Alger Horatio Jr.
Bound to Rise; Or, Up the Ladder
CHAPTER XXVII. AN UNEXPECTED PAYMENT
A week later Harry reached a brisk manufacturing place which I will call Centreville. He assisted the professor during the afternoon to get ready the hall for his evening performance and, at half past five, took his seat at the supper table in the village hotel.
Just as Harry began to eat, he lifted his eyes, and started in surprise as he recognized, in his opposite neighbor, Luke Harrison, whose abrupt departure without paying his debts the reader will remember. Under the circumstances, it will not be wondered at that our hero's look was not exactly cordial. As for Luke, he was disagreeably startled at Harry's sudden appearance. Not knowing his connection with Professor Henderson, he fancied that our hero was in quest of him and not being skilled in the law, felt a little apprehension as to what course he might take. It was best, he concluded to conciliate him.
"How are you, Walton?" he said.
"I am well," said Harry, coldly.
"How do you happen to be in this neighborhood?"
"On business," said Harry, briefly.
Luke jumped to the conclusion that the business related to him and, conscious of wrong-doing, felt disturbed.
"I'm glad to see you," he said. "It seems pleasant to see an old acquaintance"—he intended to say "friend."
"You left us rather suddenly," said Harry.
"Why, yes," said Luke, hesitating. "I had reasons. I'll tell you about it after supper."
As Harry rose from the table, Luke joined him.
"Come upstairs to my room, Walton," he said, "and have a cigar."
"I'll go upstairs with you; but I don't smoke."
"You'd better learn. It's a great comfort."
"Do you board here?"
"Yes. I found I shouldn't have to pay any more than at a boarding house and the grub's better. Here's my room. Walk in."
He led the way into a small apartment on the top floor.
"This is my den," he said. "There isn't but one chair; but I'll sit on the bed. When did you reach town?"
"About noon."
"Are you going to stop long?" asked Luke.
"I shall stay here till I get through with my errand," answered Harry, shrewdly; for he saw what Luke thought, and it occurred to him that he might turn it to advantage.
Luke looked a little uneasy.
"By the way, Walton," he said, "I believe I owe you a little money."
"Yes. I believe so."
"I'm sorry I can't pay you the whole of it. It costs considerable to live, you know; but I'll pay part."
"Here are five dollars," he said. "I'll pay you the rest as soon as I can—in a week or two."
Harry took the bank note with secret self-congratulation, for he had given up the debt as bad, and never expected to realize a cent of it.
"I am glad to get it," he said. "I have a use for all my money. Are you working in this town?"
"Yes. The shoe business is carried on here considerably. Are you still working for Mr. Leavitt?"
"No; I've left him."
"What are you doing, then?"
"I'm traveling with Professor Henderson."
"What, the magician?"
"Yes."
"And is that what brought you to Centreville?"
"Yes."
Luke whistled.
"I thought—" he began.
"What did you think?"
"I thought," answered Luke, evasively, "that you might be looking for work in some of the shoe shops here."
"Is there any chance, do you think?"
"No, I don't think there is," said Luke; for he was by no means anxious to have Harry in the same town.
"Then I shall probably stay with the professor."
"What do you do?"
"Take tickets at the door and help him beforehand with his apparatus."
"You'll let me in free, to-night, won't you?"
"That isn't for me to decide."
"I should think the professor would let your friends go in free."
"I'll make you an offer, Luke," said he.
"What is it?"
"Just pay me the rest of; that money to-night and I'll let you in free at my own expense."
"I can't do it. I haven't got the money. If 'you'll give it back, I'll call it a dollar more and pay you the whole at the end of next week."
"I'm afraid your calling it a dollar more wouldn't do much good," said Harry, shrewdly.
"Do you doubt my word?" blustered Luke, who had regained courage now that he had ascertained the real object of Harry's visit and that it had no connection with him.
"I won't express any opinion on that subject," answered Harry; "but there's an old saying that a 'bird in the hand's worth two in the bush.'"
"I hate old sayings."
"Some of them contain a great deal of truth."
"What a fool I was to pay him that five dollars!" thought Luke, regretfully. "If I hadn't been such a simpleton, I should have found out what brought him here, before throwing away nearly all I had."
This was the view Luke took of paying his debts. He regarded it as money thrown away. Apparently, a good many young men are of a similar opinion. This was not, however, according to Harry's code, and was never likely to be. He believed in honesty and integrity. If he hadn't, I should feel far less confidence in his ultimate success.
"I think I must leave you," said Harry, rising. "The professor may need me."
"Do you like him? Have you got a good place?"
"Yes, I like him. He is a very pleasant man."
"How does it pay?"
"Pretty well."
"I wouldn't mind trying it myself. Do you handle all the money?"
"I take the money at the door."
"I suppose you might keep back a dollar or so, every night, and he'd never know the difference."
"I don't know. I never thought about that," said Harry, dryly.
"Oh, I remember, you're one of the pious boys."
"I'm too pious to take money that doesn't belong to me, if that's what you mean," said Harry.
This was a very innocent remark; but Luke, remembering how he had kept Harry's pocketbook, chose to interpret it as a fling to himself.
"Do you mean that for me?" he demanded, angrily.
"Mean what for you?"
"That about keeping other people's money."
"I wasn't talking about you at all. I was talking about myself."
"You'd better not insult me," said Luke, still suspicious.
"I'm not in the habit of insulting anybody."
"I don't believe in people that set themselves up to be so much better than everybody else."
"Do you mean that for me?" asked Harry, smiling.
"Yes, I do. What are you going to do about it?"
"Nothing, except to deny that I make any such claims. Shall you come round to the hall, to-night?"
"Perhaps so."
"Then I shall see you. I must be going now."
He went out, leaving Luke vainly deploring the loss of the five dollars which he had so foolishly squandered in paying his debt.
CHAPTER XXIX. IN THE PRINTING OFFICE
"Harry," said the professor, after breakfast the next morning, "I find we must get some more bills printed. You may go round to the office of the Centreville Gazette, and ask them how soon they can print me a hundred large bills and a thousand small ones."
"All right, sir. Suppose they can't have them done by the ready to start?"
"They can send them to me by express."
Harry had never been in a printing office; but he had a great curiosity to see one ever since he had read the "Life of Benjamin Franklin." If there was anyone in whose steps he thought he should like to follow, it was Franklin, and Franklin was a printer.
He had no difficulty in finding the office. It was in the second story of a building, just at the junction of two roads near the center of the town, the post office being just underneath. He ascended a staircase, and saw on the door, at the head of the stairs:
"CENTREVILLE GAZETTE"
He opened the door and entered. He saw a large room, containing a press at the end, while two young men, with paper caps on their heads, were standing in their shirt sleeves at upright cases setting type. On one side there was a very small office partitioned off. Within, a man was seen seated at a desk, with a pile of exchange papers on the floor, writing busily. This was Mr. Jotham Anderson publisher and editor of the Gazette.
"I want to get some printing done," said Harry, looking toward the journeymen.
"Go to Mr. Anderson," said one, pointing to the office.
Harry went in. The editor looked up as he entered.
"What can I do for you?" he asked.
"I want to get some printing done."
"For yourself?"
"No; for Professor Henderson."
"I've done jobs for him before. What does he want?"
Our hero explained.
"Very well, we will do it."
"Can you have it done before two o'clock?"
"Impossible. I am just bringing out my paper."
"When can you have the job finished?"
"To-morrow noon."
"I suppose that will do. We perform to-morrow at Berlin and they can be sent over to the hotel there."
"You say 'we,'" answered Harry, amused. "I take tickets, and assist him generally."
"How do you like the business?"
"Very well; but I should like your business better."
"What makes you think so?"
"I have been reading the 'Life of Benjamin Franklin.' He was a printer."
"That's true; but I'm sorry to say Franklins are scarce in our printing offices. I never met one yet."
"I shouldn't expect to turn out a Franklins; but I think one couldn't help being improved by the business."
"True again, though, of course, it depends on the wish to improve. How long have you been working for Professor Henderson?"
"Not long. Only two or three weeks."
"What did you do before?"
"I was pegger in a shoe shop."
"Didn't you like it?"
"Well enough, for I needed to earn money and it paid me; but I don't think I should like to be a shoemaker all my life. It doesn't give any chance to learn."
"Then you like learning?"
"Yes. 'Live and learn'—that is my motto."
"It is a good one. Do you mean to be a printer?"
"If I get a chance."
"You may come into my office on the first of April, if you like. One of my men will leave me by the first of May. If you are a smart boy, and really wish to learn the business, you can break in so as to be useful in four weeks."
"I should like it," said Harry; "but," he added, with hesitation, "I am poor, and could not afford to work for nothing while I was learning."
"I'll tell you what I'll do, then," said the editor. "I'll give you your board for the first month, on condition that you'll work for six months afterwards for two dollars a week and board. That's a fair offer. I wouldn't make it if I didn't feel assured that you were smart, and would in time be valuable to me."
"I'll come if my father does not object."
"Quite tight. I should not like to have you act contrary to his wishes. I suppose, for the present, you will remain with Professor Henderson."
"Yes, sir."
"Very well. Let me hear from you when you have communicated with your father."
Harry left the office plunged in thought. It came upon him with surprise, that he had engaged himself to learn a new business, and that the one which he had longed to follow ever since he had become acquainted with Franklin's early life. He realized that he was probably making immediate sacrifice. He could, undoubtedly, make more money in the shoe shop than in the printing office, for the present at least. By the first of April the shoe business obtain employment. But then he was sure he should like printing better, and if he was ever going to change, why, the sooner he made the change the better.
When he returned to the hotel, he told the professor what he had done.
"I am glad you are not going at once," said his employer, "for I should be sorry to lose you. I generally give up traveling for the season about the first of April, so that I shall be ready to release you. I commend your choice of a trade. Many of our best editors have been practical printers in their youth."
"I should like to be an editor, but I don't know enough."
"Not at present; but you can qualify yourself to become one—that is, if you devote you spare time to reading and studying."
"I mean to do that."
"Then you will fair chance of becoming what you desire. To a certain extent, a boy, or young man, holds the future in his own hands."
Harry wrote to father, at once, in regard to the plan which he had in view. The answer did not reach him for nearly a week; but we will so far anticipate matters as to insert that part which related to it.
"If you desire to be a printer, Harry, I shall not object. It is a good trade, and you can make yourself, through it, useful to the community. I do not suppose it will ever make you rich. Still, I should think it might, in time, give you a comfortable living—better, I hope, than I have been able to earn as a farmer. If you determine to win success, you probably will. If you should leave your present place before the first of April, we shall be very glad to have you come home, if only for a day or two. We all miss you very much—your mother, particularly. Tom doesn't say much about it; but I know he will be as glad to see you as the rest of us."
Harry read this letter with great pleasure, partly because it brought him permission to do as he desired, and partly because it was gratifying to him to feel that he was missed at home. He determined, if it was a possible thing, to leave the professor a week before his new engagement, and spend that time in Granton.
CHAPTER XXX. THE YOUNG TREASURER
On the morning after receiving the letter from his father, Harry came down to breakfast, but looked in vain for the professor. Supposing he would be down directly, he sat down to the breakfast table. When he had nearly finished eating, a boy employed about the hotel came to his side.
"That gentleman you're with is sick. He wants you to come to his room as soon as you are through breakfast."
Harry did not wait to finish, but got up from the table at once, and went up to his employer's room.
"Are you sick, sir?" he inquired, anxiously.
The professor's face was flushed, and he was tossing about in bed.
"Yes," he answered. "I am afraid I am threatened with a fever."
"I hope not, sir."
"I am subject to fevers; but I hope I might not have another for some time to come. I must have caught cold yesterday, and the result is, that I am sick this morning."
"What can I do for you, sir?"
"I should like to have you go for the doctor. Inquire of the landlord who is the best in the village."
"I will go at once."
On inquiry, our hero was informed that Dr. Parker was the most trusted physician in the neighborhood, and he proceeded to his house at once. The doctor was, fortunately, still at home, and answered the summons immediately. He felt the sick man's pulse, asked him a variety of questions, and finally announced his opinion.
"You are about to have a fever," he said, "if, indeed, the fever has not already set in."
"A serious fever, doctor?" asked the sick man, anxiously.
"I cannot yet determine."
"Do you think I shall be long sick?"
"That, also, is uncertain. I suppose you will be likely to be detained here a fortnight, at least."
"I wish I could go home."
"It would not be safe for you to travel, under present circumstances."
"If I were at home, I could be under my wife's care."
"Can't she come here?"
"She has three young children. It would be difficult for her to leave them."
"Who is the boy that called at my house?"
"Harry Walton. He is my assistant—takes money at the door, and helps me other ways."
"Is he trustworthy?"
"I have always found him so."
"Why can't he, attend upon you?"
"I mean to retain him with me—that is, if he will stay. It will be dull work for a boy of his age."
"You can obtain a nurse, besides, if needful."
"You had better engage one for me, as I cannot confine him here all the time."
"I will do so. I know of one, skillful and experienced, who is just now at leisure. I will send her round here this morning."
"What is her name?"
"Not a very romantic one—Betsy Chase."
"I suppose that doesn't prevent her being a good nurse," said the professor, smiling.
"Not at all."
Here Harry entered the room.
"Harry," said the professor, "the doctor tells me I am going to be sick."
"I am very sorry, sir," said our hero, with an air of concern.
"I shall probably be detained here at least a fortnight. Are you willing to remain with me?"
"Certainly, sir. I should not think of leaving you, sick and alone, if you desired me to stay. I hope I can make myself useful to you."
"You can. I shall need you to do errands for me, and to sit with me a part of the time."
"I shall be very willing to do so, sir."
"You will probably find it dull."
"Not so dull as you will find it, sir. The time must seem very long to you, lying on that bed."
"I suppose it will; but that can't be helped."
"A nurse will be here this afternoon," said the doctor.
"Until she comes, you will be in attendance here."
"Yes, sir."
"I will direct you what to do, and how often to administer the medicines. Can remember?"
"Yes, sir, I shall not forget."
Dr. Parker here gave Harry minute instructions, which need not be repeated, since they were altogether of a professional nature.
After the doctor was gone, Professor Henderson said:
"As soon as the nurse comes, I shall want you to ride over to the next town, Carmansville, and countermand the notices for an exhibition to-night. I shall not be able to give entertainments for some time to come. Indeed, I am not sure but I must wait till next season."
"How shall I go over?" asked Harry.
"You may get a horse and buggy at the stable, and drive over there. If I remember rightly, it is between little seven and eight miles. The road is a little winding, but I think you won't lose your way."
"Oh, I'll find it," said Harry, confidently.
It was not till three o'clock that the nurse made her appearance, and it was past three before Harry started on his way.
"You need not hurry home," said the professor. "In fact, you had better take supper at the hotel in Carmansville, as you probably could not very well get back here till eight o'clock."
"Very well, sir," said Harry. "But shan't you need me?"
"No; Miss Chase will attend to me."
"Mrs. Chase, if you please," said the nurse. "I've been a widder for twenty years."
"I beg your pardon, Mrs. Chase," said the sick man smiling.
"When my husband was alive, I never expected to go out nursin'; but I've had come to it."
"The doctor says you are a very skillful and experienced nurse."
"I'd ought to be. I've nussed people in almost all sorts of diseases, from measles to smallpox. You needn't be frightened, sir; I haven't had any smallpox case lately. Isn't it most time to take your medicine?"
Harry left the room, and was soon on his way to Carmansville. Once he got off the road, which was rather a perplexing one, but he soon found it again. However, it was half past five before he reached the village, and nearly an hour later before he had done the errand which brought him over. Finally, he came back to the tavern, and being by this time hungry, went in at once to the tavern, and being by this time hungry, went in at once to supper. He did full justice to the meal which was set before him. The day was cold, and his ride had stimulated his appetite.
When he sat down to the table he was alone; but a minute afterward a small, dark-complexioned man, with heavy black whiskers, came in, and sat down beside him. He had a heavy look, and a forbidding expression; but our hero was too busy to take particular notice of him till the latter commenced a conversation.
"It's a pretty cold day," he remarked.
"Very cold," said Harry. "I am dreading my ride back to Pentland."
"Are you going to Pentland to-night?" asked the stranger, with interest.
"Yes, sir."
"Do you live over there?"
"No; I am there for a short time only," Harry replied.
"Business?"
"Yes."
"You seem rather young to be in business," said the stranger.
"Oh," said Harry, smiling, "I am in the employ of Professor Henderson, the ventriloquist. I suppose it is hardly proper to say that I am in business."
"Professor Henderson! Why, he is going to give an entertainment here to-night, isn't he?"
"He was; but I have come over to countermand the notice."
"What is that for?"
"He is taken sick at Pentland, and won't be able to come."
"Oh, that's it. Well, I'm sorry, for I should like to have gone to hear him. So you are his assistant, are you?"
"Yes, sir."
"Can you perform tricks, too?"
"I don't assist him in that way. I take money at the door, and help him with his apparatus."
"Have you been with him long?"
"Only a few weeks."
"So you are his treasurer, are you?" asked the stranger smiling.
"Ye—es," said Harry, slowly, for it brought to his mind that he had one hundred and fifty dollars of the professor's money in his pocket, besides the pocketbook containing his own. He intended to have left it with his employer, but in the hurry of leaving he had forgotten to do so. Now he was about to take a long ride in the evening with this large sum of money about him.
"However," he said, reassuring himself, "there is nothing to be afraid of. Country people are not robbers. Burglars stay in the cities. I have nothing to fear."
Still he prudently resolved, if compelled to be out late again, to leave his money at home.
He rose from table, followed by the stranger.
"Well," said the latter, "I must be going. How soon do you start?"
"In a few minutes."
"Well, good night."
"Good night."
"He seems inclined to be social," thought Harry, "but I don't fancy him much."
