Andy Grant's Pluck 17

Andy Grant's Pluck 17

Mr. Grayling, after a brief consideration, said:

 

"That seems reasonable. I will buy the house. How soon can you give me

possession?"

 

"In a week."

 

"Very good. Then our business seems to be concluded. We will catch the

next train back to the city."

 

"Would you mind giving me a memorandum stating that you will buy the

house?"

 

"I will do so. We will stop at a stationery store, and I will make it

out."

 

When Andy re-entered Mr. Crawford's office the real estate agent

inquired:

 

"How does Mr. Grayling like the house?"

 

"He has bought it."

 

"Is it possible? At what figure?"

 

"Eight thousand dollars."

 

"Good! I was authorized to take two hundred dollars less, if need be."

 

"He asked no reduction."

 

"I hope he won't change his mind."

 

"He won't. Here is his written agreement to take the house."

 

"Excellent. Did he offer this assurance?"

 

"No, sir. I asked for it."

 

"Andy, you have succeeded admirably. I shall have great pleasure in

keeping my promise and paying you eighty dollars, or one per cent, on

the purchase money."

 

"That will be very acceptable, Mr. Crawford. I don't often earn eighty

dollars in one day."

 

In reply to Mr. Crawford's inquiries, Andy gave a detailed account of

his visit, and his employer drew a check for eighty dollars, which he

placed in his hands.

 

"Now that I see what you can do," he said, "I shall send you out again."

 

"Perhaps you will find my services too expensive."

 

"No. In addition to my regular percentage I receive an extra hundred

dollars for getting the full eight thousand dollars."

 

Andy cashed the check, and deposited the money in a savings bank. He did

not pay it to Mr. Crawford on account of the land in Tacoma, for it

occurred to him that he might have occasion to use it.

 

In this he proved correct.

 

Three weeks later he received a letter from his father. Sterling Grant

was a farmer, little used to writing letters, and Andy knew that there

must be some special reason for his writing at this time.

 

He opened the letter quickly, and this was what he read:

 

"DEAR ANDY: I am in trouble. Next Tuesday the semi-annual interest

on Squire Carter's three thousand dollars falls due, and I have but

twenty dollars to meet it. My crops have not been up to the average.

I have lost my best cow, and somehow everything seems to have gone

against me. I expected to sell ten tons of hay, and have had but

seven to spare. This alone made a difference of sixty dollars.

 

"I saw the squire yesterday, and told him how I was situated. I

asked him if he would kindly wait for the greater part of the

interest, accepting twenty dollars on account. He at once refused.

'I am sorry you have been unlucky, Mr. Grant,' he said, 'but of

course I am not responsible for your misfortune. The three thousand

dollars I lent you I regard strictly as an investment. Had I

supposed the interest would not be paid promptly, I should, of

course, have declined to lend. You will have to meet the interest,

or take the consequences.'

 

"I have tried to borrow the money in the village, but thus far I

have been unable to do so. I may have to sell two of my cows, but

that will cripple me, for, as you know, I depend a good deal on

selling milk and butter. Of course this worries me a good deal. I

don't know why I write to you, for with your small pay it is hardly

likely that you can help me. Still, if you have ten or fifteen

dollars to spare, it will aid me. If your friend, Mr. Gale, were

near at hand, perhaps he would advance a little money. I might get

along with selling one cow, in that case. Two would cripple me.

 

"Let me know at once what you can do, that I may make plans. Your

mother is as well as usual, except that she is worried. We both send

love.

 

"Your affectionate father,

 

"STERLING GRANT."

 

When Andy read this letter he felt, with a thrill of joy, that he had it

in his power to relieve his father from anxiety. He had, with the

commission received recently from Mr. Crawford, a hundred and fifty

dollars in the bank. He withdrew eighty dollars of this, and then

explaining to Mr. Crawford his reason for it, asked for time for a visit

home.

 

"Certainly, Andy," said the real estate agent. "Can I lend you any

money?"

 

"No, sir; I have enough."

 

As he could not leave till the next day, he telegraphed his father in

this way:

 

"Don't worry. I shall reach home to-morrow. ANDY"

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER XXVIII.

 

ANDY'S VISIT HOME.

 

 

When Andy stepped on the station platform at Arden, he looked about him

to see if any of his friends were in sight.

 

To his great satisfaction he saw Valentine Burns, who had come to escort

an aunt to the cars.

 

"Where did you drop from, Andy?" he asked, in surprise.

 

"From the city. I am going to stop over Sunday."

 

"Good! I am delighted to see you."

 

"And I to see you. You are my dearest friend--except Conrad."

 

Valentine smiled.

 

"Of course no one is so near to me as he. Well, what's the news?"

 

"The only news I know of comes from Conrad. I hope it isn't true."

 

"What did he say?"

 

"That your father couldn't pay the interest on the mortgage held by his

father, and was going to be turned out, though the squire might take

your two best cows and call it even."

 

"He seems to be a good friend of the family, doesn't he?" remarked Andy,

quietly.

 

"It isn't true, is it?"

 

"It is true that father hasn't money enough to pay the interest."

 

"What will happen, then?"

 

"You forget that he has a rich son," said Andy, with a smile.

 

"Can you help him out?"

 

"That is what I am here for."

 

"I am very glad to hear it," said Valentine, with an air of relief.

"Even if I didn't like your family, I wouldn't like to see Conrad

triumph over you."

 

"Come around this evening, Val. We shall have plenty to talk about."

 

"I will."

 

When Andy entered the farmhouse he received a warm welcome from his

mother, and a cordial grasp of the hand from his father, who was less

demonstrative. But there was an air of grave anxiety on the faces of

both.

 

"I am glad to see you, Andy," said Sterling Grant, "but I wish you had

come under more cheerful circumstances. We are in a good deal of

trouble."

 

"I have come to get you out of it."

 

"Can you?" asked the farmer, in surprise.

 

"Yes. How much have you got toward the interest?"

 

"Only twenty dollars."

 

"And the whole sum is--"

 

"Ninety dollars."

 

"I can give you the seventy dollars you require."

 

"Where did you get the money? Have you borrowed it?"

 

"No. It belongs to me. I will explain later. Now I am hungry, and while

mother is looking for some lunch for me we will talk about other

matters."

 

"I am very much relieved, Andy. I will go and tell the squire I shall be

able to meet the interest."

 

"Don't do it, father. We will leave him to suppose it will not be paid,

and see what course he intends to pursue. Don't breathe a word to

undeceive him."

 

"I will do as you say, Andy, though I don't know your object. Do you

still like your place in New York?"

 

"Yes; I am learning the business fast, and have good hopes for the

future. Mr. Crawford is an excellent man, and takes an interest in me."

 

"That is good. After all, things are brightening. When I got up this

morning I felt about discouraged."

 

"I telegraphed you not to worry, father."

 

Meanwhile Mrs. Grant was preparing an appetizing lunch for her son. She

knew just what he liked. When it was placed on the table, he did full

justice to it.

 

"It tastes better than anything I get in the city, mother," he said.

 

"I didn't suppose our plain table would compare with city meals."

 

"They're not in it with you," said Andy. "I am only afraid I shall make

myself sick by overeating."

 

Mrs. Grant was greatly pleased that Andy had not lost his taste for home

fare.

 

"How you have grown, Andy!" she said. "And you are looking so well, too!

Do you have to work very hard?"

 

"Hard work agrees with me, mother. No; I don't hurt myself."

 

"I wish I could be here when the squire comes for the interest," Andy

said, later.

 

"He will call this evening. You will see him," said Sterling Grant.

 

"Then I shall be sure to stay at home."

 

Meanwhile, at the house of Squire Carter, there was a conference between

father and son.

 

Conrad had a new and bright idea. He had always coveted Andy's boat,

which, as we know, was much better than his own had been. It occurred to

him that here would be a good opportunity to get it for a trifle.

 

"Pa," he said, "will you do me a favor?"

 

"What is it?" asked his father, suspiciously.

 

"You know I haven't got a boat now. Won't you let Mr. Grant pay part of

the interest in Andy's boat?"

 

"What do I want with the boat?" asked the squire, impatiently.

 

"Pa, you can make a great bargain. I hear that it cost seventy-five

dollars. You can allow the farmer twenty dollars, and sell it for forty

dollars cash."

 

"I don't know about that."

 

But the squire's tone was less decided. He liked a bargain, and he knew

that there was some reason in what Conrad said.

 

"Mr. Grant might not feel at liberty to sell his son's boat," he argued.

 

"Andy would let him. He thinks a good deal of his family."

 

"I'll think of it; but I intended to propose taking two of his cows."

 

"That you can do next time. Probably he won't have the interest six

months from now."

 

"I'll see about it."

 

"There is one other thing; you would have a better chance to sell the

boat for a profit than the cows."

 

"Well, Conrad, I will think of it, as I said. I am going around to

Farmer Grant's this evening, and I will broach the subject."

 

Later in the day Conrad met Jimmy Morris.

 

"Have you heard the news, Conrad?" asked Jimmy.

 

"What is it?"

 

"Andy Grant is in Arden. He arrived from the city this morning."

 

"I am glad to hear it."

 

"Why? Are you and Andy such great friends?"

 

"It isn't on account of friendship; it's on account of business."

 

"What business?"

 

"I can't tell you, but you will very likely hear soon."

 

Conrad hoped to meet Andy and broach the subject of buying the boat. He

decided from his knowledge of the farmer's son that, much as he valued

his boat, he would be willing to sacrifice it for the sake of his

father. In this thought he paid an unconscious tribute to Andy, for in

similar circumstances he would have been incapable of anything so

unselfish.

 

About half-past seven, Andy, looking out of the window, saw the stately

and dignified figure of Squire Carter coming up the front path.

 

"The squire is coming, father," he said. "I want you to look sober, just

as if you were unprepared to pay the interest."

 

Squire Carter had already been informed by Conrad that Andy was in the

village. He showed no surprise, therefore, when he saw him.

 

He had also been down to the river and taken a look at Andy's boat. He

could see that it was a very handsome one, and doubtless worth as much

as Conrad reported.

 

"So you have come home, Andrew?" he said.

 

"Yes, Squire Carter."

 

"You haven't lost your place, have you?"

 

"No, sir. I have come home on a visit."

 

"Ahem! You arrived at an unfortunate time for your father. He has had

bad luck. Things seem to have gone against him."

 

"So I heard, sir."

 

"If you had been at home to help him on the farm, things would have been

different, maybe."

 

"I hope to help him by staying in the city."

 

"That isn't very likely. I don't approve, for my part, of boys leaving

home to work."

 

"I think I shall succeed in the end, sir."

 

"Ahem! I have no doubt you think so, but boys like you haven't much

judgment. I suppose you know that interest is due on the mortgage for

the first six months, and that your father can't meet it."

 

"I have heard so, Squire Carter."

 

"As a friend of your father I have a plan to propose that may make

things easy for him. I am glad to see you, for a part of my business is

with you."

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER XXIX.

 

THE INTEREST IS PAID.

 

 

Andy was surprised by the squire's words. He could not conjecture what

business Squire Carter could have with him.

 

"First," said the squire, "may I ask, Mr. Grant, whether you can pay the

interest on the mortgage which I hold when it comes due?"

 

"I have only twenty-five dollars at my command now, Squire Carter.

Perhaps something may turn up between now and next Tuesday."

 

"That is extremely likely," said the squire, in a tone of sarcasm.

 

"Have you anything to propose? Are you willing to wait a month?"

 

"No, sir; I am not. It will be extreme folly on my part. Do you expect

to come into a fortune within thirty days?"

 

"No, sir."

 

"So I presume. However, I have a plan to propose. I did intend to say

that I would allow you fifty dollars for your two best cows. But even

that would not pay the deficit. I believe your son owns a boat."

 

"I do," said Andy, looking up. He began to understand the squire's plan.

 

"I am willing to allow twenty dollars for it, as my son has taken a

fancy to it, and his own boat was destroyed through the malice of a

tramp. This, with fifty dollars for your two cows, would pay the

interest all but twenty dollars, which you say you are able to pay in

cash."

 

"Squire Carter, my cows are of a choice breed, and are worth fifty

dollars each."

 

"They would not fetch that sum. Indeed, twenty-five dollars each is all

that you would have any chance of getting. If you doubt it, you may try

to get an offer elsewhere."

 

"What should I do without the cows? I depend on the butter and milk I obtain from them for a good part of my cash income."