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***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORE BOY*** E-text prepared by booksmith HTML file produced by David Widger








THE STORE BOY By Horato Alger, Jr.





CONTENTS

CHAPTER I — BEN BARCLAY MEETS A TRAMP

CHAPTER II — BEN AND HIS MOTHER

CHAPTER III — MRS. BARCLAY'S CALLERS

CHAPTER IV — UNPLEASANT BUSINESS

CHAPTER V — PROFESSOR HARRINGTON'S ENTERTAINMENT

CHAPTER VI — TWO YOUNG RIVALS

CHAPTER VII — THE TRAMP MAKES ANOTHER CALL

CHAPTER VIII — SQUIRE DAVENPORT'S FINANCIAL OPERATION

CHAPTER IX — A PROSPECT OF TROUBLE

CHAPTER X — BEN GOES TO NEW YORK

CHAPTER XI — THE MADISON AVENUE STAGE

CHAPTER XII — BEN'S LUCK

CHAPTER XIII — A STARTLING EVENT

CHAPTER XIV — BEN SHOWS HIMSELF A HERO

CHAPTER XV — BEN LOSES HIS PLACE

CHAPTER XVI — BEN FINDS TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT

CHAPTER XVII — WHAT THE LETTER CONTAINED

CHAPTER XVIII — FAREWELL TO PENTONVILLE

CHAPTER XIX — A COOL RECEPTION

CHAPTER XX — ENTERING UPON HIS DUTIES

CHAPTER XXI — AT THE THEATER

CHAPTER XXII — A MYSTERIOUS LETTER

CHAPTER XXIII — BEN'S VISIT TO THIRTY-FIRST STREET

CHAPTER XXIV — BEN ON TRIAL

CHAPTER XXV — CONRAD TAKES A BOLD STEP

CHAPTER XXVI — MR. LYNX, THE DETECTIVE

CHAPTER XXVII — THE TELLTALE TICKET

CHAPTER XXVIII — MRS. HILL'S MALICE

CHAPTER XXIX — SOME UNEXPECTED CHANGES

CHAPTER XXX — BEN "GOES WEST"

CHAPTER XXXI — MR. JACKSON RECEIVES A CALL

CHAPTER XXXII — BEN SELLS THE FARM

CHAPTER XXXIII — GOOD NEWS

CHAPTER XXXIV — CONRAD GOES INTO WALL STREET

CHAPTER XXXV — TURNING THE TABLES

CHAPTER XXXVI — A LETTER FROM ROSE GARDINER

CHAPTER XXXVII — BEN'S VISIT TO PENTONVILLE

CHAPTER XXXVIII — CONCLUSION







CHAPTER I — BEN BARCLAY MEETS A TRAMP

"Give me a ride?"

Ben Barclay checked the horse he was driving and looked attentively at the speaker. He was a stout-built, dark-complexioned man, with a beard of a week's growth, wearing an old and dirty suit, which would have reduced any tailor to despair if taken to him for cleaning and repairs. A loose hat, with a torn crown, surmounted a singularly ill-favored visage.

"A tramp, and a hard looking one!" said Ben to himself.

He hesitated about answering, being naturally reluctant to have such a traveling companion.

"Well, what do you say?" demanded the tramp rather impatiently. "There's plenty of room on that seat, and I'm dead tired."

"Where are you going?" asked Ben.

"Same way you are—to Pentonville."

"You can ride," said Ben, in a tone by means cordial, and he halted his horse till his unsavory companion climbed into the wagon.

They were two miles from Pentonville, and Ben had a prospect of a longer ride than he desired under the circumstances. His companion pulled out a dirty clay pipe from his pocket, and filled it with tobacco, and then explored another pocket for a match. A muttered oath showed that he failed to find one.

"Got a match, boy?" he asked.

"No," answered Ben, glad to have escaped the offensive fumes of the pipe.

"Just my luck!" growled the tramp, putting back the pipe with a look of disappointment. "If you had a match now, I wouldn't mind letting you have a whiff or two.

"I don't smoke," answered Ben, hardly able to repress a look of disgust.

"So you're a good boy, eh? One of the Sunday school kids that want to be an angel, hey? Pah!" and the tramp exhibited the disgust which the idea gave him.

"Yes, I go to Sunday school," said Ben coldly, feeling more and more repelled by his companion.

"I never went to Sunday school," said his companion. "And I wouldn't. It's only good for milksops and hypocrites."

"Do you think you're any better for not going?" Ben couldn't help asking.

"I haven't been so prosperous, if that's what you mean. I'm a straightforward man, I am. You always know where to find me. There ain't no piety about me. What are you laughin' at?"

"No offense," said Ben. "I believe every word you say."

"You'd better. I don't allow no man to doubt my word, nor no boy, either. Have you got a quarter about you?"

"No."

"Nor a dime? A dime'll do."

"I have no money to spare."

"I'd pay yer to-morrer."

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