XXIII.
A BOLD VENTURE.
“Mr. Slocum, good morning, sir; I came around to ask you to lend me five dollars.”
Mr. Slocum, Manager of the Harlem Steamboat Company, looked up from his desk in surprise when he heard this abrupt announcement.
“What’s that?” he asked curtly.
“Lend me five dollars,” said the little boy who had first addressed him.
“Who are you?” demanded Mr. Slocum.
“I’m nobody,” said the boy,—“nobody, but I want you to lend me five dollars.”
Mr. Slocum, who was generally said to be a hard man to deal with, was surprised at the boy’s presumption, yet, nevertheless, he was secretly pleased at the boy’s frank and open manner.
“Do you know what borrowing money means?” asked Mr. Slocum, rising and looking down upon the diminutive figure standing before him. The boy was barefooted, held his hat in his hand, and his hair was nicely combed. Mr. Slocum continued: “Don’t you know when a person borrows money he is supposed to pay it back?”
“Oh, yes;” said the boy, “I know that. You lend me the money, and I’ll pay it back all right. I only want it for three months. I’ll pay it back.”
“Lend Me Five Dollars.”
There was something about the boy’s face and general deportment that won Mr. Slocum’s favor. He ran his hand into his pocket, pulled out a five-dollar bill and handed it to the boy.
“Thank you, sir;” said the boy, as he turned to go,—“thank you sir; I’ll pay it back.”
Three months later, the same little boy entered Mr. Slocum’s office.
“Here’s your five dollars, Mr. Slocum,” said the little boy. “I’m much obliged to you, sir.”
“Who are you?” asked Mr. Slocum, as he reached out and took the money.
“I’m nobody,” said the boy.
“Well, why do you bring me this money?”
“Because I owe it to you,” explained the little fellow.
The boy told Mr. Slocum of the loan made three months before, and made Mr. Slocum recall the transaction. Mr. Slocum asked him to have a seat.
“Well, what did you do with that money?” asked Mr. Slocum.
“Well,” said the boy, “I was hard up when I called on you. Me and my ma had been selling papers for a living up to that time, but somehow we had got behind with our expenses. House rent was due, and we didn’t have nothing to eat. I had to find a friend somewhere. So, after trying two or three places where I was known and failing to get any help, I decided to drop in here and see you. You know the result. Well, I paid my rent for a week; rented a little stand for my ma to sell papers on the corner, while I continued to hustle in the street. That five dollars you lent me give me good luck, and I’ve been going right up ever since. Me and ma are living in a better place now; we’ve got a plenty to eat; and we’ve got a plenty of fine customers. I told you when I came here before that I was nobody then, but I’m somebody now, Mr. Slocum,—anyhow, I feel so—and I want to thank you again for the help you gave me.”
The boy’s story pleased Mr. Slocum very much. It is needless to say that he took an interest in that boy, and continued to befriend him.
This happened many years ago. To-day Tommy Tolliver—that was the boy’s name—is the Assistant General Manager of the Harlem Steamboat Company, and a very well-to-do man. Mr. Slocum says that there is nobody in the world like him. Tommy’s mother died some years ago, but she lived long enough to see her little boy taken out of the streets, put to school, and started on his career of usefulness.