Jr. Horatio Alger

“ Squire Pope smiled complacently. It pleased him to be spoken of as a public man.
“Ahem! Well, yes, I believe I have no inconsiderable influence in town affairs,” he responded. “I am on the board of selectmen, and am chairman of the overseers of the poor, and in that capacity I shall convey Philip Gray to the comfortable and well-ordered institution which the town has set apart for the relief of paupers.”
“I don’t like to think of Philip as a pauper,” said Mrs. Pope, in a deprecating tone.
“What else is he?” urged her husband. “His father hasn’t left a cent. He never was a good manager.” ”

“ The professor rubbed his hands in glee.
“Did you see what a house we have, Mr. de Gray?”
“Yes, professor.”
“I think there’ll be a hundred dollars over and above expenses.”
“That will be splendid!” said Philip, naturally elated.
“The firm of Riccabocca and De Gray is starting swimmingly.”
“So it is. I hope it will continue so.”
“Here is the program, Mr. de Gray. You will observe that I appear first, in my famous soliloquy. You will follow, with the ‘Carnival of Venice.’ Do you feel agitated?”
“Oh, no. I am so used to playing that I shall not feel at all bashful.” ”

“ Let us go back a week and record what passed at the last interview between Philip and his father before the latter passed into the state of unconsciousness which preceded death.
“Are you in pain, father?” asked Philip, with earnest sympathy, as his father lay outstretched on the bed, his face overspread by the deathly pallor which was the harbinger of dissolution.
“Not of the body, Philip,” said Mr. Gray. “That is spared me, but I own that my mind is ill at ease.” ”

“ You can sell that for enough to pay our bills.”
Poor Philip! His violin was his dependence. Besides the natural attachment he felt for it, he relied upon it to secure him a living, and the thought of parting with it was bitter.
“Gentlemen,” he said, “if you take my violin, I have no way of making a living. If you will consider that I, too, am a victim of this man, I think you will not wish to inflict such an injury upon me.”
“I do not, for one,” said the publisher. “I am not a rich man, and I need all the money that is due me, but I wouldn’t deprive the boy of his violin.” ”

“ I can’t understand why you should act so against your own interest. You can’t expect people will come just to hear you play. You need me to help you.”
“It may be as you say, professor, but if you insist upon my speaking plainly, I don’t care to travel with a man who has treated me as you have.”
“I don’t understand you,” said Riccabocca nervously; but it was evident, from his expression, that he did.
“Then you seem very forgetful,” said Philip. “You tried to deprive me of my share of the proceeds of the entertainment at Wilkesville, and would have succeeded but for a lucky accident.” ”

“ Squire Pope now turned to our hero, and said:
“As I was about to say, when interrupted by Nicholas, I have come to require you to give up the Violin which, without authority and against my express command, you withheld from the auction.”
“The violin is mine, Squire Pope,” said Philip firmly, “and I mean to keep it!”
“You talk like an ignorant boy. As a minor, you had no claim to the possession of any article except your clothing. I judged it best that the violin should be sold at the auction, and it is presumptuous for you to set up your judgment against mine!” ”

“ My father said so this very morning.”
“I think I know my own business best,” said Philip coldly. “I shall keep the violin.”
“Maybe it ain’t for you to say,” returned Nick, apparently not aware of his insolence. “Come, now, I’ll tell you what I’ll do. My father’s got a bill against yours for a dollar and sixty-four cents. I told father I had a use for the fiddle, and he says if you’ll give it to me, he’ll call it square. There, what do you say to that?”
Nicholas leaned back in his chair and looked at Philip through his small, fishy eyes, as if he had made an uncommonly liberal offer. ”

“ Philip’s cheek flushed, and he, too, began to feel angry.
“He isn’t as old as you are, Mr. Beck,” said Andrew Blake manfully, “but you’ll find he understands his business.”
“I certainly didn’t expect you to get a child in my place,” said Paul Beck scornfully.
“I suppose a musician may know how to play, if he isn’t sixty-five,” said Miss Maria Snod-grass, who had listened indignantly to Mr. Beck’s contemptuous remarks about our hero, whose cause she so enthusiastically championed. ”

“ We must succeed!” said the professor, striking an attitude. “In the vocabulary of youth, there’s no such word as ‘fail’! Away with timid caution! Our watchword be success!”
“Of course, you have much more experience than I,” said Philip.
“Certainly I have! We must keep up appearances. Be guided by me, and all will come right.”
Philip reflected that they could not very well make less than their expenses, and accordingly he acceded to the professor’s plans. They entered the hotel, and Professor Riccabocca, assuming a dignified, important step, walked up to the office. ”

“ Professor Riccabocea bowed modestly, and said:
“Gentlemen and ladies, you will now have the pleasure of listening to the young and talented Philip de Gray, the wonderful boy-musician, in his unrivaled rendition of the ‘Carnival of Venice.’”
Philip rose, coloring a little with shame at this high-flown introduction, and came forward.
All applauded heartily, for sympathy is always felt for a young performer, especially when he has a manly bearing and an attractive face, such as our hero possessed. ”

“ In the middle of the entertainment was a recess of ten minutes, which most of the audience spent in conversation.
Miss Carrie began again to speak of Philip.
“Oh,—uncle,” she said, “I’m so glad you know that lovely boy-player! He is earning lots of money.”
“Is he!” asked the squire, pricking up his ears. “Who told you so?”
“One of the young men that belongs to the club told me they were to pay him ten dollars for playing to-night.”
“Ten dollars!” ejaculated the squire, in amazement. “I don’t believe it! It’s ridiculous!”
“Oh, yes, it is true!” said Mrs. Cunningham. ”

“ There ain’t any one else dead, is there!”
“I had been expecting my poor father’s death for some time,” said Philip gravely.
“Just so! He wa’n’t very rugged. We’ve all got to come to it sooner or later. I expect dad’ll die of apoplexy some time—he’s so awful fat,” remarked Nicholas cheerfully. “If he does, it’s lucky he’s got me to run the business. I’m only eighteen, but I can get along as well as anybody. I’m kinder smart in business.”
“I am glad you are smart in anything,” thought Philip; for he knew that Nick was a hopeless dunce in school duties. ”

“ Tucker.
“Philip,” said Squire Pope pompously, “you are very young, and you don’t know what is best for you. We do, and you must submit. Mr. Tucker, take him and put him in the wagon, and we’ll drive over to the poorhouse.”
“What! now?” asked Philip, in dismay.
“Just so,” answered Joe Tucker. “When you’ve got your bird, don’t let him go, that’s what I say.”
“That’s the talk, dad!” said Zeke gladfully. “We’ll take down his pride, I guess, when we’ve got him home.”
Joe Tucker approached Philip, and was about to lay hold of him, when our hero started back. ”

“ Paul Beck nodded slightly, but he felt too much mortified to reciprocate Philip’s friendly advances. Half an hour later he left the hall.
The dancers by no means regretted the change of arrangement. They evidently preferred the young musician to his elderly rival. The only one to express regret was Miss Maria Snodgrass.
“I declare it’s a shame Mr. Beck has given up,” she said. “I wanted you to dance with me, Mr. Gray. I am sure if you can dance as well as you can play, you would get along perfectly lovely. Now you’ve got to play, and can’t dance at all.” ”

“ The force with which he was thrown forward was such that the wallet was thrown from his pocket, and fell in the grass beside the path. The professor went on his way, quite unconscious of his loss, but there were other eyes that did not overlook it.
Sam, who was thirty rods behind, noticed Professor Riccabocca’s fall, and he likewise noticed the wallet when he reached the spot of the catastrophe.
“My eyes!” he exclaimed, opening those organs wide in delight; “here’s luck! The old gentleman has dropped his pocketbook. Most likely it’s stolen. I’ll carry it back and give it to Mr. Perry.” ”

“ For years,” said the professor, “I have given dramatic readings to crowded houses, and everywhere my merits have been conceded by the educated and refined.”
Philip could not help wondering how it happened in that case that the professor should look so seedy. A genius appreciated so highly ought to have brought in more gold and silver.
Perhaps Professor Riccabocca understood Philip’s expressive look, for he went to to say:
“The public has repaid me richly for the exercise of my talent; but, alas, my young friend, I must confess that I have no head for business. ”

“ You won’t have to stay in the almshouse all your life.”
“You’ll have a chance to earn your livin’ with me.” said Mr. Tucker. “I shall give you something to do, you may depend.”
“You can make him saw and split wood, father, and do the chores and milk the cow,” suggested Zeke.
“I have no objection to doing any of those things for a farmer,” said Philip, “but I am not willing to do it where I shall be considered a pauper.”
“Kinder uppish!” suggested Mr. Tucker, turning to Squire Pope. “Most all of them paupers is proud; but it’s pride in the wrong place, I reckon.” ”

“ Poor Jedidiah! It is to be feared that he will have a hard time when he becomes the husband of the fair Maria. She will undoubtedly be the head of the new matrimonial firm.
There was nothing further to mar the harmony of the evening. It had begun with indications of a storm, but the clouds had vanished, and when Mr. Beck left the hall, there was nothing left to disturb the enjoyment of those present.
The favorable opinions expressed when Philip commenced playing were repeated again and again, as the evening slipped away. ”

“ The large sums which Philip had received for his playing might have dazzled a less sensible boy. He was quite conscious that he played unusually well for a boy, but when it came to selecting music as a profession, he felt it would not be wise to come to too hasty a decision. To be a commonplace performer did not seem to him very desirable, and would not have satisfied his ambition.
He had told Professor Riccabocca that he intended to go to New York. ”

“ A hard-featured woman came out, and regarded the contents of the wagon with curiosity.
“Well, Abigail, can you take another boarder!” asked Mr. Tucker, as he descended from the wagon.
“Who is it?”
“Well, it ain’t likely to be Squire Pope!” said Joe facetiously; “and Zeke and I are regular boarders on the free list.”
“Is it that boy?”
“Yes; it’s Phil Gray.”
“Humph! boys are a trial!” remarked Mrs. Tucker, whose experience with Zeke had doubtless convinced her of this fact.
“I sha’n’t trouble you long, Mrs. Tucker,” said Philip. “I don’t intend to stay.” ”

“ I neither know nor care,” answered Professor Riccabocca loftily.
“But,” said Philip, “I haven’t much money.”
“Nor I,” admitted Riccabocca. “But it is absolutely necessary for us to stop at a first-class place. We must not let the citizens suppose that we are tramps or vagabonds. They will judge us by our surroundings.” ”

“ Here’s ten cents for you!”
Zeke grasped at the coin with avidity, for his father was very parsimonious, and his mother no less so, and he seldom got any ready money.
“Thank you!” said Zeke, with unusual politeness. “I’ll go right off. But, I say, don’t you tell dad where I’ve gone, or he might prevent me, and don’t you let on you’ve given me this dime, or he’d try to get it away.”
“No, I won’t say anything about it,” answered Philip.
“A curious family this is!” he thought, “There doesn’t seem to be much confidence in each other.” ”