Andy Grant's Pluck 13

Andy Grant's Pluck 13

"I have heard my sister speak of you so often that I am glad to meet

you, Andy," he said, affably.

 

"Thank you, sir."

 

"John, lead the way to the dining room," said his sister.

 

So they filed downstairs, and took their seats at the table.

 

Mr. Crawford sat at the head, opposite his sister, while Roy and Andy

occupied the sides.

 

When dinner was nearly over, Mr. Crawford remarked:

 

"I believe, Andy, you are in the employ of Mr. Flint, the jeweler."

 

"I was," answered Andy.

 

"Surely you have not left him?" exclaimed Mrs. Mason.

 

"No, I have been discharged."

 

"I am surprised to hear it. I thought you were a favorite with Mr.

Flint."

 

"So I was. He does not know I have been discharged."

 

"You puzzle me."

 

"Mr. Flint is in Colorado, and Mr. Rich, his head salesman, has taken

the opportunity to discharge me, and put his nephew in my place."

 

"But surely he would not venture to do this without some pretext."

 

"He claims that I took a watch from the case, and pawned it."

 

"Of course that is untrue."

 

"Yes, and I am in a position to prove it when Mr. Flint returns."

 

Andy told the story of his visit to the pawn shop, and the discovery he

made there.

 

"This is a shameful plot!" said Mrs. Mason, indignantly. "I am afraid

you are in trouble, deprived of your income."

 

"Fortunately I have no board to pay. That is paid by the gentleman who

procured me the situation."

 

Presently they went upstairs.

 

"Roy," said his mother, "we will excuse you for an hour while you are

getting your Latin lesson."

 

"I don't like Latin, mother," grumbled Roy, "at least not to-night. I am

afraid I can't fix my thoughts on the lesson. I want to be with Andy."

 

"What are you studying in Latin, Roy?" asked Andy.

 

"_Caesar_."

 

"If you wish, I will help you."

 

"Can you?" asked Roy, joyfully.

 

"I have been through _Caesar_, and _Virgil_, also. When I left the

academy I was studying _Cicero_."

 

"Roy will be glad of your help, Andy," said his mother. "I did not know

you were such a scholar."

 

"I was getting ready for college, but my father's losses required me to

break off."

 

Andy proved such an efficient helper that Roy found himself at leisure

in half an hour.

 

In the meantime Mrs. Mason asked her brother:

 

"What do you think of my protege?"

 

"He seems a manly and attractive boy."

 

"Can't you find something for him to do?"

 

"I will talk with him presently, and then decide."

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER XXI.

 

NEW PROSPECTS.

 

 

After Roy, with Andy's assistance, had prepared his lesson in _Caesar_,

John Crawford began to converse with him with a view of forming a

judgment of his business qualifications.

 

"Are you especially interested in the jewelry line?" he asked.

 

"No, sir. It was merely chance that led me to Mr. Flint's store."

 

"I see you are a Latin scholar. What career did you expect to follow if

your father's misfortune had not interrupted your education?"

 

"I don't think I should care for a profession. I prefer a life of

business."

 

"You have had no special business in view?"

 

"No, sir. I think I could adapt myself to any that I had an opportunity

to follow."

 

"What pay did you receive from Mr. Flint?"

 

"Five dollars a week."

 

"I will tell you why I am inquiring. I am in the real estate business,

in rather a large way. I have a boy in the office who is not suited to

his position. He is a good scholar, but has no head for business. I have

made up my mind to discharge him on Saturday. Would you like his place?"

 

"Very much, sir."

 

"I can only offer you five dollars a week, but as soon as you make

yourself worth more I will raise you."

 

"That is quite satisfactory, Mr. Crawford. As soon as Mr. Flint returns

I can get a recommendation from him. I am quite sure I shall like your

business better."

 

"My sister's recommendation is sufficient."

 

"Thank you, John," said Mrs. Mason.

 

"If you become interested in the business and show an aptitude for it,

there will be a chance to rise. It depends upon that. If you only work

for the money, you won't rise."

 

"I understand, Mr. Crawford, and I am satisfied."

 

"Mother," said Roy, "I wish you would engage Andy to come here evenings

and help me with my lessons. I should learn twice as fast. Besides, I

should like his company."

 

Roy was an only child, and it was the desire of his mother's heart that

he should acquire a good education. Her means were ample and her

disposition generous.

 

"I don't know but Andy would feel too tired, after being in your uncle's

office all day, to teach you in the evening, she said.

 

"Would you, Andy?" asked Roy.

 

"No; I should enjoy reviewing my old studies with you."

 

"Then, I will engage you," said Mrs. Mason. "You can come here at eight

every evening."

 

"I will do so with pleasure."

 

"And for compensation I will pay you as much as my brother does."

 

"I wouldn't charge anything for helping Roy," said Andy. "It would only

be a pleasure to me."

 

"Andrew," said Mr. Crawford. "I am afraid you will never make a business

man if you are willing to work on those terms. My advice to you is to

accept my sister's offer. She can afford to pay you what she offers, and

you have your living to make."

 

"I shall insist upon paying," said Mrs. Mason, "though I appreciate

Andy's generous offer."

 

"Thank you very much. With such an income I shall feel rich."

 

"I am so glad you are going to help me, Andy," said Roy. "We'll have

bully times."

 

"I don't think Julius Caesar ever made use of such an __EXPRESSION__, Roy,"

said his uncle.

 

"When do you wish me to come down to business, Mr. Crawford?" asked

Andy.

 

"You may as well come to-morrow, and get broken in before your regular

engagement commences."

 

"I shall be glad to do so."

 

"For this week you need only stay till three o'clock in the afternoon.

There isn't much doing after that."

 

When Andy went home it will not be wondered at if he was in a state of

exhilaration. His discharge from the jeweler's had turned out to his

advantage. His income was now ten dollars a week, and he had no board to

pay. He certainly ought to lay up money.

 

He said to himself that now he would not go back to Mr. Flint's even if

he had the chance.

 

When he entered his room he found Sam Perkins waiting for him.

 

"I have been thinking, Andy," he said, "that I might be able to get you

into our store. I will speak to Mr. Chambers to-morrow."

 

"There is no occasion, Sam, though I thank you for your kind offer; I

have a place."

 

"What, already?" ejaculated Sam, in amazement. "What chance have you had

to hunt up a place?"

 

"The place hunted me up," answered Andy, with a smile. "I met a

gentleman at dinner, who offered to take me into his employment."

 

"What business?"

 

"Real estate."

 

"What is the firm?"

 

"John Crawford & Co."

 

"I know of the house. The office is on lower Broadway. It is a big

firm."

 

"I am glad of that."

 

"How much are you to get?"

 

"Five dollars a week."

 

"Won't you find it hard to live on that?"

 

"I have got another place, too."

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"I am to help a boy about his Latin in the evening. I shall get five

dollars a week for that, too."

 

"What! ten dollars a week in all?"

 

"You are right. I give you credit for your mathematical talent."

 

"Why, Andy, you are born to good luck! I wish I was paid ten dollars a

week," said Sam, rather enviously. "But I didn't know you understood

Latin."

 

"You don't know how learned I am," said Andy, smiling.

 

"When will you get time for your pupil?"

 

"In the evening."

 

"I am sorry for that. I sha'n't often meet you if you are to be occupied

day and evening, too."

 

"We shall meet at breakfast and supper. I sha'n't leave here to go

uptown till half-past seven."

 

"But you can't go to the theater."

 

"I am willing to give that up for five dollars a week."

 

"So would I be."

 

"If I hear of any other boy who needs a Latin tutor I will recommend

you."

 

The next morning Andy reported at Mr. Crawford's office. The office he

found to be a large one, consisting of three rooms, one of them small,

and appropriated to Mr. Crawford's special use.

 

In the outer rooms were two or three clerks and a boy. The last, James

Grey, was a good-natured looking fellow, but he had no force or

efficiency. He had already received notice that he was to be discharged

on the coming Saturday.

 

"I suppose you are coming in my place," said he to Andy.

 

"I suppose so. I am sorry that I shall be throwing you out of a

position."

 

"Oh, you needn't mind. I am to be telephone boy at an uptown hotel. My

cousin got the place for me."

 

"I am glad of that."

 

"It will be a soft snap, I think."

 

"What are the hours?"

 

"I go on at five o'clock in the afternoon, and stay till midnight."

 

"Will you like that?"

 

"Oh, well, I can lie abed the next morning till ten or eleven o'clock,

and I won't have much to do when I am on duty. I shall buy a lot of dime

novels, and that will fill up the time."

 

"How do you like the real estate business?"

 

"Oh, so-so. I guess I'll like being a telephone boy better."

 

"Andrew, you may go round with James, and he will give you a little idea

of your duties," said Mr. Crawford. "James, you can go to the post

office now."

 

"All right, sir."

 

"I hope you will soon get another place."

 

"I have got one already, sir."

 

"Indeed! I am very glad."

 

"I am to be a telephone boy."

 

"I wish you success."

 

As they walked to the post office together, James remarked:

 

"Mr. Crawford is a nice man, but I guess I don't hustle enough for him."

 

"I think I can hustle," said Andy.

 

"Then you'll suit him."

 

On Saturday night, when James was paid his salary, he received five

dollars extra as a present. Andy thought this very kind and considerate

on the part of his new employer. To his surprise he, too, was paid half

a week's salary--something he did not expect.

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER XXII.

 

JOHN CRANDALL SEEKS TO INJURE ANDY

 

 

Though Simon Rich had succeeded in reinstating his nephew in the store

in place of Andy, he was not altogether happy. John Crandall was

naturally lazy and inefficient, and his temporary discharge did not seem

to have improved him.

 

When sent out on errands he loitered, and had more than once put his

uncle to considerable inconvenience. He obliged to admit to himself that

Andy had been more satisfactory.

 

In the midst of this experience John preferred a request to have his

salary raised a dollar a week.

 

"You know very well that I have no authority to raise your wages," said

his uncle, sharply.

 

"Why not, Uncle Simon? You have taken me back on your own authority."

 

"And I begin to think that I have made a great mistake."

 

"Perhaps you'd like to have the country boy back again?"

 

"I am not sure but I would. He did not stay away so long on errands as

you do."

 

"I wonder what he is doing?" said John, starting off on a new tack. "I

don't suppose he can get a new place."

 

"If you see him, you might ask him to call," said Simon Rich.

 

"Why?" asked John, suspiciously.

 

"I may discharge you and take him back."

 

"In that case, I will tell Mr. Flint about pawning the watch."

 

Simon Rich looked at his nephew with anger, mingled with dismay. He

began to see, now, that to a certain extent he had put himself in John's

power.

 

"You treacherous young rascal, I have a great mind to wring your neck!"

he said, wrathfully.

 

"Uncle Simon," observed John, significantly, "I guess you'd better not

act hastily."

 

"What a fool I was to put myself in the power of that cub!" soliloquized

the head salesman.

 

John saw the effect of his words and decided to follow them up.

 

"Don't you think you can raise my wages?" he asked.

 

"No, I don't. You will be lucky if you stay here till Mr. Flint comes

back. After that, I can't protect you. He will probably be angry to see

you back here. I shall have to tell him that I took you in temporarily.

Now I will give you some advice. If you want to remain here permanently,

turn over a new leaf, and work faithfully. In that case I can speak well

of you, and Mr. Flint may be induced to retain you."

 

John began to think that this might be good advice, and for a day or two

paid more attention to his duties.

 

"I wonder I don't see Andy somewhere," he said to himself.

 

"I am out a good deal, and I ought to meet him. He is probably hunting

up positions."

 

It was not till Tuesday afternoon that he did see him. Andy had been

sent to the St. Denis Hotel to meet a customer of the firm. As he came out he fell in with John.