Now or Never Part 6

"Not a moment, marm. We'll see;" and Mr. Hardhand placed his hand upon the latch string.

Bobby felt very uneasy and very unhappy at that moment. His pa.s.sion had subsided, and he realized that he had done a great deal of mischief by his impetuous conduct.

Then the remembrance of his morning adventure on the bridge came like a flash of suns.h.i.+ne to his mind, and he eagerly drew from his pocket the handkerchief in which he had deposited the precious gold,--doubly precious now, because it would enable him to retrieve the error into which he had fallen, and do something towards relieving his mother's embarra.s.sment. With a trembling hand he untied the knot which secured the money.

"Here, mother, here is thirty-five dollars;" and he placed it in her hand.

"Why, Bobby!" exclaimed Mrs. Bright.

"Pay him, mother, pay him, and I will tell you all about it by and by."

"Thirty-five dollars! and all in gold! Where _did_ you get it, Bobby?"

"Never mind it now, mother."

Mr. Hardhand's covetous soul had already grasped the glittering gold; and removing his hand from the latch string, he approached the widow.

"I shall be able to pay you forty dollars now," said Mrs. Bright, taking the five dollars she had saved from her pocket.

"Yes, marm."

Mr. Hardhand took the money, and seating himself at the table, indorsed the amount on the back of the note.

"You owe me sixty more," said he, maliciously, as he returned the note to his pocket book. "It must be paid immediately."

"You must not be hard with me now, when I have paid more than you demanded."

"I don't wish to come here again. That boy's impudence has put me all out of conceit with you and your family," replied Mr. Hardhand, a.s.suming the most benevolent look he could command. "There was a time when I was very willing to help you. I have waited a great while for my pay for this house; a great deal longer than I would have waited for anybody else."

"Your interest has always been paid punctually," suggested the widow, modestly.

"That's true; but very few people would have waited as long as I have for the princ.i.p.al. I wanted to help you----"

"By gracious!" exclaimed Bobby, interrupting him.

"Don't be saucy, my son, don't," said Mrs. Bright, fearing a repet.i.tion of the former scene.

"_He_ wanted to help us!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Bobby.

It was a very absurd and hypocritical expression on the part of Mr. Hardhand; for he never wanted to help any one but himself; and during the whole period of his relations with the poor widow, he had oppressed, insulted, and abused her to the extent of his capacity, or at least as far as his interest would permit.

He was a malicious and revengeful man. He did not consider the great provocation he had given Bobby for his violent conduct, but determined to be revenged, if it could be accomplished without losing any part of the sixty dollars still due him. He was a wicked man at heart, and would not scruple to turn the widow and her family out of house and home.

Mrs. Bright knew this, and Bobby knew it too; and they felt very uneasy about it. The wretch still had the power to injure them, and he would use it without compunction.

"Yes, young man, I wanted to help you, and you see what I get for it--contempt and insults! You will hear from me again in a day or two. Perhaps you will change your tune, you young reprobate!"

"Perhaps I shall," replied Bobby, without much discretion.

"And you too, marm; you uphold him in his treatment of me. You have not done your duty to him. You have been remiss, marm!" continued Mr. Hardhand, growing bolder again, as he felt the power he wielded.

"That will do, sir; you can go!" said Bobby, springing from his chair, and approaching Mr. Hardhand. "Go, and do your worst!"

"Humph! you stump me,--do you?"

"I would rather see my mother kicked out of the house than insulted by such a dried-up old curmudgeon as you are. Go along!"

"Now, don't, Bobby," pleaded his mother.

"I am going; and if the money is not paid by twelve o'clock to-morrow, the law shall take its course;" and Mr. Hardhand rushed out of the house, slamming the door violently after him.

"O, Bobby, what have you done?" exclaimed Mrs. Bright, when the hard-hearted creditor had departed.

"I could not help it, mother; don't cry. I cannot bear to hear you insulted and abused; and I thought when I heard him do it a year ago, that I couldn't stand it again. It is too bad."

"But he will turn us out of the house; and what shall we do then?"

"Don't cry, mother; it will come round all right. I have friends who are rich and powerful, and who will help us."

"You don't know what you say, Bobby. Sixty dollars is a great deal of money, and if we should sell all we have, it would scarcely bring that."

"Leave it all to me, mother; I feel as though I could do something now. I am old enough to make money."

"What can you do?"

"Now or never!" replied Bobby, whose mind had wandered from the scene to the busy world, where fortunes are made and lost every day. "Now or never!" muttered he again.

"But, Bobby, you have not told me where you got all that gold."

"Dinner is ready, I see, and I will tell you while we eat."

Bobby had been a fis.h.i.+ng, and to be hungry is a part of the fisherman's luck; so he seated himself at the table, and gave his mother a full account of all that had occurred at the bridge.

The fond mother trembled when she realized the peril her son had incurred for the sake of the young lady; but her maternal heart swelled with admiration in view of the generous deed, and she thanked G.o.d that she was the mother of such a son. She felt more confidence in him then than she had ever felt before, and she realized that he would be the stay and the staff of her declining years.

Bobby finished his dinner, and seated himself on the front door step. His mind was absorbed by a new and brilliant idea; and for half an hour he kept up a most tremendous thinking.

"Now or never!" said he, as he rose and walked down the road towards Riverdale Centre.

CHAPTER V

IN WHICH BOBBY GIVES HIS NOTE FOR SIXTY DOLLARS

A great idea was born in Bobby's brain. His mother's weakness and the insecurity of her position were more apparent to him than they had ever been before. She was in the power of her creditor, who might turn her out of the little black house, sell the place at auction, and thus, perhaps, deprive her of the whole or a large part of his father's and her own hard earnings.