A COUSIN’S CONSPIRACY
“Saving the Indian boy from drowning.” (Page 102)
A COUSIN’S CONSPIRACY
OR
A BOY’S STRUGGLE FOR AN INHERITANCE
BY
HORATIO ALGER, Jr.
Author of
“Herbert Carter’s Legacy,” “Young Salesman,”
“Paul the Peddler,” “Phil the Fiddler”
Made in U. S. A.
M. A. DONOHUE & COMPANY
CHICAGO :: NEW YORK
A COUSIN’S CONSPIRACY
On the edge of a prairie, in western Iowa, thirty yearsago, stood a cabin, covering quite a little ground, butonly one story high. It was humble enough, but notmore so than the early homes of some who have becomegreat.
The furniture was limited to articles of prime necessity.There was a stove, a table, three chairs, a row ofshelves containing a few articles of crockery and tinware,and a bed in the far corner of the room, on which resteda man with ragged gray beard and hair, a face long andthin, and coal-black eyes.
It was evident he was sick unto death. His parchment-coloredskin was wrinkled; from time to time he coughedso violently as to rack his slight frame, and his hand,thin and wrinkled, as it rested on the quilt that coveredhim, shook as with palsy.
It was hard to tell how old the man was. He lookedover seventy, but there were indications that he had agedprematurely.
There was one other person in the room whose appearancecontrasted strongly with that of the old man—a boyof sixteen, with brown hair, ruddy cheeks, hazel eyes, anattractive yet firm and resolute face, and an appearanceof manliness and self-reliance. He was well dressed, andwould have passed muster upon the streets of a city.6
“How do you feel, Uncle Peter?” he asked as he stoodby the bedside.
“I shall never feel better, Ernest,” said the old manin a hollow voice.
“Don’t say that, uncle,” said Ernest in a tone of concern.
There seemed little to connect him in his strong, attractiveboyhood with the frail old man, but they hadlived together for five years