Richard Dare's Venture by Edward Stratemeyer
page 22 of 228 (09%)
page 22 of 228 (09%)
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"I shall try to deserve success, even if I don't rise very high, father." "That's right." Mr. Dare paused for a moment. "I'm sorry that I cannot leave you more of a capital upon which to start in life." "Never mind; I have a common school education and my health. What more can a boy wish?" "It is as much as I had upon which to start. But I might have left you more. I deserve a pension as a soldier." "You never pushed your claim, did you?" "Yes, once. But I never told any of you, for fear of raising false hopes. I did apply, and it was all straight, but at the last moment the Department decided that I must have another witness to prove my identity, and this I could not get." "You had one witness, then?" "Yes. A man named Crawford, who was in our regiment. He was appointed an officer on the same day I was shot; but, as he was appointed _after_ the occurrence they held that his single witnessing was not enough, and so I had to hunt for another." "And you never found the other?" "No, though I hunted high and low. Some who saw the affair must be |
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