CHAPTER VI. HOW GILBERT GOT ON.

When dinner was over, Gilbert found that he was not going to have the pleasure of Randolph’s companionship.

“Where are you going, Randolph?” asked his father, as Randolph was leaving the room.

“I’m going out.”

“Perhaps Gilbert may like to go with you,” suggested Mr. Briggs.

“I’ve got an engagement,” said Randolph, shortly.

“When was it made?”

“This afternoon.”

“Don’t let me interfere with Randolph’s engagements,” said Gilbert, hastily.

“Won’t you feel lonely?” asked Mr. Briggs.

“Oh, no, sir. I shall take a walk down Broadway. There will be plenty to take up my attention.”

59“Randolph can hardly be expected to give up his engagement,” said Mrs. Briggs. “I am surprised, Mr. Briggs, that you should expect it.”

Mr. Briggs muttered something about politeness.

Gilbert protested again that he could get along very well by himself, and the matter dropped.

Presently he went out, and Mrs. Briggs, who had been waiting her opportunity, commenced an attack upon her husband.

“What are your plans for this boy, Mr. Briggs?” she asked. “Are you going to support him in idleness?”

“Certainly not. I shall find him a place as soon as I can.”

“What claim has he upon you, I should like to know?”

“He has only me to look out for him.”

“What of that?”

“He was the son of my old schoolmate.”

“I have old schoolmates, too, and some, I suppose, are in want; but I am not going to adopt their children.”

60“This boy was especially recommended to me, and what property his father left was given in trust to me for him.”

“Well, it’s all used up, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Then your trust is at an end.”

“What are you driving at, wife?”

“I want to know whether you expect this boy to remain in your house.”

“I see no objection.”

“I do. You will be pampering him at the expense of your own son.”

Mr. Briggs shrugged his shoulders.

“I apprehend,” he said, “that our household expenses will not be increased materially by Gilbert’s remaining here.”

“Clothes and board cost something. Besides, he is not a fit companion for Randolph.”

“Why not?”

“He is a poor boy.”

“He has the education and manners of a young 61gentleman. It strikes me that he is quite the equal of Randolph in these respects.”

“You are always ready to side against your own boy.”

“I don’t want to spoil him.”

“You seem to prefer this new boy.”

“Not at all. Must I be unjust to every other boy, because I have a son of my own?”

“You know what I mean well enough.”

“The point seems to be, that you don’t want Gilbert in the house.”

“No.”

“What shall I do with him?”

“Let him shift for himself.”

Mr. Briggs shook his head.

“The world would talk,” said Mr. Briggs.

“Let them talk!” said the lady, independently.

“It isn’t best to incur the reproach of your fellow-men.”

“Well, get him a cheap boarding-house: that’s more suited to his station in life than a home like ours.”

62“Let him stay here a few days, and I will see what I can do.”

Mrs. Briggs would have preferred to have Gilbert leave the next day, but decided to accept the concession made by her husband. He was placed in a difficult position, but did not venture to tell his wife all. The truth was, for I do not mean to make a mystery of it, he had wronged Gilbert most grievously. The sum of money placed in his hands in trust for our hero had been not a small sum, but seventy-five thousand dollars. Gilbert’s father, trusting all to the honor of his friend, had exacted no guaranties of good faith. So far as Mr. Briggs knew, no living person was aware of the amount of Gilbert’s inheritance. There was no one, so far as he knew, to contradict his assertion that it had all been expended in the education of our hero. Yet it troubled him. He had made up his mind to wrong the boy, but he was not so hardened as to do it without some qualms of conscience. He meant to do something for him, get him a place, and give him a home in his own family; but here, as we see, Mrs. 63Briggs had interfered with his plans. He could not make up his mind to throw Gilbert wholly upon his own resources, and he was disappointed at his wife’s opposition. He was not wholly a bad man, but the temptation of appropriating Gilbert’s money had been too great, and he had yielded. He had used it in his business, and a sudden call for it would have very much embarrassed him.

Meanwhile Gilbert set out on his walk. The crowded city streets, which had interested him in the daytime, assumed a new charm in the evening. Walking slowly along, looking in at the brilliantly lighted windows, he did not feel the need of companionship. In fact, he was rather glad that Randolph was not with him, for he had already satisfied himself that they had very little in common.

Gilbert meets Mr. Vivian.

Half an hour had passed, when all at once he heard his name called.

“Good-evening, Mr. Greyson,” said a sweet voice.

Turning quickly, he recognized Laura Vivian.

“Good-evening, Miss Vivian,” he said, pleased at the meeting.

64“Papa,” said Laura, “this is Mr. Greyson, who was so polite to me in the cars.”

Then for the first time Gilbert noticed that Laura was accompanied by a pleasant-looking gentleman of middle age.

“I am glad to meet you, Mr. Greyson,” said Mr. Vivian, cordially. “My daughter has told me that you extricated her from a dilemma.”

“It isn’t worth mentioning, sir,” said Gilbert. “I am ashamed to be thanked for such a little thing.”

“It was a trifle, no doubt, but a mark of kind attention no less. My daughter and I are out for a walk. If you have no engagement, will you join us?”

“With great pleasure, sir,” said Gilbert; and he spoke sincerely.

“Do you live in the city?” asked Mr. Vivian.

“I have been at a boarding-school hitherto, but I have now come to the city to live.”

“Do your parents reside here?”

Gilbert looked sober.

“I have no parents,” he said.

65“Indeed!” said Mr. Vivian, in a voice of sympathy.

“Indeed I have no relatives that I am aware of; Mr. Richard Briggs, a merchant of this city, is my guardian.”

“Richard Briggs? I know of him.”

“I ought to say, however,” added Gilbert, who did not wish to sail under false colors, “that I can hardly continue to call him my guardian, as he informs me that my little property has been all expended on my education, and that I am now penniless, and must work for my living.”

“I don’t consider that a misfortune,” said Mr. Vivian. “It will make a man of you the sooner. But about this property, do you know how much it amounted to originally?”

“No, sir.”

“Hasn’t Mr. Briggs ever rendered an account to you?”

“No, sir. I have always supposed that I should be rich until within a week. Then, for the first time, 66I was told that I must withdraw from school, and get a place.”

“Mr. Briggs has not treated you fairly in leaving you uninformed as to your real position,” said Mr. Vivian, gravely.

“I won’t blame him, but I wish he had told me earlier.”

By this time they had reached a fashionable confectioner’s.

“Come in with us, and have an ice-cream,” said Mr. Vivian.

“Thank you, sir,” said Gilbert, and the three entered and sat down at one of the small tables.

At a table near by sat Randolph Briggs. Looking up by chance, he was astonished to see his father’s penniless ward in such company.

“By Jove!” he muttered, “that young beggar has more cheek than any one I know of.”

He would have liked to have joined the party, but even he had not the assurance to force himself upon them. So he sat watchful and envious, his jealousy 67excited by the evident favor with which Gilbert was regarded.

“If Mr. Vivian knew he hadn’t a cent in the world, he wouldn’t be quite so cordial,” he thought.

But Mr. Vivian did know. The trouble was that Randolph did not know him, or he would not have suspected him of such regard for wealth and its possession.