“I am not obliged to tell; but I will do so to satisfy you. The money is kindly advanced by Grant Colburn.”
“That boy!” ejaculated Mrs. Bartlett furiously.
“Yes; he has been to me a friend in need.”
If evil wishes could have blighted him, Grant would have stood in great danger, for he had disappointed Sophia Bartlett in her cherished desire.
“It beats all how that boy has got on!” she muttered. “I wish he had never been to California.”
Prosperity makes friends. Though Rodney liked Grant no better he made friendly overtures to him now that he looked upon him as rich, but Grant, though polite, was cold. He understood the value of such friendship.
Now for a few concluding words. Grant returned to California. Eventually he intends to take his mother out there, for his business interests are growing more extensive, and in five years he will be a rich man. Mrs. Bartlett has sold her farm and gone to Chicago, but her pecuniary ventures have not been successful, and Rodney is by no means a dutiful son. He is growing extravagant, and is always calling upon his mother for money, while he shows no willingness to work. The whole family is likely to end in poverty.
Giles Crosmont has returned to England with his son, leaving his California property in charge of Grant. He has invited Grant and his mother to visit him at his home in Devonshire, and, some summer, the invitation will probably be accepted. Tom Cooper has established himself in San Francisco, but his father and mother have returned with a competence to their home in Iowa.
“It was a lucky day, mother,” said Grant one day, “when I came to California to dig for gold.”
“Many came out here and failed,” returned his mother; “but you had good habits and the qualities that insure success.”