Jr. Horatio Alger

“ They were Edward Granger and Chester Rand.
Abner Trimble turned pale and uttered an imprecation. All his plans, so carefully laid, were menaced with ignominious defeat.
Floyd looked up in surprise, but did not comprehend the situation. In spite of the positive testimony he had given he did not even know Edward Granger by sight.
Mrs. Trimble uttered a wild cry, but her face lighted up with supreme joy.
“Edward!” she exclaimed, and half rising, opened her arms.
Her son sprang forward and embraced his mother.
“Oh, Edward!” she murmured, “are you really alive?” ”

“ What are you going for?”
“On business,” answered Chester, not caring to make a confidant of Felix.
“Won’t it cost a good deal of money?”
“Yes; but I expect to get paid for going.”
“What a lucky fellow you are!” said Felix, not without a trace of envy. “I wish I could go. I like to travel, but I have never had a chance.”
Mr. Fairchild was equally surprised when told of Chester’s plans.
“Are you going as an artist?” he asked.
“No; as a real estate man,” answered Chester. “I own a few lots in Tacoma, and have a chance of selling a part of them.” ”

“ A rich lady of my acquaintance sends me a hundred dollars every year to bestow in charity. I will devote a part of this to the young man whom you have so kindly taken in, say at the rate of eight dollars a week.”
“That will make us feel easy,” said Chester gratefully. “How much do you think his uncle offered me?”
“I am surprised that he should have offered anything.”
“He handed me twenty-five cents, but I told him I thought we could get along without it.”
“And you will. Silas Tripp has a small soul, hardly worth saving. He has made money his god, and serves his chosen deity faithfully.” ”

“ But it is just for money lost at the gaming table—a gambling debt.”
“Such debts, among men of honor,” said Dick, loftily, “are the most binding. Everywhere they are debts of honor.”
“I don’t see why,” grumbled Mullins.
“Come,” said Ralston, soothingly, “you are out of sorts, and can’t see things in their right light. I’ll lend you fifty dollars more, making the debt two hundred dollars.”
“I don’t see how that will help me.”
“I’ll tell you. You must win the money to pay your debt at the gaming table. Why, two hundred dollars is a trifle. You might win it in one evening.” ”

“ Chester smiled.
“I have been discharged from my position in the real estate office,” he said.
“Then,” said the landlady, in some dismay, “isn’t it imprudent to take a more expensive room?”
“I have secured a much better place.”
“Oh! that alters the case. Is it likely to be permanent?”
“If I lose it I will go back to my old room.”
“I am sure I am glad to hear of your good luck, Mr. Rand. It is very seldom that a young man of your age——”
“Call me a boy. I am not a young man yet.”
“You seem to be getting on as well as a young man. I think you are real smart.” ”

“ Morris, though a minister, had none of the starched dignity that many of his profession think it necessary to assume. He was kindly and genial, with a pleasant humor that made him agreeable company for the young as well as the old. Mr. Conrad spoke much of New York and his experiences there, and Chester listened to him eagerly.
“You have never been to New York, Chester?” said the young artist.
“No, sir, but I have read about it—and dreamed about it. Sometime I hope to go there.”
“I think that is the dream of every country boy. Well, it is the country boys that make the most successful men.” ”

“ Mr. Perkins was a tolerably shrewd man. He had “sized up” the gambler, and decided that he did not care to become any better acquainted with him.
“Just as you say,” returned Dick Ralston, looking discomfited. “I thought perhaps I could make it pleasant for you.”
“If I find I have time I can call at your place of business,” said the man from Minneapolis, with a shrewd glance at the gambler.
“I have no place of business,” returned Ralston, rather awkwardly. “I am a—a capitalist, and sometimes speculate in real estate. Don’t I, Mullins?” ”

“ Long,” said the broker, “here is your receipt. It is clear that you have paid your rent. You will have no more trouble.”
Then, as the mechanic left the office, the broker, turning to the bookkeeper, said, sternly:
“Another such transaction, Mr. Mullins, and you leave my employ.”
“But, sir——” stammered Mullins.
“You may spare your words. I understand the matter. If you had not been in my employ so long, I would discharge you at the end of this week.”
Mullins went back to his desk, crushed and mortified. But his brain was busy with the thought, “Where could James Long have obtained the receipt?” ”

“ Chester, this is my nephew, Arthur Burks. Arthur, this is Chester Rand, a young artist, who is assisting me.”
Arthur came forward and gave Chester his hand cordially.
“You ought to wear spectacles,” he said, “like uncle Edgar. You don’t look dignified enough to be his assistant.”
“That may come in time,” said Chester, with a smile.
“Arthur, I am done with Chester for this evening,” said the professor. “You may carry him off and entertain him. You may bring me the other two sketches whenever you are ready.” ”

“ Mullins,” said Chester, “if, through the meanness of others you get into trouble you can any time send to me for a loan of fifty dollars.”
“Thank you,” ejaculated Mullins, gratefully, wringing Chester’s hand. “You are heaping coals of fire on my head.”
“You will always have my best wishes for your prosperity. If ever you are able, repay the money you took from Mr. Fairchild, and I will venture to promise that he will forgive you.” ”

“ I suppose you will be able to carry back the empty basket, Abel,” added Chester, as his successor emerged from the side door, relieved of his burden.
“I guess so,” answered Abel, with a grin.
“I was never in Wyncombe before,” began Mr. Conrad, “though I am a second cousin of your minister, Mr. Morris. I have to go away to-morrow morning, and wish to see a little of the town while I am here.”
“Where do you live, Mr. Conrad?”
“In the city of New York.”
“Are you a minister, too?”
“Oh, no!” laughed the young man. “I am in a very different business. I am an artist—in a small way. ”

“ Carlin, you’ll have to get hold of the other two dollars and a half some how, or out you’ll go. See?”
“Shure, sir, you are very hard with a poor widow,” said Mrs. Carlin, wiping her eyes with the corner of her apron.
“Business is business, Mrs. Carlin.”
“If Mr. Fairchild were in, he’d trate me better than you. Will he be in soon?”
“Perhaps he will, and perhaps he won’t. You can pay the money to me.”
“I won’t, sir, beggin’ your pardon. I’d rather wait and see him.”
“Very well! you can take the consequences,” and Mr. Mullins eyed the widow with an unpleasant and threatening glance. ”

“ Silas Tripp held up his hands as if astounded.
“’Tain’t so,” he said, sharply. “If I gave up business, I’d soon be in the poorhouse. Well, what do you say? Will you stay along and work for two dollars and a half a week?”
“I couldn’t do it,” said Chester, troubled.
“All right! It’s jest as you say. Your week ends to-morrow night. If you see Abel Wood, you can tell him I want to see him.” ”

“ When Chester met his friend the artist, he told him of what had happened.
“That Mullins is evidently a rascal, and a very mean one,” said Mr. Conrad. “If I were going to defraud anyone, it wouldn’t be a poor mechanic.”
“Mr. Mullins has already taken a dislike to me. If he should discover that I have found the receipt and given it to Mr. Long, he would hate me even worse.”
“You must look out for him. He will bear watching.”
“I wish he were more like Mr. Fairchild. He seems a fair, honorable man.”
“He is. I don’t understand why he should employ such a fellow as Mullins.” ”

“ DICK RALSTON’S FATHER.
When Chester followed Mr. Perkins into the great dining room of the Fifth Avenue he was rather dazzled by its size and the glistening appearance of the tables.
“I hope you have brought your appetite with you, Chester,” said his Western friend. “The Fifth Avenue sets a good table.”
“My appetite is sure to be good. I was kept so busy to-day that I had hardly time to buy a sandwich for lunch.”
“All the better! You’ll enjoy your meal. As for me, I don’t have the appetite I do at home. There’s nothing like a tramp on the open prairie to make a man feel peckish.” ”

“ As they walked through the chief business street Chester noticed with interest evidences of activity everywhere. Tacoma he found was situated, like San Francisco, on a side hill, sloping down toward Puget Sound.
“What a fine location for a town,” he said.
“Yes,” answered Mr. Dean, “this is destined to be a large city. Our people are enterprising and progressive. Seattle is at present ahead of us, but we mean to catch up, and that ere many years.”
“At what price are lots selling on this street?”
“I see you have business ideas,” said the broker, smiling. ”

“ Then, if my cousin comes, your mother will not be so lonesome.”
“It is the very thing,” said Chester, enthusiastically.
“What is your cousin’s name, Mr. Gardener?” asked the widow.
“Miss Jane Dolby. She is a spinster, and at her age there is not much chance of her changing her condition. Shall I write her that you will receive her?”
“Yes; I shall be glad to do so.”
“And, as Miss Dolby is a business woman, she will expect me to tell her your terms.”
“Will four dollars a week be too much?” asked Mrs. Rand, in a tone of hesitation. ”

“ Why, a millionaire, whose name would be very familiar to you if I could venture to mention it, came here last week and wanted to invest fifty thousand dollars in our bonds, but I firmly refused to take more than five thousand.”
“I don’t see why you should,” said Silas, puzzled.
“I will tell you why. We wish to give a chance to smaller investors, like yourself, for instance. Rich men have plenty of ways in which to invest their money to advantage, while you probably don’t know where to get over six per cent.” ”

“ A boy needs more pocket money now than he did fifteen years ago. How soon shall you try to get even with that boy?”
“I think it will be prudent to wait a while. Mr. Fairchild may suspect something if I move too soon. The boy has been with us less than a week.”
“He has been with you long enough to do some harm.”
“That’s true,” said Mullins, with an ugly look.
“Does he seem to suit Mr. Fairchild?”
“Yes; he appears to be intelligent, and he attends to his duties—worse luck!—but he’s a thorn in my side, a thorn in my side! I’d give twenty-five dollars if he was out of the office.” ”

“ As they went downstairs, Chester observed, “I will ask you as a favor, Mr. Perkins, not to refer to my work in Puck, as it is not known at the office that I do any work outside.”
“All right, my boy. By the way, how much do they pay you at the office?”
“Five dollars a week.”
“Evidently it isn’t as good a business as drawing.”
“No, sir; but it is more reliable. I can’t always satisfy the comic papers, and I am likely to have sketches left on my hands.”
“Yes; that is a practical way of looking at it, and shows that you are a boy of sense. What sort of a man is Mr. Fairchild?” ”

“ Fairchild. “It is clear that you are too high priced for the real estate business.”
“Felix tells me you may retain him.”
“I will give him a chance. It depends upon himself whether he stays.”
“I am very glad of it, sir. Felix has hardly been my friend, but now that his cousin is away he may improve. I certainly hope so.”
“What shall you do about Ralston?” asked Chester, presently.
“I shall proceed against him. Such a man is a curse to the community. It was through him that my bookkeeper lost his integrity and ruined his prospects. ”

“ She looked very sad, and Chester felt that he should like to give the bookkeeper a good shaking. He could not help despising a man who appeared to enjoy distressing an unfortunate woman whose only crime was poverty.
At this moment the office door opened, and a gentleman of perhaps forty entered. He was a man with a kindly face, and looked far less important than the bookkeeper. Mr. Mullins, on seeing him, laid aside his unpleasant manner, and said, in a matter-of-fact tone:
“This is Mrs. Carlin. She owes six dollars rent, and only brings three dollars and a half.” ”

“ He went the next day to the office of The Phœnix, and after delivering his sketches, said: “I should like leave of absence for two months. Can you spare me?”
“Does your health require it, Mr. Rand?” asked the editor.
“No,” answered Chester, “but I own a little property in Tacoma, and there are parties out there who wish to buy. It is important that I should go out there to attend to the matter.”
The editor arched his brows in astonishment.
“What!” he said. “An artist, and own real estate? This is truly surprising.”
“I didn’t earn it by my art,” replied Chester, smiling. “It was a bequest.” ”

“ Chester did so.
“I will send for you if I need you. I think you can help me materially. You seem to have a clear head, and are observing.”
It was the evening for Chester to call at Prof. Hazlitt’s.
“I passed your office this morning, Chester,” said Arthur Burks, “and thought of calling in, but I was in haste.”
“You wouldn’t have found me, Arthur. I am discharged.”
“What!” exclaimed Arthur, in surprise. “What complaint does Mr. Fairchild make of you?”
“None at all. He is out of the city. The bookkeeper, who dislikes me, discharged me, and gave the place to his cousin.” ”