Alger Horatio Jr.
Jed, the Poorhouse Boy
CHAPTER XXIX.
A SURPRISE PARTY
The words of the sallow-faced man dissipated any suspicions which Jed may have entertained, and he clambered on board the yacht without much difficulty, for he was active and agile.
"Good!" said his employer. "Now go into the cabin, and be quick about it."
Jed did not understand why he should be quick about it. There was plenty of time, he thought.
Another thing puzzled him, now that he had had a chance to think the matter over. Why was the visit postponed till near midnight?
A city boy would not have had his suspicions so easily allayed; but Jed was unused to city ways, and, it may be added, to city wickedness.
The cabin seemed to be dark. He felt his way down stairs, and struck a match which he had in his pocket in order to see better the location of the box. He had just picked up the latter, finding it to be heavy, when he felt a hand laid on his arm, and looking up, met the stern gaze of a young man about twenty-eight years of age.
"What are you about here, young fellow?" he asked abruptly.
Jed was a little startled, but, not being aware that he was doing anything wrong, he replied composedly, "I was taking this box, sir."
"I see you were; but what business have you to take the box?"
"I was sent for it."
"Sent for it?" repeated the young man, looking puzzled. "Who sent you for it?"
"The gentleman in the boat outside."
"Oh ho! So there is a gentleman in the boat outside?"
"Certainly, sir. Isn't it—all right?"
"Well, I should say not, unless you consider theft right."
"What!" exclaimed Jed aghast. "Is the man who employed me a thief?"
"It looks very much like it."
At this moment the sallow-faced man called in an impatient tone, "What are you about there, you lazy young rascal? Don't be all night!"
"Is there more than one man in the boat?" asked the young man in the cabin.
"Yes, sir; there are two."
"The harbor police ought to be somewhere about. I'll rouse them if I can."
The young man went to the port-hole which served to light the cabin and fired a pistol.
"Confusion! There's some one on the yacht!" exclaimed the sallow-faced man. "We must get off."
Dipping his oars in the water, he rowed quickly away, leaving Jed to his fate. But the shot had been heard on another boat not fifty rods distant, and the piratical craft was pursued and eventually overhauled. Meanwhile Jed remained on board the yacht, whether as a prisoner or not he did not know.
"Your companions have taken alarm," said the young man. "I hear them rowing away. They have deserted you."
"I am glad of it," said Jed. "I don't want anything more to do with them. Will you tell me if that box contains anything valuable?"
"Probably the contents are worth five thousand dollars."
"Is it possible!" ejaculated Jed in amazement.
"You see you have lost quite a prize," said the young man, eyeing him closely.
"Don't say that I have lost a prize," returned Jed half indignantly. "I supposed the man who sent me for it was honest."
"What did he tell you?"
"He said that the box belonged to a friend, who had employed him to get it."
"All a lie! I am the owner of the box, and the yacht also, and I have no acquaintance with your principal. If I had not been here he would have got a rich prize."
"I am glad you were here," said Jed earnestly.
"I don't understand your connection with such a man. How much were you to be paid for your services?"
"Two dollars," answered Jed.
"Didn't it strike you as singular that you should have been employed on such an errand?"
"Well, a little; but I am a stranger to the city, and I thought it might be because I was inexperienced."
"Do you mind telling me how long you have known the person who employed you?"
"I met him for the first time at five o'clock this afternoon on the Battery. He asked me if I wanted a job, and that is how I came to be engaged."
"That sounds plausible and I am inclined to believe you."
At this moment they were interrupted. There was a sound of oars, and leaving the cabin, Jed and his companion saw the boat of the harbor police under the side. It had in tow the boat in which Jed had come from shore.
"Was there any attempt to rob the yacht?" asked the captain of police.
"Yes, sir," answered the owner.
"Have you one of the thieves aboard?"
"No, sir."
"That's not true!" said the sallow-faced man, now a prisoner. "That boy came with us," and he pointed to Jed.
"Is that true?" asked the police captain.
"This boy was sent on board by the thieves, but he was quite ignorant of the character of his employer. He is a country boy, and was an innocent agent of the guilty parties."
"You are convinced then of his innocence?"
"Entirely so."
"We shall need his evidence against these men. Will you guarantee that it shall be forthcoming?"
"Yes, captain. I will give my name and his, and will call at your office to-morrow morning."
"That will answer."
The young man took out one of his cards, bearing the name of Schuyler Roper, and wrote Jed's name, which he had ascertained, underneath.
"You will be responsible for the boy's appearance, Mr. Roper?" said the officer respectfully, reading the name by the light of a lantern.
"Yes; he will stay with me."
This seemed satisfactory, and the boat rowed away.
"I am very much obliged to you for believing in my innocence, Mr. Roper," said Jed earnestly.
"You have an innocent face," responded the young man kindly. "I am sure you are a good boy."
"I hope you won't see any reason to doubt it. I am afraid I am putting you to trouble," continued Jed, realizing that he could not leave the yacht, and was thrown on the hospitality of the owner.
"Not at all. I can accommodate you easily. You must be tired, if you have been about the city all day."
Jed admitted that he was. In fact he felt very tired, and found it hard work to keep his eyes open.
"I have sleeping accommodations for six persons on board my yacht, so that I can easily provide for you. So far from giving me trouble I shall be glad of your company, though I don't expect any more visitors to-night."
Mr. Roper pointed out a comfortable bunk, and Jed lost no time in taking possession of it. He sank into a deep sleep, which was only broken by a gentle shake from his young host. As he opened his eyes, and they met the unusual surroundings, he was at first bewildered.
"Don't you know where you are?" asked Schuyler Roper, smiling. "Don't you remember boarding my yacht with felonious intent last night?"
"Yes," answered Jed with an answering smile. "I remember that I was taken prisoner."
"Then you are subject to my orders. When I am on a cruise we have meals aboard the yacht, but I am not keeping house now. If you will assist me, we'll direct our course to land and find breakfast somewhere."
Jed did not know much about a yacht, but he liked the water and proved very quick in comprehension, so that in a comparatively short time they had reached the Battery. Here Mr. Roper found two men whom he had engaged to help man the yacht, and leaving the Juno in their charge he walked up Broadway with Jed.
"We will take breakfast at the Astor House," he said.
"I dined there yesterday," replied Jed.
"You did!" exclaimed the other in a tone of surprise. "Yet you tell me you are penniless?"
"Yes, sir, but I fell in with a gentleman whom I knew at Sea Spray, a Mr. Foster."
"Not Howell Foster?"
"Yes."
"I know him very well. If he is a friend of yours, I shall feel that I am justified in reposing confidence in you."
Just then Mr. Foster entered the room.
"Good morning, Jed," he said in a friendly tone. "So you like the Astor well enough to come back?"
"I am here by invitation of Mr. Roper."
Mr. Foster, who was shortsighted, now for the first time observed Jed's companion.
"So you know Roper, too?" he said. "Why, he's one of my closest friends. When did you pick him up, Schuyler?"
"I caught him boarding my yacht on a marauding expedition last night," said Roper, smiling.
"Bless my soul! What do you mean?"
"Sit down and take breakfast with us, and I will explain."
"And what are you going to do with this desperate young man?" asked the broker at the end of the story.
"I shall invite him to accompany me to Bar Harbor on my yacht. But first we must call on the harbor police, as our testimony will be needed to convict the rascals who came near robbing me of five thousand dollars' worth of valuables."
CHAPTER XXX.
JED ENTERTAINS AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE
Though the trial of the harbor thieves was expedited, it was a week before Jed and Mr. Roper were able to leave New York. Jed's testimony settled the matter, and the two thieves were sentenced to terms of five years' imprisonment.
"I'll get even with you yet, young fellow!" muttered the sallow-faced man, eyeing Jed with deep malignity as he left the witness-box.
"Where is your trunk?" asked Mr. Roper after their first visit to the office of the harbor police.
"I never owned one, Mr. Roper."
"Your valise, then."
"It is at a small hotel near the Battery."
"Get it and bring it on board the yacht."
Jed did so, and Mr. Roper asked to see it.
"You are poorly equipped, Jed," he said. "That reminds me that if I am going to monopolize your services I must pay you some salary. How will fifty dollars a month answer?"
"But, Mr. Roper, I can't earn as much as that."
"Perhaps not, but if I am willing to pay it, you can set your mind at rest. I will see that you are better provided with clothing, undergarments, et cetera. Here, give me a piece of paper."
Mr. Roper drew up a list of articles which he thought Jed might need—a very liberal list, by the way—and sent him with a note to his own tradesmen, with directions to supply him with such articles as he might select. He also gave him an order on his own tailor for a suit of clothes.
"But, Mr. Roper, it will take me a long time to pay for all these out of my wages," protested Jed.
Schuyler Roper laughed.
"My dear boy," he said, "I haven't the least idea of making you pay for them. Just look upon me as your older brother, who is able and willing to provide for you."
"I am deeply grateful to you, Mr. Roper," responded Jed earnestly. "I certainly stumbled into luck when I boarded your yacht."
"I don't know how it is," said Roper, as he eyed Jed thoughtfully, "you didn't seem a stranger to me even when I first saw you. It seemed natural for me to look after you. I am an only son, and you never knew what it was to have a brother. I begin to think that I have lost a great deal in being so much alone."
"You may be deceived in me, Mr. Roper. You know very little of me, and that is not at all to my advantage."
"Well, I admit that, Jed. Considering that I caught you in the act of robbing me, I may be said to have known you at your worst."
"You know nothing of my past life."
"You shall tell me all about it after a while, when we are not so busy."
Meanwhile Jed became familiar with his duties on board the yacht, and during the absence of Mr. Roper was regarded by the men as his representative.
No one could have treated him with more generous confidence than his new friend. Jed was intrusted at times with considerable sums for disbursements, and was proud of the confidence reposed in him. Of Mr. Roper, except that he appeared to be a rich young man, he knew next to nothing, till one day he fell in with his watering-place friend, Howell Foster.
"You are still with Schuyler?" he asked.
"Oh yes, sir. I am going with him to Bar Harbor."
"And then?"
"I believe he means to keep me with him."
"You are in luck. Schuyler is a generous, open-hearted young man, liberal to a fault, and ready to do anything for one he takes to. I suppose you know that he is rich?"
"I thought he must be."
"His father died two years since, leaving him half a million of dollars. He spends freely, but does not squander his money. He is paying for the college education of a poor boy in whom he feels an interest—the son of an old bookkeeper of his father's—as I happen to know. He is a favorite in society, but has never shown an inclination to marry."
"Is his mother living?" asked Jed.
"No; she died before his father. He is very much alone in the world."
"That is why he is so generous to me, I think."
"Perhaps so, but it is his nature to be kind. By the way, Jed, when my family comes back from Sea Spray I would like to have you call upon us. We live on Madison Avenue."
"Thank you, Mr. Foster. If I am in New York I shall be glad to do so."
"I begin to think I am getting into society," thought Jed. "It is not over three months since I left the Scranton poorhouse, and here I am adopted by one rich man and welcomed at the house of another."
It was natural that Jed should feel elated by his good luck. But he was not allowed to forget his early adversity, for on the fourth day after entering the service of Mr. Roper he met on Broadway, just above Chambers Street, his old enemy, Percy Dixon.
Percy was the first to recognize him.
"Oh it's you, is it?" he said in considerable surprise.
Jed smiled. He felt that he could afford to disregard Percy's impertinence.
"My dear friend Percy," he said. "How well you remember me!"
"Yes, I remember you, and so does Mr. Fogson of the Scranton poorhouse."
"Remember me to the kind old man!" said Jed comically.
"How soon are you going back?"
"Not very soon. Of course it would be pleasant to me to be able to see you every day, Percy, but–"
"You needn't flatter yourself that I would take any notice of you. What are you doing for a living?"
"I am going yachting in a few days."
"What! Oh, I understand. You have hired out as a sailor."
"Well no, not exactly."
"What yacht are you working on?"
"Perhaps you would like to visit it?"
"Yes, I would," said Percy, feeling puzzled and curious.
"Come to the Battery with me, then. We'd better board the next car."
Percy followed Jed into a Broadway car, and Jed, to his surprise, paid the fare.
"I was going to pay the fare," said Percy.
"Oh never mind!" returned Jed carelessly.
"I don't want to put you to expense."
"Oh! it's not worth minding."
Arrived at the Battery, Jed called a boatman and said, "Row me out to the Juno, beyond Governor's Island."
Jed leaned back in the boat, and Percy stared at him in wonder. When they reached the yacht one of the men produced a ladder, and Jed led the way on board.
"Any orders, Mr. Gilman?" asked the sailor respectfully.
"No, Kimball; I haven't seen Mr. Roper since morning, and don't know if he wants anything done."
"Do you think you can spare me to go on shore for a couple of hours?"
"Yes, you may go."
Jed went to the side and said to the boatman, "You may take this man on shore, and come back in an hour and a half for my friend and myself.
"Now, Percy, allow me to offer you a little refreshment."
Jed went to the pantry and brought out some cold meat, bread and butter, and two bottles of ginger ale, with the necessary dishes.
"I can't offer you anything very tempting," he said, "but the boat ride may have given you an appetite for plain fare."
Percy could hardly conceal his surprise. He stared at Jed as if fascinated.
"Won't you get into trouble by making so free with your master's things?"
"Who told you I had a master?"
"Who owns this yacht?"
"Mr. Schuyler Roper."
"He must be rich."
"I hear that he is worth half a million dollars," said Jed in an off-hand manner.
"And how did you get in with him?" asked Percy rather enviously.
"It was an accident," answered Jed, by no means disposed to tell Percy the particulars of his first meeting with Mr. Roper.
"Suppose he should come now, what would he say to your making so free?"
"That he was glad to have me entertain my friends."
"You seem to be pretty sure of your footing with him."
"I have reason to be. He tells me to look upon him as an older brother."
"He may find you out some time," suggested Percy with disagreeable significance.
"What do you mean?"
"He may find out that his younger brother was raised in a poorhouse."
"I have no doubt he will learn it if he gets acquainted with you."
"What do you mean?" asked Percy coloring.
"That you would probably tell him. By the way, has Mr. Holbrook got home from Chicago yet?"
"I believe not. Do you expect he will take you back?"
"No; I prefer my present position. I shall probably sail for Bar Harbor with Mr. Roper on Saturday."
"It's strange how you've got on since you left the poorhouse," said Percy uncomfortably.
"Yes; I think even you will agree that I did well to leave it."
"Your luck may turn," added Percy hopefully.
"Perhaps it will, but I hope not."
Presently the boatman came back, and Jed sent Percy back to the city, paying the boatman in advance.
"It beats all how that pauper gets along!" reflected Percy, but from his expression the reflection gave him no pleasure.
CHAPTER XXXI.
JED RETURNS GOOD FOR EVIL
In the short time before the Juno left for Bar Harbor, Schuyler Roper became quite intimate with Jed. There was never a trace of condescension in his manner to his boy friend, but Jed was always treated as if in birth and position he was the equal of the young patrician. Together they walked about the city, and frequently dined together, always at some expensive hotel or restaurant.
"What time is it, Jed?" asked Mr. Roper one day as they were passing the Star Theatre.
"I am afraid I left my watch at home," answered Jed, smiling.
"Then we shall have to supply its place."
Schuyler Roper turned the corner of Fourteenth Street, and led the way to Tiffany's well-known establishment on the corner of Fifteenth Street and Union Square.
"Let us see some gold watches," he said to a salesman.
A tray of handsome timepieces was produced.
"How expensive a watch would you like, sir? Is it for yourself?"
"No, for this young gentleman. Look over these watches, Jed, and see what one you like best."
Jed made choice of a very neat gold watch with a handsome dial.
"What is the price?" asked Mr. Roper.
"A hundred and twenty-five dollars."
Jed opened his eyes wide in astonishment. A hundred and twenty-five dollars seemed to him a very large sum, and so unaccustomed was he to expensive jewelry that he had not known that there were any watches so costly.
"Very well; we will take it. Show me some gold chains."
Choice was made of a fifty-dollar gold chain. It was attached to the watch, and Mr. Roper, handing it to Jed, said, "Put it in your pocket."
"Do you really mean the watch and chain for me?" asked Jed, almost incredulous.
"Certainly."
"How can I thank you, Mr. Roper?" said Jed gratefully.
"My dear boy," rejoined Roper kindly, "I want your appearance to do me credit. That you will do me credit I feel confident."
It was about this time that Jed met an old acquaintance—one whom he had no reason to remember with kindly feelings. He had occasion to go across Cortlandt Street ferry, when on board the boat he saw in front of him a figure that seemed familiar. He walked forward till he could see the face of the young man to whom it belonged. Then it flashed upon him that it was Maurice Graham, the young man who had invited him to his room on Twenty-Seventh Street and robbed him of his small stock of money.
Now that the tide had turned, Jed did not feel so incensed against the fellow as at first. Still he determined to let him understand that he knew exactly how he had been swindled.
He touched Graham on the shoulder, and the young man wheeled round with an apprehensive look, which he did not lose when he saw and recognized Jed.
"Did you touch me?" he asked, with an evident intention of ignoring Jed's acquaintance.
"Yes, Mr. Graham. We parted rather suddenly, you remember," said Jed significantly.
"Oh, I see. You are–"
"Jed Gilman."
"I was wondering what became of you. I was called up town to the house of a sick friend that evening, and when I went back the next day Mrs. Gately told me you had gone away."
"Indeed! Did she tell you that I was robbed of thirty-five dollars during the night, and that I awoke penniless?"
"No," answered Graham faintly. "I am surprised."
"I thought you might be. Are you in the habit of borrowing money from people who are asleep?"
"What do you mean? You don't think I took the money?"
"Yes, I think you did."
"Why, didn't I tell you that I spent the night with a sick friend in—in Eighty-Seventh Street. How could I rob you?"
"You came back during the evening and found me asleep."
"That's a mistake!" said Graham quickly.
"It is true. Mrs. Gately let you in, as she informed me the next morning."
Maurice Graham looked very much disconcerted, and looked eagerly to the Jersey shore, which they were fast approaching.
"Do you know that I would have had no breakfast if Mrs. Gately had not taken compassion on me?"
"You don't look—very destitute—now."
"I am not. I have been lucky enough to find a good position. But that thirty-five dollars belonged to me. How much of it can you return to me?"
Maurice Graham colored and looked embarrassed.
"I—the fact is," he stammered, "I'm almost broke."
"Is this true?"
"On my honor I've only got a dollar and ten cents in my pocket, and I don't know what will become of me when that is gone."
"You have got rid of it very quick."
"I've been a fool," said Graham gloomily. "I spent it mostly on pool and drinks. Then of course I've had to live."
"But your situation–"
"I haven't any."
"Perhaps you will meet another boy from the country."
"I treated you awful mean—I know I did," burst out Graham, "and I've been very sorry for it. I've often wished that I had left you five dollars."
"Well, that would have helped me. But don't you think it would have been better to have left me the whole?"
"Yes, it would; but I am very unlucky."
"I am afraid you don't deserve good luck. Isn't there anything you can do?"
"Yes."
"Can't you find another broker to take you in his office?"
"I never was in a broker's office," confessed Graham.
"What was your business, then? I suppose you had some way of making a living?"
"I am a barber by trade, but I got tired of the confinement, and so I thought I'd become a sport. I started out with a hundred dollars which it took me a year to save up, and I got rid of it in two weeks. Then I fell in with you."
"And with my thirty-five dollars."
"Yes."
"The best thing you can do is to go back to your business."
"I would if I could."
"Why can't you?"
"Because my razors are in hock."
It is the custom of journeymen barbers to supply their own razors and a pair of shears for hair-cutting.
"I suppose that means in pawn?"
"Yes."
"When can you get a place if you get your razors back?"
"I can go to work to-morrow."
"What sum will get them out?"
"Four dollars and a half."
"Where are they?"
"In a pawnshop on the Bowery."
"Come with me and I will get them out for you if you will promise to go to work."
"I will," answered Graham earnestly. "I'll give you my word I will."
"Come back on the next boat, then, and I will go with you to the pawnshop."
"It will take up your time. You don't mean to give me in charge when we reach New York?" said Graham apprehensively.
"No; I am willing to give you a fresh chance. I hope you will improve it."
Jed took out his watch to note the time.
"Is that watch yours? It's a beauty," said Graham.
"Yes; it came from Tiffany's."
"Did you have it when I met you?"
"No; if I had, that would have gone the same way as the money."
"You must be awfully lucky!"
"I suppose I have been. At any rate I have been honest."
"Honesty seems to pay. I must try it."
"I advise you to," said Jed, smiling.
When Jed parted from Graham it occurred to him that he would call on Mrs. Gately. She had provided him with a breakfast when he needed one, and seemed kindly disposed towards him.
When he rang the bell of the small house on Twenty-Seventh Street, Mrs. Gately herself came to the door.
"Did you wish to see me, sir?"
"You don't remember me, Mrs. Gately?"
The old lady peered through her glasses.
"Why bless me!" she said, "if it isn't the young man from the country. But you're dressed so fine I hardly knew you. I hope you're prosperin'."
"Yes, thank you, Mrs. Gately. I have been quite lucky, but I was pretty low in spirits as well as in pockets when I left you."
"Why, you're lookin' fine. Won't you stay for supper? Luella Dickinson will be home soon—she that tends at Macy's. I've often spoken to her about you. Luella's very romantic."
"I am not, Mrs. Gately, and I'm afraid I can't stop. I must be on board my yacht in an hour."
"Your yacht! Bless me, you don't mean to say you've got a yacht?"
"Well, it belongs to a friend, but we enjoy it together."
"Have you seen the bad young man who robbed you?"
"Yes; I saw him this afternoon."
"You don't say! Did you have him arrested?"
"No; I helped him get some things out of pawn."
"That's a real Christian act, but I don't think I'd have done it. You deserve to prosper. I wish you could stay and meet Luella."
"Some other time, Mrs. Gately."
At supper the landlady told Miss Dickinson of Jed's call. Luella expressed great regret that she had not seen him.
"I should fall in love with Mr. Gilman, I know I would," she said. "Why didn't you ask him to call at Macy's?"
"I will when I see him again."
