"I wouldn't want that job if I had twenty-five hundred dollars," said the fisher-boy; "I would go to sea in less than a week."
"Well, that's another reason why you ought to give me five dollars to send on with mine. It will make a rich man of you, and you can begin the life of a sailor at once."
"But if I use any of my money I want to buy a skiff with it. I need one badly."
"O, go in debt for it," said Tom. "Go to Mr. Graves, the boat-builder, tell him that you want a nice little skiff, the finest one he has on hand, and that you will pay him for it in one month. You may safely do that, for in less than a week you will be rich enough to buy out his whole ship-yard."
This was something entirely new to the fisher-boy. He had never thought of such a thing before, and, perhaps, the reason was because he had never dreamed that there was a single person in the village who would be willing to trust him. He saw in an instant--or rather, _imagined_ he saw--that if he could induce Mr. Graves to give him one of his fine skiffs on his promise to pay for it in one month, it would be an immense advantage to him.
"There's no harm in it," said Tom, seeing that the fisher-boy hesitated. "It is done every day, right here in Newport, by our best business men. My father does it, so it can't be wrong."
Bob thought so too. Mr. Newcombe was a great man in his estimation, and he might safely follow in his lead.
The conversation continued for half an hour longer, Tom laboring faithfully to convince the fisher-boy that, if he assisted him in his grand scheme, he would be rich in a very short space of time, and he finally carried his point; for Bob was deeply impressed, more by Tom's eloquence than by any thing else, and he promised to think the matter over, and to be ready with his answer on the following evening. Tom, as usual, was impatient to begin operations at once; but he was afraid to urge the matter, and he finally took leave of the fisher-boy, after obliging him to promise, over and over again, that he would keep all that had passed between them a profound secret.
The fisher-boy slept very little that night. He was thinking of Tom's new plan, and the more he turned the matter over in his mind, the nearer he came to a determination to give a favorable answer on the following evening. He was deeply interested in the lottery, and remembering how confidently Tom had spoken of his success, he could not help giving full sway to his fancy, and picturing to himself a host of pleasant things that would happen when he should come into possession of his share of the prize. In the first place, their humble cabin on the beach could be exchanged for a nice little cottage in a more respectable part of the village; he could turn the Go Ahead adrift in the harbor, and buy a nice little schooner, like the one he had met on his voyage home from his fishing-grounds; he and his brothers could throw away their ragged clothes, and dress as well as any boys in the village; and, after all these things had been done, there would still be enough left to support the family in fine style while he was at sea.