A dangerous friend

by Emma Leslie

It was hard for Tom to go over the old, painful story, but he did it to convince his father that his education was not to be blamed for the bad use he had made of it. He even promised to apply himself more closely to the forge, in order to earn the money that was necessary to pay for Dick's schooling, if his father would only consent to let him go.

This promise of Tom's had the greatest influence with the blacksmith, for hitherto Tom had shown no liking for his father's trade, and had only done what he was obliged in a perfunctory sort of fashion, and unless he could be induced to take it up more heartily, and give more attention to it, he would be a very poor sort of blacksmith at the best.

So for Tom's own sake, his suggestion was at last taken up, and Flowers consented that Dick should go to the grammar school, if Tom would undertake to earn the money to pay for it. There was always plenty of work to be had if Tom would only stick to it, so there was not likely to be any difficulty on this score.

To see Dick's delight when he heard that he was to go to the school, where they taught the subjects that had been as a fairy tale to him, repaid Tom for the pain he had endured in talking to his father about it, and to think his younger brother was to have this chance of a good education, nerved him to overcome his dislike to being at the forge all day, as he must be now.

It was hard for him to overcome this distaste and pin himself down to work steadily under his father's direction, but by degrees the conquest was made, and he had his reward when Dick came home of an evening and told them of the wonderful things he had learned, and the experiments he had seen made in the course of the lesson.

By degrees the lad lost his shyness from his habit of now talking to Tom, while as for Tom himself, he actually began to take a pride and pleasure in his work, so that his father was able to trust him to do a job throughout without fear of the customer complaining that the work had been scamped.

It was by this means that Tom at last won back the character he had lost in London, though people were slow enough to trust him at first.

"Tell your father he must be sure and do this job himself," was a message Tom often had to deliver when he was left in charge of the forge for a little while.

Grim enough would Flowers look when he received such, for he knew all too well what it meant. "They don't believe you will give honest work, my lad," he would say with a bitter look at Tom.

But after some months, things began to change in this respect. To work for Dick's schooling had been a great sweetener of toil to Tom, but at last he began to take the same honest pride in his work that his father did, and people finding that his work was not scamped, soon ceased to give the offensive message, and at last one and another began to pass the time of day with him again, and some of the farmers as they stood waiting and watching him would remark, "Your son will make a good blacksmith after all."