to consider the matter, as it has come upon me suddenly. I have a good deal of confidence in Tom, but there is one difficulty in my mind."
"What is that, father?" asked Tom anxiously.
"The expense of getting to California, and the method of raising the money; I don't like to increase the mortgage."
"I suppose you are right, father," said Tom slowly. "I know it is more than I have any right to ask. I wouldn't even have mentioned it if I hadn't hoped to help you to pay it back."
"That is understood, Tom," said his father kindly. "I know you mean what you say, and that you would redeem your promise if fortune, or rather Providence, permitted. It is a serious matter, however, and not to be decided in a hurry. We will speak of it again."
Nothing more was said about Tom's plan till after the children had gone to bed. Then, as Mark Nelson and his wife sat before the fire in the open fireplace, the subject was taken up anew.
"Mary," said Mark, "I am beginning to think favorably of Tom's proposal."
"How can you say so, Mark?" interrupted his wife. "It seems like madness to send a young boy so far away."
"Tom can't be called a young boy; he is now sixteen."
"But he has never been away from home."
"He must go some time."
"If it were only to Boston or New York; but to go more than three thousand miles away!" and the mother shuddered.
"There are dangers as great in Boston or New York as in California, Mary, to a boy of Tom's age. He can't always be surrounded by home influences."
"I wish we could find employment for him in town," said Mrs. Nelson uneasily.
"That is a mother's thought, and it would be pleasant for all of us; but I doubt if it would be better for Tom."
"Why not?"
"A boy who is thrown upon his own guardianship and his own resources develops manliness and self-reliance sooner than at home. But we need not take that into consideration; there is nothing to do here, nor is there likely to be. He must go away from home to find employment. To obtain a place in Boston or New York requires influence and friends in those places; and we can hope for neither. In California he will become his own employer. The gold-mines are open to all, and he may earn in a year as much as he could in five years in the East."
"Do you favor his going, then, Mark?"
"Not against your will, Mary. Indeed, I should not feel justified in increasing the mortgage upon our little property against your wish. That concerns us all."
"I don't think so much of that. I am so afraid Tom would get sick in California. What would become of the poor boy in that case?"
"That is a mother's thought. I think Tom would find friends, who would not let him suffer. He is a manly, attractive boy, though he is ours, and I think he is well calculated to make his way."
"That he is," said his mother proudly. "No one can help liking Tom."
"Then you see he is likely to find friends. Were he such a boy as Sinclair Hudson, I should feel afraid that he would fare badly, if he stood in need of help from others. Sinclair is certainly a very disagreeable boy."
"Yes, he is; and he isn't half as smart as Tom."
"A mother's vanity," said Mark Nelson, smiling. "However, you are right there. I should consider it a misfortune to have such a cross-grained, selfish son as Sinclair. Squire Hudson, with all his wealth, is not fortunate in his only child. There is considerable resemblance between father and son. I often wish that some one else than the squire held the mortgage on our farm."
"You don't think he would take advantage of you?"
"I don't think he would be very lenient to me if I failed to pay interest promptly. He has a grudge against me, you know."
"That is nonsense," said Mrs. Nelson, blushing, for she understood the allusion.
"I am glad he doesn't ask me to give him a mortgage on you, Mary."
"He has forgotten all that," said Mrs. Nelson. "I am no longer young and pretty."
"I think you more attractive than ever," said the husband.
"Because you are foolish," said his wife; but she was well pleased, nevertheless. Poor as her husband was, she had never dreamed of regretting her choice.
"Be it so; but about this affair of Tom – what shall I say to him in the morning?"
Mrs. Nelson recovered her gravity instantly.
"Decide as you think right, Mark," she said. "If you judge that Tom had better go I will do my best to become reconciled to his absence, and set about getting him ready."
"It is a great responsibility, Mary," said Mark slowly; "but I accept it. Let the boy go, if he wishes. He will leave our care, but we can trust him to the care of his heavenly Father, who will be as near to him in California as at home."
Thus Tom's future was decided. His father and mother retired to bed, but not to sleep. They were parting already in imagination with their first-born, and the thought of that parting was sad indeed.
CHAPTER V.
TOM RAISES THE MONEY
Tom got up early the next morning – in fact, he was up first in the house – and attended to his usual "chores." He was splitting wood when his father passed him on the way to the barn with the milk-pail in his hand.
"You are up early, Tom," he said.
"Yes," answered our hero.
Tom could not help wondering whether his father had come to any decision about letting him go to California; but he did not like to ask. In due time he would learn, of course. He felt that he should like to have it decided one way or the other. While his plans were in doubt he felt unsettled and nervous.
At an early hour the family gathered about the breakfast table. Tom noticed that his father and mother looked grave, and spoke in a subdued tone, as if they had something on their minds; but he did not know what to infer from this, except that they had his prospects still in consideration.
When breakfast was over, Mark Nelson pushed back his chair, and said: "How soon can you get Tom ready to start, Mary?"
"Am I going, father?" asked Tom, his heart giving an eager bound.
"Is Tom really going?" asked the younger children, with scarcely less eagerness.
"If Squire Hudson doesn't go back on his promise. Tom, you can go with me to the squire's."
"How soon?"
"In about an hour. He doesn't breakfast as early as we do. I think he will be ready to receive us in about an hour."
"Thank you, father," said Tom. "You are doing a great deal for me."
"I can't do much for you, my boy. I can probably get you to California, and then you will be thrown upon your own exertions."
"I mean to work very hard. I think I shall succeed."
"I
