"My son!" exclaimed the stranger, grasping our hero by the hand, while the tears rolled down his brown visage.
Harry did not know what to make of this announcement.
"Is it possible that you are my father?" asked he.
"I am, Harry; but I was sure you were dead. I got a letter, informing me that your mother and the baby had gone; and about a year after I met a man from Rockville who told me that you had died also."
"It was a mistake."
They continued the conversation as they walked from the court room to the store. There was a long story for each to tell. Mr. West confessed that, for two years after his arrival at Valparaiso, he had accomplished very little. He drank hard, and brought on a fever, which had nearly carried him off. But that fever was a blessing in disguise; and since his recovery he had been entirely temperate. He had nothing to send to his family, and shame prevented him from even writing to his wife. He received the letter which conveyed the intelligence of the death of his wife and child, and soon after learned that his remaining little one was also gone.
Carpenters were then in great demand in Valparaiso. He was soon in a condition to take contracts, and fortune smiled upon him. He had rendered himself independent, and had now returned to spend his remaining days in his native land. He had been in Boston a week, and happened to stray into the Police Court, where he had found the son who, he supposed, had long ago been laid in the grave.
Edward Flint finished his career of "fashionable dissipation" by being sentenced to the house of correction. Just before he was sent over, he confessed to Mr. Wade that it was he who had stolen Harry"s money, three years before.
The next day Harry obtained leave of absence, for the purpose of accompanying his father on a visit to Redfield. He was in exuberant spirits. It seemed as though his cup of joy was full. He could hardly realize that he had a father--a kind, affectionate father--who shared the joy of his heart.
They went to Redfield; but I cannot stop to tell my readers how astonished Squire Walker, and Mr. Nason, and the paupers were, to see the spruce young clerk come to his early home, attended by his father--a rich father, too.
We can follow our hero no farther through the highways and byways of his life-pilgrimage. We have seen him struggle like a hero through trial and temptation, and come off conqueror in the end. He has found a rich father, who crowns his lot with plenty; but his true wealth is in those good principles which the trials, no less than the triumphs, of his career have planted in his soul.
CHAPTER XXI
IN WHICH HARRY IS VERY PLEASANTLY SITUATED, AND THE STORY COMES TO AN END
Perhaps my young readers will desire to know something of Harry"s subsequent life; and we will "drop in" upon him at his pleasant residence in Rockville, without the formality of an introduction. The years have elapsed since we parted with him, after his triumphant discharge from arrest. His father did not live long after his return to his native land, and when he was twenty-one, Harry came into possession of a handsome fortune. But even wealth could not tempt him to choose a life of idleness; and he went into partnership with Mr.
Wade, the senior retiring at the same time. The firm of Wade and West is quite as respectable as any in the city.
Harry is not a slave to business; and he spends a portion of his time at his beautiful place in Rockville; for the cars pa.s.s through the village, which is only a ride of an hour and a half from the city.
Mr. West"s house is situated on a gentle eminence not far distant from the turnpike road. It is built upon the very spot where the cabin of the charcoal burners stood, in which Harry, the fugitive, pa.s.sed two nights. The aspect of the place is entirely changed, though the very rock upon which our hero ate the sumptuous repast the little angel brought him may be seen in the centre of the beautiful garden, by the side of the house. Mr. West often seats himself there to think of the events of the past, and to treasure up the pleasant memories connected with the vicinity.
The house is elegant and s.p.a.cious, though there is nothing gaudy or gay about it. Let us walk in. It is plainly furnished, though the articles are rich and tasteful. This is the sitting room. Who is that beautiful lady sitting at the piano-forte? Do you not recognize her, gentle reader? Of course you do. It is Mrs. West, and an old acquaintance. She is no longer the little angel, though I cannot tell her height or her weight; but her husband thinks she is just as much of an angel now as when she fed him on doughnuts upon the flat rock in the garden.
Ah, here comes Harry! He is a fine-looking man, rather tall; and though he does not wear a mustache, I have no doubt Mrs. West thinks he is handsome--which is all very well, provided he does not think so himself.
"This is a capital day, Julia; suppose we ride over to Redfield, and see friend Nason," said Mr. West.
"I shall be delighted," replied Julia.
The horse is ordered; and as they ride along, the gentleman amuses his wife with the oft-repeated story of his flight from Jacob Wire"s.
"Do you see that high rock, Julia?" he asked, pointing over the fence.
"Yes."
"That is the very one where I dodged Leman, and took the back track; and there is where I knocked the bull-dog over."
They arrived at the house of Mr. Nason. It is a pleasant little cottage, for he is no longer in the service of the town. It was built by Mr. West expressly for him. Connected with it is a fine farm of twenty acres. This little property was sold to Mr. Nason by his protege, though no money was paid. Harry would have made it a free gift, if the pride of his friend would have permitted; but it amounts to the same thing.
Mr. West and his lady are warmly welcomed by Mr. Nason and his family.
The ex-keeper is an old man now. He is a member of the church, and considered an excellent and useful citizen. He still calls Mr. West his "boy," and regards him with mingled pride and admiration.
Our friends dine at the cottage; and, after dinner, Mr. Nason and Mr.
West talk over old times, ride down to Pine Pleasant, and visit the poorhouse. Great changes have come over Redfield. Squire Walker, Jacob Wire, and most of the paupers who were the companions of our hero, are dead and gone, and the living speak gently of the departed.
At Pine Pleasant, they fasten the horse to a tree, and cross over to the rock which was Harry"s favorite resort in childhood.
"By the way, Harry, have you heard anything of Ben Smart lately?" asks Mr. Nason.
"After his discharge from the state prison, I heard that he went to sea."
"He was a bad boy."
"And a bad man."
"I believed he killed his mother. They say she never smiled after she gave him up as a hopeless case."
"Poor woman! I pity a mother whose son turns out badly. What a wreck of fond hopes!"
"Just so," added Mr. Nason.
After visiting various interesting localities, Mr. West and his lady returned home. In their absence, a letter for Julia from Katy Flint has arrived. The Flint family are now in good circ.u.mstances. Joe is a steady man, and, with Harry"s a.s.sistance, has purchased an interest in the stable formerly kept by Major Phillips, who has retired on a competency.
"What does she say, Julia?" asked Harry, as she broke the seal.
"They have heard from Edward."
"Bad news, I am afraid. He was a hard boy."
"Yes; he has just been sent to the Maryland penitentiary for housebreaking."
"I am sorry for him."
"Katy says her mother feels very badly about it."
"No doubt of it. Mrs. Flint is an excellent woman; she was a mother to me."
"She says they are coming up to Rockville next week."
"Glad of that; they will always be welcome beneath my roof. I must call upon them to-morrow when I go to the city."
"Do; and give my love to them."