Grit was not wholly without curiosity, and, as was natural, he speculated as to the amount which the wallet contained. When Mr. Jackson and Willie had left him, he took it out of his pocket and opened it.
He extracted a roll of bills and counted them over. There were ten five-dollar bills, and ten dollars in notes of a smaller denomination.
"Sixty dollars!" ejaculated Grit, with a thrill of pleasure. "I never was so rich in all my life."
He felt that the sum was too large for him to accept, and he was half tempted to run after Mr. Jackson and say so. But quick reflection satisfied him that the generous New Yorker wished him to retain it, and, modest though he was, he was conscious that in saving the little boy's life he had placed his passenger under an obligation which a much larger sum would not have overpaid. Besides, he saw two new passengers walking toward his boat, who doubtless wished to be ferried across the river. They were Phil Courtney and Marion Clarke.
"We are just in time, Mr. Grit," said the young lady, smiling.
"Yes, my good fellow," said Phil condescendingly, "we will employ you again."
"You are very kind," answered Grit, with a smile of amusement.
"I like to encourage you," continued Phil, who was not very quick to interpret the looks of others.
Grit looked at Marion, and noticed that she, too, looked amused.
"Have you had any passengers since we came over?" asked Phil, in a patronizing tone.
He was quite ready to employ his old schoolmate, provided he would show proper gratitude, and be suitably impressed by his condescension.
"I have been across several times," answered Grit briefly.
"And how much have you made now?" asked Phil, with what he intended to pass for benevolent interest.
If Phil had been his friend, Grit would not have minded telling him; but he had the pride of self-respect, and he objected to being patronized or condescended to.
"I haven't counted up," he answered.
"I might have brought my own boat," said Phil, "but I like to encourage you."
"Really, Phil, you are appearing in a new character," said Marion. "I never should have taken you for a philanthropist before. I thought you told your mother it would be too much bother to row over in your own boat."
"That was one reason," said Phil, looking slightly embarrassed. "Besides, I didn't want to interfere with Grit's business. He is poor, and has to support his mother out of his earnings."
This was in bad taste, and Grit chafed against it.
"That is true," he said, "but I don't ask any sympathy. I am prosperous enough."
"Oh, yes; you are doing well enough for one in your position, I don't doubt. How much would you give, now, to have as much money as I carry in this pocketbook?" asked Phil boastfully.
He had just passed his birthday, and had received a present of ten dollars from his father, and five dollars each from his mother and an aunt. He had spent a part of it for a hat and in other ways, but still he had seventeen dollars left.
"Perhaps I have as much money," answered Grit quietly.
"Oho! That's a good joke," said Phil.
"No joke at all," said Grit. "I don't know how much money you have in your pocketbook, but I presume I can show more."
Phil's face grew red with anger. He was one of those disagreeable boys who are purse-proud, and he was provoked at hearing such a ridiculous assertion from a poor boy who had to earn his own living.
Even Marion regarded Grit with some wonder, for she happened to know how much money her cousin carried, and it seemed to her very improbable that the young boatman should have as much in his possession.
"Don't make a fool of yourself, Grit!" said Phil sharply.
"Thank you; I don't propose to."
"But you are doing it."
"How?"
"Didn't you say you had more money than I?"
"I think I have."
"Hear him talk!" said Phil, with a glance of derision.
By this time the young boatman's grit was up, if I may use the expression, and he resolved to surprise and mortify his young adversary.
"If you are not afraid to test it," he said, "I will leave it to the young lady to decide. Let her count the money in your pocketbook, and I will then give her my wallet for the same purpose."
"Done!" said Phil promptly.
Marion, wondering a little at Grit's confidence, took her cousin's pocketbook, and counted the contents.
"Well, Marion, how much is there?" said Phil exultingly.
"Seventeen dollars and thirty-seven cents," was the announcement of the fair umpire.
Phil smiled triumphantly.
"You didn't think I had so much—eh, Grit?" he said.
"No, I didn't," Grit admitted.
"Now hand over your wallet."
"With pleasure, if Miss Marion will take the trouble," answered the young boatman, with a polite bow.
When Marion opened the wallet, and saw the roll of bills, both she and Phil looked astonished. She proceeded to count the bills, however, and in a tone of serious surprise announced:
"I find sixty dollars here."
"That is right," said Grit quietly, as he received back his wallet, and thrust it into his pocket.
Phil hardly knew whether he was more surprised or mortified at this unexpected result. But a thought struck him.
"Whose money is that?" he demanded abruptly.
"It is mine."
"I don't believe it. You are carrying it over to some one in Chester."
"Perhaps I am; but, if so, that some one is my mother."
"You don't mean to say that you have sixty dollars of your own?"
"Yes, I do. You didn't think I had so much money—eh, Phil?" he retorted, with a smile.
"I don't believe a word of it," returned Phil crossly. "It is ridiculous that a boy like you should have so much money. It can't be yours."
"Do you doubt it, Miss Marion?" asked Grit, turning to the young lady.
"No; I believe that it is yours since you say so."
"Thank you."
"If it is yours, where did you get it?" asked Phil, whose curiosity overcame his mortification sufficiently to induce him to ask the question.
"I don't feel called upon to tell you," answered Grit.
"Then I can guess."
"Very well. If you guess right, I will admit it."
"You found it, and won't be long before finding the owner."
"You are wrong. The money is mine, and was paid me in the course of business."
Phil did not know what to say, but Marion said pleasantly:
"Allow me to congratulate you, Mr. Grit, on being so well off. You are richer than either of your passengers. I never had sixty dollars of my own in my life."
By this time they had reached the other side of the river, and the two passengers disembarked.
"Well, Phil, you came off second best," said his cousin.
"I can't understand how the boy came into possession of such a sum of money," said Phil, frowning.
"Nor I; but I am sure of one thing."
"What is that?"
"That he came by it honestly."
"Don't be too sure of that," said Phil, shaking his head.
"Phil, you are too bad," said Marion warmly. "You seem to have taken an unaccountable prejudice against Grit. I am sure he seems to me a very nice boy."
"You're welcome to the young boatman's society," said Phil, with a sneer. "You seem to be fond of low company."
"If you call him low company, then perhaps I am. I never met Grit before this morning, but he seems a very polite, spirited boy, and it is certainly to his credit that he supports his mother."
"I can tell you something about him that may chill your ardor? His father is in jail."
"I heard that it was his stepfather."
"Oh, well, it doesn't matter which."
"In one sense, no. The boy isn't to blame for it."
"No, but it shows of what stock he comes."
Meanwhile, Grit, having fastened his boat, made his way to the cottage on the bluff. He wanted to tell his mother of his good fortune.
"You seem to be in good spirits, Grit," said his mother, as our hero opened the outside door and entered the room where she sat sewing.
"Yes, mother, I have reason to be. Is—is Mr. Brandon home?"
"Yes; he is up-stairs lying down," answered Mrs. Brandon, with a sigh.
Grit rose and closed the door.
"I don't want him to hear what I'm going to tell you," he said. "Mother, I have been very lucky to-day."
"I suppose Mr. Jackson was liberal."
"I should say he was. Guess how much money I have in this wallet, mother."
"Five dollars."
"Multiply that by twelve."
"You don't mean to say that he gave you sixty dollars?" inquired his mother quickly.
"Yes, I do. See here," and Grit displayed the roll of bills.
"You are, indeed, in luck, Grit. How much good this money will do us. But I forgot," she added, her expression changing to one of anxious solicitude.
"What did you forget, mother?"
"That your father—that Mr. Brandon had returned."
"What difference will that make, mother? I suppose, of course, it will increase our expenses."
"If that were all, Grit."
"What is it, then, you fear, mother?"
"That he will take this money away from you."
"I should like to see him try it," exclaimed Grit, compressing his lips.
"He will try it, Grit. He said only an hour ago that you would have to account to him for your daily earnings."
"Doesn't he mean to do any work himself?"
"I fear not. You know what sort of a man he is, Grit. He probably means to live on what we can earn, and spend his time and what money he can get hold of at the tavern."
"And he calls himself a man!" said Grit disdainfully.
"I am afraid our quiet, happy life is at an end, Grit," sighed his mother.
Grit did not answer for a moment, but he looked stern and determined. Finally, he answered:
"I don't want to make any disturbance, mother, or to act improperly, but I feel sure that we ought not to submit to such treatment."
"What can we do, Grit?"
"If Mr. Brandon cares to stay here we will provide him a home, give him his board, but, as to supplying him with money, we ought not to do it."
"I agree with you, Grit, but I don't see how we can help it. Mr. Brandon is a man, and you are only a boy. I don't want you to quarrel with him."
"I won't if I can help it. By the way, mother, I don't think it will be prudent to leave all this money in the house."
"What can we do with it?"
"I will put it out of my hands. Perhaps I had better not tell you what I am going to do with it, for Mr. Brandon might ask you, and it is better that you should be able to tell him that you don't know."
"You are right, Grit."
"I will attend to that matter at once, mother. I will be back in half or three-quarters of an hour," and the young boatman hurried from the house.
He bent his steps to the house of his particular friend, Fred Lawrence, the son of a lawyer in the village. Mr. Lawrence was rated as wealthy by the people in the village, and lived in a house quite as good as Mr. Courtney's, but his son Fred was a very different style of boy. He had no purse-pride, and it never occurred to him that Grit was unfit to associate with, simply because he was poor, and had to earn a living for himself and his mother by ferrying passengers across the Kennebec. In fact, he regarded Grit as his most intimate friend, and spent as much time in his company as their differing engagements would allow.
Phil Courtney, though he condescended to Grit, regarded Fred as his social equal, and wished to be intimate with him; but Fred did not fancy Phil, and the latter saw, with no little annoyance, that the young boatman's company was preferred to his. It displayed shocking bad taste on the part of Fred, but he did not venture to express himself to the lawyer's son as he would not scruple to do to the young ferryman.
Naturally, when Grit felt the need of advice, he thought of his most intimate friend, and sought the lawyer's house.
He met Fred on the way.
"Hello, Grit!" said Fred cordially. "Where are you going?"
"I was going to your house."
"Then turn round, and we will go there."
"I can talk with you in the street. I want your advice and help."
"My advice is probably very valuable," said Fred, smiling, "considering my age and experience. However, my help you can rely upon, if I can give it."
"Did you hear that Mr. Brandon had got home?" asked Grit abruptly.
"Your stepfather?"
"Yes; I am sorry to say that there is that tie between us. I presume you know where he has spent the last five years?"
"Yes," answered Fred.
"Of course, I am glad for his sake that he is free; but I am afraid he is going to give us trouble."
"How does he appear?"
"I have not seen him yet."
"How's that?"
"He only arrived to-day, and I was absent when he reached home."
"Does he mean to live here?"
"I am afraid so; and, what is more, I am afraid he means that mother and I shall pay his expenses. He has already told mother that he shall require me to account to him for my daily earnings."
"That will be hard on you."
"Yes; I need all I can make to pay our daily expenses, and I don't feel like letting mother suffer for the necessaries of life in order to supply Mr. Brandon with money for drink."
"You are right there, Grit. I sympathize with you; but how can I help it?"
"That is what I am coming to. I want to deposit my money with you—that is, what I don't need to use."
"I suppose you haven't much. It might not be well to trust me too far," said Fred, smiling.
"I have sixty dollars here, which I would like to put in your hands—that is, all but two dollars."
"Sixty dollars! Where on earth did you get so much money, Grit?" asked his friend, opening his eyes wide in astonishment.
Grit told the story briefly, and received the warm congratulations of his friend.
"You deserve it all, Grit," he said, "for your brave deed."
"Don't flatter me, Fred, or I may put on airs like Phil Courtney. But, to come back to business—will you do me this favor?"
"Of course, I will. Father has a safe in his office, and I will put the money in there. Whenever you want any of it, you have only to ask me."
"Thank you. That will suit me. I shan't break in upon it unless I am obliged to, as I would like to have it in reserve to fall back upon."
"Come and take supper with us, Grit, won't you?" asked Fred cordially.
"Thank you, Fred; not to-night. I haven't seen Mr. Brandon yet, and I may as well get over the first interview as soon as possible. We shall have to come to an understanding, and it is better not to delay it."
"Good night, then; I shall see you to-morrow, for I am going to Portville, and I shall go over in your boat."
"Then we can have a chat together. Good night."
Meanwhile, Mr. Brandon, having slept off his debauch, had come down-stairs.
"Where's the cub?" he asked.
"I wish you wouldn't call him by that name," said his wife. "He wouldn't like it."
"I shall call him what I please. Hasn't he been in?"
"Yes, Grit has been in."
"Grit?"
"That's a nickname the boys have given him, and as everybody calls him so, I have got into that way."
"Oh, well, call him what you like. Has he been in?"
"Yes."
"Where is he now?"
"He went out for a short time. I expect him in every minute."
"Did he leave his day's earnings with you?"
"No," answered Mrs. Brandon, with a troubled look. "He has the best right to that himself."
"Has he, hey? We'll see about that. I, as his stepfather and legal guardian, shall have something to say to that."
Mrs. Brandon was not called upon to reply, for the door opened just then, and the young boatman stood in the presence of his worthy stepfather.
Grit was only ten years old when his stepfather began to serve out his sentence at the penitentiary, and the two had not seen each other since. Instead of the small boy he remembered, Brandon saw before him a boy large and strong for his age, of well-knit frame and sturdy look. Five years had made him quite a different boy. His daily exercise in rowing had strengthened his muscles and developed his chest, so that he seemed almost a young man.
Brandon stared in surprise at the boy.
"Is that—the cub?" he asked.
"I object to that name, Mr. Brandon," said Grit quietly.
"You've grown!" said Brandon, still regarding him with curiosity.
"Yes, I ought to have grown some in five years."
It occurred to Mr. Brandon that it might not be so easy as he had expected to bully his stepson. He resolved at first to be conciliatory.
"I'm glad to see you," he said. "It's long since we met."
"Yes," answered Grit.
He was not prepared to return the compliment, and express pleasure at his stepfather's return.
"I'm glad you and your mother have got along so well while I was away."
Grit felt tempted to say that they had got along better during Mr. Brandon's absence than when he was with them, but he forbore. He did not want to precipitate a conflict, though, from what his mother had said, he foresaw that one would come soon enough.
"Your mother tells me that you make money by your boat," continued Mr. Brandon.
"Yes, sir."
"That's a good plan. I approve it. How much money have you made to-day, now?"
"I have a dollar or two in my pocket," answered Grit evasively.
"Very good!" said Brandon, in a tone of satisfaction. "You may as well hand it to me."
So the crisis had come! Mrs. Brandon looked at her son and her husband with anxiety, fearing there would be a quarrel, and perhaps something worse. She was tempted to say something in deprecation, but Grit said promptly:
"Thank you, Mr. Brandon, but I would prefer to keep the money myself."
Brandon was rather taken aback by the boy's perfect coolness and self-possession.
"How old are you?" he asked, with a frown.
"Fifteen."
"Indeed!" sneered Brandon. "I thought, from the way you talked, you were twenty-one. You don't seem to be aware that I am your legal guardian."
"No, sir, I was not aware of it."
"Then it's time you knew it. Ain't I your stepfather?"
"I suppose so," said Grit, with reluctance.
"Ha, you admit that, do you? I'm the master of this house, and it's my place to give orders. Your wages belong to me, but if you are obedient and respectful, I will allow you a small sum daily, say five cents."
"That arrangement is not satisfactory, Mr. Brandon," said Grit firmly.
"Why isn't it?" demanded his stepfather, frowning.
"I use my money to support the family."
"Did I say anything against it? As the master of the house, the bills come to me to be paid, and therefore I require you to give me every night whatever you may have taken during the day."
"Do you intend to earn anything yourself?" asked Grit pointedly; "or do you expect to live on us?"
"Boy, you are impertinent," said Brandon, coloring.
"Don't provoke Mr. Brandon," said Grit's mother timidly.
"We may as well come to an understanding," said Grit boldly. "I am willing to do all I can for you, mother, but Mr. Brandon is able to take care of himself, and I cannot support him, too."
"Is this the way you talk to your father, you impertinent boy?" exclaimed Brandon wrathfully.
"You are not my father, Mr. Brandon," said Grit coldly.
"It is all the same; I am your mother's husband."
"That's a different thing."
"Once more, are you going to give me the money you have in your pocket?"
"No, sir."
Brandon looked at Grit, and he felt that it would have given him pleasure to shake the rebellion out of his obstinate stepson, but supper was almost ready, and he felt hungry. He decided that it would be as well to postpone an open outbreak. Grit was in the house, and not likely to run away.
"We'll speak of this another time," he said, waving his hand. "You will find, young man, that it is of no use opposing me. Mrs. Brandon, is supper almost ready?"
"Nearly," answered his wife, glad to have the subject postponed.
"Then serve it as soon as possible," he said, in a lordly tone. "I am to meet a gentleman on business directly afterward."
Supper was on the table in fifteen minutes.
Mr. Brandon ate with evident enjoyment. Indeed, it was so short a time since he had been restricted to prison fare that he relished the plain but well-cooked dishes which his wife prepared.
"Another cup of tea, Mrs. Brandon," he said. "It seems pleasant to be at home again after my long absence."
"I shouldn't think he would like to refer to his imprisonment," thought Grit.
"I hope soon to be in business," continued Brandon, "and we shall then be able to live in better style. When that time comes I shall be willing to have Grit retain his small earnings, stipulating only that he shall buy his own clothes, and pay his mother, say a dollar and a quarter a week, for board."
He said this with the air of a man who considered himself liberal, but neither Grit nor his mother expressed their sense of his generosity.
"Of course, just at present," Mr. Brandon proceeded, "I have no money. The minions of the law took from me all I had when they unjustly thrust me into a foul dungeon. For a time, therefore, I shall be compelled to accept Grit's earnings, but it will not be for long."
Grit said nothing to this hint, but all the same he determined, whether for a short or a long time, to resist the exactions of his stepfather.
As for Brandon, his change of front was induced by the thought that he could accomplish by stratagem what he might have had some difficulty in securing by force. He still had twenty-five cents of the dollar which his wife had given him in the morning.
When supper was over he rose, and, putting on his hat, said:
"I am going to the village on business. I shall be home in good season. Are you going my way, Grit?"
"Not just at present," answered Grit.
Mother and son looked at each other when they were alone.
"I suppose he's gone to the tavern," said Grit.
"Yes, I presume so," said his mother, sighing.
"Well, mother, I didn't give up the money."
"No, Grit, but he means to have it yet."
"He's welcome to it if he can get it," said the boy manfully.
"You haven't got the sixty dollars with you?" said his mother anxiously.
"No, they are safe. I have kept only two dollars, thinking you might need some groceries."
"Yes, I do, Grit. They go off faster, now that we have another mouth to feed."
"Suppose you make out a list of what you want, mother, and I will go up to the store this evening. I may as well save Mr. Brandon from temptation."
His mother made a list, and Grit, putting it in his pocket, walked up to the village.
The groceries, with a pound of steak, cost a dollar and ninety cents.
As Grit took the bundles and walked homeward, he thought to himself.
"Mr. Brandon wouldn't feel very well repaid for his trouble if he should take all I have left. He ought to be satisfied with free board, without expecting us to supply him with pocket-money besides. I wonder what he would say if he knew how much money I have deposited with Fred Lawrence?"
Grit congratulated himself that his stepfather was not likely to make this discovery, but in this he reckoned without his host.
Mr. Brandon made the discovery that same evening. How it came about will appear in the next chapter.
"I had no idea the boy had grown so much," said Brandon to himself, as he directed his course toward the tavern. "I thought he was a little kid, but he's almost as big as I am. He's kind of obstinate, too, but he'll find out who's master before long. It's ridiculous, his expectin' to have the handlin' of all the money that comes into the house. Just as if he had any judgment—a boy of his age."
The chances are that Grit's judgment in the matter would have proved better than Brandon's, since the latter proposed to spend a large portion of the money for drink.
"I expect the boy makes a good thing out of his boating," resumed Mr. Brandon. "He owned up that he had almost two dollars, and it's likely he earned it all to-day."
Presently Brandon reached the tavern, and entered the barroom.
He called for whisky, and swallowed it with gusto.
"You may charge it to me," said he carelessly; "I'll pay once a week."
"We don't care to do business that way," said the barkeeper.
"You ain't afraid I won't pay you?" said Brandon, in a tone of affected indignation.
"I don't know whether you would or not, but our terms are cash."
"Oh, well, if you're so strict as that, take it out of this quarter," said Brandon, throwing his sole remaining coin on the counter.
Fifteen cents were returned to him, and in half an hour that sum was also expended at the bar.
It might have been supposed that Brandon would be satisfied, but he was not. He made an attempt to obtain another drink on credit, but the barkeeper proved obdurate.
Then he engaged in a game of cards, and about half-past nine set out to go home, in a better condition than if he had had more money to spend.
"This will never do!" he muttered, in a discontented tone; "I can't be kept so short as this. It is humiliating to think of me, a grown man, going round without a cent in my pocket, while my stepson is reveling in money. I won't have it, and I'll let him understand it."
A few feet in front of Brandon two boys were walking. One of them was Phil Courtney, and the other Dick Graham, a poor boy, who, by proper subserviency, had earned a position as chief favorite with his companion.
Brandon could not help hearing their conversation. He heard Grit's name mentioned, and this made him listen attentively.
"I can't understand where Grit got his money," Phil was saying.
"How much did you say he had?" inquired Dick.
"Sixty dollars!"
"Whew!"
Brandon felt like saying "Whew!" too, for his amazement was great, but he wanted to hear more, and remained silent.
"Are you sure there were sixty dollars?"
"Yes; my cousin Marion counted it."
"How did Grit happen to show his money?"
"He was boasting that he had more money than I, and I challenged him to show his money."
"I suppose he did show more?"
"Yes, I had only seventeen dollars. But what I can't understand is, where did a common boatman pick up so much money?"
"Perhaps he has been saving for a long time."
"Perhaps so, but I don't believe he could save so much," answered Phil.
"Perhaps he stole it."
Phil didn't believe this, but he would like to have believed it true.
"I shouldn't wonder if he did, though I don't know where he could get the chance."
"I wonder if he'd lend me five dollars," thought Dick Graham, though he did not care to let Phil know his thought. He resolved to be more attentive to Grit, in the hope of pecuniary favors. Meanwhile, he did not forget that Phil also was well provided.
"You were pretty well fixed, too," he said. "I wonder how I'd feel if I had seventeen dollars."
"What do I care about seventeen dollars?" said Phil discontentedly, "when a boy like Grit Morris can show more than three times as much."
"Oh, well, he'll have to spend it. He won't keep it long. By the way, Phil, will you do me a favor?"
"What is it?" asked Phil cautiously.
"Won't you lend me two dollars? I want it the worst way. I haven't got a cent to my name."
"I can't spare it," said Phil curtly.
"It will leave you fifteen——"
"I'm going to use it all. Besides, it would be the same as giving it——"
"No, I'd pay you back in a week or two."
"You've been owing me fifty cents for three months. If you'd paid that up punctually, perhaps I would have lent you. You'd better go to Grit."
"He isn't my friend, and I thought you might not like my going to him."
"Oh, you can borrow as much as you like of him—the more, the better!" returned Phil, with a laugh.
"I'll try it, then. I shall have to pretend to be his friend."
"All right. The faster he gets rid of his money, the better it will suit me."
Brandon heard no more of the conversation, for the boys turned down a side street. But he had heard enough to surprise him.
"Grit got sixty dollars!" he repeated to himself. "Why, the artful young villain! Who'd have thought it? And he coolly refuses to let his father have a cent. He's actually rolling in riches, while I haven't got a penny in my purse. And his mother aids and abets him in it, I'll be bound. It's the blackest ingratitude I ever heard of."
What Grit had to be grateful to him for Mr. Brandon might have found it difficult to instance, but he actually managed to work himself into a fit of indignation because Grit declined to commit his money to his custody.
Brandon felt very much like a man who has suddenly been informed that a pot of gold was concealed in his back yard. Actually, a member of his family possessed the handsome sum of sixty dollars. How was he to get it into his own hands?
That was easier to ask than to answer. As he had said, Grit was a stout, strong boy, nearly his equal in size and strength, and he had already had sufficient acquaintance with his firmness, or obstinacy, as he preferred to call it, to make sure that the boy would not give up the money without a struggle. If now he could get hold of the money by stratagem, it would be easier, and make less disturbance.
Where did Grit keep the money?
"He may have given it to his mother," thought Brandon. "If so, I can find it in one of her bureau drawers. She always used to keep money there. But it is more likely that the boy keeps it in his own pocket. I know what I'll do. I'll get up in the night, when he and his mother are asleep, and search his pockets. Gad, how astonished he'll look in the morning when he searches for it, and finds it missing!"
Brandon was very much amused by this thought, and he laughed aloud.
"Sixty dollars'll set me on my feet again," he reflected. "Let me see. I'll go to Boston, and look round, and see if I can't pick up a job of some kind. There isn't anything to do here in this beastly hole. By the way, I wonder where the boy did get so much money. He must find boatin' more profitable than I had any idea of."
At this point Brandon entered the little path that led to his wife's cottage.
"Mrs. B. is sittin' up," he said, as he saw through the window the figure of his wife in a rocking-chair, apparently occupied with some kind of work. "I'll get her off to bed soon, so that I can have a clear field."
Mrs. Brandon looked up when her husband entered, and noticed, with a feeling of relief, that he was sober. That, however, was not owing to any intentional moderation on his part, but to his lack of funds.
"Sittin' up for me, Mrs. B.?" asked Brandon.
"I generally sit up till past this hour," she answered.
"I feel rather tired myself," said Brandon, succeeding in yawning.
"It isn't on account of having done any work," thought his wife.
"I've been walkin' round considerably, and got tired."
"Do you come from the tavern?" asked Mrs. Brandon coldly.
"Yes, Mrs. B., I expected to meet a gentleman there on business, but he disappointed me. Where's Grit?"
"He has gone to bed. He has got to get up early in the morning, to help me, and then he spends the day in ferrying passengers across the river."
"That's a bright idea of Grit's. I approve it. He makes considerable money, doesn't he?"
"Considerable for a boy. I don't know what I should do if it were not for Grit."
"Just so. But now I'm home, and shall soon get into business. Then you won't need to depend on him. Of course, I shall need a little money to start with."
Mrs. Brandon did not reply to this obvious hint. She prepared for bed. An hour later, Brandon, having ascertained that his wife was asleep, left the room cautiously, and stole into Grit's chamber.
Grit was not aware that Brandon had discovered his secret, but still was not unprepared for a night visit. As we already know, he had but ten cents left of the two dollars he had reserved, and this coin he put into a small leather purse, which he usually carried.
"If Mr. Brandon searches for money, he will be disappointed," he said to himself, with a quiet smile. "He won't find enough to pay him for his trouble."
Grit was not anxious enough about his money to keep awake. When, therefore, his stepfather entered his chamber, he was fast asleep. Brandon listened for a moment to the deep breathing of the boy, and felt that there was no need of caution. He therefore boldly advanced, candle in hand, to the bedside. The candle he set on the bureau, and then took up Grit's clothes, which hung over a chair, and proceeded to examine the pockets.
His countenance changed as he continued the search.
At last he came to the purse, but it felt empty, and he did not open it with much confidence. Thrusting in his finger, he drew out the solitary dime which it contained.
"Only ten cents!" he exclaimed, with intense disappointment. "It isn't worth taking. On second thoughts, I'll take it, though, for it will pay for a drink."
He pocketed the coin, and resumed his search.
"The boy must have a pocketbook somewhere," he muttered. "He wouldn't carry bank-bills in a purse. Where can he keep it?" Once more he explored the pockets of his stepson, but he met with no greater success than before.
It is a curious circumstance that sometimes in profound sleep a person seems vaguely aware of the presence of an intruder, and the feeling is frequently strong enough to disturb slumber. Grit was a sound sleeper, but, however we may account for it, whether it was the instinctive feeling I have mentioned, or the glare of the candle, he woke up, and his glance rested on the kneeling figure of his stepfather rummaging his pockets. Instantly Grit realized the situation, and he felt more amused than indignant, knowing how poorly the searcher would be rewarded.
Brandon's back was turned to him, and our hero felt inclined to try the effect of a practical joke.
In a deep, sepulchral voice, he called out:
"What are you doing there?"
Brandon, taken by surprise, started as if he had been shot, and sprang to his feet in confusion. Turning to the bed, he saw Grit surveying him calmly. Then his natural hardihood restored his self-possession.
"Where do you keep your money, you young cub?" he demanded.
"Where do I keep it? I suspect you know well enough. Haven't you looked into my purse?"
"Yes, and I only found ten cents."
"Did you take it?" asked Grit.
"Yes."
"Then it's lucky I had no more in it."
"Where is the rest of your money?" demanded Brandon.
"What do you mean by the rest of my money?"
"I mean the sixty dollars you had with you to-day."
Grit whistled.
"So you heard I had sixty dollars?" he said.
"Yes."
"It is in a safe place."
"Ha! You own that you had so much money. You wanted to keep it from me, did you?" demanded Brandon, with a frown.
"Yes, I did," admitted Grit. "Did Phil Courtney tell you I had it?"
"No matter how I heard. I know that you are trying to conceal a large sum of money, which ought to be in my hands."
"Indeed! How do you make that out?"
"I am your stepfather and natural guardian. I am the best person to take care of your money."
"I don't think so, and I propose to keep it myself," said Grit firmly.
"Do you defy me?" demanded Brandon angrily.
"If you call my refusing to give you my own money by that name, then I do."
"Boy, you don't know me!" said Brandon, in a tone intended to strike terror into the heart of his stepson. "Hitherto you have had only your mother to look after you, and she has been foolishly indulgent. Now you have a man to deal with. Once more, will you hand me that money?"
"I decline," said Grit firmly.
"Then on your head be the consequences," said Brandon. "You will hear from me again, and soon."
So saying, he stalked majestically from the chamber.
"I wonder what he means to do?" thought Grit.
But the thought did not keep him awake.
The next morning Grit came down to breakfast nearly an hour later than usual. It might have been because he was unusually fatigued, or it may have been on account of his slumbers having been interrupted. When he came down-stairs, he looked at the clock, and realized that he had overslept himself.
"I am nearly an hour late, mother," he said. "Why didn't you call me?"
"I thought you were tired, Grit, and needed sleep."
"Where is Mr. Brandon? I suppose he has not got up!"
"Yes, he has had his breakfast and gone out."
"He is in a great hurry to spend my ten cents," said Grit, laughing.
"What do you mean, Grit?"
"I had a visit from him last night," Grit explained. "He rummaged my pockets, and was successful in finding a dime."
"Is it possible?"
"Why should you be surprised, mother? I was not."
"Did he say anything to you?"
"Yes; he has found out somehow about the sixty dollars, and he asked me to give it to him."
"Oh, Grit, I am afraid there will be trouble," said Mrs. Brandon anxiously. "He won't rest till he gets the money."
"Then he won't rest at all," said Grit firmly.
"I am afraid you will have to give it to him, Grit."
"Not if I know what I am about. No, mother, the money is safe, where he won't find it. I won't tell you, for he might annoy you till you told him."
"No, Grit; don't tell me. I would rather not know. How happy we were before he came, and how rich we should feel if this money had come to you before Mr. Brandon came home!"
"That is true, mother. It's a shame that he should come home to give us so much trouble."
"I can't see how it's all going to end," murmured Mrs. Brandon sadly.
"Nor I; but I mean to resist Mr. Brandon till he finds it's of no use trying to appropriate my money. When he finds he can't get anything out of us except a bare living, he may become disgusted and leave us."
"He won't do it while he has any hope left. What do you think he has been trying to persuade me to do, Grit?"
"I don't know."
"He wants me to mortgage this cottage, and give him the money."
"Just like him, mother. I hope you were firm?"
"Yes, Grit. I told him I would not consent. It is all we have. I cannot part with our home and the roof that shelters us."
"Of course not, mother. You would be very foolish if you did. Did he mention any one that wanted to buy it?"
"Yes, he said that Mr. Green would be willing to advance money upon it."
"Mr. Green—the landlord of the hotel? I don't doubt it. He knows that Brandon would pay back the whole for drink in a short time."
"I am afraid that would be the case."
"Mother," said Grit, with energy, "promise me that you will never consent to this wicked plan."
"No, Grit, I won't. I consider that the house is as much yours as mine, and I am not willing to leave you without a home."
"I don't so much mind that, for I could shift for myself somehow, but I want you to keep it in your own hands, and I am not willing that Mr. Brandon should sacrifice it for drink."
"I agree with you, Grit. Whatever it may cost me, I won't consent."
"The sooner he becomes convinced that he has nothing to hope from either of us, the sooner he will leave us," said Grit. "If I thought he would go away and never come back, I would be willing to let him have the sixty dollars, but it would only make him stay, in the hope of getting more."
By this time Grit had finished his breakfast.
"I must get to work, mother," he said. "I'll be home to dinner at the usual time, if I can."
"If not, I will save something for you, Grit."
The young boatman made his way to the river. Here an unpleasant surprise awaited him. His boat was not where he had left it. He looked in all directions, but it had disappeared.
"What can have become of it?" thought Grit, in perplexity.
Brandon was not usually an early riser, and would not on this occasion have got up so soon if a bright idea had not occurred to him likely to bring money to his purse.
It was certainly vexatious that Grit so obstinately refused to pay into his hands the money he had managed in some way unknown to his stepfather to accumulate. Perhaps some way of forcing the boy to do so might suggest itself, but meanwhile he was penniless; that is, with the exception of the dime he had abstracted during the night. Possibly his wife might have some money. He proceeded to sound her on the subject.
"Mrs. B.," said he, "I shall have to trouble you for a little money."
"I gave you a dollar yesterday," said Mrs. Brandon.
"What's a dollar? I have none of it left now."
"Did you spend it at the tavern?" asked his wife gravely.
"I am not willing to be catechized upon that point," returned Brandon, in a tone of lofty dignity.
"It is quite impossible to supply you with money for such a purpose," continued Mrs. Brandon. "What money Grit earns is wanted for necessary expenses."
"I am not so easily deceived," said her husband, nodding sagaciously.
"It is quite true."
"I won't argue the point, Mrs. B. Have you any change now? That is the question."
"No, I have not."
"Be it so. I have only to remark that you and your son will have occasion to regret the unfriendly and suspicious manner in which you see fit to treat me."
So saying, Mr. Brandon sat down to his breakfast, which he ate with an appetite such as is usually earned by honest toil.
When he rose from the table, he left the cottage without a word.
"How it all this to end?" thought Mrs. Brandon, following his retreating form with an anxious glance. "He has not been here twenty-four hours yet, and he has spent a dollar of Grit's hard earnings, and is dissatisfied because we will not give him more. Besides, he has already broached the subject of mortgaging the house, and all to gratify his insatiable thirst for strong drink."
Certainly the prospects were not very bright, and Mrs. Brandon might well be excused for feeling anxious.
Though Brandon had ten cents in his pocket, the price of a glass of whisky, he did not go at once to the tavern, as might have been expected. Instead of this, he bent his steps toward the river.
He knew about where Grit kept his boat, and went directly to it.
"Ha! a very good boat!" he said, after surveying it critically. "It ought to be worth ten dollars, at least, though I suppose I can't get over five for it. Well, five dollars will be a lift to me, and if Grit wants another boat he's got the money to buy one. I can get even with him this way, at least. He'd better have treated me well and saved his boat."
The boat was tied fast, but this presented no insurmountable difficulty.
Brandon pulled a jack-knife out of his pocket, and after awhile—for it was very dull—succeeded in severing the rope.
Then he jumped into the boat and began to row out into the stream.
He was a little at a loss at first as to where he would be most likely to find a purchaser. In his five years' absence from the neighborhood he had lost his former acquaintances, and there had been, besides, changes in the population.
As he was rowing at random, he chanced to look back to the shore he had left, and noticed that a boy was signaling to him.
He recognized him as the boy whom he had heard speaking of Grit's treasure, and, being desirous of hearing more on the subject, he at once began to pull back to the river bank.
The boy, as the reader will surmise, was Phil Courtney.
"Hello, there!" said Phil; "isn't that Grit Morris' boat?"
"No, it's mine."
"It is the same Grit usually rows in," said Phil, beginning to suspect Brandon of theft.
"That may be, but the boat is mine."
"Did he sell it to you?"
"No."
"Who are you, then?"
"I am Mr. Brandon, Grit's stepfather."
Phil whistled.
"Oh, it's you, is it?" he said, surveying Brandon, not over respectfully, for he knew where he had spent the last five years. "So you've come home?"
"Yes, but I might as well have stayed away."
"How is that?" asked Phil, regarding the man before him with curiosity.
Brandon was not too proud to speak of his domestic grievances, as he regarded them, to a stranger.
"My wife and son treat me like a stranger," he said. "Instead of giving me a warm welcome after my long absence, they seem to be sorry to see me."
"I don't wonder much," thought Phil, but he did not say so, not being averse to drawing Brandon out on this subject.
"And that reminds me, young gentleman; I was walking behind you last evening, and I heard you say something about Grit's having a large sum of money."
"Yes; he showed me sixty dollars yesterday."
"Are you sure there was as much as that?" inquired Brandon eagerly.
"Yes, I am sure, for my cousin counted it in my presence."
"It might have belonged to some one else," suggested Brandon.
"No; I thought so myself, but Grit said it belonged to him."
"Did he say where he got it?"
"No; he's mighty close about his affairs. I couldn't help wondering myself, and asked him, but he wouldn't tell me."
"If he's got as much money as that, he ought to give it to me to take care of."
"Why don't you make him give it to you?" suggested Phil maliciously.
"I did ask him, but he refused. A boy of his age ought not to carry about so much money. Did he carry it in a roll of bills, or in a pocketbook?"
"He had it in a wallet."
"I didn't see the wallet," thought Brandon. "I only found the purse. The boy must have hidden it somewhere. I must look for it."
"What are you going to do about it?" asked Phil. "Are you going to let him keep it?"
"Not if I can find it. I will take it away from him if I get the chance."
"I wish he would," thought Phil. "It would soon go for drink, and then Master Grit wouldn't put on so many airs."
"May I ask your name?" asked Brandon.
"I am Phil Courtney, the son of Squire Courtney, the president of the bank," answered Phil pompously.
"You don't say so!" exclaimed Brandon, in a tone of flattering deference. "I am proud to know you. You come of a fine family."
"Yes, my father stands pretty high," remarked Phil complacently.
"Really," thought he, "this man has very good manners, even if he has just come from the penitentiary. He treats me with a good deal more respect than Grit does. If I could help him to get the money I would."
"Not a man in town stands higher," said Brandon emphatically. "Are you a friend of my stepson?"
"Well, hardly," answered Phil, shrugging his shoulders. "You must excuse my saying so, but Grit hasn't very good manners, and, though I patronize him by riding in his boat, I cannot regard him as a fitting associate."
"You are entirely right, young gentleman," said Brandon. "Though Grit is my stepson, I am not blind to his faults. He has behaved very badly to me already, and I shall be obliged to require him to treat me with more respect. If he would only copy you, I should be very glad."
"You are very polite, Mr. Brandon," said Phil, flattered. "I hope, for your sake, that Grit will improve."
"By the way, Mr. Courtney"—Phil swelled with conscious pride at this designation—"do you know any one who would like to buy a boat?"
"What boat do you refer to?" asked Phil.
"This boat."
"But I thought it was Grit's."
"I am his stepfather, and have decided to sell it."
"What'll you take?" asked Phil, not unwilling to buy a good boat, especially as he knew it would annoy Grit.
"It is worth ten dollars, but I will sell it for six dollars cash."
"Say five, and I'll take it."
"Very well, Mr. Courtney, seeing it's you, I will say five."
"It's a bargain."
Phil had his money in his pocket, and he lost no time in binding the bargain by paying the money.
"I think I'll take a row myself," he said.
He jumped into the boat, and Brandon, with five dollars in his pocket, took the nearest road to the tavern.