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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Adrift in New York, by Horatio Alger
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Adrift in New York
+       Tom and Florence Braving the World
+
+
+Author: Horatio Alger
+
+
+
+Release Date: June 14, 2006  [eBook #18581]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ADRIFT IN NEW YORK***
+
+
+E-text prepared by George Smith
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustration.
+      See 18581-h.htm or 18581-h.zip:
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/5/8/18581/18581-h/18581-h.htm)
+      or
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/5/8/18581/18581-h.zip)
+
+
+
+
+
+ADRIFT IN NEW YORK
+
+Or, Tom and Florence Braving the World
+
+by
+
+HORATIO ALGER, JR.
+
+Author of "Mark Mason's Victory," "Ben Bruce," "Bernard Brook's
+Adventures," "A Debt of Honor," etc., etc.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+A. L. Burt Company, Publishers
+New York
+1900
+
+
+
+
+ADRIFT IN NEW YORK.
+
+
+
+Chapter I.
+The Missing Heir.
+
+
+"Uncle, you are not looking well to-night."
+
+"I'm not well, Florence. I sometimes doubt if I shall ever be any
+better."
+
+"Surely, uncle, you cannot mean----"
+
+"Yes, my child, I have reason to believe that I am nearing the end."
+
+"I cannot bear to hear you speak so, uncle," said Florence Linden, in
+irrepressible agitation. "You are not an old man. You are but
+fifty-four."
+
+"True, Florence, but it is not years only that make a man old. Two
+great sorrows have embittered my life. First, the death of my dearly
+beloved wife, and next, the loss of my boy, Harvey."
+
+"It is long since I have heard you refer to my cousin's loss. I
+thought you had become reconciled--no, I do not mean that,--I thought
+your regret might be less poignant."
+
+"I have not permitted myself to speak of it, but I have never ceased
+to think of it day and night."
+
+John Linden paused sadly, then resumed:
+
+"If he had died, I might, as you say, have become reconciled; but he
+was abducted at the age of four by a revengeful servant whom I had
+discharged from my employment. Heaven knows whether he is living or
+dead, but it is impressed upon my mind that he still lives, it may be
+in misery, it may be as a criminal, while I, his unhappy father, live
+on in luxury which I cannot enjoy, with no one to care for me----"
+
+Florence Linden sank impulsively on her knees beside her uncle's
+chair.
+
+"Don't say that, uncle," she pleaded. "You know that I love you, Uncle
+John."
+
+"And I, too, uncle."
+
+There was a shade of jealousy in the voice of Curtis Waring as he
+entered the library through the open door, and approaching his uncle,
+pressed his hand.
+
+He was a tall, dark-complexioned man, of perhaps thirty-five, with
+shifty, black eyes and thin lips, shaded by a dark mustache. It was
+not a face to trust.
+
+Even when he smiled the expression of his face did not soften. Yet he
+could moderate his voice so as to express tenderness and sympathy.
+
+He was the son of an elder sister of Mr. Linden, while Florence was
+the daughter of a younger brother.
+
+Both were orphans, and both formed a part of Mr. Linden's household,
+and owed everything to his bounty.
+
+Curtis was supposed to be in some business downtown; but he received a
+liberal allowance from his uncle, and often drew upon him for outside
+assistance.
+
+As he stood with his uncle's hand in his, he was necessarily brought
+near Florence, who instinctively drew a little away, with a slight
+shudder indicating repugnance.
+
+Slight as it was, Curtis detected it, and his face darkened.
+
+John Linden looked from one to the other. "Yes," he said, "I must not
+forget that I have a nephew and a niece. You are both dear to me, but
+no one can take the place of the boy I have lost."
+
+"But it is so long ago, uncle," said Curtis. "It must be fourteen
+years."
+
+"It is fourteen years."
+
+"And the boy is long since dead!"
+
+"No, no!" said John Linden, vehemently. "I do not, I will not, believe
+it. He still lives, and I live only in the hope of one day clasping
+him in my arms."
+
+"That is very improbable, uncle," said Curtis, in a tone of annoyance.
+"There isn't one chance in a hundred that my cousin still lives. The
+grave has closed over him long since. The sooner you make up your mind
+to accept the inevitable the better."
+
+The drawn features of the old man showed that the words had a
+depressing effect upon his mind, but Florence interrupted her cousin
+with an indignant protest.
+
+"How can you speak so, Curtis?" she exclaimed. "Leave Uncle John the
+hope that he has so long cherished. I have a presentiment that Harvey
+still lives."
+
+John Linden's face brightened up
+
+"You, too, believe it possible, Florence?" he said, eagerly.
+
+"Yes, uncle. I not only believe it possible, but probable. How old
+would Harvey be if he still lived?"
+
+"Eighteen--nearly a year older than yourself."
+
+"How strange! I always think of him as a little boy."
+
+"And I, too, Florence. He rises before me in his little velvet suit,
+as he was when I last saw him, with his sweet, boyish face, in which
+his mother's looks were reflected."
+
+"Yet, if still living," interrupted Curtis, harshly, "he is a rough
+street boy, perchance serving his time at Blackwell's Island, and, a
+hardened young ruffian, whom it would be bitter mortification to
+recognize as your son."
+
+"That's the sorrowful part of it," said his uncle, in a voice of
+anguish. "That is what I most dread."
+
+"Then, since even if he were living you would not care to recognize
+him, why not cease to think of him, or else regard him as dead?"
+
+"Curtis Waring, have you no heart?" demanded Florence, indignantly.
+
+"Indeed, Florence, you ought to know," said Curtis, sinking his voice
+into softly modulated accents.
+
+"I know nothing of it," said Florence, coldly, rising from her
+recumbent position, and drawing aloof from Curtis.
+
+"You know that the dearest wish of my heart is to find favor in your
+eyes. Uncle, you know my wish, and approve of it, do you not?"
+
+"Yes, Curtis; you and Florence are equally dear to me, and it is my
+hope that you may be united. In that case, there will be no division
+of my fortune. It will be left to you jointly."
+
+"Believe me, sir," said Curtis, with faltering voice, feigning an
+emotion which he did not feel, "believe me, that I fully appreciate
+your goodness. I am sure Florence joins with me----"
+
+"Florence can speak for herself," said his cousin, coldly. "My uncle
+needs no assurance from me. He is always kind, and I am always
+grateful."
+
+John Linden seemed absorbed in thought.
+
+"I do not doubt your affection," he said; "and I have shown it by
+making you my joint heirs in the event of your marriage; but it is
+only fair to say that my property goes to my boy, if he still lives."
+
+"But, sir," protested Curtis, "is not that likely to create
+unnecessary trouble? It can never be known, and meanwhile----"
+
+"You and Florence will hold the property in trust."
+
+"Have you so specified in your will?" asked Curtis.
+
+"I have made two wills. Both are in yonder secretary. By the first the
+property is bequeathed to you and Florence. By the second and later,
+it goes to my lost boy in the event of his recovery. Of course, you
+and Florence are not forgotten, but the bulk of the property goes to
+Harvey."
+
+"I sincerely wish the boy might be restored to you," said Curtis; but
+his tone belied his words. "Believe me, the loss of the property would
+affect me little, if you could be made happy by realizing your warmest
+desire; but, uncle, I think it only the part of a friend to point out
+to you, as I have already done, the baselessness of any such
+expectation."
+
+"It may be as you say, Curtis," said his uncle, with a sigh. "If I
+were thoroughly convinced of it, I would destroy the later will, and
+leave my property absolutely to you and Florence."
+
+"No, uncle," said Florence, impulsively, "make no change; let the will
+stand."
+
+Curtis, screened from his uncle's view, darted a glance of bitter
+indignation at Florence.
+
+"Is the girl mad?" he muttered to himself. "Must she forever balk me?"
+
+"Let it be so for the present, then," said Mr. Linden, wearily.
+"Curtis, will you ring the bell? I am tired, and shall retire to my
+couch early."
+
+"Let me help you, Uncle John," said Florence, eagerly.
+
+"It is too much for your strength, my child. I am growing more and
+more helpless."
+
+"I, too, can help," said Curtis.
+
+John Linden, supported on either side by his nephew and niece, left
+the room, and was assisted to his chamber.
+
+Curtis and Florence returned to the library.
+
+"Florence," said her cousin, "my uncle's intentions, as expressed
+to-night, make it desirable that there should be an understanding
+between us. Take a seat beside me"--leading her to a sofa--"and let
+us talk this matter over."
+
+With a gesture of repulsion Florence declined the proffered seat, and
+remained standing.
+
+"As you please," she answered, coldly.
+
+"Will you be seated?"
+
+"No; our interview will be brief."
+
+"Then I will come to the point. Uncle John wishes to see us united."
+
+"It can never be!" said Florence, decidedly.
+
+Curtis bit his lip in mortification, for her tone was cold and
+scornful.
+
+Mingled with this mortification was genuine regret, for, so far as he
+was capable of loving any one, he loved his fair young cousin.
+
+"You profess to love Uncle John, and yet you would disappoint his
+cherished hope!" he returned.
+
+"Is it his cherished hope?"
+
+"There is no doubt about it. He has spoken to me more than once on the
+subject. Feeling that his end is near, he wishes to leave you in
+charge of a protector."
+
+"I can protect myself," said Florence, proudly.
+
+"You think so. You do not consider the hapless lot of a penniless girl
+in a cold and selfish world."
+
+"Penniless?" repeated Florence, in an accent of surprise.
+
+"Yes, penniless. Our uncle's bequest to you is conditional upon your
+acceptance of my hand."
+
+"Has he said this?" asked Florence, sinking into an armchair, with a
+helpless look.
+
+"He has told me so more than once," returned Curtis, smoothly. "You
+don't know how near to his heart this marriage is. I know what you
+would say: If the property comes to me I could come to your
+assistance, but I am expressly prohibited from doing so. I have
+pleaded with my uncle in your behalf, but in vain."
+
+Florence was too clear-sighted not to penetrate his falsehood.
+
+"If my uncle's heart is hardened against me," she said, "I shall be
+too wise to turn to you. I am to understand, then, that my choice lies
+between poverty and a union with you?"
+
+"You have stated it correctly, Florence."
+
+"Then," said Florence, arising, "I will not hesitate. I shrink from
+poverty, for I have been reared in luxury, but I will sooner live in
+a hovel--"
+
+"Or a tenement house," interjected Curtis, with a sneer.
+
+"Yes, or a tenement house, than become the wife of one I loathe."
+
+"Girl, you shall bitterly repent that word!" said Curtis, stung to
+fury.
+
+She did not reply, but, pale and sorrowful, glided from the room to
+weep bitter tears in the seclusion of her chamber.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter II.
+A Stranger Visitor.
+
+
+Curtis Waring followed the retreating form of his cousin with a
+sardonic smile.
+
+"She is in the toils! She cannot escape me!" he muttered. "But"--and
+here his brow darkened--"it vexes me to see how she repels my
+advances, as if I were some loathsome thing! If only she would return
+my love--for I do love her, cold as she is--I should be happy. Can
+there be a rival? But no! we live so quietly that she has met no one
+who could win her affection. Why can she not turn to me? Surely, I am
+not so ill-favored, and though twice her age, I am still a young man.
+Nay, it is only a young girl's caprice. She shall yet come to my arms,
+a willing captive."
+
+His thoughts took a turn, as he arose from his seat, and walked over
+to the secretary.
+
+"So it is here that the two wills are deposited!" he said to himself;
+"one making me a rich man, the other a beggar! While the last is in
+existence I am not safe. The boy may be alive, and liable to turn up
+at any moment. If only he were dead--or the will destroyed----" Here
+he made a suggestive pause.
+
+He took a bunch of keys from his pocket, and tried one after another,
+but without success. He was so absorbed in his work that he did not
+notice the entrance of a dark-browed, broad-shouldered man, dressed in
+a shabby corduroy suit, till the intruder indulged in a short cough,
+intended to draw attention.
+
+Starting with guilty consciousness, Curtis turned sharply around, and
+his glance fell on the intruder.
+
+"Who are you?" he demanded, angrily. "And how dare you enter a
+gentleman's house unbidden?"
+
+"Are you the gentleman?" asked the intruder, with intentional
+insolence.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"You own this house?"
+
+"Not at present. It is my uncle's."
+
+"And that secretary--pardon my curiosity--is his?"
+
+"Yes; but what business is it of yours?"
+
+"Not much. Only it makes me laugh to see a gentleman picking a lock.
+You should leave such business to men like me!"
+
+"You are an insolent fellow!" said Curtis, more embarrassed than he
+liked to confess, for this rough-looking man had become possessed of a
+dangerous secret. "I am my uncle's confidential agent, and it was on
+business of his that I wished to open the desk."
+
+"Why not go to him for the key?"
+
+"Because he is sick. But, pshaw! why should I apologize or give any
+explanation to you? What can you know of him or me?"
+
+"More, perhaps, than you suspect," said the intruder, quietly.
+
+"Then, you know, perhaps, that I am my uncle's heir?"
+
+"Don't be too sure of that."
+
+"Look here, fellow," said Curtis, thoroughly provoked, "I don't know
+who you are nor what you mean, but let me inform you that your
+presence here is an intrusion, and the sooner you leave the house the
+better!"
+
+"I will leave it when I get ready."
+
+Curtis started to his feet, and advanced to his visitor with an air of
+menace.
+
+"Go at once," he exclaimed, angrily, "or I will kick you out of the
+door!"
+
+"What's the matter with the window?" returned the stranger, with an
+insolent leer.
+
+"That's as you prefer, but if you don't leave at once I will eject
+you."
+
+By way of reply, the rough visitor coolly seated himself in a
+luxurious easy-chair, and, looking up into the angry face of Waring,
+said:
+
+"Oh, no, you won't."
+
+"And why not, may I ask?" said Curtis, with a feeling of uneasiness
+for which he could not account.
+
+"Why not? Because, in that case, I should seek an interview with your
+uncle, and tell him----"
+
+"What?"
+
+"That his son still lives; and that I can restore him to his----"
+
+The face of Curtis Waring blanched; he staggered as if he had been
+struck; and he cried out, hoarsely:
+
+"It is a lie!"
+
+"It is the truth, begging your pardon. Do you mind my smoking?" and he
+coolly produced a common clay pipe, filled and lighted it.
+
+"Who are you?" asked Curtis, scanning the man's features with painful
+anxiety.
+
+"Have you forgotten Tim Bolton?"
+
+"Are you Tim Bolton?" faltered Curtis.
+
+"Yes; but you don't seem glad to see me?"
+
+"I thought you were----"
+
+"In Australia. So I was three years since. Then I got homesick, and
+came back to New York."
+
+"You have been here three years?"
+
+"Yes," chuckled Bolton. "You didn't suspect it, did you?"
+
+"Where?" asked Curtis, in a hollow voice.
+
+"I keep a saloon on the Bowery. There's my card. Call around when
+convenient."
+
+Curtis was about to throw the card into the grate, but on second
+thought dropped it into his pocket.
+
+"And the boy?" he asked, slowly.
+
+"Is alive and well. He hasn't been starved. Though I dare say you
+wouldn't have grieved if he had."
+
+"And he is actually in this city?"
+
+"Just so."
+
+"Does he know anything of--you know what I mean."
+
+"He doesn't know that he is the son of a rich man, and heir to the
+property which you look upon as yours. That's what you mean, isn't
+it?"
+
+"Yes. What is he doing? Is he at work?"
+
+"He helps me some in the saloon, sells papers in the evenings, and
+makes himself generally useful."
+
+"Has he any education?"
+
+"Well, I haven't sent him to boarding school or college," answered
+Tim. "He don't know no Greek, or Latin, or mathematics--phew, that's a
+hard word. You didn't tell me you wanted him made a scholar of."
+
+"I didn't. I wanted never to see or hear from him again. What made you
+bring him back to New York?"
+
+"Couldn't keep away, governor. I got homesick, I did. There ain't but
+one Bowery in the world, and I hankered after that----"
+
+"Didn't I pay you money to keep away, Tim Bolton?"
+
+"I don't deny it; but what's three thousand dollars? Why, the kid's
+cost me more than that. I've had the care of him for fourteen years,
+and it's only about two hundred a year."
+
+"You have broken your promise to me!" said Curtis, sternly.
+
+"There's worse things than breaking your promise," retorted Bolton.
+
+Scarcely had he spoken than a change came over his face, and he stared
+open-mouthed behind him and beyond Curtis.
+
+Startled himself, Curtis turned, and saw, with a feeling akin to
+dismay, the tall figure of his uncle standing on the threshold of the
+left portal, clad in a morning gown, with his eyes fixed inquiringly
+upon Bolton and himself.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter III.
+An Unholy Compact.
+
+
+"Who is that man, Curtis?" asked John Linden, pointing his thin finger
+at Tim Bolton, who looked strangely out of place, as, with clay pipe,
+he sat in the luxurious library on a sumptuous chair.
+
+"That man?" stammered Curtis, quite at a loss what to say.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"He is a poor man out of luck, who has applied to me for assistance,"
+answered Curtis, recovering his wits.
+
+"That's it, governor," said Bolton, thinking it necessary to confirm
+the statement. "I've got five small children at home almost starvin',
+your honor."
+
+"That is sad. What is your business, my man?"
+
+It was Bolton's turn to be embarrassed.
+
+"My business?" he repeated.
+
+"That is what I said."
+
+"I'm a blacksmith, but I'm willing to do any honest work."
+
+"That is commendable; but don't you know that it is very ill-bred to
+smoke a pipe in a gentleman's house?"
+
+"Excuse me, governor!"
+
+And Bolton extinguished his pipe, and put it away in a pocket of his
+corduroy coat.
+
+"I was just telling him the same thing," said Curtis. "Don't trouble
+yourself any further, uncle. I will inquire into the man's
+circumstances, and help him if I can."
+
+"Very well, Curtis. I came down because I thought I heard voices."
+
+John Linden slowly returned to his chamber, and left the two alone.
+
+"The governor's getting old," said Bolton. "When I was butler here,
+fifteen years ago, he looked like a young man. He didn't suspect that
+he had ever seen me before."
+
+"Nor that you had carried away his son, Bolton."
+
+"Who hired me to do it? Who put me up to the job, as far as that
+goes?"
+
+"Hush! Walls have ears. Let us return to business."
+
+"That suits me."
+
+"Look here, Tim Bolton," said Curtis, drawing up a chair, and lowering
+his voice to a confidential pitch, "you say you want money?"
+
+"Of course I do."
+
+"Well, I don't give money for nothing."
+
+"I know that. What's wanted now?"
+
+"You say the boy is alive?"
+
+"He's very much alive."
+
+"Is there any necessity for his living?" asked Curtis, in a sharp,
+hissing tone, fixing his eyes searchingly on Bolton, to see how his
+hint would be taken.
+
+"You mean that you want me to murder him?" said Bolton, quickly.
+
+"Why not? You don't look over scrupulous."
+
+"I am a bad man, I admit it," said Bolton, with a gesture of
+repugnance, "a thief, a low blackguard, perhaps, but, thank Heaven! I
+am no murderer! And if I was, I wouldn't spill a drop of that boy's
+blood for the fortune that is his by right."
+
+"I didn't give you credit for so much sentiment, Bolton," said Curtis,
+with a sneer. "You don't look like it, but appearances are deceitful.
+We'll drop the subject. You can serve me in another way. Can you open
+this secretary?"
+
+"Yes; that's in my line."
+
+"There is a paper in it that I want. It is my uncle's will. I have a
+curiosity to read it."
+
+"I understand. Well, I'm agreeable."
+
+"If you find any money or valuables, you are welcome to them. I only
+want the paper. When will you make the attempt?"
+
+"To-morrow night. When will it be safe?"
+
+"At eleven o'clock. We all retire early in this house. Can you force
+an entrance?"
+
+"Yes; but it will be better for you to leave the outer door unlocked."
+
+"I have a better plan. Here is my latchkey."
+
+"Good! I may not do the job myself, but I will see that it is done.
+How shall I know the will?"
+
+"It is in a big envelope, tied with a narrow tape. Probably it is
+inscribed: 'My will.'"
+
+"Suppose I succeed, when shall I see you?"
+
+"I will come around to your place on the Bowery. Good-night!"
+
+Curtis Waring saw Bolton to the door, and let him out. Returning, he
+flung himself on a sofa.
+
+"I can make that man useful!" he reflected. "There is an element of
+danger in the boy's presence in New York; but it will go hard if I
+can't get rid of him! Tim Bolton is unexpectedly squeamish, but there
+are others to whom I can apply. With gold everything is possible. It's
+time matters came to a finish. My uncle's health is rapidly failing--
+the doctor hints that he has heart disease--and the fortune for which
+I have been waiting so long will soon be mine, if I work my cards
+right. I can't afford to make any mistakes now."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IV.
+Florence.
+
+
+Florence Linden sat in the library the following evening in an
+attitude of depression. Her eyelids were swollen, and it was evident
+she had been weeping. During the day she had had an interview with her
+uncle, in which he harshly insisted upon her yielding to his wishes,
+and marrying her cousin, Curtis.
+
+"But, uncle," she objected, "I do not love him."
+
+"Marry him, and love will come."
+
+"Never!" she said, vehemently.
+
+"You speak confidently, miss," said Mr. Linden, with irritation.
+
+"Listen, Uncle John. It is not alone that I do not love him. I dislike
+him--I loathe--him."
+
+"Nonsense! that is a young girl's extravagant nonsense."
+
+"No, uncle."
+
+"There can be no reason for such a foolish dislike. What can you have
+against him?"
+
+"It is impressed upon me, uncle, that Curtis is a bad man. There is
+something false--treacherous--about him."
+
+"Pooh! child! you are more foolish than I thought. I don't say Curtis
+is an angel. No man is; at least, I never met any such. But he is no
+worse than the generality of men. In marrying him you will carry out
+my cherished wish. Florence, I have not long to live. I shall be glad
+to see you well established in life before I leave you. As the wife of
+Curtis you will have a recognized position. You will go on living in
+this house, and the old home will be maintained."
+
+"But why is it necessary for me to marry at all, Uncle John?"
+
+"You will be sure to marry some one. Should I divide my fortune
+between you and Curtis, you would become the prey of some unscrupulous
+fortune hunter."
+
+"Better that than become the wife of Curtis Waring----"
+
+"I see, you are incorrigible," said her uncle, angrily. "Do you refuse
+obedience to my wishes?"
+
+"Command me in anything else, Uncle John, and I will obey," pleaded
+Florence.
+
+"Indeed! You only thwart me in my cherished wish, but are willing to
+obey me in unimportant matters. You forget the debt you owe me."
+
+"I forget nothing, dear uncle. I do not forget that, when I was a poor
+little child, helpless and destitute, you took me in your arms, gave
+me a home, and have cared for me from that time to this as only a
+parent could."
+
+"You remember that, then?"
+
+"Yes, uncle. I hope you will not consider me wholly ungrateful."
+
+"It only makes matters worse. You own your obligations, yet refuse to
+make the only return I desire. You refuse to comfort me in the closing
+days of my life by marrying your cousin."
+
+"Because that so nearly concerns my happiness that no one has a right
+to ask me to sacrifice all I hold dear."
+
+"I see you are incorrigible," said John Linden, stormily. "Do you know
+what will be the consequences?"
+
+"I am prepared for all."
+
+"Then listen! If you persist in balking me, I shall leave the entire
+estate to Curtis."
+
+"Do with your money as you will, uncle. I have no claim to more than I
+have received."
+
+"You are right there; but that is not all."
+
+Florence fixed upon him a mute look of inquiry.
+
+"I will give you twenty-four hours more to come to your senses. Then,
+if you persist in your ingratitude and disobedience, you must find
+another home."
+
+"Oh, uncle, you do not mean that?" exclaimed Florence, deeply moved.
+
+"I do mean it, and I shall not allow your tears to move me. Not
+another word, for I will not hear it. Take twenty-four hours to think
+over what I have said."
+
+Florence bowed her head on her hands, and gave herself up to sorrowful
+thoughts. But she was interrupted by the entrance of the servant, who
+announced:
+
+"Mr. Percy de Brabazon."
+
+An effeminate-looking young man, foppishly dressed, followed the
+servant into the room, and made it impossible for Florence to deny
+herself, as she wished to do.
+
+"I hope I see you well, Miss Florence," he simpered.
+
+"Thank you, Mr. de Brabazon," said Florence, coldly. "I have a slight
+headache."
+
+"I am awfully sorry, I am, upon my word, Miss Florence. My doctor
+tells me it is only those whose bwains are vewy active that are
+troubled with headaches."
+
+"Then, I presume, Mr. de Brabazon," said Florence, with intentional
+sarcasm, "that you never have a headache."
+
+"Weally, Miss Florence, that is vewy clevah. You will have your joke."
+
+"It was no joke, I assure you, Mr. de Brabazon."
+
+"I--I thought it might be. Didn't I see you at the opewa last
+evening?"
+
+"Possibly. I was there."
+
+"I often go to the opewa. It's so--so fashionable, don't you know?"
+
+"Then you don't go to hear the music?"
+
+"Oh, of course, but one can't always be listening to the music, don't
+you know. I had a fwiend with me last evening--an Englishman--a
+charming fellow, I assure you. He's the second cousin of a lord, and
+yet--you'll hardly credit it--we're weally vewy intimate. He tells me,
+Miss Florence, that I'm the perfect image of his cousin, Lord Fitz
+Noodle."
+
+"I am not at all surprised."
+
+"Weally, you are vewy kind, Miss Florence. I thought it a great
+compliment. I don't know how it is, but evewybody takes me for an
+Englishman. Strange, isn't it?"
+
+"I am very glad."
+
+"May I ask why, Miss Florence?"
+
+"Because---- Well, perhaps I had better not explain. It seems to give
+you pleasure. You would, probably, prefer to be an Englishman."
+
+"I admit that I have a great admiration for the English character.
+It's a gweat pity we have no lords in America. Now, if you would only
+allow me to bring my English fwiend here----
+
+"I don't care to make any new acquaintances. Even if I did, I prefer
+my own countrymen. Don't you like America, Mr. de Brabazon?"
+
+"Oh, of courth, if we only had some lords here."
+
+"We have plenty of flunkeys."
+
+"That's awfully clevah, 'pon my word."
+
+"Is it? I am afraid you are too complimentary. You are very
+good-natured."
+
+"I always feel good-natured in your company, Miss Florence. I--wish I
+could always be with you."
+
+"Really! Wouldn't that be a trifle monotonous?" asked Florence,
+sarcastically.
+
+"Not if we were married," said Percy, boldly breaking the ice.
+
+"What do you mean, Mr. de Brabazon?"
+
+"I hope you will excuse me, Miss Florence--Miss Linden, I mean; but
+I'm awfully in love with you, and have been ever so long--but I never
+dared to tell you so. I felt so nervous, don't you know? Will you
+marry me? I'll be awfully obliged if you will."
+
+Mr. de Brabazon rather awkwardly slipped from his chair, and sank on
+one knee before Florence.
+
+"Please arise, Mr. de Brabazon," said Florence, hurriedly. "It is
+quite out of the question--what you ask--I assure you."
+
+"Ah! I see how it is," said Percy, clasping his hands sadly. "You love
+another."
+
+"Not that I am aware of."
+
+"Then I may still hope?"
+
+"I cannot encourage you, Mr. de Brabazon. My heart is free, but it can
+never be yours."
+
+"Then," said Percy, gloomily, "there is only one thing for me to do."
+
+"What is that?"
+
+"I shall go to the Bwooklyn Bwidge, climb to the parapet, jump into
+the water, and end my misewable life."
+
+"You had better think twice before adopting such a desperate
+resolution, Mr. de Brabazon. You will meet others who will be kinder
+to you than I have been----"
+
+"I can never love another. My heart is broken. Farewell, cruel girl.
+When you read the papers tomorrow morning, think of the unhappy Percy
+de Brabazon!"
+
+Mr. de Brabazon folded his arms gloomily, and stalked out of the room.
+
+"If my position were not so sad, I should be tempted to smile," said
+Florence. "Mr. de Brabazon will not do this thing. His emotions are as
+strong as those of a butterfly."
+
+After a brief pause Florence seated herself at the table, and drew
+toward her writing materials.
+
+"It is I whose heart should be broken!" she murmured; "I who am driven
+from the only home I have ever known. What can have turned against me
+my uncle, usually so kind and considerate? It must be that Curtis has
+exerted a baneful influence upon him. I cannot leave him without one
+word of farewell."
+
+She took up a sheet of paper, and wrote, rapidly:
+
+    "Dear Uncle: You have told me to leave your house, and I
+    obey. I cannot tell you how sad I feel, when I reflect that I
+    have lost your love, and must go forth among strangers--I
+    know not where. I was but a little girl when you gave me a
+    home. I have grown up in an atmosphere of love, and I have
+    felt very grateful to you for all you have done for me. I
+    have tried to conform to your wishes, and I would obey you in
+    all else--but I cannot marry Curtis; I think I would rather
+    die. Let me still live with you as I have done. I do not care
+    for any part of your money--leave it all to him, if you think
+    best--but give me back my place in your heart. You are angry
+    now, but you will some time pity and forgive your poor
+    Florence, who will never cease to bless and pray for you.
+    Good-bye!
+
+                                                 "Florence."
+
+She was about to sign herself Florence Linden, but reflected that she
+was no longer entitled to use a name which would seem to carry with it
+a claim upon her uncle.
+
+The tears fell upon the paper as she was writing, but she heeded them
+not. It was the saddest hour of her life. Hitherto she had been
+shielded from all sorrow, and secure in the affection of her uncle,
+had never dreamed that there would come a time when she would feel
+obliged to leave all behind her, and go out into the world, friendless
+and penniless, but poorest of all in the loss of that love which she
+had hitherto enjoyed.
+
+After completing the note, Florence let her head fall upon the table,
+and sobbed herself to sleep.
+
+An hour and a half passed, the servant looked in, but noticing that
+her mistress was sleeping, contented herself with lowering the gas,
+but refrained from waking her.
+
+And so she slept on till the French clock upon the mantle struck
+eleven.
+
+Five minutes later and the door of the room slowly opened, and a boy
+entered on tiptoe. He was roughly dressed. His figure was manly and
+vigorous, and despite his stealthy step and suspicious movements his
+face was prepossessing.
+
+He started when he saw Florence.
+
+"What, a sleeping gal!" he said to himself. "Tim told me I'd find the
+coast clear, but I guess she's sound asleep, and won't hear nothing. I
+don't half like this job, but I've got to do as Tim told me. He says
+he's my father, so I s'pose it's all right. All the same, I shall be
+nabbed some day, and then the family'll be disgraced. It's a queer
+life I've led ever since I can remember. Sometimes I feel like leaving
+Tim, and settin' up for myself. I wonder how 'twould seem to be
+respectable."
+
+The boy approached the secretary, and with some tools he had brought
+essayed to open it. After a brief delay he succeeded, and lifted the
+cover. He was about to explore it, according to Tim's directions, when
+he heard a cry of fear, and turning swiftly saw Florence, her eyes
+dilated with terror, gazing at him.
+
+"Who are you?" she asked in alarm, "and what are you doing there?"
+
+
+
+
+Chapter V.
+Dodger.
+
+
+The boy sprang to the side of Florence, and siezed her wrists in his
+strong young grasp.
+
+"Don't you alarm the house," he said, "or I'll----"
+
+"What will you do?" gasped Florence, in alarm. The boy was evidently
+softened by her beauty, and answered in a tone of hesitation:
+
+"I don't know. I won't harm you if you keep quiet."
+
+"What are you here for?" asked Florence, fixing her eyes on the boy's
+face; "are you a thief?"
+
+"I don't know--yes, I suppose I am."
+
+"How sad, when you are so young."
+
+"What! miss, do you pity me?"
+
+"Yes, my poor boy, you must be very poor, or you wouldn't bring
+yourself to steal."
+
+"No. I ain't poor; leastways, I have enough to eat, and I have a place
+to sleep."
+
+"Then why don't you earn your living by honest means?"
+
+"I can't; I must obey orders."
+
+"Whose orders?"
+
+"Why, the guv'nor's, to be sure."
+
+"Did he tell you to open that secretary?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Who is the guv'nor, as you call him?"
+
+"I can't tell; it wouldn't be square."
+
+"He must be a very wicked man."
+
+"Well, he ain't exactly what you call an angel, but I've seen wuss men
+than the guv'nor."
+
+"Do you mind telling me your own name?"
+
+"No; for I know you won't peach on me. Tom Dodger."
+
+"Dodger?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"That isn't a surname."
+
+"It's all I've got. That's what I'm always called."
+
+"It is very singular," said Florence, fixing a glance of mingled
+curiosity and perplexity upon the young visitor.
+
+While the two were earnestly conversing in that subdued light,
+afforded by the lowered gaslight, Tim Bolton crept in through the door
+unobserved by either, tiptoed across the room to the secretary,
+snatched the will and a roll of bills, and escaped without attracting
+attention.
+
+"Oh, I wish I could persuade you to give up this bad life," resumed
+Florence, earnestly, "and become honest."
+
+"Do you really care what becomes of me, miss?" asked Dodger, slowly.
+
+"I do, indeed."
+
+"That's very kind of you, miss; but I don't understand it. You are a
+rich young lady, and I'm only a poor boy, livin' in a Bowery dive."
+
+"What's that?"
+
+"Never mind, miss, such as you wouldn't understand. Why, all my life
+I've lived with thieves, and drunkards, and bunco men, and----"
+
+"But I'm sure you don't like it. You are fit for something better."
+
+"Do you really think so?" asked Dodger, doubtfullly.
+
+"Yes; you have a good face. You were meant to be good and honest, I am
+sure."
+
+"Would you trust me?" asked the boy, earnestly, fixing his large, dark
+eyes eloquently on the face of Florence.
+
+"Yes, I would if you would only leave your evil companions, and become
+true to your better nature."
+
+"No one ever spoke to me like that before, miss," said Dodger, his
+expressive features showing that he was strongly moved. "You think I
+could be good if I tried hard, and grow up respectable?"
+
+"I am sure you could," said Florence, confidently.
+
+There was something in this boy, young outlaw though he was, that
+moved her powerfully, and even fascinated her, though she hardly
+realized it. It was something more than a feeling of compassion for a
+wayward and misguided youth.
+
+"I could if I was rich like you, and lived in a nice house, and
+'sociated with swells. If you had a father like mine----"
+
+"Is he a bad man?"
+
+"Well, he don't belong to the church. He keeps a gin mill, and has
+ever since I was a kid."
+
+"Have you always lived with him?"
+
+"Yes, but not in New York."
+
+"Where then?"
+
+"In Melbourne."
+
+"That's in Australia."
+
+"Yes, miss."
+
+"How long since you came to New York?"
+
+"I guess it's about three years."
+
+"And you have always had this man as a guardian? Poor boy!"
+
+"You've got a different father from me, miss?"
+
+Tears forced themselves to the eyes of Florence, as this remark
+brought forcibly to her mind the position in which she was placed.
+
+"Alas!" she answered, impulsively, "I am alone in the world!"
+
+"What! ain't the old gentleman that lives here your father?"
+
+"He is my uncle; but he is very, very angry with me, and has this very
+day ordered me to leave the house."
+
+"Why, what a cantankerous old ruffian he is, to be sure!" exclaimed
+the boy, indignantly.
+
+"Hush! you must not talk against my uncle. He has always been kind to
+me till now."
+
+"Why, what's up? What's the old gentleman mad about?"
+
+"He wants me to marry my cousin Curtis--a man I do not even like."
+
+"That's a shame! Is it the dude I saw come out of the house a little
+while ago?"
+
+"Oh, no; that's a different gentleman. It's Mr. de Brabazon."
+
+"You don't want to marry him, do you?"
+
+"No, no!"
+
+"I'm glad of that. He don't look as if he knew enough to come in when
+it rained."
+
+"The poor young man is not very brilliant, but I think I would rather
+marry him than Curtis Waring."
+
+"I've seen him, too. He's got dark hair and a dark complexion, and a
+wicked look in his eye."
+
+"You, too, have noticed that?"
+
+"I've seen such as him before. He's a bad man."
+
+"Do you know anything about him?" asked Florence, eagerly.
+
+"Only his looks."
+
+"I am not deceived," murmured Florence, "it's not wholly prejudice.
+The boy distrusts him, too. So you see, Dodger," she added, aloud, "I
+am not a rich young lady, as you suppose. I must leave this house, and
+work for my living. I have no home any more."
+
+"If you have no home," said Dodger, impulsively, "come home with me."
+
+"To the home you have described, my poor boy? How could I do that?"
+
+"No; I will hire a room for you in a quiet street, and you shall be my
+sister. I will work for you, and give you my money."
+
+"You are kind, and I am glad to think I have found a friend when I
+need one most. But I could not accept stolen money. It would be as bad
+as if I, too, were a thief."
+
+"I am not a thief! That is, I won't be any more."
+
+"And you will give up your plan of robbing my uncle?"
+
+"Yes, I will; though I don't know what my guv'nor will say. He'll half
+murder me, I expect. He'll be sure to cut up rough."
+
+"Do right, Dodger, whatever happens. Promise me that you will never
+steal again?"
+
+"There's my hand, miss--I promise. Nobody ever talked to me like you.
+I never thought much about bein' respectable, and growin' up to be
+somebody, but if you take an interest in me, I'll try hard to do
+right."
+
+At this moment, Mr. Linden, clad in a long morning gown, and holding a
+candle in his hand, entered the room, and started in astonishment when
+he saw Florence clasping the hand of one whose appearance led him to
+stamp as a young rough.
+
+"Shameless girl!" he exclaimed, in stern reproof. "So this is the
+company you keep when you think I am out of the way!"
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VI.
+A Tempest.
+
+
+The charge was so strange and unexpected that Florence was
+overwhelmed. She could only murmur:
+
+"Oh, uncle!"
+
+Her young companion was indignant. Already he felt that Florence had
+consented to accept him as a friend, and he was resolved to stand by
+her.
+
+"I say, old man," he bristled up, "don't you go to insult her! She's
+an angel!"
+
+"No doubt you think so," rejoined Mr. Linden, in a tone of sarcasm.
+"Upon my word, miss, I congratulate you on your elevated taste. So
+this is your reason for not being willing to marry your Cousin
+Curtis?"
+
+"Indeed, uncle, you are mistaken. I never met this boy till to-night."
+
+"Don't try to deceive me. Young man, did you open my secretary?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"And robbed it into the bargain," continued Linden, going to the
+secretary, and examining it. He did not, however, miss the will, but
+only the roll of bills. "Give me back the money you have taken from
+me, you young rascal!"
+
+"I took nothing, sir."
+
+"It's a lie! The money is gone, and no one else could have taken it."
+
+"I don't allow no one to call me a liar. Just take that back, old man,
+or I----"
+
+"Indeed, uncle, he took nothing, for he had only just opened the
+secretary when I woke up and spoke to him."
+
+"You stand by him, of course, shameless girl! I blush to think that
+you are my niece. I am glad to think that my eyes are opened before it
+is too late."
+
+The old merchant rang the bell violently, and aroused the house.
+Dodger made no attempt to escape, but stood beside Florence in the
+attitude of a protector. But a short time elapsed before Curtis Waring
+and the servants entered the room, and gazed with wonder at the
+_tableau_ presented by the excited old man and the two young people.
+
+"My friends," said John Linden, in a tone of excitement, "I call you
+to witness that this girl, whom I blush to acknowledge as my niece,
+has proved herself unworthy of my kindness. In your presence I cut her
+off, and bid her never again darken my door."
+
+"But what has she done, uncle?" asked Curtis. He was prepared for the
+presence of Dodger, whom he rightly concluded to be the agent of Tim
+Bolton, but he could not understand why Florence should be in the
+library at this late hour. Nor was he able to understand the evidently
+friendly relations between her and the young visitor.
+
+"What has she done?" repeated John Linden. "She has introduced that
+young ruffian into the house to rob me. Look at that secretary! He has
+forced it open, and stolen a large sum of money."
+
+"It is not true, sir," said Dodger, calmly, "about taking the money, I
+mean. I haven't taken a cent."
+
+"Then why did you open the secretary?"
+
+"I did mean to take money, but she stopped me."
+
+"Oh, she stopped you?" repeated Linden, with withering sarcasm. "Then,
+perhaps, you will tell me where the money is gone?"
+
+"He hasn't discovered about the will," thought Curtis, congratulating
+himself; "if the boy has it, I must manage to give him a chance to
+escape."
+
+"You can search me if you want to," continued Dodger, proudly. "You
+won't find no money on me."
+
+"Do you think I am a fool, you young burglar?" exclaimed John Linden,
+angrily.
+
+"Uncle, let me speak to the boy," said Curtis, soothingly. "I think he
+will tell me."
+
+"As you like, Curtis; but I am convinced that he is a thief."
+
+Curtis Waring beckoned Dodger into an adjoining room.
+
+"Now, my boy," he said, smoothly, "give me what you took from the
+secretary, and I will see that you are not arrested."
+
+"But, sir, I didn't take nothing--it's just as I told the old duffer.
+The girl waked up just as I'd got the secretary open, and I didn't
+have a chance."
+
+"But the money is gone," said Curtis, in an incredulous tone.
+
+"I don't know nothing about that."
+
+"Come, you'd better examine your pockets. In the hurry of the moment
+you may have taken it without knowing it."
+
+"No, I couldn't."
+
+"Didn't you take a paper of any kind?" asked Curtis, eagerly.
+"Sometimes papers are of more value than money."
+
+"No, I didn't take no paper, though Tim told me to."
+
+Curtis quietly ignored the allusion to Tim, for it did not suit his
+purpose to get Tim into trouble. His unscrupulous agent knew too much
+that would compromise his principal.
+
+"Are you willing that I should examine you?"
+
+"Yes, I am. Go ahead."
+
+Curtis thrust his hand into the pockets of the boy, who, boy as he
+was, was as tall as himself, but was not repaid by the discovery of
+anything. He was very much perplexed.
+
+"Didn't you throw the articles on the floor?" he demanded,
+suspiciously.
+
+"No, I didn't."
+
+"You didn't give them to the young lady?"
+
+"No; if I had she'd have said so."
+
+"Humph! this is strange. What is your name?"
+
+"Dodger."
+
+"That's a queer name; have you no other?"
+
+"Not as I know of."
+
+"With whom do you live?"
+
+"With my father. Leastways, he says he's my father."
+
+There was a growing suspicion in the mind of Curtis Waring. He scanned
+the boy's features with attention. Could this ill-dressed boy--a
+street boy in appearance--be his long-lost and deeply wronged cousin?
+
+"Who is it that says he is your father?" he demanded, abruptly.
+
+"Do you want to get him into trouble?"
+
+"No, I don't want to get him into trouble, or you either. Better tell
+me all, and I will be your friend."
+
+"You're a better sort than I thought at first," said Dodger. "The man
+I live with is called Tim Bolton."
+
+"I though so," quickly ejaculated Curtis. He had scarcely got out the
+words before he was sensible that he had made a mistake.
+
+"What! do you know Tim?" inquired Dodger, in surprise.
+
+"I mean," replied Curtis, lamely, "that I have heard of this man
+Bolton. He keeps a saloon on the Bowery, doesn't he?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I thought you would be living with some such man. Did he come to the
+house with you tonight?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Where is he?"
+
+"He stayed outside."
+
+"Perhaps he is there now."
+
+"Don't you go to having him arrested," said Dodger, suspiciously.
+
+"I will keep my promise. Are you sure you didn't pass out the paper
+and the money to him? Think now."
+
+"No, I didn't. I didn't have a chance. When I came into the room
+yonder I saw the gal asleep, and I thought she wouldn't hear me, but
+when I got the desk open she spoke to me, and asked me what I was
+doin'."
+
+"And you took nothing?"
+
+"No."
+
+"It seems very strange. I cannot understand it. Yet my uncle says the
+money is gone. Did anyone else enter the room while you were talking
+with Miss Linden?"
+
+"I didn't see any one."
+
+"What were you talking about?"
+
+"She said the old man wanted her to marry you, and she didn't want
+to."
+
+"She told you that?" exclaimed Curtis, in displeasure.
+
+"Yes, she did. She said she'd rather marry the dude that was here
+early this evenin'."
+
+"Mr. de Brabazon!"
+
+"Yes, that's the name."
+
+"Upon my word, she was very confidential. You are a queer person for
+her to select as a confidant."
+
+"Maybe so, sir; but she knows I'm her friend."
+
+"You like the young lady, then? Perhaps you would like to marry her
+yourself?"
+
+"As if she'd take any notice of a poor boy like me. I told her if her
+uncle sent her away, I'd take care of her and be a brother to her."
+
+"How would Mr. Tim Bolton--that's his name, isn't it?--like that?"
+
+"I wouldn't take her to where he lives."
+
+"I think, myself, it would hardly be a suitable home for a young lady
+brought up on Madison Avenue. There is certainly no accounting for
+tastes. Miss Florence----"
+
+"That's her name, is it?"
+
+"Yes; didn't she tell you?"
+
+"No; but it's a nice name."
+
+"She declines my hand, and accepts your protection. It will certainly
+be a proud distinction to become Mrs. Dodger."
+
+"Don't laugh at her!" said Dodger, suspiciously.
+
+"I don't propose to. But I think we may as well return to the
+library."
+
+"Well," said Mr. Linden, as his nephew returned with Dodger.
+
+"I have examined the boy, and found nothing on his person," said
+Curtis; "I confess I am puzzled. He appears to have a high admiration
+for Florence----"
+
+"As I supposed."
+
+"She has even confided to him her dislike for me, and he has offered
+her his protection."
+
+"Is this so, miss?" demanded Mr. Linden, sternly.
+
+"Yes, uncle," faltered Florence.
+
+"Then you can join the young person you have selected whenever you
+please. For your sake I will not have him arrested for attempted
+burglary. He is welcome to what he has taken, since he is likely to
+marry into the family. You may stay here to-night, and he can call for
+you in the morning."
+
+John Linden closed the secretary, and left the room, leaving Florence
+sobbing. The servants, too, retired, and Curtis was left alone with
+her.
+
+"Florence," he said, "accept my hand, and I will reconcile my uncle to
+you. Say but the word, and----"
+
+"I can never speak it, Curtis! I will take my uncle at his word.
+Dodger, call for me to-morrow at eight, and I will accept your
+friendly services in finding me a new home."
+
+"I'll be on hand, miss. Good-night!"
+
+"Be it so, obstinate girl!" said Curtis, angrily. "The time will come
+when you will bitterly repent your mad decision."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VII.
+Florence Leaves Home.
+
+
+Florence passed a sleepless night. It had come upon her so suddenly,
+this expulsion from the home of her childhood, that she could not
+fully realize it. She could not feel that she was taking her last look
+at the familiar room, and well-remembered dining-room, where she had
+sat down for the last time for breakfast. She was alone at the
+breakfast table, for the usual hour was half-past eight, and she had
+appointed Dodger to call for her at eight.
+
+"Is it true, Miss Florence, that you're going away?" asked Jane, the
+warm-hearted table girl, as she waited upon Florence.
+
+"Yes, Jane," answered Florence, sadly.
+
+"It's a shame, so it is! I didn't think your uncle would be so
+hard-hearted."
+
+"He is disappointed because I won't marry my Cousin Curtis."
+
+"I don't blame you for it, miss. I never liked Mr. Waring. He isn't
+half good enough for you."
+
+"I say nothing about that, Jane; but I will not marry a man I do not
+love."
+
+"Nor would I, miss. Where are you going, if I may make so bold?"
+
+"I don't know, Jane," said Florence, despondently.
+
+"But you can't walk about the streets."
+
+"A trusty friend is going to call for me at eight o'clock; when he
+comes admit him."
+
+"It is a--a young gentleman?"
+
+"You wouldn't call him such. He is a boy, a poor boy; but I think he
+is a true friend. He says he will find me a comfortable room
+somewhere, where I can settle down and look for work."
+
+"Are you going to work for a living, Miss Florence?" asked Jane,
+horrified.
+
+"I must, Jane."
+
+"It's a great shame--you, a lady born."
+
+"No, Jane, I do not look upon it in that light. I shall be happier for
+having my mind and my hands occupied."
+
+"What work will you do?"
+
+"I don't know yet. Dodger will advise me."
+
+"Who, miss?"
+
+"Dodger."
+
+"Who is he?"
+
+"It's the boy I spoke of."
+
+"Shure, he's got a quare name."
+
+"Yes; but names don't count for much. It's the heart I think of, and
+this boy has a kind heart."
+
+"Have you known him long?"
+
+"I saw him yesterday for the first time."
+
+"Is it the young fellow who was here last night?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"He isn't fit company for the likes of you, Miss Florence."
+
+"You forget, Jane, that I am no longer a rich young lady. I am poorer
+than even you. This Dodger is kind, and I feel that I can trust him."
+
+"If you are poor, Miss Florence," said Jane, hesitatingly, "would you
+mind borrowing some money of me? I've got ten dollars upstairs in my
+trunk, and I don't need it at all. It's proud I'll be to lend it to
+you."
+
+"Thank you, Jane," said Florence, gratefully. "I thought I had but one
+friend. I find I have two----"
+
+"Then you'll take the money? I'll go right up and get it."
+
+"No, Jane; not at present. I have twenty dollars in my purse, and it
+will last me till I can earn more."
+
+"But, miss, twenty dollars will soon go," said Jane, disappointed.
+
+"If I find that I need the sum you so kindly offer me, I will let you
+know, I promise that."
+
+"Thank you, miss."
+
+At this point a bell rang from above.
+
+"It's from Mr. Curtis' room," said Jane.
+
+"Go and see what he wants."
+
+Jane returned in a brief time with a note in her hand.
+
+"Mr. Curtis asked me if you were still here," she explained, "and when
+I told him you were he asked me to give you this."
+
+Florence took the note, and, opening it, read these lines:
+
+    "Florence: Now that you have had time to think over your plan
+    of leaving your old home, I hope you have come to see how
+    foolish it is. Reflect that, if carried out, a life of
+    poverty and squalid wretchedness amid homely and uncongenial
+    surroundings awaits you; while, as my wife, you will live a
+    life of luxury and high social position. There are many young
+    ladies who would be glad to accept the chance which you so
+    recklessly reject. By accepting my hand you will gratify our
+    excellent uncle, and make me the happiest of mortals. You
+    will acquit me of mercenary motives, since you are now
+    penniless, and your disobedience leaves me sole heir to Uncle
+    John. I love you, and it will be my chief object, if you will
+    permit it, to make you happy.
+
+                                                 "Curtis Waring."
+
+Florence ran her eyes rapidly over this note, but her heart did not
+respond, and her resolution was not shaken.
+
+"Tell Mr. Waring there is no answer, Jane, if he inquires," she said.
+
+"Was he tryin' to wheedle you into marryin' him?" asked Jane.
+
+"He wished me to change my decision."
+
+"I'm glad you've given him the bounce," said Jane, whose expressions
+were not always refined. "I wouldn't marry him myself."
+
+Florence smiled. Jane was red haired, and her nose was what is
+euphemistically called _retrousse_. Even in her own circles she was
+not regarded as beautiful, and was hardly likely to lead a rich man to
+overlook her humble station, and sue for her hand.
+
+"Then, Jane, you at least will not blame me for refusing my cousin's
+hand?"
+
+"That I won't, miss. Do you know, Miss Florence"--and here Jane
+lowered her voice--"I've a suspicion that Mr. Curtis is married
+already?"
+
+"What do you mean, Jane?" asked Florence, startled.
+
+"There was a poor young woman called here last month and inquired for
+Mr. Curtis. She was very sorrowful-like, and poorly dressed. He came
+up when she was at the door, and he spoke harshlike, and told her to
+walk away with him. What they said I couldn't hear, but I've a
+suspicion that she was married to him, secretlike for I saw a wedding
+ring upon her finger."
+
+"But, Jane, it would be base and infamous for him to ask for my hand
+when he was already married."
+
+"I can't help it, miss. That's just what he wouldn't mind doin'. Oh,
+he's a sly deceiver, Mr. Curtis. I'd like to see him foolin' around
+me."
+
+Jane nodded her head with emphasis, as if to intimate the kind of
+reception Curtis Waring would get if he attempted to trifle with her
+virgin affections.
+
+"I hope what you suspect is not true," said Florence, gravely. "I do
+not like or respect Curtis, but I don't like to think he would be so
+base as that. If you ever see this young woman again, try to find out
+where she lives. I would like to make her acquaintance, and be a
+friend to her if she needs one."
+
+"Shure, Miss Florence, you will be needin' a friend yourself."
+
+"It is true, Jane. I forgot that I am no longer a young lady of
+fortune, but a penniless girl, obliged to work for a living."
+
+"What would your uncle say if he knew that Mr. Curtis had a wife?"
+
+"We don't know that he has one, and till we do, it would not be
+honorable to intimate such a thing to Uncle John."
+
+"Shure, he wouldn't be particular. It's all his fault that you're
+obliged to leave home, and go into the streets. Why couldn't he take
+no for an answer, and marry somebody else, if he can find anybody to
+have him?"
+
+"I wish, indeed, that he had fixed his affections elsewhere,"
+responded Florence, with a sigh.
+
+"Shure, he's twice as old as you, Miss Florence, anyway."
+
+"I shouldn't mind that so much, if that was the only objection."
+
+"It'll be a great deal better marryin' a young man."
+
+"I don't care to marry any one, Jane. I don't think I shall ever
+marry."
+
+"It's all very well to say that, Miss Florence. Lots of girls say so,
+but they change their minds. I don't mean to live out always myself."
+
+"Is there any young man you are interested in, Jane?"
+
+"Maybe there is, and maybe there isn't, Miss Florence. If I ever do
+get married I'll invite you to the wedding."
+
+"And I'll promise to come if I can. But I hear the bell. I think my
+friend Dodger has come."
+
+"Shall I ask him in, miss?"
+
+"No. Tell him I will be ready to accompany him at once."
+
+She went out into the hall, and when the door was opened the visitor
+proved to be Dodger. He had improved his appearance so far as his
+limited means would allow. His hands and face were thoroughly clean;
+he had bought a new collar and necktie; his shoes were polished, and
+despite his shabby suit, he looked quite respectable. Getting a full
+view of him, Florence saw that his face was frank and handsome, his
+eyes bright, and his teeth like pearls.
+
+"Shure, he's a great deal better lookin' than Mr. Curtis," whispered
+Jane. "Here, Mr. Dodger, take Miss Florence's valise, and mind you
+take good care of her."
+
+"I will," answered Dodger, heartily. "Come, Miss Florence, if you
+don't mind walking over to Fourth Avenue, we'll take the horse cars."
+
+So, under strange guidance, Florence Linden left her luxurious home,
+knowing not what awaited her. What haven of refuge she might find she
+knew not. She, like Dodger, was adrift in New York.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VIII.
+A Friendly Compact.
+
+
+Florence, as she stepped on the sidewalk, turned, and fixed a last sad
+look on the house that had been her home for so many years. She had
+never anticipated such a sundering of home ties, and even now she
+found it difficult to realize that the moment had come when her life
+was to be rent in twain, and the sunlight of prosperity was to be
+darkened and obscured by a gloomy and uncertain future.
+
+She had hastily packed a few indispensable articles in a valise which
+she carried in her hand.
+
+"Let me take your bag, Miss Florence," said Dodger, reaching out his
+hand.
+
+"I don't want to trouble you, Dodger."
+
+"It ain't no trouble, Miss Florence. I'm stronger than you, and it
+looks better for me to carry it."
+
+"You are very kind, Dodger. What would I do without you?"
+
+"There's plenty that would be glad of the chance of helping you," said
+Dodger, with a glance of admiration at the fair face of his companion.
+
+"I don't know where to find them," said Florence, sadly. "Even my
+uncle has turned against me."
+
+"He's an old chump!" ejaculated Dodger, in a tone of disgust.
+
+"Hush! I cannot hear a word against him. He has always been kind and
+considerate till now. It is the evil influence of my Cousin Curtis
+that has turned him against me. When he comes to himself I am sure he
+will regret his cruelty."
+
+"He would take you back if you would marry your cousin."
+
+"Yes; but that I will never do!" exclaimed Florence, with energy.
+
+"Bully for you!" said Dodger. "Excuse me," he said, apologetically. "I
+ain't used to talkin' to young ladies, and perhaps that ain't proper
+for me to say."
+
+"I don't mind, Dodger; your heart is in the right place."
+
+"Thank you, Miss Florence. I'm glad you've got confidence in me. I'll
+try to deserve it."
+
+"Where are we going?" asked the young lady, whose only thought up to
+this moment had been to get away from the presence of Curtis and his
+persecutions.
+
+They had now reached Fourth Avenue, and a surface car was close at
+hand.
+
+"We're going to get aboard that car," said Dodger, signaling with his
+free hand. "I'll tell you more when we're inside."
+
+Florence entered the car, and Dodger, following, took a seat at her
+side.
+
+They presented a noticeable contrast, for Florence was dressed as
+beseemed her station, while Dodger, in spite of his manly, attractive
+face, was roughly attired, and looked like a working boy.
+
+When the conductor came along, he drew out a dime, and tendered it in
+payment of the double fare. The money was in the conductor's hand
+before Florence was fully aware.
+
+"You must not pay for me, Dodger," she said.
+
+"Why not?" asked the boy. "Ain't we friends?"
+
+"Yes, but you have no money to spare. Here, let me return the money."
+
+And she offered him a dime from her own purse.
+
+"You can pay next time, Miss Florence. It's all right. Now, I'll tell
+you where we are goin'. A friend of mine, Mrs. O'Keefe, has a lodgin'
+house, just off the Bowery. I saw her last night, and she says she's
+got a good room that she can give you for two dollars a week--I don't
+know how much you'd be willing to pay, but----"
+
+"I can pay that for a time at least. I have a little money, and I must
+find some work to do soon. Is this Mrs. O'Keefe a nice lady?"
+
+"She ain't a lady at all," answered Dodger, bluntly. "She keeps an
+apple-stand near the corner of Bowery and Grand Street; but she's a
+good, respectable woman, and she's good-hearted. She'll be kind to
+you, and try to make things pleasant; but if you ain't satisfied----"
+
+"It will do for the present. Kindness is what I need, driven as I am
+from the home of my childhood. But you, Dodger, where do you live?"
+
+"I'm goin' to take a small room in the same house, Miss Florence."
+
+"I shall be glad to have you near me."
+
+"I am proud to hear you say that. I'm a poor boy, and you're a rich
+lady, but----"
+
+"Not rich, Dodger. I am as poor as yourself."
+
+"You're a reg'lar lady, anyway. You ain't one of my kind, but I'm
+going to improve and raise myself. I was readin' the other day of a
+rich man that was once a poor boy, and sold papers like me. But
+there's one thing in the way--I ain't got no eddication."
+
+"You can read and write, can't you, Dodger?"
+
+"Yes; I can read pretty well, but I can't write much."
+
+"I will teach you in the evenings, when we are both at leisure."
+
+"Will you?" asked the boy, with a glad smile. "You're very kind--I'd
+like a teacher like you."
+
+"Then it's a bargain, Dodger," and Florence's face for the first time
+lost its sad look, as she saw an opportunity of helping one who had
+befriended her. "But you must promise to study faithfully."
+
+"That I will. If I don't, I'll give you leave to lick me."
+
+"I shan't forget that," said Florence, amused. "I will buy a ruler of
+good hard wood, and then you must look out. But, tell me, where have
+you lived hitherto?"
+
+"I don't like to tell you, Miss Florence. I've lived ever since I was
+a kid with a man named Tim Bolton. He keeps a saloon on the Bowery,
+near Houston Street. It's a tough place, I tell you. I've got a bed in
+one corner--it's tucked away in a closet in the day."
+
+"I suppose it is a drinking saloon?"
+
+"Yes, that's what it is."
+
+"And kept open very late?"
+
+"Pretty much all night."
+
+"Is this Tim Bolton any relation of yours?"
+
+"He says he's my father; but I don't believe it."
+
+"Have you always lived with him?"
+
+"Ever since I was a small kid."
+
+"Have you always lived in New York?"
+
+"No; I was out in Australia. Tim was out in the country part of the
+time, and part of the time he kept a saloon in Melbourne. There was
+thieves and burglars used to come into his place. I knew what they
+were, though they didn't think I did."
+
+"How terrible for a boy to be subjected to such influences."
+
+"But I've made up my mind I won't live with Tim no longer. I can earn
+my own livin' sellin' papers, or smashin' baggage, and keep away from
+Tim. I'd have done it before if I'd had a friend like you to care for
+me."
+
+"We will stand by each other, Dodger. Heaven knows I need a friend,
+and if I can be a friend to you, and help you, I will."
+
+"We'll get out here, Miss Florence. I told Mrs. O'Keefe I'd call at
+her stand, and she'll go over and show you your room."
+
+They left the car at the corner of Grand Street, and Dodger led the
+way to an apple-stand, presided over by a lady of ample proportions,
+whose broad, Celtic face seemed to indicate alike shrewd good sense
+and a kindly spirit.
+
+"Mrs. O'Keefe," said Dodger, "this is the young lady I spoke to you
+about--Miss Florence Linden."
+
+"It's welcome you are, my dear, and I'm very glad to make your
+acquaintance. You look like a rale leddy, and I don't know how you'll
+like the room I've got for you."
+
+"I cannot afford to be particular, Mrs. O'Keefe. I have had a--a
+reverse of circumstances, and I must be content with an humble home."
+
+"Then I'll go over and show it to you. Here, Kitty, come and mind the
+stand," she called to a girl about thirteen across the street, "and
+don't let anybody steal the apples. Look out for Jimmy Mahone, he
+stole a couple of apples right under my nose this mornin', the young
+spalpeen!"
+
+As they were crossing the street, a boy of fourteen ran up to Dodger.
+
+"Dodger," said he, "you'd better go right over to Tim Bolton's. He's
+in an awful stew--says he'll skin you alive if you don't come to the
+s'loon right away."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IX.
+The New Home.
+
+
+"You can tell Tim Bolton," said Dodger, "that I don't intend to come
+back at all."
+
+"You don't mean it, Dodger?" said Ben Holt, incredulously.
+
+"Yes, I do. I'm going to set up for myself."
+
+"Oh, Dodger," said Florence, "I'm afraid you will get into trouble for
+my sake!"
+
+"Don't worry about that, Miss Florence. I'm old enough to take care of
+myself, and I've got tired of livin' with Tim."
+
+"But he may beat you!"
+
+"He'll have to get hold of me first."
+
+They had reached a four-story tenement of shabby brick, which was
+evidently well filled up by a miscellaneous crowd of tenants; shop
+girls, mechanics, laborers and widows, living by their daily toil.
+
+Florence had never visited this part of the city, and her heart sank
+within her as she followed Mrs. O'Keefe through a dirty hallway, up a
+rickety staircase, to the second floor.
+
+"One more flight of stairs, my dear," said Mrs. O'Keefe,
+encouragingly. "I've got four rooms upstairs; one of them is for you,
+and one for Dodger."
+
+Florence did not reply. She began to understand at what cost she had
+secured her freedom from a distasteful marriage.
+
+In her Madison Avenue home all the rooms were light, clean and
+luxuriously furnished. Here---- But words were inadequate to describe
+the contrast.
+
+Mrs. O'Keefe threw open the door of a back room about twelve feet
+square, furnished in the plainest manner, uncarpeted, except for a
+strip that was laid, like a rug, beside the bedstead.
+
+There was a washstand, with a mirror, twelve by fifteen inches, placed
+above it, a pine bureau, a couple of wooden chairs, and a cane-seated
+rocking-chair.
+
+"There, my dear, what do you say to that?" asked Mrs. O'Keefe,
+complacently. "All nice and comfortable as you would wish to see."
+
+"It is--very nice," said Florence, faintly, sacrificing truth to
+politeness.
+
+"And who do you think used to live here?" asked the apple-woman.
+
+"I'm sure I don't know."
+
+"The bearded woman in the dime museum," answered Mrs. O'Keefe, nodding
+her head. "She lived with me three months, and she furnished the room
+herself. When she went away she was hard up, and I bought the
+furniture of her cheap. You remember Madam Berger, don't you, Dodger?"
+
+"Oh, yes, I seen her often."
+
+"She got twenty-five dollars a week, and she'd ought to have saved
+money, but she had a good-for-nothin' husband that drank up all her
+hard earnin's."
+
+"I hope she didn't drink herself," said Florence, who shuddered at the
+idea of succeeding a drunken tenant.
+
+"Not a drop. She was a good, sober lady, if she did work in a dime
+museum. She only left here two weeks ago. It isn't every one I'd be
+willin' to take in her place, but I see you're a real leddy, let alone
+that Dodger recommends you. I hope you'll like the room, and I'll do
+all I can to make things pleasant. You can go into my room any hour,
+my dear, and do your little cookin' on my stove. I s'pose you'll do
+your own cookin'?"
+
+"Well, not just at present," faltered Florence. "I am afraid I don't
+know much about cooking."
+
+"You'll find it a deal cheaper, and it's more quiet and gentale than
+goin' to the eatin'-houses. I'll help you all I can, and glad to."
+
+"Thank you, Mrs. O'Keefe, you are very kind," said Florence,
+gratefully. "Perhaps just at first you wouldn't object to taking me as
+a boarder, and letting me take my meals with you. I don't think I
+would like to go to the eating-houses alone."
+
+"To be sure, my dear, if you wish it, and I'll be glad of your
+company. I'll make the terms satisfactory."
+
+"I have no doubt of that," said Florence, feeling very much relieved.
+
+"If I might be so bold, what kind of work are you going to do?"
+
+"I hardly know. It has come upon me so suddenly. I shall have to do
+something, for I haven't got much money. What I should like best would
+be to write----"
+
+"Is it for the papers you mean?"
+
+"Oh, no; I mean for some author or lawyer."
+
+"I don't know much about that," said Mrs. O'Keefe. "In fact, I don't
+mind tellin' you, my dear, that I can't write myself, but I earn a
+good livin' all the same by my apple-stand. I tell you, my dear," she
+continued in a confidential tone, "there is a good dale of profit in
+sellin' apples. It's better than sewin' or writin'. Of course, a young
+leddy like you wouldn't like to go into the business."
+
+Florence shook her head, with a smile.
+
+"No, Mrs. O'Keefe," she said. "I am afraid I haven't a business turn,
+and I should hardly like so public an employment."
+
+"Lor', miss, it's nothin' if you get used to it. There's nothin' dull
+about my business, unless it rains, and you get used to havin' people
+look at you."
+
+"It isn't all that are worth looking at like you, Mrs. O'Keefe," said
+Dodger, slyly.
+
+"Oh, go away wid your fun, Dodger," said the apple-woman,
+good-naturedly. "I ain't much to look at, I know."
+
+"I think there's a good deal of you to look at, Mrs. O'Keefe. You must
+weigh near three hundred."
+
+"I've a good mind to box your ears, Dodger. I only weigh a hundred and
+ninety-five. But I can't be bothered wid your jokes. Can you sew, Miss
+Florence?"
+
+"Yes; but I would rather earn my living some other way, if possible."
+
+"Small blame to you for that. I had a girl in Dodger's room last year
+who used to sew for a livin'. Early and late she worked, poor thing,
+and she couldn't make but two dollars a week."
+
+"How could she live?" asked Florence, startled, for she knew very
+little of the starvation wages paid to toiling women.
+
+"She didn't live. She just faded away, and it's my belief the poor
+thing didn't get enough to eat. Every day or two I'd make an excuse to
+take her in something from my own table, a plate of meat, or a bit of
+toast and a cup of tay, makin' belave she didn't get a chance to cook
+for herself, but she got thinner and thinner, and her poor cheeks got
+hollow, and she died in the hospital at last."
+
+The warm-hearted apple-woman wiped away a tear with the corner of her
+apron, as she thought of the poor girl whose sad fate she described.
+
+"You won't die of consumption, Mrs. O'Keefe," said Dodger. "It'll take
+a good while for you to fade away."
+
+"Hear him now," said the apple-woman, laughing. "He will have his
+joke, Miss Florence, but he's a good bye for all that, and I'm glad
+he's goin' to lave Tim Bolton, that ould thafe of the worruld."
+
+"Now, Mrs. O'Keefe, you know you'd marry Tim if he'd only ask you."
+
+"Marry him, is it? I'd lay my broom over his head if he had the
+impudence to ask me. When Maggie O'Keefe marries ag'in, she won't
+marry a man wid a red nose."
+
+"Break it gently to him, Mrs. O'Keefe. Tim is just the man to break
+his heart for love of you."
+
+Mrs. O'Keefe aimed a blow at Dodger, but he proved true to his name,
+and skillfully evaded it.
+
+"I must be goin'," he said. "I've got to work, or I can't pay room
+rent when the week comes round."
+
+"What are you going to do, Dodger?" asked Florence.
+
+"It isn't time for the evenin' papers yet, so I shall go 'round to the
+piers and see if I can't get a job at smashin' baggage."
+
+"But I shouldn't think any one would want to do that," said Florence,
+puzzled.
+
+"It's what we boys call it. It's just carryin' valises and bundles.
+Sometimes I show strangers the way to Broadway. Last week an old man
+paid me a dollar to show him the way to the Cooper Institute. He was a
+gentleman, he was. I'd like to meet him ag'in. Good-by, Miss Florence;
+I'll be back some time this afternoon."
+
+"And I must be goin', too," said Mrs. O'Keefe. "I can't depend on that
+Kitty; she's a wild slip of a girl, and just as like as not I'll find
+a dozen apples stole when I get back. I hope you won't feel lonely, my
+dear."
+
+"I think I will lie down a while," said Florence. "I have a headache."
+
+She threw herself on the bed, and a feeling of loneliness and
+desolation came over her.
+
+Her new friends were kind, but they could not make up to her for her
+uncle's love, so strangely lost, and the home she had left behind.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter X.
+The Arch Conspirator.
+
+
+In the house on Madison Avenue, Curtis Waring was left in possession
+of the field. Through his machinations Florence had been driven from
+home and disinherited.
+
+He was left sole heir to his uncle's large property with the prospect
+of soon succeeding, for though only fifty-four, John Linden looked at
+least ten years older, and was as feeble as many men past seventy.
+
+Yet, as Curtis seated himself at the breakfast table an hour after
+Florence had left the house, he looked far from happy or triumphant.
+
+One thing he had not succeeded in, the conquest of his cousin's heart.
+Though he loved himself best, he was really in love with Florence, so
+far as he was capable of being in love with any one.
+
+She was only half his age--scarcely that--but he persuaded himself
+that the match was in every way suitable.
+
+He liked to fancy her at the head of his table, after the death of his
+uncle, which he anticipated in a few months at latest.
+
+The more she appeared to dislike him, the more he determined to marry
+her, even against her will.
+
+She was the only one likely to inherit John Linden's wealth, and by
+marrying her he would make sure of it.
+
+Yet she had been willing to leave the home of her youth, to renounce
+luxury for a life of poverty, rather than to marry him.
+
+When he thought of this his face became set and its expression stern
+and determined.
+
+"Florence shall yet be mine," he declared, resolutely. "I will yet be
+master of her fate, and bend her to my will. Foolish girl, how dare
+she match her puny strength against the resolute will of Curtis
+Waring?"
+
+"Was there any one else whom she loved?" he asked himself, anxiously.
+No, he could think of none. On account of his uncle's chronic
+invalidism, they had neither gone into society, nor entertained
+visitors, and in the midst of a great city Florence and her uncle had
+practically led the lives of recluses.
+
+There had been no opportunity to meet young men who might have proved
+claimants for her hand.
+
+"When did Miss Florence leave the house, Jane?" he inquired, as he
+seated himself at the table.
+
+"Most an hour since," the girl answered, coldly, for she disliked
+Curtis as much as she loved and admired Florence.
+
+"It is sad, very sad that she should be so headstrong," said Curtis,
+with hypocritical sorrow.
+
+"It is sad for her to go away from her own uncle's house," returned
+Jane.
+
+"And very--very foolish."
+
+"I don't know about that, sir. She had her reasons," said Jane,
+significantly.
+
+Curtis coughed.
+
+He had no doubt that Florence had talked over the matter with her
+hand-maiden.
+
+"Did she say where she was going, Jane?" he asked.
+
+"I don't think the poor child knew herself, sir."
+
+"Did she go alone?"
+
+"No, sir; the boy that was here last night called for her."
+
+"That ragamuffin!" said Curtis, scornfully. "She certainly shows
+extraordinary taste for a young lady of family."
+
+"The boy seems a very kind and respectable boy," said Jane, who had
+been quite won by Dodger's kindness to her young mistress.
+
+"He may be respectable, though I am not so sure of that; but his
+position in life is very humble. He is probably a bootblack; a
+singular person to select for the friend of a girl like Florence."
+
+"There's them that stands higher that isn't half so good," retorted
+Jane, with more zeal than good grammar.
+
+"Did Miss Florence take a cab?"
+
+"No; she just walked."
+
+"But she took some clothing with her?"
+
+"She took a handbag--that is all. She will send for her trunk."
+
+"If you find out where she is living, just let me know, Jane."
+
+"I will if she is willing to have me," answered Jane, independently.
+
+"Look here, Jane," said Curtis, angrily, "don't forget that you are
+not her servant, but my uncle's. It is to him you look for wages, not
+to Miss Florence."
+
+"I don't need to be told that, sir. I know that well enough."
+
+"Then you know that it is to him that your faithful services are due,
+not to Florence?"
+
+"I'm faithful to both, Mr. Waring."
+
+"You are aware that my uncle is justly displeased with my cousin?"
+
+"I know he's displeased, but I am sure he has no good reason to be."
+
+Curtis Waring bit his lips. The girl, servant as she was, seemed to be
+openly defying him. His imperious temper could ill brook this.
+
+"Take care!" he said, with a frown. "You seem to be lacking in respect
+to me. You don't appear to understand my position in this house."
+
+"Oh, yes, I do. I know you have schemed to get my poor young mistress
+out of the house, and have succeeded."
+
+"I have a great mind to discharge you, girl," said Curtis, with
+lowering brow.
+
+"I am not your servant, sir. You have nothing to do with me."
+
+"You will see whether I have or not. I will let you remain for a time,
+as it is your attachment to Miss Florence that has made you forget
+yourself. You will find that it is for your interest to treat me
+respectfully."
+
+A feeble step was heard at the door, and John Linden entered the
+breakfast-room. His face was sad, and he heaved a sigh as he glanced
+mechanically at the head of the table, where Florence usually sat.
+
+Curtis Waring sprang to his feet, and placing himself at his uncle's
+side, led him to his seat.
+
+"How do you feel this morning, uncle?" he asked, with feigned
+solicitude.
+
+"Ill, Curtis. I didn't sleep well last night."
+
+"I don't wonder, sir. You had much to try you."
+
+"Is--is Florence here?"
+
+"No, sir," answered Jane, promptly. "She left the house an hour ago."
+
+A look of pain appeared on John Linden's pale face.
+
+"Did--did she leave a message for me?" he asked, slowly.
+
+"She asked me to bid you good-by for her," answered Jane, quickly.
+
+"Uncle, don't let yourself be disturbed now with painful thoughts. Eat
+your breakfast first, and then we will speak of Florence."
+
+John Linden ate a very light breakfast. He seemed to have lost his
+appetite and merely toyed with his food.
+
+When he arose from the table, Curtis supported him to the library.
+
+"It is very painful to me--this conduct of Florence's, Curtis," he
+said, as he sank into his armchair.
+
+"I understand it fully, uncle," said Curtis. "When I think of it, it
+makes me very angry with the misguided girl."
+
+"Perhaps I have been too harsh--too stern!"
+
+"You, uncle, too harsh! Why, you are the soul of gentleness. Florence
+has shown herself very ungrateful."
+
+"Yet, Curtis, I love that girl. Her mother seemed to live again in
+her. Have I not acted cruelly in requiring her to obey me or leave the
+house?"
+
+"You have acted only for good. You are seeking her happiness."
+
+"You really think this, Curtis?"
+
+"I am sure of it."
+
+"But how will it all end?" asked Linden, bending an anxious look upon
+his wily nephew.
+
+"By Florence yielding."
+
+"You are sure of that?"
+
+"Yes. Listen, uncle; Florence is only capricious, like most girls of
+her age. She foolishly desires to have her own way. It is nothing more
+serious, I can assure you."
+
+"But she has left the house. That seems to show that she is in
+earnest."
+
+"She thinks, uncle, that by doing so she can bend you to her wishes.
+She hasn't the slightest idea of any permanent separation. She is
+merely experimenting upon your weakness. She expects you will recall
+her in a week, at the latest. That is all of it."
+
+Like most weak men, it made Mr. Linden angry to have his strength
+doubted.
+
+"You think that?" he said.
+
+"I have no doubt of it."
+
+"She shall find that I am resolute," he said, irritably. "I will not
+recall her."
+
+"Bravo, uncle! Only stick to that, and she will yield unconditionally
+within a fortnight. A little patience, and you will carry your point.
+Then all will be smooth sailing."
+
+"I hope so, Curtis. Your words have cheered me. I will be patient. But
+I hope I shan't have to wait long. Where is the morning paper?"
+
+"I shall have to humor and deceive him," thought Curtis. "I shall have
+a difficult part to play, but I am sure to succeed at last."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XI.
+Florence Secures Employment.
+
+
+For a few days after being installed in her new home Florence was like
+one dazed.
+
+She could not settle her mind to any plan of self-support.
+
+She was too unhappy in her enforced exile from her home, and it
+saddened her to think that the uncle who had always been so kind was
+permanently estranged from her.
+
+Though Mrs. O'Keefe was kind, and Dodger was her faithful friend, she
+could not accustom herself to her poor surroundings.
+
+She had not supposed luxury so essential to her happiness.
+
+It was worse for her because she had nothing to do but give way to her
+morbid fancies.
+
+This Mrs. O'Keefe was clear-sighted enough to see.
+
+"I am sorry to see you so downcast like, my dear young lady," she
+said.
+
+"How can I help it, Mrs. O'Keefe?" returned Florence.
+
+"Try not to think of your wicked cousin, my dear."
+
+"It isn't of him that I think--it is of my uncle. How could he be so
+cruel, and turn against me after years of kindness?"
+
+"It's that wicked Curtis that is settin' him against you, take my word
+for it, Miss Florence. Shure, he must be wake-minded to let such a
+spalpeen set him against a swate young leddy like you."
+
+"He is weak in body, not in mind, Mrs. O'Keefe. You are right in
+thinking that it is Curtis that is the cause of my misfortune."
+
+"Your uncle will come to his right mind some day, never fear! And now,
+my dear, shall I give you a bit of advice?"
+
+"Go on, my kind friend. I will promise to consider whatever you say."
+
+"Then you'd better get some kind of work to take up your mind--a bit
+of sewin', or writin', or anything that comes to hand. I suppose you
+wouldn't want to mind my apple-stand a couple of hours every day?"
+
+"No," answered Florence. "I don't feel equal to that."
+
+"It would do you no end of good to be out in the open air. It would
+bring back the roses to your pale cheeks. If you coop yourself up in
+this dark room, you'll fade away and get thin."
+
+"You are right. I will make an effort and go out. Besides, I must see
+about work."
+
+Here Dodger entered the room in his usual breezy way. In his hand he
+brandished a morning paper.
+
+"How are you feelin', Florence?" he asked; he had given up saying Miss
+Florence at her request. "Here's an advertisement that'll maybe suit
+you."
+
+"Show it to me, Dodger," said Florence, beginning to show some
+interest.
+
+The boy directed her attention to the following advertisement:
+
+    "Wanted.--A governess for a girl of twelve. Must be a good
+    performer on the piano, and able to instruct in French and
+    the usual English branches. Terms must be moderate. Apply to
+    Mrs. Leighton, at 127 W. ---- Street."
+
+"There, Florence, what do you say to that? That's better than sewin'."
+
+"I don't know, Dodger, whether I am competent."
+
+"You play on the pianner, don't you?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well enough to teach?"
+
+"I think so; but I may not have the gift of teaching."
+
+"Yes, you have. Haven't you been teachin' me every evenin'? You make
+everything just as clear as mud--no, I don't mean that. You just
+explain so that I can't help understandin'."
+
+"Then," said Florence, "I suppose I am at liberty to refer to you."
+
+"Yes; you can tell the lady to call at the office of Dodger, Esq., any
+mornin' after sunrise, and he'll give her full particulars."
+
+Florence did not immediately decide to apply for the situation, but
+the more she thought of it the more she felt inclined to do so. The
+little experience she had had with Dodger satisfied her that she
+should enjoy teaching better than sewing or writing.
+
+Accordingly, an hour later, she put on her street dress and went
+uptown to the address given in the advertisement.
+
+No. 127 was a handsome brown-stone house, not unlike the one in which
+Florence had been accustomed to live. It was a refreshing contrast to
+the poor tenement in which she lived at present.
+
+"Is Mrs. Leighton at home?" inquired Florence. "Yes, miss," answered
+the servant, respectfully. "Whom shall I say?"
+
+"I have come to apply for the situation of governess," answered
+Florence, feeling rather awkward as she made the statement.
+
+"Ah," said the servant, with a perceptible decline in respect. "Won't
+you step in?"
+
+"Thank you."
+
+"Well, she do dress fine for a governess," said Nancy to herself.
+"It's likely she'll put on airs."
+
+The fact was that Florence was dressed according to her past social
+position--in a costly street attire--but it had never occurred to her
+that she was too well dressed for a governess.
+
+She took her seat in the drawing-room, and five minutes later there
+was a rustling heard, and Mrs. Leighton walked into the room.
+
+"Are you the applicant for the position of governess?" she asked,
+surveying the elegantly attired young lady seated on the sofa.
+
+"Yes, Mrs. Leighton," answered Florence, easily, for she felt more at
+home in a house like this than in the tenement.
+
+"Have you taught before?"
+
+"Very little," answered Florence, smiling to herself, as she wondered
+what Mrs. Leighton would say if she could see Dodger, the only pupil
+she ever had. "However, I like teaching, and I like children."
+
+"Pardon me, but you don't look like a governess, Miss----"
+
+"Linden," suggested Florence, filling out the sentence. "Do
+governesses have a peculiar look?"
+
+"I mean as to dress. You are more expensively dressed than the average
+governess can afford."
+
+"It is only lately that my circumstances required me to support
+myself. I should not be able to buy such a dress out of my present
+earnings."
+
+"I am glad to hear you say that, for I do not propose to give a large
+salary."
+
+"I do not expect one," said Florence, quietly. "You consider yourself
+competent to instruct in music, French and the English branches?"
+
+"Oh, yes."
+
+"Do you speak French?"
+
+"Yes, madam."
+
+"Would you favor me with a specimen of your piano playing?"
+
+There was a piano in the back parlor. Florence removed her gloves, and
+taking a seat before it, dashed into a spirited selection from
+Strauss.
+
+Mrs. Leighton listened with surprised approval.
+
+"Certainly you are a fine performer," she said. "What--if I should
+engage you--would you expect in the way of compensation?"
+
+"How much time would you expect me to give?"
+
+"Three hours daily--from nine to twelve."
+
+"I hardly know what to say. What did you expect to pay?"
+
+"About fifty cents an hour."
+
+Florence knew very well, from the sums that had been paid for her own
+education, that this was miserably small pay; but it was much more
+than she could earn by sewing.
+
+"I will teach a month on those terms," she said, after a pause.
+
+Mrs. Leighton looked well pleased. She knew that she was making a
+great bargain.
+
+"Oh, by the way," she said, "can you give references?"
+
+"I can refer you to Madam Morrison," naming the head of a celebrated
+female seminary. "She educated me."
+
+"That will be quite satisfactory," said Mrs. Leighton, graciously.
+"Can you begin to-morrow?"
+
+"Yes, madam."
+
+"You will then see your pupil. At present she is out."
+
+Florence bowed and withdrew.
+
+She had been afraid Mrs. Leighton would inquire where she lived, and
+she would hardly dare to name the humble street which she called home.
+
+She walked toward Fifth Avenue, when, just as she was turning the
+corner, she met Mr. Percy de Brabazon, swinging a slender cane, and
+dressed in the extreme of the fashion.
+
+"Miss Linden!" he exclaimed, eagerly. "This is--aw--indeed a pleasure.
+Where are you walking this fine morning? May I--aw--have the pleasure
+of accompanying you?"
+
+Florence stopped short in deep embarrassment.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XII.
+A Friend, Though A Dude.
+
+
+Percy de Brabazon looked sincerely glad to meet Florence, and she
+herself felt some pleasure in meeting one who reminded her of her
+former life.
+
+But it was quite impossible that she should allow him to accompany her
+to her poor home on the East Side.
+
+"Thank you, Mr. de Brabazon, but my engagements this morning will
+hardly permit me to accept your escort," she said.
+
+"I suppose that means that you are going shopping; but I don't mind
+it, I assure you, and I will carry your bundles," he added,
+magnanimously.
+
+"That would never do. What! the fashionable Mr. de Brabazon carrying
+bundles? You would lose your social status."
+
+"I don't mind, Miss Florence, as long as you give me--aw--an approving
+smile."
+
+"I will give it now, as I bid you good-morning."
+
+"May I--aw--have the pleasure of calling upon you to-morrow evening,
+Miss Linden?"
+
+"It is evident that you have not heard that I am no longer residing
+with my uncle."
+
+Mr. de Brabazon looked surprised.
+
+"No, I had not heard. May I ask--aw--where you are wesiding?"
+
+"With friends," answered Florence, briefly. "As you are a friend and
+will be likely to hear it, I may as well mention that my uncle is
+displeased with me, and has practically disowned me."
+
+"Then, Miss Florence," said Mr. de Brabazon, eagerly, "won't you
+accept--aw--my heart and hand? My mother will be charmed to receive
+you, and I--aw--will strive to make you happy."
+
+"I appreciate your devotion, I do, indeed, Mr. de Brabazon," said
+Florence, earnestly; "but I must decline your offer. I will not marry
+without love."
+
+"I don't mind that," said Percy, "if you'll agree to take a feller;
+you'll learn in time to like him a little. I am wich--I know you don't
+care for that--but I can give you as good a home as your uncle. If you
+would give me hope--aw----"
+
+"I am afraid I cannot, Mr. de Brabazon, but if you will allow me to
+look upon you as a friend, I will call upon you if I have need of a
+friend's services."
+
+"Will you, weally?"
+
+"Yes, there is my hand on it. I ought to tell you that I must now earn
+my own living, and am to give lessons to a young pupil in West ----
+Street, three hours daily."
+
+"You don't mean to say you are actually poor?" said Mr. de Brabazon,
+horrified.
+
+"Yes, indeed, I am."
+
+"Then, won't you let me lend you some money? I've got more than I
+need, I have, 'pon my honor."
+
+"Thank you, I promise to call upon you if I need it."
+
+Mr. de Brabazon looked pleased.
+
+"Would you mind telling me where you are going to teach, Miss
+Florence?"
+
+Florence hesitated, but there was something so sincere and friendly in
+the young man's manner--dude though he was--that she consented to
+grant his request.
+
+"I am to teach the daughter of Mr. Robert Leighton."
+
+"Why, Miss Leighton is my cousin," said Percy, in joyous excitement.
+
+"Indeed! Had I known that I would hardly have told you."
+
+"Don't be afwaid! I will be vewy discreet," said Mr. de Brabazon.
+
+"Thank you, and good-morning."
+
+Florence went on her way, cheered and encouraged in spite of herself,
+by her success in obtaining employment, and by the friendly offers of
+Mr. de Brabazon.
+
+"It is wrong to get discouraged," she said to herself. "After all,
+there are warm hearts in the world."
+
+When she entered her humble home, she found Dodger already there.
+There was an eagerness in his manner, and a light in his eye, that
+seemed to indicate good news.
+
+"Well, Dodger, what is it?"
+
+"I've been waitin' half an hour to see you, Florence," he said. "I've
+got some work for you."
+
+"What is it--sewing on a button, or mending a coat?"
+
+"No, I mean workin' for money. You can play on the pianner, can't
+you?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"They want a young lady to play the pianner at a dime museum, for nine
+dollars a week. It's a bully chance. I just told the manager--he's a
+friend of mine--that I had a young lady friend that was a stunnin'
+player, and he wants you to come around and see him."
+
+It was a preposterous idea--so Florence thought--that she should
+consent to play at such a place; but she couldn't expect Dodger to
+look at the matter in the same light, so she answered, very gently and
+pleasantly:
+
+"You are very kind, Dodger, to look out for me, but I shall not need
+to accept your friend's offer. I have secured a chance to teach
+uptown."
+
+"You have? What'll you get?"
+
+"I am to be employed three hours daily, at fifty cents an hour."
+
+"Geewhillikens! that's good! You'd have to work as much as twelve
+hours at the museum for the same pay."
+
+"You see, therefore, that I am provided for--that is, if I suit."
+
+Dodger was a little disappointed. Still, he could not help admitting
+that it would be better for Florence to teach three hours, than to
+work ten or twelve. As to her having any objection to appearing at a
+dime museum, that never occurred to him.
+
+Florence had sent for her trunk, and it was now in her room.
+
+Dodger accompanied an expressman to the house, and luckily saw Jane,
+who arranged everything for him.
+
+"How's the old gentleman?" asked Dodger. "Florence wanted me to ask."
+
+"He's feeble," said Jane, shaking her head.
+
+"Does he miss Florence?"
+
+"That he do."
+
+"Why don't he send for her, then, to come back?" asked Dodger,
+bluntly.
+
+"Because Curtis Waring makes him believe she'll come around and ask
+forgiveness, if he only holds out. I tell you, Dodger, that Curtis is
+a viper."
+
+"So he is," answered Dodger, who was not quite clear in his mind as to
+what a viper was. "I'd like to step on his necktie."
+
+"If it wasn't for him, my dear young mistress would be back in the
+house within twenty-four hours."
+
+"I don't see how the old gentleman can let him turn Florence out of
+the house."
+
+"He's a snake in the grass, Dodger. It may be wicked, but I just wish
+something would happen to him. And how is Miss Florence lookin', poor
+dear?"
+
+"She's lookin' like a daisy."
+
+"Does she worry much?"
+
+"She did at first, but now she's workin' every day, and she looks more
+cheerful-like."
+
+"Miss Florence workin'! She that was always brought up like a lady!"
+
+"She's teachin' a little girl three hours a day."
+
+"Well, that isn't so bad!" said Jane, relieved. "Teachin' is genteel.
+I wish I could see her some day. Will you tell her, Dodger, that next
+Sunday is my day out, and I'll be in Central Park up by the menagerie
+at three o'clock, if she'll only take the trouble to be up there?"
+
+"I'll tell her, Jane, and I'm sure she'll be there."
+
+A day or two afterward Curtis Waring asked: "Have you heard from my
+Cousin Florence since she went away?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Indeed! Where is she staying?"
+
+"She didn't send me word."
+
+"How, then, did you hear from her?"
+
+"Dodger came with an expressman for her trunk."
+
+Curtis Waring frowned.
+
+"And you let him have it?" he demanded, sternly.
+
+"Of course I did. Why shouldn't I?"
+
+"You should have asked me."
+
+"And what business have you with Miss Florence's trunk, I'd like to
+know?" said Jane, independently.
+
+"Never mind; you ought to have asked my permission."
+
+"I didn't think you'd want to wear any of Miss Florence's things, Mr.
+Waring."
+
+"You are silly and impertinent," said Curtis, biting his lips. "Did
+that boy tell you anything about her?"
+
+"Only that she wasn't worryin' any for you, Mr. Curtis."
+
+Curtis glanced angrily at his cousin's devoted friend, and then,
+turning on his heel, left the room.
+
+"I'll bring her to terms yet," he muttered. "No girl of seventeen
+shall defy me!"
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XIII.
+Tim Bolton's Saloon.
+
+
+Not far from Houston Street, on the west side of the Bowery, is an
+underground saloon, with whose proprietor we are already acquainted.
+
+It was kept by Tim Bolton, whose peculiar tastes and shady
+characteristics well fitted him for such a business.
+
+It was early evening, and the gas jets lighted up a characteristic
+scene.
+
+On the sanded floor were set several tables, around which were seated
+a motley company, all of them with glasses of beer or whiskey before
+them.
+
+Tim, with a white apron on, was moving about behind the bar,
+ministering to the wants of his patrons. There was a scowl upon his
+face, for he was not fond of work, and he missed Dodger's assistance.
+
+The boy understood the business of mixing drinks as well as he, and
+often officiated for hours at a time, thus giving his guardian and
+reputed father a chance to leave the place and meet outside
+engagements.
+
+A tall, erect gentleman entered the saloon, and walked up to the bar.
+
+"Good-evening, colonel," said Tim.
+
+"Good-evening, sir," said the newcomer, with a stately inclination of
+the head.
+
+He was really a colonel, having served in the Civil War at the head of
+a Georgia regiment.
+
+He had all the stately courtesy of a Southern gentleman, though not
+above the weakness of a frequent indulgence in the strongest fluids
+dispensed by Tim Bolton.
+
+"What'll you have, colonel?"
+
+"Whiskey straight, sir. It's the only drink fit for a gentleman. Will
+you join me, Mr. Bolton?"
+
+"Of course, I will," said Tim, as, pouring out a glass for himself, he
+handed the bottle to the colonel.
+
+"Your health, sir," said the colonel, bowing.
+
+"Same to you, colonel," responded Tim, with a nod.
+
+"Where's the boy?"
+
+Col. Martin had always taken considerable notice of Dodger, being
+naturally fond of boys, and having once had a son of his own, who was
+killed in a railroad accident when about Dodger's age.
+
+"Danged if I know!" answered Tim, crossly.
+
+"He hasn't left you, has he?"
+
+"Yes; he's cleared out, the ungrateful young imp! I'd like to lay my
+hands on the young rascal."
+
+"Was he your son?"
+
+"He was my--stepson," answered Tim, hesitating.
+
+"I see, you married his mother."
+
+"Yes," said Tim, considering the explanation satisfactory, and
+resolved to adopt it. "I've always treated him as if he was my own
+flesh and blood, and I've raised him from a young kid. Now he's gone
+and left me."
+
+"Can you think of any reason for his leaving you?"
+
+"Not one. I always treated him well. He's been a great expense to me,
+and now he's got old enough to help me he must clear out. He's the
+most ungrateful cub I ever seen."
+
+"I am sorry he has gone--I used to like to have him serve me."
+
+"And now what's the consequence? Here I am tied down to the bar day
+and night."
+
+"Can't you get some one in his place?"
+
+"Yes, but I'd likely be robbed; I had a bartender once who robbed me
+of two or three dollars a day."
+
+"But you trusted the boy?"
+
+"Yes, Dodger wouldn't steal--I can say that much for him."
+
+"There's one thing I noticed about the boy," said the colonel,
+reflectively. "He wouldn't drink. More than once I have asked him to
+drink with me, but he would always say, 'Thank you, colonel, but I
+don't like whiskey.' I never asked him to take anything else, for
+whiskey's the only drink fit for a gentleman. Do you expect to get the
+boy back?"
+
+"If I could only get out for a day I'd hunt him up; but I'm tied down
+here."
+
+"I seed him yesterday, Tim," said a red-nosed man who had just entered
+the saloon, in company with a friend of the same general appearance.
+Both wore silk hats, dented and soiled with stains of dirt, coats long
+since superannuated, and wore the general look of barroom loafers.
+
+They seldom had any money, but lay in wait for any liberal stranger,
+in the hope of securing a free drink.
+
+"Where did you see him, Hooker?" asked Tim Bolton, with sudden
+interest.
+
+"Selling papers down by the Astor House."
+
+"Think of that, colonel!" said Tim, disgusted. "Becomin' a common
+newsboy, when he might be in a genteel employment! Did you speak to
+him, Hooker?"
+
+"Yes, I asked him if he had left you."
+
+"What did he say?"
+
+"That he had left you for good--that he was going to grow up
+respectable!"
+
+"Think of that!" said Tim, with renewed disgust. "Did he say where he
+lived?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Did he ask after me?"
+
+"No, except he said that you were no relation of his. He said he
+expected you stole him when he was a kid, and he hoped some time to
+find his relations."
+
+Tim Bolton's face changed color, and he was evidently disturbed. Could
+the boy have heard anything? he wondered, for his suspicions were very
+near the truth.
+
+"It's all nonsense!" he said, roughly. "Next time you see him, Hooker,
+foller him home, and find out where he lives."
+
+"All right, Tim. It ought to be worth something," he insinuated, with
+a husky cough.
+
+"That's so. What'll you take?"
+
+"Whiskey," answered Hooker, with a look of pleased anticipation.
+
+"You're a gentleman, Tim," he said, as he gulped down the contents of
+a glass without winking.
+
+Briggs, his dilapidated companion, had been looking on in thirsty
+envy.
+
+"I'll help Hooker to look for Dodger," he said.
+
+"Very well, Briggs."
+
+"Couldn't you stand a glass for me, too, Tim?" asked Briggs, eagerly.
+
+"No," answered Bolton, irritably. "I've been at enough expense for
+that young rascal already."
+
+But the colonel noticed the pathetic look of disappointment on the
+face of Briggs, and he was stirred to compassion.
+
+"Drink with me, sir," he said, turning to the overjoyed Briggs.
+
+"Thank you, colonel. You're a gentleman!"
+
+"Two glasses, Tim."
+
+So the colonel drained a second glass, and Briggs, pouring out with
+trembling fingers as much as he dared, followed suit.
+
+When the last drop was drunk, he breathed a deep sigh of measureless
+enjoyment.
+
+"If either of you bring that boy in here," said Tim, "I'll stand a
+couple of glasses for both."
+
+"We're your men, Tim," said Hooker. "Ain't we, Briggs?"
+
+"That's so, Hooker. Shake!"
+
+And the poor victims of drink shook hands energetically. Long since
+they had sunk their manhood in the intoxicating cup, and henceforth
+lived only to gratify their unnatural craving for what would sooner or
+later bring them to a drunkard's grave.
+
+As they left the saloon, the colonel turned to Tim, and said:
+
+"I like whiskey, sir; but I'll be hanged if I can respect such men as
+those."
+
+"They're bums, colonel, that's what they are!"
+
+"How do they live?"
+
+"Don't know. They're in here about every day."
+
+"If it's drink that's brought them where they are, I'm half inclined
+to give it up; but, after all, it isn't necessary to make a beast of
+yourself. I always drink like a gentleman, sir."
+
+"So you do, colonel."
+
+At that moment a poor woman, in a faded calico dress with a thin shawl
+over her shoulders, descended the steps that led into the saloon, and
+walked up to the bar.
+
+"Has my husband been here to-night?" she asked.
+
+Tim Bolton frowned.
+
+"Who's your husband?" he asked, roughly.
+
+"Wilson."
+
+"No, Bill Wilson hasn't been here to-night. Even if he had you have no
+business to come after him. I don't want any sniveling women here."
+
+"I couldn't help it, Mr. Bolton," said the woman, putting her apron to
+her eyes. "If Bill comes in, won't you tell him to come home? The
+baby's dead, and we haven't a cent in the house!"
+
+Even Tim was moved by this.
+
+"I'll tell him," he said. "Take a drink yourself; you don't look
+strong. It shan't cost you a cent."
+
+"No," said the woman, "not a drop! It has ruined my happiness, and
+broken up our home! Not a drop!"
+
+"Here, my good lady," said the colonel, with chivalrous deference,
+"you have no money. Take this," and he handed the astonished woman a
+five-dollar bill.
+
+"Heaven bless you, sir!" she exclaimed, fervently.
+
+"Allow me to see you to the street," and the gallant Southern
+gentleman escorted her up to the sidewalk.
+
+"I'd like to horsewhip that woman's husband. Don't you sell him
+another drop!" he said, when he returned.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XIV.
+The Missing Will.
+
+
+An hour after the depart of the colonel there was an unexpected
+arrival.
+
+A well-dressed gentleman descended the stairs gingerly, looked about
+him with fastidious disdain, and walked up to the bar.
+
+Tim Bolton was filling an order, and did not immediately observe him.
+
+When at length he turned around he exclaimed, in some surprise:
+
+"Mr. Waring!"
+
+"Yes, Bolton, I have found my way here."
+
+"I have been expecting you."
+
+"I came to you for some information."
+
+"Well, ask your questions: I don't know whether I can answer them."
+
+"First, where is my Cousin Florence?"
+
+"How should I know? She wasn't likely to place herself under my
+protection."
+
+"She's with that boy of yours--Dodger, I believe you call him. Where
+is he?"
+
+"Run away," answered Bolton, briefly.
+
+"Do you mean that you don't know where he is?"
+
+"Yes, I do mean that. I haven't set my eyes on him since that night."
+
+"What do you mean by such negligence? Do you remember who he is?"
+
+"Certainly I do."
+
+"Then why do you let him get of your reach?"
+
+"How could I help it? Here I am tied down to this bar day and night!
+I'm nearly dead for want of sleep."
+
+"It would be better to close up your place for a week and look after
+him."
+
+"Couldn't do it. I should lose all my trade. People would say I was
+closed up."
+
+"And have you done nothing toward his recovery?"
+
+"Yes, I have sent out two men in search of him."
+
+"Have you any idea where he is, or what he is doing?"
+
+"Yes, he has been seen in front of the Astor House, selling papers. I
+have authorized my agent, if he sees him again, to follow him home,
+and find out where he lives."
+
+"That is good! Astor House? I may see him myself."
+
+"But why do you want to see him? Do you want to restore him to his
+rights?"
+
+"Hush!" said Curtis, glancing around him apprehensively. "What we say
+may be overheard and excite suspicion. One thing may be secured by
+finding him--the knowledge of Florence's whereabouts."
+
+"What makes you think she and the boy are together?"
+
+"He came for her trunk. I was away from home, or I would not have let
+it go----"
+
+"It is strange that they two are together, considering their
+relationship."
+
+"That is what I am afraid they will find out. She may tell him of the
+mysterious disappearance of her cousin, and he----"
+
+"That reminds me," interrupted Bolton. "He told Hooker--Hooker was the
+man that saw him in front of the Astor House--that he didn't believe I
+was his father. He said he thought I must have stolen him when he was
+a young kid."
+
+"Did he say that?" asked Curtis, in evident alarm.
+
+"Yes, so Hooker says."
+
+"If he has that idea in his head, he may put two and two together, and
+guess that he is the long-lost cousin of Florence. Tim, the boy must
+be got rid of."
+
+"If you mean what I think you do, Mr. Waring, I'm not with you. I
+won't consent to harm the boy."
+
+"You said that before. I don't mean anything that will shock your
+tender heart, Bolton," said Curtis, with a sneer. "I mean carried to a
+distance--Europe or Australia, for instance. All I want is to keep him
+out of New York till my uncle is dead. After that I don't care what
+becomes of him."
+
+"That's better. I've no objection to that. How is the old gentleman?"
+
+"He grieved so much at first over the girl's loss, that I feared he
+would insist on her being recalled at once. I soothed him by telling
+him that he had only to remain firm, and she would come around, and
+yield to his wishes."
+
+"Do you think she will?" asked Tim, doubtfully.
+
+"I intend she shall!" said Curtis, significantly. "Bolton, I love the
+girl all the more for her obstinate refusal to wed me. I have made up
+my mind to marry her with her consent, or without it."
+
+"I thought it was only the estate you were after?"
+
+"I want the estate and her with it. Mark my words, Bolton, I will have
+both!"
+
+"You will have the estate, no doubt; Mr. Linden has made his will in
+your favor, has he not?" and Bolton looked intently in the face of his
+visitor.
+
+"Hark you, Bolton, there is a mystery I cannot fathom. My uncle made
+two wills. In the earlier, he left the estate to Florence and myself,
+if we married; otherwise, to me alone."
+
+"That is satisfactory."
+
+"Yes, but there was another, in which the estate goes to the son, if
+living. That will has disappeared."
+
+"Is it possible?" asked Bolton, in astonishment. "When was it missed?"
+
+"On the night of the burglary."
+
+"Then you think----"
+
+"That the boy, Dodger, has it. Good Heavens! if he only knew that by
+this will the estate goes to him!" and Waring wiped the perspiration
+from his brow.
+
+"You are sure he did not give you the will?" he demanded, eying Bolton
+sharply.
+
+"I have not seen him since the night of the robbery."
+
+"If he has read the will, it may lead to dangerous suspicions."
+
+"He would give it to your cousin, Florence, would he not?"
+
+"Perhaps so. Bolton, you must get the boy back, and take the will from
+him, if you can."
+
+"I will do my best; but you must remember that Dodger is no longer a
+small kid. He is a boy of eighteen, strong and well grown. He wouldn't
+be easy to manage. Besides, as long as he doesn't know that he has any
+interest in the will, his holding it won't do any harm. Is the old
+gentleman likely to live long?"
+
+"I don't know. I sometimes hope---- Pshaw! why should I play the
+hypocrite when speaking to you? Surely it is no sin to wish him better
+off, since he can't enjoy life!"
+
+"He might if Florence and his son were restored to him."
+
+"What do you mean, Bolton?" asked Curtis, suspiciously.
+
+"What could I mean? It merely occurred to me," said Bolton,
+innocently. "You say he is quiet, thinkin' the girl will come around?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Suppose time passes, and she doesn't? Won't he try to find her? As
+she is in the city, that won't be hard."
+
+"I shall represent that she has left the city."
+
+"For any particular point?"
+
+"No, that is not necessary."
+
+"And then?"
+
+"If he worries himself into the grave, so much the better for me."
+
+"There is no halfway about you, Mr. Curtis Waring."
+
+"Why should there be? Listen, Bolton; I have set my all on this cast.
+I am now thirty-six, and still I am dependent upon my uncle's bounty.
+I am in debt, and some of my creditors are disposed to trouble me. My
+uncle is worth--I don't know how much, but I think half a million.
+What does he get out of it? Food and clothes, but not happiness. If it
+were mine, all the avenues of enjoyment would be open to me. That
+estate I must have."
+
+"Suppose you get it, what is there for me?" asked Bolton.
+
+"I will see that you are recompensed if you help me to it."
+
+"Will you put that in writing?"
+
+"Do you take me for a fool? To put it in writing would be to place me
+in your power! You can trust me."
+
+"Well, perhaps so," said Tim Bolton, slowly.
+
+"At any rate you will have to. Well, good-night. I will see you again.
+In the meantime try to find the boy."
+
+Tim Bolton followed him with his eyes, as he left the saloon.
+
+"What would he say," said Bolton to himself, "if he knew that the will
+he so much wishes to find is in my hands, and that I hold him in my
+power already?"
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XV.
+The New Governess.
+
+
+"Wish me luck, Dodger!"
+
+"So I do, Florence. Are you goin' to begin teachin' this mornin'?"
+
+"Yes; and I hope to produce a favorable impression. It is very
+important to me to please Mrs. Leighton and my future pupil."
+
+"I'm sure you'll suit. How nice you look!"
+
+Florence smiled, and looked pleased. She had taken pains with her
+dress and personal appearance, and, being luckily well provided with
+handsome dresses, had no difficulty in making herself presentable. As
+she stepped out of the shabby doorway upon the sidewalk no one
+supposed her to be a tenant, but she was generally thought to be a
+visitor, perhaps the agent of some charitable association.
+
+"Perhaps all will not judge me as favorably as you do, Dodger," said
+Florence, with a laugh.
+
+"If you have the headache any day, Florence, I'll take your place."
+
+"You would look rather young for a tutor, Dodger, and I am afraid you
+would not be dignified. Good-morning! I shall be back to dinner."
+
+"I am glad to find you punctual, Miss Linden," said Mrs. Leighton, as
+Florence was ushered into her presence. "This is your pupil, my
+daughter, Carrie."
+
+Florence smiled and extended her hand.
+
+"I hope we will like each other," she said.
+
+The little girl eyed her with approval. This beautiful young lady was
+a pleasant surprise to her, for, never having had a governess, she
+expected to meet a stiff, elderly lady, of stern aspect. She readily
+gave her hand to Florence, and looked relieved.
+
+"Carrie," said Mrs. Leighton, "you may show Miss Linden the way to the
+schoolroom."
+
+"All right, mamma," and the little girl led the way upstairs to a back
+room on the third floor.
+
+"So this is to be our schoolroom, is it, Carrie?" said Florence. "It
+is a very pleasant room."
+
+"Yes; but I should have preferred the front chamber. Mamma thought
+that I might be looking into the street too much. Here there is only a
+back yard, and nothing to look at."
+
+"Your mamma seems very judicious," said Florence, smiling. "Are you
+fond of study?"
+
+"Well, I ain't exactly fond, but I will do my best."
+
+"That is all that can be expected."
+
+"Do you know, Miss Linden, you don't look at all like I expected."
+
+"Am I to be glad or sorry for that?"
+
+"I thought you would be an old maid, stiff and starched, like May
+Robinson's governess."
+
+"I am not married, Carrie, so perhaps you may regard me as an old
+maid."
+
+"You'll never be an old maid," said Carrie, confidently. "You are too
+young and pretty."
+
+"Thank you, Carrie," said Florence, with a little blush. "You say
+that, I hope, because you are going to like me."
+
+"I like you already," said the little girl, impulsively. "I've got a
+cousin that will like you, too."
+
+"A young girl?"
+
+"No; of course not. He is a young man. His name is Percy de Brabazon.
+It is a funny name, isn't it? You see, his father was a Frenchman."
+
+Florence was glad that she already knew from Percy's own mouth of the
+relationship, as it saved her from showing a degree of surprise that
+might have betrayed her acquaintance with the young man.
+
+"What makes you think your cousin would like me, Carrie?"
+
+"Because he always likes pretty girls. He is a masher."
+
+"That's slang, Carrie. I am sure your mamma wouldn't approve your
+using such a word."
+
+"Don't tell her. It just slipped out. But about Percy--he wants very
+much to be married."
+
+Florence was not surprised to hear this, for she had the best reason
+for knowing it to be true.
+
+"Is he a handsome young man?" she asked, demurely.
+
+"He's funny looking. He's awful good-natured, but he isn't the sort of
+young man I would like," concluded Carrie, with amusing positiveness.
+
+"I hope you don't let your mind run on such things. You are quite too
+young."
+
+"Oh, I don't think much about it. But Percy is a dude. He spends a
+sight for clothes. He always looks as if he had just come out of a
+bandbox."
+
+"Is he in any business?"
+
+"No; he has an independent fortune, so mamma says. He was in Europe
+last year."
+
+"I think, Carrie, we must give up talking and attend to business. I
+should have checked you before, but I thought a little conversation
+would help us to get acquainted. Now show me your books, and I will
+assign your lessons."
+
+"Don't give me too long lessons, please, Miss Linden."
+
+"I will take care not to task you beyond your strength. I don't want
+my pupil to grow sick on my hands."
+
+"I hope you won't be too strict. When May Robinson makes two mistakes
+her governess makes her learn her lessons over again."
+
+"I will promise not to be too strict. Now let me see your books."
+
+The rest of the forenoon was devoted to study.
+
+Florence was not only an excellent scholar, but she had the art of
+imparting knowledge, and, what is very important, she was able in a
+few luminous words to explain difficulties and make clear what seemed
+to her pupil obscure.
+
+So the time slipped quickly and pleasantly away, and it was noon
+before either she or her pupil realized it.
+
+"It can't be twelve," said Carrie, surprised.
+
+"Yes, it is. We must defer further study till to-morrow."
+
+"Why, it is a great deal pleasanter than going to school, Miss Linden.
+I dreaded studying at home, but now I like it."
+
+"I hope you will continue to, Carrie. I can say that the time has
+passed away pleasantly for me."
+
+As Florence prepared to resume her street dress, Carrie said:
+
+"Oh, I forgot! Mamma asked me to invite you to stay to lunch with me.
+I take lunch as soon as school is out, at twelve o'clock, so I won't
+detain you long."
+
+"Thank you, Carrie; I will stay with pleasure."
+
+"I am glad of that, for I don't like to sit down to the table alone.
+Mamma is never here at this time. She goes out shopping or making
+calls, so poor I have to sit down to the table alone. It will be ever
+so much pleasure to have you with me."
+
+Florence was by no means sorry to accept the invitation.
+
+The meals she got at home were by no means luxurious, and the manner
+of serving them was by no means what she enjoyed.
+
+Mrs. O'Keefe, though a good friend and a kindhearted woman, was not a
+model housekeeper, and Florence had been made fastidious by her early
+training. Lunch was, of course, a plain meal, but what was furnished
+was of the best quality, and the table service was such as might be
+expected in a luxurious home.
+
+Just as Florence was rising from the table, Mrs. Leighton entered the
+room in street dress.
+
+"I am glad you remained to lunch, Miss Linden," she said. "You will be
+company for my little girl, who is very sociable. Carrie, I hope you
+were a good girl, and gave Miss Linden no trouble."
+
+"Ask Miss Linden, mamma," said Carrie, confidently.
+
+"Indeed, she did very well," said Florence. "I foresee that we shall
+get along admirably."
+
+"I am glad to hear that. She is apt to be indolent."
+
+"I won't be with Miss Linden, mamma. She makes the studies so
+interesting."
+
+After Florence left the house, Carrie pronounced an eulogium upon her
+which led Mrs. Leighton to congratulate herself upon having secured a
+governess who had produced so favorable an impression on her little
+girl.
+
+"Was you kept after school, Florence?" asked Dodger, as she entered
+her humble home. "I am afraid you'll find your dinner cold."
+
+"Never mind, Dodger. I am to take dinner--or lunch, rather--at the
+house where I am teaching; so hereafter Mrs. O'Keefe need not wait for
+me."
+
+"And how do you like your place?"
+
+"It is everything that is pleasant. You wished me good luck, Dodger,
+and your wish has been granted."
+
+"I was lucky, too, Florence. I've made a dollar and a quarter this
+mornin'."
+
+"Not by selling papers, surely?"
+
+"Not all. A gentleman gave me fifty cents for takin' his valise to the
+Long Branch boat."
+
+"It seems we are both getting rich," said Florence, smiling.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XVI.
+Dodger Becomes Ambitious.
+
+
+"Ah, there, Dodger!"
+
+Dodger, who had been busily and successfully selling evening papers in
+front of the Astor House, turned quickly as he heard his name called.
+
+His glance rested on two men, dressed in soiled white hats and shabby
+suits, who were apparently holding each other up, having both been
+imbibing.
+
+He at once recognized Hooker and Briggs, for he had waited upon them
+too many times in Tim's saloon not to recognize them.
+
+"Well," he said, cautiously, "what do you want?"
+
+"Tim has sent us for you!" answered the two, in unison.
+
+"What does he want of me?"
+
+"He wants you to come home. He says he can't get along without you."
+
+"He will have to get along without me," said the boy, independently.
+"Tell him I'm not goin' back!"
+
+"You're wrong, Dodger," said Hooker, shaking his head, solemnly.
+"Ain't he your father?"
+
+"No, he ain't."
+
+"He says he is," continued Hooker, looking puzzled.
+
+"That don't make it so."
+
+"He ought to know," put in Briggs.
+
+"Yes; he ought to know!" chimed in Hooker.
+
+"No doubt he does, but he can't make me believe he's any relation of
+mine."
+
+"Just go and argy the point with him," said Hooker, coaxingly.
+
+"It wouldn't do no good."
+
+"Maybe it would. Just go back with us, that's a good boy."
+
+"What makes you so anxious about it?" asked Dodger, suspiciously.
+
+"Well," said Hooker, coughing, "we're Tim's friends, don't you know."
+
+"What's he goin' to give you if I go back with you?" asked the boy,
+shrewdly.
+
+"A glass of whiskey!" replied Hooker and Briggs in unison.
+
+"Is that all?"
+
+"Maybe he'd make it two."
+
+"I won't go back with you," said Dodger, after a moment's thought;
+"but I don't want you to lose anything by me. Here's a dime apiece,
+and you can go and get a drink somewhere else."
+
+"You're a trump, Dodger," said Hooker, eagerly holding out his hand.
+
+"I always liked you, Dodger," said Briggs, with a similar motion.
+
+"Now, don't let Tim know you've seen me," said the newsboy, warningly.
+
+"We won't."
+
+And the interesting pair ambled off in the direction of the Bowery.
+
+"So Tim sent them fellers after me?" soliloqized Dodger. "I guess I'll
+have to change my office, or maybe Tim himself will be droppin' down
+on me some mornin'. It'll be harder to get rid of him than of them
+chumps."
+
+So it happened that he used to take down his morning papers to the
+piers on the North River, and take his chance of selling them to
+passengers from Boston and others ports arriving by the Fall River
+boats, and others from different points.
+
+The advantage of this was that he often got a chance to serve as guide
+to strangers visiting the city for the first time, or as porter, to
+carry their valise or other luggage.
+
+Being a bright, wideawake boy, with a pleasant face and manner, he
+found his services considerably in demand; and on counting up his
+money at the end of the week, he found, much to his encouragement,
+that he had received on an average about a dollar and twenty-five
+cents per day.
+
+"That's better than sellin' papers alone," thought he. "Besides, Tim
+isn't likely to come across me here. I wonder I didn't think of
+settin' up for myself before!"
+
+In the evening he spent an hour, and sometimes more, pursuing his
+studies, under the direction of Florence. At first his attention was
+given chiefly to improving his reading and spelling, for Dodger was
+far from fluent in the first, while his style of spelling many words
+was strikingly original.
+
+"Ain't I stupid, Florence?" he asked one day, after spelling a word of
+three syllables with such ingenious incorrectness as to convulse his
+young teacher with merriment.
+
+"Not at all, Dodger. You are making excellent progress; but sometimes
+you are so droll that I can't help laughing."
+
+"I don't mind that if you think I am really gettin' on."
+
+"Undoubtedly you are!"
+
+"I make a great many mistakes," said Dodger, dubiously.
+
+"Yes, you do; but you must remember that you have taken lessons only a
+short time. Don't you think you can read a good deal more easily than
+you did?"
+
+"Yes; I don't trip up half so often as I did. I'm afraid you'll get
+tired of teachin' me."
+
+"No fear of that, Dodger. As long as I see that you are improving, I
+shall feel encouraged to go on."
+
+"I wish I knew as much as your other scholar."
+
+"You will in time if you go on. You mustn't get discouraged."
+
+"I won't!" said Dodger, stoutly. "If a little gal like her can learn,
+I'd ought to be ashamed if I don't--a big boy of eighteen."
+
+"It isn't the size of the boy that counts, Dodger."
+
+"I know that, but I ain't goin' to give in, and let a little gal get
+ahead of me!"
+
+"Keep to that determination, Dodger, and you will succeed in time,
+never fear."
+
+On the whole, Florence enjoyed both her pupils. She had the faculty of
+teaching, and she became very much interested in both.
+
+As for Dodger, she thought, rough diamond as he was, that she saw in
+him the making of a manly man, and she felt that it was a privilege to
+assist in the development of his intellectual nature.
+
+Again, he had picked up a good deal of slang from the nature of his
+associates, and she set to work to improve his language, and teach him
+refinement.
+
+It was necessarily a slow process, but she began to find after a time
+that a gradual change was coming over him.
+
+"I want you to grow up a gentleman, Dodger," she said to him one day.
+
+"I'm too rough for that, Florence. I'm only an ignorant street boy."
+
+"You are not going to be an ignorant street boy all your life. I don't
+see why you should not grow up a polished gentleman."
+
+"I shall never be like that de Brabazon young man," said he.
+
+"No, Dodger; I don't think you will," said Florence, laughing. "I
+don't want you to become effeminate nor a dude. I think I would like
+you less than I do now."
+
+"Do you like me, Florence?" asked Dodger, brightening up.
+
+"To be sure I do. I hope you don't doubt it."
+
+"Why, it don't seem natural-like. You're a fashionable young lady----"
+
+"Not very fashionable, Dodger, just at present."
+
+"Well, a high-toned young lady--one of the tip-tops, and I am a rough
+Bowery boy."
+
+"You were once, but you are getting over that rapidly. Did you ever
+hear of Andy Johnson?"
+
+"Who was he?"
+
+"He became President of the United States. Well, at the age of
+twenty-one he could neither read nor write."
+
+"At twenty-one?" repeated Dodger. "Why, I'm only eighteen, and I do
+know something of readin' and writin'."
+
+"To be sure! Well, Andy Johnson was taught to read and write by his
+wife. He kept on improving himself till, in course of time, he became
+a United States Senator, Vice-President, and afterward, President.
+Now, I don't expect you to equal him, but I see no reason why you
+should not become a well-educated man if you are content to work, and
+keep on working."
+
+"I will keep on, Florence," said Dodger, earnestly.
+
+"If I ever find my relations I don't want them to be ashamed of me."
+
+It was not the first time he had referred to his uncertain origin.
+
+"Won't Tim Bolton tell you anything about your family?"
+
+"No; I've asked him more'n once. He always says he's my father, and
+that makes me mad."
+
+"It is strange," said Florence, thoughtfully. "I had a young cousin
+stolen many years ago."
+
+"Was it the son of the old gentleman you lived with on Madison
+Avenue?"
+
+"Yes; it was the son of Uncle John. It quite broke him down. After my
+cousin's loss he felt that he had nothing to live for."
+
+"I wish I was your cousin, Florence," said Dodger, thoughtfully.
+
+"Well, then, I will adopt you as my cousin, or brother, whichever you
+prefer!"
+
+"I would rather be your cousin."
+
+"Then cousin let it be! Now we are bound to each other by strong and
+near ties."
+
+"But when your uncle takes you back you'll forget all about poor
+Dodger."
+
+"No, I won't, Dodger. There's my hand on it. Whatever comes, we are
+friends forever."
+
+"Then I'll try not to disgrace you, Florence. I'll learn as fast as I
+can, and see if I don't grow up to be a gentleman."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XVII.
+A Mysterious Adventure.
+
+
+Several weeks passed without changing in any way the position or
+employment of Dodger or Florence.
+
+They had settled down to their respective forms of labor, and were
+able not only to pay their modest expenses, but to save up something
+for a rainy day.
+
+Florence had but one source of regret.
+
+She enjoyed her work, and did not now lament the luxurious home which
+she had lost.
+
+But she did feel sore at heart that her uncle made no sign of regret
+for their separation.
+
+From him she received no message of forgiveness or reconciliation.
+
+"He has forgotten me!" she said to herself, bitterly. "He has cast me
+utterly out of his heart. I do not care for his money, but I do not
+like to think that my kind uncle--for he was always kind till the last
+trouble--has steeled his heart against me forever."
+
+But she learned through a chance meeting with Jane, that this was not
+so.
+
+"Mr. Linden is getting very nervous and low-spirited," said the girl,
+"and sits hour after hour in the library looking into the fire,
+a-fotchin' deep sighs every few minutes. Once I saw him with your
+photograph--the one you had taken last spring--in his hands, and he
+looked sad-like when he laid it down."
+
+"My dear uncle! Then he does think of me sometimes?"
+
+"It's my belief he'd send for you if Curtis would let him."
+
+"Surely Curtis cannot exercise any restraint upon him?"
+
+"He has frequent talks with the old gentleman. I don't know what he
+says, but it's sure to be something wicked. I expect he does all he
+can to set him against you. Oh, he's a cunning villain, he is, even if
+he is your cousin, Miss Florence."
+
+"And do you think my uncle is unhappy, Jane?" said Florence,
+thoughtfully.
+
+"That I do, miss."
+
+"He never was very bright or cheerful, you know."
+
+"But he never was like this. And I do think he's gettin' more and more
+feeble."
+
+"Do you think I ought to call upon him, and risk his sending me away?"
+
+"It might be worth tryin', Miss Florence."
+
+The result of this conversation was that Florence did make up her mind
+the very next afternoon to seek her old home. She had just reached the
+front steps, and was about to ascend, when the door opened and Curtis
+appeared.
+
+He started at sight of his cousin.
+
+"Florence!" he said. "Tell me why you came here?"
+
+"I am anxious about my uncle," she said. "Tell me, Curtis, how he is."
+
+"You know he's never in vigorous health," said Curtis, evasively.
+
+"But is he as well as usual?"
+
+"He is about the same as ever. One thing would do more for him than
+anything else."
+
+"What's that?"
+
+"Your agreement to marry me," and he fixed his eyes upon her face
+eagerly.
+
+Florence shook her head.
+
+"I should be glad to help my uncle," she said, "but I cannot agree to
+marry you."
+
+"Why not?" he demanded, roughly.
+
+"Because I do not love you, and never shall," she responded, firmly.
+
+"In other words, you refuse to do the only thing that will restore our
+uncle to health and happiness?"
+
+"It is too much to ask." Then, fixing her eyes upon him keenly: "Why
+should uncle insist upon this marriage? Is it not because you have
+influenced him in the matter?"
+
+"No," answered Curtis, falsely. "He has some secret reason, which he
+will not disclose to me, for desiring it."
+
+Florence had learned to distrust the words of her wily cousin.
+
+"May I not see him?" she asked. "Perhaps he will tell me."
+
+"No; I cannot permit it."
+
+"You cannot permit it? Are you, then, our uncle's guardian?"
+
+"No, and yes. I do not seek to control him, but I wish to save him
+from serious agitation. Should he see you, and find that you are still
+rebellious, the shock might kill him."
+
+"I have reason to doubt your words," said Florence, coldly. "I think
+you are resolved to keep us apart."
+
+"Listen, and I will tell you a secret; Uncle John has heart disease,
+so the doctor assures me. Any unwonted agitation might kill him
+instantly. I am sure you would not like to expose him to such a risk."
+
+He spoke with apparent sincerity, but Florence did not feel certain
+that his words were truthful.
+
+"Very well," she said. "Then I will give up seeing him."
+
+"It is best, unless you are ready to accede to his wishes--and mine."
+
+She did not answer, but walked away slowly.
+
+"It would never do to have them meet!" muttered Curtis. "The old
+gentleman would ask her to come back on any terms, and then all my
+scheming would be upset. That was a happy invention of mine, about
+heart disease," he continued, with a low laugh. "Though she only half
+believed it, she will not dare to run the risk of giving him a shock."
+
+It was about this time that the quiet tenor of Dodger's life was
+interrupted by a startling event.
+
+He still continued to visit the piers, and one afternoon about six
+o'clock, he stood on the pier awaiting the arrival of the day boat
+from Albany, with a small supply of evening papers under his arm.
+
+He had sold all but half a dozen when the boat touched the pier. He
+stood watching the various passengers as they left the boat and turned
+their steps in different directions, when some one touched him on the
+shoulder.
+
+Looking up, he saw standing at his side a man of slender figure, with
+gray hair and whiskers.
+
+"Boy," he said, "I am a stranger in the city. Can I ask your
+assistance?"
+
+"Yes, sir; certainly," answered Dodger, briskly.
+
+"Do you know where the nearest station of the elevated road is?"
+
+"Yes, sir?"
+
+"I want to go uptown, but I know very little about the city. Will you
+accompany me as guide? I will pay you well."
+
+"All right, sir," answered Dodger.
+
+It was just the job he was seeking.
+
+"We will have to walk a few blocks, unless you want to take a
+carriage."
+
+"It isn't necessary. I am strong, in spite of my gray hair."
+
+And indeed he appeared to be.
+
+Dodger noticed that he walked with the elastic step of a young man,
+while his face certainly showed no trace of wrinkles.
+
+"I live in the West," said the stranger, as they walked along. "I have
+not been here for ten years."
+
+"Then you have never ridden on the elevated road?" said Dodger.
+
+"N-no," answered the stranger, with curious hesitation.
+
+Yet when they reached the station he went up the staircase and
+purchased his ticket with the air of a man who was thoroughly
+accustomed to doing it.
+
+"I suppose you don't want me any longer," said Dodger, preparing to
+resign the valise he was carrying, and which, by the way, was
+remarkably light considering the size.
+
+"Yes, I shall need you," said the other hurriedly. "There may be some
+distance to walk after we get uptown."
+
+"All right, sir."
+
+Dodger was glad that further service was required, for this would of
+course increase the compensation which he would feel entitled to ask.
+
+They entered one of the cars, and sat down side by side.
+
+The old gentleman drew a paper from his pocket, and began to read,
+while Dodger, left to his own devices, sat quiet and looked about him.
+
+He was rather surprised that the old gentleman, who, according to his
+own representation, was riding upon the elevated road for the first
+time, seemed to feel no curiosity on the subject, but conducted
+himself in all respects like an experienced traveler.
+
+"He's a queer customer!" thought Dodger. "However, it's all one to me,
+as long as he pays me well for the job."
+
+They got out at One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Street, and struck down
+toward the river, Dodger carrying the valise.
+
+"I wonder where we're going?" he asked himself.
+
+At length they reached a wooden house of three stories, standing by
+itself, and here the stranger stopped.
+
+He rang the bell, and the door was opened by a hump-backed negro, who
+looked curiously at Dodger.
+
+"Is the room ready, Julius?" asked the old man.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Boy, take the valise upstairs, and I will follow you."
+
+Up two flights of stairs walked Dodger, followed by the old man and
+the negro.
+
+The latter opened the door of a back room, and Dodger, obedient to
+directions, took the valise inside and deposited it on a chair.
+
+He had hardly done so when the door closed behind him, and he heard
+the slipping of a bolt.
+
+"What does all this mean?" Dodger asked himself in amazement.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XVIII.
+In A Trap.
+
+
+"Hold on there! Open that door!" he exclaimed, aloud.
+
+There was no answer.
+
+"I say, let me out!" continued our hero, beginning to kick at the
+panels.
+
+This time there was an answer.
+
+"Stop that kicking, boy! I will come back in fifteen minutes and
+explain all."
+
+"Well," thought Dodger, "this is about the strangest thing that ever
+happened to me. However, I can wait fifteen minutes."
+
+He sat down on a cane chair--there were two in the room--and looked
+about him.
+
+He was in an ordinary bedroom, furnished in the usual manner. There
+was nothing at all singular in its appearance.
+
+On a book shelf were a few books, and some old numbers of magazines.
+There was one window looking into a back yard, but as the room was
+small it was sufficient to light the apartment.
+
+Dodger looked about in a cursory manner, not feeling any particular
+interest in his surroundings, for he had but fifteen minutes to wait,
+but he thought it rather queer that it should be thought necessary to
+lock him in.
+
+He waited impatiently for the time to pass.
+
+Seventeen minutes had passed when he heard the bolt drawn. Fixing his
+eyes eagerly on the door he saw it open, and two persons entered.
+
+One was the hump-backed negro, carrying on a waiter a plate of
+buttered bread, and a cup of tea; the other person was--not the old
+man, but, to Dodger's great amazement, a person well-remembered,
+though he had only seen him once--Curtis Waring.
+
+"Set down the waiter on the table, Julius," said Waring.
+
+Dodger looked on in stupefaction. He was getting more and more
+bewildered.
+
+"Now, you can go!" said Curtis, in a tone of authority.
+
+The negro bowed, and after he had disposed of the waiter, withdrew.
+
+"Do you know me, boy?" asked Curtis, turning now and addressing
+Dodger.
+
+"Yes; you are Mr. Waring."
+
+"You remember where you last saw me?"
+
+"Yes, sir. At your uncle's house on Madison Avenue."
+
+"Quite right."
+
+"How did you come here? Where is the old man whose valise I brought
+from the Albany boat?"
+
+Curtis smiled, and drew from his pocket a gray wig and whiskers.
+
+"You understand now, don't you?"
+
+"Yes, sir; I understand that I have been got here by a trick."
+
+"Yes," answered Curtis, coolly. "I have deemed it wise to use a little
+stratagem. But you must be hungry. Sit down and eat your supper while
+I am talking to you."
+
+Dodger was hungry, for it was past his usual supper time, and he saw
+no reason why he should not accept the invitation.
+
+Accordingly, he drew his chair up to the table and began to eat.
+Curtis seated himself on the other chair.
+
+"I have a few questions to ask you, and that is why I arranged this
+interview. We are quite by ourselves," he added, significantly.
+
+"Very well, sir; go ahead."
+
+"Where is my Cousin Florence? I am right, I take it, in assuming that
+you know where she is."
+
+"Yes, sir; I know," answered Dodger, slowly.
+
+"Very well, tell me."
+
+"I don't think she wants you to know."
+
+Curtis frowned.
+
+"It is necessary I should know!" he said, emphatically.
+
+"I will ask her if I may tell you."
+
+"I can't wait for that. You must tell me at once."
+
+"I can't do that."
+
+"You are mistaken; you can do it."
+
+"Then, I won't!" said Dodger, looking his companion full in the face.
+
+Curtis Waring darted a wicked look at him, and seemed ready to attack
+the boy who was audacious enough to thwart him, but he restrained
+himself and said:
+
+"Let that pass for the present. I have another question to ask. Where
+is the document you took from my uncle's desk on the night of the
+burglary?"
+
+And he emphasized the last word.
+
+Dodger looked surprised.
+
+"I took no paper," he said.
+
+"Do you deny that you opened the desk?" asked Curtis.
+
+"No."
+
+"When I came to examine the contents in the presence of my uncle, it
+was found that a document--his will--had disappeared, and with it a
+considerable sum of money."
+
+And he looked sharply at Dodger.
+
+"I don't know anything about it, sir. I took nothing."
+
+"You can hardly make me believe that. Why did you open the desk if you
+did not propose to take anything?"
+
+"I did intend to take something. I was under orders to do so, for I
+wouldn't have done it of my own free will; but the moment I got the
+desk open I heard a cry, and looking around, I saw Miss Florence
+looking at me."
+
+"And then?"
+
+"I was startled, and ran to her side."
+
+"And then you went back and completed the robbery?"
+
+"No, I didn't. She talked to me so that I felt ashamed of it. I never
+stole before, and I wouldn't have tried to do it then, if--if some one
+hadn't told me to."
+
+"I know whom you mean--Tim Bolton."
+
+"Yes, Tim Bolton, since you know."
+
+"What did he tell you to take?"
+
+"The will and the money."
+
+"Eactly. Now we are coming to it. You took them, and gave them to
+him?"
+
+"No, I didn't. I haven't seen him since that night."
+
+Curtis Waring regarded the boy thoughtfully. His story was
+straightforward, and it agreed with the story told by Tim himself.
+But, on the other hand, he denied taking the missing articles, and yet
+they had disappeared.
+
+Curtis decided that both he and Tim had lied, and that this story had
+been concocted between them.
+
+Probably Bolton had the will and the money--the latter he did not care
+for--and this thought made him uneasy, for he knew that Tim Bolton was
+an unscrupulous man, and quite capable of injuring him, if he saw the
+way clear to do so.
+
+"My young friend," he said, "your story is not even plausible. The
+articles are missing, and there was no one but yourself and Florence
+who were in a position to take them. Do you wish me to think that my
+Cousin Florence robbed the desk?"
+
+"No, sir; I don't. Florence wouldn't do such a thing," said Dodger,
+warmly.
+
+"Florence. Is that the way you speak of a young lady?"
+
+"She tells me to call her Florence. I used to call her Miss Florence,
+but she didn't care for it."
+
+"It seems you two have become very intimate," said Curtis, with a
+sneer.
+
+"Florence is a good friend to me. I never had so good a friend
+before."
+
+"All that is very affecting; however, it isn't to the point. Do you
+know," he continued, in a sterner tone, "that I could have you
+arrested for entering and breaking open my uncle's desk with
+burglarious intent?"
+
+"I suppose you could," said Dodger; "but Florence would testify that I
+took nothing."
+
+"Am I to understand, then, that you refuse to give me any information
+as to the will and the money?"
+
+"No, sir; I don't refuse. I would tell you if I knew."
+
+Curtis regarded the boy in some perplexity.
+
+He had every appearance of telling the truth.
+
+Dodger had one of those honest, truthful countenances which lend
+confirmation to any words spoken. If the boy told the truth, what
+could have become of the will--and the money? As to the former, it
+might be possible that his uncle had destroyed it, but the
+disappearance of the money presented an independent difficulty.
+
+"The will is all I care for," he said, at length. "The thief is
+welcome to the money, though there was a considerable sum."
+
+"I would find the will for you if I could," said Dodger, earnestly.
+
+"You are positive you didn't give it to Bolton?"
+
+"Positive, sir. I haven't seen Tim since that night."
+
+"You may be speaking the truth, or you may not. I will talk with you
+again to-morrow," and Curtis arose from his chair.
+
+"You don't mean to keep me here?" said Dodger, in alarm.
+
+"I shall be obliged to do so."
+
+"I won't stay!" exclaimed Dodger, in excitement, and he ran to the
+door, meaning to get out; but Curtis drew a pistol from his pocket and
+aimed it at the boy.
+
+"Understand me, boy," he said, "I am in earnest, and I am not to be
+trifled with."
+
+Dodger drew back, and Curtis opened the door and went out, bolting it
+after him.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XIX.
+An Attempt To Escape.
+
+
+While Dodger had no discomfort to complain of, it occurred to him that
+Florence would be alarmed by his long absence, for now it seemed
+certain that he would have to remain overnight.
+
+If only he could escape he would take care not to fall into such a
+trap again.
+
+He went to the window and looked out, but the distance to the ground
+was so great--for the room was on the third floor--that he did not
+dare to imperil his life by attempting a descent.
+
+If there had been a rope at hand he would not have felt afraid to make
+the attempt.
+
+He examined the bed to see if it rested upon cords, but there were
+slats instead.
+
+As has already been said, there were no houses near by.
+
+That part of the city had not been much settled, and it was as
+solitary as it is in the outskirts of a country village.
+
+If he could only reveal his position to some person outside, so as to
+insure interference, he might yet obtain his freedom.
+
+With this thought he tore a blank leaf from one of the books in the
+room, and hastily penciled the following lines:
+
+    "I am kept a prisoner in this house. I was induced to come
+    here by a trick. Please get some one to join you, and come
+    and demand my release."
+
+Some weeks before Dodger could not have written so creditable a note,
+but he had greatly improved since he had been under the influence and
+instruction of Florence.
+
+Dodger now posted himself at the window and waited anxiously for some
+one to pass, so that he might attract his attention and throw down the
+paper.
+
+He had to wait for fifteen minutes. Then he saw approaching a young
+man, not far from twenty-one, who looked like a young mechanic,
+returning from his daily work.
+
+Now was Dodger's opportunity. He put his head out of the window and
+called out:
+
+"Hello, there!"
+
+The young man looked and saw him at the window.
+
+"What do you want?" he asked.
+
+"Catch this paper, and read what there is on it." He threw down the
+leaf, which, after fluttering in the gentle evening breeze, found its
+way to the ground and was picked up.
+
+After reading it, the young man looked up and said: "I'll go around to
+the door and inquire."
+
+He was as good as his word. He went to the outer door and rang the
+bell.
+
+Julius came to the door.
+
+"What's wanted, boss?" he said.
+
+"You've got a boy locked up in a room."
+
+"Who told you, boss?"
+
+"He threw down a paper to me, telling me he was kept a prisoner."
+
+"What did he say?" asked Julius.
+
+The young man read the note aloud.
+
+"What have to say to that, you black imp?" he demanded, sternly.
+
+The ready wit of Julius served him in this emergency.
+
+"Dat boy is crazy as a loon, boss!" he answered, readily. "We have to
+keep him shut up for fear he'll kill some of us."
+
+"You don't say!" ejaculated the young mechanic. "He don't look like
+it."
+
+"No, he don't; dat's a fact, boss. Fact is, dat boy is the artfullest
+lunytick you ever seed. He tried to kill his mother last week."
+
+"Is that true?"
+
+"Dat's so, boss. And all de while he looks as innocent as a baby. If I
+was to let him out he'd kill somebody, sure."
+
+"I never would have believed it," said the young man.
+
+"If you want to take the risk, boss, you might go up and see him. I
+believe he's got a carvin'-knife about him, but I don't dare to go up
+and get it away. It would be as much as this niggah's life is worth."
+
+"No," answered the young man, hastily. "I don't want to see him. I
+never did like crazy folks. I'm sorry I gave you the trouble to come
+to the door."
+
+"Oh, no trouble, boss."
+
+"I guess I've fixed dat boy!" chuckled Julius. "Ho, ho! he can't get
+ahead of old Julius! Crazy as a loon, ho, ho!"
+
+Dodger waited anxiously for the young man to get through his
+interview. He hoped that he would force his way up to the third floor,
+draw the bolt, and release him from his imprisonment.
+
+He kept watch at the window, and when the young man reappeared, he
+looked at him eagerly. "Did you ask them to let me out?" he shouted.
+The other looked up at him with an odd expression of suspicion and
+repulsion.
+
+"You're better off where you are," he said, rather impatiently.
+
+"But they have locked me up here."
+
+"And reason enough, too!"
+
+"What makes you say that?"
+
+"Because you're crazy as a loon."
+
+"Did the black man say that?" inquired Dodger, indignantly.
+
+"Yes, he did--said you tried to kill your mother, and had a
+carving-knife hidden in the room."
+
+"It's a lie--an outrageous lie!" exclaimed Dodger, his eyes flashing.
+
+"Don't go into one of your tantrums," said the man, rather alarmed;
+"it won't do any good."
+
+"But I want you to understand that I am no more crazy than you are."
+
+"Sho? I know better. Where's your carving-knife?"
+
+"I haven't got any; I never had any. That negro has been telling you
+lies. Just go to the door again, and insist on seeing me."
+
+"I wouldn't dast to. You'd stab me," said the man, fearfully.
+
+"Listen to me!" said Dodger, getting out of patience. "I'm not crazy.
+I'm a newsboy and baggage-smasher. An old man got me to bring his
+valise here, and then locked me up. Won't you go around to the
+station-house and send a policeman here?"
+
+"I'll see about it," said the young man, who did not believe a word
+that Dodger had said to him.
+
+"He won't do it!" said Dodger to himself, in a tone of discouragement.
+"That miserable nigger has made him believe I am a lunatic. I'll have
+him up, anyway."
+
+Forthwith he began to pound and kick so forcibly, that Julius came
+upstairs on a run, half inclined to believe that Dodger had really
+become insane.
+
+"What do you want, boy?" he inquired from outside the door.
+
+"I want you to unbolt the door and let me out."
+
+"I couldn't do it, nohow," said Julius. "It would be as much as my
+place is worth."
+
+"I will give you a dollar--five dollars--if you will only let me out.
+The man who brought me here is a bad man, who is trying to cheat his
+cousin--a young lady--out of a fortune."
+
+"Don't know nothin' 'bout that," said Julius.
+
+"He has no right to keep me here."
+
+"Don't know nothin' 'bout that, either. I'm actin' accordin' to
+orders."
+
+"Look here," said Dodger, bethinking himself of what had just
+happened. "Did you tell that young man who called here just now that I
+was crazy?"
+
+Julius burst into a loud guffaw.
+
+"I expect I did," he laughed. "Said you'd got a long carvin'-knife hid
+in de room."
+
+"What made you lie so?" demanded Dodger, sternly.
+
+"Couldn't get rid of him no other way. Oh, how scared he looked when I
+told him you tried to kill your mother."
+
+And the negro burst into another hearty laugh which exasperated Dodger
+exceedingly.
+
+"How long is Mr. Waring going to keep me here? Did he tell you?"
+Dodger asked, after a pause.
+
+"No; he didn't say."
+
+"When is he coming here again?"
+
+"Said he'd come to-morrow most likely."
+
+"Will you bring me a light?"
+
+"Couldn't do it. You'd set the house on fire."
+
+It seemed useless to prolong the conversation.
+
+Dodger threw himself on the bed at an early hour, but he did not
+undress, thinking there might possibly be a chance to escape during
+the night.
+
+But the morning came and found him still a prisoner, but not in the
+solitary dwelling.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XX.
+A Midnight Ride.
+
+
+Curtis Waring had entrapped Dodger for a double purpose.
+
+It was not merely that he thought it possible the boy had the will, or
+knew where it was. He had begun to think of the boy's presence in New
+York as dangerous to his plans.
+
+John Linden might at any time learn that the son, for whose appearance
+he had grieved so bitterly, was still living in the person of this
+street boy. Then there would be an end of his hopes of inheriting the
+estate.
+
+Only a few months more and the danger would be over, for he felt
+convinced that his uncle's tenure of life would be brief. The one
+essential thing, then, seemed to be to get Dodger out of the city.
+
+The first step had already been taken; what the next was will soon
+appear.
+
+Scarcely had Dodger failed in his attempt to obtain outside assistance
+when an unaccountable drowsiness overcame him, considerably to his
+surprise.
+
+"I don't know what's come to me," he said to himself. "It can't be
+more than seven or eight o'clock, and yet I feel so sleepy I can
+hardly keep my eyes open. I haven't worked any harder than usual
+to-day, and I can't understand it."
+
+Dodger had reason to be surprised, for he didn't usually retire till
+eleven o'clock.
+
+In a city like New York, where many of the streets are tolerably well
+filled even at midnight, people get in the way of sitting up much
+later than in the country, and Dodger was no exception to this rule.
+
+Yet here he was ready to drop off to sleep before eight o'clock. To
+him it was a mystery, for he did not know that the cup of tea which he
+had drunk at supper had been drugged by direction of Curtis Waring,
+with an ulterior purpose, which will soon appear.
+
+"I may as well lie down, as there is nothing else to do," thought
+Dodger. "There isn't much fun sitting in the dark. If I can sleep, so
+much the better."
+
+Five minutes had scarcely passed after his head struck the pillow,
+when our hero was fast asleep.
+
+At eleven o'clock a hack stopped in front of the house, and Curtis
+Waring descended from it.
+
+"Stay here," he said to the driver. "There will be another passenger.
+If you are detained I will make it right when I come to pay you."
+
+"All right, sir," said the hackman. "I don't care how long it is if I
+am paid for my time."
+
+Curtis opened the door with a pass-key, and found Julius dozing in a
+chair in the hall.
+
+"Wake up, you sleepy-head," he said. "Has anything happened since I
+left here?"
+
+"Yes, sir; the boy tried to get away."
+
+"Did he? I don't see how he could do that. You kept the door bolted,
+didn't you?"
+
+"Yes, sir; but he throwed a piece of paper out'n de window, sayin' he
+was kep' a prisoner here. A young man picked it up, and came to de
+house to ax about it."
+
+Curtis looked alarmed.
+
+"What did you say?" he inquired, apprehensively.
+
+"Told him de boy was crazy as a loon--dat he tried to kill his mother
+las' week, and had a carvin'-knife hid in his room."
+
+"Good, Julius! I didn't give you credit for such a fertile
+imagination.
+
+"What's dat, massa?" asked Julius, looking puzzled.
+
+"I didn't know you were such a skillful liar."
+
+"Yah! yah!" laughed Julius, quite comprehending this compliment. "I
+reckon I can twis' de trufe pretty well, Massa Curtis!"
+
+"You have done well, Julius," said Curtis, approvingly. "Here's a
+dollar!"
+
+The negro was quite effusive in his gratitude.
+
+"What did the young man say?"
+
+"He looked scared. I tol' him he could go up and see de boy if he
+wasn't afeared of the carvin'-knife, but he said he guessed he
+wouldn't--he didn't like crazy folks."
+
+Curtis laughed heartily.
+
+"So it all ended as it should. Did the boy make any more trouble?"
+
+"Yes; he pounded and kicked till I had to go up and see what was the
+matter. I didn't give him no satisfaction, and I guess he went to
+bed."
+
+"He ought to be in a deep sleep by this time. I will go up and see. Go
+up with me, Julius, for I may have to ask you to help me bring him
+down."
+
+Though Julius was naturally a coward, he felt quite brave when he had
+company, and he at once went upstairs with Curtis Waring.
+
+Curtis drew the bolt, and, entering the chamber, his glance fell upon
+Dodger, fast asleep on the bed.
+
+"I am glad the boy did not undress," he said. "It will save me a great
+deal of trouble. Now, Julius, you can take his feet and I will lift
+his head, and we will take him downstairs."
+
+"S'pos'n he wakes up, Massa Curtis?"
+
+"He won't wake up. I took care the sleeping potion should be strong
+enough to produce profound slumber for eighteen hours."
+
+"Seems as if he was dead," said Julius, nervously.
+
+"Tush, you fool! He's no more dead than you or I."
+
+The hackman looked curious when the two men appeared with their
+sleeping burden, and Curtis felt that some explanation was required.
+
+"The boy has a very painful disease," he said, "and the doctor gave
+him a sleeping draught. He is going abroad for his health, and, under
+the circumstances, I think it best not to wake him up. Drive slowly
+and carefully to Pier No. --, as I don't want the boy aroused if it
+can be helped."
+
+"All right, sir."
+
+"Julius, you may lock the door and come with me. I shall need your
+help to get him on board the ship."
+
+"All right, Massa Curtis."
+
+"And, mind you, don't go to sleep in the carriage, you black rascal!"
+added Curtis, as he saw that the negro found it hard to keep his eyes
+open.
+
+"All right, massa, I'll keep awake. How am I to get home?"
+
+"I will instruct the hackman to take you home."
+
+"Yah, yah; I'll be ridin' like a gentleman!"
+
+The journey was successfully accomplished, but it took an hour, for,
+according to directions, the hackman did not force his pace, but drove
+slowly, till he reached the North River pier indicated.
+
+At the pier was a large, stanch vessel--the _Columbia_--bound for San
+Francisco, around Cape Horn.
+
+All was dark, but the second officer was pacing the deck.
+
+Curtis Waring hailed him.
+
+"What time do you get off?"
+
+"Early to-morrow morning."
+
+"So the captain told me. I have brought you a passenger."
+
+"The captain told me about him."
+
+"Is his stateroom ready?"
+
+"Yes, sir. You are rather late."
+
+"True; and the boy is asleep, as you will see. He is going to make the
+voyage for his health, and, as he has been suffering some pain, I
+thought I would not wake him up. Who will direct me to his stateroom?"
+
+The mate summoned the steward, and Dodger, still unconscious, was
+brought on board and quietly transferred to the bunk that had been
+prepared for him.
+
+It was a critical moment for poor Dodger, but he was quite unconscious
+of it.
+
+"What is the boy's name?" asked the mate.
+
+"Arthur Grant. The captain has it on his list. Is he on board?"
+
+"Yes; but he is asleep."
+
+"I do not need to see him. I have transacted all necessary business
+with him--and paid the passage money. Julius, bring the valise."
+
+Julius did so.
+
+"This contains the boy's clothing. Take it to the stateroom, Julius."
+
+"All right, Massa Curtis."
+
+"What is your usual time between New York and San Francisco?" asked
+Curtis, addressing the mate.
+
+"From four to six months. Four months is very short, six months very
+long. We ought to get there in five months, or perhaps a little
+sooner, with average weather."
+
+"Very well. I believe there is no more to be said. Good-night!"
+
+"Good-night, sir."
+
+"So he is well out of the way for five months!" soliloquized Curtis.
+"In five months much may happen. Before that time I hope to be in
+possession of my uncle's property. Then I can snap my fingers at
+fate."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXI.
+A Seasick Passenger.
+
+
+The good ship _Columbia_ had got fifty miles under way before Dodger
+opened his eyes.
+
+He looked about him languidly at first, but this feeling was succeeded
+by the wildest amazement, as his eyes took in his unusual
+surroundings.
+
+He had gone to sleep on a bed--he found himself on awakening in a
+ship's bunk.
+
+He half arose in his birth, but the motion of the vessel and a slight
+feeling of dizziness compelled him to resume a recumbent position.
+
+"I must be dreaming," thought Dodger. "It's very queer. I am dreaming
+I am at sea. I suppose that explains it."
+
+He listened and heard the swish of the waters as they beat against the
+sides of the vessel.
+
+He noted the pitching of the ship, and there was an unsteady feeling
+in his head, such as those who have gone to sea will readily recall.
+
+Dodger became more and more bewildered.
+
+"If it's a dream, it's the most real dream I ever had," he said to
+himself.
+
+"This seems like a ship's cabin," he continued, looking about him. "I
+think if I got up I should be seasick. I wonder if people ever get
+seasick in dreams?"
+
+There was another pitch, and Dodger instinctively clung to the edge of
+his berth, to save himself from being thrown out.
+
+"Let me see," he said, trying to collect his scattered recollection.
+"I went to sleep in a house uptown--a house to which Curtis Waring
+lured me, and then made me a prisoner. The house was somewhere near
+One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Street. Now it seems as if I was on board
+a ship. How could I get here? I wish somebody would come in that I
+could ask."
+
+As no one came in, Dodger got out of the berth, and tried to stand on
+the cabin floor.
+
+But before he knew it he was staggering like one intoxicated, and his
+head began to feel bad, partly, no doubt, on account of the sleeping
+potion which he had unconsciously taken.
+
+At this moment the steward entered the cabin. "Hello, young man! Have
+you got up?" he asked.
+
+"Where am I?" asked Dodger, looking at him with a dazed expression.
+
+"Where are you? You're on the good ship _Columbia_, to be sure?"
+
+"Are we out to sea?"
+
+"Of course you are."
+
+"How far from land?"
+
+"Well, about fifty miles, more or less, I should judge."
+
+"How long have I been here?"
+
+"It seems to me you have a poor memory. You came on board last
+evening."
+
+"I suppose Curtis Waring brought me," said Dodger, beginning to get
+his bearings.
+
+"There was a gentleman came with you--so the mate told me. I don't
+know his name."
+
+"Where is the ship bound?"
+
+"To San Francisco, around Cape Horn. I supposed you knew that."
+
+"I never heard of the ship _Columbia_ before, and I never had any idea
+of making a sea voyage."
+
+The steward looked surprised.
+
+"I suppose your guardian arranged about that. Didn't he tell you?"
+
+"I have no guardian."
+
+"Well, you'll have to ask Capt. Barnes about that. I know nothing,
+except that you are a passenger, and that your fare has been paid."
+
+"My fare paid to San Francisco?" asked Dodger, more and more at sea,
+both mentally and physically.
+
+"Yes; we don't take any deadheads on the _Columbia_."
+
+"Can you tell me what time it is?"
+
+"About twelve o'clock. Do you feel hungry?"
+
+"N--not very," returned Dodger, as a ghastly expression came over his
+face, and he tumbled back into his berth, looking very pale.
+
+The steward smiled.
+
+"I see how it is," he said; "you are getting initiated."
+
+"What's that?" muttered Dodger, feebly.
+
+"You're going to be seasick. You'll hardly be able to appear at the
+dinner table."
+
+"It makes me sick to think of eating," said Dodger, feebly.
+
+As he sank back into his berth, all thoughts of his unexpected
+position gave way to an overpowering feeling of seasickness.
+
+He had never been tried in this way before, and he found the sensation
+far from agreeable.
+
+"If only the vessel would stop pitching," he groaned. "Oh, how happy I
+should be if I were on dry land."
+
+But the vessel wouldn't stop--even for a minute.
+
+The motion, on the other hand, seemed to increase, as was natural, for
+they were getting farther and farther from land and were exposed to
+the more violent winds that swept the open ocean.
+
+There is something about seasickness that swallows up and draws away
+all minor cares and anxieties, and Dodger was too much affected to
+consider how or why it was that he so unexpectedly found himself a
+passenger to California.
+
+"Lie flat on your back," said the steward. "You will feel better if
+you do."
+
+"How long is it going to last?" groaned Dodger, feeling quite
+miserable.
+
+"Oh, you'll feel better to-morrow. I'll bring you some porridge
+presently. You can get that clown, and it is better to have something
+on your stomach."
+
+He was right. The next day Dodger felt considerably better, and
+ventured to go upon deck. He looked about him in surprise.
+
+There had been a storm, and the waves were white with foam.
+
+As far as the eye could see there was a tumult and an uproar.
+
+The ship was tossed about like a cockle shell. But the sailors went
+about their work unruffled. It was no new sight for them.
+
+Though his head did not feel exactly right, the strong wind entered
+Dodger's lungs, and he felt exhilarated. His eyes brightened, and he
+began to share in the excitement of the scene.
+
+Pacing the deck was a stout, bronzed seaman, whose dress made it clear
+even to the inexperienced eyes of Dodger that he was the captain.
+
+"Good-morning, Master Grant," he said, pleasantly. "Are you getting
+your sea legs on?"
+
+The name was unfamiliar to Dodger, but he could see that the remark
+was addressed to him.
+
+"Yes, sir," he answered.
+
+"Ever been to sea before?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"You'll get used to it. Bless me, you'll stand it like an old sailor
+before we get to 'Frisco."
+
+"Is it a long voyage, captain?" asked Dodger.
+
+"Five months, probably. We may get there a little sooner. It depends
+on the winds and weather."
+
+"Five months," said Dodger to himself, in a tone of dismay.
+
+The captain laughed.
+
+"It'll be a grand experience for a lad like you, Arthur!" said the
+captain, encouragingly.
+
+Arthur! So his name was Arthur! He had just been called Master Grant,
+so Arthur Grant was his name on board ship.
+
+Dodger was rather glad to have a name provided, for he had only been
+known as Dodger heretofore, and this name would excite surprise. He
+had recently felt the need of a name, and didn't see why this wouldn't
+answer his purpose as well as any other.
+
+"I must write it down so as not to forget it," he resolved. "It would
+seem queer if I forgot my own name."
+
+"I shouldn't enjoy it much if I were going to be seasick all the
+time," he answered.
+
+"Oh, a strong, healthy boy like you will soon be all right. You don't
+look like an invalid."
+
+"I never was sick in my life."
+
+"But your guardian told me he was sending you on a sea voyage for your
+health."
+
+"Did Mr. Waring say that?"
+
+"Yes; didn't you know the object of your sea trip?" asked Capt.
+Barnes, in surprise.
+
+"No."
+
+"There may be some tendency to disease in your system--some hereditary
+tendency," said the captain, after a pause.
+
+"Were your parents healthy?"
+
+"They--died young," answered Dodger, hesitatingly.
+
+"That accounts for your guardian's anxiety. However, you look strong
+enough, in all conscience; and if you're not healthy, you will be
+before the voyage ends."
+
+"I don't know what I am to do for clothes," said Dodger, as a new
+source of perplexity presented itself. "I can't get along with one
+shirt and collar for five months."
+
+"You will find plenty of clothes in your valise. Hasn't it been given
+you?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"You may ask the steward for it. You didn't think your guardian would
+send you on a five-months' voyage without a change of clothing, did
+you?"
+
+And the captain laughed heartily.
+
+"I don't know Mr. Waring very well," said Dodger, awkwardly.
+
+As he went downstairs to inquire about his valise, this question
+haunted him:
+
+"Why did Curtis Waring send him on a sea voyage?"
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXII.
+The Other Passenger.
+
+
+Dodger sought the steward, and asked for his valise.
+
+"Isn't it in your stateroom?" asked that functionary.
+
+"I haven't seen it."
+
+"I remember now. It was put with the luggage of the other passenger. I
+will show it to you."
+
+He took Dodger to a part of the ship where freight was stored, and
+pointed to a sizable valise with a card attached to it on which was
+inscribed the name: "Arthur Grant."
+
+"This must be yours," he said.
+
+"Yes, I suppose so," answered Dodger, glad to have found out the new
+name which had been given him, otherwise he would have supposed the
+valise belonged to some other person.
+
+He took the valise to his stateroom, and, finding a key tied to the
+handles, he opened it at once.
+
+It proved to contain a very fair supply of underclothing, socks,
+handkerchiefs, etc., with a tooth brush, a hair brush and comb, and a
+sponge. Never in his life had Dodger been so well supplied with
+clothing before. There were four white shirts, two tennis shirts, half
+a dozen handkerchiefs and the same number of socks, with three changes
+of underclothing.
+
+"I begin to feel like a gentleman," said Dodger to himself,
+complacently.
+
+That was not all. At the bottom of the valise was an envelope, sealed,
+on which was inscribed the name: "Dodger."
+
+"That is for me, at any rate," thought our hero. "I suppose it is from
+Curtis Waring."
+
+He opened the envelope, and found inclosed twenty-five dollars in
+bills, with a few lines written on a half-sheet of paper. These Dodger
+read, with interest and curiosity. They were as follows:
+
+    "Dodger:--The money inclosed is for you. When you reach
+    California you will find it of use. I have sent you out there
+    because you will find in a new country a better chance to
+    rise than in the city of New York. I advise you to stay there
+    and grow up with the country. In New York you were under the
+    influence of a bad man, from whom it is best that you should
+    be permanently separated. I know something of the early
+    history of Tim Bolton. He was detected in a crime, and fled
+    to escape the consequences. You are not his son, but his
+    nephew. Your mother was his sister, but quite superior to
+    himself. Your right name is Arthur Grant, and it will be well
+    for you to assume it hereafter. I have entered you in the
+    list of passengers under that name.
+
+    "I thought you had taken the will from my uncle's desk, but I
+    am inclined to think you had nothing to do with it. If you
+    know where it is, or whether Bolton has it, I expect you to
+    notify me in return for the money I have expended in your
+    behalf. In that case you can write to me, No. -- Madison
+    Avenue.
+
+                                                 "Curtis Waring."
+
+Dodger read the letter over twice, and it puzzled him.
+
+"He seems from the letter to take an interest in me," he soliloquized.
+"At any rate, he has given me money and clothes, and paid my passage
+to California. What for, I wonder? I don't believe it is to get me
+away from the bad influence of Tim. There must be some other reason."
+
+There was another part of the letter with which Dodger did not agree.
+
+Curtis asserted positively that he was the nephew of Tim Bolton, while
+he was positive that there was no relationship between them.
+
+In that case Curtis must have been an early acquaintance of Tim's. At
+any rate, he seemed to know about his past life.
+
+Dodger now comprehended his present situation fully. He was a
+passenger on the ship _Columbia_, and there was no chance of leaving
+it. He had ascertainel on inquiry that the vessel would not put in
+anywhere, but would make the long voyage direct. It would be over four
+months, at any rate, before he could communicate with Florence, and in
+the meantime, she and Mrs. O'Keefe, whom he recognized as a good
+friend, would conclude that he was dead.
+
+It was very provoking to think that he could not even telegraph, as
+that would relieve all anxiety, and he felt sure that Florence was
+enough his friend to feel anxious about him.
+
+He had just closed up his valise, when a young man of dark complexion
+and of an attractive, intellectual expression, entered the cabin.
+
+He nodded pleasantly to Dodger, and said:
+
+"I suppose this is Arthur Grant?"
+
+"Yes, sir," answered Dodger, for he had decided to adopt the name.
+
+"We ought to become close friends, for we are, I believe, the only
+passengers."
+
+"Then you are a passenger, too?" said Dodger, deciding, after a brief
+scrutiny, that he should like his new acquaintance.
+
+"Yes. My name is Randolph Leslie. I have been, for the last five
+years, a reporter on leading New York daily papers, and worked so
+closely that my health has become somewhat affected. My doctor
+recommended a sea voyage, and I have arranged for a pretty long one."
+
+"What papers have you worked for?"
+
+"Oh, all the leading ones--_Tribune, World, Herald,_ and _Sun_--
+sometimes one, and sometimes another. Your reason for taking this trip
+can hardly be the same as mine. You don't look as if your health
+required you to travel."
+
+"No," answered Dodger, smiling; "but I understand that the gentleman
+who engaged my passage said I was going to sea for my health."
+
+"If I were as robust as you, I shouldn't give much thought to my
+health. Do you intend to remain in California?"
+
+"I don't know what I do intend," replied Dodger. "I didn't know I was
+going to California at all until I woke up in my stateroom."
+
+The young man looked surprised.
+
+"Didn't you know the destination of the vessel when you came on
+board?" he asked.
+
+"I was brought aboard in my sleep."
+
+"This is curious. It looks to me as if you had a story to tell.
+
+"Of course, I don't want to be curious, but if there is anyway in
+which I can help you, by advice, or in any other way, I am quite ready
+to do so."
+
+Dodger paused, but only briefly. This young man looked friendly, and
+might help him to penetrate the mystery which at present baffled him.
+
+At any rate, his experience qualified him to give friendly advice, and
+of this Dodger felt that he stood in need.
+
+"I ought to tell you, to begin with," he said, "that I am a poor boy,
+and made my living as best I could, by carrying baggage, selling
+papers, etc."
+
+"I don't think any the worse of you for that. Did you live at the
+lodging houses?"
+
+"No; until lately I lived with a man who keeps a saloon on the Bowery,
+and tended bar for him."
+
+"What was his name? As a reporter I know the Bowery pretty well."
+
+"Tim Bolton."
+
+"Tim Bolton? I know his place well. I think I must have seen you
+there. Your face looked familiar to me as soon as I set eyes on you."
+
+"Very likely. A good many people came into Tim's. I couldn't pretend
+to remember them all."
+
+"Was Tim a relative of yours?"
+
+"I don't believe he was. I always thought that he got hold of me when
+I was a kid. I don't remember the time when I wasn't with him."
+
+"I suppose you have always lived in New York?"
+
+"No; I lived for several years in Australia. Tim was in the same
+business there. I came on with him a year or more since."
+
+"Do you think you ever lived in New York before?"
+
+"Yes; Tim has told me that I was born in New York."
+
+"I understand that you have left Tim now?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Why, may I ask?"
+
+"Because I didn't like the business he was in. But I liked it better
+than the one he wanted me to go into."
+
+"What was that?"
+
+"Burglary."
+
+The young reporter started in surprise.
+
+"Well," he said, "this is a new tack for Tim. However, I never looked
+upon him as a man who would shrink from any violation of the laws,
+except murder. I don't think he would do that."
+
+"No; Tim isn't quite so bad. He isn't the worst man alive, though he
+is a rather hard customer. It was his wanting me to enter a house on
+Madison Avenue and open a desk that led to me going on this trip."
+
+"Tell me about it, if you don't mind."
+
+Thus invited, Dodger told his story to Randolph Leslie, keeping
+nothing back.
+
+He finished by showing him the letter he had found in the valise.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXIII.
+Through The Golden Gate.
+
+
+"Well, this is certainly a remarkable letter," said the reporter, as
+he handed it back to Dodger. "I am at a loss to understand the
+interest which this man appears to feel in you."
+
+"I look upon him as my enemy," said Dodger. "But an enemy doesn't
+spend so much money upon another as he has."
+
+"Unless he has object in it," amended Leslie, shrewdly. "Do you know
+of any connection this man has with you?"
+
+"No; I never heard of him until I entered his house," and Dodger
+flushed as he thought that his entrance into the mansion on Madison
+Avenue had been as a burglar.
+
+"It seems to me that he knows more about you than you do about him. It
+also seems to me that he is anxious to get you out of New York, the
+farther the better."
+
+"But what harm could I do him in New York?" asked Dodger, puzzled.
+
+"That is the question which I cannot answer. You say he was
+instrumental in getting his Cousin Florence out of the house?"
+
+"Yes; he wanted to marry her."
+
+"And she would not consent?"
+
+"No; I think she hates him."
+
+"How old is she?"
+
+"Seventeen."
+
+"And he?"
+
+"He looks about thirty-five."
+
+"The difference in years isn't great enough to constitute an obstacle,
+provided she loved him. I am thirty years old."
+
+"I am sure Florence would prefer you to Curtis Waring."
+
+"Don't flatter me. I am vain enough already. The time may come when I
+may ask your good offices with Miss Linden. What I was about to ask
+was: Is Miss Linden also entitled to a share in her uncle's estate?"
+
+"She is just as nearly related to him as Mr. Waring."
+
+"Then I can understand his wishing to get rid of her. I don't know why
+he should want to send you to a distance. I suppose there can't be any
+relationship?"
+
+"Is it likely that I--a poor street boy--should be related to a rich
+man like Mr. Linden?"
+
+"It doesn't seem likely, I admit," said Leslie, musingly. "Well, I
+suppose," he continued, after a pause, "there is no use in speculating
+about the matter now. The important point is, what are we to do with
+ourselves during the four or five months we must spend on shipboard?"
+
+"I don't know what I can do," said Dodger. "I can't sell papers, and I
+can't smash baggage."
+
+"And there appears to be no need of your doing either, as you are
+provided with board and lodging till we reach shore."
+
+"That seems strange to me, for I've always had to hustle for a
+living."
+
+"I was about to make a proposal to you. But first let me ask you about
+your education. I suppose you are not an accomplished scholar?"
+
+"I'm about as ignorant as they make 'em," answered Dodger, drolly.
+"Tim was afraid to send me to college, for fear I'd get to know too
+much for my business."
+
+"Tending bar does not require an acquaintance with Latin and Greek.
+Would you like to know more?"
+
+"I wish I did. Florence was teaching me nights when I was in New York.
+Now I've got to give up all that."
+
+"Not necessarily. Listen to me, Arthur. Before I came to New York to
+go into journalism, I taught school for two years; and I believe I may
+say that I was tolerably successful. Suppose I take you as a scholar?"
+
+"I should like it very much, Mr. Leslie, but I'm afraid I haven't got
+money enough to pay you."
+
+"That is true. You will need all the money you have when you land in
+California. Twenty-five dollars won't go far--still you have all the
+money that is necessary, for I do not intend to charge you anything."
+
+"You are very kind to me, Mr. Leslie, considerin' you don't know me,"
+said Dodger, gratefully.
+
+"On the contrary, I think I know you very well. But about the kindness
+--my motives are somewhat mixed. I should like to do you a service,
+but I should also like to find employment for myself that will make
+the days less monotonous. I have a collection of books in my trunk,
+enough for our needs, and if you will agree we will commence our
+studies to-morrow."
+
+"I should like it very much. I'd like to show Florence, when I see
+her, that I have improved. Till I saw her I didn't care much, but when
+I talk with her I feel awfully ignorant."
+
+"In four months a great deal can be accomplished. I don't know how
+quick you are to learn. After we have had one or two lessons I can
+judge better."
+
+Two days later Mr. Leslie pronounced his opinion, and a favorable one.
+
+"You have not exaggerated your ignorance," he said to Dodger. "You
+have a great deal to learn, but on the other hand you are quick, have
+a retentive memory, and are very anxious to learn. I shall make
+something of you."
+
+"I learn faster with you than with Florence," said Dodger.
+
+"Probably she would succeed better with girls, but I hold that a male
+teacher is better for boys. How long are you willing to study every
+day?"
+
+"As long as you think best."
+
+"Then we will say from two to three hours. I think you have talent for
+arithmetic. I don't expect to make you fit for a bookkeeper, but I
+hope to make you equal to most office boys by the time we reach San
+Francisco. What do you intend to do in California?"
+
+"I don't know. I should like to go back to New York, but I shall not
+have money enough."
+
+"No; twenty-five dollars would go but a little way toward the passage.
+Evidently Mr. Waring did not intend to have you return, or he would
+have provided you with more."
+
+"That is just why I should like to go back. I am afraid he will do
+some harm to Florence."
+
+"And you would like to be on hand to protect her?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+Randolph Leslie smiled.
+
+"You seem to take a great deal of interest in Florence, if I may make
+as free with her name as you do."
+
+"Yes; I do, Mr. Leslie."
+
+"If you were only a little older I might suspect the nature of that
+interest."
+
+"I am older than she is."
+
+"In years, yes. But a young lady of seventeen, brought up as she has
+been, is older by years than a boy of eighteen. I don't think you need
+apprehend any harm to Miss Linden, except that Mr. Waring may cheat
+her out of her rightful share of the inheritance. Is her uncle in good
+health?"
+
+"No, sir; he is a very feeble man."
+
+"Is he an old man?"
+
+"Not so very old. I don't believe he is over sixty."
+
+Really Mr. Linden was but fifty-four, but, being a confirmed invalid,
+he looked older.
+
+"Should you say that he was likely to live very long?"
+
+"No," answered Dodger. "He looks as if you could knock him over with a
+feather. Besides, I've heard Florence say that she was afraid her
+uncle could not live long."
+
+"Probably Curtis Waring is counting upon this. If he can keep Florence
+and her uncle apart for a few months, Mr. Linden will die, and he will
+inherit the whole estate. What is this will he speaks of in the letter
+you showed me?"
+
+"I don't know, sir."
+
+"Whatever the provisions are, it is evident that he thinks it
+important to get it into his possession. If favorable to him, he will
+keep it carefully. If unfavorable, I think a man like him would not
+hesitate to suppress it."
+
+"No doubt you are right, sir. I don't know much about wills," said
+Dodger.
+
+"No; I suppose not. You never made any, I suppose," remarked the
+reporter, with a smile.
+
+"I never had nothing to leave," said Dodger.
+
+"Anything would be a better expression. As your tutor I feel it
+incumbent upon me to correct your grammar."
+
+"I wish you would, Mr. Leslie. What do you mean to do when you get to
+San Francisco?"
+
+"I shall seek employment on one of the San Farncisco daily papers. Six
+months or a year so spent will restore my health, and enable me to
+live without drawing upon my moderate savings."
+
+"I expect I shall have to work, too, to get money to take me back to
+New York."
+
+And now we must ask the reader to imagine four months and one week
+passed.
+
+There had been favorable weather on the whole, and the voyage was
+unusually short.
+
+Dodger and the reporter stood on deck, and with eager interest watched
+the passage through the Golden Gate. A little later and the queen city
+of the Pacific came in sight, crowning the hill on which a part of the
+city is built, with the vast Palace Hotel a conspicuous object in the
+foreground.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXIV.
+Florence In Suspense.
+
+
+We must now return to New York to Dodger's old home.
+
+When he did not return at the usual hour, neither Florence nor Mrs.
+O'Keefe was particularly disturbed.
+
+It was thought that he had gone on some errand of unusual length, and
+would return an hour or two late.
+
+Eight o'clock came, the hour at which the boy was accustomed to repair
+to Florence's room to study, and still he didn't make his appearance.
+
+"Dodger's late this evening, Mrs. O'Keefe," said Florence, going up to
+the room of her landlady.
+
+"Shure he is. It's likely he's gone to Brooklyn or up to Harlem, wid a
+bundle. He'll be comin' in soon."
+
+"I hope he will be well paid for the errand, since it keeps him so
+long."
+
+"I hope so, too, Florence, for he's a good boy, is Dodger. Did I tell
+you how he served the rapscallion that tried to stale my apples the
+other day?"
+
+"No; I would like to hear it."
+
+"A big, black-bearded man came along, and asked me for an apple.
+
+"'You can have one for two pennies,' says I.
+
+"'But I haven't got them,' says he.
+
+"'Then you must go widout it,' says I.
+
+"'We'll see about that,' says he.
+
+"And what do you think?--the fellow picked out one of my biggest
+apples, and was walkin' away! That made me mad.
+
+"'Come back, you thafe of the worruld!' says I.
+
+"'Silence, you old hag!' says he.
+
+"Actilly he called me an old hag! I wanted to go after him, but there
+was two hoodlums hangin' round, and I knew they'd carry off some of my
+apples, when, just as I was at my wits' end, Dodger came round the
+corner.
+
+"'Dodger,' I screamed, 'go after that man! He's taken one of my
+apples, widout lave or license!'
+
+"Upon that, Dodger, brave as a lion, walked up to the man, and, says
+he:
+
+"'Give back that apple, or pay for it!'
+
+"'What's that to you, you impudent young rascal?' says the man,
+raisin' the apple to his mouth. But he didn't get a chance to bite it,
+for Dodger, with a flip of his hand, knocked it on the sidewalk, and
+picked it up.
+
+"Wasn't the man mad just?"
+
+"'I'll smash you, boy,' he growled.
+
+"'I'm a baggage-smasher myself,' says Dodger, 'and I can smash as
+well as you.'
+
+"Wid that the man up with his fist and struck at Dodger, but he dodged
+the blow, and gave him one for himself wid his right. Just then up
+came a cop.
+
+"'What's all this?' says he.
+
+"'That man tried to run off wid one of my apples,' says I.
+
+"'Come along,' says the cop. 'You're wanted at the station-house.'
+
+"'It's a lie,' says the man. 'I paid the woman for the apple, and
+that young rascal knocked it out of my hand.'
+
+"'I know the boy,' says the cop, 'and he ain't one of that kind. I'll
+let you go if you buy five apples from the lady, and pay for 'em.'
+
+"The man made up an ugly face, but he didn't want to be locked up, and
+so he paid me a dime for five apples."
+
+"Dodger is very brave," said Florence. "Sometimes I think he is too
+daring. He is liable to get into trouble."
+
+"If he does he'll get himself out of it, never you fear. Dodger can
+take care of himself."
+
+Nine o'clock came, and Florence became alarmed. She had not been aware
+how much she had depended upon the company of her faithful friend,
+humble as his station was.
+
+Again she went into Mrs. O'Keefe's room. The apple-woman had been out
+to buy some groceries and had just returned.
+
+"I am getting anxious about Dodger," said Florence. "It is nine
+o'clock."
+
+"And what's nine o'clock for a boy like him? Shure he's used to bein'
+out at all hours of the night."
+
+"I shall feel relieved when he comes home. What should I do without
+him?"
+
+"Shure I'd miss him myself; but it isn't the first time he has been
+out late."
+
+"Perhaps that terrible Tim Bolton has got hold of him," suggested
+Florence.
+
+"Tim isn't so bad, Florence. He isn't fit company for the likes of
+you, but there's worse men nor Tim."
+
+"Didn't he send out Dodger to commit a burglary?"
+
+"And if he hadn't you'd never made Dodger's acquaintance."
+
+"That's true; but it doesn't make burglary any more excusable. Don't
+you really think Tim Bolton has got hold of him?"
+
+"If he has, he won't keep him long, I'll make oath of that. He might
+keep him over night, but Dodger would come back in the morning."
+
+Florence was somewhat cheered by Mrs. O'Keefe's refusal to believe
+that Dodger was in any serious trouble, but she could not wholly free
+herself from uneasiness. When eleven o'clock came she went to bed very
+unwillingly, and got very little rest during the night. Morning came,
+and still Dodger did not show up. As we know, he was fairly started on
+his long voyage, though he had not yet recovered consciousness.
+
+Florence took a very light breakfast, and at the usual time went to
+Mrs. Leighton's to meet her pupil. When the study hour was over, she
+did not remain to lunch, but hurried back, stopping at Mrs. O'Keefe's
+apple-stand just as that lady was preparing to go home to prepare
+dinner.
+
+"Have you seen anything of Dodger, Mrs. O'Keefe?" asked Florence,
+breathlessly.
+
+"No, I haven't, Florence. I've had my eye out watchin' for him, and he
+hasn't showed up."
+
+"Is there anything we can do?" asked Florence, anxiously.
+
+"Well, we might go around and see Tim--and find out whether he's got
+hold of him."
+
+"Let us go at once."
+
+"Shure I didn't know you cared so much for the boy," said Mrs.
+O'Keefe, with a shrewd look at Florence's anxious face.
+
+"Why shouldn't I care for him? He is my only friend."
+
+"Is he now? And what's the matter wid Bridget O'Keefe?" asked the
+apple-woman.
+
+"Excuse me, Mrs. O'Keefe. I know very well you are my friend, and a
+kind friend, too. I should not have forgotten you."
+
+"It's all right, Florence. You're flustrated like, and that's why you
+forget me."
+
+"I have so few friends that I can't spare one," continued Florence.
+
+"That's so. Come along wid me, and we'll see what Tim has to tell us."
+
+A short walk brought the two strangely assorted companions to the
+entrance of Tim Bolton's saloon. "I'm afraid to go in, Mrs. O'Keefe,"
+said Florence.
+
+"Come along wid me, my dear, I won't let anything harm you. You ain't
+used to such a place, but I've been here more than once to fill the
+growler. Be careful as you go down the steps, Florence."
+
+Tim Bolton was standing behind the bar, and as he heard steps he
+looked carelessly toward the entrance, but when he saw Florence, his
+indifference vanished. He came from behind the bar, and advanced to
+meet her.
+
+"Miss Linden," he said.
+
+Florence shrank back and clung to her companion's arm.
+
+"Is there anything I can do for you? I am a rough man, but I'm not so
+bad as you may think."
+
+"That's what I told her, Tim," said Mrs. O'Keefe. "I told Florence
+there was worse men than you."
+
+"Thank you, Mrs. O'Keefe. Can I offer you a glass of whiskey?"
+
+The apple-woman was about to accept, but she felt an alarmed tug at
+her arm, and saw that Florence would be placed in an embarrassing
+position if she accepted. So, by an exercise of self-denial--for Mrs.
+O'Keefe was by no means insensible to the attractions of whiskey,
+though she never drank to excess--she said:
+
+"Thank you kindly, Mr. Bolton. I won't take any just now; but I'll
+remind you of your offer another day."
+
+"Have it your own way, Mrs. O'Keefe. And now, what can I do for you
+and Miss Linden?"
+
+"Oh, Mr. Bolton," broke in Florence, unable to bear the suspense
+longer, "where is Dodger?"
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXV.
+Finding The Clew.
+
+
+Tim Bolton looked at Florence in undisguised astonishment.
+
+"Dodger!" he repeated. "How should I know? I supposed that you had
+lured him away from me."
+
+"He didn't like the business you were in. He preferred to make a
+living in some other way."
+
+"Then why do you ask me where he is?"
+
+"Because he did not come home last night. Shure he rooms at my house,"
+put in Mrs. O'Keefe, "and he hasn't showed up since----"
+
+"And you thought I might have got hold of him?" said Bolton,
+inquiringly.
+
+"Then you are mistaken. I haven't seen the boy for weeks."
+
+Tim Bolton spoke so straightforwardly that there was no chance to
+doubt his word.
+
+"When he was living with you, Mr. Bolton," continued Florence, "did he
+ever stay away like this?"
+
+"No," answered Bolton. "Dodger was always very regular about comin'
+home."
+
+"Then something must have happened to him," said Florence, anxiously.
+
+"He might have got run in," suggested the apple-woman. "Some of them
+cops is mighty officious."
+
+"Dodger would never do anything to deserve arrest," Florence said,
+quickly.
+
+"Thrue for you, Florence, but some innersent parties are nabbed. I
+know of one young man who was standin' on a strate corner waitin' for
+the cars, when a cop came up and arristed him for disorderly conduct."
+
+"But that is shameful!" said Florence, indignantly.
+
+"Thrue for you, my dear. We might go round to the police headquarters
+and inquire if the boy's been run in."
+
+"What do you think, Mr. Bolton?" asked Florence.
+
+Tim Bolton seemed busy thinking. Finally he brought down his hand
+forcibly on the bar, and said: "I begin to see through it."
+
+Florence did not speak, but she fixed an eager look of inquiry on the
+face of the saloon-keeper.
+
+"I believe Curtis Waring is at the bottom of this," he said.
+
+"My cousin!" exclaimed Florence, in astonishment.
+
+"Yes, your cousin, Miss Linden."
+
+"But what can he have against poor Dodger! Is it because the boy has
+taken my part and is a friend to me?"
+
+"He wouldn't like him any better on account of hat; but he has another
+and a more powerful reason."
+
+"Would you mind telling me what it is? I cannot conceive what it can
+be."
+
+"At present," answered Bolton, cautiously, "I prefer to say nothing on
+the subject. I will only say the boy's disappearance interferes with
+my plans, and I will see if I can't find out what has become of him."
+
+"If you only will, Mr. Bolton, I shall be so grateful. I am afraid I
+have misjudged you. I thought you were an enemy of Dodger's."
+
+"Then you were mistaken. I have had the boy with me since he was a
+kid, and though I've been rough with him at times, maybe, I like him,
+and I may some time have a chance to show him that old Tim Bolton is
+one of his best friends."
+
+"I will believe it now, Mr. Bolton," said Florence, impulsively,
+holding out her hand to the burly saloon-keeper.
+
+He was surprised, but it was evident that he was pleased, also, and he
+took the little hand respectfully in his own ample palm, and pressed
+it in a friendly manner.
+
+"There's one thing more I want you to believe, Miss Linden," he said,
+"and that is, that I am your friend, also."
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Bolton. And now let us all work together to find
+Dodger."
+
+"You can count on me, Miss Linden. If you'll tell me where you live
+I'll send or bring you any news I may hear."
+
+"I live with Mrs. O'Keefe, my good friend, here."
+
+"I haven't my kyard with me, Tim," said the apple-woman, "but I'll
+give you my strate and number. You know my place of business?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"If you come to me there I'll let Florence know whatever you tell me.
+She is not always at home."
+
+The two went away relieved in mind, for, helpless and bewildered as
+they were, they felt that Tim Bolton would make a valuable ally.
+
+When they had gone Tim turned to Hooker and Briggs, who were lounging
+at a table, waiting for some generous customer to invite them to the
+bar.
+
+"Boys," said Tim, "has either of you seen anything of Dodger lately?"
+
+"No," answered the two in unison.
+
+"Have you heard anything of him?"
+
+"I heard that he was baggage-smashin' down by the steamboat landings,"
+said Hooker.
+
+"Go down there, both of you, and see if you can see or hear anything
+of him."
+
+"All right, Tim."
+
+And the two left the saloon and took a westerly route toward the North
+River piers.
+
+Three hours later they returned.
+
+"Have you heard anything?" asked Bolton. "Did you see Dodger?"
+
+"No; we didn't see him."
+
+"But you heard something?"
+
+"Yes; we found a boy, a friend of his, that said the last he saw of
+Dodger was last evenin'."
+
+"Where did he see him?"
+
+"Near the pier of the Albany boats."
+
+"What was he doin'?"
+
+"Carryin' a valise for a man."
+
+"What kind of a man? How did he look?"
+
+"He had gray hair and gray whiskers."
+
+Tim was puzzled by the description.
+
+If, as he suspected, Curtis were concerned in the abduction, this man
+could not have been he.
+
+"The man was a passenger by the Albany boat, I suppose?"
+
+"No; that was what looked queer. Before the Albany boat came in the
+man was lyin' round with his valise, and the boy thought he was goin'
+off somewhere. But when the boat came in he just mixed in with the
+passengers, and came up to the entrance of the pier. Two boys asked to
+carry his valise, but he shook his head till Dodger came round, and he
+engaged him right off."
+
+Tim Bolton nodded knowingly.
+
+"It was a plan," he said. "The man wanted to get hold of Dodger. What
+puzzles me is, that you said he was an old man."
+
+"His hair and beard were gray."
+
+"And Curtis has no beard, and his hair is black."
+
+"But the boy said he didn't look like an old man, except the hair. He
+walked off like a young man."
+
+Tim Bolton's face lighted up with sudden intelligence.
+
+"I'll bet a hat it was Curtis in disguise," he soliloquized.
+
+"That's all we could find out, Mr. Bolton," said Briggs, with another
+longing look at the bar.
+
+"It is enough! You have earned your whiskey. Walk up, gentlemen!"
+
+Hooker and Briggs needed no second invitation.
+
+"Will either of you take a note for me to Mrs. O'Keefe? For another
+drink, of course."
+
+"I will, Tim," said Hooker, eagerly.
+
+"No; take me, Mr. Bolton," entreated Briggs.
+
+"You can both go," said Tim, generously. "Wait a minute, and I'll have
+it ready for you."
+
+He found a half sheet of note paper, and scribbled on it this message:
+
+    "Mrs. O'Keefe:--Tell Miss Linden that I have a clew. I am
+    almost surtin her cozen has got away with Dodger. He won't
+    hurt him, but he will get him out of the city. Wen I hear
+    more I will right.
+
+                                                 "T. Bolton."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXVI.
+Bolton Makes A Discovery.
+
+
+"I see it all," Bolton said to himself, thoughtfully. "Curtis Waring
+is afraid of the boy--and of me. He's circumvented me neatly, and the
+game is his--so far my little plan is dished. I must find out for
+certain whether he's had anything to do with gettin' Dodger out of the
+way, and then, Tim Bolton, you must set your wits to work to spoil his
+little game."
+
+Bolton succeeded in securing the services of a young man who had
+experience at tending bar, and about eight o'clock, after donning his
+best attire, he hailed a Fourth Avenue surface car and got aboard.
+
+Getting out at the proper street, he made his way to Madison Avenue,
+and ascended the steps of John Linden's residence.
+
+The door was opened by Jane, who eyed the visitor with no friendly
+glance.
+
+"What do you want?" she asked, in a hostile tone.
+
+"Is Mr. Waring at home?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+"Is Miss Florence at home?"
+
+"Do you know her?" she asked.
+
+"Yes; I am a friend of hers."
+
+Jane evidently thought that Florence must have made some queer
+friends.
+
+"Have you seen her lately?" she asked eagerly.
+
+"I saw her to-day."
+
+"Is she well?"
+
+"Yes; she is well, but she is in trouble."
+
+"Is she---- Does she need any money?"
+
+"No; it isn't that. The boy Dodger has disappeared, and she is afraid
+something has happened to him."
+
+"Oh, I am so sorry! He was a good friend of Miss Florence."
+
+"I see you know him. I am trying to help him and her."
+
+"But you asked for Mr. Waring?" said Jane, suspiciously.
+
+"So I did. Shall I tell you why?"
+
+"I wish you would."
+
+"I think he has something to do with gettin' Dodger out of the way,
+and I'm goin' to try to find out."
+
+"He won't tell you."
+
+"You don't understand. I shall make him think I am on his side. Was he
+at home last night?"
+
+"He went away at dinner time, and he didn't come home till after
+twelve. I ought to know, for he forgot his latchkey, and I had to get
+up and let him in. I won't do it again. I'll let him stay out first."
+
+"I see; he was with Dodger, no doubt. Did you say he was in?"
+
+"No, sir; but he will be in directly. Won't you step into the
+library?"
+
+"Shall I meet the old gentleman there?" asked Bolton, in a tone of
+hesitation.
+
+"No. He goes up to his chamber directly after dinner."
+
+"How is he?"
+
+"I think he's failing."
+
+"I hope there is no immediate danger," said Bolton, anxiously.
+
+"No; but he's worrying about Miss Florence. It's my belief that if she
+were at home, he'd live a good while."
+
+"Doesn't he ask for her?"
+
+"Mr. Curtis tells him she'll come round soon if he'll only be firm. I
+don't see, for my part, why Mr. Linden wants her to marry such a
+disagreeable man. There's plenty better husbands she could get. Come
+in, sir, and I'll tell him as soon as he comes in. Shall you see Miss
+Florence soon?"
+
+"I think so."
+
+"Then tell her not to give up. Things will come right some time."
+
+"I'll tell her."
+
+Bolton was ushered into the library, where, amid the fashionable
+furniture he looked quite out of place. He did not feel so, however,
+for he drew a cigar out of his pocket and, lighting it nonchalantly,
+leaned back in a luxurious armchair and began to smoke.
+
+"Curtis Waring is well fixed--that's a fact!" he soliloquized. "I
+suppose he is the master here, for the old man isn't likely to
+interfere. Still he will like it better when his uncle is out of the
+way."
+
+He had to wait but fifteen minutes in solitude, for at the end of that
+time Curtis Waring appeared.
+
+He paused on the threshold, and frowned when he saw who it was that
+awaited him.
+
+"Jane told me that a gentleman was waiting to see me," he said.
+
+"Well, she was right."
+
+"And you, I suppose, are the gentleman?" said Curtis, in a sneering
+tone.
+
+"Yes; I am the gentleman," remarked Bolton, coolly.
+
+"I am not in the habit of receiving visits from gentlemen of your
+class. However, I suppose you have an object in calling."
+
+"It shall go hard with me if I don't pay you for your sneers some
+day," thought Bolton; but he remained outwardly unruffled.
+
+"Well," he answered, "I can't say that I have any particular business
+to see you about. I saw your cousin recently."
+
+"Florence?" asked Curtis, eagerly.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"What did she say? Did you speak with her?"
+
+"Yes. She doesn't seem any more willin' to marry you."
+
+Curtis Waring frowned.
+
+"She is a foolish girl," he said. "She doesn't know her own mind."
+
+"She looks to me like a gal that knows her own mind particularly
+well."
+
+"Pshaw! what can you know about it?"
+
+"Then you really expect to marry her some time, Mr. Waring?"
+
+"Certainly I do."
+
+"And to inherit your uncle's fortune?"
+
+"Of course. Why not?"
+
+"I was thinkin' of the boy."
+
+"The boy is dead----"
+
+"What!" exclaimed Bolton, jumping to his feet in irresistible
+excitement.
+
+"Don't be a fool. Wait till I finish my sentence. He is dead so far as
+his prospects are concerned. Who is there that can identify him with
+the lost child of John Linden?"
+
+"I can."
+
+"Yes; if any one would believe you. However, it is for your interest
+to keep silent."
+
+"That is just what I want to know. I suppose you can make it for my
+interest."
+
+"Yes, and will--after I get the property. I don't believe in counting
+my chickens before they are hatched."
+
+"Of course you know that the boy has left me?" said Bolton.
+
+"Yes," answered Curtis, indifferently. "He is with my cousin, I
+believe."
+
+"Yes; and through her I can learn where he is, and get hold of him if
+I desire."
+
+A cynical smile played over the face of Curtis Waring.
+
+"Do you propose to get him back?" he asked, shrugging his shoulders.
+
+"I am right," thought Bolton, shrewdly. "From his manner it is easy to
+see that Curtis is quite at ease as regards Dodger. He knows where he
+is!"
+
+"You asked me what business I came about, Mr. Waring," he said, after
+a pause.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Of course I am devoted to your interests, but is it quite fair to
+make me wait till you come into your fortune before allowing me
+anything?"
+
+"I think so."
+
+"You don't seem to consider that I can bring the boy here and make him
+known to your uncle as the son he lost so long ago?"
+
+"You are quite sure you can bring the boy here?" asked Curtis.
+
+"Why not? I have only to go to Florence and ask her to send the boy to
+me."
+
+"You are quite at liberty to do so if you like, Tim Bolton," said
+Curtis, with a mocking smile. "I am glad, at any rate, that you have
+shown me what is in your mind. You are very sharp, but you are not
+quite so sharp as I am."
+
+"I don't understand you."
+
+"Then I will be more explicit. It's out of your power to make use of
+the boy against me, because----"
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Because he is not in the city."
+
+"Where is he, then?"
+
+"Where you are not likely to find him."
+
+"If you have killed him----" Bolton began, but Curtis interrupted him.
+
+"The boy is safe--I will tell you that much," he said; "but for
+reasons which you can guess, I think it better that he should be out
+of New York. When the proper time comes, and all is safe, he may come
+back, but not in time to help you in your cunning plans, Mr. Tim
+Bolton."
+
+"Then, I suppose," said Bolton, assuming an air of mortification and
+discomfiture, "it is no use for me to remain here any longer."
+
+"You are quite right. I wish you a pleasant journey home. Give my love
+to Florence when you see her."
+
+"That man is a fiend!" soliloquized Bolton, as he walked back,
+leisurely, to his place of business. "Let me get hold of Dodger and I
+will foil him yet!"
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXVII.
+Dodger Strikes Luck.
+
+
+When Dodger landed in San Francisco, in spite of the fact that he had
+made the journey against his will, he felt a natural exhilaration and
+pleasure in the new and striking circumstances and scenes in which he
+found himself placed.
+
+It was in the year 1877, and the city was by no means what it is now.
+Yet it probably contained not far from two hundred thousand people,
+lively, earnest, enterprising. All seemed busy and hopeful, and Dodger
+caught the contagion.
+
+As he walked with the reporter to a modest hotel, where the rates were
+a dollar and a half a day, not far from Montgomery Street, Randolph
+Leslie asked:
+
+"How do you like San Francisco thus far, Arthur?"
+
+It will be remembered that Dodger, feeling that the name by which he
+had hitherto been known was hardly likely to recommend him, adopted
+the one given him by Curtis Waring.
+
+"I think I shall like it ever so much," answered Dodger. "Everybody
+seems to be wideawake."
+
+"Do you think you will like it better than New York?"
+
+"I think a poor boy will have more of a chance of making a living
+here. In New York I was too well known. If I got a place anywhere some
+one would recognize me as Tim Bolton's boy--accustomed to tend bar--or
+some gentleman would remember that he had bought papers of me. Here
+nobody knows me, and I can start fair."
+
+"There is a great deal in what you say," returned Leslie. "What do you
+think of trying to do?"
+
+"First of all I will write a letter to Florence, and tell her I am all
+right. How long does it take a letter to go from here to New York?"
+
+"About seven days."
+
+"And it took us over four months! That seems wonderful."
+
+"Yes; there is a great difference between coming by sea around Cape
+Horn and speeding across the country on an express train."
+
+"If I could only know how Florence is getting along," Dodger said,
+anxiously. "I suppose she thinks I am dead."
+
+"You forget the letter you gave to the vessel we spoke off the coast
+of Brazil."
+
+"Yes; but do you think it went straight?"
+
+"The chances are in favor of it. However, your idea is a good one.
+Write, by all means, and then we will discuss future plans."
+
+"What are your plans, Mr. Leslie?"
+
+"I shall try to secure a reporter's berth on one of the daily papers--
+the _Call_ or _Chronicle_. I will wait a few days, however, as I have
+a few hundred dollars by me, and can afford to take a little time to
+look around."
+
+"I wish I were as well provided; but I have less than twenty-five
+dollars."
+
+"Don't worry about that, Arthur," said Randolph, laying his hand
+affectionately on the boy's shoulder. "I shall not allow you to want."
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Leslie," said Dodger, gratefully. "It's something new
+to me to have a friend like you. But I don't want to be any expense to
+you. I am large enough and strong enough to earn my own living."
+
+"True; and I feel sure you will have a chance in this enterprising
+city."
+
+They bought copies of the day's papers, and Dodger looked eagerly over
+the advertising columns.
+
+At length he saw an advertisement that read as follows:
+
+    WANTED--A young man of 18 or 20 to assist in the office of a
+    local express. Inquire at No. -- ---- St."
+
+"Do you think I would answer for such a place?" he asked.
+
+"I don't see why not. At any rate, 'nothing venture, nothing gain.'
+You may as well go around and inquire. And, by the way, as your suit
+is rather shabby, let me lend you one of mine. We are of nearly the
+same size."
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Leslie."
+
+"Fine feathers make fine birds, you know, and a neat dress always
+increases the chances of an applicant for employment, though, when it
+is carried too far, it is apt to excite suspicion. I remember a friend
+of mine advertised for a bookkeeper. Among the applicants was a young
+man wearing a sixty-dollar suit, a ruffled shirt, a handsome gold
+watch and a diamond pin. He was a man of taste, and he was strongly
+impressed with the young man's elegant appearance. So, largely upon
+the strength of these, he engaged him, and in less than six months
+discovered that he had been swindled to the extent of eight hundred
+dollars by his aesthetic bookkeeper."
+
+"Then I will leave my diamond pin at home," said Dodger, smiling.
+"Suppose they ask me for recommendations?"
+
+"I will go with you and indorse you. I happen to know one or two
+prominent gentlemen in San Francisco--among them the president of a
+bank--and I presume my indorsement will be sufficient."
+
+Dodger went back to the hotel, put on a suit of Mr. Leslie's, got his
+boots blacked, and then, in company with the young reporter, went to
+the express office.
+
+"I am afraid some one will have been engaged already," said the
+reporter; "but if not, your chances will be good."
+
+They entered a good-sized office on a prominent street, and Dodger
+inquired for Mr. Tucker.
+
+A small man of about forty, keen-eyed and alert, eyed him attentively.
+
+"I am Mr. Tucker," he said.
+
+"I saw your advertisement for an assistant, Mr. Tucker," said Dodger,
+modestly; "have you filled the place?"
+
+"Let me see," said Tucker, reflectively, "you are the ninth young man
+who has applied--but the place is still open."
+
+"Then I am afraid you won't want me, as you have rejected so many."
+
+"I don't know. How long have you been in the city?"
+
+"I only just arrived."
+
+"Where from?"
+
+"From New York."
+
+"Have you any idea of going to the mines when you get money enough?"
+
+"I think I would prefer to remain in the city."
+
+"Good! How is your education?"
+
+"I have never been to college," answered Dodger, with a smile.
+
+"Good! I don't care for your college men. I am a practical man
+myself."
+
+"I am a poor scholar, but Mr. Leslie tells me I write a fair hand."
+
+"Let me see a specimen of your writing."
+
+Now Dodger had taken special pains on the voyage to improve his
+penmanship, with excellent results.
+
+So it happened that the specimen which he furnished had the good
+fortune to please Mr. Tucker.
+
+"Good!" he said. "You will, a part of the time, be taking orders. Your
+handwriting is plain and will do. Never mind about Latin and Greek.
+You won't need it. Chinese would be more serviceable to you here. When
+can you go to work?"
+
+"To-morrow morning. To-day, if necessary," answered Dodger, promptly.
+
+Mr. Tucker seemed pleased with his answer.
+
+"To-morrow morning let it be, then! Hours are from eight in the
+morning till six at night."
+
+"Very well, sir."
+
+"Your wages will be fifteen dollars a week. How will that suit you?"
+
+Dodger wanted to indulge in a loud whoop of exultation, for fifteen
+dollars was beyond his wildest hopes; but he was too politic to
+express his delight. So he contented himself with saying:
+
+"I shall be quite satisfied with that."
+
+"Oh, by the way, I suppose I ought to have some reference," said Mr.
+Tucker, "though as a general thing I judge a good deal by outward
+appearance."
+
+"I can refer you to my friend, Mr. Leslie, here."
+
+"And who will indorse him?" asked the expressman, shrewdly.
+
+Leslie smiled.
+
+"I see, Mr. Tucker, you are a thorough man of business. I can refer
+you to Mr. ----, president of the ---- Bank in this city."
+
+"That is sufficient, sir. I am sure you would not refer me to him
+unless you felt satisfied that he would speak favorably of you. I
+won't, therefore, take the trouble to inquire. Where are you staying?"
+
+"At the Pacific Hotel; but we shall take a private apartment within a
+day or two."
+
+As they passed out of the office, Randolph Leslie said:
+
+"You've done splendidly, Arthur."
+
+"Haven't I? I feel like a millionaire."
+
+"As you are to go to work to-morrow, we may as well take up a room at
+once. It will be cheaper."
+
+In a short time they had engaged a neat suite of rooms, two in number,
+not far from the Palace Hotel, at twenty dollars per month.
+
+The next day Leslie procured a position on the San Francisco
+_Chronicle_, at twenty-five dollars per week.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXVIII.
+Florence Receives A Letter.
+
+
+The discovery, through Tim Bolton, that Curtis Waring had a hand in
+the disappearance of Dodger, partially relieved the anxiety of
+Florence--but only partially.
+
+He might be detained in captivity, but even that was far better than
+an accident to life or limb.
+
+She knew that he would try to get word to her at the earliest
+opportunity, in order to relieve her fears.
+
+But week after week passed, and no tidings came.
+
+At length, at the end of ten weeks, a note came to her, written on a
+rough sheet of paper, the envelope marked by a foreign stamp.
+
+It ran thus:
+
+    "Dear Florence:--I am sure you have worried over my
+    disappearance. Perhaps you thought I was dead, but I was
+    never better in my life. I am on the ship _Columbia_, bound
+    for San Francisco, around Cape Horn; and just now, as one of
+    the officers tells me, we are off the coast of Brazil.
+
+    "There is a ship coming north, and we are going to hail her
+    and give her letters to carry home, so I hope these few lines
+    will reach you all right. I suppose I am in for it, and must
+    keep on to San Francisco. But I haven't told you yet how I
+    came here.
+
+    "It was through a trick of your cousin, Curtis Waring. I
+    haven't time to tell you about it; but I was drugged and
+    brought aboard in my sleep; when I woke up I was forty miles
+    at sea.
+
+    "Don't worry about me, for I have a good friend on board, Mr.
+    Randolph Leslie, who has been a reporter on one of the New
+    York daily papers. He advises me to get something to do in
+    San Francisco, and work till I have earned money enough to
+    get home. He says I can do better there, where I am not
+    known, and can get higher pay. He is giving me lessons every
+    day, and he says I am learning fast.
+
+    "The ship is almost here, and I must stop. Take good care of
+    yourself, and remember me to Mrs. O'Keefe, and I will write
+    you again as soon as I get to San Francisco.
+
+                                                 "Dodger.
+
+    "P. S.--Don't let on to Curtis that you have heard from me,
+    or he might try to play me some trick in San Francisco."
+
+Florence's face was radiant when she had read the letter.
+
+Dodger was alive, well, and in good spirits. The letter arrived during
+the afternoon, and she put on her street dress at once and went over
+to the apple-stand and read the letter to Mrs. O'Keefe.
+
+"Well, well!" ejaculated the apple-woman. "So it's that ould thafe of
+the worruld, Curtis Waring, that has got hold of poor Dodger, just as
+Tim told us. It seems mighty quare to me that he should want to stale
+poor Dodger. If it was you, now, I could understand it."
+
+"It seems strange to me, Mrs. O'Keefe," said Florence, thoughtfully.
+"I thought it might be because Dodger was my friend, but that doesn't
+seem to be sufficient explanation. Don't you think we ought to show
+this letter to Mr. Bolton?"
+
+"I was going to suggest that same. If you'll give it to me, Florence,
+I'll get Mattie to tend my stand, and slip round wid it to Tim's right
+off."
+
+"I will go with you, Mrs. O'Keefe."
+
+Mattie, who was playing around the corner, was summoned.
+
+"Now, Mattie, just mind the stand, and don't be runnin' away, or them
+boys will get away wid my whole mornin's profits. Do you hear?"
+
+"Yes, mum."
+
+"And don't you be eatin' all the while you are here. Here's one apple
+you can have," and the apple-woman carefully picked out one that she
+considered unsalable.
+
+"That's specked, Mrs. O'Keefe," objected Mattie.
+
+"And what if it is? Can't you bite out the specks? The rest of the
+apple is good. You're gettin' mighty particular."
+
+Mattie bit a piece out of the sound part of the apple, and, when Mrs.
+O'Keefe was at a safe distance, gave the rest to a lame bootblack, and
+picked out one of the best apples for her own eating.
+
+"Bridget O'Keefe is awful mane wid her apples!" soliloquized Mattie,
+"but I'm too smart for her. Tryin' to pass off one of her old specked
+apples on me! If I don't take three good one I'm a sinner."
+
+Arrived at the front of the saloon, Mrs. O'Keefe penetrated the
+interior, and met Tim near the door.
+
+"Have you come in for some whiskey, old lady?" asked Tim, in a jesting
+tone.
+
+"I'll take that by and by. Florence is outside, and we've got some
+news for you."
+
+"Won't she come in?"
+
+"No; she don't like to be seen in a place like this. She's got a
+letter from Dodger."
+
+"You don't mean it!" ejaculated Tim, with sudden interest. "Where is
+he?"
+
+"Come out and see."
+
+"Good afternoon, Miss Linden," said Tim, gallantly. "So you've news
+from Dodger?"
+
+"Yes; here is the letter."
+
+Bolton read it through attentively.
+
+"Curtis is smart," he said, as he handed it back. "He couldn't have
+thought of a better plan for getting rid of the boy. It will take
+several months for him to reach 'Frisco, and after that he can't get
+back, for he won't have any money."
+
+"Dodger says he will try to save money enough to pay his way back."
+
+"It will take him a good while."
+
+"It doesn't take long to come back by cars, does it?"
+
+"No; but it costs a great deal of money. Why, it may take Dodger a
+year to earn enough to pay his way back on the railroad."
+
+"A year!" exclaimed Florence, in genuine dismay--"a year, in addition
+to the time it takes to go out there! Where will we all be at the end
+of that time?"
+
+"Not in jail, I hope," answered Bolton, jocularly. "I am afraid your
+uncle will no longer be in the land of the living."
+
+A shadow came over Florence's face.
+
+"Poor Uncle John!" she said, sadly. "It is terrible to think he may
+die thinking hardly of me."
+
+"Leavin' his whole fortune to Curtis," continued Tim.
+
+"That is the least thing that troubles me," said Florence.
+
+"A woman's a queer thing," said Tim, shrugging his shoulders. "Here's
+a fortune of maybe half a million, and half of it rightfully yours,
+and you don't give it a thought."
+
+"Not compared with the loss of my uncle's affections."
+
+"Money is a great deal more practical than affection."
+
+"Perhaps so, from your standpoint, Mr. Bolton," said Florence, with
+dignity.
+
+"No offense, miss. When you've lived as long as I, you'll look at
+things different. Well, I'm glad to hear from the lad. If Curtis had
+done him any harm, I'd have got even with him if it sent me to jail."
+
+A quiet, determined look replaced Tim Bolton's usual expression of
+easy good humor. He could not have said anything that would have
+ingratiated him more with Florence.
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Bolton," she said, earnestly. "I shall always count
+upon your help. I believe you are a true friend of Dodger----"
+
+"And of yours, too, miss----"
+
+"I believe it," she said, with a smile that quite captivated Tim.
+
+"If it would be any satisfaction to you, Miss Florence," he continued,
+"I'll give Curtis Waring a lickin'. He deserves it for persecutin' you
+and gettin' you turned out of your uncle's house."
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Bolton; it wouldn't be any satisfaction to me to see
+Curtis injured in any way."
+
+"You're too good a Christian, you are, Miss Florence."
+
+"I wish I deserved your praise, but I can hardly lay claim to it. Now,
+Mr. Bolton, tell me what can I do to help Dodger?"
+
+"I don't see that you can do anything now, as it will be most three
+months before he reaches 'Frisco. You might write to him toward the
+time he gets there."
+
+"I will."
+
+"Direct to the post office. I think he'll have sense enough to ask for
+letters."
+
+"I wish I could send him some money. I am afraid he will land
+penniless."
+
+"If he lands in good health you can trust him for makin' a livin'. A
+New York boy, brought up as he was, isn't goin' to starve where there
+are papers to sell and errands to run. Why, he'll light on his feet in
+'Frisco, take my word for it."
+
+Florence felt a good deal encouraged by Tim's words of assurance, and
+she went home with her heart perceptibly lightened.
+
+But she was soon to have trials of her own, which for the time being
+would make her forgetful of Dodger.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXIX.
+Mrs. Leighton's Party.
+
+
+"Miss Linden," said Mrs. Leighton, one day in the fourth month of
+Dodger's absence, "Carrie has perhaps told you that I give a party
+next Thursday evening."
+
+"She told me," answered the governess.
+
+"I expected Prof. Bouvier to furnish dancing music--in fact, I had
+engaged him--but I have just received a note stating that he is
+unwell, and I am left unprovided. It is very inconsiderate on his
+part," added the lady, in a tone of annoyance.
+
+Florence did not reply. She took rather a different view of the
+professor's letter, and did not care to offend Mrs. Leighton.
+
+"Under the circumstances," continued the lady, "it has occurred to me
+that, as you are really quite a nice performer, you might fill his
+place. I shall be willing to allow you a dollar for the evening. What
+do you say?"
+
+Florence felt embarrassed. She shrank from appearing in society in her
+present separation from her family, yet could think of no good excuse.
+Noticing her hesitation, Mrs. Leighton added, patronizingly:
+
+"On second thought, I will pay you a dollar and a half"--Prof. Bouvier
+was to have charged ten dollars--"and you will be kind enough to come
+in your best attire. You seem to be well provided with dresses."
+
+"Yes, madam, there will be no difficulty on that score."
+
+"Nor on any other, I hope. As governess in my family, I think I have a
+right to command your services."
+
+"I will come," said Florence, meekly. She felt that it would not do to
+refuse after this.
+
+As she entered the handsomely decorated rooms on the night of the
+party, she looked around her nervously, fearing to see some one whom
+she had known in earlier days. She noticed one only--Percy de
+Brabazon, whose face lighted up when he saw her, for he had been
+expecting to see her.
+
+She managed to convey a caution by a quiet movement, as it would not
+be wise for Mrs. Leighton to know of their previous acquaintance. But
+Percy was determined to get an opportunity to speak to her.
+
+"Who is that young lady, Aunt Mary?" he asked. "The one standing near
+the piano."
+
+"That is Carrie's governess," answered Mrs. Leighton, carelessly.
+
+"She seems quite a ladylike person."
+
+"Yes. I understand she has seen better days. She is to play for us in
+the absence of Prof. Bouvier."
+
+"Will you introduce me, aunt?"
+
+"Why?" asked Mrs. Leighton, with a searching look.
+
+"I should like to inquire about Carrie's progress in her studies,"
+said the cunning Percy.
+
+"Oh, certainly," answered the aunt, quite deceived by his words.
+
+"Miss Linden," she said, "let me introduce my nephew, Mr. de Brabazon.
+He wishes to inquire about Carrie's progress in her studies."
+
+And the lady sailed off to another part of the room.
+
+"I can assure you, Mr. de Brabazon," said Florence, "that my young
+charge is making excellent progress."
+
+"I can easily believe it, under your instruction," said Percy.
+
+"I am very glad you take such an interest in your cousin," added
+Florence, with a smile. "It does you great credit."
+
+"It's only an excuse, you know, to get a chance to talk with you, Miss
+Linden. May I say Miss Florence?"
+
+"No," answered Florence, decidedly. "It won't do. You must be very
+formal."
+
+"Then tell me how you like teaching."
+
+"Very well, indeed."
+
+"It must be an awful bore, I think."
+
+"I don't think so. Carrie is a warm-hearted, affectionate girl.
+Besides, she is very bright and gives me very little trouble."
+
+"Don't you think you could take another pupil, Miss Linden?"
+
+"A young girl?"
+
+"No, a young man. In fact, myself."
+
+"What could I teach you, Mr. de Brabazon?"
+
+"Lots of things. I am not very sound in--in spelling and grammar."
+
+"What a pity!" answered Florence, with mock seriousness. "I am afraid
+your aunt would hardly consent to have a boy of your size in the
+schoolroom."
+
+"Then perhaps you could give me some private lessons in the
+afternoon?"
+
+"That would not be possible."
+
+Just then Mrs. Leighton came up.
+
+"Well," she said, "what does Miss Linden say of Carrie?"
+
+"She has quite satisfied my mind about her," answered Percy, with
+excusable duplicity. "I think her methods are excellent. I was telling
+her that I might be able to procure her another pupil."
+
+"I have no objection, as long as it does not interfere with Carrie's
+hours. Miss Linden, there is a call for music. Will you go to the
+piano and play a Stauss waltz?"
+
+Florence inclined her head obediently.
+
+"Let me escort you to the piano, Miss Linden," said Percy.
+
+"Thank you," answered Florence, in a formal tone.
+
+For an hour Florence was engaged in playing waltzes, gallops and
+lanciers music. Then a lady who was proud of her daughter's
+proficiency volunteered her services to relieve Florence.
+
+"Now you can dance yourself," said Percy, in a low tone. "Will you
+give me a waltz?"
+
+"Not at once. Wait till the second dance."
+
+Percy de Brabazon was prompt in presenting himself as soon as
+permitted, and he led Florence out for a dance.
+
+Both were excellent dancers, and attracted general attention.
+
+Florence really enjoyed dancing, and forgot for a time that she was
+only a guest on sufferance, as she moved with rhythmic grace about the
+handsome rooms.
+
+Percy was disposed to prolong the dance, but Florence was cautious.
+
+"I think I will rest now, Mr. de Brabazon," she said.
+
+"You will favor me again later in the evening?" he pleaded.
+
+"I hardly think it will be wise."
+
+But when, half an hour later, he asked her again, Florence could not
+find it in her heart to say no. It would have been wise if she had
+done so. A pair of jealous eyes was fixed upon her. Miss Emily Carter
+had for a considerable time tried to fascinate Mr. de Brabazon, whose
+wealth made him a very desirable match, and she viewed his decided
+penchant for Florence with alarm and indignation.
+
+"To be thrown in the shade by a governess is really too humiliating!"
+she murmured to herself in vexation. "If it were a girl in my own
+station I should not care so much," and she eyed Florence with marked
+hostility.
+
+"Mamma," she said, "do you see how Mr. de Barbazon is carrying on with
+Mrs. Leighton's governess? Really, I think it very discreditable."
+
+Mrs. Carter looked through her gold eye-glasses at the couple.
+
+"Is the girl really a governess?" she added. "She is very well
+dressed."
+
+"I don't know where she got her dress, but she is really a governess."
+
+"She seems very bold."
+
+"So she does."
+
+Poor Florence! She was far from deserving their unkindly remarks.
+
+"I suppose she is trying to ensnare young de Brabazon," said Emily,
+spitefully. "People of her class are very artful. Don't you think it
+would be well to call Mrs. Leighton's attention? Percy de Brabazon is
+her nephew, you know."
+
+"True. The suggestion is a good one, Emily."
+
+Mrs. Carter was quite as desirous as her daughter of bringing about an
+alliance with Percy, and she readily agreed to second her plans.
+
+She looked about for Mrs. Leighton, and took a seat at her side.
+
+"Your nephew seems quite attentive to your governess," she commenced.
+
+"Indeed! In what way?"
+
+"He has danced with her three or four times, I believe. It looks
+rather marked."
+
+"So it does," said Mrs. Leighton. "He is quite inconsiderate."
+
+"Oh, well, it is of no great consequence. She is quite stylish for a
+governess, and doubtless your nephew is taken with her."
+
+"That will not suit my views at all," said Mrs. Leighton, coldly. "I
+shall speak to her to-morrow."
+
+"Pray don't. It really is a matter of small consequence--quite
+natural, in fact."
+
+"Leave the matter with me. You have done quite right in mentioning
+it."
+
+At twelve o'clock the next day, when Florence had just completed her
+lessons with Carrie, Mrs. Leighton entered the room.
+
+"Please remain a moment, Miss Linden," she said. "I have a few words
+to say to you."
+
+Mrs. Leighton's tone was cold and unfriendly, and Florence felt that
+something unpleasant was coming.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXX.
+Florence Is Followed Home.
+
+
+"I am listening, madam," said Florence, inclining her head.
+
+"I wish to speak to you about last evening, Miss Linden."
+
+"I hope my playing was satisfactory, Mrs. Leighton. I did my best."
+
+"I have no fault to find with your music. It came up to my
+expectations."
+
+"I am glad of that, madam."
+
+"I referred, rather, to your behavior, Miss Linden."
+
+"I don't understand you, Mrs. Leighton," Florence responded, in
+unaffected surprise. "Please explain."
+
+"You danced several times with my nephew, Mr. Percy de Brabazon."
+
+"Twice, madam."
+
+"I understood it was oftener. However, that is immaterial. You hardly
+seemed conscious of your position."
+
+"What was my position, Mrs. Leighton?" asked Florence, quietly,
+looking her employer in the face. "Well--ahem!" answered Mrs.
+Leighton, a little ill at ease, "you were a hired musician."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"And you acted as if you were an invited guest."
+
+"I am sorry you did not give me instructions as to my conduct," said
+the governess, coldly. "I should not have danced if I had been aware
+that it was prohibited."
+
+"I am sorry, Miss Linden, that you persist in misunderstanding me. Mr.
+de Brabazon, being in a different social position from yourself, it
+looked hardly proper that he should have devoted himself to you more
+than to any other lady."
+
+"Did he? I was not aware of it. Don't you think, under the
+circumstances, that he is the one whom you should take to task? I
+didn't invite his attentions."
+
+"You seemed glad to receive them."
+
+"I was. He is undoubtedly a gentleman."
+
+"Certainly he is. He is my nephew."
+
+"It was not my part to instruct him as to what was proper, surely."
+
+"You are very plausible. Miss Linden, I think it right to tell you
+that your conduct was commented upon by one of my lady guests as
+unbecoming. However, I will remember, in extenuation, that you are
+unaccustomed to society, and doubtless erred ignorantly."
+
+Florence bowed, but forbore to make any remark.
+
+"Do you wish to speak further to me, Mrs. Leighton?"
+
+"No, I think not."
+
+"Then I will bid you good-morning."
+
+When the governess had left the house, Mrs. Leighton asked herself
+whether in her encounter with her governess the victory rested with
+her, and she was forced to acknowledge that it was at least a matter
+of doubt.
+
+"Miss Linden is a faithful teacher, but she does not appear to
+appreciate the difference that exists between her and my guests. I
+think, however, that upon reflection, she will see that I am right in
+my stricture upon her conduct."
+
+Florence left the house indignant and mortified. It was something new
+to her to be regarded as a social inferior, and she felt sure that
+there were many in Mrs. Leighton's position who would have seen no
+harm in her behavior on the previous evening.
+
+Four days afterward, when Florence entered the Madison Avenue car to
+ride downtown, she had scarcely reached her seat when an eager voice
+addressed her:
+
+"Miss Linden, how fortunate I am in meeting you!"
+
+Florence looked up and saw Mr. de Brabazon sitting nearly opposite
+her.
+
+Though she felt an esteem for him, she was sorry to see him, for, with
+Mrs. Leighton's rebuke fresh in her mind, it could only be a source of
+embarrassment, and, if discovered, subject her in all probability to a
+fresh reprimand.
+
+"You are kind to say so, Mr. de Brabazon."
+
+"Not at all. I hoped I might meet you again soon. What a pleasant time
+we had at the party."
+
+"I thought so at the time, but the next day I changed my mind."
+
+"Why, may I ask?"
+
+"Because your aunt, Mrs. Leighton, took me to task for dancing with
+you twice."
+
+"Was she so absurd?" ejaculated Percy.
+
+"It is not necessarily absurd. She said our social positions were so
+different that it was unbecoming for me to receive attention from
+you."
+
+"Rubbish!" exclaimed Percy, warmly.
+
+"I am afraid I ought not to listen to such strictures upon the words
+of my employer."
+
+"I wish you didn't have to teach."
+
+"I can't join you in that wish. I enjoy my work."
+
+"But you ought to be relieved from the necessity."
+
+"We must accept things as we find them," said Florence, gravely.
+
+"There is a way out of it," said Percy, quickly. "You understand me,
+do you not?"
+
+"I think I do, Mr. de Brabazon, and I am grateful to you, but I am
+afraid it can never be."
+
+Percy remained silent.
+
+"How far are you going?" asked Florence, uneasily, for she did not
+care to have her companion learn where she lived.
+
+"I intend to get out at Fourteenth Street."
+
+"Then I must bid you good-afternoon, for we are already at Fifteenth
+Street."
+
+"If I can be of any service to you, I will ride farther."
+
+"Thank you," said Florence, hastily, "but it is quite unnecessary."
+
+"Then, good morning!"
+
+And Percy descended from the car.
+
+In another part of the car sat a young lady, who listened with
+sensations far from pleasant to the conversation that had taken place
+between Florence and Mr. de Brabazon.
+
+It was Emily Carter, whose jealousy had been excited on the evening of
+the party. She dropped her veil, fearing to be recognized by Mr. de
+Brabazon, with whom she was well acquainted. She, too, had intended
+getting off at Fourteenth Street, but decided to remain longer in the
+car.
+
+"I will find out where that girl lives," she resolved. "Her conduct
+with Percy de Brabazon is positively disgraceful. She is evidently
+doing her best to captivate him. I feel that it is due to Mrs.
+Leighton, who would be shocked at the thought of her nephew's making a
+low alliance, to find out all I can, and put her on her guard."
+
+She kept her seat, still keeping her veil down, for it was possible
+that Florence might recognize her; and the car moved steadily onward
+till it turned into the Bowery.
+
+"Where on earth is she leading me?" Miss Carter asked herself. "I have
+never been in this neighborhood before. However, it won't do to give
+up, when I am, perhaps, on the verge of some important discoveries."
+
+Still the car sped on. Not far from Grand Street, Florence left the
+car, followed, though she was unconscious of it, by her aristocratic
+fellow-passenger.
+
+Florence stopped a moment to speak to Mrs. O'Keefe at her apple-stand.
+
+"So you're through wid your work, Florence. Are you goin' home?"
+
+"Yes, Mrs. O'Keefe."
+
+"Then I'll go wid you, for I've got a nasty headache, and I'll lie
+down for an hour."
+
+They crossed the street, not noticing the veiled young lady, who
+followed within ear shot, and listened to their conversation. At
+length they reached the tenement house--Florence's humble home--and
+went in.
+
+"I've learned more than I bargained for," said Emily Carter, in
+malicious exultation. "I am well repaid for coming to this horrid part
+of the city. I wonder if Mr. de Brabazon knows where his charmer
+lives? I will see that Mrs. Leighton knows, at any rate."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXI.
+Florence Is Discharged.
+
+
+Mrs. Leighton sat in her boudoir with a stern face and tightly
+compressed lips. Miss Carter had called the previous afternoon and
+informed her of the astounding discoveries she had made respecting the
+governess.
+
+She rang the bell.
+
+"Janet," she said, "when the governess comes you may bring her up here
+to me."
+
+"Yes, ma'am."
+
+"She's going to catch it--I wonder what for?" thought Janet, as she
+noted the grim visage of her employer.
+
+So when Florence entered the house she was told that Mrs. Leighton
+wished to see her at once.
+
+"I wonder what's the matter now?" she asked herself. "Has she heard of
+my meeting her nephew in the car?"
+
+When she entered the room she saw at once that something was wrong.
+
+"You wished to see me, Mrs. Leighton?" she said.
+
+"Yes," answered Mrs. Leighton, grimly. "Will you be seated?"
+
+Florence sat down a few feet from her employer and waited for an
+explanation.
+
+She certainly was not prepared for Mrs. Leighton's first words:
+
+"Miss Linden, where do you live?"
+
+Florence started, and her face flushed.
+
+"I live in the lower part of the city," she answered, with hesitation.
+
+"That is not sufficiently definite."
+
+"I live at No. 27 -- Street."
+
+"I think that is east of the Bowery."
+
+"You are right, madam."
+
+"You lodge with an apple-woman, do you not?"
+
+"I do," answered Florence, calmly.
+
+"In a tenement house?"
+
+"Yes, madam."
+
+"And you actually come from such a squalid home to instruct my
+daughter!" exclaimed Mrs. Leighton, indignantly. "It is a wonder you
+have not brought some terrible disease into the house."
+
+"There has been no case of disease in the humble dwelling in which I
+make my home. I should be as sorry to expose your daughter to any
+danger of that kind as you would be to have me."
+
+"It is a merciful dispensation of Providence, for which I ought to be
+truly thankful. But the idea of receiving in my house an inmate of a
+tenement house! I am truly shocked. Is this apple-woman your mother?"
+
+"I assure you that she is not," answered Florence, with a smile which
+she could not repress.
+
+"Or your aunt?"
+
+"She is in no way related to me. She is an humble friend.
+
+"Miss Linden, your tastes must be low to select such a home and such a
+friend."
+
+"The state of my purse had something to do with the selection, and the
+kindness shown me by Mrs. O'Keefe, when I needed a friend, will
+explain my location further."
+
+"That is not all. You met in the Madison Avenue car yesterday my
+nephew, Mr. Percy de Brabazon."
+
+"It is coming," thought Florence. "Who could have seen us?" Then
+aloud:
+
+"Yes, madam."
+
+"Was it by appointment?"
+
+"Do you mean to insult me, Mrs. Leighton?" demanded Florence, rising
+and looking at the lady with flashing eyes.
+
+"I never insult anybody," replied Mrs. Leighton. "Pray, resume your
+seat."
+
+Florence did so.
+
+"Then I may assume that it was accidental. You talked together with
+the freedom of old friends?"
+
+"You are correctly informed."
+
+"You seem to make acquaintances very readily, Miss Linden. It seems
+singular, to say the least, that after meeting my nephew for a single
+evening, you should become such intimate friends."
+
+"You will be surprised, Mrs. Leighton, when I say that Mr. de Brabazon
+and I are old friends. We have met frequently."
+
+"Where, in Heaven's name?" ejaculated Mrs. Leighton.
+
+"At my residence."
+
+"Good Heavens!" exclaimed the scandalized lady. "Does my nephew Percy
+visit at the house of this apple-woman?"
+
+"No, madam. He does not know where I live."
+
+"Then you will explain your previous statement?" said Mrs. Leighton,
+haughtily.
+
+"I am at present suffering reversed circumstances. It is but a short
+time since I was very differently situated."
+
+"I won't inquire into your change of circumstances. I feel compelled
+to perform an unpleasant duty."
+
+Florence did not feel called upon to make any reply, but waited for
+Mrs. Leighton to finish speaking.
+
+"I shall be obliged to dispense with your services as my daughter's
+governess. It is quite out of the question for me to employ a person
+who lives in a tenement-house."
+
+Florence bowed acquiescence, but she felt very sad. She had become
+attached to her young charge, and it cost her a pang to part from her.
+
+Besides, how was she to supply the income of which this would deprive
+her?
+
+"I bow to your decision, madam," she said, with proud humility.
+
+"You will find here the sum that I owe you, with payment for an extra
+week in lieu of notice."
+
+"Thank you. May I bid Carrie good-by, Mrs. Leighton?"
+
+"It is better not to do so, I think. The more quietly we dissolve our
+unfortunate connection the better!"
+
+Florence's heart swelled, and the tears came to her eyes, but she
+could not press her request.
+
+She was destined, however, to obtain the privilege which Mrs. Leighton
+denied her. Carrie, who had become impatient, came downstairs and
+burst into the room.
+
+"What keeps you so long, Miss Linden?" she said. "Is mamma keeping
+you?"
+
+Florence was silent, leaving the explanations to Mrs. Leighton.
+
+"Miss Linden has resigned her position as your governess, Carrie."
+
+"Miss Linden going away! I won't have her go! What makes you go, Miss
+Linden?"
+
+"Your mamma thinks it best," answered Florence, with moistened eyes.
+
+"Well, I don't!" exclaimed Carrie, stamping her foot, angrily. "I
+won't have any other governess but you."
+
+"Carrie, you are behaving very unbecomingly," said her mother.
+
+"Will you tell me, mamma, why you are sending Miss Linden away?"
+
+"I will tell you some other time."
+
+"But I want to know now."
+
+"I am very much displeased with you, Carrie."
+
+"And I am very much displeased with you, mamma."
+
+I do not pretend to defend Carrie, whose conduct was hardly respectful
+enough to her mother; but with all her faults she had a warm heart,
+while her mother had always been cold and selfish.
+
+"I am getting tired of this," said Mrs. Leighton. "Miss Linden, as you
+are here to-day, you may give Carrie the usual lessons. As I shall be
+out when you get through, I bid you good-by now."
+
+"Good-by, Mrs. Leighton."
+
+Carrie and Florence went to the schoolroom for the last time.
+
+Florence gave her young pupil a partial explanation of the cause which
+had led to her discharge.
+
+"What do I care if you live in a poor house, Miss Linden?" said
+Carrie, impetuously. "I will make mamma take you back!"
+
+Florence smiled; but she knew that there would be no return for her.
+
+When she reached her humble home she had a severe headache and lay
+down. Mrs. O'Keefe came in later to see her.
+
+"And what's the matter with you, Florence?" she asked.
+
+"I have a bad headache, Mrs. O'Keefe."
+
+"You work too hard, Florence, wid your teacher. That is what gives you
+the headache."
+
+"Then I shan't have it again, for I have got through with my
+teaching."
+
+"What's that you say?"
+
+"I am discharged."
+
+"And what's it all about?"
+
+Florence explained matters. Mrs. O'Keefe became indignant.
+
+"She's a mean trollop, that Mrs. Leighton!" she exclaimed, "and I'd
+like to tell her so to her face. Where does she live?"
+
+"It will do no good to interfere, my good friend. She is not willing
+to receive a governess from a tenement house."
+
+"Shure you used to live in as grand a house as herself."
+
+"But I don't now."
+
+"Don't mind it too much, mavoureen. You'll soon be gettin' another
+scholar. Go to sleep now, and you'll sleep the headache away."
+
+Florence finally succeeded in following the advice of her humble
+friend.
+
+She resolved to leave till the morrow the cares of the morrow.
+
+She had twelve dollars, and before that was spent she hoped to be in a
+position to earn some more.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXII.
+An Exciting Adventure.
+
+
+Dodger soon became accustomed to his duties at Tucker's express
+office, in his new San Francisco home. He found Mr. Tucker an
+exacting, but not an unreasonable, man. He watched his new assistant
+closely for the first few days, and was quietly taking his measure.
+
+At the end of the first week he paid the salary agreed upon--fifteen
+dollars.
+
+"You have been with me a week, Arthur," he said.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"And I have been making up my mind about you."
+
+"Yes, sir," said Dodger, looking up inquiringly. "I hope you are
+satisfied with me?"
+
+"Yes, I think I may say that I am. You don't seem to be afraid of
+work."
+
+"I have always been accustomed to work."
+
+"That is well. I was once induced to take the son of a rich man in the
+place you now occupy. He had never done a stroke of work, having
+always been at school. He didn't take kindly to work, and seemed
+afraid that he would be called upon to do more than he had bargained
+for. One evening I was particularly busy, and asked him to remain an
+hour overtime.
+
+"'It will be very inconvenient, Mr. Tucker,' said the young man, 'as
+I have an engagement with a friend.'
+
+"He left me to do all the extra work, and--I suppose you know what
+happened the next Saturday evening?"
+
+"I can guess," returned Dodger, with a smile.
+
+"I told him that I thought the duties were too heavy for his
+constitution, and he had better seek an easier place. Let me see--I
+kept you an hour and a half overtime last Wednesday."
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"You made no objection, but worked on just as if you liked it."
+
+"Yes, sir; I am always willing to stay when you need me."
+
+"Good! I shan't forget it."
+
+Dodger felt proud of his success, and put away the fifteen dollars
+with a feeling of satisfaction. He had never saved half that sum in
+the same time before.
+
+"Curtis Waring did me a favor when he sent me out here," he reflected;
+"but as he didn't mean it, I have no occasion to feel grateful."
+
+Dodger found that he could live for eight dollars a week, and he began
+to lay by seven dollars a week with the view of securing funds
+sufficient to take him back to New York.
+
+He was in no hurry to leave San Francisco, but he felt that Florence
+might need a friend. But he found that he was making progress slowly.
+
+At that time the price of a first-class ticket to New York was one
+hundred and twenty-eight dollars, besides the expense of sleeping
+berths, amounting then, as now, to twenty-two dollars extra. So it
+looked as if Dodger would be compelled to wait at least six months
+before he should be in a position to set out on the return journey.
+
+About this time Dodger received a letter from Florence, in which she
+spoke of her discharge by Mrs. Leighton.
+
+"I shall try to obtain another position as teacher," she said,
+concealing her anxiety. "I am sure, in a large city, I can find
+something to do."
+
+But Dodger knew better than she the difficulties that beset the path
+of an applicant for work, and he could not help feeling anxious for
+Florence.
+
+"If I were only in New York," he said to himself, "I would see that
+Florence didn't suffer. I will write her to let me know if she is in
+need, and I will send her some money."
+
+About this time he met with an adventure which deserves to be noted.
+
+It was about seven o'clock one evening that he found himself in
+Mission Street.
+
+At a street corner his attention was drawn to a woman poorly dressed,
+who held by the hand a child of three.
+
+Her clothing was shabby, and her attitude was one of despondency. It
+was clear that she was ill and in trouble.
+
+Dodger possessed quick sympathies, and his own experience made him
+quick to understand and feel for the troubles of others.
+
+Though the woman made no appeal, he felt instinctively that she needed
+help.
+
+"I beg your pardon," he said, with as much deference as if he were
+addressing one favored by fortune, "but you seem to be in need of
+help?"
+
+"God knows, I am!" said the woman, sadly.
+
+"Perhaps I can be of service to you. Will you tell me how?"
+
+"Neither I nor my child has tasted food since yesterday."
+
+"Well, that can be easily remedied," said Dodger, cheerfully. "There
+is a restaurant close by. I was about to eat supper. Will you come in
+with me?"
+
+"I am ashamed to impose upon the kindness of a stranger," murmured the
+woman.
+
+"Don't mention it. I shall be very glad of company," said Dodger,
+heartily.
+
+"But you are a poor boy. You may be ill able to afford the expense."
+
+"I am not a millionaire," said Dodger, "and I don't see any immediate
+prospect of my building a palace on Nob Hill"--where live some of San
+Francisco's wealthiest citizens--"but I am very well supplied with
+money."
+
+"Then I will accept your kind invitation."
+
+It was a small restaurant, but neat in its appointments, and, as in
+most San Francisco restaurants, the prices were remarkably moderate.
+
+At an expense of twenty-five cents each, the three obtained a
+satisfactory meal.
+
+The woman and child both seemed to enjoy it, and Dodger was glad to
+see that the former became more cheerful as time went on.
+
+There was something in the child's face that looked familiar to
+Dodger. It was a resemblance to some one that he had seen, but he
+could not for the life of him decide who it was.
+
+"How can I ever thank you for your kindness?" said the lady, as she
+arose from the table. "You don't know what it is to be famished----"
+
+"Don't I?" asked Dodger. "I have been hungry more than once, without
+money enough to buy a meal."
+
+"You don't look it," she said.
+
+"No, for now I have a good place and am earning a good salary."
+
+"Are you a native of San Francisco?"
+
+"No, madam. I can't tell you where I was born, for I know little or
+nothing of my family. I have only been here a short time. I came from
+New York."
+
+"So did I," said the woman, with a sigh. "I wish I were back there
+again."
+
+"How came you to be here? Don't answer if you prefer not to," Dodger
+added, hastily.
+
+"I have no objection. My husband deserted me, and left me to shift for
+myself and support my child."
+
+"How have you done it?"
+
+"By taking in sewing. But that is a hard way of earning money. There
+are too many poor women who are ready to work for starvation wages,
+and so we all suffer."
+
+"I know that," answered Dodger. "Do you live near here?"
+
+The woman mentioned a street near by.
+
+"I have one poor back room on the third floor," she explained; "but I
+should be glad if I were sure to stay there."
+
+"Is there any danger of your being ejected?"
+
+"I am owing for two weeks' rent, and this is the middle of the third
+week. Unless I can pay up at the end of this week I shall be forced to
+go out into the streets with my poor child."
+
+"How much rent do you pay?"
+
+"A dollar a week."
+
+"Then three dollars will relieve you for the present?"
+
+"Yes; but it might as well be three hundred," said the woman,
+bitterly.
+
+"Not quite; I can supply you with three dollars, but three hundred
+would be rather beyond my means."
+
+"You are too kind, too generous! I ought not to accept such a liberal
+gift."
+
+"Mamma, I am tired. Take me up in your arms," said the child.
+
+"Poor child! He has been on his feet all day," sighed the mother.
+
+She tried to lift the child, but her own strength had been undermined
+by privation, and she was clearly unable to do so.
+
+"Let me take him!" said Dodger. "Here, little one, jump up!"
+
+He raised the child easily, and despite the mother's protest, carried
+him in his arms.
+
+"I will see you home, madam," he said.
+
+"I fear the child will be too heavy for you."
+
+"I hope not. Why, I could carry a child twice as heavy."
+
+They reached the room at last--a poor one, but a welcome repose from
+the streets.
+
+"Don't you ever expect to see your husband again?" asked Dodger.
+"Can't you compel him to support you?"
+
+"I don't know where he is," answered the woman, despondently.
+
+"If you will tell me his name, I may come across him some day."
+
+"His name," said the woman, "is Curtis Waring."
+
+Dodger stared at her, overwhelmed with surprise.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXIII.
+An Important Discovery.
+
+
+"Curtis Waring!" ejaculated Dodger, his face showing intense surprise.
+"Is that the name of your husband?"
+
+"Yes. Is it possible that you know him?" asked the woman, struck by
+Dodger's tone.
+
+"I know a man by that name. I will describe him, and you can tell me
+whether it is he. He is rather tall, dark hair, sallow complexion,
+black eyes, and a long, thin nose."
+
+"It is like him in every particular. Oh, tell me where he is to be
+found?"
+
+"He lives in New York. He is the nephew of a rich man, and is
+expecting to inherit his wealth. Through his influence a cousin of
+his, a young lady, has been driven from home."
+
+"Was he afraid she would deprive him of the estate?"
+
+"That was partly the reason. But it was partly to revenge himself on
+her because she would not agree to marry him."
+
+"But how could he marry her," exclaimed the unfortunate woman, "when
+he is already married to me?"
+
+"Neither she nor any one of his family or friends knew that he was
+already married. I don't think it would trouble him much."
+
+"But it must be stopped!" she exclaimed, wildly. "He is my husband. I
+shall not give him up to any one else."
+
+"So far as Florence is concerned--she is the cousin--she has no wish
+to deprive you of him. But is it possible that you are attached to a
+man who has treated you so meanly?" asked Dodger, in surprise.
+
+"There was a time when he treated me well, when he appeared to love
+me," was the murmured reply. "I cannot forget that he is the father of
+my child."
+
+Dodger did not understand the nature of women or the mysteries of the
+female heart, and he evidently thought this poor woman very foolish to
+cling with such pertinacity to a man like Curtis Waring.
+
+"Do you mind telling me how you came to marry him?" he asked.
+
+"It was over four years ago that I met him in this city," was the
+reply. "I am a San Francisco girl. I had never been out of California.
+I was considered pretty then," she added, with a remnant of pride,
+"faded as I am to-day."
+
+Looking closely in her face, Dodger was ready to believe this.
+
+Grief and privation had changed her appearance, but it had not
+altogether effaced the bloom and beauty of youth.
+
+"At any rate, he seemed to think so. He was living at the Palace
+Hotel, and I made his acquaintance at a small social gathering at the
+house of my uncle. I am an orphan, and was perhaps the more ready to
+marry on that account."
+
+"Did Mr. Waring represent himself as wealthy?"
+
+"He said he had expectations from a wealthy relative, but did not
+mention where he lived."
+
+"He told the truth, then."
+
+"We married, securing apartments on Kearney Street. We lived together
+till my child was born, and for three months afterward. Then Mr.
+Waring claimed to be called away from San Francisco on business. He
+said he might be absent six weeks. He left me a hundred dollars, and
+urged me to be careful of it, as he was short of money, and needed
+considerable for the expenses of the journey. He left me, and I have
+never seen or heard from him since."
+
+"Did he tell you where he was going, Mrs. Waring?"
+
+"No; he said he would be obliged to visit several places--among
+others, Colorado, where he claimed to have some mining property. He
+told me that he hoped to bring back considerable money."
+
+"Do you think he meant to stay away altogether?"
+
+"I don't know what to think. Well, I lived on patiently, for I had
+perfect confidence in my husband. I made the money last me ten weeks
+instead of six, but then I found myself penniless."
+
+"Did you receive any letters in that time?"
+
+"No, and it was that that worried me. When at last the money gave out,
+I began to pawn my things--more than once I was tempted to pawn my
+wedding-ring, but I could not bring my mind to do that. I do not like
+to think ill of my husband, and was forced, as the only alternative,
+to conclude that he had met with some accident, perhaps had died. I
+have not felt certain that this was not so till you told me this
+evening that you know him."
+
+"I can hardly say that I know him well, yet I know him a good deal
+better than I wish I did. But for him I would not now be in San
+Francisco."
+
+"How is that? Please explain."
+
+Dodger told her briefly the story of his abduction.
+
+"But what motive could he have in getting you out of New York? I
+cannot understand."
+
+"I don't understand myself, except that I am the friend of Florence."
+
+"His cousin?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"But why should she be compelled to leave her uncle's home?"
+
+"Because Curtis Waring made him set his heart upon the match. She had
+her choice to marry Curtis or to leave the house, and forfeit all
+chance of the estate. She chose to leave the house."
+
+"She ought to know that he has no right to marry," said the poor
+woman, who, not understanding the dislike of Florence for the man whom
+she herself loved, feared that she might yet be induced to marry him.
+
+"She ought to know, and her uncle ought to know," said Dodger. "Mrs.
+Waring, I can't see my way clear yet. If I were in New York I would
+know just what to do. Will you agree to stand by me, and help me?"
+
+"Yes, I will," answered the woman, earnestly.
+
+"I will see you again to-morrow evening. Here is some money to help
+you along for the present. Good-night."
+
+Dodger, as he walked away, pondered over the remarkable discovery he
+had made.
+
+It was likely to prove of the utmost importance to Florence.
+
+Her uncle's displeasure was wholly based upon her refusal to marry
+Curtis Waring, but if it should be proved to him that Curtis was
+already a married man, there would seem no bar to reconciliation.
+
+Moreover--and thas was particularly satisfactory--it would bring
+Curtis himself into disfavor.
+
+Florence would be reinstated in her rightful place in her uncle's
+family, and once more be recognized as heiress to at least a portion
+of his large fortune.
+
+This last consideration might not weigh so much with Florence, but
+Dodger was more practical, and he wished to restore her to the social
+position which she had lost through the knavery of her cousin.
+
+But in San Francisco--at a distance of over three thousand miles--
+Dodger felt at a loss how to act.
+
+Even if Mr. Linden was informed that his nephew had a wife living in
+San Francisco, the statement would no doubt be denied by Curtis, who
+would brand the woman as an impudent adventuress.
+
+"The absent are always in the wrong," says a French proverb.
+
+At all events, they are very much at a disadvantage, and therefore it
+seemed imperatively necessary, not only that Dodger, but that Curtis
+Waring's wife should go to New York to confront the unprincipled man
+whose schemes had brought sorrow to so many.
+
+It was easy to decide what plan was best, but how to carry it out
+presented a difficulty which seemed insurmountable.
+
+The expenses of a journey to New York for Dodger, Mrs. Waring and her
+child would not be very far from five hundred dollars, and where to
+obtain this money was a problem.
+
+Randolph Leslie probably had that sum, but Dodger could not in
+conscience ask him to lend it, being unable to furnish adequate
+security, or to insure repayment.
+
+"If I could only find a nugget," thought Dodger, knitting his brows,
+"everything would be easy." But nuggets are rare enough in the gold
+fields, and still rarer in city streets.
+
+He who trusts wholly to luck trusts to a will-o'-the-wisp, and is
+about as sure of success as one who owns a castle in Spain.
+
+The time might come when Dodger, by his own efforts, could accumulate
+the needed sum, but it would require a year at least, and in that time
+Mr. Linden would probably be dead.
+
+Absorbed and disturbed by these reflections, Dodger walked slowly
+through the darkened streets till he heard a stifled cry, and looking
+up, beheld a sight that startled him.
+
+On the sidewalk lay the prostrate figure of a man. Over him, bludgeon
+in hand, bent a ruffian, whose purpose was only too clearly evident.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXIV.
+Just In Time.
+
+
+Dodger, who was a strong, stout boy, gathered himself up and dashed
+against the ruffian with such impetuosity that he fell over his
+intended victim, and his bludgeon fell from his hand.
+
+It was the work of an instant to lift it, and raise it in a menacing
+position.
+
+The discomfited villain broke into a volley of oaths, and proceeded to
+pick himself up.
+
+He was a brutal-looking fellow, but was no larger than Dodger, who was
+as tall as the majority of men.
+
+"Give me that stick," he exclaimed, furiously.
+
+"Come and take it," returned Dodger, undaunted.
+
+The fellow took him at his word, and made a rush at our hero, but a
+vigorous blow from the bludgeon made him cautious about repeating the
+attack.
+
+"Curse you!" he cried, between his teeth. "I'd like to chaw you up."
+
+"I have no doubt you would," answered Dodger; "but I don't think you
+will. Were you going to rob this man?"
+
+"None of your business!"
+
+"I shall make it my business. You'd better go, or you may be locked
+up."
+
+"Give me that stick, then."
+
+"You'll have to do without it."
+
+He made another rush, and Dodger struck him such a blow on his arm
+that he winced with pain.
+
+"Now I shall summon the police, and you can do as you please about
+going."
+
+Dodger struck the stick sharply on the sidewalk three times, and the
+ruffian, apprehensive of arrest, ran around the corner just in time to
+rush into the arms of a policeman.
+
+"What has this man been doing?" asked the city guardian, turning to
+Dodger.
+
+"He was about to rob this man."
+
+"Is the man hurt?"
+
+"Where am I?" asked the prostrate man, in a bewildered tone.
+
+"I will take care of him, if you will take charge of that fellow."
+
+"Can you get up, sir?" asked Dodger, bending over the fallen man.
+
+The latter answered by struggling to his feet and looking about him in
+a confused way.
+
+"Where am I?" he asked. "What has happened?"
+
+"You were attacked by a ruffian. I found you on the sidewalk, with him
+bending over you with this club in his hand."
+
+"He must have followed me. I was imprudent enough to show a
+well-filled pocketbook in a saloon where I stopped to take a drink. No
+doubt he planned to relieve me of it."
+
+"You have had a narrow escape, sir."
+
+"I have no doubt of it. I presume the fellow was ready to take my
+life, if he found it necessary."
+
+"I will leave you now, sir, if you think you can manage."
+
+"No, stay with me. I feel rather upset."
+
+"Where are you staying, sir?"
+
+"At the Palace Hotel. Of course you know where that is?"
+
+"Certainly. Will you take my arm?"
+
+"Thank you."
+
+Little was said till they found themselves in the sumptuous hotel,
+which hardly has an equal in America.
+
+"Come to my room, young man; I want to speak to you."
+
+It was still early in the evening, and Dodger's time was his own.
+
+He had no hesitation, therefore, in accepting the stranger's
+invitation.
+
+On the third floor the stranger produced a key and opened the door of
+a large, handsomely-furnished room.
+
+"If you have a match, please light the gas."
+
+Dodger proceeded to do so, and now, for the first time, obtained a
+good view of the man he had rescued. He was a man of about the average
+height, probably not far from fifty, dressed in a neat business suit,
+and looked like a substantial merchant.
+
+"Please be seated."
+
+Dodger sat down in an easy-chair conveniently near him.
+
+"Young man," said the stranger, impressively, "you have done me a
+great favor."
+
+Dodger felt that this was true, and did not disclaim it.
+
+"I am very glad I came up just as I did," he said.
+
+"How large a sum of money do you think I had about me?" asked his
+companion.
+
+"Five hundred dollars?"
+
+"Five hundred dollars! Why, that would be a mere trifle."
+
+"It wouldn't be a trifle to me, sir," said Dodger.
+
+"Are you poor?" asked the man, earnestly.
+
+"I have a good situation that pays me fifteen dollars a week, so I
+ought not to consider myself poor."
+
+"Suppose you had a considerable sum of money given you, what would you
+do with it?"
+
+"If I had five hundred dollars, I should be able to defeat the schemes
+of a villain, and restore a young lady to her rights."
+
+"That seems interesting. Tell me the circumstances."
+
+Dodger told the story as briefly as he could. He was encouraged to
+find that the stranger listened to him with attention.
+
+"Do you know," he said, reflectively, "you have done for me what I
+once did for another--a rich man? The case was very similar. I was a
+poor boy at the time. Do you know what he gave me?"
+
+"What was it, sir?"
+
+"A dollar! What do you think of that for generosity?"
+
+"Well, sir, it wasn't exactly liberal. Did you accept it?"
+
+"No. I told him that I didn't wish to inconvenience him. But I asked
+you how much money you supposed I had. I will tell you. In a wallet I
+have eleven thousand dollars in bank notes and securities."
+
+"That is a fortune," said Dodger, dazzled at the mention of such a
+sum.
+
+"If I had lost it, I have plenty more, but the most serious peril was
+to my life. Through your opportune assistance I have escaped without
+loss. I fully appreciate the magnitude of the service you have done
+me. As an evidence of it, please accept these bills."
+
+He drew from the roll two bills and handed them to Dodger.
+
+The boy, glancing at them mechanically, started in amazement. Each
+bill was for five hundred dollars.
+
+"You have given me a thousand dollars!" he gasped.
+
+"I am aware of it. I consider my life worth that, at least. James
+Swinton never fails to pay his debts."
+
+"But, sir, a thousand dollars----"
+
+"It's no more than you deserve. When I tell my wife, on my return to
+Chicago, about this affair, she will blame me for not giving you
+more."
+
+"You seem to belong to a liberal family, sir."
+
+"I detest meanness, and would rather err on the side of liberality.
+Now, if agreeable to you, I will order a bottle of champagne, and
+solace ourselves for this little incident."
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Swinton, but I have made up my mind not to drink
+anything stronger than water. I have tended bar in New York, and what
+I have seen has given me a dislike for liquor of any kind."
+
+"You are a sensible young man. You are right, and I won't urge you.
+There is my card, and if you ever come to Chicago, call upon me."
+
+"I will, sir."
+
+When Dodger left the Palace Hotel he felt that he was a favorite of
+fortune.
+
+It is not always that the money we need is so quickly supplied.
+
+He resolved to return to New York as soon as he could manage it, and
+take with him the wife and child of Curtis Waring.
+
+This would cost him about five hundred dollars, and he would have the
+same amount left.
+
+Mr. Tucker was reluctant to part with Dodger.
+
+"You are the best assistant I ever had," he said. "I will pay you
+twenty dollars a week, if that will induce you to stay."
+
+"I would stay if it were not very important for me to return to New
+York, Mr. Tucker. I do not expect to get a place in New York as good."
+
+"If you come back to San Francisco at any time, I will make a place
+for you."
+
+"Thank you, sir."
+
+Mrs. Waring was overjoyed when Dodger called upon her and offered to
+take her back to New York.
+
+"I shall see Curtis again," she said. "How can I ever thank you?"
+
+But Dodger, though unwilling to disturb her dreams of happiness,
+thought it exceedingly doubtful if her husband would be equally glad
+to see her.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXV.
+The Darkest Day.
+
+
+When Florence left the employ of Mrs. Leighton she had a few dollars
+as a reserve fund. As this would not last long, she at once made an
+effort to obtain employment.
+
+She desired another position as governess, and made application in
+answer to an advertisement.
+
+Her ladylike manner evidently impressed the lady to whom she applied.
+
+"I suppose you have taught before?" she said.
+
+"Yes, madam."
+
+"In whose family?"
+
+"I taught the daughter of Mrs. Leighton, of West -- Street."
+
+"I have heard of the lady. Of course you are at liberty to refer to
+her?"
+
+"Yes, madam," but there was a hesitation in her tone that excited
+suspicion.
+
+"Very well; I will call upon her and make inquiries. If you will call
+to-morrow morning, I can give you a decisive answer."
+
+Florence fervently hoped that this might prove favorable; but was
+apprehensive, and with good reason, it appeared.
+
+When she presented herself the next day, Mrs. Cole said:
+
+"I am afraid, Miss Linden, you will not suit me."
+
+"May I ask why?" Florence inquired, schooling herself to calmness.
+
+"I called on Mrs. Leighton," was the answer. "She speaks well of you
+as a teacher, but--she told me some things which make it seem
+inexpedient to engage you."
+
+"What did she say of me?"
+
+"That, perhaps, you had better not inquire."
+
+"I prefer to know the worst."
+
+"She said you encouraged the attentions of her nephew, forgetting the
+difference in social position, and also that your connections were not
+of a sort to recommend you. I admit, Miss Linden, that you are very
+ladylike in appearance, but, I can hardly be expected to admit into my
+house, in the important position of governess to my child, the
+daughter or niece of an apple-woman."
+
+"Did Mrs. Leighton say that I was related to an apple-woman?"
+
+"Yes, Miss Linden. I own I was surprised."
+
+"It is not true, Mrs. Cole."
+
+"You live in the house of such a person, do you not?"
+
+"Yes, she is an humble friend of mine, and has been kind to me."
+
+"You cannot be very fastidious. However, that is your own affair. I am
+sorry to disappoint you, Miss Linden, but it will be quite impossible
+for me to employ you."
+
+"Then I will bid you good-morning, Mrs. Cole," said Florence, sore at
+heart.
+
+"Good-morning. You will, I think, understand my position. If you
+applied for a position in one of the public schools, I don't think
+that your residence would be an objection."
+
+Florence left the house, sad and despondent. She saw that Mrs.
+Leighton, by her unfriendly representations, would prevent her from
+getting any opportunity to teach. She must seek some more humble
+employment.
+
+"Well, Florence, did you get a place?" asked Mrs. O'Keefe, as she
+passed that lady's stand.
+
+"No, Mrs. O'Keefe," answered Florence, wearily.
+
+"And why not? Did the woman think you didn't know enough?"
+
+"She objected to me because I was not living in a fashionable quarter
+--at least that was one of her objections."
+
+"I'm sure you've got a nate, clane home, and it looks as nate as wax
+all the time."
+
+"It isn't exactly stylish," said Florence, with a faint smile.
+
+"You are, at any rate. What does the woman want, I'd like to know?"
+
+"She doesn't want me. It seems Mrs. Leighton did not speak very highly
+of me."
+
+"The trollop! I'd like to give her a box on the ear, drat her
+impudence!" said the irate apple-woman. "And what will you be doin'
+now?"
+
+"Do you think I can get some sewing to do, Mrs. O'Keefe?"
+
+"Yes, Miss Florence--I'll get you some vests to make; but it's hard
+work and poor pay."
+
+"I must take what I can get," sighed Florence. "I cannot choose."
+
+"If you'd only tend an apple-stand, Miss Florence! There's Mrs. Brady
+wants to sell out on account of the rheumatics, and I've got a trifle
+in the savings bank--enough to buy it. You'd make a dollar a day,
+easy."
+
+"It isn't to be thought of, Mrs. O'Keefe. If you will kindly see about
+getting me some sewing, I will see how I can get along."
+
+The result was that Mrs. O'Keefe brought Florence in the course of the
+day half a dozen vests, for which she was to be paid the munificent
+sum of twenty-five cents each.
+
+Florence had very little idea of what she was undertaking.
+
+She was an expert needlewoman, and proved adequate to the work, but
+with her utmust industry she could only make one vest in a day, and
+that would barely pay her rent.
+
+True, she had some money laid aside on which she could draw, but that
+would soon be expended, and then what was to become of her?
+
+"Shure, I won't let you starve, Florence," said the warm-hearted
+apple-woman.
+
+"But, Mrs. O'Keefe, I can't consent to live on you."
+
+"And why not? I'm well and strong, and I'm makin' more money than I
+nade."
+
+"I couldn't think of it, though I thank you for your kindness."
+
+"Shure, you might write a letter to your uncle, Florence."
+
+"He would expect me, in that case, to consent to a marriage with
+Curtis. You wouldn't advise me to do that?"
+
+"No; he's a mane blackguard, and I'd say it to his face."
+
+Weeks rolled by, and Florence began to show the effects of hard work
+and confinement.
+
+She grew pale and thin, and her face was habitually sad.
+
+She had husbanded her savings as a governess as closely as she could,
+but in spite of all her economy it dwindled till she had none left.
+
+Henceforth, she must depend on twenty-five cents a day, and this
+seemed well-nigh impossible.
+
+In this emergency the pawnbroker occurred to her.
+
+She had a variety of nice dresses, and she had also a handsome ring,
+given her by her uncle on her last birthday.
+
+This she felt sure must have cost fifty dollars.
+
+It was a trial to part with it, but there seemed to be no alternative.
+
+"If my uncle has withdrawn his affection from me," she said to
+herself, "why should I scruple to pawn the ring? It is the symbol of a
+love that no longer exists."
+
+So she entered the pawnbrowker's--the first that attracted her
+attention--and held out the ring.
+
+"How much will you lend me on this?" she asked, half frightened at
+finding herself in such a place.
+
+The pawnbroker examined it carefully. His practiced eye at once
+detected its value, but it was not professional to admit this.
+
+"Rings is a drug in the market, young lady," he said. "I've got more
+than I know what to do with. I'll give you four--four dollars."
+
+"Four dollars!" repeated Florence, in dismay. "Why, it must have cost
+fifty. It was bought in Tiffany's."
+
+"You are mistaken, my dear. Did you buy it yourself there?"
+
+"No, my uncle gave it to me."
+
+"He may have said he paid fifty dollars for it," said the pawnbroker,
+wagging his head, "but we know better."
+
+"But what will you give?" asked Florence, desperately.
+
+"I'll give you five dollars, and not a penny more," said the broker,
+surveying her distressed face, shrewdly. "You can take it or not."
+
+What could Florence do?
+
+She must have money, and feared that no other pawnbroker would give
+her more.
+
+"Make out the ticket, then," she said, wearily, with a sigh.
+
+This was done, and she left the place, half timid, half ashamed, and
+wholly discouraged.
+
+But the darkest hour is sometimes nearest the dawn. A great
+overwhelming surprise awaited her. She had scarcely left the shop when
+a glad voice cried:
+
+"I have found you at last, Florence!"
+
+She looked up and saw--Dodger.
+
+But not the old Dodger. She saw a nicely dressed young gentleman,
+larger than the friend she had parted with six months before, with a
+brighter, more intelligent, and manly look.
+
+"Dodger!" she faltered.
+
+"Yes, it is Dodger."
+
+"Where did you come from?"
+
+"From San Francisco. But what have you been doing there?"
+
+And Dodger pointed in the direction of the pawnbroker's shop.
+
+"I pawned my ring."
+
+"Then I shall get it back at once. How much did you get on it?"
+
+"Five dollars."
+
+"Give me the ticket, and go in with me."
+
+The pawnbroker was very reluctant to part with the ring, which he made
+sure would not be reclaimed; but there was no help for it.
+
+As they emerged into the street, Dodger said: "I've come back to
+restore you to your rights, and give Curtis Waring the most
+disagreeable surprise he ever had. Come home, and I'll tell you all
+about it. I've struck luck, Florence, and you're going to share it."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXVI.
+Mrs. O'Keefe In A New Role.
+
+
+No time was lost in seeing Bolton and arranging a plan of campaign.
+
+Curtis Waring, nearing the accomplishment of his plans, was far from
+anticipating impending disaster.
+
+His uncle's health had become so poor, and his strength had been so
+far undermined, that it was thought desirable to employ a sick nurse.
+An advertisement was inserted in a morning paper, which luckily
+attracted the attention of Bolton.
+
+"You must go, Mrs. O'Keefe," he said to the apple-woman. "It is
+important that we have some one in the house--some friend of Florence
+and the boy--to watch what is going on."
+
+"Bridget O'Keefe is no fool. Leave her to manage."
+
+The result was that among a large number of applicants Mrs. O'Keefe
+was selected by Curtis as Mr. Linden's nurse, as she expressed herself
+willing to work for four dollars a week, while the lowest outside
+demand was seven.
+
+We will now enter the house, in which the last scenes of our story are
+to take place.
+
+Mr. Linden, weak and emaciated, was sitting in an easy-chair in his
+library.
+
+"How do you feel this morning, uncle?" asked Curtis, entering the
+room.
+
+"I am very weak, Curtis. I don't think I shall ever be any better."
+
+"I have engaged a nurse, uncle, as you desired, and I expect her this
+morning."
+
+"That is well, Curtis. I do not wish to confine you to my bedside."
+
+"The nurse is below," said Jane, the servant, entering.
+
+"Send her up."
+
+Mrs. O'Keefe entered in the sober attire of a nurse. She dropped a
+curtsey.
+
+"Are you the nurse I engaged?" said Curtis.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Your name, please."
+
+"Mrs. Barnes, sir."
+
+"Have you experience as a nurse?"
+
+"Plenty, sir."
+
+"Uncle, this is Mrs. Barnes, your new nurse. I hope you will find her
+satisfactory."
+
+"She looks like a good woman," said Mr. Linden, feebly. "I think she
+will suit me."
+
+"Indade, sir, I'll try."
+
+"Uncle," said Curtis, "I have to go downtown. I have some business to
+attend to. I leave you in the care of Mrs. Barnes."
+
+"Shure, I'll take care of him, sir."
+
+"Is there anything I can do for you, Mr. Linden?" asked the new nurse,
+in a tone of sympathy.
+
+"Can you minister to a mind diseased?"
+
+"I'll take the best care of you, Mr. Linden, but it isn't as if you
+had a wife or daughter."
+
+"Ah, that is a sore thought! I have no wife or daughter; but I have a
+niece."
+
+"And where is she, sir?"
+
+"I don't know. I drove her from me by my unkindness. I repent
+bitterly, but it's now too late."
+
+"And why don't you send for her to come home?"
+
+"I would gladly do so, but I don't know where she is. Curtis has tried
+to find her, but in vain. He says she is in Chicago."
+
+"And what should take her to Chicago?"
+
+"He says she is there as a governess in a family."
+
+"By the brow of St. Patrick!" thought Mrs. O'Keefe, "if that Curtis
+isn't a natural-born liar. I'm sure she'd come back if you'd send for
+her, sir," said she, aloud.
+
+"Do you think so?" asked Linden, eagerly.
+
+"I'm sure of it."
+
+"But I don't know where to send."
+
+"I know of a party that would be sure to find her."
+
+"Who is it?"
+
+"It's a young man. They call him Dodger. If any one can find Miss
+Florence, he can."
+
+"You know my niece's name?"
+
+"I have heard it somewhere. From Mr. Waring, I think."
+
+"And you think this young man would agree to go to Chicago and find
+her?"
+
+"Yes, sir, I make bold to say he will."
+
+"Tell him to go at once. He will need money. In yonder desk you will
+find a picture of my niece and a roll of bills. Give them to him and
+send him at once."
+
+"Yes, sir, I will. But if you'll take my advice, you won't say
+anything to Mr. Curtis. He might think it foolish."
+
+"True! If your friend succeeds, we'll give Curtis a surprise."
+
+"And a mighty disagreeable one, I'll be bound," soliloquized Mrs.
+O'Keefe.
+
+"I think, Mrs. Barnes, I will retire to my chamber, if you will assist
+me."
+
+She assisted Mr. Linden to his room, and then returned to the library.
+
+"Mrs. Barnes, there's a young man inquiring for you," said Jane,
+entering.
+
+"Send him in, Jane."
+
+The visitor was Dodger, neatly dressed.
+
+"How are things going, Mrs. O'Keefe?" he asked.
+
+"Splendid, Dodger. Here's some money for you."
+
+"What for?"
+
+"You're to go to Chicago and bring back Florence."
+
+"But she isn't there."
+
+"Nivir mind. You're to pretend to go."
+
+"But that won't take money."
+
+"Give it to Florence, then. It's hers by rights. Won't we give Curtis
+a surprise? Where's his wife?"
+
+"I have found a comfortable boarding house for her. When had we better
+carry out this programme? She's very anxious to see her husband."
+
+"The more fool she. Kape her at home and out of his sight, or there's
+no knowin' what he'll do. And, Dodger, dear, kape an eye on the
+apple-stand. I mistrust Mrs. Burke that's runnin' it."
+
+"I will. Does the old gentleman seem to be very sick?"
+
+"He's wake as a rat. Curtis would kill him soon if we didn't
+interfere. But we'll soon circumvent him, the snake in the grass! Miss
+Florence will soon come to her own, and Curtis Waring will be out in
+the cold."
+
+"The most I have against him is that he tried to marry Florence when
+he had a wife already."
+
+"He's as bad as they make 'em, Dodger. It won't be my fault if Mr.
+Linden's eyes are not opened to his wickedness."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXVII.
+The Diplomacy Of Mrs. O'Keefe.
+
+
+Mrs. O'Keefe was a warm-hearted woman, and the sad, drawn face of Mr.
+Linden appealed to her pity.
+
+"Why should I let the poor man suffer when I can relieve him?" she
+asked herself.
+
+So the next morning, after Curtis had, according to his custom, gone
+downtown, being in the invalid's sick chamber, she began to act in a
+mysterious manner. She tiptoed to the door, closed it and approached
+Mr. Linden's bedside with the air of one about to unfold a strange
+story.
+
+"Whist now," she said, with her finger on her lips.
+
+"What is the matter?" asked the invalid, rather alarmed.
+
+"Can you bear a surprise, sir?"
+
+"Have you any bad news for me?"
+
+"No; it's good news, but you must promise not to tell Curtis."
+
+"Is it about Florence? Your messenger can hardly have reached
+Chicago."
+
+"He isn't going there, sir."
+
+"But you promised that he should," said Mr. Linden, disturbed.
+
+"I'll tell you why, sir. Florence is not in Chicago."
+
+"I--I don't understand. You said she was there."
+
+"Begging your pardon, sir, it was Curtis that said so, though he knew
+she was in New York."
+
+"But what motive could he have had for thus misrepresenting matters?"
+
+"He doesn't want you to take her back."
+
+"I can't believe you, Mrs. Barnes. He loves her, and wants to marry
+her."
+
+"He couldn't marry her if she consented to take him."
+
+"Why not? Mrs. Barnes, you confuse me."
+
+"I won't deceive you as he has done. There's rason in plinty. He's
+married already."
+
+"Is this true?" demanded Mr. Linden, in excitement.
+
+"It's true enough; more by token, to-morrow, whin he's out, his wife
+will come here and tell you so herself."
+
+"But who are you who seem to know so much about my family?"
+
+"I'm a friend of the pore girl you've driven from the house, because
+she would not marry a rascally spalpeen that's been schemin' to get
+your property into his hands."
+
+"You're a friend of Florence? Where is she?"
+
+"She's in my house, and has been there ever since she left her home."
+
+"Is she--well?"
+
+"As well as she can be whin she's been workin' her fingers to the bone
+wid sewin' to keep from starvin'."
+
+"My God! what have I done?"
+
+"You've let Curtis Waring wind you around his little finger--that's
+what you've done, Mr. Linden."
+
+"How soon can I see Florence?"
+
+"How soon can you bear it?"
+
+"The sooner the better."
+
+"Then it'll be to-morrow, I'm thinkin', that is if you won't tell
+Curtis."
+
+"No, no; I promise."
+
+"I'll manage everything, sir. Don't worry now."
+
+Mr. Linden's face lost its anxious look--so that when, later in the
+day, Curtis looked into the room he was surprised.
+
+"My uncle looks better," he said.
+
+"Yes, sir," answered the nurse. "I've soothed him like."
+
+"Indeed! You seem to be a very accomplished nurse."
+
+"Faith, that I am, sir, though it isn't I that should say it."
+
+"May I ask how you soothed him?" inquired Curtis, anxiously.
+
+"I told him that Miss Florence would soon be home."
+
+"I do not think it right to hold out hopes that may prove
+ill-founded."
+
+"I know what I am about, Mr. Curtis."
+
+"I dare say you understand your business, Mrs. Barnes, but if my uncle
+should be disappointed, I am afraid the consequences will be
+lamentable."
+
+"Do you think he'll live long, sir?"
+
+Curtis shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"It is very hard to tell. My uncle is a very feeble man."
+
+"And if he dies, I suppose the property goes to you?"
+
+"I suppose so."
+
+"But where does Florence come in?"
+
+"It seems to me, Mrs. Barnes, that you take a good deal of interest in
+our family affairs," said Curtis, suspiciously.
+
+"That's true, sir. Why shouldn't I take an interest in a nice
+gentleman like you?"
+
+Curtis smiled.
+
+"I am doing my best to find Florence. Then our marriage will take
+place, and it matters little to whom the property is left."
+
+"But I thought Miss Florence didn't care to marry you?"
+
+"It is only because she thinks cousins ought not to marry. It's a
+foolish fancy, and she'll get over it."
+
+"Thrue for you, sir. My first husband was my cousin, and we always
+agreed, barrin' an occasional fight----"
+
+"I don't think Florence and I will ever fight, Mrs. Barnes."
+
+"What surprises me, Mr. Curtis, is that a nice-lookin' gentleman like
+you hasn't been married before."
+
+Curtis eyed her keenly, but her face told him nothing.
+
+"I never saw one I wanted to marry till my cousin grew up," he said.
+
+"I belave in marryin', meself. I was first married at sivinteen."
+
+"How long ago was that, Mrs. Barnes?"
+
+"It's long ago, Mr. Curtis. I'm an old woman now. I was thirty-five
+last birthday."
+
+Curtis came near laughing outright, for he suspected--what was true--
+that the nurse would never see her fiftieth birthday again.
+
+"Then you are just my age," he said.
+
+"If I make him laugh he won't suspect nothing," soliloquized the wily
+nurse. "That's a pretty big lie, even for me."
+
+"Shure I look older, Mr. Curtis," she said, aloud. "What wid the worry
+of losin' two fond husbands, I look much older than you."
+
+"Oh, your are very well preserved, Mrs. Barnes."
+
+Curtis went into his uncle's chamber.
+
+"How are you feeling, uncle?" he asked.
+
+"I think I am better," answered Mr. Linden, coldly, for he had not
+forgotten Mrs. Barnes' revelations.
+
+"That is right. Only make an effort, and you will soon be strong
+again."
+
+"I think I may. I may live ten years to annoy you."
+
+"I fervently hope so," said Curtis, but there was a false ring in his
+voice that his uncle detected. "How do you like the new nurse?"
+
+"She is helping me wonderfully. You made a good selection."
+
+"I will see that she is soon discharged," Curtis inwardly resolved.
+"If her being here is to prolong my uncle's life, and keep me still
+waiting for the estate, I must clear the house of her."
+
+"You must not allow her to buoy you up with unfounded hopes. She has
+been telling you that Florence will soon return."
+
+"Yes; she seems convinced of it."
+
+"Of course she knows nothing of it. She may return, but I doubt
+whether she is in Chicago now. I think the family she was with has
+gone to Europe."
+
+"Where did you hear that, Curtis?" asked Mr. Linden, with unwonted
+sharpness.
+
+"I have sources of information which at present I do not care to
+impart. Rest assured that I am doing all I can to get her back."
+
+"You still want to marry her, Curtis?"
+
+"I do, most certainly."
+
+"I shall not insist upon it. I should not have done so before."
+
+"Have you changed your mind, uncle?"
+
+"Yes; I have made a mistake, and I have decided to correct it."
+
+"What has come over him?" Curtis asked himself. "Some influence
+hostile to me has been brought to bear. It must be that nurse. I will
+quietly dismiss her to-morrow, paying her a week's wages, in lieu of
+warning. She's evidently a meddler."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XXXVIII.
+The Closing Scene.
+
+
+The next day Tim Bolton, dressed in a jaunty style, walked up the
+steps of the Linden mansion.
+
+"Is Mr. Waring at home?" he asked.
+
+"No, sir; he has gone downtown."
+
+"I'll step in and wait for him. Please show me to the library."
+
+Jane, who had been taken into confidence by the nurse, showed him at
+once into the room mentioned.
+
+Half an hour later Curtis entered.
+
+"How long have you been here, Bolton?"
+
+"But a short time. You sent for me?"
+
+"I did."
+
+"On business?"
+
+"Well, yes."
+
+"Is there anything new?"
+
+"Yes, my uncle is failing fast."
+
+"Is he likely to die soon?"
+
+"I shouldn't be surprised if he died within a week."
+
+"I suspect Curtis means to help him! Well, what has that to do with
+me?" he asked. "You will step into the property, of course?"
+
+"There is a little difficulty in the way which I can overcome with
+your help."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"I can't get him to give up the foolish notion that the boy he lost is
+still alive."
+
+"It happens to be true."
+
+"Yes; but he must not know it. Before he dies I want him to make a new
+will, revoking all others, leaving all the property to me."
+
+"Will he do it?"
+
+"I don't know. As long as he thinks the boy is living, I don't believe
+he will. You see what a drawback that is."
+
+"I see. What can I do to improve the situation?"
+
+"I want you to sign a paper confessing that you abducted the boy----"
+
+"At your instigation?"
+
+"That must not be mentioned. You will go on to say that a year or two
+later--the time is not material--he died of typhoid fever. You can say
+that you did not dare to reveal this before, but do so now, impelled
+by remorse."
+
+"Have you got it written out? I can't remember all them words."
+
+"Yes; here it is."
+
+"All right," said Bolton, taking the paper and tucking it into an
+inside pocket. "I'll copy it out in my own handwriting. How much are
+you going to give me for doing this?"
+
+"A thousand dollars."
+
+"Cash?"
+
+"I can't do that. I have met with losses at the gaming table, and I
+don't dare ask money from my uncle at this time. He thinks I am
+thoroughly steady."
+
+"At how much do you value the estate?"
+
+"At four hundred thousand dollars. I wormed it out of my uncle's
+lawyer the other day."
+
+"And you expect me to help you to that amount for only a thousand
+dollars?"
+
+"A thousand dollars is a good deal of money."
+
+"And so is four hundred thousand. After all, your uncle may not die."
+
+"He is sure to."
+
+"You seem very confident."
+
+"And with good reason. Leave that to me. I promise you, on my honor,
+to pay you two thousand dollars when I get the estate."
+
+"But what is going to happen to poor Dodger, the rightful heir?"
+
+"Well, let it be three hundred dollars a year, then."
+
+"Where is he now?"
+
+"I don't mind telling you, as it can do no harm. He is in California."
+
+"Whew! That was smart. How did you get him there?"
+
+"I drugged him, and had him sent on board a ship bound for San
+Francisco, around Cape Horn. The fact is, I was getting a little
+suspicious of you, and I wanted to put you beyond the reach of
+temptation."
+
+"You are a clever rascal, Curtis. After all, suppose the prize should
+slip through your fingers?"
+
+"It won't. I have taken every precaution."
+
+"When do you want this document?"
+
+"Bring it back to me this afternoon, copied and signed. That is all
+you have to do; I will attend to the rest."
+
+While this conversation was going on there were unseen listeners.
+
+Behind a portiere Mrs. Barnes, the nurse, and John Linden heard every
+word that was said.
+
+"And what do you think now, sir?" whispered Mrs. O'Keefe (to give her
+real name).
+
+"It is terrible. I would not have believed Curtis capable of such a
+crime. But is it really true, Mrs. Barnes? Is my lost boy alive?"
+
+"To be sure he is."
+
+"Have you seen him?"
+
+"I know him as well as I know you, sir, and better, too."
+
+"Is he--tell me, is he a good boy? Curtis told me that he might be a
+criminal."
+
+"He might, but he isn't. He's as dacent and honest a boy as iver trod
+shoe leather. You'll be proud of him, sir."
+
+"But he's in California."
+
+"He was; but he's got back. You shall see him to-day, and Florence,
+too. Hark! I hear the door bell. They're here now. I think you had
+better go in and confront Curtis."
+
+"I feel weak, Mrs. Barnes. Let me lean on you."
+
+"You can do that, and welcome, sir."
+
+The nurse pushed aside the portiere, and the two entered the library--
+Mrs. Barnes rotund and smiling, Mr. Linden gaunt and spectral looking,
+like one risen from the grave.
+
+Curtis eyed the pair with a startled look.
+
+"Mrs. Barnes," he said, angrily, "what do you mean by taking my uncle
+from his bed and bringing him down here? It is as much as his life is
+worth. You seem unfit for your duties as nurse. You will leave the
+house to-morrow, and I will engage a substitute."
+
+"I shall lave whin I git ready, Mr. Curtis Waring," said the nurse,
+her arms akimbo. "Maybe somebody else will lave the house. Me and Mr.
+Linden have been behind the curtain for twenty minutes, and he has
+heard every word you said."
+
+Curtis turned livid, and his heart sank.
+
+"It's true, Curtis," said John Linden's hollow voice. "I have heard
+all. It was you who abducted my boy, and have made my life a lonely
+one all these years. Oh, man! man! how could you have the heart to do
+it?"
+
+Curtis stared at him with parched lips, unable to speak.
+
+"Not content with this, you drove from the house my dear niece,
+Florence. You made me act cruelly toward her. I fear she will not
+forgive me."
+
+But just then the door opened, and Florence, rushing into the room,
+sank at her uncle's feet.
+
+"Oh, uncle," she said, "will you take me back?"
+
+"Yes, Florence, never again to leave me. And who is this?" he asked,
+fixing his eyes on Dodger, who stood shyly in the doorway.
+
+"I'll tell you, sir," said Tim Bolton. "That is your own son, whom I
+stole away from you when he was a kid, being hired to do it by Curtis
+Waring."
+
+"It's a lie," said Curtis, hoarsely.
+
+"Come to me, my boy," said Mr. Linden, with a glad light in his eyes.
+
+"At last Heaven has heard my prayers," he ejaculated. "We will never
+be separated. I was ready to die, but now I hope to live for many
+years. I feel that I have a new lease of life."
+
+With a baffled growl Curtis Waring darted a furious look at the three.
+
+"That boy is an impostor," he said. "They are deceiving you."
+
+"He is my son. I see his mother's look in his face. As for you, Curtis
+Waring, my eyes are open at last to your villainy. You deserve nothing
+at my hands; but I will make some provision for you."
+
+There was another surprise.
+
+Curtis Waring's deserted wife, brought from California by Dodger,
+entered the room, leading by the hand a young child.
+
+"Oh, Curtis," she said, reproachfully. "How could you leave me? I have
+come to you, my husband, with our little child."
+
+"Begone! woman!" said Curtis, furiously. "I will never receive or
+recognize you!"
+
+"Oh, sir!" she said, turning to Mr. Linden, "what shall I do?"
+
+"Curtis Waring," said Mr. Linden, sternly, "unless you receive this
+woman and treat her properly, you shall receive nothing from me."
+
+"And if I do?"
+
+"You will receive an income of two thousand dollars a year, payable
+quarterly. Mrs. Waring, you will remain here with your child till your
+husband provides another home for you."
+
+Curtis slunk out of the room, but he was too wise to refuse his
+uncle's offer.
+
+He and his wife are living in Chicago, and he treats her fairly well,
+fearing that, otherwise, he will lose his income.
+
+Mr. Linden looks ten years younger than he did at the opening of the
+story.
+
+Florence and Dodger--now known as Harvey Linden--live with him.
+
+Dodger, under a competent private tutor, is making up the deficiencies
+in his education.
+
+It is early yet to speak of marriage, but it is possible that Florence
+may marry a cousin, after all.
+
+Tim Bolton has turned over a new leaf, given up his saloon, and is
+carrying on a country hotel within fifty miles of New York.
+
+He has five thousand dollars in the bank, presented by Dodger, with
+his father's sanction, and is considered quite a reputable citizen.
+
+As for Mrs. O'Keefe, she still keeps the apple-stand, being unwilling
+to give it up; but she, too, has a handsome sum in the bank, and calls
+often upon her two children, as she calls them.
+
+In the midst of their prosperity Florence and Dodger will never forget
+the time when they were adrift in New York.
+
+
+
+The end.
+
+
+
+*  *  *  *  *
+
+
+
+A. L. Burt's Catalogue of Books for Young People by Popular Writers,
+52-58 Duane Street, New York
+
+BOOKS FOR BOYS.
+
+Joe's Luck: A Boy's Adventures in California. By Horatio Alger, Jr.
+12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00.
+
+The story is chock full of stirring incidents, while the amusing
+situations are furnished by Joshua Bickford, from Pumpkin Hollow, and
+the fellow who modestly styles himself the "Rip-tail Roarer, from Pike
+Co., Missouri." Mr. Alger never writes a poor book, and "Joe's Luck"
+is certainly one of his best.
+
+Tom the Bootblack; or, The Road to Success. By Horatio Alger, Jr.
+12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00.
+
+A bright, enterprising lad was Tom the Bootblack. He was not at all
+ashamed of his humble calling, though always on the lookout to better
+himself. The lad started for Cincinnati to look up his heritage. Mr.
+Grey, the uncle, did not hesitate to employ a ruffian to kill the lad.
+The plan failed, and Gilbert Grey, once Tom the bootblack, came into a
+comfortable fortune. This is one of Mr. Alger's best stories.
+
+Dan the Newsboy. By Horatio Alger, Jr.
+12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00.
+
+Dan Mordaunt and his mother live in a poor tenement, and the lad is
+pluckily trying to make ends meet by selling papers in the streets of
+New York. A little heiress of six years is confided to the care of the
+Mordaunts. The child is kidnapped and Dan tracks the child to the
+house where she is hidden, and rescues her. The wealthy aunt of the
+little heiress is so delighted with Dan's courage and many good
+qualities that she adopts him as her heir.
+
+Tony the Hero: A Brave Boy's Adventure with a Tramp. By Horatio
+Alger, Jr.
+12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00.
+
+Tony, a sturdy bright-eyed boy of fourteen, is under the control of
+Rudolph Rugg, a thorough rascal. After much abuse Tony runs away and
+gets a job as stable boy in a country hotel. Tony is heir to a large
+estate. Rudolph for a consideration hunts up Tony and throws him down
+a deep well. Of course Tony escapes from the fate provided for him,
+and by a brave act, a rich friend secures his rights and Tony is
+prosperous. A very entertaining book.
+
+The Errand Boy; or, How Phil Brent Won Success. By Horatio Alger, Jr.
+12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00.
+
+The career of "The Errand Boy" embraces the city adventures of a smart
+country lad. Philip was brought up by a kind-hearted innkeeper, named
+Brent. The death of Mrs. Brent paved the way for the hero's subsequent
+troubles. A retired merchant in New York secures him the situation of
+errand boy, and thereafter stands as his friend.
+
+Tom Temple's Career. By Horatio Alger, Jr.
+12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00.
+
+Tom Temple is a bright, self-reliant lad. He leaves Plympton village
+to seek work in New York, whence he undertakes an important mission to
+California. Some of his adventures in the far west are so startling
+that the reader will scarcely close the book until the last page shall
+have been reached. The tale is written in Mr. Alger's most fascinating
+style.
+
+  *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *
+For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by
+the publisher, A. L. BURT, 52-58 Duane Street, New York.
+
+
+  *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *
+
+
+BOOKS FOR BOYS.
+
+Frank Fowler, the Cash Boy. By Horatio Alger, Jr.
+12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00.
+
+Frank Fowler, a poor boy, bravely determines to make a living for
+himself and his foster-sister Grace. Going to New York he obtains a
+situation as cash boy in a dry goods store. He renders a service to a
+wealthy old gentleman who takes a fancy to the lad, and thereafter
+helps the lad to gain success and fortune.
+
+Tom Thatcher's Fortune. By Horatio Alger, Jr.
+12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00.
+
+Tom Thatcher is a brave, ambitious, unselfish boy. He supports his
+mother and sister on meagre wages earned as a shoe-pegger in John
+Simpson's factory. Tom is discharged from the factory and starts
+overland for California. He meets with many adventures. The story is
+told in a way which has made Mr. Alger's name a household word in so
+many homes.
+
+The Train Boy. By Horatio Alger, Jr.
+12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00.
+
+Paul Palmer was a wide-awake boy of sixteen who supported his mother
+and sister by selling books and papers on the Chicago and Milwaukee
+Railroad. He detects a young man in the act of picking the pocket of a
+young lady. In a railway accident many passengers are killed, but Paul
+is fortunate enough to assist a Chicago merchant, who out of gratitude
+takes him into his employ. Paul succeeds with tact and judgment and is
+well started on the road to business prominence.
+
+Mark Mason's Victory. The Trials and Triumphs of a Telegraph Boy. By
+Horatio Alger, Jr.
+12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00.
+
+Mark Mason, the telegraph boy, was a sturdy, honest lad, who pluckily
+won his way to success by his honest manly efforts under many
+difficulties. This story will please the very large class of boys who
+regard Mr. Alger as a favorite author.
+
+A Debt of Honor. The Story of Gerald Lane's Success in the Far West.
+By Horatio Alger, Jr.
+12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00.
+
+The story of Gerald Lane and the account of the many trials and
+disappointments which he passed through before he attained success,
+will interest all boys who have read the previous stories of this
+delightful author.
+
+Ben Bruce. Scenes in the Life of a Bowery Newsboy. By Horatio
+Alger, Jr.
+12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00.
+
+Ben Bruce was a brave, manly, generous boy. The story of his efforts,
+and many seeming failures and disappointments, and his final success,
+are most interesting to all readers. The tale is written in Mr.
+Alger's most fascinating style.
+
+The Castaways; or, On the Florida Reefs. By James Otis.
+12mo, cloth, illustrated, price $1.00.
+
+This tale smacks of the salt sea. From the moment that the Sea Queen
+leaves lower New York bay till the breeze leaves her becalmed off the
+coast of Florida, one can almost hear the whistle of the wind through
+her rigging, the creak of her straining cordage as she heels to the
+leeward. The adventures of Ben Clark, the hero of the story and Jake
+the cook, cannot fail to charm the reader. As a writer for young
+people Mr. Otis is a prime favorite.
+
+  *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *
+For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by
+the publisher, A. L. BURT, 52-58 Duane Street, New York.
+
+
+
+
+  *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes
+
+   Typographical errors have been left as found, including:
+
+    "I do not love him," ending with a comma in chapter 4.
+    "siezed" and "doubtfullly" in chapter 5.
+    "soliloqized" in chapter 16.
+    "Eactly" in chapter 18.
+    "ascertainel" in chapter 22.
+    "San Farncisco" in chapter 23.
+    "Stauss" in chapter 29.
+    "thas" in chapter 33.
+    "utmust" in chapter 35.
+
+   Dialect has been left as printed, even where inconsistent.
+
+   Accented letters and ligatures have been removed in the plain
+   text version.
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ADRIFT IN NEW YORK***
+
+
+******* This file should be named 18581.txt or 18581.zip *******
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