From Farm to Fortune or Nat Nason's Strange Experience   By: Horatio Alger (1832-1899)

Or, Nat Nason's Strange Experience

BY HORATIO ALGER, JR.

AUTHOR OF "LOST AT SEA," "NELSON THE NEWSBOY," "OUT FOR BUSINESS," "THE YOUNG BOOK AGENT," "RAGGED DICK SERIES," ETC.

GROSSET & DUNLAP PUBLISHERS : NEW YORK Copyright, 1905

BY STITT PUBLISHING COMPANY

[Illustration: HE FELT SOMEBODY CATCH HIM BY THE ARM, AND TURNING HE BEHELD NAT.]

CONTENTS

PREFACE

I. NAT ON THE FARM

II. A QUARREL IN THE BARNYARD

III. NAT LEAVES THE FARM

IV. ABNER BALBERRY'S DISCOVERY

V. THE SALE OF A COW

VI. NAT ON LAKE ERIE

VII. AN ADVENTURE AT NIAGARA FALLS

VIII. A FRESH START IN LIFE

IX. FIRST DAYS IN NEW YORK

X. OUT OF WORK ONCE MORE

XI. WHAT A HUNDRED DOLLARS DID

XII. ON THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE

XIII. A SWINDLE EXPOSED

XIV. NAT OBTAINS ANOTHER SITUATION

XV. ABNER AND THE WIDOW GUFF

XVI. ABNER VISITS NEW YORK

XVII. A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY

XVIII. NAT MEETS HIS UNCLE

XIX. NAT BECOMES A PRIVATE CLERK

XX. RUFUS CAMERON'S BOLD MOVE

XXI. A MISSING DOCUMENT OF VALUE

XXII. AT THE ELEVATED STATION

XXIII. TOM NOLAN'S CONFESSION

XXIV. THE PAPERS IN THE TRUNK

XXV. BACK TO THE CITY

XXVI. FRED GIVES UP CITY LIFE

XXVII. A SCENE AT THE HOTEL

XXVIII. A SUDDEN PROPOSAL

XXIX. THE CAPTURE OF NICK SMITHERS

XXX. NAT COMES INTO HIS OWN

PREFACE

Nat Nason was a poor country boy with a strong desire to better his condition. Life on the farm was unusually hard for him, and after a quarrel with his miserly uncle, with whom he resided, he resolved to strike out for himself.

Nat was poor and it was a struggle to reach the great city, where the youth trusted that fame and fortune awaited him.

The boy obtained, by accident, a fair sum of money and with this he resolved to go into a business of some kind. But a sharper quickly relieved him of his wealth, and opened Nat's eyes to the fact that he was not as shrewd as he had thought himself to be.

The lesson proved a valuable one, and from that moment the country boy did his best to not alone win success but to deserve it. He worked hard, often in the midst of great difficulties, and what the outcome of his struggle was, will be found in the pages which follow.

In penning this tale the author has endeavored to show the difference between life in a quiet country place and in a great bustling city, and especially as that difference shows itself to the eyes of a country boy. Many country lads imagine that to go to the city and win success there is easy; perhaps they will not think it so easy after they have read of what happened to Nat Nason. More than once, in spite of his grit and courage, Nat came close to making a complete failure of what he had started out to do, and his success in the end was perhaps after all not as great as he had anticipated when first striking out.

FROM FARM TO FORTUNE

CHAPTER I

NAT ON THE FARM

"Nat, where have you been?"

"Been fishing," answered the boy addressed, a sturdy youth of sixteen, with clear blue eyes and sandy hair.

"Fishin'? And who said you could go fishin'?" demanded Abner Balberry, in his high, nervous voice.

"Nobody said I could go," answered the boy, firmly. "But I thought you'd all like to have some fish for supper, so I went."

"Humph! I suppose you thought as how them taters would hoe themselves, eh?" sneered Abner Balberry, who was not only Nat's uncle, but also his guardian.

"I hoed the potatoes," was the boy's answer. "Got through at half past two o'clock."

"If you got through so soon you didn't half do the job," grumbled the man. "I ain't goin' to have you wastin' your time on no fishin', understand?"

"Can't I go fishing at all?"

"Not when there is work to do on this farm."

"But I did my work, Uncle Abner."

"An' I say it couldn't have been done right if ye didn't take proper time fer it, Nat Nason! I know you! You are gittin' lazy!"