“Pretty well sold, after all,” said the major to me, as he rubbed his hands.
“Yes, sir; thanks to you, it is very well sold,” I replied, running over with joy at the unexpected termination of the farce.
Colonel Wimpleton swore like a pirate. He was the maddest man on the western continent.
“Colonel, if you are dissatisfied with your bargain, I shall be happy to take the property at my last bid,” said the major as he walked out into the road.
I will not repeat what the great man of Centreport said in reply, for it was not fit to be set down on clean, white paper. My father and I crossed the lake, and went home with the good news to my mother, who was anxiously waiting to hear the result. Whatever joy she experienced at the good fortune of my father, she was too good a woman to exult over the quarrels of the two great men.
“I think Colonel Wimpleton will not try to punish me any more,” said my father. “He pays eight hundred dollars more than I was offered for the place. If he is satisfied, I am.”
The next day the twenty-three hundred dollars, less the expenses of the sale, was paid over to my father. He had already cast longing eyes upon a beautiful estate on the outskirts of the town of Middleport, having ten acres of land, with a fine orchard; but the owner would not sell it for less than five thousand dollars. The fruit upon the place would more than pay the interest of the money; and, as soon as he had received the proceeds of the sale, he bought the estate, paying two thousand down, and giving a mortgage for three thousand. We moved in immediately. The house was even better than that we had occupied in Centreport, and I assure the reader, in concluding my story, that we were as happy as any family need be left at the end of a last chapter.
Of the Lake Shore Railroad I have much more to say, in other stories which will follow. The road was soon completed to Grass Springs, thirteen miles from Middleport, and I ran the dummy to that point during the autumn. In due time we had a regular locomotive and cars, and ran to Ucayga, where we connected with a great line of railway between the east and the west. We had a great deal of trouble with the Wimpletonians, and the Centreporters generally, of which something will be said in my next story—“Lightning Express, or The Rival Academies.”
The Toppletonians continued to treat me very kindly, and I did my best for them. Our family troubles appeared to be all ended. My father was as steady as he had ever been, and though we heard nothing from Christy, we were on the high road to prosperity. Miss Grace Toppleton was frequently a passenger in the dummy, and I must add that she was always very kind and considerate to me. I am sure her smile encouraged me to be good and true, and to be faithful in the discharge of my duty; or, in other words, to put it Through by Daylight.
THE NORWOOD SERIES