Project Gutenberg 2008-04-23 Public domain in the USA. 261 Alger, Horatio, Jr. 1832 1899 Putnam, Arthur Lee Starr, Julian Preston, Charles F. Alger, Horatio The Young Bank Messenger Produced by Gary Sandino (text), Al Haines (HTML). (This file was created from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) "The Young Bank Messenger" by Horatio Alger, Jr. is a coming-of-age novel written in the late 19th century. The story centers around a young boy named Ernest Ray, who has grown up believing that an old man named Peter Brant is his uncle. As Peter lies on his deathbed, a significant family secret emerges, revealing that Ernest is actually the son of a wealthy family, but has been raised by Peter due to familial disputes over inheritance. Following Peter's death, Ernest must navigate his newfound independence and the challenges that come with being alone in the world. The opening of the book introduces the reader to Ernest and Uncle Peter in a lonely cabin in the prairies of Western Iowa. As Peter is weak and nearing death, he reveals crucial information about Ernest's background, including the existence of hidden money meant for him. After Peter's passing, a sympathetic neighbor, Luke Robbins, and a dubious tramp named Tom Burns, who has been eavesdropping on their conversation, enter the scene. The tension escalates as Tom plans to steal from Ernest, leading to various confrontations that test Ernest's resolve and character. Through these interactions, the stage is set for Ernest's journey into the wider world, where he must prove himself as both a messenger and a young man of integrity. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 85.9 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Inheritance and succession -- Fiction Conduct of life -- Fiction Criminals -- Fiction PZ Text Browsing: Literature Browsing: Fiction Category: Children & Young Adult Reading Category: Novels Category: American Literature 376604 2025-06-10T11:30:24.478951 text/html 361016 2021-01-03T12:42:45 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 224027 2021-01-03T12:42:45 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 304626 2025-06-10T11:30:35.803904 application/epub+zip 311148 2025-06-10T11:30:28.433946 application/epub+zip 189327 2025-06-10T11:30:26.794921 application/epub+zip 507537 2025-06-10T11:30:40.446865 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 495635 2025-06-10T11:30:34.472954 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 343093 2022-09-11T13:53:32.484459 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 312632 2025-06-10T11:30:22.080967 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 312417 2021-01-03T12:42:45 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 113461 2021-01-03T12:42:45 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 19174 2025-06-10T11:30:40.618871 application/rdf+xml 14237 2025-06-10T11:30:27.397921 image/jpeg 3906 2025-06-10T11:30:27.096953 image/jpeg 296520 2025-06-10T11:30:24.519929 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia