Bernard Brooks' Adventures: The Experience of a Plucky Boy

BERNARD BROOKS' ADVENTURES / The Experience of a Plucky Boy by Horatio Alger Jr.CONTENTSBERNARD BROOKS.BERNARD'S BOLDNESS.BROUGHT TO BAY.A ROAD SIDE ACQUAINTANCE.MR. PENROSE'S SECRET.BERNARD'S DANGER.AN UNEXPECTED CHAMPION.THE CONSPIRATORS ARE FOILED.ON THE HUDSON RIVER BOAT.HATCH DETECTIVE.MR. SNOWDON LOSES HIS PUPIL.BERNARD MEETS A FRIEND OF HIS FATHER.PROFESSOR PUFFER.SOME OF THE PASSENGERS.JACK STAPLES.A SCRAP OF PAPER.BERNARD'S PERIL.THE EVENTS OF A NIGHT.PROFESSOR PUFFERS DISCOMFITURE.A LOST CLUE.A DAY IN LONDON.DICK THE BOOTBLACK.AN APARTMENT AT MORLEY'S HOTEL.PROFESSOR PUFFER FROM HIS OWN POINT OF VIEW.BERNARD'S GOOD FORTUNE PROFESSOR PUFFER ONCE MORE.A CITIZEN OF NEBRASKA.ITALY SEEN THROUGH AMERICAN SPECTACLES.CAPTURED BY BANDITTI.IN A TRAP.WALTER CUNNINGHAM'S MISSION.SUSPENSE.RESCUED.NAT BARCLAY'S LETTER.PROFESSOR PUFFER'S DECLINE AND FALL.PROFESSOR PUFFER BECOMES AN ALLY.A BAD DAY FOR MR. MCCRACKEN.CONCLUSION.CHAPTER I. BERNARD BROOKS. You're a bad lot Bernard Brooks. I don't think I ever knew a wuss boy.Thank you for the compliment Mr. Snowdon. Let me suggest however that wuss is hardly correct English.The speaker was fifteen years of age but as tall as most boys of seventeen. He had a bold aggressive manner which he only assumed with those he thought were hostile or unfriendly.He could be a devoted friend and a loyal subordinate to one who gained his good will. Mr. Snowdon he did not look upon as a friend though he had been placed in his charge two months before by a cousin of his deceased father.Ezekiel Snowdon a man of perhaps sixty tall and with stooping shoulders colored with anger at the boy's sarcastic words.He claimed to have been educated at a small Western college and on the strength of it had established himself in the country and advertised for private pupils at a low rate.These were mostly young and not competent to see his deficiencies but Bernard was old enough and well enough educated to perceive and comment on them. This greatly annoyed Mr. Snowdon who felt that the boy did not treat him with proper respect.Quit your impudence! said Snowdon with a vicious look in his greenish lived eyes. I don't need no criticisms from a whipper snapper like you.I intended it for your benefit Mr. Snowdon said Bernard demurely. Besides you criticise me. You called me a bad lot.And so you are. A wuss—a worse boy I never seen.Saw would be more correct Mr. Snowdon.Young man you'd better look out. I won't submit to your aggravating impudence. Besides you are ignorant of the fact that Chaucer and Spenser use seen for saw. Them are my favorite poets so it is not strange that I should occasionally make use of their diction.Thank you for the information Mr. Snowdon. I did not know that you had such high authority. I have read a little of Chaucer and Spenser and I never observed the word you mention.Perhaps you have not read the same works as I said Mr. Snowdon.Very likely remarked Bernard struggling to suppress a smile.It might be well another time to be sure of your ground before you try to criticise your elders.Yes sir said Bernard with a meekness which the twinkle in his eye belied.