Tony the Tramp

Fourteen-year-old Tony is dragged through hunger, shame, and uncertainty by Rudolph, a hard, suspicious tramp who claims to be his uncle. As Tony begins to question his false history, he also discovers a deeper longing for a real home, honest work, and education, and he refuses to accept a life of begging and drifting. Rudolph answers with threats, then pushes Tony into a scheme to deceive a kindly farm family so he can steal from their house. Taken in by the hospitable farmers, Tony is torn between fear and conscience as Rudolph's robbery plan closes around him. At the crucial moment, he chooses honesty over obedience, refusing to aid the theft and helping expose the tramp's criminal intentions. Abner, the strong farmhand, becomes an unexpected ally, driving Rudolph away and offering Tony the first real kindness he has known. Yet the danger is larger than one failed burglary. Mrs. Middleton, cold and calculating, reveals that Tony is the rightful heir to an estate she wants for herself, and she hires Rudolph to remove the boy from her path. Now hunted for his inheritance as well as trapped by his past, Tony faces a widening struggle between greed, cruelty, and his own awakening sense of right and wrong. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.