“You do work for us all the time, Frank, and we love to look to you for
help; but it cannot be supposed that, at your age, you can support us
entirely.”
Just at this moment, Clara put the last stitches to the work upon which
she was engaged; and, throwing it aside, she said joyfully,—
“Come, Frank, I have finished work for this evening. Bring your flute,
and I will sing the new song that we like so much.”
Frank readily complied; and Mrs. Wilbur listened with delight as Clara’s
sweet voice mingled with the soft notes of her brother’s flute.
But, at the end of the first song, Frank rose hurriedly, as if suddenly
recollecting something, saying as he did so,—
“Mother, I must go back to the store for a little while.”
“Go back to the store, my son! For what purpose, at this hour?”
“A cask of gunpowder was brought there this afternoon, mother, and I
fear that it was not put in a place of safety. We have a particular
place for keeping it, in order to guard against accidents. It was given
in charge to our head clerk; but he was unexpectedly called away this
evening, and I do not feel sure that he attended to it.”
“But as you were not desired to take care of it, Frank, will it not
answer to leave it where it is until morning?” asked Mrs. Wilbur, for
the walk was a long one, and she felt sorry to have Frank go at so late
an hour.
“You can move it to-morrow, when you open the store,” urged Clara. “You
will need some one to help you, and there is no one there to-night.”
“There are men enough near by,” replied Frank, smiling. “I think I will
go, mother. I do not love to leave this pleasant room, especially as
Clara is ready to sing with me; but I believe it is my duty to attend to
that powder immediately. _There is no time like the present_, you know,
mother. I do not forget father’s motto.”
“You have always remembered it well since the day of misfortunes at
school,” answered his mother, “and I will not urge you to act contrary
to it now. Go, if you think it your duty.”
And Frank went. As he expected, the gunpowder had not been put in a
place of security. He attended to its removal, and then, with a quick
step and a light heart, returned home. Clara had already retired to
rest, and his mother was only awaiting his return to follow her example.
Soon all were sleeping quietly.
An alarm of fire in the middle of the night, and the noise of the
engines as they passed, aroused Frank; and, on looking from his window,
he felt convinced that the light was in the direction of the store in
which he was employed.
Hastily dressing himself, and pausing at his mother’s door to tell her
where he was going, he was soon walking rapidly to the spot.
As he approached, he felt relieved at finding that the fire had not
originated in the store, as he had at first feared. It was, however,
fearfully near; and, in spite of the efforts of the firemen, one part of
it was soon in flames.
It was at this moment that Frank arrived at the scene of action; and, at
the same instant, Mr. Lewiston and the head clerk came running from
opposite directions.
Frank followed his employer as he was hastily passing into the store,
hoping that the most valuable goods might be removed; but they were both
forcibly pulled back by the clerk, who, with a countenance full of
horror, exclaimed,—
“The powder! O, Mr. Lewiston, I did not remove it; and the fire is in
that part of the building!”
Mr. Lewiston uttered an exclamation of despair, and was springing from
the door, when Frank laid his hand upon his arm.
“All is right, Mr. Lewiston. I saw the powder properly stored.”
“Bless you, my boy!” was the heartfelt reply; and, relieved from this
dreadful fear, all hands were soon at work to rescue the property from
the devouring flames.
But the firemen had now gained the victory, and the fire was
extinguished before it had reached the main part of the building. Only
the left wing was burned; but it was there that the powder had been
placed, and from there Frank had removed it, in his late visit at the
store the previous evening. He thanked the Lord that he had done this,
as he thought of the dreadful loss of life and property which might
otherwise have taken place.
* * * * *
Again the little party had assembled around the table to enjoy their
pleasant evening chat. It was on the day after the fire, Frank’s
seventeenth birthday.
“And now, mother, I have a piece of good news to tell you,” he said, as
he finished the recital of the adventures of the previous night; for, at
Clara’s request, he had told the story a second time.
“Mr. Lewiston has doubled my salary; and, moreover, he assures me that
he will continue to advance me, and will at some future time endeavor to
establish me in business for myself. And now, Miss Clara, you may put
away your needle, and read and study a part of your time; and mother
will no longer be so incessantly occupied with her work, but will have
leisure to take some air and exercise, and she will look bright and
happy again, as she used to when dear father lived with us.”
“I ought to look happy when I have such kind children to take care of
me,” answered Mrs. Wilbur, smiling through her tears.
“I am _so glad_ you went back to the store last evening, Frank!”
exclaimed Clara. “I will never again try to persuade you to neglect the
prompt performance of any duty.”
“It will be a lesson to both of us,” replied Frank. “You do not know how
happy I felt this morning when our head clerk offered me his hand, and
told me that I had saved him from a life of misery; for, had there been
an explosion, he should have considered himself as the cause of the
disasters which must have followed.”
“It must make you very happy to think that you have been the means of
preventing so frightful a calamity,” answered Mrs. Wilbur. “The lesson
is indeed a useful one to us all; and in every duty, whether great or
small, we will ever bear in mind your favorite motto, ‘There is no time
like the present.’”