"Two thousand?"
"You don't mean it!"
"I won't keep you in suspense, John. I don't know exactly how much I've
got, but it's over six thousand dollars!"
John Miles stared at our hero in undisguised astonishment.
"Are you sure you're quite right _here_?" he said, touching his
forehead. "You haven't been sun-struck, have you?"
"No, John, it's all as I tell you. Let me explain how my luck came."
In a few sentences Tom made it clear to his partner that his luck was
real.
"As to the three hundred dollars due me from you, John," concluded Tom,
"I make you a present of it."
"But, Tom--" protested Miles.
"Let it be so, and for the future you shall pay me my share. Have you
any letters for me?"
"I have three."
"Give them to me, quick. I am hungry for news from home."
Tom sat down on a keg, and fairly devoured the letters, two of which
were from his father. One of these gave him much to think of. I will
transcribe the passages which gave Tom most concern:--
"Yesterday I paid Squire Hudson his regular semi-annual interest,
amounting to sixty-six dollars. Thanks to your liberal remittances, I
had no difficulty in making the payment. Indeed, I had two hundred
dollars left over. Imagine my dismay when the squire told me he had made
up his mind to call in the mortgage, having another use for the money.
"'But I can't pay it up,' said I.
"'You ought to be able to obtain the money somewhere,' he returned.
"'You are the only capitalist with whom I am acquainted,' said I.
'Since I have paid you the interest promptly, what more can you desire?'
"He insisted that he needed the money. I offered to pay him the two
hundred dollars which he had advanced for your journey. He seemed
surprised, but repeated that he must have the whole. The upshot of it
was that he gave me a formal notice of three months, as stipulated in
the mortgage. At the end of that time, unless I am ready to pay the
twenty-two hundred dollars, he will foreclose, and the old farm must be
sold. Of course it will be sold much below its real value. Probably the
squire will get it for the amount of the mortgage, and we shall be
thrown upon the world, without a home. It seems hard, Tom, and very
selfish; but might makes right, and Squire Hudson has the power on his
side."
In a postscript Mark Nelson added, "I understand that Squire Hudson has
a connection, his wife's brother, for whom he wants the farm. That
explains his resolute refusal to giv
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