AN ATTEMPT TO WORK AND WIN.
Boston was two hundred miles distant, and Noddy was principally excited
to know how he should get there, for he had decided to ship in that
city. It would take him a week to go on foot, and his funds were now
completely exhausted, so that he could not pay his fare by railroad. If
he could neither ride nor walk, the question was narrowed down to a
point where it needed no further consideration.
"Here, boy, do you want a job?" said a gentleman, coming out of a
dwelling with a valise and a large bundle in his hands.
"Yes, sir; thank you, sir," replied Noddy, springing forward, and taking
the heavier articles, without giving the gentleman the trouble to state
what he wanted of him.
This incident seemed to solve the problem for him. He could remain in
Albany long enough to earn a sufficient sum of money to pay his fare to
Boston. He followed the gentleman to the railroad station, and handed
the valise to the baggage-master. The gentleman gave him a quarter of a
dollar for his services. It was a liberal return for the short time he
had been employed, and a few more such jobs as that would soon put him
in funds.
Noddy was sanguine now that he could earn money with entire ease, and
all the difficulties which had beset him began to disappear. There was
something exceedingly pleasant in the idea of being independent; of
putting his hand into his pocket and always finding some money there
which had been earned by his own labor. It was a novel sensation to him.
"Work and win!" exclaimed he, as he walked out of the railroad station.
"I understand it all now, and I may thank Miss Bertha for the idea."
In the enthusiasm of the moment, he began to consider whether it would
not be better to remain on shore and amass a fortune, which he believed
could be done in a short time. He could carry bundles and valises till
he got money enough to buy a horse and wagon, when he could go into the
business on a more extensive scale. The road to fortune was open to him;
all his trials and difficulties had suddenly vanished, and he had only
to reach out his hand to pluck the golden harvest.
The rattling of a train which had just arrived disturbed this pleasant
dream, and Noddy hastened back to secure the fruit of his brilliant
resolution. There were plenty of gentlemen with bags and valises in
their hands, but not a single one of them wanted any assistance; and
some of them answered his civil salutation with insult and harshness.
The experiment did not work so well as he had anticipated, for Noddy's
great expectations led him to believe that he should make about half a
dollar out of the arrival of this train, instead of which he did not
make a single cent.
"Work and win; but where are you going to get your work?" said Noddy to
himself.
No more trains were to arrive for some hours, and he posted himself in
the street, asking for a job whenever there was the least prospect of
obtaining one. At noon, Noddy was hungry, and was obliged to spend half
his morning's earnings for a coarse dinner, for his circumstances did
not permit him to indulge in the luxury of roast beef and plum pudding.
During the afternoon he lay in wait for a job at the railroad stations,
and in the most public places of the city. But the sum of his earnings
was only five cents.
"Work and win!" said he. "Sum total of day's work, thirty cents; not
enough to buy what I want to eat. It don't pay."
If work did not pay, stealing certainly would not; and we are happy to
say, Bertha Grant had done her duty by him so faithfully, that he did
not feel tempted to resort to any irregular means of obtaining a
subsistence. If work did not pay, it was only because he could not
obtain it. He had not yet struck a productive vein. He had been a
fishing a great many times; but when he had no success, he neither
concluded that fish were not good, nor that there were no fish in the
river.
There was a train to arrive, after dark, from New York city, and he
determined to make one more effort to improve his fortunes. As the
passengers came out of the station with small parcels of baggage in
their hands, he offered his services to them. His heart almost leaped
with rapture when a gentleman handed him a small carpet-bag, and told
him to follow to the Delavan House. He took the bag, and then, to his
horror, he discovered that the gentleman was Mr. Grant!
What had brought him to Albany? As Noddy's sphere of observation was
confined to the little world of his own affairs, he concluded that the
owner of Woodville must be there for the purpose of arresting him.
Probably some of those smart constables had traced him to the town where
he had embarked for Albany. Again the horrors of the court-house, the
jail, and the tinker's shop were present to his mind. He had taken the
valise, and was now following Mr. Grant to the hotel. It was dark at the
place where he had received the carpet-bag, otherwise he would have been
recognized.
Noddy had no doubt in regard to the correctness of his conclusions; and
he could not help thinking that a great man, like Mr. Grant, was taking
a good deal of pains to capture a poor boy, like him. His arrest was a
matter of a great deal more consequence than he had supposed, which made
it all the more necessary to his future peace and happiness that he
should escape. The bag tied him to his persecutor, or he would have run
away as fast as he could. He could not carry off the baggage, for that
would subject him to another penalty, even if he had been dishonest
enough to do such a thing. He decided to follow Mr. Grant to the hotel,
drop the bag, and run.
"Boy, do you know where the police office is?" said Mr. Grant, suddenly
turning round upon him.
"No, sir," replied Noddy, whose natural boldness prompted him, when
fairly cornered, to face the danger.
"What! Noddy?" exclaimed Mr. Grant. "I came to look for you."
"Thank you, sir," replied Noddy.
"You were a foolish fellow to run away. I'm not going to hurt you;
neither is anybody else."
Noddy was not a little astonished to find Mr. Grant, in his own homely
terms, "trying it on" in this manner. It was not strange that the
constable, or even Squire Wriggs, should resort to deception to entrap
him; but he was not quite prepared for it from the upright proprietor of
Woodville. If he was wanted "bad enough" to induce a gentleman of wealth
and position to make a journey to Albany after him, it was the very best
reason in the world why he should get out of the way as soon as
possible.
"How is Miss Bertha, sir?" asked Noddy, who did not know what else to
say.
"She is quite well, and feels very badly now at your absence. You have
made a great mistake, Noddy," replied Mr. Grant.
"Is Miss Fanny pretty well, sir?"
"Very well. We don't wish to injure you, or even to punish you, for
setting the boat-house on fire. The worst that I shall do will be to
send you----"
"Is Ben any better than he was?" continued Noddy, fully satisfied in his
own mind in regard to the last remark.
"Ben is very well," said Mr. Grant, impatiently. "Now, you will come
with me, Noddy, and not try to run away again."
"How is Mrs. Green and the rest of the folks?" asked Noddy, fully
resolved that even Mr. Grant should not "pull wool over his eyes," as he
quaintly expressed his view of this attempt to deceive him.
"She is well. Now come with me, Noddy. I will give you a good supper,
and you shall have everything you need. Your circumstances have changed
now, and you will be a rich man when you are of age."
"Have you heard from Mr. Richard lately, sir?"
"Never mind Richard, now. Come with me, Noddy. If you attempt to run
away again, I shall be obliged to hand you over to a policeman."
That looked much more like it, in Noddy's opinion, and he had no doubt
of Mr. Grant's entire sincerity in the last remark.
"I will follow you, sir," replied Noddy, though he did not intend to
continue on this route much farther.
"You understand that I am your friend, Noddy, and that no harm shall
come to you."
"Yes, sir; I understand that."
"Come here now, and walk by my side. I don't want to call a policeman to
take charge of you."
Noddy did not want him to do so either, and did not intend that he
should. He placed himself by the side of his powerful persecutor, as he
still regarded him, and they walked together towards the hotel. The
young refugee was nervous and uneasy, and watched with the utmost
diligence for an opportunity to slip away. As they were crossing a
street, a hack, approaching rapidly, caused Mr. Grant to quicken his
pace in order to avoid being run over. Noddy, burdened with the weight
of the carpet-bag, did not keep up with him, and he was obliged to fall
back to escape the carriage.
"Here, boy, you take this bag, and follow the owner to the hotel, and he
will give you something," said Noddy to a ragged boy at the corner of
the street.
Without waiting for an answer, he darted down the cross street, and made
his best time in the rush for liberty.
The boy, to whom Noddy had given the bag, ran over the street, and
placed himself behind Mr. Grant, whom he judged to be the owner of the
baggage.
"Where is the other boy?" demanded Mr. Grant.
"Gone down State Street to find ten cents he lost there," replied the
wicked boy. "I'll carry your bag, sir."
"But I want the boy! Which way did he go?" said Mr. Grant, in hurried
tones.
"Down there, sir. His mother'll lick him if he don't find the ten cents
he lost. I'll carry the bag."
But Mr. Grant was unwilling to trust his property to the hands of such a
boy, and he immediately reclaimed it.
"I want that boy!" exclaimed Mr. Grant, in great agitation. "Which way
did he go?"
"Down there," replied the ragged boy, pointing down a street in exactly
the opposite direction from that taken by the fugitive.
But Mr. Grant was too wise a man to follow. He was in search of a
policeman just then. As these worthy functionaries are never at hand
when they are wanted, of course he did not find one. He called a
carriage, and ordered the driver to convey him with all speed, and at
double fare, to the police office. On his arrival, he immediately stated
his business, and in a few hours the whole police force of the city were
on the lookout for poor Noddy Newman.
The object of all this friendly solicitude was unconscious of the
decided steps taken by Mr. Grant; but he ran till he had placed a safe
distance between himself and his potent oppressor. He saw plenty of
policemen in his flight, but he paid no attention to them, nor even
thought what a powerful combination they formed against a weak boy like
himself. He was satisfied, however, that he must leave the city; and
when he was out of breath with running, he walked as nearly on a
straight course as the streets would permit, till he reached the
outskirts of the city.
"Stop that heifer!" shouted a man, who was chasing the animal.
Noddy headed her off, and she darted away in another direction. Our
refugee was interested in the case at once; for he could not permit any
horned beast to circumvent him. He ran as though he had not run before
that evening, and brought the wayward animal up in a corner when the man
came to his assistance.
"You are a smart boy," said the drover.
"That's so," puffed Noddy, modestly.
"If you haven't got nothin' better to do, I'll make it wuth your while
to help drive these cattle down to the keers," added the man.
As Noddy had nothing better to do, he at once accepted the offer,
without even stipulating the price. They started the heifer again, and
she concluded to join the drove which was in the adjoining street. It
was no easy matter to drive the animals, which were not accustomed to
the ways of the city, through the streets, and Noddy won a great deal of
credit for the vigor and agility with which he discharged his duty. They
reached the ferry boat, and crossing, came to the "keers," into which
the young drover assisted in loading the cattle.
His employer gave him a quarter of a dollar, which hardly came up to
Noddy's expectations; for it seemed to him like working very hard, and
winning very little for it. The man asked him some questions about his
home. Noddy told as much of the truth as suited his purpose, and
concluded by saying he wanted to get to Boston, where he could find
something to do.
"O, you want sunthin to do--do ye?" replied the drover. "Well, I'll give
you your victuals, and what clothes you want, to help me drive."
This was not exactly Noddy's idea of "work and win," and he told the
drover he wanted to go to sea.
"I'll tell you what I'll do. You may go down to Brighton, and help take
keer of the cattle in the keers, and I'll take keer of you on the way."
Noddy was more than satisfied with all these "keers," and he promptly
accepted the offer. In half an hour the train started, and he was on the
way to Brighton, which is only a few miles from Boston.