HARD UP.
A street boy, accustomed to live from hand to mouth, would not have been
disconcerted on finding himself in Gilbert’s circumstances. But this was
our hero’s first experience of debt which he was unable to pay, and it
troubled him. He felt embarrassed at the dinner-table, knowing that he
was eating a meal for which he had not the means of paying; and this
thought not only interfered with his appetite, but made him unusually
silent and reserved. His room-mate noticed this, and spoke of it when
they had gone up to their room together.
“What made you so quiet, Gilbert?” he asked. “You scarcely uttered a
word at the dinner-table.”
“The fact is, Mr. Ingalls, I am in trouble,” answered Gilbert.
“About your loss of place? You told me about that, and that you expected
to get it back when your employer returned.”
“So I do; but there is another trouble.”
“Troubles never come singly, they say.”
“It seems to be true in my case. I am owing for a week’s board, and
don’t know where I shall get the money to pay it.”
“I thought your guardian paid your board,” said Ingalls, who was
acquainted with the particulars of Gilbert’s history.
“So he did; but he has sailed for Europe suddenly, without making any
provision for the payment of my money.”
“How long is he to be gone?”
“Two or three months, they told me at the office.”
“That is rather inconvenient. If you were only a few years older, there
would be a remedy.”
“What remedy?”
“You could marry Miss Brintnall. Mrs. White told me the other day that
Miss Brintnall has saved up two or three thousand dollars from her
earnings.”
“That will be convenient for you when she becomes Mrs. Ingalls,” said
Gilbert, with a smile.
“Do you think I would sacrifice myself for that paltry sum?” demanded
Ingalls, with much indignation. “Ten thousand dollars is the lowest sum
for which I will sacrifice my liberty. I’ll tell you who is most likely
to become Miss Brintnall’s husband, that is, if she consents.”
“Who?”
“Alphonso Jones.”
“What makes you think so?”
“Alphonso lacks money to back up his gentility. He only gets twelve
dollars a week, Kidder tells me, though he claims to have a thousand
dollars a year. Miss Brintnall’s fortune will be a great inducement to
him.”
“You forget that he has hopes of an alliance with the sister of the
Count de Montmorency.”
“I think he had better take Miss Brintnall,” said Mr. Ingalls, dryly.
“Now, to come back to your affairs. Are you quite out of money?”
“Almost. I gave four dollars to a poor family a day or two since, not
expecting that I was to be left this way. I have about fifty cents in my
pocket-book, and I owe a week’s board.”
His room-mate reflected a moment.
“I wish I were richer, for your sake, Gilbert,” he said. “As it is, I
can lend you money enough to pay this week’s board bill. Before another
week comes round, something may turn up.”
“Thank you,” said Gilbert, gratefully; “but I don’t like to rob you.”
“You won’t rob me, for I intend to let you repay it when you can. If I
could keep it up till your guardian returns I would do so; but this I
can’t do. I will tell you what I would do in your case.”
“I wish you would advise me, for I don’t know what to do. I never was in
such a situation before.”
“It was understood that your guardian would pay your board for the
present, was it not?”
“Yes. He offered to do it. I never would have asked him.”
“You say he left no directions at the office in regard to it?”
“So the chief clerk told me.”
“It is clear, then, that it escaped his mind in the hurry of an
unexpected departure. Probably he will set the matter right in his first
letter. Wait a minute, though. His wife and son probably accompanied him
to the steamer to see him off.”
“I suppose so.”
“Very likely he spoke to them about it. I advise you to call on them and
inquire.”
Gilbert looked reluctant.
“It may be as you say,” said he; “but I don’t like to speak to Mrs.
Briggs on the subject. She dislikes me, and so I think does Randolph,
though not so much as his mother.”
“So you have told me; still I advise you to call, the sooner the better,
in my opinion.”
“Suppose I get no satisfaction?”
“In that case you will know what to look forward to. If you are thrown
upon your own resources, you can lay your plans accordingly.”
“I should like to know the worst, at any rate,” said Gilbert,
thoughtfully.
“Then take my advice, and call this evening on Mrs. Briggs.”
“I will,” said Gilbert; “but I would rather have a tooth out.”