can overstay our time a little," said Haley. "They won't go
+back without me, I reckon," he added, with a laugh.
+
+Robert was nothing loth to stay, and resumed his place on the grass. The
+captain threw himself on the grass beside him.
+
+"I suppose you have read 'Robinson Crusoe?'" he said.
+
+"Oh, yes; more than once."
+
+"I wonder how it would seem to live on such an island as this?"
+
+"I should like it very well," said Robert; "that is, if I could go off
+at any time. I was just thinking of it when you come up."
+
+"Were you?" asked the captain, showing his teeth in an unpleasant smile,
+which, however, Robert did not see. "You think you would like it?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"I am glad of that."
+
+"Why?" asked Robert, turning round and looking his companion in the
+face.
+
+"Because," said Haley, changing his tone, "I am going to give you a
+chance to try it."
+
+Robert sprang to his feet in instant alarm, but too late. Haley had
+grasped him by the shoulder, and in his grasp the boy's strength was
+nothing.
+
+"What are you going to do?" asked Robert, with fearful foreboding.
+
+"Wait a minute and you will see!"
+
+The captain had drawn a stout cord, brought for the purpose, from his
+pocket, and, dragging Robert to a tree, tied him securely to the trunk.
+The terrible fate destined for him was presented vividly to the
+imagination of our hero; and, brave as he was, it almost unmanned him.
+Finding his struggles useless, he resorted to expostulation.
+
+"I am sure you cannot mean this, Captain Haley!" he said. "You won't
+leave me to perish miserably on this island?"
+
+"Won't I?" returned the captain, with an evil light in his eyes. "Why
+won't I?"
+
+"Surely, you will not be so inhuman?"
+
+"Look here, boy," said the captain, "you needn't try to come any of your
+high-flown notions about humanity over me. I owe you a debt, and, by
+Heaven! I'm going to pay it! You didn't think much of humanity when you
+wounded me."
+
+"I couldn't help it," said Robert. "I didn't want to hurt you. I only
+wanted to protect your uncle."
+
+"That's all very well; but, when you interfered in a family quarrel, you
+meddled with what did not concern you. Besides, you have been inciting
+my crew to mutiny."
+
+"I have not done so," said Robert.
+
+"I overheard you the other night giving some of your precious advice to
+my cabin-boy. Besides, you had the impudence to interfere with me in a
+matter of discipline."
+
+"Frank Price deserved no punishment."
+
+"That is for me to decide. When you dared to be impudent to me on my own
+deck, I swore to be revenged, and the time has come sooner than I
+anticipated."
+
+"Captain Haley," said Robert, "in all that I have done I have tried to
+do right. If I have done wrong, it was because I erred in judgment. If
+you will let me go, I will promise to say nothing of the attempt you
+make to keep me here."
+
+"You are very kind," sneered the captain; "but I mean to take care of
+that myself. You may make all the complaints you like after I have left
+you here."
+
+"There is One who will hear me," said Robert. "I shall not be wholly
+without friends."
+
+"Who do you mean?"
+
+"God!" said Robert, solemnly.
+
+"Rubbish!" retorted Haley, contemptuously.
+
+"I shall not despair while I have Him to appeal to."
+
+"Just as you like," said the captain, shrugging his shoulders. "You are
+welcome to all the comfort you can find in your present situation."
+
+By this time, Robert was bound to the trunk of the tree by a cord, which
+passed around his waist. In addition to this Haley tied his wrists
+together, fearing that otherwise he might be able to unfasten the knot.
+He now rose to his feet, and looked down upon the young captive, with an
+air of triumph.
+
+"Have you any messages to send by me, Rushton?" he said, with a sneer.
+
+"Are you quite determined to leave me here?" asked Robert, in anguish.
+
+"Quite so."
+
+"What will the sailors say when I do not return?"
+
+"Don't trouble yourself about them. I will take care of that. If you
+have got anything to say, say it quick, for I must be going."
+
+"Captain Haley," said Robert, his courage rising, and looking the
+captain firmly in the face, "I may die here, and so gratify your enmity;
+but the time will come when you will repent what you are doing."
+
+"I'll risk that," said Haley, coolly. "Good-by."
+
+He walked up the slope, and disappeared from view, leaving Robert bound
+to the tree, a helpless prisoner.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+
+A FRIEND IN NEED.
+
+Captain Haley kept on his way to the shore. The four sailors were all
+within hail, and on the captain's approach got the boat in readiness to
+return.
+
+"Where is the boy?" asked Haley. "Hasn't he got back?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"That is strange. I told him to be back in an hour, and it is already
+past that time."
+
+"Perhaps he hasn't a watch," suggested one of the sailors.
+
+"I will wait ten minutes for him," said Haley, taking out his watch. "If
+he is not back in that time, I must go without him."
+
+The sailors did not reply, but looked anxiously inland, hoping to catch
+sight of Robert returning. But, bound as he was, we can understand why
+they looked in vain.
+
+"Shall I go and look for him?" asked one.
+
+"No," said Haley, decidedly; "I cannot spare you."
+
+The ten minutes were soon up.
+
+"Into the boat with you," commanded the captain. "I shall wait no
+longer."
+
+Slowly and reluctantly, the sailors took their places, for Robert was a
+favorite with them.
+
+"Now, men, give way," said Haley. "If the boy is lost, it is his own
+fault."
+
+They reached the vessel in due time. There was a murmur among the crew,
+when it was found that Robert had been left behind; but, knowing the
+captain's disposition, no one except Bates dared to expostulate.
+
+"Captain Haley," said he, approaching and touching his hat, "will you
+give me leave to go on shore for the young gentleman that was left?"
+
+"No," said the captain. "He had fair warning to be back in time, and
+chose to disregard it. My duty to the owners will not permit me to delay
+the ship on his account."
+
+"He was a relation of the owner," suggested Bates.
+
+"No, he was not; and, if he said so, he lied. Go about your duty, and
+take care I have no more fault to find with you, or you go back in
+irons!"
+
+Bates ventured upon no further expostulation. He saw through the
+captain's subterfuge, and felt persuaded that it had been his deliberate
+intention from the first to abandon Robert to his fate. He began to
+think busily, and finally resolved to go to the island and search for
+him. For this purpose, a boat would be needful, since the distance,
+nearly a league, was too far to swim. Now, to appropriate one of the
+ship's boats when the captain was on deck would be impossible, but
+Haley, within five minutes, went below. Bates now proceeded to carry out
+his plan.
+
+"What are you going to do?" demanded one of the sailors.
+
+"I'm going after the boy."
+
+"You'll be left along with him."
+
+"I'll take the risk. He shan't say he didn't have one friend."
+
+By the connivance of his fellow-sailors, Bates got safely off with the
+boat, and began to pull toward shore. He was already a mile distant from
+the vessel when Captain Haley came on deck.
+
+"Who is that in the boat?" he demanded, abruptly.
+
+"I don't know, sir."
+
+He pointed the glass toward the boat, and, though he could not fairly
+distinguish the stout sailor who was pulling the boat through the water,
+he suspected that it was Bates.
+
+"Where is Bates?" he asked.
+
+No one had seen him.
+
+"The fool has gone to destruction," said Captain Haley. "I shall not go
+after him. He is welcome to live on the island if he chooses."
+
+His reason for not pursuing the fugitive may be readily understood. He
+feared that Robert would be found bound to the tree, and the story the
+boy would tell would go heavily against him. He hurried preparation for
+the vessel's departure, and in a short time it was speeding away from
+the island with two less on board.
+
+I must now go back to Robert, whom we left bound to a tree.
+
+After the captain left him, he struggled hard to unloose the cords which
+bound him. The love of life was strong within him, and the thought of
+dying under such circumstances was appalling. He struggled manfully,
+but, though he was strong for a boy, the cord was strong, also, and the
+captain knew how to tie a knot.
+
+Robert ceased at last, tired with his efforts. A feeling of despair came
+over him, and the tears started, unbidden, to his eyes, as he thought
+how his mother would watch and wait for him in vain--how lonely she
+would feel, with husband and son both taken from her. Could it be that
+he was to die, when life had only just commenced, thousands of miles
+away from home, in utter solitude? Had he come so far for this? Then,
+again, he feared that his mother would suffer want and privation when
+the money which he had left behind was exhausted. In his pocket there
+were nearly two hundred dollars, not likely to be of any service to him.
+He wished that they were in her possession.
+
+"If only he had left me free and unbound," thought Robert, "I might pick
+up a living on the island, and perhaps some day attract the attention of
+some vessel."
+
+With this thought, and the hope it brought, he made renewed efforts to
+release himself, striving to untie the cord which fastened his wrists
+with his teeth. He made some progress, and felt encouraged, but it was
+hard work, and he was compelled to stop, from time to time, to rest. It
+was in one of these intervals that he heard his name called. Feeling
+sure that there was no one on the island but himself, he thought he was
+deceived. But the sound came nearer, and he distinctly heard "Robert!"
+
+"Here I am!" he shouted, in return, his heart filled with sudden
+thanksgiving.
+
+"Captain Haley only meant to frighten me," he thought. "He has sent some
+men back for me."
+
+In his gratitude, he thanked Heaven fervently for so changing the heart
+of his enemy, and once more life looked bright.
+
+"Robert!" he heard again.
+
+"Here!" he shouted, with all the strength of his lungs.
+
+This time the sound reached Bates, who, running up his boat on shore,
+and securing it, was exploring the island in search of our hero. Looking
+around him, he at length, from the edge of the valley, descried Robert.
+
+"Is that you, lad?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, Bates; come and untie me!"
+
+Bates saw his situation with surprise and indignation.
+
+"That's some of the captain's work!" he at once decided. "He must be a
+cursed scoundrel to leave that poor lad there to die!"
+
+He quickened his steps, and was soon at the side of our hero.
+
+"Who tied you to the tree, lad?" he asked.
+
+"Did Captain Haley send you for me?" asked Robert first, for he had made
+up his mind in that case not to expose him.
+
+"No; I stole one of the ship's boats, and came for you without leave."
+
+"The captain didn't know of your coming?"
+
+"No; I asked his leave, and he wouldn't give it."
+
+"It was Captain Haley that tied me here," said Robert, his scruples
+removed.
+
+"What did he do that for, lad?"
+
+"It's a long story, Bates. It's because he hates me, and wishes me
+harm. Untie these cords, and I'll tell you all about it."
+
+"That I'll do in a jiffy, my lad. I'm an old sailor and I can untie
+knots as well as tie them."
+
+In five minutes Robert was free. He stretched his limbs, with a feeling
+of great relief, and then turned to Bates, whose hand he grasped.
+
+"I owe my life to you, Bates!" he said.
+
+"Maybe not, lad. We're in a tight place yet."
+
+"Has the ship gone?"
+
+"Most likely. The captain won't send back for either of us in a hurry."
+
+"And you have made yourself a prisoner here for my sake?" asked Robert,
+moved by the noble conduct of the rough sailor.
+
+"I couldn't abide to leave you alone. There's more chance for two than
+for one."
+
+"Heaven bless you, Bates! I won't soon forget what you have done for me.
+Do you think there is any chance for us?"
+
+"Of course there is, lad. We've got a boat, and we can live here till
+some vessel comes within sight."
+
+"Let us go down to the shore, and see if we can see anything of the
+ship."
+
+The two bent their steps to the shore, and looked out to sea. They could
+still see the ship, but it was already becoming a speck in the distant
+waters.
+
+"They have left us," said Robert, turning to his companion.
+
+"Ay, lad, the false-hearted villain has done his worst!"
+
+"I didn't think any man would be so inhuman."
+
+"You're young, lad, and you don't know what a sight of villainy there is
+in the world. We've got to live here a while, likely. Have you seen
+anything in the line of grub here-abouts?"
+
+"There is fruit on some of the trees."
+
+"That's something. Maybe we shall find some roots, besides. We'll draw
+the boat farther upon shore, and go on an exploring expedition."
+
+The boat was drawn completely up, and placed, bottom upward, at a safe
+distance from the sea. Then Robert and his companion started to explore
+the island which had so unexpectedly become their home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+
+THE ISLAND REALM.
+
+But for the knowledge that he was a prisoner, Robert would have enjoyed
+his present situation. The island, though small, was covered with a
+luxuriant vegetation, and was swept by cooling breezes, which tempered
+the ardor of the sun's rays. And, of this island realm, he and his
+companion were the undisputed sovereigns. There was no one to dispute
+their sway. All that it yielded was at their absolute disposal.
+
+"I wonder what is the name of this island?" said Robert.
+
+"Perhaps it has no name. Mayhap we are the first that ever visited it."
+
+"I have a great mind to declare myself the king," said our young hero,
+smiling, "unless you want the office."
+
+"You shall be captain, and I will be mate," said Bates, to whom the
+distinctions of sea life were more familiar than those of courts.
+
+"How long do you think we shall have to stay here?" asked Robert,
+anxiously.
+
+"There's no telling, lad. We'll have to stick up a pole on the
+seashore, and run up a flag when any vessel comes near."
+
+"We have no flag."
+
+"Have you a handkerchief?"
+
+"Only one," said Robert.
+
+"That's one more than I have. We'll rig that up when it's wanted."
+
+"Where shall we sleep?"
+
+"That's what I have been thinking. We must build a house."
+
+"A brownstone front?" said Robert. "The governor ought to live in a good
+house."
+
+"So he shall," said Bates. "He shall have the first on the island."
+
+"I wonder if it rains often?"
+
+"Not much at this season. In the winter a good deal of rain falls, but I
+hope we won't be here then."
+
+"Where shall we build our house?"
+
+"It would be pleasanter inland, but we must be near the shore, so as to
+be in sight of ships."
+
+"That's true, Bates. That is the most important consideration."
+
+They set to work at once, and built a hut, something like an Indian's
+wigwam, about a hundred yards from the shore. It was composed, for the
+most part, of branches of trees and inclosed an inner space of about
+fifteen feet in diameter. They gathered large quantities of leaves,
+which were spread upon the ground for beds.
+
+"That's softer than our bunks aboard ship," said Bates.
+
+"Yes," said Robert. "I wouldn't wish any better bed. It is easy to build
+and furnish a house of your own here."
+
+"The next thing is dinner," said his companion.
+
+"Shall we go to market?" asked Robert, with a smile.
+
+"We'll find a market just outside."
+
+"You mean the trees?"
+
+"Yes; we'll find our dinner already cooked on them."
+
+The fruit of which they partook freely was quite sweet and palatable.
+Still, one kind of food cloys after a time, and so our new settlers
+found it. Besides, it was not very substantial, and failed to keep up
+their wonted strength. This set them to looking up some other article
+which might impart variety to their fare. At last they succeeded in
+finding an esculent root, which they partook of at first with some
+caution, fearing that it might be unwholesome. Finding, however, that
+eating it produced no unpleasant effects, they continued the use of it.
+Even this, however, failed to afford them as much variety as they
+wished.
+
+"I feel as if I should like some fish for breakfast," said Robert one
+morning, on waking up.
+
+"So should I, lad," returned Bates. "Why shouldn't we have some?"
+
+"You mean that we shall go fishing?"
+
+"Yes; we've got a boat, and I have some cord. We'll rig up fishing
+lines, and go out on a fishing cruise."
+
+Robert adopted the idea with alacrity. It promised variety and
+excitement.
+
+"I wonder we hadn't thought of it before. I used to be a fisherman,
+Bates."
+
+"Did you?"
+
+"Yes; I supplied the market at home for a short time, till Captain Haley
+smashed my boat."
+
+"The mean lubber! I wish we had him here."
+
+"I don't; I prefer his room to his company."
+
+"I'd try how he'd like being tied to a tree."
+
+"I don't think you'd untie him again in a hurry."
+
+"You may bet high on that, lad."
+
+They rigged their fishing lines--cutting poles from the trees--and armed
+them with hooks, of which, by good luck, Bates happened to have a supply
+with him. Then they launched the ship's boat, in which Bates had come to
+the island, and put out to sea.
+
+Robert enjoyed the row in the early morning, and wondered they had not
+thought of taking out the boat before. At last they came to the
+business which brought them out, and in about half an hour had succeeded
+in catching four fishes, weighing perhaps fifteen pounds altogether.
+
+"That'll be enough for us, unless you are very hungry," said Robert.
+"Now, suppose we land and cook them."
+
+"Ay, ay, lad!"
+
+Of course, their cooking arrangements were very primitive. In the first
+place, they were compelled to make a fire by the method in use among the
+savages, of rubbing two sticks smartly together, and catching the flame
+in a little prepared tinder. The fish were baked over the fire thus
+kindled. Though the outside was smoked, the inside was sweet and
+palatable, and neither was disposed to be fastidious. The preparation of
+the meal took considerable time, but they had abundance of that, and
+occupation prevented their brooding over their solitary situation.
+
+"I wish I had 'Robinson Crusoe' here," said Robert--"we might get some
+hints from his adventures. I didn't imagine, when I used to read them,
+that I should ever be in a similar position."
+
+"I've heard about him," said Bates; "but I never was much of a reader,
+and I never read his yarn. You might maybe tell me something of it."
+
+"I will tell you all I can remember, but that isn't very much," said
+Robert.
+
+He rehearsed to the attentive sailor such portions as he could call to
+mind of the wonderful story which for centuries to come is destined to
+enchain the attention of adventurous boys.
+
+"That's a pretty good yarn," said Bates, approvingly. "Did he ever get
+off the island?"
+
+"Yes, he got off, and became quite rich before he died."
+
+"Maybe it'll be so with us, lad."
+
+"I hope so. I don't know what I should do if I were alone as he was.
+It's selfish in me, Bates, to be glad that you are shut up here with me,
+but I cannot help it."
+
+"You needn't try, lad. It would be mighty dull being alone here,
+'specially if you was tied to a tree."
+
+"But suppose we should never get off!"
+
+"We won't suppose that, lad. We are sure to get off some time."
+
+This confident assurance always cheered up Robert, and for the time
+inspired him with equal confidence. But when day after day passed away
+and the promised ship did not come in sight, he used to ponder
+thoughtfully over his situation, and the possibility that he might have
+to spend years at least on this lonely island. What in the meantime
+would become of his mother? She might die, and if he ever returned it
+would be to realize the loss he had sustained. The island, pleasant as
+it was, began to lose its charm. If his sailor companion ever shared his
+feelings, he never manifested them, unwilling to let the boy see that he
+was becoming discouraged.
+
+At length--about six weeks after their arrival upon the island--they
+were returning from an excursion to the other side of the island, when,
+on arriving in sight of the shore, an unexpected sight greeted their
+eyes.
+
+A pole had been planted in the sand, and from it waved the familiar
+flag, dear to the heart of every American--the star-spangled banner.
+
+They no sooner caught sight of it, than, in joyful excitement, they ran
+to the shore with all the speed they could muster.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+
+A SUCCESSFUL MISSION.
+
+There was no one in sight, but it was evident that a party from an
+American ship had visited the island. Had they departed? That was a
+momentous question. Instinctively the eyes of both sought the sea. They
+saw an American ship riding at anchor a mile or more from shore.
+
+"Give me your handkerchief, Robert," said Bates; "I'll signal them."
+
+"It isn't very clean," said our hero.
+
+"It'll do. See, they are looking at us."
+
+"Your eyes must be good."
+
+"I'm used to looking out to sea, lad."
+
+He waved the handkerchief aloft, and felt sure that he had attracted the
+attention of those on board. But there was no motion to put off a boat.
+
+"Do they see it?" asked Robert, eagerly.
+
+"I think so."
+
+"Do you think they will come for us? If not, we can put off in our
+boat."
+
+"I think the party that planted that flagstaff hasn't got back. It is
+exploring the island, and will be back soon."
+
+"Of course it is," said Robert, suddenly. "Don't you see their boat?"
+
+"Ay, ay, lad; it's all right. All we've got to do is to stay here till
+they come."
+
+They had not long to wait. A party of sailors, headed by an officer,
+came out of the woods, and headed for the shore. They stopped short in
+surprise at the sight of Robert and Bates.
+
+"Who are you?" asked the leader, approaching.
+
+Bates touched his hat, for he judged this was the captain of the vessel
+he had seen.
+
+"I am a sailor from the ship _Argonaut_, bound from New York to
+Calcutta, and this young gentleman is Robert Rushton, passenger aboard
+the same ship."
+
+"Where is your ship?"
+
+"I don't know, captain."
+
+"How came you here?"
+
+"We were left here. The vessel went without us."
+
+"How long have you been here?"
+
+"Six weeks."
+
+"There is something about this which I do not understand. Are you here
+of your own accord?"
+
+"We are anxious to get away, captain," said Robert. "Will you take us?"
+
+"To be sure I will. There's room enough on my ship for both of you. But
+I can't understand how you were left here."
+
+"It's a long yarn, captain," said Bates. "If you haven't time to hear it
+now, I will tell you aboard ship."
+
+"You look like a good seaman," said the captain, addressing Bates. "I'm
+short-handed just now. If you will engage with me, I will enroll you
+among my crew."
+
+"That I'll do," said Bates, with satisfaction. "I wasn't made for a
+passenger."
+
+"My ship is the _Superior_, bound from Boston to Calcutta; so your
+destination will be the same. My name is Smith. Do you know the name of
+this island?"
+
+"I never heard of it before."
+
+"I have taken possession of it in the name of the United States,
+supposing myself the first discoverer."
+
+"That's all right. To my mind, the Star-Spangled Banner is the best that
+can wave over it."
+
+"We might offer the captain our boat," suggested Robert.
+
+The offer was made and accepted; and, while the captain and his party
+returned in one boat, Robert and Bates rowed to the ship in their own,
+and were soon on the deck of the _Superior_ to their unbounded
+satisfaction.
+
+"This is something like," said Bates. "The island is well enough, but
+there's nothing like the deck of a good ship."
+
+"I don't think I wholly agree with you," said Robert, smiling; "but just
+at present I do. I am glad enough to be here. We may meet Captain Haley
+at Calcutta," he added, after a pause.
+
+"Likely he'll have got away before we get there."
+
+"I hope not. I should like to meet him face to face, and charge him with
+his treachery. I don't think he'll be over glad to see me."
+
+"That's so, lad. He don't expect ever to set eyes on you again."
+
+Robert soon felt at home on the new vessel. Captain Smith he found to be
+a very different man from Captain Haley. When he heard the story told
+him by our hero, he said:
+
+"I like your pluck, Robert. You've had contrary winds so far, but you've
+borne up against them. The wind's changed now, and you are likely to
+have a prosperous voyage. This Captain Haley is a disgrace to the
+service. He'll be overhauled some time."
+
+"When I get back to New York I shall tell Mr. Morgan how he treated me."
+
+"That will put a spoke in his wheel."
+
+"There's one thing I want to speak to you about, Captain Smith. How
+much will my passage be?"
+
+"Nothing at all."
+
+"But I have some money with me. I am willing to pay."
+
+"Keep your money, my lad. You will need it all before you get through. I
+was once a poor boy myself, obliged to struggle for my living. I haven't
+forgotten that time, and it makes me willing to lend a helping hand to
+others in the same position."
+
+"You are very kind, Captain Smith," said Robert, gratefully.
+
+"I ought to be. How long do you want to stay in Calcutta?"
+
+"Only long enough to look about for my father."
+
+"Then you can return to New York in my ship. It shall cost you nothing."
+
+This offer was gratefully accepted--the more so that our hero had begun
+to realize that two hundred dollars was a small sum to carry on a
+journey of such length.
+
+At last they reached Calcutta. Robert surveyed with much interest the
+great city of India, so different in its external appearance from New
+York, the only great city besides that he knew anything about.
+
+"Well, Robert," said Captain Smith, on their arrival, "what are your
+plans? Will you make your home on board the ship, or board in the city,
+during our stay in port?"
+
+"I think," said Robert, "I should prefer to live in the city, if you
+would recommend me to a good boarding place."
+
+"That I can do. I am in the habit of boarding at a quiet house kept by a
+widow. Her terms are reasonable, and you can do no better than go there
+with me."
+
+"Thank you, Captain Smith. I shall be glad to follow your advice."
+
+So it happened that Captain Smith and Robert engaged board at the house
+of Mrs. Start, where, it will be remembered, that Captain Rushton was
+also a boarder, passing still under the name of Smith. Physically he had
+considerably improved, but mentally he was not yet recovered. His mind
+had received a shock, which, as it proved, a shock equally great was
+needed to bring it back to its proper balance.
+
+"By the way," said Mrs. Start to Captain Smith, "we have another
+gentleman of your name here."
+
+"Indeed?"
+
+"You will see him at dinner. Poor gentleman, his mind is affected, and
+we only gave him this name because we didn't know his real name."
+
+Robert little dreamed who it was of whom Mrs. Start was speaking, nor
+did he look forward with any particular curiosity to seeing the other
+Mr. Smith.
+
+When dinner was announced, Robert and the captain were early in their
+seats, and were introduced to the other boarders as they came in.
+Finally Captain Rushton entered, and moved forward to a seat beside the
+landlady. Robert chanced to look up as he entered, and his heart made a
+mighty bound when in the new Mr. Smith he recognized his father.
+
+"Father!" he exclaimed, eagerly, springing from his seat, and
+overturning his chair in his haste.
+
+Captain Rushton looked at him for a moment in bewilderment. Then all at
+once the mists that had obscured his faculties were dispelled, and he
+cried, "Robert! my dear son, how came you here?"
+
+"I came in search of you, father. Thank Heaven I have found you alive
+and well."
+
+"I think I have been in a dream, Robert. They call me Smith. That surely
+is not my name."
+
+"Rushton, father! You have not forgotten?"
+
+"Yes, that is it. Often it has been on the tip of my tongue, and then it
+slipped away from me. But, tell me, how came you here?"
+
+"I am indebted to the kindness of this gentleman--Captain Smith,
+father--who rescued me from great peril."
+
+This scene, of course, excited great astonishment among the boarders,
+and the worthy landlady who had been uniformly kind to Captain Rushton,
+was rejoiced at his sudden recovery. Feeling that mutual explanations in
+public would be unpleasant, she proposed to send dinner for both to
+Captain Rushton's room, and this offer was gladly accepted.
+
+"And how did you leave your mother, Robert?" asked the captain.
+
+"She was well, father, but mourning for your loss."
+
+"I wish I could fly to her."
+
+"You shall go back with me in Captain Smith's vessel. I am sure he will
+take us as passengers."
+
+"So we will. You are sure your mother is well provided for? But Mr.
+Davis has, no doubt, supplied her with money?"
+
+"Not a cent, father."
+
+"Not a cent! I deposited five thousand dollars with him for her benefit,
+just before sailing!"
+
+"So you wrote in the letter which you sent in the bottle."
+
+"Was that letter received?"
+
+"Yes; it was that which led me to come in search of you."
+
+"And did you go to Mr. Davis?"
+
+"He denied the deposit, and demanded to see the receipt."
+
+"The villain! He thought I was at the bottom of the sea, and the receipt
+with me. He shall find his mistake!"
+
+"Then you have the receipt still, father?"
+
+"To be sure I have," and Captain Rushton drew it from the pocket where
+it had laid concealed for two years and more.
+
+Robert regarded it with satisfaction.
+
+"He won't dare to deny it after this. I wish we were going back at
+once."
+
+"Now, Robert, tell me all that has happened in my absence, and how you
+raised money enough to come out here."
+
+So father and son exchanged narrations. Captain Rushton was astonished
+to find that the same man, Ben Haley, who had been the cause of his
+misfortunes, had also come so near compassing the destruction of his
+son.
+
+"Thanks to a kind Providence," he said, "his wicked machinations have
+failed, and we are alive to defeat his evil schemes."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+
+DEFEATED.
+
+In due time the _Superior_ cleared for New York, and among the
+passengers were Robert and his father. Since the meeting with his son
+Captain Rushton's mental malady had completely disappeared, and his
+mental recovery affected his physical health favorably. His step became
+firm and elastic, his eye was bright, and Robert thought he had never
+looked better. Leaving the two to pursue their voyage home, we return to
+Captain Haley.
+
+After leaving Robert to his fate, he kept on his way, rejoicing with a
+wicked satisfaction that he had got rid of an enemy who had it in his
+power to do him harm, for what Robert might suffer in his island prison,
+he cared little. He took it for granted that he would never get away,
+but would pass his life, be it longer or shorter, in dreary exile.
+Though the crew did not know all, they knew that the captain had
+heartlessly left Robert to his fate, and all were animated by a common
+feeling of dislike to their commander, who never under any
+circumstances would have been popular. But there was no one among them
+bold enough to come forward and charge Haley with his crime, even when
+they reached Calcutta. The captain moved among them, and his orders were
+obeyed, but not with alacrity. This satisfied him, for he cared nothing
+for the attachment of those under his command.
+
+One day in Calcutta he had a surprise.
+
+He met Captain Rushton one day when out walking. It seemed like one
+risen from the dead, for he supposed him lying at the bottom of the sea.
+Could his eyes deceive him, or was this really the man whom he had so
+grossly injured? Captain Rushton did not see Haley, for he was partly
+turned away from him, and was busily conversing with a gentleman of his
+acquaintance. Haley drew near, and heard Captain Rushton addressed as
+Mr. Smith. He at once decided that, in spite of the wonderful
+resemblance, it was not the man he supposed, and breathed more freely in
+consequence. But he could not help looking back to wonder at the
+surprising likeness.
+
+"They are as near alike as if they were brothers," he said to himself.
+
+He did not again catch sight of Captain Rushton while in Calcutta.
+
+Before Robert arrived, Captain Haley had sailed for home. But he met
+with storms, and his vessel received injuries that delayed her, so that
+his ship only reached New York on the same day with the _Superior_,
+bearing as passengers Robert and his father. Our hero lost no time in
+calling upon his friend, Mr. Morgan, and actually reached the office an
+hour before Haley, the _Superior_ having reached her pier a little in
+advance of the other vessel.
+
+When Robert walked into the office, Mr. Morgan, who was at his desk,
+looked up, and recognized him at once.
+
+"Welcome back, my young friend," he said, cordially, rising to meet him.
+"I am glad to see you, but I didn't expect you quite so soon. How did
+you happen to come in advance of the captain?"
+
+"Then you have not heard what happened at sea?" said Robert.
+
+"Yes," said the merchant. "I heard, much to my regret, of Captain Evans'
+death. He was a worthy man, and I am truly sorry to lose him. What do
+you think of his successor, Captain Haley? He has never before sailed
+for me."
+
+"After I have told my story, you can judge of him for yourself. I did
+not return on your vessel, Mr. Morgan, but on the _Superior_, Captain
+Smith."
+
+"How is that?" asked the merchant, surprised.
+
+"Because Captain Haley left me on an island in the Southern Ocean, bound
+to a tree, and probably supposes that I am dead."
+
+"Your story seems incredible, Robert. Give me a full account of all that
+led to this action on the part of the captain."
+
+My readers shall not be wearied with a repetition of details with which
+they are already familiar. Robert related what had happened to him in a
+straightforward manner, and Mr. Morgan never thought of doubting his
+statements.
+
+"This Haley must be a villain," he said. "You are, indeed, fortunate in
+having escaped from the snare he laid for you."
+
+"I have been fortunate in another way also," said Robert. "I have
+succeeded in the object of my voyage."
+
+"You have not found your father?"
+
+"I found him in Calcutta, and I have brought him home with me."
+
+"You must have been born under a lucky star, Robert," said the merchant.
+"Were your father's adventures as remarkable as yours?"
+
+"It was the same man who nearly succeeded in accomplishing the ruin of
+both--Captain Haley was my father's mate, and was he who, in revenge
+for some fancied slight, set fire to the vessel in mid-ocean, and then
+escaped."
+
+Scarcely had this revelation been made, when a clerk entered, and
+approaching Mr. Morgan, said, "Captain Haley would like to see you."
+
+Mr. Morgan glanced at Robert significantly.
+
+"I wish to know what explanation Mr. Haley has to give of your
+disappearance. There is a closet. Go in, and close the door partially,
+so that you may hear what passes without yourself being seen."
+
+Robert was hardly established in his place of concealment when Haley
+entered the office.
+
+"Good-morning, Mr. Morgan," he said, deferentially, for he wished to
+keep in his employer's good graces.
+
+"Good-morning, sir," said the merchant, formally. "Captain Haley, I
+believe?"
+
+"Yes, sir I succeeded to the command of the _Argonaut_ upon the lamented
+death of my friend, Captain Evans. His death happened on our passage
+out. I proceeded at once to Calcutta, and after disposing of the cargo
+sailed for home."
+
+"Your voyage has been a long one."
+
+"Yes, we have had stress of weather, which has delayed us materially. I
+regret this, but did the best I could under the circumstances. I hope
+to have discharged my duties in a manner satisfactory to you."
+
+"I cannot, of course, blame you for delay, since the weather was quite
+beyond your control," said the merchant, but his tone was marked by
+coldness, for which Haley found it difficult to account. He was anxious
+to remain in command of the _Argonaut_, but the want of cordiality
+evinced by his employer made him doubtful of his success. He was not
+timid, however, and resolved to broach the subject.
+
+"I hope, Mr. Morgan," he said, "that you have sufficient confidence in
+me to intrust me I with the command of the _Argonaut_ on her next
+voyage?"
+
+"He certainly is not lacking in audacity," thought Mr. Morgan. "We will
+speak of that matter hereafter," he said. "Did my young friend, Robert
+Rushton, return with you?"
+
+Now was the critical moment. In spite of his audacity, Haley felt
+embarrassed.
+
+"No, sir," he replied.
+
+"Indeed! I expected that you would bring him back."
+
+"May I ask if the boy is a relative of yours?"
+
+"No, he is not."
+
+"So much the better."
+
+"Why do you say that? I am particularly interested in him."
+
+"Then, sir, my task becomes more painful and embarrassing."
+
+"You speak in enigmas, Captain Haley."
+
+"I hesitate to speak plainly. I know you will be pained by what I have
+to tell you."
+
+"Don't consider my feelings, Captain Haley, but say what you have to
+say."
+
+"Then I regret to say that the boy, Robert Rushton, is unworthy of your
+friendship."
+
+"This is a grievous charge. Of course, I expect you to substantiate it."
+
+"I will do so. Shortly after the death of Captain Evans and my accession
+to the command I found that this boy was trying to undermine my
+influence with the men, from what motives I cannot guess. I remonstrated
+with him mildly but firmly, but only received insolence in return.
+Nevertheless I continued to treat him well on account of the interest
+you felt in him. So things went on till we reached Calcutta. He left me
+at that time, and to my surprise did not return to the ship. I was able
+to account for his disappearance, however, when I missed one hundred and
+fifty dollars, of which I have not the slightest doubt that he robbed
+me. I should have taken measures to have him arrested, but since you
+felt an interest in him I preferred to suffer the loss in silence. I
+fear, Mr. Morgan, that you have been greatly deceived in him."
+
+"I suspect that I have been deceived," said Mr. Morgan, gravely. "It is
+only fair, however, Captain Haley, to hear both sides, and I will
+therefore summon the boy himself to answer your charge. Robert!"
+
+At the summons, to Captain Haley's equal surprise and dismay, Robert
+stepped from the closet in which he had been concealed.
+
+"What have you to say, Robert?" asked the merchant.
+
+"Captain Haley knows very well the falsehood of what he says," said our
+hero, calmly. "It was not at Calcutta I left the _Argonaut_, nor was it
+of my own accord. Captain Haley, with his own hands, tied me to a tree
+on a small island in the Southern Ocean, and there left me, as he
+supposed, to a solitary death. But Heaven did not forsake me, and sent
+first a brave sailor and afterward a ship to my assistance. The charge
+that I stole money from him I shall not answer, for I know Mr. Morgan
+will not believe it."
+
+Captain Haley was not a fool, and he knew that it would be useless to
+press the charge further. He rose from his seat; his face was dark with
+anger and smarting under a sense of defeat.
+
+"You have not done with me yet," he said to Robert, and without another
+word left the office.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+
+THE CUP AND THE LIP.
+
+Affairs in Millville had gone on much as usual. Mrs. Rushton had not yet
+exhausted the supply of money left by Robert in the hands of his friend
+the lawyer. Her expenses were small, and were eked out by her earnings;
+for she continued to braid straw, and was able in this way to earn two
+dollars a week. Indeed, she made it a point to be as economical as
+possible, for she thought it likely Robert would spend all his money,
+and return penniless. She had received no letter from him since the one
+announcing his being about to sail for Calcutta, and this made her
+naturally anxious. But Mr. Paine assured her that letters were likely to
+be irregular, and there was no ground for alarm. So she waited with what
+patience she could till Robert should return, hoping that by some
+strange chance he might succeed in his quest, and bring his father back
+with him.
+
+Meanwhile, fortune had improved with Mr. Davis, the superintendent of
+the factory. He had lost largely by speculation, but had blundered at
+last into the purchase of a stock in which some interested parties had
+effected a corner. It went up rapidly, and on the morning when we
+introduce him again to the reader he was in high good spirits, having
+just received intelligence from his broker that he had cleared seven
+thousand dollars by selling at the top of the market.
+
+"Another cup of coffee, Mrs. Davis," he said, passing his cup across the
+table.
+
+Seeing that his father appeared in good humor, Halbert ventured to
+prefer a request, which, however, he had little hope of having granted.
+
+"Have you seen Will Paine's pony?" he said, paving the way for the
+request.
+
+"Yes," said his father; "I saw him on it yesterday."
+
+"It's a regular beauty--I wish I had one."
+
+"How much did it cost?"
+
+"Two hundred dollars."
+
+"That is rather a high price."
+
+"But it will increase in value every year. I wish you would buy me one,
+father."
+
+"I think I will," said the superintendent, helping himself to a fresh
+slice of toast.
+
+"Do you mean it?" asked Halbert, in the utmost astonishment.
+
+"Certainly I do. I can afford you a pony as well as Mr. Paine can
+afford to buy William one."
+
+"Thank you!" said Halbert, his selfish nature more nearly affected by
+gratitude than ever before. "You are very kind. When will you see about
+it?"
+
+"I am busy. You may go yourself and ask Mr. Paine where he got William's
+pony, and if he knows of any other equally good."
+
+"That I will," said Halbert, leaving the table in haste.
+
+"Halbert, you have eaten scarcely anything," said his mother.
+
+"I am not hungry," said the excited boy, seizing his hat, and dashing
+off in the direction of Mr. Paine's office.
+
+"By the way, Mrs. Davis," said the husband, "I think you mentioned last
+week that the parlor needed a new carpet."
+
+"So it does. The old one is looking very shabby."
+
+"How much will a new one cost?"
+
+"I can get a nice Brussels for a hundred dollars."
+
+"Well, you may order one."
+
+It was the wife's turn to be astonished, for on broaching the subject
+the week previous, her husband had given her a lecture on extravagance,
+and absolutely refused to consider her request. This was before the
+tidings of his good fortune. She was not slow to accept the present
+concession, and assumed an unusually affectionate manner, in the excess
+of her delight.
+
+Meanwhile, Halbert, in opening the front door, came in collision with a
+boy taller and stouter than himself, brown and sunburned. But, changed
+as he was, he was not slow in recognizing his old enemy, Robert Rushton.
+
+"What, are you back again?" he said, ungraciously.
+
+"So it appears. Is your father at home?"
+
+"Yes; but he is at breakfast. I don't think you can see him."
+
+"I'll make the attempt, at any rate," said Robert.
+
+"Where have you been all this time?" asked Halbert, more from curiosity
+than interest.
+
+"I went to Calcutta."
+
+"Common sailor, I suppose," said Halbert, contemptuously.
+
+"No, I was a passenger."
+
+"Where did you get your money to pay the passage?"
+
+"I'm sorry that I can't stop to gratify your curiosity just at present,
+but I have important business with your father."
+
+"You're getting mighty important," sneered Halbert.
+
+"Am I?"
+
+"I wouldn't advise you to put on so many airs, just because you've been
+to Calcutta."
+
+"I never thought of putting on any. I see you haven't changed much since
+I went away. You have the same agreeable, gentlemanly manners."
+
+"Do you mean to say that I am not a gentleman?" blustered Halbert.
+
+"Not at all. You may be one, but you don't show it."
+
+"I have a great mind to put you out of the yard."
+
+Robert glanced at Halbert's figure, slight compared with his own, and
+laughed.
+
+"I think you would find it a difficult undertaking," he said.
+
+Halbert privately came to the same conclusion, and decided to war only
+with words.
+
+"I have got something better to do than to stand here listening to your
+impudence. I won't soil my fingers by touching you."
+
+"That's a sensible conclusion. Good-morning."
+
+Halbert did not deign to respond, but walked off, holding his nose very
+high in the air. Then, as he thought of the pony, he quickened his pace,
+and bent his steps to Mr. Paine's office.
+
+"A young man to see you, Mr. Davis," said Bridget, entering the
+breakfast-room.
+
+"Who is it?"
+
+"I think it's young Robert Rushton, but he's much grown entirely."
+
+"That boy home again!" exclaimed the superintendent, in displeased
+surprise. "Well, you may ask him into the next room."
+
+"Good-morning, Mr. Davis," said Robert, as the superintendent entered.
+
+"Good-morning. When did you get home?" was the cold reply.
+
+"Last evening."
+
+"Where have you been?"
+
+"To Calcutta."
+
+"On a fool's errand."
+
+"I felt it my duty to search for my father."
+
+"I could have told you beforehand you would not succeed. Did you go as a
+sailor?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Where did you raise money to pay your expenses?"
+
+"I found friends who helped me."
+
+"It is a poor policy for a boy to live on charity."
+
+"I never intend to do it," said Robert, firmly. "But I would rather do
+it than live on money that did not belong to me."
+
+"What do you mean by that, sir?" said the superintendent, suspiciously.
+
+"It was a general remark," said Robert.
+
+"May I ask what is your motive in calling upon me?" asked Mr. Davis. "I
+suppose you have some object."
+
+"I have, and I think you can guess it."
+
+"I am not good at guessing," said Davis, haughtily.
+
+"Then I will not put you to that trouble. You remember, before I sailed
+for Calcutta, I called here and asked you to restore the sum of five
+thousand dollars deposited with you by my father?"
+
+"I remember it, and at the time I stigmatized the claim as a fraudulent
+one. No such sum was ever deposited with me by your father."
+
+"How can you say that, when my father expressly stated it in the letter,
+written by him, from the boat in which he was drifting about on the
+ocean?"
+
+"I have no proof that the letter was genuine, and even if it were, I
+deny the claim. I am not responsible for money I never received."
+
+"I understand you then refuse to pay the money?"
+
+"You would have understood it long ago, if you had not been uncommonly
+thick-headed," sneered the superintendent. "Let this be the end of it.
+When you present my note of acknowledgment for the amount, I will pay
+it and not before."
+
+"That is all I ask," said Robert.
+
+"What?" demanded the superintendent.
+
+"I mean that this assurance is all I want. The note shall be presented
+to you in the course of the day."
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Davis, startled.
+
+"I mean this, Mr. Davis: that I found my father in Calcutta. He came
+home with me, and, far from having perished at sea, is now alive and
+well. He has with him your note for five thousand dollars, and will
+present it in person."
+
+"You are deceiving me!" exclaimed Davis, in consternation.
+
+"You will soon learn whether I am deceiving you or not," said Robert. "I
+will now bid you good-morning. My father will call upon you in the
+course of the day."
+
+He rose to go, leaving the superintendent thunderstruck at the
+intelligence of Captain Rushton's return. The five thousand dollars,
+with arrears of interest, would take the greater part of the money whose
+sudden acquisition had so elated him. While he was considering the
+situation, his wife entered.
+
+"I think, Mr. Davis," she said, "I will go to New York to-day to buy
+carpeting, if you can spare the money."
+
+"Neither now nor at any other time," he roared, savagely; "the old
+carpet must do."
+
+"Why, then, did you tell me fifteen minutes since that I might buy one?
+What do you mean by such trifling, Mr. Davis?" said his wife, her eyes
+flashing.
+
+"I mean what I say. I've changed my mind. I can't afford to buy a new
+carpet."
+
+There was a stormy scene between man and wife, which may be passed over
+in silence. It ended with a fit of hysterics on the part of Mrs. Davis,
+while her husband put on his hat and walked gloomily over to the
+factory. Here he soon received a call from Halbert, who informed him,
+with great elation, that Mr. Paine knew of a desirable pony which could
+be had on the same terms as his son's.
+
+"I've changed my mind," said his father. "A pony will cost too much
+money."
+
+All Halbert's entreaties were unavailing, and he finally left his
+father's presence in a very unfilial frame of mind.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+
+CONCLUSION.
+
+The arrival of Captain Rushton, confidently supposed to be dead,
+produced a great sensation in Millville, and many were the
+congratulatory visits received at the little cottage. Mrs. Rushton was
+doubly happy at the unexpected return of her husband and son, and felt
+for the first time in her life perfectly happy. She cared little for
+poverty or riches, as long as she had regained her chief treasures.
+
+When Captain Rushton called upon the superintendent, the latter received
+him with embarrassment, knowing that the captain was aware of his
+intended dishonesty. He tried to evade immediate payment, but on this
+point his creditor was peremptory. He had no further confidence in Mr.
+Davis, and felt that the sooner he got his money back into his hands the
+better. It was fortunate for him that the superintendent had been at
+last successful in speculation, or restitution would have been
+impossible. As is was, he received his money in full, nearly six
+thousand dollars, which he at once invested in bank stock of reliable
+city banks, yielding a good annual income. Only the day after the
+payment of this sum, a committee of investigation appointed by the
+directors, whose suspicions had been excited, visited the factory, and
+subjected the superintendent's books to a thorough scrutiny. The result
+showed that Mr. Davis, in whom hitherto perfect confidence had been
+felt, had for years pursued a system of embezzlement, which he had
+covered up by false entries in his books, and had appropriated to his
+own use from fifteen to twenty thousand dollars belonging to the
+corporation. While this investigation was pending, the superintendent
+disappeared, leaving his wife and son unprovided for. His estate was
+seized in part satisfaction of the amounts he had appropriated, and
+Halbert's pride was brought low. The wealth and position upon which he
+had based his aristocratic pretensions vanished, and in bitter
+mortification he found himself reduced to poverty. He could no longer
+flaunt his cane and promenade the streets in kid gloves, but was glad to
+accept a position in the factory store, where he was compelled to dress
+according to his work. In fact, he had exchanged positions with Robert,
+who was now, owing to a circumstance which will at once be mentioned,
+possessed of a considerable inheritance.
+
+The old farmer, Paul Nichols, whom Robert tried to defend from his
+unprincipled nephew, Ben Haley, died suddenly of heart disease.
+Speculation was rife as to who would inherit the estate which he left
+behind him. He had no near relation except Ben Haley, and so great was
+the dislike he entertained toward him that no one anticipated that the
+estate would go to him, unless through Paul's dying intestate. But
+shortly after Haley's visit, his uncle made a will, which he deposited
+in the hands of Lawyer Paine. On the day after the funeral, the latter
+met Captain Rushton and Robert, and said:
+
+"Will you come to my office this afternoon at three o'clock?"
+
+"Certainly," said the captain.
+
+"I suppose you don't want me, Mr. Paine?" said Robert.
+
+"I do want you, particularly," said the lawyer.
+
+Our hero wondered a little why his presence was required, but dismissed
+the matter from his mind, until three o'clock found him in the lawyer's
+office.
+
+"Gentlemen," said the lawyer, "I am about to read the last will and
+testament of our neighbor, Paul Nichols, recently deceased."
+
+This preamble created surprise, for this was the first intimation that
+such a will was in existence.
+
+The document was brief, and the substance of it was contained in the
+following paragraph:
+
+"Having no near relatives, except Benjamin Haley, for whom I have
+neither regard nor affection, and who, moreover, has recently stolen a
+considerable sum of money from me, I leave all of which I may die
+possessed, whether in land or money, to my brave young friend, Robert
+Rushton, who courageously defended me from my said nephew, at his own
+bodily risk, and I hope he may live long to enjoy the property I
+bequeath him."
+
+No one was more surprised than Robert at the unexpected inheritance. He
+could hardly realize that he was now possessed of a considerable
+property in his own right. It may be said here that, including the value
+of the farm, and the gold concealed, his inheritance amounted to quite
+ten thousand dollars. Paul had considerately supplied the lawyer with a
+list of the hiding places where he had secreted his money on the
+strictest injunctions of secrecy, and this made the task of finding it
+quite easy.
+
+Congratulations poured in upon our hero, who received them with modest
+satisfaction.
+
+"It is a good thing to have a rich son," said Captain Rushton,
+humorously. "Robert, I hope you won't look down upon me on account of my
+comparative poverty."
+
+"Father," said Robert, "I wish you would take this money--I don't want
+it."
+
+"I shall do nothing of the kind, Robert. It is fairly and deservedly
+yours, though I confess you may attribute it partly to good luck, for
+virtue is not always so well rewarded in this world. I will take care of
+it for you, and if you choose to pay your own expenses out of your
+income, I shall allow you to do so, since you are now rich and
+prosperous."
+
+"You must take all the income, father. Then it will not be necessary for
+you to go to sea again."
+
+"I have already made up my mind to stay on land hereafter," said Captain
+Rushton. "My cruise in an open boat without provisions has cured me of
+my love for the sea. With the little money I have saved, and the help of
+a rich son, I think I can afford to stay on shore."
+
+The cottage was enlarged by the erection of another story, as well as by
+the addition of a wing and the throwing out of two bay windows, and was
+otherwise refitted and so metamorphosed by fresh paint and new
+furniture, that it became one of the most attractive houses in
+Millville. Captain Rushton, who knew something of agriculture, decided
+to carry on Robert's farm himself, and found the employment both
+pleasant and profitable.
+
+"My only trouble," he used to say, jocosely, "is that I have a very
+exacting landlord. Unless the rent were punctually paid, he would be
+sure to resort to legal means to recover it."
+
+When Ben Haley heard that his uncle's estate had been bequeathed to the
+boy whom he had persecuted, and whom for that reason he hated, his rage
+and disappointment were unbounded. If he had not been within two hours
+of sailing in command of a ship bound to South America, he would at once
+have gone down to Millville, and in his fury he might have done serious
+injury to the boy who had superseded him. But he could not delay the day
+of sailing, and so, much against his will, he was forced to forego his
+vengeance until his return. But this was destined to be his last voyage.
+While at Rio Janeiro he became engaged in a fracas with the keeper of a
+low grogshop, when the latter, who was a desperate ruffian, snatched a
+knife from his girdle, and drove it into the heart of the unhappy
+captain, who fell back on the floor and expired without a groan. Thus
+terminated a misguided and ill-spent life. I should have been glad to
+report Ben Haley's reformation instead of his death, but for the sake of
+Robert, whom he hated so intensely, I am relieved that thin source of
+peril is closed.
+
+Robert, being now in easy circumstances, decided to pursue his studies
+for two years longer, and accordingly placed himself in a school of high
+reputation, where he made rapid improvement. He then entered upon a
+business life under the auspices of his friend, Mr. Morgan, and promises
+in time to become a prominent and wealthy merchant. He passes every
+Sunday at home in the little cottage occupied by his father, who,
+however, has ceased to be a farmer, having been promoted to the post of
+superintendent of the factory, formerly occupied by Mr. Davis. For the
+first twelve months the post was filled by a new man, who proved to be
+incompetent, and then was offered to Captain Rushton, whose excellent
+executive talents were well known. He soon made himself familiar with
+his duties, and the post is likely to be his as long as he cares to hold
+it.
+
+Hester Paine, as a young lady, fulfills the promise of her girlhood. The
+mutual attachment which existed between her and Robert, when boy and
+girl, still continues, and there is some ground for the report which
+comes from Millville--that they are engaged. The alliance will be in the
+highest degree pleasing to both families, for if Hester is fair and
+attractive, Robert is energetic and of excellent principles, and
+possessed of precisely those qualities which, with fair good fortune
+will, under the favor of Providence, insure his success in life.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Brave and Bold, by Horatio Alger
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+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Brave and Bold, by Horatio Alger
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Brave and Bold
+
+Author: Horatio Alger
+
+Posting Date: March 17, 2011 [EBook #9990]
+Release Date: February, 2006
+[This file was first posted on November 6, 2003]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRAVE AND BOLD ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Aldarondo, Dave Morgan and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team. HTML version by Chuck Greif.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+<hr class="full" />
+
+<h1>BRAVE AND BOLD<br /><br />
+Or<br /><br />
+THE FORTUNES OF ROBERT RUSHTON</h1>
+
+<p class="cb">By<br /><br />
+HORATIO ALGER JR.</p>
+
+<p>
+<br />
+</p>
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="">
+<tr><td align="center">
+<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_II">II., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_III">III., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">IV., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_V">V., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">VI., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">VII., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">VIII., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">IX., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_X">X., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">XI., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">XII., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">XIII., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">XIV., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">XV., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">XVI., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">XVII., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">XVIII., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">XIX., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XX">XX., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">XXI., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">XXII., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">XXIII., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">XXIV., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">XXV., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">XXVI., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">XXVII., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">XXVIII., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">XXIX., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">XXX., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI">XXXI., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII">XXXII., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIII">XXXIII., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIV">XXXIV., </a>
+<a href="#CHAPTER_XXXV">XXXV.</a></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.<br /><br />
+THE YOUNG RIVALS.</h3>
+
+<p>The main schoolroom in the Millville Academy was brilliantly lighted,
+and the various desks were occupied by boys and girls of different ages
+from ten to eighteen, all busily writing under the general direction of
+Professor George W. Granville, Instructor in Plain and Ornamental
+Penmanship.</p>
+
+<p>Professor Granville, as he styled himself, was a traveling teacher, and
+generally had two or three evening schools in progress in different
+places at the same time. He was really a very good penman, and in a
+course of twelve lessons, for which he charged the very moderate price
+of a dollar, not, of course, including stationery, he contrived to
+impart considerable instruction, and such pupils as chose to learn were
+likely to profit by his instructions. His venture in Millville had been
+unusually successful. There were a hundred pupils on his list, and there
+had been no disturbance during the course of lessons.</p>
+
+<p>At nine precisely, Professor Granville struck a small bell, and said, in
+rather a nasal voice:</p>
+
+<p>"You will now stop writing."</p>
+
+<p>There was a little confusion as the books were closed and the pens were
+wiped.</p>
+
+<p>"Ladies and gentlemen," said the professor, placing one arm under his
+coat tails and extending the other in an oratorical attitude, "this
+evening completes the course of lessons which I have had the honor and
+pleasure of giving you. I have endeavored to impart to you an easy and
+graceful penmanship, such as may be a recommendation to you in after
+life. It gives me pleasure to state that many of you have made great
+proficiency, and equaled my highest expectations. There are others,
+perhaps, who have not been fully sensible of the privileges which they
+enjoyed. I would say to you all that perfection is not yet attained. You
+will need practice to reap the full benefit of my instructions. Should
+my life be spared, I shall hope next winter to give another course of
+writing lessons in this place, and I hope I may then have the pleasure
+of meeting you again as pupils. Let me say, in conclusion, that I thank
+you for your patronage and for your good behavior during this course of
+lessons, and at the same time I bid you good-by."</p>
+
+<p>With the closing words, Professor Granville made a low bow, and placed
+his hand on his heart, as he had done probably fifty times before, on
+delivering the same speech, which was the stereotyped form in which he
+closed his evening schools.</p>
+
+<p>There was a thumping of feet, mingled with a clapping of hands, as the
+professor closed his speech, and a moment later a boy of sixteen,
+occupying one of the front seats, rose, and, advancing with easy
+self-possession, drew from his pocket a gold pencil case, containing a
+pencil and pen, and spoke as follows:</p>
+
+<p>"Professor Granville, the members of your writing class, desirous of
+testifying their appreciation of your services as teacher, have
+contributed to buy this gold pencil case, which, in their name, I have
+great pleasure in presenting to you. Will you receive it with our best
+wishes for your continued success as a teacher of penmanship?"</p>
+
+<p>With these words, he handed the pencil to the professor and returned to
+his seat.</p>
+
+<p>The applause that ensued was terrific, causing the dust to rise from
+the floor where it had lain undisturbed till the violent attack of two
+hundred feet raised it in clouds, through which the figure of the
+professor was still visible, with his right arm again extended.</p>
+
+<p>"Ladies and gentlemen," he commenced, "I cannot give fitting utterance
+to the emotions that fill my heart at this most unexpected tribute of
+regard and mark of appreciation of my humble services. Believe me, I
+shall always cherish it as a most valued possession, and the sight of it
+will recall the pleasant, and, I hope, profitable hours which we have
+passed together this winter. To you, in particular, Mr. Rushton, I
+express my thanks for the touching and eloquent manner in which you have
+made the presentation, and, in parting with you all, I echo your own
+good wishes, and shall hope that you may be favored with an abundant
+measure of health and prosperity."</p>
+
+<p>This speech was also vociferously applauded. It was generally considered
+impromptu, but was, in truth, as stereotyped as the other. Professor
+Granville had on previous occasions been the recipient of similar
+testimonials, and he had found it convenient to have a set form of
+acknowledgment. He was wise in this, for it is a hard thing on the spur
+of the moment suitably to offer thanks for an unexpected gift.</p>
+
+<p>"The professor made a bully speech," said more than one after the
+exercises were over.</p>
+
+<p>"So did Bob Rushton," said Edward Kent.</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't see anything extraordinary in what he said," sneered Halbert
+Davis. "It seemed to me very commonplace."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps you could do better yourself, Halbert," said Kent.</p>
+
+<p>"Probably I could," said Halbert, haughtily.</p>
+
+<p>"Why didn't you volunteer, then?"</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't care to have anything to do with it," returned Halbert,
+scornfully.</p>
+
+<p>"That's lucky," remarked Edward, "as there was no chance of your getting
+appointed."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean to insult me?" demanded Halbert, angrily.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I was only telling the truth."</p>
+
+<p>Halbert turned away, too disgusted to make any reply. He was a boy of
+sixteen, of slender form and sallow complexion, dressed with more
+pretension than taste. Probably there was no boy present whose suit was
+of such fine material as his. But something more than fine clothes is
+needed to give a fine appearance, and Halbert's mean and insignificant
+features were far from rendering him attractive, and despite the
+testimony of his glass, Halbert considered himself a young man of
+distinguished appearance, and was utterly blind to his personal defects.</p>
+
+<p>What contributed to feed his vanity was his position as the son of the
+richest man in Millville. Indeed, his father was superintendent, and
+part owner, of the great brick factory on the banks of the river, in
+which hundreds found employment. Halbert found plenty to fawn upon him,
+and was in the habit of strutting about the village, swinging a light
+cane, neither a useful nor an ornamental member of the community.</p>
+
+<p>After his brief altercation with Edward Kent, he drew on a pair of kid
+gloves, and looked about the room for Hester Paine, the lawyer's
+daughter, the reigning belle among the girls of her age in Millville.
+The fact was, that Halbert was rather smitten with Hester, and had made
+up his mind to escort her home on this particular evening, never
+doubting that his escort would be thankfully accepted.</p>
+
+<p>But he was not quick enough, Robert Rushton had already approached
+Hester, and said, "Miss Hester, will you allow me to see you home?"</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be very glad to have your company, Robert," said Hester.</p>
+
+<p>Robert was a general favorite. He had a bright, attractive face, strong
+and resolute, when there was occasion, frank and earnest at all times.
+His clothes were neat and clean, but of a coarse, mixed cloth, evidently
+of low price, suiting his circumstances, for he was poor, and his mother
+and himself depended mainly upon his earnings in the factory for the
+necessaries of life. Hester Paine, being the daughter of a well-to-do
+lawyer, belonged to the village aristocracy, and so far as worldly
+wealth was concerned, was far above Robert Rushton. But such
+considerations never entered her mind, as she frankly, and with real
+pleasure, accepted the escort of the poor factory boy.</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had she done so when Halbert Davis approached, smoothing his
+kid gloves, and pulling at his necktie.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Hester," he said, consequentially, "I shall have great pleasure in
+escorting you home."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," said Hester, "but I am engaged."</p>
+
+<p>"Engaged!" repeated Halbert, "and to whom?"</p>
+
+<p>"Robert Rushton has kindly offered to take me home."</p>
+
+<p>"Robert Rushton!" said Halbert, disdainfully. "Never mind. I will
+relieve him of his duty."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, Halbert," said Robert, who was standing by, "I won't trouble
+you. I will see Miss Paine home."</p>
+
+<p>"Your escort was accepted because you were the first to offer it," said
+Halbert.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Hester," said Robert, "I will resign in favor of Halbert, if you
+desire it."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't desire it," said the young girl, promptly. "Come, Robert, I am
+ready if you are."</p>
+
+<p>With a careless nod to Halbert, she took Robert's arm, and left the
+schoolhouse. Mortified and angry, Halbert looked after them, muttering,
+"I'll teach the factory boy a lesson. He'll be sorry for his impudence
+yet."</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.<br /><br />
+PUNISHING A COWARD</h3>
+
+<p>Mrs. Rushton and her son occupied a little cottage, not far from the
+factory. Behind it were a few square rods of garden, in which Robert
+raised a few vegetables, working generally before or after his labor in
+the factory. They lived in a very plain way, but Mrs. Rushton was an
+excellent manager, and they had never lacked the common comforts of
+life. The husband and father had followed the sea. Two years before, he
+left the port of Boston as captain of the ship <i>Norman</i>, bound for
+Calcutta. Not a word had reached his wife and son since then, and it was
+generally believed that it had gone to the bottom of the sea. Mrs.
+Rushton regarded herself as a widow, and Robert, entering the factory,
+took upon himself the support of the family. He was now able to earn six
+dollars a week, and this, with his mother's earnings in braiding straw
+for a hat manufacturer in a neighboring town, supported them, though
+they were unable to lay up anything. The price of a term at the writing
+school was so small that Robert thought he could indulge himself in it,
+feeling that a good handwriting was a valuable acquisition, and might
+hereafter procure him employment in some business house. For the
+present, he could not do better than to retain his place in the factory.</p>
+
+<p>Robert was up at six the next morning. He spent half an hour in sawing
+and splitting wood enough to last his mother through the day, and then
+entered the kitchen, where breakfast was ready.</p>
+
+<p>"I am a little late this morning, mother," he said. "I must hurry down
+my breakfast, or I shall be late at the factory, and that will bring
+twenty-five cents fine."</p>
+
+<p>"It would be a pity to get fined, but you mustn't eat too fast. It is
+not healthful."</p>
+
+<p>"I've got a pretty good digestion, mother," said Robert, laughing.
+"Nothing troubles me."</p>
+
+<p>"Still, you mustn't trifle with it. Do you remember, Robert," added his
+mother, soberly, "it is just two years to-day since your poor father
+left us for Boston to take command of his ship?"</p>
+
+<p>"So it is, mother; I had forgotten it."</p>
+
+<p>"I little thought then that I should never see him again!" and Mrs.
+Rushton sighed.</p>
+
+<p>"It is strange we have never heard anything of the ship."</p>
+
+<p>"Not so strange, Robert. It must have gone down when no other vessel was
+in sight."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish we knew the particulars, mother. Sometimes I think father may
+have escaped from the ship in a boat, and may be still alive."</p>
+
+<p>"I used to think it possible, Robert; but I have given up all hopes of
+it. Two years have passed, and if your father were alive, we should have
+seen him or heard from him ere this."</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid you are right. There's one thing I can't help thinking of,
+mother," said Robert, thoughtfully. "How is it that father left no
+property? He received a good salary, did he not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; he had received a good salary for several years."</p>
+
+<p>"He did not spend the whole of it, did he?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I am sure he did not. Your father was never extravagant."</p>
+
+<p>"Didn't he ever speak to you on the subject?"</p>
+
+<p>"He was not in the habit of speaking of his business; but just before he
+went away, I remember him telling me that he had some money invested,
+and hoped to add more to it during the voyage which proved so fatal to
+him."</p>
+
+<p>"He didn't tell you how much it was, nor how it was invested?"</p>
+
+<p>"No; that was all he said. Since his death, I have looked everywhere in
+the house for some papers which would throw light upon it; but I have
+been able to find nothing. I do not care so much for myself, but I
+should be glad if you did not have to work so hard."</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind me, mother; I'm young and strong, I can stand work&mdash;but it's
+hard on you."</p>
+
+<p>"I am rich in having a good son, Robert."</p>
+
+<p>"And I in a good mother," said Robert, affectionately. "And, now, to
+change the subject. I suspect I have incurred the enmity of Halbert
+Davis."</p>
+
+<p>"How is that?" asked Mrs. Rushton.</p>
+
+<p>"I went home with Hester Paine, last evening, from writing school. Just
+as she had accepted my escort, Halbert came up, and in a condescending
+way, informed her that he would see her home."</p>
+
+<p>"What did she say?"</p>
+
+<p>"She told him she was engaged to me. He said, coolly, that he would
+relieve me of the duty, but I declined his obliging offer. He looked mad
+enough, I can tell you. He's full of self-conceit, and I suppose he
+wondered how any one could prefer me to him."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry you have incurred his enmity."</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't lose any sleep by it."</p>
+
+<p>"You know his father is the superintendent of the factory."</p>
+
+<p>"Halbert isn't."</p>
+
+<p>"But he may prejudice his father against you, and get you discharged."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think he would be quite so mean as that. We won't borrow
+trouble, mother. But time's up, and I must go."</p>
+
+<p>Robert seized his hat and hurried to the mill. He was in his place when
+the great factory bell stopped ringing on the stroke of seven, and so
+escaped the fine, which would have cut off one-quarter of a day's pay.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, Halbert Davis had passed an uncomfortable and restless night.
+He had taken a fancy to Hester Paine, and he had fully determined to
+escort her home on the previous evening. As she was much sought after
+among her young companions, it would have gratified his pride to have it
+known that she had accepted his company. But he had been cut out, and by
+Robert Rushton&mdash;one of his father's factory hands. This made his
+jealousy more intolerable, and humiliated his pride, and set him to work
+devising schemes for punishing Robert's presumption. He felt that it was
+Robert's duty, even though he had been accepted, to retire from the
+field as soon as his, Halbert's, desire was known. This Robert had
+expressly declined to do, and Halbert felt very indignant. He made up
+his mind that he would give Robert a chance to apologize, and if he
+declined to do so he would do what he could to get him turned out of the
+factory.</p>
+
+<p>At twelve o'clock the factory bell pealed forth a welcome sound to the
+hundreds who were busily at work within the great building. It was the
+dinner hour, and a throng of men, women and children poured out of the
+great portals and hastened to their homes or boarding houses to dine.
+Among them was Robert Rushton. As he was walking homeward with his usual
+quick, alert step, he came upon Halbert Davis, at the corner of the
+street.</p>
+
+<p>Halbert was dressed carefully, and, as usual, was swinging his cane in
+his gloved hand. Robert would have passed him with a nod, but Halbert,
+who was waiting for him, called out:</p>
+
+<p>"I say, you fellow, stop a minute. I want to speak to you."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you addressing me?" asked Robert, with a pride as great as his own.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you had better mend your manners."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean?" demanded Halbert, his sallow face slightly flushing.</p>
+
+<p>"My name is Robert Rushton. Call me by either of these names when you
+speak to me, and don't say 'you fellow.'"</p>
+
+<p>"It seems to me," sneered Halbert, "that you are putting on airs for a
+factory boy."</p>
+
+<p>"I am a factory boy, I acknowledge, and am not ashamed to acknowledge
+it. Is this all you have to say to me? If so, I will pass on, as I am in
+haste."</p>
+
+<p>"I have something else to say to you. You were impudent to me last
+evening."</p>
+
+<p>"Was I? Tell me how."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you not insist on going home with Hester Paine, when I had offered
+my escort?"</p>
+
+<p>"What of that?"</p>
+
+<p>"You forget your place."</p>
+
+<p>"My place was at Hester Paine's side, since she had accepted my escort."</p>
+
+<p>"It was very presumptuous in a factory boy like you offering your escort
+to a young lady like Miss Paine."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see it," said Robert, independently; "and I don't think it
+struck Hester in that light. We had a very agreeable walk."</p>
+
+<p>Halbert was provoked and inflamed with jealousy, and the look with which
+he regarded our hero was by no means friendly.</p>
+
+<p>"You mustn't regard yourself as Miss Paine's equal because she
+condescended to walk with you," he said. "You had better associate with
+those of your own class hereafter, and not push yourself in where your
+company is not agreeable."</p>
+
+<p>"Keep your advice to yourself, Halbert Davis," said Robert, hotly, for
+he felt the insult conveyed in these words. "If I am a factory boy I
+don't intend to submit to your impertinence; and I advise you to be
+careful what you say. As to Miss Hester Paine, I shall not ask your
+permission to walk with her, but shall do so whenever she chooses to
+accept my escort. Has she authorized you to speak for her?"</p>
+
+<p>"No; but&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Then wait till she does."</p>
+
+<p>Halbert was so incensed that, forgetting Robert's superior strength,
+evident enough to any one who saw the two, one with his well-knit,
+vigorous figure, the other slender and small of frame, he raised his
+cane and struck our hero smartly upon the arm.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment the cane was wrested from his grasp and applied to his own
+person with a sharp, stinging blow which broke the fragile stick in two.</p>
+
+<p>Casting the pieces upon the ground at his feet, Robert said, coolly:</p>
+
+<p>"Two can play at that game, Halbert Davis. When you want another lesson
+come to me."</p>
+
+<p>He passed his discomfited antagonist and hastened to the little cottage,
+where his mother was wondering what made him so much behind time.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.<br /><br />
+THE SPECIAL DEPOSIT.</h3>
+
+<p>Stung with mortification and more incensed against Robert than ever,
+Halbert hastened home. The house in which he lived was the largest and
+most pretentious in Millville&mdash;a large, square house, built in modern
+style, and with modern improvements, accessible from the street by a
+semi-circular driveway terminating in two gates, one at each end of the
+spacious lawn that lay in front. The house had been built only three
+years, and was the show-place of the village.</p>
+
+<p>Halbert entered the house, and throwing his hat down on a chair in the
+hall, entered the dining-room, his face still betraying his angry
+feelings.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter, Halbert?" asked his mother, looking up as he
+entered.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you see this?" said Halbert, displaying the pieces of his cane.</p>
+
+<p>"How did you break it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't break it."</p>
+
+<p>"How came it broken, then?"</p>
+
+<p>"Robert Rushton broke it."</p>
+
+<p>"The widow Rushton's son?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; he's a low scoundrel," said Halbert bitterly.</p>
+
+<p>"What made him break it?"</p>
+
+<p>"He struck me with it hard enough to break it, and then threw the pieces
+on the ground. I wouldn't mind it so much if he were not a low factory
+boy, unworthy of a gentleman's attention."</p>
+
+<p>"How dared he touch you?" asked Mrs. Davis, angrily.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, he's impudent enough for anything. He walked home with Hester Paine
+last evening from the writing school. I suppose she didn't know how to
+refuse him. I met him just now and told him he ought to know his place
+better than to offer his escort to a young lady like Hester. He got mad
+and struck me."</p>
+
+<p>"It was very proper advice," said Mrs. Davis, who resembled her son in
+character and disposition, and usually sided with him in his quarrels.
+"I should think Hester would have more sense than to encourage a boy in
+his position."</p>
+
+<p>"I have no doubt she was bored by his company," said Halbert, who feared
+on the contrary that Hester was only too well pleased with his rival,
+and hated him accordingly; "only she was too good-natured to say so."</p>
+
+<p>"The boy must be a young brute to turn upon you so violently."</p>
+
+<p>"That's just what he is."</p>
+
+<p>"He ought to be punished for it."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll tell you how it can be done," said Halbert. "Just you speak to
+father about it, and get him dismissed from the factory."</p>
+
+<p>"Then he is employed in the factory?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. He and his mother are as poor as poverty, and that's about all
+they have to live upon; yet he goes round with his head up as if he were
+a prince, and thinks himself good enough to walk home with Hester
+Paine."</p>
+
+<p>"I never heard of anything so ridiculous."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you'll speak to father about it, won't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; I'll speak to him to-night. He's gone away for the day."</p>
+
+<p>"That'll pay me for my broken cane," said Halbert, adding, in a tone of
+satisfaction: "I shall be glad to see him walking round the streets in
+rags. Perhaps he'll be a little more respectful then."</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Robert decided not to mention to his mother his encounter with
+the young aristocrat. He knew that it would do no good, and would only
+make her feel troubled. He caught the malignant glance of Halbert on
+parting, and he knew him well enough to suspect that he would do what
+he could to have him turned out of the factory. This would certainly be
+a serious misfortune.</p>
+
+<p>Probably the entire income upon which his mother and himself had to
+depend did not exceed eight dollars a week, and of this he himself
+earned six. They had not more than ten dollars laid by for
+contingencies, and if he were deprived of work, that would soon melt
+away. The factory furnished about the only avenue of employment open in
+Millville, and if he were discharged it would be hard to find any other
+remunerative labor.</p>
+
+<p>At one o'clock Robert went back to the factory rather thoughtful. He
+thought it possible that he might hear something before evening of the
+dismission which probably awaited him, but the afternoon passed and he
+heard nothing.</p>
+
+<p>On leaving the factory, he chanced to see Halbert again on the sidewalk
+a little distance in front and advancing toward him. This time, however,
+the young aristocrat did not desire a meeting, for, with a dark scowl,
+he crossed the street in time to avoid it.</p>
+
+<p>"Is he going to pass it over, I wonder?" thought Robert. "Well, I won't
+borrow trouble. If I am discharged I think I can manage to pick up a
+living somehow. I've got two strong arms, and if I don't find something
+to do, it won't be for the want of trying."</p>
+
+<p>Two years before, Captain Rushton, on the eve of sailing upon what
+proved to be his last voyage, called in the evening at the house of Mr.
+Davis, the superintendent of the Millville factory. He found the
+superintendent alone, his wife and Halbert having gone out for the
+evening. He was seated at a table with a variety of papers spread out
+before him. These papers gave him considerable annoyance. He was
+preparing his semi-annual statement of account, and found himself
+indebted to the corporation in a sum three thousand dollars in excess of
+the funds at his command. He had been drawn into the whirlpool of
+speculation, and, through a New York broker, had invested considerable
+amounts in stocks, which had depreciated in value. In doing this he had
+made use, to some extent, of the funds of the corporation, which he was
+now at a loss how to replace. He was considering where he could apply
+for a temporary loan of three thousand dollars when the captain entered.
+Under the circumstances he was sorry for the intrusion.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-evening, Captain Rushton," he said, with a forced smile. "Sit
+down. I am glad to see you."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, Mr. Davis. It will be the last call I shall make upon you
+for a considerable time."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed&mdash;how is that?"</p>
+
+<p>"I sail to-morrow for Calcutta."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed&mdash;that is a long voyage."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, it takes considerable time. I don't like to leave my wife and boy
+for so long, but we sailors have to suffer a good many privations."</p>
+
+<p>"True; I hardly think I should enjoy such a life."</p>
+
+<p>"Still," said the captain, "it has its compensations. I like the free,
+wild life of the sea. The ocean, even in its stormiest aspects, has a
+charm for me."</p>
+
+<p>"It hasn't much for me," said the superintendent, shrugging his
+shoulders. "Seasickness takes away all the romance that poets have
+invested it with."</p>
+
+<p>Captain Rushton laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"Seasickness!" he repeated. "Yes, that is truly a disagreeable malady. I
+remember once having a lady of rank as passenger on board my ship&mdash;a
+Lady Alice Graham. She was prostrated by seasickness, which is no
+respecter of persons, and a more forlorn, unhappy mortal I never expect
+to see. She would have been glad, I am convinced, to exchange places
+with her maid, who seemed to thrive upon the sea air."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish you a prosperous voyage, captain."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you. If things go well, I expect to come home with quite an
+addition to my little savings. And that brings me to the object of my
+visit this evening. You must know, Mr. Davis, I have saved up in the
+last ten years a matter of five thousand dollars."</p>
+
+<p>"Five thousand dollars!" repeated the superintendent, pricking up his
+ears.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, it has been saved by economy and self-denial. Wouldn't my wife be
+surprised if she knew her husband were so rich?"</p>
+
+<p>"Your wife doesn't know of it?" asked the superintendent, surprised.</p>
+
+<p>"Not at all. I have told her I have something, and she may suppose I
+have a few hundred dollars, but I have never told her how much. I want
+to surprise her some day."</p>
+
+<p>"Just so."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Mr. Davis, for the object of my errand. I am no financier, and
+know nothing of investments. I suppose you do. I want you to take this
+money, and take care of it, while I am gone on my present voyage. I
+meant to make inquiries myself for a suitable investment, but I have
+been summoned by my owners to leave at a day's notice, and have no time
+for it. Can you oblige me by taking care of the money?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, captain," said the superintendent, briskly. "I shall have
+great pleasure in obliging an old friend."</p>
+
+<p>"I am much obliged to you."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't mention it. I have large sums of my own to invest, and it is no
+extra trouble to look after your money. Am I to pay the interest to your
+wife?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. I have left a separate fund in a savings bank for her to draw upon.
+As I told you, I want to surprise her by and by. So not a word, if you
+please, about this deposit."</p>
+
+<p>"Your wishes shall be regarded," said the superintendent. "Have you
+brought the money with you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said the captain, drawing from his pocket a large wallet. "I have
+got the whole amount here in large bills. Count it, if you please, and
+see that it is all right."</p>
+
+<p>The superintendent took the roll of bills from the hands of his
+neighbor, and counted them over twice.</p>
+
+<p>"It is quite right," he said. "Here are five thousand dollars. Now let
+me write you a receipt for them."</p>
+
+<p>He drew before him a sheet of paper, and dipping his pen in the
+inkstand, wrote a receipt in the usual form, which he handed back to the
+captain, who received it and put it back in his wallet.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," said the captain, in a tone of satisfaction, "my most important
+business is transacted. You will keep this money, investing it according
+to your best judgment. If anything should happen to me," he added, his
+voice faltering a little, "you will pay it over to my wife and child."</p>
+
+<p>"Assuredly," said the superintendent; "but don't let us think of such a
+sad contingency. I fully expect to pay it back into your own hands with
+handsome interest."</p>
+
+<p>"Let us hope so," said the captain, recovering his cheerfulness. "Our
+destinies are in the hands of a kind Providence. And now good-by! I
+leave early to-morrow morning, and I must pass the rest of the evening
+with my own family."</p>
+
+<p>"Good-night, captain," said the superintendent, accompanying him to the
+door. "I renew my wish that you have a prosperous and profitable voyage,
+and be restored in good time to your family and friends."</p>
+
+<p>"Amen!" said the captain.</p>
+
+<p>The superintendent went back to his study, his heart lightened of its
+anxiety.</p>
+
+<p>"Could anything be more fortunate?" he ejaculated, "This help comes to
+me just when it is most needed. Thanks to my special deposit, I can make
+my semi-annual settlement, and have two thousand dollars over. It's
+lucky the captain knows nothing of my Wall Street speculations. He
+might not have been quite so ready to leave his money in my hands. It's
+not a bad thing to be a banker," and he rubbed his hands together with
+hilarity.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.<br /><br />
+THE VOICE OF CONSCIENCE.</h3>
+
+<p>When the superintendent accepted Captain Rushton's money, he did not
+intend to act dishonestly. He hailed it as a present relief, though he
+supposed he should have to repay it some time. His accounts being found
+correct, he went on with his speculations. In these he met with varying
+success. But on the whole he found himself no richer, while he was kept
+in a constant fever of anxiety.</p>
+
+<p>After some months, he met Mrs. Rushton in the street one day.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you heard from your husband, Mrs. Rushton?" he inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"No, Mr. Davis, not yet. I am beginning to feel anxious."</p>
+
+<p>"How long has he been gone?"</p>
+
+<p>"Between seven and eight months."</p>
+
+<p>"The voyage is a long one. There are many ways of accounting for his
+silence."</p>
+
+<p>"He would send by some passing ship. He has been to Calcutta before,
+but I have never had to wait so long for a letter."</p>
+
+<p>The superintendent uttered some commonplace phrases of assurance, but in
+his own heart there sprang up a wicked hope that the <i>Norman</i> would
+never reach port, and that he might never set eyes on Captain Rushton
+again. For in that case, he reflected, it would be perfectly safe for
+him to retain possession of the money with which he had been intrusted.
+The captain had assured him that neither his wife nor son knew aught of
+his savings. Who then could detect his crime? However, it was not yet
+certain that the <i>Norman</i> was lost. He might yet have to repay the
+money.</p>
+
+<p>Six months more passed, and still no tidings of the ship or its
+commander. Even the most sanguine now gave her up for lost, including
+the owners. The superintendent called upon them, ostensibly in behalf of
+Mrs. Rushton, and learned that they had but slender hopes of her safety.
+It was a wicked thing to rejoice over such a calamity, but his affairs
+were now so entangled that a sudden demand for the five thousand dollars
+would have ruined him. He made up his mind to say nothing of the special
+deposit, though he knew the loss of it would leave the captain's family
+in the deepest poverty. To soothe his conscience&mdash;for he was wholly
+destitute of one&mdash;he received Robert into the factory, and the boy's
+wages, as we already know, constituted their main support.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the state of things at the commencement of our story.</p>
+
+<p>When the superintendent reached home in the evening, he was at once
+assailed by his wife and son, who gave a highly colored account of the
+insult which Halbert had received from Robert Rushton.</p>
+
+<p>"Did he have any reason for striking you, Halbert?" asked the
+superintendent.</p>
+
+<p>"No," answered Halbert, unblushingly. "He's an impudent young scoundrel,
+and puts on as many airs as if he were a prince instead of a beggar."</p>
+
+<p>"He is not a beggar."</p>
+
+<p>"He is a low factory boy, and that is about the same."</p>
+
+<p>"By no means. He earns his living by honest industry."</p>
+
+<p>"It appears to me," put in Mrs. Davis, "that you are taking the part of
+this boy who has insulted your son in such an outrageous manner."</p>
+
+<p>"How am I doing it? I am only saying he is not a beggar."</p>
+
+<p>"He is far below Halbert in position, and that is the principal thing."</p>
+
+<p>It occurred to the superintendent that should he make restitution Robert
+Rushton would be quite as well off as his own son, but of course he
+could not venture to breathe a hint of this to his wife. It was the
+secret knowledge of the deep wrong which he had done to the Rushtons
+that now made him unwilling to oppress him further.</p>
+
+<p>"It seems to me," he said, "you are making too much of this matter. It
+is only a boyish quarrel."</p>
+
+<p>"A boyish quarrel!" retorted Mrs. Davis, indignantly. "You have a
+singular way of standing by your son, Mr. Davis. A low fellow insults
+and abuses him, and you exert yourself to mate excuses for him."</p>
+
+<p>"You misapprehend me, my dear."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't 'my dear' me," said the exasperated lady. "I thought you would be
+as angry as I am, but you seem to take the whole thing very coolly, upon
+my word!"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Davis had a sharp temper and a sharp tongue, and her husband stood
+considerably in awe of both. He had more than once been compelled to
+yield to them, and he saw that he must make some concession to order to
+keep the peace.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what do you want me to do?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Want you to do! I should think that was plain enough."</p>
+
+<p>"I will send for the boy and reprimand him."</p>
+
+<p>"Reprimand him!" repeated the lady, contemptuously. "And what do you
+think he will care for that?"</p>
+
+<p>"More than you think, perhaps."</p>
+
+<p>"Stuff and nonsense! He'll be insulting Halbert again to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"I am not so sure that Halbert is not in fault in some way."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course, you are ready to side with a stranger against your own son."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you want me to do?" asked the superintendent, submissively.</p>
+
+<p>"Discharge the boy from your employment," said his wife, promptly.</p>
+
+<p>"But how can he and his mother live?&mdash;they depend on his wages."</p>
+
+<p>"That is their affair. He ought to have thought of that before he raised
+his hand against Halbert."</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot do what you wish," said the superintendent, with some
+firmness, for he felt that it would indeed be a piece of meanness to
+eject from the factory the boy whom he had already so deeply wronged;
+"but I will send for young Rushton and require him to apologize to
+Halbert."</p>
+
+<p>"And if he won't do it?" demanded Halbert.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I will send him away."</p>
+
+<p>"Will you promise that, father?" asked Halbert, eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Mr. Davis, rather reluctantly.</p>
+
+<p>"All right!" thought Halbert; "I am satisfied; for I know he never will
+consent to apologize."</p>
+
+<p>Halbert had good reason for this opinion, knowing, as he did, that he
+had struck the first blow, a circumstance he had carefully concealed
+from his father. Under the circumstances he knew very well that his
+father would be called upon to redeem his promise.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning, at the regular hour, our hero went to the factory, and
+taking his usual place, set to work. An hour passed, and nothing was
+said to him. He began to think that Halbert, feeling that he was the
+aggressor, had resolved to let the matter drop.</p>
+
+<p>But he was speedily undeceived.</p>
+
+<p>At a quarter after eight the superintendent made his appearance, and
+after a brief inspection of the work, retired to his private office. Ten
+minutes later, the foreman of the room in which he was employed came up
+to Robert and touched him on the shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Davis wishes to see you in his office," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Now for it!" thought Robert, as he left his work and made his way,
+through the deafening clamor of the machinery, to the superintendent's
+room.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.<br /><br />
+DISCHARGED.</h3>
+
+<p>The superintendent sat at an office table writing a letter. He did not
+at first look up, but kept on with his employment. He had some remnants
+of conscience left, and he shrank from the task his wife had thrust upon
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Baker tells me you wish to see me, Mr. Davis," said Robert, who had
+advanced into the office, by way of calling his attention.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said the superintendent, laying down his pen, and turning half
+round; "I hear a bad account of you, Rushton."</p>
+
+<p>"In what way, sir?" asked our hero, returning his look fearlessly.</p>
+
+<p>"I hear that you have been behaving like a young ruffian," said Mr.
+Davis, who felt that he must make out a strong case to justify him in
+dismissing Robert from the factory.</p>
+
+<p>"This is a serious charge, Mr. Davis," said Robert, gravely, "and I hope
+you will be kind enough to let me know what I have done, and the name
+of my accuser."</p>
+
+<p>"I mean to do so. Probably it will be enough to say that your accuser is
+my son, Halbert."</p>
+
+<p>"I supposed so. I had a difficulty with Halbert yesterday, but I
+consider he was in fault."</p>
+
+<p>"He says you insulted and struck him."</p>
+
+<p>"I did not insult him. The insult came from him."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you strike him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, but not until he had struck me first."</p>
+
+<p>"He didn't mention this, but even if he had you should not have struck
+him back."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not?" asked Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"You should have reported the affair to me."</p>
+
+<p>"And allowed him to keep on striking me?"</p>
+
+<p>"You must have said something to provoke him," continued the
+superintendent, finding it a little difficult to answer this question,
+"or he would not have done it."</p>
+
+<p>"If you will allow me," said Robert, "I will give you an account of the
+whole affair."</p>
+
+<p>"Go on," said the superintendent, rather unwillingly, for he strongly
+suspected that our hero would be able to justify himself, and so render
+dismissal more difficult.</p>
+
+<p>"Halbert took offense because I accompanied Hester Paine home from the
+writing school, evening before last, though I did with the young lady's
+permission, as he knew. He met me yesterday at twelve o'clock, as I was
+going home to dinner, and undertook to lecture me on my presumption in
+offering my escort to one so much above me. He also taunted me with
+being a factory boy. I told him to keep his advice to himself, as I
+should not ask his permission when I wanted to walk, with Hester Paine.
+Then he became enraged, and struck me with his cane. I took it from him
+and returned the blow, breaking the cane in doing it."</p>
+
+<p>"Ahem!" said the superintendent, clearing his throat; "you must have
+been very violent."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think I was, sir. I struck him a smart blow, but the cane was
+very light and easily broken."</p>
+
+<p>"You were certainly very violent," continued Mr. Davis, resolved to make
+a point of this. "Halbert did not break the cane when he struck you."</p>
+
+<p>"He struck the first blow."</p>
+
+<p>"That does not alter the question of the amount of violence, which was
+evidently without justification. You must have been in a great passion."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think I was in any greater passion than Halbert."</p>
+
+<p>"In view of the violence you made use of, I consider that you owe my son
+an apology."</p>
+
+<p>"An apology!" repeated Robert, whose astonishment was apparent in his
+tone.</p>
+
+<p>"I believe I spoke plainly," said the superintendent, irritably.</p>
+
+<p>"If any apology is to be made," said our hero, firmly, "it ought to come
+from Halbert to me."</p>
+
+<p>"How do you make that out?"</p>
+
+<p>"He gave me some impertinent advice, and, because I did not care to take
+it, he struck me."</p>
+
+<p>"And you seized his cane in a fury, and broke it in returning the blow."</p>
+
+<p>"I acknowledge that I broke the cane," said Robert; "and I suppose it is
+only right that I should pay for it. I am willing to do that, but not to
+apologize."</p>
+
+<p>"That will not be sufficient," said the superintendent, who knew that
+payment for the cane would fall far short of satisfying his wife or
+Halbert. "The cost of the cane was a trifle, and I am willing to buy him
+another, but I cannot consent that my son should be subjected to such
+rude violence, without an apology from the offender. If I passed this
+over, you might attack him again to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"I am not in the habit of attacking others without cause," said Robert,
+proudly. "If Halbert will let me alone, or treat me with civility, he
+may be sure that I shall not trouble him."</p>
+
+<p>"You are evading the main point, Rushton," said the superintendent. "I
+have required you to apologize to my son, and I ask you for the last
+time whether you propose to comply with my wishes."</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir," said Robert, boldly.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know to whom you are speaking, boy?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"I am not only the father of the boy you have assaulted, but I am also
+the superintendent of this factory, and your employer.".</p>
+
+<p>"I am aware of that, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"I can discharge you from the factory."</p>
+
+<p>"I know you can," said Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course, I should be sorry to resort to such an extreme measure, but,
+if you defy my authority, I may be compelled to do so."</p>
+
+<p>So the crisis had come. Robert saw that he must choose between losing
+his place and a humiliating apology. Between the two he did not for a
+moment hesitate.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Davis," he said, boldly and firmly, "it will be a serious thing for
+me if I lose my place here, for my mother and I are poor, and my wages
+make the greatest part of our income. But I cannot make this apology you
+require. I will sooner lose my place."</p>
+
+<p>The bold and manly bearing of our hero, and his resolute tone, impressed
+the superintendent with an involuntary admiration. He felt that Robert
+was a boy to be proud of, but none the less he meant to carry out his
+purpose.</p>
+
+<p>"Is this your final decision?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you are discharged from the factory. You will report your
+discharge to Mr. Baker, and he will pay you what you have earned this
+week."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, sir."</p>
+
+<p>Robert left the office, with a bold bearing, but a heart full of
+trouble. If only himself had been involved in the calamity, he could
+have borne it better, but he knew that his loss of place meant privation
+and want for his mother, unless he could find something to do that would
+bring in an equal income, and this he did not expect.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Baker," he said, addressing the foreman of his room, on his return
+from the superintendent's office, "I am discharged."</p>
+
+<p>"Discharged?" repeated the foreman, in surprise. "There must be some
+mistake about this. You are one of our best hands&mdash;for your age, I
+mean."</p>
+
+<p>"There is no dissatisfaction with my work that I know of, but I got into
+a quarrel with Halbert Davis yesterday, and his father wants me to
+apologize to him."</p>
+
+<p>"Which you won't do?"</p>
+
+<p>"I would if I felt that I were in fault. I am not too proud for that.
+But the fact is, Halbert ought to apologize to me."</p>
+
+<p>"Halbert is a mean boy. I don't blame you in the least."</p>
+
+<p>"So I am to report my discharge to you, and ask you for my wages."</p>
+
+<p>This account was soon settled, and Robert left the factory his own
+master. But it is poor consolation to be one's own master under such
+circumstances. He dreaded to break the news to his mother, for he knew
+that it would distress her. He was slowly walking along, when he once
+more encountered Halbert Davis. Halbert was out for the express purpose
+of meeting and exulting over him, for he rightly concluded that Robert
+would decline to apologize to him. Robert saw his enemy, and guessed his
+object, but resolved to say nothing to him, unless actually obliged to
+do so.</p>
+
+<p>"Where are you going?" demanded Halbert.</p>
+
+<p>"Home."</p>
+
+<p>"I thought you worked in the factory?"</p>
+
+<p>"Did you?" asked Robert, looking full in his face, and reading the
+exultation he did not attempt to conceal.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps you have got turned out?" suggested Halbert, with a malicious
+smile.</p>
+
+<p>"You would be glad of that, I suppose," said our hero.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think I should cry much," said Halbert. "It's true then, is
+it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; it's true."</p>
+
+<p>"You won't put on so many airs when you go round begging for cold
+victuals. It'll be some time before you walk with Hester Paine again."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall probably walk with her sooner than you will."</p>
+
+<p>"She won't notice a beggar."</p>
+
+<p>"There is not much chance of my becoming a beggar, Halbert Davis; but I
+would rather be one than be as mean as you. I will drop you a slight
+hint, which you had better bear in mind. It won't be any safer to insult
+me now than it was yesterday. I can't lose my place a second time."</p>
+
+<p>Halbert instinctively moved aside, while our hero passed on, without
+taking farther notice of him.</p>
+
+<p>"I hate him!" he muttered to himself. "I hope he won't find anything to
+do. If he wasn't so strong, I'd give him a thrashing."</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.<br /><br />
+HALBERT'S DISCOMFITURE.</h3>
+
+<p>Great was the dismay of Mrs. Rushton when she heard from Robert that he
+was discharged from the factory. She was a timid woman, and rather apt
+to take desponding views of the future.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Robert, what is going to become of us?" she exclaimed, nervously.
+"We have only ten dollars in the house, and you know how little I can
+earn by braiding straw. I really think you were too hasty and
+impetuous."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't be alarmed, my dear mother," said Robert, soothingly. "I am sorry
+I have lost my place, but there are other things I can do besides
+working in the factory. We are not going to starve yet."</p>
+
+<p>"But, suppose you can't find any work?" said his mother.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I'll help you braid straw," said Robert, laughing. "Don't you
+think I might learn after a while?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know but you might," said Mrs. Rushton, dubiously; "but the
+pay is very poor."</p>
+
+<p>"That's so, mother. I shan't, take to braiding straw except as a last
+resort."</p>
+
+<p>"Wouldn't Mr. Davis take you back into the factory if I went to him and
+told him how much we needed the money?"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't think of such a thing, mother," said Robert, hastily, his brown
+cheek flushing. "I am too proud to beg to be taken back."</p>
+
+<p>"But it wouldn't be you."</p>
+
+<p>"I would sooner ask myself than have you do it, mother. No; the
+superintendent sent me away for no good reason, and he must come and ask
+me to return before I'll do it."</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid you are proud, Robert."</p>
+
+<p>"So I am, mother; but it is an honest pride. Have faith in me for a
+week, mother, and see if I don't earn something in that time. I don't
+expect to make as much as I earned at the factory; but I'll earn
+something, you may depend upon that. Now, how would you like to have
+some fish for supper?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think I should like it. It is a good while since we had any."</p>
+
+<p>"Then, I'll tell you what&mdash;I'll borrow Will Paine's boat, if he'll let
+me have it, and see if I can't catch something."</p>
+
+<p>"When will you be home, Robert?"</p>
+
+<p>"It will depend on my success in fishing. It'll be half-past nine, very
+likely, before I get fairly started, so I think I'd better take my
+dinner with me. I'll be home some time in the afternoon."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you'll be careful, Robert. You might get upset."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll take care of that, mother. Besides, I can swim like a duck."</p>
+
+<p>Robert went out into the garden, and dug some worms for bait. Meanwhile,
+his mother made a couple of sandwiches, and wrapped them in a paper for
+his lunch. Provided thus, he walked quickly to the house of Squire
+Paine, and rang the bell.</p>
+
+<p>"Is Will home?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Here I am, old fellow!" was heard from the head of the stairs; and
+William Paine, a boy of our hero's size and age, appeared. "Come right
+up."</p>
+
+<p>"How did you happen to be at leisure?" he asked. "I supposed you were at
+the factory."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm turned off."</p>
+
+<p>"Turned off! How's that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Through the influence of Halbert Davis."</p>
+
+<p>"Halbert is a disgusting sneak. I always despised him, and, if he's done
+such a mean thing, I'll never speak to him again. Tell me all about it."</p>
+
+<p>This Robert did, necessarily bringing in Hester's name.</p>
+
+<p>"He needn't think my sister will walk with him," said Will. "If she
+does, I'll cut her off with a shilling. She'd rather walk with you, any
+day."</p>
+
+<p>Robert blushed a little; for, though he was too young to be in love, he
+thought his friend's sister the most attractive girl he had even seen,
+and, knowing how she was regarded in the village, he naturally felt
+proud of her preference for himself over a boy who was much richer.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you going to do now?" asked Will, with interest.</p>
+
+<p>"The first thing I am going to do is to catch some fish, if you'll lend
+me your boat."</p>
+
+<p>"Lend you my boat? Of course I will! I'll lend it to you for the next
+three months."</p>
+
+<p>"But you want it yourself?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. Haven't you heard the news? I'm going to boarding school."</p>
+
+<p>"You are?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's a fact. I'm packing my trunk now. Come upstairs, and superintend
+the operation."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't stay long. But, Will, are you in earnest about the boat?"</p>
+
+<p>"To be sure I am. I was meaning to ask you if you'd take care of it for
+me. You see, I can't carry it with me, and you are the only fellow I am
+willing to lend it to."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be very glad of the chance, Will. I've been wanting a boat for
+a long time, but there wasn't much chance of my getting one. Now I
+shall feel rich. But isn't this a sudden idea, your going to school?"</p>
+
+<p>"Rather. There was a college classmate of father's here last week, who's
+at the head of such a school, and he made father promise to send me. So
+I'm to start to-morrow morning. If it wasn't for that, and being up to
+my ears in getting ready, I'd go out fishing with you."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish you could."</p>
+
+<p>"I must wait till vacation. Here is the boat key."</p>
+
+<p>Robert took the key with satisfaction. The boat owned by his friend was
+a stanch, round-bottomed boat, of considerable size, bought only two
+months before, quite the best boat on the river. It was to be at his
+free disposal, and this was nearly the same thing as owning it. He might
+find it very useful, for it occurred to him that, if he could find
+nothing better to do, he could catch fish every day, and sell at the
+village store such as his mother could not use. In this way he would be
+earning something, and it would be better than being idle.</p>
+
+<p>He knew where the boat was usually kept, just at the foot of a large
+tree, whose branches drooped over the river. He made his way thither,
+and, fitting the key in the padlock which confined the boat, soon set it
+free. The oars he had brought with him from his friend's house.</p>
+
+<p>Throwing in the oars, he jumped in, and began to push off, when he heard
+himself called, and, looking up, saw Halbert Davis standing on the bank.</p>
+
+<p>"Get out of that boat!" said Halbert.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean?" demanded Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"You have no business in that boat! It doesn't belong to you!"</p>
+
+<p>"You'd better mind your own business, Halbert Davis. You have nothing to
+do with the boat."</p>
+
+<p>"It's William Paine's boat."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you for the information. I supposed it was yours, from the
+interest you seem to take in it."</p>
+
+<p>"It will be. He's going to let me have it while he's away at school."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed! Did he tell you so?"</p>
+
+<p>"I haven't asked Ma yet; but I know he will let me have it."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think he will."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not?"</p>
+
+<p>"If you ever want to borrow this boat, you'll have to apply to me."</p>
+
+<p>"You haven't bought it?" asked Halbert, in surprise. "You're too poor."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm to have charge of the boat while Will Paine is away."</p>
+
+<p>"Did he say you might?" asked Halbert, in a tone of disappointment and
+mortification.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course he did."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't believe it," said Halbert, suspiciously.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't care what you believe. Go and ask him yourself, if you are not
+satisfied; and don't meddle with what is none of your business;"</p>
+
+<p>"You're an impudent rascal."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you got another cane you'd like to have broken?" asked Robert,
+significantly.</p>
+
+<p>Halbert looked after him, enviously, as he rowed the boat out into the
+stream. He had asked his father to buy him a boat, but the
+superintendent's speculations had not turned out very well of late, and
+he had been deaf to his son's persuasions, backed, though they were, by
+his mother's influence. When Halbert heard that William Paine was going
+to boarding school, he decided to ask him for the loan of his boat
+during his absence, as the next best thing. Now, it seemed that he had
+been forestalled, and by the boy he hated. He resolved to see young
+Paine himself, and offer him two dollars for the use of his boat during
+the coming term. Then he would have the double satisfaction of using the
+boat and disappointing Robert.</p>
+
+<p>He made his way to the house of Squire Paine, and, after a brief pause,
+was admitted. He was shown into the parlor, and Will Paine came down to
+see him.</p>
+
+<p>"How are you, Davis?" he said, nodding, coolly, but not offering his
+hand.</p>
+
+<p>"I hear you are going to boarding school?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; I go to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose you won't take your boat with you?"</p>
+
+<p>"No."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll give you two dollars for the use of it; the next three months?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can't accept your offer. Robert Rushton is to have it."</p>
+
+<p>"But he doesn't pay you anything for it. I'll give you three dollars, if
+you say so?"</p>
+
+<p>"You can't have it for three dollars, or ten. I have promised it to my
+friend, Robert Rushton, and I shall not take it back."</p>
+
+<p>"You may not know," said Halbert, maliciously, "that your friend was
+discharged from the factory this morning for misconduct."</p>
+
+<p>"I know very well that he was discharged, and through whose influence,
+Halbert Davis," said Will, pointedly. "I like him all the better for his
+misfortune, and so I am sure will my sister."</p>
+
+<p>Halbert's face betrayed the anger and jealousy he felt, but he didn't
+dare to speak to the lawyer's son as he had to the factory boy.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-morning!" he said, rising to go.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-morning!" said young Paine, formally.</p>
+
+<p>Halbert felt, as he walked homeward, that his triumph over Robert was by
+no means complete.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.<br /><br />
+THE STRANGE PASSENGER.</h3>
+
+<p>Robert, though not a professional fisherman, was not wholly
+inexperienced. This morning he was quite lucky, catching quite a fine
+lot of fish&mdash;as much, indeed, as his mother and himself would require a
+week to dispose of. However, he did not intend to carry them all home.
+It occurred to him that he could sell them at a market store in the
+village. Otherwise, he would not have cared to go on destroying life for
+no useful end.</p>
+
+<p>Accordingly, on reaching the shore, he strung the fish and walked
+homeward, by way of the market. It was rather a heavy tug, for the fish
+he had caught weighed at least fifty pounds.</p>
+
+<p>Stepping into the store, he attracted the attention of the proprietor.</p>
+
+<p>"That's a fine lot of fish you have there, Robert. What are you going to
+do with them?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to sell most of them to you, if I can."</p>
+
+<p>"Are they just out of the water?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; I have just brought them in."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you want for them?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know what is a fair price?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'll give you two cents a pound for as many as you want to sell."</p>
+
+<p>"All right," said our hero, with satisfaction. "I'll carry this one
+home, and you can weigh the rest."</p>
+
+<p>The rest proved to weigh forty-five pounds. The marketman handed Robert
+ninety cents, which he pocketed with satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>"Shall you want some more to-morrow?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, if you can let me have them earlier. But how is it you are not at
+the factory?"</p>
+
+<p>"I've lost my place."</p>
+
+<p>"That's a pity."</p>
+
+<p>"So I have plenty of time to work for you."</p>
+
+<p>"I may be able to take considerable from you. I'm thinking of running a
+cart to Brampton every morning, but I must have the fish by eight
+o'clock, or it'll be too late."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll go out early in the morning, then."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well; bring me what you have at that hour, and we'll strike a
+trade."</p>
+
+<p>"I've got something to do pretty quick," thought Robert, with
+satisfaction. "It was a lucky thought asking Will Paine for his boat.
+I'm sorry he's going away, but it happens just right for me."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Rushton was sitting at her work, in rather a disconsolate frame of
+mind. The more she thought of Robert's losing his place, the more
+unfortunate it seemed. She could not be expected to be as sanguine and
+hopeful as our hero, who was blessed with strong hands and a fund of
+energy and self-reliance which he inherited from his father. His mother,
+on the other hand, was delicate and nervous, and apt to look on the dark
+side of things. But, notwithstanding this, she was a good mother, and
+Robert loved her.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing had been heard for some time but the drowsy ticking of the
+clock, when a noise was heard at the door, and Robert entered the room,
+bringing the fish he had reserved.</p>
+
+<p>"You see, mother, we are not likely to starve," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"That's a fine, large fish," said his mother.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; it'll be enough for two meals. Didn't I tell you, mother, I would
+find something to do?"</p>
+
+<p>"True, Robert," said his mother, dubiously; "but we shall get tired of
+fish if we have it every day."</p>
+
+<p>Robert laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"Six days in the week will do for fish, mother," he said. "I think we
+shall be able to afford something else Sunday."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course, fish is better than nothing," said his mother, who
+understood him literally; "and I suppose we ought to be thankful to get
+that."</p>
+
+<p>"You don't look very much pleased at the prospect of fish six times a
+week," said Robert, laughing again. "On the whole, I think it will be
+better to say twice."</p>
+
+<p>"But what will we do other days, Robert?"</p>
+
+<p>"What we have always done, mother&mdash;eat something else. But I won't keep
+you longer in suspense. Did you think this was the only fish I caught?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I thought so."</p>
+
+<p>"I sold forty-five pounds on the way to Minturn, at his market
+store&mdash;forty-five pounds, at two cents a pound. What do you think of
+that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean that you have earned ninety cents to-day, Robert?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; and here's the money."</p>
+
+<p>"That's much better than I expected," said Mrs. Rushton, looking several
+degrees more I cheerful.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't expect to do as well as that every day, mother, but I don't
+believe we'll starve. Minturn has engaged me to supply him with fish
+every day, only some days the fishes won't feel like coming out of the
+water. Then, I forgot to tell you, I'm to have Will Paine's boat for
+nothing. He's going to boarding school, and has asked me to take care of
+it for him."</p>
+
+<p>"You are fortunate, Robert."</p>
+
+<p>"I am hungry, too, mother. Those two sandwiches didn't go a great ways.
+So, if you can just as well as not have supper earlier, it would suit
+me."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll put on the teakettle at once, Robert," said his mother, rising.
+"Would you like some of the fish for supper?"</p>
+
+<p>"If it wouldn't be too much trouble."</p>
+
+<p>"Surely not, Robert."</p>
+
+<p>The usual supper hour was at five in this country household, but a
+little after four the table was set, and mother and son sat down to a
+meal which both enjoyed. The fish proved to be excellent, and Robert
+enjoyed it the more, first, because he had caught it himself, and next
+because he felt that his independent stand at the factory, though it had
+lost him his place, was not likely to subject his mother to the
+privations he had feared.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll take another piece of fish, mother," said Robert, passing his
+plate. "I think, on the whole, I shan't be obliged to learn to braid
+straw."</p>
+
+<p>"No; you can do better at fishing."</p>
+
+<p>"Only," added Robert, with mock seriousness, "we might change work
+sometimes, mother; I will stay at home and braid straw, and you can go
+out fishing."</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid I should make a poor hand at it," said Mrs. Rushton,
+smiling.</p>
+
+<p>"If Halbert Davis could look in upon us just now, he would be
+disappointed to find us so cheerful after my losing my place at factory.
+However, I've disappointed him in another way."</p>
+
+<p>"How is that?"</p>
+
+<p>"He expected Will Paine would lend him his boat while he was gone, but,
+instead of that, he finds it promised to me."</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid he is not a very kind-hearted boy."</p>
+
+<p>"That's drawing it altogether too mild, mother. He's the meanest fellow
+I ever met. However, I won't talk about him any more, or it'll spoil my
+appetite."</p>
+
+<p>On the next two mornings Robert went out at five o'clock, in order to
+get home in time for the market-wagon. He met with fair luck, but not as
+good as on the first day. Taking the two mornings together, he captured
+and sold seventy pounds of fish, which, as the price remained the same,
+brought him in a dollar and forty cents. This was not equal to his wages
+at the factory; still, he had the greater part of the day to himself,
+only, unfortunately, he had no way of turning his time profitably to
+account, or, at least, none had thus far occurred to him.</p>
+
+<p>On the morning succeeding he was out of luck. He caught but two fish,
+and they were so small that he decided not to offer them for sale.</p>
+
+<p>"If I don't do better than this," he reflected, "I shan't make very good
+wages. The fish seem to be getting afraid of me."</p>
+
+<p>He paddled about, idly, a few rods from the shore, having drawn up his
+line and hook.</p>
+
+<p>All at once, he heard a voice hailing him from the river bank:</p>
+
+<p>"Boat ahoy!"</p>
+
+<p>"Hallo!" answered Robert, lifting his eyes, and seeing who called him.</p>
+
+<p>"Can you set me across the river?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"Bring in your boat, then, and I'll jump aboard. I'll pay you for your
+trouble."</p>
+
+<p>Robert did as requested, with alacrity. He was very glad to earn money
+in this way, since it seemed he was to have no fish to dispose of. He
+quickly turned the boat to the shore, and the stranger jumped on board.
+He was a man of rather more than the average height, with a slight limp
+in his gait, in a rough suit of clothes, his head being surmounted by a
+felt hat considerably the worse for wear. There was a scar on one
+cheek, and, altogether, he was not very prepossessing in his appearance.
+Robert noted all this in a rapid glance, but it made no particular
+impression upon him at the moment. He cared very little how the stranger
+looked, as long as he had money enough to pay his fare.</p>
+
+<p>"It's about a mile across the river, isn't it?" asked the stranger.</p>
+
+<p>"About that here. Where do you want to go?"</p>
+
+<p>"Straight across. There's an old man named Nichols lives on the other
+side, isn't there?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; he lives by himself."</p>
+
+<p>"Somebody told me so. He's rich, isn't he?" asked the stranger,
+carelessly.</p>
+
+<p>"So people say; but he doesn't show it in his dress or way of living."</p>
+
+<p>"A miser, I suppose?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"What does he do with his money?"</p>
+
+<p>"I only know what people say."</p>
+
+<p>"And what do they say?"</p>
+
+<p>"That he is afraid to trust banks, and hides his money in the earth."</p>
+
+<p>"That kind of bank don't pay very good interest," said the stranger,
+laughing.</p>
+
+<p>"No; but it isn't likely to break."</p>
+
+<p>"Here? boy, give me one of the oars. I'm used to rowing, and I'll help
+you a little."</p>
+
+<p>Robert yielded one of the oars to his companion, who evidently
+understood rowing quite as well as he professed to. Our hero, though
+strong-armed, had hard work to keep up with him.</p>
+
+<p>"Look out, boy, or I'll turn you round," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"You are stronger than I am."</p>
+
+<p>"And more used to rowing; but I'll suit myself to you."</p>
+
+<p>A few minutes brought them to the other shore. The passenger jumped
+ashore, first handing a silver half-dollar to our hero, who was well
+satisfied with his fee.</p>
+
+<p>Robert sat idly in his boat, and watched his late fare as with rapid
+steps he left the river bank behind him.</p>
+
+<p>"He's going to the old man's house," decided Robert. "I wonder whether
+he has any business with him?"</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.<br /><br />
+THE OLD FARMHOUSE.</h3>
+
+<p>The stranger walked, with hasty strides, in the direction of an old
+farmhouse, which could be seen a quarter of a mile away. Whether it had
+ever been painted, was a question not easily solved. At present it was
+dark and weather-beaten, and in a general state of neglect.</p>
+
+<p>The owner, Paul Nichols, was a man advanced in years, living quite
+alone, and himself providing for his simple wants. Robert was right in
+calling him a miser, but he had not always deserved the name. The time
+was when he had been happily married to a good wife, and was blessed
+with two young children. But they were all taken from him in one week by
+an epidemic, and his life was made solitary and cheerless. This
+bereavement completely revolutionized his life. Up to this time he had
+been a good and respected citizen, with an interest in public affairs.
+Now he became morose and misanthropic, and his heart, bereaved of its
+legitimate objects of affection, henceforth was fixed upon gold, which
+he began to love with a passionate energy. He repulsed the advances of
+neighbors, and became what Robert called him&mdash;a miser.</p>
+
+<p>How much he was worth, no one knew. The town assessors sought in vain
+for stocks and bonds. He did not appear to possess any. Probably popular
+opinion was correct in asserting that he secreted his money in one or
+many out-of-the-way places, which, from time to time, he was wont to
+visit and gloat over his treasures. There was reason also to believe
+that it was mostly in gold, for he had a habit of asking specie payments
+from those indebted to him, or, if he could not obtain specie, he used
+to go to a neighboring town with his bank notes and get the change
+effected.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the man about whom Robert's unknown passenger exhibited so much
+curiosity, and whom it seemed that he was intending to visit.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder whether the old man is at home!" he said to himself, as he
+entered the front yard through a gateway, from which the gate had long
+since disappeared. "He don't keep things looking very neat and trim,
+that's a fact," he continued, noticing the rank weeds and indiscriminate
+litter which filled the yard. "Just give me this place, and his money
+to keep it, and I'd make a change in the looks of things pretty quick."</p>
+
+<p>He stepped up to the front door, and, lifting the old-fashioned knocker,
+sounded a loud summons.</p>
+
+<p>"He'll hear that, if he isn't very deaf," he thought.</p>
+
+<p>But the summons appeared to be without effect. At all events, he was
+left standing on the doorstone, and no one came to bid him enter.</p>
+
+<p>"He can't be at home, or else he won't come," thought the visitor. "I'll
+try him again," and another knock, still louder than before, sounded
+through the farmhouse.</p>
+
+<p>But still no one came to the door. The fact was, that the old farmer had
+gone away early, with a load of hay, which he had sold; to a
+stable-keeper living some five miles distant.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll reconnoiter a little," said the stranger.</p>
+
+<p>He stepped to the front window, and looked in. All that met his gaze was
+a bare, dismantled room.</p>
+
+<p>"Not very cheerful, that's a fact," commented the outsider. "Well, he
+don't appear to be here; I'll go round to the back part of the house."</p>
+
+<p>He went round to the back door, where he thought it best, in the first
+place, to knock. No answer coming, he peered through the window, but saw
+no one.</p>
+
+<p>"The coast is clear," he concluded. "So much the better, if I can get
+in."</p>
+
+<p>The door proved to be locked, but the windows were easily raised.
+Through one of these he clambered into the kitchen, which was the only
+room occupied by the old farmer, with the exception of a room above,
+which he used as a bedchamber. Here he cooked and ate his meals, and
+here he spent his solitary evenings.</p>
+
+<p>Jumping over the window sill, the visitor found himself in this room. He
+looked around him, with some curiosity.</p>
+
+<p>"It is eighteen years since I was last in this room," he said. "Time
+hasn't improved it, nor me, either, very likely," he added, with a short
+laugh. "I've roamed pretty much all over the world in that time, and
+I've come back as poor as I went away. What's that copy I used to
+write?&mdash;'A rolling stone gathers no moss.' Well, I'm the rolling stone.
+In all that time my Uncle Paul has been moored fast to his hearthstone,
+and been piling up gold, which he don't seem to have much use for. As
+far as I know, I'm his nearest relation, there's no reason why he
+shouldn't launch out a little for the benefit of the family."</p>
+
+<p>It will be gathered from the foregoing soliloquy that the newcomer was a
+nephew of Paul Nichols. After a not very creditable youth, he had gone
+to sea, and for eighteen years this was his first reappearance in his
+native town.</p>
+
+<p>He sat down in a chair, and stretched out his legs, with an air of being
+at home.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder what the old man will say when he sees me," he soliloquized.
+"Ten to one he won't know me. When we saw each other last I was a
+smooth-faced youth. Now I've got hair enough on my face, and the years
+have made, their mark upon me, I suspect. Where is he, I wonder, and how
+long have I got to wait for him? While I'm waiting, I'll take the
+liberty of looking in the closet, and seeing if he hasn't something to
+refresh the inner man. I didn't make much of a breakfast, and something
+hearty wouldn't come amiss."</p>
+
+<p>He rose from his chair, and opened the closet door. A small collection
+of crockery was visible, most of it cracked, but there was nothing
+eatable to be seen, except half a loaf of bread. This was from the
+baker, for the old man, after ineffectual efforts to make his own bread,
+had been compelled to abandon the attempt, and patronize the baker.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing but a half loaf, and that's dry enough," muttered the
+stranger. "That isn't very tempting. I can't say much for my uncle's
+fare, unless he has got something more attractive somewhere."</p>
+
+<p>But, search as carefully as he might, nothing better could be found, and
+his appetite was not sufficiently great to encourage an attack upon the
+stale loaf. He sat down, rather discontented, and resumed the current of
+his reflections.</p>
+
+<p>"My uncle must be more of a miser than I thought, if he stints himself
+to such fare as this. It's rather a bad lookout for me. He won't be very
+apt to look with favor on my application for a small loan from his
+treasure. What's that the boy said? He don't trust any banks, but keeps
+his money concealed in the earth. By Jove! It would be a stroke of luck
+if I could stumble on one of his hiding places! If I could do that while
+he was away, I would forego the pleasure of seeing him, and make off
+with what I could find. I'll look about me, and see if I can't find some
+of his hidden hoards."</p>
+
+<p>No sooner did the thought occur to him than he acted upon it.</p>
+
+<p>"Let me see," he reflected, "where is he most likely to hide his
+treasure? Old stockings are the favorites with old maids and widows, but
+I don't believe Uncle Paul has got any without holes in them. He's more
+likely to hide his gold under the hearth. That's a good idea, I'll try
+the hearth first."</p>
+
+<p>He kneeled down, and began to examine the bricks, critically, with a
+view of ascertaining whether any bore the marks of having been removed
+recently, for he judged correctly that a miser would wish, from time to
+time, to unearth his treasure for the pleasure of looking at it. But
+there was no indication of disturbance. The hearth bore a uniform
+appearance, and did not seem to have been tampered with.</p>
+
+<p>"That isn't the right spot," reflected the visitor. "Perhaps there's a
+plank in the floor that raises, or, still more likely, the gold is
+buried in the cellar. I've a great mind to go down there."</p>
+
+<p>He lit a candle, and went cautiously down the rickety staircase. But he
+had hardly reached the bottom of the stairs, when he caught the sound of
+a wagon entering the yard.</p>
+
+<p>"That must be my uncle," he said. "I'd better go up, and not let him
+catch me down here."</p>
+
+<p>He ascended the stairs, and re-entered the room just as the farmer
+opened the door and entered.</p>
+
+<p>On seeing a tall, bearded stranger, whom he did not recognize, standing
+before him in his own kitchen, with a lighted candle in his hand, Paul
+Nichols uttered a shrill cry of alarm, and ejaculated:</p>
+
+<p>"Thieves! Murder! Robbers!" in a quavering voice.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.<br /><br />
+THE UNWELCOME GUEST.</h3>
+
+<p>The stranger was in rather an awkward predicament. However, he betrayed
+neither embarrassment nor alarm. Blowing out the candle, he advanced to
+the table and set it down. This movement brought him nearer Paul
+Nichols, who, with the timidity natural to an old man, anticipated an
+immediate attack.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't kill me! Spare my life!" he exclaimed, hastily stepping back.</p>
+
+<p>"I see you don't know me, Uncle Paul?" said the intruder, familiarly.</p>
+
+<p>"Who are you that call me Uncle Paul?" asked the old man, somewhat
+reassured.</p>
+
+<p>"Benjamin Haley, your sister's son. Do you know me now?"</p>
+
+<p>"You Ben Haley!" exclaimed the old man, betraying surprise. "Why, you
+are old enough to be his father."</p>
+
+<p>"Remember, Uncle Paul, I am eighteen years older than when you saw me
+last. Time brings changes, you know. When I saw you last, you were a
+man in the prime of life, now you are a feeble old man."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you really Ben Haley?" asked the old man, doubtfully.</p>
+
+<p>"To be sure I am. I suppose I look to you more like a bearded savage.
+Well, I'm not responsible for my looks. Not finding you at home, I took
+the liberty of coming in on the score of relationship."</p>
+
+<p>"What, were you doing with that candle?" asked Paul, suspiciously.</p>
+
+<p>"I went down cellar with it."</p>
+
+<p>"Down cellar!" repeated his uncle, with a look of alarm which didn't
+escape his nephew. "What for?"</p>
+
+<p>"In search of something to eat. All I could find in the closet was a dry
+loaf, which doesn't look very appetizing."</p>
+
+<p>"There's nothing down cellar. Don't go there again," said the old man,
+still uneasy.</p>
+
+<p>His nephew looked at him shrewdly.</p>
+
+<p>"Ha, Uncle Paul! I've guessed your secret so quick," he said to himself.
+"Some of your money is hidden away in the cellar, I'm thinking."</p>
+
+<p>"Where do you keep your provisions, then?" he said aloud.</p>
+
+<p>"The loaf is all I have."</p>
+
+<p>"Come, Uncle Paul, you don't mean that. That's a scurvy welcome to give
+a nephew you haven't seen for eighteen years. I'm going to stay to
+dinner with you, and you must give me something better than that.
+Haven't you got any meat in the house?"</p>
+
+<p>"No."</p>
+
+<p>Just then Ben Haley, looking from the window, saw some chickens in the
+yard. His eye lighted up at the discovery.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, there is a nice fat chicken," he said. "We'll have a chicken
+dinner. Shall it be roast or boiled?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, no," said the old farmer, hastily. "I can't spare them. They'll
+bring a good price in the market by and by."</p>
+
+<p>"Can't help it, Uncle Paul. Charity begins at home. Excuse me a minute,
+I'll be back directly."</p>
+
+<p>He strode to the door and out into the yard. Then, after a little
+maneuvering, he caught a chicken, and going to the block, seized the ax,
+and soon decapitated it.</p>
+
+<p>"What have you done?" said Paul, ruefully, for the old man had followed
+his nephew, and was looking on in a very uncomfortable frame of mind.</p>
+
+<p>"Taken the first step toward a good dinner," said the other, coolly. "I
+am not sure but we shall want two."</p>
+
+<p>"No, no!" said Paul, hastily. "I haven't got much appetite."</p>
+
+<p>"Then perhaps we can make it do. I'll just get it ready, and cook it
+myself. I've knocked about in all sorts of places, and it won't be the
+first time I've served as cook. I've traveled some since I saw you
+last."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you?" said the old man, who seemed more interested in the untimely
+death of the pullet than in his nephew's adventures.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I've been everywhere. I spent a year in Australia at the gold
+diggings."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you find any?" asked his uncle, for the first time betraying
+interest.</p>
+
+<p>"Some, but I didn't bring away any."</p>
+
+<p>Ben Haley meanwhile was rapidly stripping the chicken of its feathers.
+When he finished, he said, "Now tell me where you keep your vegetables,
+Uncle Paul?"</p>
+
+<p>"They're in the corn barn. You can't get in. It's locked."</p>
+
+<p>"Where's the key?"</p>
+
+<p>"Lost."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll get in, never fear," said the intruder, and he led the way to the
+corn barn, his uncle unwillingly following and protesting that it would
+be quite impossible to enter.</p>
+
+<p>Reaching the building, he stepped back and was about to kick open the
+door, when old Paul hurriedly interposed, saying, "No, no, I've found
+the key."</p>
+
+<p>His nephew took it from his hand, and unlocking the door, brought out a
+liberal supply of potatoes, beets and squashes.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll have a good dinner, after all," he said. "You don't half know how
+to live, Uncle Paul. You need me here. You've got plenty around you, but
+you don't know how to use it."</p>
+
+<p>The free and easy manner in which his nephew conducted himself was
+peculiarly annoying and exasperating to the old man, but as often as he
+was impelled to speak, the sight of his nephew's resolute face and
+vigorous frame, which he found it difficult to connect with his
+recollections of young Ben, terrified him into silence, and he contented
+himself with following his nephew around uneasily with looks of
+suspicion.</p>
+
+<p>When the dinner was prepared both sat down to partake of it, but Ben
+quietly, and, as a matter of course, assumed the place of host and
+carved the fowl. Notwithstanding the shock which his economical notions
+had received, the farmer ate with appetite the best meal of which he had
+partaken for a long time. Ben had not vaunted too highly his skill as a
+cook. Wherever he had acquired it, he evidently understood the
+preparation of such a dinner as now lay before them.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Uncle Paul, if we only had a mug of cider to wash down the
+dinner. Haven't you got some somewhere?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not a drop."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you think I might find some stored away in the cellar, for
+instance?" asked Ben, fixing his glance upon his uncle's face.</p>
+
+<p>"No, no; didn't I tell you I hadn't got any?" returned Paul Nichols,
+with petulance and alarm.</p>
+
+<p>"I mean to see what else you have in the cellar," said Ben, to himself,
+"before I leave this place. There's a reason for that pale face of
+yours." But he only said aloud, "Well, if you haven't got any we must do
+without it. There's a little more of the chicken left. As you don't want
+it I'll appropriate it. Nothing like clearing up things. Come, this is
+rather better than dry bread, isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's very expensive," said the miser, ruefully.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you can afford it, Uncle Paul&mdash;there's a comfort in that. I
+suppose you are pretty rich, eh?"</p>
+
+<p>"Rich!" repeated Paul, in dismay. "What put such a thing into your
+head?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not your style of living, you may be sure of that."</p>
+
+<p>"I am poor, Benjamin. You mustn't think otherwise. I live as well as I
+can afford."</p>
+
+<p>"Then what have you been doing with your savings all these years?"</p>
+
+<p>"My savings! It has taken all I had to live. There isn't any money to be
+made in farming. It's hard work and poor pay."</p>
+
+<p>"You used to support your family comfortably when you had one."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't&mdash;don't speak of them. I can't bear it," said Paul, his
+countenance changing. "When I had them I was happy."</p>
+
+<p>"And now you're not. Well, I don't wonder at it. It must be dismal
+enough living alone. You need somebody with you. I am your nephew and
+nearest relation. I feel that it is my duty to stay with you."</p>
+
+<p>The expression of dismay which overspread the old man's face at this
+declaration was ludicrous.</p>
+
+<p>"You stay with me?" he repeated, in a tone of alarm.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, for a time at least. We'll be company for each other, won't we,
+Uncle Paul?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, no; there's no room."</p>
+
+<p>"No room? You don't mean to say that you need the whole house?"</p>
+
+<p>"I mean I cannot afford to have you here. Besides I'm used to being
+alone. I prefer it."</p>
+
+<p>"That's complimentary, at any rate. You prefer to be alone rather than
+to have me with you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't be offended, Benjamin. I've been alone so many years. Besides
+you'd feel dull here. You wouldn't like it."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll try it and see. What room are you going to give me?"</p>
+
+<p>"You'd better go away."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, uncle, we'll talk about that to-morrow. You're very considerate
+in fearing it will be dull for me, but I've roamed about the world so
+much that I shall be glad of a little dullness. So it's all settled. And
+now, Uncle Paul, if you don't object I'll take out my pipe and have a
+smoke. I always smoke after dinner."</p>
+
+<p>He lit his pipe, and throwing himself back in a chair, began to puff
+away leisurely, his uncle surveying him with fear and embarrassment. Why
+should his graceless nephew turn up, after so many years, in the form of
+this big, broad-shouldered, heavy-bearded stranger, only to annoy him,
+and thrust his unwelcome company upon him?</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.<br /><br />
+UNCLE AND NEPHEW.</h3>
+
+<p>Paul Nichols looked forward with dismay to the prospect of having his
+nephew remain with him as a guest. Like all misers, he had a distrust of
+every one, and the present appearance of his nephew only confirmed the
+impressions he still retained of his earlier bad conduct. He had all the
+will to turn him out of his house, but Ben was vastly his superior in
+size and strength, and he did not dare to attempt it.</p>
+
+<p>"He wants to rob, perhaps to murder me," thought Paul, surveying his big
+nephew with a troubled gaze.</p>
+
+<p>His apprehensions were such that he even meditated offering to pay the
+intruder's board for a week at the tavern, if he would leave him in
+peace by himself. But the reluctance to part with his money finally
+prevented such a proposal being made.</p>
+
+<p>In the afternoon the old man stayed around home. He did not dare to
+leave it lest Ben should take a fancy to search the house, and come upon
+some of his secret hoards, for people were right in reporting that he
+hid his money.</p>
+
+<p>At last evening came. With visible discomposure the old man showed Ben
+to a room.</p>
+
+<p>"You can sleep there," he said, pointing to a cot bed in the corner of
+the room.</p>
+
+<p>"All right, uncle. Good-night!"</p>
+
+<p>"Good-night!" said Paul Nichols.</p>
+
+<p>He went out and closed the door behind him. He not only closed it, but
+locked it, having secretly hidden the key in his pocket. He chuckled
+softly to himself as he went downstairs. His nephew was securely
+disposed of for the night, being fastened in his chamber. But if he
+expected Ben Haley quietly to submit to this incarceration he was
+entirely mistaken in that individual. The latter heard the key turn in
+the lock, and comprehended at once his uncle's stratagem. Instead of
+being angry, he was amused.</p>
+
+<p>"So my simple-minded uncle thinks he has drawn my teeth, does he? I'll
+give him a scare."</p>
+
+<p>He began to jump up and down on the chamber floor in his heavy boots,
+which, as the floor was uncarpeted, made a terrible noise. The old man
+in the room below, just congratulating himself on his cunning move,
+grew pale as he listened. He supposed his nephew to be in a furious
+passion, and apprehensions of personal violence disturbed him. Still he
+reflected that he would be unable to get out, and in the morning he
+could go for the constable. But he was interrupted by a different noise.
+Ben had drawn off his boots, and was firing them one after the other at
+the door.</p>
+
+<p>The noise became so intolerable, that Paul was compelled to ascend the
+stairs, trembling with fear.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter?" he inquired at the door, in a quavering voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Open the door," returned Ben.</p>
+
+<p>His uncle reluctantly inserted the key in the lock and opening it
+presented a pale, scared face in the doorway. His nephew, with his coat
+stripped off, was sitting on the side of the bed.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter?" asked Paul.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing, only you locked the door by mistake," said Ben, coolly.</p>
+
+<p>"What made you make such a noise?" demanded Paul.</p>
+
+<p>"To call you up. There was no bell in the room, so that was the only way
+I had of doing it. What made you lock me in?"</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't think," stammered the old man.</p>
+
+<p>"Just what I supposed. To guard against your making that mistake again,
+let me have the key."</p>
+
+<p>"I'd rather keep it, if it's the same to you," said Paul, in alarm.</p>
+
+<p>"But it isn't the same to me. You see, Uncle Paul, you are growing old
+and forgetful, and might lock me in again. That would not be pleasant,
+you know, especially if the house should catch fire in the night."</p>
+
+<p>"What!" exclaimed Paul, terror-stricken, half suspecting his nephew
+contemplated turning incendiary.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think it will, mind, but it's best to be prepared, so give me
+the key."</p>
+
+<p>The old man feebly protested, but ended in giving up the key to his
+nephew.</p>
+
+<p>"There, that's all right. Now I'll turn in. Good-night."</p>
+
+<p>"Good-night," responded Paul Nichols, and left the chamber, feeling more
+alarmed than ever. He was beginning to be more afraid and more
+distrustful of his nephew than ever. What if the latter should light on
+some of his various hiding places for money? Why, in that very chamber
+he had a hundred dollars in gold hidden behind the plastering. He
+groaned in spirit as he thought of it, and determined to tell his nephew
+the next morning that he must find another home, as he couldn't and
+wouldn't consent to his remaining longer.</p>
+
+<p>But when the morning came he found the task a difficult one to enter
+upon. Finally, after breakfast, which consisted of eggs and toast, Ben
+Haley having ransacked the premises for eggs, which the old man intended
+for the market, Paul said, "Benjamin, you must not be offended, but I
+have lived alone for years, and I cannot invite you to stay longer."</p>
+
+<p>"Where shall I go, uncle?" demanded Ben, taking out his pipe coolly, and
+lighting it.</p>
+
+<p>"There's a tavern in the village."</p>
+
+<p>"Is there? That won't do me any good."</p>
+
+<p>"You'll be better off there than here. They set a very good table,
+and&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"You don't," said Ben, finishing the sentence. "I know that, but then,
+uncle, I have two reasons for preferring to stay here. The first is,
+that I may enjoy the society of my only living relation; the second is,
+that I have not money enough to pay my board at the hotel."</p>
+
+<p>He leaned back, and began to puff leisurely at his pipe, as if this
+settled the matter.</p>
+
+<p>"If you have no money, why do you come to me?" demanded Paul, angrily.
+"Do you expect me to support you?"</p>
+
+<p>"You wouldn't turn out your sister's son, would you, Uncle Paul?"</p>
+
+<p>"You must earn your own living. I can't support you in idleness."</p>
+
+<p>"You needn't; I'll work for you. Let me see, I'll do the cooking."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want you here," said the old man, desperately. "Why do you come
+to disturb me, after so many years?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'll go away on one condition," said Ben Haley.</p>
+
+<p>"What's that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Give me, or lend me&mdash;I don't care which&mdash;a hundred dollars."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think I'm made of money?" asked Paul, fear and anger struggling
+for the mastery.</p>
+
+<p>"I think you can spare me a hundred dollars."</p>
+
+<p>"Go away! You are a bad man. You were a wild, bad boy, and you are no
+better now."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Uncle Paul, I think you're rather too hard upon me. Just consider
+that I am your nephew. What will people say if you turn me out of
+doors?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't care what they say. I can't have you here."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sorry I can't oblige you by going, Uncle Paul, but I've got a
+headache this morning, and don't feel like stirring. Let me stay with
+you a day or two, and then I may go."</p>
+
+<p>Vain were all the old man's expostulations. His nephew sat obstinately
+smoking, and refused to move.</p>
+
+<p>"Come out to the barn with me while I milk," said Paul, at length, not
+daring to leave his nephew by himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, but I'm well off as I am. I've got a headache, and I'd
+rather stay here."</p>
+
+<p>Milking couldn't longer be deferred. But for the stranger's presence it
+would have been attended to two hours earlier. Groaning in spirit, and
+with many forebodings, Paul went out to the barn, and in due time
+returned with his foaming pails. There sat his nephew in the old place,
+apparently not having stirred. Possibly he didn't mean mischief after
+all, Paul reflected. At any rate, he must leave him again, while he
+released the cows from their stalls, and drove them to pasture. He tried
+to obtain his nephew's companionship, but in vain.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not interested in cows, uncle," he said. "I'll be here when you
+come back."</p>
+
+<p>With a sigh his uncle left the house, only half reassured. That he had
+reason for his distrust was proved by Ben Haley's movements. He lighted
+a candle, and going down to the cellar, first securing a pickax, struck into
+the earthen flooring, and began to work energetically.</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure some of the old man's money is here," he said to himself. "I
+must work fast, or he'll catch me at it."</p>
+
+<p>Half an hour later Paul Nichols re-entered the house. He looked for his
+nephew, but his seat was vacant. He thought he heard a dull thud in the
+cellar beneath. He hurried to the staircase, and tottered down. Ben had
+come upon a tin quart-measure partly filled with gold coins, and was
+stooping over, transferring them to his pocket.</p>
+
+<p>With a hoarse cry like that of an animal deprived of its young, his
+uncle sprang upon him, and fastened his claw-like nails in the face of
+his burly nephew.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.<br /><br />
+ROBERT COMES TO THE RESCUE.</h3>
+
+<p>The attack was so sudden, and the old man's desperation so reinforced
+his feeble strength, that Ben Haley was thrown forward, and the measure
+of gold coins fell from his hand. But he quickly recovered himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Let me alone," he said, sternly, forcibly removing his uncle's hands
+from his face, but not before the claw-like nails had drawn blood. "Let
+me alone, if you know what is best for yourself."</p>
+
+<p>"You're a thief!" screamed Paul. "You shall go to jail for this."</p>
+
+<p>"Shall I?" asked Ben, his face darkening and his tone full of menace.
+"Who is going to send me there?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am," answered Paul. "I'll have you arrested."</p>
+
+<p>"Look here, Uncle Paul," said Ben, confining the old man's arms to his
+side, "it's time we had a little talk together. You'd better not do as
+you say."</p>
+
+<p>"You're a thief! The jail is the place for thieves."</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't the place for me, and I'm not going there. Now let us come to
+an understanding. You are rich and I am poor."</p>
+
+<p>"Rich!" repeated Paul.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; at any rate, you have got this farm, and more money hidden away
+than you will ever use. I am poor. You can spare me this money here as
+well as not."</p>
+
+<p>"It is all I have."</p>
+
+<p>"I know better than that. You have plenty more, but I will be satisfied
+with this. Remember, I am your sister's son."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't care if you are," said the old man, doggedly.</p>
+
+<p>"And you owe me some help. You'll never miss it. Now make up your mind
+to give me this money, and I'll go away and leave you in peace."</p>
+
+<p>"Never!" exclaimed Paul, struggling hard to free himself.</p>
+
+<p>"You won't!"</p>
+
+<p>His uncle repeated the emphatic refusal.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I shall have to put it out of your power to carry out your
+threat."</p>
+
+<p>He took his uncle up in his strong arms, and moved toward the stairs.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you going to murder me?" asked Paul, in mortal fear.</p>
+
+<p>"You will find out what I am going to do," said Ben, grimly.</p>
+
+<p>He carried his uncle upstairs, and, possessing himself of a clothesline
+in one corner of the kitchen, proceeded to tie him hand and foot,
+despite his feeble opposition.</p>
+
+<p>"There," said he, when his uncle lay before him utterly helpless, "I
+think that disposes of you for a while. Now for the gold."</p>
+
+<p>Leaving him on the floor, he again descended the cellar stairs, and
+began to gather up the gold coins, which had been scattered about the
+floor at the time of Paul's unexpected attack.</p>
+
+<p>The old man groaned in spirit as he found himself about to be robbed,
+and utterly helpless to resist the outrage. But help was near at hand,
+though he knew it not. Robert Rushton had thought more than once of his
+unknown passenger of the day before, and the particular inquiries he
+made concerning Paul Nichols and his money. Ben Haley had impressed him
+far from favorably, and the more he called to mind his appearance, the
+more he feared that he meditated some dishonest designs upon Paul. So
+the next morning, in order to satisfy his mind that all was right, he
+rowed across to the same place where he had landed Ben, and fastening
+his boat, went up to the farmhouse. He reached it just as Ben, having
+secured the old man, had gone back into the cellar to gather up the
+gold.</p>
+
+<p>Robert looked into the window, and, to his surprise, saw the old farmer
+lying bound hand and foot. He quickly leaped in, and asked:</p>
+
+<p>"What is the matter? Who has done this?"</p>
+
+<p>"Hush!" said the old man, "he'll hear you."</p>
+
+<p>"Who do you mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"My nephew."</p>
+
+<p>"Where is he?"</p>
+
+<p>"Down cellar. He's tied me here, and is stealing all my gold."</p>
+
+<p>"What shall I do? Can I help you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Cut the ropes first."</p>
+
+<p>Robert drew a jackknife from his pocket, and did as he was bidden.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," said Paul, rising with a sigh of relief from his constrained
+position, "while I bolt the cellar door, you go upstairs, and in the
+closet of the room over this you will find a gun. It is loaded. Bring it
+down."</p>
+
+<p>Robert hurried upstairs, and quickly returned with the weapon.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know how to fire a gun?" asked Paul.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"Then keep it. For I am nervous, and my hand trembles. If he breaks
+through the door, fire."</p>
+
+<p>Ben Haley would have been up before this, but it occurred to him to
+explore other parts of the cellar, that he might carry away as much
+booty as possible. He had rendered himself amenable to the law already,
+and he might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb, so he argued. He was
+so busily occupied that he did not hear the noise of Robert's entrance
+into the room above, or he would at once have gone upstairs. In
+consequence of the delay his uncle and Robert had time to concert
+measures for opposing him.</p>
+
+<p>Finally, not succeeding in finding more gold, he pocketed what he had
+found, and went up the cellar stairs. He attempted to open the door,
+when, to his great surprise, he found that it resisted his efforts.</p>
+
+<p>"What makes the door stick so?" he muttered, not suspecting the true
+state of the case. But he was quickly enlightened.</p>
+
+<p>"You can't come up!" exclaimed the old man, in triumph. "I've bolted the
+door."</p>
+
+<p>"How did he get free? He must have untied the knots," thought Ben. "Does
+the old fool think he is going to keep me down here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Unlock the door," he shouted, in a loud, stern voice, "or it will be
+the worse for you."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you got the gold with you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"Then go down and leave it where you found it, and I will let you come
+up."</p>
+
+<p>"You're a fool," was the reply. "Do you think I am a child? Open the
+door, or I will burst it open with my foot."</p>
+
+<p>"You'd better not," said Paul, whose courage had returned with the
+presence of Robert and the possession of the gun.</p>
+
+<p>"Why not? What are you going to do about it?" asked Ben, derisively.</p>
+
+<p>"I've got help. You have more than one to contend with."</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder if he has any one with him?" thought Ben. "I believe the old
+fool is only trying to deceive me. At any rate, help or no help, it is
+time I were out of this hole."</p>
+
+<p>"If you don't open the door before I count three," he said, aloud, "I'll
+burst it open."</p>
+
+<p>"What shall I do," asked Robert, in a low voice, "if he comes out?"</p>
+
+<p>"If he tries to get away with the gold, fire!" said the old man.</p>
+
+<p>Robert determined only to inflict a wound. The idea of taking a human
+life, even under such circumstances, was one that made him shudder. He
+felt that gold was not to be set against life.</p>
+
+<p>"One&mdash;two&mdash;three!" counted Ben, deliberately.</p>
+
+<p>The door remaining locked, he drew back and kicked the door powerfully.
+Had he been on even ground, it would have yielded to the blow, but
+kicking from the stair beneath, placed him at a disadvantage.
+Nevertheless the door shook and trembled beneath the force of the attack
+made upon it.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, will you unlock it now?" he demanded, pausing.</p>
+
+<p>"No," said the old man, "not unless you carry back the gold."</p>
+
+<p>"I won't do that. I have had too much trouble to get it. But if you
+don't unlock the door at once I may be tempted to forget that you are my
+uncle."</p>
+
+<p>"I should like to forget that you are my nephew," said the old man.</p>
+
+<p>"The old fool has mustered up some courage," thought Ben. "I'll soon
+have him whining for mercy."</p>
+
+<p>He made a fresh attack upon the door. This time he did not desist until
+he had broken through the panel. Then with the whole force he could
+command he threw himself against the upper part of the door, and it came
+crashing into the kitchen. Ben Haley leaped through the opening and
+confronted his uncle, who receded in alarm. The sight of the burly form
+of his nephew, and his stern and menacing countenance, once more made
+him quail.</p>
+
+<p>Ben Haley looked around him, and his eyes lighted upon Robert Rushton
+standing beside the door with the gun in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>He burst into a derisive laugh, and turning to his uncle, said: "So this
+is the help you were talking about. He's only a baby. I could twist him
+around my finger. Just lay down that gun, boy! It isn't meant for
+children like you."</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.<br /><br />
+ESCAPE.</h3>
+
+<p>Though he had a weapon in his hand, many boys in Robert's situation
+would have been unnerved. He was a mere boy, though strong of his age.
+Opposed to him was a tall, strong man, of desperate character, fully
+resolved to carry out his dishonest purpose, and not likely to shrink
+from violence, to which he was probably only too well accustomed. From
+the old man he was not likely to obtain assistance, for already Paul's
+courage had begun to dwindle, and he regarded his nephew with a scared
+look.</p>
+
+<p>"Lay down that gun, boy!" repeated Ben Haley. "I know you. You're the
+boy that rowed me across the river. You can row pretty well, but you're
+not quite a match for me even at that."</p>
+
+<p>"This gun makes me even with you," said Robert, returning his look
+unflinchingly.</p>
+
+<p>"Does it? Then all I can say is, that when you lose it you'll be in a
+bad pickle. Lay it down instantly."</p>
+
+<p>"Then lay down the gold you have in your pockets," said our hero, still
+pointing his gun at Haley.</p>
+
+<p>"Good boy! Brave boy!" said the old man, approvingly.</p>
+
+<p>"Look here, boy," said Haley, in quick, stern tones, "I've had enough of
+this nonsense. If you don't put down that gun in double quick time,
+you'll repent it. One word&mdash;yes or no!"</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Robert, resolutely.</p>
+
+<p>No sooner had he uttered the monosyllable than Haley sprang toward him
+with the design of wresting the gun from him. But Robert had his finger
+upon the trigger, and fired. The bullet entered the shoulder of the
+ruffian, but in the excitement of the moment he only knew that he was
+hit, but this incensed him. In spite of the wound he seized the musket
+and forcibly wrested it from our hero. He raised it in both hands and
+would probably in his blind fury have killed him on the spot, but for
+the sudden opening of the outer door, and entrance of a neighboring
+farmer, who felt sufficiently intimate to enter without knocking. This
+changed Haley's intention. Feeling that the odds were against him, he
+sprang through the window, gun in hand, and ran with rapid strides
+towards the river.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter?" demanded the new arrival, surveying the scene
+before him in astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>"He's gone off with my gold," exclaimed Paul Nichols, recovering from
+his stupefaction. "Run after him, catch him!"</p>
+
+<p>"Who is it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ben Haley."</p>
+
+<p>"What, your nephew! I thought he was dead long ago."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish he had been," said Paul, wringing his hands. "He's taken all my
+money&mdash;I shall die in the poorhouse."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't understand how it all happened," said the neighbor, looking to
+Robert for an explanation. "Who fired the gun?"</p>
+
+<p>"I did," said our hero.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you hit him?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think so. I saw blood on his shirt. I must have hit him in the
+shoulder."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't stop to talk," said Paul, impatiently. "Go after him and get back
+the gold."</p>
+
+<p>"We can't do much," said the neighbor, evidently not very anxious to
+come into conflict with such a bold ruffian. "He has the gun with him."</p>
+
+<p>"What made you let him have it?" asked Paul.</p>
+
+<p>"I couldn't help it," said Robert. "But he can't fire it. It is
+unloaded, and I don't think he has any ammunition with him."</p>
+
+<p>"To be sure," said Paul, eagerly. "You see there's no danger. Go after
+him, both of you, He can't hurt ye."</p>
+
+<p>Somewhat reassured the neighbor followed Robert, who at once started in
+pursuit of the escaped burglar. He was still in sight, though he had
+improved the time consumed in the foregoing colloquy, and was already
+near the river bank. On he sped, bent on making good his escape with the
+money he had dishonestly acquired. One doubt was in his mind. Should he
+find a boat? If not, the river would prove an insuperable obstacle, and
+he would be compelled to turn and change the direction of his flight.
+Looking over his shoulder he saw Robert and the farmer on his track, and
+he clutched his gun the more firmly.</p>
+
+<p>"They'd better not touch me," he said to himself. "If I can't fire the
+gun I can brain either or both with it."</p>
+
+<p>Thoughts of crossing the stream by swimming occurred to him. A sailor by
+profession, he was an expert swimmer, and the river was not wide enough
+to daunt him. But his pockets were filled with the gold he had stolen,
+and gold is well known to be the heaviest of all the metals. But
+nevertheless he could not leave it behind since it was for this he had
+incurred his present peril. In this uncertainty he reached the bank of
+the river, when to his surprise and joy his eye rested upon Robert's
+boat.</p>
+
+<p>"The boy's boat!" he exclaimed, in exultation, "by all that's lucky! I
+will take the liberty of borrowing it without leave."</p>
+
+<p>He sprang in, and seizing one of the oars, pushed out into the stream,
+first drawing up the anchor. When Robert and his companion reached the
+shore he was already floating at a safe distance.</p>
+
+<p>"He's got my boat!" exclaimed our hero, in disappointment.</p>
+
+<p>"So he has!" ejaculated the other.</p>
+
+<p>"You're a little too late!" shouted Ben Haley, with a sneer. "Just carry
+back my compliments to the old fool yonder and tell him I left in too
+great a hurry to give him my note for the gold he kindly lent me. I'll
+attend to it when I get ready."</p>
+
+<p>He had hitherto sculled the boat. Now he took the other oar and
+commenced rowing. But here the wound, of which he had at first been
+scarcely conscious, began to be felt, and the first vigorous stroke
+brought a sharp twinge, besides increasing the flow of blood. His
+natural ferocity was stimulated by his unpleasant discovery, and he
+shook his fist menacingly at Robert, from whom he had received the
+wound.</p>
+
+<p>"There's a reckoning coming betwixt you and me, young one!" he cried,
+"and it'll be a heavy one. Ben Haley don't forget that sort of debt. The
+time'll come when he'll pay it back with interest. It mayn't come for
+years, but it'll come at last, you may be sure of that."</p>
+
+<p>Finding that he could not row on account of his wound, he rose to his
+feet, and sculled the boat across as well as he could with one hand.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I had another boat," said Robert. "We could soon overtake him."</p>
+
+<p>"Better let him go," said the neighbor. "He was always a bad one, that
+Ben Haley. I couldn't begin to tell you all the bad things he did when
+he was a boy. He was a regular dare-devil. You must look out for him, or
+he'll do you a mischief some time, to pay for that wound."</p>
+
+<p>"He brought it on himself," said Robert "I gave him warning."</p>
+
+<p>He went back to the farmhouse to tell Paul of his nephew's escape. He
+was brave and bold, but the malignant glance with which Ben Haley
+uttered his menace, gave him a vague sense of discomfort.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.<br /><br />
+REVENGE.</h3>
+
+<p>In spite of his wounded arm Ben Haley succeeded in propelling the boat
+to the opposite shore. The blood was steadily, though slowly, flowing
+from his wound, and had already stained his shirt red for a considerable
+space. In the excitement of first receiving it he had not felt the pain;
+now, however, the wound began to pain him, and, as might be expected,
+his feeling of animosity toward our hero was not diminished.</p>
+
+<p>"That cursed boy!" he muttered, between his teeth. "I wish I had had
+time to give him one blow&mdash;he wouldn't have wanted another. I hope the
+wound isn't serious&mdash;if it is, I may have paid dear for the gold."</p>
+
+<p>Still, the thought of the gold in his pockets afforded some
+satisfaction. He had been penniless; now he was the possessor of&mdash;as
+near as he could estimate, for he had not had time to count&mdash;five
+hundred dollars in gold. That was more than he had ever possessed before
+at one time, and would enable him to live at ease for a while.</p>
+
+<p>On reaching the shore he was about to leave the boat to its fate, when
+he espied a boy standing at a little distance, with a hatchet in his
+hand. This gave him an idea.</p>
+
+<p>"Come here, boy," he said.</p>
+
+<p>The boy came forward, and examined the stranger with curiosity.</p>
+
+<p>"Is that your hatchet?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir. It belongs to my father."</p>
+
+<p>"Would you mind selling it to me if I will give you money enough to buy
+a new one?"</p>
+
+<p>"This is an old hatchet."</p>
+
+<p>"It will suit me just as well, and I haven't time to buy another. Would
+your father sell it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir; I guess so."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well. What will a new one cost you?"</p>
+
+<p>The boy named the price.</p>
+
+<p>"Here is the money, and twenty-five cents more to pay you for your
+trouble in going to the store."</p>
+
+<p>The boy pocketed the money with satisfaction. He was a farmer's son, and
+seldom had any money in his possession. He already had twenty-five cents
+saved up toward the purchase of a junior ball, and the stranger's
+gratuity would just make up the sum necessary to secure it. He was in a
+hurry to make the purchase, and, accordingly, no sooner had he received
+the money than he started at once for the village store. His departure
+was satisfactory to Ben Haley, who now had nothing to prevent his
+carrying out his plans.</p>
+
+<p>"I wanted to be revenged on the boy, and now I know how," he said. "I'll
+make some trouble for him with this hatchet."</p>
+
+<p>He drew the boat up and fastened it. Then he deliberately proceeded to
+cut away at the bottom with his newly-acquired hatchet. He had a strong
+arm, and his blows were made more effective by triumphant malice. The
+boat he supposed to belong to Robert, and he was determined to spoil it.</p>
+
+<p>He hacked away with such energy that soon there was a large hole in the
+bottom of the boat. Not content with inflicting this damage, he cut it
+in various other places, until it presented an appearance very different
+from the neat, stanch boat of which Will Paine had been so proud. At
+length Ben stopped, and contemplated the ruin he had wrought with
+malicious satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>"That's the first instalment in my revenge," he said. "I should like to
+see my young ferryman's face when he sees his boat again. It'll cost
+him more than he'll ever get from my miserly uncle to repair it. It
+serves him right for meddling with matters that don't concern him. And
+now I must be getting away, for my affectionate uncle will soon be
+raising a hue and cry after me if I'm not very much mistaken."</p>
+
+<p>He would like to have gone at once to obtain medical assistance for his
+wound, but to go to the village doctor would be dangerous. He must wait
+till he had got out of the town limits, and the farther away the better.
+He knew when the train would start, and made his way across the fields
+to the station, arriving just in time to catch it. First, however, he
+bound a handkerchief round his shoulder to arrest the flow of blood.</p>
+
+<p>When he reached the station, and was purchasing his ticket, the
+station-master noticed the blood upon his shirt.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you hurt, sir?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, a little," said Ben Haley.</p>
+
+<p>"How did it happen?" inquired the other, with Yankee inquisitiveness.</p>
+
+<p>"I was out hunting," said Ben, carelessly, "with a friend who wasn't
+much used to firearms. In swinging his gun round, it accidentally went
+off, and I got shot through the shoulder."</p>
+
+<p>"That's bad," said the station-master, in a tone of sympathy. "You'd
+better go round to the doctor's, and have it attended to."</p>
+
+<p>"I would," said Ben, "but I am called away by business of the greatest
+importance. I can get along for a few hours, and then I'll have a doctor
+look at it. How soon will the train be here?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's coming now. Don't you hear it?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's the train I must take. You see I couldn't wait long enough for
+the doctor," added Ben, anxious to account satisfactorily for his
+inattention to the medical assistance of which he stood in need.</p>
+
+<p>When he was fairly on board the cars, and the train was under way, he
+felt considerably relieved. He was speeding fast away from the man he
+had robbed, and who was interested in his capture, and in a few days he
+might be at sea, able to snap his fingers at his miserly uncle and the
+boy whom he determined some day to meet and settle scores with.</p>
+
+<p>From one enemy of Robert the transition is brief and natural to another.
+At this very moment Halbert Davis was sauntering idly and discontentedly
+through the streets of the village. He was the son of a rich man, or of
+one whom most persons, his own family included, supposed to be rich; but
+this consciousness, though it made him proud, by no means made him
+happy. He had that morning at the breakfast table asked his father to
+give him a boat like Will Paine's, but Mr. Davis had answered by a
+decided refusal.</p>
+
+<p>"You don't need any boat," he said, sharply.</p>
+
+<p>"It wouldn't cost very much," pleaded Halbert.</p>
+
+<p>"How much do you suppose?"</p>
+
+<p>"Will Paine told me his father paid fifty dollars for his."</p>
+
+<p>"Why don't you borrow it sometimes?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can't borrow it. Will started a day or two since for boarding
+school."</p>
+
+<p>"Better still. I will hire it for you while he is away."</p>
+
+<p>"I thought of it myself," said Halbert, "but just before he went away
+Will lent it to the factory boy," sneering as he uttered the last two
+words.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean Robert Rushton?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"That's only a boy's arrangement. I will see Mr. Paine, and propose to
+pay him for the use of the boat, and I presume he will be willing to
+accede to my terms."</p>
+
+<p>"When will you see him?" asked Halbert, hopefully.</p>
+
+<p>"I will try to see him in the course of the day."</p>
+
+<p>It turned out, however, that there was no need of calling on Mr. Paine,
+for five minutes later, having some business with Mr. Davis, he rang
+the bell, and was ushered into the breakfast-room.</p>
+
+<p>"Excuse my calling early," he said, "but I wished to see you about&mdash;&mdash;"
+and here he stated his business, in which my readers will feel no
+interest. When that was over, Mr. Davis introduced the subject of the
+boat, and made the offer referred to.</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry to refuse," said Mr. Paine, "but my son, before going away,
+passed his promise to Robert Rushton that he should have it during his
+absence."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you hold yourself bound by such a promise?" inquired Mrs. Davis,
+with a disagreeable smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly," said the lawyer, gravely. "Robert is a valued friend of my
+son's, and I respect boyish friendship. I remember very well my own
+boyhood, and I had some strong friendships at that time."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see what your son can find to like in Robert Rushton," said
+Mrs. Davis, with something of Halbert's manner. "I think him a very
+disagreeable and impertinent boy."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Paine did not admire Mrs. Davis, and was not likely to be influenced
+by her prejudices. Without inquiry, therefore, into the cause of her
+unfavorable opinion, he said, "I have formed quite a different opinion
+of Robert. I am persuaded that you do him injustice."</p>
+
+<p>"He attacked Halbert ferociously the other day," said Mrs. Davis,
+determined to impart the information whether asked or not. "He has an
+ungovernable temper."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Paine glanced shrewdly at Halbert, of whose arrogant and quarrelsome
+disposition he had heard from his own son, and replied, "I make it a
+point not to interfere in boys' quarrels. William speaks very highly of
+Robert, and it affords him great satisfaction, I know, to leave the boat
+in his charge."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Davis saw that there was no use in pursuing the subject, and it
+dropped.</p>
+
+<p>After the lawyer had gone Halbert made his petition anew, but without
+satisfactory results. The fact was, Mr. Davis had heard unfavorable
+reports from New York the day previous respecting a stock in which he
+had an interest, and it was not a favorable moment to prefer a request
+involving the outlay of money.</p>
+
+<p>It was this refusal which made Halbert discontented and unhappy. The
+factory boy, as he sneeringly called him, could have a boat, while he, a
+gentleman's son, was forced to go without one. Of course, he would not
+stoop to ask the loan of the boat, however much he wanted it, from a boy
+he disliked so much as Robert. He wondered whether Robert were out this
+morning. So, unconsciously, his steps led him to the shore of the river,
+where he knew the boat was generally kept. He cast his eye toward it,
+when what was his surprise to find the object of his desire half full of
+water, with a large hole in the bottom and defaced in other respects.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.<br /><br />
+TWO UNSATISFACTORY INTERVIEWS.</h3>
+
+<p>Halbert's first emotion was surprise, his second was gratification. His
+rival could no longer enjoy the boat which he had envied him. Not only
+that, but he would get into trouble with Mr. Paine on account of the
+damage which it had received. Being under his care, it was his duty to
+keep it in good condition.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder how it happened?" thought Halbert. "Won't the young beggar be
+in a precious scrape when it's found out? Most likely he won't let Mr.
+Paine know."</p>
+
+<p>In this thought he judged Robert by himself. Straightway the plan
+suggested itself of going to the lawyer himself and informing him of
+Robert's delinquency. It would be a very agreeable way of taking revenge
+him. The plan so pleased him that he at once directed his steps toward
+Mr. Paine's office. On the way he overtook Hester Paine, the young lady
+on whose account he was chiefly incensed against Robert. Being as
+desirous as ever of standing in the young lady's good graces, he
+hurriedly advanced to her side, and lifting his hat with an air of
+ceremonious politeness, he said:</p>
+
+<p>"Good-morning, Hester."</p>
+
+<p>Hester Paine was not particularly well pleased with the meeting. She had
+been made acquainted by her brother with the quarrel between Halbert and
+Robert, and the mean revenge which the former had taken in procuring the
+dismissal of the latter from the factory. Having a partiality for
+Robert, this was not likely to recommend his enemy in her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-morning, Mr. Davis," she said, with cool politeness.</p>
+
+<p>"You are very ceremonious this morning, Miss Hester," said Halbert, who
+liked well enough to be called "Mr." by others, but not by Hester.</p>
+
+<p>"Am I?" asked Hester, indifferently. "How so?"</p>
+
+<p>"You called me Mr. Davis."</p>
+
+<p>"That's your name, isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am not called so by my intimate friends."</p>
+
+<p>"No, I suppose not," said Hester, thus disclaiming the title.</p>
+
+<p>Halbert bit his lips. He was not in love, not because he was too young,
+but because he was too selfish to be in love with anybody except
+himself. But he admired Hester, and the more she slighted him the more
+he was determined to force her to like him. He did, however, feel a
+little piqued at her behavior, and that influenced his next words.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps you'd rather have the factory boy walking beside you," he said,
+with not very good judgment, if he wanted to recommend himself to her.</p>
+
+<p>"There are a good many factory boys in town," she said. "I can't tell
+unless you tell me whom you mean."</p>
+
+<p>"I mean Robert Rushton."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps I might," said Hester.</p>
+
+<p>"He's a low fellow," said Halbert, bitterly.</p>
+
+<p>"No one thinks so but you," retorted Hester, indignantly.</p>
+
+<p>"My father was obliged to dismiss him from the factory."</p>
+
+<p>"I know all about that, and who was the means of having him sent away."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose you mean me."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Halbert Davis, I mean you, and I consider it a very mean thing to
+do," said Hester, her cheeks flushed with the indignation she felt.</p>
+
+<p>"He attacked me like the low ruffian that he is," pleaded Halbert, in
+extenuation. "If he hadn't insulted me, he wouldn't have got into
+trouble."</p>
+
+<p>"You struck him first, you know you did. My brother told me all about
+it. You were angry because he walked home with me. I would rather go
+home alone any time than have your escort."</p>
+
+<p>"You're very polite, Miss Hester," said Halbert, angrily. "I can tell
+you some news about your favorite."</p>
+
+<p>"If it's anything bad, I won't believe it."</p>
+
+<p>"You'll have to believe it."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what is it?" demanded Hester, who was not altogether unlike girls
+in general, and so felt curious to learn what it was that Halbert had to
+reveal.</p>
+
+<p>"Your brother was foolish enough to leave his boat in Rushton's care."</p>
+
+<p>"That is no news. Will was very glad to do Robert a favor."</p>
+
+<p>"He'll be sorry enough now."</p>
+
+<p>"Why will he?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because the boat is completely ruined."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't believe it," said Hester, hastily.</p>
+
+<p>"It's true, though. I was down at the river just now, and saw it with my
+own eyes. There is a great hole in the bottom, and it is hacked with a
+hatchet, so that it wouldn't bring half price."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know who did it?" asked Hester, with the momentary thought that
+Halbert himself might have been tempted by his hatred into the
+commission of the outrage.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I don't. It was only accidentally I saw it."</p>
+
+<p>"Was Robert at the boat?"</p>
+
+<p>"No."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you asked him about it?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I have not seen him."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I am sure some enemy has done it. I am sure it is no fault of
+his."</p>
+
+<p>"If your brother had let me have the boat, it wouldn't have happened. I
+offered him a fair price for its use."</p>
+
+<p>"He won't be sorry he refused, whatever has happened. But I must bid you
+good-morning, Mr. Davis," and the young lady, who was now at her own
+gate, opened it, and entered.</p>
+
+<p>"She might have been polite enough to invite me in," said Halbert, with
+chagrin. "I don't see how she can be so taken up with that low fellow."</p>
+
+<p>He waited till Hester had entered the house, and then bent his steps to
+Mr. Paine's office, which was a small one-story building in one corner
+of the yard.</p>
+
+<p>The lawyer was sitting at a table covered with papers, from which he
+looked up as Halbert entered the office.</p>
+
+<p>"Sit down, Halbert," he said. "Any message from your father?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"No legal business of your own?" he inquired, with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir, no legal business."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, if you have any business, you may state it at once, as I am quite
+busy."</p>
+
+<p>"It is about the boat which your son lent to Robert Rushton."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall not interfere with that arrangement," said the lawyer,
+misunderstanding his object. "I told your father that this morning," and
+he resumed his writing.</p>
+
+<p>"I did not come to say anything about that. The boat wouldn't be of any
+use to me now."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not?" asked the lawyer, detecting something significant in the
+boy's tone.</p>
+
+<p>"Because," said Halbert, in a tone which he could not divest of the
+satisfaction he felt at his rival's misfortune, "the boat's completely
+ruined."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Paine laid down his pen in genuine surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"Explain yourself," he said.</p>
+
+<p>So Halbert told the story once more, taking good care to make the damage
+quite as great as it was.</p>
+
+<p>"That is very strange," said the lawyer, thoughtfully. "I can't conceive
+how such damage could have happened to the boat."</p>
+
+<p>"Robert Rushton don't know how to manage a boat."</p>
+
+<p>"You are mistaken. He understands it very well. I am sure the injury
+you speak of could not have happened when he was in charge. You say
+there was not only a hole in the bottom, but it was otherwise defaced
+and injured?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir, it looked as if it had been hacked by a hatchet."</p>
+
+<p>"Then it is quite clear that Robert could have had nothing to do with
+it. It must have been done by some malicious person or persons."</p>
+
+<p>Knowing something of Halbert, Mr. Paine looked hard at him, his
+suspicions taking the same direction as his daughter's. But, as we know,
+Halbert was entirely innocent, and bore the gaze without confusion.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see why Robert hasn't been and let me know of this," said Mr.
+Paine, musing.</p>
+
+<p>"He was probably afraid to tell you," said Halbert, with a slight sneer.</p>
+
+<p>"I know him better than that. You can testify," added the lawyer,
+significantly, "that he is not deficient in bravery."</p>
+
+<p>"I thought I would come and tell you," said Halbert, coloring a little.
+"I thought you would like to know."</p>
+
+<p>"You are very kind to take so much trouble," said Mr. Paine, but there
+was neither gratitude nor cordiality in his tone.</p>
+
+<p>Halbert thought it was time to be going, and accordingly got up and
+took his leave. As he opened the office door to go out, he found himself
+face to face with Robert Rushton, who passed him with a slight nod, and
+with an air of trouble entered the presence of his friend's father.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.<br /><br />
+HALBERT'S MALICE.</h3>
+
+<p>Robert was forced, by Ben Haley's, taking possession of his boat to give
+up for the present his design of recrossing the river. He felt bound to
+go back and inform Paul of Ben's escape.</p>
+
+<p>"He has carried off my gold," exclaimed Paul, in anguish. "Why didn't
+you catch him?"</p>
+
+<p>"He had too much start of us," said Robert's companion. "But even if we
+had come up with him, I am afraid he would have proved more than a match
+for us. He is a desperate man. How much money did he take away with
+him?"</p>
+
+<p>"More than five hundred dollars," wailed the old man. "I am completely
+ruined!"</p>
+
+<p>"Not quite so bad as that, Mr. Nichols. You have your farm left."</p>
+
+<p>But the old man was not to be comforted. He had become so wedded to his
+gold that to lose it was like losing his heart's blood. But was these no
+hope of recovery?</p>
+
+<p>"Why don't you go after him?" he exclaimed, suddenly. "Raise the
+neighbors. It isn't too late yet."</p>
+
+<p>"He's across the river before this," said Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"Get a boat and go after him."</p>
+
+<p>"I am willing," said our hero, promptly. "Where can we find a boat, Mr.
+Dunham?"</p>
+
+<p>"There's one about a quarter of a mile down the stream&mdash;Stetson's boat."</p>
+
+<p>"Let's go, then."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, Robert. I've no idea we can do anything, but we will try."</p>
+
+<p>"Go, go. Don't waste a moment," implored the old man, in feverish
+impatience.</p>
+
+<p>Robert and Mr. Dunham started, and were soon rowing across the river in
+Stetson's boat.</p>
+
+<p>"Whereabout would he be likely to land?" asked the farmer.</p>
+
+<p>"There's my boat now," said Robert, pointing it out. "He has left it
+where I usually keep it."</p>
+
+<p>Quickly they rowed alongside. Then to his great sorrow Robert perceived
+the malicious injury which his enemy had wrought.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Mr. Dunham, look at that!" he said, struck with grief. "The boat is
+spoiled!"</p>
+
+<p>"Not so bad as that. It can be mended."</p>
+
+<p>"What will Will Paine say? What will his father say?"</p>
+
+<p>"Then it isn't your boat?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, that is the worst of it. It was lent me by Will Paine, and I
+promised to take such good care of it."</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't your fault, Robert?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I couldn't help it, but still it wouldn't have happened if it had
+not been in my charge."</p>
+
+<p>"You can get it repaired, so that it will look almost as well as new."</p>
+
+<p>If Robert had had plenty of money, this suggestion would have comforted
+him, but it will be remembered that he was almost penniless, dependent
+on the fish he caught for the means of supporting his mother and
+himself. Now this resource was cut off. The boat couldn't be used until
+it was repaired. He felt morally bound to get it repaired, though he was
+guiltless of the damage. But how could he even do this? One thing was
+clear&mdash;Mr. Paine must at once be informed of the injury suffered by the
+boat. Robert shrank from informing him, but he knew it to be his duty,
+and he was too brave to put it off.</p>
+
+<p>But first he must try to find some clew to Ben Haley. He had now a
+personal interest in bringing to justice the man who had made him so
+much trouble. He had scarcely got on shore than the boy who had sold Ben
+Haley the hatchet, strolled up.</p>
+
+<p>"Who was that man who came across in your boat?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you see him?" asked Robert, eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"To be sure I did," said Tom Green, with satisfaction. "I sold him my
+old hatchet for money enough to buy a new one, and he give me a quarter
+besides for my trouble."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish you hadn't done it, Tom," said Robert, gravely. "See what he's
+done with it."</p>
+
+<p>Tom Green opened his eyes wide with astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>"What did he do that for?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"To be revenged on me. I'll tell you what for another time. Now I want
+to find him. Can you tell me where he went?"</p>
+
+<p>"No; I left him here, while I went to the store for a new hatchet."</p>
+
+<p>The old hatchet was found under a clump of bushes. Robert took
+possession of it, feeling that he had a right to it, as part
+compensation for the mischief it had done.</p>
+
+<p>"We'd better go to the railroad depot, Mr. Dunham," he said. "He'd be
+most likely to go there."</p>
+
+<p>"You're right. We'll go."</p>
+
+<p>They walked rapidly to the station, but too late, of course, for the
+train. The station-master was standing on the platform, superintending
+the removal of a trunk.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Cross," said Robert, "I want to find out if a particular man left
+by the last train. I'll describe him."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said the station-master, "that's the man I was wondering about.
+He had a wound in the shoulder."</p>
+
+<p>"He got that from me," said Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"Sho! you don't say so," returned the station-master, in surprise. "He
+said he was out hunting with a friend, and his friend's gun went off
+accidentally."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't believe he feels very friendly to me," said Robert, smiling.
+"He's stolen five or six hundred dollars in gold from old Paul Nichols."</p>
+
+<p>"It'll about kill the old man, won't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"He feels pretty bad about it. For what place did he buy a ticket?"</p>
+
+<p>"For Cranston; but that ain't no guide. When he gets there, he'll buy a
+ticket for further on."</p>
+
+<p>Had there been a telegraph station, Robert would have telegraphed on to
+have Ben Haley stopped, but there was none nearer than the next town. He
+determined to give information to a justice of the peace, and leave the
+matter in his hands. But Justice in a country town is slow, and it may
+as well be stated here, before anything was done Ben Haley was out of
+danger. But Robert was destined to fall in with him at a future day.</p>
+
+<p>This business attended to, Robert bent his steps to Mr. Paine's office.
+This brings us to his meeting with Halbert Davis at the door. He was
+slightly surprised at the encounter, but was far from guessing the
+object of Halbert's call.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Paine looked up as he entered, and had no difficulty in guessing his
+errand.</p>
+
+<p>"What can I do for you, Robert?" he asked, kindly.</p>
+
+<p>"I bring bad news, Mr. Paine," said our hero, boldly plunging into the
+subject which had brought him to the office.</p>
+
+<p>"It's about the boat, isn't it?" said the lawyer.</p>
+
+<p>"What, do you know about it?" asked Robert, in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; a disinterested friend brought the news."</p>
+
+<p>"Halbert Davis?"</p>
+
+<p>"The same. He takes a strong interest in your affairs," added the
+lawyer, dryly. "Now tell me how it happened."</p>
+
+<p>Robert gave a full explanation, the lawyer occasionally asking a
+question.</p>
+
+<p>"It seems, then," he said, "that you incurred this man's enmity by your
+defense of Mr. Nichols' money."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"It was incurred in a good cause. I can't blame you, nor will my son. I
+will get Mr. Plane, the carpenter, to look at the boat and see what he
+can do to repair it."</p>
+
+<p>"Some time I will pay you the cost of the repairs, Mr. Paine. I would
+now if I had any money; but you know how I am situated."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall not call upon you to do that," said the lawyer, kindly. "It was
+not your fault."</p>
+
+<p>"But the damage would not have happened if Will had not lent the boat to
+me."</p>
+
+<p>"That is true; but in undertaking the defense of Mr. Nichols you showed
+a pluck and courage which most boys would not have exhibited. I am
+interested, like all good citizens, in the prevention of theft, and in
+this instance I am willing to assume the cost."</p>
+
+<p>"You are very kind, Mr. Paine. I was afraid you would blame me."</p>
+
+<p>"No, my boy; I am not so unreasonable. It will save me some trouble if
+you will yourself see Mr. Plane and obtain from him an estimate of the
+probable expense of putting the boat in order."</p>
+
+<p>Robert left the office, feeling quite relieved by the manner in which
+his communication had been received. A little way up the road he
+overtook Halbert Davis. In fact, Halbert was waiting for him, expressly
+to get an opportunity of enjoying his discomfiture at the ruin of the
+boat.</p>
+
+<p>"Hallo, Rushton!" he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-morning, Halbert!"</p>
+
+<p>"Are you going out in your boat this afternoon?" asked Halbert,
+maliciously.</p>
+
+<p>"You know why I can't."</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder what Will Paine will say when he sees the good care you take
+of it."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't believe he will blame me when he knows the circumstances."</p>
+
+<p>"You ain't fit to have the charge of a boat. I suppose you ran it on a
+rock."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you suppose wrong."</p>
+
+<p>"You won't be able to go out fishing any more. How will you make a
+living?"</p>
+
+<p>"Without your help," said Robert, coldly. "You will probably see me out
+again in a few days, if you take the trouble to look."</p>
+
+<p>"How can you go?"</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Paine has asked me to see Mr. Plane about repairing the boat."</p>
+
+<p>"Is he going to pay the expenses?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"Then he's a fool."</p>
+
+<p>"You'd better not tell him so, or he might give you a lesson in
+politeness."</p>
+
+<p>"You're a low fellow," said Halbert, angrily.</p>
+
+<p>"You are welcome to your opinion," returned Robert, indifferently.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.<br /><br />
+ON THE RAILROAD TRACK.</h3>
+
+<p>Robert saw the carpenter, according to Mr. Paine's instructions, but
+found him so busy that he would not engage to give his attention to the
+boat under a week.</p>
+
+<p>The delay was regretted by our hero, since it cut him off from the
+employment by which he hoped to provide for his mother. Again Mrs.
+Rushton was in low spirits.</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry you couldn't agree with Halbert Davis, Robert," she said,
+with a sigh. "Then you could have stayed in the factory, and got your
+wages regularly every week."</p>
+
+<p>"I know that, mother, but I am not willing to have Halbert 'boss me
+round,' even for a place in the factory."</p>
+
+<p>"Then, Robert, you quarreled with the man you took across the river."</p>
+
+<p>"I think I did right, mother," said Robert. "Don't get out of spirits. I
+don't expect to succeed always. But I think I shall come out right in
+the end."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure I hope so."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Rushton was one of those who look on the dark side. She was
+distrustful of the future, and apt to anticipate bad fortune. Robert was
+very different. He inherited from his father an unusual amount of
+courage and self-reliance, and if one avenue was closed to him, he at
+once set out to find another. It is of this class that successful men
+are made, and we have hopes that Robert will develop into a prosperous
+and successful man.</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure I don't see what you can do," said Mrs. Rushton, "and we
+can't live on what I make by braiding straw."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll tell you what I'll do," said Robert, "I'll go on Sligo Hill and
+pick blueberries; I was passing a day or two ago, and saw the bushes
+quite covered. Just give me a couple of tin pails, and I'll see what I
+can do."</p>
+
+<p>The pails were provided, and Robert started on his expedition. The hill
+was not very high, nor was its soil very good. The lower part was used
+only to pasture a few cows. But this part was thickly covered with
+blueberry bushes, which this season were fuller than usual of
+large-sized berries. Robert soon settled to work, and picked steadily
+and rapidly. At the end of three hours he had filled both pails,
+containing, as near as he could estimate, eight quarts.</p>
+
+<p>"That's a pretty good afternoon's work," he said to himself. "Now I
+suppose I must turn peddler, and dispose of them."</p>
+
+<p>He decided to ask ten cents a quart. Later in the season the price would
+be reduced, but at that time the berries ought to command that price.</p>
+
+<p>The first house at which he called was Mr. Paine's. He was about to
+pass, when he saw Hester at the window. Pride suggested, "She may
+despise me for being a berry peddler," but Robert had no false shame.
+"At any rate, I won't be coward enough to try to hide it from her."
+Accordingly he walked up boldly to the door, and rang the bell.</p>
+
+<p>Hester had seen him from the window, and she answered the bell herself.</p>
+
+<p>"I am glad to see you, Robert," she said, frankly. "Won't you come in?"</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," said our hero, "but I called on business."</p>
+
+<p>"You will find my father in his office," she said, looking a little
+disappointed.</p>
+
+<p>Robert smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"My business is not of a legal character," he said. "I've turned
+peddler, and would like to sell you some blueberries."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, what nice berries! Where did you pick them?"</p>
+
+<p>"On Sligo."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure mother will buy some. Will you wait a minute while I go and
+ask her?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will wait as long as you like."</p>
+
+<p>Hester soon returned with authority to buy four quarts. I suspect that
+she was the means of influencing so large a purchase.</p>
+
+<p>"They are ten cents a quart," said Robert, "but I don't think I ought to
+charge your father anything."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because I shall owe him, or rather Will, a good deal of money."</p>
+
+<p>"I know what you mean&mdash;it's about the boat."</p>
+
+<p>"Did your father tell you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, but I knew it before. Halbert Davis told me."</p>
+
+<p>"He takes a great interest in my affairs."</p>
+
+<p>"He's a mean boy. You mustn't mind what he says against you."</p>
+
+<p>Robert laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't care what he thinks or says of me, unless he persuades others
+to think ill of me."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall never think ill of you, Robert," said Hester, warmly.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, Hester," said Robert, looking up into her glowing face with
+more gratification than he could express. "I hope I shall deserve your
+good opinion."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure you will, Robert, But won't you come in?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, thank you. I must sell the rest of my berries."</p>
+
+<p>Robert left the house with forty cents in his pocket, the first fruits
+of his afternoon's work. Besides, he had four quarts left, for which he
+expected to find a ready sale. He had not gone far when he met Halbert.
+The latter was dressed with his usual care, with carefully polished
+shoes, neatly fitting gloves, and swinging a light cane, the successor
+of that which had been broken in his conflict with Robert. Our hero, on
+the other hand, I am obliged to confess, was by no means fashionably
+attired. His shoes were dusty, and his bare hands were stained with
+berry juice. He wore a coarse straw hat with a broad brim to shield him
+from the hot sun. Those of my readers who judge by dress alone would
+certainly have preferred Halbert Davis, who looked as if he had just
+stepped out of a band-box. But those who compared the two faces, the one
+bright, frank and resolute, the other supercilious and insincere, could
+hardly fail to prefer Robert in spite of his coarse attire and
+unfashionable air.</p>
+
+<p>Halbert scanned his rival with scornful eyes. He would have taken no
+notice of him, but concluded to speak in the hope of saying something
+disagreeable.</p>
+
+<p>"You have found a new business, I see," he said, with a sneer.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Robert, quietly. "When one business gives out, I try
+another."</p>
+
+<p>"You've made a good choice," said Halbert. "It's what you are adapted
+for."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you for the compliment, but I don't expect to stick to it all my
+life."</p>
+
+<p>"How do you sell your berries?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ten cents a quart."</p>
+
+<p>"You'd better call on your friend, Miss Hester Paine, and see if she
+won't buy some."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you for the advice, but it comes too late. She bought four quarts
+of me."</p>
+
+<p>"She did!" returned Halbert, surprised. "I didn't think you'd go there."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not?"</p>
+
+<p>"She won't think much of a boy that has to pick berries for a living."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think that will change her opinion of me. Why should it?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's a low business."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see it."</p>
+
+<p>"Excuse my delaying you. I am afraid I may have interfered with your
+business. I say," he called out, as Robert was going on, "if you will
+call at our house, perhaps my mother may patronize you."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well," said Robert, "if I don't sell elsewhere, I'll call there.
+It makes no difference to me who buys my berries."</p>
+
+<p>"He's the proudest beggar I ever met," thought Halbert, looking after
+him. "Hester Paine must be hard up for an escort if she walks with a boy
+who peddles berries for a living. If I were her father, I would put a
+stop to it."</p>
+
+<p>The same evening there was a concert in the Town Hall. A free ticket was
+given to Robert in return for some slight service. Mr. Paine and his
+daughter were present, and Halbert Davis also. To the disgust of the
+latter, Robert actually had the presumption to walk home with Hester.
+Hester laughed and chatted gayly, and appeared to be quite unconscious
+that she was lowering herself by accepting the escort of a boy "who
+picked berries for a living."</p>
+
+<p>The next day Robert again repaired to Sligo. He had realized eighty
+cents from his sales the previous day, and he felt that picking berries
+was much better than remaining idle. Halbert's sneers did not for a
+moment discompose him. He had pride, but it was an honorable pride, and
+not of a kind that would prevent his engaging in any respectable
+employment necessary for the support of his mother and himself.</p>
+
+<p>Returning home with well-filled pails, he walked a part of the way on
+the railroad, as this shortened the distance. He had not walked far when
+he discovered on the track a huge rock, large enough to throw the train
+off the track. How it got there was a mystery. Just in front there was a
+steep descent on either side, the road crossing a valley, so that an
+accident would probably cause the entire train to be thrown down the
+embankment. Robert saw the danger at a glance, and it flashed upon him
+at the same moment that the train was nearly due. He sprang to the rock,
+and exerted his utmost strength to dislodge it. He could move it
+slightly, but it was too heavy to remove. He was still exerting his
+strength to the utmost when the whistle of the locomotive was heard.
+Robert was filled with horror, as he realized the peril of the
+approaching train, and his powerlessness to avert it.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.<br /><br />
+THE YOUNG CAPITALIST.</h3>
+
+<p>The cars swept on at the rate of twenty miles an hour, the engineer
+wholly unconscious of the peril in front. Robert saw the fated train
+with its freight of human lives, and his heart grew sick within him as
+he thought of the terrible tragedy which was about to be enacted. Was
+there any possibility of his averting it? He threw himself against the
+rock and pushed with all the strength he could command. But, nerved as
+he was by desperation, he found the task greater than he could compass.</p>
+
+<p>And still the train came thundering on. He must withdraw to a place of
+safety, or he would himself be involved in the destruction which
+threatened the train.</p>
+
+<p>There was one thing more he could do, and he did it.</p>
+
+<p>He took his station on the rock which was just in the path of the
+advancing train, and waved his handkerchief frantically. It was a
+position to test the courage of the bravest.</p>
+
+<p>Robert was fully aware that he was exposing himself to a horrible
+death. Should he not be seen by the engineer it would be doubtful
+whether he could get out of the way in time to escape death&mdash;and that of
+the most frightful nature. But unless he did something a hundred lives
+perhaps might be lost. So he resolutely took his stand, waving, as we
+have said, his handkerchief and shouting, though the last was not likely
+to be of any avail.</p>
+
+<p>At first he was not seen. When the engineer at last caught sight of him
+it was with a feeling of anger at what he regarded as the foolhardiness
+of the boy. He slackened his speed, thinking he would leave his place,
+but Robert still maintained his position, his nerves strung to their
+highest tension, not alone at his own danger, but at the peril which he
+began to fear he could not avert.</p>
+
+<p>Reluctantly the engineer gave the signal to stop the train. He was only
+just in time. When it came to a stop there was an interval of only
+thirty-five feet between it and Robert Rushton, who, now that he had
+accomplished his object, withdrew to one side, a little paler than
+usual, but resolute and manly in his bearing.</p>
+
+<p>"What is the meaning of this foolery?" the engineer demanded, angrily.</p>
+
+<p>Robert pointed in silence to the huge rock which lay on the track.</p>
+
+<p>"How came that rock there?" asked the engineer, in a startled tone, as
+he took in the extent of the peril from which they had been saved.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know," said Robert. "I tried to move it, but I couldn't."</p>
+
+<p>"You are a brave boy," said the engineer. "You have in all probability
+saved the train from destruction. But you ran a narrow risk yourself."</p>
+
+<p>"I know it," was the reply; "but it was the only thing I could do to
+catch your attention."</p>
+
+<p>"I will speak to you about it again. The first to be done is to move the
+rock."</p>
+
+<p>He left the engine and advanced toward the rock. By this time many of
+the passengers had got out, and were inquiring why the train was stopped
+at this point. The sight of the rock made a sensation. Though the peril
+was over, the thought that the train might have been precipitated down
+the embankment, and the majority of the passengers killed or seriously
+injured, impressed them not a little. They pressed forward, and several
+lending a hand, the rock was ousted from its its position, and rolled
+crashing over the bank.</p>
+
+<p>Among the passengers was a stout, good-looking man, a New York merchant.
+He had a large family at home waiting his return from a Western
+journey. He shuddered as he thought how near he had been to never
+meeting them again on earth.</p>
+
+<p>"It was providential, your seeing the rock," he said to the engineer.
+"We owe our lives to you."</p>
+
+<p>"You do me more than justice," replied the engineer. "It was not I who
+saved the train, but that boy."</p>
+
+<p>All eyes were turned upon Robert, who, unused to being the center of so
+many glances, blushed and seemed disposed to withdraw.</p>
+
+<p>"How is that?" inquired the merchant.</p>
+
+<p>"He saw the obstruction, and tried to remove it, but, not being able to
+do so, took his station on the rock, and, at the risk of his own life,
+drew my attention, and saved the train."</p>
+
+<p>"It was a noble act, my boy; what is your name?"</p>
+
+<p>"Robert Rushton."</p>
+
+<p>"It is a name that we shall all have cause to remember. Gentlemen,"
+continued the merchant, turning to the group around him, "you see before
+you the preserver of your lives. Shall his act go unrewarded?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, no!" was the general exclamation.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want any reward," said Robert, modestly. "Any boy would have
+done as much."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know about that, my young friend. There are not many boys, or
+men, I think, that would have had the courage to act as you did. You may
+not ask or want any reward, but we should be forever disgraced if we
+failed to acknowledge our great indebtedness to you. I contribute one
+hundred dollars as my share of the testimonial to our young friend."</p>
+
+<p>"I follow with fifty!" said his next neighbor, "and shall ask for the
+privilege of taking him by the hand."</p>
+
+<p>Robert had won honors at school, but he had never before been in a
+position so trying to his modesty. The passengers, following the example
+of the last speaker, crowded around him, and took him by the hand,
+expressing their individual acknowledgments for the service he had
+rendered them. Our hero, whom we now designate thus appropriately, bore
+the ordeal with a self-possession which won the favor of all.</p>
+
+<p>While this was going on, the collection was rapidly being made by the
+merchant who had proposed it. The amounts contributed varied widely, but
+no one refused to give. In ten minutes the fund had reached over six
+hundred dollars.</p>
+
+<p>"Master Robert Rushton," said the merchant, "I have great pleasure in
+handing you this money, freely contributed by the passengers on this
+train, as a slight acknowledgment of the great service which you have
+rendered them at the risk of your own life. It does not often fall to
+the lot of a boy to perform a deed so heroic. We are all your debtors,
+and if the time ever comes that you need a friend, I for one shall be
+glad to show my sense of indebtedness."</p>
+
+<p>"All aboard!" shouted the conductor.</p>
+
+<p>The passengers hurried into the cars, leaving our hero standing by the
+track, with one hand full of bank notes and in the other the card of the
+New York merchant. It was only about fifteen minutes since Robert had
+first signaled the train, yet how in this brief time had his fortunes
+changed! From the cars now rapidly receding he looked to the roll of
+bills, and he could hardly realize that all this money was his own. He
+sat down and counted it over.</p>
+
+<p>"Six hundred and thirty-five dollars!" he exclaimed. "I must have made a
+mistake."</p>
+
+<p>But a second count turned out precisely the same.</p>
+
+<p>"How happy mother will be!" he thought, joyfully. "I must go and tell
+her the good news."</p>
+
+<p>He was so occupied with the thoughts of his wonderful good fortune that
+he nearly forgot to take the berries which he had picked.</p>
+
+<p>"I shan't need to sell them now," he said. "We'll use a part of them
+ourselves, and what we can't use I will give away."</p>
+
+<p>He carefully stored away the money in his coat pocket, and for the sake
+of security buttoned it tight. It was a new thing for him to be the
+custodian of so much treasure. As Halbert Davis usually spent the latter
+part of the afternoon in promenading the streets, sporting his kids and
+swinging his jaunty cane, it was not surprising that Robert encountered
+him again.</p>
+
+<p>"So, you've been berrying again?" he said, stopping short.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Robert, briefly.</p>
+
+<p>"You haven't got the boat repaired, I suppose."</p>
+
+<p>"Not yet."</p>
+
+<p>"It's lucky for you this is berrying season."</p>
+
+<p>"Why?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because you'd probably have to go to the poorhouse," said Halbert,
+insolently.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know about that," said Robert, coolly. "I rather think I could
+buy you out, Halbert Davis, watch, gloves, cane and all."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean?" demanded Halbert, haughtily. "You seem to forget
+that you are a beggar, or next to it."</p>
+
+<p>Robert set down his pails, and, opening his coat, drew out a handful of
+bills.</p>
+
+<p>"Does that look like going to the almshouse?" he said.</p>
+
+<p>"They're not yours," returned Halbert, considerably astonished, for,
+though he did not know the denomination of the bills, it was evident
+that there was a considerable amount of money.</p>
+
+<p>"It belongs to me, every dollar of it," returned Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't believe it. Where did you get it? Picking berries, I suppose,"
+he added, with a sneer.</p>
+
+<p>"It makes no difference to you where I got it," said our hero, returning
+the money to his pocket. "I shan't go to the almshouse till this I is
+all gone."</p>
+
+<p>"He must have stolen it," muttered Halbert, looking after Robert with
+disappointment and chagrin. It was certainly very vexatious that, in
+spite of all his attempts to humble and ruin our hero, he seemed more
+prosperous than ever.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.<br /><br />
+A VISIT TO THE LAWYER.</h3>
+
+<p>Mrs. Rushton was braiding straw when Robert entered with his berries.</p>
+
+<p>"Couldn't you sell your berries, Robert?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I haven't tried yet, mother."</p>
+
+<p>"The berrying season won't last much longer," said his mother,
+despondently.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't borrow trouble, mother. I am sure we shall get along well."</p>
+
+<p>"You feel more confidence than I do."</p>
+
+<p>"I just met Halbert Davis in the street."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you made up with him?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is for him to make up with me."</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid you are too high-spirited, Robert. Did Halbert speak to
+you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes," said Robert, laughing. "He takes a great interest in my
+affairs. He predicts that we shall come to the poorhouse yet."</p>
+
+<p>"He may be right."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, mother, don't be so desponding. We've got enough money to pay our
+expenses for more than a year, even if we both stop work."</p>
+
+<p>"What can you mean, Robert?" said his mother, looking up in surprise.
+"You must be crazy."</p>
+
+<p>"Does that look like going to the poorhouse?" asked Robert, drawing out
+his money.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Rushton uttered an exclamation of surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"Whose money is that, Robert?"</p>
+
+<p>"Mine!"</p>
+
+<p>"You haven't done anything wrong?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, mother; I thought you knew me too well for that. I see you are
+anxious to hear how I obtained it, so I'll tell you all about it."</p>
+
+<p>He sat down, and in brief words told his mother the story of the train
+and its peril, how he had rescued it, and, lastly, of the generous gift
+which he had so unexpectedly received. The mother's heart was touched,
+and she forgot all her forebodings.</p>
+
+<p>"My son, I am proud of you," she said, her eyes moist. "You have done a
+noble deed, and you deserve the reward. But what a risk you ran!"</p>
+
+<p>"I know it, mother, but we won't think of that, now that it is over. How
+much, money do you think I have here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Two or three hundred dollars."</p>
+
+<p>"Six hundred and thirty-five! So you see, mother, we needn't go to the
+poorhouse just yet. Now, how much better off should I have been if I had
+kept my place in the factory? It would have taken me more than two years
+to earn as much money as this. But that isn't all. I have been the means
+of saving a great many lives, for the train was sure to be thrown down
+the embankment. I shall remember that all my life."</p>
+
+<p>"We have reason to be grateful to Heaven that you have been the means of
+doing so much good, Robert, while, at the same time, you have benefited
+yourself."</p>
+
+<p>"That is true, mother."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be afraid to have so much money in the house. If it were known,
+we might be robbed."</p>
+
+<p>"I will leave it with Mr. Paine until I get a chance to put it in a
+savings bank. He has a safe in his office. At the same time I will carry
+him some berries as a present. It won't be much, but I should like to do
+it on account of his kindness about the boat. I will offer now to bear
+the expense of its repair."</p>
+
+<p>After washing his hands and adjusting his clothes a little, for Robert,
+though no fop like Halbert, was not regardless of appearances,
+especially as he thought Hester might see him, he set out for the
+lawyer's office.</p>
+
+<p>"Excuse my bringing in my berries," said Robert, as he entered the
+office, "but I want to ask your acceptance of them."</p>
+
+<p>Many persons, under the supposition that Robert was too poor to afford a
+gift, would have declined it, or offered to pay for it, thinking they
+were acting kindly and considerately. But Mr. Paine knew that Robert
+would be mortified by such an offer, and he answered:</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, Robert; I will accept your gift with thanks on one
+condition."</p>
+
+<p>"What is it, Mr. Paine?" inquired our hero, a little puzzled.</p>
+
+<p>"That you will take tea with us to-morrow evening, and help us do
+justice to them."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," said Robert, not a little pleased at the invitation, "but I
+shouldn't like to leave my mother at home alone."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, we must have your mother, too. Hester will call this evening, and
+invite her."</p>
+
+<p>"Then," said Robert, "I can answer for myself, and I think for her, that
+we should both be very happy to come."</p>
+
+<p>The lawyer's social position made such an invitation particularly
+gratifying to Robert. Besides, he was led to value it more on account of
+the persistent efforts of Halbert to injure him in the general
+estimation. Then, too, it was pleasant to think that he was to sit down
+to the same table with Hester, as her father's guest, and to receive a
+call from her at his own house. Nothing that Mr. Paine could have done
+would have afforded him an equal amount of gratification.</p>
+
+<p>"There is one other matter I wanted to speak to you about, Mr. Paine,"
+he said. "Will you take care of some money for me until I get a chance
+to deposit it in the savings bank?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, Robert," was the reply, but the lawyer's manner showed some
+surprise. He knew the circumstances of the Rushtons, and he had not
+supposed they had any money on hand. "How much is it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Six hundred and thirty-five dollars," answered Robert, producing it.
+"Will you count it, and see if it is all right?"</p>
+
+<p>"Is this your money?" asked the lawyer, laying down his pen and gazing
+at Robert in astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir," said Robert, enjoying his surprise. "I will tell you how I
+got it."</p>
+
+<p>So the story was told, with a modest reserve as to his own courage, but
+still showing, without his intending it, how nobly he had behaved.</p>
+
+<p>"Give me your hand, Robert," said Mr. Paine, cordially. "You have shown
+yourself a hero. We shall be proud of your company to tea to-morrow
+evening."</p>
+
+<p>Robert flushed with gratification at the high compliment conveyed in
+these words.</p>
+
+<p>What did he care then for Halbert Davis and his petty malice! He had the
+approval of his own conscience, the good opinion of those whom he most
+respected and a provision against want sufficient to avert all present
+anxiety.</p>
+
+<p>"There is one thing more, Mr. Paine," he added. "It's about the boat
+Will was kind enough to lend me."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you seen the carpenter about repairing it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir, and he will attend to it as soon as he can spare the time.
+But that was not what I wanted to say. I think I ought to bear the
+expense of repairing it. I would have spoken about it at first, but then
+I had no money, and didn't know when I should have any. Will you be kind
+enough to take as much of my money as will be needed to pay Mr. Plane's
+bill when it comes in?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly not, Robert. It was not your fault that the boat was
+injured."</p>
+
+<p>"It wouldn't have happened if I had not borrowed it. It isn't right that
+the expense should fall on you."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't trouble yourself about that, Robert. I am able and willing to pay
+it. It is very honorable in you to make the offer, and I like you the
+better for having made it. Won't you need any of this money for present
+expenses?"</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps I had better take the thirty-five dollars. Mother may be in
+want of something."</p>
+
+<p>Robert received back the sum named, and returned home, much pleased with
+his interview.</p>
+
+<p>About seven o'clock, sitting at the window of the little cottage, he saw
+Hester Paine opening the front gate. He sprang to his feet and opened
+the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-evening, Robert," she said. "Is your mother at home?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Hester. Won't you come in?"</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, Robert. Father has been telling me what a hero you were, and
+it made me feel proud that you were a friend of mine."</p>
+
+<p>Robert's face lighted with pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>"You compliment me more than I deserve," he answered, modestly; "but it
+gives me great pleasure to know that you think well of me."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure that there is no boy in Millville that would have dared to do
+such a thing. Good-evening, Mrs. Rushton. Are you not proud of your
+son?"</p>
+
+<p>"He is a good son to me," said Mrs. Rushton, with a glance of affection.</p>
+
+<p>"It is such a splendid thing he did. He will be quite a hero. Indeed, he
+is one already. I've got a New York paper giving an account of the
+whole thing. I brought it over, thinking you might like to read it."</p>
+
+<p>She displayed a copy of a great city daily, in which full justice was
+done to Robert's bravery. Our hero listened with modest pleasure while
+it was being read.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't deserve all that," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"You must let us judge of that," said Hester. "But I have come this
+evening, Mrs. Rushton, to ask you to take tea with us to-morrow evening,
+you and Robert. You will come, won't you?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Rushton was pleased with this mark of attention, and after a slight
+demur, accepted.</p>
+
+<p>I do not intend to give an account of the next evening, and how Robert,
+in particular, enjoyed it. That can be imagined, as well as Halbert's
+chagrin when he heard of the attention his rival was receiving in a
+quarter where he himself so earnestly desired to stand well. I must pass
+on to a communication received by Mrs. Rushton, a communication of a
+very unexpected character, which had an important effect upon the
+fortunes of our hero.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.<br /><br />
+THE MESSAGE FROM THE SEA.</h3>
+
+<p>It was not often that Mrs. Rushton received a letter. Neither she nor
+her husband had possessed many relatives, and such as either had were
+occupied with their own families, and little communication passed
+between them and Captain Rushton's family. Robert, therefore, seldom
+called at the post office. One day, however, as he stepped in by a
+neighbor's request to inquire for letters for the latter, the postmaster
+said, "There's a letter for your mother, Robert."</p>
+
+<p>"Is there?" said our hero, surprised, "When did it come?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yesterday. I was going to ask some one to carry it round to her, as you
+don't often call here."</p>
+
+<p>He handed the letter to Robert, who surveyed it with curiosity. It was
+postmarked "Boston," and addressed in a bold business hand to "Mrs.
+Captain Rushton, Millville."</p>
+
+<p>"Who can be writing to mother from Boston?" thought Robert.</p>
+
+<p>The size of the letter also excited his curiosity. There were two stamps
+upon it, and it appeared bulky. Robert hurried home, and rushed into the
+kitchen where his mother was at work.</p>
+
+<p>"Here's a letter for you, mother," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"A letter for me!" repeated Mrs. Rushton.</p>
+
+<p>"From Boston."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know who would be likely to write me from there. Open it for
+me, Robert."</p>
+
+<p>He tore open the envelope. It contained two inclosures&mdash;one a letter in
+the same handwriting as the address; the other a large sheet of foolscap
+rumpled up, and appearing once to have been rolled up, was written in
+pencil. Mrs. Rushton had no sooner looked at the latter than she
+exclaimed, in agitation: "Robert, it is your father's handwriting. Read
+it to me, I am too agitated to make it out."</p>
+
+<p>Robert was equally excited. Was his father still alive, or was this
+letter a communication from the dead?</p>
+
+<p>"First let me read the other," he said. "It will explain about this."</p>
+
+<p>His mother sank back into a chair too weak with agitation to stand,
+while her son rapidly read the following letter:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p><span style="margin-left: 14.5em;">"BOSTON, August 15, 1853.</span><br />
+
+MRS. RUSHTON, DEAR MADAM: The fate
+of our ship <i>Norman</i>, which left this port now
+more than two years since, under the command
+of your husband, has until now been veiled
+in uncertainty. We had given up all hopes
+of obtaining any light upon the circumstances
+of its loss, when by a singular chance information
+was brought us yesterday. The ship
+<i>Argo</i>, while in the South Pacific, picked up
+a bottle floating upon the surface of the water.
+On opening it, it was found to contain two
+communications, one addressed to us, the other
+to you, the latter to be forwarded to you by
+us. Ours contains the particulars of the loss
+of the <i>Norman</i>, and doubtless your own letter
+also contains the same particulars. There
+is a bare possibility that your husband is still
+alive, but as so long a period has passed since
+the letters were written it would not be well
+to place too much confidence in such a hope.
+But even if Captain Rushton is dead, it will be
+a sad satisfaction to you to receive from him
+this last communication, and learn the particulars
+of his loss. We lose no time in forwarding
+to you the letter referred to, and remain,
+with much sympathy, yours respectfully,
+</p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 15em;">WINSLOW &amp; CO."</span></p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Mrs. Rushton listened to this letter with eager and painful interest,
+her hands clasped, and her eyes fixed upon Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"Now read your father's letter," she said, in a low tone.</p>
+
+<p>Robert unfolded the sheet, and his eyes filled with tears as he gazed
+upon the well-known handwriting of the father whose loss he had so long
+lamented. This letter, too, we transcribe:</p>
+
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p><span style="margin-left: 14.5em;">"November 7, 1851.</span><br />
+MY DEAR WIFE AND SON: Whether these
+lines will ever meet your eyes I know not.
+Whether I will be permitted again to look upon
+your dear faces, I also am ignorant. The good
+ship <i>Norman</i>, in which I sailed from Boston
+not quite three months ago, is burned to the water's
+edge, and I find myself, with five of the
+sailors, afloat on the vast sea at the mercy of
+the elements, and with a limited supply of food.
+The chances are against our ever seeing land.
+Hundreds of miles away from any known
+shores, our only hope of safety is in attracting
+the attention of some vessel. In the broad pathways
+of the ocean such a chance is doubtful.
+Fortunately I have a few sheets of paper
+and a pencil with me, and I write these
+lines, knowing well how improbable it is that
+you will ever read them. Yet it is a satisfaction
+to do what I can to let you know the
+position in which I stand.
+<br /><br />
+But for the revengeful and malignant disposition
+of one man I should still be walking
+the deck of the <i>Norman</i> as its captain.
+But to my story: My first mate was a man
+named Haley&mdash;Benjamin Haley&mdash;whose name
+you will perhaps remember. He was born in
+our neighborhood, or, at all events, once lived
+there, being the nephew of old Paul Nichols.
+He was a wild young man, and bore a bad reputation.
+Finally he disappeared, and, as it
+seems, embraced the profession of a sailor. I
+was not prepossessed in his favor, and was not
+very well pleased to find him my second in
+command. However, he was regularly engaged,
+and it was of no use for me to say anything
+against him. I think, however, that he
+suspected the state of my feelings, as, while
+studiously polite, I did not make an effort
+to be cordial. At any rate, he must have taken
+a dislike to me early in the voyage, though
+whether at that time he meditated evil, I cannot
+say.
+<br /><br />
+After a time I found that he was disposed
+to encroach upon my prerogatives as captain
+of the vessel, and issue commands which he
+knew to be in defiance of my wishes. You can
+imagine that I would not pass over such conduct
+unnoticed. I summoned him to an interview,
+and informed him in decided terms
+that I must be master in my own ship. He
+said little, but I saw from his expression that
+there could thereafter be no amicable relations
+between us.
+<br /><br />
+I pass over the days that succeeded&mdash;days
+in which Haley went to the furthest verge of
+insolence that he felt would be safe. At
+length, carried away by impatience, I reprimanded
+him publicly. He grew pale with
+passion, turned on his heel, and strode away.
+That night I was roused from my sleep by the
+cry of 'Fire!' I sprang to my feet and took
+immediate measures to extinguish the flames.
+But the incendiary had taken care to do his
+work so well that it was already impossible.
+<br /><br />
+I did not at first miss Haley, until, inquiring
+for him, I learned that he was missing, and
+one of the ship's boats. It was evident that
+he had deliberately fired the ship in order
+to revenge himself upon me. His hatred
+must have been extreme, or he would not have
+been willing to incur so great a risk. Though
+he escaped from the ship, his position in an
+open boat must be extremely perilous.
+<br /><br />
+When all hope of saving the ship was
+abandoned, we manned the remaining boats
+hastily, putting in each such a stock of provisions
+as we could carry without overloading the
+boats. Twenty-four hours have now passed,
+and we are still tossing about on the ocean.
+A storm would be our destruction. At this
+solemn time, my dear wife, my thoughts turn
+to you and my dear son, whom I am likely
+never to see again. There is one thing most
+of all which I wish you to know, but can hardly
+hope that these few lines will reach you. Just
+before I left home, on my present voyage, I
+deposited five thousand dollars with Mr. Davis,
+the superintendent of the factory, in trust for
+you, in case I should not return. You will
+be surprised to learn that I have so much
+money. It has been the accumulation of years,
+and was intended as a provision for you and
+Robert. I have no reason to doubt the integrity
+of Mr. Davis, yet I wish I had acquainted
+you with the fact of this deposit, and placed
+his written acknowledgment in your hands.
+My reason for concealment was, that I might
+surprise you at the end of this voyage.
+<br /><br />
+When this letter comes to hand (if it ever
+should come to hand), in case the superintendent
+has not accounted to you for the money
+placed in his hands, let Robert go to him and
+claim the money in my name. But I can hardly
+believe this to be necessary. Should I never
+return, I am persuaded that Mr. Davis will
+be true to the trust I have reposed in him,
+and come forward like an honest man to your
+relief.
+<br /><br />
+And now, my dear wife and son, farewell!
+My hope is weak that I shall ever again see
+you, yet it is possible. May Heaven bless you,
+and permit us to meet again in another world,
+if not in this!
+<br /><br />
+I shall inclose this letter, and one to my
+owners, in a bottle, which I have by me, and
+commit it to the sea, trusting that the merciful
+waves may waft it to the shore."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Here Captain Rushton signed his name.</p>
+
+<p>The feelings with which Robert read and his mother listened to this
+letter, were varied. Love and pity for the husband and father, now
+doubtless long dead, were blended with surprise at the revelation of the
+deposit made in the hands of the superintendent of the mill.</p>
+
+<p>"Mother," said Robert, "did you know anything of this money father
+speaks of?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Mrs. Rushton, "he never told me. It is strange that Mr. Davis
+has never informed us of it. Two years have passed, and we have long
+given him up as lost."</p>
+
+<p>"Mother," said Robert, "it is my opinion that he never intends to let us
+know."</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot believe he would be so dishonorable."</p>
+
+<p>"But why should he keep back the knowledge? He knows that we are poor
+and need the money."</p>
+
+<p>"But he has the reputation of an honorable man."</p>
+
+<p>"Many have had that reputation who do not deserve it," said Robert.
+"The temptation must have proved too strong for him."</p>
+
+<p>"What shall we do?"</p>
+
+<p>"I know what I am going to do," said Robert, resolutely. "I am going to
+his house, and shall claim restitution of the money which father
+intrusted to him. He has had it two years, and, with the interest, it
+will amount to nearer six than five thousand dollars. It will be a
+fortune, mother."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't be hasty or impetuous, Robert," said his mother. "Speak to him
+respectfully."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be civil if he is," said Robert.</p>
+
+<p>He took his cap, and putting it on, left the cottage and walked with a
+quick pace to the house of the superintendent.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.<br /><br />
+A DISAGREEABLE SURPRISE.</h3>
+
+<p>Mr. Davis was seated in his office, but it was his own personal affairs
+rather than the business of the factory that engaged his attention. He
+was just in receipt of a letter from his broker in New York, stating
+that there were but slender chances of a rise in the price of some
+securities in which he had invested heavily. He was advised to sell out
+at once, in order to guard against a probable further depreciation. This
+was far from satisfactory, since an immediate sale would involve a loss
+of nearly a thousand dollars. Mr. Davis felt despondent, and, in
+consequence, irritable. It was at this moment that one of the factory
+hands came in and told him that Robert Rushton wished to see him.</p>
+
+<p>The superintendent would have refused an interview but for one
+consideration. He thought that our hero was about to beg to be taken
+back into his employ. This request he intended to refuse, and enjoyed in
+advance the humiliation of young Rushton.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-morning, sir," said Robert, removing his hat on entering.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose you want to be taken back," said the superintendent,
+abruptly.</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir," said Robert. "I have come on quite a different errand."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Davis was disappointed. He was cheated of his expected triumph.
+Moreover, looking into our young hero's face, he saw that he was
+entirely self-possessed, and had by no means the air of one about to ask
+a favor.</p>
+
+<p>"Then state your business at once," he said, roughly. "My time is too
+valuable to be taken up by trifles."</p>
+
+<p>"My business is important to both of us," said Robert. "We have just
+received a letter from my father."</p>
+
+<p>The superintendent started and turned pale. This was the most unwelcome
+intelligence he could have received. He supposed, of course, that
+Captain Rushton was alive, and likely to reclaim the sum, which he was
+in no position to surrender.</p>
+
+<p>"Your father!" he stammered. "Where is he? I thought he was dead."</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid he is," said Robert, soberly.</p>
+
+<p>"Then how can you just have received a letter from him?" demanded Mr.
+Davis, recovering from his momentary dismay.</p>
+
+<p>"The letter was inclosed in a bottle, which was picked up in the South
+Pacific, and brought to the owners of the vessel. My father's ship was
+burned to the water's edge, and at the time of writing the letter he was
+afloat on the ocean with five of his sailors in a small boat."</p>
+
+<p>"How long ago was this? I mean when was the letter dated."</p>
+
+<p>"Nearly two years ago&mdash;in the November after he sailed."</p>
+
+<p>"Then, of course, he must have perished," said the superintendent, with
+a feeling of satisfaction. "However, I suppose your mother is glad to
+have heard from him. Is that all you have to tell me?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir," said Robert, looking boldly in the face of his former
+employer. "My father added in his letter, that just before sailing he
+deposited with you the sum of five thousand dollars, to be given to my
+mother in case he never returned."</p>
+
+<p>So the worst had come! The dead had revealed the secret which the
+superintendent hoped would never be known. He was threatened with ruin.
+He had no means of paying the deposit unless by sacrificing all his
+property, and it was doubtful whether even then he would be able wholly
+to make it up. If Robert possessed his acknowledgment he would have no
+defense to make. This he must ascertain before committing himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Supposing this story to be true," he said, in a half-sneering tone,
+"you are, of course, prepared to show me my receipt for the money?"</p>
+
+<p>"That my father carried away with him. He did not send it with the
+letter."</p>
+
+<p>All the superintendent's confidence returned. He no longer felt afraid,
+since all evidence of the deposit was doubtless at the bottom of the sea
+with the ill-fated captain. He resolved to deny the trust altogether.</p>
+
+<p>"Rushton," he said, "I have listened patiently to what you had to say,
+and in return I answer that in the whole course of my life I have never
+known of a more barefaced attempt at fraud. In this case you have
+selected the wrong customer."</p>
+
+<p>"What!" exclaimed Robert, hardly crediting the testimony of his ears;
+"do you mean to deny that my father deposited five thousand dollars with
+you just before sailing on his last voyage?"</p>
+
+<p>"I certainly do, and in the most unqualified terms. Had such been the
+case, do you think I would have kept the knowledge of it from your
+mother so long after your father's supposed death?"</p>
+
+<p>"There might be reasons for that," said Robert, significantly.</p>
+
+<p>"None of your impertinent insinuations, you young rascal," said Mr.
+Davis, hotly. "The best advice I can give you is, to say nothing to any
+one about this extraordinary claim. It will only injure you, and I shall
+be compelled to resort to legal measures to punish you for circulating
+stories calculated to injure my reputation."</p>
+
+<p>If the superintendent expected to intimidate Robert by this menace he
+was entirely mistaken in the character of our young hero. He bore the
+angry words and threatening glances of his enemy without quailing, as
+resolute and determined as ever.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Davis," he said, "if there is no truth in this story, do you think
+my father, with death before his eyes, would have written it to my
+mother?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have no evidence, except your word, that any such letter has been
+received."</p>
+
+<p>"I can show it to you, if you desire it, in my father's handwriting."</p>
+
+<p>"We will suppose, then, for a moment, that such a letter has been
+received, and was written by your father. I can understand how, being
+about to die, and feeling that his family were without provision, he
+should have written such a letter with the intention of giving you a
+claim upon me, whom he no doubt selected supposing me to be a rich man.
+It was not justifiable, but something can be excused to a man finding
+himself in such a position."</p>
+
+<p>Robert was filled with indignation as he listened to this aspersion upon
+his father's memory. He would not have cared half so much for any insult
+to himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Davis," he said, boldly, "it is enough for you to cheat my mother
+out of the money which my father left her, but when you accuse my father
+of fraud you go too far. You know better than any one that everything
+which he wrote is true."</p>
+
+<p>The superintendent flushed under the boy's honest scorn, and, unable to
+defend himself truthfully, he worked himself into a rage.</p>
+
+<p>"What! do you dare insult me in my own office?" he exclaimed, half
+rising from his desk, and glaring at our hero. "Out of my sight at once,
+or I may be tempted to strike you!"</p>
+
+<p>"Before I leave you, Mr. Davis," said Robert, undauntedly, "I wish you
+to tell me finally whether you deny the deposit referred to in my
+father's letter?"</p>
+
+<p>"And I tell you, once for all," exclaimed the superintendent, angrily,
+"if you don't get out of my office I will kick you out."</p>
+
+<p>"I will leave you now," said our hero, not intimidated; "but you have
+not heard the last of me. I will not rest until I see justice done to my
+mother."</p>
+
+<p>So saying, he walked deliberately from the office, leaving Mr. Davis in
+a state of mind no means comfortable. True, the receipt had doubtless
+gone to the bottom of the sea with the ill-fated captain, and, as no one
+was cognizant of the transaction, probably no claim could be enforced
+against his denial. But if the letter should be shown, as Robert would
+doubtless be inclined to do, he was aware that, however the law might
+decide, popular opinion would be against him, and his reputation would
+be ruined. This was an unpleasant prospect, as the superintendent valued
+his character. Besides, the five thousand dollars were gone and not
+likely to be recovered. Had they still been in his possession, that
+would have been some compensation.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI.<br /><br />
+A DENIAL.</h3>
+
+<p>Robert left the superintendent's office in deep thought. He understood
+very well that it would be impossible to enforce his claim without more
+satisfactory testimony than his father's letter. If any one had been
+cognizant of the transaction between Mr. Davis and his father it would
+have helped matters, but no one, so far as he knew, was even aware that
+his father had possessed so large a sum as five thousand dollars. Had
+Captain Rushton inclosed the receipt, that would have been sufficient,
+but it had probably gone to the bottom with him. But, after all, was it
+certain that his father was dead? It was not certain, but our hero was
+forced to admit that the chances of his father's being alive were
+extremely slender.</p>
+
+<p>Finding himself utterly at a loss, he resolved to call upon his firm
+friend, Squire Paine, the lawyer. Going to his office, he was fortunate
+enough to find him in, and unengaged.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-morning, Robert," said the lawyer, pleasantly.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-morning, sir. You find me a frequent visitor."</p>
+
+<p>"Always welcome," was the pleasant reply. "You know I am your banker,
+and it is only natural for you to call upon me."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir," said Robert, smiling; "but it is on different business that
+I have come to consult you this morning."</p>
+
+<p>"Go on. I will give you the best advice in my power."</p>
+
+<p>The lawyer listened with surprise to the story Robert had to tell.</p>
+
+<p>"This is certainly a strange tale," he said, after a pause.</p>
+
+<p>"But a true one," said Robert, hastily.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not question that. It affords another illustration of the old
+saying that truth is stranger than fiction. That a letter committed to
+the deep so many thousand miles away should have finally reached its
+destination is very remarkable, I may say Providential."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think there is any chance of my father being yet alive?"</p>
+
+<p>"There is a bare chance, but I cannot encourage you to place much
+reliance upon it."</p>
+
+<p>"If he had been picked up by any vessel I suppose he would have
+written."</p>
+
+<p>"You would doubtless have seen him at home before this time in that
+case. Still there might be circumstances," added the lawyer, slowly,
+"that would prevent his communicating with friends at home. For
+instance, his boat might have drifted to some uninhabited island out of
+the course of ordinary navigation. I don't say it is at all probable,
+but there is such a probability."</p>
+
+<p>"Is there any chance of making Mr. Davis return the money my father
+deposited with him?"</p>
+
+<p>"There again there are difficulties. He may demand the return of his
+receipt, or he may continue to deny the trust altogether."</p>
+
+<p>"Won't the letter prove anything?"</p>
+
+<p>"It may produce a general conviction that such a deposit was made,
+since, admitting the letter to be genuine, no one, considering
+especially the character of your father, can readily believe that in the
+immediate presence of death he would make any such statement unless
+thoroughly reliable. But moral conviction and legal proof are quite
+different things. Unless that receipt is produced I don't see that
+anything can be done."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps my father might have put that in a bottle also at a later
+date."</p>
+
+<p>"He might have done so when he became satisfied that there was no chance
+of a rescue. But even supposing him to have done it, the chances are
+ten to one that it will never find its way to your mother. The reception
+of the first letter was almost a miracle."</p>
+
+<p>"I have no doubt you are right, Mr. Paine," said Robert; "but it seems
+very hard that my poor father's hard earnings should go to such an
+unprincipled man, and my mother be left destitute."</p>
+
+<p>"That is true, Robert, but I am obliged to say that your only hope is in
+awakening Mr. Davis to a sense of justice."</p>
+
+<p>"There isn't much chance of that," said Robert, shaking his head.</p>
+
+<p>"If you will leave the matter in my hands, I will call upon him
+to-night, and see what I can do."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall feel very glad if you will do so, Squire Paine. I don't want to
+leave anything undone."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I will do so. I don't imagine it will do any good, but we can but
+try."</p>
+
+<p>Robert left the office, making up his mind to await the report of the
+lawyer's visit before moving further.</p>
+
+<p>That evening, the lawyer called at the house of the superintendent. Mrs.
+Davis and Halbert were in the room. After a little unimportant
+conversation, he said:</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Davis, may I ask the favor of a few minutes' conversation with you
+in private?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly," said the superintendent, quite in the dark as to the
+business which had called his guest to the house. He led the way into
+another room, and both took seats.</p>
+
+<p>"I may as well say to begin with," commenced the lawyer, "that I call in
+behalf of the family of the late Captain Rushton."</p>
+
+<p>The superintendent started nervously.</p>
+
+<p>"That boy has lost no time," he muttered to himself.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose you understand what I have to say?"</p>
+
+<p>"I presume I can guess," said the superintendent, coldly. "The boy came
+into my office this morning, and made a most extraordinary claim, which
+I treated with contempt. Finding him persistent I ordered him out of my
+office. I need not say that no sane man would for a moment put
+confidence in such an incredible story or claim."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't quite agree with you there," said the lawyer, quietly. "There
+is nothing incredible about the story. It is remarkable, I grant, but
+such things have happened before, and will again."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose you refer to the picking up of the bottle at sea."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; I fail to see what there is incredible about it. If the
+handwriting can be identified as that of the late Captain Rushton, and
+Robert says both his mother and himself recognized it, the story becomes
+credible and will meet with general belief."</p>
+
+<p>"I thought you were too sensible and practical a man," said the
+superintendent, sneering, "to be taken in by so palpable a humbug. Why,
+it reads like a romance."</p>
+
+<p>"In spite of all that, it may be true enough," returned the lawyer,
+composedly.</p>
+
+<p>"You may believe it, if you please. It seems to me quite unworthy of
+belief."</p>
+
+<p>"Waiving that point, Robert, doubtless, acquainted you with the
+statement made in the letter that Captain Rushton, just before sailing
+on his last voyage, deposited with you five thousand dollars. What have
+you to say to that?"</p>
+
+<p>"What have I to say?" returned the superintendent. "That Captain Rushton
+never possessed five thousand dollars in his life. I don't believe he
+possessed one quarter of the sum."</p>
+
+<p>"What authority have you for saying that? Did he make you his
+confidant?" asked the lawyer, keenly.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said the superintendent, promptly. "When last at home, he called
+at my house one day, and in the course of conversation remarked that
+sailors seldom saved any money. 'For instance,' said he, 'I have
+followed the sea for many years, and have many times resolved to
+accumulate a provision for my wife and child, but as yet I have scarcely
+done more than to begin.' He then told me that he had little more than a
+thousand dollars, but meant to increase that, if possible, during his
+coming voyage."</p>
+
+<p>To this statement Squire Paine listened attentively, fully believing it
+to be an impromptu fabrication, as it really was.</p>
+
+<p>"Did he say anything about what he had done with this thousand dollars
+or more?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"A part he left for his wife to draw from time to time for expenses; the
+rest, I suppose, he took with him."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Paine sat silent for a moment. Things looked unpromising, he
+couldn't but acknowledge, for his young client. In the absence of legal
+proof, and with an adroit and unscrupulous antagonist, whose interests
+were so strongly enlisted in defeating justice, it was difficult to see
+what was to be done.</p>
+
+<p>"I understand then, Mr. Davis," he said, finally, "that you deny the
+justice of this claim?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly I do," said the superintendent. "It is a palpable fraud. This
+boy is a precocious young swindler, and will come to a bad end."</p>
+
+<p>"I have a different opinion of him."</p>
+
+<p>"You are deceived in him, then. I have no doubt he got up the letter
+himself."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't agree with you. I have seen the letter; it is in Captain
+Rushton's handwriting. Moreover, I have seen the letter of the owners,
+which accompanied it."</p>
+
+<p>The superintendent was in a tight place, and he knew it. But there was
+nothing to do but to persist in his denial.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I can only say that Captain Rushton was a party to the fraud," he
+said.</p>
+
+<p>"You must be aware, Mr. Davis, that when the public learns the facts in
+the case, the general belief will be the other way."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't help that," said the other, doggedly. "Whatever the public
+chooses to think, I won't admit the justice of this outrageous claim."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I have only to bid you good-evening," said the lawyer, coldly,
+affecting not to see the hand which the superintendent extended. The
+latter felt the slight, and foresaw that from others he must expect
+similar coldness, but there was no help for it. To restore the money
+would be ruin. He had entered into the path of dishonesty, and he was
+forced to keep on in it.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII.<br /><br />
+ROBERT'S NEW PROJECT.</h3>
+
+<p>Mr. Paine called at Mrs. Rushton's cottage, and communicated the
+particulars of his interview with the superintendent.</p>
+
+<p>"It is evident," he said, "that Mr. Davis is swayed by his interests,
+and feeling legally secure, prefers to defraud you rather than to
+surrender the five thousand dollars."</p>
+
+<p>"I wouldn't have believed it of Mr. Davis," said Mrs. Rushton; "he is
+considered such a respectable man."</p>
+
+<p>"I have heard rumors that he is dabbling in speculations, and I suspect
+he may find it inconvenient to pay away so large a sum of money."</p>
+
+<p>"He had no right to speculate with my mother's money," said Robert,
+indignantly.</p>
+
+<p>"You are right there. He should have invested it securely."</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Paine," said Robert, after a pause, "I have an idea that father is
+still living, and that some day I shall find him."</p>
+
+<p>The lawyer shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"There is not one chance in ten that he is living," he said. "It is only
+a fancy of yours."</p>
+
+<p>"It may be, but I can't get it out of my head."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you will prove correct, but I need not tell you of the many
+arguments against such a theory."</p>
+
+<p>"I know them all, but still I believe he is living. Mr. Paine,"
+continued Robert, earnestly, "I feel so strongly on the subject that,
+with my mother's permission, I, mean to go out into the world in search
+of him."</p>
+
+<p>"I must say, Robert," said Mr. Paine, "I did not expect such a visionary
+scheme from a boy of your good sense. You must see yourself how wild it
+is."</p>
+
+<p>"I know it," said our hero; "but I want to take a year, at any rate, to
+see the world. If, at the end of that time, I discover no trace of my
+father, I will come home content."</p>
+
+<p>"But what will become of your mother during that time?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will leave four hundred dollars in your hands for her. The rest I
+will draw for my own uses."</p>
+
+<p>"But you don't expect to travel round the world on two hundred dollars,
+surely?" said the lawyer.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall work my way as far as I can," said Robert. "I can't afford to
+travel as a gentleman."</p>
+
+<p>"Suppose you find yourself without money in a foreign land?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am not afraid. I am willing to work, and I can make my way."</p>
+
+<p>"Surely, Mrs. Rushton, you do not approve Robert's scheme?" said Mr.
+Paine.</p>
+
+<p>But to his surprise he found that Mrs. Rushton was inclined to regard it
+favorably. She seemed to share Robert's belief that her husband was
+still living, and that Robert could find him. She was not a woman in the
+habit of reasoning, and had no conception of the difficulties in his
+way. The money left behind in the hands of Mr. Paine, supplemented by
+her own earnings, would be enough to maintain her for two years, and
+this thought made her easy, for she had a great dread of poverty and
+destitution.</p>
+
+<p>When the lawyer found how Mrs. Rushton felt on the subject, he ceased
+his objections to the plan; for, though he had no confidence in our
+young hero's success in the object he had in view, he thought that a
+year's tour might benefit him by extending his knowledge of the world
+and increasing his self-reliance.</p>
+
+<p>"How soon do you wish to start, Robert?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"It will take me a week to get your clothes ready," said Mrs. Rushton.</p>
+
+<p>"Then by a week from Monday I will start," said Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you formed any definite plans about the manner of going?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will go to New York first, and call on the gentleman who got up the
+subscription for me. I will tell him my story, and ask his advice."</p>
+
+<p>"The most sensible thing you could do. As to the money, I will have that
+ready for you. Of course, you will call on me before you go."</p>
+
+<p>The superintendent had made up his mind that Robert would spread the
+report of the deposit, and nervously awaited the result. But to his
+relief he observed no change in the demeanor of his fellow-townsmen. He
+could only conclude that, for reasons of his own, the boy he had wronged
+had concluded to defer the exposure. Next he heard with a feeling of
+satisfaction that Robert had decided to go abroad in quest of his
+father. He had no doubt that Captain Rushton was dead, and regarded the
+plan as utterly quixotic and foolish, but still he felt glad that it had
+been undertaken.</p>
+
+<p>"If the boy never comes back, I shan't mourn much," he said to himself.
+"His mother is a weak woman, who will never give me any trouble, but
+this young rascal has a strong and resolute will, and I shall feel more
+comfortable to have him out of the way."</p>
+
+<p>When Robert got ready to leave he made a farewell call on the lawyer,
+and drew two hundred dollars of his money.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know but one hundred will do," he said. "Perhaps I ought to
+leave five hundred for my mother."</p>
+
+<p>"You carry little enough, Robert. Don't have any anxiety about your
+mother. I will not see her suffer."</p>
+
+<p>Robert grasped his hand in earnest gratitude.</p>
+
+<p>"How can I thank you?" he said.</p>
+
+<p>"You need not thank me. I had a warm regard for your father, and shall
+be glad to help your mother if there is any occasion. Not only this, but
+if in your wanderings you find yourself in a tight place, and in want of
+help, write to me, and I will help you."</p>
+
+<p>"You are a true friend," said Robert, gratefully. "I wish my father had
+intrusted his money to you instead of to the superintendent."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish he had as matters have turned out, I should have taken care that
+your interests did not suffer."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," exclaimed Robert, fervently, "if I could only find my father, and
+bring him home to confront this false friend, and convict him of his
+base fraud, I believe I would willingly give ten years of my life."</p>
+
+<p>"That question can only be solved by time. I, too, should earnestly
+rejoice if such an event could be brought about. And now, Robert,
+good-by, and Heaven bless you. Don't forget that you can count always on
+my friendship and assistance."</p>
+
+<p>On the way home Robert fell in with Halbert Davis. Halbert, of course,
+knew nothing of the claim made upon his father, but he had heard that
+Robert proposed to leave home. He was both sorry and glad on account of
+this&mdash;sorry because he had hoped to see our hero fall into poverty and
+destitution, and enjoy the spectacle of his humiliation. Now he was
+afraid Robert would succeed and deprive him of the enjoyment he had
+counted upon. On the other hand, Robert's departure would leave the
+field free so far as concerned Hester Paine, and he hoped to win the
+favor of that young lady in the absence of any competitor. Of this there
+was not the slightest chance, but Halbert was blinded by his own vanity
+to the obvious dislike which Hester entertained for him.</p>
+
+<p>Now when he saw Robert approaching he couldn't forego the pleasure of a
+final taunt.</p>
+
+<p>"So you're going to leave town, Rushton?'" he commenced.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Davis," answered Robert, in the same tone. "Shall you miss me
+much?"</p>
+
+<p>"I guess I shall live through it," said Halbert. "I suppose you are
+going because you can't make a living here!"</p>
+
+<p>"Not exactly. However, I hope to do better elsewhere."</p>
+
+<p>"If you're going to try for a place, you'd better not mention that you
+got turned out of the factory. You needn't apply to my father for a
+recommendation."</p>
+
+<p>"I shan't need any recommendation from your father," said Robert. "He is
+about the last man that I would apply to."</p>
+
+<p>"That's where you are right," said Halbert. "What sort of a place are
+you going to try for?"</p>
+
+<p>He knew nothing of Robert's intention to seek his father, but supposed
+he meant to obtain a situation in New York.</p>
+
+<p>"You seem particularly interested in my movements, Davis."</p>
+
+<p>"Call me Mr. Davis, if you please," said Halbert, haughtily.</p>
+
+<p>"When you call me Mr. Rushton, I will return the compliment."</p>
+
+<p>"You are impertinent."</p>
+
+<p>"Not more so than you are."</p>
+
+<p>"You don't seem to realize the difference in our positions."</p>
+
+<p>"No, I don't, except that I prefer my own."</p>
+
+<p>Disgusted with Robert's evident determination to withhold the respect
+which he considered his due, Halbert tried him on another tack.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you bidden farewell to Hester Paine?" he asked, with a sneer.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose she was very much affected!" continued Halbert.</p>
+
+<p>"She said she was very sorry to part with me."</p>
+
+<p>"I admire her taste."</p>
+
+<p>"You would admire it more if she had a higher appreciation of you."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be good friends with her, when you are no longer here to
+slander me to her."</p>
+
+<p>"I am not quite so mean as that," said Robert. "If she chooses to like
+you, I shan't try to prevent it."</p>
+
+<p>"I ought to be very much obliged to you, I am sure."</p>
+
+<p>"You needn't trouble yourself to be grateful," returned Robert, coolly.
+"But I must bid you good-by, as I have considerable to do."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't let me detain you," said Halbert, with an elaborate share of
+politeness.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder why Halbert hates me so much!" he thought. "I don't like him,
+but I don't wish him any harm."</p>
+
+<p>He looked with satisfaction upon a little cornelian ring which he wore
+upon one of his fingers. It was of very trifling value, but it was a
+parting gift from Hester, and as such he valued it far above its cost.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.<br /><br />
+A DISHONEST BAGGAGE-SMASHER.</h3>
+
+<p>On the next Monday morning Robert started for the city. At the moment of
+parting he began to realize that he had undertaken a difficult task. His
+life hitherto had been quiet and free from excitement. Now he was about
+to go out into the great world, and fight his own way. With only two
+hundred dollars in his pocket he was going in search of a father, who,
+when last heard from was floating in an open boat on the South Pacific.
+The probabilities were all against that father's being still alive. If
+he were, he had no clew to his present whereabouts.</p>
+
+<p>All this Robert thought over as he was riding in the cars to the city.
+He acknowledged that the chances were all against his success, but in
+spite of all, he had a feeling, for which he could not account, that his
+father was still living, and that he should find him some day. At any
+rate, there was something attractive in the idea of going out to
+unknown lands to meet unknown adventures, and so his momentary
+depression was succeeded by a return of his old confidence.</p>
+
+<p>Arrived in the city, he took his carpetbag in his hand, and crossing the
+street, walked at random, not being familiar with the streets, as he had
+not been in New York but twice before, and that some time since.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know where to go," thought Robert. "I wish I knew where to find
+some cheap hotel."</p>
+
+<p>Just then a boy, in well-ventilated garments and a rimless straw hat,
+with a blacking box over his shoulder, approached.</p>
+
+<p>"Shine your boots, mister?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Robert glanced at his shoes, which were rather deficient in polish, and
+finding that the expense would be only five cents, told him to go ahead.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll give you the bulliest shine you ever had," said the ragamuffin.</p>
+
+<p>"That's right! Go ahead!" said Robert.</p>
+
+<p>When the boy got through, he cast a speculative glance at the carpetbag.</p>
+
+<p>"Smash yer baggage?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"What's that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Carry yer bag."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know of any good, cheap hotel where I can put up?" asked Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"Eu-ro-pean hotel?" said the urchin, accenting the second syllable.</p>
+
+<p>"What kind of a hotel is that?"</p>
+
+<p>"You take a room, and get your grub where you like."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, that will suit me."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll show you one and take yer bag along for two shillings."</p>
+
+<p>"All right," said our hero. "Go ahead."</p>
+
+<p>The boy shouldered the carpetbag and started in advance, Robert
+following. He found a considerable difference between the crowded
+streets of New York and the quiet roads of Millville. His spirits rose,
+and he felt that life was just beginning for him. Brave and bold by
+temperament, he did not shrink from trying his luck on a broader arena
+than was afforded by the little village whence he came. Such confidence
+is felt by many who eventually fail, but Robert was one who combined
+ability and willingness to work with confidence, and the chances were in
+favor of his succeeding.</p>
+
+<p>Unused to the city streets, Robert was a little more cautious about
+crossing than the young Arab who carried his bag. So, at one broad
+thoroughfare, the latter got safely across, while Robert was still on
+the other side waiting for a good opportunity to cross in turn. The
+bootblack, seeing that communication was for the present cut off by a
+long line of vehicles, was assailed by a sudden temptation. For his
+services as porter he would receive but twenty-five cents, while here
+was an opportunity to appropriate the entire bag, which must be far more
+valuable. He was not naturally a bad boy, but his street education had
+given him rather loose ideas on the subject of property. Obeying his
+impulse, then, he started rapidly, bag in hand, up a side street.</p>
+
+<p>"Hold on, there! Where are you going?" called out Robert.</p>
+
+<p>He received no answer, but saw the baggage-smasher quickening his pace
+and dodging round the corner. He attempted to dash across the street,
+but was compelled to turn back, after being nearly run over.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I could get hold of the young rascal!" he exclaimed indignantly.</p>
+
+<p>"Who do you mane, Johnny?" asked a boy at his side.</p>
+
+<p>"A boy has run off with my carpetbag," said Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"I know him. It's Jim Malone."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know where I can find him?" asked Robert, eagerly. "If you'll
+help me get back my bag, I'll give you a dollar."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll do it then. Come along of me. Here's a chance to cross."</p>
+
+<p>Following his new guide, Robert dashed across the street at some risk,
+and found himself safe on the other side.</p>
+
+<p>"Now where do you think he's gone?" demanded Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"It's likely he'll go home."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know where he lives?"</p>
+
+<p>"No.&mdash;Mulberry street."</p>
+
+<p>"Has he got any father and mother?"</p>
+
+<p>"He's got a mother, but the ould woman's drunk most all the time."</p>
+
+<p>"Then she won't care about his stealing?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, she'll think he's smart."</p>
+
+<p>"Then we'll go there. Is it far?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not more than twenty minutes."</p>
+
+<p>The boy was right. Jim steered for home, not being able to open the bag
+in the street without suspicion. His intention was to appropriate a part
+of the clothing to his own use, and dispose of the rest to a pawnbroker
+or second-hand dealer, who, as long as he got a good bargain, would not
+be too particular about inquiring into the customer's right to the
+property. He did not, however, wholly escape suspicion. He was stopped
+by a policeman, who demanded, "Whose bag is that, Johnny?"</p>
+
+<p>"It belongs to a gentleman that wants it carried to the St. Nicholas,"
+answered Jim, promptly.</p>
+
+<p>"Where is the gentleman?"</p>
+
+<p>"He's took a car to Wall street on business."</p>
+
+<p>"How came he to trust you with the bag? Wasn't he afraid you'd steal
+it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, he knows me. I've smashed baggage for him more'n once."</p>
+
+<p>This might be true. At any rate, it was plausible, and the policeman,
+having no ground of detention, suffered him to go on.</p>
+
+<p>Congratulating himself on getting off so well, Jim sped on his way, and
+arrived in quick time at the miserable room in Mulberry street, which he
+called home.</p>
+
+<p>His mother lay on a wretched bed in the corner, half stupefied with
+drink. She lifted up her head as her son entered.</p>
+
+<p>"What have you there, Jimmy?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a bag, mother."</p>
+
+<p>"Whose is it?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's mine now."</p>
+
+<p>"And where did ye get it?"</p>
+
+<p>"A boy gave it to me to carry to a chape hotel, so I brought it home.
+This is a chape hotel, isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"You're a smart boy, an' I always said it, Jimmy. Let me open it," and
+the old woman, with considerable alacrity, rose to her feet and came to
+Jim's side.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll open it myself, mother, that is, I if I had a kay. Haven't you got
+one?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have that same. I picked up a bunch of kays in the strate last
+week."</p>
+
+<p>She fumbled in her pocket, and drew out half a dozen keys of different
+sizes, attached to a steel ring.</p>
+
+<p>"Bully for you, old woman!" said Jim. "Give 'em here."</p>
+
+<p>"Let me open the bag," said Mrs. Malone, persuasively.</p>
+
+<p>"No, you don't," said her dutiful son. "'Tain't none of yours. It's
+mine."</p>
+
+<p>"The kays is mine," said his mother, "and I'll kape 'em."</p>
+
+<p>"Give 'em here," said Jim, finding a compromise necessary, "and I'll
+give you fifty cents out of what I get."</p>
+
+<p>"That's the way to talk, darlint," said his mother, approvingly. "You
+wouldn't have the heart to chate your ould mother out of her share?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's better I did," said Jim; "you'll only get drunk on the money."</p>
+
+<p>"Shure a little drink will do me no harm," said Mrs. Malone.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the young Arab had tried key after key until he found one that
+fitted&mdash;the bag flew open, and Robert's humble stock of clothing lay
+exposed to view. There was a woolen suit, four shirts, half a dozen
+collars, some stockings and handkerchiefs. Besides these there was the
+little Bible which Robert had had given him by his father just before he
+went on his last voyage. It was the only book our hero had room for, but
+in the adventurous career upon which he had entered, exposed to perils
+of the sea and land, he felt that he would need this as his constant
+guide.</p>
+
+<p>"Them shirts'll fit me," said Jim. "I guess I'll kape 'em, and the close
+besides."</p>
+
+<p>"Then where'll you git the money for me?" asked his mother.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll sell the handkerchiefs and stockings. I don't nade them," said
+Jim, whose ideas of full dress fell considerably short of the ordinary
+standard. "I won't nade the collars either."</p>
+
+<p>"You don't nade all the shirts," said his mother.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll kape two," said Jim. "It'll make me look respectable. Maybe I'll
+kape two collars, so I can sit up for a gentleman of fashion."</p>
+
+<p>"You'll be too proud to walk with your ould mother," said Mrs. Malone.</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe I will," said Jim, surveying his mother critically. "You aint
+much of a beauty, ould woman."</p>
+
+<p>"I was a purty gal, once," said Mrs. Malone, "but hard work and bad luck
+has wore on me."</p>
+
+<p>"The whisky's had something to do with it," said Jim. "Hard work didn't
+make your face so red."</p>
+
+<p>"Is it my own boy talks to me like that?" said the old woman, wiping her
+eyes on her dress.</p>
+
+<p>But her sorrow was quickly succeeded by a different emotion, as the door
+opened suddenly, and Robert Rushton entered the room.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.<br /><br />
+A GOOD BEGINNING.</h3>
+
+<p>Jim started to his feet at the sight of the equally unwelcome and
+unexpected visitor. His mother, ignorant that she saw before her the
+owner of the bag, supposed it might be a customer wanting some washing
+done.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-morning, sir," said she, "And have yez business with me?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Robert, "I have business with your son, if that's he."</p>
+
+<p>"Shure he's my son, and a smart bye he is too."</p>
+
+<p>"He's a little too smart sometimes," returned our hero. "I gave him my
+carpetbag to carry this morning, and he ran away with it."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Malone's face fell at this unexpected intelligence.</p>
+
+<p>"Shur an' it was a mistake of his," she said. "He's too honest entirely
+to stale the value of a pin, let alone a carpetbag."</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Jim was rapidly reviewing the situation. He was not naturally
+bad, but he had fallen a victim to sudden temptation. He was ashamed,
+and determined to make amends by a frank confession.</p>
+
+<p>"My mother is wrong," he said; "I meant to kape it, and I'm sorry.
+Here's the bag, wid nothing taken out of it."</p>
+
+<p>"That's right, to own up," said Robert, favorably impressed with his
+frank confession. "Give me the bag and it'll be all right. I suppose you
+were poor, and that tempted you. I am poor, too, and couldn't afford to
+lose it. But I'd rather starve than steal, and I hope you will not be
+dishonest again."</p>
+
+<p>"I won't!" said Jim, stoutly. "I'll go with you now to a chape hotel,
+and won't charge you nothin'."</p>
+
+<p>"I've got a boy downstairs who will take it. Don't forget what you said
+just now."</p>
+
+<p>"No, I won't," said Jim. "Shure if I'd known what a bully young
+gentleman you was, I wouldn't have took it on no account."</p>
+
+<p>So Robert descended the stairs, having by his forbearance probably
+effected a moral reformation in Jim, and confirmed in him the good
+principles, which, in spite of his mother's bad example, had already
+taken root in his heart. If the community, while keeping vigilant watch
+over the young outcasts that throng our streets, plying their petty
+avocations, would not always condemn, but encourage them sometimes to a
+better life, the results would soon appear in the diminution of the
+offenses for which they are most frequently arrested.</p>
+
+<p>His new guide shouldered Robert's carpetbag, and conducted him to a
+hotel of good standing, managed on the European system. Dismissing the
+boy with the promised reward, Robert went up to his room on the fifth
+floor, and after attending to his toilet, sallied out into the street
+and made his way to the warehouse of the merchant who had been
+instrumental in raising the fund for him.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Morgan is engaged," said a clerk to whom he spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"I will wait for him, if you please," said Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"Is it any business that I can attend to?" asked the clerk.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I wish to see Mr. Morgan himself."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Morgan was engaged with two gentlemen, and our hero was obliged to
+wait nearly half an hour. At the end of that time, the merchant
+consented to see him. He did not at first recognize him, but said,
+inquiringly, "Well, my young friend, from whom do you come?"</p>
+
+<p>"I come from no one, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you business with me?"</p>
+
+<p>"You do not remember me, Mr. Morgan. Do you remember when the cars came
+so near running off the track a short time since at Millville?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly I do," said Mr. Morgan, heartily; "and I now remember you as
+the brave boy who saved all our lives."</p>
+
+<p>"You gave me your card and told me I might call on you."</p>
+
+<p>"To be sure, I did, and I am very glad to see you. You must go home and
+dine with me to-day."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, sir, for your kind invitation."</p>
+
+<p>"This is my address," said the merchant, writing it in pencil, and
+handing it to Robert. "We dine at half-past six. You had better be at
+the door at six. We will then talk over your plans, for I suppose you
+have some, and I will do what I can to promote them. At present I am
+busy, and am afraid I must ask you to excuse me."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, sir," said Robert, gratefully.</p>
+
+<p>He left the office, not a little elated at his favorable reception. Mr.
+Morgan, judging from his place of business, must be a man of great
+wealth, and could no doubt be of essential service to him. What was
+quite as important, he seemed disposed to help him.</p>
+
+<p>"That's a good beginning," thought Robert. "I wish mother knew how well
+I have succeeded so far. I'll just write and let her know that I have
+arrived safe. To-morrow perhaps I shall have better news to tell."</p>
+
+<p>He went back to his hotel, and feeling hungry, made a substantial meal.
+He found the restaurants moderate in price, and within his means.</p>
+
+<p>Six o'clock found him ringing the bell of a handsome brownstone house on
+Fifth avenue. Though not disposed to be shy, he felt a little
+embarrassed as the door opened and a servant in livery stood before him.</p>
+
+<p>"Is Mr. Morgan at home?" inquired Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir," said the servant, glancing speculatively at the neat but
+coarse garments of our hero.</p>
+
+<p>"He invited me to dine with him," said Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"Won't you walk in, sir?" said the servant, with another glance of mild
+surprise at the dress of the dinner guest. "If you'll walk in here,"
+opening the door of a sumptuously furnished parlor, "I will announce
+you. What name shall I say?"</p>
+
+<p>"Robert Rushton."</p>
+
+<p>Robert entered the parlor, and sat down on a sofa. He looked around him
+with a little, pardonable curiosity, for he had never before been in an
+elegant city mansion.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder whether I shall ever be rich enough to live like this!" he
+thought.</p>
+
+<p>The room, though elegant, was dark, and to our hero, who was used to
+bright, sunny rooms, it seemed a little gloomy. He mentally decided that
+he would prefer a plain country house; not so plain, indeed, as the
+little cottage where his mother lived, but as nice, perhaps, as the
+superintendent's house, which was the finest in the village, and the
+most magnificent he had until this time known. Its glories were wholly
+eclipsed by the house he was in, but Robert thought he would prefer it.
+While he was looking about him, Mr. Morgan entered, and his warm and
+cordial manner made his boy guest feel quite at his ease.</p>
+
+<p>"I must make you acquainted with my wife and children," he said. "They
+have heard of you, and are anxious to see you."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Morgan gave Robert a reception as warm as her husband had done.</p>
+
+<p>"So this is the young hero of whom I have heard!" she said.</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid you give me too much credit," said Robert, modestly.</p>
+
+<p>This modest disclaimer produced a still more favorable impression upon
+both Mr. and Mrs. Morgan.</p>
+
+<p>I do not propose to speak in detail of the dinner that followed. The
+merchant and his wife succeeded in making Robert feel entirely at home,
+and he displayed an ease and self-possession wholly free from boldness
+that won their good opinion.</p>
+
+<p>When the dinner was over, Mr. Morgan commenced:</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Robert, dinner being over, let us come to business. Tell me your
+plans, and I will consider how I can promote them."</p>
+
+<p>In reply, Robert communicated the particulars, already known to the
+reader, of his father's letter, his own conviction of his still living,
+and his desire to go in search of him.</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid you will be disappointed," said the merchant, "in the
+object of your expedition. It may, however, be pleasant for you to see
+something of the world, and luckily it is in my power to help you. I
+have a vessel which sails for Calcutta early next week. You shall go as
+a passenger."</p>
+
+<p>"Couldn't I go as cabin-boy?" asked Robert. "I am afraid the price of a
+ticket will be beyond my means."</p>
+
+<p>"I think not," said the merchant, smiling, "since you will go free. As
+you do not propose to follow the sea, it will not be worth while to go
+as cabin-boy. Besides, it would interfere with your liberty to leave the
+vessel whenever you deemed it desirable in order to carry on your search
+for your father."</p>
+
+<p>"You are very kind, Mr. Morgan," said Robert, gratefully.</p>
+
+<p>"So I ought to be and mean to be," said the merchant. "You know I am in
+your debt."</p>
+
+<p>We pass over the few and simple preparations which Robert made for his
+long voyage. In these he was aided by Mrs. Morgan, who sent on board,
+without his knowledge, a trunk containing a complete outfit,
+considerably better than the contents of the humble carpetbag he had
+brought from home.</p>
+
+<p>He didn't go on board till the morning on which the ship was to sail. He
+went down into the cabin, and did not come up until the ship had
+actually started. Coming on deck, he saw a figure which seemed familiar
+to him. From his dress, and the commands he appeared to be issuing,
+Robert judged that it was the mate. He tried to think where he could
+have met him, when the mate turned full around, and, alike to his
+surprise and dismay, he recognized Ben Haley, whom he had wounded in his
+successful attempt to rob his uncle.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV.<br /><br />
+A DECLARATION OF WAR.</h3>
+
+<p>If Robert was surprised, Ben Haley had even more reason for
+astonishment. He had supposed his young enemy, as he chose to consider
+him, quietly living at home in the small village of Millville. He was
+far from expecting to meet him on shipboard bound to India. There was
+one difference, however, between the surprise felt by the two. Robert
+was disagreeably surprised, but a flash of satisfaction lit up the face
+of the mate, as he realized that the boy who had wounded him was on the
+same ship, and consequently, as he supposed, in his power.</p>
+
+<p>"How came you here?" he exclaimed, hastily advancing toward Robert.</p>
+
+<p>Resenting the tone of authority in which these words were spoken, Robert
+answered, composedly:</p>
+
+<p>"I walked on board."</p>
+
+<p>"You'd better not be impudent, young one," said Ben, roughly.</p>
+
+<p>"When you tell me what right you have to question me in that style,"
+said Robert, coolly, "I will apologize."</p>
+
+<p>"I am the mate of this vessel, as you will soon find out."</p>
+
+<p>"So I supposed," said Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"And you, I suppose, are the cabin-boy. Change your clothes at once, and
+report for duty."</p>
+
+<p>Robert felt sincerely thankful at that moment that he was not the
+cabin-boy, for he foresaw that in that case he would be subjected to
+brutal treatment from the mate&mdash;treatment which his subordinate position
+would make him powerless to resent. Now, as a passenger, he felt
+independent, and though it was disagreeable to have the mate for an
+enemy, he did not feel afraid.</p>
+
+<p>"You've made a mistake, Mr. Haley," said our hero. "I am not the
+cabin-boy."</p>
+
+<p>"What are you, then?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am a passenger."</p>
+
+<p>"You are telling a lie. We don't take passengers," said Ben Haley,
+determined not to believe that the boy was out of his power.</p>
+
+<p>"If you will consult the captain, you may learn your mistake," said
+Robert.</p>
+
+<p>Ben Haley couldn't help crediting this statement, since it would have
+done Robert no good to misrepresent the facts of the case. He resolved,
+however, to ask the captain about it, and inquire how it happened that
+he had been received as a passenger, contrary to the usual custom.</p>
+
+<p>"You will hear from me again," he said, in a tone of menace.</p>
+
+<p>Robert turned away indifferently, so far as appearance went, but he
+couldn't help feeling a degree of apprehension as he thought of the long
+voyage he was to take in company with his enemy, who doubtless would
+have it in his power to annoy him, even if he abstained from positive
+injury.</p>
+
+<p>"He is a bad man, and will injure me if he can," he reflected; "but I
+think I can take care of myself. If I can't I will appeal to the
+captain."</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the mate went up to the captain.</p>
+
+<p>"Captain Evans," said he, "is that boy a passenger?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Mr. Haley."</p>
+
+<p>"It is something unusual to take passengers, is it not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; but this lad is a friend of the owner; and Mr. Morgan has given me
+directions to treat him with particular consideration."</p>
+
+<p>Ben Haley was puzzled. How did it happen that Mr. Morgan, one of the
+merchant princes of New York, had become interested in an obscure
+country boy?</p>
+
+<p>"I don't understand it," he said, perplexed.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose the boy is a relation of Mr. Morgan."</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing of the kind. He is of poor family, from a small country town."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you know him?"</p>
+
+<p>"I know something of him and his family. He is one of the most impudent
+young rascals I ever met."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed!" returned the captain, surprised. "From what I have seen of
+him, I have come to quite a different conclusion. He has been very
+gentlemanly and polite to me."</p>
+
+<p>"He can appear so, but you will find out, sooner or later. He has not
+the slightest regard for truth, and will tell the most unblushing
+falsehoods with the coolest and most matter-of-fact air."</p>
+
+<p>"I shouldn't have supposed it," said Captain Evans, looking over at our
+hero, at the other extremity of the deck. "Appearances are deceitful,
+certainly."</p>
+
+<p>"They are in this case."</p>
+
+<p>This terminated the colloquy for the time. The mate had done what he
+could to prejudice the captain against the boy he hated. Not, however,
+with entire success.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Evans had a mind of his own, and did not choose to adopt any
+man's judgment or prejudices blindly. He resolved to watch Robert a
+little more closely than he had done, in order to see whether his own
+observation confirmed the opinion expressed by the mate. Of the latter
+he did not know much, since this was the first voyage on which they had
+sailed together; but Captain Evans was obliged to confess that he did
+not wholly like his first officer. He appeared to be a capable seaman,
+and, doubtless, understood his duties, but there was a bold and reckless
+expression which impressed him unfavorably.</p>
+
+<p>Ben Haley, on his part, had learned something, but not much. He had
+ascertained that Robert was a <i>protégé</i> of the owner, and was
+recommended to the special care of the captain; but what could be his
+object in undertaking the present voyage, he did not understand. He was
+a little afraid that Robert would divulge the not very creditable part
+he had played at Millville; and that he might not be believed in that
+case, he had represented him to the captain as an habitual liar. After
+some consideration, he decided to change his tactics, and induce our
+hero to believe he was his friend, or, at least, not hostile to him. To
+this he was impelled by two motives. First, to secure his silence
+respecting the robbery; and, next, to so far get into his confidence as
+to draw out of him the object of his present expedition. Thus, he would
+lull his suspicions to sleep, and might thereafter gratify his malice
+the more securely.</p>
+
+<p>He accordingly approached our hero, and tapped him on the shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>Robert drew away slightly. Haley saw the movement, and hated the boy the
+more for it.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, my lad," he said, "I find your story is correct."</p>
+
+<p>"Those who know me don't generally doubt my word," said Robert, coldly.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I don't know you, or, at least, not intimately," said Haley, "and
+you must confess that I haven't the best reasons to like you."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you suffer much inconvenience from your wound?" asked Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"Not much. It proved to be slight. You were a bold boy to wing me. I
+could have crushed you easily."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose you could, but you know how I was situated. I couldn't run
+away, and desert your uncle."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know about that. You don't understand that little affair. I
+suppose you think I had no right to the gold I took."</p>
+
+<p>"I certainly do think so."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you are mistaken. My uncle got his money from my grandfather. A
+part should have gone to my mother, and, consequently, to me, but he
+didn't choose to act honestly. My object in calling upon him was to
+induce him to do me justice at last. But you know the old man has
+become a miser, and makes money his idol. The long and short of it was,
+that, as he wouldn't listen to reason, I determined to take the law into
+my own hands, and carry off what I thought ought to come to me."</p>
+
+<p>Robert listened to this explanation without putting much faith in it. It
+was not at all according to the story given by Mr. Nichols, and he knew,
+moreover, that the man before him had passed a wild and dissolute youth.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose what I did was not strictly legal," continued Ben Haley,
+lightly; "but we sailors are not much versed in the quips of the law. To
+my thinking, law defeats justice about as often as it aids it."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know very much about law," said Robert, perceiving that some
+reply was expected.</p>
+
+<p>"That's just my case," said Ben, "and the less I have to do with it the
+better it will suit me. I suppose my uncle made a great fuss about the
+money I carried off."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Robert. "It was quite a blow to him, and he has been nervous
+ever since for fear you would come back again."</p>
+
+<p>Ben Haley shrugged his shoulders and laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"He needn't be afraid. I don't want to trouble him, but I was bound he
+shouldn't keep from me what was rightly my due. I haven't got all I
+ought to have, but I am not a lover of money, and I shall let it go."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you won't go near him again, for he got a severe shock the last
+time."</p>
+
+<p>"When you get back, if you get a chance to see him privately, you may
+tell him there is no danger of that."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be glad to do so," said Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought I would explain the matter to you," continued the mate, in an
+off-hand manner, "for I didn't want you to remain under a false
+impression. So you are going to see a little of the world?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose that is your only object?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. I have another object in view."</p>
+
+<p>The mate waited to learn what this object was, but Robert stopped, and
+did not seem inclined to go on.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Haley, after a slight pause, "as we are to be together on a
+long voyage, we may as well be friends. Here's my hand."</p>
+
+<p>To his surprise, Robert made no motion to take it.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Haley," said he, "I don't like to refuse your hand, but when I tell
+you that I am the son of Captain Rushton, of the ship, <i>Norman</i>, you
+will understand why I cannot accept your hand."</p>
+
+<p>Ben Haley started back in dismay. How could Robert have learned
+anything of his treachery to his father? Had the dead come back from the
+bottom of the sea to expose him? Was Captain Rushton still alive? He did
+not venture to ask, but he felt his hatred for Robert growing more
+intense.</p>
+
+<p>"Boy," he said, in a tone of concentrated passion, "you have done a bold
+thing in rejecting my hand. I might have been your friend. Think of me
+henceforth as your relentless enemy."</p>
+
+<p>He walked away, his face dark with the evil passions which Robert's
+slight had aroused in his breast.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI.<br /><br />
+OUT ON THE OCEAN.</h3>
+
+<p>We must now go back nearly two years. Five men were floating about in a
+boat in the Southern ocean. They looked gaunt and famished. For a week
+they had lived on short allowance, and now for two days they had been
+entirely without food. There was in their faces that look, well-nigh
+hopeless, which their wretched situation naturally produced. For one
+day, also, they had been without water, and the torments of thirst were
+worse than the cravings of hunger. These men were Captain Rushton and
+four sailors of the ship <i>Norman</i>, whose burning has already been
+described.</p>
+
+<p>One of the sailors, Bunsby, was better educated and more intelligent
+than the rest, and the captain spoke to him as a friend and an equal,
+for all the distinctions of rank were broken down by the immediate
+prospect of a terrible death.</p>
+
+<p>"How is all this going to end, Bunsby?" said the captain, in a low
+voice, turning from a vain search for some sail; in sight, and
+addressing his subordinate.</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid there is only one way," answered Bunsby. "There is not much
+prospect of our meeting a ship."</p>
+
+<p>"And, if we do, it is doubtful if we can attract their attention."</p>
+
+<p>"I should like the chance to try."</p>
+
+<p>"I never knew before how much worse thirst is than hunger."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know, captain, if this lasts much longer, I shall be tempted to
+swallow some of this sea water."</p>
+
+<p>"It will only make matters worse."</p>
+
+<p>"I know it, but, at least, it will moisten my throat."</p>
+
+<p>The other sailors sat stupid and silent, apparently incapable of motion,</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I had a plug of tobacco," said one, at last.</p>
+
+<p>"If there were any use in wishing, I'd wish myself on shore," said the
+second.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll never see land again," said the third, gloomily. "We're bound for
+Davy Jones' locker."</p>
+
+<p>"I'd like to see my old mother before I go down," said the first.</p>
+
+<p>"I've got a mother, too," said the third. "If I could only have a drop
+of the warm tea such as she used to make! She's sitting down to dinner
+now, most likely, little thinking that her Jack is dying of hunger out
+here."</p>
+
+<p>There was a pause, and the captain spoke again.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I knew whether that bottle will ever reach shore. When was it we
+launched it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Four days since."</p>
+
+<p>"I've got something here I wish I could get to my wife." He drew from
+his pocketbook a small, folded paper.</p>
+
+<p>"What is that, captain?" asked Bunsby.</p>
+
+<p>"It is my wife's fortune."</p>
+
+<p>"How is that, captain?"</p>
+
+<p>"That paper is good for five thousand dollars."</p>
+
+<p>"Five thousand dollars wouldn't do us much good here. It wouldn't buy a
+pound of bread, or a pint of water."</p>
+
+<p>"No; but it would&mdash;I hope it will&mdash;save my wife and son from suffering.
+Just before I sailed on this voyage I took five thousand dollars&mdash;nearly
+all my savings&mdash;to a man in our village to keep till I returned, or, if
+I did not return, to keep in trust for my wife and child. This is the
+paper he gave me in acknowledgment."</p>
+
+<p>"Is he a man you can trust, captain?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think so. It is the superintendent of the factory in our village&mdash;a
+man rich, or, at any rate, well-to-do. He has a good reputation for
+integrity."</p>
+
+<p>"Your wife knew you had left the money in his hands?"</p>
+
+<p>"No; I meant it as a surprise to her."</p>
+
+<p>"It is a pity you did not leave that paper in her hands."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean, Bunsby?" asked the captain, nervously. "You don't
+think this man will betray his trust?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can't say, captain, for I don't know the man; but I don't like to
+trust any man too far."</p>
+
+<p>Captain Rushton was silent for a moment. There was a look of trouble on
+his face.</p>
+
+<p>"You make me feel anxious, Bunsby. It is hard enough to feel that I
+shall probably never again see my wife and child&mdash;on earth, I mean&mdash;but
+to think that they may possibly suffer want makes it more bitter."</p>
+
+<p>"The man may be honest, captain: Don't trouble yourself too much."</p>
+
+<p>"I see that I made a mistake. I should have left this paper with my
+wife. Davis can keep this money, and no one will be the wiser. It is a
+terrible temptation."</p>
+
+<p>"Particularly if the man is pressed for money."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think that. He is considered a rich man. He ought to be one,
+and my money would be only a trifle to him."</p>
+
+<p>"Let us hope it is so, captain," said Bunsby, who felt that further
+discussion would do no good, and only embitter the last moments of his
+commander. But anxiety did not so readily leave the captain. Added to
+the pangs of hunger and the cravings of thirst was the haunting fear
+that by his imprudence his wife and child would suffer.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think it would do any good, Bunsby," he said, after a pause, "to
+put this receipt in a bottle, as I did the letter?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, captain, it is too great a risk. There is not more than one chance
+in a hundred of its reaching its destination. Besides, suppose you
+should be picked up, and go home without the receipt; he might refuse to
+pay you."</p>
+
+<p>"He would do so at the peril of his life, then," said the captain,
+fiercely. "Do you think, if I were alive, I would let any man rob me of
+the savings of my life?"</p>
+
+<p>"Other men have done so."</p>
+
+<p>"It would not be safe to try it on me, Bunsby."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, captain?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is possible that I may perish, but you may be saved."</p>
+
+<p>"Not much chance of it."</p>
+
+<p>"Yet it is possible. Now, if that happens, I have a favor to ask of
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"Name it, captain."</p>
+
+<p>"I want you, if I die first, to take this paper, and guard it carefully;
+and, if you live to get back, to take it to Millville, and see that
+justice is done to my wife and child."</p>
+
+<p>"I promise that, captain; but I think we shall die together."</p>
+
+<p>Twenty-four hours passed. The little boat still rocked hither and
+thither on the ocean billows. The five faces looked more haggard, and
+there was a wild, eager look upon them, as they scanned the horizon,
+hoping to see a ship. Their lips and throats were dry and parched.</p>
+
+<p>"I can't stand it no longer," said one&mdash;it was the sailor I have called
+Jack&mdash;"I shall drink some of the sea water."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't do it, Jack," said Bunsby. "You'll suffer more than ever."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't," said Jack, desperately; and, scooping up some water in the
+hollow of his hand, he drank it eagerly. Again and again he drank with
+feverish eagerness.</p>
+
+<p>"How is it?" said the second sailor,</p>
+
+<p>"I feel better," said Jack; "my throat so dry."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I'll take some, too."</p>
+
+<p>The other two sailors, unheeding the remonstrances of Bunsby and the
+captain, followed the example of Jack. They felt relief for the moment,
+but soon their torments became unendurable. With parched throats,
+gasping for breath, they lay back in agony. Suffering themselves,
+Captain Rushton and Bunsby regarded with pity the greater sufferings of
+their wretched companions.</p>
+
+<p>"This is horrible," said the captain.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Bunsby, sadly. "It can't last much longer now."</p>
+
+<p>His words were truer than he thought. Unable to endure his suffering,
+the sailor named Jack suddenly staggered to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>"I can't stand it any longer," he said, wildly; "good-by, boys," and
+before his companions well knew what he intended to do, he had leaped
+over the side of the boat, and sunk in the ocean waves.</p>
+
+<p>There was a thrilling silence, as the waters closed over his body.</p>
+
+<p>Then the second sailor also rose to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going after Jack," he said, and he, too, plunged into the waves.</p>
+
+<p>The captain rose as if to hinder him, but Bunsby placed his hand upon
+his arm.</p>
+
+<p>"It's just as well, captain. We must all come to that, and the sooner,
+the more suffering is saved."</p>
+
+<p>"That's so," said the other sailor, tormented like the other two by
+thirst, aggravated by his draughts of seawater. "Good-by, Bunsby!
+Good-by, captain! I'm going!"</p>
+
+<p>He, too, plunged into the sea, and Bunsby and the captain were left
+alone.</p>
+
+<p>"You won't desert me, Bunsby?" said the captain.</p>
+
+<p>"No, captain. I haven't swallowed seawater like those poor fellows. I
+can stand it better."</p>
+
+<p>"There is no hope of life," said the captain, quietly; "but I don't like
+to go unbidden into my Maker's presence."</p>
+
+<p>"Nor I. I'll stand by you, captain."</p>
+
+<p>"This is a fearful thing, Bunsby. If it would only rain."</p>
+
+<p>"That would be some relief."</p>
+
+<p>As if in answer to his wish, the drops began to fall&mdash;slowly at first,
+then more copiously, till at last their clothing was saturated, and the
+boat partly filled with water. Eagerly they squeezed out the welcome
+dregs from their clothing, and felt a blessed relief. They filled two
+bottles they had remaining with the precious fluid.</p>
+
+<p>"If those poor fellows had only waited," said the captain.</p>
+
+<p>"They are out of suffering now," said Bunsby.</p>
+
+<p>The relief was only temporary, and they felt it to be so. They were
+without food, and the two bottles of water would not last them long.
+Still, there was a slight return of hope, which survives under the most
+discouraging circumstances.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXVII.<br /><br />
+FRANK PRICE.</h3>
+
+<p>The ship <i>Argonaut</i>, bound for Calcutta, was speeding along with a fair
+wind, when the man at the lookout called:</p>
+
+<p>"Boat in sight!"</p>
+
+<p>"Where away?"</p>
+
+<p>The sailor pointed, out a small boat a mile distant, nearly in the
+ship's track, rising and falling with the billows.</p>
+
+<p>"Is there any one in it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I see two men lying in the bottom. They are motionless. They may be
+dead."</p>
+
+<p>The boat was soon overtaken. It was the boat from the ill-fated
+<i>Norman</i>, Captain Rushton and Bunsby were lying stretched out in the
+bottom, both motionless and apparently without life. Bunsby was really
+dead. But there was still some life left in the captain, which, under
+the care of the surgeon of the ship, was carefully husbanded until he
+was out of immediate danger. But his system, from the long privation of
+food, had received such a shock, that his mind, sympathizing with it, he
+fell into a kind of stupor, mental and physical, and though strength and
+vigor came slowly back, Captain Rushton was in mind a child. Oblivion of
+the past seemed to have come over him. He did not remember who he was,
+or that he had a wife and child.</p>
+
+<p>"Poor man!" said the surgeon; "I greatly fear his mind has completely
+given way."</p>
+
+<p>"It is a pity some of his friends were not here," said the captain of
+the ship that had rescued him. "The sight of a familiar face might
+restore him."</p>
+
+<p>"It is possible, but I am not sure of even that."</p>
+
+<p>"Is there any clew to his identity?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have found none."</p>
+
+<p>It will at once occur to the reader that the receipt would have supplied
+the necessary information, since it was dated Millville, and contained
+the captain's name. But this was concealed in an inner pocket in Captain
+Rushton's vest, and escaped the attention of the surgeon. So, nameless
+and unknown, he was carried to Calcutta, which he reached without any
+perceptible improvement in his mental condition.</p>
+
+<p>Arrived at Calcutta, the question arose: "What shall we do with him?" It
+was a perplexing question, since if carried back to New York, it might
+be difficult to identify him there, or send him back to his friends.
+Besides, the care of a man in his condition would be a greater
+responsibility than most shipmasters would care to undertake. It was at
+this crisis that a large-hearted and princely American merchant,
+resident in Calcutta, who had learned the particulars of the captain's
+condition, came forward, saying: "Leave him here. I will find him a home
+in some suitable boarding-house, and defray such expenses as may be
+required. God has blessed me with abundant means. It is only right that
+I should employ a portion in His service. I hope, under good treatment,
+he may recover wholly, and be able to tell me who he is, and where is
+his home. When that is ascertained, if his health is sufficiently good,
+I will send him home at my own expense."</p>
+
+<p>The offer was thankfully accepted, and the generous merchant was as good
+as his word. A home was found for Captain Rushton in the boarding-house
+of Mrs. Start, a widow, who, thrown upon her own exertions for support,
+had, by the help of the merchant already referred to, opened a
+boarding-house, which was now quite remunerative.</p>
+
+<p>"He will require considerable care, Mrs. Start," said Mr. Perkins, the
+merchant, "but I am ready and willing to compensate you for all the
+trouble to which you are put. Will you take him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly I will," said the warm-hearted widow, "if only because you
+ask it. But for you, I should not be earning a comfortable living, with
+a little money laid up in the bank, besides."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, Mrs. Start," said the merchant. "I know the poor man could
+be in no better hands. But you mustn't let any considerations of
+gratitude interfere with your charging a fair price for your trouble. I
+am able and willing to pay whatever is suitable."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't believe we shall quarrel on that point," said the widow,
+smiling. "I will do all I can for your friend. What is his name?"</p>
+
+<p>"That I don't know."</p>
+
+<p>"We shall have to call him something."</p>
+
+<p>"Call him Smith, then. That will answer till we find out his real name,
+as we may some day, when his mind comes back, as I hope it may."</p>
+
+<p>From that time, therefore, Captain Rushton was known as Mr. Smith. He
+recovered in a considerable degree his bodily health, but mentally he
+remained in the same condition. Sometimes he fixed his eyes upon Mrs.
+Start, and seemed struggling to remember something of the past; but
+after a few moments his face would assume a baffled look, and he would
+give up the attempt as fruitless.</p>
+
+<p>One day when Mrs. Start addressed him as Mr. Smith, he asked:</p>
+
+<p>"Why do you call me by that name?"</p>
+
+<p>"Is not that your name?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"No."</p>
+
+<p>"What, then, is it?"</p>
+
+<p>He put his hand to his brow, and seemed to be thinking. At length he
+turned to the widow, and said, abruptly:</p>
+
+<p>"Do you not know my name?"</p>
+
+<p>"No."</p>
+
+<p>"Nor do I," he answered, and left the room hastily.</p>
+
+<p>She continued, therefore, to address him as Mr. Smith, and he gradually
+became accustomed to it, and answered to it.</p>
+
+<p>Leaving Captain Rushton at Calcutta, with the assurance that, though
+separated from home and family, he will receive all the care that his
+condition requires, we will return to our hero, shut up on shipboard
+with his worst enemy. I say this advisedly, for though Halbert Davis
+disliked him, it was only the feeling of a boy, and was free from the
+intensity of Ben Haley's hatred.</p>
+
+<p>No doubt, it was imprudent for him to reject the mate's hand, but Robert
+felt that he could not grasp in friendship the hand which had deprived
+him of a father. He was bold enough to brave the consequences of this
+act, which he foresaw clearly.</p>
+
+<p>Ben Haley, however, was in no hurry to take the vengeance which he was
+fully resolved sooner or later to wreak upon our young hero. He was
+content to bide his time. Had Robert been less watchful, indeed, he
+might have supposed that the mate's feelings toward him had changed.
+When they met, as in the narrow limits of the ship they must do every
+day, the forms of courtesy passed between them. Robert always saluted
+the mate, and Haley responded by a nod, or a cool good-morning, but did
+not indulge in any conversation.</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes, however, turning suddenly, Robert would catch a malignant
+glance from the mate, but Haley's expression immediately changed, when
+thus surprised, and he assumed an air of indifference.</p>
+
+<p>With Captain Evans, on the other hand, Robert was on excellent terms.
+The captain liked the bold, manly boy, and talked much with him of the
+different countries he had visited, and seemed glad to answer the
+questions which our hero asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Robert," said the captain, one day, "how is it that you and Mr. Haley
+seem to have nothing to say to each other?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think he likes me, Captain Evans," said Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"Is there any reason for it, or is it merely a prejudice?"</p>
+
+<p>"There is a reason for it, but I don't care to mention it. Not that it
+is anything I have reason to regret, or to be ashamed of," he added,
+hastily. "It is on Mr. Haley's account that I prefer to keep it secret."</p>
+
+<p>"Is there no chance of your being on better terms?" asked the captain,
+good-naturedly, desirous of effecting a reconciliation.</p>
+
+<p>Robert shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't wish to be reconciled, captain," he said. "I will tell you this
+much, that Mr. Haley has done me and my family an injury which, perhaps,
+can never be repaired. I cannot forget it, and though I am willing to be
+civil to him, since we are thrown together, I do not want his
+friendship, even if he desired mine, as I am sure he does not."</p>
+
+<p>Captain Evans was puzzled by this explanation, which threw very little
+light upon the subject, and made no further efforts to bring the two
+together.</p>
+
+<p>Time passed, and whatever might be Ben Haley's feelings, he abstained
+from any attempt to injure him. Robert's suspicions were lulled to
+sleep, and he ceased to be as vigilant and watchful as he had been.</p>
+
+<p>His frank, familiar manner made him a favorite on shipboard. He had a
+friendly word for all the sailors, which was appreciated, for it was
+known that he was the <i>protégé</i> of the owner. He was supposed by some to
+be a relation, or, at any rate, a near connection, and so was treated
+with unusual respect. All the sailors had a kind word for him, and many
+were the praises which he received in the forecastle.</p>
+
+<p>Among those most devoted to him was a boy of fourteen, Frank Price, who
+had sailed in the capacity of cabin-boy. The poor boy was very seasick
+at first, and Captain Evans had been indulgent, and excused him from
+duty until he got better. He was not sturdy enough for the life upon
+which he had entered, and would gladly have found himself again in the
+comfortable home which a mistaken impulse had led him to exchange for
+the sea.</p>
+
+<p>With this boy, Robert, who was of about the same age, struck up a
+friendship, which was returned twofold by Frank, whose heart, naturally
+warm, was easily won by kindness.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII.<br /><br />
+THE NEW CAPTAIN.</h3>
+
+<p>The voyage was more than half completed, and nothing of importance had
+occurred to mark it. But at this time, Captain Evans fell sick. His
+sickness proved to be a fever, and was very severe. The surgeon was in
+constant attendance, but the malady baffled all his skill. At the end of
+seven days, it terminated fatally, to the great grief of all on board,
+with whom the good-natured captain was very popular. There was one
+exception, however, to the general grief. It is an ill wind that blows
+good to no one, and Ben Haley did not lament much for an event which
+promoted him to the command of the vessel. Of course, he did not show
+this feeling publicly, but in secret his heart bounded with exultation
+at the thought that he was, for the time, master of the ship and all on
+board. He was not slow in asserting his new position. Five minutes after
+the captain breathed his last, one of the sailors approached him, and
+asked for orders, addressing him as "Mr. Haley."</p>
+
+<p>"Captain Haley!" roared the new commander. "If you don't know my
+position on board this ship, it's time you found it out!"</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, ay, sir," stammered the sailor, taken aback at his unexpected
+violence.</p>
+
+<p>Robert mourned sincerely at the death of Captain Evans, by whom he had
+always been treated with the utmost kindness. Even had he not been
+influenced by such a feeling, he would have regarded with apprehension
+the elevation to the command of one whom he well knew to be actuated by
+a feeling of enmity to himself. He resolved to be as prudent as
+possible, and avoid, as far as he could, any altercation with Haley. But
+the latter was determined, now that he had reached the command, to pick
+a quarrel with our hero, and began to cast about for a fitting occasion.</p>
+
+<p>Now that Captain Evans was dead, Robert spent as much time as the
+latter's duties would permit with Frank Price. The boys held long and
+confidential conversations together, imparting to each other their
+respective hopes and wishes. Haley observed their intimacy and mutual
+attachment, and, unable to assert his authority over Robert, who was a
+passenger, determined to strike at him through his friend. His
+determination was strengthened by a conversation which he overheard
+between the boys when they supposed him beyond earshot.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish Captain Evans were alive," said Frank. "I liked him, and I don't
+like Captain Haley."</p>
+
+<p>"Captain Evans was an excellent man," said Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"He knew how to treat a fellow," said Frank. "As long as he saw us doing
+our best, he was easy with us. Captain Haley is a tyrant."</p>
+
+<p>"Be careful what you say, Frank," said Robert. "It isn't safe to say
+much about the officers."</p>
+
+<p>"I wouldn't say anything, except to you. You are my friend."</p>
+
+<p>"I am your true friend, Frank, and I don't want you to get into any
+trouble."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure you don't like the captain any better than I do."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't like the captain, for more reasons than I can tell you; but I
+shall keep quiet, as long as I am on board this ship."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you going back with us?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know. It will depend upon circumstances. I don't think I shall,
+though I might have done so had Captain Evans remained in command."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I could leave it, and stay with you."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish you could, Frank. Perhaps you can."</p>
+
+<p>"I will try."</p>
+
+<p>Haley overheard the last part of this conversation. He took particular
+notice of Robert's remark that he would keep quiet as long as he
+remained on board the ship, and inferred that on arrival at the destined
+port our hero would expose all he knew about him. This made him uneasy,
+for it would injure, if not destroy, his prospect of remaining in
+command of the <i>Argonaut</i>. He resented also the dislike which Robert had
+cautiously expressed, and the similar feeling cherished by the
+cabin-boy. He had half a mind to break in upon their conversation on the
+spot; but, after a moment's thought, walked away, his neighborhood
+unsuspected by the two boys.</p>
+
+<p>"They shall both rue their impudence," he muttered. "They shall find out
+that they cannot insult me with impunity."</p>
+
+<p>The next day, when both boys were on deck, Captain Haley harshly ordered
+Frank to attend to a certain duty which he had already performed.</p>
+
+<p>"I have done so, sir," said Frank, in a respectful tone.</p>
+
+<p>"None of your impudence, you young rascal!" roared the captain, lashing
+himself into a rage.</p>
+
+<p>Frank looked up into his face in astonishment, unable to account for so
+violent an outbreak.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean by looking me in the face in that impudent manner?"
+demanded Captain Haley, furiously.</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't mean to be impudent, Captain Haley," said Frank. "What have I
+done?"</p>
+
+<p>"What have you done? You, a cabin-boy, have dared to insult your
+captain, and, by heavens, you shall rue it! Strip off your jacket."</p>
+
+<p>Frank turned pale. He knew what this order meant. Public floggings were
+sometimes administered on shipboard, but, under the command of Captain
+Evans, nothing of the kind had taken place.</p>
+
+<p>Robert, who had heard the whole, listened, with unmeasured indignation,
+to this wanton abuse on the part of Captain Haley. His eyes flashed, and
+his youthful form dilated with righteous indignation.</p>
+
+<p>Robert was not the only one who witnessed with indignation the captain's
+brutality. Such of the sailors as happened to be on deck shared his
+feelings. Haley, looking about him, caught the look with which Robert
+regarded him, and triumphed inwardly that he had found a way to chafe
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"What have you got to say about it?" he demanded, addressing our hero,
+with a sneer.</p>
+
+<p>"Since you have asked my opinion," said Robert, boldly, "I will express
+it. Frank Price has not been guilty of any impudence, and deserves no
+punishment."</p>
+
+<p>This was a bold speech to be made by a boy to a captain on his own deck,
+and the sailors who heard it inwardly applauded the pluck of the boy who
+uttered it.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean by that, sir?" exclaimed Haley, his eyes lighting up
+fiercely, as he strode to the spot where Robert stood, and frowned upon
+him, menacingly.</p>
+
+<p>"You asked my opinion, and I gave it," said Robert, not flinching.</p>
+
+<p>"I have a great mind to have you flogged, too!" said Haley.</p>
+
+<p>"I am not one of your crew, Captain Haley," said Robert, coolly; "and
+you have no right to lay a hand on me."</p>
+
+<p>"What is to prevent me, I should like to know?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am here as a passenger, and a friend of the owner of this vessel. If
+I receive any ill-treatment, it shall be reported to him."</p>
+
+<p>If the sailors had dared, they would have applauded the stripling who,
+undaunted by the menacing attitude of the captain, faced him boldly and
+fearlessly. Haley would gladly have knocked him down, but there was
+something in the resolute mien of his young passenger that made him
+pause. He knew that he would keep his word, and that, with such
+representations as he might make, he would stand no further chance of
+being employed by Mr. Morgan.</p>
+
+<p>"I have an account to settle with you, boy," he said; "and the
+settlement will not long be delayed. When a passenger tries to incite
+mutiny, he forfeits his privileges as a passenger."</p>
+
+<p>"Who has done this, Captain Haley?"</p>
+
+<p>"You have done it."</p>
+
+<p>"I deny it," said Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"Your denial is worth nothing. I have a right to throw you into irons,
+and may yet do it. At present I have other business in hand."</p>
+
+<p>He left Robert, and walked back to Frank Price, who, not having Robert's
+courage, had been a terrified listener to the colloquy between him and
+the captain.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, boy," he said, harshly, "I will give you a lesson that you shall
+remember to the latest day of your life. Bring me the cat."</p>
+
+<p>The barbarous cat, as it was called, once in use on our ships, was
+brought, and Captain Haley signaled to one of the sailors to approach.</p>
+
+<p>"Bates," he said, in a tone of authority, "give that boy a dozen
+lashes."</p>
+
+<p>Bates was a stout sailor, rough in appearance, but with a warm and
+kindly heart. He had a boy of his own at home, about the age of Frank
+Price, and his heart had warmed to the boy whose position he felt to be
+far from an enviable one.</p>
+
+<p>The task now imposed upon him was a most distasteful and unwelcome one.
+He was a good sailor, and aimed on all occasions to show proper
+obedience to the commands of his officers, but now he could not.</p>
+
+<p>"Captain Haley," he said, not stirring from his position, "I hope you
+will excuse me."</p>
+
+<p>"Is this mutiny?" roared the captain.</p>
+
+<p>"No, Captain Haley. I always mean to do my duty on board ship."</p>
+
+<p>"I have told you to flog this boy!"</p>
+
+<p>"I can't do it, Captain Haley. I have a boy of my own about the size of
+that lad there, and, if I struck him, I'd think it was my own boy that
+stood in his place."</p>
+
+<p>This unexpected opposition excited the fierce resentment of the captain.
+He felt that a crisis had come, and he was determined to be obeyed.</p>
+
+<p>"Unless you do as I bid you, I will keep you in irons for the rest of
+the voyage!"</p>
+
+<p>"You are the captain of this ship, and can throw me in irons, if you
+like," said Bates, with an air of dignity despite his tarred hands and
+sailor jacket. "I have refused to do no duty that belongs to me. When I
+signed my name to the ship's papers, I did not agree to flog boys."</p>
+
+<p>"Put him in irons!" roared the captain, incensed. "We will see who is
+captain of this ship!"</p>
+
+<p>The mandate was obeyed, and Bates was lodged in the forecastle, securely
+ironed.</p>
+
+<p>The captain himself seized the cat, and was about to apply it to the
+luckless cabin-boy, when a terrible blast, springing up in an instant,
+as it were, struck the ship, almost throwing it upon its side. There was
+no time for punishment now. The safety of the ship required instant
+action, and Frank Price was permitted to replace his jacket without
+having received a blow.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXIX.<br /><br />
+THE CAPTAIN'S REVENGE.</h3>
+
+<p>The storm which commenced so suddenly was one of great violence. It
+required all the captain's seamanship, and the efforts of all the crew,
+to withstand it. However reluctant to do it, Captain Haley was forced to
+release Bates from his irons, and order him to duty. The latter worked
+energetically, and showed that he did not intend to shirk any part of
+his duties as seaman. But the result of the storm was that the vessel
+was driven out of her course, and her rigging suffered considerable
+injury. The wind blew all night. Toward morning it abated, and, as the
+morning light broke, the lookout described a small island distant about
+a league.</p>
+
+<p>The captain looked at it through his glass, and then examined the chart.</p>
+
+<p>"I can't make out what island that is," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"It is not large enough," suggested the mate, "to find a place on the
+map."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps it is as you say," said Captain Haley, thoughtfully. "I have a
+mind to go on shore and explore it. There may be some fresh fruits that
+will vary our diet."</p>
+
+<p>This plan was carried out. A boat was got ready, and the captain got in,
+with four sailors to row.</p>
+
+<p>Just as he was about to descend into the boat, he turned to Robert, who
+was looking curiously toward land, and said:</p>
+
+<p>"Rushton, would you like to go with us?"</p>
+
+<p>It was precisely what Robert wanted. He had a boy's love of adventure,
+and the thought of exploring an island, perhaps hitherto unknown, struck
+his fancy, and he eagerly accepted the invitation.</p>
+
+<p>"Jump in, then," said Haley, striving to appear indifferent; but there
+was a gleam of exultation in his eye, which he took care to conceal from
+the unsuspecting boy.</p>
+
+<p>Swiftly the boat sped through the waters, pulled by the strong arms of
+four stout sailors, and, reaching the island, was drawn into a little
+cove, which seemed made for it.</p>
+
+<p>"Now for an exploring expedition," said the captain. "Boys," addressing
+the sailors, "remain near the boat. I will soon be back. Rushton," he
+said, turning to our hero, "go where you like, but be back in an hour."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir," answered Robert.</p>
+
+<p>Had it been Captain Evans, instead of Captain Haley, he would have
+proposed to join him; but, knowing what he did of the latter, he
+preferred his own company.</p>
+
+<p>The island was about five miles in circumference. Near the shore, it was
+bare of vegetation, but further inland there were numerous trees, some
+producing fruit. After some weeks of the monotonous life on shipboard,
+Robert enjoyed pressing the solid earth once more. Besides, this was the
+first foreign shore his foot had ever trodden. The thought that he was
+thousands of miles away from home, and that, possibly, the land upon
+which he now walked had never before been trodden by a civilized foot,
+filled him with a sense of excitement and exhilaration.</p>
+
+<p>"What would mother say if she should see me now?" he thought. "What a
+wonderful chance it would be if my father had been wafted in his boat to
+this island, and I should come upon him unexpectedly!"</p>
+
+<p>It was very improbable, but Robert thought enough of it to look about
+him carefully. But everywhere the land seemed to be virgin, without
+other inhabitants than the birds of strange plumage and note, which sang
+in the branches of the trees.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't believe any one ever lived here," thought Robert.</p>
+
+<p>It struck him that he should like to live upon the island a week, if he
+could be sure of being taken off at the end of that time. The cool
+breezes from the ocean swept over the little island, and made it
+delightfully cool at morning and evening, though hot in the middle of
+the day.</p>
+
+<p>Robert sauntered along till he came to a little valley. He descended the
+slope, and sat down in the shade of a broad-leaved tree. The grass
+beneath him made a soft couch, and he felt that he should enjoy lying
+there the rest of the day. But his time was limited. The captain had
+told him to be back in an hour, and he felt that it was time for him to
+be stirring.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall not have time to go any further," he reflected. "I must be
+getting back to the boat."</p>
+
+<p>As this occurred to him, he rose to his feet, and, looking up, he
+started a little at seeing the captain himself descending the slope.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Robert," said Captain Haley, "how do you like the island?"</p>
+
+<p>"Very much, indeed," said our hero. "It seems pleasant to be on land
+after being on shipboard so many weeks."</p>
+
+<p>"Quite true. This is a beautiful place you have found."</p>
+
+<p>"I was resting under this tree, listening to the birds, but I felt
+afraid I should not be back to the boat in time, and was just starting
+to return."</p>
+
+<p>"I think we can overstay our time a little," said Haley. "They won't go
+back without me, I reckon," he added, with a laugh.</p>
+
+<p>Robert was nothing loth to stay, and resumed his place on the grass. The
+captain threw himself on the grass beside him.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose you have read 'Robinson Crusoe?'" he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes; more than once."</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder how it would seem to live on such an island as this?"</p>
+
+<p>"I should like it very well," said Robert; "that is, if I could go off
+at any time. I was just thinking of it when you come up."</p>
+
+<p>"Were you?" asked the captain, showing his teeth in an unpleasant smile,
+which, however, Robert did not see. "You think you would like it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"I am glad of that."</p>
+
+<p>"Why?" asked Robert, turning round and looking his companion in the
+face.</p>
+
+<p>"Because," said Haley, changing his tone, "I am going to give you a
+chance to try it."</p>
+
+<p>Robert sprang to his feet in instant alarm, but too late. Haley had
+grasped him by the shoulder, and in his grasp the boy's strength was
+nothing.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you going to do?" asked Robert, with fearful foreboding.</p>
+
+<p>"Wait a minute and you will see!"</p>
+
+<p>The captain had drawn a stout cord, brought for the purpose, from his
+pocket, and, dragging Robert to a tree, tied him securely to the trunk.
+The terrible fate destined for him was presented vividly to the
+imagination of our hero; and, brave as he was, it almost unmanned him.
+Finding his struggles useless, he resorted to expostulation.</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure you cannot mean this, Captain Haley!" he said. "You won't
+leave me to perish miserably on this island?"</p>
+
+<p>"Won't I?" returned the captain, with an evil light in his eyes. "Why
+won't I?"</p>
+
+<p>"Surely, you will not be so inhuman?"</p>
+
+<p>"Look here, boy," said the captain, "you needn't try to come any of your
+high-flown notions about humanity over me. I owe you a debt, and, by
+Heaven! I'm going to pay it! You didn't think much of humanity when you
+wounded me."</p>
+
+<p>"I couldn't help it," said Robert. "I didn't want to hurt you. I only
+wanted to protect your uncle."</p>
+
+<p>"That's all very well; but, when you interfered in a family quarrel, you
+meddled with what did not concern you. Besides, you have been inciting
+my crew to mutiny."</p>
+
+<p>"I have not done so," said Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"I overheard you the other night giving some of your precious advice to
+my cabin-boy. Besides, you had the impudence to interfere with me in a
+matter of discipline."</p>
+
+<p>"Frank Price deserved no punishment."</p>
+
+<p>"That is for me to decide. When you dared to be impudent to me on my own
+deck, I swore to be revenged, and the time has come sooner than I
+anticipated."</p>
+
+<p>"Captain Haley," said Robert, "in all that I have done I have tried to
+do right. If I have done wrong, it was because I erred in judgment. If
+you will let me go, I will promise to say nothing of the attempt you
+make to keep me here."</p>
+
+<p>"You are very kind," sneered the captain; "but I mean to take care of
+that myself. You may make all the complaints you like after I have left
+you here."</p>
+
+<p>"There is One who will hear me," said Robert. "I shall not be wholly
+without friends."</p>
+
+<p>"Who do you mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"God!" said Robert, solemnly.</p>
+
+<p>"Rubbish!" retorted Haley, contemptuously.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall not despair while I have Him to appeal to."</p>
+
+<p>"Just as you like," said the captain, shrugging his shoulders. "You are
+welcome to all the comfort you can find in your present situation."</p>
+
+<p>By this time, Robert was bound to the trunk of the tree by a cord, which
+passed around his waist. In addition to this Haley tied his wrists
+together, fearing that otherwise he might be able to unfasten the knot.
+He now rose to his feet, and looked down upon the young captive, with an
+air of triumph.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you any messages to send by me, Rushton?" he said, with a sneer.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you quite determined to leave me here?" asked Robert, in anguish.</p>
+
+<p>"Quite so."</p>
+
+<p>"What will the sailors say when I do not return?"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't trouble yourself about them. I will take care of that. If you
+have got anything to say, say it quick, for I must be going."</p>
+
+<p>"Captain Haley," said Robert, his courage rising, and looking the
+captain firmly in the face, "I may die here, and so gratify your enmity;
+but the time will come when you will repent what you are doing."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll risk that," said Haley, coolly. "Good-by."</p>
+
+<p>He walked up the slope, and disappeared from view, leaving Robert bound
+to the tree, a helpless prisoner.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX"></a>CHAPTER XXX.<br /><br />
+A FRIEND IN NEED.</h3>
+
+<p>Captain Haley kept on his way to the shore. The four sailors were all
+within hail, and on the captain's approach got the boat in readiness to
+return.</p>
+
+<p>"Where is the boy?" asked Haley. "Hasn't he got back?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"That is strange. I told him to be back in an hour, and it is already
+past that time."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps he hasn't a watch," suggested one of the sailors.</p>
+
+<p>"I will wait ten minutes for him," said Haley, taking out his watch. "If
+he is not back in that time, I must go without him."</p>
+
+<p>The sailors did not reply, but looked anxiously inland, hoping to catch
+sight of Robert returning. But, bound as he was, we can understand why
+they looked in vain.</p>
+
+<p>"Shall I go and look for him?" asked one.</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Haley, decidedly; "I cannot spare you."</p>
+
+<p>The ten minutes were soon up.</p>
+
+<p>"Into the boat with you," commanded the captain. "I shall wait no
+longer."</p>
+
+<p>Slowly and reluctantly, the sailors took their places, for Robert was a
+favorite with them.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, men, give way," said Haley. "If the boy is lost, it is his own
+fault."</p>
+
+<p>They reached the vessel in due time. There was a murmur among the crew,
+when it was found that Robert had been left behind; but, knowing the
+captain's disposition, no one except Bates dared to expostulate.</p>
+
+<p>"Captain Haley," said he, approaching and touching his hat, "will you
+give me leave to go on shore for the young gentleman that was left?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," said the captain. "He had fair warning to be back in time, and
+chose to disregard it. My duty to the owners will not permit me to delay
+the ship on his account."</p>
+
+<p>"He was a relation of the owner," suggested Bates.</p>
+
+<p>"No, he was not; and, if he said so, he lied. Go about your duty, and
+take care I have no more fault to find with you, or you go back in
+irons!"</p>
+
+<p>Bates ventured upon no further expostulation. He saw through the
+captain's subterfuge, and felt persuaded that it had been his deliberate
+intention from the first to abandon Robert to his fate. He began to
+think busily, and finally resolved to go to the island and search for
+him. For this purpose, a boat would be needful, since the distance,
+nearly a league, was too far to swim. Now, to appropriate one of the
+ship's boats when the captain was on deck would be impossible, but
+Haley, within five minutes, went below. Bates now proceeded to carry out
+his plan.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you going to do?" demanded one of the sailors.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going after the boy."</p>
+
+<p>"You'll be left along with him."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll take the risk. He shan't say he didn't have one friend."</p>
+
+<p>By the connivance of his fellow-sailors, Bates got safely off with the
+boat, and began to pull toward shore. He was already a mile distant from
+the vessel when Captain Haley came on deck.</p>
+
+<p>"Who is that in the boat?" he demanded, abruptly.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know, sir."</p>
+
+<p>He pointed the glass toward the boat, and, though he could not fairly
+distinguish the stout sailor who was pulling the boat through the water,
+he suspected that it was Bates.</p>
+
+<p>"Where is Bates?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>No one had seen him.</p>
+
+<p>"The fool has gone to destruction," said Captain Haley. "I shall not go
+after him. He is welcome to live on the island if he chooses."</p>
+
+<p>His reason for not pursuing the fugitive may be readily understood. He
+feared that Robert would be found bound to the tree, and the story the
+boy would tell would go heavily against him. He hurried preparation for
+the vessel's departure, and in a short time it was speeding away from
+the island with two less on board.</p>
+
+<p>I must now go back to Robert, whom we left bound to a tree.</p>
+
+<p>After the captain left him, he struggled hard to unloose the cords which
+bound him. The love of life was strong within him, and the thought of
+dying under such circumstances was appalling. He struggled manfully,
+but, though he was strong for a boy, the cord was strong, also, and the
+captain knew how to tie a knot.</p>
+
+<p>Robert ceased at last, tired with his efforts. A feeling of despair came
+over him, and the tears started, unbidden, to his eyes, as he thought
+how his mother would watch and wait for him in vain&mdash;how lonely she
+would feel, with husband and son both taken from her. Could it be that
+he was to die, when life had only just commenced, thousands of miles
+away from home, in utter solitude? Had he come so far for this? Then,
+again, he feared that his mother would suffer want and privation when
+the money which he had left behind was exhausted. In his pocket there
+were nearly two hundred dollars, not likely to be of any service to him.
+He wished that they were in her possession.</p>
+
+<p>"If only he had left me free and unbound," thought Robert, "I might pick
+up a living on the island, and perhaps some day attract the attention of
+some vessel."</p>
+
+<p>With this thought, and the hope it brought, he made renewed efforts to
+release himself, striving to untie the cord which fastened his wrists
+with his teeth. He made some progress, and felt encouraged, but it was
+hard work, and he was compelled to stop, from time to time, to rest. It
+was in one of these intervals that he heard his name called. Feeling
+sure that there was no one on the island but himself, he thought he was
+deceived. But the sound came nearer, and he distinctly heard "Robert!"</p>
+
+<p>"Here I am!" he shouted, in return, his heart filled with sudden
+thanksgiving.</p>
+
+<p>"Captain Haley only meant to frighten me," he thought. "He has sent some
+men back for me."</p>
+
+<p>In his gratitude, he thanked Heaven fervently for so changing the heart
+of his enemy, and once more life looked bright.</p>
+
+<p>"Robert!" he heard again.</p>
+
+<p>"Here!" he shouted, with all the strength of his lungs.</p>
+
+<p>This time the sound reached Bates, who, running up his boat on shore,
+and securing it, was exploring the island in search of our hero. Looking
+around him, he at length, from the edge of the valley, descried Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"Is that you, lad?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Bates; come and untie me!"</p>
+
+<p>Bates saw his situation with surprise and indignation.</p>
+
+<p>"That's some of the captain's work!" he at once decided. "He must be a
+cursed scoundrel to leave that poor lad there to die!"</p>
+
+<p>He quickened his steps, and was soon at the side of our hero.</p>
+
+<p>"Who tied you to the tree, lad?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Did Captain Haley send you for me?" asked Robert first, for he had made
+up his mind in that case not to expose him.</p>
+
+<p>"No; I stole one of the ship's boats, and came for you without leave."</p>
+
+<p>"The captain didn't know of your coming?"</p>
+
+<p>"No; I asked his leave, and he wouldn't give it."</p>
+
+<p>"It was Captain Haley that tied me here," said Robert, his scruples
+removed.</p>
+
+<p>"What did he do that for, lad?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's a long story, Bates. It's because he hates me, and wishes me
+harm. Untie these cords, and I'll tell you all about it."</p>
+
+<p>"That I'll do in a jiffy, my lad. I'm an old sailor and I can untie
+knots as well as tie them."</p>
+
+<p>In five minutes Robert was free. He stretched his limbs, with a feeling
+of great relief, and then turned to Bates, whose hand he grasped.</p>
+
+<p>"I owe my life to you, Bates!" he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe not, lad. We're in a tight place yet."</p>
+
+<p>"Has the ship gone?"</p>
+
+<p>"Most likely. The captain won't send back for either of us in a hurry."</p>
+
+<p>"And you have made yourself a prisoner here for my sake?" asked Robert,
+moved by the noble conduct of the rough sailor.</p>
+
+<p>"I couldn't abide to leave you alone. There's more chance for two than
+for one."</p>
+
+<p>"Heaven bless you, Bates! I won't soon forget what you have done for me.
+Do you think there is any chance for us?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course there is, lad. We've got a boat, and we can live here till
+some vessel comes within sight."</p>
+
+<p>"Let us go down to the shore, and see if we can see anything of the
+ship."</p>
+
+<p>The two bent their steps to the shore, and looked out to sea. They could
+still see the ship, but it was already becoming a speck in the distant
+waters.</p>
+
+<p>"They have left us," said Robert, turning to his companion.</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, lad, the false-hearted villain has done his worst!"</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't think any man would be so inhuman."</p>
+
+<p>"You're young, lad, and you don't know what a sight of villainy there is
+in the world. We've got to live here a while, likely. Have you seen
+anything in the line of grub here-abouts?"</p>
+
+<p>"There is fruit on some of the trees."</p>
+
+<p>"That's something. Maybe we shall find some roots, besides. We'll draw
+the boat farther upon shore, and go on an exploring expedition."</p>
+
+<p>The boat was drawn completely up, and placed, bottom upward, at a safe
+distance from the sea. Then Robert and his companion started to explore
+the island which had so unexpectedly become their home.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXXI" id="CHAPTER_XXXI"></a>CHAPTER XXXI.<br /><br />
+THE ISLAND REALM.</h3>
+
+<p>But for the knowledge that he was a prisoner, Robert would have enjoyed
+his present situation. The island, though small, was covered with a
+luxuriant vegetation, and was swept by cooling breezes, which tempered
+the ardor of the sun's rays. And, of this island realm, he and his
+companion were the undisputed sovereigns. There was no one to dispute
+their sway. All that it yielded was at their absolute disposal.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder what is the name of this island?" said Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps it has no name. Mayhap we are the first that ever visited it."</p>
+
+<p>"I have a great mind to declare myself the king," said our young hero,
+smiling, "unless you want the office."</p>
+
+<p>"You shall be captain, and I will be mate," said Bates, to whom the
+distinctions of sea life were more familiar than those of courts.</p>
+
+<p>"How long do you think we shall have to stay here?" asked Robert,
+anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>"There's no telling, lad. We'll have to stick up a pole on the
+seashore, and run up a flag when any vessel comes near."</p>
+
+<p>"We have no flag."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you a handkerchief?"</p>
+
+<p>"Only one," said Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"That's one more than I have. We'll rig that up when it's wanted."</p>
+
+<p>"Where shall we sleep?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's what I have been thinking. We must build a house."</p>
+
+<p>"A brownstone front?" said Robert. "The governor ought to live in a good
+house."</p>
+
+<p>"So he shall," said Bates. "He shall have the first on the island."</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder if it rains often?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not much at this season. In the winter a good deal of rain falls, but I
+hope we won't be here then."</p>
+
+<p>"Where shall we build our house?"</p>
+
+<p>"It would be pleasanter inland, but we must be near the shore, so as to
+be in sight of ships."</p>
+
+<p>"That's true, Bates. That is the most important consideration."</p>
+
+<p>They set to work at once, and built a hut, something like an Indian's
+wigwam, about a hundred yards from the shore. It was composed, for the
+most part, of branches of trees and inclosed an inner space of about
+fifteen feet in diameter. They gathered large quantities of leaves,
+which were spread upon the ground for beds.</p>
+
+<p>"That's softer than our bunks aboard ship," said Bates.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Robert. "I wouldn't wish any better bed. It is easy to build
+and furnish a house of your own here."</p>
+
+<p>"The next thing is dinner," said his companion.</p>
+
+<p>"Shall we go to market?" asked Robert, with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll find a market just outside."</p>
+
+<p>"You mean the trees?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; we'll find our dinner already cooked on them."</p>
+
+<p>The fruit of which they partook freely was quite sweet and palatable.
+Still, one kind of food cloys after a time, and so our new settlers
+found it. Besides, it was not very substantial, and failed to keep up
+their wonted strength. This set them to looking up some other article
+which might impart variety to their fare. At last they succeeded in
+finding an esculent root, which they partook of at first with some
+caution, fearing that it might be unwholesome. Finding, however, that
+eating it produced no unpleasant effects, they continued the use of it.
+Even this, however, failed to afford them as much variety as they
+wished.</p>
+
+<p>"I feel as if I should like some fish for breakfast," said Robert one
+morning, on waking up.</p>
+
+<p>"So should I, lad," returned Bates. "Why shouldn't we have some?"</p>
+
+<p>"You mean that we shall go fishing?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; we've got a boat, and I have some cord. We'll rig up fishing
+lines, and go out on a fishing cruise."</p>
+
+<p>Robert adopted the idea with alacrity. It promised variety and
+excitement.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder we hadn't thought of it before. I used to be a fisherman,
+Bates."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; I supplied the market at home for a short time, till Captain Haley
+smashed my boat."</p>
+
+<p>"The mean lubber! I wish we had him here."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't; I prefer his room to his company."</p>
+
+<p>"I'd try how he'd like being tied to a tree."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think you'd untie him again in a hurry."</p>
+
+<p>"You may bet high on that, lad."</p>
+
+<p>They rigged their fishing lines&mdash;cutting poles from the trees&mdash;and armed
+them with hooks, of which, by good luck, Bates happened to have a supply
+with him. Then they launched the ship's boat, in which Bates had come to
+the island, and put out to sea.</p>
+
+<p>Robert enjoyed the row in the early morning, and wondered they had not
+thought of taking out the boat before. At last they came to the
+business which brought them out, and in about half an hour had succeeded
+in catching four fishes, weighing perhaps fifteen pounds altogether.</p>
+
+<p>"That'll be enough for us, unless you are very hungry," said Robert.
+"Now, suppose we land and cook them."</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, ay, lad!"</p>
+
+<p>Of course, their cooking arrangements were very primitive. In the first
+place, they were compelled to make a fire by the method in use among the
+savages, of rubbing two sticks smartly together, and catching the flame
+in a little prepared tinder. The fish were baked over the fire thus
+kindled. Though the outside was smoked, the inside was sweet and
+palatable, and neither was disposed to be fastidious. The preparation of
+the meal took considerable time, but they had abundance of that, and
+occupation prevented their brooding over their solitary situation.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I had 'Robinson Crusoe' here," said Robert&mdash;"we might get some
+hints from his adventures. I didn't imagine, when I used to read them,
+that I should ever be in a similar position."</p>
+
+<p>"I've heard about him," said Bates; "but I never was much of a reader,
+and I never read his yarn. You might maybe tell me something of it."</p>
+
+<p>"I will tell you all I can remember, but that isn't very much," said
+Robert.</p>
+
+<p>He rehearsed to the attentive sailor such portions as he could call to
+mind of the wonderful story which for centuries to come is destined to
+enchain the attention of adventurous boys.</p>
+
+<p>"That's a pretty good yarn," said Bates, approvingly. "Did he ever get
+off the island?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, he got off, and became quite rich before he died."</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe it'll be so with us, lad."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope so. I don't know what I should do if I were alone as he was.
+It's selfish in me, Bates, to be glad that you are shut up here with me,
+but I cannot help it."</p>
+
+<p>"You needn't try, lad. It would be mighty dull being alone here,
+'specially if you was tied to a tree."</p>
+
+<p>"But suppose we should never get off!"</p>
+
+<p>"We won't suppose that, lad. We are sure to get off some time."</p>
+
+<p>This confident assurance always cheered up Robert, and for the time
+inspired him with equal confidence. But when day after day passed away
+and the promised ship did not come in sight, he used to ponder
+thoughtfully over his situation, and the possibility that he might have
+to spend years at least on this lonely island. What in the meantime
+would become of his mother? She might die, and if he ever returned it
+would be to realize the loss he had sustained. The island, pleasant as
+it was, began to lose its charm. If his sailor companion ever shared his
+feelings, he never manifested them, unwilling to let the boy see that he
+was becoming discouraged.</p>
+
+<p>At length&mdash;about six weeks after their arrival upon the island&mdash;they
+were returning from an excursion to the other side of the island, when,
+on arriving in sight of the shore, an unexpected sight greeted their
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>A pole had been planted in the sand, and from it waved the familiar
+flag, dear to the heart of every American&mdash;the star-spangled banner.</p>
+
+<p>They no sooner caught sight of it, than, in joyful excitement, they ran
+to the shore with all the speed they could muster.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXXII" id="CHAPTER_XXXII"></a>CHAPTER XXXII.<br /><br />
+A SUCCESSFUL MISSION.</h3>
+
+<p>There was no one in sight, but it was evident that a party from an
+American ship had visited the island. Had they departed? That was a
+momentous question. Instinctively the eyes of both sought the sea. They
+saw an American ship riding at anchor a mile or more from shore.</p>
+
+<p>"Give me your handkerchief, Robert," said Bates; "I'll signal them."</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't very clean," said our hero.</p>
+
+<p>"It'll do. See, they are looking at us."</p>
+
+<p>"Your eyes must be good."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm used to looking out to sea, lad."</p>
+
+<p>He waved the handkerchief aloft, and felt sure that he had attracted the
+attention of those on board. But there was no motion to put off a boat.</p>
+
+<p>"Do they see it?" asked Robert, eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"I think so."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think they will come for us? If not, we can put off in our
+boat."</p>
+
+<p>"I think the party that planted that flagstaff hasn't got back. It is
+exploring the island, and will be back soon."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course it is," said Robert, suddenly. "Don't you see their boat?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, ay, lad; it's all right. All we've got to do is to stay here till
+they come."</p>
+
+<p>They had not long to wait. A party of sailors, headed by an officer,
+came out of the woods, and headed for the shore. They stopped short in
+surprise at the sight of Robert and Bates.</p>
+
+<p>"Who are you?" asked the leader, approaching.</p>
+
+<p>Bates touched his hat, for he judged this was the captain of the vessel
+he had seen.</p>
+
+<p>"I am a sailor from the ship <i>Argonaut</i>, bound from New York to
+Calcutta, and this young gentleman is Robert Rushton, passenger aboard
+the same ship."</p>
+
+<p>"Where is your ship?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know, captain."</p>
+
+<p>"How came you here?"</p>
+
+<p>"We were left here. The vessel went without us."</p>
+
+<p>"How long have you been here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Six weeks."</p>
+
+<p>"There is something about this which I do not understand. Are you here
+of your own accord?"</p>
+
+<p>"We are anxious to get away, captain," said Robert. "Will you take us?"</p>
+
+<p>"To be sure I will. There's room enough on my ship for both of you. But
+I can't understand how you were left here."</p>
+
+<p>"It's a long yarn, captain," said Bates. "If you haven't time to hear it
+now, I will tell you aboard ship."</p>
+
+<p>"You look like a good seaman," said the captain, addressing Bates. "I'm
+short-handed just now. If you will engage with me, I will enroll you
+among my crew."</p>
+
+<p>"That I'll do," said Bates, with satisfaction. "I wasn't made for a
+passenger."</p>
+
+<p>"My ship is the <i>Superior</i>, bound from Boston to Calcutta; so your
+destination will be the same. My name is Smith. Do you know the name of
+this island?"</p>
+
+<p>"I never heard of it before."</p>
+
+<p>"I have taken possession of it in the name of the United States,
+supposing myself the first discoverer."</p>
+
+<p>"That's all right. To my mind, the Star-Spangled Banner is the best that
+can wave over it."</p>
+
+<p>"We might offer the captain our boat," suggested Robert.</p>
+
+<p>The offer was made and accepted; and, while the captain and his party
+returned in one boat, Robert and Bates rowed to the ship in their own,
+and were soon on the deck of the <i>Superior</i> to their unbounded
+satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>"This is something like," said Bates. "The island is well enough, but
+there's nothing like the deck of a good ship."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think I wholly agree with you," said Robert, smiling; "but just
+at present I do. I am glad enough to be here. We may meet Captain Haley
+at Calcutta," he added, after a pause.</p>
+
+<p>"Likely he'll have got away before we get there."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope not. I should like to meet him face to face, and charge him with
+his treachery. I don't think he'll be over glad to see me."</p>
+
+<p>"That's so, lad. He don't expect ever to set eyes on you again."</p>
+
+<p>Robert soon felt at home on the new vessel. Captain Smith he found to be
+a very different man from Captain Haley. When he heard the story told
+him by our hero, he said:</p>
+
+<p>"I like your pluck, Robert. You've had contrary winds so far, but you've
+borne up against them. The wind's changed now, and you are likely to
+have a prosperous voyage. This Captain Haley is a disgrace to the
+service. He'll be overhauled some time."</p>
+
+<p>"When I get back to New York I shall tell Mr. Morgan how he treated me."</p>
+
+<p>"That will put a spoke in his wheel."</p>
+
+<p>"There's one thing I want to speak to you about, Captain Smith. How
+much will my passage be?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing at all."</p>
+
+<p>"But I have some money with me. I am willing to pay."</p>
+
+<p>"Keep your money, my lad. You will need it all before you get through. I
+was once a poor boy myself, obliged to struggle for my living. I haven't
+forgotten that time, and it makes me willing to lend a helping hand to
+others in the same position."</p>
+
+<p>"You are very kind, Captain Smith," said Robert, gratefully.</p>
+
+<p>"I ought to be. How long do you want to stay in Calcutta?"</p>
+
+<p>"Only long enough to look about for my father."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you can return to New York in my ship. It shall cost you nothing."</p>
+
+<p>This offer was gratefully accepted&mdash;the more so that our hero had begun
+to realize that two hundred dollars was a small sum to carry on a
+journey of such length.</p>
+
+<p>At last they reached Calcutta. Robert surveyed with much interest the
+great city of India, so different in its external appearance from New
+York, the only great city besides that he knew anything about.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Robert," said Captain Smith, on their arrival, "what are your
+plans? Will you make your home on board the ship, or board in the city,
+during our stay in port?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think," said Robert, "I should prefer to live in the city, if you
+would recommend me to a good boarding place."</p>
+
+<p>"That I can do. I am in the habit of boarding at a quiet house kept by a
+widow. Her terms are reasonable, and you can do no better than go there
+with me."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, Captain Smith. I shall be glad to follow your advice."</p>
+
+<p>So it happened that Captain Smith and Robert engaged board at the house
+of Mrs. Start, where, it will be remembered, that Captain Rushton was
+also a boarder, passing still under the name of Smith. Physically he had
+considerably improved, but mentally he was not yet recovered. His mind
+had received a shock, which, as it proved, a shock equally great was
+needed to bring it back to its proper balance.</p>
+
+<p>"By the way," said Mrs. Start to Captain Smith, "we have another
+gentleman of your name here."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed?"</p>
+
+<p>"You will see him at dinner. Poor gentleman, his mind is affected, and
+we only gave him this name because we didn't know his real name."</p>
+
+<p>Robert little dreamed who it was of whom Mrs. Start was speaking, nor
+did he look forward with any particular curiosity to seeing the other
+Mr. Smith.</p>
+
+<p>When dinner was announced, Robert and the captain were early in their
+seats, and were introduced to the other boarders as they came in.
+Finally Captain Rushton entered, and moved forward to a seat beside the
+landlady. Robert chanced to look up as he entered, and his heart made a
+mighty bound when in the new Mr. Smith he recognized his father.</p>
+
+<p>"Father!" he exclaimed, eagerly, springing from his seat, and
+overturning his chair in his haste.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Rushton looked at him for a moment in bewilderment. Then all at
+once the mists that had obscured his faculties were dispelled, and he
+cried, "Robert! my dear son, how came you here?"</p>
+
+<p>"I came in search of you, father. Thank Heaven I have found you alive
+and well."</p>
+
+<p>"I think I have been in a dream, Robert. They call me Smith. That surely
+is not my name."</p>
+
+<p>"Rushton, father! You have not forgotten?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, that is it. Often it has been on the tip of my tongue, and then it
+slipped away from me. But, tell me, how came you here?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am indebted to the kindness of this gentleman&mdash;Captain Smith,
+father&mdash;who rescued me from great peril."</p>
+
+<p>This scene, of course, excited great astonishment among the boarders,
+and the worthy landlady who had been uniformly kind to Captain Rushton,
+was rejoiced at his sudden recovery. Feeling that mutual explanations in
+public would be unpleasant, she proposed to send dinner for both to
+Captain Rushton's room, and this offer was gladly accepted.</p>
+
+<p>"And how did you leave your mother, Robert?" asked the captain.</p>
+
+<p>"She was well, father, but mourning for your loss."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I could fly to her."</p>
+
+<p>"You shall go back with me in Captain Smith's vessel. I am sure he will
+take us as passengers."</p>
+
+<p>"So we will. You are sure your mother is well provided for? But Mr.
+Davis has, no doubt, supplied her with money?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not a cent, father."</p>
+
+<p>"Not a cent! I deposited five thousand dollars with him for her benefit,
+just before sailing!"</p>
+
+<p>"So you wrote in the letter which you sent in the bottle."</p>
+
+<p>"Was that letter received?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; it was that which led me to come in search of you."</p>
+
+<p>"And did you go to Mr. Davis?"</p>
+
+<p>"He denied the deposit, and demanded to see the receipt."</p>
+
+<p>"The villain! He thought I was at the bottom of the sea, and the receipt
+with me. He shall find his mistake!"</p>
+
+<p>"Then you have the receipt still, father?"</p>
+
+<p>"To be sure I have," and Captain Rushton drew it from the pocket where
+it had laid concealed for two years and more.</p>
+
+<p>Robert regarded it with satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>"He won't dare to deny it after this. I wish we were going back at
+once."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Robert, tell me all that has happened in my absence, and how you
+raised money enough to come out here."</p>
+
+<p>So father and son exchanged narrations. Captain Rushton was astonished
+to find that the same man, Ben Haley, who had been the cause of his
+misfortunes, had also come so near compassing the destruction of his
+son.</p>
+
+<p>"Thanks to a kind Providence," he said, "his wicked machinations have
+failed, and we are alive to defeat his evil schemes."</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXXIII.<br /><br />
+DEFEATED.</h3>
+
+<p>In due time the <i>Superior</i> cleared for New York, and among the
+passengers were Robert and his father. Since the meeting with his son
+Captain Rushton's mental malady had completely disappeared, and his
+mental recovery affected his physical health favorably. His step became
+firm and elastic, his eye was bright, and Robert thought he had never
+looked better. Leaving the two to pursue their voyage home, we return to
+Captain Haley.</p>
+
+<p>After leaving Robert to his fate, he kept on his way, rejoicing with a
+wicked satisfaction that he had got rid of an enemy who had it in his
+power to do him harm, for what Robert might suffer in his island prison,
+he cared little. He took it for granted that he would never get away,
+but would pass his life, be it longer or shorter, in dreary exile.
+Though the crew did not know all, they knew that the captain had
+heartlessly left Robert to his fate, and all were animated by a common
+feeling of dislike to their commander, who never under any
+circumstances would have been popular. But there was no one among them
+bold enough to come forward and charge Haley with his crime, even when
+they reached Calcutta. The captain moved among them, and his orders were
+obeyed, but not with alacrity. This satisfied him, for he cared nothing
+for the attachment of those under his command.</p>
+
+<p>One day in Calcutta he had a surprise.</p>
+
+<p>He met Captain Rushton one day when out walking. It seemed like one
+risen from the dead, for he supposed him lying at the bottom of the sea.
+Could his eyes deceive him, or was this really the man whom he had so
+grossly injured? Captain Rushton did not see Haley, for he was partly
+turned away from him, and was busily conversing with a gentleman of his
+acquaintance. Haley drew near, and heard Captain Rushton addressed as
+Mr. Smith. He at once decided that, in spite of the wonderful
+resemblance, it was not the man he supposed, and breathed more freely in
+consequence. But he could not help looking back to wonder at the
+surprising likeness.</p>
+
+<p>"They are as near alike as if they were brothers," he said to himself.</p>
+
+<p>He did not again catch sight of Captain Rushton while in Calcutta.</p>
+
+<p>Before Robert arrived, Captain Haley had sailed for home. But he met
+with storms, and his vessel received injuries that delayed her, so that
+his ship only reached New York on the same day with the <i>Superior</i>,
+bearing as passengers Robert and his father. Our hero lost no time in
+calling upon his friend, Mr. Morgan, and actually reached the office an
+hour before Haley, the <i>Superior</i> having reached her pier a little in
+advance of the other vessel.</p>
+
+<p>When Robert walked into the office, Mr. Morgan, who was at his desk,
+looked up, and recognized him at once.</p>
+
+<p>"Welcome back, my young friend," he said, cordially, rising to meet him.
+"I am glad to see you, but I didn't expect you quite so soon. How did
+you happen to come in advance of the captain?"</p>
+
+<p>"Then you have not heard what happened at sea?" said Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said the merchant. "I heard, much to my regret, of Captain Evans'
+death. He was a worthy man, and I am truly sorry to lose him. What do
+you think of his successor, Captain Haley? He has never before sailed
+for me."</p>
+
+<p>"After I have told my story, you can judge of him for yourself. I did
+not return on your vessel, Mr. Morgan, but on the <i>Superior</i>, Captain
+Smith."</p>
+
+<p>"How is that?" asked the merchant, surprised.</p>
+
+<p>"Because Captain Haley left me on an island in the Southern Ocean, bound
+to a tree, and probably supposes that I am dead."</p>
+
+<p>"Your story seems incredible, Robert. Give me a full account of all that
+led to this action on the part of the captain."</p>
+
+<p>My readers shall not be wearied with a repetition of details with which
+they are already familiar. Robert related what had happened to him in a
+straightforward manner, and Mr. Morgan never thought of doubting his
+statements.</p>
+
+<p>"This Haley must be a villain," he said. "You are, indeed, fortunate in
+having escaped from the snare he laid for you."</p>
+
+<p>"I have been fortunate in another way also," said Robert. "I have
+succeeded in the object of my voyage."</p>
+
+<p>"You have not found your father?"</p>
+
+<p>"I found him in Calcutta, and I have brought him home with me."</p>
+
+<p>"You must have been born under a lucky star, Robert," said the merchant.
+"Were your father's adventures as remarkable as yours?"</p>
+
+<p>"It was the same man who nearly succeeded in accomplishing the ruin of
+both&mdash;Captain Haley was my father's mate, and was he who, in revenge
+for some fancied slight, set fire to the vessel in mid-ocean, and then
+escaped."</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had this revelation been made, when a clerk entered, and
+approaching Mr. Morgan, said, "Captain Haley would like to see you."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Morgan glanced at Robert significantly.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish to know what explanation Mr. Haley has to give of your
+disappearance. There is a closet. Go in, and close the door partially,
+so that you may hear what passes without yourself being seen."</p>
+
+<p>Robert was hardly established in his place of concealment when Haley
+entered the office.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-morning, Mr. Morgan," he said, deferentially, for he wished to
+keep in his employer's good graces.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-morning, sir," said the merchant, formally. "Captain Haley, I
+believe?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir I succeeded to the command of the <i>Argonaut</i> upon the lamented
+death of my friend, Captain Evans. His death happened on our passage
+out. I proceeded at once to Calcutta, and after disposing of the cargo
+sailed for home."</p>
+
+<p>"Your voyage has been a long one."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, we have had stress of weather, which has delayed us materially. I
+regret this, but did the best I could under the circumstances. I hope
+to have discharged my duties in a manner satisfactory to you."</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot, of course, blame you for delay, since the weather was quite
+beyond your control," said the merchant, but his tone was marked by
+coldness, for which Haley found it difficult to account. He was anxious
+to remain in command of the <i>Argonaut</i>, but the want of cordiality
+evinced by his employer made him doubtful of his success. He was not
+timid, however, and resolved to broach the subject.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope, Mr. Morgan," he said, "that you have sufficient confidence in
+me to intrust me I with the command of the <i>Argonaut</i> on her next
+voyage?"</p>
+
+<p>"He certainly is not lacking in audacity," thought Mr. Morgan. "We will
+speak of that matter hereafter," he said. "Did my young friend, Robert
+Rushton, return with you?"</p>
+
+<p>Now was the critical moment. In spite of his audacity, Haley felt
+embarrassed.</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir," he replied.</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed! I expected that you would bring him back."</p>
+
+<p>"May I ask if the boy is a relative of yours?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, he is not."</p>
+
+<p>"So much the better."</p>
+
+<p>"Why do you say that? I am particularly interested in him."</p>
+
+<p>"Then, sir, my task becomes more painful and embarrassing."</p>
+
+<p>"You speak in enigmas, Captain Haley."</p>
+
+<p>"I hesitate to speak plainly. I know you will be pained by what I have
+to tell you."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't consider my feelings, Captain Haley, but say what you have to
+say."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I regret to say that the boy, Robert Rushton, is unworthy of your
+friendship."</p>
+
+<p>"This is a grievous charge. Of course, I expect you to substantiate it."</p>
+
+<p>"I will do so. Shortly after the death of Captain Evans and my accession
+to the command I found that this boy was trying to undermine my
+influence with the men, from what motives I cannot guess. I remonstrated
+with him mildly but firmly, but only received insolence in return.
+Nevertheless I continued to treat him well on account of the interest
+you felt in him. So things went on till we reached Calcutta. He left me
+at that time, and to my surprise did not return to the ship. I was able
+to account for his disappearance, however, when I missed one hundred and
+fifty dollars, of which I have not the slightest doubt that he robbed
+me. I should have taken measures to have him arrested, but since you
+felt an interest in him I preferred to suffer the loss in silence. I
+fear, Mr. Morgan, that you have been greatly deceived in him."</p>
+
+<p>"I suspect that I have been deceived," said Mr. Morgan, gravely. "It is
+only fair, however, Captain Haley, to hear both sides, and I will
+therefore summon the boy himself to answer your charge. Robert!"</p>
+
+<p>At the summons, to Captain Haley's equal surprise and dismay, Robert
+stepped from the closet in which he had been concealed.</p>
+
+<p>"What have you to say, Robert?" asked the merchant.</p>
+
+<p>"Captain Haley knows very well the falsehood of what he says," said our
+hero, calmly. "It was not at Calcutta I left the <i>Argonaut</i>, nor was it
+of my own accord. Captain Haley, with his own hands, tied me to a tree
+on a small island in the Southern Ocean, and there left me, as he
+supposed, to a solitary death. But Heaven did not forsake me, and sent
+first a brave sailor and afterward a ship to my assistance. The charge
+that I stole money from him I shall not answer, for I know Mr. Morgan
+will not believe it."</p>
+
+<p>Captain Haley was not a fool, and he knew that it would be useless to
+press the charge further. He rose from his seat; his face was dark with
+anger and smarting under a sense of defeat.</p>
+
+<p>"You have not done with me yet," he said to Robert, and without another
+word left the office.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXXIV.<br /><br />
+THE CUP AND THE LIP.</h3>
+
+<p>Affairs in Millville had gone on much as usual. Mrs. Rushton had not yet
+exhausted the supply of money left by Robert in the hands of his friend
+the lawyer. Her expenses were small, and were eked out by her earnings;
+for she continued to braid straw, and was able in this way to earn two
+dollars a week. Indeed, she made it a point to be as economical as
+possible, for she thought it likely Robert would spend all his money,
+and return penniless. She had received no letter from him since the one
+announcing his being about to sail for Calcutta, and this made her
+naturally anxious. But Mr. Paine assured her that letters were likely to
+be irregular, and there was no ground for alarm. So she waited with what
+patience she could till Robert should return, hoping that by some
+strange chance he might succeed in his quest, and bring his father back
+with him.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, fortune had improved with Mr. Davis, the superintendent of
+the factory. He had lost largely by speculation, but had blundered at
+last into the purchase of a stock in which some interested parties had
+effected a corner. It went up rapidly, and on the morning when we
+introduce him again to the reader he was in high good spirits, having
+just received intelligence from his broker that he had cleared seven
+thousand dollars by selling at the top of the market.</p>
+
+<p>"Another cup of coffee, Mrs. Davis," he said, passing his cup across the
+table.</p>
+
+<p>Seeing that his father appeared in good humor, Halbert ventured to
+prefer a request, which, however, he had little hope of having granted.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you seen Will Paine's pony?" he said, paving the way for the
+request.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said his father; "I saw him on it yesterday."</p>
+
+<p>"It's a regular beauty&mdash;I wish I had one."</p>
+
+<p>"How much did it cost?"</p>
+
+<p>"Two hundred dollars."</p>
+
+<p>"That is rather a high price."</p>
+
+<p>"But it will increase in value every year. I wish you would buy me one,
+father."</p>
+
+<p>"I think I will," said the superintendent, helping himself to a fresh
+slice of toast.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean it?" asked Halbert, in the utmost astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly I do. I can afford you a pony as well as Mr. Paine can
+afford to buy William one."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you!" said Halbert, his selfish nature more nearly affected by
+gratitude than ever before. "You are very kind. When will you see about
+it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am busy. You may go yourself and ask Mr. Paine where he got William's
+pony, and if he knows of any other equally good."</p>
+
+<p>"That I will," said Halbert, leaving the table in haste.</p>
+
+<p>"Halbert, you have eaten scarcely anything," said his mother.</p>
+
+<p>"I am not hungry," said the excited boy, seizing his hat, and dashing
+off in the direction of Mr. Paine's office.</p>
+
+<p>"By the way, Mrs. Davis," said the husband, "I think you mentioned last
+week that the parlor needed a new carpet."</p>
+
+<p>"So it does. The old one is looking very shabby."</p>
+
+<p>"How much will a new one cost?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can get a nice Brussels for a hundred dollars."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you may order one."</p>
+
+<p>It was the wife's turn to be astonished, for on broaching the subject
+the week previous, her husband had given her a lecture on extravagance,
+and absolutely refused to consider her request. This was before the
+tidings of his good fortune. She was not slow to accept the present
+concession, and assumed an unusually affectionate manner, in the excess
+of her delight.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, Halbert, in opening the front door, came in collision with a
+boy taller and stouter than himself, brown and sunburned. But, changed
+as he was, he was not slow in recognizing his old enemy, Robert Rushton.</p>
+
+<p>"What, are you back again?" he said, ungraciously.</p>
+
+<p>"So it appears. Is your father at home?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; but he is at breakfast. I don't think you can see him."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll make the attempt, at any rate," said Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"Where have you been all this time?" asked Halbert, more from curiosity
+than interest.</p>
+
+<p>"I went to Calcutta."</p>
+
+<p>"Common sailor, I suppose," said Halbert, contemptuously.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I was a passenger."</p>
+
+<p>"Where did you get your money to pay the passage?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sorry that I can't stop to gratify your curiosity just at present,
+but I have important business with your father."</p>
+
+<p>"You're getting mighty important," sneered Halbert.</p>
+
+<p>"Am I?"</p>
+
+<p>"I wouldn't advise you to put on so many airs, just because you've been
+to Calcutta."</p>
+
+<p>"I never thought of putting on any. I see you haven't changed much since
+I went away. You have the same agreeable, gentlemanly manners."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean to say that I am not a gentleman?" blustered Halbert.</p>
+
+<p>"Not at all. You may be one, but you don't show it."</p>
+
+<p>"I have a great mind to put you out of the yard."</p>
+
+<p>Robert glanced at Halbert's figure, slight compared with his own, and
+laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"I think you would find it a difficult undertaking," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Halbert privately came to the same conclusion, and decided to war only
+with words.</p>
+
+<p>"I have got something better to do than to stand here listening to your
+impudence. I won't soil my fingers by touching you."</p>
+
+<p>"That's a sensible conclusion. Good-morning."</p>
+
+<p>Halbert did not deign to respond, but walked off, holding his nose very
+high in the air. Then, as he thought of the pony, he quickened his pace,
+and bent his steps to Mr. Paine's office.</p>
+
+<p>"A young man to see you, Mr. Davis," said Bridget, entering the
+breakfast-room.</p>
+
+<p>"Who is it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think it's young Robert Rushton, but he's much grown entirely."</p>
+
+<p>"That boy home again!" exclaimed the superintendent, in displeased
+surprise. "Well, you may ask him into the next room."</p>
+
+<p>"Good-morning, Mr. Davis," said Robert, as the superintendent entered.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-morning. When did you get home?" was the cold reply.</p>
+
+<p>"Last evening."</p>
+
+<p>"Where have you been?"</p>
+
+<p>"To Calcutta."</p>
+
+<p>"On a fool's errand."</p>
+
+<p>"I felt it my duty to search for my father."</p>
+
+<p>"I could have told you beforehand you would not succeed. Did you go as a
+sailor?"</p>
+
+<p>"No."</p>
+
+<p>"Where did you raise money to pay your expenses?"</p>
+
+<p>"I found friends who helped me."</p>
+
+<p>"It is a poor policy for a boy to live on charity."</p>
+
+<p>"I never intend to do it," said Robert, firmly. "But I would rather do
+it than live on money that did not belong to me."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean by that, sir?" said the superintendent, suspiciously.</p>
+
+<p>"It was a general remark," said Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"May I ask what is your motive in calling upon me?" asked Mr. Davis. "I
+suppose you have some object."</p>
+
+<p>"I have, and I think you can guess it."</p>
+
+<p>"I am not good at guessing," said Davis, haughtily.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I will not put you to that trouble. You remember, before I sailed
+for Calcutta, I called here and asked you to restore the sum of five
+thousand dollars deposited with you by my father?"</p>
+
+<p>"I remember it, and at the time I stigmatized the claim as a fraudulent
+one. No such sum was ever deposited with me by your father."</p>
+
+<p>"How can you say that, when my father expressly stated it in the letter,
+written by him, from the boat in which he was drifting about on the
+ocean?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have no proof that the letter was genuine, and even if it were, I
+deny the claim. I am not responsible for money I never received."</p>
+
+<p>"I understand you then refuse to pay the money?"</p>
+
+<p>"You would have understood it long ago, if you had not been uncommonly
+thick-headed," sneered the superintendent. "Let this be the end of it.
+When you present my note of acknowledgment for the amount, I will pay
+it and not before."</p>
+
+<p>"That is all I ask," said Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"What?" demanded the superintendent.</p>
+
+<p>"I mean that this assurance is all I want. The note shall be presented
+to you in the course of the day."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean?" asked Davis, startled.</p>
+
+<p>"I mean this, Mr. Davis: that I found my father in Calcutta. He came
+home with me, and, far from having perished at sea, is now alive and
+well. He has with him your note for five thousand dollars, and will
+present it in person."</p>
+
+<p>"You are deceiving me!" exclaimed Davis, in consternation.</p>
+
+<p>"You will soon learn whether I am deceiving you or not," said Robert. "I
+will now bid you good-morning. My father will call upon you in the
+course of the day."</p>
+
+<p>He rose to go, leaving the superintendent thunderstruck at the
+intelligence of Captain Rushton's return. The five thousand dollars,
+with arrears of interest, would take the greater part of the money whose
+sudden acquisition had so elated him. While he was considering the
+situation, his wife entered.</p>
+
+<p>"I think, Mr. Davis," she said, "I will go to New York to-day to buy
+carpeting, if you can spare the money."</p>
+
+<p>"Neither now nor at any other time," he roared, savagely; "the old
+carpet must do."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, then, did you tell me fifteen minutes since that I might buy one?
+What do you mean by such trifling, Mr. Davis?" said his wife, her eyes
+flashing.</p>
+
+<p>"I mean what I say. I've changed my mind. I can't afford to buy a new
+carpet."</p>
+
+<p>There was a stormy scene between man and wife, which may be passed over
+in silence. It ended with a fit of hysterics on the part of Mrs. Davis,
+while her husband put on his hat and walked gloomily over to the
+factory. Here he soon received a call from Halbert, who informed him,
+with great elation, that Mr. Paine knew of a desirable pony which could
+be had on the same terms as his son's.</p>
+
+<p>"I've changed my mind," said his father. "A pony will cost too much
+money."</p>
+
+<p>All Halbert's entreaties were unavailing, and he finally left his
+father's presence in a very unfilial frame of mind.</p>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XXXV" id="CHAPTER_XXXV"></a>CHAPTER XXXV.<br /><br />
+CONCLUSION.</h3>
+
+<p>The arrival of Captain Rushton, confidently supposed to be dead,
+produced a great sensation in Millville, and many were the
+congratulatory visits received at the little cottage. Mrs. Rushton was
+doubly happy at the unexpected return of her husband and son, and felt
+for the first time in her life perfectly happy. She cared little for
+poverty or riches, as long as she had regained her chief treasures.</p>
+
+<p>When Captain Rushton called upon the superintendent, the latter received
+him with embarrassment, knowing that the captain was aware of his
+intended dishonesty. He tried to evade immediate payment, but on this
+point his creditor was peremptory. He had no further confidence in Mr.
+Davis, and felt that the sooner he got his money back into his hands the
+better. It was fortunate for him that the superintendent had been at
+last successful in speculation, or restitution would have been
+impossible. As is was, he received his money in full, nearly six
+thousand dollars, which he at once invested in bank stock of reliable
+city banks, yielding a good annual income. Only the day after the
+payment of this sum, a committee of investigation appointed by the
+directors, whose suspicions had been excited, visited the factory, and
+subjected the superintendent's books to a thorough scrutiny. The result
+showed that Mr. Davis, in whom hitherto perfect confidence had been
+felt, had for years pursued a system of embezzlement, which he had
+covered up by false entries in his books, and had appropriated to his
+own use from fifteen to twenty thousand dollars belonging to the
+corporation. While this investigation was pending, the superintendent
+disappeared, leaving his wife and son unprovided for. His estate was
+seized in part satisfaction of the amounts he had appropriated, and
+Halbert's pride was brought low. The wealth and position upon which he
+had based his aristocratic pretensions vanished, and in bitter
+mortification he found himself reduced to poverty. He could no longer
+flaunt his cane and promenade the streets in kid gloves, but was glad to
+accept a position in the factory store, where he was compelled to dress
+according to his work. In fact, he had exchanged positions with Robert,
+who was now, owing to a circumstance which will at once be mentioned,
+possessed of a considerable inheritance.</p>
+
+<p>The old farmer, Paul Nichols, whom Robert tried to defend from his
+unprincipled nephew, Ben Haley, died suddenly of heart disease.
+Speculation was rife as to who would inherit the estate which he left
+behind him. He had no near relation except Ben Haley, and so great was
+the dislike he entertained toward him that no one anticipated that the
+estate would go to him, unless through Paul's dying intestate. But
+shortly after Haley's visit, his uncle made a will, which he deposited
+in the hands of Lawyer Paine. On the day after the funeral, the latter
+met Captain Rushton and Robert, and said:</p>
+
+<p>"Will you come to my office this afternoon at three o'clock?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly," said the captain.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose you don't want me, Mr. Paine?" said Robert.</p>
+
+<p>"I do want you, particularly," said the lawyer.</p>
+
+<p>Our hero wondered a little why his presence was required, but dismissed
+the matter from his mind, until three o'clock found him in the lawyer's
+office.</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen," said the lawyer, "I am about to read the last will and
+testament of our neighbor, Paul Nichols, recently deceased."</p>
+
+<p>This preamble created surprise, for this was the first intimation that
+such a will was in existence.</p>
+
+<p>The document was brief, and the substance of it was contained in the
+following paragraph:</p>
+
+<p>"Having no near relatives, except Benjamin Haley, for whom I have
+neither regard nor affection, and who, moreover, has recently stolen a
+considerable sum of money from me, I leave all of which I may die
+possessed, whether in land or money, to my brave young friend, Robert
+Rushton, who courageously defended me from my said nephew, at his own
+bodily risk, and I hope he may live long to enjoy the property I
+bequeath him."</p>
+
+<p>No one was more surprised than Robert at the unexpected inheritance. He
+could hardly realize that he was now possessed of a considerable
+property in his own right. It may be said here that, including the value
+of the farm, and the gold concealed, his inheritance amounted to quite
+ten thousand dollars. Paul had considerately supplied the lawyer with a
+list of the hiding places where he had secreted his money on the
+strictest injunctions of secrecy, and this made the task of finding it
+quite easy.</p>
+
+<p>Congratulations poured in upon our hero, who received them with modest
+satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>"It is a good thing to have a rich son," said Captain Rushton,
+humorously. "Robert, I hope you won't look down upon me on account of my
+comparative poverty."</p>
+
+<p>"Father," said Robert, "I wish you would take this money&mdash;I don't want
+it."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall do nothing of the kind, Robert. It is fairly and deservedly
+yours, though I confess you may attribute it partly to good luck, for
+virtue is not always so well rewarded in this world. I will take care of
+it for you, and if you choose to pay your own expenses out of your
+income, I shall allow you to do so, since you are now rich and
+prosperous."</p>
+
+<p>"You must take all the income, father. Then it will not be necessary for
+you to go to sea again."</p>
+
+<p>"I have already made up my mind to stay on land hereafter," said Captain
+Rushton. "My cruise in an open boat without provisions has cured me of
+my love for the sea. With the little money I have saved, and the help of
+a rich son, I think I can afford to stay on shore."</p>
+
+<p>The cottage was enlarged by the erection of another story, as well as by
+the addition of a wing and the throwing out of two bay windows, and was
+otherwise refitted and so metamorphosed by fresh paint and new
+furniture, that it became one of the most attractive houses in
+Millville. Captain Rushton, who knew something of agriculture, decided
+to carry on Robert's farm himself, and found the employment both
+pleasant and profitable.</p>
+
+<p>"My only trouble," he used to say, jocosely, "is that I have a very
+exacting landlord. Unless the rent were punctually paid, he would be
+sure to resort to legal means to recover it."</p>
+
+<p>When Ben Haley heard that his uncle's estate had been bequeathed to the
+boy whom he had persecuted, and whom for that reason he hated, his rage
+and disappointment were unbounded. If he had not been within two hours
+of sailing in command of a ship bound to South America, he would at once
+have gone down to Millville, and in his fury he might have done serious
+injury to the boy who had superseded him. But he could not delay the day
+of sailing, and so, much against his will, he was forced to forego his
+vengeance until his return. But this was destined to be his last voyage.
+While at Rio Janeiro he became engaged in a fracas with the keeper of a
+low grogshop, when the latter, who was a desperate ruffian, snatched a
+knife from his girdle, and drove it into the heart of the unhappy
+captain, who fell back on the floor and expired without a groan. Thus
+terminated a misguided and ill-spent life. I should have been glad to
+report Ben Haley's reformation instead of his death, but for the sake of
+Robert, whom he hated so intensely, I am relieved that thin source of
+peril is closed.</p>
+
+<p>Robert, being now in easy circumstances, decided to pursue his studies
+for two years longer, and accordingly placed himself in a school of high
+reputation, where he made rapid improvement. He then entered upon a
+business life under the auspices of his friend, Mr. Morgan, and promises
+in time to become a prominent and wealthy merchant. He passes every
+Sunday at home in the little cottage occupied by his father, who,
+however, has ceased to be a farmer, having been promoted to the post of
+superintendent of the factory, formerly occupied by Mr. Davis. For the
+first twelve months the post was filled by a new man, who proved to be
+incompetent, and then was offered to Captain Rushton, whose excellent
+executive talents were well known. He soon made himself familiar with
+his duties, and the post is likely to be his as long as he cares to hold
+it.</p>
+
+<p>Hester Paine, as a young lady, fulfills the promise of her girlhood. The
+mutual attachment which existed between her and Robert, when boy and
+girl, still continues, and there is some ground for the report which
+comes from Millville&mdash;that they are engaged. The alliance will be in the
+highest degree pleasing to both families, for if Hester is fair and
+attractive, Robert is energetic and of excellent principles, and
+possessed of precisely those qualities which, with fair good fortune
+will, under the favor of Providence, insure his success in life.</p>
+
+<p class="c">THE END.</p>
+
+<hr class="full" />
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Brave and Bold, by Horatio Alger
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Brave and Bold, by Horatio Alger
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Brave and Bold
+
+Author: Horatio Alger
+
+Posting Date: March 17, 2011 [EBook #9990]
+Release Date: February, 2006
+[This file was first posted on November 6, 2003]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRAVE AND BOLD ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Aldarondo, Dave Morgan and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+BRAVE AND BOLD
+
+
+Or
+
+
+THE FORTUNES OF ROBERT RUSHTON
+
+
+By
+
+
+HORATIO ALGER JR.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+THE YOUNG RIVALS.
+
+The main schoolroom in the Millville Academy was brilliantly lighted,
+and the various desks were occupied by boys and girls of different ages
+from ten to eighteen, all busily writing under the general direction of
+Professor George W. Granville, Instructor in Plain and Ornamental
+Penmanship.
+
+Professor Granville, as he styled himself, was a traveling teacher, and
+generally had two or three evening schools in progress in different
+places at the same time. He was really a very good penman, and in a
+course of twelve lessons, for which he charged the very moderate price
+of a dollar, not, of course, including stationery, he contrived to
+impart considerable instruction, and such pupils as chose to learn were
+likely to profit by his instructions. His venture in Millville had been
+unusually successful. There were a hundred pupils on his list, and there
+had been no disturbance during the course of lessons.
+
+At nine precisely, Professor Granville struck a small bell, and said, in
+rather a nasal voice:
+
+"You will now stop writing."
+
+There was a little confusion as the books were closed and the pens were
+wiped.
+
+"Ladies and gentlemen," said the professor, placing one arm under his
+coat tails and extending the other in an oratorical attitude, "this
+evening completes the course of lessons which I have had the honor and
+pleasure of giving you. I have endeavored to impart to you an easy and
+graceful penmanship, such as may be a recommendation to you in after
+life. It gives me pleasure to state that many of you have made great
+proficiency, and equaled my highest expectations. There are others,
+perhaps, who have not been fully sensible of the privileges which they
+enjoyed. I would say to you all that perfection is not yet attained. You
+will need practice to reap the full benefit of my instructions. Should
+my life be spared, I shall hope next winter to give another course of
+writing lessons in this place, and I hope I may then have the pleasure
+of meeting you again as pupils. Let me say, in conclusion, that I thank
+you for your patronage and for your good behavior during this course of
+lessons, and at the same time I bid you good-by."
+
+With the closing words, Professor Granville made a low bow, and placed
+his hand on his heart, as he had done probably fifty times before, on
+delivering the same speech, which was the stereotyped form in which he
+closed his evening schools.
+
+There was a thumping of feet, mingled with a clapping of hands, as the
+professor closed his speech, and a moment later a boy of sixteen,
+occupying one of the front seats, rose, and, advancing with easy
+self-possession, drew from his pocket a gold pencil case, containing a
+pencil and pen, and spoke as follows:
+
+"Professor Granville, the members of your writing class, desirous of
+testifying their appreciation of your services as teacher, have
+contributed to buy this gold pencil case, which, in their name, I have
+great pleasure in presenting to you. Will you receive it with our best
+wishes for your continued success as a teacher of penmanship?"
+
+With these words, he handed the pencil to the professor and returned to
+his seat.
+
+The applause that ensued was terrific, causing the dust to rise from
+the floor where it had lain undisturbed till the violent attack of two
+hundred feet raised it in clouds, through which the figure of the
+professor was still visible, with his right arm again extended.
+
+"Ladies and gentlemen," he commenced, "I cannot give fitting utterance
+to the emotions that fill my heart at this most unexpected tribute of
+regard and mark of appreciation of my humble services. Believe me, I
+shall always cherish it as a most valued possession, and the sight of it
+will recall the pleasant, and, I hope, profitable hours which we have
+passed together this winter. To you, in particular, Mr. Rushton, I
+express my thanks for the touching and eloquent manner in which you have
+made the presentation, and, in parting with you all, I echo your own
+good wishes, and shall hope that you may be favored with an abundant
+measure of health and prosperity."
+
+This speech was also vociferously applauded. It was generally considered
+impromptu, but was, in truth, as stereotyped as the other. Professor
+Granville had on previous occasions been the recipient of similar
+testimonials, and he had found it convenient to have a set form of
+acknowledgment. He was wise in this, for it is a hard thing on the spur
+of the moment suitably to offer thanks for an unexpected gift.
+
+"The professor made a bully speech," said more than one after the
+exercises were over.
+
+"So did Bob Rushton," said Edward Kent.
+
+"I didn't see anything extraordinary in what he said," sneered Halbert
+Davis. "It seemed to me very commonplace."
+
+"Perhaps you could do better yourself, Halbert," said Kent.
+
+"Probably I could," said Halbert, haughtily.
+
+"Why didn't you volunteer, then?"
+
+"I didn't care to have anything to do with it," returned Halbert,
+scornfully.
+
+"That's lucky," remarked Edward, "as there was no chance of your getting
+appointed."
+
+"Do you mean to insult me?" demanded Halbert, angrily.
+
+"No, I was only telling the truth."
+
+Halbert turned away, too disgusted to make any reply. He was a boy of
+sixteen, of slender form and sallow complexion, dressed with more
+pretension than taste. Probably there was no boy present whose suit was
+of such fine material as his. But something more than fine clothes is
+needed to give a fine appearance, and Halbert's mean and insignificant
+features were far from rendering him attractive, and despite the
+testimony of his glass, Halbert considered himself a young man of
+distinguished appearance, and was utterly blind to his personal defects.
+
+What contributed to feed his vanity was his position as the son of the
+richest man in Millville. Indeed, his father was superintendent, and
+part owner, of the great brick factory on the banks of the river, in
+which hundreds found employment. Halbert found plenty to fawn upon him,
+and was in the habit of strutting about the village, swinging a light
+cane, neither a useful nor an ornamental member of the community.
+
+After his brief altercation with Edward Kent, he drew on a pair of kid
+gloves, and looked about the room for Hester Paine, the lawyer's
+daughter, the reigning belle among the girls of her age in Millville.
+The fact was, that Halbert was rather smitten with Hester, and had made
+up his mind to escort her home on this particular evening, never
+doubting that his escort would be thankfully accepted.
+
+But he was not quick enough, Robert Rushton had already approached
+Hester, and said, "Miss Hester, will you allow me to see you home?"
+
+"I shall be very glad to have your company, Robert," said Hester.
+
+Robert was a general favorite. He had a bright, attractive face, strong
+and resolute, when there was occasion, frank and earnest at all times.
+His clothes were neat and clean, but of a coarse, mixed cloth, evidently
+of low price, suiting his circumstances, for he was poor, and his mother
+and himself depended mainly upon his earnings in the factory for the
+necessaries of life. Hester Paine, being the daughter of a well-to-do
+lawyer, belonged to the village aristocracy, and so far as worldly
+wealth was concerned, was far above Robert Rushton. But such
+considerations never entered her mind, as she frankly, and with real
+pleasure, accepted the escort of the poor factory boy.
+
+Scarcely had she done so when Halbert Davis approached, smoothing his
+kid gloves, and pulling at his necktie.
+
+"Miss Hester," he said, consequentially, "I shall have great pleasure in
+escorting you home."
+
+"Thank you," said Hester, "but I am engaged."
+
+"Engaged!" repeated Halbert, "and to whom?"
+
+"Robert Rushton has kindly offered to take me home."
+
+"Robert Rushton!" said Halbert, disdainfully. "Never mind. I will
+relieve him of his duty."
+
+"Thank you, Halbert," said Robert, who was standing by, "I won't trouble
+you. I will see Miss Paine home."
+
+"Your escort was accepted because you were the first to offer it," said
+Halbert.
+
+"Miss Hester," said Robert, "I will resign in favor of Halbert, if you
+desire it."
+
+"I don't desire it," said the young girl, promptly. "Come, Robert, I am
+ready if you are."
+
+With a careless nod to Halbert, she took Robert's arm, and left the
+schoolhouse. Mortified and angry, Halbert looked after them, muttering,
+"I'll teach the factory boy a lesson. He'll be sorry for his impudence
+yet."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+PUNISHING A COWARD
+
+Mrs. Rushton and her son occupied a little cottage, not far from the
+factory. Behind it were a few square rods of garden, in which Robert
+raised a few vegetables, working generally before or after his labor in
+the factory. They lived in a very plain way, but Mrs. Rushton was an
+excellent manager, and they had never lacked the common comforts of
+life. The husband and father had followed the sea. Two years before, he
+left the port of Boston as captain of the ship _Norman_, bound for
+Calcutta. Not a word had reached his wife and son since then, and it was
+generally believed that it had gone to the bottom of the sea. Mrs.
+Rushton regarded herself as a widow, and Robert, entering the factory,
+took upon himself the support of the family. He was now able to earn six
+dollars a week, and this, with his mother's earnings in braiding straw
+for a hat manufacturer in a neighboring town, supported them, though
+they were unable to lay up anything. The price of a term at the writing
+school was so small that Robert thought he could indulge himself in it,
+feeling that a good handwriting was a valuable acquisition, and might
+hereafter procure him employment in some business house. For the
+present, he could not do better than to retain his place in the factory.
+
+Robert was up at six the next morning. He spent half an hour in sawing
+and splitting wood enough to last his mother through the day, and then
+entered the kitchen, where breakfast was ready.
+
+"I am a little late this morning, mother," he said. "I must hurry down
+my breakfast, or I shall be late at the factory, and that will bring
+twenty-five cents fine."
+
+"It would be a pity to get fined, but you mustn't eat too fast. It is
+not healthful."
+
+"I've got a pretty good digestion, mother," said Robert, laughing.
+"Nothing troubles me."
+
+"Still, you mustn't trifle with it. Do you remember, Robert," added his
+mother, soberly, "it is just two years to-day since your poor father
+left us for Boston to take command of his ship?"
+
+"So it is, mother; I had forgotten it."
+
+"I little thought then that I should never see him again!" and Mrs.
+Rushton sighed.
+
+"It is strange we have never heard anything of the ship."
+
+"Not so strange, Robert. It must have gone down when no other vessel was
+in sight."
+
+"I wish we knew the particulars, mother. Sometimes I think father may
+have escaped from the ship in a boat, and may be still alive."
+
+"I used to think it possible, Robert; but I have given up all hopes of
+it. Two years have passed, and if your father were alive, we should have
+seen him or heard from him ere this."
+
+"I am afraid you are right. There's one thing I can't help thinking of,
+mother," said Robert, thoughtfully. "How is it that father left no
+property? He received a good salary, did he not?"
+
+"Yes; he had received a good salary for several years."
+
+"He did not spend the whole of it, did he?"
+
+"No, I am sure he did not. Your father was never extravagant."
+
+"Didn't he ever speak to you on the subject?"
+
+"He was not in the habit of speaking of his business; but just before he
+went away, I remember him telling me that he had some money invested,
+and hoped to add more to it during the voyage which proved so fatal to
+him."
+
+"He didn't tell you how much it was, nor how it was invested?"
+
+"No; that was all he said. Since his death, I have looked everywhere in
+the house for some papers which would throw light upon it; but I have
+been able to find nothing. I do not care so much for myself, but I
+should be glad if you did not have to work so hard."
+
+"Never mind me, mother; I'm young and strong, I can stand work--but it's
+hard on you."
+
+"I am rich in having a good son, Robert."
+
+"And I in a good mother," said Robert, affectionately. "And, now, to
+change the subject. I suspect I have incurred the enmity of Halbert
+Davis."
+
+"How is that?" asked Mrs. Rushton.
+
+"I went home with Hester Paine, last evening, from writing school. Just
+as she had accepted my escort, Halbert came up, and in a condescending
+way, informed her that he would see her home."
+
+"What did she say?"
+
+"She told him she was engaged to me. He said, coolly, that he would
+relieve me of the duty, but I declined his obliging offer. He looked mad
+enough, I can tell you. He's full of self-conceit, and I suppose he
+wondered how any one could prefer me to him."
+
+"I am sorry you have incurred his enmity."
+
+"I didn't lose any sleep by it."
+
+"You know his father is the superintendent of the factory."
+
+"Halbert isn't."
+
+"But he may prejudice his father against you, and get you discharged."
+
+"I don't think he would be quite so mean as that. We won't borrow
+trouble, mother. But time's up, and I must go."
+
+Robert seized his hat and hurried to the mill. He was in his place when
+the great factory bell stopped ringing on the stroke of seven, and so
+escaped the fine, which would have cut off one-quarter of a day's pay.
+
+Meanwhile, Halbert Davis had passed an uncomfortable and restless night.
+He had taken a fancy to Hester Paine, and he had fully determined to
+escort her home on the previous evening. As she was much sought after
+among her young companions, it would have gratified his pride to have it
+known that she had accepted his company. But he had been cut out, and by
+Robert Rushton--one of his father's factory hands. This made his
+jealousy more intolerable, and humiliated his pride, and set him to work
+devising schemes for punishing Robert's presumption. He felt that it was
+Robert's duty, even though he had been accepted, to retire from the
+field as soon as his, Halbert's, desire was known. This Robert had
+expressly declined to do, and Halbert felt very indignant. He made up
+his mind that he would give Robert a chance to apologize, and if he
+declined to do so he would do what he could to get him turned out of the
+factory.
+
+At twelve o'clock the factory bell pealed forth a welcome sound to the
+hundreds who were busily at work within the great building. It was the
+dinner hour, and a throng of men, women and children poured out of the
+great portals and hastened to their homes or boarding houses to dine.
+Among them was Robert Rushton. As he was walking homeward with his usual
+quick, alert step, he came upon Halbert Davis, at the corner of the
+street.
+
+Halbert was dressed carefully, and, as usual, was swinging his cane in
+his gloved hand. Robert would have passed him with a nod, but Halbert,
+who was waiting for him, called out:
+
+"I say, you fellow, stop a minute. I want to speak to you."
+
+"Are you addressing me?" asked Robert, with a pride as great as his own.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then you had better mend your manners."
+
+"What do you mean?" demanded Halbert, his sallow face slightly flushing.
+
+"My name is Robert Rushton. Call me by either of these names when you
+speak to me, and don't say 'you fellow.'"
+
+"It seems to me," sneered Halbert, "that you are putting on airs for a
+factory boy."
+
+"I am a factory boy, I acknowledge, and am not ashamed to acknowledge
+it. Is this all you have to say to me? If so, I will pass on, as I am in
+haste."
+
+"I have something else to say to you. You were impudent to me last
+evening."
+
+"Was I? Tell me how."
+
+"Did you not insist on going home with Hester Paine, when I had offered
+my escort?"
+
+"What of that?"
+
+"You forget your place."
+
+"My place was at Hester Paine's side, since she had accepted my escort."
+
+"It was very presumptuous in a factory boy like you offering your escort
+to a young lady like Miss Paine."
+
+"I don't see it," said Robert, independently; "and I don't think it
+struck Hester in that light. We had a very agreeable walk."
+
+Halbert was provoked and inflamed with jealousy, and the look with which
+he regarded our hero was by no means friendly.
+
+"You mustn't regard yourself as Miss Paine's equal because she
+condescended to walk with you," he said. "You had better associate with
+those of your own class hereafter, and not push yourself in where your
+company is not agreeable."
+
+"Keep your advice to yourself, Halbert Davis," said Robert, hotly, for
+he felt the insult conveyed in these words. "If I am a factory boy I
+don't intend to submit to your impertinence; and I advise you to be
+careful what you say. As to Miss Hester Paine, I shall not ask your
+permission to walk with her, but shall do so whenever she chooses to
+accept my escort. Has she authorized you to speak for her?"
+
+"No; but----"
+
+"Then wait till she does."
+
+Halbert was so incensed that, forgetting Robert's superior strength,
+evident enough to any one who saw the two, one with his well-knit,
+vigorous figure, the other slender and small of frame, he raised his
+cane and struck our hero smartly upon the arm.
+
+In a moment the cane was wrested from his grasp and applied to his own
+person with a sharp, stinging blow which broke the fragile stick in two.
+
+Casting the pieces upon the ground at his feet, Robert said, coolly:
+
+"Two can play at that game, Halbert Davis. When you want another lesson
+come to me."
+
+He passed his discomfited antagonist and hastened to the little cottage,
+where his mother was wondering what made him so much behind time.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+THE SPECIAL DEPOSIT.
+
+Stung with mortification and more incensed against Robert than ever,
+Halbert hastened home. The house in which he lived was the largest and
+most pretentious in Millville--a large, square house, built in modern
+style, and with modern improvements, accessible from the street by a
+semi-circular driveway terminating in two gates, one at each end of the
+spacious lawn that lay in front. The house had been built only three
+years, and was the show-place of the village.
+
+Halbert entered the house, and throwing his hat down on a chair in the
+hall, entered the dining-room, his face still betraying his angry
+feelings.
+
+"What's the matter, Halbert?" asked his mother, looking up as he
+entered.
+
+"Do you see this?" said Halbert, displaying the pieces of his cane.
+
+"How did you break it?"
+
+"I didn't break it."
+
+"How came it broken, then?"
+
+"Robert Rushton broke it."
+
+"The widow Rushton's son?"
+
+"Yes; he's a low scoundrel," said Halbert bitterly.
+
+"What made him break it?"
+
+"He struck me with it hard enough to break it, and then threw the pieces
+on the ground. I wouldn't mind it so much if he were not a low factory
+boy, unworthy of a gentleman's attention."
+
+"How dared he touch you?" asked Mrs. Davis, angrily.
+
+"Oh, he's impudent enough for anything. He walked home with Hester Paine
+last evening from the writing school. I suppose she didn't know how to
+refuse him. I met him just now and told him he ought to know his place
+better than to offer his escort to a young lady like Hester. He got mad
+and struck me."
+
+"It was very proper advice," said Mrs. Davis, who resembled her son in
+character and disposition, and usually sided with him in his quarrels.
+"I should think Hester would have more sense than to encourage a boy in
+his position."
+
+"I have no doubt she was bored by his company," said Halbert, who feared
+on the contrary that Hester was only too well pleased with his rival,
+and hated him accordingly; "only she was too good-natured to say so."
+
+"The boy must be a young brute to turn upon you so violently."
+
+"That's just what he is."
+
+"He ought to be punished for it."
+
+"I'll tell you how it can be done," said Halbert. "Just you speak to
+father about it, and get him dismissed from the factory."
+
+"Then he is employed in the factory?"
+
+"Yes. He and his mother are as poor as poverty, and that's about all
+they have to live upon; yet he goes round with his head up as if he were
+a prince, and thinks himself good enough to walk home with Hester
+Paine."
+
+"I never heard of anything so ridiculous."
+
+"Then you'll speak to father about it, won't you?"
+
+"Yes; I'll speak to him to-night. He's gone away for the day."
+
+"That'll pay me for my broken cane," said Halbert, adding, in a tone of
+satisfaction: "I shall be glad to see him walking round the streets in
+rags. Perhaps he'll be a little more respectful then."
+
+Meanwhile Robert decided not to mention to his mother his encounter with
+the young aristocrat. He knew that it would do no good, and would only
+make her feel troubled. He caught the malignant glance of Halbert on
+parting, and he knew him well enough to suspect that he would do what
+he could to have him turned out of the factory. This would certainly be
+a serious misfortune.
+
+Probably the entire income upon which his mother and himself had to
+depend did not exceed eight dollars a week, and of this he himself
+earned six. They had not more than ten dollars laid by for
+contingencies, and if he were deprived of work, that would soon melt
+away. The factory furnished about the only avenue of employment open in
+Millville, and if he were discharged it would be hard to find any other
+remunerative labor.
+
+At one o'clock Robert went back to the factory rather thoughtful. He
+thought it possible that he might hear something before evening of the
+dismission which probably awaited him, but the afternoon passed and he
+heard nothing.
+
+On leaving the factory, he chanced to see Halbert again on the sidewalk
+a little distance in front and advancing toward him. This time, however,
+the young aristocrat did not desire a meeting, for, with a dark scowl,
+he crossed the street in time to avoid it.
+
+"Is he going to pass it over, I wonder?" thought Robert. "Well, I won't
+borrow trouble. If I am discharged I think I can manage to pick up a
+living somehow. I've got two strong arms, and if I don't find something
+to do, it won't be for the want of trying."
+
+Two years before, Captain Rushton, on the eve of sailing upon what
+proved to be his last voyage, called in the evening at the house of Mr.
+Davis, the superintendent of the Millville factory. He found the
+superintendent alone, his wife and Halbert having gone out for the
+evening. He was seated at a table with a variety of papers spread out
+before him. These papers gave him considerable annoyance. He was
+preparing his semi-annual statement of account, and found himself
+indebted to the corporation in a sum three thousand dollars in excess of
+the funds at his command. He had been drawn into the whirlpool of
+speculation, and, through a New York broker, had invested considerable
+amounts in stocks, which had depreciated in value. In doing this he had
+made use, to some extent, of the funds of the corporation, which he was
+now at a loss how to replace. He was considering where he could apply
+for a temporary loan of three thousand dollars when the captain entered.
+Under the circumstances he was sorry for the intrusion.
+
+"Good-evening, Captain Rushton," he said, with a forced smile. "Sit
+down. I am glad to see you."
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Davis. It will be the last call I shall make upon you
+for a considerable time."
+
+"Indeed--how is that?"
+
+"I sail to-morrow for Calcutta."
+
+"Indeed--that is a long voyage."
+
+"Yes, it takes considerable time. I don't like to leave my wife and boy
+for so long, but we sailors have to suffer a good many privations."
+
+"True; I hardly think I should enjoy such a life."
+
+"Still," said the captain, "it has its compensations. I like the free,
+wild life of the sea. The ocean, even in its stormiest aspects, has a
+charm for me."
+
+"It hasn't much for me," said the superintendent, shrugging his
+shoulders. "Seasickness takes away all the romance that poets have
+invested it with."
+
+Captain Rushton laughed.
+
+"Seasickness!" he repeated. "Yes, that is truly a disagreeable malady. I
+remember once having a lady of rank as passenger on board my ship--a
+Lady Alice Graham. She was prostrated by seasickness, which is no
+respecter of persons, and a more forlorn, unhappy mortal I never expect
+to see. She would have been glad, I am convinced, to exchange places
+with her maid, who seemed to thrive upon the sea air."
+
+"I wish you a prosperous voyage, captain."
+
+"Thank you. If things go well, I expect to come home with quite an
+addition to my little savings. And that brings me to the object of my
+visit this evening. You must know, Mr. Davis, I have saved up in the
+last ten years a matter of five thousand dollars."
+
+"Five thousand dollars!" repeated the superintendent, pricking up his
+ears.
+
+"Yes, it has been saved by economy and self-denial. Wouldn't my wife be
+surprised if she knew her husband were so rich?"
+
+"Your wife doesn't know of it?" asked the superintendent, surprised.
+
+"Not at all. I have told her I have something, and she may suppose I
+have a few hundred dollars, but I have never told her how much. I want
+to surprise her some day."
+
+"Just so."
+
+"Now, Mr. Davis, for the object of my errand. I am no financier, and
+know nothing of investments. I suppose you do. I want you to take this
+money, and take care of it, while I am gone on my present voyage. I
+meant to make inquiries myself for a suitable investment, but I have
+been summoned by my owners to leave at a day's notice, and have no time
+for it. Can you oblige me by taking care of the money?"
+
+"Certainly, captain," said the superintendent, briskly. "I shall have
+great pleasure in obliging an old friend."
+
+"I am much obliged to you."
+
+"Don't mention it. I have large sums of my own to invest, and it is no
+extra trouble to look after your money. Am I to pay the interest to your
+wife?"
+
+"No. I have left a separate fund in a savings bank for her to draw upon.
+As I told you, I want to surprise her by and by. So not a word, if you
+please, about this deposit."
+
+"Your wishes shall be regarded," said the superintendent. "Have you
+brought the money with you?"
+
+"Yes," said the captain, drawing from his pocket a large wallet. "I have
+got the whole amount here in large bills. Count it, if you please, and
+see that it is all right."
+
+The superintendent took the roll of bills from the hands of his
+neighbor, and counted them over twice.
+
+"It is quite right," he said. "Here are five thousand dollars. Now let
+me write you a receipt for them."
+
+He drew before him a sheet of paper, and dipping his pen in the
+inkstand, wrote a receipt in the usual form, which he handed back to the
+captain, who received it and put it back in his wallet.
+
+"Now," said the captain, in a tone of satisfaction, "my most important
+business is transacted. You will keep this money, investing it according
+to your best judgment. If anything should happen to me," he added, his
+voice faltering a little, "you will pay it over to my wife and child."
+
+"Assuredly," said the superintendent; "but don't let us think of such a
+sad contingency. I fully expect to pay it back into your own hands with
+handsome interest."
+
+"Let us hope so," said the captain, recovering his cheerfulness. "Our
+destinies are in the hands of a kind Providence. And now good-by! I
+leave early to-morrow morning, and I must pass the rest of the evening
+with my own family."
+
+"Good-night, captain," said the superintendent, accompanying him to the
+door. "I renew my wish that you have a prosperous and profitable voyage,
+and be restored in good time to your family and friends."
+
+"Amen!" said the captain.
+
+The superintendent went back to his study, his heart lightened of its
+anxiety.
+
+"Could anything be more fortunate?" he ejaculated, "This help comes to
+me just when it is most needed. Thanks to my special deposit, I can make
+my semi-annual settlement, and have two thousand dollars over. It's
+lucky the captain knows nothing of my Wall Street speculations. He
+might not have been quite so ready to leave his money in my hands. It's
+not a bad thing to be a banker," and he rubbed his hands together with
+hilarity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+THE VOICE OF CONSCIENCE.
+
+When the superintendent accepted Captain Rushton's money, he did not
+intend to act dishonestly. He hailed it as a present relief, though he
+supposed he should have to repay it some time. His accounts being found
+correct, he went on with his speculations. In these he met with varying
+success. But on the whole he found himself no richer, while he was kept
+in a constant fever of anxiety.
+
+After some months, he met Mrs. Rushton in the street one day.
+
+"Have you heard from your husband, Mrs. Rushton?" he inquired.
+
+"No, Mr. Davis, not yet. I am beginning to feel anxious."
+
+"How long has he been gone?"
+
+"Between seven and eight months."
+
+"The voyage is a long one. There are many ways of accounting for his
+silence."
+
+"He would send by some passing ship. He has been to Calcutta before,
+but I have never had to wait so long for a letter."
+
+The superintendent uttered some commonplace phrases of assurance, but in
+his own heart there sprang up a wicked hope that the _Norman_ would
+never reach port, and that he might never set eyes on Captain Rushton
+again. For in that case, he reflected, it would be perfectly safe for
+him to retain possession of the money with which he had been intrusted.
+The captain had assured him that neither his wife nor son knew aught of
+his savings. Who then could detect his crime? However, it was not yet
+certain that the _Norman_ was lost. He might yet have to repay the
+money.
+
+Six months more passed, and still no tidings of the ship or its
+commander. Even the most sanguine now gave her up for lost, including
+the owners. The superintendent called upon them, ostensibly in behalf of
+Mrs. Rushton, and learned that they had but slender hopes of her safety.
+It was a wicked thing to rejoice over such a calamity, but his affairs
+were now so entangled that a sudden demand for the five thousand dollars
+would have ruined him. He made up his mind to say nothing of the special
+deposit, though he knew the loss of it would leave the captain's family
+in the deepest poverty. To soothe his conscience--for he was wholly
+destitute of one--he received Robert into the factory, and the boy's
+wages, as we already know, constituted their main support.
+
+Such was the state of things at the commencement of our story.
+
+When the superintendent reached home in the evening, he was at once
+assailed by his wife and son, who gave a highly colored account of the
+insult which Halbert had received from Robert Rushton.
+
+"Did he have any reason for striking you, Halbert?" asked the
+superintendent.
+
+"No," answered Halbert, unblushingly. "He's an impudent young scoundrel,
+and puts on as many airs as if he were a prince instead of a beggar."
+
+"He is not a beggar."
+
+"He is a low factory boy, and that is about the same."
+
+"By no means. He earns his living by honest industry."
+
+"It appears to me," put in Mrs. Davis, "that you are taking the part of
+this boy who has insulted your son in such an outrageous manner."
+
+"How am I doing it? I am only saying he is not a beggar."
+
+"He is far below Halbert in position, and that is the principal thing."
+
+It occurred to the superintendent that should he make restitution Robert
+Rushton would be quite as well off as his own son, but of course he
+could not venture to breathe a hint of this to his wife. It was the
+secret knowledge of the deep wrong which he had done to the Rushtons
+that now made him unwilling to oppress him further.
+
+"It seems to me," he said, "you are making too much of this matter. It
+is only a boyish quarrel."
+
+"A boyish quarrel!" retorted Mrs. Davis, indignantly. "You have a
+singular way of standing by your son, Mr. Davis. A low fellow insults
+and abuses him, and you exert yourself to mate excuses for him."
+
+"You misapprehend me, my dear."
+
+"Don't 'my dear' me," said the exasperated lady. "I thought you would be
+as angry as I am, but you seem to take the whole thing very coolly, upon
+my word!"
+
+Mrs. Davis had a sharp temper and a sharp tongue, and her husband stood
+considerably in awe of both. He had more than once been compelled to
+yield to them, and he saw that he must make some concession to order to
+keep the peace.
+
+"Well, what do you want me to do?" he asked.
+
+"Want you to do! I should think that was plain enough."
+
+"I will send for the boy and reprimand him."
+
+"Reprimand him!" repeated the lady, contemptuously. "And what do you
+think he will care for that?"
+
+"More than you think, perhaps."
+
+"Stuff and nonsense! He'll be insulting Halbert again to-morrow."
+
+"I am not so sure that Halbert is not in fault in some way."
+
+"Of course, you are ready to side with a stranger against your own son."
+
+"What do you want me to do?" asked the superintendent, submissively.
+
+"Discharge the boy from your employment," said his wife, promptly.
+
+"But how can he and his mother live?--they depend on his wages."
+
+"That is their affair. He ought to have thought of that before he raised
+his hand against Halbert."
+
+"I cannot do what you wish," said the superintendent, with some
+firmness, for he felt that it would indeed be a piece of meanness to
+eject from the factory the boy whom he had already so deeply wronged;
+"but I will send for young Rushton and require him to apologize to
+Halbert."
+
+"And if he won't do it?" demanded Halbert.
+
+"Then I will send him away."
+
+"Will you promise that, father?" asked Halbert, eagerly.
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Davis, rather reluctantly.
+
+"All right!" thought Halbert; "I am satisfied; for I know he never will
+consent to apologize."
+
+Halbert had good reason for this opinion, knowing, as he did, that he
+had struck the first blow, a circumstance he had carefully concealed
+from his father. Under the circumstances he knew very well that his
+father would be called upon to redeem his promise.
+
+The next morning, at the regular hour, our hero went to the factory, and
+taking his usual place, set to work. An hour passed, and nothing was
+said to him. He began to think that Halbert, feeling that he was the
+aggressor, had resolved to let the matter drop.
+
+But he was speedily undeceived.
+
+At a quarter after eight the superintendent made his appearance, and
+after a brief inspection of the work, retired to his private office. Ten
+minutes later, the foreman of the room in which he was employed came up
+to Robert and touched him on the shoulder.
+
+"Mr. Davis wishes to see you in his office," he said.
+
+"Now for it!" thought Robert, as he left his work and made his way,
+through the deafening clamor of the machinery, to the superintendent's
+room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+DISCHARGED.
+
+The superintendent sat at an office table writing a letter. He did not
+at first look up, but kept on with his employment. He had some remnants
+of conscience left, and he shrank from the task his wife had thrust upon
+him.
+
+"Mr. Baker tells me you wish to see me, Mr. Davis," said Robert, who had
+advanced into the office, by way of calling his attention.
+
+"Yes," said the superintendent, laying down his pen, and turning half
+round; "I hear a bad account of you, Rushton."
+
+"In what way, sir?" asked our hero, returning his look fearlessly.
+
+"I hear that you have been behaving like a young ruffian," said Mr.
+Davis, who felt that he must make out a strong case to justify him in
+dismissing Robert from the factory.
+
+"This is a serious charge, Mr. Davis," said Robert, gravely, "and I hope
+you will be kind enough to let me know what I have done, and the name
+of my accuser."
+
+"I mean to do so. Probably it will be enough to say that your accuser is
+my son, Halbert."
+
+"I supposed so. I had a difficulty with Halbert yesterday, but I
+consider he was in fault."
+
+"He says you insulted and struck him."
+
+"I did not insult him. The insult came from him."
+
+"Did you strike him?"
+
+"Yes, but not until he had struck me first."
+
+"He didn't mention this, but even if he had you should not have struck
+him back."
+
+"Why not?" asked Robert.
+
+"You should have reported the affair to me."
+
+"And allowed him to keep on striking me?"
+
+"You must have said something to provoke him," continued the
+superintendent, finding it a little difficult to answer this question,
+"or he would not have done it."
+
+"If you will allow me," said Robert, "I will give you an account of the
+whole affair."
+
+"Go on," said the superintendent, rather unwillingly, for he strongly
+suspected that our hero would be able to justify himself, and so render
+dismissal more difficult.
+
+"Halbert took offense because I accompanied Hester Paine home from the
+writing school, evening before last, though I did with the young lady's
+permission, as he knew. He met me yesterday at twelve o'clock, as I was
+going home to dinner, and undertook to lecture me on my presumption in
+offering my escort to one so much above me. He also taunted me with
+being a factory boy. I told him to keep his advice to himself, as I
+should not ask his permission when I wanted to walk, with Hester Paine.
+Then he became enraged, and struck me with his cane. I took it from him
+and returned the blow, breaking the cane in doing it."
+
+"Ahem!" said the superintendent, clearing his throat; "you must have
+been very violent."
+
+"I don't think I was, sir. I struck him a smart blow, but the cane was
+very light and easily broken."
+
+"You were certainly very violent," continued Mr. Davis, resolved to make
+a point of this. "Halbert did not break the cane when he struck you."
+
+"He struck the first blow."
+
+"That does not alter the question of the amount of violence, which was
+evidently without justification. You must have been in a great passion."
+
+"I don't think I was in any greater passion than Halbert."
+
+"In view of the violence you made use of, I consider that you owe my son
+an apology."
+
+"An apology!" repeated Robert, whose astonishment was apparent in his
+tone.
+
+"I believe I spoke plainly," said the superintendent, irritably.
+
+"If any apology is to be made," said our hero, firmly, "it ought to come
+from Halbert to me."
+
+"How do you make that out?"
+
+"He gave me some impertinent advice, and, because I did not care to take
+it, he struck me."
+
+"And you seized his cane in a fury, and broke it in returning the blow."
+
+"I acknowledge that I broke the cane," said Robert; "and I suppose it is
+only right that I should pay for it. I am willing to do that, but not to
+apologize."
+
+"That will not be sufficient," said the superintendent, who knew that
+payment for the cane would fall far short of satisfying his wife or
+Halbert. "The cost of the cane was a trifle, and I am willing to buy him
+another, but I cannot consent that my son should be subjected to such
+rude violence, without an apology from the offender. If I passed this
+over, you might attack him again to-morrow."
+
+"I am not in the habit of attacking others without cause," said Robert,
+proudly. "If Halbert will let me alone, or treat me with civility, he
+may be sure that I shall not trouble him."
+
+"You are evading the main point, Rushton," said the superintendent. "I
+have required you to apologize to my son, and I ask you for the last
+time whether you propose to comply with my wishes."
+
+"No, sir," said Robert, boldly.
+
+"Do you know to whom you are speaking, boy?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"I am not only the father of the boy you have assaulted, but I am also
+the superintendent of this factory, and your employer.".
+
+"I am aware of that, sir."
+
+"I can discharge you from the factory."
+
+"I know you can," said Robert.
+
+"Of course, I should be sorry to resort to such an extreme measure, but,
+if you defy my authority, I may be compelled to do so."
+
+So the crisis had come. Robert saw that he must choose between losing
+his place and a humiliating apology. Between the two he did not for a
+moment hesitate.
+
+"Mr. Davis," he said, boldly and firmly, "it will be a serious thing for
+me if I lose my place here, for my mother and I are poor, and my wages
+make the greatest part of our income. But I cannot make this apology you
+require. I will sooner lose my place."
+
+The bold and manly bearing of our hero, and his resolute tone, impressed
+the superintendent with an involuntary admiration. He felt that Robert
+was a boy to be proud of, but none the less he meant to carry out his
+purpose.
+
+"Is this your final decision?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Then you are discharged from the factory. You will report your
+discharge to Mr. Baker, and he will pay you what you have earned this
+week."
+
+"Very well, sir."
+
+Robert left the office, with a bold bearing, but a heart full of
+trouble. If only himself had been involved in the calamity, he could
+have borne it better, but he knew that his loss of place meant privation
+and want for his mother, unless he could find something to do that would
+bring in an equal income, and this he did not expect.
+
+"Mr. Baker," he said, addressing the foreman of his room, on his return
+from the superintendent's office, "I am discharged."
+
+"Discharged?" repeated the foreman, in surprise. "There must be some
+mistake about this. You are one of our best hands--for your age, I
+mean."
+
+"There is no dissatisfaction with my work that I know of, but I got into
+a quarrel with Halbert Davis yesterday, and his father wants me to
+apologize to him."
+
+"Which you won't do?"
+
+"I would if I felt that I were in fault. I am not too proud for that.
+But the fact is, Halbert ought to apologize to me."
+
+"Halbert is a mean boy. I don't blame you in the least."
+
+"So I am to report my discharge to you, and ask you for my wages."
+
+This account was soon settled, and Robert left the factory his own
+master. But it is poor consolation to be one's own master under such
+circumstances. He dreaded to break the news to his mother, for he knew
+that it would distress her. He was slowly walking along, when he once
+more encountered Halbert Davis. Halbert was out for the express purpose
+of meeting and exulting over him, for he rightly concluded that Robert
+would decline to apologize to him. Robert saw his enemy, and guessed his
+object, but resolved to say nothing to him, unless actually obliged to
+do so.
+
+"Where are you going?" demanded Halbert.
+
+"Home."
+
+"I thought you worked in the factory?"
+
+"Did you?" asked Robert, looking full in his face, and reading the
+exultation he did not attempt to conceal.
+
+"Perhaps you have got turned out?" suggested Halbert, with a malicious
+smile.
+
+"You would be glad of that, I suppose," said our hero.
+
+"I don't think I should cry much," said Halbert. "It's true then, is
+it?"
+
+"Yes; it's true."
+
+"You won't put on so many airs when you go round begging for cold
+victuals. It'll be some time before you walk with Hester Paine again."
+
+"I shall probably walk with her sooner than you will."
+
+"She won't notice a beggar."
+
+"There is not much chance of my becoming a beggar, Halbert Davis; but I
+would rather be one than be as mean as you. I will drop you a slight
+hint, which you had better bear in mind. It won't be any safer to insult
+me now than it was yesterday. I can't lose my place a second time."
+
+Halbert instinctively moved aside, while our hero passed on, without
+taking farther notice of him.
+
+"I hate him!" he muttered to himself. "I hope he won't find anything to
+do. If he wasn't so strong, I'd give him a thrashing."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+HALBERT'S DISCOMFITURE.
+
+Great was the dismay of Mrs. Rushton when she heard from Robert that he
+was discharged from the factory. She was a timid woman, and rather apt
+to take desponding views of the future.
+
+"Oh, Robert, what is going to become of us?" she exclaimed, nervously.
+"We have only ten dollars in the house, and you know how little I can
+earn by braiding straw. I really think you were too hasty and
+impetuous."
+
+"Don't be alarmed, my dear mother," said Robert, soothingly. "I am sorry
+I have lost my place, but there are other things I can do besides
+working in the factory. We are not going to starve yet."
+
+"But, suppose you can't find any work?" said his mother.
+
+"Then I'll help you braid straw," said Robert, laughing. "Don't you
+think I might learn after a while?"
+
+"I don't know but you might," said Mrs. Rushton, dubiously; "but the
+pay is very poor."
+
+"That's so, mother. I shan't, take to braiding straw except as a last
+resort."
+
+"Wouldn't Mr. Davis take you back into the factory if I went to him and
+told him how much we needed the money?"
+
+"Don't think of such a thing, mother," said Robert, hastily, his brown
+cheek flushing. "I am too proud to beg to be taken back."
+
+"But it wouldn't be you."
+
+"I would sooner ask myself than have you do it, mother. No; the
+superintendent sent me away for no good reason, and he must come and ask
+me to return before I'll do it."
+
+"I am afraid you are proud, Robert."
+
+"So I am, mother; but it is an honest pride. Have faith in me for a
+week, mother, and see if I don't earn something in that time. I don't
+expect to make as much as I earned at the factory; but I'll earn
+something, you may depend upon that. Now, how would you like to have
+some fish for supper?"
+
+"I think I should like it. It is a good while since we had any."
+
+"Then, I'll tell you what--I'll borrow Will Paine's boat, if he'll let
+me have it, and see if I can't catch something."
+
+"When will you be home, Robert?"
+
+"It will depend on my success in fishing. It'll be half-past nine, very
+likely, before I get fairly started, so I think I'd better take my
+dinner with me. I'll be home some time in the afternoon."
+
+"I hope you'll be careful, Robert. You might get upset."
+
+"I'll take care of that, mother. Besides, I can swim like a duck."
+
+Robert went out into the garden, and dug some worms for bait. Meanwhile,
+his mother made a couple of sandwiches, and wrapped them in a paper for
+his lunch. Provided thus, he walked quickly to the house of Squire
+Paine, and rang the bell.
+
+"Is Will home?" he asked.
+
+"Here I am, old fellow!" was heard from the head of the stairs; and
+William Paine, a boy of our hero's size and age, appeared. "Come right
+up."
+
+"How did you happen to be at leisure?" he asked. "I supposed you were at
+the factory."
+
+"I'm turned off."
+
+"Turned off! How's that?"
+
+"Through the influence of Halbert Davis."
+
+"Halbert is a disgusting sneak. I always despised him, and, if he's done
+such a mean thing, I'll never speak to him again. Tell me all about it."
+
+This Robert did, necessarily bringing in Hester's name.
+
+"He needn't think my sister will walk with him," said Will. "If she
+does, I'll cut her off with a shilling. She'd rather walk with you, any
+day."
+
+Robert blushed a little; for, though he was too young to be in love, he
+thought his friend's sister the most attractive girl he had even seen,
+and, knowing how she was regarded in the village, he naturally felt
+proud of her preference for himself over a boy who was much richer.
+
+"What are you going to do now?" asked Will, with interest.
+
+"The first thing I am going to do is to catch some fish, if you'll lend
+me your boat."
+
+"Lend you my boat? Of course I will! I'll lend it to you for the next
+three months."
+
+"But you want it yourself?"
+
+"No. Haven't you heard the news? I'm going to boarding school."
+
+"You are?"
+
+"It's a fact. I'm packing my trunk now. Come upstairs, and superintend
+the operation."
+
+"I can't stay long. But, Will, are you in earnest about the boat?"
+
+"To be sure I am. I was meaning to ask you if you'd take care of it for
+me. You see, I can't carry it with me, and you are the only fellow I am
+willing to lend it to."
+
+"I shall be very glad of the chance, Will. I've been wanting a boat for
+a long time, but there wasn't much chance of my getting one. Now I
+shall feel rich. But isn't this a sudden idea, your going to school?"
+
+"Rather. There was a college classmate of father's here last week, who's
+at the head of such a school, and he made father promise to send me. So
+I'm to start to-morrow morning. If it wasn't for that, and being up to
+my ears in getting ready, I'd go out fishing with you."
+
+"I wish you could."
+
+"I must wait till vacation. Here is the boat key."
+
+Robert took the key with satisfaction. The boat owned by his friend was
+a stanch, round-bottomed boat, of considerable size, bought only two
+months before, quite the best boat on the river. It was to be at his
+free disposal, and this was nearly the same thing as owning it. He might
+find it very useful, for it occurred to him that, if he could find
+nothing better to do, he could catch fish every day, and sell at the
+village store such as his mother could not use. In this way he would be
+earning something, and it would be better than being idle.
+
+He knew where the boat was usually kept, just at the foot of a large
+tree, whose branches drooped over the river. He made his way thither,
+and, fitting the key in the padlock which confined the boat, soon set it
+free. The oars he had brought with him from his friend's house.
+
+Throwing in the oars, he jumped in, and began to push off, when he heard
+himself called, and, looking up, saw Halbert Davis standing on the bank.
+
+"Get out of that boat!" said Halbert.
+
+"What do you mean?" demanded Robert.
+
+"You have no business in that boat! It doesn't belong to you!"
+
+"You'd better mind your own business, Halbert Davis. You have nothing to
+do with the boat."
+
+"It's William Paine's boat."
+
+"Thank you for the information. I supposed it was yours, from the
+interest you seem to take in it."
+
+"It will be. He's going to let me have it while he's away at school."
+
+"Indeed! Did he tell you so?"
+
+"I haven't asked Ma yet; but I know he will let me have it."
+
+"I don't think he will."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"If you ever want to borrow this boat, you'll have to apply to me."
+
+"You haven't bought it?" asked Halbert, in surprise. "You're too poor."
+
+"I'm to have charge of the boat while Will Paine is away."
+
+"Did he say you might?" asked Halbert, in a tone of disappointment and
+mortification.
+
+"Of course he did."
+
+"I don't believe it," said Halbert, suspiciously.
+
+"I don't care what you believe. Go and ask him yourself, if you are not
+satisfied; and don't meddle with what is none of your business;"
+
+"You're an impudent rascal."
+
+"Have you got another cane you'd like to have broken?" asked Robert,
+significantly.
+
+Halbert looked after him, enviously, as he rowed the boat out into the
+stream. He had asked his father to buy him a boat, but the
+superintendent's speculations had not turned out very well of late, and
+he had been deaf to his son's persuasions, backed, though they were, by
+his mother's influence. When Halbert heard that William Paine was going
+to boarding school, he decided to ask him for the loan of his boat
+during his absence, as the next best thing. Now, it seemed that he had
+been forestalled, and by the boy he hated. He resolved to see young
+Paine himself, and offer him two dollars for the use of his boat during
+the coming term. Then he would have the double satisfaction of using the
+boat and disappointing Robert.
+
+He made his way to the house of Squire Paine, and, after a brief pause,
+was admitted. He was shown into the parlor, and Will Paine came down to
+see him.
+
+"How are you, Davis?" he said, nodding, coolly, but not offering his
+hand.
+
+"I hear you are going to boarding school?"
+
+"Yes; I go to-morrow."
+
+"I suppose you won't take your boat with you?"
+
+"No."
+
+"I'll give you two dollars for the use of it; the next three months?"
+
+"I can't accept your offer. Robert Rushton is to have it."
+
+"But he doesn't pay you anything for it. I'll give you three dollars, if
+you say so?"
+
+"You can't have it for three dollars, or ten. I have promised it to my
+friend, Robert Rushton, and I shall not take it back."
+
+"You may not know," said Halbert, maliciously, "that your friend was
+discharged from the factory this morning for misconduct."
+
+"I know very well that he was discharged, and through whose influence,
+Halbert Davis," said Will, pointedly. "I like him all the better for his
+misfortune, and so I am sure will my sister."
+
+Halbert's face betrayed the anger and jealousy he felt, but he didn't
+dare to speak to the lawyer's son as he had to the factory boy.
+
+"Good-morning!" he said, rising to go.
+
+"Good-morning!" said young Paine, formally.
+
+Halbert felt, as he walked homeward, that his triumph over Robert was by
+no means complete.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+THE STRANGE PASSENGER.
+
+Robert, though not a professional fisherman, was not wholly
+inexperienced. This morning he was quite lucky, catching quite a fine
+lot of fish--as much, indeed, as his mother and himself would require a
+week to dispose of. However, he did not intend to carry them all home.
+It occurred to him that he could sell them at a market store in the
+village. Otherwise, he would not have cared to go on destroying life for
+no useful end.
+
+Accordingly, on reaching the shore, he strung the fish and walked
+homeward, by way of the market. It was rather a heavy tug, for the fish
+he had caught weighed at least fifty pounds.
+
+Stepping into the store, he attracted the attention of the proprietor.
+
+"That's a fine lot of fish you have there, Robert. What are you going to
+do with them?"
+
+"I'm going to sell most of them to you, if I can."
+
+"Are they just out of the water?"
+
+"Yes; I have just brought them in."
+
+"What do you want for them?"
+
+"I don't know what is a fair price?"
+
+"I'll give you two cents a pound for as many as you want to sell."
+
+"All right," said our hero, with satisfaction. "I'll carry this one
+home, and you can weigh the rest."
+
+The rest proved to weigh forty-five pounds. The marketman handed Robert
+ninety cents, which he pocketed with satisfaction.
+
+"Shall you want some more to-morrow?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, if you can let me have them earlier. But how is it you are not at
+the factory?"
+
+"I've lost my place."
+
+"That's a pity."
+
+"So I have plenty of time to work for you."
+
+"I may be able to take considerable from you. I'm thinking of running a
+cart to Brampton every morning, but I must have the fish by eight
+o'clock, or it'll be too late."
+
+"I'll go out early in the morning, then."
+
+"Very well; bring me what you have at that hour, and we'll strike a
+trade."
+
+"I've got something to do pretty quick," thought Robert, with
+satisfaction. "It was a lucky thought asking Will Paine for his boat.
+I'm sorry he's going away, but it happens just right for me."
+
+Mrs. Rushton was sitting at her work, in rather a disconsolate frame of
+mind. The more she thought of Robert's losing his place, the more
+unfortunate it seemed. She could not be expected to be as sanguine and
+hopeful as our hero, who was blessed with strong hands and a fund of
+energy and self-reliance which he inherited from his father. His mother,
+on the other hand, was delicate and nervous, and apt to look on the dark
+side of things. But, notwithstanding this, she was a good mother, and
+Robert loved her.
+
+Nothing had been heard for some time but the drowsy ticking of the
+clock, when a noise was heard at the door, and Robert entered the room,
+bringing the fish he had reserved.
+
+"You see, mother, we are not likely to starve," he said.
+
+"That's a fine, large fish," said his mother.
+
+"Yes; it'll be enough for two meals. Didn't I tell you, mother, I would
+find something to do?"
+
+"True, Robert," said his mother, dubiously; "but we shall get tired of
+fish if we have it every day."
+
+Robert laughed.
+
+"Six days in the week will do for fish, mother," he said. "I think we
+shall be able to afford something else Sunday."
+
+"Of course, fish is better than nothing," said his mother, who
+understood him literally; "and I suppose we ought to be thankful to get
+that."
+
+"You don't look very much pleased at the prospect of fish six times a
+week," said Robert, laughing again. "On the whole, I think it will be
+better to say twice."
+
+"But what will we do other days, Robert?"
+
+"What we have always done, mother--eat something else. But I won't keep
+you longer in suspense. Did you think this was the only fish I caught?"
+
+"Yes, I thought so."
+
+"I sold forty-five pounds on the way to Minturn, at his market
+store--forty-five pounds, at two cents a pound. What do you think of
+that?"
+
+"Do you mean that you have earned ninety cents to-day, Robert?"
+
+"Yes; and here's the money."
+
+"That's much better than I expected," said Mrs. Rushton, looking several
+degrees more I cheerful.
+
+"I don't expect to do as well as that every day, mother, but I don't
+believe we'll starve. Minturn has engaged me to supply him with fish
+every day, only some days the fishes won't feel like coming out of the
+water. Then, I forgot to tell you, I'm to have Will Paine's boat for
+nothing. He's going to boarding school, and has asked me to take care of
+it for him."
+
+"You are fortunate, Robert."
+
+"I am hungry, too, mother. Those two sandwiches didn't go a great ways.
+So, if you can just as well as not have supper earlier, it would suit
+me."
+
+"I'll put on the teakettle at once, Robert," said his mother, rising.
+"Would you like some of the fish for supper?"
+
+"If it wouldn't be too much trouble."
+
+"Surely not, Robert."
+
+The usual supper hour was at five in this country household, but a
+little after four the table was set, and mother and son sat down to a
+meal which both enjoyed. The fish proved to be excellent, and Robert
+enjoyed it the more, first, because he had caught it himself, and next
+because he felt that his independent stand at the factory, though it had
+lost him his place, was not likely to subject his mother to the
+privations he had feared.
+
+"I'll take another piece of fish, mother," said Robert, passing his
+plate. "I think, on the whole, I shan't be obliged to learn to braid
+straw."
+
+"No; you can do better at fishing."
+
+"Only," added Robert, with mock seriousness, "we might change work
+sometimes, mother; I will stay at home and braid straw, and you can go
+out fishing."
+
+"I am afraid I should make a poor hand at it," said Mrs. Rushton,
+smiling.
+
+"If Halbert Davis could look in upon us just now, he would be
+disappointed to find us so cheerful after my losing my place at factory.
+However, I've disappointed him in another way."
+
+"How is that?"
+
+"He expected Will Paine would lend him his boat while he was gone, but,
+instead of that, he finds it promised to me."
+
+"I am afraid he is not a very kind-hearted boy."
+
+"That's drawing it altogether too mild, mother. He's the meanest fellow
+I ever met. However, I won't talk about him any more, or it'll spoil my
+appetite."
+
+On the next two mornings Robert went out at five o'clock, in order to
+get home in time for the market-wagon. He met with fair luck, but not as
+good as on the first day. Taking the two mornings together, he captured
+and sold seventy pounds of fish, which, as the price remained the same,
+brought him in a dollar and forty cents. This was not equal to his wages
+at the factory; still, he had the greater part of the day to himself,
+only, unfortunately, he had no way of turning his time profitably to
+account, or, at least, none had thus far occurred to him.
+
+On the morning succeeding he was out of luck. He caught but two fish,
+and they were so small that he decided not to offer them for sale.
+
+"If I don't do better than this," he reflected, "I shan't make very good
+wages. The fish seem to be getting afraid of me."
+
+He paddled about, idly, a few rods from the shore, having drawn up his
+line and hook.
+
+All at once, he heard a voice hailing him from the river bank:
+
+"Boat ahoy!"
+
+"Hallo!" answered Robert, lifting his eyes, and seeing who called him.
+
+"Can you set me across the river?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Bring in your boat, then, and I'll jump aboard. I'll pay you for your
+trouble."
+
+Robert did as requested, with alacrity. He was very glad to earn money
+in this way, since it seemed he was to have no fish to dispose of. He
+quickly turned the boat to the shore, and the stranger jumped on board.
+He was a man of rather more than the average height, with a slight limp
+in his gait, in a rough suit of clothes, his head being surmounted by a
+felt hat considerably the worse for wear. There was a scar on one
+cheek, and, altogether, he was not very prepossessing in his appearance.
+Robert noted all this in a rapid glance, but it made no particular
+impression upon him at the moment. He cared very little how the stranger
+looked, as long as he had money enough to pay his fare.
+
+"It's about a mile across the river, isn't it?" asked the stranger.
+
+"About that here. Where do you want to go?"
+
+"Straight across. There's an old man named Nichols lives on the other
+side, isn't there?"
+
+"Yes; he lives by himself."
+
+"Somebody told me so. He's rich, isn't he?" asked the stranger,
+carelessly.
+
+"So people say; but he doesn't show it in his dress or way of living."
+
+"A miser, I suppose?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"What does he do with his money?"
+
+"I only know what people say."
+
+"And what do they say?"
+
+"That he is afraid to trust banks, and hides his money in the earth."
+
+"That kind of bank don't pay very good interest," said the stranger,
+laughing.
+
+"No; but it isn't likely to break."
+
+"Here? boy, give me one of the oars. I'm used to rowing, and I'll help
+you a little."
+
+Robert yielded one of the oars to his companion, who evidently
+understood rowing quite as well as he professed to. Our hero, though
+strong-armed, had hard work to keep up with him.
+
+"Look out, boy, or I'll turn you round," he said.
+
+"You are stronger than I am."
+
+"And more used to rowing; but I'll suit myself to you."
+
+A few minutes brought them to the other shore. The passenger jumped
+ashore, first handing a silver half-dollar to our hero, who was well
+satisfied with his fee.
+
+Robert sat idly in his boat, and watched his late fare as with rapid
+steps he left the river bank behind him.
+
+"He's going to the old man's house," decided Robert. "I wonder whether
+he has any business with him?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+THE OLD FARMHOUSE.
+
+The stranger walked, with hasty strides, in the direction of an old
+farmhouse, which could be seen a quarter of a mile away. Whether it had
+ever been painted, was a question not easily solved. At present it was
+dark and weather-beaten, and in a general state of neglect.
+
+The owner, Paul Nichols, was a man advanced in years, living quite
+alone, and himself providing for his simple wants. Robert was right in
+calling him a miser, but he had not always deserved the name. The time
+was when he had been happily married to a good wife, and was blessed
+with two young children. But they were all taken from him in one week by
+an epidemic, and his life was made solitary and cheerless. This
+bereavement completely revolutionized his life. Up to this time he had
+been a good and respected citizen, with an interest in public affairs.
+Now he became morose and misanthropic, and his heart, bereaved of its
+legitimate objects of affection, henceforth was fixed upon gold, which
+he began to love with a passionate energy. He repulsed the advances of
+neighbors, and became what Robert called him--a miser.
+
+How much he was worth, no one knew. The town assessors sought in vain
+for stocks and bonds. He did not appear to possess any. Probably popular
+opinion was correct in asserting that he secreted his money in one or
+many out-of-the-way places, which, from time to time, he was wont to
+visit and gloat over his treasures. There was reason also to believe
+that it was mostly in gold, for he had a habit of asking specie payments
+from those indebted to him, or, if he could not obtain specie, he used
+to go to a neighboring town with his bank notes and get the change
+effected.
+
+Such was the man about whom Robert's unknown passenger exhibited so much
+curiosity, and whom it seemed that he was intending to visit.
+
+"I wonder whether the old man is at home!" he said to himself, as he
+entered the front yard through a gateway, from which the gate had long
+since disappeared. "He don't keep things looking very neat and trim,
+that's a fact," he continued, noticing the rank weeds and indiscriminate
+litter which filled the yard. "Just give me this place, and his money
+to keep it, and I'd make a change in the looks of things pretty quick."
+
+He stepped up to the front door, and, lifting the old-fashioned knocker,
+sounded a loud summons.
+
+"He'll hear that, if he isn't very deaf," he thought.
+
+But the summons appeared to be without effect. At all events, he was
+left standing on the doorstone, and no one came to bid him enter.
+
+"He can't be at home, or else he won't come," thought the visitor. "I'll
+try him again," and another knock, still louder than before, sounded
+through the farmhouse.
+
+But still no one came to the door. The fact was, that the old farmer had
+gone away early, with a load of hay, which he had sold; to a
+stable-keeper living some five miles distant.
+
+"I'll reconnoiter a little," said the stranger.
+
+He stepped to the front window, and looked in. All that met his gaze was
+a bare, dismantled room.
+
+"Not very cheerful, that's a fact," commented the outsider. "Well, he
+don't appear to be here; I'll go round to the back part of the house."
+
+He went round to the back door, where he thought it best, in the first
+place, to knock. No answer coming, he peered through the window, but saw
+no one.
+
+"The coast is clear," he concluded. "So much the better, if I can get
+in."
+
+The door proved to be locked, but the windows were easily raised.
+Through one of these he clambered into the kitchen, which was the only
+room occupied by the old farmer, with the exception of a room above,
+which he used as a bedchamber. Here he cooked and ate his meals, and
+here he spent his solitary evenings.
+
+Jumping over the window sill, the visitor found himself in this room. He
+looked around him, with some curiosity.
+
+"It is eighteen years since I was last in this room," he said. "Time
+hasn't improved it, nor me, either, very likely," he added, with a short
+laugh. "I've roamed pretty much all over the world in that time, and
+I've come back as poor as I went away. What's that copy I used to
+write?--'A rolling stone gathers no moss.' Well, I'm the rolling stone.
+In all that time my Uncle Paul has been moored fast to his hearthstone,
+and been piling up gold, which he don't seem to have much use for. As
+far as I know, I'm his nearest relation, there's no reason why he
+shouldn't launch out a little for the benefit of the family."
+
+It will be gathered from the foregoing soliloquy that the newcomer was a
+nephew of Paul Nichols. After a not very creditable youth, he had gone
+to sea, and for eighteen years this was his first reappearance in his
+native town.
+
+He sat down in a chair, and stretched out his legs, with an air of being
+at home.
+
+"I wonder what the old man will say when he sees me," he soliloquized.
+"Ten to one he won't know me. When we saw each other last I was a
+smooth-faced youth. Now I've got hair enough on my face, and the years
+have made, their mark upon me, I suspect. Where is he, I wonder, and how
+long have I got to wait for him? While I'm waiting, I'll take the
+liberty of looking in the closet, and seeing if he hasn't something to
+refresh the inner man. I didn't make much of a breakfast, and something
+hearty wouldn't come amiss."
+
+He rose from his chair, and opened the closet door. A small collection
+of crockery was visible, most of it cracked, but there was nothing
+eatable to be seen, except half a loaf of bread. This was from the
+baker, for the old man, after ineffectual efforts to make his own bread,
+had been compelled to abandon the attempt, and patronize the baker.
+
+"Nothing but a half loaf, and that's dry enough," muttered the
+stranger. "That isn't very tempting. I can't say much for my uncle's
+fare, unless he has got something more attractive somewhere."
+
+But, search as carefully as he might, nothing better could be found, and
+his appetite was not sufficiently great to encourage an attack upon the
+stale loaf. He sat down, rather discontented, and resumed the current of
+his reflections.
+
+"My uncle must be more of a miser than I thought, if he stints himself
+to such fare as this. It's rather a bad lookout for me. He won't be very
+apt to look with favor on my application for a small loan from his
+treasure. What's that the boy said? He don't trust any banks, but keeps
+his money concealed in the earth. By Jove! It would be a stroke of luck
+if I could stumble on one of his hiding places! If I could do that while
+he was away, I would forego the pleasure of seeing him, and make off
+with what I could find. I'll look about me, and see if I can't find some
+of his hidden hoards."
+
+No sooner did the thought occur to him than he acted upon it.
+
+"Let me see," he reflected, "where is he most likely to hide his
+treasure? Old stockings are the favorites with old maids and widows, but
+I don't believe Uncle Paul has got any without holes in them. He's more
+likely to hide his gold under the hearth. That's a good idea, I'll try
+the hearth first."
+
+He kneeled down, and began to examine the bricks, critically, with a
+view of ascertaining whether any bore the marks of having been removed
+recently, for he judged correctly that a miser would wish, from time to
+time, to unearth his treasure for the pleasure of looking at it. But
+there was no indication of disturbance. The hearth bore a uniform
+appearance, and did not seem to have been tampered with.
+
+"That isn't the right spot," reflected the visitor. "Perhaps there's a
+plank in the floor that raises, or, still more likely, the gold is
+buried in the cellar. I've a great mind to go down there."
+
+He lit a candle, and went cautiously down the rickety staircase. But he
+had hardly reached the bottom of the stairs, when he caught the sound of
+a wagon entering the yard.
+
+"That must be my uncle," he said. "I'd better go up, and not let him
+catch me down here."
+
+He ascended the stairs, and re-entered the room just as the farmer
+opened the door and entered.
+
+On seeing a tall, bearded stranger, whom he did not recognize, standing
+before him in his own kitchen, with a lighted candle in his hand, Paul
+Nichols uttered a shrill cry of alarm, and ejaculated:
+
+"Thieves! Murder! Robbers!" in a quavering voice.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+THE UNWELCOME GUEST.
+
+The stranger was in rather an awkward predicament. However, he betrayed
+neither embarrassment nor alarm. Blowing out the candle, he advanced to
+the table and set it down. This movement brought him nearer Paul
+Nichols, who, with the timidity natural to an old man, anticipated an
+immediate attack.
+
+"Don't kill me! Spare my life!" he exclaimed, hastily stepping back.
+
+"I see you don't know me, Uncle Paul?" said the intruder, familiarly.
+
+"Who are you that call me Uncle Paul?" asked the old man, somewhat
+reassured.
+
+"Benjamin Haley, your sister's son. Do you know me now?"
+
+"You Ben Haley!" exclaimed the old man, betraying surprise. "Why, you
+are old enough to be his father."
+
+"Remember, Uncle Paul, I am eighteen years older than when you saw me
+last. Time brings changes, you know. When I saw you last, you were a
+man in the prime of life, now you are a feeble old man."
+
+"Are you really Ben Haley?" asked the old man, doubtfully.
+
+"To be sure I am. I suppose I look to you more like a bearded savage.
+Well, I'm not responsible for my looks. Not finding you at home, I took
+the liberty of coming in on the score of relationship."
+
+"What, were you doing with that candle?" asked Paul, suspiciously.
+
+"I went down cellar with it."
+
+"Down cellar!" repeated his uncle, with a look of alarm which didn't
+escape his nephew. "What for?"
+
+"In search of something to eat. All I could find in the closet was a dry
+loaf, which doesn't look very appetizing."
+
+"There's nothing down cellar. Don't go there again," said the old man,
+still uneasy.
+
+His nephew looked at him shrewdly.
+
+"Ha, Uncle Paul! I've guessed your secret so quick," he said to himself.
+"Some of your money is hidden away in the cellar, I'm thinking."
+
+"Where do you keep your provisions, then?" he said aloud.
+
+"The loaf is all I have."
+
+"Come, Uncle Paul, you don't mean that. That's a scurvy welcome to give
+a nephew you haven't seen for eighteen years. I'm going to stay to
+dinner with you, and you must give me something better than that.
+Haven't you got any meat in the house?"
+
+"No."
+
+Just then Ben Haley, looking from the window, saw some chickens in the
+yard. His eye lighted up at the discovery.
+
+"Ah, there is a nice fat chicken," he said. "We'll have a chicken
+dinner. Shall it be roast or boiled?"
+
+"No, no," said the old farmer, hastily. "I can't spare them. They'll
+bring a good price in the market by and by."
+
+"Can't help it, Uncle Paul. Charity begins at home. Excuse me a minute,
+I'll be back directly."
+
+He strode to the door and out into the yard. Then, after a little
+maneuvering, he caught a chicken, and going to the block, seized the ax,
+and soon decapitated it.
+
+"What have you done?" said Paul, ruefully, for the old man had followed
+his nephew, and was looking on in a very uncomfortable frame of mind.
+
+"Taken the first step toward a good dinner," said the other, coolly. "I
+am not sure but we shall want two."
+
+"No, no!" said Paul, hastily. "I haven't got much appetite."
+
+"Then perhaps we can make it do. I'll just get it ready, and cook it
+myself. I've knocked about in all sorts of places, and it won't be the
+first time I've served as cook. I've traveled some since I saw you
+last."
+
+"Have you?" said the old man, who seemed more interested in the untimely
+death of the pullet than in his nephew's adventures.
+
+"Yes, I've been everywhere. I spent a year in Australia at the gold
+diggings."
+
+"Did you find any?" asked his uncle, for the first time betraying
+interest.
+
+"Some, but I didn't bring away any."
+
+Ben Haley meanwhile was rapidly stripping the chicken of its feathers.
+When he finished, he said, "Now tell me where you keep your vegetables,
+Uncle Paul?"
+
+"They're in the corn barn. You can't get in. It's locked."
+
+"Where's the key?"
+
+"Lost."
+
+"I'll get in, never fear," said the intruder, and he led the way to the
+corn barn, his uncle unwillingly following and protesting that it would
+be quite impossible to enter.
+
+Reaching the building, he stepped back and was about to kick open the
+door, when old Paul hurriedly interposed, saying, "No, no, I've found
+the key."
+
+His nephew took it from his hand, and unlocking the door, brought out a
+liberal supply of potatoes, beets and squashes.
+
+"We'll have a good dinner, after all," he said. "You don't half know how
+to live, Uncle Paul. You need me here. You've got plenty around you, but
+you don't know how to use it."
+
+The free and easy manner in which his nephew conducted himself was
+peculiarly annoying and exasperating to the old man, but as often as he
+was impelled to speak, the sight of his nephew's resolute face and
+vigorous frame, which he found it difficult to connect with his
+recollections of young Ben, terrified him into silence, and he contented
+himself with following his nephew around uneasily with looks of
+suspicion.
+
+When the dinner was prepared both sat down to partake of it, but Ben
+quietly, and, as a matter of course, assumed the place of host and
+carved the fowl. Notwithstanding the shock which his economical notions
+had received, the farmer ate with appetite the best meal of which he had
+partaken for a long time. Ben had not vaunted too highly his skill as a
+cook. Wherever he had acquired it, he evidently understood the
+preparation of such a dinner as now lay before them.
+
+"Now, Uncle Paul, if we only had a mug of cider to wash down the
+dinner. Haven't you got some somewhere?"
+
+"Not a drop."
+
+"Don't you think I might find some stored away in the cellar, for
+instance?" asked Ben, fixing his glance upon his uncle's face.
+
+"No, no; didn't I tell you I hadn't got any?" returned Paul Nichols,
+with petulance and alarm.
+
+"I mean to see what else you have in the cellar," said Ben, to himself,
+"before I leave this place. There's a reason for that pale face of
+yours." But he only said aloud, "Well, if you haven't got any we must do
+without it. There's a little more of the chicken left. As you don't want
+it I'll appropriate it. Nothing like clearing up things. Come, this is
+rather better than dry bread, isn't it?"
+
+"It's very expensive," said the miser, ruefully.
+
+"Well, you can afford it, Uncle Paul--there's a comfort in that. I
+suppose you are pretty rich, eh?"
+
+"Rich!" repeated Paul, in dismay. "What put such a thing into your
+head?"
+
+"Not your style of living, you may be sure of that."
+
+"I am poor, Benjamin. You mustn't think otherwise. I live as well as I
+can afford."
+
+"Then what have you been doing with your savings all these years?"
+
+"My savings! It has taken all I had to live. There isn't any money to be
+made in farming. It's hard work and poor pay."
+
+"You used to support your family comfortably when you had one."
+
+"Don't--don't speak of them. I can't bear it," said Paul, his
+countenance changing. "When I had them I was happy."
+
+"And now you're not. Well, I don't wonder at it. It must be dismal
+enough living alone. You need somebody with you. I am your nephew and
+nearest relation. I feel that it is my duty to stay with you."
+
+The expression of dismay which overspread the old man's face at this
+declaration was ludicrous.
+
+"You stay with me?" he repeated, in a tone of alarm.
+
+"Yes, for a time at least. We'll be company for each other, won't we,
+Uncle Paul?"
+
+"No, no; there's no room."
+
+"No room? You don't mean to say that you need the whole house?"
+
+"I mean I cannot afford to have you here. Besides I'm used to being
+alone. I prefer it."
+
+"That's complimentary, at any rate. You prefer to be alone rather than
+to have me with you?"
+
+"Don't be offended, Benjamin. I've been alone so many years. Besides
+you'd feel dull here. You wouldn't like it."
+
+"I'll try it and see. What room are you going to give me?"
+
+"You'd better go away."
+
+"Well, uncle, we'll talk about that to-morrow. You're very considerate
+in fearing it will be dull for me, but I've roamed about the world so
+much that I shall be glad of a little dullness. So it's all settled. And
+now, Uncle Paul, if you don't object I'll take out my pipe and have a
+smoke. I always smoke after dinner."
+
+He lit his pipe, and throwing himself back in a chair, began to puff
+away leisurely, his uncle surveying him with fear and embarrassment. Why
+should his graceless nephew turn up, after so many years, in the form of
+this big, broad-shouldered, heavy-bearded stranger, only to annoy him,
+and thrust his unwelcome company upon him?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+UNCLE AND NEPHEW.
+
+Paul Nichols looked forward with dismay to the prospect of having his
+nephew remain with him as a guest. Like all misers, he had a distrust of
+every one, and the present appearance of his nephew only confirmed the
+impressions he still retained of his earlier bad conduct. He had all the
+will to turn him out of his house, but Ben was vastly his superior in
+size and strength, and he did not dare to attempt it.
+
+"He wants to rob, perhaps to murder me," thought Paul, surveying his big
+nephew with a troubled gaze.
+
+His apprehensions were such that he even meditated offering to pay the
+intruder's board for a week at the tavern, if he would leave him in
+peace by himself. But the reluctance to part with his money finally
+prevented such a proposal being made.
+
+In the afternoon the old man stayed around home. He did not dare to
+leave it lest Ben should take a fancy to search the house, and come upon
+some of his secret hoards, for people were right in reporting that he
+hid his money.
+
+At last evening came. With visible discomposure the old man showed Ben
+to a room.
+
+"You can sleep there," he said, pointing to a cot bed in the corner of
+the room.
+
+"All right, uncle. Good-night!"
+
+"Good-night!" said Paul Nichols.
+
+He went out and closed the door behind him. He not only closed it, but
+locked it, having secretly hidden the key in his pocket. He chuckled
+softly to himself as he went downstairs. His nephew was securely
+disposed of for the night, being fastened in his chamber. But if he
+expected Ben Haley quietly to submit to this incarceration he was
+entirely mistaken in that individual. The latter heard the key turn in
+the lock, and comprehended at once his uncle's stratagem. Instead of
+being angry, he was amused.
+
+"So my simple-minded uncle thinks he has drawn my teeth, does he? I'll
+give him a scare."
+
+He began to jump up and down on the chamber floor in his heavy boots,
+which, as the floor was uncarpeted, made a terrible noise. The old man
+in the room below, just congratulating himself on his cunning move,
+grew pale as he listened. He supposed his nephew to be in a furious
+passion, and apprehensions of personal violence disturbed him. Still he
+reflected that he would be unable to get out, and in the morning he
+could go for the constable. But he was interrupted by a different noise.
+Ben had drawn off his boots, and was firing them one after the other at
+the door.
+
+The noise became so intolerable, that Paul was compelled to ascend the
+stairs, trembling with fear.
+
+"What's the matter?" he inquired at the door, in a quavering voice.
+
+"Open the door," returned Ben.
+
+His uncle reluctantly inserted the key in the lock and opening it
+presented a pale, scared face in the doorway. His nephew, with his coat
+stripped off, was sitting on the side of the bed.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Paul.
+
+"Nothing, only you locked the door by mistake," said Ben, coolly.
+
+"What made you make such a noise?" demanded Paul.
+
+"To call you up. There was no bell in the room, so that was the only way
+I had of doing it. What made you lock me in?"
+
+"I didn't think," stammered the old man.
+
+"Just what I supposed. To guard against your making that mistake again,
+let me have the key."
+
+"I'd rather keep it, if it's the same to you," said Paul, in alarm.
+
+"But it isn't the same to me. You see, Uncle Paul, you are growing old
+and forgetful, and might lock me in again. That would not be pleasant,
+you know, especially if the house should catch fire in the night."
+
+"What!" exclaimed Paul, terror-stricken, half suspecting his nephew
+contemplated turning incendiary.
+
+"I don't think it will, mind, but it's best to be prepared, so give me
+the key."
+
+The old man feebly protested, but ended in giving up the key to his
+nephew.
+
+"There, that's all right. Now I'll turn in. Good-night."
+
+"Good-night," responded Paul Nichols, and left the chamber, feeling more
+alarmed than ever. He was beginning to be more afraid and more
+distrustful of his nephew than ever. What if the latter should light on
+some of his various hiding places for money? Why, in that very chamber
+he had a hundred dollars in gold hidden behind the plastering. He
+groaned in spirit as he thought of it, and determined to tell his nephew
+the next morning that he must find another home, as he couldn't and
+wouldn't consent to his remaining longer.
+
+But when the morning came he found the task a difficult one to enter
+upon. Finally, after breakfast, which consisted of eggs and toast, Ben
+Haley having ransacked the premises for eggs, which the old man intended
+for the market, Paul said, "Benjamin, you must not be offended, but I
+have lived alone for years, and I cannot invite you to stay longer."
+
+"Where shall I go, uncle?" demanded Ben, taking out his pipe coolly, and
+lighting it.
+
+"There's a tavern in the village."
+
+"Is there? That won't do me any good."
+
+"You'll be better off there than here. They set a very good table,
+and----"
+
+"You don't," said Ben, finishing the sentence. "I know that, but then,
+uncle, I have two reasons for preferring to stay here. The first is,
+that I may enjoy the society of my only living relation; the second is,
+that I have not money enough to pay my board at the hotel."
+
+He leaned back, and began to puff leisurely at his pipe, as if this
+settled the matter.
+
+"If you have no money, why do you come to me?" demanded Paul, angrily.
+"Do you expect me to support you?"
+
+"You wouldn't turn out your sister's son, would you, Uncle Paul?"
+
+"You must earn your own living. I can't support you in idleness."
+
+"You needn't; I'll work for you. Let me see, I'll do the cooking."
+
+"I don't want you here," said the old man, desperately. "Why do you come
+to disturb me, after so many years?"
+
+"I'll go away on one condition," said Ben Haley.
+
+"What's that?"
+
+"Give me, or lend me--I don't care which--a hundred dollars."
+
+"Do you think I'm made of money?" asked Paul, fear and anger struggling
+for the mastery.
+
+"I think you can spare me a hundred dollars."
+
+"Go away! You are a bad man. You were a wild, bad boy, and you are no
+better now."
+
+"Now, Uncle Paul, I think you're rather too hard upon me. Just consider
+that I am your nephew. What will people say if you turn me out of
+doors?"
+
+"I don't care what they say. I can't have you here."
+
+"I'm sorry I can't oblige you by going, Uncle Paul, but I've got a
+headache this morning, and don't feel like stirring. Let me stay with
+you a day or two, and then I may go."
+
+Vain were all the old man's expostulations. His nephew sat obstinately
+smoking, and refused to move.
+
+"Come out to the barn with me while I milk," said Paul, at length, not
+daring to leave his nephew by himself.
+
+"Thank you, but I'm well off as I am. I've got a headache, and I'd
+rather stay here."
+
+Milking couldn't longer be deferred. But for the stranger's presence it
+would have been attended to two hours earlier. Groaning in spirit, and
+with many forebodings, Paul went out to the barn, and in due time
+returned with his foaming pails. There sat his nephew in the old place,
+apparently not having stirred. Possibly he didn't mean mischief after
+all, Paul reflected. At any rate, he must leave him again, while he
+released the cows from their stalls, and drove them to pasture. He tried
+to obtain his nephew's companionship, but in vain.
+
+"I'm not interested in cows, uncle," he said. "I'll be here when you
+come back."
+
+With a sigh his uncle left the house, only half reassured. That he had
+reason for his distrust was proved by Ben Haley's movements. He lighted
+a candle, and going down to the cellar, first securing a pickax, struck into
+the earthen flooring, and began to work energetically.
+
+"I am sure some of the old man's money is here," he said to himself. "I
+must work fast, or he'll catch me at it."
+
+Half an hour later Paul Nichols re-entered the house. He looked for his
+nephew, but his seat was vacant. He thought he heard a dull thud in the
+cellar beneath. He hurried to the staircase, and tottered down. Ben had
+come upon a tin quart-measure partly filled with gold coins, and was
+stooping over, transferring them to his pocket.
+
+With a hoarse cry like that of an animal deprived of its young, his
+uncle sprang upon him, and fastened his claw-like nails in the face of
+his burly nephew.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+ROBERT COMES TO THE RESCUE.
+
+The attack was so sudden, and the old man's desperation so reinforced
+his feeble strength, that Ben Haley was thrown forward, and the measure
+of gold coins fell from his hand. But he quickly recovered himself.
+
+"Let me alone," he said, sternly, forcibly removing his uncle's hands
+from his face, but not before the claw-like nails had drawn blood. "Let
+me alone, if you know what is best for yourself."
+
+"You're a thief!" screamed Paul. "You shall go to jail for this."
+
+"Shall I?" asked Ben, his face darkening and his tone full of menace.
+"Who is going to send me there?"
+
+"I am," answered Paul. "I'll have you arrested."
+
+"Look here, Uncle Paul," said Ben, confining the old man's arms to his
+side, "it's time we had a little talk together. You'd better not do as
+you say."
+
+"You're a thief! The jail is the place for thieves."
+
+"It isn't the place for me, and I'm not going there. Now let us come to
+an understanding. You are rich and I am poor."
+
+"Rich!" repeated Paul.
+
+"Yes; at any rate, you have got this farm, and more money hidden away
+than you will ever use. I am poor. You can spare me this money here as
+well as not."
+
+"It is all I have."
+
+"I know better than that. You have plenty more, but I will be satisfied
+with this. Remember, I am your sister's son."
+
+"I don't care if you are," said the old man, doggedly.
+
+"And you owe me some help. You'll never miss it. Now make up your mind
+to give me this money, and I'll go away and leave you in peace."
+
+"Never!" exclaimed Paul, struggling hard to free himself.
+
+"You won't!"
+
+His uncle repeated the emphatic refusal.
+
+"Then I shall have to put it out of your power to carry out your
+threat."
+
+He took his uncle up in his strong arms, and moved toward the stairs.
+
+"Are you going to murder me?" asked Paul, in mortal fear.
+
+"You will find out what I am going to do," said Ben, grimly.
+
+He carried his uncle upstairs, and, possessing himself of a clothesline
+in one corner of the kitchen, proceeded to tie him hand and foot,
+despite his feeble opposition.
+
+"There," said he, when his uncle lay before him utterly helpless, "I
+think that disposes of you for a while. Now for the gold."
+
+Leaving him on the floor, he again descended the cellar stairs, and
+began to gather up the gold coins, which had been scattered about the
+floor at the time of Paul's unexpected attack.
+
+The old man groaned in spirit as he found himself about to be robbed,
+and utterly helpless to resist the outrage. But help was near at hand,
+though he knew it not. Robert Rushton had thought more than once of his
+unknown passenger of the day before, and the particular inquiries he
+made concerning Paul Nichols and his money. Ben Haley had impressed him
+far from favorably, and the more he called to mind his appearance, the
+more he feared that he meditated some dishonest designs upon Paul. So
+the next morning, in order to satisfy his mind that all was right, he
+rowed across to the same place where he had landed Ben, and fastening
+his boat, went up to the farmhouse. He reached it just as Ben, having
+secured the old man, had gone back into the cellar to gather up the
+gold.
+
+Robert looked into the window, and, to his surprise, saw the old farmer
+lying bound hand and foot. He quickly leaped in, and asked:
+
+"What is the matter? Who has done this?"
+
+"Hush!" said the old man, "he'll hear you."
+
+"Who do you mean?"
+
+"My nephew."
+
+"Where is he?"
+
+"Down cellar. He's tied me here, and is stealing all my gold."
+
+"What shall I do? Can I help you?"
+
+"Cut the ropes first."
+
+Robert drew a jackknife from his pocket, and did as he was bidden.
+
+"Now," said Paul, rising with a sigh of relief from his constrained
+position, "while I bolt the cellar door, you go upstairs, and in the
+closet of the room over this you will find a gun. It is loaded. Bring it
+down."
+
+Robert hurried upstairs, and quickly returned with the weapon.
+
+"Do you know how to fire a gun?" asked Paul.
+
+"Yes," said Robert.
+
+"Then keep it. For I am nervous, and my hand trembles. If he breaks
+through the door, fire."
+
+Ben Haley would have been up before this, but it occurred to him to
+explore other parts of the cellar, that he might carry away as much
+booty as possible. He had rendered himself amenable to the law already,
+and he might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb, so he argued. He was
+so busily occupied that he did not hear the noise of Robert's entrance
+into the room above, or he would at once have gone upstairs. In
+consequence of the delay his uncle and Robert had time to concert
+measures for opposing him.
+
+Finally, not succeeding in finding more gold, he pocketed what he had
+found, and went up the cellar stairs. He attempted to open the door,
+when, to his great surprise, he found that it resisted his efforts.
+
+"What makes the door stick so?" he muttered, not suspecting the true
+state of the case. But he was quickly enlightened.
+
+"You can't come up!" exclaimed the old man, in triumph. "I've bolted the
+door."
+
+"How did he get free? He must have untied the knots," thought Ben. "Does
+the old fool think he is going to keep me down here?"
+
+"Unlock the door," he shouted, in a loud, stern voice, "or it will be
+the worse for you."
+
+"Have you got the gold with you?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then go down and leave it where you found it, and I will let you come
+up."
+
+"You're a fool," was the reply. "Do you think I am a child? Open the
+door, or I will burst it open with my foot."
+
+"You'd better not," said Paul, whose courage had returned with the
+presence of Robert and the possession of the gun.
+
+"Why not? What are you going to do about it?" asked Ben, derisively.
+
+"I've got help. You have more than one to contend with."
+
+"I wonder if he has any one with him?" thought Ben. "I believe the old
+fool is only trying to deceive me. At any rate, help or no help, it is
+time I were out of this hole."
+
+"If you don't open the door before I count three," he said, aloud, "I'll
+burst it open."
+
+"What shall I do," asked Robert, in a low voice, "if he comes out?"
+
+"If he tries to get away with the gold, fire!" said the old man.
+
+Robert determined only to inflict a wound. The idea of taking a human
+life, even under such circumstances, was one that made him shudder. He
+felt that gold was not to be set against life.
+
+"One--two--three!" counted Ben, deliberately.
+
+The door remaining locked, he drew back and kicked the door powerfully.
+Had he been on even ground, it would have yielded to the blow, but
+kicking from the stair beneath, placed him at a disadvantage.
+Nevertheless the door shook and trembled beneath the force of the attack
+made upon it.
+
+"Well, will you unlock it now?" he demanded, pausing.
+
+"No," said the old man, "not unless you carry back the gold."
+
+"I won't do that. I have had too much trouble to get it. But if you
+don't unlock the door at once I may be tempted to forget that you are my
+uncle."
+
+"I should like to forget that you are my nephew," said the old man.
+
+"The old fool has mustered up some courage," thought Ben. "I'll soon
+have him whining for mercy."
+
+He made a fresh attack upon the door. This time he did not desist until
+he had broken through the panel. Then with the whole force he could
+command he threw himself against the upper part of the door, and it came
+crashing into the kitchen. Ben Haley leaped through the opening and
+confronted his uncle, who receded in alarm. The sight of the burly form
+of his nephew, and his stern and menacing countenance, once more made
+him quail.
+
+Ben Haley looked around him, and his eyes lighted upon Robert Rushton
+standing beside the door with the gun in his hand.
+
+He burst into a derisive laugh, and turning to his uncle, said: "So this
+is the help you were talking about. He's only a baby. I could twist him
+around my finger. Just lay down that gun, boy! It isn't meant for
+children like you."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+ESCAPE.
+
+Though he had a weapon in his hand, many boys in Robert's situation
+would have been unnerved. He was a mere boy, though strong of his age.
+Opposed to him was a tall, strong man, of desperate character, fully
+resolved to carry out his dishonest purpose, and not likely to shrink
+from violence, to which he was probably only too well accustomed. From
+the old man he was not likely to obtain assistance, for already Paul's
+courage had begun to dwindle, and he regarded his nephew with a scared
+look.
+
+"Lay down that gun, boy!" repeated Ben Haley. "I know you. You're the
+boy that rowed me across the river. You can row pretty well, but you're
+not quite a match for me even at that."
+
+"This gun makes me even with you," said Robert, returning his look
+unflinchingly.
+
+"Does it? Then all I can say is, that when you lose it you'll be in a
+bad pickle. Lay it down instantly."
+
+"Then lay down the gold you have in your pockets," said our hero, still
+pointing his gun at Haley.
+
+"Good boy! Brave boy!" said the old man, approvingly.
+
+"Look here, boy," said Haley, in quick, stern tones, "I've had enough of
+this nonsense. If you don't put down that gun in double quick time,
+you'll repent it. One word--yes or no!"
+
+"No," said Robert, resolutely.
+
+No sooner had he uttered the monosyllable than Haley sprang toward him
+with the design of wresting the gun from him. But Robert had his finger
+upon the trigger, and fired. The bullet entered the shoulder of the
+ruffian, but in the excitement of the moment he only knew that he was
+hit, but this incensed him. In spite of the wound he seized the musket
+and forcibly wrested it from our hero. He raised it in both hands and
+would probably in his blind fury have killed him on the spot, but for
+the sudden opening of the outer door, and entrance of a neighboring
+farmer, who felt sufficiently intimate to enter without knocking. This
+changed Haley's intention. Feeling that the odds were against him, he
+sprang through the window, gun in hand, and ran with rapid strides
+towards the river.
+
+"What's the matter?" demanded the new arrival, surveying the scene
+before him in astonishment.
+
+"He's gone off with my gold," exclaimed Paul Nichols, recovering from
+his stupefaction. "Run after him, catch him!"
+
+"Who is it?"
+
+"Ben Haley."
+
+"What, your nephew! I thought he was dead long ago."
+
+"I wish he had been," said Paul, wringing his hands. "He's taken all my
+money--I shall die in the poorhouse."
+
+"I can't understand how it all happened," said the neighbor, looking to
+Robert for an explanation. "Who fired the gun?"
+
+"I did," said our hero.
+
+"Did you hit him?"
+
+"I think so. I saw blood on his shirt. I must have hit him in the
+shoulder."
+
+"Don't stop to talk," said Paul, impatiently. "Go after him and get back
+the gold."
+
+"We can't do much," said the neighbor, evidently not very anxious to
+come into conflict with such a bold ruffian. "He has the gun with him."
+
+"What made you let him have it?" asked Paul.
+
+"I couldn't help it," said Robert. "But he can't fire it. It is
+unloaded, and I don't think he has any ammunition with him."
+
+"To be sure," said Paul, eagerly. "You see there's no danger. Go after
+him, both of you, He can't hurt ye."
+
+Somewhat reassured the neighbor followed Robert, who at once started in
+pursuit of the escaped burglar. He was still in sight, though he had
+improved the time consumed in the foregoing colloquy, and was already
+near the river bank. On he sped, bent on making good his escape with the
+money he had dishonestly acquired. One doubt was in his mind. Should he
+find a boat? If not, the river would prove an insuperable obstacle, and
+he would be compelled to turn and change the direction of his flight.
+Looking over his shoulder he saw Robert and the farmer on his track, and
+he clutched his gun the more firmly.
+
+"They'd better not touch me," he said to himself. "If I can't fire the
+gun I can brain either or both with it."
+
+Thoughts of crossing the stream by swimming occurred to him. A sailor by
+profession, he was an expert swimmer, and the river was not wide enough
+to daunt him. But his pockets were filled with the gold he had stolen,
+and gold is well known to be the heaviest of all the metals. But
+nevertheless he could not leave it behind since it was for this he had
+incurred his present peril. In this uncertainty he reached the bank of
+the river, when to his surprise and joy his eye rested upon Robert's
+boat.
+
+"The boy's boat!" he exclaimed, in exultation, "by all that's lucky! I
+will take the liberty of borrowing it without leave."
+
+He sprang in, and seizing one of the oars, pushed out into the stream,
+first drawing up the anchor. When Robert and his companion reached the
+shore he was already floating at a safe distance.
+
+"He's got my boat!" exclaimed our hero, in disappointment.
+
+"So he has!" ejaculated the other.
+
+"You're a little too late!" shouted Ben Haley, with a sneer. "Just carry
+back my compliments to the old fool yonder and tell him I left in too
+great a hurry to give him my note for the gold he kindly lent me. I'll
+attend to it when I get ready."
+
+He had hitherto sculled the boat. Now he took the other oar and
+commenced rowing. But here the wound, of which he had at first been
+scarcely conscious, began to be felt, and the first vigorous stroke
+brought a sharp twinge, besides increasing the flow of blood. His
+natural ferocity was stimulated by his unpleasant discovery, and he
+shook his fist menacingly at Robert, from whom he had received the
+wound.
+
+"There's a reckoning coming betwixt you and me, young one!" he cried,
+"and it'll be a heavy one. Ben Haley don't forget that sort of debt. The
+time'll come when he'll pay it back with interest. It mayn't come for
+years, but it'll come at last, you may be sure of that."
+
+Finding that he could not row on account of his wound, he rose to his
+feet, and sculled the boat across as well as he could with one hand.
+
+"I wish I had another boat," said Robert. "We could soon overtake him."
+
+"Better let him go," said the neighbor. "He was always a bad one, that
+Ben Haley. I couldn't begin to tell you all the bad things he did when
+he was a boy. He was a regular dare-devil. You must look out for him, or
+he'll do you a mischief some time, to pay for that wound."
+
+"He brought it on himself," said Robert "I gave him warning."
+
+He went back to the farmhouse to tell Paul of his nephew's escape. He
+was brave and bold, but the malignant glance with which Ben Haley
+uttered his menace, gave him a vague sense of discomfort.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+REVENGE.
+
+In spite of his wounded arm Ben Haley succeeded in propelling the boat
+to the opposite shore. The blood was steadily, though slowly, flowing
+from his wound, and had already stained his shirt red for a considerable
+space. In the excitement of first receiving it he had not felt the pain;
+now, however, the wound began to pain him, and, as might be expected,
+his feeling of animosity toward our hero was not diminished.
+
+"That cursed boy!" he muttered, between his teeth. "I wish I had had
+time to give him one blow--he wouldn't have wanted another. I hope the
+wound isn't serious--if it is, I may have paid dear for the gold."
+
+Still, the thought of the gold in his pockets afforded some
+satisfaction. He had been penniless; now he was the possessor of--as
+near as he could estimate, for he had not had time to count--five
+hundred dollars in gold. That was more than he had ever possessed before
+at one time, and would enable him to live at ease for a while.
+
+On reaching the shore he was about to leave the boat to its fate, when
+he espied a boy standing at a little distance, with a hatchet in his
+hand. This gave him an idea.
+
+"Come here, boy," he said.
+
+The boy came forward, and examined the stranger with curiosity.
+
+"Is that your hatchet?" he asked.
+
+"No, sir. It belongs to my father."
+
+"Would you mind selling it to me if I will give you money enough to buy
+a new one?"
+
+"This is an old hatchet."
+
+"It will suit me just as well, and I haven't time to buy another. Would
+your father sell it?"
+
+"Yes, sir; I guess so."
+
+"Very well. What will a new one cost you?"
+
+The boy named the price.
+
+"Here is the money, and twenty-five cents more to pay you for your
+trouble in going to the store."
+
+The boy pocketed the money with satisfaction. He was a farmer's son, and
+seldom had any money in his possession. He already had twenty-five cents
+saved up toward the purchase of a junior ball, and the stranger's
+gratuity would just make up the sum necessary to secure it. He was in a
+hurry to make the purchase, and, accordingly, no sooner had he received
+the money than he started at once for the village store. His departure
+was satisfactory to Ben Haley, who now had nothing to prevent his
+carrying out his plans.
+
+"I wanted to be revenged on the boy, and now I know how," he said. "I'll
+make some trouble for him with this hatchet."
+
+He drew the boat up and fastened it. Then he deliberately proceeded to
+cut away at the bottom with his newly-acquired hatchet. He had a strong
+arm, and his blows were made more effective by triumphant malice. The
+boat he supposed to belong to Robert, and he was determined to spoil it.
+
+He hacked away with such energy that soon there was a large hole in the
+bottom of the boat. Not content with inflicting this damage, he cut it
+in various other places, until it presented an appearance very different
+from the neat, stanch boat of which Will Paine had been so proud. At
+length Ben stopped, and contemplated the ruin he had wrought with
+malicious satisfaction.
+
+"That's the first instalment in my revenge," he said. "I should like to
+see my young ferryman's face when he sees his boat again. It'll cost
+him more than he'll ever get from my miserly uncle to repair it. It
+serves him right for meddling with matters that don't concern him. And
+now I must be getting away, for my affectionate uncle will soon be
+raising a hue and cry after me if I'm not very much mistaken."
+
+He would like to have gone at once to obtain medical assistance for his
+wound, but to go to the village doctor would be dangerous. He must wait
+till he had got out of the town limits, and the farther away the better.
+He knew when the train would start, and made his way across the fields
+to the station, arriving just in time to catch it. First, however, he
+bound a handkerchief round his shoulder to arrest the flow of blood.
+
+When he reached the station, and was purchasing his ticket, the
+station-master noticed the blood upon his shirt.
+
+"Are you hurt, sir?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, a little," said Ben Haley.
+
+"How did it happen?" inquired the other, with Yankee inquisitiveness.
+
+"I was out hunting," said Ben, carelessly, "with a friend who wasn't
+much used to firearms. In swinging his gun round, it accidentally went
+off, and I got shot through the shoulder."
+
+"That's bad," said the station-master, in a tone of sympathy. "You'd
+better go round to the doctor's, and have it attended to."
+
+"I would," said Ben, "but I am called away by business of the greatest
+importance. I can get along for a few hours, and then I'll have a doctor
+look at it. How soon will the train be here?"
+
+"It's coming now. Don't you hear it?"
+
+"That's the train I must take. You see I couldn't wait long enough for
+the doctor," added Ben, anxious to account satisfactorily for his
+inattention to the medical assistance of which he stood in need.
+
+When he was fairly on board the cars, and the train was under way, he
+felt considerably relieved. He was speeding fast away from the man he
+had robbed, and who was interested in his capture, and in a few days he
+might be at sea, able to snap his fingers at his miserly uncle and the
+boy whom he determined some day to meet and settle scores with.
+
+From one enemy of Robert the transition is brief and natural to another.
+At this very moment Halbert Davis was sauntering idly and discontentedly
+through the streets of the village. He was the son of a rich man, or of
+one whom most persons, his own family included, supposed to be rich; but
+this consciousness, though it made him proud, by no means made him
+happy. He had that morning at the breakfast table asked his father to
+give him a boat like Will Paine's, but Mr. Davis had answered by a
+decided refusal.
+
+"You don't need any boat," he said, sharply.
+
+"It wouldn't cost very much," pleaded Halbert.
+
+"How much do you suppose?"
+
+"Will Paine told me his father paid fifty dollars for his."
+
+"Why don't you borrow it sometimes?"
+
+"I can't borrow it. Will started a day or two since for boarding
+school."
+
+"Better still. I will hire it for you while he is away."
+
+"I thought of it myself," said Halbert, "but just before he went away
+Will lent it to the factory boy," sneering as he uttered the last two
+words.
+
+"Do you mean Robert Rushton?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"That's only a boy's arrangement. I will see Mr. Paine, and propose to
+pay him for the use of the boat, and I presume he will be willing to
+accede to my terms."
+
+"When will you see him?" asked Halbert, hopefully.
+
+"I will try to see him in the course of the day."
+
+It turned out, however, that there was no need of calling on Mr. Paine,
+for five minutes later, having some business with Mr. Davis, he rang
+the bell, and was ushered into the breakfast-room.
+
+"Excuse my calling early," he said, "but I wished to see you about----"
+and here he stated his business, in which my readers will feel no
+interest. When that was over, Mr. Davis introduced the subject of the
+boat, and made the offer referred to.
+
+"I am sorry to refuse," said Mr. Paine, "but my son, before going away,
+passed his promise to Robert Rushton that he should have it during his
+absence."
+
+"Do you hold yourself bound by such a promise?" inquired Mrs. Davis,
+with a disagreeable smile.
+
+"Certainly," said the lawyer, gravely. "Robert is a valued friend of my
+son's, and I respect boyish friendship. I remember very well my own
+boyhood, and I had some strong friendships at that time."
+
+"I don't see what your son can find to like in Robert Rushton," said
+Mrs. Davis, with something of Halbert's manner. "I think him a very
+disagreeable and impertinent boy."
+
+Mr. Paine did not admire Mrs. Davis, and was not likely to be influenced
+by her prejudices. Without inquiry, therefore, into the cause of her
+unfavorable opinion, he said, "I have formed quite a different opinion
+of Robert. I am persuaded that you do him injustice."
+
+"He attacked Halbert ferociously the other day," said Mrs. Davis,
+determined to impart the information whether asked or not. "He has an
+ungovernable temper."
+
+Mr. Paine glanced shrewdly at Halbert, of whose arrogant and quarrelsome
+disposition he had heard from his own son, and replied, "I make it a
+point not to interfere in boys' quarrels. William speaks very highly of
+Robert, and it affords him great satisfaction, I know, to leave the boat
+in his charge."
+
+Mrs. Davis saw that there was no use in pursuing the subject, and it
+dropped.
+
+After the lawyer had gone Halbert made his petition anew, but without
+satisfactory results. The fact was, Mr. Davis had heard unfavorable
+reports from New York the day previous respecting a stock in which he
+had an interest, and it was not a favorable moment to prefer a request
+involving the outlay of money.
+
+It was this refusal which made Halbert discontented and unhappy. The
+factory boy, as he sneeringly called him, could have a boat, while he, a
+gentleman's son, was forced to go without one. Of course, he would not
+stoop to ask the loan of the boat, however much he wanted it, from a boy
+he disliked so much as Robert. He wondered whether Robert were out this
+morning. So, unconsciously, his steps led him to the shore of the river,
+where he knew the boat was generally kept. He cast his eye toward it,
+when what was his surprise to find the object of his desire half full of
+water, with a large hole in the bottom and defaced in other respects.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+TWO UNSATISFACTORY INTERVIEWS.
+
+Halbert's first emotion was surprise, his second was gratification. His
+rival could no longer enjoy the boat which he had envied him. Not only
+that, but he would get into trouble with Mr. Paine on account of the
+damage which it had received. Being under his care, it was his duty to
+keep it in good condition.
+
+"I wonder how it happened?" thought Halbert. "Won't the young beggar be
+in a precious scrape when it's found out? Most likely he won't let Mr.
+Paine know."
+
+In this thought he judged Robert by himself. Straightway the plan
+suggested itself of going to the lawyer himself and informing him of
+Robert's delinquency. It would be a very agreeable way of taking revenge
+him. The plan so pleased him that he at once directed his steps toward
+Mr. Paine's office. On the way he overtook Hester Paine, the young lady
+on whose account he was chiefly incensed against Robert. Being as
+desirous as ever of standing in the young lady's good graces, he
+hurriedly advanced to her side, and lifting his hat with an air of
+ceremonious politeness, he said:
+
+"Good-morning, Hester."
+
+Hester Paine was not particularly well pleased with the meeting. She had
+been made acquainted by her brother with the quarrel between Halbert and
+Robert, and the mean revenge which the former had taken in procuring the
+dismissal of the latter from the factory. Having a partiality for
+Robert, this was not likely to recommend his enemy in her eyes.
+
+"Good-morning, Mr. Davis," she said, with cool politeness.
+
+"You are very ceremonious this morning, Miss Hester," said Halbert, who
+liked well enough to be called "Mr." by others, but not by Hester.
+
+"Am I?" asked Hester, indifferently. "How so?"
+
+"You called me Mr. Davis."
+
+"That's your name, isn't it?"
+
+"I am not called so by my intimate friends."
+
+"No, I suppose not," said Hester, thus disclaiming the title.
+
+Halbert bit his lips. He was not in love, not because he was too young,
+but because he was too selfish to be in love with anybody except
+himself. But he admired Hester, and the more she slighted him the more
+he was determined to force her to like him. He did, however, feel a
+little piqued at her behavior, and that influenced his next words.
+
+"Perhaps you'd rather have the factory boy walking beside you," he said,
+with not very good judgment, if he wanted to recommend himself to her.
+
+"There are a good many factory boys in town," she said. "I can't tell
+unless you tell me whom you mean."
+
+"I mean Robert Rushton."
+
+"Perhaps I might," said Hester.
+
+"He's a low fellow," said Halbert, bitterly.
+
+"No one thinks so but you," retorted Hester, indignantly.
+
+"My father was obliged to dismiss him from the factory."
+
+"I know all about that, and who was the means of having him sent away."
+
+"I suppose you mean me."
+
+"Yes, Halbert Davis, I mean you, and I consider it a very mean thing to
+do," said Hester, her cheeks flushed with the indignation she felt.
+
+"He attacked me like the low ruffian that he is," pleaded Halbert, in
+extenuation. "If he hadn't insulted me, he wouldn't have got into
+trouble."
+
+"You struck him first, you know you did. My brother told me all about
+it. You were angry because he walked home with me. I would rather go
+home alone any time than have your escort."
+
+"You're very polite, Miss Hester," said Halbert, angrily. "I can tell
+you some news about your favorite."
+
+"If it's anything bad, I won't believe it."
+
+"You'll have to believe it."
+
+"Well, what is it?" demanded Hester, who was not altogether unlike girls
+in general, and so felt curious to learn what it was that Halbert had to
+reveal.
+
+"Your brother was foolish enough to leave his boat in Rushton's care."
+
+"That is no news. Will was very glad to do Robert a favor."
+
+"He'll be sorry enough now."
+
+"Why will he?"
+
+"Because the boat is completely ruined."
+
+"I don't believe it," said Hester, hastily.
+
+"It's true, though. I was down at the river just now, and saw it with my
+own eyes. There is a great hole in the bottom, and it is hacked with a
+hatchet, so that it wouldn't bring half price."
+
+"Do you know who did it?" asked Hester, with the momentary thought that
+Halbert himself might have been tempted by his hatred into the
+commission of the outrage.
+
+"No, I don't. It was only accidentally I saw it."
+
+"Was Robert at the boat?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Have you asked him about it?"
+
+"No, I have not seen him."
+
+"Then I am sure some enemy has done it. I am sure it is no fault of
+his."
+
+"If your brother had let me have the boat, it wouldn't have happened. I
+offered him a fair price for its use."
+
+"He won't be sorry he refused, whatever has happened. But I must bid you
+good-morning, Mr. Davis," and the young lady, who was now at her own
+gate, opened it, and entered.
+
+"She might have been polite enough to invite me in," said Halbert, with
+chagrin. "I don't see how she can be so taken up with that low fellow."
+
+He waited till Hester had entered the house, and then bent his steps to
+Mr. Paine's office, which was a small one-story building in one corner
+of the yard.
+
+The lawyer was sitting at a table covered with papers, from which he
+looked up as Halbert entered the office.
+
+"Sit down, Halbert," he said. "Any message from your father?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"No legal business of your own?" he inquired, with a smile.
+
+"No, sir, no legal business."
+
+"Well, if you have any business, you may state it at once, as I am quite
+busy."
+
+"It is about the boat which your son lent to Robert Rushton."
+
+"I shall not interfere with that arrangement," said the lawyer,
+misunderstanding his object. "I told your father that this morning," and
+he resumed his writing.
+
+"I did not come to say anything about that. The boat wouldn't be of any
+use to me now."
+
+"Why not?" asked the lawyer, detecting something significant in the
+boy's tone.
+
+"Because," said Halbert, in a tone which he could not divest of the
+satisfaction he felt at his rival's misfortune, "the boat's completely
+ruined."
+
+Mr. Paine laid down his pen in genuine surprise.
+
+"Explain yourself," he said.
+
+So Halbert told the story once more, taking good care to make the damage
+quite as great as it was.
+
+"That is very strange," said the lawyer, thoughtfully. "I can't conceive
+how such damage could have happened to the boat."
+
+"Robert Rushton don't know how to manage a boat."
+
+"You are mistaken. He understands it very well. I am sure the injury
+you speak of could not have happened when he was in charge. You say
+there was not only a hole in the bottom, but it was otherwise defaced
+and injured?"
+
+"Yes, sir, it looked as if it had been hacked by a hatchet."
+
+"Then it is quite clear that Robert could have had nothing to do with
+it. It must have been done by some malicious person or persons."
+
+Knowing something of Halbert, Mr. Paine looked hard at him, his
+suspicions taking the same direction as his daughter's. But, as we know,
+Halbert was entirely innocent, and bore the gaze without confusion.
+
+"I don't see why Robert hasn't been and let me know of this," said Mr.
+Paine, musing.
+
+"He was probably afraid to tell you," said Halbert, with a slight sneer.
+
+"I know him better than that. You can testify," added the lawyer,
+significantly, "that he is not deficient in bravery."
+
+"I thought I would come and tell you," said Halbert, coloring a little.
+"I thought you would like to know."
+
+"You are very kind to take so much trouble," said Mr. Paine, but there
+was neither gratitude nor cordiality in his tone.
+
+Halbert thought it was time to be going, and accordingly got up and
+took his leave. As he opened the office door to go out, he found himself
+face to face with Robert Rushton, who passed him with a slight nod, and
+with an air of trouble entered the presence of his friend's father.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+HALBERT'S MALICE.
+
+Robert was forced, by Ben Haley's, taking possession of his boat to give
+up for the present his design of recrossing the river. He felt bound to
+go back and inform Paul of Ben's escape.
+
+"He has carried off my gold," exclaimed Paul, in anguish. "Why didn't
+you catch him?"
+
+"He had too much start of us," said Robert's companion. "But even if we
+had come up with him, I am afraid he would have proved more than a match
+for us. He is a desperate man. How much money did he take away with
+him?"
+
+"More than five hundred dollars," wailed the old man. "I am completely
+ruined!"
+
+"Not quite so bad as that, Mr. Nichols. You have your farm left."
+
+But the old man was not to be comforted. He had become so wedded to his
+gold that to lose it was like losing his heart's blood. But was these no
+hope of recovery?
+
+"Why don't you go after him?" he exclaimed, suddenly. "Raise the
+neighbors. It isn't too late yet."
+
+"He's across the river before this," said Robert.
+
+"Get a boat and go after him."
+
+"I am willing," said our hero, promptly. "Where can we find a boat, Mr.
+Dunham?"
+
+"There's one about a quarter of a mile down the stream--Stetson's boat."
+
+"Let's go, then."
+
+"Very well, Robert. I've no idea we can do anything, but we will try."
+
+"Go, go. Don't waste a moment," implored the old man, in feverish
+impatience.
+
+Robert and Mr. Dunham started, and were soon rowing across the river in
+Stetson's boat.
+
+"Whereabout would he be likely to land?" asked the farmer.
+
+"There's my boat now," said Robert, pointing it out. "He has left it
+where I usually keep it."
+
+Quickly they rowed alongside. Then to his great sorrow Robert perceived
+the malicious injury which his enemy had wrought.
+
+"Oh, Mr. Dunham, look at that!" he said, struck with grief. "The boat is
+spoiled!"
+
+"Not so bad as that. It can be mended."
+
+"What will Will Paine say? What will his father say?"
+
+"Then it isn't your boat?"
+
+"No, that is the worst of it. It was lent me by Will Paine, and I
+promised to take such good care of it."
+
+"It isn't your fault, Robert?"
+
+"No, I couldn't help it, but still it wouldn't have happened if it had
+not been in my charge."
+
+"You can get it repaired, so that it will look almost as well as new."
+
+If Robert had had plenty of money, this suggestion would have comforted
+him, but it will be remembered that he was almost penniless, dependent
+on the fish he caught for the means of supporting his mother and
+himself. Now this resource was cut off. The boat couldn't be used until
+it was repaired. He felt morally bound to get it repaired, though he was
+guiltless of the damage. But how could he even do this? One thing was
+clear--Mr. Paine must at once be informed of the injury suffered by the
+boat. Robert shrank from informing him, but he knew it to be his duty,
+and he was too brave to put it off.
+
+But first he must try to find some clew to Ben Haley. He had now a
+personal interest in bringing to justice the man who had made him so
+much trouble. He had scarcely got on shore than the boy who had sold Ben
+Haley the hatchet, strolled up.
+
+"Who was that man who came across in your boat?" he asked.
+
+"Did you see him?" asked Robert, eagerly.
+
+"To be sure I did," said Tom Green, with satisfaction. "I sold him my
+old hatchet for money enough to buy a new one, and he give me a quarter
+besides for my trouble."
+
+"I wish you hadn't done it, Tom," said Robert, gravely. "See what he's
+done with it."
+
+Tom Green opened his eyes wide with astonishment.
+
+"What did he do that for?" he asked.
+
+"To be revenged on me. I'll tell you what for another time. Now I want
+to find him. Can you tell me where he went?"
+
+"No; I left him here, while I went to the store for a new hatchet."
+
+The old hatchet was found under a clump of bushes. Robert took
+possession of it, feeling that he had a right to it, as part
+compensation for the mischief it had done.
+
+"We'd better go to the railroad depot, Mr. Dunham," he said. "He'd be
+most likely to go there."
+
+"You're right. We'll go."
+
+They walked rapidly to the station, but too late, of course, for the
+train. The station-master was standing on the platform, superintending
+the removal of a trunk.
+
+"Mr. Cross," said Robert, "I want to find out if a particular man left
+by the last train. I'll describe him."
+
+"Yes," said the station-master, "that's the man I was wondering about.
+He had a wound in the shoulder."
+
+"He got that from me," said Robert.
+
+"Sho! you don't say so," returned the station-master, in surprise. "He
+said he was out hunting with a friend, and his friend's gun went off
+accidentally."
+
+"I don't believe he feels very friendly to me," said Robert, smiling.
+"He's stolen five or six hundred dollars in gold from old Paul Nichols."
+
+"It'll about kill the old man, won't it?"
+
+"He feels pretty bad about it. For what place did he buy a ticket?"
+
+"For Cranston; but that ain't no guide. When he gets there, he'll buy a
+ticket for further on."
+
+Had there been a telegraph station, Robert would have telegraphed on to
+have Ben Haley stopped, but there was none nearer than the next town. He
+determined to give information to a justice of the peace, and leave the
+matter in his hands. But Justice in a country town is slow, and it may
+as well be stated here, before anything was done Ben Haley was out of
+danger. But Robert was destined to fall in with him at a future day.
+
+This business attended to, Robert bent his steps to Mr. Paine's office.
+This brings us to his meeting with Halbert Davis at the door. He was
+slightly surprised at the encounter, but was far from guessing the
+object of Halbert's call.
+
+Mr. Paine looked up as he entered, and had no difficulty in guessing his
+errand.
+
+"What can I do for you, Robert?" he asked, kindly.
+
+"I bring bad news, Mr. Paine," said our hero, boldly plunging into the
+subject which had brought him to the office.
+
+"It's about the boat, isn't it?" said the lawyer.
+
+"What, do you know about it?" asked Robert, in surprise.
+
+"Yes; a disinterested friend brought the news."
+
+"Halbert Davis?"
+
+"The same. He takes a strong interest in your affairs," added the
+lawyer, dryly. "Now tell me how it happened."
+
+Robert gave a full explanation, the lawyer occasionally asking a
+question.
+
+"It seems, then," he said, "that you incurred this man's enmity by your
+defense of Mr. Nichols' money."
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"It was incurred in a good cause. I can't blame you, nor will my son. I
+will get Mr. Plane, the carpenter, to look at the boat and see what he
+can do to repair it."
+
+"Some time I will pay you the cost of the repairs, Mr. Paine. I would
+now if I had any money; but you know how I am situated."
+
+"I shall not call upon you to do that," said the lawyer, kindly. "It was
+not your fault."
+
+"But the damage would not have happened if Will had not lent the boat to
+me."
+
+"That is true; but in undertaking the defense of Mr. Nichols you showed
+a pluck and courage which most boys would not have exhibited. I am
+interested, like all good citizens, in the prevention of theft, and in
+this instance I am willing to assume the cost."
+
+"You are very kind, Mr. Paine. I was afraid you would blame me."
+
+"No, my boy; I am not so unreasonable. It will save me some trouble if
+you will yourself see Mr. Plane and obtain from him an estimate of the
+probable expense of putting the boat in order."
+
+Robert left the office, feeling quite relieved by the manner in which
+his communication had been received. A little way up the road he
+overtook Halbert Davis. In fact, Halbert was waiting for him, expressly
+to get an opportunity of enjoying his discomfiture at the ruin of the
+boat.
+
+"Hallo, Rushton!" he said.
+
+"Good-morning, Halbert!"
+
+"Are you going out in your boat this afternoon?" asked Halbert,
+maliciously.
+
+"You know why I can't."
+
+"I wonder what Will Paine will say when he sees the good care you take
+of it."
+
+"I don't believe he will blame me when he knows the circumstances."
+
+"You ain't fit to have the charge of a boat. I suppose you ran it on a
+rock."
+
+"Then you suppose wrong."
+
+"You won't be able to go out fishing any more. How will you make a
+living?"
+
+"Without your help," said Robert, coldly. "You will probably see me out
+again in a few days, if you take the trouble to look."
+
+"How can you go?"
+
+"Mr. Paine has asked me to see Mr. Plane about repairing the boat."
+
+"Is he going to pay the expenses?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then he's a fool."
+
+"You'd better not tell him so, or he might give you a lesson in
+politeness."
+
+"You're a low fellow," said Halbert, angrily.
+
+"You are welcome to your opinion," returned Robert, indifferently.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+ON THE RAILROAD TRACK.
+
+Robert saw the carpenter, according to Mr. Paine's instructions, but
+found him so busy that he would not engage to give his attention to the
+boat under a week.
+
+The delay was regretted by our hero, since it cut him off from the
+employment by which he hoped to provide for his mother. Again Mrs.
+Rushton was in low spirits.
+
+"I am sorry you couldn't agree with Halbert Davis, Robert," she said,
+with a sigh. "Then you could have stayed in the factory, and got your
+wages regularly every week."
+
+"I know that, mother, but I am not willing to have Halbert 'boss me
+round,' even for a place in the factory."
+
+"Then, Robert, you quarreled with the man you took across the river."
+
+"I think I did right, mother," said Robert. "Don't get out of spirits. I
+don't expect to succeed always. But I think I shall come out right in
+the end."
+
+"I am sure I hope so."
+
+Mrs. Rushton was one of those who look on the dark side. She was
+distrustful of the future, and apt to anticipate bad fortune. Robert was
+very different. He inherited from his father an unusual amount of
+courage and self-reliance, and if one avenue was closed to him, he at
+once set out to find another. It is of this class that successful men
+are made, and we have hopes that Robert will develop into a prosperous
+and successful man.
+
+"I am sure I don't see what you can do," said Mrs. Rushton, "and we
+can't live on what I make by braiding straw."
+
+"I'll tell you what I'll do," said Robert, "I'll go on Sligo Hill and
+pick blueberries; I was passing a day or two ago, and saw the bushes
+quite covered. Just give me a couple of tin pails, and I'll see what I
+can do."
+
+The pails were provided, and Robert started on his expedition. The hill
+was not very high, nor was its soil very good. The lower part was used
+only to pasture a few cows. But this part was thickly covered with
+blueberry bushes, which this season were fuller than usual of
+large-sized berries. Robert soon settled to work, and picked steadily
+and rapidly. At the end of three hours he had filled both pails,
+containing, as near as he could estimate, eight quarts.
+
+"That's a pretty good afternoon's work," he said to himself. "Now I
+suppose I must turn peddler, and dispose of them."
+
+He decided to ask ten cents a quart. Later in the season the price would
+be reduced, but at that time the berries ought to command that price.
+
+The first house at which he called was Mr. Paine's. He was about to
+pass, when he saw Hester at the window. Pride suggested, "She may
+despise me for being a berry peddler," but Robert had no false shame.
+"At any rate, I won't be coward enough to try to hide it from her."
+Accordingly he walked up boldly to the door, and rang the bell.
+
+Hester had seen him from the window, and she answered the bell herself.
+
+"I am glad to see you, Robert," she said, frankly. "Won't you come in?"
+
+"Thank you," said our hero, "but I called on business."
+
+"You will find my father in his office," she said, looking a little
+disappointed.
+
+Robert smiled.
+
+"My business is not of a legal character," he said. "I've turned
+peddler, and would like to sell you some blueberries."
+
+"Oh, what nice berries! Where did you pick them?"
+
+"On Sligo."
+
+"I am sure mother will buy some. Will you wait a minute while I go and
+ask her?"
+
+"I will wait as long as you like."
+
+Hester soon returned with authority to buy four quarts. I suspect that
+she was the means of influencing so large a purchase.
+
+"They are ten cents a quart," said Robert, "but I don't think I ought to
+charge your father anything."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because I shall owe him, or rather Will, a good deal of money."
+
+"I know what you mean--it's about the boat."
+
+"Did your father tell you?"
+
+"Yes, but I knew it before. Halbert Davis told me."
+
+"He takes a great interest in my affairs."
+
+"He's a mean boy. You mustn't mind what he says against you."
+
+Robert laughed.
+
+"I don't care what he thinks or says of me, unless he persuades others
+to think ill of me."
+
+"I shall never think ill of you, Robert," said Hester, warmly.
+
+"Thank you, Hester," said Robert, looking up into her glowing face with
+more gratification than he could express. "I hope I shall deserve your
+good opinion."
+
+"I am sure you will, Robert, But won't you come in?"
+
+"No, thank you. I must sell the rest of my berries."
+
+Robert left the house with forty cents in his pocket, the first fruits
+of his afternoon's work. Besides, he had four quarts left, for which he
+expected to find a ready sale. He had not gone far when he met Halbert.
+The latter was dressed with his usual care, with carefully polished
+shoes, neatly fitting gloves, and swinging a light cane, the successor
+of that which had been broken in his conflict with Robert. Our hero, on
+the other hand, I am obliged to confess, was by no means fashionably
+attired. His shoes were dusty, and his bare hands were stained with
+berry juice. He wore a coarse straw hat with a broad brim to shield him
+from the hot sun. Those of my readers who judge by dress alone would
+certainly have preferred Halbert Davis, who looked as if he had just
+stepped out of a band-box. But those who compared the two faces, the one
+bright, frank and resolute, the other supercilious and insincere, could
+hardly fail to prefer Robert in spite of his coarse attire and
+unfashionable air.
+
+Halbert scanned his rival with scornful eyes. He would have taken no
+notice of him, but concluded to speak in the hope of saying something
+disagreeable.
+
+"You have found a new business, I see," he said, with a sneer.
+
+"Yes," said Robert, quietly. "When one business gives out, I try
+another."
+
+"You've made a good choice," said Halbert. "It's what you are adapted
+for."
+
+"Thank you for the compliment, but I don't expect to stick to it all my
+life."
+
+"How do you sell your berries?"
+
+"Ten cents a quart."
+
+"You'd better call on your friend, Miss Hester Paine, and see if she
+won't buy some."
+
+"Thank you for the advice, but it comes too late. She bought four quarts
+of me."
+
+"She did!" returned Halbert, surprised. "I didn't think you'd go there."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"She won't think much of a boy that has to pick berries for a living."
+
+"I don't think that will change her opinion of me. Why should it?"
+
+"It's a low business."
+
+"I don't see it."
+
+"Excuse my delaying you. I am afraid I may have interfered with your
+business. I say," he called out, as Robert was going on, "if you will
+call at our house, perhaps my mother may patronize you."
+
+"Very well," said Robert, "if I don't sell elsewhere, I'll call there.
+It makes no difference to me who buys my berries."
+
+"He's the proudest beggar I ever met," thought Halbert, looking after
+him. "Hester Paine must be hard up for an escort if she walks with a boy
+who peddles berries for a living. If I were her father, I would put a
+stop to it."
+
+The same evening there was a concert in the Town Hall. A free ticket was
+given to Robert in return for some slight service. Mr. Paine and his
+daughter were present, and Halbert Davis also. To the disgust of the
+latter, Robert actually had the presumption to walk home with Hester.
+Hester laughed and chatted gayly, and appeared to be quite unconscious
+that she was lowering herself by accepting the escort of a boy "who
+picked berries for a living."
+
+The next day Robert again repaired to Sligo. He had realized eighty
+cents from his sales the previous day, and he felt that picking berries
+was much better than remaining idle. Halbert's sneers did not for a
+moment discompose him. He had pride, but it was an honorable pride, and
+not of a kind that would prevent his engaging in any respectable
+employment necessary for the support of his mother and himself.
+
+Returning home with well-filled pails, he walked a part of the way on
+the railroad, as this shortened the distance. He had not walked far when
+he discovered on the track a huge rock, large enough to throw the train
+off the track. How it got there was a mystery. Just in front there was a
+steep descent on either side, the road crossing a valley, so that an
+accident would probably cause the entire train to be thrown down the
+embankment. Robert saw the danger at a glance, and it flashed upon him
+at the same moment that the train was nearly due. He sprang to the rock,
+and exerted his utmost strength to dislodge it. He could move it
+slightly, but it was too heavy to remove. He was still exerting his
+strength to the utmost when the whistle of the locomotive was heard.
+Robert was filled with horror, as he realized the peril of the
+approaching train, and his powerlessness to avert it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+THE YOUNG CAPITALIST.
+
+The cars swept on at the rate of twenty miles an hour, the engineer
+wholly unconscious of the peril in front. Robert saw the fated train
+with its freight of human lives, and his heart grew sick within him as
+he thought of the terrible tragedy which was about to be enacted. Was
+there any possibility of his averting it? He threw himself against the
+rock and pushed with all the strength he could command. But, nerved as
+he was by desperation, he found the task greater than he could compass.
+
+And still the train came thundering on. He must withdraw to a place of
+safety, or he would himself be involved in the destruction which
+threatened the train.
+
+There was one thing more he could do, and he did it.
+
+He took his station on the rock which was just in the path of the
+advancing train, and waved his handkerchief frantically. It was a
+position to test the courage of the bravest.
+
+Robert was fully aware that he was exposing himself to a horrible
+death. Should he not be seen by the engineer it would be doubtful
+whether he could get out of the way in time to escape death--and that of
+the most frightful nature. But unless he did something a hundred lives
+perhaps might be lost. So he resolutely took his stand, waving, as we
+have said, his handkerchief and shouting, though the last was not likely
+to be of any avail.
+
+At first he was not seen. When the engineer at last caught sight of him
+it was with a feeling of anger at what he regarded as the foolhardiness
+of the boy. He slackened his speed, thinking he would leave his place,
+but Robert still maintained his position, his nerves strung to their
+highest tension, not alone at his own danger, but at the peril which he
+began to fear he could not avert.
+
+Reluctantly the engineer gave the signal to stop the train. He was only
+just in time. When it came to a stop there was an interval of only
+thirty-five feet between it and Robert Rushton, who, now that he had
+accomplished his object, withdrew to one side, a little paler than
+usual, but resolute and manly in his bearing.
+
+"What is the meaning of this foolery?" the engineer demanded, angrily.
+
+Robert pointed in silence to the huge rock which lay on the track.
+
+"How came that rock there?" asked the engineer, in a startled tone, as
+he took in the extent of the peril from which they had been saved.
+
+"I don't know," said Robert. "I tried to move it, but I couldn't."
+
+"You are a brave boy," said the engineer. "You have in all probability
+saved the train from destruction. But you ran a narrow risk yourself."
+
+"I know it," was the reply; "but it was the only thing I could do to
+catch your attention."
+
+"I will speak to you about it again. The first to be done is to move the
+rock."
+
+He left the engine and advanced toward the rock. By this time many of
+the passengers had got out, and were inquiring why the train was stopped
+at this point. The sight of the rock made a sensation. Though the peril
+was over, the thought that the train might have been precipitated down
+the embankment, and the majority of the passengers killed or seriously
+injured, impressed them not a little. They pressed forward, and several
+lending a hand, the rock was ousted from its its position, and rolled
+crashing over the bank.
+
+Among the passengers was a stout, good-looking man, a New York merchant.
+He had a large family at home waiting his return from a Western
+journey. He shuddered as he thought how near he had been to never
+meeting them again on earth.
+
+"It was providential, your seeing the rock," he said to the engineer.
+"We owe our lives to you."
+
+"You do me more than justice," replied the engineer. "It was not I who
+saved the train, but that boy."
+
+All eyes were turned upon Robert, who, unused to being the center of so
+many glances, blushed and seemed disposed to withdraw.
+
+"How is that?" inquired the merchant.
+
+"He saw the obstruction, and tried to remove it, but, not being able to
+do so, took his station on the rock, and, at the risk of his own life,
+drew my attention, and saved the train."
+
+"It was a noble act, my boy; what is your name?"
+
+"Robert Rushton."
+
+"It is a name that we shall all have cause to remember. Gentlemen,"
+continued the merchant, turning to the group around him, "you see before
+you the preserver of your lives. Shall his act go unrewarded?"
+
+"No, no!" was the general exclamation.
+
+"I don't want any reward," said Robert, modestly. "Any boy would have
+done as much."
+
+"I don't know about that, my young friend. There are not many boys, or
+men, I think, that would have had the courage to act as you did. You may
+not ask or want any reward, but we should be forever disgraced if we
+failed to acknowledge our great indebtedness to you. I contribute one
+hundred dollars as my share of the testimonial to our young friend."
+
+"I follow with fifty!" said his next neighbor, "and shall ask for the
+privilege of taking him by the hand."
+
+Robert had won honors at school, but he had never before been in a
+position so trying to his modesty. The passengers, following the example
+of the last speaker, crowded around him, and took him by the hand,
+expressing their individual acknowledgments for the service he had
+rendered them. Our hero, whom we now designate thus appropriately, bore
+the ordeal with a self-possession which won the favor of all.
+
+While this was going on, the collection was rapidly being made by the
+merchant who had proposed it. The amounts contributed varied widely, but
+no one refused to give. In ten minutes the fund had reached over six
+hundred dollars.
+
+"Master Robert Rushton," said the merchant, "I have great pleasure in
+handing you this money, freely contributed by the passengers on this
+train, as a slight acknowledgment of the great service which you have
+rendered them at the risk of your own life. It does not often fall to
+the lot of a boy to perform a deed so heroic. We are all your debtors,
+and if the time ever comes that you need a friend, I for one shall be
+glad to show my sense of indebtedness."
+
+"All aboard!" shouted the conductor.
+
+The passengers hurried into the cars, leaving our hero standing by the
+track, with one hand full of bank notes and in the other the card of the
+New York merchant. It was only about fifteen minutes since Robert had
+first signaled the train, yet how in this brief time had his fortunes
+changed! From the cars now rapidly receding he looked to the roll of
+bills, and he could hardly realize that all this money was his own. He
+sat down and counted it over.
+
+"Six hundred and thirty-five dollars!" he exclaimed. "I must have made a
+mistake."
+
+But a second count turned out precisely the same.
+
+"How happy mother will be!" he thought, joyfully. "I must go and tell
+her the good news."
+
+He was so occupied with the thoughts of his wonderful good fortune that
+he nearly forgot to take the berries which he had picked.
+
+"I shan't need to sell them now," he said. "We'll use a part of them
+ourselves, and what we can't use I will give away."
+
+He carefully stored away the money in his coat pocket, and for the sake
+of security buttoned it tight. It was a new thing for him to be the
+custodian of so much treasure. As Halbert Davis usually spent the latter
+part of the afternoon in promenading the streets, sporting his kids and
+swinging his jaunty cane, it was not surprising that Robert encountered
+him again.
+
+"So, you've been berrying again?" he said, stopping short.
+
+"Yes," said Robert, briefly.
+
+"You haven't got the boat repaired, I suppose."
+
+"Not yet."
+
+"It's lucky for you this is berrying season."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because you'd probably have to go to the poorhouse," said Halbert,
+insolently.
+
+"I don't know about that," said Robert, coolly. "I rather think I could
+buy you out, Halbert Davis, watch, gloves, cane and all."
+
+"What do you mean?" demanded Halbert, haughtily. "You seem to forget
+that you are a beggar, or next to it."
+
+Robert set down his pails, and, opening his coat, drew out a handful of
+bills.
+
+"Does that look like going to the almshouse?" he said.
+
+"They're not yours," returned Halbert, considerably astonished, for,
+though he did not know the denomination of the bills, it was evident
+that there was a considerable amount of money.
+
+"It belongs to me, every dollar of it," returned Robert.
+
+"I don't believe it. Where did you get it? Picking berries, I suppose,"
+he added, with a sneer.
+
+"It makes no difference to you where I got it," said our hero, returning
+the money to his pocket. "I shan't go to the almshouse till this I is
+all gone."
+
+"He must have stolen it," muttered Halbert, looking after Robert with
+disappointment and chagrin. It was certainly very vexatious that, in
+spite of all his attempts to humble and ruin our hero, he seemed more
+prosperous than ever.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+
+A VISIT TO THE LAWYER.
+
+Mrs. Rushton was braiding straw when Robert entered with his berries.
+
+"Couldn't you sell your berries, Robert?" she asked.
+
+"I haven't tried yet, mother."
+
+"The berrying season won't last much longer," said his mother,
+despondently.
+
+"Don't borrow trouble, mother. I am sure we shall get along well."
+
+"You feel more confidence than I do."
+
+"I just met Halbert Davis in the street."
+
+"Have you made up with him?"
+
+"It is for him to make up with me."
+
+"I am afraid you are too high-spirited, Robert. Did Halbert speak to
+you?"
+
+"Oh, yes," said Robert, laughing. "He takes a great interest in my
+affairs. He predicts that we shall come to the poorhouse yet."
+
+"He may be right."
+
+"Now, mother, don't be so desponding. We've got enough money to pay our
+expenses for more than a year, even if we both stop work."
+
+"What can you mean, Robert?" said his mother, looking up in surprise.
+"You must be crazy."
+
+"Does that look like going to the poorhouse?" asked Robert, drawing out
+his money.
+
+Mrs. Rushton uttered an exclamation of surprise.
+
+"Whose money is that, Robert?"
+
+"Mine!"
+
+"You haven't done anything wrong?"
+
+"No, mother; I thought you knew me too well for that. I see you are
+anxious to hear how I obtained it, so I'll tell you all about it."
+
+He sat down, and in brief words told his mother the story of the train
+and its peril, how he had rescued it, and, lastly, of the generous gift
+which he had so unexpectedly received. The mother's heart was touched,
+and she forgot all her forebodings.
+
+"My son, I am proud of you," she said, her eyes moist. "You have done a
+noble deed, and you deserve the reward. But what a risk you ran!"
+
+"I know it, mother, but we won't think of that, now that it is over. How
+much, money do you think I have here?"
+
+"Two or three hundred dollars."
+
+"Six hundred and thirty-five! So you see, mother, we needn't go to the
+poorhouse just yet. Now, how much better off should I have been if I had
+kept my place in the factory? It would have taken me more than two years
+to earn as much money as this. But that isn't all. I have been the means
+of saving a great many lives, for the train was sure to be thrown down
+the embankment. I shall remember that all my life."
+
+"We have reason to be grateful to Heaven that you have been the means of
+doing so much good, Robert, while, at the same time, you have benefited
+yourself."
+
+"That is true, mother."
+
+"I shall be afraid to have so much money in the house. If it were known,
+we might be robbed."
+
+"I will leave it with Mr. Paine until I get a chance to put it in a
+savings bank. He has a safe in his office. At the same time I will carry
+him some berries as a present. It won't be much, but I should like to do
+it on account of his kindness about the boat. I will offer now to bear
+the expense of its repair."
+
+After washing his hands and adjusting his clothes a little, for Robert,
+though no fop like Halbert, was not regardless of appearances,
+especially as he thought Hester might see him, he set out for the
+lawyer's office.
+
+"Excuse my bringing in my berries," said Robert, as he entered the
+office, "but I want to ask your acceptance of them."
+
+Many persons, under the supposition that Robert was too poor to afford a
+gift, would have declined it, or offered to pay for it, thinking they
+were acting kindly and considerately. But Mr. Paine knew that Robert
+would be mortified by such an offer, and he answered:
+
+"Thank you, Robert; I will accept your gift with thanks on one
+condition."
+
+"What is it, Mr. Paine?" inquired our hero, a little puzzled.
+
+"That you will take tea with us to-morrow evening, and help us do
+justice to them."
+
+"Thank you," said Robert, not a little pleased at the invitation, "but I
+shouldn't like to leave my mother at home alone."
+
+"Oh, we must have your mother, too. Hester will call this evening, and
+invite her."
+
+"Then," said Robert, "I can answer for myself, and I think for her, that
+we should both be very happy to come."
+
+The lawyer's social position made such an invitation particularly
+gratifying to Robert. Besides, he was led to value it more on account of
+the persistent efforts of Halbert to injure him in the general
+estimation. Then, too, it was pleasant to think that he was to sit down
+to the same table with Hester, as her father's guest, and to receive a
+call from her at his own house. Nothing that Mr. Paine could have done
+would have afforded him an equal amount of gratification.
+
+"There is one other matter I wanted to speak to you about, Mr. Paine,"
+he said. "Will you take care of some money for me until I get a chance
+to deposit it in the savings bank?"
+
+"Certainly, Robert," was the reply, but the lawyer's manner showed some
+surprise. He knew the circumstances of the Rushtons, and he had not
+supposed they had any money on hand. "How much is it?"
+
+"Six hundred and thirty-five dollars," answered Robert, producing it.
+"Will you count it, and see if it is all right?"
+
+"Is this your money?" asked the lawyer, laying down his pen and gazing
+at Robert in astonishment.
+
+"Yes, sir," said Robert, enjoying his surprise. "I will tell you how I
+got it."
+
+So the story was told, with a modest reserve as to his own courage, but
+still showing, without his intending it, how nobly he had behaved.
+
+"Give me your hand, Robert," said Mr. Paine, cordially. "You have shown
+yourself a hero. We shall be proud of your company to tea to-morrow
+evening."
+
+Robert flushed with gratification at the high compliment conveyed in
+these words.
+
+What did he care then for Halbert Davis and his petty malice! He had the
+approval of his own conscience, the good opinion of those whom he most
+respected and a provision against want sufficient to avert all present
+anxiety.
+
+"There is one thing more, Mr. Paine," he added. "It's about the boat
+Will was kind enough to lend me."
+
+"Have you seen the carpenter about repairing it?"
+
+"Yes, sir, and he will attend to it as soon as he can spare the time.
+But that was not what I wanted to say. I think I ought to bear the
+expense of repairing it. I would have spoken about it at first, but then
+I had no money, and didn't know when I should have any. Will you be kind
+enough to take as much of my money as will be needed to pay Mr. Plane's
+bill when it comes in?"
+
+"Certainly not, Robert. It was not your fault that the boat was
+injured."
+
+"It wouldn't have happened if I had not borrowed it. It isn't right that
+the expense should fall on you."
+
+"Don't trouble yourself about that, Robert. I am able and willing to pay
+it. It is very honorable in you to make the offer, and I like you the
+better for having made it. Won't you need any of this money for present
+expenses?"
+
+"Perhaps I had better take the thirty-five dollars. Mother may be in
+want of something."
+
+Robert received back the sum named, and returned home, much pleased with
+his interview.
+
+About seven o'clock, sitting at the window of the little cottage, he saw
+Hester Paine opening the front gate. He sprang to his feet and opened
+the door.
+
+"Good-evening, Robert," she said. "Is your mother at home?"
+
+"Yes, Hester. Won't you come in?"
+
+"Thank you, Robert. Father has been telling me what a hero you were, and
+it made me feel proud that you were a friend of mine."
+
+Robert's face lighted with pleasure.
+
+"You compliment me more than I deserve," he answered, modestly; "but it
+gives me great pleasure to know that you think well of me."
+
+"I am sure that there is no boy in Millville that would have dared to do
+such a thing. Good-evening, Mrs. Rushton. Are you not proud of your
+son?"
+
+"He is a good son to me," said Mrs. Rushton, with a glance of affection.
+
+"It is such a splendid thing he did. He will be quite a hero. Indeed, he
+is one already. I've got a New York paper giving an account of the
+whole thing. I brought it over, thinking you might like to read it."
+
+She displayed a copy of a great city daily, in which full justice was
+done to Robert's bravery. Our hero listened with modest pleasure while
+it was being read.
+
+"I don't deserve all that," he said.
+
+"You must let us judge of that," said Hester. "But I have come this
+evening, Mrs. Rushton, to ask you to take tea with us to-morrow evening,
+you and Robert. You will come, won't you?"
+
+Mrs. Rushton was pleased with this mark of attention, and after a slight
+demur, accepted.
+
+I do not intend to give an account of the next evening, and how Robert,
+in particular, enjoyed it. That can be imagined, as well as Halbert's
+chagrin when he heard of the attention his rival was receiving in a
+quarter where he himself so earnestly desired to stand well. I must pass
+on to a communication received by Mrs. Rushton, a communication of a
+very unexpected character, which had an important effect upon the
+fortunes of our hero.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+
+THE MESSAGE FROM THE SEA.
+
+It was not often that Mrs. Rushton received a letter. Neither she nor
+her husband had possessed many relatives, and such as either had were
+occupied with their own families, and little communication passed
+between them and Captain Rushton's family. Robert, therefore, seldom
+called at the post office. One day, however, as he stepped in by a
+neighbor's request to inquire for letters for the latter, the postmaster
+said, "There's a letter for your mother, Robert."
+
+"Is there?" said our hero, surprised, "When did it come?"
+
+"Yesterday. I was going to ask some one to carry it round to her, as you
+don't often call here."
+
+He handed the letter to Robert, who surveyed it with curiosity. It was
+postmarked "Boston," and addressed in a bold business hand to "Mrs.
+Captain Rushton, Millville."
+
+"Who can be writing to mother from Boston?" thought Robert.
+
+The size of the letter also excited his curiosity. There were two stamps
+upon it, and it appeared bulky. Robert hurried home, and rushed into the
+kitchen where his mother was at work.
+
+"Here's a letter for you, mother," he said.
+
+"A letter for me!" repeated Mrs. Rushton.
+
+"From Boston."
+
+"I don't know who would be likely to write me from there. Open it for
+me, Robert."
+
+He tore open the envelope. It contained two inclosures--one a letter in
+the same handwriting as the address; the other a large sheet of foolscap
+rumpled up, and appearing once to have been rolled up, was written in
+pencil. Mrs. Rushton had no sooner looked at the latter than she
+exclaimed, in agitation: "Robert, it is your father's handwriting. Read
+it to me, I am too agitated to make it out."
+
+Robert was equally excited. Was his father still alive, or was this
+letter a communication from the dead?
+
+"First let me read the other," he said. "It will explain about this."
+
+His mother sank back into a chair too weak with agitation to stand,
+while her son rapidly read the following letter:
+
+                             "BOSTON, August 15, 1853.
+
+  MRS. RUSHTON, DEAR MADAM: The fate
+  of our ship _Norman_, which left this port now
+  more than two years since, under the command
+  of your husband, has until now been veiled
+  in uncertainty. We had given up all hopes
+  of obtaining any light upon the circumstances
+  of its loss, when by a singular chance information
+  was brought us yesterday. The ship
+  _Argo_, while in the South Pacific, picked up
+  a bottle floating upon the surface of the water.
+  On opening it, it was found to contain two
+  communications, one addressed to us, the other
+  to you, the latter to be forwarded to you by
+  us. Ours contains the particulars of the loss
+  of the _Norman_, and doubtless your own letter
+  also contains the same particulars. There
+  is a bare possibility that your husband is still
+  alive, but as so long a period has passed since
+  the letters were written it would not be well
+  to place too much confidence in such a hope.
+  But even if Captain Rushton is dead, it will be
+  a sad satisfaction to you to receive from him
+  this last communication, and learn the particulars
+  of his loss. We lose no time in forwarding
+  to you the letter referred to, and remain,
+  with much sympathy, yours respectfully,
+
+                              WINSLOW & CO."
+
+Mrs. Rushton listened to this letter with eager and painful interest,
+her hands clasped, and her eyes fixed upon Robert.
+
+"Now read your father's letter," she said, in a low tone.
+
+Robert unfolded the sheet, and his eyes filled with tears as he gazed
+upon the well-known handwriting of the father whose loss he had so long
+lamented. This letter, too, we transcribe:
+
+                             "November 7, 1851.
+
+  MY DEAR WIFE AND SON: Whether these
+  lines will ever meet your eyes I know not.
+  Whether I will be permitted again to look upon
+  your dear faces, I also am ignorant. The good
+  ship _Norman_, in which I sailed from Boston
+  not quite three months ago, is burned to the water's
+  edge, and I find myself, with five of the
+  sailors, afloat on the vast sea at the mercy of
+  the elements, and with a limited supply of food.
+  The chances are against our ever seeing land.
+  Hundreds of miles away from any known
+  shores, our only hope of safety is in attracting
+  the attention of some vessel. In the broad pathways
+  of the ocean such a chance is doubtful.
+  Fortunately I have a few sheets of paper
+  and a pencil with me, and I write these
+  lines, knowing well how improbable it is that
+  you will ever read them. Yet it is a satisfaction
+  to do what I can to let you know the
+  position in which I stand.
+
+  But for the revengeful and malignant disposition
+  of one man I should still be walking
+  the deck of the _Norman_ as its captain.
+  But to my story: My first mate was a man
+  named Haley--Benjamin Haley--whose name
+  you will perhaps remember. He was born in
+  our neighborhood, or, at all events, once lived
+  there, being the nephew of old Paul Nichols.
+  He was a wild young man, and bore a bad reputation.
+  Finally he disappeared, and, as it
+  seems, embraced the profession of a sailor. I
+  was not prepossessed in his favor, and was not
+  very well pleased to find him my second in
+  command. However, he was regularly engaged,
+  and it was of no use for me to say anything
+  against him. I think, however, that he
+  suspected the state of my feelings, as, while
+  studiously polite, I did not make an effort
+  to be cordial. At any rate, he must have taken
+  a dislike to me early in the voyage, though
+  whether at that time he meditated evil, I cannot
+  say.
+
+  After a time I found that he was disposed
+  to encroach upon my prerogatives as captain
+  of the vessel, and issue commands which he
+  knew to be in defiance of my wishes. You can
+  imagine that I would not pass over such conduct
+  unnoticed. I summoned him to an interview,
+  and informed him in decided terms
+  that I must be master in my own ship. He
+  said little, but I saw from his expression that
+  there could thereafter be no amicable relations
+  between us.
+
+  I pass over the days that succeeded--days
+  in which Haley went to the furthest verge of
+  insolence that he felt would be safe. At
+  length, carried away by impatience, I reprimanded
+  him publicly. He grew pale with
+  passion, turned on his heel, and strode away.
+  That night I was roused from my sleep by the
+  cry of 'Fire!' I sprang to my feet and took
+  immediate measures to extinguish the flames.
+  But the incendiary had taken care to do his
+  work so well that it was already impossible.
+
+  I did not at first miss Haley, until, inquiring
+  for him, I learned that he was missing, and
+  one of the ship's boats. It was evident that
+  he had deliberately fired the ship in order
+  to revenge himself upon me. His hatred
+  must have been extreme, or he would not have
+  been willing to incur so great a risk. Though
+  he escaped from the ship, his position in an
+  open boat must be extremely perilous.
+
+  When all hope of saving the ship was
+  abandoned, we manned the remaining boats
+  hastily, putting in each such a stock of provisions
+  as we could carry without overloading the
+  boats. Twenty-four hours have now passed,
+  and we are still tossing about on the ocean.
+  A storm would be our destruction. At this
+  solemn time, my dear wife, my thoughts turn
+  to you and my dear son, whom I am likely
+  never to see again. There is one thing most
+  of all which I wish you to know, but can hardly
+  hope that these few lines will reach you. Just
+  before I left home, on my present voyage, I
+  deposited five thousand dollars with Mr. Davis,
+  the superintendent of the factory, in trust for
+  you, in case I should not return. You will
+  be surprised to learn that I have so much
+  money. It has been the accumulation of years,
+  and was intended as a provision for you and
+  Robert. I have no reason to doubt the integrity
+  of Mr. Davis, yet I wish I had acquainted
+  you with the fact of this deposit, and placed
+  his written acknowledgment in your hands.
+  My reason for concealment was, that I might
+  surprise you at the end of this voyage.
+
+  When this letter comes to hand (if it ever
+  should come to hand), in case the superintendent
+  has not accounted to you for the money
+  placed in his hands, let Robert go to him and
+  claim the money in my name. But I can hardly
+  believe this to be necessary. Should I never
+  return, I am persuaded that Mr. Davis will
+  be true to the trust I have reposed in him,
+  and come forward like an honest man to your
+  relief.
+
+  And now, my dear wife and son, farewell!
+  My hope is weak that I shall ever again see
+  you, yet it is possible. May Heaven bless you,
+  and permit us to meet again in another world,
+  if not in this!
+
+  I shall inclose this letter, and one to my
+  owners, in a bottle, which I have by me, and
+  commit it to the sea, trusting that the merciful
+  waves may waft it to the shore."
+
+Here Captain Rushton signed his name.
+
+The feelings with which Robert read and his mother listened to this
+letter, were varied. Love and pity for the husband and father, now
+doubtless long dead, were blended with surprise at the revelation of the
+deposit made in the hands of the superintendent of the mill.
+
+"Mother," said Robert, "did you know anything of this money father
+speaks of?"
+
+"No," said Mrs. Rushton, "he never told me. It is strange that Mr. Davis
+has never informed us of it. Two years have passed, and we have long
+given him up as lost."
+
+"Mother," said Robert, "it is my opinion that he never intends to let us
+know."
+
+"I cannot believe he would be so dishonorable."
+
+"But why should he keep back the knowledge? He knows that we are poor
+and need the money."
+
+"But he has the reputation of an honorable man."
+
+"Many have had that reputation who do not deserve it," said Robert.
+"The temptation must have proved too strong for him."
+
+"What shall we do?"
+
+"I know what I am going to do," said Robert, resolutely. "I am going to
+his house, and shall claim restitution of the money which father
+intrusted to him. He has had it two years, and, with the interest, it
+will amount to nearer six than five thousand dollars. It will be a
+fortune, mother."
+
+"Don't be hasty or impetuous, Robert," said his mother. "Speak to him
+respectfully."
+
+"I shall be civil if he is," said Robert.
+
+He took his cap, and putting it on, left the cottage and walked with a
+quick pace to the house of the superintendent.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+
+A DISAGREEABLE SURPRISE.
+
+Mr. Davis was seated in his office, but it was his own personal affairs
+rather than the business of the factory that engaged his attention. He
+was just in receipt of a letter from his broker in New York, stating
+that there were but slender chances of a rise in the price of some
+securities in which he had invested heavily. He was advised to sell out
+at once, in order to guard against a probable further depreciation. This
+was far from satisfactory, since an immediate sale would involve a loss
+of nearly a thousand dollars. Mr. Davis felt despondent, and, in
+consequence, irritable. It was at this moment that one of the factory
+hands came in and told him that Robert Rushton wished to see him.
+
+The superintendent would have refused an interview but for one
+consideration. He thought that our hero was about to beg to be taken
+back into his employ. This request he intended to refuse, and enjoyed in
+advance the humiliation of young Rushton.
+
+"Good-morning, sir," said Robert, removing his hat on entering.
+
+"I suppose you want to be taken back," said the superintendent,
+abruptly.
+
+"No, sir," said Robert. "I have come on quite a different errand."
+
+Mr. Davis was disappointed. He was cheated of his expected triumph.
+Moreover, looking into our young hero's face, he saw that he was
+entirely self-possessed, and had by no means the air of one about to ask
+a favor.
+
+"Then state your business at once," he said, roughly. "My time is too
+valuable to be taken up by trifles."
+
+"My business is important to both of us," said Robert. "We have just
+received a letter from my father."
+
+The superintendent started and turned pale. This was the most unwelcome
+intelligence he could have received. He supposed, of course, that
+Captain Rushton was alive, and likely to reclaim the sum, which he was
+in no position to surrender.
+
+"Your father!" he stammered. "Where is he? I thought he was dead."
+
+"I am afraid he is," said Robert, soberly.
+
+"Then how can you just have received a letter from him?" demanded Mr.
+Davis, recovering from his momentary dismay.
+
+"The letter was inclosed in a bottle, which was picked up in the South
+Pacific, and brought to the owners of the vessel. My father's ship was
+burned to the water's edge, and at the time of writing the letter he was
+afloat on the ocean with five of his sailors in a small boat."
+
+"How long ago was this? I mean when was the letter dated."
+
+"Nearly two years ago--in the November after he sailed."
+
+"Then, of course, he must have perished," said the superintendent, with
+a feeling of satisfaction. "However, I suppose your mother is glad to
+have heard from him. Is that all you have to tell me?"
+
+"No, sir," said Robert, looking boldly in the face of his former
+employer. "My father added in his letter, that just before sailing he
+deposited with you the sum of five thousand dollars, to be given to my
+mother in case he never returned."
+
+So the worst had come! The dead had revealed the secret which the
+superintendent hoped would never be known. He was threatened with ruin.
+He had no means of paying the deposit unless by sacrificing all his
+property, and it was doubtful whether even then he would be able wholly
+to make it up. If Robert possessed his acknowledgment he would have no
+defense to make. This he must ascertain before committing himself.
+
+"Supposing this story to be true," he said, in a half-sneering tone,
+"you are, of course, prepared to show me my receipt for the money?"
+
+"That my father carried away with him. He did not send it with the
+letter."
+
+All the superintendent's confidence returned. He no longer felt afraid,
+since all evidence of the deposit was doubtless at the bottom of the sea
+with the ill-fated captain. He resolved to deny the trust altogether.
+
+"Rushton," he said, "I have listened patiently to what you had to say,
+and in return I answer that in the whole course of my life I have never
+known of a more barefaced attempt at fraud. In this case you have
+selected the wrong customer."
+
+"What!" exclaimed Robert, hardly crediting the testimony of his ears;
+"do you mean to deny that my father deposited five thousand dollars with
+you just before sailing on his last voyage?"
+
+"I certainly do, and in the most unqualified terms. Had such been the
+case, do you think I would have kept the knowledge of it from your
+mother so long after your father's supposed death?"
+
+"There might be reasons for that," said Robert, significantly.
+
+"None of your impertinent insinuations, you young rascal," said Mr.
+Davis, hotly. "The best advice I can give you is, to say nothing to any
+one about this extraordinary claim. It will only injure you, and I shall
+be compelled to resort to legal measures to punish you for circulating
+stories calculated to injure my reputation."
+
+If the superintendent expected to intimidate Robert by this menace he
+was entirely mistaken in the character of our young hero. He bore the
+angry words and threatening glances of his enemy without quailing, as
+resolute and determined as ever.
+
+"Mr. Davis," he said, "if there is no truth in this story, do you think
+my father, with death before his eyes, would have written it to my
+mother?"
+
+"I have no evidence, except your word, that any such letter has been
+received."
+
+"I can show it to you, if you desire it, in my father's handwriting."
+
+"We will suppose, then, for a moment, that such a letter has been
+received, and was written by your father. I can understand how, being
+about to die, and feeling that his family were without provision, he
+should have written such a letter with the intention of giving you a
+claim upon me, whom he no doubt selected supposing me to be a rich man.
+It was not justifiable, but something can be excused to a man finding
+himself in such a position."
+
+Robert was filled with indignation as he listened to this aspersion upon
+his father's memory. He would not have cared half so much for any insult
+to himself.
+
+"Mr. Davis," he said, boldly, "it is enough for you to cheat my mother
+out of the money which my father left her, but when you accuse my father
+of fraud you go too far. You know better than any one that everything
+which he wrote is true."
+
+The superintendent flushed under the boy's honest scorn, and, unable to
+defend himself truthfully, he worked himself into a rage.
+
+"What! do you dare insult me in my own office?" he exclaimed, half
+rising from his desk, and glaring at our hero. "Out of my sight at once,
+or I may be tempted to strike you!"
+
+"Before I leave you, Mr. Davis," said Robert, undauntedly, "I wish you
+to tell me finally whether you deny the deposit referred to in my
+father's letter?"
+
+"And I tell you, once for all," exclaimed the superintendent, angrily,
+"if you don't get out of my office I will kick you out."
+
+"I will leave you now," said our hero, not intimidated; "but you have
+not heard the last of me. I will not rest until I see justice done to my
+mother."
+
+So saying, he walked deliberately from the office, leaving Mr. Davis in
+a state of mind no means comfortable. True, the receipt had doubtless
+gone to the bottom of the sea with the ill-fated captain, and, as no one
+was cognizant of the transaction, probably no claim could be enforced
+against his denial. But if the letter should be shown, as Robert would
+doubtless be inclined to do, he was aware that, however the law might
+decide, popular opinion would be against him, and his reputation would
+be ruined. This was an unpleasant prospect, as the superintendent valued
+his character. Besides, the five thousand dollars were gone and not
+likely to be recovered. Had they still been in his possession, that
+would have been some compensation.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+
+A DENIAL.
+
+Robert left the superintendent's office in deep thought. He understood
+very well that it would be impossible to enforce his claim without more
+satisfactory testimony than his father's letter. If any one had been
+cognizant of the transaction between Mr. Davis and his father it would
+have helped matters, but no one, so far as he knew, was even aware that
+his father had possessed so large a sum as five thousand dollars. Had
+Captain Rushton inclosed the receipt, that would have been sufficient,
+but it had probably gone to the bottom with him. But, after all, was it
+certain that his father was dead? It was not certain, but our hero was
+forced to admit that the chances of his father's being alive were
+extremely slender.
+
+Finding himself utterly at a loss, he resolved to call upon his firm
+friend, Squire Paine, the lawyer. Going to his office, he was fortunate
+enough to find him in, and unengaged.
+
+"Good-morning, Robert," said the lawyer, pleasantly.
+
+"Good-morning, sir. You find me a frequent visitor."
+
+"Always welcome," was the pleasant reply. "You know I am your banker,
+and it is only natural for you to call upon me."
+
+"Yes, sir," said Robert, smiling; "but it is on different business that
+I have come to consult you this morning."
+
+"Go on. I will give you the best advice in my power."
+
+The lawyer listened with surprise to the story Robert had to tell.
+
+"This is certainly a strange tale," he said, after a pause.
+
+"But a true one," said Robert, hastily.
+
+"I do not question that. It affords another illustration of the old
+saying that truth is stranger than fiction. That a letter committed to
+the deep so many thousand miles away should have finally reached its
+destination is very remarkable, I may say Providential."
+
+"Do you think there is any chance of my father being yet alive?"
+
+"There is a bare chance, but I cannot encourage you to place much
+reliance upon it."
+
+"If he had been picked up by any vessel I suppose he would have
+written."
+
+"You would doubtless have seen him at home before this time in that
+case. Still there might be circumstances," added the lawyer, slowly,
+"that would prevent his communicating with friends at home. For
+instance, his boat might have drifted to some uninhabited island out of
+the course of ordinary navigation. I don't say it is at all probable,
+but there is such a probability."
+
+"Is there any chance of making Mr. Davis return the money my father
+deposited with him?"
+
+"There again there are difficulties. He may demand the return of his
+receipt, or he may continue to deny the trust altogether."
+
+"Won't the letter prove anything?"
+
+"It may produce a general conviction that such a deposit was made,
+since, admitting the letter to be genuine, no one, considering
+especially the character of your father, can readily believe that in the
+immediate presence of death he would make any such statement unless
+thoroughly reliable. But moral conviction and legal proof are quite
+different things. Unless that receipt is produced I don't see that
+anything can be done."
+
+"Perhaps my father might have put that in a bottle also at a later
+date."
+
+"He might have done so when he became satisfied that there was no chance
+of a rescue. But even supposing him to have done it, the chances are
+ten to one that it will never find its way to your mother. The reception
+of the first letter was almost a miracle."
+
+"I have no doubt you are right, Mr. Paine," said Robert; "but it seems
+very hard that my poor father's hard earnings should go to such an
+unprincipled man, and my mother be left destitute."
+
+"That is true, Robert, but I am obliged to say that your only hope is in
+awakening Mr. Davis to a sense of justice."
+
+"There isn't much chance of that," said Robert, shaking his head.
+
+"If you will leave the matter in my hands, I will call upon him
+to-night, and see what I can do."
+
+"I shall feel very glad if you will do so, Squire Paine. I don't want to
+leave anything undone."
+
+"Then I will do so. I don't imagine it will do any good, but we can but
+try."
+
+Robert left the office, making up his mind to await the report of the
+lawyer's visit before moving further.
+
+That evening, the lawyer called at the house of the superintendent. Mrs.
+Davis and Halbert were in the room. After a little unimportant
+conversation, he said:
+
+"Mr. Davis, may I ask the favor of a few minutes' conversation with you
+in private?"
+
+"Certainly," said the superintendent, quite in the dark as to the
+business which had called his guest to the house. He led the way into
+another room, and both took seats.
+
+"I may as well say to begin with," commenced the lawyer, "that I call in
+behalf of the family of the late Captain Rushton."
+
+The superintendent started nervously.
+
+"That boy has lost no time," he muttered to himself.
+
+"I suppose you understand what I have to say?"
+
+"I presume I can guess," said the superintendent, coldly. "The boy came
+into my office this morning, and made a most extraordinary claim, which
+I treated with contempt. Finding him persistent I ordered him out of my
+office. I need not say that no sane man would for a moment put
+confidence in such an incredible story or claim."
+
+"I can't quite agree with you there," said the lawyer, quietly. "There
+is nothing incredible about the story. It is remarkable, I grant, but
+such things have happened before, and will again."
+
+"I suppose you refer to the picking up of the bottle at sea."
+
+"Yes; I fail to see what there is incredible about it. If the
+handwriting can be identified as that of the late Captain Rushton, and
+Robert says both his mother and himself recognized it, the story becomes
+credible and will meet with general belief."
+
+"I thought you were too sensible and practical a man," said the
+superintendent, sneering, "to be taken in by so palpable a humbug. Why,
+it reads like a romance."
+
+"In spite of all that, it may be true enough," returned the lawyer,
+composedly.
+
+"You may believe it, if you please. It seems to me quite unworthy of
+belief."
+
+"Waiving that point, Robert, doubtless, acquainted you with the
+statement made in the letter that Captain Rushton, just before sailing
+on his last voyage, deposited with you five thousand dollars. What have
+you to say to that?"
+
+"What have I to say?" returned the superintendent. "That Captain Rushton
+never possessed five thousand dollars in his life. I don't believe he
+possessed one quarter of the sum."
+
+"What authority have you for saying that? Did he make you his
+confidant?" asked the lawyer, keenly.
+
+"Yes," said the superintendent, promptly. "When last at home, he called
+at my house one day, and in the course of conversation remarked that
+sailors seldom saved any money. 'For instance,' said he, 'I have
+followed the sea for many years, and have many times resolved to
+accumulate a provision for my wife and child, but as yet I have scarcely
+done more than to begin.' He then told me that he had little more than a
+thousand dollars, but meant to increase that, if possible, during his
+coming voyage."
+
+To this statement Squire Paine listened attentively, fully believing it
+to be an impromptu fabrication, as it really was.
+
+"Did he say anything about what he had done with this thousand dollars
+or more?" he asked.
+
+"A part he left for his wife to draw from time to time for expenses; the
+rest, I suppose, he took with him."
+
+Mr. Paine sat silent for a moment. Things looked unpromising, he
+couldn't but acknowledge, for his young client. In the absence of legal
+proof, and with an adroit and unscrupulous antagonist, whose interests
+were so strongly enlisted in defeating justice, it was difficult to see
+what was to be done.
+
+"I understand then, Mr. Davis," he said, finally, "that you deny the
+justice of this claim?"
+
+"Certainly I do," said the superintendent. "It is a palpable fraud. This
+boy is a precocious young swindler, and will come to a bad end."
+
+"I have a different opinion of him."
+
+"You are deceived in him, then. I have no doubt he got up the letter
+himself."
+
+"I don't agree with you. I have seen the letter; it is in Captain
+Rushton's handwriting. Moreover, I have seen the letter of the owners,
+which accompanied it."
+
+The superintendent was in a tight place, and he knew it. But there was
+nothing to do but to persist in his denial.
+
+"Then I can only say that Captain Rushton was a party to the fraud," he
+said.
+
+"You must be aware, Mr. Davis, that when the public learns the facts in
+the case, the general belief will be the other way."
+
+"I can't help that," said the other, doggedly. "Whatever the public
+chooses to think, I won't admit the justice of this outrageous claim."
+
+"Then I have only to bid you good-evening," said the lawyer, coldly,
+affecting not to see the hand which the superintendent extended. The
+latter felt the slight, and foresaw that from others he must expect
+similar coldness, but there was no help for it. To restore the money
+would be ruin. He had entered into the path of dishonesty, and he was
+forced to keep on in it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+
+ROBERT'S NEW PROJECT.
+
+Mr. Paine called at Mrs. Rushton's cottage, and communicated the
+particulars of his interview with the superintendent.
+
+"It is evident," he said, "that Mr. Davis is swayed by his interests,
+and feeling legally secure, prefers to defraud you rather than to
+surrender the five thousand dollars."
+
+"I wouldn't have believed it of Mr. Davis," said Mrs. Rushton; "he is
+considered such a respectable man."
+
+"I have heard rumors that he is dabbling in speculations, and I suspect
+he may find it inconvenient to pay away so large a sum of money."
+
+"He had no right to speculate with my mother's money," said Robert,
+indignantly.
+
+"You are right there. He should have invested it securely."
+
+"Mr. Paine," said Robert, after a pause, "I have an idea that father is
+still living, and that some day I shall find him."
+
+The lawyer shook his head.
+
+"There is not one chance in ten that he is living," he said. "It is only
+a fancy of yours."
+
+"It may be, but I can't get it out of my head."
+
+"I hope you will prove correct, but I need not tell you of the many
+arguments against such a theory."
+
+"I know them all, but still I believe he is living. Mr. Paine,"
+continued Robert, earnestly, "I feel so strongly on the subject that,
+with my mother's permission, I, mean to go out into the world in search
+of him."
+
+"I must say, Robert," said Mr. Paine, "I did not expect such a visionary
+scheme from a boy of your good sense. You must see yourself how wild it
+is."
+
+"I know it," said our hero; "but I want to take a year, at any rate, to
+see the world. If, at the end of that time, I discover no trace of my
+father, I will come home content."
+
+"But what will become of your mother during that time?"
+
+"I will leave four hundred dollars in your hands for her. The rest I
+will draw for my own uses."
+
+"But you don't expect to travel round the world on two hundred dollars,
+surely?" said the lawyer.
+
+"I shall work my way as far as I can," said Robert. "I can't afford to
+travel as a gentleman."
+
+"Suppose you find yourself without money in a foreign land?"
+
+"I am not afraid. I am willing to work, and I can make my way."
+
+"Surely, Mrs. Rushton, you do not approve Robert's scheme?" said Mr.
+Paine.
+
+But to his surprise he found that Mrs. Rushton was inclined to regard it
+favorably. She seemed to share Robert's belief that her husband was
+still living, and that Robert could find him. She was not a woman in the
+habit of reasoning, and had no conception of the difficulties in his
+way. The money left behind in the hands of Mr. Paine, supplemented by
+her own earnings, would be enough to maintain her for two years, and
+this thought made her easy, for she had a great dread of poverty and
+destitution.
+
+When the lawyer found how Mrs. Rushton felt on the subject, he ceased
+his objections to the plan; for, though he had no confidence in our
+young hero's success in the object he had in view, he thought that a
+year's tour might benefit him by extending his knowledge of the world
+and increasing his self-reliance.
+
+"How soon do you wish to start, Robert?" he asked.
+
+"It will take me a week to get your clothes ready," said Mrs. Rushton.
+
+"Then by a week from Monday I will start," said Robert.
+
+"Have you formed any definite plans about the manner of going?"
+
+"I will go to New York first, and call on the gentleman who got up the
+subscription for me. I will tell him my story, and ask his advice."
+
+"The most sensible thing you could do. As to the money, I will have that
+ready for you. Of course, you will call on me before you go."
+
+The superintendent had made up his mind that Robert would spread the
+report of the deposit, and nervously awaited the result. But to his
+relief he observed no change in the demeanor of his fellow-townsmen. He
+could only conclude that, for reasons of his own, the boy he had wronged
+had concluded to defer the exposure. Next he heard with a feeling of
+satisfaction that Robert had decided to go abroad in quest of his
+father. He had no doubt that Captain Rushton was dead, and regarded the
+plan as utterly quixotic and foolish, but still he felt glad that it had
+been undertaken.
+
+"If the boy never comes back, I shan't mourn much," he said to himself.
+"His mother is a weak woman, who will never give me any trouble, but
+this young rascal has a strong and resolute will, and I shall feel more
+comfortable to have him out of the way."
+
+When Robert got ready to leave he made a farewell call on the lawyer,
+and drew two hundred dollars of his money.
+
+"I don't know but one hundred will do," he said. "Perhaps I ought to
+leave five hundred for my mother."
+
+"You carry little enough, Robert. Don't have any anxiety about your
+mother. I will not see her suffer."
+
+Robert grasped his hand in earnest gratitude.
+
+"How can I thank you?" he said.
+
+"You need not thank me. I had a warm regard for your father, and shall
+be glad to help your mother if there is any occasion. Not only this, but
+if in your wanderings you find yourself in a tight place, and in want of
+help, write to me, and I will help you."
+
+"You are a true friend," said Robert, gratefully. "I wish my father had
+intrusted his money to you instead of to the superintendent."
+
+"I wish he had as matters have turned out, I should have taken care that
+your interests did not suffer."
+
+"Oh," exclaimed Robert, fervently, "if I could only find my father, and
+bring him home to confront this false friend, and convict him of his
+base fraud, I believe I would willingly give ten years of my life."
+
+"That question can only be solved by time. I, too, should earnestly
+rejoice if such an event could be brought about. And now, Robert,
+good-by, and Heaven bless you. Don't forget that you can count always on
+my friendship and assistance."
+
+On the way home Robert fell in with Halbert Davis. Halbert, of course,
+knew nothing of the claim made upon his father, but he had heard that
+Robert proposed to leave home. He was both sorry and glad on account of
+this--sorry because he had hoped to see our hero fall into poverty and
+destitution, and enjoy the spectacle of his humiliation. Now he was
+afraid Robert would succeed and deprive him of the enjoyment he had
+counted upon. On the other hand, Robert's departure would leave the
+field free so far as concerned Hester Paine, and he hoped to win the
+favor of that young lady in the absence of any competitor. Of this there
+was not the slightest chance, but Halbert was blinded by his own vanity
+to the obvious dislike which Hester entertained for him.
+
+Now when he saw Robert approaching he couldn't forego the pleasure of a
+final taunt.
+
+"So you're going to leave town, Rushton?'" he commenced.
+
+"Yes, Davis," answered Robert, in the same tone. "Shall you miss me
+much?"
+
+"I guess I shall live through it," said Halbert. "I suppose you are
+going because you can't make a living here!"
+
+"Not exactly. However, I hope to do better elsewhere."
+
+"If you're going to try for a place, you'd better not mention that you
+got turned out of the factory. You needn't apply to my father for a
+recommendation."
+
+"I shan't need any recommendation from your father," said Robert. "He is
+about the last man that I would apply to."
+
+"That's where you are right," said Halbert. "What sort of a place are
+you going to try for?"
+
+He knew nothing of Robert's intention to seek his father, but supposed
+he meant to obtain a situation in New York.
+
+"You seem particularly interested in my movements, Davis."
+
+"Call me Mr. Davis, if you please," said Halbert, haughtily.
+
+"When you call me Mr. Rushton, I will return the compliment."
+
+"You are impertinent."
+
+"Not more so than you are."
+
+"You don't seem to realize the difference in our positions."
+
+"No, I don't, except that I prefer my own."
+
+Disgusted with Robert's evident determination to withhold the respect
+which he considered his due, Halbert tried him on another tack.
+
+"Have you bidden farewell to Hester Paine?" he asked, with a sneer.
+
+"Yes," said Robert.
+
+"I suppose she was very much affected!" continued Halbert.
+
+"She said she was very sorry to part with me."
+
+"I admire her taste."
+
+"You would admire it more if she had a higher appreciation of you."
+
+"I shall be good friends with her, when you are no longer here to
+slander me to her."
+
+"I am not quite so mean as that," said Robert. "If she chooses to like
+you, I shan't try to prevent it."
+
+"I ought to be very much obliged to you, I am sure."
+
+"You needn't trouble yourself to be grateful," returned Robert, coolly.
+"But I must bid you good-by, as I have considerable to do."
+
+"Don't let me detain you," said Halbert, with an elaborate share of
+politeness.
+
+"I wonder why Halbert hates me so much!" he thought. "I don't like him,
+but I don't wish him any harm."
+
+He looked with satisfaction upon a little cornelian ring which he wore
+upon one of his fingers. It was of very trifling value, but it was a
+parting gift from Hester, and as such he valued it far above its cost.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+
+A DISHONEST BAGGAGE-SMASHER.
+
+On the next Monday morning Robert started for the city. At the moment of
+parting he began to realize that he had undertaken a difficult task. His
+life hitherto had been quiet and free from excitement. Now he was about
+to go out into the great world, and fight his own way. With only two
+hundred dollars in his pocket he was going in search of a father, who,
+when last heard from was floating in an open boat on the South Pacific.
+The probabilities were all against that father's being still alive. If
+he were, he had no clew to his present whereabouts.
+
+All this Robert thought over as he was riding in the cars to the city.
+He acknowledged that the chances were all against his success, but in
+spite of all, he had a feeling, for which he could not account, that his
+father was still living, and that he should find him some day. At any
+rate, there was something attractive in the idea of going out to
+unknown lands to meet unknown adventures, and so his momentary
+depression was succeeded by a return of his old confidence.
+
+Arrived in the city, he took his carpetbag in his hand, and crossing the
+street, walked at random, not being familiar with the streets, as he had
+not been in New York but twice before, and that some time since.
+
+"I don't know where to go," thought Robert. "I wish I knew where to find
+some cheap hotel."
+
+Just then a boy, in well-ventilated garments and a rimless straw hat,
+with a blacking box over his shoulder, approached.
+
+"Shine your boots, mister?" he asked.
+
+Robert glanced at his shoes, which were rather deficient in polish, and
+finding that the expense would be only five cents, told him to go ahead.
+
+"I'll give you the bulliest shine you ever had," said the ragamuffin.
+
+"That's right! Go ahead!" said Robert.
+
+When the boy got through, he cast a speculative glance at the carpetbag.
+
+"Smash yer baggage?" he asked.
+
+"What's that?"
+
+"Carry yer bag."
+
+"Do you know of any good, cheap hotel where I can put up?" asked Robert.
+
+"Eu-ro-pean hotel?" said the urchin, accenting the second syllable.
+
+"What kind of a hotel is that?"
+
+"You take a room, and get your grub where you like."
+
+"Yes, that will suit me."
+
+"I'll show you one and take yer bag along for two shillings."
+
+"All right," said our hero. "Go ahead."
+
+The boy shouldered the carpetbag and started in advance, Robert
+following. He found a considerable difference between the crowded
+streets of New York and the quiet roads of Millville. His spirits rose,
+and he felt that life was just beginning for him. Brave and bold by
+temperament, he did not shrink from trying his luck on a broader arena
+than was afforded by the little village whence he came. Such confidence
+is felt by many who eventually fail, but Robert was one who combined
+ability and willingness to work with confidence, and the chances were in
+favor of his succeeding.
+
+Unused to the city streets, Robert was a little more cautious about
+crossing than the young Arab who carried his bag. So, at one broad
+thoroughfare, the latter got safely across, while Robert was still on
+the other side waiting for a good opportunity to cross in turn. The
+bootblack, seeing that communication was for the present cut off by a
+long line of vehicles, was assailed by a sudden temptation. For his
+services as porter he would receive but twenty-five cents, while here
+was an opportunity to appropriate the entire bag, which must be far more
+valuable. He was not naturally a bad boy, but his street education had
+given him rather loose ideas on the subject of property. Obeying his
+impulse, then, he started rapidly, bag in hand, up a side street.
+
+"Hold on, there! Where are you going?" called out Robert.
+
+He received no answer, but saw the baggage-smasher quickening his pace
+and dodging round the corner. He attempted to dash across the street,
+but was compelled to turn back, after being nearly run over.
+
+"I wish I could get hold of the young rascal!" he exclaimed indignantly.
+
+"Who do you mane, Johnny?" asked a boy at his side.
+
+"A boy has run off with my carpetbag," said Robert.
+
+"I know him. It's Jim Malone."
+
+"Do you know where I can find him?" asked Robert, eagerly. "If you'll
+help me get back my bag, I'll give you a dollar."
+
+"I'll do it then. Come along of me. Here's a chance to cross."
+
+Following his new guide, Robert dashed across the street at some risk,
+and found himself safe on the other side.
+
+"Now where do you think he's gone?" demanded Robert.
+
+"It's likely he'll go home."
+
+"Do you know where he lives?"
+
+"No.--Mulberry street."
+
+"Has he got any father and mother?"
+
+"He's got a mother, but the ould woman's drunk most all the time."
+
+"Then she won't care about his stealing?"
+
+"No, she'll think he's smart."
+
+"Then we'll go there. Is it far?"
+
+"Not more than twenty minutes."
+
+The boy was right. Jim steered for home, not being able to open the bag
+in the street without suspicion. His intention was to appropriate a part
+of the clothing to his own use, and dispose of the rest to a pawnbroker
+or second-hand dealer, who, as long as he got a good bargain, would not
+be too particular about inquiring into the customer's right to the
+property. He did not, however, wholly escape suspicion. He was stopped
+by a policeman, who demanded, "Whose bag is that, Johnny?"
+
+"It belongs to a gentleman that wants it carried to the St. Nicholas,"
+answered Jim, promptly.
+
+"Where is the gentleman?"
+
+"He's took a car to Wall street on business."
+
+"How came he to trust you with the bag? Wasn't he afraid you'd steal
+it?"
+
+"Oh, he knows me. I've smashed baggage for him more'n once."
+
+This might be true. At any rate, it was plausible, and the policeman,
+having no ground of detention, suffered him to go on.
+
+Congratulating himself on getting off so well, Jim sped on his way, and
+arrived in quick time at the miserable room in Mulberry street, which he
+called home.
+
+His mother lay on a wretched bed in the corner, half stupefied with
+drink. She lifted up her head as her son entered.
+
+"What have you there, Jimmy?" she asked.
+
+"It's a bag, mother."
+
+"Whose is it?"
+
+"It's mine now."
+
+"And where did ye get it?"
+
+"A boy gave it to me to carry to a chape hotel, so I brought it home.
+This is a chape hotel, isn't it?"
+
+"You're a smart boy, an' I always said it, Jimmy. Let me open it," and
+the old woman, with considerable alacrity, rose to her feet and came to
+Jim's side.
+
+"I'll open it myself, mother, that is, I if I had a kay. Haven't you got
+one?"
+
+"I have that same. I picked up a bunch of kays in the strate last
+week."
+
+She fumbled in her pocket, and drew out half a dozen keys of different
+sizes, attached to a steel ring.
+
+"Bully for you, old woman!" said Jim. "Give 'em here."
+
+"Let me open the bag," said Mrs. Malone, persuasively.
+
+"No, you don't," said her dutiful son. "'Tain't none of yours. It's
+mine."
+
+"The kays is mine," said his mother, "and I'll kape 'em."
+
+"Give 'em here," said Jim, finding a compromise necessary, "and I'll
+give you fifty cents out of what I get."
+
+"That's the way to talk, darlint," said his mother, approvingly. "You
+wouldn't have the heart to chate your ould mother out of her share?"
+
+"It's better I did," said Jim; "you'll only get drunk on the money."
+
+"Shure a little drink will do me no harm," said Mrs. Malone.
+
+Meanwhile the young Arab had tried key after key until he found one that
+fitted--the bag flew open, and Robert's humble stock of clothing lay
+exposed to view. There was a woolen suit, four shirts, half a dozen
+collars, some stockings and handkerchiefs. Besides these there was the
+little Bible which Robert had had given him by his father just before he
+went on his last voyage. It was the only book our hero had room for, but
+in the adventurous career upon which he had entered, exposed to perils
+of the sea and land, he felt that he would need this as his constant
+guide.
+
+"Them shirts'll fit me," said Jim. "I guess I'll kape 'em, and the close
+besides."
+
+"Then where'll you git the money for me?" asked his mother.
+
+"I'll sell the handkerchiefs and stockings. I don't nade them," said
+Jim, whose ideas of full dress fell considerably short of the ordinary
+standard. "I won't nade the collars either."
+
+"You don't nade all the shirts," said his mother.
+
+"I'll kape two," said Jim. "It'll make me look respectable. Maybe I'll
+kape two collars, so I can sit up for a gentleman of fashion."
+
+"You'll be too proud to walk with your ould mother," said Mrs. Malone.
+
+"Maybe I will," said Jim, surveying his mother critically. "You aint
+much of a beauty, ould woman."
+
+"I was a purty gal, once," said Mrs. Malone, "but hard work and bad luck
+has wore on me."
+
+"The whisky's had something to do with it," said Jim. "Hard work didn't
+make your face so red."
+
+"Is it my own boy talks to me like that?" said the old woman, wiping her
+eyes on her dress.
+
+But her sorrow was quickly succeeded by a different emotion, as the door
+opened suddenly, and Robert Rushton entered the room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+
+A GOOD BEGINNING.
+
+Jim started to his feet at the sight of the equally unwelcome and
+unexpected visitor. His mother, ignorant that she saw before her the
+owner of the bag, supposed it might be a customer wanting some washing
+done.
+
+"Good-morning, sir," said she, "And have yez business with me?"
+
+"No," said Robert, "I have business with your son, if that's he."
+
+"Shure he's my son, and a smart bye he is too."
+
+"He's a little too smart sometimes," returned our hero. "I gave him my
+carpetbag to carry this morning, and he ran away with it."
+
+Mrs. Malone's face fell at this unexpected intelligence.
+
+"Shur an' it was a mistake of his," she said. "He's too honest entirely
+to stale the value of a pin, let alone a carpetbag."
+
+Meanwhile Jim was rapidly reviewing the situation. He was not naturally
+bad, but he had fallen a victim to sudden temptation. He was ashamed,
+and determined to make amends by a frank confession.
+
+"My mother is wrong," he said; "I meant to kape it, and I'm sorry.
+Here's the bag, wid nothing taken out of it."
+
+"That's right, to own up," said Robert, favorably impressed with his
+frank confession. "Give me the bag and it'll be all right. I suppose you
+were poor, and that tempted you. I am poor, too, and couldn't afford to
+lose it. But I'd rather starve than steal, and I hope you will not be
+dishonest again."
+
+"I won't!" said Jim, stoutly. "I'll go with you now to a chape hotel,
+and won't charge you nothin'."
+
+"I've got a boy downstairs who will take it. Don't forget what you said
+just now."
+
+"No, I won't," said Jim. "Shure if I'd known what a bully young
+gentleman you was, I wouldn't have took it on no account."
+
+So Robert descended the stairs, having by his forbearance probably
+effected a moral reformation in Jim, and confirmed in him the good
+principles, which, in spite of his mother's bad example, had already
+taken root in his heart. If the community, while keeping vigilant watch
+over the young outcasts that throng our streets, plying their petty
+avocations, would not always condemn, but encourage them sometimes to a
+better life, the results would soon appear in the diminution of the
+offenses for which they are most frequently arrested.
+
+His new guide shouldered Robert's carpetbag, and conducted him to a
+hotel of good standing, managed on the European system. Dismissing the
+boy with the promised reward, Robert went up to his room on the fifth
+floor, and after attending to his toilet, sallied out into the street
+and made his way to the warehouse of the merchant who had been
+instrumental in raising the fund for him.
+
+"Mr. Morgan is engaged," said a clerk to whom he spoke.
+
+"I will wait for him, if you please," said Robert.
+
+"Is it any business that I can attend to?" asked the clerk.
+
+"No, I wish to see Mr. Morgan himself."
+
+Mr. Morgan was engaged with two gentlemen, and our hero was obliged to
+wait nearly half an hour. At the end of that time, the merchant
+consented to see him. He did not at first recognize him, but said,
+inquiringly, "Well, my young friend, from whom do you come?"
+
+"I come from no one, sir."
+
+"Have you business with me?"
+
+"You do not remember me, Mr. Morgan. Do you remember when the cars came
+so near running off the track a short time since at Millville?"
+
+"Certainly I do," said Mr. Morgan, heartily; "and I now remember you as
+the brave boy who saved all our lives."
+
+"You gave me your card and told me I might call on you."
+
+"To be sure, I did, and I am very glad to see you. You must go home and
+dine with me to-day."
+
+"Thank you, sir, for your kind invitation."
+
+"This is my address," said the merchant, writing it in pencil, and
+handing it to Robert. "We dine at half-past six. You had better be at
+the door at six. We will then talk over your plans, for I suppose you
+have some, and I will do what I can to promote them. At present I am
+busy, and am afraid I must ask you to excuse me."
+
+"Thank you, sir," said Robert, gratefully.
+
+He left the office, not a little elated at his favorable reception. Mr.
+Morgan, judging from his place of business, must be a man of great
+wealth, and could no doubt be of essential service to him. What was
+quite as important, he seemed disposed to help him.
+
+"That's a good beginning," thought Robert. "I wish mother knew how well
+I have succeeded so far. I'll just write and let her know that I have
+arrived safe. To-morrow perhaps I shall have better news to tell."
+
+He went back to his hotel, and feeling hungry, made a substantial meal.
+He found the restaurants moderate in price, and within his means.
+
+Six o'clock found him ringing the bell of a handsome brownstone house on
+Fifth avenue. Though not disposed to be shy, he felt a little
+embarrassed as the door opened and a servant in livery stood before him.
+
+"Is Mr. Morgan at home?" inquired Robert.
+
+"Yes, sir," said the servant, glancing speculatively at the neat but
+coarse garments of our hero.
+
+"He invited me to dine with him," said Robert.
+
+"Won't you walk in, sir?" said the servant, with another glance of mild
+surprise at the dress of the dinner guest. "If you'll walk in here,"
+opening the door of a sumptuously furnished parlor, "I will announce
+you. What name shall I say?"
+
+"Robert Rushton."
+
+Robert entered the parlor, and sat down on a sofa. He looked around him
+with a little, pardonable curiosity, for he had never before been in an
+elegant city mansion.
+
+"I wonder whether I shall ever be rich enough to live like this!" he
+thought.
+
+The room, though elegant, was dark, and to our hero, who was used to
+bright, sunny rooms, it seemed a little gloomy. He mentally decided that
+he would prefer a plain country house; not so plain, indeed, as the
+little cottage where his mother lived, but as nice, perhaps, as the
+superintendent's house, which was the finest in the village, and the
+most magnificent he had until this time known. Its glories were wholly
+eclipsed by the house he was in, but Robert thought he would prefer it.
+While he was looking about him, Mr. Morgan entered, and his warm and
+cordial manner made his boy guest feel quite at his ease.
+
+"I must make you acquainted with my wife and children," he said. "They
+have heard of you, and are anxious to see you."
+
+Mrs. Morgan gave Robert a reception as warm as her husband had done.
+
+"So this is the young hero of whom I have heard!" she said.
+
+"I am afraid you give me too much credit," said Robert, modestly.
+
+This modest disclaimer produced a still more favorable impression upon
+both Mr. and Mrs. Morgan.
+
+I do not propose to speak in detail of the dinner that followed. The
+merchant and his wife succeeded in making Robert feel entirely at home,
+and he displayed an ease and self-possession wholly free from boldness
+that won their good opinion.
+
+When the dinner was over, Mr. Morgan commenced:
+
+"Now, Robert, dinner being over, let us come to business. Tell me your
+plans, and I will consider how I can promote them."
+
+In reply, Robert communicated the particulars, already known to the
+reader, of his father's letter, his own conviction of his still living,
+and his desire to go in search of him.
+
+"I am afraid you will be disappointed," said the merchant, "in the
+object of your expedition. It may, however, be pleasant for you to see
+something of the world, and luckily it is in my power to help you. I
+have a vessel which sails for Calcutta early next week. You shall go as
+a passenger."
+
+"Couldn't I go as cabin-boy?" asked Robert. "I am afraid the price of a
+ticket will be beyond my means."
+
+"I think not," said the merchant, smiling, "since you will go free. As
+you do not propose to follow the sea, it will not be worth while to go
+as cabin-boy. Besides, it would interfere with your liberty to leave the
+vessel whenever you deemed it desirable in order to carry on your search
+for your father."
+
+"You are very kind, Mr. Morgan," said Robert, gratefully.
+
+"So I ought to be and mean to be," said the merchant. "You know I am in
+your debt."
+
+We pass over the few and simple preparations which Robert made for his
+long voyage. In these he was aided by Mrs. Morgan, who sent on board,
+without his knowledge, a trunk containing a complete outfit,
+considerably better than the contents of the humble carpetbag he had
+brought from home.
+
+He didn't go on board till the morning on which the ship was to sail. He
+went down into the cabin, and did not come up until the ship had
+actually started. Coming on deck, he saw a figure which seemed familiar
+to him. From his dress, and the commands he appeared to be issuing,
+Robert judged that it was the mate. He tried to think where he could
+have met him, when the mate turned full around, and, alike to his
+surprise and dismay, he recognized Ben Haley, whom he had wounded in his
+successful attempt to rob his uncle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+
+A DECLARATION OF WAR.
+
+If Robert was surprised, Ben Haley had even more reason for
+astonishment. He had supposed his young enemy, as he chose to consider
+him, quietly living at home in the small village of Millville. He was
+far from expecting to meet him on shipboard bound to India. There was
+one difference, however, between the surprise felt by the two. Robert
+was disagreeably surprised, but a flash of satisfaction lit up the face
+of the mate, as he realized that the boy who had wounded him was on the
+same ship, and consequently, as he supposed, in his power.
+
+"How came you here?" he exclaimed, hastily advancing toward Robert.
+
+Resenting the tone of authority in which these words were spoken, Robert
+answered, composedly:
+
+"I walked on board."
+
+"You'd better not be impudent, young one," said Ben, roughly.
+
+"When you tell me what right you have to question me in that style,"
+said Robert, coolly, "I will apologize."
+
+"I am the mate of this vessel, as you will soon find out."
+
+"So I supposed," said Robert.
+
+"And you, I suppose, are the cabin-boy. Change your clothes at once, and
+report for duty."
+
+Robert felt sincerely thankful at that moment that he was not the
+cabin-boy, for he foresaw that in that case he would be subjected to
+brutal treatment from the mate--treatment which his subordinate position
+would make him powerless to resent. Now, as a passenger, he felt
+independent, and though it was disagreeable to have the mate for an
+enemy, he did not feel afraid.
+
+"You've made a mistake, Mr. Haley," said our hero. "I am not the
+cabin-boy."
+
+"What are you, then?"
+
+"I am a passenger."
+
+"You are telling a lie. We don't take passengers," said Ben Haley,
+determined not to believe that the boy was out of his power.
+
+"If you will consult the captain, you may learn your mistake," said
+Robert.
+
+Ben Haley couldn't help crediting this statement, since it would have
+done Robert no good to misrepresent the facts of the case. He resolved,
+however, to ask the captain about it, and inquire how it happened that
+he had been received as a passenger, contrary to the usual custom.
+
+"You will hear from me again," he said, in a tone of menace.
+
+Robert turned away indifferently, so far as appearance went, but he
+couldn't help feeling a degree of apprehension as he thought of the long
+voyage he was to take in company with his enemy, who doubtless would
+have it in his power to annoy him, even if he abstained from positive
+injury.
+
+"He is a bad man, and will injure me if he can," he reflected; "but I
+think I can take care of myself. If I can't I will appeal to the
+captain."
+
+Meanwhile the mate went up to the captain.
+
+"Captain Evans," said he, "is that boy a passenger?"
+
+"Yes, Mr. Haley."
+
+"It is something unusual to take passengers, is it not?"
+
+"Yes; but this lad is a friend of the owner; and Mr. Morgan has given me
+directions to treat him with particular consideration."
+
+Ben Haley was puzzled. How did it happen that Mr. Morgan, one of the
+merchant princes of New York, had become interested in an obscure
+country boy?
+
+"I don't understand it," he said, perplexed.
+
+"I suppose the boy is a relation of Mr. Morgan."
+
+"Nothing of the kind. He is of poor family, from a small country town."
+
+"Then you know him?"
+
+"I know something of him and his family. He is one of the most impudent
+young rascals I ever met."
+
+"Indeed!" returned the captain, surprised. "From what I have seen of
+him, I have come to quite a different conclusion. He has been very
+gentlemanly and polite to me."
+
+"He can appear so, but you will find out, sooner or later. He has not
+the slightest regard for truth, and will tell the most unblushing
+falsehoods with the coolest and most matter-of-fact air."
+
+"I shouldn't have supposed it," said Captain Evans, looking over at our
+hero, at the other extremity of the deck. "Appearances are deceitful,
+certainly."
+
+"They are in this case."
+
+This terminated the colloquy for the time. The mate had done what he
+could to prejudice the captain against the boy he hated. Not, however,
+with entire success.
+
+Captain Evans had a mind of his own, and did not choose to adopt any
+man's judgment or prejudices blindly. He resolved to watch Robert a
+little more closely than he had done, in order to see whether his own
+observation confirmed the opinion expressed by the mate. Of the latter
+he did not know much, since this was the first voyage on which they had
+sailed together; but Captain Evans was obliged to confess that he did
+not wholly like his first officer. He appeared to be a capable seaman,
+and, doubtless, understood his duties, but there was a bold and reckless
+expression which impressed him unfavorably.
+
+Ben Haley, on his part, had learned something, but not much. He had
+ascertained that Robert was a _protege_ of the owner, and was
+recommended to the special care of the captain; but what could be his
+object in undertaking the present voyage, he did not understand. He was
+a little afraid that Robert would divulge the not very creditable part
+he had played at Millville; and that he might not be believed in that
+case, he had represented him to the captain as an habitual liar. After
+some consideration, he decided to change his tactics, and induce our
+hero to believe he was his friend, or, at least, not hostile to him. To
+this he was impelled by two motives. First, to secure his silence
+respecting the robbery; and, next, to so far get into his confidence as
+to draw out of him the object of his present expedition. Thus, he would
+lull his suspicions to sleep, and might thereafter gratify his malice
+the more securely.
+
+He accordingly approached our hero, and tapped him on the shoulder.
+
+Robert drew away slightly. Haley saw the movement, and hated the boy the
+more for it.
+
+"Well, my lad," he said, "I find your story is correct."
+
+"Those who know me don't generally doubt my word," said Robert, coldly.
+
+"Well, I don't know you, or, at least, not intimately," said Haley, "and
+you must confess that I haven't the best reasons to like you."
+
+"Did you suffer much inconvenience from your wound?" asked Robert.
+
+"Not much. It proved to be slight. You were a bold boy to wing me. I
+could have crushed you easily."
+
+"I suppose you could, but you know how I was situated. I couldn't run
+away, and desert your uncle."
+
+"I don't know about that. You don't understand that little affair. I
+suppose you think I had no right to the gold I took."
+
+"I certainly do think so."
+
+"Then you are mistaken. My uncle got his money from my grandfather. A
+part should have gone to my mother, and, consequently, to me, but he
+didn't choose to act honestly. My object in calling upon him was to
+induce him to do me justice at last. But you know the old man has
+become a miser, and makes money his idol. The long and short of it was,
+that, as he wouldn't listen to reason, I determined to take the law into
+my own hands, and carry off what I thought ought to come to me."
+
+Robert listened to this explanation without putting much faith in it. It
+was not at all according to the story given by Mr. Nichols, and he knew,
+moreover, that the man before him had passed a wild and dissolute youth.
+
+"I suppose what I did was not strictly legal," continued Ben Haley,
+lightly; "but we sailors are not much versed in the quips of the law. To
+my thinking, law defeats justice about as often as it aids it."
+
+"I don't know very much about law," said Robert, perceiving that some
+reply was expected.
+
+"That's just my case," said Ben, "and the less I have to do with it the
+better it will suit me. I suppose my uncle made a great fuss about the
+money I carried off."
+
+"Yes," said Robert. "It was quite a blow to him, and he has been nervous
+ever since for fear you would come back again."
+
+Ben Haley shrugged his shoulders and laughed.
+
+"He needn't be afraid. I don't want to trouble him, but I was bound he
+shouldn't keep from me what was rightly my due. I haven't got all I
+ought to have, but I am not a lover of money, and I shall let it go."
+
+"I hope you won't go near him again, for he got a severe shock the last
+time."
+
+"When you get back, if you get a chance to see him privately, you may
+tell him there is no danger of that."
+
+"I shall be glad to do so," said Robert.
+
+"I thought I would explain the matter to you," continued the mate, in an
+off-hand manner, "for I didn't want you to remain under a false
+impression. So you are going to see a little of the world?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"I suppose that is your only object?"
+
+"No. I have another object in view."
+
+The mate waited to learn what this object was, but Robert stopped, and
+did not seem inclined to go on.
+
+"Well," said Haley, after a slight pause, "as we are to be together on a
+long voyage, we may as well be friends. Here's my hand."
+
+To his surprise, Robert made no motion to take it.
+
+"Mr. Haley," said he, "I don't like to refuse your hand, but when I tell
+you that I am the son of Captain Rushton, of the ship, _Norman_, you
+will understand why I cannot accept your hand."
+
+Ben Haley started back in dismay. How could Robert have learned
+anything of his treachery to his father? Had the dead come back from the
+bottom of the sea to expose him? Was Captain Rushton still alive? He did
+not venture to ask, but he felt his hatred for Robert growing more
+intense.
+
+"Boy," he said, in a tone of concentrated passion, "you have done a bold
+thing in rejecting my hand. I might have been your friend. Think of me
+henceforth as your relentless enemy."
+
+He walked away, his face dark with the evil passions which Robert's
+slight had aroused in his breast.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+
+OUT ON THE OCEAN.
+
+We must now go back nearly two years. Five men were floating about in a
+boat in the Southern ocean. They looked gaunt and famished. For a week
+they had lived on short allowance, and now for two days they had been
+entirely without food. There was in their faces that look, well-nigh
+hopeless, which their wretched situation naturally produced. For one
+day, also, they had been without water, and the torments of thirst were
+worse than the cravings of hunger. These men were Captain Rushton and
+four sailors of the ship _Norman_, whose burning has already been
+described.
+
+One of the sailors, Bunsby, was better educated and more intelligent
+than the rest, and the captain spoke to him as a friend and an equal,
+for all the distinctions of rank were broken down by the immediate
+prospect of a terrible death.
+
+"How is all this going to end, Bunsby?" said the captain, in a low
+voice, turning from a vain search for some sail; in sight, and
+addressing his subordinate.
+
+"I am afraid there is only one way," answered Bunsby. "There is not much
+prospect of our meeting a ship."
+
+"And, if we do, it is doubtful if we can attract their attention."
+
+"I should like the chance to try."
+
+"I never knew before how much worse thirst is than hunger."
+
+"Do you know, captain, if this lasts much longer, I shall be tempted to
+swallow some of this sea water."
+
+"It will only make matters worse."
+
+"I know it, but, at least, it will moisten my throat."
+
+The other sailors sat stupid and silent, apparently incapable of motion,
+
+"I wish I had a plug of tobacco," said one, at last.
+
+"If there were any use in wishing, I'd wish myself on shore," said the
+second.
+
+"We'll never see land again," said the third, gloomily. "We're bound for
+Davy Jones' locker."
+
+"I'd like to see my old mother before I go down," said the first.
+
+"I've got a mother, too," said the third. "If I could only have a drop
+of the warm tea such as she used to make! She's sitting down to dinner
+now, most likely, little thinking that her Jack is dying of hunger out
+here."
+
+There was a pause, and the captain spoke again.
+
+"I wish I knew whether that bottle will ever reach shore. When was it we
+launched it?"
+
+"Four days since."
+
+"I've got something here I wish I could get to my wife." He drew from
+his pocketbook a small, folded paper.
+
+"What is that, captain?" asked Bunsby.
+
+"It is my wife's fortune."
+
+"How is that, captain?"
+
+"That paper is good for five thousand dollars."
+
+"Five thousand dollars wouldn't do us much good here. It wouldn't buy a
+pound of bread, or a pint of water."
+
+"No; but it would--I hope it will--save my wife and son from suffering.
+Just before I sailed on this voyage I took five thousand dollars--nearly
+all my savings--to a man in our village to keep till I returned, or, if
+I did not return, to keep in trust for my wife and child. This is the
+paper he gave me in acknowledgment."
+
+"Is he a man you can trust, captain?"
+
+"I think so. It is the superintendent of the factory in our village--a
+man rich, or, at any rate, well-to-do. He has a good reputation for
+integrity."
+
+"Your wife knew you had left the money in his hands?"
+
+"No; I meant it as a surprise to her."
+
+"It is a pity you did not leave that paper in her hands."
+
+"What do you mean, Bunsby?" asked the captain, nervously. "You don't
+think this man will betray his trust?"
+
+"I can't say, captain, for I don't know the man; but I don't like to
+trust any man too far."
+
+Captain Rushton was silent for a moment. There was a look of trouble on
+his face.
+
+"You make me feel anxious, Bunsby. It is hard enough to feel that I
+shall probably never again see my wife and child--on earth, I mean--but
+to think that they may possibly suffer want makes it more bitter."
+
+"The man may be honest, captain: Don't trouble yourself too much."
+
+"I see that I made a mistake. I should have left this paper with my
+wife. Davis can keep this money, and no one will be the wiser. It is a
+terrible temptation."
+
+"Particularly if the man is pressed for money."
+
+"I don't think that. He is considered a rich man. He ought to be one,
+and my money would be only a trifle to him."
+
+"Let us hope it is so, captain," said Bunsby, who felt that further
+discussion would do no good, and only embitter the last moments of his
+commander. But anxiety did not so readily leave the captain. Added to
+the pangs of hunger and the cravings of thirst was the haunting fear
+that by his imprudence his wife and child would suffer.
+
+"Do you think it would do any good, Bunsby," he said, after a pause, "to
+put this receipt in a bottle, as I did the letter?"
+
+"No, captain, it is too great a risk. There is not more than one chance
+in a hundred of its reaching its destination. Besides, suppose you
+should be picked up, and go home without the receipt; he might refuse to
+pay you."
+
+"He would do so at the peril of his life, then," said the captain,
+fiercely. "Do you think, if I were alive, I would let any man rob me of
+the savings of my life?"
+
+"Other men have done so."
+
+"It would not be safe to try it on me, Bunsby."
+
+"Well, captain?"
+
+"It is possible that I may perish, but you may be saved."
+
+"Not much chance of it."
+
+"Yet it is possible. Now, if that happens, I have a favor to ask of
+you."
+
+"Name it, captain."
+
+"I want you, if I die first, to take this paper, and guard it carefully;
+and, if you live to get back, to take it to Millville, and see that
+justice is done to my wife and child."
+
+"I promise that, captain; but I think we shall die together."
+
+Twenty-four hours passed. The little boat still rocked hither and
+thither on the ocean billows. The five faces looked more haggard, and
+there was a wild, eager look upon them, as they scanned the horizon,
+hoping to see a ship. Their lips and throats were dry and parched.
+
+"I can't stand it no longer," said one--it was the sailor I have called
+Jack--"I shall drink some of the sea water."
+
+"Don't do it, Jack," said Bunsby. "You'll suffer more than ever."
+
+"I can't," said Jack, desperately; and, scooping up some water in the
+hollow of his hand, he drank it eagerly. Again and again he drank with
+feverish eagerness.
+
+"How is it?" said the second sailor,
+
+"I feel better," said Jack; "my throat so dry."
+
+"Then I'll take some, too."
+
+The other two sailors, unheeding the remonstrances of Bunsby and the
+captain, followed the example of Jack. They felt relief for the moment,
+but soon their torments became unendurable. With parched throats,
+gasping for breath, they lay back in agony. Suffering themselves,
+Captain Rushton and Bunsby regarded with pity the greater sufferings of
+their wretched companions.
+
+"This is horrible," said the captain.
+
+"Yes," said Bunsby, sadly. "It can't last much longer now."
+
+His words were truer than he thought. Unable to endure his suffering,
+the sailor named Jack suddenly staggered to his feet.
+
+"I can't stand it any longer," he said, wildly; "good-by, boys," and
+before his companions well knew what he intended to do, he had leaped
+over the side of the boat, and sunk in the ocean waves.
+
+There was a thrilling silence, as the waters closed over his body.
+
+Then the second sailor also rose to his feet.
+
+"I'm going after Jack," he said, and he, too, plunged into the waves.
+
+The captain rose as if to hinder him, but Bunsby placed his hand upon
+his arm.
+
+"It's just as well, captain. We must all come to that, and the sooner,
+the more suffering is saved."
+
+"That's so," said the other sailor, tormented like the other two by
+thirst, aggravated by his draughts of seawater. "Good-by, Bunsby!
+Good-by, captain! I'm going!"
+
+He, too, plunged into the sea, and Bunsby and the captain were left
+alone.
+
+"You won't desert me, Bunsby?" said the captain.
+
+"No, captain. I haven't swallowed seawater like those poor fellows. I
+can stand it better."
+
+"There is no hope of life," said the captain, quietly; "but I don't like
+to go unbidden into my Maker's presence."
+
+"Nor I. I'll stand by you, captain."
+
+"This is a fearful thing, Bunsby. If it would only rain."
+
+"That would be some relief."
+
+As if in answer to his wish, the drops began to fall--slowly at first,
+then more copiously, till at last their clothing was saturated, and the
+boat partly filled with water. Eagerly they squeezed out the welcome
+dregs from their clothing, and felt a blessed relief. They filled two
+bottles they had remaining with the precious fluid.
+
+"If those poor fellows had only waited," said the captain.
+
+"They are out of suffering now," said Bunsby.
+
+The relief was only temporary, and they felt it to be so. They were
+without food, and the two bottles of water would not last them long.
+Still, there was a slight return of hope, which survives under the most
+discouraging circumstances.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+
+FRANK PRICE.
+
+The ship _Argonaut_, bound for Calcutta, was speeding along with a fair
+wind, when the man at the lookout called:
+
+"Boat in sight!"
+
+"Where away?"
+
+The sailor pointed, out a small boat a mile distant, nearly in the
+ship's track, rising and falling with the billows.
+
+"Is there any one in it?"
+
+"I see two men lying in the bottom. They are motionless. They may be
+dead."
+
+The boat was soon overtaken. It was the boat from the ill-fated
+_Norman_, Captain Rushton and Bunsby were lying stretched out in the
+bottom, both motionless and apparently without life. Bunsby was really
+dead. But there was still some life left in the captain, which, under
+the care of the surgeon of the ship, was carefully husbanded until he
+was out of immediate danger. But his system, from the long privation of
+food, had received such a shock, that his mind, sympathizing with it, he
+fell into a kind of stupor, mental and physical, and though strength and
+vigor came slowly back, Captain Rushton was in mind a child. Oblivion of
+the past seemed to have come over him. He did not remember who he was,
+or that he had a wife and child.
+
+"Poor man!" said the surgeon; "I greatly fear his mind has completely
+given way."
+
+"It is a pity some of his friends were not here," said the captain of
+the ship that had rescued him. "The sight of a familiar face might
+restore him."
+
+"It is possible, but I am not sure of even that."
+
+"Is there any clew to his identity?"
+
+"I have found none."
+
+It will at once occur to the reader that the receipt would have supplied
+the necessary information, since it was dated Millville, and contained
+the captain's name. But this was concealed in an inner pocket in Captain
+Rushton's vest, and escaped the attention of the surgeon. So, nameless
+and unknown, he was carried to Calcutta, which he reached without any
+perceptible improvement in his mental condition.
+
+Arrived at Calcutta, the question arose: "What shall we do with him?" It
+was a perplexing question, since if carried back to New York, it might
+be difficult to identify him there, or send him back to his friends.
+Besides, the care of a man in his condition would be a greater
+responsibility than most shipmasters would care to undertake. It was at
+this crisis that a large-hearted and princely American merchant,
+resident in Calcutta, who had learned the particulars of the captain's
+condition, came forward, saying: "Leave him here. I will find him a home
+in some suitable boarding-house, and defray such expenses as may be
+required. God has blessed me with abundant means. It is only right that
+I should employ a portion in His service. I hope, under good treatment,
+he may recover wholly, and be able to tell me who he is, and where is
+his home. When that is ascertained, if his health is sufficiently good,
+I will send him home at my own expense."
+
+The offer was thankfully accepted, and the generous merchant was as good
+as his word. A home was found for Captain Rushton in the boarding-house
+of Mrs. Start, a widow, who, thrown upon her own exertions for support,
+had, by the help of the merchant already referred to, opened a
+boarding-house, which was now quite remunerative.
+
+"He will require considerable care, Mrs. Start," said Mr. Perkins, the
+merchant, "but I am ready and willing to compensate you for all the
+trouble to which you are put. Will you take him?"
+
+"Certainly I will," said the warm-hearted widow, "if only because you
+ask it. But for you, I should not be earning a comfortable living, with
+a little money laid up in the bank, besides."
+
+"Thank you, Mrs. Start," said the merchant. "I know the poor man could
+be in no better hands. But you mustn't let any considerations of
+gratitude interfere with your charging a fair price for your trouble. I
+am able and willing to pay whatever is suitable."
+
+"I don't believe we shall quarrel on that point," said the widow,
+smiling. "I will do all I can for your friend. What is his name?"
+
+"That I don't know."
+
+"We shall have to call him something."
+
+"Call him Smith, then. That will answer till we find out his real name,
+as we may some day, when his mind comes back, as I hope it may."
+
+From that time, therefore, Captain Rushton was known as Mr. Smith. He
+recovered in a considerable degree his bodily health, but mentally he
+remained in the same condition. Sometimes he fixed his eyes upon Mrs.
+Start, and seemed struggling to remember something of the past; but
+after a few moments his face would assume a baffled look, and he would
+give up the attempt as fruitless.
+
+One day when Mrs. Start addressed him as Mr. Smith, he asked:
+
+"Why do you call me by that name?"
+
+"Is not that your name?" she asked.
+
+"No."
+
+"What, then, is it?"
+
+He put his hand to his brow, and seemed to be thinking. At length he
+turned to the widow, and said, abruptly:
+
+"Do you not know my name?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Nor do I," he answered, and left the room hastily.
+
+She continued, therefore, to address him as Mr. Smith, and he gradually
+became accustomed to it, and answered to it.
+
+Leaving Captain Rushton at Calcutta, with the assurance that, though
+separated from home and family, he will receive all the care that his
+condition requires, we will return to our hero, shut up on shipboard
+with his worst enemy. I say this advisedly, for though Halbert Davis
+disliked him, it was only the feeling of a boy, and was free from the
+intensity of Ben Haley's hatred.
+
+No doubt, it was imprudent for him to reject the mate's hand, but Robert
+felt that he could not grasp in friendship the hand which had deprived
+him of a father. He was bold enough to brave the consequences of this
+act, which he foresaw clearly.
+
+Ben Haley, however, was in no hurry to take the vengeance which he was
+fully resolved sooner or later to wreak upon our young hero. He was
+content to bide his time. Had Robert been less watchful, indeed, he
+might have supposed that the mate's feelings toward him had changed.
+When they met, as in the narrow limits of the ship they must do every
+day, the forms of courtesy passed between them. Robert always saluted
+the mate, and Haley responded by a nod, or a cool good-morning, but did
+not indulge in any conversation.
+
+Sometimes, however, turning suddenly, Robert would catch a malignant
+glance from the mate, but Haley's expression immediately changed, when
+thus surprised, and he assumed an air of indifference.
+
+With Captain Evans, on the other hand, Robert was on excellent terms.
+The captain liked the bold, manly boy, and talked much with him of the
+different countries he had visited, and seemed glad to answer the
+questions which our hero asked.
+
+"Robert," said the captain, one day, "how is it that you and Mr. Haley
+seem to have nothing to say to each other?"
+
+"I don't think he likes me, Captain Evans," said Robert.
+
+"Is there any reason for it, or is it merely a prejudice?"
+
+"There is a reason for it, but I don't care to mention it. Not that it
+is anything I have reason to regret, or to be ashamed of," he added,
+hastily. "It is on Mr. Haley's account that I prefer to keep it secret."
+
+"Is there no chance of your being on better terms?" asked the captain,
+good-naturedly, desirous of effecting a reconciliation.
+
+Robert shook his head.
+
+"I don't wish to be reconciled, captain," he said. "I will tell you this
+much, that Mr. Haley has done me and my family an injury which, perhaps,
+can never be repaired. I cannot forget it, and though I am willing to be
+civil to him, since we are thrown together, I do not want his
+friendship, even if he desired mine, as I am sure he does not."
+
+Captain Evans was puzzled by this explanation, which threw very little
+light upon the subject, and made no further efforts to bring the two
+together.
+
+Time passed, and whatever might be Ben Haley's feelings, he abstained
+from any attempt to injure him. Robert's suspicions were lulled to
+sleep, and he ceased to be as vigilant and watchful as he had been.
+
+His frank, familiar manner made him a favorite on shipboard. He had a
+friendly word for all the sailors, which was appreciated, for it was
+known that he was the _protege_ of the owner. He was supposed by some to
+be a relation, or, at any rate, a near connection, and so was treated
+with unusual respect. All the sailors had a kind word for him, and many
+were the praises which he received in the forecastle.
+
+Among those most devoted to him was a boy of fourteen, Frank Price, who
+had sailed in the capacity of cabin-boy. The poor boy was very seasick
+at first, and Captain Evans had been indulgent, and excused him from
+duty until he got better. He was not sturdy enough for the life upon
+which he had entered, and would gladly have found himself again in the
+comfortable home which a mistaken impulse had led him to exchange for
+the sea.
+
+With this boy, Robert, who was of about the same age, struck up a
+friendship, which was returned twofold by Frank, whose heart, naturally
+warm, was easily won by kindness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+
+THE NEW CAPTAIN.
+
+The voyage was more than half completed, and nothing of importance had
+occurred to mark it. But at this time, Captain Evans fell sick. His
+sickness proved to be a fever, and was very severe. The surgeon was in
+constant attendance, but the malady baffled all his skill. At the end of
+seven days, it terminated fatally, to the great grief of all on board,
+with whom the good-natured captain was very popular. There was one
+exception, however, to the general grief. It is an ill wind that blows
+good to no one, and Ben Haley did not lament much for an event which
+promoted him to the command of the vessel. Of course, he did not show
+this feeling publicly, but in secret his heart bounded with exultation
+at the thought that he was, for the time, master of the ship and all on
+board. He was not slow in asserting his new position. Five minutes after
+the captain breathed his last, one of the sailors approached him, and
+asked for orders, addressing him as "Mr. Haley."
+
+"Captain Haley!" roared the new commander. "If you don't know my
+position on board this ship, it's time you found it out!"
+
+"Ay, ay, sir," stammered the sailor, taken aback at his unexpected
+violence.
+
+Robert mourned sincerely at the death of Captain Evans, by whom he had
+always been treated with the utmost kindness. Even had he not been
+influenced by such a feeling, he would have regarded with apprehension
+the elevation to the command of one whom he well knew to be actuated by
+a feeling of enmity to himself. He resolved to be as prudent as
+possible, and avoid, as far as he could, any altercation with Haley. But
+the latter was determined, now that he had reached the command, to pick
+a quarrel with our hero, and began to cast about for a fitting occasion.
+
+Now that Captain Evans was dead, Robert spent as much time as the
+latter's duties would permit with Frank Price. The boys held long and
+confidential conversations together, imparting to each other their
+respective hopes and wishes. Haley observed their intimacy and mutual
+attachment, and, unable to assert his authority over Robert, who was a
+passenger, determined to strike at him through his friend. His
+determination was strengthened by a conversation which he overheard
+between the boys when they supposed him beyond earshot.
+
+"I wish Captain Evans were alive," said Frank. "I liked him, and I don't
+like Captain Haley."
+
+"Captain Evans was an excellent man," said Robert.
+
+"He knew how to treat a fellow," said Frank. "As long as he saw us doing
+our best, he was easy with us. Captain Haley is a tyrant."
+
+"Be careful what you say, Frank," said Robert. "It isn't safe to say
+much about the officers."
+
+"I wouldn't say anything, except to you. You are my friend."
+
+"I am your true friend, Frank, and I don't want you to get into any
+trouble."
+
+"I am sure you don't like the captain any better than I do."
+
+"I don't like the captain, for more reasons than I can tell you; but I
+shall keep quiet, as long as I am on board this ship."
+
+"Are you going back with us?"
+
+"I don't know. It will depend upon circumstances. I don't think I shall,
+though I might have done so had Captain Evans remained in command."
+
+"I wish I could leave it, and stay with you."
+
+"I wish you could, Frank. Perhaps you can."
+
+"I will try."
+
+Haley overheard the last part of this conversation. He took particular
+notice of Robert's remark that he would keep quiet as long as he
+remained on board the ship, and inferred that on arrival at the destined
+port our hero would expose all he knew about him. This made him uneasy,
+for it would injure, if not destroy, his prospect of remaining in
+command of the _Argonaut_. He resented also the dislike which Robert had
+cautiously expressed, and the similar feeling cherished by the
+cabin-boy. He had half a mind to break in upon their conversation on the
+spot; but, after a moment's thought, walked away, his neighborhood
+unsuspected by the two boys.
+
+"They shall both rue their impudence," he muttered. "They shall find out
+that they cannot insult me with impunity."
+
+The next day, when both boys were on deck, Captain Haley harshly ordered
+Frank to attend to a certain duty which he had already performed.
+
+"I have done so, sir," said Frank, in a respectful tone.
+
+"None of your impudence, you young rascal!" roared the captain, lashing
+himself into a rage.
+
+Frank looked up into his face in astonishment, unable to account for so
+violent an outbreak.
+
+"What do you mean by looking me in the face in that impudent manner?"
+demanded Captain Haley, furiously.
+
+"I didn't mean to be impudent, Captain Haley," said Frank. "What have I
+done?"
+
+"What have you done? You, a cabin-boy, have dared to insult your
+captain, and, by heavens, you shall rue it! Strip off your jacket."
+
+Frank turned pale. He knew what this order meant. Public floggings were
+sometimes administered on shipboard, but, under the command of Captain
+Evans, nothing of the kind had taken place.
+
+Robert, who had heard the whole, listened, with unmeasured indignation,
+to this wanton abuse on the part of Captain Haley. His eyes flashed, and
+his youthful form dilated with righteous indignation.
+
+Robert was not the only one who witnessed with indignation the captain's
+brutality. Such of the sailors as happened to be on deck shared his
+feelings. Haley, looking about him, caught the look with which Robert
+regarded him, and triumphed inwardly that he had found a way to chafe
+him.
+
+"What have you got to say about it?" he demanded, addressing our hero,
+with a sneer.
+
+"Since you have asked my opinion," said Robert, boldly, "I will express
+it. Frank Price has not been guilty of any impudence, and deserves no
+punishment."
+
+This was a bold speech to be made by a boy to a captain on his own deck,
+and the sailors who heard it inwardly applauded the pluck of the boy who
+uttered it.
+
+"What do you mean by that, sir?" exclaimed Haley, his eyes lighting up
+fiercely, as he strode to the spot where Robert stood, and frowned upon
+him, menacingly.
+
+"You asked my opinion, and I gave it," said Robert, not flinching.
+
+"I have a great mind to have you flogged, too!" said Haley.
+
+"I am not one of your crew, Captain Haley," said Robert, coolly; "and
+you have no right to lay a hand on me."
+
+"What is to prevent me, I should like to know?"
+
+"I am here as a passenger, and a friend of the owner of this vessel. If
+I receive any ill-treatment, it shall be reported to him."
+
+If the sailors had dared, they would have applauded the stripling who,
+undaunted by the menacing attitude of the captain, faced him boldly and
+fearlessly. Haley would gladly have knocked him down, but there was
+something in the resolute mien of his young passenger that made him
+pause. He knew that he would keep his word, and that, with such
+representations as he might make, he would stand no further chance of
+being employed by Mr. Morgan.
+
+"I have an account to settle with you, boy," he said; "and the
+settlement will not long be delayed. When a passenger tries to incite
+mutiny, he forfeits his privileges as a passenger."
+
+"Who has done this, Captain Haley?"
+
+"You have done it."
+
+"I deny it," said Robert.
+
+"Your denial is worth nothing. I have a right to throw you into irons,
+and may yet do it. At present I have other business in hand."
+
+He left Robert, and walked back to Frank Price, who, not having Robert's
+courage, had been a terrified listener to the colloquy between him and
+the captain.
+
+"Now, boy," he said, harshly, "I will give you a lesson that you shall
+remember to the latest day of your life. Bring me the cat."
+
+The barbarous cat, as it was called, once in use on our ships, was
+brought, and Captain Haley signaled to one of the sailors to approach.
+
+"Bates," he said, in a tone of authority, "give that boy a dozen
+lashes."
+
+Bates was a stout sailor, rough in appearance, but with a warm and
+kindly heart. He had a boy of his own at home, about the age of Frank
+Price, and his heart had warmed to the boy whose position he felt to be
+far from an enviable one.
+
+The task now imposed upon him was a most distasteful and unwelcome one.
+He was a good sailor, and aimed on all occasions to show proper
+obedience to the commands of his officers, but now he could not.
+
+"Captain Haley," he said, not stirring from his position, "I hope you
+will excuse me."
+
+"Is this mutiny?" roared the captain.
+
+"No, Captain Haley. I always mean to do my duty on board ship."
+
+"I have told you to flog this boy!"
+
+"I can't do it, Captain Haley. I have a boy of my own about the size of
+that lad there, and, if I struck him, I'd think it was my own boy that
+stood in his place."
+
+This unexpected opposition excited the fierce resentment of the captain.
+He felt that a crisis had come, and he was determined to be obeyed.
+
+"Unless you do as I bid you, I will keep you in irons for the rest of
+the voyage!"
+
+"You are the captain of this ship, and can throw me in irons, if you
+like," said Bates, with an air of dignity despite his tarred hands and
+sailor jacket. "I have refused to do no duty that belongs to me. When I
+signed my name to the ship's papers, I did not agree to flog boys."
+
+"Put him in irons!" roared the captain, incensed. "We will see who is
+captain of this ship!"
+
+The mandate was obeyed, and Bates was lodged in the forecastle, securely
+ironed.
+
+The captain himself seized the cat, and was about to apply it to the
+luckless cabin-boy, when a terrible blast, springing up in an instant,
+as it were, struck the ship, almost throwing it upon its side. There was
+no time for punishment now. The safety of the ship required instant
+action, and Frank Price was permitted to replace his jacket without
+having received a blow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+
+THE CAPTAIN'S REVENGE.
+
+The storm which commenced so suddenly was one of great violence. It
+required all the captain's seamanship, and the efforts of all the crew,
+to withstand it. However reluctant to do it, Captain Haley was forced to
+release Bates from his irons, and order him to duty. The latter worked
+energetically, and showed that he did not intend to shirk any part of
+his duties as seaman. But the result of the storm was that the vessel
+was driven out of her course, and her rigging suffered considerable
+injury. The wind blew all night. Toward morning it abated, and, as the
+morning light broke, the lookout described a small island distant about
+a league.
+
+The captain looked at it through his glass, and then examined the chart.
+
+"I can't make out what island that is," he said.
+
+"It is not large enough," suggested the mate, "to find a place on the
+map."
+
+"Perhaps it is as you say," said Captain Haley, thoughtfully. "I have a
+mind to go on shore and explore it. There may be some fresh fruits that
+will vary our diet."
+
+This plan was carried out. A boat was got ready, and the captain got in,
+with four sailors to row.
+
+Just as he was about to descend into the boat, he turned to Robert, who
+was looking curiously toward land, and said:
+
+"Rushton, would you like to go with us?"
+
+It was precisely what Robert wanted. He had a boy's love of adventure,
+and the thought of exploring an island, perhaps hitherto unknown, struck
+his fancy, and he eagerly accepted the invitation.
+
+"Jump in, then," said Haley, striving to appear indifferent; but there
+was a gleam of exultation in his eye, which he took care to conceal from
+the unsuspecting boy.
+
+Swiftly the boat sped through the waters, pulled by the strong arms of
+four stout sailors, and, reaching the island, was drawn into a little
+cove, which seemed made for it.
+
+"Now for an exploring expedition," said the captain. "Boys," addressing
+the sailors, "remain near the boat. I will soon be back. Rushton," he
+said, turning to our hero, "go where you like, but be back in an hour."
+
+"Yes, sir," answered Robert.
+
+Had it been Captain Evans, instead of Captain Haley, he would have
+proposed to join him; but, knowing what he did of the latter, he
+preferred his own company.
+
+The island was about five miles in circumference. Near the shore, it was
+bare of vegetation, but further inland there were numerous trees, some
+producing fruit. After some weeks of the monotonous life on shipboard,
+Robert enjoyed pressing the solid earth once more. Besides, this was the
+first foreign shore his foot had ever trodden. The thought that he was
+thousands of miles away from home, and that, possibly, the land upon
+which he now walked had never before been trodden by a civilized foot,
+filled him with a sense of excitement and exhilaration.
+
+"What would mother say if she should see me now?" he thought. "What a
+wonderful chance it would be if my father had been wafted in his boat to
+this island, and I should come upon him unexpectedly!"
+
+It was very improbable, but Robert thought enough of it to look about
+him carefully. But everywhere the land seemed to be virgin, without
+other inhabitants than the birds of strange plumage and note, which sang
+in the branches of the trees.
+
+"I don't believe any one ever lived here," thought Robert.
+
+It struck him that he should like to live upon the island a week, if he
+could be sure of being taken off at the end of that time. The cool
+breezes from the ocean swept over the little island, and made it
+delightfully cool at morning and evening, though hot in the middle of
+the day.
+
+Robert sauntered along till he came to a little valley. He descended the
+slope, and sat down in the shade of a broad-leaved tree. The grass
+beneath him made a soft couch, and he felt that he should enjoy lying
+there the rest of the day. But his time was limited. The captain had
+told him to be back in an hour, and he felt that it was time for him to
+be stirring.
+
+"I shall not have time to go any further," he reflected. "I must be
+getting back to the boat."
+
+As this occurred to him, he rose to his feet, and, looking up, he
+started a little at seeing the captain himself descending the slope.
+
+"Well, Robert," said Captain Haley, "how do you like the island?"
+
+"Very much, indeed," said our hero. "It seems pleasant to be on land
+after being on shipboard so many weeks."
+
+"Quite true. This is a beautiful place you have found."
+
+"I was resting under this tree, listening to the birds, but I felt
+afraid I should not be back to the boat in time, and was just starting
+to return."
+
+"I think we can overstay our time a little," said Haley. "They won't go
+back without me, I reckon," he added, with a laugh.
+
+Robert was nothing loth to stay, and resumed his place on the grass. The
+captain threw himself on the grass beside him.
+
+"I suppose you have read 'Robinson Crusoe?'" he said.
+
+"Oh, yes; more than once."
+
+"I wonder how it would seem to live on such an island as this?"
+
+"I should like it very well," said Robert; "that is, if I could go off
+at any time. I was just thinking of it when you come up."
+
+"Were you?" asked the captain, showing his teeth in an unpleasant smile,
+which, however, Robert did not see. "You think you would like it?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"I am glad of that."
+
+"Why?" asked Robert, turning round and looking his companion in the
+face.
+
+"Because," said Haley, changing his tone, "I am going to give you a
+chance to try it."
+
+Robert sprang to his feet in instant alarm, but too late. Haley had
+grasped him by the shoulder, and in his grasp the boy's strength was
+nothing.
+
+"What are you going to do?" asked Robert, with fearful foreboding.
+
+"Wait a minute and you will see!"
+
+The captain had drawn a stout cord, brought for the purpose, from his
+pocket, and, dragging Robert to a tree, tied him securely to the trunk.
+The terrible fate destined for him was presented vividly to the
+imagination of our hero; and, brave as he was, it almost unmanned him.
+Finding his struggles useless, he resorted to expostulation.
+
+"I am sure you cannot mean this, Captain Haley!" he said. "You won't
+leave me to perish miserably on this island?"
+
+"Won't I?" returned the captain, with an evil light in his eyes. "Why
+won't I?"
+
+"Surely, you will not be so inhuman?"
+
+"Look here, boy," said the captain, "you needn't try to come any of your
+high-flown notions about humanity over me. I owe you a debt, and, by
+Heaven! I'm going to pay it! You didn't think much of humanity when you
+wounded me."
+
+"I couldn't help it," said Robert. "I didn't want to hurt you. I only
+wanted to protect your uncle."
+
+"That's all very well; but, when you interfered in a family quarrel, you
+meddled with what did not concern you. Besides, you have been inciting
+my crew to mutiny."
+
+"I have not done so," said Robert.
+
+"I overheard you the other night giving some of your precious advice to
+my cabin-boy. Besides, you had the impudence to interfere with me in a
+matter of discipline."
+
+"Frank Price deserved no punishment."
+
+"That is for me to decide. When you dared to be impudent to me on my own
+deck, I swore to be revenged, and the time has come sooner than I
+anticipated."
+
+"Captain Haley," said Robert, "in all that I have done I have tried to
+do right. If I have done wrong, it was because I erred in judgment. If
+you will let me go, I will promise to say nothing of the attempt you
+make to keep me here."
+
+"You are very kind," sneered the captain; "but I mean to take care of
+that myself. You may make all the complaints you like after I have left
+you here."
+
+"There is One who will hear me," said Robert. "I shall not be wholly
+without friends."
+
+"Who do you mean?"
+
+"God!" said Robert, solemnly.
+
+"Rubbish!" retorted Haley, contemptuously.
+
+"I shall not despair while I have Him to appeal to."
+
+"Just as you like," said the captain, shrugging his shoulders. "You are
+welcome to all the comfort you can find in your present situation."
+
+By this time, Robert was bound to the trunk of the tree by a cord, which
+passed around his waist. In addition to this Haley tied his wrists
+together, fearing that otherwise he might be able to unfasten the knot.
+He now rose to his feet, and looked down upon the young captive, with an
+air of triumph.
+
+"Have you any messages to send by me, Rushton?" he said, with a sneer.
+
+"Are you quite determined to leave me here?" asked Robert, in anguish.
+
+"Quite so."
+
+"What will the sailors say when I do not return?"
+
+"Don't trouble yourself about them. I will take care of that. If you
+have got anything to say, say it quick, for I must be going."
+
+"Captain Haley," said Robert, his courage rising, and looking the
+captain firmly in the face, "I may die here, and so gratify your enmity;
+but the time will come when you will repent what you are doing."
+
+"I'll risk that," said Haley, coolly. "Good-by."
+
+He walked up the slope, and disappeared from view, leaving Robert bound
+to the tree, a helpless prisoner.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+
+A FRIEND IN NEED.
+
+Captain Haley kept on his way to the shore. The four sailors were all
+within hail, and on the captain's approach got the boat in readiness to
+return.
+
+"Where is the boy?" asked Haley. "Hasn't he got back?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"That is strange. I told him to be back in an hour, and it is already
+past that time."
+
+"Perhaps he hasn't a watch," suggested one of the sailors.
+
+"I will wait ten minutes for him," said Haley, taking out his watch. "If
+he is not back in that time, I must go without him."
+
+The sailors did not reply, but looked anxiously inland, hoping to catch
+sight of Robert returning. But, bound as he was, we can understand why
+they looked in vain.
+
+"Shall I go and look for him?" asked one.
+
+"No," said Haley, decidedly; "I cannot spare you."
+
+The ten minutes were soon up.
+
+"Into the boat with you," commanded the captain. "I shall wait no
+longer."
+
+Slowly and reluctantly, the sailors took their places, for Robert was a
+favorite with them.
+
+"Now, men, give way," said Haley. "If the boy is lost, it is his own
+fault."
+
+They reached the vessel in due time. There was a murmur among the crew,
+when it was found that Robert had been left behind; but, knowing the
+captain's disposition, no one except Bates dared to expostulate.
+
+"Captain Haley," said he, approaching and touching his hat, "will you
+give me leave to go on shore for the young gentleman that was left?"
+
+"No," said the captain. "He had fair warning to be back in time, and
+chose to disregard it. My duty to the owners will not permit me to delay
+the ship on his account."
+
+"He was a relation of the owner," suggested Bates.
+
+"No, he was not; and, if he said so, he lied. Go about your duty, and
+take care I have no more fault to find with you, or you go back in
+irons!"
+
+Bates ventured upon no further expostulation. He saw through the
+captain's subterfuge, and felt persuaded that it had been his deliberate
+intention from the first to abandon Robert to his fate. He began to
+think busily, and finally resolved to go to the island and search for
+him. For this purpose, a boat would be needful, since the distance,
+nearly a league, was too far to swim. Now, to appropriate one of the
+ship's boats when the captain was on deck would be impossible, but
+Haley, within five minutes, went below. Bates now proceeded to carry out
+his plan.
+
+"What are you going to do?" demanded one of the sailors.
+
+"I'm going after the boy."
+
+"You'll be left along with him."
+
+"I'll take the risk. He shan't say he didn't have one friend."
+
+By the connivance of his fellow-sailors, Bates got safely off with the
+boat, and began to pull toward shore. He was already a mile distant from
+the vessel when Captain Haley came on deck.
+
+"Who is that in the boat?" he demanded, abruptly.
+
+"I don't know, sir."
+
+He pointed the glass toward the boat, and, though he could not fairly
+distinguish the stout sailor who was pulling the boat through the water,
+he suspected that it was Bates.
+
+"Where is Bates?" he asked.
+
+No one had seen him.
+
+"The fool has gone to destruction," said Captain Haley. "I shall not go
+after him. He is welcome to live on the island if he chooses."
+
+His reason for not pursuing the fugitive may be readily understood. He
+feared that Robert would be found bound to the tree, and the story the
+boy would tell would go heavily against him. He hurried preparation for
+the vessel's departure, and in a short time it was speeding away from
+the island with two less on board.
+
+I must now go back to Robert, whom we left bound to a tree.
+
+After the captain left him, he struggled hard to unloose the cords which
+bound him. The love of life was strong within him, and the thought of
+dying under such circumstances was appalling. He struggled manfully,
+but, though he was strong for a boy, the cord was strong, also, and the
+captain knew how to tie a knot.
+
+Robert ceased at last, tired with his efforts. A feeling of despair came
+over him, and the tears started, unbidden, to his eyes, as he thought
+how his mother would watch and wait for him in vain--how lonely she
+would feel, with husband and son both taken from her. Could it be that
+he was to die, when life had only just commenced, thousands of miles
+away from home, in utter solitude? Had he come so far for this? Then,
+again, he feared that his mother would suffer want and privation when
+the money which he had left behind was exhausted. In his pocket there
+were nearly two hundred dollars, not likely to be of any service to him.
+He wished that they were in her possession.
+
+"If only he had left me free and unbound," thought Robert, "I might pick
+up a living on the island, and perhaps some day attract the attention of
+some vessel."
+
+With this thought, and the hope it brought, he made renewed efforts to
+release himself, striving to untie the cord which fastened his wrists
+with his teeth. He made some progress, and felt encouraged, but it was
+hard work, and he was compelled to stop, from time to time, to rest. It
+was in one of these intervals that he heard his name called. Feeling
+sure that there was no one on the island but himself, he thought he was
+deceived. But the sound came nearer, and he distinctly heard "Robert!"
+
+"Here I am!" he shouted, in return, his heart filled with sudden
+thanksgiving.
+
+"Captain Haley only meant to frighten me," he thought. "He has sent some
+men back for me."
+
+In his gratitude, he thanked Heaven fervently for so changing the heart
+of his enemy, and once more life looked bright.
+
+"Robert!" he heard again.
+
+"Here!" he shouted, with all the strength of his lungs.
+
+This time the sound reached Bates, who, running up his boat on shore,
+and securing it, was exploring the island in search of our hero. Looking
+around him, he at length, from the edge of the valley, descried Robert.
+
+"Is that you, lad?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, Bates; come and untie me!"
+
+Bates saw his situation with surprise and indignation.
+
+"That's some of the captain's work!" he at once decided. "He must be a
+cursed scoundrel to leave that poor lad there to die!"
+
+He quickened his steps, and was soon at the side of our hero.
+
+"Who tied you to the tree, lad?" he asked.
+
+"Did Captain Haley send you for me?" asked Robert first, for he had made
+up his mind in that case not to expose him.
+
+"No; I stole one of the ship's boats, and came for you without leave."
+
+"The captain didn't know of your coming?"
+
+"No; I asked his leave, and he wouldn't give it."
+
+"It was Captain Haley that tied me here," said Robert, his scruples
+removed.
+
+"What did he do that for, lad?"
+
+"It's a long story, Bates. It's because he hates me, and wishes me
+harm. Untie these cords, and I'll tell you all about it."
+
+"That I'll do in a jiffy, my lad. I'm an old sailor and I can untie
+knots as well as tie them."
+
+In five minutes Robert was free. He stretched his limbs, with a feeling
+of great relief, and then turned to Bates, whose hand he grasped.
+
+"I owe my life to you, Bates!" he said.
+
+"Maybe not, lad. We're in a tight place yet."
+
+"Has the ship gone?"
+
+"Most likely. The captain won't send back for either of us in a hurry."
+
+"And you have made yourself a prisoner here for my sake?" asked Robert,
+moved by the noble conduct of the rough sailor.
+
+"I couldn't abide to leave you alone. There's more chance for two than
+for one."
+
+"Heaven bless you, Bates! I won't soon forget what you have done for me.
+Do you think there is any chance for us?"
+
+"Of course there is, lad. We've got a boat, and we can live here till
+some vessel comes within sight."
+
+"Let us go down to the shore, and see if we can see anything of the
+ship."
+
+The two bent their steps to the shore, and looked out to sea. They could
+still see the ship, but it was already becoming a speck in the distant
+waters.
+
+"They have left us," said Robert, turning to his companion.
+
+"Ay, lad, the false-hearted villain has done his worst!"
+
+"I didn't think any man would be so inhuman."
+
+"You're young, lad, and you don't know what a sight of villainy there is
+in the world. We've got to live here a while, likely. Have you seen
+anything in the line of grub here-abouts?"
+
+"There is fruit on some of the trees."
+
+"That's something. Maybe we shall find some roots, besides. We'll draw
+the boat farther upon shore, and go on an exploring expedition."
+
+The boat was drawn completely up, and placed, bottom upward, at a safe
+distance from the sea. Then Robert and his companion started to explore
+the island which had so unexpectedly become their home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+
+THE ISLAND REALM.
+
+But for the knowledge that he was a prisoner, Robert would have enjoyed
+his present situation. The island, though small, was covered with a
+luxuriant vegetation, and was swept by cooling breezes, which tempered
+the ardor of the sun's rays. And, of this island realm, he and his
+companion were the undisputed sovereigns. There was no one to dispute
+their sway. All that it yielded was at their absolute disposal.
+
+"I wonder what is the name of this island?" said Robert.
+
+"Perhaps it has no name. Mayhap we are the first that ever visited it."
+
+"I have a great mind to declare myself the king," said our young hero,
+smiling, "unless you want the office."
+
+"You shall be captain, and I will be mate," said Bates, to whom the
+distinctions of sea life were more familiar than those of courts.
+
+"How long do you think we shall have to stay here?" asked Robert,
+anxiously.
+
+"There's no telling, lad. We'll have to stick up a pole on the
+seashore, and run up a flag when any vessel comes near."
+
+"We have no flag."
+
+"Have you a handkerchief?"
+
+"Only one," said Robert.
+
+"That's one more than I have. We'll rig that up when it's wanted."
+
+"Where shall we sleep?"
+
+"That's what I have been thinking. We must build a house."
+
+"A brownstone front?" said Robert. "The governor ought to live in a good
+house."
+
+"So he shall," said Bates. "He shall have the first on the island."
+
+"I wonder if it rains often?"
+
+"Not much at this season. In the winter a good deal of rain falls, but I
+hope we won't be here then."
+
+"Where shall we build our house?"
+
+"It would be pleasanter inland, but we must be near the shore, so as to
+be in sight of ships."
+
+"That's true, Bates. That is the most important consideration."
+
+They set to work at once, and built a hut, something like an Indian's
+wigwam, about a hundred yards from the shore. It was composed, for the
+most part, of branches of trees and inclosed an inner space of about
+fifteen feet in diameter. They gathered large quantities of leaves,
+which were spread upon the ground for beds.
+
+"That's softer than our bunks aboard ship," said Bates.
+
+"Yes," said Robert. "I wouldn't wish any better bed. It is easy to build
+and furnish a house of your own here."
+
+"The next thing is dinner," said his companion.
+
+"Shall we go to market?" asked Robert, with a smile.
+
+"We'll find a market just outside."
+
+"You mean the trees?"
+
+"Yes; we'll find our dinner already cooked on them."
+
+The fruit of which they partook freely was quite sweet and palatable.
+Still, one kind of food cloys after a time, and so our new settlers
+found it. Besides, it was not very substantial, and failed to keep up
+their wonted strength. This set them to looking up some other article
+which might impart variety to their fare. At last they succeeded in
+finding an esculent root, which they partook of at first with some
+caution, fearing that it might be unwholesome. Finding, however, that
+eating it produced no unpleasant effects, they continued the use of it.
+Even this, however, failed to afford them as much variety as they
+wished.
+
+"I feel as if I should like some fish for breakfast," said Robert one
+morning, on waking up.
+
+"So should I, lad," returned Bates. "Why shouldn't we have some?"
+
+"You mean that we shall go fishing?"
+
+"Yes; we've got a boat, and I have some cord. We'll rig up fishing
+lines, and go out on a fishing cruise."
+
+Robert adopted the idea with alacrity. It promised variety and
+excitement.
+
+"I wonder we hadn't thought of it before. I used to be a fisherman,
+Bates."
+
+"Did you?"
+
+"Yes; I supplied the market at home for a short time, till Captain Haley
+smashed my boat."
+
+"The mean lubber! I wish we had him here."
+
+"I don't; I prefer his room to his company."
+
+"I'd try how he'd like being tied to a tree."
+
+"I don't think you'd untie him again in a hurry."
+
+"You may bet high on that, lad."
+
+They rigged their fishing lines--cutting poles from the trees--and armed
+them with hooks, of which, by good luck, Bates happened to have a supply
+with him. Then they launched the ship's boat, in which Bates had come to
+the island, and put out to sea.
+
+Robert enjoyed the row in the early morning, and wondered they had not
+thought of taking out the boat before. At last they came to the
+business which brought them out, and in about half an hour had succeeded
+in catching four fishes, weighing perhaps fifteen pounds altogether.
+
+"That'll be enough for us, unless you are very hungry," said Robert.
+"Now, suppose we land and cook them."
+
+"Ay, ay, lad!"
+
+Of course, their cooking arrangements were very primitive. In the first
+place, they were compelled to make a fire by the method in use among the
+savages, of rubbing two sticks smartly together, and catching the flame
+in a little prepared tinder. The fish were baked over the fire thus
+kindled. Though the outside was smoked, the inside was sweet and
+palatable, and neither was disposed to be fastidious. The preparation of
+the meal took considerable time, but they had abundance of that, and
+occupation prevented their brooding over their solitary situation.
+
+"I wish I had 'Robinson Crusoe' here," said Robert--"we might get some
+hints from his adventures. I didn't imagine, when I used to read them,
+that I should ever be in a similar position."
+
+"I've heard about him," said Bates; "but I never was much of a reader,
+and I never read his yarn. You might maybe tell me something of it."
+
+"I will tell you all I can remember, but that isn't very much," said
+Robert.
+
+He rehearsed to the attentive sailor such portions as he could call to
+mind of the wonderful story which for centuries to come is destined to
+enchain the attention of adventurous boys.
+
+"That's a pretty good yarn," said Bates, approvingly. "Did he ever get
+off the island?"
+
+"Yes, he got off, and became quite rich before he died."
+
+"Maybe it'll be so with us, lad."
+
+"I hope so. I don't know what I should do if I were alone as he was.
+It's selfish in me, Bates, to be glad that you are shut up here with me,
+but I cannot help it."
+
+"You needn't try, lad. It would be mighty dull being alone here,
+'specially if you was tied to a tree."
+
+"But suppose we should never get off!"
+
+"We won't suppose that, lad. We are sure to get off some time."
+
+This confident assurance always cheered up Robert, and for the time
+inspired him with equal confidence. But when day after day passed away
+and the promised ship did not come in sight, he used to ponder
+thoughtfully over his situation, and the possibility that he might have
+to spend years at least on this lonely island. What in the meantime
+would become of his mother? She might die, and if he ever returned it
+would be to realize the loss he had sustained. The island, pleasant as
+it was, began to lose its charm. If his sailor companion ever shared his
+feelings, he never manifested them, unwilling to let the boy see that he
+was becoming discouraged.
+
+At length--about six weeks after their arrival upon the island--they
+were returning from an excursion to the other side of the island, when,
+on arriving in sight of the shore, an unexpected sight greeted their
+eyes.
+
+A pole had been planted in the sand, and from it waved the familiar
+flag, dear to the heart of every American--the star-spangled banner.
+
+They no sooner caught sight of it, than, in joyful excitement, they ran
+to the shore with all the speed they could muster.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+
+A SUCCESSFUL MISSION.
+
+There was no one in sight, but it was evident that a party from an
+American ship had visited the island. Had they departed? That was a
+momentous question. Instinctively the eyes of both sought the sea. They
+saw an American ship riding at anchor a mile or more from shore.
+
+"Give me your handkerchief, Robert," said Bates; "I'll signal them."
+
+"It isn't very clean," said our hero.
+
+"It'll do. See, they are looking at us."
+
+"Your eyes must be good."
+
+"I'm used to looking out to sea, lad."
+
+He waved the handkerchief aloft, and felt sure that he had attracted the
+attention of those on board. But there was no motion to put off a boat.
+
+"Do they see it?" asked Robert, eagerly.
+
+"I think so."
+
+"Do you think they will come for us? If not, we can put off in our
+boat."
+
+"I think the party that planted that flagstaff hasn't got back. It is
+exploring the island, and will be back soon."
+
+"Of course it is," said Robert, suddenly. "Don't you see their boat?"
+
+"Ay, ay, lad; it's all right. All we've got to do is to stay here till
+they come."
+
+They had not long to wait. A party of sailors, headed by an officer,
+came out of the woods, and headed for the shore. They stopped short in
+surprise at the sight of Robert and Bates.
+
+"Who are you?" asked the leader, approaching.
+
+Bates touched his hat, for he judged this was the captain of the vessel
+he had seen.
+
+"I am a sailor from the ship _Argonaut_, bound from New York to
+Calcutta, and this young gentleman is Robert Rushton, passenger aboard
+the same ship."
+
+"Where is your ship?"
+
+"I don't know, captain."
+
+"How came you here?"
+
+"We were left here. The vessel went without us."
+
+"How long have you been here?"
+
+"Six weeks."
+
+"There is something about this which I do not understand. Are you here
+of your own accord?"
+
+"We are anxious to get away, captain," said Robert. "Will you take us?"
+
+"To be sure I will. There's room enough on my ship for both of you. But
+I can't understand how you were left here."
+
+"It's a long yarn, captain," said Bates. "If you haven't time to hear it
+now, I will tell you aboard ship."
+
+"You look like a good seaman," said the captain, addressing Bates. "I'm
+short-handed just now. If you will engage with me, I will enroll you
+among my crew."
+
+"That I'll do," said Bates, with satisfaction. "I wasn't made for a
+passenger."
+
+"My ship is the _Superior_, bound from Boston to Calcutta; so your
+destination will be the same. My name is Smith. Do you know the name of
+this island?"
+
+"I never heard of it before."
+
+"I have taken possession of it in the name of the United States,
+supposing myself the first discoverer."
+
+"That's all right. To my mind, the Star-Spangled Banner is the best that
+can wave over it."
+
+"We might offer the captain our boat," suggested Robert.
+
+The offer was made and accepted; and, while the captain and his party
+returned in one boat, Robert and Bates rowed to the ship in their own,
+and were soon on the deck of the _Superior_ to their unbounded
+satisfaction.
+
+"This is something like," said Bates. "The island is well enough, but
+there's nothing like the deck of a good ship."
+
+"I don't think I wholly agree with you," said Robert, smiling; "but just
+at present I do. I am glad enough to be here. We may meet Captain Haley
+at Calcutta," he added, after a pause.
+
+"Likely he'll have got away before we get there."
+
+"I hope not. I should like to meet him face to face, and charge him with
+his treachery. I don't think he'll be over glad to see me."
+
+"That's so, lad. He don't expect ever to set eyes on you again."
+
+Robert soon felt at home on the new vessel. Captain Smith he found to be
+a very different man from Captain Haley. When he heard the story told
+him by our hero, he said:
+
+"I like your pluck, Robert. You've had contrary winds so far, but you've
+borne up against them. The wind's changed now, and you are likely to
+have a prosperous voyage. This Captain Haley is a disgrace to the
+service. He'll be overhauled some time."
+
+"When I get back to New York I shall tell Mr. Morgan how he treated me."
+
+"That will put a spoke in his wheel."
+
+"There's one thing I want to speak to you about, Captain Smith. How
+much will my passage be?"
+
+"Nothing at all."
+
+"But I have some money with me. I am willing to pay."
+
+"Keep your money, my lad. You will need it all before you get through. I
+was once a poor boy myself, obliged to struggle for my living. I haven't
+forgotten that time, and it makes me willing to lend a helping hand to
+others in the same position."
+
+"You are very kind, Captain Smith," said Robert, gratefully.
+
+"I ought to be. How long do you want to stay in Calcutta?"
+
+"Only long enough to look about for my father."
+
+"Then you can return to New York in my ship. It shall cost you nothing."
+
+This offer was gratefully accepted--the more so that our hero had begun
+to realize that two hundred dollars was a small sum to carry on a
+journey of such length.
+
+At last they reached Calcutta. Robert surveyed with much interest the
+great city of India, so different in its external appearance from New
+York, the only great city besides that he knew anything about.
+
+"Well, Robert," said Captain Smith, on their arrival, "what are your
+plans? Will you make your home on board the ship, or board in the city,
+during our stay in port?"
+
+"I think," said Robert, "I should prefer to live in the city, if you
+would recommend me to a good boarding place."
+
+"That I can do. I am in the habit of boarding at a quiet house kept by a
+widow. Her terms are reasonable, and you can do no better than go there
+with me."
+
+"Thank you, Captain Smith. I shall be glad to follow your advice."
+
+So it happened that Captain Smith and Robert engaged board at the house
+of Mrs. Start, where, it will be remembered, that Captain Rushton was
+also a boarder, passing still under the name of Smith. Physically he had
+considerably improved, but mentally he was not yet recovered. His mind
+had received a shock, which, as it proved, a shock equally great was
+needed to bring it back to its proper balance.
+
+"By the way," said Mrs. Start to Captain Smith, "we have another
+gentleman of your name here."
+
+"Indeed?"
+
+"You will see him at dinner. Poor gentleman, his mind is affected, and
+we only gave him this name because we didn't know his real name."
+
+Robert little dreamed who it was of whom Mrs. Start was speaking, nor
+did he look forward with any particular curiosity to seeing the other
+Mr. Smith.
+
+When dinner was announced, Robert and the captain were early in their
+seats, and were introduced to the other boarders as they came in.
+Finally Captain Rushton entered, and moved forward to a seat beside the
+landlady. Robert chanced to look up as he entered, and his heart made a
+mighty bound when in the new Mr. Smith he recognized his father.
+
+"Father!" he exclaimed, eagerly, springing from his seat, and
+overturning his chair in his haste.
+
+Captain Rushton looked at him for a moment in bewilderment. Then all at
+once the mists that had obscured his faculties were dispelled, and he
+cried, "Robert! my dear son, how came you here?"
+
+"I came in search of you, father. Thank Heaven I have found you alive
+and well."
+
+"I think I have been in a dream, Robert. They call me Smith. That surely
+is not my name."
+
+"Rushton, father! You have not forgotten?"
+
+"Yes, that is it. Often it has been on the tip of my tongue, and then it
+slipped away from me. But, tell me, how came you here?"
+
+"I am indebted to the kindness of this gentleman--Captain Smith,
+father--who rescued me from great peril."
+
+This scene, of course, excited great astonishment among the boarders,
+and the worthy landlady who had been uniformly kind to Captain Rushton,
+was rejoiced at his sudden recovery. Feeling that mutual explanations in
+public would be unpleasant, she proposed to send dinner for both to
+Captain Rushton's room, and this offer was gladly accepted.
+
+"And how did you leave your mother, Robert?" asked the captain.
+
+"She was well, father, but mourning for your loss."
+
+"I wish I could fly to her."
+
+"You shall go back with me in Captain Smith's vessel. I am sure he will
+take us as passengers."
+
+"So we will. You are sure your mother is well provided for? But Mr.
+Davis has, no doubt, supplied her with money?"
+
+"Not a cent, father."
+
+"Not a cent! I deposited five thousand dollars with him for her benefit,
+just before sailing!"
+
+"So you wrote in the letter which you sent in the bottle."
+
+"Was that letter received?"
+
+"Yes; it was that which led me to come in search of you."
+
+"And did you go to Mr. Davis?"
+
+"He denied the deposit, and demanded to see the receipt."
+
+"The villain! He thought I was at the bottom of the sea, and the receipt
+with me. He shall find his mistake!"
+
+"Then you have the receipt still, father?"
+
+"To be sure I have," and Captain Rushton drew it from the pocket where
+it had laid concealed for two years and more.
+
+Robert regarded it with satisfaction.
+
+"He won't dare to deny it after this. I wish we were going back at
+once."
+
+"Now, Robert, tell me all that has happened in my absence, and how you
+raised money enough to come out here."
+
+So father and son exchanged narrations. Captain Rushton was astonished
+to find that the same man, Ben Haley, who had been the cause of his
+misfortunes, had also come so near compassing the destruction of his
+son.
+
+"Thanks to a kind Providence," he said, "his wicked machinations have
+failed, and we are alive to defeat his evil schemes."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+
+DEFEATED.
+
+In due time the _Superior_ cleared for New York, and among the
+passengers were Robert and his father. Since the meeting with his son
+Captain Rushton's mental malady had completely disappeared, and his
+mental recovery affected his physical health favorably. His step became
+firm and elastic, his eye was bright, and Robert thought he had never
+looked better. Leaving the two to pursue their voyage home, we return to
+Captain Haley.
+
+After leaving Robert to his fate, he kept on his way, rejoicing with a
+wicked satisfaction that he had got rid of an enemy who had it in his
+power to do him harm, for what Robert might suffer in his island prison,
+he cared little. He took it for granted that he would never get away,
+but would pass his life, be it longer or shorter, in dreary exile.
+Though the crew did not know all, they knew that the captain had
+heartlessly left Robert to his fate, and all were animated by a common
+feeling of dislike to their commander, who never under any
+circumstances would have been popular. But there was no one among them
+bold enough to come forward and charge Haley with his crime, even when
+they reached Calcutta. The captain moved among them, and his orders were
+obeyed, but not with alacrity. This satisfied him, for he cared nothing
+for the attachment of those under his command.
+
+One day in Calcutta he had a surprise.
+
+He met Captain Rushton one day when out walking. It seemed like one
+risen from the dead, for he supposed him lying at the bottom of the sea.
+Could his eyes deceive him, or was this really the man whom he had so
+grossly injured? Captain Rushton did not see Haley, for he was partly
+turned away from him, and was busily conversing with a gentleman of his
+acquaintance. Haley drew near, and heard Captain Rushton addressed as
+Mr. Smith. He at once decided that, in spite of the wonderful
+resemblance, it was not the man he supposed, and breathed more freely in
+consequence. But he could not help looking back to wonder at the
+surprising likeness.
+
+"They are as near alike as if they were brothers," he said to himself.
+
+He did not again catch sight of Captain Rushton while in Calcutta.
+
+Before Robert arrived, Captain Haley had sailed for home. But he met
+with storms, and his vessel received injuries that delayed her, so that
+his ship only reached New York on the same day with the _Superior_,
+bearing as passengers Robert and his father. Our hero lost no time in
+calling upon his friend, Mr. Morgan, and actually reached the office an
+hour before Haley, the _Superior_ having reached her pier a little in
+advance of the other vessel.
+
+When Robert walked into the office, Mr. Morgan, who was at his desk,
+looked up, and recognized him at once.
+
+"Welcome back, my young friend," he said, cordially, rising to meet him.
+"I am glad to see you, but I didn't expect you quite so soon. How did
+you happen to come in advance of the captain?"
+
+"Then you have not heard what happened at sea?" said Robert.
+
+"Yes," said the merchant. "I heard, much to my regret, of Captain Evans'
+death. He was a worthy man, and I am truly sorry to lose him. What do
+you think of his successor, Captain Haley? He has never before sailed
+for me."
+
+"After I have told my story, you can judge of him for yourself. I did
+not return on your vessel, Mr. Morgan, but on the _Superior_, Captain
+Smith."
+
+"How is that?" asked the merchant, surprised.
+
+"Because Captain Haley left me on an island in the Southern Ocean, bound
+to a tree, and probably supposes that I am dead."
+
+"Your story seems incredible, Robert. Give me a full account of all that
+led to this action on the part of the captain."
+
+My readers shall not be wearied with a repetition of details with which
+they are already familiar. Robert related what had happened to him in a
+straightforward manner, and Mr. Morgan never thought of doubting his
+statements.
+
+"This Haley must be a villain," he said. "You are, indeed, fortunate in
+having escaped from the snare he laid for you."
+
+"I have been fortunate in another way also," said Robert. "I have
+succeeded in the object of my voyage."
+
+"You have not found your father?"
+
+"I found him in Calcutta, and I have brought him home with me."
+
+"You must have been born under a lucky star, Robert," said the merchant.
+"Were your father's adventures as remarkable as yours?"
+
+"It was the same man who nearly succeeded in accomplishing the ruin of
+both--Captain Haley was my father's mate, and was he who, in revenge
+for some fancied slight, set fire to the vessel in mid-ocean, and then
+escaped."
+
+Scarcely had this revelation been made, when a clerk entered, and
+approaching Mr. Morgan, said, "Captain Haley would like to see you."
+
+Mr. Morgan glanced at Robert significantly.
+
+"I wish to know what explanation Mr. Haley has to give of your
+disappearance. There is a closet. Go in, and close the door partially,
+so that you may hear what passes without yourself being seen."
+
+Robert was hardly established in his place of concealment when Haley
+entered the office.
+
+"Good-morning, Mr. Morgan," he said, deferentially, for he wished to
+keep in his employer's good graces.
+
+"Good-morning, sir," said the merchant, formally. "Captain Haley, I
+believe?"
+
+"Yes, sir I succeeded to the command of the _Argonaut_ upon the lamented
+death of my friend, Captain Evans. His death happened on our passage
+out. I proceeded at once to Calcutta, and after disposing of the cargo
+sailed for home."
+
+"Your voyage has been a long one."
+
+"Yes, we have had stress of weather, which has delayed us materially. I
+regret this, but did the best I could under the circumstances. I hope
+to have discharged my duties in a manner satisfactory to you."
+
+"I cannot, of course, blame you for delay, since the weather was quite
+beyond your control," said the merchant, but his tone was marked by
+coldness, for which Haley found it difficult to account. He was anxious
+to remain in command of the _Argonaut_, but the want of cordiality
+evinced by his employer made him doubtful of his success. He was not
+timid, however, and resolved to broach the subject.
+
+"I hope, Mr. Morgan," he said, "that you have sufficient confidence in
+me to intrust me I with the command of the _Argonaut_ on her next
+voyage?"
+
+"He certainly is not lacking in audacity," thought Mr. Morgan. "We will
+speak of that matter hereafter," he said. "Did my young friend, Robert
+Rushton, return with you?"
+
+Now was the critical moment. In spite of his audacity, Haley felt
+embarrassed.
+
+"No, sir," he replied.
+
+"Indeed! I expected that you would bring him back."
+
+"May I ask if the boy is a relative of yours?"
+
+"No, he is not."
+
+"So much the better."
+
+"Why do you say that? I am particularly interested in him."
+
+"Then, sir, my task becomes more painful and embarrassing."
+
+"You speak in enigmas, Captain Haley."
+
+"I hesitate to speak plainly. I know you will be pained by what I have
+to tell you."
+
+"Don't consider my feelings, Captain Haley, but say what you have to
+say."
+
+"Then I regret to say that the boy, Robert Rushton, is unworthy of your
+friendship."
+
+"This is a grievous charge. Of course, I expect you to substantiate it."
+
+"I will do so. Shortly after the death of Captain Evans and my accession
+to the command I found that this boy was trying to undermine my
+influence with the men, from what motives I cannot guess. I remonstrated
+with him mildly but firmly, but only received insolence in return.
+Nevertheless I continued to treat him well on account of the interest
+you felt in him. So things went on till we reached Calcutta. He left me
+at that time, and to my surprise did not return to the ship. I was able
+to account for his disappearance, however, when I missed one hundred and
+fifty dollars, of which I have not the slightest doubt that he robbed
+me. I should have taken measures to have him arrested, but since you
+felt an interest in him I preferred to suffer the loss in silence. I
+fear, Mr. Morgan, that you have been greatly deceived in him."
+
+"I suspect that I have been deceived," said Mr. Morgan, gravely. "It is
+only fair, however, Captain Haley, to hear both sides, and I will
+therefore summon the boy himself to answer your charge. Robert!"
+
+At the summons, to Captain Haley's equal surprise and dismay, Robert
+stepped from the closet in which he had been concealed.
+
+"What have you to say, Robert?" asked the merchant.
+
+"Captain Haley knows very well the falsehood of what he says," said our
+hero, calmly. "It was not at Calcutta I left the _Argonaut_, nor was it
+of my own accord. Captain Haley, with his own hands, tied me to a tree
+on a small island in the Southern Ocean, and there left me, as he
+supposed, to a solitary death. But Heaven did not forsake me, and sent
+first a brave sailor and afterward a ship to my assistance. The charge
+that I stole money from him I shall not answer, for I know Mr. Morgan
+will not believe it."
+
+Captain Haley was not a fool, and he knew that it would be useless to
+press the charge further. He rose from his seat; his face was dark with
+anger and smarting under a sense of defeat.
+
+"You have not done with me yet," he said to Robert, and without another
+word left the office.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+
+THE CUP AND THE LIP.
+
+Affairs in Millville had gone on much as usual. Mrs. Rushton had not yet
+exhausted the supply of money left by Robert in the hands of his friend
+the lawyer. Her expenses were small, and were eked out by her earnings;
+for she continued to braid straw, and was able in this way to earn two
+dollars a week. Indeed, she made it a point to be as economical as
+possible, for she thought it likely Robert would spend all his money,
+and return penniless. She had received no letter from him since the one
+announcing his being about to sail for Calcutta, and this made her
+naturally anxious. But Mr. Paine assured her that letters were likely to
+be irregular, and there was no ground for alarm. So she waited with what
+patience she could till Robert should return, hoping that by some
+strange chance he might succeed in his quest, and bring his father back
+with him.
+
+Meanwhile, fortune had improved with Mr. Davis, the superintendent of
+the factory. He had lost largely by speculation, but had blundered at
+last into the purchase of a stock in which some interested parties had
+effected a corner. It went up rapidly, and on the morning when we
+introduce him again to the reader he was in high good spirits, having
+just received intelligence from his broker that he had cleared seven
+thousand dollars by selling at the top of the market.
+
+"Another cup of coffee, Mrs. Davis," he said, passing his cup across the
+table.
+
+Seeing that his father appeared in good humor, Halbert ventured to
+prefer a request, which, however, he had little hope of having granted.
+
+"Have you seen Will Paine's pony?" he said, paving the way for the
+request.
+
+"Yes," said his father; "I saw him on it yesterday."
+
+"It's a regular beauty--I wish I had one."
+
+"How much did it cost?"
+
+"Two hundred dollars."
+
+"That is rather a high price."
+
+"But it will increase in value every year. I wish you would buy me one,
+father."
+
+"I think I will," said the superintendent, helping himself to a fresh
+slice of toast.
+
+"Do you mean it?" asked Halbert, in the utmost astonishment.
+
+"Certainly I do. I can afford you a pony as well as Mr. Paine can
+afford to buy William one."
+
+"Thank you!" said Halbert, his selfish nature more nearly affected by
+gratitude than ever before. "You are very kind. When will you see about
+it?"
+
+"I am busy. You may go yourself and ask Mr. Paine where he got William's
+pony, and if he knows of any other equally good."
+
+"That I will," said Halbert, leaving the table in haste.
+
+"Halbert, you have eaten scarcely anything," said his mother.
+
+"I am not hungry," said the excited boy, seizing his hat, and dashing
+off in the direction of Mr. Paine's office.
+
+"By the way, Mrs. Davis," said the husband, "I think you mentioned last
+week that the parlor needed a new carpet."
+
+"So it does. The old one is looking very shabby."
+
+"How much will a new one cost?"
+
+"I can get a nice Brussels for a hundred dollars."
+
+"Well, you may order one."
+
+It was the wife's turn to be astonished, for on broaching the subject
+the week previous, her husband had given her a lecture on extravagance,
+and absolutely refused to consider her request. This was before the
+tidings of his good fortune. She was not slow to accept the present
+concession, and assumed an unusually affectionate manner, in the excess
+of her delight.
+
+Meanwhile, Halbert, in opening the front door, came in collision with a
+boy taller and stouter than himself, brown and sunburned. But, changed
+as he was, he was not slow in recognizing his old enemy, Robert Rushton.
+
+"What, are you back again?" he said, ungraciously.
+
+"So it appears. Is your father at home?"
+
+"Yes; but he is at breakfast. I don't think you can see him."
+
+"I'll make the attempt, at any rate," said Robert.
+
+"Where have you been all this time?" asked Halbert, more from curiosity
+than interest.
+
+"I went to Calcutta."
+
+"Common sailor, I suppose," said Halbert, contemptuously.
+
+"No, I was a passenger."
+
+"Where did you get your money to pay the passage?"
+
+"I'm sorry that I can't stop to gratify your curiosity just at present,
+but I have important business with your father."
+
+"You're getting mighty important," sneered Halbert.
+
+"Am I?"
+
+"I wouldn't advise you to put on so many airs, just because you've been
+to Calcutta."
+
+"I never thought of putting on any. I see you haven't changed much since
+I went away. You have the same agreeable, gentlemanly manners."
+
+"Do you mean to say that I am not a gentleman?" blustered Halbert.
+
+"Not at all. You may be one, but you don't show it."
+
+"I have a great mind to put you out of the yard."
+
+Robert glanced at Halbert's figure, slight compared with his own, and
+laughed.
+
+"I think you would find it a difficult undertaking," he said.
+
+Halbert privately came to the same conclusion, and decided to war only
+with words.
+
+"I have got something better to do than to stand here listening to your
+impudence. I won't soil my fingers by touching you."
+
+"That's a sensible conclusion. Good-morning."
+
+Halbert did not deign to respond, but walked off, holding his nose very
+high in the air. Then, as he thought of the pony, he quickened his pace,
+and bent his steps to Mr. Paine's office.
+
+"A young man to see you, Mr. Davis," said Bridget, entering the
+breakfast-room.
+
+"Who is it?"
+
+"I think it's young Robert Rushton, but he's much grown entirely."
+
+"That boy home again!" exclaimed the superintendent, in displeased
+surprise. "Well, you may ask him into the next room."
+
+"Good-morning, Mr. Davis," said Robert, as the superintendent entered.
+
+"Good-morning. When did you get home?" was the cold reply.
+
+"Last evening."
+
+"Where have you been?"
+
+"To Calcutta."
+
+"On a fool's errand."
+
+"I felt it my duty to search for my father."
+
+"I could have told you beforehand you would not succeed. Did you go as a
+sailor?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Where did you raise money to pay your expenses?"
+
+"I found friends who helped me."
+
+"It is a poor policy for a boy to live on charity."
+
+"I never intend to do it," said Robert, firmly. "But I would rather do
+it than live on money that did not belong to me."
+
+"What do you mean by that, sir?" said the superintendent, suspiciously.
+
+"It was a general remark," said Robert.
+
+"May I ask what is your motive in calling upon me?" asked Mr. Davis. "I
+suppose you have some object."
+
+"I have, and I think you can guess it."
+
+"I am not good at guessing," said Davis, haughtily.
+
+"Then I will not put you to that trouble. You remember, before I sailed
+for Calcutta, I called here and asked you to restore the sum of five
+thousand dollars deposited with you by my father?"
+
+"I remember it, and at the time I stigmatized the claim as a fraudulent
+one. No such sum was ever deposited with me by your father."
+
+"How can you say that, when my father expressly stated it in the letter,
+written by him, from the boat in which he was drifting about on the
+ocean?"
+
+"I have no proof that the letter was genuine, and even if it were, I
+deny the claim. I am not responsible for money I never received."
+
+"I understand you then refuse to pay the money?"
+
+"You would have understood it long ago, if you had not been uncommonly
+thick-headed," sneered the superintendent. "Let this be the end of it.
+When you present my note of acknowledgment for the amount, I will pay
+it and not before."
+
+"That is all I ask," said Robert.
+
+"What?" demanded the superintendent.
+
+"I mean that this assurance is all I want. The note shall be presented
+to you in the course of the day."
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Davis, startled.
+
+"I mean this, Mr. Davis: that I found my father in Calcutta. He came
+home with me, and, far from having perished at sea, is now alive and
+well. He has with him your note for five thousand dollars, and will
+present it in person."
+
+"You are deceiving me!" exclaimed Davis, in consternation.
+
+"You will soon learn whether I am deceiving you or not," said Robert. "I
+will now bid you good-morning. My father will call upon you in the
+course of the day."
+
+He rose to go, leaving the superintendent thunderstruck at the
+intelligence of Captain Rushton's return. The five thousand dollars,
+with arrears of interest, would take the greater part of the money whose
+sudden acquisition had so elated him. While he was considering the
+situation, his wife entered.
+
+"I think, Mr. Davis," she said, "I will go to New York to-day to buy
+carpeting, if you can spare the money."
+
+"Neither now nor at any other time," he roared, savagely; "the old
+carpet must do."
+
+"Why, then, did you tell me fifteen minutes since that I might buy one?
+What do you mean by such trifling, Mr. Davis?" said his wife, her eyes
+flashing.
+
+"I mean what I say. I've changed my mind. I can't afford to buy a new
+carpet."
+
+There was a stormy scene between man and wife, which may be passed over
+in silence. It ended with a fit of hysterics on the part of Mrs. Davis,
+while her husband put on his hat and walked gloomily over to the
+factory. Here he soon received a call from Halbert, who informed him,
+with great elation, that Mr. Paine knew of a desirable pony which could
+be had on the same terms as his son's.
+
+"I've changed my mind," said his father. "A pony will cost too much
+money."
+
+All Halbert's entreaties were unavailing, and he finally left his
+father's presence in a very unfilial frame of mind.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+
+CONCLUSION.
+
+The arrival of Captain Rushton, confidently supposed to be dead,
+produced a great sensation in Millville, and many were the
+congratulatory visits received at the little cottage. Mrs. Rushton was
+doubly happy at the unexpected return of her husband and son, and felt
+for the first time in her life perfectly happy. She cared little for
+poverty or riches, as long as she had regained her chief treasures.
+
+When Captain Rushton called upon the superintendent, the latter received
+him with embarrassment, knowing that the captain was aware of his
+intended dishonesty. He tried to evade immediate payment, but on this
+point his creditor was peremptory. He had no further confidence in Mr.
+Davis, and felt that the sooner he got his money back into his hands the
+better. It was fortunate for him that the superintendent had been at
+last successful in speculation, or restitution would have been
+impossible. As is was, he received his money in full, nearly six
+thousand dollars, which he at once invested in bank stock of reliable
+city banks, yielding a good annual income. Only the day after the
+payment of this sum, a committee of investigation appointed by the
+directors, whose suspicions had been excited, visited the factory, and
+subjected the superintendent's books to a thorough scrutiny. The result
+showed that Mr. Davis, in whom hitherto perfect confidence had been
+felt, had for years pursued a system of embezzlement, which he had
+covered up by false entries in his books, and had appropriated to his
+own use from fifteen to twenty thousand dollars belonging to the
+corporation. While this investigation was pending, the superintendent
+disappeared, leaving his wife and son unprovided for. His estate was
+seized in part satisfaction of the amounts he had appropriated, and
+Halbert's pride was brought low. The wealth and position upon which he
+had based his aristocratic pretensions vanished, and in bitter
+mortification he found himself reduced to poverty. He could no longer
+flaunt his cane and promenade the streets in kid gloves, but was glad to
+accept a position in the factory store, where he was compelled to dress
+according to his work. In fact, he had exchanged positions with Robert,
+who was now, owing to a circumstance which will at once be mentioned,
+possessed of a considerable inheritance.
+
+The old farmer, Paul Nichols, whom Robert tried to defend from his
+unprincipled nephew, Ben Haley, died suddenly of heart disease.
+Speculation was rife as to who would inherit the estate which he left
+behind him. He had no near relation except Ben Haley, and so great was
+the dislike he entertained toward him that no one anticipated that the
+estate would go to him, unless through Paul's dying intestate. But
+shortly after Haley's visit, his uncle made a will, which he deposited
+in the hands of Lawyer Paine. On the day after the funeral, the latter
+met Captain Rushton and Robert, and said:
+
+"Will you come to my office this afternoon at three o'clock?"
+
+"Certainly," said the captain.
+
+"I suppose you don't want me, Mr. Paine?" said Robert.
+
+"I do want you, particularly," said the lawyer.
+
+Our hero wondered a little why his presence was required, but dismissed
+the matter from his mind, until three o'clock found him in the lawyer's
+office.
+
+"Gentlemen," said the lawyer, "I am about to read the last will and
+testament of our neighbor, Paul Nichols, recently deceased."
+
+This preamble created surprise, for this was the first intimation that
+such a will was in existence.
+
+The document was brief, and the substance of it was contained in the
+following paragraph:
+
+"Having no near relatives, except Benjamin Haley, for whom I have
+neither regard nor affection, and who, moreover, has recently stolen a
+considerable sum of money from me, I leave all of which I may die
+possessed, whether in land or money, to my brave young friend, Robert
+Rushton, who courageously defended me from my said nephew, at his own
+bodily risk, and I hope he may live long to enjoy the property I
+bequeath him."
+
+No one was more surprised than Robert at the unexpected inheritance. He
+could hardly realize that he was now possessed of a considerable
+property in his own right. It may be said here that, including the value
+of the farm, and the gold concealed, his inheritance amounted to quite
+ten thousand dollars. Paul had considerately supplied the lawyer with a
+list of the hiding places where he had secreted his money on the
+strictest injunctions of secrecy, and this made the task of finding it
+quite easy.
+
+Congratulations poured in upon our hero, who received them with modest
+satisfaction.
+
+"It is a good thing to have a rich son," said Captain Rushton,
+humorously. "Robert, I hope you won't look down upon me on account of my
+comparative poverty."
+
+"Father," said Robert, "I wish you would take this money--I don't want
+it."
+
+"I shall do nothing of the kind, Robert. It is fairly and deservedly
+yours, though I confess you may attribute it partly to good luck, for
+virtue is not always so well rewarded in this world. I will take care of
+it for you, and if you choose to pay your own expenses out of your
+income, I shall allow you to do so, since you are now rich and
+prosperous."
+
+"You must take all the income, father. Then it will not be necessary for
+you to go to sea again."
+
+"I have already made up my mind to stay on land hereafter," said Captain
+Rushton. "My cruise in an open boat without provisions has cured me of
+my love for the sea. With the little money I have saved, and the help of
+a rich son, I think I can afford to stay on shore."
+
+The cottage was enlarged by the erection of another story, as well as by
+the addition of a wing and the throwing out of two bay windows, and was
+otherwise refitted and so metamorphosed by fresh paint and new
+furniture, that it became one of the most attractive houses in
+Millville. Captain Rushton, who knew something of agriculture, decided
+to carry on Robert's farm himself, and found the employment both
+pleasant and profitable.
+
+"My only trouble," he used to say, jocosely, "is that I have a very
+exacting landlord. Unless the rent were punctually paid, he would be
+sure to resort to legal means to recover it."
+
+When Ben Haley heard that his uncle's estate had been bequeathed to the
+boy whom he had persecuted, and whom for that reason he hated, his rage
+and disappointment were unbounded. If he had not been within two hours
+of sailing in command of a ship bound to South America, he would at once
+have gone down to Millville, and in his fury he might have done serious
+injury to the boy who had superseded him. But he could not delay the day
+of sailing, and so, much against his will, he was forced to forego his
+vengeance until his return. But this was destined to be his last voyage.
+While at Rio Janeiro he became engaged in a fracas with the keeper of a
+low grogshop, when the latter, who was a desperate ruffian, snatched a
+knife from his girdle, and drove it into the heart of the unhappy
+captain, who fell back on the floor and expired without a groan. Thus
+terminated a misguided and ill-spent life. I should have been glad to
+report Ben Haley's reformation instead of his death, but for the sake of
+Robert, whom he hated so intensely, I am relieved that thin source of
+peril is closed.
+
+Robert, being now in easy circumstances, decided to pursue his studies
+for two years longer, and accordingly placed himself in a school of high
+reputation, where he made rapid improvement. He then entered upon a
+business life under the auspices of his friend, Mr. Morgan, and promises
+in time to become a prominent and wealthy merchant. He passes every
+Sunday at home in the little cottage occupied by his father, who,
+however, has ceased to be a farmer, having been promoted to the post of
+superintendent of the factory, formerly occupied by Mr. Davis. For the
+first twelve months the post was filled by a new man, who proved to be
+incompetent, and then was offered to Captain Rushton, whose excellent
+executive talents were well known. He soon made himself familiar with
+his duties, and the post is likely to be his as long as he cares to hold
+it.
+
+Hester Paine, as a young lady, fulfills the promise of her girlhood. The
+mutual attachment which existed between her and Robert, when boy and
+girl, still continues, and there is some ground for the report which
+comes from Millville--that they are engaged. The alliance will be in the
+highest degree pleasing to both families, for if Hester is fair and
+attractive, Robert is energetic and of excellent principles, and
+possessed of precisely those qualities which, with fair good fortune
+will, under the favor of Providence, insure his success in life.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Brave and Bold, by Horatio Alger
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