[Illustration: ROUND THE WORLD LIBRARY No. 29]
The
Fool of the
Family
_By Bracebridge Hemyng_
[Illustration]
STREET & SMITH CORPORATION
PUBLISHERS NEW YORK.
Round the World Library
Stories of Jack Harkaway and His Comrades
Every reader, young and old, has heard of Jack Harkaway. His remarkable
adventures in out-of-the-way corners of the globe are really classics,
and every one should read them.
Jack is a splendid, manly character, full of life and strength and
curiosity. He has a number of very interesting companions--Professor
Mole, for instance, who is very funny. He also has some very strange
enemies, who are anything but funny.
Get interested in Jack. It will pay you.
_ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT_
1--Jack Harkaway's School Days By Bracebridge Hemyng
2--Jack Harkaway's Friends By Bracebridge Hemyng
3--Jack Harkaway After School Days By Bracebridge Hemyng
4--Jack Harkaway Afloat and Ashore By Bracebridge Hemyng
5--Jack Harkaway Among the Pirates By Bracebridge Hemyng
6--Jack Harkaway at Oxford By Bracebridge Hemyng
7--Jack Harkaway's Struggles By Bracebridge Hemyng
8--Jack Harkaway's Triumphs By Bracebridge Hemyng
9--Jack Harkaway Among the Brigands By Bracebridge Hemyng
10--Jack Harkaway's Return By Bracebridge Hemyng
11--Jack Harkaway Around the World By Bracebridge Hemyng
12--Jack Harkaway's Perils By Bracebridge Hemyng
13--Jack Harkaway in China By Bracebridge Hemyng
14--Jack Harkaway and the Red Dragon By Bracebridge Hemyng
15--Jack Harkaway's Pluck By Bracebridge Hemyng
16--Jack Harkaway in Australia By Bracebridge Hemyng
17--Jack Harkaway and the Bushrangers By Bracebridge Hemyng
18--Jack Harkaway's Duel By Bracebridge Hemyng
19--Jack Harkaway and the Turks By Bracebridge Hemyng
20--Jack Harkaway in New York By Bracebridge Hemyng
21--Jack Harkaway Out West By Bracebridge Hemyng
22--Jack Harkaway Among the Indians By Bracebridge Hemyng
23--Jack Harkaway's Cadet Days By Bracebridge Hemyng
24--Jack Harkaway in the Black Hills By Bracebridge Hemyng
25--Jack Harkaway in the Toils By Bracebridge Hemyng
26--Jack Harkaway's Secret of Wealth By Bracebridge Hemyng
In order that there may be no confusion, we desire to say that the
books listed below will be issued during the respective months in New
York City and vicinity. They may not reach the readers at a distance
promptly, on account of delays in transportation.
To be published in January, 1926.
27--Jack Harkaway, Missing By Bracebridge Hemyng
28--Jack Harkaway and the Sacred Serpent By Bracebridge Hemyng
To be published in February, 1926.
29--The Fool of the Family By Bracebridge Hemyng
30--Mischievous Matt By Bracebridge Hemyng
To be published in March, 1926.
31--Mischievous Matt's Pranks By Bracebridge Hemyng
32--Bob Fairplay Adrift By Bracebridge Hemyng
33--Bob Fairplay at Sea By Bracebridge Hemyng
To be published in April, 1926.
34--The Boys of St. Aldates By Bracebridge Hemyng
35--Billy Barlow By Bracebridge Hemyng
To be published in May, 1926.
36--Larry O'Keefe By Bracebridge Hemyng
37--Sam Sawbones By Bracebridge Hemyng
To be published in June, 1926.
38--Too Fast to Last By Bracebridge Hemyng
39--Home Base By Bracebridge Hemyng
Bill Cody
At a rough estimate there are 400 million civilized human beings who
have heard of Bill Cody, not under his real name, but by the name
everybody called him, "Buffalo Bill."
His character made him an outstanding figure during a period of the
development of America when a strong character was a matter of vital
necessity.
We doubt, however, whether the man's work is fully appreciated, or ever
has been. In the rush and bustle that followed the introduction of the
railroad to the West, the results of Buffalo Bill's work were more
or less overlooked, but a time is coming when this remarkable man's
achievements will be fully appreciated.
This is the character whose adventures are dealt with in Buffalo Bill's
Border Stories.
Read them. You will find them of true historical value.
STREET & SMITH CORPORATION
79 Seventh Avenue New York City
The Fool of the Family
By BRACEBRIDGE HEMYNG
Author of the famous Harkaway stories.
[Illustration]
STREET & SMITH CORPORATION
PUBLISHERS
79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York
(Printed in the United States of America)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCES THE READER TO TOMMY.
CHAPTER II. HOW SMITHERS FOUND CONSOLATION.
CHAPTER III. FUN ENDS IN TRAGEDY.
CHAPTER IV. A NIGHT IN A COFFIN.
CHAPTER V. THE MAN WITH ONE EYE.
CHAPTER VI. THE CONFIDENCE GAME.
CHAPTER VII. TOMMY MAKES A STRANGE VOYAGE.
CHAPTER VIII. THE WRONG SIGNALS.
CHAPTER IX. THE SMUGGLER.
CHAPTER X. LOST IN LONDON.
CHAPTER XI. TOMMY IN BUTTONS.
CHAPTER XII. AN ARTISTIC CHIMNEY SWEEPING.
CHAPTER XIII. TOMMY FINDS A FRIEND IN BOBSEY.
CHAPTER XIV. A DOSE FOR THE DOCTOR.
CHAPTER XV. A HASTY TRIP.
CHAPTER XVI. OUT WEST.
CHAPTER XVII. KILLED BY HIS FATHER.
CHAPTER XVIII. "WHO BREAKS, PAYS."
CHAPTER XIX. BOUND HOME.
CHAPTER XX. TOMMY'S COURAGEOUS RESOLVE.
CHAPTER XXI. FINDING A FATHER.
CHAPTER XXII. THE FINAL TRAGEDY.
THE FOOL OF THE FAMILY.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCES THE READER TO TOMMY.
"Mother!" exclaimed Mr. Smithers, as he came into the parlor about
supper time one winter evening, "that boy's a fool."
Mrs. Smithers, who was a quiet-looking, blond little woman, about
thirty-five years of age, looked up from a book she was reading, and
regarded her husband with a weary air.
"What boy?" she asked, languidly.
"As if you didn't know?" replied Mr. Smithers.
"We have two," she said, calmly.
"Oh, that boy, Tommy."
"What has he done now?"
"Done! why he is always doing something absurd. I told him this
morning, before I went out, to cut up all the wood in the yard."
"I'm sure he'd do anything you'd tell him," said Mrs. Smithers, in a
tone of conciliation; "he's only too anxious to please. I am positive
that he has been hard at work all day, for I heard him chopping and
sawing."
"Yes," answered Mr. Smithers, "he's chopped and sawed a little too
much. Not only did he cut up the wood, but he's pulled down the fences
on both sides of the yard, torn up the supports of the grapevine, and
even made firewood of the sawbuck."
"He's too full of zeal; in fact, the poor boy wants to do too much,"
Mrs. Smithers rejoined. "You oughtn't to blame him for that; as he
grows older he'll know better."
"I doubt it, ma'am. I doubt it very much," replied her husband, seating
himself before the stove.
Mr. Smithers was a tall, consequential man, in the prime of life, dark
in complexion and not bad looking.
His wife was a widow when he married her, and she had one son, the
Tommy of whom Smithers was now complaining.
Our friend was commonly called "Soft" Tommy, on account of the
simplicity of his nature and the numerous mistakes he was constantly
making.
His age was thirteen, and he was a pale, delicate-looking boy, with a
mild voice and a dreamy eye, fair hair, thin lips and an undecided sort
of mouth.
By her marriage with Mr. Smithers, Tommy's mother had two children, a
boy and a girl, who had respectively received the high-sounding names
of Harold Stamford Smithers and Alice Regina Smithers.
Mr. Smithers himself was a clerk in a New York dry-goods house, and
he resided in a quiet part of Jersey City, about half a mile from the
ferry.
He prided himself upon being high-toned, and above all things boasted
that he was master in his own house.
Poor little Mrs. Smithers knew this to her cost, for she received many
a scolding, especially on Tommy's account, without daring to "talk
back."
Smithers was very fond of his own two children, Harold Stamford and
Alice Regina, both of whom he spoiled dreadfully.
One was eleven, the other ten, and they were as disagreeable,
self-willed and conceited as overindulgence could make them.
Perhaps Smithers had a stepfather's dislike for Tommy.
One thing is certain, he frequently beat him and rarely said a word to
the others.
Mrs. Smithers always looked sad and worried, which was no wonder, as
she had to put up with a great deal from her husband.
She was a bad manager, was idle, and hated a disturbance of any kind,
so that the children might do almost anything without her interfering
with them.
"I hope you didn't beat the boy," remarked Mrs. Smithers, after a pause.
"He ran too fast for me," replied Smithers, "and took refuge in
neighbor Barker's house."
"He'll be all right there, and when he wants his supper he'll come in,"
said Mrs. Smithers.
"It's a pity we can't choose our neighbors!" exclaimed her husband.
"There's that Barker--he's an undertaker; it's a ghastly trade, and
I've remarked that Tommy is more friendly with Charley Barker, the
coffin maker's son, than he is with his own brother and sister."
"He must have some one to play with."
"Granted; but he needn't associate with those beneath him."
"The Barkers are hard-working and very respectable," Mrs. Smithers
ventured to observe.
"Oh, very!" answered Smithers, sarcastically; "very much so indeed. I'm
not saying anything against them. Still, they are not on a par with
us, and if your first husband was a mechanic and left you with an only
child, an infant at that, to go and work and die in the Nevada mines, I
am not supposed to share your tastes."
"Poor man," said Mrs. Smithers, "there was no work for him here. He
thought he would do so much better for all of us out West. He promised
to send for me and Tommy soon."
"Well, he died, and he couldn't help it," put in Smithers, who was in a
bad temper.
"We can't always do what we propose; and Thompson, my dear, dear first
husband, was as good as they make them."
"He was a bold and exceedingly vulgar kind of person," rejoined Mr.
Smithers, in a withering tone of voice.
"I'm sure Thompson was as genteel as--as Smithers," said his wife.
"Possibly he may have been in your estimation; but we will not discuss
the question. Be good enough to get my supper ready," replied Smithers,
with a grand wave of the arm.
"I'll do that with pleasure, only do make some allowance for Tommy--you
know he is subject to the chills."
"You give me a chill, talking so much. Where are Harold and Alice?"
"Gone visiting."
"Oh, yes. I forgot that I gave them permission this morning to visit
the Macphersons. Highly respectable family, the Macphersons. I will go
and bring them home in a couple of hours' time. The ground is slippery
with the frozen snow, and they might fall and hurt themselves."
Mrs. Smithers sighed.
She wished her husband would be as kind to Tommy as he was to Harold
Stamford and Alice Regina.
Smithers had taken the trouble to go to Fulton Market and buy six dozen
oysters, which he wanted roasted, and his wife went to get them ready
for supper.
Meanwhile Tommy, accompanied by Mr. Barker, the undertaker, entered the
room.
Tommy hung behind at the door, for he was afraid of his father, but the
undertaker, who was a fiery, shock-headed little man, free and easy in
his manner, and fond of his glass and his pipe, walked right in.
"Good-evening, neighbor," he exclaimed. "I've brought your boy back."
"Ah! Barker! Pray take a seat," replied Smithers, who, though he
disliked the undertaker, was secretly afraid of him.
"I can stand."
"Sit down, I say; you're just in time for supper. Oysters from Fulton
Market. First-class, I tell you."
"No, no," said Barker. "I only came here with Tommy because he was
afraid to come alone. You won't lick him, now?"
"I don't see what you have to do with it, really, Barker."
"He did not understand about cutting up the wood."
"That is the trouble of it; he never will understand," replied
Smithers, with a complacent smile.
"He's a good boy enough, and he and my Charley get along together first
rate."
"Stay to supper, and we'll talk this thing over."
"Well, I don't mind if I do, though it's more for Tommy's sake than for
anything else," answered Barker.
"Tommy, our neighbor is right," said his father. "You probably did
not mean to do wrong, and I will not whip you this time. Now, you can
go down to your mother and see if there is anything you can do in the
preparation of supper."
"Yes, sir, certainly, sir," responded Tommy, his face beaming with
smiles, as he saw that Barker had got him off the thrashing he expected.
His father kept a rattan in the corner of the room, which he devoted to
Tommy's sole use, it never being employed upon the favored persons of
Harold Stamford and Alice Regina.
"Now, Smithers," said Barker, "you ought to let up on that boy."
"Why should I, when he's the fool of the family?"
"He can't help it."
"Will you admit he's a fool?"
"I guess he's a little soft, that's all, and your severity makes him no
better."
"Oh, pshaw!" said Smithers. "Spare the rod and spoil the child."
"That's played out."
"Since when?"
"Long ago. Try kindness."
Mr. Smithers grew rather red in the face.
"I have every respect for you," he remarked, looking sideways at
the stove. "But I don't see why you should interfere with my family
affairs."
"Because I like the lad. Why don't you apprentice him to some one?"
"To whom?"
"To me, if you like. I'll take him."
Mr. Smithers laughed in a tremulous manner.
"What!" he exclaimed. "Apprentice him to an undertaker?"
"Why not? You might require his services sooner than you expect. If
ours is not such a respectable trade as the dry-goods business, we are
as much in request as you are. You clothe the living, we clothe the
dead."
"I couldn't hear of such a thing," replied Smithers. "Besides, the boy
hasn't finished his schooling. He knows nothing."
Tommy re-entered the room and spread a snow-white cloth over the table.
"There's a little man," said Barker, encouragingly. "What a nice
tablecloth."
"'Tain't a tablecloth," replied Tommy. "It's a sheet. Mother says the
clothes ain't out of the wash yet."
Mr. Smithers looked disgusted.
"Didn't I tell you he was a fool?" he exclaimed.
"He's only simple," replied Barker.
"What does he know? He's going to school next week, and I'll bet he
can't tell you what he wants for books."
"I'll ask him," said Barker. "Come here, Tommy, won't you?"
Tommy approached him without any hesitation, and showed none of that
fear which he exhibited when spoken to by his stepfather.
"How much money do you want for school books, Tom?" asked Barker.
"None at all," replied Tommy.
"Why not?"
"I don't like skule," said Tommy, with his hands behind his back.
"But you've got to go, and what will it cost?"
"About four dollars, sir."
"How's that?" demanded Mr. Smithers, sharply. "I bought Harold
Stamford's books yesterday, and they didn't come to that. Name the
books."
"Lemme see," answered Tommy. "Singin' book, 'rithmetic, jography."
"Well," said his stepfather, "the first is sixty cents, the second
seventy-five, the third a dollar and twenty. I insist upon knowing how
you make it out."
He took up the cane which stood in the corner and held it up
threateningly.
"Don't hit me and I'll tell you," replied Tommy. "There's half a dollar
for a new bat, a dollar for a pair of skates and a quarter for candy."
Mr. Barker burst out laughing.
"I tell you he's smart," he exclaimed, "and you can't punish him for
telling the truth."
"I won't this time," replied Mr. Smithers. "Yet I don't half like this
sort of thing. Go an' give the horse his supper, Tom."
"Yes, sir," replied Tommy.
He hurried off as if he was glad to get away.