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“He deserved it.”
“Well, I’m glad he got it, but he had no right to spend it himself. Ther’s one thing that don’t occur to you, Mrs. T. What he did was done in time, and he lost at least an hour by the delay it cost. You know yourself how late he came home.”
“What is that, Mr. Tarbox, to the lives of the passengers and the safety of the train?”
“You don’t understand me, Mrs. T. Under the circumstances I think I ought to have half the money he received.”
“Mr. Tarbox!” exclaimed his wife in profound disgust.
“That’s so, and of course if I had it he wouldn’t have no twenty dollars to throw away on a suit of clothes.”
“You forget, Mr. Tarbox, that it has saved you the money you would have to pay for a new suit for him.”
“It has saved me nothing. I wouldn’t have bought him a new suit. My grandson, Rodney, was goin’ to give him one of his old suits. Now I think of it, I’ll go down and see Mr. Shick and warn him not to make up the suit, tellin’ him that Grant can’t pay for it with my permission.”
“That will be a mean thing to do, Seth Tarbox.”
Mrs. Tarbox always called her husband by his full name when she had occasion to feel displeased with him.
“You and I don’t look on things in the same way, Mrs. T.,” said her husband calmly. “I’ll go and see Mr. Shick at once.”
The tailor shop was still open for business when Mr. Tarbox entered.
“Well, Mr. Tarbox, have you come to pick out a suit for yourself?”
“No, I haven’t. Have you cut out Grant’s suit yet?”
“Yes; it is nearly finished.”
“Then I’m sorry for you. You mustn’t make it up?”
“Why not?”
“Because I shall forbid the boy to pay for it. He’s got the money, as I’ve found out, but part of it belongs to me, and I won’t have him spendin’ it so extravagantly.”
“I shan’t be able to oblige you, Mr. Tarbox. The suit will be made up, as I agreed, and delivered to Grant.”
“Well, you’ll be takin’ a risk. I’ve warned you that you won’t get your pay.”
“You are behind the times, Mr. Tarbox. You have taken your walk for nothing. The suit is already paid for.”
“What!” ejaculated Mr. Tarbox.
“It is just as I said. Grant has paid me for the suit in advance. I advise you to give me an order and do the same thing.”
Mr. Tarbox felt that he had been outwitted. He persuaded himself that Grant had treated him meanly. Of course there was no resource. He was too wise to ask Mr. Shick to refund the money, for he knew he would not do it. He found nothing to say, and shuffled out, looking down in the mouth.
“There goes the meanest man in town!” soliloquized the tailor, as his visitor walked slowly down the road. “Grant must have a pretty uncomfortable time at home. I am glad that in this case the boy has got the better of his step-father.”
“He’s got five dollars left,” reflected Mr. Tarbox. “I’d ought to have that, for it was in my time that he earned the money. I’ll go upstairs and get it to-night when Grant is asleep.”
Grant went to bed about nine o’clock, for he was tired out, and he was soon asleep.
Usually he did not wake up at all till morning, but it so happened that this night he waked up about eleven, and saw Mr. Tarbox rummaging in the pocket of his pantaloons.
He hardly knew whether to feel amused or indignant.
“What are you doing here, Mr. Tarbox?” he demanded in a voice which he made purposely loud.
CHAPTER VII
GRANT MAKES UP HIS MIND
Mr. Tarbox had not bargained for Grant’s being awake, and he had the grace to look ashamed, but he put a bold face on it.
“I’ve come for the rest of the money you got for stoppin’ the train,” he said.
“What right have you to it, Mr. Tarbox,” said Grant, more amused than surprised. “It was given to me.”
“Mebbe it was, but you stopped the train in my time, and I’d ought to have half the money.”
“You can’t have it, Mr. Tarbox.”
“I know you’ve fooled away twenty dollars on a new suit, when you might have had Rodney’s; but you got as much as twenty-five dollars, so Jotham Perry said.”
“How did he find out?” asked Grant in artful surprise.
“Then you did get twenty-five?”
“Yes.”
“So I thought. Well, I want you to give me the five. You came home an hour late.”
“And you charge me five dollars for an hour? If you’ll pay me at that rate, Mr. Tarbox, I’ll work for you all my life.”
“Quit your foolin’, Grant Colburn,” said Seth, feeling that logic was against him. “I’m your guardian, and I claim the money. I’ll keep four dollars of it for you.”
“The fact is, Mr. Tarbox, I’ve disposed of part of the money. I’ve only got a dollar left.”
This was true, for Grant had given his mother four dollars, to buy a new print dress.
“What did you do with it?” asked his step-father, disappointed.
“I gave it to mother.”
“You’d ought to have given it to me.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Where’s the other dollar?”
“It’s in my vest pocket.”
Seth Tarbox thrust his fingers into the pocket of Grant’s vest, and drew out two silver half-dollars. It was better than nothing, but he felt disappointed.
“I’ll take this,” he said, “to pay for your time.”
“You are welcome to it, but don’t you think you could spare me one half-dollar?” asked Grant meekly.
“When you’ve gone and spent twenty for a suit? No, I guess not. You can think yourself pretty lucky to get as much as you did.”
Seth Tarbox took the candle, and went slowly down stairs. Grant was so much amused by the way in which he had outwitted his step-father that he laughed loud enough for Mr. Tarbox to hear.
“That’s a queer boy,” said Tarbox to himself. “I don’t think he’s exactly right in his head. I’d ought to have got more than one dollar out of all the money the passengers raised for him; but still it’s something.”
When Grant came down stairs to breakfast the next morning he looked very cheerful, in spite of losing his money the night before, and laughed two or three times, without any apparent reason for doing so. Mr. Tarbox had suggested to his wife the propriety of giving up to him half the money she had received from Grant, but Mrs. Tarbox, yielding as she generally was, had positively refused. Indeed, Grant had made her promise to do so.
Grant’s new suit was finished in time for him to wear it on Sunday. He had great satisfaction in entering the village church decently clothed. Indeed, he felt that he was as well dressed as any boy in town, and this was for him a decidedly new sensation.
Grant had one hundred and twenty-seven dollars left in the hands of Luke Weldon. He withdrew ten dollars, and bought some shirts and underclothing. This did not come to the notice of Mr. Tarbox, who was under the impression that Grant’s stock of money was exhausted. Had he known the truth, he would have moved heaven and earth to get hold of the balance of Grant’s little fortune.
Grant was anxious to see John Heywood, the returned Californian. He was more than ever determined to leave the service of his step-father, and make a bold stroke for a fortune. All day he thought of the Golden State of the Pacific Coast, and all night he dreamed of it. For him it had the greatest fascination. The idea of wandering across the continent to this wonderful new land became strengthened, and he felt that, with the sum he had at command, he would be able to do it. He spoke of it to his mother privately, and, though it made her feel anxious, he succeeded in persuading her that it would be for the best.
But he could do nothing without seeing John Heywood, and getting more information. He thought of going to Crestville, and accordingly, one morning after breakfast, he started without notifying Mr. Tarbox, and walked the whole distance – six miles.
Mr. Heywood lived half a mile this side of the village, and Grant had the luck to find him at home.
“Good-morning, Grant,” said the young man. “What brings you to Crestville so early?”
“I came to see you, Mr. Heywood.”
“You did? Well, I’m glad to see you. Won’t you come into the house?”
“No, I’ll sit down here,” and Grant took a seat on a wood horse, while Heywood leaned against the well curb, and waited for his young visitor to open his business.
“I hear you have been very lucky in California, Mr. Heywood.”
“Yes,” answered the young man, with complacency. “I brought home ten thousand dollars. It makes me feel like a rich man. I’m only twenty-nine, and I didn’t look to be worth that sum before I was sixty-nine. A clear gain of forty years!” he added with a laugh.
“You got it by digging gold, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“And I suppose there’s more gold in California? You didn’t take it all?”
“I should say not. There’s piles, and piles of it left.”
“Is digging gold very hard work? Is it too hard for a boy?”
“You don’t mean to say you’re thinkin’ of goin’ to California yourself?” said Heywood quickly.
“Yes, I do.”
“Well, you’re a good, stout boy. I don’t see why you should not succeed. But you’ll have to work hard.”
“I am willing to.”
“What will your folks say?”
“Mother has given her consent. As for Mr. Tarbox, my step-father, he hasn’t got anything to say about it.”
“You are working for him now, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I’m working for my board and clothes. The board is fair enough, but he is not willing to give me any clothes.”
“That’s a nice suit you have on.”
“So it is, but I had to buy it with my own money. He hasn’t spent but ten dollars for my clothing in a whole year.”
“I’ve heard he was a mean man.”
“He thinks everything of a dollar. Mother made a great mistake in marrying him.”
“Then, under the circumstances, Grant, I don’t know as I blame you. But, you know, it takes money to go to California.”
“I know that. How much did it cost you?”
“I went across the plains. By the time I reached the mines I had spent about ninety dollars.”
“Ninety dollars!” repeated Grant in a tone of satisfaction. “But how am I to go, even if I have the money. I can’t start across the plains alone.”
“No, of course not. It’s always better to have a little company. There’s a family goin’ from this town in about a week – Mr. Cooper’s family. I am sure they will be willing to have you go with them. Shall I speak to them about it?”
“Yes, I wish you would.”
Much pleased, Grant set out on his long walk home. He found his step-father furious at his absence.
“Where have you been, Grant?” he demanded.
“Over to Crestville.”
“You’ve taken ’most a day of my time. It’s a shame! I can’t afford to take care of you, and give you victuals and clothes, when you’re playin’ truant half the time.”
“I don’t expect you to, Mr. Tarbox. I don’t want you to lose money by me,” said Grant demurely, “so I’ve made up my mind to leave you.”
“To leave me?” ejaculated Seth Tarbox, aghast. “Where are you goin’?”
“I’m going to California!”
