a rich lady, the friend of my mother?”
“I have heard you say so.”
“When she died, she left me by will a pearl necklace and pearl bracelets, both of very considerable value.”
“I have never seen you wear them, mother.”
“No; I have not thought they would be suitable for the wife of a poor minister. My wearing them would excite unfavorable comment in the parish.”
“I don’t see whose business it would be,” said Grant, indignantly.
“At any rate, just or not, I knew what would be said,” Mrs. Thornton replied.
“How is it you have never shown the pearl ornaments to me, mother?”
“You were only five years old when they came to me, and I laid them away at once, and have seldom thought of them since. I have been thinking that, as they are of no use to me, I should be justified in selling them for what I can get, and appropriating the proceeds toward paying your father’s debts.”
“How much do you think they are worth, mother?”
“A lady to whom I showed them once said they must have cost five hundred dollars or more.”
Grant whistled.
“Do you mind showing them to me, mother?” he asked.
Mrs. Thornton went upstairs, and brought down the pearl necklace and bracelets. They were very handsome and Grant gazed at them with admiration.
“I wonder what the ladies would say if you should wear them to the sewing circle,” he said, humorously.
“They would think I was going over to the vanities of this world,” responded his mother, smiling. “They can be of no possible use to me now, or hereafter, and I believe it will be the best thing I can do to sell them.”
“Where can you sell them? No one here can afford to buy them.”
“They must be sold in New York, and I must depend upon you to attend to the business for me.”
“Can you trust me, mother? Wouldn’t father—”
“Your father has no head for business, Grant. He is a learned man, and knows a great deal about books, but of practical matters he knows very little. You are only a boy, but you are a very sensible and trustworthy boy, and I shall have to depend upon you.”
“I will do the best I can, mother. Only tell me what you want me to do.”
“I wish you to take these pearls, and go to New York. You can find a purchaser there, if anywhere. I suppose it will be best to take them to some jewelry store, and drive the best bargain you can.”
“When do you wish me to go, mother?”
“There can be no advantage in delay. If tomorrow is pleasant, you may as well go then.”
“Shall you tell father your plan?”
“No, Grant, it might make him feel bad to think I was compelled to make a sacrifice, which, after all, is very little of a sacrifice to me. Years since I decided to trouble him as little as possible with matters of business. It could do no good, and, by making him anxious, unfitted him for his professional work.”
Mrs. Thornton’s course may not be considered wise by some, but she knew her husband’s peculiar mental constitution, and her object at least was praiseworthy, to screen him from undue anxiety, though it involved an extra share for herself.
The next morning Grant took an early breakfast, and walked briskly toward the depot to take the first train for New York.
The fare would be a dollar and a quarter each way, for the distance was fifty miles, and this both he and his mother felt to be a large outlay. If, however, he succeeded in his errand it would be wisely spent, and this was their hope.
At the depot Grant found Tom Calder, a youth of eighteen, who had the reputation of being wild, and had been suspected of dishonesty. He had been employed in the city, so that Grant was not surprised to meet him at the depot.
“Hello, Grant! Where are you bound?” he asked.
“I am going to New York.”
“What for?”
“A little business,” Grant answered, evasively. Tom was the last person he felt inclined to take into his confidence.
“Goin’ to try to get a place?”
“If any good chance offers I shall accept it—that is, if father and mother are willing.”
“Let’s take a seat together—that’s what I’m going for myself.”
CHAPTER VI – GRANT GETS INTO UNEXPECTED TROUBLE
TOM CALDER was not the companion Grant would have chosen, but there seemed no good excuse for declining his company. He belonged to a rather disreputable family living in the borders of the village. If this had been all, it would not have been fair to object to him, but Tom himself bore not a very high reputation. He had been suspected more than once of stealing from his school companions, and when employed for a time by Mr. Tudor, in the village store, the latter began to miss money from the till; but Tom was so sly that he had been unable to bring the theft home to him. However, he thought it best to dispense with his services.
“What kind of a situation are you goin’ to try for?” asked Tom, when they were fairly on their way.
“I don’t know. They say that beggars mustn’t be choosers.”
“I want to get into a broker’s office if I can,” said Tom.
“Do you consider that a very good business?” asked Grant.
“I should say so,” responded Tom, emphatically.
“Do they pay high wages?”
“Not extra, but a feller can get points, and make something out of the market.”
“What’s that?” asked Grant, puzzled.
“Oh, I forgot. You ain’t used to the city,” responded Tom, emphatically. “I mean, you find out when a stock is going up, and you buy for a rise.”
“But doesn’t that take considerable money?” asked Grant, wondering how Tom could raise money to buy stocks.
“Oh, you can go to the bucket shops,” answered Tom.
“But what have bucket shops to do with stocks?” asked Grant, more than ever puzzled.
Tom burst into a loud laugh.
“Ain’t you jolly green, though?” he ejaculated.
Grant was rather nettled at this.
“I don’t see how I could be expected to understand such talk,” he said, with some asperity.
“That’s where it is—you can’t,” said Tom. “It’s all like A, B, C to me, and I forgot
