Frank Courtney

“ You must come with me and explain how you came in possession of the bonds you gave this boy."
"They were put in my hands by an acquaintance. If there is anything wrong, I am not to blame."
"In that case no harm will come to you; but now you must come along."
After his experience, Frank walked to his boarding place. He was quite ready for six o'clock.
When he entered the dining room, his hostess introduced him to all.
A young man sat next to him and entered into conversation.
"What do you do, Mr. Courtney?"
"I have taken an agency to sell tea for the Great Pekin Tea Company. ”

“ Vincent's stable."
"This is a high-handed proceeding, Frank Courtney. Have you any excuse to offer?"
"None is needed sir. Col. Vincent has given me permission to ride him whenever I please."
"It appears to me, Mark," said Mr. Manning, sharply, "that you have made a fool of yourself."
"How should I know?" replied Mark, mortified by the collapse of his sensation. "Frank didn't tell me he had leave to use the horse."
And he left the room, looking foolish.
CHAPTER X MARK YIELDS TO TEMPTATION
There are some boys, as well as men, who cannot stand prosperity. ”

“ Before returning to his boarding house, Frank sat down for a short time in Washington Park, and reviewed his plans and prospects. He could not tell how he would succeed in his tea agency; but if that failed, he was resolved to try something else.
He didn't feel homesick, for since his mother's death he had no longer any home ties. Young as he was, he felt that one part of his life was at an end, and that a new life and a new career were before him. ”

“ Freddie was delighted with his teacher, and freely expressed his approval to his mother and grandfather.
"Really, Frank," said Mrs. Gordon, "I shall begin to be jealous of your hold upon Freddie. I am not sure but he likes your company better than mine."
"I don't think Freddie will prefer anyone to his mother," said Frank; "but I am glad he likes to be with me."
"You have certainly proved very successful as a private tutor, Frank," said Mrs. Gordon, "and my father tells me you succeeded equally well as a secretary." ”

“ Frank followed the girl upstairs.
He was not favorably impressed by the appearance of the interior. He did not so much mind its being shabby, but he was repelled by the evident lack of neatness.
The girl threw open the door of a small hall bedroom at the head of the stairs, but it looked so comfortless that he felt sure he should not like it. He thought it best, however, to inquire the price.
"Five dollars a week with board," answered the girl.
"I don't think it will suit me," said our hero.
"There's a larger room for seven dollars," said the servant.
"No. I think I will look elsewhere." ”

“ Frank did not like to admit his poverty, but owned up that he had less than two dollars.
"And yet you paid the car fares of this little boy and his mother?"
"I hope, sir, I would not refuse to assist a lady when in trouble."
Mr. Percival nodded two or three times, smiling as he did so. He was becoming more and more favorably impressed without young hero.
"Do you mean to continue this tea agency?" he asked. ”

“ He contented himself, therefore, with a ten-cent lunch, and crossed Fulton Ferry between three and four o'clock.
"This will never do," thought Frank, seriously. "I shall have to be economical to make my earnings cover my incidental expenses, while my board and lodging must be defrayed out of the money I have with me."
Frank was disappointed. It is easy to think of earning one's living, but not quite so easy to accomplish it. A boy, besides being ignorant of the world, is inexperienced, and so disqualified for many avenues of employment which are open to men. ”

“ In spite, therefore, of the news which he had received about Ajax, he resumed his cheerfulness, considerably to the surprise of Mark, whose natural suspicion led him to conjecture that Frank had some plan in view to circumvent his father.
"If he has, he'd better give it up," reflected Mark. "The old man's as sly as a fox. A raw boy like Frank can't get the better of him."
At the close of the week, both the boys went home. They were on board the same train and the same car, but did not sit together. When they reached the house, Mr. Manning was not at home. ”

“ Ferret advanced toward the disinherited boy.
"Frank," said he, in a tone of sympathy, "I am very sorry for the provisions of the will."
"So am I, sir," answered our hero. "It isn't pleasant to be dependent on Mr. Manning."
"Particularly when the whole estate should be yours."
"I wouldn't have minded if half had been left to him, provided I had been left independent of him."
"I appreciate your feelings, Frank. I knew your father, and I am proud to say that he was my friend. I knew your mother well, and I esteemed her highly. I hope you will let me regard myself as your friend also." ”

“ Boys of your age are apt to think it an easy thing. I have seen more of life, and I am sure you will find it more difficult than you suppose. You may find yourself in difficulty, possibly in want. In that case, promise to let me know, and I will come to your assistance."
"I will, sir," answered Frank.
The time came for Frank to say good-bye to Mr. Manning and Mark, and the house which had been his home from infancy.
His stepfather handed him a small pocketbook.
"Frank," he said, "in this pocketbook you will find twenty-five dollars. It is not much, but—"
"I am satisfied, sir," said Frank. ”

“ Manning would never have taken me along," answered Frank, quietly, "nor should I have enjoyed traveling with him and Mark."
"Of the two, who would interfere the more with your enjoyment?"
"Mark."
"Then you prefer the father to the son?" said the colonel.
"The father has much more agreeable manners. I don't think Mark could be agreeable if he tried."
Col. Vincent smiled.
"Perhaps you are right, Frank," he said. "Now, as your father's old friend, I shall exact a promise from you."
"What is it, sir?"
"You are going out into the world to earn your own living. ”

“ I haven't tried very hard yet," answered Frank; "but I find boys are paid so little that I can't make enough to live on. If I were a man it would be different."
"I don't believe you can make more than a boy's wages at selling tea," said Frank's new acquaintance, "but you might try it."
"Would you mind giving me a note to the company?" asked Frank.
"I will write a line on one of my business cards," said the agent. "That will be all you will need." ”

“ About three o'clock he got on board a Third Avenue horse car, bound downtown and sat quietly down in a corner.
"Harlem doesn't seem to be a very promising field for an agent," he said to himself. "Perhaps it isn't fair to judge it by the first day. Still, I don't think I shall have courage to come here to-morrow. I would rather go to Jersey City or Brooklyn."
Frank got off the cars at the Bible House and walked to his boarding house, where a disagreeable surprise was in store for him. ”

“ Fairfield, our agent, is one of the most constant patrons of the bar."
"I don't think I should like to stop there," said Frank. "Isn't there any private family where I can get board for a week or two?"
"If you don't object to plain fare," said the farmer, "I might agree to board you myself."
This was precisely what Frank wanted, and he replied that nothing would suit him better.
"We live humbly," continued Mr. Hamlin—for this, Frank learned, was his driver's name—"but we will try to make you comfortable." ”

“ Boys like a lively place. Well, I am glad you feel independent of your business."
"For a little time. I am afraid it wouldn't do for me to earn so little for any length of time."
Frank enjoyed the society of Dick Hamlin. Together they went fishing and hunting, and a mutual liking sprang up between them.
"I wish you were going to stay longer, Frank," said Dick. "I shall feel very lonely when you are gone."
"We may meet again under different circumstances," said Frank. "While I am here, we will enjoy ourselves as well as we can."
So the days passed, and at length a letter came from Mr. Percival. ”

“ It is generally foolish for a boy to leave a good home and start out for himself, unless the chances are unusually favorable for him. If he does it, however, he should not allow himself to be easily discouraged.
If Frank had given up the business in which he was engaged simply because he had met with one unsuccessful day, I should not have been willing to make him the hero of my story.
"This will never do," thought Frank. "I must make a greater effort to-morrow."
The next day his commission amounted to a dollar, and the fourth day to a dollar and twelve cents. ”

“ You forget that you are nothing but a servant."
"A servant has the right to be decently treated, Mr. Mark."
"If you don't look out," said Mark, in a blustering tone, "I will report you to my father, and have you kicked out of the house."
Deborah was naturally incensed at this rude speech, but she was spared the trouble of replying. Frank entered the room at this moment in time to hear Mark's last speech.
"What is this about being kicked out of the house?" he asked, looking from Mark to Deborah, in a tone of unconscious authority, which displeased his stepbrother. ”

“ Ordinarily, a man can best look after his own affairs; but in the present instance, I suspect that you could do better than myself. I don't mean this as a compliment, but a boy like you would not be suspected, and so could discover more than I, from whom facts would be studiously concealed. But, of course, you don't understand my meaning. I will explain, and then you can comprehend me."
Frank was all attention.
"You must know that I own a good deal of property in a certain township in Southern Minnesota. ”

“ Frank," said the coachman, chiming in.
"I don't know what to think," said Frank. "It has surprised me very much."
"Surprised you!" exclaimed Deborah. "You may well say that. You might have knocked me down with a feather when I heard the property left away from you. Depend upon it, that man knows all about it."
"You mean Mr. Manning?"
"To be sure I mean him! Oh, he's managed artfully! I say that for him. He's got it all into his own hands, and you haven't a cent."
"If it was my mother's will I wouldn't complain of that, Deborah. ”

“ Deborah and I will have to go, I expect, and he'll get some servants of his own here."
"Has he hinted anything of this, Richard?" asked Frank, quickly.
"No; but he will soon, you may depend on it. I won't lose sight of you, though. I've known you since you were four years old, and I won't desert you, if I can do any good—nor Deborah, either."
"I have two friends, then, at any rate," said Frank to himself. "That is something."
CHAPTER VII A SCHOOL FRIEND
Early Monday morning it had been the custom for Frank and Mark to take the train for Bridgeville, to enter upon a new week at the academy. ”

“ During the coming week he arranged his plans for a prolonged absence from the Cedars. He wrote to New York to engage passage on a steamer bound for Liverpool, and quietly waited for the end of Frank's school term to release him from a care which had grown burdensome.
Frank returned to the Bridgeville Academy without Mark. As may be supported, however, he did not feel the loss of his society.
He at once communicated to his chosen friend, Herbert Grant, his probable departure from school.
"I am sorry to hear it, Frank," said Herbert, soberly. "Do you think you are acting wisely?" ”

“ Fairfield already seated in the most comfortable chair in the sitting room.
He looked inquiringly at Frank when he entered with Dick.
"Who is that boy, Hamlin?" inquired the agent. "Nephew of yours?"
"No, sir. It is a young man who has come to Jackson on business."
"What kind of business?'
"I sell stationery," Frank answered for himself.
"Oh, a peddler!" said the agent, contemptuously.
"Many of our most successful men began in that way," said Mr. Hamlin, fearing lest Frank's feelings might be hurt.
"I never encourage peddlers myself," said Mr. Fairfield, pompously. ”

“ If that's all you have to depend upon, I am afraid you'll get discouraged."
"I am also agent for an illustrated book," said Frank. "I may be able to dispose of a few."
"Perhaps so," answered the farmer, dubiously. "But our people haven't much money to spend on articles of luxury, and books are a luxury with us."
"I always heard that Jackson was a flourishing place," said Frank, who felt that now was his time to obtain a little information.
"It ought to be," said the farmer; "but there's one thing prevents." ”

“ Without a word, Frank drew a dollar bill from his pocketbook and handed it to Pliny.
"Now," he thought, "I shall not feel under any obligations to the family."
"You're a good fellow, even if you are poor," said Pliny, in high good humor.
Frank was tired, and it was not long before all his anxieties for future were lost sight of in a sound and refreshing slumber.
CHAPTER XVIII FRANK ARRIVES IN NEW YORK
The breakfast the next morning was very meager. ”

“ Tarbox, when our hero asked permission to retire, "and put you in the same room with Pliny. I suppose you won't mind?"
"Just as you please, Mrs. Tarbox," said Frank, though he would have preferred to have passed the night alone.
"Could you make it convenient to lend me two dollars?" asked Pliny, as they went up to bed together.
"Not just now," answered Frank. "When I get something to do I shall not need to be so careful of my money." ”

“ Manning will keep up the establishment?"
"I suppose so, sir; but it is no longer home to me."
"Don't take it too hard, Frank. I was sorry about the will."
"So was I, sir; because it makes me dependent on a man whom I dislike."
"Don't be too prejudiced, Frank. I never took any fancy to your stepfather myself; but then we don't need to like everybody we associate with."
"I hear you have bought my horse, Col. Vincent," said Frank, desiring to change the subject.
"Was Ajax your horse?" ”