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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14762 ***
+
+NOW OR NEVER
+
+Or, The Adventures of Bobby Bright.
+
+A Story for Young Folks
+
+by
+
+OLIVER OPTIC
+
+Author of _The Boat Club_, _All Aboard_, _In Doors and Out_, etc.
+
+Boston: Lee and Shepard, Publishers.
+New York: Lee, Shepard & Dillingham, 49 Greene Street
+
+1872
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+TO
+
+MY NEPHEW,
+
+CHARLES HENRY POPE.
+
+
+This Book
+
+IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+The story contained in this volume is a record of youthful struggles,
+not only in the world without, but in the world within; and the success
+of the little hero is not merely a gathering up of wealth and honors,
+but a triumph over the temptations that beget the pilgrim on the plain
+of life.  The attainment of worldly prosperity is not the truest
+victory, and the author has endeavored to make the interest of his
+story depend more on the hero's devotion to principles than on his
+success in business.
+
+Bobby Bright is a smart boy; perhaps the reader will think he is
+altogether too smart for one of his years.  This is a progressive age,
+and any thing which Young America may do need not surprise any person.
+That little gentleman is older than his father, knows more than his
+mother, can talk politics, smoke cigars, and drive a 2:40 horse.  He
+orders "one stew" with as much ease as a man of forty, and can even
+pronounce correctly the villanous names of sundry French and German
+wines and liqueurs.  One would suppose, to hear him talk, that he had
+been intimate with Socrates and Solon, with Napoleon and Noah Webster;
+in short, that whatever he did not know was not worth knowing.
+
+In the face of these manifestations of exuberant genius, it would be
+absurd to accuse the author of making his hero do too much.  All he has
+done is to give this genius a right direction; and for politics,
+cigars, 2:40 horses, and "one stew," he has substituted the duties of a
+rational and accountable being, regarding them as better fitted to
+develop the young gentleman's mind, heart, and soul.
+
+Bobby Bright is something more than a smart boy.  He is a good boy, and
+makes a true man.  His daily life is the moral of the story, and the
+author hopes that his devotion to principle will make a stronger
+impression upon the mind of the young reader, than even the most
+exciting incidents of his eventful career.
+
+WILLIAM T. ADAMS.
+
+DORCHESTER, Nov. 15, 1856.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+CHAP. I.--In which Bobby goes a fishing, and catches a Horse.
+
+CHAP. II.--In which Bobby blushes several Times, and does a Sum in
+Arithmetic.
+
+CHAP. III.--In which the Little Black House is bought, but not paid for.
+
+CHAP. IV.--In which Bobby gets out of one Scrape, and into another.
+
+CHAP. V.--In which Bobby gives his Note for Sixty Dollars.
+
+CHAP. VI.--In which Bobby sets out on his Travels.
+
+CHAP. VII.--In which Bobby stands up for certain "Inalienable Rights."
+
+CHAP. VIII.--In which Mr. Timmins is astonished, and Bobby dines in
+Chestnut Street.
+
+CHAP. IX.--In which Bobby opens various Accounts, and wins his first
+Victory.
+
+CHAP X.--In which Bobby is a little too smart.
+
+CHAP. XI.--In which Bobby strikes a Balance, and returns to Riverdale.
+
+CHAP. XII.--In which Bobby astonishes sundry Persons, and pays Part of
+his Note.
+
+CHAP. XIII.--In which Bobby declines a Copartnership, and visits B----
+again.
+
+CHAP. XIV.--In which Bobby's Air Castle is upset, and Tom Spicer takes
+to the Woods.
+
+CHAP. XV.--In which Bobby gets into a Scrape, and Tom Spicer turns up
+again.
+
+CHAP. XVI.--In which Bobby finds "it is an ill wind that blows no one
+any good."
+
+CHAP. XVII.--In which Tom has a good Time, and Bobby meets with a
+terrible Misfortune.
+
+CHAT. XVIII.--In which Bobby takes French Leave, and camps in the Woods.
+
+CHAP. XIX.--In which Bobby has a narrow Escape, and goes to Sea with
+Sam Ray.
+
+CHAP. XX.--In which the Clouds blow over, and Bobby is himself again.
+
+CHAP. XXI.--In which Bobby steps off the Stage, and the Author must
+finish "Now or Never."
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY GOES A FISHING, AND CATCHES A HORSE.
+
+"By jolly!  I've got a bite!" exclaimed Tom Spicer, a rough,
+hard-looking boy, who sat on a rock by the river's side, anxiously
+watching the cork float on his line.
+
+"Catch him, then," quietly responded Bobby Bright, who occupied another
+rock near the first speaker, as he pulled up a large pout, and, without
+any appearance of exultation, proceeded to unhook and place him in his
+basket.
+
+"You are a lucky dog, Bob," added Tom, as he glanced into the basket of
+his companion, which now contained six good-sized fishes.  "I haven't
+caught one yet."
+
+"You don't fish deep enough."
+
+"I fish on the bottom."
+
+"That is too deep."
+
+"It don't make any difference how I fish; it is all luck."
+
+"Not all luck, Tom; there is something in doing it right."
+
+"I shall not catch a fish," continued Tom, in despair.
+
+"You'll catch something else, though, when you go home."
+
+"Will I?"
+
+"I'm afraid you will."
+
+"Who says I will?"
+
+"Didn't you tell me you were 'hooking jack'?
+
+"Who is going to know any thing about it?"
+
+"The master will know you are absent."
+
+"I shall tell him my mother sent me over to the village on an errand."
+
+"I never knew a fellow to 'hook jack,' yet, without getting found out."
+
+"I shall not get found out unless you blow on me; and you wouldn't be
+mean enough to do that;" and Tom glanced uneasily at his companion.
+
+"Suppose your mother should ask me if I had seen you."
+
+"You would tell her you have not, of course."
+
+"Of course?"
+
+"Why, wouldn't you?  Wouldn't you do as much as that for a fellow?"
+
+"It would be a lie."
+
+"A lie!  Humph!"
+
+"I wouldn't lie for any fellow," replied Bobby, stoutly, as he pulled
+in his seventh fish, and placed him in the basket.
+
+"Wouldn't you?"
+
+"No, I wouldn't."
+
+"Then, let me tell you this; if you peach on me I'll smash your head."
+
+Tom Spicer removed one hand from the fish pole and, doubling his fist,
+shook it with energy at his companion.
+
+"Smash away," replied Bobby, coolly.  "I shall not go out of my way to
+tell tales; but if your mother or the master asks me the question, I
+shall not lie."
+
+"Won't you?"
+
+"No, I won't."
+
+"I'll bet you will;" and Tom dropped his fish pole, and was on the
+point of jumping over to the rock occupied by Bobby, when the float of
+the former disappeared beneath the surface of the water.
+
+"You have got a bite," coolly interposed Bobby, pointing to the line.
+
+Tom snatched the pole, and with a violent twitch, pulled up a big pout;
+but his violence jerked the hook out of the fish's mouth, and he
+disappeared beneath the surface of the river.
+
+"Just my luck!" muttered Tom.
+
+"Keep cool, then."
+
+"I will fix you yet."
+
+"All right; but you had better not let go your pole again, or you will
+lose another fish."
+
+"I'm bound to smash your head, though."
+
+"No, you won't."
+
+"Won't I?"
+
+"Two can play at that game."
+
+"Do you stump me?"
+
+"No; I don't want to fight; I won't fight if I can help it."
+
+"I'll bet you won't!" sneered Tom.
+
+"But I will defend myself."
+
+"Humph!"
+
+"I am not a liar, and the fear of a flogging shall not make me tell a
+lie."'
+
+"Go to Sunday school--don't you?"
+
+"I do; and besides that, my mother always taught me never to tell a
+lie."
+
+"Come! you needn't preach to me.  By and by, you will call me a liar."
+
+"No, I won't; but just now you told me you meant to lie to your mother,
+and to the master."
+
+"What if I did?  That is none of your business."
+
+"It is my business when you want me to lie for you, though; and I shall
+not do it."
+
+"Blow on me, and see what you will get."
+
+"I don't mean to blow on you."
+
+"Yes you do."
+
+"I will not lie about it; that's all."
+
+"By jolly! see that horse!" exclaimed Tom, suddenly, as he pointed to
+the road leading to Riverdale centre.
+
+"By gracious!" added Bobby, dropping his fish pole, as he saw the horse
+running at a furious rate up the road from the village.
+
+The mad animal was attached to a chaise, in which was seated a lady,
+whose frantic shrieks pierced the soul of our youthful hero.
+
+The course of the road was by the river's side for nearly half a mile,
+and crossed the stream at a wooden bridge but a few rods from the place
+where the boys were fishing.
+
+Bobby Bright's impulses were noble and generous; and without stopping
+to consider the peril to which the attempt would expose him, he boldly
+resolved to stop that horse, or let the animal dash him to pieces on
+the bridge.
+
+"Now or never!" shouted he, as he leaped from the rock, and ran with
+all his might to the bridge.
+
+The shrieks of the lady rang in his ears, and seemed to command him,
+with an authority which he could not resist, to stop the horse.  There
+was no time for deliberation; and, indeed, Bobby did not want any
+deliberation.  The lady was in danger; if the horse's flight was not
+checked, she would be dashed in pieces; and what then could excuse him
+for neglecting his duty?  Not the fear of broken limbs, of mangled
+flesh, or even of a sudden and violent death.
+
+It is true Bobby did not think of any of these things; though, if he
+had, it would have made no difference with him.  He was a boy who would
+not fight except in self-defence, but he had the courage to do a deed
+which might have made the stoutest heart tremble with terror.
+
+Grasping a broken rail as he leaped over the fence, he planted himself
+in the middle of the bridge, which was not more than half as wide as
+the road at each end of it, to await the coming of the furious animal.
+On he came, and the piercing shrieks of the affrighted lady nerved him
+to the performance of his perilous duty.
+
+The horse approached him at a mad run, and his feet struck the loose
+planks of the bridge.  The brave boy then raised his big club, and
+brandished it with all his might in the air.  Probably the horse did
+not mean any thing very bad; was only frightened, and had no wicked
+intentions towards the lady; so that when a new danger menaced him in
+front, he stopped suddenly, and with so much violence as to throw the
+lady forward from her seat upon the dasher of the chaise.  He gave a
+long snort, which was his way of expressing his fear.  He was evidently
+astonished at the sudden barrier to his further progress, and commenced
+running back.
+
+"Save me!" screamed the lady.
+
+"I will, ma'am; don't be scared!" replied Bobby, confidently, as he
+dropped his club, and grasped the bridle of the horse, just as he was
+on the point of whirling round to escape by the way he had come.
+
+"Stop him!  Do stop him!" cried the lady.
+
+"Whoa!" said Bobby, in gentle tones, as he patted the trembling horse
+on his neck.  "Whoa, good horse!  Be quiet!  Whoa!"
+
+The animal, in his terror, kept running backward and forward; but Bobby
+persevered in his gentle treatment, and finally soothed him, so that he
+stood quiet enough for the lady to get out of the chaise.
+
+"What a miracle that I am alive!" exclaimed she when she realized that
+she stood once more upon the firm earth.
+
+"Yes, ma'am, it is lucky he didn't break the chaise.  Whoa!  Good
+horse!  Stand quiet!"
+
+"What a brave little fellow you are!" said the lady, as soon as she
+could recover her breath so as to express her admiration of Bobby's
+bold act.
+
+"O, I don't mind it," replied he, blushing like a rose in June.  "Did
+he run away with you?"
+
+"No; my father left me in the chaise for a moment while he went into a
+store in the village, and a teamster who was passing by snapped his
+whip, which frightened Kate so that she started off at the top of her
+speed.  I was so terrified, that I screamed with all my might, which
+frightened her the more.  The more I screamed, the faster she ran."
+
+"I dare say.  Good horse!  Whoa, Kate!"
+
+"She is a splendid creature; she never did such a thing before.  My
+father will think I am killed."
+
+By this time, Kate had become quite reasonable, and seemed very much
+obliged to Bobby for preventing her from doing mischief to her
+mistress; for she looked at the lady with a glance of satisfaction,
+which her deliverer interpreted as a promise to behave better in
+future.  He relaxed his grasp upon the bridle, patted her upon the
+neck, and said sundry pleasant things to encourage her in her assumed
+purpose of doing better.  Kate appeared to understand Bobby's kind
+words, and declared as plainly as a horse could declare that she would
+be sober and tractable.
+
+"Now, ma'am, if you will get into the chaise again, I think Kate will
+let me drive her down to the village."
+
+"O, dear!  I should not dare to do so."
+
+"Then, if you please, I will drive down alone, so as to let your father
+know that you are safe."
+
+"Do."
+
+"I am sure he must feel very bad, and I may save him a great deal of
+pain, for a man can suffer a great deal in a very short time."
+
+"You are a little philosopher, as well as a hero, and if you are not
+afraid of Kate, you may do as you wish."
+
+"She seems very gentle now;" and Bobby turned her round, and got into
+the chaise.
+
+"Be very careful," said the lady.
+
+"I will."
+
+Bobby took the reins, and Kate, true to the promise she had virtually
+made, started off at a round pace towards the village.
+
+He had not gone more than a quarter of a mile of the distance when he
+met a wagon containing three men, one of whom was the lady's father.
+The gestures which he made assured Bobby he had found the person whom
+he sought, and he stopped.
+
+"My daughter!  Where is she?" gasped the gentleman, as he leaped from
+the wagon.
+
+"She is safe, sir," replied Bobby, with all the enthusiasm of his warm
+nature.
+
+"Thank God!" added the gentleman, devoutly as he placed himself in the
+chaise by the side of Bobby.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY BLUSHES SEVERAL TIMES, AND DOES A SUM IN ARITHMETIC.
+
+Mr. Bayard, the owner of the horse, and the father of the lady whom
+Bobby had saved from impending death, was too much agitated to say
+much, even to the bold youth who had rendered him such a signal
+service.  He could scarcely believe the intelligence which the boy
+brought him; it seemed too good to be true.  He had assured himself
+that Ellen--for that was the young lady's name--was killed, or
+dreadfully injured.
+
+Kate was driven at the top of her speed, and in a few moments reached
+the bridge, where Ellen was awaiting his arrival.
+
+"Here I am, father, alive and unhurt!" cried Ellen, as Mr. Bayard
+stopped the horse.
+
+"Thank Heaven my child!" replied the glad father, embracing his
+daughter.  "I was sure you were killed."
+
+"No, father; thanks to this bold youth, I am uninjured."
+
+"I am under very great obligations to you, young man," continued Mr.
+Bayard, grasping Bobby's hand.
+
+"O, never mind, sir;" and Bobby blushed just as he had blushed when the
+young lady spoke to him.
+
+"We shall never forget you--shall we, father?" added Ellen.
+
+"No, my child; and I shall endeavor to repay, to some slight extent,
+our indebtedness to him.  But you have not yet told me how you were
+saved."
+
+"O, I merely stopped the horse; that's all," answered Bobby, modestly.
+
+"Yes, father, but he placed himself right before Kate when she was
+almost flying over the ground.  When I saw him, I was certain that he
+would lose his life, or be horribly mangled for his boldness,"
+interposed Ellen.
+
+"It was a daring deed, young man, to place yourself before an
+affrighted horse in that manner," said Mr. Bayard.
+
+"I didn't mind it, sir."
+
+"And then he flourished a big club, almost as big as he is himself, in
+the air, which made Kate pause in her mad career, when my deliverer
+here grasped her by the bit and held her."
+
+"It was well and bravely done."
+
+"That it was, father; not many men would have been bold enough to do
+what he did," added Ellen, with enthusiasm.
+
+"Very true; and I feel, that I am indebted to him for your safety.
+What is your name, young man?"
+
+"Robert Bright, sir."
+
+Mr. Bayard took from his pocket several pieces of gold, which he
+offered to Bobby.
+
+"No, I thank you, sir," replied Bobby, blushing.
+
+"What! as proud as you are bold?"
+
+"I don't like to be paid for doing my duty."
+
+"Bravo!  You are a noble little fellow!  But you must take this money,
+not as a reward for what you have done, but as a testimonial of my
+gratitude."
+
+"I would rather not, sir."
+
+"Do take it, Robert," added Ellen.
+
+"I don't like to take it.  It looks mean to take money for doing one's
+duty."
+
+"Take it, Robert, to please me;" and the young lady smiled so sweetly
+that Bobby's resolution began to give way.  "Only to please me, Robert."
+
+"I will, to please you; but I don't feel right about it."
+
+"You must not be too proud, Robert," said Mr. Bayard, as he put the
+gold pieces into his hand.
+
+"I am not proud, sir; only I don't like to be paid for doing my duty."
+
+"Not paid, my young friend.  Consider that you have placed me under an
+obligation to you for life.  This money is only an expression of my own
+and my daughter's feelings.  It is but a small sum, but I hope you will
+permit me to do something more for you, when you need it.  You will
+regard me as your friend as long as you live."
+
+"Thank you, sir."
+
+"When you want any assistance of any kind, come to me.  I live in
+Boston; here is my business card."
+
+Mr. Bayard handed him a card, on which Bobby read, "F. Bayard & Co.,
+Booksellers and Publishers, No. ---- Washington Street, Boston."
+
+"You are very kind, sir."
+
+"I want you should come to Boston and see us too," interposed Ellen.
+"I should be delighted to show you the city, to take you to the
+Athenaeum and the Museum."
+
+"Thank you."
+
+Mr. Bayard inquired of Bobby about his parents, where he lived, and
+about the circumstances of his family.  He then took out his memorandum
+book, in which he wrote the boy's name and residence.
+
+"I am sorry to leave you now, Robert, but I have over twenty miles to
+ride to-day.  I should be glad to visit your mother, and next time I
+come to Riverdale, I shall certainly do so."
+
+"Thank you, sir; my mother is a very poor woman, but she will be glad
+to see you."
+
+"Now, good by, Robert."
+
+"Good by," repeated Ellen.
+
+"Good by."
+
+Mr. Bayard drove off, leaving Bobby standing on the bridge with the
+gold pieces in his hand.
+
+"Here's luck!" said Bobby, shaking the coin.  "Won't mother's eyes
+stick out when she sees these shiners?  There are no such shiners in
+the river as these."
+
+Bobby was astonished, and the more he gazed at the gold pieces, the
+more bewildered he became.  He had never held so much money in his hand
+before.  There were three large coins and one smaller one.  He turned
+them over and over, and finally ascertained that the large coins were
+ten dollar pieces, and the smaller one a five dollar piece.  Bobby was
+not a great scholar, but he knew enough of arithmetic to calculate the
+value of his treasure.  He was so excited, however, that he did not
+arrive at the conclusion half so quick as most of my young readers
+would have done.
+
+"Thirty-five dollars!" exclaimed Bobby, when the problem was solved.
+"Gracious!"
+
+"Hallo, Bob!" shouted Tom Spicer, who had got tired of fishing;
+besides, the village clock was just striking twelve, and it was time
+for him to go home.
+
+Bobby made no answer, but hastily tying the gold pieces up in the
+corner of his handkerchief, he threw the broken rail he had used in
+stopping the horse where it belonged, and started for the place where
+he had left his fishing apparatus.
+
+"Hallo, Bob!"
+
+"Well, Tom?"
+
+"Stopped him--didn't you?"
+
+"I did."
+
+"You were a fool; he might have killed you."
+
+"So he might; but I didn't stop to think of that.  The lady's life was
+in danger."
+
+"What of that?"
+
+"Every thing, I should say."
+
+"Did he give you any thing?"
+
+"Yes;" and Bobby continued his walk down to the river's side.
+
+"I say, what did he give you, Bobby?" persisted Tom, following him.
+
+"O, he gave me a good deal of money."
+
+"How much?"
+
+"I want to get my fish line now; I will tell you all about it some
+other time," replied Bobby, who rather suspected the intentions of his
+companion.
+
+"Tell me now; how much was it?"
+
+"Never mind it now."
+
+"Humph!  Do you think I mean to rob you?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Ain't you going halveses?"
+
+"Why should I?"
+
+"Wasn't I with you?"
+
+"Were you?"
+
+"Wasn't I fishing with you?"
+
+"You did not do any thing about stopping the horse."
+
+"I would, if I hadn't been afraid to go up to the road."
+
+"Afraid?"
+
+"Somebody might have seen me, and they would have known that I was
+hooking jack."
+
+"Then you ought not to share the money."
+
+"Yes, I had.  When a fellow is with you, he ought to have half.  It is
+mean not to give him half."
+
+"If you had done any thing to help stop the horse, I would have shared
+with you.  But you didn't."
+
+"What of that?"
+
+Bobby was particularly sensitive in regard to the charge of meanness.
+His soul was a great deal bigger than his body, and he was always
+generous, even to his own injury, among his companions.  It was evident
+to him that Tom had no claim to any part of the reward; but he could
+not endure the thought even of being accused of meanness.
+
+"I'll tell you what I will do, if you think I ought to share with you.
+I will leave it out to Squire Lee; and if he thinks you ought to have
+half, or any part of the money, I will give it to you."
+
+"No, you don't; you want to get me into a scrape for hooking jack.  I
+see what you are up to."
+
+"I will state the case to him without telling him who the boys are."
+
+"No, you don't!  You want to be mean about it.  Come, hand over half
+the money."
+
+"I will not," replied Bobby, who, when it became a matter of
+compulsion, could stand his ground at any peril.
+
+"How much have you got?"
+
+"Thirty-five dollars."
+
+"By jolly!  And you mean to keep it all yourself?"
+
+"I mean to give it to my mother."
+
+"No, you won't!  If you are going to be mean about it, I'll smash your
+head!"
+
+This was a favorite expression with Tom Spicer, who was a noted bully
+among the boys of Riverdale.  The young ruffian now placed himself in
+front of Bobby, and shook his clinched fist in his face.
+
+"Hand over."
+
+"No, I won't.  You have no claim to any part at the money; at least, I
+think you have not.  If you have a mind to leave it out to Squire Lee,
+I will do what is right about it."
+
+"Not I; hand over, or I'll smash your head!"
+
+"Smash away," replied Bobby, placing himself on the defensive.
+
+"Do you think you can lick me?" asked Tom, not a little embarrassed by
+this exhibition of resolution on the part of his companion.
+
+"I don't think any thing about it; but you don't bully me in that kind
+of style."
+
+"Won't I?"
+
+"No."
+
+But Tom did not immediately put his threat in execution, and Bobby
+would not be the aggressor; so he stepped one side to pass his
+assailant.  Tom took this as an evidence of the other's desire to
+escape, and struck him a heavy blow on the side of the head The next
+instant the bully was floundering in the soft mud of a ditch; Bobby's
+reply was more than Tom had bargained for, and while he was dragging
+himself out of the ditch, our hero ran down to the river, and got his
+fish pole and basket.
+
+"You'll catch it for that!" growled Tom.
+
+"I'm all ready, whenever it suits your convenience," replied Bobby.
+
+"Just come out here and take it in fair fight," continued Tom, who
+could not help bullying, even in the midst of his misfortune.
+
+"No, I thank you; I don't want to fight with any fellow.  I will not
+fight if I can help it."
+
+"What did you hit me for, then?"
+
+"In self-defence."
+
+"Just come out here, and try it fair?"
+
+"No;" and Bobby hurried home, leaving the bully astonished, and
+discomfited by the winding up of the morning's sport.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+IN WHICH THE LITTLE BLACK HOUSE IS BOUGHT BUT NOT PAID FOR.
+
+Probably my young readers have by this time come to the conclusion that
+Bobby Bright was a very clever fellow--one whose acquaintance they
+would be happy to cultivate.  Perhaps by this time they have become so
+far interested in him as to desire to know who his parents were, what
+they did, and in what kind of a house he lived.
+
+I hope none of my young friends will think any less of him when I
+inform them that Bobby lived in an old black house which had never been
+painted, which had no flower garden in front of it, and which, in a
+word, was quite far from being a palace.  A great many very nice city
+folks would not have considered it fit to live in, would have turned up
+their noses at it, and wondered that any human beings could be so
+degraded as to live in such a miserable house.  But the widow Bright,
+Bobby's mother, thought it was a very comfortable house, and considered
+herself very fortunate in being able to get so good a dwelling.  She
+had never lived in a fine house, knew nothing about velvet carpets,
+mirrors seven feet high, damask chairs and lounges, or any of the smart
+things which very rich and very proud city people consider absolutely
+necessary for their comfort.  Her father had been a poor man, her
+husband had died a poor man, and her own life had been a struggle to
+keep the demons of poverty and want from invading her humble abode.
+
+Mr. Bright, her deceased husband, had been a day laborer in Riverdale.
+He never got more than a dollar a day, which was then considered very
+good wages in the country.  He was a very honest, industrious man, and
+while he lived, his family did very well.  Mrs. Bright was a careful,
+prudent woman, and helped him support the family.  They never knew what
+it was to want for any thing.
+
+Poor people, as well as rich, have an ambition to be something which
+they are not, or to have something which they have not.  Every person,
+who has an energy of character, desires to get ahead in the world.
+Some merchants, who own big ships and big warehouses by the dozen,
+desire to be what they consider rich.  But their idea of wealth is very
+grand.  They wish to count it in millions of dollars, in whole blocks
+of warehouses; and they are even more discontented than the day laborer
+who has to earn his dinner before he can eat it.
+
+Bobby's father and mother had just such an ambition, only it was so
+modest that the merchant would have laughed at it.  They wanted to own
+the little black house in which they resided, so that they could not
+only be sure of a home while they lived, but have the satisfaction of
+living in their own house.  This was a very reasonable ideal, compared
+with that of the rich merchants I have mentioned; but it was even more
+difficult for them to reach it, for the wages were small, and they had
+many mouths to feed.
+
+Mr. Bright had saved up fifty dollars; and he thought a great deal more
+of this sum than many people do of a thousand dollars.  He had had to
+work very hard and be very prudent in order to accumulate this sum,
+which made him value it all the more highly.
+
+With this sum of fifty dollars at his command, John Bright felt rich;
+and then, more than ever before, he wanted to own the little black
+house.  He felt as grand as a lord; and as soon as the forty-nine
+dollars had become fifty, he waited upon Mr. Hardhand, a little crusty
+old man, who owned the little black house, and proposed to purchase it.
+
+The landlord was a hard man.  Every body in Riverdale said he was mean
+and stingy.  Any generous-hearted man would have been willing to make
+an easy bargain with an honest, industrious, poor man, like John
+Bright, who wished to own the house in which he lived; but Mr.
+Hardhand, although he was rich, only thought how he could make more
+money.  He asked the poor man four hundred dollars for the old house
+and the little lot of land on which it stood.
+
+It was a matter of great concern to John Bright.  Four hundred dollars
+was a "mint of money," and he could not see how he should ever be able
+to save so much from his daily earnings.  So he talked with Squire Lee
+about it, who told him that three hundred was all it was worth.  John
+offered this for it, and after a month's hesitation, Mr. Hardhand
+accepted the offer, agreeing to take fifty dollars down and the rest in
+semi-annual payments of twenty-five dollars each, until the whole was
+paid.
+
+I am thus particular in telling my readers about the bargain, because
+this debt which his father contracted was the means of making a man of
+Bobby, as will be seen in his subsequent history.
+
+John Bright paid the first fifty dollars; but before the next
+instalment became due, the poor man was laid in his cold and silent
+grave.  A malignant disease carried him off, and the hopes of the
+Bright family seemed to be blasted.
+
+Four children were left to the widow.  The youngest was only three
+years old, and Bobby, the oldest, was nine, when his father died.
+Squire Lee, who had always been a good friend of John Bright, told the
+widow that she had better go to the poorhouse, and not attempt to
+struggle along with such a fearful odds against her.  But the widow
+nobly refused to become a pauper, and to make paupers of her children,
+whom she loved quite as much as though she and they had been born in a
+ducal palace.  She told the squire that she had two hands, and as long
+as she had her health, the town need not trouble itself about her
+support.
+
+Squire Lee was filled with surprise and admiration at the noble
+resolution of the poor woman; and when he returned to his house, he
+immediately sent her a cord of wood, ten bushels of potatoes, two bags
+of meal, and a firkin of salt pork.
+
+The widow was very grateful for these articles, and no false pride
+prevented her from accepting the gift of her rich and kind-hearted
+neighbor.
+
+Riverdale centre was largely engaged in the manufacturing of boots and
+shoes, and this business gave employment to a large number of men and
+women.
+
+Mrs. Bright had for several years "closed" shoes--which, my readers who
+do not live in "shoe towns" may not know, means sewing or stitching
+them.  To this business she applied herself with renewed energy.  There
+was a large hotel in Riverdale centre, where several families from
+Boston spent the summer.  By the aid of Squire Lee, she obtained the
+washing of these families, which was more profitable than closing shoes.
+
+By these means she not only supported her family very comfortably, but
+was able to save a little money towards paying for the house.  Mr.
+Hardhand, by the persuasions of Squire Lee, had consented to let the
+widow keep the house, and pay for it as she could.
+
+John Bright had been dead four years at the time we introduce Bobby to
+the reader.  Mrs. Bright had paid another hundred dollars towards the
+house, with the interest; so there was now but one hundred due.  Bobby
+had learned to "close," and helped his mother a great deal; but the
+confinement and the stooping posture did not agree with his health, and
+his mother was obliged to dispense with his assistance.  But the
+devoted little fellow found a great many ways of helping her.  He was
+now thirteen, and was as handy about the house as a girl.  When he was
+not better occupied, he would often go to the river and catch a mess of
+fish, which was so much clear gain.
+
+The winter which had just passed, had brought a great deal of sickness
+to the little black house.  The children all had the measles, and two
+of them the scarlet fever, so that Mrs. Bright could not work much.
+Her affairs were not in a very prosperous condition when the spring
+opened; but the future was bright, and the widow, trusting in
+Providence, believed that all would end well.
+
+One thing troubled her.  She had not been able to save any thing for
+Mr. Hardhand.  She could only pay her interest; but she hoped by the
+first of July to give him twenty-five dollars of the principal.  But
+the first of July came, and she had only five dollars of the sum she
+had partly promised her creditor.  She could not so easily recover from
+the disasters of the hard winter, and she had but just paid off the
+little debts she had contracted.  She was nervous and uneasy as the day
+approached.  Mr. Hardhand always abused her when she told him she could
+not pay him, and she dreaded his coming.
+
+It was the first of July on which Bobby caught those pouts, caught the
+horse, and on which Tom Spicer had "caught a Tartar."
+
+Bobby hastened home, as we said at the conclusion of the last chapter.
+He was as happy as a lord.  He had fish enough in his basket for
+dinner, and for breakfast the next morning, and money enough in his
+pocket to make his mother as happy as a queen, if queens are always
+happy.
+
+The widow Bright, though she had worried and fretted night and day
+about the money which was to be paid to Mr. Hardhand on the first of
+July, had not told her son any thing about it.  It would only make him
+unhappy, she reasoned, and it was needless to make the dear boy
+miserable for nothing; so Bobby ran home all unconscious of the
+pleasure which was in store for him.
+
+When he reached the front door, as he stopped to scrape his feet on the
+sharp stone there, as all considerate boys who love their mothers do,
+before they go into the house, he heard the angry tones of Mr.
+Hardhand.  He was scolding and abusing his mother because she could not
+pay him the twenty-five dollars.
+
+Bobby's blood boiled with indignation, and his first impulse was to
+serve him as he had served Tom Spicer, only a few moments before; but
+Bobby, as we have before intimated, was a peaceful boy, and not
+disposed to quarrel with any person; so he contented himself with
+muttering a few hard words.
+
+"The wretch!  What business has he to talk to my mother in that style?"
+said he to himself.  "I have a great mind to kick him out of the house."
+
+But Bobby's better judgment came to his aid; and perhaps he realized
+that he and his mother would only get kicked out in return.  He could
+battle with Mr. Hardhand, but not with the power which his wealth gave
+him; so, like a great many older persons in similar circumstances, he
+took counsel of prudence rather than impulse.
+
+"Bear ye one another's burdens," saith the Scripture; but Bobby was not
+old enough or astute enough to realize that Mr. Hardhand's burden was
+his wealth, his love of money; that it made him little better than a
+Hottentot; and he could not feel as charitably towards him as a
+Christian should towards his erring, weak brother.
+
+Setting his pole by the door, he entered the room where Hardhand was
+abusing his mother.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY GETS OUT OF ONE SCRAPE, AND INTO ANOTHER.
+
+Bobby was so indignant at the conduct of Mr. Hardhand, that he entirely
+forgot the adventure of the morning; and he did not even think of the
+gold he had in his pocket.  He loved his mother; he knew how hard she
+had worked for him and his brother and sisters; that she had burned the
+"midnight oil" at her clamps; and it made him feel very bad to near her
+abused as Mr. Hardhand was abusing her.  It was not her fault that she
+had not the money to pay him.  She had been obliged to spend a large
+portion of her time over the sick beds of her children, so that she
+could not earn so much money as usual; while the family expenses were
+necessarily much greater.
+
+Bobby knew also that Mr. Hardhand was aware of all the circumstances of
+his mother's position, and the more he considered the case the more
+brutal and inhuman was his course.
+
+As our hero entered the family room with the basket of fish on his arm,
+the little crusty old man fixed the glance of his evil eye upon him.
+
+"There is that boy, marm, idling away his time by the river, and eating
+you out of house and home," said the wretch.  "Why don't you set him to
+work, and make him earn something?"
+
+"Bobby is a very good boy," meekly responded the widow Bright.
+
+"Humph! I should think he was.  A great lazy lubber like him, living on
+his mother!" and Mr. Hardhand looked contemptuously at Bobby.
+
+"I am not a lazy lubber," interposed the insulted boy with spirit.
+
+"Yes, you are.  Why don't you go to work?"
+
+"I do work."
+
+"No, you don't; you waste your time paddling in the river."
+
+"I don't."
+
+"You had better teach this boy manners too, marm," said the creditor,
+who, like all men of small souls, was willing to take advantage of the
+power which the widow's indebtedness gave him.  "He is saucy."
+
+"I should like to know who taught you manners, Mr. Hardhand," replied
+Bobby, whose indignation was rapidly getting the better of his
+discretion.
+
+"What!" growled Mr. Hardhand, aghast at this unwonted boldness.
+
+"I heard what you said before I came in; and no decent man would go to
+the house of a poor woman to insult her."
+
+"Humph!  Mighty fine," snarled the little old man, his gray eyes
+twinkling with malice.
+
+"Don't Bobby; don't be saucy to the gentleman," interposed his mother.
+
+"Saucy, marm?  You ought to horsewhip him for it.  If you don't, I
+will."
+
+"No, you won't!" replied Bobby, shaking his head significantly.  "I can
+take care of myself."
+
+"Did any one ever hear such impudence!" gasped Mr. Hardhand.
+
+"Don't, Bobby, don't," pleaded the anxious mother.
+
+"I should like to know what right you have to come here and abuse my
+mother," continued Bobby, who could not restrain his anger.
+
+"Your mother owes me money, and she don't pay it, you young scoundrel!"
+answered Mr. Hardhand, foaming with rage.
+
+"That is no reason why you should insult her.  You can call _me_ what
+you please, but you shall not insult my mother while I'm round."
+
+"Your mother is a miserable woman, and--"
+
+"Say that again, and though you are an old man, I'll hit you for it.
+I'm big enough to protect my mother, and I'll do it."
+
+Bobby doubled up his fists and edged up to Mr. Hardhand, fully
+determined to execute his threat if he repeated the offensive
+expression, or any other of a similar import.  He was roused to the
+highest pitch of anger, and felt as though he had just as lief die as
+live in defence of his mother's good name.
+
+I am not sure that I could excuse Bobby's violence under any other
+circumstances.  He loved his mother--as the novelists would say, he
+idolized her; and Mr. Hardhand had certainly applied some very
+offensive epithets to her--epithets which no good son could calmly bear
+applied to a mother.  Besides, Bobby, though his heart was a large one,
+and was in the right place, had never been educated into those nice
+distinctions of moral right and wrong which control the judgment of
+wise and learned men.  He had an idea that violence, resistance with
+blows, was allowable in certain extreme cases; and he could conceive of
+no greater provocation than an insult to his mother.
+
+"Be calm, Bobby; you are in a passion," said Mrs. Bright.
+
+"I am surprised, marm," began Mr. Hardhand, who prudently refrained
+from repeating the offensive language--and I have no doubt he was
+surprised; for he looked both astonished and alarmed.  "This boy has a
+most ungovernable temper."
+
+"Don't you worry about my temper, Mr. Hardhand; I'll take care of
+myself.  All I want of you is not to insult my mother.  You may say
+what you like to me; but don't you call her hard names."
+
+Mr. Hardhand, like all mean, little men, was a coward; and he was
+effectually intimidated by the bold and manly conduct of the boy.  He
+changed his tone and manner at once.
+
+"You have no money for me, marm?" said he, edging towards the door.
+
+"No, sir; I am sorry to say that I have been able to save only five
+dollars since I paid you last; but I hope--"
+
+"Never mind, marm, never mind; I shall not trouble myself to come here
+again, where I am liable to be kicked by this ill-bred cub.  No, marm,
+I shall not come again.  Let the law take its course."
+
+"O, mercy!  See what you have brought upon us, Bobby," exclaimed Mrs.
+Bright, bursting into tears.
+
+"Yes, marm, let the law take its course."
+
+"O Bobby!  Stop a moment, Mr. Hardhand; do stop a moment."
+
+"Not a moment, marm.  We'll see;" and Mr. Hardhand placed his hand upon
+the latch string.
+
+Bobby felt very uneasy, and very unhappy at that moment.  His passion
+had subsided, and he realized that he had done a great deal of mischief
+by his impetuous conduct.
+
+Then the remembrance of his morning, adventure on the bridge came like
+a flash of sunshine to his mind, and he eagerly drew from his pocket
+the handkerchief in which he had deposited the precious gold,--doubly
+precious now, because it would enable him to retrieve the error into
+which he had fallen, and do something towards relieving his mother's
+embarrassment.  With a trembling hand he untied the knot which secured
+the money.
+
+"Here, mother, here is thirty-five dollars;" and he placed it in her
+hand.
+
+"Why, Bobby!" exclaimed Mrs. Bright.
+
+"Pay him, mother, pay him, and I will tell you all about it by and by."
+
+"Thirty-five dollars! and all in gold!  Where did you get it, Bobby?"
+
+"Never mind it now, mother."
+
+Mr. Hardhand's covetous soul had already grasped the glittering gold;
+and removing his hand from the latch string, he approached the widow.
+
+"I shall be able to pay you forty dollars now," said Mrs. Bright,
+taking the five dollars she had saved from her pocket.
+
+"Yes, marm."
+
+Mr. Hardhand took the money, and seating himself at the table, indorsed
+the amount on the back of the note.
+
+"You owe me sixty more," said he, maliciously, as he returned the note
+to his pocket book.  "It must be paid immediately."
+
+"You must not be hard with me now, when I have paid more than you
+demanded."
+
+"I don't wish to come here again.  That boy's impudence has put me all
+out of conceit with you and your family," replied Mr. Hardhand,
+assuming the most benevolent look he could command.  "There was a time
+when I was very willing to help you.  I have waited a great while for
+my pay for this house; a great deal longer than I would have waited for
+anybody else."
+
+"Your interest has always been paid punctually," suggested the widow,
+modestly.
+
+"That's true; but very few people would have waited as long as I have
+for the principal.  I wanted to help you--"
+
+"By gracious!" exclaimed Bobby, interrupting him.
+
+"Don't be saucy, my son, don't," said Mrs. Bright, fearing a repetition
+of the former scene.
+
+"_He_ wanted to help us!" ejaculated Bobby.
+
+It was a very absurd and hypocritical expression on the part of Mr.
+Hardhand; for he never wanted to help any one but himself; and during
+the whole period of his relations with the poor widow, he had
+oppressed, insulted, and abused her to the extent of his capacity, or
+at least as far as his interest would permit.
+
+He was a malicious and revengeful man.  He did not consider the great
+provocation he had given Bobby for his violent conduct, but determined
+to be revenged, if it could be accomplished without losing any part of
+the sixty dollars still due him.  He was a wicked man at heart, and
+would not scruple to turn the widow and her family out of house and
+home.
+
+Mrs. Bright knew this, and Bobby knew it too; and they felt very uneasy
+about it.  The wretch still had the power to injure them, and he would
+use it without compunction.
+
+"Yes, young man, I wanted to help you, and you see what I get for
+it--contempt and insults!  You will hear from me again in a day or two.
+Perhaps you will change your tune, you young reprobate!"
+
+"Perhaps I shall," replied Bobby, without much discretion.
+
+"And you too, marm; you uphold him in his treatment of me.  You have
+not done your duty to him.  You have been remiss, marm!" continued Mr.
+Hardhand, growing bolder again, as he felt the power he wielded.
+
+"That will do, sir; you can go!" said Bobby, springing from his chair,
+and approaching Mr. Hardhand.  "Go, and do your worst!"
+
+"Humph! you stump me--do you?"
+
+"I would rather see my mother kicked out of the house than insulted by
+such a dried-up old curmudgeon as you are.  Go along!"
+
+"Now, don't, Bobby," pleaded his mother.
+
+"I am going; and if the money is not paid by twelve o'clock to-morrow,
+the law shall lake its course;" and Mr. Hardhand rushed out of the
+house, slamming the door violently after him.
+
+"O Bobby, what have you done?" exclaimed Mrs. Bright, when the
+hard-hearted creditor had departed.
+
+"I could not help it, mother; don't cry.  I cannot bear to hear you
+insulted and abused; and I thought when I heard him do it a year ago,
+that I couldn't stand it again.  It is too bad."
+
+"But he will turn us out of the house; and what shall we do then?"
+
+"Don't cry, mother; it will come round all right.  I have friends who
+are rich and powerful, and who will help us."
+
+"You don't know what you say, Bobby.  Sixty dollars is a great deal of
+money, and if we should sell all we have, it would scarcely bring that."
+
+"Leave it all to me, mother; I feel as though I could do something now.
+I am old enough to make money."
+
+"What can you do?"
+
+"Now or never!" replied Bobby, whose mind had wandered from the scene
+to the busy world, where fortunes are made and lost every day.  "Now or
+never!" muttered he again.
+
+"But Bobby, you have not told me where you got all that gold."
+
+"Dinner is ready, I see, and I will tell you while we eat."
+
+Bobby had been a fishing, and to be hungry is a part of the fisherman's
+luck; so he seated himself at the table, and gave his mother a full
+account of all that had occurred at the bridge.
+
+The fond mother trembled when she realized the peril her son had
+incurred for the sake of the young lady; but her maternal heart swelled
+with admiration in view of the generous deed, and she thanked God that
+she was the mother of such a son.  She felt more confidence in him then
+than she had ever felt before, and she realized that he would be the
+stay and the staff of her declining years.
+
+Bobby finished his dinner, and seated himself on the front door step.
+His mind was absorbed, by a new and brilliant idea; and for half an
+hour he kept up a most tremendous thinking.
+
+"Now or never!" said he, as he rose and walked down the road towards
+Riverdale Centre.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY GIVES HIS NOTE FOR SIXTY DOLLARS.
+
+A great idea was born in Bobby's brain.  His mother's weakness and the
+insecurity of her position were more apparent to him than they had ever
+been before.  She was in the power of her creditor, who might turn her
+out of the little black house, sell the place at auction, and thus,
+perhaps, deprive her of the whole or a large part of his father's and
+her own hard earnings.
+
+But this was not the peculiar hardship of her situation, as her devoted
+son understood it.  It was not the hard work alone which she was called
+upon to perform, not the coarseness of the fare upon which they lived,
+not the danger even of being turned out of doors, that distressed
+Bobby; it was that a wretch like Mr. Hardhand could insult and trample
+upon his mother.  He had just heard him use language to her that made
+his blood boil with indignation, and he did not, on cool, sober, second
+thought, regret that he had taken such a decided stand against it.
+
+He cared not for himself.  He could live on a crust of bread and a cup
+of water from the spring; he could sleep in a barn; he could wear
+coarse and even ragged clothes; but he could not submit to have his
+mother insulted, and by such a mean and contemptible person as Mr.
+Hardhand.
+
+Yet what could he do?  He was but a boy, and the great world would look
+with contempt upon his puny form.  But he felt that he was not
+altogether insignificant.  He had performed an act, that day, which the
+fair young lady, to whom he had rendered the service, had declared very
+few men would have undertaken.  There was something in him, something
+that would come out, if he only put his best foot forward.  It was a
+tower of strength within him.  It told him that he could do wonders;
+that he could go out into the world and accomplish all that would be
+required to free his mother from debt, and relieve her from the severe
+drudgery of her life.
+
+A great many people think they can "do wonders."  The vanity of some
+very silly people makes them think they can command armies, govern
+nations, and teach the world what the world never knew before, and
+never would know but for them.  But Bobby's something within him was
+not vanity.  It was something more substantial.  He was not thinking of
+becoming a great man, a great general, a great ruler, or a great
+statesman; not even of making a great fortune.  Self was not the idol
+and the end of his calculations.  He was thinking of his mother, and
+only of her; and the feeling within him was as pure, and holy, and
+beautiful as the dream of an angel.  He wanted to save his mother from
+insult in the first place, and from a life of ceaseless drudgery in the
+second.
+
+A legion of angels seemed to have encamped in his soul to give him
+strength for the great purpose in his mind.  His was a holy and a true
+purpose, and it was this that made him think he could "do wonders."
+What Bobby intended to do the reader shall know in due time.  It is
+enough now that he meant to do something.  The difficulty with a great
+many people is, that they never resolve to do something.  They wait for
+"something to turn up;" and as "things" are often very obstinate, they
+utterly refuse to "turn up" at all.  Their lives are spent in waiting
+for a golden opportunity which never comes.
+
+Now, Bobby Bright repudiated the Micawber philosophy.  He would have
+nothing to do with it.  He did not believe corn would grow without
+being planted, or that pouts would bite the bare hook.
+
+I am not going to tell my young readers now how Bobby made out in the
+end; but I can confidently say that, if he had waited for "something to
+turn up," he would have become a vagabond, a loafer, out of money, out
+at the elbows, and out of patience with himself and all the world.
+
+It was "now or never" with Bobby.  He meant to do something; and after
+he had made up his mind how and where it was to be done, it was no use
+to stand thinking about it, like the pendulum of the "old clock which
+had stood for fifty years in a farmer's kitchen, without giving its
+owner any cause of complaint."
+
+Bobby walked down the road towards the village with a rapid step.  He
+was thinking very fast, and probably that made him step quick.  But as
+he approached Squire Lee's house, his pace slackened, and he seemed to
+be very uneasy.  When he reached the great gate that led up to the
+house, he stopped for an instant, and thrust his hands down very deep
+into his trousers pockets.  I cannot tell what the trousers pockets had
+to do with what he was thinking about; but if he was searching for any
+thing in them, he did not find it; for after an instant's hesitation he
+drew out his hands, struck one of them against his chest, and in an
+audible voice exclaimed,--
+
+"Now or never."
+
+All this pantomime, I suppose, meant that Bobby had some misgivings as
+to the ultimate success of his mission at Squire Lee's, and that when
+he struck his breast and uttered his favorite expression, they were
+conquered and driven out.
+
+Marching with a bold and determined step up to the squire's back
+door--Bobby's idea of etiquette would not have answered for the
+meridian of fashionable society--he gave three smart raps.
+
+Bobby's heart beat a little wildly as he waited a response to his
+summons.  It seemed that he still had some doubts as to the
+practicability of his mission; but they were not permitted to disturb
+him long, for the door was opened by the Squire's pretty daughter
+Annie, a young miss of twelve.
+
+"O Bobby, is it you?  I am so glad you have come!" exclaimed the little
+lady.
+
+Bobby blushed--he didn't know why, unless it was that the young lady
+desired to see him.  He stammered out a reply, and for the moment
+forgot the object of his visit.
+
+"I want you to go down to the village for me, and get some books the
+expressman was to bring up from Boston for me.  Will you go?"
+
+"Certainly, Miss Annie, I shall be very glad to go for _you_," replied
+Bobby with an emphasis that made the little maiden blush in her turn.
+
+"You are real good, Bobby; but I will give you something for going."
+
+"I don't want any thing," said Bobby, stoutly.
+
+"You are too generous!  Ah, I heard what you did this forenoon; and pa
+says that a great many men would not have dared to do what you did.  I
+always thought you were as brave as a lion; now I know it."
+
+"The books are at the express office, I suppose," said Bobby, turning
+as red as a blood beet.
+
+"Yes, Bobby; I am so anxious to get them that I can't wait till pa goes
+down this evening."
+
+"I will not be gone long."
+
+"O, you needn't run, Bobby; take your time."
+
+"I will go very quick.  But, Miss Annie, is your father at home?"
+
+"Not now; he has gone over to the wood lot; but he will be back by the
+time you return."
+
+"Will you please to tell him that I want to see him about something
+very particular, when he gets back?"
+
+"I will, Bobby."
+
+"Thank you, Miss Annie;" and Bobby hastened to the village to execute
+his commission.
+
+"I wonder what he wants to see pa so very particularly for," said the
+young lady to herself, as she watched his receding form.  "In my
+opinion, something has happened, at the little black house, for I could
+see that he looked very sober."
+
+Either Bobby had a very great regard for the young lady, and wished to
+relieve her impatience to behold the coveted books, or he was in a
+hurry to see Squire Lee; for the squire's old roan horse could hardly
+have gone quicker.
+
+"You should not have run, Bobby," said the little maiden when he placed
+the books in her hand; "I would not have asked you to go if I had
+thought you would run all the way.  You must be very tired."
+
+"Not at all; I didn't run, only walked very quick," replied he; but his
+quick breathing indicated that his words or his walk had been very much
+exaggerated.  "Has your father returned?"
+
+"He has; he is waiting for you in the sitting room.  Come in, Bobby."
+
+Bobby followed her into the room, and took the chair which Annie
+offered him.
+
+"How do you do, Bobby?  I am glad to see you," said the squire, taking
+him by the hand, and bestowing a benignant smile upon him--a smile
+which cheered his heart more than any thing else could at that moment.
+"I have heard of you before to-day."
+
+"Have you?"
+
+"I have, Bobby; you are a brave little fellow."
+
+"I came over to see you, sir, about something very particular," replied
+Bobby, whose natural modesty induced him to change the topic.
+
+"Indeed; well, what can I do for you?"
+
+"A great deal, sir; perhaps you will think I am very bold, sir, but I
+can't help it."
+
+"I know you are a very bold little fellow, or you would not have done
+what you did this forenoon," laughed the squire.
+
+"I didn't mean that, sir," answered Bobby, blushing up to the eyes.
+
+"I know you didn't; but go on."
+
+"I only meant that you would think me presuming, or impudent, or
+something of that kind."
+
+"O, no, far from it.  You cannot be presuming or impudent.  Speak out,
+Bobby; any thing under the heavens that I can do for you, I shall be
+glad to do."
+
+"Well, sir, I am going to leave Riverdale."
+
+"Leave Riverdale!"
+
+"Yes, sir; I am going to Boston, where I mean to do something to help
+mother."
+
+"Bravo! you are a good lad.  What do you mean to do?"
+
+"I was thinking I should go into the book business."
+
+"Indeed!" and Squire Lee was much amused by the matter-of-fact manner
+of the young aspirant.
+
+"I was talking with a young fellow who went through the place last
+spring, selling books.  He told me that some days he made three or four
+dollars, and that he averaged twelve dollars a week."
+
+"He did well; perhaps, though, only a few of them make so much."
+
+"I know I can make twelve dollars a week," replied Bobby, confidently,
+for that something within him made him feel capable of great things.
+
+"I dare say you can.  You have energy and perseverance, and people take
+a liking to you."
+
+"But I wanted to see you about another matter.  To speak out at once, I
+want to borrow sixty dollars of you;" and Bobby blushed, and seemed
+very much embarrassed by his own boldness.
+
+"Sixty dollars!" exclaimed the squire.
+
+"I knew you would think me impudent," replied our hero, his heart
+sinking within him.
+
+"But I don't, Bobby.  You want this money to go into business with--to
+buy your stock of books?"
+
+"O, no, sir; I am going to apply to Mr. Bayard for that."
+
+"Just so; Mr. Bayard is the gentleman whose daughter you saved?"
+
+"Yes, sir.  I want this money to pay off Mr. Hardhand.  We owe him but
+sixty dollars now, and he has threatened to turn us out, if it is not
+paid by tomorrow noon."
+
+"The old hunks!"
+
+Bobby briefly related to the squire the events or the morning, much to
+the indignation and disgust of the honest, kind-hearted man.  The
+courageous boy detailed more clearly his purpose, and doubted not he
+should be able to pay the loan in a few months.
+
+"Very well, Bobby, here is the money;" and the squire took it from his
+wallet, and gave it to him.
+
+"Thank you, sir.  May Heaven bless you!  I shall certainly pay you."
+
+"Don't worry about it, Bobby.  Pay it when you get ready."
+
+"I will give you my note, and--"
+
+The squire laughed heartily at this, and told him, that, as he was a
+minor, his note was not good for any thing.
+
+"You shall see whether it is, or not," returned Bobby.  "Let me give it
+to you, at least, so that we can tell how much I owe you from time to
+time."
+
+"You shall have your own way."
+
+Annie Lee, as much amused as her father at Bobby's big talk, got the
+writing materials, and the little merchant in embryo wrote and signed
+the note.
+
+"Good, Bobby!  Now promise that you will come and see me every time you
+come home, and tell me how you are getting along."
+
+"I will, sir, with the greatest pleasure;" and with a light heart Bobby
+tripped away home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY SETS OUT ON HIS TRAVELS.
+
+Squire Lee, though only a plain farmer, was the richest man in
+Riverdale.  He had taken a great fancy to Bobby, and often employed him
+to do errands, ride the horse to plough in the cornfields, and such
+chores about the place as a boy could do.  He liked to talk with Bobby
+because there was a great deal of good sense in him, for one with a
+small head.
+
+If there was any one thing upon which the squire particularly prided
+himself, it was his knowledge of human nature.  He declared that he
+only wanted to look a man in the face to know what he was; and as for
+Bobby Bright, he had summered him and wintered him, and he was
+satisfied that he would make something in good time.
+
+He was not much astonished when Bobby opened his ambitious scheme of
+going into business for himself.  But he had full faith in his ability
+to work out a useful and profitable, if not a brilliant life.  He often
+said that Bobby was worth his weight in gold, and that he would trust
+him with any thing he had.  Perhaps he did not suspect that the time
+was at hand when he would be called upon to verify his words
+practically; for it was only that morning, when one of the neighbors
+told him about Bobby's stopping the horse, that he had repeated the
+expression for the twentieth time.
+
+It was not an idle remark.  Sixty dollars was hardly worth mentioning
+with a man of his wealth and liberal views, though so careful a man as
+he was would not have been likely to throw away that amount.  But as a
+matter of investment,--Bobby had made the note read "with
+interest,"--he would as readily have let him have it, as the next
+richest man in the place, so much confidence had he in our hero's
+integrity, and so sure was he that he would soon have the means of
+paying him.
+
+Bobby was overjoyed at the fortunate issue of his mission, and he
+walked into the room where his mother was closing shoes, with a dignity
+worthy a banker or a great merchant.  Mrs. Bright was very sad.
+Perhaps she felt a little grieved that her son, whom she loved so much,
+had so thoughtlessly plunged her into a new difficulty.
+
+"Come, cheer up, mother; it is all right," said Bobby in his usual
+elastic and gay tones; and at the same time he took the sixty dollars
+from his pocket and handed it to her.  "There is the money, and you
+will be forever quit of Mr. Hardhand to-morrow."
+
+"What, Bobby!  Why, where did you get all this money?" asked Mrs.
+Bright, utterly astonished.
+
+In a few words the ambitious boy told his story, and then informed his
+mother that he was going to Boston the next Monday morning, to commence
+business for himself.
+
+"Why, what can you do, Bobby?"
+
+"Do?  I can do a great many things;" and he unfolded his scheme of
+becoming a little book merchant.
+
+"You are a courageous fellow!  Who would have thought of such a thing?"
+
+"I should, and did."
+
+"But you are not old enough."
+
+"O, yes, I am."
+
+"You had better wait a while."
+
+"Now or never, mother!  You see I have given my note, and my paper will
+be dishonored, if I am not up and doing."
+
+"Your paper!" said Mrs. Bright, with a smile.
+
+"That is what Mr. Wing, the boot manufacturer, calls it."
+
+"You needn't go away to earn this money; I can pay it myself."
+
+"This note is my affair, and I mean to pay it myself with my own
+earnings.  No objections, mother."
+
+Like a sensible woman as she was, she did not make any objections.  She
+was conscious of Bobby's talents; she knew that he had a strong mind of
+his own, and could take care of himself.  It is true, she feared the
+influence of the great world, and especially of the great city, upon
+the tender mind of her son; but if he was never tempted, he would never
+be a conqueror over the foes that beset him.
+
+She determined to do her whole duty towards him, and she carefully
+pointed out to him the sins and the moral danger to which he would be
+exposed, and warned him always to resist temptation.  She counselled
+him to think of her when he felt like going astray.
+
+Bobby declared that he would try to be a good boy.  He did not speak
+contemptuously of the anticipated perils, as many boys would have done,
+because he knew that his mother would not make bugbears out of things
+which she knew had no real existence.
+
+The next day, Mr. Hardhand came; and my young readers can judge how
+astonished and chagrined he was, when the widow Bright offered him the
+sixty dollars.  The Lord was with the widow and the fatherless, and the
+wretch was cheated out of his revenge.  The note was given up, and the
+mortgage cancelled.
+
+Mr. Hardhand insisted that she should pay the interest on the sixty
+dollars for one day, as it was then the second day of July; but when
+Bobby reckoned it up, and found it was less than one cent, even the
+wretched miser seemed ashamed of himself, and changed the subject of
+conversation.
+
+He did not dare to say any thing saucy to the widow this time.  He had
+lost his power over her, and there stood Bobby, who had come to look
+just like a young lion to him, coward and knave as he was.
+
+The business was all settled now, and Bobby spent the rest of the week
+in getting ready for his great enterprise.  He visited all his friends,
+and went each day to talk with Squire Lee and Annie.  The little maiden
+promised to buy a great many books of him, if he would bring his stock
+to Riverdale, for she was quite as much interested in him as her father
+was.
+
+Monday morning came, and Bobby was out of bed with the first streak of
+dawn.  The excitement of the great event which was about to happen had
+not permitted him to sleep for the two hours preceding; yet when he got
+up, he could not help feeling sad.  He was going to leave the little
+black house, going to leave his mother, going to leave the children, to
+depart for the great city.
+
+His mother was up before him.  She was even more sad than he was, for
+she could see plainer than he the perils that environed him, and her
+maternal heart, in spite of the reasonable confidence she had in his
+integrity and good principles, trembled for his safety.
+
+As he ate his breakfast, his mother repeated the warnings and the good
+lessons she had before imparted.  She particularly cautioned him to
+keep out of bad company.  If he found that his companions would lie and
+swear, he might depend upon it they would steal, and he had better
+forsake them at once.  This was excellent advice, and Bobby had
+occasion at a later period to call it to his sorrowing heart.
+
+"Here is three dollars, Bobby; it is all the money I have.  Your fare
+to Boston will be one dollar, and you will have two left to pay the
+expenses of your first trip.  It is all I have now," said Mrs. Bright.
+
+"I will not take the whole of it.  You will want it yourself.  One
+dollar is enough.  When I find Mr. Bayard, I shall do very well."
+
+"Yes, Bobby, take the whole of it."
+
+"I will take just one dollar, and no more," replied Bobby, resolutely,
+as he handed her the other two dollars.
+
+"Do take it, Bobby."
+
+"No, mother; it will only make me lazy and indifferent."
+
+Taking a clean shirt, a pair of socks, and a handkerchief in his
+bundle, he was ready for a start.
+
+"Good by, mother," said he, kissing her and taking her hand.  "I shall
+try and come home on Saturday, so as to be with you on Sunday."
+
+Then kissing the children, who had not yet got up, and to whom he had
+bidden adieu the night before, he left the house.  He had seen the
+flood of tears that filled his mother's eyes, as he crossed the
+threshold; and he could not help crying a little himself.  It is a sad
+thing to leave one's home, one's mother, especially, to go out into the
+great world; and we need not wonder that Bobby, who had hardly been out
+of Riverdale before, should weep.  But he soon restrained the flowing
+tears.
+
+"Now or never!" said he, and he put his best foot forward.
+
+It was an epoch in his history, and though he was too young to realize
+the importance of the event, he seemed to feel that what he did now was
+to give character to his whole future life.
+
+It was a bright and beautiful morning--somehow, it is always a bright
+and beautiful morning when boys leave their homes to commence the
+journey of life; it is typical of the season of youth and hope, and it
+is meet that the sky should be clear, and the sun shine brightly, when
+the little pilgrim sets out upon his tour.  He will see clouds and
+storms before he has gone far--let him have a fair start.
+
+He had to walk five miles to the nearest railroad station.  His road
+lay by the house of his friend, Squire Lee; and as he was approaching
+it, he met Annie.  She said she had come out to take her morning walk;
+but Bobby knew very well that she did not usually walk till an hour
+later; which, with the fact that she had asked him particularly, the
+day before, what time he was going, made Bobby believe that she had
+come out to say good by, and bid him God speed on his journey.  At any
+rate, he was very glad to see her.  He said a great many pretty things
+to her, and talked so big about what he was going to do, that the
+little maiden could hardly help laughing in his face.
+
+Then at the house he shook hands with the squire and shook hands again
+with Annie, and resumed his journey.  His heart felt lighter for having
+met them, or at least for having met one of them, if not both; for
+Annie's eyes were so full of sunshine that they seemed to gladden his
+heart, and make him feel truer and stronger.
+
+After a pleasant walk, for he scarcely heeded the distance, so full was
+he of his big thoughts, he reached the railroad station.  The cars had
+not yet arrived, and would not for half an hour.
+
+"Why should I give them a dollar for carrying me to Boston, when I can
+just as well walk?  If I get tired, I can sit down and rest me.  If I
+save the dollar, I shall have to earn only fifty-nine more to pay my
+note.  So here goes;" and he started down the track.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY STANDS UP FOR "CERTAIN INALIENABLE RIGHTS."
+
+Whether it was wise policy, or "penny wise and pound foolish" policy
+for Bobby to undertake such a long walk, is certainly a debatable
+question; but as my young readers would probably object to an argument,
+we will follow him to the city, and let every one settle the point to
+suit himself.
+
+His cheerful heart made the road smooth beneath his feet.  He had
+always been accustomed to an active, busy life, and had probably often
+walked more than twenty miles in a day.  About ten o'clock, though he
+did not feel much fatigued, he seated himself on a rock by a brook from
+which he had just taken a drink, to rest himself.  He had walked slowly
+so as to husband his strength; and he felt confident that he should be
+able to accomplish the journey without injury to himself.
+
+After resting for half an hour, he resumed his walk.  At twelve o'clock
+he reached a point from which he obtained his first view of the city.
+His heart bounded at the sight, and his first impulse was to increase
+his speed so that he should the sooner gratify his curiosity; but a
+second thought reminded him that he had eaten nothing since breakfast;
+so, finding a shady tree by the road side, he seated himself on a stone
+to eat the luncheon which his considerate mother had placed in his
+bundle.
+
+Thus refreshed, he felt like a new man, and continued his journey again
+till he was on the very outskirts of the city, where a sign, "No
+passing over this bridge," interrupted his farther progress.  Unlike
+many others, Bobby took this sign literally, and did not venture to
+cross the bridge.  Having some doubts as to the direct road to the
+city, he hailed a man in a butcher's cart, who not only pointed the
+way, but gave him an invitation to ride with him, which Bobby was glad
+to accept.
+
+They crossed the Milldam, and the little pilgrim forgot the long walk
+he had taken--forgot Riverdale, his mother, Squire Lee, and Annie, for
+the time, in the absorbing interest of the exciting scene.  The Common
+beat Riverdale Common all hollow; he had never seen any thing like it
+before.  But when the wagon reached Washington Street, the measure of
+his surprise was filled up.
+
+"My gracious! how thick the houses are!" exclaimed he, much to the
+amusement of the kind-hearted butcher.
+
+"We have high fences here," he replied.
+
+"Where are all these folks going to?"
+
+"You will have to ask them, if you want to know."
+
+But the wonder soon abated, and Bobby began to think of his great
+mission in the city.  He got tired of gazing and wondering, and even
+began to smile with contempt at the silly fops as they sauntered along,
+and the gayly-dressed ladies, that flaunted like so many idle
+butterflies, on the sidewalk.  It was an exciting scene; but it did not
+look real to him.  It was more like Herr Grunderslung's exhibition of
+the magic lantern, than any thing substantial.  The men and women were
+like so many puppets.  They did not seem to be doing any thing, or to
+be walking for any purpose.
+
+He got out of the butcher's cart at the Old South.  His first
+impression, as he joined the busy throng, was, that he was one of the
+puppets.  He did not seem to have any hold upon the scene, and for
+several minutes this sensation of vacancy chained him to the spot.
+
+"All right!" exclaimed he to himself at last.  "I am here.  Now's my
+time to make a strike.  Now or never."
+
+He pulled Mr. Bayard's card from his pocket, and fixed the number of
+his store in his mind.  Now, numbers were not a Riverdale institution,
+and Bobby was a little perplexed about finding the one indicated.  A
+little study into the matter, however, set him right, and he soon had
+the satisfaction of seeing the bookseller's name over his store.
+
+"F. Bayard," he read; "this is the place."
+
+"Country!" shouted a little ragged boy, who dodged across the street at
+that moment.
+
+"Just so, my beauty!" said Bobby, a little nettled at this imputation
+of verdancy.
+
+"What a greeny!" shouted the little vagabond from the other side of the
+street.
+
+"No matter, rag-tag!  We'll settle that matter some other time."
+
+But Bobby felt that there was something in his appearance which
+subjected him to the remarks of others, and as he entered the shop, he
+determined to correct it as soon as possible.
+
+A spruce young gentleman was behind the counter, who cast a mischievous
+glance at him as he entered.
+
+"Mr. Bayard keep here?" asked Bobby.
+
+"Well, I reckon he does.  How are all the folks up country?" replied
+the spruce clerk, with a rude grin.
+
+"How are they?" repeated Bobby, the color flying to his cheek.
+
+"Yes, ha-ow do they dew?"
+
+"They behave themselves better than they do here."
+
+"Eh, greeny?"
+
+"Eh, sappy?" repeated Bobby, mimicking the soft, silky tones of the
+young city gentleman.
+
+"What do you mean by sappy?" asked the clerk, indignantly.
+
+"What do you mean by greeny?"
+
+"I'll let you know what I mean!"
+
+"When you do, I'll let you know what I mean by sappy."
+
+"Good!" exclaimed one of the salesmen, who had heard part of this
+spirited conversation.  "You will learn better by and by, Timmins, than
+to impose upon boys from out of town."
+
+"You seem to be a gentleman, sir," said Bobby, approaching the
+salesman. "I wish to see Mr. Bayard."
+
+"You can't see him!" growled Timmins.
+
+"Can't I?"
+
+"Not at this minute; he is engaged just now," added the salesman, who
+seemed to have a profound respect for Bobby's discrimination.  "He will
+be at liberty in a few moments."
+
+"I will wait, then," said Bobby, seating himself on a stool by the
+counter.
+
+Pretty soon the civil gentleman left the store to go to dinner, and
+Timmins, a little timid about provoking the young lion, cast an
+occasional glance of hatred at him. He had evidently found that
+"Country" was an embryo American citizen, and that he was a firm
+believer in the self-evident truths of the Declaration of Independence.
+
+Bobby bore no ill will towards the spruce clerk, ready as he had been
+to defend his "certain inalienable rights."
+
+"You do a big business here," suggested Bobby, in a conciliatory tone,
+and with a smile on his face which ought to have convinced the
+uncourteous clerk that he meant well.
+
+"Who told you so?" replied Timmins, gruffly.
+
+"I merely judged from appearances.  You have a big store, and an
+immense quantity of books."
+
+"Appearances are deceitful," replied Timmins; and perhaps he had been
+impressed by the fact from his experience with the lad from the country.
+
+"That is true," added Bobby, with a good-natured smile, which, when
+interpreted, might have meant, "I took you for a civil fellow, but I
+have been very much mistaken."
+
+"You will find it out before you are many days older."
+
+"The book business is good just now, isn't it?" continued Bobby,
+without clearly comprehending the meaning of the other's last remark.
+
+"Humph!  What's that to you?"
+
+"O, I intend to go into it myself."
+
+"Ha, ha, ha!  Good!  You do?"
+
+"I do," replied Bobby, seemingly unconcerned at the taunts of the clerk.
+
+"I suppose you want to get a place here," sneered Timmins, alarmed at
+the prospect.  "But let me tell you, you can't do it.  Bayard has all
+the help he wants; and if that is what you come for, you can move on as
+fast as you please."
+
+"I guess I will see him," added Bobby quietly.
+
+"No use."
+
+"No harm in seeing him."
+
+As he spoke he took up a book that lay on the counter, and began to
+turn over the leaves.
+
+"Put that book down!" said the amiable Mr. Timmins.
+
+"I won't hurt it," replied Bobby, who had just fixed his eye upon some
+very pretty engravings in the volume.
+
+"Put it down!" repeated Mr. Timmins, in a loud, imperative tone.
+
+"Certainly I will, if you say so," said Bobby, who, though not much
+intimidated by the harsh tones of the clerk, did not know the rules of
+the store, and deemed it prudent not to meddle.
+
+"I _do_ say so!" added Mr. Timmins, magnificently; "and what's more,
+you'd better mind me, too."
+
+Bobby had minded, and probably the stately little clerk would not have
+been so bold if he had not.  Some people like to threaten after the
+danger is over.
+
+Then our visitor from the country espied some little blank books lying
+on the counter.  He had already made up his mind to have one, in which
+to keep his accounts; and he thought, while he was waiting, that he
+would purchase one.  He meant to do things methodically; so when he
+picked up one of the blank books, it was with the intention of buying
+it.
+
+"Put that book down!" said Mr. Timmins, encouraged in his aggressive
+intentions by the previous docility of our hero.
+
+"I want to buy one."
+
+"No, you don't: put it down.".
+
+"What is the price of these?" asked Bobby, resolutely.
+
+"None of your business!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+IN WHICH MR. TIMMINS IS ASTONISHED, AND BOBBY DINES IN CHESTNUT STREET.
+
+It was Mr. Bayard.  He had finished his business with the gentleman by
+his side, and hearing the noise of the scuffle, had come to learn the
+occasion of it.
+
+"This impudent young puppy wouldn't let the books alone!" began Mr.
+Timmins.  "I threatened to turn him out if he didn't; and I meant to
+make good my threat.  I think he meant to steal something."
+
+Bobby was astonished and shocked at this bold imputation; but he wished
+to have his case judged on its own merits; so he turned his face away,
+that Mr. Bayard might not recognize him.
+
+"I wanted to buy one of these blank books," added Bobby, picking up the
+one he had dropped on the floor in the struggle.
+
+"All stuff!" ejaculated Timmins.  "He is an impudent, obstinate puppy!
+In my opinion he meant to steal that book."
+
+"I asked him the price, and told him I wanted to buy it," added Bobby,
+still averting his face.
+
+"Well, I told him; and he said it was too high."
+
+"He asked me twenty-five cents for it."
+
+"Is this true, Timmins?" asked Mr. Bayard, sternly.
+
+"No, sir, I told him fourpence," replied Timmins boldly.
+
+"By gracious!  What a whopper!" exclaimed Bobby, startled out of his
+propriety by this monstrous lie.  "He said twenty-five cents; and I
+told him I could buy one up in Riverdale, where I came from, for six
+cents.  Can you deny that?"
+
+"It's a lie!" protested Timmins.
+
+"Riverdale," said Mr. Bayard.  "Are you from Riverdale, boy?"
+
+"Yes, sir, I am; and if you will look on your memorandum book you will
+find my name there."
+
+"Bless me!  I am sure I have seen that face before," exclaimed Mr.
+Bayard, as he grasped the hand of Bobby, much to the astonishment and
+consternation of Mr. Timmins.  You are--"
+
+"Robert Bright, sir."
+
+"My brave little fellow!  I am heartily glad to see you;" and the
+bookseller shook the hand he held with hearty good will.  "I was
+thinking of you only a little while ago."
+
+"This fellow calls me a liar," said Bobby, pointing to the astonished
+Mr. Timmins, who did not know what to make of the cordial reception
+which "Country" was receiving from his employer.
+
+"Well, Robert, we know that he is a liar; this is not the first time he
+has, been caught in a lie.  Timmins, your time is out."
+
+The spruce clerk hung his head with shame and mortification.
+
+"I hope, sir, you will--" he began, but pride or fear stopped him
+short.
+
+"Don't be hard with him, sir, if you please," said Bobby.  "I suppose I
+aggravated him."
+
+Mr. Bayard looked at the gentleman who stood by his side, and a smile
+of approbation lighted up his face.
+
+"Generous as he is noble!  Butler, this is the boy that saved Ellen."
+
+"Indeed!  He is a little giant!" replied Mr. Butler, grasping Bobby's
+hand.
+
+Even Timmins glanced with something like admiration in his looks at the
+youth whom he had so lately despised.  Perhaps, too, he thought of that
+Scripture wisdom about entertaining angels unawares.  He was very much
+abashed, and nothing but his silly pride prevented him from
+acknowledging his error, and begging Bobby's forgiveness.
+
+"I can't have a liar about me," said Mr. Bayard.
+
+"There may be some mistake," suggested Mr. Butler.
+
+"I think not.  Robert Bright couldn't lie.  So brave and noble a boy is
+incapable of a falsehood.  Besides, I got a letter from my friend
+Squire Lee by this morning's mail, in which he informed me of my young
+friend's coming."
+
+Mr. Bayard took from his pocket a bundle of letters, and selected the
+squire's from among them.  Opening it, he read a passage which had a
+direct bearing upon the case before him.
+
+"'I do not know what Bobby's faults are,'"--the letter said,--"'but
+this I do know: that Bobby would rather be whipped than tell a lie.  He
+is noted through the place for his love of truth.'--That is pretty
+strong testimony; and you see, Bobby,--that's what the squire calls
+you,--your reputation has preceded you."
+
+Bobby blushed, as he always did when he was praised, and Mr. Timmins
+was more abashed than ever.
+
+"Did you hear that, Timmins?  Who is the liar now?" said Mr. Bayard,
+turning to the culprit.
+
+"Forgive me, sir, this time.  If you turn me off now, I cannot get
+another place, and my mother depends upon my wages."
+
+"You ought to have thought of this before."
+
+"He aggravated me, sir, so that I wanted to pay him off."
+
+"As to that, he commenced upon me the moment I came into the store.
+But don't turn him off, if you please, sir," said Bobby, who even now
+wished no harm to his discomfited assailant.  "He will do better
+hereafter: won't you, Timmins?"
+
+Thus appealed to, Timmins, though he did not relish so direct an
+inquiry, and from such a source, was compelled to reply in the
+affirmative; and Mr. Bayard graciously remitted the sentence he had
+passed against the offending clerk.
+
+"Now, Robert, you will come over to my house and dine with me.  Ellen
+will be delighted to see you."
+
+"Thank you, sir," replied Bobby, bashfully, "I have been to
+dinner",--referring to the luncheon he had eaten at Brighton.
+
+"But you must go to the house with me."
+
+"I should be very glad to do so, sir, but I came on business.  I will
+stay here with Mr. Timmins till you come back."
+
+The truth is, he had heard something about the fine houses of the city,
+and how stylish the people were, and he had some misgivings about
+venturing into such a strange and untried scene as the parlor of a
+Boston merchant.
+
+"Indeed, you must come with me.  Ellen would never forgive you or me,
+if you do not come."
+
+"I would rather rest here till you return," replied Bobby, still
+willing to escape the fine house and the fine folks.  "I walked from
+Riverdale, sir, and I am rather tired."
+
+"Walked!" exclaimed Mr. Bayard.  "Had you no money?"
+
+"Yes, sir, enough to pay my passage; but Dr. Franklin says that 'a
+penny saved is a penny earned,' and I thought I would try it.  I shall
+get rested by the time you return."
+
+"But you must go with me.  Timmins, go and get a carriage."
+
+Timmins obeyed, and before Mr. Bayard had finished asking Bobby how all
+the people in Riverdale were, the carriage was at the door.
+
+There was no backing out now, and our hero was obliged to get into the
+vehicle, though it seemed altogether too fine for a poor boy like him.
+Mr. Bayard and Mr. Butler (whom the former had invited to dine with
+him) seated themselves beside him, and the driver was directed to set
+them down at No. ---- Chestnut Street, where they soon arrived.
+
+Though my readers would, no doubt, be very much amused to learn how
+carefully Bobby trod the velvet carpets, how he stared with wonder at
+the drapery curtains, at the tall mirrors, the elegant chandeliers, and
+the fantastically shaped chairs and tables that adorned Mr. Bayard's
+parlor, the length of our story does not permit us to pause over these
+trivial matters.
+
+When Ellen Bayard was informed that her little deliverer was in the
+house, she rushed into the parlor like a hoiden school girl, grasped
+both his hands, kissed both his rosy cheeks, and behaved just as though
+she had never been to a boarding school in her life.
+
+She had thought a great deal about Bobby since that eventful day, and
+the more she thought of him, the more she liked him.  Her admiration of
+him was not of that silly, sentimental character which moon-struck
+young ladies cherish towards those immaculate young men who have saved
+them from drowning in a horse pond, pulled them back just as they were
+tumbling over a precipice two thousand five hundred feet high, or
+rescued them from a house seven stories high, bearing them down a
+ladder seventy-five odd feet long.  The fact was, Bobby was a boy of
+thirteen and there was no chance for much sentiment; so the young
+lady's regard was real, earnest, and lifelike.
+
+Ellen said a great many very handsome things; but I am sure she never
+thought of such a thing as that he would run away with her, in case her
+papa was unneccessarily obstinate.  She was very glad to see him, and I
+have no doubt she wished Bobby might be her brother, it would be so
+glorious to have such a noble little fellow always with her.
+
+Bobby managed the dinner much better than he had anticipated; for Mr.
+Bayard insisted that he should sit down with them, whether he ate any
+thing or not.  But the Rubicon passed, our hero found that he had a
+pretty smart appetite, and did full justice to the viands set before
+him.  It is true the silver forks, the napkins, the finger bowls, and
+other articles of luxury and show, to which he had been entirely
+unaccustomed, bothered him not a little; but he kept perfectly cool,
+and carefully observed how Mr. Butler, who sat next to him, handled the
+"spoon fork," what he did with the napkin and the finger bowl, so that,
+I will venture to say, not one in ten would have suspected he had not
+spent his life in the parlor of a _millionnaire_.
+
+Dinner over, the party returned to the parlor, where Bobby unfolded his
+plan for the future.  To make his story intelligible, he was obliged to
+tell them all about Mr. Hardhand.
+
+"The old wretch!" exclaimed Mr. Bayard.  "But, Robert, you must let me
+advance the sixty dollars, to pay Squire Lee."
+
+"No, sir; you have done enough in that way.  I have given my note for
+the money."
+
+"Whew;" said Mr. Butler.
+
+"And I shall soon earn enough to pay it."
+
+"No doubt of it.  You are a lad of courage and energy, and you will
+succeed in every thing you undertake."
+
+"I shall want you to trust me for a stock of books on the strength of
+old acquaintance," continued Bobby, who had now grown quite bold, and
+felt as much at home in the midst of the costly furniture, as he did in
+the "living room" of the old black house.
+
+"You shall have all the books you want."
+
+"I will pay for them as soon as I return.  The truth is, Mr. Bayard, I
+mean to be independent.  I didn't want to take that thirty-five
+dollars, though I don't know what Mr. Hardhand would have done to us,
+if I hadn't."
+
+"Ellen said I ought to have given you a hundred, and I think so myself."
+
+"I am glad you didn't.  Too much money makes us fat and lazy."
+
+Mr. Bayard laughed at the easy self-possession of the lad--at his big
+talk; though, big as it was, it meant something.  When he proposed to
+go to the store, he told Bobby he had better stay at the house and rest
+himself.
+
+"No, sir; I want to start out to-morrow, and I must get ready to-day."
+
+"You had better put it off till the next day; you will feel more like
+it then."
+
+"Now or never," replied Bobby.  "That is my motto, sir.  If we have any
+thing to do, now is always the best time to do it.  Dr. Franklin says,
+'Never put off till to-morrow what you can do to day.'"
+
+"Right, Robert! you shall have your own way.  I wish my clerks would
+adopt some of Dr.  Franklin's wise saws.  I should be a great deal
+better off in the course of a year if they would."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY OPENS VARIOUS ACCOUNTS, AND WINS HIS FIRST VICTORY.
+
+"Now, Bobby, I understand your plan," said Mr. Bayard, when they
+reached the store; "but the details must be settled.  Where do you
+intend to go?"
+
+"I hardly know, sir.  I suppose I can sell books almost any where."
+
+"Very true; but in some places much better than in others."
+
+Mr. Bayard mentioned a large town about eighteen miles from the city,
+in which he thought a good trade might be carried on, and Bobby at once
+decided to adopt the suggestion.
+
+"You can make this place your head quarters for the week; if books do
+not sell well right in the village, why, you can go out a little way,
+for the country in the vicinity is peopled by intelligent farmers, who
+are well off, and who can afford to buy books."
+
+"I was thinking of that; but what shall I take with me, sir?"
+
+"There is a new book just published, called 'The Wayfarer,' which is
+going to have a tremendous run.  It has been advertised in advance all
+over the country, so that you will find a ready sale for it.  You will
+get it there before any one else, and have the market all to yourself."
+
+"The Wayfarer?  I have heard of it myself."
+
+"You shall take fifty copies with you, and if you find that you shall
+want more, write, and I will send them."
+
+"But I cannot carry fifty copies."
+
+"You must take the cars to B----, and have a trunk or box to carry your
+books in.  I have a stout trunk down cellar which you shall have."
+
+"I will pay for it, sir."
+
+"Never mind that, Bobby; and you will want a small valise or carpet bag
+to carry your books from house to house.  I will lend you one."
+
+"You are very kind, sir; I did not mean to ask any favors of you except
+to trust me for the books until my return."
+
+"All right, Bobby."
+
+Mr. Bayard called the porter and ordered him to bring up the trunk, in
+which he directed Mr. Timmins to pack fifty "Wayfarers."
+
+"Now, how much will these books cost me apiece?" asked Bobby.
+
+"The retail price is one dollar; the wholesale price is one third off;
+and you shall have them at what they cost me."
+
+"Sixty-seven cents," added Bobby.  "That will give me a profit of
+thirty-three cents on each book."
+
+"Just so."
+
+"Perhaps Mr. Timmins will sell me one of those blank books now; for I
+like to have things down in black and white."
+
+"I will furnish you with something much better than that;" and Mr.
+Bayard left the counting room.
+
+In a moment he returned with a handsome pocket memorandum book, which
+he presented to the little merchant.
+
+"But I don't like to take it unless you will let me pay for it," said
+Bobby, hesitating.
+
+"Never mind it, my young friend.  Now you can sit down at my desk and
+open your accounts.  I like to see boys methodical, and there is
+nothing like keeping accounts to make one accurate.  Keep your books
+posted up, and you will know where you are at any time."
+
+"I intend to keep an account of all I spend and all I receive, if it is
+no more than a cent."
+
+"Right, my little man.  Have you ever studied book-keeping?"
+
+"No, sir, I suppose I haven't; but there was a page of accounts in the
+back part of the arithmetic I studied, and I got a pretty good idea of
+the thing from that.  All the money received goes on one side, and all
+the money paid out goes on the other."
+
+"Exactly so; in this book you had better open a book account first.  If
+you wish, I will show you how."
+
+"Thank you, sir; I should be very glad to have you;" and Bobby opened
+the memorandum book, and seated himself at the desk.
+
+"Write 'Book Account' at the top of the pages, one word on each.  Very
+well.  Now write 'To fifty copies of Wayfarer, at sixty-seven cents,
+$33.50,' on the left hand page, or debit side of the account."
+
+"I am not much of a writer," said Bobby, apologetically.
+
+"You will improve.  Now, each day you will credit the amount of sales
+on the right hand page, or credit side of the account; so, when you
+have sold out, the balance due your debit side will be the profit on
+the lot.  Do you understand it?"
+
+Bobby thought a moment before he could see through it; but his brain
+was active, and he soon managed the idea.
+
+"Now you want a personal account;" and Mr. Bayard explained to him how
+to make this out.
+
+He then instructed him to enter on the debit-side all he spent for
+travel, board, freight, and other charges.  The next was the "profit
+and loss" account, which was to show him the net profit of the business.
+
+Our hero, who had a decided taste for accounts, was very much pleased
+with this employment; and when the accounts were all opened, he
+regarded them with a great deal of satisfaction.  He longed to commence
+his operations, if it were only for the pleasure of making the entries
+in this book.
+
+"One thing I forgot," said he, as he seized the pen, and under the cash
+account entered, "To Cash from mother, $1.00."  "Now I am all right, I
+believe."
+
+"I think you are.  Now, the cars leave at seven in the morning.  Can
+you be ready for a start as early as that?" asked Mr. Bayard.
+
+"O, yes, sir, I hope so.  I get up at half past four at home."
+
+"Very well; my small valise is at the house; but I believe every thing
+else is ready.  Now, I have some business to attend to; and if you will
+amuse yourself for an hour or two, we will go home then."
+
+"I shall want a lodging-place when I am in the city; perhaps some of
+your folks can direct me to one where they won't charge too much."
+
+"As to that, Bobby, you must go to my house whenever you are in the
+city."
+
+"Law, sir! you live so grand, I couldn't think of going to your house.
+I am only a poor boy from the country, and I don't know how to behave
+myself among such nice folks."
+
+"You will do very well, Bobby.  Ellen would never forgive me if I let
+you go any where else.  So that is settled; you will go to my house.
+Now, you may sit here, or walk out and see the sights."
+
+"If you please, sir, if Mr. Timmins will let me look at some of the
+books, I shouldn't wish for any thing better.  I should like to look at
+the Wayfarer, so that I shall know how to recommend it."
+
+"Mr. Timmins _will_ let you," replied Mr. Bayard, as he touched the
+spring of a bell on his desk.
+
+The dapper clerk came running into the counting-room to attend the
+summons of his employer.
+
+"Mr. Timmins," continued Mr. Bayard, with a mischievous smile, "bring
+Mr. Bright a copy of 'The Wayfarer.'"
+
+Mr. Timmins was astonished to hear "Country" called "Mister,"
+astonished to hear his employer call him "Mister," and Bobby was
+astonished to hear himself called "Mister;" nevertheless, our hero
+enjoyed the joke.
+
+The clerk brought the book; and Bobby proceeded to give it a thorough,
+critical examination.  He read the preface, the table of contents, and
+several chapters of the work, before Mr. Bayard was ready to go home
+"How do you like it, Bobby?" asked the bookseller.
+
+"First rate."
+
+"You may take that copy in your hand; you will want to finish it."
+
+"Thank you, sir; I will be careful of it."
+
+"You may keep it.  Let that be the beginning of your own private
+library."
+
+His own private library!  Bobby had not got far enough to dream of such
+a thing yet; but he thanked Mr. Bayard, and put the book under his arm.
+
+After tea, Ellen proposed to her father that they should all go to the
+Museum.  Mr. Bayard acceded, and our hero was duly amazed at the
+drolleries perpetrated there.  He had a good time; but it was so late
+when he went to bed, that he was a little fearful lest he should
+oversleep himself in the morning.
+
+He did not, however, and was down in the parlor before any of the rest
+of the family were stirring.  An early breakfast was prepared for him,
+at which Mr. Bayard, who intended to see him off, joined him.
+Depositing his little bundle and the copy of "The Wayfarer" in the
+valise provided for him, they walked to the store.  The porter wheeled
+the trunk down to the railroad station, though Bobby insisted upon
+doing it himself.
+
+The bookseller saw him and his baggage safely aboard of the cars, gave
+him a ticket, and then bade him an affectionate adieu.  In a little
+while Bobby was flying over the rail, and at about eight o'clock,
+reached B----.
+
+The station master kindly permitted him to deposit his trunk in the
+baggage room, and to leave it there for the remainder of the week.
+
+Taking a dozen of the books from the trunk, and placing them in his
+valise, he sallied out upon his mission.  It must be confessed that his
+heart was filled with a tumult of emotions.  The battle of life was
+before him.  He was on the field, sword in hand, ready to plunge into
+the contest.  It was victory or defeat.
+
+  "March on, brave youth! the field of strife
+    With peril fraught before thee lies;
+  March on! the battle plain of life
+    Shall yield thee yet a glorious prize."
+
+It was of no use to shrink then, even if he had felt disposed to do so.
+He was prepared to be rebuffed, to be insulted, to be turned away from
+the doors at which he should seek admission; but he was determined to
+conquer.
+
+He had reached a house at which he proposed to offer "The Wayfarer" for
+sale.  His heart went pit pat, pit pat, and he paused before the door.
+
+"Now or never!" exclaimed he, as he swung open the garden gate, and
+made his way up to the door.
+
+He felt some misgivings.  It was so new and strange to him that he
+could hardly muster sufficient resolution to proceed farther.  But his
+irresolution was of only a moment's duration.
+
+"Now or never!" and he gave a vigorous knock at the door.
+
+It was opened by an elderly lady, whose physiognomy did not promise
+much.
+
+"Good morning, ma'am.  Can I sell you a copy of 'The Wayfarer' to-day?
+a new book, just published."
+
+"No; I don't want none of your books.  There's more pedlers round the
+country now than you could shake a stick at in a month," replied the
+old lady petulantly.
+
+"It is a very interesting book, ma'am; has an excellent moral."  Bobby
+had read the preface, as I before remarked.  "It will suit you, ma'am;
+for you look just like a lady who wants to read something with a moral."
+
+Bravo, Bobby!  The lady concluded that her face had a moral expression,
+and she was pleased with the idea.
+
+"Let me see it;" and she asked Bobby to walk in and be seated, while
+she went for her spectacles.
+
+As she was looking over the book, our hero went into a more elaborate
+recommendation of its merits.  He was sure it would interest the young
+and the old; it taught a good lesson; it had elegant engravings; the
+type was large, which would suit her eyes; it was well printed and
+bound; and finally, it was cheap at one dollar.
+
+"I'll take it," said the old lady.
+
+"Thank you, ma'am."
+
+Bobby's first victory was achieved
+
+"Have you got a dollar?" asked the lady, as she handed him a two dollar
+bill.
+
+"Yes, ma'am;" and he gave her his only dollar, and put the two in its
+place, prouder than a king who has conquered an empire.  "Thank you,
+ma'am."
+
+Bidding the lady a polite good morning, he left the house, encouraged
+by his success to go forward in his mission with undiminished hope.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY IS A LITTLE TOO SMART.
+
+The clouds were rolled back, and Bobby no longer had a doubt as to the
+success of his undertaking.  It requires but a little sunshine to
+gladden the heart, and the influence of his first success scattered all
+the misgivings he had cherished.
+
+Two New England shillings is undoubtedly a very small sum of money; but
+Bobby had made two shillings, and he would not have considered himself
+more fortunate if some unknown relative had left him a fortune.  It
+gave him confidence in his powers, and as he walked away from the
+house, he reviewed the circumstances of his first sale.
+
+The old lady had told him at first she did not wish to buy a book, and,
+moreover, had spoken rather contemptuously of the craft to which he had
+now the honor to belong.  He gave himself the credit of having
+conquered the old lady's prejudices.  He had sold her a book in spite
+of her evident intention not to purchase.  In short, he had, as we have
+before said, won a glorious victory, and he congratulated himself
+accordingly.
+
+But it was of no use to waste time in useless self-glorification, and
+Bobby turned from the past to the future.  There were forty-nine more
+books to be sold, so that the future was forty-nine-times as big as the
+past.
+
+He saw a shoemaker's shop ahead of him; and he was debating with
+himself whether he should enter and offer his books for sale.  It would
+do no harm, though he had but slight expectations of doing any thing.
+
+There were three men at work in the shop--one of them a middle-aged
+man, the other two young men.  They looked like persons of
+intelligence, and as soon as Bobby saw them his hopes grew stronger.
+
+"Can I sell you any books to-day?" asked the little merchant, as he
+crossed the threshold.
+
+"Well, I don't know; that depends upon how smart you are," replied the
+eldest of the men.  "It takes a pretty smart fellow to sell any thing
+in this shop."
+
+"Then I hope to sell each of you a book," added Bobby, laughing at the
+badinage of the shoemaker.
+
+Opening his valise he took out three copies of his book, and politely
+handed one to each of the men.
+
+"It isn't every book pedler that comes along who offers you such a work
+as that.  'The Wayfarer' is decidedly _the_ book of the season."
+
+"You don't say so!" said the oldest shoemaker, with a laugh.  "Every
+pedler that comes along uses those words, precisely."
+
+"Do they?  They steal my thunder then."
+
+"You are an old one."
+
+"Only thirteen.  I was born where they don't fasten the door with a
+boiled carrot."
+
+"What do they fasten them with?"
+
+"They don't fasten them at all."
+
+"There are no book pedlers round there, then;" and all the shoemakers
+laughed heartily at this smart sally.
+
+"No; they are all shoemakers in our town."
+
+"You can take my hat, boy."
+
+"You will want it to put your head in; but I will take one dollar for
+that book instead."
+
+The man laughed, took out his wallet, and handed Bobby the dollar,
+probably quite as much because he had a high appreciation of his
+smartness, as from any desire to possess the book.
+
+"Won't you take one?" asked Bobby, appealing to another of the men, who
+was apparently not more than twenty-four years of age.
+
+"No; I can't read," replied he, roguishly.
+
+"Let your wife read it to you then."
+
+"My wife?"
+
+"Certainly; she knows how to read, I will warrant."
+
+"How do you know I have got a wife?"
+
+"O, well, a fellow as good looking and good natured as you are could
+not have resisted till this time."
+
+"Has you, Tom," added the oldest shoemaker.
+
+"I cave in;" and he handed over the dollar, and laid the book upon his
+bench.
+
+Bobby looked at the third man with some interest.  He had said nothing,
+and scarcely heeded the fun which was passing between the little
+merchant and his companions.  He was apparently absorbed in his
+examination of the book.  He was a different kind of person from the
+others, and Bobby's instinctive knowledge of human nature assured him
+that he was not to be gained by flattery or by smart sayings; so he
+placed himself in front of him, and patiently waited in silence for him
+to complete his examination.
+
+"You will find that he is a hard one," put in one of the others.
+
+Bobby made no reply, and the two men who had bought books resumed their
+work.  For five minutes our hero stood waiting for the man to finish
+his investigation into the merits of "The Wayfarer."  Something told
+him not to say any thing to this person; and he had some doubts about
+his purchasing.
+
+"I will take one," said the last shoemaker, as he handed Bobby the
+dollar.
+
+"I am much obliged to you, gentlemen," said Bobby, as he closed his
+valise.  "When I come this way again I shall certainly call."
+
+"Do; you have done what no other pedler ever did in this shop."
+
+"I shall take no credit to myself.  The fact is, you are men of
+intelligence, and you want good books."
+
+Bobby picked up his valise and left the shop, satisfied with those who
+occupied it, and satisfied with himself.
+
+"Eight shillings!"  exclaimed he, when he got into the road.  "Pretty
+good hour's work, I should say."
+
+Bobby trudged along till he came to a very large, elegant house,
+evidently dwelt in by one of the nabobs of B----.  Inspired by past
+successes, he walked boldly up to the front door, and rang the bell.
+
+"Is Mr. Whiting in?" asked Bobby, who had read the name on the door
+plate.
+
+"Colonel Whiting _is_ in," replied the servant, who had opened the door.
+
+"I should like to see him for a moment, if he isn't busy."
+
+"Walk in;" and for some reason or other the servant chuckled a great
+deal as she admitted him.
+
+She conducted him to a large, elegantly furnished parlor, where Bobby
+proceeded to take out his books for the inspection of the nabob, whom
+the servant promised to send to the parlor.
+
+In a moment Colonel Whiting entered.  He was a large, fat man, about
+fifty years old.  He looked at the little book merchant with a frown
+that would have annihilated a boy less spunky than our hero.  Bobby was
+not a little inflated by the successes of the morning, and if Julius
+Caesar or Napoleon Bonaparte had stood before him then, he would not
+have flinched a hair--much less in the presence of no greater magnate
+than the nabob of B----.
+
+"Good morning, Colonel Whiting.  I hope you are well this beautiful
+morning," Bobby began.
+
+I must confess I think this was a little too familiar for a boy of
+thirteen to a gentleman of fifty, whom he had never seen before in his
+life; but it must be remembered that Bobby had done a great deal the
+week before, that on the preceding night he had slept in Chestnut
+Street, and that he had just sold four copies of "The Wayfarer."  He
+was inclined to be smart, and some folks hate smart boys.
+
+The nabob frowned; his cheek reddened with anger; but he did not
+condescend to make any reply to the smart speech.
+
+"I have taken the liberty to call upon you this morning, to see if you
+did not wish to purchase a copy of 'The Wayfarer'--a new book just
+issued from the press, which people say is to be the book of the
+season."
+
+My young readers need not suppose this was an impromptu speech, for
+Bobby had studied upon it all the time he was coming from Boston in the
+cars.  It would be quite natural for a boy who had enjoyed no greater
+educational advantages than our hero to consider how he should address
+people into whose presence his calling would bring him; and he had
+prepared several little addresses of this sort, for the several
+different kinds of people whom he expected to encounter.  The one he
+had just "got off" was designed for the "upper crust."
+
+When he had delivered the speech, he approached the indignant, frowning
+nabob, and with a low bow, offered him a copy of "The Wayfarer."
+
+"Boy," said Colonel Whiting, raising his arm with majestic dignity, and
+pointing to the door,--"boy, do you see that door?"
+
+Bobby looked at the door, and, somewhat astonished replied that he did
+see it, that it was a very handsome door, and he would inquire whether
+it was black walnut, or only painted in imitation thereof.
+
+"Do you see that door?" thundered the nabob, swelling with rage at the
+cool impudence of the boy.
+
+"Certainly I do, sir; my eyesight is excellent."
+
+"Then use it!"
+
+"Thank you, sir; I have no use for it.  Probably it will be of more
+service to you than to me."
+
+"Will you clear out, or shall I kick you out?" gasped the enraged
+magnate of B----.
+
+"I will save you that trouble, sir; I will go, sir.  I see we have both
+made a mistake."
+
+"Mistake?  What do you mean by that, you young puppy?  You are a little
+impudent, thieving scoundrel!"
+
+"That's your mistake, sir.  I took you for a gentleman, sir; and that
+was my mistake."
+
+"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed a sweet, musical voice, and at that moment a
+beautiful young lady rushed up to the angry colonel, and threw her arms
+around his neck.
+
+"The jade!" muttered he.
+
+"I have caught you in a passion again, uncle;" and the lady kissed the
+old gentleman's anger-reddened cheek, which seemed to restore him at
+once to himself.
+
+"It was enough to make a minister swear," said he, in apology.
+
+"No, it wasn't, uncle; the boy was a little pert, it is true; but you
+ought to have laughed at him, instead of getting angry.  I heard the
+whole of it."
+
+"Pert?" said Bobby to himself.  "What the deuse does she mean by that?"
+
+"Very well, you little minx; I will pay the penalty."
+
+"Come here, Master Pert," said the lady to Bobby.
+
+Bobby bowed, approached the lady, and began to feel very much
+embarrassed.
+
+"My uncle,", she continued, "is one of the best hearted men in the
+world--ain't you, uncle?"
+
+"Go on, you jade!"
+
+"I love him, as I would my own father; but he will sometimes get into a
+passion.  Now, you provoked him."
+
+"Indeed, ma'am, I hadn't the least idea of saying any thing uncivil,"
+pleaded Bobby.  "I studied to be as polite as possible."
+
+"I dare say.  You were too important, too pompous, for a boy to an old
+gentleman like uncle, who is really one of the best men in the world.
+Now, if you hadn't studied to be polite, you would have done very well."
+
+"Indeed, ma'am, I am a poor boy, trying to make a little money to help
+my mother.  I am sure I meant no harm."
+
+"I know you didn't.  So you are selling books to help your mother?"
+
+"Yes, ma'am."
+
+She inquired still further into the little merchant's history, and
+seemed to be very much interested in him.
+
+In a frolic, a few days before, Bobby learned from her, Colonel Whiting
+had agreed to pay any penalty she might name, the next time he got into
+a passion.
+
+"Now, young man, what book have you to sell?" asked the lady.
+
+"'The Wayfarer.'"
+
+"How many have you in your valise?"
+
+"Eight."
+
+"Very well; now, uncle, I decree, as the penalty of your indiscretion,
+that you purchase the whole stock."
+
+"I submit."
+
+"'The Wayfarer' promises to be an excellent book: and I can name at
+least half a dozen persons who will thank you for a copy, uncle."
+
+Colonel Whiting paid Bobby eight dollars, who left the contents of his
+valise on the centre table, and then departed, astounded at his good
+fortune, and fully resolved never to be too smart again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY STRIKES A BALANCE, AND RETURNS TO RIVERDALE.
+
+Our hero had learned a lesson which experience alone could teach him.
+The consciousness of that "something within him" inclined him to be a
+little too familiar with his elders; but then it gave him confidence in
+himself, and imparted courage to go forward in the accomplishment of
+his mission.  His interview with Colonel Whiting and the gentle but
+plain rebuke of his niece had set him right, and he realized that,
+while he was doing a man's work, he was still a boy.  He had now a
+clearer perception of what is due to the position and dignity of those
+upon whom fortune has smiled.
+
+Bobby wanted to be a man, and it is not strange that he should
+sometimes fancy he was a man.  He had an idea, too, that "all men are
+born free and equal;" and he could not exactly see why a nabob was
+entitled to any more respect and consideration than a poor man.  It was
+a lesson he was compelled to learn, though some folks live out their
+lifetimes without ever finding out that.
+
+"'Tis wealth, good sir, makes honorable men."  Some people think a rich
+man is no better than a poor man, except so far as he behaves himself
+better.  It is strange how stupid some people are!
+
+Bobby had no notion of cringing to any man, and he felt as independent
+as the Declaration of Independence itself.  But then the beautiful lady
+had told him that he was pert and forward; and when he thought it over,
+he was willing to believe she was right, Colonel Whiting was an old
+man, compared with himself; and he had some faith, at least in theory,
+in the Spartan virtue of respect for the aged.  Probably the nabob of
+B---- would have objected to being treated with respect on account of
+his age; and Bobby would have been equally unwilling to acknowledge
+that he treated him with peculiar respect on account of his wealth or
+position.
+
+Perhaps the little merchant had an instinctive perception of
+expediency--that he should sell more books by being less familiar: at
+any rate he determined never again to use the flowery speeches he had
+arranged for the upper crust.
+
+He had sold a dozen books; and possibly this fact made him more willing
+to compromise the matter than he would otherwise have been.  This was,
+after all, the great matter for congratulation, and with a light heart
+he hurried back to the railroad station to procure another supply.
+
+We cannot follow him into every house where his calling led him.  He
+was not always as fortunate as in the instances we have mentioned.
+Sometimes all his arguments were unavailing, and after he had spent
+half an hour of valuable time in setting forth the merits of "The
+Wayfarer," he was compelled to retire without having effected a sale.
+Sometimes, too, he was rudely repulsed; hard epithets were applied to
+him; old men and old women, worried out by the continued calls of
+pedlers, sneered at him, or shut the door in his face; but Bobby was
+not disheartened.  He persevered, and did not allow these little trials
+to discompose or discourage him.
+
+By one o'clock on the first day of his service he had sold eighteen
+books, which far exceeded even his most sanguine expectations.  By this
+time he began to feel the want of his dinner; but there was no tavern
+or eating house at hand, and he could not think of leaving the harvest
+to return to the railroad station; so he bought a sheet of gingerbread
+and a piece of cheese at a store, and seating himself near a brook by
+the side of the road, he bolted his simple meal, as boys are very apt
+to do when they are excited.
+
+When he had finished, he took out his account book, and entered,
+"Dinner, 10 cents."  Resuming his business, he disposed of the
+remaining six books in his valise by the middle of the afternoon, and
+was obliged to return for another supply.
+
+About six o'clock he entered the house of a mechanic, just as the
+family were sitting down to tea.  He recommended his book with so much
+energy that the wife of the mechanic took a fancy to him, and not only
+purchased one, but invited him to tea.  Bobby accepted the invitation,
+and in the course of the meal, the good lady drew from him the details
+of his history, which he very modestly related, for though he sometimes
+fancied himself a man, he was not the boy to boast of his exploits.
+His host was so much pleased with him, that he begged him to spend the
+night with them.  Bobby had been thinking how and where he should spend
+the night, and the matter had given him no little concern.  He did not
+wish to go to the hotel, for it looked like a very smart house, and he
+reasoned that he should have to pay pretty roundly for accommodations
+there.  These high prices would eat up his profits, and he seriously
+deliberated whether it would not be better for him to sleep under a
+tree than pay fifty cents for a lodging.
+
+If I had been there I should have told him that a man loses nothing in
+the long run by taking good care of himself.  He must eat well and
+sleep well, in order to do well and be well.  But I suppose Bobby would
+have told me that it was of no use to pay a quarter extra for sleeping
+on a gilded bedstead, since the room would be so dark he could not see
+the gilt even if he wished to do so.  I could not have said any thing
+to such a powerful argument; so I am very glad the mechanic's wife set
+the matter at rest by offering him a bed in her house.
+
+He spent a very pleasant evening with the family, who made him feel
+entirely at home, they were so kind and so plain spoken.  Before he
+went to bed, he entered under the book account, "By twenty-six
+Wayfarers, sold this day, $26.00."
+
+He had done a big day's work, much bigger than he could hope to do
+again.  He had sold more than one half of his whole stock, and at this
+rate he should be out of books the next day.  At first he thought he
+would send for another lot; but he could not judge yet what his average
+daily sales would be, and finally concluded not to do so.  What he had
+might last till Friday or Saturday.  He intended to go home on the
+latter day, and he could bring them with him on his return without
+expense.  This was considerable of an argument for a boy to manage; but
+Bobby was satisfied with it, and went to sleep, wondering what his
+mother, Squire Lee, and Annie were thinking of about that time.
+
+After breakfast the next morning he resumed his travels.  He was as
+enthusiastic as ever, and pressed "The Wayfarer" with so much
+earnestness that he sold a book in nearly every house he visited.
+People seemed to be more interested in the little merchant than in his
+stock, and taking advantage of this kind feeling towards him, he
+appealed to them with so much eloquence that few could resist it.
+
+The result of the day's sales was fifteen copies, which Bobby entered
+in the book account with the most intense satisfaction.  He had outdone
+the boy who had passed through Riverdale, but he had little hope that
+the harvest would always be so abundant.
+
+He often thought of this boy, from whom he had obtained the idea he was
+now carrying out.  That boy had stopped over night at the little black
+house, and slept with him.  He had asked for lodging, and offered to
+pay for it, as well as for his supper and breakfast.  Why couldn't he
+do the same?  He liked the suggestion, and from that time, wherever he
+happened to be, he asked for lodging, or the meal he required, and he
+always proposed to pay for what he had, but very few would take any
+thing.
+
+On Friday noon he had sold out.  Returning to the railroad station, he
+found that the train would not leave for the city for an hour; so he
+improved the time in examining and balancing his accounts.  The book
+sales amounted to just fifty dollars, and after his ticket to Boston
+was paid for, his expenses would amount to one dollar and fifty cents,
+leaving a balance in his favor of fifteen dollars.  He was overjoyed
+with the result, and pictured the astonishment with which his mother,
+Squire Lee, and Annie would listen to the history of his excursion.
+
+After four o'clock that afternoon he entered the store of Mr. Bayard,
+bag and baggage.  On his arrival in the city, he was considerably
+exercised in mind to know how he should get the trunk to his
+destination.  He was too economical to pay a cartman a quarter; but
+what would have seemed mean in a man was praiseworthy in a boy laboring
+for a noble end.
+
+Probably a great many of my young readers in Bobby's position, thinking
+that sixteen dollars, which our hero had in his pocket, was a mint of
+money, would have been in favor of being a little magnificent--of
+taking a carriage and going up-town in state.  Bobby had not the least
+desire to "swell," so he settled the matter by bargaining with a little
+ragged fellow to help him carry the trunk to Mr. Bayard's store for
+fourpence.
+
+"How do you do, Mr. Timmins?" said Bobby to the spruce clerk, as he
+deposited the trunk upon the floor, and handed the ragged boy the
+four-pence.
+
+"Ah, Bobby!" exclaimed Mr. Timmins.  "Have you sold out?"
+
+"All clean.  Is Mr. Bayard in?"
+
+"In the office.  But how do you like it?"
+
+"First rate."
+
+"Well, every one to his taste; but I don't see how any one who has any
+regard for his dignity can stick himself into every body's house.  I
+couldn't do it, I know."
+
+"I don't stand for the dignity."
+
+"Ah, well, there is a difference in folks."
+
+"That's a fact," replied Bobby, as he hurried to the office of Mr.
+Bayard, leaving Mr. Timmins to sun himself in his own dignity.
+
+The bookseller was surprised to see him so soon, but he gave him a
+cordial reception.
+
+"I didn't expect you yet," said he.  "Why do you come back?  Have you
+got sick of the business?"
+
+"Sick of it!  No, sir."
+
+"What have you come back for then?"
+
+"Sold out, sir."
+
+"Sold out!  You have done well!"
+
+"Better than I expected."
+
+"I had no idea of seeing you till to-morrow night; and I thought you
+would have books enough to begin the next week with.  You have done
+bravely."
+
+"If I had had twenty more, I could have sold them before to-morrow
+night.  Now, sir, if you please, I will pay you for those
+books--thirty-three dollars and fifty cents."
+
+"You had better keep that, Bobby.  I will trust you as long as you
+wish."
+
+"If you please, sir, I had rather pay it;" and the little merchant, as
+proud as a lord, handed over the amount.
+
+"I like your way of doing business, Bobby.  Nothing helps a man's
+credit so much as paying promptly.  Now tell me some of your
+adventures--or we will reserve them till this evening, for I am sure
+Ellen will be delighted to hear them."
+
+"I think I shall go to Riverdale this afternoon.  The cars leave at
+half past five."
+
+"Very well; you have an hour to spare."
+
+Bobby related to his kind friend the incidents of his excursion,
+including his interview with Colonel Whiting and his niece, which
+amused the bookseller very much.  He volunteered some good advice,
+which Bobby received in the right spirit, and with a determination to
+profit by it.
+
+At half past five he took the cars for home, and before dark was folded
+in his mother's arms.  The little black house seemed doubly dear to him
+now that he bad been away from it a few days.  His mother and all the
+children were so glad to see him that it seemed almost worth his while
+to go away for the pleasure of meeting them on his return.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY ASTONISHES SUNDRY PERSONS AND PAYS PART OF HIS NOTE.
+
+"Now tell me, Bobby, how you have made out," said Mrs. Bright, as the
+little merchant seated himself at the supper table.  "You cannot have
+done much, for you have only been gone five days."
+
+"I have done pretty well, mother," replied Bobby, mysteriously; "pretty
+well, considering that I am only a boy."
+
+"I didn't expect to see you till to-morrow night."
+
+"I sold out, and had to come home."
+
+"That may be, and still you may not have done much."
+
+"I don't pretend that I have done much."
+
+"How provoking you are!  Why don't you tell me, Bobby, what you have
+done?"
+
+"Wait a minute, mother, till I have done my supper, and then I will
+show you the footings in my ledger."
+
+"Your ledger!"
+
+"Yea, my ledger.  I keep a ledger now."
+
+"You are a great man, Mr. Robert Bright," laughed his mother.  "I
+suppose the people took their hats off when they saw you coming."
+
+"Not exactly, mother."
+
+"Perhaps the governor came out to meet you when he heard you was on the
+road."
+
+"Perhaps he did; I didn't see him, however.  This apple pie tastes
+natural, mother.  It is a great luxury to get home after one has been
+travelling."
+
+"Very likely."
+
+"No place like home, after all is done and said.  Who was the fellow
+that wrote that song, mother?"
+
+"I forget; the paper said he spent a great many years in foreign parts.
+My sake! Bobby; one would think by your talk that you had been away
+from home for a year."
+
+"It seems like a year," said he, as he transferred another quarter of
+the famous apple pie to his plate.  "I miss home very much.  I don't
+more than half like being among strangers so much."
+
+"It is your own choice; no one wants you to go away from home."
+
+"I must pay my debts, any how.  Don't I owe Squire Lee sixty dollars?"
+
+"But I can pay that."
+
+"It is my affair, you see."
+
+"If it is your affair, then I owe you sixty dollars."
+
+"No, you don't; I calculate to pay my board now.  I am old enough and
+big enough to do something."
+
+"You have done something ever since you was old enough to work."
+
+"Not much; I don't wonder that miserable old hunker of a Hardhand
+twitted me about it.  By the way, have you heard any thing from him?"
+
+"Not a thing."
+
+"He has got enough of us, I reckon."
+
+"You mustn't insult him, Bobby, if you happen to see him."
+
+"Never fear me."
+
+"You know the Bible says we must love our enemies, and pray for them
+that despitefully use us and persecute us."
+
+"I should pray that the Old Nick might get him."
+
+"No, Bobby; I hope you haven't forgot all your Sunday school lessons."
+
+"I was wrong, mother," replied Bobby, a little moved.  "I did not mean
+so.  I shall try to think as well of him as I can; but I can't help
+thinking, if all the world was like him, what a desperate hard time we
+should have of it."
+
+"We must thank the Lord that he has given us so many good and true men."
+
+"Such as Squire Lee, for instance," added Bobby, as he rose from the
+table and put his chair back against the wall.  "The squire is fit to
+be a king; and though I believe in the Constitution and the Declaration
+of Independence, I wouldn't mind seeing a crown upon his head."
+
+"He will receive his crown in due time," replied Mrs. Bright, piously.
+
+"The squire?"
+
+"The crown of rejoicing, I mean."
+
+"Just so; the squire is a nice man; and I know another just like him."
+
+"Who!"
+
+"Mr. Bayard; they are as near alike as two peas."
+
+"I am dying to know about your journey."
+
+"Wait a minute, mother, till we clear away the supper things;" and
+Bobby took hold, as he had been accustomed, to help remove and wash the
+dishes.
+
+"You needn't help now, Bobby."
+
+"Yes, I will, mother."
+
+Some how our hero's visit to the city did not seem to produce the usual
+effect upon him; for a great many boys, after they had been abroad,
+would have scorned to wash dishes and wipe them.  A week in town has
+made many a boy so smart that you couldn't touch him with a ten foot
+pole.  It starches them up so stiff that sometimes they don't know
+their own mothers, and deem it a piece of condescension to speak a word
+to the patriarch in a blue frock who had the honor of supporting them
+in childhood.
+
+Bobby was none of this sort.  We lament that he had a habit of talking
+big--that is, of talking about business affairs in a style a little
+beyond his years.  But he was modest to a fault, paradoxical as it may
+seem.  He was always blushing when any body spoke a pretty thing about
+him.  Probably the circumstances of his position elevated him above the
+sphere of the mere boy; he had spent but little time in play, and his
+attention had been directed at all times to the wants of his mother.
+He had thought a great deal about business, especially since the visit
+of the boy who sold books to the little black house.
+
+Some boys are born merchants, and from their earliest youth have a
+genius for trade.  They think of little else.  They "play shop" before
+they wear jackets, and drive a barter trade in jackknives, whistles,
+tops, and fishing lines long before they get into their teens.  They
+are shrewd even then, and obtain a taste for commerce before they are
+old enough to know the meaning of the word.
+
+We saw a boy in school, not long since, give the value of eighteen
+cents for a little stunted quince--boys have a taste for raw quinces,
+strange as it may seem.  Undoubtedly he had no talent for trade, and
+would make a very indifferent tin pedler.  Our hero was shrewd.  He
+always got the best end of the bargain; though, I am happy to say, his
+integrity was too unyielding to let him cheat his fellows.
+
+We have made this digression so that my young readers may know why
+Bobby was so much given to big talk.  The desire to do something worthy
+of a good son turned his attention to matters above his sphere; and
+thinking of great things, he had come to talk great things.  It was not
+a bad fault, after all.  Boys need not necessarily be frivolous.  Play
+is a good thing, an excellent thing, in its place, and is as much a
+part of the boy's education as his grammar and arithmetic.  It not only
+develops his muscles, but enlarges his mental capacity; it not only
+fills with excitement the idle hours of the long day, but it sharpens
+the judgment, and helps to fit the boy for the active duties of life.
+
+It need not be supposed, because Bobby had to turn his attention to
+serious things, that he was not fond of fun; that he could not or did
+not play.  At a game of round ball, he was a lucky fellow who secured
+him upon his side; for the same energy which made him a useful son
+rendered him a desirable hand in a difficult game.
+
+When the supper things were all removed, the dishes washed and put
+away, Bobby drew out his pocket memorandum book.  It was a beautiful
+article, and Mrs. Bright was duly astonished at its gilded leaves and
+the elegant workmanship.  Very likely her first impulse was to reprove
+her son for such a piece of reckless extravagance; but this matter was
+set right by Bobby's informing her how it came into his possession.
+
+"Here is my ledger, mother," he said, handing her the book.
+
+Mrs. Bright put on her spectacles, and after bestowing a careful
+scrutiny upon the memorandum book, turned to the accounts.
+
+"Fifty books!" she exclaimed, as she read the first entry.
+
+"Yes, mother; and I sold them all."
+
+"Fifty dollars!"
+
+"But I had to pay for the books out of that."
+
+"To be sure you had; but I suppose you made as much as ten cents a
+piece on them, and that would be--let me see; ten times fifty--"
+
+"But I made more than that, I hope."
+
+"How much?"
+
+The proud young merchant referred her to the profit and loss account,
+which exhibited a balance of fifteen dollars.
+
+"Gracious!  Three dollars a day!"
+
+"Just so, mother.  Now I will pay you the dollar I borrowed of you when
+I went away."
+
+"You didn't borrow it of me."
+
+"But I shall pay it."
+
+Mrs. Bright was astonished at this unexpected and gratifying result.
+If she had discovered a gold mine in the cellar of the little black
+house, it could not have afforded her so much satisfaction; for this
+money was the reward of her son's talent and energy.  Her own earnings
+scarcely ever amounted to more than three or four dollars a week, and
+Bobby, a boy of thirteen, had come home with fifteen for five days'
+work.  She could scarcely believe the evidence other own senses, and
+she ceased to wonder that he talked big.
+
+It was nearly ten o'clock when the widow and her son went to bed, so
+deeply were they interested in discussing our hero's affairs.  He had
+intended to call upon Squire Lee that night, but the time passed away
+so rapidly that he was obliged to defer it till the next day.
+
+After breakfast the following morning, he hastened to pay the intended
+visit.  There was a tumult of strange emotions in his bosom as he
+knocked at the squire's door.  He was proud of the success he had
+achieved, and even then his cheek burned under the anticipated
+commendations which his generous friend would bestow upon him.
+Besides, Annie would be glad to see him, for she had expressed such a
+desire when they parted on the Monday preceding.  I don't think that
+Bobby cherished any silly ideas, but the sympathy of the little maiden
+fell not coldly or unwelcomely upon his warm heart.  In coming from the
+house he had placed his copy of "The Wayfarer" under his arm, for Annie
+was fond of reading; and on the way over, he had pictured to himself
+the pleasure she would derive from reading his book.
+
+Of course he received a warm welcome from the squire and his daughter.
+Each of them had bestowed more than a thought upon the little wanderer
+as he went from house to house, and more than once they had conversed
+together about him.
+
+"Well, Bobby, how is trade in the book line?" asked the squire, after
+the young pilgrim had been cordially greeted.
+
+"Pretty fair," replied Bobby, with as much indifference as he could
+command, though it was hard even to seem indifferent then and there.
+
+"Where have you been travelling?"
+
+"In B----."
+
+"Fine place.  Books sell well there?"
+
+"Very well; in fact, I sold out all my stock by noon yesterday."
+
+"How many books did you carry?"
+
+"Fifty."
+
+"You did well."
+
+"I should think you did!" added Annie, with an enthusiasm which quite
+upset all Bobby's assumed indifference.  "Fifty books!"
+
+"Yes, Miss Annie; and I have brought you a copy of the book I have been
+selling; I thought you would like to read it.  It is a splendid work,
+and will be _the_ book of the season."
+
+"I shall be delighted to read it," replied Annie, taking the proffered
+volume.  "It looks real good," she continued, as she turned over the
+leaves.
+
+"It is first rate; I have read it through."
+
+"It was very kind of you to think of me when you have so much business
+on your mind," added she, with a roguish smile.
+
+"I shall never have so much business on my mind that I cannot think of
+my friends," replied Bobby, so gallantly and so smartly that it
+astonished himself.
+
+"I was just thinking what I should read next; I am so glad you have
+come."
+
+"Never mind her, Bobby; all she wanted was the book," interposed Squire
+Lee, laughing.
+
+"Now, pa!"
+
+"Then I shall bring her one very often."
+
+"You are too bad, pa," said Annie, who, like most young ladies just
+entering their teens, resented any imputation upon the immaculateness
+of human love, or human friendship.
+
+"I have got a little money for you, Squire Lee," continued Bobby,
+thinking it time the subject was changed.
+
+He took out his gilded memorandum book, whose elegant appearance rather
+startled the squire, and from its "treasury department" extracted the
+little roll of bills, representing an aggregate of ten dollars which he
+had carefully reserved for his creditor.
+
+"Never mind that, Bobby," replied the squire.  "You will want all your
+capital to do business with."
+
+"I must pay my debts before I think of any thing else."
+
+"A very good plan, Bobby, but this is an exception to the general rule."
+
+"No, sir, I think not.  If you please, I insist upon paying you tea
+dollars on my note."
+
+"O, well, if you insist, I suppose I can't help myself."
+
+"I would rather pay it, I shall feel so much better."
+
+"You want to indorse it on the note, I suppose."
+
+That was just what Bobby wanted.  Indorsed on the note was the idea,
+and our hero had often passed that expression through his mind.  There
+was something gratifying in the act to a man of business integrity like
+himself; it was discharging a sacred obligation,--he had already come
+to deem it a sacred duty to pay one's debts,--and as the squire wrote
+the indorsement across the back of the note, he felt more like a hero
+than ever before.
+
+"'Pay as you go' is an excellent idea; John Randolph called it the
+philosopher's stone," added Squire Lee, as he returned the note to his
+pocket book.
+
+"That is what I mean to do just as soon as I can."
+
+"You will do, Bobby."
+
+The young merchant spent nearly the whole forenoon at the squire's, and
+declined an invitation to dinner only on the plea that his mother would
+wait for him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY DECLINES A COPARTNERSHIP AND VISITS B---- AGAIN.
+
+After dinner Bobby performed his Saturday afternoon chores as usual.
+He split wood enough to last for a week, so that his mother might not
+miss him too much, and then, feeling a desire to visit his favorite
+resorts in the vicinity, he concluded to go a fishing.  The day was
+favorable, the sky being overcast and the wind very light.  After
+digging a little box of worms in the garden back of the house, he
+shouldered his fish pole; and certainly no one would have suspected
+that he was a distinguished travelling merchant.  He was fond of
+fishing, and it is a remarkable coincidence that Daniel Webster, and
+many other famous men, have manifested a decided passion for this
+exciting sport.  No doubt a fondness for angling is a peculiarity of
+genius; and if being an expert fisherman makes a great man, then our
+hero was a great man.
+
+He had scarcely seated himself on his favorite rock, and dropped his
+line into the water, before he saw Tom Spicer approaching the spot.
+The bully had never been a welcome companion.  There was no sympathy
+between them.  They could never agree, for their views, opinions, and
+tastes were always conflicting.
+
+Bobby had not seen Tom since he left him to crawl out of the ditch on
+the preceding week, and he had good reason to believe that he should
+not be regarded with much favor.  Tom was malicious and revengeful, and
+our hero was satisfied that the blow which had prostrated him in the
+ditch would not be forgotten till it had been atoned for.  He was
+prepared, therefore, for any disagreeable scene which might occur.
+
+There was another circumstance also which rendered the bully's presence
+decidedly unpleasant at this time--an event that had occurred during
+his absence, the particulars of which he had received from his mother.
+
+Tom's father, who was a poor man, and addicted to intemperance, had
+lost ten dollars.  He had brought it home, and, as he affirmed, placed
+it in one of the bureau drawers.  The next day it could not be found.
+
+Spicer, for some reason, was satisfied that Tom had taken it; but the
+boy stoutly and persistently denied it.  No money was found upon him,
+however, and it did not appear that he had spent any at the stores in
+Riverdale Centre.
+
+The affair created some excitement in the vicinity, for Spicer made no
+secret of his suspicions, and publicly accused Tom of the theft.  He
+did not get much sympathy from any except his pot companions; for there
+was no evidence but his bare and unsupported statement to substantiate
+the grave accusation.  Tom had been in the room when the money was
+placed in the drawer, and, as his father asserted, had watched him
+closely while he deposited the bills under the clothing.  No one else
+could have taken it.  These were the proofs.  But people generally
+believed that Spicer had carried no money home, especially as it was
+known that he was intoxicated on the night in question; and that the
+alleged theft was only a ruse to satisfy certain importunate creditors.
+
+Every body knew that Tom was bad enough to steal, even from his father;
+from which my readers can understand that it is an excellent thing to
+have a good reputation.  Bobby knew that he would lie and use profane
+language; that he spent his Sundays by the river, or in roaming through
+the woods; and that he played truant from school as often as the fear
+of the rod would permit; and the boy that would do all these things
+certainty would steal if he got a good chance.  Our hero's judgment,
+therefore, of the case was not favorable to the bully, and he would
+have thanked him to stay away from the river while he was there.
+
+"Hallo, Bob!  How are you?" shouted Tom, when he had come within
+hailing distance.
+
+"Very well," replied Bobby, rather coolly.
+
+"Been to Boston, they say."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, how did you like it?" continued Tom as he seated himself on the
+rock near our hero.
+
+"First rate."
+
+"Been to work there?"
+
+"No."
+
+"What have you been doing?"
+
+"Travelling about."
+
+"What doing?"
+
+"Selling books."
+
+"Was you, though?  Did you sell any?"
+
+"Yes, a few."
+
+"How many?"
+
+"O, about fifty."
+
+"You didn't, though--did you?  How much did you make?"
+
+"About fifteen dollars."
+
+"By Jolly!  You are a smart one, Bobby.  There are not many fellows
+that would have done that."
+
+"Easy enough," replied Bobby, who was not a little surprised at this
+warm commendation from one whom he regarded as his enemy.
+
+"Yon had to buy the books first--didn't you?" asked Tom, who began to
+manifest a deep interest in the trade.
+
+"Of course; no one will give you the books."
+
+"What do you pay for them?"
+
+"I buy them so as to make a profit on them," answered Bobby, who, like
+a discreet merchant, was not disposed to be too communicative.
+
+"That business would suit me first rate."
+
+"It is pretty hard work."
+
+"I don't care for that.  Don't you believe I could do something in this
+line?"
+
+"I don't know; perhaps you could."
+
+"Why not, as well as you?"
+
+This was a hard question; and, as Bobby did not wish to be uncivil, he
+talked about a big pout he hauled in at that moment, instead of
+answering it.  He was politic, and deprecated the anger of the bully;
+so, though Tom plied him pretty hard, he did not receive much
+satisfaction.
+
+"You see, Tom," said he, when he found that his companion insisted upon
+knowing the cost of the books, "this is a publisher's secret; and I
+dare say they would not wish every one to know the cost of books.  We
+sell them for a dollar apiece."
+
+"Humph!  You needn't be so close about it.  I'll bet I can find out."
+
+"I have no doubt you can; only, you see, I don't want to tell what I am
+not sure they would be willing I should tell."
+
+Tom took a slate pencil from his pocket, and commenced ciphering on the
+smooth rock upon which he sat.
+
+"You say you sold fifty books?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well; if you made fifteen dollars out of fifty, that is thirty cents
+apiece."
+
+Bobby was a little mortified when he perceived that he had unwittingly
+exposed the momentous secret.  He had not given Tom credit for so much
+sagacity as he had displayed in his inquiries; and as he had fairly
+reached his conclusion, he was willing he should have the benefit of it.
+
+"You sold them at a dollar apiece.  Thirty from a hundred leaves
+seventy.  They cost you seventy cents each--didn't they?"
+
+"Sixty-seven," replied Bobby, yielding the point.
+
+"Enough said, Bob; I am going into that business, any how."
+
+"I am willing."
+
+"Of course you are; suppose we go together," suggested Tom, who had not
+used all this conciliation without having a purpose in view.
+
+"We could do nothing together."
+
+"I should like to get out with you just once, only to see how it is
+done."
+
+"You can find out for yourself, as I did."
+
+"Don't be mean, Bob."
+
+"Mean?  I am not mean."
+
+"I don't say you are.  We have always been good friends, you know."
+
+Bobby did not know it; so he looked at the other with a smile which
+expressed all he meant to say.
+
+"You hit me a smart dig the other day, I know; but I don't mind that.
+I was in the wrong then, and I am willing to own it," continued Tom,
+with an appearance of humility.
+
+This was an immense concession for Tom to make, and Bobby was duly
+affected by it.  Probably it was the first time the bully had ever
+owned he was in the wrong.
+
+"The fact is, Bob, I always liked you; and you know I licked Ben Dowse
+for you."
+
+"That was two for yourself and one for me; besides, I didn't want Ben
+thrashed."
+
+"But he deserved it.  Didn't he tell the master you were whispering in
+school?"
+
+"I was whispering; so he told the truth."
+
+"It was mean to blow on a fellow, though."
+
+"The master asked him if I whispered to him; of course he ought not to
+lie about it.  But he told of you at the same time."
+
+"I know it; but I wouldn't have licked him on my own account."
+
+"_Perhaps_ you wouldn't."
+
+"I know I wouldn't.  But, I say, Bobby, where do you buy your books?"
+
+"At Mr. Bayard's, in Washington Street."
+
+"He will sell them to me at the same price, won't he?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+"When are you going again?"
+
+"Monday."
+
+"Won't you let me go with you, Bob?"
+
+"Let you?  Of course you can go where you please; it is none of my
+business."
+
+Bobby did not like the idea of having such a co-partner as Tom Spicer,
+and he did not like to tell him so.  If he did, he would have to give
+his reasons for declining the proposition, and that would make Tom mad,
+and perhaps provoke him to quarrel.
+
+The fish bit well, and in an hour's time Bobby had a mess.  As he took
+his basket and walked home, the young ruffian followed him.  He could
+not get rid of him till he reached the gate in front of the little
+black house; and even there Tom begged him to stop a few moments.  Our
+hero was in a hurry, and in the easiest manner possible got rid of this
+aspirant for mercantile honors.
+
+We have no doubt a journal of Bobby's daily life would be very
+interesting to our young readers; but the fact that some of his most
+stirring adventures are yet to be related admonishes us to hasten
+forward more rapidly.
+
+On Monday morning Bobby bade adieu to his mother again, and started for
+Boston.  He fully expected to encounter Tom on the way, who, he was
+afraid, would persist in accompanying him on his tour.  As before, he
+stopped at Squire Lee's to bid him and Annie good by.
+
+The little maiden had read "The Wayfarer" more than half through, and
+was very enthusiastic in her expression of the pleasure she derived
+from it.  She promised to send it over to his house when she had
+finished it, and hoped he would bring his stock to Riverdale, so that
+she might again replenish her library.  Bobby thought of something just
+then, and the thought brought forth a harvest on the following
+Saturday, when he returned.
+
+"When he had shaken bands with the squire and was about to depart, he
+received a piece of news which gave him food for an hour's serious
+reflection.
+
+"Did you hear about Tom Spicer?" asked Squire Lee.
+
+"No, sir; what about him?"
+
+"Broken his arm."
+
+"Broken his arm!  Gracious!  How did it happen?" exclaimed Bobby, the
+more astonished because he had been thinking of Tom since he had left
+home.
+
+"He was out in the woods yesterday, where boys should not be on
+Sundays, and, in climbing a tree after a bird's nest, he fell to the
+ground."
+
+"I am sorry for him," replied Bobby, musing.
+
+"So am I; but if he had been at home, or at church, where he should
+have been, it would not have happened.  If I had any boys, I would lock
+them up in their chambers if I could not keep them at home Sundays."
+
+"Poor Tom!" mused Bobby, recalling the conversation he had had with him
+on Saturday, and then wishing that he had been a little more pliant
+with him.
+
+"It is too bad; but I must say I am more sorry for his poor mother than
+I am for him," added the squire.  "However, I hope it will do him good,
+and be a lesson he will remember as long as he lives."
+
+Bobby bade the squire and Annie adieu again, and resumed his journey
+towards the railroad station.  His thoughts were busy with Tom Spicer's
+case.  The reason why he had not joined him, as he expected and feared
+he would, was now apparent.  He pitied him, for he realized that he
+must endure a great deal of pain before he could again go out; but he
+finally dismissed the matter with the squire's sage reflection, that he
+hoped the calamity would be a good lesson to him.
+
+The young merchant did not walk to Boston this time, for he had come to
+the conclusion that, in the six hours it would take him to travel to
+the city on foot, the profit on the books he could sell would be more
+than enough to pay his fare, to say nothing of the fatigue and the
+expense of shoe leather.
+
+Before noon he was at B---- again, as busy as ever in driving his
+business.  The experience of the former week was of great value to him.
+He visited people belonging to all spheres in society, and, though he
+was occasionally repulsed or treated with incivility, he was not
+conscious in a single instance of offending any person's sense of
+propriety.
+
+He was not as fortunate as during the previous week, and it was
+Saturday noon before he had sold out the sixty books he carried with
+him.  The net profit for this week was fourteen dollars, with which he
+was abundantly pleased.
+
+Mr. Bayard again commended him in the warmest terms for his zeal and
+promptness.  Mr. Timmins was even more civil than the last time, and
+when Bobby asked the price of Moore's Poems, he actually offered to
+sell it to him for thirty-three per cent. less than the retail price.
+The little merchant, was on the point of purchasing it, when Mr. Bayard
+inquired what he wanted.
+
+"I am going to buy this book," replied Bobby.
+
+"Moore's Poems?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+Mr. Bayard took from a glass case an elegantly bound copy of the same
+work--morocco, full gilt--and handed it to our hero.
+
+"I shall make you a present of this.  Are you an admirer of Moore?"
+
+"No, sir; not exactly--that is, I don't know much about it; but Annie
+Lee does, and I want to get the book for her."
+
+Bobby's checks reddened as he turned the leaves of the beautiful
+volume, putting his head down to the page to hide his confusion.
+
+"Annie Lee?" said Mr. Bayard with a quizzing smile.  "I see how it is.
+Rather young, Bobby."
+
+"Her father has been very good to me and to my mother; and so has
+Annie, for that matter.  Squire Lee would be a great deal more pleased
+if I should make Annie a present than if I made him one.  I feel
+grateful to him, and I want to let it out some how."
+
+"That's right, Bobby; always remember your friends.  Timmins, wrap up
+this book."
+
+Bobby protested with all his might; but the bookseller insisted that he
+should give Annie this beautiful edition, and he was obliged to yield
+the point.
+
+That evening he was at the little black house again, and his mother
+examined his ledger with a great deal of pride and satisfaction.  That
+evening, too, another ten dollars was indorsed on the note, and Annie
+received that elegant copy of Moore's Poems.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY'S AIR CASTLE IS UPSET AND TOM SPICER TAKES TO THE WOODS.
+
+During the next four weeks Bobby visited various places in the vicinity
+of Boston; and at the end of that time he had paid the whole of the
+debt he owed Squire Lee.  He had the note in his memorandum book, and
+the fact that he had achieved his first great purpose afforded him much
+satisfaction.  Now he owed no man any thing, and he felt as though he
+could hold up his head among the best people in the world.
+
+The little black house was paid for, and Bobby was proud that his own
+exertions had released his mother from her obligation to her hard
+creditor.  Mr. Hardhand could no longer insult and abuse her.
+
+The apparent results which Bobby had accomplished; however, were as
+nothing compared with the real results.  He had developed those
+energies of character which were to make him, not only a great business
+man, but a useful member of society.  Besides, there was a moral
+grandeur in his humble achievements which was more worthy of
+consideration than the mere worldly success he had obtained.  Motives
+determine the character of deeds.  That a boy of thirteen should
+display so much enterprise and energy was a great thing; but that it
+should be displayed from pure, unselfish devotion to his mother was a
+vastly greater thing.  Many great achievements are morally
+insignificant, while many of which the world never hears mark the true
+hero.
+
+Our hero was not satisfied with what he had done, and far from
+relinquishing his interesting and profitable employment, his ambition
+suggested new and wider fields of success.  As one ideal, brilliant and
+glorious in its time, was reached, another more brilliant and more
+glorious presented itself, and demanded to be achieved.  The little
+black house began to appear rusty and inconvenient; a coat of white
+paint would marvellously improve its appearance; a set of nice
+Paris-green blinds would make a palace of it, and a neat fence around
+it would positively transform the place into a paradise.  Yet Bobby was
+audacious enough to think of these things, and even to promise himself
+that they should be obtained.
+
+In conversation with Mr. Bayard a few days before, that gentleman had
+suggested a new field of labor; and it had been arranged that Bobby
+should visit the State of Maine the following week.  On the banks of
+the Kennebec were many wealthy and important towns, where the
+intelligence of the people created a demand for books.  This time the
+little merchant was to take two hundred books, and be absent until they
+were all sold.
+
+On Monday morning he started bright and early for the railroad station.
+As usual, he called upon Squire Lee, and informed Annie that he should
+probably be absent three or four weeks.  She hoped no accident would
+happen to him, and that his journey would be crowned with success.
+Without being sentimental, she was a little sad, for Bobby was a great
+friend of hers.  That elegant copy of Moore's Poems had been gratefully
+received, and she was so fond of the bard's beautiful and touching
+melodies that she could never read any of them without thinking of the
+brave little fellow who had given her the volume; which no one will
+consider very remarkable, even in a little miss of twelve.
+
+After he had bidden her and her father adieu, he resumed his journey.
+Of course he was thinking with all his might; but no one need suppose
+he was wondering how wide the Kennebec River was, or how many books he
+should sell in the towns upon its banks.  Nothing of the kind; though
+it is enough even for the inquisitive to know that he was thinking of
+something, and that his thoughts were very interesting, not to say
+romantic.
+
+"Hallo, Bob!" shouted some one from the road side.
+
+Bobby was provoked; for it is sometimes very uncomfortable to have a
+pleasant train of thought interrupted.  The imagination is buoyant,
+ethereal, and elevates poor mortals up to the stars sometimes.  It was
+so with Bobby.  He was building up some kind of an air castle, and had
+got up in the clouds amidst the fog and moonshine, and that aggravating
+voice brought him down, _slap_, upon terra firma.
+
+He looked up and saw Tom Spicer seated upon the fence.  In his hand he
+held a bundle, and had evidently been waiting some time for Bobby's
+coming.
+
+He had recovered from the illness caused by his broken arm, and people
+said it had been a good lesson for him, as the squire hoped it would
+be.  Bobby had called upon him two or three times during his
+confinement to the house; and Tom, either truly repentant for his past
+errors, or lacking the opportunity at that time to manifest his evil
+propensities, had stoutly protested that he had "turned over a new
+leaf," and meant to keep out of the woods on Sunday, stop lying and
+swearing, and become a good boy.
+
+Bobby commended his good resolutions, and told him he would never want
+friends while he was true to himself.  The right side, he declared, was
+always the best side.  He quoted several instances of men, whose lives
+he had read in his Sunday school books, to show how happy a good man
+may be in prison, or when all the world seemed to forsake him.
+
+Tom assured him that he meant to reform and be a good boy; and Bobby
+told him that when any one meant to turn over a new leaf, it was "now
+or never."  If he put it off, he would only grow worse, and the longer
+the good work was delayed, the more difficult it would be to do it.
+Tom agreed to all this, and was sure he had reformed.
+
+For these reasons Bobby had come to regard Tom with a feeling of deep
+interest.  He considered him as, in some measure, his disciple, and he
+felt a personal responsibility in encouraging him to persevere in his
+good work.  Nevertheless Bobby was not exactly pleased to have his fine
+air castle upset, and to be tipped out of the clouds upon the cold,
+uncompromising earth again; so the first greeting he gave Tom was not
+as cordial as it might have been.
+
+"Hallo, Tom!" he replied, rather coolly.
+
+"Been waiting for you this half hour."
+
+"Have you?"
+
+"Yes; ain't you rather late?"
+
+"No; I have plenty of time, though none to spare," answered Bobby; and
+this was a hint that he must not detain him too long.
+
+"Come along then."
+
+"Where are you going, Tom?" asked Bobby, a little surprised at these
+words.
+
+"To Boston."
+
+"Are you?"
+
+"I am; that's a fact.  You know I spoke to you about going into the
+book business."
+
+"Not lately."
+
+"But I have been thinking about it all the time."
+
+"What do your father and mother say?"
+
+"O, they are all right."
+
+"Have you asked them?"
+
+"Certainly I have; they are willing I should go with _you_."
+
+"Why didn't you speak of it then?"
+
+"I thought I wouldn't say any thing till the time came.  You know you
+fought shy when I spoke about it before."
+
+And Bobby, notwithstanding the interest he felt in his companion, was a
+little disposed to "fight shy" now.  Tom had reformed, or had pretended
+to do so; but he was still a raw recruit, and our hero was somewhat
+fearful that he would run at the first fire.
+
+To the good and true man life is a constant battle.  Temptation assails
+him at almost every point; perils and snares beset him at every step of
+his mortal pilgrimage, so that every day he is called upon to gird on
+his armor and fight the good fight.
+
+Bobby was no poet; but he had a good idea of this every-day strife with
+the foes of error and sin that crossed his path.  It was a practical
+conception, but it was truly expressed under the similitude of a
+battle.  There was to be resistance, and he could comprehend that, for
+his bump of combativeness took cognizance of the suggestion.  He was to
+fight; and that was an idea that stood him in better stead than a whole
+library of ethical subtleties.
+
+Judging Tom by his own standard, he was afraid he would run--that he
+wouldn't "stand fire."  He had not been drilled.  Heretofore, when
+temptation beset him, he had yielded without even a struggle, and fled
+from the field without firing a gun.  To go out into the great world
+was a trying event for the raw recruit.  He lacked, too, that prestige
+of success which is worth more than numbers, on the field of battle.
+
+Tom had chosen for himself, and he could not send him back.  He had
+taken up the line of march, let it lead him where it might.
+
+  "March on! in legions death and sin
+    Impatient wait thy conquering hand;
+  The foe without, the foe within--
+    Thy youthful arm must both withstand."
+
+Bobby had great hopes of him.  He felt that he could not well get rid
+of him, and he saw that it was policy for him to make the best of it.
+
+"Well, Tom, where are you going?" asked Bobby, after he had made up his
+mind not to object to the companionship of the other.
+
+"I don't know.  You have been a good friend to me lately, and I had an
+idea that you would give me a lift in this business."
+
+"I should be very willing to do so: but what can I do for you?"
+
+"Just show me how the business is done; that's all I want."
+
+"Your father and mother were willing you should come--were they not?"
+
+Bobby had some doubts about this point, and with good reason too.  He
+had called at Tom's house, the day before, and they had gone to church
+together; but neither he nor his parents had said a word about his
+going to Boston.
+
+"When did they agree to it?"
+
+"Last night," replied Tom, after a moment's hesitation.
+
+"All right then; but I cannot promise you that Mr. Bayard will let you
+have the books."
+
+"I can fix that, I reckon," replied Tom, confidently.
+
+"I will speak a good word for you, at any rate."
+
+"That's right, Bob."
+
+"I am going down into the State of Maine this time, and shall be gone
+three or four weeks."
+
+"So much the better; I always wanted to go down that way."
+
+Tom asked a great many questions about the business and the method of
+travelling, which Bobby's superior intelligence and more extensive
+experience enabled him to answer to the entire satisfaction of the
+other.
+
+When they were within half a mile of the railroad station, they heard a
+carriage driven at a rapid rate approaching them from the direction of
+Riverdale.
+
+Tom seemed to be uneasy, and cast frequent glances behind him.  In a
+moment the vehicle was within a short distance of them, and he stopped
+short in the road to scrutinize the persons in it.
+
+"By jolly!" exclaimed Tom; "my father!"
+
+"What of it?" asked Bobby, surprised by the strange behavior of his
+companion.
+
+Tom did not wait to reply, but springing over the fence, fled like a
+deer towards some woods a short distance from the road.
+
+Was it possible?  Tom had run away from home.  His father had not
+consented to his going to Boston, and Bobby was mortified to find that
+his hopeful disciple had been lying to him ever since they left
+Riverdale.  But he was glad the cheat had been exposed.
+
+"That was Tom with you--wasn't it?" asked Mr. Spicer, as he stopped the
+foaming horse.
+
+"Yes, sir; but he told me you had consented that he should go with me,"
+replied Bobby, a little disturbed by the angry glance of Mr. Spicer's
+fiery eyes.
+
+"He lied! the young villain!  He will catch it for this."
+
+"I would not have let him come with me only for that.  I asked him
+twice over if you were willing, and he said you were."
+
+"You ought to have known better than to believe him," interposed the
+man who was with Mr. Spicer.
+
+Bobby had some reason for believing him.  The fact that Tom had
+reformed ought to have entitled him to some consideration, and our hero
+gave him the full benefit of the declaration.  To have explained this
+would have taken more time than he could spare; besides, it was "a
+great moral question," whose importance Mr. Spicer and his companion
+would not be likely to apprehend; so he made a short story of it, and
+resumed his walk, thankful that he had got rid of Tom.
+
+Mr. Spicer and his friend, after fastening the horse to the fence, went
+to the woods in search of Tom.
+
+Bobby reached the station just in time to take the cars, and in a
+moment was on his way to the city.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY GETS INTO A SCRAPE, AND TOM SPICER TURNS UP AGAIN.
+
+Bobby had a poorer opinion of human nature than ever before.  It seemed
+almost incredible to him that words so fairly spoken as those of Tom
+Spicer could be false.  He had just risen from a sick bed, where he had
+had an opportunity for long and serious reflection.  Tom had promised
+fairly, and Bobby had every reason to suppose he intended to be a good
+boy.  But his promises had been lies.  He had never intended to reform,
+at least not since he had got off his bed of pain.  He was mortified
+and disheartened at the failure of this attempt to restore him to
+himself.
+
+Like a great many older and wiser persons than himself, he was prone to
+judge the whole human family by a single individual.  He did not come
+to believe that every man was a rascal, but, in more general terms,
+that there is a great deal more rascality in this world than one would
+be willing to believe.
+
+With this sage reflection, he dismissed Tom from his mind, which very
+naturally turned again to the air castle which had been so ruthlessly
+upset.  Then his opinion of "the rest of mankind" was reversed; and he
+reflected that if the world were only peopled by angels like Annie Lee,
+what a pleasant place it would be to live in.  She could not tell a
+lie, she could not use bad language, she could not steal, or do any
+thing else that was bad; and the prospect was decidedly pleasant.  It
+was very agreeable to turn from Tom to Annie, and in a moment his air
+castle was built again, and throned on clouds of gold and purple.  I do
+not know what impossible things he imagined, or how far up in the
+clouds, he would have gone, if the arrival of the train at the city had
+not interrupted his thoughts, and pitched him down upon the earth again.
+
+Bobby was not one of that impracticable class of persons who do nothing
+but dream; for he felt that he had a mission, to perform which dreaming
+could not accomplish.  However pleasant it may be to think of the great
+and brilliant things which one _will_ do, to one of Bobby's practical
+character it was even more pleasant to perform them.  We all dream
+great things, imagine great things; but he who stops there does not
+amount to much, and the world can well spare him, for he is nothing but
+a drone in the hive.  Bobby's fine imaginings were pretty sure to bring
+out "now or never," which was the pledge of action, and the work was as
+good as done when he had said it.
+
+Therefore, when the train arrived, Bobby did not stop to dream any
+longer.  He forgot his beautiful air castle, and even let Annie Lee
+slip from his mind for the time being.  Those towns upon the Kennebec,
+the two hundred books he was to sell, loomed up before him, for it was
+with them he had to do.
+
+Grasping the little valise he carried with him, he was hastening out of
+the station house when a hand was placed upon his shoulder.
+
+"Got off slick--didn't I?" said Tom Spicer, placing himself by Bobby's
+side.
+
+"You here, Tom!" exclaimed our hero, gazing with astonishment at his
+late companion.
+
+It was not an agreeable encounter, and from the bottom of his heart
+Bobby wished him any where but where he was.  He foresaw that he could
+not easily get rid of him.
+
+"I am here," replied Tom.  "I ran through the woods to the depot, and
+got aboard the cars just as they were starting.  The old man couldn't
+come it over me quite so slick as that."
+
+"But you ran away from home."
+
+"Well, what of it?"
+
+"A good deal, I should say."
+
+"If you had been in my place, you would have done the same."
+
+"I don't know about that; obedience to parents is one of our first
+duties."
+
+"I know that; and if I had had any sort of fair play, I wouldn't have
+run away."
+
+"What do you mean by that?" asked Bobby, somewhat surprised, though he
+had a faint idea of the meaning of the other.
+
+"I will tell you all about it by and by.  I give you my word and honor
+that I will make every thing satisfactory to you."
+
+"But you lied to me on the road this morning."
+
+Tom winced; under ordinary circumstances he would have resented such a
+remark by "clearing away" for a fight.  But he had a purpose to
+accomplish, and he knew the character of him with whom he had to deal.
+
+"I am sorry I did, now," answered Tom, with every manifestation of
+penitence for his fault.  "I didn't want to lie to you; and it went
+against my conscience to do so.  But I was afraid, if I told you my
+father refused, up and down, to let me go, that you wouldn't be willing
+I should come with you."
+
+"I shall not be any more willing now I know all about it," added Bobby,
+in an uncompromising tone.
+
+"Wait till you have heard my story, and then you won't blame me."
+
+"Of course you can go where you please; it is none of my business; but
+let me tell you, Tom, in the beginning, that I won't go with a fellow
+who has run away from his father and mother."
+
+"Pooh!  What's the use of talking in that way?"
+
+Tom was evidently disconcerted by this decided stand of his companion.
+He knew that his bump of firmness was well developed, and whatever he
+said he meant.
+
+"You had better return home, Tom.  Boys that run away from home don't
+often amount to much.  Take my advice, and go home," added Bobby.
+
+"To such a home as mine!" said Tom, gloomily.  "If I had such a home as
+yours, I would not have left it."
+
+Bobby got a further idea from this remark of the true state of the
+case, and the consideration moved him.  Tom's father was a notoriously
+intemperate man, and the boy had nothing to hope for from his precept
+or his example.  He was the child of a drunkard, and as much to be
+pitied as blamed for his vices.  His home was not pleasant.  He who
+presided over it, and who should have made a paradise of it, was its
+evil genius, a demon of wickedness, who blasted its flowers as fast as
+they bloomed.
+
+Tom had seemed truly penitent both during his illness and since his
+recovery.  His one great desire now was to get away from home, for home
+to him was a place of torment.  Bobby suspected all this, and in his
+great heart he pitied his companion.  He did not know what to do.
+
+"I am sorry for you, Tom," said he, after he had considered the matter
+in this new light; "but I don't see what I can do for you.  I doubt
+whether it would be right for me to help you run away from your
+parents."
+
+"I don't want you to help me run away.  I have done that already."
+
+"But if I let you go with me, it will be just the same thing.  Besides,
+since you told me those lies this morning, I haven't much confidence in
+you."
+
+"I couldn't help that."
+
+"Yes, you could.  Couldn't help lying?"
+
+"What could I do?  You would have gone right back and told my father."
+
+"Well, we will go up to Mr. Bayard's store, and then we will see what
+can be done."
+
+"I couldn't stay at home, sure," continued Tom, as they walked along
+together.  "My father even talked of binding me out to a trade."
+
+"Did he?"
+
+Bobby stopped short in the street; for it was evident that, as this
+would remove him from his unhappy home, and thus effect all he
+professed to desire, he had some other purpose in view.
+
+"What are you stopping for, Bob?"
+
+"I think you better go back, Tom."
+
+"Not I; I won't do that, whatever happens."
+
+"If your father will put you to a trade, what more do you want?"
+
+"I won't go to a trade, any how."
+
+Bobby said no more, but determined to consult with Mr. Bayard about the
+matter; and Tom was soon too busily engaged in observing the strange
+sights and sounds of the city to think of any thing else.
+
+When they reached the store, Bobby went into Mr. Bayard's private
+office and told him all about the affair.  The bookseller decided that
+Tom had run away more to avoid being bound to a trade than because his
+home was unpleasant; and this decision seemed to Bobby all the more
+just because he knew that Tom's mother, though a drunkard's wife, was a
+very good woman.  Mr. Bayard further decided that Bobby ought not to
+permit the runaway to be the companion of his journey.  He also
+considered it his duty to write to Mr. Spicer, informing him of his
+son's arrival in the city, and clearing Bobby from any agency in his
+escape.
+
+While Mr. Bayard was writing the letter, Bobby went out to give Tom the
+result of the consultation.  The runaway received it with a great show
+of emotion, and begged and pleaded to have the decision reversed.  But
+Bobby, though he would gladly have done any thing for him which was
+consistent with his duty, was firm as a rock, and positively refused,
+to have any thing to do with him until he obtained his father's
+consent; or, if there was any such trouble as he asserted, his mother's
+consent.
+
+Tom left the store, apparently "more in sorrow than in anger."  His
+bullying nature seemed to be cast out, and Bobby could not but feel
+sorry for him.  Duty was imperative, as it always is, and it must be
+done "now or never."
+
+During the day the little merchant attended to the packing of his
+stock, and to such other preparations as were required for his journey.
+He must take the steamer that evening for Bath, and when the time for
+his departure arrived, he was attended to the wharf by Mr. Bayard and
+Ellen, with whom he had passed the afternoon.  The bookseller assisted
+him in procuring his ticket and berth, and gave him such instructions
+as his inexperience demanded.
+
+The last bell rang, the fasts were cast off, and the great wheels of
+the steamer began to turn.  Our hero, who had never been on the water
+in a steamboat, or indeed any thing bigger than a punt on the river at
+home, was much interested and excited by his novel position.  He seated
+himself on the promenade deck, and watched with wonder the boiling,
+surging waters astern of the steamer.
+
+How powerful is man, the author of that mighty machine that bore him so
+swiftly over the deep blue waters!  Bobby was a little philosopher, as
+we have before had occasion to remark, and he was decidedly of the
+opinion that the steamboat was a great institution.  When he had in
+some measure conquered his amazement, and the first ideas of sublimity
+which the steamer and the sea were calculated to excite in a poetical
+imagination, he walked forward to take a closer survey of the
+machinery.  After all, there was something rather comical in the
+affair.  The steam hissed and sputtered, and the great walking beam
+kept flying up and down; and the sum total of Bobby's philosophy was,
+that it was funny these things should make the boat go so like a race
+horse over the water.
+
+Then he took a look into the pilot house, and it seemed more funny that
+turning that big wheel should steer the boat.  But the wind blew rather
+fresh at the forward part of the boat, and as Bobby's philosophy was
+not proof against it, he returned to the promenade deck, which was
+sheltered from the severity of the blast.  He had got reconciled to the
+whole thing, and ceased to bother his head about the big wheel, the
+sputtering steam, and the walking beam; so he seated himself, and began
+to wonder what all the people in Riverdale were about.
+
+"All them as hasn't paid their fare, please walk up to the cap'n's
+office and s-e-t-t-l-e!" shouted a colored boy, presenting himself just
+then, and furiously ringing a large hand bell.
+
+"I have just settled," said Bobby, alluding to his comfortable seat.
+
+But the allusion was so indefinite to the colored boy that he thought
+himself insulted.  He did not appear to be a very amiable boy, for his
+fist was doubled up, and with sundry big oaths, he threatened to
+annihilate the little merchant for his insolence.
+
+"I didn't say any thing that need offend you," replied Bobby.  "I meant
+nothing."
+
+"You lie!  You did!"
+
+He was on the point of administering a blow with his fist, when a third
+party appeared on the ground, and without waiting to hear the merits of
+the case, struck the negro a blow which had nearly floored him.
+
+Some of the passengers now interfered, and the colored boy was
+prevented from executing vengeance on the assailant.
+
+"Strike that fellow and you strike me!" said he who had struck the blow.
+
+"Tom Spicer!" exclaimed Bobby, astonished and chagrined at the presence
+of the runaway.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY FINDS "IT IS AN ILL WIND THAT BLOWS NO ONE ANY GOOD."
+
+A gentleman, who was sitting near Bobby when he made the remark which
+the colored boy had misunderstood, interfered to free him from blame,
+and probably all unpleasant feelings might have been saved, if Tom's
+zeal had been properly directed.  As it was, the waiter retired with
+his bell, vowing vengeance upon his assailant.
+
+"How came you here, Tom?" asked Bobby, when the excitement had subsided.
+
+"You don't get rid of me so easily," replied Tom, laughing.
+
+Bobby called to mind the old adage that "a had penny is sure to
+return;" and, if it had not been a very uncivil remark, he would have
+said it.
+
+"I didn't expect to see you again at present," he observed, hardly
+knowing what to say or do.
+
+"I suppose not; but as I didn't mean you should expect me, I kept out
+of sight.  Only for that darkey you wouldn't have found me out so soon.
+I like you, Bob, in spite of all you have done to get rid of me, and I
+wasn't a going to let the darkey thrash you."
+
+"You only made matters worse."
+
+"That is all the thanks I get for hitting him for you."
+
+"I am sorry you hit him, at the same time I suppose you meant to do me
+a service, and I thank you, not for the blow you struck the black boy,
+but for your good intentions."
+
+"That sounds better.  I meant well, Bob."
+
+"I dare say you did.  But how came you here?"
+
+"Why, you see, I was bound to go with you any how or at least to keep
+within hail of you.  You told me, you know, that you were going in the
+steamboat; and after I left the shop, what should I see but a big
+picture of a steamboat on a wall.  It said, 'Bath, Gardiner, and
+Hallowell,' on the bill; and I knew that was where you meant to go.  So
+this afternoon I hunts round and finds the steamboat.  I thought I
+never should have found it, but here I am."
+
+"What are you going to do?"
+
+"Going into the book business," replied Tom, with a smile.
+
+"Where are your books?"
+
+"Down stairs, in the cellar of the steamboat, or whatever you call it."
+
+"Where did you get them?"
+
+"Bought 'em, of course."
+
+"Did you?  Where?"
+
+"Well, I don't remember the name of the street now.  I could go right
+there if I was in the city, though."
+
+"Would they trust you?"
+
+Tom hesitated.  The lies he had told that morning had done him no
+good--had rather injured his cause; and, though he had no principle
+that forbade lying, he questioned its policy in the present instance.
+
+"I paid part down, and they trusted me part."
+
+"How many books you got?"
+
+"Twenty dollars worth.  I paid eight dollars down."
+
+"You did?  Where did you get the eight dollars?"
+
+Bobby remembered the money Tom's father had lost several weeks before,
+and immediately connected that circumstance with his present ability to
+pay so large a sum.
+
+Tom hesitated again, but he was never at a loss for an answer.
+
+"My mother gave it to me."
+
+"Your mother?"
+
+"Yes, _sir_!" replied Tom, boldly, and in that peculiarly bluff manner
+which is almost always good evidence that the boy is lying.
+
+"But you ran away from home."
+
+"That's so; but my mother knew I was coming."
+
+"Did she?"
+
+"To be sure she did."
+
+"You didn't say so before."
+
+"I can't tell all I know in a minute."
+
+"If I thought your mother consented to your coming, I wouldn't say
+another word."
+
+"Well, she did; you may bet your life on that."
+
+"And your mother gave you ten dollars?"
+
+"Who said she gave me ten dollars?" asked Tom a little sharply.
+
+That was just the sum his father had lost, and Bobby had unwittingly
+hinted his suspicion.
+
+"You must have had as much as that if you paid eight on your books.
+Your fare to Boston and your steamboat fare must be two dollars more."
+
+"I know that; but look here, Bob;" and Tom took from his pocket five
+half dollars and exhibited them to his companion.  "She gave me
+thirteen dollars."
+
+Notwithstanding this argument, Bobby felt almost sure that the lost ten
+dollars was a part of his capital.
+
+"I will tell you my story now, Bob, if you like.  You condemned me
+without a hearing, as Jim Guthrie said when they sent him to the House
+of Correction for getting drunk."
+
+"Go ahead."
+
+The substance of Tom's story was, that his father drank so hard, and
+was such a tyrant in the house, that he could endure it no longer.  His
+father and mother did not agree, as any one might have suspected.  His
+mother, encouraged by the success of Bobby, thought that Tom might do
+something of the kind, and she had provided him the money to buy his
+stock of books.
+
+Bobby had not much confidence in this story.  He had been deceived
+once; besides, it was not consistent with his previous narrative, and
+he had not before hinted that he had obtained his mother's consent.
+But Tom was eloquent, and protested that he had reformed, and meant to
+do well.  He declared, by all that was good and great, Bobby should
+never have reason to be ashamed of him.
+
+Our little merchant was troubled.  He could not now get rid of Tom
+without actually quarrelling with him, or running away from him.  He
+did not wish to do the former, and it was not an easy matter to do the
+latter.  Besides, there was hope that the runaway would do well; and if
+he did, when he carried the profits of his trade home, his father would
+forgive him.  One thing was certain, if he returned to Riverdale he
+would be what he had been before.
+
+For these reasons Bobby finally, but very reluctantly, consented that
+Tom should remain with him, resolving, however, that, if he did not
+behave himself, he would leave him at once.
+
+Before morning he had another reason.  When the steamer got out into
+the open bay, Bobby was seasick.  He retired to his berth with a
+dreadful headache; as he described it afterwards, it seemed just as
+though that great walking beam was smashing up and down right in the
+midst of his brains.  He had never felt so ill before in his life, and
+was very sure, in his inexperience, that something worse than mere
+seasickness ailed him.
+
+He told Tom, who was not in the least affected, how he felt; whereupon
+the runaway blustered round, got the steward and the captain into the
+cabin, and was very sure that Bobby would die before morning, if we may
+judge by the fuss he made.
+
+The captain was angry at being called from the pilot house for nothing,
+and threatened to throw Tom overboard if he didn't stop his noise.  The
+steward, however, was a kind-hearted man, and assured Bobby that
+passengers were often a great deal sicker than he was; but he promised
+to do something for his relief, and Tom went with him to his state room
+for the desired remedy.
+
+The potion was nothing more nor less than a table spoonful of brandy,
+which Bobby, who had conscientious scruples about drinking ardent
+spirits, at first refused to take.  Then Tom argued the point, and the
+sick boy yielded.  The dose made him sicker yet, and nature came to his
+relief, and in a little while he felt better.
+
+Tom behaved like a good nurse; he staid by his friend till he went to
+sleep, and then "turned in" upon a settee beneath his berth.  The boat
+pitched and tumbled about so in the heavy sea that Bobby did not sleep
+long, and when he woke he found Tom ready to assist him.  But our hero
+felt better, and entreated Tom to go to sleep again.  He made the best
+of his unpleasant situation.  Sleep was not to be wooed, and he tried
+to pass away the dreary hours in thinking of Riverdale and the dear
+ones there.  His mother was asleep, and Annie was asleep; and that was
+about all the excitement he could get up even on the home question.  He
+could not build castles in the air, for seasickness and castle building
+do not agree.  The gold and purple clouds would be black in spite of
+him, and the aerial structure he essayed to build would pitch and
+tumble about, for all the world, just like a steamboat in a heavy sea.
+As often as he got fairly into it, he was violently rolled out, and in
+a twinkling found himself in his narrow berth, awfully seasick.
+
+He went to sleep again at last, and the long night passed away.  When
+he woke in the morning, he felt tolerably well, and was thankful that
+he had got out of that scrape.  But before he could dress himself, he
+heard a terrible racket on deck.  The steam whistle was shrieking, the
+bell was banging, and he heard the hoarse bellowing of the captain.  It
+was certain that something had happened, or was about to happen.
+
+Then the boat stopped, rolling heavily in the sea.  Tom was  not there;
+he had gone on deck.  Bobby was beginning to consider what a dreadful
+thing a wreck was, when Tom appeared.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Bobby, with some appearance of alarm.
+
+"Fog," replied Tom.  "It is so thick you can cut it with a hatchet."
+
+"Is that all?"
+
+"That's enough.'
+
+"Where are we?"
+
+"That is just what the pilot would like to know.  They can't see ahead
+a bit, and don't know where we are."
+
+Bobby went on deck.  The ocean rolled beneath them, but there was
+nothing but fog to be seen above and around them.  The lead was heaved
+every few moments, and the steamer crept slowly along till it was found
+the water shoaled rapidly, when the captain ordered the men to let go
+the anchor.
+
+There they were; the fog was as obstinate as a mule, and would not
+"lift."  Hour after hour they waited, for the captain was a prudent
+man, and would not risk the life of those on board to save a few hours'
+time.  After breakfast, the passengers began to display their
+uneasiness, and some of them called the captain very hard names,
+because he would not go on.  Almost every body grumbled, and made
+themselves miserable.
+
+"Nothing to do and nothing to read," growled a nicely-dressed
+gentleman, as he yawned and stretched himself to manifest his sensation
+of ennui.
+
+"Nothing to read, eh?" thought Bobby.  "We will soon supply that want."
+
+Calling Tom, they went down to the main deck, where the baggage had
+been placed.
+
+"Now's our time," said he, as he proceeded to unlock one of the trunks
+that contained his books.  "Now or never."
+
+"I am with you," replied Tom, catching the idea.
+
+The books of the latter were in a box, and he was obliged to get a
+hammer to open it; but with Bobby's assistance he soon got at them.
+
+"Buy 'The Wayfarer,'" said Bobby, when he returned to the saloon, and
+placed a volume in the hands of the yawning gentleman.  "Best book of
+the season; only one dollar."
+
+"That I will, and glad of the chance," replied the gentleman.  "I would
+give five dollars for any thing, if it were only the 'Comic Almanac.'"
+
+Others were of the same mind.  There was no present prospect that the
+fog would lift, and before dinner time our merchant had sold fifty
+copies of "The Wayfarer."  Tom, whose books were of an inferior
+description, and who was inexperienced as a salesman, disposed of
+twenty, which was more than half of his stock.  The fog was a godsend
+to both of them, and they reaped a rich harvest from the occasion, for
+almost all the passengers seemed willing to spend their money freely
+for the means of occupying the heavy hours, and driving away that
+dreadful ennui which reigns supreme in a fog-bound steamer.
+
+About the middle of the afternoon, the fog blew over, and the boat
+proceeded on her voyage, and before sunset our young merchants were
+safely landed at Bath.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+IN WHICH TOM HAS A GOOD TIME, AND BOBBY MEETS WITH A TERRIBLE
+MISFORTUNE.
+
+Bath afforded our young merchants an excellent market for their wares,
+and they remained there the rest of the week.  They then proceeded to
+Brunswick, where their success was equally flattering.
+
+Thus far Tom had done very well, though Bobby had frequent occasion to
+remind him of the pledges he had given to conduct himself in a proper
+manner.  He would swear now and then, from the force of habit; but
+invariably, when Bobby checked him, he promised to do better.
+
+At Brunswick Tom sold the last of his books, and was in possession of
+about thirty dollars, twelve of which he owed the publisher who had
+furnished his stock.  This money seemed to burn in his pocket.  He had
+the means of having a good time, and it went hard with him to plod
+along as Bobby did, careful to save every penny he could.
+
+"Come, Bob, let's get a horse and chaise and have a ride--what do you
+say?" proposed Tom, on the day he finished selling his books.
+
+"I can't spare the time or the money," replied Bobby, decidedly.
+
+"What is the use of having money if we can't spend it?  It is a first
+rate day, and we should have a good time."
+
+"I can't afford it.  I have a great many books to sell."
+
+"About a hundred; you can sell them fast enough."
+
+"I don't spend my money foolishly."
+
+"It wouldn't be foolishly.  I have sold out, and am bound to have a
+little fun now."
+
+"You never will succeed if you do business in that way."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"You will spend your money as fast as you get it."
+
+"Pooh! we can get a horse and chaise for the afternoon for two dollars.
+That is not much."
+
+"Considerable, I should say.  But if you begin, there is no knowing
+where to leave off.  I make it a rule not to spend a single cent
+foolishly, and if I don't begin, I shall never do it."
+
+"I don't mean to spend all I get; only a little now and then,"
+persisted Tom.
+
+"Don't spend the first dollar for nonsense, and then you won't spend
+the second.  Besides, when I have any money to spare, I mean to buy
+books with it for my library."
+
+"Humbug!  Your library!"
+
+"Yes, my library; I mean to have a library one of these days."
+
+"I don't want any library, and I mean to spend some of my money in
+having a good time; and if you won't go with me, I shall go
+alone--that's all."
+
+"You can do as you please, of course; but I advise you to keep your
+money.  You will want it to buy another stock of books."
+
+"I shall have enough for that.  What do you say?  Will you go with me
+or not?"
+
+"No, I will not."
+
+"Enough said; then.  I shall go alone, or get some fellow to go with
+me."
+
+"Consider well before you go," pleaded Bobby, who had sense enough to
+see that Tom's proposed "good time" would put back, if not entirely
+prevent, the reform he was working out.
+
+He then proceeded to reason with him in a very earnest and feeling
+manner, telling him he would not only spend all his money, but
+completely unfit himself for business.  What he proposed to do was
+nothing more nor less than extravagance, and it would lead him to
+dissipation and ruin.
+
+"To-day I am going to send one hundred dollars to Mr. Bayard,"
+continued Bobby; "for I am afraid to have so much money with me.  I
+advise you to send your money to your employer."
+
+"Humph!  Catch me doing that!  I am bound to have a good time, any how."
+
+"At least, send the money you owe him."
+
+"I'll bet I won't."
+
+"Well, do as you please; I have said all I have to say."
+
+"You are a fool, Bob!" exclaimed Tom, who had evidently used Bobby as
+much as he wished, and no longer cared to speak soft words to him.
+
+"Perhaps I am; but I know better than to spend my money upon fast
+horses.  If you will go, I can't help it.  I am sorry you are going
+astray."
+
+"What do you mean by that, you young monkey?" said Tom, angrily.
+
+This was Tom Spicer, the bully.  It sounded like him; and with a
+feeling of sorrow Bobby resigned the hopes he had cherished of making a
+good boy of him.
+
+"We had better part now," added our hero, sadly.
+
+"I'm willing."
+
+"I shall leave Brunswick this afternoon for the towns up the river.  I
+hope no harm will befall you.  Good by, Tom,"
+
+"Go it!  I have heard your preaching about long enough, and I am more
+glad to get rid of you than you are to get rid of me."
+
+Bobby walked away towards the house where he had left the trunk
+containing his books, while Tom made his way towards a livery stable.
+The boys had been in the place for several days, and had made some
+acquaintances; so Tom had no difficulty in procuring a companion for
+his proposed ride.
+
+Our hero wrote a letter that afternoon to Mr. Bayard, in which he
+narrated all the particulars of his journey, his relations with Tom
+Spicer, and the success that had attended his labors.  At the bank he
+procured a hundred dollar note for his small bills, and enclosed it in
+the letter.
+
+He felt sad about Tom.  The runaway had done so well, had been so
+industrious, and shown such a tractable spirit, that he had been very
+much encouraged about him.  But if he meant to be wild again,--for it
+was plain that the ride was only "the beginning of sorrows,"--it was
+well that they should part.
+
+By the afternoon stage our hero proceeded to Gardiner, passing through
+several smaller towns, which did not promise a very abundant harvest.
+His usual success attended him; for wherever he went, people seemed to
+be pleased with him, as Squire Lee had declared they would be.  His
+pleasant, honest face was a capital recommendation, and his eloquence
+seldom failed to achieve the result which eloquence has ever achieved
+from Demosthenes down to the present day.
+
+Our limits do not permit us to follow him in all his peregrinations
+from town to town, and from house to house; so we pass over the next
+fortnight, at the end of which time we find him at Augusta.  He had
+sold all his books but twenty, and had that day remitted eighty dollars
+more to Mr. Bayard.  It was Wednesday, and he hoped to sell out so as
+to be able to take the next steamer for Boston, which was advertised to
+sail on the following day.
+
+He had heard nothing from Tom since their parting, and had given up all
+expectation of meeting him again; but that bad penny maxim proved true
+once more, for, as he was walking through one of the streets of
+Augusta, he had the misfortune to meet him--and this time it was indeed
+a misfortune.
+
+"Hallo, Bobby!" shouted the runaway, as familiarly as though nothing
+had happened to disturb the harmony of their relations.
+
+"Ah, Tom, I didn't expect to see you again," replied Bobby, not very
+much rejoiced to meet his late companion.
+
+"I suppose not; but here I am, as good as new.  Have you sold out?"
+
+"No, not quite."
+
+"How many have you left?"
+
+"About twenty; but I thought, Tom, you would have returned to Boston
+before this time."
+
+"No;" and Tom did not seem to be in very good spirits.
+
+"Where are you going now?"
+
+"I don't know.  I ought to have taken your advice, Bobby."
+
+This was a concession, and our hero began to feel some sympathy for his
+companion--as who does not when the erring confess their faults?
+
+"I am sorry you did not."
+
+"I got in with some pretty hard fellows down there to Brunswick,"
+continued Tom, rather sheepishly.
+
+"And spent all your money," added Bobby, who could readily understand
+the reason why Tom had put on his humility again.
+
+"Not all."
+
+"How much have you left?"
+
+"Not much," replied he, evasively.  "I don't know what I shall do.  I
+am in a strange place, and have no friends."
+
+Bobby's sympathies were aroused, and without reflection, he promised to
+be a friend in his extremity.
+
+"I will stick by you this time, Bob, come what will.  I will do just as
+you say, now."
+
+Our merchant was a little flattered by this unreserved display of
+confidence.  He did not give weight enough to the fact that it was
+adversity alone which made Tom so humble.  He was in trouble, and gave
+him all the guarantee he could ask for his future good behavior.  He
+could not desert him now he was in difficulty.
+
+"You shall help me sell my books, and then we will return to Boston
+together.  Have you money enough left to pay your employer?"
+
+Tom hesitated; something evidently hung heavily upon his mind.
+
+"I don't know how it will be after I have paid my expenses to Boston,"
+he replied, averting his face.
+
+Bobby was perplexed by this evasive answer; but as Tom seemed so
+reluctant to go into details, he reserved his inquiries for a more
+convenient season.
+
+"Now, Tom, you take the houses on that side of the street, and I will
+take those upon this side.  You shall have the profits on all you sell."
+
+"You are a first rate fellow, Bob; and I only wish I had done as you
+wanted me to do."
+
+"Can't be helped now, and we will do the next best thing," replied
+Bobby, as he left his companion to enter a house.
+
+Tom did very well, and by the middle of the afternoon they had sold all
+the books but four.  "The Wayfarer" had been liberally advertised in
+that vicinity, and the work was in great demand.  Bobby's heart grew
+lighter as the volumes disappeared from his valise, and already he had
+begun to picture the scene which would ensue upon his return to the
+little black house.  How glad his mother would be to see him, and, he
+dared believe, how happy Annie would be as she listened to the account
+of his journey in the State of Maine!  Wouldn't she be astonished when
+he told her about the steamboat, about the fog, and about the wild
+region at the mouth of the beautiful Kennebec!
+
+Poor Bobby! the brightest dream often ends in sadness; and a greater
+trial than any he had been called upon to endure was yet in store for
+him.
+
+As he walked along, thinking of Riverdale and its loved ones, Tom came
+out of a grocery store where he had just sold a book.
+
+"Here, Bob, is a ten dollar bill.  I believe I have sold ten books for
+you," said Tom, after they had walked some distance.  "You had better
+keep the money now; and while I think of it, you had better take what I
+have left of my former sales;" and Tom handed him another ten dollar
+bill.
+
+Bobby noticed that Tom seemed very much confused and embarrassed; but
+he did not observe that the two bills he had handed him were on the
+same bank.
+
+"Then you had ten dollars left after your frolic," he remarked, as he
+took the last bill.
+
+"About that;" and Tom glanced uneasily behind him.
+
+"What is the matter with you, Tom?" asked Bobby, who did not know what
+to make of his companion's embarrassment.
+
+"Nothing, Bob; let us walk a little faster.  We had better turn up this
+street," continued Tom, as with a quick pace, he took the direction
+indicated.
+
+Bobby began to fear that Tom had been doing something wrong; and the
+suspicion was confirmed by seeing two men running with all their might
+towards them.  Tom perceived them at the same moment.
+
+"Run!" he shouted, and suiting the action to the word, he took to his
+heels, and fled up the street into which he had proposed to turn.
+
+Bobby did not run, but stopped short where he was till the men came up
+to him.
+
+"Grab him," said one of them, "and I will catch the other."
+
+The man collared Bobby, and in spite of all the resistance he could
+make, dragged him down the street to the grocery store in which Tom had
+sold his last book.
+
+"What do you mean by this?" asked Bobby, his blood boiling with
+indignation at the harsh treatment to which he had been subjected.
+
+"We have got you, my hearty," replied the man, releasing his hold.
+
+No sooner was the grasp of the man removed, then Bobby, who determined
+on this as on former occasions to stand upon his inalienable rights,
+bolted for the door, and ran away with all his speed.  But his captor
+was too fleet for him, and he was immediately retaken.  To make him
+sure this time, his arms were tied behind him, and he was secured to
+the counter of the shop.
+
+In a few moments the other man returned dragging Tom in triumph after
+him.  By this time quite a crowd had collected, which nearly filled the
+store.
+
+Bobby was confounded at the sudden change that had come over his
+fortunes; but seeing that resistance would be vain, he resolved to
+submit with the best grace he could.
+
+"I should like to know what all this means?" he inquired, indignantly.
+
+The crowd laughed in derision.
+
+"This is the chap that stole the wallet, I will be bound," said one,
+pointing to Tom, who stood in surly silence awaiting his fate.
+
+"He is the one who came into the store," replied the shopkeeper.
+
+"_I_ haven't stole any wallet," protested Bobby, who now understood the
+whole affair.
+
+The names of the two boys were taken, and warrants procured for their
+detention.  They were searched, and upon Tom was found the lost wallet,
+and upon Bobby two ten dollar bills, which, the loser was willing to
+swear had been in the wallet.  The evidence therefore was conclusive,
+and they were both sent to jail.
+
+Poor Bobby! the inmate of a prison!
+
+The law took its course, and in due time both of them were sentenced to
+two years' imprisonment in the State Reform School.  Bobby was
+innocent, but he could not make his innocence appear.  He had been the
+companion of Tom, the real thief, and part of the money had been found
+upon his person.  Tom was too mean to exonerate him, and even had the
+hardihood to exult over his misfortune.
+
+At the end of three days they reached the town in which the Reform
+School is located, and were duly committed for their long term.
+
+Poor Bobby!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY TAKES FRENCH LEAVE, AND CAMPS IN THE WOODS.
+
+The intelligence of Bobby's misfortune reached Mr. Bayard, in Boston,
+by means of the newspapers.  To the country press an item is a matter
+of considerable importance, and the alleged offence against the peace
+and dignity of the State of Maine was duly heralded to the inquiring
+public as a "daring robbery."  The reporter who furnished the facts in
+the case for publication was not entirely devoid of that essential
+qualification of the country item writer, a lively imagination, and was
+obliged to dress up the particulars a little, in order to produce the
+necessary amount of wonder and indignation.  It was stated that one of
+the two young men had been prowling about the place for several days,
+ostensibly for the purpose of selling books, but really with the
+intention of stealing whatever he could lay his hands upon.  It was
+suggested that the boys were in league with an organized band of
+robbers, whose nefarious purposes would be defeated by the timely
+arrest of these young villains.  The paper hinted that further
+depredations would probably be discovered, and warned people to beware
+of ruffians strolling about the country in the guise of pedlers.
+
+The writer of this thrilling paragraph must have had reason to believe
+that he had discharged his whole duty to the public, and that our hero
+was duly branded as a desperate fellow.  No doubt he believed Bobby was
+an awful monster; for at the conclusion of his remarks he introduced
+some severe strictures on the lenity of the magistrate, because he had
+made the sentence two years, instead of five, which the writer thought
+the atrocious crime deserved.  But, then, the justice differed from him
+in politics, which may account for the severity of the article.
+
+Mr. Bayard read this precious paragraph with mingled grief and
+indignation.  He understood the case at a glance.  Tom Spicer had
+joined him, and the little merchant had been involved in his crime.  He
+was sure that Bobby had had no part in stealing the money.  One so
+noble and true as he had been could not steal, he reasoned.  It was
+contrary to experience, contrary to common sense.
+
+He was very much disturbed.  This intelligence would be a severe blow
+to the poor boy's mother, and he had not the courage to destroy all her
+bright hopes by writing her the terrible truth.  He was confident that
+Bobby was innocent, and that his being in the company of Tom Spicer had
+brought the imputation upon him; so he could not let the matter take
+its course.  He was determined to do something to procure his liberty
+and restore his reputation.
+
+Squire Lee was in the city that day, and had left his store only half
+an hour before he discovered the paragraph.  He immediately sent to his
+hotel for him, and together they devised means to effect Bobby's
+liberation.  The squire was even more confident than Mr. Bayard that
+our hero was innocent of the crime charged upon him.  They agreed to
+proceed immediately to the State of Maine, and use their influence in
+obtaining his pardon.  The bookseller was a man of influence in the
+community, and was as well known in Maine as in Massachusetts; but to
+make their application the surer, he procured letters of introduction
+from some of the most distinguished men in Boston to the governor and
+other official persons in Maine.
+
+We will leave them now to do the work they had so generously
+undertaken, and return to the Reform School, where Bobby and Tom were
+confined.  The latter took the matter very coolly.  He seemed to feel
+that he deserved his sentence, but he took a malicious delight in
+seeing Bobby the companion of his captivity.  He even had the hardihood
+to remind him of the blow he had struck him more than two months
+before, telling him that he had vowed vengeance then, and now the time
+had come.  He was satisfied.
+
+"You know I didn't steal the money, or have any thing to do with it,"
+said Bobby.
+
+"Some of it was found upon you, though," sneered Tom, maliciously.
+
+"You know how it came there, if no one else does."
+
+"Of course I do; but I like your company too well to get rid of you so
+easy."
+
+"The Lord is with the innocent," replied Bobby, "and something tells me
+that I shall not stay in this place a great while."
+
+"Going to run away?" asked Tom, with interest, and suddenly dropping
+his malicious look.
+
+"I know I am innocent of any crime; and I know that the Lord will not
+let me stay here a great while."
+
+"What do you mean to do, Bob?"
+
+Bobby made no reply; he felt that he had had more confidence in Tom
+than he deserved, and he determined to keep his own counsel in future.
+He had a purpose in view.  His innocence gave him courage; and perhaps
+he did not feel that sense of necessity for submission to the laws of
+the land which age and experience give.  He prayed earnestly for
+deliverance from the place in which he was confined.  He felt that he
+did not deserve to be there; and though it was a very comfortable
+place, and the boys fared as well as he wished to fare, still it seemed
+to him like a prison.  He was unjustly detained; and he not only prayed
+to be delivered, but he resolved to work out his own deliverance at the
+first opportunity.
+
+Knowing that whatever he had would be taken from him, he resolved by
+some means to keep possession of the twenty dollars he had about him.
+He had always kept his money in a secret place in his jacket to guard
+against accident, and the officers who had searched him had not
+discovered it.  But now his clothes would be changed.  He thought of
+these things before his arrival; so, when he reached the entrance, and
+got out of the wagon, to open the gate, by order of the officer, he
+slipped his twenty dollars into a hole in the wall.
+
+It so happened that there was not a suit of clothes in the store room
+of the institution which would fit him; and he was permitted to wear
+his own dress till another should be made.  After his name and
+description had been entered, and the superintendent had read him a
+lecture upon his future duties, he was permitted to join the other
+boys, who were at work on the farm.  He was sent with half a dozen
+others to pick up stones in a neighboring field.  No officer was with
+them, and Bobby was struck with the apparent freedom of the
+institution, and he so expressed himself to his companions.
+
+"Not so much freedom as you think for," said one, in reply.
+
+"I should think the fellows would clear out."
+
+"Not so easy a matter.  There is a standing reward of five dollars to
+any one who brings back a runaway."
+
+"They must catch him first."
+
+"No fellow ever got away yet.  They always caught him before he got ten
+miles from the place."
+
+This was an important suggestion to Bobby, who already had a definite
+purpose in his mind.  Like a skilful general, he had surveyed the
+ground on his arrival, and was at once prepared to execute his design.
+
+In his conversation with the boys, he obtained, the history of several
+who had attempted to escape, and found that even those who got a fair
+start were taken on some public road.  He perceived that they were not
+good generals, and he determined to profit by their mistake.
+
+A short distance from the institution was what appeared to be a very
+extensive wood.  Beyond this, many miles distant, he could see the
+ocean glittering like a sheet of ice under the setting sun.
+
+He carefully observed the hills, and obtained the bearings of various
+prominent objects in the vicinity, which would aid him in his flight.
+The boys gave him all the information in their power about the
+localities of the country.  They seemed to feel that he was possessed
+of a superior spirit, and that he would not long remain among them;
+but, whatever they thought, they kept their own counsel.
+
+Bobby behaved well, and was so intelligent and prompt that he obtained
+the confidence of the superintendent, who began to employ him about the
+house, and in his own family.  He was sent of errands in the
+neighborhood, and conducted himself so much to the satisfaction of his
+guardians that he was not required to work in the field after the
+second day of his residence on the farm.
+
+One afternoon he was told that his clothes were ready, and that he
+might put them on the next morning.  This was a disagreeable
+announcement; for Bobby saw that, with the uniform of the institution
+upon his back, his chance of escape would be very slight.  But about
+sunset, he was sent by the superintendent's lady to deliver a note at a
+house in the vicinity.
+
+"Now or never!" said Bobby to himself, after he had left the house.
+"Now's my time."
+
+As he passed the gate, he secured his money, and placed it in the
+secret receptacle of his jacket.  After he had delivered the letter, he
+took the road and hastened off in the direction of the wood.  His heart
+beat wildly at the prospect of once more meeting his mother, after
+nearly four weeks' absence.  Annie Lee would welcome him; she would not
+believe that he was a thief.
+
+He had been four days an inmate of the Reform School, and nothing but
+the hope of soon attaining his liberty had kept his spirits from
+drooping.  He had not for a moment despaired of getting away.
+
+He reached the entrance to the wood, and taking a cart path, began to
+penetrate its hidden depths.  The night darkened upon him; he heard the
+owl screech his dismal note, and the whip-poor-will chant his cheery
+song.  A certain sense of security now pervaded his mind, for the
+darkness concealed him from the world, and he had placed six good miles
+between him and the prison, as he considered it.
+
+He walked on, however, till he came to what seemed to be the end of the
+wood, and he hoped to reach the blue ocean he had seen in the distance
+before morning.  Leaving the forest, he emerged into the open country.
+There was here and there a house before him; but the aspect of the
+country seemed strangely familiar to him.  He could not understand it.
+He had never been in this part of the country before; yet there was a
+great house with two barns by the side of it, which he was positive he
+had seen before.
+
+He walked across the field a little farther, when, to his astonishment
+and dismay, he beheld the lofty turrets of the State Reform School.  He
+had been walking in a circle, and had come out of the forest near the
+place where he had entered it.
+
+Bobby, as the reader has found out by this time, was a philosopher as
+well as a hero; and instead of despairing or wasting his precious time
+in vain regrets at his mistake, he laughed a little to himself at the
+blunder, and turned back into the woods again.
+
+"Now or never!" muttered he.  "It will never do to give it up so."
+
+For an hour he walked on, with his eyes fixed on a great bright star in
+the sky.  Then he found that the cart path crooked round, and he
+discovered where he had made his blunder.  Leaving the road, he made
+his way in a straight line, still guided by the star, till he came to a
+large sheet of water.
+
+The sheet of water was an effectual barrier to his farther progress;
+indeed, he was so tired, he did not feel able to walk any more.  He
+deemed himself safe from immediate pursuit in this secluded place.  He
+needed rest, and he foresaw that the next few days would be burdened
+with fatigue and hardship which he must be prepared to meet.
+
+Bobby was not nice about trifles, and his habits were such that he had
+no fear of taking cold.  His comfortable bed in the little black house
+was preferable to the cold ground, even with the primeval forest for a
+chamber; but circumstances alter cases, and he did not waste any vain
+regrets about the necessity of his position.  After finding a secluded
+spot in the wood, he raked the dry leaves together for a bed, and
+offering his simple but fervent prayer to the Great Guardian above, he
+lay down to rest.  The owl screamed his dismal note, and the
+whip-poor-will still repeated his monotonous song; but they were good
+company in the solitude of the dark forest.
+
+He could not go to sleep for a time, so strange and exciting were the
+circumstances of his position.  He thought of a thousand things, but he
+could not _think_ himself to sleep, as he was wont to do.  At last
+nature, worn out by fatigue and anxiety, conquered the circumstances,
+and he slept.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY HAS A NARROW ESCAPE, AND GOES TO SEA WITH SAM RAY.
+
+Nature was kind to the little pilgrim in his extremity, and kept his
+senses sealed in grateful slumber till the birds had sung their matin
+song, and the sun had risen high in the heavens.
+
+Bobby woke with a start, and sprang to his feet.  For a moment he did
+not realize where he was, or remember the exciting incidents of the
+previous evening.  He felt refreshed by his deep slumber, and came out
+of it as vigorous as though he had slept in his bed at home.  Rubbing
+his eyes, he stared about him at the tall pines whose foliage canopied
+his bed, and his identity was soon restored to him.  He was Bobby
+Bright--but Bobby Bright in trouble.  He was not the little merchant,
+but the little fugitive fleeing from the prison to which he had been
+doomed.
+
+It did not take him long to make his toilet, which was the only
+advantage of his primitive style of lodging.  His first object was to
+examine his position, and ascertain in what direction he should
+continue his flight.  He could not go ahead, as he had intended, for
+the sheet of water was an impassable barrier.  Leaving the dense
+forest, he came to a marsh, beyond which was the wide creek he had seen
+in the night.  It was salt water, and he reasoned that it could not
+extend a great way inland.  His only course was to follow it till he
+found means of crossing it.
+
+Following the direction of the creek, he kept near the margin of the
+wood till he came to a public road.  He had some doubts about trusting
+himself out of the forest, even for a single moment; so he seated
+himself upon a rock to argue the point.  If any one should happen to
+come along, he was almost sure of furnishing a clew to his future
+movements, if not of being immediately captured.
+
+This was a very strong argument, but there was a stronger one upon the
+other side.  He had eaten nothing since dinner on the preceding day,
+and he began, to feel faint for the want of food.  On the other side of
+the creek he saw a pasture which looked as though it might afford him a
+few berries; and he was on the point of taking to the road, when he
+heard the rumbling of a wagon in the distance.
+
+His heart beat with apprehension.  Perhaps it was some officer of the
+institution in search of him.  At any rate it was some one who had come
+from the vicinity of the Reform School, and who had probably heard of
+his escape.  As it came nearer, he heard the jingling of bells; it was
+the baker.  How he longed for a loaf of his bread, or some of the
+precious ginger-bread he carried in his cart!  Hunger tempted him to
+run the risk of exposure.  He had money; he could buy cakes and bread;
+and perhaps the baker had a kind heart, and would befriend him in his
+distress.  The wagon was close at hand.
+
+"Now or never," thought he; but this time it was not _now_.  The risk
+was too great.  If he failed now, two years of captivity were before
+him; and as for the hunger, he could grin and bear it for a while.
+
+"Now or never;" but this time it was escape now or never; and he
+permitted the baker to pass without hailing him.
+
+He waited half an hour, and then determined to take the road till he
+had crossed the creek.  The danger was great, but the pangs of hunger
+urged him on.  He was sure there were berries in the pasture, and with
+a timid step, carefully watching before and behind to insure himself
+against surprise, he crossed the bridge.  But then a new difficulty
+presented itself.  There was a house within ten rods of the bridge,
+which he must pass, and to do so would expose him to the most imminent
+peril.  He was on the point of retreating, when a man came out of the
+house, and approached him.  What should he do?  It was a trying moment.
+If he ran, the act would expose him to suspicion.  If he went forward,
+the man might have already received a description of him, and arrest
+him.
+
+He chose the latter course.  The instinct of his being was to do every
+thing in a straightforward manner, and this probably prompted his
+decision.
+
+"Good morning, sir," said he boldly to the man.
+
+"Good morning.  Where are you travelling?" This was a hard question.
+He did not know where he was travelling; besides, even in his present
+difficult position, he could not readily resort to a lie.
+
+"Down here a piece," he replied.
+
+"Travelled far to-day?"
+
+"Not far.  Good morning, sir;" and Bobby resumed his walk.
+
+"I say, boy, suppose you tell me where you are going;" and the man came
+close to him, and deliberately surveyed him from head to foot.
+
+"I can hardly tell you," replied Bobby, summoning courage for the
+occasion.
+
+"Well, I suppose not," added the man, with a meaning smile.
+
+Bobby felt his strength desert him as he realized that he was suspected
+of being a runaway from the Reform School.  That smile on the man's
+face was the knell of hope; and for a moment he felt a flood of misery
+roll over his soul.  But the natural elasticity of his spirits soon
+came to his relief, and he resolved not to give up the ship, even if he
+had to fight for it.
+
+"I am in a hurry, so I shall have to leave you."
+
+"Not just yet, young man.  Perhaps, as you don't know where you are
+going, you may remember what your name is," continued the man, good
+naturedly.
+
+There was a temptation to give a false name; but is it was so strongly
+beaten into our hero that the truth is better than a falsehood, he held
+his peace.
+
+"Excuse me, sir, but I can't stop to talk now."
+
+"In a hurry?  Well, I dare say you are.  I suppose there is no doubt
+but you are Master Robert Bright."
+
+"Not the least, sir; I haven't denied it yet, and I am not ashamed of
+my name," replied Bobby, with a good deal of spirit.
+
+"That's honest; I like that."
+
+"Honesty is the best policy," added Bobby.
+
+"That's cool for a rogue, any how.  You ought to thought of that afore."
+
+"I did."
+
+"And stole the money?"
+
+"I didn't.  I never stole a penny in my life."
+
+"Come, I like that."
+
+"It is the truth."
+
+"But they won't believe it over to the Reform school," laughed the man.
+
+"They will one of these days, perhaps."
+
+"You are a smart youngster; but I don't know as I can make five dollars
+any easier than by taking you back where you come from."
+
+"Yes, you can," replied Bobby, promptly.
+
+"Can I?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"How?"
+
+"By letting me go."
+
+"Eh; you talk flush.  I suppose you mean to give me your note, payable
+when the Kennebec dries up."
+
+"Cash on the nail," replied Bobby.  "You look like a man with a heart
+in your bosom."--Bobby stole this passage from "The Wayfarer."
+
+"I reckon I have.  The time hasn't come yet when Sam Ray could see a
+fellow-creature in distress and not help him out.  But to help a thief
+off--"
+
+"We will argue that matter," interposed Bobby.  "I can prove to you
+beyond a doubt that I am innocent of the crime charged upon me."
+
+"You don't look like a bad boy, I must say."
+
+"But, Mr. Ray, I'm hungry; I haven't eaten a mouthful since yesterday
+noon."
+
+"Thunder!  You don't say so!" exclaimed Sam Ray.  "I never could bear
+to see a man hungry, much more a boy; so come along to my house and get
+something to eat, and we will talk about the other matter afterwards."
+
+Sam Ray took Bobby to the little old house in which he dwelt; and in a
+short time his wife, who expressed her sympathy for the little fugitive
+in the warmest terms, had placed an abundant repast upon the table.
+Our hero did ample justice to it, and when he had finished he felt like
+a new creature.
+
+"Now, Mr. Ray, let me tell you my story," said Bobby.
+
+"I don't know as it's any use.  Now you have eat my bread and butter, I
+don't feel like being mean to you.  If any body else wants to carry you
+back, they may; I won't."
+
+"But you shall hear me;" and Bobby proceeded to deliver his "plain,
+unvarnished tale."
+
+When he had progressed but a little way in the narrative, the noise of
+an approaching vehicle was heard.  Sam looked out of the window, as
+almost every body does in the country when a carriage passes.
+
+"By thunder!  It's the Reform School wagon!" exclaimed he.  "This way,
+boy!" and the good-hearted man thrust him into his chamber, bidding him
+get under the bed.
+
+The carriage stopped at the house; but Sam evaded direct reply, and the
+superintendent--for it was he--proceeded on his search.
+
+"Heaven bless you, Mr. Ray!" exclaimed Bobby, when he came out of the
+chamber, as the tears of gratitude coursed down his cheeks.
+
+"O, you will find Sam Ray all right," said he, warmly pressing Bobby's
+proffered hand.  "I ain't quite a heathen, though some folks around
+here think so."
+
+"You are an angel!"
+
+"Not exactly," laughed Sam.
+
+Our hero finished his story, and confirmed it by exhibiting his account
+book and some other papers which he had retained.  Sam Ray was
+satisfied, and vowed that if ever he saw Tom Spicer he would certainly
+"lick" him for his sake.
+
+"Now, sonny, I like you; I will be sworn you are a good fellow; and I
+mean to help you off.  So just come along with me.  I make my living by
+browsing round, hunting and fishing a little, and doing an odd job now
+and then.  You see, I have got a good boat down the creek, and I shall
+just put you aboard and take you any where you have a mind to go."
+
+"May Heaven reward you!" cried Bobby, almost overcome by this sudden
+and unexpected kindness.
+
+"O, I don't want no reward; only when you get to be a great man--and I
+am dead sure you will be a great man--just think now and then of Sam
+Ray, and it's all right."
+
+"I shall remember you with gratitude as long as I live."
+
+Sam Ray took his gun on his shoulder, and Bobby the box of provision
+which Mrs. Ray had put up, and they left the house.  At the bridge they
+got into a little skiff, and Sam took the oars.  After they had passed
+a bend in the creek which concealed them from the road, Bobby felt
+secure from further molestation.
+
+Sam pulled about two miles down the creek, where it widened into a
+broad bay, near the head of which was anchored a small schooner.
+
+"Now, my hearty, nothing short of Uncle Sam's whole navy can get you
+away from me," said Sam, as he pulled alongside the schooner.
+
+"You have been very kind to me."
+
+"All right, sonny.  Now tumble aboard."
+
+Bobby jumped upon the deck of the little craft and Sam followed him,
+after making fast the skiff to the schooner's moorings.
+
+In a few minutes the little vessel was standing down the bay with "a
+fresh wind and a flowing sheet."  Bobby, who had never been in a sail
+boat before, was delighted, and in no measured terms expressed his
+admiration of the working of the trim little craft.
+
+"Now, sonny, where shall we go?" asked Sam, as they emerged from the
+bay into the broad ocean.
+
+"I don't know," replied Bobby.  "I want to get back to Boston."
+
+"Perhaps I can put you aboard of some coaster bound there."
+
+"That will do nicely."
+
+"I will head towards Boston, and if I don't overhaul any thing, I will
+take you there myself."
+
+"Is this boat big enough to go so far?"
+
+"She'll stand anything short of a West India hurricane.  You ain't
+afeerd, are you?"
+
+"O, no; I like it."
+
+The big waves now tossed the little vessel up and down like a feather,
+and the huge seas broke upon the bow, deluging her deck with floods of
+water.  Bobby had unlimited confidence in Sam Ray, and felt as much at
+home as though he had been "cradled upon the briny deep."  There was an
+excitement in the scene which accorded with his nature, and the perils
+which he had so painfully pictured on the preceding night were all born
+into the most lively joys.
+
+They ate their dinners from the provision box; Sam lighted his pipe,
+and many a tale he told of adventure by sea and land.  Bobby felt
+happy, and almost dreaded the idea of parting with his rough but
+good-hearted friend   They were now far out at sea, and the night was
+coming on.
+
+"Now, sonny, you had better turn in and take a snooze; you didn't rest
+much last night."
+
+"I am not sleepy; but there is one thing I will do; and Bobby drew from
+his secret receptacle his roll of bills.
+
+"Put them up, sonny," said Sam.
+
+"I want to make you a present of ten dollars."
+
+"You can't do it."
+
+"Nay, but to please me."
+
+"No, sir!"
+
+"Well, then, let me send it to your good wife."
+
+"You can't do that, nuther," replied Sam, gazing earnestly at a
+lumber-laden schooner ahead of him.
+
+"You must; your good heart made you lose five dollars, and I insist
+upon making it up to you."
+
+"You can't do it."
+
+"I shall feel bad if you don't take it.  You see I have twenty dollars
+here, and I would like to give you the whole of it."
+
+"Not a cent, sonny.  I ain't a heathen.  That schooner ahead is bound
+for Boston, I reckon."
+
+"I shall be sorry to part with you, Mr. Ray."
+
+"Just my sentiment.  I hain't seen a youngster afore for many a day
+that I took a fancy to, and I hate to let you go."
+
+"We shall meet again."
+
+"I hope so."
+
+"Please to take this money."
+
+"No;" and Sam shook his head so resolutely that Bobby gave up the point.
+
+As Sam had conjectured, the lumber schooner was bound to Boston.  Her
+captain readily agreed to take our hero on board, and he sadly bade
+adieu to his kind friend.
+
+"Good by, Mr. Ray," said Bobby, as the schooner filled away.  "Take
+this to remember me by."
+
+It was his jackknife; but Sam did not discover the ten dollar bill,
+which was shut beneath the blade, till it was too late to return it.
+
+Bobby did not cease to wave his hat to Sam till his little craft
+disappeared in the darkness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+IN WHICH THE CLOUDS BLOW OVER, AND BOBBY IS HIMSELF AGAIN.
+
+Fortunately for Bobby, the wind began to blow very heavily soon after
+he went on board of the lumber schooner, so that the captain was too
+much engaged in working his vessel to ask many questions.  He was short
+handed, and though our hero was not much of a sailor, he made himself
+useful to the best of his ability.  Though the wind was heavy, it was
+not fair; and it was not till the third morning after his parting with
+Sam Ray that the schooner arrived off Boston Light.  The captain then
+informed him that, as the tide did not favor him, he might not get up
+to the city for twenty-four hours; and, if he was in a hurry, he would
+put him on board a pilot boat which he saw standing up the channel.
+
+"Thank you, captain; you are very kind, but it would give you a great
+deal of trouble," said Bobby.
+
+"None at all.  We must wait here till the tide turns; so we have
+nothing better to do."
+
+"I should be very glad to get up this morning."
+
+"You shall, then;" and the captain ordered two men to get out the jolly
+boat.
+
+"I will pay my passage now, if you please."
+
+"That is paid."
+
+"Paid?"
+
+"I should say you had worked your passage.  You have done very well,
+and I shall not charge you any thing."
+
+"I expected to pay my passage, captain; but if you think I have done
+enough to pay it, why, I have nothing to say, only that I am very much
+obliged to you."
+
+"You ought to be a sailor, young man; you were cut out for one."
+
+"I like the sea, though I never saw it till a few weeks since.  But I
+suppose my mother would not let me go to sea."
+
+"I suppose not.  Mothers are always afraid of salt water."
+
+By this time the jolly boat was alongside; and bidding the captain
+adieu, he jumped into it, and the men pulled him to the pilot boat,
+which had come up into the wind at the captain's hail.  Bobby was
+kindly received on board, and in a couple of hours landed at the wharf
+in Boston.
+
+With a beating heart he made his way up into Washington Street.  He
+felt strangely; his cheeks seemed to tingle, for he was aware that the
+imputation of dishonesty was fastened upon him.  He could not doubt but
+that the story of his alleged crime had reached the city, and perhaps
+gone to his friends in Riverdale.  How his poor mother must have wept
+to think her son was a thief!  No; she never could have thought that.
+_She_ knew he would not steal, if no one else did.  And Annie
+Lee--would she ever smile upon him again?  Would she welcome him to her
+father's house so gladly as she had done in the past?  He could bring
+nothing to establish his innocence but his previous character.  Would
+not Mr. Bayard frown upon him?  Would not even Ellen be tempted to
+forget the service he had rendered her?
+
+Bobby had thought of all these things before--on his cold, damp bed in
+the forest, in the watches of the tempestuous night onboard the
+schooner.  But now, when he was almost in the presence of those he
+loved and respected, they had more force, and they nearly overwhelmed
+him.
+
+"I am innocent," he repeated to himself, "and why need I fear?  My good
+Father in heaven will not let me be wronged."
+
+Yet he could not overcome his anxiety; and when he reached the store of
+Mr. Bayard, he passed by, dreading to face the friend who had been so
+kind to him.  He could not bear even to be suspected of a crime by him.
+
+"Now or never," said he, as he turned round.  "I will know my fate at
+once, and then make the best of it."
+
+Mustering all his courage, he entered the store.  Mr. Timmins was not
+there; so he was spared the infliction of any ill-natured remark from
+him.
+
+"Hallo, Bobby!" exclaimed the gentlemanly salesman, whose acquaintance
+he had made on his first visit.
+
+"Good morning, Mr. Bigelow," replied Bobby with as much boldness as he
+could command.
+
+"I didn't know as I should ever see you again.  You have been gone a
+long while."
+
+"Longer than usual," answered Bobby, with a blush; for he considered
+the remark of the salesman as an allusion to his imprisonment.  "Is Mr.
+Bayard in?"
+
+"He is--in his office."
+
+Bobby's feet would hardly obey the mandate of his will, and with a
+faltering step he entered the private room of the bookseller.  Mr.
+Bayard was absorbed in the perusal of the morning paper, and did not
+observe his entrance.  With his heart up in his throat, and almost
+choking him, he stood for several minutes upon the threshold.  He
+almost feared to speak, dreading the severe frown with which he
+expected to be received.  Suspense, however, was more painful than
+condemnation, and he brought his resolution up to the point.
+
+"Mr. Bayard," said he, in faltering tones.
+
+"Bobby!" exclaimed the bookseller, dropping his paper upon the floor,
+and jumping upon his feet as though an electric current had passed
+through his frame.
+
+Grasping our hero's hand, he shook it with so much energy that, under
+any other circumstances, Bobby would have thought it hurt him.  He did
+not think so now.
+
+"My poor Bobby!  I am delighted to see you!" continued Mr. Bayard.
+
+Bobby burst into tears, and sobbed like a child, as he was.  The
+unexpected kindness of this reception completely overwhelmed him.
+
+"Don't cry, Bobby; I know all about it;" and the tender-hearted
+bookseller wiped away his tears.  "It was a stroke of misfortune; but
+it is all right now."
+
+But Bobby could not help crying, and the more Mr. Bayard, attempted to
+console him, the more he wept.
+
+"I am innocent, Mr. Bayard," he sobbed.
+
+"I know you are, Bobby; and all the world knows you are."
+
+"I am ruined now; I shall never dare to hold my head up again."
+
+"Nonsense, Bobby; you will hold your head the higher.  You have behaved
+like a hero."
+
+"I ran away from the State Reform School, sir.  I was innocent, and I
+would rather have died than staid there."
+
+"I know all about it, my young friend.  Now dry your tears, and we will
+talk it all over."
+
+Bobby blowed and sputtered a little more; but finally he composed
+himself, and took a chair by Mr. Bayard's side.  The bookseller then
+drew from his pocket a ponderous document, with a big official seal
+upon it, and exhibited it to our hero.
+
+"Do you see this, Bobby?  It is your free and unconditional pardon."
+
+"Sir!  Why--"
+
+"It will all end well, you may depend."
+
+Bobby was amazed.  His pardon?  But it would not restore his former
+good name.  He felt that he was branded as a felon.  It was not mercy,
+but justice that he wanted.
+
+"Truth is mighty, and will prevail," continued Mr. Bayard; "and this
+document restores your reputation."
+
+"I can hardly believe that."
+
+"Can't you?  Hear my story then.  When I read in one of the Maine
+papers the account of your misfortune, I felt that you had been grossly
+wronged.  You were coupled with that Tom Spicer, who is the most
+consummate little villain I ever saw, and I understood your situation.
+Ah, Bobby, your only mistake was in having anything to do with that
+fellow."
+
+"I left him at Brunswick because he began to behave badly; but he
+joined me again at Augusta.  He had spent nearly all his money, and did
+not know what to do.  I pitied him, and meant to do something to help
+him out of the scrape."
+
+"Generous as ever!  I have heard all about this before."
+
+"Indeed; who told you?"
+
+"Tom Spicer himself."
+
+"Tom?" asked Bobby, completely mystified.
+
+"Yes, Tom; you see, when I heard about your trouble, Squire Lee and
+myself--"
+
+"Squire Lee?  Does he know about it?"
+
+"He does; and you may depend upon it, he thinks more highly of you than
+ever before.  He and I immediately went down to Augusta to inquire into
+the matter.  We called upon the governor of the state, who said that he
+had seen you, and bought a book of you."
+
+"Of me!" exclaimed Bobby, startled to think he had sold a book to a
+governor.
+
+"Yes; you called at his house; probably you did not know that he was
+the chief magistrate of the state.  At any rate, he was very much
+pleased with you, and sorry to hear of your misfortune.  Well, we
+followed your route to Brunswick, where we ascertained how Tom had
+conducted.  In a week he established a very bad reputation there; but
+nothing could be found to implicate you.  The squire testified to your
+uniform good behavior, and especially to your devotion to your mother.
+In short, we procured your pardon, and hastened with it to the State
+Reform School.
+
+"On our arrival, we learned, to our surprise and regret, that you had
+escaped from the institution on the preceding evening.  Every effort
+was made to retake you, but without success.  Ah, Bobby, you managed
+that well."
+
+"They didn't look in the right place," replied Bobby, with a smile, for
+he began to feel happy again.
+
+"By the permission of the superintendent, Squire Lee and myself
+examined Tom Spicer.  He is a great rascal.  Perhaps he thought we
+would get him out; so he made a clean breast of it, and confessed that
+you had no hand in the robbery, and that you knew nothing about it.  He
+gave you the two bills on purpose to implicate you in the crime.  We
+wrote down his statement, and had it sworn to before a justice of the
+peace.  You shall read it by and by."
+
+"May Heaven reward you for your kindness to a poor boy!" exclaimed
+Bobby, the tears flowing down his cheeks again.  "I did not deserve so
+much from you, Mr. Bayard."
+
+"Yes, you did, and a thousand times more.  I was very sorry you had
+left the institution, and I waited in the vicinity till they said there
+was no probability that you would be captured.  The most extraordinary
+efforts were used to find you; but there was not a person to be found
+who had seen or heard of you.  I was very much alarmed about you, and
+offered a hundred dollars for any information concerning you."
+
+"I am sorry you had so much trouble.  I wish I had known you were
+there."
+
+"How did you get off?"
+
+Bobby briefly related the story of his escape, and Mr. Bayard
+pronounced his skill worthy of his genius.
+
+"Sam Ray is a good fellow; we will remember him," added the bookseller,
+when he had finished.
+
+"I shall remember him; and only that I shall be afraid to go into the
+State of Maine after what has happened, I should pay him a visit one of
+these days."
+
+"There you are wrong.  Those who know your story would sooner think of
+giving you a public reception, than of saying or doing any thing to
+injure your feelings.  Those who have suffered unjustly are always
+lionized."
+
+"But no one will know my story, only that I was sent to prison for
+stealing."
+
+"There you are mistaken again.  We put articles in all the principal
+papers, stating the facts in the case, and establishing your innocence
+beyond a peradventure.  Go to Augusta now, Bobby, and you will be a
+lion."
+
+"I am sure I had no idea of getting out of the scrape so easily as
+this."
+
+"Innocence shall triumph, my young friend."
+
+"What does mother say?" asked Bobby, his countenance growing sad.
+
+"I do not know.  We returned from Maine only yesterday; but Squire Lee
+will satisfy her.  All that can worry her, as it has worried me, will
+be her fears for your safety when she hears of your escape."
+
+"I will soon set her mind at ease upon that point.  I will take the
+noon train home."
+
+"A word about business before you go.  I discharged Timmins about a
+week ago, and I have kept his place for you."
+
+"By gracious!" exclaimed Bobby, thrown completely out of his propriety
+by this announcement.
+
+"I think you will do better, in the long run, than you would to travel
+about the country.  I was talking with Ellen about it, and she says it
+shall be so.  Timmins's salary was five hundred dollars a year, and you
+shall have the same."
+
+"Five hundred dollars a year!" ejaculated Bobby, amazed at the vastness
+of the sum.
+
+"Very well for a boy of thirteen, Bobby."
+
+"I was fourteen last Sunday, sir."
+
+"I would not give any other boy so much; but you are worth it, and you
+shall have it."
+
+Probably Mr. Bayard's gratitude had something to do with this
+munificent offer; but he knew that our hero possessed abilities and
+energy far beyond his years.  He further informed Bobby that he should
+have a room at his house, and that Ellen was delighted with the
+arrangement he proposed.
+
+The gloomy, threatening clouds were all rolled back, and floods of
+sunshine streamed in upon the soul of the little merchant; but in the
+midst of his rejoicing be remembered that his own integrity had carried
+him safely through the night of sorrow and doubt.  He had been true to
+himself, and now, in the hour of his great triumph, he realized that,
+if he had been faithless to the light within him, his laurel would have
+been a crown of thorns.
+
+He was happy--very happy.  What made him so?  Not his dawning
+prosperity; not the favor of Mr. Bayard; not the handsome salary he was
+to receive; for all these things would have been but dross, if he had
+sacrificed his integrity, his love of truth and uprightness.  He had
+been true to himself, and unseen angels had held him up.  He had been
+faithful, and the consciousness of his fidelity to principle made a
+heaven within his heart.
+
+It was arranged that he should enter upon the duties of his new
+situation on the following week.  After settling with Mr. Bayard, he
+found he had nearly seventy dollars in his possession; so that in a
+pecuniary point of view, if in no other, his eastern excursion was
+perfectly satisfactory.
+
+By the noon train he departed for Riverdale, and in two hours more he
+was folded to his mother's heart.  Mrs. Bright wept for joy now, as she
+had before wept in misery when she heard of her son's misfortune.  It
+took him all the afternoon to tell his exciting story to her, and she
+was almost beside herself when Bobby told her about his new situation.
+
+After tea he hastened over to Squire Lee's; and my young readers can
+imagine what a warm reception he had from father and daughter.  For the
+third time that day he narrated his adventures in the east; and Annie
+declared they were better than any novel she had ever read.  Perhaps it
+was because Bobby was the hero.  It was nearly ten o'clock before he
+finished his story; and when he left, the squire made him promise to
+come over the next day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY STEPS OFF THE STAGE, AND THE AUTHOR MUST FINISH "NOW OR
+NEVER."
+
+The few days which Bobby remained at home before entering upon the
+duties of his new situation were agreeably filled up in calling upon
+his many friends, and in visiting those pleasant spots in the woods and
+by the river, which years of association had rendered dear to him.  His
+plans for the future too, occupied some of his time, though, inasmuch
+as his path of duty was already marked out, these plans were but little
+more than a series of fond imaginings; in short, little more than day
+dreams.  I have before hinted that Bobby was addicted to castle
+building, and I should pity the man or boy who was not--who had no
+bright dream of future achievements, of future usefulness.  "As a man
+thinketh, so is he," the Psalmist tells us, and it was the pen of
+inspiration which wrote it.  What a man pictures as his ideal of that
+which is desirable in this world and the world to come, he will
+endeavor to attain.  Even if it be no higher aim than the possession of
+wealth or fame, it is good and worthy as far as it goes.  It fires his
+brain, it nerves his arm.  It stimulates him to action, and action is
+the soul of progress.  We must all work; and this world were cold and
+dull if it had no bright dreams to be realized.  What Napoleon dreamed,
+he labored to accomplish, and the monarchs of Europe trembled before
+him.  What Howard wished to be, he labored to be; his ideal was
+beautiful and true, and he raised a throne which will endure through
+eternity.
+
+Bobby dreamed great things.  That bright picture of the little black
+house transformed into a white cottage, with green blinds, and
+surrounded by a pretty fence, was the nearest object; and before Mrs.
+Bright was aware that he was in earnest, the carpenters and the
+painters were upon the spot.
+
+"Now or never," replied Bobby to his mother's remonstrance.  "This is
+your home, and it shall be the pleasantest spot upon earth, if I can
+make it so."
+
+Then he had to dream about his business in Boston and I am not sure but
+that he fancied himself a rich merchant, like Mr. Bayard, living in an
+elegant house in Chestnut Street, and having clerks and porters to do
+as he bade them.  A great many young men dream such things, and though
+they seem a little silly when spoken out loud, they are what wood and
+water are to the steam engine--they are the mainspring of action.  Some
+are stupid enough to dream about these things, and spend their time in
+idleness, and dissipation, waiting for "the good time coming."  It will
+never come to them.  They are more likely to die in the almshouse or
+the state prison, than to ride in their carriages; for constant
+exertion is the price of success.
+
+Bobby enjoyed himself to the utmost of his capacity during these few
+days of respite from labor.  He spent a liberal share of his time at
+Squire Lee's where he was almost as much at home as in his mother's
+house.  Annie read Moore's Poems to him, till he began to have quite a
+taste for poetry himself.
+
+In connection with Tom Spicer's continued absence, which had to be
+explained, Bobby's trials in the eastern country leaked out, and the
+consequence was, that he became a lion in Riverdale.  The minister
+invited him to tea, as well as other prominent persons, for the sake of
+hearing his story; but Bobby declined the polite invitations from sheer
+bashfulness.  He had not brass enough to make himself a hero; besides,
+the remembrance of his journey was any thing but pleasant to him.
+
+On Monday morning he took the early train for Boston, and assumed the
+duties of his situation in Mr. Bayard's store.  But as I have carried
+my hero through the eventful period of his life, I cannot dwell upon
+his subsequent career.  He applied himself with all the energy of his
+nature to the discharge of his duties.  Early in the morning and late
+in the evening he was at his post, Mr. Bigelow was his friend from the
+first, and gave him all the instruction he required.  His intelligence
+and quick perception soon enabled him to master the details of the
+business, and by the time he was fifteen, he was competent to perform
+any service required of him.
+
+By the advice of Mr. Bayard, he attended an evening school for six
+months in the year, to acquire a knowledge of book keeping, and to
+compensate for the opportunities of which he had been necessarily
+deprived in his earlier youth.  He took Dr. Franklin for his model, and
+used all his spare time in reading good books, and in obtaining such
+information and such mental culture as would fit him to be, not only a
+good merchant, but a good and true man.
+
+Every Saturday night he went home to Riverdale to spend the Sabbath
+with his mother.  The little black house no longer existed, for it had
+become the little paradise of which he had dreamed, only that the house
+seemed whiter, the blinds greener, and the fence more attractive than
+his fancy had pictured them.  His mother, after a couple of years, at
+Bobby's earnest pleadings, ceased to close shoes and take in washing;
+but she had enough and to spare, for her son's salary was now six
+hundred dollars.  His kind employer boarded him for nothing, (much
+against Bobby's will, I must say,) so that every month he carried to
+his mother thirty dollars, which more than paid her expenses.
+
+      *      *      *      *      *
+
+Eight years have passed by since Bobby--we beg his pardon; he is now
+Mr. Robert Bright--entered the store of Mr. Bayard.  He has passed from
+the boy to the man.  Over the street door a new sign has taken the
+place of the old one, and the passer-by reads,--
+
+  BAYARD & BRIGHT,
+  BOOKSELLERS AND PUBLISHERS.
+
+The senior partner resorts to his counting room every morning from the
+force of habit; but he takes no active part in the business.  Mr.
+Bright has frequent occasion to ask his advice, though every thing is
+directly managed by him; and the junior is accounted one of the ablest,
+but at the same time one of the most honest, business men in the city.
+His integrity has never been sacrificed, even to the emergencies of
+trade.  The man is what the boy was; and we can best sum up the results
+of his life by saying that he has been true to himself, true to his
+friends and true to his God.
+
+Mrs. Bright is still living at the little white cottage, happy in
+herself and happy in her children.  Bobby--we mean Mr. Bright--has
+hardly missed going to Riverdale on a Saturday night since he left
+home, eight years before.  He has the same partiality for those famous
+apple pies, and his mother would as soon think of being without bread
+as being without apple pies when he comes home.
+
+Of course Squire Lee and Annie were always glad to see him when he came
+to Riverdale; and for two years it had been common talk in Riverdale
+that our hero did not go home on Sunday evening when the clock struck
+nine.  But as this is a forbidden topic, we will ask the reader to go
+with us to Mr. Bayard's house in Chestnut Street.
+
+What!  Annie Lee here?
+
+No; but as you are here, allow me to introduce Mrs. Robert Bright.
+
+They were married a few months before, and Mr. Bayard insisted that the
+happy couple should make their home at his house.
+
+But where is Ellen Bayard?
+
+O, she is Mrs. Bigelow now, and her husband is at the head of a large
+book establishment in New York.
+
+Bobby's dream had been realised, and he was the happiest man in the
+world--at least he thought so, which is just the same thing.  He had
+been successful in business; his wife--the friend and companion of his
+youth, the brightest filament of the bright vision his fancy had
+woven--had been won, and the future glowed with brilliant promises.
+
+He had been successful; but neither nor all of the things we have
+mentioned constituted his highest and truest success--not his business
+prosperity, not the bright promise of wealth in store for him, not his
+good name among men, not even the beautiful and loving wife who had
+cast her lot with his to the end of time.  These were successes, great
+and worthy, but not the highest success.
+
+He had made himself a man,--this was his real success,--a true, a
+Christian man.  He had lived a noble life.  He had reared the lofty
+structure of his manhood upon a solid foundation--principle.  It is the
+rock which the winds of temptation and the rains of selfishness cannot
+move.
+
+Robert Bright is happy because he is good.  Tom Spicer, now in the
+state prison, is unhappy,--not _because_ he is in the state prison, but
+because the evil passions of his nature are at war with the peace of
+his soul.  He has fed the good that was within him upon straw and
+husks, and starved it out.  He is a body only; the soul is dead in
+trespasses and sin.  He loves no one, and no one loves him.
+
+During the past summer, Mr. Bright and his lady took a journey "down
+east."  Annie insisted upon visiting the State Reform School; and her
+husband drove through the forest by which he had made his escape on
+that eventful night.  Afterwards they called upon Sam Ray, who had been
+"dead sure that Bobby would one day be a great man."  He was about the
+same person, and was astonished and delighted when our hero introduced
+himself.
+
+They spent a couple of hours in talking over the past, and at his
+departure, Mr. Bright made him a handsome present in such a delicate
+manner that he could not help accepting it.
+
+Squire Lee is still as hale and hearty as ever, and is never so happy
+as when Annie and her husband come to Riverdale to spend the Sabbath.
+He is fully of the opinion that Mr. Bright is the greatest man on the
+western continent, and he would not be in the least surprised if he
+should be elected president of the United States one of these days.
+
+The little merchant is a great merchant now.  But more than this, he is
+a good man.  He has formed his character, and he will probably die as
+he has lived.
+
+Reader, if yon have any good work to do, do it now, for with you it may
+be "NOW OR NEVER."
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14762 ***
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+
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+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #14762 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14762)
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Now or Never, by Oliver Optic
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Now or Never
+
+Author: Oliver Optic
+
+Release Date: January 23, 2005  [eBook #14762]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOW OR NEVER***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Al Haines
+
+
+
+NOW OR NEVER
+
+Or, The Adventures of Bobby Bright.
+
+A Story for Young Folks
+
+by
+
+OLIVER OPTIC
+
+Author of _The Boat Club_, _All Aboard_, _In Doors and Out_, etc.
+
+Boston: Lee and Shepard, Publishers.
+New York: Lee, Shepard & Dillingham, 49 Greene Street
+
+1872
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+TO
+
+MY NEPHEW,
+
+CHARLES HENRY POPE.
+
+
+This Book
+
+IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+The story contained in this volume is a record of youthful struggles,
+not only in the world without, but in the world within; and the success
+of the little hero is not merely a gathering up of wealth and honors,
+but a triumph over the temptations that beget the pilgrim on the plain
+of life.  The attainment of worldly prosperity is not the truest
+victory, and the author has endeavored to make the interest of his
+story depend more on the hero's devotion to principles than on his
+success in business.
+
+Bobby Bright is a smart boy; perhaps the reader will think he is
+altogether too smart for one of his years.  This is a progressive age,
+and any thing which Young America may do need not surprise any person.
+That little gentleman is older than his father, knows more than his
+mother, can talk politics, smoke cigars, and drive a 2:40 horse.  He
+orders "one stew" with as much ease as a man of forty, and can even
+pronounce correctly the villanous names of sundry French and German
+wines and liqueurs.  One would suppose, to hear him talk, that he had
+been intimate with Socrates and Solon, with Napoleon and Noah Webster;
+in short, that whatever he did not know was not worth knowing.
+
+In the face of these manifestations of exuberant genius, it would be
+absurd to accuse the author of making his hero do too much.  All he has
+done is to give this genius a right direction; and for politics,
+cigars, 2:40 horses, and "one stew," he has substituted the duties of a
+rational and accountable being, regarding them as better fitted to
+develop the young gentleman's mind, heart, and soul.
+
+Bobby Bright is something more than a smart boy.  He is a good boy, and
+makes a true man.  His daily life is the moral of the story, and the
+author hopes that his devotion to principle will make a stronger
+impression upon the mind of the young reader, than even the most
+exciting incidents of his eventful career.
+
+WILLIAM T. ADAMS.
+
+DORCHESTER, Nov. 15, 1856.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+CHAP. I.--In which Bobby goes a fishing, and catches a Horse.
+
+CHAP. II.--In which Bobby blushes several Times, and does a Sum in
+Arithmetic.
+
+CHAP. III.--In which the Little Black House is bought, but not paid for.
+
+CHAP. IV.--In which Bobby gets out of one Scrape, and into another.
+
+CHAP. V.--In which Bobby gives his Note for Sixty Dollars.
+
+CHAP. VI.--In which Bobby sets out on his Travels.
+
+CHAP. VII.--In which Bobby stands up for certain "Inalienable Rights."
+
+CHAP. VIII.--In which Mr. Timmins is astonished, and Bobby dines in
+Chestnut Street.
+
+CHAP. IX.--In which Bobby opens various Accounts, and wins his first
+Victory.
+
+CHAP X.--In which Bobby is a little too smart.
+
+CHAP. XI.--In which Bobby strikes a Balance, and returns to Riverdale.
+
+CHAP. XII.--In which Bobby astonishes sundry Persons, and pays Part of
+his Note.
+
+CHAP. XIII.--In which Bobby declines a Copartnership, and visits B----
+again.
+
+CHAP. XIV.--In which Bobby's Air Castle is upset, and Tom Spicer takes
+to the Woods.
+
+CHAP. XV.--In which Bobby gets into a Scrape, and Tom Spicer turns up
+again.
+
+CHAP. XVI.--In which Bobby finds "it is an ill wind that blows no one
+any good."
+
+CHAP. XVII.--In which Tom has a good Time, and Bobby meets with a
+terrible Misfortune.
+
+CHAT. XVIII.--In which Bobby takes French Leave, and camps in the Woods.
+
+CHAP. XIX.--In which Bobby has a narrow Escape, and goes to Sea with
+Sam Ray.
+
+CHAP. XX.--In which the Clouds blow over, and Bobby is himself again.
+
+CHAP. XXI.--In which Bobby steps off the Stage, and the Author must
+finish "Now or Never."
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY GOES A FISHING, AND CATCHES A HORSE.
+
+"By jolly!  I've got a bite!" exclaimed Tom Spicer, a rough,
+hard-looking boy, who sat on a rock by the river's side, anxiously
+watching the cork float on his line.
+
+"Catch him, then," quietly responded Bobby Bright, who occupied another
+rock near the first speaker, as he pulled up a large pout, and, without
+any appearance of exultation, proceeded to unhook and place him in his
+basket.
+
+"You are a lucky dog, Bob," added Tom, as he glanced into the basket of
+his companion, which now contained six good-sized fishes.  "I haven't
+caught one yet."
+
+"You don't fish deep enough."
+
+"I fish on the bottom."
+
+"That is too deep."
+
+"It don't make any difference how I fish; it is all luck."
+
+"Not all luck, Tom; there is something in doing it right."
+
+"I shall not catch a fish," continued Tom, in despair.
+
+"You'll catch something else, though, when you go home."
+
+"Will I?"
+
+"I'm afraid you will."
+
+"Who says I will?"
+
+"Didn't you tell me you were 'hooking jack'?
+
+"Who is going to know any thing about it?"
+
+"The master will know you are absent."
+
+"I shall tell him my mother sent me over to the village on an errand."
+
+"I never knew a fellow to 'hook jack,' yet, without getting found out."
+
+"I shall not get found out unless you blow on me; and you wouldn't be
+mean enough to do that;" and Tom glanced uneasily at his companion.
+
+"Suppose your mother should ask me if I had seen you."
+
+"You would tell her you have not, of course."
+
+"Of course?"
+
+"Why, wouldn't you?  Wouldn't you do as much as that for a fellow?"
+
+"It would be a lie."
+
+"A lie!  Humph!"
+
+"I wouldn't lie for any fellow," replied Bobby, stoutly, as he pulled
+in his seventh fish, and placed him in the basket.
+
+"Wouldn't you?"
+
+"No, I wouldn't."
+
+"Then, let me tell you this; if you peach on me I'll smash your head."
+
+Tom Spicer removed one hand from the fish pole and, doubling his fist,
+shook it with energy at his companion.
+
+"Smash away," replied Bobby, coolly.  "I shall not go out of my way to
+tell tales; but if your mother or the master asks me the question, I
+shall not lie."
+
+"Won't you?"
+
+"No, I won't."
+
+"I'll bet you will;" and Tom dropped his fish pole, and was on the
+point of jumping over to the rock occupied by Bobby, when the float of
+the former disappeared beneath the surface of the water.
+
+"You have got a bite," coolly interposed Bobby, pointing to the line.
+
+Tom snatched the pole, and with a violent twitch, pulled up a big pout;
+but his violence jerked the hook out of the fish's mouth, and he
+disappeared beneath the surface of the river.
+
+"Just my luck!" muttered Tom.
+
+"Keep cool, then."
+
+"I will fix you yet."
+
+"All right; but you had better not let go your pole again, or you will
+lose another fish."
+
+"I'm bound to smash your head, though."
+
+"No, you won't."
+
+"Won't I?"
+
+"Two can play at that game."
+
+"Do you stump me?"
+
+"No; I don't want to fight; I won't fight if I can help it."
+
+"I'll bet you won't!" sneered Tom.
+
+"But I will defend myself."
+
+"Humph!"
+
+"I am not a liar, and the fear of a flogging shall not make me tell a
+lie."'
+
+"Go to Sunday school--don't you?"
+
+"I do; and besides that, my mother always taught me never to tell a
+lie."
+
+"Come! you needn't preach to me.  By and by, you will call me a liar."
+
+"No, I won't; but just now you told me you meant to lie to your mother,
+and to the master."
+
+"What if I did?  That is none of your business."
+
+"It is my business when you want me to lie for you, though; and I shall
+not do it."
+
+"Blow on me, and see what you will get."
+
+"I don't mean to blow on you."
+
+"Yes you do."
+
+"I will not lie about it; that's all."
+
+"By jolly! see that horse!" exclaimed Tom, suddenly, as he pointed to
+the road leading to Riverdale centre.
+
+"By gracious!" added Bobby, dropping his fish pole, as he saw the horse
+running at a furious rate up the road from the village.
+
+The mad animal was attached to a chaise, in which was seated a lady,
+whose frantic shrieks pierced the soul of our youthful hero.
+
+The course of the road was by the river's side for nearly half a mile,
+and crossed the stream at a wooden bridge but a few rods from the place
+where the boys were fishing.
+
+Bobby Bright's impulses were noble and generous; and without stopping
+to consider the peril to which the attempt would expose him, he boldly
+resolved to stop that horse, or let the animal dash him to pieces on
+the bridge.
+
+"Now or never!" shouted he, as he leaped from the rock, and ran with
+all his might to the bridge.
+
+The shrieks of the lady rang in his ears, and seemed to command him,
+with an authority which he could not resist, to stop the horse.  There
+was no time for deliberation; and, indeed, Bobby did not want any
+deliberation.  The lady was in danger; if the horse's flight was not
+checked, she would be dashed in pieces; and what then could excuse him
+for neglecting his duty?  Not the fear of broken limbs, of mangled
+flesh, or even of a sudden and violent death.
+
+It is true Bobby did not think of any of these things; though, if he
+had, it would have made no difference with him.  He was a boy who would
+not fight except in self-defence, but he had the courage to do a deed
+which might have made the stoutest heart tremble with terror.
+
+Grasping a broken rail as he leaped over the fence, he planted himself
+in the middle of the bridge, which was not more than half as wide as
+the road at each end of it, to await the coming of the furious animal.
+On he came, and the piercing shrieks of the affrighted lady nerved him
+to the performance of his perilous duty.
+
+The horse approached him at a mad run, and his feet struck the loose
+planks of the bridge.  The brave boy then raised his big club, and
+brandished it with all his might in the air.  Probably the horse did
+not mean any thing very bad; was only frightened, and had no wicked
+intentions towards the lady; so that when a new danger menaced him in
+front, he stopped suddenly, and with so much violence as to throw the
+lady forward from her seat upon the dasher of the chaise.  He gave a
+long snort, which was his way of expressing his fear.  He was evidently
+astonished at the sudden barrier to his further progress, and commenced
+running back.
+
+"Save me!" screamed the lady.
+
+"I will, ma'am; don't be scared!" replied Bobby, confidently, as he
+dropped his club, and grasped the bridle of the horse, just as he was
+on the point of whirling round to escape by the way he had come.
+
+"Stop him!  Do stop him!" cried the lady.
+
+"Whoa!" said Bobby, in gentle tones, as he patted the trembling horse
+on his neck.  "Whoa, good horse!  Be quiet!  Whoa!"
+
+The animal, in his terror, kept running backward and forward; but Bobby
+persevered in his gentle treatment, and finally soothed him, so that he
+stood quiet enough for the lady to get out of the chaise.
+
+"What a miracle that I am alive!" exclaimed she when she realized that
+she stood once more upon the firm earth.
+
+"Yes, ma'am, it is lucky he didn't break the chaise.  Whoa!  Good
+horse!  Stand quiet!"
+
+"What a brave little fellow you are!" said the lady, as soon as she
+could recover her breath so as to express her admiration of Bobby's
+bold act.
+
+"O, I don't mind it," replied he, blushing like a rose in June.  "Did
+he run away with you?"
+
+"No; my father left me in the chaise for a moment while he went into a
+store in the village, and a teamster who was passing by snapped his
+whip, which frightened Kate so that she started off at the top of her
+speed.  I was so terrified, that I screamed with all my might, which
+frightened her the more.  The more I screamed, the faster she ran."
+
+"I dare say.  Good horse!  Whoa, Kate!"
+
+"She is a splendid creature; she never did such a thing before.  My
+father will think I am killed."
+
+By this time, Kate had become quite reasonable, and seemed very much
+obliged to Bobby for preventing her from doing mischief to her
+mistress; for she looked at the lady with a glance of satisfaction,
+which her deliverer interpreted as a promise to behave better in
+future.  He relaxed his grasp upon the bridle, patted her upon the
+neck, and said sundry pleasant things to encourage her in her assumed
+purpose of doing better.  Kate appeared to understand Bobby's kind
+words, and declared as plainly as a horse could declare that she would
+be sober and tractable.
+
+"Now, ma'am, if you will get into the chaise again, I think Kate will
+let me drive her down to the village."
+
+"O, dear!  I should not dare to do so."
+
+"Then, if you please, I will drive down alone, so as to let your father
+know that you are safe."
+
+"Do."
+
+"I am sure he must feel very bad, and I may save him a great deal of
+pain, for a man can suffer a great deal in a very short time."
+
+"You are a little philosopher, as well as a hero, and if you are not
+afraid of Kate, you may do as you wish."
+
+"She seems very gentle now;" and Bobby turned her round, and got into
+the chaise.
+
+"Be very careful," said the lady.
+
+"I will."
+
+Bobby took the reins, and Kate, true to the promise she had virtually
+made, started off at a round pace towards the village.
+
+He had not gone more than a quarter of a mile of the distance when he
+met a wagon containing three men, one of whom was the lady's father.
+The gestures which he made assured Bobby he had found the person whom
+he sought, and he stopped.
+
+"My daughter!  Where is she?" gasped the gentleman, as he leaped from
+the wagon.
+
+"She is safe, sir," replied Bobby, with all the enthusiasm of his warm
+nature.
+
+"Thank God!" added the gentleman, devoutly as he placed himself in the
+chaise by the side of Bobby.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY BLUSHES SEVERAL TIMES, AND DOES A SUM IN ARITHMETIC.
+
+Mr. Bayard, the owner of the horse, and the father of the lady whom
+Bobby had saved from impending death, was too much agitated to say
+much, even to the bold youth who had rendered him such a signal
+service.  He could scarcely believe the intelligence which the boy
+brought him; it seemed too good to be true.  He had assured himself
+that Ellen--for that was the young lady's name--was killed, or
+dreadfully injured.
+
+Kate was driven at the top of her speed, and in a few moments reached
+the bridge, where Ellen was awaiting his arrival.
+
+"Here I am, father, alive and unhurt!" cried Ellen, as Mr. Bayard
+stopped the horse.
+
+"Thank Heaven my child!" replied the glad father, embracing his
+daughter.  "I was sure you were killed."
+
+"No, father; thanks to this bold youth, I am uninjured."
+
+"I am under very great obligations to you, young man," continued Mr.
+Bayard, grasping Bobby's hand.
+
+"O, never mind, sir;" and Bobby blushed just as he had blushed when the
+young lady spoke to him.
+
+"We shall never forget you--shall we, father?" added Ellen.
+
+"No, my child; and I shall endeavor to repay, to some slight extent,
+our indebtedness to him.  But you have not yet told me how you were
+saved."
+
+"O, I merely stopped the horse; that's all," answered Bobby, modestly.
+
+"Yes, father, but he placed himself right before Kate when she was
+almost flying over the ground.  When I saw him, I was certain that he
+would lose his life, or be horribly mangled for his boldness,"
+interposed Ellen.
+
+"It was a daring deed, young man, to place yourself before an
+affrighted horse in that manner," said Mr. Bayard.
+
+"I didn't mind it, sir."
+
+"And then he flourished a big club, almost as big as he is himself, in
+the air, which made Kate pause in her mad career, when my deliverer
+here grasped her by the bit and held her."
+
+"It was well and bravely done."
+
+"That it was, father; not many men would have been bold enough to do
+what he did," added Ellen, with enthusiasm.
+
+"Very true; and I feel, that I am indebted to him for your safety.
+What is your name, young man?"
+
+"Robert Bright, sir."
+
+Mr. Bayard took from his pocket several pieces of gold, which he
+offered to Bobby.
+
+"No, I thank you, sir," replied Bobby, blushing.
+
+"What! as proud as you are bold?"
+
+"I don't like to be paid for doing my duty."
+
+"Bravo!  You are a noble little fellow!  But you must take this money,
+not as a reward for what you have done, but as a testimonial of my
+gratitude."
+
+"I would rather not, sir."
+
+"Do take it, Robert," added Ellen.
+
+"I don't like to take it.  It looks mean to take money for doing one's
+duty."
+
+"Take it, Robert, to please me;" and the young lady smiled so sweetly
+that Bobby's resolution began to give way.  "Only to please me, Robert."
+
+"I will, to please you; but I don't feel right about it."
+
+"You must not be too proud, Robert," said Mr. Bayard, as he put the
+gold pieces into his hand.
+
+"I am not proud, sir; only I don't like to be paid for doing my duty."
+
+"Not paid, my young friend.  Consider that you have placed me under an
+obligation to you for life.  This money is only an expression of my own
+and my daughter's feelings.  It is but a small sum, but I hope you will
+permit me to do something more for you, when you need it.  You will
+regard me as your friend as long as you live."
+
+"Thank you, sir."
+
+"When you want any assistance of any kind, come to me.  I live in
+Boston; here is my business card."
+
+Mr. Bayard handed him a card, on which Bobby read, "F. Bayard & Co.,
+Booksellers and Publishers, No. ---- Washington Street, Boston."
+
+"You are very kind, sir."
+
+"I want you should come to Boston and see us too," interposed Ellen.
+"I should be delighted to show you the city, to take you to the
+Athenaeum and the Museum."
+
+"Thank you."
+
+Mr. Bayard inquired of Bobby about his parents, where he lived, and
+about the circumstances of his family.  He then took out his memorandum
+book, in which he wrote the boy's name and residence.
+
+"I am sorry to leave you now, Robert, but I have over twenty miles to
+ride to-day.  I should be glad to visit your mother, and next time I
+come to Riverdale, I shall certainly do so."
+
+"Thank you, sir; my mother is a very poor woman, but she will be glad
+to see you."
+
+"Now, good by, Robert."
+
+"Good by," repeated Ellen.
+
+"Good by."
+
+Mr. Bayard drove off, leaving Bobby standing on the bridge with the
+gold pieces in his hand.
+
+"Here's luck!" said Bobby, shaking the coin.  "Won't mother's eyes
+stick out when she sees these shiners?  There are no such shiners in
+the river as these."
+
+Bobby was astonished, and the more he gazed at the gold pieces, the
+more bewildered he became.  He had never held so much money in his hand
+before.  There were three large coins and one smaller one.  He turned
+them over and over, and finally ascertained that the large coins were
+ten dollar pieces, and the smaller one a five dollar piece.  Bobby was
+not a great scholar, but he knew enough of arithmetic to calculate the
+value of his treasure.  He was so excited, however, that he did not
+arrive at the conclusion half so quick as most of my young readers
+would have done.
+
+"Thirty-five dollars!" exclaimed Bobby, when the problem was solved.
+"Gracious!"
+
+"Hallo, Bob!" shouted Tom Spicer, who had got tired of fishing;
+besides, the village clock was just striking twelve, and it was time
+for him to go home.
+
+Bobby made no answer, but hastily tying the gold pieces up in the
+corner of his handkerchief, he threw the broken rail he had used in
+stopping the horse where it belonged, and started for the place where
+he had left his fishing apparatus.
+
+"Hallo, Bob!"
+
+"Well, Tom?"
+
+"Stopped him--didn't you?"
+
+"I did."
+
+"You were a fool; he might have killed you."
+
+"So he might; but I didn't stop to think of that.  The lady's life was
+in danger."
+
+"What of that?"
+
+"Every thing, I should say."
+
+"Did he give you any thing?"
+
+"Yes;" and Bobby continued his walk down to the river's side.
+
+"I say, what did he give you, Bobby?" persisted Tom, following him.
+
+"O, he gave me a good deal of money."
+
+"How much?"
+
+"I want to get my fish line now; I will tell you all about it some
+other time," replied Bobby, who rather suspected the intentions of his
+companion.
+
+"Tell me now; how much was it?"
+
+"Never mind it now."
+
+"Humph!  Do you think I mean to rob you?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Ain't you going halveses?"
+
+"Why should I?"
+
+"Wasn't I with you?"
+
+"Were you?"
+
+"Wasn't I fishing with you?"
+
+"You did not do any thing about stopping the horse."
+
+"I would, if I hadn't been afraid to go up to the road."
+
+"Afraid?"
+
+"Somebody might have seen me, and they would have known that I was
+hooking jack."
+
+"Then you ought not to share the money."
+
+"Yes, I had.  When a fellow is with you, he ought to have half.  It is
+mean not to give him half."
+
+"If you had done any thing to help stop the horse, I would have shared
+with you.  But you didn't."
+
+"What of that?"
+
+Bobby was particularly sensitive in regard to the charge of meanness.
+His soul was a great deal bigger than his body, and he was always
+generous, even to his own injury, among his companions.  It was evident
+to him that Tom had no claim to any part of the reward; but he could
+not endure the thought even of being accused of meanness.
+
+"I'll tell you what I will do, if you think I ought to share with you.
+I will leave it out to Squire Lee; and if he thinks you ought to have
+half, or any part of the money, I will give it to you."
+
+"No, you don't; you want to get me into a scrape for hooking jack.  I
+see what you are up to."
+
+"I will state the case to him without telling him who the boys are."
+
+"No, you don't!  You want to be mean about it.  Come, hand over half
+the money."
+
+"I will not," replied Bobby, who, when it became a matter of
+compulsion, could stand his ground at any peril.
+
+"How much have you got?"
+
+"Thirty-five dollars."
+
+"By jolly!  And you mean to keep it all yourself?"
+
+"I mean to give it to my mother."
+
+"No, you won't!  If you are going to be mean about it, I'll smash your
+head!"
+
+This was a favorite expression with Tom Spicer, who was a noted bully
+among the boys of Riverdale.  The young ruffian now placed himself in
+front of Bobby, and shook his clinched fist in his face.
+
+"Hand over."
+
+"No, I won't.  You have no claim to any part at the money; at least, I
+think you have not.  If you have a mind to leave it out to Squire Lee,
+I will do what is right about it."
+
+"Not I; hand over, or I'll smash your head!"
+
+"Smash away," replied Bobby, placing himself on the defensive.
+
+"Do you think you can lick me?" asked Tom, not a little embarrassed by
+this exhibition of resolution on the part of his companion.
+
+"I don't think any thing about it; but you don't bully me in that kind
+of style."
+
+"Won't I?"
+
+"No."
+
+But Tom did not immediately put his threat in execution, and Bobby
+would not be the aggressor; so he stepped one side to pass his
+assailant.  Tom took this as an evidence of the other's desire to
+escape, and struck him a heavy blow on the side of the head The next
+instant the bully was floundering in the soft mud of a ditch; Bobby's
+reply was more than Tom had bargained for, and while he was dragging
+himself out of the ditch, our hero ran down to the river, and got his
+fish pole and basket.
+
+"You'll catch it for that!" growled Tom.
+
+"I'm all ready, whenever it suits your convenience," replied Bobby.
+
+"Just come out here and take it in fair fight," continued Tom, who
+could not help bullying, even in the midst of his misfortune.
+
+"No, I thank you; I don't want to fight with any fellow.  I will not
+fight if I can help it."
+
+"What did you hit me for, then?"
+
+"In self-defence."
+
+"Just come out here, and try it fair?"
+
+"No;" and Bobby hurried home, leaving the bully astonished, and
+discomfited by the winding up of the morning's sport.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+IN WHICH THE LITTLE BLACK HOUSE IS BOUGHT BUT NOT PAID FOR.
+
+Probably my young readers have by this time come to the conclusion that
+Bobby Bright was a very clever fellow--one whose acquaintance they
+would be happy to cultivate.  Perhaps by this time they have become so
+far interested in him as to desire to know who his parents were, what
+they did, and in what kind of a house he lived.
+
+I hope none of my young friends will think any less of him when I
+inform them that Bobby lived in an old black house which had never been
+painted, which had no flower garden in front of it, and which, in a
+word, was quite far from being a palace.  A great many very nice city
+folks would not have considered it fit to live in, would have turned up
+their noses at it, and wondered that any human beings could be so
+degraded as to live in such a miserable house.  But the widow Bright,
+Bobby's mother, thought it was a very comfortable house, and considered
+herself very fortunate in being able to get so good a dwelling.  She
+had never lived in a fine house, knew nothing about velvet carpets,
+mirrors seven feet high, damask chairs and lounges, or any of the smart
+things which very rich and very proud city people consider absolutely
+necessary for their comfort.  Her father had been a poor man, her
+husband had died a poor man, and her own life had been a struggle to
+keep the demons of poverty and want from invading her humble abode.
+
+Mr. Bright, her deceased husband, had been a day laborer in Riverdale.
+He never got more than a dollar a day, which was then considered very
+good wages in the country.  He was a very honest, industrious man, and
+while he lived, his family did very well.  Mrs. Bright was a careful,
+prudent woman, and helped him support the family.  They never knew what
+it was to want for any thing.
+
+Poor people, as well as rich, have an ambition to be something which
+they are not, or to have something which they have not.  Every person,
+who has an energy of character, desires to get ahead in the world.
+Some merchants, who own big ships and big warehouses by the dozen,
+desire to be what they consider rich.  But their idea of wealth is very
+grand.  They wish to count it in millions of dollars, in whole blocks
+of warehouses; and they are even more discontented than the day laborer
+who has to earn his dinner before he can eat it.
+
+Bobby's father and mother had just such an ambition, only it was so
+modest that the merchant would have laughed at it.  They wanted to own
+the little black house in which they resided, so that they could not
+only be sure of a home while they lived, but have the satisfaction of
+living in their own house.  This was a very reasonable ideal, compared
+with that of the rich merchants I have mentioned; but it was even more
+difficult for them to reach it, for the wages were small, and they had
+many mouths to feed.
+
+Mr. Bright had saved up fifty dollars; and he thought a great deal more
+of this sum than many people do of a thousand dollars.  He had had to
+work very hard and be very prudent in order to accumulate this sum,
+which made him value it all the more highly.
+
+With this sum of fifty dollars at his command, John Bright felt rich;
+and then, more than ever before, he wanted to own the little black
+house.  He felt as grand as a lord; and as soon as the forty-nine
+dollars had become fifty, he waited upon Mr. Hardhand, a little crusty
+old man, who owned the little black house, and proposed to purchase it.
+
+The landlord was a hard man.  Every body in Riverdale said he was mean
+and stingy.  Any generous-hearted man would have been willing to make
+an easy bargain with an honest, industrious, poor man, like John
+Bright, who wished to own the house in which he lived; but Mr.
+Hardhand, although he was rich, only thought how he could make more
+money.  He asked the poor man four hundred dollars for the old house
+and the little lot of land on which it stood.
+
+It was a matter of great concern to John Bright.  Four hundred dollars
+was a "mint of money," and he could not see how he should ever be able
+to save so much from his daily earnings.  So he talked with Squire Lee
+about it, who told him that three hundred was all it was worth.  John
+offered this for it, and after a month's hesitation, Mr. Hardhand
+accepted the offer, agreeing to take fifty dollars down and the rest in
+semi-annual payments of twenty-five dollars each, until the whole was
+paid.
+
+I am thus particular in telling my readers about the bargain, because
+this debt which his father contracted was the means of making a man of
+Bobby, as will be seen in his subsequent history.
+
+John Bright paid the first fifty dollars; but before the next
+instalment became due, the poor man was laid in his cold and silent
+grave.  A malignant disease carried him off, and the hopes of the
+Bright family seemed to be blasted.
+
+Four children were left to the widow.  The youngest was only three
+years old, and Bobby, the oldest, was nine, when his father died.
+Squire Lee, who had always been a good friend of John Bright, told the
+widow that she had better go to the poorhouse, and not attempt to
+struggle along with such a fearful odds against her.  But the widow
+nobly refused to become a pauper, and to make paupers of her children,
+whom she loved quite as much as though she and they had been born in a
+ducal palace.  She told the squire that she had two hands, and as long
+as she had her health, the town need not trouble itself about her
+support.
+
+Squire Lee was filled with surprise and admiration at the noble
+resolution of the poor woman; and when he returned to his house, he
+immediately sent her a cord of wood, ten bushels of potatoes, two bags
+of meal, and a firkin of salt pork.
+
+The widow was very grateful for these articles, and no false pride
+prevented her from accepting the gift of her rich and kind-hearted
+neighbor.
+
+Riverdale centre was largely engaged in the manufacturing of boots and
+shoes, and this business gave employment to a large number of men and
+women.
+
+Mrs. Bright had for several years "closed" shoes--which, my readers who
+do not live in "shoe towns" may not know, means sewing or stitching
+them.  To this business she applied herself with renewed energy.  There
+was a large hotel in Riverdale centre, where several families from
+Boston spent the summer.  By the aid of Squire Lee, she obtained the
+washing of these families, which was more profitable than closing shoes.
+
+By these means she not only supported her family very comfortably, but
+was able to save a little money towards paying for the house.  Mr.
+Hardhand, by the persuasions of Squire Lee, had consented to let the
+widow keep the house, and pay for it as she could.
+
+John Bright had been dead four years at the time we introduce Bobby to
+the reader.  Mrs. Bright had paid another hundred dollars towards the
+house, with the interest; so there was now but one hundred due.  Bobby
+had learned to "close," and helped his mother a great deal; but the
+confinement and the stooping posture did not agree with his health, and
+his mother was obliged to dispense with his assistance.  But the
+devoted little fellow found a great many ways of helping her.  He was
+now thirteen, and was as handy about the house as a girl.  When he was
+not better occupied, he would often go to the river and catch a mess of
+fish, which was so much clear gain.
+
+The winter which had just passed, had brought a great deal of sickness
+to the little black house.  The children all had the measles, and two
+of them the scarlet fever, so that Mrs. Bright could not work much.
+Her affairs were not in a very prosperous condition when the spring
+opened; but the future was bright, and the widow, trusting in
+Providence, believed that all would end well.
+
+One thing troubled her.  She had not been able to save any thing for
+Mr. Hardhand.  She could only pay her interest; but she hoped by the
+first of July to give him twenty-five dollars of the principal.  But
+the first of July came, and she had only five dollars of the sum she
+had partly promised her creditor.  She could not so easily recover from
+the disasters of the hard winter, and she had but just paid off the
+little debts she had contracted.  She was nervous and uneasy as the day
+approached.  Mr. Hardhand always abused her when she told him she could
+not pay him, and she dreaded his coming.
+
+It was the first of July on which Bobby caught those pouts, caught the
+horse, and on which Tom Spicer had "caught a Tartar."
+
+Bobby hastened home, as we said at the conclusion of the last chapter.
+He was as happy as a lord.  He had fish enough in his basket for
+dinner, and for breakfast the next morning, and money enough in his
+pocket to make his mother as happy as a queen, if queens are always
+happy.
+
+The widow Bright, though she had worried and fretted night and day
+about the money which was to be paid to Mr. Hardhand on the first of
+July, had not told her son any thing about it.  It would only make him
+unhappy, she reasoned, and it was needless to make the dear boy
+miserable for nothing; so Bobby ran home all unconscious of the
+pleasure which was in store for him.
+
+When he reached the front door, as he stopped to scrape his feet on the
+sharp stone there, as all considerate boys who love their mothers do,
+before they go into the house, he heard the angry tones of Mr.
+Hardhand.  He was scolding and abusing his mother because she could not
+pay him the twenty-five dollars.
+
+Bobby's blood boiled with indignation, and his first impulse was to
+serve him as he had served Tom Spicer, only a few moments before; but
+Bobby, as we have before intimated, was a peaceful boy, and not
+disposed to quarrel with any person; so he contented himself with
+muttering a few hard words.
+
+"The wretch!  What business has he to talk to my mother in that style?"
+said he to himself.  "I have a great mind to kick him out of the house."
+
+But Bobby's better judgment came to his aid; and perhaps he realized
+that he and his mother would only get kicked out in return.  He could
+battle with Mr. Hardhand, but not with the power which his wealth gave
+him; so, like a great many older persons in similar circumstances, he
+took counsel of prudence rather than impulse.
+
+"Bear ye one another's burdens," saith the Scripture; but Bobby was not
+old enough or astute enough to realize that Mr. Hardhand's burden was
+his wealth, his love of money; that it made him little better than a
+Hottentot; and he could not feel as charitably towards him as a
+Christian should towards his erring, weak brother.
+
+Setting his pole by the door, he entered the room where Hardhand was
+abusing his mother.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY GETS OUT OF ONE SCRAPE, AND INTO ANOTHER.
+
+Bobby was so indignant at the conduct of Mr. Hardhand, that he entirely
+forgot the adventure of the morning; and he did not even think of the
+gold he had in his pocket.  He loved his mother; he knew how hard she
+had worked for him and his brother and sisters; that she had burned the
+"midnight oil" at her clamps; and it made him feel very bad to near her
+abused as Mr. Hardhand was abusing her.  It was not her fault that she
+had not the money to pay him.  She had been obliged to spend a large
+portion of her time over the sick beds of her children, so that she
+could not earn so much money as usual; while the family expenses were
+necessarily much greater.
+
+Bobby knew also that Mr. Hardhand was aware of all the circumstances of
+his mother's position, and the more he considered the case the more
+brutal and inhuman was his course.
+
+As our hero entered the family room with the basket of fish on his arm,
+the little crusty old man fixed the glance of his evil eye upon him.
+
+"There is that boy, marm, idling away his time by the river, and eating
+you out of house and home," said the wretch.  "Why don't you set him to
+work, and make him earn something?"
+
+"Bobby is a very good boy," meekly responded the widow Bright.
+
+"Humph! I should think he was.  A great lazy lubber like him, living on
+his mother!" and Mr. Hardhand looked contemptuously at Bobby.
+
+"I am not a lazy lubber," interposed the insulted boy with spirit.
+
+"Yes, you are.  Why don't you go to work?"
+
+"I do work."
+
+"No, you don't; you waste your time paddling in the river."
+
+"I don't."
+
+"You had better teach this boy manners too, marm," said the creditor,
+who, like all men of small souls, was willing to take advantage of the
+power which the widow's indebtedness gave him.  "He is saucy."
+
+"I should like to know who taught you manners, Mr. Hardhand," replied
+Bobby, whose indignation was rapidly getting the better of his
+discretion.
+
+"What!" growled Mr. Hardhand, aghast at this unwonted boldness.
+
+"I heard what you said before I came in; and no decent man would go to
+the house of a poor woman to insult her."
+
+"Humph!  Mighty fine," snarled the little old man, his gray eyes
+twinkling with malice.
+
+"Don't Bobby; don't be saucy to the gentleman," interposed his mother.
+
+"Saucy, marm?  You ought to horsewhip him for it.  If you don't, I
+will."
+
+"No, you won't!" replied Bobby, shaking his head significantly.  "I can
+take care of myself."
+
+"Did any one ever hear such impudence!" gasped Mr. Hardhand.
+
+"Don't, Bobby, don't," pleaded the anxious mother.
+
+"I should like to know what right you have to come here and abuse my
+mother," continued Bobby, who could not restrain his anger.
+
+"Your mother owes me money, and she don't pay it, you young scoundrel!"
+answered Mr. Hardhand, foaming with rage.
+
+"That is no reason why you should insult her.  You can call _me_ what
+you please, but you shall not insult my mother while I'm round."
+
+"Your mother is a miserable woman, and--"
+
+"Say that again, and though you are an old man, I'll hit you for it.
+I'm big enough to protect my mother, and I'll do it."
+
+Bobby doubled up his fists and edged up to Mr. Hardhand, fully
+determined to execute his threat if he repeated the offensive
+expression, or any other of a similar import.  He was roused to the
+highest pitch of anger, and felt as though he had just as lief die as
+live in defence of his mother's good name.
+
+I am not sure that I could excuse Bobby's violence under any other
+circumstances.  He loved his mother--as the novelists would say, he
+idolized her; and Mr. Hardhand had certainly applied some very
+offensive epithets to her--epithets which no good son could calmly bear
+applied to a mother.  Besides, Bobby, though his heart was a large one,
+and was in the right place, had never been educated into those nice
+distinctions of moral right and wrong which control the judgment of
+wise and learned men.  He had an idea that violence, resistance with
+blows, was allowable in certain extreme cases; and he could conceive of
+no greater provocation than an insult to his mother.
+
+"Be calm, Bobby; you are in a passion," said Mrs. Bright.
+
+"I am surprised, marm," began Mr. Hardhand, who prudently refrained
+from repeating the offensive language--and I have no doubt he was
+surprised; for he looked both astonished and alarmed.  "This boy has a
+most ungovernable temper."
+
+"Don't you worry about my temper, Mr. Hardhand; I'll take care of
+myself.  All I want of you is not to insult my mother.  You may say
+what you like to me; but don't you call her hard names."
+
+Mr. Hardhand, like all mean, little men, was a coward; and he was
+effectually intimidated by the bold and manly conduct of the boy.  He
+changed his tone and manner at once.
+
+"You have no money for me, marm?" said he, edging towards the door.
+
+"No, sir; I am sorry to say that I have been able to save only five
+dollars since I paid you last; but I hope--"
+
+"Never mind, marm, never mind; I shall not trouble myself to come here
+again, where I am liable to be kicked by this ill-bred cub.  No, marm,
+I shall not come again.  Let the law take its course."
+
+"O, mercy!  See what you have brought upon us, Bobby," exclaimed Mrs.
+Bright, bursting into tears.
+
+"Yes, marm, let the law take its course."
+
+"O Bobby!  Stop a moment, Mr. Hardhand; do stop a moment."
+
+"Not a moment, marm.  We'll see;" and Mr. Hardhand placed his hand upon
+the latch string.
+
+Bobby felt very uneasy, and very unhappy at that moment.  His passion
+had subsided, and he realized that he had done a great deal of mischief
+by his impetuous conduct.
+
+Then the remembrance of his morning, adventure on the bridge came like
+a flash of sunshine to his mind, and he eagerly drew from his pocket
+the handkerchief in which he had deposited the precious gold,--doubly
+precious now, because it would enable him to retrieve the error into
+which he had fallen, and do something towards relieving his mother's
+embarrassment.  With a trembling hand he untied the knot which secured
+the money.
+
+"Here, mother, here is thirty-five dollars;" and he placed it in her
+hand.
+
+"Why, Bobby!" exclaimed Mrs. Bright.
+
+"Pay him, mother, pay him, and I will tell you all about it by and by."
+
+"Thirty-five dollars! and all in gold!  Where did you get it, Bobby?"
+
+"Never mind it now, mother."
+
+Mr. Hardhand's covetous soul had already grasped the glittering gold;
+and removing his hand from the latch string, he approached the widow.
+
+"I shall be able to pay you forty dollars now," said Mrs. Bright,
+taking the five dollars she had saved from her pocket.
+
+"Yes, marm."
+
+Mr. Hardhand took the money, and seating himself at the table, indorsed
+the amount on the back of the note.
+
+"You owe me sixty more," said he, maliciously, as he returned the note
+to his pocket book.  "It must be paid immediately."
+
+"You must not be hard with me now, when I have paid more than you
+demanded."
+
+"I don't wish to come here again.  That boy's impudence has put me all
+out of conceit with you and your family," replied Mr. Hardhand,
+assuming the most benevolent look he could command.  "There was a time
+when I was very willing to help you.  I have waited a great while for
+my pay for this house; a great deal longer than I would have waited for
+anybody else."
+
+"Your interest has always been paid punctually," suggested the widow,
+modestly.
+
+"That's true; but very few people would have waited as long as I have
+for the principal.  I wanted to help you--"
+
+"By gracious!" exclaimed Bobby, interrupting him.
+
+"Don't be saucy, my son, don't," said Mrs. Bright, fearing a repetition
+of the former scene.
+
+"_He_ wanted to help us!" ejaculated Bobby.
+
+It was a very absurd and hypocritical expression on the part of Mr.
+Hardhand; for he never wanted to help any one but himself; and during
+the whole period of his relations with the poor widow, he had
+oppressed, insulted, and abused her to the extent of his capacity, or
+at least as far as his interest would permit.
+
+He was a malicious and revengeful man.  He did not consider the great
+provocation he had given Bobby for his violent conduct, but determined
+to be revenged, if it could be accomplished without losing any part of
+the sixty dollars still due him.  He was a wicked man at heart, and
+would not scruple to turn the widow and her family out of house and
+home.
+
+Mrs. Bright knew this, and Bobby knew it too; and they felt very uneasy
+about it.  The wretch still had the power to injure them, and he would
+use it without compunction.
+
+"Yes, young man, I wanted to help you, and you see what I get for
+it--contempt and insults!  You will hear from me again in a day or two.
+Perhaps you will change your tune, you young reprobate!"
+
+"Perhaps I shall," replied Bobby, without much discretion.
+
+"And you too, marm; you uphold him in his treatment of me.  You have
+not done your duty to him.  You have been remiss, marm!" continued Mr.
+Hardhand, growing bolder again, as he felt the power he wielded.
+
+"That will do, sir; you can go!" said Bobby, springing from his chair,
+and approaching Mr. Hardhand.  "Go, and do your worst!"
+
+"Humph! you stump me--do you?"
+
+"I would rather see my mother kicked out of the house than insulted by
+such a dried-up old curmudgeon as you are.  Go along!"
+
+"Now, don't, Bobby," pleaded his mother.
+
+"I am going; and if the money is not paid by twelve o'clock to-morrow,
+the law shall lake its course;" and Mr. Hardhand rushed out of the
+house, slamming the door violently after him.
+
+"O Bobby, what have you done?" exclaimed Mrs. Bright, when the
+hard-hearted creditor had departed.
+
+"I could not help it, mother; don't cry.  I cannot bear to hear you
+insulted and abused; and I thought when I heard him do it a year ago,
+that I couldn't stand it again.  It is too bad."
+
+"But he will turn us out of the house; and what shall we do then?"
+
+"Don't cry, mother; it will come round all right.  I have friends who
+are rich and powerful, and who will help us."
+
+"You don't know what you say, Bobby.  Sixty dollars is a great deal of
+money, and if we should sell all we have, it would scarcely bring that."
+
+"Leave it all to me, mother; I feel as though I could do something now.
+I am old enough to make money."
+
+"What can you do?"
+
+"Now or never!" replied Bobby, whose mind had wandered from the scene
+to the busy world, where fortunes are made and lost every day.  "Now or
+never!" muttered he again.
+
+"But Bobby, you have not told me where you got all that gold."
+
+"Dinner is ready, I see, and I will tell you while we eat."
+
+Bobby had been a fishing, and to be hungry is a part of the fisherman's
+luck; so he seated himself at the table, and gave his mother a full
+account of all that had occurred at the bridge.
+
+The fond mother trembled when she realized the peril her son had
+incurred for the sake of the young lady; but her maternal heart swelled
+with admiration in view of the generous deed, and she thanked God that
+she was the mother of such a son.  She felt more confidence in him then
+than she had ever felt before, and she realized that he would be the
+stay and the staff of her declining years.
+
+Bobby finished his dinner, and seated himself on the front door step.
+His mind was absorbed, by a new and brilliant idea; and for half an
+hour he kept up a most tremendous thinking.
+
+"Now or never!" said he, as he rose and walked down the road towards
+Riverdale Centre.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY GIVES HIS NOTE FOR SIXTY DOLLARS.
+
+A great idea was born in Bobby's brain.  His mother's weakness and the
+insecurity of her position were more apparent to him than they had ever
+been before.  She was in the power of her creditor, who might turn her
+out of the little black house, sell the place at auction, and thus,
+perhaps, deprive her of the whole or a large part of his father's and
+her own hard earnings.
+
+But this was not the peculiar hardship of her situation, as her devoted
+son understood it.  It was not the hard work alone which she was called
+upon to perform, not the coarseness of the fare upon which they lived,
+not the danger even of being turned out of doors, that distressed
+Bobby; it was that a wretch like Mr. Hardhand could insult and trample
+upon his mother.  He had just heard him use language to her that made
+his blood boil with indignation, and he did not, on cool, sober, second
+thought, regret that he had taken such a decided stand against it.
+
+He cared not for himself.  He could live on a crust of bread and a cup
+of water from the spring; he could sleep in a barn; he could wear
+coarse and even ragged clothes; but he could not submit to have his
+mother insulted, and by such a mean and contemptible person as Mr.
+Hardhand.
+
+Yet what could he do?  He was but a boy, and the great world would look
+with contempt upon his puny form.  But he felt that he was not
+altogether insignificant.  He had performed an act, that day, which the
+fair young lady, to whom he had rendered the service, had declared very
+few men would have undertaken.  There was something in him, something
+that would come out, if he only put his best foot forward.  It was a
+tower of strength within him.  It told him that he could do wonders;
+that he could go out into the world and accomplish all that would be
+required to free his mother from debt, and relieve her from the severe
+drudgery of her life.
+
+A great many people think they can "do wonders."  The vanity of some
+very silly people makes them think they can command armies, govern
+nations, and teach the world what the world never knew before, and
+never would know but for them.  But Bobby's something within him was
+not vanity.  It was something more substantial.  He was not thinking of
+becoming a great man, a great general, a great ruler, or a great
+statesman; not even of making a great fortune.  Self was not the idol
+and the end of his calculations.  He was thinking of his mother, and
+only of her; and the feeling within him was as pure, and holy, and
+beautiful as the dream of an angel.  He wanted to save his mother from
+insult in the first place, and from a life of ceaseless drudgery in the
+second.
+
+A legion of angels seemed to have encamped in his soul to give him
+strength for the great purpose in his mind.  His was a holy and a true
+purpose, and it was this that made him think he could "do wonders."
+What Bobby intended to do the reader shall know in due time.  It is
+enough now that he meant to do something.  The difficulty with a great
+many people is, that they never resolve to do something.  They wait for
+"something to turn up;" and as "things" are often very obstinate, they
+utterly refuse to "turn up" at all.  Their lives are spent in waiting
+for a golden opportunity which never comes.
+
+Now, Bobby Bright repudiated the Micawber philosophy.  He would have
+nothing to do with it.  He did not believe corn would grow without
+being planted, or that pouts would bite the bare hook.
+
+I am not going to tell my young readers now how Bobby made out in the
+end; but I can confidently say that, if he had waited for "something to
+turn up," he would have become a vagabond, a loafer, out of money, out
+at the elbows, and out of patience with himself and all the world.
+
+It was "now or never" with Bobby.  He meant to do something; and after
+he had made up his mind how and where it was to be done, it was no use
+to stand thinking about it, like the pendulum of the "old clock which
+had stood for fifty years in a farmer's kitchen, without giving its
+owner any cause of complaint."
+
+Bobby walked down the road towards the village with a rapid step.  He
+was thinking very fast, and probably that made him step quick.  But as
+he approached Squire Lee's house, his pace slackened, and he seemed to
+be very uneasy.  When he reached the great gate that led up to the
+house, he stopped for an instant, and thrust his hands down very deep
+into his trousers pockets.  I cannot tell what the trousers pockets had
+to do with what he was thinking about; but if he was searching for any
+thing in them, he did not find it; for after an instant's hesitation he
+drew out his hands, struck one of them against his chest, and in an
+audible voice exclaimed,--
+
+"Now or never."
+
+All this pantomime, I suppose, meant that Bobby had some misgivings as
+to the ultimate success of his mission at Squire Lee's, and that when
+he struck his breast and uttered his favorite expression, they were
+conquered and driven out.
+
+Marching with a bold and determined step up to the squire's back
+door--Bobby's idea of etiquette would not have answered for the
+meridian of fashionable society--he gave three smart raps.
+
+Bobby's heart beat a little wildly as he waited a response to his
+summons.  It seemed that he still had some doubts as to the
+practicability of his mission; but they were not permitted to disturb
+him long, for the door was opened by the Squire's pretty daughter
+Annie, a young miss of twelve.
+
+"O Bobby, is it you?  I am so glad you have come!" exclaimed the little
+lady.
+
+Bobby blushed--he didn't know why, unless it was that the young lady
+desired to see him.  He stammered out a reply, and for the moment
+forgot the object of his visit.
+
+"I want you to go down to the village for me, and get some books the
+expressman was to bring up from Boston for me.  Will you go?"
+
+"Certainly, Miss Annie, I shall be very glad to go for _you_," replied
+Bobby with an emphasis that made the little maiden blush in her turn.
+
+"You are real good, Bobby; but I will give you something for going."
+
+"I don't want any thing," said Bobby, stoutly.
+
+"You are too generous!  Ah, I heard what you did this forenoon; and pa
+says that a great many men would not have dared to do what you did.  I
+always thought you were as brave as a lion; now I know it."
+
+"The books are at the express office, I suppose," said Bobby, turning
+as red as a blood beet.
+
+"Yes, Bobby; I am so anxious to get them that I can't wait till pa goes
+down this evening."
+
+"I will not be gone long."
+
+"O, you needn't run, Bobby; take your time."
+
+"I will go very quick.  But, Miss Annie, is your father at home?"
+
+"Not now; he has gone over to the wood lot; but he will be back by the
+time you return."
+
+"Will you please to tell him that I want to see him about something
+very particular, when he gets back?"
+
+"I will, Bobby."
+
+"Thank you, Miss Annie;" and Bobby hastened to the village to execute
+his commission.
+
+"I wonder what he wants to see pa so very particularly for," said the
+young lady to herself, as she watched his receding form.  "In my
+opinion, something has happened, at the little black house, for I could
+see that he looked very sober."
+
+Either Bobby had a very great regard for the young lady, and wished to
+relieve her impatience to behold the coveted books, or he was in a
+hurry to see Squire Lee; for the squire's old roan horse could hardly
+have gone quicker.
+
+"You should not have run, Bobby," said the little maiden when he placed
+the books in her hand; "I would not have asked you to go if I had
+thought you would run all the way.  You must be very tired."
+
+"Not at all; I didn't run, only walked very quick," replied he; but his
+quick breathing indicated that his words or his walk had been very much
+exaggerated.  "Has your father returned?"
+
+"He has; he is waiting for you in the sitting room.  Come in, Bobby."
+
+Bobby followed her into the room, and took the chair which Annie
+offered him.
+
+"How do you do, Bobby?  I am glad to see you," said the squire, taking
+him by the hand, and bestowing a benignant smile upon him--a smile
+which cheered his heart more than any thing else could at that moment.
+"I have heard of you before to-day."
+
+"Have you?"
+
+"I have, Bobby; you are a brave little fellow."
+
+"I came over to see you, sir, about something very particular," replied
+Bobby, whose natural modesty induced him to change the topic.
+
+"Indeed; well, what can I do for you?"
+
+"A great deal, sir; perhaps you will think I am very bold, sir, but I
+can't help it."
+
+"I know you are a very bold little fellow, or you would not have done
+what you did this forenoon," laughed the squire.
+
+"I didn't mean that, sir," answered Bobby, blushing up to the eyes.
+
+"I know you didn't; but go on."
+
+"I only meant that you would think me presuming, or impudent, or
+something of that kind."
+
+"O, no, far from it.  You cannot be presuming or impudent.  Speak out,
+Bobby; any thing under the heavens that I can do for you, I shall be
+glad to do."
+
+"Well, sir, I am going to leave Riverdale."
+
+"Leave Riverdale!"
+
+"Yes, sir; I am going to Boston, where I mean to do something to help
+mother."
+
+"Bravo! you are a good lad.  What do you mean to do?"
+
+"I was thinking I should go into the book business."
+
+"Indeed!" and Squire Lee was much amused by the matter-of-fact manner
+of the young aspirant.
+
+"I was talking with a young fellow who went through the place last
+spring, selling books.  He told me that some days he made three or four
+dollars, and that he averaged twelve dollars a week."
+
+"He did well; perhaps, though, only a few of them make so much."
+
+"I know I can make twelve dollars a week," replied Bobby, confidently,
+for that something within him made him feel capable of great things.
+
+"I dare say you can.  You have energy and perseverance, and people take
+a liking to you."
+
+"But I wanted to see you about another matter.  To speak out at once, I
+want to borrow sixty dollars of you;" and Bobby blushed, and seemed
+very much embarrassed by his own boldness.
+
+"Sixty dollars!" exclaimed the squire.
+
+"I knew you would think me impudent," replied our hero, his heart
+sinking within him.
+
+"But I don't, Bobby.  You want this money to go into business with--to
+buy your stock of books?"
+
+"O, no, sir; I am going to apply to Mr. Bayard for that."
+
+"Just so; Mr. Bayard is the gentleman whose daughter you saved?"
+
+"Yes, sir.  I want this money to pay off Mr. Hardhand.  We owe him but
+sixty dollars now, and he has threatened to turn us out, if it is not
+paid by tomorrow noon."
+
+"The old hunks!"
+
+Bobby briefly related to the squire the events or the morning, much to
+the indignation and disgust of the honest, kind-hearted man.  The
+courageous boy detailed more clearly his purpose, and doubted not he
+should be able to pay the loan in a few months.
+
+"Very well, Bobby, here is the money;" and the squire took it from his
+wallet, and gave it to him.
+
+"Thank you, sir.  May Heaven bless you!  I shall certainly pay you."
+
+"Don't worry about it, Bobby.  Pay it when you get ready."
+
+"I will give you my note, and--"
+
+The squire laughed heartily at this, and told him, that, as he was a
+minor, his note was not good for any thing.
+
+"You shall see whether it is, or not," returned Bobby.  "Let me give it
+to you, at least, so that we can tell how much I owe you from time to
+time."
+
+"You shall have your own way."
+
+Annie Lee, as much amused as her father at Bobby's big talk, got the
+writing materials, and the little merchant in embryo wrote and signed
+the note.
+
+"Good, Bobby!  Now promise that you will come and see me every time you
+come home, and tell me how you are getting along."
+
+"I will, sir, with the greatest pleasure;" and with a light heart Bobby
+tripped away home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY SETS OUT ON HIS TRAVELS.
+
+Squire Lee, though only a plain farmer, was the richest man in
+Riverdale.  He had taken a great fancy to Bobby, and often employed him
+to do errands, ride the horse to plough in the cornfields, and such
+chores about the place as a boy could do.  He liked to talk with Bobby
+because there was a great deal of good sense in him, for one with a
+small head.
+
+If there was any one thing upon which the squire particularly prided
+himself, it was his knowledge of human nature.  He declared that he
+only wanted to look a man in the face to know what he was; and as for
+Bobby Bright, he had summered him and wintered him, and he was
+satisfied that he would make something in good time.
+
+He was not much astonished when Bobby opened his ambitious scheme of
+going into business for himself.  But he had full faith in his ability
+to work out a useful and profitable, if not a brilliant life.  He often
+said that Bobby was worth his weight in gold, and that he would trust
+him with any thing he had.  Perhaps he did not suspect that the time
+was at hand when he would be called upon to verify his words
+practically; for it was only that morning, when one of the neighbors
+told him about Bobby's stopping the horse, that he had repeated the
+expression for the twentieth time.
+
+It was not an idle remark.  Sixty dollars was hardly worth mentioning
+with a man of his wealth and liberal views, though so careful a man as
+he was would not have been likely to throw away that amount.  But as a
+matter of investment,--Bobby had made the note read "with
+interest,"--he would as readily have let him have it, as the next
+richest man in the place, so much confidence had he in our hero's
+integrity, and so sure was he that he would soon have the means of
+paying him.
+
+Bobby was overjoyed at the fortunate issue of his mission, and he
+walked into the room where his mother was closing shoes, with a dignity
+worthy a banker or a great merchant.  Mrs. Bright was very sad.
+Perhaps she felt a little grieved that her son, whom she loved so much,
+had so thoughtlessly plunged her into a new difficulty.
+
+"Come, cheer up, mother; it is all right," said Bobby in his usual
+elastic and gay tones; and at the same time he took the sixty dollars
+from his pocket and handed it to her.  "There is the money, and you
+will be forever quit of Mr. Hardhand to-morrow."
+
+"What, Bobby!  Why, where did you get all this money?" asked Mrs.
+Bright, utterly astonished.
+
+In a few words the ambitious boy told his story, and then informed his
+mother that he was going to Boston the next Monday morning, to commence
+business for himself.
+
+"Why, what can you do, Bobby?"
+
+"Do?  I can do a great many things;" and he unfolded his scheme of
+becoming a little book merchant.
+
+"You are a courageous fellow!  Who would have thought of such a thing?"
+
+"I should, and did."
+
+"But you are not old enough."
+
+"O, yes, I am."
+
+"You had better wait a while."
+
+"Now or never, mother!  You see I have given my note, and my paper will
+be dishonored, if I am not up and doing."
+
+"Your paper!" said Mrs. Bright, with a smile.
+
+"That is what Mr. Wing, the boot manufacturer, calls it."
+
+"You needn't go away to earn this money; I can pay it myself."
+
+"This note is my affair, and I mean to pay it myself with my own
+earnings.  No objections, mother."
+
+Like a sensible woman as she was, she did not make any objections.  She
+was conscious of Bobby's talents; she knew that he had a strong mind of
+his own, and could take care of himself.  It is true, she feared the
+influence of the great world, and especially of the great city, upon
+the tender mind of her son; but if he was never tempted, he would never
+be a conqueror over the foes that beset him.
+
+She determined to do her whole duty towards him, and she carefully
+pointed out to him the sins and the moral danger to which he would be
+exposed, and warned him always to resist temptation.  She counselled
+him to think of her when he felt like going astray.
+
+Bobby declared that he would try to be a good boy.  He did not speak
+contemptuously of the anticipated perils, as many boys would have done,
+because he knew that his mother would not make bugbears out of things
+which she knew had no real existence.
+
+The next day, Mr. Hardhand came; and my young readers can judge how
+astonished and chagrined he was, when the widow Bright offered him the
+sixty dollars.  The Lord was with the widow and the fatherless, and the
+wretch was cheated out of his revenge.  The note was given up, and the
+mortgage cancelled.
+
+Mr. Hardhand insisted that she should pay the interest on the sixty
+dollars for one day, as it was then the second day of July; but when
+Bobby reckoned it up, and found it was less than one cent, even the
+wretched miser seemed ashamed of himself, and changed the subject of
+conversation.
+
+He did not dare to say any thing saucy to the widow this time.  He had
+lost his power over her, and there stood Bobby, who had come to look
+just like a young lion to him, coward and knave as he was.
+
+The business was all settled now, and Bobby spent the rest of the week
+in getting ready for his great enterprise.  He visited all his friends,
+and went each day to talk with Squire Lee and Annie.  The little maiden
+promised to buy a great many books of him, if he would bring his stock
+to Riverdale, for she was quite as much interested in him as her father
+was.
+
+Monday morning came, and Bobby was out of bed with the first streak of
+dawn.  The excitement of the great event which was about to happen had
+not permitted him to sleep for the two hours preceding; yet when he got
+up, he could not help feeling sad.  He was going to leave the little
+black house, going to leave his mother, going to leave the children, to
+depart for the great city.
+
+His mother was up before him.  She was even more sad than he was, for
+she could see plainer than he the perils that environed him, and her
+maternal heart, in spite of the reasonable confidence she had in his
+integrity and good principles, trembled for his safety.
+
+As he ate his breakfast, his mother repeated the warnings and the good
+lessons she had before imparted.  She particularly cautioned him to
+keep out of bad company.  If he found that his companions would lie and
+swear, he might depend upon it they would steal, and he had better
+forsake them at once.  This was excellent advice, and Bobby had
+occasion at a later period to call it to his sorrowing heart.
+
+"Here is three dollars, Bobby; it is all the money I have.  Your fare
+to Boston will be one dollar, and you will have two left to pay the
+expenses of your first trip.  It is all I have now," said Mrs. Bright.
+
+"I will not take the whole of it.  You will want it yourself.  One
+dollar is enough.  When I find Mr. Bayard, I shall do very well."
+
+"Yes, Bobby, take the whole of it."
+
+"I will take just one dollar, and no more," replied Bobby, resolutely,
+as he handed her the other two dollars.
+
+"Do take it, Bobby."
+
+"No, mother; it will only make me lazy and indifferent."
+
+Taking a clean shirt, a pair of socks, and a handkerchief in his
+bundle, he was ready for a start.
+
+"Good by, mother," said he, kissing her and taking her hand.  "I shall
+try and come home on Saturday, so as to be with you on Sunday."
+
+Then kissing the children, who had not yet got up, and to whom he had
+bidden adieu the night before, he left the house.  He had seen the
+flood of tears that filled his mother's eyes, as he crossed the
+threshold; and he could not help crying a little himself.  It is a sad
+thing to leave one's home, one's mother, especially, to go out into the
+great world; and we need not wonder that Bobby, who had hardly been out
+of Riverdale before, should weep.  But he soon restrained the flowing
+tears.
+
+"Now or never!" said he, and he put his best foot forward.
+
+It was an epoch in his history, and though he was too young to realize
+the importance of the event, he seemed to feel that what he did now was
+to give character to his whole future life.
+
+It was a bright and beautiful morning--somehow, it is always a bright
+and beautiful morning when boys leave their homes to commence the
+journey of life; it is typical of the season of youth and hope, and it
+is meet that the sky should be clear, and the sun shine brightly, when
+the little pilgrim sets out upon his tour.  He will see clouds and
+storms before he has gone far--let him have a fair start.
+
+He had to walk five miles to the nearest railroad station.  His road
+lay by the house of his friend, Squire Lee; and as he was approaching
+it, he met Annie.  She said she had come out to take her morning walk;
+but Bobby knew very well that she did not usually walk till an hour
+later; which, with the fact that she had asked him particularly, the
+day before, what time he was going, made Bobby believe that she had
+come out to say good by, and bid him God speed on his journey.  At any
+rate, he was very glad to see her.  He said a great many pretty things
+to her, and talked so big about what he was going to do, that the
+little maiden could hardly help laughing in his face.
+
+Then at the house he shook hands with the squire and shook hands again
+with Annie, and resumed his journey.  His heart felt lighter for having
+met them, or at least for having met one of them, if not both; for
+Annie's eyes were so full of sunshine that they seemed to gladden his
+heart, and make him feel truer and stronger.
+
+After a pleasant walk, for he scarcely heeded the distance, so full was
+he of his big thoughts, he reached the railroad station.  The cars had
+not yet arrived, and would not for half an hour.
+
+"Why should I give them a dollar for carrying me to Boston, when I can
+just as well walk?  If I get tired, I can sit down and rest me.  If I
+save the dollar, I shall have to earn only fifty-nine more to pay my
+note.  So here goes;" and he started down the track.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY STANDS UP FOR "CERTAIN INALIENABLE RIGHTS."
+
+Whether it was wise policy, or "penny wise and pound foolish" policy
+for Bobby to undertake such a long walk, is certainly a debatable
+question; but as my young readers would probably object to an argument,
+we will follow him to the city, and let every one settle the point to
+suit himself.
+
+His cheerful heart made the road smooth beneath his feet.  He had
+always been accustomed to an active, busy life, and had probably often
+walked more than twenty miles in a day.  About ten o'clock, though he
+did not feel much fatigued, he seated himself on a rock by a brook from
+which he had just taken a drink, to rest himself.  He had walked slowly
+so as to husband his strength; and he felt confident that he should be
+able to accomplish the journey without injury to himself.
+
+After resting for half an hour, he resumed his walk.  At twelve o'clock
+he reached a point from which he obtained his first view of the city.
+His heart bounded at the sight, and his first impulse was to increase
+his speed so that he should the sooner gratify his curiosity; but a
+second thought reminded him that he had eaten nothing since breakfast;
+so, finding a shady tree by the road side, he seated himself on a stone
+to eat the luncheon which his considerate mother had placed in his
+bundle.
+
+Thus refreshed, he felt like a new man, and continued his journey again
+till he was on the very outskirts of the city, where a sign, "No
+passing over this bridge," interrupted his farther progress.  Unlike
+many others, Bobby took this sign literally, and did not venture to
+cross the bridge.  Having some doubts as to the direct road to the
+city, he hailed a man in a butcher's cart, who not only pointed the
+way, but gave him an invitation to ride with him, which Bobby was glad
+to accept.
+
+They crossed the Milldam, and the little pilgrim forgot the long walk
+he had taken--forgot Riverdale, his mother, Squire Lee, and Annie, for
+the time, in the absorbing interest of the exciting scene.  The Common
+beat Riverdale Common all hollow; he had never seen any thing like it
+before.  But when the wagon reached Washington Street, the measure of
+his surprise was filled up.
+
+"My gracious! how thick the houses are!" exclaimed he, much to the
+amusement of the kind-hearted butcher.
+
+"We have high fences here," he replied.
+
+"Where are all these folks going to?"
+
+"You will have to ask them, if you want to know."
+
+But the wonder soon abated, and Bobby began to think of his great
+mission in the city.  He got tired of gazing and wondering, and even
+began to smile with contempt at the silly fops as they sauntered along,
+and the gayly-dressed ladies, that flaunted like so many idle
+butterflies, on the sidewalk.  It was an exciting scene; but it did not
+look real to him.  It was more like Herr Grunderslung's exhibition of
+the magic lantern, than any thing substantial.  The men and women were
+like so many puppets.  They did not seem to be doing any thing, or to
+be walking for any purpose.
+
+He got out of the butcher's cart at the Old South.  His first
+impression, as he joined the busy throng, was, that he was one of the
+puppets.  He did not seem to have any hold upon the scene, and for
+several minutes this sensation of vacancy chained him to the spot.
+
+"All right!" exclaimed he to himself at last.  "I am here.  Now's my
+time to make a strike.  Now or never."
+
+He pulled Mr. Bayard's card from his pocket, and fixed the number of
+his store in his mind.  Now, numbers were not a Riverdale institution,
+and Bobby was a little perplexed about finding the one indicated.  A
+little study into the matter, however, set him right, and he soon had
+the satisfaction of seeing the bookseller's name over his store.
+
+"F. Bayard," he read; "this is the place."
+
+"Country!" shouted a little ragged boy, who dodged across the street at
+that moment.
+
+"Just so, my beauty!" said Bobby, a little nettled at this imputation
+of verdancy.
+
+"What a greeny!" shouted the little vagabond from the other side of the
+street.
+
+"No matter, rag-tag!  We'll settle that matter some other time."
+
+But Bobby felt that there was something in his appearance which
+subjected him to the remarks of others, and as he entered the shop, he
+determined to correct it as soon as possible.
+
+A spruce young gentleman was behind the counter, who cast a mischievous
+glance at him as he entered.
+
+"Mr. Bayard keep here?" asked Bobby.
+
+"Well, I reckon he does.  How are all the folks up country?" replied
+the spruce clerk, with a rude grin.
+
+"How are they?" repeated Bobby, the color flying to his cheek.
+
+"Yes, ha-ow do they dew?"
+
+"They behave themselves better than they do here."
+
+"Eh, greeny?"
+
+"Eh, sappy?" repeated Bobby, mimicking the soft, silky tones of the
+young city gentleman.
+
+"What do you mean by sappy?" asked the clerk, indignantly.
+
+"What do you mean by greeny?"
+
+"I'll let you know what I mean!"
+
+"When you do, I'll let you know what I mean by sappy."
+
+"Good!" exclaimed one of the salesmen, who had heard part of this
+spirited conversation.  "You will learn better by and by, Timmins, than
+to impose upon boys from out of town."
+
+"You seem to be a gentleman, sir," said Bobby, approaching the
+salesman. "I wish to see Mr. Bayard."
+
+"You can't see him!" growled Timmins.
+
+"Can't I?"
+
+"Not at this minute; he is engaged just now," added the salesman, who
+seemed to have a profound respect for Bobby's discrimination.  "He will
+be at liberty in a few moments."
+
+"I will wait, then," said Bobby, seating himself on a stool by the
+counter.
+
+Pretty soon the civil gentleman left the store to go to dinner, and
+Timmins, a little timid about provoking the young lion, cast an
+occasional glance of hatred at him. He had evidently found that
+"Country" was an embryo American citizen, and that he was a firm
+believer in the self-evident truths of the Declaration of Independence.
+
+Bobby bore no ill will towards the spruce clerk, ready as he had been
+to defend his "certain inalienable rights."
+
+"You do a big business here," suggested Bobby, in a conciliatory tone,
+and with a smile on his face which ought to have convinced the
+uncourteous clerk that he meant well.
+
+"Who told you so?" replied Timmins, gruffly.
+
+"I merely judged from appearances.  You have a big store, and an
+immense quantity of books."
+
+"Appearances are deceitful," replied Timmins; and perhaps he had been
+impressed by the fact from his experience with the lad from the country.
+
+"That is true," added Bobby, with a good-natured smile, which, when
+interpreted, might have meant, "I took you for a civil fellow, but I
+have been very much mistaken."
+
+"You will find it out before you are many days older."
+
+"The book business is good just now, isn't it?" continued Bobby,
+without clearly comprehending the meaning of the other's last remark.
+
+"Humph!  What's that to you?"
+
+"O, I intend to go into it myself."
+
+"Ha, ha, ha!  Good!  You do?"
+
+"I do," replied Bobby, seemingly unconcerned at the taunts of the clerk.
+
+"I suppose you want to get a place here," sneered Timmins, alarmed at
+the prospect.  "But let me tell you, you can't do it.  Bayard has all
+the help he wants; and if that is what you come for, you can move on as
+fast as you please."
+
+"I guess I will see him," added Bobby quietly.
+
+"No use."
+
+"No harm in seeing him."
+
+As he spoke he took up a book that lay on the counter, and began to
+turn over the leaves.
+
+"Put that book down!" said the amiable Mr. Timmins.
+
+"I won't hurt it," replied Bobby, who had just fixed his eye upon some
+very pretty engravings in the volume.
+
+"Put it down!" repeated Mr. Timmins, in a loud, imperative tone.
+
+"Certainly I will, if you say so," said Bobby, who, though not much
+intimidated by the harsh tones of the clerk, did not know the rules of
+the store, and deemed it prudent not to meddle.
+
+"I _do_ say so!" added Mr. Timmins, magnificently; "and what's more,
+you'd better mind me, too."
+
+Bobby had minded, and probably the stately little clerk would not have
+been so bold if he had not.  Some people like to threaten after the
+danger is over.
+
+Then our visitor from the country espied some little blank books lying
+on the counter.  He had already made up his mind to have one, in which
+to keep his accounts; and he thought, while he was waiting, that he
+would purchase one.  He meant to do things methodically; so when he
+picked up one of the blank books, it was with the intention of buying
+it.
+
+"Put that book down!" said Mr. Timmins, encouraged in his aggressive
+intentions by the previous docility of our hero.
+
+"I want to buy one."
+
+"No, you don't: put it down.".
+
+"What is the price of these?" asked Bobby, resolutely.
+
+"None of your business!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+IN WHICH MR. TIMMINS IS ASTONISHED, AND BOBBY DINES IN CHESTNUT STREET.
+
+It was Mr. Bayard.  He had finished his business with the gentleman by
+his side, and hearing the noise of the scuffle, had come to learn the
+occasion of it.
+
+"This impudent young puppy wouldn't let the books alone!" began Mr.
+Timmins.  "I threatened to turn him out if he didn't; and I meant to
+make good my threat.  I think he meant to steal something."
+
+Bobby was astonished and shocked at this bold imputation; but he wished
+to have his case judged on its own merits; so he turned his face away,
+that Mr. Bayard might not recognize him.
+
+"I wanted to buy one of these blank books," added Bobby, picking up the
+one he had dropped on the floor in the struggle.
+
+"All stuff!" ejaculated Timmins.  "He is an impudent, obstinate puppy!
+In my opinion he meant to steal that book."
+
+"I asked him the price, and told him I wanted to buy it," added Bobby,
+still averting his face.
+
+"Well, I told him; and he said it was too high."
+
+"He asked me twenty-five cents for it."
+
+"Is this true, Timmins?" asked Mr. Bayard, sternly.
+
+"No, sir, I told him fourpence," replied Timmins boldly.
+
+"By gracious!  What a whopper!" exclaimed Bobby, startled out of his
+propriety by this monstrous lie.  "He said twenty-five cents; and I
+told him I could buy one up in Riverdale, where I came from, for six
+cents.  Can you deny that?"
+
+"It's a lie!" protested Timmins.
+
+"Riverdale," said Mr. Bayard.  "Are you from Riverdale, boy?"
+
+"Yes, sir, I am; and if you will look on your memorandum book you will
+find my name there."
+
+"Bless me!  I am sure I have seen that face before," exclaimed Mr.
+Bayard, as he grasped the hand of Bobby, much to the astonishment and
+consternation of Mr. Timmins.  You are--"
+
+"Robert Bright, sir."
+
+"My brave little fellow!  I am heartily glad to see you;" and the
+bookseller shook the hand he held with hearty good will.  "I was
+thinking of you only a little while ago."
+
+"This fellow calls me a liar," said Bobby, pointing to the astonished
+Mr. Timmins, who did not know what to make of the cordial reception
+which "Country" was receiving from his employer.
+
+"Well, Robert, we know that he is a liar; this is not the first time he
+has, been caught in a lie.  Timmins, your time is out."
+
+The spruce clerk hung his head with shame and mortification.
+
+"I hope, sir, you will--" he began, but pride or fear stopped him
+short.
+
+"Don't be hard with him, sir, if you please," said Bobby.  "I suppose I
+aggravated him."
+
+Mr. Bayard looked at the gentleman who stood by his side, and a smile
+of approbation lighted up his face.
+
+"Generous as he is noble!  Butler, this is the boy that saved Ellen."
+
+"Indeed!  He is a little giant!" replied Mr. Butler, grasping Bobby's
+hand.
+
+Even Timmins glanced with something like admiration in his looks at the
+youth whom he had so lately despised.  Perhaps, too, he thought of that
+Scripture wisdom about entertaining angels unawares.  He was very much
+abashed, and nothing but his silly pride prevented him from
+acknowledging his error, and begging Bobby's forgiveness.
+
+"I can't have a liar about me," said Mr. Bayard.
+
+"There may be some mistake," suggested Mr. Butler.
+
+"I think not.  Robert Bright couldn't lie.  So brave and noble a boy is
+incapable of a falsehood.  Besides, I got a letter from my friend
+Squire Lee by this morning's mail, in which he informed me of my young
+friend's coming."
+
+Mr. Bayard took from his pocket a bundle of letters, and selected the
+squire's from among them.  Opening it, he read a passage which had a
+direct bearing upon the case before him.
+
+"'I do not know what Bobby's faults are,'"--the letter said,--"'but
+this I do know: that Bobby would rather be whipped than tell a lie.  He
+is noted through the place for his love of truth.'--That is pretty
+strong testimony; and you see, Bobby,--that's what the squire calls
+you,--your reputation has preceded you."
+
+Bobby blushed, as he always did when he was praised, and Mr. Timmins
+was more abashed than ever.
+
+"Did you hear that, Timmins?  Who is the liar now?" said Mr. Bayard,
+turning to the culprit.
+
+"Forgive me, sir, this time.  If you turn me off now, I cannot get
+another place, and my mother depends upon my wages."
+
+"You ought to have thought of this before."
+
+"He aggravated me, sir, so that I wanted to pay him off."
+
+"As to that, he commenced upon me the moment I came into the store.
+But don't turn him off, if you please, sir," said Bobby, who even now
+wished no harm to his discomfited assailant.  "He will do better
+hereafter: won't you, Timmins?"
+
+Thus appealed to, Timmins, though he did not relish so direct an
+inquiry, and from such a source, was compelled to reply in the
+affirmative; and Mr. Bayard graciously remitted the sentence he had
+passed against the offending clerk.
+
+"Now, Robert, you will come over to my house and dine with me.  Ellen
+will be delighted to see you."
+
+"Thank you, sir," replied Bobby, bashfully, "I have been to
+dinner",--referring to the luncheon he had eaten at Brighton.
+
+"But you must go to the house with me."
+
+"I should be very glad to do so, sir, but I came on business.  I will
+stay here with Mr. Timmins till you come back."
+
+The truth is, he had heard something about the fine houses of the city,
+and how stylish the people were, and he had some misgivings about
+venturing into such a strange and untried scene as the parlor of a
+Boston merchant.
+
+"Indeed, you must come with me.  Ellen would never forgive you or me,
+if you do not come."
+
+"I would rather rest here till you return," replied Bobby, still
+willing to escape the fine house and the fine folks.  "I walked from
+Riverdale, sir, and I am rather tired."
+
+"Walked!" exclaimed Mr. Bayard.  "Had you no money?"
+
+"Yes, sir, enough to pay my passage; but Dr. Franklin says that 'a
+penny saved is a penny earned,' and I thought I would try it.  I shall
+get rested by the time you return."
+
+"But you must go with me.  Timmins, go and get a carriage."
+
+Timmins obeyed, and before Mr. Bayard had finished asking Bobby how all
+the people in Riverdale were, the carriage was at the door.
+
+There was no backing out now, and our hero was obliged to get into the
+vehicle, though it seemed altogether too fine for a poor boy like him.
+Mr. Bayard and Mr. Butler (whom the former had invited to dine with
+him) seated themselves beside him, and the driver was directed to set
+them down at No. ---- Chestnut Street, where they soon arrived.
+
+Though my readers would, no doubt, be very much amused to learn how
+carefully Bobby trod the velvet carpets, how he stared with wonder at
+the drapery curtains, at the tall mirrors, the elegant chandeliers, and
+the fantastically shaped chairs and tables that adorned Mr. Bayard's
+parlor, the length of our story does not permit us to pause over these
+trivial matters.
+
+When Ellen Bayard was informed that her little deliverer was in the
+house, she rushed into the parlor like a hoiden school girl, grasped
+both his hands, kissed both his rosy cheeks, and behaved just as though
+she had never been to a boarding school in her life.
+
+She had thought a great deal about Bobby since that eventful day, and
+the more she thought of him, the more she liked him.  Her admiration of
+him was not of that silly, sentimental character which moon-struck
+young ladies cherish towards those immaculate young men who have saved
+them from drowning in a horse pond, pulled them back just as they were
+tumbling over a precipice two thousand five hundred feet high, or
+rescued them from a house seven stories high, bearing them down a
+ladder seventy-five odd feet long.  The fact was, Bobby was a boy of
+thirteen and there was no chance for much sentiment; so the young
+lady's regard was real, earnest, and lifelike.
+
+Ellen said a great many very handsome things; but I am sure she never
+thought of such a thing as that he would run away with her, in case her
+papa was unneccessarily obstinate.  She was very glad to see him, and I
+have no doubt she wished Bobby might be her brother, it would be so
+glorious to have such a noble little fellow always with her.
+
+Bobby managed the dinner much better than he had anticipated; for Mr.
+Bayard insisted that he should sit down with them, whether he ate any
+thing or not.  But the Rubicon passed, our hero found that he had a
+pretty smart appetite, and did full justice to the viands set before
+him.  It is true the silver forks, the napkins, the finger bowls, and
+other articles of luxury and show, to which he had been entirely
+unaccustomed, bothered him not a little; but he kept perfectly cool,
+and carefully observed how Mr. Butler, who sat next to him, handled the
+"spoon fork," what he did with the napkin and the finger bowl, so that,
+I will venture to say, not one in ten would have suspected he had not
+spent his life in the parlor of a _millionnaire_.
+
+Dinner over, the party returned to the parlor, where Bobby unfolded his
+plan for the future.  To make his story intelligible, he was obliged to
+tell them all about Mr. Hardhand.
+
+"The old wretch!" exclaimed Mr. Bayard.  "But, Robert, you must let me
+advance the sixty dollars, to pay Squire Lee."
+
+"No, sir; you have done enough in that way.  I have given my note for
+the money."
+
+"Whew;" said Mr. Butler.
+
+"And I shall soon earn enough to pay it."
+
+"No doubt of it.  You are a lad of courage and energy, and you will
+succeed in every thing you undertake."
+
+"I shall want you to trust me for a stock of books on the strength of
+old acquaintance," continued Bobby, who had now grown quite bold, and
+felt as much at home in the midst of the costly furniture, as he did in
+the "living room" of the old black house.
+
+"You shall have all the books you want."
+
+"I will pay for them as soon as I return.  The truth is, Mr. Bayard, I
+mean to be independent.  I didn't want to take that thirty-five
+dollars, though I don't know what Mr. Hardhand would have done to us,
+if I hadn't."
+
+"Ellen said I ought to have given you a hundred, and I think so myself."
+
+"I am glad you didn't.  Too much money makes us fat and lazy."
+
+Mr. Bayard laughed at the easy self-possession of the lad--at his big
+talk; though, big as it was, it meant something.  When he proposed to
+go to the store, he told Bobby he had better stay at the house and rest
+himself.
+
+"No, sir; I want to start out to-morrow, and I must get ready to-day."
+
+"You had better put it off till the next day; you will feel more like
+it then."
+
+"Now or never," replied Bobby.  "That is my motto, sir.  If we have any
+thing to do, now is always the best time to do it.  Dr. Franklin says,
+'Never put off till to-morrow what you can do to day.'"
+
+"Right, Robert! you shall have your own way.  I wish my clerks would
+adopt some of Dr.  Franklin's wise saws.  I should be a great deal
+better off in the course of a year if they would."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY OPENS VARIOUS ACCOUNTS, AND WINS HIS FIRST VICTORY.
+
+"Now, Bobby, I understand your plan," said Mr. Bayard, when they
+reached the store; "but the details must be settled.  Where do you
+intend to go?"
+
+"I hardly know, sir.  I suppose I can sell books almost any where."
+
+"Very true; but in some places much better than in others."
+
+Mr. Bayard mentioned a large town about eighteen miles from the city,
+in which he thought a good trade might be carried on, and Bobby at once
+decided to adopt the suggestion.
+
+"You can make this place your head quarters for the week; if books do
+not sell well right in the village, why, you can go out a little way,
+for the country in the vicinity is peopled by intelligent farmers, who
+are well off, and who can afford to buy books."
+
+"I was thinking of that; but what shall I take with me, sir?"
+
+"There is a new book just published, called 'The Wayfarer,' which is
+going to have a tremendous run.  It has been advertised in advance all
+over the country, so that you will find a ready sale for it.  You will
+get it there before any one else, and have the market all to yourself."
+
+"The Wayfarer?  I have heard of it myself."
+
+"You shall take fifty copies with you, and if you find that you shall
+want more, write, and I will send them."
+
+"But I cannot carry fifty copies."
+
+"You must take the cars to B----, and have a trunk or box to carry your
+books in.  I have a stout trunk down cellar which you shall have."
+
+"I will pay for it, sir."
+
+"Never mind that, Bobby; and you will want a small valise or carpet bag
+to carry your books from house to house.  I will lend you one."
+
+"You are very kind, sir; I did not mean to ask any favors of you except
+to trust me for the books until my return."
+
+"All right, Bobby."
+
+Mr. Bayard called the porter and ordered him to bring up the trunk, in
+which he directed Mr. Timmins to pack fifty "Wayfarers."
+
+"Now, how much will these books cost me apiece?" asked Bobby.
+
+"The retail price is one dollar; the wholesale price is one third off;
+and you shall have them at what they cost me."
+
+"Sixty-seven cents," added Bobby.  "That will give me a profit of
+thirty-three cents on each book."
+
+"Just so."
+
+"Perhaps Mr. Timmins will sell me one of those blank books now; for I
+like to have things down in black and white."
+
+"I will furnish you with something much better than that;" and Mr.
+Bayard left the counting room.
+
+In a moment he returned with a handsome pocket memorandum book, which
+he presented to the little merchant.
+
+"But I don't like to take it unless you will let me pay for it," said
+Bobby, hesitating.
+
+"Never mind it, my young friend.  Now you can sit down at my desk and
+open your accounts.  I like to see boys methodical, and there is
+nothing like keeping accounts to make one accurate.  Keep your books
+posted up, and you will know where you are at any time."
+
+"I intend to keep an account of all I spend and all I receive, if it is
+no more than a cent."
+
+"Right, my little man.  Have you ever studied book-keeping?"
+
+"No, sir, I suppose I haven't; but there was a page of accounts in the
+back part of the arithmetic I studied, and I got a pretty good idea of
+the thing from that.  All the money received goes on one side, and all
+the money paid out goes on the other."
+
+"Exactly so; in this book you had better open a book account first.  If
+you wish, I will show you how."
+
+"Thank you, sir; I should be very glad to have you;" and Bobby opened
+the memorandum book, and seated himself at the desk.
+
+"Write 'Book Account' at the top of the pages, one word on each.  Very
+well.  Now write 'To fifty copies of Wayfarer, at sixty-seven cents,
+$33.50,' on the left hand page, or debit side of the account."
+
+"I am not much of a writer," said Bobby, apologetically.
+
+"You will improve.  Now, each day you will credit the amount of sales
+on the right hand page, or credit side of the account; so, when you
+have sold out, the balance due your debit side will be the profit on
+the lot.  Do you understand it?"
+
+Bobby thought a moment before he could see through it; but his brain
+was active, and he soon managed the idea.
+
+"Now you want a personal account;" and Mr. Bayard explained to him how
+to make this out.
+
+He then instructed him to enter on the debit-side all he spent for
+travel, board, freight, and other charges.  The next was the "profit
+and loss" account, which was to show him the net profit of the business.
+
+Our hero, who had a decided taste for accounts, was very much pleased
+with this employment; and when the accounts were all opened, he
+regarded them with a great deal of satisfaction.  He longed to commence
+his operations, if it were only for the pleasure of making the entries
+in this book.
+
+"One thing I forgot," said he, as he seized the pen, and under the cash
+account entered, "To Cash from mother, $1.00."  "Now I am all right, I
+believe."
+
+"I think you are.  Now, the cars leave at seven in the morning.  Can
+you be ready for a start as early as that?" asked Mr. Bayard.
+
+"O, yes, sir, I hope so.  I get up at half past four at home."
+
+"Very well; my small valise is at the house; but I believe every thing
+else is ready.  Now, I have some business to attend to; and if you will
+amuse yourself for an hour or two, we will go home then."
+
+"I shall want a lodging-place when I am in the city; perhaps some of
+your folks can direct me to one where they won't charge too much."
+
+"As to that, Bobby, you must go to my house whenever you are in the
+city."
+
+"Law, sir! you live so grand, I couldn't think of going to your house.
+I am only a poor boy from the country, and I don't know how to behave
+myself among such nice folks."
+
+"You will do very well, Bobby.  Ellen would never forgive me if I let
+you go any where else.  So that is settled; you will go to my house.
+Now, you may sit here, or walk out and see the sights."
+
+"If you please, sir, if Mr. Timmins will let me look at some of the
+books, I shouldn't wish for any thing better.  I should like to look at
+the Wayfarer, so that I shall know how to recommend it."
+
+"Mr. Timmins _will_ let you," replied Mr. Bayard, as he touched the
+spring of a bell on his desk.
+
+The dapper clerk came running into the counting-room to attend the
+summons of his employer.
+
+"Mr. Timmins," continued Mr. Bayard, with a mischievous smile, "bring
+Mr. Bright a copy of 'The Wayfarer.'"
+
+Mr. Timmins was astonished to hear "Country" called "Mister,"
+astonished to hear his employer call him "Mister," and Bobby was
+astonished to hear himself called "Mister;" nevertheless, our hero
+enjoyed the joke.
+
+The clerk brought the book; and Bobby proceeded to give it a thorough,
+critical examination.  He read the preface, the table of contents, and
+several chapters of the work, before Mr. Bayard was ready to go home
+"How do you like it, Bobby?" asked the bookseller.
+
+"First rate."
+
+"You may take that copy in your hand; you will want to finish it."
+
+"Thank you, sir; I will be careful of it."
+
+"You may keep it.  Let that be the beginning of your own private
+library."
+
+His own private library!  Bobby had not got far enough to dream of such
+a thing yet; but he thanked Mr. Bayard, and put the book under his arm.
+
+After tea, Ellen proposed to her father that they should all go to the
+Museum.  Mr. Bayard acceded, and our hero was duly amazed at the
+drolleries perpetrated there.  He had a good time; but it was so late
+when he went to bed, that he was a little fearful lest he should
+oversleep himself in the morning.
+
+He did not, however, and was down in the parlor before any of the rest
+of the family were stirring.  An early breakfast was prepared for him,
+at which Mr. Bayard, who intended to see him off, joined him.
+Depositing his little bundle and the copy of "The Wayfarer" in the
+valise provided for him, they walked to the store.  The porter wheeled
+the trunk down to the railroad station, though Bobby insisted upon
+doing it himself.
+
+The bookseller saw him and his baggage safely aboard of the cars, gave
+him a ticket, and then bade him an affectionate adieu.  In a little
+while Bobby was flying over the rail, and at about eight o'clock,
+reached B----.
+
+The station master kindly permitted him to deposit his trunk in the
+baggage room, and to leave it there for the remainder of the week.
+
+Taking a dozen of the books from the trunk, and placing them in his
+valise, he sallied out upon his mission.  It must be confessed that his
+heart was filled with a tumult of emotions.  The battle of life was
+before him.  He was on the field, sword in hand, ready to plunge into
+the contest.  It was victory or defeat.
+
+  "March on, brave youth! the field of strife
+    With peril fraught before thee lies;
+  March on! the battle plain of life
+    Shall yield thee yet a glorious prize."
+
+It was of no use to shrink then, even if he had felt disposed to do so.
+He was prepared to be rebuffed, to be insulted, to be turned away from
+the doors at which he should seek admission; but he was determined to
+conquer.
+
+He had reached a house at which he proposed to offer "The Wayfarer" for
+sale.  His heart went pit pat, pit pat, and he paused before the door.
+
+"Now or never!" exclaimed he, as he swung open the garden gate, and
+made his way up to the door.
+
+He felt some misgivings.  It was so new and strange to him that he
+could hardly muster sufficient resolution to proceed farther.  But his
+irresolution was of only a moment's duration.
+
+"Now or never!" and he gave a vigorous knock at the door.
+
+It was opened by an elderly lady, whose physiognomy did not promise
+much.
+
+"Good morning, ma'am.  Can I sell you a copy of 'The Wayfarer' to-day?
+a new book, just published."
+
+"No; I don't want none of your books.  There's more pedlers round the
+country now than you could shake a stick at in a month," replied the
+old lady petulantly.
+
+"It is a very interesting book, ma'am; has an excellent moral."  Bobby
+had read the preface, as I before remarked.  "It will suit you, ma'am;
+for you look just like a lady who wants to read something with a moral."
+
+Bravo, Bobby!  The lady concluded that her face had a moral expression,
+and she was pleased with the idea.
+
+"Let me see it;" and she asked Bobby to walk in and be seated, while
+she went for her spectacles.
+
+As she was looking over the book, our hero went into a more elaborate
+recommendation of its merits.  He was sure it would interest the young
+and the old; it taught a good lesson; it had elegant engravings; the
+type was large, which would suit her eyes; it was well printed and
+bound; and finally, it was cheap at one dollar.
+
+"I'll take it," said the old lady.
+
+"Thank you, ma'am."
+
+Bobby's first victory was achieved
+
+"Have you got a dollar?" asked the lady, as she handed him a two dollar
+bill.
+
+"Yes, ma'am;" and he gave her his only dollar, and put the two in its
+place, prouder than a king who has conquered an empire.  "Thank you,
+ma'am."
+
+Bidding the lady a polite good morning, he left the house, encouraged
+by his success to go forward in his mission with undiminished hope.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY IS A LITTLE TOO SMART.
+
+The clouds were rolled back, and Bobby no longer had a doubt as to the
+success of his undertaking.  It requires but a little sunshine to
+gladden the heart, and the influence of his first success scattered all
+the misgivings he had cherished.
+
+Two New England shillings is undoubtedly a very small sum of money; but
+Bobby had made two shillings, and he would not have considered himself
+more fortunate if some unknown relative had left him a fortune.  It
+gave him confidence in his powers, and as he walked away from the
+house, he reviewed the circumstances of his first sale.
+
+The old lady had told him at first she did not wish to buy a book, and,
+moreover, had spoken rather contemptuously of the craft to which he had
+now the honor to belong.  He gave himself the credit of having
+conquered the old lady's prejudices.  He had sold her a book in spite
+of her evident intention not to purchase.  In short, he had, as we have
+before said, won a glorious victory, and he congratulated himself
+accordingly.
+
+But it was of no use to waste time in useless self-glorification, and
+Bobby turned from the past to the future.  There were forty-nine more
+books to be sold, so that the future was forty-nine-times as big as the
+past.
+
+He saw a shoemaker's shop ahead of him; and he was debating with
+himself whether he should enter and offer his books for sale.  It would
+do no harm, though he had but slight expectations of doing any thing.
+
+There were three men at work in the shop--one of them a middle-aged
+man, the other two young men.  They looked like persons of
+intelligence, and as soon as Bobby saw them his hopes grew stronger.
+
+"Can I sell you any books to-day?" asked the little merchant, as he
+crossed the threshold.
+
+"Well, I don't know; that depends upon how smart you are," replied the
+eldest of the men.  "It takes a pretty smart fellow to sell any thing
+in this shop."
+
+"Then I hope to sell each of you a book," added Bobby, laughing at the
+badinage of the shoemaker.
+
+Opening his valise he took out three copies of his book, and politely
+handed one to each of the men.
+
+"It isn't every book pedler that comes along who offers you such a work
+as that.  'The Wayfarer' is decidedly _the_ book of the season."
+
+"You don't say so!" said the oldest shoemaker, with a laugh.  "Every
+pedler that comes along uses those words, precisely."
+
+"Do they?  They steal my thunder then."
+
+"You are an old one."
+
+"Only thirteen.  I was born where they don't fasten the door with a
+boiled carrot."
+
+"What do they fasten them with?"
+
+"They don't fasten them at all."
+
+"There are no book pedlers round there, then;" and all the shoemakers
+laughed heartily at this smart sally.
+
+"No; they are all shoemakers in our town."
+
+"You can take my hat, boy."
+
+"You will want it to put your head in; but I will take one dollar for
+that book instead."
+
+The man laughed, took out his wallet, and handed Bobby the dollar,
+probably quite as much because he had a high appreciation of his
+smartness, as from any desire to possess the book.
+
+"Won't you take one?" asked Bobby, appealing to another of the men, who
+was apparently not more than twenty-four years of age.
+
+"No; I can't read," replied he, roguishly.
+
+"Let your wife read it to you then."
+
+"My wife?"
+
+"Certainly; she knows how to read, I will warrant."
+
+"How do you know I have got a wife?"
+
+"O, well, a fellow as good looking and good natured as you are could
+not have resisted till this time."
+
+"Has you, Tom," added the oldest shoemaker.
+
+"I cave in;" and he handed over the dollar, and laid the book upon his
+bench.
+
+Bobby looked at the third man with some interest.  He had said nothing,
+and scarcely heeded the fun which was passing between the little
+merchant and his companions.  He was apparently absorbed in his
+examination of the book.  He was a different kind of person from the
+others, and Bobby's instinctive knowledge of human nature assured him
+that he was not to be gained by flattery or by smart sayings; so he
+placed himself in front of him, and patiently waited in silence for him
+to complete his examination.
+
+"You will find that he is a hard one," put in one of the others.
+
+Bobby made no reply, and the two men who had bought books resumed their
+work.  For five minutes our hero stood waiting for the man to finish
+his investigation into the merits of "The Wayfarer."  Something told
+him not to say any thing to this person; and he had some doubts about
+his purchasing.
+
+"I will take one," said the last shoemaker, as he handed Bobby the
+dollar.
+
+"I am much obliged to you, gentlemen," said Bobby, as he closed his
+valise.  "When I come this way again I shall certainly call."
+
+"Do; you have done what no other pedler ever did in this shop."
+
+"I shall take no credit to myself.  The fact is, you are men of
+intelligence, and you want good books."
+
+Bobby picked up his valise and left the shop, satisfied with those who
+occupied it, and satisfied with himself.
+
+"Eight shillings!"  exclaimed he, when he got into the road.  "Pretty
+good hour's work, I should say."
+
+Bobby trudged along till he came to a very large, elegant house,
+evidently dwelt in by one of the nabobs of B----.  Inspired by past
+successes, he walked boldly up to the front door, and rang the bell.
+
+"Is Mr. Whiting in?" asked Bobby, who had read the name on the door
+plate.
+
+"Colonel Whiting _is_ in," replied the servant, who had opened the door.
+
+"I should like to see him for a moment, if he isn't busy."
+
+"Walk in;" and for some reason or other the servant chuckled a great
+deal as she admitted him.
+
+She conducted him to a large, elegantly furnished parlor, where Bobby
+proceeded to take out his books for the inspection of the nabob, whom
+the servant promised to send to the parlor.
+
+In a moment Colonel Whiting entered.  He was a large, fat man, about
+fifty years old.  He looked at the little book merchant with a frown
+that would have annihilated a boy less spunky than our hero.  Bobby was
+not a little inflated by the successes of the morning, and if Julius
+Caesar or Napoleon Bonaparte had stood before him then, he would not
+have flinched a hair--much less in the presence of no greater magnate
+than the nabob of B----.
+
+"Good morning, Colonel Whiting.  I hope you are well this beautiful
+morning," Bobby began.
+
+I must confess I think this was a little too familiar for a boy of
+thirteen to a gentleman of fifty, whom he had never seen before in his
+life; but it must be remembered that Bobby had done a great deal the
+week before, that on the preceding night he had slept in Chestnut
+Street, and that he had just sold four copies of "The Wayfarer."  He
+was inclined to be smart, and some folks hate smart boys.
+
+The nabob frowned; his cheek reddened with anger; but he did not
+condescend to make any reply to the smart speech.
+
+"I have taken the liberty to call upon you this morning, to see if you
+did not wish to purchase a copy of 'The Wayfarer'--a new book just
+issued from the press, which people say is to be the book of the
+season."
+
+My young readers need not suppose this was an impromptu speech, for
+Bobby had studied upon it all the time he was coming from Boston in the
+cars.  It would be quite natural for a boy who had enjoyed no greater
+educational advantages than our hero to consider how he should address
+people into whose presence his calling would bring him; and he had
+prepared several little addresses of this sort, for the several
+different kinds of people whom he expected to encounter.  The one he
+had just "got off" was designed for the "upper crust."
+
+When he had delivered the speech, he approached the indignant, frowning
+nabob, and with a low bow, offered him a copy of "The Wayfarer."
+
+"Boy," said Colonel Whiting, raising his arm with majestic dignity, and
+pointing to the door,--"boy, do you see that door?"
+
+Bobby looked at the door, and, somewhat astonished replied that he did
+see it, that it was a very handsome door, and he would inquire whether
+it was black walnut, or only painted in imitation thereof.
+
+"Do you see that door?" thundered the nabob, swelling with rage at the
+cool impudence of the boy.
+
+"Certainly I do, sir; my eyesight is excellent."
+
+"Then use it!"
+
+"Thank you, sir; I have no use for it.  Probably it will be of more
+service to you than to me."
+
+"Will you clear out, or shall I kick you out?" gasped the enraged
+magnate of B----.
+
+"I will save you that trouble, sir; I will go, sir.  I see we have both
+made a mistake."
+
+"Mistake?  What do you mean by that, you young puppy?  You are a little
+impudent, thieving scoundrel!"
+
+"That's your mistake, sir.  I took you for a gentleman, sir; and that
+was my mistake."
+
+"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed a sweet, musical voice, and at that moment a
+beautiful young lady rushed up to the angry colonel, and threw her arms
+around his neck.
+
+"The jade!" muttered he.
+
+"I have caught you in a passion again, uncle;" and the lady kissed the
+old gentleman's anger-reddened cheek, which seemed to restore him at
+once to himself.
+
+"It was enough to make a minister swear," said he, in apology.
+
+"No, it wasn't, uncle; the boy was a little pert, it is true; but you
+ought to have laughed at him, instead of getting angry.  I heard the
+whole of it."
+
+"Pert?" said Bobby to himself.  "What the deuse does she mean by that?"
+
+"Very well, you little minx; I will pay the penalty."
+
+"Come here, Master Pert," said the lady to Bobby.
+
+Bobby bowed, approached the lady, and began to feel very much
+embarrassed.
+
+"My uncle,", she continued, "is one of the best hearted men in the
+world--ain't you, uncle?"
+
+"Go on, you jade!"
+
+"I love him, as I would my own father; but he will sometimes get into a
+passion.  Now, you provoked him."
+
+"Indeed, ma'am, I hadn't the least idea of saying any thing uncivil,"
+pleaded Bobby.  "I studied to be as polite as possible."
+
+"I dare say.  You were too important, too pompous, for a boy to an old
+gentleman like uncle, who is really one of the best men in the world.
+Now, if you hadn't studied to be polite, you would have done very well."
+
+"Indeed, ma'am, I am a poor boy, trying to make a little money to help
+my mother.  I am sure I meant no harm."
+
+"I know you didn't.  So you are selling books to help your mother?"
+
+"Yes, ma'am."
+
+She inquired still further into the little merchant's history, and
+seemed to be very much interested in him.
+
+In a frolic, a few days before, Bobby learned from her, Colonel Whiting
+had agreed to pay any penalty she might name, the next time he got into
+a passion.
+
+"Now, young man, what book have you to sell?" asked the lady.
+
+"'The Wayfarer.'"
+
+"How many have you in your valise?"
+
+"Eight."
+
+"Very well; now, uncle, I decree, as the penalty of your indiscretion,
+that you purchase the whole stock."
+
+"I submit."
+
+"'The Wayfarer' promises to be an excellent book: and I can name at
+least half a dozen persons who will thank you for a copy, uncle."
+
+Colonel Whiting paid Bobby eight dollars, who left the contents of his
+valise on the centre table, and then departed, astounded at his good
+fortune, and fully resolved never to be too smart again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY STRIKES A BALANCE, AND RETURNS TO RIVERDALE.
+
+Our hero had learned a lesson which experience alone could teach him.
+The consciousness of that "something within him" inclined him to be a
+little too familiar with his elders; but then it gave him confidence in
+himself, and imparted courage to go forward in the accomplishment of
+his mission.  His interview with Colonel Whiting and the gentle but
+plain rebuke of his niece had set him right, and he realized that,
+while he was doing a man's work, he was still a boy.  He had now a
+clearer perception of what is due to the position and dignity of those
+upon whom fortune has smiled.
+
+Bobby wanted to be a man, and it is not strange that he should
+sometimes fancy he was a man.  He had an idea, too, that "all men are
+born free and equal;" and he could not exactly see why a nabob was
+entitled to any more respect and consideration than a poor man.  It was
+a lesson he was compelled to learn, though some folks live out their
+lifetimes without ever finding out that.
+
+"'Tis wealth, good sir, makes honorable men."  Some people think a rich
+man is no better than a poor man, except so far as he behaves himself
+better.  It is strange how stupid some people are!
+
+Bobby had no notion of cringing to any man, and he felt as independent
+as the Declaration of Independence itself.  But then the beautiful lady
+had told him that he was pert and forward; and when he thought it over,
+he was willing to believe she was right, Colonel Whiting was an old
+man, compared with himself; and he had some faith, at least in theory,
+in the Spartan virtue of respect for the aged.  Probably the nabob of
+B---- would have objected to being treated with respect on account of
+his age; and Bobby would have been equally unwilling to acknowledge
+that he treated him with peculiar respect on account of his wealth or
+position.
+
+Perhaps the little merchant had an instinctive perception of
+expediency--that he should sell more books by being less familiar: at
+any rate he determined never again to use the flowery speeches he had
+arranged for the upper crust.
+
+He had sold a dozen books; and possibly this fact made him more willing
+to compromise the matter than he would otherwise have been.  This was,
+after all, the great matter for congratulation, and with a light heart
+he hurried back to the railroad station to procure another supply.
+
+We cannot follow him into every house where his calling led him.  He
+was not always as fortunate as in the instances we have mentioned.
+Sometimes all his arguments were unavailing, and after he had spent
+half an hour of valuable time in setting forth the merits of "The
+Wayfarer," he was compelled to retire without having effected a sale.
+Sometimes, too, he was rudely repulsed; hard epithets were applied to
+him; old men and old women, worried out by the continued calls of
+pedlers, sneered at him, or shut the door in his face; but Bobby was
+not disheartened.  He persevered, and did not allow these little trials
+to discompose or discourage him.
+
+By one o'clock on the first day of his service he had sold eighteen
+books, which far exceeded even his most sanguine expectations.  By this
+time he began to feel the want of his dinner; but there was no tavern
+or eating house at hand, and he could not think of leaving the harvest
+to return to the railroad station; so he bought a sheet of gingerbread
+and a piece of cheese at a store, and seating himself near a brook by
+the side of the road, he bolted his simple meal, as boys are very apt
+to do when they are excited.
+
+When he had finished, he took out his account book, and entered,
+"Dinner, 10 cents."  Resuming his business, he disposed of the
+remaining six books in his valise by the middle of the afternoon, and
+was obliged to return for another supply.
+
+About six o'clock he entered the house of a mechanic, just as the
+family were sitting down to tea.  He recommended his book with so much
+energy that the wife of the mechanic took a fancy to him, and not only
+purchased one, but invited him to tea.  Bobby accepted the invitation,
+and in the course of the meal, the good lady drew from him the details
+of his history, which he very modestly related, for though he sometimes
+fancied himself a man, he was not the boy to boast of his exploits.
+His host was so much pleased with him, that he begged him to spend the
+night with them.  Bobby had been thinking how and where he should spend
+the night, and the matter had given him no little concern.  He did not
+wish to go to the hotel, for it looked like a very smart house, and he
+reasoned that he should have to pay pretty roundly for accommodations
+there.  These high prices would eat up his profits, and he seriously
+deliberated whether it would not be better for him to sleep under a
+tree than pay fifty cents for a lodging.
+
+If I had been there I should have told him that a man loses nothing in
+the long run by taking good care of himself.  He must eat well and
+sleep well, in order to do well and be well.  But I suppose Bobby would
+have told me that it was of no use to pay a quarter extra for sleeping
+on a gilded bedstead, since the room would be so dark he could not see
+the gilt even if he wished to do so.  I could not have said any thing
+to such a powerful argument; so I am very glad the mechanic's wife set
+the matter at rest by offering him a bed in her house.
+
+He spent a very pleasant evening with the family, who made him feel
+entirely at home, they were so kind and so plain spoken.  Before he
+went to bed, he entered under the book account, "By twenty-six
+Wayfarers, sold this day, $26.00."
+
+He had done a big day's work, much bigger than he could hope to do
+again.  He had sold more than one half of his whole stock, and at this
+rate he should be out of books the next day.  At first he thought he
+would send for another lot; but he could not judge yet what his average
+daily sales would be, and finally concluded not to do so.  What he had
+might last till Friday or Saturday.  He intended to go home on the
+latter day, and he could bring them with him on his return without
+expense.  This was considerable of an argument for a boy to manage; but
+Bobby was satisfied with it, and went to sleep, wondering what his
+mother, Squire Lee, and Annie were thinking of about that time.
+
+After breakfast the next morning he resumed his travels.  He was as
+enthusiastic as ever, and pressed "The Wayfarer" with so much
+earnestness that he sold a book in nearly every house he visited.
+People seemed to be more interested in the little merchant than in his
+stock, and taking advantage of this kind feeling towards him, he
+appealed to them with so much eloquence that few could resist it.
+
+The result of the day's sales was fifteen copies, which Bobby entered
+in the book account with the most intense satisfaction.  He had outdone
+the boy who had passed through Riverdale, but he had little hope that
+the harvest would always be so abundant.
+
+He often thought of this boy, from whom he had obtained the idea he was
+now carrying out.  That boy had stopped over night at the little black
+house, and slept with him.  He had asked for lodging, and offered to
+pay for it, as well as for his supper and breakfast.  Why couldn't he
+do the same?  He liked the suggestion, and from that time, wherever he
+happened to be, he asked for lodging, or the meal he required, and he
+always proposed to pay for what he had, but very few would take any
+thing.
+
+On Friday noon he had sold out.  Returning to the railroad station, he
+found that the train would not leave for the city for an hour; so he
+improved the time in examining and balancing his accounts.  The book
+sales amounted to just fifty dollars, and after his ticket to Boston
+was paid for, his expenses would amount to one dollar and fifty cents,
+leaving a balance in his favor of fifteen dollars.  He was overjoyed
+with the result, and pictured the astonishment with which his mother,
+Squire Lee, and Annie would listen to the history of his excursion.
+
+After four o'clock that afternoon he entered the store of Mr. Bayard,
+bag and baggage.  On his arrival in the city, he was considerably
+exercised in mind to know how he should get the trunk to his
+destination.  He was too economical to pay a cartman a quarter; but
+what would have seemed mean in a man was praiseworthy in a boy laboring
+for a noble end.
+
+Probably a great many of my young readers in Bobby's position, thinking
+that sixteen dollars, which our hero had in his pocket, was a mint of
+money, would have been in favor of being a little magnificent--of
+taking a carriage and going up-town in state.  Bobby had not the least
+desire to "swell," so he settled the matter by bargaining with a little
+ragged fellow to help him carry the trunk to Mr. Bayard's store for
+fourpence.
+
+"How do you do, Mr. Timmins?" said Bobby to the spruce clerk, as he
+deposited the trunk upon the floor, and handed the ragged boy the
+four-pence.
+
+"Ah, Bobby!" exclaimed Mr. Timmins.  "Have you sold out?"
+
+"All clean.  Is Mr. Bayard in?"
+
+"In the office.  But how do you like it?"
+
+"First rate."
+
+"Well, every one to his taste; but I don't see how any one who has any
+regard for his dignity can stick himself into every body's house.  I
+couldn't do it, I know."
+
+"I don't stand for the dignity."
+
+"Ah, well, there is a difference in folks."
+
+"That's a fact," replied Bobby, as he hurried to the office of Mr.
+Bayard, leaving Mr. Timmins to sun himself in his own dignity.
+
+The bookseller was surprised to see him so soon, but he gave him a
+cordial reception.
+
+"I didn't expect you yet," said he.  "Why do you come back?  Have you
+got sick of the business?"
+
+"Sick of it!  No, sir."
+
+"What have you come back for then?"
+
+"Sold out, sir."
+
+"Sold out!  You have done well!"
+
+"Better than I expected."
+
+"I had no idea of seeing you till to-morrow night; and I thought you
+would have books enough to begin the next week with.  You have done
+bravely."
+
+"If I had had twenty more, I could have sold them before to-morrow
+night.  Now, sir, if you please, I will pay you for those
+books--thirty-three dollars and fifty cents."
+
+"You had better keep that, Bobby.  I will trust you as long as you
+wish."
+
+"If you please, sir, I had rather pay it;" and the little merchant, as
+proud as a lord, handed over the amount.
+
+"I like your way of doing business, Bobby.  Nothing helps a man's
+credit so much as paying promptly.  Now tell me some of your
+adventures--or we will reserve them till this evening, for I am sure
+Ellen will be delighted to hear them."
+
+"I think I shall go to Riverdale this afternoon.  The cars leave at
+half past five."
+
+"Very well; you have an hour to spare."
+
+Bobby related to his kind friend the incidents of his excursion,
+including his interview with Colonel Whiting and his niece, which
+amused the bookseller very much.  He volunteered some good advice,
+which Bobby received in the right spirit, and with a determination to
+profit by it.
+
+At half past five he took the cars for home, and before dark was folded
+in his mother's arms.  The little black house seemed doubly dear to him
+now that he bad been away from it a few days.  His mother and all the
+children were so glad to see him that it seemed almost worth his while
+to go away for the pleasure of meeting them on his return.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY ASTONISHES SUNDRY PERSONS AND PAYS PART OF HIS NOTE.
+
+"Now tell me, Bobby, how you have made out," said Mrs. Bright, as the
+little merchant seated himself at the supper table.  "You cannot have
+done much, for you have only been gone five days."
+
+"I have done pretty well, mother," replied Bobby, mysteriously; "pretty
+well, considering that I am only a boy."
+
+"I didn't expect to see you till to-morrow night."
+
+"I sold out, and had to come home."
+
+"That may be, and still you may not have done much."
+
+"I don't pretend that I have done much."
+
+"How provoking you are!  Why don't you tell me, Bobby, what you have
+done?"
+
+"Wait a minute, mother, till I have done my supper, and then I will
+show you the footings in my ledger."
+
+"Your ledger!"
+
+"Yea, my ledger.  I keep a ledger now."
+
+"You are a great man, Mr. Robert Bright," laughed his mother.  "I
+suppose the people took their hats off when they saw you coming."
+
+"Not exactly, mother."
+
+"Perhaps the governor came out to meet you when he heard you was on the
+road."
+
+"Perhaps he did; I didn't see him, however.  This apple pie tastes
+natural, mother.  It is a great luxury to get home after one has been
+travelling."
+
+"Very likely."
+
+"No place like home, after all is done and said.  Who was the fellow
+that wrote that song, mother?"
+
+"I forget; the paper said he spent a great many years in foreign parts.
+My sake! Bobby; one would think by your talk that you had been away
+from home for a year."
+
+"It seems like a year," said he, as he transferred another quarter of
+the famous apple pie to his plate.  "I miss home very much.  I don't
+more than half like being among strangers so much."
+
+"It is your own choice; no one wants you to go away from home."
+
+"I must pay my debts, any how.  Don't I owe Squire Lee sixty dollars?"
+
+"But I can pay that."
+
+"It is my affair, you see."
+
+"If it is your affair, then I owe you sixty dollars."
+
+"No, you don't; I calculate to pay my board now.  I am old enough and
+big enough to do something."
+
+"You have done something ever since you was old enough to work."
+
+"Not much; I don't wonder that miserable old hunker of a Hardhand
+twitted me about it.  By the way, have you heard any thing from him?"
+
+"Not a thing."
+
+"He has got enough of us, I reckon."
+
+"You mustn't insult him, Bobby, if you happen to see him."
+
+"Never fear me."
+
+"You know the Bible says we must love our enemies, and pray for them
+that despitefully use us and persecute us."
+
+"I should pray that the Old Nick might get him."
+
+"No, Bobby; I hope you haven't forgot all your Sunday school lessons."
+
+"I was wrong, mother," replied Bobby, a little moved.  "I did not mean
+so.  I shall try to think as well of him as I can; but I can't help
+thinking, if all the world was like him, what a desperate hard time we
+should have of it."
+
+"We must thank the Lord that he has given us so many good and true men."
+
+"Such as Squire Lee, for instance," added Bobby, as he rose from the
+table and put his chair back against the wall.  "The squire is fit to
+be a king; and though I believe in the Constitution and the Declaration
+of Independence, I wouldn't mind seeing a crown upon his head."
+
+"He will receive his crown in due time," replied Mrs. Bright, piously.
+
+"The squire?"
+
+"The crown of rejoicing, I mean."
+
+"Just so; the squire is a nice man; and I know another just like him."
+
+"Who!"
+
+"Mr. Bayard; they are as near alike as two peas."
+
+"I am dying to know about your journey."
+
+"Wait a minute, mother, till we clear away the supper things;" and
+Bobby took hold, as he had been accustomed, to help remove and wash the
+dishes.
+
+"You needn't help now, Bobby."
+
+"Yes, I will, mother."
+
+Some how our hero's visit to the city did not seem to produce the usual
+effect upon him; for a great many boys, after they had been abroad,
+would have scorned to wash dishes and wipe them.  A week in town has
+made many a boy so smart that you couldn't touch him with a ten foot
+pole.  It starches them up so stiff that sometimes they don't know
+their own mothers, and deem it a piece of condescension to speak a word
+to the patriarch in a blue frock who had the honor of supporting them
+in childhood.
+
+Bobby was none of this sort.  We lament that he had a habit of talking
+big--that is, of talking about business affairs in a style a little
+beyond his years.  But he was modest to a fault, paradoxical as it may
+seem.  He was always blushing when any body spoke a pretty thing about
+him.  Probably the circumstances of his position elevated him above the
+sphere of the mere boy; he had spent but little time in play, and his
+attention had been directed at all times to the wants of his mother.
+He had thought a great deal about business, especially since the visit
+of the boy who sold books to the little black house.
+
+Some boys are born merchants, and from their earliest youth have a
+genius for trade.  They think of little else.  They "play shop" before
+they wear jackets, and drive a barter trade in jackknives, whistles,
+tops, and fishing lines long before they get into their teens.  They
+are shrewd even then, and obtain a taste for commerce before they are
+old enough to know the meaning of the word.
+
+We saw a boy in school, not long since, give the value of eighteen
+cents for a little stunted quince--boys have a taste for raw quinces,
+strange as it may seem.  Undoubtedly he had no talent for trade, and
+would make a very indifferent tin pedler.  Our hero was shrewd.  He
+always got the best end of the bargain; though, I am happy to say, his
+integrity was too unyielding to let him cheat his fellows.
+
+We have made this digression so that my young readers may know why
+Bobby was so much given to big talk.  The desire to do something worthy
+of a good son turned his attention to matters above his sphere; and
+thinking of great things, he had come to talk great things.  It was not
+a bad fault, after all.  Boys need not necessarily be frivolous.  Play
+is a good thing, an excellent thing, in its place, and is as much a
+part of the boy's education as his grammar and arithmetic.  It not only
+develops his muscles, but enlarges his mental capacity; it not only
+fills with excitement the idle hours of the long day, but it sharpens
+the judgment, and helps to fit the boy for the active duties of life.
+
+It need not be supposed, because Bobby had to turn his attention to
+serious things, that he was not fond of fun; that he could not or did
+not play.  At a game of round ball, he was a lucky fellow who secured
+him upon his side; for the same energy which made him a useful son
+rendered him a desirable hand in a difficult game.
+
+When the supper things were all removed, the dishes washed and put
+away, Bobby drew out his pocket memorandum book.  It was a beautiful
+article, and Mrs. Bright was duly astonished at its gilded leaves and
+the elegant workmanship.  Very likely her first impulse was to reprove
+her son for such a piece of reckless extravagance; but this matter was
+set right by Bobby's informing her how it came into his possession.
+
+"Here is my ledger, mother," he said, handing her the book.
+
+Mrs. Bright put on her spectacles, and after bestowing a careful
+scrutiny upon the memorandum book, turned to the accounts.
+
+"Fifty books!" she exclaimed, as she read the first entry.
+
+"Yes, mother; and I sold them all."
+
+"Fifty dollars!"
+
+"But I had to pay for the books out of that."
+
+"To be sure you had; but I suppose you made as much as ten cents a
+piece on them, and that would be--let me see; ten times fifty--"
+
+"But I made more than that, I hope."
+
+"How much?"
+
+The proud young merchant referred her to the profit and loss account,
+which exhibited a balance of fifteen dollars.
+
+"Gracious!  Three dollars a day!"
+
+"Just so, mother.  Now I will pay you the dollar I borrowed of you when
+I went away."
+
+"You didn't borrow it of me."
+
+"But I shall pay it."
+
+Mrs. Bright was astonished at this unexpected and gratifying result.
+If she had discovered a gold mine in the cellar of the little black
+house, it could not have afforded her so much satisfaction; for this
+money was the reward of her son's talent and energy.  Her own earnings
+scarcely ever amounted to more than three or four dollars a week, and
+Bobby, a boy of thirteen, had come home with fifteen for five days'
+work.  She could scarcely believe the evidence other own senses, and
+she ceased to wonder that he talked big.
+
+It was nearly ten o'clock when the widow and her son went to bed, so
+deeply were they interested in discussing our hero's affairs.  He had
+intended to call upon Squire Lee that night, but the time passed away
+so rapidly that he was obliged to defer it till the next day.
+
+After breakfast the following morning, he hastened to pay the intended
+visit.  There was a tumult of strange emotions in his bosom as he
+knocked at the squire's door.  He was proud of the success he had
+achieved, and even then his cheek burned under the anticipated
+commendations which his generous friend would bestow upon him.
+Besides, Annie would be glad to see him, for she had expressed such a
+desire when they parted on the Monday preceding.  I don't think that
+Bobby cherished any silly ideas, but the sympathy of the little maiden
+fell not coldly or unwelcomely upon his warm heart.  In coming from the
+house he had placed his copy of "The Wayfarer" under his arm, for Annie
+was fond of reading; and on the way over, he had pictured to himself
+the pleasure she would derive from reading his book.
+
+Of course he received a warm welcome from the squire and his daughter.
+Each of them had bestowed more than a thought upon the little wanderer
+as he went from house to house, and more than once they had conversed
+together about him.
+
+"Well, Bobby, how is trade in the book line?" asked the squire, after
+the young pilgrim had been cordially greeted.
+
+"Pretty fair," replied Bobby, with as much indifference as he could
+command, though it was hard even to seem indifferent then and there.
+
+"Where have you been travelling?"
+
+"In B----."
+
+"Fine place.  Books sell well there?"
+
+"Very well; in fact, I sold out all my stock by noon yesterday."
+
+"How many books did you carry?"
+
+"Fifty."
+
+"You did well."
+
+"I should think you did!" added Annie, with an enthusiasm which quite
+upset all Bobby's assumed indifference.  "Fifty books!"
+
+"Yes, Miss Annie; and I have brought you a copy of the book I have been
+selling; I thought you would like to read it.  It is a splendid work,
+and will be _the_ book of the season."
+
+"I shall be delighted to read it," replied Annie, taking the proffered
+volume.  "It looks real good," she continued, as she turned over the
+leaves.
+
+"It is first rate; I have read it through."
+
+"It was very kind of you to think of me when you have so much business
+on your mind," added she, with a roguish smile.
+
+"I shall never have so much business on my mind that I cannot think of
+my friends," replied Bobby, so gallantly and so smartly that it
+astonished himself.
+
+"I was just thinking what I should read next; I am so glad you have
+come."
+
+"Never mind her, Bobby; all she wanted was the book," interposed Squire
+Lee, laughing.
+
+"Now, pa!"
+
+"Then I shall bring her one very often."
+
+"You are too bad, pa," said Annie, who, like most young ladies just
+entering their teens, resented any imputation upon the immaculateness
+of human love, or human friendship.
+
+"I have got a little money for you, Squire Lee," continued Bobby,
+thinking it time the subject was changed.
+
+He took out his gilded memorandum book, whose elegant appearance rather
+startled the squire, and from its "treasury department" extracted the
+little roll of bills, representing an aggregate of ten dollars which he
+had carefully reserved for his creditor.
+
+"Never mind that, Bobby," replied the squire.  "You will want all your
+capital to do business with."
+
+"I must pay my debts before I think of any thing else."
+
+"A very good plan, Bobby, but this is an exception to the general rule."
+
+"No, sir, I think not.  If you please, I insist upon paying you tea
+dollars on my note."
+
+"O, well, if you insist, I suppose I can't help myself."
+
+"I would rather pay it, I shall feel so much better."
+
+"You want to indorse it on the note, I suppose."
+
+That was just what Bobby wanted.  Indorsed on the note was the idea,
+and our hero had often passed that expression through his mind.  There
+was something gratifying in the act to a man of business integrity like
+himself; it was discharging a sacred obligation,--he had already come
+to deem it a sacred duty to pay one's debts,--and as the squire wrote
+the indorsement across the back of the note, he felt more like a hero
+than ever before.
+
+"'Pay as you go' is an excellent idea; John Randolph called it the
+philosopher's stone," added Squire Lee, as he returned the note to his
+pocket book.
+
+"That is what I mean to do just as soon as I can."
+
+"You will do, Bobby."
+
+The young merchant spent nearly the whole forenoon at the squire's, and
+declined an invitation to dinner only on the plea that his mother would
+wait for him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY DECLINES A COPARTNERSHIP AND VISITS B---- AGAIN.
+
+After dinner Bobby performed his Saturday afternoon chores as usual.
+He split wood enough to last for a week, so that his mother might not
+miss him too much, and then, feeling a desire to visit his favorite
+resorts in the vicinity, he concluded to go a fishing.  The day was
+favorable, the sky being overcast and the wind very light.  After
+digging a little box of worms in the garden back of the house, he
+shouldered his fish pole; and certainly no one would have suspected
+that he was a distinguished travelling merchant.  He was fond of
+fishing, and it is a remarkable coincidence that Daniel Webster, and
+many other famous men, have manifested a decided passion for this
+exciting sport.  No doubt a fondness for angling is a peculiarity of
+genius; and if being an expert fisherman makes a great man, then our
+hero was a great man.
+
+He had scarcely seated himself on his favorite rock, and dropped his
+line into the water, before he saw Tom Spicer approaching the spot.
+The bully had never been a welcome companion.  There was no sympathy
+between them.  They could never agree, for their views, opinions, and
+tastes were always conflicting.
+
+Bobby had not seen Tom since he left him to crawl out of the ditch on
+the preceding week, and he had good reason to believe that he should
+not be regarded with much favor.  Tom was malicious and revengeful, and
+our hero was satisfied that the blow which had prostrated him in the
+ditch would not be forgotten till it had been atoned for.  He was
+prepared, therefore, for any disagreeable scene which might occur.
+
+There was another circumstance also which rendered the bully's presence
+decidedly unpleasant at this time--an event that had occurred during
+his absence, the particulars of which he had received from his mother.
+
+Tom's father, who was a poor man, and addicted to intemperance, had
+lost ten dollars.  He had brought it home, and, as he affirmed, placed
+it in one of the bureau drawers.  The next day it could not be found.
+
+Spicer, for some reason, was satisfied that Tom had taken it; but the
+boy stoutly and persistently denied it.  No money was found upon him,
+however, and it did not appear that he had spent any at the stores in
+Riverdale Centre.
+
+The affair created some excitement in the vicinity, for Spicer made no
+secret of his suspicions, and publicly accused Tom of the theft.  He
+did not get much sympathy from any except his pot companions; for there
+was no evidence but his bare and unsupported statement to substantiate
+the grave accusation.  Tom had been in the room when the money was
+placed in the drawer, and, as his father asserted, had watched him
+closely while he deposited the bills under the clothing.  No one else
+could have taken it.  These were the proofs.  But people generally
+believed that Spicer had carried no money home, especially as it was
+known that he was intoxicated on the night in question; and that the
+alleged theft was only a ruse to satisfy certain importunate creditors.
+
+Every body knew that Tom was bad enough to steal, even from his father;
+from which my readers can understand that it is an excellent thing to
+have a good reputation.  Bobby knew that he would lie and use profane
+language; that he spent his Sundays by the river, or in roaming through
+the woods; and that he played truant from school as often as the fear
+of the rod would permit; and the boy that would do all these things
+certainty would steal if he got a good chance.  Our hero's judgment,
+therefore, of the case was not favorable to the bully, and he would
+have thanked him to stay away from the river while he was there.
+
+"Hallo, Bob!  How are you?" shouted Tom, when he had come within
+hailing distance.
+
+"Very well," replied Bobby, rather coolly.
+
+"Been to Boston, they say."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, how did you like it?" continued Tom as he seated himself on the
+rock near our hero.
+
+"First rate."
+
+"Been to work there?"
+
+"No."
+
+"What have you been doing?"
+
+"Travelling about."
+
+"What doing?"
+
+"Selling books."
+
+"Was you, though?  Did you sell any?"
+
+"Yes, a few."
+
+"How many?"
+
+"O, about fifty."
+
+"You didn't, though--did you?  How much did you make?"
+
+"About fifteen dollars."
+
+"By Jolly!  You are a smart one, Bobby.  There are not many fellows
+that would have done that."
+
+"Easy enough," replied Bobby, who was not a little surprised at this
+warm commendation from one whom he regarded as his enemy.
+
+"Yon had to buy the books first--didn't you?" asked Tom, who began to
+manifest a deep interest in the trade.
+
+"Of course; no one will give you the books."
+
+"What do you pay for them?"
+
+"I buy them so as to make a profit on them," answered Bobby, who, like
+a discreet merchant, was not disposed to be too communicative.
+
+"That business would suit me first rate."
+
+"It is pretty hard work."
+
+"I don't care for that.  Don't you believe I could do something in this
+line?"
+
+"I don't know; perhaps you could."
+
+"Why not, as well as you?"
+
+This was a hard question; and, as Bobby did not wish to be uncivil, he
+talked about a big pout he hauled in at that moment, instead of
+answering it.  He was politic, and deprecated the anger of the bully;
+so, though Tom plied him pretty hard, he did not receive much
+satisfaction.
+
+"You see, Tom," said he, when he found that his companion insisted upon
+knowing the cost of the books, "this is a publisher's secret; and I
+dare say they would not wish every one to know the cost of books.  We
+sell them for a dollar apiece."
+
+"Humph!  You needn't be so close about it.  I'll bet I can find out."
+
+"I have no doubt you can; only, you see, I don't want to tell what I am
+not sure they would be willing I should tell."
+
+Tom took a slate pencil from his pocket, and commenced ciphering on the
+smooth rock upon which he sat.
+
+"You say you sold fifty books?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well; if you made fifteen dollars out of fifty, that is thirty cents
+apiece."
+
+Bobby was a little mortified when he perceived that he had unwittingly
+exposed the momentous secret.  He had not given Tom credit for so much
+sagacity as he had displayed in his inquiries; and as he had fairly
+reached his conclusion, he was willing he should have the benefit of it.
+
+"You sold them at a dollar apiece.  Thirty from a hundred leaves
+seventy.  They cost you seventy cents each--didn't they?"
+
+"Sixty-seven," replied Bobby, yielding the point.
+
+"Enough said, Bob; I am going into that business, any how."
+
+"I am willing."
+
+"Of course you are; suppose we go together," suggested Tom, who had not
+used all this conciliation without having a purpose in view.
+
+"We could do nothing together."
+
+"I should like to get out with you just once, only to see how it is
+done."
+
+"You can find out for yourself, as I did."
+
+"Don't be mean, Bob."
+
+"Mean?  I am not mean."
+
+"I don't say you are.  We have always been good friends, you know."
+
+Bobby did not know it; so he looked at the other with a smile which
+expressed all he meant to say.
+
+"You hit me a smart dig the other day, I know; but I don't mind that.
+I was in the wrong then, and I am willing to own it," continued Tom,
+with an appearance of humility.
+
+This was an immense concession for Tom to make, and Bobby was duly
+affected by it.  Probably it was the first time the bully had ever
+owned he was in the wrong.
+
+"The fact is, Bob, I always liked you; and you know I licked Ben Dowse
+for you."
+
+"That was two for yourself and one for me; besides, I didn't want Ben
+thrashed."
+
+"But he deserved it.  Didn't he tell the master you were whispering in
+school?"
+
+"I was whispering; so he told the truth."
+
+"It was mean to blow on a fellow, though."
+
+"The master asked him if I whispered to him; of course he ought not to
+lie about it.  But he told of you at the same time."
+
+"I know it; but I wouldn't have licked him on my own account."
+
+"_Perhaps_ you wouldn't."
+
+"I know I wouldn't.  But, I say, Bobby, where do you buy your books?"
+
+"At Mr. Bayard's, in Washington Street."
+
+"He will sell them to me at the same price, won't he?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+"When are you going again?"
+
+"Monday."
+
+"Won't you let me go with you, Bob?"
+
+"Let you?  Of course you can go where you please; it is none of my
+business."
+
+Bobby did not like the idea of having such a co-partner as Tom Spicer,
+and he did not like to tell him so.  If he did, he would have to give
+his reasons for declining the proposition, and that would make Tom mad,
+and perhaps provoke him to quarrel.
+
+The fish bit well, and in an hour's time Bobby had a mess.  As he took
+his basket and walked home, the young ruffian followed him.  He could
+not get rid of him till he reached the gate in front of the little
+black house; and even there Tom begged him to stop a few moments.  Our
+hero was in a hurry, and in the easiest manner possible got rid of this
+aspirant for mercantile honors.
+
+We have no doubt a journal of Bobby's daily life would be very
+interesting to our young readers; but the fact that some of his most
+stirring adventures are yet to be related admonishes us to hasten
+forward more rapidly.
+
+On Monday morning Bobby bade adieu to his mother again, and started for
+Boston.  He fully expected to encounter Tom on the way, who, he was
+afraid, would persist in accompanying him on his tour.  As before, he
+stopped at Squire Lee's to bid him and Annie good by.
+
+The little maiden had read "The Wayfarer" more than half through, and
+was very enthusiastic in her expression of the pleasure she derived
+from it.  She promised to send it over to his house when she had
+finished it, and hoped he would bring his stock to Riverdale, so that
+she might again replenish her library.  Bobby thought of something just
+then, and the thought brought forth a harvest on the following
+Saturday, when he returned.
+
+"When he had shaken bands with the squire and was about to depart, he
+received a piece of news which gave him food for an hour's serious
+reflection.
+
+"Did you hear about Tom Spicer?" asked Squire Lee.
+
+"No, sir; what about him?"
+
+"Broken his arm."
+
+"Broken his arm!  Gracious!  How did it happen?" exclaimed Bobby, the
+more astonished because he had been thinking of Tom since he had left
+home.
+
+"He was out in the woods yesterday, where boys should not be on
+Sundays, and, in climbing a tree after a bird's nest, he fell to the
+ground."
+
+"I am sorry for him," replied Bobby, musing.
+
+"So am I; but if he had been at home, or at church, where he should
+have been, it would not have happened.  If I had any boys, I would lock
+them up in their chambers if I could not keep them at home Sundays."
+
+"Poor Tom!" mused Bobby, recalling the conversation he had had with him
+on Saturday, and then wishing that he had been a little more pliant
+with him.
+
+"It is too bad; but I must say I am more sorry for his poor mother than
+I am for him," added the squire.  "However, I hope it will do him good,
+and be a lesson he will remember as long as he lives."
+
+Bobby bade the squire and Annie adieu again, and resumed his journey
+towards the railroad station.  His thoughts were busy with Tom Spicer's
+case.  The reason why he had not joined him, as he expected and feared
+he would, was now apparent.  He pitied him, for he realized that he
+must endure a great deal of pain before he could again go out; but he
+finally dismissed the matter with the squire's sage reflection, that he
+hoped the calamity would be a good lesson to him.
+
+The young merchant did not walk to Boston this time, for he had come to
+the conclusion that, in the six hours it would take him to travel to
+the city on foot, the profit on the books he could sell would be more
+than enough to pay his fare, to say nothing of the fatigue and the
+expense of shoe leather.
+
+Before noon he was at B---- again, as busy as ever in driving his
+business.  The experience of the former week was of great value to him.
+He visited people belonging to all spheres in society, and, though he
+was occasionally repulsed or treated with incivility, he was not
+conscious in a single instance of offending any person's sense of
+propriety.
+
+He was not as fortunate as during the previous week, and it was
+Saturday noon before he had sold out the sixty books he carried with
+him.  The net profit for this week was fourteen dollars, with which he
+was abundantly pleased.
+
+Mr. Bayard again commended him in the warmest terms for his zeal and
+promptness.  Mr. Timmins was even more civil than the last time, and
+when Bobby asked the price of Moore's Poems, he actually offered to
+sell it to him for thirty-three per cent. less than the retail price.
+The little merchant, was on the point of purchasing it, when Mr. Bayard
+inquired what he wanted.
+
+"I am going to buy this book," replied Bobby.
+
+"Moore's Poems?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+Mr. Bayard took from a glass case an elegantly bound copy of the same
+work--morocco, full gilt--and handed it to our hero.
+
+"I shall make you a present of this.  Are you an admirer of Moore?"
+
+"No, sir; not exactly--that is, I don't know much about it; but Annie
+Lee does, and I want to get the book for her."
+
+Bobby's checks reddened as he turned the leaves of the beautiful
+volume, putting his head down to the page to hide his confusion.
+
+"Annie Lee?" said Mr. Bayard with a quizzing smile.  "I see how it is.
+Rather young, Bobby."
+
+"Her father has been very good to me and to my mother; and so has
+Annie, for that matter.  Squire Lee would be a great deal more pleased
+if I should make Annie a present than if I made him one.  I feel
+grateful to him, and I want to let it out some how."
+
+"That's right, Bobby; always remember your friends.  Timmins, wrap up
+this book."
+
+Bobby protested with all his might; but the bookseller insisted that he
+should give Annie this beautiful edition, and he was obliged to yield
+the point.
+
+That evening he was at the little black house again, and his mother
+examined his ledger with a great deal of pride and satisfaction.  That
+evening, too, another ten dollars was indorsed on the note, and Annie
+received that elegant copy of Moore's Poems.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY'S AIR CASTLE IS UPSET AND TOM SPICER TAKES TO THE WOODS.
+
+During the next four weeks Bobby visited various places in the vicinity
+of Boston; and at the end of that time he had paid the whole of the
+debt he owed Squire Lee.  He had the note in his memorandum book, and
+the fact that he had achieved his first great purpose afforded him much
+satisfaction.  Now he owed no man any thing, and he felt as though he
+could hold up his head among the best people in the world.
+
+The little black house was paid for, and Bobby was proud that his own
+exertions had released his mother from her obligation to her hard
+creditor.  Mr. Hardhand could no longer insult and abuse her.
+
+The apparent results which Bobby had accomplished; however, were as
+nothing compared with the real results.  He had developed those
+energies of character which were to make him, not only a great business
+man, but a useful member of society.  Besides, there was a moral
+grandeur in his humble achievements which was more worthy of
+consideration than the mere worldly success he had obtained.  Motives
+determine the character of deeds.  That a boy of thirteen should
+display so much enterprise and energy was a great thing; but that it
+should be displayed from pure, unselfish devotion to his mother was a
+vastly greater thing.  Many great achievements are morally
+insignificant, while many of which the world never hears mark the true
+hero.
+
+Our hero was not satisfied with what he had done, and far from
+relinquishing his interesting and profitable employment, his ambition
+suggested new and wider fields of success.  As one ideal, brilliant and
+glorious in its time, was reached, another more brilliant and more
+glorious presented itself, and demanded to be achieved.  The little
+black house began to appear rusty and inconvenient; a coat of white
+paint would marvellously improve its appearance; a set of nice
+Paris-green blinds would make a palace of it, and a neat fence around
+it would positively transform the place into a paradise.  Yet Bobby was
+audacious enough to think of these things, and even to promise himself
+that they should be obtained.
+
+In conversation with Mr. Bayard a few days before, that gentleman had
+suggested a new field of labor; and it had been arranged that Bobby
+should visit the State of Maine the following week.  On the banks of
+the Kennebec were many wealthy and important towns, where the
+intelligence of the people created a demand for books.  This time the
+little merchant was to take two hundred books, and be absent until they
+were all sold.
+
+On Monday morning he started bright and early for the railroad station.
+As usual, he called upon Squire Lee, and informed Annie that he should
+probably be absent three or four weeks.  She hoped no accident would
+happen to him, and that his journey would be crowned with success.
+Without being sentimental, she was a little sad, for Bobby was a great
+friend of hers.  That elegant copy of Moore's Poems had been gratefully
+received, and she was so fond of the bard's beautiful and touching
+melodies that she could never read any of them without thinking of the
+brave little fellow who had given her the volume; which no one will
+consider very remarkable, even in a little miss of twelve.
+
+After he had bidden her and her father adieu, he resumed his journey.
+Of course he was thinking with all his might; but no one need suppose
+he was wondering how wide the Kennebec River was, or how many books he
+should sell in the towns upon its banks.  Nothing of the kind; though
+it is enough even for the inquisitive to know that he was thinking of
+something, and that his thoughts were very interesting, not to say
+romantic.
+
+"Hallo, Bob!" shouted some one from the road side.
+
+Bobby was provoked; for it is sometimes very uncomfortable to have a
+pleasant train of thought interrupted.  The imagination is buoyant,
+ethereal, and elevates poor mortals up to the stars sometimes.  It was
+so with Bobby.  He was building up some kind of an air castle, and had
+got up in the clouds amidst the fog and moonshine, and that aggravating
+voice brought him down, _slap_, upon terra firma.
+
+He looked up and saw Tom Spicer seated upon the fence.  In his hand he
+held a bundle, and had evidently been waiting some time for Bobby's
+coming.
+
+He had recovered from the illness caused by his broken arm, and people
+said it had been a good lesson for him, as the squire hoped it would
+be.  Bobby had called upon him two or three times during his
+confinement to the house; and Tom, either truly repentant for his past
+errors, or lacking the opportunity at that time to manifest his evil
+propensities, had stoutly protested that he had "turned over a new
+leaf," and meant to keep out of the woods on Sunday, stop lying and
+swearing, and become a good boy.
+
+Bobby commended his good resolutions, and told him he would never want
+friends while he was true to himself.  The right side, he declared, was
+always the best side.  He quoted several instances of men, whose lives
+he had read in his Sunday school books, to show how happy a good man
+may be in prison, or when all the world seemed to forsake him.
+
+Tom assured him that he meant to reform and be a good boy; and Bobby
+told him that when any one meant to turn over a new leaf, it was "now
+or never."  If he put it off, he would only grow worse, and the longer
+the good work was delayed, the more difficult it would be to do it.
+Tom agreed to all this, and was sure he had reformed.
+
+For these reasons Bobby had come to regard Tom with a feeling of deep
+interest.  He considered him as, in some measure, his disciple, and he
+felt a personal responsibility in encouraging him to persevere in his
+good work.  Nevertheless Bobby was not exactly pleased to have his fine
+air castle upset, and to be tipped out of the clouds upon the cold,
+uncompromising earth again; so the first greeting he gave Tom was not
+as cordial as it might have been.
+
+"Hallo, Tom!" he replied, rather coolly.
+
+"Been waiting for you this half hour."
+
+"Have you?"
+
+"Yes; ain't you rather late?"
+
+"No; I have plenty of time, though none to spare," answered Bobby; and
+this was a hint that he must not detain him too long.
+
+"Come along then."
+
+"Where are you going, Tom?" asked Bobby, a little surprised at these
+words.
+
+"To Boston."
+
+"Are you?"
+
+"I am; that's a fact.  You know I spoke to you about going into the
+book business."
+
+"Not lately."
+
+"But I have been thinking about it all the time."
+
+"What do your father and mother say?"
+
+"O, they are all right."
+
+"Have you asked them?"
+
+"Certainly I have; they are willing I should go with _you_."
+
+"Why didn't you speak of it then?"
+
+"I thought I wouldn't say any thing till the time came.  You know you
+fought shy when I spoke about it before."
+
+And Bobby, notwithstanding the interest he felt in his companion, was a
+little disposed to "fight shy" now.  Tom had reformed, or had pretended
+to do so; but he was still a raw recruit, and our hero was somewhat
+fearful that he would run at the first fire.
+
+To the good and true man life is a constant battle.  Temptation assails
+him at almost every point; perils and snares beset him at every step of
+his mortal pilgrimage, so that every day he is called upon to gird on
+his armor and fight the good fight.
+
+Bobby was no poet; but he had a good idea of this every-day strife with
+the foes of error and sin that crossed his path.  It was a practical
+conception, but it was truly expressed under the similitude of a
+battle.  There was to be resistance, and he could comprehend that, for
+his bump of combativeness took cognizance of the suggestion.  He was to
+fight; and that was an idea that stood him in better stead than a whole
+library of ethical subtleties.
+
+Judging Tom by his own standard, he was afraid he would run--that he
+wouldn't "stand fire."  He had not been drilled.  Heretofore, when
+temptation beset him, he had yielded without even a struggle, and fled
+from the field without firing a gun.  To go out into the great world
+was a trying event for the raw recruit.  He lacked, too, that prestige
+of success which is worth more than numbers, on the field of battle.
+
+Tom had chosen for himself, and he could not send him back.  He had
+taken up the line of march, let it lead him where it might.
+
+  "March on! in legions death and sin
+    Impatient wait thy conquering hand;
+  The foe without, the foe within--
+    Thy youthful arm must both withstand."
+
+Bobby had great hopes of him.  He felt that he could not well get rid
+of him, and he saw that it was policy for him to make the best of it.
+
+"Well, Tom, where are you going?" asked Bobby, after he had made up his
+mind not to object to the companionship of the other.
+
+"I don't know.  You have been a good friend to me lately, and I had an
+idea that you would give me a lift in this business."
+
+"I should be very willing to do so: but what can I do for you?"
+
+"Just show me how the business is done; that's all I want."
+
+"Your father and mother were willing you should come--were they not?"
+
+Bobby had some doubts about this point, and with good reason too.  He
+had called at Tom's house, the day before, and they had gone to church
+together; but neither he nor his parents had said a word about his
+going to Boston.
+
+"When did they agree to it?"
+
+"Last night," replied Tom, after a moment's hesitation.
+
+"All right then; but I cannot promise you that Mr. Bayard will let you
+have the books."
+
+"I can fix that, I reckon," replied Tom, confidently.
+
+"I will speak a good word for you, at any rate."
+
+"That's right, Bob."
+
+"I am going down into the State of Maine this time, and shall be gone
+three or four weeks."
+
+"So much the better; I always wanted to go down that way."
+
+Tom asked a great many questions about the business and the method of
+travelling, which Bobby's superior intelligence and more extensive
+experience enabled him to answer to the entire satisfaction of the
+other.
+
+When they were within half a mile of the railroad station, they heard a
+carriage driven at a rapid rate approaching them from the direction of
+Riverdale.
+
+Tom seemed to be uneasy, and cast frequent glances behind him.  In a
+moment the vehicle was within a short distance of them, and he stopped
+short in the road to scrutinize the persons in it.
+
+"By jolly!" exclaimed Tom; "my father!"
+
+"What of it?" asked Bobby, surprised by the strange behavior of his
+companion.
+
+Tom did not wait to reply, but springing over the fence, fled like a
+deer towards some woods a short distance from the road.
+
+Was it possible?  Tom had run away from home.  His father had not
+consented to his going to Boston, and Bobby was mortified to find that
+his hopeful disciple had been lying to him ever since they left
+Riverdale.  But he was glad the cheat had been exposed.
+
+"That was Tom with you--wasn't it?" asked Mr. Spicer, as he stopped the
+foaming horse.
+
+"Yes, sir; but he told me you had consented that he should go with me,"
+replied Bobby, a little disturbed by the angry glance of Mr. Spicer's
+fiery eyes.
+
+"He lied! the young villain!  He will catch it for this."
+
+"I would not have let him come with me only for that.  I asked him
+twice over if you were willing, and he said you were."
+
+"You ought to have known better than to believe him," interposed the
+man who was with Mr. Spicer.
+
+Bobby had some reason for believing him.  The fact that Tom had
+reformed ought to have entitled him to some consideration, and our hero
+gave him the full benefit of the declaration.  To have explained this
+would have taken more time than he could spare; besides, it was "a
+great moral question," whose importance Mr. Spicer and his companion
+would not be likely to apprehend; so he made a short story of it, and
+resumed his walk, thankful that he had got rid of Tom.
+
+Mr. Spicer and his friend, after fastening the horse to the fence, went
+to the woods in search of Tom.
+
+Bobby reached the station just in time to take the cars, and in a
+moment was on his way to the city.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY GETS INTO A SCRAPE, AND TOM SPICER TURNS UP AGAIN.
+
+Bobby had a poorer opinion of human nature than ever before.  It seemed
+almost incredible to him that words so fairly spoken as those of Tom
+Spicer could be false.  He had just risen from a sick bed, where he had
+had an opportunity for long and serious reflection.  Tom had promised
+fairly, and Bobby had every reason to suppose he intended to be a good
+boy.  But his promises had been lies.  He had never intended to reform,
+at least not since he had got off his bed of pain.  He was mortified
+and disheartened at the failure of this attempt to restore him to
+himself.
+
+Like a great many older and wiser persons than himself, he was prone to
+judge the whole human family by a single individual.  He did not come
+to believe that every man was a rascal, but, in more general terms,
+that there is a great deal more rascality in this world than one would
+be willing to believe.
+
+With this sage reflection, he dismissed Tom from his mind, which very
+naturally turned again to the air castle which had been so ruthlessly
+upset.  Then his opinion of "the rest of mankind" was reversed; and he
+reflected that if the world were only peopled by angels like Annie Lee,
+what a pleasant place it would be to live in.  She could not tell a
+lie, she could not use bad language, she could not steal, or do any
+thing else that was bad; and the prospect was decidedly pleasant.  It
+was very agreeable to turn from Tom to Annie, and in a moment his air
+castle was built again, and throned on clouds of gold and purple.  I do
+not know what impossible things he imagined, or how far up in the
+clouds, he would have gone, if the arrival of the train at the city had
+not interrupted his thoughts, and pitched him down upon the earth again.
+
+Bobby was not one of that impracticable class of persons who do nothing
+but dream; for he felt that he had a mission, to perform which dreaming
+could not accomplish.  However pleasant it may be to think of the great
+and brilliant things which one _will_ do, to one of Bobby's practical
+character it was even more pleasant to perform them.  We all dream
+great things, imagine great things; but he who stops there does not
+amount to much, and the world can well spare him, for he is nothing but
+a drone in the hive.  Bobby's fine imaginings were pretty sure to bring
+out "now or never," which was the pledge of action, and the work was as
+good as done when he had said it.
+
+Therefore, when the train arrived, Bobby did not stop to dream any
+longer.  He forgot his beautiful air castle, and even let Annie Lee
+slip from his mind for the time being.  Those towns upon the Kennebec,
+the two hundred books he was to sell, loomed up before him, for it was
+with them he had to do.
+
+Grasping the little valise he carried with him, he was hastening out of
+the station house when a hand was placed upon his shoulder.
+
+"Got off slick--didn't I?" said Tom Spicer, placing himself by Bobby's
+side.
+
+"You here, Tom!" exclaimed our hero, gazing with astonishment at his
+late companion.
+
+It was not an agreeable encounter, and from the bottom of his heart
+Bobby wished him any where but where he was.  He foresaw that he could
+not easily get rid of him.
+
+"I am here," replied Tom.  "I ran through the woods to the depot, and
+got aboard the cars just as they were starting.  The old man couldn't
+come it over me quite so slick as that."
+
+"But you ran away from home."
+
+"Well, what of it?"
+
+"A good deal, I should say."
+
+"If you had been in my place, you would have done the same."
+
+"I don't know about that; obedience to parents is one of our first
+duties."
+
+"I know that; and if I had had any sort of fair play, I wouldn't have
+run away."
+
+"What do you mean by that?" asked Bobby, somewhat surprised, though he
+had a faint idea of the meaning of the other.
+
+"I will tell you all about it by and by.  I give you my word and honor
+that I will make every thing satisfactory to you."
+
+"But you lied to me on the road this morning."
+
+Tom winced; under ordinary circumstances he would have resented such a
+remark by "clearing away" for a fight.  But he had a purpose to
+accomplish, and he knew the character of him with whom he had to deal.
+
+"I am sorry I did, now," answered Tom, with every manifestation of
+penitence for his fault.  "I didn't want to lie to you; and it went
+against my conscience to do so.  But I was afraid, if I told you my
+father refused, up and down, to let me go, that you wouldn't be willing
+I should come with you."
+
+"I shall not be any more willing now I know all about it," added Bobby,
+in an uncompromising tone.
+
+"Wait till you have heard my story, and then you won't blame me."
+
+"Of course you can go where you please; it is none of my business; but
+let me tell you, Tom, in the beginning, that I won't go with a fellow
+who has run away from his father and mother."
+
+"Pooh!  What's the use of talking in that way?"
+
+Tom was evidently disconcerted by this decided stand of his companion.
+He knew that his bump of firmness was well developed, and whatever he
+said he meant.
+
+"You had better return home, Tom.  Boys that run away from home don't
+often amount to much.  Take my advice, and go home," added Bobby.
+
+"To such a home as mine!" said Tom, gloomily.  "If I had such a home as
+yours, I would not have left it."
+
+Bobby got a further idea from this remark of the true state of the
+case, and the consideration moved him.  Tom's father was a notoriously
+intemperate man, and the boy had nothing to hope for from his precept
+or his example.  He was the child of a drunkard, and as much to be
+pitied as blamed for his vices.  His home was not pleasant.  He who
+presided over it, and who should have made a paradise of it, was its
+evil genius, a demon of wickedness, who blasted its flowers as fast as
+they bloomed.
+
+Tom had seemed truly penitent both during his illness and since his
+recovery.  His one great desire now was to get away from home, for home
+to him was a place of torment.  Bobby suspected all this, and in his
+great heart he pitied his companion.  He did not know what to do.
+
+"I am sorry for you, Tom," said he, after he had considered the matter
+in this new light; "but I don't see what I can do for you.  I doubt
+whether it would be right for me to help you run away from your
+parents."
+
+"I don't want you to help me run away.  I have done that already."
+
+"But if I let you go with me, it will be just the same thing.  Besides,
+since you told me those lies this morning, I haven't much confidence in
+you."
+
+"I couldn't help that."
+
+"Yes, you could.  Couldn't help lying?"
+
+"What could I do?  You would have gone right back and told my father."
+
+"Well, we will go up to Mr. Bayard's store, and then we will see what
+can be done."
+
+"I couldn't stay at home, sure," continued Tom, as they walked along
+together.  "My father even talked of binding me out to a trade."
+
+"Did he?"
+
+Bobby stopped short in the street; for it was evident that, as this
+would remove him from his unhappy home, and thus effect all he
+professed to desire, he had some other purpose in view.
+
+"What are you stopping for, Bob?"
+
+"I think you better go back, Tom."
+
+"Not I; I won't do that, whatever happens."
+
+"If your father will put you to a trade, what more do you want?"
+
+"I won't go to a trade, any how."
+
+Bobby said no more, but determined to consult with Mr. Bayard about the
+matter; and Tom was soon too busily engaged in observing the strange
+sights and sounds of the city to think of any thing else.
+
+When they reached the store, Bobby went into Mr. Bayard's private
+office and told him all about the affair.  The bookseller decided that
+Tom had run away more to avoid being bound to a trade than because his
+home was unpleasant; and this decision seemed to Bobby all the more
+just because he knew that Tom's mother, though a drunkard's wife, was a
+very good woman.  Mr. Bayard further decided that Bobby ought not to
+permit the runaway to be the companion of his journey.  He also
+considered it his duty to write to Mr. Spicer, informing him of his
+son's arrival in the city, and clearing Bobby from any agency in his
+escape.
+
+While Mr. Bayard was writing the letter, Bobby went out to give Tom the
+result of the consultation.  The runaway received it with a great show
+of emotion, and begged and pleaded to have the decision reversed.  But
+Bobby, though he would gladly have done any thing for him which was
+consistent with his duty, was firm as a rock, and positively refused,
+to have any thing to do with him until he obtained his father's
+consent; or, if there was any such trouble as he asserted, his mother's
+consent.
+
+Tom left the store, apparently "more in sorrow than in anger."  His
+bullying nature seemed to be cast out, and Bobby could not but feel
+sorry for him.  Duty was imperative, as it always is, and it must be
+done "now or never."
+
+During the day the little merchant attended to the packing of his
+stock, and to such other preparations as were required for his journey.
+He must take the steamer that evening for Bath, and when the time for
+his departure arrived, he was attended to the wharf by Mr. Bayard and
+Ellen, with whom he had passed the afternoon.  The bookseller assisted
+him in procuring his ticket and berth, and gave him such instructions
+as his inexperience demanded.
+
+The last bell rang, the fasts were cast off, and the great wheels of
+the steamer began to turn.  Our hero, who had never been on the water
+in a steamboat, or indeed any thing bigger than a punt on the river at
+home, was much interested and excited by his novel position.  He seated
+himself on the promenade deck, and watched with wonder the boiling,
+surging waters astern of the steamer.
+
+How powerful is man, the author of that mighty machine that bore him so
+swiftly over the deep blue waters!  Bobby was a little philosopher, as
+we have before had occasion to remark, and he was decidedly of the
+opinion that the steamboat was a great institution.  When he had in
+some measure conquered his amazement, and the first ideas of sublimity
+which the steamer and the sea were calculated to excite in a poetical
+imagination, he walked forward to take a closer survey of the
+machinery.  After all, there was something rather comical in the
+affair.  The steam hissed and sputtered, and the great walking beam
+kept flying up and down; and the sum total of Bobby's philosophy was,
+that it was funny these things should make the boat go so like a race
+horse over the water.
+
+Then he took a look into the pilot house, and it seemed more funny that
+turning that big wheel should steer the boat.  But the wind blew rather
+fresh at the forward part of the boat, and as Bobby's philosophy was
+not proof against it, he returned to the promenade deck, which was
+sheltered from the severity of the blast.  He had got reconciled to the
+whole thing, and ceased to bother his head about the big wheel, the
+sputtering steam, and the walking beam; so he seated himself, and began
+to wonder what all the people in Riverdale were about.
+
+"All them as hasn't paid their fare, please walk up to the cap'n's
+office and s-e-t-t-l-e!" shouted a colored boy, presenting himself just
+then, and furiously ringing a large hand bell.
+
+"I have just settled," said Bobby, alluding to his comfortable seat.
+
+But the allusion was so indefinite to the colored boy that he thought
+himself insulted.  He did not appear to be a very amiable boy, for his
+fist was doubled up, and with sundry big oaths, he threatened to
+annihilate the little merchant for his insolence.
+
+"I didn't say any thing that need offend you," replied Bobby.  "I meant
+nothing."
+
+"You lie!  You did!"
+
+He was on the point of administering a blow with his fist, when a third
+party appeared on the ground, and without waiting to hear the merits of
+the case, struck the negro a blow which had nearly floored him.
+
+Some of the passengers now interfered, and the colored boy was
+prevented from executing vengeance on the assailant.
+
+"Strike that fellow and you strike me!" said he who had struck the blow.
+
+"Tom Spicer!" exclaimed Bobby, astonished and chagrined at the presence
+of the runaway.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY FINDS "IT IS AN ILL WIND THAT BLOWS NO ONE ANY GOOD."
+
+A gentleman, who was sitting near Bobby when he made the remark which
+the colored boy had misunderstood, interfered to free him from blame,
+and probably all unpleasant feelings might have been saved, if Tom's
+zeal had been properly directed.  As it was, the waiter retired with
+his bell, vowing vengeance upon his assailant.
+
+"How came you here, Tom?" asked Bobby, when the excitement had subsided.
+
+"You don't get rid of me so easily," replied Tom, laughing.
+
+Bobby called to mind the old adage that "a had penny is sure to
+return;" and, if it had not been a very uncivil remark, he would have
+said it.
+
+"I didn't expect to see you again at present," he observed, hardly
+knowing what to say or do.
+
+"I suppose not; but as I didn't mean you should expect me, I kept out
+of sight.  Only for that darkey you wouldn't have found me out so soon.
+I like you, Bob, in spite of all you have done to get rid of me, and I
+wasn't a going to let the darkey thrash you."
+
+"You only made matters worse."
+
+"That is all the thanks I get for hitting him for you."
+
+"I am sorry you hit him, at the same time I suppose you meant to do me
+a service, and I thank you, not for the blow you struck the black boy,
+but for your good intentions."
+
+"That sounds better.  I meant well, Bob."
+
+"I dare say you did.  But how came you here?"
+
+"Why, you see, I was bound to go with you any how or at least to keep
+within hail of you.  You told me, you know, that you were going in the
+steamboat; and after I left the shop, what should I see but a big
+picture of a steamboat on a wall.  It said, 'Bath, Gardiner, and
+Hallowell,' on the bill; and I knew that was where you meant to go.  So
+this afternoon I hunts round and finds the steamboat.  I thought I
+never should have found it, but here I am."
+
+"What are you going to do?"
+
+"Going into the book business," replied Tom, with a smile.
+
+"Where are your books?"
+
+"Down stairs, in the cellar of the steamboat, or whatever you call it."
+
+"Where did you get them?"
+
+"Bought 'em, of course."
+
+"Did you?  Where?"
+
+"Well, I don't remember the name of the street now.  I could go right
+there if I was in the city, though."
+
+"Would they trust you?"
+
+Tom hesitated.  The lies he had told that morning had done him no
+good--had rather injured his cause; and, though he had no principle
+that forbade lying, he questioned its policy in the present instance.
+
+"I paid part down, and they trusted me part."
+
+"How many books you got?"
+
+"Twenty dollars worth.  I paid eight dollars down."
+
+"You did?  Where did you get the eight dollars?"
+
+Bobby remembered the money Tom's father had lost several weeks before,
+and immediately connected that circumstance with his present ability to
+pay so large a sum.
+
+Tom hesitated again, but he was never at a loss for an answer.
+
+"My mother gave it to me."
+
+"Your mother?"
+
+"Yes, _sir_!" replied Tom, boldly, and in that peculiarly bluff manner
+which is almost always good evidence that the boy is lying.
+
+"But you ran away from home."
+
+"That's so; but my mother knew I was coming."
+
+"Did she?"
+
+"To be sure she did."
+
+"You didn't say so before."
+
+"I can't tell all I know in a minute."
+
+"If I thought your mother consented to your coming, I wouldn't say
+another word."
+
+"Well, she did; you may bet your life on that."
+
+"And your mother gave you ten dollars?"
+
+"Who said she gave me ten dollars?" asked Tom a little sharply.
+
+That was just the sum his father had lost, and Bobby had unwittingly
+hinted his suspicion.
+
+"You must have had as much as that if you paid eight on your books.
+Your fare to Boston and your steamboat fare must be two dollars more."
+
+"I know that; but look here, Bob;" and Tom took from his pocket five
+half dollars and exhibited them to his companion.  "She gave me
+thirteen dollars."
+
+Notwithstanding this argument, Bobby felt almost sure that the lost ten
+dollars was a part of his capital.
+
+"I will tell you my story now, Bob, if you like.  You condemned me
+without a hearing, as Jim Guthrie said when they sent him to the House
+of Correction for getting drunk."
+
+"Go ahead."
+
+The substance of Tom's story was, that his father drank so hard, and
+was such a tyrant in the house, that he could endure it no longer.  His
+father and mother did not agree, as any one might have suspected.  His
+mother, encouraged by the success of Bobby, thought that Tom might do
+something of the kind, and she had provided him the money to buy his
+stock of books.
+
+Bobby had not much confidence in this story.  He had been deceived
+once; besides, it was not consistent with his previous narrative, and
+he had not before hinted that he had obtained his mother's consent.
+But Tom was eloquent, and protested that he had reformed, and meant to
+do well.  He declared, by all that was good and great, Bobby should
+never have reason to be ashamed of him.
+
+Our little merchant was troubled.  He could not now get rid of Tom
+without actually quarrelling with him, or running away from him.  He
+did not wish to do the former, and it was not an easy matter to do the
+latter.  Besides, there was hope that the runaway would do well; and if
+he did, when he carried the profits of his trade home, his father would
+forgive him.  One thing was certain, if he returned to Riverdale he
+would be what he had been before.
+
+For these reasons Bobby finally, but very reluctantly, consented that
+Tom should remain with him, resolving, however, that, if he did not
+behave himself, he would leave him at once.
+
+Before morning he had another reason.  When the steamer got out into
+the open bay, Bobby was seasick.  He retired to his berth with a
+dreadful headache; as he described it afterwards, it seemed just as
+though that great walking beam was smashing up and down right in the
+midst of his brains.  He had never felt so ill before in his life, and
+was very sure, in his inexperience, that something worse than mere
+seasickness ailed him.
+
+He told Tom, who was not in the least affected, how he felt; whereupon
+the runaway blustered round, got the steward and the captain into the
+cabin, and was very sure that Bobby would die before morning, if we may
+judge by the fuss he made.
+
+The captain was angry at being called from the pilot house for nothing,
+and threatened to throw Tom overboard if he didn't stop his noise.  The
+steward, however, was a kind-hearted man, and assured Bobby that
+passengers were often a great deal sicker than he was; but he promised
+to do something for his relief, and Tom went with him to his state room
+for the desired remedy.
+
+The potion was nothing more nor less than a table spoonful of brandy,
+which Bobby, who had conscientious scruples about drinking ardent
+spirits, at first refused to take.  Then Tom argued the point, and the
+sick boy yielded.  The dose made him sicker yet, and nature came to his
+relief, and in a little while he felt better.
+
+Tom behaved like a good nurse; he staid by his friend till he went to
+sleep, and then "turned in" upon a settee beneath his berth.  The boat
+pitched and tumbled about so in the heavy sea that Bobby did not sleep
+long, and when he woke he found Tom ready to assist him.  But our hero
+felt better, and entreated Tom to go to sleep again.  He made the best
+of his unpleasant situation.  Sleep was not to be wooed, and he tried
+to pass away the dreary hours in thinking of Riverdale and the dear
+ones there.  His mother was asleep, and Annie was asleep; and that was
+about all the excitement he could get up even on the home question.  He
+could not build castles in the air, for seasickness and castle building
+do not agree.  The gold and purple clouds would be black in spite of
+him, and the aerial structure he essayed to build would pitch and
+tumble about, for all the world, just like a steamboat in a heavy sea.
+As often as he got fairly into it, he was violently rolled out, and in
+a twinkling found himself in his narrow berth, awfully seasick.
+
+He went to sleep again at last, and the long night passed away.  When
+he woke in the morning, he felt tolerably well, and was thankful that
+he had got out of that scrape.  But before he could dress himself, he
+heard a terrible racket on deck.  The steam whistle was shrieking, the
+bell was banging, and he heard the hoarse bellowing of the captain.  It
+was certain that something had happened, or was about to happen.
+
+Then the boat stopped, rolling heavily in the sea.  Tom was  not there;
+he had gone on deck.  Bobby was beginning to consider what a dreadful
+thing a wreck was, when Tom appeared.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Bobby, with some appearance of alarm.
+
+"Fog," replied Tom.  "It is so thick you can cut it with a hatchet."
+
+"Is that all?"
+
+"That's enough.'
+
+"Where are we?"
+
+"That is just what the pilot would like to know.  They can't see ahead
+a bit, and don't know where we are."
+
+Bobby went on deck.  The ocean rolled beneath them, but there was
+nothing but fog to be seen above and around them.  The lead was heaved
+every few moments, and the steamer crept slowly along till it was found
+the water shoaled rapidly, when the captain ordered the men to let go
+the anchor.
+
+There they were; the fog was as obstinate as a mule, and would not
+"lift."  Hour after hour they waited, for the captain was a prudent
+man, and would not risk the life of those on board to save a few hours'
+time.  After breakfast, the passengers began to display their
+uneasiness, and some of them called the captain very hard names,
+because he would not go on.  Almost every body grumbled, and made
+themselves miserable.
+
+"Nothing to do and nothing to read," growled a nicely-dressed
+gentleman, as he yawned and stretched himself to manifest his sensation
+of ennui.
+
+"Nothing to read, eh?" thought Bobby.  "We will soon supply that want."
+
+Calling Tom, they went down to the main deck, where the baggage had
+been placed.
+
+"Now's our time," said he, as he proceeded to unlock one of the trunks
+that contained his books.  "Now or never."
+
+"I am with you," replied Tom, catching the idea.
+
+The books of the latter were in a box, and he was obliged to get a
+hammer to open it; but with Bobby's assistance he soon got at them.
+
+"Buy 'The Wayfarer,'" said Bobby, when he returned to the saloon, and
+placed a volume in the hands of the yawning gentleman.  "Best book of
+the season; only one dollar."
+
+"That I will, and glad of the chance," replied the gentleman.  "I would
+give five dollars for any thing, if it were only the 'Comic Almanac.'"
+
+Others were of the same mind.  There was no present prospect that the
+fog would lift, and before dinner time our merchant had sold fifty
+copies of "The Wayfarer."  Tom, whose books were of an inferior
+description, and who was inexperienced as a salesman, disposed of
+twenty, which was more than half of his stock.  The fog was a godsend
+to both of them, and they reaped a rich harvest from the occasion, for
+almost all the passengers seemed willing to spend their money freely
+for the means of occupying the heavy hours, and driving away that
+dreadful ennui which reigns supreme in a fog-bound steamer.
+
+About the middle of the afternoon, the fog blew over, and the boat
+proceeded on her voyage, and before sunset our young merchants were
+safely landed at Bath.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+IN WHICH TOM HAS A GOOD TIME, AND BOBBY MEETS WITH A TERRIBLE
+MISFORTUNE.
+
+Bath afforded our young merchants an excellent market for their wares,
+and they remained there the rest of the week.  They then proceeded to
+Brunswick, where their success was equally flattering.
+
+Thus far Tom had done very well, though Bobby had frequent occasion to
+remind him of the pledges he had given to conduct himself in a proper
+manner.  He would swear now and then, from the force of habit; but
+invariably, when Bobby checked him, he promised to do better.
+
+At Brunswick Tom sold the last of his books, and was in possession of
+about thirty dollars, twelve of which he owed the publisher who had
+furnished his stock.  This money seemed to burn in his pocket.  He had
+the means of having a good time, and it went hard with him to plod
+along as Bobby did, careful to save every penny he could.
+
+"Come, Bob, let's get a horse and chaise and have a ride--what do you
+say?" proposed Tom, on the day he finished selling his books.
+
+"I can't spare the time or the money," replied Bobby, decidedly.
+
+"What is the use of having money if we can't spend it?  It is a first
+rate day, and we should have a good time."
+
+"I can't afford it.  I have a great many books to sell."
+
+"About a hundred; you can sell them fast enough."
+
+"I don't spend my money foolishly."
+
+"It wouldn't be foolishly.  I have sold out, and am bound to have a
+little fun now."
+
+"You never will succeed if you do business in that way."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"You will spend your money as fast as you get it."
+
+"Pooh! we can get a horse and chaise for the afternoon for two dollars.
+That is not much."
+
+"Considerable, I should say.  But if you begin, there is no knowing
+where to leave off.  I make it a rule not to spend a single cent
+foolishly, and if I don't begin, I shall never do it."
+
+"I don't mean to spend all I get; only a little now and then,"
+persisted Tom.
+
+"Don't spend the first dollar for nonsense, and then you won't spend
+the second.  Besides, when I have any money to spare, I mean to buy
+books with it for my library."
+
+"Humbug!  Your library!"
+
+"Yes, my library; I mean to have a library one of these days."
+
+"I don't want any library, and I mean to spend some of my money in
+having a good time; and if you won't go with me, I shall go
+alone--that's all."
+
+"You can do as you please, of course; but I advise you to keep your
+money.  You will want it to buy another stock of books."
+
+"I shall have enough for that.  What do you say?  Will you go with me
+or not?"
+
+"No, I will not."
+
+"Enough said; then.  I shall go alone, or get some fellow to go with
+me."
+
+"Consider well before you go," pleaded Bobby, who had sense enough to
+see that Tom's proposed "good time" would put back, if not entirely
+prevent, the reform he was working out.
+
+He then proceeded to reason with him in a very earnest and feeling
+manner, telling him he would not only spend all his money, but
+completely unfit himself for business.  What he proposed to do was
+nothing more nor less than extravagance, and it would lead him to
+dissipation and ruin.
+
+"To-day I am going to send one hundred dollars to Mr. Bayard,"
+continued Bobby; "for I am afraid to have so much money with me.  I
+advise you to send your money to your employer."
+
+"Humph!  Catch me doing that!  I am bound to have a good time, any how."
+
+"At least, send the money you owe him."
+
+"I'll bet I won't."
+
+"Well, do as you please; I have said all I have to say."
+
+"You are a fool, Bob!" exclaimed Tom, who had evidently used Bobby as
+much as he wished, and no longer cared to speak soft words to him.
+
+"Perhaps I am; but I know better than to spend my money upon fast
+horses.  If you will go, I can't help it.  I am sorry you are going
+astray."
+
+"What do you mean by that, you young monkey?" said Tom, angrily.
+
+This was Tom Spicer, the bully.  It sounded like him; and with a
+feeling of sorrow Bobby resigned the hopes he had cherished of making a
+good boy of him.
+
+"We had better part now," added our hero, sadly.
+
+"I'm willing."
+
+"I shall leave Brunswick this afternoon for the towns up the river.  I
+hope no harm will befall you.  Good by, Tom,"
+
+"Go it!  I have heard your preaching about long enough, and I am more
+glad to get rid of you than you are to get rid of me."
+
+Bobby walked away towards the house where he had left the trunk
+containing his books, while Tom made his way towards a livery stable.
+The boys had been in the place for several days, and had made some
+acquaintances; so Tom had no difficulty in procuring a companion for
+his proposed ride.
+
+Our hero wrote a letter that afternoon to Mr. Bayard, in which he
+narrated all the particulars of his journey, his relations with Tom
+Spicer, and the success that had attended his labors.  At the bank he
+procured a hundred dollar note for his small bills, and enclosed it in
+the letter.
+
+He felt sad about Tom.  The runaway had done so well, had been so
+industrious, and shown such a tractable spirit, that he had been very
+much encouraged about him.  But if he meant to be wild again,--for it
+was plain that the ride was only "the beginning of sorrows,"--it was
+well that they should part.
+
+By the afternoon stage our hero proceeded to Gardiner, passing through
+several smaller towns, which did not promise a very abundant harvest.
+His usual success attended him; for wherever he went, people seemed to
+be pleased with him, as Squire Lee had declared they would be.  His
+pleasant, honest face was a capital recommendation, and his eloquence
+seldom failed to achieve the result which eloquence has ever achieved
+from Demosthenes down to the present day.
+
+Our limits do not permit us to follow him in all his peregrinations
+from town to town, and from house to house; so we pass over the next
+fortnight, at the end of which time we find him at Augusta.  He had
+sold all his books but twenty, and had that day remitted eighty dollars
+more to Mr. Bayard.  It was Wednesday, and he hoped to sell out so as
+to be able to take the next steamer for Boston, which was advertised to
+sail on the following day.
+
+He had heard nothing from Tom since their parting, and had given up all
+expectation of meeting him again; but that bad penny maxim proved true
+once more, for, as he was walking through one of the streets of
+Augusta, he had the misfortune to meet him--and this time it was indeed
+a misfortune.
+
+"Hallo, Bobby!" shouted the runaway, as familiarly as though nothing
+had happened to disturb the harmony of their relations.
+
+"Ah, Tom, I didn't expect to see you again," replied Bobby, not very
+much rejoiced to meet his late companion.
+
+"I suppose not; but here I am, as good as new.  Have you sold out?"
+
+"No, not quite."
+
+"How many have you left?"
+
+"About twenty; but I thought, Tom, you would have returned to Boston
+before this time."
+
+"No;" and Tom did not seem to be in very good spirits.
+
+"Where are you going now?"
+
+"I don't know.  I ought to have taken your advice, Bobby."
+
+This was a concession, and our hero began to feel some sympathy for his
+companion--as who does not when the erring confess their faults?
+
+"I am sorry you did not."
+
+"I got in with some pretty hard fellows down there to Brunswick,"
+continued Tom, rather sheepishly.
+
+"And spent all your money," added Bobby, who could readily understand
+the reason why Tom had put on his humility again.
+
+"Not all."
+
+"How much have you left?"
+
+"Not much," replied he, evasively.  "I don't know what I shall do.  I
+am in a strange place, and have no friends."
+
+Bobby's sympathies were aroused, and without reflection, he promised to
+be a friend in his extremity.
+
+"I will stick by you this time, Bob, come what will.  I will do just as
+you say, now."
+
+Our merchant was a little flattered by this unreserved display of
+confidence.  He did not give weight enough to the fact that it was
+adversity alone which made Tom so humble.  He was in trouble, and gave
+him all the guarantee he could ask for his future good behavior.  He
+could not desert him now he was in difficulty.
+
+"You shall help me sell my books, and then we will return to Boston
+together.  Have you money enough left to pay your employer?"
+
+Tom hesitated; something evidently hung heavily upon his mind.
+
+"I don't know how it will be after I have paid my expenses to Boston,"
+he replied, averting his face.
+
+Bobby was perplexed by this evasive answer; but as Tom seemed so
+reluctant to go into details, he reserved his inquiries for a more
+convenient season.
+
+"Now, Tom, you take the houses on that side of the street, and I will
+take those upon this side.  You shall have the profits on all you sell."
+
+"You are a first rate fellow, Bob; and I only wish I had done as you
+wanted me to do."
+
+"Can't be helped now, and we will do the next best thing," replied
+Bobby, as he left his companion to enter a house.
+
+Tom did very well, and by the middle of the afternoon they had sold all
+the books but four.  "The Wayfarer" had been liberally advertised in
+that vicinity, and the work was in great demand.  Bobby's heart grew
+lighter as the volumes disappeared from his valise, and already he had
+begun to picture the scene which would ensue upon his return to the
+little black house.  How glad his mother would be to see him, and, he
+dared believe, how happy Annie would be as she listened to the account
+of his journey in the State of Maine!  Wouldn't she be astonished when
+he told her about the steamboat, about the fog, and about the wild
+region at the mouth of the beautiful Kennebec!
+
+Poor Bobby! the brightest dream often ends in sadness; and a greater
+trial than any he had been called upon to endure was yet in store for
+him.
+
+As he walked along, thinking of Riverdale and its loved ones, Tom came
+out of a grocery store where he had just sold a book.
+
+"Here, Bob, is a ten dollar bill.  I believe I have sold ten books for
+you," said Tom, after they had walked some distance.  "You had better
+keep the money now; and while I think of it, you had better take what I
+have left of my former sales;" and Tom handed him another ten dollar
+bill.
+
+Bobby noticed that Tom seemed very much confused and embarrassed; but
+he did not observe that the two bills he had handed him were on the
+same bank.
+
+"Then you had ten dollars left after your frolic," he remarked, as he
+took the last bill.
+
+"About that;" and Tom glanced uneasily behind him.
+
+"What is the matter with you, Tom?" asked Bobby, who did not know what
+to make of his companion's embarrassment.
+
+"Nothing, Bob; let us walk a little faster.  We had better turn up this
+street," continued Tom, as with a quick pace, he took the direction
+indicated.
+
+Bobby began to fear that Tom had been doing something wrong; and the
+suspicion was confirmed by seeing two men running with all their might
+towards them.  Tom perceived them at the same moment.
+
+"Run!" he shouted, and suiting the action to the word, he took to his
+heels, and fled up the street into which he had proposed to turn.
+
+Bobby did not run, but stopped short where he was till the men came up
+to him.
+
+"Grab him," said one of them, "and I will catch the other."
+
+The man collared Bobby, and in spite of all the resistance he could
+make, dragged him down the street to the grocery store in which Tom had
+sold his last book.
+
+"What do you mean by this?" asked Bobby, his blood boiling with
+indignation at the harsh treatment to which he had been subjected.
+
+"We have got you, my hearty," replied the man, releasing his hold.
+
+No sooner was the grasp of the man removed, then Bobby, who determined
+on this as on former occasions to stand upon his inalienable rights,
+bolted for the door, and ran away with all his speed.  But his captor
+was too fleet for him, and he was immediately retaken.  To make him
+sure this time, his arms were tied behind him, and he was secured to
+the counter of the shop.
+
+In a few moments the other man returned dragging Tom in triumph after
+him.  By this time quite a crowd had collected, which nearly filled the
+store.
+
+Bobby was confounded at the sudden change that had come over his
+fortunes; but seeing that resistance would be vain, he resolved to
+submit with the best grace he could.
+
+"I should like to know what all this means?" he inquired, indignantly.
+
+The crowd laughed in derision.
+
+"This is the chap that stole the wallet, I will be bound," said one,
+pointing to Tom, who stood in surly silence awaiting his fate.
+
+"He is the one who came into the store," replied the shopkeeper.
+
+"_I_ haven't stole any wallet," protested Bobby, who now understood the
+whole affair.
+
+The names of the two boys were taken, and warrants procured for their
+detention.  They were searched, and upon Tom was found the lost wallet,
+and upon Bobby two ten dollar bills, which, the loser was willing to
+swear had been in the wallet.  The evidence therefore was conclusive,
+and they were both sent to jail.
+
+Poor Bobby! the inmate of a prison!
+
+The law took its course, and in due time both of them were sentenced to
+two years' imprisonment in the State Reform School.  Bobby was
+innocent, but he could not make his innocence appear.  He had been the
+companion of Tom, the real thief, and part of the money had been found
+upon his person.  Tom was too mean to exonerate him, and even had the
+hardihood to exult over his misfortune.
+
+At the end of three days they reached the town in which the Reform
+School is located, and were duly committed for their long term.
+
+Poor Bobby!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY TAKES FRENCH LEAVE, AND CAMPS IN THE WOODS.
+
+The intelligence of Bobby's misfortune reached Mr. Bayard, in Boston,
+by means of the newspapers.  To the country press an item is a matter
+of considerable importance, and the alleged offence against the peace
+and dignity of the State of Maine was duly heralded to the inquiring
+public as a "daring robbery."  The reporter who furnished the facts in
+the case for publication was not entirely devoid of that essential
+qualification of the country item writer, a lively imagination, and was
+obliged to dress up the particulars a little, in order to produce the
+necessary amount of wonder and indignation.  It was stated that one of
+the two young men had been prowling about the place for several days,
+ostensibly for the purpose of selling books, but really with the
+intention of stealing whatever he could lay his hands upon.  It was
+suggested that the boys were in league with an organized band of
+robbers, whose nefarious purposes would be defeated by the timely
+arrest of these young villains.  The paper hinted that further
+depredations would probably be discovered, and warned people to beware
+of ruffians strolling about the country in the guise of pedlers.
+
+The writer of this thrilling paragraph must have had reason to believe
+that he had discharged his whole duty to the public, and that our hero
+was duly branded as a desperate fellow.  No doubt he believed Bobby was
+an awful monster; for at the conclusion of his remarks he introduced
+some severe strictures on the lenity of the magistrate, because he had
+made the sentence two years, instead of five, which the writer thought
+the atrocious crime deserved.  But, then, the justice differed from him
+in politics, which may account for the severity of the article.
+
+Mr. Bayard read this precious paragraph with mingled grief and
+indignation.  He understood the case at a glance.  Tom Spicer had
+joined him, and the little merchant had been involved in his crime.  He
+was sure that Bobby had had no part in stealing the money.  One so
+noble and true as he had been could not steal, he reasoned.  It was
+contrary to experience, contrary to common sense.
+
+He was very much disturbed.  This intelligence would be a severe blow
+to the poor boy's mother, and he had not the courage to destroy all her
+bright hopes by writing her the terrible truth.  He was confident that
+Bobby was innocent, and that his being in the company of Tom Spicer had
+brought the imputation upon him; so he could not let the matter take
+its course.  He was determined to do something to procure his liberty
+and restore his reputation.
+
+Squire Lee was in the city that day, and had left his store only half
+an hour before he discovered the paragraph.  He immediately sent to his
+hotel for him, and together they devised means to effect Bobby's
+liberation.  The squire was even more confident than Mr. Bayard that
+our hero was innocent of the crime charged upon him.  They agreed to
+proceed immediately to the State of Maine, and use their influence in
+obtaining his pardon.  The bookseller was a man of influence in the
+community, and was as well known in Maine as in Massachusetts; but to
+make their application the surer, he procured letters of introduction
+from some of the most distinguished men in Boston to the governor and
+other official persons in Maine.
+
+We will leave them now to do the work they had so generously
+undertaken, and return to the Reform School, where Bobby and Tom were
+confined.  The latter took the matter very coolly.  He seemed to feel
+that he deserved his sentence, but he took a malicious delight in
+seeing Bobby the companion of his captivity.  He even had the hardihood
+to remind him of the blow he had struck him more than two months
+before, telling him that he had vowed vengeance then, and now the time
+had come.  He was satisfied.
+
+"You know I didn't steal the money, or have any thing to do with it,"
+said Bobby.
+
+"Some of it was found upon you, though," sneered Tom, maliciously.
+
+"You know how it came there, if no one else does."
+
+"Of course I do; but I like your company too well to get rid of you so
+easy."
+
+"The Lord is with the innocent," replied Bobby, "and something tells me
+that I shall not stay in this place a great while."
+
+"Going to run away?" asked Tom, with interest, and suddenly dropping
+his malicious look.
+
+"I know I am innocent of any crime; and I know that the Lord will not
+let me stay here a great while."
+
+"What do you mean to do, Bob?"
+
+Bobby made no reply; he felt that he had had more confidence in Tom
+than he deserved, and he determined to keep his own counsel in future.
+He had a purpose in view.  His innocence gave him courage; and perhaps
+he did not feel that sense of necessity for submission to the laws of
+the land which age and experience give.  He prayed earnestly for
+deliverance from the place in which he was confined.  He felt that he
+did not deserve to be there; and though it was a very comfortable
+place, and the boys fared as well as he wished to fare, still it seemed
+to him like a prison.  He was unjustly detained; and he not only prayed
+to be delivered, but he resolved to work out his own deliverance at the
+first opportunity.
+
+Knowing that whatever he had would be taken from him, he resolved by
+some means to keep possession of the twenty dollars he had about him.
+He had always kept his money in a secret place in his jacket to guard
+against accident, and the officers who had searched him had not
+discovered it.  But now his clothes would be changed.  He thought of
+these things before his arrival; so, when he reached the entrance, and
+got out of the wagon, to open the gate, by order of the officer, he
+slipped his twenty dollars into a hole in the wall.
+
+It so happened that there was not a suit of clothes in the store room
+of the institution which would fit him; and he was permitted to wear
+his own dress till another should be made.  After his name and
+description had been entered, and the superintendent had read him a
+lecture upon his future duties, he was permitted to join the other
+boys, who were at work on the farm.  He was sent with half a dozen
+others to pick up stones in a neighboring field.  No officer was with
+them, and Bobby was struck with the apparent freedom of the
+institution, and he so expressed himself to his companions.
+
+"Not so much freedom as you think for," said one, in reply.
+
+"I should think the fellows would clear out."
+
+"Not so easy a matter.  There is a standing reward of five dollars to
+any one who brings back a runaway."
+
+"They must catch him first."
+
+"No fellow ever got away yet.  They always caught him before he got ten
+miles from the place."
+
+This was an important suggestion to Bobby, who already had a definite
+purpose in his mind.  Like a skilful general, he had surveyed the
+ground on his arrival, and was at once prepared to execute his design.
+
+In his conversation with the boys, he obtained, the history of several
+who had attempted to escape, and found that even those who got a fair
+start were taken on some public road.  He perceived that they were not
+good generals, and he determined to profit by their mistake.
+
+A short distance from the institution was what appeared to be a very
+extensive wood.  Beyond this, many miles distant, he could see the
+ocean glittering like a sheet of ice under the setting sun.
+
+He carefully observed the hills, and obtained the bearings of various
+prominent objects in the vicinity, which would aid him in his flight.
+The boys gave him all the information in their power about the
+localities of the country.  They seemed to feel that he was possessed
+of a superior spirit, and that he would not long remain among them;
+but, whatever they thought, they kept their own counsel.
+
+Bobby behaved well, and was so intelligent and prompt that he obtained
+the confidence of the superintendent, who began to employ him about the
+house, and in his own family.  He was sent of errands in the
+neighborhood, and conducted himself so much to the satisfaction of his
+guardians that he was not required to work in the field after the
+second day of his residence on the farm.
+
+One afternoon he was told that his clothes were ready, and that he
+might put them on the next morning.  This was a disagreeable
+announcement; for Bobby saw that, with the uniform of the institution
+upon his back, his chance of escape would be very slight.  But about
+sunset, he was sent by the superintendent's lady to deliver a note at a
+house in the vicinity.
+
+"Now or never!" said Bobby to himself, after he had left the house.
+"Now's my time."
+
+As he passed the gate, he secured his money, and placed it in the
+secret receptacle of his jacket.  After he had delivered the letter, he
+took the road and hastened off in the direction of the wood.  His heart
+beat wildly at the prospect of once more meeting his mother, after
+nearly four weeks' absence.  Annie Lee would welcome him; she would not
+believe that he was a thief.
+
+He had been four days an inmate of the Reform School, and nothing but
+the hope of soon attaining his liberty had kept his spirits from
+drooping.  He had not for a moment despaired of getting away.
+
+He reached the entrance to the wood, and taking a cart path, began to
+penetrate its hidden depths.  The night darkened upon him; he heard the
+owl screech his dismal note, and the whip-poor-will chant his cheery
+song.  A certain sense of security now pervaded his mind, for the
+darkness concealed him from the world, and he had placed six good miles
+between him and the prison, as he considered it.
+
+He walked on, however, till he came to what seemed to be the end of the
+wood, and he hoped to reach the blue ocean he had seen in the distance
+before morning.  Leaving the forest, he emerged into the open country.
+There was here and there a house before him; but the aspect of the
+country seemed strangely familiar to him.  He could not understand it.
+He had never been in this part of the country before; yet there was a
+great house with two barns by the side of it, which he was positive he
+had seen before.
+
+He walked across the field a little farther, when, to his astonishment
+and dismay, he beheld the lofty turrets of the State Reform School.  He
+had been walking in a circle, and had come out of the forest near the
+place where he had entered it.
+
+Bobby, as the reader has found out by this time, was a philosopher as
+well as a hero; and instead of despairing or wasting his precious time
+in vain regrets at his mistake, he laughed a little to himself at the
+blunder, and turned back into the woods again.
+
+"Now or never!" muttered he.  "It will never do to give it up so."
+
+For an hour he walked on, with his eyes fixed on a great bright star in
+the sky.  Then he found that the cart path crooked round, and he
+discovered where he had made his blunder.  Leaving the road, he made
+his way in a straight line, still guided by the star, till he came to a
+large sheet of water.
+
+The sheet of water was an effectual barrier to his farther progress;
+indeed, he was so tired, he did not feel able to walk any more.  He
+deemed himself safe from immediate pursuit in this secluded place.  He
+needed rest, and he foresaw that the next few days would be burdened
+with fatigue and hardship which he must be prepared to meet.
+
+Bobby was not nice about trifles, and his habits were such that he had
+no fear of taking cold.  His comfortable bed in the little black house
+was preferable to the cold ground, even with the primeval forest for a
+chamber; but circumstances alter cases, and he did not waste any vain
+regrets about the necessity of his position.  After finding a secluded
+spot in the wood, he raked the dry leaves together for a bed, and
+offering his simple but fervent prayer to the Great Guardian above, he
+lay down to rest.  The owl screamed his dismal note, and the
+whip-poor-will still repeated his monotonous song; but they were good
+company in the solitude of the dark forest.
+
+He could not go to sleep for a time, so strange and exciting were the
+circumstances of his position.  He thought of a thousand things, but he
+could not _think_ himself to sleep, as he was wont to do.  At last
+nature, worn out by fatigue and anxiety, conquered the circumstances,
+and he slept.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY HAS A NARROW ESCAPE, AND GOES TO SEA WITH SAM RAY.
+
+Nature was kind to the little pilgrim in his extremity, and kept his
+senses sealed in grateful slumber till the birds had sung their matin
+song, and the sun had risen high in the heavens.
+
+Bobby woke with a start, and sprang to his feet.  For a moment he did
+not realize where he was, or remember the exciting incidents of the
+previous evening.  He felt refreshed by his deep slumber, and came out
+of it as vigorous as though he had slept in his bed at home.  Rubbing
+his eyes, he stared about him at the tall pines whose foliage canopied
+his bed, and his identity was soon restored to him.  He was Bobby
+Bright--but Bobby Bright in trouble.  He was not the little merchant,
+but the little fugitive fleeing from the prison to which he had been
+doomed.
+
+It did not take him long to make his toilet, which was the only
+advantage of his primitive style of lodging.  His first object was to
+examine his position, and ascertain in what direction he should
+continue his flight.  He could not go ahead, as he had intended, for
+the sheet of water was an impassable barrier.  Leaving the dense
+forest, he came to a marsh, beyond which was the wide creek he had seen
+in the night.  It was salt water, and he reasoned that it could not
+extend a great way inland.  His only course was to follow it till he
+found means of crossing it.
+
+Following the direction of the creek, he kept near the margin of the
+wood till he came to a public road.  He had some doubts about trusting
+himself out of the forest, even for a single moment; so he seated
+himself upon a rock to argue the point.  If any one should happen to
+come along, he was almost sure of furnishing a clew to his future
+movements, if not of being immediately captured.
+
+This was a very strong argument, but there was a stronger one upon the
+other side.  He had eaten nothing since dinner on the preceding day,
+and he began, to feel faint for the want of food.  On the other side of
+the creek he saw a pasture which looked as though it might afford him a
+few berries; and he was on the point of taking to the road, when he
+heard the rumbling of a wagon in the distance.
+
+His heart beat with apprehension.  Perhaps it was some officer of the
+institution in search of him.  At any rate it was some one who had come
+from the vicinity of the Reform School, and who had probably heard of
+his escape.  As it came nearer, he heard the jingling of bells; it was
+the baker.  How he longed for a loaf of his bread, or some of the
+precious ginger-bread he carried in his cart!  Hunger tempted him to
+run the risk of exposure.  He had money; he could buy cakes and bread;
+and perhaps the baker had a kind heart, and would befriend him in his
+distress.  The wagon was close at hand.
+
+"Now or never," thought he; but this time it was not _now_.  The risk
+was too great.  If he failed now, two years of captivity were before
+him; and as for the hunger, he could grin and bear it for a while.
+
+"Now or never;" but this time it was escape now or never; and he
+permitted the baker to pass without hailing him.
+
+He waited half an hour, and then determined to take the road till he
+had crossed the creek.  The danger was great, but the pangs of hunger
+urged him on.  He was sure there were berries in the pasture, and with
+a timid step, carefully watching before and behind to insure himself
+against surprise, he crossed the bridge.  But then a new difficulty
+presented itself.  There was a house within ten rods of the bridge,
+which he must pass, and to do so would expose him to the most imminent
+peril.  He was on the point of retreating, when a man came out of the
+house, and approached him.  What should he do?  It was a trying moment.
+If he ran, the act would expose him to suspicion.  If he went forward,
+the man might have already received a description of him, and arrest
+him.
+
+He chose the latter course.  The instinct of his being was to do every
+thing in a straightforward manner, and this probably prompted his
+decision.
+
+"Good morning, sir," said he boldly to the man.
+
+"Good morning.  Where are you travelling?" This was a hard question.
+He did not know where he was travelling; besides, even in his present
+difficult position, he could not readily resort to a lie.
+
+"Down here a piece," he replied.
+
+"Travelled far to-day?"
+
+"Not far.  Good morning, sir;" and Bobby resumed his walk.
+
+"I say, boy, suppose you tell me where you are going;" and the man came
+close to him, and deliberately surveyed him from head to foot.
+
+"I can hardly tell you," replied Bobby, summoning courage for the
+occasion.
+
+"Well, I suppose not," added the man, with a meaning smile.
+
+Bobby felt his strength desert him as he realized that he was suspected
+of being a runaway from the Reform School.  That smile on the man's
+face was the knell of hope; and for a moment he felt a flood of misery
+roll over his soul.  But the natural elasticity of his spirits soon
+came to his relief, and he resolved not to give up the ship, even if he
+had to fight for it.
+
+"I am in a hurry, so I shall have to leave you."
+
+"Not just yet, young man.  Perhaps, as you don't know where you are
+going, you may remember what your name is," continued the man, good
+naturedly.
+
+There was a temptation to give a false name; but is it was so strongly
+beaten into our hero that the truth is better than a falsehood, he held
+his peace.
+
+"Excuse me, sir, but I can't stop to talk now."
+
+"In a hurry?  Well, I dare say you are.  I suppose there is no doubt
+but you are Master Robert Bright."
+
+"Not the least, sir; I haven't denied it yet, and I am not ashamed of
+my name," replied Bobby, with a good deal of spirit.
+
+"That's honest; I like that."
+
+"Honesty is the best policy," added Bobby.
+
+"That's cool for a rogue, any how.  You ought to thought of that afore."
+
+"I did."
+
+"And stole the money?"
+
+"I didn't.  I never stole a penny in my life."
+
+"Come, I like that."
+
+"It is the truth."
+
+"But they won't believe it over to the Reform school," laughed the man.
+
+"They will one of these days, perhaps."
+
+"You are a smart youngster; but I don't know as I can make five dollars
+any easier than by taking you back where you come from."
+
+"Yes, you can," replied Bobby, promptly.
+
+"Can I?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"How?"
+
+"By letting me go."
+
+"Eh; you talk flush.  I suppose you mean to give me your note, payable
+when the Kennebec dries up."
+
+"Cash on the nail," replied Bobby.  "You look like a man with a heart
+in your bosom."--Bobby stole this passage from "The Wayfarer."
+
+"I reckon I have.  The time hasn't come yet when Sam Ray could see a
+fellow-creature in distress and not help him out.  But to help a thief
+off--"
+
+"We will argue that matter," interposed Bobby.  "I can prove to you
+beyond a doubt that I am innocent of the crime charged upon me."
+
+"You don't look like a bad boy, I must say."
+
+"But, Mr. Ray, I'm hungry; I haven't eaten a mouthful since yesterday
+noon."
+
+"Thunder!  You don't say so!" exclaimed Sam Ray.  "I never could bear
+to see a man hungry, much more a boy; so come along to my house and get
+something to eat, and we will talk about the other matter afterwards."
+
+Sam Ray took Bobby to the little old house in which he dwelt; and in a
+short time his wife, who expressed her sympathy for the little fugitive
+in the warmest terms, had placed an abundant repast upon the table.
+Our hero did ample justice to it, and when he had finished he felt like
+a new creature.
+
+"Now, Mr. Ray, let me tell you my story," said Bobby.
+
+"I don't know as it's any use.  Now you have eat my bread and butter, I
+don't feel like being mean to you.  If any body else wants to carry you
+back, they may; I won't."
+
+"But you shall hear me;" and Bobby proceeded to deliver his "plain,
+unvarnished tale."
+
+When he had progressed but a little way in the narrative, the noise of
+an approaching vehicle was heard.  Sam looked out of the window, as
+almost every body does in the country when a carriage passes.
+
+"By thunder!  It's the Reform School wagon!" exclaimed he.  "This way,
+boy!" and the good-hearted man thrust him into his chamber, bidding him
+get under the bed.
+
+The carriage stopped at the house; but Sam evaded direct reply, and the
+superintendent--for it was he--proceeded on his search.
+
+"Heaven bless you, Mr. Ray!" exclaimed Bobby, when he came out of the
+chamber, as the tears of gratitude coursed down his cheeks.
+
+"O, you will find Sam Ray all right," said he, warmly pressing Bobby's
+proffered hand.  "I ain't quite a heathen, though some folks around
+here think so."
+
+"You are an angel!"
+
+"Not exactly," laughed Sam.
+
+Our hero finished his story, and confirmed it by exhibiting his account
+book and some other papers which he had retained.  Sam Ray was
+satisfied, and vowed that if ever he saw Tom Spicer he would certainly
+"lick" him for his sake.
+
+"Now, sonny, I like you; I will be sworn you are a good fellow; and I
+mean to help you off.  So just come along with me.  I make my living by
+browsing round, hunting and fishing a little, and doing an odd job now
+and then.  You see, I have got a good boat down the creek, and I shall
+just put you aboard and take you any where you have a mind to go."
+
+"May Heaven reward you!" cried Bobby, almost overcome by this sudden
+and unexpected kindness.
+
+"O, I don't want no reward; only when you get to be a great man--and I
+am dead sure you will be a great man--just think now and then of Sam
+Ray, and it's all right."
+
+"I shall remember you with gratitude as long as I live."
+
+Sam Ray took his gun on his shoulder, and Bobby the box of provision
+which Mrs. Ray had put up, and they left the house.  At the bridge they
+got into a little skiff, and Sam took the oars.  After they had passed
+a bend in the creek which concealed them from the road, Bobby felt
+secure from further molestation.
+
+Sam pulled about two miles down the creek, where it widened into a
+broad bay, near the head of which was anchored a small schooner.
+
+"Now, my hearty, nothing short of Uncle Sam's whole navy can get you
+away from me," said Sam, as he pulled alongside the schooner.
+
+"You have been very kind to me."
+
+"All right, sonny.  Now tumble aboard."
+
+Bobby jumped upon the deck of the little craft and Sam followed him,
+after making fast the skiff to the schooner's moorings.
+
+In a few minutes the little vessel was standing down the bay with "a
+fresh wind and a flowing sheet."  Bobby, who had never been in a sail
+boat before, was delighted, and in no measured terms expressed his
+admiration of the working of the trim little craft.
+
+"Now, sonny, where shall we go?" asked Sam, as they emerged from the
+bay into the broad ocean.
+
+"I don't know," replied Bobby.  "I want to get back to Boston."
+
+"Perhaps I can put you aboard of some coaster bound there."
+
+"That will do nicely."
+
+"I will head towards Boston, and if I don't overhaul any thing, I will
+take you there myself."
+
+"Is this boat big enough to go so far?"
+
+"She'll stand anything short of a West India hurricane.  You ain't
+afeerd, are you?"
+
+"O, no; I like it."
+
+The big waves now tossed the little vessel up and down like a feather,
+and the huge seas broke upon the bow, deluging her deck with floods of
+water.  Bobby had unlimited confidence in Sam Ray, and felt as much at
+home as though he had been "cradled upon the briny deep."  There was an
+excitement in the scene which accorded with his nature, and the perils
+which he had so painfully pictured on the preceding night were all born
+into the most lively joys.
+
+They ate their dinners from the provision box; Sam lighted his pipe,
+and many a tale he told of adventure by sea and land.  Bobby felt
+happy, and almost dreaded the idea of parting with his rough but
+good-hearted friend   They were now far out at sea, and the night was
+coming on.
+
+"Now, sonny, you had better turn in and take a snooze; you didn't rest
+much last night."
+
+"I am not sleepy; but there is one thing I will do; and Bobby drew from
+his secret receptacle his roll of bills.
+
+"Put them up, sonny," said Sam.
+
+"I want to make you a present of ten dollars."
+
+"You can't do it."
+
+"Nay, but to please me."
+
+"No, sir!"
+
+"Well, then, let me send it to your good wife."
+
+"You can't do that, nuther," replied Sam, gazing earnestly at a
+lumber-laden schooner ahead of him.
+
+"You must; your good heart made you lose five dollars, and I insist
+upon making it up to you."
+
+"You can't do it."
+
+"I shall feel bad if you don't take it.  You see I have twenty dollars
+here, and I would like to give you the whole of it."
+
+"Not a cent, sonny.  I ain't a heathen.  That schooner ahead is bound
+for Boston, I reckon."
+
+"I shall be sorry to part with you, Mr. Ray."
+
+"Just my sentiment.  I hain't seen a youngster afore for many a day
+that I took a fancy to, and I hate to let you go."
+
+"We shall meet again."
+
+"I hope so."
+
+"Please to take this money."
+
+"No;" and Sam shook his head so resolutely that Bobby gave up the point.
+
+As Sam had conjectured, the lumber schooner was bound to Boston.  Her
+captain readily agreed to take our hero on board, and he sadly bade
+adieu to his kind friend.
+
+"Good by, Mr. Ray," said Bobby, as the schooner filled away.  "Take
+this to remember me by."
+
+It was his jackknife; but Sam did not discover the ten dollar bill,
+which was shut beneath the blade, till it was too late to return it.
+
+Bobby did not cease to wave his hat to Sam till his little craft
+disappeared in the darkness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+IN WHICH THE CLOUDS BLOW OVER, AND BOBBY IS HIMSELF AGAIN.
+
+Fortunately for Bobby, the wind began to blow very heavily soon after
+he went on board of the lumber schooner, so that the captain was too
+much engaged in working his vessel to ask many questions.  He was short
+handed, and though our hero was not much of a sailor, he made himself
+useful to the best of his ability.  Though the wind was heavy, it was
+not fair; and it was not till the third morning after his parting with
+Sam Ray that the schooner arrived off Boston Light.  The captain then
+informed him that, as the tide did not favor him, he might not get up
+to the city for twenty-four hours; and, if he was in a hurry, he would
+put him on board a pilot boat which he saw standing up the channel.
+
+"Thank you, captain; you are very kind, but it would give you a great
+deal of trouble," said Bobby.
+
+"None at all.  We must wait here till the tide turns; so we have
+nothing better to do."
+
+"I should be very glad to get up this morning."
+
+"You shall, then;" and the captain ordered two men to get out the jolly
+boat.
+
+"I will pay my passage now, if you please."
+
+"That is paid."
+
+"Paid?"
+
+"I should say you had worked your passage.  You have done very well,
+and I shall not charge you any thing."
+
+"I expected to pay my passage, captain; but if you think I have done
+enough to pay it, why, I have nothing to say, only that I am very much
+obliged to you."
+
+"You ought to be a sailor, young man; you were cut out for one."
+
+"I like the sea, though I never saw it till a few weeks since.  But I
+suppose my mother would not let me go to sea."
+
+"I suppose not.  Mothers are always afraid of salt water."
+
+By this time the jolly boat was alongside; and bidding the captain
+adieu, he jumped into it, and the men pulled him to the pilot boat,
+which had come up into the wind at the captain's hail.  Bobby was
+kindly received on board, and in a couple of hours landed at the wharf
+in Boston.
+
+With a beating heart he made his way up into Washington Street.  He
+felt strangely; his cheeks seemed to tingle, for he was aware that the
+imputation of dishonesty was fastened upon him.  He could not doubt but
+that the story of his alleged crime had reached the city, and perhaps
+gone to his friends in Riverdale.  How his poor mother must have wept
+to think her son was a thief!  No; she never could have thought that.
+_She_ knew he would not steal, if no one else did.  And Annie
+Lee--would she ever smile upon him again?  Would she welcome him to her
+father's house so gladly as she had done in the past?  He could bring
+nothing to establish his innocence but his previous character.  Would
+not Mr. Bayard frown upon him?  Would not even Ellen be tempted to
+forget the service he had rendered her?
+
+Bobby had thought of all these things before--on his cold, damp bed in
+the forest, in the watches of the tempestuous night onboard the
+schooner.  But now, when he was almost in the presence of those he
+loved and respected, they had more force, and they nearly overwhelmed
+him.
+
+"I am innocent," he repeated to himself, "and why need I fear?  My good
+Father in heaven will not let me be wronged."
+
+Yet he could not overcome his anxiety; and when he reached the store of
+Mr. Bayard, he passed by, dreading to face the friend who had been so
+kind to him.  He could not bear even to be suspected of a crime by him.
+
+"Now or never," said he, as he turned round.  "I will know my fate at
+once, and then make the best of it."
+
+Mustering all his courage, he entered the store.  Mr. Timmins was not
+there; so he was spared the infliction of any ill-natured remark from
+him.
+
+"Hallo, Bobby!" exclaimed the gentlemanly salesman, whose acquaintance
+he had made on his first visit.
+
+"Good morning, Mr. Bigelow," replied Bobby with as much boldness as he
+could command.
+
+"I didn't know as I should ever see you again.  You have been gone a
+long while."
+
+"Longer than usual," answered Bobby, with a blush; for he considered
+the remark of the salesman as an allusion to his imprisonment.  "Is Mr.
+Bayard in?"
+
+"He is--in his office."
+
+Bobby's feet would hardly obey the mandate of his will, and with a
+faltering step he entered the private room of the bookseller.  Mr.
+Bayard was absorbed in the perusal of the morning paper, and did not
+observe his entrance.  With his heart up in his throat, and almost
+choking him, he stood for several minutes upon the threshold.  He
+almost feared to speak, dreading the severe frown with which he
+expected to be received.  Suspense, however, was more painful than
+condemnation, and he brought his resolution up to the point.
+
+"Mr. Bayard," said he, in faltering tones.
+
+"Bobby!" exclaimed the bookseller, dropping his paper upon the floor,
+and jumping upon his feet as though an electric current had passed
+through his frame.
+
+Grasping our hero's hand, he shook it with so much energy that, under
+any other circumstances, Bobby would have thought it hurt him.  He did
+not think so now.
+
+"My poor Bobby!  I am delighted to see you!" continued Mr. Bayard.
+
+Bobby burst into tears, and sobbed like a child, as he was.  The
+unexpected kindness of this reception completely overwhelmed him.
+
+"Don't cry, Bobby; I know all about it;" and the tender-hearted
+bookseller wiped away his tears.  "It was a stroke of misfortune; but
+it is all right now."
+
+But Bobby could not help crying, and the more Mr. Bayard, attempted to
+console him, the more he wept.
+
+"I am innocent, Mr. Bayard," he sobbed.
+
+"I know you are, Bobby; and all the world knows you are."
+
+"I am ruined now; I shall never dare to hold my head up again."
+
+"Nonsense, Bobby; you will hold your head the higher.  You have behaved
+like a hero."
+
+"I ran away from the State Reform School, sir.  I was innocent, and I
+would rather have died than staid there."
+
+"I know all about it, my young friend.  Now dry your tears, and we will
+talk it all over."
+
+Bobby blowed and sputtered a little more; but finally he composed
+himself, and took a chair by Mr. Bayard's side.  The bookseller then
+drew from his pocket a ponderous document, with a big official seal
+upon it, and exhibited it to our hero.
+
+"Do you see this, Bobby?  It is your free and unconditional pardon."
+
+"Sir!  Why--"
+
+"It will all end well, you may depend."
+
+Bobby was amazed.  His pardon?  But it would not restore his former
+good name.  He felt that he was branded as a felon.  It was not mercy,
+but justice that he wanted.
+
+"Truth is mighty, and will prevail," continued Mr. Bayard; "and this
+document restores your reputation."
+
+"I can hardly believe that."
+
+"Can't you?  Hear my story then.  When I read in one of the Maine
+papers the account of your misfortune, I felt that you had been grossly
+wronged.  You were coupled with that Tom Spicer, who is the most
+consummate little villain I ever saw, and I understood your situation.
+Ah, Bobby, your only mistake was in having anything to do with that
+fellow."
+
+"I left him at Brunswick because he began to behave badly; but he
+joined me again at Augusta.  He had spent nearly all his money, and did
+not know what to do.  I pitied him, and meant to do something to help
+him out of the scrape."
+
+"Generous as ever!  I have heard all about this before."
+
+"Indeed; who told you?"
+
+"Tom Spicer himself."
+
+"Tom?" asked Bobby, completely mystified.
+
+"Yes, Tom; you see, when I heard about your trouble, Squire Lee and
+myself--"
+
+"Squire Lee?  Does he know about it?"
+
+"He does; and you may depend upon it, he thinks more highly of you than
+ever before.  He and I immediately went down to Augusta to inquire into
+the matter.  We called upon the governor of the state, who said that he
+had seen you, and bought a book of you."
+
+"Of me!" exclaimed Bobby, startled to think he had sold a book to a
+governor.
+
+"Yes; you called at his house; probably you did not know that he was
+the chief magistrate of the state.  At any rate, he was very much
+pleased with you, and sorry to hear of your misfortune.  Well, we
+followed your route to Brunswick, where we ascertained how Tom had
+conducted.  In a week he established a very bad reputation there; but
+nothing could be found to implicate you.  The squire testified to your
+uniform good behavior, and especially to your devotion to your mother.
+In short, we procured your pardon, and hastened with it to the State
+Reform School.
+
+"On our arrival, we learned, to our surprise and regret, that you had
+escaped from the institution on the preceding evening.  Every effort
+was made to retake you, but without success.  Ah, Bobby, you managed
+that well."
+
+"They didn't look in the right place," replied Bobby, with a smile, for
+he began to feel happy again.
+
+"By the permission of the superintendent, Squire Lee and myself
+examined Tom Spicer.  He is a great rascal.  Perhaps he thought we
+would get him out; so he made a clean breast of it, and confessed that
+you had no hand in the robbery, and that you knew nothing about it.  He
+gave you the two bills on purpose to implicate you in the crime.  We
+wrote down his statement, and had it sworn to before a justice of the
+peace.  You shall read it by and by."
+
+"May Heaven reward you for your kindness to a poor boy!" exclaimed
+Bobby, the tears flowing down his cheeks again.  "I did not deserve so
+much from you, Mr. Bayard."
+
+"Yes, you did, and a thousand times more.  I was very sorry you had
+left the institution, and I waited in the vicinity till they said there
+was no probability that you would be captured.  The most extraordinary
+efforts were used to find you; but there was not a person to be found
+who had seen or heard of you.  I was very much alarmed about you, and
+offered a hundred dollars for any information concerning you."
+
+"I am sorry you had so much trouble.  I wish I had known you were
+there."
+
+"How did you get off?"
+
+Bobby briefly related the story of his escape, and Mr. Bayard
+pronounced his skill worthy of his genius.
+
+"Sam Ray is a good fellow; we will remember him," added the bookseller,
+when he had finished.
+
+"I shall remember him; and only that I shall be afraid to go into the
+State of Maine after what has happened, I should pay him a visit one of
+these days."
+
+"There you are wrong.  Those who know your story would sooner think of
+giving you a public reception, than of saying or doing any thing to
+injure your feelings.  Those who have suffered unjustly are always
+lionized."
+
+"But no one will know my story, only that I was sent to prison for
+stealing."
+
+"There you are mistaken again.  We put articles in all the principal
+papers, stating the facts in the case, and establishing your innocence
+beyond a peradventure.  Go to Augusta now, Bobby, and you will be a
+lion."
+
+"I am sure I had no idea of getting out of the scrape so easily as
+this."
+
+"Innocence shall triumph, my young friend."
+
+"What does mother say?" asked Bobby, his countenance growing sad.
+
+"I do not know.  We returned from Maine only yesterday; but Squire Lee
+will satisfy her.  All that can worry her, as it has worried me, will
+be her fears for your safety when she hears of your escape."
+
+"I will soon set her mind at ease upon that point.  I will take the
+noon train home."
+
+"A word about business before you go.  I discharged Timmins about a
+week ago, and I have kept his place for you."
+
+"By gracious!" exclaimed Bobby, thrown completely out of his propriety
+by this announcement.
+
+"I think you will do better, in the long run, than you would to travel
+about the country.  I was talking with Ellen about it, and she says it
+shall be so.  Timmins's salary was five hundred dollars a year, and you
+shall have the same."
+
+"Five hundred dollars a year!" ejaculated Bobby, amazed at the vastness
+of the sum.
+
+"Very well for a boy of thirteen, Bobby."
+
+"I was fourteen last Sunday, sir."
+
+"I would not give any other boy so much; but you are worth it, and you
+shall have it."
+
+Probably Mr. Bayard's gratitude had something to do with this
+munificent offer; but he knew that our hero possessed abilities and
+energy far beyond his years.  He further informed Bobby that he should
+have a room at his house, and that Ellen was delighted with the
+arrangement he proposed.
+
+The gloomy, threatening clouds were all rolled back, and floods of
+sunshine streamed in upon the soul of the little merchant; but in the
+midst of his rejoicing be remembered that his own integrity had carried
+him safely through the night of sorrow and doubt.  He had been true to
+himself, and now, in the hour of his great triumph, he realized that,
+if he had been faithless to the light within him, his laurel would have
+been a crown of thorns.
+
+He was happy--very happy.  What made him so?  Not his dawning
+prosperity; not the favor of Mr. Bayard; not the handsome salary he was
+to receive; for all these things would have been but dross, if he had
+sacrificed his integrity, his love of truth and uprightness.  He had
+been true to himself, and unseen angels had held him up.  He had been
+faithful, and the consciousness of his fidelity to principle made a
+heaven within his heart.
+
+It was arranged that he should enter upon the duties of his new
+situation on the following week.  After settling with Mr. Bayard, he
+found he had nearly seventy dollars in his possession; so that in a
+pecuniary point of view, if in no other, his eastern excursion was
+perfectly satisfactory.
+
+By the noon train he departed for Riverdale, and in two hours more he
+was folded to his mother's heart.  Mrs. Bright wept for joy now, as she
+had before wept in misery when she heard of her son's misfortune.  It
+took him all the afternoon to tell his exciting story to her, and she
+was almost beside herself when Bobby told her about his new situation.
+
+After tea he hastened over to Squire Lee's; and my young readers can
+imagine what a warm reception he had from father and daughter.  For the
+third time that day he narrated his adventures in the east; and Annie
+declared they were better than any novel she had ever read.  Perhaps it
+was because Bobby was the hero.  It was nearly ten o'clock before he
+finished his story; and when he left, the squire made him promise to
+come over the next day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+IN WHICH BOBBY STEPS OFF THE STAGE, AND THE AUTHOR MUST FINISH "NOW OR
+NEVER."
+
+The few days which Bobby remained at home before entering upon the
+duties of his new situation were agreeably filled up in calling upon
+his many friends, and in visiting those pleasant spots in the woods and
+by the river, which years of association had rendered dear to him.  His
+plans for the future too, occupied some of his time, though, inasmuch
+as his path of duty was already marked out, these plans were but little
+more than a series of fond imaginings; in short, little more than day
+dreams.  I have before hinted that Bobby was addicted to castle
+building, and I should pity the man or boy who was not--who had no
+bright dream of future achievements, of future usefulness.  "As a man
+thinketh, so is he," the Psalmist tells us, and it was the pen of
+inspiration which wrote it.  What a man pictures as his ideal of that
+which is desirable in this world and the world to come, he will
+endeavor to attain.  Even if it be no higher aim than the possession of
+wealth or fame, it is good and worthy as far as it goes.  It fires his
+brain, it nerves his arm.  It stimulates him to action, and action is
+the soul of progress.  We must all work; and this world were cold and
+dull if it had no bright dreams to be realized.  What Napoleon dreamed,
+he labored to accomplish, and the monarchs of Europe trembled before
+him.  What Howard wished to be, he labored to be; his ideal was
+beautiful and true, and he raised a throne which will endure through
+eternity.
+
+Bobby dreamed great things.  That bright picture of the little black
+house transformed into a white cottage, with green blinds, and
+surrounded by a pretty fence, was the nearest object; and before Mrs.
+Bright was aware that he was in earnest, the carpenters and the
+painters were upon the spot.
+
+"Now or never," replied Bobby to his mother's remonstrance.  "This is
+your home, and it shall be the pleasantest spot upon earth, if I can
+make it so."
+
+Then he had to dream about his business in Boston and I am not sure but
+that he fancied himself a rich merchant, like Mr. Bayard, living in an
+elegant house in Chestnut Street, and having clerks and porters to do
+as he bade them.  A great many young men dream such things, and though
+they seem a little silly when spoken out loud, they are what wood and
+water are to the steam engine--they are the mainspring of action.  Some
+are stupid enough to dream about these things, and spend their time in
+idleness, and dissipation, waiting for "the good time coming."  It will
+never come to them.  They are more likely to die in the almshouse or
+the state prison, than to ride in their carriages; for constant
+exertion is the price of success.
+
+Bobby enjoyed himself to the utmost of his capacity during these few
+days of respite from labor.  He spent a liberal share of his time at
+Squire Lee's where he was almost as much at home as in his mother's
+house.  Annie read Moore's Poems to him, till he began to have quite a
+taste for poetry himself.
+
+In connection with Tom Spicer's continued absence, which had to be
+explained, Bobby's trials in the eastern country leaked out, and the
+consequence was, that he became a lion in Riverdale.  The minister
+invited him to tea, as well as other prominent persons, for the sake of
+hearing his story; but Bobby declined the polite invitations from sheer
+bashfulness.  He had not brass enough to make himself a hero; besides,
+the remembrance of his journey was any thing but pleasant to him.
+
+On Monday morning he took the early train for Boston, and assumed the
+duties of his situation in Mr. Bayard's store.  But as I have carried
+my hero through the eventful period of his life, I cannot dwell upon
+his subsequent career.  He applied himself with all the energy of his
+nature to the discharge of his duties.  Early in the morning and late
+in the evening he was at his post, Mr. Bigelow was his friend from the
+first, and gave him all the instruction he required.  His intelligence
+and quick perception soon enabled him to master the details of the
+business, and by the time he was fifteen, he was competent to perform
+any service required of him.
+
+By the advice of Mr. Bayard, he attended an evening school for six
+months in the year, to acquire a knowledge of book keeping, and to
+compensate for the opportunities of which he had been necessarily
+deprived in his earlier youth.  He took Dr. Franklin for his model, and
+used all his spare time in reading good books, and in obtaining such
+information and such mental culture as would fit him to be, not only a
+good merchant, but a good and true man.
+
+Every Saturday night he went home to Riverdale to spend the Sabbath
+with his mother.  The little black house no longer existed, for it had
+become the little paradise of which he had dreamed, only that the house
+seemed whiter, the blinds greener, and the fence more attractive than
+his fancy had pictured them.  His mother, after a couple of years, at
+Bobby's earnest pleadings, ceased to close shoes and take in washing;
+but she had enough and to spare, for her son's salary was now six
+hundred dollars.  His kind employer boarded him for nothing, (much
+against Bobby's will, I must say,) so that every month he carried to
+his mother thirty dollars, which more than paid her expenses.
+
+      *      *      *      *      *
+
+Eight years have passed by since Bobby--we beg his pardon; he is now
+Mr. Robert Bright--entered the store of Mr. Bayard.  He has passed from
+the boy to the man.  Over the street door a new sign has taken the
+place of the old one, and the passer-by reads,--
+
+  BAYARD & BRIGHT,
+  BOOKSELLERS AND PUBLISHERS.
+
+The senior partner resorts to his counting room every morning from the
+force of habit; but he takes no active part in the business.  Mr.
+Bright has frequent occasion to ask his advice, though every thing is
+directly managed by him; and the junior is accounted one of the ablest,
+but at the same time one of the most honest, business men in the city.
+His integrity has never been sacrificed, even to the emergencies of
+trade.  The man is what the boy was; and we can best sum up the results
+of his life by saying that he has been true to himself, true to his
+friends and true to his God.
+
+Mrs. Bright is still living at the little white cottage, happy in
+herself and happy in her children.  Bobby--we mean Mr. Bright--has
+hardly missed going to Riverdale on a Saturday night since he left
+home, eight years before.  He has the same partiality for those famous
+apple pies, and his mother would as soon think of being without bread
+as being without apple pies when he comes home.
+
+Of course Squire Lee and Annie were always glad to see him when he came
+to Riverdale; and for two years it had been common talk in Riverdale
+that our hero did not go home on Sunday evening when the clock struck
+nine.  But as this is a forbidden topic, we will ask the reader to go
+with us to Mr. Bayard's house in Chestnut Street.
+
+What!  Annie Lee here?
+
+No; but as you are here, allow me to introduce Mrs. Robert Bright.
+
+They were married a few months before, and Mr. Bayard insisted that the
+happy couple should make their home at his house.
+
+But where is Ellen Bayard?
+
+O, she is Mrs. Bigelow now, and her husband is at the head of a large
+book establishment in New York.
+
+Bobby's dream had been realised, and he was the happiest man in the
+world--at least he thought so, which is just the same thing.  He had
+been successful in business; his wife--the friend and companion of his
+youth, the brightest filament of the bright vision his fancy had
+woven--had been won, and the future glowed with brilliant promises.
+
+He had been successful; but neither nor all of the things we have
+mentioned constituted his highest and truest success--not his business
+prosperity, not the bright promise of wealth in store for him, not his
+good name among men, not even the beautiful and loving wife who had
+cast her lot with his to the end of time.  These were successes, great
+and worthy, but not the highest success.
+
+He had made himself a man,--this was his real success,--a true, a
+Christian man.  He had lived a noble life.  He had reared the lofty
+structure of his manhood upon a solid foundation--principle.  It is the
+rock which the winds of temptation and the rains of selfishness cannot
+move.
+
+Robert Bright is happy because he is good.  Tom Spicer, now in the
+state prison, is unhappy,--not _because_ he is in the state prison, but
+because the evil passions of his nature are at war with the peace of
+his soul.  He has fed the good that was within him upon straw and
+husks, and starved it out.  He is a body only; the soul is dead in
+trespasses and sin.  He loves no one, and no one loves him.
+
+During the past summer, Mr. Bright and his lady took a journey "down
+east."  Annie insisted upon visiting the State Reform School; and her
+husband drove through the forest by which he had made his escape on
+that eventful night.  Afterwards they called upon Sam Ray, who had been
+"dead sure that Bobby would one day be a great man."  He was about the
+same person, and was astonished and delighted when our hero introduced
+himself.
+
+They spent a couple of hours in talking over the past, and at his
+departure, Mr. Bright made him a handsome present in such a delicate
+manner that he could not help accepting it.
+
+Squire Lee is still as hale and hearty as ever, and is never so happy
+as when Annie and her husband come to Riverdale to spend the Sabbath.
+He is fully of the opinion that Mr. Bright is the greatest man on the
+western continent, and he would not be in the least surprised if he
+should be elected president of the United States one of these days.
+
+The little merchant is a great merchant now.  But more than this, he is
+a good man.  He has formed his character, and he will probably die as
+he has lived.
+
+Reader, if yon have any good work to do, do it now, for with you it may
+be "NOW OR NEVER."
+
+
+
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