Produced by Carrie Fellman

The Young Musician

OR

Fighting His Way

BY

HORATIO ALGER

CHICAGO

CONTENTS

I. A Candidate for the Poorhouse

II. Philip at Home

III. Nick Holden's Call

IV. The Auction

V. An Alliance Against Philip

VI. "A Fuss About a Fiddle"

VII. Mr. Job Tucker

VIII. In the Enemy's Hands

IX. The Poorhouse

X. Bad Tidings

XI. Philip's New Room

XII. A Pauper's Meal

XIII. A Friendly Mission

XIV. Philip Makes His Escape

XV. Escape and Flight

XVI. A Night Adventure

XVII. A Reformed Burglar

XVIII. A Professional Engagement

XIX. New Acquaintances

XX. A Lively Evening

XXI. Fortune Smiles Again

XXII. Rival Musicians

XXIII. An Hour of Triumph

XXIV. Lorenzo Riccabocca

XXV. A Change of Name

XXVI. A Promising Plan

XXVII. Unexpected Honors

XXVIII. A Triumphant Success

XXIX. Beset by Creditors

XXX. A Timely Gift

XXXI. The Professor's Flight

XXXII. The Race Across Fields

XXXIII. The Lost Wallet

XXXIV. A New Business Proposal

XXXV. Squire Pope Is Amazed

XXXVI. The Pretended Guardian

XXXVII. His Own Master

XXXVIII. An Offer Declined

XXXIX. An Ambitious Wayfarer

XL. The Indian Hunter

XXI. An Adventure in the Woods

XLII. An Indian at Last

XLIII. A Welcome Letter

XLIV. A Fresh Start

CHAPTER I.

A CANDIDATE FOR THE POORHOUSE.

"As for the boy," said Squire Pope, with his usual autocratic air, "I shall place him in the poorhouse."

"But, Benjamin," said gentle Mrs. Pope, who had a kindly and sympathetic heart, "isn't that a little hard?"

"Hard, Alrnira?" said the squire, arching his eyebrows. "I fail to comprehend your meaning."

"You know Philip has been tenderly reared, and has always had a comfortable home--"

"He will have a comfortable home now, Mrs. Pope. Probably you are not aware that it cost the town two thousand dollars last year to maintain the almshouse. I can show you the item in the town report."

"I don't doubt it at all, husband," said Mrs. Pope gently. "Of course you know all about it, being a public man."

Squire Pope smiled complacently. It pleased him to be spoken of as a public man.

"Ahem! Well, yes, I believe I have no inconsiderable influence in town affairs," he responded. "I am on the board of selectmen, and am chairman of the overseers of the poor, and in that capacity I shall convey Philip Gray to the comfortable and well-ordered institution which the town has set apart for the relief of paupers."

"I don't like to think of Philip as a pauper," said Mrs. Pope, in a deprecating tone.

"What else is he?" urged her husband. "His father hasn't left a cent. He never was a good manager."

"Won't the furniture sell for something, Benjamin?"

"It will sell for about enough to pay the funeral expenses and outstanding debts-that is all."

"But it seems so hard for a boy well brought up to go to the poorhouse."

"You mean well, Almira, but you let your feelings run away with you. You may depend upon it, it is the best thing for the boy. But I must write a letter in time for the mail."

Squire Pope rose from the breakfast-table and walked out of the room with his usual air of importance. Not even in the privacy of the domestic circle did he forget his social and official importance.

Who was Squire Pope?

We already know that he held two important offices in the town of Norton. He was a portly man, and especially cultivated dignity of deportment. Being in easy circumstances, and even rich for the resident of a village, he was naturally looked up to and credited with a worldly sagacity far beyond what he actually possessed.

At any rate, he may he considered the magnate of Norton. Occasionally he visited New York, and had been very much annoyed to find that his rural importance did not avail him there, and that he was treated with no sort of deference by those whom he had occasion to meet. Somehow, the citizens of the commercial metropolis never suspected for a single moment that he was a great man.

When Squire Pope had finished his letter, he took his hat, and with measured dignity, walked to the village post-office.