HENRY'S GOOD FORTUNE.
Three months passed. To Henry Martin they passed very satisfactorily.
At his new rate of payment he was able to lay up two dollars a week
without denying himself anything absolutely necessary to his comfort.
At the end of this period, therefore, he had twenty-six dollars on
deposit in a new savings-bank. Of his venture he had heard nothing. He
remained perfectly easy about this, however, knowing that in due time
he would hear from it. Mr. Hamilton, he observed, took more notice of
him than formerly. He frequently greeted him, in passing through to
his office, with a pleasant word or smile; and Henry felt justified in
concluding that he was in favor with him.
It was after the interval of time already mentioned that he again
received a summons to the counting-room.
Mr. Hamilton had a long paper before him closely filled with figures.
"Sit down. Henry," he said.
"Thank you, sir."
"You remember our conversation three months since, I suppose?"
"Yes, sir; perfectly."
"You consented to take a share in a venture was sending out to
Rotterdam?"
"Yes, sir."
"I have just received a statement of it, and, you are interested, I
have called you in to let you know how it has turned out."
"Thank you, sir," said Henry, eagerly.
"I find that, after deducting all expenses, your share of the profits
will amount to one hundred dollars."
"One hundred dollars!" exclaimed Henry, in astonishment and delight.
"Yes. I think we have been very successful."
Henry felt flattered by that word "we." It seemed to associate him,
humble office boy as he was, with the eminent merchant who employed
him.
"That is better than the savings-bank, sir," said Henry.
"Yes, it is; but I ought to add that it is not always so sure. All
ventures do not turn out so profitably. To return to your affairs I
shall charge you interest on the five hundred dollars you borrowed of
me, at the rate of seven per cent. You have had the use of the money
for three months."
"Then the interest will amount to eight dollars and three quarters,"
said Henry, promptly.
"Quite right; you are very quick at reckoning," said Mr. Hamilton,
looking pleased.
"That is not a difficult sum," answered Henry, modestly.
"I did not suppose you knew much about computing interest. You left
school very young, did you not?"
"At twelve, sir."
"You had not studied interest then, had you?"
"No, sir; I have studied it since."
"At evening-school?"
"No, sir; I studied by myself in the evening."
"How long have you done that?"
"For two years."
"And you keep it up regularly?"
"Yes, sir; occasionally I take an evening for myself, but I average
five evenings a week at studying."
"You are a remarkable boy," said the merchant, looking surprised.
"If you flatter me, sir, I may grow self-conceited," said Henry,
smiling.
"You have some right to feel satisfied with yourself. Tell me what was
your object in commencing this course of work."
"I picked up at a bookstore on Nassau Street an old book containing
the lives of some men who rose from obscurity; and I found that many
of them studied by themselves in early life, being unable to attend
school. It seemed to me that education was necessary to success, and,
as I had nothing else to depend upon, I began to work evenings."
"Did you not find it irksome? Were you not tempted sometimes to give
it up?"
"Just at first; but afterward I got to enjoy it."
Here Mr. Hamilton asked Henry a few questions, with a view of testing
his knowledge both as to extent and accuracy; and the result was so
satisfactory as more and more to prepossess him in favor of the boy.
He returned to business.
"It appears," he said, "that, interest deducted, you have ninety-one
dollars and a quarter to your credit with me. You are at liberty to
draw it, if you wish."
"What would you advise me to do, Mr. Hamilton?" asked Henry.
"You had better leave it in my hands for such use as I may think
likely to prove profitable. I shall dispatch a vessel to Marseilles in
a week. Would you like to take a share in this venture?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then, I will assign six hundred dollars to you. Five you may continue
to borrow of me. One is your own."
"Not quite, sir. You remember the interest."
"That need not be charged till the end of the year. I will still
retain the savings-bank book you left with me as a guaranty. Is that
satisfactory?"
"Entirely so, sir."
"Have you been able to save up anything lately?"
"Yes, sir; I have twenty-six dollars on depost in another bank."
"Very good. You are, then, provided for in any case of emergency."
Henry went back to work.
His reflections, as may be imagined, were very pleasant. He figured up
what he was worth, and it stood thus:
Six-penny Savings Bank.................... $35 00
Second bank account....................... 26 00
Proceeds of venture (net)................. 91 25
-------
$152 25
Thus he figured up a grand total of one hundred and fifty-two dollars
and twenty-five cents, making a gain in three months of one hundred
and seventeen dollars and twenty-five cents.
"Why, at this rate," thought Henry, "I shall soon be rich."
Of course, he owed a large part of this sum to the favor of his
employer; but this, again, was earned by his fidelity and economy--two
qualities which I wish were more common among boys of his age.
Returning to his room he looked for his savings-bank book, but to his
dismay it was nowhere to be found.
"Where can it be?" he asked himself, perplexed. "Perhaps Sam has seen
it."
But Sam had not yet returned from the store, though it was past his
usual time.
"It is very strange," thought Henry. "I am sure it was at the bottom
of my trunk. Can the trunk have been opened?"