“I hope you have got something good in that trunk, Jessie,—it’s heavy enough, if that’s all,” said the younger boy, when they came down from the chamber.
“Is it heavy?” inquired Jessie. “Well, I don’t wonder—it contains all my gold, except this pin and ring, and you know gold is heavy.”
“Is that it?” continued the boy, whose name was Ronald. “I didn’t know but you had filled it with stones, to make us think you had got something valuable. They say rogues play that game sometimes, when they put up at hotels. But about that gold; how much is there of it?”
“Well, I can’t tell you exactly how much there is, but I will show it to you some time, if you wish to see it,” replied Jessie.
“Is it visible to the naked eye?” inquired the boy, with a roguish look.
“Of course it is,” replied Jessie. “You can see it plain enough, but that is the best you can say about it.”
This was an enigma which Ronald could not solve, and it was not until Jessie exhibited to him her portion of the precious metal, displayed upon the covers and edges of several books, that he comprehended the mystery.
The fact was, whatever else might have been Jessie’s possessions, at this time, she was far from being rich in gold and silver, or any of the paper representatives of those metals. Within a period of about two months, a fearful train of calamities had overwhelmed the family to which she belonged. The oldest son, Samuel, a youth of sixteen, had committed a burglary in a neighboring town, for which he was now serving a sentence in prison. The youngest child, an interesting and lovely boy of nine, had sickened and died, at the beginning of the year. The father, who for many years had been a victim of intemperate habits, sought to drown his sorrows by still deeper draughts at the fountain of woe and death, and came to a dreadful end, a few weeks after his boy was laid in his frozen grave. Mr. Hapley’s farm and other property, on which there were heavy mortgages, were taken to pay his debts, and the widow and children were left homeless and moneyless.[[1]]
[1]. These events are more fully related in the fifth volume of this series, entitled, “Marcus; or the Boy-Tamer.”
Jessie, and her brother Henry, a lad of thirteen, were the only children now living with their mother. A home was soon found for Henry, in the village, where he was to work for his board and clothes. Mrs. Hapley, whose health was poor, was invited to return to the home of her childhood, in another town, where her parents were still living. Jessie was at that time attending the village academy, with a view of fitting herself for the profession of teaching. With no slight struggle, she relinquished this cherished purpose of her heart, and, as the readiest way of supporting herself and aiding her mother, volunteered to work in a factory. But in this hour of extremity, a new door was opened to her. Mrs. Page and her family, who were next neighbors to the Hapleys, were so much interested in the welfare of Jessie, that they offered her a home for a season, on conditions that she could not well refuse. Her services in the family were to be considered an equivalent for her board, but she was to have the privilege of attending the academy. Her mother was to provide her with clothes, and there was a prospect that she would be able to offset her tuition bills, by rendering some assistance to the lower classes. It was thought that by this arrangement she would be enabled to enter upon her chosen work in less than a year.