Böcker av Horatio Alger

The room which yielded so much satisfaction to the two boys was on the fourth floor of a boarding-house in Bleecker Street. No doubt many of my young readers, who are accustomed to elegant homes, would think it very plain; but neither Richard nor his friend had been used to anything as good. They had been thrown upon their own exertions at an early age, and had a hard battle to fight with poverty and ignorance. Those of my readers who are familiar with Richard Hunter's experiences when he was "Ragged Dick," will easily understand what a great rise in the world it was for him to have a really respectable home. For years he had led a vagabond life about the streets, as a boot-black, sleeping in old wagons, or boxes, or wherever he could find a lodging gratis. It was only twelve months since a chance meeting with an intelligent boy caused him to form the resolution to grow up respectable. By diligent evening study with Henry Fosdick, whose advantages had been much greater than his own, assisted by a natural quickness and an unusual aptitude for learning, he had, in a year, learned to read and write well, and had, besides, made considerable progress in arithmetic. Still he would have found it difficult to obtain a situation if he had not been the means of saving from drowning the young child of Mr. James Rockwell, a wealthy merchant in business on Pearl Street, who at once, out of gratitude for the service rendered, engaged our hero in his employ at the unusual compensation, for a beginner, of ten dollars a week. His friend, Henry Fosdick, was in a hat store on Broadway, but thus far only received six dollars a week.

Reproduction of the original: Brave and Bold by Horatio Alger

The adventures of a boy who is cast upon the Atlantic shore of a Southern State and taken into the home of one of the leading families. The youth grows up as a member of the family, knowing little or nothing of his past. Set at the time of the Civil War, fears of battle and bloodshed fill him and his adopted clan.

Horatio Alger wrote 135 dime novels in the latter part of the 19th century. His stories were rags to riches stories illustrating how down-and-out boys might be able to achieve the American Dream. Alger's stories empathize the need for hard work and honesty as a way to get ahead. Alger describes young men in the city trying to get a head as newsboys, match boys, peddlers, street musicians, and many others. Phil Brent lived with his stepmother and her son. He leaves his small town to seek his fortune in New York after his stepmother reveals that instead of being his late father's beloved only son, he is of unknown parentage and must fend for himself.

This volume includes two works by Horatio Alger: "Struggling Upward," a rags-to-riches tale, and the long poem "Nothing To Do."

Purchase one of 1st World Library's Classic Books and help support our free internet library of downloadable eBooks. Visit us online at www.1stWorldLibrary.ORG - - Ben Barclay checked the horse he was driving and looked attentively at the speaker. He was a stout-built, dark-complexioned man, with a beard of a week's growth, wearing an old and dirty suit, which would have reduced any tailor to despair if taken to him for cleaning and repairs. A loose hat, with a torn crown, surmounted a singularly ill-favored visage. "A tramp, and a hard looking one!" said Ben to himself. He hesitated about answering, being naturally reluctant to have such a traveling companion. "Well, what do you say?" demanded the tramp rather impatiently. "There's plenty of room on that seat, and I'm dead tired."