The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1871-07-21
CHAPTER III.

The spot where Tom Chatteris
had temporarily located himself was
not so thickly built over then as it
is now, and they got home pretty
quietly; but the few people who did
see them showed interest. In front.
the doctor, driving fast, and the
groom kneehng on the seat; behind,
Tom and body, which, with the
assistance of the groom, he was pre-
venting from rolling off into the
road.
When they arrived the landlady
became hysterical; but Tom, ignor-
ing her, had his charge carried up
into his own room, laid on his own
bed, and there properly treated.
First, the patient recovered, and
then he went to sleep. Sterne tells
US that we water flower because
we have planted it; imagine, then,
the interest felt by Tom in this in
dividual declared by the tail of his
shilt to be S. P. Collins, for whose
sake he had ruined q penknife, slept
on sofa, and possibly incurred a
doctors bill"
Il suppose ought to thank your
said S. P. Collins.
swell, perhaps it would be the
correct thing to do" replied Tom,
for, having prepared himself to check
an overpowering burst Of gratitude,
he was taken aback.
'tExactly," continued the unhanged
one; ''and yet you might give a man
credit for knowing his own mind.
You don't suppose I placed myself
in the position in which you found
me for the sake Of testing your agil-
ity, or intruding on your hospitality,
do you? However, you meant well.
But when 1 think that 1 had got
over that first horribly choking feel
ing, and had foated into delicious
insensibility, and that now 1 have
got to go through it again-I won
der if laudanum is betterl"
We'll, you are a coolhand| cried
Tom.
"Whyg replied Collins. "You
have stopped making a certain jour
ney by one route, 1 must try an
other"
"Don't talk such infamous non
sense. One may commit a crime in
moment of impulse, and be deserY-
ing, perhaps of more pity than
blame; but to mediate upon it be-
fore hand is objectionable. Oh, / |
don't want to split hairs, and listen
to casuistry; if people were utterly
selfish and believed in nothing, and
killed themselves directly life was a
bore, the world could not 90 on.
You owe me nothing for preserving
your life, but you do owe me a lot
for saving you from a crime"
"Ah! it is very well for you to
talk young man; but you do not
know what hope deferred is; to see
fortune just within your grasp, and
never be able to seize her; to be
neglected, laughed at, when you
know you have reason on your side
Tom, who had set his heart on eff
fecting a cure, encouraged him to
talk. The man was an inventor, who
had the bad luck of his tribe-one
of his discoveries had been dis
covered already by somebody else;
others had made the fortunes of
those to whom he had intrusted the
" W)cking of them, while he had re-
ceived a mere pittance. So, at last,
when he had perfected a machine
which would save manufactures of a
certain description full ten per cent.
on their outlay, he determined to
work the patent himself. As he was
a poor man, however, he had to start
on borrowed capital; and Just as he
was on the point of success, the len
der of the money came down upon
him, either mistrusting the specula-
ton, or anxious to secure the profits
for himself. There was no help for
it; the bills were due; the debtor
had not got the money to meet them
with; and the creditor refused to re-
new. The poor mechanician felt as
if fate were against him, and in the
poignancy of his despair determined
to put an end to himself.
"Well, said Tom, in a fever, ''but
how much are these bills for that
are out against your
with interest, fifteen hundred
pounds
'That would set quite free?7
"Quite."
"And how much would start your
invention fairly, so that it might be-
gin to payY'
"IfI had another thousand, sue
cess would be certain"
swell, look here" cried the impru-
dent Tom, Il have only five thous-
and pounds in the world, so do not
hurt me without getting any good
yourself But if, on going over the
matter carefully, there really seems
a good prospect of making the thing
pay for an expenditure oftwo thous-