Try Again; Or, the Trials and Triumphs of Harry West. A Story for Young FolksOptic, Oliver
General
Try Again; Or, the Trials and Triumphs of Harry West. A Story for Young Folks
Optic, Oliver
Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Orphans -- Juvenile fiction
"O, yes; nobody will know you here."
"Well, I have got some money to pay for anything I have."
"Keep your money, Harry; you will want it all when you get to Boston."
After going a few miles farther, they stopped at a tavern, where the
horses were fed, and Harry ate such a breakfast as a pauper never ate
before. John would not let him pay for it, declaring that Julia's
friends were his friends.
The remaining portion of the journey was effected without any incident
worthy of narrating, and they reached the city about noon. Of course
the first sight of Boston astonished Harry. His conceptions of a city
were entirely at fault; and though it was not a very large city
twenty-five years ago, it far exceeded his expectations.
Harry had a mission before him, and he did not permit his curiosity to
interfere with that. John drove down town to deliver his load; and
Harry went with him, improving every opportunity to obtain work. When
the wagon stopped, he went boldly into the stores in the vicinity to
inquire if they "wanted to hire a hand."
Now, Harry was not exactly in a condition to produce a very favorable
impression upon those to whom he applied for work. His clothes were
never very genteel, nor very artistically cut and made; and they were
threadbare, and patched at the knees and elbows. A patch is no
disguise to a man or boy, it is true; but if a little more care had
been taken to adapt the color and kind of fabric in Harry's patches to
the original garment, his general appearance would undoubtedly have
been much improved. Whether these patches really affected his ultimate
success I cannot say--only that they were an inconvenience at the
outset.
It was late in the afternoon before John Lane had unloaded his
merchandise and picked up his return freight. Thus far Harry had been
unsuccessful; no one wanted a boy; or if they did, they did not want
such a boy as Harry appeared to be. His country garb, with the five
broad patches, seemed to interfere with the working out of his
manifest destiny. Yet he was not disheartened. Spruce clerks and
ill-mannered boys laughed at him; but he did not despond.
"Try again," exclaimed he, as often as he was told that his services
were not required.
When the wagon reached Washington Street, Harry wanted to walk, for
the better prosecution of his object; and John gave him directions so
that he could find Major Phillips's stable, where he intended to put
up for the night.
Harry trotted along among the gay and genteel people that thronged the
sidewalk; but he was so earnest about his mission, that he could not
stop to look at their fine clothes, nor even at the pictures, the
gewgaws, and gimcracks that tempted him from the windows.
"'Boy wanted'" Harry read on a paper in the window of a jeweler's
shop. "Now's my time;" and, without pausing to consider the chances
that were against him, he entered the store.
"You want a boy--don't you?" asked he of a young man behind the
counter.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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