Walter remained three days, during which he gathered all the information he desired; then he took the cars for Portville. Less than a fortnight from the time of his departure he was set down by the stage at the door of the Portville Hotel.
“Back again, Mr. Howard?” said the landlord. “Your vacation is not over yet, is it?”
“Business called me back,” said Walter.
“This is indeed a delightful4 surprise, Mr. Howard,” said Miss Melinda Jones. “We did not expect you for a fortnight yet.”
“I couldn’t remain so long away from you, Miss Jones,” said Walter, roguishly.
“Oh, you wicked flatterer!” exclaimed Melinda, shaking her ringlets with delight, for she had faith in the power of her own attractions, and was half inclined to believe this statement true. “I have missed you ever so much.”
“Now it is you who are the flatterer.”
“It’s true; isn’t it, Ichabod?”
“Melinda had no appetite when you were gone, Mr. Howard,” said the brother. “She was all the time writin’ poetry.”
“I am sorry, Miss Jones, but I must call on General Wall this evening.”
“Then let it be to-morrow evening.”
“I won’t promise, but if I can, I will come.”
General Wall was sitting at his desk, making a calculation of the profits that would accrue7 to him from the Great Metropolitan Mining Company. His calculation appeared to be a satisfactory one, judging from his complacent8 look. He was interrupted by the entrance of the servant ushering9 in Walter. Not having heard of our hero’s return, he was surprised to see him.
“Good-evening, Mr. Howard,” he said. “I had not heard of your return. When did you get back?”
“This evening.”
“You expected to be absent longer, did you not?”
“Yes, sir; but I accomplished10 the object of my journey, and had no inducement to remain longer.”
“As it’s over a fortnight before school begins, if you choose to give John private lessons, I shall be glad to have you do so,” said the general. “I will pay you five dollars a week.”
General Wall looked as if he expected his offer to be accepted with thanks. Surely it must be an object for an ill-paid school teacher like Walter to earn five dollars a week during his vacation.
“Will John be willing to study in vacation?” asked Walter.
“No doubt. I will see that he makes no objections.”
General Wall intended to obtain his son’s consent by the offer of a handsome present, knowing that the desire of improvement would not alone be sufficient. What was his surprise when Walter answered, “I shall be obliged to decline your proposal, General Wall!”
“You don’t care about working in vacation, perhaps, Mr. Howard? Or are you going off again on another journey?”
“I have a different reason, sir--a reason which will also oblige me to disappoint you about the school. I shall not be able to teach next term, but must ask you to find another teacher.”
“Really, Mr. Howard, I hope you are not in earnest,” said the general, surprised and disappointed. “Have you secured another position?”
“No, sir. I do not intend to teach again--at any rate, for some years.”
“Are you going to leave Portville?”
“Yes, sir; but before I go I have some business which I should like to settle with you.”
“Business--to settle with me!” repeated General Wall, in surprise.
“Yes, sir; to begin with, I have a confession11 to make.”
General Wall looked suspicious. What was it that Walter was intending to confess? Was he a thief, or had he violated the laws any way? He was completely mystified.
“In the first place, then, I have no claim to the name by which you called me.”
“Is not your name Howard?”
“No, sir.”
“What then?”
“I am Walter Conrad.”
“Conrad!” exclaimed General Wall, starting and looking disturbed. “Surely you are not----” and he came to a pause.
“I am the son of Mr. Conrad, whom you induced to buy a thousand shares in the Great Metropolitan Mining Company.”
“Ah, indeed!” said General Wall, a little nervously13. “That was indeed a disastrous14 speculation15. I lost by it heavily.”
“A most unfortunate affair,” muttered the general; “but”--here he rallied--“I am glad to say, my young friend, that it will not prove a total loss. I and a few others are going to see if we can’t revive it and make it pay something. I have already written to Mr. Clement17 Shaw--your guardian18, is he not?--offering three thousand dollars for your shares. We may lose by it, but the money will go into good hands. I hope you are empowered to accept the offer.”
“General Wall,” said Walter, firmly, “don’t you consider the shares worth more?”
“Then I will keep the shares.”
“Better think it over, my young friend. It is not by any means certain that the shares are worth anything.”
“I will take the risk,” said Walter, coolly. “I have just returned from visiting the mines.”
General Wall listened to this statement with dismay. He found the negotiations21 more difficult than he had anticipated.
“Well,” said he, after a pause, “have you any offer to make?”
“I will sell the shares for sixty thousand dollars.”
“You must be crazy,” said the general, in excitement.
“I have no fears on that subject.” said our hero, coolly, “But I may as well tell you, General Wall, that I am entirely22 acquainted with your plan for obtaining complete control of the stock. I know you have succeeded in buying up most of it at little or nothing, and that you will probably realize a fortune out of it. But my eyes are open. They were opened three weeks since, when I overheard, at the Portville House, a conversation between the landlord and an agent of yours, who gave full details of the conspiracy23 into which you had entered to defraud24 the original owners of stock. I learned that you had succeeded with all except myself. The result of this revelation was that I determined25 to visit the mines, and see for myself. I spent three days there, and I have returned to tell you that you may have the stock for sixty thousand dollars, or I will keep it. I know it is worth more than I ask, but I live in the East, and I prefer to have my money invested there.”
“The revelation you have made has taken me by surprise, Mr.--Conrad. I will think over what you have said, and call upon you at the hotel to-morrow.”
“Very well, sir. You won’t forget about looking up a new teacher?”
“Oh, ah--yes--I had nearly forgotten that.”
Negotiation20 was protracted27 for some days. At length General Wall acceded28 to Walter’s terms, and agreed to purchase the stock at the price named--sixty thousand dollars--ten thousand down, and the balance payable29 monthly. Walter instantly telegraphed the good news to Mr. Shaw, his faithful friend, and received his heartiest30 congratulations. The report got about that Walter had inherited a fortune, and Miss Jones was more devoted31 than ever. But she shook her ringlets to no purpose. Walter was not to be fascinated.
When the business was completed, our hero started for the East. He had striven under difficult circumstances, and he had succeeded. He felt proud and happy, and grateful to God for having so ordered events as to lead to this fortune.
He stopped over one day in Chicago. Stepping into the bowling-alley connected with the hotel, what was his surprise when, in the boy who set up the pins, shabby and ill clad, he recognized Joshua Drummond!
Walter, whom he had once looked down upon, was handsomely dressed, a gentleman in appearance, while he looked like a beggar.
“Surely, you don’t like this business?”
“I have to like it. I should starve if I didn’t.”
“Are you so reduced?”
“I have no money, except what I earn here.”
“Would you go home if you could?”
“My father would not receive me. He is angry on account of the money I took. But it didn’t do me any good. I was swindled out of it.”
“I am going to take you home,” said Walter, resolutely36. “It isn’t fit that you should be in such a business. I will undertake to reconcile your father.”
“I haven’t money to pay my fare.”
“I have plenty. I have succeeded in getting back a good share of my property, and am going back to the Essex Classical Institute to finish preparing for college. If you would like it, I will pay your expenses there one year. You won’t be the worse off for another year’s schooling37.”
“You are a good fellow, Cousin Walter,” said Joshua, stirred at last to gratitude38. “I should like it much better than going back to Stapleton.”
Walter bought Joshua some new clothes, and together they returned to the East. Mr. Drummond at first refused to receive his son, but when Walter revealed his own good fortune, and offered to support his cousin at school for a year, his sternness relaxed, and reconciliation39 took place, much to the delight of Mrs. Drummond, who, bad as Joshua had behaved, could not forget her only son. I am glad to say that Joshua was improved by his trials. He acquitted40 himself fairly at school, and is now employed in his father’s store, Mr. Drummond, at Walter’s solicitation41, paying him ten dollars a week for his services, besides, of course, board. Let us hope he will continue to do well.
A few words in conclusion. Walter is now in college, and stands very near the head of the senior class. It is his purpose to study law, and though his fortune is already made, we have reason to believe that he will work hard and acquire distinction. He knows what it is to Strive and Succeed. General Wall made a good deal of money out of the Great Metropolitan Mining Company; but, unluckily for himself, he invested it in other mines of less worth, and lost all. He is to-day a poor man, and his son John will have to make his own way in the world. Peter Groot is learning the carpenter’s trade, and seems likely to become a respectable, if not brilliant, member of society. Alfred Clinton has just entered a Western college. His old teacher, our hero, has kindly42 offered to defray the expenses of his collegiate education, and Alfred is longing43 for the time when he can relieve his mother from work and surround her old age with comfort. It is an honorable ambition, and likely to be gratified.
The next volume in this series will be
Try and Trust;
OR,
The Story of a Bound Boy.
THE END.
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1
confirmation
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| n.证实，确认，批准 | |
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metropolitan
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| adj.大城市的，大都会的 | |
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clique
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| n.朋党派系，小集团 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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bower
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| n.凉亭，树荫下凉快之处；闺房；v.荫蔽 | |
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muses
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的第三人称单数 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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accrue
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| v.(利息等)增大，增多 | |
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complacent
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| adj.自满的；自鸣得意的 | |
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ushering
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的现在分词 ) | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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apprehend
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| vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑 | |
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nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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faltering
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| 犹豫的，支吾的，蹒跚的 | |
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clement
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| adj.仁慈的；温和的 | |
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guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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negotiation
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| n.谈判，协商 | |
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negotiations
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| 协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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conspiracy
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| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
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defraud
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| vt.欺骗，欺诈 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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protracted
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| adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词 | |
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acceded
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| v.（正式）加入( accede的过去式和过去分词 )；答应；（通过财产的添附而）增加；开始任职 | |
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payable
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| adj.可付的，应付的，有利益的 | |
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heartiest
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| 亲切的( hearty的最高级 )； 热诚的； 健壮的； 精神饱满的 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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mortification
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| n.耻辱，屈辱 | |
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whined
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| v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨 | |
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resolutely
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| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
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schooling
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| n.教育；正规学校教育 | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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reconciliation
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| n.和解，和谐，一致 | |
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acquitted
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| 宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现 | |
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solicitation
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| n.诱惑；揽货；恳切地要求；游说 | |
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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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longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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