Jr. Horatio Alger

“ I am—er—no army man—no fighter. Evidently the major wants a fighter for a son-in-law,” and Felix Gussing groaned once more.
“You'll have to become a fighter,” said Joe.
“No! no! I am a er—a man of peace!” cried the dude, in alarm.
“Mr. Gussing, I think I can arrange matters for you,” said Joe, struck by a certain idea.
“What can you mean, Joe?”
“I mean that I can prove to Major Sampson that you are a brave man.”
“Do that, Joe, and I shall be your friend for life!” gasped the dude. ”

“ During the middle of the afternoon he went back to town on an errand for Mr. Vane. He was passing a cabin on the outskirts when he heard loud words and a struggle.
“Let me go, you ruffian!” cried a weak voice. “Leave that money alone!”
“You shut up, old man!” was the answer. “The money is all right.”
“You are trying to rob me!”
Then there was another struggle, and suddenly a door burst open and a man leaped into the roadway. At sight of him Joe came to a halt. The fellow was Bill Butts, the man who had tried to swindle Josiah Bean.
“Stop him!” came from the cabin. “He has my gold!” ”

“ Make him give me my gold!”
“Give up the gold,” ordered Joe.
“There it is!” growled Bill Butts, and threw a buckskin bag towards the cabin. The man from within caught it up and stowed it away in his pocket.
“Shall I call a policeman?” asked Joe.
“I don't know,” said the man from the cabin. He wore a troubled face and had white hair and a white beard. “It may be—Wha—where did you come from?” he gasped.
“Where did I come from?” asked Joe.
“Yes! yes! Answer me quickly! You are—you must be a ghost! I saw you in my dreams last week!” ”

“ He placed his suit case at his feet and then gave himself up to looking at the scenery as it rushed past.
Joe had never spent much of his time on the railroad, so the long ride had much of novelty in it. The scenery was grand, as they wound in and out among the hills and mountains, or crossed brooks and rivers and well-kept farms. Numerous stops were made, and long before Philadelphia was gained the train became crowded.
“Nice day for riding,” said a man who sat down beside our hero. He looked to be what he was, a prosperous farmer. ”

“ Mr. Arthur Drew surveyed Joe critically. The new hotel was to be run in first-class style and he wanted his help to be of the best. He rather liked Joe's appearance and he took note of the fact that our hero's hands were scrupulously clean and that his shoes were blacked.
“I've got almost all the help I need, but I might take him on,” he said, slowly. “One of my present boys does not suit me at all. He is too impudent.”
“Well, Joe is never impudent and he is very reliable,” answered Andrew Mallison. ”

“ During the talk the major's daughter had come upon the scene.
“Oh, Felix, what does this mean?” she demanded.
“I am going to fight this—this fellow a duel, pistols at ten paces,” answered Felix, firmly.
“Felix!” she gasped. “You will not, you cannot fight. For my sake, do not.”
“Clara,” answered the dude, smiling affectionately upon her. “For your sake I would forego any personal gratification, but I must not suffer a stain upon the honor.”
“Well said!” exclaimed the major. “Felix is behaving well. I couldn't have done better myself. ”

“ At last Sam Cullum found his feet and walked around the side of the dock to the shore. A crowd followed him and kept him from going at Joe again.
“I'll fix him another time,” growled the intoxicated one, and shuffled off, with some small boys jeering him.
“You treated him as he deserved,” said one of the other boatmen to Joe.
“I suppose he'll try to square up another time,” answered our hero.
“Well, I wouldn't take water for him, Joe.”
“I don't intend to. If he attacks me I'll do the best I can to defend myself.”
“He has made a nuisance of himself for a long time. ”

“ You don't think we are going to drive ourselves, do you? Of course you are going with us.”
Poor Felix! He was “in for it” now, decidedly. It required a good deal of moral courage, a quality in which he was deficient, to resist a lady's demand. His knees trembled with fear as he scrambled in. Joe, who was standing not far away, looked on with a quiet smile on his face. He realized what was passing in the dude's mind.
“He'd give ten dollars to get out of it,” our hero told himself.
The boy who had brought the turnout around looked at Felix Gussing earnestly. ”

“ Then they went to the dining room for something to eat.
“We start for Montana in the morning,” said the gentleman. “I think the quicker I get on the ground the better it will be for me.”
Although Maurice Vane and Joe did not know it, both were shadowed by Caven and Malone. The two rascals had disguised themselves by donning false beards and putting on spectacles.
“They leave in the morning,” said Caven. “Malone, we must get tickets for the same train, and, if possible, the same sleeping car.”
“It's dangerous work,” grumbled Pat Malone. ”

“ After Andrew Mallison had gone Joe was shown around the hotel and instructed in his various duties. Occasionally he was to do bell-boy duty, but usually he was to be an all-around helper for the office.
“I think you'll like it here,” said Frank Randolph. “It's the best hotel I've ever worked in. Mr. Drew is a perfect gentleman.”
“I am glad to hear it, Frank,” answered our hero.
The room assigned to the two boys was a small one on the top floor of the hotel. But it was clean, contained two nice cots, and Joe felt it would suit him very well. ”

“ Among those to go were Felix Gussing and the two young ladies. The dude bid our hero a cordial good-bye, for he now knew Joe quite well.
“Good-bye, Mr. Gussing,” said Joe. “I hope we meet again.”
“Perhaps we shall, although I generally go to a different place each summer.”
“Well, I don't expect to stay in Riverside all my life.”
“I see. If you make a move, I hope you do well,” returned Felix.
On the day after the dude left, a man came to the hotel who, somehow, looked familiar to our hero. He came dressed in a light overcoat and a slouch hat, and carried a valise and a suit case. ”

“ No more was said just then, but later our hero met Felix Gussing again, and on the day following had an errand that took him to the young man's room.
“Joe, you are quite a wise boy, perhaps I can confide in you,” said Felix Gussing, after some talk on other subjects.
“I'll be glad to be of service to you, Mr. Gussing.”
“I have a delicate problem to solve. Sometimes a young man can give better advice than an older person,” went on the dude. ”

“ While Joe was trying to make up his mind, Caven chanced to glance up and his eyes fell upon our hero. He gave a cry of dismay and thrust the mining share out of sight.
“What's the matter?” asked Malone in a low tone.
“Look there, Pat! That boy!”
“No!”
“But it is!”
“How did he get on this train?”
“I don't know. But it's unpleasant enough for us.”
“Do you suppose Vane is around?” asked Malone, nervously.
“He may be.”
The two men stared around the car. Only some women and children were present, the men having gone out to learn the cause of the delay. ”

“ He led the way and half a dozen followed, including Wilberforce Chaster, who kept well to the rear. Just as the party reached the door of the apartment Joe and the bell boy came up.
Without hesitation Andrew Mallison threw open the door of the room and looked inside. Of course he saw nothing out of the ordinary.
“Where is your ghost?” he demanded. “I see nothing of it.”
“Don't—don't you see—er—a skeleton?” demanded the man who had been victimized. ”

“ Joe had been looking for Caven and Malone, but without success.
“I cannot see those men anywhere,” he said.
“They are probably in hiding,” said his employer.
The train was only half full and for the time being Caven and Malone kept themselves either in the smoking compartment or in the dining car. It was dark when they took their seats, and soon the porter came through to make up the berths for the night.
“I must confess I am rather sleepy,” said Maurice Vane.
“So am I,” returned our hero. “I am sure I can sleep like a top, no matter how much the car shakes.” ”

“ Maurice Vane knows what he is doing, and we were fools to sell out to him.”
“If that mine is valuable I'm going to have it!” cried Gaff Caven. “He can have his money back!” and the rascal who had overreached himself began to pace the floor.
“Maybe he won't take his money back.”
“Then I'll claim the mine anyway, Pat—and you must help me.”
“What can you do?”
“Go out to Montana, just as soon as the weather is fit, and relocate the mine. If it's any good we can find some fellows to help us hold it somehow. I'm not going to let this slip into Maurice Vane's hands without a struggle.” ”

“ Doctor Gardner wanted to be taken across the lake and Joe himself did the job. As he was rowing he asked about the man who had signed the hotel register as David Ball from Montana.
“Is he very sick, doctor?”
“No, I can't say that he is,” was the physician's answer. “He looks to be as healthy as you or I.”
“It's queer he keeps to his room.”
“Perhaps something happened out at his mine to unsettle his nerves. He told me of some sort of an accident.”
“Is he a miner?”
“He is a mine owner, so Mr. Mallison told me, but he never heard of the man before.” ”

“ I have known men to start out with a good deal less. When I left home I had but twenty dollars and an extra suit of clothes.”
“Did you come from a country place?”
“No, I came from New York. Times were hard and I couldn't get a single thing to do. I went to Paterson, New Jersey, and got work in a silk mill. From there I went to Camden, and then to Philadelphia. From Philadelphia I came here and have been here ever since.”
“You have been prosperous.”
“Fairly so, although I don't make as much money as some of the hotel men in the big cities. But then they take larger risks. ”

“ Among the new boarders was a fussy old man named Chaster, who was speedily nicknamed by the bell boys Chestnuts. He was a particular individual, and made everybody as uncomfortable as he possibly could.
One day Wilberforce Chaster—to use his full name,—asked Joe to take him out on the lake for a day's fishing. Our hero readily complied, and was in hot water from the time they went out until they returned. Nothing suited the old man, and as he caught hardly any fish he was exceedingly put out when he came back to the hotel. ”

“ He will do all he can for you, I am sure,” urged Joe.
“Well, Dr. Gardner is a good fellow I admit. If you—can—can get him—I'll—I'll—” The sufferer tried to go on but could not.
“I think I can get him. But I hate to leave you alone.” And Joe stared around helplessly. He wished he had Ned with him.
“Never mind—give me a drink—then go,” answered Hiram Bodley. He had often taken Doctor Gardner out to hunt with him and liked the physician not a little.
Inside of five minutes Joe was on the way to the doctor's residence, which was on the outskirts of Riverside. ”

“ I do not believe in any underhand work,” was the ready answer.
“Then you are not like some men I have met,” said Joe, and told about Ulmer Montgomery and his so-called antiquities.
“That man will never amount to anything, Joe—mark my words. He will always be a hanger-on as we call them, in the business world.” ”

“ He is growing weaker every moment. Be brave, my lad. It is a terrible trial, I know, but you must remember that all things are for the best.”
Joe knelt beside the sufferer and took hold of his hand. Hiram Bodley looked at him and then at the doctor.
“I—I can't live—I know it,” he said hoarsely. “Joe, stay by me till I die, won't you?”
“Yes!” faltered the boy. “Oh, this is awful!”
“I'm sorry to leave you so soon, Joe—I—I thought I'd be—be able to do something for you some day.”
“You have done something for me, Uncle Hiram.”
“All I've got goes to you, Joe. Doctor, do you hear that?” ”

“ A few years ago a hotel friend of mine opened a big hotel in Atlantic City. He hoped to make a small fortune, but he was not located in the right part of the town and at the end of the season he found himself just fifteen thousand dollars out of pocket. Now he has sold out and is running a country hotel fifty miles west of here. He doesn't hope to make so much, but his business is much safer.”
“I'm afraid it will be a long time before I get money enough to run a hotel,” laughed our hero. ”

“ Jasok was a Hebrew peddler who drove around through the lake region, selling tinware and doing all sorts of trading. It was time for him to visit that neighborhood and Joe went to the nearest house on the main road and asked about the man.
“He will most likely be along to-morrow, Joe,” said the neighbor.
“If he comes, Mr. Smith, will you send him over to my place? Tell him I want an offer for the things.”
“Going to sell out, Joe?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What are you going to do after that?”
“Try for some job in town.”
“That's a good idea. Hunting and fishing isn't what it used to be. ”

“ That won't hurt you, I'm sure. I love to meet old friends,” continued Henry Davis.
In the end the old farmer was persuaded to walk into the smoking car and here the slick-looking individual found a corner seat where they would be undisturbed.
“I expect to spend a week or more in Philadelphia, Mr. Bean,” said the stranger; “if I can be of service to you during that time, command me.”
“Well, perhaps ye can be of service to me. Do ye know many folks in the city?”
“Oh, yes, a great many. Some are business friends and some are folks in high society.”
“I don't care for no high society. ”

“ In the present tale are related the adventures of a country lad who, after living for some time with a strange hermit, goes forth into the world and finds work, first in a summer hotel and then in a large hotel in the city. Joe finds his road no easy one to travel, and he has to face not a few hardships, but in the end all turns out well. ”

“ A HOME IN RUINS.
As Joe rowed toward his home on the mountain side, a good mile from Riverside, he could not help but think of the two mysterious men and of what they had said.
“They were certainly rascals,” he mused. “And from their talk they must have come from New York and are now going to try some game in Philadelphia.”
The hermit's boy was tired out by the day's outing, yet he pulled a fairly quick stroke and it was not long before he reached the dock at which he and Hiram Bodley were in the habit of leaving their boat. ”

“ They walked to a hotel, and there Joe and his young western friend told their stories, to which Maurice Vane listened with keen interest. The gentleman was shocked to learn of the sudden death of Caven and Malone.
“It was certainly a sad ending for them,” said he. “But, as Badger says, they had nobody but themselves to blame for it.”
Maurice Vane was extremely glad to get back his mining shares and thanked Bill Badger warmly for what he had done.
“Don't you mention it,” said the young westerner. “I'm going to hunt up dad now. When you get time, call and see us.” ”