Digging for Gold 7

Digging for Gold 7

When Mr. Tarbox got home he at once tackled his wife.

 

“Mrs. T.,” he said, “I’m surprised at your letting Grant order a

twenty-dollar suit. Truly a fool and his money are soon parted, as the

saying is.”

 

“I don’t know what you mean, Mr. Tarbox, and I’ll thank you not to call

me a fool,” she added, with a flash of spirit.

 

“You mean to say you haven’t authorized Grant to order a twenty-dollar

suit at Mr. Shick’s?”

 

“Grant hasn’t asked me to buy him a suit?”

 

“Well, he’s ordered one, for Mr. Shick told me so. It aint possible that

he’s going to trust that boy. I don’t understand it.”

 

“Nor do I. I will speak to Grant about it.”

 

Mrs. Tarbox felt anxious, for the story seemed strange and almost

incredible. It did not seem like Grant, but still she knew that he was

very anxious to have a new suit. She would have been willing to advance

ten dollars to buy him a ready-made one, but twenty dollars in her

circumstances would be extravagant.

 

Just then Grant entered the room.

 

“Grant,” she said, “have you ordered a suit at Mr. Shick’s?”

 

“Yes, mother.”

 

“At twenty dollars?”

 

“Yes, mother.”

 

“How could you be so inconsiderate? Mr. Tarbox will not pay for it, and

I cannot afford to pay so high a price.”

 

“Don’t be worried, mother,” said Grant quietly, “_I shall pay for it

myself_.”

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER VI.

SETH TARBOX MAKES A DISCOVERY.

 

 

Two pairs of eyes were fixed upon Grant in wonderment—those of his

mother and Mr. Tarbox.

 

“Are you crazy, Grant Colburn?” asked Mr. Tarbox.

 

“Not that I know of, Mr. Tarbox.”

 

“Do you mean to say you have got twenty dollars to pay for your suit?”

 

“Yes, I do.”

 

“Show it to me.”

 

“I haven’t got the money with me.”

 

“Where is it, then?”

 

“I decline to tell.”

 

“Do you know, Grant, that I, as your step-father, and natural guardian,

have a right to make you tell?”

 

“No, I don’t. At any rate, I shan’t tell.”

 

“You’re getting dreadful contrary lately, Grant. Mrs. T., I think we are

going to have trouble with that boy. Of course Mr. Shick won’t be paid,

and he’ll send in his bill to you or me likely. He can’t make us pay,

for he has trusted a minor without consultin’ his parents or guardians.

I wash my hands of the matter.”

 

So saying, Mr. Tarbox left the room.

 

“Grant,” said his mother, “I can’t help feeling anxious. It does seem a

crazy idea for you to order a twenty-dollar suit.”

 

“Why should it, mother?”

 

“When you have no money to pay for it.”

 

“Mother, did you ever know me to tell a lie?”

 

“No, Grant.”

 

“Then, when I tell you that I’ve got money enough to pay for this suit,

and more, too, you can believe me.”

 

“Was it got honestly, Grant?”

 

“Of course it was.”

 

“And the money is really and truly yours?”

 

“It is.”

 

“Are you willing to tell me where you got it?”

 

“Not just yet, mother. I will before long.”

 

“Well, Grant, I will trust your word,” said Mrs. Tarbox, relieved, “and

I am really glad of your good fortune.”

 

“You won’t worry any more, then, mother?”

 

“No, Grant.”

 

“I am glad you haven’t lost confidence in me.”

 

Grant took an opportunity, after supper, to go to Luke Weldon’s, and

draw twenty-five dollars. On his way back he called at the tailor’s, and

paid Mr. Shick for his suit in advance. The remaining five dollars, in

silver, he kept in his pocket.

 

“It is so long since I carried any money,” he said to himself, “that I

want to know how it seems.”

 

Meanwhile Jotham Perry, a neighbor, called at the farm-house on an

errand.

 

“That’s a pretty bad thing, the breaking down of the railroad bridge,

isn’t it?”

 

“I haven’t heard of it,” said Seth Tarbox, pricking up his ears.

 

“Sho! I thought everybody knew it.”

 

“How did it happen?”

 

“I don’t know, except it gave way from old age. It’s long been shaky.”

 

“When was it found out?”

 

“This afternoon, just before the accommodation train came along. I tell

you it was a narraw escape for the train. They stopped just a few rods

before they got to the bridge.”

 

“What made them stop? How did the engineer come to suspect?”

 

“It seems a boy came along that way, and saw the condition of the

bridge, and signalled the train.”

 

“A boy?”

 

“Yes. He had a pitchfork, and stuck his hat and a handkerchief on the

tines, and so attracted the engineer’s attention.”

 

Mr. Tarbox opened his eyes wide, and a sudden revelation came to him.

 

“Why, it must have been Grant,” he said.

 

“Didn’t he tell you anything about it?”

 

“No.”

 

“I heerd the passengers took up a collection for the boy, whoever he

was. He must have got as much as twenty-five dollars.”

 

“That’s where Grant’s money came from,” exclaimed Seth Tarbox, slapping

his leg vigorously. “He’s gone and ordered a twenty-dollar suit, and

been hintin’ mysteriously that he’d got money enough to pay for it.”

 

“Yes, I suppose that explains it. Well, the boy needs a new suit and

he’s earned it easy.”

 

“But it’s such a foolish way of spendin’ his money. My grandson Rodney

offered him a suit of his for nothin’, and he might have given me the

money to keep for him.”

 

“Yes, he might,” said Jotham with a queer smile, “but I think if I’d

been in Grant’s place I’d have done the same thing he did.”

 

Mr. Perry went away directly afterward, and Seth Tarbox sought his wife.

 

“Where is Grant, Mrs. T.?”

 

“He went out to walk after his chores were done, but he didn’t say where

he was going.”

 

“I’ve found out where he got his money,” said Seth, nodding his head.

 

“Where, then? He didn’t do anything wrong, I am sure.”

 

“Well, no, not in gettin’ the money, but he’d ought to have consulted me

before bein’ so extravagant.”

 

“Where did he get the money?”

 

“He found out the bridge was broken, and signalled the train and saved it from being wrecked.”