Jr. Horatio Alger

“ She had taken all his earnings, and given him in return a share of her miserable apartment, a crust of bread or two, daily seasoned with occasional assaults with the leather strap. It had never occurred to Mark before, but now for the first time it dawned upon him that he had the worst of the bargain. He could live more comfortably by retaining his earnings, and spending them upon himself.
Mark was rather a timid, mild-mannered boy, or he would sooner have rebelled against the tyranny and abuse of Mother Watson. But he had had little [95] confidence in himself, and wanted somebody to lean on. ”

“ In selecting the old woman, who had acted thus far as his guardian, he had leaned upon a broken reed. The last night's experience gave him a little courage. He reflected that he could sleep in the Newsboys' Lodging House for five cents, or on the ferry-boat again for two, while the fare at his old home was hardly so sumptuous but that he could obtain the same without very large expense.
So Mark thought seriously of breaking his yoke and declaring himself free and independent. ”

“ Why should he be so much worse off than Richard Hunter, who had only been a ragged boot-black three years before? The whole world seemed to be in a conspiracy to advance Richard, and to keep him down. To think he should be only earning six dollars a week, while Dick, whom he considered so far beneath him, was receiving twenty, was really outrageous. And now he had pushed a low dependent of his into Baker's store where Roswell was obliged to associate with him! ”

“ Mark saw with terror that her hand was already feeling in the pocket where she kept the leather strap. Much as he always feared the strap, the idea of having it applied [116] to him in the public street made it even more distasteful.
"What shall I do, Ben?" he said, clutching the arm of his companion.
"What are you afraid of? Do you see a copp after you?"
A "copp" is the street-boy's name for a policeman.
"No," said Mark; "there's Mother Watson coming after me. Don't you see her?"
"That's Mother Watson, is it?" asked Ben, surveying the old body with a critical eye. "She's a beauty, she is!" ”

“ Then there are fruit-stalls with tempting heaps of oranges, apples, and in their season the fruits of summer, presided over for the most part by old women, who scan shrewdly the faces of passers-by, and are ready on the smallest provocation to vaunt the merits of their wares. There are candy and cocoanut cakes for those who have a sweet tooth, and many a shop-boy invests in these on his way to or from Brooklyn to the New York store where he is employed ”

“ I tried it once, but it was no go."
"Why not?" asked Mark, who began to be interested in spite of himself.
"You see," said Ben, again puffing out a volume of smoke, "I look too tough, as if I could take care of myself. People don't pity me. I tried it one night when I was hard up. I hadn't got but six cents, and I wanted to go to the Old Bowery bad. So I went up to a gent as was comin' up Wall Street from the Ferry, and said, 'Won't you give a poor boy a few pennies to save him from starvin'?'"
"'So you're almost starvin', are you, my lad?'" says he. ”

“ Roswell, on the other hand, was not likely to identify the neatly dressed boy before him with the shivering little beggar of the market. But it recurred to him all at once that Dick had referred to his ward as a match boy.
"You were a match boy?" he said, in the manner of one making a grave accusation.
"Yes, sir."
"Then why didn't you keep on selling matches, and not try to get a place in a respectable store?"
"Because Mr. Hunter thought it better for me to go into a store."
"Mr. Hunter! Perhaps you don't know that your guardian, as you call him, used to be a boot-black." ”

“ So, as usual, Fosdick walked on with Mr. Greyson, this time with Mark beside him, while Richard walked with Ida.
"Who is that little boy, Dick?" asked the young lady.
"That's my ward, Miss Ida," said Richard.
"You don't mean to say you are his guardian, Dick?"
"Yes, I believe I am."
"Why," said the lively young lady, "I always thought guardians were old, and cross, and bald-headed."
"I don't know but that description will suit me after a while," said Dick. "My hair has been coming out lately."
"Has it, really?" said Ida, who took this seriously. "I hope you won't be bald. ”

“ Why did he not get a cheaper boarding-place, and save up the difference in price? No doubt this consideration will readily suggest itself to the minds of some of my young readers.
As Richard Hunter had a philosophy of his own on this subject, I may as well explain it here. He had observed that those young men who out of economy contented themselves with small and cheerless rooms, in which there was no provision for a fire, were driven in the evening to the streets, theatres, and hotels, for the comfort which they could not find at home. ”

“ He is my only descendant, and I seek to find him, hoping that he may be a joy and solace to me in the old age which will soon be upon me. It is for the purpose of tracing him that I have come to New York. When you," turning to Fosdick, "referred to your being compelled to resort to the streets, and the hard life of a boot-black, the thought came to me that my grandson may be reduced to a similar extremity. It would be hard indeed that he should grow up ignorant, neglected, and subject to every privation, when a comfortable and even luxurious home awaits him, if he can only be found." ”

“ Your head will become as strong as mine after a while. I'm as cool as a cucumber."
"It's rather late, isn't it?" asked Roswell.
"Hark, there's the clock striking. I'll count the strokes. Eleven o'clock!" he said, after counting. "That isn't very late."
Ralph accompanied Roswell to the door of his mother's house in Clinton Place.
"Good-night, old fellow!" he said. "You'll be all right in the morning."
"Good-night," said Roswell.
He crept up to bed, but his brain was excited by the punch he had drank, and it was only after tossing about for two hours that he at length sank into a troubled sleep. ”

“ Extravagance is one of their besetting sins. Many average a dollar and over as daily earnings, yet are always ragged and out at elbows, and often are unsupplied with the small price of a night's lodging at the Home. The money is squandered on gambling, cigars, and theatre-going, while the same sum would make them comfortable and independent of charity. The disposition to save is generally the first encouraging symptom in a street boy, and shows that he has really a desire to rise above his circumstances, and gain a respectable position in the world. ”

“ Flanagan. "Didn't he come home last night?"
"No," said the old woman, "and he isn't home yet. When he does come I'll give him a dose of the [106] strap. He's a bad, lazy, shiftless boy, and worries my life out."
"You're hard on the poor boy, Mother Watson. You must remember he's but a wisp of a lad, and hasn't much strength."
"He's strong enough," muttered Mother Watson. "It's lazy he is. Just let him come home, that's all!"
"You told him not to come home unless he had twenty-five cents to bring with him." ”

“ When Mother Watson had turned the corner, Mark breathed a sigh of relief.
"Don't you think she'll come back again?" he asked anxiously of Ben Gibson.
"No," said Ben, "she's scared of the copp. If she ever catches you alone, and tries to come any of her games, just call a copp, and she'll be in a hurry to leave."
"Well," said Mark, "I guess I'll try to sell the rest of my matches. I haven't got but a few."
"All right; I'll try for another shine, and then we'll go and have some dinner. I'd like to get hold of another greeny." ”

“ Didn't that chap open his eyes when I told him about payin' five hundred dollars?"
"I don't think it's right, Ben," said Mark, seriously.
"Don't you go to preachin', Mark," said Ben, not altogether pleased. "You've been tied to an old woman's apron-string too long,—that's what's the matter with you."
"Mother Watson didn't teach me the truth," said Mark. "She don't care whether I tell it or not except to her. It was my mother that told me I ought always to tell the truth."
"Women don't know anything about business," said Ben. "Nobody in business speaks the truth. ”

“ I might look out all day, and I wouldn't be any the better off."
"Perhaps you don't go the right way to work," said his companion, taking the cigar from his mouth, and knocking off the ashes.
"Then I wish you'd tell me the right way."
"Why, the fact is," said Ralph, slowly, "I make my employer pay me higher wages than he thinks he does."
"I don't see how you can do that," said Roswell, who didn't yet understand.
Ralph took the cigar, now nearly smoked out, from his mouth, and threw it on the pavement. He bent towards Roswell, and whispered something in his ear. Roswell started and turned pale. ”

“ She opened a cupboard, and brought out a plate containing a small quantity of cold beef, and two slices of bread.
"There's some better mate than you'll get of Mother Watson. It's cold, but it's good."
"She never gives me any meat at all," said Mark, gazing with a look of eager anticipation at the plate which to his famished eye looked so inviting.
"I'll be bound she don't," said Mrs. Flanagan. "Talk of you being lazy! What does she do herself but sit all day doing nothin' except drink whiskey from the black bottle! She might get washin' to do, as I do, if she wanted to, but she won't work. ”

“ I don't know what Roswell means by what he has just said, but I was not left alone in the store for a moment all day yesterday, nor did Roswell go out to speak to a friend while I was about."
"There seems to be a conflict of evidence here," said Mr. Baker.
"I hope the word of a gentleman's son is worth more than that of a match boy," said Roswell, haughtily.
"To whom do you refer, when you speak of a match boy?"
"To him," said Roswell, pointing to Mark. "He used to be a vagabond boy about the streets [240] selling matches, and sleeping anywhere he could. No wonder he steals." ”

“ You're a good boy, Mark, but you must remember that I am your guardian, and am to be obeyed as such. You're not going back to the Lodge to live. I have arranged to have you stay with me at my boarding-place. As soon as you have got a place you will work in the daytime, and every Saturday night you will bring me your money. In the evening I shall have you study a little, for I don't want you to grow up as ignorant as I was at your age. ”

“ I cannot forgive myself when I think of my unfeeling severity. But it is too late too redeem the past. As far as I can I would like to atone for it.
"A month since I heard that both Irene and her husband were dead, the latter five years since, but that the child, a boy, is still living, probably in deep poverty. ”

“ It was Irene Bates."
"How strange!" exclaimed Richard and Fosdick together. "Mark," continued Richard, "I think you are the very boy I had been in search of for several months. I had succeeded without knowing it."
"Please tell me all about it," said Mark. "I don't understand."
"I have a great piece of good luck to announce to you, Mark. Your grandfather is a rich man, formerly in business in New York, but now a successful merchant in Milwaukie. He has no child, no descendant except yourself. ”

“ He was dimly conscious of the arrival at the Brooklyn side, and the ensuing hurried exit of passengers from that part of the cabin in which he was, but it was only a slight interruption, and when the boat, having set out on its homeward trip, reached the New York side, he was fast asleep.
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"Poor little fellow!" thought more than one, with a hasty glance at the sleeping boy. "He is taking his comfort where he can." ”

“ Baker to take a boy from the street is more than I can tell."
"I suppose I can run errands just as well, if I was once a match boy," said Mark, who did not fancy the tone which Roswell assumed towards him, [171] and began to doubt whether he was a person of as much importance as he at first supposed.
"We shall see," said Roswell, loftily. "But there's one thing I'll advise you, young man, and that is, to treat me with proper respect. You'll find it best to keep friends with me. I can get you turned away any time." ”

“ Indeed, on this point, he sympathized heartily with Roswell, whose dislike to Richard Hunter has already been shown.
"Well, mother," said Roswell, as he entered Mrs. Crawford's presence, "I'm getting tired of Baker's store."
"Don't say so, Roswell," said his mother, in alarm. "Remember how long it took you to get the place."
"I have to work like a dog for six dollars a week," said Roswell.
"Yes," said his cousin, with a sneer, "that's precisely the way you work. Dogs spend their time running round the street doing nothing." ”

“ Come in again when you feel hungry and Bridget Flanagan won't be the woman to send you off hungry if she's got anything in the cupboard."
"I wish Mother Watson was as good as you are," said Mark.
"I aint so good as I might be," said Mrs. Flanagan; "but I wouldn't be guilty of tratin' a poor [58] boy as that woman trates you, more shame to her! How came you with her any way? She aint your mother, is she."
"No," said Mark, shuddering at the bare idea. "My mother was a good woman, and worked hard. She didn't drink whiskey. Mother was always kind to me. I wish she was alive now." ”

“ The broker took the cheque, and returned this sum, which Mr. Bates handed to Fosdick.
"You may need this for a reserve fund," he said, "to draw upon if needful until your dividend comes due. The bank shares will pay you probably one hundred and sixty dollars per year."
"One hundred and sixty dollars!" repeated Fosdick, in surprise. "That is a little more than three dollars a week."
"Yes."
"It will be very acceptable, as my salary at the store is not enough to pay my expenses." ”

“ Roswell took a hand, but found he was too dizzy to play correctly, and for the remainder of the evening contented himself with looking on. Small sums were staked among some of the players, and thus a taste for gambling was fostered which might hereafter lead to moral shipwreck and ruin.
This was the way in which the members of the Madison Club spent their evenings,—a very poor way, as my young readers will readily acknowledge. I heartily approve of societies organized by young people for debate and mutual improvement. They are oftentimes productive of great good. ”

“ But about your grandson: I have quite a number of friends among the street-boys, and I can inquire of them whether any boy named John Talbot has joined their ranks since my time."
"I shall be greatly obliged to you if you will," said Mr. Bates. "But it is quite possible that circumstances may have led to a change of name, so that it will not do to trust too much to this. Even if no boy bearing that name is found, I shall feel that there is this possibility in my favor."
"That is true," said Dick. "It is very common for boys to change their name. ”

“ I don't think I could sleep very well on these seats. Haven't you got any home?"
"Yes," said Mark, "a sort of a home."
"Then why didn't you sleep at home?"
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"I knew I should get a beating if I went home without twenty-five cents."
"Well, that's hard luck. I wonder how I should feel," he continued, laughing, "if my wife gave me a beating when I came home short of funds."
But here the usual bump indicated the arrival of the boat at the slip, and all the passengers, the painter included, rose, and hurried to the edge of the boat. ”

“ It will be better perhaps for me to leave fifty dollars with each of you to defray any expenses you may be at."
"Thank you," said Dick; "but I am well supplied with money, and will advance whatever is needful, and if I succeed I will hand in my bill."
Fosdick expressed himself in a similar way, and after some further conversation he and Dick rose to go.
"I congratulate you on your wealth, Fosdick," [40] said Dick, when they were outside. "You're richer than I am now." ”

“ To see the pompous air with which Roswell threw himself back in his chair, it might have been supposed that he was the proprietor of the establishment, though I believe it is true, as a general rule, that employers are not in the habit of putting on so many airs, unless the position is a new one, and they have not yet [167] got over the new feeling of importance which it is apt to inspire at first.
While Roswell was thus engaged Mark returned from his errand.
He looked about him in some uncertainty on entering the store, not seeing either Mr. Baker or the chief clerk. ”

“ He drew a dime from his vest-pocket and handed it to Mark.
Mark took it with a blush of mortification at the necessity.
"I wouldn't beg if I could help it," he said, desiring to justify himself in the eyes of the good-natured young man.
"I'm glad to hear that. Johnny." (Johnny is a [76] common name applied to boys whose names are unknown.) "It isn't a very creditable business. What makes you beg, then?"
"I shall be beaten if I don't," said Mark.
"That's bad. Who will beat you?"
"Mother Watson."
"Tell Mother Watson, with my compliments, that she's a wicked old tyrant. ”

“ Micky went out, and soon returned in state inside a hack. He was leaning back, thinking it would be a very good thing if he had a carriage of his own to ride in. But I am afraid that day will never come. Micky has already turned out much better than was expected, but he is hardly likely to rise much higher than the subordinate position he now occupies. In capacity and education he is far inferior to his old associate, Richard Hunter, who is destined to rise much higher than at present.
Richard Hunter went to the rear of the warehouse where Mark still lay on his bale. ”