The Young Miner | Page 6

old fellow has a heart, after all," thought Miles, who had been
disposed to look upon Ferguson ever since their first acquaintance, as
rather miserly.
The Scotchman was certainly frugal, and counted his pennies carefully,
but he was not mean, and had conceived a strong affection for his
young companion, whom he regarded much as a son or a nephew.
"Suppose you take the money now, John," said Tom.
"Shall I scribble a receipt, Tom? I am afraid my writing materials have
given out."
"I don't want any receipt," said Tom; "I'll trust you without one."
"Nevertheless, lad," said the cautious Scotchman, "it may be well--"
"Yes, Tom, Mr. Ferguson is right. Of course I know that you trust me;
but if anything should happen to me,--any accident, I mean,--the paper
may be useful to you."
"Just as you like, Mr. Miles, but I don't ask it, remember that."
"Yes, I will remember it, and I don't mean to meet with any accident if
I can help it. Mr. Ferguson, can you oblige me with a pipeful of
tobacco? I'll join you in smoking."
Smoking was the Scotchman's solitary extravagance, not a costly one,
however, as he never smoked cigars, but indulged only in a democratic
clay pipe.
John Miles threw himself on the ground between Tom and his Scotch
friend, and watched complacently the wreaths of smoke as they curled
upwards.

"Tom, you ought to smoke," he said. "You don't know how much
enjoyment you lose."
"Don't tempt the lad," said Ferguson. "It's a bad habit."
"You smoke yourself."
"That is true, but it isn't well for a growing boy. It can do him no good."
"I smoked before I was as old as Tom."
"So did I, but I wish I had not."
"Well, perhaps you're right, but it's a comfort when a man's tired or out
of spirits."
"I am not troubled in that way," said Tom. "I mean with being out of
spirits."
"Youth is a hopeful age," said the Scotchman. "When we are young we
are always hoping for something good to befall us."
"And when one is older, how is it, Mr. Ferguson?"
"We fear ill more than we hope for good," he replied.
"Then I want to remain young as long as I can."
"A good wish, Tom. Some men are always young in spirit; but those
that have seen the evil there is in the world find it harder to be hopeful."
"You speak as if you had had experience of the evil, Mr. Ferguson."
"So I have," answered the Scotchman slowly. Then, after a pause, "I
will tell you about it: it's no secret."
"Not if it is going to pain you."
"Oh, the pain is past. It's only a matter of money, and those wounds

heal."
"Only a matter of money!" said John Miles to himself. "I must have
misjudged Ferguson. I thought money was all in all with him. I did not
think he would speak so lightly of it."
"When I was a young man," Ferguson began, "my father died, leaving
me a thousand pounds, and a small annuity to my mother. With this
money I felt rich, but I knew it would not support me, nor was I minded
to be idle. So I began to look about me, to consider what business I had
best go into, when a young man, about my own age, a clerk in a
mercantile house, came to me and proposed a partnership. He was to
put in five hundred pounds, and contribute his knowledge of business,
which was greater than mine. He was a young man of good parts, and
had a brisk, pleasant way with him, that made him a favorite in
business circles. I thought it was a good chance, and, after taking a little
time for thought, agreed to his proposal. So the firm of McIntire and
Ferguson was formed. We went into business, and for a time all seemed
to go well. As my partner chose to keep the books, I was not so clear as
I wished to be about matters, but we seemed to be prospering. One
morning, however, on coming to business, I found that my partner had
disappeared, after possessing himself of all the money he could collect
on the credit of the firm. Of course we were bankrupts, or rather I was,
for he left me to bear the brunt of failure."
"Have you ever seen him since, Mr. Ferguson?"
"From that day to this--twenty years--I have never set eyes on Sandy
McIntire."
"It was a mean trick to serve you, Ferguson," said Miles.
"Yes," said the Scotchman, soberly. "I minded the loss of money, but
the loss of confidence was a sore thought too, after all the trust I had
put in