I am reviewing another Horatio Alger novel, which might not really be an Alger story. More about that later.
Ezekiel Snowden, an uneducated teacher with his own country school, thinks sixteen-year-old Bernard Brooks a bad lot, and he orders him to stop visiting with former student Nat Barclay. Bernard’s guardian, Cornelius McCracken, had shipped him off to the school that charged the lowest fees, and it didn’t matter if the students knew more than the teacher.
Mr. Snowden sent Bernard to the post office, and on the way he met up with Nat, who walked along with him. They came upon Snowden’s nasty son, Septimus, throwing rocks at a little boy’s kitten, and because the boy was protesting Septimus tried to tie up the boy’s hands behind his back so it would be easier to beat up the child. Bernard didn’t approve of that so he hit Septimus and used the cord to tie Septimus’ hands, and then sent him home. When Bernard returned from the post office Mr. Snowden informed him he would be flogged for the way he treated his son.
Bernard ran away, but was able to sneak back after the Snowdens were asleep and gather up a bundle of clothes before setting out to make his own way. The next morning the lad met wealthy William Penrose, who’d became ill while driving a buggy. Bernard was able to help him get to a hotel in a nearby town. He learned Penrose had an unscrupulous relative who was trying to prove the man was insane in order to steal all of his money.
With perfect bad timing Mr. Snowden, his son Septimus, Penrose’s relative, plus two quack doctors (paid to diagnose insanity) showed up at the hotel at the same time. It looked as though both Bernard and Mr. Penrose would be captured and sent to dreadful places. Fortunately hotel guest Mr. Stackpole, a law clerk turned miner, gave the villains the benefit of his legal knowledge before tossing all the troublemakers off the porch. That gave Penrose and Bernard a chance to escape. The wealthy man headed for the nearest ship to Europe, and Bernard left with Stackpole on a boat headed down the Hudson River. During the boat ride Bernard helped capture some men who’d stolen government bonds, and the youth was given a gold watch as a reward.
Bernard went to see his guardian, Mr. McCracken, and asked him if his father had left any money. He was told his father had only had a hundred fifty dollars, which was used up long ago, so Mr. McCracken had been paying all of Bernard’s expenses out of his own money. Since Bernard didn’t want to attend another school his guardian said he’d try to find him a job. Bernard stopped at a barbershop for a haircut, and happened to meet one of his father’s friends, who informed him Mr. Brooks had thousands of dollars which he’d given to Mr. McCracken to invest.
Mr. McCracken found out Bernard had met someone familiar with Mr. Brooks’ finances, and decided he needed to get the boy out of town. He told Bernard he will be the secretary to Professor Puffer, who was going to Europe. That pleased Bernard, until he met the man and his red face “seemed to indicate he was not a member of a total abstinence society.” Oh horrors, had Bernard been entrusted to a man who drank alcohol?
Professor Puffer claimed he wrote about antiquities, but said he wouldn’t be working while aboard the ship, so Bernard was free to spend most of his days walking about on the decks. He met a pleasant passenger named Nelson Sturges, as well as a sailor named Jack Staples, “a stout good-humored man of thirty” who, like Bernard, lost his parents when he was young.
One day Bernard returned to the stateroom he shared with his employer and found a scrap of paper on the floor, which turned out to be part of a torn letter written to Professor Puffer from Mr. McCracken. The partial message said that Bernard’s guardian wanted rid of the boy and Puffer was not to bring him back. (The good news was that while Bernard was continually surrounded by cads, they tended to be stupid ones who left behind helpful evidence.) The lad believed he was to be murdered, so the next time he had an opportunity to speak with Jack Staples he showed the paper to the sailor, who told him to ask the professor for an advance on his wages so that he’d have some money to help him escape when he arrived in England. That request angered Puffer, who said Bernard had yet to do anything to earn a wage.
One evening Bernard was by the deck railing looking out to sea when Professor Puffer grabbed hold of him and attempted to throw him overboard. Bernard cried out in terror and his sailor friend rushed over and saved his life. When confronted by Jack Staples the professor claimed to have been sleepwalking and had no idea what he had done. He professed his innocence and attempted to regain Bernard’s trust by giving him fifteen dollars, since the boy had recently asked for money. Bernard took the money, but refused to ever stay in the same room with his so-called employer.
After the ship arrived in Liverpool Bernard was given a small hotel room connected to the professor’s larger room. That evening Bernard pushed a bureau in front of the inside door, and late at night the door was opened and Bernard could see a light from inside Professor Puffer’s room. The next morning Bernard went down to breakfast and saw Nelson Sturges, who had been a fellow ship passenger. Sturges made the comment that he didn’t like Professor Puffer, and after Bernard confided that the man was trying to kill him Sturges said he had a room with two beds, and Bernard could stay with him if he felt his life was in danger. That evening Bernard saw that the bureau had been removed from his room, and so he took Sturges up on his offer. The next morning Bernard left for London with Mr. Sturges. In order to make it harder for Professor Puffer to find his runaway employer they first went to Sturges’ expensive hotel, and then Bernard went to a cheaper establishment.
Bernard needed to find a job, so he answered a newspaper advertisement for a “pleasant traveling companion” for someone about to make a voyage for health reasons. Though only a lad of sixteen Bernard was chosen over all other job seekers, including Professor Puffer!
Bernard’s employment as a traveling companion to wealthy young Walter Cunningham was not without adventures, including a kidnapping and ransom crisis in Italy. The good news is that our heroes survived the danger.
When the pair returned to England Bernard received a letter from his friend Nat Barclay, a former student at Mr. Snowden’s dreadful school. Snowden’s son had told Nat that Bernard’s guardian, Mr. McCracken, had let them know that Professor Puffer told him Bernard had died in an accident.
Bernard showed the letter to Mr. Cunningham, who felt they should go to America and see why Mr. McCracken had been so interested in having his young ward out of the way. Will they be able to right the wrongs done to Bernard? Will they have the good fortune of meeting up with just the right people at just the right time? Horatio Alger was known for his use of coincidences, but was this book really written by him? The author died in 1899, and Bernard Brooks’ Adventures has a copyright date of 1903. It is known that Alger had asked Edward Stratemeyer to complete his unfinished works, but how many partially written novels did Mr. Alger leave behind?
Stratemeyer, who would go on to create dozens of children’s book series, including The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, may have been hired to write some brand new adventures published under Alger’s name.
I can’t say whether this was a real or an imitation Horatio Alger adventure, but I can say that I found it a fun read. Bernard was a likable character who went from trouble to more trouble while still understanding that honesty is the best policy, and believing that most people are good and trustworthy. His endless adventures seemed unlikely but were never impossible, and I was always eager to read just one more chapter to find out what happened next. If you’d like to read Bernard Brooks’ Adventures it can be read free of charge at: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/45022
Bookshelf Companions 