DICK'S FIRST WAGES
Immediately after breakfast on the following morning Dick started out
upon his search for employment.
He did not know how far he might have to tramp in scouring the
surrounding country, and so asked his mother to let him put him up a
"snack" which would help to tide him over the noon hour, if he happened
to be at a distance from home.
As he turned and looking back waved his hand to her just as he had
always done since the first day he went to school, she felt that it was
hard indeed that her boy should have to be thrown on the world to make a
living when others among his schoolmates had pleasant homes, and
well-to-do parents to care for them.
But Dick never allowed himself to look at things in that way; he felt
within him the spirit to do and dare that leads to success if persisted
in, and he was grimly determined not to allow himself feel any
discouragement even should he meet with failure right and left.
He had heard just the preceding day that the miller down the river road
was looking for a boy to assist him, since his son was sick, and it was
toward the quaint old mill, driven by water from the little river, that
he first of all turned his steps.
As he trudged along about half a mile beyond the outskirts of the town
he discovered a vehicle some little distance ahead, apparently stalled.
Something had happened, for the driver was on the ground and appeared to
be busy trying to mend a break in the harness, or something still more
serious.
As he drew nearer Dick saw first of all that the man was Mr. Cartwright,
the miller, the very man he was intending to see, and the next thing he
noticed was that the loaded wagon was tilted on one side, showing that a
wheel must have given away, threatening a complete collapse.
He hurried up, wondering if his lucky star might not be in the ascendant
just then, the opportunity to get in the good graces of the miller
seeming so good.
The dusty miller was scratching his head in puzzled wonder at just the
minute Dick arrived on the scene.
"Good morning, Mr. Cartwright. You seem to have met with an accident,"
remarked the boy, as he came alongside.
The man looked up with interest, to show more or less disappointment
when he found that it was only a boy who had arrived.
"It's you, is it, Dick? Yes, I've broken down at last. Twenty years more
or less I've carried loads back and forth between my mill and the town,
and never once in all that time have I had such an accident. The wheel
is giving way. If I try to go on it will smash entirely, and perhaps
part of my load be thrown off. How to get home is a question I am trying
to decide. I hate to unload. If I had another wheel and a jack here I
might get around the trouble."
"I could get them for you, sir; or if you thought best we could take a
rail from the fence here and use it to hold up the load while you crept
home. It isn't a great way off, you know," remarked Dick, quickly.
"Do you think we could fix it with a rail lashed under the axle? I've
seen it done with an empty wagon but never with a full one," exclaimed
the miller, brightening up.
"By changing a part of the load, and throwing it over on the side where
there are two sound wheels I think it could be managed, sir," replied
Dick, and there was such an air of conviction about his smiling face
that the miller seemed to be convinced even against his own judgment.
"Well, now, it might go, and I've half a mind to try it. Can you give me
a hand, Dick, or are you in a hurry?" he asked.
[Illustration: "CAN YOU GIVE ME A HAND, DICK, OR ARE YOU IN A HURRY?"
HE ASKED.
_Dick the Bank Boy_ _Page 19_]
"No hurry at all, sir, and only too glad to help you if I can," and in
a jiffy he had hurried to the fence, selected the stoutest rail in
sight, and was back again at the side of the man who was in trouble.
They first of all shifted the cargo as much as possible, so as to throw
the greater part of the weight on the left side of the wagon, thus
relieving the strain on the broken wheel.
Fortunately the miller had plenty of rope along under his seat, and
after they had united their strength to raise that end of the wagon by
means of other rails, the one that had been selected as a drag was
securely lashed into place.
Thus the broken wheel did not come in contact with the road, and when
the patient old horse was set in motion the vehicle shuffled along after
a fashion.
"The missus'll think I'm coming home like a whipped dog with his tail
between his legs, but it's a case of any port in a storm, and I'm glad
to get back without throwing off this whole load. I'm sure obliged to
you, Dick, for the lift you gave me, and I won't forget it either.
P'raps some day I can pay it back."
Of course that was the proper time to strike, while the iron was hot,
and Dick knew it well enough.
"Why, I was just on my way here to see you, Mr. Cartwright. I heard that
you wanted some one to assist you, and as I'm looking for work I
thought I'd apply for the job. I'm strong, and I think able to do what
you want," he hastened to say.
The miller looked at him with a smile.
"Well, now, I'd like to give you work first rate, Dick, boy; after the
way you fixed me up this morning I reckon you're a right handy sort of a
boy to have around. But you see I expect my son Toby to be well enough
in a few days to get onto his regular business again. If you cared to
tackle the work till then I'd sure be glad to have you. It's my busy
time, and I'm falling behind every day. You could be a great help to me,
only the job is apt to be a short one," he remarked.
"It might help out, Mr. Cartwright. You know my mother is in trouble
over that investment, and times are going hard with us. I mean to get to
work at once, and try to make it easier for her. I'll take the job while
it lasts, sir," and he threw off his coat with a business-like air that
pleased the old miller.
"But see here, Dick, we ain't made no terms. I paid Toby twenty a month,
and his board. Would a dollar and a quarter a day satisfy you, son? A
special job like this always commands higher wages, you know," he
inquired, eagerly, for he had been wondering how he could keep up with
his orders while shorthanded.
"It suits me first-rate, sir. Only wish it would keep right along--not
that I would like to have Toby sick you understand. And, now if you will
show me just what I'm to start on I'll get to work."
"Say, I like that kind of talk. I reckon you and me will pull together
all right, Dick. I knowed your father many years, and if so be the boy
has got some of his grit and go in his make-up there ain't no fear but
he'll get there."
It filled Dick with a sense of deepest satisfaction to realize that he
was actually earning real money; and again and again he pictured the
look of happiness that he knew would flash over the face of his mother
when he told her of his success; of course the job was only a temporary
one, but then it certainly seemed like the harbinger of other good
things to come.
He whistled at his work, and the miller thought this merry-hearted lad
was worth having around as an inspiration, even though he might not be
as sturdy a worker as his big-muscled Toby.
But Dick was possessed of indomitable pluck, and after he grew a little
accustomed to the work he thoroughly satisfied his employer.
At noon he heard a conch shell blown, and washing up as Mr. Cartwright
had directed him, he proceeded to the house, where he sat down to a
bountiful spread that was certainly a joyous sight in the eyes of a
hungry boy.
He only wished the little mother were sitting beside him instead of big
Toby, now well on the road to recovery.
And all that afternoon, when he felt tired from the unusual employment
of his muscles, he cheered himself up with the thought of how proud he
would be to place that first dollar and a quarter in the hand of the
waiting little woman in the cottage by the river bank--for it was one of
the miller's peculiarities to do a cash business, and pay any one
working for him each day after the hour for stopping arrived.
It was a tiresome walk back to town and then out home, but Dick strode
along with a light heart, and having changed his mind about his
homecoming stopped in town to buy something in the way of groceries
which he knew would fill a long-felt want at home.
In the gloaming then he arrived, to find his mother beginning to grow
nervous over his long absence; and only when her arms were about his
neck he told of his success in obtaining work.
Doubly sweet was the humble fare that night, for he felt that he had
really done his part toward the support of the Morrison family, and that
he was in a fair road toward filling that place at the head made vacant
by the death of his father.