fi^TVAA^yv^ j- 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
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 00022228055 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
 
 http://archive.org/details/tryagainortrialsopti 
 
THY AGAIN 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS 
 
 HARRY WEST. 
 
 A STORY FOR YOUNG FOLKS. 
 
 BY 
 
 OLIVER OPTIC, 
 
 AUTIIOK OF " THE BOAT CLUB," " ALL ABOARD," " NOW OR NEVER,*' 
 
 " TRY AGAIN," " POOR AND PROUD," " IN DOORS 
 
 AND OUT," ETC., ETC. 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 LEE AND SIIEPARD, PUBLISHEES. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 CI1A11LES T. DILLINGHAM. 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by 
 
 WILLIAM T. ADAMS, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 
 
 Copyright, 18S5, by William T. Adams. 
 
TO MY NEPHEW, 
 
 FKEDERIC WILLIAM CLAPP, 
 Ojts Bock 
 
 IS AF FECTIOXATELY DEDICATED. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The story of Harry West is a record of youthful expe- 
 rience, designed to illustrate the necessity and the results of 
 perseverance in well du.ng. The true success in life is the 
 attainment of a pure and exalted character; and he who, at 
 threescore and ten, has won nothing hut wealth and a name, 
 has faiieu to achieve the nohlest purpose of his being. 
 Wealth is success ; a true life is a far nobler success. He 
 who has won both has been doubly successful ; but he who 
 lias become rich by neglecting the mind, tne heart, and the 
 ooul, has sacrificed the greater ?ood to the less. 
 
 The true life is worth aii the labor and self-denial it may 
 lost. This io the moral of the story contained in this volume. 
 Ham" West's trials are moral trials; his triumphs, moral 
 tnampns. Whatever vicissitudes of fortune may attend him, 
 however exciting the incidents of his career, the real struggle 
 is in the soul, the real victory is the conquest of himself. 
 
 He is a pauper boy, having had none of the advantages 
 1* io) 
 
6 PREFACE. 
 
 of parental instruction. If not vicious at the outset, bit 
 character is of that kind which as readily lays hold on vice as 
 virtue ; it has never been hardened by the hallowed influences 
 of a good home. 
 
 Perhaps my older readers may regard his awakening from 
 moral lethargy to moral life and activity as slightly romantic. 
 I wished to exhibit the influence of the pure heart upon those 
 with whom it comes in contact — to show what power evtn 
 a child may possess to do a great and good work. There 
 are many Little Angels in the world ; we have seen and known 
 them. If I have been extravagant, Julia Bryant's example 
 can do no harm. 
 
 With many thanks to them for the unexpected favor be- 
 stowed on " Bobby Bright," the author presents Harry West 
 to his young friends, trusting that he will prove an acceptable 
 companion, and that, like him, when they fail in any good 
 work, they will " TRY AGAIN." 
 
 WILLIAM T. ADAMS. 
 
 Doechester. March 26 1867 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAOl 
 
 Chap. I. — In which Harry West and Squire Walker 
 
 disagree in an important Point. . . . .11 
 
 Chap. II. — In which Harry finds a Friend, and a prac- 
 ticable Scheme for Resistance. . . . .24 
 
 Chap. III. — In which Harry leaves the Poorhouse, and 
 
 takes to the River. ...... 37 
 
 Chap. IV. — In which it is shown that the Navigation 
 
 of the River is difficult and dangerous. . . . 5<L 
 
 Chap. V. — In which Harry fights a hard Battle, and 
 
 is defeated. ........ 63 
 
 Chap. VI. — In which Harry concludes that a Defeat 
 
 is sometimes better than a Victory. . . .77 
 
 Chap. VII. — In which Harry finds himsalf in a " tight 
 
 Place," and executes a counter Movement. . . 91 
 
 Chap. VIII. — In which Harry kills a big Snake, and 
 
 makes a new Friend. . . . . . .104 
 
 Chap. IX. — In which Harry breakfasts on Doughnuts, 
 
 and finis that Angels do not always have Wings. 117 
 
 (7) 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 Chap. X. — In which Harry fares sumptuously, and 
 
 takes Leave of the Little Angel. . . . . K'J 
 
 Chap. XI. — In which Harry reaches the City, and, 
 
 though often disappointed, tries again. . . 143 
 
 Chap. XII. — In which Harry suddenly gets rich, and 
 
 has a Conversation with another Harry, . .155 
 
 Chap. XIII. — In which Harry becomes a Stable Boy, 
 
 and hears bad News from Rockville. . . . 168 
 
 Chap. XIV. — In which Harry does a good Deed, ani 
 
 determines to " face the Music." . . 181 
 
 Chaf. XV. — In which Harry makes the Acquaintance 
 
 of a very important Pernor age. .... 194 
 
 Chap. XVI. — In widen Harry goes into the Dry 
 
 Goods Business . . 207 
 
 Chap. XVII. — In winch Harry revisits Roekvuie, and 
 
 meets with a serious loss. ... .219 
 
 « 
 
 Chap. XVIII. — In which Harry meets with an old 
 
 Acquaintance, and gets a hard Knock on the Head. 232 
 
 Chap. XIX. — In which Harry finds that even a bro- 
 ken Head may be of some Use to a Person. . . 244 
 
 Chap. XX. — In which Harry passes through his se- 
 
 verpst Trial, and achieves his greatest Triumph. . 258 
 
 Chap. XXI. — In which Harry is very pleasantly situ- 
 ated, and the Story comes to an End. . . . 274 
 
TRY AGAIN. 
 
TRY AGAIN; 
 
 OR, 
 
 T II E TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS 01 
 HARRY WEST. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 IN WHICH nARRT WEST AND SQUIRE WALKEX 
 DISAGREE ON AN IMPORTANT POINT. 
 
 "Boy, come here ! " 
 
 Squire Walker was a very pompous mar. ; one of 
 the most notable persons in the little town of Red- 
 field, which, the inquiring young reader will need tc 
 be informed, as it is not laid down on any map of 
 Massachusetts that I am acquainted with, is situated 
 thiity-one miles south-west of Boston. 
 
 I am not aware that Redfield was noted for any 
 thing in particular unless it was noted for SoV a 
 
 (ID 
 
12 TBV AGAIN; OB, THE TBI4 
 
 Walker, as Mount Vernon was noted for Washing- 
 ton, and Monticello for Jefferson. No doubt the 
 squire thought he was as great a man as either of 
 these, and that the world was strangely stupid, be- 
 cause it did not find out how great a man he really 
 was. It was his misfortune that he was not born in 
 the midst of stirring times, when great energy, great 
 genius, and the most determined patriotism are 
 understood and appreciated. 
 
 Squire Walker, then, was a great man — in his 
 own estimation. It is true, the rest of the world, 
 including many of the people of Redfield, had not 
 found it out ; but, as the matter concerned himself 
 more nearly than any one else, he seemed to be 
 resigned to the circumstances of his lot. He had 
 represented the town in the legislature of the state, 
 was a member of the school committee, one of the 
 selectmen, and an overseer of the poor. Some men 
 would have considered all these offices as glory enough 
 for a lifetime; and I dare say the squire would have 
 been satisfied, if he had not been ambitious to be- 
 come one of the county commissioners. 
 
 The squire had a very high and proper regard foi 
 
AND TBU'MPHS OF HARRY WfST. 13 
 
 his own dignity. It was not only his duty to be a 
 great man, but to impress other people, especially 
 paupers and children, with a just sense of his im- 
 portance. Consequently, when he visited the poor- 
 house, he always spoke in the imperative mood. l\ 
 was not becoming a man of his magnificent preten- 
 sions to speak gently and kindly to the unfortunate, 
 the friendless, and the forsaken ; and the men and 
 women hated him, and the children feared him, aa 
 much as they would have feared a roaring lion. 
 
 " Boy, come here ! " said Squire Walker, as he 
 raised his arm majestically towards a youth who was 
 picking up " windfalls " under the apple trees in front 
 of the poorhouse. 
 
 The boy was dressed in a suit of bine cotton 
 clothes, extensively, but not very skilfully, patched. 
 At least two thirds of the brim of his old straw ha 
 was gone, leaving nothing but a snarly fringe oi 
 Btraws to protect his face from the heat of the sun. 
 But this was the least of the boy's trials. Sun or 
 rain, heat or cold, were all the same to him, if he 
 1 lly got enough to eat, and time enough to sleep. 
 
 He straightened his back when Squire Walk^J 
 2 
 
!4 try again; or, the TRIAI-4 
 
 *poke to him, and stood gazing with evident aston- 
 ishment that the distinguished gentleman should 
 condescend to speak to him. 
 
 " Come here, you sir ! Do you hear r " continued 
 Squire Walker, upon whom the boy's look of wonder 
 and perturbation was not wholly lost. 
 
 " This way, Harry," added Mr. Nason, the keeper 
 of the poorhouse, who was doing the honors of the 
 occasion to the representative of the people of 
 Redfield. 
 
 Harry West was evidently a modest youth, and 
 appeared to be averse to pushing himself irreverently 
 into the presence of a man whom his vivid imagina- 
 tion classed with Alexander the Great and Julius 
 Caesar, whose great deeds he had read about in the 
 spelling book. 
 
 Harry slowly sidled along till he came within 
 about a rod of the great man, where he paused, 
 apparently too much overawed to proceed any farther. 
 
 " Come here, I say," repeated Squire Walker. 
 " Why don't you take your hat off, and make youi 
 manners ? " 
 
 Harry took his hat off, and made his manners, ao< 
 
AND TRIUMTHS OF HARRY WEST. 15 
 
 vrry gracefully, it is tiue ; but considering the boy'i 
 perturbation, the squire was graciously pleased to 
 let his " manners" pass muster. 
 
 " How old are you, boy ? " asked the overseer. 
 
 " Most twelve," replied Harry, with deference. 
 
 ** High time you were put to work." 
 
 " I do work," answered Harry. 
 
 " Not much ; you look as fat and lazy as one of 
 my fat hogs." 
 
 Mr. Nason ventured to suggest that Harry was a 
 smart, active boy, willing to work, and that he more 
 than paid his keeping by the labor he performed in 
 the field, and the chores he did about the house — an 
 interference which the squire silently rebuked, by 
 turning up his nose at the keeper. 
 
 " I do all they want me to do," added the boy, 
 whose tongue seemed to grow wonderfully glib under 
 ;he gratuitous censure of the notable gentleman. 
 
 " Don't bo saucy, Master "West." 
 
 " Bless you, squire ! Harry never spoke a saucy 
 word in his life," interposed the friendly keeper. 
 
 " He should know his place, and learr how to 
 treat bis superiors. You give these boys too much 
 
18 THY AGAIN ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 meat, Mr. Nason. They can't bear it. Mush and 
 molasses is the best thing in the world for them." 
 
 If any one had looked closely at Harry while the 
 functionary was delivering himself of this speech, he 
 might have seen his eye snap and his chest heave 
 with indignation. He had evidently conquered hia 
 timidity, and, maugre his youth, was disposed to 
 stand forth and say, " I too am a man." His head 
 was erect, and he gazed unflinchingly into the eye 
 jf the squire. 
 
 " Boy," said, the great man, who did not like to 
 have a pauper boy look him in the eye without trem- 
 bling — " boy, I have got a place for you, and the 
 sooner you are sent to it, the better it will be for you 
 and for the town." 
 
 " Where is it. sir ? " 
 
 " Where is it ? What is that to you, you young 
 puppy r " growled the squire, shocked at the boy's 
 presumption in daring to question him. 
 
 " If 1 am going to a place, 1 would like to know 
 where it is," replied Harry. 
 
 " You will go where you are sent ! " roared the 
 ■quire. 
 
1ND TRITTMFHS OF HARRY WEST. 1 i 
 
 " T suppose I must ; but I should like to know 
 where." 
 
 " Well, then, you shall know," added the over- 
 seer maliciously ; for he had good reason to know 
 that the intelligence would give the boy the greatest 
 pain he could possibly inflict. " You are going to 
 Jacob Wire's." 
 
 " Where, sir ? " asked the keeper, looking at the 
 ■quire with astonishment and indignation. 
 
 " To Jacob Wire's," repeated the overseer. 
 
 " Jacob Wire's ! " exclaimed Mr. Nason. 
 
 " I said so." 
 
 " Do you think that will be a good place for the 
 boy ? " asked the keeper, trying to smile to cover the 
 indignation that was boiling in his bosom. 
 
 " Certainly I do." 
 
 " Excuse me, Squire Walker, but I don't." 
 
 The overseer stood aghast. Such a reply was little 
 better than rebellion in one of the town's servants, 
 and his blood boiled at such unheard-of plainness of 
 speech to him, late representative to the general 
 court, member of the school committee, one of the 
 selectmen, and an overseer of the poor. 
 2* 
 
t8 TRY AGAIN ; OR, THE TRIaLS 
 
 Besides, there was another reason why the ternon 
 ty of the keeper was peculiarly aggravated. Jaoot 
 Wire was the squire's brother-in-law ; and though 
 the squire despised him quite as much and as hearti- 
 ly as the rest of the people of Rcdficld. it was not 
 fitting that any of his connections should be assailed 
 by another. It was not so much the fact, as the 
 source from which it came, that was objectionable. 
 
 " How dare you speak to me in that manner, Mr. 
 Nason?" exclaimed the squire. "Do you know 
 who I am r " 
 
 Mr. Nason did know who he was, but at that 
 moment, and under those circumstances, he so fai 
 forgot himself as to inform the important functionary 
 that he didn't care who he was ; Jacob Wire's was 
 not a fit place for a heathen, much less a Christian. 
 
 " What do you mean, sir ? " gasped the overseer. 
 in his rage. 
 
 " I mean just what I say, Squire Walker. JacoVj 
 Wire is the meanest man in the county. He half 
 starves his wife and children ; and no hired man evei 
 staid there more than a week — he always starved 
 shem out in that time." 
 
AND IKIDMPHS Oy HA.BRV WEST. It 
 
 '* If you please, sir, I would rather not go to Mr 
 Wire's," put in Harry, to whom the county jai] 
 seemed a more preferable place. 
 
 " There, shut up ! I say you shall go there ! " 
 replied the squire. 
 
 " Really, squire, this is too bad. You know "Wire 
 as well as any man in town, and " 
 
 " Not another word, Mr. Xason ! Have the boy 
 ready to go to Jacob Wire's to-morrow ! " and the 
 overseer, not very well satisfied with the interview 
 hastened away to avoid further argument upon 
 delicate topic. 
 
 Harry stood watching the retreating form of the 
 great man of Redfield. The mandate he had spoken 
 was the knell of hope to him. It made the future 
 black and desolate. As he gazed the tears flooded 
 his eyes, and his feelings completely overcame him. 
 
 " Don't cry, Harry," said the kind-hearted keeper, 
 taking him by the hand. 
 
 " 1 can't help it," sobbed Harry. " He will whi^j 
 Die, and starve me to death. Don't let him put raa 
 'here." 
 
 "I don't know as I can help it, Harry." 
 
30 TRY AGAIN J OK, THE TRIADS 
 
 ** 1 am willing to work, and work h&rd t( o ; but 
 I don't want to be starved to death." 
 
 " I will do what I can for you ; but the othei 
 overseers do pretty much as Squire Walker tchs 
 thtm to do." 
 
 " I cant go to Jacob Wire's," burst from Harry's 
 ips, as he seated himself on a rock, and gave way to 
 the violence of his emotions. 
 
 " I will see the other overseers ; don't cry, Harry. 
 Hope for the best." 
 
 " No use of hoping against such a man as Jacob 
 Wire. If he don't starve me, he will work me tc 
 death. I would rather die than go there." 
 
 "Well, well; don't take on so. Perhaps some- 
 thing can be done." 
 
 " Something shall be done," added the boy, as he 
 rose from his seat, with an. air of determination in 
 keeping with the strong words he uttered. 
 
 The keeper's presence was required in the barn, 
 and he left Harry .musing and very unhappy about 
 his future prospects. The thought of becoming a 
 member of Jacob Wire's family was not to he enter- 
 tained. The boy was a pauper, and had been trough 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HAKET WEST. 21 
 
 ftp at the expense of the town ; but he seemed to 
 feel that, though fortune and friends had forsaken 
 him, he was still a men.oer of the great human 
 family. 
 
 Jacob Wire, with whom it was proposed to appren- 
 tice him, had the reputation of being a hard master, 
 He loved money, and did not love any thing else. 
 His heart was barren of affection, as his soul was of 
 good principles ; and though he did not literally starve 
 his family and his help, he fed them upon the poorest 
 and meanest fare that would support human life. 
 The paupers in the poorhouse lived sumptuously, 
 tompared with those who gathered around the board 
 of Jacob "Wire. 
 
 The keeper knew this from experience, for years 
 ago, before he had been appointed to his present sit- 
 uation, he had worked for Wire ; and age and pros- 
 perity had not improved him. The more he got, the 
 more he wanted ; the fuller his barn and storehouse, 
 the more stingy he became to those who were de- 
 Dendent upon him. 
 
 Harry West was a good boy, and a great favorite 
 wi«h the keeper of the poorhouse. He was always 
 
12 TRY AGAIN ; OK, THE TRIALS 
 
 good-natured, willing to work, and never gnmlled 
 about his food. He was not only willing to take 
 care of the baby washing days, but seemed to de- 
 rive pleasure from the occupation. For all these 
 reasons Mr. Nason liked Harry, and had a deep 
 interest in his welfare ; something more than a mere- 
 ly selfish interest, for he had suggested to "the over- 
 seers the propriety of binding him out to learn some 
 good tiade. 
 
 Harry was sad and disheartened ; but he had un- 
 limited confidence in the keeper, and felt sure that 
 he would protect him from such a calamity as being 
 sent to Jacob Wire's. After he had carried the wind- 
 falls into the shed, he asked Mr. Nason if he might 
 ;,*o down to the river for a little while. The permis- 
 ,on given, he jumped over the cow yard wall, and 
 nth his eyes fixed in deep thought upon the ground, 
 made his way over the hill to Pine Pleasant, as the 
 beautiful grove by the river's side was called. 
 
 The grove extended to the brink of the stream, 
 which in this place widened into a pond. Near the 
 sh^re was a large flat rock, which was connected 
 j'ith the main land by a log, for the convenience of 
 
A.NI> TRIUMPHS OF IIARTIY WEST. 2tJ 
 
 anglers and bathers. This was a favorite spot with 
 Harry; and upon the rock he seated himself, tn sigh 
 over the hard lot which was in store for him. It was 
 not a good way to contend with the trials to which 
 all are subjected ; but he had not yet learned that 
 sorrow and adversity are as necessary for man as joy 
 and prosperity. Besides, it was a turning point in 
 his life, and it seemed to him that Jacob Wire's 
 &eiise would be the tomb of all his hopes. 
 
TRY AGAIN : OR. THE TRIALS 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 IN WHICH HARRY FINDS A FRIEND, AND A PBAO 
 TICABLE SCHEME FOR RESISTANCE. 
 
 My young readers will probably desire to knew 
 something about Harry's " antecedents ; " and while 
 the poor fellow is mourning over the hard lot which 
 Squire AValker has marked out for him, we will 
 briefly review his previous history. 
 
 Unlike the heroes of modern novels and romances, 
 Harry did not belong to an ancient, or even a very 
 respectable family. We need not trace his genealogy 
 for any considerable period, and I am not sure that 
 tne old records would throw much light on the sub- 
 ject if we should attempt to do so. The accident of 
 birth in our republican land is a matter of very little 
 consequence ; therefore we shall only go back to 
 Harry's father, who was a carpenter by trade, b»t 
 had a greater passion for New England rum than foi 
 chisels and foreplanes. 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 25 
 
 The bane of New England was the banc of Frank 
 tin West; for he was a kind-hearted man, a good 
 husband and a good father, before he was deformed 
 by the use of liquor. He made good wages, and 
 supported his little family creditably for several years ; 
 but the vile habit grew upon him to such a degree 
 that the people of Redfield lost all confidence in him. 
 As his business decreased, his besetting vice increased 
 upon him, till he was nothing but the wieek of the 
 man he had once been. Poverty had come, and want 
 stared him m the face. 
 
 While every body was wondering what would he- 
 come of Franklin West, he suddenly disappeared, 
 and no one could form an idea of what had become 
 of him. People thought it was no great matter. 
 He was only a nuisance to himself and his family. 
 Mrs. West was shocked by this sudden and mysteri- 
 ous disappearance. He was her husband, and tne 
 father of her children, and it was not strange that 
 Bhe wept, and even hoped that he would come back. 
 1 he neighbors comforted her, and put her in the way 
 »f supporting herself and the children, so that she 
 vas veiy son reconciled to the event. 
 3 
 
26 TRY AOAIN ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 When "West had been "one a motth, his wife .*e- 
 reived a letter from him, intorming her that lie had 
 determined to stop drinking, and be a man again, 
 lie could not keep sober in Redfield, among his old 
 companions, and he was at work in Providence til] 
 he could get money enough to pay his expenses to 
 Valparaiso, in South America, where a lucrative place 
 iwaited him. He hoped his wife would manage to 
 $et along for a few months, when he should be able 
 to send her some money. 
 
 Mrs. West was easy again. Her husband was not 
 dead, was no.t drowned in the river, or lost in the 
 woods ; and her heart was cheered by the prospects 
 of future plenty, which the letter pointed out to her. 
 
 A year passed by, and nothing more was heard 
 from Franklin West. The poor, forsaken wife had a 
 hard time to support her little family. The most 
 constant and severe toil enabled her to pinch her way 
 along ; but it was a bitter trial. She had no relations 
 to help her ; and though the neighbors were as kind 
 as neighbors could be, life was a bard struggle. 
 
 Then the baby sickened and died. This bereave- 
 ment seemed to unnerve and discourage her, and 
 
AND TRITJM/l.it OF HAF.RT MEST. 2} 
 
 though there was one mouth less to feed he- strength 
 failed her, and she was unequal to the task. Care 
 and sorrow did their work upon her, and though 
 people said she died cf consumption, Heaven knew 
 she died of a hroken heart and disappointed hopes. 
 
 Harry was four years old when th.s sad event left 
 him alone in the world. There was none willing to 
 assume the burden of bringing up the lonely little 
 pilgrim, and he was sent to the poorhouse. It was a 
 hard fate for the tender child to be removed from the 
 endearments of a mother's love, and placed in the 
 cneerless asylum which public charity provides for 
 the poor and the friendless. 
 
 The child was only four years old ; but he missed 
 the fond kiss and the loving caresses of his devoted 
 mother. They were kind to him there, but it wa3 
 not home, and his heart could not but yearn for those 
 treasures of affection which glittered for him only in 
 the heart of his mother. There was an aching void, 
 and though he could not understand or appreciate hia 
 iO?s, it was none the less painful. 
 
 He was a favorite child, not only with the eld 
 paupers, but with the keeper and his family; and 
 
18 TKT again; OR, THE TRIA-« 
 
 this circumstance undoubtedly softened the asperitiet 
 of his lot. As soon as he was old enough, he was 
 required to work as much as the keeper thought his 
 strength would hear. He was very handy about the 
 house and barn, more so than boys usually are ; and 
 Mr. Nason declared that, for the three years before 
 it was proposed to send him away, he had more thau 
 earned his board and clothes. 
 
 He had been at school four winters, and the school- 
 masters were unanimous in their praise. He was a 
 smart scholar, but a little disposed to be roguish. 
 
 The moral discipline of the poorhouse was not of 
 the most salutary character. Mr. Nason, though a 
 generous and kind-hearted man, was not as exempla 
 ry in his daily life as might have been desired. Be- 
 sides, one or two of the old paupers were rather cor- 
 rupt in their manners and morals, and were not fit 
 companions for a young immortal, whose mind, like 
 plastic clay, was impressible to the forming power. 
 
 The pooi ho use was not a good place for the boy, 
 and the wonder is that Harry, at twelve years of age, 
 was not worse than we find him. He had learned to 
 love Mr. Nason, as he had learned to fear and to hate 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 2% 
 
 Squire "Walker. The latter seemed to have absolute 
 power at the p< jrhouse, and to be lord and mantel 
 in Redfield. But when the overseer proposed to 
 place the boy in the family of a man whom even the 
 paupers looked down upon and despised, his soul 
 rebelled even against the mandate of the powerful 
 magnate of the town. 
 
 Harry turned the matter over and over in his mind 
 as he sat upon the rock at Fine Plegsant. At first 
 he tried to reconcile the idea of living with Jacob 
 Wire ; but it was a fruitless effort. The poorhouse 
 seemed like a paradise to such a fate. 
 
 Then he considered the possibility and the practi- 
 cability of resisting the commands of Squire Walker. 
 He could not obtain much satisfaction from either 
 view of the difficult problem, and as a happy resort 
 under the trials of the moment, he began to console 
 himself with the reflection that Mr. Nason might 
 prevail with the overseers, and save him from his 
 doom. 
 
 He had not much hope from this direction, and 
 while he was turning again to the question of resist- 
 ance, he heard footsteps in the grove. He did no 
 3* 
 
30 TRY A.GAIN ; 1R, THE TRIALS 
 
 feel like seeing any persoi and wished he could ge 
 out of signt ; but there wt s no retreating without 
 oeing observed, so he lay c iwn upon the rock to 
 wait til] the intruder had passe 1. 
 
 The person approaching did rot purpose to let hiia 
 off so easily ; and when Harry 1 c ard his step on the 
 log he raised himself up. 
 
 " Hallo, Harry ! What are you i oing here ? r iak- 
 ing a nap ? " 
 
 It was Ben Smart, a boy of foui cen, who lived 
 near the poorhouse. Ben's reputation in Rtifiold 
 was not A, No. 1 ; in fact, he had been solemaly and 
 publicly expelled from the district schc^l only three 
 days before by Squire Walker, because the mistress 
 could not manage him. His father was the village 
 blacksmith, and as he had nothing for hi-n to do' — 
 not particularly for the boy's benefit — he kept him 
 at school all the year round. 
 
 " O, is that you, Ben ? " replied Harry, more f oi 
 the sake of being civil than because he wi 'hed to 
 speak to the other, 
 
 "What are you doing here ? " asked Ben, >hc 
 evidently did not understand how a boy couM b« 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 81 
 
 ftiere alone, unless he was occupied about some- 
 thing. 
 
 " Nothing." 
 
 " Been in the water ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Fishing ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 Ren was nonnlussed. He suspected that Harrj 
 had been, engaged in some mysterious occupation, 
 whi^k hp desired to conceal from him. 
 
 * l How long you been hc;e r " continued Ben, 
 persistently. 
 
 " About half an hour." 
 
 Ben stopped to think. He could make nothing of 
 it. It was worse than the double rule of three, which 
 he conscientiously believed had been invented oa 
 purpose to bother school boys. 
 
 " You are up to some trick, 1 Know. Tell me what 
 you come down here for." 
 
 " Didn't come for any thing." 
 
 " What is the use of tolling that. No feller would 
 tome cleai down here for nothing.''' 
 
 " I came down to think, then, if you must know,' 
 answered Harry, rather testily 
 
82 TRY AGAIN ; OR, THE TRIA.LS 
 
 *^ To think ! Well, that is a good one ! Ain't tht 
 poor-farm big enough to do your thinking on ? " 
 
 " I chose to come down here." 
 
 " Humph ! You've got the blues, Harry. I should 
 think old Walker had been afoul of you, by your 
 looks." 
 
 Harry looked up suddenly, and wondered if Ben 
 knew what had happened. 
 
 '• 1 should like to have the oid rascal do-' r n here 
 for half an hour. I should like to souse him into the 
 river, and hold his head under till he begged my 
 pardon," continued Rp" 
 
 " So should I," added Harry. 
 
 " Should you ? You are a good feller, then ! I 
 mean to pay him off for what he did for me the other 
 day. 1 wouldn't minded being turned out of school. 
 I rather liked the idea ; but the old muttonhead got 
 cue up before all the school, and read me such a lec- 
 ture ! He thinks there isn't any body in the world 
 but him." 
 
 " The lecture didn't hurt you," suggested Harry. 
 
 " No ; it didn't. But that warn't the worst of : t." 
 
 «■ What else ? " 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 88 
 
 *' My father give me a confounded licking when 1 
 got home. I haven't done smarting yet. But I will 
 pay 'em off for it all." 
 
 " You mean Squire Walker." 
 
 " And the old man, too." 
 
 " If I only had a father, I wouldn't mind letting 
 him lick me now and then," replied Harry, to whom 
 home seemed a paradise, though he had never under- 
 stood it ; and a father and mother, though coarse and 
 brutal, his imagination pictured as angels. 
 
 " My father would learn you better than that in a 
 few days," said Ben, who did not appreciate his 
 parents, especially when they held the rod. 
 
 Harry relapsed into musing again. He thought 
 how happy he should have been in Ben's place. A 
 home, a father, a mother ! We value most what we 
 have not ; and if the pauper boy could have had t v 
 blessings which crowned his reckless companion's, s, 
 it seemed as though he would have been contented 
 and happy. His condescension in regard to the 
 flogging now and then, was a sincere expression of 
 feeling. 
 
 ** Wliat's old Walker been doing to you, Harrv ? r 
 
34 TRY A.GAIN ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 asked Ben, suspecting the cause of the other's 
 gloom. 
 
 " He is going to send me to Jacob Wire's to live." 
 
 " Whew ! That is a good one ! To die, you 
 mean. Harry, I wouldn't stand that." 
 
 61 I don't mean to." 
 
 " That's right ; I like your spunk. What do you 
 mean to do ? " 
 
 Harry was not prepared to answer this question. 
 He possessed a certain degree of prudence, and though 
 it was easy to declare war against so powerful an en- 
 emy as Squire Walker, it was not so easy to carry on 
 the war after it was declared. The overseer was a 
 bigger man to him than the ogre in " Puss in Boots." 
 Probably his imagination largely magnified the gran- 
 deur of the squire's position, and indefinitely multi- 
 plied the resources at his command. 
 
 " What do you mean to do ? " repeated Ben, who 
 for some reason or other, took a deep interest in Ha? 
 ry's affairs. 
 
 " I don't know. I would rather dio than go ; buv 
 » don't know how I can help myself" answered tha 
 poor boy, gloomily , 
 
AND 7KIUMPHS OF HA.KBY WEST. 35 
 
 "I do." 
 
 Harry looked up with interest and surprise. Ben 
 ijmpathized with him in his trials, and hia hear? 
 warmed towards him. 
 
 " What, Ben ? " 
 
 " I daresn't tell you now," replied Ben, after a 
 ohort pause. 
 
 " Why not ? " 
 
 " Can you keep a secret ? " 
 
 " Of course I can. Did I ever blow on you ? " 
 
 " No, you never did, Harry. You are a first rata 
 feller, and I like you. But you see, if you should 
 blow on me now, you would spoil my kettle of fish, 
 and your own too." 
 
 " But I won't, Ben." 
 ■ " Promise me solemnly." 
 
 " Solemnly," repeated Harry. 
 
 " Well, then, 1 will get you out of the scrape U 
 nice as a cotton nat." 
 
 " How ? " 
 
 " I guess I won't tell you now ; but if you will 
 Dome down here to-night at eleven o'clock, I will let 
 ou into the whole thing." 
 
56 TET AGAIN ; OB, THE TEIALS 
 
 *' Eleven o'clock ! I can't come at that time. We 
 »11 go to bed at eight o'clock." 
 
 " Get up and come." 
 
 " I can do that ; but perhaps Mr Nason will per 
 suade the overseers not to send me to Jacob Wire's." 
 
 " I'm glad I didn't tell you, then. But piomise 
 me this, Harry : that, whatever happens, you'll hold 
 your tongue." 
 
 " I will, Ben." 
 
 *' And if Nason don't get you off, be here at eleven 
 o'clock. Put on your best clothes, and take every 
 thing you want with you." 
 
 " Going to run away ? " 
 
 " I didn't say so." 
 
 Ben made him promise again to be secret, and they 
 separated. Harry had an idea of what his companion 
 intended, and the scheme sohed all his doubts. It 
 was a practicable scheme oi resistance, and tie re- 
 turned to the poorhouse, no longer fearful <f the 
 impend ng calamity. 
 
A»l» TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WRBT. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 IK WHICH HARRY LEAVES THE POORHOUSE, AWB 
 TAKES TO THE RIVER. 
 
 When Harry reached the poorhouse, Mr. Nason 
 was absent, and one of the paupers told him that he 
 had taken the horse and wagon. He conjectured 
 that the keeper had gone to see the other overseers, 
 to intercede with them in his behalf. He did not feel 
 as much interest in the mission as he had felt two 
 hours before, for Ben Smart had provided a remedy 
 for his grievances, which he had fully decided to 
 adopt. 
 
 It was nearly sunset before Mr. >7ason returned ; 
 and when he came his looks did not seem to indicate 
 a favorable issue. Harry helped him unharness the 
 horse, and as he led him into the barn the keeper 
 opened the subject. 
 
 " I have been to see the other overseers, Harry," 
 4 
 
ttt THY AOA1N; OR, THE TRIAL" 
 
 ae began, in tones which seemed tc promise nothing 
 hopeful. 
 
 <s I thought likely yon had gone." 
 
 " As I supposed, they are all afraid oi Squire 
 Walker. They daresn't say their sculs are theii 
 own." 
 
 " Then I must go to Jacob Wire's." 
 
 " The other o\ ersecrs declare, if the squire says 
 bo, you must." 
 
 " It is a hard case, Mr. Nason," replied Harry, not 
 much disappointed at the result. 
 
 " I know it is, Harry. Perhaps you might try the 
 place, and then, if you found you couldn't stand it 
 we might make another, trial to get you off." 
 
 " 1 don't want to go there, any how. I should 
 like to help duck the squire in the horse pond." 
 
 " Well, Harry, I have done all 1 can for you,' 
 continued Mr. Nason, seating himself on a keg on the 
 barn floor. " I wish I could help you." 
 
 " You have been very good to me, Mr. Nason. ' 
 shall always remember you as the best friend 1 evei 
 had," replied Harry, the tears streaming down nil 
 sun- browned cheeks. 
 
AND TRrtrMTHS OF I7ARRT WEST. 3S 
 
 " Never mind that, Harry ; don't cry." 
 
 " I can't help it ; you have been so good tc me, 
 that 1 hate to leave you," blubbered Harry. 
 
 " 1 am sorry you must leave us ; we shall miss 
 you about the place, and I wish it was so that you 
 could stay. But what makes it ten times worse, is 
 the idea of your going to Jacob Wire's." 
 
 " Mr. Nason," said Harry, dashing down his tears, 
 and looking earnestly at the keeper, " I have made 
 up my mind that I won't go to Wire's any how." 
 
 " I don't blame you ; but I don't see how you can 
 fight the squire. He carries too many guns for you, 
 or for me either, for that matter. I have been think- 
 ing of something, Harry, though I suppose, if I should 
 spef.k it out loud, it would be as much as my place 
 here is worth." 
 
 " I have been thinking of something, too," con- 
 tinued Harry, with a good deal of emphasis. 
 
 " What ? " 
 
 " I can't tell even you." 
 
 Mr. Nason, sympathizing deeply with his young 
 friend, did not attempt to obtain any knowledge 
 whose possession might be inconvenient to him. H« 
 
40 THY AGAIN ; OR, THE TRI ILS 
 
 was disposed to help the boy escape the fate in stor« 
 for him ; but at the same time, having a farrily to 
 Biipp ,rt, he did not wish to lose his situation, though, 
 if <he emergency had demanded it, he would probably 
 have oeen willing to make even this sacrifice. 
 
 " I was thinking, Harry, how astonished the squire 
 would be, when he comes over in the morning to 
 take you to Jacob Wire's, if he should not happen tc 
 find you here." 
 
 " I dare say he would," answered Harry, with a 
 meaning smile. 
 
 " By the way, have you heard from Charles Smith 
 lately ? You know he went to Boston last spring, 
 and they say he has got a place, and is doing first 
 rate there." 
 
 The keeper smiled as he spoke, and Harry under- 
 stood him as well as though he had spoken out th 
 real thought that was in his mind. 
 
 " 1 suppose others might do as he has done." 
 
 " No doubt of it." 
 
 Mr. Nason took from his pecket the large shot bafl 
 purse, in which he kept his change, and picked ou 
 four quarters. 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 41 
 
 % ' Here, Harry, take these ; when you get over 
 to Wire's, money will keep you from starving. It 
 will almost any where, for that matter." 
 
 " How good you are ! " exclaimed Harry <ts he 
 took the four quarters. " You have been a father to 
 me, and one of these days I shall be able to pay 
 you this money back again." 
 
 "Don't trouble yourself about that. Keep it; 
 and I wish I had a hundred times as much to give 
 you." 
 
 " I shall never forget you, Mr. Xason. I shall be 
 a man one of these days, and we shall meet again." 
 
 The supper bell rang, and they separated. Harry 
 felt the spirit of a man stirring within him. He felt 
 that the world had cast him off, and refused him a 
 home, even in the poorhouse. He was determined 
 to push his way through life like a hero, and he 
 nerved himself to meet whatever haidships and trials 
 might be apportioned to him. 
 
 After supper he went to his room, gathered up the 
 "ew articles of clothing which constituted his ward- 
 robe, and tying them up in a bundle , concealed them 
 in a hollo »v stump back of the barn. 
 
42 TRY AOA.IN ; OB, THE TRIALS 
 
 At eight o'clock he went to bed as usual. He fel 1 
 no desire to sleep, and would not have dared to do sc 
 if he had. He heard the old kitchen clock stiit*. 
 icn. The house was still, for all had long ago retii ed 
 to their rest, and he could hear the sonorous snoies 
 of the paupers in the adjoining rooms. His heait 
 beat quick with anxiety. It was a novel position in 
 which he found himself. He had been accustomed 
 to do every thing fairly and " above board," and the 
 thought of rising from his bed and sneaking out of 
 the house like a thief was repulsive to him. But it 
 was a good cause, in his estimation, and he did not 
 waste much sentiment upon the matter. A conspira- 
 cy had been formed to cheat him of his hopes and of 
 his future happiness, and it seemed right to him that 
 he should flee from those with whom he could not 
 (successfully contend. 
 
 Carefully and stealthily he crept out of bed, and 
 put on his best clothes, which w;re nothing to boast 
 of at that, for there was many a darn and many a 
 patch upon the jacket and the trousers. Stockings 
 and shoes were luxuries in which Harry was not in* 
 dulged in the warm season ; but he had a pair 0/ 
 each, which he took utiJer his arm. 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HaRKY WEST. 4a 
 
 Like a mouse he crept down stairs, and lea hed 
 the back dooi of the house without having disturbed 
 an)' of its inmates. There were no locks on the 
 poorhouse doors, for burglars and thieves never in- 
 vaded the home of the stricken, forsaken paupers. 
 
 The door opened with a sharp creak, and Uarrj 
 was sure he was detected. For several minutes he 
 waited, but no sound was heard, and more carefully 
 he opened the door wide enough to permit his pas- 
 sage out. 
 
 He was now in the open air, and a sensation of 
 relief pervaded his mind. He was free. No man 
 was his master in this world, and he had not learned 
 to think much of the other world. As he passed 
 througL the cow yard, he heard the old gray mare 
 whinny, and he could not resist the temptation to 
 pay her a parting visit. They had been firm friends 
 for years, and as he entered the barn she seemed to 
 •ecognize him in the darkness. 
 
 " Good by, old Prue. I am going away to leave 
 you,' said Harry, in low tones, as he patted the mare 
 upon her neck. " I hope they will use you well 
 Next to Mr. Xason, you hav» been my best friend 
 flood bv, old Prue." 
 
14 tkt again; ok, the : rials 
 
 The mare whinnied again, as though she perfect!) 
 comprehended this affectionate speech, and wished tc 
 express her sympathy with her young friend in hri 
 own most eloquent language. Perhaps Harry could 
 not render the speech into the vernacular, but he had 
 a high appreciation of her good feeling, and repeated 
 his caresses. 
 
 " Good by, old Prue ; but, before I go, I shall give 
 you one more feed of oats — the very last." 
 
 The localities of the barn were as familiar to him 
 as those of his own chamber ; and taking the half 
 peck measure, he filled it heaping full of oats at the 
 grain chest, as readily as though it had been deal 
 daylight. 
 
 " Here, Prue, is the last feed I shall give you ; " 
 &nd he emptied the contents of the measure into the 
 trough. " Good by, old Prue ; I shall never see you 
 again." 
 
 The mare plunged her nose deep down into I lid 
 savory mess, and seemed for a moment to forget hei 
 friend in the selfish gratification of her appetite. Ii 
 she had fully realized the unpleasant fact that ILirrj 
 was going, perhaps she might have been less s-clfish ■ 
 
AKD TRIUMPUS OF HAKKY WEST 4C 
 
 for this was not the first time she had been indebted 
 to him for extra rations. 
 
 Passing through the barn, the runaway Mas again 
 in the open air. Every thing looked gloomy and sad 
 to him, and the scene was as solemn as a funeral. 
 There were no sounds to be heard but the monoto- 
 nous chirp of the cricket, and the dismal piping of 
 the frogs in the meadow. Even the owl and the 
 whip-poor-will had ceased their nocturnal notes, and 
 tht stars looked more gloomy than he had ever seen 
 them before. 
 
 There was no time to moralize over these things, 
 though, as he walked along, he could not help think- 
 ing how strange and solemn every thing seemed on 
 that eventful night. It was an epoch in his history ; 
 one of those turning points in human life, when all 
 the works of nature and of art, borrowing the spiiit 
 which pervades the soul, assume odd and unfamiliar 
 forms. Harry was not old enough or wise enough to 
 comprehend the importance of the step he was taking ; 
 •till he was deeply impressed by the strangeness with- 
 'n and without. 
 
 TYking his bundle from the hollow stump, he 
 
4 6 TRY AGAIN ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 directed his step? o wards Pine Pleasant. He walked 
 very slowly, for his feelings swelled within him, 
 and retarded his steps. His imagination w;is busy 
 with the past, or wandering vaguely to the unex- 
 plored future, which with bright promises tempted 
 him to press on to the goal of prosperity. lie 
 yearned to be a man ; to leap in an instant over the 
 years of discipline, that yawned like a great gulf be- 
 tween his youth and his manhood. He wanted to bo 
 a man, that hio strong arm might strike great blows ; 
 that he might win his way up to wealth and honor. 
 
 Why coul in't he be a great man like Squire 
 Walker. Squire West wouldn't sound bad. 
 
 " One has only to be rich in order to be great,' 
 thought he. " Why can't 1 be rich, as well as any 
 body else : Who was that old fellow that saved up 
 his fourpe ices till he was worth a hundred thousand 
 dollars ? I can do it as well as he, though 1 won't 
 be as mean as they say he was. any how. There aie 
 thanees enough to get rich, and if I fail i:i one thing, 
 why — "[ can try again." 
 
 Thut Harry mused as he walked along, and fixed a 
 definite purpose before him to be accomplished ir 
 
ASD TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WE5T. 4 7 
 
 Bfe, It is true it was not a very lofty or a very nc 1 j1* 
 purpose, merely to be rich ; but he had been cbligec 
 to do his own philosophizing. He had not yet dis- 
 covered the true philosopher's stone. He had con- 
 cluded, like the alchemists of old, that it was the art 
 of turning any thing into gold. The paupers, in then 
 poverty, had talked most and prayed most for that 
 which they had not. Wealth was to them the loft. est 
 ideal of happiness, and Harry had adopted their con- 
 clusions. It is not strange, therefore, that Harry's 
 first resolve was to be a rich man. 
 
 " Seek ye first the kingdom cf heaven, and all 
 these things shall be added unto you," was a text 
 which he had often heard repeated ; but he did not 
 comprehend its meaning, and he had reversed the 
 proposition, determined to look out for " all these 
 things " first. 
 
 The village clock struck eleven, and the peal of the 
 clear notes on the silent air cut short his meditations, 
 and admonished him to quicken his pace, or Ben 
 would reach the place of rendezvous before him. He 
 intered the still shades of Pine Pleasant, but saw 
 dotting of his confederate. Seating himself on th« 
 
18 TRY AGAIN ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 familiar rock in the river, he returned to his medita 
 tsons. 
 
 He had hardly laid down the first proposition in 
 solving the problem of his future success, before he 
 was startled by the discovery of a bright light in the 
 direction of the village. It was plainly a building 
 on fire, and his first impulse was to rush to the meet- 
 ing house and give the alarm ; but prudence forbade. 
 His business was with the great world and the future 
 not with Redfield and the present. 
 
 A few moments later the church bell pealed its 
 startling notes, and he heard the cry of fire in the 
 village. The building, whatever it was, had become 
 a mass of fierce flames, which no human arm could 
 Btay. 
 
 While he was watching the exciting spectacle, he 
 heard footsteps in the grove, and Ben Smart, out of 
 breath and nearly exhausted, leaped upon the rock. 
 
 " So vou are here, Harry," gasped he- 
 
 "1 am, Ben," replied Harry. "Where is the 
 die r " 
 
 " We have no time to waste now," panted Ben, 
 reusing himself anew. " We must be o 4 *" n* once." 
 
AND TBICJMPHS OF HVRRY WK8T. 49 
 
 Ben descended to the lower side of the rock, and 
 hauled a small flat-bottomed boat out of the bushes 
 that grew on the river's brink. 
 
 " Where is the fire, Ben ? " persisted Harry. 
 
 "Never mind the fire now; jump into the boat, 
 and let us be off." 
 
 Harry obeyed, and Ben pushed off from the rock. 
 
 " Where are you going ? " asked Harry, not much 
 pleased either with the imperative tone or the haughty 
 leserve of his companion. 
 
 " Down the river. Take the paddle and steer her ; 
 the current will take her along fast enough. I am so 
 tired I can't do a thing more." 
 
 Harry took the paddle and seated himself in the 
 Btern of the boat, while Ben, puffing and blowing 
 like a locomotive, placed himself at the bow. 
 
 " Tell me now where the fire is," said Harry, 
 whose curiosity would not be longer resisted. 
 
 M Squire Walker's barn" 
 6 
 
JO TRY AGAIN: OK, 1HE TRIALS 
 
 CHATTER IV. 
 
 IN WHICH IT IS SHOWN THAT THE NAVIGATIOH 
 OF THE RIVER IS DIFFICULT AND DANGEROUS. 
 
 Harry was astounded at this information. Bon 
 was exhausted, as though he had been running very 
 hard ; hesides, he was much agitated — more so than 
 the circumstances of the occasion seemed to justify. 
 In connection with the threat which his companion 
 had uttered that day, these appearances seemed to 
 point to a solution of the burning building. He 
 readily understood that Ben, in revenge for the indig- 
 nity the squire had cast upon him, had set the barn 
 on fire, and was now running away by the light of it. 
 
 This was more than he had bargained for. How- 
 ever il -natured he felt towards the squhe for his 
 proposel to send him to Jacob Wire's, it never oc- 
 curred to him to retaliate by committing a crime 
 Eiis ideas of Christian charity and of forgiveness 
 
ANTJ TRIUMPHS OF HAEKY WEST. 51 
 
 were but partially developed ; and though he could 
 riot feel right towards his powerful enemy, he felt no 
 desire to punish him so severely as Ben had done. 
 
 His companion gave him a short answer, and man- 
 ifested no disposition to enlarge upon the subject; 
 and for several minutes both maintained a profound 
 silence. 
 
 The boat, drifting slowly with the current, was 
 passing from the pond into the narrow river, and it 
 required all Harry's skill to keep her from striking 
 the banks on either side. His mind was engrossed 
 with the contemplation of the new and startling 
 event which had so suddenly presented itself to 
 embarrass his future operations. Ben was a criminal 
 in the eye of the law, and would be subjected to a 
 severe penalty if detected. 
 
 " I shouldn't have thought you would have done 
 that," Harry observed, when the silence became pain- 
 ful to him. 
 
 " Done what ? " asked Ben, sharply. 
 
 *' Set the barn afire." 
 
 " Who said I set it afire ? " 
 
 " W eil, I can see through a millstone when th^re 
 is a hole in it"' 
 
S2 1BT again; ok, the trials 
 
 •- t didn't say I set the barn afire." 
 
 '* I know you didn't ; but you said you meant U 
 pi") the squire off for what he had done to you." 
 
 " I mean to." 
 
 " Haven't y : a done it already ? " 
 
 " I didn't say I had," answered Ben, who was evi- 
 dently debating with himself whether he should admit 
 'Tarry to his confidence. 
 
 " But didn't you set the barn afire? " 
 
 " What if I did ? " 
 
 " Why, I should say you run a great risk." 
 
 " I don't care for that." 
 
 ** I see the reason, now, why you wouldn't tell mc 
 what you was going to do before." 
 
 " We are in for it now, Harry. I meant to pay off 
 the squire, and " 
 
 " Then you did set the barn afire ? " 
 
 " I didn't say so ; and, more than that, I don't 
 mean to say so. If you can see through a millstone 
 why, just open your eyes — that's all " 
 
 " I am sorry you did it, Ben." 
 
 *' No whining, Harry ; be a man." 
 
 " I mean to be a man ; but I don't think there wtf 
 any need of burning the barn." 
 
4.JTD TKIT'MPHS OF HAEKT "WEST. 53 
 
 " I do ; I couldn't leave Redfield without squaring 
 accounts with Squire Walker." 
 
 " Where are you going, Ben ? " 
 
 " To Boston, of course." 
 
 " How shall we get there ? " 
 
 " We will go hy the river, as far as we can ; then 
 take to the road." 
 
 " But this is George I eman's hoat — isn't it ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " You hooked it ? " 
 
 " Of course I did ; you don't suppose I should 
 mind trifles at such a time as this ! But he can have 
 it again, when I have done with it." 
 
 " What was the use of taking the hoat ? " 
 
 " In the first place, don't you think it is easier to 
 sail in a boat than to walk ? And in the second 
 place, the river runs through the woods for five or 
 six miles below Pine Pleasant ; so that no one will 
 be likely to see us. We shall get off without being 
 found out." 
 
 " But the river is not deep enough. It is full of 
 ricks about three miles down." 
 
 "We won't mind them. We can keep her cleai 
 5* 
 
64 TRY AGAIN* or, the trials 
 
 of the rocks well enough. When I was down th« 
 river last spring, yc u couldn't see a single rock above 
 water, and we don't draw more than six inches." 
 
 " But that was in the spring, when the water was 
 high. I don't believe we can get the boat through." 
 
 "Yes, we can ; at any rate, we can jump ashore 
 and tow her down," replied Ben, confidently, though 
 his cah-iilations were somewhat disturbed by Harry'3 
 reasoning. 
 
 " There is another difficulty, Ben," suggesu-ii 
 Harry. 
 
 " O, there are a hundred difficulties ; but we 
 mustn't mind them." 
 
 " They will miss the boat, and suspect at once who 
 aas got it." 
 
 " We shall be out of their reach when they miss it.' 
 
 " I heard George Leman say he was going a fishi- 
 ng in her to-morrow." 
 
 " Did you? Then why didn't you say so before?" 
 retorted Ben, angrily. 
 
 " Because you didn't tell me what you were going 
 to do. How could I ? " 
 
 " Never mind ; it is no use to cry for spilt milk 
 We will maKe the best of it." 
 
A.ND TRITTMrHS OF HARRY WEST. 65 
 
 " We e in for it now." 
 
 " That we are ; and if you only stick by me, it 
 *lA all come out right. If we get. caught, you mu.it 
 keep a stiff upper lip." 
 
 *' Never fear me." 
 
 " And, above all, don't blow on me." 
 
 " Of course I won't." 
 
 " Whatever happens, promise that you will stick 
 [)v me." 
 
 " I will, Ben." 
 
 '• That's a good fellow, Harry. On that, we will 
 take a bit of luncheon, and have a good time of it." 
 
 As he spoke, Ben drew out from under the scat in 
 (he bow a box filled with bread and cheese. 
 
 " You see we arc provisioned for a cruise, Harry," 
 added Ben, as he offered the contents of the box to 
 his companion. " Here is enough to last us two of 
 hrce days." 
 
 " But you don't mean to keep on the river so Icrig 
 is that ? " 
 
 " I mean to stick to the boat as long as the naviga- 
 tion will permit," replied Ben, with more energy than 
 ae had before manifested, for he was recoveiing frcr* 
 
56 TRY AGAIN ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 ;he perturbation with which the crime he had com- 
 mitted filled his mind, 
 
 " There is a factory Tillage, with a dam across tk« 
 river, six or seven miles below here." 
 
 " 1 know it ; but perhaps we can get the boat 
 round the dam in the night time, and continue ui 
 voyage below. Don't you remember that piece in 
 the Reader about John Ledyard, — how he went 
 down the Connecticut River in a canoe ? " 
 " Yes ; and you got your idea from that ? " 
 " I did ; and I mean to have a first rate time of it." 
 Ben proceeded to describe the anticipated pleasures 
 of the river voyage, as he munched his bread and 
 cheese ; and Harry listened with a great deal of sat- 
 isfaction. Running away was not such a terrible 
 thing, after all. It was both business and pleasure, 
 and his imagination was much inflated by the bril- 
 liant prospect before him. There was something so 
 novel and exciting in the affair, that his first experi- 
 ence was of the most delightful character. 
 
 He foi£ot the crime his companion had committed. 
 and had almost come to regard the burning of tht 
 squire's barn as a just and proper retrL ution upoa 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY ^EST. 5 
 
 him, for conspiring against the rights and privilege! 
 of young America. 
 
 My young readers may not know how easy it is 
 even for a good hoy to learn to love the companion- 
 ship of those who are vicious, and disposed to take 
 the road which leads down to moral ruin and death. 
 Those lines of Pope, which are familiar to almost 
 every school boy, convey a great truth, and a thrilling 
 warning to those who first find themselves taking 
 pleasure in the society of wicked men, 01 wicked 
 Days : — 
 
 " Vice is a monster of so frightful mien 
 As to be hated, needs but to be seen ; 
 But seen too oft, familiar with her face, 
 "VYe first endure, then pity, then embrace. ' 
 
 Now, 1 have not represented my hero, at this stage 
 of the story, as a very good boy, and it did not re- 
 quire much time to familiarize him with the wicked- 
 ness which was in Ben's heart, and which he did not 
 take any pains to conceal. The transition from en- 
 during to pitying, and from that to embracing, was 
 sudden and easy, if, indeed, tlere was any miudl* 
 passage between the firsl and last stage. 
 
58 try again; or, the trials 
 
 I am sorry tc say that an hour's fellowship witfc 
 Ben, under the exciting- cireu.mytan.ces in which we 
 find them, had led him to think Ben a very good 
 fellow, notwithstanding the crime he had committed. 
 I shall do my young reader the justice to believe he 
 hopes Harry will be a better boy, and obtain higher 
 and nobler views of duty. It must be remembered 
 that Harry had never learned to " love God and man " 
 on the knee of an affectionate mother. He had long 
 ago forgotten the little prayers she had taught him, 
 and none were said at the poorhouse. We are sorry 
 he was no better ; bjit when we consider under what 
 influences he had been brought up, it is not strange 
 that he was not a good boy. Above every earthlv 
 good, we may be thankful for the blessing of a good 
 home, where we have been taught our duty to God, 
 -o our fellow-beings, and to ourselves. 
 
 The young navigators talked lightly of the present 
 and the future, as the boat floated gently along 
 through the gloomy forest. They heard the Redfield 
 clock strike twelve, and then one. The excitement 
 had begun to die out. Harry yawned, for he missed 
 his accustomed sleep, and felt that a few houis' rest 
 
ANT) TRIUMPHS OF HARRY "WEST. 5* 
 
 n Iris bed at the poorhouse was even preferable tc 
 navigating the river at midnight. Ren gaped several 
 times, and the fun was really getting very stale. 
 
 Those " who go down to the sea in ships," or navi- 
 gate the river in boats, must keep their eyes open. It 
 will never do to slumber at the helm ; and Harry soon 
 had a practical demonstration of the truth of the prop- 
 osition. He was so sleepy that he could not possibly 
 keep his eyes open ; and Ben, not having the care of 
 the helm, had actually dropped off, and was bowing 
 as j olitely as a French dancing master to his compan- 
 ion in the stern. They were a couple of smart sail- 
 ors, and needed a little wholesome discipline to teach 
 them the duty of those who are on the watch. 
 
 The needed lesson was soon administered ; for just 
 as Ben was making one of his lowest bows in hia 
 semi-conscious condition, the bow of the boat ran 
 upon a concealed rock, which caused her to keel over 
 on one side, and very gently pitch the sleeper into 
 the river. 
 
 Of course, this catastrophe brought the com* 
 mander of the expedition to his senses, and roused 
 the helmsman to a sense of his own delinquency; 
 
50 thy again; or, the tkials 
 
 though it is clear that, as there were no light housei 
 <3n the banks of the river, and the intricacies of the 
 channel had never been denned and charted for the 
 benefit of the adventurous navigator, no human fore- 
 thought could have provided against the accident. 
 
 Harry put the boat about, and assisted Lis dripping 
 shipmate on board again. The ducking he had re- 
 ceived did not operate very favorably upon Ben's 
 temper, and he roundly reproached his companion for 
 his carelessness. The steersman replied with becom- 
 ing spirit to this groundless charge, telling him he 
 had ■ better keep his eyes open the rest of the night. 
 Wet and chilly as he was, Ben couldn't help growl- 
 ing ; and both evidently realized that the affair was 
 not half as romantic as they had adjudged it to be an 
 hour or two before. 
 
 " Never mind it, Ben. If we fail once let us try 
 again — that's all." 
 
 " Try again ? You want to drown me, don't you," 
 snarled Ben. 
 
 Harry assured him he did not, and called his at- 
 ten lion to the, sound of dashing waters, which could 
 now be plainly heard. They were approaching the 
 
AJfU TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 6l 
 
 rocks, and it was certain from the noise that difficult 
 navigation was before them. Harry proposed to haul 
 up by the river's side, and wait for daylight ; to which 
 proposition, Ben, whose ardor was effectually cooled 
 by the bath he had received, readily assented. 
 
 Accordingly they made fast the painter to a ttee 
 on trie shore, and both ot them disembarked. While 
 Harry was gathering up a pile of dead leaves for a 
 bed, Ben amused himself by wringing out his wet 
 clothes. 
 
 ; ' Suppose we make a fire, Harry?" suggested 
 Ben ; and it would certainly have been a great luxury 
 to one in his damp condition. 
 
 " No ; it will betray us," replied Harry, with 
 alarm. 
 
 " Humph ! It is easy enough for you to talk, who 
 are warm and dry," growled Ben. " I am going to 
 have a fire, any how." 
 
 In vain Harry protested. Ben had some matches 
 ia the boat, and in a few minutes a cheerful fire 
 blazed in the forest. As the leader of the enterprise 
 felt its glowing warmth, his temper was sensibly im- 
 pr' ed. and he even had the hardihood to laugh a* 
 & 
 
62 IKY AGAIN ; OR. THE TRIALS 
 
 his late misfortune. But Harry did not caie jusl 
 then whether his companion was pleasant or sour, 
 for he had stretched himself on his bed of leaver, and 
 was in a fair way to forget the trials and hardships 
 of the voyage in the deep sleep which makes it " all 
 night ' with a tired boy. 
 
 After Ben was thoroughly dried and warmed, he 
 planed himself by the side of his fellow-voyager, and 
 both journeyed together through the quiet shiules of 
 dreamland, leaving no wakeful eye to watch over tht 
 interests of the expedition while they slumbered. 
 
AJCD TBIUMPHS OF UAKET WEST. 63 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ri» WHICH HARKY FIOHTS A HARD BATTLE, AND 
 IS DEFEATED. 
 
 The sun was high in the heavens when the tired 
 boatmen awoke. Unaccustomed as they were to 
 fatigue and late hours, they had been completely 
 overcome by the exertion and exposure of the pre- 
 vious night. Harry was the first to recover his lost 
 senses; and when he opened his eyes, every thing 
 looked odd and strange to him. It was not the 
 rough, but neat and comfortable little room in the 
 poorhouse which greeted his dawning consciousness : 
 it was the old forest and the dashing river. He 
 did not feel quite at home ; the affair had been di- 
 gested of its air of romance, and he felt more like a 
 runaway boy than the hero of a fairy tale. 
 
 " Hallo, BeD ' " shouted he, to his sleeping com 
 panion. 
 
61 TRY AGAIN ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 Ben growled once, and then rolled over, as if angrj 
 at being disturbed. 
 
 44 Ben ! We shall be caught, if you don't wake 
 up. There, the clock is striking eight ! " and to give 
 P>en a better idea of where he was, he administered 
 a smart kick in the region of the ribs. 
 
 44 What are you about ? " snarled Ben, springing 
 to his feet with clinched fists. 
 
 44 Time we were moving. Don't you see how higt 
 the sun is ? The clock has just struck eight." 
 
 44 No matter for that. We are just as safe here as 
 any where else. You kick me again, and see where 
 you will be ! " 
 
 44 Cor.<e, come, Ben ; don't get mad." 
 
 44 Don't kick me, then." 
 
 44 What are you going to do now ? " 
 
 44 That's my business. You do what I tell you , 
 that's all you have to do with it," replied Ben, im« 
 periously, as he walked to the bank of the river to 
 purvey the difficulties of the navigation. 
 
 44 Is it ? " asked Harry, not particularly pleased 
 with this interpretation of their relations. 
 
 ** You better believe it ii." 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 66 
 
 " 1 don't believe any thing of the kind. I ain't 
 your nigger, any how ! " added Harry, with spirit. 
 
 " I'll bet yju are." 
 
 4< I'll bet I ain't." 
 
 " What are you going to do about it ? " 
 
 " I'll let you know what I am going to do." 
 
 1 If you don't mind what I tell you, I'll wallo 
 vou on the spot." 
 
 " No, you wont ; " and Harry turned on his heel, 
 and leisurely walked off towards the thickest of tha 
 forest. 
 
 " Where are you going ? " 
 
 " Off." 
 
 " Off where ? " 
 
 " Do you think I'm going to stay with you, to be 
 treated like a dog ! " replied Harry, as he continued 
 his letreat. 
 
 Ben started after him, but Harry picked up a stick 
 of wood and stood on the defensive. 
 
 " Now, if you don't come back, I'll break you: 
 head ! " said Ben. 
 
 " Look out that your own don't get broke ; " and 
 Harry brandished his cudgel in the air. 
 a* 
 
66 TRY AGAIN ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 Ben glanced at the club, and saw from the flash o^ 
 Harry's bright eye, that he was thoroughly amused 
 His companion v.ds not to be trifled with, and he 
 vas read) to abandon the point. 
 
 " Come, Harry, it's no use for us to quarrel," he 
 added, with a forced smile. 
 
 " 1 know that ; but 1 won't be trod upon by you, 
 m} booN else." 
 ' I don't want to tread on you." 
 
 ''Yes, you do; you needn't think you are going 
 to lord it over me in that way. I will go back to 
 the poorhouse first." 
 
 " Let's be friends again, Harry. Throw down 
 your club." 
 
 " Yes, and let you lick me then ! No, you don't ! " 
 
 " 1 won't touch you, Harry ; upon my word and 
 honor, I won't." 
 
 " Humph ! Your word and honor ain't worth 
 much. I'll go back, if you'll behave yourself; but 
 I shall keep the club handy." 
 
 " Any way you like ; but let us be off." 
 
 Ben changed his tone, and condescended to tell 
 Harry what he meant to do, even at the sacrifice (J 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY 7VEST. 6? 
 
 his dignity as commander of the expedition. An 
 appearance at least of good feeling was restored, and 
 after breakfasting on their bread and cheese, they 
 embarked again, on what now promised to be a peril- 
 ous voyage. 
 
 For a quarter of a mile below, the bed of the nar- 
 row river was spotted with rocks, among which the 
 water dashed with a fury that threatened the destruc- 
 tion of their frail bark. For a time they seriously 
 debated the question of abandoning the project, Har- 
 ry proposing to penetrate the woods in a north-east- 
 erly direction. Ben, however, could not abandon the 
 prospect of sailing leisurely down the river when 
 they had passed the rapids, making the»passage with- 
 out any exertion. He was not pleased with the idea 
 of trudging along on foot for thirty miles, v>hen the 
 river would bear them to the city with only a little 
 difficulty occasionally at the rapids and snoal places. 
 Pei haps his plan would have been practicable at the 
 highest stage of water, but the river w; s now below 
 
 ts ordinary level. 
 Hen's love of an easy and '•om^ntr 1 time carried 
 
 he duy, and Harry's practical common sense reason' 
 
68 TRY AGAIN ; OB, THE TRIALS 
 
 ing was of no avail, and a taunt at his cowardice 
 induced him to yield the point. 
 
 " Now, Harry, you take one of the paddles, and 
 place yourself in the bow, while I steer," said Ben, 
 as he assumed his position. 
 
 " Very well ; you shall be captain of the boat, and 
 I will do just as you say ; but I won't be bullied on 
 ghore," replied Harry, taking the station assigned 
 him. 
 
 " All right ; now cast off the painter, and let hei 
 slide. Keep both eyes open." 
 
 " Never fear me ; I will do my share." 
 
 The boat floated out into the current, and was 
 borne rapidly down the swift-flowing stream. They 
 ■"vere not very skilful boatmen, and it was more a 
 matter of tact than of strength to keep the boat from 
 dashing on the sharp rocks. For a little way, they 
 did very well, though the passage was sufficiently ex- 
 citing to call their powers into action, and to suggest 
 % doubt as to the ultimate result of the venture. 
 
 They soon reached a place, however, where the? 
 river turned a sharp angle, and the waters were furi- 
 ously precipitated down upon a bed of rocks, which 
 threatened them with instant destruction. 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. oS 
 
 " We shall be smashed to pieces ! " exclaimed the 
 foolhardy pilot, as his eye measured the descent or 
 the waters. " Let's try to get ashore." 
 
 " Too late now," replied Harry, coolly. " Put lie J 
 through, hit or miss." 
 
 But Ben's courage all oozed out, in the face of this 
 imminent peril, and he made a vain attempt to push 
 the boat towards the shore. 
 
 " Paddle your end round, Harry," gasped Ben, in 
 the extremity of fear. " We shall be smashed to 
 pieces." 
 
 " Too late, Ben ; stand stiff, and make the best of 
 it," answered Harry, as he braced himself to meet 
 the shock. 
 
 The rushing waters bore the boat down the stream 
 in spite of the feeble efforts of the pilot to check he? 
 progress. Ben seemed to have lost all his self-pos- 
 session, and stooped down, holding on with both 
 hands at the gunwale. 
 
 ])own she went into the boiling caldron of wateis 
 t oaring and foaming like a little Niagara. One hara 
 bump on the sharp rocks, and Harry heard the boards 
 snap under him. He waited for no more, bu' grasp- 
 
70 thy again; or, the trials 
 
 ing the overhanging branches of a willow, which grew 
 on the bank, and upon which he had before fixed his 
 eyes as the means of rescuing himself, he sprang up 
 into the tree, and saw Ben tumbled from the boat 
 into the seething caldron. 
 
 " Save me, Harry ! " shouted Ben. 
 
 But Harry had to save himself first, which, how- 
 ever, was not now a difficult matter. Swinging him- 
 self from branch to branch till he reached the trunk 
 of the willow, he descended to the ground, without 
 having even wet the soles of his shoes. 
 
 " Save me ! save me!" cried Ben, in piteous ac- 
 cents, as the current bore him down the stream. 
 
 " Hold on to the boat," replied Harry, "and I will 
 be there in a minute." 
 
 Seizing a long pole which had some time formed 
 part of a fence there, he hastened down the bank to 
 the water's edge. The water was not very deep, 
 but it ran so rapidly that Ben could neither swim 
 nor stand upon the bottom ; and but for his compan- 
 ion's promptness, he would undoubtedly have been 
 drowned. Grasping the long pole which Harry ex< 
 tended to him, he was drawn to the shore, having 
 
AND TKITTMPHS OF HARKV WEST. 7\ 
 
 received no other injury than a terrible fright and a 
 good ducking. 
 
 " Here we are," said Harry, when his companion 
 was safely landed. 
 
 "Yes, here we are," growled Ben; "and it is all 
 your fault that we are here." 
 
 " It is my fault that you are here ; for if I had not 
 pulled you out of the river, you would have been 
 drowned," replied Harry, indignantly ; and perhaps 
 he felt a little sorry just then that he had rescued 
 his ungrateful commander. 
 
 " Yes, and if you had only done as I told you, and 
 pushed for the shore above the fall, all this would not 
 have happened." 
 
 "And if you hadn't been a fool, we should nit 
 have tried to go through such a hole. There goes 
 your old boat;" and Harry pointed to the wreck, 
 filled with water, floating down the stream. 
 
 " Here they are ! " shouted a voice, not far from 
 them. 
 
 Harry started, and so did Ben. 
 
 " We are caught ! " exclaimed Ben. 
 
 "No" yet," replied Harry, with some trepidation* 
 
72 TRY AGAIN ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 as fie broke off a piece of the pole that lay at his feet, 
 and retreated from the river. " Take a club, for I 
 am not going to be carried back without fighting 
 foi it." 
 
 A survey of the ground and of the pursuers ena- 
 bled him to prepare for the future. He discovered 
 at a glance the weakness of the assailants. 
 
 " Take a club, Ben. Don't you see there is only 
 one man on this side of the river ? and we can easily 
 beat him off." 
 
 Ben took the club ; but he seemed not to have the 
 energy to use it. In fact, Harry showed himself bet- 
 ter qualified to manage the present interests of the 
 expedition than his companion. . All at once he de- 
 veloped the attributes of a skilful commander, while 
 his confederate seemed to have lost all his cunning 
 and all his determination. 
 
 " Now, let us run ; and if we are caught we wiU 
 fcght for it," said Harry. 
 
 'lhi boys took to their heels, and having a fail start 
 of their pursuer, they kept clear of him for a con- 
 siderable distance ; but Ben's wet clothes impeded 
 his progress, and Harry had too much magnanimity 
 to save himself at the sacrifice of his companion. 
 
AND TRIUMTHS OF HARRY WEST. 73 
 
 It was evident, after the chase had continued a short 
 time, that their pursuer was gaining upon them. In 
 rain Harry urged Ben to increase his speed ; his 
 pn gress was very slow, and it was soon apparent to 
 Hairy that they were wasting their breath in running 
 when they would need it for the fight. 
 
 " Now, Ben, we can easily whip this man, and save 
 ourselves. Be a man, and let us stand by each othei 
 to the last." 
 
 Ben made no reply ; but when Harry stopped, he 
 did the same. 
 
 "Keep off! or we will knock your brains out," 
 crk'd Harry, placing himself in the attitude of defence 
 
 But the man took no notice of this piece of brava- 
 do ; and, as he approached, Harry levelled a blow at 
 his head. The man warded it off, and sprang forward 
 to grasp the little rebel. 
 
 " Hit him, Ben ! " shouted Harry, as he dodged 
 the swoop of his assailant. 
 
 To his intense indignation and disgust, Ben, instead 
 of seconding his assault, dropped his club, and fled. 
 lie seemed to run a good deal faster than he had run 
 before that day ; but Harry did not give up the point 
 
74 TRY AGAIN 4 OR, THE TIUAL8 
 
 The man pressed him closely, and he defended ninif 
 self with a skill and vigor worthy a better cause 
 Hut it war of no use ; or, if it was, it only gave Ben 
 men time to effect his escape. 
 
 The unequal contest, however, soon termirated in 
 the capture of our resolute hero, and the man tied 
 his hands behind his back ; but he did not dare to 
 .'eave the young lion to go in pursuit of his less un- 
 fortunate, but more guilty, confederate. 
 
 " There, Master Harry West, I think you have got 
 into a tight place now," said his captor, whose name 
 was Nathan Leman, brother of the person to whom 
 the boat belonged. " We will soon put you in a 
 place where you won't burn any more barns." 
 
 Harry was confounded at this charge, and promptly 
 and indignantly denied it. He had not considered 
 the possibility of being accused of such a crime, and 
 it seemed to put a new aspect upon his case. 
 
 " You did not set fire to Squire Walker's barn last 
 night ? " replied Leman, incredulously. 
 
 " No, I did not." 
 
 " Pei haps you can make ^he squire believe it,* 
 sneered his captor. 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 7fi 
 
 M I didn't do it." 
 
 " Didn't steal my brother's boat either, did you?" 
 
 u / didn't." 
 
 " Who did ? " 
 
 Harry thought a moment. After the mean trick 
 which Ben Smart had served him, he did not feel 
 very kindly towards him, but he was not yet prepared 
 to betray him. 
 
 " I didn't," was his reply. 
 
 Nathan Leman then conducted his prisoner to the 
 river's side. By this time the other pursuer, who 
 had been obliged to ascend the river for a quarter of 
 a mile before he could cross, joined him. 
 
 " Where is the other fellow ? " he asked. 
 
 " Couldn't catch him. This one fought like a 
 young tiger, and I couldn't leave him," replied Na- 
 than. " If you will take Harry up to the village, \ 
 will soon have him." 
 
 The other assented, and while Nathan wont in 
 eearch of Ben, Harry was conducted back tc ihe 
 village. 
 
 The prisoner was sad and depressed in spirits; but 
 tie did not lose all hope. He was appalled at the 
 
76 try again; or, the trials 
 
 idea of being accused of burning tbe barn ; but Le 
 was innocent, and had a vague assurance tbat no 
 harm could befall him on that account. 
 
 When they entered the village, a crowd gathered 
 around them, eager to learn the particulars of the 
 capture ; but without pausing to gratify this curiosi- 
 ty, Harry's conductor lrd him to the poor house, and 
 placed bim in charge of Mr. Naaon. 
 
*WD TP-JUAtrjiS Of HARRY WEST. 71 
 
 CHAPTER Vi. 
 
 .H «VH7r;h HARRY CONCLUDES THAT k DEFEAT Ii 
 SOMETIMES BETTER THAN* A VICTORY. 
 
 The keeper of the poorhouse received Harry in 
 sullen silence, and conducted him to the chamber in 
 which he had been ordered to keep him a close 
 prisoner. He had apparently lost all confidence in 
 him, and regretted that he had connived at his 
 escape. 
 
 Harry did not like the cold and repulsive deport- 
 ment of his late friend. Mr. Nason had always been 
 kind to him ; now he seemed to have fallen in with 
 Squire Walker's plans, and was willing to be the 
 instrument of the overseer's narrow and cruel policy. 
 Before, he had taken his part against the mighty, so 
 far as it was prudent for him to do so ; now, he was 
 willing to go over to the enemy. 
 
 This reverse made him sadder than any other cir 
 7* 
 
78 TRY AGAIN; OR, THB TU1AL3 
 
 cumstance of his return — sadder than the fear of 
 punishment, or even of being sent to live with Jacob 
 Wire. 
 
 "I've get back again," said Harry, when th< y 
 reached the chamber in which he was to be confined. 
 
 " I see you have," replied Mr. Nason, in freezing 
 tones. 
 
 The keeper had never spoken to him in 9.:rh 
 tones, and Harry burst into tears. His only riend 
 had deserted him, and he felt more desolate than 
 ever before in his life. 
 
 " You needn't cry, now," said Mr. Nason, sternly. 
 
 " I can't help it," sobbed the little prisoner. 
 
 *' Can't you ? " 
 
 Mr. Nason sneered as he spoke, and his sreer 
 pierced the heart of Harry. 
 
 " O Mr. Nason ! " 
 
 " There — that will do. You needn't bL.bbcr any 
 aiore. You have n.ade jvur bed, fad now you ran 
 lie in it ; " and the keeper turned on his heel to 
 eave the room. 
 
 " Don't leave me yet," pleaded Harry. 
 
 " Leave you ? What do you want of me ? I 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 7t 
 
 luppose you want to tell me I advised you to burn 
 the barn." 
 
 "I didn't set the barn afire !" exclaimed Harry, 
 now for the first time realizing the cause of his 
 friend's displeasure. 
 
 " Don't lie." 
 
 " I speak the truth. I did not set it afire, or even 
 know that it was going to be set on fire." 
 
 Mr. Nason closed the door which he had opened 
 to depart. The firm denial, as well as the tone and 
 manner of the boy, arrested his judgment against 
 him. He had learned to place implicit confidence in 
 Harry's word ; for though he might have told lies 
 to others, he never told them to him. 
 
 " Who did burn the barn r " asked the keeper, 
 locking sternly into the eye of the culprit. 
 
 Harry hesitated. A sense of honor and magna- 
 nimity pervaded his soul. He had obtained some 
 f:ilse notions ; and he did not understand that he 
 could hardly be false to one who had been false to 
 himself — that to help a criminal conceal his cr'*ne 
 was to onspire against the peace and happiness of 
 his fellow-beings. Shabbily as lien Smart had used 
 
80 try again; or, the trials 
 
 him, he could not at once make up his mind to be* 
 <ray him. 
 
 " You don't answer," added Mr. Nason. 
 
 " I didn't do it." 
 
 " Rut who did ? " 
 
 " I don't like to tell." 
 
 " Very well ; you can do as you like. After what 
 \ had done for you, it was a little strange that you 
 should do as you have." 
 
 " I will tell you all about it, Mr. Nason, if you 
 will promise not to tell." 
 
 " I know all about it. You and I5en Smart put 
 your heads together to be revenged on the squire ; 
 you set his barn afire, and then stole Leman's beat." 
 
 " No, sir ; I didn't set the barn afire, nor steal 
 the boat, nor help to do either." 
 
 " You and he were together." 
 
 '• We were ; and if it wasn't for being mean to 
 lien, I would tell you all about it." 
 
 " Mean to Ben ! As soon as it was known that 
 you and Ben were missing, every body in the village 
 knew who set the barn afire. All you have got to 
 do is to clear yourself, if you can ; Ben is condemned 
 already." 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 81 
 
 *' If you will hear my story 1 will tell you all 
 ab)ut it." 
 
 Harry proceeded to narrate every thing that had 
 occurred since he left the house on the preceding 
 night. It was a very clear and plausible statement. 
 He ans vcred all the questions which Mr Nason pro- 
 posed with promptness, and his replies were con- 
 nistent. 
 
 " I believe you, Harry," said the keeper, when he 
 had finished his examination. " Somehow I couldn't 
 believe you would do such a thing as set the squire's 
 barn afire." 
 
 " I wouldn't," replied Harry, warmly, and much 
 pleased to find he had reestablished the confidence of 
 his friend. 
 
 " But it is a bad case. The fact of your being 
 with Ben Smart is almost enough to convict you." 
 
 " I shouldn't have been with him, if I had known 
 be set the barn afire." 
 
 " I don't know as I can dc any thing for you, 
 Harry ; but I will try." 
 
 " Thank you." 
 
 Mr. Nason left him, and Harry had an opportunity 
 
82 THY AGAIN, OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 to consider the desperate circumstances of his pos: 
 tiun. It looked just as though he should he sen' 
 to the house of correction, But he was innocent. 
 Ue felt his innocence; as he expressed it to the 
 deeper afterwards, he " felt it in his hones." It did 
 not, on further consideration, seem prohable that he 
 would be punished for doing what he had not done, 
 either as principal or accessory. A vague idea of 
 an all-pervading justice consoled him; and he soon 
 reasoned himself into a firm assurance that he should 
 escape unharmed. 
 
 He was in the mood for reasoning ju'.t then — 
 perhaps because he had nothing better to do, or per- 
 haps because the added experience of the last twenty- 
 four hours enabled him to reason better than before. 
 His fine scheme of getting to Boston, and there 
 making a rich and great man of himself, had signaliy 
 failed. He did not give it up, however. 
 
 " 1 have failed once, but I will try again," said he 
 to himself, as the conclusion of the whole matter; 
 »n I he picked up an old school book which lay on 
 the tahle. 
 
 The book contained a story, which he had often 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 83 
 
 tead, aloat a man who had met with a long list of 
 misfortunes, as he deemed them when they occurred 
 but which proved to be blessings in disguise. 
 
 " Oft from apparent ills our blessings rise. 
 Act well your part ; there all the honor lies." 
 
 This couplet from the school books came to his aid, 
 also ; and he proceeded to make an application of 
 this wisdom to his own mishaps. 
 
 " Suppose I had gone on with Ben. He is a mis- 
 erable fellow," thought Harry ; " he would bave led 
 me into all manner of wickedness. I ought not to 
 have gone with him, or had any thing to do with 
 him. He might have made a thief and a robber of 
 me. I know I ain't any better than I should be ; 
 but I don't believe I'm as bad as he is. At any 
 rate, I wouldn't set a barn afire. It is all for the 
 best, just as the parson says when any body dies 
 By this scrape I have got clear of Ben, and learned 
 a lesson that I won't forget in a hurry." 
 
 Uarry was satisfied with this logic, and really 
 believed that something which an older and more 
 devout person would have regarded as a special 
 
84 TRY AGAIX ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 providence had interposed to save him from a life 
 of infamy and wickedness. It was a blessed experi- 
 ence, and his thoughts were very serious and earnest. 
 
 In the afternoon, Squire Walker came down to 
 the pcorhouse to subject Harry to a preliminary ex- 
 amination. Ben Smart had not been taken, and the 
 pursuers had abandoned the chase. 
 
 " Boy," said the squire, when Harry was brought 
 before him ; " look at me." 
 
 Harry looked at the overseer with all his might. 
 He had got far enough to despise the haughty little 
 great man. A taste of freedom had enlarged his 
 ideas and developed his native independence, so tbat 
 he did not quail, as the squire intended he should ; 
 on the contrary, his eyes snapped with the earnest- 
 ness of his gaze. With an honest and just man, hia 
 unflinching eye would have been good evidence in 
 his favor ; but the pompous overseer wished to aiva 
 him, rather than get at the simple truth. 
 
 " You set my barn on fire," continued the squire. 
 
 " T did not," replied Harry, firmly. 
 
 " Yes, you did. How dare you deny it ? " 
 
 «• I did not." 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF EAEET WEST. 8* 
 
 He had often read, and heard read, that passage 
 of Scriptuie which says, " Let your communications 
 he Yea, yea, Nay, nay ; for whatsoever is more than 
 these cometh of evil."' Just then he felt the truth 
 of the inspired axiom. It seemed just as though any 
 amount of violent protestations would not help him ; 
 and though the squire repeated the charge half a 
 dozen times, he only replied with his firm and simple 
 denial. 
 
 Then Squire "Walker called his hired man, upon 
 whose evidence he depended for the conviction of 
 the little incendiary. 
 
 " Is that the hoy, John ? " asked the squire, point- 
 ing to Harry. 
 
 " No, sir ; it was a bigger boy than that," replied 
 John, without hesitation. 
 
 " Are you sure ? " 
 
 " O, very sure." 
 
 " It must be that this is the boy," persisted the 
 vquire, evidently much disappointed by the testimony 
 of the man. 
 
 " I am certain it was a bigger boy than this." 
 
 " I feel pretty clear about it, Mr. Nason," added 
 8 
 
86 TRY AGAIlN : OR. THE TRIAL8 
 
 the squire. " You see, tiiis boy was mad, yesterday, 
 because i wanted to send him to Jacob Wire's. My 
 barn is burned, and it stands to reason he burned it," 
 
 " But I saw the boy round the barn night afore 
 last," interposed John, who was certainly better 
 qualified to be a justice of the peace han his em- 
 ployer. 
 
 "I know that; but the barn wasn't burned till 
 last night." 
 
 " But Harry couldn't have had any grudge against 
 you night before last," said Mr. Xason. 
 
 " I don't know about that," mused the squire, who 
 was apparently trying to reconcile the facts to hia 
 theorj , rather than the theory to the facts. 
 
 John, the hired man, lived about three miles from 
 the squire's house. His father was very sick ; and 
 he had been home every evening for a week, return- 
 ing between ten and eleven. On the night preceding 
 the fire, he had seen a boy prowling round the barn, 
 who ran away at his approach. The next day, he 
 found a pile of withered grass, dry sticks, and other 
 rombustibles heaped against a loose board in the side 
 :>f the barn. He had informed the squire of tbfl 
 
AND TRIUMTIIS OF IIAURY WEST. 8? 
 
 facts , but the worthy justice did not consider them 
 of much moment. 
 
 Probably Ben had intended to burn the barn tlmn, 
 tut had been prevented from executing his purpose 
 by the approach of the hired man. 
 
 "This must be the boy," added the squire. 
 
 " lie had on a sack coat, and was bigger than this 
 boy," replied John. 
 
 " Harry has no sack coat," put in Mr. Xason, 
 eagerly catching at this evidence. 
 
 " It is easy to be mistaken in the night. Search 
 him, and see if there are any matches about him." 
 
 Undoubtedly this was a very brilliant suggestion 
 of the squire's muddy intellect — as though every 
 man who carried matches was necessarily an incen- 
 diary. Rut no matches were found upon Harry ; 
 and, according to the intelligent justice's perception 
 :>f the nature of evidence, the suspected party should 
 nave been acquitted. 
 
 No matches were found on Harry; but in his 
 acket pocket, carefully enclosed in a piece of brown 
 paper, «*cre found the four quarters of a doilar ?iveu 
 to him by Mr. Nason. 
 
88 TRY AGAIN; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 "Where did you get those?" asked the squire, 
 iternly. 
 
 "They W3re given to me," replied Harry. 
 
 Mr. Nason averted his eyes, and was very uneasy. 
 The fact of having given this money to Harry went 
 to show that he had been privy to his escape ; and 
 his kind act seemed to threaten him with ruin. 
 
 " Who gave them to you ? " 
 
 Harry made no reply. 
 
 " Answer me," thundered the squire. 
 
 " I shall not tell," replied Harry. 
 
 " You shall not ? " 
 
 " No, sir." 
 
 The squire was nonplussed. The boy was as firm 
 as a hero ; and no threats could induce him to betray 
 his kind friend, whose position he fully compre- 
 hended. 
 
 ** We will see," roared the squire. 
 
 Several persons who had been present during the 
 examination, and who were satisfied that Harry was 
 innocent of the crime charged upon him, interfered 
 to save him from the consequences of thf squ-re's 
 wrath. 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HAItRY WEST. &» 
 
 Mr. Xason, finding that his young friend was 
 likely to suffer for his magnanimity, explained the 
 matter — thus turning the squire's anger 'rom the 
 toy to himself. 
 
 "So you helped the boy run away — did you ? *' 
 said the overseer. 
 
 " He did not ; he told me that money would keep 
 me from starving." 
 
 " Did he ? " 
 
 Those present understood the allusion, and the 
 squire did not press the matter any further. In the 
 course of the examination, Ben Smart had often been 
 alluded to, and the crime was fastened upon him. 
 Harry told his story, which, confirmed by the evi- 
 dence of the hired man, was fully credited by all 
 except the squire, who had conceived a violent an- 
 tipathy to the boy. 
 
 The examination was informal ; the squire did nol 
 hold it as a justice of the peace, but only as a citi- 
 zen, or, at most, as an overseer of the poor. How- 
 ever, it proved thut, as the burning of the barn had 
 Deen planned before any difficulty had o«curred be- 
 8* 
 
90 TRV AfiAIX; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 twccn the squire and Hair)', he had no mothe foi 
 
 doing the deed. 
 
 The squire was not satisfied : hut the worst he 
 1 • 
 
 could do was to commit Harry to the care of Jacob 
 Wire, which was immediately done. 
 
 " I am sorry for you, Harry," whispered Mr. 
 Nason. 
 
 ">Jever mind; I shall fry again" he repl'.d, ae 
 he jumped into the wagon with his persecutor. 
 
AND TRIUMPHS Of HAKRY 'WEST. 91 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 IN WHICH HARRY FINDS HIMSELF IN A TIGH1 
 1 IACE, AND EXECUTES A COUNTER MOVEMENT. 
 
 " Jacob, here is the boy," said Squire Walker, as 
 he stopped his horse in front of an old, decayed 
 house. 
 
 Jacob Wire was at work in his garden, by the side 
 o e the house ; and when the squire spoke, he straight- 
 ened his back, regarding Harry with a look of min- 
 gled curiosity and distrust. He evidently did not 
 like his appearance. He looked as though he would 
 eat too much ; and to a man as mean as Jacob, this 
 was the sum total of all enormities. Besides, the little 
 pauper had earned a bad reputation within the pre- 
 ceding twenty- four hours, and his new master glanced 
 uneasily at his barn, and then at the boy, as though 
 he deemed it unsafe to have such a desperate charac« 
 tei about his premises. 
 
ti2 thy again; op. the trials 
 
 "He is a hard boy, Jacob, and will need a little 
 taming. They fed him too high at the poorhoue*,'' 
 continued the squire. 
 
 " That spiles boys," replied Jacob, solemnly. 
 
 " So it does." 
 
 " So, this is the boy that burnt your barn ? " 
 
 " Well. I don't know. I rather think it was the 
 Smart boy. Perhaps he knew about it, though ; " and 
 the squire proceeded to give his brother-in-law the 
 particulars of the informal examination ; for Jacob 
 Wire, who could hardly afford to lie still on Sundays, 
 much less other days, had not been up to the vil- 
 lage to hear the news. 
 
 " You must be pretty sharp with him," said the 
 overseer, in conclusion. " Keep your eye on him all 
 the time, for we may want him again, as soon as they 
 can catch the other boy." 
 
 Jacob promised to do the best he could with Harrj 
 whe, during the interview, had maintained a sullen 
 6ilence ; and the squire departed, assured that he had 
 done hie whole duty to the public and to the little 
 pauper. 
 
 " Well, boy, it is about sundown now, and I guesi 
 
AND IKTt'MPHS OF HARRY WEST. 93 
 
 wp will go in and get some supper before we do an^ 
 Store. But let me tell you beforehand, you must 
 walk pretty straight here, or you will fare hard." 
 
 Harry vouchsafed no reply to this speech, and fol- 
 lowed Jacob into the house. His first meal at his 
 new place confirmed all he had heard about the penu- 
 riousness of his master. There was very little to eat 
 on the table, but Mrs. "Wire gave him the poorest 
 there was — a hard crust of brown bread, a cold 
 potato, and a dish of warm water with a very little 
 molasses and milk in it, which he was expected to 
 imagine was tea. 
 
 Harry felt no disposition to eat. He was too sad 
 and depressed, and probably if the very best had been 
 Bet before him, he would have been equally indif- 
 ferent. 
 
 He ate very little, and Jacob felt more kindly to- 
 wards him than before this proof of the smallness of 
 his appetite. He had been compelled to get rid of 
 his last boy, because he was a little ogre, and it 
 neemed as though he would eat him out of house and 
 aome. 
 
 After supper Harry assisted Jacob about the barn. 
 
94 try again; ok, the trials 
 
 anil it was nearly eight o'clock before they fin 
 ihhed. 
 
 " Now, boy, it is about bed time, and I will sho^l 
 you your rooms, if you like," suid Jacob. " Before 
 you go, let me tell you it won't do any good to try 
 to run away from here, for 1 am going to borrow 
 Leman's bull-dog." 
 
 Harry made no reply to this remark, and followed 
 his master to the low attic of the house, where ho 
 was pointed to a rickety bedstead, which he was to 
 occupy. 
 
 " There, jump into bed afore I carry the candle 
 off," continued Jacob. 
 
 " I don't care about any light. You needn't 
 wait," replied Harry, as he slipped off his shoes and 
 stockings. 
 
 " That is right; boys always ought to be learnt to 
 go to bed in the dark," added Jacob, as he departed. 
 
 But Harry was determined not to go to bed in the 
 lark ; so, as soon as he heard Jacob's step on the 
 floor below, he crept to the stairway, and silently de- 
 scended. He had made up his mind not to wait foi 
 tl« bull-dog. Pausing in the entry, he heard Jacol 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HA It It Y WEST. 9» 
 
 tell his wife that he was going over to Leman's to 
 borrow his dog ; he was afraid the boy would get up 
 in the night and set his barn on fire, or run away. 
 Jacob then loft the house, satisfied, no doubt, that the 
 bull-dog would be an efficient sentinel while the fam- 
 il\ were asleep. 
 
 After allowing time enough to elapse for Jacob to 
 reach Leman's house, he softly opened the front dooi 
 and went out. It was fortunate for him that Mrs. 
 Wire was as " deaf as a post," or his suddenly ma- 
 tured plan tc " try again " might have been a failuie. 
 As it was, h:g departure was not observed. It was 
 quite dark, and after he bad got a short distance from 
 the bouse, he felt a reasonable degree of security. 
 
 His first purpose was to get as far away from Red- 
 field as possible, before the daylight should come tc 
 betray him ; and, taking the road, he walked as fast 
 as his legs would carry him towards Boston. Jacob's 
 house was on the turnpike, which was the direct roaj 
 to the city, and the distance which the squire bad 
 rarried him in his wagon was so much clear gain. 
 
 He did not feel very sentimental now. The shy 
 was oversha i Dwei with clouds, sc that he could aol 
 
06 TRY AGAIX ; OR. THE TRIALS 
 
 Bee any stirs, ami the future did not look half Ml 
 bright as his fancy had pictured it on the preceding 
 night. But he was free again; and free under more 
 favorable circumstances than before. This time he 
 was himself commander of the expedition, and was to 
 suffer for no one's bad generalship but his own. Be- 
 sides, the experience he had obtained was almost a 
 guarantee of success. It had taught him the neces- 
 sity of care and prudence. 
 
 The moral lesson he had learned was of infinitely 
 more value than even the lesson of policy. For the 
 urst time in his life he was conscious of a deep and 
 earnest desire to be a good boy, and to become a true 
 man. As he walked along, he thought more of being 
 a good man than of being a rich man. It was very 
 natural for him to do so, under the circumstances, foi 
 he had come very near being punished as an incendi- 
 ary. The consequences of doing wrong were just 
 then strongly impressed upon his mind, and he al- 
 most shuddered to think he had consented to remain 
 with Ben Smart after he knew that he burned the 
 Darn. Ah, it was an exceedingly fortunate thing foi 
 him that he had got rid of Ben as he did. 
 
A.SD TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST 97 
 
 For two hours he walked as fast as he could, paus- 
 ing now and then to listen for the sound of any ap- 
 proaching vehicle. Possibly Jacob might have gone 
 to his room, or attic, to see if he was safe, and hia 
 escape had been discovered. He could not be too 
 wary, and every sound that reached his waiting ear 
 caused his heart to jump with anxiety. 
 
 He heard a clock strike eleven. It was not the 
 Redfield clock, and it was evident that he was ap- 
 proaching Rockville, a factory village, eight miles 
 from his native place. But his legs were failing him. 
 He was exhausted by the labors and the excitement 
 oJ the day and night, and his strength would hardly 
 hold out till he should get beyond the village. 
 
 Seating himself on a rock by the side of the road, 
 he decided to hold a council of war, to determine 
 what should be done. If he went forward, his 
 strength might fail him at the time when a vigorous 
 effort should be required of him. Somebody's dog 
 might bark, and b ing the " Philistines upon him." 
 He might meet some late walker, who would detain 
 him. It was hardly safe for him to go through the 
 Tillage by night or day, after the search which bad 
 9 
 
Q& TRY AGAIN ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 been made for Ben Smart. People would be on th* 
 lookout, and it would be no hard matter to mistake 
 him for <he other fugitive. 
 
 On the other hand, he did not like to pause so neai 
 Itedfield. He had scarcely entered upon the consid- 
 eration of this side of the question, before his quick 
 ear detected the sound of rattling wheels in the direc- 
 tion from which he had come. His heart beat vio- 
 lently. It was Squire Walker and Jacob Wire, ha 
 was sure, in pursuit of him ; but his courage did not 
 fail him. 
 
 Leaping over the stone wall by the side of the 
 road, he secured the only retreat which the vicinity 
 afforded, and waited, with his heart in his throat, foi 
 the coming of the pursuers, as he had assured him- 
 self they were. The present seemed to be his only 
 chance of escape,, and if he failed now, he might mA 
 soon have another opportunity to " try again." 
 
 The vehicle was approaching at a furious pace, an-i 
 
 as the noise grew more distinct, his heart leapt 1 the 
 
 more violently. He thought he recognized the sounc 
 
 '"* Squire Walker's wagon. There was not mucb 
 
 -*ie for his fancy to conjure up strange things, foi 
 
AND TSIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. &S 
 
 the carriage soon reached the place where he was 
 concealed. . 
 
 " Ur-r — woo ! " said a big bull-dog, placing his 
 ugly nose against the wall, behind which Harry «as 
 lying. 
 
 " Whoa ! " added a voice, which the trembling 
 fugitive recognized as that of George Leman. 
 
 " The dog has scented him," said another — that 
 of Jacob Wire. 
 
 Harry's heart sunk within him, and he felt as faint 
 as though every drop of blood had been drawn from 
 his veins. 
 
 " I knew the dog would fetch him," said George 
 Leman, as he leaped from the wagon, followed by 
 Jacob Wire. " At him, Tiger ! " 
 
 In obedience to this command, Tiger drew back a 
 few steps, and then leaped upon the top of the wall. 
 The prospect of being torn in pieces by the bull-dog 
 was not pleasant to Harry, and with a powerful effort 
 he summoned his sinking energies for the struggle 
 before him. Grasping two large stones, he stood 
 erect as the dog leaped on the wall. Inspired by thtj 
 imminence of his peril, he hurled one of the stonei 
 
100 TRT A(*AIN ; OK, THE TRIALS 
 
 at Tiger, the instant he showed his ugly visage above 
 the fence. The missile took effect upon the animal, 
 and he was evidently much astonished at this unusual 
 mode of warfare. Tiger was vanquished, and fell 
 back from the wall, howling with rage and pain. 
 
 " Thunder ! He has killed my dog ! " exclaimed 
 Leman, as he jumped over the wall. 
 
 Harry did not wait any longer, but took to his 
 heels, followed by both his pursuers, though not by 
 the dog, which was hors de combat. Our hero was 
 in a " light place," but with a heroism worthy the 
 days of chivalry, he resolved not to be captured. 
 
 He had not run far, however, before he realized 
 that George Leman was more than a match for hirr , 
 especially in his present worn-out condition. He v as 
 almost upon him, when Harry executed a counter 
 movement, which was intended to " outflank " his 
 adversary Dodging round a large rock in the field, 
 he redoubled his efforts, running now towards the 
 road where the horse was standing. Leman was a 
 little confused by this sudden action, and for an in- 
 giant lost ground. 
 
 Harry reached the road and leaped the wall at > 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. .0. 
 
 single hound: it was a miracle that, in the darhncs* 
 he had not dashed his brains out upon the rocks, iii 
 the reckless leap. The horse was startled by thfi 
 noisj, and his snort suggested a brilliant idea to 
 Harry. 
 
 " Go 'long ! " he shouted ; and the horse staited 
 towards Kockville at a round pace. 
 
 Harry jumped into the wagon over the hind board, 
 and grasping the reins, put the high-mettled animal 
 to the top of his speed. 
 
 " Go 'long ! " hallooed Harry, mad with excite- 
 ment. 
 
 The horse manifested no feeling of partiality to- 
 ward either of the parties, and seemed as willing to 
 do his best for Harry as for his master. 
 
 " Stop ! Stoj) ! " shouted George Leman, astound- 
 ed at the new phase which the chase had assumed. 
 44 Stop ! and I will let you go." 
 
 That was quite reasonable. It was natural that he 
 should prefer to let the fugitive escape, to the alter* 
 native of losing his horse. George Leman was no'ed 
 for three things in Redfield ; his boat, his ugly dog, 
 and his f:\st horse ; and Harry, after stesiing the boal 
 
102 THY AGAIT* ; OK, THE TRIAL8 
 
 and killing the dog, was in a fair way to depihs him 
 of his horse, upon which he set a high value. The 
 boy seemed like his evil genius, and no doubt he wa* 
 .ngry with himself for letting so mean a man as Jacob 
 Wire persuade him to hunt down such small game. 
 
 Harry did not deem it prudent to stop, and in a 
 few moments had left his pursuers out of sight. 
 Then he began to breathe freer. He had played a 
 desperate game, and won the victory ; yet he did not 
 feel like indulging in a triumph. The battle had 
 been a bitter necessity, and he even regretted the 
 fate of poor Tiger, whose ribs he had stove in with 
 a rock. 
 
 He passed through Rockville. All was still, save 
 the roaring of the waters at the dam, and no one 
 challenged him. 
 
 " I am safe, at any rate," said he to himself, when 
 he had passed the village. " What will be the next 
 scrape, I wonder ? Confound it ! They will hare 
 me up for stealing a horse next. But I didn't steal 
 nim. George Leman is a good fellow, and only for 
 the fun of the thing, he wouldn't have come out on 
 such a chase. I wouldn't steal any body's horse 
 Whoa ! " 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 105 
 
 Harry hauled up by the road side, and fastened the 
 Horse to the fence. 
 
 " There, George, you can have your horse again ; 
 but I will just put the blanket over him, for he is all 
 of a reeking sweat. It will just show George, when 
 he comes up, that I don't mean him any harm. I 
 hope his dog wasn't killed." 
 
 Taking the blanket which lay in the bottom of the 
 wagon, (for George Leman was very careful of his 
 horse, and though it was October, always covered 
 him when he let him stand out at night,) he spread 
 it over him. 
 
 " Now, for Number One again," muttered Harry. 
 " I must take to the woods, though I doubt if George 
 will follow me any farther." 
 
 So saying, he got over the fence, and made hi? way 
 across the fields to the woods, whirh were but a ibcii 
 d usance from the road 
 
104 TRY AGAIN : OR. THE TRIALS 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 IK WHICH HARRY KILLS A BIG SNAKE. AND MAKES 
 A NEW FRIEND. 
 
 Harry was not entirely satisfied with what ha 
 lad done. He regretted the necessity which had 
 compelled him to take George Leman's horse. It 
 looked too much like stealing ; and his awakened 
 moral sense repelled the idea of such a crime. But 
 they could not accuse him of stealing the horse ; foi 
 Lis last act would repudiate the idea. 
 
 His great resolution to become a good and true 
 man was by no means forgotten. It is true, at the 
 very outset of t\t new life he had marked out for 
 himself, he had U < n obliged to behave like a young 
 ruffian, >>r be resti'-ul to his exacting guardians. It 
 vis rathe' i. bai tq- nning ; but he had taken what 
 hvd appeiui to him fc only course. 
 
 V»* h ii,?V. for 111 o run away ? On the solu 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 103 
 
 tion of this problem depended the moral charactei 
 of the subsequent acts. If it was light for him to 
 run away, why, of course it was right for him to reaia* 
 those who attempted to restore him to Jacob Wire. 
 
 Harry made up his mind that it was right for Lira 
 to run away, under the circumstances. His new 
 master had been charged to break him doAvn — even 
 to starve him down. Jacob's reputation as a mean 
 and hard man was well merited ; and it was his duty 
 to leave without stopping to say good by. 
 
 I do not think that Harry was wholly in the right, 
 though I dare say all my young readers will sympa- 
 thize with the stout hearted little hero. So far, Jacob 
 Wire had done him no harm. He had suffered no 
 hardship at his hands. All his misery was in the 
 future ; and if he had staid, perhaps his master might 
 have done well by him, though it is not probable. 
 Still I think Harry was in some sense justifiable. 
 To remain in such a place was to cramp his soul, as 
 well as pinch his body — to be unhappy, if not posi- 
 tively miserable. He might have tried the place, 
 and when he found it could not be endured, fled 
 from it. 
 
106 TRY AGAIN; OR, THE TRTA1.8 
 
 It must be remembered tbat Harry was a pj.upet 
 and an orphan. He had not had the benefit of 
 paiental instruction. It was not from the home of 
 th >se whom God had appointed to be his guardians 
 and protectors that he had fled; it was from one who 
 regarded him, not as a rational being, possessed of 
 an immortal soul — one for whose moral, mental, 
 and spiritual welfare he was accountable before God, 
 — that he had run away, but from one who consid- 
 ered him as a mere machine, from which it was his 
 only interest to get as much work at as little cost 
 as possible. He fled from a taskmaster, not from 
 one who was in any just sense a guardian. 
 
 Harry did not reason out all this ; he only felt it. 
 What was Jacob Wire to him ? What was even 
 Squire Walker to him ? What did they care about 
 his true welfare ? Nothing. Harry so understood 
 it, and acted accordingly. 
 
 The future was full of trials and difficulties. But 
 his heart was stout ; and the events of the last chap- 
 ter inspired him with confidence in his own abilities, 
 He entered the dark woods, and paused to rest him* 
 telf. What should he do next ? 
 
AND THITJMPH8 OF HAEKT WEST. 1 0"5 
 
 While he was discussing this question in his cwn 
 tnind, he heard the sound of voices on the road, which 
 was not more than fifty rods distant. It was George 
 Leman and Jacob Wire. In a few minutes he heard 
 the sound of wagon wheels ; and soon had the sat- 
 isfaction of knowing that his pursuers had abandoned 
 the chase, and were returning home. 
 
 The little fugitive was very tired and very sleepy. 
 It was not possible for him to continue his journey, 
 and he looked about him for a place in which to 
 lodge. The night was chilly and damp ; and as he 
 sat upon the rock, he shivered with cold. It would 
 be impossible to sleep on the wet ground ; and if he 
 could, it might cost him his life. It was a pine for- 
 est ; and there were no leaves on the ground, so that 
 he could not make such a bed as that in which he 
 nad slept the previous night. 
 
 He was so cold that he was obliged to move about 
 to get warm. It occurred to him that he might get 
 into some barn in the vicinity, and nestle comforta- 
 bly in the hay ; but the risk of being discovered waa . 
 too great, and he directed his step3 t.iwarde the 
 depths of the forest. 
 
108 tut again; ok, the trials 
 
 After walking some distance, he came to an opea 
 place in the woods. The character of the growth 
 had changed, and the ground was covered with young 
 maples, walnuts, and oaks. The wood had been 
 recently cut off over a large area, but there were no 
 leaves of which he could make a bed. 
 
 Fortune favored him, however; for, after advancing 
 half way across the open space, he reach- :d one of 
 those cabins erected for the use of men employed to 
 watch coal pits. It was made of board slabs, and 
 covered over with sods. Near it was the circular 
 space on which the coal pit had burned. 
 
 At the time of which I write, charcoal wis carried 
 to Boston from many towns within thirty miles of 
 the city. Perhaps my young readers may never have 
 seen a coal pit. The wood is set up on the ends of 
 the sticks, till a circular pile from ten to twenty feet 
 in diameter is formed, and two tiers in height. ItH 
 shape is that of a cone, or sugar loaf. It is then 
 covered with turf and soil. Fire is communicated 
 to the wood, so that it shall smoulder, or burn slow- 
 ly, without blazing. Just enough air is admitted to 
 the pit to keep the fire alive. If the air were freeij 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HAKBY WEST. I0i) 
 
 tdnr'ttcd, the pile would burn to ashes. Sometimes 
 the outer covering of dirt and sods falls in, as the 
 wood shrinks, permitting the air to rush in and fan 
 th« fire to a blaze. "When this occurs, the apeiture 
 must be closed, or the wood would be consumed ; 
 and it is necessary to watch it day and night. The 
 rabin had been built for the comfort of the men who 
 did this duty. 
 
 Harry's heart was filled with gratitude when he 
 discovered the rude nut. If it had been a palace, it 
 could not have been a more welcome retreat. It 
 Is true the stormy wind had broken down the door, 
 and the place was no better than a squirrel hole ; yet 
 it suggested a thousand brilliant ideas of comfort, 
 and luxury even, to our worn-out and hunted fd 
 gitive. 
 
 He entered the cabin. The floor was covered 
 with straw, which completed his ideal of a luxurious 
 abode. Raising up the door, which had fallen to the 
 ground, he placed it before the aperture — thu- ex- 
 cluding the cold air from his chamber. 
 
 " I'm a lucky fellow," exclaimed Harry, a° he 
 threw himself on (he straw. "This place will be a 
 10 
 
110 THY AGAIN; 3K, THE TR11L8 
 
 palace beside Jacob Wire's house. And I :an etaj 
 here a month, if I like." 
 
 Nestling closely under the side of the hu', he 
 pulled the straw over him, and soon began to feel 
 perfectly at home. Only one consideration troubled 
 him. The commissary department of the establish- 
 ment could not be relied on. There were no puik 
 and potatoes in the house, no well-filled grain chest, 
 no groceries, not even a rill of pure water at hand. 
 This was an unpromising state of things ; and he 
 began to see that there would be no fun in living in 
 the woods, where the butcher and the baker would 
 not be likely to visit him. 
 
 Various means of supplying the deficiency sug- 
 gested themselves. There were rabbits, partridges, 
 and quails in the woods ; he might set a snare, and 
 catch some of them. But he had no fire to cook 
 them ; and Dr. Kane had not then demonstrated the 
 healthy and appetizing qualities of raw meat. The 
 orchards in the neighborhood were accessible ; but 
 prudence seemed to raise an impassable barrier be- 
 tween him and them. 
 
 "While he was thus considering these matters, he 
 
AND TBITJatfPHS OF HA.ERT WEST. 11] 
 
 dropped asleep, and forgot all about his stomach 
 He was completely exhausted ; and no doubt the 
 owls and bats were astonished as they listened to 
 the sonorous sounds that came from the deserted 
 cabin. 
 
 Long and deep was his sleep. The birds sang 
 their matin songs on the tree tops ; but he heard 
 them not. The sun rose, and penetrated the chinks 
 of the hut ; but the little wanderer still slumbered. 
 The Rockville clock struck nine ; and he heard it 
 not. 
 
 I think it was Harry's grumbling stomach that 
 finaUy wak^d him; and it was no wonder that neg- 
 lected organ grew impatient under the injury put 
 upon it, for Harry had eaten little or. nothing since 
 his dinner at the poorhouse on the preceding day. 
 
 Jumping out of the heap cf straw in which he had 
 " cuddled " all night scarcely svithout moving, he left 
 {he hut to reconnoitre his position. Sc far as security 
 was concerned, it seemed to be a perfectly safe place. 
 He could see nothing of the village jf Rockville, 
 though, beyond the open space, he saw the top ot a 
 chimney ; but it was at least half a mile distant 
 
112 tby again; ok, the trials 
 
 Just then he did not feel much interested in th? 
 scenery and natural advantages of the position. Hi* 
 Btomach was imperative, and he was faint from th ? 
 want of food. There was nothing in the wood3 t"> 
 eat. Berry time was past; and the prospect of sup- 
 plying his wants was very discouraging. Leaving 
 the cabin, he walked towards the distant chimney 
 that peered above the tree tops. It belonged tt 
 a house that " was set on a hill, and could not be 
 hid." 
 
 Alter going a little way, he came to a cart path, 
 which led towards the house. This he followed, 
 descending a hill into a swamp, which was covered 
 over with alders and birches. At the foot of the 
 declivity he heard the rippling of waters ; but the 
 bushes concealed the stream from his view. 
 
 He had descended nearly to the foot of the hill 
 when the sound of footsteps reached his ears. His 
 heart beat quick with apprehension, and he paused 
 to listen. The step was soft and light ; it was not a 
 man's, and bin courage rose. Pat, pat, pat, went tha 
 steps on the leafy ground, so gently that his fears 
 were conquered ; for th° person could be only a 
 thild. 
 
ANT) TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 113 
 
 •S.'ddenly a piercing shr'-^k saluted his ears 
 i. tc'hing had occurred to alarm the owner of 
 tl • fairy feet which made the soft pat, pat, on the 
 gl nd Another shriek, and Harry bounded down 
 tb roa 1 like an antelope, heedless of the remon- 
 strances of his grumbling stomach. 
 
 "Mercy! help!" shouted a voice, which Harry 
 perceiv3d was that of a little girl. 
 
 In a moment more, he discovered the young lady 
 running with all her might towards him. 
 
 " Save vie ! " gasped the girl. 
 
 " What ii the matter ? " 
 
 But Harry had scarcely asked the question before 
 ne saw whit had alarmed her. Under other circum- 
 stance;, he would have quailed himself; for, as he 
 apjKe, a gteat black snake raised his head two or 
 three fret from the ground directly in front of him. 
 He was at ugly-looking monster, and evidently in- 
 tended to i\?rck him. All the chivalry of Harry's 
 nature was ciWed up to meet the emergency of the 
 occasion. Scmci; \ Ht f lo stick that lay in the path, 
 he struck Btuury vigi uvjj blows at the reptile 
 which, however, jin'^x". ^ vndy to madden, withou* 
 8* 
 
114 TRY ^GAIK J OK, THE TRIALS 
 
 disabling, him. Several times lie elevated his head 
 from the ground to strike at his assailant : but the 
 little knight was an old hand with snakes, and \ig" 
 orousiv repelled his assaults. At last, he struck a 
 blow which laid out his snakeship ; and the field was 
 won, when Harry had smashed his head with a large 
 rock. The reptile was about four feet and a halJ 
 long, and as big round as a small boy's wrist. 
 
 " There, miss, he won't hurt you now," said 
 Harry, panting with his exertions. 
 
 " Won't he ? Are you sure he is dead ? " 
 
 " Very sure." 
 
 The little girl ventured to approach the dead body 
 of the snake, and satisfied herself that he could no' 
 barm her. 
 
 " What an ugly snake ! I was crossing the brook 
 at the foot of the hill, when he sprang out from 
 beneath my feet, and chased me. I never was so 
 frightened in all my life," said the little miss. 
 
 " I don't wonder," replied Harry. 
 
 " I am very much obliged to you. What is youl 
 Dame f " asked she, with chiMish simplicity. 
 
 Harry did not like to answer that question, and 
 aaade no reply. 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARKT WEST. lid 
 
 M Do you live in Rockville ? " she continued. 
 
 " No ; I used to live in Redfield." 
 
 " Where do you live now ? " 
 
 •' I don't live any where." 
 
 Ihe little girl wanted to laugh then, it seemed 
 mch a funny answer. 
 
 " Don'* you ? Who is your father ? " 
 
 " I have no father." 
 
 " Who is your mother, then ? " 
 
 " I have no mother." 
 
 " Poor buy ! Then you are an orphan." 
 
 " I suppose so. But, little girl, I don't want you 
 to tell any one that you have seen me. You won't 
 — will you r " 
 
 " Not father and mother: " asked the maiden, with 
 a stare of astonishment. 
 
 " If you please, don't. I am a poor boy, and have 
 run away from a hard master." 
 
 ; ' I won't tell any body." 
 
 •' And I am very hungry." 
 
 " Poor boy ! How lucky that I have lota of 
 goodies in my ba«k:t ! " exclaimed she. " You shalj 
 eat all you can " 
 
116 iky again; or, the trials 
 
 " ] haven't eat any thing since yesterday noon," 
 replied Harry, as he took a handful of doughnut* 
 ihe handed him. 
 
 " Sit down on this rock, and do eat all you want. 
 I never knew what it was to be very hungry." 
 
 Harry seated himself, and proceeded to devour the 
 food the sympathizing little maiden had given him, 
 while she looked on with astonishment and deligl t 
 as he voraciously consumed cake after cake, without 
 seeming to produce any effect upon the " abhorred 
 v&ctima/' 
 
AND TRTTTMFHS CF HA5KT WEST. li'J 
 
 CHAPTER T X 
 
 IH WHICH HARRY BREAKFASTS ON DOUGHNUTS, 
 AND FINDS THAT ANGELS DO NOT ALWAYS HAVB 
 WINGS. 
 
 Harry was very hungry, and the little girl thought 
 he would never have eaten enough. Since he had 
 t~ld her he had run away, she was deer 'y interested 
 in him, and had a hundred questions to :i&k ; but she 
 did not wish to bother him while he was eating, he 
 was so deeply absorbed in the occupation. 
 
 " What a blessed thing doughnuts are ! " laughed 
 she, as Harry levelled on the sixth cake. " I never 
 thought much of them before, but I never shall see a 
 doughnut again without thinking of you." 
 
 Our hero was perfectly willing to believe that 
 doughnuts were a very beneficent inst^cion ; but 
 just then he ^as too busily occupied to *)* aeutime^ 
 tal over them. 
 
lt'i TEY again; OK, THE TJailT.fl 
 
 " What is your name, little girl ? " asked Harry 
 is he crammed half of the cake into his mouth. 
 
 " I have a great mind not to tell you, because 
 you wouldn't tell me what yours is," replied she, 
 roguishly. 
 
 " You see how it is with me. I have run away 
 from — well, from somewhere." 
 
 " And you are afraid I will tell ? I won't thougn. 
 But, as you killed the snake, I shall tell you, Mv 
 name is Julia Bryant." 
 
 " Mine is Harry West," replied he, unable to resist 
 the little lady's argument. " You must not tell any 
 one about me for three days, for then I shall be out 
 of the way." 
 
 " Where are you going, Harry ? " 
 
 " To Boston." 
 
 " Are you ? They say that none but bad boys run 
 away. I hope yo" a r e ro f ? had K oy." And Julia 
 glanced earnestly at the fugitive. 
 
 " J don't think I am." 
 
 " I don't think you are, cither." 
 
 It was a hearty endorsement, and Harry's heart 
 urarmed as she spoke The little maiden was not 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARKY WEST. 119 
 
 Biore than nine or ten years old, but she seemed tc 
 have some skill in reading faces ; at least, Harrj 
 thought she had. "Whatever might he said of him- 
 self, he was sure she was a good girl. In short, 
 though Harry had never read a novel in his life, she 
 was a little angel, even if she had no wings. He 
 even went so far as to believe she was a little angel, 
 commissioned by that mysterious something, which 
 wiser and more devout persons would have called 
 5, special providence, to relieve his wants with the 
 contents of her basket, and gladden his heart by the 
 sunshine of her sweet smile. There is something in 
 goodness which always finds its way to the face. It 
 makes little girls look prettier than silks, and laces, 
 and ribbons, and embroidery. Julia Biyant was pret- 
 ty, very pretty. Harry thought so ; but very likely it 
 was the doughnuts and her kind words which consti- 
 tuted her beauty. 
 
 " 1 am pretty sure I am not a bad boy," continued 
 (lurry ; " but I will tell 3 - ou my story, and you shah 
 tudge for yourself." 
 
 " You will tell me all of it — won't you ? M 
 - To be sure I will," replied Harry, a little tartly 
 tor he misapprehended Julia's meaning. 
 
120 tkv again; OR, THE TKIAjS 
 
 He thought she was afraid he would not tell hi. 
 wrong acts ; whereas her deep interest in him ren* 
 iered her anxious to have the whole, even to t\x< 
 smallest particulars. 
 
 " I shall be so delighted ! I do so love to hear a 
 good story ! " exclaimed Julia. 
 
 " You shall have it all ; but where were you go- 
 ing ? It will take me a good while." 
 
 " I was going to carry these doughnuts to Mrs. 
 Lane. She is a poor widow, who lives over on the 
 back lane. She has five children, and has very hard 
 work to get along. I carry something to her every 
 »veek." 
 
 " Then you are a little angel ! " added Harry, who 
 could understand and appreciate kindness to the poor. 
 
 ' Not exactly an angel, though Mrs. Lane says 1 
 am," replied Julia, with a blush. 
 
 " Aunty Gray, over to the poorhouse, used to call 
 ever) bo ly an angel that brought her any thing good. 
 80 I um sure you must be one." 
 
 " Never mind what 1 am now. I am dying to heal 
 your story," interposed Julia, as she seated herself on 
 another rock, near that occupied by Harry. 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HAEKT WEST. 12\ 
 
 " Hfere goes, tnen ; " and Harry proceeded with his 
 tale, commencing back beyond his remembrance Avitk 
 the traditionary history which had been communicat- 
 ed to him by Mr. Nason and the paupers. 
 
 When he came to the period of authentic history 
 or that which was stored up in his memory, he grew 
 eloquent, and the narrative glowed with the living 
 fire of the hero. Julia was quite as much interested 
 as Desdemona in the story of the swarthy Moor. 
 His " round, unvarnished tale," adorned only with 
 the flowers of youthful simplicity, enchained her at- 
 tention, and she " loved him for the dangers he had 
 passed ; " loved him, not as Desdemona loved, but aa 
 a child loves. She was sure now that he was not a 
 bad boy ; that even a good boy might do such a thing 
 as run away from cruel and exacting guardians. 
 
 ' What a strange story, Harry ! How near you 
 came to being drowned in the river ! I wonder the 
 man had not killed you ! And then they wanted to 
 send you to prison, for setting the barn afire ' " cx- 
 tlaimel Julia, when he had finished the story. 
 
 M 1 came pretty near it ; that's a fact ! " replied 
 ' 11 
 
122 TUY AGAIN ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 Harry, warming under the approbation of his parti*, 
 nidi tor. 
 
 " And you killed the big dog ? " 
 
 " I don't know ; I hope I didn't." 
 
 " But you didn't steal the horse ? " 
 
 " I didn't mean to steal him." 
 
 " No one could call that stealing. But what are 
 you going to do next, Harry ? " 
 
 " I am going to Boston." 
 
 " What will you do, when you get there ? " 
 
 " I can go to work." 
 
 " You are not big enough to work much." 
 
 " I can do a good deal." 
 
 For some time longer they discussed Harry's story, 
 and Julia regretted the necessity of leaving him to do 
 her errand at Mrs. Lane's. She promised to see him 
 when she returned, and Harry walked down to tho 
 brook to get a drink, while she continued on her way. 
 
 Our hero was deeply interested in the little girl 
 1 lite the " great guns " in the novels, he was sure she 
 was no ordinary character. He was fully satisfied in 
 relation to the providential nature of their meeting 
 Bhe had been sent by that incomprehensible some* 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY "WEST. 128 
 
 thing to furnish him with food, and he trembled when 
 he thought what might have happened if she had not 
 come. 
 
 " I can't be a very bad boy," thought he, " or she 
 would not have liked me. Mr. Xason used to say he 
 could tell an ugly horse by the looks of his eye ; and 
 the schoolmaster last winter picked out all the bad 
 boys at a glance. I can't be a very bad boy, or she 
 would have found me out. I know I am not a bad 
 boy. I feel right, and try to do right." 
 
 Harry's imagination invested Julia Bryant with a 
 thousand poetical excellences. That she felt an in- 
 terest in him — one so good as she — was enough to 
 lonfirm all the noble resolutions he had made, and 
 give him strength to keep them ; and as he seated 
 himself by the brook, he thought over his faults, and 
 renewed his determination to uproot them from hia 
 character. His meeting with the " little angel," aa 
 he chose to regard her, was an oasis in the desert — 
 a place where his moral nature could drink the pure 
 waters of life. 
 
 No one had ever before seemed to c=»re much 
 whether he was a good boy or a bad boy. The min« 
 
124 TRY AGAIN ; OK, THE TRIAL8 
 
 later used now and then to give him a dry lecture { 
 but he did not seem to feel any real interest in him 
 He was a minister, and of course he must preach ; not 
 that he cared whether a pauper boy was a saint »>r a 
 sinner, but only to do the work he was hired to lo, 
 and earn his money. 
 
 Julia did not preach. Her sweet face was the 
 " beauty of holiness." She hoped he was not a bad 
 boy. She liked a good boy ; and this was incentive 
 enough to incur a lifetime of trial and self-sacrifice. 
 Harry was an orphan. To have one feel an interest 
 in his moral welfare, to have one wish him to be a 
 good boy, had not grown stale by long continuance. 
 He had known no anxious mother, who wished him 
 to be good, who would weep when he did wrong. 
 The sympathy of the little angel touched a sensitive 
 choid in his heart and soul, and he felt that he should 
 go forward in the great pilgrimage of life with a new 
 desire to be true to himself, and true to her whc had 
 inspired his reverence 
 
 Even a child cannot be good without having it felt 
 by others. " She hoped he was not a bad boy," were 
 the words of the little angel ; and before she returned 
 
JiXD TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 125 
 
 from her errand of mercy, he had repeated them tc 
 himself a hundred times. They were a talisman t<, 
 him, and he was sure he should never be a bad boy 
 In the face of such a wish. 
 
 He wandered about the woods for two or three 
 hours, impatient for the re'.urn of the little rural god- 
 dess who had taken possession of his thoughts, and 
 filled his soul with admiration. She came at last, 
 and glad was the welcome which he gave her. 
 
 " I have been thinking of you ever since I left 
 you," said Julia, as she approached the place where 
 he had been waiting her return. 
 
 Harry thought this was a remarkable coincidence 
 He had been thinking of her also. 
 
 " I hope you didn't think of me as a bad boy," 
 replied he, giving expression to that which was up- 
 permost in his mind. 
 
 " I am sure I didn't. I am sure you must be a 
 good boy." 
 
 *' I am glad you think so; and that will help m« 
 \e a good boy." 
 
 " Will it ? " 
 
 11 • 
 
126 TRY AGAIN; OK, THE TBIAL8 
 
 " I never had any one to care whether I was good 
 or Lad. If you do, you will be the first one." 
 
 The little girl looked sad. She had a father and 
 mother who loved her, and prayed for her every day 
 It seemed hard that poor Harry should nave no 
 mother to love him as her mother loved her ; to 
 watch over him day and night, to take care of him 
 when he was sick, and, above all, to teach him to be 
 good. She pitied the lonely orphan, and would glad- 
 ly have taken him to her happy home, and shared 
 with him all she had, even the love of her mother. 
 
 " Poor boy ! " she sighed. " But I have been 
 thinking of something," she added, in more sprightly 
 tones. 
 
 " What, Julia ? " 
 
 " If you would only let me tell my father that you 
 are here " 
 
 " Not for the world ! " cried Harry. 
 
 " 0, I won't say a word, unless you give me leave; 
 out my father is rich. • He owns a great factory and 
 a great farm. He has lots of men to work for him : 
 and my father is a very good man, too. People will 
 do a* he wants them to do, ai d if you will let me 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF IJi.RRY WEST. 12" 
 
 tell him your story, he will go over to Red field and 
 make them let you stay at our house. You shall ba 
 oi}' hi other then, and we can do lots of things to* 
 gether. Do let me tell him." 
 
 " I don't think it would be safe. I know Squire 
 Walker wouldn't let me go to any place where they 
 would use me well." 
 
 " What a horrible man he must be ! " 
 
 " No ; I think I will go on to Boston." 
 
 " You will have a very hard time of it." 
 
 "No matter for that." 
 
 " They may catch you." 
 
 " If they do, I shall try again." 
 
 " If they do catch you, will you let my fathei 
 know it? He will be your friend, for my friends aie 
 his friends." 
 
 ' I will, I should be very glad to have such i 
 fiieml." 
 
 " There is our dinner bell !" said Julia, as Harry 
 heard the distant sound. " 1 must go home, liow 
 I wish you were going with me ! " 
 
 " I wish I was. I may never see you again," &dd» 
 ed Harry, sadly 
 
128 TRY AGAIN ; OR, lliE TKTAL8 
 
 " 0, you must see me again ! "When you get big 
 you must come to Kockville." 
 
 " You will not wish to see the little poorhouse 
 boy, then." 
 
 " Won't I ? I shall always be glad to see the boy 
 that killed that snake ! But I shall come up after 
 linn3r, and bring you something to eat. Do let me 
 tell mother you are here." 
 
 " I would rather you wouldn't." 
 
 " Suppose she asks me what I am going to do wi\h 
 the dinner I shall bring you ? I can't tell a lie." 
 
 " Don't bring any, then. I would rather not have 
 any dinner than have you tell a lie." 
 
 Harry would not always have been so nice about 
 a lie ; but for the little angel to tell a falsehood, why, 
 it seemed like mud on a white counterpane. 
 
 " I won't tell a lie, but you shall have your dinner. 
 I suppose I must go now." 
 
 Hany watched the retreating form of his kind 
 friend, till she disappeared beyond the curve of tte 
 pa til, and his blessing went with her. 
 
A/rn TXTUHPHS OF HABHY WEST. 129 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 in WHICH HARRY FARES SUMPTUOUSLY, AND 
 TAKES LEAVE OF THE LITTLE ANGEL. 
 
 When Harry could no longer see the little angel, 
 lie fixed his eyes upon the ground, and continued to 
 think of her. It is not every day that a pauper boy 
 Bees an angel, or even one whom the enthusiasm of 
 the imagination invests with angelic purity and an- 
 gelic affections. 
 
 In the records of individual experience, as well as 
 in the history of the world, there are certain points 
 nf time which are rendered memorable by important 
 events. By referring to a chronological table, the 
 young reader will see the great events which have 
 nraiked the progress of civilized nations from the 
 lowest depths of barbarism up to their present en- 
 lightened state. Every individual, if he had the 
 requisite wisdom, could make up a list of epochs in 
 
130 try again: ok. iai Ti_Ar.i 
 
 ais own experience. Perhaps he v/ouH dtt&ch to<j 
 litt'.e importance to some things, too much to others ; 
 for wo cannot always clearly perceive the influences 
 which assist in forming the character. Some trivial 
 event, far back in the past, which inspired him with 
 & new reverence for truth and goodness, may be fur- 
 gotten. The memory may not now cherish the look, 
 the smile of approbation, which strengthened the 
 heart, when it was struggling against the foe without 
 or the foe within ; but its influence was none the 
 less potent. " It is the last pound which breaks tie 
 camel's back ; " and that look, that smile, may have 
 closed the door of the heart against a whole legion 
 of evil spirits, and thus turned a life of woe and bit- 
 terness into a life of sunshine and happiness. 
 
 There are hundreds of epochs in the experience 
 of every person, boy or man — events which raised 
 him up or let him down in the scale of moral exist- 
 ence. Harry West had now reached one of these 
 epochs in his pilgrimage. 
 
 To meet a little girl in the woods, to kill a black 
 snake, and thus relieve her from a terrible fright, to 
 lag the least, was not a great ever.t, as events &:* 
 
A.NP TKIUMPHS OF HARRY "WEST. 13* 
 
 reckoned in the world ; yet it was destined tc exert 
 a powerful influence upon his future career. It was 
 not the magnitude of the deed performed, or the 
 chivalrous spirit which called it forth, that made this 
 a memorable event to Harry ; it was the angel visit 
 — the kindling influence of a pure heart that passed 
 from her to him. But I suppose the impatient 
 reader will not thank me for moralizing over two 
 whole pages, and I leave the further application of 
 the moral to the discretion of my young friends. 
 
 Harry felt strangely — more strangely than he had 
 ever felt before. As he walked back to the cabin, 
 every thing seemed to have assumed a new appear- 
 ance. Somehow the trees did not look as they used 
 to look. He saw through a different medium. His 
 being seemed to have undergone a change. He 
 could not account for it ; perhaps he did not try. 
 
 He entered the cabin ; and, without dropping the 
 train of thought which Julia's presence suggested, he 
 busied himself in making the place more comfortable. 
 He shook up the straw, and made his bed, stuffed 
 dried glass into the chinks and crannies in the roof^ 
 fastened the do~>r up with some buch withes, and 
 
»»2 THY A.GAIN; OB, THE TKIAL8 
 
 replaced some of the stones of the chimney 'which 
 had fallen down. This work occupied him for nearly 
 two hours, though, so busy were his thoughts, they 
 ■earned not more than half an hour. 
 
 He had scarcely finished making these necessary 
 repairs before he heard the light step of her who fed 
 him, as Elijah was fed by the ravens, for it seemed 
 ake a providential supply. She saw him at the door 
 of the cabin ; and she no longer dallied with a walk, 
 but ran with all her might. 
 
 " O Harry, I am so glad! " she cried, out of breath, 
 as she handed him a little basket, whose contents 
 were carefully covered with a piece of brown paper. 
 
 " Glad of what, Julia ? " asked Harry, smiling 
 from sympathy with her. 
 
 " I have heard all about it ; and I am so glad you 
 are a good boy ! " exclaimed she, panting like a 
 pretty fawn which hs»4 gambolled its breath away, 
 
 " About what ? " 
 
 " Father has seen and talked with — who was 
 he?" 
 
 Harry laughed. How could he tell whom hei 
 father hal seen and talked with? He was not a 
 Viagician. 
 
A.ND TKIUMrHS OF HARRY WEST. 138 
 
 " The man that owned the dog, and the horse, and 
 the boat." 
 
 " ! George Leman," replied Harry, now deeply 
 interested in the little maiden's story. " Where 
 did he see him ? " 
 
 " Over at the store. But I have brought you 
 some dinner ; and while you are eating it, I will tell 
 you all about it. Come, there is a nice big rock — - 
 that shall be your table." 
 
 Julia, full of excitement, seized the basket, and 
 ran to the rock, a little way from the cabin. Pulling 
 off half a dozen great oak leaves from a shrub, she 
 placed them on the rock. 
 
 " Here is a piece of meat, Harry, on this plate," 
 she continued, putting it on an oak leaf; " here is a 
 piece of pie ; here is some bread and butter ; here is 
 cheese ; and here is a piece of cold apple pudding. 
 There ! I forgot the sauce." 
 
 " Never mind the sauce," said Harry ; and ha 
 roald hardly keep from bursting into tears, as he 
 saw how good the little angel was. 
 
 lc seemed as though she could not have been more 
 tn angel, if she had had a pair of wings. The r* 
 12 
 
131 1EY again; or, the trials 
 
 riiant face was there ; the pure and loving heart wat 
 there ; all was there but the wings, and he could 
 easily imagine them. 
 
 And what a dinner ! Roast beef, pudding, pie ! 
 He was not much accustomed to such luxuries ; but 
 just then he did not appreciate the sumptuousness 
 of the feast, for it was eclipsed by the higher consid- 
 eration of the devotion of the giver. 
 
 " Come, eat, Harry ! I am so glad ! " added Julia. 
 
 " So am I. If you feed me as high as this, I 
 shall want to stay here a good while." 
 
 " I hope you will." 
 
 " Only to-day ; to-morrow I must be moving to- 
 wards Boston." 
 
 " I was hoping you would stay here a good long 
 while. I shall be so pleased to bring you your break- 
 fast, and dinner, and supper every day ! " 
 
 " Your father would not like it." 
 
 " I don't know why he shouldn't. You are 
 not very hungry ; you don't eat as you did this 
 morning." 
 
 "I ate so much then. T^ll me, now, what your 
 father said, Julia." 
 
i N D TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 135 
 
 "He siw George Leman ; ind he told him how 
 you tied his horse to the fence, and how careful you 
 were to put the blanket on him, so that he shouldn't 
 ealrli rnl<i after his hard run. That was very kind 
 of you, Harry, when you knew they were after you. 
 Father said almost any one would have run the horse 
 till he dropped down. That one thing showed that 
 fon were not a bad boy." 
 
 " I wouldn't have injured George Leman for any 
 thing," added Harry. " He's a good fellow, and 
 never did me any harm." 
 
 " He said, when he found his horse, he was so 
 glad he wouldn't have chased you any farther for all 
 the world. He told father what ilr. Xason said 
 about you — that you were a good boy, had good 
 feelings, and were willing to work. He didn't blame 
 you for not wanting tc go to Jacob Wire's — wasn't 
 that the man ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " And he didn't blame you for running away. 
 Nobody believes that you set the barn afire ; and, 
 Harry, they have caught the other boy — Ben Smart, 
 wasn't it ? " 
 
 " Yes, that was his name " 
 
136 TRY AGAIN ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 " They caught him in the woods, over the othei 
 Bide of the river." 
 
 " I)id you find out whether the dog was killed?** 
 nskei Harry. 
 
 " Mr. Leman said he thought he would get ove. 
 it ; and he has got his boat again." 
 
 " I am glad of that ; and if any body ever catches 
 me with such a fellow as Ben Smart again, they'll 
 know it." 
 
 " You can't think how I wanted to tell father 
 where you were, when he spoke so well of you. Ho 
 even said he hoped you would get off, and that you 
 must be in th« woods around here somewhere. You 
 will let me tell him now — won't you, Harry ? " 
 f I think not." 
 
 " Why not, Harry ? " 
 
 " He may hope I will get off, and still not be will- 
 ing to help me off." 
 
 Juli i looked very much disappointed ; for she had 
 depended upon surprising her father with fhe story 
 of the snake, and the little fugitive in the woods. 
 
 " He will be very good to you," pleaded she. 
 
 " I dare say he would ; but he may think it hii 
 
AND TKIUMPHS OF HAHBV WE8T. 1 -i7 
 
 duty to send me back to Redfield; ani Squire Walk* 
 er would certainly make me go to Jacob Wire's." 
 
 " But you won't go yet." 
 
 " To-morrow, Julia." 
 
 M I'm afraid you will never get to Boston." 
 
 " O, yes, I shall. I don't think it is safe for me 
 to stay here much longer." 
 
 " Why not ? Hardly any one ever goes through 
 the woods here at this time of year but myself." 
 
 " Didn't your mother want to know what you 
 were going to do with the dinner you brought me ? " 
 
 " No, I went to the store room, and got it. She 
 didn't see me ; but I don't like to do any thing un- 
 known to her." 
 
 " You mustn't do it again." 
 
 " You must have something to eat." 
 
 '* You have brought enough to last me while 1 
 itop here. To-morrow morning I must start ; so I 
 suppose I shall not see you again. But I shall never 
 forget you," said Harry, locking as sad as he felt. 
 
 " Xo, you mustn't go off without any breakfast. 
 Promise me you will not go till I have brought yon 
 some." 
 
138 TRY AGAIN ; OR, THE TRIAL8 
 
 Harry assured Julia he had enough, and ried Ifi 
 persuade her not to bring him any more food ; bu« 
 Julia was resolute, and he was obliged to promise 
 Having finished his dinner, she gathered up the rem- 
 nants of the feast, and put them in the cabin for hia 
 supper. She was afraid to remain any longer, lest 
 she might be missed at home ; and Harry gallantly 
 escorted her beyond the brook on her return home. 
 
 He busied himself during the greater part of the 
 afternoon in gathering dry grass and dead leaves for 
 the improvement of his bed in the cabin. About an 
 hour before sundown, he was surprised to receive 
 another visit from Julia Bryant. She had her little 
 basket in one hand, and in the other she carried a 
 little package. 
 
 " I didn't expect to see you again," said Harry, as 
 she approached. 
 
 " I don't know as you will like what I have done," 
 shfi began, timidly ; " but I did it for the best." 
 
 " I shall like any thing that you have done," an- 
 swered Harry, promptly, " even if you should send 
 mo back to lledfield." 
 
 " I wouldn't do such a mean thing as that ; but ] 
 have toid somebodv that you are here." 
 
A m TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 189 
 
 44 Huve you ? " asked Harry, not a little alarmed. 
 
 " You will forgive me if I have done wrong — ■ 
 won t you: 
 
 Harry looked at her. He mistook her anxious 
 appearance for sorrow at what she had done. He 
 could no 4 give her pain ; so he told her that, what- 
 ever she had done, she was forgiven. 
 
 " But vchom have you told." 
 
 " John Lane." 
 
 "Who is he?" 
 
 " Mrs. Lane's oldest son. He drives the baggage 
 «iigon that goes to Boston every week. He prom- 
 ted not to lisp a word to a single soul, and that he 
 ^ould be your friend for my sake." 
 
 " Why did you tell him?" 
 
 " Well, you see, I was afraid you would never get 
 to Boston; and I thought what a nice thing it would 
 be if you could only ride all the way there with John 
 Lane. John likes me because I carry things to hia 
 mother, and I am sure he won't tell." 
 
 44 How good you are, Julia!" exclaimed lL.rry, 
 * 4 1 may forget every body else in the wjrld; bat 1 
 thall never forgot you." 
 
£40 TRY AGAIN ; OB, THE TRIALS 
 
 A tear moistened his eye, as he uttered his enthu- 
 iiastic declaration. 
 
 '* The worst of it is, John starts at two o'clock— 
 right in the middle of the night." 
 
 " So much the better," replied Harr) r , wiping iviay 
 the tear. 
 
 " You will take the wagon on the turnpike, whew 
 the cart path comes out. P-ii you won't- wake up." 
 
 " Yes, I shall." 
 
 " I am sorry to have yo^ go ; for I like you, 
 Harry. You will be a very good boy, when you gel 
 to Boston ; for they say the city is a wicked place." 
 
 " I will try." 
 
 " There are a great many temptations there, peopl* 
 say." 
 
 " I shall try to be as good as you are," replied 
 Harry, who could imagine nothing better. " If 1 
 fail once, I shall try again." 
 
 " Here, Harry, I have brought you a good book — - 
 the best of all books. I have written your name 
 and mine in it ; and I hope you will keep it and read 
 it as long as you live. It is the Bible." 
 
 Harry took the package, and thanked her for it 
 
ASD TRIUMPHS OF HAEKT "WEST. Ill 
 
 "I never read the Bible much; but I shall lead 
 this for your sake." 
 
 " No, Harry ; read it for your own sake." 
 
 " I will, Julia." 
 
 " How I shall long to hear from you ! John Lane 
 goes to Boston every week. Won't you write me 
 a few lines, now and then, to let me know how you 
 prosper, and whether you are good or not ? " 
 
 " I will. I can't write much ; but I suppose I 
 can " 
 
 *' Never mind how you write it, if I can only 
 read it." 
 
 The sun had gone down, and the dark shadows 
 of night were gathering over the forest when they 
 parted, but a short distance from Mr. Bryant's house. 
 With the basket which contained provisions foi bis 
 journey and the Bible in his hand, he returned to 
 the hut, to get what sleep he might before the wagon 
 ttarted. 
 
Ii2 tky again: ok. the trials 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 IK WHICH HARRY REACHES THE CUT, AND THOUGH 
 OFTEN DISAPPOINTED, TRIES AGAIN. 
 
 Harry entered the cabin, and stretched himself 
 on his bed of straw and leaves ; but the fear that he 
 should not wake in season to take the wagon at the 
 appointed place, would scarcely permit him to close 
 his eyes. He had not yet made up for the sleep he 
 had lost ; and Nature, not sharing his misgiving, at 
 last closed and sealed his eyelids. 
 
 It would be presumptuous for me to attempt to 
 inform the reader what Harry dreamed about on that 
 eventful night ; but I can guess that it was about 
 angels, about bright faces and sweet smiles, ard that 
 they were very pleasant dreams. At any rate, ha 
 slspt very soundly, as tired boys are apt to sleep, 
 even when they arc anxious about gt tting up earl} 
 in the morning. 
 
AND TBIUMPHS OF HAERT WEST. 145 
 
 He woke, at last, with a start ; for with his first 
 consciousness came the remembrance of the early 
 \ppointment. He sprang from his bed, and threw 
 down the door of the cabin. It was still dark ; the 
 stars twinkled above, the owls screamed, and the 
 frogs sang merrily around him. He had no means 
 of ascertaining the time of night. It might be 
 twelve ; it might be four ; and his uncertainty on 
 this point filled him with anxiety. Better to < early 
 than too late ; and grasping the basket and thr Bible, 
 which were to be the companions of his journey, he 
 hastened down the cart path to the turnpike. 
 
 There was no sound of approaching wheels to 
 cheer him, and the clock in the meeting house at 
 Rockville obstinately refused to strike. He reached 
 the designated place ; there was no wagon there. 
 Perhaps he was too late. The thought filled him 
 with chagrin ; and he was reading himself a very 
 8C7ere lesson for having permitted himself to sleep 
 at all, when the church clock graciously condescended 
 to relieve his anxiety by striking the hour. 
 
 " One,*' said he, almost breathless with interest. 
 
 " Two," he repeated, loud enough to be heard, U 
 tnere had been an" one to hear him. 
 
144 TRY AGAIN ; OE, THE TKIAL8 
 
 ** Three ; " and he held his breath, waiting for 
 more. 
 
 " No more ! " he added, with disappointment and 
 chagrin, when it was certain that the clock did not 
 mean to strike another stroke. " I have lost my 
 chance. What a fool I have been ! Miss Julia will 
 think that I am a smart fellow, when she finds tL- 
 her efforts to get me off have been wasted. Why 
 did I go to sleep ? I might have known that i 
 should not wake ; " and he stamped his foot upon 
 the ground with impatience. 
 
 He had been caught napping, and had lost the 
 wagon. He was never so mortified in his life. One 
 who was so careless did not deserve to succeed. 
 
 H One thing is clear — it is no use to cry for spilt 
 milk," muttered he, as he jumped over the fenc? 
 into the road. " I have been stupid, but try again." 
 
 Unfortunately, there was no chance to try again. 
 Like thousands of blessed opportunities, it had passed 
 by, never to return. He had come at the eleventh 
 hour, and the door was closed against him. With 
 the wagon it had been " now or never." 
 
 Harry got over his impatience, and resolved th<?.t 
 
AWD TRIUMPHS OF HA -5.EY WEST. 145 
 
 Julia should not come to the cabin, the next morn- 
 ing, to find he had slept when the htidegroom came. 
 He had a pair of legs, and there was the road. It 
 was no use to " wait for the wagon : " legs were 
 made before wagon wheels : and he started on the 
 long and weary pilgrimage. 
 
 He had not advanced ten paces before pleasant 
 sounds reached his ears. He stopped short, and 
 listened. A wagon was certainly approaching, and 
 his heart leaped high with hope. Was it pos- 
 sible that John Lane had not yet gone ? Retracing 
 his steps, he got over the fence at the place where 
 John was to take him. Perhaps it was not he, afte 
 all. He had no right to suppose it was ; but hn 
 determined to wait till the wagon had passed. 
 
 The rumbling noise grew more distinct. It was a 
 
 heavy wagon, heavily loaded, and approached very 
 
 slowly; but at last it reached the spot where the 
 
 impatient boy was waiting. 
 
 ** Whoa ! " said the driver ; and the horses stopped. 
 
 Harry's heart bounded with joy. Some lucky 
 accident had detained the team, and he had regained 
 his opportunity. 
 
 13 
 
146 TKY AGAIN; OK, THE XRla.1,8 
 
 •' Harry West ! " said lie on the wagon. 
 
 " Jonn Lane ! " replied Harry, as he leaped ovei 
 ihe fence. 
 
 " You are on hand," added John Lane. 
 
 " I am ; but I was sure you had gone. It is aftei 
 three o'clock." 
 
 " I know it. I don't generally get off much before 
 tbis time," answered John. " Climb up here, and 
 1st us be moving on." 
 
 It was a large wagon, with a sail-cloth cover — 
 one of those regular baggage wagons which railroads 
 have almost driven out of existence in Massachusetts. 
 It was drawn by four horses, harnessed two abreast, 
 and had a high "box" in front for the driver. 
 
 Harry nimbly climbed upon the box, and tool his 
 seat by the side of John Lane — though that woi th j 
 told him he had better crawl under the eover, wher& 
 he would find plenty of room to finish lis nap on a 
 bale of goods. 
 
 " I thought likely I should have tc go up to th« 
 cabin and wake you. Julia told me I must, if you 
 were not on the spot." 
 
 * I am glad I have saved you that trouble ; but 
 Julia said you would start at two o'clock." 
 
AND TBICMPHS OF F4.BBY WFST. 14? 
 
 " Veil. I get off by two or three o'clock. I don't 
 carry the mail, so I ain't so particular. "What do 
 you mean to do when you get to Boston r " 
 
 " I mean to go to work." 
 
 «• What at ? " 
 
 "Any thing I can find." 
 
 John Lane questioned the little wanderer, and 
 drew from him all the incidents of his past history. 
 He seemed to feel an interest in the fortunes of hia 
 companion, and gave him much good advice on prac- 
 tical matters, including an insight into life in the city. 
 
 " I suppose Squire Walker would give me fits, if 
 he knew I carried you off. He was over to Rockville 
 yesterday looking for you." 
 
 " He won't find me." 
 
 " I hope not, my boy ; though I don't know as 1 
 should have meddled in the matter, if Julia hadn't 
 teased me. I couldn't resist her. She is the best 
 lit Lie girl in the world ; and you are a lucky fellow 
 to have such a friend." 
 
 " I am ; she is an angel ; " and when Harry began 
 to think of Julia, he could not think of any thing 
 else, and the conversation was suspended. 
 
148 TRY AGAIN ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 It was a long while before either of them spokfl 
 •gain, and then John advised Harry to crawl into the 
 wagon, and lie down on the load. Notwithstanding 
 his agreeable thoughts, our hero yawned now and 
 then, and concluded to adopt the suggestion of the 
 driver. He found a very comfortable bed on the 
 bales, softened by heaps of mattings, which were to 
 be used in packing the miscellaneous articles of the 
 return freight. 
 
 John Lane took things very easily ; and as the 
 horses jogged slowly along, he relieved the monotony 
 of the journey by singing sundry old-fashioned psalm 
 tunes, which had not then gone out of use. He was 
 a good singer ; and Harry was so pleased with the 
 music, and so unaccustomed to the heavy jolt of the 
 wagon, that he could not go to sleep at once. 
 
 " While shepherds watched their Hocks by night, 
 All seated on the ground, 
 The angel of the Lord came down, 
 And glory shone around." 
 
 Again Mid again John's full and sonorous voice rolled 
 out these familiar lines, till Harry was fairly lulled 
 to sleep by the harmonious measures. The angel o« 
 
AND TRIVMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 149 
 
 the Lord had come down for the fortieth time, after 
 the manner of the ancient psalmody, and for the 
 fortieth time Harry had thought of his angel, when 
 he dropped off to dream of the "glory that shone 
 around." 
 
 Harry slept soundly after he got a little used to 
 the rough motion of the wagon, and it was sunrise 
 before he woke. 
 
 " Well, Harry, how do you feel now ? " asked 
 John, as he emerged from his lodging apartment. 
 
 " Better ; I feel as bright as a new pin. Where 
 are we ? " 
 
 " We have come about twelve miles. Pretty soon 
 we shall stop to bait the team and get some break- 
 fast." 
 
 " I have got some breakfast in my basket. Julia 
 gave me enough to last a week. I shan't starve, at 
 any rate." 
 
 " No one would ever be hungry in this world, : i 
 every body were like Julia. But you shall break fat 
 with me at the tavern." 
 
 " It won't be safe — will it ? " 
 
 ** O, yes ; nobody will know you here." 
 13* 
 
£5C TRY AGAIN; OB, THE TRIALS 
 
 " Well, I have got some money to pay for anj 
 Ibing I have." 
 
 " Keep your money, Harry ; you will want it all 
 when you get to Boston." 
 
 After going a few miles farther, they stopped at 
 a tavern, where the horses were fed, and Harry ate 
 such a breakfast as pauper never ate before. John 
 would not let him pay for it, declaring that Julia's 
 friends were his friends. 
 
 The remaining portion of the journey was effected 
 without any incident worthy of narrating, and they 
 reached the city about noon. Of course the first 
 sight of Boston astonished Harry. His conceptions 
 of a city were entirely at fault ; and though it was 
 not a very large city twenty-five years ago, it ftj 
 exceeded his expectations. 
 
 Harry had a mission before him, and he did not 
 permit his curiosity to interfere with that. John 
 drove down town to deliver his load ; and Harry 
 went with him, improving every opportunity to ob- 
 tain work. When the wagon stopped, he went boldly 
 into the stores in the vicinity to inquire if thej 
 "wanted to hire a hand." 
 
AND TRIUMFHS OF HARRY WEST. 151 
 
 Now, Harry was not exactly in a .ondition to pTO 
 iuce a very favorable impression upon those to whorr 
 he applied for work. His clothes were never very 
 ((enteal, nor very artistically cut aud made ; and they 
 were threadbare, and patched at the knees and el- 
 bows. A patch is no disgrace to a man or boy, it is 
 true ; but if a little more care had been taken > 
 e.dapt the color and kind of fabric in Harry's patches 
 to the original garment, his general appearance would 
 undoubtedly have been much improved. Whether 
 these patches really affected his ultimate success I 
 cannot say — only that they were an inconvenience 
 at the outset. 
 
 £t was late in the afternoon before John Lane had 
 nnloaded his merchandise and picked up his return 
 freight. Thus far Harry had been unsuccessful ; no 
 one wanted a boy ; or if they did, they did not want 
 such a boy as Harry appeared to be. His country 
 garb, with the five broad patches, seemed to interfere 
 with the working out of his manifest destii y. Yet 
 he was not disheartened. Spruce clerks and ill-man- 
 nered boys laughed at him ; but he did not despond. 
 
 " Try again," exclaimed he, as often as he was toi<» 
 •hat his services were not required. 
 
152 iet again; or, the trials 
 
 When the wagon reached "Washington Street^ 
 Harry wanted to walk, for the better prosecution of 
 his object ; and John gave him directions so that he 
 could find Major Phillips's stable, where he intended 
 eo put up for the night. 
 
 Harry trotted along among the gay and gentee. 
 people that thronged the sidewalk ; but he was bo 
 earnest about his mission, that he could not stop to 
 look at their fine clothes, nor even at the pictures, 
 the gewgaws, and gimcracks that tempted him from 
 the windows. 
 
 " ' Boy wanted ' " Harry read on a paper in the 
 window of a jeweller's shop. " Now's my time ; " 
 and, without pausing to consider the chances that 
 were against him, he entered the store. 
 
 " You want a boy — don't you ? " asked he of a 
 young man behind the counter. 
 
 " We do," replied the person addressed, looking 
 at the applicant with a broad grin on his face. 
 
 41 1 should like to hire out," continued Harry, with 
 an earnestness that would have secured the attention 
 T>f any man but an idiot. 
 
 " Do you ? Your name is Joseph — isn't it ? " 
 
AND TEIUMPHS OF HAEEY WEST. 15^ 
 
 " No, sir ; my name is Harry West." 
 
 " O, I thought it was Joseph. The Book vys tn 
 oad a coat of many colors, though I bel ; evo it don't 
 Bay any thing about the trousers," sneered the shop- 
 keeper. 
 
 " Never mind the coat or the trousers. If ycu 
 want to hire a boy, I will do the best I can fcr you," 
 replied Harry, willing to appreciate the joke of the 
 other, if he could get a place. 
 
 " You won't answer for us ; you come from thg 
 country." 
 
 " I did." 
 
 ""What did you come to Boston for?" 
 
 " After work." 
 
 " You had better go back, and let yourself to 
 gome farmer. You will make a good scarecrow to 
 hang up in the field No crow would ever come neai 
 you, I'll warrant." 
 
 Harry's blood boiled with indignation at this gra- 
 tuitous insult. His cheeks reddened, and he looked 
 about him for the means of inflicting summary ven- 
 geance upon the poltroon who so wantonly trifled 
 with his glowing aspirations. 
 
154 TRY AGAIN ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 "Move on, boy; we don't want you," added tin 
 man 
 
 " You are a " 
 
 I will not write what Harry said. It was a vulgar 
 erithet, coupled with a numerous oath for so small 
 a boy to utter. The shopkeeper sprang out from hia 
 counter ; but Harry retreated, and escaped him, 
 though not till he had repeated the vulgar and pro- 
 fane expression. 
 
 But be was sorry for what he had said before he 
 had gone ten paces. 
 
 " What would the little angel say, if she had 
 heard that ? " Harry asked himself. " Twon't do ; 
 Intuit try again." 
 
AHD TBIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 156 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ID WHICH HARRY SUDDENLY GETS RICH, AND HA* 
 A CONVERSATION WITH ANOTHER HARRY. 
 
 By the time he reached the stable, Harry would 
 have given almost any thing to have recalled the hasty 
 expressions he had used. He had acquired the low 
 and vulgar habit of using profane language at the 
 poorhouse. He was conscious that it was not only 
 wicked to do so,, but that it was very offensive to 
 many persons who did not make much pretension to 
 piety, or even morality ; and, in summing up his 
 faults in the woods, he had included this habit as one 
 o f the worst. 
 
 She hoped he was a good boy — Julia Bryant, the 
 little angel, hoped so. Her blood would have frozen 
 in her veins if she had listened to the irreverent 
 words he had uttered in the shop. He had broken 
 his resolution, broken his promise to the little ar.gel. 
 
156 try again; ok, the trials 
 
 on the first day he had been in the city. It was 
 bad beginning; but instead of permitting this fiist 
 failure to do right to discourage him, he determined 
 to persevere — to try again. 
 
 A good life, a lofty character, with all the trials 
 and sacrifices which it demands, is worth working 
 for ; and those who mean to grow better than they aie 
 will often be obliged to " try again." The spirit may 
 be willing to do well, but the flesh is weak, and we 
 are all exposed to temptation. We may make our 
 good resolutions — and it is very easy to make them 3 
 but when we fail to keep them — it is sometimes 
 very hard to keep them — we must not be discour- 
 aged, but do as Harry did — try again. The strong 
 Spirit may conquer the weak Flesh. 
 
 '* Well, Harry, how did you make out ? " asked 
 John Lane, when Harry joined him at the stable. 
 
 " I didn't make aut at all. Nobody seems to want 
 a boy like me." 
 
 " O, well, you will find a place. Don't be dig. 
 couraged." 
 
 " 1 am not. To-morrow I shall try again." 
 
 " I don't know what I shall do with you to-nighl 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARKY WEST. 1 bT 
 
 Every bed in the tavern up the street, where 1 step, 
 is full. I shall sleep with another teamster." 
 
 " Never mind me ; I can sleep in the wagon. I 
 have slept in worse places than that." 
 
 " I will fix a place for you, then." 
 
 After they had prepared his bed, Harry drew out 
 his basket, and proceeded to eat his supper. He then 
 took a walk down Washington Street with John, 
 went to an auction, and otherwise amused himself 
 till after nine o'clock, when he returned to the 
 stable. 
 
 After John had left him, as he was walking towards 
 the wagon, with the intention of retiring for the 
 night, his foot struck against something which at- 
 tracted his attention. He kicked it once or twice, to 
 determine what it was, and then picked it up. 
 
 " By gracious ! " he exclaimed ; " it is a pocket 
 book. My fortune is made ; " and without stopping 
 tc consider the matter any further, he scrambled into 
 the wagon. 
 
 His heart jumped with excitement, fcr his viviu 
 imagination had already led him to the conclusion 
 mat it was stuffed full of rroney. It might contain 
 14 
 
158 TKT A. GAIN ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 ft hundred dollars, perhaps five hundred ; and these 
 sums were about as far as his ideas could reach. 
 
 He could buy a suit of new clothes, a new cap, 
 new shoes, and be as spruce as any of the boys he 
 had seen about the city. Then he could go to a 
 boarding house, and live like a prince, till he could 
 get a place that suited him ; for Harry, however rich 
 he might be, did not think of living without labor of 
 some kind. He could dress himself up in fine broad- 
 cloth, present himself at the jeweller's shop where 
 they wanted a boy, and then see whether he would 
 make a good scarecrow. 
 
 Then his thoughts reverted to the cabin, where he 
 had slept two nights, and, of course, to the little 
 angel, who had supplied the commissary department 
 during his sojourn in the woods. He could dress 
 himself up with the money in the pocket book, and, 
 after a while, when he got a place, take the stage for 
 Rockville. Wouldn't she be astonished to see him 
 then, in fine broadcloth ! Wouldn't she walk with 
 him over to the spot where he had killed the black 
 enake ! Wouldn't she be proud to tell her father that 
 this was the boy she had fed in the woods I 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HAEEY WEST. 15S 
 
 What would she say to him? He had promised to 
 write to her when he got settled, and tell her how he 
 got along, and whether he was good or not. What 
 should he say ? How glad she would be to near f hat 
 he was getting along so finely ! 
 
 " Stop ! " said he to himself. " "What have I been 
 thinking about ? This pocket book isn't mine." 
 
 I am sorry to say it, but Harry really felt sad whtn 
 the thought occurred to him. He had been building 
 very pretty air castles on this money, and this reflec- 
 tion suddenly tumbled them all down — new clothes, 
 new cap, boarding house, visit to Rockville — all in 
 a heap. 
 
 " But I found it," Harry reasoned with himself. 
 
 Something within him spoke out, saying, — 
 
 " You stole it, Harry." 
 
 44 No, I didn't ; I found it." 
 
 " If you don't return it to the ow ler, you will be 
 a thief," continued the voice within. 
 
 "Nobody will know that I found it. I dare gaj 
 the owner does not want it half so much as 1 do," 
 
 " No matter for that, Harry ; if you keep it yog 
 will be a thief." 
 
160 try again; or, the trials 
 
 He could not compromise with that voice withiij. 
 It was the real Harry, within the other Harry, that 
 spoke, and he was a very obstinate fellow, positively 
 refusing to let him keep the pocket book, at any 
 rate. 
 
 " What am I about ? She hoped I would be a 
 good boy, and the evil one is catching me as fast as 
 he can," resumed Harry. 
 
 " Be a good boy," added the other Harry. 
 
 " I mean to be, if I can." 
 
 " The little angel will be very sad when she finds 
 out that you are a thief." 
 
 " I don't mean to be a thief. But this pocket book 
 will make me rich. She never will know any thing 
 about it." 
 
 " If she does not, there is One above who will 
 know, and his angels will frown upon you, and 
 stamp your crime upon your face. Then you will go 
 about like Cain, with a mark upon you." 
 
 " Pooh ! " said the outer Harry, who was sorely 
 tempted by the treasure within his grasp. 
 
 " You will not dare to look the little angel in the 
 face, if you steal this money. She will know you 
 
ASD TRIUMPHS OF HAEKY "WE3T. 161 
 
 we not good, then. Honest folks always hold their 
 heads up, and are never ashamed to face any per- 
 son." 
 
 " I won't keep it ! " replied the struggling, tempt- 
 ed Flesh. " Why did I think of such a thing ? : ' 
 
 He felt strong then, for the Spirit had triumphed 
 oyer the Flesh. The foe within had been beaten 
 back, at least for the moment ; and as he laid his 
 head upon the old coat that was to serve him for a 
 pillow, he thought of Julia Bryant. He thought he 
 saw her sweet face, and there was an angelic smile 
 upon it. 
 
 My young readers will remember, after Jesus had 
 been tempted, and said, " Get thee behind me, Satan," 
 that, " behold, angels came and ministered unto him." 
 They came and ministered to Harry after he had cast 
 out the evil thought ; they come and minister to all 
 who resist temptation. They come in the heart, and 
 minister with the healing balm of an approving con- 
 science. 
 
 Placing the pocket book under his head, with the 
 intention of finding the owner in the morning, he 
 tyent to sleep. The fatigue and excitement -)f th« 
 14* 
 
162 try again; or, the THIALS 
 
 day softened liis pillow, and not once did he open 
 hi* eyes till the toils of another day had commenced 
 around him. I question whether he would have 
 sk-pt so soundly if he had decided to keep Ihe 
 pocket book. 
 
 But the tempter was not banished. He had onlj 
 been conquered for the moment — subdued only to 
 attack him again. The first thought of the treasure, 
 in the morning, was to covet it. Again he allowed 
 his fancy to picture the comforts and the luxuries 
 which it would purchase. 
 
 " No one will know it," he added. " Why 
 shouldn't I keep it ? " 
 
 " God will know it ; you will know it yourself," 
 said the other Harry, more faithful and conscientious 
 than the outside Harry, who, it must be confessed, 
 was sometimes disposed to be the " Old Harry." 
 
 " No use of being too good. I will keep it." 
 
 " She hoped you would b© a good boy," added tha 
 monitor within. 
 
 " I will — that is, when I can afford it." 
 
 " Be good now, or you never will." 
 
 One hundred dollars ! — perhaps five hundred ! H 
 
kSB TKIUMPHS OF HAS BY WEST. 16S 
 
 was a fortunp. The temptation was very great. But 
 the little angel — the act would forever banish him 
 from her presence. He would never dare to look at 
 her again, or even to write the letter he had prom- 
 ised. 
 
 " Be true to yourself, Harry. Good first, and rich 
 next." 
 
 " I will," exclaimed Harry, in an earnest whisper; 
 and again the tempter was cast out. 
 
 Once more the fine air castles began to pile them- 
 selves up before him, standing on the coveted treas 
 ure ; but he resolutely pitched them down, and ban- 
 ished them from his mind. 
 
 "Where did you lose it?" said a voice near the 
 wagon. 
 
 "I don't know. I didn't miss it till this morning; 
 and 1 have been to every place where 1 was last 
 night ; so I think I must have lost it here, when 1 
 put my horse up," replied another. 
 
 The first speaker was one of the ostlers ; and the 
 moment Harry heard the other voice he s.art^d as 
 though a rattlesnake had rattled in his path. "-Yas i' 
 possible ? As the speaker proceeded, he wa» sati* 
 
164 try again; ok, the trials 
 
 Bed beyond thi possibility of a doubt that the voic4 
 belonged to Squire Walker. 
 
 " Was there much money in it ? " asked the ostler. 
 
 " About a hundred and fifty dollars ; and there 
 were notes and other papers of great value," replied 
 Squire Walker. 
 
 "Well, I haven't seen or heard any thing about it." 
 
 " I remember taking it out of my great-coat pocket, 
 and putting it into a pocket inside of my vest, when 
 I got out of the wagon." 
 
 " I don't think you lost it here. Some of us 
 would have found it, if you had." 
 
 Here was a dilemma for Harry. He had deter- 
 mined to restore the pocket book ; but he could not 
 do so without exposing himself. Besides, if there 
 had been any temptation to keep the treasure before, 
 it was ten times as great now that he knew it be- 
 longed to his enemy. It would be no sin to keep 
 it fiom Squire Walker. 
 
 " It would be stealing," said the voice within. 
 
 " But if I give it to him, he will carry me back tf 
 Jacob Wire's. I'll be — I'll be hanged if I do." 
 
 " She hopes vou will be a good boy." 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARBT WEST. 163 
 
 There was no resisting this appeal ; and again the 
 demon was put down, and the triumph added another 
 laurel to the moral crown of the little hero. 
 
 " It will be a dear journey to me," continued 
 Squire Walker. " I was looking all day yesterday 
 alter a boy that ran away from the poorhouse, and 
 came to the city for him. I had better let him go." 
 
 " Did you find him ? " 
 
 " No. I brought that money down to put in the 
 bank. It is gone, I suppose. Confound the boy ! " 
 
 Harry waited no longer ; but while his heart beat 
 like the machinery in the great factory at Rockville, 
 he tumbled out of his nest, and slid down the bale 
 of goods to the pavement. 
 
 " Ah, Master Harry West ! you are here — arc 
 you ? " exclaimed Squire Walker, springing forward 
 to catch him. 
 
 Harry dodged, and kept out of his reach. 
 
 " Catch him ! " shouted the squire to the ostler. 
 
 " Wait a minute, Squire Walker," said Harry. " 1 
 won't go back to Jacob Wire's, any how. Just heal 
 what I have got to say ; and then, if you want tc 
 take me, you may, if you can." 
 
[66 TRY AGATN ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 It was evident, even to the squire, that Harry had 
 something of importance to say; and he in\oluntarily 
 paused to hear it. 
 
 " I have found your pocket book, squire, and * 
 
 " Give it to me, and I won't touch you," cried the 
 overseer, eagerly. 
 
 It was clear that the loss of his pocket book had 
 produced a salutary impression on the squire's mind. 
 
 He loved money, and the punishment was more than 
 
 « 
 
 he could bear. 
 
 " I was walking along here, last night, when I 
 struck my foot against something. I picked it up, 
 and found it was a pocket book. I haven't opened 
 it. Here it is;" and Harry handed him his lost 
 treasure. 
 
 " By gracious ! " exclaimed he, after he had assured 
 himself that the contents of the pocket book had not 
 been disturbed. " That is more than ever I expected 
 of you, Master Harry West." 
 
 " I mean to be honest," replied Harry, proudly. 
 
 " Perhaps you do. I told you, Harry, I wouldn't 
 touch you ; and I won't," continued the squire. 
 " You may go.' 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HAKRY WEST. 167 
 
 Tl e overscpi- was amazed. He had come tc Bos- 
 Ion with the intentijn of catching Haxry, cost what 
 it might, — he meant to charge the expense t<> the 
 town ; but the recovery of his money had warmed 
 his heart, and banished the malice he cherished to- 
 wards the boy. 
 
 Squire Walker volunteered some excellent advice 
 for the guidance of the little pilgrim, who, he face- 
 tiously observed, had now no one to look after his 
 manners and morals — manners first, and morals 
 afterwards. He must be very careful and prudent, 
 and he wished him well. Harry, however, took this 
 wholesome counsel as from whom it came, and was 
 not very deeply impressed by it. 
 
 John Lane came to the stable soon after, and con- 
 gratulated our hero upon the termination of the 
 persecution from Redfield, and, when his horses were 
 hitched on, bade him good by, with many heart j 
 wishes for his future success. 
 
168 tey again: oa. wv trials 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 IN WHICH HARRY BECOMES A STABLE BOY, AWL 
 HEARS BAD NEWS FROM ROCKVILLE. 
 
 Harry was exceedingly rejoiced at the remarkable 
 turn his affairs had taken. It is true, he had lost 
 the treasure upon which his fancy had built so many 
 fine castles ; but he did not regret the loss, since it 
 had purchased his exemption from the Redfleld per- 
 secution. He had conquered his enemy — which waa 
 a great victory — by being honest and upright ; and 
 he had conquered himself — which was a greater 
 victory — by listening to the voice within him. He 
 had resisted temptation, and the victory made him 
 strong. 
 
 Our hero had won a triumph, but the battle field 
 was still spread out before him. There were l.hou» 
 lands of enemies lurking in his path, ready to fall 
 apon and despoil him of his priceless treasure — hii 
 integrity. 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HAREY WEST. 16* 
 
 " She hoped he would he a good hoy." He tiad 
 done his duty — he had heen true in the face cf 
 temptation. He wanted to write to Julia then, and 
 tell her of his triumph — that, when tempted, he had 
 thought of her, and won the victory. 
 
 The world was before him ; it had no place for 
 idlers, and he must get work. The contents of the 
 basket were not yet exhausted, and he took it to a 
 retired corner to eat his breakfast. While he waa 
 thus engaged, Joe Flint, the ostler, happened to see 
 him. 
 
 ' That is cold comfort," said he. " Why don'; 
 you go to the tavern, and have your breakfast like 
 a gentleman ? " 
 
 " I can't afford it," replied Harry. 
 
 " Can't afford it ? How much did the man that 
 owned the pocket book give you ? " 
 
 " Nothing." 
 
 " Nothing ! I'm blamed if he ain't a mean one ! " 
 eiclaimed Joe, heartily. " I don't wonder you run 
 »way." 
 
 " I didn't want any thing. I was too glad to gel 
 clear of him to think of any thing else." 
 
170 TBY AGAIN ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 " Next time he loses his pocket book, I hope hta 
 won't find it." 
 
 And with this charitable observation, Joe resumed 
 bis labors. Harry finished his meal, washed it down 
 with a draught of cold water at the pump, and was 
 ready for business again. Unfortunately, there was 
 no business ready for him. All day long he wan- 
 dered about the streets in search of employment ; 
 but people did not appreciate his value. No one 
 would hire him or have any thing to do with him- 
 The five patches on his clothes, he soon discovered, 
 rendered it useless for him to apply at the stores. 
 He was not in a condition to be tolerated about one 
 of these : and he turned his attention to the market, 
 the stables, and the teaming establishments, yet with 
 no better success. It was in vain that he tried again ; 
 and at night, weary and dispirited, he returned to 
 Major Phillips's stable. 
 
 His commissariat was not yet exhausted ; and he 
 made a hearty supper from the basket. It became 
 an interesting question for him to consider how he 
 phould pass the night. He could not afford to pay 
 i e of his quarters for a night's lodging at the taverr 
 
1ND TRIUMPHS OF HAEKY WEST. ill 
 
 oppc site. There was the stable, however, if he could 
 get permission to sleep there. 
 
 " May I sleep in the hay loft, Joe ?" he asked, an 
 the ostler passed him. 
 
 " Major Phillips don't allow any one to sleep in 
 tbj hay loft ; but perhaps he will let you sleep there. 
 He was asking about you to-day." 
 
 "How should he know any thing about me?" 
 said Harry, not a little surprised to find his fame had 
 gone before him. 
 
 " He heard about the pocket book, and wanted to 
 see you. He said it was the meanest thing he evrr 
 heard of, that the man who lost it didn't give you 
 any thing ; and them's my sentiments exactly. Hen 
 comes the major ; I will speak to him about you." 
 
 " Thank you, Joe." 
 
 " Major Phillips, this boy wants to know if he 
 may sleep in the hay loft to-night." 
 
 "No," replied the stable keeper, short as pie crust. 
 
 " This is the boy that found the pocket book, and 
 he hain't got no place to sleep." 
 
 " O, is it ? Then I will find a place for him ta 
 sleep. So, my boy, you are an honest fellow." 
 
172 thy again; ok, the trials 
 
 " I tiy tu be," replied Harry, modestly. 
 
 " If you had kept the pocket book, you might 
 lave lodged at the Tremont House." 
 
 " I had rather sleep in your stable, without it." 
 
 " Squire Walker was mean not to give you a ten- 
 dollar bill. What are you going to do with your- 
 self?" 
 
 *• I want to get work ; perhaps you have got some- 
 thing for me to do. I am used to horses." 
 
 " Well, I don't know as I have." 
 
 Major Phillips was a great fat man, rough, vulgar, 
 and profane in his conversation ; but he had a kind 
 and sympathizing nature. Though he swore like a 
 pirate sometimes, his heart was in the right place so 
 far as humanity was concerned. 
 
 He took Harry into the counting room of the sta- 
 ble, and questioned him in regard to his past history 
 and future prospects. The latter, however, were just 
 now rather clouded. He told the major his ex- 
 perience in trying to get something to do, and wai 
 afraid he should not find a place. 
 
 The stable keeper was interested in him find in hii 
 itory. He swore roundly at the meanness of Jacol 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRT WEST. 173 
 
 Wire and Squire Walker, and commended him for 
 running away. 
 
 "Well, my lad, I don't know as I can do much 
 for ycu. I have three ostlers now, which is quite 
 enough, and all I can afford to pay ; hut 1 suppose 
 1 can find enough for a hoy to do about the house 
 and the stable. How much wages do you expect ? " 
 
 " Whatever you think I can earn." 
 
 "You can't earn much for me just now; but if 
 you are a-mind to try it, I will give you six dollars a 
 month and your board." 
 
 " Thank you, sir ; I shall be very glad of the 
 chance." 
 
 " Very well ; but if you work for me, you must 
 get up early in the morning, and be wide awake." 
 
 " I will, sir." 
 
 " Now we will see about a place for you to 
 Bleep." 
 
 Over the counting room was an apartment in which 
 two of the ostlers slept. There was room for another 
 bed, and one was immediately set up for Hairy's use. 
 
 Once more, then, our hero was at home, if a mere 
 abiding place deserves that hallowed name. It wai 
 15* 
 
174 tky again; ok, the trials 
 
 not an elegant, or even a commodious, apartment in 
 whi:h Harry was to sleep. The walls were dingy 
 and black ; the beds looked as though they had never 
 been clean ; and there was a greasy smell which same 
 from several harnesses that were kept there. It was 
 comfortable, if not poetical ; and Harry soon felt per- 
 fectly at home. 
 
 His first duty was to cultivate the acquaintance 
 of the ostlers. He found them to be rough, good- 
 natured men, not over-scrupulous about their man- 
 ners or their morals. If it does not occur to my 
 young readers, it will to their parents, that this waa 
 not a fit place for a boy — that he was in constant 
 contact with corruption. His companions were good- 
 hearted men ; but this circumstance rendered them 
 all the more dangerous. There was no fireside of 
 home, at which the evil effects of communication 
 with men of loose morals would be counteracted. 
 llany had not been an hour in their society before 
 he caught himself using a big oath — which, when he 
 had gone to bed, he heartily repented, renewing hi/i 
 resolution with the promise to try again. 
 
 He was up bright and early the next mo/ning 
 
AKD TB1TJMPHS OF HARRY WE8T. 175 
 
 made a firs in the counting room, and had led out 
 half the horses in the stable to water, before M ijoi 
 Phillips came out. His services were in demand, aa 
 Joe Flint, for some reason, had not come to tbe sta- 
 ble that morning. 
 
 The stable keeper declared that he had gone on 
 a " spree," and told Harry he might take his 
 place. 
 
 Harry did take his place ; and the ostlers declared 
 that, m every thing but cleaning the horses, he made 
 good his place. The knowledge and skill which he 
 had obtained at the poorhouse was of great value to 
 him ; and, at night, though he was very tired, he waa 
 satisfied that he had done a good clay's work. 
 
 The ostlers took their meals at the house of Major 
 Phillips, which stood at one side of the stable yard. 
 Harry did not like Mrs. Phillips very well ; she waa 
 cross, and the men said she was a " regular Tartar." 
 But he was resolved to keep the peace. He after- 
 wards found it a difficult matter ; for he had to bring 
 wood and water, and do other chores about tha 
 house, and he soon ascertained that she was deter* 
 mined not to be pleased with any thing he did. Hi 
 
176 TRY AGAIN ; OK, THE TRIALS 
 
 tried to keep his temper, however, and meekly sub- 
 mitted tc all her scolding and grumbling. 
 
 Thus far, while Harry has been passing thrcigh 
 the momentous period of his life with which we 
 Commenc3d his story, we have minutely detailed the 
 incidents of his daily life, so that we have related the 
 events of only a few days. This is no longer neces- 
 sary. He has got a place, and of course one day is 
 very much like every other. The reader knows hira 
 now — knows what kind of boy he is, and what his 
 hopos and expectations are. The reader knows, too, 
 the great moral epoch in his history — the event 
 which roused his consciousness of error, and stimu- 
 lated him to become better ; that he has a talisman 
 in his mind, which can be no better expressed than 
 by those words he so often repeated, " She hoped he 
 would be a good boy." And her angel smile went 
 with him to encourage him in the midst of trial and 
 temptation — to give him the victory over the foes 
 that assailed him. 
 
 Wc shall henceforth give results, instead of a daily 
 record, stopping to detail only the great events of hia 
 career. 
 
A.ND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 177 
 
 We uhall pass over three months, during which 
 time he worked diligently and faithfully for Major 
 Phillips. Every day had its trials and temptations ; 
 tot a day passed in which there were none. The 
 habit of using profane language he found it very hard 
 to eradicate ; but he persevered ; and though he often 
 sinned, he as often repented and tried again, until he 
 had fairly mastered the enemy. It was a great tri- 
 umph, especially when it is remembered that he was 
 surrounded by those whose every tenth word at least 
 was an oath. 
 
 He was tempted to lie, tempted to neglect his 
 work, tempted to steal, tempted in a score of other 
 things. And often he yielded ; but the remembrance 
 of the little angel, and the words of the good Book 
 she had given him, cheered and supported him as he 
 struggled on. 
 
 Harry's finances were in a tolerably prosperous 
 condition. With his earnings he had bought a suit 
 of clothes, and went to church half a day every San- 
 day. Besides his wages, he had saved about five 
 dollais from the " perquisites " which he received 
 from customers for holding their horses, running er- 
 
178 TKY AGAIN ; OK, THE TKIALS 
 
 rands, and other little services a boy could perform. 
 fie was very careful and prudent with his money j 
 and whenever he added any thing to his little hoard, 
 he thought of the man who had become rich by 
 sa\ing up his fourpences. He still cherished his 
 purpose to become a rich man, and it is very likely 
 he had some brilliant anticipations of success. Not 
 a cent did he spend foolishly, though it was hard 
 work to resist the inclination to buy the fine things 
 that tempted him from the shop windows. 
 
 Those who knew him best regarded him as a very 
 strange boy ; but that was only because he was a 
 little out of his element. He would have preferred 
 to be among men who did not bluster and swear ; 
 but, in spite of them, he had the courage and the 
 fortitude to be true to himself. The little angel still 
 maintained her ascendency in his moral nature. 
 
 The ostlers laughed at him when he took out his 
 little Bible, before he went to bed, to drink of the 
 waters of life. They railed at him, called him " Lit- 
 tle Pious," and tried to induce him to pitch, ceijf, in 
 the back yard, on Sunday afternoon, instead of ^oing 
 to church. He generally bore these taunt* with 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 179 
 
 patience, though sometimes Tvs high spirit w )uld get 
 the better of his desire to be what the little angel 
 .wished him to be. 
 
 John Lane put up at the stable once a week; and, 
 every time he returned to Rockville, he carried a 
 writter or a verbal account of the prosperity 01 tae 
 little pauper boy. One Sunday, he wrote her a long 
 letter all about " being good " — how he was tempt- 
 ed, and how he struggled for her sake and for the 
 sake of the truth. 
 
 In return, he often received messages and letters 
 from her, breathing the same pure spirit which she had 
 manifested when she " fed him in the wilderness." 
 These communications strengthened his moral nature, 
 and enabled him to resist temptation. He felt just 
 as though she was an angel sent into the world to 
 watch over him. Perhaps he had fallen without 
 them ; at any rate, her influence was very pow- 
 erful. 
 
 About the middle of January, when the earth was 
 covered with snow, and the bleak, cold winds of 
 winter blew over the city, John Lane informed Harry 
 on his arrival, tint Julia was very sick with the 
 
180 try again; or, thf trials 
 
 ic?rlet fever and canker rash, and that it was feared 
 she would not recover. 
 
 This was tne most severe trial of all. lie wept 
 when he thought of her sweet face reddened with 
 the flush of fever ; and he fled to his chamWr, to 
 rent his emotions in silence and solituds. 
 
AXD TBItTMPHS OF HABBY WEST. 19\ 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 IK WHICH HARRV DOES A GOOD DEED, AND DK« 
 
 TERMIXES TO " FACE THE MUSIC." 
 
 "While Harry sat by the stove in the ostler'i 
 room, grieving at the intelligence he had received 
 from Rockville, a little girl, so lame that she walked 
 with a crutch, hobbled into the apartment. 
 
 " Is my father here ? " she asked, in tones so sad 
 that Harry could not help knowing she was in dis- 
 tress. 
 
 " I don't know as I am acquainted with your 
 father," replied Harry. 
 
 " He is one of the ostlers here." 
 
 " 0, Joseph Flint ! " 
 
 " Yes ; he has not been nome tG dinner or tur prt 
 to-day, and mother is very sick." 
 
 " I haven't seen him to-day." 
 16 
 
182 iBr again; or, the trials 
 
 " 0. d< ar ! What will become of us ? " sighed the 
 ittle girl, a3 she hobbled away. 
 
 Harry was struck by the sad appearance cf <he 
 girl, and rle desponding words she uttered. Of late, 
 Joe Flint's vile habit of intemperance had grown upon 
 him so rapidly, that he did not work at the stable 
 more than one day in three. For two months, Majoi 
 Phillips had been threatening to discharge him ; and 
 nothing but kindly consideration for his family had 
 prevented him from doing so. 
 
 "Have you seen Joe to-day?" asked Harry of 
 one of the ostlers, who came into the room soon after 
 the departure of the little girl. 
 
 " No, and don't want to see him," replied Abner, 
 testily ; for, in Joe's absence, his work had to be 
 done by the other ostlers, who did not feel very 
 kindly towards him. 
 
 " His little girl has just been here after him." 
 
 •• Very likely he hasn't been noiae for a week," 
 idded Abner. " I should think his family would be 
 very thankful if they never saw him again He ii 
 t nuisance ;o himself and every body else." 
 
 •• Where does he live ? " 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 185 
 
 ** Just up in Avery Street — in a ten-footer there." 
 
 " The little girl said her mother was very sick." 
 
 ** I dare say. She is always sick ; and I don't 
 much wonder. Joe Flint is enough to make any one 
 sick. He has been drunk about two thirds of the 
 time for two months." 
 
 " I don't see how his family get along." 
 
 " Nor I, either." 
 
 After Abner had warmed himself, he left the room. 
 Harry was haunted by the sad look and the despond- 
 ing tones of the poor lame girl. It was a bitter cold 
 evening ; and what if Joe's family were suffering 
 with the cold and hunger ! It was sad to think of 
 such a thing ; and Harry was deeply moved. 
 
 " She hoped I would be a good boy. She is very 
 Kick now, and perhaps she will die," said Harry to 
 himself. " What would she do, if she were here 
 now r " 
 
 He knew very well what she would do, and he de- 
 tei mined to do it himself. His heart was so deeply 
 (sieved by the picture of sorrow and suffering with 
 which his imagination had invested the home of the 
 intemperate ostler, that it required no argument tc 
 •nduce him to go. 
 
<84 THY AGAIN ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 But he must go prepared to do something. How 
 iver sweet and consoling may be the sympathy of 
 others to those in distress, it will not warm tha 
 chilled limbs or feed the hungry mouths ; and Harry 
 thanked God then that he had not spent his money 
 foolishly upon gewgaws and gimcracks, or in gratify- 
 ing a selfish appetite. 
 
 After assuring himself that no one was approach- 
 ing, he jumped on his bedstead, and reaching p into 
 a hole in the board ceiling of the room, he took out 
 a large wooden pill box, which was nearly filled with 
 various silver coins, from a five-cent piece to a half 
 dollar. Putting the box into his pocket, he went 
 down to the stable, and inquired more particularly 
 in relation to Joe's house. 
 
 When he had received such directions as would 
 enable him to find the place, he told Abner he wanted 
 to be absent a little while, and left the stable. He 
 had no difficulty in finding the home of the drunk- 
 ard's family. It was a little, old wooden house, ill 
 Avery Street, opposite Haymarket Place, which baa 
 long since been pulled down, to make room for I 
 more elegant dwelling. 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OP HAEET WEST. 18fc 
 
 Harry knocked, and was admitted by the little 
 
 .ame girl whom he had seen at the stable. 
 
 " I have come to see if I can do any thing fos 
 you," said Harry, as he moved forward into the room 
 in which the family lived. 
 
 " Have you seen any thing of father ? " asked the 
 little girl. 
 
 " I haven't ; Abner says he hasn't been to the sta- 
 ble to-day. Haven't you any lights ? " asked Harry, 
 as he entered the dark room. 
 
 " We haven't got any oil, nor any candles." 
 
 In the fireplace, a piece of pine board was blazing, 
 which cast a faint and fitful glare into the room ; 
 and Harry was thus enabled to behold the scene 
 which the miserable home of the drunkard pre- 
 sented. 
 
 In one corner was a dilapidated bedstead, on which 
 lay the sick woman. Drawn from under it was a 
 trundle bed, upon which lay two small children, who 
 had evidently been put to bed at that ea-ly hour to 
 keep them warm, for the temperature of the apartment 
 was scarcely more comfortable than that of the open 
 Air. It was a cheeiless home: and the faint light 
 16* 
 
186 i*T again; or, the trials 
 
 a( the blazing board served only to increase thi 
 deeolale app^-o-ice of the place. 
 
 " Who is it ? " asked the sick woman, faintly. 
 
 " The boy that works at the stable," replied the 
 lame girl. 
 
 " My name is Harry West, marm ; and I come tr» 
 «ee if you wanted any thing," added Harry. 
 
 " We want a great many things," sighed she. 
 s Can you tell me where my husband is ? " 
 
 " I can't ; he hasn't been at the stable to-day." 
 
 " O God ! what will become of us ? " sobbed the 
 woman. 
 
 " I will help you, marm. Don't take on so. I 
 have money ; and I will do every thing I can for 
 you." 
 
 When her mother sobbed, the lame girl sat down 
 on the bed, and cried bitterly. Harry's tender heart 
 was melted ; and he would have wept also, if he had 
 not been conscious of the high mission he had to 
 perform ; and he felt very grateful that he was able 
 to dry up those tears, and carry gladness (o those 
 Meeding hearts. 
 
 " I don't kna-' what you can do for us," said the 
 
AND TRIUMPHS JF HABHT WEST. 187 
 
 poor woman, " though I am sure I am very much 
 obliged to you." 
 
 " I can do a great deal, marm. Cheer up," replied 
 Harry, tenderly. 
 
 As he spoke, one of the children in the trundle 
 bed sobbed in its sleep ; and the poor mother's heart 
 aeemed to be lacerated by the sound. 
 
 " Poor child ! " wailed she. " He had no supper 
 but a crust of bread and a cup of cold water. He 
 cried himself to sleep with cold and hunger. O 
 Heaven ! that we should have come to this ! " 
 
 " And the room is very cold," added Harry, glan- 
 cing around him. 
 
 " It is. Our wood is all gone but two great logs. 
 Katy could not bring them up." 
 
 ** I worked for an hour trying to split some pieces 
 off them," said Katy, the lame girl. 
 
 " I will fix them, marm," replied Harry, who felt 
 the strength of ten stout men in his limbs at thai 
 noment. " But you have had no supper." 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Wait a minute. Have you a basket ? " 
 
 Katy brought him a peck basket, and Harry rushed 
 
188 TBT AGAIN ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 out of the house as though he had been shot. Great 
 deeds were before him, and he was inspired for the 
 occasion. 
 
 In a quarter of an hour he returned. The basket 
 was nearly full. Placing it in a chair, he took from 
 it a package of candles, one of which he lighted and 
 placed in a tin candlestick on the table. 
 
 " Now we have got a little light on the subject," 
 said he, as he began to display the contents of the 
 basket. " Here, Katy, is two pounds of meat ; here 
 is half a pound of tea ; you had better put a little in 
 the teapot, and let it be steeping for your mother." 
 
 " God bless you ! '* exclaimed Mrs. Flint. " You 
 are an angel sent from Heaven to help us in our 
 distress." 
 
 " No, marm ; I ain't an angel," answered Harry, 
 who seemed to feel that Julia Bryant had an exclu- 
 sive monopoly of that appellation, so far as it could 
 be reasonably applied to mortals. " I only want to 
 do my duty, marm." 
 
 " Katy Flint was so bewildered that she could say 
 nothing, though her opinion undoubtedly coinni led 
 with that of her mother. 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARK? WE3T. 189 
 
 "Here is two loaves of bread and two do7en 
 crackers; a pound of butter; two pounds of sugar 
 There ! I did not bring any milk." 
 
 "Nev^r mind the milk. You are a blessed child." 
 
 " Give me a pitcher, Katy. I will go down to 
 Thomas's in two shakes of a jiffy." 
 
 Mrs. Flint ' protested that she did not want any 
 milk — that she could get along very well without 
 i*. ; but Harry said the children must have it ; and, 
 without waiting for Katy to get the pitcher, he took 
 it from the closet, and ran out of the house. 
 
 He was gone but a few minutes. When he re- 
 turned, he found Katy trying to make the teakettle 
 boil, but with very poor success. 
 
 " Now, Katy, show me the logs, and I will sooc 
 h?ve a fire." 
 
 The lame girl conducted him to the cellar, where 
 Harry found the remnants of the old box which Katy 
 nad tried to split. Seizing the axe, he struck a few 
 vigorous blown, and the pine boards were reduced to 
 a proper shape for use. Taking an armful, he re- 
 turned to the chamber; and soon a good fire wai 
 blazing under the teakettle. 
 
190 try again; or, the trials 
 
 " There, marm, we will soon have things to rights,* 
 ■aid Harry, as he rose from the health, where he hail 
 stooped down to blow the fire. 
 
 " I am sure we should have perished if you had 
 not come," added Mrs. Flint, who was not disposed 
 to undervalue Harry's good deeds. 
 
 ** Then I am very glad I come." 
 
 " I hope we shall be able to pay you back all the 
 money you have spent ; but I don't know. Joseph 
 has got so bad, I don't know what he is coming to. 
 He is a good-hearted man. He always uses me well, 
 even when he is in liquor. Nothing but drink could 
 make him neglect us so." 
 
 "It is a hard case, marm," added Harry. 
 
 " Very hard ; he hasn't done much of any thing 
 for us this winter. I have been out to work every 
 day till a fortnight ago, when I got eick, and couldn't 
 do any thing. Katy has kept us alive since then ; 
 ghe is a good girl, and takes the whole care of Tom- 
 m}" and Susan." 
 
 " Poor girl ! it is a pity she is so lame." 
 
 " I don't mind that, if I only had things to do 
 with," said Katy, who was busy disposing of tht 
 provision which Harry had bought. 
 
AND TBIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 19\ 
 
 As soon as the kett.e boiled, she made tea, an 
 prepared a little toast for her mother, who, how ever, 
 was too sick to take much nourishment. 
 
 " Now, Katy, you must eat yourself," interposed 
 Harry, when all was ready. 
 
 " 1 can't eat," replied the poor girl, bursting into 
 teais. " I don't feel hungry." 
 
 " You must eat." 
 
 Just then the children in the trundle bed, dis- 
 turbed by the unusual bustle in the room, waked, 
 and gazed with wonder at Harry, who had seated 
 himself on the bed. 
 
 " Poor Susy ! " exclaimed Katy ; " she has waked 
 up. And Tommy, too ! They shall have their sup- 
 per, now." 
 
 They were taken up ; and Harry's eyes were glad- 
 dened by such a sight as he had never beheld before. 
 The hungry ate ; and every mouthful they took 
 swelled the heart of the little almoner of God's 
 bcunty. If the thought of Julia Bryant, languishing 
 en a bed of sickness, had not marred his satif faction, 
 he had been perfectly happy. But he was doing a 
 deed that would rejoice her heart; he was doing jts< 
 
192 TKT AGAIN ; OK, THE TRIALS 
 
 wLat she had done for him ; he was doing jnst what 
 §he would hare done, if she had been there. 
 
 " She hoped he would be a good bo} T ." His con- 
 scieuce told him he had been a good boy — that he 
 hitd been true to himself, and true to the noble ex- 
 ample she had set before him. 
 
 While the family were still at supper, Harry, light- 
 ing another candle, went down cellar to pay hia 
 respects to those big logs. He was a stout boy, and 
 accustomed to the use of the axe. By slow degrees 
 he chipped off the logs, until they were used up, and 
 a great pile of serviceable wood was before him. Not 
 content with this, he carried up several large armfuls 
 of it, which he deposited by the fireplace in the room 
 
 " Now, marm, I don't know as I can do any thing 
 more for you to-night," said he, moving towards the 
 door. 
 
 " The Lord knows you have done enough," replied 
 Khe poor woman. " I hope we shall be able to pay 
 you for what you have done." 
 
 " I don't want any thing, marm." 
 
 "If we can't pay you, the Lord will reward you." 
 
 " I am paid enough already. I hope you will get 
 b*»**er, marm." 
 
A.HD TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WE8T. 133 
 
 " 1 hope so. I feel better to-night than I ha\e felt 
 before for a week." 
 
 " Good night, marm ! Good night, Katy ! " And 
 Harry hurried back to the stable. 
 
 " Where have you been, Harry ? " asked Abner, 
 when he entered the ostler's room. 
 
 " I have been out a little while." 
 
 " I know that. The old man wanted you ; and 
 when he couldn't find you, he was as mad as thun- 
 der." 
 
 " Where is he ? " said Harry, somewhat annoyed 
 to find that, while he had been doing his duty in one 
 direction, he had neglected his duty in another. 
 
 " In the counting room. You will catch fits for 
 going off." 
 
 Whatever he should catch, he determined to " face 
 the music," and left the room to find his employer. 
 17 
 
IiM TRY AGAIN : OB. THE TRrALS 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 IX WHICH HARRY MAKES THE ACQUAINTANCE OP 
 A VERY IMPORTANT PERSONAGE. 
 
 Major Phillips was in the counting room, where 
 Hairy, dreading his anger, presented himself before 
 bim. His employer was a violent man. He usually 
 acted first, and thought the matter over afterwards ; 
 so that he frequently had occasion to undo what had 
 been done in haste and passion. His heart was 
 kind, but his temper generally had the first word. 
 
 " So you have come, Harry," exclaimed he, as 
 our hero opened the door. " Where have you 
 been ? " 
 
 " I have been out a little while," replied Harry, 
 whose modesty rebelled at the idea of proclaiming 
 the good deed he had done. 
 
 " Out a little while ! " roared the major, with aa 
 aath that froze the boy's blood. " That is enough — 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 195 
 
 M'ougli, sir. You know I don't allow man or boy to 
 leave the stable without letting me know it." 
 
 " I was wrong, sir ; but I " 
 
 " You little snivelling monkey, how dared you 
 Ipave the stable ? " continued the stable keeper, heed- 
 less of the boy's submission. " I'll teach you better 
 than that." 
 
 " Will you ? " said Harry, suddenly changing h;s 
 tone, as his blood began to boil. " You can begia 
 as quick as you like." 
 
 " You saucy young cub ! I have a great mind to 
 give you a cowhiding," thundered the enraged stable 
 keeper. 
 
 " I should like to see you do it," replied Harry, 
 fixing his eyes on the poker that lay on the floor 
 near the stove. 
 
 " Should you, you impertinent puppy ? " 
 
 The hiajor sprang forward, as if to grasp the boj 
 I y the collar ; but Harry, with his eye still fixed 
 on the poker, retreated a pace or two, ready to act 
 pn mptly when the decisive moment should come. 
 Forgetting for the time that he had run away from 
 •ne duty to attend to another, be felt indignant that 
 
196 TET AGAIJt ; OB, THE TRIALS 
 
 he should bo thus rudely treated for being absent a 
 short time on an errand of love and charity. H>? 
 gave himself too Jauch credit for the good deed, and 
 felt that he was a martyr to his philanthropic spirit. 
 He was willing to bear all and brave all in a good 
 cause ; and it seemed to him, just then, as though 
 he was being punished for assisting Joe Flint's fam- 
 ily, instead of for leaving his place without permis- 
 sion. A great many persons who mean well are apt 
 to think themselves martyrs for any good cause in 
 wlich they may be engagad, when, in reality, their 
 own want of tact, or the offensive manner in which 
 they present their truth, is the stake at which they 
 are burned. 
 
 " Keep off! " said Harry, his eyes flashing fire. 
 
 The major was so angry that he could do nothing; 
 and while they were thus confronting each other, Joe 
 Flint staggered into the counting room. Intoxicated 
 as he was, he readily discovered the position of affairs 
 between the belligerents. 
 
 "Look here — hie — Major Phillips," said he, 
 reeling up to his employer, " I love you, — hie, — 
 Major Pnillips, like a — hie — like a brother, Ma^oi 
 
AND TKITTMrHS OF HAKRY WEST. 197 
 
 Phillips; but if you touch that boy, Mujor Phillipt 
 I'll — hie — you touch me, Major Phillips. That's 
 all." 
 
 '• Go home. Joe," replied the stable keeper, hii 
 attention diverted from Harry to the new comba- 
 tant. " You are drunk." 
 
 " I know I'm drunk, Major Phillips. I'm as drunk 
 as a beast ; but 1 ain't — hie — dead drunk. I know 
 what I'm about." 
 
 " No, you don't. Go home." 
 
 " Yes, I dzoo. I'm a brute ; I'm a hog ; I'm a — 
 dzwhat you call it ? I'm a villain." 
 
 Joe tried to straighten himself up, and look at his 
 employer ; but he could not, and suddenly bursting 
 into tears, he threw himself heavily into a chair, 
 weeping bitterly in his inebriate paroxysm. He 
 sobbed, and groaned, and talked incoherently. He 
 acted strangely, and Major Phillips's attention was 
 excited. 
 
 " What is the matter, Joe?" he asked; and hig 
 anger towards Harry seemed to have subsideu. 
 
 " I tell you I am a villain, Major }"hilhpn." blub- 
 ber el Joe, 
 
 17* 
 
198 TRT AGAIN ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 " What do you mean by that ? ' ' 
 
 " Haven't I been on a drunk, and left my lamilj 
 to starve and freeze?" groaned Joe, inteilardii-g his 
 ipeech with violent ebullitions of weeping. " Wouldn't 
 my poor wife, and my poor children — O my God ! " 
 and the poor drunkard covered his face with his 
 hands, and sobbed like an infant. 
 
 " AVhat is the matter ? What do you mean, Joe ? " 
 asked Major Phillips, who had never seen him in 
 this frame before. . 
 
 " Wouldn't they all have died, if Harry hadn't 
 gone and fed 'em, and split up wood to warm 'em ? " 
 
 As he spoke, Joe sprang up, and rushed towards 
 Harry, and in his drunken frenzy attempted to em- 
 brace him. 
 
 "What does this mean, Harry?" said the stable 
 keeper, turning to our hero, who, while Joe was tell- 
 ing his story, had been thinking of something else. 
 
 " What a fool I was to get mad ! " thought he. 
 •What would she say, if she had seen me just now? 
 foor J alia ! perhaps she is dead, even now." 
 
 " My folks would have died, if it hadn't b- f.n foi 
 iim," hiccoughed Joe. 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY "WEST. 199 
 
 "Explain it, Harry," added the major. 
 
 " The lame girl, K'aty, came down here after hex 
 fether, early in the evening. She seemed to be in 
 ♦rouble, and I tbought I would go up and see wnat 
 the matter was. I found them in rather a bad con- 
 dition, without any wood or any thing to eat. I did 
 what I could for them, and came away," replied Harry. 
 
 "Give me your hand, Harry! ' and the majoi 
 grasped his hand like a vice. " You are a good 
 fellow," he added, with an oath. 
 
 " Forgive me, Mr. Phillips, for saying what I did ; 
 I was mad," pleaded Harry. 
 
 " So was I, my boy; but we won't mind that. 
 You are a good fellow ; and I like your spunk. So 
 you have really been taking care of Joe's family 
 while he was off on a drunk." 
 
 M I didn't do much, sir." 
 
 " Look here, Harry, and you, Major Phillips 
 W hsn I get this rum out of me, I'll never take 
 %nother drop again," said Joe, throwing himself into 
 a chair. 
 
 *' Bah, Joe ! You have said that twenty times be- 
 fore," added Major Phillips. 
 
200 try again; or, the trials 
 
 " You dzee ! " exclaimed Joe, doubling hid fiat, 
 and bringing it down with the intention of hitting 
 the table by his side to emphasize his resolution; 
 but, unfortunately, he missed the table — a circum- 
 stance which seemed to foreshadow the fate of nis 
 resolve. 
 
 Jce proceeded to declare in his broken speech what 
 a shock he had received when he went home, half an 
 hour before, — the first time for several days, — and 
 heard the reproaches of his suffering wife, how grate- 
 ful he was to Harry, and what a villain he considered 
 himself. Either the sufferings of his family, 01 the 
 rum he had drank, melted his heart, and he was as 
 eloquent as his half-paralyzed tongue would permit. 
 He was a pitiable object ; and having assured him- 
 self that Joe's family were comfortable for the night, 
 Major Phillips put him to bed in his own house. 
 
 Harry was not satisfied with himself; he had per- 
 mitted his temper to get the better of him. He 
 thought of Julia on her bed of suffering, wept for her, 
 and repented for himself. That night he heard toe 
 clock on the Boylston market strike twelve before ft« 
 ciosevi his eyi»s t" «leep. 
 
AN ) TRIUMPHS OF HATJRT WE8T. 20i 
 
 The next day, while he was at work in the s'.able, 
 i hoy of about fifteen called to see him, and desired 
 to speak with him alone. Harry, much wondering 
 who his visitor was, and what he wanted, conducted 
 him to the ostler's chamber. 
 
 " You are Harry West," the boy began. 
 
 " That is my name, for the want of a better," re- 
 plied Harry. 
 
 " Then there is a little matter to be settled be« 
 tween you and me. You helped my folks out his* 
 night, and I want to pay you for it." 
 
 " Your folks ? " 
 
 " My name is Edward Flint." 
 
 " Then you are Joe's son." 
 
 " I am," replied Edward, who did not seem to fee] 
 much honored by the relationship. 
 
 '* Your folks were in a bad condition last night." 
 
 :< That's a fact ; they were." 
 
 " But I didn't know Joe had a son as old as jou 
 are." 
 
 " 1 am the oldest ; but I don't live at home, *n«J 
 Vave not for three years. How much did you nay 
 out for them last night ? " 
 
202 try again; OR, THE T2IALB 
 
 *' One dollar and twenty cents." 
 
 " As much as that ? " 
 
 " Just that." 
 
 Edward Flint manifested some uneasiness ai the 
 announcement. He had evidently come with a pur- 
 pose, but had found things different from what he 
 had expected. 
 
 " I didn't think it was so much." 
 
 " What matter how much ? " asked Ham 
 
 " Why, I want to pay you." 
 
 u You needn't mind that." 
 
 " The fact is, I have only three dollars just now; 
 and I promised to go out to ride with a fellow next 
 Sunday. So, you see, if I pay you, I shall not have 
 enough left to foot the bills." 
 
 Harry looked at his visitor with astonishment ; he 
 did not know what to make of him. Was he in 
 earnest ? Would a son of Joseph Flint go out to 
 ride, — on Sunday, too, — while his mother and his 
 brother and sisters were on the very brink of starva- 
 tion ? Our hero had some strange, old-fashioned 
 uoticns of his own. For instance, he considered it 
 % son's duty to take care of his mother, even if hj 
 
A.TTD TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 203 
 
 were obliged to forego the Sunday ride ; that he 
 ought to do all he could for his brothers and sisters, 
 even if he had to go without stewed oysters, staj 
 away from the theatre, and perhaps wear a little 
 coarser cloth on his back. If Harrv was unreasona- 
 ble in his views, my young reader will remember that 
 he was brought up in the country, where young 
 America is not quite so " fast-" as in the city. 
 
 " I didn't ask you to pay me," continued Harry. 
 
 " I know that ; but, you see, I suppose I ought to 
 pay you. The old man don't take much care of the 
 family." 
 
 Harry wanted to say that the young man did not 
 appear to do much better ; but he was disposed to 
 oe as civil as the circumstances would permit. 
 
 " You needn't pay me." 
 
 " O, yes, I shall pay you ; but if you can wait till 
 the first of next month, I should like it." 
 
 " I can wait. Do you live out ? " 
 
 " Live out ? What do you mean by that ? I am 
 a clerk in a store down town," replied Edwaro with 
 ifiended dignity. 
 
 ** 3, are you ? Dc they pay you well ? " 
 
204 TRY AGAIN ; OE, THE TEIAL8 
 
 " Pretty fair ; I get five dollars a week." 
 
 " Five dollars a week ! Thunder ! I should thiai 
 you did get paid pretty well ! " exclaimed Harry, 
 astonished at the vastness of the sum for a week'l 
 work. 
 
 " Fair salary," added Edward, complacently. 
 " What are you doing here ? " 
 
 " I work in the stable and about the house." 
 
 " That's mean business," said Mr. Flint, turning 
 up his nose. 
 
 " It does very well." 
 
 " How much do you get ? ' 
 
 " Six dollars a month and perquisites." 
 
 " How much are the perquisites ? " 
 
 " From one to two dollars a month." 
 
 " Humph ! I wonder you stay here." 
 
 " It is as well as I can do." 
 
 " No, it isn't ; why don't you go into a stor* 
 A T e want a boy in our store." 
 
 " Do you ? " 
 
 " We do." 
 
 *' How much do you pay ? " 
 
 " We pay from two to four dollars a week." 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HA.HRT WEST. 205 
 
 "Can't you get me the place ? " asked Harrj, no* 
 much interested in his companion. 
 
 " Well, yes ; perhaps I can." 
 
 " What s.iould I have to do ? " 
 
 " Make the fires, sweep out in the morning, go of 
 errands, and such work. Boys must begin at the 
 foot of the ladder. I began at the foot of the lad- 
 der," answered Mr. Flint, with an immense self- 
 sufficiency, which Harry, however, failed to notice. 
 
 " I should like to get into a store." 
 
 " You would have a good chance to rise." 
 
 " I am willing to do any thing, so that I can have 
 a chance to get ahead." 
 
 " We always give boys a good chance." 
 
 Harry wanted that mysterious " we " defined. As 
 it was, he was left to infer that Mr. Flint was a 
 partner in the concern, unless the five doll.irs per 
 week was an argument to the contrary ; but he didn't 
 like to ask strange questions, and desired to know 
 whom "he worked for." 
 
 Edward Flint did not " work for " any body. He 
 was a clerk in the extensive dry goods establish.-nent 
 *f the Messrs. Wake and Wade, which, he declared, 
 18 
 
206 TBY AGAIN ; OB, THE TKIAIS 
 
 tfas the largest concern in Boston ; and one might 
 further have concluded that Mr. Flint \va3 the most 
 important personage in the said concern. 
 
 Mr. Flint was obliged to descend from his lofty 
 dignity, and compound the dollar and twenty cents 
 with the stable boy by promising to get him the 
 vacant place in the establishment of Wake and 
 Wade, if his influence was sufficient to procure it. 
 Harry was satisfied, and begged him not to distress 
 himself about the debt. The visitor took his leave, 
 promising to see him again the next day. 
 
 About noon, Joe Flint appeared at the stable 
 again, perfectly sober. Major Phillips had lent him 
 ten dollars, in anticipation of his month's wages, and 
 he had been home to attend to the comfort of his 
 suffering family. After dinner, he had a long talk 
 with Harry, in which, after paying him the money 
 disbursed on the previous evening, he repeated his 
 solemn resolution to drink no more. He was very 
 grateful to Harry, and hoped he should be able to 
 Xo as much for him. 
 
 " Don't drink any more, Joe, and it will be the 
 Dest day's work I ever did," added Harry. 
 
 ** I never will, Harry — never ! ' protested Joe. 
 
AHt) T&IUMPHS W HARRY WfcST. 207 
 
 CHAPTER XVT. 
 
 IH ^THICH HARRY GOES INTO THE DBY GOODS 
 
 BUSINESS. 
 
 Me. Edward Flint's reputation as a gentleman 
 »f honor and a man of his word suffered somewhat 
 in Harry's estimation ; for he waited all day, and 
 all the evening, without hearing a word from the 
 firm of Wake and \* ade. He had actually be- 
 gun to doubt whether the accomplished young man 
 had as much influence with the firm as he had led 
 him to suppose. But his ambition would not permi 1 
 him longer to be satisfied with the humble sphere c/ 
 a stable boy ; and he determined, if he did not heu,i 
 from Edward, to apply for the situation himself. 
 
 The next day, having procured two hours' leave 
 of absence from the stable, he called at the home of 
 Joe Flint to obtain further particulars concerning 
 Raward and hb situation. He found the fiunily a 
 
70S tkt again: or. the trtals 
 
 much better circumstances than at his previous visit. 
 Mrs. Flint was sitting up, and was rapidly conva- 
 lescing ; Katy was busy and cheerful ; and it seemed 
 a different place from that to which he had been the 
 •nessenger of hope and comfort two nights before. 
 
 They were very glad to see him, and poured forth 
 their gratitude to him so eloquently that he was obliged 
 to change the topic. Mrs. Flint was sure that her 
 husband was an altered man. She had never before 
 known him to be so earnest and solemn in his reso- 
 lutions to amend and lead a new life. 
 
 But when Harry alluded to Edward, both Katy 
 and her mother suddenly grew sad. They acknowl- 
 edged that they had sent for him in their extremity, 
 out that he did not come till the next morning, when 
 the bounty of the stable boy had relieved them from 
 the bitterness of want. The mother dropped a tear 
 as she sooke of the wayward son ; and Harry had 
 not the heart to press the inquiries he hf.d come to 
 make. 
 
 After speaking as well as he dared tc speak of 
 Edward, he took his leave, and hastened to the estab- 
 lishment cf Wake and Wade, to applj for the vacant 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 209 
 
 place. He had put on his best clothes, and hU 
 appearance this time was very creditable. 
 
 Entering the store, he inquired for Edward Flint ; 
 tad that gentleman was summoned to receive him. 
 
 " Hal.o, Harry West ! " said Edward, when k<s 
 recognized his visitor. " I declare I forgot all about 
 you." 
 
 " I thought likely," replied Harry, willing to be 
 very charitable to the delinquent. 
 
 " The fact is, we have been so busy in the store, I 
 uaven't had time to call on you, as I promised." 
 
 " Never mind, now. Is the place filled ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 " I am glad to hear that. Do you think there is 
 any chance for me ? " 
 
 " Well, I don't know. I will do what I can for 
 you." 
 
 " Thank you, Edward." 
 
 " "Wait here a moment till I speak with one of 
 the partners." 
 
 The clerk left him, and was absent but a moment, 
 wnen Harry was summoned to the private room of 
 Mr "Wake. The gentleman questioned him for a 
 18* 
 
210 TKY AGAIN; . R, THE TRIALS 
 
 few rromcnts, and seemed to be pleased with his 
 address and his frankness. The result of the inter* 
 \iew was, that our hero was engaged at a salary of 
 three dollars a week, though it was objected to him 
 that he had no parents residing in the city. 
 
 " I thought I could fix it," said Edward, compla- 
 cently, as they left the counting room. 
 
 " I am much obliged to you, Edward," replied 
 Harry, willing to humor his new friend. "Now 1 
 want to get a place to board." 
 
 " That is easy enough." 
 
 " Where do you board ? " 
 
 " In Green Street." 
 
 " How much do you pay a week ? " 
 
 " Two dollars and a half." 
 
 " I can't pay that." 
 
 " Well, I suppose you can't." 
 
 " I was thinking of something just now. Suppose 
 wre should both board with your mother." 
 
 ••Me?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " What, in a ten- footer!" exclaimed Edward, start- 
 ing back with astonishment and indignation at ths 
 proposal. 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 211 
 
 " Why not ? If it is good enough for your nutheij 
 Isn't it good enough for you ? " 
 
 " Humph ! I'll bet it won't suit me." 
 
 " We can fix up a room to suit ourselves, you 
 know. And it will be much cheaper for both of us." 
 
 " That, indeed ; but the idea of boarding with the 
 old man is not to be thought of." 
 
 " I should think you would like to be with youl 
 mother and your brother and sisters." 
 
 " Not particular about it." 
 
 " Better think of it, Edward." 
 
 The clerk promised to think about it, but did not 
 consider it very probable that he should ag/ee to the 
 proposition. 
 
 Harry returned to the stable, and immediately 
 notified Major Phillips of his intention to leave his 
 service As may be supposed, the stable keeper was 
 Borry to lose him ; but he did not wish to stand in 
 the way of his advancement. He paid him his wages, 
 adding a gift of five dollars, and kindly permitted 
 him to leave at once, as he desired to procure a place 
 to board, and to acquaint himself with the localities 
 of the city, so that he could discharge his duty tJw 
 more acceptably to his new employers. 
 
212 TKY AGAIN' JK, THE TRIUS 
 
 Tne ostlers, too, were sorry tc part with him-- 
 particularly Joe Flint, whose admiration of our here 
 was unbounded. In their rough and honest hearts 
 they wished him well. They had often made fun of 
 his good principles ; often laughed at him for re- 
 fusing to pitch cents in the back yard on Sunday, 
 and for going to church instead ; often ridiculed him 
 under the name of " Little Pious ; " still they had a 
 great respect for him. They who are " persecuted 
 for righteousness' sake " — who are made fun of 
 because they strive to do right — are always sure of 
 Kke victory in the end. They may be often tried, but 
 sooner or later they shall triumph. 
 
 After dinner, he paid another visit to Mrs. Flint, 
 in Avery Street. He opened his proposition to boanl 
 in her family, to which she raised several objections, 
 the chief of which was, that she had no room. The 
 plan was more favorably received by Katy ; and she 
 suggested that they could hire the little apartment 
 up stairs, which was used as a kind of lumber room 
 by the family in the other part of the house. 
 
 Her mother finally consented to the arrangement, 
 aud it became necessary to decide upon the teruis ' 
 
AND TBITTMPHS OF HARKT "WEST. 213 
 
 for Harry was a prudent manager, and left nothing to 
 be settled afterwards. He then introduced the pro- 
 ject he had mentioned to Edward ; and Mrs. Flint 
 thought she could board them both for three dollars 
 a week, if they could put up with humble fare. 
 Harry declared that he was not " difficult," though 
 he cou'd not speak for Edward. 
 
 Our hero was delighted with the success of hia 
 Bchrme, and only wished that Edward had consented 
 to the arrangement; but the next time he saw him, 
 somewhat to his surprise, the clerk withdrew hia 
 objections, and entered heartily into the scheme. 
 
 " You see, Harry, I shall make a dollar a week — - 
 fifty-two dollars a year — by the arrangement," said 
 Edward, after he had consented. 
 
 He evidently considered that some apology wag 
 due from him for descending from the social dignity 
 of his position in the Green Street boarding house 
 to the humble place beneath his mother's roof. 
 
 " Certainly you will ; and that is a great deal of 
 money," replied Harry. 
 
 " It will pay my theatre tickets, and for a ride 
 once a month besides." 
 
S14 try again; ok, the trials 
 
 " For -what? " asked Harry, astonished at big com* 
 panion's theory of economy. 
 
 Edward repeated his statement. 
 
 " Why don't you save your money ? " 
 
 " Save it ? What is the use of that ? I mean to 
 have a good time while I can." 
 
 " You never will be a rich man." 
 
 " I'll bet I will." 
 
 " You could give your mother and Katy a great 
 many nice things with that money." 
 
 " Humph ! The old man must take care of them, 
 It is all I can do to take care of myself." 
 
 " If I had a mother, and brothers and sister?, 1 
 should be glad to spend all I got in making them 
 nappy," sighed Harry. 
 
 On the following Monday morning, Harry went to 
 his new place. He was in a strange position. All 
 was untried and unfamiliar. Even the language of 
 the clerks and salesmen was strange to him ; and 
 he was painfully conscious of the deficiencies of his 
 education and of his knowledge of busine»s. He 
 was prompt, active, and zealous ; yet his awkward 
 aesi could not be concealed. The transition from 
 
ANT) TRIUMPHS JF HARRY WEST. 21. j 
 
 jhe stable to the store was as great as from a hove\ 
 to a palace. He made a great many blunders. Mr. 
 Wake laughed at him ; Mr. Wade swore at him ; 
 md all the clerks made him the butt of their mirth or 
 their ill nature, just as they happened to feel. 
 
 What seemed to him worse than all, Edward Flint 
 joined the popular side, and laughed and swore with 
 the rest. Poor Harry was almost discouraged before 
 dinner time, and began very seriously to consider 
 whether he had not entirely mistaken his calling. 
 Dinner, however, seemed to inspire him with new 
 courage and new energy ; and he hastened back to 
 the store, resolved to try again. 
 
 The shop was crowded with customers ; and part- 
 ners and clerks hallooed " Harry " till he was so 
 confused that he hardly knew whether he stood on 
 his head or his heels. It was, Come here, Go there, 
 Bring this, Bring that ; but in spite of laugh and 
 curse, of push and kick, he persevered, suitirg no< 
 body, least of all himself. 
 
 It was a long day, a very long day ; but it came 
 to an end at last. Our hero had hardly strength 
 enough left to put up the shutters. His legs ached 
 
216 TRY AGAIN ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 his head ai;hcd, and, worse than all, his heart ached 
 at the manifest failure of his best intentions. He 
 thought of going to the partners, and asking them 
 whether they thought he was fit for the place ; but 
 he finally decided to try again for another day, And 
 dragged himself home to rest his weary limbs. 
 
 He and Edward had taken possession of their room 
 at Joe Flint's house that morning ; and on their 
 arrival, they found that Katy had put every thing in 
 excellent order for their reception. Harry was too 
 much fatigued and disheartened to have a very lively 
 appreciation of the comforts of his new home ; but 
 Edward, notwithstanding the descent he had made 
 was in high spirits. He even declared that the room 
 they were to occupy was better than his late apart- 
 ment in Green Street. 
 
 " Do you think I shall get along with my work, 
 Edward ? " asked Harry, gloomily, after they had 
 gone to bed. 
 
 " Why not ? " 
 
 " Every body in the store has kicked and cuffed 
 me, swore at and abused me, till I feel like a jelly." 
 
 *' O, never irind that •, they always do so with t 
 
AXD triumphs of harry WEST. 21 I 
 
 g/een one. They served me just so when I first wenl 
 into business." 
 
 " Did they ? " 
 
 *' F;ict. One must live and learn." 
 
 " It seemed to me just as though I never could 
 suit them." 
 
 " Pooh ? Don't be blue about it." 
 
 " I can't help it. I know I did not suit them." 
 
 " Yes, you did." 
 
 *• What made them laugh at me and swear at me, 
 then ? " 
 
 " That is the fashion ; you must talk right up ta 
 them. It' they swear at you, swear at them back 
 again — that is, at the clerks and salesmen, ll tuey 
 give you any ' lip,' let 'em have as good as they 
 send." 
 
 " I don't want to do that." 
 
 " Must do it, Harry. ' Live and learn ' is my 
 motto. "When you go among the Romans, do as tne 
 Romans do." 
 
 Harry did not like this advice ; for he who, among 
 the Romans, would do as the Romans do, among 
 hog.* would do as the hogv io. 
 19 
 
6 "]tf TBI AGATX ; OR, THE TRIAL8 
 
 " If I only suit them, I don't care." 
 
 " You do •, I heard Wake tell Wade that you wer« 
 a tirst rate boy.'" 
 
 " Did you ? " And Harry's heart swelled with 
 joy to think that, in spite of his trials, he had actually 
 triumphed in the midst of them. 
 
 So he dropped the subject, with the resolution to 
 redouble his exertions to please his employers the 
 next day, and turned his thoughts to Julia Bryant, to 
 wonder if she won still living, or bad become an 
 tngel *p<ta«d. 
 
AND TBIUMPHS OF HABBY WEST. 219 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 rs WHICH HAEBY BEVISITS BOCKVILLE, AND 
 MEETS WITH A SEBIOUS LOSS. 
 
 The next evening, Harry was conscious of having 
 gained a little in the ability to discharge his nove* 
 duties. Either the partners and the clerks had be- 
 come tired of swearing and laughing at him, or he 
 had made a decided improvement ; for less fault was 
 found with him, and his position was much more sat- 
 isfactory. With a light heart he put up the shutters ; 
 for though he was very much fatigued, the prestige 
 of future success was so cheering, that he scarcely 
 heeded his weary, aching limbs. 
 
 Every day was an improvement on the preceding 
 day , and before the week was out, Harry fcund him- 
 eelf quite at home in his new occupation. He waa 
 never a moment behind the time at which he was re- 
 quired tc be at the store in tte morning. Thi< 
 
220 TKT AGAIN ; OR, THE TKIAL8 
 
 promptness was specially noted by the partners; foi 
 when they came to their business in the morning; 
 they found the store well warmed, the floor nicely 
 swept, and every thing put in order. 
 
 When he was sent out with bundles, he did not 
 stop to look at the pictures in the shop windows, to 
 play marbles, or tell long stories to other boys in the 
 streets. If his employers had even been very unrea- 
 sonable, they could not have helped being pleased 
 with the new boy, and Wake confidentially assured 
 Wade that they had got a treasure. 
 
 Our hero was wholly devoted to his business. He 
 intended to make a man of himself, and he could 
 anly accomplish his purpose by constant exertion, by 
 constant study, and constant " trying again." He 
 was obliged to keep a close watch over himself, fot 
 often ne was tempted to be idle and negligent, to be 
 careless and indifferent. 
 
 After supper, on Thursday evening of his second 
 week at Wake and Wade's, he hastened to Majoi 
 Phillips' stable to see John Lane, and obtain the 
 cews from Rockville. His heart beat violently when 
 be saw John's great wagon, for lie dreaded some fear- 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 22. 
 
 fu! announcement from his sick friend. He had nn t 
 before been so deeply conscious of his indebtedness 
 to the little angel, as now, when she lay upon the 
 bed of pain, perhaps of death. She had kindled in 
 his soul a love for the good and the beautiful. She 
 had inspired him with a knowledge of the difference 
 between tne right and the wrong. In a word, she 
 was the guiding star of his existence. Her approba- 
 tion was to be the bright guerdon of fidelity to truth 
 and principle. 
 
 " How is Julia ? " asked Harry, without giving 
 John time to inquire why he had left the stable. 
 " They think she is a little grain better." 
 " Then she is still living ? " continued Harry, a 
 great load of anxiety removed from his soul. 
 
 " She is ; but it is very doubtful how it will turn 
 I went in tc see her yesterday, and she spoke of 
 vou." 
 
 " Spoke of me ? " 
 
 " She said she should like to see you." 
 " I should like to see her very much." 
 " Her father told me, if you was a mind to go ay 
 to Rockville, he would pay y>ur expenses." 
 19* 
 
222 TBF AGAIN ; OB, THE TBIALS 
 
 " I don't mind the expenses. I will go. if I cab 
 get away." 
 
 *' Her father feels very bad about it. Julia is an 
 only child, and he would do any thing in the world 
 to please her." 
 
 " I will go and see the gentlemen I work for, and 
 if they will let me, I will go with you to-morrow 
 morning." 
 
 " Better take the stage; you will get there so much 
 quicker." 
 
 " 1 will do so, then." 
 
 Harry returned home to ascertain of Edwaid where 
 Mr. Wake lived, and hastened to see him. That 
 gentleman, however, coldly assured him, if he went 
 to Rockville, he must lose his place — they could 
 not get along without a boy. Ir vain Harry urged 
 that he should be gone but two days ; the senior was 
 inflexible. 
 
 " What shall I do ? " said he to himself, when he 
 get into the street again. "Mr. Wake says, sie is 
 xx j relation of mine, and he don't see why I should 
 go. Poor Julia! She may die, and I shall ne^ej 
 »ee her again. I must go." 
 
A.TS2 TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 223 
 
 It did not require a gieat deal of deliberation to 
 convince himself that it was his duty to visit the sick 
 girl. She had been a true friend to him, i.z i he 
 could afford to sacrifice his place to procure her even 
 a slight gratification. Affection and duty called him 
 one way, self-interest the other. If he did not go, 
 he suould regret it as long as he lived. Perhaps Mr. 
 Wake would take him again on his return ; if not, 
 Le could at least go to work in the stable again. 
 
 " Edward, I am going to Rockville to-morrow," he 
 remarked to his " chum," on his return to Mrs. 
 Flint's. 
 
 " The old man agreed to it, then ? I thought he 
 wouldn't. He never will let a fellow off even for a 
 day." 
 
 " He did not ; but I must go." 
 
 " Better not, then. He will discharge you, for he 
 is a hard nut '" 
 
 " I must go," repeated Harry, taking a candle, and 
 going up to their chamber. 
 
 " You have got more spunk than I gave you credit 
 for; but you are sure of losing your place," replied 
 Edwaid, following him up stairs . 
 
124 TRY JLGAIX J OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 " I can't help it." 
 
 Harry opened a drawer in the old broken Imiean 
 ir the room, and from beneath his clothes took out 
 (he great pill box which served him for a savinga 
 tank 
 
 " You have got lots of money," remarked Edward, 
 4* he glanced at the contents of the box. 
 
 " Not much ; only twelve dollars," replied Harry, 
 iaking out three of them to pay his expenses to 
 Rockville. 
 
 " You won't leave that box there, will you, while 
 fou are gone ? " 
 
 " Why not ? " 
 
 " Somebody may steal it." 
 
 " I guess not. I can hide it, though, before I go." 
 
 " Better do so." 
 
 Harry took his money and went to a bookstore in 
 Washington Street, where he purchased an appropri- 
 *te pre2»nt for Julia, for which he gave half a dollar. 
 On his return, he wrote her name in it, with his own 
 &s the giver. Then t'^e safety of his money came up 
 for consideration; and this matter was settled by 
 raising a loose board in the floor, and depositing Kha 
 
AKD TRIUMPHS OF HARRY "WESl 223 
 
 pill box in a secure place. He had scarcely done so 
 icfore Edward joined him. 
 
 Our hero did not sleep much that night. He was 
 no1 altogether satisfied with the step he was about to 
 taka. It was not doing right by his employers ; but 
 he compromised the matter in part by engaging Ed- 
 ward, " for a consideration," to make the fires and 
 sweep out the next morning. 
 
 At noon, on the following day, he reached Rock- 
 ville, and hastened to the house of Mr. Biyant. 
 
 " How is she ? " he asked, breathless with interest, 
 of the girl who answered his knock. 
 
 " She is better to-day. Are you the boy from 
 Boston ? " 
 
 " Yes. Do they think she will get well ? " 
 
 " The doctor has more hope of her." 
 
 " I am very glad to hear it." 
 
 Harry was conducted into the house, and Mr. Bry- 
 ant was informed of his presence. 
 
 " I am glad you have come, Harry. Julia is much 
 better to-day," said her father, taking him by the 
 hand " She has frequently spoken of you, during 
 her illness, and feels a very strong interest in youi 
 welfare." 
 
226 TRY AGAIN ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 " She was very good to me. I don't know what 
 would have tecorae of me if she had not been a friend 
 to me." 
 
 " That is the secret of her interest in you. We 
 love those best whom we serve most. She is asleep 
 now ; but you shall see her as soon as she wakes. 
 In the mean time you had better have your dinner. 
 
 Mr. Bryant looked very pale, and his eyes were 
 reddened with weeping. Harry saw how much he 
 nad suffered during the last fortnight ; but it seemed 
 natural to him that he should suffer terribly at the 
 thought of losing one so beautiful and precious as 
 the little angel. 
 
 He dined alone with Mr. Bryant, for Mrs. Bryant 
 could not leave the couch of the little sufferer. The 
 fond father could speak of nothing but Julia, and 
 more than once the tears flooded his eyes, as he told 
 Harry how meek and patient she had been through 
 the fever, how loving she was, and how resigned 
 even to leave her parents, and go to the heavenlv 
 Parent, to dwell with him forever. 
 
 Harry wept, too ; and after dinner, he ^Imosl 
 feared to enter the chamber, and beh'ild tV wreck 
 
AND TKIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 227 
 
 tthirh disease had made of that bright and beautiful 
 form. Removing the wrapper from the book he had 
 brought, — a volume of sweet poems, entitled " Angel 
 Songs," — he followed Mr. Bryant into the sick gill's 
 chamber. 
 
 " Ah, Harry, I am delighted to s;>e you ! " ex- 
 claimed she, in a whisper, for her diseased throat 
 rendered articulation difficult and painful. 
 
 " I am sorry to see you so sick, Julia," replied 
 Harry, taking the wasted hand she extended to him. 
 
 " I am better, Harry. I feel as though I should 
 get well now." 
 
 " I hope you will." 
 
 " You don't know how much I have thought of 
 you, while I lay here ; how I wished you were my 
 brother, and could come in every day and see me," 
 she continued, with a faint smile. 
 
 " I wish I could." 
 
 " Now tell me how you get along in Boston." 
 
 " Very well ; but your father says I must not tulV 
 much with you now. I have brought you a little 
 jook ; " and he placed it in her hand. 
 
 " Jiow gcod you are, Harry! 'Arjipl Songs. 
 
228 TRY AGAIN ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 Hew pretty ! Now, Harry, you must read me on€ 
 of the angel songs." 
 
 " I will ; but I can't read very well," said he, as 
 he opened the volume. 
 
 But he did read exceedingly well. The piece he 
 selected was a very pretty and a very touching littla 
 song ; and Harry's feelings were so deeply moved by 
 the pathetic sentiments of the poem and their adap- 
 tation to the circumstances of the case, that he was 
 quite eloquent. 
 
 When he had finished, Mrs. Bryant interfered to 
 prevent further conversation ; and Julia, though she 
 had a great deal to say to her young friend, cheerful- 
 ly yielded to her mother's wishes, and Harry reluc- 
 tantly left the room. 
 
 Towards night he was permitted to see her again, 
 when he read several of the angel songs to her, and 
 ^ave her a brief account of the events of his resi- 
 dence in Boston. She was pleased with his earnest- 
 ness, and smiled approvingly upon him for the moral 
 triumphs he had achieved. The reward of all his 
 struggles with trial and temptation was lavishly be- 
 stowed in her commendation, and if fidelity had not 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HAEKY WEST. 22J 
 
 been its own reward, he could have accepted hex 
 approval as abundant compensation foi all he had 
 endured. There was no silly sentiment in Harry's 
 composition ; he had read no novels, seen no piayfi, 
 knew nothing of romance even " in real life." The 
 nomage he yielded to the fair and loving girl was an 
 unaffected reverence for simple purity and goodness; 
 that which the True Heart and the True Life never 
 fail to call forth wherever they exert their power. 
 
 On the following morning, Julia's condition was 
 very much improved, and the physician spoke confi- 
 dently of a favorable issue. Harry was permitted to 
 pend an hour by her bedside, inhaling the pure spirit 
 that pervaded the soul of the sick one. She was so 
 much better that her father proposed to visit the city, 
 to attend to some urgent business, which had been 
 long deferred by her illness ; and an opportunity was 
 thus afforded for Harry to return. 
 
 Mr. Bryant drove furiously in his haste, changing 
 horses twice on tbe journey, so that they reached the 
 city at one o'clock. On their arrival, Harry's atten« 
 tion naturally turned to the reception he expected :o 
 receive from his employers. He had no' spoker o? 
 20 
 
230 TRT AC.ATN ; OK, THE TRIALS 
 
 hia relations with them at Rockville, preferring not tc 
 pain them, on the one hand, and not to take too mwah 
 credit to himself for his devotion to Julia, on the 
 other. After the horse was disposed of at Major 
 Phillips's stable, Mr. Bryant walked down town wifb 
 Harry ; and when they reached the store of Wake 
 and Wade, he entered with him. 
 
 " What have you come back for ? " asked the 
 senior partner, rather coldly, when he saw the delin- 
 quent. " We don't want you." 
 
 Harry was confused at this reception, though it waa 
 nut unexpected. 
 
 " I didn't know but that you might be willing ta 
 take me again." 
 
 " No, we don't want you. Ah, Mr. Bryant ? Hap- 
 py to see you," continued Mr. Wake, recognizing 
 Harry's friend. 
 
 " Did I understand you aright ? Did you say tha< 
 you did not want my young friend, here?" replied 
 Mr. Bryant, taking the offered hand of Mr. Wake. 
 
 " I did say so," said the senior. " I was not aware 
 that he was your friend, though; " and he procerded 
 tc inform Mr. Bryant, that Harry had left them 
 tgainst their wish. 
 
AND TRITTMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 2tU 
 
 " A few words with you, if you please." 
 
 Mr. Wake conducted him to the private office, 
 where they remained for half an hour. 
 
 " It is all right, Harry," continued Mr. "Wake, on 
 tLeir return. " I did not understand the matter." 
 
 " Thank you, sir ! " ejaculated our hero, rejoiced 
 to find his place was still secure. " I would no 4 
 have gone if I could possibly have helped it." 
 
 " You did right, my boy, and I honor you for youl 
 courage and constancy." 
 
 Mr. Bryant bade him an affectionate adieu, pr>; min- 
 ing to write to him often until Julia recovered, s»nd 
 then departed. 
 
 With a grateful heart Harry immediately resumed 
 his duties, and the partners were probably as glad to 
 retain him as he was to remain. 
 
 At night, when he went to his chamber, he raised 
 the loose board to get the pill box, containing his 
 savings, in order to return the money he Lad not 
 expended. To his consternation, he ibscjvered that 
 it was gone ! 
 
232 TBT AGAIN : OB. THE THIAI.fi 
 
 CHAPTER XVITT. 
 
 IK TPKICH HARRY MEETS "WITH AN 0L7) AC« 
 CtTAIVTANCE, AND GETS A HARD KNOCK OH 
 THE HEAD. 
 
 It was in vain that Harry searched beneath the 
 bn-kin floor for his lost treasure; it could not be 
 found. He raised the boards up, and satisfied him- 
 self that it had not slipped away into any crevice, or 
 fallen through into the room below ; and the conclu- 
 sion was inevitable that the box had been stolen. 
 
 Who could have stolen it ? The mystery confused 
 Harry ; for he was certain that no one had seen him 
 deposit the box beneath the floor. No one except 
 Edward even knew that he had any money. He was 
 sure that neither Mrs. Flint nor Katy would have 
 (stolen it ; and he was not willing to believe that bin 
 room mate would be guilt j of such a mean and cou< 
 temptible act. 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 233 
 
 He tried to assure himself that it had not been 
 stolen — that it was still somewhere beneath the 
 tioor ; and he pulled up another hoard, to iesumi 
 the search. He had scarcely done so before Edward 
 joined him. 
 
 " What are you about, Harry ? " he asked, appar- 
 ently very much astonished at his chum's occupation 
 " Are you going to pull the house down ? " 
 
 " Not exactly. You know my pill box ? " replied 
 Hurry, susoending operations to watch Edward' 
 expression when he told him of his loss. 
 
 " The one you kept your money in ? " 
 
 " Yes. Well, it is gone." 
 
 " Gone ! " exclaimed Edward, starting back with 
 surprise . 
 
 " It is either lost or. stolen." 
 
 " What did you do with it ? " 
 
 " Put it here, under this loose board." 
 
 " It must be there now, then. I will help yoi 
 find it." 
 
 Edward manifested a great deal of enthusiasm ia 
 the search. He was sure it must be where Harry 
 had put it, <>r that it had rolled back out of sight; 
 
234 TRY AGAIN ; OR. THE TRIALS 
 
 and he began tearing up the floor with a zeal that 
 threaten ;d the destruction of the building. But ths 
 box could not be found, and they were oblige 1 10 
 abandon the search. 
 
 " Too bad, Harry." 
 
 " That is a fact ; I can't spare that money, any 
 how. I have been a good while earning it, and it is 
 too thundering bad to lose it." 
 
 " I don't understand it," continued Edward. 
 
 " Nor I either," replied Harry, looking his com- 
 panion sharp in the eye. " No one knew I had it 
 but you." 
 
 " Do you mean to say I stole it?" exclaimed Ed- 
 ward, doubling his fist, while his cheek reddened 
 with anger. 
 
 " I don't say so." 
 
 " Humph ! Well, you better not." 
 
 " Don't get mad, Edward. I didn't mean to lay 
 it to you." 
 
 ''• Didn't you ? " And Edward was very glad to 
 have the matter compromised. 
 
 " I did not ; perhaps I spoke hasti'y. You know 
 how hard I worked for this money ; and it seem? 
 hard to lose it. But no matter; I will try again." 
 
A.SV TRIUMPHS OF HAEKTf WEST. 235 
 
 M/s Flint and Katy were much grieved ^hen 
 If arry told of his loss. They looked as though they 
 Busp?cted Edward; but they said nothing; for it waa 
 very hard to accuse a son or a brother of such a 
 crime. 
 
 Mrs. Flint advised Harry to put his money in the 
 savings bank in future, promising to take care of hia 
 Bpare funds till they amounted to five dollars, which 
 was then the smallest sum that would be received. 
 It was a long time before our hero became reconciled 
 to his loss. He had made up his mind to be a rich 
 man ; and he had carefully hoarded every cent he 
 could spare, thus closely imitating the man who got 
 rich by saving his fourpences. 
 
 A few days after the loss, he was reading in one 
 of Katy's Sunday school books about a miser. The 
 wretch was held up as a warning to young folks, by 
 showing them how he starved his body and soul foi 
 *he sake of gold. 
 
 " That's why I lost my money ! " exclaimed Harry 
 as he laid the book upon the window. 
 
 " What do you mean, Harry ? " asked Katy, wb« 
 ft it near him. 
 
236 TRY AGAIN ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 •■ I have been hoarding up my money just like thifl 
 aid man in the book." 
 
 '* You are not a miser, Harry. You couldn't be 
 mean and stingy, if you tried." 
 
 " Yes, I could. I love money." 
 
 " So does every body." 
 
 " A miser wouldn't do what you did for us, Harry,*' 
 added Mrs. Flint. " We ought to be careful and 
 saving." 
 
 " I have been thinking too much of money. After 
 all, perhaps it was just as well that I lost that 
 money." 
 
 " I am sorry you lost it ; for I don't think there 
 is any danger of youi becoming a miser," said 
 Kary. 
 
 " Perhaps not ; at any rate, it has set me to 
 thinking." 
 
 Haiiy finished the book; and it was, fortunately, 
 just such a work as he required to give him right 
 and proper views in regard to the value of wealth. 
 His dream of being a rich man was essentially modi- 
 fied by these views ; and he renewedly resoh ed that 
 it was better to be a good man than to be i rub. man, 
 
AW1> TB1UMPHS OF UAREY WEST. 237 
 
 if ne could not be both. It seemed to him a little 
 remarkable that the minister should preach upon this 
 rery topic on the following Sunday, taking for his 
 text thn words, " Seek ye first the kingdom of 
 heaven, and all these things shall be added unto you." 
 He wae deeply impressed by the sermon, probably 
 because it was on a subject to which he had given 
 some attention. 
 
 A few days after his return from Rockville, Harry 
 received a very cheerful letter from Mr. Bryant, to 
 which Julia had added a few lines in a postscript. 
 The little angel was rapidly recovering, and our hero 
 was rejoiced beyond expression. The favorable ter- 
 mination of her illness was a joy which far outbal- 
 anced the loss of his money, and he was as cheerful 
 and contented as ever. As he expressed it, in rather 
 homely terms, he had got " the streak of fat and the 
 streak of lean." Julia was alive ; was to smile upon 
 him again : was still to inspire him with that love 
 of goodness which had given her such an influence 
 over him. 
 
 Week after week passed by, and Harry heard nolh' 
 mg of his lost treasure ; but Julia had fully recoT< 
 
238 TRY AGAIN ; OE, THE TRIALS 
 
 ered, and for the treasure lost an incomparably greater 
 treasure had been gained. Edward and himself con- 
 tinued to occupy the same room, though ever since 
 the loss of the money box Harry's chum had tieated 
 him coldly. There had never been much sympathy 
 between them ; for while Edward was at the theatre, 
 or perhaps at worse places, Harry was at home, read- 
 ing some good book, writing a letter to Rockville, or 
 employed in some other worthy occupation. While 
 Harry was at church or at the Sunday school, Ed- 
 ward, in company with some dissolute companion, 
 was riding about the adjacent country. 
 
 Mrs. Flint often remonstrated with her son upon 
 the life he led, and the dissipated habits he was con- 
 tracting ; and several times Harry ventured to intro- 
 duce the subject. Edward, however, would not hear 
 a word from either. It is true that we either grow 
 better or worse, as we advance in life ; and Fdward 
 Flint's path was down a headlong steep. His mother 
 wept, and begged him to be a better b *j. He only 
 laughed at her. 
 
 Harry often wondered how he could afford to ridfc 
 out, and visit the theatre and other places of am ise* 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 239 
 
 meat so frequently. His salary wis only five dollars 
 a week now ; it was only four when he had *aid it 
 was five. He seemed to have money at all times, 
 and to spend it very freely. He could not help be- 
 lieving that the contents of his pill box had paid for 
 some of the " stews " and " Tom and Jerrys " which 
 his reckless chum consumed. But the nine dollars 
 he had lost would have been but a drop in the bucket 
 compared with his extravagant outlays. 
 
 One day, about six months after Harry's return 
 from Kockville, as he was engaged behind the coun- 
 ter, a young man entered the store, and accosted him 
 
 " Halloo, Harry ! How are you ? " 
 
 It was a familiar voice ; and, to Harry's surprise, 
 but not much to his satisfaction, he recognized his 
 old companion, Ben Smart, who, he had learned Irora 
 Mr. Bryant, had been sent to the house ul correction 
 for burning Squire Walker's barn. 
 
 "How dc you do, Ben?" returned Harry, not verj 
 cerdiady. 
 
 " So you are here — are you ? " 
 
 " Yes, I have been here this &ix months." 
 
 " Good place ? " 
 
240 TRY AGAIN ; UK, THE TBIAL8 
 
 " Firsi rate." 
 
 i: Any chance for me ? " 
 
 " No. I gueas not." 
 
 " You have got a sign out for a boy, I spe." 
 
 It was true they had. There were more errands 
 to run than one boy could attend to ; besides, Harry 
 had proved himself so faithful and so intelligent, that 
 Mr. Wake wished to retain him in the store, to fit 
 him for a salesman. 
 
 ** You can speak a good word for me, Harry ; for 
 I should like to work here," continued Ben. 
 
 "■ I thought you were in — in the " 
 
 Harry did not like to use the offensive expression ; 
 and Ben's face darkened when he discovered what 
 the other was going to say. 
 
 " Not a word about that," said he. " If you ever 
 mention that little matter, I'll take your life." 
 
 " But how was it? " 
 
 " My father got me out, and then I ran away. Not 
 & word more, for I had as lief be hung for an ol J 
 sheep as a lamb." 
 
 " There is Mr. Wake ; you can apply to him," 
 continued H-irry. 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 241 
 
 Ben walked boldly up to Mr. Wake, and asked 
 for the place, The senior talked with him a few 
 moments, and then retired to his private office, call- 
 ing Harry as ho entered. 
 
 " If you say any thing, I will be the death of you,' 
 whispered Ben, as Harry passed him on his way to 
 the office. 
 
 Our hero was not particularly pleased with thes* 
 threats ; he certainly was not frightened by them. 
 
 " Do you know that boy, Harry ? " asked Mr. 
 Wakp, as he presented himself before the senior. 
 
 " I do, sir." 
 
 " Who is he, and what is he ? " 
 
 " His name is Benjamin Smart. He belongs to 
 Redfield." 
 
 •' To Redfield ? He said he came from Worces- 
 ter." 
 
 " I believe Mr. Bryant told you the story about mj 
 levring Redfield," said Harry. 
 
 " He did." 
 
 " That is the boy that run away with me." 
 
 " And the one that set the barn afire ? * 
 
 « ; Yea, sir." 
 
 21 
 
242 TRY AGAIN ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 " That is enough." And Harry returned to hii 
 work at the counter. 
 
 " What did he say to you ? " asked Ben. 
 
 Before Harry had time to make any reply, Mr. 
 Wake joined them. 
 
 " We don't want you, young man," said he. 
 
 With a glance of hatred at Harry, the applicant 
 left the store. Since leaving Redfield, our hero's 
 views of duty had undergone a change ; and he now 
 realized that to screen a wicked person was to plot 
 with him against the good order of society. He 
 knew Ben's character ; he had no reason, after theii 
 interview, to suppose it was changed ; and he could 
 not wrong his employers by permitting them igno- 
 rantly to engage a bad boy, especially when he had 
 been questioned directly on the point. 
 
 Towards evening, Harry was sent with a bundle 
 to a place in Boylston Street, which required him to 
 cross the Common. On his return, when he reached 
 the corner of the burying ground, Ben Smart, who 
 had evidently followed him, and lay in wait at this 
 spot for him, sprang from his covert upon him. The 
 young villain struck him a heavj blow in the eye 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY "WEST. Z43 
 
 oefore Harry realized his purpose. The blow, how- 
 ever, was vigorously returned ; but Ben, besides 
 oeing larger and stronger than his victim, had a 
 large stone in his hand, with which he struck him a 
 blow on the side of the head, knocking him insensi- 
 ble to the ground. 
 
 The wretch, seeing that he had done his work, fled 
 along the side of the walk of the burying ground, 
 pursued by several persons who had witnessed the 
 assault. Ben was a fleet runner this time, and suc- 
 ceeded in making his escape. 
 
844 iky again; or. the triatjb 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 IH WHICH HARRY FINDS THAT EVEN A BROKEM 
 HEAD MAT BE OF SOME USE TO A PERSON. 
 
 When Harry recovered his consciousness, he found 
 dimself in an elegantly furnished chamber, with sev- 
 eral persons standing around the bed upon which he 
 had been laid. A physician was bending over him, 
 engaged in dressing the severe wound he had received 
 in the side of his head. 
 
 " There, young man, you have had a narrow es- 
 cape," said the doctor, as he saw his patient's eyes 
 open. 
 
 " Where am I ? " asked Harry, faintly, as he tried 
 to concentrate his wandering senses. 
 
 " You are in good hands, my boy. What is youl 
 name ? " 
 
 " Harry West. Can't I go home now ? " replied 
 .he sufferer, trying to rise on the bed. 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 245 
 
 " Do you feel as though you could walk home ? " 
 
 " I don't know ; I feel kind of faint." 
 
 " Does your head pain you ? " 
 
 " No, sir ; it feels numb, and every thing seems t§ 
 be flying round." 
 
 " I dare say." 
 
 Harry expressed an earnest desire to go home, and 
 the physician consented to accompany him in a car- 
 riage to Mrs. Flint's residence. He had been con- 
 veyed in his insensible condition to a house in Bcyl- 
 ston Street, the people of which were very kind to 
 him, and used every effort to make him comfortable. 
 
 A carriage was procured, and Harry was assisted 
 to enter it ; for he was so weak and confused that he 
 could not stand alone. Ben had struck him a terrible 
 blow ; and, as the physician declared, it was almost 
 a miracle that he had not been killed. 
 
 Mrs. Flint and Katy were shocked and alarmed 
 when they saw the helpless boy borne into the house ; 
 but every thing that the circumstances required wai 
 doco for him. 
 
 " Has Edward come home ? ' ' he asked, when tbej 
 had placed him on the bed. 
 21 * 
 
2*6 TRY AGAIN J OR, TH£ TRIALS 
 
 « No. not yet." 
 
 " They will wonder what has become of me at the 
 Ptore," continued the sufferer, whose thoughts revert* 
 ed to his post of duty. 
 
 " I will go down to the store, and tell them what 
 has happened," said Mr. Callender, the kind gentle- 
 mar, to whose house Harry had been carried, and who 
 had attended him to his home. 
 
 " Thank you, sir ; you are very good. I don't 
 want them to think that I have run away, or any 
 thing of that sort." 
 
 " They will not think so, I am sure," returned 
 Mr. Callender, as he departed upon his mission. 
 
 " Do you think I can go to the store to-morrow ? " 
 asked Harry, turning to the physician. 
 
 " I am afraid not ; you must keep very quiet for a 
 time." 
 
 Harry did not like this announcement. He had 
 never been sick a day in his life ; and it seemed to 
 him just then as though the world could not possibly 
 move on without him to help the thing along. A 
 gieat many persons cherish similar notions, and can« 
 **ot afford to be sick a single day. 
 
AJTD TRIUMPHS OF KAKRf WEST. 24? 
 
 I should like to tell my readers at some length 
 what blessings come to us while we are sick ; what 
 angels with healing ministrations for the soul ^isit 
 the couch of pain ; what holy thoughts are sometimes 
 kindled in the darkened chamber ; what noble reso^ 
 hitions have their birth in the heart when the head is 
 pillowed on the bed of sickness. But my remaining 
 space will not permit it ; and I content myself with 
 remarking, that sickness in its place is just as great 
 a blessing as health ; that it is part of our needed 
 discipline. When any of my young friends are sick, 
 therefore, let them yield uncomplainingly to their lot, 
 assured that He who hath them in his keeping "doeth 
 all things well." 
 
 Harry was obliged to learn this lesson ; and when 
 the pain in his head began to be almost intolerable, 
 he fretted and vexed himself about things at the 
 store. He was not half as patient as he might have 
 been ; and, during the evening, he said a great many 
 hr.Td things about Ben Smart, the author of his mis* 
 fortune. I am sorry to say he cherished some ma- 
 lignant, revengeful feelings towards Kim, and looked 
 forward with a great dea, 1 of satisfaction to the tim* 
 
248 irt again; or, the trials 
 
 when he should be arrested and punished for hit 
 crime. 
 
 Both Mr. Wake and Mr. Wade cahsd upon him 
 ae soon as they heard of his misfortune. They were 
 very indignant when they learned that Hairy was 
 Buffering for telling the truth. They assuied him 
 that they should miss him very much at the store, 
 but they would do the best they could — which, of 
 course, was very pleasant to him. But they told him 
 they could get along without him, bade him not fret, 
 and said his salary should be paid just the same a& 
 though he did his work. 
 
 *' Thank you ! thank you ! You are very good," 
 exclaimed Harry. 
 
 " Yes," Mr. Wake continued ; " and, as it will 
 cost you more to be sick, we will raise your wages 
 to four dollars a week. What do you say, Wade ? " 
 
 " Certainly," replied the junior, warmly. 
 
 There was no possible excuse for frptting new. 
 With so many kind friends around him, he had no 
 •xcuse for fretting ; but his human nature rebelled at 
 bis lot, and he made himself more miserable than 
 the pain of h?s wound could possibly have made him 
 
AND TRIVMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 249 
 
 Mrs. Flint, who sat all night by his bed side, labored 
 ffi vain to make him resigned to his situation. It 
 Beamed as though the great trial of his lifetime had 
 come — that which he was least prepared to meet 
 and conquer. 
 
 The next day, he was very feverish. His hea^ 
 ached, and the pain of his wound was very severe 
 His moral condition was, if possible, worse than on 
 the preceding night. He was fretful, morose, and 
 unreasonable towards those kind friends who kept 
 vigil around his bed side. Strange as it may seem, 
 and strange as it did seem to himself, his thoughts 
 seldom reverted to the little angel. Once, when he 
 thought of her extended on the bed of pain as 
 he was then, her example seemed to reproach him. 
 She had been meek and patient through all her suf- 
 ferings — had been content to die, even, if it was the 
 w ill of the Father in heaven. With a peevish excla- 
 mation, he drove her — his guardian angel, as she 
 oftei seemed to him — from his mind, with the re- 
 flection that she could not have been as sick as he 
 was, that she did not endure as much pain as he did 
 For several days he remained in i retty much tiw» 
 
250 TRY AGAIN ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 same state. His head ached, and the fever burned 
 in his veins. His moral symptoms were not im- 
 proved, and he continued to snarl and growl at those 
 who took care of him. 
 
 " Give me some cold water, marm ; I don't want 
 your slops," fretted he, when Mrs. Flint brought him 
 his drink. 
 
 " But the doctor says you mustn't have cold wa- 
 ter." It was twenty-five years ago. 
 
 " Confound the doctor ! Give me a glass of cold 
 water, and I will " 
 
 The door opened then, causing him to suspend the 
 petulant words ; for one stood there whose good 
 opinion he valued more than that of any other peTson. 
 
 " O Harry ! I am so sorry to see you so sick ! " 
 exclaimed Julia Bryant, rushing to his bed side. 
 
 She was followed by her father and mother ; and 
 Katy had admitted them unannounced to the chamber. 
 
 " Julia ! is it you ? " replied Harry, smiling for the 
 first time since the assault. 
 
 " Yes, Harry ; I hope you are better. When I 
 heard about it last night, I would not give fathei 
 any peace till he promised to bring me to Boston." 
 
AXD TRIUMI IS OF H1ERY ■WEST. 251 
 
 " Don't be so wild, Julia," interposed her mother. 
 * You forget that he is very sick." 
 
 '*' Forgive me, Harry ; I was so glad and so sorry. 
 I hope I didn't make your head ache," she added, in 
 a very gentle tone. 
 
 ** No, Julia. It was very good of you to come 
 and see me." 
 
 Harry felt a change come over him the moment 
 she entered the room. The rebellious thoughts in 
 his bosom seemed to be banished by her presence ; 
 and though his head ached and his flesh burned as 
 much as ever, he somehow had more courage to en- 
 dure them. 
 
 After Mr. and Mrs. Bryant had asked him a few 
 questions, and expressed their sympathy in proper 
 terms, they departed, leaving Julia to remain with 
 the invalid for a couple of hours. 
 
 " I did not expect to see you, Julia," said Harry, 
 when they had gone. 
 
 " Didn't you think I would do as much fop you 
 as you did for me ? " 
 
 *• It was rather different with you. I uSl. ur.ly a 
 poor boy, and you are a rich man's child." 
 
252 TRY AGAIN ; OS, THE TEIAL8 
 
 " Pooh, Harry ! Our souls are all of a color. Yoxi 
 can't think how had I felt when father got Mr. 
 Wake's letter." 
 
 " It's a hard case to be knocked down in that 
 way, and laid up in the house for a week or two." 
 * I know it ; hut we must be patient." 
 
 "Can't be patient. I haven't any patience — not 
 a bit. If I could get hold of Ben Smart, I would 
 choke him. I hope they will catch him, and send 
 him to the state prison for life." 
 
 Julia looked sad. These malignant words did not 
 sound like those of the Harry West she had known 
 and loved. They were so bitter that they curdled the 
 warm blood in her veins, and the heart of Harry 
 seemed less tender than before. 
 
 " Harry," said she, in soft tones, and so sad that 
 he could not but observe the change which had come 
 over her. 
 
 " Well, Julia." 
 
 " You don't mean what you said." 
 
 " Don't mean it ? " 
 
 ''No, I am sure you don't. Do you remembei 
 what the Bible says ? " 
 
AND TEIUM1HS OF HAEET WEST. 253 
 
 " What does it say ? " asked he, deeply impressed 
 by the sad and solemn tones of the little angel. 
 
 " ' Forgive your enemies,' Harry." 
 
 " Forgive Ben Smart, after he has almL=t killed 
 me?" 
 
 Julia took up the Bible, which lay on the table by 
 the bed side, — it was the one she had given him, — 
 and read scleral passages upon the topic she bad 
 introduced. 
 
 Harry was ashamed of himself. The gentle rebuke 
 ehe administered touched his soul, and he thought 
 how peevish and ill-natured he had been. 
 
 " You have been badly hurt, Harry, and you are 
 very sick. Now, let me ask you one question : 
 Which would you rather be, Harry West, sick as 
 you are, or Ben Smart, who struck the blow ? " 
 
 " I had rather be myself," replied he, promptly 
 
 " You ought to be glad that you are Harry West, 
 Instead of Ben Smart. Sick as you are, I am 9ure 
 you are a great deal happier than he can be, even if 
 he is not punished for striking you." 
 
 "You are right, Julia. I have been very wicked 
 Here I have been grumbling and growling all tht 
 
 as 
 
254 try again; or, the trials 
 
 time for four lays. I have learned better It if 
 lucky for me that I am Harry, instead of Ben. ' 
 
 " I am sure I have been a great deal better since 
 I was sick than before. When I lay on the bed, 
 hardly able to move, I kept thinking all the time ; 
 and my thoughts did me a great deal of good." 
 
 Harry had learned his lesson, and Julia's presenca 
 was indeed an angel's visit. For an hour longer she 
 Bat by his bed, and her words were full of inspira- 
 tion ; and when her father called for her, he could 
 nardly repress a tear as she bade him good night. 
 
 After she had gone Harry begged Mrs. Flint and 
 Katy to forgive him for being so cross, promising to 
 be patient in the future. And he kept his promise. 
 The next day, Julia came again. She read to him, 
 conversed with him about the scenes of the preceding 
 autumn in the woods, and told him again about hei 
 own illness. In the afternoon, she bade him a fina 
 adieu, as she was to return that day to her home. 
 
 The patience and resignation which he had learnt J 
 gave a favorable turn to his sickness, and he began 
 to improve. It was a month, however, bsfore he wag 
 »ble to take his place in the store agaii . Without 
 
AND TRIUMTRS OF HARRY AVEST 25.5 
 
 She assistance of Julia, perhaps, he had not learned 
 th<; moral of sickness so well. As it was, he came 
 forth from his chamber with truer and loftier motives, 
 and with a more earnest desire to lead the true life. 
 
 Ben Smart had bjen ai rested ; and, shortly after 
 nis recovery, Harry was summoned as a witness a*, 
 his trial. It was a plain case ; and Ben was seat 
 to tfie h >use of correction for a long term 
 
25F iRY asatk: ob. the trials 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 IM WHICH HARRY PASaSS THROUGH HIS SEVERE81 
 TRIAL, AND ACHIEVES HIS GREATEST 1RIUMPH. 
 
 Three years may appear to b3 a great while to the 
 little pilgrim through life's vicissitudes ; but they 
 e.ion pass away and are -as "a talc that is told." To 
 note all the events of Harry's experience through this 
 period, would require another volume ; therefore I 
 can only tell the reader what he was, and what results 
 he had achieved in that time. Jt was filled with triaU 
 anu temptations, not all of which were overcome 
 without care and privation. Often he failed, was 
 often disappointed, and often was pained to see how 
 feebly the Spirit warred againrt the Flesh. 
 
 He loved money, and avaric. frequently prompted 
 him to do those things which would have wrecked 
 his bright hopes. That vision of the grandeui and 
 influence of the ricli .v.t.i.'s posirlcu sometimes demi- 
 
AND 1'KIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 257 
 
 3d bim, causing him to forget for a time that the sou] 
 would live forever, while the body and its treasures 
 would perish in the grave. As he grew older, he 
 reasoned more ; his principles became more firmly 
 fixed ; and the object of existence assumed a more 
 definite character. He was an attentive student, and 
 every year not only made him wiser, but better. 1 
 do nc* mean to say that Harry was a remarkably 
 good boy, that his character was perfect, or any 
 thing of the kind. He meant well, and tried to do 
 well, and he did not struggle in vain against the trials 
 and temptations that beset him. I dare say, those 
 with whom he associated did not consider him much 
 better than themselves. It is true, he did not swear, 
 did not frequent the haunts of vice and dissipation, 
 did not spend his Sundays in riding about the coun- 
 try ; yet he had his faults, and captious people did 
 nr>t fail to see them. 
 
 He was still with Wake and Wade, though he was 
 ft salesman now, on a salary of five dollars a week. 
 lie still boarded with Mrs. Flint, though Edward wab 
 no longer his room mate. A year had been sufficient 
 to di&gust his "fast" companion with the hocely f^ro 
 22 * 
 
258 THY AGAIN ; OR, THE ISIAL8 
 
 and homely quarters of his father's house ; and. a* 
 his salary was now eight dollars a week, he vecupied 
 a room in the attic of a first class hotel. 
 
 Harry was sixteen years old, and he had three hun- 
 dred dollars in the Savings Bank. He might have 
 Had more, if he had not so carefully watched and 
 guarded against the sin of avarice. He gave some 
 very handsome sums to the various public charities, 
 as well as expended them in relieving distress wher- 
 ever it presented itself. It is true, it was sometimes 
 very hard work to give of his earnings to relieve the 
 poor ; and if he had acted in conformity with the 
 nature he had inherited, he might never have known 
 that it was " more blessed to give than to receive." 
 As he grew older, and the worth of money was more 
 apparent, he was tempted to let the poor and the 
 unfortunate take care of themselves ; but the struggle 
 of duty with parsimony rendered his gifts all the more 
 v-orthy. 
 
 Joe Flint had several times violated his solemn 
 resolution to drink no more ardent spirits ; but Harry, 
 who was his friend ai^d confidant, encouraged !im, 
 when be failed, ';o try ?.gui> ; s^d It vY:;:- nev> ne»rl| 
 a year since he had been on a " spiee."' 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 25i 
 
 Our hero occasionally heard from Rockville; and a 
 few months before the event we are about to nan ate, 
 ne had spent the pleasantcst week of his life with 
 Julia Bryant, amid those scenes which were so full 
 of interest to both of them. As he walked through 
 the woods where he had first met the M little angel," 
 — she had now grown to be a tall girl, — he could 
 rot but recall the events of that meeting. It was 
 there that he first began to live, in the true sense of 
 the word. It was there that he had been born into a 
 new sphere of moral existence. 
 
 Julia was still his friend, still his guiding star. 
 Though the freedom of childish intimacy had beer 
 diminished, the same heart resided in each, and each 
 felt the same interest in the other. The correspond- 
 ence between them had been almost wholly suspend- 
 ed, perhaps by the interference of the " powers " at 
 Rockville, and perhaps by the growing sense of the 
 " fitness of things " in the parties. But they occa- 
 Bionall) met, which amply compensated for the depri* 
 \ntions which propriety demanded. 
 
 But I must pass on to the closing event of nay 
 »tory — it was Harry's severest trial, yet it resulted 
 in bis most signd triumph. 
 
260 TKY AGAIN ; OB. THE TRIALS 
 
 Edward Flint was always short of money. He 
 lived extravagantly, and his increased salary was in- 
 efficient to meet his wants. When Harry saw him 
 drive a fast horse through the streets on Sundays, and 
 hear" him say how often he went to the theatre, what 
 balls and parties he attended, — when he observed 
 how elegantly he dressed, and that he wore a gold 
 chain, a costly breast pin, and several rings, — he did 
 not wonder that he was " short." He lived like a 
 prince, and it seemed as though eight dollars a week 
 would be but a drop in the bucket in meeting hia 
 expenses. 
 
 One day, in his extremity, he applied to Harry for 
 the loan of five dollars. Our hero did not like to 
 encourage his extravagance ; but he was good-natured, 
 &nd could not well avoid doing the favor, especially 
 as Edward wanted the money to pay his board. How* 
 ever, he made it the occasion for a friendly remon- 
 strance, and gave the spendthrift youth some excel- 
 lent advice. Edward was vexed at the lecture ; but, 
 ts he obtained the loan, he did not resent the 
 kir.dly act. 
 
 Abo]it a fortnight after, Edward paid him the 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HAKBT WEST. 20 J 
 
 nuney. It consisted of a two dollar bill and six 
 half dollars. Harry was about to make a furthet 
 application of bis views of duty to his friend's case, 
 when Edward impatiently interrupted him, telling 
 aim that, as he had got his money, he need not preach. 
 This was just before Harry went home to dinner. 
 
 On his return, Mr. Wake called him into the pri- 
 vate office ; and when they had entered, he closed and 
 locked the door. Harry regarded this as rather a 
 singular proceeding ; but, possessing the entire confi- 
 dence of his employers, it gave him no uneasiness. 
 
 " Harry," Mr. "Wake began, " we have been losing 
 money from the store for the last year, or more. 1 
 have missed small sums a great many times." 
 
 " Indeed ! " exclaimed Harry, not knowing wheth- 
 er he was regarded as a confidant, or as the suspected 
 person. 
 
 " To-day I gave a friend of mine several marked 
 coins, with which he purchased some goods. These 
 coins have all been stolen." 
 
 " Is it possible, sir ! " 
 
 " Now, we have four salesmen besides yourself 
 Which stole it > " 
 
262 TRY AGAIN ; OH, THK TR.AT,S 
 
 "I can form no idea, sir," returned Hany "] 
 can only speak for myself." 
 
 " O, weil, I had no suspicion that it was you,' 
 fcdded Mr. Wake, with a smile. " I am going to try 
 the same experiment again ; and I want you to kecj 
 four eyes on the money drawer all the rest cf the 
 ifternoon." 
 
 " I will do so, sir." 
 
 Mr. Wake took several silver coins from his pocket, 
 md scratched them in such a way that they could be 
 readily identified, and then dismissed Harry, with 
 the injunction to be very vigilant. 
 
 When he came out of the office, he perceived that 
 Edward and Charles Wallis were in close conversa- 
 tion. 
 
 " I say, Harry, what's in the wind ? " asked the 
 former, as our hero returned to his position behind 
 the counter. 
 
 Harry evaded answering the question, md the other 
 two salesmen, who were very intimate, and whose 
 testes and amusements were very much alike, con- 
 tinued their conversation. They were evidently aware 
 b t something unusual had oceir red, or was abouJ 
 1 .c«*or. 
 
AND TBItTMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 263 
 
 Soon after, a person appeared at the counter and 
 aurchased a dozen spools of cotton, offering two half 
 dollars in payment. Harry kept his eye upon the 
 money drawer, but nothing was discovered, l'rorn 
 what he knew of Edward's mode of life, he was [re- 
 pared to believe that he was the guilty person. 
 
 The experiment was tried for three days in succes- 
 tion before any result was obtained. The coins were 
 always found in the drawer ; but on the fourth day, 
 when they were very busy, and there was a great deal 
 of money in the drawer, Harry distinctly observed 
 Edward, while making change, take several coin3 
 from the till. The act appalled him ; he forgot the 
 customer to whose wants he was attending, and 
 hastened to inform Mr. Wake of the discovery. 
 
 " Where are you going, Harry ? " asked Edward, 
 as he passed him. 
 
 " Only to the office," replied he ; and his appear- 
 ance and manner might have attracted the attention 
 of any skilful rogue. 
 
 " Come, Harry, don't leave your place," addet 
 Edward, playfully grasping him by tho collar, on his 
 returi;, 
 
264 XKY AGAIN ; OR, THE TKiALS 
 
 " Don't stop to fool, Edward," answered Hairy, ai 
 be shook him off, and took his place at the countei 
 agdin. 
 
 He wan very absent-minded the rest of the fore- 
 noon, and his frame shook with agitation, as he heard 
 Mr. "Wake call Edward, shortly after. But he trem- 
 bled still more when he was summoned also, for it 
 was very unpleasant business. 
 
 " Of course, you will not object to letting me see 
 the contents of your pockets, Edward," said Mr. 
 Wake, as Harry entered the office. 
 
 " Certainly not, sir ; " and he turned every one of 
 his pockets inside out. 
 
 Not one of the decoy pieces was found upon him, 
 or any other coins, for that matter ; he had no money. 
 Mr. Wake was confused, for he fully expected to con- 
 \ict the culprit on the spot. 
 
 '■ 1 suppose I am indebted to this young man foi 
 tt is," continued Edward, with a sneer. " I'd bet five 
 d< llais he stole the money himself, if any has l>een 
 stolen. Why don't you search him ? " 
 
 " Search me, sir, by all means," added Harry ; and 
 he began to turn his pockets out. 
 
AST) TKITJMPHS OF HA.RBY "WEST. 261 
 
 From his vest pocket he took out a little parcel 
 wrapped in a shop bill. 
 
 " What's that ? " said Edward. 
 
 '* I don't know. I wasn't aware that there was 
 any such thing in my pocket." 
 
 " I suppose not," sneered Edward. 
 
 " But you seem to know more about it than he 
 Edward," remarked Mr. Wake, as he took the parcel. 
 
 " I know nothing about it." 
 
 The senior opened the wrapper, and to his surprise 
 and sorrow, found it contained two of the marked 
 coins. But he w&3 not disposed hastily to condemn 
 Harry. He >:ouI-l aot Relieve him capable of steal- 
 ing ; besides, tbeie wa3 something in Edward's man- 
 ner which seemed to indicate that our hero was the 
 victim of a conspiracy. 
 
 " As he has been so very generous towards me, 
 Mr. Wake," interposed Edward, " I will suggest a 
 moans by which you may satisfy yourself. My moth- 
 er keeps Harry's money for him ; and perhaps, if you 
 look it over, you will find some more marked pieces." 
 
 "Mr. Wake, I'm innocent," protested Harry, when 
 he had in some measure nwnvered from the first shock 
 
266 TKY AGAIN ; T .C, THE TRIALS 
 
 of tfce heavy blow. " I tevei stole a cent from any 
 body." 
 
 " I don't believe you ever did, Harry. But can 
 you explain how this money happened to be in jcui 
 pocket ? " 
 
 " I cannot, sir. If you wish to look at my money, 
 Mrj. Flint will show it to you." 
 
 " Perhaps I had better." 
 
 •• Don't let him go with you, though," said Ed- 
 ward, maliciously. 
 
 Mr. Wake wrote an order to Mrs. Flint, requesting 
 her to exhibit the money, and Harry signed it. The 
 senior then hastened to Avery Street. 
 
 " Now, Master Spy ! " sneered Edward, when he 
 had gone. " So you have been watching me. I 
 thought as much." 
 
 " I only did what Mr. Wake told me to do," re- 
 plied Harry, exceedingly mortified at the turn the 
 investigation had taken. 
 
 " Humph! That is the way with you psalm-sing- 
 ers. Steal yourself, and lay it to me ! " 
 
 " I did not steal. I never s*ole in my life. ' 
 
 " Wait and see. ' 
 
AND 1 SIUMPHS OF HAEEY WEST. 267 
 
 In about half an hour Mr. Wake returned. 
 
 *' I am sorry, Harry, to find that I have been mis- 
 taken in you. Is it possible that one who is out- 
 wardly so correct in his habits should be a thief ? 
 Put your career is finished," said he, very sternly, aa 
 be enteied the office. 
 
 " Nothing strange to the rest of us," added Ed- 
 ward. " I never knew one yet who pretended to be 
 so pious, that did not turn out a rascal." 
 
 " And such a hypocrite ! " 
 
 " Mr. Wake, I am neither a thief nor a hypocrite," 
 replied Harry, with spirit. 
 
 " I found four of the coins, — four half dollars. — 
 which I marked first, at Mrs. Flint's," said the senior, 
 severely. 
 
 Harry was astounded. Those half dollars were 
 part of the money paid him by Edward, and he so 
 explained how they came in his possession. 
 
 "Got them from me!" exclaimed Edward, with 
 well-feigned surprise. " I never borrowed a cent of 
 aim in my life ; and, of course, never pa'd him a 
 acnt." 
 
 Hairv looked at Edward, amazed at the ccol" ess 
 
268 TRY AGAIN J OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 with whirm he uttered the monstrous lie. He q jes- 
 tioned him in regard to the transaction, but the young 
 reprobate reiterated his declaration with so much 
 force and art, that Mr. Wake was effectually de» 
 ceived. 
 
 Our hero, conscious of his innocence, howevci 
 strong appearances were against him, behaved with 
 considerate spirit, which so irritated Mr. Wake that 
 he sent for a constable, and Harry soon found himself 
 in Leverett Street Jail. Strange as it may seem to 
 my young friends, he was not very miserable there. 
 He was innocent, and he depended upon that special 
 Providence which had before befriended him, to ex- 
 tricate him from the difficulty. It is true, he won- 
 dered what Julia would say when she heard of his 
 misfortune. She would weep and grieve ; and he 
 was sad when he thought of her. But she would be 
 the more rejoiced, when she learned that he was in- 
 nocent. The triumph would be in proportion to the 
 dial. 
 
 On the following day he was brought up for exam- 
 ination. As his name was called, the propriety of 
 the court was suddenly disturbed by an exclamation 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HAKRY WEST. jJS9 
 
 of surprise from an elderly man, with a sun-browned 
 face and monstrous whiskers. 
 
 " Who is he ? ' almost shouted the elderly man, 
 regardless of the dignity of the court. 
 
 An officer was on the point of turning him out : but 
 his earnest manner saved him. Pushing bis way for- 
 ward to Mr. Wake, he questioned him in regard to 
 the youthful prisoner. 
 
 " Strange ! I thought he was dead ! " muttered 
 <he elderly man, in the most intense excitement. 
 
 The examination proceeded. Harry had a friend 
 who had not been idle, as the sequel will show. 
 
 Mr. Wake first testified to the facts we have already 
 related ; and the lawyer, whom Harry's friends had 
 provided, questioned him in regard to the prisoner's 
 character and antecedents. Edward Flint was then 
 called. He was subjected to a severe cross examina- 
 tion by Harry's counsel, in which he repeatedly de« 
 nied that he had ever borrowed or paid any money to 
 the accused. 
 
 Mr. Wade was the next witness. While the events 
 preceding Harry's arrest were transpiring, he had 
 beta absent from the city, but had returned early la 
 23* 
 
270 try again; or, the trials 
 
 the afternoon. He disagreed with his partner in 
 relation to our hero's guilt, and immediately set 
 himse.if to work to unmask the conspiracy, for such 
 he was persuaded it was. 
 
 He testified that, a short time before, Edward had 
 requested him to pay him his salary two days before 
 it was due, assigning as a reason the fact that he 
 owed Harry Jive dollars which he wished to pay. 
 He produced two of the marked half dollars, which 
 he had received from Edward's landlady. 
 
 Of course, Edward was utterly confounded ; and 
 to add to his confusion, he was immediately called to 
 the stand again. This time his coolness was gone ; 
 he crossed himself a dozen times, and finally ac- 
 knowledged, under the pressure of the skilful law- 
 yer's close questioning, that Harry was innocent. 
 He had paid him the money found in Mrs. Flint's 
 possession, and had slipped the coins wrapped in the 
 shop bills into his pocket, when he took him by the 
 crllar on his return from the office. 
 
 He had known for some time that the partners 
 were on the watch for the thief. He had heard them 
 talking about the matter ; but he supposed be had 
 
AND TBIUMPH8 OF HARRY WEST, 271 
 
 managed the case so well as to exonerate himself 
 and implicate Harry, whom he hated foi being t 
 good boy. 
 
 Harry was discharged. His heart swelled with 
 gratitude for the kindly interposition of Providence. 
 The trial was past — the triumph bad come. 
 
 Mr. Wake, Mr. Wade, and other friends, congrat- 
 ulated him on the happy termination of the affair ; 
 and while they were so engaged the elderly man 
 elbowed his way through the crowd to the plaee 
 where Harry stood. 
 
 "Young man, what is your father's 'lame?" ne 
 asked, in tones tremulous with emotion. 
 
 "I have no father," replied Harry. 
 
 " You kad a father — what was his n?me r " 
 
 " Franklin West ; a carpenter by trads. He went 
 from Redfield to Valparaiso when I was very young, 
 and we never heard any thing from him. 
 
 " My son ! " exclaimed the stranger, graspirg om 
 hero by the hand, while the tears rolled do^n nil 
 brown visage. 
 
 Harry did n t know what to make of this an- 
 lounceruent. 
 
272 TRT AGAIN ; OR. THE TRIALS 
 
 *' Is it possible that you are my father ? " asked ha 
 
 " I am, Harry ; but I was sure you were dead. ] 
 got a letter, informing me that your mother and the 
 baby had gone ; and about a year after, I met a mar 
 from Rockville, who told me you had died also." 
 
 •' It was a mistake." 
 
 They continued the conversation as they walked from 
 ne court room to the store. There was a long story 
 for each to tell. Mr. West confessed that, for two years 
 after his arrival at Valparaiso, he had accomplished 
 rery little. He drank hard, and brought on a fever, 
 which had nearly carried him off. But that fever waft 
 a blessing in disguise ; and since his recovery he had 
 been entirely temperate. He had nothing to send tc 
 his family, and shame prevented him from even writ- 
 ing to his wife. He received the letter which con- 
 veyed the intelligence of the death of his wife and 
 child, and soon after learned that his remaining little 
 one was also gone. 
 
 Carpenters were then in great demand in Valpa- 
 raiso. He was soon in a condition to take contracts, 
 and fortune smilod upon him. He had rendered him- 
 «ielf independent, and had now returned to spend bis 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 273 
 
 remaining days in his native land. He had been in 
 Boston a week, and happened to stray into the Police 
 Court, where he had found the son who, he supposed, 
 had long ago been laid in the grave. 
 
 Edward Flint finished his career of " fashionable 
 dissipation" by being sentenced to the house of cor- 
 rection. Just before he was sent over, he confessed 
 to Mr. "Wade that it was he who bz? r-tolen Harry's 
 money, three years before. 
 
 The next day Harry obtained leave oi absence, for 
 the purpose of accompanying his father en ^ visit to 
 Redfield. He was in exuberant spirits. It seemed 
 as though his cup of joy was full. He could hardly 
 realize that he had a father — a kind, affectionate 
 father — who shared the joy of his heart. 
 
 They went to Redfield; but I cannot stop to tel. 
 my readers how astonished Squire Walker, and Mr. 
 Nason, and the paupers were, to see the spruce youn^i 
 clerk come to his early home, attendee 1 by his falhs' 
 — a rich father, too. 
 
 We can follow our hero no farther through tht 
 highways and byways of his life-pilgrimnge. W« 
 have seen him struggle like a hero through trH. inm* 
 
274 TRY again; or, the trials 
 
 temptation, and come off conqueror in the end. He 
 has found a rich father, who crowns his lot with p' en 
 ty ; hut his true wealth is in those good prii»ci r es 
 which the trials, no less than the triumphs, o hii 
 career have planned in his soul. 
 
JtHD TRIUMPHS OF HAEBY WEST 27J 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 IB WHICH HAKKT IS VERY PLEASANTLY SITUATED, 
 AND THE STOEY COMES TO AN END. 
 
 Perhaps my young readers will desire to know 
 something of Harry's subsequent life ; and we will 
 " drop in " upon him at his pleasant residence in 
 Rockville, without the formality of an introduction. 
 Ten years have elapsed since we parted with him, 
 after his triumphant discharge from arrest. His 
 father did not live long after his return to his native 
 land ; and when he was twenty-one, Harry came into 
 possession of a handsome fortune. But even wealth 
 could not tempt him to choose a life of idleness ; 
 and he went into partnership with Mr. Wade, the 
 senior retiring at the same time. The firm of Wade 
 and West is quite as respectable as any in the city. 
 
 Harry is not a slave to business ; and he spendi 
 A portion of his time at his beautiful plac* in Rock 
 
£76 THY AGAIN ; OR, THE TRIALS 
 
 ville ; for the cars pass through the village, woich it 
 only a ride of an hour and a half from the city. 
 
 Mr. West's house is situated on a gentle emi- 
 nence not far distant from the turnpike road. It is 
 built upon the very spot where the cabin of the 
 charcoal burners stood, in which Harry, the fugitive, 
 passed two nights The aspect of the place is en- 
 tirely changed, though the very rock upon which our 
 hero ate the sumptuous repast the little angel brought 
 him may be seen in the centre of the beautiful gar- 
 den, by the side of the house. Mr. West often seats 
 himself there to think of the events of the past, and 
 to treasure up the pleasant memories connected with 
 the vicinity. 
 
 The house is elegant and spacious, though there 
 is nothing gaudy or gay about it. Let us walk in 
 It is plainly furnished, though the articles are ricr 
 and tasteful. This is the sitting room. Who is that 
 beautiful lady sitting at the piano-forle ? Do you 
 not recognize her, gentle reader ? Of course you do. 
 [t is Mrs. West, and an old acquaintance. She is 
 no longer the little angel, though I cannot tell her 
 height or her weignt; but her husband thinks she 
 
AHD TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 277 
 
 U just as much an angel now as when she fed him 
 on doughnuts upon the flat rock in the garden. 
 
 Ah, here comes Harry ! He is a fine-looking man, 
 rather tall ; and though he does not wear a mustache, 
 I have no doubt Mrs. West thinks he is handsome — 
 which is all very well, provided he does not think 
 so himself. 
 
 " This is a capital day, Julia ; suppose we ride 
 over to Redfield, and see friend Nason," said Mr. 
 West. 
 
 " I shall be delighted," replied Julia. 
 
 The horse is ordered ; and as they ride along, the 
 gentleman amuses his wife with the oft-repeated story 
 of his flight from Jacob Wire's. 
 
 "Do you see that high rock, Julia?" he asked, 
 pointing over the fence. 
 ' Yes." 
 
 " That is the very one where I dodged Leman, a* d 
 took the back track; and there is where I knocked 
 the bull-dog over." 
 
 They arrive at the house of Mr. Nason. It is a 
 pleasant little cottage, for he is no longer in the 
 servict of the town. It was built by Mr. W«3t ex 
 24 
 
t76 tby again; or, the ieials 
 
 pressly for him. Connected with it is a fine farm cf 
 twenty acres. This little property was sold tc Mr 
 Nason by his protege, though no money was paid. 
 Harry would have made it a free gift, if the pride of 
 ais friend would have permitted ; but it amounts to 
 the same thing. 
 
 Mr. West and his lady are warmly welcomed by 
 Mr. Nason and his family. The ex-keeper is an old 
 man now. He is a member of the church, and con- 
 sidered an excellent and useful citizen. He still 
 calls Mr. West his " boy," and regards him with 
 mingled pride and admiration. 
 
 Our friends dine at the cottage ; and, after dinner, 
 Mr. Nason and Mr. West talk over old times, ride 
 down to Pine Pleasant, and visit the poorhouse. 
 Great changes have come over Redfield. Squire 
 Walker, Jacob Wire, and most of the paupers who 
 were the companions of our hero, are dead and 
 gone, and the living speak gently of the de- 
 parted. 
 
 At Pine Pleasant, they fasten the horse to a tree, 
 and cross over to the rock which was Harry's favorite 
 jesort in childhoed 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HARRY WEST. 273 
 
 1 5y the way, Harry, have ~ou heard any thing 
 of L m Smart lately ? " asks- Mr. Xason. 
 
 " After his discharge from the state prison, I heard 
 that he went to sea." 
 
 " Re was a bad boy." 
 
 " And a bad man." 
 
 " I believe he killed his mother. They say she 
 aever smiled after she gave him up as a hopeless 
 rase." 
 
 " Poor woman ! I pity a mother whose son turnd 
 out badly. What a wreck of fond hopes ' " 
 
 " Jusf so," added Mr. Xason. 
 
 After visiting various interesting localities, Mr. 
 West anu his lady return home. In their absence, a 
 letter for Julia from Katy Flint has arrived. The 
 Flint family are now in good circumstances. Joe is 
 a steady man, and, with Harry's assistance, has pur- 
 chased an interest in the stable formerly kept by 
 Major Phillips, who has retired on a competency. 
 
 " What does she say, Julia ? " asked Harry, as she 
 broke the seal. 
 
 " They have heard from Edward." 
 
 ** Bad news, I am afraid. He was a hard boy. n 
 
290 TRY AGAIH ; OB, TB E TRIALS 
 
 •* Yes ; he has just been sent to the Maryland 
 penitentiary for house breaking." 
 
 " I a:n sorry for him." 
 
 " Katy says her mother feels very badly about it." 
 
 " No doubt of it. Mrs. Flint is an excellen 
 woman ; she was a mother to me." 
 
 " She says they are coming up to Rockville next 
 week." 
 
 " Glad of that ; they will always be welcome be- 
 neath my roof. I must call upon them to-morrow 
 when I go to the city." 
 
 " Do ; and give my love to them." 
 
 And, here, reader, I must leave ihern — not with- 
 out 1 egret, I confess, for it is always sad to part with 
 waim and true-hearted friends; but if one must 
 leave them, it is pleasant to know that they are 
 happy, and are surrounded by all the blessings which 
 make life desirable, and filled with that bright hope 
 which reaches beyond the perishable things of this 
 world. It is cheering to know that one's friends, 
 aftei they have fought a hard battle with foes without 
 and foes within, have won the victory, and are ro« 
 eeiving their reward. 
 
AND TRIUMPHS OF HiEKY WEST. 281 
 
 If my young friends think well of Harry, lot me 
 admonish them to imitate his virtues, especially hii 
 perseverance in trying to do well ; and when they 
 fail to he as good and true as they wish to he, to 
 
 1ST A.GA.IX 
 
 22 • 
 
OLIVER OPTICS BOOKS. 
 
 YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD. 
 
 FIRST SERIES. 
 
 A LiiiJiary of Travel and Adventure in Foreign Lands. lGmo. 
 
 Illustrated by Wast, Stevens, Perkins, and others. 
 
 J'er volume, $1.50. 
 
 1 OUTWARD BOUND; 
 
 Or, Young America Afloat. 
 
 2. SHAMROCK AND THISTLE; 
 
 Or, Young America iu Ireland and Scotland, 
 
 3. RED CROSS; 
 
 Or. Young America in England and Wales. 
 
 4. OSKES AND DITCHES; 
 
 Or, Young America in Holland and Relgium. 
 
 5. PALACE AND COTTAGE; 
 
 Or, Young America in France and Switzerland. 
 
 *• DOWN THE RHINE; 
 
 Or, Young America in Germany. 
 
 The- stoi ) from its inception and through the twelve vol 
 ames ^ee Sicond Series), is a bewitching one, while the in- 
 formation imparted, concerning the countries of Europe and 
 the isles of the sea, is not only correct in every particular, but 
 is told in a captivating style. " Oliver Optic" will continue 
 to be the boy's friend, and his pleasant books will continue to 
 be read by thousands of American boys. What a fine holiday 
 present either or both series of " Young America Abroad" 
 would be for a young friend ! It would make a little librarv 
 highly prized by the recipient, and would not be an expensive 
 one. — Providence Press. 
 
OLIVER OPTIC'S BOOKS. 
 
 YOUNG AMEKICA ABROAD 
 
 SECOND SERIES. 
 
 A. Library of Travel ami Adventure in Foreign Lands, lfimo. 
 
 Illustrated, by JVast, Stevens, Perkins, and others. 
 
 Per volume, $1.50. 
 
 1. UP THE BALTIC; 
 
 Or, Young America in Norway, Sweden, and 
 Denmark. 
 
 2. NORTHERN LANDS; 
 
 Or, Young America in Russia and Prussia. 
 
 3. CROSS AND CRESCENT; 
 
 Or, Young America in Turkey and Greece. 
 
 4. SUNNY SHORES; 
 
 Or, Young America in Italy and Austria. 
 
 5. V5NE AND OUVE; 
 
 Or, Young America in Spain and Portugal. 
 
 6. ISLES OF THE SEA; 
 
 Or, Yoo:ig America Homeward Bound. 
 
 '' Oliver Optic " h a nam de plume that is known and loved 
 hy rlmost every bey of intelligence in the land. We have 
 seen a highly intellectual and world-weary man, a cynic whose 
 heart was somewhat imbittered by its large experience of 
 human nature, take up one of Oliver Optic's books and read 
 it at a sitting, neglecting his work in yielding to the fascina- 
 tion of the pages. When a mature and exceedingly well- 
 informed mind, long despoiled of all its freshness, can thus 
 jjnd pleasure in a book for boys, no additional words of rec- 
 ommendation are needed. — Sunday Times. 
 
OLIVER OPTICS BOOKS. 
 
 ARMY AND NAVY STOEIES. 
 
 Six Volumes, Illustrated. Per vol., $1.50. 
 
 l. THE SOLDIER BOY; 
 
 Or, Tom Soraers in the Army. 
 
 •> 
 
 THE SAILOR BOY; 
 
 Or, Jack Somers iu the Navy. 
 
 5. THE YOUNG LIEUTENANT; 
 
 Or, Adventures of an Army Officer. 
 
 4. THE YANKEE MIDDY; 
 
 Or, Adventures of a Narv 0'f?" ( >r. 
 
 o rsvxii i tv*<* Jo ti , 
 
 Or, The Fortunes of a Sia.T Officer, 
 
 6. BRAVE OLD SALT; 
 
 Or, Life on the QiiHrter-Deck. 
 
 T "lis series of six volumes recounts the adventures of fvo 
 brothers, Tom and Jack Somers, one in the array, the other in 
 the navy, in the great civil war. The romantic narratives of 
 the fortunes and exploits of the brothers are thrilling in the 
 extreme. Historical accuracy in the recital of the greit 
 events of that period is strictly followed, and the result is 
 not OL , y a library of entertaining volumes, but also the best 
 history rt the civil war for young people ever written. 
 
OLIVER OPTIC'S BOOKS. 
 
 THE STARRY FLAG SERIES. 
 
 Six volumes. Illustrated. Per vol. $1 33. 
 
 1. THE STARRY FLAG; 
 
 Or, The Young Fisherman of Cape Aaa. 
 
 2. BREAKING AWAY; 
 
 Or, The Fortunes of a Student. 
 
 5. SEEK AND FIND; 
 
 Or, The Adventures of a Smart Bow 
 
 *. FREAKS OF FORTUNE; 
 
 Or. Half Round the World, 
 
 6. MAKE OR BREAK; 
 
 Or, The Rich Man's Daughter 
 
 6. DOWN THE RIVER ; 
 
 Or, Buck Bradford and the Tyrants* 
 
 Mr. Adams, the celebrated and popular writer, familiarly 
 known as " Oliver Optic," seems to have inexhaustible for.O£ 
 for weaving together the virtues of life; and notwithstanding 
 he has written scores of books, the same freshness anJ nov- 
 elty rurnj through them all. Some people think the xuss*- 
 tional element predominates. Perhaps it does. But & 0006 
 for young people needs this : and so long as good sentiments 
 are inculca ,ed such books ought to be read. 
 
OLIVER OPTIC'S BOOKS. 
 
 FAMOUS "BOAT-CLUB" SEEIES. 
 
 labrary f or Voiuig People. Six volumes, handsomely illustrated 
 Per volume, §1.^5. 
 
 1- THE BOAT CLUB; 
 
 Or, The Bonkers of Rippleton. 
 
 2. ALL ABOARD; 
 
 Or, Life on the Lake. 
 
 3. NOW OR NEVER; 
 
 Or, The Adventures of Bobby Brighfc 
 
 4. TRY AGAIN ; 
 
 Or, The Trials and Trinmphs of Barry V»o«t 
 
 5. POOR AND PROUD; 
 
 Or, The Fortunes ot K.aty Ucdborn. 
 
 6. LITTLE BY LITTLE; 
 
 Or, The Cruise of the Flyaway. 
 
 This is the first series of books written for the young l-v 
 • Oliver Optic." It laid the foundation for his fame as the 
 first of authors in which the young delight, and gained for 
 him the title of the Prince of Story-Tellers. The six bocks 
 are varied in incident and plot, but all are entertaining and 
 original. 
 
OLIVER OPT rC'S BOOKS. 
 
 YACHT CLUB SERIES. 
 
 Uuilor a wh,!i the ever popular '■ Boat Club,'' Series. Completed 
 i»4 six vols, lijijjo. II !u.,tr;i.ied. Per vol., $1.5(1 
 
 2. UTILE BOBTAIL; 
 
 Or, The Wreck of the Penobscot 
 
 2. THE YACHT CLUB; 
 
 Or, The Young Boat-Builders. 
 
 8 MONEY-MAKER; 
 
 Or, The Victory of the Basilisk. 
 
 4 THE COMING WAVE; 
 
 Or, The Treasure of High Rock. 
 
 6. THE DORCAS CLUB; 
 
 Or, Our (iirls Afloat. 
 
 6. OCEAN BORN; 
 
 Or, The Cruise of the Clubs. 
 
 The series has this peculiarity, that all of its constituent 
 volumes are independent of one another, and therefore each 
 Bfory is complete in itself. "Oliver Optic" is perhaps the 
 favorite author of the boys and girls of this country, and he 
 seems destined to enjoy an endless popularity. He deserves 
 his success, for he makes very interesting stories, and incul- 
 cates none but the best sentiments; and the "Yacht Club" 
 us no exception to this rule. — New Haven Jour, and Cownei.