Jr. Horatio Alger

“ Now, I have been long of opinion that he requires a boy companion, older than himself, who is naturally lively and cheerful, to share with him in his amusements, to accompany him in his walks, and share with him in his studies. From what I have seen of you, I think you are just the companion my brother wants. Have you any bad habits?"
Sam had shrewdness enough to perceive that it would be better for him to be truthful. Besides, to do him justice, Brown's kindness had made an impression upon him, and he would have felt ashamed to deceive him. ”

“ There are clerks in New York and other large cities who have not only squandered all their own savings, but abstracted money from their employers, led on by this ruinous passion.
During his noon intermission Sam went round to the lottery office, and returned with the coveted ticket.
He put it away with great complacency, and gave himself up to dreams of future wealth. If he could only win that twenty thousand dollars, how rich he would be! How he would triumph over Henry, with his poor thirty-five dollars in the savings-bank! ”

“ Sam saw from his manner that he was in earnest, and as perplexed as ever he left the shop.
"What am I going to do now?" he thought. "It's a shame to give up the reward on account of that mean old man. Why can't he trust me, I'd like to know? Does he think I would cheat him?"
Then a new fear disturbed Sam.
The pawnbroker might see the reward, and himself go to the advertiser and claim it.
"I wonder whether he takes the Herald?" thought our hero.
Something must be done, and at once. It was quite impossible to let such a golden chance slip by. ”

“ I wonder whether I'm to be raised, too."
"Perhaps so."
"I hope so, for I'm fifty dollars in debt, and don't see how I am to pay it."
"You get twelve dollars a week, don't you?"
"Yes; but what's twelve dollars?"
"I have been living on five."
"And you don't owe anything?"
"Not a cent."
"Blessed if I see how you do it! I need fifteen, and I ought to have it."
"He's like Sam," thought Henry. "If Mr. Hamilton finds out that he is in debt, he won't stand much chance of having his wages raised. I'm glad I've got something ahead. It makes me feel independent. ”

“ He considered it only gallant to offer to pay the hack fare, and was glad it would not be too heavy a tax on his scanty resources.
The trunk was soon secured, and Sam and Julia entered the hack.
"It seems so good to be in dear old Boston again," said Julia, with a young girl's warmth of feeling.
"I suppose it does," said Sam, "but I never was here. I don't think the streets are as wide as they are in New York."
"Oh, we've got some wide streets," said. Julia, jealous of the fair fame of her native city. "This isn't the best part of Boston, by any means. Wait till you see the common." ”

“ I've no doubt there are a good many things that would seem strange to us if we did."
"When I am rich, I'll live just like Mr. Chester," said Sam, enthusiastically.
"If you ever want to be rich, you must save up money."
"I can't now."
"Why can't you save up part of these twenty-five dollars?"
"I owe part of it to you."
"Only about five dollars."
"I've got to get along till the end of the week."
"You ought to be able to save fifteen dollars, at any rate. I'll go with you to the savings-bank, and you can put it in to-night, I know a bank that keeps open till eight o'clock." ”

“ Henry felt flattered by that word "we." It seemed to associate him, humble office boy as he was, with the eminent merchant who employed him.
"That is better than the savings-bank, sir," said Henry.
"Yes, it is; but I ought to add that it is not always so sure. All ventures do not turn out so profitably. To return to your affairs I shall charge you interest on the five hundred dollars you borrowed of me, at the rate of seven per cent. You have had the use of the money for three months."
"Then the interest will amount to eight dollars and three quarters," said Henry, promptly. ”

“ When Sam approached, the old man's shrewdness was at fault. He did not suspect that the ragged street boy was likely to become a customer, and merely suffered his glance to rest upon him casually.
But Sam accosted him with a business-like manner.
"Look here, old man, have you got any tiptop clo'es to sell to-day?"
"Yes, my son," answered the old man, with an air of alacrity.
"Who are you a-takin' to? I ain't your son, and I wouldn't be. My father's a member of Congress."
"Did he send you here to buy clo'es?" asked the old man, with a grin. ”

“ How much interest does the savings-bank pay you?"
"Six per cent., sir."
"I will propose a different investment. I am about to send a cargo of goods to Rotterdam. The venture will, I think, prove a paying one. Would you like to join in it?"
Henry stared at his employer in surprise. How could he, a boy with thirty-five dollars capital, join in such an enterprise?
"I don't see how I can," he replied. "I am afraid you take me for a capitalist."
"So you are," said his employer. "Have you not money in the bank?" ”

“ This was sharp practice, and hardly consistent with friendship for Sam; but Tim was a boy not particularly scrupulous, who cared more for number one than for any friend. He went into a store near by, ascertained the number of Mr. Dalton's place of business, and hurried down there.
"Is the boss in?" he asked of William Budd, whom he first encountered.
"Yes."
"I'd like to see him."
"What for?"
"Important business," answered Tim.
Budd looked at him rather incredulously.
"If you want to apply for a place, it's no use. We've got a boy already." ”

“ Before Sam reached Harvard Square he caught sight of the college yard and the numerous buildings of brick and stone which had been erected within it for the accommodations of the students.
"It's a pretty big place," thought Sam. His ideas of a college were very vague. He had fancied that it consisted of one large brick building, like the New York public schools.
"I wonder what they want of so many buildings, anyway?" said Sam to himself. "There must be a lot of students." ”

“ There's nothing about city life that I don't know. I can give him points and discount him as far as that goes, even if he has been living in New York for years. Fast asleep!" he continued, listening to Sam's regular breathing. "No danger of his waking up till morning. I may as well see what money he's got."
He coolly felt in Sam's pocket, and drew out his pocket-book, eagerly examining the contents.
"Only ten dollars and a half!" he muttered, in disappointment. "That hardly pays me for my trouble. However, it's better than nothing. Let me see if there is anything more." ”

“ And now that we have found each other, Henry, don't let us remain strangers. Can't you come and see me in Boston?"
"I am to visit Boston, on business, in October, Sam. I won't fail to look you up then."
Henry kept his word. Sam received him with cordial hospitality, and henceforth the two remained fast friends. It is not necessary to sketch their future. Both are on the right track, though Sam was much later in finding it; and the young outlaw, as well as his more prudent companion, is likely to prosper more and more as the years roll by. ”

“ If you work faithfully, no doubt he will."
Sam made a resolution to work faithfully, but then he found it easier to make resolutions than keep them.
"There's Mr. Dalton now," said the clerk.
Sam rose and faced his employer. The latter looked at him in some surprise, not immediately recognizing under the strange dress the boy whom he had engaged.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"I'm the new boy," said Sam. "Don't you remember you told me you'd hire me at five dollars a week?"
"Oh, you are the boy, are you? Why, you look like an old man! Where did you raise that coat?" ”

“ I will put you down on my books as a partner, to the extent of five hundred dollars, in my Rotterdam shipment, and you may place the savings-bank book in my hands tomorrow."
"Thank you, sir. I am very grateful to you for your kind interest in me."
"That is a good boy one of the right stamp," soliloquized the merchant. "A boy who has the prudence and self-denial to save money out of a weekly income of five dollars is bound to succeed in life. I will push him as he deserves."
"Well, Henry," asked the clerk, curiously, "have you been receiving a lecture from the boss?" ”

“ But, after all, it is a question whether three dollars would defray the expenses of even a small boy.
"Boston don't seem to be much of a business place, after all," thought Sam; but, perhaps, it was hardly fair to draw such a conclusion from his own failure to procure a situation. Sam made one or two more ineffectual applications, which did not tend to improve his spirits. As he came out of the last one, he saw, to his great joy, Julia Stockton passing by. She recognized him at the same moment.
"Good-morning, Mr. Barker," she said, frankly, holding out her hand. ”

“ He was sanguine and hopeful, and felt that it was not too late to turn over a new leaf.
"All right," said Abner. "I can wait till another evening, but I thought I'd like to go to the theater, seein' as I never went there."
"Never went to the theater!" exclaimed Sam, with a gratifying sense of superiority. "I've been ever so many times in New York."
"I've been to the circus," said Abner. "There was one come round last summer to our place. Is the theater any like the circus?"
"No," said Sam; "but the circus is pretty good. I like to see it myself. ”

“ Sam would gladly have resorted to this device, or any other likely to replenish his empty treasury; but his credit was not good. He felt rather bashful about applying to his roommate for money, being already his debtor, and, in his emergency, thought of the senior clerk, William Budd.
"Mr. Budd," he said, summoning up his courage, "will you lend me a dollar?"
"What for?" inquired the young man, regarding him attentively.
"I haven't got anything to pay for my meals the rest of the week," said Sam.
"How does that happen?"
"I can't live on five dollars a week." ”

“ I would rather pay high wages to a boy who suits me than small wages to an inefficient boy."
"Them's my sentiments," said Sam, promptly; but whether his sentiments referred to the service or the pay he did not make quite clear.
Mr. Dalton smiled.
"I am glad you agree with me," he said. "There is one other point I wish to speak of. As you are in my employment, I want you to have a regular boarding-place. I think it much better for a boy or young man. You ought to be able to get board and a decent room for four dollars a week." ”

“ It is always unlucky for a boy or young man when he yields for the first time to the fatal fascination of the lottery. He may fail time after time, but continue to hug the delusion that the next time will bring him luck. ”

“ The interest on twenty-five dollars would only come to a dollar and a half in a year. That's too slow for me."
"What would you advise me to do, then?" asked Sam. "Is there any way of making money?"
"I'll tell you what I'd do if I were you. I'd buy part of a ticket in the Havana lottery."
"Could I make money that way?"
"Say you bought a fifth of a ticket; that would come to ten dollars. Now the biggest prize is a hundred thousand dollars!" ”

“ Henry was not a little disturbed at the disappearance of his bank-book. He felt confident that he had laid it away in his trunk, and in that case it must have been stolen. But who possessed a key to the trunk? Could it be Sam? Henry recalled Sam's application for a loan, and he feared that it was really he. He determined to make inquiries as soon as his roommate came home.
He had scarcely formed this determination when Sam entered.
"You are home early, Henry," he said.
"No; it is you who are late." ”

“ To buy a complete outfit with five dollars might have puzzled many an able financier. But Sam knew just where to go. Somewhere in the neighborhood of Baxter Street there was a second-hand clothing establishment, which he had patronized on previous occasions, and where he knew that the prices were low. It was to this place that he bent his steps.
A wrinkled old man—the proprietor—stood outside, scanning, with cunning eyes, the passers-by. ”

“ Sam admitted he should invest a part that way.
"I prefer to invest my money in legitimate business," said Henry.
"I don't know about that," said Sam. "I might have drawn the twenty-thousand-dollar prize. That's better than a hundred dollars."
"So it is; but if I keep on I have a good deal better chance of getting up to twenty thousand dollars than you."
"I wish my boss would lend me five hundred dollars," said Sam.
"I wouldn't advise him to," said Henry, smiling. "Now let us go to breakfast." ”

“ I have asked, and they told me to wait."
"When I've been at work two years I expect to get ten dollars a week," said Sam.
"You'll have to take it out in expecting, then."
"Will I?" asked Sam, rather crestfallen.
"The fact is, we boys don't get paid enough," said Henry.
"No, I guess not," said Sam, assenting readily. "Do you have to work pretty hard?" he inquired.
"As hard as I want to."
"It must be jolly to be a boss, and only have to read letters, and write 'em," said Sam, who had rather an inadequate notion of his employer's cares. "I'd like to be one." ”

“ Don't you think, as your income is so small, that you had better stop playing billiards till you get larger pay?"
"I don't play very often," said Sam, uneasily.
"I advise you not to let Mr. Dalton know that you play at all. He would be apt to think that you were receiving too high pay, since you could afford to pay for this amusement." ”