That odious creature, the parasite of the
Greek and Latin plays, exists still, but I do not believe that a
boy is one whit the less liked, or is ever taunted with his poverty,
provided he is a good fellow. Most of the miseries endured by boys
whose pocket money is less abundant than that of their fellows are
purely self inflicted. Boys and men who are always on the lookout
for slights will, of course, find what they seek. But the lad who
is not ashamed of what is no fault of his own, who frankly and
manfully says, "I can't afford it," will not find that he is in
any way looked down upon by those of his schoolfellows whose good
opinion is in the smallest degree worth having.
Certainly this was so in the case of Frank Hargate. He was never
in the slightest degree ashamed of saying, "I can't afford it;" and
the fact that he was the son of an officer killed in battle gave
him a standing among the best in the school in spite of his want
of pocket money.
Frank was friends with many of the fishermen, and these would often
bring him strange fish and sea creatures brought up in their nets,
instead of throwing them back into the sea.
During the holidays he would sometimes go out with them for twenty-four
hours in their fishing-boats.
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