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Luck and Pluck #7
Risen from the Ranks: Or, Harry Walton's Success
Excerpt from Risen From the Ranks or Harry Walton's Success
"I am sorry to part with you, Harry," said Professor Henderson. "You have been a very satisfactory and efficient assistant, and I shall miss you."
"Thank you, sir," said Harry. "I have tried to be faithful to your interests."
"You have been so," said the professor, emphatically. "I have had perfect confidence in you, and this has relieved me of a great deal of anxiety. It would have been very easy for one in your position to cheat me out of a considerable sum of money."
"It was no credit to me to resist such a temptation as that," said Harry.
"I am sorry to part with you, Harry," said Professor Henderson. "You have been a very satisfactory and efficient assistant, and I shall miss you."
"Thank you, sir," said Harry. "I have tried to be faithful to your interests."
"You have been so," said the professor, emphatically. "I have had perfect confidence in you, and this has relieved me of a great deal of anxiety. It would have been very easy for one in your position to cheat me out of a considerable sum of money."
"It was no credit to me to resist such a temptation as that," said Harry.
146 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1874
2 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Horatio Alger Jr.
445 books97 followersHoratio Alger, Jr. (January 13, 1832 – July 18, 1899) was a prolific 19th-century American author, most famous for his novels following the adventures of bootblacks, newsboys, peddlers, buskers, and other impoverished children in their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of respectable middle-class security and comfort. His novels about boys who succeed under the tutelage of older mentors were hugely popular in their day.
Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, the son of a Unitarian minister, Alger entered Harvard University at the age of sixteen. Following graduation, he briefly worked in education before touring Europe for almost a year. He then entered the Harvard Divinity School, and, in 1864, took a position at a Unitarian church in Brewster, Massachusetts. Two years later, he resigned following allegations he had sexual relations with two teenage boys.[1] He retired from the ministry and moved to New York City where he formed an association with the Newsboys Lodging House and other agencies offering aid to impoverished children. His sympathy for the working boys of the city, coupled with the moral values learned at home, were the basis of his many juvenile rags to riches novels illustrating how down-and-out boys might be able to achieve the American Dream of wealth and success through hard work, courage, determination, and concern for others. This widely held view involves Alger's characters achieving extreme wealth and the subsequent remediation of their "old ghosts." Alger is noted as a significant figure in the history of American cultural and social ideals. He died in 1899.
The first full-length Alger biography was commissioned in 1927 and published in 1928, and along with many others that borrowed from it later proved to be heavily fictionalized parodies perpetuating hoaxes and made up anecdotes that "would resemble the tell-all scandal biographies of the time."[2] Other biographies followed, sometimes citing the 1928 hoax as fact. In the last decades of the twentieth century a few more reliable biographies were published that attempt to correct the errors and fictionalizations of the past.
Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, the son of a Unitarian minister, Alger entered Harvard University at the age of sixteen. Following graduation, he briefly worked in education before touring Europe for almost a year. He then entered the Harvard Divinity School, and, in 1864, took a position at a Unitarian church in Brewster, Massachusetts. Two years later, he resigned following allegations he had sexual relations with two teenage boys.[1] He retired from the ministry and moved to New York City where he formed an association with the Newsboys Lodging House and other agencies offering aid to impoverished children. His sympathy for the working boys of the city, coupled with the moral values learned at home, were the basis of his many juvenile rags to riches novels illustrating how down-and-out boys might be able to achieve the American Dream of wealth and success through hard work, courage, determination, and concern for others. This widely held view involves Alger's characters achieving extreme wealth and the subsequent remediation of their "old ghosts." Alger is noted as a significant figure in the history of American cultural and social ideals. He died in 1899.
The first full-length Alger biography was commissioned in 1927 and published in 1928, and along with many others that borrowed from it later proved to be heavily fictionalized parodies perpetuating hoaxes and made up anecdotes that "would resemble the tell-all scandal biographies of the time."[2] Other biographies followed, sometimes citing the 1928 hoax as fact. In the last decades of the twentieth century a few more reliable biographies were published that attempt to correct the errors and fictionalizations of the past.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 23, 2017
Success..hard work...
...hard work,dedication, and you will become successful.. But remember to live for the Lord. He has a great plan for you!!!!
...hard work,dedication, and you will become successful.. But remember to live for the Lord. He has a great plan for you!!!!
January 1, 2014
I'm on a Horatio Alger kick. This one was typical, and okay. Boy wants to be in the printing/publication business, and gets a now-extinct job (compositor -- putting the letters one by one into lines for printing on the papers pages). Despite being looked down upon by the typical I'm-to-rich-to-notice-the-likes-of-you boy, he triumphs with his good work ethics, hard work, using his talents (which most of us don't), and eventually becoming the owner/editor of the paper he worked for -- and more!
January 15, 2013
Well, it's Horatio Alger -- rags-to-riches story of a boy who makes good by honorably working his butt off, and being rewarded. If you like his style -- it's a fine book. If you don't, you'll never be able to get past the outdated parts to enjoy it.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews