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                           STRIVE AND SUCCEED

                                   OR

                     THE PROGRESS OF WALTER CONRAD

                                   BY
                           HORATIO ALGER, JR.

              AUTHOR OF “ERIE TRAIN BOY,” “YOUNG ACROBAT,”
                 “ONLY AN IRISH BOY,” “BOUND TO RISE,”
                     “STRONG AND STEADY,” “JULIUS,
                         THE STREET BOY,” ETC.



                                NEW YORK
                            HURST & COMPANY
                               PUBLISHERS




------------------------------------------------------------------------




                         ALGER SERIES FOR BOYS.
                       UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME.
                         BY HORATIO ALGER, JR.

    Adrift in New York.
    A Cousin’s Conspiracy.
    Andy Gordon.
    Andy Grant’s Pluck.
    Bob Burton.
    Bound to Rise.
    Brave and Bold.
    Cash Boy.
    Chester Rand.
    Do and Dare.
    Driven from Home.
    Erie Train Boy.
    Facing the World.
    Five Hundred Dollars.
    Frank’s Campaign.
    Grit.
    Hector’s Inheritance.
    Helping Himself.
    Herbert Caster’s Legacy.
    In a New World.
    Jack’s Ward.
    Jed, the Poor House Boy.
    Joe’s Luck.
    Julius, the Street Boy.
    Luke Walton.
    Making His Way.
    Mark Mason.
    Only an Irish Boy.
    Paul, the Peddler.
    Phil, the Fiddler.
    Ralph Raymond’s Heir.
    Risen from the Ranks.
    Sam’s Chance.
    Shifting for Himself.
    Sink or Swim.
    Slow and Sure.
    Store Boy.
    Strive and Succeed.
    Strong and Steady.
    Struggling Upward.
    Tin Box.
    Tom, the Bootblack.
    Tony, the Tramp.
    Try and Trust.
    Wait and Hope.
    Walter Sherwood’s Probation.
    Young Acrobat.
    Young Adventurer.
    Young Outlaw.
    Young Salesman.

      _Price, Post-Paid, 35c. each, or any three books for $1.00._

                            HURST & COMPANY
                       PUBLISHERS,      NEW YORK.




------------------------------------------------------------------------




                                   TO

                           MY YOUNG FRIENDS,

                          ISABELLA AND EDWIN,

                              THIS VOLUME

                      IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.




------------------------------------------------------------------------




                                PREFACE.


“STRIVE AND SUCCEED” is reprinted from the pages of _Young Israel_, a
New York juvenile magazine, to which it was contributed as a serial. It
is complete in itself, and can be read independently; but those who have
read its predecessor, “Strong and Steady,” may be interested to learn
that it traces the subsequent career of Walter Conrad, showing how he
continued to paddle his own canoe, and chronicles the adventures of
Joshua Drummond after his flight from home.

As Walter’s success as a teacher at the West may seem to some
improbable, in view of his youth, I am led to say that I know of more
than one case equally remarkable, in particular that of a gentleman
since prominent as a politician. The moral of the book is contained in
the title. As a rule of action, I recommend it confidently to all my
young readers.

NEW YORK, Oct. 1, 1872.

------------------------------------------------------------------------




                          STRIVE AND SUCCEED.

                               ----------

                               CHAPTER I

                        WALTER CONRAD’S MISSION.


A LONG train was running at moderate speed over a Wisconsin railroad.
Among the passengers was a stout, gentlemanly-looking boy, who looked
much more than sixteen, although he had not yet reached that age. On the
seat beside him was a large carpetbag, which contained all the clothing
he carried with him. As the conductor passed through the car, the boy
asked:

“Are we near Benton?”

“It is the next station.”

“Is that the place to take the stage for Portville?”

“Yes.”

“Can you tell me how far I shall have to ride in the stage?”

“A matter of ten miles or thereabouts.”

“Thank you.”

The conductor passed on, and the boy began to shake the dust from his
coat, and, opening his carpetbag, deposited therein a copy of _Harper’s
Magazine_ which he had been reading. I may as well introduce him at once
to the reader as Walter Conrad, whose previous adventures have been
related in “Strong and Steady.” For the benefit of such of my present
readers as have not read this volume, I will sketch his history in
brief.

Walter Conrad, then, not quite a year since, had received, when at
boarding school, the unexpected intelligence of his father’s serious
illness. On reaching home, he found his parent dead. Subsequently he
learned that his father had bought shares to the extent of a hundred
thousand dollars in the Great Metropolitan Mining Company, and through
the failure of this company had probably lost everything. This
intelligence had doubtless hastened his death. Walter was, of course,
obliged to leave school, and accepted temporarily an invitation from Mr.
Jacob Drummond, of Stapleton, a remote kinsman, to visit him. In
extending the invitation Mr. Drummond was under the illusion that Walter
was the heir to a large property. On learning the truth, his manner was
changed completely, and Walter, finding himself no longer welcome as a
guest, proposed to enter Mr. Drummond’s store as a clerk. Being a strong
and capable boy, he was readily received on board wages. The board,
however, proved to be very poor, and his position was made more
disagreeable by Joshua Drummond, three years older than himself, who,
finding he could get nothing out of him, took a dislike to him. Walter
finally left Mr. Drummond’s employ, and, led by his love of adventure,
accepted an offer to travel as a book agent in Ohio. Here he was
successful, though he met with one serious adventure, involving him in
some danger, but was finally led to abandon the business at the request
of Clement Shaw, his father’s executor, for the following reason:

The head of the Great Metropolitan Mining Company, through whom his
father had been led to invest his entire fortune in it, was a man named
James Wall, a specious and plausible man, through whose mismanagement it
was believed it had failed. He was strongly suspected of conspiring to
make a fortune out of it at the expense of the other stockholders. He
had written to Mr. Shaw, offering the sum of two thousand dollars for
the thousand shares now held by Walter, an offer which the executor did
not feel inclined to accept until he knew that it was made in good
faith. He, therefore, wrote to Walter to change his name and go on to
Portville, the home of Mr. Wall, and there use all his shrewdness to
discover what he could of the position of the mining company, and Mr.
Wall’s designs in relation thereto. It may be added that after selling
the balance of the estate, Walter was found entitled to five hundred
dollars. He had, besides, cleared eighty-seven dollars net profit on his
sales as book agent.

Such is Walter’s story, though, for the present, we shall have to call
our hero Gilbert Howard--an assumed name, which he had adopted at the
executor’s suggestion, lest his real name might excite the suspicions of
Mr. Wall and so defeat the purpose of his journey.

Walter had scarcely made his preparations to leave the cars, when the
whistle sounded, and the train, gradually slackening its speed, came to
a stop.

“Benton!” called the conductor, rapidly, half opening the door.

“I am near my journey’s end,” thought Walter.

Several passengers descended from the train and gathered on the
platform. Among them, of course,