Jr. Horatio Alger

“ It was evident that Jane, whether from her natural tendencies or her past experiences, was not likely to settle down into one of those average, stereotyped, uninteresting young ladies that abound in our modern society. Nature was sure to assert itself in a certain piquancy and freshness of manner, which, added to her personal attraction, will, I think, eventually make Tom—the name slipped from my pen unintentionally—a great favorite in society. ”

“ I think it’s very good myself.”
“You’re a brick!” said Tom, in a tone of grateful acknowledgment.
“Thank you,” said Captain Barnes, his eyes twinkling a little; “I try to be.”
“I wonder what granny would say if she knowed where I was,” soliloquized Tom, aloud.
“She’d be glad you had enjoyed your breakfast.”
“No, she wouldn’t. She’d be mad.”
“You don’t give your grandmother a very good character. Doesn’t she like you?”
“No; she hates me, and I hate her. She takes all my money, and then licks me.” ”

“ Mary counted them over with an air of satisfaction. Her conscience did not trouble her much as long as the fear of detection was removed.
“Mr. Holland won’t miss the money,” she thought, “and everybody’ll think Jane took it.”
The thought of her own meanness in depriving Tom of a good home, and sending her out into the street without shelter or money, never suggested itself to the selfish girl. She felt glad to be rid of her, and did not trouble herself about any discomforts or privations that she might experience. ”

“ She no longer looked like a child having no home but the street, but would be supposed by any who noticed her to belong to some family in good circumstances. Now, good clothes exert more influence upon the wearer than we may at first suppose. So it was with Tom. When she wore her old tatters she was quite ready to engage in a fight with any boy who jeered at her, provided he was not too large. Now she would hesitate before doing it, having an undefined idea that her respectable dress would make such a scene unbecoming. ”

“ Tom nodded confidently.
“What are you going to do this morning, for instance?”
“Buy some papers with the money you give me.”
“What a self-reliant spirit the little chit has!” thought Captain Barnes. “I’ve known plenty of young men, who had less faith in their ability to cope with the world, and gain a livelihood, than she. Yet she has next to no clothes, and her entire capital consists of twenty-five cents. There is a lesson for the timid and despondent in her philosophy.”
Tom had no idea of what was passing in the mind of her companion. ”

“ Merton. “It isn’t at all proper for girls, or indeed for boys, to fight; but it is worse for girls.”
“Why is it?” asked Tom.
“Because girls should be gentle and lady-like.”
“If you was a girl, and a boy should slap you in the face, what would you do?” asked Tom, fixing her bright eyes upon her mentor.
“I should forgive him, and hope he would become a better boy.”
“I wouldn’t,” said Tom. “I’d give him Hail Columby.”
“You’ve got some very wrong ideas, Jenny,” said Mrs. Merton. “I fear that your grandmother has not brought you up properly.” ”

“ She was ignorant, but learned readily. In her interest, she occasionally let slip some street phrases which rather surprised James, who was led to wonder whether Tom was a fair specimen of New York girls. He had always fancied that he should feel bashful in their society; but with Tom he felt perfectly at home.
In the morning he accompanied Tom to the depot, and paid for her ticket, being supplied with money for the purpose by his mother.
“Good-by,” he said, shaking her hand as she entered the cars.
“Good-by, old fellow,” said Tom. “I’ll pay you back that money if granny don’t.” ”

“ Every moment’s additional delay irritated her the more with the rebellious Tom.
“I wish I had her here,” soliloquized granny, spitefully.
When it was half-past seven granny resolved to go out and hunt her up. She might be on the sidewalk outside playing. Perhaps—but this was too daring for belief—she might be spending her afternoon’s earnings on another square meal.
Granny went downstairs, and through the archway into the street. There were plenty of children, living in neighboring tenement houses, gathered in groups or playing about, but no Tom was visible. ”

“ This resemblance was affected, to be sure, by a careless, independent expression produced by the strange life she had led as a street Arab. No doubt her new life would soften and refine her manners, and make her more like girls of her own age.
Having no further occasion to remain in New York, Mrs. Lindsay took the train for Philadelphia the next day, where Tom, whom we must now call Jane Lindsay, found herself in an elegant home, surrounded by all that wealth could supply. Her mother lost no time in supplying her with teachers, that the defects of her education might be remedied. ”

“ Her old street life had been spent in the neighborhood of the City Hall Park. The offices of the leading daily and weekly papers may be found within a radius of a furlong from it. It is within this limit that hundreds of homeless young Arabs swarm, and struggle for a precarious living. In returning to her old life, Tom was drawn, as by a magnet, to this centre. ”

“ She might go back to granny, but had no disposition to do that. Whatever she might be called upon to suffer, she felt that she should be better off alone than in the power of the bad old woman who had so maltreated her.
“I wish I could earn a few pennies,” said Tom to herself. “I might buy some papers if I only had money enough.”
While she was thinking, a boot-black had been surveying her curiously. It was Mike Murphy, an old acquaintance of Tom’s. He thought he recognized her face, but her dress puzzled him. Where could Tattered Tom have procured such a stunning outfit? ”

“ Lindsay, her emotion increasing.
“Why, that’s my granny,” said Tom, surprised.
There was no more room for doubt. Mrs. Lindsay opened her arms.
270“Found at last!” she exclaimed. “My dear, dear child!”
“Are you my mother?” asked Tom, in amazement.
“Yes, Jenny, your own mother, never again, I hope, to be separated from you;” and Mrs. Lindsay clasped the astonished girl to her arms.
“You don’t look a bit like granny,” she said, scanning the refined and beautiful features of her mother.
“You mean Margaret,” said Mrs. Lindsay, with a shudder. “She is a wicked woman. ”

“ Tom’s request for compensation did not surprise her, for she reflected that children have always a use for money.
At length they reached the city, and Tom and her companion got out of the cars.
“Come right along,” said Tom, taking the lady by the hand as if she were a child.
“Carriage, ma’am?” asked several hackmen.
“Perhaps I’d better take a carriage,” said the lady, whose name, by the way, was Mrs. Parmenter.
“Just as you say,” said Tom.
“I’ve got a nice carriage, ma’am. This way, please,” said a burly driver.
“Look here, mister, what are you going to charge?” demanded Tom. ”

“ This reduced her capital to thirty cents. She felt that she ought to save this, to start in business upon in the morning. As a street-sweeper she required no capital except her broom; but though Tom was not troubled with pride, she preferred to sell papers, or take up some other street vocation. Besides, she knew that as a street-sweeper on Broadway, she would be more likely to be discovered by the old woman whom she was now anxious to avoid. ”

“ Being penniless, Tom was in considerable uncertainty when she would again be mistress of so large a sum. At present she felt in no particular dread of being robbed. She left the lodgings, realizing that the money was indeed gone beyond hope of recovery.
There is some comfort in beginning the day with a good breakfast. It warms one up, and inspires hope and confidence. ”

“ It was not till she got as far as Fourteenth Street that she commenced her round of visits.
The first house at which she stopped was an English basement house. Granny rang the basement bell.
“Is your mistress at home?” she asked.
“Yes; what’s wanted?”
“I’m a poor widder,” whined granny, in a lugubrious voice, “with five small children. We haven’t got a bit of food in the house. Can’t you give me a few pennies?”
“I’ll speak to the missis, but I don’t think she’ll give any money.”
She went upstairs, and soon returned.
“She won’t give you any money, but here’s a loaf of bread.” ”

“ Coffee, granny never indulged in, believing whiskey to be more healthful. Occasionally, in moments of extreme good nature, she had given Tom a sip of whiskey; but the young Arab had never got to like it, fortunately for herself, though she had accepted it as a variation of her usual beverage, cold water. ”

“ When her eyes rested on the old crone sitting on the sofa, with her basket, which was partly stored with cold victuals, resting on the carpet, she started in mingled astonishment and disgust. Her aristocratic nostrils curved, and, taking a delicate handkerchief, she tried to shut out the unsavory presence. The old woman saw the action, and fidgeted nervously, feeling that she ought not to be there. ”

“ You couldn’t climb a mast.”
“Try me,” said Tom. “I’m strong. I fit with a boy yesterday, and licked him.”him.”
Captain Barnes laughed, but shook his head.
“I see you’re spunky, if you are a girl,” he said. “But I never heard of a girl being cabin-boy, and I don’t think it would do.”
“I’d put on a boy’s clothes,” suggested Tom.
“You’ve begun to do it already,” said the captain, glancing at the cap and jacket. “I didn’t know at first but you were a boy. What makes you wear a cap?”
“Granny gave it to me. I like it better than a bonnet.”
They had by this time reached Broadway. ”

“ As a general rule people are good-natured and cheerful after a hearty breakfast. For ten cents Tom might have got a cup of coffee, or 70what passed for such, and a plate of tea-biscuit. With the other fifteen she could have bought a few morning papers, and easily earned enough to pay for a square meal in the middle of the day. Now she must go to work without capital, and on an empty stomach, which was rather discouraging. She would have fared better than this at granny’s, though not much, her breakfast there usually consisting of a piece of stale bread, with perhaps a fragment of cold sausage. ”

“ Mike Murphy’s home was neither elegant nor spacious. Mulberry Street is not an aristocratic locality, and its residents do not in general move in fashionable society. Mrs. Murphy was a retail merchant, being the proprietor of an apple-stand on Nassau, near Spruce Street. Several years’ exposure to the weather had made her face nearly as red as the apples she dealt in, and a sedentary life had enlarged her proportions till she weighed close upon two hundred pounds. ”

“ No sooner did her deep, regular breathing indicate slumber, than the landlady began to indulge in various suspicious movements. She first put down her baby, and then taking a lantern,—the only light which could safely be carried into the lodging-room, on account of the straw upon the floor,—crept quietly into the inner room.
“She’s fast asleep,” she muttered.
She approached Tom with cautious step. She need not have been afraid to awaken her. Tom was a good sleeper, and not likely to wake up, unless roughly awakened, until morning. ”

“ Walsh was naturally indisposed. She sighed as she thought of the years when she could stay quietly at home, and send out Tom to beg or earn money for her. She would like, since Tom was not likely to return, to adopt some boy or girl of suitable age, upon whom she could throw the burden of the common support. But such were not easy to be met with, and Mrs. Walsh was dimly aware that no sane child would voluntarily select her as a guardian.
So granny, in rather low spirits, sought her elevated 157room, and threw herself upon the bed to sleep off her fatigue. ”

“ To be sure she was always getting into hot water, and from time to time indulged in impish 142freaks, which betrayed her street-training. At school, however, she learned very rapidly, and had already been promoted into a class higher than that which she entered. If there was one thing that Tom was ashamed of, it was to find herself the largest and oldest girl in her class. She was ambitious to stand as well as other girls of her own age, and, with this object in view, studied with characteristic energy, and as a consequence improved rapidly.
She did not get along very well with Mary Merton. ”

“ Mrs. Walsh hastily bought a couple of cakes for Tom, and hurried out of the building. There stood the cars, liable to start at any time. It was the part of prudence to get in, and granny hesitated. But the desire for a dram was strong within her, and she thought she could run over and get a glass, and be back in time. The train stopped ten minutes for refreshments, and she had not consumed more than five. The temptation proved too strong for her to resist.
She reached the saloon, and, entering, said, “Give me a glass of whiskey, quick. I’m going right off in the train.” ”

“ At present she needs to be civilized. She is a young street Arab with very elementary ideas as to the way in which people live. She needs an apprenticeship in some house like this. My little niece must be about her age.”
“Mary? How can I trust her to the companionship of such a girl?”
“Tom isn’t bad. She is only untrained. She will learn more than she will teach at first. Afterwards Mary may learn something of her.”
96“I am sure I don’t know what to say,” said Mrs. Merton, irresolutely.
Here the captain named the terms he was willing to pay for Tom’s board. ”

“ GRANNY IS COMPELLED TO EARN HER OWN LIVING. Leaving Tom in her new home, we return to Mrs. Walsh, which was the proper designation of the old woman whom she called granny. Though Tom had escaped from her clutches, granny had no idea that she intended to stay away permanently. She did not consider that all the advantages of the connection between them had been on her side, and that Tom had only had the privilege of supporting them both. If she had not carried matters so far our heroine would have been satisfied to remain ”

“ The fight would have gone on longer if a gentleman had not come up, and spoken authoritatively: “What is all this fighting about? Are you not ashamed to fight with a girl?”
55“No, I aint,” said Bob, sullenly. “She took my place, and wouldn’t give it up.”
“Is that true?” turning to Tom.
“I’ve got as much right to it as he,” said Tom. “I’ll give it to him if I am a gal.”
“Don’t you know it is wrong to fight?” asked the gentleman, this time addressing Tom.
“No, I don’t,” said Tom. “Wouldn’t you fight if a feller pitched into you?” ”