If Harrison had not cherished so great a dislike to the character of this boy, Mrs. Danforth would have felt that she must remove him from the house, so debasing did she consider Alfred's influence. Indeed, his impudence and contempt of authority was so trying to his parents that they could hardly endure the annoyance of his presence. Too late they learned that unlimited indulgence, without parental restraint, so far from making a child happy, only produces misery for himself, and for all those connected with him.
Finding Harrison so much of a favorite with his parents and sister, Alfred took every opportunity of insulting the boy, sneering at him for being obliged to labor when out of school, often boasting that he had never done an hour's work in his life.
On one of these occasions Mr. Haven was an unseen witness of the treatment to which Harrison was subjected. The boy was blacking a pair of boots, and whistling merrily at his work.
"Blackey, take that!" cried Alfred, giving him a kick. "You ought to have a sign out, 'Shoes and whistling done here to order.' I suppose you expect father to set you up in business that way; buy you a stand and half a dozen bottles of 'Day & Martin.'"
At first, Harrison seemed inclined to return the kick by a blow upon the face of Alfred with the boot which was stretched on his arm; but, checking himself, went on whistling louder than before. Alfred grew irritated; and, calling his companion by some of the vilest names he could string together, he started forward to strike him, when his uplifted arm was seized firmly by his father.
"Filthy boy!" he exclaimed, in great anger, "for once you shall feel the power of the rod." He then commanded Harrison to go for his horsewhip; and, notwithstanding the violent struggles of his child, administered a sound chastisement. Then, after consulting with his wife, he set out at once in search of a gentleman who had recommended a situation for his son.
Back of the dining-hall was a small apartment which Mrs. Haven called the housekeeper's room. In this apartment the mother and son could be as retired as in their own home. There, after the duties of the day were ended, Harrison sat with his books and slate, busy with his school lessons, or receiving instruction from his mother. Occasionally a timid knock announced the coming of Ella, who liked nothing better than to sit by the side of her old nurse and listen to her words of advice to her boy.
Mrs. Danforth seldom spoke of her husband, and seemed generally cheerful and happy; but, one evening when Harrison went to her room, he found her weeping bitterly. She had been allowing herself the luxury of looking over some letters received from her husband just before their marriage, and this had brought the trials of her wedded, life most forcibly to mind.
"My dear boy," said she, trying to compose herself, "I have long been considering whether you were old enough to profit by the story of your father's life. While you remember so vividly the scenes connected with his last days, I would impress upon you the cause of all his—" she hesitated— "of all, I mean, that is painful for us to think of. Your father, as perhaps you know, was an only child. His mother loved him so fondly that she could not bear the thought of his enduring any hardship. His father was an industrious man, and wished his son to be taught to work. He used to set him a daily task before he went to his own toil; but the boy would cry that it was too hard for him; that he could not handle the axe, it was so heavy; that the hoeing made his back ache; and so his too indulgent mother performed the work for him, in addition to her own hard labor. Many and many a time did she split and pile the wood her husband supposed had been done by his son, while he passed the hours in idleness or in play. As he grew up, and this could no longer be concealed from his father, he complained of want of strength to do hard work, and begged to be placed in a store in the village. Here he prided himself upon being dressed better than any boy in town; and his frank, handsome face and funny jokes caused him to be liked by all. In this business he might have succeeded, for he was acknowledged to be a good salesman; but soon he grew tired of the confinement; it was too much like labor. He grew more and more inattentive to his business, until he failed to give satisfaction to his employer, and was dismissed from the place. From this time, for the next four years, he was constantly changing from one employment to another, never continuing but a short period at any one thing, but always finding some reason in the heaviness of the work sufficient to satisfy his weak-minded mother. His father remonstrated again and again; but finally said he had done with the boy, and would never advise him more, let him do what he would. I suppose nothing would have satisfied her but to have him entirely exempt from care, and ride about in a coach. She often told him he looked too much like a gentleman to labor with his hands."
"At length his father died, and the property was divided between the mother and son. We had been attached to each other about a year, I thinking of nothing but the easy good nature and the handsome appearance of my lover; but my parents had always opposed our being engaged. They said, again and again, that a man who had never learned to work, who had no habits of steady, daily toil, could not expect the blessing of heaven; that he lived in constant violation of one of God's first commands to man, 'By the sweat of thy brow thou shalt eat bread'; that the Bible was full of denunciations against the slothful and the sluggard. Oh! how many times my good father repeated to me the words of Solomon, 'The slothful shall be under tribute': 'The soul of the sluggard desireth and hath nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat': 'But if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith and is worse than an infidel': 'This we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat': 'Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep, and an idle soul shall suffer hunger': 'He that is slothful in his work, is brother to him that is a great waster.'"