Books: Helping Himself
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Horatio Alger >> Helping Himself
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"We'll see about that," said Ford. "I give you five minutes to rise
and put on your clothes. If you don't obey me, I will flog you."
Looking into his cruel face, Herbert felt that he had no other
resource. Trembling, he slipped out of bed, and began to draw on his
clothes. He felt helpless, but help was nearer than he dreamed.
"Mr. Ford, I protest against this high-handed proceeding," exclaimed
Miss Stone, indignantly, as she appeared at the door of the chamber.
"What right have you to go over my house without permission?"
"If it comes to that," sneered Ford, "what right have you to keep my
ward from me?"
"I am not his ward," said Herbert, quickly.
"The boy is a liar," exclaimed Ford, harshly.
"Get back into the bed, Herbert," said Miss Stone. "This man shall
not take you away."
"Perhaps you will tell me how you are going to help it," retorted
Ford, with an evil smile.
"If my brother were here---"
"But your brother is not here, and if he were, I would not allow him
to interfere between me and my cousin. Herbert, unless you continue
dressing, I shall handle you roughly."
But sounds were heard upon the stairs, and Ford, as well as Miss
Stone, turned their eyes to the door.
The first to enter was Abner.
"Oh, it's you, is it?" said Ford, contemptuously.
He had thought it might be Dr. Stone, whom he was less inclined to
face than he professed.
"Yes, it is. What are you doing here?"
"It is none of your business, you cub. He's got to come with me."
"Maybe you want me, too?"
"I wouldn't take you as a gift."
"Ho, ho," laughed Abner, "I reckon you'd find me a tough customer.
You won't take bub, either."
"Who is to prevent me?"
"I will!" said a new voice, and Grant Thornton, who had fallen in
with Abner outside, walked quietly into the room.
Willis Ford started back in dismay. Grant was the last person he
expected to meet here. He had no idea that any one of the boy's home
friends had tracked him this far. He felt that he was defeated, but
he hated to acknowledge it.
"How are you going to prevent me, you young whippersnapper?" he
said, glaring menacingly at Grant.
"Mr. Willis Ford, unless you leave this room and this town at once,"
said Grant, firmly, "I will have you arrested. There is a local
officer below whom I brought with me, suspecting your object in
coming here."
"Oh, Grant, how glad I am to see you! Is papa with you?" exclaimed
Herbert, overjoyed.
"I will tell you about it soon, Herbert."
"You won't let him take me away?"
"There is no danger of that," said Grant, reassuringly. "I shall
take you home to New York as soon as this good lady says you are
well enough to go."
Ford stood gnawing his nether lip. If it had been Mr. Reynolds, he
would not have minded so much; but for a mere boy, like Grant
Thornton, to talk with such a calm air of superiority angered him.
"Boy," he said, "it sounds well for you to talk of arrest--you who
stole my aunt's bonds, and are indebted to her forbearance for not
being at this moment in State's prison."
"Your malicious charge does not affect me, Mr. Ford," returned
Grant. "It was proved before you left New York that you were the
thief, and even your stepmother must have admitted it. Mr. Reynolds
discharged you from his employment, and this is the mean revenge you
have taken--the abduction of his only son."
"I will do you an injury yet, you impudent boy," said Ford,
furiously.
"I shall be on my guard, Mr. Ford," answered Grant. "I believe you
capable of it."
"Don't you think you had better leave us, sir?" said Miss Stone.
"I shall take my own time about going," he answered, impudently.
But his words were heard by Dr. Stone, who had returned sooner than
he anticipated, and was already at the door of the room. He was a
powerful man, and of quick temper. His answer was to seize Ford by
the collar and fling him downstairs.
"This will teach you to be more polite to a lady," he said. "Now,
what does all this mean, and who is this man?"
The explanation was given.
"I wish I had been here before," said the doctor.
"You were in good time," said Grant, smiling. "I see that Herbert
has found powerful friends."
Willis Ford, angry and humiliated, picked himself up, but did not
venture to return to the room he had left so ignominiously. Like
most bullies, he was a coward, and he did not care to encounter the
doctor again.
Within an hour, Grant telegraphed to the broker at his office: "I
have found Herbert, and will start for New York with him to-morrow."
Mr. Reynolds had only just returned from his fruitless Southern
expedition, weary and dispirited. But he forgot all his fatigue when
he read this message. "God bless Grant Thornton!" he ejaculated.
CHAPTER XXXIX
THE HOUSEKEEPER'S RETRIBUTION
The train from Chicago had just reached the Grand Central Depot.
From the parlor car descended two boys who are well known to us,
Grant Thornton and Herbert Reynolds.
Herbert breathed a sigh of satisfaction.
"Oh, Grant," he said, "how glad I am to see New York once more! I
wonder if papa knows we are to come by this train?"
The answer came speedily.
The broker, who had just espied them, hurried forward, and his lost
boy was lifted to his embrace.
"Thank God, I have recovered you, my dear son," he exclaimed,
fervently.
"You must thank Grant, too, papa," said the little boy. "It was he
who found me and prevented Mr. Ford stealing me again."
Mr. Reynolds grasped Grant's hand and pressed it warmly.
"I shall know how to express my gratitude to Grant in due time," he
said.
On their way home Grant revealed to Mr. Reynolds for the first time
the treachery of the housekeeper, who had suppressed Herbert's
letter to his father, and left the latter to mourn for his son when
she might have relieved him of the burden of sorrow.
As Mr. Reynolds listened, his face became stern.
"That woman is a viper!" he said. "In my house she has enjoyed every
comfort and every consideration, and in return she has dealt me this
foul blow. She will have cause to regret it."
When they entered the house Mrs. Estabrook received them with false
smiles.
"So you are back again, Master Herbert," she said. "A fine fright
you gave us!"
"You speak as if Herbert went away of his own accord," said the
broker sternly. "You probably know better."
"I know nothing, sir, about it."
"Then I may inform you that it was your stepson, Willis Ford, who
stole my boy--a noble revenge, truly, upon me for discharging him."
"I don't believe it," said the housekeeper. "I presume it is your
office boy who makes this charge?" she added, pressing her thin lips
together.
"There are others who are cognizant of it, Mrs. Estabrook. Grant
succeeded in foiling Mr. Ford in his attempt to recover Herbert, who
had run away from his place of confinement,"
"You are prejudiced against my son, Mr. Reynolds," said Mrs.
Estabrook, her voice trembling with anger.
"Not more than against you, Mrs. Estabrook. I have a serious charge
to bring against you."
"What do you mean, sir?" asked the housekeeper, nervously.
"Why did you suppress the letter which my boy wrote to me revealing
his place of imprisonment?"
"I don't know what you mean, sir," she answered, half defiantly.
"I think you do."
"Did Master Herbert write such a letter?" "Yes."
"Then it must have miscarried."
"On the contrary, the postman expressly declares that he delivered
it at this house. I charge you with concealing or suppressing it."
"The charge is false. You can't prove it, sir."
"I shall not attempt to do so; but I am thoroughly convinced of it.
After this act of treachery, I cannot permit you to spend another
night in my house. You will please pack at once, and arrange for a
removal."
"I am entitled to a month's notice, Mr. Reynolds."
"You shall have a month's wages in lieu of it. I would as soon have
a serpent in my house."
Mrs. Estabrook turned pale. She had never expected it would come
to this. She thought no one would ever be able to trace the
suppressed letter to her. She was not likely again to obtain so
comfortable and desirable a position. Instead of attributing her ill
fortune to her own malice and evil doing, she chose to attribute it
to Grant.
"I am to thank you for this, Grant Thornton," she said, in sudden
passion. "I was right in hating you as soon as I first saw you. If
ever I am able I will pay you up for this."
"I don't doubt it, Mrs. Estabrook," said Grant, quietly, "but I
don't think you will have it in your power."
She did not deign to answer, but hurried out of the room. In half an
hour she had left the house.
"Now I can breathe freely," said the broker. "That woman was so full
of malice and spite that it made me uncomfortable to feel that she
was in the house."
"I am so glad that she has gone, papa," said Herbert.
That evening, after Herbert had gone to bed, Mr. Reynolds invited
Grant into his library.
"My boy," he said, "I have settled accounts with Mrs. Estabrook; now
I want to settle with you."
"Not in the same way, I hope, sir," said Grant.
"Yes, in the same way, according to your deserts. You have done me a
service, that which none can be greater. You have been instrumental
in restoring to me my only son."
"I don't want any reward for that, sir."
"Perhaps not; but I owe it to myself to see that this service is
acknowledged. I shall raise your salary to fifteen dollars a week."
"Thank you, sir," said Grant, joyfully. "How glad my mother will
be."
"When you tell her this, you may also tell her that I have deposited
on your account in the Bowery Savings Bank the sum of five thousand
dollars."
"This is too much, Mr. Reynolds," said Grant, quite overwhelmed.
"Why, I shall feel like a man of fortune."
"So you will be in time, if you continue as faithful to business as
in the past."
"It seems to me like a dream," said Grant.
"I will give you a week's leave of absence to visit your parents,
and tell them of your good fortune."
CHAPTER XL
CONCLUSION
There were anxious hearts in the parsonage at Colebrook. For some
weeks the minister had shown signs of overwork. His appetite had
failed, and he seemed weary and worn.
"He needs change," said the doctor. "A run over to Europe would do
him good. He has no disease; he only wants change."
"A trip to Europe," said Mr. Thornton, shaking his head. "It is
impossible. It has been the dream of my life, but a country minister
could not, in half a dozen years, save money enough for that."
"If your brother Godfrey would lend you the money, Grant might, in
time, help you to pay it."
Godfrey never had forgiven Grant for running counter to his plans.
"I wish I could spare the money myself, Mr. Thornton," said the
doctor. "Five hundred dollars would be sufficient, and it would make
a new man of you."
"It might as well be five thousand," said the minister, shaking
his head. "No, my good friend, I must toil on as well as I can, and
leave European trips to more favored men."
It was noised about through the parish that the minister was sick,
and the doctor recommended a European trip.
"It's ridikilus," was Deacon Gridley's comment. "I work harder than
the minister, and I never had to go to Europe. It's just because
it's fashionable."
"Mr. Thornton is looking pale and haggard," said Mrs. Gridley.
"What if he is? He ought to work outdoors like me. Then he'd know
what work was. Ac-cordin' to my notion, ministers have a pooty easy
time."
Mr. Tudor was of the same opinion.
"It's all nonsense, deacon," he said. "Father wanted me to be a
minister, and I'd have had a good deal easier time if I had followed
his advice."
"You wouldn't have had so much money, Mr. Tudor," said Miss Lucretia
Spring, who heard this remark.
"Mebbe not; but what I've got I've worked for."
"For my part, although I am not near as rich as you are, I'd give
twenty dollars toward sending the minister abroad," said kindly Miss
Spring.
"I wouldn't give a cent," said Mr. Tudor, with emphasis.
"Nor I," said Deacon Gridley. "I don't believe in humorin' the
clergy."
Saturday came, and the minister was worse. It seemed doubtful if he
would be able to officiate the next day. No wonder he became
dispirited.
Just before supper the stage drove up to the door, and Grant jumped
out.
"I am afraid he has been discharged," said Mr. Thornton, nervously.
"He does not look like it," said Mrs. Thornton, noticing Grant's
beaming countenance.
"What is the matter with father?" asked Grant, stopping short as he
entered.
"He is not feeling very well, Grant. He has got run down."
"What does the doctor say?"
"He says your father ought to take a three-months trip to Europe."
"Which, of course, is impossible," said Mr. Thornton, smiling
faintly.
"Not if your brother would open his heart, and lend you the money."
"He would not do it."
"And we won't ask him," said Grant, quickly, "but you shall go, all
the same, father."
"My son, it would cost five hundred dollars."
"And for twice as much, mother, could go with you; you would need
her to take care of you. Besides she needs a change, too."
"It is a pleasant plan, Grant; but we must not think of it."
"That's where I don't agree with you. You and mother shall go as
soon as you like, and I will pay the expenses."
"Is the boy crazy?" said the minister.
"I'll answer that for myself, father. I have five thousand dollars
in the Bowery Savings Bank, in New York, and I don't think I can
spend a part of it better than in giving you and mother a European
trip."
Then the explanation came, and with some difficulty the minister was
made to understand that the dream of his life was to be realized,
and that he and his wife were really going to Europe.
"Well, well! who'd have thought it?" ejaculated Deacon Gridley.
"That boy of the minister's must be plaguey smart. I never thought
he'd be so successful. All the same, it seems to me a mighty poor
investment to spend a thousand dollars on racin' to Europe. That
money would buy quite a sizable farm."
Others, however, less narrow in their notions, heartily approved of
the European trip. When three months later the minister came home,
he looked like a new man. His eye was bright, his face bronzed and
healthy, his step elastic, and he looked half a dozen years younger.
"This all comes of having a good son," he said, smiling, in reply to
congratulations, "a son who, in helping himself, has been alive to
help others."
Half a dozen years have passed. Grant Thornton is now a young man,
and junior partner of Mr. Reynolds. He has turned his money to good
account, and is counted rich for one of his age. He has renewed his
acquaintance with Miss Carrie Clifton, whom he met for the first
time as a summer boarder in Colebrook, and from their intimacy it
wouldn't be surprising if Grant should some day become the wealthy
jeweler's son-in-law.
Uncle Godfrey has become reconciled to Grant's following his own
course. It is easy to become reconciled to success.
Willis Ford is confined in a penitentiary in a Western State, having
been convicted of forgery, and there is small chance of his
amendment. He has stripped his stepmother of her last penny, and she
is compelled to live on the charity of a relative, who accords her a
grudging welcome, and treats her with scant consideration. The
bitterest drop in her cup of humiliation is the prosperity of Grant
Thornton, toward whom she feels a fierce and vindictive hatred. As
she has sown, so she reaps. Malice and uncharitableness seldom bring
forth welcome fruit.
THE END
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