"Hush, dear! don't speak so! I'm afraid something has happened to him. I went to the saloon, but he has not been there all day." The poor woman covered her face, and the sobs that would not be longer suppressed burst forth.
Harrison's sympathy was excited at once. "I wish I knew where to go and inquire for him, mother," he said; "but he has often been gone longer than this. Perhaps he will be home before we go to bed."
Mrs. Danforth listened to his cheering words, and tried to hope that they would prove true; but the long weary weeks of anxiety since her husband had been in the oyster-saloon had worn upon her frame, and she was conscious of being really unfit for exertion. Then her head ached terribly, so that she was easily persuaded to go to bed, where the remainder of the evening Was passed in listening to her son as he read passage after passage from her favorite Psalms.
The next morning Harrison awoke early, and, having dressed himself in haste, ran softly down the stairs, before the other inmates of the house were astir, and sped quickly away to the street where his father worked. But to his disappointment, when he arrived at the saloon, the door was barred, and, after knocking several times, was just on the point of leaving, when a colored man drew back the bolt.
From this person, who was cleaning the rooms, the boy learned that his father had of late been so unsteady in his attendance upon his business that his employer had threatened to turn him away. This was all the information that he could gain, and with it he ran home to comfort his mother.
She had risen, and was wondering where he had gone.
"Good news, mother!" he called out, "I have been to father's place. He is not there yet, but the man told me he had often been absent before. Now, when he did not come home, we always thought he was there; so I guess he'll come back again just as he has always done."
"Thank you, my son; I really hope it may be so; and now if you will cut a few sticks of kindling we will have some breakfast."
Harrison cut the wood, kindled the fire, and swept the room, and then said, "If you can get along now, mother, I'll go to the hotel. I promised cook I'd be there right early. They have orders for a grand dinner to-day. She'll be sure to give me some breakfast, and I'll be home as soon as I can."
Fortunately for Harrison, his habits of neatness and industry rendered him of great service to his employers. He went from one thing to another as he was bid, and, amidst all the confusion and scolding of the kitchen, was always civil and obliging, ready to give a helping hand to any one who needed his assistance. Mr. Clarkson visited the kitchen to give orders about the extra work, saying that he would hire in more help if it was necessary. Cook told him she had rather have Harrison than half a dozen strangers, for he would do just what she told him. The gentleman patted him on the head, called him a smart boy, and then, taking out his porte-monaie, presented him with a silver half-dollar.