Only an Irish Boy; Or, Andy Burke's Fortunes

by Jr. Horatio Alger

  CHAPTER XXXVMRS. PRESTON IS UNPLEASANTLY SURPRISED

  Dr. Townley thought it best to consult with the town authorities as tothe course to be pursued, since, as it appeared, the town wasinterested in the will. It was decided that the doctor and Mr. Graves,who was the Chairman of the Selectmen, should go to Boston the nextday and inform Mrs. Preston of the discovery of the will. Until afterthis interview it was deemed best not to mention the matter to Andy orhis mother.

  Mrs. Preston was established in a showy house at the South End. Atlast she was living as she desired to do. She went to the theater andthe opera, and was thinking whether she could afford to set up acarriage. Godfrey she had placed at a private school, and was anxiousto have him prepare for admission to Harvard College, but in this hopeshe seemed destined to be disappointed. Godfrey wanted to see life andenjoy himself, and had no intention of submitting to the drudgery ofhard study.

  "Godfrey," said his mother one morning, "I have received a letter fromyour teacher, complaining that you don't work."

  "I'm not going to work myself to death," answered Godfrey.

  "I don't expect you to hurt yourself with work, but I want you to goto college."

  "Oh, well, I'll get in somehow."

  "Don't you want to stand well as a scholar?" she asked.

  "I leave that to the poor fellows that have got to work for a living.I am rich."

  "You may lose your money."

  "I don't mean to."

  "Suppose you do?"

  "Then I will go to work."

  "I should like to have you graduate well at college and then studylaw. You might get into Congress," said his mother.

  "I guess I'll know enough for that," said Godfrey, carelessly. "I wantto have a good time."

  That was not the worst of it, however. He extorted from his mother alarge allowance, which he spent at bars and billiard saloons, and oneday was brought home drunk by a schoolfellow.

  "Oh, Godfrey, how can you do so?" exclaimed the selfish woman, foronce fairly alarmed on another's account.

  "Hush up, old woman!" hiccoughed Godfrey.

  Mrs. Preston was mortified to think this should be said to her beforeGodfrey's schoolmate.

  "He does not know what he is saying," she said, apologetically.

  "Yes, I do," persisted Godfrey. "I'm a--a gen'leman's son. I don'twant you to interfere with gen'leman's son."

  He was put to bed, and awoke the next morning with a splittingheadache. It was the morning of the day which the doctor and Mr.Graves had chosen to call on Mrs. Preston. She was preparing to goout, when a servant came upstairs to announce that two gentlemen werein the parlor, and wanted to see her.

  "Two gentlemen! What do they look like, Nancy?"

  "One of 'em looks like he was from the country, mum."

  This referred to Mr. Graves, who did have a rustic look. The doctorwould readily have passed for a Bostonian.

  "Did they give their names?"

  "No, mum."

  "I will go down directly. I suppose they won't stay long."

  Mrs. Preston sailed into the parlor with the air of a city lady, asshe proudly imagined, but stopped short in some surprise when sherecognized her visitors. Of course, she did not suspect the nature oftheir business.

  Dr. Townley arose as she entered.

  "Good-morning, Mrs. Preston," he said. "I hope I find you well?"

  "I am quite well," said Mrs. Preston, coldly, for she had never likedthe doctor. She had an unpleasant feeling that he understood her, andwas not among her admirers. "Good-morning, Mr. Graves. You come to thecity occasionally?"

  "I don't often get time to come up, but the doctor thought I ought tocome."

  "Indeed! I am sorry to say that I am just going out."

  "I must ask you to defer going till we have communicated ourbusiness," said the doctor.

  "Business?" repeated Mrs. Preston, seating herself in some surprise.

  "Yes--business of importance. In short, your husband's will has cometo light."

  "My husband's will!" exclaimed Mrs. Preston. "I thought----"

  She checked herself suddenly. She was about to say, "I thought I haddestroyed it," and that would have let the cat out of the bag with avengeance.

  "You thought that he left no will," said the doctor, finishing thesentence for her. "He really left two----"

  "Two!"

  "That's it--he executed two--exactly alike. One he left in my hands."

  "That is a likely story!" said Mrs. Preston, excitedly. "If that isthe case, why, I ask, have we heard nothing of this before?"

  "Because it was contained in an envelope, which I was requested not toopen for six months after his decease. The time having expired----"

  "May I ask what are the provisions of this pretended will?" demandedMrs. Preston, in visible excitement.

  "Mrs. Preston," said the doctor, with dignity, "you appear to forgetthat you are addressing a gentleman. I am above fabricating a will, asyou seem to insinuate. As to the provisions, it leaves five thousanddollars to the town for the establishment of a public library, andfive thousand dollars to Andy Burke, besides the small house in whichshe used to live to the widow Burke."

  The worst had come. In spite of her criminal act, she must lose theten thousand dollars; and, worst of all, those whom she hated anddespised were to profit by her loss.

  "This is simply outrageous, Dr. Townley," she said.

  "You are speaking of your husband's will, Mrs. Preston."

  "I don't believe he made it."

  "There can be no doubt of it. Mr. Graves has examined it, and he andmyself are so familiar with the handwriting of your husband that wehave no hesitation in pronouncing the will genuine."

  "Colonel Preston must have been insane if he really made such a will."

  "I was his medical adviser," said Dr. Townley, quietly, "and I neverdetected the least sign of an unsound mind."

  "The fact of robbing his wife and child to enrich an Irishwoman andher son is proof enough of his insanity."

  "Pardon me, madam, but such bequests are made every day. Outside oftheir legacies your husband left ample fortune, and there is no dangerof your being impoverished."

  "Did you bring the will with you?"

  "No. I did not feel like incurring the risk."

  "I shall contest the will," said Mrs. Preston, passionately.

  "I would not advise you to. The proof of its genuineness isoverwhelming. I suppose you never saw the other will?"

  Mrs. Preston, at this unexpected question, in spite of her strongnerves, turned pale, and faltered:

  "Of course not," she said, after a slight pause.

  "Your husband asserts positively in a note to me that he made one,"said the doctor, bending his eyes searchingly upon her, for hesuspected the truth, and that it was distrust of his wife that ledColonel Preston to take the precaution he had done. "Its disappearanceis mysterious."

  "What do you mean?" cried Mrs. Preston, sharply, and not altogetherwithout alarm.

  "I meant only to express my surprise."

  "If your business is over, I will go out."

  "I have only this to say, that, being named in the will as executor, Ishall take immediate measures to have the will admitted to probate.Should you make up your mind to contest it, you can give me due noticethrough your legal adviser. In that case," he added, significantly,"the question of the disappearance of the other will will come up."

  "I will consult my lawyer," said Mrs. Preston.

  Though she said this, her determination was already made. "Consciencemakes cowards of us all," and the doctor's last hint alarmed her somuch that she decided to make no opposition to the setting up of thewill. But it was a bitter pill to swallow.

  "Graves," said Dr. Townley, as he left the house, "that womandestroyed the other will."

  "Do you think so?" asked Mr. Graves, startled.

  "I feel sure of it. Let me predict also that she will not contest thiswill. She is afraid to."

  And the doc
tor was right.

  CHAPTER XXXVIALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL

  Andy was quite unconscious of the good fortune which had come to him.Though a manly and stout-hearted boy, he was, in fact, gettingdiscouraged. He was willing and anxious to work, but there seemed tobe no work for him to do. He would have left home some time since totry his fortune elsewhere, but for the entreaties of his mother, whodidn't like to lose him.

  In the morning after Dr. Townley's visit to Boston, our hero knockedat the doctor's front door.

  "Is Dr. Townley at home?" he asked.

  "Yes, Andy," said the doctor, who overheard the inquiry. "Come rightin. You're just the boy I want to see."

  Andy entered, twirling his hat awkwardly in his hand.

  "Good-morning, Andy," said the doctor, cordially. "Take a seat."

  "Thank you, sir," said Andy, but did not sit down.

  "What is the matter? You are looking rather blue this morning."

  "Faith, doctor, and that's the way I feel entirely."

  "You're not sick, are you? Let me feel your pulse."

  "No, I'm not sick, but it's discouraged I am."

  "Why should a stout boy in good health be discouraged?"

  "I can't get any work to do, and I'm afraid we'll all starve."

  "It strikes me," said the doctor, fixing his eyes on Andy, enjoyingthe effect of his intended announcement, "that I wouldn't talk ofstarving, if I were as rich as you are, Andy."

  "As rich as me?" echoed Andy. "Shure, doctor, you're jokin'."

  "Not at all."

  "Why, I haven't got but seventy-five cents in the world."

  "Now it's you that are joking, Andy."

  "I wish I was," sighed Andy.

  "Why, I had it on good authority that you were worth five thousanddollars."

  Andy stared in earnest.

  "I see you're laughin' at me, doctor," he said, suspecting that Dr.Townley was making game of him.

  "No, I am not. I am in earnest."

  "Who told you such a big falsehood as that, now?" asked our hero,bewildered.

  "Perhaps I dreamed that somebody told me Colonel Preston had left youfive thousand dollars in his will."

  "Are you jokin'? Is it true?" asked Andy, eagerly, something in thedoctor's face telling him that he really meant what he said.

  "Maybe I dreamed, too, that the colonel left your mother the house sheused to live in."

  "Is it true, doctor? Tell me, quick!" said Andy, trembling withexcitement.

  "Yes, my boy, it's all true, and I'm glad to be the first tocongratulate you on your good fortune."

  He held out his hand, which our hero seized, and then, unable torepress his exultation, threw up his cap to the ceiling and indulgedin an extempore dance, the doctor meanwhile looking on with benevolentgratification.

  "Excuse me, doctor; I couldn't help it," he panted.

  "It's all right, Andy. Are you discouraged now?"

  "Divil a bit, doctor. It's wild I am with joy."

  "And you don't think of starving yet, eh, Andy?"

  "I'll wait a bit. But why didn't I know before?"

  "Sit down, and I'll tell you all about it."

  So Andy heard the account, which need not be repeated.

  "Now," continued the doctor, "I'll tell you what plan I have for you.Mr. Graves wants to take a boy into his store who will buy an interestin the business and become his partner. He thinks well of you, and iswilling to take you. What do you say?"

  "I'll do whatever you think best, doctor."

  "Then I think this is a good opening for you. Mr. Graves wants toretire from business before long. Probably by the time you aretwenty-one he will leave everything in your hands. You will be paidweekly wages and perhaps be entitled to a portion of the profits--morethan enough to support you all comfortably. What do you say? Shall wehave a new firm in the village?

  "GRAVES & BURKE."

  Andy's eyes sparkled with proud anticipation. It was so far above anydream he had ever formed.

  "It's what I'd like above all things," he said. "Oh, what will mothersay? I must go and tell her."

  "Go, by all means, Andy, and when you have told her, come back, andI'll go over with you to Mr. Graves' store, and we'll talk over thearrangements with him."

  Mrs. Burke's delight at her own success and that of Andy may beimagined. She, too, had been getting despondent, and it seemed almostlike a fairy tale to find herself the owner of a house, and her boylikely to be taken into partnership with the principal trader in thevillage. She invoked blessings on the memory of Colonel Preston,through whose large-hearted generosity this had come to pass, butcould not help speculating on what Mrs. Preston would say. Sheunderstood very well that she would be very angry.

  Mrs. Preston did not dispute the will. She might have done so, but forher fear that her own criminal act would be brought to light. Godfrey,who was even more disturbed than she was at the success of "that lowIrish boy," begged her to do it, but in this case she did not yield tohis entreaties. She had never dared to take him into confidencerespecting her destruction of the other will.

  While we are upon this subject, we may as well trace out the futurecareer of Mrs. Preston. Some years later she was induced, by theexpectation of aiding her social standing, to marry an adventurer whoappeared to be doing a flourishing business as a State Street broker.By spurious representations, he managed to get hold of her property,and to be appointed Godfrey's guardian. The result may be foreseen. Hemanaged to spend or waste the whole and when Godfrey was twenty-one,he and his mother were penniless. Andy, who was now solerepresentative of the firm of Graves & Burke, and in receipt of anexcellent income, heard of the misfortunes of his old enemy, and outof regard to the memory of his old benefactor voluntarily offered Mrs.Preston an allowance of five hundred dollars. It cost her pride agreat deal to accept this favor from the boy she had looked down uponas "only an Irish boy," but her necessity was greater than her pride,and she saw no other way of escaping the poorhouse. So sheungraciously accepted. But Andy did not care for thanks. He felt thathe was doing his duty, and he asked no other reward than thatconsciousness. Mrs. Preston was allowed to make her home, rent free,in Mrs. Burke's old house, Andy having built a better and morecommodious one, in which he had installed his mother as mistress. Mrs.Preston grew old fast, in appearance, and fretted without ceasing forthe fortune and position which she had lost. Her husband left her, andhas not since been heard of. As for Godfrey, Andy secured him apassage to California, where he led a disreputable life. There is arumor that he was killed in a drunken brawl at Sacramento not longsince, but I have not been able to learn whether this is true or not.His loss of fortune had something to do with his going to the bad, butI am afraid, with his character and tendencies, that neither inprosperity nor in adversity would he have built up a good character,or led an honorable career. His course had been, in all respects, fardifferent from that of our hero, who, already prosperous, seems likelyto go on adding to his wealth, and growing in the esteem of the bestportion of the community. His success, aided, indeed, by good fortune,has served to demonstrate the favorable effects of honesty, industry,and good principles, upon individual success. He is not the first, norwill he be the last, to achieve prosperity and the respect of thecommunity, though beginning life as "only an Irish boy."

  THE END

  Transcriber's comments:

  Spelling has been left as in the original book. Specifically, thedialect and typographical errors have been left unchanged.