Grant listened to what Rodney said, but Mr. Tarbox’s anger did not signify as much to him as it would have done a few hours earlier. The money he possessed made him feel independent.
Seth Tarbox appeared at the door, ready to empty the vials of his wrath on Grant’s devoted head.
“So you’ve been loiterin’ on the way, have you?” he said harshly. “You’ve been twice as long as you need to be.”
“Well, perhaps I have,” Grant admitted coolly.
“So you own up to it, do you?”
“Of course I do.”
“And what excuse have you?”
“Do you expect me to work all the time?”
“I expect you to earn your board and clothes.”
“I earn them both, and more too, but I don’t get the clothes.”
“Hey? Oh, I see. You loitered because I wouldn’t buy you a suit of clothes,” snarled Seth.
“You can take it that way if you want to,” said Grant.
“What’s got into you, Grant Colburn? ’Pears to me you are mighty independent all at once.”
“That’s the way I feel.”
“You seem to forget that but for me you wouldn’t have a home.”
“When you get tired of providing me with a home, Mr. Tarbox, I will find one somewhere else.”
“So you think, but if you leave my home you’ll become a poor tramp.”
Rodney laughed.
“I guess you’re right, grandfather,” he said.
Grant darted a look at him which showed that he understood the nature of his feelings.
“Well,” he said, “I’ll take the risk.”
“I don’t take back the offer of a suit of clothes, Grant,” said Rodney smoothly. “I’ll bring ’em over the next time I come.”
“Yes, do, Rodney,” put in his grandfather.
“You needn’t take the trouble, Rodney,” said Grant. “I shan’t wear the suit if you bring it.”
“I suppose you expect I’ll buy you a new one,” sneered Seth Tarbox.
“No, I don’t.”
“Then you are content to go as you are?”
“No, I shall have a new suit in a few days, if I have to pay for it myself.”
“You’re welcome to do that,” responded Seth in a tone of satisfaction, for he concluded that Grant’s mother would pay the bill, and that suited him.
No more was said to Grant on the subject of his delay in returning from the other farm. He had occasion a little later to go on an errand, and called at the village tailor’s.
“Mr. Shick,” he said, “I want you to make me up a good serviceable suit. How much will it cost?”
“It depends on the cloth, Grant. Here is a remnant that will wear like iron. I can make it up in two styles, according to the trimmings, seventeen dollars or twenty.”
“I want a good suit, and will pay twenty.”
The tailor was rather surprised, for he knew that Grant’s step-father was a thoroughly mean man.
“Mr. Tarbox is getting liberal, isn’t he?” he inquired. “That’s more than he pays for his own suits.”
“He isn’t going to pay for mine.”
“Oh, it’s your mother, then.”
“No, I shall pay for it myself.”
“Will it be cash down?”
“Yes.”
“I am glad you are so well off, Grant,” said Mr. Shick, puzzled.
“So am I. You may rest assured that you won’t have to wait for your money.”
“Then I’ll do a good job. You shall have as nice a suit as any boy in the village. You deserve it, too, Grant, for you’re a hard-working boy.”
“Just say that to Mr. Tarbox when you meet him,” said Grant, smiling, “for I am afraid he doesn’t fully appreciate me.”
As Grant left the tailor’s shop he met Rodney at the door. Rodney found the farm rather a slow place, and had made a second visit to the village.
“Hallo,” he exclaimed, “have you been into the tailor’s?”
“Yes,”
“I suppose you had business there.”
“I had.”
“What was it?”
“You can ask Mr. Shick, if you like. I’m in a hurry.”
Rodney decided to act on this suggestion.
“How do you do, Mr. Shick?” he said politely, for he wanted to get some information. “I see Grant has just been in here.”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to make him a suit?”
“Yes.”
Rodney was surprised.
“Would you mind showing me the cloth?” he asked. “I might like to get a suit myself.”
“I shall be happy to fill your order. This is the cloth.”
“It looks pretty good.”
“Yes, it is of excellent quality.”
“How much do you charge for a suit off this cloth?”
“Twenty dollars is what I charged Grant.”
It must be explained that Shick, being in the country, was obliged to put his prices a good deal lower for the same article than if he lived in the city.
“Well, I hope you’ll get your pay,” said Rodney shortly.
“I shan’t trouble myself about that. Grant is an honest boy.”
“Well, I’m glad you feel so confident.”
Rodney left the shop abruptly, and, going into the street, came face to face with his grandfather.
“Grandfather,” he said, “I’ve got some news for you.”
“Have you, Rodney? What is it?”
“Grant has ordered a suit of Mr. Shick, for which the price is twenty dollars.”
“You don’t mean it?” ejaculated the farmer.
“Yes, I do. I suppose the bill will be sent to you,” added Rodney, desirous of making trouble.
“I won’t pay it!” exclaimed Seth Tarbox excitedly.
“You’d better see Mr. Shick about it.”
Seth Tarbox entered the shop, looking flurried.
“Is it true, Mr. Shick,” he said abruptly, “that Grant has ordered a twenty-dollar suit of you?”
“Yes, Mr. Tarbox.”
“If you expect me to pay for it, you’ll be disappointed. Did Grant tell you to charge it to me?”
“No; he said he would pay for it himself.”
“I suppose he expects to get the money out of his mother,” continued Mr. Tarbox, feeling somewhat relieved. “It will be a shame to make her pay so much. Why, I don’t pay that for my own suits.”
“Why don’t you?” asked the tailor bluntly. “You can afford it.”
“I don’t believe in throwing away money,” answered Seth shortly.
“You wouldn’t. This suit of Grant’s will wear like iron.”
“It’s all foolish extravagance. Rodney, my grandson, offered to give him one of his old cast-off suits.”
Mr. Shick smiled.
“Probably Grant thought he would prefer a new one.”
“But it’s wasteful extravagance.”
“Mr. Tarbox, you need a new suit yourself. You’d better let me make you one. You don’t want your step-son to outshine you.”
“I’ll see about it. I can make the old one do a little longer.”
When Mr. Tarbox got home he at once tackled his wife.
“Mrs. T.,” he said, “I’m surprised at your letting Grant order a twenty-dollar suit. Truly a fool and his money are soon parted, as the saying is.”
“I don’t know what you mean, Mr. Tarbox, and I’ll thank you not to call me a fool,” she added, with a flash of spirit.
“You mean to say you haven’t authorized Grant to order a twenty-dollar suit at Mr. Shick’s?”
“Grant hasn’t asked me to buy him a suit?”
“Well, he’s ordered one, for Mr. Shick told me so. It aint possible that he’s going to trust that boy. I don’t understand it.”
“Nor do I. I will speak to Grant about it.”
Mrs. Tarbox felt anxious, for the story seemed strange and almost incredible. It did not seem like Grant, but still she knew that he was very anxious to have a new suit. She would have been willing to advance ten dollars to buy him a ready-made one, but twenty dollars in her circumstances would be extravagant.
Just then Grant entered the room.
“Grant,” she said, “have you ordered a suit at Mr. Shick’s?”
“Yes, mother.”
“At twenty dollars?”
“Yes, mother.”
“How could you be so inconsiderate? Mr. Tarbox will not pay for it, and I cannot afford to pay so high a price.”
“Don’t be worried, mother,” said Grant quietly, “I shall pay for it myself.”
Two pairs of eyes were fixed upon Grant in wonderment – those of his mother and Mr. Tarbox.
“Are you crazy, Grant Colburn?” asked Mr. Tarbox.
“Not that I know of, Mr. Tarbox.”
“Do you mean to say you have got twenty dollars to pay for your suit?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Show it to me.”
“I haven’t got the money with me.”
“Where is it, then?”
“I decline to tell.”
“Do you know, Grant, that I, as your step-father, and natural guardian, have a right to make you tell?”
“No, I don’t. At any rate, I shan’t tell.”
“You’re getting dreadful contrary lately, Grant. Mrs. T., I think we are going to have trouble with that boy. Of course Mr. Shick won’t be paid, and he’ll send in his bill to you or me likely. He can’t make us pay, for he has trusted a minor without consultin’ his parents or guardians. I wash my hands of the matter.”
So saying, Mr. Tarbox left the room.
“Grant,” said his mother, “I can’t help feeling anxious. It does seem a crazy idea for you to order a twenty-dollar suit.”
“Why should it, mother?”
“When you have no money to pay for it.”
“Mother, did you ever know me to tell a lie?”
“No, Grant.”
“Then, when I tell you that I’ve got money enough to pay for this suit, and more, too, you can believe me.”
“Was it got honestly, Grant?”
“Of course it was.”
“And the money is really and truly yours?”
“It is.”
“Are you willing to tell me where you got it?”
“Not just yet, mother. I will before long.”
“Well, Grant, I will trust your word,” said Mrs. Tarbox, relieved, “and I am really glad of your good fortune.”
“You won’t worry any more, then, mother?”
“No, Grant.”
“I am glad you haven’t lost confidence in me.”
Grant took an opportunity, after supper, to go to Luke Weldon’s, and draw twenty-five dollars. On his way back he called at the tailor’s, and paid Mr. Shick for his suit in advance. The remaining five dollars, in silver, he kept in his pocket.
“It is so long since I carried any money,” he said to himself, “that I want to know how it seems.”
Meanwhile Jotham Perry, a neighbor, called at the farm-house on an errand.
“That’s a pretty bad thing, the breaking down of the railroad bridge, isn’t it?”
“I haven’t heard of it,” said Seth Tarbox, pricking up his ears.
“Sho! I thought everybody knew it.”
“How did it happen?”
“I don’t know, except it gave way from old age. It’s long been shaky.”
“When was it found out?”
“This afternoon, just before the accommodation train came along. I tell you it was a narraw escape for the train. They stopped just a few rods before they got to the bridge.”
“What made them stop? How did the engineer come to suspect?”
“It seems a boy came along that way, and saw the condition of the bridge, and signalled the train.”
“A boy?”
“Yes. He had a pitchfork, and stuck his hat and a handkerchief on the tines, and so attracted the engineer’s attention.”
Mr. Tarbox opened his eyes wide, and a sudden revelation came to him.
“Why, it must have been Grant,” he said.
“Didn’t he tell you anything about it?”
“No.”
“I heerd the passengers took up a collection for the boy, whoever he was. He must have got as much as twenty-five dollars.”
“That’s where Grant’s money came from,” exclaimed Seth Tarbox, slapping his leg vigorously. “He’s gone and ordered a twenty-dollar suit, and been hintin’ mysteriously that he’d got money enough to pay for it.”
“Yes, I suppose that explains it. Well, the boy needs a new suit and he’s earned it easy.”
“But it’s such a foolish way of spendin’ his money. My grandson Rodney offered him a suit of his for nothin’, and he might have given me the money to keep for him.”
“Yes, he might,” said Jotham with a queer smile, “but I think if I’d been in Grant’s place I’d have done the same thing he did.”
Mr. Perry went away directly afterward, and Seth Tarbox sought his wife.
“Where is Grant, Mrs. T.?”
“He went out to walk after his chores were done, but he didn’t say where he was going.”
“I’ve found out where he got his money,” said Seth, nodding his head.
“Where, then? He didn’t do anything wrong, I am sure.”
“Well, no, not in gettin’ the money, but he’d ought to have consulted me before bein’ so extravagant.”
“Where did he get the money?”
“He found out the bridge was broken, and signalled the train and saved it from being wrecked.”
Mrs. Tarbox’s eyes sparkled with maternal pride.
“It was a noble act,” she said.
“The passengers took up a contribution, and Jotham Perry thinks Grant got about twenty-five dollars.”
“He deserved it.”
“Well, I’m glad he got it, but he had no right to spend it himself. Ther’s one thing that don’t occur to you, Mrs. T. What he did was done in time, and he lost at least an hour by the delay it cost. You know yourself how late he came home.”
“What is that, Mr. Tarbox, to the lives of the passengers and the safety of the train?”
“You don’t understand me, Mrs. T. Under the circumstances I think I ought to have half the money he received.”
“Mr. Tarbox!” exclaimed his wife in profound disgust.
“That’s so, and of course if I had it he wouldn’t have no twenty dollars to throw away on a suit of clothes.”
“You forget, Mr. Tarbox, that it has saved you the money you would have to pay for a new suit for him.”
“It has saved me nothing. I wouldn’t have bought him a new suit. My grandson, Rodney, was goin’ to give him one of his old suits. Now I think of it, I’ll go down and see Mr. Shick and warn him not to make up the suit, tellin’ him that Grant can’t pay for it with my permission.”
“That will be a mean thing to do, Seth Tarbox.”
Mrs. Tarbox always called her husband by his full name when she had occasion to feel displeased with him.
“You and I don’t look on things in the same way, Mrs. T.,” said her husband calmly. “I’ll go and see Mr. Shick at once.”
The tailor shop was still open for business when Mr. Tarbox entered.
“Well, Mr. Tarbox, have you come to pick out a suit for yourself?”
“No, I haven’t. Have you cut out Grant’s suit yet?”
“Yes; it is nearly finished.”
“Then I’m sorry for you. You mustn’t make it up?”
“Why not?”
“Because I shall forbid the boy to pay for it. He’s got the money, as I’ve found out, but part of it belongs to me, and I won’t have him spendin’ it so extravagantly.”
“I shan’t be able to oblige you, Mr. Tarbox. The suit will be made up, as I agreed, and delivered to Grant.”
“Well, you’ll be takin’ a risk. I’ve warned you that you won’t get your pay.”
“You are behind the times, Mr. Tarbox. You have taken your walk for nothing. The suit is already paid for.”
“What!” ejaculated Mr. Tarbox.
“It is just as I said. Grant has paid me for the suit in advance. I advise you to give me an order and do the same thing.”
Mr. Tarbox felt that he had been outwitted. He persuaded himself that Grant had treated him meanly. Of course there was no resource. He was too wise to ask Mr. Shick to refund the money, for he knew he would not do it. He found nothing to say, and shuffled out, looking down in the mouth.
“There goes the meanest man in town!” soliloquized the tailor, as his visitor walked slowly down the road. “Grant must have a pretty uncomfortable time at home. I am glad that in this case the boy has got the better of his step-father.”
“He’s got five dollars left,” reflected Mr. Tarbox. “I’d ought to have that, for it was in my time that he earned the money. I’ll go upstairs and get it to-night when Grant is asleep.”
Grant went to bed about nine o’clock, for he was tired out, and he was soon asleep.
Usually he did not wake up at all till morning, but it so happened that this night he waked up about eleven, and saw Mr. Tarbox rummaging in the pocket of his pantaloons.
He hardly knew whether to feel amused or indignant.
“What are you doing here, Mr. Tarbox?” he demanded in a voice which he made purposely loud.
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