Part 4 (1/2)

Tom walked home slowly, but the distance seemed short, for he was absorbed in thought. In a way very unexpected he seemed to be likely to realize what he had regarded as a very pleasant, but impossible, dream.

Would his father consent to the squire's proposal, and, if so, ought Tom to consent to expose him to the risk of losing so considerable a sum of money? If he had been older and more cautious he would probably have decided in the negative; but Tom was hopeful and sanguine, and the stories he had heard of California had dazzled him. There was, of course, an element of uncertainty in his calculations, but the fact that there seemed to be no prospect before him in his native village had an important influence in shaping his decision.

To ask his father the momentous question, however, was not easy, and he delayed it, hoping for a favorable opportunity of introducing the subject. His thoughtful manner excited attention, and secured him the opportunity he sought.

”You seem deep in thought, Tom,” said his mother.

”Yes, mother, I have a good deal to think about.”

”Anybody would think Tom overwhelmed with business,” said Walter, next to Tom in age, with good-humored banter.

”I am,” said Tom gravely.

”Won't you take me in partners.h.i.+p, then?” asked Walter.

Tom smiled.

”I don't think I could do that,” he answered. ”Not to keep you waiting, Squire Hudson has made me a business proposal this afternoon.”

All were surprised and looked to Tom for an explanation.

”He offers to advance me two hundred dollars for a year, to help me out to California.”

”Squire Hudson makes this offer to a boy of your age?” said his father slowly.

”Yes, or rather he makes the offer to you.”

”To me?”

”Perhaps you will think me selfish for even mentioning it,” said Tom rapidly, in a hurry to explain fully now that the ice was broken. ”He will advance the money, on condition that you increase the mortgage on the farm to twenty-two hundred dollars.”

Mr. Nelson looked blank.

”Do you know, Tom,” he said, ”how hard I find it now to pay the interest on the mortgage, and how hopeless I am of ever paying it off?”

”I know all that, father; but I want to help you. If I keep my health, and have a chance, I think I can help you. There's no chance for me here, and there is a chance in California. You remember what we have read in the _Weekly Messenger_ about the gold-fields, and what large sums have been realized by miners.”

”They are men, and you are a boy.”

”That's true,” said Tom, ”but,” he added, with natural pride, ”I am pretty strong for a boy. I am willing to work, and I don't see why I can't dig gold as well as a man. I may not make as much, but if I only do half as well as some that we have read about, I can do a good deal for you.”

”How far off is California?” asked Mrs. Nelson.

”Over three thousand miles, across the continent,” answered her husband.

”By sea it is a good deal more.”

”Why, it is as far off as Europe,” said Walter, who was fresh from his lesson in geography.

”It is farther than some parts of Europe--England, for example,” said his father.