Tommy's Stratagem

When Tommy's mother died, it seemed to him that the world had grown very dark indeed. At the tender age of nine he found himself obliged to earn his own living by sewing. He tolerated it as long as he could, and then ran away. He left a noisy, dirty city behind him, and went like a homing bird, to the green trees and pleasant fields which are the heritage of little children. Mr. and Mrs. Van Alsten were not very happy. After five years of married life they had slowly drifted apart. Freddy Ralston, a young man with a none too enviable reputation, came to the house a great deal more often than Mr. Van Alsten liked, and Mrs. Van Alsten seemed to care more for the society of the young man than for that of her husband. In the course of his wanderings, Tommy, tired and hungry, happened upon the Van Alsten estate. Buried in the pillows of a couch in the Van Alsten boathouse, he watched Freddy Ralston languidly rescue Mrs. Van Alsten's pet dog from the lake. The anxious care bestowed upon the wet and dripping dog, gave Tommy an idea. Perhaps if he fell into the water they would be nice to him too. Accordingly, Tommy fell into the water. He knew how to swim, but if he hadn't he might well have drowned, for Ralston made no move to aid him. Nothing was done until Mr. Van Alsten, appearing suddenly on the scene, plunged into the water and pulled him out. After he was dried and fed, Mrs. Van Alsten, who had gained a new appreciation of her husband's character in the light of his actions as compared with those of Ralston, announced to Tommy that he might stay in their house always. Tommy, overcome with delight, was also afflicted with remorse. He told the Van Alstens that he had fallen in on purpose in every expectation that they would incontinently send him away. But they didn't.