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"No, I haven't, Mr. Campbell." "Then you can't prove that I owe you anything, I take it." "You don't mean to say, Mr. Orton, you'd cheat a poor man out of his hard-earned money?" ejaculated Jones, who, in spite of his knowledge of his employer's character, could hardly believe his ears. "I never intended to give you su...
"Didn't you promise it, sir?" demanded Jones, exasperated. "Not that I remember," answered Campbell, coolly. "I should have been a fool to promise so large a sum. I paid your expenses out to California and three hundred dollars. That, I take it, is pretty liberal pay for your services for a month." "I'll have justice i...
"I won't be content with it, Orton Campbell," said Jones, indignantly; "I won't be content with anything less than the full sum you promised me. You'd better pay me at once, or you may see trouble." Orton Campbell should have known that it was dangerous to trifle with a man so thoroughly roused as Jones was, but his lo...
"I understand you now, Orton Campbell." "_Mr._ Campbell, if you please," interrupted Campbell, haughtily. "_Mr._ Campbell, then; and I am sorry I didn't know you better before, but it isn't too late yet." "That's enough: you can go."
As Jones walked away Campbell asked himself, "What is the fellow going to do, I wonder? I suppose he will try to annoy me. Never mind: I have saved nine hundred dollars. That will more than cover all the damage he can do me." It was about the same hour that a party of three, dusty and shabby, entered San Francisco, and...
"He might be disappointed when he heard that you were worth not far from a thousand dollars, Ben." "He certainly would be. On the other hand, Uncle Job would be delighted. I wish I could walk into his little cottage and tell him all about it." "When you go home, Ben, you must have more money to carry than you have now....
"No doubt; but you are young enough to wait a little longer. After our friend Dewey has seen his young lady and arranged matters we'll dust back to our friends, the miners who came near giving us a ticket to the next world, and see whether fortune won't favor us a little more." "Agreed!" said Ben; "I shall be ready.--S...
"I shall lose no time in buying a new outfit," said Dewey. "There must be shops where all articles of dress can be obtained ready-made." "I was afraid you were going as you are," said Bradley. "Of course she'd be glad to see you, but she might be sensitive about her friends; and that wouldn't be agreeable to you, I'm t...
Then, having obtained from Ben the proper directions, he took his way to the house of Mrs. Armstrong, which he reached about eight o'clock. "Can I see Miss Florence Douglas?" he asked. Mrs. Armstrong, hearing the request, came herself to the door. She was feeling anxious about the prolonged absence of her young friend....
"Richard Dewey." "'Richard Dewey'?" repeated Mrs. Armstrong, in amazement. "Why, I thought you were sick in bed!" "What made you think so?" asked Dewey, in equal amazement. "Your own note. Miss Douglas, on receiving it, went away at once with the messenger, and has not returned."
"I have sent no note, and no messenger has come from me. I don't understand you," said Richard Dewey, bewildered. It was soon explained, and the bitter disappointment of Dewey may well be imagined. This feeling was mingled with one of apprehension for the personal safety of the young lady. "This is indeed alarming," he...
Turning quickly, Richard Dewey's glance rested upon Jones. CHAPTER XXVIII. JONES CHECKMATES ORTON CAMPBELL. "Who are you?" inquired Richard Dewey, not favorably impressed by the appearance of the man who addressed him.
"You wouldn't know if I should tell you," said Jones; "so I may as well say that I came out to San Francisco with Orton Campbell." "Orton Campbell in the city?" exclaimed Dewey, apprehensively. "Had he anything to do with the disappearance of Miss Douglas?" "Everything, sir; but I can't tell you about it in the street....
"None as yet." "Is any threatened?" "The loss of her liberty; but I will help you to thwart Orton Campbell." Jones told the story, which need not be repeated here, as it is already known to the reader. He had difficulty in restraining Mr. Dewey from starting out instantly to the rescue of the young lady, but on his rep...
A little before eight o'clock, Jones, driving the same carriage in which he had conveyed Florence to her place of captivity, halted in front of Mrs. Bradshaw's dwelling. "Remain in the carriage, Mr. Dewey," he said, "and I will see if I can't secure the young lady without any fuss." "Won't it be better for me to accomp...
"Did Orton Campbell really intend such an outrage?" asked Richard Dewey, in a tone of horror. "Yes, if Miss Douglas wouldn't consent to marry him." "Go, then, and lose no time." Jones knocked at the door, which was opened by Mrs. Bradshaw in person. She naturally regarded Jones with surprise, not anticipating so early ...
"How is Miss Douglas?" he asked. "Very contrary," answered the landlady. "I can't get her to eat. It's my belief she means to starve herself." "It's a crazy freak," said Jones, shrugging his shoulders. "Well, I've come to take her away." "To take her away--so soon?" asked Mrs. Bradshaw, in surprise.
"Yes, Mr. Orton thought it best." "Is he with you?" "No." "I think I see some one in the carriage."
"To be sure. It's the mad doctor from the asylum. Don't let Miss Douglas know it," continued Jones, lowering his voice, "or she wouldn't consent to go with us." "I see," answered the landlady, nodding. "Do you want to go up now?" "Yes; let me see her alone, so that I can tell her a story which will quiet her suspicions...
"Oh, that's all right," said Jones. "He never forgets his promise--and seldom keeps it," he said to himself. Florence was sitting on the lounge in her room in rather a despondent state of mind when the door opened, and she looked up, expecting to see Orton Campbell. Jones closed the door behind him, and then, putting h...
"The same one." "Then how have you the face to show yourself in my presence?" "Because I am come to free you from your imprisonment." Florence started to her feet in some excitement. "If this were true!" she exclaimed. "But no; you are an agent of Orton Campbell, and this is some new trick of his."
"I was an agent of Orton Campbell, but he deceived me, and I am his enemy." "Is he with you?" asked Florence, suspiciously. "No; but in the carriage outside is one whom you will be glad to meet." "Who is it?"
"Richard Dewey." "You brought me a note from him which he never wrote. How do you expect me to believe you now?" "If he is not there, don't get into the carriage. Not a word to Mrs. Bradshaw. She is in the employ of Mr. Campbell, who represented you as insane, and I told her that Mr. Dewey, whom I did not dare to bring...
"I am on the square, miss, but you can easily convince yourself by coming down stairs. If you prefer to remain here till nine o'clock, when Orton Campbell will be here, you can do so." "No, no! anything better than that!" Mrs. Bradshaw watched the exit of her guest with a peculiar look. "She little knows where she's go...
She approached the carriage, and Jones opened the door. She looked in, and saw Dewey, who said in a low voice, "Get in at once, Florence, but keep silent till we are on our way." An expression of joy came over her face as she saw this most convincing proof of her driver's good faith. He mounted the box and drove rapidl...
"And what is that?" "Let me become your legal protector, and at once. When we are married your guardian will be powerless. He will have me to deal with then, not a defenceless girl." "But, Richard, this seems so sudden!" "It ought not to, Florence. Have we not waited for each other long enough? Have we not been separat...
"I will marry you if only to get rid of him, Richard," said Florence, impetuously. "I won't quarrel with your motives, since you consent." So it happened that on their arrival in San Francisco they directed Jones to drive to the house of a clergyman, and were speedily united in marriage, the clergyman's wife and daught...
"Well, and how is Miss Douglas this morning?" he asked of the astonished landlady. "How is she? She's gone." "What!" ejaculated Orton, furiously; "you have dared to let her escape?" "You sent for her yourself. She went away with the mad doctor."
"'The mad doctor'? I don't know anything about any mad doctor. Woman, you are deceiving me." "Don't call me _woman_!" said Mrs. Bradshaw, offensively, putting her arms akimbo. "I'm no more a woman than you are." "Then you'd better dress differently," sneered Campbell. "Tell me what all this means." "The man that drove ...
"That scoundrel Jones!" exclaimed Orton Campbell. "So this is his revenge? I must go back to the city at once and circumvent him if I can." He was about to go when Mrs. Bradshaw said, "Before you go you'd better pay me what you promised." "I won't pay you a cent," said Campbell, angrily. "Jack!"
The word spoken by the woman brought a rough-looking man to the carriage-door. "This man says he won't pay me a cent, Jack," said Mrs. Bradshaw. "You'd better reconsider that, stranger," said Jack, pulling out a revolver and fingering it significantly. "I owe her nothing," said Orton Campbell, surveying the revolver un...
"If there's a trick been played on you, my wife ain't goin' to suffer by it. She's earned the money, stranger, and I'll give you just two minutes to pay it over." Orton Campbell read something in the man's face that convinced him he was not to be trifled with. With many an inward groan he drew out one hundred dollars f...
CHAPTER XXIX. A WEDDING RECEPTION. Orton Campbell cursed his folly in arousing the hostility of Jones. He concluded that the latter had released Florence in order to obtain a hold upon him, and would be ready to assist him again if satisfactorily paid. In that event all was not lost. It was necessary to see Jones as ea...
He hastily descended from the carriage and rang the bell. It was answered by Mrs. Armstrong in person, who regarded him with no very friendly eye. Orton Campbell, knowing his own treachery, and conscious that it was also known to the lady before him, asked, in some embarrassment, "Is Miss Douglas here?" "No, sir."
Orton Campbell looked surprised. "I--I thought she might be here," he stammered. "Were you the person who lured her from my house yesterday by a false letter?" demanded Mrs. Armstrong, sternly. "No," answered Campbell, unblushingly; "it was an agent of mine, who has deceived and betrayed me." "Then, you had nothing to ...
"Certainly not," answered Orton Campbell, boldly. "I assure you it has given me great concern, and I have been riding hither and thither this morning in search of her." "Won't you come in, sir? Perhaps we may be able to throw some light on this mystery." "She believes me," thought Orton Campbell, congratulating himself...
"Miss Douglas!" exclaimed Orton Campbell, in astonishment.--"I thought you said," turning to Mrs. Armstrong, "that Miss Douglas was not here?" "I am not Miss Douglas," said Florence, quietly. "I don't understand you." "Perhaps I can explain the mystery," said Richard Dewey, coming forward.
"I wish you would, if you can," said Orton Campbell, with a sneer. "This young lady is my wife." "Your wife? And who are you?" "Richard Dewey, at your service."
Orton Campbell had never known Dewey well, and his life at the mines had so changed his appearance that it was not surprising he did not recognize him. "Is this true?" he asked, in visible dismay. "When were you married?" "Half an hour since, by this gentleman;" and Richard Dewey waved his hand in the direction of the ...
"So you evidently thought, sir," answered Dewey. "Your unscrupulous methods have not succeeded, and I beg to warn you that the lady now has a protector who will punish any such persecution as that with which you have recently visited her." "You are quite mistaken. My agent--" "Only followed your instructions," said an ...
"Then there's a pair of us, Mr. Campbell," said he, coolly. "I admit that I behaved like a rascal, but I've tried to set matters right." "You can find your way back to New York as you can; I have done with you," said Campbell, hardly conscious that this very remark betrayed him. "Mr. Dewey has kindly offered to take me...
"You may attend to your own messages, sir," said Orton, irritably. "I will have nothing to do with them." Without any further words he hurried out of the house, and drove at once to the office of the steamship company, where he secured passage by the earliest vessel eastward bound. That same evening Mr. and Mrs. Richar...
Bradley tried to excuse himself, on the ground that he was only a rough miner and not accustomed to society, but his objection was overruled both by Florence and her husband. "You are a true friend, Mr. Bradley," said Florence, gratefully, "and I should miss you more than any one else except my young friend and cousin,...
"Cousin Ida" was the name by which Ben had been instructed to call Florence when she came out to California under his escort. The upshot of it all was that both Bradley and Ben were present at the bride's reception, and were made so thoroughly at home by Mrs. Richard Dewey that neither felt in the least awkward. Two we...
"Thank you, Miss Florence--I mean Mrs. Dewey," said the boy--"but I am not ready to go yet." "Don't let the thought of money keep you here, Ben. I am rich, or I shall be in a few months, when my guardian surrenders his trust, and I will take care that you are well provided for." "Thank you again," said Ben; "but I've p...
"Yes, I shall go home in a few months, even if I come back again later. I want to see Uncle Job and Cousin Jennie, and all my old friends, not forgetting Sam Sturgis," added Ben, smiling. "We must be content with that, I suppose," said the young lady. "I hope you will have good luck, but even if you don't, remember tha...
"It's made me feel kind of lonesome to part with Dick Dewey," said Bradley, thoughtfully. "He's a whole-souled feller, and he's 'struck it rich' in a wife." "That's so, Jake." CHAPTER XXX. THE NUGGET.
Ben and Bradley made their way back to Golden Gulch by easy stages. They reached the Gulch about sunset, and were welcomed in such noisy style by the miners that it might almost be called an ovation. "We reckoned you'd come," said one of the leaders. "You look like you'd keep your promise." "I hope there ain't any hoss...
"That makes me feel a little easier in mind," said Bradley. "It may be pleasant to hang from a branch with a noose round your neck, but I don't want to try it." The miners were just preparing to take their evening meal, and Ben and his friend were invited to share their hospitality. After supper pipes were produced, an...
Bradley and Ben got to work at once. They had had their vacation, and were ready to settle down to business. They were stimulated to effort by the success of some of their fellow miners. Ben's next neighbor had already gathered nearly three thousand dollars' worth of gold-dust, and it was quite within the limits of pro...
Neither of our two friends got on fast. They averaged perhaps fifty dollars a week each, but out of this their expenses had to be paid, and these, on account of the high price of all articles of necessity, were rather heavy. Still, the end of each week found both richer, and they were contented. It was the aim of every...
"Perkins has just found a nugget that must contain five hundred dollars' worth of gold." "You don't say so, Jake?" "Fact; I just saw it." "I hope there's more of them 'round here."
"So do I. That's a find worth having." The discovery made a sensation at Golden Gulch. It excited the hope of all, and stimulated labor. What had fallen to Perkins might chance to any one of his comrades. So, as the miners sat round their roaring fire--for it was getting chilly in the evening--one and another discussed...
"I would go home by the next steamer, and buy Uncle Job the three-acre lot he has been wanting so long, and buy new dresses for aunt and Jennie. But it isn't much use forming plans till the nugget is found." "That's so, Ben; but you are as likely to find it as the next man." "I will hope for it, at any rate." Though Be...
In spite of this, however, he worked on with energy and industry. He felt that every dollar he earned brought nearer the day when he would feel justified in turning his back upon the gold-fields of California and wending his homeward way to Hampton. Meanwhile, Ben did not neglect to do what he could for the general ent...
"You're the most popular man in the camp--leastways, boy." "I can easily believe that, Jake, as I am the only boy." "Well, there's no one ahead of you, man or boy." "I am glad if that is so," said Ben, modestly. "It is chiefly because I am a boy."
"Boys are not always popular. It depends a good deal on the kind of boy." So the reader will get some idea of Ben's life at the mines and the estimation in which he was held by his comrades. It was not very exciting nor very eventful, but there was to be a change. One day his pick struck something hard. It might be a r...
"'A nugget'!" repeated Ben, incredulously. "Yes; look here!" and Bradley pointed out the indubitable signs of its value. "Yes, Ben, your fortune has come at last." "How much is it worth?" demanded Ben, almost breathless with excitement and exhilaration. "How much? Three thousand dollars at least."
"Then I can go home." "Yes, Ben, you're got your pile." It may as well be stated here that Bradley's guess was not far out of the way. The nugget, when it reached San Francisco, was found to amount to three thousand seven hundred dollars. To the credit of the miners of Golden Gulch, it must be said that all rejoiced in...
Ben was not obliged to travel alone. Bradley decided not only to accompany him to San Francisco, but to sail to New York in his company. "I've never seen York," he said, "and I never shall see it if I don't go now. So, if you don't mind, Ben, I'll go along with you." "Mind, Jake? There's nothing I shall like better." W...
CHAPTER XXXI. JOB STANTON'S MISTAKE. There had not been many changes in the little town of Hampton since Ben left it. It was one of those quiet New England villages where life moves slowly, and a death or a marriage is an event. Uncle Job still lived in his plain little cottage with his wife and daughter, and still pli...
Eleven hundred dollars all told! It was not a very brilliant result for forty years' labor, beginning with the days of his boyhood; but Job Stanton was not ambitious, and he actually felt well-to-do. He earned enough to supply the simple wants of his family, and had something over, and this satisfied him. But one day a...
He should have said _sit_, but Job Stanton's educational advantages had been very limited. "I don't care if I do. Snug place you've got here, Mr. Stanton." "It's very plain and humble, but it's home, and I set by it," answered Job, who was busily engaged in tapping a shoe belonging to Eliphalet Nourza, a farm-laborer. ...
"Jest so!" returned Uncle Job cheerfully, glancing over his spectacles at the trader's shoes to see if they looked much worn. "Want a pair of new shoes, I reckon?" "I shall need a new pair soon," said Richmond, "but that isn't exactly what I meant." It flashed across Job Stanton's mind that his visitor might be going t...
"The fact is, Uncle Job," proceeded the trader, adopting the title by which the shoemaker was generally known in Hampton, "I've got a favor to ask of you." "'A favor to ask of me'?" repeated Job, looking up with some surprise at the well-dressed merchant, who seemed by his presence to honor the homely little shop. "Yes...
"Oh, well, you're good for five hundred dollars." "Yes," answered Job with some complacency; "my place here is worth twice that, let alone the money I've got in the savings bank." "Of course it is." "Still, I don't want to run no risk. You'd better go to some moneyed man--like Major Sturgis, for instance."
"Why, the fact is, Uncle Job, it's the major that lets me have the money on my note, but he stipulated that I should have an indorser, and he particularly mentioned you." "That's cur'us!" said Job. "Why should he think of me?" "Oh, he knew you were a reliable man." "How does it happen that you need money?" asked Job, b...
"That's just it," said Richmond, glibly. "It's so good that I've got to extend my stock, and that takes money. I'm turning money over all the time, and it won't be long before I am able to retire." "I'm glad of that, but I don't quite understand, if that's so, why you're short of funds." "It's clear you are not a busin...
This brought the trader to his closing argument: "You mustn't think, Uncle Job, that I expect this service for nothing. I am ready to pay you ten dollars for the accommodation, and to order a pair of shoes at your own price." "That's handsome!" said Job; "and all I've got to do is to sign my name?" "Just so. It's a mer...
"Oh, it's his invariable custom. 'I know it isn't necessary, Mr. Richmond,' he told me, 'but it's my rule, and I won't break over it, even in your case. If you will get Job Stanton to indorse for you, it will be perfectly satisfactory. I know he is a poor man, but then it's only a form.'" "Well, I don't know," said Job...
"I'm glad you mentioned him. As soon as he gets back send him to me and I'll give him a place in my store. I've heard he's very smart." "So he is," said Job, "and I'd like to have him with you, so that he could come to see us once in a while. There ain't no openin' in Hampton." "Of course not." "And you'll give Ben a p...
"Certainly; that is, if you indorse my note. I am ready to pay you the ten dollars down." He drew a crisp bank-note for ten dollars from his pocket, and Job Stanton yielded, for it was a great deal of money to him. I think, however, that he was more influenced by the prospect of obtaining a good place for Ben that woul...
"I don't know as I ought to ask you so much," said Job, with conscientious scruples. "Oh, that's all right. Now, I'll go into the shop, and you may take my measure for a pair of shoes." "This has been a lucky day for me," thought Job Stanton. "I've got ten dollars for writing my name, and it isn't often I earn as much ...
The note was for three months, or ninety days, and Job Stanton thought no more about it. Why should he? Richmond had expressly told him that it was a mere form, and he supposed that this was the case. The ten dollars went to buy new dresses--not very expensive, of course--for his wife and Jennie, and that seemed to be ...
"Good-morning, major. I hope your family are quite well." "Quite well, I thank you." "What's he come about?" thought Job, wonderingly. "You indorsed a note for Richmond, the dry-goods man, three months since."
"So I did. Is it really three months?" "Close upon it, Mr. Stanton. I regret to say that I shall be obliged to call upon you to pay it." "Me! to pay it!" ejaculated Uncle Job, thunderstruck. "Why, I only indorsed it." "Precisely. That means that you are to pay it if Richmond doesn't."
"But he will pay it," said the poor shoemaker, eagerly. "He said it was only a matter of form." "Then he deceived you. I have just received a note from him telling me to look to you." CHAPTER XXXII. THE HOUSE IS MORTGAGED.
Job Stanton would not have been more utterly overwhelmed if he had seen his treasured home reduced to ashes before his eyes. That he should be responsible for a debt of five hundred dollars seemed to him almost incredible. The trader's representation that indorsing the note was only a matter of form he had accepted as ...
"I don't know what to do," said the poor shoemaker, sadly. "I can't pay the note." "Humph! There seems to be only one thing to do, then." "What is it?" "You must sell or mortgage your place."
"What! sell or mortgage my house? I can't do that, Major Sturgis." "Very well. I won't insist on it if you can pay the note in any other way." "Heaven knows I can't." "Then, Mr. Stanton," said the major, sharply, "it's time to speak plainly. Unless you do as I suggest, I shall attach your property and compel you to rai...
Job Stanton was mortally afraid of legal proceedings, and after a while he acceded to the major's proposal, which was himself to accept a mortgage for the sum of five hundred dollars secured upon the place. His wife, who had to be told, wept bitterly, for it seemed to her as if they were parting with their main relianc...
"What was it?" Sam asked, his curiosity being excited. "Mr. Richmond the trader owed me a note for five hundred dollars, indorsed by Job Stanton, and as he did not pay it, I had to call on Stanton." "He couldn't pay--he's too poor," said Sam. "Not in money, but he owns his place. I have accepted a mortgage for six mont...
"Suppose he doesn't pay when the time comes?" "I am afraid I shall have to foreclose the mortgage." "And he'll have to leave, won't he?" "Unless he can raise the money some other way."
"There isn't any other way, is there?" "Richmond might hand over the money by that time." "Do you think he will?" "He ought to, but I don't think there is much chance of it."
"Ben will be rather astonished when he comes home and finds his uncle has lost his place." "Yes, I suppose he will." "I sha'n't be sorry for him. He puts on a good many airs, considering how poor he is. I wish I knew how he is getting along in California." "He may get a living there, but that is about all," said the ma...
"You wouldn't let him have it, would you, pa?" "I might," answered Major Sturgis, "if he would surrender the place to me without putting me to inconvenience." "Would you take Ben for my servant, pa, in that case?" "Why do you want him for a servant?"
"I want to humble his pride," answered Sam, with a gleam of something like hatred in his eyes. CHAPTER XXXIII. THE BLOW ABOUT TO FALL All this happened soon after Ben went away. His uncle did not write him of it, for he knew it would trouble the boy, and it could do no good. "No, wife," he said; "Ben will have a hard r...
"It's very hard, Job, at our time of life," said Mrs. Stanton, despondently. "So it is, wife, but it may turn out for the best, after all. I haven't given up hope that Mr. Richmond will pay the sum, so that I can take up the mortgage. I'm goin' to see him about it to-morrow." Uncle Job left his work the next day, and w...
"Oh yes," said Richmond, with his usual suavity. "I'm very sorry it happened so." "It seems to me you didn't treat me just right," said poor Job. "Such things will happen, you know, Mr. Stanton." "But you said it was only a matter of form signin' the note?"
"Of course I so regarded it. I could have sworn I should be ready to pay when the note became due. You see, there was money owing to me that I couldn't collect." "Didn't you know that was likely to happen when you tempted me to indorse the note?" "It wasn't likely to happen, but it was possible. My plans miscarried, as...
"Well, I can't do it this morning. I've got two payments to make. You don't look at it in the right light, Uncle Job." "I want my money," said the old man. "When can you give it to me?" "Since you push me so hard, I can only say I don't know," said Richmond, dropping his soft tones and looking angry. "Is that all the s...
"Of course I shall pay you some time, but I can't say exactly when," said the trader, brusquely. "Will you sign a note for the money at three months or six months, John Richmond?" "No, I won't. You'll have to wait, Uncle Job, till I get ready to pay you; that's all about it. I may be ready next week, or it may not be t...
The next week passed, and the next month passed, and Job Stanton waited vainly for a payment on account from John Richmond. He didn't like to judge the trader harshly, but it did seem as if he was quite indifferent in the matter. Another month passed, and Job made another visit to the store of his prosperous debtor. Ri...
"That is only allowing seven hundred and fifty dollars for it," said poor Job. "It's all it is worth," said the rich man, coldly. "If you prefer to put it up at auction, I am willing, but you may in that case get less. I'll give you three days to decide." There was great sorrow in Job Stanton's house that evening. Six ...
CONCLUSION. "Do you think we shall have to give up the house, Job?" asked Mrs. Stanton, anxiously. "I see no other way," said Job, mournfully. "I can't raise five hundred dollars anywhere." "Have you been to Deacon Pitkin?"
"Yes, but the deacon says he's just put out what money he had, and can't accommodate me." "It's hard!" said Mrs. Stanton, with sad brevity. "Yes, it is hard!" assented Job. "I did hope the Lord would show us a way of deliverance, but it seems likely that the sorrow must come upon us." "How meanly Major Sturgis and that...
"I do think they've been inconsiderate," Job admitted. "'Inconsiderate'! Their conduct has been contemptible. The major don't need the money. He could just as well let us stay here." While this conversation was going on Ben and his friend Bradley were approaching the little cottage. Full of joyful memories, Ben lifted ...
"Why, it's Ben come back!" exclaimed his aunt, joyfully. "Well, I declare, so it is!" answered Job Stanton, hurrying forward and grasping the hand of his boy after his aunt had embraced him. "How you've grown, Ben!" said his aunt, admiringly. "Yes, Aunt Clarissa, I've grown four inches," said Ben, proudly. "But I've br...
And then Bradley was introduced to Job and his wife, and was cordially welcomed by both. "You're lucky to come while we've got a home to welcome you to," said Job, his face again saddening. "Why, Uncle Job, you're not thinking of selling the house, are you?" Then the whole story came out.
Ben listened attentively, and when his uncle had finished he said, "That Richmond is a first-class rascal." "And I'd like to give him a first-class kick," said Bradley, indignantly. "That wouldn't mend matters," said Job, shaking his head. "It wouldn't pay off the mortgage." "You say the mortgage amounts to five hundre...