Ben's Nugget; Or, A Boy's Search For Fortune Read online

  To the credit of the miners of Golden Gulch, it must be said that allrejoiced in Ben's success. No one's good luck would have excited solittle envy or jealousy as that of the boy who had worked by their sidefor months, and done so much by his good-humor and musical gifts tocheer up and entertain them. When he was ready to start for the city onhis homeward journey all joined in wishing him a pleasant journey andthe best of luck in the years to come.

  Ben was not obliged to travel alone. Bradley decided not only toaccompany him to San Francisco, but to sail to New York in his company.

  "I've never seen York," he said, "and I never shall see it if I don't gonow. So, if you don't mind, Ben, I'll go along with you."

  "Mind, Jake? There's nothing I shall like better."

  While they are on the steamer homeward bound events have transpired inBen's old home which require to be noted.

  CHAPTER XXXI.

  JOB STANTON'S MISTAKE.

  There had not been many changes in the little town of Hampton since Benleft it. It was one of those quiet New England villages where life movesslowly, and a death or a marriage is an event.

  Uncle Job still lived in his plain little cottage with his wife anddaughter, and still plied his humble task as the village cobbler,essaying sometimes to make shoes when there were none to be repaired.There was a plat of land belonging to his house rather more than an acrein extent, but land was cheap in Hampton, and it is doubtful whetherboth house and lot would have brought, if thrown into the market, overone thousand dollars. Uncle Job had at one time about a hundred dollarsin the savings bank in a neighboring town--a fund to draw from in anemergency--and this money with his plain home constituted his entirewealth.

  Eleven hundred dollars all told! It was not a very brilliant result forforty years' labor, beginning with the days of his boyhood; but JobStanton was not ambitious, and he actually felt well-to-do. He earnedenough to supply the simple wants of his family, and had something over,and this satisfied him.

  But one day a strong temptation came to Job Stanton, and he yielded toit.

  A trader came riding over from a neighboring town and called on UncleJob. The good man thought he had come to order a new pair of shoes, andfelt flattered that such a dashing man should have gone so far out ofhis way to patronize him.

  "I'm glad to see you, Mr. Richmond," he said. "Won't you set down?"

  He should have said _sit_, but Job Stanton's educational advantages hadbeen very limited.

  "I don't care if I do. Snug place you've got here, Mr. Stanton."

  "It's very plain and humble, but it's home, and I set by it," answeredJob, who was busily engaged in tapping a shoe belonging to EliphaletNourza, a farm-laborer.

  "I've come over to see you on a little business, Mr. Stanton," said thetrader, affably.

  "Jest so!" returned Uncle Job cheerfully, glancing over his spectaclesat the trader's shoes to see if they looked much worn. "Want a pair ofnew shoes, I reckon?"

  "I shall need a new pair soon," said Richmond, "but that isn't exactlywhat I meant."

  It flashed across Job Stanton's mind that his visitor might be going tomake him an offer for the old place, but he felt that he could not bearto part with it. He had lived there ever since he was married,thirty-five years ago, and there Jennie, the child of his old age, hadbeen born.

  But the trader's next sentence relieved him of this thought.

  "The fact is, Uncle Job," proceeded the trader, adopting the title bywhich the shoemaker was generally known in Hampton, "I've got a favor toask of you."

  "'A favor to ask of me'?" repeated Job, looking up with some surprise atthe well-dressed merchant, who seemed by his presence to honor thehomely little shop.

  "Yes," continued Richmond, with gravity; "I want you to indorse my notefor five hundred dollars."

  "What made you come to me?" asked Job Stanton in surprise. "I am not acapitalist; I am a poor man."

  "Oh, well, you're good for five hundred dollars."

  "Yes," answered Job with some complacency; "my place here is worth twicethat, let alone the money I've got in the savings bank."

  "Of course it is."

  "Still, I don't want to run no risk. You'd better go to some moneyedman--like Major Sturgis, for instance."

  "Why, the fact is, Uncle Job, it's the major that lets me have the moneyon my note, but he stipulated that I should have an indorser, and heparticularly mentioned you."

  "That's cur'us!" said Job. "Why should he think of me?"

  "Oh, he knew you were a reliable man."

  "How does it happen that you need money?" asked Job, bluntly. "Isn'tyour business good?"

  "That's just it," said Richmond, glibly. "It's so good that I've got toextend my stock, and that takes money. I'm turning money over all thetime, and it won't be long before I am able to retire."

  "I'm glad of that, but I don't quite understand, if that's so, whyyou're short of funds."

  "It's clear you are not a business-man," said Richmond, laughing, "but Ithink I can explain to you how it is."

  He did explain, and the explanation seemed very plausible, yet JobStanton, who was a cautious man, hesitated.

  This brought the trader to his closing argument: "You mustn't think,Uncle Job, that I expect this service for nothing. I am ready to pay youten dollars for the accommodation, and to order a pair of shoes at yourown price."

  "That's handsome!" said Job; "and all I've got to do is to sign myname?"

  "Just so. It's a mere formality. I shall have the money to pay the notetwice over before it comes due."

  "Then I wonder the major wants an indorser."

  "Oh, it's his invariable custom. 'I know it isn't necessary, Mr.Richmond,' he told me, 'but it's my rule, and I won't break over it,even in your case. If you will get Job Stanton to indorse for you, itwill be perfectly satisfactory. I know he is a poor man, but then it'sonly a form.'"

  "Well, I don't know," said Job, doubtfully. "If Ben was here I would askhim."

  "You mean your nephew, don't you?"

  "Yes, the boy that went to California."

  "I'm glad you mentioned him. As soon as he gets back send him to me andI'll give him a place in my store. I've heard he's very smart."

  "So he is," said Job, "and I'd like to have him with you, so that hecould come to see us once in a while. There ain't no openin' inHampton."

  "Of course not."

  "And you'll give Ben a place when he gets home?"

  "Certainly; that is, if you indorse my note. I am ready to pay you theten dollars down."

  He drew a crisp bank-note for ten dollars from his pocket, and JobStanton yielded, for it was a great deal of money to him. I think,however, that he was more influenced by the prospect of obtaining a goodplace for Ben that would keep him from wandering farther away from home.If he had been shrewder, it would have occurred to him that a prosperousbusiness-man, such as Richmond claimed to be, was unusually anxious fora small accommodation. However, to him five hundred dollars representeda large sum, and it didn't seem at all strange.

  So Uncle Job took off his leather apron, ushered his visitor into thesitting-room, and sitting down at the table indorsed the note.

  "Thank you," said Richmond. "Here is the ten."

  "I don't know as I ought to ask you so much," said Job, withconscientious scruples.

  "Oh, that's all right. Now, I'll go into the shop, and you may take mymeasure for a pair of shoes."

  "This has been a lucky day for me," thought Job Stanton. "I've got tendollars for writing my name, and it isn't often I earn as much as thatin a week."

  The trader seemed equally pleased, and the two parted in mutual goodspirits.

  The note was for three months, or ninety days, and Job Stanton thoughtno more about it. Why should he? Richmond had expressly told him that itwas a mere form, and he supposed that this was the case. The ten dollarswent to buy new dresses--not very expensive, of course--for his wife andJennie, and that seemed to be the end of it.

  But Job was d
estined to be undeceived, and that very rudely.

  One day he was surprised by a call from his dignified fellow-townsman,Major Sturgis.

  "Good-morning, Mr. Stanton," said the major, condescendingly.

  "Good-morning, major. I hope your family are quite well."

  "Quite well, I thank you."

  "What's he come about?" thought Job, wonderingly.

  "You indorsed a note for Richmond, the dry-goods man, three monthssince."

  "So I did. Is it really three months?"

  "Close upon it, Mr. Stanton. I regret to say that I shall be obliged tocall upon you to pay it."

  "Me! to pay it!" ejaculated Uncle Job, thunderstruck. "Why, I onlyindorsed it."

  "Precisely. That means that you are to pay it if Richmond doesn't."

  "But he will pay it," said the poor shoemaker, eagerly. "He said it wasonly a matter of form."

  "Then he deceived you. I have just received a note from him telling meto look to you."

  CHAPTER XXXII.

  THE HOUSE IS MORTGAGED.

  Job Stanton would not have been more utterly overwhelmed if he had seenhis treasured home reduced to ashes before his eyes. That he should beresponsible for a debt of five hundred dollars seemed to him almostincredible. The trader's representation that indorsing the note was onlya matter of form he had accepted as strictly true.

  "Well, what are you going to do about it?" asked the major, impatiently.

  "'Goin' to do about it'?" ejaculated Job.

  "Certainly. When a man indorses a note he knows that he may be calledupon to pay, and of course has some plan for doing it."

  "I don't know what to do," said the poor shoemaker, sadly. "I can't paythe note."

  "Humph! There seems to be only one thing to do, then."

  "What is it?"

  "You must sell or mortgage your place."

  "What! sell or mortgage my house? I can't do that, Major Sturgis."

  "Very well. I won't insist on it if you can pay the note in any otherway."

  "Heaven knows I can't."

  "Then, Mr. Stanton," said the major, sharply, "it's time to speakplainly. Unless you do as I suggest, I shall attach your property andcompel you to raise the money in the way I indicate."

  Job Stanton was mortally afraid of legal proceedings, and after a whilehe acceded to the major's proposal, which was himself to accept amortgage for the sum of five hundred dollars secured upon the place. Hiswife, who had to be told, wept bitterly, for it seemed to her as if theywere parting with their main reliance. But Major Sturgis carried hispoint, and walked off triumphant.

  And now for the major's motive, for he had one, and he had artfully madeuse of Richmond to forward his plan: He was desirous of gettingpossession of the poor shoemaker's house and land, having in view thepurchase of the lot adjoining. Then he would move the house off, throwdown the fence between the two lots, build a nice dwelling, and rent itto a city friend who wished to spend his summers in Hampton. He knewvery well that Job Stanton wouldn't listen to a proposition for sellinghis house, and he therefore tried to accomplish by stratagem what hecould not fairly.

  "Pa, you are looking in good spirits," said Sam Sturgis when his fathercame home.

  "I don't feel so," said the major, hypocritically. "I have had to do avery disagreeable thing this morning."

  "What was it?" Sam asked, his curiosity being excited.

  "Mr. Richmond the trader owed me a note for five hundred dollars,indorsed by Job Stanton, and as he did not pay it, I had to call onStanton."

  "He couldn't pay--he's too poor," said Sam.

  "Not in money, but he owns his place. I have accepted a mortgage for sixmonths' time on his house and lot."

  "Suppose he doesn't pay when the time comes?"

  "I am afraid I shall have to foreclose the mortgage."

  "And he'll have to leave, won't he?"

  "Unless he can raise the money some other way."

  "There isn't any other way, is there?"

  "Richmond might hand over the money by that time."

  "Do you think he will?"

  "He ought to, but I don't think there is much chance of it."

  "Ben will be rather astonished when he comes home and finds his unclehas lost his place."

  "Yes, I suppose he will."

  "I sha'n't be sorry for him. He puts on a good many airs, consideringhow poor he is. I wish I knew how he is getting along in California."

  "He may get a living there, but that is about all," said the major. "Ishouldn't be at all surprised if his uncle came to me for money to gethim home."

  "You wouldn't let him have it, would you, pa?"

  "I might," answered Major Sturgis, "if he would surrender the place tome without putting me to inconvenience."

  "Would you take Ben for my servant, pa, in that case?"

  "Why do you want him for a servant?"

  "I want to humble his pride," answered Sam, with a gleam of somethinglike hatred in his eyes.

  CHAPTER XXXIII.

  THE BLOW ABOUT TO FALL

  All this happened soon after Ben went away. His uncle did not write himof it, for he knew it would trouble the boy, and it could do no good."No, wife," he said; "Ben will have a hard row of his own to hoe. Hemustn't have any part nor lot in our troubles."

  "It's very hard, Job, at our time of life," said Mrs. Stanton,despondently.

  "So it is, wife, but it may turn out for the best, after all. I haven'tgiven up hope that Mr. Richmond will pay the sum, so that I can take upthe mortgage. I'm goin' to see him about it to-morrow."

  Uncle Job left his work the next day, and walked five miles to the storeof the man who had brought this calamity upon him.

  "I've come to see you, Mr. Richmond," he said, wiping his forehead withhis red cotton handkerchief, "about that money I've had to pay."

  "Oh yes," said Richmond, with his usual suavity. "I'm very sorry ithappened so."

  "It seems to me you didn't treat me just right," said poor Job.

  "Such things will happen, you know, Mr. Stanton."

  "But you said it was only a matter of form signin' the note?"

  "Of course I so regarded it. I could have sworn I should be ready to paywhen the note became due. You see, there was money owing to me that Icouldn't collect."

  "Didn't you know that was likely to happen when you tempted me toindorse the note?"

  "It wasn't likely to happen, but it was possible. My plans miscarried,as any man's are liable to. If you were more used to business, UncleJob, you'd see that I hadn't acted wrong in the matter."

  "I don't understand the ways of business men, but I know you've done mea grievous wrong, John Richmond," said Job Stanton, gravely. "I've cometo ask if you can pay me back a part of that money."

  "Well, I can't do it this morning. I've got two payments to make. Youdon't look at it in the right light, Uncle Job."

  "I want my money," said the old man. "When can you give it to me?"

  "Since you push me so hard, I can only say I don't know," said Richmond,dropping his soft tones and looking angry.

  "Is that all the satisfaction you are goin' to give me? Don't you evermean to pay me that money you've made me pay out on your account,mortgaging my house and risking my home?"

  "Of course I shall pay you some time, but I can't say exactly when,"said the trader, brusquely.

  "Will you sign a note for the money at three months or six months, JohnRichmond?"

  "No, I won't. You'll have to wait, Uncle Job, till I get ready to payyou; that's all about it. I may be ready next week, or it may not betill next month. A business-man can't always foresee how he'll besituated at any definite time."

  With this poor consolation Job Stanton had to rest content. He lookedaround him and saw every evidence of prosperity. Several customers werein the store, and the two clerks seemed to have as much as they coulddo. He saw money paid over for purchases in considerable amounts, and hefelt that a part of it might be spared as a partial payment to him; butit was
of no avail, and he turned sadly away.

  The next week passed, and the next month passed, and Job Stanton waitedvainly for a payment on account from John Richmond. He didn't like tojudge the trader harshly, but it did seem as if he was quite indifferentin the matter. Another month passed, and Job made another visit to thestore of his prosperous debtor. Richmond wasted few words on him.

  "Uncle Job," he said, "it's no use your coming over here. I'll send youthe money when I can spare it."

  Finally, six months passed, the mortgage became due, and Job received anotice from Major Sturgis that he wanted his money.

  "If you can't raise it," said the major, "I am willing to cancel thenote, give you two hundred and fifty dollars, and take a deed of theplace."

  "That is only allowing seven hundred and fifty dollars for it," saidpoor Job.

  "It's all it is worth," said the rich man, coldly. "If you prefer to putit up at auction, I am willing, but you may in that case get less. I'llgive you three days to decide."

  There was great sorrow in Job Stanton's house that evening. Six monthsbefore he had considered himself well-to-do. Now, at the age of sixty,poverty and destitution stared him in the face.

  CHAPTER XXXIV.

  CONCLUSION.

  "Do you think we shall have to give up the house, Job?" asked Mrs.Stanton, anxiously.

  "I see no other way," said Job, mournfully. "I can't raise five hundreddollars anywhere."