Dan, The Newsboy. Alger Horatio Jr.
be – if I do," muttered the young man.
Dan took off his coat, and tried on the one submitted to his inspection. He afterward tried on the vest, and they proved to be a good fit.
"Do they suit you, Dan?" asked Mr. Grant.
"Yes, sir, they fit as well as if they had been made for me."
"What is the price of these articles, young man?" asked Mr. Grant.
"Twelve dollars," answered Samuel.
"He'll take eight," suggested Dan, in a low voice.
Mr. Grant knew well enough the ways of Chatham street merchants to appreciate the suggestion.
"That is too high," he said, quietly.
Samuel, who was trained to read customers, after a glance at Mr. Grant's face, prepared to reduce the price.
"We might say eleven," he said, meditatively. "Shall I put them up?"
"Not at that price."
"You don't want us to give 'em away?" said Samuel, in the tone of one whose reasonable demands had been objected to.
"There is no fear of that, I apprehend," returned Mr. Grant, dryly.
"I've no objection, I'm sure," remarked Dan, on his own account.
"I'd make a few remarks to you, young feller, if you were alone," he read in the eyes of the indignant salesman, and Dan enjoyed the restraint which he knew Samuel was putting upon himself.
"You are still asking too much," said the customer.
"What'll you give, sir?" asked Samuel, diplomatically.
"Eight dollars."
"Eight dollars! Why the cloth cost more than that!" protested Samuel.
"The work didn't cost you much, I presume."
"We pay the highest prices for work in this establishment, sir," said Samuel, hastily.
He forgot that Dan knew better.
"So they do, Mr. Grant," said Dan. "They pay twenty cents apiece for making vests."
"We pay more than that to our best hands," said Samuel.
"You told me you never paid more," retorted Dan.
Mr. Grant interrupted this discussion.
"Young man," said he, "I will give you eight dollars for the clothes."
"Say nine, sir."
"Not a cent more."
As the regular price was eight dollars—when they couldn't get any more—Samuel felt authorized to conclude the bargain without consulting Mr. Gripp.
"Shall I do up the clothes?" he asked.
"No," said Dan, "I'll wear 'em. You may put up my old ones."
Samuel felt it derogatory to his dignity to obey the orders of our hero, but there was no alternative.
The bundle was placed in Dan's hands.
"Now write me a receipt for the price," said Mr. Grant.
This was done.
Mr. Grant counted out six dollars and eighty cents.
"I have an order upon you for the balance," he said.
"I don't understand," ejaculated Samuel.
"Your principal owes my young friend, or his mother, one dollar and twenty cents for work. This you will receive as part of the price."
"I must see Mr. Gripp," said Samuel.
Mr. Gripp came forward frowning.
"We can't take the order, sir," he said. "The boy's money is not yet due."
"Isn't the work done and delivered?"
"Yes, sir; but it is our rule not to pay till a whole dozen is delivered."
"Then it is a rule which you must break," said Mr. Grant, firmly.
"We can't."
"Then I refuse to take the suit."
Nathan Gripp did not like to lose the sale on the one hand, or abdicate his position on the other.
"Tell your mother," he said to Dan, "that when she has finished another half-dozen vests I will pay her the whole."
He reflected that the stranger would be gone, and Dan would be in his power.
"Thank you," said Dan, "but mother's agreed to work for Jackson. He pays better."
"Then you'll have to wait for your pay," said Mr. Gripp, sharply.
"Don't you care to sell this suit?" asked Mr. Grant, quickly.
"Yes, sir, but under the circumstances we must ask all cash."
"You won't get it, sir."
"Then I don't think we care to sell," said Gripp, allowing his anger to overcome his interest.
"Very good. I think, Dan, we can find quite as good a bargain at Jackson's. Mr. Gripp, do I understand that you decline to pay this bill?"
"I will pay when the other half-dozen vests are made," said Gripp, stubbornly.
"I have nothing to do with that. The bill is mine, and it is with me you have to deal. The boy has nothing to do with it."
"Is that so?" asked Gripp, in surprise.
"It is. You may take your choice. Settle the bill now, or I shall immediately put it in a lawyer's hands, who will know how to compel you to pay it."
A determined will carries the day.
"Take this gentleman's money, Samuel," said Gripp, in a tone of annoyance.
There was no further trouble. Dan walked out of the store better dressed than he had been since the days of his prosperity.
"How can I thank you, Mr. Grant?" he said, gratefully.
"By continuing to care for your mother, my lad. You are lucky to have a mother living. Mine is dead, God bless her! Now, my lad, what do you think of my success in collecting bills?"
"You were too many for old Gripp, sir. He won't sleep to-night."
"He doesn't deserve to, for he grows rich by defrauding the poor who work for him."
Opposite the City Hall Park Dan and his friend separated.
"I shall not see you again, my boy," said Mr. Grant, "for I take the evening train. If you ever come to St. Louis, find me out."
"I will, sir."
"That's a good man," said Dan, as he wended his way homeward. "If there were more such, it would be good for poor people like mother and me. If I ever get rich, I mean to help along those that need it."
CHAPTER VIII.
MIKE RAFFERTY'S TRICK
Dan carefully husbanded the money which Mr. Grant had lent him, and the result was that for two months he was comparatively easy in his circumstances. His mother earned five cents more daily, on account of the higher price she received for work, and though this was a trifle, it was by no means to be despised where the family income was so small as in the case of the Mordaunts.
Still Dan was not satisfied.
"Mother," said he, "I suppose I ought to be contented with earning enough to pay our expenses, but I should like to be saving something."
"Yes, Dan, it would be pleasant. But we ought to be thankful for what we are now receiving."
"But, mother, suppose I should fall sick? What should we do then?"
Mrs. Mordaunt shuddered.
"Don't mention such a thing, Dan," she said. "The very idea terrifies me."
"But it might happen, for all that."
"Don't you feel well, Dan? Is anything the matter with you?" asked Mrs. Mordaunt, anxiously.
"Don't be frightened, mother," answered Dan, laughing. "I'm as strong