Tom Thatcher's Fortune

At the breakfast-table the next morning, Tom, in looking about him, to his great surprise recognized Darius Darke. Mr. Darke was equally surprised to meet Tom. It appeared that...

Rupert was carefully dressed, and looked, as the saying is, as if he had just come out of a bandbox. He was rather fond of dress. Besides it helped to distinguish him from the o...

Darius Darke, to call him by the name by which he chose to be known, on parting company with Tom, turned his steps toward the house of Mr. Simpson, the wealthy shoe manufacturer.

Tom thought it best to attend, first of all, to Mr. Julian’s business. Accordingly he inquired his way to Wall Street, and was not long in finding the office of Mellish & Co.

“Speak low,” said the other. “I don’t care, for reasons of my own, to be identified as that man. We must continue our conversation in a place more retired. Come up to my room;”...

The curtain falls, shutting out our view of Tom, as, day by day, he wends his slow way from the great barren plains west of the Mississippi valley toward the modern Golconda.

The speaker was a sturdy boy of sixteen, with bright eyes, and a smiling sun-browned face. His shirt sleeves were rolled up displaying a pair of muscular arms. His hands were br...

The speaker was a slender, pleasant-faced boy of about Tom’s age. He was better dressed than Tom, for though his father received but a small annual salary from his parish, he wa...

“It is now between eight and nine years ago,” said Darius Darke, deliberately, “that I found myself at a mining district in California, then known as Rocky Gulch. With me was a...

“Let him go, Mr. Brush. I don’t care to be revenged upon him. He tried to rob me, but he has been defeated, thanks to you. And that reminds me--how did you happen to get here ju...

“Yes,” said he, “I suppose your father was murdered for his money. How much did he have? Well, probably five thousand dollars, more or less. I had considerably more, having met...

No sooner was it out of his mouth than the two rivals dashed off in eager competition. In fact Rupert started before the word was fairly spoken and in consequence gained a sligh...

As Tom went home his mind was in a whirl of mingled excitement and bewilderment. Neither he nor any one else in the village had harbored a moment’s doubt on the subject of the w...

“I didn’t think of that,” said his father, his face lighting up with satisfaction. “To be sure, it will be a great loss to her. She will lose a comfortable living.”

“Don’t let it affect your spirits too much, my young friend,” said Dr. Spooner. “Your father may have died before his time, but he is in the hands of his Creator. We must submit...

Mr. Perkins, on his return to his office, was for an hour or two engaged in business duties. Then a business friend, with whom he was also socially intimate, came in, and they f...

As Tom was on his way home, walking slowly and thoughtfully, while he considered the change which had taken place in his circumstances and prospects, his attention was attracted...

The town of Wilton, aside from the manufacture of shoes, had no other branch of industry employing a considerable number of men and boys. This accounts for the difficulty Tom ex...

The two men were fairly well dressed, apparently between thirty and forty years of age, not unlike the average emigrant of those days, who left a comfortable home in the East to...

Her face was grave and sad. Her hope of seeing Tom again in life was fast growing fainter and fainter. He was her only boy, and she had lost him. She would never again see his b...

There was a little conversation between the chief and an elderly Indian, who proved to be an interpreter, having a fair knowledge of the English language for an Indian, and then...

He had made all arrangements, seen his mother and sister installed in the comfortable farm-house of Hiram Bacon, had procured a modest outfit, and was ready to start for the Pac...

As yet Tom did not know the name of the man from whom he hoped for an engagement. He afterward learned that he went by the name of Percy Burnett.

Fire! When Tom Thatcher heard the bells ringing, and the ominous cry of “Fire!” rang with startling distinctness through the streets of the village, he sprang from his bed and h...

“Why,” he asked himself, “should John Simpson pass by his comfortable stable and put me in this out-of-the-way barn? I have fallen pretty low, it is true, but I still think a st...

As Tom plodded along beside his employer, who did not deign to utter a word, he could not help doubting whether he had done wisely in selling his independence for twelve dollars...

In ten minutes Tom found himself sitting at the hospitable board of his two friends. It was literally a board. A broad plank, or rather two side by side, were stretched across t...

His departure from Wilton excited considerable surprise, more especially as people could not find out where he had gone. Many were the inquiries made of Mrs. Thatcher, but she a...

They gazed upon him almost in stupefaction. Then they began to murmur expressions of wonder, not unmingled with awe. To their superstitious minds it seemed like a direct interpo...

In the upper part of San Francisco, where now stand fine mansions, there were at the time of my story, only a few small and modest houses, with land enough attached for a kitche...

“Why, not, mother? Remember, there is a bag of gold dust somewhere there which belongs to us. If my father knows what is going on here, don’t you think it would be a relief to h...

“You wonder,” continued the banker, without waiting to be questioned, “you wonder, no doubt, why, if this is the case, that your father did not return to his home and family. I...

“He has sterling qualities, Jack has, and an excellent heart. He is not refined, I grant. Indeed, he is rather coarse--never moved in good society, but he’ll stand by a friend t...

The night passed, and the travelers breakfasted together in the plain dining-room of the inn. Tom and his employer sat together, and Peter Brush occupied a seat directly opposit...

On arriving at St. Louis Tom sought out a modest inn known as the St. Louis Hotel. The price per day was but a dollar, and this served as a recommendation in his eyes. The war h...

Meanwhile he must make himself as agreeable as possible to the young Indian whose friendly feeling had saved his life. Had Miantonimo still remained sick, he would have watched...

As there was no hotel, nor even tavern, at Rocky Gulch, the banker, Percival, gladly accepted Tom’s invitation to pass the night at the cabin occupied jointly by himself and his...

Tom and his new acquaintance spent a day at the little settlement where they passed the night. Tom was fortunate enough to buy a horse for forty-two dollars, and he also provide...

“I will tell you all about it and let you judge. Last evening I called upon him and asked him questions about my father, and how much money he had when they parted in California.”

Arrived at St. Joe, the town was found to be crowded, owing to some local celebration. At the first two hotels our two travelers were unable to gain admittance. At the third the...

The Indians numbered not far from twenty. The dusky warriors sat in silence, wearing their usual look of gravity. Among all races there is probably not one less social than the...

“Is it? It used to be Jim Dobson, well known to the police of Chicago, Cincinnati and St. Louis. You were recognized at St. Joe. Now will you hand over the money?”

“What the doctor says is gospel truth,” said Peter Brush, gravely. “I feel more anxious in my mind than I did yesterday. But it isn’t best to worry overmuch. I’ve been over the...

Then the Indians, resuming their sitting positions, had a powwow, or, as we should say, deliberated. Though the three captives could not understand their speech, they readily in...

It was a long and tedious ride. The roads were not of the best--indeed they were not far from the worst--and more than once the stage had a narrow escape from tipping over.

“Just at present, sir, I have a particular reason for wishing to go to California. Whenever I return I will call on you, and if you should then have a vacancy I should like to f...

The Indians had held their powwow, and so had their white captives, and both were silent. One by one dropped into a slumber. Tom was the first of the three to fall asleep. He wa...

The man was very nearly as thin as the horse, with a long face, set off, but scarcely adorned, by a rough, red beard. He was attired in a suit of rusty black, and looked not unl...