Digging for Gold 8

Digging for Gold 8

Mrs. Tarbox’s eyes sparkled with maternal pride.

 

“It was a noble act,” she said.

 

“The passengers took up a contribution, and Jotham Perry thinks Grant

got about twenty-five dollars.”

 

“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.