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RUPERT'S AMBITION
by
HORATIO ALGER, JR.
Author of "Chester Rand," "Lester's Luck," "Ragged Dick Series,"
etc., etc.
The John C. Winston Co.
Philadelphia
Chicago Toronto
Copyright, 1899, by
Henry T. Coates & Co.
[Illustration: A DANGEROUS LUNATIC.]
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
I. RUPERT LOSES HIS PLACE, 1
II. OUT OF WORK, 11
III. IN A TIGHT PLACE, 22
IV. A FALSE REPORT, 32
V. MRS. MARLOW'S SCHEME, 42
VI. RUPERT AS A DETECTIVE, 52
VII. A LUCKY MEETING, 62
VIII. JULIAN LORIMER, 73
IX. RUPERT BECOMES A BELL-BOY, 83
X. A BELL-BOY'S EXPERIENCES, 93
XI. RUPERT RECEIVES A COMMISSION, 103
XII. CLAYTON'S SCHEME, 113
XIII. CLAYTON'S DISAPPOINTMENT, 124
XIV. THE YOUNG NEWSBOY, 134
XV. MR. SYLVESTER'S BIRTHDAY, 144
XVI. JULIAN HAS TWO DISAPPOINTMENTS, 154
XVII. MR. PACKARD OF COLORADO, 164
XVIII. A SCENE AT DELMONICO'S, 174
XIX. WHAT HAPPENED IN NO. 61, 184
XX. MR. PACKARD'S GIFT, 191
XXI. RUPERT BECOMES A CONFIDANT, 198
XXII. TRYING TO BE AN ACTOR, 205
XXIII. A BAFFLED SCHEME, 215
XXIV. LESLIE'S PROGRESS, 225
XXV. LESLIE WATERS AS A DRAMATIC STAR, 234
XXVI. TRIUMPHANT OVER OBSTACLES, 245
XXVII. AN INGENIOUS TRICK, 251
XXVIII. RUPERT RESIGNS HIS SITUATION, 257
XXIX. THE ST. JAMES HOTEL, IN DENVER, 265
XXX. PACKARD'S HOME AT RED GULCH, 275
XXXI. BEN BOONE, 280
XXXII. AN UNPLEASANT BEDFELLOW, 285
XXXIII. BEN BOONE'S TEMPTATION, 295
XXXIV. RUPERT'S PREDICAMENT, 305
XXXV. RUPERT MAKES A DISCOVERY, 310
XXXVI. A LUCKY ENCOUNTER, 315
XXXVII. AN INDIAN GUIDE, 326
XXXVIII. HOW TO MANAGE A ROGUE, 336
XXXIX. NEW PLANS, 347
XL. CONCLUSION, 356
RUPERT'S AMBITION.
CHAPTER I.
RUPERT LOSES HIS PLACE.
"Rupert, the superintendent wishes to see you."
Rupert Rollins, a tall boy of sixteen, was engaged in folding some
pieces of cloth which had been shown during the day to customers. It was
the principal salesroom of Tenney & Rhodes, who conducted a large
wholesale dry goods house in the lower part of New York city.
"Very well, Harry," he said. "I will go at once. I wonder what he wants
to see me about."
"I don't know. I hope it is to raise your wages."
"That isn't likely in these dull times, though a raise would be very
welcome."
When Rupert had finished folding the pieces he was upon he left his
place and knocked at the door of a small room occupied by the
superintendent.
A man of about forty was seated at a desk writing.
"Mr. Frost," said Rupert, respectfully, "I hear you wish to speak with
me."
"Yes; take a seat."
Rupert was tired, for he had been on his feet all day, and was glad to
sink into a chair near the door.
"How long have you been in our employ?" asked the superintendent, in the
quick tones habitual to him.
"Nearly six months."
"So I supposed. You are one of the last clerks taken on."
"Yes, sir."
"I am sorry, I have bad news for you. Mr. Tenney feels, in view of the
dullness in business, that it will be advisable to diminish his clerical
force. As you are one of the last taken on, he has selected you and a
few others for discharge."
Rupert turned pale. What a terrible misfortune this would be to him he
well knew. The future seemed to him dark indeed.
"I hope, sir," he said, in an unsteady voice, "that the firm is not
dissatisfied with me."
"Oh, no. No indeed! I have heard only good reports of you. We shall be
glad to recommend you to any other firm."
"Thank you, sir. When do you wish me to go?"
"You can stay till the end of the week."
Rupert bowed and left the room. His head was in a whirl, and he felt
that a calamity had indeed fallen upon him. His wages were but five
dollars a week, but this sum, small as it was, was the main support of
his mother and sister, the latter a chronic invalid, only two years
younger than himself. What they were to do when this small income was
taken away he could not conjecture. He felt that he must look out at
once for a new place.
"Well, Rupert, what business did the superintendent have with you?"
asked Harry Bacon, Rupert's most intimate friend in the store.
"Only to tell me that I was discharged," said Rupert, quietly.
"Why, that's a shame!" exclaimed Harry, impetuously. "What are you
discharged for?"
"Only on account of dull times. The house will give me a
recommendation."
"It seems too bad you are to go. Why didn't they discharge me, too?"
"You have been here longer, and it is only those last taken on who must
go. I suppose it is all right, but it is hard."
"Keep up your courage, Rupert. It isn't as if you were discharged for
cause. With a recommendation from Tenney & Rhodes you ought to find
another place here."
"Yes, in ordinary times, but you know business is dull elsewhere as well
as with us. It isn't a good time to change places."
"Well, you'll get something else. All branches of business may not be as
dull as ours."
Harry Bacon had a sanguine disposition, and always looked on the bright
side. His assurances encouraged Rupert a little, and he determined to
do his best to find something to do, no matter what.
At five o'clock the store closed. Retail stores kept open later, but
early hours are one of the advantages of a wholesale establishment.
Rupert bent his steps towards Elizabeth Street. In an upper apartment in
one of the shabby houses fronting on this thoroughfare lived his mother
and sister. It was only a three-story house, and there were but two
flights of stairs to ascend.
Entering the principal room, Rupert saw his mother with her head bent in
an attitude of despondency over the table. Through a door he could see
his sister lying uneasily on a bed in a small inner room, her face
showing that she was suffering pain.
Rupert stepped forward and with tender sympathy strove to raise his poor
mother from her position of despondency.
"What is the matter, mother?" he asked. "Are you not well?"
"Yes, Rupert," she answered, raising her head, "but for the moment I
felt discouraged. Grace has been suffering more than usual to-day.
Sickness and poverty, too, are hard to bear."
"That is true, mother," and Rupert's heart sank as he remembered that by
the end of the week the poverty would become destitution.
"Grace has been unable to eat anything to-day. She thought she could eat
an orange, but I absolutely didn't have money enough to buy one."
"She shall have an orange," said Rupert, in a low voice.
The sick girl heard, and her face brightened. It was an instinctive
craving, such as a sick person sometimes has.
"I should enjoy an orange," she said, faintly. "I think I could sleep
after eating one."
"I will go right out and get one."
Rupert put on his hat and went down stairs.
"You may buy a loaf of bread, Rupert," said his mother, as he was
starting, "that is, if you have money enough."
"Yes, mother."
There was an Italian fruit vender's stall at the next corner. As he
stepped out on the sidewalk Rupert took out his slender purse and
examined its contents. It held but thirty-five cents, and this must last
till Saturday night, when he would receive his weekly wages.
Going to the stand, he examined the Italian's stock. He saw some large,
attractive oranges marked "five cents." There were some smaller ones
marked three cents, but Rupert judged that they were sour, and would not
please his sister. Yet five cents was considerable for him to pay under
the circumstances. It represented one-seventh of his scanty stock of
money.
"Won't you let me have one of these oranges for four cents?" he asked.
Nicolo, the Italian, shook his head.
"No," he answered. "It is good-a orange. It is worth more than I ask."
Rupert sighed and hesitated.
"I suppose I shall have to pay it," he said, regretfully.
He drew out his purse and took out a nickel.
"I'll take an orange," he said.
"Is it for yourself?" asked a gentle voice.
Rupert turned, and saw a tiny woman, not over five feet in height, with
a pleasant, kindly face.
"No," he said, "it is for my sister."
"Is your sister sick?"
"Yes. She has taken a fancy to an orange, and I want her to have one,
but--it is extravagant for one in my circumstances to pay a nickel for
one."
"Would you mind," said the little woman, hesitatingly, "would you mind
if I sent an orange to your sister?"
Rupert hesitated. He was proud, but not foolishly so, and he saw that
the offer was meant in kindness.
"I should say it was very kind in you," he said, candidly.
The little woman nodded contentedly, and spoke a low word to the
Italian.
He selected four oranges and put them in a paper bag.
"But that is too many," expostulated Rupert.
"No," answered the little woman, with a smile. "Keep the rest for
to-morrow," and before Rupert had a chance to thank her she had paid
Nicolo and was hurrying down the street.
The spontaneous kindness of the little woman, who was a perfect
stranger, helped to cheer Rupert. He felt that there were some kind
people in the world, and his trust in Providence was increased. He went
to a baker's, near by, and purchased a ten-cent loaf of bread. Then he
made his way back to his humble home in Elizabeth Street.
As he entered the room, the sick girl looked up eagerly. Rupert emptied
the oranges on the table, and her face brightened as she saw the yellow
fruit which she craved.
"Rupert, I am afraid you were extravagant," said his mother. "These
oranges must have cost five cents each."
"Yes, they did."
"We cannot afford such a large purchase in our circumstances."
"They cost me nothing, mother. They are a present to Grace from a lady
who met me at the stand."
"She must have a kind heart. Do you know who she was?"
"No, I never saw her before."
"The world is not all unkind. Grace, I will prepare an orange for you. I
hope you will relish it."
The sick girl enjoyed the fruit, and after eating it lay back content.
"May I have another in the morning?" she asked.
"Yes, my child."
So the evening passed not wholly unhappily, but still Rupert could not
help thinking of the next week, when he would be out of a position.