CHAPTER V.--MR. BENTON'S WRATH.
As Budd drew near to the farm of Mr. Wright he was greatly tempted to goin and talk over with him the unfortunate predicament into which hisadventure had brought him; but he was saved that trouble, for as he gotopposite that gentleman's residence he came out and hailed the lad.
"Hello, Budd!" he exclaimed. "You have, then, survived last night'sstorm. We are glad to know it, for we had given you up for lost."
His words re-assured Budd's troubled spirit somewhat, for he now knewthat he had been missed, and possibly searched for. Anxious, therefore,to know just how his absence had been regarded, he went forward to meetMr. Wright, saying:
"Yes, I pulled through, though at one time I did not expect to do so.What did you think had become of me and my team?"
"Oh, when night came and you didn't return home, Benton thought youprobably had got shut onto the lower hummock by the tide, and would bearound all right in a few hours, so he said nothing to any of us aboutyour prolonged absence; but this morning, when the oxen arrived homewithout you or the cart, he was a little frightened, and came directlyover here for me and my man to go with him to look you up. As we wentalong down to 'The Hummocks' we made inquiries about you, but could notascertain that you had been seen since one o'clock yesterday, when youwere on your downward trip for seaweed. Arriving at 'The Hummocks,' wecarefully searched them from one end to the other, but found no trace ofyou or the cart, though we came across a sheltered spot, back of a clumpof trees, where the oxen had evidently stayed all night. The sea-weedwe saw had not been taken, and so we knew that you hadn't got across tothe lower hummock. There was but one inference--that the wind and tidehad carried you out to sea.
"'Benton,' says I, 'the oxen, cart and lad were all taken off theroadway by some huge billow, and the first thing the lad thought of wasto free the oxen, and they got ashore; but the cart and boy have gone noone knows where. Just as likely as not they are lying out there underthe tossing waves. I guess we'd better go up the shore a piece,however, and see if we can find anything of them.' So we went up thecoast as far as the village, but saw nothing of you, and could find noone that had. Finally we gave up the search and came home. Tell me,though, how you escaped?"
Budd related in substance the story already familiar to the reader--not,however, without frequent interruptions from Mr. Wright, who seemedanxious to know more of the details, and also repeatedly declared it wasthe most marvelous escape he ever heard of. At length Mr. Wright seemedsatisfied, and Budd was permitted to ask the question he cared most ofall to ask:
"How did Mr. Benton seem to feel when he came to the conclusion that Iand the cart had been swept out to sea?"
"Well, to tell you the truth," replied Mr. Wright, bluntly, "he seemedto care a good deal more for the loss of the cart than he did for you.He danced around there on the beach, cursing what he called your folly,and telling how much the cart had cost him only last fall. I at lastgot tired of his talking, and told him you were of more account than allthe carts that had been made since the world began, and that if he had aspark of decency about him he would shut his mouth. I suggested, also,that you would never have been lost if he hadn't set you to drawingsea-weed on a day that he was old enough and experienced enough to knowit wasn't a safe thing to do in that particular locality, and that Iwasn't sure but he could be held accountable to the law for your death.That scared him, so he came right off home, and was as dumb as a beastall the way."
"What do you think he'll do when he finds I'm alive, but the cart islost?" asked Budd, a little anxiously, it must be confessed.
"Well, he ought not to say or do anything," answered Mr. Wright, with alittle show of indignation in his tones. "The body of the cart can betowed back to 'The Hummocks,' and it is possible that the wheels andunder-gear may yet turn up. But even if they are not recovered, whatdoes the loss amount to compared with your safety? Still I have alreadylearned that you can never know what John Benton may do, and I guess Ihad better be somewhere around when you tell him your story. You go onover and face the music, and I'll follow along in time to interfere ifthere is any serious trouble between you."
Thanking Mr. Wright for his kind offer, Budd, with a much lighter heartthan he had had for twenty-four hours, went on toward home. He wentdirectly into the house, on arriving there, and almost frightened Mrs.Benton to death by his sudden and unexpected appearance. He succeededin convincing her, however, that it was really he, and that he hadprovidentially been saved. Nor could he help noticing that she seemedgreatly relieved in mind to find that he was really alive and unharmed;and taking encouragement from that fact, he went off to the barn, wherehe had learned Mr. Benton was.
The farmer was down upon his knees on the threshing-floor mending ahorse-cultivator when the lad entered and said:
"Well, Mr. Benton, I'm back at last, and ready to report for myprolonged absence."
At his words Mr. Benton leaped to his feet, and for a moment seemed notto know what to say. It was very evident that he had never expected tosee the boy again. Taking advantage of his embarrassment, Budd went on:
"I'm glad, too, to learn that the oxen reached home unharmed. I did mybest to save them, though I nearly lost my own life doing so."
Before he could say more Mr. Benton broke angrily in upon him:
"But ye lost the cart, ye little rascal, an' I gin twenty-five dollersfer it at auction only las' fall; an' I'd like to know who's goin' topay me fer that?"
"I can, if it is necessary," replied Budd, swelling with indignation;"but before I do it I shall want some one else's opinion about it otherthan your own. Though I may have been a little rash in undertaking tocross the roadbed while the tide was so high, I am in no other sense toblame, and I would like to see anyone else do better than I did underthe circumstances;" and Budd rapidly described the trying ordeal throughwhich he had passed.
"Hum!" remarked Mr. Benton, sneeringly, as the lad finished his story."Ye were sca't to death at a little runnin' water. If ye'd stayed inthe cart an' let the oxen alone, they'd have fetched ye an' the cart outall rite. 'Twas all yer own fault."
Budd's cheeks burned with resentment.
"It was not," he emphatically declared.
"Don't ye tell me I lie!" said Mr. Benton, savagely, picking up one ofthe handles of the cultivator that had been detached from the machineand lay upon the barn-floor near him.
"I am sure the oxen would have drowned had I not freed them from thecart," answered Budd, firmly, "and any reasonable person would tell youthe same thing."
"Take that, ye young whelp!" cried Mr. Benton, raising thecultivator-handle and bringing it down with a force sufficient to havekilled the boy had it hit him.
Fortunately for Budd he saw the stick coming, and jumped quickly to oneside. The force of the blow fell upon the barn-floor; but Mr. Bentonimmediately recovered himself and rushed down upon the lad. Seeing thatthere was no alternative, Budd grappled with him, and then began aterrible struggle for the mastery. Had the lad possessed his usualstrength he might have come off victor, for he had caught his antagonistdirectly under the armpits with a powerful hug, and thus had decidedlythe advantage in his hold. But he was still weak from his tryingexperience of the night before, and that more than counterbalanced theadvantage he had secured in position.
Up and down the threshing-floor the contestants went; against stanchionand post and door were they hurled; over and upon the heterogeneousarticles scattered about the floor they stumbled; finally Budd's footstruck upon some unseen object that rolled under it, and he fell heavilyupon the floor, with Mr. Benton on top of him. With a shout of triumphthe angry man sat down upon the lad's breast, and with his clinched fistbegan to pound him. He had struck but two blows, however, when he wascaught by the collar, dragged unceremoniously off from the prostrateboy, and thrown with no gentle hand back against the nearest stanchion.Then the voice of Mr. Wright was heard sternly saying:
"Stand there, you miserable coward; and l
et me tell you, if you lay theweight of your finger on that lad again I'll give you the worstthrashing you ever had in your life!"
At those words, Mr. Benton cowered back against the nearest mow andremained motionless. Experience had already taught him that he could nottrifle with Peter Wright.
Helping Budd to his feet, Mr. Wright asked:
"Are you hurt? I was delayed longer at the house than I expected, orthis miserable wretch would not have had a chance to lay his hand uponyou. Tell me just what he has done?"
Budd gave a fair account of the contest from beginning to end, anddeclared that he was not seriously hurt, though he did not know whatmight have happened but for Mr. Wright's opportune arrival.
Mr. Benton sullenly admitted the truth of the boy's story, but whininglydeclared he had not meant to hurt him, but only to give him a wholesomelesson, so that he wouldn't destroy any more property for him in such areckless manner.
"I might believe your statement had I not caught you in the very act ofpounding him," said Mr. Wright, with emphasis; "and surely striking athim with one of the handles of that cultivator looks almost as thoughyou meant to kill him. This, too, when he is not your boy, nor boundout to you, and you had no more right to chastise him than you have tostrike me. I don't know whether the boy has any friends or not, but aslong as I am a member of the Town Council he shall be regarded as a wardof the town, and over him we shall throw our protection and care. Isuspect you have imposed upon him ever since he has been with you. Whatkind of a bargain have you made with him, anyway?"
"I give him ten dollers a munth an' bord for six munths, which, as heknowed nuthin' 'bout farm in' when he come, is fair pay," explained Mr.Benton.
"No it is not, and you know it as well as anyone. He has done a man'swork ever since he has been with you; and admitting his ignorance onsome things, fifteen dollars a month is little enough. Does he pay you?"
This last question was addressed to Budd.
"No, sir," he said. "You see, the night I hired out to him he drew up apaper for me to sign, and in that, though I did not so understand it atthe time, he is to pay me only at the end of the six months. At leastthat is his interpretation of the paper."
"Benton, let me see it," demanded Mr. Wright.
With evident reluctance Mr. Benton took the paper from his pocket-bookand handed it to his neighbor.
Mr. Wright read it over carefully; then he deliberately tore it up,saying:
"The paper is worthless, for there are no witnesses; but even if therewere, it could be set aside, as you have taken an unfair advantage ofthe lad. You meant to get rid of paying him anything, and I suspectedit, for it is an old trick of yours."
Budd here explained how Mr. Benton had used the paper at the time he hadasked for his first month's pay.
"Exactly," said Mr. Wright; "it served his purpose then, and would everytime you asked for money until he had got ready to get rid of you. Thenhe would have seen to it that you quitted the farm before the six monthswere up, and so refused to pay you your wages. Now admit, Benton, thatthat was your game."
Mr. Benton, thus appealed to, looked sheepish enough, but would notadmit that it had been his purpose to defraud the lad. He was afraidthat Budd might demand the amount due him and leave at once. This hedid not want the boy to do, for he preferred to have him remain, eventhough he should have to pay him full wages. He was hardly prepared,however, for Mr. Wright's next demand.
"Here, Benton," he said, as the man was about to return his wallet tohis pocket, "before you put that away I want you to pay Budd twentydollars."
"But his two months are not up yet," objected Benton.
"Never mind, he has earned it," said Mr. Wright; and as the man, toBudd's great astonishment, meekly handed over two ten-dollar bills, Mr.Wright with a twinkle in his eyes added:
"Now put another ten along with the others, Benton, for the assault youhave made upon the lad. If you don't, I'll have you arrested beforemorning for assault and battery, and it will cost you twice that amountat least."
Mr. Benton refused; begged off; offered half the amount; but Mr. Wrightwas inexorable, and the miserable man finally handed Budd anotherten-dollar bill.
"Now," said Mr. Wright to Budd, "go to the house and pack up yourthings, and get ready to go with me. I don't propose to leave you inBenton's clutches any longer; there is no knowing what he might do toyou."
And notwithstanding the pleadings and promises of Mr. Benton, Mr. Wrightfifteen minutes later departed, with Budd by his side.
Budd Boyd's Triumph; or, The Boy-Firm of Fox Island Page 5
