Jacks Ward

Jack's Ward

The Project Gutenberg eBook, Jack's Ward, by Horatio Alger, Jr.
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

Title: Jack's Ward
Author: Horatio Alger, Jr.
Release Date: January 16, 2004 [eBook #10729]
Language: English
Character set encoding: US-ASCII
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JACK'S
WARD***
E-text prepared by David Garcia and the Project Gutenberg Online
Distributed Proofreading Team

JACK'S WARD
OR
THE BOY GUARDIAN
BY

HORATIO ALGER, JR.
1910

[Illustration: Jack seized the old man, thrust him through the secret
door and locked it.]

BIOGRAPHY AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
Horatio Alger, Jr., an author who lived among and for boys and himself
remained a boy in heart and association till death, was born at Revere,
Mass., January 13, 1834. He was the son of a clergyman; was
graduated at Harvard College in 1852, and at its Divinity School in
1860; and was pastor of the Unitarian Church at Brewster, Mass., in
1862-66.
In the latter year he settled in New York and began drawing public
attention to the condition and needs of street boys. He mingled with
them, gained their confidence, showed a personal concern in their
affairs, and stimulated them to honest and useful living. With his first
story he won the hearts of all red-blooded boys everywhere, and of the
seventy or more that followed over a million copies were sold during
the author's lifetime.
In his later life he was in appearance a short, stout, bald-headed man,
with cordial manners and whimsical views of things that amused all
who met him. He died at Natick, Mass., July 18, 1899.
Mr. Alger's stories are as popular now as when first published, because
they treat of real live boys who were always up and about--just like the
boys found everywhere to-day. They are pure in tone and inspiring in
influence, and many reforms in the juvenile life of New York may be
traced to them. Among the best known are:
_Strong and Steady; Strive and Succeed; Try and Trust; Bound to Rise;

Risen from the Ranks; Herbert Carter's Legacy; Brave and Bold; Jack's
Ward; Shifting for Himself; Wait and Hope; Paul the Peddler; Phil the
Fiddler; Slow and Sure; Julius the Street Boy; Tom the Bootblack;
Struggling Upward; Facing the World; The Cash Boy; Making His
Way; Tony the Tramp; Joe's Luck; Do and Dare; Only an Irish Boy;
Sink or Swim; A Cousin's Conspiracy; Andy Gordon; Bob Burton;
Harry Vane; Hector's Inheritance; Mark Mason's Triumph; Sam's
Chance; The Telegraph Boy; The Young Adventurer; The Young
Outlaw; The Young Salesman_, and Luke Walton.

JACK'S WARD
CHAPTER I
JACK HARDING GETS A JOB
"Look here, boy, can you hold my horse a few minutes?" asked a
gentleman, as he jumped from his carriage in one of the lower streets in
New York.
The boy addressed was apparently about twelve, with a bright face and
laughing eyes, but dressed in clothes of coarse material. This was Jack
Harding, who is to be our hero.
"Yes, sir," said Jack, with alacrity, hastening to the horse's head; "I'll
hold him as long as you like."
"All right! I'm going in at No. 39; I won't be long."
"That's what I call good luck," said Jack to himself. "No boy wants a
job more than I do. Father's out of work, rent's most due, and Aunt
Rachel's worrying our lives out with predicting that we'll all be in the
poorhouse inside of three months. It's enough to make a fellow feel
blue, listenin' to her complainin' and groanin' all the time. Wonder
whether she was always so. Mother says she was disappointed in love
when she was young. I guess that's the reason."

"Have you set up a carriage, Jack?" asked a boy acquaintance, coming
up and recognizing Jack.
"Yes," said Jack, "but it ain't for long. I shall set down again pretty
soon."
"I thought your grandmother had left you a fortune, and you had set up
a team."
"No such good news. It belongs to a gentleman that's inside."
"Inside the carriage?"
"No, in No. 39."
"How long's he going to stay?"
"I don't know."
"If it was half an hour, we might take a ride, and be back in time."
Jack shook his head.
"That ain't my style," he said. "I'll stay here till he comes out."
"Well, I must be going along. Are you coming to school to-morrow?"
"Yes, if I can't get anything to do."
"Are you trying for that?"
"I'd like to get a place. Father's out of work, and anything I can earn
comes in handy."
"My