Dick's Strength, and How He Gained It [By L.C. Silke] (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1873 edition. Excerpt: ...not to appear singular, Ned always trusting to his own "firmness "--as he called it--to keep him from going too far. Then one evening a dirty pack of cards was produced, and Ned was prevailed upon to sit down and learn the game. By degrees he grew to take more and more interest in the amusement, though he never staked large sums, and his care to keep up appearances at home led him never to play for any great length of time; so that, though he generally lost, the amount was not great, and his absence from home never sufficiently prolonged to awaken his father's suspicions, or lead him seriously to inquire into his movements. One day an incident occurred which made him for the moment see with a clearer eye the nature of his present mode of life. He was coming out at the door of the "Ship and Anchor," where he had not only been squandering the money so much needed at home, but in common with others had been heating and exciting himself with drink, when he suddenly gave a violent start, and stepped backwards into the shadow of the doorway. The colour almost forsook his cheeks, and it was some moments before he could summon up courage to step out from his place of concealment. The cause of this sudden trepidation was the sight of Dick passing by on the other side of the road--Dick, with his earnest face and brisk tread, intent upon some errand on which he had been sent into the town. How little he dreamed that had he looked that way he would have seen his elder brother--the one to whom he had always looked up as a model of manliness and uprightness--crouching in a corner, afraid to meet the gaze of the boy, afraid he should even turn his eyes in that direction lest his evil practices should be detected. The sight of Dick's...