But I found so many of the neighboring farmers there ahead of me, that I knew there was no hope of getting home that day; but I was not at all sorry, for my basket was well filled with provisions, and Mr. Saunders always opened his big barn for us to sleep in.
That day there was an addition to the number who had been in the habit of gathering, from time to time, in the old Saunders barn,--a young fellow about my own age. His name was Charley Allen, and his father had bought a farm over on the Brush Creek road. He was sociable and friendly, but somehow I felt that he had "more manners" than the rest of us.
The evening was spent, as usual, in relating coa.r.s.e jokes and playing cards. Although I was not accustomed to such things at home, I had become so used to it at the mill, that it had long since ceased to shock me, and, indeed, I was getting to enjoy watching the games of the others.
When bedtime came, we were all so busy with our own affairs that we did not notice Charley Allen, until a rude, profane fellow exclaimed:--
"Heyday! we"ve got a parson here!" sure enough. Charley was kneeling by the oatbin praying. But the jest met with no response. The silence was broken only by the drowsy cattle below, and the twittering swallows overhead. More than one rough man wiped a tear from his eyes as he went silently to his bed on the hay.
I had always been in the habit of praying at home, but I never thought of such a thing at Saunder"s Mill.
As I laid awake that night in the old barn, thinking of Charley Allen"s courage, and what an effect it had upon the men, I firmly resolved that in the future I would _do right_. I little thought how soon my courage would be tested.
[Ill.u.s.tration: "_Did you go through this gate yesterday_?"]
Just after dinner I got my grist, and started for home. When I arrived at Squire Albright"s gate, where I turned off to go home, I found the old squire waiting for me. I saw in a moment that something had gone wrong. I had always stood in the greatest awe of the old gentlemen, because he was the rich man of the neighborhood, and, now I felt my heart beginning to beat very fast. As soon as I came near he said:--
"Did you go through this gate yesterday?"
I could easily have denied it, as it was before daylight when I went through, and I quite as often went the other way. But the picture of Charley Allen kneeling in the barn, came to my mind like a flash, and before I had time to listen to the tempter I replied:--
"Yes, sir; I did."
"Are you sure you shut and pinned the gate?" he asked.
This question staggered me. I remembered distinctly that I did not. I could pull the pin out without getting off my horse, but I could not put it in again; so I carelessly rode away, and left it open.
"I--I--I--"
"Out with it; tell just what you did!"
"I left it open," I said abruptly.
"Well, you let the cattle in and they have destroyed all my early potatoes,--a terrible piece of business!"
"I"m very sorry, I"d--"
"Talking won"t help matters now; but remember, boy, remember that sorrow doesn"t make potatoes,--sorrow doesn"t make potatoes."
I felt very bad about the matter, for I was really sorry that the old gentleman had lost his potatoes, and then I expected to be severely reproved at home. But I soon found that they knew nothing of the matter, and after several days had pa.s.sed, I began to rest quite easy.
Alas for human hopes! one rainy afternoon I saw the squire riding down the lane. I ran off to the barn, ashamed to face him, and afraid to meet my father. They sat on the porch and talked for a long time.
At last my curiosity overcame my fear, and I stole back to the house, and went into mother"s room to see if I could hear what they were talking about.
"Why, the boy could be spared well enough, but he doesn"t know anything about the business," said my father.
"There is one thing he does know," said the squire, "he knows how to tell the truth." He then related the circ.u.mstance which I so much dreaded to have my father hear.
After he had gone, my father called me to him, and told me that the squire was going to start a store in the village, and wanted a boy to help, and that I could go if I wished. I went, and remained in the village store until it became a city store. People say that I got my start in life when I entered Albright"s store, but I will always declare that I got it while I was waiting for the grist.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
[Ill.u.s.tration: "_Twenty dollars against themselves_."]
A BOY"S LESSONS IN DISHONESTY
"Have you examined that bill, James?"
"Yes, sir."
"Anything wrong?"
"I find two errors."
"Ah, let me see."
The lad handed his employer a long bill that had been placed on his desk for examination.
"Here is an error of ten dollars in the calculation which they have made against themselves; and another of ten dollars in the footing."
"Also against themselves?"
"Yes, sir."
The merchant smiled in a way that struck the lad as peculiar.
"Twenty dollars against themselves," he remarked in a kind of pleased surprise; "trusty clerks they must have!"
"Shall I correct the figures?" asked the lad.
"No; let them correct their own mistakes. We don"t examine bill"s for other people"s benefit," replied the merchant. "It will be time to correct those errors when they find them out. All so much gain as it now stands."
The boy"s delicate moral sense was shocked at so unexpected a remark. He was the son of a poor widow, who had taught him that to be just is the duty of man, and that "honesty is the best policy" always.
Mr. Carman, the merchant, in whose employment the lad James had been for only a few months, was an old friend of James"s father, and a man in whom he had the highest confidence. In fact, James had always looked upon him as a kind of model man. When Mr. Carman agreed to take him into his store, the lad felt that great good fortune was in his way.
"Let them correct their own mistakes." These words made a strong impression on the mind of James Lewis. When first spoken by Mr. Carman, with the meaning which he gave them, as we have said, he felt shocked.
But as he turned them over again in his thoughts, and remembered that this man stood very high in his mother"s estimation, he began to think that perhaps the thing was fair enough in business. Mr. Carman was hardly the man to do wrong.
A few days after James had examined the bill, a clerk from the house which had sent it, called for settlement. The lad, who was present, waited with interest to see whether Mr. Carman would speak of the error.
But he made no remark. A check for the amount of the bill as rendered, was filled up, and a receipt taken.
"Is that right?" James asked himself this question. His conscience said no. The fact that Mr. Carman had so acted, bewildered his mind.