Walter Sherwood's Probation by Jr. Horatio Alger (good romance books to read txt) ๐
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- Author: Jr. Horatio Alger
Read book online ยซWalter Sherwood's Probation by Jr. Horatio Alger (good romance books to read txt) ๐ยป. Author - Jr. Horatio Alger
โI shouldn't care to employ you if you were,โ said his guardian, smiling. โOne thing I would like to guard you against. Don't be too particular about what you take up. With so small an outfit as you have stipulated for, you will have to go to work at something soon. Then, again, you won't be able to live as well as you have been accustomed to do here and in college.โ
โI understand that, and am prepared for it. I want to rough it.โ
โPossibly you will have your wish granted. I don't want to discourage you, Walter. I only want to prepare you for what may, and probably will, come.โ
โDo you know any one in Chicago, Doctor Mack? I might find it pleasant to have an acquaintance.โ
โYes, I know a retired merchant named Archer. He lives on Indiana Avenue. I don't remember the number, but you can easily find his name in the directory. His name is Allen Archer.โ
Walter noted the name in a new memorandum book which he had purchased.
โWhere would you advise me to put up on my arrival in Chicago?โ he asked.
โThere are several good housesโthe Sherman, Tremont, Palmer House; but they will be beyond your means. Indeed, any hotel will be. Still you might go to some good house for a day. That will give you time to hunt up a modest boarding-house.โ
โAn excellent plan!โ said Walter, in a tone of satisfaction. โDo you know, my dear guardian, I shall go out in the best of spirits. I feelโin Shakespeare's wordsโthat the world is mine oyster.โ
โI hope you will be able to open it, Walter. You have my best wishes. Don't forget that you will have to depend on yourself.โ
โI won't forget it. I wish it was time for me to start.โ
โIt will come soon enough. You had better get out your clothes, and get them mended, if necessary, and put in order. Nancy will do all she can for you, and the tailor will do the rest. Better not take much with you. When you get settled I will forward your trunk by express.โ
When Nancy Sprague heard of Walter's plans she was much disturbed.
โOh, Master Walter,โ she said, in a tragic tone, โis it true that you've lost all your money and have got to go out into the cold world to make a living?โ
โI believe I have lost some money, Nancy, but I rather like the idea of working for my living.โ
โOh, you poor child, you little know what it is. I can't bear to think of it. I can't see how Doctor Mack can let you go.โ
โI should be very sorry if he refused. It isn't so bad, to work for a living. Haven't you always done it?โ
โYes, but that's different. I was always poor, and I am used to it.โ
โI'm going to get used to it.โ
โWalterโdon't tell your guardian what I am sayingโbut I've got two hundred dollars in the savings bank, and I shall be very glad to give you some of it. You will take it, now, won't you? I can get it out to-morrow.โ
โNancy, you are a true friend,โ said Walter, really moved by the unselfish devotion of the house-keeper; โbut I sha'n't need it. I shall take a hundred dollars with me, and long before it is gone I shall be earning my living.โ
โYou'll send for it if you need it?โ
โYes; if I find I am very hard up, and there is no other way, I will send for it.โ
Nancy brightened up, much pleased and relieved by this assurance.
โI couldn't bear to think of your suffering for a meal of victuals when we have so much in the house. I don't see why you can't stay at home and get a place in the village.โ
Walter laughed.
โIt wouldn't suit me at all, Nancy. I am going West to grow up with the country.โ
โI wish I could be somewhere near, to look after you.โ
โIt would be of no use, Nancy. Women are in great demand out thereโat any rate in Dakotaโand you'd be married in less than no time, if you went.โ
โYou are only joking now, Master Walter.โ
โNot at all! I read the other day that of ten schoolma'ams who went out to Dakota last fall, eight were married within three months.โ
โNobody could marry me against my will,โ said Nancy resolutely.
โPerhaps he would find a way of overcoming your objections,โ said Walter, laughing. โBut I am afraid Doctor Mack couldn't do without you. He couldn't spare you and me both.โ
โThat's true,โ assented Nancy, who had not been so much alarmed at the matrimonial dangers hinted at by Walter as might have been anticipated. Had a good opportunity offered, I am inclined to think Nancy would have been willing to change her name. After all, she was only forty-nine, and I have known more than one to surrender single blessedness with all its charms at and beyond that age.
At last the day of departure came. Valise in hand, Walter jumped aboard the stage that was to convey him to the railroad-station. He shook hands with his guardian and Nancy, the driver whipped up his horses, and a new period in Walter's life had commenced.
โI wonder how he'll come out?โ mused Doctor Mack thoughtfully. โHave I acted for the best in letting him go? Well, time alone can tell.โ
CHAPTER VIII WALTER BUYS A WATCH
Walter was tempted to stop over at Niagara, as his ticket would have allowed him to do, but he was also very anxious to reach Chicago and get to work. โI can visit Niagara some other time,โ he reflected. โNow I can spare neither the money nor the time.โ
Hour after hour sped by, until with a little thrill of excitement Walter learned by consulting his railroad guide that he was within fifty miles of Chicago. He looked out of the car window, and surveyed with interest the country through which they were speeding at the rate of thirty-five miles an hour. His attention was drawn from the panorama outside by a voice:
โIs this seat engaged?โ
Walter looked up, and his glance rested on a man of perhaps thirty-five, dressed in a light suit, and wearing a tall white hat.
โNo, sir,โ answered Walter politely, removing his gripsack from the seat.
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