Jr. Horatio Alger

“ Walter's temper was stirred, but he asked in his ordinary tones: “Why did you do it?”
“Because I chose,” answered Ben.
“Then,” said Walter, giving full vent to his scorn, “you are a contemptible coward and brute!
“You forget that in this schoolroom I am the master, and consider it my duty to defend my pupils, even the smallest, from the violence of brutes.”
“He'll have to pay for this,” he muttered to himself. “I can lick you, Walter!” he said, with an insolent leer.
He had hardly got the words out of his mouth when Walter was upon him. ”

“ Not foreseeing the effect of his changed circumstances on the mind of his late friend, Walter, meeting him on the campus the day afterward, called out, familiarly: “How are you, old fellow? Why didn't you come round to my room last evening?”
“I had another engagement, Sherwood,” answered Warner, stiffly.
“You ought to give me the preference,” said Walter, not observing the other's change of manner.
“Ahem! a man must judge for himself, you know. By the way, is it true that you have lost all your money?”
“I don't know how much I have lost, but I am not coming back to college next year.” ”

“ About a hundred dollars had been lost in an investment, and I made that a pretext for withdrawing you from college. I saw that you were wasting your time and acquiring expensive habits, so I thought the best remedy would be a year of active life, in which you would be thrown upon your own resources.”
“You are right, doctor. It has made a man of me. I shall go back to old Euclid and work in earnest. I have been a teacher myself, and I understand what a teacher has a right to expect from his pupils.” ”

“ I am so young, in short, that I can afford to have a good time.”
“It seems to me that is all you think of, Sherwood.”
“Oh, well, I'll reform in time and become a sober old duffer like you,” and Walter Sherwood laughed carelessly.
“I hope, at any rate, that you will change your views of life. You know what Longfellow says: 'Life is real! Life is earnest!'”
“Oh, yes, I know that by heart. But it's no use, Gates, you can't make an old man of me before my time. Will it disturb you if I play a tune or two on my violin?” ”

“ However, Walter was sanguine, not as yet having put himself in a position to meet the rebuffs which are sure to lie in wait for agents of any kind. He thought over his prospects with pleased anticipations. He felt that the position was much higher than that of a boy in an office. It was one usually filled by men of maturity and business experience. Besides, if successful, the rewards would be ample. The thought of the agent who made a hundred and twenty-five dollars in a single week occurred to him and encouraged him. ”

“ Indeed, any hotel will be. Still you might go to some good house for a day. That will give you time to hunt up a modest boarding-house.”
“An excellent plan!” said Walter, in a tone of satisfaction. “Do you know, my dear guardian, I shall go out in the best of spirits. I feel—in Shakespeare's words—that the world is mine oyster.”
“I hope you will be able to open it, Walter. You have my best wishes. Don't forget that you will have to depend on yourself.” ”

“ I am at a cheap boarding-house on Harrison Street, where I pay six dollars a week,” answered Walter, with spirit.
“Then I don't think we can make a bargain, although I rather like your looks.”
This, at any rate, was a little encouraging.
“But I can't pay your figure. I'll tell you what you'd better do.”
“I shall be glad of any advice.”
“Become an agent. You look as if you had a gift of the gab. A successful life insurance agent will make a good deal more than ten dollars a week.” ”

“ Walter admitted.
“Did Rome ever win the baseball championship?” demanded Mr. Perkins.
“No, sir.”
“I thought not. Then what's the use in spending four years over those old fellers? How is it going to help you?”
“I don't expect it will help me to earn a living, sir. Do you think you can employ me?”
“What are your ideas as to a salary, young man?”
“I thought of ten dollars,” said Walter, hesitatingly.
“Ten dollars!” ejaculated Mr. Perkins. “Just what I thought. Because you've been to college you think you are worth a big salary.”
“Do you call that a big salary, sir?” ”

“ From his window he could see the students as they approached the hotel. Finally he caught sight of Walter, with a college friend on each sides with whom he was chatting gaily.
“What a change!” thought Doctor Mack. “It seems only yesterday that Walter started for college, a bashful, unformed boy, full of good resolutions, and determined to distinguish himself in scholarship. Now he has become a gay butterfly. And, what is worse, he has learned to deceive his old guardian, and his chief aim seems to be to have a good time. What can I do to change his course?” ”

“ Then he changed his linen, brushed his clothes with a hand-brush he had brought in his valise and carefully combed his hair.
“I feel a hundred per cent. better,” he soliloquized. “Here I am in Chicago and now the battle of life is to begin.”
Walter was sanguine and full of hope. His life had always been easy, and he did not know what it was to work for a living. Besides, the fact may as well be told—he had a very comfortable opinion of his own abilities. He felt that he was no common boy. Was he not a sophomore, or rather a junior-elect, of Euclid college? ”

“ Walter, by the light that came in through a crevice, saw it sway and gradually yield to the impetuous attacks of the mob.
“Here's the hoss thief!” exclaimed the leader, throwing the light into the cell occupied by the inebriate.
The tramp was alarmed and completely sobered by the terrible suggestion.
“I ain't the man!” he said. “It's that young feller yonder.” ”

“ He ate heartily and with great rapidity, yet found time to glance repeatedly at Walter and his employer, as if he felt an interest in them.
Walter sought the professor after supper and communicated to him his fears.
Professor Robinson shrugged his shoulders.
“Your imagination is running away with you,” he said. “I don't see anything extraordinary about this stranger, except that he is far from good-looking.”
“Don't you think he has a sinister look?”
“He is as homely as the ace of spades, if that is what you mean. Suppose he is. All homely men are not suspicious characters. ”

“ He was not a snob, nor would he have disdained to notice a friend or school companion filling such a position, but he felt that Providence must have something in store for him more congenial, though perhaps less lucrative.
“I have a cousin who is a carpenter,” proceeded Ashton. “He makes two dollars and a half a day, and supports a wife and three children in comfort.”
“I wonder if I could support a family on fifteen dollars a week?” thought Walter. “Fortunately, I have only to support myself. I ought to be able to do that in a large city like Chicago.” ”

“ Secretly Walter thought himself a great deal smarter. It must be remembered that Walter was not quite eighteen—a self-conceited age—and he over-estimated his strength and ability. On the whole, it is fortunate that the young do not comprehend the difficult struggle that lies before them, or they would become discouraged before they had fairly entered upon it. It is well that they should be hopeful and sanguine. They are more likely to succeed. ”

“ He had been out with Professor Robinson a month when he had a surprise. It was in the town of Glenwood. His violin drew the usual crowd, who were listening with complimentary attention, when a young man, who casually paused to judge of the musician's merits, started in amazement.
“By Jove!” he exclaimed to a young lady who accompanied him. “That's my classmate, Sherwood.”
“What do you mean, Hugh?” asked the young lady.
“I mean that the young man who is playing the violin is my college classmate, Walter Sherwood.”
“But what on earth can have put him in such a position? Is he poor?” ”

“ Walter felt that he would be foolish to lose so good a chance. It was a pity that the stranger should be forced to make such a sacrifice, yet it really seemed that he would be doing him a favor, as well as benefiting himself, by accepting his proposition.
“You will guarantee it to be solid gold?” he said, with momentary suspicion.
“Certainly. You will see that it is an Elgin watch. Of course you know the reputation of that make. They don't make any sham watches at their factory.” ”

“ I think my year's absence from college will do me good. I am ashamed when I consider how poorly I appreciated the advantages of study, and how foolishly I spent my time and money. If I ever go back to college I shall turn over a new leaf. ”

“ CHAPTER XXIII WALTER AND THE HIGHWAYMAN
The professor was startled at the exclamation, but was unwilling to believe that the man before him was a highwayman.
“My friend,” he said, “won't you move to one side? You are in my path.”
“We have a little business together,” said the horseman, grimly, as he drew out and presented a revolver, “that must be attended to first.”
“Do you wish a bottle of balm?” inquired Professor Robinson, in a tremulous voice.
“No; you may need one yourself unless we come to terms.” ”

“ I wrote to my uncle last week—he is a well-to-do farmer—asking him if he wouldn't send me fifteen dollars to help pay my term bills. I promised to come and help him in the farm work during July.”
“What does he say?” asked Walter, smiling, Gates couldn't understand why.
“That he never pays for work in advance—he doesn't approve of it.”
“He could afford it?”
“Oh, yes; he's got a good sum in the savings-bank, but he is a very cautious man. I don't see how I'm going to get through. Perhaps I had better take a year away from college.” ”

“ Within an hour Walter had given up his room—the rent had been paid in advance—and transferred his luggage to the Hotel Brevoort, where he was assigned a small apartment on the upper floor.
“I shall leave the city in two days,” said the professor. “I have put an advertisement into the daily papers which brings customers to the hotel, but I depend chiefly upon my sales on the road.”
“Do you travel on the cars?” asked Walter.
“No; I have a neat wagon in which I carry a supply of bottles of balm, and this enables me to stop where I like. I prefer villages to very large towns and cities. ”

“ But you know, Nancy, young people don't miss their parents and guardians as much as they are missed at home. They have plenty of excitement and society at college.”
“Yes, sir, that's true, but I'm sure Master Walter won't forget his old home. If you have room for some cookies I will put some into the bag. Walter is fond of them.”
“No, I think you needn't do It, Nancy, He has a good boarding-house, and no doubt he gets all the cakes he wants. By the way, I want to take the boy by surprise, so don't write and let him know I'm coming.” ”

“ You looked upon me as an enemy, I suppose?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I am an enemy to those who are incurably bad. I think you were meant for an honest man.”
“So I was, sir. I should be still if I hadn't met with Jim Beckwith.”
“Have done with him, then. If you follow my advice you need not fear meeting with me again.”
The detective went up to the desk, bought a cigar and then left the room, with a nod to Ashton and Walter.
“Will you follow his advice?” asked Walter.
“Yes, I will. Hereafter I will depend upon honest work for an honest livelihood. What is your name?”
“Walter Sherwood.” ”

“ Walter was tempted, but he reflected that twenty-five dollars represented a third of the money he had with him, so he put away the temptation, but with reluctance. He had a silver watch, bought for him, when he entered college, at a cost of fifteen dollars, and like the majority of boys of his age he felt that he should much prefer to carry a gold one. Still he must be prudent.
“No,” he said, shaking his head, “I don't think I had better buy the watch. I presume you will find some one else on the train who would be glad of the bargain.” ”

“ The plain truth was that Professor Robinson was a born coward, though he was stronger and more muscular, probably, than Grant, Sherman or Sheridan. But it is not brawn and muscle that make a hero, but the spirit that animates the man, and of this spirit the professor had very little. ”

“ Whether this would, on the whole, have helped him, was uncertain, as the tramp could probably outrun him, but just in the nick of time a team appeared, driven by a young man, perhaps twenty-five, of remarkable size. Hiram Nutt was six feet six inches in height, the tallest man in the county, and he was as athletic as he was tall. He tipped the scales at two hundred and ten pounds, and was famous for his feats of strength. He was a farmer's son and lived at Elm Bank.
When he saw Walter dash out of the house, pursued by an ill-looking tramp, he thought it high time to interfere. ”

“ If you hadn't read my Horace to me the other day I should have flunked as sure as can be.”
“It would be better for you to get your own lesson, Walter.”
“Well, I suppose it would,” answered his roommate, yawning. “I wish you could drive this logic into my head. I suppose I am unusually stupid this morning.”
“Suppose we go over it together.”
Fifteen minutes later Walter said complacently: “Thanks, old fellow; you have made it as plain as a pikestaff.”
“And very likely you will get a higher mark at the recitation than I.”
“Well, perhaps so,” laughed Walter. ”

“ As you have never fitted yourself for any kind of business, I presume your earnings are small. I should not be surprised to hear that you are straitened for money. If you are, don't let your pride prevent your informing me. I can easily send you fifty dollars, for your property was not all lost, and it is not fitting that you should deprive yourself of the comforts of life when there is no occasion for it. ”

“ He felt anxious about his ward, who had entered college early and was now only seventeen. Walter Sherwood was a boy of excellent talent and popular manners, but he was inclined to be self-indulgent and had a large capacity for “enjoyment.” His guardian had fondly hoped that he would lead the class in scholarship, but instead of this he was only doing “fairly well” in his studies. To be sure, he excelled in athletic sports, but, as Doctor Mack reflected, this was not generally considered the chief aim in a college course, except by some of the students themselves. ”

“ You see, I expect to earn my own living by the time I have spent fifty dollars in all. I should go to a cheap boarding-place, of course. I should be able to pay my way.”
“You will be content, then, with a hundred dollars, Walter?”
“Yes; perhaps I could make it do on less.”
“No; you shall have a hundred. If absolutely necessary, you can send for more.”
“No,” said Walter confidently; “I won't do that. I shall get along somehow. I want to make a man of myself.”
“That is a commendable ambition. Still, sometimes a young man finds it hard to obtain employment. ”

“ My children can take care of themselves when I die, and they can look after the old woman.”
Walter used such other arguments as occurred to him, but his German friend was not to be moved, and he rather despondently put his documents into his pocket and went out into the street.
“I had no idea I should find it so difficult,” he reflected.
Life insurance seemed to him so beneficent, and so necessary a protection for those who would otherwise be unprovided for, that he could not understand how any one who cared for his wife and children could fail to avail himself of its advantages. ”

“ I have seen something of the world and gained some experience of life, and feel about half a dozen years older than when I left college.”
When Doctor Mack, a week later, read these lines he smiled contentedly.
“My experiment is working well,” he said. “It is making a man of Walter. He has been a drone, hitherto. Now he has become a worker, and, though I may not like him better, for he was always near to my heart, I respect him more.”
A week later Walter, on returning from a walk, found a middle-aged stranger in conversation with Professor Robinson. ”