Part 20 (2/2)
”I say, Jim, how comes it that you knew all about those things and never told _me_? That's treating a fellow pretty mean, I think. I always shared the peanuts and things I got with you.”
”See here,” answered Jim, in open-eyed wonder; ”what are you driving at?”
”Why, _things_ that you know and never told me. Here your mother has got a Bible, and you know verses in it, and know about heaven, and all, and you never told me a word.”
Jim sat down on the foot of the bed and laughed, long and loud and merrily.
”I don't know, Tode, whether you're cracked, or what is the matter with you,” he said at last, when he could speak, ”but I never heard a fellow mixing up peanuts and heaven before.”
Tode was someway not in a mood to be laughed at, so he gave vent somewhat loftily to a solemn truth.
”Oh well, if you're a mind to think that the peanuts is of the most consequence after all, why I don't know as I object.”
And then the boy deliberately knelt down and began his evening prayer.
He was too ignorant to know that there were boys who thought it unmanly to pray. It never occurred to him to omit his kneeling. As for Jim he felt himself in a very strange position. He kicked his heels against the bedpost for awhile, but presently he grew ashamed of that, and contented himself with very noisily making ready for bed. Tode, when he rose, was in a softened mood, and as he blew out the light said:
”I wish you knew how to pray, Jim. I do, honestly, it's so nice.”
”Praying and brandy bottles don't go together,” answered his companion, shortly.
”No more they don't,” said Tode, emphatically. ”I had to quit that business myself.”
If some of our respectable brandy-drinking, brandy-selling deacons _could_ have heard those two ignorant boys talk!
[Ill.u.s.tration]
CHAPTER XV.
EXIT TODE MALL.
On went the brisk and busy days; the soft air of summer was upon them, and still the business at the dry-goods box flourished, and was taking on fresh importance with every pa.s.sing day. The people were almost numberless who grew into the habit of stopping at the little box, to be waited on by the briskest and sharpest of boys to delicious coffee and cookies, or as the days grew warmer to a gla.s.s of iced lemonade, or a saucer of glowing strawberries. The matter was putting on the semblance of a partners.h.i.+p concern, for the old lady rivaled the bakery with her cookies, both as regarded taste and economy; and in due course of time Winny caught the infection, studied half a leaf of an old receipt-book which came wrapped around an ounce of alum, and finally took to compounding a mixture, which being duly baked and carefully watched by the mother's practiced eye, developed into distracting little cream cakes, which met with most astonis.h.i.+ng sales.
Meantime there were many spare half hours in the course of the long days, which were devoted to the puzzling grammar and arithmetic, and gradually light was beginning to dawn over not only the addition but the subtraction table; or, more properly speaking, the addition circle. Tode nightly chuckled over his invention as he started from a new figure and raced glibly around to the climax, thereby calling forth the unqualified approbation of Winny, not unmixed now and then with a certain curious air of admiration at his rapid strides around the mystic circle. In fact, things were progressing. Tode began to pride himself on making change correctly and rapidly; began to wonder, supposing he had a one hundred dollar bill to change, could he do it as rapidly _almost_ as that man at the bank? Began to grow very ambitious, and in looking through his arithmetic in search of nouns and verbs, chanced to alight on the word ”interest;” read about it, plied Winny with questions, some of which she could answer and some not, went for further information to the older brother who was at work at the livery stable. The result of all of which was that our rising young street vagrant opened an account at the savings bank, and had money at interest! By the way, his trip to the livery stable revived his slumbering ambition in regard to horses, and thenceforth he spent his regular ”nooning” in that vicinity, or mounted on one of the coach boxes with the ”brother,” who chanced to be one of the finest drivers on the list. Not a very commendable locality in which to spend his leisure, you think? That depends----. Tode's happened, fortunately, to be much the stronger mind of the two; and besides, you remember the guide which mounted guard in his jacket pocket. He found it in accordance not only with one of the famous rules, viz: ”Learn everything that _is_ to be learned about everything that I possibly can,” but also in accordance with his inclination to learn to drive; so learn he did, although his desire to become Mr. Hastings'
coachman had merged itself into a desire to own a complete little coffee house like the one around the corner from him, with veritable shelves and drawers, and a till to lock his money in.
You think it a wonder that Tode never fell back into his old wretched street vagrant rum-cellar life. Well, I don't know. What was there to fall back to? I can't think it so charming a thing to be kicked around like a football, to be half the time nearly frozen, and all the time nearly starved, that people should tumble lovingly back into the gutter from which they have once emerged, unless indeed one resigns his will to the keeping of that demon who peoples the most of our gutters, which thing, you remember, Tode did not do. Besides, be it also remembered that the loving Lord had called this boy, and made ready a mansion in the Eternal City for him, and is it so strange a thing that the Lord can keep his _own_?
It chanced one day that two coffee drinkers at his stand lingered and talked freely about a certain lecture that was to be delivered before the----. Tode didn't catch what society, and didn't care; but he did learn the fact that Mr. Birge was to be the speaker. Now there had come into this boy's heart a strong love for Mr. Birge; he had never spoken to him in his life, but for all that Tode knew him well, nodded complacently to himself whenever he chanced to meet Mr. Birge on the street, and always pointed him out as his minister. Very speedily was his resolution taken to attend this lecture. He didn't know the subject, and indeed that was a matter of very slight moment to him. Whatever was the subject he felt sure of its being a fine one, since Mr. Birge had chosen it. Well he went, and as the lecture was delivered before one of the benevolent societies of the city, the subject was the broad and strong one, ”Christian Giving.” Tode came home with some new and startling ideas. He burst into the little kitchen where the mother sat placidly knitting her stockings, and the daughter sat knitting her brows over her arithmetic lesson, and p.r.o.nounced his important query:
”Winny, what's tenths?”
”What's what?”
”Tenths. In counting money, you know, or anything. How much is tenths?”
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