CHAPTER VI.
THE REVELATION.
Tom had already made up his mind upon one point. He would accept thebequest of his old companion, since, in so doing, he was robbing no onebetter entitled to it. So far as he knew, the old man had no relativesor friends, except himself. But he was determined that, since Jacob hadmoney, he should not be buried at the public expense. He would take somuch of the hundred dollars as might be necessary, and place it in thehands of the doctor at Bellevue Hospital to defray the expenses ofJacob's funeral. He would say nothing about it, however, till he hadactually found the money. It might be a hallucination of Jacob's, andhave no real existence.
"When will he be buried?" he inquired at the hospital.
"Day after to-morrow."
"How much will it cost?"
"Do not trouble yourself about that," said the physician, who judgedthat Tom was poor. "That will be done at the expense of the city."
"But," said Tom, conscientiously, "he left a little money. At least hetold me so. If I find it, I will pay out of it whatever it costs."
"It is not necessary."
"I would rather do it; that is, if I find the money. It didn't do himany good while he was alive, and he lost his life in getting a part ofit."
"Then, if you find this money, you may pay the expense of the coffin."
"How much will that be."
"From ten to fifteen dollars."
"I will bring you fifteen dollars to-morrow," said Tom.
Of course Tom might easily have saved this money, and applied it to hisown use; but his feeling was one that did him credit. As he had foryears supported Jacob, he had of course spent for him much more thanthe hundred dollars, and so might have considered himself justlyentitled to all the money, but this thought never occurred to him.
After leaving the hospital, Tom went home at once. It was his duty nowto ascertain whether Jacob had labored under a delusion, or whether hereally possessed the money he had spoken of.
Entering the room, he locked the door from motives of prudence. Then,following the directions of the old man, he went to the part of theroom indicated, and, getting down on his knees, soon found the boardbeneath which the treasure lay. Carefully removing it, he lifted frombeneath the box already described. By means of the key he opened it,and there lay before him, bright and glittering, the scanty treasurewhich had been so dear to the old man's heart. But to Tom it did notseem scanty. Brought up as he had been in the hard school of poverty,it seemed like quite a fortune, and he was filled with surprise atJacob's having accumulated so much. But the old man had taken advantageof Tom's absence during the day to go out on frequent beggingexpeditions. Whenever he had obtained enough to amount to a gold piece,he was in the habit of carrying it to a broker's and effecting anexchange. So, little by little, he had obtained a hundred dollars,ninety of which were in gold, the remainder in silver.
Tom deliberated what he should do with his treasure. He determined,until his plans were formed, to leave it in the box, taking out onlyfifteen dollars, to be carried to the hospital to defray the burialexpenses. But there was something else besides the money to seek. Jacobhad mentioned a paper, in which he had written out something of Tom'sprevious history, including an account of the manner in which he hadwronged him. This paper was also easily found. It was folded once, andlay flat on the bottom of the box. It was somewhat discolored; but, onopening it, Tom found the writing quite legible. It may be a matter ofsurprise that Tom was able to read the manuscript, as many in hisposition would have been unable to do. But he had, of his own accord,for several winters, attended the city evening schools, and so was notonly able to read and write, but also had some knowledge of arithmeticand geography. I do not claim that Tom was a good scholar, but he wasnot wholly ignorant. He took the paper from the box, and then, lockingit, replaced it in its former place of concealment. He then sat down ona chair, and began to read the manuscript:
"Ten years since," it began, "I was a clerk in the employ of John andJames Grey, in Cincinnati. They were merchants, in prosperous business;but John was much the richer of the two. James was, in fact, a poorrelation who had been taken in, first as a clerk, afterward as apartner with a small interest, but his profits and share of thebusiness were small, compared with those of the senior partner. Johnwas a thorough gentleman, and a liberal and excellent man. I always goton well with him, and I shall never forgive myself for wickedlyconsenting to do harm to him and his. I would not have done it, if ithad not been in a manner forced upon me; but I know that this is not afull excuse.
"James Grey I never liked. He was a more pompous man than his cousin,and he was often mistaken for the senior partner, because of the airshe put on. But John Grey only smiled at this, and often said, jokingly:
"'You ought to have been in my place, James. I am afraid I don't keepup the dignity of the establishment. I am too quiet.'
"To me, who was only a clerk, though an old and trusted one, James wasalways supercilious and overbearing. He seemed to look down upon me,though, having only a small interest in the concern, I didn't look uponhim as very much my superior.
"John Grey was far different. He always treated me with kindness andpoliteness, and I felt it a pleasure to serve such a man. It was agreat grief to me when he died. I knew well enough that I should feelthe change, but I did nor dream of what actually followed.
"John Grey's death took everybody by surprise. He was a stout, robustman, and seemed the picture of health; but it was in this habit of bodythat his danger lay. He was found one day on the floor of his chamberdead, his death resulting, as the doctors said, from apoplexy. He leftconsiderable property, besides his share in the business. All this wasleft to his son, then a boy of five years of age. The boy's name wasGilbert. You, Tom, are that boy! Let me tell you how it happened thatyou, the son of a wealthy father, and the heir to great wealth, are nowa poor bootblack in the streets of New York, with no prospects beforeyou but a life of labor.
"According to your father's will, the whole property was left to hiscousin, James Grey, in trust for you. But, in case of your death, yourguardian was to inherit the whole of the property. If John Grey hadknown more of the selfish and worthless character of his cousin, hewould never have made such a will. But he had perfect confidence inhim, and judged him by himself. He did not see that he had exposed himto a very strong temptation, a temptation which, as it proved, he wasunable to resist.
"Mr. James Grey, who was boarding with his wife and son, a boy of aboutyour own age, immediately moved to your father's beautiful house, andinstalled himself there, taking you under his charge. For severalmonths matters went on quietly, and I began to think that I hadmisjudged my new employer. But I did not know the trouble that was instore for me. First, my whole property, a few thousand dollars which Ihad saved, had been intrusted to a gentleman in whom I had confidence,and by him invested for me. He failed, dishonestly, as I suspect, andso all my savings were lost. Troubles never come singly, so they say,and so I found out. While I was almost crushed under this blow, anotherfell upon me. One morning some valuable securities, belonging to thefirm, were missing. Of course they were sought for, and, as a matter ofform--so Mr. Grey said--the desks of all in the establishment weresearched. What was my horror when the missing securities were found inmy desk! Of course, this was ruin. My reputation, my future, were inthe hands of James Grey. I could not account for the discovery, knowingmy innocence; but I now feel sure that my employer put the papers in mydesk himself.
"Instead of arresting me, he told me to come up to his house thatevening. I came. I protested my innocence.
"He asked me pointedly if I could prove it. I told him no. Then he saidthat he had a plan in view. If I could aid him, he would forgive myoffense, and would not have me arrested. Cautiously he unfolded theplan, and it was this: In consideration of five thousand dollars ingold, I was to carry you off by night, and sail with you to Australia,changing your name to Tom, and must agree nevermore to bring you backto America, or let you k
now who you were. Of course, I knew that thiswas only a plot to get possession of the property, and I told him so.He freely admitted it to me, but coolly threatened me with the severestpunishment of the law for my supposed crime if I disclosed it, orrefused to aid him.
"Well, the result of it all was that I agreed to his terms. It wasarranged as had been agreed on, and I left Cincinnati, secretly, withyou under my charge. Arriving in New York, I sailed for Australia,under an assumed name. But when I arrived, I didn't like the country.After a year, I took passage in a vessel bound for New York. We werewrecked, and all my money was lost. We were saved by a vessel bound forthe same port, and, at length, reached it, penniless. How we have livedsince, you know as well as I do. It has been a wretched life; but Inever dared to write to Mr. Grey, lest he should have me arrested forembezzling the securities. But I have often hoped that retributionwould come upon him, and that you might be restored to your rights. Ihave heard that he closed up the business, and removed farther West,having proved, by a witness whom he bribed, that you had been drownedin the Ohio River. The body of a poor boy was exhibited as yours.
"If you ever meet James Grey, you will recognize him by thisdescription. He is a large man, with a square face, gray eyes, and ascar on his right cheek, an inch long. I don't know where he got thescar, but it is always red, especially when he is excited."
Tom dropped the paper in his amazement.
"Why," he soliloquized, "it must be the man whose boots I blacked onemorning before the Astor House. He must have knowed me, or he wouldn'thave asked so many questions."