"Roy Gilbert's Search," "The Mill-Boy of the Genesee," "The Black Forge Mills," etc., etc.
CHAPTER I.--BUDD SEEKS EMPLOYMENT. CHAPTER II.--A SLIGHT MISUNDERSTANDING. CHAPTER III.--AGAINST WIND AND TIDE. CHAPTER IV.--A NEW FRIEND. CHAPTER V.--MR. BENTON'S WRATH. CHAPTER VI.--THE NEW FIRM. CHAPTER VII.--BUSINESS BOOMS. CHAPTER VIII.--THE LOST OX-CART. CHAPTER IX.--THE THREE INTRUDERS. CHAPTER X.--BUDD'S STORY. CHAPTER XI.--AN UNFORTUNATE PREDICAMENT. CHAPTER XII.--BUDD'S TRIAL. CHAPTER XIII.--MR. BENTON'S LITTLE GAME. CHAPTER XIV.--TWO OPPORTUNITIES. CHAPTER XV.--BUDD ENTRAPPED. CHAPTER XVI.--JUDD MAKES AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY. CHAPTER XVII.--BUDD'S ESCAPE. CHAPTER XVIII.--CAUGHT. CHAPTER XIX.--MR. JOHNSON IS ASTONISHED. CHAPTER XX.--THE CONFESSION. CHAPTER XXI.--FATHER AND SON. CHAPTER XXII.--AN EXCITING ADVENTURE. CHAPTER XXIII.--A MANLY RESCUE. CHAPTER XXIV.--THE FIRM'S PROFITS. CHAPTER XXV.--MR. JOHNSON'S MUNIFICENCE. THE BEAR AND THE BOMB SHELL. AN AFTERNOON AT SAGAMORE POND. HOW JACK WENT TIGER-HUNTING.
It was a raw, cold, day in the month of March. Since early morning the clouds had been gathering, and they now hung dark and heavy over both land and sea. The wind, too, which had for hours been steadily increasing in violence, now blew little short of a gale. It evidently was going to be a terrible night, and that night was near at hand.
No one realized this more than the young lad, who, with a small bundle in one hand and a stout staff in the other, was walking rapidly along the highway that runs near the west shore of Narragansett Bay. He was a lad that would have attracted attention anywhere. Tall for his age, which could not have been far from sixteen years, he was also of good proportions, and walked with an ease and stride which suggested reserved strength and muscular development.
But it was the lad's face that was the most noticeable. Frank, open, of singular beauty in feature and outline, there were also upon it unmistakable evidences of intelligence, resoluteness, and honesty of purpose. A close observer might also have detected traces of suffering or of sorrow on it--possibly of some great burden hard to bear.
The lad was none too warmly clad for the chilly air and piercing wind, and now and then drew his light overcoat about him as though even his rapid walking did not make him entirely comfortable. He also looked eagerly ahead, like one who was watching for some signs of his destination. He drew a sigh of relief as he reached the foot of a steep hill, and said aloud:
