Ebenezer Graham with some difficulty ascertained from Eben that he had
other bills, amounting in the aggregate to forty-seven dollars. This
added to the board bill, made a total of seventy-seven dollars. Mr.
Graham's face elongated perceptibly.
“That is bad enough,” he said; “but you have lost your income also, and
that makes matters worse. Isn't there a chance of the firm taking you
back?”
“No, sir,” replied the prodigal. “You see, we had a flare up, and I
expressed my opinion of them pretty plainly. They wouldn't take me back
if I'd come for nothing.”
“And they won't give you a recommendation, either?” said Ebenezer, with
a half groan.
“No, sir; I should say not.”
“So you have ruined your prospects so far as Boston is concerned,” said
his father, bitterly. “May I ask how you expect to get along?”
“I have a plan,” said Eben, with cheerful confidence.
“What is it?”
“I would like to go to California. If I can't get any situation in San
Francisco, I can go to the mines.”
“Very fine, upon my word!” said his father, sarcastically. “And how do
you propose to get to California?”
“I can go either by steamer, across the isthmus, or over the Union
Pacific road.”
“That isn't what I mean. Where are you to get the money to pay your fare
with?”
“I suppose you will supply that,” said Eben.
“You do? Well, it strikes me you have some assurance,” ejaculated Mr.
Graham. “You expect me to advance hundreds of dollars, made by working
early and late, to support a spendthrift son!”
“I'll pay you back as soon as I am able,” said Eben, a little abashed.
“No doubt! You'd pay me in the same way you pay your board bills,” said
Ebenezer, who may be excused for the sneer. “I can invest my money to
better advantage than upon you.”
“Then, if you will not do that,” said Eben, sullenly, “I will leave you
to suggest a plan.”
“There is only one plan I can think of, Eben. Go back to your old place
in the store. I will dismiss the Carr boy, and you can attend to the
post office, and do the store work.”
“What, go back to tending a country grocery, after being a salesman in a
city store!” exclaimed Eben, disdainfully.
“Yes, it seems the only thing you have left. It's your own fault that
you are not still a salesman in the city.”
Eben took the cigar from his mouth, and thought rapidly.
“Well,” he said, after a pause, “if I agree to do this, what will you
pay me?”
“What will I pay you?”
“Yes, will you pay me ten dollars a week--the same as I got at Hanbury &
Deane's?”
“Ten dollars a week!” ejaculated Ebenezer, “I don't get any more than
that myself.”
“I guess there's a little mistake in your calculations, father,” said
Eben, significantly. “If you don't make at least forty dollars a week,
including the post office, then I am mistaken.”
“So you are--ridiculously mistaken!” said his father, sharply. “What
you presume is entirely out of the question. You forget that you will
be getting your board, and Tom Tripp only received a dollar and a half a
week without board.”
“Is that all you pay to Herbert Carr?”
“I pay him a leetle more,” admitted Ebenezer.
“What will you give me?”
“I'll give you your board and clothes,” said Ebenezer, “and that seems
to be more than you made in Boston.”
“Are you in earnest?” asked Eben, in genuine dismay.
“Certainly. It isn't a bad offer, either.”
“Do you suppose a young man like me can get along without money?”
“You ought to get along without money for the next two years, after the
sums you've wasted in Boston. It will cripple me to pay your bills,” and
the storekeeper groaned at the thought of the inroads the payment would
make on his bank account.
“You're poorer than I thought, if seventy-five dollars will cripple
you,” said Eben, who knew his father's circumstances too well to be
moved by this representation.
“I shall be in the poorhouse before many years if I undertake to pay all
your bills, Eben.”
After all, this was not, perhaps, an exaggeration, for a spendthrift son
can get through a great deal of money.
“I can't get along without money, father,” said Eben, decidedly. “How
can I buy cigars, let alone other things?”
“I don't want you to smoke cigars. You'll be a great deal better off
without them,” said his father, sharply.
“I understand; it's necessary to my health,” said Eben, rather absurdly.
“You won't smoke at my expense,” said Ebenezer, decidedly. “I don't
smoke myself, and I never knew any good come of it.”
“All the same, I must have some money. What will people say about a
young man of my age not having a cent in his pocket? They think my
father is very mean.”
“I'll allow you fifty cents a week,” said Mr. Graham, after a pause.
“That won't do! You seem to think I am only six or seven years old!”
Finally, after considerable haggling, Mr. Graham agreed to pay his son
a dollar and a half a week, in cash, besides board and clothes. He
reflected that he should be obliged to board and clothe his son at any
rate, and should save a dollar and a half from Herbert's wages.
“Well,” he said, “when will you be ready to go to work?”
“I must have a few days to loaf, father. I have been hard at work for a
long time, and need some rest.”
“Then you can begin next Monday morning. I'll get Herbert to show you
how to prepare the mail, so that you won't have any trouble about the
post-office work.”
“By the way, father, how do you happen to have the post office? I
thought Mrs. Carr was to carry it on.”
“So she did, for a time, but a woman ain't fit for a public position of
that kind. So I applied for the position, and got it.”
“What's Mrs. Carr going to do?”
“She's got her pension,” said Ebenezer, shortly.
“Eight dollars a month, isn't it?”
“Yes.”
“That ain't much to support a family.”
“She'll have to do something else, then, I suppose.”
“There isn't much to do in Wayneboro.”
“That isn't my lookout. She can take in sewing, or washing,” suggested
Ebenezer, who did not trouble himself much about the care of his
neighbors. “Besides there's Herbert--he can earn something.”
“But I'm to take his place.”
“Oh well, I ain't under any obligations to provide them a livin'. I've
got enough to take care of myself and my family.”
“You'd better have let her keep the post office,” said Eben. He was
not less selfish than his father, but then his own interests were not
concerned. He would not have scrupled, in his father's case, to do
precisely the same.
“It's lucky I've got a little extra income,” said Ebenezer, bitterly;
“now I've got your bills to pay.”
“I suppose I shall have to accept your offer, father,” said Eben, “for
the present; but I hope you'll think better of my California plan after
a while. Why, there's a fellow I know went out there last year, went up
to the mines, and now he's worth five thousand dollars!”
“Then he must be a very different sort of a person from you,” retorted
his father, sagaciously. “You would never succeed there, if you can't in
Boston.”
“I've never had a chance to try,” grumbled Eben.
There was sound sense in what his father said. Failure at home is very
likely to be followed by failure away from home. There have been cases
that seemed to disprove my assertion, but in such cases failure has only
been changed into success by earnest work. I say to my young readers,
therefore, never give up a certainty at home to tempt the chances of
success in a distant State, unless you are prepared for disappointment.
When the engagement had been made with Eben, Mr. Graham called Herbert
to his presence.
“Herbert,” said he, “I won't need you after Saturday night. My son is
going into the store, and will do all I require. You can tell him how to
prepare the mails, et cetery.”
“Very well, sir,” answered Herbert. It was not wholly a surprise, but
it was a disappointment, for he did not know how he could make three
dollars a week in any other way, unless he left Wayneboro.