“‘Why, my little friend,’ said Mr. Bramlett, ‘you must allow me to show my gratitude in some way; and how could I do it any better than by helping you with ready money? You must think of your little sister; she must be taken care of; and how can you do it unless you have money to pay her board and buy her clothes?’
“‘I can work for her, sir, and so can Eddie; we shall both work for her; I should feel like a beggar, sir, if I were to take your money.’
“‘All a mistake, I assure you; I have an ample fortune; you saved the life of my darling Viola, and you must allow me to do something to show my gratitude.’
“‘I was not thinking of money, sir, when I saved your daughter; I was thinking of her.’
“‘No doubt, no doubt you were; but you have suffered much on account of the gallant deed, and I shall be deeply mortified if you refuse to allow me a chance to show how much I feel the obligation.’
“‘I am very sorry, sir, to hear you say that; but really, I cannot take any money.’
“‘Suppose then, we make a trade. Let me loan you three thousand dollars at five per cent. interest, taking your note, with Edward as security, on condition that you use the money in completing the education of yourself, your sister and Edward; then you study law, and when you begin to make money at your profession, you shall pay my money back with interest. What say you to that?’
“‘That would be worse; it would be receiving the money under false pretenses; I can readily understand the kindness that prompts you to make the offer, but as I never should be able to pay your money back, it would not be right for me to take it.’
“Mr. Bramlett left the room rather abruptly; he was vexed at Harry’s obstinacy, and when he went into his wife’s room he said: ‘That foolish boy refuses to accept any aid from me; I declare it is too bad; it is a shame to see them start out afoot again; he is the most high-strung chap I ever saw; I’ll resort to strategy; I’ll employ some agent to look after those children.’
“‘Allow me to make a suggestion,’ said Mrs. Bramlett to her husband; ‘as we are going to Memphis, anyway, you might procure a situation for the boys with some of your business friends in Memphis, and then you could place money with your agent and have it paid to them in such sums as they need, making them believe all the while that they are earning it; that would keep them from feeling that they are objects of charity, for to tell you the truth, I rather admire their high-strung notions, as you call them. Of course they are too young to be of much service to anybody, but it would encourage them if they could be made to think that they were earning their support.’
“‘Thank you, dear, for the suggestion; it is the very thing. We will go to Memphis to-morrow, and the matter shall be arranged.’
“Of course, we were ignorant of this arrangement, and did not find it out for many years afterward. I was at that time unable to support Harry’s independent views, and tried to argue the question with him, but it was a failure on my part.
“‘I should despise myself,’ said he, ‘if I were to take the kind gentleman’s money, knowing that I never should be able to pay it back. Then, perhaps, it would displease our uncle if he knew we had accepted money in the way of charity.’
“He went so far as to refuse to take the train with Mr. Bramlett until that gentleman promised to furnish him employment as soon as we should reach Memphis, by which we could re-imburse him for the money advanced to pay our fare; and I don’t believe he would have done that but for the influence brought to bear on him by Viola, who threw her arms about his neck and declared that she would cry her eyes out unless he went with her to Memphis.
“When we arrived at Memphis, Mr. Bramlett took us to the Worsham House, promising to inquire for our uncle on the next day; and when he came back, after having gone out for that purpose, and informed us that our uncle had gone to California, with a view of making it his permanent home, we began to realize the fact that we were now left all alone and must think and act for ourselves.
“‘What are we to do now, Harry?’ I inquired.
“‘We must seek employment at once,’ said he, ‘and we must lose no time about it either. You stay with Lottie, and I’ll go out and see what we can get to do.’
“Harry returned after three hours’ absence, and the look of disappointment that appeared on his face convinced me of his failure before he told it.
“‘No one seems to want us,’ he said gloomily, as he dropped exhausted on a chair. ‘I have met nothing but disappointment at every point; but I will try again, when I get rested.’
“Lottie wiped the perspiration from his brow with her handkerchief, and ran her fingers through his hair.
“You must get some work for me to do, too, Harry; you know how nicely I can sew, and how neatly I can cut and fit a lady’s dress. I shall make a great deal of money, if you’ll only get the work for me to do.’
“‘I know you would, Lottie, but no one will give us work. I fear, because we are strangers here, and people don’t like to trust strangers, you know.’
“‘Papa has gone out to hunt work for you to do, Harry,’ said Viola, as she pushed Lottie gently away from her brother; ‘you go and stay with Eddie there, Miss Lottie, and leave me to look after Harry. I shall be jealous, you know, if you pay so much attention to my hero. Speaking of work, I heard papa say to mamma that he would find a good place for you to live at before he left the city; then we are going to New Orleans, and then we are going to Havana, and then we are going to come back here to see you; and then won’t we have lots of fun?’ And stooping down with her mouth to Harry’s ear she said: ‘I’ve got something nice for you, but you must come with me to my room before I show it to you, because Eddie and Lottie are not to see it at all, so come along now.’
“Of course Harry went, and he was not prepared for the surprise which she gave him, for she held up a large golden locket swinging to a heavy gold chain. ‘There it is; isn’t it pretty? Papa gave seventy-five dollars for it, and you must accept it as a present from me. You see it has got my picture in it. I thought maybe you would like my picture to look at when I am gone; for I’m sure I should like very much to have yours to look at when I am so far away from you.’
“‘I shall wear this pretty picture next to my heart as long as I live, and I shall always love the darling who gave it to me.’
“‘You must get your picture made, and give it to me before I go away, won’t you?’
“Harry did not know what answer to make, for he knew that it required money to have a picture made, and money was not his.
“‘Maybe so,’ he said sadly.
“‘O! don’t say that; you must not by any means refuse me your picture.’
“‘You shall have it as soon as I can earn the money to pay for it.’
“‘Never mind the money, I’ll get that from papa; he always gives me money when I ask him.’
“‘I should rather pay for it with my own money; then it would be a present from me.’
“I persuaded Harry to remain at the hotel until I should make a tour through the city to try my luck
