Jr. Horatio Alger

“ Brandon," she said, with flashing eyes, "what do you mean? What have you done to Grit? Have you dared to illtreat him? If you have, it will be a bad day's work for you."
"Ha! She threatens you, Brandon. Now, brace up, man, and show your spunk," said Travers, enjoying the scene.
"I'm not accountable to you, Mrs. B.," stammered Brandon, in what he essayed to make a dignified tone. "Grit is my stepson, and I'm his natural guardian."
"Mr. Brandon, what have you done to Grit?" persisted his wife, with flashing eyes. ”

“ Jackson see him," thought Grit's mother, or Mrs. Brandon, as we must now call her.
"Who is that man?" asked Willie anxiously.
"His name is Brandon," answered Grit's mother.
"He isn't a nice man. I don't like him."
Mrs. Brandon said nothing. What could she say? If she had spoken as she felt, she would have been compelled to agree with the boy. Yet this man was her husband, and was likely to be to her a daily source of anxiety and annoyance.
"I am afraid Grit and he won't agree," she thought anxiously. "Oh I why did he ever come back? For the last five years we have been happy. ”

“ Grit was only ten years old when his stepfather began to serve out his sentence at the penitentiary, and the two had not seen each other since. Instead of the small boy he remembered, Brandon saw before him a boy large and strong for his age, of well-knit frame and sturdy look. Five years had made him quite a different boy. His daily exercise in rowing had strengthened his muscles and developed his chest, so that he seemed almost a young man. ”

“ Brandon," said Grit. "Here's the other: You are a strong man, in good health, and able to work. Most men in your position expect to support a family, but you come to live upon my earnings, and expect me not only to provide you with board, but with money for the purpose of drink. That isn't all! You bring home one of your disreputable companions, and expect us to provide for him, too. Now, I am willing to work for mother, and consider it a privilege to do so, but I can't do any more. If you don't choose to contribute to the support of the family, you must at least take care of yourself. ”

“ He has made you a bad husband, and only brought you unhappiness. How did you ever come to marry him, mother?"
"I did it for the best, as I thought, Grit. I was left a widow when you were four years old. I had this cottage, to be sure, and about two thousand dollars, but the interest of that sum at six per cent. only amounted to a hundred and twenty dollars, and I was not brave and self-reliant like some, so when Mr. Brandon asked me to marry him, I did so, thinking that he would give us a good home, be a father to you, and save us from all pecuniary care or anxiety." ”

“ Travers looked complimented.
"I've had an education, colonel," he said complacently, "though circumstances have been against me for the last four years. As for my friend Brandon, he's one you can rely upon."
"I shall probably require his services as well as yours," said Johnson. "Now let me proceed. You agree with me that bank capitalists are grasping monopolists, that they grind down the poor man, and live in luxury at the expense of the poor laborer." ”

“ CHAPTER VII. GRIT ASTONISHES PHIL.
Grit was not wholly without curiosity, and, as was natural, he speculated as to the amount which the wallet contained. When Mr. Jackson and Willie had left him, he took it out of his pocket and opened it.
He extracted a roll of bills and counted them over. There were ten five-dollar bills, and ten dollars in notes of a smaller denomination.
"Sixty dollars!" ejaculated Grit, with a thrill of pleasure. "I never was so rich in all my life." ”

“ It won't go down."
"There is no game about it," said Grit. "My ticket and pocketbook have been stolen."
"Of course," sneered the conductor. "Perhaps you can point out the thief."
"No, I can't, for he has left the train. He got out at Exeter."
"Very likely. You can take the next train back and find him."
"Do you doubt that I had a ticket?" asked Grit, nettled by the conductor's evident incredulity.
"Yes, I do, if you want the truth. You want to steal a ride; that's what's the matter."
"That is not true," said Grit. "I am sure some of these passengers have seen me show my ticket. ”

“ As Grit left the house with his quick, firm step, Mrs. Morris looked after him with blended affection and pride.
"What a good boy he is!" she said to [Pg 15] herself. "He is a boy that any mother might be proud of."
And so he was. Our young hero was not only a strong, manly boy, but there was something very attractive in his clear eyes and frank smile, browned though his skin was by constant exposure to the sun and wind. He was a general favorite in the town, or, rather, in the two towns, for he was as well known in Portville as he was in Chester. ”

“ Courtney, has lost everything—or almost everything—and has been compelled to accept the post of bank messenger, at a salary of fifty dollars per month."
"That is indeed a change," said Grit. "What will Phil do?"
"He has gone into a store in Chester, on a salary of three dollars a week."
"Poor fellow!" said Grit. "I pity him. It must be hard for a boy with his high notions to come down in the world so. I would rather begin small and rise, than be reared in affluence only to sink into poverty afterward." ”

“ Our hero felt that if Mr. Weaver were a friend of the man before him, it would be safest to have nothing to do with him. On the principle that a man is known by the company he keeps, the friend of Colonel Johnson could hardly be a desirable person to serve.
"You seem to be in a hurry, especially as you have not seen my friend Weaver."
"You will be kind enough to explain to him that I have changed my plans," said Grit.
"Resume your seat for five minutes," said Johnson, "and I will call Weaver. You had better see him for yourself." ”

“ Jackson. "In fact, outside of my obligations to you, I have formed a good opinion of a boy who works hard and faithfully to support his mother. I was a poor boy once, and I have not forgotten how to sympathize with those who are beginning the conflict with narrow means. Mind, Grit, I don't condole with you. You have good health and strong hands, and in our favored country there is no reason why, when you reach my age, you may not be equally well off." ”

“ I was born in Boston."
"Have you formed any plans for the future? [Pg 32] You won't be a boatman all your life, I presume?"
"I hope not, sir. It will do well enough for the present, and I am glad to have such a chance of earning a living for my mother and myself; but when I grow up I should like to go to the city, and get into business there."
"All the country boys are anxious to seek their fortune in the city. In many cases they would do better to stay at home."
"Were you born in the city, sir?" asked Grit shrewdly. ”

“ You haven't been home but twenty-four hours, and have already borrowed all the money mother had, and have sold my boat, to gratify your taste for rum. There may be more contemptible men in the world, but I never met with one."
"Grit, if you talk to me in that way," said Brandon, with attempted dignity, "I shall be under the necessity of flogging you."
"You'd better not try it, Mr. Brandon. I wouldn't stand still while you were doing it. I promise you that."
Just then two gentlemen came down to Phil's pier, and one asked:
"Can you take us across to Portville?" ”

“ This was Phil Courtney, a boy about his own age, the son of an ex-president of the Chester bank, a boy who considered himself of great consequence, and socially far above the young boatman. He lived in a handsome house, and had a good supply of pocket-money, though he was always grumbling about his small allowance. It by no means follows that money makes a boy a snob, but if he has any tendency that way, it is likely to show itself under such circumstances. ”

“ Courtney, "as you are the son of one of the directors, and not the least influential or prominent, I flatter myself."
"To take a common boatman!" said Phil scornfully. "Why, Mr. Graves must be crazy!"
"He is certainly a very injudicious man," said his father.
"Do you believe Carver to be dishonest, father?"
"No, I don't, though Graves does, on some evidence trumped up by the boy Grit. He wants to supersede him, and it would not at all surprise me if he should be in favor of appointing Grit." ”

“ B.," answered her husband. "It is of an unusually delicate nature, and requires business talents of a high order."
"Your friend Travers does not impress one as a man possessed of a high order of business talent," said Mrs. Brandon.
"That is where you fail to appreciate him, but I cannot say more. My business is secret, and cannot be revealed."
So saying, Brandon took his hat, and with a jaunty step walked to the hotel.
"More secrecy!" thought Mrs. Brandon. "Grit tells me that his mission is a secret one, and now Mr. Brandon says he, too, is engaged in something that cannot be revealed. ”

“ Grit whistled.
"So you heard I had sixty dollars?" he said.
"Yes."
"It is in a safe place."
"Ha! You own that you had so much money. You wanted to keep it from me, did you?" demanded Brandon, with a frown.
"Yes, I did," admitted Grit. "Did Phil Courtney tell you I had it?"
"No matter how I heard. I know that you [Pg 82] are trying to conceal a large sum of money, which ought to be in my hands."
"Indeed! How do you make that out?"
"I am your stepfather and natural guardian. I am the best person to take care of your money."
"I don't think so, and I propose to keep it myself," said Grit firmly. ”

“ I have always treated Phil well enough, but he doesn't think me a suitable associate for him."
"Why?"
"Because I am poor, while he is the son of a rich man."
"That is as it may be," said the lady, shrugging her shoulders. "Money sometimes has wings. So you are not rich?"
"I have to work for a living."
"What do you do?"
"I ferry passengers across the Kennebec, and in that way earn a living for my mother and myself."
[Pg 203]
"Do you make it pay?"
"I earn from seven to ten dollars a week."
"That is doing very well for a boy of your age. What sort of a boy is Phil? Is he popular?" ”

“ He laid it down, and, looking keenly about, observed Grit's parcel, which, though commonplace in appearance, contained, as we know, thirty thousand dollars in government bonds.
"It is rather a long ride to Boston," said Mr. Townsend.
"Yes; but it seems shorter when you have something to read," answered Grit, looking wistfully at his paper, which he would have preferred reading to listening to the conversation of his neighbor.
"I never care to read on the cars," said Mr. Townsend. "I think it is injurious to the eyes. Do you ever find it so?" ”

“ What is the pay?" asked Phil.
"Six hundred dollars a year, I believe," said Courtney.
"Can't you get it for me?" asked Phil eagerly.
"I don't think it would be suitable to appoint a boy," returned Courtney. "That is my objection to Grit."
"Surely I would be a better messenger than a common boy like that."
"Of course, you come of a very different family. Still, I prefer a man, and indeed I am in favor of retaining Ephraim Carver."
Phil would really have liked the office of bank messenger. He was tired of studying, and would have found it very agreeable to have an income of his own. ”

“ It is a curious circumstance that sometimes in profound sleep a person seems vaguely aware of the presence of an intruder, and the feeling is frequently strong enough to disturb slumber. Grit was a sound sleeper, but, however we may account for it, whether it was the instinctive feeling I have mentioned, or the glare of the candle, he woke up, and his glance rested on the kneeling figure of his stepfather rummaging his pockets. ”

“ Brandon," said Grit, "I should think you would hardly care to refer to them. It was certainly your own fault that you were not as free as I am."
[Pg 156]
"I was a victim of circumstances," whined Brandon.
"We won't discuss that," said Grit. "You had a fair trial, and were sentenced to five years' imprisonment. About the unkindness. I should like to know what you think of a man who deliberately takes away the means of earning a living from his stepson, who is filling his place, and supporting his family, in order to gratify his miserable love of drink." ”

“ Won't Grit be mad when he hears what his stepfather has done?"
This was, on the whole, the pleasantest reflection connected with the purchase. It was not creditable to Phil to cherish such malice against a boy, simply because he would not treat him with as much deference as he expected; but human nature is often betrayed into petty meannesses, and Phil was a very human boy, so far, at least, as such traits were concerned.
We now come back to Grit, who stood on the river's bank in perplexity, when he discovered that his boat had been abstracted. ”

“ Grit was about to accept this offer, when a quiet-looking man beside him said:
"The regular fare is fifty cents."
"Is it any of your business?" demanded the hackman angrily. "Do you want to take the bread out of a poor man's mouth?"
"Yes, if the poor man undertakes to cheat a boy!" answered the quiet man keenly.
"It's ridiculous expectin' to pay fifty cents for a ride of three or four miles," grumbled the hackman.
"The distance isn't over a mile and a [Pg 248] quarter, and you are not allowed to ask over fifty cents. My boy, I advise you to call another hack." ”

“ Before Phil quite knew what he was saying, he had revealed everything to Carver, adding that Grit was after his place.
The bank messenger now understood why the package entrusted to him was a dummy, and who carried the real package. He lost no time in sending information to Colonel Johnson, in Portland.
The gentleman was very much excited when he learned in what way he had been circumvented.
"So it was a boy, was it?" he said savagely. "That boy must be looked after. He may find that he has made a mistake in meddling with affairs that don't concern him." ”

“ You didn't think I had so much money—eh, Phil?" he retorted, with a smile.
"I don't believe a word of it," returned Phil crossly. "It is ridiculous that a boy like you should have so much money. It can't be yours."
"Do you doubt it, Miss Marion?" asked Grit, turning to the young lady. ”

“ They followed the attendant to a room on the third floor, where they found their employer pacing the room in visible excitement.
"Give me the parcel," he said, in a peremptory tone.
He cut the strings, and hastily opened the coveted prize.
But his eager look was succeeded by black disappointment, as, instead of the bonds, he saw a package of blank paper of about the same shape and size.
"Confusion!" he ejaculated; "what does all this mean? What devil's mess have you made of the business?" ”