BAD NEWS FOR TOM.
TOM GOT along tolerably well with the Middletons. They had found out
that it was necessary to give him his own way, for he was sure to obtain
it sooner or later in a way that annoyed them. They were obliged to
considerably improve their frugal table, but after all there was a
handsome profit in Tom’s board, and besides, they fared better
themselves.
At the end of every month Nathan rode over to Centerville, twelve miles
distant, and collected eighty-three dollars and thirty-four cents for
Tom’s board. He might have waited for a check, but he was afraid it
might be delayed, and besides, he had a chance to combine a little
insurance business with his other errand.
So it happened that one October day he stopped his horse before the
office of Ephraim Sharp, attorney-at-law, who had charge of Tom’s
property. With a pleasant smile, he entered the office and greeted the
attorney, who was sitting at a desk, his brow knit with care.
“How do you do, Mr. Sharp?” said Nathan. “Fine morning!”
“Is it?” said the lawyer abruptly. “I hadn’t time to think of the
weather.”
“You see the month brings me round,” said Nathan. “Tom’s very well.”
“And you want that money for his board I suppose?”
“Well, I don’t mind telling you that it will be convenient,” answered
Nathan, rubbing his hands with the pleased look of a man who is to
receive money.
“Sit down, Mr. Middleton,” said the lawyer. “I am glad you have come
over; I want to talk to you.”
“I hope he won’t propose to take Tom away from me,” thought Mr.
Middleton, a little nervously. It occurred to him that Tom might have
written to Mr. Sharp expressing a desire to leave Plympton. Yet that
seemed hardly likely, for his young ward had appeared quite contented.
“I wish to speak to you about Tom’s property,” Mr. Sharp begun.
Mr. Middleton pricked up his ears and assumed a look of deep attention.
He hoped the lawyer had got tired of his trust and wanted to resign the
charge of the property to him, in which case he could charge a nice
commission.
“I believe I told you on the occasion of my first visit that Tom’s
fortune amounted to forty thousand dollars.”
“And a very nice, ample property,” murmured Mr. Middleton.
“But when it came into my charge it was invested in a way that seemed to
me injudicious. For instance, Mr. Temple, Tom’s father, lent ten
thousand dollars to a New York merchant, with absolutely no security—a
very unbusiness-like proceeding.”
“Extremely so,” said Mr. Middleton.
“The merchant was a personal friend, and that was no doubt the motive
that influenced Mr. Temple. Well, the merchant has failed, and his
assets are next to nothing—possibly he may pay five cents on a dollar.”
“Shocking!” exclaimed Nathan, who almost felt it a personal loss.
“We may as well count it a total loss. That is not all. Fifteen thousand
dollars were invested in Western mining shares, which my late friend was
induced to buy in the hope of making unheard-of dividends. For a time
prospects were flattering, but investigations which I have been quietly
making during the last three months satisfy me that they are little
short of worthless. That’s fifteen thousand dollars more gone.”
“Good gracious!” exclaimed Nathan dismally, for he saw that his young
boarder would no longer be able to pay the handsome rate of board he had
thus far received.
“That isn’t all,” said the lawyer.
“What, more losses?” groaned Nathan.
“I am sorry to answer in the affirmative. The remainder of the money,
that is, all but a few hundred dollars, was invested in an assorted
cargo, sent in conjunction with an old friend in trade, as a mercantile
venture to India. I received tidings yesterday that the vessel—the
Harbinger—is lost.”
“But the insurance?” suggested Nathan eagerly. “That can be recovered.”
“It will be contested, and probably cannot be recovered. Some of the
conditions of safety, it is alleged, were violated.”
“Then Tom has lost all his fortune,” said Mr. Middleton in
consternation.
“It is more than likely,” answered the lawyer gravely.
“It is a terrible misfortune,” said Nathan, wiping his forehead with his
red silk handkerchief. But he thought rather of the loss to himself than
to Tom.
“Of course we must make some different arrangements for him.”
“You said something was left, didn’t you?” inquired Nathan.
“Yes; a few hundred dollars.”
“That will pay his board a few months longer.”
“And leave him penniless at the end! My dear sir, do you imagine he is
in a situation to pay twenty dollars a week for board?”
“I might take him for a _little_ less,” said Nathan reluctantly.
“It would have to be a great deal less. These four hundred
dollars—possibly five—are all that the boy is sure of. They must be
husbanded. My idea is, that he should be sent to a cheap boarding-school
for a year, or else begin to learn some business at once. Under the
changed circumstances five dollars a week must be the limit charged for
his board.”
“I should lose money if I took him for that,” said Nathan. “Besides I am
sure Mrs. Middleton would not consent. He really has a great appetite,
and he is very dainty about his victuals. Really you would be surprised
to know how much my expenses are increased by his becoming a member of
my family.”
“He is a growing boy. I can readily believe that he is hearty.”
“And he gives a great deal of trouble.”
“I told you when you agreed to take him that he was not a model boy. I
had no doubt he would give you trouble.”
“He is very headstrong, and I really could not stand it unless—unless it
was made worth my while.”
“No doubt. Well, I don’t think it best that he should stay in Plympton.
He can’t afford to pay you enough to make up for the trouble he will
cause. I think it will be best that you send him at once to me.”
“I’ll send him to-morrow,” said Nathan promptly, “but about the board
due for the last month?” he inquired with anxiety.
“That shall be paid. Where is your bill?”
“I have got it here,” said Nathan, considerably relieved. “The board
comes to eighty-three dollars and thirty-four cents. Then I have spent
five dollars and fifty-six cents besides for books, and I have charged
fifty cents for a pane of glass which Tom broke in my kitchen
window—altogether, eighty-nine dollars and forty cents.”
“I will hand you a check for that amount and three dollars besides,
which you may give to Tom for traveling expenses.”
Nathan received the money with mingled joy and regret, the latter
feeling being roused by the thought that it was the last money he would
receive on Tom’s account.
“And he’s a beggar after all,” said Nathan to himself as he rode
homeward. “Who would have thought it? It’ll take down a little of his
independence, I reckon. I ain’t sorry as far as he’s concerned. His
pride deserves to have a fall. But it’ll be a terrible loss to me.”
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