Mark Mason

“ Loring.
"Don't you remember, mama, what I told you about being robbed by a man who sat next to me, and having my purse returned by a boy—a young gentleman."
"I don't mind being called a boy," said Mark. "I shall be one for some time yet."
"Well?"
"Mr. Mason is the one who recovered my purse. Before that he kindly offered to loan me some money. But what possible business can he have with you?"
"See what he has brought me from New York. He comes from Mr. Swan."
"Oh mama, how lovely! Is it a present for me? You know my birthday comes in eight months." ”

“ They dexterously slipped handcuffs over his wrists, and at last he sank to the floor conquered. He was panting and frothing at the mouth.
Luther Rockwell fell back into his seat exhausted.
"You've had a trying time, sir!" said one of the policemen respectfully.
"Yes," ejaculated the banker with dry lips. "I wouldn't pass through it again for fifty thousand dollars. I've been as near a terrible death as any man can be—and live! But for the heroism of that boy—where is he?"
The question was answered by the appearance of Mark Mason himself, just returned from the police station. ”

“ As a rule those who know nothing think they know the most and are most suspicious. However, I can afford to overlook your unexpected obstinacy. I will do what I had no idea of doing when I entered the room. I will increase my offer to a hundred and twenty-five dollars. That is certainly handsome, and I shall not let Mrs. Talbot and Edgar know how foolishly I have acted."
"Here is a pen," he said. "You can sign at once."—Page 179.
Mark Mason's Victory. ”

“ He detects a young man in the act of picking the pocket of a young lady. In a railway accident many passengers are killed, but Paul is fortunate enough to assist a Chicago merchant, who out of gratitude takes him into his employ. Paul succeeds with tact and judgment and is well started on the road to business prominence.
Mark Mason’s Victory. The Trials and Triumphs of a Telegraph Boy. By Horatio Alger, Jr. 12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00.
Mark Mason, the telegraph boy, was a sturdy, honest lad, who pluckily won his way to success by his honest manly efforts under many difficulties. ”

“ Are there any telegraph girls?"
"Not that I know of."
"I am afraid we poor girls would be too easily imposed upon."
"Well, have you entertained Mr. Mason?" asked Mrs. Loring re-entering the room.
"I have done my best, mama. What do you think he tells me? That horrid man that stole my purse is staying at his hotel."
"Then I hope you won't send him an invitation to call here."
"He would call fast enough," suggested Mark, "if he knew what a valuable diamond pin you have in the house." ”

“ Mason and Mark took a handsome flat up town, and henceforth were able to live as well as their pretentious relatives. Mark was advised by Mr. Rockwell as to the investment of his mother's money, and it has already increased considerably. He is himself taking a mercantile course at a commercial college, and will eventually enter the establishment of Mr. Gilbert, with whom he is as great a favorite as ever.
It never rains but it pours. One morning Mrs. Mack, the aged miser, was found dead in bed. She left a letter directing Mark to call on her lawyer. ”

“ Edgar Talbot sniffed contemptuously.
"I don't see how you can live in such a mean place," he remarked.
"It is not a matter of choice," returned Mark gravely. "We have to live in a cheap tenement."
By this time the door was opened.
"Mother," said Mark, preceding the two visitors, "here are Uncle Solon and Edgar come to call on you."
Mrs. Mason's pale cheek flushed, partly with mortification at her humble surroundings, for when she first knew Solon Talbot he was only a clerk, as she had said, and she was a society belle. ”

“ Fust thing you know Mark Mason will have his name down wid de Four Hundred!"
It did not occur to Mark to look at the paper given him by Mr. Rockwell till he got out of the cab.
This was what he read:
MR. NICHOLS: Give this boy ten dollars.
Luther Rockwell.
His eyes flashed with delight.
"This is a lucky day!" he exclaimed. "It's worth while running the risk of being blown up when you're so well paid for it."
Nichols, the chief clerk, at once complied with his employer's directions.
"You're a brave boy, 79," he said. "If it hadn't been for you, we'd all have been blown higher than a kite. ”

“ Mason.
"I suppose you heard that I was in town."
"Yes; Mark told me."
"I was not sure whether I could call, as I am here on a hurried business errand."
"I am glad you have called. I wished to ask you about father's estate."
"Just so! It is very surprising—I assure you that it amazed me very much—to find that he left so little."
"I can't understand it at all, Solon. Only a year before he died he told me that he considered himself worth fifteen thousand dollars."
"People are often deluded as to the amount of their possessions. I have known many such cases." ”

“ Mason with radiant face as the telegraph boy opened the door of their humble apartment.
"Then you have missed me?" said Mark smiling.
"It has seemed a long time since you went away. Did you have a successful trip?"
"Yes, indeed. Mr. Swan was so well satisfied that he gave me fifteen dollars besides paying the telegraph company for my services. I shall be paid my regular wages by them also."
"Poor Mrs. Mack has been attacked and robbed of a hundred dollars since you went away."
"I read a paragraph about it copied from the New York papers. How is she now?"
"She is confined to her bed. ”

“ Mark saw him waver, and followed up his advantage.
"There was only about five dollars in the purse," he said, "and it won't pay you to keep it. If you give it up without further trouble I won't expose you. What do you say?"
Mr. Buffington looked in Mark's resolute face and he saw that he was in serious earnest. He felt that he was in the boy's power, and much as it galled him, he decided that he must yield.
"It is possible, of course, that the young lady in handling the purse, may have dropped it into my pocket," he said. "I will search for it, and if that is the case it shall be returned." ”

“ Rockwell?"
"He seems pretty well upset," answered Mark.
"No wonder; he's an old man. I don't mind saying I was upset myself, and I am less than half his age. You were the only one of us that kept his wits about him."
"Somehow I didn't think of danger," said Mark. "I was considering how I could get the better of the crank."
"You took a great risk. If the valise had fallen, we'd have all gone up, and he pointed significantly overhead. ”

“ Swan?" said Mark modestly.
"It is not so much a matter of age as of shrewdness and reliability. I have been led to think that you possess these qualifications. Of course there would be danger of your being robbed if it were known that you carried such a valuable parcel."
"I am not afraid, sir."
"Of course, again, you must take care not to let it be known what you have in charge. Make what statements you like as to your business. I can safely leave that to your own shrewdness."
"When do you want me to start, Mr. Swan?"
"There is a train this afternoon for Buffalo on the New York Central road. ”

“ When she recovers from her temporary stupefaction she may be able to give the police a clew that will lead to the arrest of the man who robbed her."
When Mark read this paragraph he decided at once that Jack Minton, Mrs. Mack's nephew, was the old woman's assailant. Jack had evidently left the city by the first outgoing train, considering that at Niagara he would be safe. So indeed he might have been but for the chance that threw Mark and himself together. So it happened that the telegraph boy held in his hand the clew to the mysterious attack. ”

“ He is young, but he has always shown good judgment."
"Confound the woman!" muttered Talbot, as he left the house. "It is most provoking to have her act in this way. Should she hear of the Golden Hope mine it would be most disastrous. Once let me obtain her release and I can sell it out for my own advantage."
CHAPTER XXII. A CRAFTY SCHEMER.
"Your uncle has been here, Mark," said Mrs. Mason, when Mark reached home.
"I can tell you what business he came about, mother."
"He wanted my signature to a paper acknowledging that I had received my full share of father's estate." ”

“ Not but I would consent if your aunt, instigated by Mark, had not acted in such an extraordinary way about signing a release to me as administrator to your grandfather's estate."
"What is her reason?"
"I suppose she thinks she ought to have more than she has received from it."
"Grandfather was very poor, wasn't he?"
"I didn't think so when he lived, but he left next to nothing after his debts were paid."
"Some people are very unreasonable."
"Of course. I suppose Mrs. Mason and Mark think I ought to make up for their disappointment." ”

“ The last two words were intended to assure the jeweler of the safety of the diamond pin.
Mark ascertained that the next train westward would start at eleven o'clock, and so reported to his uncle.
"I shall go by the next train," he said.
As they went up to the office to pay their bills, the clerk asked Mr. Talbot, "Do you pay for this young man as well as yourself?"
Solon Talbot hesitated and looked confused.
"No," answered Mark promptly, "I pay for myself."
He drew out a ten-dollar bill and tendered it to the clerk.
"You seem to be well provided with money," said his uncle curiously. ”

“ I have a son about your age, and I should be sorry to have him drink whisky."
"There is no danger of my doing that," said Mark quietly. "I have a good mother. For her sake, if not for my own, I would not drink liquor."
"That does you credit. Now as to your information it may prove important. Have you anything to corroborate your suspicion?"
"Yes, sir. Jack Minton seemed to have plenty of money. When he paid the barkeeper for our drinks I saw him pull out a roll of bills. When he was in New York he had no money at all, and succeeded in obtaining only twenty-five cents from his aunt." ”

“ Mack?"
"Because he—he was going to rob me."
"How is that?" demanded Mark sternly.
"None of your business, kid! You ain't no call to interfere between me and my aunt."
"I have if she asks me to."
"He was at my bureau drawers. He told me I must give him twenty-five dollars."
"Supposing I did? It's the least you can do for your own nephew that hasn't a cent to bless himself with." ”

“ They dashed forward and together seized the madman. Mr. Rockwell, too, sprang from his seat, and, though an old man, joined the attacking party.
"Quick!" he shouted to Mark. "Take that valise out of the office, and carry it where it will do no harm. Then come back!"
Mark needed no second bidding. He ran out of the office and down-stairs, never stopping till he reached the nearest police station. Quickly he told his story, and two policemen were despatched on a run to Mr. Rockwell's office. ”

“ Then there was our old enemy, Tom Mason, who had been badly worsted in an attempt to whip Mark, and ever since that time he had been robbing my traps, shooting at my dog and killing my doves, thinking all the while that he was revenging himself upon Mark, when he was in reality punishing me.
At the time of which I write we lived in Warren County, ten miles below Vicksburg, where our father owned an extensive plantation. He cultivated one thousand acres of cotton and six hundred acres of corn. ”

“ I met him at Niagara, and on reading the paragraph I concluded that he was the thief, especially as he seemed to be well provided with money. On my information a telegram was sent to Inspector Byrnes, and he was brought back on the same train with me."
"Go up and tell Mrs. Mack. It will do her good."
Mark went up-stairs with his mother. The old lady, looking unusually feeble, was lying on the bed.
"How do you feel, Mrs. Mack?" asked Mark.
"I'm almost dead," groaned the old woman. "I've been robbed and almost murdered since you went away, Mark." ”

“ Buffington," he said resolutely, "I am a boy, but I know what I am about. You took the young lady's purse. Before you sat down beside her she had it in her pocket. When you left the car it was gone."
"If I ever get you alone," said Buffington in a low tone of concentrated rage.
"If you do, I hope you won't forget your sacred profession."
"I am a minister, but I am also a gentleman, and I shall resent an insult."
"Look here," said Mark, getting out of patience, "either you give me back that purse for the young lady or I will call the conductor and lay the matter before him." ”

“ He offered me five hundred dollars if I would sign a release to him as executor."
"You didn't do it?"
"No."
"I am glad. Mother, Uncle Solon is trying to swindle us out of a large sum. I heard about the Golden Hope mine when I was away. The shares are booming, and I shall to-morrow call on my friend the lawyer and request him to communicate with Mr. Talbot."
"I leave the matter in your hands, Mark. Though you are so young, you seem to have a judgment beyond your years." ”

“ It is shameful! He is a rich man already, and we are so poor."
"But we shan't be long, mother."
"You must take good care of that memorandum, Mark."
"I shall carry it to a young lawyer whom I know well, and ask his advice about it. When the right time comes I shall bring it forward. I will ask him to keep it in his safe."
"Very well, Mark. I think that will be wise."
The next day Mark received a letter at the office where he was employed. On the left-hand upper corner was the imprint:
Luther Rockwell,
Broker and Banker.
"He is going to take you into partnership, 79," said A. D. T. 80. ”