Jr. Horatio Alger

“ Talbot," said Mrs. Mason coldly.
"How do you happen to be at home, Mark?" asked Solon, regarding Mark with a slight frown.
"I got excused for the afternoon. I have a headache."
"Perhaps you won't mind going out for a few minutes. I wish to speak to your mother on business."
"Do you wish me to go out, mother?" asked Mark.
"No. Whatever affects you affects me. Besides, I may want your advice."
"I don't ask Edgar for advice," returned Solon Talbot dryly.
"I suppose not. You are a business man, and can judge better than he. I am not a business man."
"You are older than Mark." ”

“ Turning in some surprise he saw Maud Gilbert, the young lady he had escorted to Daly's Theater, leaving the store.
"How do you do, Mark?" she said, extending her hand with a smile.
"Very well, thank you, Miss Gilbert."
"Didn't I see your picture in the Evening Globe a short time since?"
"Yes, I believe so," answered Mark, blushing.
"In connection with Mr. Rockwell, the banker?"
"Yes."
"You have become quite a hero. I concluded it was you and I felt quite proud to think I knew you. Did I tell you that I had a brother about your age?" ”

“ Luther Rockwell, the banker. I was in his office when a dynamite crank threatened to blow us all up."
"I heartily congratulate you, Mark. You deserved the gift for your coolness and courage, but it isn't every rich man who would make so generous an acknowledgment for your services."
"That's true, sir. Mr. Rockwell has been very kind."
"How do you like the position of telegraph boy?"
"I would like to give it up. It doesn't lead to anything. But I don't want to throw myself out of work. Six dollars a week is a small income, but it is better than nothing." ”

“ Rockwell, my banker."
"Your banker!" sneered Edgar. "How long has he been your banker, I should like to know."
"Only since this morning. I have just deposited some money with him."
"Indeed! How much?"
"A thousand dollars."
"You are too funny altogether. If you are ever worth a thousand cents you will be lucky."
"Do you think so?" returned Mark, smiling. "I shouldn't be satisfied with so small a fortune as that." ”

“ The jeweler took from his case two diamond rings. They were large, brilliant, and showy.
"How do you like the appearance of these rings?" he asked.
"They are beautiful!" exclaimed Mark admiringly.
"Don't you think the lady would admire them?"
"I should think so, sir."
"What should you think they are worth?"
"A hundred dollars apiece," guessed Mark.
"If the diamonds were genuine, one would be worth three hundred and fifty dollars and the other four hundred."
"Are they not genuine?" asked Mark in surprise.
"Paste, my boy, paste. The gold, however, is real. ”

“ When I select an agent I prefer to employ a man."
"How is Edgar?"
"He is well. I am looking for a position for him. I have hopes of getting him into the office of a prominent broker on Wall Street."
"I shall be glad to hear that he is doing well. He is about the age of Mark."
"True, but their paths will lie apart. My, ahem! position will secure for Edgar an entrance into fashionable society, while your son, though doubtless a deserving boy, must necessarily associate with his equals."
"Mark has some excellent friends," said Mrs. Mason, nettled. ”

“ The next day Mark had a surprise. Walking past the Metropolitan Hotel, not far from Houston Street, he saw a boy just leaving the hotel whose face and figure were familiar.
"Edgar Talbot!" he exclaimed in surprise.
"Oh, it's you, is it?" said Edgar, turning at the call.
"Yes; how do you happen to visit New York again so soon?"
"We are going to move to New York," answered Edgar. "Father feels that Syracuse is too small a place for a man of his business ability," he added in a consequential tone.
"Are you going to live at the hotel?"
"No. We shall live in a nice flat up town, near the Park." ”

“ She had a strong suspicion that her brother-in-law had defrauded her of her share in her father's estate.
"I am glad to see you, Mr. Talbot," she said, extending her hand. "And this is Edgar! How you have grown, Edgar."
"Yes, ma'am," responded Edgar stiffly.
Both Mrs. Mason and Mark noticed that he did not call her "aunt." Her nephew's coldness chilled her.
"I am sorry to see you in such a poor place," she said, smiling faintly.
"I suppose rents are high in New York," said Solon Talbot awkwardly.
"Yes, and our means are small. How is my sister Mary?" ”

“ Buffington," he said resolutely, "I am a boy, but I know what I am about. You took the young lady's purse. Before you sat down beside her she had it in her pocket. When you left the car it was gone."
"If I ever get you alone," said Buffington in a low tone of concentrated rage.
"If you do, I hope you won't forget your sacred profession."
"I am a minister, but I am also a gentleman, and I shall resent an insult."
"Look here," said Mark, getting out of patience, "either you give me back that purse for the young lady or I will call the conductor and lay the matter before him." ”

“ Here's Mark Mason's picture in the paper!"
"What nonsense you talk!" said Solon Talbot.
"No, I don't. Here is the picture, and here is his name!" said Edgar triumphantly.
Solon Talbot read the account in silence.
"I see," said another Syracuse man coming up, "you are reading the account of the daring attempt to blow up banker Rockwell's office!"
"Yes," answered Solon.
"That was a brave telegraph boy who seized the bag of dynamite."
"Very true!" said Solon, unable to resist the temptation to shine by the help of the nephew whom he had hitherto despised. "That boy is my own nephew!" ”

“ Mark hastily rose and sat down in it.
"I thought," he said apologetically, "you might prefer me to the man who has just entered the car."
"By all means," she answered with a bright smile. "I prefer you also to the clerical gentleman who rode with me earlier."
"Thank you. When your niece joins you I will vacate the seat in her favor."
Florence Loring was perhaps nineteen, three years older than Mark. She looked upon him quite as a boy, and therefore felt under no constraint.
"Do you come from New York?" she asked.
"Yes."
"You seem young to travel alone." ”

“ Neither he nor Mark had noticed each other particularly till the train had left the depot. Then the gentleman exclaimed in surprise, "Mark Mason?"
"Uncle Solon?" exclaimed the messenger in equal surprise.
"What brings you here?"
"A ticket," answered Mark briefly.
"You are in the wrong car. Didn't you know that this is the Limited Western Express?"
"Yes. I know it."
"Where are you going then?"
"I shall stop at Buffalo," answered Mark, not caring to mention his further destination.
Solon Talbot looked amazed.
"What on earth carries you out there?" he asked.
"This train," answered Mark demurely. ”

“ As there was space for but two sets of dancers, Edgar was obliged to sit still and see the others dance. He felt very much dissatisfied especially as Mark seemed to be enjoying himself thoroughly.
"Society in New York seems to be very much mixed," he said to himself, "when telegraph boys can push in and make themselves so conspicuous in rich men's houses."
Edgar got a chance to dance once later on, but the girl he danced with was very small and insignificant in appearance.
"Well, what kind of a time did you have?" asked Solon Talbot when his son returned home. ”

“ Mason.
"I suppose you heard that I was in town."
"Yes; Mark told me."
"I was not sure whether I could call, as I am here on a hurried business errand."
"I am glad you have called. I wished to ask you about father's estate."
"Just so! It is very surprising—I assure you that it amazed me very much—to find that he left so little."
"I can't understand it at all, Solon. Only a year before he died he told me that he considered himself worth fifteen thousand dollars."
"People are often deluded as to the amount of their possessions. I have known many such cases." ”

“ Mason, as she clasped hands warmly with her sister. "This is a delightful surprise."
"To me also; I thought I should never see you again."
"It is not my fault, Lucy."
"No, no. I know it," answered Mrs. Talbot. "Mr. Talbot is peculiar, as you know. He thinks everything of social rank. Now tell me, how are you getting on?"
"Very poorly till lately, but now better."
"You are not in want? Solon doesn't allow me much money, but——"
"No, Lucy. I want for nothing. Mark is a good boy, and he has been fortunate. You see I have just bought two dress patterns, one for Edith, the other for myself." ”

“ Hell rob me first and murder me afterwards, and I'm his mother's only sister."
"You see she admits it. She's rolling in money——"
"Oh!" exclaimed Mrs. Mack, throwing up her hands. "You know I'm poor, Mark Mason."
"No, I don't, Mrs. Mack. I think you've got all the money you need, but you have a right to keep it if you want to. Mr. Minton, you had better leave the room. Your aunt is evidently afraid of you, and, old as she is, your staying here may make her sick."
"It ain't much use living, the way she is. Aunt Jane, I ask you again will you lend me twenty-five dollars?" ”

“ Mason, who has been of great service to me during the journey."
Gertie surveyed Mark attentively. She was an irrepressible young lady, given to plain speaking.
"He ain't your beau, is he, Aunt Florence?" she asked.
Florence smiled and blushed.
"No," she answered. "Don't you see he is younger than I am. He is better suited to be your beau."
"I've got a beau already," said the child unexpectedly.
"Indeed! That is news. What's his name?"
"Dan Sillis. He is a nice boy."
"How old is he?"
"About fifteen."
"Isn't that too old for you?"
"Oh no. Husbands always are older than their wives." ”