



Produced by Charles Keller.  HTML version by Al Haines.









POOR AND PROUD


OR

THE FORTUNES OF KATY REDBURN


A STORY FOR YOUNG FOLKS


BY

OLIVER OPTIC






  TO
  ALICE MARIE ADAMS,
  This Book
  IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
  BY HER FATHER.





Poor and Proud.



PREFACE.

Bobby Bright and Harry West, whose histories were contained in the last
two volumes of the "Library for Young Folks," were both smart boys. The
author, very grateful for the genial welcome extended to these young
gentlemen, begs leave to introduce to his juvenile friends a smart
girl,--Miss Katy Redburn,--whose fortunes, he hopes, will prove
sufficiently interesting to secure their attention.

If any of my adult readers are disposed to accuse me of being a little
extravagant, I fear I shall have to let the case go by default; but I
shall plead, in extenuation, that I have tried to be reasonable, even
where a few grains of the romantic element were introduced; for Baron
Munchausen and Sindbad the Sailor were standard works on my shelf in
boyhood, and I may possibly have imbibed some of their peculiar spirit.
But I feel a lively satisfaction in the reflection that, whatever
exaggerations the critic may decide I have perpetrated in this volume,
I have made the success of Katy Redburn depend upon her good
principles, her politeness, her determined perseverance, and her
overcoming that foolish pride which is a snare to the feet. In these
respects she is a worthy exemplar for the young.

Pride and poverty do not seem to agree with each other; but there is a
pride which is not irreconcilable with the humblest station. This pride
of character finds an illustration in the life of my heroine.

Thanking my young friends again for the pleasant reception given to my
former books I submit this volume in the hope that Katy Redburn will
prove to be a worthy and agreeable companion for their leisure hours.

WILLIAM T. ADAMS.
  DORCHESTER, Sept. 29, 1858.


CONTENTS.

CHAPTER.

     I. Katy Redburn and Others Are Introduced
    II. The History of the Silver Watch
   III. Katy and Master Simon Sneed Visit the Pawnbroker's Shop
    IV. Katy Matures a Magnificent Scheme
     V. Katy Visits Mrs. Gordon, and Gets Rid of Dr. Flynch
    VI. Katy Prepares a Stock of Merchandise
   VII. Katy Makes a Large Sale
  VIII. Katy Sells Out, and Visits the Mayor
    IX. Katy talks with the Mayor, and Recovers the Watch
     X. Katy, in Distress, finds a Champion
    XI. Katy Meets with Extraordinary Success
   XII. Katy Pays Her Debts, and Tommy Goes to Sea
  XIII. Katy Employs an Assistant
   XIV. Master Simon Sneed Makes a Mistake
    XV. Katy Gets a Letter from Liverpool
   XVI. Ann Grippen Plays Tricks upon Travelers
  XVII. The Sun Sets, and the Night Comes On
 XVIII. Katy Struggles Bravely through a Series of Trials
   XIX. Katy Resorts to a Loan
    XX. Mrs. Gordon Feels Faint, and Katy Enters a New Sphere
   XXI. Katy Goes to Church, and Has a Birthday Party




POOR AND PROUD; OR, THE FORTUNES OF KATY REDBURN.



CHAPTER I.

KATY REDBURN AND OTHERS ARE INTRODUCED.

"Give me a flounder, Johnny?" said a little girl of eleven, dressed in
coarse and ragged garments, as she stooped down and looked into the
basket of the dirty young fisherman, who sat with his legs hanging over
the edge of the pier.

"I'll bet I won't," replied Johnny, gruffly, as he drew the basket out
of the reach of the supplicant. "You needn't come round here tryin' to
hook my fish."

"You hooked 'em," said another juvenile angler who sat on the capsill
of the pier by Johnny's side.

"Who says I hooked 'em?" blustered Johnny, whose little dirty paws
involuntarily assumed the form of a pair of fists, scientifically
disposed and ready to be the instruments of the owner's vengeance upon
the traducer of his character.

"I say so," added Tommy Howard, who did not seem to be at all alarmed
at the warlike attitude of his fellow-angler.

"Say it again, and I'll smash your head," continued Johnny, jumping up
from his seat.

"Didn't you hear me? Once is enough."

Tommy coolly hauled up a large flounder at that moment, and threw the
fish into his basket. It was rather refreshing to see how regardless he
was of that pair of menacing fists.

"Jest you say that once more, and see what I'll do," persisted Johnny.

"I won't do it."

"You dasn't say it again."

"Perhaps I dasn't; at any rate, I shan't."

"Do you mean to say I hooked them fish?" exclaimed Johnny, desperately,
for it seemed as though he must do something to vindicate his injured
honor.

"That's just what I did say."

But Tommy was so confoundedly cool that his fellow-angler had some
doubts about the expediency of "pitching into him." Probably a vision
of defeat flashed through his excited brain and discretion seemed the
better part of valor. Yet he was not disposed to abandon his position,
and advanced a pace or two toward his provoking companion; a movement