subject. His thoughtful manner excited attention, and secured him the
opportunity he sought.

"You seem deep in thought, Tom," said his mother.

"Yes, mother, I have a good deal to think about."

"Anybody would think Tom overwhelmed with business," said Walter, next
to Tom in age, with good-humored banter.

"I am," said Tom gravely.

"Won't you take me in partnership, then?" asked Walter.

Tom smiled.

"I don't think I could do that," he answered. "Not to keep you waiting,
Squire Hudson has made me a business proposal this afternoon."

All were surprised and looked to Tom for an explanation.

"He offers to advance me two hundred dollars for a year, to help me out
to California."

"Squire Hudson makes this offer to a boy of your age?" said his father
slowly.

"Yes, or rather he makes the offer to you."

"To me?"

"Perhaps you will think me selfish for even mentioning it," said Tom
rapidly, in a hurry to explain fully now that the ice was broken. "He
will advance the money, on condition that you increase the mortgage on
the farm to twenty-two hundred dollars."

Mr. Nelson looked blank.

"Do you know, Tom," he said, "how hard I find it now to pay the interest
on the mortgage, and how hopeless I am of ever paying it off?"

"I know all that, father; but I want to help you. If I keep my health,
and have a chance, I think I can help you. There's no chance for me
here, and there is a chance in California. You remember what we have
read in the _Weekly Messenger_ about the gold-fields, and what large
sums have been realized by miners."

"They are men, and you are a boy."

"That's true," said Tom, "but," he added, with natural pride, "I am
pretty strong for a boy. I am willing to work, and I don't see why I
can't dig gold as well as a man. I may not make as much, but if I only
do half as well as some that we have read about, I can do a good deal
for you."

"How far off is California?" asked Mrs. Nelson.

"Over three thousand miles, across the continent," answered her husband.
"By sea it is a good deal more."

"Why, it is as far off as Europe," said Walter, who was fresh from his
lesson in geography.

"It is farther than some parts of Europe--England, for example," said
his father.

"And a wild, unsettled region," said Mrs. Nelson soberly.

"I don't think so much of that," said Mark Nelson. "Tom is no baby. He
is a boy of good sense, not heedless, like some of his age, and I should
feel considerab