Horatio Alger

“ His good friend Pettigrew saw it and said one day, "Rodney, you are looking fagged out. You need a change."
"Does that mean that you are going to discharge me?" asked Rodney, with a smile.
"It means that I am going to give you a vacation."
"But what can I do if I take a vacation? I should not like lounging around Oreville with nothing to do."
"Such a vacation would do you no good. I'll tell you the plan I have for you. I own a small mine in Babcock, about fifty miles north of Oreville. I will send you up to examine it, and make a report to me. Can you ride on horseback?" ”

“ Rodney looked about him in curiosity. He could not decide whether the cave was natural or artificial. Probably it was a natural cave which had been enlarged by the hand of man.
"Now hurry up the dinner, Caesar," said one of the guides. "We are all hungry." ”

“ He is a rich man. If he wants you back he must pay a round sum."
It was all out now! These men were emulating a class of outlaws to be found in large numbers in Italy and Sicily, and were trading upon human sympathy and levying a tax upon human friendship. ”