American library books ยป Fiction ยป Try and Trust; Or, Abner Holden's Bound Boy by Jr. Horatio Alger (best e books to read .TXT) ๐Ÿ“•

Read book online ยซTry and Trust; Or, Abner Holden's Bound Boy by Jr. Horatio Alger (best e books to read .TXT) ๐Ÿ“•ยป.   Author   -   Jr. Horatio Alger



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little Mary Kent, the doctor's only daughter, who was quite attached to Herbert, our hero got back to the mill in time to receive his bags of meal, with which he was soon on his way homeward.

About the place where he met Mr. Holden he was hailed by a man at work in the fieldโ€”the same who had taken back that gentleman's horse to the stable.

โ€œWell, boy, you had a kind of scrimmage, didn't you, coming over?โ€

โ€œDid you see it?โ€ asked Herbert.

โ€œYes,โ€ said the other, grinning. โ€œI seed the other feller in the mud puddle. He was considerably riled about it.โ€

โ€œIt was his own fault. I gave him half the road.โ€

โ€œI know it; but there's some folks that want more than their share.โ€

โ€œWas 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€

โ€œHis 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€

โ€œI'm sorry for that,โ€ said Herbert; โ€œbut 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€

โ€œOf course not. You wasn't called on to give in to such unreasonableness.โ€

โ€œWhere did the man go?โ€

โ€œHe 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€

โ€œDid he?โ€

โ€œMaybe he's goin' to sue you for damages.โ€

โ€œI don't believe he'll get much if he does,โ€ laughed our hero. โ€œMy property is where he can't get hold of it.โ€

โ€œHo! 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.

โ€œHave oo come back, Herbert?โ€ she said. โ€œWhere have oo been?โ€

โ€œBeen to buy Mary some candy,โ€ he said, lifting her up and kissing her.

โ€œWhose horse is that at the gate?โ€ asked Herbert, as the doctor's wife entered the room.

โ€œIt belongs to Captain Ross,โ€ she said. โ€œHe has come on business connected with you.โ€

โ€œConnected with me!โ€ repeated Herbert, in surprise.

โ€œYes, my dear boy, I am afraid we must make up our minds to lose you.โ€

โ€œHas he found a place for me?โ€ asked Herbert, in a tone of disappointment.

โ€œYes, I believe he has bound you out to a man in Cranston.โ€

โ€œI am sorry,โ€ said Herbert.

โ€œI shall be sorry to have you go, Herbert, but I thought you wanted to go.โ€

โ€œSo I do; but by waiting a few weeks I could probably get a place in Beckford & Keyes' store, at the mill village.โ€

โ€œWhat 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.

โ€œHave you told him?โ€ he inquired, looking at his wife.

โ€œYes, 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€

โ€œI am sorry for this. They are good men, and he would have been near us, while Cranston is forty miles away.โ€

โ€œWho is the man that wants me?โ€ asked Herbert.

โ€œA 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€

โ€œSo soon?โ€ said Herbert, in dismay.

โ€œYes. At first he wished you to set off with him this afternoon; but I told him decidedly you could not be ready.โ€

โ€œQuite impossible,โ€ said Mrs. Kent. โ€œSome of Herbert's clothes are in the wash, and I can't have them ready till evening.โ€

โ€œYou had better come into the other room, Herbert,โ€ said the doctor. โ€œI 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.

โ€œMr. Holden, Herbert,โ€ introduced the doctor. โ€œMr. Holden, this is the boy we have been speaking of.โ€

โ€œI have seen Mr. Holden before,โ€ said Herbert, coldly.

โ€œYes,โ€ said Mr. Holden, writhing his disagreeable features into an unpleasant smile. โ€œWe have met before.โ€

Dr. Kent looked from one to the other in surprise, as if seeking an explanation.

โ€œOur acquaintance doesn't date very far back,โ€ said Mr. Holden. โ€œWe met this morning between here and the mill village.โ€

โ€œIndeed,โ€ said the doctor; โ€œyou passed each other, I suppose.โ€

โ€œWell, no; I can't say we did exactly,โ€ said Mr. Holden, with the same unpleasant smile, โ€œWe tried to, but the road being narrow, there was a collision, and I came off second-best.โ€

โ€œI hope there was no accident.โ€

โ€œOh, 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€

โ€œYou must excuse my not stopping to inquire if I could help you,โ€ said Herbert; โ€œbut my horse was frightened by the collision, and I could not easily stop him.โ€

โ€œOh, 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.

โ€œBut where is your horse, Mr. Holden?โ€ asked Captain Ross. โ€œI think you were walking when you came to my house.โ€

โ€œI sent it back to the village by a man I met on the road, my buggy being disabled.โ€

โ€œYour carriage wasn't much injured, I hope.โ€

โ€œOh, no, not much.โ€

โ€œI don't see exactly how it could happen,โ€ said Captain Ross. โ€œI thought the road from here to the mill village

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