{"id":56718,"date":"2025-04-27T07:47:02","date_gmt":"2025-04-27T11:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=56718"},"modified":"2025-10-01T11:48:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T15:48:29","slug":"the-hero-of-the-charles-by-pat-d-in-pa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=56718","title":{"rendered":"The Hero of the Charles (by Pat D in PA)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary:<\/strong> When Adam finds himself short of cash, fate and his college buddy come up with an ingenious way to fatten his wallet. Written for the Second Quarter 2025 Chaps and Spurs Challenge.<\/p>\n

Rating:<\/strong> G\/K<\/p>\n

Wordcount<\/strong>: 3,533<\/p>\n

\n

THE HERO OF THE CHARLES<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cCartwright!\u201d<\/p>\n

Rob Bently’s handsome face wore a wry smile as he ambled toward the corner desk in the library, the one most out of sight from the main desk and nearest the steam heaters, where a tall, very dark young man frowned in absorption over a stack of books, a notebook, assorted pencils, and sheaves of sketches and diagrams.<\/p>\n

The tall, slim blond youngster shook his head at his roommate.\u00a0 Robert Cheswell Bentley and Adam Cartwright were two members of Harvard\u2019s junior class, studying engineering at the college\u2019s Lawrence Scientific School.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor pity\u2019s sake, man,\u201d he chuckled as his friend didn\u2019t even register him coming up beside him.<\/p>\n

Startled, Adam\u2019s head came up, his forehead, previously creased in concentration, smoothing out with a smile for his friend. \u201cRob\u2026 Sorry, I\u2019ve been trying to solve this load bearing ratio issue.\u201d\u00a0 He sighed and rolled his shoulders, gently stretching.\u00a0 He glanced at the windows, now darkened with the night sky. \u201cGood lord, what time is it?!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nearly eight, O Grindstone,\u201d snorted Rob, perching on the one corner of the library table his friend was using that wasn\u2019t covered in books, papers or notes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can\u2019t be,\u201d Adam breathed, leaning back, aghast\u2026 and then blushed in dismay as he realized his friend was right.\u00a0 \u201cHave I really been here for\u2026 for\u2026?\u201c<\/p>\n

\u201cEight hours,\u201d nodded Rob, with a grin.\u00a0 \u201cCome along, Mr. Cartwright.\u00a0 You need to eat, you need to walk before your legs forget how, and you need a beer.\u00a0 All work and no play makes Adam a dull boy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chuckling, Adam shook his head. \u201cDull is right.\u00a0 I feel like my head is stuffed with cotton batting.\u00a0 None of these equations are balancing out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you\u2019re surprised?\u00a0 Good lord, man, you\u2019ve barely slept since Tuesday,\u201d scolded Rob, reaching down and neatly, if without method, tapping Adam\u2019s papers together into a pile to be placed into his briefcase.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll help you bring these reference books back to the clerk and then let\u2019s get some food into you before you keel over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Involuntarily, Adam suddenly found himself emitting a jaw-cracking yawn, much to his embarrassment.\u00a0 \u201cGood grief\u2026 sorry\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, how you can sit there expecting yourself to make sense of equations for eight hours straight\u2026 one would think you wanted to be an engineer or something\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam laughed and lugged half the pile of books back to the clerk\u2019s desk, while Rob assisted with the other stack.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t worry, you\u2019ll get your assignment done in time. You always do,\u201d Rob said wisely, raising an eyebrow at his friend.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re going to go to the pub tonight, come home early and tuck you in for a good night\u2019s sleep.\u00a0 Then you\u2019re going to get some exercise somehow tomorrow and come with me to Barbara Collins\u2019 soiree.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam sighed. \u201cYes, to everything but the soiree.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, come now – \u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely not.\u00a0 Those soirees of hers are an abomination<\/strong>. I refuse to be subjected to another night of brainless upper crust drivel without meat or merit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re subjected to mine incessantly. You should be used to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYours may be upper crust but it isn\u2019t brainless\u2026 not usually, anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy, thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam grinned, wrapping his crimson and grey scarf around his neck, and shrugging into his overcoat.\u00a0 \u201cSeriously, Rob, I can\u2019t.\u00a0\u00a0 I need to think about ways to make some money. My best bet is likely trying to find some more tutees in mathematics. That or a job for the short term…\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWait, what\u2026 you\u2019re short? Already?! Didn\u2019t you just get a bank draft from your father for your birthday?!\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam shrugged and frowned as they walked through the library\u2019s big doors and headed down the steps to the quad. \u201cStupid mistake,\u201d he muttered.<\/p>\n

Rob raised an eyebrow.\u00a0 \u201cYou don\u2019t make mistakes,\u201d he said dryly.\u00a0 \u201cPoor choices? Yes.\u00a0 Mistakes, no.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam grunted, embarrassment staining his cheekbones.\u00a0 \u201cVery well, then.\u00a0 A stupid choice,\u201d he grumbled, hands in his pockets and studying the ground as they walked along.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, for pity\u2019s sake, Adam.\u00a0 You didn\u2019t get into another card game with Bishop!\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam\u2019s silence was eloquent, and Rob groaned.\u00a0 \u201cThe man\u2019s a mathematics scholar, and he still can\u2019t resist trying to draw to an inside straight\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, let me be,\u201d Adam sighed. \u201cI know, you\u2019re right of course.\u00a0 Someday I\u2019ll learn to play poker and not drink at the same time.\u00a0 But seriously, I\u2019m going to need to earn something soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you must bet, my friend, you need to figure out something that\u2019s a sure win.\u201d<\/p>\n

One dark eyebrow rose eloquently over a sardonic hazel eye.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s no such thing,\u201d he intoned, remembering more than one blistering lecture from his father on the subject.<\/p>\n

\u201cSure, there is.\u00a0 You just have to find the right bet\u2026 and the right patsy,\u201d pondered Rob thoughtfully, looking off into the distance.\u00a0\u00a0 Then he shook himself and shivered as the wind bit through his coat. \u201cGood gravy, but it\u2019s freezing out here!\u00a0 Let\u2019s get inside where it\u2019s warm,\u201d he suggested, gesturing toward the pub on the corner.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

~-oo0oo-~<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cNothing speaks to civilization<\/strong> more fluently than a hot bowl of stew, a good chunk of bread, and a glass of ale,\u201d pronounced Rob, sitting back and patting his almost overfull stomach.\u00a0 \u201cGod, but that was delicious.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was,\u201d agreed Adam, contentedly.\u00a0 \u201cForgetting to eat does whet your appetite.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rob chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cSo, thought any more about ways to solve your penury?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d his friend sighed, glumly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, c\u2019mon, you\u2019ve got some fuel in you now,\u201d said Rob seriously, rubbing his hands together, \u201clet\u2019s get thinking.\u00a0\u00a0 Back home, in that Western Eden of yours,\u00a0how did you manage to increase the family exchequer?\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam made a face. \u201cOh, for heaven\u2019s sake\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSeriously\u2026 how did you manage to create a source of revenue<\/strong> while ranching?\u00a0 I mean, it had to have been lucrative enough for your family to survive on, after all,\u201d insisted Rob, gesturing to the barmaid for another glass of ale for them both.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot for me,\u201d his friend said firmly. \u201cThis stew cleaned out my wallet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t drink alone, so shaddup.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRob – \u201d<\/p>\n

For a tall, slender, blond twenty-one-year-old, Robert Cheswell Bently, youngest son of a wealthy New York banker and investor, darling of Boston High Society, could manage quite an effective glare.\u00a0 He was a very bright fellow engineering student, but also one of the kindest, most caring people Adam had met in his three years at college… and a remarkably devious planner\u2026<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Within a week of arriving on campus, Adam Cartwright had distinguished himself\u2026 though not necessarily in the way he\u2019d have hoped.<\/em><\/p>\n

The pecking order of a college always started with the seniors and moved on down to the lowly freshers, and that included some privileges that were accorded the upperclassmen.\u00a0 Those privileges included restricting earning money for tutoring fellow students to the juniors and seniors.\u00a0 Adam Cartwright, country bumpkin son of a rancher from Western Utah, didn\u2019t know that.\u00a0 And started making some \u2018actual\u2019 from helping his freshmen classmates through some of their mathematics courses.<\/em><\/p>\n

One fistfight \u2013 off campus, of course \u2013 had made the seniors begin to rethink their opinion of how to deal with \u00a0this \u2018graceless collegiate cowboy,\u2019\u00a0 since clearly, intimidation didn\u2019t work.<\/em><\/p>\n

Observing these goings on was one of Adam\u2019s own engineering classmates, someone at the top of the social heap, one Robert Cheswell Bently.\u00a0 A young man who, in his own way, was as iconoclastic as Adam Cartwright.\u00a0 Rob Bently had been born to money, it was true, but William Henry Bently had been raised to understand work and had taught his four sons \u2013 of whom Rob was the youngest – \u00a0the same.\u00a0 \u201cIf you\u2019re going to lead men someday, young man, you\u2019d best understand what it feels like to be led, and different ways it\u2019s done.\u00a0 Some ways work better than others.\u00a0 Some don\u2019t work at all.\u00a0 You\u2019ll never know what your employees feel like until you\u2019ve walked a mile in their shoes.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

So, Rob had worked summers from the time he was thirteen years old.\u00a0 Stable boy, copy boy at a newspaper, errand boy for a business friend of his father\u2019s, warehouse laborer, and his final summer before leaving for Harvard, a few weeks with a bunch of longshoremen on the Hudson.\u00a0 His slender frame belied a wiry physical strength, and his unusual upbringing had given him a gift of understanding people\u2026 all kinds of people. <\/em><\/p>\n

And that understanding gave him an insight into the nature of one Adam Cartwright.\u00a0 Within four weeks of classes beginning, Rob had arranged to allow Adam to mentor their fellow freshman – those willing to take the risk of running afoul of the upperclassmen, anyway – in his own rooms on campus.\u00a0 Those classmates were pleased with the results (as were their professors and tutors!).<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re good at this,\u201d Rob had observed one evening, after a particularly hapless fellow student had left the rooms, thrilled that he finally understood his assignment, gushing with thanks to Adam and handing over the modest fee (much less than the upperclassmen charged, but still financially reasonable for Adam\u2019s time and efforts).<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0Adam had yawned, stretched and shrugged, tired.\u00a0 Getting up as early as he needed to in order to walk from his grandfather\u2019s house on Lyn Street all the way to the college, then up late getting his own work done and finding time to tutor was beginning to wear him out.\u00a0 \u201cHonestly, it helps my homesickness a little,\u201d he\u2019d admitted, shyly.\u00a0 \u201cI used to help my little brother with his homework every night.\u00a0 This feels\u2026 well, it feels a little like being home again.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYou look all in.\u00a0 Why don\u2019t you sack out for the night in the spare room?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t,\u201d Adam had shaken his head, gathering his books and other paraphernalia into his briefcase.\u00a0 \u201cMy grandfather will be expecting me. I\u2019ll be late for supper already and he\u2019ll have a fit as it is.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Rob had nodded, keeping his counsel.\u00a0 But within a few months, Robert Bently had proposed Adam share his rooms for the rest of the year.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cFor heaven\u2019s sake, you\u2019re here most of the time anyway,\u201d he\u2019d chuckled, making Adam blush.\u00a0 \u201cThe room is here, unoccupied and already paid for.\u00a0 And you know as well as I that your studious ways have improved my own marks. Seriously, man\u2026 let\u2019s come up with a good list of arguments to offer to your grandfather.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Captain Abel Stoddard finally gave his permission for Adam to share quarters with Bently from Sunday evenings after dinner with the Captain on Lyn Street until Saturday morning.\u00a0 But only after exacting some serious promises from the boy about not getting drunk every night and not neglecting his work.\u00a0 Adam would have to provide proof each weekend from his tutor or professors of his dedication to his schoolwork \u201cand not evidence of being no better than a shipboard l\u00fcmmel, ready to drift at the first lack of supervision!\u201d\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

At first, Adam had balked at this strongly, arguing that he was twenty years old, and fully capable of running his own life.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYou, Mister, are here under your father\u2019s and my sufferance!\u201d the old salt had thundered, making Adam see clearly how this man had held a crew together onboard the Wanderer, and kept as strong a personality as Ben Cartwright in line.\u00a0 \u201cAnd you won\u2019t be a man for another year, no matter what you might believe.\u00a0 Your father has sacrificed a lot for you to be here, and that purpose is to get an education, not to loll about, or sponge off your rich friends!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cGrandpa, it isn\u2019t like that between me and Rob!\u201d Adam had contested hotly, but his grandfather plowed on as though he\u2019d not uttered a word. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd while you\u2019re under my watch, boy, you will behave yourself or you\u2019ll find yourself impressed as a working sailor on the first freighter back to San Francisco so fast your head will spin! That smart mouth of yours won\u2019t get you out of a flogging for insubordination, either.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

But in the end, the old man had seen the sense of the proposition and conceded, though he\u2019d miss having his young grandson brightening up his house. Two years later, now in their junior year, the boys were still roommates and best friends.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now, with Rob\u2019s blue eyes twinkling over the frothy mug extended toward Adam, the dark young man sighed, shifted uncomfortably, and accepted the beer, taking a long pull.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t think a lot about cash, Rob,\u201d he conceded, leaning back in his chair.\u00a0 \u201cWhat cash we had went to pay the hands, or for supplies.\u00a0 As I\u2019ve told you, we always plowed back as much of whatever income we made each year into the ranch as we could. And some years, if the weather\u2019s been against us or we\u2019ve suffered a blow with the stock, there\u2019s damned little income to begin with,\u201d said Adam seriously.<\/p>\n

Rob nodded, thoughtfully.\u00a0 A harsh existence. It makes sense that for Adam to survive it, it had made him tough.\u00a0 What that existence doesn’t explain is his sensitive, artistic nature.\u00a0 Quite the dichotomy<\/em>, thought the young banker’s son.\u00a0 He wondered how he himself would have fared in that environment?\u00a0 But, no, this is about Adam, not me<\/em>, he thought, shaking himself a little mentally.\u00a0 \u201cWell, then.\u00a0 We need to capitalize on what makes you different, how we can \u2018sell\u2019 you…\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam\u2019s brows knit together.\u00a0 \u201cWhere are you going with this?\u201d he asked, suspiciously.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot sure yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, good God\u2026:\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

~oo0oo-~<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The answer came in a rather unexpected way the following day as they were walking along the Charles River for \u201ca stretch of the legs,\u201d as Rob insisted.<\/p>\n

\u201cHurry up, laggard,\u201d chuckled Adam, hunched into his overcoat, the tips of his nose and ears pink with cold above his Harvard scarf. \u201cYou\u2019re slower than molasses<\/strong> in January!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAny self-respecting molasses is smart enough to remain in a bottle in a nice, warm pantry in this weather,\u201d snorted Rob, good-naturedly, his own nose buried under his scarf.<\/p>\n

It was<\/em> cold, even for November in Cambridge, and the river was moving fast due the rains of the day before. Just as the two young men came alongside a barge messily loading cargo – Pa would have a fit at how they\u2019re leaving their ropes and gear all over the place like that!<\/em> \u2013 there was a sudden splash followed by a shriek, making the boys whirl.<\/p>\n

A child had tumbled into the river and his mother was being held back from jumping in after him.\u00a0 The river was moving too fast, and her skirts would make her drop like a stone.<\/p>\n

In a flash, Adam spun again and grabbed one of the ropes near the barge, knotting a lariat as he ran along the riverbank, estimating its weight compared to his rope at home.\u00a0 He twirled it as he ran while yelling to the child \u201cCatch this!\u201d\u00a0 The little one was white eyed with terror and cold, but at the same time a little goggle-eyed to see a young man running along the riverbank twirling a rope in a circle above his head as he ran.<\/p>\n

The first try missed, and Adam swore angrily under his breath. Out of practice!<\/em>\u00a0 He gauged the weight of the river-wet rope and tried again.\u00a0 This time, the wide circle found the child, dropping around him as though it had eyes.<\/p>\n

Adam hauled the child in against the current, wishing to God he\u2019d been wearing gloves, astonished to hear behind him what sounded like the whole City of Cambridge applauding and cheering.\u00a0 Rob leaned over, his own coat off ready to wrap it around the child as Adam pulled him up from the river onto the bank, howling like a banshee.<\/p>\n

\u201cShh\u2026 shh\u2026\u201d soothed Adam, wrapping the little one calmly.\u00a0 \u201cYour mother will be here in a minute. She has to go up and cross the bridge. Are you hurt anywhere?\u201d<\/p>\n

He guessed the child to be about three and remembered his younger brothers Hoss and Little Joe at that age. He figured the child was too shocked, cold and frightened to respond much.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou did a great job,\u201d he praised the child, gathering the shivering boy up into his arms and trying to wrap the coat around as much of him as possible.<\/p>\n

Adam was then astonished to find himself being pounded on the back, having his spare hand shaken in congratulations, young ladies batting their eyes at him, admiringly, grown men applauding his effort and young boys looking up at him with naked<\/strong> hero worship.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

~-oo0oo-~<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI now know exactly how you\u2019re going to earn that little extra bit of scratch, my friend,\u201d Rob said, cheerfully poking at the fire in the grate in their rooms.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh?\u00a0 And how\u2019s that?\u201d asked Adam absently, curled up on the settee in front of the fire, wrapped in a blanket, his eyes focused on his Greek textbook in his hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re going to give a lecture, 25\u00a2 per person, on \u2018Cowboy Life in the West\u2019 presented by the Hero of the Charles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam’s head snapped up, and he stared at his friend.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re joking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not. Did you see<\/em> those people?!\u00a0 They were amazed by your tossing of that ring that you did.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s called roping, Rob.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere, you see?!\u201d Rob clapped him on the shoulder and smiled triumphantly.\u00a0 \u201cThe lingo, the vernacular, of the cowboy! \u00a0That\u2019s what people want to know!\u00a0 And you\u2019re a natural.\u00a0 You could even do some demonstrations!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot too many steers in downtown Cambridge,\u201d Adam replied dryly. \u201cI could demonstrate fast draw shooting on you, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m impervious to your slander, my friend.\u00a0 Besides, I\u2019ve already rented the hall.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut\u2026 nobody would pay to see that!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll bet you my next allowance draft, my friend.\u00a0 And it will be a better bet than anything you wagered with John Bishop, I can tell you that!\u201d\u00a0 Rob leaned over and stared into his friend\u2019s dismayed face. \u201cAdam, I guarantee it, you\u2019re going to be in the Cambridge Chronicle for saving that boy.\u00a0 And if we do word of mouth advertising for your lecture, you\u2019re going to fill the hall!\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam groaned and put his head in his hands.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

~-oo0oo-~<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Two weeks later, Adam sat before a pile of coins and bills, amazed.\u00a0 His ninety-minute lecture on \u201cCowboy Life in the West\u201d by the \u201cCollegiate Cowboy, Adam Cartwright\u201d \u2013 Adam had cringed at the sight of that sign, all Rob\u2019s doing, complete with a passable drawing of Adam wearing \u00a0his Stetson and a bandanna knotted around his neck sketched by a good mutual friend of Adam and Rob\u2019s \u2013 had attracted more than two hundred and thirty people, some of whom had been at the rescue or heard about it firsthand. That lecture – and additional donations for ‘bravery’ – had produced enough money to supplement what he needed to get through the rest of the school year until Pa\u2019s annual bank draft came through at the end of the spring semester.<\/p>\n

Rob had managed to get the lecture hall rental waived as a gift to the \u201cHero of the Charles\u201d \u2013 \u201cThat name is really catching on!\u201d <\/em>\u2013 so everything on the table was Adam\u2019s, free and clear.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t believe it,\u201d he sighed, shaking his head in wonder. \u201cHow on earth am I going to explain this to my grandfather?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I should hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam jumped, whirling around to see the stern visage of his former sea captain grandfather standing there, legs apart, hands on his hips. \u00a0Pa does that when he\u2019s angry, too\u2026 must be from their days on board ship, to stay steady despite the waves\u2026 <\/em>The young man awkwardly clambered to his feet, suddenly feeling years younger than twenty-two.<\/p>\n

Even normally self-possessed Rob stepped back slightly, coming to Adam\u2019s side.\u00a0 Both young men stood at respectful attention, backs rigid, faces a little pale.<\/p>\n

\u201cI… Grandfather, nothing I did or said was deceitful, I promise you,\u201d Adam stammered.<\/p>\n

The old man\u2019s glare was icy, and suddenly, the boy was stunned to see the old man\u2019s blue eyes begin to twinkle in mischief and a smile brighten his face, a low chuckle rumbling in his chest.\u00a0 \u201cI know.\u00a0 I paid my two bits and attended your talk, youngster!\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam\u2019s jaw dropped.<\/p>\n

\u201cRead in the Globe<\/em> about your little feat of lifesaving, Mister, and since you<\/em>\u00a0 wouldn\u2019t say anything about it \u2013 cheeky brat! – I decided when I heard about this little lecture of yours that I\u2019d come and find out for myself what my grandson gets up to out there in the Wild West.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam grinned, shaking his head.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2026 I don\u2019t know what to say, Grandpa,\u201d he admitted, relieved and grateful. \u201cThanks for coming.\u00a0 But that thing at the river\u2026 \u00a0It really wasn\u2019t anything so special.\u00a0 I just had a skill that proved to be useful, and I was in the right place at the right time, that\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abel Stoddard studied his grandson, shook his head and smiled, gently reaching over and squeezing his grandson\u2019s broad shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cYour quick thinking saved a child\u2019s life, Mister. I applaud humility, Adam, but that\u2019s taking self-deprecation to a new level.\u00a0 But then, knowing you, I would expect nothing less from the \u2018Hero of the Charles\u2019!\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam moaned in embarrassment as the Captain laughed uproariously.\u00a0 “Wait until your father hears about that<\/em> nickname!”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

THE END<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

The words for this quarters challenge were:
\ncivilization
\nabomination
\nrevenue
\nmolasses
\nnaked<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tags:\u00a0 Abel Stoddard,\u00a0Adam in college<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary: When Adam finds himself short of cash, fate and his college buddy come up with an ingenious way to fatten his wallet.\u00a0 Written for the Second Quarter 2025 Chaps and Spurs Challenge.<\/p>\n

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