CHAPTER XXVII
THE BOUND BOY
The town of Dexter was almost entirely agricultural. Its population wassmall and scattered. There were no large shops or manufactories to drawpeople to the place. Many of the farmers were well to do, carrying onagricultural operations on a considerable scale.
Among the smaller farmers was Nathan Badger. He was fond of money, butknew no better way to get it than to live meanly, drive hard bargainsand spend as little as possible. In this way, though not a very goodfarmer, he was able to lay by a couple of hundred dollars a year, whichhe put away in the County Savings Bank.
Mrs. Badger was a fitting wife for such a man. She was about as mean ashe was, with scarcely any of the traits that make women attractive. Shehad one, however--an indulgent love of her only child, Andrew JacksonBadger, who was about as disagreeable a cub as can well be imagined. YetI am not sure that Andrew was wholly responsible for his ugliness, asmost of his bad traits came to him by inheritance from the admirablepair whom he called father and mother.
Andrew Jackson Badger was by no means a youthful Apollo. To speak moreplainly, he was no beauty. A tow head and freckled face often belong toa prepossessing boy of popular manners, but in Andrew's case they werejoined to insignificant features, small ferret eyes, a retreating chinand thin lips, set off by a repulsive expression.
There was another member of the family--a bound boy--the same onereferred to in Mr. Nathan Badger's letter. This boy was, five yearsprevious, placed in Mr. Badger's charge by Charles Waldo.
I do not want my young readers to remain under any uncertainty as tothis boy, and I state at once that he was the abducted son of GilbertHuet, the hermit of Cook's Harbor, and the rightful heir to a largeestate.
At the time of our introduction to Bill Benton--for this is the name bywhich he was known--he had a hoe in his hand and he was about startingfor the field to hoe potatoes.
He was a slender boy, with delicate features and a face which indicateda sensitive temperament. His hair was dark brown, his features wererefined, his eyes were blue and he looked like a boy of affectionatetemperament, who would feel injustice and harshness keenly. This wasindeed the case. He lacked the strong, sturdy character, the energy andself-reliance which made Robert Coverdale successful. Robert was not aboy to submit to injustice or wrong. He was not easily intimidated andcould resist imposition with all his might. But Bill--to call him by thename given him by Mr. Waldo--was of a more gentle, yielding disposition,and so he was doomed to suffer.
He was certainly unfortunately situated. Mr. Badger required him to workbeyond his strength and seldom, or never, gave him a kind word. The samemay be said of Mrs. Badger. It was perhaps fortunate for him that he hada small appetite, for in the Badger household he would have been unableto gratify the hearty appetite of an average boy.
The table was very mean and the only one who lived well was AndrewJackson, whom his mother petted and indulged. There was always somethingextra on the table for Andrew, which it was well understood that no oneelse in the family was to eat.
Mr. Badger did not interfere with his wife's petting. If he had a softplace in his heart, it was for Andrew, who seemed to his partial parentsa remarkably smart and interesting boy.
To Bill Benton he was a cruel tyrant. He delighted in making the life ofhis father's bound boy intolerable, and succeeded only too well. He wasstronger than Bill, and, backed by the authority of his father andmother, he dared do anything, while Bill knew that it was useless toresist. Still, gentle as he was, sometimes his spirit rose and made afeeble resistance.
"Where are you going, Bill?" asked Andrew as the bound boy started offafter breakfast.
"I am going to hoe potatoes, Andrew."
"No, you're not; I want you to go and dig some worms for bait. I amgoing a-fishing."
"But your father told me to go to the field at once."
"I can't help that. He didn't know I wanted you."
"He will scold me if I don't go to work."
"That is my business. I tell you to go and dig some worms."
Poor Bill! He knew very well that if Andrew got him into a scrape, hewould not help him out, but leave his father to suppose that Billdisobeyed of his own accord--if necessary, stoutly asserting it, forAndrew was by no means a boy of truth.
"I would rather not go, Andrew," said Bill uneasily.
"Then take that!"
And Andrew brutally struck him with a whip he had in his hand.
The bound boy flushed at this indignity. Gentle as he was, he resented ablow.
"Don't you do that again, Andrew!" he said. "I won't stand it!"
"You won't stand it?" repeated Andrew tauntingly. "What will you doabout it, I'd like to know?"
"You have no right to hit me, and I won't submit to it," said Bill witha spirit which quite astonished the young tyrant.
He laughed scornfully and repeated the blow, but with more emphasis.
Even the most gentle and long-suffering turn sometimes, and this was thecase now.
The bound boy lifted the hoe and with the handle struck Andrew soforcibly that he dropped upon the ground, bellowing like a calf.
Like most bullies he was cowardly, and the unexpected resistance and thepain of the blow quite overcame his fortitude, and he cried like ababy.
It must be confessed that the bound boy was frightened by what he haddone. Too well he knew that he would suffer for his temerity. Besides,his compassion was aroused for Andrew, whom he thought to be worse hurtthan he was.
He threw down the hoe and kneeled by the prostrate boy.
"Oh, Andrew, I hope I didn't hurt you!" he cried. "I ought not to havestruck you."
"You'll catch it when father comes home!" screamed Andrew furiously."You almost killed me!"
"Oh, Andrew, I'm so sorry. I hope you'll forgive me."
By this time Mrs. Badger had come to the door, and Andrew, catching aglimpse of her, gave a yell as if in extreme anguish.
His mother came flying out of the house.
"What's the matter, my darling?" she cried in alarm.
"Bill knocked me down with a hoe, and I think I'm going to die!"answered Andrew with a fresh burst of anguish.
Mrs. Badger was almost paralyzed with astonishment and wrath. She couldhardly believe her ears. What! Her Andrew assaulted by a beggarly boundboy!
"Bill knocked you down with a hoe?" she repeated. "You don't mean it?"
"Yes, I do. Ask him if he didn't."
"Bill Benton," said Mrs. Badger in an awful voice, "did you strikeAndrew with a hoe?"
"Yes, ma'am, and I'm sorry for it, but he struck me with a whip first."
"No doubt he had a good reason for doing it. And so you tried to murderhim, you young ruffian?"
"No, I didn't, Mrs. Badger. He had no right to whip me, and I defendedmyself. But I'm sorry----"
Andrew set up another howl, though he no longer felt any pain, and hismother's wrath increased.
"You'll end your life on the gallows, you young brute!" she exclaimed,glaring wrathfully at the poor boy. "Some night you'll try to murder usall in our beds. The only place for you is in jail! When Mr. Badgercomes home, I will report the case to him. Now, go to work."
Poor Bill was glad to get away from the infuriated woman.
Andrew was taken into the house and fed on preserves and sweetmeats byhis doting mother, while the poor bound boy was toiling in the hot sun,dreading the return of his stern master.
Nathan Badger was not far away. He had driven to the village in thebuggy, not that he had any particular business there, but at presentthere was no farm work of a pressing nature except what the bound boycould do, and Mr. Badger did not love work for its own sake.
In spite of his parsimony, he generally indulged himself in a glass ofbitters, of which he was very fond, whenever he went to the village. Hisparsimony stood him in good stead in one respect, at least, for itprevented his becoming a drunkard.
I have said that Mr. Badger had no particular busine
ss at the village,but this is not strictly true. He had business at the post office.
Some time since he had written to Mr. Waldo, asking for a moneyallowance for the care of Bill Benton. He knew very well that he was notentitled to it. He was at no expense for the boy's clothes, andcertainly Bill richly earned the very frugal fare, of which he partooksparingly, and the privilege of a hard bed in the attic. But it hadstruck him as possible that Mr. Waldo, not knowing the falsehood of hisrepresentations, would comply with his request.
"If I can get a dollar or a dollar 'n' a half for the boy's keep," Mr.Badger soliloquized, "I can make a good thing out'n him. A dollar a weekwill come to fifty-two dollars a year, and I can't put a cent into thesavings bank. A dollar 'n' a half will come to--lemme see--toseventy-eight dollars a year! That, in five years, would be threehundred and ninety dollars, without counting the interest."
Mr. Badger's eyes glistened and his heart was elated as he took in themagnificent idea. But, alas! he was counting chickens that were notlikely to be hatched.
When sufficient time had elapsed for an answer to be due, he went to thepost office every day, but there had been unusual delay. At last ananswer had been received that very morning.
Mr. Badger tore open the envelope in eager haste, but there was noremittance, as he had fondly hoped. The contents of the letter alsothrew cold water on his aspiring hopes, as may be seen from thefollowing transcript of it:
"MR. NATHAN BADGER: Your letter is received asking me to pay you a weekly sum for the boy whom I bound out to you some years ago. I can hardly express the surprise I felt at this application. You certainly cannot forget that I furnish the boy's clothes, and that all you are required to do is to provide him board and lodging in return for his work. This is certainly a very good bargain for you. I need not say that the work of a boy of fifteen or sixteen years will amply repay you for his board, especially if, as I infer from your letter, he is a small eater. Generally farmers are willing to provide clothes also, and I think I am dealing very liberally with you in exempting you from this additional expense.
"You seem to forget one thing more: For three years, on account of the boy's being young, and so unable to work much, I allowed you fifty dollars a year, though I could readily have found another man to take him without this allowance. Under the circumstances I consider it very extraordinary that you should apply to me at this late day for an extra allowance. I am not made of money, and whatever I do for this boy is out of pure benevolence, for he has no claim upon me; but I assure you that I will not be imposed upon, therefore I say 'no' most emphatically.
"One other thing. You say the boy doesn't work as much as he ought to. I can only say this is no business of mine. You have full authority over him, and you can make him work. I don't believe in pampering boys and indulging them in laziness. I recommend you to be strict with William--to let him understand that you are not to be trifled with. Such would be my course. Yours, etc.,
"CHARLES WALDO."
Nathan Badger was deeply disappointed. He had made up his mind that Mr.Waldo would allow him at least a dollar a week and had complacentlycalculated how much this would enable him to lay aside. Now this dreamwas over.
Of course he could have given up the boy, for he was not formally boundto him. But this he did not care to do. The fact was that Bill earnedhis board twice over, and Mr. Badger knew it, though he would not haveadmitted it. It was for his interest to keep him.
He went home deeply disappointed and angry and disposed to vent hisspite on the poor victim of his tyranny, even had there been noplausible excuse for doing so.
When he reached home he was met by Mrs. Badger with a frowning brow."Well, Mr. Badger, there's been a pretty scene since you went away."
"What do you mean, Cornelia?"
"Bill has nearly killed Andrew Jackson."
"Are you crazy, wife?"
"No, I am in earnest. The young rascal attacked poor Andrew with a hoeand nearly killed him."
"Then he must be crazy!" ejaculated Mr. Badger. "Where is Andrew? I wanthis account of it. If it is as you say, the boy shall suffer."