Jr. Horatio Alger

“ Who could have had the heart to kill you?”
“That’s the man! He murdered him!” said Mrs. Scott harshly, pointing to the hermit.
The widow lifted her eyes to the man of whom she had heard so much from Robert with a glance of incredulity.
He was too proud to defend himself from the coarse accusation and returned her look with a glance of sympathy and compassion.
“I never can believe that!” said the widow in utter incredulity. “He has been kind to my boy. He never would lift his hand against my husband!”
The hermit looked deeply gratified.
“Mrs. Trafton,” he said, “you are right. ”

“ Robert had written to the hermit from Columbus a letter which conveyed the glad tidings of his success. It filled the heart of the recluse with a great and abounding joy.
Life seemed wholly changed for him. Now he felt that he had something to live for, and he determined to change his course of life entirely. He would move to Boston or New York and resume the social position which he had abandoned. There he would devote himself to the training and education of his boy. ”

“ For a brief time the hermit gazed at Robert in thoughtful silence and then said:
“How old are you?”
“Fifteen, sir.”
“Have you ever thought of life and its uses—I mean of the uses of your own life? Have you ever formed plans for the future?”
“No, sir. It did not seem of much use. I have had to consider how to get enough for my aunt and myself to live upon.”
“So your uncle’s burdens have been laid on your young shoulders? Have you no aspirations? Are you willing to follow in his steps and grow up a fisherman, like your neighbors?” ”

“ Probably there are few people who do not, at some time, indulge in dreams of sudden wealth. This time had come to John Trafton, and, unfortunately, the temptation which came with it was so powerful as to confuse his notions of right and wrong and almost to persuade him that there was nothing very much out of the way in robbing the recluse of his hoards.
“It don’t do him any good,” argued the fisherman, “while it would make me comfortable for life. If I had ten thousand dollars, or even five, I’d go away from here and live like a gentleman. ”

“ Robert was silent a moment. He didn’t like to have any quarrel with Herbert’s cousin, but he was a boy of spirit, and he could not let George leave without giving vent to his feeling.
“George Randolph,” he broke out, “I don’t care whether your father is worth a million; it doesn’t make you a gentleman. You are a mean, contemptible fellow!”
“How dare you talk to me in that way, you young fisherman?” gasped George in astonishment and wrath. ”

“ I want to buy a suit of clothes,” said Robert. “If that young man hadn’t treated me so rudely, I should have asked him to show me some.”
“Look here, Mr. Turner,” said the gentleman sternly, “If you have no more sense than to insult our customers, we can dispense with your services. Mr. Conway, will you wait on this young man?”
Turner was mortified and slunk away, beginning to understand that it is not always safe to judge a man or boy by the clothes he wears.
Mr. Conway was more of a gentleman and civilly asked Robert to follow him. ”

“ The hermit turned to our hero, who stood a little in the background, and said quietly:
“Robert, do you think I killed your uncle?”
“I am sure you didn’t,” said Robert, manfully meeting the angry glances which were now cast upon him.
“I am glad to have one friend here,” said the hermit—“one who judges me better than the rest of my neighbors.”
“He doesn’t know anything about you and he’s only a boy!” said Mrs. Scott, thrusting herself forward with arms akimbo. “I allus said there was something wrong about you or you wouldn’t hide yourself away from the sight of men in a cave. ”

“ Could Robert be blamed for regarding his uncle with contempt? His intention evidently was to appropriate his wife’s scanty earnings to his own use, spending them, of course, for drink. Certainly a man must be debased who will stoop to anything so mean, and Robert felt deeply ashamed of the man he was forced to call uncle.
“I can’t give you the money, uncle,” said Robert coldly.
“Can’t, hey? What do you mean by that, I want to know?” demanded the fisherman suspiciously.
“My aunt wanted me to buy a little tea and a loaf of bread with the money.” ”

“ I have just arrived from an evening trip on the water. I was about to enter my quarters when I stumbled over your uncle’s body.”
“What could have brought him here?”
“I cannot tell, nor can I conjecture who killed him.”
“It can’t be he,” thought Robert, dismissing his fleeting suspicion. “What shall I do, sir?” he asked, unprepared, with his boyish inexperience, to decide what to do under such terrible circumstances.
“Go and summon some of your neighbors to carry the poor man to his home. Meanwhile break the news to your aunt as you best can,” said the hermit in a tone of quiet decision. ”

“ Badger, stick in hand, marched up to the door of the attic and called out boldly:
“Open the door, you young villain!”
“How does she know I’m young?” thought Tom Tapley, who was on guard in the room. “Well, now, if she wasn’t such an old woman I should feel flattered. I guess I’ll have to scare her a little. It wouldn’t be polite to tumble her downstairs as I did her husband.”
“Have you gone crazy?” demanded Mrs. Badger behind the door.
“Not that I know of,” muttered the tramp.
“Perhaps you think you can manage me as well as Mr. Badger?” she continued. ”

“ Your father is a rich man, and you won’t be overworked again.”
“What is my father’s name?” asked Julian.
“His name is Gilbert Huet.”
“Huet! Yes, that’s the name!” exclaimed Julian eagerly. “I remember it now. My name used to be Julian Huet, but Mr. Waldo was always angry whenever any one called me by that name, and so he changed it to Bill Benton.”
“He must be a great scoundrel,” said Robert. “Now, Julian, I will tell you my plan. I don’t believe there is anything the matter with you except the want of rest and good food. You shall have both. You also want some new clothes.” ”

“ Though he is my uncle and your husband, there’s one thing I can’t help saying: It is a contemptibly mean thing not only to use all his own earnings for drink, but to try to get hold of what little I get for the same purpose.”
“I don’t deny it, Robert. I don’t pretend to defend my husband. Once he was different, but drink has changed his whole nature. I never had any reason to complain before he took to drink.”
“No doubt of it, aunt, but that don’t alter present circumstances. I have no respect for my uncle when he acts as he has to-night. ”

“ This hotel had been suggested by the hermit.
“All right! Jump in!” and the hackman was about to take Robert’s valise.
“Wait a moment,” said the lad firmly. “I haven’t agreed to ride. What do you charge?”
“Two dollars.”
“Two dollars! How far is it?”
“About five miles!” answered the hackman with unblushing falsehood.
“Is there no stage that goes to that part of the city?”
“No; your only way is to take a carriage.”
Though Robert had never before been in New York, he felt convinced that this was untrue and said quietly:
“Then I will walk.”
“It is too far, young man. Nobody walks up there.” ”

“ Then Andrew Jackson fixed an admiring glance on the watch he had coveted so long.
“Boys will be boys!” said Mr. Badger with a fatherly smile. “Andrew Jackson don’t have no ill feelings.”
It was the way of the world. Julian was rich now and had plenty of friends. But he had one true friend whom money could not buy, and this was Robert Coverdale, the young fisherman of Cook’s Harbor, prosperous henceforth and happy, as he well deserved to be. ”

“ Robert rose to a sitting posture, and, carried away by just indignation, he said:
“I mean to keep that money and spend it for my aunt. There ought to be no need of it. You ought to support her yourself and supply her with all she needs; but, instead of that, you selfishly spend all your money on drink and leave her to get along the best way she can!”
“You young rascal!” exclaimed his uncle, half ashamed and wholly angry. “Is that the way you repay me for keeping you out of the poorhouse?”
“I can support myself, Uncle John, and for the last two years I’ve done it and helped Aunt Jane besides. ”

“ A FISHERMAN’S CABIN
“Robert, have you seen anything of your uncle?”
“No, aunt.”
“I suppose he’s over at the tavern as usual,” said the woman despondently. “He drinks up about all he earns, and there’s little enough left for us. I hope you won’t follow in his steps, Robert.”
“You may be sure I won’t, Aunt Jane,” said the boy, nodding emphatically. “I wouldn’t drink a glass of rum for a hundred dollars.”
“God keep you in that resolution, my dear boy! I don’t want my sister’s son to go to destruction as my husband is doing.” ”

“ Badger was as much disappointed as her husband, for she was quite as fond of money as he.
“What are you goin’ to do?” she asked.
“I can’t do anything,” answered Mr. Badger in deep disgust.
“Will you keep the boy?”
“Of course I will. Between ourselves, he more than earns his victuals; but, all the same, Mr. Waldo is perfectly able to allow us a little profit.”
“You must make him work harder,” suggested Mrs. Badger.
“I mean to. Now, we will settle about this little affair. Where is Bill?”
“Out in the field, digging potatoes,” said Andrew glibly. ”

“ Neither of the two uttered a word, but silently the fierce conflict continued.
“I must be weak if I cannot handle an old man,” thought the professional burglar, and he increased his efforts.
“If he masters me and finds out who I am, I am lost!” thought John Trafton; and he, too, put forth his utmost strength.
The fisherman had the disadvantage in one respect. He was wholly unarmed and his opponent had a knife.
When he found that Trafton—who was of muscular build—was likely to gain the advantage, with a muttered oath he drew his knife and plunged it into his opponent’s breast. ”

“ But for a young and guileless boy, whose life is but beginning, the world has its charms. Do you care for books?”
“I have never looked into many, sir, but that is not my fault. I have half a dozen tattered books at home and I study in some of them every day. I have been nearly through the arithmetic and I know something of geography. Sometimes I get hold of a paper, but not often, for my uncle takes none and does not care for reading.”
“Look among my books. See if there is any one you would like to read.”
Robert had already cast wistful glances at the rows of books in the handsome bookcase. ”

“ No longer was he clad in his hermit dress, but from a trunk he had drawn out a long-disused suit, made for him in other days by a fashionable tailor on Broadway, and he had carefully trimmed and combed his neglected locks.
“My boy must not be ashamed of my appearance,” he said proudly. “My hermit life is over. Henceforth I will live as a man among men.”
Presently his waiting glance was rewarded. Two boys, one of whom he recognized as Robert, descended the cliff and walked briskly toward him on the firm sand beach. ”

“ You know, sir, I think Robert must have told you the unfortunate habits of my poor husband. He was enslaved by drink, and he spent nearly all he earned in the barroom.”
“Yes, I knew what your husband’s habits were,” said the hermit gently. “It is a great pity he could not have lived to change them.”
“I am afraid he never would,” said the widow.
“They had grown upon him from year to year, and he seemed to get weaker and weaker in purpose.”
“I had a brother who was equally unfortunate,” said the hermit. “There are few families who are wholly free from the evils of intemperance. ”

“ What! am I to be defied by a weak woman and a half-grown boy? You don’t know me, Mrs. T.”
“I do know you only too well, Mr. Trafton. It was an unlucky day when I married you.”
“Humph! There may be two sides to that story. Well, I’m going.”
“Where are you going? Shall you go out in the boat this morning?”
“Oh, you expect me to spend all my time working for my support, do you? No, I am not going out in the boat. I am going to the village.”
“To the tavern, I suppose?”
“And suppose I am going to the tavern,” repeated the fisherman in a defiant tone, “have you got anything to say against it?” ”

“ Robert finally dreamed that a pickpocket had drawn his pocketbook from his pocket and was running away with it, and he awoke with a sudden start, his face bathed in perspiration.
It was midnight. The band had ceased playing for two hours and all who had staterooms had retired to them. Only here and there in the main saloon a passenger lay asleep in an armchair.
There was a scanty light, which entered the stateroom through a small window, and by this light Robert, half rising in bed, saw a sight that startled him.
Mr. Mortimer Fairfax, his roommate, was out of his berth. ”

“ Don’t give it to me.”
“No, Robert; I’ve got a little toast for myself. There was a slice of bread too dry to eat as it was, so I toasted it and soaked it in hot water. That suits me better than the potato.”
“Haven’t you any tea, aunt—for yourself, I mean?” Robert added quickly. “I don’t care for it, but I know you do.”
“I wish I had some. Tea always goes to the right spot,” said Mrs. Trafton; “but I couldn’t find a single leaf.”
“What a pity!” said Robert regretfully.
“Yes,” sighed Mrs. Trafton; “we have to do without almost everything. It might be so different if Mr. Trafton wouldn’t drink.” ”

“ To hear John Trafton’s tone one might think him a grievously injured man.
“For two years, John Trafton, you have spent three-fourths of your earnings at the tavern,” said his wife quietly. “You have left me to suffer want and privation that you might indulge your appetite for drink.”
“You seem to be alive still,” he said with an ugly sneer. “You don’t seem to have starved.”
“I might have done so but for Robert. He has brought me fish and bought groceries with what little money he could earn in various ways.”
“Oh, it’s Robert always!” sneered Trafton. “He is an angel, is he? ”

“ THE FISHERMAN’S TEMPTATION
It is needless to say that Robert received a joyful welcome from his aunt. Her joy was increased when her nephew showed her the gold which he had found upon the island.
“You see, aunt,” he said, “it wasn’t such bad luck, after all, to be left on the island.”
“God has so shaped events as to bring good out of evil,” answered Mrs. Trafton, who was a religious woman and went regularly to church, though her husband never accompanied her. “But I am afraid your uncle will try to get the money away from you.” ”

“ Bill—or perhaps I ought to say Julian—looked less anxious.
“Yes,” he said, “but he treated me badly and I ran away.”
“Did you ever hear of a man named Charles Waldo?”
“Yes, he was the man that sent me to Mr. Badger.”
“It’s a clear case!” thought Robert, overjoyed, “I have no doubt now that I have found the hermit’s son. Poor boy, how he must have suffered!”
“Julian,” said he, “do you know why I am traveling—what brought me here? But of course you don’t. I came to find you.”
“To find me? But you said——”
“No, it was not Mr. Badger nor Mr. Waldo that sent me. They are your enemies. ”

“ Like as not you’ve committed murder before!”
“My good woman,” said the hermit with a sad smile, “I am sorry you have so poor an opinion of me.”
“Don’t you call me good woman!” said Mrs. Scott, provoked. “I’m no more a good woman than yourself! I tell you, friends and neighbors, you’ll do wrong if you let this man go. We may all be murdered in our beds!”
She was interrupted by the arrival of Mrs. Trafton, who had not been apprised of the tragedy from considerations for her feelings, but hearing the stir and excitement, had followed her neighbors to the spot and just ascertain what had happened. ”