"There's no harm in it," said Tom, seeing that the fisher-boy hesitated. "It is done every day, right here in Newport, by our best business men. My father does it, so it can't be wrong."
Bob thought so too. Mr. Newcombe was a great man in his estimation, and he might safely follow in his lead.
The conversation continued for half an hour longer, Tom laboring faithfully to convince the fisher-boy that, if he assisted him in his grand scheme, he would be rich in a very short space of time, and he finally carried his point; for Bob was deeply impressed, more by Tom's eloquence than by any thing else, and he promised to think the matter over, and to be ready with his answer on the following evening. Tom, as usual, was impatient to begin operations at once; but he was afraid to urge the matter, and he finally took leave of the fisher-boy, after obliging him to promise, over and over again, that he would keep all that had passed between them a profound secret.
CHAPTER V.
SAM BARTON'S REVENGE.
The fisher-boy slept very little that night. He was thinking of Tom's new plan, and the more he turned the matter over in his mind, the nearer he came to a determination to give a favorable answer on the following evening. He was deeply interested in the lottery, and remembering how confidently Tom had spoken of his success, he could not help giving full sway to his fancy, and picturing to himself a host of pleasant things that would happen when he should come into possession of his share of the prize. In the first place, their humble cabin on the beach could be exchanged for a nice little cottage in a more respectable part of the village; he could turn the Go Ahead adrift in the harbor, and buy a nice little schooner, like the one he had met on his voyage home from his fishing-grounds; he and his brothers could throw away their ragged clothes, and dress as well as any boys in the village; and, after all these things had been done, there would still be enough left to support the family in fine style while he was at sea.
For the first time in his life, Bob's imagination ran wild with him, and he became so excited that he could not lie still. There was only one obstacle in his way that he could discover, but that was one that could not be easily got over. He had always been in the habit of giving every cent he earned to his mother for safe keeping, and he did not know how to go to work to get the five dollars to invest in the lottery. If he asked his mother for the money, she would, no doubt, want to know what use he intended to make of it; and that was a question that Bob would not have cared to answer. This ought to have been sufficient to convince him that Tom's scheme was not altogether right, and that he ought to have nothing whatever to do with it. But the fisher-boy did not think of that. He had been carried away by Tom's arguments, and it was very easy for him to believe that, even if he was obliged to make use of a little deception in order to secure his twenty-five hundred dollars, there would be no harm in it.
Bob arose the next morning at six o'clock, unrefreshed, and as sleepy as when he went to bed the night before. After a hasty breakfast he started for the harbor, and taking up a position opposite to his pier, he sat down in his boat to wait for a passenger. The Go Ahead was comparatively dry; for, during the previous evening, the fisher-boy had hauled her out upon the beach and carefully caulked all the seams and cracks, and he hoped that her improved appearance would enable him to secure one or two extra passengers. Of course Tom's scheme was still uppermost in his mind, and, as he sat in his scow thinking it over, he happened to cast his eye toward the upper end of the harbor, and saw Sam Barton and several of his particular friends in their boats, holding a consultation. Presently they separated and took up their positions near the middle of the harbor, Sam and two other good oarsmen stationing themselves near the fisher-boy. Bob understood the meaning of all these movements, for he had often seen the same thing done before, when Sam happened to get into a quarrel with any of the ferry-boys. He knew that if he wished to earn any money that morning he must work hard for it; for it was the bully's intention to prevent him from taking any passengers across the harbor. The fisher-boy, however, was not at all alarmed. Pulling off his hat, he put it carefully away under one of the thwarts, rolled up his sleeves, and standing up in his boat, kept a firm hold of his oar.