Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Tom Allen and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net [Illustration: "I'm big enough to protect my Mother, and I'll do it." _p. 42._] NOW OR NEVER OR THE ADVENTURES OF BOBBY BRIGHT _A STORY FOR YOUNG FOLKS_ OLIVER OPTIC _NEW EDITION_ NEW YORK THE MERSHON COMPANY PUBLISHERS Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by WILLIAM T. ADAMS, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. Copyright, 1884, By WILLIAM T. ADAMS. NOW OR NEVER. To my Nephew CHARLES HENRY POPE THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED PREFACE The story contained in this volume is a record of youthful struggles, not only in the world without, but in the world within; and the success of the little hero is not merely a gathering up of wealth and honors, but a triumph over the temptations that beset the pilgrim on the plain of life. The attainment of worldly prosperity is not the truest victory; and the author has endeavored to make the interest of his story depend more on the hero's devotion to principles than on his success in business. Bobby Bright is a smart boy; perhaps the reader will think he is altogether too smart for one of his years. This is a progressive age, and anything which young America may do need not surprise any person. That little gentleman is older than his father, knows more than his mother, can talk politics, smoke cigars, and drive a 2:40 horse. He orders "one stew" with as much ease as a man of forty, and can even pronounce correctly the villanous names of sundry French and German wines and liqueurs. One would suppose, to hear him talk, that he had been intimate with Socrates and Solon, with Napoleon and Noah Webster; in short, that whatever he did not know was not worth knowing. In the face of these manifestations of exuberant genius, it would be absurd to accuse the author of making his hero do too much. All he has done is to give this genius a right direction; and for politics, cigars, 2:40 horses, and "one stew," he has substituted the duties of a rational and accountable being, regarding them as better fitted to develop the young gentleman's mind, heart, and soul. Bobby Bright is something more than a smart boy. He is a good boy, and makes a true man. His daily life is the moral of the story, and the author hopes that his devotion to principle will make a stronger impression upon the mind of the young reader, than even the most exciting incidents of his eventful career. WILLIAM T. ADAMS. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. In which Bobby goes a fishing, and catches a Horse 1 II. In which Bobby blushes several Times, and does a Sum in Arithmetic 13