The Boy Trapper | Page 9

a moment before.
"Come here, David," continued Silas. "I am out collecting bills, and I
thought I would ride around and see if you have heard anything of that
respected father of yours during the last few days."
"No, sir; we haven't," answered David, hanging his head.
"Well, I suppose you know that he owes me eight dollars, don't you?"
said Silas.
"I knew he owed you something, but I didn't think it was as much as
that," replied David, opening his eyes. In his estimation, eight dollars
was a debt of some magnitude.
"That's the amount, as sure as you live, and if I had charged him as
much as I charge others, it would have been more. I made a little
reduction to him, because I knew that he didn't own more of this
world's goods than the law allows. What is to be done about it? Am I to
lose my money because he has run away?"
"O, no," said David, quickly. "I'll pay it, and be glad to do so. We may
want groceries some time, you know, when we have no money to pay
for them."
"That's the way to talk. Pay up promptly and your credit will always be
good."
"All I ask of you," continued David, "is that you will wait about a
month longer, until----"
"Can't do it; can't possibly do it," exclaimed Silas, shaking his head and

waving his hands up and down in the air. "Must have money to-day.
My creditors are pushing me, and I must push everybody whose name
is on my books."
"But my name isn't on your books."
"Your father's is, and if you have any honor about you, you will see the
debt paid."
"That's what I mean to do, but I can't pay it now."
"Can't wait a single day," said Silas. "If the money isn't forthcoming at
once, you can't get a single thing at my store from this time forward,
unless you have the cash to plank right down on the counter."
"I have always paid you for everything I have bought of you," said
David, with some spirit.
"I know it; but your father hasn't, and if you want me to show you any
favors, you will pay that debt to-day. You have always been called an
honest boy, and if you want to keep that reputation, you had better be
doing something."
So saying, Silas wheeled his horse and rode away, leaving David lost in
wonder.
CHAPTER III.
AN OFFER OF PARTNERSHIP.
This was the first time David had ever heard that a son could be held
responsible for debts contracted by his father. At first he did not believe
it; but Silas seemed to think it could be done, and he was a business
man and ought to know what he was talking about. The truth of the
matter was, that Silas Jones was a hard one to deal with. He wanted
every cent that was due him and more too, if he could get it. It made no
difference how poor his customers were, he always found means to
make them pay the bills they contracted at his store. The eight dollars

that Godfrey owed him looked almost as large in his eyes as it did in
David's. He could not bear to lose it, and he did not care what tricks he
resorted to to get it. When he rode away he took all David's peace of
mind with him, "Wasn't it lucky that I didn't go down to his store and
ask him to trust me for a dress for mother?" thought the boy; as he
picked up his hammer and resumed work upon his trap. "He would
have refused me sure. Now there is only one way I can pay that debt,
and that is to ask Don Gordon for the ten dollars he promised to give
me for breaking his pointer. That's something I don't like, for the
money isn't fairly earned yet, but I don't see what else I can do. Mother
must have something to eat, and the only way I can get it is by making
a friend of Silas by paying him this debt father owes him. I don't care
for myself, and as for Dan--let him look out for number one. That's
what he makes me do."
While David was soliloquising in this way he heard a footstep near him,
and looking up saw his brother Dan, whose appearance and actions
surprised him not a little. His face wore a smile instead of the usual
scowl, he had no coat on, his sleeves were rolled up, and he carried a
frow in one hand (a frow is a sharp instrument used for splitting out
shingles), and a heavy mallet in the