He felt glad again that he was going to school. He remembered how anxious his poor mother had been that he should receive a good education, and now his grandfather had promised to send him to the best school in Milwaukie.
The next morning after their meeting, Mr. Bates took Mark to a large clothing establishment, and had him fitted out with new clothes in the most liberal manner. He even bought him a silver watch, of which Mark felt very proud.
"Now, Mark," said his grandfather, "if there is any one that was kind to you when you were a poor match boy, I should like to do something to show my gratitude3 for their kindness. Can you think of any one?"
"Yes," said Mark; "there's Ben Gibson."
"And who is Ben Gibson?"
"He blacks boots down on Nassau Street. When I ran away from Mother Watson, who treated me so badly, he stood by me, and prevented her from getting hold of me again."
"Is there any one besides?"
"Yes," said Mark, after a pause; "there is Mrs. Flanagan. She lives in the same tenement-house where I used to. When I was almost starved she used to give me something to eat, though she was poor herself."
"I think we will call and see her first," said Mr. Bates. "I am going to let you give her a hundred dollars."
"She will be delighted," said Mark, his eyes sparkling with joy. "It will seem a fortune to her. Let us go at once."
"Very well," said his grandfather. "Afterwards we will try to find your friend Ben."
I forgot to mention that Mr. Bates was stopping at the Fifth Avenue Hotel.
They took the University Place cars, which landed them at the junction4 of Barclay Street and Broadway. From thence it was but a short distance to Vandewater Street, where Mark lived when first introduced to the reader.
They climbed the broken staircase, and paused in front of Mrs. Flanagan's door.
Mark knocked.
Mrs. Flanagan opened the door, and stared with some surprise at her visitors.
"Don't you know me, Mrs. Flanagan?" asked Mark.
"Why, surely it isn't Mark, the little match boy?" said Mrs. Flanagan, amazed.
"Yes, it is. So you didn't know me?"
"And it's rale delighted I am to see you lookin' so fine. And who is this gentleman?"
"It is my grandfather, Mrs. Flanagan. I'm going out West to live with him."
Mrs. Flanagan dropped a courtesy to Mr. Bates, who said, "My good woman, Mark tells me that you were kind to him when he stood in need of kindness."
"And did he say that?" said Mrs. Flanagan, her face beaming with pleasure. "Shure it was little I did for him, bein' poor myself; but that little he was heartily5 welcome to, and I'm delighted to think he's turned out so lucky. The ould woman trated him very bad. I used to feel as if I'd like to break her ould bones for her."
"Mark and I both want to thank you for your kindness to him, and he has a small gift to give you."
"Here it is," said Mark, drawing from his pocket a neat pocket-book, containing a roll of bills. "You'll find a hundred dollars inside, Mrs. Flanagan," he said. "I hope they will help you."
"A hundred dollars!" ejaculated Mrs. Flanagan, hardly believing her ears. "Does this good gentleman give me a hundred dollars!"
"No it is Mark's gift to you," said Mr. Bates.
"It's rich I am with so much money," said the good woman. "May the saints bless you both! Now I can buy some clothes for the childer, and have plenty left beside. This is a happy day entirely6. But won't you step in, and rest yourselves a bit? It's a poor room, but—"
"Thank you, Mrs. Flanagan," said Mr. Bates, "but we are in haste this morning. Whenever Mark comes to New York he shall come and see you."
They went downstairs, leaving Mrs. Flanagan so excited with her good fortune, that she left her work, and made a series of calls upon her neighbors, in which she detailed7 Mark's good fortune and her own.
"Now we'll go and find your friend, Ben Gibson," said Mr. Bates.
"I think we'll find him on Nassau Street," said Mark.
He was right.
"Shine yer boots?"
"How are you, Ben?" said Mark.
Ben stared in surprise till he recognized his old companion.
"Blest if it aint Mark," he said. "How you're gettin on!"
"Ben, this is my grandfather," said Mark.
"Well, you're a lucky chap," said Ben, enviously9. "I wish I could find a rich grandfather. I don't believe I ever had a grandfather."
"How are you getting on, my lad?" inquired Mr. Bates.
"Middlin'," said Ben. "I haven't laid by a fortun' yet."
"No, I suppose not. How do you like blacking boots?"
"Well, there's other things I might like better," said Ben,—"such as bein' a rich merchant; but that takes rather more capital than blackin' boots."
"I see you are an original," said Mr. Bates, smiling.
"Am I?" said Ben. "Well, I'm glad of it, though I didn't know it before. I hope it aint anything very bad."
"It wasn't much," said Ben.
"I want to do something for you. What shall I do?"
"Well," said Ben, "I should like a new brush. This is most worn out."
"How would you like to go to Milwaukie with Mark, if I will get you a place there?"
"Do you mean it?" said Ben, incredulously.
"Certainly."
"I haven't any money to pay for goin' out there."
"I will take care of that," said Mr. Bates.
"Then I'll go," said Ben, "and I'm much obliged to you. Mark, you're a brick, and so's your grandfather. I never expected to have such good luck."
"Then you must begin to make arrangements at once. Mark, here is some money. You may go with Ben, see that he takes a good bath, and then buy him some clothes. I am obliged to leave you to do it, as I must attend to some business in Wall Street. I shall expect to see you both at the Fifth Avenue Hotel at two o'clock."
At two o'clock, Mr. Bates found the two boys awaiting him. There was a great change in Ben's appearance. He had faithfully submitted to the bath, and bloomed out in a tasteful suit of clothes, selected by Mark. Mark had taken him besides to a barber's and had his long hair cut. So he now made quite a presentable appearance, though he felt very awkward in his new clothes.
"It don't seem natural to be clean," he confessed to Mark.
"You'll get used to it after a while," said Mark, laughing.
"Maybe I will; but I miss my old clothes. They seemed more comfortable."
The next day they were to start. Ben remained at the hotel with his friend Mark, feeling, it must be confessed, a curious sensation at his unusual position.
They went to make a farewell call on Richard Hunter.
"Mr. Hunter," said Mr. Bates, "money will not pay you for the service you have done me, but I shall be glad if you will accept this cheque."
Richard saw that it was a cheque for a thousand dollars.
"Thank you for your liberality, Mr. Bates" he said; "but I do not deserve it."
"Let me be the judge of that."
"I will accept it on one condition."
"Name it, Mr. Hunter."
"That you will allow me to give it to the Newsboys' Lodge11, where I once found shelter, and where so many poor boys are now provided for."
"I will give an equal sum to that institution," said Mr. Bates, "and I thank you for reminding me of it. As for this money, oblige me by keeping it yourself."
"Then," said Richard, "I will keep it as a charity fund, and whenever I have an opportunity of helping12 along a boy who is struggling upward as I once had to struggle, I will do it."
"A noble resolution, Mr. Hunter! You have found out the best use of money."
Mark is now at an excellent school in Milwaukie, pursuing his studies. He is the joy and solace13 of his grandfather's life, hitherto sad and lonely, and is winning the commendation of his teachers by his devotion to study. A place was found for Ben Gibson, where he had some advantages of education, and he is likely to do well. He has been persuaded by Mark to leave off smoking,—a habit which he had formed in the streets of New York. The shrewdness which his early experiences taught him will be likely to benefit him in the business career which lies before him.
Every year Mark sends a substantial present to Mrs. Flanagan, under his grandfather's direction, and thus makes the worthy14 woman's life much more comfortable and easy. From time to time Mark receives a letter from Richard Hunter, who has not lost his interest in the little match boy who was once his ward1.
So the trials of Mark, the Match Boy, as far as they proceeded from poverty and privation, are at an end. He has found a comfortable and even luxurious15 home, and a relative whose great object in life is to study his happiness. I hope that the record of his struggles will be read with interest by my young readers, and shall hope to meet them all again in the next volume of this series, which will be called:
ROUGH AND READY;
OR,
LIFE AMONG THE NEW YORK NEWSBOYS.
The End
The End
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1
ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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anticipations
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| 预期( anticipation的名词复数 )； 预测； （信托财产收益的）预支； 预期的事物 | |
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3
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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junction
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| n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站 | |
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5
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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6
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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7
detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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8
accosted
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| v.走过去跟…讲话( accost的过去式和过去分词 )；跟…搭讪；（乞丐等）上前向…乞讨；（妓女等）勾搭 | |
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enviously
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| adv.满怀嫉妒地 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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12
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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solace
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| n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和 | |
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14
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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15
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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