TWO PERSONS ARE SURPRISED
“Aunt,” said Robert, his face aglow with excitement, “I am going to make
a journey. I hope you won’t feel lonely while I am away.”
“A journey!” exclaimed Mrs. Trafton in astonishment.
“Yes, I am going away on business for the hermit.”
“Where are you going?”
“To Boston first.”
“To Boston? Land’s sake! How can a boy like you find your way round in
such a great city as Boston?”
“A boy of my age ought to be able to take care of himself.”
“Why, child, you’ll lose your way! There’s ever so many streets and
roads. I went to Boston once, and I got so puzzled I didn’t know whether
I stood on my head or my heels. If there was some older person going
with you, now----”
“Aunt, don’t make a baby of me. I guess I can get along as well as
anybody.”
“Well, you can try it. When will you be back?”
“When I get my business done.”
“You won’t be gone over two days, I calculate.”
“I may be gone two months or more.”
“Well, I never!” exclaimed the astonished woman, staring at Robert as if
she thought his mind was wandering. “What sort of business is it that’s
going to take so long?”
“The hermit wants it kept secret, Aunt Jane.”
“But how am I going to get along without you?” asked his aunt in dismay.
“I can’t go out fishing, and the money I earn by sewing is almost
nothing.”
Robert smiled, for he knew he could allay his aunt’s fears.
“The hermit will pay you five dollars a week while I am gone, and here
is the first week’s pay,” he said, drawing from his pocket a bill.
“Well, I must say your friend the hermit is a gentleman. Five dollars a
week is more than I can spend.”
“Then save a part of it if you like, aunt.”
“But what shall I do, Robert, if Mr. Jones comes upon me to pay the
mortgage when you arc gone?” said his aunt, with new alarm.
“The hermit has agreed to pay off the mortgage and take one himself for
the same amount.”
“He is very kind, Robert. Don’t you think that I ought to call and thank
him?”
“What! Call at the cave?”
“Yes!”
“No, aunt,” said Robert hastily. “He would not like to have you. You can
wait till you see him. But mind you don’t tell anybody--least of all,
Mr. Jones--that you will be able to pay the mortgage. As he is so mean,
we want to give him a surprise.”
“Just as you say, Robert. I am glad we’ll be able to disappoint him, for
he is certainly a very mean man. Now, when do you want to start for
Boston?”
“To-morrow.”
“But how am I going to get ready your shirts and socks so soon?”
“I shall not take any of them.”
“Robert Coverdale, you must be crazy. You can’t wear one shirt for two
months if you’re going so long.”
“I don’t expect to, aunt,” said the boy, smiling. “I am going to buy a
whole outfit of new things when I get to Boston. The hermit wants me
to.”
“He must be awful rich!” said the good woman, whose ideas on the subject
of wealth were limited.
“All the better for us, Aunt Jane, as he is willing to spend some of his
money for us.”
Mrs. Trafton was considerably excited by the prospect of Robert’s
journey, and, notwithstanding what he had said, occupied herself in
washing his clothes and making a small bundle for him to carry, but
Robert declined taking them, with a smile.
“You see, aunt, my clothes wouldn’t be good enough to wear in Boston,”
he said. “Just keep them till I get back. Perhaps I may need them
then.”
“I’ll lay ’em away carefully, Robert. When you get a little larger I
guess you’ll be able to wear some of your uncle’s clothes. His best suit
might be made over for you. He hadn’t had it but six years, and there’s
a good deal of wear in it yet. I might cut it over myself when you’re
gone.”
“Better wait till I come back, aunt,” said Robert hastily.
He knew the suit very well. It was snuff-colored and by no means a good
fit, even for his uncle, while under his aunt’s unpracticed hands it
would probably look considerably worse when made over for him.
It must be confessed that Robert’s ideas were expanding and he was
rapidly growing more fastidious. He instinctively felt that he was about
to turn a new leaf in his book of life and to enter on new scenes, in
which he was to play a less obscure part than had been his hitherto in
the little village of Cook’s Harbor.
But no such change had come to his aunt. She still regarded Robert as
the same boy that he always had been--born to the humble career of a
fisherman--and she examined her husband’s best suit with much
complacency, mentally resolving that, in spite of Robert’s objection,
she would devote her leisure time to making it over for him.
“He can wear it for best for a year or two,” she thought, “and then put
it on every day. I am sure it will look well on him.”
In the evening Robert went to the cave to have a farewell interview with
the hermit--or Gilbert Huet, to give him the name which was properly
his.
“You may write to me about once a week if you have anything to say,
Robert,” said the hermit.
“How shall I direct you, sir? Shall I use your name?”
“How am I known in the village?”
“They call you ‘the hermit of the cliff.’”
“Then direct your letters to ‘The Hermit of the Cliff.’ They are not
likely to go astray.”
Mr. Huet gave Robert his instructions and finally produced a roll of
banknotes.
“You will find two hundred dollars in this roll, Robert,” he said. “You
can buy a wallet to keep it in when you reach Boston.”
“Two hundred dollars!” exclaimed the boy in amazement.
“You won’t find it so large a sum as you suppose when you are required
to pay traveling expenses. You need not try to be over-economical. I
prefer that you should stop at good hotels and put on a good appearance.
But I warn you to keep your mouth shut and tell your business to no one.
I depend upon your discretion not to fall into the hands of knaves or
adventurers. I know that I am putting unusual confidence in a boy of
your limited experience, but I have no one else to trust, and I feel
that you may be relied upon.”
“I hope I shall not disappoint you, Mr. Huet.”
“Well, Robert, I will bid you good night and God bless you! We don’t
know what lies before us, but if you succeed, I will take care that your
career shall be a fortunate one.”
Robert walked slowly back to his humble home, almost wishing that the
night were over and his journey actually begun.
There was but one way out of Cook’s Harbor--that is, by land. A stage
left the village every morning for Kaneville, six miles distant, a small
station on a road which terminated many miles away in Boston.
The stage started at seven o’clock, so Robert was forced to get up
betimes, take an early breakfast and walk up to the tavern.
Mr. Jones, the landlord, was standing on the piazza when Robert made his
appearance.
He had no proprietary right in the stage line, but the driver generally
stopped overnight at the tavern and the horses were kept in his stable,
so that he had come to assume a certain air of proprietorship.
As Robert was climbing up to take a seat by the driver Mr. Jones, with a
frown, called out:
“Look here, you young rascal, come right down!”
“Why am I to come down, Mr. Jones?” said Robert independently.
“Because I tell you to. We can’t have any boys stealing rides.”
“Is this stage yours?” asked Robert, surveying the landlord with
provoking coolness.
“No matter whether it is or not,” retorted Jones, red in the face. “I
tell you to come down. Do you hear?”
“Yes, I hear.”
“Then you’d better come down double quick or I’ll give you a taste of a
horsewhip.”
“I advise you to mind your own business, Mr. Jones,” said Robert hotly,
“and not interfere with the passengers by this stage.”
“You’re not a passenger, you young beggar!”
“I am a passenger--and now you’d better stop talking.”
“Have you got money to pay your fare?” asked the landlord, beginning to
suspect he had made a fool of himself.
“When the driver calls for the fare it will be time enough to tell.”
“Luke,” said Mr. Jones to the driver, “you’d better take that boy’s fare
now. He wants to swindle you out of a ride.”
“You may take it out of this,” said Robert, tendering a five-dollar
bill.
“I guess we’ll let it stand till we get to Kaneville,” said Luke,
gathering up the reins.
Robert darted a glance of triumph at the discomfited and bewildered
landlord, and his journey was begun.
The latter, on Luke’s return, learned to his further surprise that
Robert had gone to Boston. On reflection, he concluded that Mrs. Trafton
must have some relatives in the city from whom they hoped to borrow
enough money to raise the mortgage.
“But he won’t succeed, and in four weeks I shall turn him and his aunt
out of doors,” Mr. Jones complacently reflected.