Jr. Horatio Alger

“ Tom began. “You worked together, and went to California together. You came home rich, while he was unfortunate enough to lose his money and his life. To-day you are a rich manufacturer, while his widow and children are compelled to live chiefly on a boy’s small wages. You know all this, and it has never come into your mind to help them, or to pay the boy as good wages as he could get elsewhere. If you had died, and my father had come home prosperous, he would not have treated your family so.” ”

“ He reflected a moment, and his face brightened as something occurred to him.
“Tom,” he said, “will you do me a favor?”
“Of course I will, Julian.”
“Then let me lend you this,” and before Tom understood what he meant, he had thrust something into his vest-pocket.
Tom drew it out, unfolded it, and found it to be a five-dollar bill.
“Thank you, Harry,” he said; “but I can’t take this.”
“Why not? Remember, I ask it as a favor to me.”
“But it isn’t that; it is a favor to me.”
“Well, are you too proud to accept a favor from your friend Harry? Listen, Tom,” he added, rapidly. ”

“ DARIUS DARKE. AS TOM was on his way home, walking slowly and thoughtfully, while he considered the change which had taken place in his circumstances and prospects, his attention was attracted to a man shabbily dressed, whose suit looked as if it had been worn five years steadily, advancing along the pathway in an opposite direction.
Nowadays the man would be called a tramp, but at that time the name was not as common as now.
He was a stranger in the village, but Tom didn’t give any thought to his appearance. He was too much interested in his own thoughts and his own troubles. ”

“ TAKEN CAPTIVE. THE INDIANS numbered not far from twenty. The dusky warriors sat in silence, wearing their usual look of gravity. Among all races there is probably not one less social than the American Indian. A garrulous Indian would be a curiosity.
The three travelers gazed as if fascinated upon the group of savages. In spite of the dire peril in which they stood, their curiosity was excited by one member of the dusky company.
It was a boy, about as old as Tom, apparently, who was incased in a blanket, and lay close to the fire. ”

“ I believe Tom is quite safe, and that you will soon receive tidings from him.”
“I wish I could feel so,” said Mrs. Thatcher, sadly. “Mr. Julian, he is my only boy. I have Tillie, but my hopes rested with him. I looked to Tom to be the prop of my old age. Without him my life will be worth nothing.”
“Don’t say that, Mrs. Thatcher. You will still have your daughter to live for. But don’t give up Tom. He is a manly boy, and will come back to you well and prosperous, if God wills.”
“But if he is well why doesn’t he write? He is not a boy to give me unnecessary anxiety by neglect.” ”

“ From the moment that the Sea Queen leaves lower New York bay till the breeze leaves her becalmed off the coast of Florida, one can almost hear the whistle of the wind through her rigging, the creak of her straining cordage as she heels to the leeward. The adventures of Ben Clark, the hero of the story and Jake the cook, cannot fail to charm the reader. As a writer for young people Mr. Otis is a prime favorite. ”

“ Thatcher told Tom that Mr. Simpson was coming the next day to arrange about a mortgage on the place.
“That is, if you think it best, Tom.”
“Let him come, mother. We will talk it over. I shall want to see him myself about business.”
“You won’t say anything to irritate him, Tom? You know he might refuse to give you a place again in the shop.”
“And that would be a misfortune,” said Tom, smiling.
“Of course. That will enable you to stay at home with me, and we can be so happy together, Tom. We may live poorly, but if we are together, we won’t mind that.” ”

“ Suppose you were going to be hung to-morrow morning—how do you think you could sleep?”
“No such fate as that is in store for us, at any rate. People are hung only in civilized communities. Did you ever hear of a man shipwrecked on a territory entirely unknown to him, who in the course of his first walk came to a man hanging upon a gallows? ‘Thank heaven!’ he said, ‘I am in a civilized country!’”
Tom and Mr. Brush laughed in spite of the peril that menaced them, and this unexpected sound drew the wondering attention of the Indians. Indeed, it increased their respect for their captives. ”

“ During that time they had made about five hundred miles.
“Tom,” said Peter Brush, as they rode side by side over a broad, rolling prairie, “this is lonely, isn’t it? For all we can see we are the only people living in the world. There isn’t a house, nor a clearing, nor the smoke of a chimney, anywhere in sight.” ”

“ It was a double house, and each family occupied a part. You and Rupert Simpson were born the same day, and played together like brothers when you were both young boys.”
“It isn’t much like that now, mother. Rupert puts on all sorts of airs because his father is rich. He wouldn’t think of associating with me on equal terms. He thinks himself altogether superior to a poor boy who works in a shoe shop.”
“He has no right to look down upon you, Tom,” said Mrs. Thatcher, with natural motherly indignation. “You are superior to him in every way.” ”

“ Squatting beneath a large tree was a huge bear, which, from his appearance, Tom instantly recognized as a grizzly. He knew, though he had never seen one before, that the grizzly bear of California is stronger and more formidable even than the lion, being just the sort of stranger which a prudent man would be most anxious to avoid. ”

“ Spooner?” asked Tom.
“No; such is not their custom. They have had their council. They will do nothing till the night is over. We shall be allowed a good night’s sleep.”
“I don’t expect to sleep a wink all night,” said Peter Brush, in a lugubrious tone. “I shall be thinking all the while how it feels to be scalped.”
“That won’t tend to make your dreams pleasant, friend Brush. My advice is, that whatever is to come, you try to sleep well. It will strengthen you, either to devise means of escape, or, if need be, to meet your fate.” ”

“ DO THE DEAD LIVE? “I WISH you were going with me, Mr. Darke,” said Tom, as he sat in that gentleman’s room at the Astor House, making his farewell call.
He had made all arrangements, seen his mother and sister installed in the comfortable farm-house of Hiram Bacon, had procured a modest outfit, and was ready to start for the Pacific coast. He felt that it was a great undertaking for a boy of fifteen, and he longed for the championship of some one whom he knew, even but slightly.
Darius Darke shook his head.
“I have had enough of California!” he answered. ”

“ As he was turning out of Wall Street he was addressed by a man of thirty or thereabouts, who had seen him come out of the office of Mellish & Co., though Tom did know that.
“My young friend,” he said, “have you five minutes to spare?”
Tom looked up at the clock on Trinity Church and saw that it was not yet eleven o’clock.
“Yes, sir,” he answered.
“I see you have no watch,” began the stranger.
“Is he going to give me one?” thought Tom.
“A young man of your age ought to have a watch. Now I’m going to make you an offer—a splendid offer—the chance of a life-time. Do you see that watch?” ”

“ Indian, and let the boy live. He is young, and his life is worth more than mine.”
189 “No good!” said the Indian. “A boy is sick. A boy must die.”
“Mr. Brush,” said Tom gratefully, “I will never forget this unselfish offer. You have offered your life for mine. You are a true friend.”
“But the brutes won’t accept my offer,” said Peter Brush, bitterly. “They are bound to shed your innocent blood, my poor boy. If I only had my revolver here, and loaded, I would kill some of them, or my name isn’t Peter Brush.” ”

“ How can a fellow skate well when he’s got a splitting headache?”
“Would you have said anything about the headache if you had won?”
“Look here, Harry Julian, I don’t like the way you talk. If you mean to insult me say so at once.”
“I don’t care to insult anyone,” said Harry, coldly. “Since you don’t consider this a fair race I presume Tom will be willing to race you any time you may appoint. You can wait till you are in perfect health.”
“Yes,” said Tom, “I am ready to race any time. ”

“ Miantonimo, still encircling Tom with his arms, turned his head, and in the Indian language, said:
“Save him, my father, let him be my brother.”
193
“The Great Spirit has spoken through my son,” said Wanuka, the chief, gravely.
“Then shall he live?”
“He shall live. No harm shall come to him,” said the chief. “Unbind him. He shall stay with us, and be brother of Miantonimo.”
This decision seemed to please the Indian braves, who murmured in approval. ”

“ All I wanted was fair wages for my work.”
“Did you ever ask him to increase your small pay?”
“I asked him this very evening.”
“What did he say?”
“He got angry, and discharged me from his employment.”
“Money has evidently hardened his heart. What are you going to do?”
“I must try to find something else to do, or else go to the poor-house.”
“You won’t go to the poor-house. You don’t look like that kind of a boy. I wish I had John Simpson’s money and shop. I’d employ you at double his wages.”
“Thank you for your kind intentions, sir,” said Tom. ”

“ Culverwell kept “cave” while Millward held the ladder for Berry to ascend.
It was a plucky if not perilous feat to attempt in the dark. But Berry was abounding in pluck, and the spirit of the adventure made him keep his nerve. He soon found himself on the ledge, and managed to haul up the ladder after him. It was an assistance instead of an incumbrance in crossing the roof, and he soon was within a dozen feet of the turret.
The boys below anxiously waited for his reappearance. But he had a job before him. His idea was to unship the tongue of the bell. ”

“ I should judge that your own affairs required all your attention.”
“So they do,” said Darius Darke, imperturbably. “I am coming to them by and by. But it occurred to me that poor Thatcher’s family needed the money he had when I knew him at Rocky Gulch.”
“How do you know he left a family?”
“I was speaking to his boy this evening. A fine, manly fellow Tom Thatcher is. He’ll make a smart man if he lives.”
“You were speaking to Tom Thatcher this evening?” gasped John Simpson, unpleasantly surprised. ”

“ Tom said nothing. By this time his skates were on, and he was quite ready to enter upon a trial of speed with Rupert, or any boy on the pond; but he did not care to betray any anxiety on the subject.
Rupert was rather conceited on the subject of his skating. With the exception of Tom Thatcher, he was probably the best skater in the village—that is, among the boys—and felt pretty confident that he could beat Tom himself. His reluctance was due only to his not liking to place himself on an equality with the boy who pegged shoes for his father at fifty cents per day. ”

“ Anything will do for me. When I get older I shall earn higher wages, and then we’ll live better.”
“It’s very uncomfortable to be poor,” said Mrs. Thatcher, sighing. “Poor children, if your father were only living you would fare better. I little dreamed when he went to California, eight years ago, that he would never come back.”
“Mr. Simpson and father went to California together, didn’t they, mother?”
7 “Yes. They were both poor men at the time. Mr. Simpson was no better off than your father, but now—your poor father is in his grave, and John Simpson is one of the richest men in Wilton.” ”

“ Brush?”
“I haven’t got anybody to write to,” answered Peter Brush.
“There’s your boy.”
“I never writ a letter to him in my life. Fact is, Tom, I ain’t much on writin’; I can handle a rifle a good deal better than a pen. My boy doesn’t expect a letter from me.”
“It seems to me if my father were away traveling, I should want to hear from him.”
162 “I reckon you would, but there’s a difference in families. Ours isn’t a writin’ family.” ”

“ Brush, I have a favor to ask of you.”
190 “What is it? I will do anything in my power, Tom.”
“And I too, my poor lad,” said Dr. Spooner.
“Write to my mother, and let her know that I am dead, but don’t let her know how I died. Let her think that I caught cold and died of a fever. She won’t feel so bad. There’s some money that I have in the —— bank, in New York. Let her know about that. They will give it to her, if she calls for it.”
“Yes, Tom, I will do it,” said Peter Brush, stifling a sob—“that is, if I live. I don’t think I can stand it to see those red devils kill you.” ”

“ Spooner, Peter Brush and Tom were ranged in line, and conducted toward the camp-fire, preceded and followed by an Indian guard.
It must not be supposed that they were allowed to retain their fire-arms. Their rifles were taken from them, and the acquisition of these arms appeared to yield their captors considerable satisfaction. They had learned to value these articles, which were to them of practical value.
Who shall say what thoughts surged up in the heart of our young hero, as he found himself in the power of a people of whom he had read so much? ”

“ Rupert, now reduced to penury, found his way back to Wilton, and obtained a position as workman in the shop which his father had once owned. His pride had had a severe fall.
Tom became his father’s junior partner, and at twenty-one is really acting-manager and responsible head of the great shop where he once worked for three dollars a week. Of course, Mr. and Mrs. Thatcher now live in the handsome house once owned by John Simpson, while Rupert, rather curiously, is a boarder in the humble cottage once occupied by the Thatchers. ”

“ I can’t go without him?” said Brush, eagerly.
“White boy must stay!” repeated the Indian.
“What do you propose to do with him?” asked Dr. Spooner, uneasily.
The Indian continued:
“For more than a moon the young chief has been sick and weak. A bad spirit has entered into him and torments him.”
“But what has all this to do with Tom?” asked Brush, impatiently.
“Let him tell his story in his own way, friend Brush,” said the doctor. “We shall know soon enough.”
The interpreter continued:
“The Great Spirit is vexed. He has sent one of the bad spirits to trouble Miantonimo. He must be appealed.” ”

“ This thought gave John Simpson no little satisfaction. It might have been supposed that he would feel some compunction in reflecting upon the awful fate to which he had consigned a fellow-creature; but a cowardly man becomes easily cruel, and the feeling of relief outweighed the horror of the crime.
It was during the last week of Darius Darke’s stay in New York that John Simpson came up to transact a little business. ”

“ Tom Thatcher, for this was his name, had just come home from the shoe manufactory, where he was employed ten hours a day in pegging shoes, for the lucrative sum of fifty cents per day. I may as well state here that he is the hero of my story, and I hope none of my readers will think any the worse of him for working in a shop. I am aware that it is considered more “genteel” to stand behind a counter, and display goods to customers, even if the wages are smaller. But Tom, having a mother and little sister to help support, could not choose his employment. ”

“ Two lads, Teddy Wright and Neal Emery, embark on the steam yacht Day Dream for a cruise to the tropics. The yacht is destroyed by fire, and then the boat is cast upon the coast of Yucatan. They hear of the wonderful Silver City, of the Chan Santa Cruz Indians, and with the help of a faithful Indian ally carry off a number of the golden images from the temples. Pursued with relentless vigor at last their escape is effected in an astonishing manner. The story is so full of exciting incidents that the reader is quite carried away with the novelty and realism of the narrative. ”