Try and Trust; Or, Abner Holden's Bound Boy by Jr. Horatio Alger (best e books to read .TXT) ๐
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- Author: Jr. Horatio Alger
Read book online ยซTry and Trust; Or, Abner Holden's Bound Boy by Jr. Horatio Alger (best e books to read .TXT) ๐ยป. Author - Jr. Horatio Alger
About the place where he met Mr. Holden he was hailed by a man at work in the fieldโthe same who had taken back that gentleman's horse to the stable.
โWell, boy, you had a kind of scrimmage, didn't you, coming over?โ
โDid you see it?โ asked Herbert.
โYes,โ said the other, grinning. โI seed the other feller in the mud puddle. He was considerably riled about it.โ
โIt was his own fault. I gave him half the road.โ
โI know it; but there's some folks that want more than their share.โ
โWas his buggy broken? I don't know but I ought to have stopped to help him, but he had been so unreasonable that I didn't feel much like it.โ
โHis wheel got broken. I drawed the buggy into the bushes. There 'tis now. It'll cost him a matter of ten dollars to fix it.โ
โI'm sorry for that,โ said Herbert; โbut I can't see that I was to blame in the matter. If I had turned out as he wanted me to, I should have tipped over, and, as the wagon didn't belong to me, I didn't think it right to risk it.โ
โOf course not. You wasn't called on to give in to such unreasonableness.โ
โWhere did the man go?โ
โHe concluded to walk on to Waverley, and hired me to take the horse back to the stable. He wanted to know who you were.โ
โDid he?โ
โMaybe he's goin' to sue you for damages.โ
โI don't believe he'll get much if he does,โ laughed our hero. โMy property is where he can't get hold of it.โ
โHo! ho!โ laughed the other, understanding the joke.
After this conversation Herbert continued on his way, and, after delivering the grain, took his way across the fields to his temporary home. He entered by the back yard. Little Mary came running out to meet him.
โHave oo come back, Herbert?โ she said. โWhere have oo been?โ
โBeen to buy Mary some candy,โ he said, lifting her up and kissing her.
โWhose horse is that at the gate?โ asked Herbert, as the doctor's wife entered the room.
โIt belongs to Captain Ross,โ she said. โHe has come on business connected with you.โ
โConnected with me!โ repeated Herbert, in surprise.
โYes, my dear boy, I am afraid we must make up our minds to lose you.โ
โHas he found a place for me?โ asked Herbert, in a tone of disappointment.
โYes, I believe he has bound you out to a man in Cranston.โ
โI am sorry,โ said Herbert.
โI shall be sorry to have you go, Herbert, but I thought you wanted to go.โ
โSo I do; but by waiting a few weeks I could probably get a place in Beckford & Keyes' store, at the mill village.โ
โWhat makes you think so?โ
Herbert detailed his interview of the morning with the junior partner. Just at this moment the doctor entered the kitchen.
โHave you told him?โ he inquired, looking at his wife.
โYes, and he says that but for this he might probably have got a chance to go into Beckford's store at the mill village.โ
โI am sorry for this. They are good men, and he would have been near us, while Cranston is forty miles away.โ
โWho is the man that wants me?โ asked Herbert.
โA Mr. Holden. He is in the other room with Captain Ross. It was all arranged before they came. He wants you to go with him to-morrow morning.โ
โSo soon?โ said Herbert, in dismay.
โYes. At first he wished you to set off with him this afternoon; but I told him decidedly you could not be ready.โ
โQuite impossible,โ said Mrs. Kent. โSome of Herbert's clothes are in the wash, and I can't have them ready till evening.โ
โYou had better come into the other room, Herbert,โ said the doctor. โI will introduce you to your new employer.โ
Herbert followed the doctor into the sitting-room. His first glance rested on Captain Ross, whom he knew. He went up and shook hands with him. Next he turned to Mr. Holden, and to his inexpressible astonishment, recognized his opponent of the morning.
โMr. Holden, Herbert,โ introduced the doctor. โMr. Holden, this is the boy we have been speaking of.โ
โI have seen Mr. Holden before,โ said Herbert, coldly.
โYes,โ said Mr. Holden, writhing his disagreeable features into an unpleasant smile. โWe have met before.โ
Dr. Kent looked from one to the other in surprise, as if seeking an explanation.
โOur acquaintance doesn't date very far back,โ said Mr. Holden. โWe met this morning between here and the mill village.โ
โIndeed,โ said the doctor; โyou passed each other, I suppose.โ
โWell, no; I can't say we did exactly,โ said Mr. Holden, with the same unpleasant smile, โWe tried to, but the road being narrow, there was a collision, and I came off second-best.โ
โI hope there was no accident.โ
โOh, nothing to speak of. I got tipped out, and my clothes, as you may observe, suffered some. As for my young friend here, he rode on uninjured.โ
โYou must excuse my not stopping to inquire if I could help you,โ said Herbert; โbut my horse was frightened by the collision, and I could not easily stop him.โ
โOh, it's of no consequence,โ said Mr. Holden, in an off-hand manner. He was determined not to show himself out in his true colors until he had got Herbert absolutely under his control.
โBut where is your horse, Mr. Holden?โ asked Captain Ross. โI think you were walking when you came to my house.โ
โI sent it back to the village by a man I met on the road, my buggy being disabled.โ
โYour carriage wasn't much injured, I hope.โ
โOh, no, not much.โ
โI don't see exactly how it could happen,โ said Captain Ross. โI thought the road from here to the mill village
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