Work and Win.
by Oliver Optic.
PREFACE.
In the preparation of this volume, the author has had in his mind the intention to delineate the progress of a boy whose education had been neglected, and whose moral attributes were of the lowest order, from vice and indifference to the development of a high moral and religious principle in the heart, which is the rule and guide of a pure and true life.
The incidents which make up the story are introduced to ill.u.s.trate the moral status of the youth, at the beginning, and to develop the influences from which proceeded a gentle and Christian character.
Mollie, the captain"s daughter, whose simple purity of life, whose filial devotion to an erring parent, and whose trusting faith in the hour of adversity, won the love and respect of Noddy, was not the least of these influences. If the writer has not "moralized," it was because the true life, seen with the living eye, is better than any precept, however skilfully it may be dressed by the rhetorical genius of the moralist.
Once more the author takes pleasure in acknowledging the kindness of his young friends, who have so favorably received his former works; and he hopes that "WORK AND WIN," the fourth of the Woodville Stories, will have as pleasant a welcome as its predecessors.
WILLIAM T. ADAMS.
HARRISON SQUARE. Ma.s.s., November 10, 1865.
CHAPTER I.
THE MISCHIEF-MAKERS.
"Here, Noddy Newman! you haven"t washed out the boat-house yet," said Ben, the boatman, as the young gentleman thus addressed was ambling down towards the river.
"Hang the boat-house!" exclaimed Noddy, impatiently, as he stopped short in his walk, and seemed to be in doubt whether he should return or continue on his way.
"You know what Miss Bertha says--don"t you?"
"Yes, I know what she says," added Noddy, rubbing his head, as though he were trying to reconcile his present purpose, whatever it was, with the loyalty he owed to Bertha. "I suppose it don"t make much difference to her whether I wash out the boat-house now or by and by."
"I don"t know anything about that, my boy," said the old man. "Miss Bertha told me to find some regular work for you to do every day. I found it, and she say you must wash out the boat-house every morning before nine o"clock. If you don"t do it, I shall report you to her.
That"s all I"ve got to say about it."
"I calculate to wash out the boat-house."
"You"ve only half an hour to do it in, then. You"ve not only got to wash it out every morning, but you have got to do it before nine o"clock.
Them"s the orders. I always obey orders. If Miss Bertha should tell me to tie you up, and give you as big a licking as you deserve, I should do it."
"No, you wouldn"t."
"I haven"t got any such orders, mind ye, Noddy; so we won"t dispute about that. Now, go and wash out the boat-house like a good boy, and don"t make any fuss about it."
Noddy deliberated a few moments more. He evidently disliked the job, or did not wish to do it at that particular time; but Miss Bertha"s influence was all-powerful; and though he would have fought, tooth and nail, against anything like compulsion on the part of Ben, he could not resist the potent spell which the name of his young mistress cast upon him.
"Hang the old boat-house!" exclaimed he, as he stamped his foot upon the ground, and then slowly retraced his steps towards the boatman.
"Hang it, if you like, Noddy, but wash it out first," said Ben, with a smile, as he observed the effect of the charm he had used to induce the wayward youth to do his duty.
"I wish the boat-house was burned up!" added Noddy, petulantly.
"No, you don"t."
"Yes, I do. I wish it was a pile of ashes at this moment."
"Don"t say so, Noddy. What would Miss Bertha think to hear you talk like that?"
"You can tell her, if you like," replied Noddy, as he rushed desperately into the boat-house to do the disagreeable job.
Noddy Newman was an orphan; and no one in the vicinity of Woodville even knew what his real name was. Two years before, Bertha Grant had taken the most tender care of him, after an accident by which he had been severely injured. Previous to that time he had been a vagabond, roaming about the woods and the villages, sleeping in barns and out-buildings, and stealing his food when he could obtain it by no other means. Efforts had been made to commit him to the poorhouse; but he had cunningly avoided being captured, and retained his freedom until the accident placed him under the influence of Bertha Grant, who had before vainly attempted to induce him to join her mission-school in the Glen.
Noddy had been two years at Woodville. He was neither a servant nor a member of the family, but occupied a half-way position, eating and sleeping with the men employed on the estate, but being the constant companion of Bertha, who was laboring to civilize and educate him. She had been partially successful in her philanthropic labors; for Noddy knew how to behave himself with propriety, and could read and write with tolerable facility. But books and literature were not Noddy"s _forte_, and he still retained an unhealthy relish for his early vagabond habits.
Like a great many other boys,--even like some of those who have been brought up judiciously and carefully,--Noddy was not very fond of work.
He was bold and impulsive, and had not yet acquired any fixed ideas in regard to the objects of life. Bertha Grant had obtained a powerful influence over him, to which he was solely indebted for all the progress he had made in learning and the arts of civilized life. Wayward as he always had been, and as he still was, there was a spirit in him upon which to build a hope that something might yet be made of him, though this faith was in a great measure confined to Bertha and the old boatman.
He had a great many good qualities--enough, in the opinion of his gentle instructress, to redeem him from his besetting sins, which were neither few nor small. He was generous, which made him popular among those who were under no moral responsibility for his future welfare. He was bold and daring, and never hesitated to do anything which the nerve or muscle of a boy of fourteen could achieve. His feats of strength and daring, often performed from mere bravado, won the admiration of the thoughtless, and Noddy was regarded as a "character" by people who only wanted to be amused.
Noddy had reached an age when the future became an interesting problem to those who had labored to improve his manners and his morals. Mr.
Grant had suggested to Bertha the propriety of having him bound as an apprentice to some steady mechanic; and, at the time of our story, she and her father were in search of such a person. The subject of this kind solicitude did not relish the idea of learning a trade, though he had not positively rebelled at the disposition which it was proposed to make of him.
He had always lived near the river; and during his residence at Woodville he had been employed, so far as he could be employed at all, about the boats. He was a kind of a.s.sistant to the boatman, though there was no need of such an official on the premises. For his own good, rather than for the labor he performed, he was required to do certain work about the boat-house, and in the boats when they were in use.
We could recite a great many sc.r.a.pes, of which Noddy had been the hero, during the two years of his stay at Woodville; but such a recital would hardly be profitable to our readers, especially as the young man"s subsequent career was not devoid of stirring incidents.
Noddy drew a bucket of water at the pier, and carried it into the boat-house. Ben, satisfied now that the work was actually in progress, left the pier, and walked up to the house to receive his morning instructions. He was hardly out of sight before Miss f.a.n.n.y Grant presented herself at the door.
Miss f.a.n.n.y was now a nice young lady of twelve. She was as different from her sister Bertha as she could be. She was proud, and rather wayward. Like some other young ladies we have somewhere read about, she was very fond of having her own way, even when her own way had been proved to be uncomfortable and dangerous. But when we mention Miss f.a.n.n.y"s faults, we do not wish to be understood that she had no virtues.
If she did wrong very often, she did right in the main, and had made a great deal of progress in learning to do wisely and well, and, what was just as good, in doing it after she had learned it.
f.a.n.n.y Grant walked up to the boat-house with a very decided step, and it soon appeared that she was not there by chance or accident; which leads us sorrowfully to remark, that in her wrongdoing she often found a ready companion and supporter in Noddy Newman. She was rather inclined to be a romp; and though she was not given to "playing with the boys," the absence of any suitable playmate sometimes led her to invite the half-reformed vagabond of Woodville to a.s.sist in her sport.
"You are a pretty fellow, Noddy Newman!" said she, her pouting lips giving an added emphasis to her reproachful remark. "Why didn"t you come down to the Point, as you said you would?"
"Because I couldn"t, Miss f.a.n.n.y," growled Noddy. "I had to wash out this confounded boat-house, or be reported to Miss Bertha."
"Couldn"t you do that after you got back?"
"Ben said I must do it before nine o"clock. I wanted to go down to the Point, as I agreed, but you see I couldn"t."
"I waited for you till I got tired out," pouted f.a.n.n.y; but she neglected to add that five minutes on ordinary occasions were the full limit of her patience.
"Hang the old boat-house! I told Ben I wished it was burned up."
"So do I; but come along, Noddy. We will go now."
"I can"t go till I"ve washed out the boat-house."