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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/27222-0.txt b/27222-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f469662 --- /dev/null +++ b/27222-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8834 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Tin Box, by Horatio Alger + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: The Tin Box + and What it Contained + +Author: Horatio Alger + +Release Date: November 10, 2008 [eBook #27222] +[Most recently updated: April 28, 2022] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +Produced by: Gary Sandino + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TIN BOX *** + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE TIN BOX + +and What it Contained + +By Horatio Alger, Jr. + +A. L. Burt Company, Publishers +New York + + +CONTENTS + + THE TIN BOX + CHAPTER I — A COLLISION + CHAPTER II — SIGNS OF A TEMPEST + CHAPTER III — MRS. ROSS MAKES TWO UNSATISFACTORY VISITS + CHAPTER IV — HARRY LOSES HIS PLACE, AFTER ALL + CHAPTER V — LOOKING FOR WORK + CHAPTER VI — UNCLE OBED ARRIVES FROM ILLINOIS + CHAPTER VII — AN UNWELCOME GUEST + CHAPTER VIII — UNCLE OBED MAKES A PROPOSAL + CHAPTER IX — NOTICE TO QUIT + CHAPTER X — PHILIP MEETS HIS MATCH + CHAPTER XI — THE TWO CONSPIRATORS + CHAPTER XII — AN UNEXPECTED INVITATION + CHAPTER XIII — THREE YOUNG SPORTSMEN + CHAPTER XIV — WHAT HAPPENED TO HARRY IN THE WOOD + CHAPTER XV — PHILIP’S BAD ADVISER + CHAPTER XVI — BOUND HAND AND FOOT + CHAPTER XVII. — WHAT HARRY SAW IN THE WOOD + CHAPTER XVIII — HARRY’S COMMISSION + CHAPTER XIX — SECOND VISIT TO THE WOOD + CHAPTER XX — ON THE WAY TO NEW YORK + CHAPTER XXI — A REWARD OFFERED + CHAPTER XXII — BROUGHT TO BAY + CHAPTER XXIII — FINDING THE BOX + CHAPTER XXIV — PHILIP IN A TIGHT PLACE + CHAPTER XXV — PHILIP BECOMES A PRISONER + CHAPTER XXVI — PHILIP IS FORCED TO APOLOGIZE + CHAPTER XXVII — THE ARREST + CHAPTER XXVIII — MR. CHASE IS BROUGHT TO JUSTICE + CHAPTER XXIX — HARRY BECOMES A “BONDHOLDER.” + CHAPTER XXX — CONGREVE’S SCHEME + CHAPTER XXXI — THE TEMPTER + CHAPTER XXXII — PHILIP DOES NOT FEEL HAPPY + CHAPTER XXXIII — STEALING THE BONDS + CHAPTER XXXIV — PHILIP GETS RID OF HIS PLUNDER + CHAPTER XXXV — THROWING SUSPICION ON HARRY + CHAPTER XXXVI — HARRY IS CHARGED WITH THEFT + CHAPTER XXXVII — SEARCHING THE COTTAGE + CHAPTER XXXVIII — PHILIP’S SURPRISE + CHAPTER XXXIX — HOW CONGREVE SUCCEEDED + CHAPTER XL — PREPARING TO PROSECUTE + CHAPTER XLI — HARRY MANAGES HIS OWN CASE + CHAPTER XLII — CONCLUSION + + + + +THE TIN BOX + + + + +CHAPTER I — A COLLISION + + +“Have you finished breakfast already, Harry?” asked Mrs. Gilbert, as +Harry rose hurriedly from the table and reached for his hat, which hung +on a nail especially appropriated to it. + +“Yes, mother. I don’t want to be late for the store. Saturday is always +a busy day.” + +“It is a long day for you, Harry. You have to stay till nine o’clock in +the evening.” + +“I am always glad to have Saturday come, for then I can get my money,” +replied Harry, laughing. “Well, good-by, mother—I’m off.” + +“What should I do without him?” said Mrs. Gilbert to herself, as Harry +dashed out of the yard on the way to Mead’s grocery store, where he had +been employed for six months. + +That would have been a difficult question to answer. Mrs. Gilbert was +the widow of a sea captain, who had sailed from the port of Boston +three years before, and never since been heard of. + +It was supposed that the vessel was lost with all hands, but how the +disaster occurred, or when, was a mystery that seemed never likely to +be solved. + +Captain Gilbert had left no property except the small cottage, which +was mortgaged for half its value, and a small sum of money in the +savings bank, which, by this time, was all expended for the necessaries +of life. + +Fortunately for the widow, about the time this sum gave out Harry +obtained a situation at Mead’s grocery store, with a salary of four +dollars a week. This he regularly paid to his mother, and, with the +little she herself was able to earn, they lived comfortably. It was +hard work for Harry, but he enjoyed it, for he was an active boy, and +it was a source of great satisfaction to him that he was able to help +his mother so materially. + +He was now fifteen years old, about the average height for a boy of +that age, with a strong frame and a bright, cheerful manner that made +him a general favorite. + +The part of his duty which he liked best was to drive the store wagon +for the delivery of goods to customers. Most boys of his age like to +drive a horse, and Harry was no exception to the rule. + +When he reached the store Mr. Mead, his employer, said: + +“Harness up the horse as soon as you can, Harry. There are some goods +to be carried out.” + +“All right, sir,” answered Harry, cheerfully, and made his way to the +stable, which stood in the rear of the store. It was but a few minutes +before he was loaded up and was on his way. + +He had called at several places and left the greater part of the goods, +when he found himself in a narrow road, scarcely wider than a lane. Why +it had been made so narrow was unaccountable, for there was certainly +land enough to be had, and that of little value, which could have been +used. It was probably owing to a want of foresight on the part of the +road commissioners. + +Just at the narrowest part of the road Harry saw approaching him an +open buggy of rather a pretentious character, driven by a schoolmate, +Philip Ross, the son of Colonel Ross, a wealthy resident of the +village. + +I have said that Philip was, or rather had been, a schoolmate of Harry. +I cannot call him a friend. Philip was of a haughty, arrogant temper. +The horse and buggy he drove were his own—that is, they had been given +him by his father on his last birthday—and he was proud of them, not +without some reason, for the buggy was a handsome one, and the horse +was spirited and of fine appearance. + +As soon as Harry saw Philip approaching, he proceeded to turn his horse +to one side of the road. + +Philip, however, made no such move, but kept in the middle. + +“Isn’t he going to turn out?” thought Harry. “How does he expect to get +by?” + +“Why don’t you turn out, Philip?” he called out. + +“Turn out yourself!” retorted Philip, haughtily. + +“That’s what I’m doing,” said Harry, rather provoked. + +“Then turn out more!” said the young gentleman, arrogantly. + +“I have turned out my share,” said Harry, stopping his horse. “Do you +expect to keep right on in the middle of the road?” + +“I shall if I choose,” said Philip, unpleasantly; but he, too, reined +up his horse, so that the two teams stood facing each other. + +Harry shrugged his shoulders, and asked, temperately: + +“Then how do you expect to get by?” + +“I want you to turn out as far as you can,” he said authoritatively. + +Harry was provoked, and not without reason. + +“I have turned out my share, and shan’t turn out another inch,” he +said, firmly. “You must be a fool to expect it.” + +“Do you mean to call me a fool?” demanded Philip, his eyes flashing. + +“You certainly act like one.” + +“You’d better take care how you talk, you beggar!” exclaimed Philip, +furiously. + +“I’m no more a beggar than you are, Philip Ross!” + +“Well, you are nothing but a working boy, at any rate.” + +“What if I am?” replied Harry. “I’ve got just as much right on this +road as you.” + +“I’m a gentleman,” asserted Philip, angrily. + +“Well, you don’t act like one; you’d better turn out pretty quick, for +I am in a hurry and can’t wait.” + +“Then turn out more.” + +“I shan’t do it,” said Harry, with spirit; “and no one but you would be +unreasonable enough to ask me to do it.” + +“Then you’ll have to wait,” said Philip, settling himself back +provokingly in his seat, and eyeing Harry with a look of disdain. + +“Come, don’t be obstinate, Philip,” urged Harry, impatiently. “I only +ask you to do your share of turning. We have equal rights here, even if +you were three times the gentleman you pretend to be.” + +“You are insolent, Harry Gilbert. I don’t take orders from such as +you.” + +“Then you won’t turn out?” asked Harry, gathering up his reins. + +“Suppose I don’t?” retorted Philip, in a provoking tone. + +“Then I shall drive on,” said Harry, resolutely. + +“You wouldn’t dare to!” + +“Wouldn’t I? You’ll see. I will count ten, and if at the end of that +time you don’t turn out, I will drive on, and make you take the +consequences.” + +Philip glanced at him doubtfully. Would he really do what he said? + +“Pooh! I don’t believe it!” he decided. “Anyway, I’m not going to give +way to a working boy. I won’t do it.” + +I am not going to decide the question whether Harry did right or not. I +can only say that he claimed no more than his rights, and was not +without excuse for the course he adopted. + +“One—two—three!” counted Harry, and so on until he had counted ten. + +Then, gathering up his reins, he said: “I ask you, Philip, for the last +time, whether you will turn out?” + +“I won’t till I get ready.” + +“Go ’long, Dobbin!” was Harry’s sole reply. And his horse was put in +motion. + +The natural result followed. The grocery wagon was strongly made, and +fitted for rough usage. The buggy was of light structure, built for +speed, and was no match for it. The two carriages locked wheels. That +of the wagon was unharmed, but the wheel of the buggy came off. + +The horse darted forward. Philip was thrown out at the side, aiming an +ineffectual blow with his whip at Harry, as he found himself going, and +landed in a half stunned condition on the grass at the side. + +Harry kept on until his wagon was clear of the wreck of the buggy, and +then halting it, jumped oft to find the extent of Philip’s injuries. + +The latter’s horse, which had by a violent jerk freed himself from the +shafts, was galloping up the road. + + + + +CHAPTER II — SIGNS OF A TEMPEST + + +“Are you hurt, Philip?” asked Harry, anxiously, as he bent over the +prostrate form of his antagonist. + +As he opened his eyes and saw the face of Harry bending over him, all +came back to him, and his animosity revived. + +“Get away from me!” he exclaimed furiously, as he staggered to his +feet. + +“I certainly will, if you don’t need help,” said Harry, glad that +Philip had suffered no harm. + +“Where is my horse?” demanded Philip. + +“He has run away.” + +“And it’s all your fault!” exclaimed Philip, angrily. “My buggy’s +broken, too, and all because you ran into me, you beggar!” + +“I wouldn’t allow you to call me names if you hadn’t been punished +already for your unreasonable conduct,” said Harry, calmly. “Whatever +has happened you brought upon yourself.” + +“Catch my horse!” ordered Philip, with the air of a master addressing a +servant. + +“I’ve got something else to do,” said Harry, coolly, and he sprang into +the store wagon. + +“Are you going to drive off and leave me here?” demanded Philip, +enraged. + +“I must, for my time isn’t my own. It belongs to Mr. Mead. I would help +you otherwise—though you are to blame for what has happened.” + +“You will suffer for this!” exclaimed the rich man’s son, gazing at his +broken buggy in helpless anger. “You’ll have to pay for all the damage +you have done!” + +“You can go to law about it, if you want to,” said Harry, as he +gathered the reins into his hands, and he drove off. “I’ve a good +defense.” + +To Philip’s disgust, Harry drove off, leaving him alone with his +disabled carriage. It was a good time to consider whether he had acted +wisely in demanding more than the law or custom allowed him, but Philip +was too angry for cool consideration. + +He could not persuade himself that a boy like Harry, the son of a poor +widow, who had to work for his own living, had equal rights with +himself. + +In the end he had to go home and bring back his father’s hired man to +take charge of the wreck. He learned that the frightened horse had +already found his way to the stable, terrifying the family with fears +that Philip had been seriously hurt on the way. + +Philip gave a garbled account of the affair to his father and mother, +and excited the indignation of both, but especially his mother. + +“I never heard of such an outrage—never!” exclaimed Mrs. Ross, +emphatically. “To think that boy should deliberately run into you and +endanger your life—my poor Philip!” + +“That’s just what he did, mother,” said Philip, enjoying the +indignation he had aroused. + +Colonel Ross was not quite so thoroughly convinced that his son was +right. + +“Did you give Harry half the road?” he inquired. + +“I gave him room enough to get by,” answered Philip, evasively. + +“The law requires that you should give him half the road.” + +“I hope, Mr. Ross, you don’t justify that horrid boy in running into +Philip?” said Mrs. Ross, sharply. + +“No, my dear; I consider that he acted very badly. But, in order to +make him amenable to the law for the damage Philip’s team suffered, it +must appear that Philip gave him half the road.” + +“Then the law ought to be altered,” said Mrs. Ross, with more anger +than reason. “I’ve no doubt that Philip gave him all the room he +needed.” + +“When you were thrown out, did the heartless boy ride on and leave you +to your fate?” asked the mother. + +“No; he got out and asked me if I was hurt,” Philip admitted, +reluctantly. + +“Much he cared!” said Mrs. Ross, contemptuously. + +“I suppose he was afraid he would be put in prison if I was killed,” +said Philip. + +“Yes, that was his motive, undoubtedly. He didn’t offer to help you, I +suppose?” + +“No; I asked him to, and he wouldn’t,” answered Philip, glad that he +could blacken poor Harry’s character. + +“The unfeeling young villain!” ejaculated Mrs. Ross. “He ought to be +put in the State’s prison!” + +“Do you think he can be?” asked Philip, eagerly. + +“Of course he can, if your father exerts himself as he ought.” + +“Nonsense, Lucinda!” said Colonel Ross, who was not a fool. “It was a +boyish misunderstanding.” + +“You may call it that,” retorted Mrs. Ross, raising her voice. “I call +it a high-handed outrage. The boy ought to be arrested. Are you going +to do anything about it, Philander Ross?” + +Mrs. Ross generally addressed her husband by his Christian name when +she was angry with him. + +“I will tell you what I will do, Lucinda. I will see Mead, and tell him +that a boy who acts in that way is not fit to drive for him.” + +“That’s right, father. Make him discharge Harry. Then he’ll have to go +to the poorhouse, or beg.” + +“And a very suitable punishment for him,” said Mrs. Ross, approvingly. + +“I don’t quite like to take the boy’s means of living away from him,” +said Colonel Ross, who was by no means as unfeeling as his wife and +son. “That would make his mother suffer, and she has been guilty of no +crime.” + +“She will uphold him in his iniquity, you may rest assured, Mr. Ross,” +said his wife, nodding emphatically. “If she had brought up the boy to +be respectful to his superiors this would not have happened.” + +“He won’t be able to pay damages if he loses his place,” said Colonel +Ross. + +“I don’t care. I want him discharged from his situation.” + +“Well, Lucinda,” said her husband, shrugging his shoulders, “you had +better undertake the management of the affair. I am very busy, and +can’t spare the necessary time.” + +“I will!” said Mrs. Ross, with alacrity. “I will call on the boy’s +mother, and also on Mr. Mead.” + +“Don’t be too extreme, Lucinda. Remember, it isn’t a hanging matter.” + +“I am not so sure but it ought to be. My poor child might have broken +his neck. Oh, it makes my blood run cold when I think that he might be +lying lifeless before me at this moment.” + +“Don’t say such things, mother,” said Philip, nervously, unpleasantly +affected by the picture his mother had drawn. + +“I can’t help saying it, for it might have happened.” + +“Where are you going to first, mother?” asked Philip. + +“I will go first and call on Widow Gilbert. I consider her responsible, +for if she had brought up the boy better this would never have +happened.” + +“May I go with you?” + +“No; I would rather go alone.” + +If Philip had only been scarred, or had a wound to show, his mother +would have taken him with her, to make her reproof more effective, but, +as he showed no marks of the encounter, she saw no advantage in his +presence. + +“You just give it to her, mother,” said Philip, in a tone of +satisfaction. + +“I shall know what to say, my son.” + +“Just frighten her, and make her think we are going to have Harry +arrested.” + +“I shall make her understand that the boy has done a very serious +thing, and has made himself amenable to the law.” + +“That’s right, mother. Harry is too airy altogether. He seems to think +that I am no better than he is—a common working boy like him!” + +Mrs. Ross sailed out of the room, and dressed herself with unusual +care, not out of respect for Mrs. Gilbert, but rather with the purpose +of impressing her with her grandeur. + + + + +CHAPTER III — MRS. ROSS MAKES TWO UNSATISFACTORY VISITS + + +It was very seldom that Mrs. Ross condescended to visit her poorer +neighbors, and it was, therefore, not without considerable surprise +that Mrs. Gilbert called to the door about eleven o’clock, just as she +had put on the potatoes to boil for dinner—recognized in the visitor on +the doorstep Mrs. Colonel Ross. + +“Pray come in, Mrs. Ross. I am glad to see you,” said the widow. + +“I will come in for five minutes,” said Mrs. Ross, carefully gathering +up her skirts, lest they should be soiled as she entered the humble +cottage. She need not have been alarmed, for there was not a cleaner +house in the village. + +Mrs. Gilbert brought forward the most comfortable chair in her little +sitting-room, and the visitor seated herself. + +“I am come on an unpleasant errand, Mrs. Gilbert,” she commenced, +frigidly. + +“Unpleasant!” repeated the widow, with quick apprehension. “Has +anything happened to my boy—to Harry?” + +Improbable as it seemed that in such an event Mrs. Ross should be the +messenger of ill tidings, it occurred to Mrs. Gilbert that she had come +to inform her of an accident to Harry. + +The visitor’s lips curled. What did it matter, she thought, whether +anything happened to him or not? + +“Something has happened to my boy!” she said, with emphasis. + +“I am very sorry,” said the widow, with quick sympathy. “I hope he is +not hurt.” + +“He might have had his neck broken,” said Mrs. Ross; “and by your son,” +she added, spitefully. + +“They haven’t been fighting, have they?” asked Mrs. Gilbert, nervously. + +“No; but your son deliberately and maliciously, while driving Mr. +Mead’s store wagon, drove into my son’s light buggy, damaged it +seriously, and my poor Philip was thrown out. Your son drove off, +leaving him insensible by the roadside.” + +It will be perceived that Mrs. Ross had somewhat embellished the story, +with the intention of producing a greater effect. + +“Was Philip much hurt?” asked the widow, anxiously. + +“He providentially escaped any serious injury, so far as we know. He +may have suffered some internal injuries.” + +“I am sorry to hear that there has been any difficulty,” said the +widow, regaining her composure when she learned that neither of the two +boys were hurt; “but I cannot accept your account. Harry is quite +incapable of deliberately and maliciously running into Philip.” + +“I regret that you uphold your son in his wickedness,” said Mrs. Ross, +coldly; “but I am not surprised. I told my husband before I set out +that you would probably do so.” + +“Mrs. Ross,” said the widow, in a dignified tone, “I have known my boy +for fifteen years, and watched him carefully, and I tell you positively +that he wouldn’t do what you have charged upon him.” + +“Do you question my statement?” demanded Mrs. Ross, haughtily. + +“Did you witness the encounter?” + +“No; but my son, who is the soul of truth, told me all the +circumstances.” + +“Your son was probably angry with Harry, and could not be depended upon +to give an impartial statement.” + +“Slander him as much as you please,” said the visitor, angrily. “I have +acquainted you with your son’s outrageous conduct, and this is all I +proposed. Of course we shall expect you or your son to pay for the +damage done to the buggy, and he will be fortunate if we do not have +him arrested for assault and battery.” + +Mrs. Gilbert did not look as much terrified as Mrs. Ross expected. + +“I am very poor, as you know,” she replied; “but if Harry is really to +blame for what has happened, I will do all that I can to repair the +injury.” + +“I am glad to see that you are talking more sensibly.” + +“Don’t misunderstand me,” said the widow. “I have not heard Harry’s +statement yet. From what I know of him, I presume that Philip was more +in fault than he. Of course, in that case, I shall not feel called upon +to pay anything.” + +“Of course!” sneered Mrs. Ross; “your son will throw all the blame on +my poor boy. Fortunately, we have laws; and it will be the law that +must decide this matter. It isn’t for you to decide whether you will +pay or not.” + +This was meant as a threat, but Mrs. Gilbert answered, calmly: + +“You won’t need to invoke the law, if you have a just claim.” + +Mrs. Ross rose, for there seemed no more to say. She was considerably +disappointed with the result of her mission. She supposed, as a matter +of course, that the widow would defend her son; but she had not +supposed that she would receive so calmly her threats of having +recourse to the law. + +Indeed, she had expected that the widow would beg and plead for mercy, +and appear panic-stricken. As it was, she felt that she was retiring +from the contest decidedly worsted. She would not leave without one +parting shot. + +“I regret, Mrs. Gilbert,” she said, seriously, “that you defend your +son in this high-handed outrage. I had thought better of you. I knew +you were poor, and I sympathized with you. Now I feel obliged to say +that you will only have yourself to blame for the steps I am about to +take.” + +The widow bowed, but did not gratify Mrs. Ross by inquiring what those +steps were. + +It was very provoking, certainly. + +“I shall call on Mr. Mead, and insist on his discharging your son.” + +Knowing what a serious blow this would be, Mrs. Gilbert did look +troubled for a moment, and her visitor sailed away, with a slight +feeling of satisfaction, in the direction of the grocery store. + +Meanwhile Harry, on his return to the store, had reported the accident, +and submitted to a close cross-examination on the part of the +storekeeper. + +“Do you think I am to blame, Mr. Mead?” asked Harry. + +“No; I don’t see how you could do otherwise than you did. Young Ross is +a disagreeable young puppy; but his family trades with me, and I don’t +like to offend them. Still, I shall not blame you.” + +It will be seen that Mr. Mead was a just man, though a politic one. + +“Thank you, sir,” said Harry, relieved. + +“I am sorry this has occurred.” + +“So am I, sir; but if I hadn’t done as I did I should have been there +now, for Philip was determined not to budge.” + +“Well, we must smooth it over as well as we can. I presume that I shall +have a call from Colonel Ross or his wife. I hope it will be the +colonel, for he won’t be so unreasonable as his lady.” + +It so happened that the first person whom Mrs. Ross saw when she +entered the grocery store was Harry. + +Her eyes flashed with resentment as they fell upon the persecutor of +her poor boy, but she would not waste any words upon him. + +“Where is Mr. Mead?” she asked. + +“I will call him, madam,” answered Harry, politely. + +Mr. Mead came forward, and Mrs. Ross rehearsed her story, in terms +which the reader can imagine for himself. + +“I think you misapprehend the matter, Mrs. Ross,” said the storekeeper, +politely. “Your son maintained his position in the middle of the road +and required Harry to do all the turning out. Of course you are aware +that the law will not sustain any one in this.” + +“Who told you that my son did not turn out?” asked Mrs. Ross, hastily. + +“Harry himself.” + +“And do you credit his story?” demanded Mrs. Ross, with a sneer. + +“I have always found him to be a boy of truth.” + +“I believe he has wilfully deceived you. I believe he ran into my boy +with the intention of injuring him,” said Mrs. Ross, violently. + +Harry was about to speak up, when a young man who was standing by saved +him the trouble. + +“I was there, Mr. Mead, and heard the whole,” he said, “though neither +of the boys saw me. I was in the piece to the left, behind the hedge. +Phil Ross wouldn’t turn out a mite, and Harry had to do as he did. When +Phil was thrown out Harry got down from his team and went to see if he +was hurt.” + +Mrs. Ross listened, pale with anger. + +“I don’t believe a word of it!” she said angrily. “That man is in a +conspiracy with the Gilbert boy against my poor darling. I demand that +you discharge Harry Gilbert from your employment!” + +“I am sorry to disoblige you, Mrs. Ross, but it would be unjust,” said +Mr. Mead. + +“Then we shall buy our groceries elsewhere!” said Mrs. Ross, spitefully +tossing her head. + +“I shall be sorry to lose your custom, but I see no good reason for +discharging Harry.” + +Angrily Mrs. Ross left the store, a second time mortified at her want +of success. + +“I am sorry, Mr. Mead, that you are likely to lose trade on my +account,” said Harry, with sincere regret. + +Mr. Mead smiled. + +“If Mrs. Ross leaves me she will have to go five miles for her +groceries,” he said quietly. “We shall have them back again before +long.” + + + + +CHAPTER IV — HARRY LOSES HIS PLACE, AFTER ALL + + +Mrs. Ross carried out her threat, and transferred her trade to a +grocery in the neighboring village, but not without considerable +inconvenience. + +Her pride compelled her to the course, notwithstanding the extra +trouble she incurred, and this, also, she laid up against Harry. Her +husband was opposed to any change, not being so spiteful as his wife, +but allowed her to have her way. + +Meanwhile Mr. Mead, though he regretted to lose a good customer, did +not show any signs of financial weakness, and there seemed to be no +prospect of his failing. + +Had he done so Mrs. Ross would have been overjoyed, for she was very +angry at all who upheld “that low Gilbert boy,” as she designated him. + +It is said that all things come to him who waits, and circumstances +were shaping themselves in a very gratifying way to Mrs. Ross and her +schemes of revenge. + +One day as Harry was driving the store wagon which bore the name of his +employer he was hailed, about a mile from the store, by a boy about his +own age, who carried in his hand a carpetbag, and appeared to be making +a journey on foot. + +“Hello!” said the traveler. + +“Hello!” returned Harry. + +“Are you working for my uncle?” asked the stranger. + +“I can tell you better when I find out who your uncle is. If you are +the nephew of General Grant, or the czar of Russia, I am not working +for him.” + +“I see you like to joke,” said the stranger. “My uncle is Mr. Mead, the +storekeeper.” + +“That is the name of the man I work for.” + +“Then I guess you had better give me a lift, for I am going to my +uncle’s.” + +“All right! Glad to have your company.” + +“What’s your name?” asked the stranger. + +“Harry Gilbert. What’s yours?” + +“Howard Randall.” + +“Where do you live?” + +“I used to live at Upton, but my father is dead, and mother—she’s Mrs. +Mead’s sister—told me I’d better come to see if Uncle Reuben wouldn’t +give me a place in his store.” + +Instantly it flashed upon Harry that this new boy’s arrival was likely +to endanger his prospects. Mr. Mead, as he knew, had no occasion for +the services of two boys, and he would naturally give his nephew the +preference. He was not unjust enough to take a dislike to Howard in +consequence. Indeed, the new boy had a pleasant face and manner, which +led him to think he would like him for a friend. + +“If I do lose my place,” thought Harry, “I will put my trust in God. I +don’t think He will see me or mother suffer, and I won’t borrow trouble +until it comes.” + +“Were you ever employed in a store?” he asked, pleasantly. + +“No; that is, not regularly. I have been in our grocery store at home +for a few days at a time, when the storekeeper’s son was sick.” + +“You look as if you were about my age.” + +“I am sixteen. My birthday came last month.” + +“Then you are a little older. I am not sixteen yet.” + +“You look stronger than I. I should think you were older.” + +Harry felt flattered. All boys like to be considered strong and large +for their age, and our hero was no exception to the general rule in +this respect. + +“I don’t know about that,” he answered. “I guess we are a pretty good +match. How far off is Upton?” + +“Fifty miles.” + +“You haven’t walked all the way, have you?” inquired Harry, in +surprise. + +“Every step,” said Howard, proudly. “You see, money isn’t very plenty +with us, and I told mother I didn’t mind walking. I got a lift for a +few miles the first day, so I haven’t walked quite all the way.” + +“You and I seem to be situated pretty much the same way,” said Harry. +“I have no father, and we have hard work to get along.” + +“You seem like a tiptop fellow. I think I shall like you.” + +“The same to you,” said Harry, smiling. “I am glad you are coming to +Greenville to live.” + +Harry was sincere enough in his words, so far as his impressions about +the boy went, but when he reflected that through him he was likely to +lose his place he felt a little troubled. + +“Look here!” said Howard, suddenly; “will you lose your place if uncle +takes me into his store?” + +“I don’t think he will need two boys,” replied Harry, soberly. + +“Then I’d better see if I can’t find a place somewhere else. I don’t +want to take away your place, if you are poor and need the money uncle +pays you.” + +“I do need it, but I guess something else will turn up for me. You are +Mr. Mead’s nephew, and ought to have it.” + +“I hope we shall be friends, at any rate,” said Howard, warmly. + +“I am sure we shall, Howard,” returned Harry, cordially, who felt +attracted toward his new friend, in spite of the misfortune which his +arrival would bring to him personally. + +Just then, within a quarter of a mile of the store, Harry saw his young +enemy, Philip Ross, approaching him. + +Philip was driving his buggy, which had been repaired since the +accident. + +“I wonder if he will turn out for me?” thought Harry. + +Philip had learned wisdom from experience, and did turn out for the +store wagon. He knew Harry’s firmness too well to put it to the test a +second time at his own expense. + +“Good-morning, Philip,” said Harry, in his usual manner. + +Philip did not notice Harry’s salutation, but held his head very high, +while his face reddened and his lip curled as he drove by his late +antagonist. + +“Who is that boy?” asked Howard, whose attention was drawn to Philip’s +singular conduct. + +“Philip Ross, son of Colonel Ross, a rich man in town.” + +“Is he deaf?” + +“No.” + +“He didn’t seem to hear you say good-morning.” + +“Oh, yes, he did,” answered Harry, laughing; “but Philip isn’t very +fond of me.” + +“Are you enemies?” + +“We had a little difficulty lately, and Philip hasn’t got over it yet.” + +“Tell me about it.” + +Harry told the story, and Howard fully sustained him in what he had +done. + +“He must be a mean boy.” + +“He thinks he has more rights than common folks, such as he considers +me. He tried—or, at least, his mother did—to have Mr. Mead turn me off, +but your uncle is too just a man to go against me for doing my duty.” + +“I noticed he gave you half the road this time,” said Howard. + +“Yes,” answered Harry, with a smile. “He doesn’t care to have his wheel +taken off again.” + +By this time they had reached the store, and Howard introduced himself +to his uncle. The next day the blow fell. + +“Harry,” said Mr. Mead, “I’ve got bad news for you. My nephew stands in +need of a place, and I can’t afford to keep two boys. I wish I could +keep you, too.” + +“I see how it is, Mr. Mead,” said Harry, calmly, though his heart sank +within him. “Howard has the best right to the place. I trust something +will turn up for me.” + +“I have been perfectly satisfied with you, and am ready to give you the +highest recommendation for honesty and fidelity.” + +“Thank you, Mr. Mead.” + +“You will stay till Saturday night, of course, unless something else +should offer before that.” + +Poor Harry! His heart sank within him as he thought of the serious +difference which the loss of his wages would make at home. The prospect +of another situation was not very good, for Greenville was a small, +quiet place, with very few places of business. + + + + +CHAPTER V — LOOKING FOR WORK + + +Harry shrank from telling his mother that he was about to lose his +place, but he knew it must be done. + +In the evening, when he got home from the store, he seemed so restless +that his mother asked him what was the matter with him. + +“This is my last week at the store, mother,” he answered, soberly. “I +suppose that is what makes me feel nervous.” + +“Has Mr. Mead been induced by Mrs. Ross to turn you away?” asked Mrs. +Gilbert, beginning to feel indignant. + +“No; he isn’t that kind of a man.” + +“Isn’t he satisfied with you?” + +“I ought to have told you at first that a nephew of his own needs the +place, and he can’t afford to employ two boys.” + +“I believe Mrs. Ross is at the bottom of it, after all,” said Mrs. +Gilbert. + +“No, mother; there you are wrong,” and Harry went on to explain that +Howard’s appearance was a surprise to his uncle. + +“What kind of a boy is he?” asked the widow, disposed to dislike in +advance the boy who had been the means of depriving her son of a place. + +“He’s a nice fellow. I like him already. Of course I am sorry to lose +my place, but, if I must, I am willing he should have it. I think we +shall be good friends.” + +“But what are you going to do, Harry?” asked his mother, anxiously. +“Your wages have been our dependence.” + +“I am sure I shall get something else to do, mother,” said Harry, in a +tone of confidence which he did not feel. “Tending store isn’t the only +thing to be done.” + +“I am sure, I hope so,” said Mrs. Gilbert, despondently. + +“Don’t trouble yourself, mother, about the future. Just leave it to me, +and you’ll see if I don’t get something to do.” + +Nevertheless, the widow could not help troubling herself. She knew that +employment was hard to find in the village, at any rate and could not +conjecture where Harry was to find it. She did not, however, say much +on the subject, fearing to depress his spirits. + +Saturday night came, and Harry received his wages. + +“I don’t know where my next week’s wages are coming from, Mr. Mead,” he +said, soberly. + +“You may be sure that I will recommend you for any employment I hear +of, Harry,” said Mr. Mead, earnestly. “I really wish I could afford to +keep you on. You mustn’t allow yourself to be discouraged.” + +“I won’t—if I can help it,” answered Harry. + +The next day was Sunday, and he did not realize that he was out of a +position; but, when Monday morning came, and he could lie abed as long +as he pleased, with no call to work, he felt sad. + +After a light breakfast, he rose from the table and took his hat. + +“Where are you going, Harry?” asked his mother. + +“I am going out in search of a job, mother,” he replied. + +The number of stores was limited, and he was pretty sure in advance +that there was no opening in any one of them, but he wanted to make +sure. + +He applied at one after another, and without success. + +“I’d take you quick enough, Harry,” said Mr. Draper, the dry-goods +dealer, “but I’ve got all the help I need.” + +“So I expected, Mr. Draper, but I thought I would ask.” + +“All right, Harry. If I hear of anything, I will be sure to let you +know,” said Mr. Draper, in a friendly tone. + +All this evidence of friendliness was, of course, pleasant, but the +prospect of a place would have been more welcome, so poor Harry +thought. At ten o’clock he reached home. + +His mother looked up when he entered, but she saw, by the expression of +his face, that he had not succeeded. + +“You must be tired, Harry,” she said. “You had better sit down and +rest.” + +“Oh, no, I’m not tired, mother. If you’ll tell me where the four-quart +kettle is, I’ll go and pick some blueberries.” + +“What will you do with so many, Harry?” + +“Carry them to Mr. Mead. Every two days he sends a supply to market.” + +“How much does he pay?” asked the widow, brightening up at this glimpse +of money to be earned. + +“Eight cents a quart, payable in groceries. It won’t be much, but will +be better than nothing.” + +“So it will, Harry. I don’t know but I can do better going with you +than to stay at home and sew.” + +“No, mother; you would be sure to get a headache, exposed to the sun in +the open pasture. Leave me to pick berries. It is more suitable for +me.” + +“What time will you get home to dinner, Harry?” + +“I shall not come home till the middle of the afternoon. I’ll take a +little lunch with me, and eat in the pasture.” + +So Harry started out, pail in hand, for the berry pasture. It was about +a mile away, and was of large extent, comprising, probably, thirty +acres of land. It was Harry’s first expedition of the kind in the +season, as his time had been so fully occupied at the store that he had +had no leisure for picking berries. + +The berries were not so plentiful as they had been somewhat earlier, +but they were still to be found in considerable quantities. + +Harry was not alone. Probably a dozen other persons were in the +pasture, engaged in the same way as himself. All knew Harry, and some, +who had not heard of his loss of place, were surprised to see him +there. + +“And how is it you are here, Harry?” asked Mrs. Ryan, a good-natured +Irish woman, who was out, with three of her children, reaping a harvest +of berries. “And how can Mr. Mead spare you?” + +“Because he’s got another boy,” answered Harry. + +“Shure it was mane to send you away, and your mother nadin’ your +wages.” + +“He couldn’t help it. He had a nephew that needed the place. But, +perhaps, I can make a fortune, like you, picking berries.” + +“And shure you’d have to live a hundred years to do that, and have +berries ripe all the year round. It’s hard work, Harry, and poor pay.” + +“You have the advantage of me, Mrs. Ryan. You’ve got three children to +help you.” + +“And don’t I have to buy food and clothes for the same? Shure, you’re +welcome to all they earn, if you’ll board and clothe ’em.” + +“I didn’t think of that. Perhaps I am better off as I am.” + +“And so ye are, I’m thinkin’.” + +Harry found that, exert himself as he might, Mrs. Ryan picked nearly as +fast as he did. She was used to it, and her pail filled up rapidly. + +Harry was glad he did not bring a larger pail, for to him, unaccustomed +to bend over, the work was fatiguing, and when, as the town clock +struck two, he saw his pail filled to the brim, he breathed a sigh of +relief. + +“If the pail held more, I shouldn’t feel satisfied to stop,” he said to +himself, “so I’m glad it doesn’t.” + +Mrs. Ryan had two pails and a basket, and each of her children carried +a small pail, so that she remained in the pasture after Harry left. + +It was shorter for Harry to go at once to the store, instead of going +round by his home, and this he resolved to do. + +About twenty rods from the store, rather to his vexation, he met Philip +Ross, elaborately dressed and swinging a light cane. + +Philip, who had not heard of Harry’s loss of place, regarded our hero +with surprise, not unmixed with curiosity. But for his curiosity, he +would have passed him without a word. Curiosity conquered dislike, and +he inquired: + +“Does Mead send you out to pick berries?” + +“No,” answered Harry. + +“Haven’t you been picking berries?” + +“This looks like it, doesn’t it?” + +“Of course. Have you a holiday?” + +“Yes, a long holiday. I am not working for Mr. Mead now.” + +An expression of joy lighted up the face of Philip. + +“Has he discharged you?” he asked. + +“He has taken his nephew in my place.” + +“And so you have to pick berries for a living?” asked Philip, in +exultation. + +“Yes,” answered Harry, coolly. + +“I must go home and tell mother,” said Philip, briskly. “Wait a minute, +though. Do you want a job?” + +“Yes,” responded Harry, rather surprised that Philip should feel any +interest in the matter. + +“Then I can give you one. Come up to the house early every morning, and +I’ll hire you to black my shoes. I’ll give—let me see—thirty cents a +week.” + +“Thank you, but I couldn’t come up to your house. Bring them down to +mine every morning, and I may accept the job.” + +“Do you think I would demean myself by carrying dirty shoes round the +village?” demanded Philip, angrily. + +“I don’t know,” said Harry, coolly. “You’ll have to do it, if you want +me to black them.” + +Philip muttered something about impudence, but went off very well +pleased, to report to his mother that she could trade at Mead’s once +more, as he had sent off Harry Gilbert. + + + + +CHAPTER VI — UNCLE OBED ARRIVES FROM ILLINOIS + + +It seemed odd to Harry to enter Mead’s store, where he had been +employed, merely as a customer. + +Mr. Mead nodded pleasantly. + +“It seems natural to see you here, Harry,” he said. “Have you been +berrying?” + +“Yes, and I would like to sell my berries.” + +“Very well. You know what I pay—eight cents a quart.” + +“I have four quarts.” + +“Measure them out yourself, Harry. I will make an exception in your +case, if you wish it, and give you the money for them.” + +Harry accepted this offer, as he did not know of what groceries his +mother stood in need. + +As he walked out of the store, he felt more confidence than he had done +in the morning. He had not got a place, to be sure, but he had earned +thirty-two cents. This was not quite half what he had been accustomed +to earn at the store, but it was something. + +A little way from the store, Harry passed an old man, dressed neatly, +but in a well-worn suit, walking with some difficulty, with the help of +a stout cane. He looked to be seventy years old, at least, and his +appearance indicated that he was poor. + +As Harry passed, the old man called out: + +“Stop a minute, boy!” + +Harry stopped, and waited respectfully to learn what the old man +wanted. It is a common complaint that most boys are wanting in respect +to old age, but this charge could not be brought against Harry, who was +uniformly courteous to all persons older than himself. + +Though he suspected the old man to be very poor, it made no difference +to him. + +“Can you tell me where Mr. Ross lives?” asked the stranger. + +“Yes, sir. I suppose you mean Colonel Ross?” + +“I believe that’s what they call him. His wife is my niece.” + +Harry was very much surprised to hear this. + +“Have you ever been there before, sir?” asked Harry. + +“No; I’ve been living out in Illinoy. But I’m getting old, and my only +daughter died last month. So I’ve come here to visit my niece.” + +“I don’t believe Mrs. Ross will be very glad to see her uncle,” thought +Harry; “and I’m sure Philip won’t.” + +“I will show you the way, sir, if you wish,” said Harry, politely. + +“I wish you would, if it isn’t too much trouble,” said the old man. + +“Oh, no trouble at all,” said Harry. + +“You seem to be a very obliging boy. What is your name?” + +“Harry Gilbert.” + +“Are your parents living?” + +“My mother is living, but my father’s dead—that is, we expect he is. He +was a sea captain, and never came back from his last voyage.” + +“Did he leave your mother well off?” asked the old man, gazing +attentively at Harry. + +Harry thought him rather inquisitive for a stranger, but credited him +with good motives, and answered, readily: + +“No, sir; we are quite poor; but I have had a place where I earned four +dollars a week—at the grocery store. Mr. Mead had a nephew come last +week, and now I am out of work.” + +“That is unlucky for you.” + +“Yes, sir; but I shall try hard to get something else soon.” + +“You look like an industrious boy.” + +“I like to work.” + +“Where do you live?” + +It so happened that Harry’s house could be pointed out across the +fields, though at least a quarter of a mile away. + +“There it is,” he said, pointing it out; “but, perhaps, you cannot see +so far?” + +“Oh, yes, I can see it.” + +By this time they had reached the gate of Colonel Ross, and Harry felt +that he might safely leave the old man. + +Out on the lawn was Philip Ross, who, with surprise and displeasure, +saw Harry opening the gate for one whom he mentally designated as an +old tramp. + +“What do you want here?” he asked, in a tone far from courteous or +respectful. + +“What is your name?” asked the old man, fixing his glance on the +questioner. + +“My name is Philip Ross, and I am the son of Colonel Ross,” answered +Philip, with an air of consequence. + +“Then I am your great-uncle, Philip,” said the old man, surveying his +young kinsman with an interest inspired by the feeling of relationship. + +“My great-uncle,” repeated Philip, in mingled bewilderment and dismay. + +“Yes, Philip, I’m your mother’s uncle, come all the way from Illinoy to +visit you.” + +Harry was amused to see upon the face of his young antagonist a look of +stupefaction. + +It was a severe blow to Philip, especially in Harry’s presence, to be +claimed as a kinsman by a shabby, old tramp. It was upon his tongue to +express a doubt as to the relationship, but he forbore. + +“Is your mother at home?” asked the old man. + +“You can ring the bell and see,” answered Philip, deliberately turning +his back and walking off. + +The old man looked after him, with a shrewd glance of intelligence, but +expressed no opinion of him. + +“Harry,” he said, turning to his young guide, “will you come with me to +the door and ring the bell?” + +Harry complied with his request. + +The door was opened by a servant, who, on seeing the old man, said, +pertly: + +“We’ve got nothing for the likes of you,” and was about to close the +door on the two. + +“Stop!” said Harry, in a commanding voice, for he was provoked with the +girl’s ill manners. “Tell Mrs. Ross that her uncle is here. I think +you’d better invite him in.” + +“Well, I never!” said the girl, abashed. “I hope you’ll excuse me, sir. +Walk into the parlor, and I’ll tell Mrs. Ross you are here.” + +“Won’t you come in, Harry?” asked the old man, who seemed to have taken +a liking to his young guide. + +“No, thank you, sir. I shall see you again, if you are going to stay in +the village.” + +“Thank you! you’re a good boy,” and the old man began to fumble in his +pocket. + +“Oh, no. I can’t take anything,” said Harry hurriedly. + +Even if the old man had been rich, he would have declined +compensation—much more when he looked very poor. + +“Well, well! I’m much obliged to you, all the same.” + +Leaving Harry to find his way home, let us see what sort of reception +the old man had from his niece. + +Within five minutes Mrs. Ross sailed into the room. + +“Why, Lucinda!” said the old man, heartily; “it’s a long time since I +met you.” + +“I do not remember ever having seen you,” said Mrs. Ross, frigidly. + +“I haven’t seen you since you were a little girl, for I’ve been living +away out in Illinoy. I’m your Uncle Obed—Obed Wilkins—brother of your +mother.” + +“Indeed!” said Mrs. Ross, coldly, eyeing the old man’s shabby attire +with something like disdain. “You must be an old man!” + +“Seventy-two, Lucinda. I was born in October, while your mother was two +years younger than I, and born in August. I didn’t think to outlive +her, seeing she was younger, but I have.” + +“I think it was imprudent in a man of your age coming so far,” said +Mrs. Ross. + +“I was all alone, Lucinda. My daughter died last spring, and I wanted +to be near some one that was akin to me, so I’ve come to see the only +relations I’ve got left on earth.” + +“That’s very cool,” thought Mrs. Ross. “He expects us to support him, I +suppose. He looks as poor as poverty. He ought to have gone to the +poorhouse in his old home.” + +To be sure, she would not like to have had it known that she had an +uncle in the poorhouse; but, so far away as Illinois, it would not have +been known to any of her Eastern friends, and wouldn’t matter so much. + +“I will speak to Colonel Ross about it, Mr. Wilkins,” she said, coldly. +“You can stay to supper, and see him then.” + +“Don’t call me Mr. Wilkins. I’m your Uncle Obed,” said the old man. + +“You may be my uncle, but I am not sufficiently acquainted with you yet +for that,” she answered. “You can come upstairs, if you feel tired, and +lie down till supper time.” + +“Thank you, I will,” said Uncle Obed. + +The offer of Mrs. Ross was dictated not so much by kindness as by the +desire to get her shabby uncle well out of the way, and have a chance +for a private conference with her husband, whom she expected every +minute. + +If the unannounced visit of Uncle Obed may be thought to need an +excuse, it can easily be found. For years, when Mrs. Ross was a girl, +she and her mother were mainly supported by the now despised uncle, +without whom they might have become dependent upon charity. + +It was not a time that Mrs. Ross, in her present luxury, liked to think +about, and for years she had not communicated with the uncle to whom +she owed so much. + +Full of charity himself, he was unconscious of her lack of gratitude, +and supposed that her failure to write was owing to lack of time. He +had come in good faith, when bereft of his daughter, to renew +acquaintance with his niece, never dreaming how unwelcome he would be. +Philip’s rudeness impressed him unpleasantly, but, then, the boy had +never seen him before, and that was some excuse. + + + + +CHAPTER VII — AN UNWELCOME GUEST + + +“I don’t believe that old tramp’s my great-uncle,” said Philip Ross to +himself, but he felt uneasy, nevertheless. + +It hurt his pride to think that he should have such a shabby relation, +and he resolved to ascertain by inquiry from his mother whether there +were any grounds for the old man’s claim. + +He came into the house just after Uncle Obed had been shown upstairs by +the servant, not to the spare room, but to a small, inconvenient +bedroom on the third floor, next to the one occupied by the two +servants. + +“Mother,” asked Philip, “is it really true?” + +“Is what really true?” + +“That that shabby old man is any relation of ours?” + +“I don’t know with certainty,” answered his mother. “He says he is, but +I shouldn’t have known him.” + +“Did you have any uncle in Illinois?” + +“Yes, I believe so,” Mrs. Ross admitted, reluctantly. + +“You always said you were of a high family,” said Philip, +reproachfully. + +Mrs. Ross blushed, for she did not like to admit that her pretensions +to both were baseless. She was not willing to admit it now, even to +Philip. + +“It is true,” she replied, in some embarrassment; “but there’s always a +black sheep in every flock.” + +Poor Obed! To be called a black sheep—a hard-working, steady-going man +as he had been all his life. + +“But my mother’s brother, Obed, strange to say, was always rustic and +uncouth, and so he was sent out to Illinois to be a farmer. We thought +that the best place for him—that he would live and die there; but now, +in the most vexatious manner in the world, he turns up here.” + +“He isn’t going to stay here, is he?” asked Philip, in dismay. + +“No; we must get rid of him some way. I must say it was a very cool +proceeding to come here without an invitation, expecting us to support +him.” + +This was a gratuitous assumption on the part of Mrs. Ross. + +“I suppose he’s very poor. He doesn’t look as if he had a cent. I +presume he is destitute, and expects us to take care of him.” + +“You’d better send him packing, mother.” + +“I suppose we shall have to do something for him,” said Mrs. Ross, in a +tone of disgust. “I shall advise your father to buy a ticket for him, +and send him back to Illinois.” + +“That’ll be the best way, mother. Start him off to-morrow, if you can.” + +“I won’t keep him long, you may be sure of that.” + +By this time Colonel Ross had reached home, and his wife communicated +to him the unwelcome intelligence of Uncle Obed’s arrival, and advised +him as to the course she thought best to pursue. + +“Poor old man!” said the colonel, with more consideration than his wife +or son possessed. “I suppose he felt solitary out there.” + +“That isn’t our lookout,” said Mrs. Ross, impatiently. “It’s right +enough to say poor old man. He looks as poor as poverty. He’ll be +better off in Illinois.” + +“Perhaps you are right, but I wouldn’t like to send him off +empty-handed. I’ll buy his ticket, and give him fifty dollars, so that +he need not suffer.” + +“It seems to me that is too much. Twenty dollars, or ten, would be +liberal.” + +The cold-hearted woman seemed to forget the years during which her +uncle had virtually supported her. + +“No, Lucinda; I shall give him fifty.” + +“You should think of your son, Colonel Ross,” said his wife. “Don’t +impoverish him by your foolish generosity.” + +Colonel Ross shrugged his shoulders. + +“Philip will have all the money that will be good for him,” he said. + +“Very well; as you please. Only get him off as soon as you can. It is +mortifying to me to have such a looking old man here claiming +relationship to me.” + +“He is your uncle, Lucinda, and you must mention the plan to him.” + +“Very well.” + +It was a task which Mrs. Ross did not shrink from, for she had no fear +of hurting the feelings of Uncle Obed, or, rather, she did not care +whether he chose to feel hurt or not. + +Uncle Obed was called down to supper, and took his seat at the handsome +tea table, with its silver service. Colonel Ross, to his credit be it +said, received his wife’s uncle much more cordially than his own niece +had done, and caused Uncle Obed’s face to beam with pleasure. + +“Railly, Lucinda,” said Uncle Obed, as he looked over the table, “you +have a very comfortable home, I declare.” + +“Yes, we try to have things comfortable around us,” answered Mrs. Ross, +coldly. + +“Years ago, when you and your mother lived out in Illinoy, I didn’t +think you’d come to live in a house like this.” + +“Yes, people live in an outlandish way out there,” said Mrs. Ross. + +“But they have happy homes. When Mary lived, I enjoyed life, though the +old farmhouse seemed rough and plain, compared with your handsome home. +I’m glad to see my sister’s child living so well, with all the comforts +that money can buy.” + +The old man’s tone was hearty, and there was a smile of genuine +pleasure on his rugged face. He was forced to admit that his niece was +not as cordial as he hoped, but, then, “Lucinda was always reserved and +quiet-like,” he said to himself, and so excused her. + +It must be said for Colonel Ross that he knew comparatively little +about his wife’s early life, and didn’t dream of the large obligations +she was under to Uncle Obed. He was a rich man, and the consciousness +of wealth led him to assume airs of importance, but he was not as cold +or heartless as his wife, and would have insisted on his wife’s +treating her uncle better had he known the past. Even as it was, he was +much more gracious and affable than Mrs. Ross to the old man, whom he +had never seen before. + +As for Philip, he was a second edition of his mother, and never +addressed a word to Uncle Obed. When the latter spoke to him, he +answered in monosyllables. + +“Nancy, you may leave the room. I’ll call you if I want you.” + +This was what Mrs. Ross said to the servant, fearing that Uncle Obed +might refer to her early poverty, and that the girl might talk about it +in the neighborhood. + +Though Colonel Ross made conversation easy for him, Uncle Obed could +not help feeling the coldness of his niece. + +“Lucindy might treat me better,” he thought, “after what I did for her +in her early days. But I see how it is; she’s ashamed of them, and I +won’t say anything to make her feel bad. I see I must look elsewhere +for a home. Lucindy don’t want me here, and I shouldn’t feel at home +myself. I wish Philip was more like that Harry Gilbert, who showed me +the way here.” + +Supper was over, and Philip took up his hat to go out. + +“Philip,” said his father, “you forget that your uncle is here. You +should stay to keep him company.” + +“I’ve got an engagement,” said Philip, alarmed at the suggestion. + +“Can’t you put it off?” + +“Let the boy keep his engagement,” said Uncle Obed. “I like to see +young people particular about keeping their appointments.” + +“Your uncle may like to walk out with you, and see something of the +village.” + +Philip looked dismayed at the prospect of being seen in the company of +the rather shabby old man, who claimed to be his great-uncle. + +“No, no,” said Uncle Obed. “I can find the way round by myself. A man +that’s used to the Western prairies doesn’t get lost easily.” + +Philip breathed a sigh of relief. For the first time he began to think +that Uncle Obed had some sensible ideas. + +Uncle Obed took his hat and cane, and walked out slowly, making his way +along the principal street. + +“I wish I could see that boy Harry Gilbert,” he thought to himself—for +a new plan had occurred to him. “Why, bless me, there he is now,” he +said, as our hero turned the next corner. + +“Good-evening, sir,” said Harry, cheerfully. + +“Good-evening, Harry. You’re just the one I was wanting to see. I’ve +got something to say to you.” + +What Uncle Obed had to say was of importance, but must be deferred to +the next chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII — UNCLE OBED MAKES A PROPOSAL + + +Harry waited to hear what the old man had to say. + +“How do you and my grandnephew hitch horses?” asked Uncle Obed. + +“You mean how do we get along together?” asked Harry. + +“Yes.” + +“Well, we are not bosom friends. Philip thinks I am a poor, working +boy, and looks down on me accordingly.” + +“It don’t do you a mite of harm to work. I had to work when I was a +boy, and I’ve done my share of work since I got to be a man.” + +“I like to work,” said Harry. “I only wish I had the chance.” + +“So there is no love lost between you and Philip?” + +“No; he doesn’t suit me any better than I suit him. He’s got too high +notions for me.” + +“He’s like his mother,” said Uncle Obed. “I reckon she and Philip ain’t +very glad to see me. It’s different with the colonel. He’s a nice man, +but he seems to be under his wife’s thumb.” + +Harry did not reply. It was only what he expected, from what he knew of +Mrs. Ross and her son. + +“I hope it won’t be unpleasant for you,” said he, in a tone of +sympathy. + +“It’s a kind of disappointment,” the old man admitted. “I was hoping +Lucindy would be like her mother, and I could have a home with my own +folks the rest of my life.” + +“Poor man,” thought Harry. “He’s old and destitute, and it must be a +trial for him to find himself so coldly received.” + +“I wish,” he said, impulsively, “we were richer.” + +“Why?” asked Uncle Obed. + +“Because we’d offer you a home. But, unfortunately,” continued Harry, +with a sigh, “we don’t know how we are to pay our own expenses.” + +The old man looked gratified. + +“I wish you were my nephew, instead of Philip,” he said. “You’ve got a +good mother, I take it.” + +“She’s one of the best mothers in the world,” said Harry, earnestly. + +“I might have known it. Such boys as you always have good mothers. +Supposing I was able to pay my share of the expenses, do you think your +mother would give me a home?” + +“I am sure she would,” said Harry, who could not help feeling interest +in the homely, but good-hearted, old man. “But I thought——” here he +hesitated. + +“You thought I was destitute, didn’t you?” asked Uncle Obed, with a +smile. + +“Yes, sir.” + +“I’m thankful to Providence that I’m not. I’ve got enough to pay my way +for the few years that remain to me. My niece might treat me different +if she knew it, but I’d rather she’d think I was in need.” + +“Shall I speak to my mother about your coming?” asked Harry. + +“Yes; but I won’t come just yet. I want to see how Lucindy’ll act. She +wants to get rid of me, and she’ll be saying something soon. Like as +not, she’ll offer to pay my fare back to Illinoy,” and the shrewd old +man, who had hit the truth, laughed. + +“Very well, sir, I’ll speak to mother. We’ve got a nice room that we’ve +kept for a spare chamber, where I’m sure you’d be comfortable.” + +“I don’t much care now what Lucindy says or does,” said the old man, +cheerfully. “If Philip won’t have me for a great-uncle, I’ll have to +adopt you in his place, and I guess I’ll make a good exchange.” + +“Thank you, sir. I shall try to treat you as a nephew ought. +Good-evening.” + +“That’s a good boy,” said Uncle Obed to himself. “I wish he was my +nephew. Somehow, that stuck-up Philip, with his high-and-mighty airs, +doesn’t seem at all kin to me.” + +Harry went home in excellent spirits. It would be of advantage to them +to have a boarder, as it would give them a steady, even if small, +income. + +“I wonder what he’ll be able to pay?” he said to himself. “If he pays +as much as I used to get—four dollars a week—it’ll make us all right, +for I’m sure of earning as much as two dollars a week, even if I don’t +get a place.” + +His mother brightened up, too, when Harry told her of the prospect that +opened up of making up for his lost wages. It was a timely help, and +both mother and son regarded it as such. + + + + +CHAPTER IX — NOTICE TO QUIT + + +“Strike while the iron’s hot!” This was the motto of Mrs. Ross, +especially in a matter of this kind. She was firmly resolved to get rid +of Uncle Obed as soon as she could. + +She had always claimed to be of high family, and to have been brought +up in the same style in which she was now living, and here was a +witness who could disprove all she had said. + +No one knew better than Uncle Obed that she had been very poor in her +early days, for it was he who, out of his small means, had contributed +to support her mother and herself. Any day he might refer to those +years of poverty; and Mrs. Ross felt that she should expire of +mortification if her servants should hear of them. Farewell, then, to +her aristocratic claims, for she knew well enough that they would be +ready enough to spread the report, which would soon reach the ears of +all her acquaintances. By way of precaution she took an opportunity of +presenting her version of the story to Nancy, who waited on the table. + +“Mr. Wilkins is rather a strange old man, Nancy,” she said, affably, as +Nancy was clearing off the breakfast table the next morning. + +“Is he really your uncle, mum?” asked Nancy. + +Mrs. Ross wished she could deny it, but felt that she would be found +out in falsehood. + +“Yes, Nancy, I confess that he is. There is a black sheep in every +family, and poor Uncle Obed was the black sheep in ours.” + +“You don’t say so, mum! He seems harmless enough.” + +“Oh, yes. There’s no harm in him; but he’s so rustic. Poor grandpa +tried to polish him by sending him to expensive schools, but it was no +use. He took no interest in books, and wouldn’t go to college”—Uncle +Obed would have opened his eyes if he had heard this—“and so grandpa +bought him a farm, and set him up in business as a farmer. He was +rather shiftless, and preferred the company of his farm laborers to +going into the fashionable society the rest of the family moved in; and +so all his life he has been nothing but a rough, unrefined farmer.” + +“What a pity, mum.” + +“Yes, it is a pity, but I suppose it was in him. Of course, it is very +mortifying to me to have him come here—so different as he is from the +rest of us. I am sure you can understand that, Nancy.” + +“Oh, yes, mum.” + +“He won’t feel at home among us, and I think I shall ask Colonel Ross +to pay his fare back to Illinois, and give him a pension, if he really +needs it. I dare say he has lost his farm, and is destitute, for he +never knew how to take care of money.” + +“That would be very kind of you and the colonel, mum,” said Nancy, who +didn’t believe half her mistress was saying, but thought it might be +for her interest to pretend she did. + +“By the way, Nancy, I think I shall not need any more the mantilla you +like so well. You can have it, if you like.” + +“Oh, thank you, mum,” exclaimed Nancy, in surprise. + +For she had never before received a present from her mistress, who was +well known to be mean and penurious. + +The mantilla was a handsome one, and she thanked Mrs. Ross effusively. + +“There, I’ve managed her,” thought Mrs. Ross, “though at the expense of +the valuable mantilla. I grudge it to her, but it is best to guard her +against any of Uncle Obed’s stories, at any cost. I must get rid of him +as soon as I can.” + +Colonel Ross wished his wife to postpone speaking for a week, but this +she was unwilling to promise. She agreed to let her uncle stay a week, +but insisted on giving him notice to quit sooner. + +On the morning of the third day she found her opportunity. Breakfast +was over, and she left alone with the old man. + +“Mr. Wilkins,” she said, “I want to have a talk with you.” + +“Certainly, Lucindy, you can talk just as much as you please. But what +makes you call me Mr. Wilkins? When you were a little girl, and came +over with a message from your mother, it was always Uncle Obed.” + +“It is so long since I have seen you that I hardly feel like speaking +so familiarly,” said Mrs. Ross. + +“You’ll feel better acquainted after a while, Lucindy.” + +“That shows he expects to stay a long time,” thought Mrs. Ross. + +“Don’t you think you made a mistake in leaving Illinois?” asked Mrs. +Ross, point-blank. + +“Well, perhaps I did,” admitted Uncle Obed. + +“Of course you did. You are too old to come to a new place where you +don’t know anybody. Now, out there you knew——” + +“Pretty nigh everybody.” + +“Exactly.” + +“But out there I hadn’t any relations left. After my poor Mary died I +felt lonesome.” + +“Still, as you hadn’t seen us for so many years, we are almost the same +as strangers.” + +“I can’t forget, Lucindy, how you and your poor mother struggled along, +and how I tried to help——” + +“We won’t recall those old times,” said Mrs. Ross, impatiently. “I was +going to say you wouldn’t be happy here. We don’t live as you were +accustomed to do; and, in fact, it would be inconvenient for us to have +a new inmate. My health is delicate, and——” + +“You look pretty rugged, Lucindy.” + +“Appearances are deceitful,” said Mrs. Ross, nodding her head solemnly. +“I am very nervous and all excitement is bad for me.” + +“I hope I haven’t excited you, Lucindy,” said Uncle Obed. “I thought I +was pretty quiet. As to the work, you’ve got two girls to help in the +kitchen.” + +“Yes; but there’s a certain amount of care that falls upon me which you +can’t understand.” + +“I hope you won’t alter your living for me, Lucindy. I’m one of your +own folks, and I don’t mind a picked-up dinner now and then.” + +“The ridiculous old man,” thought Mrs. Ross, impatiently. “As if I’d +alter my style of living for a destitute old man that looks as if he’d +just escaped from an almshouse.” + +“We always live the same, company or no company,” she said, coldly. + +“If we don’t change for fashionable visitors from New York and +Philadelphia, it is hardly likely would for you.” + +“I’m glad I don’t give you any trouble.” + +“But,” continued Mrs. Ross, “it is worrying to my nerves to have +company.” + +“Then I shouldn’t think you’d invite those fashionable people from New +York and Philadelphia,” said Obed, slyly. + +“Plague take him!” thought Mrs. Ross; “won’t he take a hint? I shall +have to speak more plainly. Indeed,” said she, “I was surprised you +should come in upon us without writing, or inquiring whether it would +be convenient for us to receive you.” + +“I begin to understand,” said Uncle Obed. “I ain’t welcome here.” + +“Well, you can stay a few days, if you desire it,” said Mrs. Ross, “but +you will be much happier in your old home than here.” + +“I ought to be the best judge of that, Lucindy,” said the old man, with +dignity. + +“Perhaps not. People can’t always judge best for themselves.” + +“Perhaps not; but I am going to try the experience of staying here a +while.” + +“I have already told you that it will not be convenient for you to stay +here. Colonel Ross will pay your fare back to Illinois, and that, I am +sure, is quite as much as he ought to do.” + +“Lucindy,” said Uncle Obed, “you seem to have forgotten the years I +freely helped you and your poor mother. However, if you don’t care to +remember them, I won’t refer to them.” + +Mrs. Ross had the grace to be ashamed, but was not moved in her +resolution to get rid of her uncle. + +“Of course,” she said, “I don’t forget the past. We will help pay your +board in some town at a distance.” + +“Why at a distance?” + +“Because, if you were here, people might think it strange you didn’t +stay with us, and my health won’t admit that.” + +“I’m much obliged for your offer, Lucindy, but I prefer to make my own +arrangements. I am going to stay here.” + +“Then we shall not assist you,” said Mrs. Ross, angrily. + +“I don’t wish you to. I can manage to pay my board, and I have already +selected a boarding place.” + +“Where do you expect to board?” asked Mrs. Ross, curiously. + +“I’ll tell you when it’s settled.” + +The next day Uncle Obed informed his niece that he was to board with +Mrs. Gilbert. This was unwelcome news, because it would be a help to a +family she disliked; but Uncle Obed was proof against any insinuations +she was able to bring against Harry and his mother, and the day after +he transferred himself to the clean and airy chamber in Mrs. Gilbert’s +cottage. + +“This will just suit me,” said the old man, looking about him with a +pleased expression. “I like this room much better than the one my niece +gave me.” + +“Our house won’t compare with hers, Mr. Wilkins,” said the widow. + +“It ain’t so fine, but she put me in a little seven-by-nine chamber, +and I was always used to plenty of room.” + +“I am afraid our living will be too plain for you,” suggested Mrs. +Gilbert, apprehensively. + +“Do I look as if I was used to high living?” asked Uncle Obed. “No; +whatever’s good enough for you and Harry is good enough for me. And now +it’s best to agree about terms, so that we may know just how we stand.” + +This was rather embarrassing to the widow. Uncle Obed certainly did not +look as if he could pay much, yet it would not do to charge too little. +She would not be able to provide her table. + +“Would four dollars suit you?” she asked, in a hesitating way. + +“No, it wouldn’t,” said the old man. + +“I don’t see how I can afford to ask less,” faltered Mrs. Gilbert. + +“That isn’t the point,” he said. “You don’t ask enough. I will pay you +six dollars a week—the first week in advance.” + +“I should never think of asking so much,” said Mrs. Gilbert, amazed. +“Are you sure——” + +“That I can afford to pay so much?” asked Uncle Obed, who understood +her thought. “Yes; I have a little something, though you might not +think it from my clothes. When my trunk comes—I left it at a hotel in +New York—I will dress a little better; but I wanted to try an +experiment with my niece, Mrs. Ross. Here’s the money for the first +week.” + +And, drawing out a large wallet, he took therefrom two bills—a five and +a one. + +“It will make me feel very easy,” said Mrs. Gilbert, gratefully, “even +if Harry doesn’t get any regular work, though I hope he will.” + +“I should like to warn you of one thing,” said Uncle Obed. “Don’t let +people know how much board I pay. If Mrs. Ross chooses to think I am +very poor, let her. She won’t pester me with hypocritical attentions, +which I shouldn’t value.” + +Harry was delighted at his mother’s good fortune in obtaining so +valuable a boarder. Six dollars a week would go a long way in their +little household. + +It gave him fresh courage in his efforts to obtain a place, for he knew +that, even if it was deferred, his mother would not suffer from the +delay. + + + + +CHAPTER X — PHILIP MEETS HIS MATCH + + +Though it would have been possible for the Gilberts to get along now +without help from Harry’s earnings, his desire to obtain employment was +quite as great as before. + +As he had no place in view, he continued to go to the berry field every +day, supplying his mother with what she needed, and disposing of the +rest to Mr. Mead. + +The field in which he had at first picked being nearly exhausted, he +bent his steps in another direction, where he learned that there was +still a good supply. The field belonged to a Mr. Hammond, a substantial +farmer, who had no objections to the berries being picked, but required +parties to obtain his permission. + +As Mr. Hammond was understood to be very well to do, Mrs. Ross and her +son condescended to associate with him and his family on equal terms. + +On the particular morning when Harry sought the field, Philip was +crossing the pasture on his way to a river, where he kept a rowboat, +when he espied two children, Tommy and Rose Perkins, picking berries. + +They were children of eight and ten, and it occurred to Philip that he +had a fine chance to bully them, in the name of Mr. Hammond. + +Striding up to them, with an air of authority, he said: + +“Look here, you children, what business have you in this field?” + +“It isn’t yours, is it?” asked Tommy, independently. + +“It belongs to my friend, Mr. Hammond,” said Philip. “He don’t allow +all the loafers in town here.” + +“Tommy and I are not loafers,” said Rose. + +“All the same, you are trespassing on Mr. Hammond’s pasture. Come, +clear out.” + +“Mr. Hammond gave us leave to come here, and I don’t see what business +it is of yours,” said Tommy. + +“I don’t believe he gave you permission at all, and I’ll let you know +what business it is of mine, you little rascal,” said Philip, in a +bullying tone. + +Luckily for Tommy and Rose, there was a friend near at hand, who was +not disposed to see them abused. Harry Gilbert had reached the bars +between the berry pasture and the next field in time to hear Philip’s +attempt to bully the young brother and sister. + +“Just like Philip,” he thought, with a feeling of disgust. “He is +always trying to bully those younger than himself, especially if they +are poor.” + +Tommy and Rose were the children of a widow, no better off than Mrs. +Gilbert, and Harry felt a greater sympathy for them on that account. + +Meanwhile, Philip, not aware that there was help at hand, continued his +persecutions. + +“Well, are you going to clear out?” he demanded, in a threatening tone. + +“No,” said Tommy. “Mr. Hammond said we might pick berries here, and you +have no right to touch us.” + +“I’ll show you whether I have or not,” said Philip, in his most +dominating tone. + +He drew back his foot, and deliberately kicked over the children’s +pails, one after the other. Probably there was not more than a pint in +either pail, as the children had just commenced picking, but it was +certainly aggravating. + +Rose began to cry, while Tommy, his face turning red, said: + +“I wish I was big enough; I’d make you sorry for what you have done.” + +“I see I shall have to give you a lesson,” said Philip. “I’ll teach you +to be impudent to me.” + +He advanced toward Tommy in a threatening manner, and Harry thought it +time to interfere. + +“Don’t touch that boy, you contemptible bully!” he exclaimed, +indignantly, hurrying to the scene of conflict. + +“Oh, Harry, make him stop,” exclaimed Tommy, in joyful tones. + +“I will,” said Harry, resolutely. + +Philip Ross was very much annoyed by the unexpected arrival of Harry, +whom he had never been able to intimidate, and would gladly have slunk +away if pride had not hindered. + +“You’d better take care what you say,” he rejoined, in a surly tone. + +“And you had better take care what you do,” returned Harry, manfully. +“Why have you been interfering with these poor children?” + +“I am not responsible to you for what I do,” said Philip, angrily. +“They are trespassing on this field, and I ordered them off.” + +“By what right? You don’t own it.” + +“My friend, Mr. Hammond, does.” + +Here Tommy explained that Mr. Hammond had given them permission to pick +berries. + +“I don’t believe it,” said Philip, “and I’ve no doubt you are +trespassing, too.” + +“Perhaps you’d like to serve me the same way,” suggested Harry. + +“I’ll leave Mr. Hammond to kick you out himself.” + +“That is more prudent. Stop! where are you going?” for Philip was +starting to leave them. + +“I don’t like the company I’m in. I’m going to leave you to enjoy each +other’s society.” + +“Not yet,” said Harry. + +“Can’t you spare me?” sneered Philip. + +“Not till you have picked up the berries you have upset.” + +“Do you mean to insult me?” demanded Philip, angrily. + +“No; I am only demanding what is reasonable and right. You upset the +berries, and it is only fair you should pick them up.” + +“Pick them up yourself!” said Philip. + +Again he started away, but Harry planted himself resolutely in his +path. + +“You must pick up those berries or fight me,” he said. + +“Keep away from me, you beggar!” screamed Philip. + +“Once more, will you pick up those berries?” + +“No, I won’t!” + +Harry’s only answer was to seize Philip round the middle, and, despite +his struggles, to lay him down on the ground. + +“You’ll suffer for this!” said Philip, almost screaming with rage. + +“You can go now,” said Harry, contemptuously, “and take care how you +interfere with Tommy and Rose again.” + +Philip rose from the ground, angry and humiliated, yet not daring to +attack Harry, whom he knew to be his superior in strength. + +“You haven’t heard the last of this,” he said, shaking his fist. + +Harry deigned no reply, and Philip, instead of keeping on his way to +the river, turned and walked homeward. + +Harry helped the children pick up their berries, and remained with them +through the forenoon. + + + + +CHAPTER XI — THE TWO CONSPIRATORS + + +Philip thirsted for revenge upon Harry, but it did not seem very clear +in what way it was to be obtained. The trouble was that Harry was +always in the right in all the difficulties they had had, and was +likely to have popular sympathy on his side. + +As Philip walked home, fuming with anger, it occurred to him to make a +formal complaint against Harry before a justice of the peace. But the +examination which would ensue would disclose his unjustifiable conduct +in the berry field, and he reluctantly abandoned the idea. + +While in this state of mind he met a recent acquaintance, some three +years older than himself, named James Congreve. + +Congreve was boarding at the village hotel, with apparently no business +on hand more pressing than smoking, fishing and lounging about the +village. + +He came from the city of Brooklyn, and had been sent to this quiet +village to remove him from the temptations of the city. + +He had been in several business positions, but had given satisfaction +in none, and, so far as usefulness was concerned, was perhaps as well +off here as anywhere else. + +As James Congreve wore good clothes, and had a showy gold watch and +chain, which indicated worldly prosperity, Philip was glad to make his +acquaintance, for Congreve taught him to smoke and play cards for +money. + +So when the two met James Congreve asked, languidly: + +“What are you up to, Philip?” + +“Not much,” answered Philip, suddenly. + +“You look out of sorts.” + +“Oh, I’ve just had a fight with a boy in the berry pasture.” + +“I hope you didn’t hurt him much,” said Congreve, smiling. + +“No; but I’d like to,” replied Philip, spitefully. + +“Who is the villain?” + +“Harry Gilbert, a low, impudent upstart.” + +“Yes, I know; used to be in the grocery store, didn’t he?” + +“Yes.” + +“What’s he done now?” + +“Oh, it’s too long a story to tell. He was impudent to me, that’s all. +I would like to annoy him in some way.” + +“Get him into a scrape, eh?” + +“Yes.” + +“Perhaps we can think of some way. If you haven’t anything better to +do, come up to my room and play cards.” + +“I don’t mind.” + +Soon afterward the two were sitting at a small table in Congreve’s +bedroom at the hotel, playing poker. + +This is essentially a gambling game, and for that reason it was a +special favorite with James Congreve. He was much more than a match for +Philip, whom he had initiated into the mysteries of the game. + +“How much do I owe you, Congreve?” asked Philip, as they sat down to +their unprofitable employment. + +“I don’t know, exactly; I’ve got an account somewhere,” answered +Congreve, carelessly. + +“It must be as much as ten dollars,” said Philip, rather uneasily. +“Somehow, you always have more luck at the cards than I do.” + +“Luck will change in time. Besides, I am in no hurry for the money.” + +“I only wish an allowance of two dollars a week. Father will only give +me half of it, and mother makes up the rest. So it would take five +weeks to pay you, and leave me without a cent to spend.” + +“Probably you won’t have to pay it at all. You may win it all back +to-day.” + +Thus encouraged, Philip began to play, but was as unlucky as usual. He +rose from the table owing Congreve five dollars more than when he sat +down. “Just my luck!” ejaculated Philip, with a long face. “Just look +up the account and let me know what it all amounts to.” + +Congreve made a little calculation, and announced, in apparent +surprise, that Philip owed him twenty-two dollars. + +“It can’t be!” ejaculated Philip, in dismay. + +“There’s no doubt about it,” said Congreve. “However, don’t trouble +yourself about it. I can wait. And now for your affair with this +Gilbert boy. I’ve got an idea that I may prove serviceable to you.” + +During the next fifteen minutes a wicked plot was devised, of which it +was intended that Harry should be the victim. The particulars must be +reserved for the next chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER XII — AN UNEXPECTED INVITATION + + +“Come here, will you!” + +Harry Gilbert turned around, for the call was evidently addressed to +him, and saw, standing on the piazza of the hotel, James Congreve. + +“Come here a moment. I want to speak to you,” said Congreve, taking +from his mouth the cigar he was smoking. + +Harry was surprised. He had scarcely any acquaintance with Congreve, +whom he knew chiefly as a companion of Philip Ross. Hitherto he had +taken no notice of Harry—a circumstance not regretted by our hero, who +had not formed a favorable opinion of the young man. + +“Do you wish to speak to me?” he asked, politely. + +“Yes,” said James, blandly. “May I offer you a cigar?” + +“Thank you, I don’t smoke,” returned Harry, with increased surprise at +Congreve’s friendly tone. + +“It’s a bad habit; I dare say you are right,” said Congreve gladly. “I +mean to break off soon. But what I wanted to ask you was: Do you know +your way about the Pegan Hill Woods?” + +“Yes; I’ve been there often.” + +“Then you are just the companion I want. I am thinking of exploring +them with my gun. I suppose I am likely to find some birds?” + +“Oh, yes; it’s a good place for a sportsman.” + +“Suppose you come with me. We can have a pleasant afternoon.” + +Harry hesitated. He did not wish to be disobliging, nor did he wish to +sacrifice the afternoon. As he did not specially fancy Congreve, he did +not expect any pleasure from his company, though the young man seemed +disposed to be cordial. This Harry explained to himself by Congreve’s +desire to secure his services as a guide, and, therefore, did not feel +much flattered. + +James Congreve noticed and understood his hesitation. + +“Of course,” he said, “I do not wish to take up your time without +compensation. I will pay you fifty cents for your services.” + +This put a different face on the matter. Fifty cents was very good pay +for an afternoon’s work, and Harry at once decided that he could not +let slip so good an opportunity. + +“If you think my company will be worth that to you,” he said, “I am +quite willing. How long do you want to stay?” + +“I intend to return in time for supper.” + +“Then it won’t be necessary to go home and tell my mother where I am +going.” + +“Oh, dear, no! You will be back before she has time to miss you.” + +“When do you want to go?” + +“At once. I will go in and get my gun and be with you in a moment.” + +“Unexpected things seem to happen to me pretty often,” thought Harry. +“I never expected we should have an uncle of Mrs. Ross as a boarder, +and here is Philip’s intimate friend hiring me as a guide. Somehow, my +destiny seems to be closely connected with Philip’s, though we are +about as far from being friends as any two boys can be.” + +“Is any one going with you?” asked Harry when Congreve came out of the +hotel with his gun. + +“No one except you.” + +“I don’t know where Philip is this afternoon,” said Congreve +carelessly. + +Harry rather wondered whether Philip and his companion had had a +quarrel. It would not have surprised him very much, for Philip was +quite in the habit of quarreling with his associates. + +“How far is it to the edge of the woods?” asked Congreve. + +“About a mile and a half.” + +“Quite a good distance. However, it’s early, and we shall have time +enough.” + +Part of their course lay through the fields and meadows. + +As they neared the woods, suddenly Congreve said, in a tone of +well-counterfeited surprise: + +“Why, there is Philip Ross sitting on a rock! I wonder what brought him +here? Hello, Philip!” + + + + +CHAPTER XIII — THREE YOUNG SPORTSMEN + + +Philip turned and surveyed the newcomers in apparent surprise. + +“Are you out gunning?” he asked. + +“Yes. I have secured a guide, as you see, fearing I might get lost in +the woods. I believe you know him?” + +“I have that honor,” said Philip, superciliously. + +This was so much in Philip’s ordinary style that Harry did not dream +there was any collusion between them, and that Philip was here by +appointment. + +“You haven’t explained how you happen to be here,” said Congreve. + +“I? Oh, I had a little headache, and I thought I would take a walk in +the fresh air.” + +“Won’t you join us?” asked Congreve. + +“I don’t know,” said Philip, irresolutely. + +Harry, supposing his indecision might spring from a dislike to his +presence, here spoke up: + +“Perhaps you won’t want me any longer, as you have met Philip.” + +“Oh, yes I do. He may not care to stay with me all the afternoon, as he +has a headache.” + +“Probably I shan’t be with you more than half an hour,” said Philip. +“I’ll walk a little way into the wood.” + +“Come along, then.” + +So the three passed into the woods together, Congreve in the middle, +with Philip on one side and Harry on the other. + +Philip and Congreve engaged in conversation, the latter apparently +forgetting that he had a gun on his shoulder. Harry, however, +remembered that he was guide to a sportsman, and kept on the lookout +for birds. + +“Hush! There’s a partridge,” he said, touching Congreve’s arm and +pointing to the bird. + +James Congreve quickly brought his gun to rest and fired. He had very +little skill, however, and the startled bird flew away, in less danger +than if the gun had been in the hands of Harry. + +“I didn’t have time to take aim,” said Congreve, apologetically. “Can +you shoot?” + +“A little,” answered Harry, modestly. + +“If I had had the gun the bird wouldn’t have got away,” said Philip, +boastfully. + +“Take it, then,” said Congreve. + +“All right!” + +So Philip took the gun and began to look out for birds. + +He soon had an opportunity to show his skill. A bird was seen flying +slowly through the air. + +“There’s your chance, Phil!” said Congreve, quickly. + +Philip raised the gun awkwardly, and it went off in quite a different +direction from the one contemplated. But, as luck would have it, a +foolish crow got in the way just at the critical moment, and received +the charge meant for another object. + +“There; do you see that?” exclaimed Philip, triumphantly. + +“You don’t mean to say you intended to shoot that crow?” asked +Congreve. + +“Of course I did!” answered Philip shortly, determined to get the +credit of his success. + +Harry could not help smiling. “What are you laughing at?” demanded +Philip, scowling. + +“At the mistake I made,” answered Harry, good-humoredly. “I thought you +were firing at the partridge.” + +“You see you were mistaken,” said Philip, offensively. + +“I see I was,” returned Harry, quietly. + +He thought it was foolish to get angry about such a trifle. + +“Go and get the crow,” said Philip, arrogantly. + +It had fallen among some underbrush not far away. + +“Shall I?” asked Harry, turning to Congreve, whom he recognized as his +employer, and the only one entitled to order him about. + +“What do you want it for, Philip?” asked Congreve. “It’s only a +crow—good for nothing.” + +“Never mind; I want it,” answered Philip. + +In truth, it was the first bird he had ever succeeded in shooting, +though he would not have been willing to acknowledge this, and he +wanted to display it at home as a trophy of his skill. + +“Then you may get it,” said Congreve, who, in spite of his dishonorable +character, was, in manners, more of a gentleman than Philip. + +Harry at once plunged into the thicket, and not without difficulty +succeeded in finding the crow, which he brought out and delivered to +Philip. The latter only consented to carry it on account of the pride +he felt in his success as a sportsman. + +“Here, take this gun, Gilbert, and try your luck next,” said Congreve. + +“I suppose he will eclipse us all,” Philip remarked, with a sneer. + +“I don’t know about that,” returned Harry, good-naturedly. “I haven’t +been out many times, not having any gun of my own.” + +“Look out that you don’t shoot either of us,” said Philip. + +“I am not after such game as that,” said Harry. + +He took the gun, and began to look attentively in different directions, +lest any chance should escape him. At length he espied a partridge. He +raised his gun quickly, took instant but accurate aim, and fired. The +bird was seen to flutter an instant and then fall. + +“You’ve got him!” exclaimed Congreve, excitedly. + +Harry ran in the direction of the bird’s fall, and returned, flushed +with success. Philip’s envy was aroused, inasmuch as a partridge was a +more valuable prize than a crow. + +“You were lucky,” he said, with his usual sneer. “It was fortunate for +you that the bird got in the way.” + +“Rather unfortunate for the partridge, though!” said Harry, coolly. + +“It wouldn’t happen once in fifty times,” continued Philip. + +“This isn’t the first partridge I’ve shot,” answered Harry, quietly. + +“Oh, I don’t doubt you’re a first-class gunner.” + +“I have great doubts on that subject myself,” said Harry. + +“You’ve both of you succeeded, while I shall have to go home +empty-handed,” said Congreve, who had no particular ambition to shine +as a sportsman. + +“You’ll have a chance soon to try again,” said Harry. + +By this time they had penetrated a considerable distance into the wood, +and Philip grew impatient to carry out the plan which, from the first, +they had had in view. + +“Isn’t it about time?” he asked, significantly. + +“Just as you say,” replied Congreve, indifferently. + +As he spoke he drew from his pocket a ball of strong cord, and both +boys—if Congreve can be called one—looked significantly at our hero. + +“What’s coming?” thought Harry, perplexed. + +He found out soon enough. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV — WHAT HAPPENED TO HARRY IN THE WOOD + + +“I have a little matter of business with you, Gilbert,” said Congreve. + +“Business!” repeated Harry, looking from James Congreve, with his cool, +deliberate manner, to the face of his companion, who was openly +exultant. “I don’t understand you.” + +“You’ll understand better in five minutes,” said Philip. + +“I hope so, for I am quite in the dark now.” + +“The fact is, Gilbert,” commenced Congreve, in the cool, deliberate +tone habitual to him—for he seldom allowed himself to get excited—“my +friend Philip, here, feels that you have treated him badly——” + +“Outrageously!” interrupted Philip. + +“Very well; let us say outrageously.” + +“In what way have I treated him outrageously?” demanded Harry, +undauntedly. + +“Plenty of times,” answered Philip, excitedly. “Didn’t you attack me in +the berry pasture?” + +“Yes, and you know why. You were abusing two young children.” + +“It was none of your business,” said Philip, shortly. + +“It will always be my business,” said Harry, boldly, “when I see a +large bully abusing two unoffending children.” + +“Quite a modern Don Quixote, upon my word,” said Congreve, but not in +the sneering tone Philip was accustomed to adopt. + +He never sneered, and never showed excitement, but he was none the less +dangerous on that account. + +“Don Quixote was a gentleman, though a foolish one,” returned Harry, +who understood the allusion. + +“That is where he had the advantage of you,” observed Philip. + +“A very neat hit, upon my word, Philip,” said Congreve. “Really, you +are improving.” + +Philip was flattered by this compliment, and looked as if he had quite +overwhelmed Harry with his sarcasm. + +“However,” continued Congreve, “we had better proceed to business. +Philip feels aggrieved, and he expects satisfaction.” + +“Are we to fight a duel?” thought Harry, who did not in the least +comprehend what was coming. + +“What sort of satisfaction?” he asked. + +“You’ll see!” said Philip, triumphantly. + +Congreve, who was standing beside Harry, handed the ball of cord to +Philip, saying: + +“I will hold him, while you tie his hands and feet.” + +“What!” exclaimed Harry, starting. + +“We propose to tie you hand and foot and leave you here,” said +Congreve, coolly. “It will subject you to some inconvenience, and you +may have to remain here all night; but it will teach you not to +interfere with my friend Philip again.” + +“Is that what you invited me to come out here for?” asked Harry. + +“Yes.” + +“Pretending to need my services as a guide?” + +“My dear fellow, there was no pretense about that. We selected this +wood as well adapted for our purpose, and, as I was not familiar with +the locality, I thought it best for all reasons to hire you to guide +me.” + +“So I have walked into a trap, and lost my time in the bargain,” said +Harry, bitterly. + +“Oh, no; you haven’t lost your time. I agreed to pay you fifty cents, +didn’t I?” + +“Yes.” + +“Well, here it is. I generally fulfil my contracts.” + +Congreve drew from his pocket two silver quarters, and handed them to +Harry with a bow. + +“That’s right, isn’t it?” he asked. + +“Yes,” said Harry, mentally deciding that James Congreve was the +queerest fellow he had ever met. + +“Good! You can’t complain of any violation of contract. Now, will you +remain quiet while I tie you, or must we use force?” + +“Wait a minute!” said Harry, deciding to try the effect of an appeal to +Congreve, who appeared to have some sense of honor. “I think you don’t +understand what passed between Philip and myself. Let me explain.” + +“No, thank you. It would only be wasting your time,” said Congreve, +with a languid wave of his hand. “I quite understand that Philip here +was playing the bully——” + +“What! Do you mean to insult me?” asked Philip, hastily. + +“Oh, no; I am only stating facts. Philip, then, was bullying two +children, when you stepped in and knocked him down.” + +“I deny it!” said Philip, flushing. + +“Then where’s the injury you want satisfaction for?” asked Congreve. + +“Do you take the part of a bully, then?” asked Harry, puzzled. + +“Yes; for the bully happens to be my friend, and I stand by my friends, +right or wrong. Accordingly, I propose to leave you here, tied hand and +foot, for a few hours, or until you succeed in getting loose. It will +be soothing to the feelings of my friend Philip, and will give you time +to reflect upon your mistake in attacking the son of a rich man.” + +“But,” urged Harry, “I might have to stay here all night!” + +“Quite possible! Fortunately, however, there are no wild beasts +prowling about in this forest, and you won’t incur any danger.” + +“But my mother will be worried about me.” + +“I am sorry for that, but it won’t be for long.” + +Harry started to run, feeling that he must avoid the fate that +threatened him, if possible; but Congreve overtook him almost +instantly, and, passing his lithe, strong arms around him, pinioned him +so firmly that he could not escape. He was several inches taller than +our hero, and, naturally, much stronger. + +“Now, Philip,” he said. + +Philip advanced to tie Harry, but the latter, feeling that resistance +was useless, turning to Congreve, said: + +“If I must be tied, you may do it. I won’t resist.” + +“Come, that’s sensible,” said Congreve, and proceeded to tie Harry hand +and foot, as he had proposed. + +When the task was completed he took him up and set him down in such a +way that he could lean his back against a tree. + +“That will do,” he said. “If you don’t get free before, I will come +to-morrow morning and release you.” + +“I would like to give him a licking now!” growled Philip, + +“That would be cowardly,” said Congreve. “Come away and leave him.” + +Rather reluctantly, for he wanted to stay and triumph over his helpless +rival, Philip followed his companion out of the wood. + + + + +CHAPTER XV — PHILIP’S BAD ADVISER + + +Philip was elated by his triumph over Harry. Being cowardly by nature, +he felt that it would be a terrible thing to stay in the lonely wood +all night, and he naturally thought that Harry would look upon it in +the same light. + +He felt that it would pay off all old scores, and leave the advantage +with him. But there was a drop of bitterness mingled with his +exultation. + +James Congreve had called him a bully to his face, and in the presence +of Harry, and this seemed to him a personal insult. He was not willing +to let it pass, and was resolved to give Congreve to understand that +the offense must not be repeated. + +“Well, Philip,” said Congreve, “our plan has succeeded.” + +“Yes,” answered Philip, shortly. + +“What’s the matter? Aren’t you satisfied yet?” + +“Yes, as far as that goes; but I don’t like the way you spoke to me.” + +“Go ahead! Let me know what it is you complain of.” + +“You called me a bully!” + +“You are one, you know,” said Congreve, frankly. + +“No, I don’t know it; and, what is more, I don’t like to have any one +speak of me in that way!” returned Philip, irritably. + +“Very likely not. People don’t generally like to have their faults +alluded to.” + +“I tell you I am not a bully!” + +“You are mistaken. You would bully me if I were a small boy and not +your superior in strength.” + +“At any rate, if you are my friend, you ought not to talk of me in that +way,” said Philip, thinking it politic to change his tone. + +“You want me to shut my eyes to your real character, then?” + +“I don’t want you to talk of me in an insulting manner.” + +“Not at all, my dear fellow. I said you were a bully, and so you are. I +meant no offense. The sons of rich men are sometimes puffed up with the +idea of their own importance, and your father is a rich man, at least +for a country place.” + +“He is a rich man for any place,” said Philip, boastfully. + +“I am glad to hear it, especially as it will make it easier for you to +pay me the trifling sum you owe me.” + +“Trifling sum!” ejaculated Philip. “You said it amounted to over +twenty-two dollars.” + +“So it does; but that is a trifling sum for the son of a very rich man. +Some persons would charge you for the little service I have done this +afternoon, but that I only did at the bidding of friendship.” + +“It was very kind of you,” said Philip, uncomfortably; “but you mustn’t +think because my father is rich I have plenty of money. The fact is, he +is very stingy with me, and if it wasn’t for my mother I would only +have a dollar a week.” + +“It is very considerate of the old man, to be sure. You ought to have +five dollars a week.” + +“So I ought. If I only had I would be able to pay you up in a short +time.” + +“Why don’t you suggest to your paternal relative to enlarge the +supplies?” suggested Congreve, knocking off the ashes from his cigar. + +“I have,” answered Philip, “and he always says that a dollar a week is +enough for a boy of my age.” + +“Parents are apt to have limited ideas on such subjects. That was the +case with my father.” + +“What did you do?” + +“Do? I borrowed from him.” + +“How could you do that? Was he willing?” + +“He didn’t know it.” + +“Didn’t know that you borrowed money of him?” + +“No. You are an only child, are you not?” + +“Yes.” + +“So am I. You will be sole heir to your father’s property, won’t you?” + +“Of course,” answered Philip, with an air of consequence. + +“Then, really, the property may be considered yours now—at least in +part.” + +“I suppose so.” + +“That’s the way I look at it. Well, I happened to know where my father +kept his government bonds, and I borrowed one.” + +“Wasn’t that stealing?” asked Philip. + +“It would have been if the bond had belonged to a stranger, but, as it +was likely to be mine some day, of course, that made it different.” + +“What did your father say?” asked Philip, anxiously. + +“Oh, he made a fuss; but the bond wasn’t registered, and he hadn’t a +memorandum of the number, so he couldn’t do anything. I sold it through +a friend, and while the money lasted I was in clover.” + +“My father has got some government bonds,” said Philip; “but I +shouldn’t dare to take one, although, as you say, they will be mine +some day.” + +“Suppose your father did find it out—which is not at all likely—you are +his son, and you could tell him plainly that your small allowance +compelled you to do it.” + +“I shouldn’t know how to dispose of the bond, if I did take one.” + +“Oh, I would manage that for you! That is the only thing there would be +any risk about; but you are a friend of mine.” + +“Yes, I know you are a good friend,” said foolish Philip, who, it is +needless to say, could hardly have had a worse enemy than the one who +offered him such bad advice. + +“So I am, but I don’t take any credit for that,” answered wily +Congreve. “People are apt to deceive themselves about such things, you +know, as a son’s appropriating what really belongs to him; but I know +the world better than you, and understand how to look at things.” + +“It may be as you say,” said Philip, growing nervous at the idea of +robbing his father, “but I don’t think I like the plan.” + +“Oh, very well; I only suggested it for your good,” said Congreve, +preparing to draw the net around his victim. + +“If you have any other way of paying me the twenty-three dollars you +owe me, it’s all the same to me.” + +“But I thought,” said Philip, in alarm, “that you were in no hurry +about it. You said I might win it back.” + +“So you may, and probably will; but if you don’t you ought to pay it.” + +“I will, sometime.” + +“I really should be glad if I could wait till then, but, as it happens, +I have pressing need of the money.” + +“But if I can’t pay it?” + +“Then I shall feel obliged to call on your father, and ask him to pay +me.” + +“You wouldn’t do that!” said Philip, panic-stricken. + +“I shall feel obliged to. It is only a trifle, and he will probably pay +it, giving you a little lecture, perhaps, but nothing worse.” + +“You don’t know him,” said Philip, uncomfortably. “He will be awful +mad. He had a cousin who was a gambler, and he has often warned me +against gambling.” + +“I don’t approve of gambling myself,” said Congreve; “but there is a +difference between that and a little stake on a game of cards to make +it interesting.” + +“I don’t think father would see any difference,” suggested Philip, who +did not himself understand what difference there could be. + +It is hardly necessary to say to my young readers that common sense is +the best teacher in such matters, and that no difference appears to +common sense between gambling at cards and gambling in any other form. + +“Oh, well, you know best about that. Then it would be better that I +shouldn’t say anything to the old man?” + +“No; don’t say anything to him about it,” said Philip, eagerly. + +“I won’t—that is, if you pay me the money in three days.” + +“But how can I do it?” asked Philip, in fresh dismay. + +“Put a bond in my hands, then, and I will dispose of it and give you +the balance. You only owe me twenty-three dollars, and a fifty-dollar +bond would leave you a handsome surplus. If it were a hundred-dollar +bond it would be all the better. Think of having seventy-five dollars +or more at your command.” + +The prospect was tantalizing, but Philip still felt afraid to +appropriate one of his father’s bonds. If it had been a fear of doing +wrong, I should be glad to say so, but it was more a fear of +consequences. + +“After all,” he said, “perhaps I may win it back, and then there won’t +be any need of raising money. You said you would give me the chance.” + +“So I will. You can come to my room now, if you like, and try your +luck.” + +So Philip went, like a fly into the spider’s parlor, and the natural +result followed. + +When he left the hotel he had increased his debt to forty dollars, and +the prospect looked darker than ever. + +As he walked home, it is doubtful if he did not feel more uncomfortable +than our unfortunate hero, whom we left, bound hand and foot, in Pegan +Hill Wood. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI — BOUND HAND AND FOOT + + +Though Harry was a courageous boy, his heart sank within him when he +found himself left alone in the wood, bound hand and foot. + +Pegan Hill Woods were of considerable extent. In length they extended +about three miles, while in width they ranged from a mile and a half to +two miles. + +Probably the party had penetrated nearly a mile into the wood, and the +tree against which Harry was leaning was not far from the center of the +wood. The constrained position in which he was sitting became, after a +while, somewhat painful. The cords, too, chafed his flesh. + +Of course, Harry thought of the possibility of escape. If he could only +unloose the cords he could readily find his way home, reaching there +before anxiety or alarm was excited by his absence. + +He set to work upon his task, but found, to his disappointment, that he +had been too securely bound to make this attempt feasible. + +The cord was tied again and again in so hard a knot that, even if he +had had the use of both of his hands, he would have found it a work of +time to undo them. But when, in addition, his hands were tied, it +became well-nigh impossible. + +He worked until he was tired, and rested, feeling that thus far he had +really accomplished nothing. + +“Philip is about the meanest boy I know of,” he thought to himself, +bitterly. “I suppose he is triumphing over me, as he has a right to do, +for he has got me into a very awkward scrape.” + +This consideration was not likely to make him any less uncomfortable, +for Harry had his share of human nature. From Philip his mind reverted +to James Congreve. The more he thought of Congreve, the less he could +understand him. He was certainly a much more gentlemanly boy—or, +rather, young man—than Philip, and our hero disliked him less, though +it was Congreve who had tied him. + +“He told Philip to his face that he was a bully, and as much as said +that I had served him right in doing what I did in defense of the two +children. I don’t see how he can be a friend of Philip.” + +Harry had not much knowledge of the world, however, and would have been +surprised to hear that Congreve was more dangerous and unscrupulous, +and altogether bad, than Philip himself, in spite of the latter’s +unamiable traits. + +After a while Harry made another attempt to loosen the cords; but the +second time proved as unsuccessful as the first. + +Considerable time had passed—how much he did not know—but, from the +direction in which the sun glanced in the wood, he concluded that it +was as late as six o’clock, and by this time he was almost always at +home. + +Indeed, supper must now be ready, and his mother and their boarder, +Uncle Obed, were probably ready to sit down to the table, and only +waiting for him. It was certainly very tantalizing to be lying there +helpless, knowing that his mother would soon be anxious and troubled +about him. + +“If I could only use my knife,” thought Harry. “I would make short work +of these cords.” + +He had a knife in his pocket. If a boy has only twenty-five cents in +his pocket, he is sure to spend it for some kind of a knife, or he must +be very different from the average boy. + +So, of course, Harry was provided with a knife—a good, strong +jackknife—but, for all the good it was likely to do him, it might as +well have been at home. His hands being tied, of course, he could not +get the knife out of his pocket; and, even if he had done so, how could +he make use of it? + +“I never knew twine was so strong before,” thought poor Harry, +ruefully, after a third unsuccessful attempt to get free. + +He lay a while longer, getting more and more hopeless of an early +release. By this time his appetite began to assert itself. He had not +eaten a very hearty dinner, and naturally felt all the more hungry now. + +He began to think wistfully of the good bread and butter and slices of +cold meat and pie which his mother was wont to provide for the evening +meal, and some twinges of excusable envy were felt, as he pictured +James Congreve and Philip, who had brought this trouble upon him, +sitting down at a well-covered supper table, eating as heartily as if +they had not left a victim in the woods, helpless and hungry. + +“I suppose I shall have to stay here all night,” thought poor Harry, +despondently. + +In the morning he was confident of being released. James Congreve had +promised that he would come and release him, and Harry felt confident +that he would do so. Had it depended upon Philip, there would be small +chance of it; but it was easy to see that Philip and Congreve were not +alike. Of course, this gave him hope, but it was not pleasant to think +of a night passed in the dark wood; not that Harry was timid or +superstitious—he was neither—but it is hard not to be somewhat affected +by gloomy surroundings. + +While Harry was occupied with these reflections, suddenly a peculiar +sound came to his ears, and, looking up, he was startled by the sight +of a blacksnake, at least four feet long, which, with head erect, was +gazing intently at him. + +Whatever may be the cause of the repulsion that exists between the +human race and the snake, it is, at all events, genuine, and Harry +shared it. + +With distended eyes he gazed at this sleek foe of humankind, and felt a +strong desire to throw something at it, or crush it under foot. But, +alas! he was able to do neither. + +Suppose it should advance upon him, helpless and unable to defend +himself, and strike its fangs into his flesh, or curl, with slippery +fold, about him! What could he do? The perspiration came out upon his +brow, and he made a tremendous effort to get away. + +Apparently conscious of his helplessness, the snake remained quietly +looking at him, and began, after a pause, to slowly glide toward him. + +Harry uttered a shrill cry of alarm, which, I am sure, under the +circumstances, was not discreditable to his courage, and his soul was +filled with horror and repulsion. + +It was a fortunate cry, for it brought help. The sound of flying feet +was heard, and an instant later a boy of about his own age came rushing +up. + +“What’s the matter?” he asked. + +“Look there!” said Harry, hastily. + +“By Jehosophat!” exclaimed the boy, and, advancing toward the snake, he +aimed a blow at his crest with a rough, stout stick which he held in +his hand. + +The blow fell with good effect. The snake had not yet seen his new +adversary, and was taken unawares. The jagged stick tore his skin, and +his head dropped forward, maimed and writhing. + +“Follow it up!” cried Harry, in excitement. “Kill him!” + +“I’ll do it!” said the boy, and he sprang forward to renew his attack. + +He found a rock, or, rather, a large stone, close at hand, with which +he bruised the serpent’s head and killed him. + +“Ugh, you ugly beast!” he said, in a tone of disgust, miscalling his +victim. But, then, a country boy is hardly expected to be well up in +natural history. + +“Thank you,” said Harry, breathing a sigh of relief. + +“Why didn’t you kill him yourself?” asked the boy. Then, for the first +time, noticing in the indistinct light Harry’s condition, he said, in +surprise: “What’s the matter with you?” + +“You see I’m tied.” + +“Who tied you?” + +“That’s a long story. Just untie me, there’s a good fellow, and I’ll +tell you.” + +The boy whipped out a knife from his pocket and quickly cut the cord. +Harry sprang up and stretched his arms and legs. + +“It seems good to be free once more,” he said. “But who tied you?” + +“Two boys that had a spite against me. At least, one had, and the other +was his friend.” + +“How long have you been lying there?” + +“Several hours—I can’t tell how long.” + +“It’s a mean trick, anyway.” + +“So it is; I should have had to stay here all night if you hadn’t come +along.” + +“Or if the snake hadn’t swallowed you!” Harry shuddered at the mention +of the snake. + +“That was the worst of it,” he said. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. -- WHAT HARRY SAW IN THE WOOD + + +“What is your name?” asked Harry. “I don’t remember seeing you before.” + +“I live on the other side of the wood. My name is Reuben Richardson.” + +“Richardson?” + +“Yes; we only moved here two months since, and I haven’t had a chance +to get acquainted much. What is your name?” + +“Harry Gilbert.” + +“I suppose you live in the village?” + +“Yes. It’s lucky for me you came along. There isn’t much traveling +through the wood. How did you happen to be here?” + +“I was exploring a little. I was on my way home when I heard you shout. +I guess I must be going now. I have to get up early in the morning, and +so I go to bed early.” + +“Well, good-night, Reuben. Come and see me some day. Anybody will tell +you where I live.” + +“Thank you. If you ever come our way, stop at the farm and see me.” + +“So I will.” + +The two boys parted, with friendly good-nights. + +“Reuben seems a nice sort of boy,” said Harry to himself, as he +threaded his way through the woods in a homeward direction. “I don’t +know what would have happened to me if he hadn’t come along.” + +The moon was already up, though it was still early, and cast a mild +radiance through the branches of the trees. The effect was fine, but +Harry had no time for enjoying it, as he was in a hurry to get home and +relieve his mother’s anxiety. + +He had gone perhaps a quarter of a mile, when he heard voices, +indistinct as yet, of men, who seemed to be approaching. + +Ordinarily he would have kept right on, without fear or suspicion, but +it might have been the experience through which he had just passed that +made him more cautious. + +At any rate, he began to look around to see where he could best conceal +himself till the newcomers passed. + +He caught sight of a tree that seemed easy to climb, and he swung +himself up at once, ascending from limb to limb till he was probably +twenty-five feet above the ground, concealed by the foliage and the +obscurity of night. + +He had not long to wait. + +Presently there emerged from the thicker recesses of the wood two men, +one of whom carried in his hand a tin box of considerable size. + +Harry scrutinized them both, but he only recognized one. That one was a +man named Ralph Temple, generally considered a ne’er-do-well and a +vagabond, who lived in a tumble-down shanty in the edge of the wood. + +“This is the place I was thinking of,” said Temple, halting about +twenty feet from the tree in which Harry was concealed. + +“It seems a lonely, out-of-the-way place,” said his companion. + +“Yes; no one is likely to see the box here. No one ever comes here. +There is a path through the wood, which is always used by those who +pass through it.” + +“And this is off from the path?” + +“Yes.” + +“Where do you think it best to hide the box?” + +“Under that tree will be a good place; say ten feet from it, in an +easterly direction.” + +“East and west are all alike to me here; I can’t tell the difference.” + +“I can; and so could you, with a compass.” + +“Shall you know the place again?” + +“Yes; do you notice that mark on the bark of the tree? It was struck by +lightning once, but that was all the harm done to it.” + +“Good! That will serve to identify it. But why couldn’t we have +concealed it nearer your cabin?” + +“I don’t want to fall under suspicion,” said Temple, shaking his head. + +“Why should you?” + +Ralph Temple laughed a harsh, unpleasant laugh. + +“The good people round here haven’t a very good opinion of me,” he +said. “They would be very apt to suspect me, if suspicion came this +way. No; it’s better to hide the box here.” + +“I wish we could sell the bonds at once.” + +“Nearly all are registered, and probably the old man has a record of +the rest, so that if we tried to sell them we would be brought up with +a round turn. No; as I told you, the only way is to wait till a reward +is offered, and then open negotiations for their return. Not +immediately, you know. We will keep them long enough to make the owner +feel anxious, and willing to get them back at any cost.” + +“I guess you’re right. We must be prudent. If we could only get away +with the whole sum it would make us comfortable for a year or two.” + +“How much is there?” + +“Well, there are eight thousand dollars in government bonds, and five +Union Pacific bonds of a thousand dollars each. They’re safe as +governments.” + +“Thirteen thousand dollars!” said Temple, in a tone of gratification. + +“Yes, and more, for the bonds are all at premium. However, we must lay +back for a reward. It won’t do to negotiate them.” + +While this conversation had been going on Temple indicated the spot +which he thought suitable, and, with a spade which he carried, had +commenced excavating a hole sufficiently large for the purpose. + +He dug to a depth of about eighteen inches, the box being eight inches +in height, and carefully deposited it in the cavity. + +Then both replaced a part of the earth, and carried away the remainder +to the distance of a hundred feet or so. Finally they brought a +quantity of leaves and covered the spot. + +“There,” said Temple, with a look of satisfaction; “it’s safe enough +now. It’ll take a smart detective to find it, I reckon.” + +“You’re right there, Ralph,” said his companion. “It would be a bad +sort of joke if we couldn’t find it ourselves,” he added, after a +pause. + +“I can find it, never you fear!” said Temple. “I know these woods as +well as anybody, and shan’t forget the spot.” + +“All the same, I wish I had some of that money now. I’m almost dead +broke.” + +“So am I; but I can let you have enough to get back to the city.” + +“And suppose,” said Vernon, with an uneasy look, “you should take a +fancy to remove that box while I am away?” + +“Don’t be afraid. Ralph Temple isn’t that kind of a man. He’ll stand by +his pard and treat him fair.” + +“It would be a rough trick to play on me, Ralph,” said Vernon, +apparently not quite free from uneasiness. + +“So it would; but there is no danger. Even if I did couldn’t you expose +the whole thing, and have me arrested?” + +“So I could,” returned Vernon, more reassured by this consideration +than by his faith in Temple’s fair dealing. + +“Well, if you’re all ready, we may as well vanish. You can stay with me +to-night, and go to the city in the morning. Watch the papers, and see +if there is anything that promises advantage to us.” + +“All right.” + +The two men moved off, much to Harry’s relief. He was in momentary +dread of a sneeze, and this would betray his whereabouts to Temple and +his partner. + +What these two desperate men would have done to him, had they +discovered him, it was not easy to guess; but, under the influence of +vexation and alarm, they might have brought upon him worse trouble than +any he had yet experienced. + +Such, indeed, was likely, from what he knew of Ralph Temple. He was +generally considered a disreputable character, and the villagers were +ignorant as to how he made his living. + +From time to time he came to the village store provided with money; but +where it came from no one knew, as he was not known to do anything, +except to roam the fields and woods with his gun. Sometimes he +disappeared for a week or a fortnight at a time, but where he went, +unless to the city, no one knew. + +Harry conjectured, from what he had just seen, that Temple was in +league with wicked men in the city, with whom he was engaged in +violations of the law, and in this surmise he was correct. + +He understood a little better now Ralph Temple’s object in selecting as +his abode this lonely and out-of-the-way place. + +Harry did not venture to descend from his elevated perch until the two +men had ample time to get beyond sight and hearing. + +When he touched the ground, he first scanned the tree and its vicinity +carefully, so as to make sure he could find it again, and then hurried +home. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII — HARRY’S COMMISSION + + +It may be well imagined that Harry was in a thrill of excitement as he +walked home. He had just witnessed what was undoubtedly an attempt to +conceal the proceeds of a burglary. He, and he alone, outside of the +guilty parties, knew where the booty was deposited, and he asked +himself what was his duty under the circumstances. + +Of course he had no sympathy with Temple and Vernon. They had made +themselves the enemies of society, and he was in duty bound to defeat +their criminal plans, if possible, and restore the property to its +legal owner or owners. + +Here a difficulty stared him in the face. He didn’t know to whom the +tin box and its contents belonged, for not a word had been dropped by +the two thieves which could inform him. They had made up their minds, +however, to wait till a reward should be offered, and then come forward +and claim it, or, at any rate, open negotiations through others looking +to that result. + +Why could not Harry learn, in like manner, who had been robbed, and +communicate with them? This seemed to him the most sensible course. + +Here, again, there was another difficulty. In the little country +village he was not in a position to see any such notice, for they took +no daily paper, and, though Mr. Mead did, his inquiry for it would +excite curiosity and lead to questionings. It seemed necessary for him +to go to New York. + +“Shall I tell mother, or not?” he asked himself. + +On the whole, he thought it better not to do so. So far as he was +concerned, his mother was timid, and she would be anxious lest he +should incur the hostility of the two lawless men of whose crime he had +come into the knowledge. Yet he wanted to consult somebody, for he felt +that the matter was one of no little importance, and that he needed a +man’s counsel. + +“I’ll speak to Uncle Obed about it,” he said to himself. “He isn’t used +to cities, to be sure, but he has had a long life, and must have +considerable experience. At any rate, he will be better qualified than +I to know what ought to be done.” + +He had scarcely come to this conclusion before he reached the cottage. + +His mother, with a troubled expression of countenance, was sitting at +the table, not sewing or mending, as usual, but with her hands clasped +in her lap, while near her sat Uncle Obed, also looking sober. + +“I am sure something has happened to Harry,” she had just been saying. +“I never knew him to stay out so long without telling me.” + +“Boys will be boys,” answered the old man, not knowing what else to +say. “He’s gone off on some lark with some of his playmates.” + +“But he never does that without telling me, Mr. Wilkins. He’s always so +considerate.” + +“He’ll be coming home safe and sound, depend upon it,” said Uncle Obed, +with a confidence greater than he actually felt. + +“Perhaps he has fallen from a tree—he was always fond of climbing—and +broken his leg,” suggested Mrs. Gilbert, dolefully. + +“He’s too smart for that,” said Uncle Obed. + +“What should I do if he never came home?” exclaimed the poor woman, +with a shudder. + +Mr. Wilkins was hardly prepared to answer this question, and, luckily, +it was not necessary, for just then the latch was lifted and Harry +walked in. + +“Didn’t I tell you so?” said Uncle Obed, triumphantly. + +“Oh, Harry, I’m so glad to see you! Where have you been so long?” + +“It’s lucky you came just as you did,” said Mr. Wilkins. “Your mother +had made up her mind that you had met with an accident.” + +“I wanted to come home, but I couldn’t,” answered Harry. “I was in the +woods.” + +“Lost your way?” asked Uncle Obed. + +“Not exactly. Two boys played a trick upon me.” + +Of course Harry had to explain what sort of a trick it was. Mrs. +Gilbert was very indignant, and denounced Philip and his confederate in +no sparing terms. + +“You ought to go and complain to Colonel Ross,” she said. “Philip ought +not to be allowed to do such things.” + +Harry smiled. He had no idea of following this advice. It would have +been an acknowledgment of weakness, and he felt able to defend himself +against Philip Ross and his machinations. + +“Mother,” he said, “I’ve got very particular reasons for not doing +this, and for not even mentioning that I was in the wood. Now, I want +you to promise me not to say a word about it, for a week at least.” + +“But if I see Philip,” said his mother, “I can’t keep silent.” + +“You must, for my sake, mother. You don’t know how much depends upon +it.” + +“I don’t understand,” said Mrs. Gilbert, thoroughly bewildered. + +“No, I suppose not; but I have a strong reason that I can’t mention +just yet.” + +“I hope there’s nothing wrong going on,” said his mother, alarmed. + +“If there is, it isn’t anything that I’m to blame for. Only there’s a +secret that I can’t tell just yet. You’ll know it in good time. I want +to consult Uncle Obed to-night about it, and you won’t mind if I don’t +tell you just yet?” + +“Give the boy his way, ma’am,” said Mr. Wilkins. “If there is anything +very bad about it he wouldn’t tell me.” + +His mother was somewhat reassured, and left the two to themselves. Then +Harry began and told his story. Mr. Wilkins listened with attention, +and not without surprise. + +“Really, Harry, it’s quite an adventure, I call it,” he said. “Do you +know this man Temple?” + +“I know that he’s a sort of tramp. I didn’t suppose he was a thief +before.” + +“You never saw this other man before?” + +“No; never heard of him.” + +“They’re a pair of rascals, I reckon. Now, what have you thought of +doing?” + +“Of going to New York to-morrow to find out what I can about the +burglary, or whatever else it was. If I can find out who has been +robbed, I’ll go and tell them about it, and where the bonds are hid.” + +Uncle Obed nodded approvingly. + +“That’s a good idea,” he said. + +“What puzzles me,” continued Harry, “is how to explain to mother why I +go to the city. I can’t tell her, and she’ll feel nervous.” + +“I can manage that,” said Mr. Wilkins. “I’ll tell her you have gone on +business for me.” + +“But will it be true?” asked Harry. + +“Yes; I’ve got some cowpons”—that’s the way the old man pronounced the +word—“that you can get the money for.” + +“Shall I have any difficulty about it, Uncle Obed?” + +“No; you can go to a broker, and he’ll give you the money for it, +taking out his commission. How much does it cost to go to New York?” + +“The price of an excursion ticket is a dollar.” + +The old man took from his pocket a two-dollar bill. + +“There,” said he; “that’ll pay your ticket and get you some dinner.” + +“But, Uncle Obed, you ought not to pay my expenses.” + +“Why not? Ain’t you going on my business?” + +“I’m going principally on my own,” said Harry. + +“Well,” replied the old man, smiling, “then you must take it because I +am your uncle.” + +“I know I call you so.” + +“You seem a good deal more kin to me than Philip. He’s ashamed of his +old uncle, and so is his mother; but you are not. + +“No, no, Harry; it’s all right. I ain’t exactly poor, but I’d rather my +niece would think so. So don’t you say anything to them about the +cowpons.” + +“I’m not likely to, Uncle Obed.” + +The old man went up to his room and brought down ninety dollars’ worth +of government coupons, which, as gold was then ruling at a dollar and +twenty, would bring about a hundred and eight dollars in currency. + +Mrs. Gilbert was much surprised when Harry told her that he intended to +go to New York the next day on business for Uncle Obed; but, of course, +had no idea that he had still more important business of his own. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX — SECOND VISIT TO THE WOOD + + +There was an early train from the neighboring village of Crampton to +New York. Harry got up early, and walked the first part of the way +through the fields to a point where the footpath struck the main road, +three-quarters of a mile from the village. + +In this way it happened that he was not seen by any of his companions, +and his day’s expedition was kept a secret. + +Just after breakfast James Congreve received a call at the hotel from +Philip. + +“Our friend in the wood must be hungry by this time,” said James. + +“Ho, ho!” laughed Philip, in evident enjoyment. “It’s a splendid joke.” + +“I fancy he doesn’t think so,” said Congreve, shrugging his shoulders. + +“Of course he doesn’t. He must have been fully scared, staying there +all night.” + +“He doesn’t strike me as a boy who would easily be frightened,” + +“At any rate, he must be hungry,” said Philip, in a tone of +satisfaction. “I guess he’ll find it doesn’t pay to insult me.” + +“Well, he’s had enough of it; we’ll go and release him.” + +“What for?” + +“You don’t want him to stay there all day, do you?” demanded Congreve. + +“It wouldn’t do him any harm,” muttered Philip. + +“What a mean fellow you are, Philip! You ought to be satisfied with +keeping him there all night.” + +“I wish you wouldn’t call me names,” said Philip, pettishly. + +“Don’t deserve them, then. Well, are you coming with me?’ + +“I don’t know; it’s a good ways,” said Philip, hesitating. + +“Just as you like. I am going. I told the boy I would, and I mean to +keep my promise.” + +And James Congreve stepped off the piazza and started. + +“Oh, well, I’ll go, too. I want to see how he looks,” said Philip, and +began to laugh. + +“Take care how you laugh at him there, Phil, or he may pitch into you.” + +“You won’t let him, will you, James?” said Philip, apprehensively. + +“I thought you were a match for him,” said Congreve, with an amused +smile. + +“So I am, but he might take me unawares. He’ll be so mad, you know.” + +“I’ll protect you,” said Congreve. “Come along.” + +Both boys would have liked to learn whether Harry had been missed at +home, and what was thought of his disappearance; but there seemed to be +no one to ask, and, for obvious reasons, they did not care to show any +curiosity on the subject. + +“I’d like to meet Mr. Wilkins,” said Philip. “He boards there, you +know, and he might say something about it.” + +“Mr. Wilkins is your uncle, isn’t he?” + +“He’s a distant relation of ma’s,” said Philip, reluctantly. “We don’t +know much about him.” + +“I suppose he’s poor?” suggested Congreve, drily. + +“Oh, dear, yes! He was a farmer or something out in Illinois. He +probably pays a dollar or two a week board at Gilberts’. They’re +dreadfully poor, you know. I shouldn’t be surprised if all hands were +in the poorhouse before the year is out.” + +“Your uncle and all?” + +“He isn’t my uncle!” said Philip, snappishly. + +“Relative, then. You wouldn’t want a relative in the poorhouse?” + +“Pa offered to pay his expenses back to Illinois, but the old fellow +was obstinate and wouldn’t go. I expect he’s hanging round here in +hopes of getting something out of pa and ma; but it’s no use, as he’ll +find out sooner or later.” + +“Strange he went to board with the Gilberts, isn’t it?” + +“Oh, it’s a good enough place for a rusty old chap like him. He ain’t +used to living in any style. Ma says he’s half crazy.” + +By this time they had reached the borders of the wood, and soon they +came to the place where Harry had been left bound. + +“Why, he isn’t here!” exclaimed Philip, in surprise and disappointment. + +“So it appears.” + +“How could he have got away?” + +James Congreve, bending over, searched carefully, and at length got +some light on the subject. + +“Somebody cut the cords,” he said. “Look here—and here!” and he pointed +out fragments of the strong cord with which the captive had been bound. + +“That’s so. Do you think he did it himself?” asked Philip, +disappointed. + +“No; he was too securely tied. I took care of that. Somebody came along +and released him.” + +“I hope he had to stay all night, at any rate,” said Philip. + +“That we cannot discover at present. One thing is certain—he’s free.” + +“I’m sorry I came,” muttered Philip. “I have had this long walk for +nothing.” + +“You haven’t had the satisfaction of releasing him, I suppose, you +mean?” + +“No, I don’t. I wanted to see how he looked. It’s too bad he got away.” + +“There’s nothing for it but to go back,” said Congreve. “You’d better +look out for him. He may want to pay you off.” + +“He’d better not try it,” said Philip, but he seemed uneasy at the +thought. + +On their way back they passed, unconsciously, near the place where the +tin box was concealed. + +Hovering near the spot was Ralph Temple, uneasy for the safety of the +buried treasure. + +He eyed the two young fellows with suspicion. They had no guns in their +hands, and he could not understand what object they had in coming to +this out-of-the-way place so early in the morning. + +“What are you about here?” he demanded, roughly. + +Philip was frightened and turned pale; but James Congreve only surveyed +the man curiously, and said: + +“Is that any business of yours, my friend?” + +“You’ll find out whether it’s any business of mine,” returned Temple, +angrily. + +“That’s precisely what I would like to find out,” said Congreve, +coolly. “You accost us as if you were the owner of the wood, which, I +take it, you are not.” + +“Do you want me to wring your neck, young man?” said Temple, with a +growl. + +“Oh, don’t make him angry, James!” begged Philip, nervously, laying his +hand on Congreve’s arm. + +James—who certainly was not a coward—surveyed his companion +contemptuously. + +“Much obliged to you for your kind offer,” said he, addressing Temple, +“but I must decline it.” + +“You’ve got too long a tongue, young man!” said Temple, provoked by the +other’s coolness. “I’ve a mind to teach you a lesson.” + +“When I want one I will let you know,” said Congreve, changing his tone +and manner and regarding the other scornfully. + +“Meanwhile, my man, I advise you not to drink so early in the morning. +It doesn’t improve your naturally bad manners.” + +With a muttered exclamation Ralph Temple sprang forward, prepared to +handle Congreve roughly, as he was quite able to do, being much his +superior in size and strength, but, with his hand nearly touching the +shoulder of the young man, recoiled, as Congreve drew out a revolver +and pointed it at him. + +“One step further and I fire!” he said, in a calm, collected tone, +while Philip stood by, as pale as a sheet. + +“Confusion!” exclaimed the ruffian, in mingled amazement and dismay. +“Who are you, anyway?” + +“My name is James Congreve, at your service,” said the owner of that +name, bowing. “I regret that I haven’t a card about me.” + +“You’re a cool customer!” muttered Temple, surveying Congreve +curiously. + +“So people tell me. You’ll find me at the hotel in the village, if you +have any further business with me.” + +Congreve nodded carelessly and left the spot—Phil, in a very nervous +condition, keeping himself somewhat in advance. + +“He’s a cool chap,” muttered the ruffian. “But it’s clear he knows +nothing of our affair. I was a fool to make a fuss. It might lead to +suspicion.” + +“What a dreadful man!” said Philip, as the two were walking away. + +“Do you know him?” + +“His name is Ralph Temple. He’s a kind of tramp.” + +“He’s an impertinent fellow, at any rate. It’s well I had my revolver +with me.” + +They walked back to the village, momentarily expecting to see or hear +something of Harry Gilbert; but neither then nor later in the day was +their curiosity gratified. + + + + +CHAPTER XX — ON THE WAY TO NEW YORK + + +Harry stepped on board the train without seeing any one whom he knew, +and took a seat on the right-hand side. Just in front of him was an +elderly farmer, with a face well browned by exposure to the sun and +wind. He had a kindly face, and looked sociable. It was not long before +he addressed our young hero. + +“Going to New York?” he asked. + +“Yes, sir.” + +“Are you acquainted there?” + +“No, sir; not much.” + +“Nor I. I was thinking you might be able to direct me to a place where +I could get money for some cowpons.” + +“Government coupons?” inquired Harry, becoming interested. + +“Yes. You see, my wife’s uncle died not long ago, and left Sarah a +government bond of a thousand dollars, drawing six per cent interest. +There’s thirty dollars due the first of this month, and I told Sarah +that I’d go and collect it for her.” + +“I’ve got some business of that same kind,” said Harry. “I was told +there were brokers’ offices in Wall Street, where I could collect the +money without any trouble.” + +“I’ll go with you,” said the farmer, in a tone of satisfaction. “If +he’ll buy yours, he’ll buy mine.” + +“I shall be glad to have your company,” said Harry, politely. + +It flattered his vanity that a man old enough to be his grandfather was +disposed to be guided by him in a matter of such importance. + +Just then a smooth voice was heard from the seat behind. + +“Gentlemen,” said a young man, showily dressed and with a profusion of +rings on his fingers, “excuse my interrupting you, but I may be able to +save you some trouble.” + +They naturally waited for an explanation of these words. + +“I overheard you saying that you had some coupons to dispose of.” + +“Yes,” replied the farmer, eagerly. + +“I am myself a banker and broker, and deal in government securities. If +the amount is not too large, I will buy your coupons and pay for them +at once.” + +“That will be handy,” said the farmer. “I’ve got thirty dollars in +cowpons.” + +“And you, my young friend?” said the so-called broker, addressing +Harry. + +“I have rather more than that,” said Harry, in a reserved tone. + +Somehow, he was suspicious of the plausible stranger. + +“I will pay you a higher price than most houses, besides saving you all +the trouble,” said the broker, insinuatingly, as he drew out a +capacious wallet, and, opening it, exhibited a pile of bills. + +The farmer immediately drew out his coupon. + +“Let me see,” said the broker; “thirty dollars, gold at the present +premium comes to thirty-six dollars.” + +“Thirty-six dollars!” repeated the farmer, complacently. “Sarah’ll feel +rich when she gets that money.” + +“Here’s your money,” said the broker, producing three ten-dollar bills, +a five and a one. “The bills are new, you perceive.” + +The farmer put away the bills in his old wallet, and the stranger +slipped the coupon carelessly into his vest pocket. + +“Now, my young friend, I am ready to attend to your matter,” he said, +turning to Harry. + +“I won’t trouble you,” said Harry, coldly; “I prefer to dispose of the +coupons in the city.” + +“Just as you like; but you would do better to deal with me.” + +“Why?” asked Harry. + +“In the city they will allow you but a hundred and nineteen for gold.” + +“How is it you can afford to do better by me?” asked Harry, shrewdly. + +“Our house makes a point of dealing liberally with their customers,” +said the broker. + +“What is the name of your firm?” + +“Chase & Atkins,” answered the other glibly. “I am a relative of Salmon +Chase, ex-secretary of the treasury, and, since, chief justice of the +Supreme Court.” + +“You don’t say!” ejaculated the farmer. “Salmon Chase is a great man.” + +“So he is. Thank you, sir, for your appreciation of my distinguished +relative. Of course, it doesn’t make me any better to be related to +that great man, but I am naturally proud of it.” + +“Hadn’t you better sell your coupons to him?” asked the farmer, who was +quite prepossessed in favor of the gentlemanly stranger. + +“No, sir; I was instructed to sell in Wall Street, and I prefer to do +so.” + +“Oh, just as you please,” said Mr. Chase. “You will lose by it, but +that’s your affair. Good-morning, gentlemen. I have a friend in the +next car.” + +So saying, he bowed, and left the car. + +“Well, my business was easily done,” said the farmer. + +“Will you allow me to look at the bills he gave you?” asked Harry. + +“Sartain! Why?” and the farmer drew out his wallet. + +Harry took one of the bills in his hand and examined it carefully, but +he was not an expert, and could not judge whether it was good or not. + +“Don’t you think it’s good?” asked the farmer, uneasily. + +“I presume it is; but I didn’t like the looks of the man you had +dealings with.” + +“He is of good family,” said the farmer. + +“He says he is,” responded Harry, significantly, “and I hope it’s all +right. We’ll wait till the conductor comes along, and ask him about the +bills.” + +Fifteen minutes elapsed, however, before that official made his rounds, +and during that time the train stopped at two stations. At one of these +Harry’s suspicions were increased by seeing that Mr. Chase got out. + +At last the conductor appeared, and Harry passed him the bill. + +“Is that bill good?” he asked. + +The conductor held it up to the light, and shook his head. + +“No,” he said; “it’s one of a quantity of counterfeits that has lately +made its appearance. Where did you get it?” + +“It belongs to me,” said the farmer, his honest countenance exhibiting +much distress. “I took it in payment for some cowpons.” + +“Who gave it to you?” + +An explanation was given. + +“I noticed the man,” said the conductor. “He is a well-known swindler. +Have you got any more?” + +The others were exhibited. Out of them all the conductor declared that +only the one-dollar bill was genuine. + +Probably it had not been thought worth while to counterfeit a bill of +so low a denomination. + +“Oh, what’ll Sarah say?” ejaculated the distressed farmer. “What a +tarnal fool I’ve been! She wanted me to buy her a nice dress out of it, +and I’ve only got a dollar left!” + +“Perhaps the man may be caught,” suggested Harry. + +“I don’t believe it. Simon Jones, you ain’t fit to go around alone. +You’re as green as—as—a gooseberry!” + +Harry pitied him, but was unable to offer any adequate consolation. + +“Will you give me your name and address?” he said. “And, if I can hear +anything of your coupons, or the man that swindled you, I’ll write and +let you know.” + +“Will you? I’m obleeged to you,” said the farmer, who had formed quite +a high idea of our hero’s sagacity from his declining the trap into +which he himself had fallen. “My name is Simon Jones, of Crabtree +Hollow, Connecticut.” + +Harry entered it in a little memorandum book which he carried. + +At length the great city was reached, and the crowd of passengers +dispersed in different directions. + +It was over a year since Harry had been in the city, and he was not +very familiar with it, but he had a modest confidence in his ability to +get along. + +“Shine yer boots, guv’nor?” asked a ragged bootblack. + +“How much?” Harry asked. “Seein’ it’s you, I’ll only ask ten cents,” +returned the street boy. + +“Thank you. I blacked my own boots before I left home.” + +“Do you call that a shine?” said the boy, contemptuously, as his glance +rested on Harry’s shoes, which certainly did not vie in polish with +those operated upon by city bootblacks. + +“It’ll do for me,” answered Harry, good-naturedly. + +“Mornin’ papers—_Herald, Times, Tribune, World!”_ called a newsboy. + +“Give me a _Herald,”_ said Harry, who suddenly bethought himself of the +tin box, and was anxious to find out whether any allusion was made to +the theft in the morning papers. + +He opened the paper, and his eyes ran hastily over the crowded columns. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI — A REWARD OFFERED + + +Harry looked over the news columns in vain for an account of the +robbery, or some allusion to the tin box which he had seen concealed in +the wood. + +“There may have been something about it in yesterday’s paper,” he said +to himself. “I must go to the office of publication and buy a copy.” + +It occurred to him, however, that there might be an advertisement +offering a reward for its recovery, and he began to search, with this +object in view. + +Presently his eye lighted on the following: + +“Two Hundred and Fifty Dollars Reward. + +“On the fifteenth instant, a Tin Box, containing a considerable sum in +Five-Twenty Government and Union Pacific Bonds, was stolen from the +office of the subscriber. The above sum will be paid for the discovery +of the thief, or for information leading to the recovery of all, or the +larger part, of the bonds. JAMES P. WHEELER, + +“No. 265 Broadway, Room 10.” + +I do not claim to have given the correct number, for obvious reasons. +Of course, the address given in the advertisement was accurate. + +Naturally, Harry was much pleased at his easy success. He had only to +go to the office mentioned and communicate what he knew, and leave Mr. +Wheeler to take the necessary steps for the recovery of the property. + +Should he attend first to that, or to the sale of the coupons? On the +whole, he decided to go to Mr. Wheeler’s office first, as the tin box +might be removed at any time, if the suspicions of Vernon or Temple +should be excited. + +It was, of course, perfectly easy to find any address on Broadway, and +not many minutes elapsed before Harry found himself before the door of +office No. 10. + +Entering—for the door was ajar—he saw a large, handsomely fitted-up +office, with a small room partitioned off at one corner. + +In this room sat a man of middle age, with a keen face and a brisk air, +which indicated that he was a trained man of business. + +Outside, at a desk, sat a young man, evidently a clerk, who was busily +engaged in writing. It was he who looked up when Harry entered and +looked hesitatingly about. + +“Well, Johnny, what can I do for you?” said the young man, +patronizingly. + +“Is Mr. Wheeler in the office?” + +“Yes; but he is busy.” + +“He will see me,” said Harry, with quiet confidence. + +“Will he?” asked the young man, surveying our hero with some curiosity. +“Who do you come from?” + +“From no one. I have business of my own with Mr. Wheeler.” + +“Who is it?” asked an imperative voice. + +“A boy to see you, sir,” answered the clerk, respectfully. + +“Bring him in, then, and don’t waste his time and your own in +unnecessary talk.” + +“Waste his time, indeed,” muttered the clerk, who evidently did not +regard Harry’s time as particularly valuable. + +“Well, young man,” said the lawyer—for such was his business—as Harry +entered his presence. “What is it?” + +“I should like a private interview, sir,” said Harry, glancing at the +clerk, who was hovering near. + +“Shut the door, and resume your writing, Richard,” said Mr. Wheeler. + +Shrugging his shoulders, with a disappointed look, Richard obeyed. + +“I came to see you about the advertisement,” said Harry, coming to the +point at once. + +The lawyer started, and eyed Harry keenly. Could the boy be one of the +thieves, or was he merely acting as a go-between? + +“Do you know anything about the box of bonds?” asked Mr. Wheeler, +quickly. + +“Yes, sir; I know where it is concealed.” + +“Ha, that is important. Do you come from the parties that took them?” + +Harry colored, and looked indignant. + +“No, sir,” he answered, with emphasis. + +Mr. Wheeler smiled. + +“I was bringing no charge against you,” he said. “I thought the guilty +parties might have employed you as their agent—their innocent agent. +Now, tell me how you come to know anything about the matter.” + +This Harry proceeded to do. As the story is already familiar to the +reader, he shall be spared a repetition of it. It is needless to say +that the lawyer listened with earnest attention. + +“This is a curious story,” he said, “but I see no reason to question +its accuracy. I certainly hope it is true.” + +“It is true, sir.” + +“Of course, I imply no doubt of your word. Now, tell me, did you see +distinctly the faces of the two men who were employed in concealing the +box?” + +“Yes, sir.” + +“Should you know them again?” + +“I should.” + +“Did you recognize either?” + +“Yes, sir.” + +“Indeed!” exclaimed the lawyer, who did not expect an affirmative +answer. “Who was it?” + +“Ralph Temple.” + +“How did you know him?” + +“He lives in a poor cabin just on the outskirts of the wood.” + +“How long has he lived there?” + +“About two years.” + +“What is his reputation?” + +“Very poor. No one knows how he makes his living, though at times he +seems to have plenty of money.” + +“Is he absent a part of his time?” + +“Yes, sir; he is sometimes away for a month at a time.” + +“Probably he is in league with some criminals in the city, and may have +an object in living where he does.” + +“I thought of that, sir.” + +“Did you recognize the other man?” the lawyer next asked. + +“No, sir. It was no one I ever saw before; but I noticed his face well, +and should know him again.” + +“So far, so good. Can you find or lead others to the place in the wood +where the box was concealed?” + +“Yes, sir; but I don’t think they will leave it there long. Something +ought to be done soon.” + +“Something shall be done. By the way, have you mentioned what you saw +to any person?” + +“To only one—an old gentleman boarding at my mother’s house.” + +The lawyer looked annoyed. + +“I am sorry for that. It may be all over the village before you get +back, and, in that case, your information may do no good.” + +“Don’t be afraid, sir. Obed Wilkins can keep a secret.” + +“Obed Wilkins! Does he come from Illinois?” + +“Yes, sir.” + +“I know him,” said the lawyer, smiling. “In fact, he is a client of +mine. As you say, he can keep a secret. My boy—by the way, what is your +name?” + +“Harry Gilbert.” + +“Very well, Harry, your chance of earning the reward offered is very +good.” + +“I did not come here with any thought of the reward.” + +“Perhaps not; but the owner can very well afford to pay it, and I +advise you to accept it if your information leads to the recovery of +the box.” + +“Doesn’t it belong to you, sir?” + +“Oh, no. It belongs to one of my clients. It disappeared from my office +two days since. The owner is not yet aware of his loss, but I felt +authorized to offer the reward. May I count on your further help?” + +“Yes, sir.” + +“Then I shall send you at once with a note to a police officer, +requesting two detectives to accompany you back. I shall give them +instructions, and they will probably go back with you to the country.” + +“Very well, sir.” + +Mr. Wheeler dashed off a few lines, properly addressed them, and handed +them to Harry. + +“Use all dispatch,” he said. + +“I will,” answered our hero, promptly. + +As he left the inner office, the clerk outside regarded him curiously. +He was surprised at the long interview accorded him, and wondered what +could be his errand. + +As Harry descended the stairs, he jostled a man who was ascending, and +naturally was led to look at him. Harry came near dropping with sheer +surprise. The man he recognized at once as Vernon, one of the men whom +he had seen in the wood. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII — BROUGHT TO BAY + + +Harry felt that matters were getting exciting, and a crisis seemed +imminent. + +“I will hurry as fast as I can,” he said. “I suppose he has come about +the tin box, too. I hope he will stay till I get back.” + +Vernon, little dreaming that he was recognized by the office boy—as he +took him to be—who had just jostled against him, kept on his way +upstairs. His appearance was that of a well-dressed man, not much over +thirty, who might be filling a responsible business position in the +city. When, therefore, he said to the clerk, “Is Mr. Wheeler in?” he +received a more polite reply than had been accorded to Harry fifteen +minutes before. + +“Mr. Wheeler?” he asked. + +“Yes,” said the lawyer, with his usual scrutinizing look. + +“I should like to speak to you in private, sir.” + +“Another claimant for the reward,” thought the lawyer. + +“Very well,” he said. “Have the kindness to close the door.” + +Vernon did so. + +“Now,” said the lawyer, abruptly, desiring to get through with his +interview before Harry’s return from his mission. + +“You advertised for the recovery of a tin box of valuables?” said +Vernon. + +“Yes.” + +“I may be able to assist you in the matter,” said Vernon. + +“Indeed! Then you know where it is?” said the lawyer, eying him keenly. + +“I didn’t say that, did I?” asked Vernon, smiling craftily. + +“No; but you probably know—that is, if your information is of any +value.” + +“That isn’t at all necessary,” said Vernon, coolly. “I may say as much +as this, however that I am employed by those who do know the +whereabouts of the box.” + +“Then there was more than one connected with the robbery?” + +“Yes,” said Vernon, hesitating. + +He saw that every word was noted, and afforded a basis for inferences. + +“What do your employers authorize you to say?” asked the lawyer, +sitting back in his chair. + +“That they can lay their hands on the bonds at short notice, and are +ready to return them, if it is made worth their while.” + +“I suppose you have read my advertisement, Mr.——” + +“Precisely,” answered Vernon, not taking the hint and announcing his +name. + +He might do so soon, but resolved not to be precipitate. + +“Then you know what reward we offer.” + +“It isn’t enough,” said Vernon, briefly. + +“Why not? It seems to me that two hundred and fifty dollars is a very +respectable sum of money.” + +“I shall charge my clients as much as that for my agency,” said Vernon, +“and they naturally want something for their trouble and risk.” + +“Do you know how much the box contains?” + +“Yes; my clients have told me.” + +“Do they realize that, if they refuse my offer, they will find +considerable trouble in negotiating the bonds?” + +“Yes; but they can do it. There are parties who will advance them much +more than the reward, and take the risk, holding them till such time as +the affair is forgotten.” + +“What parties?” + +“Do you suppose I will tell you that, sir?” asked Vernon, cunningly. + +Mr. Wheeler did not, but he was only filling up the time. He had made +up his mind that the man before him was something more than the agent +of the thieves, and he now wished to protract the interview till Harry +should have had time to return with the two detectives. + +“No,” he replied, “I can hardly expect you to answer that question. I +should like to ask you, however, whether you have had any conversation +with your clients about the sum they would consider sufficient to repay +them for their ‘trouble’?” + +“Yes, sir; that subject has come up between us.” + +“Well?” + +“I think, sir, you will have to multiply the reward you offer by ten.” + +“Whew!” exclaimed the lawyer, who was not at all surprised, however. +“This is a large sum.” + +“It is only about one-sixth the market value of the bonds.” + +“I don’t think my client would consent to pay so large a sum as that.” + +“Then your client must be prepared to lose the whole amount.” + +“It appears to me that a thousand dollars would be an adequate, not to +say a handsome, reward.” + +“What would it amount to divided among four persons, after paying me my +commission?” + +“Then there were four persons engaged in the theft?” + +“Better say in the removal of the deposits. It sounds better.” + +“Call it so, if you like. Doesn’t it occur to you that it hardly +required as many as four persons to remove the tin box, weighing with +its contents, not over two pounds?” + +“I suppose one could have lifted it,” said Vernon, smiling. + +“True; but do you know it is my theory that two persons were engaged?” + +Vernon started, and scanned his companion’s face anxiously. Did he know +anything? That was what he asked himself. + +“You can form any theories you please,” he said, with a forced smile. +“They won’t alter facts.” + +“You are right, Mr.——” + +“You may call me Thompson.” + +“Very well, Mr. Thompson.” + +By this time a foot was heard upon the stairs. The door opened, and +Harry Gilbert entered. + +He came forward, not appearing to notice the visitor, and placed in Mr. +Wheeler’s hand a scrap of paper, on which he had written in pencil: + +“The man with you is one of the robbers. I can identify him. I met him +as I was going out. The two detectives are in the entry. I thought it +best not to bring them in till I had a chance to tell you this.” + +Mr. Wheeler’s eyes lighted up as he read this scrap, and he looked +approvingly at Harry. + +“Quite right,” he said. Then, turning to Vernon, he continued: “I don’t +think we can come to terms. I have reason to doubt whether you can +carry out your promise and deliver the property.” + +“I suppose this is a bluff game, intended to deceive me,” said Vernon, +showing symptoms of anger. “I can assure you that it will do you no +good.” + +“I may find out elsewhere the location of the box.” + +“Impossible! I, and I alone—that is, outside of the men who employ +me—can give you this information. They will follow my advice, whatever +it is, and I shall advise them not to surrender the box until they +receive an adequate reward.” + +“Such as the sum you name?” + +“Yes.” + +“Wouldn’t two thousand dollars tempt you?” asked the lawyer. + +“I think not. Still, I will consult them. I might advise them to accept +that sum.” + +“My dear sir, I don’t want to deceive you. I attach very little +importance to your information, or your power in this matter. In fact, +I have a theory as to the place where the box is concealed.” + +“Indeed, sir,” said Vernon, with a sneer. “May I ask what is your +theory?” + +“Certainly. I think it is concealed near some country town, in a +secluded spot in a wood.” + +Vernon jumped to his feet in dismay. He was convinced that his +confederate had got the start of him and made a bargain with the +lawyer, thus anticipating his own treachery, for he had promised Temple +that he would suffer some time to elapse before communicating with +anyone on the subject. + +“Who has been here?” he asked. + +“One who saw you and your confederate bury the box,” answered the +lawyer, sternly. + +Without a word, Vernon dashed from the office, only to be seized by the +two detectives, who had come provided with handcuffs. + +“This is an infamous conspiracy!” declared Vernon, furiously. “If Ralph +Temple has betrayed me—— + +“Harry,” said the lawyer, “do you recognize this man?” + +Vernon stared in surprise at the supposed office boy. + +“Yes, sir.” + +“Where did you see him last?” + +“In Pegan Hill Wood, in the town of Waybridge.” + +“What was he doing?” + +“Burying a tin box in a hole which he dug for the purpose.” + +“Who was with him?” + +“A man named Ralph Temple.” + +“What do you say to this, Mr. Thompson?” asked the lawyer. + +Vernon turned to Harry. + +“Where were you at the time?” he asked. + +“In a tree just overhead,” answered Harry, undauntedly. + +“I was a fool not to look more carefully about me,” he said. “What is +your name?” + +“Harry Gilbert.” + +“Then, Mr. Harry Gilbert, I owe you a debt which, sooner or later, I +shall manage to pay.” + +“Take him away,” said the lawyer to the detectives, “and then come back +to me for instructions.” + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII — FINDING THE BOX + + +“My boy,” said the lawyer, turning to Harry, “you have done yourself +credit. A grown man could not have shown more judgment.” + +“Thank you, sir,” said Harry, pleased at the compliment. + +“But your work is not yet done. As soon as the detectives have +returned, you must go back at once to Waybridge with them, and lead +them to the place where the box is concealed.” + +“I am ready, sir,” replied Harry. “But,” he added, with a sudden +thought of one of his errands, “will there be time for me to go to Wall +Street first?” + +“Why do you want to go to Wall Street?” + +“I have some coupons which I am to sell for Mr. Wilkins.” + +“To what amount?” + +“Ninety dollars gold.” + +“I will myself give you the money for them, as that will save time. +Should the search for the box be successful, I will take upon me to pay +you the reward as soon as you desire it.” + +“Thank you, sir.” + +Harry might have declined the reward, but he felt, justly, that he had +rendered a valuable service to the unknown owner of the bonds, and was +entitled to it. + +Presently the detectives came back. + +“Well,” said the lawyer. + +“He is safe under lock and key,” promptly answered one of them. + +“How did he appear?” + +“Sullen and despondent. He vows vengeance against this boy.” + +“Probably he will not be in a position for some years to harm him. And +now I have some instructions to give you.” + +Half an hour later Harry and the two detectives were passengers on a +train bound for a town not far from Waybridge. It was a different +railroad, however, from the one on which Harry had come. The choice was +made from a desire to avoid suspicion. + +From a point four miles distant they took a carriage, hired from a +stable, which left them on the opposite side of the wood from the one +by which Harry had previously entered. + +Of course, they could not penetrate the wood with a vehicle, and the +question came up: + +“Who can be got to look after it?” + +Just then Harry saw in a field near-by Reuben Richardson—the boy who +had released him from his bonds. + +“Reuben!” he called out + +Reuben approached, regarding Harry and his companions with surprise. + +“Have you an hour to spare?” asked one of the detectives. + +“Yes, sir.” + +“Then please look after this team, and I’ll see that you don’t lose +your time.” + +“All right, sir.” + +Then, free from all anxiety, the three made their way into the forest. +The way seemed blind enough to the two detectives, who were, of course, +on unfamiliar ground. + +“Are you sure you can find the place?” asked one of them, doubtfully, +addressing himself to Harry. + +“Sure,” answered Harry, briefly. + +“It seems blind.” + +“I know the wood well. I have played here from a boy.” + +“Where does this Temple live?” asked the second detective. + +“In the edge of the wood.” + +“Near here?” + +“No, on the other side of the wood.” + +“It is to be hoped he has not grown distrustful and removed the box.” + +“I don’t think there is any danger of it, sir. Remember, it is only +last night that it was concealed. Besides, he wouldn’t dare to attempt +it in the daytime, when he would be liable to be seen.” + +“Quite right. You are unusually considerate for a boy.” + +Harry did not disappoint his companions. He led the way to the place +where, the night previous, he had seen the tin box secreted, and +instantly pointed out the exact spot where it was concealed. + +The two detectives lost no time in searching for it. They had brought +no shovel with them, lest, being seen, their object might excite +suspicion; but, by means of sticks which they sharpened into stakes +with the help of sharp jackknives, they turned up the earth, and, in +due time, revealed the box. + +“There it is,” said Harry, joyfully, for he was also helping, and it +was his stake that struck it first. + +“So it is,” exclaimed the first detective, in a tone of satisfaction. + +There was no loss of time in lifting the box from its place of +concealment. Then it was thought best to replace the earth, and +carefully to cover the place with leaves, so as to hide from the +superficial observer the fact that it had been disturbed. + +“Our errand is accomplished,” said the second detective. “Now let us +make all haste back to our wagon.” + +“I will guide you,” said Harry. + +“Do so, or there is no knowing when we shall get back, or whether we +shall get back at all. I once lost my way in a wood, and was wandering +about four good hours, and all within a radius of two miles, before I +got out. It is difficult to keep your direction in a forest, unless you +have a compass.” + +So Harry, who had expected it, served as a guide on the return, and +conducted them safely to the wagon. + +Reuben was paid for his service with a dollar bill, which he declared +he should have considered satisfactory for a whole day’s labor. + +Harry was about to say good-by to his companions, but they advised him +to ride back with them to a point on the road where he could make his +way to Waybridge without the trouble of passing through the wood, +besides having a less distance to go. + +“What time is it?” he asked. + +“Two o’clock,” answered one of the detectives, consulting his watch. + +“Only two o’clock!” + +Harry could scarcely believe it, so much had happened since he got up +in the morning, yet it was even so. It had taken very little time to do +his business in the city, as we know, and almost half the day still lay +before him. + +Harry thought of what he had accomplished with pardonable pride and +satisfaction. He had frustrated the plans of two daring thieves, caused +the arrest of one of them, and the probable speedy arrest of the other, +arranged for the restoration to the owner of a valuable property, and +earned for himself the munificent sum of two hundred and fifty dollars. + +Nothing particular happened on his homeward walk. + +“Got home so soon, Harry?” asked Uncle Obed, as our hero entered the +little cottage. + +“Yes, sir; and here’s the money for your coupons.” + +“How about that other matter, Harry?” + +“It came out all right. Where’s mother?” + +“Gone to call on one of the neighbors.” + +“Then I’ll tell you about it; but I don’t want to say a word to mother +till the whole thing is settled.” + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV — PHILIP IN A TIGHT PLACE + + +Ralph Temple was still at his cottage, or, more properly, hut, waiting +impatiently for Vernon to reappear, that he might obtain his share of +the contents of the tin box. + +He had led a lawless life, and more than once been engaged in dishonest +transactions, but never in one of such magnitude as the present. He +calculated that, even if they surrendered the box in consideration of a +reward, he would not receive less than a thousand dollars, and he was +planning how he would dispose of this sum. + +This was the project which he fixed upon: For years he had been +desirous of visiting California, in the hope that chances of getting +rich, honestly or dishonestly, might be met with in a State whose very +name was suggestive of gold. With a thousand dollars he would feel +justified in going. Moreover, there would be an advantage in leaving a +part of the country where he was an object of suspicion to the +authorities, and was liable at any time to be arrested for complicity +in more than one questionable transaction. + +In his lonely hut he knew nothing of the developments in the last +robbery—whether any reward had been offered as yet. This was +necessarily left in the hands of Vernon, while he remained to guard the +hidden treasure. + +A state of suspense is all the harder to bear when a man has nothing +else to divert his thoughts, and this was the case with Temple. + +“What if the box should be discovered?” was the thought that haunted +him. + +Finally, though he had once before visited the hiding-place of the tin +box, he decided to go again, and started at such a time that he arrived +about an hour after Harry and the detectives had unearthed and removed +it. + +Meanwhile, it becomes necessary to state that Philip Ross, whose +curiosity was excited by the continued absence of Harry, made up his +mind once more to visit the wood to see if he could discover any traces +of his victim. + +“He’s hiding in the wood so as to make an excitement,” thought Philip. +“He’ll make a great fuss about what we did to him.” + +In fact, Philip was getting a little anxious about the results of his +high-handed treatment of Harry. He was not sure but Harry might have +him arrested, and this excited his fears. He admitted to himself, +reluctantly, that tying a boy hand and foot, and leaving him all night +in the forest, was rather more than a joke. + +He called at the hotel for Congreve, but was told that he had gone to +ride. + +After a little hesitation, he decided to go to the wood alone, carrying +with him, by way of precaution, a stout cane which belonged to his +father, to defend himself with in case Harry should be lying in wait +and make an attack upon him. + +On his way he had occasion to pass by the locality of the hidden +treasure, though, of course, he knew nothing about this. + +Just at the spot he heard a tramping in the fallen leaves, and, looking +up hastily, saw Ralph Temple approaching. + +Now, Temple, as we know, was a man of questionable reputation, and, +moreover, once already he and Congreve had had an angry altercation +with him. It is not much wonder, therefore, that Philip’s heart beat +with fear at the prospect of meeting this man alone, so far from help. + +He could not get away without attracting attention, and, therefore, as +the best thing under the circumstances, hid himself behind the broad +trunk of a stately oak tree, and in fear and trembling waited for the +unwelcome intruder to depart. + +Ralph came along, with a quick, swinging gait. He was a tall man, of +strong frame, and an unprepossessing countenance appropriate enough to +his character and reputation. + +His first glance was directed toward the spot where he had helped bury +the box upon which his future plans depended. + +There was something that startled him in the evident displacement of +the leaves, as if there had been others there since the morning. + +“Can it have been taken?” he asked himself, with a thrill of anxiety. + +He strode forward hurriedly, and, removing the leaves, discovered signs +of recent disturbance. Most suspicious of all, he found one of the +stakes, the end soiled with dirt, which had been used by the +detectives. + +With a beating heart and a muttered imprecation, he began to dig down +to ascertain whether his apprehensions were justified. + +Philip, peering from behind the tree, was very much alarmed by this +incomprehensible proceeding. + +What could the man be doing? Was he insane? He blamed his folly in +seeking again this dangerous neighborhood after the encounter of the +morning. + +“Oh, if I were only safe at home,” he mentally ejaculated; “or, if +Congreve were with me. If he discovers me he may kill me.” + +He thought of running away, but in the silence of the forest his steps +would undoubtedly be heard, and he would be pursued. So it seemed most +prudent to stay where he was. In fear and trembling he continued to +watch the dreadful outlaw. + +It was not long before Temple made the unwelcome discovery, suspected +from the first, that the box was gone. He desisted from his work and +gave vent to such a volley of imprecations that Philip trembled as if +he had an ague fit. + +Could it be, Temple asked himself, that Vernon had proved false to him, +and, returning, conveyed away the box for his own individual profit? + +“If he has, I’ll kill him,” he muttered, in a deep, growling tone. + +Philip heard him, and his heart beat fast with fear. Who did Temple +want to kill? Was it himself or Congreve? + +“I’d give a thousand dollars, if I had it, to be at home,” thought the +miserable boy. + +As for Temple, he was no less miserable. All his hopes and +anticipations were dashed. The disappearance of the tin box, whoever +might have removed it, would render it impossible to carry out plans of +Californian emigration with which he had been solacing himself all the +morning. Such a big haul as the present might never be made again. + +His first suspicion fell upon his partner, but he also thought of the +two whom he had met in the forenoon in the wood. They had been +suspiciously near the spot, and might be implicated in the loss. It +didn’t seem probable, but it was possible. + +At this inauspicious moment Philip, yielding to a tickling in the +throat which he couldn’t overcome, coughed. It was not a loud cough, +but Temple heard it. + +He instantly started for the quarter from which the sound proceeded, +and in a few seconds discovered and dragged Philip by the collar from +behind the tree. + +“What are you doing here?” he demanded, sternly. + +“Nothing,” answered Philip, trembling. + +“Ha! You are one of the boys that I caught prowling round here this +morning.” + +“I have as much right here as you,” said Philip, plucking up a little +courage. + +“Have you? We’ll see about that,” snarled Temple. “Where’s the other +fellow?” + +“He isn’t here.” + +“Isn’t here? I don’t believe it. He’s hiding somewhere near.” + +“Then you can find him,” said Philip, sullenly. + +“No matter! I’ve got you, you rascal!” And he shook Philip fiercely. +“What villainous work have you been up to?” + +“I don’t know what you mean,” said Philip, his teeth chattering. “I am +the son of Colonel Ross, and he won’t allow me to be treated this way.” + +“I’d treat him the same way if I caught him here,” growled Temple, with +a lack of reverence for the colonel’s exalted position, which struck +Philip with horror. “Now, tell me what you have done with the tin box, +you young scoundrel!” + +“The tin box!” ejaculated Philip, in genuine amazement. + +“Yes, the tin box. You know well enough what I mean.” + +“I don’t know anything of any tin box; indeed, I don’t.” + +“Do you mean to say you didn’t dig it up from the place where we put +it?” + +“No; indeed I didn’t! I don’t know anything about it. What was in it?” + +Was this ignorance real or affected? Temple could not tell. What was +certain was that the box was gone, and this boy was hovering about the +spot. It would be folly to let him go. + +“I don’t believe you,” he said, bluntly. “You must come with me.” + +And he began to drag Philip off in the direction of his hut. + +“Oh, where are you taking me?” asked the frightened boy. + +“You’ll know soon enough. I’m going to keep you till the tin box is +restored to me.” + +Poor Philip! As he was jerked along by his collar, in the stern grasp +of the outlaw, he suffered a good deal more than Harry had in his +recent captivity. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV — PHILIP BECOMES A PRISONER + + +“Please let me go, and I’ll give you five dollars,” said poor Philip, +as he was dragged along the forest path by his captor. + +“Humph!” said Temple, grimly, thinking he might as well take the money, +though he had no intention of releasing Philip. “Have you got five +dollars with you?” + +“No.” + +“Then you are trying to fool me,” exclaimed Temple, with an angry jerk +at the boy’s collar. + +“No, I’m not,” answered Philip, terrified. “I’ve got two dollars with +me, and I’ll bring you the rest before night. + +“Where will you get it?” + +“From my father.” + +“And I suppose you expect me to let you go home and get it?” + +“If you please.” + +“But I don’t please. You must think I’m a fool. Just as if you would +come back if you had once got away!” + +“But I will. I promise it on my word of honor.” + +“Your word of honor,” repeated Temple, scornfully. “As if I didn’t know +what that amounts to.” + +Philip would have resented this imputation if he had dared, but there +was a look of grim resolution about Temple’s mouth which made him +afraid to show any resentment. + +“Besides,” added Temple, “what do you think I care for five dollars? +After you have stolen thousands of dollars from me, you dare to think I +will let you off for five dollars.” + +There was something in this speech which, despite Philip’s terror, +attracted his attention. Temple spoke of being robbed of thousands of +dollars, yet he was generally considered a poor outlaw. How could he +have come into possession of so large a sum? + +“Thousands of dollars!” repeated Philip, in undisguised amazement. + +“Yes; what have you got to say about it?” demanded Temple, sharply. + +“I thought you were poor,” Philip couldn’t help saying. + +Temple paused a moment. He knew that the possession of so much money +would excite surprise in others besides Philip, and he regretted his +imprudence in speaking of thousands of dollars. As it was done, he must +give some kind of an explanation. + +“So I was poor; but a rich cousin in New York died lately, and left me +a large legacy. Not having any safe to put it in,” he added, with a +grim smile, “I concealed it in the wood, thinking it would be safe. +When I saw you and that friend of yours prowling around this morning, +it crossed my mind that it was in danger; but I didn’t think you were +thieves.” + +“We are not,” said Philip. “We know nothing about your tin box.” + +“That’s all very well to say. What were you doing in the wood just +now?” + +“I only went there for a walk.” + +“Of course,” said Temple, with a sneer. “It’s a pleasant place for a +walk, and handy to your house.” + +“I hope to die if I ain’t telling the truth!” said Philip, desperately. + +“You’ll die when your time comes, and it may come sooner than you think +for,” said Temple, taking a malicious pleasure in seeing Philip turn +pale and tremble in his grasp. + +“You wouldn’t kill me?” faltered Philip. + +“I don’t know what I shall do. If you tell me where the box is, I +shan’t.” + +“But I don’t know—hope to die if I do.” + +“Who was that fellow with you?” demanded Temple, abruptly. + +“James Congreve.” + +“Where does he come from?” + +“From New York.” + +“If you haven’t stolen the box, he has. It lies between you.” + +“James wouldn’t steal it. He is a gentleman.” + +“So gentlemen don’t steal?” sneered Temple. “I am not sure about that. +I know one thing. I’ve lost the box, and one of you has got it.” + +It occurred to Temple that it was more likely to be Congreve, who was +older and bolder than the boy he had captured, but he was not disposed +to let Philip go, nevertheless. + +Again Philip denied the charge, but this time Temple did not answer. + +At length they reached the hut, and entered. + +Now came the critical moment. What was this bad man going to do with +him? Philip asked himself. + +He was dragged into the hut, and then, for the first time, his captor +relaxed his grip. + +“Sit down there,” he said, pointing to a wooden chair, from which the +paint had all worn off. + +Philip sat down. + +“Now, if you dare to stir or try to escape I’ll kill you,” said Temple, +coolly. + +“What a blood-thirsty ruffian!” Philip thought, trembling. + +Temple opened the door of a closet, which was filled with a variety of +articles, including a small supply of kitchen utensils. + +He took out a case-knife, to the horror of poor Philip, who concluded +he was to be butchered in cold blood. Still, he did not dare to leave +his seat, lest his jailer’s threat should be carried into execution. He +was happily undeceived, however, for from the floor of the closet +Temple lifted a portion of a clothesline, and with some difficulty, for +the knife was dull, cut off a portion. Then he turned to Philip. + +“I can’t stay here to stand guard over you, boy,” he said, “but I don’t +mean that you shall get away in a hurry. I think I have found a way to +prevent your escaping.” + +He approached the boy, and said: + +“Hold out your hands.” + +“What are you going to do to me, Mr. Temple?” asked Philip, nervously. + +“Tie you,” answered his captor, sententiously. “What do you suppose +ropes are made for?” + +“Please don’t tie me,” said Philip, in dismay. “I won’t run away.” + +“No, I don’t think you will. Hold out your hands.” + +There was no help for it. Philip, much against his will, held out his +hands, and they were tied tightly around the wrists, so that the +stricture was painful. + +“It hurts me,” he complained. + +“It would hurt your neck worse,” replied Temple. + +Philip understood what he meant, and turned pale. But a ray of hope +came to him in his despondency. Even if his hands were tied he might +escape, and he resolved to do so as soon as Temple was at a safe +distance. + +His hands being tied would not prevent his walking or running, and once +out of the wood he would feel comparatively safe. + +He reckoned without his host, however; or, rather, he reckoned without +knowing the intentions of his captor. + +“There,” said Temple, when the boy’s hands were tied, “so far so good! +Now for your feet!” + +Hope died once more in Philip’s breast. He might escape with his hands +tied, but with his feet tied it was quite another matter. In vain he +protested against this second indignity. His jailor was not to be +moved. + +“You may as well spare your breath, boy,” he said. “I ain’t quite a +fool. I’m not going to leave you free to get away as soon as my back is +turned.” + +So Philip’s feet were tied, too, and he realized how utterly helpless +he was. + +“There, you can amuse yourself now as much as you like,” said Temple, +with a humor that Philip did not by any means appreciate. “You’ll have +a nice, easy time, with nothing to do.” + +He turned and left the hut, relieving Philip of his presence, which was +one comfort, but did not go very far. + +As my readers will conclude, Philip began to work his wrists up and +down, vainly endeavoring to unloose the rope, but only succeeded in +hurting himself. Next he tried his feet, but they, also, were securely +confined. + +It was a righteous retribution for the trick he had played on Harry +Gilbert. He was being paid off in his own coin. Though his conscience +was not particularly sensitive, it did occur to him that he was in +precisely the same condition as the boy whom he and Congreve had left +alone in the dark wood, fully expecting that he would have to remain +all night. + +But even then he could not be said to feel deep regret for his unworthy +act. He was sensible of the inconvenience to which he was subjected by +his constrained position, and began to chafe and fret under it. + +“I wonder how long he’s going to leave me here?” thought Philip, +though, in truth, he hardly knew whether he wanted Temple to return or +not. + +“Just as soon as I get away, I’ll ask pa to have him arrested. I +wouldn’t mind seeing him hung.” + +An hour passed—about the longest hour Philip had ever known. At length +his eager ears discerned steps outside the hut. It might be a friend! +At any rate, he would call, and perhaps the call would bring rescue. + +“Hello, there!” he called out. “Come in; I need help!” + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI — PHILIP IS FORCED TO APOLOGIZE + + +There were two persons outside, one of whom was our hero, Harry +Gilbert. The other, though dressed in citizen’s clothes, was an +officer, who had been sent to arrest Temple, on a charge of being +implicated with Vernon in the robbery of the tin box. + +Harry at once recognized the voice of Philip, and it is needless to say +that he was filled with genuine surprise. + +“That must be Philip Ross,” he said, in a low voice, to the officer. + +“Who is Philip Ross?” + +Harry gave a few words of explanation. He did not, however, mention the +mean trick which Philip had played on him. + +“He is not a friend of Temple?” asked the officer. + +“Oh, no! He must have got into some trouble with Temple. Please stay +here, and let me go in and see what is the matter. I have a reason for +wishing him to think I am alone, just at first.” + +“Just as you say,” returned the officer. “I take it for granted Temple +isn’t here, or the boy wouldn’t have called. Suppose the man comes +back?” + +“Let him come in, and you can follow. Between us, I guess we can make +him a prisoner.” + +“You have plenty of courage,” said the officer. “Are you not afraid to +have him come in upon you?” + +“Not while you are near to help me,” answered Harry. “In that cabin we +could pen him up.” + +“That’s true. Well, go in to your friend.” + +“A queer sort of a friend Philip is,” thought Harry, but he did not +object to the title. + +Opening the cabin door, which Temple had closed, Harry regarded Philip +with amazement. He could hardly believe the testimony of his eyes when +he saw his enemy, tied hand and foot, very much as he had been the +night before. + +“What’s the matter, Philip?” he asked. “What has happened to you?” + +“Can’t you see for yourself,” demanded Philip, querulously. “I’m tied +so tight I can’t move.” + +“Who did it?” + +“That thief, Temple! I should like to wring his neck!” said Philip, +spitefully. + +Though Harry was not a vindictive boy, it did strike him as appropriate +that Philip should have a chance to see for himself how it seemed to be +bound. Deferring the gratification of his curiosity, he inquired: + +“How do you like it?” + +“How do I like it?” echoed Philip, furiously. “Don’t ask such absurd +questions, but come and untie me.” + +“Wait a minute,” said Harry. “Perhaps you have forgotten that this is +the way you and Congreve served me only last night. I suppose you +thought it a good joke. Well, Ralph Temple has played the same joke on +you.” + +“Joke!” repeated Philip. “He’ll find out what kind of a joke it is when +my father has him put in jail.” + +“Do you think he deserves to be put in jail just for that?” + +“Yes, I do.” + +“Then it seems to me that you and your friend Congreve deserve the same +punishment for what you did to me.” + +“It’s entirely different; but stop talking and come and untie me.” + +“You didn’t untie me. You left me to pass the night in the forest +alone.” + +Philip eyed Harry attentively, and it struck him that perhaps it would +be better to drop his haughty and domineering tone and temporize a +little, if he wanted a rescue. He could afterward treat Harry as he +pleased. + +“I didn’t think you’d make so much of a little matter like that,” he +said. “It was a mistake. I didn’t mean you to stay all night. Congreve +promised to go back and untie you. Didn’t he do it?” + +“No,” answered Harry, dryly. + +“Then he broke his promise. Just untie me, that’s a good fellow, and +I’ll make it up to you. I’ve got two dollars in my pocket, and you may +have them if you’ll get me out of this scrape. Be quick, for Temple may +be coming back, and he may kill us both.” + +“I don’t want your two dollars, Philip,” said Harry. “I am ready to +release you without that——” + +“Quick, then; that’s a good fellow.” + +“Hear me out. I was going to say, on one condition.” + +“What is it?” asked Philip, impatiently. + +“That you will beg my pardon for the trick you played on me,” said +Harry, quietly. + +“What! I beg your pardon?” exclaimed Philip, haughtily. + +“That is what I said.” + +“Do you think I would demean myself by asking anybody’s pardon?” +demanded Philip, his pride getting the better of his prudence. + +“That is exactly what I expect, Philip Ross. If I had played such a +mean trick on any one, I should think it no more than right to do just +that thing.” + +“No,” said Philip, stubbornly; “I won’t do that, but I will give you +the two dollars.” + +“I don’t want your two dollars,” returned Harry, contemptuously. + +Two dollars was not so large a sum in his eyes as it would have been +the day previous, for in the last twenty-four hours he had earned, and +was confident of receiving, a reward of two hundred and fifty dollars. +Still, even if this had not been the case, he would have disdained to +sell his assistance to Philip. + +“The money will do you a great deal more good than my asking your +pardon,” argued Philip. + +“No, it won’t. I am not very much in need of money, but I won’t help a +boy who has acted toward me as you have, unless you will apologize.” + +“Don’t be a fool! Come and help me, and the money will be yours.” + +“It is no use, Philip; my mind is made up. Will you apologize?” + +“No.” + +“Then, good-day! Give my respects to Mr. Temple when he returns.” + +So saying, Harry turned to leave the cabin, and Philip’s heart sank in +dismay as he saw the only one from whom he could hope for help leaving +his presence. + +“Hold on!” he called out. “I’ll give you five dollars! I haven’t got it +with me, but I can get it from my father. I’ll hand it to you +to-morrow.” + +Philip hated to humble his pride, and he would rather have paid five +dollars, even if it came out of his own pocket, than submit to such a +humiliation. + +“Good-by, Philip,” said Harry, resolutely. + +“Are you really going to leave me? That’s mean.” + +“You know the condition on which I’ll help you.” + +“I’ll give you ten dollars!” exclaimed Philip, desperately. + +“Not a cent! I won’t take a cent from you! Either I will help you or +leave you here, but no money shall pass between us.” + +There was a calm resolution in Harry’s tone which at last convinced +Philip that he was in earnest. + +“What do you want me to say?” he asked, sullenly. + +“That you are sorry for the mean trick you played on me, and ask my +pardon.” + +“All right. Now untie me.” + +“You haven’t said it.” + +“It’s the same thing.” + +“I don’t consider it so.” + +“Well, tell me what you want, then,” said Philip, querulously. + +“Repeat after me: ‘I am sorry for the mean trick I played on you, and I +beg your pardon.’” + +Philip was perforce obliged to do as Harry required, and he repeated +the words, though with a very bad grace. + +“That will do,” said Harry. “Now I am satisfied.” + +He felt for his knife, but did not have it with him. + +He therefore knelt down, and set to work to untie the knots in the +rope. + +He succeeded at last, but not without considerable difficulty and the +expenditure of not a little time. At last he loosened the last knot, +and said: + +“Now you are free.” + +Philip jumped to his feet—for these were the last to be released—with +an exclamation of satisfaction. + +“Thank goodness!” he cried; “now I am free, and can leave this +miserable hut!” + +He looked up, and his hopefulness was succeeded by quick dismay. + +There, in the doorway, scowling at the two boys, was the master of the +cabin. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII — THE ARREST + + +Philip’s face changed suddenly, and he uttered an exclamation of +dismay. He really believed that his life was in danger. + +“There he is!” he ejaculated, his eyes nearly starting out of his head. + +Harry turned, and his glance, too, fell on the menacing face of the +outlaw. But his face did not reflect the terror so plainly to be seen +on Philip’s. It should be remembered, however—for I do not wish to give +our hero more credit than he really deserves for his courage—that he +knew help was near at hand, and Philip didn’t. + +Ralph Temple didn’t speak at first. Then he looked from Philip to +Harry, and demanded, savagely: + +“Who released that boy?” + +“I did,” answered Harry, undaunted. + +“How dared you do it!” again demanded Temple, in the same tone. + +“I thought he must be uncomfortable.” + +Temple looked at him as if puzzled to account for his cool courage. It +was evident that here was a boy who would not be easily scared. + +“Did you know that I tied him?” asked Temple, fiercely. + +“Yes.” + +“And yet you dared to untie him?” + +“Certainly. You had no business to tie him.” + +“What! you dare say this to my face?” + +“Why shouldn’t I? What did you tie him for?” + +“Didn’t he tell you?” + +“No.” + +“Then I will, though it’s none of your business. He stole my property.” + +“Did you do that, Philip?” asked Harry, who was not yet aware of +Temple’s suspicion. + +“No; I hope to die. I did not!” answered Philip, solemnly. + +“What does he say that you stole?” continued Harry. + +“He says I stole a tin box, containing some bonds or something.” + +“I begin to understand,” thought Harry. “Philip is suffering for what I +have done. I must free him, if I can. + +“Was the box in the cabin?” he asked, not considering it prudent to +betray all that he knew. + +“No; it was buried in the earth, out in the woods,” said Philip. + +“That’s true,” said Temple, with an oath. “It was all the property I +had.” + +“It’s a queer place to keep articles of value,” said Harry, looking +steadily at Temple. + +“I shall keep my own property where I please,” said Temple, doggedly. +“You don’t suppose I’d keep it here in this hut. It wouldn’t be safe +for twenty-four hours.” + +“Did you see Philip take it?” continued Harry, assuming, unconsciously, +the tone of a judge or advocate. + +“No; but I saw him prowling round near-by, and the earth had been +disturbed. As for the tin box, that was gone, and he stays here till it +is found.” + +As he spoke he approached Philip, to tie him anew. + +“Oh, please don’t tie me again, Mr. Temple!” pleaded the terrified boy. +“Indeed, I didn’t carry off your tin box. I didn’t know you had any.” + +“Perhaps the box dug itself up and walked off,” said Temple, with +withering sarcasm. “You must think I am a fool. Somebody dug it up, and +knows where it is now.” + +“It wasn’t me.” + +“At any rate, it won’t do any harm to tie you up until I find out more +about it.” + +Temple picked up the rope which Harry had thrown on the floor, and was +about to repeat his work, when Philip exclaimed, partly from the +instinct of self-preservation, partly to gratify his mean spite against +Harry: + +“I shouldn’t wonder if Harry Gilbert carried it off himself. He was +prowling about the wood yesterday.” + +Harry could hardly believe his ears. This boy who accused him was the +one he had just released from his bonds. + +He looked at Philip, his face expressing the contempt he felt. + +“I suppose this is to pay me for untying you?” he said. + +“I can’t help it; I am sure you did it,” persisted Philip, thinking +what a fine thing it would be for Harry to change places with him. “I +am rich, and I have no need to steal. You are poor, and, I dare say, +would like to get hold of Mr. Temple’s bonds.” + +Temple paused a moment, and then said: + +“The boy may be right. I’ll tie both of you. One of you knows something +about it, or I’m mistaken.” + +Philip’s face fell. He had hoped to get free himself. It would be some +satisfaction for him to see the boy he hated in the same plight, but +still he would rather go free. + +“Tie him first,” he said. + +It occurred to him that while Harry was being tied he might slip away. + +“I know my own business best, youngster,” said Temple. + +And he made Philip sit down again in the chair from which he had been +released. + +“Don’t you dare leave the cabin, unless you want to be brought back,” +he said to Harry. “Your turn will come next.” + +Harry did not answer, but coughed. It was the signal agreed upon +between him and the officer outside. + +Temple was on his knees beside Philip’s chair, tying the boy, with his +back toward the door. He listened to hear whether our hero made any +attempt to escape, being prepared to pursue and bring him back by +force. + +He heard a slight motion, and looked around quickly. + +There in the doorway stood a stranger, quietly covering him with a +revolver. + +Temple jumped to his feet, in surprise and alarm. + +“Who are you?” he demanded. + +“I am an officer of the law, Ralph Temple, and I call upon you to +surrender,” said the stranger, coolly. + +“An officer? I don’t believe it. Where is your uniform?” + +“I had my reasons for not wearing it. Do you surrender?” + +“Why should I? What do you want of me?” asked the outlaw, uneasily. + +“I want you for the theft of a tin box of bonds, taken from an office +in New York.” + +“I know nothing about it,” said Temple, hastily. + +“That is too late! I have heard you charge that boy with stealing it +from you. You admitted that you had concealed it in the wood.” + +“That was my own property. I have been robbed of it.” + +“You will have a chance to prove that in a court of law.” + +“I’ll do that, if you’ll let me alone.” + +“I have orders to arrest you.” + +“Then you’ll have to show that you are a stronger man than I!” +exclaimed Temple, with an oath, and he prepared to dash forward. + +“Stay where you are, or I fire!” said the officer, sternly. + +Temple looked in his eyes, and saw that he was dealing with a man of +resolution. He knew something of faces, and he saw that this man would +be as good as his word. + +“What do you want of me?” he said, sullenly. + +“You must go with me.” + +“Lead on, then. I’ll follow.” + +“I must adopt a little prudential measure first, Harry, take these +handcuffs.” + +Harry stepped forward and received them from the officer. + +“Hold out your hands”—this was said to Temple—“and let this boy put on +the handcuffs.” + +“I’ll kill him before I’ll allow him to do it!” exclaimed Temple, +violently. + +“I don’t think you will, or even make the attempt,” said the officer, +quietly. “You forget that I hold your life in my hands,” and he made a +slight motion with the revolver. + +“You wouldn’t dare to shoot?” + +“If you should prove to be mistaken, it would be a serious mistake,” +said the officer, quietly. + +It was his very quietness and freedom from excitement that daunted +Temple. + +“You’ll repent this!” he said. “You’ve got the whip hand on me now, but +the time will come when I’ll get even with you.” + +“I have been threatened before,” said the officer, briefly. “Harry, do +what I told you.” + +Temple sullenly held out his wrists, and Harry put on the handcuffs. + +“Now, follow me!” + +They went out of the cabin, Philip following. He tried to be social +with Harry, but our hero had not forgotten his mean attempt to throw +suspicion upon him, after a service received at his hands, and received +his advances very coldly. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII — MR. CHASE IS BROUGHT TO JUSTICE + + +Temple’s manner was sullen as he walked beside Harry and the officer, +handcuffed. He overcame his sullenness, after a while, so far as to +inquire: + +“How came you to suspect me of this robbery?” + +“Your friend Vernon has confessed it,” answered the officer. “You may +as well know, for it will do no harm.” + +“So he betrayed me?” said Temple, bitterly. + +“He had no choice. He was trapped himself.” + +“Where is he now?” + +“In prison, awaiting trial.” + +Temple looked better satisfied. He had suspected Vernon of turning +State’s evidence and betraying him. + +“But how was he found out?” he asked, after a pause. + +“The night you hid the tin box in the wood, there was some one who saw +all that passed.” + +“Who was that?” asked Temple, eagerly. + +“You will know in due time.” + +“Where are you taking me now?” + +“To the county jail.” + +“Where is the tin box?” + +“In the hands of the man from whom you stole it, There, I have answered +your questions, and have no more to say.” + +“What do you think will be done with me?” asked Temple, anxiously. + +The officer shrugged his shoulders. + +“Gentlemen of your profession,” he said, “are generally well informed +on that point. If found guilty, you will be boarded at the expense of +the county for a term of years.” + +“Curse the luck!” uttered Temple, savagely, and then was silent. + +Philip had left them, and was on his way home, glad to get out of his +predicament, but more incensed than ever against Harry for the +mortification he had put upon him in compelling him to beg his pardon. + +“I’ll get even with him, see if I don’t,” he muttered. + +When Harry and the officer had lodged their prisoner in jail, the +latter said: + +“I nearly forgot to tell you that Mr. Wheeler wishes you to call at his +office to-morrow.” + +“In the morning?” + +“As you please.” + +“I think I will go up by the morning train,” said Harry, after a little +reflection. + +“Then you will be likely to meet me on the train. I shall be a +passenger.” + +“I will look for you. I shall be glad to have company.” + +“By the way, that was very creditable work of yours, ferreting out the +bond robbers.” + +“I was lucky, that is all,” answered Harry, modestly. + +“Partly so, but you have showed excellent judgment throughout, and +personal bravery.” + +“Don’t flatter me, Mr. Pry. You may make me conceited.” + +“You ought to be one of us.” + +“I don’t think I should like it,” said Harry, slowly. + +“Perhaps not, but you’re fitted for it, for all that. Well, good-day. I +shall see you to-morrow.” + +“You are getting to be an important business man, Harry,” said Uncle +Obed, when our hero announced that he had a summons to the city next +day. + +“What is it all about, Harry?” asked his mother, rather puzzled. + +“Let the boy explain in his own good time, Mrs. Gilbert,” said the old +man. “I know he isn’t in any mischief.” + +“I may be able to tell you to-morrow evening, mother. It will be +something that will surprise you.” + +“I suppose it is all right, Harry, as Mr. Wilkins says so.” + +“Yes, mother, I can assure you of that.” + +In due time Harry boarded the morning train. He looked through the cars +till he found Mr. Pry, the detective, and took a seat beside him. + +It was not long before his attention was called to a smooth, plausible +voice, proceeding from a person who sat two seats in advance of the one +he occupied. + +“My dear sir, if it will be any accommodation to you, I will myself buy +your bond, and pay you the market price.” + +There was something in the voice, and in the words, that attracted +Harry’s attention and excited his suspicions. + +“Excuse me a moment,” he said to the detective, and, passing through +the aisle, reached a point where he could look back at the speaker. + +He knew him at once, not only by his face, but by the profusion of +rings upon his fingers. It was the same man that had cheated the poor +farmer by giving him counterfeit money in payment for his coupons. + +If, however, he had any doubt, it was set at rest by what followed. + +“I don’t know,” said his seat companion, an industrious mechanic; +“perhaps I’d better wait, and sell it in the city.” + +“As you please, my friend,” said the young man. “I only made the +proposal thinking I might accommodate you.” + +“Is that your business—buying bonds?” asked the mechanic. + +“In the city, yes. I am a member of the well-known firm of Chase & +Atkins. Of course, you have heard of them.” + +“Ye-es,” answered the mechanic, doubtfully. + +“I am Mr. Chase. We do a general banking and brokerage business. Let me +see, what is the denomination of your bond?” + +“Eh?” + +“I mean, of what size? Is it a fifty, or a hundred?” + +“It’s only a fifty, sir. It was a present to my wife. Now she wants to +use a little money, and so she has got me to sell it.” + +“We give rather higher prices than most brokers,” said Chase, smoothly. + +“How can you do that?” asked the mechanic, who was a man of good common +sense. + +“Well, you see, we ship ’em to Europe, and make a handsome profit. It +would be for your advantage to sell to me; but you must act your own +will.” + +The mechanic began to think more favorably of the proposal, and asked +one or two more questions. Finally he said: + +“Well, I don’t know but I might as well. Have you got money enough with +you?” + +Chase took out a plethoric pocketbook, stuffed with bills, and called +attention to it, smilingly: + +“We bankers always have to be well provided with money.” + +The mechanic looked respectfully at the owner of so much money. + +“I dare say it’s more than I could earn in a year,” he said. + +“I dare say you are right, my friend,” said the young man. + +“Very well. Count out the money, and the bond is yours.” + +The exchange was made, and both parties seemed well satisfied. + +Chase deposited the bond in an inside pocket and then, saying, +carelessly, “I’ll go into the smoking car for a few minutes,” rose from +his seat. + +But in the meantime Harry had returned to his own seat, and whispered a +few words in the ear of the detective. + +The latter sharply scrutinized the young man who called himself Chase, +and said, in a low voice: + +“I know him now. He’s an old offender. I thought there was something +familiar in his appearance. I’ll look after you, my fine fellow.” + +He waited till the exchange had been effected, and the young man was on +the point of leaving the car. + +Then he rose, and, hurrying forward, placed his hand on the young man’s +shoulder. + +“A word with you, sir,” he said. + +“Really, sir, I don’t remember you.” + +“Perhaps not. I remember you. Do me the favor to return that bond to +the man from whom you obtained it.” + +“It is mine. I have paid for it.” + +“With counterfeit money.” + +“Do you mean to insult me?” demanded Chase; but there was a sudden +pallor on his face and a tremor in his voice. + +“That will do, Jimmy Neal. I told you I knew you. That is an old trick +of yours.” + +“Who are you?” asked the detected swindler, in a faltering voice. + +“Pry, the detective.” + +“Will you let me go if I restore this bond?” + +“No; there is another case I must inquire into—that of a farmer from +whom you bought some coupons a day or two since, paying him in the same +worthless rags. Sit down here,” pointing to a vacant seat. “You may +consider yourself under arrest.” + +Great was the consternation of the mechanic when he learned how nearly +he had been swindled, and profuse were his thanks to Harry and the +officer. + +“Be more prudent the next time,” said the latter, “and don’t sell bonds +to a stranger in the cars again.” + +We may as well add that the traveling broker was duly tried, and +sentenced to a term in State’s prison, and that enough good money was +found on him to repay the farmer for the coupons he had imprudently +parted with. + +Greatly to his satisfaction, Harry was intrusted with the office of +acquainting Simon Jones with the pleasant fact that his money would be +restored to him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX — HARRY BECOMES A “BONDHOLDER.” + + +When Harry entered the office of Mr. Wheeler, the lawyer was engaged +with a client. He nodded pleasantly to our hero, and said: + +“I shall be at leisure very soon. You will find the morning paper on +that table.” + +When his interview with the client was over, he beckoned to Harry to +approach. + +“Well,” he said, “thanks to your good management, we have triumphantly +succeeded. The stolen property is recovered, and the thieves are in +custody.” + +“It was not so much good management as good luck,” said Harry. + +“Partly both; but, however that may be, the owner of the property +authorizes me to make a substantial acknowledgment for the service you +have rendered him. Let me see—the reward offered was two hundred and +fifty dollars.” + +“That’s too much, sir.” + +“The gentleman who gives it does not think so. Indeed, he authorizes me +to somewhat exceed it. In this envelope”—here the lawyer produced a +large-size package—“you will find two one-hundred-dollar government +bonds and one fifty. The value of the three, at present prices, is +nearer three hundred dollars than two hundred and fifty. I need not +caution you to take good care of them.” + +“Are they for me?” asked Harry, his cheeks flushing with pleasure. + +“Yes; they are six per cent. bonds, and will bring you fifteen dollars +a year in interest—not quite enough to live upon,” the lawyer added, +with a smile, “but something to add to your income.” + +“I can hardly realize that I am worth so much money,” said Harry, as he +took the package and put it into his inside coat pocket. + +“Have you a watch?” asked Mr. Wheeler. + +“No, sir,” replied Harry, in surprise. + +“I thought not; and I, therefore, ask you to accept one as a gift, not +from my client, but from me.” + +He produced a handsome silver watch, manufactured at Waltham, with a +silver chain attached. + +Now, Harry had long wanted a watch, but the prospect of obtaining one +before he was of age had seemed very remote. At the moment, I think, +the present of the watch gratified him as much as that of the bonds, +though the latter were ten times as valuable. + +“It is beautiful,” he said; “but, Mr. Wheeler, why should you give me a +present? The bonds were not yours.” + +“That is true, but they were under my charge, and I should have been +seriously troubled had they not been recovered. Take the watch, my boy, +and I hope it will please you as much to receive it as it does me to +give it.” + +“Thank you, sir,” said Harry, warmly. “It seems to me there is no end +to my good fortune.” + +“Continue to deserve it, my boy, and I think it will continue. I must +bid you good-morning now, as I have another appointment.” + +“Good-morning, sir, and thank you.” + +“By the way,” the lawyer added, “I shall bear you in mind, and, should +I have any work which I think you can do, I will send for you.” + +“I shall be glad to serve you in any way, sir.” + +So saying, Harry left the office. He was so much in a hurry to show his +present at home that, though it was still early, he decided to take the +next train, which would bring him home about noon. + +His mother and Mr. Wilkins had just seated themselves at the dinner +table when Harry entered. + +“What! home already, Harry?” asked his mother, in surprise. + +“I judge from your tone, mother, that you haven’t got enough dinner for +me,” said Harry, gayly. + +“If that’s the case, I’ll eat a little less,” said Uncle Obed. “But why +didn’t you stay longer?” + +“Because I got through with my business, and thought I might as well +come home,” answered Harry. + +By this time his mother’s eyes happened to fall on the silver chain +displayed across his vest. + +“What is that, Harry?” she asked. + +Harry drew out the watch, with pardonable pride. + +“Where did you get it?” asked his mother, in amazement. + +“A lawyer in New York gave it to me.” + +“But what lawyer do you know, my son?” asked his mother, more and more +bewildered. + +“That isn’t all, mother. Look at that!” + +Harry drew out the package of bonds, and displayed them to his +astonished mother. + +She at once concluded that he had found them. + +“They are not yours, Harry,” she said. “If you found them, you must +restore them to the owner.” + +“So I will, Mrs. Gilbert. I give these bonds to you, and recommend you +to take good care of them.” + +“What does all this mean, Harry? You cannot give away what does not +belong to you.” + +Harry felt that it was time to explain, and he did so. It was necessary +to begin with the account of Philip’s treatment of him in the wood. + +Mrs. Gilbert was very indignant, and she spoke warmly. + +“It was shameful!” she said. “To leave you there alone in the dark +wood, tied hand and foot! The boy ought to be served in the same way +himself!” + +“Wait till I get through my story, mother,” he said, “and perhaps you +will find that Philip got into a little trouble of his own.” + +So he continued his story, and told, finally, of how he found Philip +Ross bound, and trembling for his life, in the cabin of Ralph Temple. + +“Served him right,” said Mrs. Gilbert, satisfactorily. + +“As things have turned out, I can afford to overlook his past meanness. +He has suffered punishment, though not at my hands.” + +“If I had known that you were mixed up with burglars, I should have +felt very anxious, Harry.” + +“I know it, and that is why I didn’t tell you. However, all’s well that +ends well. The tin box is found, the robbers are caught, and I have a +rich mother.” + +As he spoke, he put the bonds into his mother’s hands. + +“But, Harry, they are yours. I cannot accept them.” + +“Take care of them, at any rate, mother, and use the interest. I shall +like it better than to keep them myself.” + +“You are a good boy, Harry,” said Uncle Obed. “I like to see boys think +considerable of their mothers. And now, if you are both ready for +dinner, I am.” + +“Excuse me, Mr. Wilkins. I was so intent upon Harry’s story that I am +afraid the dinner is cold.” + +They sat down to dinner, and the meal was a very happy one, even if the +dishes were somewhat cold. Harry’s good luck put them all in fine +spirits. + +After dinner Harry went out into the village, in the direction of the +store. + +I suspect he wanted to show his watch, as most boys do when for the +first time they become the proud possessor of one. + +On the way he met Philip Ross and James Congreve. The latter he had not +seen since they parted in the wood. + +“There’s our young captive, Philip,” said Congreve. + +“He’s got a watch. At any rate, I see a watch chain,” said Philip, +whose curiosity was excited. + +“Hello!” called out Congreve, as they met; “where did you get that +watch?” + +“I don’t see wherein my having a watch should concern you; but I do +know, after the contemptible treatment I received at your hands +yesterday, your questions deserve no notice from me. But, as matters +turned out so well, I can afford to swallow my indignation.” + +“It was rather a mean trick, leaving you bound in the wood,” said +Congreve, candidly. “I wouldn’t have done it, except to oblige Philip.” + +“Has he told you how he liked being tied himself?” + +Congreve looked, in surprise, at Philip. The latter had not chosen to +say anything about his own adventure in Temple’s hut. + +When Harry told the story, not omitting to mention that he had +compelled Philip to beg his pardon before he released him, Congreve +burst into hearty laughter, while Philip stood by, angry and ashamed. + +“That’s the best joke I ever heard,” said Congreve. “I wish I had been +there to see.” + +“I thought you were my friend,” said Philip, indignantly. + +“I laugh at my friends sometimes,” said Congreve. “What a splendid +joke!” + +Philip didn’t see it in that light, and was so mortified that he didn’t +give Congreve an opportunity to ask further about the watch, but +hurriedly moved on. All the remainder of the afternoon he passed in a +sullen frame of mind. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX — CONGREVE’S SCHEME + + +James Congreve was a dangerous companion for Philip. He was utterly +unscrupulous, but took care to keep up a semblance of propriety, in +order not to terrify the boy whom he was leading into mischief. + +They had commenced playing cards for amusement—at least, that was +Congreve’s pretext—but it had led to playing for a stake. + +Occasionally, when the stake was small, Congreve allowed Philip to win; +but, when more than a dollar was staked on the game, he generally +managed to win himself. + +Of course, Philip did not know that he was a victim, and that his +chosen friend, Congreve, was a skillful sharper, who had practiced his +art on Western steamboats, and was sure to get the better of him. + +Why had he remained in this country village so long? Surely, it didn’t +pay him to fleece one victim, and that one a boy. + +I can give the explanation. + +He had been leading a fast life for a year back, and a physician whom +he consulted had recommended country air and quiet for the summer. + +“Unless you follow my directions, Mr. Congreve,” he said, “I won’t +answer for your life. You have been going at too quick a pace +altogether.” + +James was sensible enough to follow this advice, and that is why we +find him a guest at the quiet village hotel. + +The physician’s advice proved to be good. His wasted energies were +recuperated, his thin cheeks filled out and showed a healthy color, his +appetite improved, and he felt himself again. + +When the first week in September arrived, he felt that he was well +enough to go back to the city, to more congenial scenes. He was +heartily tired of the country, and anxious to get away. Only one thing +remained to be done, and that was to collect what Philip owed him. + +“I can’t wait any longer,” he said to himself. “I must compel the boy +to pay up. It will liquidate my hotel bill and leave me something over. +I can’t let the thing stand any longer.” + +Soon after he had come to this conclusion, Philip entered his friend’s +chamber. + +“How are you, Phil?” said Congreve, carelessly. + +“All right!” + +“By the way, I’ve got some news for you.” + +“What is it?” + +“I’m going away.” + +“Going away? Where?” + +“Back to the city first. I have an urgent summons from my friends +there.” + +“How soon do you go?” + +“That depends upon you.” + +“Upon me? I don’t understand!” said Philip, puzzled. + +“You ought to. As soon as you have paid me what you owe me. I need it +to enable me to settle up at the hotel.” + +Philip turned pale. It was just what he had worried over many a +time—this terrible debt, which he felt utterly unable to liquidate. + +“How much is it?” he asked, nervously. + +“How much? Really, I haven’t reckoned it up yet; but I will,” said +Congreve, carelessly. + +He took out his wallet, and drew out a variety of papers, to which +Philip’s signature was attached. + +Then he sat down at a table, took a pencil from his pocket, set the +different sums on paper, and added them up deliberately. All this was +humbug, for he had added it up before Philip came in, and knew to a +dollar how much it amounted to. Philip stood by, feeling miserably +uncomfortable, while the reckoning went on. + +“Really,” said Congreve, looking up at length, in assumed surprise, “I +had no idea it amounted to so much!” + +“How much does it come to?” questioned his wretched dupe. + +“One hundred and thirty-six dollars,” was the calm response. + +“A hundred and thirty-six dollars!” gasped Philip. + +“Yes; surprising, isn’t it? Little sums count up, you know. However, +we’ve had some fun out of it, haven’t we?” + +“I don’t see where the fun comes in,” said Philip, bitterly. “Of +course, it’s fun for you to win so much.” + +“You won some of the time, Phil. Think how many games we have had, and +how exciting it was. You play a good deal better game than you did.” + +“But I have lost a big pile of money.” + +“Oh, yes. Experience costs money, you know. You’ll get it all back, and +more, too, some day.” + +“How can I, when you are going away?” + +“I don’t mean out of me. I suppose my game is better than yours. I mean +out of somebody else.” + +Philip was silent. The hope held out did not seem to comfort him much. + +“When will you pay me that money, Phil?” asked Congreve, abruptly. + +“When? I’m sure I don’t know. I haven’t any money, you know.” + +“That won’t do. It isn’t satisfactory,” said Congreve, assuming a +sternness he had never before exhibited toward his friend. + +“What do you mean?” asked Philip, half frightened, half offended. + +“I mean that I need the money, and must have it.” + +“I’d pay it to you if I had it, but I haven’t.” + +“You must get it.” + +“How can I? My father won’t give it to me.” + +“Listen to me. I am in earnest. I want to ask you a question. Suppose +you had won, wouldn’t you have expected me to pay you?” + +“Why, yes, I suppose so.” + +“Well, it’s a poor rule that doesn’t work both ways. I tell you, Phil, +I need that money. I need it to pay my hotel bill.” + +“Was that what you depended upon to pay your bills?” asked Philip, with +awakening suspicion. “I thought you had plenty of money.” + +This was what Congreve had represented to his dupe, but the question by +no means disconcerted him. + +“Of course,” he said; “but a man can’t always command his resources. I +have sent in two different directions for money, but they have put me +off, so I have to fall back on you.” + +“I’d like to pay the money, and get it off my mind,” said Philip, +uncomfortably, “but the fact of it is I can’t.” + +“This is a debt of honor. Gentlemen always pay their debts of honor. It +takes precedence of all other claims.” + +“I have no other claims. That is all I owe to anybody.” + +“Well, when can you let me have the money?” + +“I am sure I don’t know,” returned Philip, sullenly. “I didn’t expect +you were going to press me so.” + +James Congreve saw that Philip had reached the point which he desired. + +“I press you because I have to,” he said. “I have already told you how +you can settle the claim.” + +“How?” asked Philip, uneasily. + +He could guess, for there had been conversation on that point before. + +“You know what I mean. Get hold of some of your father’s government +bonds,” said Congreve, insinuatingly. + +“I don’t want to become a thief.” + +“Pooh! Isn’t he your father, and ain’t you an only son? Won’t it all be +yours sometime?” + +“Yes, but——” + +“Oh, don’t bother with buts! That makes all the difference in the +world.” + +“I couldn’t do it without being suspected,” objected Philip, with whom +this was the principal consideration. + +“Yes, you can. You’ll give the bonds to me, and I will dispose of them. +If you could get hold of two hundred-dollar bonds, I would give you the +balance, after deducting the amount of my debt.” + +“But I am sure to be suspected.” + +“Unless you throw the suspicion upon some one else.” + +“How can I?” + +“There’s your friend, Harry Gilbert——” + +“He isn’t my friend.” + +“Well, your enemy, then. So much the better. You can say you saw him +prowling round the house. If you could get him arrested, it would be a +satisfaction, even if he wasn’t convicted.” + +“That’s true. I should like to get even with him.” + +“So you can. You can throw suspicion on him, and get off free yourself. +It will be a splendid revenge.” + +Philip began to think favorably of the scheme, arid before he left the +hotel had agreed to it. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI — THE TEMPTER + + +Philip was far from being a model boy—as we have seen, he didn’t shrink +from meanness—but it was not without reluctance that he assented to +James Congreve’s proposal. He did not feel that abhorrence of theft +that a better principled boy would have done, but the thought of +resorting to it gave him a sense of humiliation. Besides, the fear of +detection inspired in him a certain uneasy feeling. In fact, he +retraced his steps, and sought Congreve in his room again. + +“What! back again?” asked James, in surprise. + +“Yes,” replied Philip. “I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to do what +you proposed to me.” + +“Don’t want to do it?” repeated Congreve, frowning. “What nonsense is +this?” + +“No nonsense at all,” retorted Philip, not liking his friend’s tone. “I +don’t want to be a thief.” + +“You won’t be. It’s all in the family, you know.” + +“What if it is? Father won’t take that view of it.” + +“That won’t matter to you.” + +“Why not?” + +“Because he won’t know you took the bonds. You’re not going to tell +him.” + +“He may find out.” + +“Look here, Phil. You’re the biggest coward I ever met!” + +“If you think so, suppose you do it yourself,” said Philip. “That’ll +show whether you are a coward or not.” + +“That’s absurd. It wouldn’t be in the family then. The bonds don’t +belong to my father. There wouldn’t be any excuse for me.” + +“You want me to do what you are unwilling to do.” + +“You already explained why. Besides, I’ve no object in taking them. As +for you, why they are part yours already; and, besides, you need the +money you can raise out of them to pay your debts.” + +“I haven’t any debts, except to you.” + +“So much the better for you,” answered Congreve, coolly. “You won’t +have any one to pay except me.” + +“I wish I’d never made your acquaintance,” said poor Philip. + +“Very complimentary, upon my word!” replied Congreve, with a sneer. “It +strikes me that you have got as much pleasure out of the acquaintance +as I.” + +“I haven’t got you into my debt.” + +“It isn’t my fault if I am a better player at cards than you. However, +that’s neither here nor there. I don’t propose to play any more with +you. I ought not to have let you run up such a score. Just pay that +off, and I won’t trouble you any more.” + +“I’ve told you I can’t pay you.” + +“Except in one way, and that way is an easy enough one. Listen to +reason, Phil,” he said, dropping his sneer. “Don’t you see it is going +to benefit you as well as me? You’ll have a good deal of money left for +your own use, after paying me, provided you take two hundred-dollar +bonds. It will be convenient to have fifty or sixty dollars in your +pocket, eh?’ + +“Yes,” assented Philip, more cheerfully. + +“Of course it will, and it will be fun to see Harry Gilbert hauled up +for stealing them. Ho! ho! ho!” + +Philip echoed the laughter. This phase of the transaction certainly did +please him. + +“If it can be brought about,” he said, doubtfully. + +“Of course it can. Listen, and I’ll tell you how. You can tell your +father you saw Harry acting suspiciously near the house the evening it +is done.” + +“But the door would be locked.” + +“You can unlock it, and leave it unlocked all night. It will be found +so in the morning; and, even if the bonds are not immediately missed, +the circumstance will be remembered.” + +Philip’s mind changed again. The plan looked more feasible and +attractive as Congreve represented it. + +“Well, I don’t know but I’ll try it,” he said. + +“I thought you’d be sensible,” said Congreve, inwardly rejoiced. “Now, +let me give you one piece of advice.” + +“What is that?” + +“Strike while the iron’s hot. If you want to know what that means, +never put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day.” + +“You don’t mean I should go right home and do it?” said Philip, +nervously. + +“No; wait till to-night—when everybody is in bed. Then steal downstairs +and do the job. The sooner it’s over, the better!” + +“I’ll see about it,” replied Philip, hesitatingly. + +“He’s a little coward,” said Congreve to himself; “but I guess I can +bring him to it.” + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII — PHILIP DOES NOT FEEL HAPPY + + +At supper time Philip seemed so sober and preoccupied that his mother +said: + +“What ails you, Philip?” + +“Nothing. What makes you ask?” + +“I thought you were looking unusually sober.” + +“I suppose it is because I have a headache,” answered the boy. + +It was not a falsehood, for the burden upon his mind had actually given +him a slight headache. + +“You’d better let me mix you some chamomile tea,” said Mrs. Ross, with +whom this was a specific against more than one bodily disability. + +“No, thank you,” answered Philip, with an involuntary grimace; for, in +his younger days, when it was useless to resist, he had more than once +had an opportunity of learning how far from agreeable chamomile tea was +to the taste. “It doesn’t ache much. It will be better soon.” + +“The tea will cure you immediately, my son.” + +“I won’t take it,” said Philip, roughly. + +“Don’t speak in that way to your mother, Philip,” said his father, +reprovingly. + +“Do you ever let her give you chamomile tea, father?” + +“No,” smiled the Colonel, “I don’t require it.” + +“Nor I; and, if I did, I prefer the headache.” + +“I am not sure whether I don’t agree with you,” said his father, +smiling again. + +When supper was over, Philip lounged about restlessly. Nothing could be +done as yet—nothing, indeed, till his father had retired and was fairly +asleep—and, in the meantime, he had to wait in suspense. + +He strolled out to the stable without any definite object to take him +there. He was in an unquiet, irritable frame of mind, which was likely +to exhibit itself on the smallest provocation. + +A boy of seventeen, Tom Calder by name, was employed by Colonel Ross to +look after his two horses and attend to any errands or light duties +that might be required about the house. + +Philip, as he entered the stable, saw Tom sitting on a kitchen chair, +which had been transferred to the stable, engaged in reading a weekly +paper. + +“What are you doing there, Tom?” he demanded, in an imperious tone. + +If Philip had asked in a civil tone, Tom would have answered him with +civility, but the boy’s tone was offensive, and Tom was too spirited to +bear it. + +“What’s that to you, Phil?” he retorted. + +“You’ll find out what it is!” answered Philip, angrily. + +“That’s just what I’m wanting to do.” + +“And don’t you presume to call me Phil, either.” + +“Why—isn’t it your name?” + +“Yes; but it isn’t for you to call me by it.” + +“What am I to call you, now?” + +“You can call me Master Philip, or Mr. Philip.” + +“Ho! ho! It’s a joke you’re playing on me!” + +“No, it isn’t. It is your duty to treat me with respect. But you +haven’t answered my question.” + +“What is it?” + +“What are you doing there?” + +“Reading a paper. Can’t you see for yourself?” + +“That isn’t what my father pays you for. Go right to work.” + +“Shure, you want me to work day and night! That’s what Tom Calder won’t +do for no man last of all for a boy like you!” + +“If you ain’t careful, my father will send you away.” + +“If he does, I’ll get another place soon,” said Tom, indifferently. + +“You’re an impudent loafer!” + +“The same to yourself,” said Tom, indifferently. + +After a little further altercation, Philip walked off in dudgeon. It +was clear that he couldn’t bully Tom. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII — STEALING THE BONDS + + +Contrary to his usual custom, Philip spent the evening at home; and, as +he must have something to occupy him, he spent it in reading. Usually, +he cared very little for reading, and was prone to spend the evening +out. + +Mrs. Ross regarded her son with approval, as she saw him steadily +reading all the evening. + +“I do believe you’re getting studious, Phil,” she said. + +“I’m interested in a story,” remarked Phil. + +“How much better it is to spend the evening at home reading than to be +gadding about?” said his mother. + +“Well, you know a boy can’t be always reading,” observed Philip. + +If Mrs. Ross had been a close observer, she might have noticed that +Philip got over wonderfully few pages. Indeed, he sometimes held the +book open at the same place for half an hour together. The fact was +that Philip cared very little for reading, unless he could get hold of +some highly sensational story about highwaymen or pirates. He simply +used the book as a cover. + +The Colonel, his father, was sitting in a room which he called his +office, opening out of the family sitting-room, and Philip had seated +himself so that he could look into that room, and watch what his father +was doing. + +Near his desk, Colonel Ross kept a small, iron-bound trunk, which he +used as a sort of safe, or a repository for valuable papers, and +sometimes for bonds and securities. It was imprudent, for anyone might +readily have carried it off; but the Colonel didn’t think of this, or, +at any rate, didn’t feel inclined to go to the expense of a safe. +Indeed, most of his bonds and securities were deposited in the strong +room of the county bank, and, therefore, his imprudence was less. + +Philip’s eager attention was roused when he saw his father rise from +his desk, take up the trunk and open it, as it lay on the desk where he +placed it. + +“Now, I may find out what he has inside,” thought Philip. + +Colonel Ross opened it, as I have said, and took out several envelopes. +Opening one of these, he drew therefrom what Philip recognized to be +government bonds, and spread them out before him. + +What was the object of this examination, Philip could not divine, nor +did he particularly care, though he might had he known that his father +was considering the expediency of selling them, and buying another +security—the stock of a certain railroad—which would pay larger +dividends. His main interest was to ascertain whether his father had +any government bonds, and this question he was now able to answer in +the affirmative. + +After a brief inspection, Colonel Ross replaced in the trunk the +securities he had taken from it, and locked the trunk. The bunch of +keys, one of which opened the trunk, he laid on the desk, +unconsciously, probably. + +“I hope he’ll forget ’em,” said Philip to himself. “It’ll save me a +good bit of trouble.” + +It seemed likely that the keys would be forgotten, for Colonel Ross, as +though his business were ended, took the lamp from his desk, and +entered the sitting-room, where his wife and son were seated. + +“I don’t know how it is, wife,” he said, “but I feel sleepy.” + +“It isn’t your bed hour yet. It is only half-past nine.” + +“That is true, but I shall go to bed earlier than usual to-night.” + +“All the better for me,” thought Philip. “Now, if mother would only go, +too!” + +It seemed as if everything was turning out favorably for his plan, for +his mother answered: + +“Well, I think I will accompany you—that is, if Philip won’t feel +lonely.” + +Philip’s heart beat with eager satisfaction. He had expected that he +would be obliged to go to bed, and wait there till his father and +mother were asleep, then steal downstairs, running the risk of +detection, light a lamp, and commit the theft. Now it looked as if he +could do it much more easily. + +He answered, in as indifferent a voice as he could assume: + +“I am not at all sleepy. I’ll stay up a little longer and read.” + +Mrs. Ross nodded, in a satisfied way, to her husband. + +“I do believe Phil’s getting fond of reading,” she said. + +“I hope he is,” returned the father. + +“Phil,” said his mother, “the servant is out tonight. A cousin of hers +is sick, and I gave her permission to stay with her all night. Are you +willing to close up the house?” + +“Oh, yes,” answered Phil, briskly. “I’m glad she’s away,” he thought. +“She won’t be spying round and see what I’m about. Besides, I can leave +the door open, so that it will be easier to accuse Harry Gilbert.” + +“Good-night,” said his mother. + +“Good-night, mother.” + +“Don’t stay up too late reading.” + +“No, I won’t.” + +“How many more pages are there, Philip?” asked his father. + +“About four hundred,” answered Phil, looking over to the end. + +“Then I wouldn’t advise you to sit up till you’ve finished the book,” +he said, jocosely. + +“I guess not. I shan’t sit up more than half an hour.” + +So Colonel and Mrs. Ross went upstairs, and the coast was clear. + +When he was left alone, and felt that the hour so long anticipated had +come, Philip’s heart beat fast. + +“Come; it’s easier than I hoped,” he said to himself. “And father left +his keys, too, on the desk. I hope he won’t think of them, and come +downstairs after them. That might upset my plans, though I’ve got a lot +of old keys in my pocket, and one of them might answer. However, +there’s none so good as the real thing.” + +Philip had to consider whether he would wait till his father and mother +were asleep, or act sooner. He at length decided, in the words of +Shakespeare, though he was not familiar with them: + +“If ’twere done with when ’tis done, Then, ’twere well it were done +quickly.” + +The argument was this: If he acted soon, he could make use of his +father’s keys, and that would save him trouble. On the other hand, +there was some risk that his father might think of them, and, coming +downstairs, surprise him. However, Philip didn’t think this was likely, +and, in any event, he resolved to take the risk. He could pretend that +he had just caught sight of his keys, and was going to carry them +upstairs for safekeeping. + +Indeed, Philip did not wait more than ten minutes. + +“Father must be in bed by this time,” he said to himself. + +He took the small lamp by which he was reading, and entered his +father’s office. + +There lay the keys, and there stood the trunk. + +He took the bunch of keys and selected a small one, which he thought +likely to fit the trunk. + +It did. + +The lid was lifted, and Philip, with eager hand, took the envelope +which he knew contained the government bonds. It was a bulky envelope, +and contained probably eight or ten bonds. + +Of course, Philip didn’t venture to take all. He selected two, of one +hundred dollars each, and replaced the others in the envelope, and +afterward in the trunk. + +He put the bonds in his inside coat pocket, and, hastily refastening +the trunk, replaced the keys on his father’s desk. + +He breathed a sigh of relief to think the thing was done, and walked +over to the window. + +What was his gratification to see Harry Gilbert walking by on the other +side of the street. + +“All happens right,” he said. “Now, Harry can’t say he was at home. +I’ll fix him. I’ll say I saw him at the window, looking in, and his +denial won’t amount to much, when he admits, as he will, that he was +near the house.” + +He would have felt differently had he seen the face of Tom Calder +peering in at one of the side windows. Tom had spent the evening in the +village, and was now on his return to his chamber, on the second floor +of the stable. His attention was attracted by the light in the room, +and, as the curtain was partly raised, he took the liberty of peering +in, unobserved. + +“By gracious!” he exclaimed, in amazement. “Phil is stealing gov’ment +bonds from his father. He’s a bad one, but I didn’t think that of him.” + +Tom slipped out, resolved to consider at his leisure what he had better +do about imparting his secret information. It was well he did, for Phil +himself almost immediately came to the same window. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV — PHILIP GETS RID OF HIS PLUNDER + + +“Philip,” said his mother, at the breakfast table the next morning, +“the servant tells me she found the outside door unlocked this morning. +Didn’t I ask you to lock it before you went to bed?” + +“So you did, mother. I really hope you’ll excuse me. When I got ready +to go to bed, I forgot all about it.” + +“It might have proved serious,” remarked his father, “for I found this +morning that I had left my bunch of keys on my desk. I don’t see how I +came to be so negligent.” + +“It’s lucky no burglar or dishonest person knew of it,” said Mrs. Ross. +“You might have met with a serious loss.” + +“So I might, for I had about a thousand dollars’ worth of government +bonds in my trunk, besides certificates of various kinds of stock. The +latter would have done no one any good, though the loss would have +annoyed me, but the government bonds might readily be sold.” + +“I shouldn’t think you’d keep the trunk downstairs, father,” said +Philip, who felt easy, as there seemed no likelihood of suspicion being +fixed upon him. + +He resolved so to act as to divert any future suspicion. + +“I don’t know but it is imprudent,” said Colonel Ross. + +“Of course it is,” said his wife. “You deserve to suffer loss.” + +“I will take it upstairs hereafter,” said her husband, “especially,” he +added, jocularly, “if Philip is to be trusted to lock the front door.” + +Philip smiled, but his smile was not exactly an easy one, for he was +every minute apprehensive that it would occur to his father to open the +trunk and examine the contents. He did not want this to happen till he +was out of the way, for it would be rather a trial to his nerves to +hear the announcement made of the loss, while he knew that the missing +bonds were concealed in his inside coat pocket. + +Philip was in a hurry to see Congreve, and get rid of his troublesome +deposit. He hurried through his breakfast, therefore, and rose from the +table. + +“You’ve eaten very little, Phil,” said his mother. + +“Oh, I’m not hungry,” said Philip, carelessly. “I didn’t get up early +enough to raise an appetite.” + +“You got up as early as usual,” said his father. + +“Perhaps reading in the evening didn’t agree with me,” replied Philip, +smiling. + +“Where are you going?” asked his mother. + +“Just out for a walk.” + +“Will you call at the grocery store and tell them to send up a barrel +of flour?” + +“All right.” + +Usually Philip, who was far from obliging naturally, made a fuss when +asked to do an errand, but now he spoke very good-humoredly. He was so +anxious to get out of the house that he was ready to promise anything. + +“I really think Philip is improving,” said his mother, after he had +gone out. + +“There’s some room for it,” remarked his father, dryly. + +Philip, as may be supposed, made his way as quickly as possible to the +hotel. As he came up, he saw the one of whom he was in search—James +Congreve—standing on the piazza, smoking a cigarette. + +“Well?” he said, guessing something from the evident excitement of +Philip’s manner. + +“Let us go up to your room, Congreve,” said Phil. + +“All right.” + +He led the way upstairs to the small room which he occupied as a +bedroom, and Philip followed him in. The latter carefully closed the +door. + +“I’ve got ’em,” he exclaimed, triumphantly. + +“The bonds? You don’t say!” + +“As true as you stand there.” + +“Let me see them.” + +Philip drew the bonds from his pocket, and handed them to Congreve. + +The latter said, joyfully: + +“You’re a trump, Phil!” + +“Yes, I think I managed pretty well,” said Phil, complacently. + +“Tell me how you did it.” + +So Phil explained. + +“You were in precious luck, I can tell you. I had no idea things would +turn in your favor so. Let me see—here are two one-hundreds.” + +“Yes; that’s what you said.” + +“True. Were there more in the trunk?” + +“Yes; I heard father say there were a thousand dollars in bonds.” + +James Congreve’s face was overspread by an expression of covetousness. + +“It’s a pity you didn’t take more,” he said. + +“But what was the need of taking more? These will pay my debt to you.” + +“Of course. Still, it seemed such a good chance.” + +“You don’t think I’m going to set up as a thief, do you, Congreve?” +asked Philip, in surprise. + +“No, of course not. I didn’t mean anything. Well, Phil, the sooner +these are disposed of the better.” + +“You are going to attend to that?” + +“Yes. I believe I will take the next train up to the city.” + +“When will you be back?” + +“To-night. I will bring you the balance of the money—say, fifty +dollars.” + +“There ought to be more than that for me.” + +“Oh, it will be all right! Only, you know, I will have to sell them +below the market price, at some place where no questions are asked.” + +“I’ve no doubt you’ll do the square thing,” said Philip, who did not +know that this statement of Congreve’s was only a flimsy pretense to +enable him to appropriate a larger share of the plunder, as it may +fairly be called. + +“I’ll promise you fifty dollars, whatever the bonds bring,” said +Congreve. + +“Thank you.” + +“Now, I must get ready, for the next train leaves for the city in half +an hour.” + +“I’ll go along with you to the depot,” said Philip. + +“No, you’d better not. After the loss is discovered, it might excite +some remark, and possibly suspicion, if it were remembered.” + +“Then I’ll be going. I’ve got an errand over at the store. Shall I see +you to-night?” + +“You’d better not come around till to-morrow morning. It may help avert +suspicion.” + +“Just as you say.” + +“A pretty good haul!” said Congreve to himself. “I didn’t think the +little fool would have spunk enough to do it, but he has. I may pay him +that fifty dollars, and then again I may not. I don’t think I shall +care to come back again to this dull hole to-night. I shall have to +leave my trunk, but it isn’t worth the sum I owe the landlord, and he +is welcome to it. With the price of these bonds I can start anew +cheaper.” + +Philip left his friend, without the least suspicion that he intended to +play him false. He felt very comfortable. He had got the bonds out of +his possession, so that there was no danger of their being found on +him, and he was to receive, the next morning, fifty dollars, a larger +sum than he had ever possessed at one time in his life. He made up his +mind that he would put it away in his trunk, and use it from time to +time as he had occasion for it. + +He went to the grocery store, and left his mother’s order. Then he took +an aimless walk, for Congreve was away, and there was no one else he +cared to be with. + +So he turned to go home. He rather dreaded to enter the house, lest his +father might have discovered his loss. In the yard he saw Tom Calder. +Tom, remembering what he had seen the evening before, looked at Philip +with a significant grin, but said nothing. + +“What are you grinning at?” demanded Philip, + +“Nothing. I feel gay and festive, that is all,” responded the stable +boy. + +“Where’s my father?” + +“He went out to ride in the buggy.” + +Philip felt relieved. Evidently the loss had not been discovered yet. +He was glad to have it put off. + +“Is there any news?” asked Tom, with another grin. + +“News? Why should there be any?” + +“I don’t know. I thought you might know of some.” + +“You talk like a fool,” said Philip, angrily, and went into the house. + +“There’ll be some news soon, I reckon,” said Tom to himself, with a +grin. “I won’t say nothing till the time comes. Wonder if Philip’ll +think I am talking like a fool then?” + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV — THROWING SUSPICION ON HARRY + + +During the day Colonel Ross had no occasion to look into his trunk of +securities. Clearly, he had no suspicion that he had met with a loss. + +It might strike the reader as curious that Philip began to be impatient +to have his father make the discovery. An impending blow always leads +to a state of suspense which is by no means agreeable. When the blow +falls, a certain relief is felt. So Philip knew that the discovery +would be made sooner or later, and he wanted to have the matter +settled, and clear himself at once from suspicion by diverting it to +Harry Gilbert. + +In the hope that his father would find out his loss, he lingered round +the house through the afternoon, filling up the time as well as he +could. Usually, he would have passed at least a part of the time with +James Congreve, but the latter had gone to the city. + +“Don’t you feel well, Philip?” asked his mother. + +“Certainly! What makes you ask?” + +“You don’t generally stay at home all the afternoon.” + +“Oh, well, there isn’t anything going on in the village.” + +“Where is that friend of yours who is staying at the hotel?” + +“He went away this morning to the city.” + +“Isn’t he coming back?” + +“Oh, yes, I suppose so.” + +“I suppose you feel lonely without him?” + +“Yes, mother.” + +“Have you seen anything of Uncle Obed lately?” asked Mrs. Ross, making +a wry face as she pronounced the word admitting the relationship. + +“Yes; I saw him walking with the Gilbert boy the other evening.” + +“Did you speak to him?” + +“No; I just nodded. I don’t care about getting intimate with him. I +wish he’d leave town.” + +“As likely as not, he’ll use up all his money, and then come on your +father for help.” + +“I hope father won’t give him anything, then,” said Philip. + +“I am willing that he should give him enough to get him back to +Illinois. He ought never to have left there. If he thinks we are going +to pay his board here, all I can say is that he is very much mistaken,” +said Mrs. Ross, pressing her thin lips together with emphasis. + +“That’s the talk, ma! I am glad you don’t mean to be imposed upon. I +suppose old Wilkins thinks you are soft, and won’t see him suffer. +You’d better keep a stiff upper lip.” + +“He will know me better after a while,” said Mrs. Ross. + +The afternoon wore away, and supper came. Philip partook as usual, and +waited afterward in the confident expectation that his father would +open the small trunk. He was not mistaken. + +Upon retiring to his special apartment, Colonel Ross took up the trunk, +and, producing the key, opened it. + +It so happened that he was after some papers, and did not immediately +take up the envelope containing the government bonds. Philip was rather +afraid he wouldn’t, and ventured to remind him of them by a question. + +“How many government bonds have you in that envelope, pa?” he asked. + +“A little over a thousand dollars,” answered Colonel Ross. + +“Will you let me look at one? I want to see how it looks.” + +This question led the colonel to open the envelope. He took out a bond +and handed it to Philip. + +“Are these coupons?” asked Philip, who knew perfectly well, but only +wanted to fix his father’s attention. + +“Yes, they are promises to pay interest semiannually. In January and +July I cut off one of these little slips, and receive the interest it +represents in gold.” + +“That’s very convenient, isn’t it?” + +“Yes, for I can get the coupons cashed at any bank or broker’s office.” + +Almost mechanically, he began to draw out the bonds and count them. But +his air of inattention was quickly replaced by a look of surprise and +anxiety. He counted the bonds over again, more deliberately, but each +time the number came short two. + +“That’s strange,” he said, in a low tone. + +“What is strange, pa?” + +“Two bonds seem to be missing,” said his father, in a tone of concern. + +“I’ve got one, you know, in my hand.” + +“Yes, yes. I reckoned that.” + +“How large were they? Is it much of a loss?” + +“One hundred dollars apiece, and each worth a hundred and fifteen +dollars, on account of the premium. Do you know anything about them?” +and Colonel Ross fixed a piercing eye on his son. + +“I, pa? How should I know anything about them? Why, I didn’t know +exactly how they looked. When did you see them all last?” + +“Last evening. I happened to count them then.” + +“They must have been taken from the trunk since then.” + +“Then I am almost sure I know how it happened,” said Philip, suddenly, +as if a light had dawned upon him. + +“I should like to have you tell me, then.” + +“You remember, pa, you left the keys on the desk?” + +“Yes; but there was no one here except you,” and again the father had +suspicion of his son. + +“I hope you don’t think I’d do such a thing as that?” said Philip, +virtuously. “But I am afraid it is my fault, for I left the outside +door unlocked all night. Any one might have come in and stolen the +bonds.” + +“That is true; but why didn’t they take more, or all? You didn’t see +any one round when you went to bed, did you?” + +“Yes, I did,” answered Philip, with well-feigned eagerness. “Just as I +was going to bed, I went into the next room, where the trunk is, and, +turning to look out of the window, I was quite startled to see Harry +Gilbert’s face close to the window. The light shining through the +doorway was quite strong enough for him to see the trunk and keys lying +on your desk. It’s as sure as can be that he took the bonds. You see, +he could slip in after I went upstairs, and there was nothing to +prevent. He might have been lurking around when you were examining the +bonds last night, and saw you place them back in the envelope.” + +“What is all this about?” asked Mrs. Ross, entering the room at this +point. + +It was explained to her, and she instantly adopted her son’s view. + +“Phil’s hit the nail on the head, I do believe,” she said. “I didn’t +think he was so sharp. Colonel Ross, I have no doubt the Gilbert boy +took the bonds.” + +“Then, why didn’t he take more?” asked Ross. + +“Oh, he got frightened—thought he heard a noise, or perhaps he thought +it would not be discovered so quick if he only took two. There are +reasons enough.” + +Philip and Mrs. Ross assumed so confident a tone that Colonel Ross, +though at first inclined to discredit the charge, ended by believing it +very probable. + +“This thing must be attended to,” he said. “What are you going to do +about it, pa?” + +“I shall go before Justice Slocum, and get a warrant to search Widow +Gilbert’s house. If I find anything, I shall have Harry arrested.” + +“Now, you’re in a scrape, Harry Gilbert,” said Philip to himself, +exultantly. + +“I guess I’ll go along with you, pa,” he said, aloud, “and see if James +Congreve has got back from the city.” + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI — HARRY IS CHARGED WITH THEFT + + +Philip called at the hotel, and inquired, with considerable confidence, +if “Mr. Congreve” was in. + +“He has not returned,” answered the landlord. + +“Then he won’t be back to-night,” said Philip, feeling considerably +disappointed. + +“No; the last train is in.” + +“I wonder if he had any trouble in selling the bonds,” thought Philip; +but this thought was one to which he didn’t think it prudent to give +expression. + +He walked home slowly, while Colonel Ross kept on his way to the modest +home of the Gilberts. We will precede him. + +The little family was gathered in the plain sitting-room. There were +but three—Mrs. Gilbert, Harry and Uncle Obed. + +The old man—to begin with the oldest first—was sitting in a rocking +chair, with his hands folded in his lap, and an expression of placid +contentment on his face. He had reached the age when rest is agreeable, +and was satisfied to sit through the evening, now watching Harry or his +mother, and now occupied with thoughts of earlier days and distant +scenes. He was thoroughly satisfied with the new home he had found, +plain and humble though it was. Indeed, perhaps, for that very reason, +it suited him better. + +Mrs. Gilbert was sewing. She had time enough to sew for some of her +neighbors, and in that way earned a moderate sum for herself, though, +as the family was now situated, she could have dispensed with it. + +Harry was reading a “Life of Benjamin Franklin,” which he had taken +from the Sunday school library, and was evidently deeply interested in +it. + +“What are you reading, Harry?” asked the old man, after a while. + +“Franklin’s life, Uncle Obed.” + +“You couldn’t read anything better. Old Ben is a good model for +American boys. He was a great man.” + +“So he was, Uncle Obed; and he began poor, too.” + +“Sarten, sarten! Poor boys make the smartest men—that’s my +observation.” + +“Then I’ve got one thing in my favor,” said Harry, smiling. + +“And you will succeed, too; I make no doubt of it. You’ve made a pretty +good beginning already.” + +“Thank you, Uncle Obed, for your favorable opinion. I hope I shall +deserve it.” + +“You’re worth half a dozen boys like Philip Ross. I reckon he’ll never +amount to much.” + +“He doesn’t think so,” said Harry, smiling. “He thinks himself a very +important character.” + +“Like enough! He looks like it. He doesn’t care to own me as a +relation.” + +“It would be different if you were rich, Uncle Obed.” + +“Mebbe so. I think so myself. Thank the Lord, I ain’t beholden to him +or his family for any favors. They wanted to send me home to Illinoy. I +was too unfashionable for them, I expect, but I’ve found a home—yes, +I’ve found a good home.” + +“I am glad we succeeded in making it comfortable for you, Mr. Wilkins,” +said Mrs. Gilbert, looking up from her sewing. + +“You do, ma’am,” said the old man. “I ain’t been so well taken care of +for years as I am now. I wish I could do something to show my +gratitude.” + +“The money you pay us is of great service. It makes the largest part of +our income. I am only afraid you pay too much.” + +“No, I don’t,” said Uncle Obed. “Money isn’t of much vally, compared +with a good home. If I ain’t as rich as my niece, I can afford to pay +fair board. When a man’s turned seventy, as I have, the best money can +do for him is to give him a happy home.” + +Mrs. Gilbert and Harry were pleased to find their boarder so contented. +The money he paid weekly, with unvarying punctuality, made things easy +for the widow, and relieved her of the anxiety which she had constantly +felt before his arrival. + +The conversation above recorded was scarcely over, when a knock was +heard at the front door—a sharp, peremptory knock—as of one who +demanded admittance, rather than requested it. + +All looked up, with some surprise, for it was now eight o’clock, and +they did not often have evening callers. + +“I will go to the door, mother,” said Harry. “You need not interrupt +your sewing.” + +So Harry opened the outer door, and, considerably to his surprise, saw +standing on the step the dignified figure of Colonel Ross. + +“Colonel Ross!” he exclaimed, in surprise. + +“I will come in a few minutes,” said the Colonel, stiffly. + +“Certainly, sir. Excuse my not inviting you.” + +“It is very excusable—under the circumstances,” said the Colonel, +stiffly. + +“What does he mean?” thought Harry. “I can’t tell what circumstances he +refers to.” + +“Mother,” said he, opening the door of the sitting-room, “here is +Colonel Ross.” + +“Take a seat, Colonel Ross,” said the widow, politely. + +Colonel Ross seated himself deliberately in a chair near his wife’s +uncle. + +“Glad to see you, Mr. Ross,” said Uncle Obed, thinking the visit was +meant for him. “You’re very kind to look in on an old man.” + +“I—well, my visit this evening has a different object.” + +“Oh, come to see Mrs. Gilbert! Well, how’s Lucinda?” + +“Mrs. Ross is enjoying her usual health,” said Colonel Ross, +ceremoniously. + +“Glad to hear it,” said the old man. “She hasn’t called on me yet, +though I’m the only relation she’s got within a thousand miles.” + +“Mrs. Ross is very much occupied,” said her husband, coldly. “However, +you will excuse me if I proceed to the object of my visit. I regret to +say that last evening the trunk in which I keep a part of my securities +was opened, and two government bonds abstracted.” + +“You don’t say so!” exclaimed Mr. Wilkins, really surprised. “When did +it happen?” + +“Sometime in the evening or night. The outer door was left unlocked, +through the neglect of my son, Philip, who sat up later than his mother +or myself. Unfortunately, I had myself carelessly left my bunch of +keys, including the key to this trunk, on my desk, so that the thief +found his work very easy.” + +“You and Philip were both careless. Have you got track of the rogue?” + +“I think I have,” answered Colonel Ross, in a significant tone. + +“I’m glad on’t. These fellows ought to be caught. I don’t have much +sympathy for a thief.” + +“I am glad to hear you say so,” said Colonel Ross. + +“You didn’t think I had, did you?” asked the old man, puzzled. + +“I thought you might have, when you came to know who it was I suspect.” + +“I don’t see as that will make any difference. Who is it?” + +“My son, just before retiring, saw a person prowling round the house, +and looking into the window. Doubtless, he saw the bunch of keys, and +was tempted to enter and steal the bonds.” + +“Have you arrested him?” + +“Not yet; but probably I shall before long.” + +“Who is it, Colonel Ross?” asked Mrs. Gilbert, with interest. + +“Madam,” said the Colonel, slowly, “it pains me to say that the person +seen prowling round my house, and looking in at my window, was your +son, Harry!” + +“Harry!” ejaculated the widow, scarcely thinking she had heard aright. + +“It’s ridiculous!” exclaimed Uncle Obed. + +“Colonel Ross,” said Harry, rising to his feet, and confronting the +visitor, with clear eyes and an expression of honest indignation, “do +you mean to say that you suspect me of stealing any of your property?” + +“Young man, I advise you not to be impudent or brazen-faced. Do you +mean to deny that you were near my house last evening between half-past +nine and ten o’clock?” + +“No, I don’t. I did pass your house about that time.” + +“I am glad you have the sense to own it. You may as well confess the +rest—that you entered through the unlocked door, opened my small trunk, +and took out two government bonds of a hundred dollars each.” + +“Whoever charges me with that utters a falsehood,” said Harry, boldly. +“I passed your house, but I did not enter it, and did not even look in +the window, and it is news to me that the door was unlocked, or the +keys on the desk. In fact, I didn’t know you had a trunk in which you +kept your bonds.” + +“Of course you deny it,” said Colonel Ross, “but I think it entirely +likely that the stolen bonds are at this very moment hidden beneath +this roof.” + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII — SEARCHING THE COTTAGE + + +“Colonel Ross, your suspicions are very insulting and entirely +unwarranted,” said the Widow Gilbert, with a flush on her usually pale +cheek. + +“Of course I knew you would not believe anything against your son, whom +you believe to be a model,” said Colonel Ross, with a sneer. + +“So he is—a model!” said the widow, warmly. + +“Then all I can say is that there is a strong reason to suspect that +this model son of yours is a thief.” + +“I deny it.” + +“I notice, however, that you are afraid to have the house searched.” + +“I have never expressed any unwillingness.” + +“Then I understand that you give your consent.” + +“I do.” + +“Very well. Then allow me to call in a party not interested, who will +attend to that duty.” + +Colonel Ross went to the outer door, and, opening it, called: + +“Constable, you are wanted!” + +At this summons a tall, stout man—Mr. Rogers, the village +constable—came forward, as it seemed, rather reluctantly. + +“Constable,” said Colonel Ross, “Mrs. Gilbert has given her consent to +have the house searched for the bonds which were abstracted from my +trunk last evening.” + +“Mr. Rogers,” said Mrs. Gilbert, who knew the constable well, “Colonel +Ross has made a cruel and unwarranted charge against Harry. I hope you +don’t believe he is a thief.” + +“I don’t,” said the constable, bluntly. “I’ve known your boy ever since +he was a baby, and I never knew him to do a mean thing.” + +“Constable,” said Colonel Ross, angrily, “it does not become you to +screen the guilty or make excuses for him.” + +“It strikes me you’re rather too fast, Colonel Ross, in making him out +guilty. What proof have you of it?” + +“My son’s word.” + +“Oh!” said the constable, expressively. + +“You have only to do your duty and search the house, and I venture to +predict that the evidence will be forthcoming that will convince even +you.” + +“Mrs. Gilbert,” said the constable, “I hope you’ll excuse me for +obeying the Colonel. I have to do it, you know.” + +“Do your duty, Mr. Rogers. We are not afraid to have the house searched +from top to bottom.” + +“I don’t want to disturb your things, Mrs. Gilbert. Suppose you go +round and open everything to us.” + +“If that will be satisfactory to Colonel Ross. I want him satisfied.” + +“As long as I am present, with a right to examine, I shall not object.” + +“It seems to me, Colonel Ross,” remarked Uncle Obed, “you are not +treating the boy right.” + +“It is immaterial to me what you think, Mr. Wilkins,” replied the +Colonel, with asperity. + +“Mebbe so,” said the old man. “I calculate it won’t always be so. The +time may come when you will care more for my opinion.” + +“You flatter yourself unduly, Mr. Wilkins, I assure you.” + +“Mebbe so,” answered the old man, not appearing at all discomposed by +the rude tone of his niece’s husband. + +“We will begin here, gentlemen,” said Mrs. Gilbert. + +So saying, she went about from place to place down below, opening +whatever drawers there were, even in the pantry, and revealing nothing +that looked like the bonds. + +“I didn’t expect they were downstairs,” said the Colonel. + +“Then we will go upstairs. You shall not say that we have concealed +anything or shrunk from any investigation.” + +“Very well.” + +Mrs. Gilbert thereupon led the way upstairs, and the search began. +Finally, they came to her own bureau. The upper drawer was opened, and +the sharp eyes of the Colonel detected a large envelope. It was the one +that contained the bonds which had been presented to Harry for his +service in ferreting out the burglars in the wood. + +Singular as it may seem, neither Harry nor his mother had thought of +them, and the false inference that might be drawn from their discovery. +It was natural, therefore, that each should look startled and +discomposed. + +“Ha! what have we here?” demanded Colonel Ross, clutching the envelope. + +“Those are my property,” said Harry, who was the first to recover his +self-possession. + +“I will take the liberty to examine. Ha! government bonds, as I live. +Constable, what do you say now?” demanded the Colonel, triumphantly. + +The constable, who knew nothing of Harry’s gift, looked very +uncomfortable indeed. Despite his belief in Harry’s honesty, he was +staggered by this apparent evidence to the contrary. + +“What is this, Mrs. Gilbert?” he asked. + +“They are bonds belonging to Harry. He speaks the truth.” + +“A likely story,” exclaimed Colonel Ross. “Really, Mrs. Gilbert, your +conduct is most extraordinary. I begin to think you had some knowledge +of your son’s act.” + +“Colonel Ross, don’t you dare to insult my mother,” said Harry, so +fiercely that the Colonel retreated a little, under the impression that +our hero intended to make an insult upon him. + +“Be careful, boy,” he warned. “I’ve caught you red-handed in the +commission of a crime that may send you to State’s prison. You’d better +take heed what you say!” + +“Mr. Rogers,” said Mrs. Gilbert, “that envelope contains government +bonds that belong to my son. Ask Colonel Ross how many he lost.” + +“Two bonds of a hundred dollars each,” answered the Colonel. “And here +they are,” he continued, producing two bonds of that denomination from +the envelope. + +“Look again. See if there are no more,” said Harry. + +The Colonel, evidently surprised, produced a fifty. + +“Do you mean to say that you lost that, also?” inquired Harry. + +“No,” replied the Colonel, evidently puzzled; “you must have got that +from somewhere else.” + +“I got the whole somewhere else,” said Harry. + +“It is entirely useless, Harry Gilbert, to attempt to impose upon me by +any such ridiculous story. As to the extra bond, I don’t know where it +came from. Perhaps your mother had it before. It doesn’t alter the fact +that I have found my stolen bonds in your possession.” + +“When did you lose your bonds?” asked Uncle Obed, who thought it time +to “put in his oar,” as he afterward expressed it. + +“Last evening.” + +“You’re sure you had ’em up to that time, are you?” + +“Yes; I looked them over, and counted them early in the evening.” + +“Then, all I can say is that the bonds you’ve got in your hands have +been in the house several days. Harry showed them to me when he first +got ’em.” + +“Really, Mr. Wilkins, I don’t like to doubt the word of an old man like +you; but, sir, your statement is absolutely incredible.” + +“It is true,” said Mrs. Gilbert. “I, too, assert the same thing.” + +“Then you are all in a conspiracy,” said Colonel Ross, in a passion. + +“And you have evidently plotted the ruin of an innocent boy,” said Mrs. +Gilbert, with spirit. + +“You have always pretended to be poor,” continued Colonel Ross, “and +now you expect me to believe that your son owns nearly three hundred +dollars’ worth of bonds!” + +“I do, for it is true.” + +“Where did he get them?” + +“They were given him.” + +“Utterly absurd! People don’t often give boys such presents as that. +Constable, I call on you to arrest that boy.” + +“Where is your warrant, Colonel?” + +“Arrest him on suspicion.” + +“I could not do it.” + +“Then you mean to connive at his escape?” + +“No; I’ll stay here to-night, if you insist upon it.” + +“Do so, and I will take the bonds.” + +“Lay them down, Colonel Ross; they are my property!” said Harry, +sternly. + +“You can’t be allowed to take ’em, Colonel, till you prove that they +are yours. One you admit is not,” said the constable. + +“It doesn’t matter much,” replied the Colonel, discomfited. “They will +find their way back to me soon. This boy won’t take on so high a tone +tomorrow.” + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII — PHILIP’S SURPRISE + + +“Where did that other bond come from?” thought Colonel Ross, as he +wended his way homeward. “I can’t understand it. Perhaps the boy took +it from some one else. It is just possible that his mother may have +owned a fifty-dollar bond.” + +To do Colonel Ross justice, he really thought that the bonds he had +discovered were his own, and he was convinced, by what his son had told +him, that Harry had really entered his house on the night when the +outer door had been left open and abstracted them. + +Philip, disappointed at not finding his friend Congreve at the hotel, +took his way home, and was already in the house when his father +returned. He was naturally curious to hear something of the result of +his errand. + +“Well, father,” he said, eagerly, as the Colonel entered the room where +he was seated, “what luck did you have?” + +“I found the bonds,” said his father, briefly. + +Nothing could have astonished Philip more, knowing what he did as to +the manner in which they had really been disposed of. He looked the +picture of amazement. + +“Found the bonds!” he ejaculated. + +“Certainly! What is there remarkable about that?” + +“And Harry Gilbert really had them?” said Philip, not knowing what to +think. + +“Of course!” + +“Where were they found?” + +“In the bureau drawer in his mother’s room.” + +“What can it mean?” thought Philip, in a whirl of amazement. “I gave +them to Congreve to carry to New York, and how in the world could +Gilbert have got hold of them? There must be some mistake somewhere.” + +“What did Harry say when you found the bonds?” he asked. + +“He denied that they were mine; said they were his.” + +“But where could he get them?” + +“That is the question. He said they were given to him, or some such +ridiculous nonsense, and his mother actually backed him up in this +preposterous statement.” + +“I was never so astonished in the whole course of my life!” said +Philip; and he spoke the honest truth. + +“You, my son, are entitled to great credit for your vigilance, and you +apprising me that the boy was prowling about the house on the evening +in question. I shall make you a present of ten dollars.” + +“Oh, thank you, father,” said Philip, his eyes expressing his delight, +as his father drew from his pocketbook two five-dollar bills and placed +them in his hand. + +“At any rate, it has turned out pretty lucky for me,” he thought to +himself. “All the same, it is a puzzle where those bonds came from. +Congreve wouldn’t go and give them to Harry? No, of course not! Well, +the best I can do is to keep mum.” + +“There is one circumstance that rather puzzles me,” said the Colonel, +reflectively. + +“What is it, father?” + +“I only miss two hundred-dollar bonds, and I found in the boy’s +possession a fifty-dollar bond in addition. That is certainly +singular.” + +“So it is,” said Philip, showing his own surprise. + +“He must have stolen that from some other party,” continued the +Colonel. + +“As like as not,” chimed in Philip, glibly. “Have you got the bonds +with you?” he asked, after a pause. “Did you bring them back?” + +“No. Rogers, the constable, said I could not take them till I had +proved them to be my property. He is a stupid old countryman, and knows +nothing about law. He was evidently prejudiced in favor of the +Gilberts.” + +“Well, what did you do with Harry?” + +“He ought to have been taken to the lockup, but the constable didn’t +want to do it, and I agreed that he might stay in the house, under +guard of the constable, of course, for I apprehended the boy might make +an effort to run away.” + +“Did he seem much frightened?” asked Philip, curiously. + +“No; he seemed very indignant at being suspected. Of course, it was all +put on. He was actually insolent, and defied me to take the bonds. I +suppose he thought he could put me off the scent by his bravado.” + +“What are you going to do to-morrow?” asked Philip. + +“I shall have him taken before a magistrate, and shall formally charge +him with the theft.” + +“What did Uncle Obed say?” inquired Philip, suddenly. + +“It really is of very little consequence what that old man said,” +returned Colonel Ross, stiffly. “Of course, he sided with the Gilberts, +and he actually had the effrontery to say that the bonds had been in +the house for several days.” + +“He couldn’t have given the bonds to Harry, could he?” + +“Of course not. The man is a pauper, or about the same as one. Every +day I expect he will come to me to ask pecuniary assistance.” + +“Will you give him any money if he does?” + +“Yes; enough to get him back to Illinois. He ought never to have left +there.” + +Philip went to bed in a state of wonderment, but at the same time in a +state of satisfaction. Suspicion had been diverted from him, the real +culprit, and the boy whom he hated more than any other was likely to +suffer for his misdeeds. + +If he had had a conscience, this thought ought to have made him +uncomfortable, but it did not. He thought, rather, that under cover of +this charge made against another, he and Congreve would be free to use +the proceeds of the stolen bonds, and he began even to plan in what way +he would spend his portion. + +Meanwhile, a very different scene took place in the cottage of the +Gilberts, after the Colonel had taken his leave. + +“I hope, Mr. Rogers,” said Mrs. Gilbert to the constable, “you don’t +believe my boy guilty of this base deed which the colonel charges upon +him?” + +“I’ve always thought highly of Harry, ma’am,” said the constable, “and +I can’t think now he’d take anything that wasn’t his; but it is rather +strange that them bonds should be found in this house now, ain’t it?” + +“No, indeed. Is the Colonel the only man in town that owns bonds?” + +“I expect not; though, so far as my own experience goes, I know I ain’t +got any. I always thought—begging your pardon, Mrs. Gilbert—that you +was poor, and now what am I to think?” + +“You needn’t think I am rich; but Harry owns those bonds, and they are +the reward of his own good conduct. Would you like to hear how he came +by them?” + +“Yes, ma’am, if you don’t mind telling me.” + +“I don’t mind telling you, though I didn’t choose to tell the Colonel.” + +Whereupon, Mrs. Gilbert related the story of the tin box secreted in +the wood, and how, through Harry’s prompt action, those who had +purloined it had been brought to justice. + +“You’ve got a smart boy, Mrs. Gilbert,” said the constable, admiringly. +“I couldn’t have done as well myself. There won’t be any difficulty in +clearing Harry now.” + +“What would you advise, Mr. Rogers?” + +“Nothing at present; but if we find it necessary to-morrow, we can get +that lawyer’s testimony, which will certainly clear Harry of this +charge.” + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX — HOW CONGREVE SUCCEEDED + + +Philip would not have felt flattered if he had been able to read the +thoughts of his friend James Congreve, when the latter was riding away +from the village where he had been boarding, toward the great city. + +“That’s the last I shall ever see of the young snob, I hope,” he said +to himself. “I’ve got all I can out of him, and now I wash my hands of +him. I wish him joy of waiting for me to-night. It’ll be many a long +day before he sees me or the balance of the bonds.” + +James Congreve settled back in his seat, bought a paper from the paper +boy on the train, and began to read in a very comfortable frame of +mind. + +From time to time he put his hand on the inside pocket in which he had +placed the bonds, to make sure of their safety, for no one knew better +than he that there were dishonest persons to be met with who were +willing to appropriate valuables belonging to others. + +It was some time since he had been so well off as he would be when he +had converted these bonds into money. Indeed, all the summer long he +had been short of funds, or he would not have spent so long a time in a +country village, which to him was dull and afforded him a small field +for his peculiar talents. + +Arriving in New York, Congreve took his way to Wall Street. Here it was +that he expected to get rid of the bonds, or, rather, exchange them for +greenbacks. + +In this street brokers’ and bankers’ offices abound, and all negotiable +securities readily find a purchaser. He stepped into an office nearly +opposite the opening of New Street, and, approaching the counter, said, +as he drew out his bonds: + +“What are you paying for government sixes?” + +“Let me see the date,” said the clerk. He spread open the bonds, and +then answered: “One hundred and fifteen and three-eighths.” + +“Very well,” replied Congreve. “I will sell them.” + +The clerk took them and stepped to the desk, to make an entry of the +purchase. + +“What name?” he asked, turning to Congreve. + +“John Baker,” said Congreve, with momentary hesitation. + +For obvious reasons, he thought it best not to mention his own name, as +trouble might possibly come from the possession of the bonds. + +“Shall I give you a check?” was the next question. + +“I would prefer the money,” answered Congreve. + +“Go to the cashier’s window, and he will attend to you.” + +“Not much trouble about that,” thought Congreve, complacently, when he +was startled by a voice at his elbow. + +“How are you, Congreve?” + +Looking around hastily, he saw a hand extended, and recognized a young +man who had at one time been a fellow-boarder with him in Fourteenth +Street. It is safe to say that James Congreve wished him anywhere else +at that most unfortunate time. + +“Hush!” said he, in a subdued whisper; “I will speak to you outside.” + +He hoped the clerk had not heard the name by which he had been +addressed; but he hoped in vain. The latter, pausing in his writing, +came to the counter and said: + +“Didn’t this gentleman call you Congreve?” + +“Yes,” admitted Congreve, uneasily. + +“You just gave your name as John Baker.” + +“Oh, no! That is, I didn’t say my name was John Baker. That is the +gentleman for whom I am selling the bonds.” + +“Then they do not belong to you?” + +“No.” + +“Where does Mr. Baker live?” + +“In New Haven,” answered Congreve, glibly, for he had a ready +invention. + +“We do not care to buy,” said the clerk, coldly, for there was +something in Congreve’s manner which made him suspicious. + +“Really,” said Congreve, laughing in a constrained manner, “you appear +to be very cautious.” + +“We have to be.” + +“Shall I tell Mr. Baker it will be necessary for him to come to New +York in person to dispose of his bonds? He is my uncle, and I simply am +doing him a favor in disposing of them.” + +“Very possibly; but I think we won’t purchase them.” + +“Oh, well! I can carry them elsewhere,” said Congreve, raging inwardly. + +His acquaintance, whose recognition had interfered with his plans, +followed him to the door, in rather a perplexed frame of mind. + +“Where have you been all summer, Congreve?” he asked, thinking it best +to ignore the scene which he had just witnessed. + +“None of your business,” answered Congreve, sharply. + +“What does this mean?” asked the young man, in astonishment. + +“It means, sir, that I do not wish to keep up my acquaintance with you. +Didn’t you know any better than to blurt out my name just now, and so +get me into trouble?” + +“If you are ashamed to appear under your real name, I don’t care to +know you,” answered the young man, with spirit. “So, good-morning to +you, Mr. Congreve, or Mr. Baker, or whatever else you call yourself.” + +“Good riddance,” said Congreve. + +“There’s something wrong about that fellow,” said Tom Norcross to +himself, as he looked after Congreve, while the latter was crossing the +street. “I don’t believe he came by those bonds honestly. His manner +was certainly very suspicious.” + +Congreve entered another banking house, and here he had no difficulty +in disposing of his bonds. He came out with two hundred and thirty +dollars in his pocket, and feeling less irritable than before. + +“So that’s done,” he said to himself, “and I am well provided with +money for the present. Now I must make up for lost time, and try to +enjoy myself a little. I was nearly moped to death in that dull country +village, with no better company than a young snob. Now to see life!” + +First of all, Congreve installed himself at a fashionable boarding +house uptown. Then he purchased a seat for the evening’s performance at +Wallack’s Theater, and then sought out some of his old companions in +haunts where he knew they were likely to be found. He had a few games +of cards, in which his luck varied. He rose from the card table a loser +in the sum of twenty-five dollars. + +“That is unlucky,” thought Congreve. “However, I’ve got two hundred +dollars left. I must be more cautious, or my money won’t last long.” + +Still, he felt in tolerably good spirits when he went to the theater, +and enjoyed the performance about as much as if his pleasures were +bought with money honestly earned. + +It so happened that the clerk at the first banking house who had +refused to purchase the bonds sat two rows behind him, and easily +recognized his customer of the morning. + +“I suspect Mr. Baker, alias Congreve, has disposed of his bonds,” he +thought to himself. “I am really curious to know whether he had any +right to sell them.” + +From time to time this thought came back to the clerk, till he formed a +resolution quietly to follow Congreve, after the close of the +performance, and ascertain where he lived. + +Congreve, seated in front, was not aware of the presence of the clerk, +or he might have taken measures to defeat his design. + +When James Congreve left the theater, he was at first inclined to stop +at Delmonico’s on the way uptown, and indulge in a little refreshment; +but he felt somewhat fatigued with his day’s travel, and, after a +moment’s indecision, concluded instead to return at once to his +boarding place. + +“He lives in a nice house,” said the clerk to himself. “Let me notice +the number. I may find it desirable to know where to find him.” + +To anticipate matters a little, word came to New York in the afternoon +of the next day that two bonds, the numbers of which were given, had +been stolen from Colonel Ross, and search was made for the young man +who was suspected of having negotiated them. The clerk, who, previous +to returning the bonds to Congreve, had taken down the numbers, at once +identified them as the ones referred to, and gave information to the +police. + +The result was that just as Congreve was sitting down to supper on the +evening of the second day, he was informed that a man wished to see him +at the door. On answering the call, he saw before him a small man, of +quiet manner, dressed in a sober suit of black. + +“You name is Congreve, I believe?” he said, politely, + +“Yes, sir,” answered James, in a hesitating tone. + +“Then I must trouble you to go with me.” + +“I have just sat down to supper.” + +“I am really sorry to disturb you, but you are charged with selling two +stolen bonds in Wall Street yesterday.” + +“There is some mistake,” said Congreve, hurriedly. “Colonel Ross sent +me the bonds by his son, with a request that I would sell them for +him.” + +“Glad to hear it,” said the detective, laconically. “Then you will be +able to clear yourself. Meanwhile, you must come with me.” + +And James Congreve spent the night in a boarding house by no means +fashionable. + + + + +CHAPTER XL — PREPARING TO PROSECUTE + + +“I am going to the bottom of this affair,” said Colonel Ross, as he +sipped his second cup of coffee at the breakfast table the next +morning. “The Gilbert boy must suffer the consequences of his crime.” + +“Will he be sent to prison, pa?” inquired Philip. + +“It is a State’s prison offense, my son,” answered his father. + +Was it on Harry’s account that Philip suddenly turned pale and looked +nervous? I cannot credit him with a sufficient amount of feeling for +another. He could not help recalling the fact that it was he and not +Harry who had been guilty of this State’s prison offense. + +“However, the thing can’t possibly be traced to me,” he reflected, +somewhat more comfortable in mind. “I don’t know as I care whether +Harry Gilbert goes to prison or not. He is very proud and stuck-up, and +it will take down his pride.” + +“I commend your decision,” said Mrs. Ross, to her husband. “In my +opinion, mercy would be misplaced in such a case as this. The boy who +is degraded enough to steal is likely to continue in his criminal +course, and the sooner he is punished the better.” + +There was something in this remark, also, that made Philip wince. + +“Where will Harry Gilbert be tried?” asked Philip. + +“Before Squire Davis. I directed the constable to carry him round there +at nine o’clock this morning.” + +“May I go, too?” + +“Yes; your testimony will be needed to show that the boy was prowling +around our house on the evening in question.” + +“Very well,” answered Philip, with satisfaction. “I’ll go along with +you.” + +“Do so, my son.” + +As it was not yet time to go to the office of the justice, Philip +stepped out into the yard, where Tom Calder, the stable boy, was +washing a carriage. + +“I guess I’ll tell him the news,” thought Philip. “Tom,” he said, +“we’ve discovered who stole the bonds the other night.” + +“Have you?” asked Tom, with a queer smile. + +“Yes. Would you like to know who it is?” + +“Uncommon.” + +“It’s Harry Gilbert.” + +Tom Calder pursed up his lips in genuine amazement, and emitted a +shrill whistle. + +“You don’t say!” he exclaimed. + +“Yes,” said Philip, complacently. “The governor had the house +searched—Widow Gilbert’s, of course—and he found the bonds there.” + +“That beats all I ever heard!” ejaculated Tom. + +“Oh, it doesn’t surprise me at all!” said Philip, carelessly. “I’ve +long suspected Harry Gilbert of being dishonest.” + +“I don’t believe it, for my part,” said Tom, manfully standing by a boy +who, on more than one occasion, had done him a favor. “Harry Gilbert is +as honest a boy as there is in town.” + +“Your opinion isn’t of much importance,” said Philip, in a tone of +superiority, “and it won’t save the Gilbert boy from going to State’s +prison.” + +“Do you mean to say the one who took the bonds will have to go to +State’s prison?” + +“Yes; that’s what father says, and he knows a good deal about the law.” + +“Maybe he’ll change his mind,” said Tom Calder, in a peculiar tone. +“When is the trial coming off?” + +“This morning, at nine o’clock, at the office of Squire Davis.” + +Tom nodded his head thoughtfully, but only said: + +“Are you going to be there?” + +“Yes.” + +“What time is it now?” + +“Quarter past eight.” + +“Somebody else will be there,” said Tom to himself; and Philip left him +and went back into the house. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI — HARRY MANAGES HIS OWN CASE + + +Trial Justice Davis sat in his office. He was a man of sixty, with a +keen but not unbenevolent face, looking all the more sagacious, +perhaps, because of a pair of gold spectacles which surmounted his +nose. He had been apprised of the trial at which he was expected to +preside, and he looked surprised and regretful. + +“I can’t believe that boy is guilty,” he said to himself. “I have +always looked upon him as one of the best boys in town.” + +At nine, the principal parties concerned entered the office. First, +Colonel Ross and Philip walked in—Philip with an attempt to be at ease, +but with a perceptibly nervous air, notwithstanding. + +Harry Gilbert entered, walking beside the constable. Behind him +followed his mother and Uncle Obed. Mrs. Gilbert looked anxious, though +the constable assured her that there was no need of it, and that Harry +would be triumphantly acquitted. Harry did not look in the least +frightened, but seemed much more at ease than Philip. + +A trial before a police justice in a country town is much more informal +than in a city, and this should be remembered by those who read this +chapter. + +“What charge do you bring against Harry Gilbert, Colonel?” asked the +justice. + +“I charge him with entering my house on the evening of the nineteenth +instant, opening the small trunk in which I keep my valuable papers and +securities, and abstracting therefrom two United States Government +bonds, of the par value of a hundred dollars each.” + +“You hear the charge, Harry,” said the justice. “Are you guilty or not +guilty?” + +“Not guilty,” answered Harry, in clear, ringing accents, surveying the +Colonel proudly. + +“You ought to have some one to defend you,” said the justice. + +“I will defend myself,” said Harry, resolutely. + +“Very well. Colonel Ross, I will hear your testimony.” + +The Colonel, being sworn, testified that he had missed the bonds on the +morning afterward, and had been led, by what his son told him, to +suspect Harry Gilbert. He had gone to the cottage, and found the bonds. +He was about to rehearse Philip’s information, but the justice stopped +him, and said he would hear Philip in person. + +“Have you any question to ask the witness?” asked the justice of Harry. + +“Can I reserve my questions?” asked Harry. + +“Yes; if you desire it.” + +Philip was next sworn. He testified that, on the evening in question, +he had seen Harry prowling round the house, just before going up to +bed. + +“How did you happen to sit up so late?” asked Harry. + +“That’s my affair,” replied Philip, haughtily. + +“Answer!” thundered the justice, angrily. “No insolence here, sir!” + +“I was reading,” said Philip, frightened. + +“Did you go into the room where the trunk was?” asked Harry, in his +capacity as lawyer. + +“Ye-es.” + +“Did you open the trunk?” + +“No,” answered Philip, nervously. + +“I protest against the prisoner’s insolence to my son,” exclaimed +Colonel Ross, angrily. + +“It is a question he has a right to ask,” said the justice, calmly. + +“Did you see the keys which your father left on his desk?” asked Harry. + +“No,” answered Philip, ill at ease. + +“I should now like to question Colonel Ross,” said Harry. + +The Colonel, with a curl of the lip, took the stand again. + +“Really,” he said, “it looks as if my son and I were on trial instead +of the prisoner.” + +“Colonel Ross, you must be aware that I am according Harry no unusual +privileges. It is as a lawyer—his own advocate—that he questions you.” + +“Go on,” said the Colonel, haughtily. + +“Colonel Ross,” continued Harry, “do you generally keep a list of the +numbers on your bonds?” + +“Of course!” + +“Can you furnish the numbers of the bonds that were taken from you?” + +“I can give the numbers of the whole ten bonds. I don’t know which were +taken. I have not compared my list with those that remain.” + +“Have you the numbers with you?” + +“Yes, I have them in my notebook.” + +“Will you be kind enough to repeat them so that the court may take them +down?” + +“Certainly! though I don’t see what good that will do.” + +“It is of material importance,” said the justice, nodding approval. + +Colonel Ross drew from his inside coat pocket a large wallet, and, +opening it, took out a memorandum, from which he read as follows: + +“The numbers run from 17,810 to 17,817, inclusive.” + +“Then the stolen bonds are somewhere between those numbers?” said +Harry. + +“Of course.” + +Harry turned to the constable. + +“Mr. Rogers,” he said, “have you the bonds which were found at our +house?” + +“Yes,” answered the constable. + +“Will you hand them to Squire Davis, and ask him to read off the +numbers?” + +“You will do as Harry requests you,” said the justice. + +The constable placed the envelope in his hands, and Justice Davis, +opening it, drew out three bonds. + +“I find two one-hundred-dollar bonds,” he said, “and one fifty-dollar +bond.” + +“The two hundred-dollar bonds are mine,” said Colonel Ross. + +“That is, you claim them,” said the justice, cautiously. “I will read +the numbers. + +“This one,” he proceeded, unfolding one, “is numbered 9,867, and the +other”—after a pause—“11,402. It strikes me, Colonel Ross, that you +will have to look further for your bonds.” + +If such a dignified-looking man as Colonel Ross could look foolish, the +Colonel looked so at that moment. He realized that he had made a +ridiculous exhibition of himself, and he felt mortified to think that +he had been so careless as not to have thought of comparing the numbers +of the bonds the moment he had discovered them in Harry Gilbert’s +possession. + +“Harry Gilbert is honorably discharged, and the bonds are restored to +him,” said the justice. + +“Thank you, sir,” said Harry, glancing not without natural exultation, +at Colonel Ross and Philip. + +Philip, by the way, looked as uncomfortable as his father. + +Here there was an unexpected and startling interruption. + +“I can tell Colonel Ross all about it!” said a distinct voice from near +the door. + +“Come forward then and give your information,” said the justice. + +This call was answered by Tom Calder, who elbowed his way to the front, +dressed in his farm attire, and in his shirt sleeves. + +Philip’s face might have been observed to grow pale when he heard Tom’s +voice, and he looked decidedly sick when the boy walked up to give his +testimony. Unobserved by any one, for all eyes were fixed upon Tom, he +edged to the door, and slipped out, in an agony of apprehension, for he +foresaw what was coming. + +“Proceed,” said the justice. + +“That night when the Colonel missed the bonds,” began Tom, “I was +coming home some time after nine, when I happened to look into the +window, and there I saw Phil Ross with his father’s little trunk open +before him. I saw him take out a couple of bonds, and slip them into +his inside pocket. Then he carefully locked the trunk again, laid the +keys on the desk, and left the room. That’s all I saw.” + +“It’s a falsehood!” ejaculated Colonel Ross, furiously. + +“You just ask Phil about it, Colonel,” said Tom, composedly. + +Colonel Ross looked around for Philip, but no Philip was to be seen. + +“I seed him slip out of the door just as Tom was beginnin’ to talk,” +said a small urchin. + +Overcome with mortification, and compelled to suspect that Tom’s story +was true, Colonel Ross hurried home, where he found Philip. + +Sternly calling him to account, the Colonel extorted a confession, not +only that he had taken the bonds, but what had become of them. The +result was that information was sent to the police of New York, and +James Congreve was arrested. + +I may as well finish this part of the story by saying that Congreve was +compelled to give up what remained of his ill-gotten gains, but Colonel +Ross failed to prosecute him, because he could not do so without +involving his own son also. It was only two months, however, before +Congreve was detected in a more serious affair, for which he was forced +to stand trial, and is even now serving a term of imprisonment, +received as a penalty for the later crime. + +As for Philip, he was so mortified and shamed by the exposure of his +dishonesty, and his attempt to fix the crime upon another, that he +asked his father to send him to a boarding school at a distance, and +his request was complied with. + +Tom Calder was immediately discharged by Colonel Ross, but within a +week he was engaged elsewhere at an advanced salary. His new employer +was Mr. Obed Wilkins, better known to us as Uncle Obed. + +If this statement excites surprise, I must refer my readers to the next +chapter for an explanation. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII — CONCLUSION + + +The house of Colonel Ross was the finest in the village, with one +exception. A certain Mr. Carrington, a city merchant, had, five years +before, built a country villa surpassing it, a little distance away on +the same street. + +It was provided with handsome grounds, and originally cost, everything +included, thirty-five thousand dollars, exclusive of furniture. + +It was the day after Harry’s triumphant acquittal that Uncle Obed +remarked, casually: + +“I hear that Mr. Carrington is anxious to sell his estate.” + +“I am not surprised,” answered Mrs. Gilbert. “He bought it chiefly to +please a young wife, and her sudden death sadly disturbed all his +plans.” + +“I have made some inquiries,” continued Uncle Obed, “and find that he +is willing to sell everything, even to the furniture, for fifteen +thousand dollars.” + +“That is a great bargain, for he could scarcely have paid less than +forty thousand dollars for the whole.” + +“I have about decided to buy the place,” said Mr. Wilkins, quietly. + +“What!” exclaimed Mrs. Gilbert and Harry, in concert. + +“Since you both think it will be a good bargain, I think I will buy +it,” continued Uncle Obed, his eyes twinkling. + +“That’s a good joke,” said Harry. + +“No joke at all, as you will find.” + +“You don’t mean to say you can afford to buy such a place?” said Harry, +in amazement. + +“I consider myself worth seventy-five thousand dollars,” said Mr. +Wilkins. + +Mrs. Gilbert and Harry stared at him in undisguised astonishment. + +“I thought you were a very poor man,” said the widow. + +“I know you did,” said Uncle Obed, laughing. + +“What will Colonel Ross say?” wondered Harry. + +“I feel more interested in what my niece will say,” said the old man. + +“I am afraid they will take you away from us, Uncle Obed, when they +find out that you are rich.” + +“Not against my will, I think,” replied the old man, with quiet +determination. + +“They won’t want to send you back to Illinois now.” + +“I don’t know but they will, when they find I won’t go with them.” + +“Do you think of moving into the new house, Mr. Wilkins?” asked Mrs. +Gilbert, anxiously. + +“Yes, I think I shall.” + +“We shall be sorry to lose you,” she said, soberly. + +“You are not going to lose me,” assured Uncle Obed. “Do you think I am +going to live alone? I should die of loneliness. No! You and Harry go +with me, and I shall take the liberty of paying all the expenses of +housekeeping.” + +“How kind you are, Uncle Obed,” said Harry. + +“No, I’m not. I’m a selfish old man, looking out for what will make my +home happy. And that’s not all. Mrs. Gilbert, didn’t you tell me you +had a sister—a dressmaker in New York—in poor health.” + +“Yes, poor Maria. She is in poor health, but cannot afford a vacation.” + +“You shall offer her a home with you. There’s plenty of room in +Carrington’s house. She will be company for all of us, especially when +Master Harry goes to college.” + +“When I go to college!” Harry ejaculated. + +“Certainly! Wouldn’t you like it?” + +“Very much; but it would take so many years, when I could be earning +nothing.” + +“I will see that you are provided for, Harry; but I don’t want you to +go away from home at present, if it can be avoided. Isn’t there any one +in the village with whom you can prepare for college?” + +“Mr. Rodman, the minister, is an excellent scholar, and I am sure he +would be glad to take a pupil.” + +“Then go to see him at once. Tell him I don’t want him to work for +nothing. I will pay him well for his services, and buy him all the +sticks he needs to flog you when you require it.” + +“That doesn’t frighten me,” said Harry, smiling. + +“You will wonder how I became so rich,” said Mr. Wilkins, after a +pause. “I will tell you. Ten years ago I befriended a young man, and +furnished him the means to go to California. There he prospered, and +became very rich. A year since he returned, on a visit, and, to my +amazement, insisted upon my accepting seventy thousand dollars as a +free gift. This, added to the little property I already had, made me +worth rather over seventy-five thousand dollars. Recently, feeling +lonely, I came East, intending, if my relatives here received me +kindly, to make my home with them, and make Philip Ross my heir. You +know how my expectations were disappointed. It was a grief to me, but +it is all right now. I look upon you and your mother as relatives, and +I intend to treat you as such, and, in return, I know you will provide +me with a happy home during my few remaining years.” + +It is needless to say what hearty assurances Uncle Obed received that +his happiness would be consulted, and secured, so far as Harry and his +mother were able to effect it. + +The next day Uncle Obed, accompanied by Harry, went to the city, and +returned the owner of the Carrington estate. + +The Gilberts immediately began to make arrangements for moving into the +new house. No sooner did Colonel Ross and his family receive a hint of +what was going on than in amazement Mrs. Ross called at the little +cottage, where she found all in confusion. + +“Is it true, Uncle Obed,” asked Mrs. Ross, abruptly, “that you are a +rich man?” + +“I believe so, Niece Lucinda,” answered the old man, meekly. + +“I am so glad,” said Mrs. Ross, with suavity. “We all rejoice in your +good fortune, dear uncle! And now, Uncle Obed, you must come over to +our house at once. We will set aside the best room for you, and we will +try to make you happy. This little house is not suitable for you.” + +“So I thought, and for that reason I have bought the Carrington place.” + +“So I heard,” said Mrs. Ross; “but, of course, you won’t think of +living there alone?” + +“No; Mrs. Gilbert and Harry will live with me there.” + +Mrs. Ross darted a glance of hatred and suspicion at the widow, whom +she mentally accused of scheming for Uncle Obed’s wealth. + +“Better let the place, and come to live with us, dear Uncle Obed,” she +said, sweetly. + +“No, thank you. We’ll be good neighbors, Niece Lucinda, and I shall be +glad to exchange calls; but I want a home of my own.” + +And to this determination Mr. Wilkins adhered, in spite of all his +niece could say. + +So Harry and his mother and his aunt took up their residence at the +fine Carrington house, which Uncle Obed took care to support in a +befitting manner, though not extravagantly. + +He bought a horse and carriage, and engaged Tom Calder as a stable boy, +as we have already hinted. Harry began at once to prepare for college, +under the care of the minister. + +Five years have passed away. He is now at Yale College, but comes home +often to see his mother and Uncle Obed. He is one of the highest +scholars in his class, and Uncle Obed is proud of his success. + +He is recognized as the heir of Mr. Wilkins, much to the chagrin of +Mrs. Lucinda Ross and family. + +Philip is a spendthrift, and is giving his parents serious anxiety. He, +too, entered college; but was expelled the first year. It is to be +hoped he will some day turn over a new leaf. + +For Harry I confidently expect a useful and honorable career, and I am +sure that all my young readers will rejoice at the prosperity which has +come to the struggling boy. + + THE END + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TIN BOX *** + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +concept and trademark. 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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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Tin Box<br /> + and What it Contained</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Horatio Alger</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: November 10, 2008 [eBook #27222]<br /> +[Most recently updated: April 28, 2022]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Gary Sandino</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TIN BOX ***</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:55%;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="[Illustration]" /> +</div> + +<h1>THE TIN BOX</h1> + +<h3>and What it Contained</h3> + +<h2 class="no-break">By Horatio Alger, Jr.</h2> + +<h4>A. L. Burt Company, Publishers</h4> + +<h4>New York</h4> + +<hr /> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0001"><b>THE TIN BOX</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0001">CHAPTER I — A COLLISION</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0002">CHAPTER II — SIGNS OF A TEMPEST</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0003">CHAPTER III — MRS. ROSS MAKES TWO UNSATISFACTORY VISITS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0004">CHAPTER IV — HARRY LOSES HIS PLACE, AFTER ALL</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0005">CHAPTER V — LOOKING FOR WORK</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0006">CHAPTER VI — UNCLE OBED ARRIVES FROM ILLINOIS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0007">CHAPTER VII — AN UNWELCOME GUEST</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0008">CHAPTER VIII — UNCLE OBED MAKES A PROPOSAL</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0009">CHAPTER IX — NOTICE TO QUIT</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0010">CHAPTER X — PHILIP MEETS HIS MATCH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0011">CHAPTER XI — THE TWO CONSPIRATORS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0012">CHAPTER XII — AN UNEXPECTED INVITATION</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0013">CHAPTER XIII — THREE YOUNG SPORTSMEN</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0014">CHAPTER XIV — WHAT HAPPENED TO HARRY IN THE WOOD</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0015">CHAPTER XV — PHILIP’S BAD ADVISER</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0016">CHAPTER XVI — BOUND HAND AND FOOT</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0017">CHAPTER XVII. — WHAT HARRY SAW IN THE WOOD</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0018">CHAPTER XVIII — HARRY’S COMMISSION</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0019">CHAPTER XIX — SECOND VISIT TO THE WOOD</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0020">CHAPTER XX — ON THE WAY TO NEW YORK</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0021">CHAPTER XXI — A REWARD OFFERED</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0022">CHAPTER XXII — BROUGHT TO BAY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0023">CHAPTER XXIII — FINDING THE BOX</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0024">CHAPTER XXIV — PHILIP IN A TIGHT PLACE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0025">CHAPTER XXV — PHILIP BECOMES A PRISONER</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0026">CHAPTER XXVI — PHILIP IS FORCED TO APOLOGIZE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0027">CHAPTER XXVII — THE ARREST</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0028">CHAPTER XXVIII — MR. CHASE IS BROUGHT TO JUSTICE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0029">CHAPTER XXIX — HARRY BECOMES A “BONDHOLDER.”</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0030">CHAPTER XXX — CONGREVE’S SCHEME</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0031">CHAPTER XXXI — THE TEMPTER</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0032">CHAPTER XXXII — PHILIP DOES NOT FEEL HAPPY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0033">CHAPTER XXXIII — STEALING THE BONDS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0034">CHAPTER XXXIV — PHILIP GETS RID OF HIS PLUNDER</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0035">CHAPTER XXXV — THROWING SUSPICION ON HARRY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0036">CHAPTER XXXVI — HARRY IS CHARGED WITH THEFT</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0037">CHAPTER XXXVII — SEARCHING THE COTTAGE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0038">CHAPTER XXXVIII — PHILIP’S SURPRISE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0039">CHAPTER XXXIX — HOW CONGREVE SUCCEEDED</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0040">CHAPTER XL — PREPARING TO PROSECUTE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0041">CHAPTER XLI — HARRY MANAGES HIS OWN CASE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2HCH0042">CHAPTER XLII — CONCLUSION</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<hr /> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"></a> +THE TIN BOX</h2> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"></a> +CHAPTER I — A COLLISION</h2> + +<p> +“Have you finished breakfast already, Harry?” asked Mrs. Gilbert, +as Harry rose hurriedly from the table and reached for his hat, which hung on a +nail especially appropriated to it. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, mother. I don’t want to be late for the store. Saturday is +always a busy day.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is a long day for you, Harry. You have to stay till nine +o’clock in the evening.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am always glad to have Saturday come, for then I can get my +money,” replied Harry, laughing. “Well, good-by, +mother—I’m off.” +</p> + +<p> +“What should I do without him?” said Mrs. Gilbert to herself, as +Harry dashed out of the yard on the way to Mead’s grocery store, where he +had been employed for six months. +</p> + +<p> +That would have been a difficult question to answer. Mrs. Gilbert was the widow +of a sea captain, who had sailed from the port of Boston three years before, +and never since been heard of. +</p> + +<p> +It was supposed that the vessel was lost with all hands, but how the disaster +occurred, or when, was a mystery that seemed never likely to be solved. +</p> + +<p> +Captain Gilbert had left no property except the small cottage, which was +mortgaged for half its value, and a small sum of money in the savings bank, +which, by this time, was all expended for the necessaries of life. +</p> + +<p> +Fortunately for the widow, about the time this sum gave out Harry obtained a +situation at Mead’s grocery store, with a salary of four dollars a week. +This he regularly paid to his mother, and, with the little she herself was able +to earn, they lived comfortably. It was hard work for Harry, but he enjoyed it, +for he was an active boy, and it was a source of great satisfaction to him that +he was able to help his mother so materially. +</p> + +<p> +He was now fifteen years old, about the average height for a boy of that age, +with a strong frame and a bright, cheerful manner that made him a general +favorite. +</p> + +<p> +The part of his duty which he liked best was to drive the store wagon for the +delivery of goods to customers. Most boys of his age like to drive a horse, and +Harry was no exception to the rule. +</p> + +<p> +When he reached the store Mr. Mead, his employer, said: +</p> + +<p> +“Harness up the horse as soon as you can, Harry. There are some goods to +be carried out.” +</p> + +<p> +“All right, sir,” answered Harry, cheerfully, and made his way to +the stable, which stood in the rear of the store. It was but a few minutes +before he was loaded up and was on his way. +</p> + +<p> +He had called at several places and left the greater part of the goods, when he +found himself in a narrow road, scarcely wider than a lane. Why it had been +made so narrow was unaccountable, for there was certainly land enough to be +had, and that of little value, which could have been used. It was probably +owing to a want of foresight on the part of the road commissioners. +</p> + +<p> +Just at the narrowest part of the road Harry saw approaching him an open buggy +of rather a pretentious character, driven by a schoolmate, Philip Ross, the son +of Colonel Ross, a wealthy resident of the village. +</p> + +<p> +I have said that Philip was, or rather had been, a schoolmate of Harry. I +cannot call him a friend. Philip was of a haughty, arrogant temper. The horse +and buggy he drove were his own—that is, they had been given him by his +father on his last birthday—and he was proud of them, not without some +reason, for the buggy was a handsome one, and the horse was spirited and of +fine appearance. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as Harry saw Philip approaching, he proceeded to turn his horse to one +side of the road. +</p> + +<p> +Philip, however, made no such move, but kept in the middle. +</p> + +<p> +“Isn’t he going to turn out?” thought Harry. “How does +he expect to get by?” +</p> + +<p> +“Why don’t you turn out, Philip?” he called out. +</p> + +<p> +“Turn out yourself!” retorted Philip, haughtily. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s what I’m doing,” said Harry, rather provoked. +</p> + +<p> +“Then turn out more!” said the young gentleman, arrogantly. +</p> + +<p> +“I have turned out my share,” said Harry, stopping his horse. +“Do you expect to keep right on in the middle of the road?” +</p> + +<p> +“I shall if I choose,” said Philip, unpleasantly; but he, too, +reined up his horse, so that the two teams stood facing each other. +</p> + +<p> +Harry shrugged his shoulders, and asked, temperately: +</p> + +<p> +“Then how do you expect to get by?” +</p> + +<p> +“I want you to turn out as far as you can,” he said +authoritatively. +</p> + +<p> +Harry was provoked, and not without reason. +</p> + +<p> +“I have turned out my share, and shan’t turn out another +inch,” he said, firmly. “You must be a fool to expect it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you mean to call me a fool?” demanded Philip, his eyes +flashing. +</p> + +<p> +“You certainly act like one.” +</p> + +<p> +“You’d better take care how you talk, you beggar!” exclaimed +Philip, furiously. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m no more a beggar than you are, Philip Ross!” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, you are nothing but a working boy, at any rate.” +</p> + +<p> +“What if I am?” replied Harry. “I’ve got just as much +right on this road as you.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’m a gentleman,” asserted Philip, angrily. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, you don’t act like one; you’d better turn out pretty +quick, for I am in a hurry and can’t wait.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then turn out more.” +</p> + +<p> +“I shan’t do it,” said Harry, with spirit; “and no one +but you would be unreasonable enough to ask me to do it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then you’ll have to wait,” said Philip, settling himself +back provokingly in his seat, and eyeing Harry with a look of disdain. +</p> + +<p> +“Come, don’t be obstinate, Philip,” urged Harry, impatiently. +“I only ask you to do your share of turning. We have equal rights here, +even if you were three times the gentleman you pretend to be.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are insolent, Harry Gilbert. I don’t take orders from such as +you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then you won’t turn out?” asked Harry, gathering up his +reins. +</p> + +<p> +“Suppose I don’t?” retorted Philip, in a provoking tone. +</p> + +<p> +“Then I shall drive on,” said Harry, resolutely. +</p> + +<p> +“You wouldn’t dare to!” +</p> + +<p> +“Wouldn’t I? You’ll see. I will count ten, and if at the end +of that time you don’t turn out, I will drive on, and make you take the +consequences.” +</p> + +<p> +Philip glanced at him doubtfully. Would he really do what he said? +</p> + +<p> +“Pooh! I don’t believe it!” he decided. “Anyway, +I’m not going to give way to a working boy. I won’t do it.” +</p> + +<p> +I am not going to decide the question whether Harry did right or not. I can +only say that he claimed no more than his rights, and was not without excuse +for the course he adopted. +</p> + +<p> +“One—two—three!” counted Harry, and so on until he had +counted ten. +</p> + +<p> +Then, gathering up his reins, he said: “I ask you, Philip, for the last +time, whether you will turn out?” +</p> + +<p> +“I won’t till I get ready.” +</p> + +<p> +“Go ’long, Dobbin!” was Harry’s sole reply. And his +horse was put in motion. +</p> + +<p> +The natural result followed. The grocery wagon was strongly made, and fitted +for rough usage. The buggy was of light structure, built for speed, and was no +match for it. The two carriages locked wheels. That of the wagon was unharmed, +but the wheel of the buggy came off. +</p> + +<p> +The horse darted forward. Philip was thrown out at the side, aiming an +ineffectual blow with his whip at Harry, as he found himself going, and landed +in a half stunned condition on the grass at the side. +</p> + +<p> +Harry kept on until his wagon was clear of the wreck of the buggy, and then +halting it, jumped oft to find the extent of Philip’s injuries. +</p> + +<p> +The latter’s horse, which had by a violent jerk freed himself from the +shafts, was galloping up the road. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"></a> +CHAPTER II — SIGNS OF A TEMPEST</h2> + +<p> +“Are you hurt, Philip?” asked Harry, anxiously, as he bent over the +prostrate form of his antagonist. +</p> + +<p> +As he opened his eyes and saw the face of Harry bending over him, all came back +to him, and his animosity revived. +</p> + +<p> +“Get away from me!” he exclaimed furiously, as he staggered to his +feet. +</p> + +<p> +“I certainly will, if you don’t need help,” said Harry, glad +that Philip had suffered no harm. +</p> + +<p> +“Where is my horse?” demanded Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“He has run away.” +</p> + +<p> +“And it’s all your fault!” exclaimed Philip, angrily. +“My buggy’s broken, too, and all because you ran into me, you +beggar!” +</p> + +<p> +“I wouldn’t allow you to call me names if you hadn’t been +punished already for your unreasonable conduct,” said Harry, calmly. +“Whatever has happened you brought upon yourself.” +</p> + +<p> +“Catch my horse!” ordered Philip, with the air of a master +addressing a servant. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ve got something else to do,” said Harry, coolly, and he +sprang into the store wagon. +</p> + +<p> +“Are you going to drive off and leave me here?” demanded Philip, +enraged. +</p> + +<p> +“I must, for my time isn’t my own. It belongs to Mr. Mead. I would +help you otherwise—though you are to blame for what has happened.” +</p> + +<p> +“You will suffer for this!” exclaimed the rich man’s son, +gazing at his broken buggy in helpless anger. “You’ll have to pay +for all the damage you have done!” +</p> + +<p> +“You can go to law about it, if you want to,” said Harry, as he +gathered the reins into his hands, and he drove off. “I’ve a good +defense.” +</p> + +<p> +To Philip’s disgust, Harry drove off, leaving him alone with his disabled +carriage. It was a good time to consider whether he had acted wisely in +demanding more than the law or custom allowed him, but Philip was too angry for +cool consideration. +</p> + +<p> +He could not persuade himself that a boy like Harry, the son of a poor widow, +who had to work for his own living, had equal rights with himself. +</p> + +<p> +In the end he had to go home and bring back his father’s hired man to +take charge of the wreck. He learned that the frightened horse had already +found his way to the stable, terrifying the family with fears that Philip had +been seriously hurt on the way. +</p> + +<p> +Philip gave a garbled account of the affair to his father and mother, and +excited the indignation of both, but especially his mother. +</p> + +<p> +“I never heard of such an outrage—never!” exclaimed Mrs. +Ross, emphatically. “To think that boy should deliberately run into you +and endanger your life—my poor Philip!” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s just what he did, mother,” said Philip, enjoying the +indignation he had aroused. +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Ross was not quite so thoroughly convinced that his son was right. +</p> + +<p> +“Did you give Harry half the road?” he inquired. +</p> + +<p> +“I gave him room enough to get by,” answered Philip, evasively. +</p> + +<p> +“The law requires that you should give him half the road.” +</p> + +<p> +“I hope, Mr. Ross, you don’t justify that horrid boy in running +into Philip?” said Mrs. Ross, sharply. +</p> + +<p> +“No, my dear; I consider that he acted very badly. But, in order to make +him amenable to the law for the damage Philip’s team suffered, it must +appear that Philip gave him half the road.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then the law ought to be altered,” said Mrs. Ross, with more anger +than reason. “I’ve no doubt that Philip gave him all the room he +needed.” +</p> + +<p> +“When you were thrown out, did the heartless boy ride on and leave you to +your fate?” asked the mother. +</p> + +<p> +“No; he got out and asked me if I was hurt,” Philip admitted, +reluctantly. +</p> + +<p> +“Much he cared!” said Mrs. Ross, contemptuously. +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose he was afraid he would be put in prison if I was +killed,” said Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, that was his motive, undoubtedly. He didn’t offer to help +you, I suppose?” +</p> + +<p> +“No; I asked him to, and he wouldn’t,” answered Philip, glad +that he could blacken poor Harry’s character. +</p> + +<p> +“The unfeeling young villain!” ejaculated Mrs. Ross. “He +ought to be put in the State’s prison!” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you think he can be?” asked Philip, eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course he can, if your father exerts himself as he ought.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nonsense, Lucinda!” said Colonel Ross, who was not a fool. +“It was a boyish misunderstanding.” +</p> + +<p> +“You may call it that,” retorted Mrs. Ross, raising her voice. +“I call it a high-handed outrage. The boy ought to be arrested. Are you +going to do anything about it, Philander Ross?” +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Ross generally addressed her husband by his Christian name when she was +angry with him. +</p> + +<p> +“I will tell you what I will do, Lucinda. I will see Mead, and tell him +that a boy who acts in that way is not fit to drive for him.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s right, father. Make him discharge Harry. Then he’ll +have to go to the poorhouse, or beg.” +</p> + +<p> +“And a very suitable punishment for him,” said Mrs. Ross, +approvingly. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t quite like to take the boy’s means of living away +from him,” said Colonel Ross, who was by no means as unfeeling as his +wife and son. “That would make his mother suffer, and she has been guilty +of no crime.” +</p> + +<p> +“She will uphold him in his iniquity, you may rest assured, Mr. +Ross,” said his wife, nodding emphatically. “If she had brought up +the boy to be respectful to his superiors this would not have happened.” +</p> + +<p> +“He won’t be able to pay damages if he loses his place,” said +Colonel Ross. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t care. I want him discharged from his situation.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, Lucinda,” said her husband, shrugging his shoulders, +“you had better undertake the management of the affair. I am very busy, +and can’t spare the necessary time.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will!” said Mrs. Ross, with alacrity. “I will call on the +boy’s mother, and also on Mr. Mead.” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t be too extreme, Lucinda. Remember, it isn’t a hanging +matter.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am not so sure but it ought to be. My poor child might have broken his +neck. Oh, it makes my blood run cold when I think that he might be lying +lifeless before me at this moment.” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t say such things, mother,” said Philip, nervously, +unpleasantly affected by the picture his mother had drawn. +</p> + +<p> +“I can’t help saying it, for it might have happened.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where are you going to first, mother?” asked Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“I will go first and call on Widow Gilbert. I consider her responsible, +for if she had brought up the boy better this would never have happened.” +</p> + +<p> +“May I go with you?” +</p> + +<p> +“No; I would rather go alone.” +</p> + +<p> +If Philip had only been scarred, or had a wound to show, his mother would have +taken him with her, to make her reproof more effective, but, as he showed no +marks of the encounter, she saw no advantage in his presence. +</p> + +<p> +“You just give it to her, mother,” said Philip, in a tone of +satisfaction. +</p> + +<p> +“I shall know what to say, my son.” +</p> + +<p> +“Just frighten her, and make her think we are going to have Harry +arrested.” +</p> + +<p> +“I shall make her understand that the boy has done a very serious thing, +and has made himself amenable to the law.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s right, mother. Harry is too airy altogether. He seems to +think that I am no better than he is—a common working boy like +him!” +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Ross sailed out of the room, and dressed herself with unusual care, not +out of respect for Mrs. Gilbert, but rather with the purpose of impressing her +with her grandeur. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"></a> +CHAPTER III — MRS. ROSS MAKES TWO UNSATISFACTORY VISITS</h2> + +<p> +It was very seldom that Mrs. Ross condescended to visit her poorer neighbors, +and it was, therefore, not without considerable surprise that Mrs. Gilbert +called to the door about eleven o’clock, just as she had put on the +potatoes to boil for dinner—recognized in the visitor on the doorstep +Mrs. Colonel Ross. +</p> + +<p> +“Pray come in, Mrs. Ross. I am glad to see you,” said the widow. +</p> + +<p> +“I will come in for five minutes,” said Mrs. Ross, carefully +gathering up her skirts, lest they should be soiled as she entered the humble +cottage. She need not have been alarmed, for there was not a cleaner house in +the village. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Gilbert brought forward the most comfortable chair in her little +sitting-room, and the visitor seated herself. +</p> + +<p> +“I am come on an unpleasant errand, Mrs. Gilbert,” she commenced, +frigidly. +</p> + +<p> +“Unpleasant!” repeated the widow, with quick apprehension. +“Has anything happened to my boy—to Harry?” +</p> + +<p> +Improbable as it seemed that in such an event Mrs. Ross should be the messenger +of ill tidings, it occurred to Mrs. Gilbert that she had come to inform her of +an accident to Harry. +</p> + +<p> +The visitor’s lips curled. What did it matter, she thought, whether +anything happened to him or not? +</p> + +<p> +“Something has happened to my boy!” she said, with emphasis. +</p> + +<p> +“I am very sorry,” said the widow, with quick sympathy. “I +hope he is not hurt.” +</p> + +<p> +“He might have had his neck broken,” said Mrs. Ross; “and by +your son,” she added, spitefully. +</p> + +<p> +“They haven’t been fighting, have they?” asked Mrs. Gilbert, +nervously. +</p> + +<p> +“No; but your son deliberately and maliciously, while driving Mr. +Mead’s store wagon, drove into my son’s light buggy, damaged it +seriously, and my poor Philip was thrown out. Your son drove off, leaving him +insensible by the roadside.” +</p> + +<p> +It will be perceived that Mrs. Ross had somewhat embellished the story, with +the intention of producing a greater effect. +</p> + +<p> +“Was Philip much hurt?” asked the widow, anxiously. +</p> + +<p> +“He providentially escaped any serious injury, so far as we know. He may +have suffered some internal injuries.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am sorry to hear that there has been any difficulty,” said the +widow, regaining her composure when she learned that neither of the two boys +were hurt; “but I cannot accept your account. Harry is quite incapable of +deliberately and maliciously running into Philip.” +</p> + +<p> +“I regret that you uphold your son in his wickedness,” said Mrs. +Ross, coldly; “but I am not surprised. I told my husband before I set out +that you would probably do so.” +</p> + +<p> +“Mrs. Ross,” said the widow, in a dignified tone, “I have +known my boy for fifteen years, and watched him carefully, and I tell you +positively that he wouldn’t do what you have charged upon him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you question my statement?” demanded Mrs. Ross, haughtily. +</p> + +<p> +“Did you witness the encounter?” +</p> + +<p> +“No; but my son, who is the soul of truth, told me all the +circumstances.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your son was probably angry with Harry, and could not be depended upon +to give an impartial statement.” +</p> + +<p> +“Slander him as much as you please,” said the visitor, angrily. +“I have acquainted you with your son’s outrageous conduct, and this +is all I proposed. Of course we shall expect you or your son to pay for the +damage done to the buggy, and he will be fortunate if we do not have him +arrested for assault and battery.” +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Gilbert did not look as much terrified as Mrs. Ross expected. +</p> + +<p> +“I am very poor, as you know,” she replied; “but if Harry is +really to blame for what has happened, I will do all that I can to repair the +injury.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am glad to see that you are talking more sensibly.” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t misunderstand me,” said the widow. “I have not +heard Harry’s statement yet. From what I know of him, I presume that +Philip was more in fault than he. Of course, in that case, I shall not feel +called upon to pay anything.” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course!” sneered Mrs. Ross; “your son will throw all the +blame on my poor boy. Fortunately, we have laws; and it will be the law that +must decide this matter. It isn’t for you to decide whether you will pay +or not.” +</p> + +<p> +This was meant as a threat, but Mrs. Gilbert answered, calmly: +</p> + +<p> +“You won’t need to invoke the law, if you have a just claim.” +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Ross rose, for there seemed no more to say. She was considerably +disappointed with the result of her mission. She supposed, as a matter of +course, that the widow would defend her son; but she had not supposed that she +would receive so calmly her threats of having recourse to the law. +</p> + +<p> +Indeed, she had expected that the widow would beg and plead for mercy, and +appear panic-stricken. As it was, she felt that she was retiring from the +contest decidedly worsted. She would not leave without one parting shot. +</p> + +<p> +“I regret, Mrs. Gilbert,” she said, seriously, “that you +defend your son in this high-handed outrage. I had thought better of you. I +knew you were poor, and I sympathized with you. Now I feel obliged to say that +you will only have yourself to blame for the steps I am about to take.” +</p> + +<p> +The widow bowed, but did not gratify Mrs. Ross by inquiring what those steps +were. +</p> + +<p> +It was very provoking, certainly. +</p> + +<p> +“I shall call on Mr. Mead, and insist on his discharging your son.” +</p> + +<p> +Knowing what a serious blow this would be, Mrs. Gilbert did look troubled for a +moment, and her visitor sailed away, with a slight feeling of satisfaction, in +the direction of the grocery store. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile Harry, on his return to the store, had reported the accident, and +submitted to a close cross-examination on the part of the storekeeper. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you think I am to blame, Mr. Mead?” asked Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“No; I don’t see how you could do otherwise than you did. Young +Ross is a disagreeable young puppy; but his family trades with me, and I +don’t like to offend them. Still, I shall not blame you.” +</p> + +<p> +It will be seen that Mr. Mead was a just man, though a politic one. +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you, sir,” said Harry, relieved. +</p> + +<p> +“I am sorry this has occurred.” +</p> + +<p> +“So am I, sir; but if I hadn’t done as I did I should have been +there now, for Philip was determined not to budge.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, we must smooth it over as well as we can. I presume that I shall +have a call from Colonel Ross or his wife. I hope it will be the colonel, for +he won’t be so unreasonable as his lady.” +</p> + +<p> +It so happened that the first person whom Mrs. Ross saw when she entered the +grocery store was Harry. +</p> + +<p> +Her eyes flashed with resentment as they fell upon the persecutor of her poor +boy, but she would not waste any words upon him. +</p> + +<p> +“Where is Mr. Mead?” she asked. +</p> + +<p> +“I will call him, madam,” answered Harry, politely. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Mead came forward, and Mrs. Ross rehearsed her story, in terms which the +reader can imagine for himself. +</p> + +<p> +“I think you misapprehend the matter, Mrs. Ross,” said the +storekeeper, politely. “Your son maintained his position in the middle of +the road and required Harry to do all the turning out. Of course you are aware +that the law will not sustain any one in this.” +</p> + +<p> +“Who told you that my son did not turn out?” asked Mrs. Ross, +hastily. +</p> + +<p> +“Harry himself.” +</p> + +<p> +“And do you credit his story?” demanded Mrs. Ross, with a sneer. +</p> + +<p> +“I have always found him to be a boy of truth.” +</p> + +<p> +“I believe he has wilfully deceived you. I believe he ran into my boy +with the intention of injuring him,” said Mrs. Ross, violently. +</p> + +<p> +Harry was about to speak up, when a young man who was standing by saved him the +trouble. +</p> + +<p> +“I was there, Mr. Mead, and heard the whole,” he said, +“though neither of the boys saw me. I was in the piece to the left, +behind the hedge. Phil Ross wouldn’t turn out a mite, and Harry had to do +as he did. When Phil was thrown out Harry got down from his team and went to +see if he was hurt.” +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Ross listened, pale with anger. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t believe a word of it!” she said angrily. “That +man is in a conspiracy with the Gilbert boy against my poor darling. I demand +that you discharge Harry Gilbert from your employment!” +</p> + +<p> +“I am sorry to disoblige you, Mrs. Ross, but it would be unjust,” +said Mr. Mead. +</p> + +<p> +“Then we shall buy our groceries elsewhere!” said Mrs. Ross, +spitefully tossing her head. +</p> + +<p> +“I shall be sorry to lose your custom, but I see no good reason for +discharging Harry.” +</p> + +<p> +Angrily Mrs. Ross left the store, a second time mortified at her want of +success. +</p> + +<p> +“I am sorry, Mr. Mead, that you are likely to lose trade on my +account,” said Harry, with sincere regret. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Mead smiled. +</p> + +<p> +“If Mrs. Ross leaves me she will have to go five miles for her +groceries,” he said quietly. “We shall have them back again before +long.” +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"></a> +CHAPTER IV — HARRY LOSES HIS PLACE, AFTER ALL</h2> + +<p> +Mrs. Ross carried out her threat, and transferred her trade to a grocery in the +neighboring village, but not without considerable inconvenience. +</p> + +<p> +Her pride compelled her to the course, notwithstanding the extra trouble she +incurred, and this, also, she laid up against Harry. Her husband was opposed to +any change, not being so spiteful as his wife, but allowed her to have her way. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile Mr. Mead, though he regretted to lose a good customer, did not show +any signs of financial weakness, and there seemed to be no prospect of his +failing. +</p> + +<p> +Had he done so Mrs. Ross would have been overjoyed, for she was very angry at +all who upheld “that low Gilbert boy,” as she designated him. +</p> + +<p> +It is said that all things come to him who waits, and circumstances were +shaping themselves in a very gratifying way to Mrs. Ross and her schemes of +revenge. +</p> + +<p> +One day as Harry was driving the store wagon which bore the name of his +employer he was hailed, about a mile from the store, by a boy about his own +age, who carried in his hand a carpetbag, and appeared to be making a journey +on foot. +</p> + +<p> +“Hello!” said the traveler. +</p> + +<p> +“Hello!” returned Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“Are you working for my uncle?” asked the stranger. +</p> + +<p> +“I can tell you better when I find out who your uncle is. If you are the +nephew of General Grant, or the czar of Russia, I am not working for +him.” +</p> + +<p> +“I see you like to joke,” said the stranger. “My uncle is Mr. +Mead, the storekeeper.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is the name of the man I work for.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I guess you had better give me a lift, for I am going to my +uncle’s.” +</p> + +<p> +“All right! Glad to have your company.” +</p> + +<p> +“What’s your name?” asked the stranger. +</p> + +<p> +“Harry Gilbert. What’s yours?” +</p> + +<p> +“Howard Randall.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where do you live?” +</p> + +<p> +“I used to live at Upton, but my father is dead, and +mother—she’s Mrs. Mead’s sister—told me I’d +better come to see if Uncle Reuben wouldn’t give me a place in his +store.” +</p> + +<p> +Instantly it flashed upon Harry that this new boy’s arrival was likely to +endanger his prospects. Mr. Mead, as he knew, had no occasion for the services +of two boys, and he would naturally give his nephew the preference. He was not +unjust enough to take a dislike to Howard in consequence. Indeed, the new boy +had a pleasant face and manner, which led him to think he would like him for a +friend. +</p> + +<p> +“If I do lose my place,” thought Harry, “I will put my trust +in God. I don’t think He will see me or mother suffer, and I won’t +borrow trouble until it comes.” +</p> + +<p> +“Were you ever employed in a store?” he asked, pleasantly. +</p> + +<p> +“No; that is, not regularly. I have been in our grocery store at home for +a few days at a time, when the storekeeper’s son was sick.” +</p> + +<p> +“You look as if you were about my age.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am sixteen. My birthday came last month.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then you are a little older. I am not sixteen yet.” +</p> + +<p> +“You look stronger than I. I should think you were older.” +</p> + +<p> +Harry felt flattered. All boys like to be considered strong and large for their +age, and our hero was no exception to the general rule in this respect. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know about that,” he answered. “I guess we are +a pretty good match. How far off is Upton?” +</p> + +<p> +“Fifty miles.” +</p> + +<p> +“You haven’t walked all the way, have you?” inquired Harry, +in surprise. +</p> + +<p> +“Every step,” said Howard, proudly. “You see, money +isn’t very plenty with us, and I told mother I didn’t mind walking. +I got a lift for a few miles the first day, so I haven’t walked quite all +the way.” +</p> + +<p> +“You and I seem to be situated pretty much the same way,” said +Harry. “I have no father, and we have hard work to get along.” +</p> + +<p> +“You seem like a tiptop fellow. I think I shall like you.” +</p> + +<p> +“The same to you,” said Harry, smiling. “I am glad you are +coming to Greenville to live.” +</p> + +<p> +Harry was sincere enough in his words, so far as his impressions about the boy +went, but when he reflected that through him he was likely to lose his place he +felt a little troubled. +</p> + +<p> +“Look here!” said Howard, suddenly; “will you lose your place +if uncle takes me into his store?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t think he will need two boys,” replied Harry, +soberly. +</p> + +<p> +“Then I’d better see if I can’t find a place somewhere else. +I don’t want to take away your place, if you are poor and need the money +uncle pays you.” +</p> + +<p> +“I do need it, but I guess something else will turn up for me. You are +Mr. Mead’s nephew, and ought to have it.” +</p> + +<p> +“I hope we shall be friends, at any rate,” said Howard, warmly. +</p> + +<p> +“I am sure we shall, Howard,” returned Harry, cordially, who felt +attracted toward his new friend, in spite of the misfortune which his arrival +would bring to him personally. +</p> + +<p> +Just then, within a quarter of a mile of the store, Harry saw his young enemy, +Philip Ross, approaching him. +</p> + +<p> +Philip was driving his buggy, which had been repaired since the accident. +</p> + +<p> +“I wonder if he will turn out for me?” thought Harry. +</p> + +<p> +Philip had learned wisdom from experience, and did turn out for the store +wagon. He knew Harry’s firmness too well to put it to the test a second +time at his own expense. +</p> + +<p> +“Good-morning, Philip,” said Harry, in his usual manner. +</p> + +<p> +Philip did not notice Harry’s salutation, but held his head very high, +while his face reddened and his lip curled as he drove by his late antagonist. +</p> + +<p> +“Who is that boy?” asked Howard, whose attention was drawn to +Philip’s singular conduct. +</p> + +<p> +“Philip Ross, son of Colonel Ross, a rich man in town.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is he deaf?” +</p> + +<p> +“No.” +</p> + +<p> +“He didn’t seem to hear you say good-morning.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, yes, he did,” answered Harry, laughing; “but Philip +isn’t very fond of me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Are you enemies?” +</p> + +<p> +“We had a little difficulty lately, and Philip hasn’t got over it +yet.” +</p> + +<p> +“Tell me about it.” +</p> + +<p> +Harry told the story, and Howard fully sustained him in what he had done. +</p> + +<p> +“He must be a mean boy.” +</p> + +<p> +“He thinks he has more rights than common folks, such as he considers me. +He tried—or, at least, his mother did—to have Mr. Mead turn me off, +but your uncle is too just a man to go against me for doing my duty.” +</p> + +<p> +“I noticed he gave you half the road this time,” said Howard. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” answered Harry, with a smile. “He doesn’t care +to have his wheel taken off again.” +</p> + +<p> +By this time they had reached the store, and Howard introduced himself to his +uncle. The next day the blow fell. +</p> + +<p> +“Harry,” said Mr. Mead, “I’ve got bad news for you. My +nephew stands in need of a place, and I can’t afford to keep two boys. I +wish I could keep you, too.” +</p> + +<p> +“I see how it is, Mr. Mead,” said Harry, calmly, though his heart +sank within him. “Howard has the best right to the place. I trust +something will turn up for me.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have been perfectly satisfied with you, and am ready to give you the +highest recommendation for honesty and fidelity.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you, Mr. Mead.” +</p> + +<p> +“You will stay till Saturday night, of course, unless something else +should offer before that.” +</p> + +<p> +Poor Harry! His heart sank within him as he thought of the serious difference +which the loss of his wages would make at home. The prospect of another +situation was not very good, for Greenville was a small, quiet place, with very +few places of business. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"></a> +CHAPTER V — LOOKING FOR WORK</h2> + +<p> +Harry shrank from telling his mother that he was about to lose his place, but +he knew it must be done. +</p> + +<p> +In the evening, when he got home from the store, he seemed so restless that his +mother asked him what was the matter with him. +</p> + +<p> +“This is my last week at the store, mother,” he answered, soberly. +“I suppose that is what makes me feel nervous.” +</p> + +<p> +“Has Mr. Mead been induced by Mrs. Ross to turn you away?” asked +Mrs. Gilbert, beginning to feel indignant. +</p> + +<p> +“No; he isn’t that kind of a man.” +</p> + +<p> +“Isn’t he satisfied with you?” +</p> + +<p> +“I ought to have told you at first that a nephew of his own needs the +place, and he can’t afford to employ two boys.” +</p> + +<p> +“I believe Mrs. Ross is at the bottom of it, after all,” said Mrs. +Gilbert. +</p> + +<p> +“No, mother; there you are wrong,” and Harry went on to explain +that Howard’s appearance was a surprise to his uncle. +</p> + +<p> +“What kind of a boy is he?” asked the widow, disposed to dislike in +advance the boy who had been the means of depriving her son of a place. +</p> + +<p> +“He’s a nice fellow. I like him already. Of course I am sorry to +lose my place, but, if I must, I am willing he should have it. I think we shall +be good friends.” +</p> + +<p> +“But what are you going to do, Harry?” asked his mother, anxiously. +“Your wages have been our dependence.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am sure I shall get something else to do, mother,” said Harry, +in a tone of confidence which he did not feel. “Tending store isn’t +the only thing to be done.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am sure, I hope so,” said Mrs. Gilbert, despondently. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t trouble yourself, mother, about the future. Just leave it to +me, and you’ll see if I don’t get something to do.” +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless, the widow could not help troubling herself. She knew that +employment was hard to find in the village, at any rate and could not +conjecture where Harry was to find it. She did not, however, say much on the +subject, fearing to depress his spirits. +</p> + +<p> +Saturday night came, and Harry received his wages. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know where my next week’s wages are coming from, Mr. +Mead,” he said, soberly. +</p> + +<p> +“You may be sure that I will recommend you for any employment I hear of, +Harry,” said Mr. Mead, earnestly. “I really wish I could afford to +keep you on. You mustn’t allow yourself to be discouraged.” +</p> + +<p> +“I won’t—if I can help it,” answered Harry. +</p> + +<p> +The next day was Sunday, and he did not realize that he was out of a position; +but, when Monday morning came, and he could lie abed as long as he pleased, +with no call to work, he felt sad. +</p> + +<p> +After a light breakfast, he rose from the table and took his hat. +</p> + +<p> +“Where are you going, Harry?” asked his mother. +</p> + +<p> +“I am going out in search of a job, mother,” he replied. +</p> + +<p> +The number of stores was limited, and he was pretty sure in advance that there +was no opening in any one of them, but he wanted to make sure. +</p> + +<p> +He applied at one after another, and without success. +</p> + +<p> +“I’d take you quick enough, Harry,” said Mr. Draper, the +dry-goods dealer, “but I’ve got all the help I need.” +</p> + +<p> +“So I expected, Mr. Draper, but I thought I would ask.” +</p> + +<p> +“All right, Harry. If I hear of anything, I will be sure to let you +know,” said Mr. Draper, in a friendly tone. +</p> + +<p> +All this evidence of friendliness was, of course, pleasant, but the prospect of +a place would have been more welcome, so poor Harry thought. At ten +o’clock he reached home. +</p> + +<p> +His mother looked up when he entered, but she saw, by the expression of his +face, that he had not succeeded. +</p> + +<p> +“You must be tired, Harry,” she said. “You had better sit +down and rest.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, no, I’m not tired, mother. If you’ll tell me where the +four-quart kettle is, I’ll go and pick some blueberries.” +</p> + +<p> +“What will you do with so many, Harry?” +</p> + +<p> +“Carry them to Mr. Mead. Every two days he sends a supply to +market.” +</p> + +<p> +“How much does he pay?” asked the widow, brightening up at this +glimpse of money to be earned. +</p> + +<p> +“Eight cents a quart, payable in groceries. It won’t be much, but +will be better than nothing.” +</p> + +<p> +“So it will, Harry. I don’t know but I can do better going with you +than to stay at home and sew.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, mother; you would be sure to get a headache, exposed to the sun in +the open pasture. Leave me to pick berries. It is more suitable for me.” +</p> + +<p> +“What time will you get home to dinner, Harry?” +</p> + +<p> +“I shall not come home till the middle of the afternoon. I’ll take +a little lunch with me, and eat in the pasture.” +</p> + +<p> +So Harry started out, pail in hand, for the berry pasture. It was about a mile +away, and was of large extent, comprising, probably, thirty acres of land. It +was Harry’s first expedition of the kind in the season, as his time had +been so fully occupied at the store that he had had no leisure for picking +berries. +</p> + +<p> +The berries were not so plentiful as they had been somewhat earlier, but they +were still to be found in considerable quantities. +</p> + +<p> +Harry was not alone. Probably a dozen other persons were in the pasture, +engaged in the same way as himself. All knew Harry, and some, who had not heard +of his loss of place, were surprised to see him there. +</p> + +<p> +“And how is it you are here, Harry?” asked Mrs. Ryan, a +good-natured Irish woman, who was out, with three of her children, reaping a +harvest of berries. “And how can Mr. Mead spare you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because he’s got another boy,” answered Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“Shure it was mane to send you away, and your mother nadin’ your +wages.” +</p> + +<p> +“He couldn’t help it. He had a nephew that needed the place. But, +perhaps, I can make a fortune, like you, picking berries.” +</p> + +<p> +“And shure you’d have to live a hundred years to do that, and have +berries ripe all the year round. It’s hard work, Harry, and poor +pay.” +</p> + +<p> +“You have the advantage of me, Mrs. Ryan. You’ve got three children +to help you.” +</p> + +<p> +“And don’t I have to buy food and clothes for the same? Shure, +you’re welcome to all they earn, if you’ll board and clothe +’em.” +</p> + +<p> +“I didn’t think of that. Perhaps I am better off as I am.” +</p> + +<p> +“And so ye are, I’m thinkin’.” +</p> + +<p> +Harry found that, exert himself as he might, Mrs. Ryan picked nearly as fast as +he did. She was used to it, and her pail filled up rapidly. +</p> + +<p> +Harry was glad he did not bring a larger pail, for to him, unaccustomed to bend +over, the work was fatiguing, and when, as the town clock struck two, he saw +his pail filled to the brim, he breathed a sigh of relief. +</p> + +<p> +“If the pail held more, I shouldn’t feel satisfied to stop,” +he said to himself, “so I’m glad it doesn’t.” +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Ryan had two pails and a basket, and each of her children carried a small +pail, so that she remained in the pasture after Harry left. +</p> + +<p> +It was shorter for Harry to go at once to the store, instead of going round by +his home, and this he resolved to do. +</p> + +<p> +About twenty rods from the store, rather to his vexation, he met Philip Ross, +elaborately dressed and swinging a light cane. +</p> + +<p> +Philip, who had not heard of Harry’s loss of place, regarded our hero +with surprise, not unmixed with curiosity. But for his curiosity, he would have +passed him without a word. Curiosity conquered dislike, and he inquired: +</p> + +<p> +“Does Mead send you out to pick berries?” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” answered Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“Haven’t you been picking berries?” +</p> + +<p> +“This looks like it, doesn’t it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course. Have you a holiday?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, a long holiday. I am not working for Mr. Mead now.” +</p> + +<p> +An expression of joy lighted up the face of Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“Has he discharged you?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“He has taken his nephew in my place.” +</p> + +<p> +“And so you have to pick berries for a living?” asked Philip, in +exultation. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” answered Harry, coolly. +</p> + +<p> +“I must go home and tell mother,” said Philip, briskly. “Wait +a minute, though. Do you want a job?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” responded Harry, rather surprised that Philip should feel +any interest in the matter. +</p> + +<p> +“Then I can give you one. Come up to the house early every morning, and +I’ll hire you to black my shoes. I’ll give—let me +see—thirty cents a week.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you, but I couldn’t come up to your house. Bring them down +to mine every morning, and I may accept the job.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you think I would demean myself by carrying dirty shoes round the +village?” demanded Philip, angrily. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know,” said Harry, coolly. “You’ll have +to do it, if you want me to black them.” +</p> + +<p> +Philip muttered something about impudence, but went off very well pleased, to +report to his mother that she could trade at Mead’s once more, as he had +sent off Harry Gilbert. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"></a> +CHAPTER VI — UNCLE OBED ARRIVES FROM ILLINOIS</h2> + +<p> +It seemed odd to Harry to enter Mead’s store, where he had been employed, +merely as a customer. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Mead nodded pleasantly. +</p> + +<p> +“It seems natural to see you here, Harry,” he said. “Have you +been berrying?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, and I would like to sell my berries.” +</p> + +<p> +“Very well. You know what I pay—eight cents a quart.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have four quarts.” +</p> + +<p> +“Measure them out yourself, Harry. I will make an exception in your case, +if you wish it, and give you the money for them.” +</p> + +<p> +Harry accepted this offer, as he did not know of what groceries his mother +stood in need. +</p> + +<p> +As he walked out of the store, he felt more confidence than he had done in the +morning. He had not got a place, to be sure, but he had earned thirty-two +cents. This was not quite half what he had been accustomed to earn at the +store, but it was something. +</p> + +<p> +A little way from the store, Harry passed an old man, dressed neatly, but in a +well-worn suit, walking with some difficulty, with the help of a stout cane. He +looked to be seventy years old, at least, and his appearance indicated that he +was poor. +</p> + +<p> +As Harry passed, the old man called out: +</p> + +<p> +“Stop a minute, boy!” +</p> + +<p> +Harry stopped, and waited respectfully to learn what the old man wanted. It is +a common complaint that most boys are wanting in respect to old age, but this +charge could not be brought against Harry, who was uniformly courteous to all +persons older than himself. +</p> + +<p> +Though he suspected the old man to be very poor, it made no difference to him. +</p> + +<p> +“Can you tell me where Mr. Ross lives?” asked the stranger. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, sir. I suppose you mean Colonel Ross?” +</p> + +<p> +“I believe that’s what they call him. His wife is my niece.” +</p> + +<p> +Harry was very much surprised to hear this. +</p> + +<p> +“Have you ever been there before, sir?” asked Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“No; I’ve been living out in Illinoy. But I’m getting old, +and my only daughter died last month. So I’ve come here to visit my +niece.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t believe Mrs. Ross will be very glad to see her +uncle,” thought Harry; “and I’m sure Philip +won’t.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will show you the way, sir, if you wish,” said Harry, politely. +</p> + +<p> +“I wish you would, if it isn’t too much trouble,” said the +old man. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, no trouble at all,” said Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“You seem to be a very obliging boy. What is your name?” +</p> + +<p> +“Harry Gilbert.” +</p> + +<p> +“Are your parents living?” +</p> + +<p> +“My mother is living, but my father’s dead—that is, we expect +he is. He was a sea captain, and never came back from his last voyage.” +</p> + +<p> +“Did he leave your mother well off?” asked the old man, gazing +attentively at Harry. +</p> + +<p> +Harry thought him rather inquisitive for a stranger, but credited him with good +motives, and answered, readily: +</p> + +<p> +“No, sir; we are quite poor; but I have had a place where I earned four +dollars a week—at the grocery store. Mr. Mead had a nephew come last +week, and now I am out of work.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is unlucky for you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, sir; but I shall try hard to get something else soon.” +</p> + +<p> +“You look like an industrious boy.” +</p> + +<p> +“I like to work.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where do you live?” +</p> + +<p> +It so happened that Harry’s house could be pointed out across the fields, +though at least a quarter of a mile away. +</p> + +<p> +“There it is,” he said, pointing it out; “but, perhaps, you +cannot see so far?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, yes, I can see it.” +</p> + +<p> +By this time they had reached the gate of Colonel Ross, and Harry felt that he +might safely leave the old man. +</p> + +<p> +Out on the lawn was Philip Ross, who, with surprise and displeasure, saw Harry +opening the gate for one whom he mentally designated as an old tramp. +</p> + +<p> +“What do you want here?” he asked, in a tone far from courteous or +respectful. +</p> + +<p> +“What is your name?” asked the old man, fixing his glance on the +questioner. +</p> + +<p> +“My name is Philip Ross, and I am the son of Colonel Ross,” +answered Philip, with an air of consequence. +</p> + +<p> +“Then I am your great-uncle, Philip,” said the old man, surveying +his young kinsman with an interest inspired by the feeling of relationship. +</p> + +<p> +“My great-uncle,” repeated Philip, in mingled bewilderment and +dismay. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Philip, I’m your mother’s uncle, come all the way from +Illinoy to visit you.” +</p> + +<p> +Harry was amused to see upon the face of his young antagonist a look of +stupefaction. +</p> + +<p> +It was a severe blow to Philip, especially in Harry’s presence, to be +claimed as a kinsman by a shabby, old tramp. It was upon his tongue to express +a doubt as to the relationship, but he forbore. +</p> + +<p> +“Is your mother at home?” asked the old man. +</p> + +<p> +“You can ring the bell and see,” answered Philip, deliberately +turning his back and walking off. +</p> + +<p> +The old man looked after him, with a shrewd glance of intelligence, but +expressed no opinion of him. +</p> + +<p> +“Harry,” he said, turning to his young guide, “will you come +with me to the door and ring the bell?” +</p> + +<p> +Harry complied with his request. +</p> + +<p> +The door was opened by a servant, who, on seeing the old man, said, pertly: +</p> + +<p> +“We’ve got nothing for the likes of you,” and was about to +close the door on the two. +</p> + +<p> +“Stop!” said Harry, in a commanding voice, for he was provoked with +the girl’s ill manners. “Tell Mrs. Ross that her uncle is here. I +think you’d better invite him in.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I never!” said the girl, abashed. “I hope you’ll +excuse me, sir. Walk into the parlor, and I’ll tell Mrs. Ross you are +here.” +</p> + +<p> +“Won’t you come in, Harry?” asked the old man, who seemed to +have taken a liking to his young guide. +</p> + +<p> +“No, thank you, sir. I shall see you again, if you are going to stay in +the village.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you! you’re a good boy,” and the old man began to +fumble in his pocket. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, no. I can’t take anything,” said Harry hurriedly. +</p> + +<p> +Even if the old man had been rich, he would have declined +compensation—much more when he looked very poor. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, well! I’m much obliged to you, all the same.” +</p> + +<p> +Leaving Harry to find his way home, let us see what sort of reception the old +man had from his niece. +</p> + +<p> +Within five minutes Mrs. Ross sailed into the room. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, Lucinda!” said the old man, heartily; “it’s a +long time since I met you.” +</p> + +<p> +“I do not remember ever having seen you,” said Mrs. Ross, frigidly. +</p> + +<p> +“I haven’t seen you since you were a little girl, for I’ve +been living away out in Illinoy. I’m your Uncle Obed—Obed +Wilkins—brother of your mother.” +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed!” said Mrs. Ross, coldly, eyeing the old man’s shabby +attire with something like disdain. “You must be an old man!” +</p> + +<p> +“Seventy-two, Lucinda. I was born in October, while your mother was two +years younger than I, and born in August. I didn’t think to outlive her, +seeing she was younger, but I have.” +</p> + +<p> +“I think it was imprudent in a man of your age coming so far,” said +Mrs. Ross. +</p> + +<p> +“I was all alone, Lucinda. My daughter died last spring, and I wanted to +be near some one that was akin to me, so I’ve come to see the only +relations I’ve got left on earth.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s very cool,” thought Mrs. Ross. “He expects us +to support him, I suppose. He looks as poor as poverty. He ought to have gone +to the poorhouse in his old home.” +</p> + +<p> +To be sure, she would not like to have had it known that she had an uncle in +the poorhouse; but, so far away as Illinois, it would not have been known to +any of her Eastern friends, and wouldn’t matter so much. +</p> + +<p> +“I will speak to Colonel Ross about it, Mr. Wilkins,” she said, +coldly. “You can stay to supper, and see him then.” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t call me Mr. Wilkins. I’m your Uncle Obed,” said +the old man. +</p> + +<p> +“You may be my uncle, but I am not sufficiently acquainted with you yet +for that,” she answered. “You can come upstairs, if you feel tired, +and lie down till supper time.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you, I will,” said Uncle Obed. +</p> + +<p> +The offer of Mrs. Ross was dictated not so much by kindness as by the desire to +get her shabby uncle well out of the way, and have a chance for a private +conference with her husband, whom she expected every minute. +</p> + +<p> +If the unannounced visit of Uncle Obed may be thought to need an excuse, it can +easily be found. For years, when Mrs. Ross was a girl, she and her mother were +mainly supported by the now despised uncle, without whom they might have become +dependent upon charity. +</p> + +<p> +It was not a time that Mrs. Ross, in her present luxury, liked to think about, +and for years she had not communicated with the uncle to whom she owed so much. +</p> + +<p> +Full of charity himself, he was unconscious of her lack of gratitude, and +supposed that her failure to write was owing to lack of time. He had come in +good faith, when bereft of his daughter, to renew acquaintance with his niece, +never dreaming how unwelcome he would be. Philip’s rudeness impressed him +unpleasantly, but, then, the boy had never seen him before, and that was some +excuse. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"></a> +CHAPTER VII — AN UNWELCOME GUEST</h2> + +<p> +“I don’t believe that old tramp’s my great-uncle,” said +Philip Ross to himself, but he felt uneasy, nevertheless. +</p> + +<p> +It hurt his pride to think that he should have such a shabby relation, and he +resolved to ascertain by inquiry from his mother whether there were any grounds +for the old man’s claim. +</p> + +<p> +He came into the house just after Uncle Obed had been shown upstairs by the +servant, not to the spare room, but to a small, inconvenient bedroom on the +third floor, next to the one occupied by the two servants. +</p> + +<p> +“Mother,” asked Philip, “is it really true?” +</p> + +<p> +“Is what really true?” +</p> + +<p> +“That that shabby old man is any relation of ours?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know with certainty,” answered his mother. “He +says he is, but I shouldn’t have known him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Did you have any uncle in Illinois?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I believe so,” Mrs. Ross admitted, reluctantly. +</p> + +<p> +“You always said you were of a high family,” said Philip, +reproachfully. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Ross blushed, for she did not like to admit that her pretensions to both +were baseless. She was not willing to admit it now, even to Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“It is true,” she replied, in some embarrassment; “but +there’s always a black sheep in every flock.” +</p> + +<p> +Poor Obed! To be called a black sheep—a hard-working, steady-going man as +he had been all his life. +</p> + +<p> +“But my mother’s brother, Obed, strange to say, was always rustic +and uncouth, and so he was sent out to Illinois to be a farmer. We thought that +the best place for him—that he would live and die there; but now, in the +most vexatious manner in the world, he turns up here.” +</p> + +<p> +“He isn’t going to stay here, is he?” asked Philip, in +dismay. +</p> + +<p> +“No; we must get rid of him some way. I must say it was a very cool +proceeding to come here without an invitation, expecting us to support +him.” +</p> + +<p> +This was a gratuitous assumption on the part of Mrs. Ross. +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose he’s very poor. He doesn’t look as if he had a +cent. I presume he is destitute, and expects us to take care of him.” +</p> + +<p> +“You’d better send him packing, mother.” +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose we shall have to do something for him,” said Mrs. Ross, +in a tone of disgust. “I shall advise your father to buy a ticket for +him, and send him back to Illinois.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’ll be the best way, mother. Start him off to-morrow, if you +can.” +</p> + +<p> +“I won’t keep him long, you may be sure of that.” +</p> + +<p> +By this time Colonel Ross had reached home, and his wife communicated to him +the unwelcome intelligence of Uncle Obed’s arrival, and advised him as to +the course she thought best to pursue. +</p> + +<p> +“Poor old man!” said the colonel, with more consideration than his +wife or son possessed. “I suppose he felt solitary out there.” +</p> + +<p> +“That isn’t our lookout,” said Mrs. Ross, impatiently. +“It’s right enough to say poor old man. He looks as poor as +poverty. He’ll be better off in Illinois.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps you are right, but I wouldn’t like to send him off +empty-handed. I’ll buy his ticket, and give him fifty dollars, so that he +need not suffer.” +</p> + +<p> +“It seems to me that is too much. Twenty dollars, or ten, would be +liberal.” +</p> + +<p> +The cold-hearted woman seemed to forget the years during which her uncle had +virtually supported her. +</p> + +<p> +“No, Lucinda; I shall give him fifty.” +</p> + +<p> +“You should think of your son, Colonel Ross,” said his wife. +“Don’t impoverish him by your foolish generosity.” +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Ross shrugged his shoulders. +</p> + +<p> +“Philip will have all the money that will be good for him,” he +said. +</p> + +<p> +“Very well; as you please. Only get him off as soon as you can. It is +mortifying to me to have such a looking old man here claiming relationship to +me.” +</p> + +<p> +“He is your uncle, Lucinda, and you must mention the plan to him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Very well.” +</p> + +<p> +It was a task which Mrs. Ross did not shrink from, for she had no fear of +hurting the feelings of Uncle Obed, or, rather, she did not care whether he +chose to feel hurt or not. +</p> + +<p> +Uncle Obed was called down to supper, and took his seat at the handsome tea +table, with its silver service. Colonel Ross, to his credit be it said, +received his wife’s uncle much more cordially than his own niece had +done, and caused Uncle Obed’s face to beam with pleasure. +</p> + +<p> +“Railly, Lucinda,” said Uncle Obed, as he looked over the table, +“you have a very comfortable home, I declare.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, we try to have things comfortable around us,” answered Mrs. +Ross, coldly. +</p> + +<p> +“Years ago, when you and your mother lived out in Illinoy, I didn’t +think you’d come to live in a house like this.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, people live in an outlandish way out there,” said Mrs. Ross. +</p> + +<p> +“But they have happy homes. When Mary lived, I enjoyed life, though the +old farmhouse seemed rough and plain, compared with your handsome home. +I’m glad to see my sister’s child living so well, with all the +comforts that money can buy.” +</p> + +<p> +The old man’s tone was hearty, and there was a smile of genuine pleasure +on his rugged face. He was forced to admit that his niece was not as cordial as +he hoped, but, then, “Lucinda was always reserved and quiet-like,” +he said to himself, and so excused her. +</p> + +<p> +It must be said for Colonel Ross that he knew comparatively little about his +wife’s early life, and didn’t dream of the large obligations she +was under to Uncle Obed. He was a rich man, and the consciousness of wealth led +him to assume airs of importance, but he was not as cold or heartless as his +wife, and would have insisted on his wife’s treating her uncle better had +he known the past. Even as it was, he was much more gracious and affable than +Mrs. Ross to the old man, whom he had never seen before. +</p> + +<p> +As for Philip, he was a second edition of his mother, and never addressed a +word to Uncle Obed. When the latter spoke to him, he answered in monosyllables. +</p> + +<p> +“Nancy, you may leave the room. I’ll call you if I want you.” +</p> + +<p> +This was what Mrs. Ross said to the servant, fearing that Uncle Obed might +refer to her early poverty, and that the girl might talk about it in the +neighborhood. +</p> + +<p> +Though Colonel Ross made conversation easy for him, Uncle Obed could not help +feeling the coldness of his niece. +</p> + +<p> +“Lucindy might treat me better,” he thought, “after what I +did for her in her early days. But I see how it is; she’s ashamed of +them, and I won’t say anything to make her feel bad. I see I must look +elsewhere for a home. Lucindy don’t want me here, and I shouldn’t +feel at home myself. I wish Philip was more like that Harry Gilbert, who showed +me the way here.” +</p> + +<p> +Supper was over, and Philip took up his hat to go out. +</p> + +<p> +“Philip,” said his father, “you forget that your uncle is +here. You should stay to keep him company.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ve got an engagement,” said Philip, alarmed at the +suggestion. +</p> + +<p> +“Can’t you put it off?” +</p> + +<p> +“Let the boy keep his engagement,” said Uncle Obed. “I like +to see young people particular about keeping their appointments.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your uncle may like to walk out with you, and see something of the +village.” +</p> + +<p> +Philip looked dismayed at the prospect of being seen in the company of the +rather shabby old man, who claimed to be his great-uncle. +</p> + +<p> +“No, no,” said Uncle Obed. “I can find the way round by +myself. A man that’s used to the Western prairies doesn’t get lost +easily.” +</p> + +<p> +Philip breathed a sigh of relief. For the first time he began to think that +Uncle Obed had some sensible ideas. +</p> + +<p> +Uncle Obed took his hat and cane, and walked out slowly, making his way along +the principal street. +</p> + +<p> +“I wish I could see that boy Harry Gilbert,” he thought to +himself—for a new plan had occurred to him. “Why, bless me, there +he is now,” he said, as our hero turned the next corner. +</p> + +<p> +“Good-evening, sir,” said Harry, cheerfully. +</p> + +<p> +“Good-evening, Harry. You’re just the one I was wanting to see. +I’ve got something to say to you.” +</p> + +<p> +What Uncle Obed had to say was of importance, but must be deferred to the next +chapter. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"></a> +CHAPTER VIII — UNCLE OBED MAKES A PROPOSAL</h2> + +<p> +Harry waited to hear what the old man had to say. +</p> + +<p> +“How do you and my grandnephew hitch horses?” asked Uncle Obed. +</p> + +<p> +“You mean how do we get along together?” asked Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, we are not bosom friends. Philip thinks I am a poor, working boy, +and looks down on me accordingly.” +</p> + +<p> +“It don’t do you a mite of harm to work. I had to work when I was a +boy, and I’ve done my share of work since I got to be a man.” +</p> + +<p> +“I like to work,” said Harry. “I only wish I had the +chance.” +</p> + +<p> +“So there is no love lost between you and Philip?” +</p> + +<p> +“No; he doesn’t suit me any better than I suit him. He’s got +too high notions for me.” +</p> + +<p> +“He’s like his mother,” said Uncle Obed. “I reckon she +and Philip ain’t very glad to see me. It’s different with the +colonel. He’s a nice man, but he seems to be under his wife’s +thumb.” +</p> + +<p> +Harry did not reply. It was only what he expected, from what he knew of Mrs. +Ross and her son. +</p> + +<p> +“I hope it won’t be unpleasant for you,” said he, in a tone +of sympathy. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s a kind of disappointment,” the old man admitted. +“I was hoping Lucindy would be like her mother, and I could have a home +with my own folks the rest of my life.” +</p> + +<p> +“Poor man,” thought Harry. “He’s old and destitute, and +it must be a trial for him to find himself so coldly received.” +</p> + +<p> +“I wish,” he said, impulsively, “we were richer.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why?” asked Uncle Obed. +</p> + +<p> +“Because we’d offer you a home. But, unfortunately,” +continued Harry, with a sigh, “we don’t know how we are to pay our +own expenses.” +</p> + +<p> +The old man looked gratified. +</p> + +<p> +“I wish you were my nephew, instead of Philip,” he said. +“You’ve got a good mother, I take it.” +</p> + +<p> +“She’s one of the best mothers in the world,” said Harry, +earnestly. +</p> + +<p> +“I might have known it. Such boys as you always have good mothers. +Supposing I was able to pay my share of the expenses, do you think your mother +would give me a home?” +</p> + +<p> +“I am sure she would,” said Harry, who could not help feeling +interest in the homely, but good-hearted, old man. “But I +thought——” here he hesitated. +</p> + +<p> +“You thought I was destitute, didn’t you?” asked Uncle Obed, +with a smile. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, sir.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’m thankful to Providence that I’m not. I’ve got +enough to pay my way for the few years that remain to me. My niece might treat +me different if she knew it, but I’d rather she’d think I was in +need.” +</p> + +<p> +“Shall I speak to my mother about your coming?” asked Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; but I won’t come just yet. I want to see how Lucindy’ll +act. She wants to get rid of me, and she’ll be saying something soon. +Like as not, she’ll offer to pay my fare back to Illinoy,” and the +shrewd old man, who had hit the truth, laughed. +</p> + +<p> +“Very well, sir, I’ll speak to mother. We’ve got a nice room +that we’ve kept for a spare chamber, where I’m sure you’d be +comfortable.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t much care now what Lucindy says or does,” said the +old man, cheerfully. “If Philip won’t have me for a great-uncle, +I’ll have to adopt you in his place, and I guess I’ll make a good +exchange.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you, sir. I shall try to treat you as a nephew ought. +Good-evening.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s a good boy,” said Uncle Obed to himself. “I +wish he was my nephew. Somehow, that stuck-up Philip, with his high-and-mighty +airs, doesn’t seem at all kin to me.” +</p> + +<p> +Harry went home in excellent spirits. It would be of advantage to them to have +a boarder, as it would give them a steady, even if small, income. +</p> + +<p> +“I wonder what he’ll be able to pay?” he said to himself. +“If he pays as much as I used to get—four dollars a +week—it’ll make us all right, for I’m sure of earning as much +as two dollars a week, even if I don’t get a place.” +</p> + +<p> +His mother brightened up, too, when Harry told her of the prospect that opened +up of making up for his lost wages. It was a timely help, and both mother and +son regarded it as such. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"></a> +CHAPTER IX — NOTICE TO QUIT</h2> + +<p> +“Strike while the iron’s hot!” This was the motto of Mrs. +Ross, especially in a matter of this kind. She was firmly resolved to get rid +of Uncle Obed as soon as she could. +</p> + +<p> +She had always claimed to be of high family, and to have been brought up in the +same style in which she was now living, and here was a witness who could +disprove all she had said. +</p> + +<p> +No one knew better than Uncle Obed that she had been very poor in her early +days, for it was he who, out of his small means, had contributed to support her +mother and herself. Any day he might refer to those years of poverty; and Mrs. +Ross felt that she should expire of mortification if her servants should hear +of them. Farewell, then, to her aristocratic claims, for she knew well enough +that they would be ready enough to spread the report, which would soon reach +the ears of all her acquaintances. By way of precaution she took an opportunity +of presenting her version of the story to Nancy, who waited on the table. +</p> + +<p> +“Mr. Wilkins is rather a strange old man, Nancy,” she said, +affably, as Nancy was clearing off the breakfast table the next morning. +</p> + +<p> +“Is he really your uncle, mum?” asked Nancy. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Ross wished she could deny it, but felt that she would be found out in +falsehood. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Nancy, I confess that he is. There is a black sheep in every +family, and poor Uncle Obed was the black sheep in ours.” +</p> + +<p> +“You don’t say so, mum! He seems harmless enough.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, yes. There’s no harm in him; but he’s so rustic. Poor +grandpa tried to polish him by sending him to expensive schools, but it was no +use. He took no interest in books, and wouldn’t go to +college”—Uncle Obed would have opened his eyes if he had heard +this—“and so grandpa bought him a farm, and set him up in business +as a farmer. He was rather shiftless, and preferred the company of his farm +laborers to going into the fashionable society the rest of the family moved in; +and so all his life he has been nothing but a rough, unrefined farmer.” +</p> + +<p> +“What a pity, mum.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, it is a pity, but I suppose it was in him. Of course, it is very +mortifying to me to have him come here—so different as he is from the +rest of us. I am sure you can understand that, Nancy.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, yes, mum.” +</p> + +<p> +“He won’t feel at home among us, and I think I shall ask Colonel +Ross to pay his fare back to Illinois, and give him a pension, if he really +needs it. I dare say he has lost his farm, and is destitute, for he never knew +how to take care of money.” +</p> + +<p> +“That would be very kind of you and the colonel, mum,” said Nancy, +who didn’t believe half her mistress was saying, but thought it might be +for her interest to pretend she did. +</p> + +<p> +“By the way, Nancy, I think I shall not need any more the mantilla you +like so well. You can have it, if you like.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, thank you, mum,” exclaimed Nancy, in surprise. +</p> + +<p> +For she had never before received a present from her mistress, who was well +known to be mean and penurious. +</p> + +<p> +The mantilla was a handsome one, and she thanked Mrs. Ross effusively. +</p> + +<p> +“There, I’ve managed her,” thought Mrs. Ross, “though +at the expense of the valuable mantilla. I grudge it to her, but it is best to +guard her against any of Uncle Obed’s stories, at any cost. I must get +rid of him as soon as I can.” +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Ross wished his wife to postpone speaking for a week, but this she was +unwilling to promise. She agreed to let her uncle stay a week, but insisted on +giving him notice to quit sooner. +</p> + +<p> +On the morning of the third day she found her opportunity. Breakfast was over, +and she left alone with the old man. +</p> + +<p> +“Mr. Wilkins,” she said, “I want to have a talk with +you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly, Lucindy, you can talk just as much as you please. But what +makes you call me Mr. Wilkins? When you were a little girl, and came over with +a message from your mother, it was always Uncle Obed.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is so long since I have seen you that I hardly feel like speaking so +familiarly,” said Mrs. Ross. +</p> + +<p> +“You’ll feel better acquainted after a while, Lucindy.” +</p> + +<p> +“That shows he expects to stay a long time,” thought Mrs. Ross. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t you think you made a mistake in leaving Illinois?” +asked Mrs. Ross, point-blank. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, perhaps I did,” admitted Uncle Obed. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course you did. You are too old to come to a new place where you +don’t know anybody. Now, out there you knew——” +</p> + +<p> +“Pretty nigh everybody.” +</p> + +<p> +“Exactly.” +</p> + +<p> +“But out there I hadn’t any relations left. After my poor Mary died +I felt lonesome.” +</p> + +<p> +“Still, as you hadn’t seen us for so many years, we are almost the +same as strangers.” +</p> + +<p> +“I can’t forget, Lucindy, how you and your poor mother struggled +along, and how I tried to help——” +</p> + +<p> +“We won’t recall those old times,” said Mrs. Ross, +impatiently. “I was going to say you wouldn’t be happy here. We +don’t live as you were accustomed to do; and, in fact, it would be +inconvenient for us to have a new inmate. My health is delicate, +and——” +</p> + +<p> +“You look pretty rugged, Lucindy.” +</p> + +<p> +“Appearances are deceitful,” said Mrs. Ross, nodding her head +solemnly. “I am very nervous and all excitement is bad for me.” +</p> + +<p> +“I hope I haven’t excited you, Lucindy,” said Uncle Obed. +“I thought I was pretty quiet. As to the work, you’ve got two girls +to help in the kitchen.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; but there’s a certain amount of care that falls upon me which +you can’t understand.” +</p> + +<p> +“I hope you won’t alter your living for me, Lucindy. I’m one +of your own folks, and I don’t mind a picked-up dinner now and +then.” +</p> + +<p> +“The ridiculous old man,” thought Mrs. Ross, impatiently. “As +if I’d alter my style of living for a destitute old man that looks as if +he’d just escaped from an almshouse.” +</p> + +<p> +“We always live the same, company or no company,” she said, coldly. +</p> + +<p> +“If we don’t change for fashionable visitors from New York and +Philadelphia, it is hardly likely would for you.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’m glad I don’t give you any trouble.” +</p> + +<p> +“But,” continued Mrs. Ross, “it is worrying to my nerves to +have company.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I shouldn’t think you’d invite those fashionable people +from New York and Philadelphia,” said Obed, slyly. +</p> + +<p> +“Plague take him!” thought Mrs. Ross; “won’t he take a +hint? I shall have to speak more plainly. Indeed,” said she, “I was +surprised you should come in upon us without writing, or inquiring whether it +would be convenient for us to receive you.” +</p> + +<p> +“I begin to understand,” said Uncle Obed. “I ain’t +welcome here.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, you can stay a few days, if you desire it,” said Mrs. Ross, +“but you will be much happier in your old home than here.” +</p> + +<p> +“I ought to be the best judge of that, Lucindy,” said the old man, +with dignity. +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps not. People can’t always judge best for themselves.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps not; but I am going to try the experience of staying here a +while.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have already told you that it will not be convenient for you to stay +here. Colonel Ross will pay your fare back to Illinois, and that, I am sure, is +quite as much as he ought to do.” +</p> + +<p> +“Lucindy,” said Uncle Obed, “you seem to have forgotten the +years I freely helped you and your poor mother. However, if you don’t +care to remember them, I won’t refer to them.” +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Ross had the grace to be ashamed, but was not moved in her resolution to +get rid of her uncle. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course,” she said, “I don’t forget the past. We +will help pay your board in some town at a distance.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why at a distance?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because, if you were here, people might think it strange you +didn’t stay with us, and my health won’t admit that.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’m much obliged for your offer, Lucindy, but I prefer to make my +own arrangements. I am going to stay here.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then we shall not assist you,” said Mrs. Ross, angrily. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t wish you to. I can manage to pay my board, and I have +already selected a boarding place.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where do you expect to board?” asked Mrs. Ross, curiously. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll tell you when it’s settled.” +</p> + +<p> +The next day Uncle Obed informed his niece that he was to board with Mrs. +Gilbert. This was unwelcome news, because it would be a help to a family she +disliked; but Uncle Obed was proof against any insinuations she was able to +bring against Harry and his mother, and the day after he transferred himself to +the clean and airy chamber in Mrs. Gilbert’s cottage. +</p> + +<p> +“This will just suit me,” said the old man, looking about him with +a pleased expression. “I like this room much better than the one my niece +gave me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Our house won’t compare with hers, Mr. Wilkins,” said the +widow. +</p> + +<p> +“It ain’t so fine, but she put me in a little seven-by-nine +chamber, and I was always used to plenty of room.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am afraid our living will be too plain for you,” suggested Mrs. +Gilbert, apprehensively. +</p> + +<p> +“Do I look as if I was used to high living?” asked Uncle Obed. +“No; whatever’s good enough for you and Harry is good enough for +me. And now it’s best to agree about terms, so that we may know just how +we stand.” +</p> + +<p> +This was rather embarrassing to the widow. Uncle Obed certainly did not look as +if he could pay much, yet it would not do to charge too little. She would not +be able to provide her table. +</p> + +<p> +“Would four dollars suit you?” she asked, in a hesitating way. +</p> + +<p> +“No, it wouldn’t,” said the old man. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t see how I can afford to ask less,” faltered Mrs. +Gilbert. +</p> + +<p> +“That isn’t the point,” he said. “You don’t ask +enough. I will pay you six dollars a week—the first week in +advance.” +</p> + +<p> +“I should never think of asking so much,” said Mrs. Gilbert, +amazed. “Are you sure——” +</p> + +<p> +“That I can afford to pay so much?” asked Uncle Obed, who +understood her thought. “Yes; I have a little something, though you might +not think it from my clothes. When my trunk comes—I left it at a hotel in +New York—I will dress a little better; but I wanted to try an experiment +with my niece, Mrs. Ross. Here’s the money for the first week.” +</p> + +<p> +And, drawing out a large wallet, he took therefrom two bills—a five and a +one. +</p> + +<p> +“It will make me feel very easy,” said Mrs. Gilbert, gratefully, +“even if Harry doesn’t get any regular work, though I hope he +will.” +</p> + +<p> +“I should like to warn you of one thing,” said Uncle Obed. +“Don’t let people know how much board I pay. If Mrs. Ross chooses +to think I am very poor, let her. She won’t pester me with hypocritical +attentions, which I shouldn’t value.” +</p> + +<p> +Harry was delighted at his mother’s good fortune in obtaining so valuable +a boarder. Six dollars a week would go a long way in their little household. +</p> + +<p> +It gave him fresh courage in his efforts to obtain a place, for he knew that, +even if it was deferred, his mother would not suffer from the delay. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"></a> +CHAPTER X — PHILIP MEETS HIS MATCH</h2> + +<p> +Though it would have been possible for the Gilberts to get along now without +help from Harry’s earnings, his desire to obtain employment was quite as +great as before. +</p> + +<p> +As he had no place in view, he continued to go to the berry field every day, +supplying his mother with what she needed, and disposing of the rest to Mr. +Mead. +</p> + +<p> +The field in which he had at first picked being nearly exhausted, he bent his +steps in another direction, where he learned that there was still a good +supply. The field belonged to a Mr. Hammond, a substantial farmer, who had no +objections to the berries being picked, but required parties to obtain his +permission. +</p> + +<p> +As Mr. Hammond was understood to be very well to do, Mrs. Ross and her son +condescended to associate with him and his family on equal terms. +</p> + +<p> +On the particular morning when Harry sought the field, Philip was crossing the +pasture on his way to a river, where he kept a rowboat, when he espied two +children, Tommy and Rose Perkins, picking berries. +</p> + +<p> +They were children of eight and ten, and it occurred to Philip that he had a +fine chance to bully them, in the name of Mr. Hammond. +</p> + +<p> +Striding up to them, with an air of authority, he said: +</p> + +<p> +“Look here, you children, what business have you in this field?” +</p> + +<p> +“It isn’t yours, is it?” asked Tommy, independently. +</p> + +<p> +“It belongs to my friend, Mr. Hammond,” said Philip. “He +don’t allow all the loafers in town here.” +</p> + +<p> +“Tommy and I are not loafers,” said Rose. +</p> + +<p> +“All the same, you are trespassing on Mr. Hammond’s pasture. Come, +clear out.” +</p> + +<p> +“Mr. Hammond gave us leave to come here, and I don’t see what +business it is of yours,” said Tommy. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t believe he gave you permission at all, and I’ll let +you know what business it is of mine, you little rascal,” said Philip, in +a bullying tone. +</p> + +<p> +Luckily for Tommy and Rose, there was a friend near at hand, who was not +disposed to see them abused. Harry Gilbert had reached the bars between the +berry pasture and the next field in time to hear Philip’s attempt to +bully the young brother and sister. +</p> + +<p> +“Just like Philip,” he thought, with a feeling of disgust. +“He is always trying to bully those younger than himself, especially if +they are poor.” +</p> + +<p> +Tommy and Rose were the children of a widow, no better off than Mrs. Gilbert, +and Harry felt a greater sympathy for them on that account. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile, Philip, not aware that there was help at hand, continued his +persecutions. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, are you going to clear out?” he demanded, in a threatening +tone. +</p> + +<p> +“No,” said Tommy. “Mr. Hammond said we might pick berries +here, and you have no right to touch us.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll show you whether I have or not,” said Philip, in his +most dominating tone. +</p> + +<p> +He drew back his foot, and deliberately kicked over the children’s pails, +one after the other. Probably there was not more than a pint in either pail, as +the children had just commenced picking, but it was certainly aggravating. +</p> + +<p> +Rose began to cry, while Tommy, his face turning red, said: +</p> + +<p> +“I wish I was big enough; I’d make you sorry for what you have +done.” +</p> + +<p> +“I see I shall have to give you a lesson,” said Philip. +“I’ll teach you to be impudent to me.” +</p> + +<p> +He advanced toward Tommy in a threatening manner, and Harry thought it time to +interfere. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t touch that boy, you contemptible bully!” he exclaimed, +indignantly, hurrying to the scene of conflict. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Harry, make him stop,” exclaimed Tommy, in joyful tones. +</p> + +<p> +“I will,” said Harry, resolutely. +</p> + +<p> +Philip Ross was very much annoyed by the unexpected arrival of Harry, whom he +had never been able to intimidate, and would gladly have slunk away if pride +had not hindered. +</p> + +<p> +“You’d better take care what you say,” he rejoined, in a +surly tone. +</p> + +<p> +“And you had better take care what you do,” returned Harry, +manfully. “Why have you been interfering with these poor children?” +</p> + +<p> +“I am not responsible to you for what I do,” said Philip, angrily. +“They are trespassing on this field, and I ordered them off.” +</p> + +<p> +“By what right? You don’t own it.” +</p> + +<p> +“My friend, Mr. Hammond, does.” +</p> + +<p> +Here Tommy explained that Mr. Hammond had given them permission to pick +berries. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t believe it,” said Philip, “and I’ve no +doubt you are trespassing, too.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps you’d like to serve me the same way,” suggested +Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll leave Mr. Hammond to kick you out himself.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is more prudent. Stop! where are you going?” for Philip was +starting to leave them. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t like the company I’m in. I’m going to leave +you to enjoy each other’s society.” +</p> + +<p> +“Not yet,” said Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“Can’t you spare me?” sneered Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“Not till you have picked up the berries you have upset.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you mean to insult me?” demanded Philip, angrily. +</p> + +<p> +“No; I am only demanding what is reasonable and right. You upset the +berries, and it is only fair you should pick them up.” +</p> + +<p> +“Pick them up yourself!” said Philip. +</p> + +<p> +Again he started away, but Harry planted himself resolutely in his path. +</p> + +<p> +“You must pick up those berries or fight me,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +“Keep away from me, you beggar!” screamed Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“Once more, will you pick up those berries?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, I won’t!” +</p> + +<p> +Harry’s only answer was to seize Philip round the middle, and, despite +his struggles, to lay him down on the ground. +</p> + +<p> +“You’ll suffer for this!” said Philip, almost screaming with +rage. +</p> + +<p> +“You can go now,” said Harry, contemptuously, “and take care +how you interfere with Tommy and Rose again.” +</p> + +<p> +Philip rose from the ground, angry and humiliated, yet not daring to attack +Harry, whom he knew to be his superior in strength. +</p> + +<p> +“You haven’t heard the last of this,” he said, shaking his +fist. +</p> + +<p> +Harry deigned no reply, and Philip, instead of keeping on his way to the river, +turned and walked homeward. +</p> + +<p> +Harry helped the children pick up their berries, and remained with them through +the forenoon. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"></a> +CHAPTER XI — THE TWO CONSPIRATORS</h2> + +<p> +Philip thirsted for revenge upon Harry, but it did not seem very clear in what +way it was to be obtained. The trouble was that Harry was always in the right +in all the difficulties they had had, and was likely to have popular sympathy +on his side. +</p> + +<p> +As Philip walked home, fuming with anger, it occurred to him to make a formal +complaint against Harry before a justice of the peace. But the examination +which would ensue would disclose his unjustifiable conduct in the berry field, +and he reluctantly abandoned the idea. +</p> + +<p> +While in this state of mind he met a recent acquaintance, some three years +older than himself, named James Congreve. +</p> + +<p> +Congreve was boarding at the village hotel, with apparently no business on hand +more pressing than smoking, fishing and lounging about the village. +</p> + +<p> +He came from the city of Brooklyn, and had been sent to this quiet village to +remove him from the temptations of the city. +</p> + +<p> +He had been in several business positions, but had given satisfaction in none, +and, so far as usefulness was concerned, was perhaps as well off here as +anywhere else. +</p> + +<p> +As James Congreve wore good clothes, and had a showy gold watch and chain, +which indicated worldly prosperity, Philip was glad to make his acquaintance, +for Congreve taught him to smoke and play cards for money. +</p> + +<p> +So when the two met James Congreve asked, languidly: +</p> + +<p> +“What are you up to, Philip?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not much,” answered Philip, suddenly. +</p> + +<p> +“You look out of sorts.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, I’ve just had a fight with a boy in the berry pasture.” +</p> + +<p> +“I hope you didn’t hurt him much,” said Congreve, smiling. +</p> + +<p> +“No; but I’d like to,” replied Philip, spitefully. +</p> + +<p> +“Who is the villain?” +</p> + +<p> +“Harry Gilbert, a low, impudent upstart.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I know; used to be in the grocery store, didn’t he?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +“What’s he done now?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, it’s too long a story to tell. He was impudent to me, +that’s all. I would like to annoy him in some way.” +</p> + +<p> +“Get him into a scrape, eh?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps we can think of some way. If you haven’t anything better +to do, come up to my room and play cards.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t mind.” +</p> + +<p> +Soon afterward the two were sitting at a small table in Congreve’s +bedroom at the hotel, playing poker. +</p> + +<p> +This is essentially a gambling game, and for that reason it was a special +favorite with James Congreve. He was much more than a match for Philip, whom he +had initiated into the mysteries of the game. +</p> + +<p> +“How much do I owe you, Congreve?” asked Philip, as they sat down +to their unprofitable employment. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know, exactly; I’ve got an account somewhere,” +answered Congreve, carelessly. +</p> + +<p> +“It must be as much as ten dollars,” said Philip, rather uneasily. +“Somehow, you always have more luck at the cards than I do.” +</p> + +<p> +“Luck will change in time. Besides, I am in no hurry for the +money.” +</p> + +<p> +“I only wish an allowance of two dollars a week. Father will only give me +half of it, and mother makes up the rest. So it would take five weeks to pay +you, and leave me without a cent to spend.” +</p> + +<p> +“Probably you won’t have to pay it at all. You may win it all back +to-day.” +</p> + +<p> +Thus encouraged, Philip began to play, but was as unlucky as usual. He rose +from the table owing Congreve five dollars more than when he sat down. +“Just my luck!” ejaculated Philip, with a long face. “Just +look up the account and let me know what it all amounts to.” +</p> + +<p> +Congreve made a little calculation, and announced, in apparent surprise, that +Philip owed him twenty-two dollars. +</p> + +<p> +“It can’t be!” ejaculated Philip, in dismay. +</p> + +<p> +“There’s no doubt about it,” said Congreve. “However, +don’t trouble yourself about it. I can wait. And now for your affair with +this Gilbert boy. I’ve got an idea that I may prove serviceable to +you.” +</p> + +<p> +During the next fifteen minutes a wicked plot was devised, of which it was +intended that Harry should be the victim. The particulars must be reserved for +the next chapter. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"></a> +CHAPTER XII — AN UNEXPECTED INVITATION</h2> + +<p> +“Come here, will you!” +</p> + +<p> +Harry Gilbert turned around, for the call was evidently addressed to him, and +saw, standing on the piazza of the hotel, James Congreve. +</p> + +<p> +“Come here a moment. I want to speak to you,” said Congreve, taking +from his mouth the cigar he was smoking. +</p> + +<p> +Harry was surprised. He had scarcely any acquaintance with Congreve, whom he +knew chiefly as a companion of Philip Ross. Hitherto he had taken no notice of +Harry—a circumstance not regretted by our hero, who had not formed a +favorable opinion of the young man. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you wish to speak to me?” he asked, politely. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” said James, blandly. “May I offer you a cigar?” +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you, I don’t smoke,” returned Harry, with increased +surprise at Congreve’s friendly tone. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s a bad habit; I dare say you are right,” said Congreve +gladly. “I mean to break off soon. But what I wanted to ask you was: Do +you know your way about the Pegan Hill Woods?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; I’ve been there often.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then you are just the companion I want. I am thinking of exploring them +with my gun. I suppose I am likely to find some birds?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, yes; it’s a good place for a sportsman.” +</p> + +<p> +“Suppose you come with me. We can have a pleasant afternoon.” +</p> + +<p> +Harry hesitated. He did not wish to be disobliging, nor did he wish to +sacrifice the afternoon. As he did not specially fancy Congreve, he did not +expect any pleasure from his company, though the young man seemed disposed to +be cordial. This Harry explained to himself by Congreve’s desire to +secure his services as a guide, and, therefore, did not feel much flattered. +</p> + +<p> +James Congreve noticed and understood his hesitation. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course,” he said, “I do not wish to take up your time +without compensation. I will pay you fifty cents for your services.” +</p> + +<p> +This put a different face on the matter. Fifty cents was very good pay for an +afternoon’s work, and Harry at once decided that he could not let slip so +good an opportunity. +</p> + +<p> +“If you think my company will be worth that to you,” he said, +“I am quite willing. How long do you want to stay?” +</p> + +<p> +“I intend to return in time for supper.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then it won’t be necessary to go home and tell my mother where I +am going.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, dear, no! You will be back before she has time to miss you.” +</p> + +<p> +“When do you want to go?” +</p> + +<p> +“At once. I will go in and get my gun and be with you in a moment.” +</p> + +<p> +“Unexpected things seem to happen to me pretty often,” thought +Harry. “I never expected we should have an uncle of Mrs. Ross as a +boarder, and here is Philip’s intimate friend hiring me as a guide. +Somehow, my destiny seems to be closely connected with Philip’s, though +we are about as far from being friends as any two boys can be.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is any one going with you?” asked Harry when Congreve came out of +the hotel with his gun. +</p> + +<p> +“No one except you.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know where Philip is this afternoon,” said Congreve +carelessly. +</p> + +<p> +Harry rather wondered whether Philip and his companion had had a quarrel. It +would not have surprised him very much, for Philip was quite in the habit of +quarreling with his associates. +</p> + +<p> +“How far is it to the edge of the woods?” asked Congreve. +</p> + +<p> +“About a mile and a half.” +</p> + +<p> +“Quite a good distance. However, it’s early, and we shall have time +enough.” +</p> + +<p> +Part of their course lay through the fields and meadows. +</p> + +<p> +As they neared the woods, suddenly Congreve said, in a tone of +well-counterfeited surprise: +</p> + +<p> +“Why, there is Philip Ross sitting on a rock! I wonder what brought him +here? Hello, Philip!” +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"></a> +CHAPTER XIII — THREE YOUNG SPORTSMEN</h2> + +<p> +Philip turned and surveyed the newcomers in apparent surprise. +</p> + +<p> +“Are you out gunning?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes. I have secured a guide, as you see, fearing I might get lost in the +woods. I believe you know him?” +</p> + +<p> +“I have that honor,” said Philip, superciliously. +</p> + +<p> +This was so much in Philip’s ordinary style that Harry did not dream +there was any collusion between them, and that Philip was here by appointment. +</p> + +<p> +“You haven’t explained how you happen to be here,” said +Congreve. +</p> + +<p> +“I? Oh, I had a little headache, and I thought I would take a walk in the +fresh air.” +</p> + +<p> +“Won’t you join us?” asked Congreve. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know,” said Philip, irresolutely. +</p> + +<p> +Harry, supposing his indecision might spring from a dislike to his presence, +here spoke up: +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps you won’t want me any longer, as you have met +Philip.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, yes I do. He may not care to stay with me all the afternoon, as he +has a headache.” +</p> + +<p> +“Probably I shan’t be with you more than half an hour,” said +Philip. “I’ll walk a little way into the wood.” +</p> + +<p> +“Come along, then.” +</p> + +<p> +So the three passed into the woods together, Congreve in the middle, with +Philip on one side and Harry on the other. +</p> + +<p> +Philip and Congreve engaged in conversation, the latter apparently forgetting +that he had a gun on his shoulder. Harry, however, remembered that he was guide +to a sportsman, and kept on the lookout for birds. +</p> + +<p> +“Hush! There’s a partridge,” he said, touching +Congreve’s arm and pointing to the bird. +</p> + +<p> +James Congreve quickly brought his gun to rest and fired. He had very little +skill, however, and the startled bird flew away, in less danger than if the gun +had been in the hands of Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“I didn’t have time to take aim,” said Congreve, +apologetically. “Can you shoot?” +</p> + +<p> +“A little,” answered Harry, modestly. +</p> + +<p> +“If I had had the gun the bird wouldn’t have got away,” said +Philip, boastfully. +</p> + +<p> +“Take it, then,” said Congreve. +</p> + +<p> +“All right!” +</p> + +<p> +So Philip took the gun and began to look out for birds. +</p> + +<p> +He soon had an opportunity to show his skill. A bird was seen flying slowly +through the air. +</p> + +<p> +“There’s your chance, Phil!” said Congreve, quickly. +</p> + +<p> +Philip raised the gun awkwardly, and it went off in quite a different direction +from the one contemplated. But, as luck would have it, a foolish crow got in +the way just at the critical moment, and received the charge meant for another +object. +</p> + +<p> +“There; do you see that?” exclaimed Philip, triumphantly. +</p> + +<p> +“You don’t mean to say you intended to shoot that crow?” +asked Congreve. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course I did!” answered Philip shortly, determined to get the +credit of his success. +</p> + +<p> +Harry could not help smiling. “What are you laughing at?” demanded +Philip, scowling. +</p> + +<p> +“At the mistake I made,” answered Harry, good-humoredly. “I +thought you were firing at the partridge.” +</p> + +<p> +“You see you were mistaken,” said Philip, offensively. +</p> + +<p> +“I see I was,” returned Harry, quietly. +</p> + +<p> +He thought it was foolish to get angry about such a trifle. +</p> + +<p> +“Go and get the crow,” said Philip, arrogantly. +</p> + +<p> +It had fallen among some underbrush not far away. +</p> + +<p> +“Shall I?” asked Harry, turning to Congreve, whom he recognized as +his employer, and the only one entitled to order him about. +</p> + +<p> +“What do you want it for, Philip?” asked Congreve. +“It’s only a crow—good for nothing.” +</p> + +<p> +“Never mind; I want it,” answered Philip. +</p> + +<p> +In truth, it was the first bird he had ever succeeded in shooting, though he +would not have been willing to acknowledge this, and he wanted to display it at +home as a trophy of his skill. +</p> + +<p> +“Then you may get it,” said Congreve, who, in spite of his +dishonorable character, was, in manners, more of a gentleman than Philip. +</p> + +<p> +Harry at once plunged into the thicket, and not without difficulty succeeded in +finding the crow, which he brought out and delivered to Philip. The latter only +consented to carry it on account of the pride he felt in his success as a +sportsman. +</p> + +<p> +“Here, take this gun, Gilbert, and try your luck next,” said +Congreve. +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose he will eclipse us all,” Philip remarked, with a sneer. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know about that,” returned Harry, good-naturedly. +“I haven’t been out many times, not having any gun of my +own.” +</p> + +<p> +“Look out that you don’t shoot either of us,” said Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“I am not after such game as that,” said Harry. +</p> + +<p> +He took the gun, and began to look attentively in different directions, lest +any chance should escape him. At length he espied a partridge. He raised his +gun quickly, took instant but accurate aim, and fired. The bird was seen to +flutter an instant and then fall. +</p> + +<p> +“You’ve got him!” exclaimed Congreve, excitedly. +</p> + +<p> +Harry ran in the direction of the bird’s fall, and returned, flushed with +success. Philip’s envy was aroused, inasmuch as a partridge was a more +valuable prize than a crow. +</p> + +<p> +“You were lucky,” he said, with his usual sneer. “It was +fortunate for you that the bird got in the way.” +</p> + +<p> +“Rather unfortunate for the partridge, though!” said Harry, coolly. +</p> + +<p> +“It wouldn’t happen once in fifty times,” continued Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“This isn’t the first partridge I’ve shot,” answered +Harry, quietly. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, I don’t doubt you’re a first-class gunner.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have great doubts on that subject myself,” said Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“You’ve both of you succeeded, while I shall have to go home +empty-handed,” said Congreve, who had no particular ambition to shine as +a sportsman. +</p> + +<p> +“You’ll have a chance soon to try again,” said Harry. +</p> + +<p> +By this time they had penetrated a considerable distance into the wood, and +Philip grew impatient to carry out the plan which, from the first, they had had +in view. +</p> + +<p> +“Isn’t it about time?” he asked, significantly. +</p> + +<p> +“Just as you say,” replied Congreve, indifferently. +</p> + +<p> +As he spoke he drew from his pocket a ball of strong cord, and both +boys—if Congreve can be called one—looked significantly at our +hero. +</p> + +<p> +“What’s coming?” thought Harry, perplexed. +</p> + +<p> +He found out soon enough. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"></a> +CHAPTER XIV — WHAT HAPPENED TO HARRY IN THE WOOD</h2> + +<p> +“I have a little matter of business with you, Gilbert,” said +Congreve. +</p> + +<p> +“Business!” repeated Harry, looking from James Congreve, with his +cool, deliberate manner, to the face of his companion, who was openly exultant. +“I don’t understand you.” +</p> + +<p> +“You’ll understand better in five minutes,” said Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“I hope so, for I am quite in the dark now.” +</p> + +<p> +“The fact is, Gilbert,” commenced Congreve, in the cool, deliberate +tone habitual to him—for he seldom allowed himself to get +excited—“my friend Philip, here, feels that you have treated him +badly——” +</p> + +<p> +“Outrageously!” interrupted Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“Very well; let us say outrageously.” +</p> + +<p> +“In what way have I treated him outrageously?” demanded Harry, +undauntedly. +</p> + +<p> +“Plenty of times,” answered Philip, excitedly. “Didn’t +you attack me in the berry pasture?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, and you know why. You were abusing two young children.” +</p> + +<p> +“It was none of your business,” said Philip, shortly. +</p> + +<p> +“It will always be my business,” said Harry, boldly, “when I +see a large bully abusing two unoffending children.” +</p> + +<p> +“Quite a modern Don Quixote, upon my word,” said Congreve, but not +in the sneering tone Philip was accustomed to adopt. +</p> + +<p> +He never sneered, and never showed excitement, but he was none the less +dangerous on that account. +</p> + +<p> +“Don Quixote was a gentleman, though a foolish one,” returned +Harry, who understood the allusion. +</p> + +<p> +“That is where he had the advantage of you,” observed Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“A very neat hit, upon my word, Philip,” said Congreve. +“Really, you are improving.” +</p> + +<p> +Philip was flattered by this compliment, and looked as if he had quite +overwhelmed Harry with his sarcasm. +</p> + +<p> +“However,” continued Congreve, “we had better proceed to +business. Philip feels aggrieved, and he expects satisfaction.” +</p> + +<p> +“Are we to fight a duel?” thought Harry, who did not in the least +comprehend what was coming. +</p> + +<p> +“What sort of satisfaction?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“You’ll see!” said Philip, triumphantly. +</p> + +<p> +Congreve, who was standing beside Harry, handed the ball of cord to Philip, +saying: +</p> + +<p> +“I will hold him, while you tie his hands and feet.” +</p> + +<p> +“What!” exclaimed Harry, starting. +</p> + +<p> +“We propose to tie you hand and foot and leave you here,” said +Congreve, coolly. “It will subject you to some inconvenience, and you may +have to remain here all night; but it will teach you not to interfere with my +friend Philip again.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is that what you invited me to come out here for?” asked Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +“Pretending to need my services as a guide?” +</p> + +<p> +“My dear fellow, there was no pretense about that. We selected this wood +as well adapted for our purpose, and, as I was not familiar with the locality, +I thought it best for all reasons to hire you to guide me.” +</p> + +<p> +“So I have walked into a trap, and lost my time in the bargain,” +said Harry, bitterly. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, no; you haven’t lost your time. I agreed to pay you fifty +cents, didn’t I?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, here it is. I generally fulfil my contracts.” +</p> + +<p> +Congreve drew from his pocket two silver quarters, and handed them to Harry +with a bow. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s right, isn’t it?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” said Harry, mentally deciding that James Congreve was the +queerest fellow he had ever met. +</p> + +<p> +“Good! You can’t complain of any violation of contract. Now, will +you remain quiet while I tie you, or must we use force?” +</p> + +<p> +“Wait a minute!” said Harry, deciding to try the effect of an +appeal to Congreve, who appeared to have some sense of honor. “I think +you don’t understand what passed between Philip and myself. Let me +explain.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, thank you. It would only be wasting your time,” said Congreve, +with a languid wave of his hand. “I quite understand that Philip here was +playing the bully——” +</p> + +<p> +“What! Do you mean to insult me?” asked Philip, hastily. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, no; I am only stating facts. Philip, then, was bullying two +children, when you stepped in and knocked him down.” +</p> + +<p> +“I deny it!” said Philip, flushing. +</p> + +<p> +“Then where’s the injury you want satisfaction for?” asked +Congreve. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you take the part of a bully, then?” asked Harry, puzzled. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; for the bully happens to be my friend, and I stand by my friends, +right or wrong. Accordingly, I propose to leave you here, tied hand and foot, +for a few hours, or until you succeed in getting loose. It will be soothing to +the feelings of my friend Philip, and will give you time to reflect upon your +mistake in attacking the son of a rich man.” +</p> + +<p> +“But,” urged Harry, “I might have to stay here all +night!” +</p> + +<p> +“Quite possible! Fortunately, however, there are no wild beasts prowling +about in this forest, and you won’t incur any danger.” +</p> + +<p> +“But my mother will be worried about me.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am sorry for that, but it won’t be for long.” +</p> + +<p> +Harry started to run, feeling that he must avoid the fate that threatened him, +if possible; but Congreve overtook him almost instantly, and, passing his +lithe, strong arms around him, pinioned him so firmly that he could not escape. +He was several inches taller than our hero, and, naturally, much stronger. +</p> + +<p> +“Now, Philip,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +Philip advanced to tie Harry, but the latter, feeling that resistance was +useless, turning to Congreve, said: +</p> + +<p> +“If I must be tied, you may do it. I won’t resist.” +</p> + +<p> +“Come, that’s sensible,” said Congreve, and proceeded to tie +Harry hand and foot, as he had proposed. +</p> + +<p> +When the task was completed he took him up and set him down in such a way that +he could lean his back against a tree. +</p> + +<p> +“That will do,” he said. “If you don’t get free before, +I will come to-morrow morning and release you.” +</p> + +<p> +“I would like to give him a licking now!” growled Philip, +</p> + +<p> +“That would be cowardly,” said Congreve. “Come away and leave +him.” +</p> + +<p> +Rather reluctantly, for he wanted to stay and triumph over his helpless rival, +Philip followed his companion out of the wood. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"></a> +CHAPTER XV — PHILIP’S BAD ADVISER</h2> + +<p> +Philip was elated by his triumph over Harry. Being cowardly by nature, he felt +that it would be a terrible thing to stay in the lonely wood all night, and he +naturally thought that Harry would look upon it in the same light. +</p> + +<p> +He felt that it would pay off all old scores, and leave the advantage with him. +But there was a drop of bitterness mingled with his exultation. +</p> + +<p> +James Congreve had called him a bully to his face, and in the presence of +Harry, and this seemed to him a personal insult. He was not willing to let it +pass, and was resolved to give Congreve to understand that the offense must not +be repeated. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, Philip,” said Congreve, “our plan has +succeeded.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” answered Philip, shortly. +</p> + +<p> +“What’s the matter? Aren’t you satisfied yet?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, as far as that goes; but I don’t like the way you spoke to +me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Go ahead! Let me know what it is you complain of.” +</p> + +<p> +“You called me a bully!” +</p> + +<p> +“You are one, you know,” said Congreve, frankly. +</p> + +<p> +“No, I don’t know it; and, what is more, I don’t like to have +any one speak of me in that way!” returned Philip, irritably. +</p> + +<p> +“Very likely not. People don’t generally like to have their faults +alluded to.” +</p> + +<p> +“I tell you I am not a bully!” +</p> + +<p> +“You are mistaken. You would bully me if I were a small boy and not your +superior in strength.” +</p> + +<p> +“At any rate, if you are my friend, you ought not to talk of me in that +way,” said Philip, thinking it politic to change his tone. +</p> + +<p> +“You want me to shut my eyes to your real character, then?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t want you to talk of me in an insulting manner.” +</p> + +<p> +“Not at all, my dear fellow. I said you were a bully, and so you are. I +meant no offense. The sons of rich men are sometimes puffed up with the idea of +their own importance, and your father is a rich man, at least for a country +place.” +</p> + +<p> +“He is a rich man for any place,” said Philip, boastfully. +</p> + +<p> +“I am glad to hear it, especially as it will make it easier for you to +pay me the trifling sum you owe me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Trifling sum!” ejaculated Philip. “You said it amounted to +over twenty-two dollars.” +</p> + +<p> +“So it does; but that is a trifling sum for the son of a very rich man. +Some persons would charge you for the little service I have done this +afternoon, but that I only did at the bidding of friendship.” +</p> + +<p> +“It was very kind of you,” said Philip, uncomfortably; “but +you mustn’t think because my father is rich I have plenty of money. The +fact is, he is very stingy with me, and if it wasn’t for my mother I +would only have a dollar a week.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is very considerate of the old man, to be sure. You ought to have +five dollars a week.” +</p> + +<p> +“So I ought. If I only had I would be able to pay you up in a short +time.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why don’t you suggest to your paternal relative to enlarge the +supplies?” suggested Congreve, knocking off the ashes from his cigar. +</p> + +<p> +“I have,” answered Philip, “and he always says that a dollar +a week is enough for a boy of my age.” +</p> + +<p> +“Parents are apt to have limited ideas on such subjects. That was the +case with my father.” +</p> + +<p> +“What did you do?” +</p> + +<p> +“Do? I borrowed from him.” +</p> + +<p> +“How could you do that? Was he willing?” +</p> + +<p> +“He didn’t know it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Didn’t know that you borrowed money of him?” +</p> + +<p> +“No. You are an only child, are you not?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +“So am I. You will be sole heir to your father’s property, +won’t you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course,” answered Philip, with an air of consequence. +</p> + +<p> +“Then, really, the property may be considered yours now—at least in +part.” +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose so.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s the way I look at it. Well, I happened to know where my +father kept his government bonds, and I borrowed one.” +</p> + +<p> +“Wasn’t that stealing?” asked Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“It would have been if the bond had belonged to a stranger, but, as it +was likely to be mine some day, of course, that made it different.” +</p> + +<p> +“What did your father say?” asked Philip, anxiously. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, he made a fuss; but the bond wasn’t registered, and he +hadn’t a memorandum of the number, so he couldn’t do anything. I +sold it through a friend, and while the money lasted I was in clover.” +</p> + +<p> +“My father has got some government bonds,” said Philip; “but +I shouldn’t dare to take one, although, as you say, they will be mine +some day.” +</p> + +<p> +“Suppose your father did find it out—which is not at all +likely—you are his son, and you could tell him plainly that your small +allowance compelled you to do it.” +</p> + +<p> +“I shouldn’t know how to dispose of the bond, if I did take +one.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, I would manage that for you! That is the only thing there would be +any risk about; but you are a friend of mine.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I know you are a good friend,” said foolish Philip, who, it +is needless to say, could hardly have had a worse enemy than the one who +offered him such bad advice. +</p> + +<p> +“So I am, but I don’t take any credit for that,” answered +wily Congreve. “People are apt to deceive themselves about such things, +you know, as a son’s appropriating what really belongs to him; but I know +the world better than you, and understand how to look at things.” +</p> + +<p> +“It may be as you say,” said Philip, growing nervous at the idea of +robbing his father, “but I don’t think I like the plan.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, very well; I only suggested it for your good,” said Congreve, +preparing to draw the net around his victim. +</p> + +<p> +“If you have any other way of paying me the twenty-three dollars you owe +me, it’s all the same to me.” +</p> + +<p> +“But I thought,” said Philip, in alarm, “that you were in no +hurry about it. You said I might win it back.” +</p> + +<p> +“So you may, and probably will; but if you don’t you ought to pay +it.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will, sometime.” +</p> + +<p> +“I really should be glad if I could wait till then, but, as it happens, I +have pressing need of the money.” +</p> + +<p> +“But if I can’t pay it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I shall feel obliged to call on your father, and ask him to pay +me.” +</p> + +<p> +“You wouldn’t do that!” said Philip, panic-stricken. +</p> + +<p> +“I shall feel obliged to. It is only a trifle, and he will probably pay +it, giving you a little lecture, perhaps, but nothing worse.” +</p> + +<p> +“You don’t know him,” said Philip, uncomfortably. “He +will be awful mad. He had a cousin who was a gambler, and he has often warned +me against gambling.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t approve of gambling myself,” said Congreve; +“but there is a difference between that and a little stake on a game of +cards to make it interesting.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t think father would see any difference,” suggested +Philip, who did not himself understand what difference there could be. +</p> + +<p> +It is hardly necessary to say to my young readers that common sense is the best +teacher in such matters, and that no difference appears to common sense between +gambling at cards and gambling in any other form. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, well, you know best about that. Then it would be better that I +shouldn’t say anything to the old man?” +</p> + +<p> +“No; don’t say anything to him about it,” said Philip, +eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +“I won’t—that is, if you pay me the money in three +days.” +</p> + +<p> +“But how can I do it?” asked Philip, in fresh dismay. +</p> + +<p> +“Put a bond in my hands, then, and I will dispose of it and give you the +balance. You only owe me twenty-three dollars, and a fifty-dollar bond would +leave you a handsome surplus. If it were a hundred-dollar bond it would be all +the better. Think of having seventy-five dollars or more at your +command.” +</p> + +<p> +The prospect was tantalizing, but Philip still felt afraid to appropriate one +of his father’s bonds. If it had been a fear of doing wrong, I should be +glad to say so, but it was more a fear of consequences. +</p> + +<p> +“After all,” he said, “perhaps I may win it back, and then +there won’t be any need of raising money. You said you would give me the +chance.” +</p> + +<p> +“So I will. You can come to my room now, if you like, and try your +luck.” +</p> + +<p> +So Philip went, like a fly into the spider’s parlor, and the natural +result followed. +</p> + +<p> +When he left the hotel he had increased his debt to forty dollars, and the +prospect looked darker than ever. +</p> + +<p> +As he walked home, it is doubtful if he did not feel more uncomfortable than +our unfortunate hero, whom we left, bound hand and foot, in Pegan Hill Wood. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"></a> +CHAPTER XVI — BOUND HAND AND FOOT</h2> + +<p> +Though Harry was a courageous boy, his heart sank within him when he found +himself left alone in the wood, bound hand and foot. +</p> + +<p> +Pegan Hill Woods were of considerable extent. In length they extended about +three miles, while in width they ranged from a mile and a half to two miles. +</p> + +<p> +Probably the party had penetrated nearly a mile into the wood, and the tree +against which Harry was leaning was not far from the center of the wood. The +constrained position in which he was sitting became, after a while, somewhat +painful. The cords, too, chafed his flesh. +</p> + +<p> +Of course, Harry thought of the possibility of escape. If he could only unloose +the cords he could readily find his way home, reaching there before anxiety or +alarm was excited by his absence. +</p> + +<p> +He set to work upon his task, but found, to his disappointment, that he had +been too securely bound to make this attempt feasible. +</p> + +<p> +The cord was tied again and again in so hard a knot that, even if he had had +the use of both of his hands, he would have found it a work of time to undo +them. But when, in addition, his hands were tied, it became well-nigh +impossible. +</p> + +<p> +He worked until he was tired, and rested, feeling that thus far he had really +accomplished nothing. +</p> + +<p> +“Philip is about the meanest boy I know of,” he thought to himself, +bitterly. “I suppose he is triumphing over me, as he has a right to do, +for he has got me into a very awkward scrape.” +</p> + +<p> +This consideration was not likely to make him any less uncomfortable, for Harry +had his share of human nature. From Philip his mind reverted to James Congreve. +The more he thought of Congreve, the less he could understand him. He was +certainly a much more gentlemanly boy—or, rather, young man—than +Philip, and our hero disliked him less, though it was Congreve who had tied +him. +</p> + +<p> +“He told Philip to his face that he was a bully, and as much as said that +I had served him right in doing what I did in defense of the two children. I +don’t see how he can be a friend of Philip.” +</p> + +<p> +Harry had not much knowledge of the world, however, and would have been +surprised to hear that Congreve was more dangerous and unscrupulous, and +altogether bad, than Philip himself, in spite of the latter’s unamiable +traits. +</p> + +<p> +After a while Harry made another attempt to loosen the cords; but the second +time proved as unsuccessful as the first. +</p> + +<p> +Considerable time had passed—how much he did not know—but, from the +direction in which the sun glanced in the wood, he concluded that it was as +late as six o’clock, and by this time he was almost always at home. +</p> + +<p> +Indeed, supper must now be ready, and his mother and their boarder, Uncle Obed, +were probably ready to sit down to the table, and only waiting for him. It was +certainly very tantalizing to be lying there helpless, knowing that his mother +would soon be anxious and troubled about him. +</p> + +<p> +“If I could only use my knife,” thought Harry. “I would make +short work of these cords.” +</p> + +<p> +He had a knife in his pocket. If a boy has only twenty-five cents in his +pocket, he is sure to spend it for some kind of a knife, or he must be very +different from the average boy. +</p> + +<p> +So, of course, Harry was provided with a knife—a good, strong +jackknife—but, for all the good it was likely to do him, it might as well +have been at home. His hands being tied, of course, he could not get the knife +out of his pocket; and, even if he had done so, how could he make use of it? +</p> + +<p> +“I never knew twine was so strong before,” thought poor Harry, +ruefully, after a third unsuccessful attempt to get free. +</p> + +<p> +He lay a while longer, getting more and more hopeless of an early release. By +this time his appetite began to assert itself. He had not eaten a very hearty +dinner, and naturally felt all the more hungry now. +</p> + +<p> +He began to think wistfully of the good bread and butter and slices of cold +meat and pie which his mother was wont to provide for the evening meal, and +some twinges of excusable envy were felt, as he pictured James Congreve and +Philip, who had brought this trouble upon him, sitting down at a well-covered +supper table, eating as heartily as if they had not left a victim in the woods, +helpless and hungry. +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose I shall have to stay here all night,” thought poor +Harry, despondently. +</p> + +<p> +In the morning he was confident of being released. James Congreve had promised +that he would come and release him, and Harry felt confident that he would do +so. Had it depended upon Philip, there would be small chance of it; but it was +easy to see that Philip and Congreve were not alike. Of course, this gave him +hope, but it was not pleasant to think of a night passed in the dark wood; not +that Harry was timid or superstitious—he was neither—but it is hard +not to be somewhat affected by gloomy surroundings. +</p> + +<p> +While Harry was occupied with these reflections, suddenly a peculiar sound came +to his ears, and, looking up, he was startled by the sight of a blacksnake, at +least four feet long, which, with head erect, was gazing intently at him. +</p> + +<p> +Whatever may be the cause of the repulsion that exists between the human race +and the snake, it is, at all events, genuine, and Harry shared it. +</p> + +<p> +With distended eyes he gazed at this sleek foe of humankind, and felt a strong +desire to throw something at it, or crush it under foot. But, alas! he was able +to do neither. +</p> + +<p> +Suppose it should advance upon him, helpless and unable to defend himself, and +strike its fangs into his flesh, or curl, with slippery fold, about him! What +could he do? The perspiration came out upon his brow, and he made a tremendous +effort to get away. +</p> + +<p> +Apparently conscious of his helplessness, the snake remained quietly looking at +him, and began, after a pause, to slowly glide toward him. +</p> + +<p> +Harry uttered a shrill cry of alarm, which, I am sure, under the circumstances, +was not discreditable to his courage, and his soul was filled with horror and +repulsion. +</p> + +<p> +It was a fortunate cry, for it brought help. The sound of flying feet was +heard, and an instant later a boy of about his own age came rushing up. +</p> + +<p> +“What’s the matter?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Look there!” said Harry, hastily. +</p> + +<p> +“By Jehosophat!” exclaimed the boy, and, advancing toward the +snake, he aimed a blow at his crest with a rough, stout stick which he held in +his hand. +</p> + +<p> +The blow fell with good effect. The snake had not yet seen his new adversary, +and was taken unawares. The jagged stick tore his skin, and his head dropped +forward, maimed and writhing. +</p> + +<p> +“Follow it up!” cried Harry, in excitement. “Kill him!” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll do it!” said the boy, and he sprang forward to renew +his attack. +</p> + +<p> +He found a rock, or, rather, a large stone, close at hand, with which he +bruised the serpent’s head and killed him. +</p> + +<p> +“Ugh, you ugly beast!” he said, in a tone of disgust, miscalling +his victim. But, then, a country boy is hardly expected to be well up in +natural history. +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you,” said Harry, breathing a sigh of relief. +</p> + +<p> +“Why didn’t you kill him yourself?” asked the boy. Then, for +the first time, noticing in the indistinct light Harry’s condition, he +said, in surprise: “What’s the matter with you?” +</p> + +<p> +“You see I’m tied.” +</p> + +<p> +“Who tied you?” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s a long story. Just untie me, there’s a good fellow, +and I’ll tell you.” +</p> + +<p> +The boy whipped out a knife from his pocket and quickly cut the cord. Harry +sprang up and stretched his arms and legs. +</p> + +<p> +“It seems good to be free once more,” he said. “But who tied +you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Two boys that had a spite against me. At least, one had, and the other +was his friend.” +</p> + +<p> +“How long have you been lying there?” +</p> + +<p> +“Several hours—I can’t tell how long.” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s a mean trick, anyway.” +</p> + +<p> +“So it is; I should have had to stay here all night if you hadn’t +come along.” +</p> + +<p> +“Or if the snake hadn’t swallowed you!” Harry shuddered at +the mention of the snake. +</p> + +<p> +“That was the worst of it,” he said. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"></a> +CHAPTER XVII. -- WHAT HARRY SAW IN THE WOOD</h2> + +<p> +“What is your name?” asked Harry. “I don’t remember +seeing you before.” +</p> + +<p> +“I live on the other side of the wood. My name is Reuben +Richardson.” +</p> + +<p> +“Richardson?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; we only moved here two months since, and I haven’t had a +chance to get acquainted much. What is your name?” +</p> + +<p> +“Harry Gilbert.” +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose you live in the village?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes. It’s lucky for me you came along. There isn’t much +traveling through the wood. How did you happen to be here?” +</p> + +<p> +“I was exploring a little. I was on my way home when I heard you shout. I +guess I must be going now. I have to get up early in the morning, and so I go +to bed early.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, good-night, Reuben. Come and see me some day. Anybody will tell +you where I live.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you. If you ever come our way, stop at the farm and see me.” +</p> + +<p> +“So I will.” +</p> + +<p> +The two boys parted, with friendly good-nights. +</p> + +<p> +“Reuben seems a nice sort of boy,” said Harry to himself, as he +threaded his way through the woods in a homeward direction. “I +don’t know what would have happened to me if he hadn’t come +along.” +</p> + +<p> +The moon was already up, though it was still early, and cast a mild radiance +through the branches of the trees. The effect was fine, but Harry had no time +for enjoying it, as he was in a hurry to get home and relieve his +mother’s anxiety. +</p> + +<p> +He had gone perhaps a quarter of a mile, when he heard voices, indistinct as +yet, of men, who seemed to be approaching. +</p> + +<p> +Ordinarily he would have kept right on, without fear or suspicion, but it might +have been the experience through which he had just passed that made him more +cautious. +</p> + +<p> +At any rate, he began to look around to see where he could best conceal himself +till the newcomers passed. +</p> + +<p> +He caught sight of a tree that seemed easy to climb, and he swung himself up at +once, ascending from limb to limb till he was probably twenty-five feet above +the ground, concealed by the foliage and the obscurity of night. +</p> + +<p> +He had not long to wait. +</p> + +<p> +Presently there emerged from the thicker recesses of the wood two men, one of +whom carried in his hand a tin box of considerable size. +</p> + +<p> +Harry scrutinized them both, but he only recognized one. That one was a man +named Ralph Temple, generally considered a ne’er-do-well and a vagabond, +who lived in a tumble-down shanty in the edge of the wood. +</p> + +<p> +“This is the place I was thinking of,” said Temple, halting about +twenty feet from the tree in which Harry was concealed. +</p> + +<p> +“It seems a lonely, out-of-the-way place,” said his companion. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; no one is likely to see the box here. No one ever comes here. There +is a path through the wood, which is always used by those who pass through +it.” +</p> + +<p> +“And this is off from the path?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where do you think it best to hide the box?” +</p> + +<p> +“Under that tree will be a good place; say ten feet from it, in an +easterly direction.” +</p> + +<p> +“East and west are all alike to me here; I can’t tell the +difference.” +</p> + +<p> +“I can; and so could you, with a compass.” +</p> + +<p> +“Shall you know the place again?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; do you notice that mark on the bark of the tree? It was struck by +lightning once, but that was all the harm done to it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good! That will serve to identify it. But why couldn’t we have +concealed it nearer your cabin?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t want to fall under suspicion,” said Temple, shaking +his head. +</p> + +<p> +“Why should you?” +</p> + +<p> +Ralph Temple laughed a harsh, unpleasant laugh. +</p> + +<p> +“The good people round here haven’t a very good opinion of +me,” he said. “They would be very apt to suspect me, if suspicion +came this way. No; it’s better to hide the box here.” +</p> + +<p> +“I wish we could sell the bonds at once.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nearly all are registered, and probably the old man has a record of the +rest, so that if we tried to sell them we would be brought up with a round +turn. No; as I told you, the only way is to wait till a reward is offered, and +then open negotiations for their return. Not immediately, you know. We will +keep them long enough to make the owner feel anxious, and willing to get them +back at any cost.” +</p> + +<p> +“I guess you’re right. We must be prudent. If we could only get +away with the whole sum it would make us comfortable for a year or two.” +</p> + +<p> +“How much is there?” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, there are eight thousand dollars in government bonds, and five +Union Pacific bonds of a thousand dollars each. They’re safe as +governments.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thirteen thousand dollars!” said Temple, in a tone of +gratification. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, and more, for the bonds are all at premium. However, we must lay +back for a reward. It won’t do to negotiate them.” +</p> + +<p> +While this conversation had been going on Temple indicated the spot which he +thought suitable, and, with a spade which he carried, had commenced excavating +a hole sufficiently large for the purpose. +</p> + +<p> +He dug to a depth of about eighteen inches, the box being eight inches in +height, and carefully deposited it in the cavity. +</p> + +<p> +Then both replaced a part of the earth, and carried away the remainder to the +distance of a hundred feet or so. Finally they brought a quantity of leaves and +covered the spot. +</p> + +<p> +“There,” said Temple, with a look of satisfaction; +“it’s safe enough now. It’ll take a smart detective to find +it, I reckon.” +</p> + +<p> +“You’re right there, Ralph,” said his companion. “It +would be a bad sort of joke if we couldn’t find it ourselves,” he +added, after a pause. +</p> + +<p> +“I can find it, never you fear!” said Temple. “I know these +woods as well as anybody, and shan’t forget the spot.” +</p> + +<p> +“All the same, I wish I had some of that money now. I’m almost dead +broke.” +</p> + +<p> +“So am I; but I can let you have enough to get back to the city.” +</p> + +<p> +“And suppose,” said Vernon, with an uneasy look, “you should +take a fancy to remove that box while I am away?” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t be afraid. Ralph Temple isn’t that kind of a man. +He’ll stand by his pard and treat him fair.” +</p> + +<p> +“It would be a rough trick to play on me, Ralph,” said Vernon, +apparently not quite free from uneasiness. +</p> + +<p> +“So it would; but there is no danger. Even if I did couldn’t you +expose the whole thing, and have me arrested?” +</p> + +<p> +“So I could,” returned Vernon, more reassured by this consideration +than by his faith in Temple’s fair dealing. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, if you’re all ready, we may as well vanish. You can stay +with me to-night, and go to the city in the morning. Watch the papers, and see +if there is anything that promises advantage to us.” +</p> + +<p> +“All right.” +</p> + +<p> +The two men moved off, much to Harry’s relief. He was in momentary dread +of a sneeze, and this would betray his whereabouts to Temple and his partner. +</p> + +<p> +What these two desperate men would have done to him, had they discovered him, +it was not easy to guess; but, under the influence of vexation and alarm, they +might have brought upon him worse trouble than any he had yet experienced. +</p> + +<p> +Such, indeed, was likely, from what he knew of Ralph Temple. He was generally +considered a disreputable character, and the villagers were ignorant as to how +he made his living. +</p> + +<p> +From time to time he came to the village store provided with money; but where +it came from no one knew, as he was not known to do anything, except to roam +the fields and woods with his gun. Sometimes he disappeared for a week or a +fortnight at a time, but where he went, unless to the city, no one knew. +</p> + +<p> +Harry conjectured, from what he had just seen, that Temple was in league with +wicked men in the city, with whom he was engaged in violations of the law, and +in this surmise he was correct. +</p> + +<p> +He understood a little better now Ralph Temple’s object in selecting as +his abode this lonely and out-of-the-way place. +</p> + +<p> +Harry did not venture to descend from his elevated perch until the two men had +ample time to get beyond sight and hearing. +</p> + +<p> +When he touched the ground, he first scanned the tree and its vicinity +carefully, so as to make sure he could find it again, and then hurried home. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"></a> +CHAPTER XVIII — HARRY’S COMMISSION</h2> + +<p> +It may be well imagined that Harry was in a thrill of excitement as he walked +home. He had just witnessed what was undoubtedly an attempt to conceal the +proceeds of a burglary. He, and he alone, outside of the guilty parties, knew +where the booty was deposited, and he asked himself what was his duty under the +circumstances. +</p> + +<p> +Of course he had no sympathy with Temple and Vernon. They had made themselves +the enemies of society, and he was in duty bound to defeat their criminal +plans, if possible, and restore the property to its legal owner or owners. +</p> + +<p> +Here a difficulty stared him in the face. He didn’t know to whom the tin +box and its contents belonged, for not a word had been dropped by the two +thieves which could inform him. They had made up their minds, however, to wait +till a reward should be offered, and then come forward and claim it, or, at any +rate, open negotiations through others looking to that result. +</p> + +<p> +Why could not Harry learn, in like manner, who had been robbed, and communicate +with them? This seemed to him the most sensible course. +</p> + +<p> +Here, again, there was another difficulty. In the little country village he was +not in a position to see any such notice, for they took no daily paper, and, +though Mr. Mead did, his inquiry for it would excite curiosity and lead to +questionings. It seemed necessary for him to go to New York. +</p> + +<p> +“Shall I tell mother, or not?” he asked himself. +</p> + +<p> +On the whole, he thought it better not to do so. So far as he was concerned, +his mother was timid, and she would be anxious lest he should incur the +hostility of the two lawless men of whose crime he had come into the knowledge. +Yet he wanted to consult somebody, for he felt that the matter was one of no +little importance, and that he needed a man’s counsel. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll speak to Uncle Obed about it,” he said to himself. +“He isn’t used to cities, to be sure, but he has had a long life, +and must have considerable experience. At any rate, he will be better qualified +than I to know what ought to be done.” +</p> + +<p> +He had scarcely come to this conclusion before he reached the cottage. +</p> + +<p> +His mother, with a troubled expression of countenance, was sitting at the +table, not sewing or mending, as usual, but with her hands clasped in her lap, +while near her sat Uncle Obed, also looking sober. +</p> + +<p> +“I am sure something has happened to Harry,” she had just been +saying. “I never knew him to stay out so long without telling me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Boys will be boys,” answered the old man, not knowing what else to +say. “He’s gone off on some lark with some of his playmates.” +</p> + +<p> +“But he never does that without telling me, Mr. Wilkins. He’s +always so considerate.” +</p> + +<p> +“He’ll be coming home safe and sound, depend upon it,” said +Uncle Obed, with a confidence greater than he actually felt. +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps he has fallen from a tree—he was always fond of +climbing—and broken his leg,” suggested Mrs. Gilbert, dolefully. +</p> + +<p> +“He’s too smart for that,” said Uncle Obed. +</p> + +<p> +“What should I do if he never came home?” exclaimed the poor woman, +with a shudder. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Wilkins was hardly prepared to answer this question, and, luckily, it was +not necessary, for just then the latch was lifted and Harry walked in. +</p> + +<p> +“Didn’t I tell you so?” said Uncle Obed, triumphantly. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Harry, I’m so glad to see you! Where have you been so +long?” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s lucky you came just as you did,” said Mr. Wilkins. +“Your mother had made up her mind that you had met with an +accident.” +</p> + +<p> +“I wanted to come home, but I couldn’t,” answered Harry. +“I was in the woods.” +</p> + +<p> +“Lost your way?” asked Uncle Obed. +</p> + +<p> +“Not exactly. Two boys played a trick upon me.” +</p> + +<p> +Of course Harry had to explain what sort of a trick it was. Mrs. Gilbert was +very indignant, and denounced Philip and his confederate in no sparing terms. +</p> + +<p> +“You ought to go and complain to Colonel Ross,” she said. +“Philip ought not to be allowed to do such things.” +</p> + +<p> +Harry smiled. He had no idea of following this advice. It would have been an +acknowledgment of weakness, and he felt able to defend himself against Philip +Ross and his machinations. +</p> + +<p> +“Mother,” he said, “I’ve got very particular reasons +for not doing this, and for not even mentioning that I was in the wood. Now, I +want you to promise me not to say a word about it, for a week at least.” +</p> + +<p> +“But if I see Philip,” said his mother, “I can’t keep +silent.” +</p> + +<p> +“You must, for my sake, mother. You don’t know how much depends +upon it.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t understand,” said Mrs. Gilbert, thoroughly +bewildered. +</p> + +<p> +“No, I suppose not; but I have a strong reason that I can’t mention +just yet.” +</p> + +<p> +“I hope there’s nothing wrong going on,” said his mother, +alarmed. +</p> + +<p> +“If there is, it isn’t anything that I’m to blame for. Only +there’s a secret that I can’t tell just yet. You’ll know it +in good time. I want to consult Uncle Obed to-night about it, and you +won’t mind if I don’t tell you just yet?” +</p> + +<p> +“Give the boy his way, ma’am,” said Mr. Wilkins. “If +there is anything very bad about it he wouldn’t tell me.” +</p> + +<p> +His mother was somewhat reassured, and left the two to themselves. Then Harry +began and told his story. Mr. Wilkins listened with attention, and not without +surprise. +</p> + +<p> +“Really, Harry, it’s quite an adventure, I call it,” he said. +“Do you know this man Temple?” +</p> + +<p> +“I know that he’s a sort of tramp. I didn’t suppose he was a +thief before.” +</p> + +<p> +“You never saw this other man before?” +</p> + +<p> +“No; never heard of him.” +</p> + +<p> +“They’re a pair of rascals, I reckon. Now, what have you thought of +doing?” +</p> + +<p> +“Of going to New York to-morrow to find out what I can about the +burglary, or whatever else it was. If I can find out who has been robbed, +I’ll go and tell them about it, and where the bonds are hid.” +</p> + +<p> +Uncle Obed nodded approvingly. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s a good idea,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +“What puzzles me,” continued Harry, “is how to explain to +mother why I go to the city. I can’t tell her, and she’ll feel +nervous.” +</p> + +<p> +“I can manage that,” said Mr. Wilkins. “I’ll tell her +you have gone on business for me.” +</p> + +<p> +“But will it be true?” asked Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; I’ve got some cowpons”—that’s the way the +old man pronounced the word—“that you can get the money for.” +</p> + +<p> +“Shall I have any difficulty about it, Uncle Obed?” +</p> + +<p> +“No; you can go to a broker, and he’ll give you the money for it, +taking out his commission. How much does it cost to go to New York?” +</p> + +<p> +“The price of an excursion ticket is a dollar.” +</p> + +<p> +The old man took from his pocket a two-dollar bill. +</p> + +<p> +“There,” said he; “that’ll pay your ticket and get you +some dinner.” +</p> + +<p> +“But, Uncle Obed, you ought not to pay my expenses.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why not? Ain’t you going on my business?” +</p> + +<p> +“I’m going principally on my own,” said Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” replied the old man, smiling, “then you must take it +because I am your uncle.” +</p> + +<p> +“I know I call you so.” +</p> + +<p> +“You seem a good deal more kin to me than Philip. He’s ashamed of +his old uncle, and so is his mother; but you are not. +</p> + +<p> +“No, no, Harry; it’s all right. I ain’t exactly poor, but +I’d rather my niece would think so. So don’t you say anything to +them about the cowpons.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’m not likely to, Uncle Obed.” +</p> + +<p> +The old man went up to his room and brought down ninety dollars’ worth of +government coupons, which, as gold was then ruling at a dollar and twenty, +would bring about a hundred and eight dollars in currency. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Gilbert was much surprised when Harry told her that he intended to go to +New York the next day on business for Uncle Obed; but, of course, had no idea +that he had still more important business of his own. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"></a> +CHAPTER XIX — SECOND VISIT TO THE WOOD</h2> + +<p> +There was an early train from the neighboring village of Crampton to New York. +Harry got up early, and walked the first part of the way through the fields to +a point where the footpath struck the main road, three-quarters of a mile from +the village. +</p> + +<p> +In this way it happened that he was not seen by any of his companions, and his +day’s expedition was kept a secret. +</p> + +<p> +Just after breakfast James Congreve received a call at the hotel from Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“Our friend in the wood must be hungry by this time,” said James. +</p> + +<p> +“Ho, ho!” laughed Philip, in evident enjoyment. “It’s a +splendid joke.” +</p> + +<p> +“I fancy he doesn’t think so,” said Congreve, shrugging his +shoulders. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course he doesn’t. He must have been fully scared, staying +there all night.” +</p> + +<p> +“He doesn’t strike me as a boy who would easily be +frightened,” +</p> + +<p> +“At any rate, he must be hungry,” said Philip, in a tone of +satisfaction. “I guess he’ll find it doesn’t pay to insult +me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, he’s had enough of it; we’ll go and release +him.” +</p> + +<p> +“What for?” +</p> + +<p> +“You don’t want him to stay there all day, do you?” demanded +Congreve. +</p> + +<p> +“It wouldn’t do him any harm,” muttered Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“What a mean fellow you are, Philip! You ought to be satisfied with +keeping him there all night.” +</p> + +<p> +“I wish you wouldn’t call me names,” said Philip, pettishly. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t deserve them, then. Well, are you coming with me?’ +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know; it’s a good ways,” said Philip, +hesitating. +</p> + +<p> +“Just as you like. I am going. I told the boy I would, and I mean to keep +my promise.” +</p> + +<p> +And James Congreve stepped off the piazza and started. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, well, I’ll go, too. I want to see how he looks,” said +Philip, and began to laugh. +</p> + +<p> +“Take care how you laugh at him there, Phil, or he may pitch into +you.” +</p> + +<p> +“You won’t let him, will you, James?” said Philip, +apprehensively. +</p> + +<p> +“I thought you were a match for him,” said Congreve, with an amused +smile. +</p> + +<p> +“So I am, but he might take me unawares. He’ll be so mad, you +know.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll protect you,” said Congreve. “Come along.” +</p> + +<p> +Both boys would have liked to learn whether Harry had been missed at home, and +what was thought of his disappearance; but there seemed to be no one to ask, +and, for obvious reasons, they did not care to show any curiosity on the +subject. +</p> + +<p> +“I’d like to meet Mr. Wilkins,” said Philip. “He boards +there, you know, and he might say something about it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Mr. Wilkins is your uncle, isn’t he?” +</p> + +<p> +“He’s a distant relation of ma’s,” said Philip, +reluctantly. “We don’t know much about him.” +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose he’s poor?” suggested Congreve, drily. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, dear, yes! He was a farmer or something out in Illinois. He probably +pays a dollar or two a week board at Gilberts’. They’re dreadfully +poor, you know. I shouldn’t be surprised if all hands were in the +poorhouse before the year is out.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your uncle and all?” +</p> + +<p> +“He isn’t my uncle!” said Philip, snappishly. +</p> + +<p> +“Relative, then. You wouldn’t want a relative in the +poorhouse?” +</p> + +<p> +“Pa offered to pay his expenses back to Illinois, but the old fellow was +obstinate and wouldn’t go. I expect he’s hanging round here in +hopes of getting something out of pa and ma; but it’s no use, as +he’ll find out sooner or later.” +</p> + +<p> +“Strange he went to board with the Gilberts, isn’t it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, it’s a good enough place for a rusty old chap like him. He +ain’t used to living in any style. Ma says he’s half crazy.” +</p> + +<p> +By this time they had reached the borders of the wood, and soon they came to +the place where Harry had been left bound. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, he isn’t here!” exclaimed Philip, in surprise and +disappointment. +</p> + +<p> +“So it appears.” +</p> + +<p> +“How could he have got away?” +</p> + +<p> +James Congreve, bending over, searched carefully, and at length got some light +on the subject. +</p> + +<p> +“Somebody cut the cords,” he said. “Look here—and +here!” and he pointed out fragments of the strong cord with which the +captive had been bound. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s so. Do you think he did it himself?” asked Philip, +disappointed. +</p> + +<p> +“No; he was too securely tied. I took care of that. Somebody came along +and released him.” +</p> + +<p> +“I hope he had to stay all night, at any rate,” said Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“That we cannot discover at present. One thing is +certain—he’s free.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’m sorry I came,” muttered Philip. “I have had this +long walk for nothing.” +</p> + +<p> +“You haven’t had the satisfaction of releasing him, I suppose, you +mean?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, I don’t. I wanted to see how he looked. It’s too bad he +got away.” +</p> + +<p> +“There’s nothing for it but to go back,” said Congreve. +“You’d better look out for him. He may want to pay you off.” +</p> + +<p> +“He’d better not try it,” said Philip, but he seemed uneasy +at the thought. +</p> + +<p> +On their way back they passed, unconsciously, near the place where the tin box +was concealed. +</p> + +<p> +Hovering near the spot was Ralph Temple, uneasy for the safety of the buried +treasure. +</p> + +<p> +He eyed the two young fellows with suspicion. They had no guns in their hands, +and he could not understand what object they had in coming to this +out-of-the-way place so early in the morning. +</p> + +<p> +“What are you about here?” he demanded, roughly. +</p> + +<p> +Philip was frightened and turned pale; but James Congreve only surveyed the man +curiously, and said: +</p> + +<p> +“Is that any business of yours, my friend?” +</p> + +<p> +“You’ll find out whether it’s any business of mine,” +returned Temple, angrily. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s precisely what I would like to find out,” said +Congreve, coolly. “You accost us as if you were the owner of the wood, +which, I take it, you are not.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you want me to wring your neck, young man?” said Temple, with a +growl. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, don’t make him angry, James!” begged Philip, nervously, +laying his hand on Congreve’s arm. +</p> + +<p> +James—who certainly was not a coward—surveyed his companion +contemptuously. +</p> + +<p> +“Much obliged to you for your kind offer,” said he, addressing +Temple, “but I must decline it.” +</p> + +<p> +“You’ve got too long a tongue, young man!” said Temple, +provoked by the other’s coolness. “I’ve a mind to teach you a +lesson.” +</p> + +<p> +“When I want one I will let you know,” said Congreve, changing his +tone and manner and regarding the other scornfully. +</p> + +<p> +“Meanwhile, my man, I advise you not to drink so early in the morning. It +doesn’t improve your naturally bad manners.” +</p> + +<p> +With a muttered exclamation Ralph Temple sprang forward, prepared to handle +Congreve roughly, as he was quite able to do, being much his superior in size +and strength, but, with his hand nearly touching the shoulder of the young man, +recoiled, as Congreve drew out a revolver and pointed it at him. +</p> + +<p> +“One step further and I fire!” he said, in a calm, collected tone, +while Philip stood by, as pale as a sheet. +</p> + +<p> +“Confusion!” exclaimed the ruffian, in mingled amazement and +dismay. “Who are you, anyway?” +</p> + +<p> +“My name is James Congreve, at your service,” said the owner of +that name, bowing. “I regret that I haven’t a card about me.” +</p> + +<p> +“You’re a cool customer!” muttered Temple, surveying Congreve +curiously. +</p> + +<p> +“So people tell me. You’ll find me at the hotel in the village, if +you have any further business with me.” +</p> + +<p> +Congreve nodded carelessly and left the spot—Phil, in a very nervous +condition, keeping himself somewhat in advance. +</p> + +<p> +“He’s a cool chap,” muttered the ruffian. “But +it’s clear he knows nothing of our affair. I was a fool to make a fuss. +It might lead to suspicion.” +</p> + +<p> +“What a dreadful man!” said Philip, as the two were walking away. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you know him?” +</p> + +<p> +“His name is Ralph Temple. He’s a kind of tramp.” +</p> + +<p> +“He’s an impertinent fellow, at any rate. It’s well I had my +revolver with me.” +</p> + +<p> +They walked back to the village, momentarily expecting to see or hear something +of Harry Gilbert; but neither then nor later in the day was their curiosity +gratified. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"></a> +CHAPTER XX — ON THE WAY TO NEW YORK</h2> + +<p> +Harry stepped on board the train without seeing any one whom he knew, and took +a seat on the right-hand side. Just in front of him was an elderly farmer, with +a face well browned by exposure to the sun and wind. He had a kindly face, and +looked sociable. It was not long before he addressed our young hero. +</p> + +<p> +“Going to New York?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, sir.” +</p> + +<p> +“Are you acquainted there?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, sir; not much.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nor I. I was thinking you might be able to direct me to a place where I +could get money for some cowpons.” +</p> + +<p> +“Government coupons?” inquired Harry, becoming interested. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes. You see, my wife’s uncle died not long ago, and left Sarah a +government bond of a thousand dollars, drawing six per cent interest. +There’s thirty dollars due the first of this month, and I told Sarah that +I’d go and collect it for her.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ve got some business of that same kind,” said Harry. +“I was told there were brokers’ offices in Wall Street, where I +could collect the money without any trouble.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll go with you,” said the farmer, in a tone of +satisfaction. “If he’ll buy yours, he’ll buy mine.” +</p> + +<p> +“I shall be glad to have your company,” said Harry, politely. +</p> + +<p> +It flattered his vanity that a man old enough to be his grandfather was +disposed to be guided by him in a matter of such importance. +</p> + +<p> +Just then a smooth voice was heard from the seat behind. +</p> + +<p> +“Gentlemen,” said a young man, showily dressed and with a profusion +of rings on his fingers, “excuse my interrupting you, but I may be able +to save you some trouble.” +</p> + +<p> +They naturally waited for an explanation of these words. +</p> + +<p> +“I overheard you saying that you had some coupons to dispose of.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” replied the farmer, eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +“I am myself a banker and broker, and deal in government securities. If +the amount is not too large, I will buy your coupons and pay for them at +once.” +</p> + +<p> +“That will be handy,” said the farmer. “I’ve got thirty +dollars in cowpons.” +</p> + +<p> +“And you, my young friend?” said the so-called broker, addressing +Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“I have rather more than that,” said Harry, in a reserved tone. +</p> + +<p> +Somehow, he was suspicious of the plausible stranger. +</p> + +<p> +“I will pay you a higher price than most houses, besides saving you all +the trouble,” said the broker, insinuatingly, as he drew out a capacious +wallet, and, opening it, exhibited a pile of bills. +</p> + +<p> +The farmer immediately drew out his coupon. +</p> + +<p> +“Let me see,” said the broker; “thirty dollars, gold at the +present premium comes to thirty-six dollars.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thirty-six dollars!” repeated the farmer, complacently. +“Sarah’ll feel rich when she gets that money.” +</p> + +<p> +“Here’s your money,” said the broker, producing three +ten-dollar bills, a five and a one. “The bills are new, you +perceive.” +</p> + +<p> +The farmer put away the bills in his old wallet, and the stranger slipped the +coupon carelessly into his vest pocket. +</p> + +<p> +“Now, my young friend, I am ready to attend to your matter,” he +said, turning to Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“I won’t trouble you,” said Harry, coldly; “I prefer to +dispose of the coupons in the city.” +</p> + +<p> +“Just as you like; but you would do better to deal with me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why?” asked Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“In the city they will allow you but a hundred and nineteen for +gold.” +</p> + +<p> +“How is it you can afford to do better by me?” asked Harry, +shrewdly. +</p> + +<p> +“Our house makes a point of dealing liberally with their +customers,” said the broker. +</p> + +<p> +“What is the name of your firm?” +</p> + +<p> +“Chase & Atkins,” answered the other glibly. “I am a +relative of Salmon Chase, ex-secretary of the treasury, and, since, chief +justice of the Supreme Court.” +</p> + +<p> +“You don’t say!” ejaculated the farmer. “Salmon Chase +is a great man.” +</p> + +<p> +“So he is. Thank you, sir, for your appreciation of my distinguished +relative. Of course, it doesn’t make me any better to be related to that +great man, but I am naturally proud of it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Hadn’t you better sell your coupons to him?” asked the +farmer, who was quite prepossessed in favor of the gentlemanly stranger. +</p> + +<p> +“No, sir; I was instructed to sell in Wall Street, and I prefer to do +so.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, just as you please,” said Mr. Chase. “You will lose by +it, but that’s your affair. Good-morning, gentlemen. I have a friend in +the next car.” +</p> + +<p> +So saying, he bowed, and left the car. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, my business was easily done,” said the farmer. +</p> + +<p> +“Will you allow me to look at the bills he gave you?” asked Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“Sartain! Why?” and the farmer drew out his wallet. +</p> + +<p> +Harry took one of the bills in his hand and examined it carefully, but he was +not an expert, and could not judge whether it was good or not. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t you think it’s good?” asked the farmer, +uneasily. +</p> + +<p> +“I presume it is; but I didn’t like the looks of the man you had +dealings with.” +</p> + +<p> +“He is of good family,” said the farmer. +</p> + +<p> +“He says he is,” responded Harry, significantly, “and I hope +it’s all right. We’ll wait till the conductor comes along, and ask +him about the bills.” +</p> + +<p> +Fifteen minutes elapsed, however, before that official made his rounds, and +during that time the train stopped at two stations. At one of these +Harry’s suspicions were increased by seeing that Mr. Chase got out. +</p> + +<p> +At last the conductor appeared, and Harry passed him the bill. +</p> + +<p> +“Is that bill good?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +The conductor held it up to the light, and shook his head. +</p> + +<p> +“No,” he said; “it’s one of a quantity of counterfeits +that has lately made its appearance. Where did you get it?” +</p> + +<p> +“It belongs to me,” said the farmer, his honest countenance +exhibiting much distress. “I took it in payment for some cowpons.” +</p> + +<p> +“Who gave it to you?” +</p> + +<p> +An explanation was given. +</p> + +<p> +“I noticed the man,” said the conductor. “He is a well-known +swindler. Have you got any more?” +</p> + +<p> +The others were exhibited. Out of them all the conductor declared that only the +one-dollar bill was genuine. +</p> + +<p> +Probably it had not been thought worth while to counterfeit a bill of so low a +denomination. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, what’ll Sarah say?” ejaculated the distressed farmer. +“What a tarnal fool I’ve been! She wanted me to buy her a nice +dress out of it, and I’ve only got a dollar left!” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps the man may be caught,” suggested Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t believe it. Simon Jones, you ain’t fit to go around +alone. You’re as green as—as—a gooseberry!” +</p> + +<p> +Harry pitied him, but was unable to offer any adequate consolation. +</p> + +<p> +“Will you give me your name and address?” he said. “And, if I +can hear anything of your coupons, or the man that swindled you, I’ll +write and let you know.” +</p> + +<p> +“Will you? I’m obleeged to you,” said the farmer, who had +formed quite a high idea of our hero’s sagacity from his declining the +trap into which he himself had fallen. “My name is Simon Jones, of +Crabtree Hollow, Connecticut.” +</p> + +<p> +Harry entered it in a little memorandum book which he carried. +</p> + +<p> +At length the great city was reached, and the crowd of passengers dispersed in +different directions. +</p> + +<p> +It was over a year since Harry had been in the city, and he was not very +familiar with it, but he had a modest confidence in his ability to get along. +</p> + +<p> +“Shine yer boots, guv’nor?” asked a ragged bootblack. +</p> + +<p> +“How much?” Harry asked. “Seein’ it’s you, +I’ll only ask ten cents,” returned the street boy. +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you. I blacked my own boots before I left home.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you call that a shine?” said the boy, contemptuously, as his +glance rested on Harry’s shoes, which certainly did not vie in polish +with those operated upon by city bootblacks. +</p> + +<p> +“It’ll do for me,” answered Harry, good-naturedly. +</p> + +<p> +“Mornin’ papers—<i>Herald, Times, Tribune, World!”</i> +called a newsboy. +</p> + +<p> +“Give me a <i>Herald,”</i> said Harry, who suddenly bethought +himself of the tin box, and was anxious to find out whether any allusion was +made to the theft in the morning papers. +</p> + +<p> +He opened the paper, and his eyes ran hastily over the crowded columns. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021"></a> +CHAPTER XXI — A REWARD OFFERED</h2> + +<p> +Harry looked over the news columns in vain for an account of the robbery, or +some allusion to the tin box which he had seen concealed in the wood. +</p> + +<p> +“There may have been something about it in yesterday’s +paper,” he said to himself. “I must go to the office of publication +and buy a copy.” +</p> + +<p> +It occurred to him, however, that there might be an advertisement offering a +reward for its recovery, and he began to search, with this object in view. +</p> + +<p> +Presently his eye lighted on the following: +</p> + +<p> +“Two Hundred and Fifty Dollars Reward. +</p> + +<p> +“On the fifteenth instant, a Tin Box, containing a considerable sum in +Five-Twenty Government and Union Pacific Bonds, was stolen from the office of +the subscriber. The above sum will be paid for the discovery of the thief, or +for information leading to the recovery of all, or the larger part, of the +bonds. JAMES P. WHEELER, +</p> + +<p> +“No. 265 Broadway, Room 10.” +</p> + +<p> +I do not claim to have given the correct number, for obvious reasons. Of +course, the address given in the advertisement was accurate. +</p> + +<p> +Naturally, Harry was much pleased at his easy success. He had only to go to the +office mentioned and communicate what he knew, and leave Mr. Wheeler to take +the necessary steps for the recovery of the property. +</p> + +<p> +Should he attend first to that, or to the sale of the coupons? On the whole, he +decided to go to Mr. Wheeler’s office first, as the tin box might be +removed at any time, if the suspicions of Vernon or Temple should be excited. +</p> + +<p> +It was, of course, perfectly easy to find any address on Broadway, and not many +minutes elapsed before Harry found himself before the door of office No. 10. +</p> + +<p> +Entering—for the door was ajar—he saw a large, handsomely fitted-up +office, with a small room partitioned off at one corner. +</p> + +<p> +In this room sat a man of middle age, with a keen face and a brisk air, which +indicated that he was a trained man of business. +</p> + +<p> +Outside, at a desk, sat a young man, evidently a clerk, who was busily engaged +in writing. It was he who looked up when Harry entered and looked hesitatingly +about. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, Johnny, what can I do for you?” said the young man, +patronizingly. +</p> + +<p> +“Is Mr. Wheeler in the office?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; but he is busy.” +</p> + +<p> +“He will see me,” said Harry, with quiet confidence. +</p> + +<p> +“Will he?” asked the young man, surveying our hero with some +curiosity. “Who do you come from?” +</p> + +<p> +“From no one. I have business of my own with Mr. Wheeler.” +</p> + +<p> +“Who is it?” asked an imperative voice. +</p> + +<p> +“A boy to see you, sir,” answered the clerk, respectfully. +</p> + +<p> +“Bring him in, then, and don’t waste his time and your own in +unnecessary talk.” +</p> + +<p> +“Waste his time, indeed,” muttered the clerk, who evidently did not +regard Harry’s time as particularly valuable. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, young man,” said the lawyer—for such was his +business—as Harry entered his presence. “What is it?” +</p> + +<p> +“I should like a private interview, sir,” said Harry, glancing at +the clerk, who was hovering near. +</p> + +<p> +“Shut the door, and resume your writing, Richard,” said Mr. +Wheeler. +</p> + +<p> +Shrugging his shoulders, with a disappointed look, Richard obeyed. +</p> + +<p> +“I came to see you about the advertisement,” said Harry, coming to +the point at once. +</p> + +<p> +The lawyer started, and eyed Harry keenly. Could the boy be one of the thieves, +or was he merely acting as a go-between? +</p> + +<p> +“Do you know anything about the box of bonds?” asked Mr. Wheeler, +quickly. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, sir; I know where it is concealed.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ha, that is important. Do you come from the parties that took +them?” +</p> + +<p> +Harry colored, and looked indignant. +</p> + +<p> +“No, sir,” he answered, with emphasis. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Wheeler smiled. +</p> + +<p> +“I was bringing no charge against you,” he said. “I thought +the guilty parties might have employed you as their agent—their innocent +agent. Now, tell me how you come to know anything about the matter.” +</p> + +<p> +This Harry proceeded to do. As the story is already familiar to the reader, he +shall be spared a repetition of it. It is needless to say that the lawyer +listened with earnest attention. +</p> + +<p> +“This is a curious story,” he said, “but I see no reason to +question its accuracy. I certainly hope it is true.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is true, sir.” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course, I imply no doubt of your word. Now, tell me, did you see +distinctly the faces of the two men who were employed in concealing the +box?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, sir.” +</p> + +<p> +“Should you know them again?” +</p> + +<p> +“I should.” +</p> + +<p> +“Did you recognize either?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, sir.” +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed!” exclaimed the lawyer, who did not expect an affirmative +answer. “Who was it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Ralph Temple.” +</p> + +<p> +“How did you know him?” +</p> + +<p> +“He lives in a poor cabin just on the outskirts of the wood.” +</p> + +<p> +“How long has he lived there?” +</p> + +<p> +“About two years.” +</p> + +<p> +“What is his reputation?” +</p> + +<p> +“Very poor. No one knows how he makes his living, though at times he +seems to have plenty of money.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is he absent a part of his time?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, sir; he is sometimes away for a month at a time.” +</p> + +<p> +“Probably he is in league with some criminals in the city, and may have +an object in living where he does.” +</p> + +<p> +“I thought of that, sir.” +</p> + +<p> +“Did you recognize the other man?” the lawyer next asked. +</p> + +<p> +“No, sir. It was no one I ever saw before; but I noticed his face well, +and should know him again.” +</p> + +<p> +“So far, so good. Can you find or lead others to the place in the wood +where the box was concealed?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, sir; but I don’t think they will leave it there long. +Something ought to be done soon.” +</p> + +<p> +“Something shall be done. By the way, have you mentioned what you saw to +any person?” +</p> + +<p> +“To only one—an old gentleman boarding at my mother’s +house.” +</p> + +<p> +The lawyer looked annoyed. +</p> + +<p> +“I am sorry for that. It may be all over the village before you get back, +and, in that case, your information may do no good.” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t be afraid, sir. Obed Wilkins can keep a secret.” +</p> + +<p> +“Obed Wilkins! Does he come from Illinois?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, sir.” +</p> + +<p> +“I know him,” said the lawyer, smiling. “In fact, he is a +client of mine. As you say, he can keep a secret. My boy—by the way, what +is your name?” +</p> + +<p> +“Harry Gilbert.” +</p> + +<p> +“Very well, Harry, your chance of earning the reward offered is very +good.” +</p> + +<p> +“I did not come here with any thought of the reward.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps not; but the owner can very well afford to pay it, and I advise +you to accept it if your information leads to the recovery of the box.” +</p> + +<p> +“Doesn’t it belong to you, sir?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, no. It belongs to one of my clients. It disappeared from my office +two days since. The owner is not yet aware of his loss, but I felt authorized +to offer the reward. May I count on your further help?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, sir.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I shall send you at once with a note to a police officer, +requesting two detectives to accompany you back. I shall give them +instructions, and they will probably go back with you to the country.” +</p> + +<p> +“Very well, sir.” +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Wheeler dashed off a few lines, properly addressed them, and handed them to +Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“Use all dispatch,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +“I will,” answered our hero, promptly. +</p> + +<p> +As he left the inner office, the clerk outside regarded him curiously. He was +surprised at the long interview accorded him, and wondered what could be his +errand. +</p> + +<p> +As Harry descended the stairs, he jostled a man who was ascending, and +naturally was led to look at him. Harry came near dropping with sheer surprise. +The man he recognized at once as Vernon, one of the men whom he had seen in the +wood. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0022" id="link2HCH0022"></a> +CHAPTER XXII — BROUGHT TO BAY</h2> + +<p> +Harry felt that matters were getting exciting, and a crisis seemed imminent. +</p> + +<p> +“I will hurry as fast as I can,” he said. “I suppose he has +come about the tin box, too. I hope he will stay till I get back.” +</p> + +<p> +Vernon, little dreaming that he was recognized by the office boy—as he +took him to be—who had just jostled against him, kept on his way +upstairs. His appearance was that of a well-dressed man, not much over thirty, +who might be filling a responsible business position in the city. When, +therefore, he said to the clerk, “Is Mr. Wheeler in?” he received a +more polite reply than had been accorded to Harry fifteen minutes before. +</p> + +<p> +“Mr. Wheeler?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” said the lawyer, with his usual scrutinizing look. +</p> + +<p> +“I should like to speak to you in private, sir.” +</p> + +<p> +“Another claimant for the reward,” thought the lawyer. +</p> + +<p> +“Very well,” he said. “Have the kindness to close the +door.” +</p> + +<p> +Vernon did so. +</p> + +<p> +“Now,” said the lawyer, abruptly, desiring to get through with his +interview before Harry’s return from his mission. +</p> + +<p> +“You advertised for the recovery of a tin box of valuables?” said +Vernon. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +“I may be able to assist you in the matter,” said Vernon. +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed! Then you know where it is?” said the lawyer, eying him +keenly. +</p> + +<p> +“I didn’t say that, did I?” asked Vernon, smiling craftily. +</p> + +<p> +“No; but you probably know—that is, if your information is of any +value.” +</p> + +<p> +“That isn’t at all necessary,” said Vernon, coolly. “I +may say as much as this, however that I am employed by those who do know the +whereabouts of the box.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then there was more than one connected with the robbery?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” said Vernon, hesitating. +</p> + +<p> +He saw that every word was noted, and afforded a basis for inferences. +</p> + +<p> +“What do your employers authorize you to say?” asked the lawyer, +sitting back in his chair. +</p> + +<p> +“That they can lay their hands on the bonds at short notice, and are +ready to return them, if it is made worth their while.” +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose you have read my advertisement, Mr.——” +</p> + +<p> +“Precisely,” answered Vernon, not taking the hint and announcing +his name. +</p> + +<p> +He might do so soon, but resolved not to be precipitate. +</p> + +<p> +“Then you know what reward we offer.” +</p> + +<p> +“It isn’t enough,” said Vernon, briefly. +</p> + +<p> +“Why not? It seems to me that two hundred and fifty dollars is a very +respectable sum of money.” +</p> + +<p> +“I shall charge my clients as much as that for my agency,” said +Vernon, “and they naturally want something for their trouble and +risk.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you know how much the box contains?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; my clients have told me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do they realize that, if they refuse my offer, they will find +considerable trouble in negotiating the bonds?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; but they can do it. There are parties who will advance them much +more than the reward, and take the risk, holding them till such time as the +affair is forgotten.” +</p> + +<p> +“What parties?” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you suppose I will tell you that, sir?” asked Vernon, +cunningly. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Wheeler did not, but he was only filling up the time. He had made up his +mind that the man before him was something more than the agent of the thieves, +and he now wished to protract the interview till Harry should have had time to +return with the two detectives. +</p> + +<p> +“No,” he replied, “I can hardly expect you to answer that +question. I should like to ask you, however, whether you have had any +conversation with your clients about the sum they would consider sufficient to +repay them for their ‘trouble’?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, sir; that subject has come up between us.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well?” +</p> + +<p> +“I think, sir, you will have to multiply the reward you offer by +ten.” +</p> + +<p> +“Whew!” exclaimed the lawyer, who was not at all surprised, +however. “This is a large sum.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is only about one-sixth the market value of the bonds.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t think my client would consent to pay so large a sum as +that.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then your client must be prepared to lose the whole amount.” +</p> + +<p> +“It appears to me that a thousand dollars would be an adequate, not to +say a handsome, reward.” +</p> + +<p> +“What would it amount to divided among four persons, after paying me my +commission?” +</p> + +<p> +“Then there were four persons engaged in the theft?” +</p> + +<p> +“Better say in the removal of the deposits. It sounds better.” +</p> + +<p> +“Call it so, if you like. Doesn’t it occur to you that it hardly +required as many as four persons to remove the tin box, weighing with its +contents, not over two pounds?” +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose one could have lifted it,” said Vernon, smiling. +</p> + +<p> +“True; but do you know it is my theory that two persons were +engaged?” +</p> + +<p> +Vernon started, and scanned his companion’s face anxiously. Did he know +anything? That was what he asked himself. +</p> + +<p> +“You can form any theories you please,” he said, with a forced +smile. “They won’t alter facts.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are right, Mr.——” +</p> + +<p> +“You may call me Thompson.” +</p> + +<p> +“Very well, Mr. Thompson.” +</p> + +<p> +By this time a foot was heard upon the stairs. The door opened, and Harry +Gilbert entered. +</p> + +<p> +He came forward, not appearing to notice the visitor, and placed in Mr. +Wheeler’s hand a scrap of paper, on which he had written in pencil: +</p> + +<p> +“The man with you is one of the robbers. I can identify him. I met him as +I was going out. The two detectives are in the entry. I thought it best not to +bring them in till I had a chance to tell you this.” +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Wheeler’s eyes lighted up as he read this scrap, and he looked +approvingly at Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“Quite right,” he said. Then, turning to Vernon, he continued: +“I don’t think we can come to terms. I have reason to doubt whether +you can carry out your promise and deliver the property.” +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose this is a bluff game, intended to deceive me,” said +Vernon, showing symptoms of anger. “I can assure you that it will do you +no good.” +</p> + +<p> +“I may find out elsewhere the location of the box.” +</p> + +<p> +“Impossible! I, and I alone—that is, outside of the men who employ +me—can give you this information. They will follow my advice, whatever it +is, and I shall advise them not to surrender the box until they receive an +adequate reward.” +</p> + +<p> +“Such as the sum you name?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +“Wouldn’t two thousand dollars tempt you?” asked the lawyer. +</p> + +<p> +“I think not. Still, I will consult them. I might advise them to accept +that sum.” +</p> + +<p> +“My dear sir, I don’t want to deceive you. I attach very little +importance to your information, or your power in this matter. In fact, I have a +theory as to the place where the box is concealed.” +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed, sir,” said Vernon, with a sneer. “May I ask what is +your theory?” +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly. I think it is concealed near some country town, in a secluded +spot in a wood.” +</p> + +<p> +Vernon jumped to his feet in dismay. He was convinced that his confederate had +got the start of him and made a bargain with the lawyer, thus anticipating his +own treachery, for he had promised Temple that he would suffer some time to +elapse before communicating with anyone on the subject. +</p> + +<p> +“Who has been here?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“One who saw you and your confederate bury the box,” answered the +lawyer, sternly. +</p> + +<p> +Without a word, Vernon dashed from the office, only to be seized by the two +detectives, who had come provided with handcuffs. +</p> + +<p> +“This is an infamous conspiracy!” declared Vernon, furiously. +“If Ralph Temple has betrayed me—— +</p> + +<p> +“Harry,” said the lawyer, “do you recognize this man?” +</p> + +<p> +Vernon stared in surprise at the supposed office boy. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, sir.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where did you see him last?” +</p> + +<p> +“In Pegan Hill Wood, in the town of Waybridge.” +</p> + +<p> +“What was he doing?” +</p> + +<p> +“Burying a tin box in a hole which he dug for the purpose.” +</p> + +<p> +“Who was with him?” +</p> + +<p> +“A man named Ralph Temple.” +</p> + +<p> +“What do you say to this, Mr. Thompson?” asked the lawyer. +</p> + +<p> +Vernon turned to Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“Where were you at the time?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“In a tree just overhead,” answered Harry, undauntedly. +</p> + +<p> +“I was a fool not to look more carefully about me,” he said. +“What is your name?” +</p> + +<p> +“Harry Gilbert.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then, Mr. Harry Gilbert, I owe you a debt which, sooner or later, I +shall manage to pay.” +</p> + +<p> +“Take him away,” said the lawyer to the detectives, “and then +come back to me for instructions.” +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0023" id="link2HCH0023"></a> +CHAPTER XXIII — FINDING THE BOX</h2> + +<p> +“My boy,” said the lawyer, turning to Harry, “you have done +yourself credit. A grown man could not have shown more judgment.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you, sir,” said Harry, pleased at the compliment. +</p> + +<p> +“But your work is not yet done. As soon as the detectives have returned, +you must go back at once to Waybridge with them, and lead them to the place +where the box is concealed.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am ready, sir,” replied Harry. “But,” he added, with +a sudden thought of one of his errands, “will there be time for me to go +to Wall Street first?” +</p> + +<p> +“Why do you want to go to Wall Street?” +</p> + +<p> +“I have some coupons which I am to sell for Mr. Wilkins.” +</p> + +<p> +“To what amount?” +</p> + +<p> +“Ninety dollars gold.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will myself give you the money for them, as that will save time. +Should the search for the box be successful, I will take upon me to pay you the +reward as soon as you desire it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you, sir.” +</p> + +<p> +Harry might have declined the reward, but he felt, justly, that he had rendered +a valuable service to the unknown owner of the bonds, and was entitled to it. +</p> + +<p> +Presently the detectives came back. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” said the lawyer. +</p> + +<p> +“He is safe under lock and key,” promptly answered one of them. +</p> + +<p> +“How did he appear?” +</p> + +<p> +“Sullen and despondent. He vows vengeance against this boy.” +</p> + +<p> +“Probably he will not be in a position for some years to harm him. And +now I have some instructions to give you.” +</p> + +<p> +Half an hour later Harry and the two detectives were passengers on a train +bound for a town not far from Waybridge. It was a different railroad, however, +from the one on which Harry had come. The choice was made from a desire to +avoid suspicion. +</p> + +<p> +From a point four miles distant they took a carriage, hired from a stable, +which left them on the opposite side of the wood from the one by which Harry +had previously entered. +</p> + +<p> +Of course, they could not penetrate the wood with a vehicle, and the question +came up: +</p> + +<p> +“Who can be got to look after it?” +</p> + +<p> +Just then Harry saw in a field near-by Reuben Richardson—the boy who had +released him from his bonds. +</p> + +<p> +“Reuben!” he called out +</p> + +<p> +Reuben approached, regarding Harry and his companions with surprise. +</p> + +<p> +“Have you an hour to spare?” asked one of the detectives. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, sir.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then please look after this team, and I’ll see that you +don’t lose your time.” +</p> + +<p> +“All right, sir.” +</p> + +<p> +Then, free from all anxiety, the three made their way into the forest. The way +seemed blind enough to the two detectives, who were, of course, on unfamiliar +ground. +</p> + +<p> +“Are you sure you can find the place?” asked one of them, +doubtfully, addressing himself to Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“Sure,” answered Harry, briefly. +</p> + +<p> +“It seems blind.” +</p> + +<p> +“I know the wood well. I have played here from a boy.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where does this Temple live?” asked the second detective. +</p> + +<p> +“In the edge of the wood.” +</p> + +<p> +“Near here?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, on the other side of the wood.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is to be hoped he has not grown distrustful and removed the +box.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t think there is any danger of it, sir. Remember, it is only +last night that it was concealed. Besides, he wouldn’t dare to attempt it +in the daytime, when he would be liable to be seen.” +</p> + +<p> +“Quite right. You are unusually considerate for a boy.” +</p> + +<p> +Harry did not disappoint his companions. He led the way to the place where, the +night previous, he had seen the tin box secreted, and instantly pointed out the +exact spot where it was concealed. +</p> + +<p> +The two detectives lost no time in searching for it. They had brought no shovel +with them, lest, being seen, their object might excite suspicion; but, by means +of sticks which they sharpened into stakes with the help of sharp jackknives, +they turned up the earth, and, in due time, revealed the box. +</p> + +<p> +“There it is,” said Harry, joyfully, for he was also helping, and +it was his stake that struck it first. +</p> + +<p> +“So it is,” exclaimed the first detective, in a tone of +satisfaction. +</p> + +<p> +There was no loss of time in lifting the box from its place of concealment. +Then it was thought best to replace the earth, and carefully to cover the place +with leaves, so as to hide from the superficial observer the fact that it had +been disturbed. +</p> + +<p> +“Our errand is accomplished,” said the second detective. “Now +let us make all haste back to our wagon.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will guide you,” said Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“Do so, or there is no knowing when we shall get back, or whether we +shall get back at all. I once lost my way in a wood, and was wandering about +four good hours, and all within a radius of two miles, before I got out. It is +difficult to keep your direction in a forest, unless you have a compass.” +</p> + +<p> +So Harry, who had expected it, served as a guide on the return, and conducted +them safely to the wagon. +</p> + +<p> +Reuben was paid for his service with a dollar bill, which he declared he should +have considered satisfactory for a whole day’s labor. +</p> + +<p> +Harry was about to say good-by to his companions, but they advised him to ride +back with them to a point on the road where he could make his way to Waybridge +without the trouble of passing through the wood, besides having a less distance +to go. +</p> + +<p> +“What time is it?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Two o’clock,” answered one of the detectives, consulting his +watch. +</p> + +<p> +“Only two o’clock!” +</p> + +<p> +Harry could scarcely believe it, so much had happened since he got up in the +morning, yet it was even so. It had taken very little time to do his business +in the city, as we know, and almost half the day still lay before him. +</p> + +<p> +Harry thought of what he had accomplished with pardonable pride and +satisfaction. He had frustrated the plans of two daring thieves, caused the +arrest of one of them, and the probable speedy arrest of the other, arranged +for the restoration to the owner of a valuable property, and earned for himself +the munificent sum of two hundred and fifty dollars. +</p> + +<p> +Nothing particular happened on his homeward walk. +</p> + +<p> +“Got home so soon, Harry?” asked Uncle Obed, as our hero entered +the little cottage. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, sir; and here’s the money for your coupons.” +</p> + +<p> +“How about that other matter, Harry?” +</p> + +<p> +“It came out all right. Where’s mother?” +</p> + +<p> +“Gone to call on one of the neighbors.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I’ll tell you about it; but I don’t want to say a word +to mother till the whole thing is settled.” +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0024" id="link2HCH0024"></a> +CHAPTER XXIV — PHILIP IN A TIGHT PLACE</h2> + +<p> +Ralph Temple was still at his cottage, or, more properly, hut, waiting +impatiently for Vernon to reappear, that he might obtain his share of the +contents of the tin box. +</p> + +<p> +He had led a lawless life, and more than once been engaged in dishonest +transactions, but never in one of such magnitude as the present. He calculated +that, even if they surrendered the box in consideration of a reward, he would +not receive less than a thousand dollars, and he was planning how he would +dispose of this sum. +</p> + +<p> +This was the project which he fixed upon: For years he had been desirous of +visiting California, in the hope that chances of getting rich, honestly or +dishonestly, might be met with in a State whose very name was suggestive of +gold. With a thousand dollars he would feel justified in going. Moreover, there +would be an advantage in leaving a part of the country where he was an object +of suspicion to the authorities, and was liable at any time to be arrested for +complicity in more than one questionable transaction. +</p> + +<p> +In his lonely hut he knew nothing of the developments in the last +robbery—whether any reward had been offered as yet. This was necessarily +left in the hands of Vernon, while he remained to guard the hidden treasure. +</p> + +<p> +A state of suspense is all the harder to bear when a man has nothing else to +divert his thoughts, and this was the case with Temple. +</p> + +<p> +“What if the box should be discovered?” was the thought that +haunted him. +</p> + +<p> +Finally, though he had once before visited the hiding-place of the tin box, he +decided to go again, and started at such a time that he arrived about an hour +after Harry and the detectives had unearthed and removed it. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile, it becomes necessary to state that Philip Ross, whose curiosity was +excited by the continued absence of Harry, made up his mind once more to visit +the wood to see if he could discover any traces of his victim. +</p> + +<p> +“He’s hiding in the wood so as to make an excitement,” +thought Philip. “He’ll make a great fuss about what we did to +him.” +</p> + +<p> +In fact, Philip was getting a little anxious about the results of his +high-handed treatment of Harry. He was not sure but Harry might have him +arrested, and this excited his fears. He admitted to himself, reluctantly, that +tying a boy hand and foot, and leaving him all night in the forest, was rather +more than a joke. +</p> + +<p> +He called at the hotel for Congreve, but was told that he had gone to ride. +</p> + +<p> +After a little hesitation, he decided to go to the wood alone, carrying with +him, by way of precaution, a stout cane which belonged to his father, to defend +himself with in case Harry should be lying in wait and make an attack upon him. +</p> + +<p> +On his way he had occasion to pass by the locality of the hidden treasure, +though, of course, he knew nothing about this. +</p> + +<p> +Just at the spot he heard a tramping in the fallen leaves, and, looking up +hastily, saw Ralph Temple approaching. +</p> + +<p> +Now, Temple, as we know, was a man of questionable reputation, and, moreover, +once already he and Congreve had had an angry altercation with him. It is not +much wonder, therefore, that Philip’s heart beat with fear at the +prospect of meeting this man alone, so far from help. +</p> + +<p> +He could not get away without attracting attention, and, therefore, as the best +thing under the circumstances, hid himself behind the broad trunk of a stately +oak tree, and in fear and trembling waited for the unwelcome intruder to +depart. +</p> + +<p> +Ralph came along, with a quick, swinging gait. He was a tall man, of strong +frame, and an unprepossessing countenance appropriate enough to his character +and reputation. +</p> + +<p> +His first glance was directed toward the spot where he had helped bury the box +upon which his future plans depended. +</p> + +<p> +There was something that startled him in the evident displacement of the +leaves, as if there had been others there since the morning. +</p> + +<p> +“Can it have been taken?” he asked himself, with a thrill of +anxiety. +</p> + +<p> +He strode forward hurriedly, and, removing the leaves, discovered signs of +recent disturbance. Most suspicious of all, he found one of the stakes, the end +soiled with dirt, which had been used by the detectives. +</p> + +<p> +With a beating heart and a muttered imprecation, he began to dig down to +ascertain whether his apprehensions were justified. +</p> + +<p> +Philip, peering from behind the tree, was very much alarmed by this +incomprehensible proceeding. +</p> + +<p> +What could the man be doing? Was he insane? He blamed his folly in seeking +again this dangerous neighborhood after the encounter of the morning. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, if I were only safe at home,” he mentally ejaculated; +“or, if Congreve were with me. If he discovers me he may kill me.” +</p> + +<p> +He thought of running away, but in the silence of the forest his steps would +undoubtedly be heard, and he would be pursued. So it seemed most prudent to +stay where he was. In fear and trembling he continued to watch the dreadful +outlaw. +</p> + +<p> +It was not long before Temple made the unwelcome discovery, suspected from the +first, that the box was gone. He desisted from his work and gave vent to such a +volley of imprecations that Philip trembled as if he had an ague fit. +</p> + +<p> +Could it be, Temple asked himself, that Vernon had proved false to him, and, +returning, conveyed away the box for his own individual profit? +</p> + +<p> +“If he has, I’ll kill him,” he muttered, in a deep, growling +tone. +</p> + +<p> +Philip heard him, and his heart beat fast with fear. Who did Temple want to +kill? Was it himself or Congreve? +</p> + +<p> +“I’d give a thousand dollars, if I had it, to be at home,” +thought the miserable boy. +</p> + +<p> +As for Temple, he was no less miserable. All his hopes and anticipations were +dashed. The disappearance of the tin box, whoever might have removed it, would +render it impossible to carry out plans of Californian emigration with which he +had been solacing himself all the morning. Such a big haul as the present might +never be made again. +</p> + +<p> +His first suspicion fell upon his partner, but he also thought of the two whom +he had met in the forenoon in the wood. They had been suspiciously near the +spot, and might be implicated in the loss. It didn’t seem probable, but +it was possible. +</p> + +<p> +At this inauspicious moment Philip, yielding to a tickling in the throat which +he couldn’t overcome, coughed. It was not a loud cough, but Temple heard +it. +</p> + +<p> +He instantly started for the quarter from which the sound proceeded, and in a +few seconds discovered and dragged Philip by the collar from behind the tree. +</p> + +<p> +“What are you doing here?” he demanded, sternly. +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing,” answered Philip, trembling. +</p> + +<p> +“Ha! You are one of the boys that I caught prowling round here this +morning.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have as much right here as you,” said Philip, plucking up a +little courage. +</p> + +<p> +“Have you? We’ll see about that,” snarled Temple. +“Where’s the other fellow?” +</p> + +<p> +“He isn’t here.” +</p> + +<p> +“Isn’t here? I don’t believe it. He’s hiding somewhere +near.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then you can find him,” said Philip, sullenly. +</p> + +<p> +“No matter! I’ve got you, you rascal!” And he shook Philip +fiercely. “What villainous work have you been up to?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know what you mean,” said Philip, his teeth +chattering. “I am the son of Colonel Ross, and he won’t allow me to +be treated this way.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’d treat him the same way if I caught him here,” growled +Temple, with a lack of reverence for the colonel’s exalted position, +which struck Philip with horror. “Now, tell me what you have done with +the tin box, you young scoundrel!” +</p> + +<p> +“The tin box!” ejaculated Philip, in genuine amazement. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, the tin box. You know well enough what I mean.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know anything of any tin box; indeed, I +don’t.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you mean to say you didn’t dig it up from the place where we +put it?” +</p> + +<p> +“No; indeed I didn’t! I don’t know anything about it. What +was in it?” +</p> + +<p> +Was this ignorance real or affected? Temple could not tell. What was certain +was that the box was gone, and this boy was hovering about the spot. It would +be folly to let him go. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t believe you,” he said, bluntly. “You must come +with me.” +</p> + +<p> +And he began to drag Philip off in the direction of his hut. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, where are you taking me?” asked the frightened boy. +</p> + +<p> +“You’ll know soon enough. I’m going to keep you till the tin +box is restored to me.” +</p> + +<p> +Poor Philip! As he was jerked along by his collar, in the stern grasp of the +outlaw, he suffered a good deal more than Harry had in his recent captivity. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0025" id="link2HCH0025"></a> +CHAPTER XXV — PHILIP BECOMES A PRISONER</h2> + +<p> +“Please let me go, and I’ll give you five dollars,” said poor +Philip, as he was dragged along the forest path by his captor. +</p> + +<p> +“Humph!” said Temple, grimly, thinking he might as well take the +money, though he had no intention of releasing Philip. “Have you got five +dollars with you?” +</p> + +<p> +“No.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then you are trying to fool me,” exclaimed Temple, with an angry +jerk at the boy’s collar. +</p> + +<p> +“No, I’m not,” answered Philip, terrified. “I’ve +got two dollars with me, and I’ll bring you the rest before night. +</p> + +<p> +“Where will you get it?” +</p> + +<p> +“From my father.” +</p> + +<p> +“And I suppose you expect me to let you go home and get it?” +</p> + +<p> +“If you please.” +</p> + +<p> +“But I don’t please. You must think I’m a fool. Just as if +you would come back if you had once got away!” +</p> + +<p> +“But I will. I promise it on my word of honor.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your word of honor,” repeated Temple, scornfully. “As if I +didn’t know what that amounts to.” +</p> + +<p> +Philip would have resented this imputation if he had dared, but there was a +look of grim resolution about Temple’s mouth which made him afraid to +show any resentment. +</p> + +<p> +“Besides,” added Temple, “what do you think I care for five +dollars? After you have stolen thousands of dollars from me, you dare to think +I will let you off for five dollars.” +</p> + +<p> +There was something in this speech which, despite Philip’s terror, +attracted his attention. Temple spoke of being robbed of thousands of dollars, +yet he was generally considered a poor outlaw. How could he have come into +possession of so large a sum? +</p> + +<p> +“Thousands of dollars!” repeated Philip, in undisguised amazement. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; what have you got to say about it?” demanded Temple, sharply. +</p> + +<p> +“I thought you were poor,” Philip couldn’t help saying. +</p> + +<p> +Temple paused a moment. He knew that the possession of so much money would +excite surprise in others besides Philip, and he regretted his imprudence in +speaking of thousands of dollars. As it was done, he must give some kind of an +explanation. +</p> + +<p> +“So I was poor; but a rich cousin in New York died lately, and left me a +large legacy. Not having any safe to put it in,” he added, with a grim +smile, “I concealed it in the wood, thinking it would be safe. When I saw +you and that friend of yours prowling around this morning, it crossed my mind +that it was in danger; but I didn’t think you were thieves.” +</p> + +<p> +“We are not,” said Philip. “We know nothing about your tin +box.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s all very well to say. What were you doing in the wood just +now?” +</p> + +<p> +“I only went there for a walk.” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course,” said Temple, with a sneer. “It’s a +pleasant place for a walk, and handy to your house.” +</p> + +<p> +“I hope to die if I ain’t telling the truth!” said Philip, +desperately. +</p> + +<p> +“You’ll die when your time comes, and it may come sooner than you +think for,” said Temple, taking a malicious pleasure in seeing Philip +turn pale and tremble in his grasp. +</p> + +<p> +“You wouldn’t kill me?” faltered Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know what I shall do. If you tell me where the box is, I +shan’t.” +</p> + +<p> +“But I don’t know—hope to die if I do.” +</p> + +<p> +“Who was that fellow with you?” demanded Temple, abruptly. +</p> + +<p> +“James Congreve.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where does he come from?” +</p> + +<p> +“From New York.” +</p> + +<p> +“If you haven’t stolen the box, he has. It lies between you.” +</p> + +<p> +“James wouldn’t steal it. He is a gentleman.” +</p> + +<p> +“So gentlemen don’t steal?” sneered Temple. “I am not +sure about that. I know one thing. I’ve lost the box, and one of you has +got it.” +</p> + +<p> +It occurred to Temple that it was more likely to be Congreve, who was older and +bolder than the boy he had captured, but he was not disposed to let Philip go, +nevertheless. +</p> + +<p> +Again Philip denied the charge, but this time Temple did not answer. +</p> + +<p> +At length they reached the hut, and entered. +</p> + +<p> +Now came the critical moment. What was this bad man going to do with him? +Philip asked himself. +</p> + +<p> +He was dragged into the hut, and then, for the first time, his captor relaxed +his grip. +</p> + +<p> +“Sit down there,” he said, pointing to a wooden chair, from which +the paint had all worn off. +</p> + +<p> +Philip sat down. +</p> + +<p> +“Now, if you dare to stir or try to escape I’ll kill you,” +said Temple, coolly. +</p> + +<p> +“What a blood-thirsty ruffian!” Philip thought, trembling. +</p> + +<p> +Temple opened the door of a closet, which was filled with a variety of +articles, including a small supply of kitchen utensils. +</p> + +<p> +He took out a case-knife, to the horror of poor Philip, who concluded he was to +be butchered in cold blood. Still, he did not dare to leave his seat, lest his +jailer’s threat should be carried into execution. He was happily +undeceived, however, for from the floor of the closet Temple lifted a portion +of a clothesline, and with some difficulty, for the knife was dull, cut off a +portion. Then he turned to Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“I can’t stay here to stand guard over you, boy,” he said, +“but I don’t mean that you shall get away in a hurry. I think I +have found a way to prevent your escaping.” +</p> + +<p> +He approached the boy, and said: +</p> + +<p> +“Hold out your hands.” +</p> + +<p> +“What are you going to do to me, Mr. Temple?” asked Philip, +nervously. +</p> + +<p> +“Tie you,” answered his captor, sententiously. “What do you +suppose ropes are made for?” +</p> + +<p> +“Please don’t tie me,” said Philip, in dismay. “I +won’t run away.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, I don’t think you will. Hold out your hands.” +</p> + +<p> +There was no help for it. Philip, much against his will, held out his hands, +and they were tied tightly around the wrists, so that the stricture was +painful. +</p> + +<p> +“It hurts me,” he complained. +</p> + +<p> +“It would hurt your neck worse,” replied Temple. +</p> + +<p> +Philip understood what he meant, and turned pale. But a ray of hope came to him +in his despondency. Even if his hands were tied he might escape, and he +resolved to do so as soon as Temple was at a safe distance. +</p> + +<p> +His hands being tied would not prevent his walking or running, and once out of +the wood he would feel comparatively safe. +</p> + +<p> +He reckoned without his host, however; or, rather, he reckoned without knowing +the intentions of his captor. +</p> + +<p> +“There,” said Temple, when the boy’s hands were tied, +“so far so good! Now for your feet!” +</p> + +<p> +Hope died once more in Philip’s breast. He might escape with his hands +tied, but with his feet tied it was quite another matter. In vain he protested +against this second indignity. His jailor was not to be moved. +</p> + +<p> +“You may as well spare your breath, boy,” he said. “I +ain’t quite a fool. I’m not going to leave you free to get away as +soon as my back is turned.” +</p> + +<p> +So Philip’s feet were tied, too, and he realized how utterly helpless he +was. +</p> + +<p> +“There, you can amuse yourself now as much as you like,” said +Temple, with a humor that Philip did not by any means appreciate. +“You’ll have a nice, easy time, with nothing to do.” +</p> + +<p> +He turned and left the hut, relieving Philip of his presence, which was one +comfort, but did not go very far. +</p> + +<p> +As my readers will conclude, Philip began to work his wrists up and down, +vainly endeavoring to unloose the rope, but only succeeded in hurting himself. +Next he tried his feet, but they, also, were securely confined. +</p> + +<p> +It was a righteous retribution for the trick he had played on Harry Gilbert. He +was being paid off in his own coin. Though his conscience was not particularly +sensitive, it did occur to him that he was in precisely the same condition as +the boy whom he and Congreve had left alone in the dark wood, fully expecting +that he would have to remain all night. +</p> + +<p> +But even then he could not be said to feel deep regret for his unworthy act. He +was sensible of the inconvenience to which he was subjected by his constrained +position, and began to chafe and fret under it. +</p> + +<p> +“I wonder how long he’s going to leave me here?” thought +Philip, though, in truth, he hardly knew whether he wanted Temple to return or +not. +</p> + +<p> +“Just as soon as I get away, I’ll ask pa to have him arrested. I +wouldn’t mind seeing him hung.” +</p> + +<p> +An hour passed—about the longest hour Philip had ever known. At length +his eager ears discerned steps outside the hut. It might be a friend! At any +rate, he would call, and perhaps the call would bring rescue. +</p> + +<p> +“Hello, there!” he called out. “Come in; I need help!” +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0026" id="link2HCH0026"></a> +CHAPTER XXVI — PHILIP IS FORCED TO APOLOGIZE</h2> + +<p> +There were two persons outside, one of whom was our hero, Harry Gilbert. The +other, though dressed in citizen’s clothes, was an officer, who had been +sent to arrest Temple, on a charge of being implicated with Vernon in the +robbery of the tin box. +</p> + +<p> +Harry at once recognized the voice of Philip, and it is needless to say that he +was filled with genuine surprise. +</p> + +<p> +“That must be Philip Ross,” he said, in a low voice, to the +officer. +</p> + +<p> +“Who is Philip Ross?” +</p> + +<p> +Harry gave a few words of explanation. He did not, however, mention the mean +trick which Philip had played on him. +</p> + +<p> +“He is not a friend of Temple?” asked the officer. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, no! He must have got into some trouble with Temple. Please stay +here, and let me go in and see what is the matter. I have a reason for wishing +him to think I am alone, just at first.” +</p> + +<p> +“Just as you say,” returned the officer. “I take it for +granted Temple isn’t here, or the boy wouldn’t have called. Suppose +the man comes back?” +</p> + +<p> +“Let him come in, and you can follow. Between us, I guess we can make him +a prisoner.” +</p> + +<p> +“You have plenty of courage,” said the officer. “Are you not +afraid to have him come in upon you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not while you are near to help me,” answered Harry. “In that +cabin we could pen him up.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s true. Well, go in to your friend.” +</p> + +<p> +“A queer sort of a friend Philip is,” thought Harry, but he did not +object to the title. +</p> + +<p> +Opening the cabin door, which Temple had closed, Harry regarded Philip with +amazement. He could hardly believe the testimony of his eyes when he saw his +enemy, tied hand and foot, very much as he had been the night before. +</p> + +<p> +“What’s the matter, Philip?” he asked. “What has +happened to you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Can’t you see for yourself,” demanded Philip, querulously. +“I’m tied so tight I can’t move.” +</p> + +<p> +“Who did it?” +</p> + +<p> +“That thief, Temple! I should like to wring his neck!” said Philip, +spitefully. +</p> + +<p> +Though Harry was not a vindictive boy, it did strike him as appropriate that +Philip should have a chance to see for himself how it seemed to be bound. +Deferring the gratification of his curiosity, he inquired: +</p> + +<p> +“How do you like it?” +</p> + +<p> +“How do I like it?” echoed Philip, furiously. “Don’t +ask such absurd questions, but come and untie me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Wait a minute,” said Harry. “Perhaps you have forgotten that +this is the way you and Congreve served me only last night. I suppose you +thought it a good joke. Well, Ralph Temple has played the same joke on +you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Joke!” repeated Philip. “He’ll find out what kind of a +joke it is when my father has him put in jail.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you think he deserves to be put in jail just for that?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I do.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then it seems to me that you and your friend Congreve deserve the same +punishment for what you did to me.” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s entirely different; but stop talking and come and untie +me.” +</p> + +<p> +“You didn’t untie me. You left me to pass the night in the forest +alone.” +</p> + +<p> +Philip eyed Harry attentively, and it struck him that perhaps it would be +better to drop his haughty and domineering tone and temporize a little, if he +wanted a rescue. He could afterward treat Harry as he pleased. +</p> + +<p> +“I didn’t think you’d make so much of a little matter like +that,” he said. “It was a mistake. I didn’t mean you to stay +all night. Congreve promised to go back and untie you. Didn’t he do +it?” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” answered Harry, dryly. +</p> + +<p> +“Then he broke his promise. Just untie me, that’s a good fellow, +and I’ll make it up to you. I’ve got two dollars in my pocket, and +you may have them if you’ll get me out of this scrape. Be quick, for +Temple may be coming back, and he may kill us both.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t want your two dollars, Philip,” said Harry. “I +am ready to release you without that——” +</p> + +<p> +“Quick, then; that’s a good fellow.” +</p> + +<p> +“Hear me out. I was going to say, on one condition.” +</p> + +<p> +“What is it?” asked Philip, impatiently. +</p> + +<p> +“That you will beg my pardon for the trick you played on me,” said +Harry, quietly. +</p> + +<p> +“What! I beg your pardon?” exclaimed Philip, haughtily. +</p> + +<p> +“That is what I said.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you think I would demean myself by asking anybody’s +pardon?” demanded Philip, his pride getting the better of his prudence. +</p> + +<p> +“That is exactly what I expect, Philip Ross. If I had played such a mean +trick on any one, I should think it no more than right to do just that +thing.” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” said Philip, stubbornly; “I won’t do that, but I +will give you the two dollars.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t want your two dollars,” returned Harry, +contemptuously. +</p> + +<p> +Two dollars was not so large a sum in his eyes as it would have been the day +previous, for in the last twenty-four hours he had earned, and was confident of +receiving, a reward of two hundred and fifty dollars. Still, even if this had +not been the case, he would have disdained to sell his assistance to Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“The money will do you a great deal more good than my asking your +pardon,” argued Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“No, it won’t. I am not very much in need of money, but I +won’t help a boy who has acted toward me as you have, unless you will +apologize.” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t be a fool! Come and help me, and the money will be +yours.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is no use, Philip; my mind is made up. Will you apologize?” +</p> + +<p> +“No.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then, good-day! Give my respects to Mr. Temple when he returns.” +</p> + +<p> +So saying, Harry turned to leave the cabin, and Philip’s heart sank in +dismay as he saw the only one from whom he could hope for help leaving his +presence. +</p> + +<p> +“Hold on!” he called out. “I’ll give you five dollars! +I haven’t got it with me, but I can get it from my father. I’ll +hand it to you to-morrow.” +</p> + +<p> +Philip hated to humble his pride, and he would rather have paid five dollars, +even if it came out of his own pocket, than submit to such a humiliation. +</p> + +<p> +“Good-by, Philip,” said Harry, resolutely. +</p> + +<p> +“Are you really going to leave me? That’s mean.” +</p> + +<p> +“You know the condition on which I’ll help you.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll give you ten dollars!” exclaimed Philip, desperately. +</p> + +<p> +“Not a cent! I won’t take a cent from you! Either I will help you +or leave you here, but no money shall pass between us.” +</p> + +<p> +There was a calm resolution in Harry’s tone which at last convinced +Philip that he was in earnest. +</p> + +<p> +“What do you want me to say?” he asked, sullenly. +</p> + +<p> +“That you are sorry for the mean trick you played on me, and ask my +pardon.” +</p> + +<p> +“All right. Now untie me.” +</p> + +<p> +“You haven’t said it.” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s the same thing.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t consider it so.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, tell me what you want, then,” said Philip, querulously. +</p> + +<p> +“Repeat after me: ‘I am sorry for the mean trick I played on you, +and I beg your pardon.’” +</p> + +<p> +Philip was perforce obliged to do as Harry required, and he repeated the words, +though with a very bad grace. +</p> + +<p> +“That will do,” said Harry. “Now I am satisfied.” +</p> + +<p> +He felt for his knife, but did not have it with him. +</p> + +<p> +He therefore knelt down, and set to work to untie the knots in the rope. +</p> + +<p> +He succeeded at last, but not without considerable difficulty and the +expenditure of not a little time. At last he loosened the last knot, and said: +</p> + +<p> +“Now you are free.” +</p> + +<p> +Philip jumped to his feet—for these were the last to be +released—with an exclamation of satisfaction. +</p> + +<p> +“Thank goodness!” he cried; “now I am free, and can leave +this miserable hut!” +</p> + +<p> +He looked up, and his hopefulness was succeeded by quick dismay. +</p> + +<p> +There, in the doorway, scowling at the two boys, was the master of the cabin. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0027" id="link2HCH0027"></a> +CHAPTER XXVII — THE ARREST</h2> + +<p> +Philip’s face changed suddenly, and he uttered an exclamation of dismay. +He really believed that his life was in danger. +</p> + +<p> +“There he is!” he ejaculated, his eyes nearly starting out of his +head. +</p> + +<p> +Harry turned, and his glance, too, fell on the menacing face of the outlaw. But +his face did not reflect the terror so plainly to be seen on Philip’s. It +should be remembered, however—for I do not wish to give our hero more +credit than he really deserves for his courage—that he knew help was near +at hand, and Philip didn’t. +</p> + +<p> +Ralph Temple didn’t speak at first. Then he looked from Philip to Harry, +and demanded, savagely: +</p> + +<p> +“Who released that boy?” +</p> + +<p> +“I did,” answered Harry, undaunted. +</p> + +<p> +“How dared you do it!” again demanded Temple, in the same tone. +</p> + +<p> +“I thought he must be uncomfortable.” +</p> + +<p> +Temple looked at him as if puzzled to account for his cool courage. It was +evident that here was a boy who would not be easily scared. +</p> + +<p> +“Did you know that I tied him?” asked Temple, fiercely. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +“And yet you dared to untie him?” +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly. You had no business to tie him.” +</p> + +<p> +“What! you dare say this to my face?” +</p> + +<p> +“Why shouldn’t I? What did you tie him for?” +</p> + +<p> +“Didn’t he tell you?” +</p> + +<p> +“No.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I will, though it’s none of your business. He stole my +property.” +</p> + +<p> +“Did you do that, Philip?” asked Harry, who was not yet aware of +Temple’s suspicion. +</p> + +<p> +“No; I hope to die. I did not!” answered Philip, solemnly. +</p> + +<p> +“What does he say that you stole?” continued Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“He says I stole a tin box, containing some bonds or something.” +</p> + +<p> +“I begin to understand,” thought Harry. “Philip is suffering +for what I have done. I must free him, if I can. +</p> + +<p> +“Was the box in the cabin?” he asked, not considering it prudent to +betray all that he knew. +</p> + +<p> +“No; it was buried in the earth, out in the woods,” said Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s true,” said Temple, with an oath. “It was all +the property I had.” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s a queer place to keep articles of value,” said Harry, +looking steadily at Temple. +</p> + +<p> +“I shall keep my own property where I please,” said Temple, +doggedly. “You don’t suppose I’d keep it here in this hut. It +wouldn’t be safe for twenty-four hours.” +</p> + +<p> +“Did you see Philip take it?” continued Harry, assuming, +unconsciously, the tone of a judge or advocate. +</p> + +<p> +“No; but I saw him prowling round near-by, and the earth had been +disturbed. As for the tin box, that was gone, and he stays here till it is +found.” +</p> + +<p> +As he spoke he approached Philip, to tie him anew. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, please don’t tie me again, Mr. Temple!” pleaded the +terrified boy. “Indeed, I didn’t carry off your tin box. I +didn’t know you had any.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps the box dug itself up and walked off,” said Temple, with +withering sarcasm. “You must think I am a fool. Somebody dug it up, and +knows where it is now.” +</p> + +<p> +“It wasn’t me.” +</p> + +<p> +“At any rate, it won’t do any harm to tie you up until I find out +more about it.” +</p> + +<p> +Temple picked up the rope which Harry had thrown on the floor, and was about to +repeat his work, when Philip exclaimed, partly from the instinct of +self-preservation, partly to gratify his mean spite against Harry: +</p> + +<p> +“I shouldn’t wonder if Harry Gilbert carried it off himself. He was +prowling about the wood yesterday.” +</p> + +<p> +Harry could hardly believe his ears. This boy who accused him was the one he +had just released from his bonds. +</p> + +<p> +He looked at Philip, his face expressing the contempt he felt. +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose this is to pay me for untying you?” he said. +</p> + +<p> +“I can’t help it; I am sure you did it,” persisted Philip, +thinking what a fine thing it would be for Harry to change places with him. +“I am rich, and I have no need to steal. You are poor, and, I dare say, +would like to get hold of Mr. Temple’s bonds.” +</p> + +<p> +Temple paused a moment, and then said: +</p> + +<p> +“The boy may be right. I’ll tie both of you. One of you knows +something about it, or I’m mistaken.” +</p> + +<p> +Philip’s face fell. He had hoped to get free himself. It would be some +satisfaction for him to see the boy he hated in the same plight, but still he +would rather go free. +</p> + +<p> +“Tie him first,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +It occurred to him that while Harry was being tied he might slip away. +</p> + +<p> +“I know my own business best, youngster,” said Temple. +</p> + +<p> +And he made Philip sit down again in the chair from which he had been released. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t you dare leave the cabin, unless you want to be brought +back,” he said to Harry. “Your turn will come next.” +</p> + +<p> +Harry did not answer, but coughed. It was the signal agreed upon between him +and the officer outside. +</p> + +<p> +Temple was on his knees beside Philip’s chair, tying the boy, with his +back toward the door. He listened to hear whether our hero made any attempt to +escape, being prepared to pursue and bring him back by force. +</p> + +<p> +He heard a slight motion, and looked around quickly. +</p> + +<p> +There in the doorway stood a stranger, quietly covering him with a revolver. +</p> + +<p> +Temple jumped to his feet, in surprise and alarm. +</p> + +<p> +“Who are you?” he demanded. +</p> + +<p> +“I am an officer of the law, Ralph Temple, and I call upon you to +surrender,” said the stranger, coolly. +</p> + +<p> +“An officer? I don’t believe it. Where is your uniform?” +</p> + +<p> +“I had my reasons for not wearing it. Do you surrender?” +</p> + +<p> +“Why should I? What do you want of me?” asked the outlaw, uneasily. +</p> + +<p> +“I want you for the theft of a tin box of bonds, taken from an office in +New York.” +</p> + +<p> +“I know nothing about it,” said Temple, hastily. +</p> + +<p> +“That is too late! I have heard you charge that boy with stealing it from +you. You admitted that you had concealed it in the wood.” +</p> + +<p> +“That was my own property. I have been robbed of it.” +</p> + +<p> +“You will have a chance to prove that in a court of law.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll do that, if you’ll let me alone.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have orders to arrest you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then you’ll have to show that you are a stronger man than +I!” exclaimed Temple, with an oath, and he prepared to dash forward. +</p> + +<p> +“Stay where you are, or I fire!” said the officer, sternly. +</p> + +<p> +Temple looked in his eyes, and saw that he was dealing with a man of +resolution. He knew something of faces, and he saw that this man would be as +good as his word. +</p> + +<p> +“What do you want of me?” he said, sullenly. +</p> + +<p> +“You must go with me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Lead on, then. I’ll follow.” +</p> + +<p> +“I must adopt a little prudential measure first, Harry, take these +handcuffs.” +</p> + +<p> +Harry stepped forward and received them from the officer. +</p> + +<p> +“Hold out your hands”—this was said to +Temple—“and let this boy put on the handcuffs.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll kill him before I’ll allow him to do it!” +exclaimed Temple, violently. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t think you will, or even make the attempt,” said the +officer, quietly. “You forget that I hold your life in my hands,” +and he made a slight motion with the revolver. +</p> + +<p> +“You wouldn’t dare to shoot?” +</p> + +<p> +“If you should prove to be mistaken, it would be a serious +mistake,” said the officer, quietly. +</p> + +<p> +It was his very quietness and freedom from excitement that daunted Temple. +</p> + +<p> +“You’ll repent this!” he said. “You’ve got the +whip hand on me now, but the time will come when I’ll get even with +you.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have been threatened before,” said the officer, briefly. +“Harry, do what I told you.” +</p> + +<p> +Temple sullenly held out his wrists, and Harry put on the handcuffs. +</p> + +<p> +“Now, follow me!” +</p> + +<p> +They went out of the cabin, Philip following. He tried to be social with Harry, +but our hero had not forgotten his mean attempt to throw suspicion upon him, +after a service received at his hands, and received his advances very coldly. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0028" id="link2HCH0028"></a> +CHAPTER XXVIII — MR. CHASE IS BROUGHT TO JUSTICE</h2> + +<p> +Temple’s manner was sullen as he walked beside Harry and the officer, +handcuffed. He overcame his sullenness, after a while, so far as to inquire: +</p> + +<p> +“How came you to suspect me of this robbery?” +</p> + +<p> +“Your friend Vernon has confessed it,” answered the officer. +“You may as well know, for it will do no harm.” +</p> + +<p> +“So he betrayed me?” said Temple, bitterly. +</p> + +<p> +“He had no choice. He was trapped himself.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where is he now?” +</p> + +<p> +“In prison, awaiting trial.” +</p> + +<p> +Temple looked better satisfied. He had suspected Vernon of turning +State’s evidence and betraying him. +</p> + +<p> +“But how was he found out?” he asked, after a pause. +</p> + +<p> +“The night you hid the tin box in the wood, there was some one who saw +all that passed.” +</p> + +<p> +“Who was that?” asked Temple, eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +“You will know in due time.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where are you taking me now?” +</p> + +<p> +“To the county jail.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where is the tin box?” +</p> + +<p> +“In the hands of the man from whom you stole it, There, I have answered +your questions, and have no more to say.” +</p> + +<p> +“What do you think will be done with me?” asked Temple, anxiously. +</p> + +<p> +The officer shrugged his shoulders. +</p> + +<p> +“Gentlemen of your profession,” he said, “are generally well +informed on that point. If found guilty, you will be boarded at the expense of +the county for a term of years.” +</p> + +<p> +“Curse the luck!” uttered Temple, savagely, and then was silent. +</p> + +<p> +Philip had left them, and was on his way home, glad to get out of his +predicament, but more incensed than ever against Harry for the mortification he +had put upon him in compelling him to beg his pardon. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll get even with him, see if I don’t,” he muttered. +</p> + +<p> +When Harry and the officer had lodged their prisoner in jail, the latter said: +</p> + +<p> +“I nearly forgot to tell you that Mr. Wheeler wishes you to call at his +office to-morrow.” +</p> + +<p> +“In the morning?” +</p> + +<p> +“As you please.” +</p> + +<p> +“I think I will go up by the morning train,” said Harry, after a +little reflection. +</p> + +<p> +“Then you will be likely to meet me on the train. I shall be a +passenger.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will look for you. I shall be glad to have company.” +</p> + +<p> +“By the way, that was very creditable work of yours, ferreting out the +bond robbers.” +</p> + +<p> +“I was lucky, that is all,” answered Harry, modestly. +</p> + +<p> +“Partly so, but you have showed excellent judgment throughout, and +personal bravery.” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t flatter me, Mr. Pry. You may make me conceited.” +</p> + +<p> +“You ought to be one of us.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t think I should like it,” said Harry, slowly. +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps not, but you’re fitted for it, for all that. Well, +good-day. I shall see you to-morrow.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are getting to be an important business man, Harry,” said +Uncle Obed, when our hero announced that he had a summons to the city next day. +</p> + +<p> +“What is it all about, Harry?” asked his mother, rather puzzled. +</p> + +<p> +“Let the boy explain in his own good time, Mrs. Gilbert,” said the +old man. “I know he isn’t in any mischief.” +</p> + +<p> +“I may be able to tell you to-morrow evening, mother. It will be +something that will surprise you.” +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose it is all right, Harry, as Mr. Wilkins says so.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, mother, I can assure you of that.” +</p> + +<p> +In due time Harry boarded the morning train. He looked through the cars till he +found Mr. Pry, the detective, and took a seat beside him. +</p> + +<p> +It was not long before his attention was called to a smooth, plausible voice, +proceeding from a person who sat two seats in advance of the one he occupied. +</p> + +<p> +“My dear sir, if it will be any accommodation to you, I will myself buy +your bond, and pay you the market price.” +</p> + +<p> +There was something in the voice, and in the words, that attracted +Harry’s attention and excited his suspicions. +</p> + +<p> +“Excuse me a moment,” he said to the detective, and, passing +through the aisle, reached a point where he could look back at the speaker. +</p> + +<p> +He knew him at once, not only by his face, but by the profusion of rings upon +his fingers. It was the same man that had cheated the poor farmer by giving him +counterfeit money in payment for his coupons. +</p> + +<p> +If, however, he had any doubt, it was set at rest by what followed. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know,” said his seat companion, an industrious +mechanic; “perhaps I’d better wait, and sell it in the city.” +</p> + +<p> +“As you please, my friend,” said the young man. “I only made +the proposal thinking I might accommodate you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is that your business—buying bonds?” asked the mechanic. +</p> + +<p> +“In the city, yes. I am a member of the well-known firm of Chase & +Atkins. Of course, you have heard of them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ye-es,” answered the mechanic, doubtfully. +</p> + +<p> +“I am Mr. Chase. We do a general banking and brokerage business. Let me +see, what is the denomination of your bond?” +</p> + +<p> +“Eh?” +</p> + +<p> +“I mean, of what size? Is it a fifty, or a hundred?” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s only a fifty, sir. It was a present to my wife. Now she wants +to use a little money, and so she has got me to sell it.” +</p> + +<p> +“We give rather higher prices than most brokers,” said Chase, +smoothly. +</p> + +<p> +“How can you do that?” asked the mechanic, who was a man of good +common sense. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, you see, we ship ’em to Europe, and make a handsome profit. +It would be for your advantage to sell to me; but you must act your own +will.” +</p> + +<p> +The mechanic began to think more favorably of the proposal, and asked one or +two more questions. Finally he said: +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I don’t know but I might as well. Have you got money enough +with you?” +</p> + +<p> +Chase took out a plethoric pocketbook, stuffed with bills, and called attention +to it, smilingly: +</p> + +<p> +“We bankers always have to be well provided with money.” +</p> + +<p> +The mechanic looked respectfully at the owner of so much money. +</p> + +<p> +“I dare say it’s more than I could earn in a year,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +“I dare say you are right, my friend,” said the young man. +</p> + +<p> +“Very well. Count out the money, and the bond is yours.” +</p> + +<p> +The exchange was made, and both parties seemed well satisfied. +</p> + +<p> +Chase deposited the bond in an inside pocket and then, saying, carelessly, +“I’ll go into the smoking car for a few minutes,” rose from +his seat. +</p> + +<p> +But in the meantime Harry had returned to his own seat, and whispered a few +words in the ear of the detective. +</p> + +<p> +The latter sharply scrutinized the young man who called himself Chase, and +said, in a low voice: +</p> + +<p> +“I know him now. He’s an old offender. I thought there was +something familiar in his appearance. I’ll look after you, my fine +fellow.” +</p> + +<p> +He waited till the exchange had been effected, and the young man was on the +point of leaving the car. +</p> + +<p> +Then he rose, and, hurrying forward, placed his hand on the young man’s +shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +“A word with you, sir,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +“Really, sir, I don’t remember you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps not. I remember you. Do me the favor to return that bond to the +man from whom you obtained it.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is mine. I have paid for it.” +</p> + +<p> +“With counterfeit money.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you mean to insult me?” demanded Chase; but there was a sudden +pallor on his face and a tremor in his voice. +</p> + +<p> +“That will do, Jimmy Neal. I told you I knew you. That is an old trick of +yours.” +</p> + +<p> +“Who are you?” asked the detected swindler, in a faltering voice. +</p> + +<p> +“Pry, the detective.” +</p> + +<p> +“Will you let me go if I restore this bond?” +</p> + +<p> +“No; there is another case I must inquire into—that of a farmer +from whom you bought some coupons a day or two since, paying him in the same +worthless rags. Sit down here,” pointing to a vacant seat. “You may +consider yourself under arrest.” +</p> + +<p> +Great was the consternation of the mechanic when he learned how nearly he had +been swindled, and profuse were his thanks to Harry and the officer. +</p> + +<p> +“Be more prudent the next time,” said the latter, “and +don’t sell bonds to a stranger in the cars again.” +</p> + +<p> +We may as well add that the traveling broker was duly tried, and sentenced to a +term in State’s prison, and that enough good money was found on him to +repay the farmer for the coupons he had imprudently parted with. +</p> + +<p> +Greatly to his satisfaction, Harry was intrusted with the office of acquainting +Simon Jones with the pleasant fact that his money would be restored to him. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0029" id="link2HCH0029"></a> +CHAPTER XXIX — HARRY BECOMES A “BONDHOLDER.”</h2> + +<p> +When Harry entered the office of Mr. Wheeler, the lawyer was engaged with a +client. He nodded pleasantly to our hero, and said: +</p> + +<p> +“I shall be at leisure very soon. You will find the morning paper on that +table.” +</p> + +<p> +When his interview with the client was over, he beckoned to Harry to approach. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” he said, “thanks to your good management, we have +triumphantly succeeded. The stolen property is recovered, and the thieves are +in custody.” +</p> + +<p> +“It was not so much good management as good luck,” said Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“Partly both; but, however that may be, the owner of the property +authorizes me to make a substantial acknowledgment for the service you have +rendered him. Let me see—the reward offered was two hundred and fifty +dollars.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s too much, sir.” +</p> + +<p> +“The gentleman who gives it does not think so. Indeed, he authorizes me +to somewhat exceed it. In this envelope”—here the lawyer produced a +large-size package—“you will find two one-hundred-dollar government +bonds and one fifty. The value of the three, at present prices, is nearer three +hundred dollars than two hundred and fifty. I need not caution you to take good +care of them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Are they for me?” asked Harry, his cheeks flushing with pleasure. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; they are six per cent. bonds, and will bring you fifteen dollars a +year in interest—not quite enough to live upon,” the lawyer added, +with a smile, “but something to add to your income.” +</p> + +<p> +“I can hardly realize that I am worth so much money,” said Harry, +as he took the package and put it into his inside coat pocket. +</p> + +<p> +“Have you a watch?” asked Mr. Wheeler. +</p> + +<p> +“No, sir,” replied Harry, in surprise. +</p> + +<p> +“I thought not; and I, therefore, ask you to accept one as a gift, not +from my client, but from me.” +</p> + +<p> +He produced a handsome silver watch, manufactured at Waltham, with a silver +chain attached. +</p> + +<p> +Now, Harry had long wanted a watch, but the prospect of obtaining one before he +was of age had seemed very remote. At the moment, I think, the present of the +watch gratified him as much as that of the bonds, though the latter were ten +times as valuable. +</p> + +<p> +“It is beautiful,” he said; “but, Mr. Wheeler, why should you +give me a present? The bonds were not yours.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is true, but they were under my charge, and I should have been +seriously troubled had they not been recovered. Take the watch, my boy, and I +hope it will please you as much to receive it as it does me to give it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you, sir,” said Harry, warmly. “It seems to me there +is no end to my good fortune.” +</p> + +<p> +“Continue to deserve it, my boy, and I think it will continue. I must bid +you good-morning now, as I have another appointment.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good-morning, sir, and thank you.” +</p> + +<p> +“By the way,” the lawyer added, “I shall bear you in mind, +and, should I have any work which I think you can do, I will send for +you.” +</p> + +<p> +“I shall be glad to serve you in any way, sir.” +</p> + +<p> +So saying, Harry left the office. He was so much in a hurry to show his present +at home that, though it was still early, he decided to take the next train, +which would bring him home about noon. +</p> + +<p> +His mother and Mr. Wilkins had just seated themselves at the dinner table when +Harry entered. +</p> + +<p> +“What! home already, Harry?” asked his mother, in surprise. +</p> + +<p> +“I judge from your tone, mother, that you haven’t got enough dinner +for me,” said Harry, gayly. +</p> + +<p> +“If that’s the case, I’ll eat a little less,” said +Uncle Obed. “But why didn’t you stay longer?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because I got through with my business, and thought I might as well come +home,” answered Harry. +</p> + +<p> +By this time his mother’s eyes happened to fall on the silver chain +displayed across his vest. +</p> + +<p> +“What is that, Harry?” she asked. +</p> + +<p> +Harry drew out the watch, with pardonable pride. +</p> + +<p> +“Where did you get it?” asked his mother, in amazement. +</p> + +<p> +“A lawyer in New York gave it to me.” +</p> + +<p> +“But what lawyer do you know, my son?” asked his mother, more and +more bewildered. +</p> + +<p> +“That isn’t all, mother. Look at that!” +</p> + +<p> +Harry drew out the package of bonds, and displayed them to his astonished +mother. +</p> + +<p> +She at once concluded that he had found them. +</p> + +<p> +“They are not yours, Harry,” she said. “If you found them, +you must restore them to the owner.” +</p> + +<p> +“So I will, Mrs. Gilbert. I give these bonds to you, and recommend you to +take good care of them.” +</p> + +<p> +“What does all this mean, Harry? You cannot give away what does not +belong to you.” +</p> + +<p> +Harry felt that it was time to explain, and he did so. It was necessary to +begin with the account of Philip’s treatment of him in the wood. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Gilbert was very indignant, and she spoke warmly. +</p> + +<p> +“It was shameful!” she said. “To leave you there alone in the +dark wood, tied hand and foot! The boy ought to be served in the same way +himself!” +</p> + +<p> +“Wait till I get through my story, mother,” he said, “and +perhaps you will find that Philip got into a little trouble of his own.” +</p> + +<p> +So he continued his story, and told, finally, of how he found Philip Ross +bound, and trembling for his life, in the cabin of Ralph Temple. +</p> + +<p> +“Served him right,” said Mrs. Gilbert, satisfactorily. +</p> + +<p> +“As things have turned out, I can afford to overlook his past meanness. +He has suffered punishment, though not at my hands.” +</p> + +<p> +“If I had known that you were mixed up with burglars, I should have felt +very anxious, Harry.” +</p> + +<p> +“I know it, and that is why I didn’t tell you. However, all’s +well that ends well. The tin box is found, the robbers are caught, and I have a +rich mother.” +</p> + +<p> +As he spoke, he put the bonds into his mother’s hands. +</p> + +<p> +“But, Harry, they are yours. I cannot accept them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Take care of them, at any rate, mother, and use the interest. I shall +like it better than to keep them myself.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are a good boy, Harry,” said Uncle Obed. “I like to see +boys think considerable of their mothers. And now, if you are both ready for +dinner, I am.” +</p> + +<p> +“Excuse me, Mr. Wilkins. I was so intent upon Harry’s story that I +am afraid the dinner is cold.” +</p> + +<p> +They sat down to dinner, and the meal was a very happy one, even if the dishes +were somewhat cold. Harry’s good luck put them all in fine spirits. +</p> + +<p> +After dinner Harry went out into the village, in the direction of the store. +</p> + +<p> +I suspect he wanted to show his watch, as most boys do when for the first time +they become the proud possessor of one. +</p> + +<p> +On the way he met Philip Ross and James Congreve. The latter he had not seen +since they parted in the wood. +</p> + +<p> +“There’s our young captive, Philip,” said Congreve. +</p> + +<p> +“He’s got a watch. At any rate, I see a watch chain,” said +Philip, whose curiosity was excited. +</p> + +<p> +“Hello!” called out Congreve, as they met; “where did you get +that watch?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t see wherein my having a watch should concern you; but I do +know, after the contemptible treatment I received at your hands yesterday, your +questions deserve no notice from me. But, as matters turned out so well, I can +afford to swallow my indignation.” +</p> + +<p> +“It was rather a mean trick, leaving you bound in the wood,” said +Congreve, candidly. “I wouldn’t have done it, except to oblige +Philip.” +</p> + +<p> +“Has he told you how he liked being tied himself?” +</p> + +<p> +Congreve looked, in surprise, at Philip. The latter had not chosen to say +anything about his own adventure in Temple’s hut. +</p> + +<p> +When Harry told the story, not omitting to mention that he had compelled Philip +to beg his pardon before he released him, Congreve burst into hearty laughter, +while Philip stood by, angry and ashamed. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s the best joke I ever heard,” said Congreve. “I +wish I had been there to see.” +</p> + +<p> +“I thought you were my friend,” said Philip, indignantly. +</p> + +<p> +“I laugh at my friends sometimes,” said Congreve. “What a +splendid joke!” +</p> + +<p> +Philip didn’t see it in that light, and was so mortified that he +didn’t give Congreve an opportunity to ask further about the watch, but +hurriedly moved on. All the remainder of the afternoon he passed in a sullen +frame of mind. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0030" id="link2HCH0030"></a> +CHAPTER XXX — CONGREVE’S SCHEME</h2> + +<p> +James Congreve was a dangerous companion for Philip. He was utterly +unscrupulous, but took care to keep up a semblance of propriety, in order not +to terrify the boy whom he was leading into mischief. +</p> + +<p> +They had commenced playing cards for amusement—at least, that was +Congreve’s pretext—but it had led to playing for a stake. +</p> + +<p> +Occasionally, when the stake was small, Congreve allowed Philip to win; but, +when more than a dollar was staked on the game, he generally managed to win +himself. +</p> + +<p> +Of course, Philip did not know that he was a victim, and that his chosen +friend, Congreve, was a skillful sharper, who had practiced his art on Western +steamboats, and was sure to get the better of him. +</p> + +<p> +Why had he remained in this country village so long? Surely, it didn’t +pay him to fleece one victim, and that one a boy. +</p> + +<p> +I can give the explanation. +</p> + +<p> +He had been leading a fast life for a year back, and a physician whom he +consulted had recommended country air and quiet for the summer. +</p> + +<p> +“Unless you follow my directions, Mr. Congreve,” he said, “I +won’t answer for your life. You have been going at too quick a pace +altogether.” +</p> + +<p> +James was sensible enough to follow this advice, and that is why we find him a +guest at the quiet village hotel. +</p> + +<p> +The physician’s advice proved to be good. His wasted energies were +recuperated, his thin cheeks filled out and showed a healthy color, his +appetite improved, and he felt himself again. +</p> + +<p> +When the first week in September arrived, he felt that he was well enough to go +back to the city, to more congenial scenes. He was heartily tired of the +country, and anxious to get away. Only one thing remained to be done, and that +was to collect what Philip owed him. +</p> + +<p> +“I can’t wait any longer,” he said to himself. “I must +compel the boy to pay up. It will liquidate my hotel bill and leave me +something over. I can’t let the thing stand any longer.” +</p> + +<p> +Soon after he had come to this conclusion, Philip entered his friend’s +chamber. +</p> + +<p> +“How are you, Phil?” said Congreve, carelessly. +</p> + +<p> +“All right!” +</p> + +<p> +“By the way, I’ve got some news for you.” +</p> + +<p> +“What is it?” +</p> + +<p> +“I’m going away.” +</p> + +<p> +“Going away? Where?” +</p> + +<p> +“Back to the city first. I have an urgent summons from my friends +there.” +</p> + +<p> +“How soon do you go?” +</p> + +<p> +“That depends upon you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Upon me? I don’t understand!” said Philip, puzzled. +</p> + +<p> +“You ought to. As soon as you have paid me what you owe me. I need it to +enable me to settle up at the hotel.” +</p> + +<p> +Philip turned pale. It was just what he had worried over many a time—this +terrible debt, which he felt utterly unable to liquidate. +</p> + +<p> +“How much is it?” he asked, nervously. +</p> + +<p> +“How much? Really, I haven’t reckoned it up yet; but I will,” +said Congreve, carelessly. +</p> + +<p> +He took out his wallet, and drew out a variety of papers, to which +Philip’s signature was attached. +</p> + +<p> +Then he sat down at a table, took a pencil from his pocket, set the different +sums on paper, and added them up deliberately. All this was humbug, for he had +added it up before Philip came in, and knew to a dollar how much it amounted +to. Philip stood by, feeling miserably uncomfortable, while the reckoning went +on. +</p> + +<p> +“Really,” said Congreve, looking up at length, in assumed surprise, +“I had no idea it amounted to so much!” +</p> + +<p> +“How much does it come to?” questioned his wretched dupe. +</p> + +<p> +“One hundred and thirty-six dollars,” was the calm response. +</p> + +<p> +“A hundred and thirty-six dollars!” gasped Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; surprising, isn’t it? Little sums count up, you know. +However, we’ve had some fun out of it, haven’t we?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t see where the fun comes in,” said Philip, bitterly. +“Of course, it’s fun for you to win so much.” +</p> + +<p> +“You won some of the time, Phil. Think how many games we have had, and +how exciting it was. You play a good deal better game than you did.” +</p> + +<p> +“But I have lost a big pile of money.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, yes. Experience costs money, you know. You’ll get it all back, +and more, too, some day.” +</p> + +<p> +“How can I, when you are going away?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t mean out of me. I suppose my game is better than yours. I +mean out of somebody else.” +</p> + +<p> +Philip was silent. The hope held out did not seem to comfort him much. +</p> + +<p> +“When will you pay me that money, Phil?” asked Congreve, abruptly. +</p> + +<p> +“When? I’m sure I don’t know. I haven’t any money, you +know.” +</p> + +<p> +“That won’t do. It isn’t satisfactory,” said Congreve, +assuming a sternness he had never before exhibited toward his friend. +</p> + +<p> +“What do you mean?” asked Philip, half frightened, half offended. +</p> + +<p> +“I mean that I need the money, and must have it.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’d pay it to you if I had it, but I haven’t.” +</p> + +<p> +“You must get it.” +</p> + +<p> +“How can I? My father won’t give it to me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Listen to me. I am in earnest. I want to ask you a question. Suppose you +had won, wouldn’t you have expected me to pay you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Why, yes, I suppose so.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, it’s a poor rule that doesn’t work both ways. I tell +you, Phil, I need that money. I need it to pay my hotel bill.” +</p> + +<p> +“Was that what you depended upon to pay your bills?” asked Philip, +with awakening suspicion. “I thought you had plenty of money.” +</p> + +<p> +This was what Congreve had represented to his dupe, but the question by no +means disconcerted him. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course,” he said; “but a man can’t always command +his resources. I have sent in two different directions for money, but they have +put me off, so I have to fall back on you.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’d like to pay the money, and get it off my mind,” said +Philip, uncomfortably, “but the fact of it is I can’t.” +</p> + +<p> +“This is a debt of honor. Gentlemen always pay their debts of honor. It +takes precedence of all other claims.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have no other claims. That is all I owe to anybody.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, when can you let me have the money?” +</p> + +<p> +“I am sure I don’t know,” returned Philip, sullenly. “I +didn’t expect you were going to press me so.” +</p> + +<p> +James Congreve saw that Philip had reached the point which he desired. +</p> + +<p> +“I press you because I have to,” he said. “I have already +told you how you can settle the claim.” +</p> + +<p> +“How?” asked Philip, uneasily. +</p> + +<p> +He could guess, for there had been conversation on that point before. +</p> + +<p> +“You know what I mean. Get hold of some of your father’s government +bonds,” said Congreve, insinuatingly. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t want to become a thief.” +</p> + +<p> +“Pooh! Isn’t he your father, and ain’t you an only son? +Won’t it all be yours sometime?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, but——” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, don’t bother with buts! That makes all the difference in the +world.” +</p> + +<p> +“I couldn’t do it without being suspected,” objected Philip, +with whom this was the principal consideration. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, you can. You’ll give the bonds to me, and I will dispose of +them. If you could get hold of two hundred-dollar bonds, I would give you the +balance, after deducting the amount of my debt.” +</p> + +<p> +“But I am sure to be suspected.” +</p> + +<p> +“Unless you throw the suspicion upon some one else.” +</p> + +<p> +“How can I?” +</p> + +<p> +“There’s your friend, Harry Gilbert——” +</p> + +<p> +“He isn’t my friend.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, your enemy, then. So much the better. You can say you saw him +prowling round the house. If you could get him arrested, it would be a +satisfaction, even if he wasn’t convicted.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s true. I should like to get even with him.” +</p> + +<p> +“So you can. You can throw suspicion on him, and get off free yourself. +It will be a splendid revenge.” +</p> + +<p> +Philip began to think favorably of the scheme, arid before he left the hotel +had agreed to it. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0031" id="link2HCH0031"></a> +CHAPTER XXXI — THE TEMPTER</h2> + +<p> +Philip was far from being a model boy—as we have seen, he didn’t +shrink from meanness—but it was not without reluctance that he assented +to James Congreve’s proposal. He did not feel that abhorrence of theft +that a better principled boy would have done, but the thought of resorting to +it gave him a sense of humiliation. Besides, the fear of detection inspired in +him a certain uneasy feeling. In fact, he retraced his steps, and sought +Congreve in his room again. +</p> + +<p> +“What! back again?” asked James, in surprise. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” replied Philip. “I’ve changed my mind. I +don’t want to do what you proposed to me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t want to do it?” repeated Congreve, frowning. +“What nonsense is this?” +</p> + +<p> +“No nonsense at all,” retorted Philip, not liking his +friend’s tone. “I don’t want to be a thief.” +</p> + +<p> +“You won’t be. It’s all in the family, you know.” +</p> + +<p> +“What if it is? Father won’t take that view of it.” +</p> + +<p> +“That won’t matter to you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why not?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because he won’t know you took the bonds. You’re not going +to tell him.” +</p> + +<p> +“He may find out.” +</p> + +<p> +“Look here, Phil. You’re the biggest coward I ever met!” +</p> + +<p> +“If you think so, suppose you do it yourself,” said Philip. +“That’ll show whether you are a coward or not.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s absurd. It wouldn’t be in the family then. The bonds +don’t belong to my father. There wouldn’t be any excuse for +me.” +</p> + +<p> +“You want me to do what you are unwilling to do.” +</p> + +<p> +“You already explained why. Besides, I’ve no object in taking them. +As for you, why they are part yours already; and, besides, you need the money +you can raise out of them to pay your debts.” +</p> + +<p> +“I haven’t any debts, except to you.” +</p> + +<p> +“So much the better for you,” answered Congreve, coolly. “You +won’t have any one to pay except me.” +</p> + +<p> +“I wish I’d never made your acquaintance,” said poor Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“Very complimentary, upon my word!” replied Congreve, with a sneer. +“It strikes me that you have got as much pleasure out of the acquaintance +as I.” +</p> + +<p> +“I haven’t got you into my debt.” +</p> + +<p> +“It isn’t my fault if I am a better player at cards than you. +However, that’s neither here nor there. I don’t propose to play any +more with you. I ought not to have let you run up such a score. Just pay that +off, and I won’t trouble you any more.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ve told you I can’t pay you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Except in one way, and that way is an easy enough one. Listen to reason, +Phil,” he said, dropping his sneer. “Don’t you see it is +going to benefit you as well as me? You’ll have a good deal of money left +for your own use, after paying me, provided you take two hundred-dollar bonds. +It will be convenient to have fifty or sixty dollars in your pocket, eh?’ +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” assented Philip, more cheerfully. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course it will, and it will be fun to see Harry Gilbert hauled up for +stealing them. Ho! ho! ho!” +</p> + +<p> +Philip echoed the laughter. This phase of the transaction certainly did please +him. +</p> + +<p> +“If it can be brought about,” he said, doubtfully. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course it can. Listen, and I’ll tell you how. You can tell your +father you saw Harry acting suspiciously near the house the evening it is +done.” +</p> + +<p> +“But the door would be locked.” +</p> + +<p> +“You can unlock it, and leave it unlocked all night. It will be found so +in the morning; and, even if the bonds are not immediately missed, the +circumstance will be remembered.” +</p> + +<p> +Philip’s mind changed again. The plan looked more feasible and attractive +as Congreve represented it. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I don’t know but I’ll try it,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +“I thought you’d be sensible,” said Congreve, inwardly +rejoiced. “Now, let me give you one piece of advice.” +</p> + +<p> +“What is that?” +</p> + +<p> +“Strike while the iron’s hot. If you want to know what that means, +never put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day.” +</p> + +<p> +“You don’t mean I should go right home and do it?” said +Philip, nervously. +</p> + +<p> +“No; wait till to-night—when everybody is in bed. Then steal +downstairs and do the job. The sooner it’s over, the better!” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll see about it,” replied Philip, hesitatingly. +</p> + +<p> +“He’s a little coward,” said Congreve to himself; “but +I guess I can bring him to it.” +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0032" id="link2HCH0032"></a> +CHAPTER XXXII — PHILIP DOES NOT FEEL HAPPY</h2> + +<p> +At supper time Philip seemed so sober and preoccupied that his mother said: +</p> + +<p> +“What ails you, Philip?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing. What makes you ask?” +</p> + +<p> +“I thought you were looking unusually sober.” +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose it is because I have a headache,” answered the boy. +</p> + +<p> +It was not a falsehood, for the burden upon his mind had actually given him a +slight headache. +</p> + +<p> +“You’d better let me mix you some chamomile tea,” said Mrs. +Ross, with whom this was a specific against more than one bodily disability. +</p> + +<p> +“No, thank you,” answered Philip, with an involuntary grimace; for, +in his younger days, when it was useless to resist, he had more than once had +an opportunity of learning how far from agreeable chamomile tea was to the +taste. “It doesn’t ache much. It will be better soon.” +</p> + +<p> +“The tea will cure you immediately, my son.” +</p> + +<p> +“I won’t take it,” said Philip, roughly. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t speak in that way to your mother, Philip,” said his +father, reprovingly. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you ever let her give you chamomile tea, father?” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” smiled the Colonel, “I don’t require it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nor I; and, if I did, I prefer the headache.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am not sure whether I don’t agree with you,” said his +father, smiling again. +</p> + +<p> +When supper was over, Philip lounged about restlessly. Nothing could be done as +yet—nothing, indeed, till his father had retired and was fairly +asleep—and, in the meantime, he had to wait in suspense. +</p> + +<p> +He strolled out to the stable without any definite object to take him there. He +was in an unquiet, irritable frame of mind, which was likely to exhibit itself +on the smallest provocation. +</p> + +<p> +A boy of seventeen, Tom Calder by name, was employed by Colonel Ross to look +after his two horses and attend to any errands or light duties that might be +required about the house. +</p> + +<p> +Philip, as he entered the stable, saw Tom sitting on a kitchen chair, which had +been transferred to the stable, engaged in reading a weekly paper. +</p> + +<p> +“What are you doing there, Tom?” he demanded, in an imperious tone. +</p> + +<p> +If Philip had asked in a civil tone, Tom would have answered him with civility, +but the boy’s tone was offensive, and Tom was too spirited to bear it. +</p> + +<p> +“What’s that to you, Phil?” he retorted. +</p> + +<p> +“You’ll find out what it is!” answered Philip, angrily. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s just what I’m wanting to do.” +</p> + +<p> +“And don’t you presume to call me Phil, either.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why—isn’t it your name?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; but it isn’t for you to call me by it.” +</p> + +<p> +“What am I to call you, now?” +</p> + +<p> +“You can call me Master Philip, or Mr. Philip.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ho! ho! It’s a joke you’re playing on me!” +</p> + +<p> +“No, it isn’t. It is your duty to treat me with respect. But you +haven’t answered my question.” +</p> + +<p> +“What is it?” +</p> + +<p> +“What are you doing there?” +</p> + +<p> +“Reading a paper. Can’t you see for yourself?” +</p> + +<p> +“That isn’t what my father pays you for. Go right to work.” +</p> + +<p> +“Shure, you want me to work day and night! That’s what Tom Calder +won’t do for no man last of all for a boy like you!” +</p> + +<p> +“If you ain’t careful, my father will send you away.” +</p> + +<p> +“If he does, I’ll get another place soon,” said Tom, +indifferently. +</p> + +<p> +“You’re an impudent loafer!” +</p> + +<p> +“The same to yourself,” said Tom, indifferently. +</p> + +<p> +After a little further altercation, Philip walked off in dudgeon. It was clear +that he couldn’t bully Tom. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0033" id="link2HCH0033"></a> +CHAPTER XXXIII — STEALING THE BONDS</h2> + +<p> +Contrary to his usual custom, Philip spent the evening at home; and, as he must +have something to occupy him, he spent it in reading. Usually, he cared very +little for reading, and was prone to spend the evening out. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Ross regarded her son with approval, as she saw him steadily reading all +the evening. +</p> + +<p> +“I do believe you’re getting studious, Phil,” she said. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m interested in a story,” remarked Phil. +</p> + +<p> +“How much better it is to spend the evening at home reading than to be +gadding about?” said his mother. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, you know a boy can’t be always reading,” observed +Philip. +</p> + +<p> +If Mrs. Ross had been a close observer, she might have noticed that Philip got +over wonderfully few pages. Indeed, he sometimes held the book open at the same +place for half an hour together. The fact was that Philip cared very little for +reading, unless he could get hold of some highly sensational story about +highwaymen or pirates. He simply used the book as a cover. +</p> + +<p> +The Colonel, his father, was sitting in a room which he called his office, +opening out of the family sitting-room, and Philip had seated himself so that +he could look into that room, and watch what his father was doing. +</p> + +<p> +Near his desk, Colonel Ross kept a small, iron-bound trunk, which he used as a +sort of safe, or a repository for valuable papers, and sometimes for bonds and +securities. It was imprudent, for anyone might readily have carried it off; but +the Colonel didn’t think of this, or, at any rate, didn’t feel +inclined to go to the expense of a safe. Indeed, most of his bonds and +securities were deposited in the strong room of the county bank, and, +therefore, his imprudence was less. +</p> + +<p> +Philip’s eager attention was roused when he saw his father rise from his +desk, take up the trunk and open it, as it lay on the desk where he placed it. +</p> + +<p> +“Now, I may find out what he has inside,” thought Philip. +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Ross opened it, as I have said, and took out several envelopes. Opening +one of these, he drew therefrom what Philip recognized to be government bonds, +and spread them out before him. +</p> + +<p> +What was the object of this examination, Philip could not divine, nor did he +particularly care, though he might had he known that his father was considering +the expediency of selling them, and buying another security—the stock of +a certain railroad—which would pay larger dividends. His main interest +was to ascertain whether his father had any government bonds, and this question +he was now able to answer in the affirmative. +</p> + +<p> +After a brief inspection, Colonel Ross replaced in the trunk the securities he +had taken from it, and locked the trunk. The bunch of keys, one of which opened +the trunk, he laid on the desk, unconsciously, probably. +</p> + +<p> +“I hope he’ll forget ’em,” said Philip to himself. +“It’ll save me a good bit of trouble.” +</p> + +<p> +It seemed likely that the keys would be forgotten, for Colonel Ross, as though +his business were ended, took the lamp from his desk, and entered the +sitting-room, where his wife and son were seated. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know how it is, wife,” he said, “but I feel +sleepy.” +</p> + +<p> +“It isn’t your bed hour yet. It is only half-past nine.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is true, but I shall go to bed earlier than usual to-night.” +</p> + +<p> +“All the better for me,” thought Philip. “Now, if mother +would only go, too!” +</p> + +<p> +It seemed as if everything was turning out favorably for his plan, for his +mother answered: +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I think I will accompany you—that is, if Philip won’t +feel lonely.” +</p> + +<p> +Philip’s heart beat with eager satisfaction. He had expected that he +would be obliged to go to bed, and wait there till his father and mother were +asleep, then steal downstairs, running the risk of detection, light a lamp, and +commit the theft. Now it looked as if he could do it much more easily. +</p> + +<p> +He answered, in as indifferent a voice as he could assume: +</p> + +<p> +“I am not at all sleepy. I’ll stay up a little longer and +read.” +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Ross nodded, in a satisfied way, to her husband. +</p> + +<p> +“I do believe Phil’s getting fond of reading,” she said. +</p> + +<p> +“I hope he is,” returned the father. +</p> + +<p> +“Phil,” said his mother, “the servant is out tonight. A +cousin of hers is sick, and I gave her permission to stay with her all night. +Are you willing to close up the house?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, yes,” answered Phil, briskly. “I’m glad +she’s away,” he thought. “She won’t be spying round and +see what I’m about. Besides, I can leave the door open, so that it will +be easier to accuse Harry Gilbert.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good-night,” said his mother. +</p> + +<p> +“Good-night, mother.” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t stay up too late reading.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, I won’t.” +</p> + +<p> +“How many more pages are there, Philip?” asked his father. +</p> + +<p> +“About four hundred,” answered Phil, looking over to the end. +</p> + +<p> +“Then I wouldn’t advise you to sit up till you’ve finished +the book,” he said, jocosely. +</p> + +<p> +“I guess not. I shan’t sit up more than half an hour.” +</p> + +<p> +So Colonel and Mrs. Ross went upstairs, and the coast was clear. +</p> + +<p> +When he was left alone, and felt that the hour so long anticipated had come, +Philip’s heart beat fast. +</p> + +<p> +“Come; it’s easier than I hoped,” he said to himself. +“And father left his keys, too, on the desk. I hope he won’t think +of them, and come downstairs after them. That might upset my plans, though +I’ve got a lot of old keys in my pocket, and one of them might answer. +However, there’s none so good as the real thing.” +</p> + +<p> +Philip had to consider whether he would wait till his father and mother were +asleep, or act sooner. He at length decided, in the words of Shakespeare, +though he was not familiar with them: +</p> + +<p> +“If ’twere done with when ’tis done, Then, ’twere well +it were done quickly.” +</p> + +<p> +The argument was this: If he acted soon, he could make use of his +father’s keys, and that would save him trouble. On the other hand, there +was some risk that his father might think of them, and, coming downstairs, +surprise him. However, Philip didn’t think this was likely, and, in any +event, he resolved to take the risk. He could pretend that he had just caught +sight of his keys, and was going to carry them upstairs for safekeeping. +</p> + +<p> +Indeed, Philip did not wait more than ten minutes. +</p> + +<p> +“Father must be in bed by this time,” he said to himself. +</p> + +<p> +He took the small lamp by which he was reading, and entered his father’s +office. +</p> + +<p> +There lay the keys, and there stood the trunk. +</p> + +<p> +He took the bunch of keys and selected a small one, which he thought likely to +fit the trunk. +</p> + +<p> +It did. +</p> + +<p> +The lid was lifted, and Philip, with eager hand, took the envelope which he +knew contained the government bonds. It was a bulky envelope, and contained +probably eight or ten bonds. +</p> + +<p> +Of course, Philip didn’t venture to take all. He selected two, of one +hundred dollars each, and replaced the others in the envelope, and afterward in +the trunk. +</p> + +<p> +He put the bonds in his inside coat pocket, and, hastily refastening the trunk, +replaced the keys on his father’s desk. +</p> + +<p> +He breathed a sigh of relief to think the thing was done, and walked over to +the window. +</p> + +<p> +What was his gratification to see Harry Gilbert walking by on the other side of +the street. +</p> + +<p> +“All happens right,” he said. “Now, Harry can’t say he +was at home. I’ll fix him. I’ll say I saw him at the window, +looking in, and his denial won’t amount to much, when he admits, as he +will, that he was near the house.” +</p> + +<p> +He would have felt differently had he seen the face of Tom Calder peering in at +one of the side windows. Tom had spent the evening in the village, and was now +on his return to his chamber, on the second floor of the stable. His attention +was attracted by the light in the room, and, as the curtain was partly raised, +he took the liberty of peering in, unobserved. +</p> + +<p> +“By gracious!” he exclaimed, in amazement. “Phil is stealing +gov’ment bonds from his father. He’s a bad one, but I didn’t +think that of him.” +</p> + +<p> +Tom slipped out, resolved to consider at his leisure what he had better do +about imparting his secret information. It was well he did, for Phil himself +almost immediately came to the same window. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0034" id="link2HCH0034"></a> +CHAPTER XXXIV — PHILIP GETS RID OF HIS PLUNDER</h2> + +<p> +“Philip,” said his mother, at the breakfast table the next morning, +“the servant tells me she found the outside door unlocked this morning. +Didn’t I ask you to lock it before you went to bed?” +</p> + +<p> +“So you did, mother. I really hope you’ll excuse me. When I got +ready to go to bed, I forgot all about it.” +</p> + +<p> +“It might have proved serious,” remarked his father, “for I +found this morning that I had left my bunch of keys on my desk. I don’t +see how I came to be so negligent.” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s lucky no burglar or dishonest person knew of it,” said +Mrs. Ross. “You might have met with a serious loss.” +</p> + +<p> +“So I might, for I had about a thousand dollars’ worth of +government bonds in my trunk, besides certificates of various kinds of stock. +The latter would have done no one any good, though the loss would have annoyed +me, but the government bonds might readily be sold.” +</p> + +<p> +“I shouldn’t think you’d keep the trunk downstairs, +father,” said Philip, who felt easy, as there seemed no likelihood of +suspicion being fixed upon him. +</p> + +<p> +He resolved so to act as to divert any future suspicion. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know but it is imprudent,” said Colonel Ross. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course it is,” said his wife. “You deserve to suffer +loss.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will take it upstairs hereafter,” said her husband, +“especially,” he added, jocularly, “if Philip is to be +trusted to lock the front door.” +</p> + +<p> +Philip smiled, but his smile was not exactly an easy one, for he was every +minute apprehensive that it would occur to his father to open the trunk and +examine the contents. He did not want this to happen till he was out of the +way, for it would be rather a trial to his nerves to hear the announcement made +of the loss, while he knew that the missing bonds were concealed in his inside +coat pocket. +</p> + +<p> +Philip was in a hurry to see Congreve, and get rid of his troublesome deposit. +He hurried through his breakfast, therefore, and rose from the table. +</p> + +<p> +“You’ve eaten very little, Phil,” said his mother. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, I’m not hungry,” said Philip, carelessly. “I +didn’t get up early enough to raise an appetite.” +</p> + +<p> +“You got up as early as usual,” said his father. +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps reading in the evening didn’t agree with me,” +replied Philip, smiling. +</p> + +<p> +“Where are you going?” asked his mother. +</p> + +<p> +“Just out for a walk.” +</p> + +<p> +“Will you call at the grocery store and tell them to send up a barrel of +flour?” +</p> + +<p> +“All right.” +</p> + +<p> +Usually Philip, who was far from obliging naturally, made a fuss when asked to +do an errand, but now he spoke very good-humoredly. He was so anxious to get +out of the house that he was ready to promise anything. +</p> + +<p> +“I really think Philip is improving,” said his mother, after he had +gone out. +</p> + +<p> +“There’s some room for it,” remarked his father, dryly. +</p> + +<p> +Philip, as may be supposed, made his way as quickly as possible to the hotel. +As he came up, he saw the one of whom he was in search—James +Congreve—standing on the piazza, smoking a cigarette. +</p> + +<p> +“Well?” he said, guessing something from the evident excitement of +Philip’s manner. +</p> + +<p> +“Let us go up to your room, Congreve,” said Phil. +</p> + +<p> +“All right.” +</p> + +<p> +He led the way upstairs to the small room which he occupied as a bedroom, and +Philip followed him in. The latter carefully closed the door. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ve got ’em,” he exclaimed, triumphantly. +</p> + +<p> +“The bonds? You don’t say!” +</p> + +<p> +“As true as you stand there.” +</p> + +<p> +“Let me see them.” +</p> + +<p> +Philip drew the bonds from his pocket, and handed them to Congreve. +</p> + +<p> +The latter said, joyfully: +</p> + +<p> +“You’re a trump, Phil!” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I think I managed pretty well,” said Phil, complacently. +</p> + +<p> +“Tell me how you did it.” +</p> + +<p> +So Phil explained. +</p> + +<p> +“You were in precious luck, I can tell you. I had no idea things would +turn in your favor so. Let me see—here are two one-hundreds.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; that’s what you said.” +</p> + +<p> +“True. Were there more in the trunk?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; I heard father say there were a thousand dollars in bonds.” +</p> + +<p> +James Congreve’s face was overspread by an expression of covetousness. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s a pity you didn’t take more,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +“But what was the need of taking more? These will pay my debt to +you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course. Still, it seemed such a good chance.” +</p> + +<p> +“You don’t think I’m going to set up as a thief, do you, +Congreve?” asked Philip, in surprise. +</p> + +<p> +“No, of course not. I didn’t mean anything. Well, Phil, the sooner +these are disposed of the better.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are going to attend to that?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes. I believe I will take the next train up to the city.” +</p> + +<p> +“When will you be back?” +</p> + +<p> +“To-night. I will bring you the balance of the money—say, fifty +dollars.” +</p> + +<p> +“There ought to be more than that for me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, it will be all right! Only, you know, I will have to sell them below +the market price, at some place where no questions are asked.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ve no doubt you’ll do the square thing,” said +Philip, who did not know that this statement of Congreve’s was only a +flimsy pretense to enable him to appropriate a larger share of the plunder, as +it may fairly be called. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll promise you fifty dollars, whatever the bonds bring,” +said Congreve. +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Now, I must get ready, for the next train leaves for the city in half an +hour.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll go along with you to the depot,” said Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“No, you’d better not. After the loss is discovered, it might +excite some remark, and possibly suspicion, if it were remembered.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I’ll be going. I’ve got an errand over at the store. +Shall I see you to-night?” +</p> + +<p> +“You’d better not come around till to-morrow morning. It may help +avert suspicion.” +</p> + +<p> +“Just as you say.” +</p> + +<p> +“A pretty good haul!” said Congreve to himself. “I +didn’t think the little fool would have spunk enough to do it, but he +has. I may pay him that fifty dollars, and then again I may not. I don’t +think I shall care to come back again to this dull hole to-night. I shall have +to leave my trunk, but it isn’t worth the sum I owe the landlord, and he +is welcome to it. With the price of these bonds I can start anew +cheaper.” +</p> + +<p> +Philip left his friend, without the least suspicion that he intended to play +him false. He felt very comfortable. He had got the bonds out of his +possession, so that there was no danger of their being found on him, and he was +to receive, the next morning, fifty dollars, a larger sum than he had ever +possessed at one time in his life. He made up his mind that he would put it +away in his trunk, and use it from time to time as he had occasion for it. +</p> + +<p> +He went to the grocery store, and left his mother’s order. Then he took +an aimless walk, for Congreve was away, and there was no one else he cared to +be with. +</p> + +<p> +So he turned to go home. He rather dreaded to enter the house, lest his father +might have discovered his loss. In the yard he saw Tom Calder. Tom, remembering +what he had seen the evening before, looked at Philip with a significant grin, +but said nothing. +</p> + +<p> +“What are you grinning at?” demanded Philip, +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing. I feel gay and festive, that is all,” responded the +stable boy. +</p> + +<p> +“Where’s my father?” +</p> + +<p> +“He went out to ride in the buggy.” +</p> + +<p> +Philip felt relieved. Evidently the loss had not been discovered yet. He was +glad to have it put off. +</p> + +<p> +“Is there any news?” asked Tom, with another grin. +</p> + +<p> +“News? Why should there be any?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know. I thought you might know of some.” +</p> + +<p> +“You talk like a fool,” said Philip, angrily, and went into the +house. +</p> + +<p> +“There’ll be some news soon, I reckon,” said Tom to himself, +with a grin. “I won’t say nothing till the time comes. Wonder if +Philip’ll think I am talking like a fool then?” +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0035" id="link2HCH0035"></a> +CHAPTER XXXV — THROWING SUSPICION ON HARRY</h2> + +<p> +During the day Colonel Ross had no occasion to look into his trunk of +securities. Clearly, he had no suspicion that he had met with a loss. +</p> + +<p> +It might strike the reader as curious that Philip began to be impatient to have +his father make the discovery. An impending blow always leads to a state of +suspense which is by no means agreeable. When the blow falls, a certain relief +is felt. So Philip knew that the discovery would be made sooner or later, and +he wanted to have the matter settled, and clear himself at once from suspicion +by diverting it to Harry Gilbert. +</p> + +<p> +In the hope that his father would find out his loss, he lingered round the +house through the afternoon, filling up the time as well as he could. Usually, +he would have passed at least a part of the time with James Congreve, but the +latter had gone to the city. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t you feel well, Philip?” asked his mother. +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly! What makes you ask?” +</p> + +<p> +“You don’t generally stay at home all the afternoon.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, well, there isn’t anything going on in the village.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where is that friend of yours who is staying at the hotel?” +</p> + +<p> +“He went away this morning to the city.” +</p> + +<p> +“Isn’t he coming back?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, yes, I suppose so.” +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose you feel lonely without him?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, mother.” +</p> + +<p> +“Have you seen anything of Uncle Obed lately?” asked Mrs. Ross, +making a wry face as she pronounced the word admitting the relationship. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; I saw him walking with the Gilbert boy the other evening.” +</p> + +<p> +“Did you speak to him?” +</p> + +<p> +“No; I just nodded. I don’t care about getting intimate with him. I +wish he’d leave town.” +</p> + +<p> +“As likely as not, he’ll use up all his money, and then come on +your father for help.” +</p> + +<p> +“I hope father won’t give him anything, then,” said Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“I am willing that he should give him enough to get him back to Illinois. +He ought never to have left there. If he thinks we are going to pay his board +here, all I can say is that he is very much mistaken,” said Mrs. Ross, +pressing her thin lips together with emphasis. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s the talk, ma! I am glad you don’t mean to be imposed +upon. I suppose old Wilkins thinks you are soft, and won’t see him +suffer. You’d better keep a stiff upper lip.” +</p> + +<p> +“He will know me better after a while,” said Mrs. Ross. +</p> + +<p> +The afternoon wore away, and supper came. Philip partook as usual, and waited +afterward in the confident expectation that his father would open the small +trunk. He was not mistaken. +</p> + +<p> +Upon retiring to his special apartment, Colonel Ross took up the trunk, and, +producing the key, opened it. +</p> + +<p> +It so happened that he was after some papers, and did not immediately take up +the envelope containing the government bonds. Philip was rather afraid he +wouldn’t, and ventured to remind him of them by a question. +</p> + +<p> +“How many government bonds have you in that envelope, pa?” he +asked. +</p> + +<p> +“A little over a thousand dollars,” answered Colonel Ross. +</p> + +<p> +“Will you let me look at one? I want to see how it looks.” +</p> + +<p> +This question led the colonel to open the envelope. He took out a bond and +handed it to Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“Are these coupons?” asked Philip, who knew perfectly well, but +only wanted to fix his father’s attention. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, they are promises to pay interest semiannually. In January and July +I cut off one of these little slips, and receive the interest it represents in +gold.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s very convenient, isn’t it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, for I can get the coupons cashed at any bank or broker’s +office.” +</p> + +<p> +Almost mechanically, he began to draw out the bonds and count them. But his air +of inattention was quickly replaced by a look of surprise and anxiety. He +counted the bonds over again, more deliberately, but each time the number came +short two. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s strange,” he said, in a low tone. +</p> + +<p> +“What is strange, pa?” +</p> + +<p> +“Two bonds seem to be missing,” said his father, in a tone of +concern. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ve got one, you know, in my hand.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, yes. I reckoned that.” +</p> + +<p> +“How large were they? Is it much of a loss?” +</p> + +<p> +“One hundred dollars apiece, and each worth a hundred and fifteen +dollars, on account of the premium. Do you know anything about them?” and +Colonel Ross fixed a piercing eye on his son. +</p> + +<p> +“I, pa? How should I know anything about them? Why, I didn’t know +exactly how they looked. When did you see them all last?” +</p> + +<p> +“Last evening. I happened to count them then.” +</p> + +<p> +“They must have been taken from the trunk since then.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I am almost sure I know how it happened,” said Philip, +suddenly, as if a light had dawned upon him. +</p> + +<p> +“I should like to have you tell me, then.” +</p> + +<p> +“You remember, pa, you left the keys on the desk?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; but there was no one here except you,” and again the father +had suspicion of his son. +</p> + +<p> +“I hope you don’t think I’d do such a thing as that?” +said Philip, virtuously. “But I am afraid it is my fault, for I left the +outside door unlocked all night. Any one might have come in and stolen the +bonds.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is true; but why didn’t they take more, or all? You +didn’t see any one round when you went to bed, did you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I did,” answered Philip, with well-feigned eagerness. +“Just as I was going to bed, I went into the next room, where the trunk +is, and, turning to look out of the window, I was quite startled to see Harry +Gilbert’s face close to the window. The light shining through the doorway +was quite strong enough for him to see the trunk and keys lying on your desk. +It’s as sure as can be that he took the bonds. You see, he could slip in +after I went upstairs, and there was nothing to prevent. He might have been +lurking around when you were examining the bonds last night, and saw you place +them back in the envelope.” +</p> + +<p> +“What is all this about?” asked Mrs. Ross, entering the room at +this point. +</p> + +<p> +It was explained to her, and she instantly adopted her son’s view. +</p> + +<p> +“Phil’s hit the nail on the head, I do believe,” she said. +“I didn’t think he was so sharp. Colonel Ross, I have no doubt the +Gilbert boy took the bonds.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then, why didn’t he take more?” asked Ross. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, he got frightened—thought he heard a noise, or perhaps he +thought it would not be discovered so quick if he only took two. There are +reasons enough.” +</p> + +<p> +Philip and Mrs. Ross assumed so confident a tone that Colonel Ross, though at +first inclined to discredit the charge, ended by believing it very probable. +</p> + +<p> +“This thing must be attended to,” he said. “What are you +going to do about it, pa?” +</p> + +<p> +“I shall go before Justice Slocum, and get a warrant to search Widow +Gilbert’s house. If I find anything, I shall have Harry arrested.” +</p> + +<p> +“Now, you’re in a scrape, Harry Gilbert,” said Philip to +himself, exultantly. +</p> + +<p> +“I guess I’ll go along with you, pa,” he said, aloud, +“and see if James Congreve has got back from the city.” +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0036" id="link2HCH0036"></a> +CHAPTER XXXVI — HARRY IS CHARGED WITH THEFT</h2> + +<p> +Philip called at the hotel, and inquired, with considerable confidence, if +“Mr. Congreve” was in. +</p> + +<p> +“He has not returned,” answered the landlord. +</p> + +<p> +“Then he won’t be back to-night,” said Philip, feeling +considerably disappointed. +</p> + +<p> +“No; the last train is in.” +</p> + +<p> +“I wonder if he had any trouble in selling the bonds,” thought +Philip; but this thought was one to which he didn’t think it prudent to +give expression. +</p> + +<p> +He walked home slowly, while Colonel Ross kept on his way to the modest home of +the Gilberts. We will precede him. +</p> + +<p> +The little family was gathered in the plain sitting-room. There were but +three—Mrs. Gilbert, Harry and Uncle Obed. +</p> + +<p> +The old man—to begin with the oldest first—was sitting in a rocking +chair, with his hands folded in his lap, and an expression of placid +contentment on his face. He had reached the age when rest is agreeable, and was +satisfied to sit through the evening, now watching Harry or his mother, and now +occupied with thoughts of earlier days and distant scenes. He was thoroughly +satisfied with the new home he had found, plain and humble though it was. +Indeed, perhaps, for that very reason, it suited him better. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Gilbert was sewing. She had time enough to sew for some of her neighbors, +and in that way earned a moderate sum for herself, though, as the family was +now situated, she could have dispensed with it. +</p> + +<p> +Harry was reading a “Life of Benjamin Franklin,” which he had taken +from the Sunday school library, and was evidently deeply interested in it. +</p> + +<p> +“What are you reading, Harry?” asked the old man, after a while. +</p> + +<p> +“Franklin’s life, Uncle Obed.” +</p> + +<p> +“You couldn’t read anything better. Old Ben is a good model for +American boys. He was a great man.” +</p> + +<p> +“So he was, Uncle Obed; and he began poor, too.” +</p> + +<p> +“Sarten, sarten! Poor boys make the smartest men—that’s my +observation.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I’ve got one thing in my favor,” said Harry, smiling. +</p> + +<p> +“And you will succeed, too; I make no doubt of it. You’ve made a +pretty good beginning already.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you, Uncle Obed, for your favorable opinion. I hope I shall +deserve it.” +</p> + +<p> +“You’re worth half a dozen boys like Philip Ross. I reckon +he’ll never amount to much.” +</p> + +<p> +“He doesn’t think so,” said Harry, smiling. “He thinks +himself a very important character.” +</p> + +<p> +“Like enough! He looks like it. He doesn’t care to own me as a +relation.” +</p> + +<p> +“It would be different if you were rich, Uncle Obed.” +</p> + +<p> +“Mebbe so. I think so myself. Thank the Lord, I ain’t beholden to +him or his family for any favors. They wanted to send me home to Illinoy. I was +too unfashionable for them, I expect, but I’ve found a home—yes, +I’ve found a good home.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am glad we succeeded in making it comfortable for you, Mr. +Wilkins,” said Mrs. Gilbert, looking up from her sewing. +</p> + +<p> +“You do, ma’am,” said the old man. “I ain’t been +so well taken care of for years as I am now. I wish I could do something to +show my gratitude.” +</p> + +<p> +“The money you pay us is of great service. It makes the largest part of +our income. I am only afraid you pay too much.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, I don’t,” said Uncle Obed. “Money isn’t of +much vally, compared with a good home. If I ain’t as rich as my niece, I +can afford to pay fair board. When a man’s turned seventy, as I have, the +best money can do for him is to give him a happy home.” +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Gilbert and Harry were pleased to find their boarder so contented. The +money he paid weekly, with unvarying punctuality, made things easy for the +widow, and relieved her of the anxiety which she had constantly felt before his +arrival. +</p> + +<p> +The conversation above recorded was scarcely over, when a knock was heard at +the front door—a sharp, peremptory knock—as of one who demanded +admittance, rather than requested it. +</p> + +<p> +All looked up, with some surprise, for it was now eight o’clock, and they +did not often have evening callers. +</p> + +<p> +“I will go to the door, mother,” said Harry. “You need not +interrupt your sewing.” +</p> + +<p> +So Harry opened the outer door, and, considerably to his surprise, saw standing +on the step the dignified figure of Colonel Ross. +</p> + +<p> +“Colonel Ross!” he exclaimed, in surprise. +</p> + +<p> +“I will come in a few minutes,” said the Colonel, stiffly. +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly, sir. Excuse my not inviting you.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is very excusable—under the circumstances,” said the +Colonel, stiffly. +</p> + +<p> +“What does he mean?” thought Harry. “I can’t tell what +circumstances he refers to.” +</p> + +<p> +“Mother,” said he, opening the door of the sitting-room, +“here is Colonel Ross.” +</p> + +<p> +“Take a seat, Colonel Ross,” said the widow, politely. +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Ross seated himself deliberately in a chair near his wife’s +uncle. +</p> + +<p> +“Glad to see you, Mr. Ross,” said Uncle Obed, thinking the visit +was meant for him. “You’re very kind to look in on an old +man.” +</p> + +<p> +“I—well, my visit this evening has a different object.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, come to see Mrs. Gilbert! Well, how’s Lucinda?” +</p> + +<p> +“Mrs. Ross is enjoying her usual health,” said Colonel Ross, +ceremoniously. +</p> + +<p> +“Glad to hear it,” said the old man. “She hasn’t called +on me yet, though I’m the only relation she’s got within a thousand +miles.” +</p> + +<p> +“Mrs. Ross is very much occupied,” said her husband, coldly. +“However, you will excuse me if I proceed to the object of my visit. I +regret to say that last evening the trunk in which I keep a part of my +securities was opened, and two government bonds abstracted.” +</p> + +<p> +“You don’t say so!” exclaimed Mr. Wilkins, really surprised. +“When did it happen?” +</p> + +<p> +“Sometime in the evening or night. The outer door was left unlocked, +through the neglect of my son, Philip, who sat up later than his mother or +myself. Unfortunately, I had myself carelessly left my bunch of keys, including +the key to this trunk, on my desk, so that the thief found his work very +easy.” +</p> + +<p> +“You and Philip were both careless. Have you got track of the +rogue?” +</p> + +<p> +“I think I have,” answered Colonel Ross, in a significant tone. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m glad on’t. These fellows ought to be caught. I +don’t have much sympathy for a thief.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am glad to hear you say so,” said Colonel Ross. +</p> + +<p> +“You didn’t think I had, did you?” asked the old man, +puzzled. +</p> + +<p> +“I thought you might have, when you came to know who it was I +suspect.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t see as that will make any difference. Who is it?” +</p> + +<p> +“My son, just before retiring, saw a person prowling round the house, and +looking into the window. Doubtless, he saw the bunch of keys, and was tempted +to enter and steal the bonds.” +</p> + +<p> +“Have you arrested him?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not yet; but probably I shall before long.” +</p> + +<p> +“Who is it, Colonel Ross?” asked Mrs. Gilbert, with interest. +</p> + +<p> +“Madam,” said the Colonel, slowly, “it pains me to say that +the person seen prowling round my house, and looking in at my window, was your +son, Harry!” +</p> + +<p> +“Harry!” ejaculated the widow, scarcely thinking she had heard +aright. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s ridiculous!” exclaimed Uncle Obed. +</p> + +<p> +“Colonel Ross,” said Harry, rising to his feet, and confronting the +visitor, with clear eyes and an expression of honest indignation, “do you +mean to say that you suspect me of stealing any of your property?” +</p> + +<p> +“Young man, I advise you not to be impudent or brazen-faced. Do you mean +to deny that you were near my house last evening between half-past nine and ten +o’clock?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, I don’t. I did pass your house about that time.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am glad you have the sense to own it. You may as well confess the +rest—that you entered through the unlocked door, opened my small trunk, +and took out two government bonds of a hundred dollars each.” +</p> + +<p> +“Whoever charges me with that utters a falsehood,” said Harry, +boldly. “I passed your house, but I did not enter it, and did not even +look in the window, and it is news to me that the door was unlocked, or the +keys on the desk. In fact, I didn’t know you had a trunk in which you +kept your bonds.” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course you deny it,” said Colonel Ross, “but I think it +entirely likely that the stolen bonds are at this very moment hidden beneath +this roof.” +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0037" id="link2HCH0037"></a> +CHAPTER XXXVII — SEARCHING THE COTTAGE</h2> + +<p> +“Colonel Ross, your suspicions are very insulting and entirely +unwarranted,” said the Widow Gilbert, with a flush on her usually pale +cheek. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course I knew you would not believe anything against your son, whom +you believe to be a model,” said Colonel Ross, with a sneer. +</p> + +<p> +“So he is—a model!” said the widow, warmly. +</p> + +<p> +“Then all I can say is that there is a strong reason to suspect that this +model son of yours is a thief.” +</p> + +<p> +“I deny it.” +</p> + +<p> +“I notice, however, that you are afraid to have the house +searched.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have never expressed any unwillingness.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I understand that you give your consent.” +</p> + +<p> +“I do.” +</p> + +<p> +“Very well. Then allow me to call in a party not interested, who will +attend to that duty.” +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Ross went to the outer door, and, opening it, called: +</p> + +<p> +“Constable, you are wanted!” +</p> + +<p> +At this summons a tall, stout man—Mr. Rogers, the village +constable—came forward, as it seemed, rather reluctantly. +</p> + +<p> +“Constable,” said Colonel Ross, “Mrs. Gilbert has given her +consent to have the house searched for the bonds which were abstracted from my +trunk last evening.” +</p> + +<p> +“Mr. Rogers,” said Mrs. Gilbert, who knew the constable well, +“Colonel Ross has made a cruel and unwarranted charge against Harry. I +hope you don’t believe he is a thief.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t,” said the constable, bluntly. “I’ve +known your boy ever since he was a baby, and I never knew him to do a mean +thing.” +</p> + +<p> +“Constable,” said Colonel Ross, angrily, “it does not become +you to screen the guilty or make excuses for him.” +</p> + +<p> +“It strikes me you’re rather too fast, Colonel Ross, in making him +out guilty. What proof have you of it?” +</p> + +<p> +“My son’s word.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh!” said the constable, expressively. +</p> + +<p> +“You have only to do your duty and search the house, and I venture to +predict that the evidence will be forthcoming that will convince even +you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Mrs. Gilbert,” said the constable, “I hope you’ll +excuse me for obeying the Colonel. I have to do it, you know.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do your duty, Mr. Rogers. We are not afraid to have the house searched +from top to bottom.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t want to disturb your things, Mrs. Gilbert. Suppose you go +round and open everything to us.” +</p> + +<p> +“If that will be satisfactory to Colonel Ross. I want him +satisfied.” +</p> + +<p> +“As long as I am present, with a right to examine, I shall not +object.” +</p> + +<p> +“It seems to me, Colonel Ross,” remarked Uncle Obed, “you are +not treating the boy right.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is immaterial to me what you think, Mr. Wilkins,” replied the +Colonel, with asperity. +</p> + +<p> +“Mebbe so,” said the old man. “I calculate it won’t +always be so. The time may come when you will care more for my opinion.” +</p> + +<p> +“You flatter yourself unduly, Mr. Wilkins, I assure you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Mebbe so,” answered the old man, not appearing at all discomposed +by the rude tone of his niece’s husband. +</p> + +<p> +“We will begin here, gentlemen,” said Mrs. Gilbert. +</p> + +<p> +So saying, she went about from place to place down below, opening whatever +drawers there were, even in the pantry, and revealing nothing that looked like +the bonds. +</p> + +<p> +“I didn’t expect they were downstairs,” said the Colonel. +</p> + +<p> +“Then we will go upstairs. You shall not say that we have concealed +anything or shrunk from any investigation.” +</p> + +<p> +“Very well.” +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Gilbert thereupon led the way upstairs, and the search began. Finally, +they came to her own bureau. The upper drawer was opened, and the sharp eyes of +the Colonel detected a large envelope. It was the one that contained the bonds +which had been presented to Harry for his service in ferreting out the burglars +in the wood. +</p> + +<p> +Singular as it may seem, neither Harry nor his mother had thought of them, and +the false inference that might be drawn from their discovery. It was natural, +therefore, that each should look startled and discomposed. +</p> + +<p> +“Ha! what have we here?” demanded Colonel Ross, clutching the +envelope. +</p> + +<p> +“Those are my property,” said Harry, who was the first to recover +his self-possession. +</p> + +<p> +“I will take the liberty to examine. Ha! government bonds, as I live. +Constable, what do you say now?” demanded the Colonel, triumphantly. +</p> + +<p> +The constable, who knew nothing of Harry’s gift, looked very +uncomfortable indeed. Despite his belief in Harry’s honesty, he was +staggered by this apparent evidence to the contrary. +</p> + +<p> +“What is this, Mrs. Gilbert?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“They are bonds belonging to Harry. He speaks the truth.” +</p> + +<p> +“A likely story,” exclaimed Colonel Ross. “Really, Mrs. +Gilbert, your conduct is most extraordinary. I begin to think you had some +knowledge of your son’s act.” +</p> + +<p> +“Colonel Ross, don’t you dare to insult my mother,” said +Harry, so fiercely that the Colonel retreated a little, under the impression +that our hero intended to make an insult upon him. +</p> + +<p> +“Be careful, boy,” he warned. “I’ve caught you +red-handed in the commission of a crime that may send you to State’s +prison. You’d better take heed what you say!” +</p> + +<p> +“Mr. Rogers,” said Mrs. Gilbert, “that envelope contains +government bonds that belong to my son. Ask Colonel Ross how many he +lost.” +</p> + +<p> +“Two bonds of a hundred dollars each,” answered the Colonel. +“And here they are,” he continued, producing two bonds of that +denomination from the envelope. +</p> + +<p> +“Look again. See if there are no more,” said Harry. +</p> + +<p> +The Colonel, evidently surprised, produced a fifty. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you mean to say that you lost that, also?” inquired Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“No,” replied the Colonel, evidently puzzled; “you must have +got that from somewhere else.” +</p> + +<p> +“I got the whole somewhere else,” said Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“It is entirely useless, Harry Gilbert, to attempt to impose upon me by +any such ridiculous story. As to the extra bond, I don’t know where it +came from. Perhaps your mother had it before. It doesn’t alter the fact +that I have found my stolen bonds in your possession.” +</p> + +<p> +“When did you lose your bonds?” asked Uncle Obed, who thought it +time to “put in his oar,” as he afterward expressed it. +</p> + +<p> +“Last evening.” +</p> + +<p> +“You’re sure you had ’em up to that time, are you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; I looked them over, and counted them early in the evening.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then, all I can say is that the bonds you’ve got in your hands +have been in the house several days. Harry showed them to me when he first got +’em.” +</p> + +<p> +“Really, Mr. Wilkins, I don’t like to doubt the word of an old man +like you; but, sir, your statement is absolutely incredible.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is true,” said Mrs. Gilbert. “I, too, assert the same +thing.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then you are all in a conspiracy,” said Colonel Ross, in a +passion. +</p> + +<p> +“And you have evidently plotted the ruin of an innocent boy,” said +Mrs. Gilbert, with spirit. +</p> + +<p> +“You have always pretended to be poor,” continued Colonel Ross, +“and now you expect me to believe that your son owns nearly three hundred +dollars’ worth of bonds!” +</p> + +<p> +“I do, for it is true.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where did he get them?” +</p> + +<p> +“They were given him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Utterly absurd! People don’t often give boys such presents as +that. Constable, I call on you to arrest that boy.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where is your warrant, Colonel?” +</p> + +<p> +“Arrest him on suspicion.” +</p> + +<p> +“I could not do it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then you mean to connive at his escape?” +</p> + +<p> +“No; I’ll stay here to-night, if you insist upon it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do so, and I will take the bonds.” +</p> + +<p> +“Lay them down, Colonel Ross; they are my property!” said Harry, +sternly. +</p> + +<p> +“You can’t be allowed to take ’em, Colonel, till you prove +that they are yours. One you admit is not,” said the constable. +</p> + +<p> +“It doesn’t matter much,” replied the Colonel, discomfited. +“They will find their way back to me soon. This boy won’t take on +so high a tone tomorrow.” +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0038" id="link2HCH0038"></a> +CHAPTER XXXVIII — PHILIP’S SURPRISE</h2> + +<p> +“Where did that other bond come from?” thought Colonel Ross, as he +wended his way homeward. “I can’t understand it. Perhaps the boy +took it from some one else. It is just possible that his mother may have owned +a fifty-dollar bond.” +</p> + +<p> +To do Colonel Ross justice, he really thought that the bonds he had discovered +were his own, and he was convinced, by what his son had told him, that Harry +had really entered his house on the night when the outer door had been left +open and abstracted them. +</p> + +<p> +Philip, disappointed at not finding his friend Congreve at the hotel, took his +way home, and was already in the house when his father returned. He was +naturally curious to hear something of the result of his errand. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, father,” he said, eagerly, as the Colonel entered the room +where he was seated, “what luck did you have?” +</p> + +<p> +“I found the bonds,” said his father, briefly. +</p> + +<p> +Nothing could have astonished Philip more, knowing what he did as to the manner +in which they had really been disposed of. He looked the picture of amazement. +</p> + +<p> +“Found the bonds!” he ejaculated. +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly! What is there remarkable about that?” +</p> + +<p> +“And Harry Gilbert really had them?” said Philip, not knowing what +to think. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course!” +</p> + +<p> +“Where were they found?” +</p> + +<p> +“In the bureau drawer in his mother’s room.” +</p> + +<p> +“What can it mean?” thought Philip, in a whirl of amazement. +“I gave them to Congreve to carry to New York, and how in the world could +Gilbert have got hold of them? There must be some mistake somewhere.” +</p> + +<p> +“What did Harry say when you found the bonds?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“He denied that they were mine; said they were his.” +</p> + +<p> +“But where could he get them?” +</p> + +<p> +“That is the question. He said they were given to him, or some such +ridiculous nonsense, and his mother actually backed him up in this preposterous +statement.” +</p> + +<p> +“I was never so astonished in the whole course of my life!” said +Philip; and he spoke the honest truth. +</p> + +<p> +“You, my son, are entitled to great credit for your vigilance, and you +apprising me that the boy was prowling about the house on the evening in +question. I shall make you a present of ten dollars.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, thank you, father,” said Philip, his eyes expressing his +delight, as his father drew from his pocketbook two five-dollar bills and +placed them in his hand. +</p> + +<p> +“At any rate, it has turned out pretty lucky for me,” he thought to +himself. “All the same, it is a puzzle where those bonds came from. +Congreve wouldn’t go and give them to Harry? No, of course not! Well, the +best I can do is to keep mum.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is one circumstance that rather puzzles me,” said the +Colonel, reflectively. +</p> + +<p> +“What is it, father?” +</p> + +<p> +“I only miss two hundred-dollar bonds, and I found in the boy’s +possession a fifty-dollar bond in addition. That is certainly singular.” +</p> + +<p> +“So it is,” said Philip, showing his own surprise. +</p> + +<p> +“He must have stolen that from some other party,” continued the +Colonel. +</p> + +<p> +“As like as not,” chimed in Philip, glibly. “Have you got the +bonds with you?” he asked, after a pause. “Did you bring them +back?” +</p> + +<p> +“No. Rogers, the constable, said I could not take them till I had proved +them to be my property. He is a stupid old countryman, and knows nothing about +law. He was evidently prejudiced in favor of the Gilberts.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, what did you do with Harry?” +</p> + +<p> +“He ought to have been taken to the lockup, but the constable +didn’t want to do it, and I agreed that he might stay in the house, under +guard of the constable, of course, for I apprehended the boy might make an +effort to run away.” +</p> + +<p> +“Did he seem much frightened?” asked Philip, curiously. +</p> + +<p> +“No; he seemed very indignant at being suspected. Of course, it was all +put on. He was actually insolent, and defied me to take the bonds. I suppose he +thought he could put me off the scent by his bravado.” +</p> + +<p> +“What are you going to do to-morrow?” asked Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“I shall have him taken before a magistrate, and shall formally charge +him with the theft.” +</p> + +<p> +“What did Uncle Obed say?” inquired Philip, suddenly. +</p> + +<p> +“It really is of very little consequence what that old man said,” +returned Colonel Ross, stiffly. “Of course, he sided with the Gilberts, +and he actually had the effrontery to say that the bonds had been in the house +for several days.” +</p> + +<p> +“He couldn’t have given the bonds to Harry, could he?” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course not. The man is a pauper, or about the same as one. Every day +I expect he will come to me to ask pecuniary assistance.” +</p> + +<p> +“Will you give him any money if he does?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; enough to get him back to Illinois. He ought never to have left +there.” +</p> + +<p> +Philip went to bed in a state of wonderment, but at the same time in a state of +satisfaction. Suspicion had been diverted from him, the real culprit, and the +boy whom he hated more than any other was likely to suffer for his misdeeds. +</p> + +<p> +If he had had a conscience, this thought ought to have made him uncomfortable, +but it did not. He thought, rather, that under cover of this charge made +against another, he and Congreve would be free to use the proceeds of the +stolen bonds, and he began even to plan in what way he would spend his portion. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile, a very different scene took place in the cottage of the Gilberts, +after the Colonel had taken his leave. +</p> + +<p> +“I hope, Mr. Rogers,” said Mrs. Gilbert to the constable, +“you don’t believe my boy guilty of this base deed which the +colonel charges upon him?” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ve always thought highly of Harry, ma’am,” said the +constable, “and I can’t think now he’d take anything that +wasn’t his; but it is rather strange that them bonds should be found in +this house now, ain’t it?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, indeed. Is the Colonel the only man in town that owns bonds?” +</p> + +<p> +“I expect not; though, so far as my own experience goes, I know I +ain’t got any. I always thought—begging your pardon, Mrs. +Gilbert—that you was poor, and now what am I to think?” +</p> + +<p> +“You needn’t think I am rich; but Harry owns those bonds, and they +are the reward of his own good conduct. Would you like to hear how he came by +them?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, ma’am, if you don’t mind telling me.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t mind telling you, though I didn’t choose to tell the +Colonel.” +</p> + +<p> +Whereupon, Mrs. Gilbert related the story of the tin box secreted in the wood, +and how, through Harry’s prompt action, those who had purloined it had +been brought to justice. +</p> + +<p> +“You’ve got a smart boy, Mrs. Gilbert,” said the constable, +admiringly. “I couldn’t have done as well myself. There won’t +be any difficulty in clearing Harry now.” +</p> + +<p> +“What would you advise, Mr. Rogers?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing at present; but if we find it necessary to-morrow, we can get +that lawyer’s testimony, which will certainly clear Harry of this +charge.” +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0039" id="link2HCH0039"></a> +CHAPTER XXXIX — HOW CONGREVE SUCCEEDED</h2> + +<p> +Philip would not have felt flattered if he had been able to read the thoughts +of his friend James Congreve, when the latter was riding away from the village +where he had been boarding, toward the great city. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s the last I shall ever see of the young snob, I hope,” +he said to himself. “I’ve got all I can out of him, and now I wash +my hands of him. I wish him joy of waiting for me to-night. It’ll be many +a long day before he sees me or the balance of the bonds.” +</p> + +<p> +James Congreve settled back in his seat, bought a paper from the paper boy on +the train, and began to read in a very comfortable frame of mind. +</p> + +<p> +From time to time he put his hand on the inside pocket in which he had placed +the bonds, to make sure of their safety, for no one knew better than he that +there were dishonest persons to be met with who were willing to appropriate +valuables belonging to others. +</p> + +<p> +It was some time since he had been so well off as he would be when he had +converted these bonds into money. Indeed, all the summer long he had been short +of funds, or he would not have spent so long a time in a country village, which +to him was dull and afforded him a small field for his peculiar talents. +</p> + +<p> +Arriving in New York, Congreve took his way to Wall Street. Here it was that he +expected to get rid of the bonds, or, rather, exchange them for greenbacks. +</p> + +<p> +In this street brokers’ and bankers’ offices abound, and all +negotiable securities readily find a purchaser. He stepped into an office +nearly opposite the opening of New Street, and, approaching the counter, said, +as he drew out his bonds: +</p> + +<p> +“What are you paying for government sixes?” +</p> + +<p> +“Let me see the date,” said the clerk. He spread open the bonds, +and then answered: “One hundred and fifteen and three-eighths.” +</p> + +<p> +“Very well,” replied Congreve. “I will sell them.” +</p> + +<p> +The clerk took them and stepped to the desk, to make an entry of the purchase. +</p> + +<p> +“What name?” he asked, turning to Congreve. +</p> + +<p> +“John Baker,” said Congreve, with momentary hesitation. +</p> + +<p> +For obvious reasons, he thought it best not to mention his own name, as trouble +might possibly come from the possession of the bonds. +</p> + +<p> +“Shall I give you a check?” was the next question. +</p> + +<p> +“I would prefer the money,” answered Congreve. +</p> + +<p> +“Go to the cashier’s window, and he will attend to you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Not much trouble about that,” thought Congreve, complacently, when +he was startled by a voice at his elbow. +</p> + +<p> +“How are you, Congreve?” +</p> + +<p> +Looking around hastily, he saw a hand extended, and recognized a young man who +had at one time been a fellow-boarder with him in Fourteenth Street. It is safe +to say that James Congreve wished him anywhere else at that most unfortunate +time. +</p> + +<p> +“Hush!” said he, in a subdued whisper; “I will speak to you +outside.” +</p> + +<p> +He hoped the clerk had not heard the name by which he had been addressed; but +he hoped in vain. The latter, pausing in his writing, came to the counter and +said: +</p> + +<p> +“Didn’t this gentleman call you Congreve?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” admitted Congreve, uneasily. +</p> + +<p> +“You just gave your name as John Baker.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, no! That is, I didn’t say my name was John Baker. That is the +gentleman for whom I am selling the bonds.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then they do not belong to you?” +</p> + +<p> +“No.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where does Mr. Baker live?” +</p> + +<p> +“In New Haven,” answered Congreve, glibly, for he had a ready +invention. +</p> + +<p> +“We do not care to buy,” said the clerk, coldly, for there was +something in Congreve’s manner which made him suspicious. +</p> + +<p> +“Really,” said Congreve, laughing in a constrained manner, +“you appear to be very cautious.” +</p> + +<p> +“We have to be.” +</p> + +<p> +“Shall I tell Mr. Baker it will be necessary for him to come to New York +in person to dispose of his bonds? He is my uncle, and I simply am doing him a +favor in disposing of them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Very possibly; but I think we won’t purchase them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, well! I can carry them elsewhere,” said Congreve, raging +inwardly. +</p> + +<p> +His acquaintance, whose recognition had interfered with his plans, followed him +to the door, in rather a perplexed frame of mind. +</p> + +<p> +“Where have you been all summer, Congreve?” he asked, thinking it +best to ignore the scene which he had just witnessed. +</p> + +<p> +“None of your business,” answered Congreve, sharply. +</p> + +<p> +“What does this mean?” asked the young man, in astonishment. +</p> + +<p> +“It means, sir, that I do not wish to keep up my acquaintance with you. +Didn’t you know any better than to blurt out my name just now, and so get +me into trouble?” +</p> + +<p> +“If you are ashamed to appear under your real name, I don’t care to +know you,” answered the young man, with spirit. “So, good-morning +to you, Mr. Congreve, or Mr. Baker, or whatever else you call yourself.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good riddance,” said Congreve. +</p> + +<p> +“There’s something wrong about that fellow,” said Tom +Norcross to himself, as he looked after Congreve, while the latter was crossing +the street. “I don’t believe he came by those bonds honestly. His +manner was certainly very suspicious.” +</p> + +<p> +Congreve entered another banking house, and here he had no difficulty in +disposing of his bonds. He came out with two hundred and thirty dollars in his +pocket, and feeling less irritable than before. +</p> + +<p> +“So that’s done,” he said to himself, “and I am well +provided with money for the present. Now I must make up for lost time, and try +to enjoy myself a little. I was nearly moped to death in that dull country +village, with no better company than a young snob. Now to see life!” +</p> + +<p> +First of all, Congreve installed himself at a fashionable boarding house +uptown. Then he purchased a seat for the evening’s performance at +Wallack’s Theater, and then sought out some of his old companions in +haunts where he knew they were likely to be found. He had a few games of cards, +in which his luck varied. He rose from the card table a loser in the sum of +twenty-five dollars. +</p> + +<p> +“That is unlucky,” thought Congreve. “However, I’ve got +two hundred dollars left. I must be more cautious, or my money won’t last +long.” +</p> + +<p> +Still, he felt in tolerably good spirits when he went to the theater, and +enjoyed the performance about as much as if his pleasures were bought with +money honestly earned. +</p> + +<p> +It so happened that the clerk at the first banking house who had refused to +purchase the bonds sat two rows behind him, and easily recognized his customer +of the morning. +</p> + +<p> +“I suspect Mr. Baker, alias Congreve, has disposed of his bonds,” +he thought to himself. “I am really curious to know whether he had any +right to sell them.” +</p> + +<p> +From time to time this thought came back to the clerk, till he formed a +resolution quietly to follow Congreve, after the close of the performance, and +ascertain where he lived. +</p> + +<p> +Congreve, seated in front, was not aware of the presence of the clerk, or he +might have taken measures to defeat his design. +</p> + +<p> +When James Congreve left the theater, he was at first inclined to stop at +Delmonico’s on the way uptown, and indulge in a little refreshment; but +he felt somewhat fatigued with his day’s travel, and, after a +moment’s indecision, concluded instead to return at once to his boarding +place. +</p> + +<p> +“He lives in a nice house,” said the clerk to himself. “Let +me notice the number. I may find it desirable to know where to find him.” +</p> + +<p> +To anticipate matters a little, word came to New York in the afternoon of the +next day that two bonds, the numbers of which were given, had been stolen from +Colonel Ross, and search was made for the young man who was suspected of having +negotiated them. The clerk, who, previous to returning the bonds to Congreve, +had taken down the numbers, at once identified them as the ones referred to, +and gave information to the police. +</p> + +<p> +The result was that just as Congreve was sitting down to supper on the evening +of the second day, he was informed that a man wished to see him at the door. On +answering the call, he saw before him a small man, of quiet manner, dressed in +a sober suit of black. +</p> + +<p> +“You name is Congreve, I believe?” he said, politely, +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, sir,” answered James, in a hesitating tone. +</p> + +<p> +“Then I must trouble you to go with me.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have just sat down to supper.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am really sorry to disturb you, but you are charged with selling two +stolen bonds in Wall Street yesterday.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is some mistake,” said Congreve, hurriedly. “Colonel +Ross sent me the bonds by his son, with a request that I would sell them for +him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Glad to hear it,” said the detective, laconically. “Then you +will be able to clear yourself. Meanwhile, you must come with me.” +</p> + +<p> +And James Congreve spent the night in a boarding house by no means fashionable. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0040" id="link2HCH0040"></a> +CHAPTER XL — PREPARING TO PROSECUTE</h2> + +<p> +“I am going to the bottom of this affair,” said Colonel Ross, as he +sipped his second cup of coffee at the breakfast table the next morning. +“The Gilbert boy must suffer the consequences of his crime.” +</p> + +<p> +“Will he be sent to prison, pa?” inquired Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“It is a State’s prison offense, my son,” answered his +father. +</p> + +<p> +Was it on Harry’s account that Philip suddenly turned pale and looked +nervous? I cannot credit him with a sufficient amount of feeling for another. +He could not help recalling the fact that it was he and not Harry who had been +guilty of this State’s prison offense. +</p> + +<p> +“However, the thing can’t possibly be traced to me,” he +reflected, somewhat more comfortable in mind. “I don’t know as I +care whether Harry Gilbert goes to prison or not. He is very proud and +stuck-up, and it will take down his pride.” +</p> + +<p> +“I commend your decision,” said Mrs. Ross, to her husband. +“In my opinion, mercy would be misplaced in such a case as this. The boy +who is degraded enough to steal is likely to continue in his criminal course, +and the sooner he is punished the better.” +</p> + +<p> +There was something in this remark, also, that made Philip wince. +</p> + +<p> +“Where will Harry Gilbert be tried?” asked Philip. +</p> + +<p> +“Before Squire Davis. I directed the constable to carry him round there +at nine o’clock this morning.” +</p> + +<p> +“May I go, too?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; your testimony will be needed to show that the boy was prowling +around our house on the evening in question.” +</p> + +<p> +“Very well,” answered Philip, with satisfaction. “I’ll +go along with you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do so, my son.” +</p> + +<p> +As it was not yet time to go to the office of the justice, Philip stepped out +into the yard, where Tom Calder, the stable boy, was washing a carriage. +</p> + +<p> +“I guess I’ll tell him the news,” thought Philip. +“Tom,” he said, “we’ve discovered who stole the bonds +the other night.” +</p> + +<p> +“Have you?” asked Tom, with a queer smile. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes. Would you like to know who it is?” +</p> + +<p> +“Uncommon.” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s Harry Gilbert.” +</p> + +<p> +Tom Calder pursed up his lips in genuine amazement, and emitted a shrill +whistle. +</p> + +<p> +“You don’t say!” he exclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” said Philip, complacently. “The governor had the house +searched—Widow Gilbert’s, of course—and he found the bonds +there.” +</p> + +<p> +“That beats all I ever heard!” ejaculated Tom. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, it doesn’t surprise me at all!” said Philip, carelessly. +“I’ve long suspected Harry Gilbert of being dishonest.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t believe it, for my part,” said Tom, manfully +standing by a boy who, on more than one occasion, had done him a favor. +“Harry Gilbert is as honest a boy as there is in town.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your opinion isn’t of much importance,” said Philip, in a +tone of superiority, “and it won’t save the Gilbert boy from going +to State’s prison.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you mean to say the one who took the bonds will have to go to +State’s prison?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; that’s what father says, and he knows a good deal about the +law.” +</p> + +<p> +“Maybe he’ll change his mind,” said Tom Calder, in a peculiar +tone. “When is the trial coming off?” +</p> + +<p> +“This morning, at nine o’clock, at the office of Squire +Davis.” +</p> + +<p> +Tom nodded his head thoughtfully, but only said: +</p> + +<p> +“Are you going to be there?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +“What time is it now?” +</p> + +<p> +“Quarter past eight.” +</p> + +<p> +“Somebody else will be there,” said Tom to himself; and Philip left +him and went back into the house. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0041" id="link2HCH0041"></a> +CHAPTER XLI — HARRY MANAGES HIS OWN CASE</h2> + +<p> +Trial Justice Davis sat in his office. He was a man of sixty, with a keen but +not unbenevolent face, looking all the more sagacious, perhaps, because of a +pair of gold spectacles which surmounted his nose. He had been apprised of the +trial at which he was expected to preside, and he looked surprised and +regretful. +</p> + +<p> +“I can’t believe that boy is guilty,” he said to himself. +“I have always looked upon him as one of the best boys in town.” +</p> + +<p> +At nine, the principal parties concerned entered the office. First, Colonel +Ross and Philip walked in—Philip with an attempt to be at ease, but with +a perceptibly nervous air, notwithstanding. +</p> + +<p> +Harry Gilbert entered, walking beside the constable. Behind him followed his +mother and Uncle Obed. Mrs. Gilbert looked anxious, though the constable +assured her that there was no need of it, and that Harry would be triumphantly +acquitted. Harry did not look in the least frightened, but seemed much more at +ease than Philip. +</p> + +<p> +A trial before a police justice in a country town is much more informal than in +a city, and this should be remembered by those who read this chapter. +</p> + +<p> +“What charge do you bring against Harry Gilbert, Colonel?” asked +the justice. +</p> + +<p> +“I charge him with entering my house on the evening of the nineteenth +instant, opening the small trunk in which I keep my valuable papers and +securities, and abstracting therefrom two United States Government bonds, of +the par value of a hundred dollars each.” +</p> + +<p> +“You hear the charge, Harry,” said the justice. “Are you +guilty or not guilty?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not guilty,” answered Harry, in clear, ringing accents, surveying +the Colonel proudly. +</p> + +<p> +“You ought to have some one to defend you,” said the justice. +</p> + +<p> +“I will defend myself,” said Harry, resolutely. +</p> + +<p> +“Very well. Colonel Ross, I will hear your testimony.” +</p> + +<p> +The Colonel, being sworn, testified that he had missed the bonds on the morning +afterward, and had been led, by what his son told him, to suspect Harry +Gilbert. He had gone to the cottage, and found the bonds. He was about to +rehearse Philip’s information, but the justice stopped him, and said he +would hear Philip in person. +</p> + +<p> +“Have you any question to ask the witness?” asked the justice of +Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“Can I reserve my questions?” asked Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; if you desire it.” +</p> + +<p> +Philip was next sworn. He testified that, on the evening in question, he had +seen Harry prowling round the house, just before going up to bed. +</p> + +<p> +“How did you happen to sit up so late?” asked Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s my affair,” replied Philip, haughtily. +</p> + +<p> +“Answer!” thundered the justice, angrily. “No insolence here, +sir!” +</p> + +<p> +“I was reading,” said Philip, frightened. +</p> + +<p> +“Did you go into the room where the trunk was?” asked Harry, in his +capacity as lawyer. +</p> + +<p> +“Ye-es.” +</p> + +<p> +“Did you open the trunk?” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” answered Philip, nervously. +</p> + +<p> +“I protest against the prisoner’s insolence to my son,” +exclaimed Colonel Ross, angrily. +</p> + +<p> +“It is a question he has a right to ask,” said the justice, calmly. +</p> + +<p> +“Did you see the keys which your father left on his desk?” asked +Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“No,” answered Philip, ill at ease. +</p> + +<p> +“I should now like to question Colonel Ross,” said Harry. +</p> + +<p> +The Colonel, with a curl of the lip, took the stand again. +</p> + +<p> +“Really,” he said, “it looks as if my son and I were on trial +instead of the prisoner.” +</p> + +<p> +“Colonel Ross, you must be aware that I am according Harry no unusual +privileges. It is as a lawyer—his own advocate—that he questions +you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Go on,” said the Colonel, haughtily. +</p> + +<p> +“Colonel Ross,” continued Harry, “do you generally keep a +list of the numbers on your bonds?” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course!” +</p> + +<p> +“Can you furnish the numbers of the bonds that were taken from +you?” +</p> + +<p> +“I can give the numbers of the whole ten bonds. I don’t know which +were taken. I have not compared my list with those that remain.” +</p> + +<p> +“Have you the numbers with you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I have them in my notebook.” +</p> + +<p> +“Will you be kind enough to repeat them so that the court may take them +down?” +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly! though I don’t see what good that will do.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is of material importance,” said the justice, nodding approval. +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Ross drew from his inside coat pocket a large wallet, and, opening it, +took out a memorandum, from which he read as follows: +</p> + +<p> +“The numbers run from 17,810 to 17,817, inclusive.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then the stolen bonds are somewhere between those numbers?” said +Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course.” +</p> + +<p> +Harry turned to the constable. +</p> + +<p> +“Mr. Rogers,” he said, “have you the bonds which were found +at our house?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” answered the constable. +</p> + +<p> +“Will you hand them to Squire Davis, and ask him to read off the +numbers?” +</p> + +<p> +“You will do as Harry requests you,” said the justice. +</p> + +<p> +The constable placed the envelope in his hands, and Justice Davis, opening it, +drew out three bonds. +</p> + +<p> +“I find two one-hundred-dollar bonds,” he said, “and one +fifty-dollar bond.” +</p> + +<p> +“The two hundred-dollar bonds are mine,” said Colonel Ross. +</p> + +<p> +“That is, you claim them,” said the justice, cautiously. “I +will read the numbers. +</p> + +<p> +“This one,” he proceeded, unfolding one, “is numbered 9,867, +and the other”—after a pause—“11,402. It strikes me, +Colonel Ross, that you will have to look further for your bonds.” +</p> + +<p> +If such a dignified-looking man as Colonel Ross could look foolish, the Colonel +looked so at that moment. He realized that he had made a ridiculous exhibition +of himself, and he felt mortified to think that he had been so careless as not +to have thought of comparing the numbers of the bonds the moment he had +discovered them in Harry Gilbert’s possession. +</p> + +<p> +“Harry Gilbert is honorably discharged, and the bonds are restored to +him,” said the justice. +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you, sir,” said Harry, glancing not without natural +exultation, at Colonel Ross and Philip. +</p> + +<p> +Philip, by the way, looked as uncomfortable as his father. +</p> + +<p> +Here there was an unexpected and startling interruption. +</p> + +<p> +“I can tell Colonel Ross all about it!” said a distinct voice from +near the door. +</p> + +<p> +“Come forward then and give your information,” said the justice. +</p> + +<p> +This call was answered by Tom Calder, who elbowed his way to the front, dressed +in his farm attire, and in his shirt sleeves. +</p> + +<p> +Philip’s face might have been observed to grow pale when he heard +Tom’s voice, and he looked decidedly sick when the boy walked up to give +his testimony. Unobserved by any one, for all eyes were fixed upon Tom, he +edged to the door, and slipped out, in an agony of apprehension, for he foresaw +what was coming. +</p> + +<p> +“Proceed,” said the justice. +</p> + +<p> +“That night when the Colonel missed the bonds,” began Tom, “I +was coming home some time after nine, when I happened to look into the window, +and there I saw Phil Ross with his father’s little trunk open before him. +I saw him take out a couple of bonds, and slip them into his inside pocket. +Then he carefully locked the trunk again, laid the keys on the desk, and left +the room. That’s all I saw.” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s a falsehood!” ejaculated Colonel Ross, furiously. +</p> + +<p> +“You just ask Phil about it, Colonel,” said Tom, composedly. +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Ross looked around for Philip, but no Philip was to be seen. +</p> + +<p> +“I seed him slip out of the door just as Tom was beginnin’ to +talk,” said a small urchin. +</p> + +<p> +Overcome with mortification, and compelled to suspect that Tom’s story +was true, Colonel Ross hurried home, where he found Philip. +</p> + +<p> +Sternly calling him to account, the Colonel extorted a confession, not only +that he had taken the bonds, but what had become of them. The result was that +information was sent to the police of New York, and James Congreve was +arrested. +</p> + +<p> +I may as well finish this part of the story by saying that Congreve was +compelled to give up what remained of his ill-gotten gains, but Colonel Ross +failed to prosecute him, because he could not do so without involving his own +son also. It was only two months, however, before Congreve was detected in a +more serious affair, for which he was forced to stand trial, and is even now +serving a term of imprisonment, received as a penalty for the later crime. +</p> + +<p> +As for Philip, he was so mortified and shamed by the exposure of his +dishonesty, and his attempt to fix the crime upon another, that he asked his +father to send him to a boarding school at a distance, and his request was +complied with. +</p> + +<p> +Tom Calder was immediately discharged by Colonel Ross, but within a week he was +engaged elsewhere at an advanced salary. His new employer was Mr. Obed Wilkins, +better known to us as Uncle Obed. +</p> + +<p> +If this statement excites surprise, I must refer my readers to the next chapter +for an explanation. +</p> + +<hr /> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2HCH0042" id="link2HCH0042"></a> +CHAPTER XLII — CONCLUSION</h2> + +<p> +The house of Colonel Ross was the finest in the village, with one exception. A +certain Mr. Carrington, a city merchant, had, five years before, built a +country villa surpassing it, a little distance away on the same street. +</p> + +<p> +It was provided with handsome grounds, and originally cost, everything +included, thirty-five thousand dollars, exclusive of furniture. +</p> + +<p> +It was the day after Harry’s triumphant acquittal that Uncle Obed +remarked, casually: +</p> + +<p> +“I hear that Mr. Carrington is anxious to sell his estate.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am not surprised,” answered Mrs. Gilbert. “He bought it +chiefly to please a young wife, and her sudden death sadly disturbed all his +plans.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have made some inquiries,” continued Uncle Obed, “and find +that he is willing to sell everything, even to the furniture, for fifteen +thousand dollars.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is a great bargain, for he could scarcely have paid less than forty +thousand dollars for the whole.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have about decided to buy the place,” said Mr. Wilkins, quietly. +</p> + +<p> +“What!” exclaimed Mrs. Gilbert and Harry, in concert. +</p> + +<p> +“Since you both think it will be a good bargain, I think I will buy +it,” continued Uncle Obed, his eyes twinkling. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s a good joke,” said Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“No joke at all, as you will find.” +</p> + +<p> +“You don’t mean to say you can afford to buy such a place?” +said Harry, in amazement. +</p> + +<p> +“I consider myself worth seventy-five thousand dollars,” said Mr. +Wilkins. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Gilbert and Harry stared at him in undisguised astonishment. +</p> + +<p> +“I thought you were a very poor man,” said the widow. +</p> + +<p> +“I know you did,” said Uncle Obed, laughing. +</p> + +<p> +“What will Colonel Ross say?” wondered Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“I feel more interested in what my niece will say,” said the old +man. +</p> + +<p> +“I am afraid they will take you away from us, Uncle Obed, when they find +out that you are rich.” +</p> + +<p> +“Not against my will, I think,” replied the old man, with quiet +determination. +</p> + +<p> +“They won’t want to send you back to Illinois now.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know but they will, when they find I won’t go with +them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you think of moving into the new house, Mr. Wilkins?” asked +Mrs. Gilbert, anxiously. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I think I shall.” +</p> + +<p> +“We shall be sorry to lose you,” she said, soberly. +</p> + +<p> +“You are not going to lose me,” assured Uncle Obed. “Do you +think I am going to live alone? I should die of loneliness. No! You and Harry +go with me, and I shall take the liberty of paying all the expenses of +housekeeping.” +</p> + +<p> +“How kind you are, Uncle Obed,” said Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“No, I’m not. I’m a selfish old man, looking out for what +will make my home happy. And that’s not all. Mrs. Gilbert, didn’t +you tell me you had a sister—a dressmaker in New York—in poor +health.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, poor Maria. She is in poor health, but cannot afford a +vacation.” +</p> + +<p> +“You shall offer her a home with you. There’s plenty of room in +Carrington’s house. She will be company for all of us, especially when +Master Harry goes to college.” +</p> + +<p> +“When I go to college!” Harry ejaculated. +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly! Wouldn’t you like it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Very much; but it would take so many years, when I could be earning +nothing.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will see that you are provided for, Harry; but I don’t want you +to go away from home at present, if it can be avoided. Isn’t there any +one in the village with whom you can prepare for college?” +</p> + +<p> +“Mr. Rodman, the minister, is an excellent scholar, and I am sure he +would be glad to take a pupil.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then go to see him at once. Tell him I don’t want him to work for +nothing. I will pay him well for his services, and buy him all the sticks he +needs to flog you when you require it.” +</p> + +<p> +“That doesn’t frighten me,” said Harry, smiling. +</p> + +<p> +“You will wonder how I became so rich,” said Mr. Wilkins, after a +pause. “I will tell you. Ten years ago I befriended a young man, and +furnished him the means to go to California. There he prospered, and became +very rich. A year since he returned, on a visit, and, to my amazement, insisted +upon my accepting seventy thousand dollars as a free gift. This, added to the +little property I already had, made me worth rather over seventy-five thousand +dollars. Recently, feeling lonely, I came East, intending, if my relatives here +received me kindly, to make my home with them, and make Philip Ross my heir. +You know how my expectations were disappointed. It was a grief to me, but it is +all right now. I look upon you and your mother as relatives, and I intend to +treat you as such, and, in return, I know you will provide me with a happy home +during my few remaining years.” +</p> + +<p> +It is needless to say what hearty assurances Uncle Obed received that his +happiness would be consulted, and secured, so far as Harry and his mother were +able to effect it. +</p> + +<p> +The next day Uncle Obed, accompanied by Harry, went to the city, and returned +the owner of the Carrington estate. +</p> + +<p> +The Gilberts immediately began to make arrangements for moving into the new +house. No sooner did Colonel Ross and his family receive a hint of what was +going on than in amazement Mrs. Ross called at the little cottage, where she +found all in confusion. +</p> + +<p> +“Is it true, Uncle Obed,” asked Mrs. Ross, abruptly, “that +you are a rich man?” +</p> + +<p> +“I believe so, Niece Lucinda,” answered the old man, meekly. +</p> + +<p> +“I am so glad,” said Mrs. Ross, with suavity. “We all rejoice +in your good fortune, dear uncle! And now, Uncle Obed, you must come over to +our house at once. We will set aside the best room for you, and we will try to +make you happy. This little house is not suitable for you.” +</p> + +<p> +“So I thought, and for that reason I have bought the Carrington +place.” +</p> + +<p> +“So I heard,” said Mrs. Ross; “but, of course, you +won’t think of living there alone?” +</p> + +<p> +“No; Mrs. Gilbert and Harry will live with me there.” +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Ross darted a glance of hatred and suspicion at the widow, whom she +mentally accused of scheming for Uncle Obed’s wealth. +</p> + +<p> +“Better let the place, and come to live with us, dear Uncle Obed,” +she said, sweetly. +</p> + +<p> +“No, thank you. We’ll be good neighbors, Niece Lucinda, and I shall +be glad to exchange calls; but I want a home of my own.” +</p> + +<p> +And to this determination Mr. Wilkins adhered, in spite of all his niece could +say. +</p> + +<p> +So Harry and his mother and his aunt took up their residence at the fine +Carrington house, which Uncle Obed took care to support in a befitting manner, +though not extravagantly. +</p> + +<p> +He bought a horse and carriage, and engaged Tom Calder as a stable boy, as we +have already hinted. Harry began at once to prepare for college, under the care +of the minister. +</p> + +<p> +Five years have passed away. He is now at Yale College, but comes home often to +see his mother and Uncle Obed. He is one of the highest scholars in his class, +and Uncle Obed is proud of his success. +</p> + +<p> +He is recognized as the heir of Mr. Wilkins, much to the chagrin of Mrs. +Lucinda Ross and family. +</p> + +<p> +Philip is a spendthrift, and is giving his parents serious anxiety. He, too, +entered college; but was expelled the first year. It is to be hoped he will +some day turn over a new leaf. +</p> + +<p> +For Harry I confidently expect a useful and honorable career, and I am sure +that all my young readers will rejoice at the prosperity which has come to the +struggling boy. +</p> + +<h3> THE END </h3> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TIN BOX ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ddd9f57 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #27222 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/27222) diff --git a/old/27222.txt b/old/27222.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..009b259 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/27222.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9016 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tin Box, 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: The Tin Box + and What it Contained + +Author: Horatio Alger + +Release Date: November 10, 2008 [EBook #27222] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TIN BOX *** + + + + +Produced by Gary Sandino, from scans generously provided +by the Internet Archive. + + + + + + THE TIN BOX + + and What it Contained + + + + By HORATIO ALGER, JR. + + Author of "The Errand Boy," "Joe's Luck," + "Mark Manning's Mission," "Mark + Mason's Victory," etc., etc. + + + + A. L. BURT COMPANY, PUBLISHERS + + NEW YORK + + + TABLE OF CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I A COLLISION 1 + II SIGNS OF A TEMPEST 8 + III MRS. ROSS MAKES TWO UNSATISFACTORY VISITS 15 + IV HARRY LOSES HIS PLACE, AFTER ALL 23 + V LOOKING FOR WORK 30 + VI UNCLE OBED ARRIVES FROM ILLINOIS 38 + VII AN UNWELCOME GUEST 46 + VIII UNCLE OBED MAKES A PROPOSAL 53 + IX NOTICE TO QUIT 57 + X PHILIP MEETS HIS MATCH 67 + XI THE TWO CONSPIRATORS 73 + XII AN UNEXPECTED INVITATION 77 + XIII THREE YOUNG SPORTSMEN 81 + XIV WHAT HAPPENED TO HARRY IN THE WOOD 87 + XV PHILIP'S BAD ADVISOR 93 + XVI BOUND HAND AND FOOT 101 + XVII WHAT HARRY SAW IN THE WOOD 108 + XVIII HARRY'S COMMISSION 115 + XIX A SECOND VISIT TO THE WOOD 122 + XX ON THE WAY TO NEW YORK 130 + XXI A REWARD OFFERED 138 + XXII BROUGHT TO BAY 145 + XXIII FINDING THE BOX 153 + XXIV PHILIP IN A TIGHT PLACE 159 + XXV PHILIP BECOMES A PRISONER 166 + XXVI PHILIP IS FORCED TO APOLOGIZE 174 + XXVII THE ARREST 181 + XXVIII MR. CHASE IS BROUGHT TO JUSTICE 188 + XXIX HARRY BECOMES A "BONDHOLDER" 196 + XXX CONGREVE'S SCHEME 203 + XXXI THE TEMPTER 210 + XXXII PHILIP DOES NOT FEEL HAPPY 214 + XXXIII STEALING THE BONDS 217 + XXXIV PHILIP GETS RID OF HIS PLUNDER 224 + XXXV THROWING SUSPICION ON HARRY 231 + XXXVI HARRY IS CHARGED WITH THEFT 237 + XXXVII SEARCHING THE COTTAGE 244 + XXXVIII PHILIP'S SURPRISE 251 + XXXIX HOW CONGREVE SUCCEEDED 257 + XL PREPARING TO PROSECUTE 265 + XLI HARRY MANAGES HIS OWN CASE 269 + XLII CONCLUSION 277 + + + + + THE TIN BOX + + + + CHAPTER I + + A COLLISION + +"Have you finished breakfast already, Harry?" asked Mrs. Gilbert, as +Harry rose hurriedly from the table and reached for his hat, which hung +on a nail especially appropriated to it. + +"Yes, mother. I don't want to be late for the store. Saturday is always +a busy day." + +"It is a long day for you, Harry. You have to stay till nine o'clock in +the evening." + +"I am always glad to have Saturday come, for then I can get my money," +replied Harry, laughing. "Well, good-by, mother--I'm off." + +"What should I do without him?" said Mrs. Gilbert to herself, as Harry +dashed out of the yard on the way to Mead's grocery store, where he had +been employed for six months. + +That would have been a difficult question to answer. Mrs. Gilbert was +the widow of a sea captain, who had sailed from the port of Boston three +years before, and never since been heard of. + +It was supposed that the vessel was lost with all hands, but how the +disaster occurred, or when, was a mystery that seemed never likely to be +solved. + +Captain Gilbert had left no property except the small cottage, which was +mortgaged for half its value, and a small sum of money in the savings +bank, which, by this time, was all expended for the necessaries of +life. + +Fortunately for the widow, about the time this sum gave out Harry +obtained a situation at Mead's grocery store, with a salary of four +dollars a week. This he regularly paid to his mother, and, with the +little she herself was able to earn, they lived comfortably. It was hard +work for Harry, but he enjoyed it, for he was an active boy, and it was +a source of great satisfaction to him that he was able to help his +mother so materially. + +He was now fifteen years old, about the average height for a boy of that +age, with a strong frame and a bright, cheerful manner that made him a +general favorite. + +The part of his duty which he liked best was to drive the store wagon +for the delivery of goods to customers. Most boys of his age like to +drive a horse, and Harry was no exception to the rule. + +When he reached the store Mr. Mead, his employer, said: + +"Harness up the horse as soon as you can, Harry. There are some goods to +be carried out." + +"All right, sir," answered Harry, cheerfully, and made his way to the +stable, which stood in the rear of the store. It was but a few minutes +before he was loaded up and was on his way. + +He had called at several places and left the greater part of the goods, +when he found himself in a narrow road, scarcely wider than a lane. Why +it had been made so narrow was unaccountable, for there was certainly +land enough to be had, and that of little value, which could have been +used. It was probably owing to a want of foresight on the part of the +road commissioners. + +Just at the narrowest part of the road Harry saw approaching him an open +buggy of rather a pretentious character, driven by a schoolmate, Philip +Ross, the son of Colonel Ross, a wealthy resident of the village. + +I have said that Philip was, or rather had been, a schoolmate of Harry. +I cannot call him a friend. Philip was of a haughty, arrogant temper. +The horse and buggy he drove were his own--that is, they had been given +him by his father on his last birthday--and he was proud of them, not +without some reason, for the buggy was a handsome one, and the horse was +spirited and of fine appearance. + +As soon as Harry saw Philip approaching, he proceeded to turn his horse +to one side of the road. + +Philip, however, made no such move, but kept in the middle. + +"Isn't he going to turn out?" thought Harry. "How does he expect to get +by?" + +"Why don't you turn out, Philip?" he called out. + +"Turn out yourself!" retorted Philip, haughtily. + +"That's what I'm doing," said Harry, rather provoked. + +"Then turn out more!" said the young gentleman, arrogantly. + +"I have turned out my share," said Harry, stopping his horse. "Do you +expect to keep right on in the middle of the road?" + +"I shall if I choose," said Philip, unpleasantly; but he, too, reined up +his horse, so that the two teams stood facing each other. + +Harry shrugged his shoulders, and asked, temperately: + +"Then how do you expect to get by?" + +"I want you to turn out as far as you can," he said authoritatively. + +Harry was provoked, and not without reason. + +"I have turned out my share, and shan't turn out another inch," he said, +firmly. "You must be a fool to expect it." + +"Do you mean to call me a fool?" demanded Philip, his eyes flashing. + +"You certainly act like one." + +"You'd better take care how you talk, you beggar!" exclaimed Philip, +furiously. + +"I'm no more a beggar than you are, Philip Ross!" + +"Well, you are nothing but a working boy, at any rate." + +"What if I am?" replied Harry. "I've got just as much right on this road +as you." + +"I'm a gentleman," asserted Philip, angrily. + +"Well, you don't act like one; you'd better turn out pretty quick, for I +am in a hurry and can't wait." + +"Then turn out more." + +"I shan't do it," said Harry, with spirit; "and no one but you would be +unreasonable enough to ask me to do it." + +"Then you'll have to wait," said Philip, settling himself back +provokingly in his seat, and eyeing Harry with a look of disdain. + +"Come, don't be obstinate, Philip," urged Harry, impatiently. "I only +ask you to do your share of turning. We have equal rights here, even if +you were three times the gentleman you pretend to be." + +"You are insolent, Harry Gilbert. I don't take orders from such as +you." + +"Then you won't turn out?" asked Harry, gathering up his reins. + +"Suppose I don't?" retorted Philip, in a provoking tone. + +"Then I shall drive on," said Harry, resolutely. + +"You wouldn't dare to!" + +"Wouldn't I? You'll see. I will count ten, and if at the end of that +time you don't turn out, I will drive on, and make you take the +consequences." + +Philip glanced at him doubtfully. Would he really do what he said? + +"Pooh! I don't believe it!" he decided. "Anyway, I'm not going to give +way to a working boy. I won't do it." + +I am not going to decide the question whether Harry did right or not. I +can only say that he claimed no more than his rights, and was not +without excuse for the course he adopted. + +"One--two--three!" counted Harry, and so on until he had counted ten. + +Then, gathering up his reins, he said: "I ask you, Philip, for the last +time, whether you will turn out?" + +"I won't till I get ready." + +"Go 'long, Dobbin!" was Harry's sole reply. And his horse was put in +motion. + +The natural result followed. The grocery wagon was strongly made, and +fitted for rough usage. The buggy was of light structure, built for +speed, and was no match for it. The two carriages locked wheels. That of +the wagon was unharmed, but the wheel of the buggy came off. + +The horse darted forward. Philip was thrown out at the side, aiming an +ineffectual blow with his whip at Harry, as he found himself going, and +landed in a half stunned condition on the grass at the side. + +Harry kept on until his wagon was clear of the wreck of the buggy, and +then halting it, jumped oft to find the extent of Philip's injuries. + +The latter's horse, which had by a violent jerk freed himself from the +shafts, was galloping up the road. + + + + + CHAPTER II + + SIGNS OF A TEMPEST + +"Are you hurt, Philip?" asked Harry, anxiously, as he bent over the +prostrate form of his antagonist. + +As he opened his eyes and saw the face of Harry bending over him, all +came back to him, and his animosity revived. + +"Get away from me!" he exclaimed furiously, as he staggered to his +feet. + +"I certainly will, if you don't need help," said Harry, glad that Philip +had suffered no harm. + +"Where is my horse?" demanded Philip. + +"He has run away." + +"And it's all your fault!" exclaimed Philip, angrily. "My buggy's +broken, too, and all because you ran into me, you beggar!" + +"I wouldn't allow you to call me names if you hadn't been punished +already for your unreasonable conduct," said Harry, calmly. "Whatever +has happened you brought upon yourself." + +"Catch my horse!" ordered Philip, with the air of a master addressing a +servant. + +"I've got something else to do," said Harry, coolly, and he sprang into +the store wagon. + +"Are you going to drive off and leave me here?" demanded Philip, +enraged. + +"I must, for my time isn't my own. It belongs to Mr. Mead. I would help +you otherwise--though you are to blame for what has happened." + +"You will suffer for this!" exclaimed the rich man's son, gazing at his +broken buggy in helpless anger. "You'll have to pay for all the damage +you have done!" + +"You can go to law about it, if you want to," said Harry, as he gathered +the reins into his hands, and he drove off. "I've a good defense." + +To Philip's disgust, Harry drove off, leaving him alone with his +disabled carriage. It was a good time to consider whether he had acted +wisely in demanding more than the law or custom allowed him, but Philip +was too angry for cool consideration. + +He could not persuade himself that a boy like Harry, the son of a poor +widow, who had to work for his own living, had equal rights with +himself. + +In the end he had to go home and bring back his father's hired man to +take charge of the wreck. He learned that the frightened horse had +already found his way to the stable, terrifying the family with fears +that Philip had been seriously hurt on the way. + +Philip gave a garbled account of the affair to his father and mother, +and excited the indignation of both, but especially his mother. + +"I never heard of such an outrage--never!" exclaimed Mrs. Ross, +emphatically. "To think that boy should deliberately run into you and +endanger your life--my poor Philip!" + +"That's just what he did, mother," said Philip, enjoying the indignation +he had aroused. + +Colonel Ross was not quite so thoroughly convinced that his son was +right. + +"Did you give Harry half the road?" he inquired. + +"I gave him room enough to get by," answered Philip, evasively. + +"The law requires that you should give him half the road." + +"I hope, Mr. Ross, you don't justify that horrid boy in running into +Philip?" said Mrs. Ross, sharply. + +"No, my dear; I consider that he acted very badly. But, in Order to make +him amenable to the law for the damage Philip's team suffered, it must +appear that Philip gave him half the road." + +"Then the law ought to be altered," said Mrs. Ross, with more anger than +reason. "I've no doubt that Philip gave him all the room he needed." + +"When you were thrown out, did the heartless boy ride on and leave you +to your fate?" asked the mother. + +"No; he got out and asked me if I was hurt," Philip admitted, +reluctantly. + +"Much he cared!" said Mrs. Ross, contemptuously. + +"I suppose he was afraid he would be put in prison if I was killed," +said Philip. + +"Yes, that was his motive, undoubtedly. He didn't offer to help you, I +suppose?" + +"No; I asked him to, and he wouldn't," answered Philip, glad that he +could blacken poor Harry's character. + +"The unfeeling young villain!" ejaculated Mrs. Ross. "He ought to be put +in the State's prison!" + +"Do you think he can be?" asked Philip, eagerly. + +"Of course he can, if your father exerts himself as he ought." + +"Nonsense, Lucinda!" said Colonel Ross, who was not a fool. "It was a +boyish misunderstanding." + +"You may call it that," retorted Mrs. Ross, raising her voice. "I call +it a high-handed outrage. The boy ought to be arrested. Are you going to +do anything about it, Philander Ross?" + +Mrs. Ross generally addressed her husband by his Christian name when she +was angry with him. + +"I will tell you what I will do, Lucinda. I will see Mead, and tell him +that a boy who acts in that way is not fit to drive for him." + +"That's right, father. Make him discharge Harry. Then he'll have to go +to the poorhouse, or beg." + +"And a very suitable punishment for him," said Mrs. Ross, approvingly. + +"I don't quite like to take the boy's means of living away from him," +said Colonel Ross, who was by no means as unfeeling as his wife and son. +"That would make his mother suffer, and she has been guilty of no +crime." + +"She will uphold him in his iniquity, you may rest assured, Mr. Ross," +said his wife, nodding emphatically. "If she had brought up the boy to +be respectful to his superiors this would not have happened." + +"He won't be able to pay damages if he loses his place," said Colonel +Ross. + +"I don't care. I want him discharged from his situation." + +"Well, Lucinda," said her husband, shrugging his shoulders, "you had +better undertake the management of the affair. I am very busy, and can't +spare the necessary time." + +"I will!" said Mrs. Ross, with alacrity. "I will call on the boy's +mother, and also on Mr. Mead." + +"Don't be too extreme, Lucinda. Remember, it isn't a hanging matter." + +"I am not so sure but it ought to be. My poor child might have broken +his neck. Oh, it makes my blood run cold when I think that he might be +lying lifeless before me at this moment." + +"Don't say such things, mother," said Philip, nervously, unpleasantly +affected by the picture his mother had drawn. + +"I can't help saying it, for it might have happened." + +"Where are you going to first, mother?" asked Philip. + +"I will go first and call on Widow Gilbert. I consider her responsible, +for if she had brought up the boy better this would never have +happened." + +"May I go with you?" + +"No; I would rather go alone." + +If Philip had only been scarred, or had a wound to show, his mother +would have taken him with her, to make her reproof more effective, but, +as he showed no marks of the encounter, she saw no advantage in his +presence. + +"You just give it to her, mother," said Philip, in a tone of +satisfaction. + +"I shall know what to say, my son." + +"Just frighten her, and make her think we are going to have Harry +arrested." + +"I shall make her understand that the boy has done a very serious thing, +and has made himself amenable to the law." + +"That's right, mother. Harry is too airy altogether. He seems to think +that I am no better than he is--a common working boy like him!" + +Mrs. Ross sailed out of the room, and dressed herself with unusual care, +not out of respect for Mrs. Gilbert, but rather with the purpose of +impressing her with her grandeur. + + + + + CHAPTER III + + MRS. ROSS MAKES TWO UNSATISFACTORY VISITS + +It was very seldom that Mrs. Ross condescended to visit her poorer +neighbors, and it was, therefore, not without considerable surprise that +Mrs. Gilbert called to the door about eleven o'clock, just as she had +put on the potatoes to boil for dinner--recognized in the visitor on the +doorstep Mrs. Colonel Ross. + +"Pray come in, Mrs. Ross. I am glad to see you," said the widow. + +"I will come in for five minutes," said Mrs. Ross, carefully gathering +up her skirts, lest they should be soiled as she entered the humble +cottage. She need not have been alarmed, for there was not a cleaner +house in the village. + +Mrs. Gilbert brought forward the most comfortable chair in her little +sitting-room, and the visitor seated herself. + +"I am come on an unpleasant errand, Mrs. Gilbert," she commenced, +frigidly. + +"Unpleasant!" repeated the widow, with quick apprehension. "Has anything +happened to my boy to Harry?" + +Improbable as it seemed that in such an event Mrs. Ross should be the +messenger of ill tidings, it occurred to Mrs. Gilbert that she had come +to inform her of an accident to Harry. + +The visitor's lips curled. What did it matter, she thought, whether +anything happened to him or not? + +"Something has happened to my boy!" she said, with emphasis. + +"I am very sorry," said the widow, with quick sympathy. "I hope he is +not hurt." + +"He might have had his neck broken," said Mrs. Ross; "and by your son," +she added, spitefully. + +"They haven't been fighting, have they?" asked Mrs. Gilbert, nervously. + +"No; but your son deliberately and maliciously, while driving Mr. Mead's +store wagon, drove into my son's light buggy, damaged it seriously, and +my poor Philip was thrown out. Your son drove off, leaving him +insensible by the roadside." + +It will be perceived that Mrs. Ross had somewhat embellished the story, +with the intention of producing a greater effect. + +"Was Philip much hurt?" asked the widow, anxiously. + +"He providentially escaped any serious injury, so far as we know. He may +have suffered some internal injuries." + +"I am sorry to hear that there has been any difficulty," said the widow, +regaining her composure when she learned that neither of the two boys +were hurt; "but I cannot accept your account. Harry is quite incapable +of deliberately and maliciously running into Philip." + +"I regret that you uphold your son in his wickedness," said Mrs. Ross, +coldly; "but I am not surprised. I told my husband before I set out that +you would probably do so." + +"Mrs. Ross," said the widow, in a dignified tone, "I have known my boy +for fifteen years, and watched him carefully, and I tell you positively +that he wouldn't do what you have charged upon him." + +"Do you question my statement?" demanded Mrs. Ross, haughtily. + +"Did you witness the encounter?" + +"No; but my son, who is the soul of truth, told me all the +circumstances." + +"Your son was probably angry with Harry, and could not be depended upon +to give an impartial statement." + +"Slander him as much as you please," said the visitor, angrily. "I have +acquainted you with your son's outrageous conduct, and this is all I +proposed. Of course we shall expect you or your son to pay for the +damage done to the buggy, and he will be fortunate if we do not have him +arrested for assault and battery." + +Mrs. Gilbert did not look as much terrified as Mrs. Ross expected. + +"I am very poor, as you know," she replied; "but if Harry is really to +blame for what has happened, I will do all that I can to repair the +injury." + +"I am glad to see that you are talking more sensibly." + +"Don't misunderstand me," said the widow. "I have not heard Harry's +statement yet. From what I know of him, I presume that Philip was more +in fault than he. Of course, in that case, I shall not feel called upon +to pay anything." + +"Of course!" sneered Mrs. Ross; "your son will throw all the blame on my +poor boy. Fortunately, we have laws; and it will be the law that must +decide this matter. It isn't for you to decide whether you will pay or +not." + +This was meant as a threat, but Mrs. Gilbert answered, calmly: + +"You won't need to invoke the law, if you have a just claim." + +Mrs. Ross rose, for there seemed no more to say. She was considerably +disappointed with the result of her mission. She supposed, as a matter +of course, that the widow would defend her son; but she had not supposed +that she would receive so calmly her threats of having recourse to the +law. + +Indeed, she had expected that the widow would beg and plead for mercy, +and appear panic-stricken. As it was, she felt that she was retiring +from the contest decidedly worsted. She would not leave without one +parting shot. + +"I regret, Mrs. Gilbert," she said, seriously, "that you defend your son +in this high-handed outrage. I had thought better of you. I knew you +were poor, and I sympathized with you. Now I feel obliged to say that +you will only have yourself to blame for the steps I am about to take." + +The widow bowed, but did not gratify Mrs. Ross by inquiring what those +steps were. + +It was very provoking, certainly. + +"I shall call on Mr. Mead, and insist on his discharging your son." + +Knowing what a serious blow this would be, Mrs. Gilbert did look +troubled for a moment, and her visitor sailed away, with a slight +feeling of satisfaction, in the direction of the grocery store. + +Meanwhile Harry, on his return to the store, had reported the accident, +and submitted to a close cross-examination on the part of the +storekeeper. + +"Do you think I am to blame, Mr. Mead?" asked Harry. + +"No; I don't see how you could do otherwise than you did. Young Ross is +a disagreeable young puppy; but his family trades with me, and I don't +like to offend them. Still, I shall not blame you." + +It will be seen that Mr. Mead was a just man, though a politic one. + +"Thank you, sir," said Harry, relieved. + +"I am sorry this has occurred." + +"So am I, sir; but if I hadn't done as I did I should have been there +now, for Philip was determined not to budge." + +"Well, we must smooth it over as well as we can. I presume that I shall +have a call from Colonel Ross or his wife. I hope it will be the +colonel, for he won't be so unreasonable as his lady." + +It so happened that the first person whom Mrs. Ross saw when she entered +the grocery store was Harry. + +Her eyes flashed with resentment as they fell upon the persecutor of her +poor boy, but she would not waste any words upon him. + +"Where is Mr. Mead?" she asked. + +"I will call him, madam," answered Harry, politely. + +Mr. Mead came forward, and Mrs. Ross rehearsed her story, in terms which +the reader can imagine for himself. + +"I think you misapprehend the matter, Mrs. Ross," said the storekeeper, +politely. "Your son maintained his position in the middle of the road +and required Harry to do all the turning out. Of course you are aware +that the law will not sustain any one in this." + +"Who told you that my son did not turn out?" asked Mrs. Ross, hastily. + +"Harry himself." + +"And do you credit his story?" demanded Mrs. Ross, with a sneer. + +"I have always found him to be a boy of truth." + +"I believe he has wilfully deceived you. I believe he ran into my boy +with the intention of injuring him," said Mrs. Ross, violently. + +Harry was about to speak up, when a young man who was standing by saved +him the trouble. + +"I was there, Mr. Mead, and heard the whole," he said, "though neither +of the boys saw me. I was in the piece to the left, behind the hedge. +Phil Ross wouldn't turn out a mite, and Harry had to do as he did. When +Phil was thrown out Harry got down from his team and went to see if he +was hurt." + +Mrs. Ross listened, pale with anger. + +"I don't believe a word of it!" she said angrily. "That man is in a +conspiracy with the Gilbert boy against my poor darling. I demand that +you discharge Harry Gilbert from your employment!" + +"I am sorry to disoblige you, Mrs. Ross, but it would be unjust," said +Mr. Mead. + +"Then we shall buy our groceries elsewhere!" said Mrs. Ross, spitefully +tossing her head. + +"I shall be sorry to lose your custom, but I see no good reason for +discharging Harry." + +Angrily Mrs. Ross left the store, a second time mortified at her want of +success. + +"I am sorry, Mr. Mead, that you are likely to lose trade on my account," +said Harry, with sincere regret. + +Mr. Mead smiled. + +"If Mrs. Ross leaves me she will have to go five miles for her +groceries," he said quietly. "We shall have them back again before +long." + + + + + + CHAPTER IV + + HARRY LOSES HIS PLACE, AFTER ALL + +Mrs. Ross carried out her threat, and transferred her trade to a grocery +in the neighboring village, but not without considerable inconvenience. + +Her pride compelled her to the course, notwithstanding the extra trouble +she incurred, and this, also, she laid up against Harry. Her husband was +opposed to any change, not being so spiteful as his wife, but allowed +her to have her way. + +Meanwhile Mr. Mead, though he regretted to lose a good customer, did not +show any signs of financial weakness, and there seemed to be no prospect +of his failing. + +Had he done so Mrs. Ross would have been overjoyed, for she was very +angry at all who upheld "that low Gilbert boy," as she designated him. + +It is said that all things come to him who waits, and circumstances were +shaping themselves in a very gratifying way to Mrs. Ross and her schemes +of revenge. + +One day as Harry was driving the store wagon which bore the name of his +employer he was hailed, about a mile from the store, by a boy about his +own age, who carried in his hand a carpetbag, and appeared to be making +a journey on foot. + +"Hello!" said the traveler. + +"Hello!" returned Harry. + +"Are you working for my uncle?" asked the stranger. + +"I can tell you better when I find out who your uncle is. If you are the +nephew of General Grant, or the czar of Russia, I am not working for +him." + +"I see you like to joke," said the stranger. "My uncle is Mr. Mead, the +storekeeper." + +"That is the name of the man I work for." + +"Then I guess you had better give me a lift, for I am going to my +uncle's." + +"All right! Glad to have your company." + +"What's your name?" asked the stranger. + +"Harry Gilbert. What's yours?" + +"Howard Randall." + +"Where do you live?" + +"I used to live at Upton, but my father is dead, and mother--she's Mrs. +Mead's sister--told me I'd better come to see if Uncle Reuben wouldn't +give me a place in his store." + +Instantly it flashed upon Harry that this new boy's arrival was likely +to endanger his prospects. Mr. Mead, as he knew, had no occasion for the +services of two boys, and he would naturally give his nephew the +preference. He was not unjust enough to take a dislike to Howard in +consequence. Indeed, the new boy had a pleasant face and manner, which +led him to think he would like him for a friend. + +"If I do lose my place," thought Harry, "I will put my trust in God. I +don't think He will see me or mother suffer, and I won't borrow trouble +until it comes." + +"Were you ever employed in a store?" he asked, pleasantly. + +"No; that is, not regularly. I have been in our grocery store at home +for a few days at a time, when the storekeeper's son was sick." + +"You look as if you were about my age." + +"I am sixteen. My birthday came last month." + +"Then you are a little older. I am not sixteen yet." + +"You look stronger than I. I should think you were older." + +Harry felt flattered. All boys like to be considered strong and large +for their age, and our hero was no exception to the general rule in this +respect. + +"I don't know about that," he answered. "I guess we are a pretty good +match. How far off is Upton?" + +"Fifty miles." + +"You haven't walked all the way, have you?" inquired Harry, in +surprise. + +"Every step," said Howard, proudly. "You see, money isn't very plenty +with us, and I told mother I didn't mind walking. I got a lift for a few +miles the first day, so I haven't walked quite all the way." + +"You and I seem to be situated pretty much the same way," said Harry. "I +have no father, and we have hard work to get along." + +"You seem like a tiptop fellow. I think I shall like you." + +"The same to you," said Harry, smiling. "I am glad you are coming to +Greenville to live." + +Harry was sincere enough in his words, so far as his impressions about +the boy went, but when he reflected that through him he was likely to +lose his place he felt a little troubled. + +"Look here!" said Howard, suddenly; "will you lose your place if uncle +takes me into his store?" + +"I don't think he will need two boys," replied Harry, soberly. + +"Then I'd better see if I can't find a place somewhere else. I don't +want to take away your place, if you are poor and need the money uncle +pays you." + +"I do need it, but I guess something else will turn up for me. You are +Mr. Mead's nephew, and ought to have it." + +"I hope we shall be friends, at any rate," said Howard, warmly. + +"I am sure we shall, Howard," returned Harry, cordially, who felt +attracted toward his new friend, in spite of the misfortune which his +arrival would bring to him personally. + +Just then, within a quarter of a mile of the store, Harry saw his young +enemy, Philip Ross, approaching him. + +Philip was driving his buggy, which had been repaired since the +accident. + +"I wonder if he will turn out for me?" thought Harry. + +Philip had learned wisdom from experience, and did turn out for the +store wagon. He knew Harry's firmness too well to put it to the test a +second time at his own expense. + +"Good-morning, Philip," said Harry, in his usual manner. + +Philip did not notice Harry's salutation, but held his head very high, +while his face reddened and his lip curled as he drove by his late +antagonist. + +"Who is that boy?" asked Howard, whose attention was drawn to Philip's +singular conduct. + +"Philip Ross, son of Colonel Ross, a rich man in town." + +"Is he deaf?" + +"No." + +"He didn't seem to hear you say good-morning." + +"Oh, yes, he did," answered Harry, laughing; "but Philip isn't very fond +of me." + +"Are you enemies?" + +"We had a little difficulty lately, and Philip hasn't got over it yet." + +"Tell me about it." + +Harry told the story, and Howard fully sustained him in what he had +done. + +"He must be a mean boy." + +"He thinks he has more rights than common folks, such as he considers +me. He tried--or, at least, his mother did--to have Mr. Mead turn me +off, but your uncle is too just a man to go against me for doing my +duty." + +"I noticed he gave you half the road this time," said Howard. + +"Yes," answered Harry, with a smile. "He doesn't care to have his wheel +taken off again." + +By this time they had reached the store, and Howard introduced himself +to his uncle. The next day the blow fell. + +"Harry," said Mr. Mead, "I've got bad news for you. My nephew stands in +need of a place, and I can't afford to keep two boys. I wish I could +keep you, too." + +"I see how it is, Mr. Mead," said Harry, calmly, though his heart sank +within him. "Howard has the best right to the place. I trust something +will turn up for me." + +"I have been perfectly satisfied with you, and am ready to give you the +highest recommendation for honesty and fidelity." + +"Thank you, Mr. Mead." + +"You will stay till Saturday night, of course, unless something else +should offer before that." + +Poor Harry! His heart sank within him as he thought of the serious +difference which the loss of his wages would make at home. The prospect +of another situation was not very good, for Greenville was a small, +quiet place, with very few places of business. + + + + + CHAPTER V + + LOOKING FOR WORK + +Harry shrank from telling his mother that he was about to lose his +place, but he knew it must be done. + +In the evening, when he got home from the store, he seemed so restless +that his mother asked him what was the matter with him. + +"This is my last week at the store, mother," he answered, soberly. "I +suppose that is what makes me feel nervous." + +"Has Mr. Mead been induced by Mrs. Ross to turn you away?" asked Mrs. +Gilbert, beginning to feel indignant. + +"No; he isn't that kind of a man." + +"Isn't he satisfied with you?" + +"I ought to have told you at first that a nephew of his own needs the +place, and he can't afford to employ two boys." + +"I believe Mrs. Ross is at the bottom of it, after all," said Mrs. +Gilbert. + +"No, mother; there you are wrong," and Harry went on to explain that +Howard's appearance was a surprise to his uncle. + +"What kind of a boy is he?" asked the widow, disposed to dislike in +advance the boy who had been the means of depriving her son of a place. + +"He's a nice fellow. I like him already. Of course I am sorry to lose my +place, but, if I must, I am willing he should have it. I think we shall +be good friends." + +"But what are you going to do, Harry?" asked his mother, anxiously. +"Your wages have been our dependence." + +"I am sure I shall get something else to do, mother," said Harry, in a +tone of confidence which he did not feel. "Tending store isn't the only +thing to be done." + +"I am sure, I hope so," said Mrs. Gilbert, despondently. + +"Don't trouble yourself, mother, about the future. Just leave it to me, +and you'll see if I don't get something to do." + +Nevertheless, the widow could not help troubling herself. She knew that +employment was hard to find in the village, at any rate and could not +conjecture where Harry was to find it. She did not, however, say much on +the subject, fearing to depress his spirits. + +Saturday night came, and Harry received his wages. + +"I don't know where my next week's wages are coming from, Mr. Mead," he +said, soberly. + +"You may be sure that I will recommend you for any employment I hear of, +Harry," said Mr. Mead, earnestly. "I really wish I could afford to keep +you on. You mustn't allow yourself to be discouraged." + +"I won't--if I can help it," answered Harry. + +The next day was Sunday, and he did not realize that he was out of a +position; but, when Monday morning came, and he could lie abed as long +as he pleased, with no call to work, he felt sad. + +After a light breakfast, he rose from the table and took his hat. + +"Where are you going, Harry?" asked his mother. + +"I am going out in search of a job, mother," he replied. + +The number of stores was limited, and he was pretty sure in advance that +there was no opening in any one of them, but he wanted to make sure. + +He applied at one after another, and without success. + +"I'd take you quick enough, Harry," said Mr. Draper, the dry-goods +dealer, "but I've got all the help I need." + +"So I expected, Mr. Draper, but I thought I would ask." + +"All right, Harry. If I hear of anything, I will be sure to let you +know," said Mr. Draper, in a friendly tone. + +All this evidence of friendliness was, of course, pleasant, but the +prospect of a place would have been more welcome, so poor Harry thought. +At ten o'clock he reached home. + +His mother looked up when he entered, but she saw, by the expression of +his face, that he had not succeeded. + +"You must be tired, Harry," she said. "You had better sit down and +rest." + +"Oh, no, I'm not tired, mother. If you'll tell me where the four-quart +kettle is, I'll go and pick some blueberries." + +"What will you do with so many, Harry?" + +"Carry them to Mr. Mead. Every two days he sends a supply to market." + +"How much does he pay?" asked the widow, brightening up at this glimpse +of money to be earned. + +"Eight cents a quart, payable in groceries. It won't be much, but will +be better than nothing." + +"So it will, Harry. I don't know but I can do better going with you than +to stay at home and sew." + +"No, mother; you would be sure to get a headache, exposed to the sun in +the open pasture. Leave me to pick berries. It is more suitable for +me." + +"What time will you get home to dinner, Harry?" + +"I shall not come home till the middle of the afternoon. I'll take a +little lunch with me, and eat in the pasture." + +So Harry started out, pail in hand, for the berry pasture. It was about +a mile away, and was of large extent, comprising, probably, thirty acres +of land. It was Harry's first expedition of the kind in the season, as +his time had been so fully occupied at the store that he had had no +leisure for picking berries. + +The berries were not so plentiful as they had been somewhat earlier, but +they were still to be found in considerable quantities. + +Harry was not alone. Probably a dozen other persons were in the pasture, +engaged in the same way as himself. All knew Harry, and some, who had +not heard of his loss of place, were surprised to see him there. + +"And how is it you are here, Harry?" asked Mrs. Ryan, a good-natured +Irish woman, who was out, with three of her children, reaping a harvest +of berries. "And how can Mr. Mead spare you?" + +"Because he's got another boy," answered Harry. + +"Shure it was mane to send you away, and your mother nadin' your +wages." + +"He couldn't help it. He had a nephew that needed the place. But, +perhaps, I can make a fortune, like you, picking berries." + +"And shure you'd have to live a hundred years to do that, and have +berries ripe all the year round. It's hard work, Harry, and poor pay." + +"You have the advantage of me, Mrs. Ryan. You've got three children to +help you." + +"And don't I have to buy food and clothes for the same? Shure, you're +welcome to all they earn, if you'll board and clothe 'em." + +"I didn't think of that. Perhaps I am better off as I am." + +"And so ye are, I'm thinkin'." + +Harry found that, exert himself as he might, Mrs. Ryan picked nearly as +fast as he did. She was used to it, and her pail filled up rapidly. + +Harry was glad he did not bring a larger pail, for to him, unaccustomed +to bend over, the work was fatiguing, and when, as the town clock struck +two, he saw his pail filled to the brim, he breathed a sigh of relief. + +"If the pail held more, I shouldn't feel satisfied to stop," he said to +himself, "so I'm glad it doesn't." + +Mrs. Ryan had two pails and a basket, and each of her children carried a +small pail, so that she remained in the pasture after Harry left. + +It was shorter for Harry to go at once to the store, instead of going +round by his home, and this he resolved to do. + +About twenty rods from the store, rather to his vexation, he met Philip +Ross, elaborately dressed and swinging a light cane. + +Philip, who had not heard of Harry's loss of place, regarded our hero +with surprise, not unmixed with curiosity. But for his curiosity, he +would have passed him without a word. Curiosity conquered dislike, and +he inquired: + +"Does Mead send you out to pick berries?" + +"No," answered Harry. + +"Haven't you been picking berries?" + +"This looks like it, doesn't it?" + +"Of course. Have you a holiday?" + +"Yes, a long holiday. I am not working for Mr. Mead now." + +An expression of joy lighted up the face of Philip. + +"Has he discharged you?" he asked. + +"He has taken his nephew in my place." + +"And so you have to pick berries for a living?" asked Philip, in +exultation. + +"Yes," answered Harry, coolly. + +"I must go home and tell mother," said Philip, briskly. "Wait a minute, +though. Do you want a job?" + +"Yes," responded Harry, rather surprised that Philip should feel any +interest in the matter. + +"Then I can give you one. Come up to the house early every morning, and +I'll hire you to black my shoes. I'll give--let me see--thirty cents a +week." + +"Thank you, but I couldn't come up to your house. Bring them down to +mine every morning, and I may accept the job." + +"Do you think I would demean myself by carrying dirty shoes round the +village?" demanded Philip, angrily. + +"I don't know," said Harry, coolly. "You'll have to do it, if you want +me to black them." + +Philip muttered something about impudence, but went off very well +pleased, to report to his mother that she could trade at Mead's once +more, as he had sent off Harry Gilbert. + + + + + CHAPTER VI + + UNCLE OBED ARRIVES FROM ILLINOIS + +It seemed odd to Harry to enter Mead's store, where he had been +employed, merely as a customer. + +Mr. Mead nodded pleasantly. + +"It seems natural to see you here, Harry," he said. "Have you been +berrying?" + +"Yes, and I would like to sell my berries." + +"Very well. You know what I pay--eight cents a quart." + +"I have four quarts." + +"Measure them out yourself, Harry. I will make an exception in your +case, if you wish it, and give you the money for them." + +Harry accepted this offer, as he did not know of what groceries his +mother stood in need. + +As he walked out of the store, he felt more confidence than he had done +in the morning. He had not got a place, to be sure, but he had earned +thirty-two cents. This was not quite half what he had been accustomed to +earn at the store, but it was something. + +A little way from the store, Harry passed an old man, dressed neatly, +but in a well-worn suit, walking with some difficulty, with the help of +a stout cane. He looked to be seventy years old, at least, and his +appearance indicated that he was poor. + +As Harry passed, the old man called out: + +"Stop a minute, boy!" + +Harry stopped, and waited respectfully to learn what the old man wanted. +It is a common complaint that most boys are wanting in respect to old +age, but this charge could not be brought against Harry, who was +uniformly courteous to all persons older than himself. + +Though he suspected the old man to be very poor, it made no difference +to him. + +"Can you tell me where Mr. Ross lives?" asked the stranger. + +"Yes, sir. I suppose you mean Colonel Ross?" + +"I believe that's what they call him. His wife is my niece." + +Harry was very much surprised to hear this. + +"Have you ever been there before, sir?" asked Harry. + +"No; I've been living out in Illinoy. But I'm getting old, and my only +daughter died last month. So I've come here to visit my niece." + +"I don't believe Mrs. Ross will be very glad to see her uncle," thought +Harry; "and I'm sure Philip won't." + +"I will show you the way, sir, if you wish," said Harry, politely. + +"I wish you would, if it isn't too much trouble," said the old man. + +"Oh, no trouble at all," said Harry. + +"You seem to be a very obliging boy. What is your name?" + +"Harry Gilbert." + +"Are your parents living?" + +"My mother is living, but my father's dead--that is, we expect he is. He +was a sea captain, and never came back from his last voyage." + +"Did he leave your mother well off?" asked the old man, gazing +attentively at Harry. + +Harry thought him rather inquisitive for a stranger, but credited him +with good motives, and answered, readily: + +"No, sir; we are quite poor; but I have had a place where I earned four +dollars a week--at the grocery store. Mr. Mead had a nephew come last +week, and now I am out of work." + +"That is unlucky for you." + +"Yes, sir; but I shall try hard to get something else soon." + +"You look like an industrious boy." + +"I like to work." + +"Where do you live?" + +It so happened that Harry's house could be pointed out across the +fields, though at least a quarter of a mile away. + +"There it is," he said, pointing it out; "but, perhaps, you cannot see +so far?" + +"Oh, yes, I can see it." + +By this time they had reached the gate of Colonel Ross, and Harry felt +that he might safely leave the old man. + +Out on the lawn was Philip Ross, who, with surprise and displeasure, saw +Harry opening the gate for one whom he mentally designated as an old +tramp. + +"What do you want here?" he asked, in a tone far from courteous or +respectful. + +"What is your name?" asked the old man, fixing his glance on the +questioner. + +"My name is Philip Ross, and I am the son of Colonel Ross," answered +Philip, with an air of consequence. + +"Then I am your great-uncle, Philip," said the old man, surveying his +young kinsman with an interest inspired by the feeling of relationship. + +"My great-uncle," repeated Philip, in mingled bewilderment and dismay. + +"Yes, Philip, I'm your mother's uncle, come all the way from Illinoy to +visit you." + +Harry was amused to see upon the face of his young antagonist a look of +stupefaction. + +It was a severe blow to Philip, especially in Harry's presence, to be +claimed as a kinsman by a shabby, old tramp. It was upon his tongue to +express a doubt as to the relationship, but he forbore. + +"Is your mother at home?" asked the old man. + +"You can ring the bell and see," answered Philip, deliberately turning +his back and walking off. + +The old man looked after him, with a shrewd glance of intelligence, but +expressed no opinion of him. + +"Harry," he said, turning to his young guide, "will you come with me to +the door and ring the bell?" + +Harry complied with his request. + +The door was opened by a servant, who, on seeing the old man, said, +pertly: + +"We've got nothing for the likes of you," and was about to close the +door on the two. + +"Stop!" said Harry, in a commanding voice, for he was provoked with the +girl's ill manners. "Tell Mrs. Ross that her uncle is here. I think +you'd better invite him in." + +"Well, I never!" said the girl, abashed. "I hope you'll excuse me, sir. +Walk into the parlor, and I'll tell Mrs. Ross you are here." + +"Won't you come in, Harry?" asked the old man, who seemed to have taken +a liking to his young guide. + +"No, thank you, sir. I shall see you again, if you are going to stay in +the village." + +"Thank you! you're a good boy," and the old man began to fumble in his +pocket. + +"Oh, no. I can't take anything," said Harry hurriedly. + +Even if the old man had been rich, he would have declined +compensation--much more when he looked very poor. + +"Well, well! I'm much obliged to you, all the same." + +Leaving Harry to find his way home, let us see what sort of reception +the old man had from his niece. + +Within five minutes Mrs. Ross sailed into the room. + +"Why, Lucinda!" said the old man, heartily; "it's a long time since I +met you." + +"I do not remember ever having seen you," said Mrs. Ross, frigidly. + +"I haven't seen you since you were a little girl, for I've been living +away out in Illinoy. I'm your Uncle Obed--Obed Wilkins--brother of your +mother." + +"Indeed!" said Mrs. Ross, coldly, eyeing the old man's shabby attire +with something like disdain. "You must be an old man!" + +"Seventy-two, Lucinda. I was born in October, while your mother was two +years younger than I, and born in August. I didn't think to outlive her, +seeing she was younger, but I have." + +"I think it was imprudent in a man of your age coming so far," said Mrs. +Ross. + +"I was all alone, Lucinda. My daughter died last spring, and I wanted to +be near some one that was akin to me, so I've come to see the only +relations I've got left on earth." + +"That's very cool," thought Mrs. Ross. "He expects us to support him, I +suppose. He looks as poor as poverty. He ought to have gone to the +poorhouse in his old home." + +To be sure, she would not like to have had it known that she had an +uncle in the poorhouse; but, so far away as Illinois, it would not have +been known to any of her Eastern friends, and wouldn't matter so much. + +"I will speak to Colonel Ross about it, Mr. Wilkins," she said, coldly. +"You can stay to supper, and see him then." + +"Don't call me Mr. Wilkins. I'm your Uncle Obed," said the old man. + +"You may be my uncle, but I am not sufficiently acquainted with you yet +for that," she answered. "You can come upstairs, if you feel tired, and +lie down till supper time." + +"Thank you, I will," said Uncle Obed. + +The offer of Mrs. Ross was dictated not so much by kindness as by the +desire to get her shabby uncle well out of the way, and have a chance +for a private conference with her husband, whom she expected every +minute. + +If the unannounced visit of Uncle Obed may be thought to need an excuse, +it can easily be found. For years, when Mrs. Ross was a girl, she and +her mother were mainly supported by the now despised uncle, without whom +they might have become dependent upon charity. + +It was not a time that Mrs. Ross, in her present luxury, liked to think +about, and for years she had not communicated with the uncle to whom she +owed so much. + +Full of charity himself, he was unconscious of her lack of gratitude, +and supposed that her failure to write was owing to lack of time. He had +come in good faith, when bereft of his daughter, to renew acquaintance +with his niece, never dreaming how unwelcome he would be. Philip's +rudeness impressed him unpleasantly, but, then, the boy had never seen +him before, and that was some excuse. + + + + + CHAPTER VII + + AN UNWELCOME GUEST + +"I don't believe that old tramp's my great-uncle," said Philip Ross to +himself, but he felt uneasy, nevertheless. + +It hurt his pride to think that he should have such a shabby relation, +and he resolved to ascertain by inquiry from his mother whether there +were any grounds for the old man's claim. + +He came into the house just after Uncle Obed had been shown upstairs by +the servant, not to the spare room, but to a small, inconvenient bedroom +on the third floor, next to the one occupied by the two servants. + +"Mother," asked Philip, "is it really true?" + +"Is what really true?" + +"That that shabby old man is any relation of ours?" + +"I don't know with certainty," answered his mother. "He says he is, but +I shouldn't have known him." + +"Did you have any uncle in Illinois?" + +"Yes, I believe so," Mrs. Ross admitted, reluctantly. + +"You always said you were of a high family," said Philip, +reproachfully. + +Mrs. Ross blushed, for she did not like to admit that her pretensions to +both were baseless. She was not willing to admit it now, even to +Philip. + +"It is true," she replied, in some embarrassment; "but there's always a +black sheep in every flock." + +Poor Obed! To be called a black sheep--a hard-working, steady-going man +as he had been all his life. + +"But my mother's brother, Obed, strange to say, was always rustic and +uncouth, and so he was sent out to Illinois to be a farmer. We thought +that the best place for him--that he would live and die there; but now, +in the most vexatious manner in the world, he turns up here." + +"He isn't going to stay here, is he?" asked Philip, in dismay. + +"No; we must get rid of him some way. I must say it was a very cool +proceeding to come here without an invitation, expecting us to support +him." + +This was a gratuitous assumption on the part of Mrs. Ross. + +"I suppose he's very poor. He doesn't look as if he had a cent. I +presume he is destitute, and expects us to take care of him." + +"You'd better send him packing, mother." + +"I suppose we shall have to do something for him," said Mrs. Ross, in a +tone of disgust. "I shall advise your father to buy a ticket for him, +and send him back to Illinois." + +"That'll be the best way, mother. Start him off to-morrow, if you can." + +"I won't keep him long, you may be sure of that." + +By this time Colonel Ross had reached home, and his wife communicated to +him the unwelcome intelligence of Uncle Obed's arrival, and advised him +as to the course she thought best to pursue. + +"Poor old man!" said the colonel, with more consideration than his wife +or son possessed. "I suppose he felt solitary out there." + +"That isn't our lookout," said Mrs. Ross, impatiently. "It's right +enough to say poor old man. He looks as poor as poverty. He'll be better +off in Illinois." + +"Perhaps you are right, but I wouldn't like to send him off +empty-handed. I'll buy his ticket, and give him fifty dollars, so that +he need not suffer." + +"It seems to me that is too much. Twenty dollars, or ten, would be +liberal." + +The cold-hearted woman seemed to forget the years during which her uncle +had virtually supported her. + +"No, Lucinda; I shall give him fifty." + +"You should think of your son, Colonel Ross," said his wife. "Don't +impoverish him by your foolish generosity." + +Colonel Ross shrugged his shoulders. + +"Philip will have all the money that will be good for him," he said. + +"Very well; as you please. Only get him off as soon as you can. It is +mortifying to me to have such a looking old man here claiming +relationship to me." + +"He is your uncle, Lucinda, and you must mention the plan to him." + +"Very well." + +It was a task which Mrs. Ross did not shrink from, for she had no fear +of hurting the feelings of Uncle Obed, or, rather, she did not care +whether he chose to feel hurt or not. + +Uncle Obed was called down to supper, and took his seat at the handsome +tea table, with its silver service. Colonel Ross, to his credit be it +said, received his wife's uncle much more cordially than his own niece +had done, and caused Uncle Obed's face to beam with pleasure. + +"Railly, Lucinda," said Uncle Obed, as he looked over the table, "you +have a very comfortable home, I declare." + +"Yes, we try to have things comfortable around us," answered Mrs. Ross, +coldly. + +"Years ago, when you and your mother lived out in Illinoy, I didn't +think you'd come to live in a house like this." + +"Yes, people live in an outlandish way out there," said Mrs. Ross. + +"But they have happy homes. When Mary lived, I enjoyed life, though the +old farmhouse seemed rough and plain, compared with your handsome home. +I'm glad to see my sister's child living so well, with all the comforts +that money can buy." + +The old man's tone was hearty, and there was a smile of genuine pleasure +on his rugged face. He was forced to admit that his niece was not as +cordial as he hoped, but, then, "Lucinda was always reserved and +quiet-like," he said to himself, and so excused her. + +It must be said for Colonel Ross that he knew comparatively little about +his wife's early life, and didn't dream of the large obligations she was +under to Uncle Obed. He was a rich man, and the consciousness of wealth +led him to assume airs of importance, but he was not as cold or +heartless as his wife, and would have insisted on his wife's treating +her uncle better had he known the past. Even as it was, he was much more +gracious and affable than Mrs. Ross to the old man, whom he had never +seen before. + +As for Philip, he was a second edition of his mother, and never +addressed a word to Uncle Obed. When the latter spoke to him, he +answered in monosyllables. + +"Nancy, you may leave the room. I'll call you if I want you." + +This was what Mrs. Ross said to the servant, fearing that Uncle Obed +might refer to her early poverty, and that the girl might talk about it +in the neighborhood. + +Though Colonel Ross made conversation easy for him, Uncle Obed could not +help feeling the coldness of his niece. + +"Lucindy might treat me better," he thought, "after what I did for her +in her early days. But I see how it is; she's ashamed of them, and I +won't say anything to make her feel bad. I see I must look elsewhere for +a home. Lucindy don't want me here, and I shouldn't feel at home myself. +I wish Philip was more like that Harry Gilbert, who showed me the way +here." + +Supper was over, and Philip took up his hat to go out. + +"Philip," said his father, "you forget that your uncle is here. You +should stay to keep him company." + +"I've got an engagement," said Philip, alarmed at the suggestion. + +"Can't you put it off?" + +"Let the boy keep his engagement," said Uncle Obed. "I like to see young +people particular about keeping their appointments." + +"Your uncle may like to walk out with you, and see something of the +village." + +Philip looked dismayed at the prospect of being seen in the company of +the rather shabby old man, who claimed to be his great-uncle. + +"No, no," said Uncle Obed. "I can find the way round by myself. A man +that's used to the Western prairies doesn't get lost easily." + +Philip breathed a sigh of relief. For the first time he began to think +that Uncle Obed had some sensible ideas. + +Uncle Obed took his hat and cane, and walked out slowly, making his way +along the principal street. + +"I wish I could see that boy Harry Gilbert," he thought to himself--for +a new plan had occurred to him. "Why, bless me, there he is now," he +said, as our hero turned the next corner. + +"Good-evening, sir," said Harry, cheerfully. + +"Good-evening, Harry. You're just the one I was wanting to see. I've got +something to say to you." + +What Uncle Obed had to say was of importance, but must be deferred to +the next chapter. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII + + UNCLE OBED MAKES A PROPOSAL + +Harry waited to hear what the old man had to say. + +"How do you and my grandnephew hitch horses?" asked Uncle Obed. + +"You mean how do we get along together?" asked Harry. + +"Yes." + +"Well, we are not bosom friends. Philip thinks I am a poor, working boy, +and looks down on me accordingly." + +"It don't do you a mite of harm to work. I had to work when I was a boy, +and I've done my share of work since I got to be a man." + +"I like to work," said Harry. "I only wish I had the chance." + +"So there is no love lost between you and Philip?" + +"No; he doesn't suit me any better than I suit him. He's got too high +notions for me." + +"He's like his mother," said Uncle Obed. "I reckon she and Philip ain't +very glad to see me. It's different with the colonel. He's a nice man, +but he seems to be under his wife's thumb." + +Harry did not reply. It was only what he expected, from what he knew of +Mrs. Ross and her son. + +"I hope it won't be unpleasant for you," said he, in a tone of +sympathy. + +"It's a kind of disappointment," the old man admitted. "I was hoping +Lucindy would be like her mother, and I could have a home with my own +folks the rest of my life." + +"Poor man," thought Harry. "He's old and destitute, and it must be a +trial for him to find himself so coldly received." + +"I wish," he said, impulsively, "we were richer." + +"Why?" asked Uncle Obed. + +"Because we'd offer you a home. But, unfortunately," continued Harry, +with a sigh, "we don't know how we are to pay our own expenses." + +The old man looked gratified. + +"I wish you were my nephew, instead of Philip," he said. "You've got a +good mother, I take it." + +"She's one of the best mothers in the world," said Harry, earnestly. + +"I might have known it. Such boys as you always have good mothers. +Supposing I was able to pay my share of the expenses, do you think your +mother would give me a home?" + +"I am sure she would," said Harry, who could not help feeling interest +in the homely, but good-hearted, old man. "But I thought----" here he +hesitated. + +"You thought I was destitute, didn't you?" asked Uncle Obed, with a +smile. + +"Yes, sir." + +"I'm thankful to Providence that I'm not. I've got enough to pay my way +for the few years that remain to me. My niece might treat me different +if she knew it, but I'd rather she'd think I was in need." + +"Shall I speak to my mother about your coming?" asked Harry. + +"Yes; but I won't come just yet. I want to see how Lucindy'll act. She +wants to get rid of me, and she'll be saying something soon. Like as +not, she'll offer to pay my fare back to Illinoy," and the shrewd old +man, who had hit the truth, laughed. + +"Very well, sir, I'll speak to mother. We've got a nice room that we've +kept for a spare chamber, where I'm sure you'd be comfortable." + +"I don't much care now what Lucindy says or does," said the old man, +cheerfully. "If Philip won't have me for a great-uncle, I'll have to +adopt you in his place, and I guess I'll make a good exchange." + +"Thank you, sir. I shall try to treat you as a nephew ought. +Good-evening." + +"That's a good boy," said Uncle Obed to himself. "I wish he was my +nephew. Somehow, that stuck-up Philip, with his high-and-mighty airs, +doesn't seem at all kin to me." + +Harry went home in excellent spirits. It would be of advantage to them +to have a boarder, as it would give them a steady, even if small, +income. + +"I wonder what he'll be able to pay?" he said to himself. "If he pays as +much as I used to get--four dollars a week--it'll make us all right, for +I'm sure of earning as much as two dollars a week, even if I don't get a +place." + +His mother brightened up, too, when Harry told her of the prospect that +opened up of making up for his lost wages. It was a timely help, and +both mother and son regarded it as such. + + + + + CHAPTER IX + + NOTICE TO QUIT + +"Strike while the iron's hot!" This was the motto of Mrs. Ross, +especially in a matter of this kind. She was firmly resolved to get rid +of Uncle Obed as soon as she could. + +She had always claimed to be of high family, and to have been brought up +in the same style in which she was now living, and here was a witness +who could disprove all she had said. + +No one knew better than Uncle Obed that she had been very poor in her +early days, for it was he who, out of his small means, had contributed +to support her mother and herself. Any day he might refer to those years +of poverty; and Mrs. Ross felt that she should expire of mortification +if her servants should hear of them. Farewell, then, to her aristocratic +claims, for she knew well enough that they would be ready enough to +spread the report, which would soon reach the ears of all her +acquaintances. By way of precaution she took an opportunity of +presenting her version of the story to Nancy, who waited on the table. + +"Mr. Wilkins is rather a strange old man, Nancy," she said, affably, as +Nancy was clearing off the breakfast table the next morning. + +"Is he really your uncle, mum?" asked Nancy. + +Mrs. Ross wished she could deny it, but felt that she would be found out +in falsehood. + +"Yes, Nancy, I confess that he is. There is a black sheep in every +family, and poor Uncle Obed was the black sheep in ours." + +"You don't say so, mum! He seems harmless enough." + +"Oh, yes. There's no harm in him; but he's so rustic. Poor grandpa tried +to polish him by sending him to expensive schools, but it was no use. He +took no interest in books, and wouldn't go to college"--Uncle Obed would +have opened his eyes if he had heard this--"and so grandpa bought him a +farm, and set him up in business as a farmer. He was rather shiftless, +and preferred the company of his farm laborers to going into the +fashionable society the rest of the family moved in; and so all his life +he has been nothing but a rough, unrefined farmer." + +"What a pity, mum." + +"Yes, it is a pity, but I suppose it was in him. Of course, it is very +mortifying to me to have him come here--so different as he is from the +rest of us. I am sure you can understand that, Nancy." + +"Oh, yes, mum." + +"He won't feel at home among us, and I think I shall ask Colonel Ross to +pay his fare back to Illinois, and give him a pension, if he really +needs it. I dare say he has lost his farm, and is destitute, for he +never knew how to take care of money." + +"That would be very kind of you and the colonel, mum," said Nancy, who +didn't believe half her mistress was saying, but thought it might be for +her interest to pretend she did. + +"By the way, Nancy, I think I shall not need any more the mantilla you +like so well. You can have it, if you like." + +"Oh, thank you, mum," exclaimed Nancy, in surprise. + +For she had never before received a present from her mistress, who was +well known to be mean and penurious. + +The mantilla was a handsome one, and she thanked Mrs. Ross effusively. + +"There, I've managed her," thought Mrs. Ross, "though at the expense of +the valuable mantilla. I grudge it to her, but it is best to guard her +against any of Uncle Obed's stories, at any cost. I must get rid of him +as soon as I can." + +Colonel Ross wished his wife to postpone speaking for a week, but this +she was unwilling to promise. She agreed to let her uncle stay a week, +but insisted on giving him notice to quit sooner. + +On the morning of the third day she found her opportunity. Breakfast was +over, and she left alone with the old man. + +"Mr. Wilkins," she said, "I want to have a talk with you." + +"Certainly, Lucindy, you can talk just as much as you please. But what +makes you call me Mr. Wilkins? When you were a little girl, and came +over with a message from your mother, it was always Uncle Obed." + +"It is so long since I have seen you that I hardly feel like speaking so +familiarly," said Mrs. Ross. + +"You'll feel better acquainted after a while, Lucindy." + +"That shows he expects to stay a long time," thought Mrs. Ross. + +"Don't you think you made a mistake in leaving Illinois?" asked Mrs. +Ross, point-blank. + +"Well, perhaps I did," admitted Uncle Obed. + +"Of course you did. You are too old to come to a new place where you +don't know anybody. Now, out there you knew----" + +"Pretty nigh everybody." + +"Exactly." + +"But out there I hadn't any relations left. After my poor Mary died I +felt lonesome." + +"Still, as you hadn't seen us for so many years, we are almost the same +as strangers." + +"I can't forget, Lucindy, how you and your poor mother struggled along, +and how I tried to help----" + +"We won't recall those old times," said Mrs. Ross, impatiently. "I was +going to say you wouldn't be happy here. We don't as you were accustomed +to do; and, in fact, it would be inconvenient for us to have a new +inmate. My health is delicate, and----" + +"You look pretty rugged, Lucindy." + +"Appearances are deceitful," said Mrs. Ross, nodding her head solemnly. +"I am very nervous and all excitement is bad for me." + +"I hope I haven't excited you, Lucindy," said Uncle Obed. "I thought I +was pretty quiet. As to the work, you've got two girls to help in the +kitchen." + +"Yes; but there's a certain amount of care that falls upon me which you +can't understand." + +"I hope you won't alter your living for me, Lucindy. I'm one of your own +folks, and I don't mind a picked-up dinner now and then." + +"The ridiculous old man," thought Mrs. Ross, impatiently. "As if I'd +alter my style of living for a destitute old man that looks as if +he'd just escaped from an almshouse." + +"We always live the same, company or no company," she said, coldly. + +"If we don't change for fashionable visitors from New York and +Philadelphia, it is hardly likely would for you." + +"I'm glad I don't give you any trouble." + +"But," continued Mrs. Ross, "it is worrying to my nerves to have +company." + +"Then I shouldn't think you'd invite those fashionable people from New +York and Philadelphia," said Obed, slyly. + +"Plague take him!" thought Mrs. Ross; "won't he take a hint? I shall +have to speak more plainly. Indeed," said she, "I was surprised you +should come in upon us without writing, or inquiring whether it would be +convenient for us to receive you." + +"I begin to understand," said Uncle Obed. "I ain't welcome here." + +"Well, you can stay a few days, if you desire it," said Mrs. Ross, "but +you will be much happier in your old home than here." + +"I ought to be the best judge of that, Lucindy," said the old man, with +dignity. + +"Perhaps not. People can't always judge best for themselves." + +"Perhaps not; but I am going to try the experience of staying here a +while." + +"I have already told you that it will not be convenient for you to stay +here. Colonel Ross will pay your fare back to Illinois, and that, I am +sure, is quite as much as he ought to do." + +"Lucindy," said Uncle Obed, "you seem to have forgotten the years I +freely helped you and your poor mother. However, if you don't care to +remember them, I won't refer to them." + +Mrs. Ross had the grace to be ashamed, but was not moved in her +resolution to get rid of her uncle. + +"Of course," she said, "I don't forget the past. We will help pay your +board in some town at a distance." + +"Why at a distance?" + +"Because, if you were here, people might think it strange you didn't +stay with us, and my health won't admit that." + +"I'm much obliged for your offer, Lucindy, but I prefer to make my own +arrangements. I am going to stay here." + +"Then we shall not assist you," said Mrs. Ross, angrily. + +"I don't wish you to. I can manage to pay my board, and I have already +selected a boarding place." + +"Where do you expect to board?" asked Mrs. Ross, curiously. + +"I'll tell you when it's settled." + +The next day Uncle Obed informed his niece that he was to board with +Mrs. Gilbert. This was unwelcome news, because it would be a help to a +family she disliked; but Uncle Obed was proof against any insinuations +she was able to bring against Harry and his mother, and the day after he +transferred himself to the clean and airy chamber in Mrs. Gilbert's +cottage. + +"This will just suit me," said the old man, looking about him with a +pleased expression. "I like this room much better than the one my niece +gave me." + +"Our house won't compare with hers, Mr. Wilkins," said the widow. + +"It ain't so fine, but she put me in a little seven-by-nine chamber, and +I was always used to plenty of room." + +"I am afraid our living will be too plain for you," suggested Mrs. +Gilbert, apprehensively. + +"Do I look as if I was used to high living?" asked Uncle Obed. "No; +whatever's good enough for you and Harry is good enough for me. And now +it's best to agree about terms, so that we may know just how we stand." + +This was rather embarrassing to the widow. Uncle Obed certainly did not +look as if he could pay much, yet it would not do to charge too little. +She would not be able to provide her table. + +"Would four dollars suit you?" she asked, in a hesitating way. + +"No, it wouldn't," said the old man. + +"I don't see how I can afford to ask less," faltered Mrs. Gilbert. + +"That isn't the point," he said. "You don't ask enough. I will pay you +six dollars a week--the first week in advance." + +"I should never think of asking so much," said Mrs. Gilbert, amazed. +"Are you sure----" + +"That I can afford to pay so much?" asked Uncle Obed, who understood her +thought. "Yes; I have a little something, though you might not think it +from my clothes. When my trunk comes--I left it at a hotel in New +York--I will dress a little better; but I wanted to try an experiment +with my niece, Mrs. Ross. Here's the money for the first week." + +And, drawing out a large wallet, he took therefrom two bills--a five and +a one. + +"It will make me feel very easy," said Mrs. Gilbert, gratefully, "even +if Harry doesn't get any regular work, though I hope he will." + +"I should like to warn you of one thing," said Uncle Obed. "Don't let +people know how much board I pay. If Mrs. Ross chooses to think I am +very poor, let her. She won't pester me with hypocritical attentions, +which I shouldn't value." + +Harry was delighted at his mother's good fortune in obtaining so +valuable a boarder. Six dollars a week would go a long way in their +little household. + +It gave him fresh courage in his efforts to obtain a place, for he knew +that, even if it was deferred, his mother would not suffer from the +delay. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +PHILIP MEETS HIS MATCH + +Though it would have been possible for the Gilberts to get along now +without help from Harry's earnings, his desire to obtain employment was +quite as great as before. + +As he had no place in view, he continued to go to the berry field every +day, supplying his mother with what she needed, and disposing of the +rest to Mr. Mead. + +The field in which he had at first picked being nearly exhausted, he +bent his steps in another direction, where he learned that there was +still a good supply. The field belonged to a Mr. Hammond, a substantial +farmer, who had no objections to the berries being picked, but required +parties to obtain his permission. + +As Mr. Hammond was understood to be very well to do, Mrs. Ross and her +son condescended to associate with him and his family on equal terms. + +On the particular morning when Harry sought the field, Philip was +crossing the pasture on his way to a river, where he kept a rowboat, +when he espied two children, Tommy and Rose Perkins, picking berries. + +They were children of eight and ten, and it occurred to Philip that he +had a fine chance to bully them, in the name of Mr. Hammond. + +Striding up to them, with an air of authority, he said: + +"Look here, you children, what business have you in this field?" + +"It isn't yours, is it?" asked Tommy, independently. + +"It belongs to my friend, Mr. Hammond," said Philip. "He don't allow all +the loafers in town here." + +"Tommy and I are not loafers," said Rose. + +"All the same, you are trespassing on Mr. Hammond's pasture. Come, clear +out." + +"Mr. Hammond gave us leave to come here, and I don't see what business +it is of yours," said Tommy. + +"I don't believe he gave you permission at all, and I'll let you know +what business it is of mine, you little rascal," said Philip, in a +bullying tone. + +Luckily for Tommy and Rose, there was a friend near at hand, who was not +disposed to see them abused. Harry Gilbert had reached the bars between +the berry pasture and the next field in time to hear Philip's attempt to +bully the young brother and sister. + +"Just like Philip," he thought, with a feeling of disgust. "He is always +trying to bully those younger than himself, especially if they are +poor." + +Tommy and Rose were the children of a widow, no better off than Mrs. +Gilbert, and Harry felt a greater sympathy for them on that account. + +Meanwhile, Philip, not aware that there was help at hand, continued his +persecutions. + +"Well, are you going to clear out?" he demanded, in a threatening tone. + +"No," said Tommy. "Mr. Hammond said we might pick berries here, and you +have no right to touch us." + +"I'll show you whether I have or not," said Philip, in his most +dominating tone. + +He drew back his foot, and deliberately kicked over the children's +pails, one after the other. Probably there was not more than a pint in +either pail, as the children had just commenced picking, but it was +certainly aggravating. + +Rose began to cry, while Tommy, his face turning red, said: + +"I wish I was big enough; I'd make you sorry for what you have done." + +"I see I shall have to give you a lesson," said Philip. "I'll teach you +to be impudent to me." + +He advanced toward Tommy in a threatening manner, and Harry thought it +time to interfere. + +"Don't touch that boy, you contemptible bully!" he exclaimed, +indignantly, hurrying to the scene of conflict. + +"Oh, Harry, make him stop," exclaimed Tommy, in joyful tones. + +"I will," said Harry, resolutely. + +Philip Ross was very much annoyed by the unexpected arrival of Harry, +whom he had never been able to intimidate, and would gladly have slunk +away if pride had not hindered. + +"You'd better take care what you say," he rejoined, in a surly tone. + +"And you had better take care what you do," returned Harry, manfully. +"Why have you been interfering with these poor children?" + +"I am not responsible to you for what I do," said Philip, angrily. "They +are trespassing on this field, and I ordered them off." + +"By what right? You don't own it." + +"My friend, Mr. Hammond, does." + +Here Tommy explained that Mr. Hammond had given them permission to pick +berries. + +"I don't believe it," said Philip, "and I've no doubt you are +trespassing, too." + +"Perhaps you'd like to serve me the same way," suggested Harry. + +"I'll leave Mr. Hammond to kick you out himself." + +"That is more prudent. Stop! where are you going?" for Philip was +starting to leave them. + +"I don't like the company I'm in. I'm going to leave you to enjoy each +other's society." + +"Not yet," said Harry. + +"Can't you spare me?" sneered Philip. + +"Not till you have picked up the berries you have upset." + +"Do you mean to insult me?" demanded Philip, angrily. + +"No; I am only demanding what is reasonable and right. You upset the +berries, and it is only fair you should pick them up." + +"Pick them up yourself!" said Philip. + +Again he started away, but Harry planted himself resolutely in his +path. + +"You must pick up those berries or fight me," he said. + +"Keep away from me, you beggar!" screamed Philip. + +"Once more, will you pick up those berries?" + +"No, I won't!" + +Harry's only answer was to seize Philip round the middle, and, despite +his struggles, to lay him down on the ground. + +"You'll suffer for this!" said Philip, almost screaming with rage. + +"You can go now," said Harry, contemptuously, "and take care how you +interfere with Tommy and Rose again." + +Philip rose from the ground, angry and humiliated, yet not daring to +attack Harry, whom he knew to be his superior in strength. + +"You haven't heard the last of this," he said, shaking his fist. + +Harry deigned no reply, and Philip, instead of keeping on his way to the +river, turned and walked homeward. + +Harry helped the children pick up their berries, and remained with them +through the forenoon. + + + + + CHAPTER XI + + THE TWO CONSPIRATORS + +Philip thirsted for revenge upon Harry, but it did not seem very clear +in what way it was to be obtained. The trouble was that Harry was always +in the right in all the difficulties they had had, and was likely to +have popular sympathy on his side. + +As Philip walked home, fuming with anger, it occurred to him to make a +formal complaint against Harry before a justice of the peace. But the +examination which would ensue would disclose his unjustifiable conduct +in the berry field, and he reluctantly abandoned the idea. + +While in this state of mind he met a recent acquaintance, some three +years older than himself, named James Congreve. + +Congreve was boarding at the village hotel, with apparently no business +on hand more pressing than smoking, fishing and lounging about the +village. + +He came from the city of Brooklyn, and had been sent to this quiet +village to remove him from the temptations of the city. + +He had been in several business positions, but had given satisfaction in +none, and, so far as usefulness was concerned, was perhaps as well off +here as anywhere else. + +As James Congreve wore good clothes, and had a showy gold watch and +chain, which indicated worldly prosperity, Philip was glad to make his +acquaintance, for Congreve taught him to smoke and play cards for +money. + +So when the two met James Congreve asked, languidly: + +"What are you up to, Philip?" + +"Not much," answered Philip, suddenly. + +"You look out of sorts." + +"Oh, I've just had a fight with a boy in the berry pasture." + +"I hope you didn't hurt him much," said Congreve, smiling. + +"No; but I'd like to," replied Philip, spitefully. + +"Who is the villain?" + +"Harry Gilbert, a low, impudent upstart." + +"Yes, I know; used to be in the grocery store, didn't he?" + +"Yes." + +"What's he done now?" + +"Oh, it's too long a story to tell. He was impudent to me, that's all. I +would like to annoy him in some way." + +"Get him into a scrape, eh?" + +"Yes." + +"Perhaps we can think of some way. If you haven't anything better to do, +come up to my room and play cards." + +"I don't mind." + +Soon afterward the two were sitting at a small table in Congreve's +bedroom at the hotel, playing poker. + +This is essentially a gambling game, and for that reason it was a +special favorite with James Congreve. He was much more than a match for +Philip, whom he had initiated into the mysteries of the game. + +"How much do I owe you, Congreve?" asked Philip, as they sat down to +their unprofitable employment. + +"I don't know, exactly; I've got an account somewhere," answered +Congreve, carelessly. + +"It must be as much as ten dollars," said Philip, rather uneasily. +"Somehow, you always have more luck at the cards than I do." + +"Luck will change in time. Besides, I am in no hurry for the money." + +"I only wish an allowance of two dollars a week. Father will only give +me half of it, and mother makes up the rest. So it would take five weeks +to pay you, and leave me without a cent to spend." + +"Probably you won't have to pay it at all. You may win it all back +to-day." + +Thus encouraged, Philip began to play, but was as unlucky as usual. He +rose from the table owing Congreve five dollars more than when he sat +down. "Just my luck!" ejaculated Philip, with a long face. "Just look up +the account and let me know what it all amounts to." + +Congreve made a little calculation, and announced, in apparent surprise, +that Philip owed him twenty-two dollars. + +"It can't be!" ejaculated Philip, in dismay. + +"There's no doubt about it," said Congreve. "However, don't trouble +yourself about it. I can wait. And now for your affair with this Gilbert +boy. I've got an idea that I may prove serviceable to you." + +During the next fifteen minutes a wicked plot was devised, of which it +was intended that Harry should be the victim. The particulars must be +reserved for the next chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +AN UNEXPECTED INVITATION + +"Come here, will you!" + +Harry Gilbert turned around, for the call was evidently addressed to +him, and saw, standing on the piazza of the hotel, James Congreve. + +"Come here a moment. I want to speak to you," said Congreve, taking from +his mouth the cigar he was smoking. + +Harry was surprised. He had scarcely any acquaintance with Congreve, +whom he knew chiefly as a companion of Philip Ross. Hitherto he had +taken no notice of Harry--a circumstance not regretted by our hero, who +had not formed a favorable opinion of the young man. + +"Do you wish to speak to me?" he asked, politely. + +"Yes," said James, blandly. "May I offer you a cigar?" + +"Thank you, I don't smoke," returned Harry, with increased surprise at +Congreve's friendly tone. + +"It's a bad habit; I dare say you are right," said Congreve gladly. "I +mean to break off soon. But what I wanted to ask you was: Do you know +your way about the Pegan Hill Woods?" + +"Yes; I've been there often." + +"Then you are just the companion I want. I am thinking of exploring them +with my gun. I suppose I am likely to find some birds?" + +"Oh, yes; it's a good place for a sportsman." + +"Suppose you come with me. We can have a pleasant afternoon." + +Harry hesitated. He did not wish to be disobliging, nor did he wish to +sacrifice the afternoon. As he did not specially fancy Congreve, he did +not expect any pleasure from his company, though the young man seemed +disposed to be cordial. This Harry explained to himself by Congreve's +desire to secure his services as a guide, and, therefore, did not feel +much flattered. + +James Congreve noticed and understood his hesitation. + +"Of course," he said, "I do not wish to take up your time without +compensation. I will pay you fifty cents for your services." + +This put a different face on the matter. Fifty cents was very good pay +for an afternoon's work, and Harry at once decided that he could not let +slip so good an opportunity. + +"If you think my company will be worth that to you," he said, "I am +quite willing. How long do you want to stay?" + +"I intend to return in time for supper." + +"Then it won't be necessary to go home and tell my mother where I am +going." + +"Oh, dear, no! You will be back before she has time to miss you." + +"When do you want to go?" + +"At once. I will go in and get my gun and be with you in a moment." + +"Unexpected things seem to happen to me pretty often," thought Harry. "I +never expected we should have an uncle of Mrs. Ross as a boarder, and +here is Philip's intimate friend hiring me as a guide. Somehow, my +destiny seems to be closely connected with Philip's, though we are about +as far from being friends as any two boys can be." + +"Is any one going with you?" asked Harry when Congreve came out of the +hotel with his gun. + +"No one except you." + +"I don't know where Philip is this afternoon," said Congreve +carelessly. + +Harry rather wondered whether Philip and his companion had had a +quarrel. It would not have surprised him very much, for Philip was quite +in the habit of quarreling with his associates. + +"How far is it to the edge of the woods?" asked Congreve. + +"About a mile and a half." + +"Quite a good distance. However, it's early, and we shall have time +enough." + +Part of their course lay through the fields and meadows. + +As they neared the woods, suddenly Congreve said, in a tone of +well-counterfeited surprise: + +"Why, there is Philip Ross sitting on a rock! I wonder what brought him +here? Hello, Philip!" + + + + + CHAPTER XIII + + THREE YOUNG SPORTSMEN + +Philip turned and surveyed the newcomers in apparent surprise. + +"Are you out gunning?" he asked. + +"Yes. I have secured a guide, as you see, fearing I might get lost in +the woods. I believe you know him?" + +"I have that honor," said Philip, superciliously. + +This was so much in Philip's ordinary style that Harry did not dream +there was any collusion between them, and that Philip was here by +appointment. + +"You haven't explained how you happen to be here," said Congreve. + +"I? Oh, I had a little headache, and I thought I would take a walk in +the fresh air." + +"Won't you join us?" asked Congreve. + +"I don't know," said Philip, irresolutely. + +Harry, supposing his indecision might spring from a dislike to his +presence, here spoke up: + +"Perhaps you won't want me any longer, as you have met Philip." + +"Oh, yes I do. He may not care to stay with me all the afternoon, as he +has a headache." + +"Probably I shan't be with you more than half an hour," said Philip. +"I'll walk a little way into the wood." + +"Come along, then." + +So the three passed into the woods together, Congreve in the middle, +with Philip on one side and Harry on the other. + +Philip and Congreve engaged in conversation, the latter apparently +forgetting that he had a gun on his shoulder. Harry, however, remembered +that he was guide to a sportsman, and kept on the lookout for birds. + +"Hush! There's a partridge," he said, touching Congreve's arm and +pointing to the bird. + +James Congreve quickly brought his gun to rest and fired. He had very +little skill, however, and the startled bird flew away, in less danger +than if the gun had been in the hands of Harry. + +"I didn't have time to take aim," said Congreve, apologetically. "Can +you shoot?" + +"A little," answered Harry, modestly. + +"If I had had the gun the bird wouldn't have got away," said Philip, +boastfully. + +"Take it, then," said Congreve. + +"All right!" + +So Philip took the gun and began to look out for birds. + +He soon had an opportunity to show his skill. A bird was seen flying +slowly through the air. + +"There's your chance, Phil!" said Congreve, quickly. + +Philip raised the gun awkwardly, and it went off in quite a different +direction from the one contemplated. But, as luck would have it, a +foolish crow got in the way just at the critical moment, and received +the charge meant for another object. + +"There; do you see that?" exclaimed Philip, triumphantly. + +"You don't mean to say you intended to shoot that crow?" asked +Congreve. + +"Of course I did!" answered Philip shortly, determined to get the credit +of his success. + +Harry could not help smiling. "What are you laughing at?" demanded +Philip, scowling. + +"At the mistake I made," answered Harry, good-humoredly. "I thought you +were firing at the partridge." + +"You see you were mistaken," said Philip, offensively. + +"I see I was," returned Harry, quietly. + +He thought it was foolish to get angry about such a trifle. + +"Go and get the crow," said Philip, arrogantly. + +It had fallen among some underbrush not far away. + +"Shall I?" asked Harry, turning to Congreve, whom he recognized as his +employer, and the only one entitled to order him about. + +"What do you want it for, Philip?" asked Congreve. "It's only a +crow--good for nothing." + +"Never mind; I want it," answered Philip. + +In truth, it was the first bird he had ever succeeded in shooting, +though he would not have been willing to acknowledge this, and he wanted +to display it at home as a trophy of his skill. + +"Then you may get it," said Congreve, who, in spite of his dishonorable +character, was, in manners, more of a gentleman than Philip. + +Harry at once plunged into the thicket, and not without difficulty +succeeded in finding the crow, which he brought out and delivered to +Philip. The latter only consented to carry it on account of the pride he +felt in his success as a sportsman. + +"Here, take this gun, Gilbert, and try your luck next," said Congreve. + +"I suppose he will eclipse us all," Philip remarked, with a sneer. + +"I don't know about that," returned Harry, good-naturedly. "I haven't +been out many times, not having any gun of my own." + +"Look out that you don't shoot either of us," said Philip. + +"I am not after such game as that," said Harry. + +He took the gun, and began to look attentively in different directions, +lest any chance should escape him. At length he espied a partridge. He +raised his gun quickly, took instant but accurate aim, and fired. The +bird was seen to flutter an instant and then fall. + +"You've got him!" exclaimed Congreve, excitedly. + +Harry ran in the direction of the bird's fall, and returned, flushed +with success. Philip's envy was aroused, inasmuch as a partridge was a +more valuable prize than a crow. + +"You were lucky," he said, with his usual sneer. "It was fortunate for +you that the bird got in the way." + +"Rather unfortunate for the partridge, though!" said Harry, coolly. + +"It wouldn't happen once in fifty times," continued Philip. + +"This isn't the first partridge I've shot," answered Harry, quietly. + +"Oh, I don't doubt you're a first-class gunner." + +"I have great doubts on that subject myself," said Harry. + +"You've both of you succeeded, while I shall have to go home +empty-handed," said Congreve, who had no particular ambition to shine as +a sportsman. + +"You'll have a chance soon to try again," said Harry. + +By this time they had penetrated a considerable distance into the wood, +and Philip grew impatient to carry out the plan which, from the first, +they had had in view. + +"Isn't it about time?" he asked, significantly. + +"Just as you say," replied Congreve, indifferently. + +As he spoke he drew from his pocket a ball of strong cord, and both +boys--if Congreve can be called one--looked significantly at our hero. + +"What's coming?" thought Harry, perplexed. + +He found out soon enough. + + + + + CHAPTER XIV + + WHAT HAPPENED TO HARRY IN THE WOOD + +"I have a little matter of business with you, Gilbert," said Congreve. + +"Business!" repeated Harry, looking from James Congreve, with his cool, +deliberate manner, to the face of his companion, who was openly +exultant. "I don't understand you." + +"You'll understand better in five minutes," said Philip. + +"I hope so, for I am quite in the dark now." + +"The fact is, Gilbert," commenced Congreve, in the cool, deliberate tone +habitual to him--for he seldom allowed himself to get excited--"my +friend Philip, here, feels that you have treated him badly----" + +"Outrageously!" interrupted Philip. + +"Very well; let us say outrageously." + +"In what way have I treated him outrageously?" demanded Harry, +undauntedly. + +"Plenty of times," answered Philip, excitedly. "Didn't you attack me in +the berry pasture?" + +"Yes, and you know why. You were abusing two young children." + +"It was none of your business," said Philip, shortly. + +"It will always be my business," said Harry, boldly, "when I see a large +bully abusing two unoffending children." + +"Quite a modern Don Quixote, upon my word," said Congreve, but not in +the sneering tone Philip was accustomed to adopt. + +He never sneered, and never showed excitement, but he was none the less +dangerous on that account. + +"Don Quixote was a gentleman, though a foolish one," returned Harry, who +understood the allusion. + +"That is where he had the advantage of you," observed Philip. + +"A very neat hit, upon my word, Philip," said Congreve. "Really, you are +improving." + +Philip was flattered by this compliment, and looked as if he had quite +overwhelmed Harry with his sarcasm. + +"However," continued Congreve, "we had better proceed to business. +Philip feels aggrieved, and he expects satisfaction." + +"Are we to fight a duel?" thought Harry, who did not in the least +comprehend what was coming. + +"What sort of satisfaction?" he asked. + +"You'll see!" said Philip, triumphantly. + +Congreve, who was standing beside Harry, handed the ball of cord to +Philip, saying: + +"I will hold him, while you tie his hands and feet." + +"What!" exclaimed Harry, starting. + +"We propose to tie you hand and foot and leave you here," said Congreve, +coolly. "It will subject you to some inconvenience, and you may have to +remain here all night; but it will teach you not to interfere with my +friend Philip again." + +"Is that what you invited me to come out here for?" asked Harry. + +"Yes." + +"Pretending to need my services as a guide?" + +"My dear fellow, there was no pretense about that. We selected this wood +as well adapted for our purpose, and, as I was not familiar with the +locality, I thought it best for all reasons to hire you to guide me." + +"So I have walked into a trap, and lost my time in the bargain," said +Harry, bitterly. + +"Oh, no; you haven't lost your time. I agreed to pay you fifty cents, +didn't I?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, here it is. I generally fulfil my contracts." + +Congreve drew from his pocket two silver quarters, and handed them to +Harry with a bow. + +"That's right, isn't it?" he asked. + +"Yes," said Harry, mentally deciding that James Congreve was the +queerest fellow he had ever met. + +"Good! You can't complain of any violation of contract. Now, will you +remain quiet while I tie you, or must we use force?" + +"Wait a minute!" said Harry, deciding to try the effect of an appeal to +Congreve, who appeared to have some sense of honor. "I think you don't +understand what passed between Philip and myself. Let me explain." + +"No, thank you. It would only be wasting your time," said Congreve, with +a languid wave of his hand. "I quite understand that Philip here was +playing the bully----" + +"What! Do you mean to insult me?" asked Philip, hastily. + +"Oh, no; I am only stating facts. Philip, then, was bullying two +children, when you stepped in and knocked him down." + +"I deny it!" said Philip, flushing. + +"Then where's the injury you want satisfaction for?" asked Congreve. + +"Do you take the part of a bully, then?" asked Harry, puzzled. + +"Yes; for the bully happens to be my friend, and I stand by my friends, +right or wrong. Accordingly, I propose to leave you here, tied hand and +foot, for a few hours, or until you succeed in getting loose. It will be +soothing to the feelings of my friend Philip, and will give you time to +reflect upon your mistake in attacking the son of a rich man." + +"But," urged Harry, "I might have to stay here all night!" + +"Quite possible! Fortunately, however, there are no wild beasts prowling +about in this forest, and you won't incur any danger." + +"But my mother will be worried about me." + +"I am sorry for that, but it won't be for long." + +Harry started to run, feeling that he must avoid the fate that +threatened him, if possible; but Congreve overtook him almost instantly, +and, passing his lithe, strong arms around him, pinioned him so firmly +that he could not escape. He was several inches taller than our hero, +and, naturally, much stronger. + +"Now, Philip," he said. + +Philip advanced to tie Harry, but the latter, feeling that resistance +was useless, turning to Congreve, said: + +"If I must be tied, you may do it. I won't resist." + +"Come, that's sensible," said Congreve, and proceeded to tie Harry hand +and foot, as he had proposed. + +When the task was completed he took him up and set him down in such a +way that he could lean his back against a tree. + +"That will do," he said. "If you don't get free before, I will come +to-morrow morning and release you." + +"I would like to give him a licking now!" growled Philip, + +"That would be cowardly," said Congreve. "Come away and leave him." + +Rather reluctantly, for he wanted to stay and triumph over his helpless +rival, Philip followed his companion out of the wood. + + + + + CHAPTER XV + + PHILIP'S BAD ADVISER + +Philip was elated by his triumph over Harry. Being cowardly by nature, +he felt that it would be a terrible thing to stay in the lonely wood all +night, and he naturally thought that Harry would look upon it in the +same light. + +He felt that it would pay off all old scores, and leave the advantage +with him. But there was a drop of bitterness mingled with his +exultation. + +James Congreve had called him a bully to his face, and in the presence +of Harry, and this seemed to him a personal insult. He was not willing +to let it pass, and was resolved to give Congreve to understand that the +offense must not be repeated. + +"Well, Philip," said Congreve, "our plan has succeeded." + +"Yes," answered Philip, shortly. + +"What's the matter? Aren't you satisfied yet?" + +"Yes, as far as that goes; but I don't like the way you spoke to me." + +"Go ahead! Let me know what it is you complain of." + +"You called me a bully!" + +"You are one, you know," said Congreve, frankly. + +"No, I don't know it; and, what is more, I don't like to have any one +speak of me in that way!" returned Philip, irritably. + +"Very likely not. People don't generally like to have their faults +alluded to." + +"I tell you I am not a bully!" + +"You are mistaken. You would bully me if I were a small boy and not your +superior in strength." + +"At any rate, if you are my friend, you ought not to talk of me in that +way," said Philip, thinking it politic to change his tone. + +"You want me to shut my eyes to your real character, then?" + +"I don't want you to talk of me in an insulting manner." + +"Not at all, my dear fellow. I said you were a bully, and so you are. I +meant no offense. The sons of rich men are sometimes puffed up with the +idea of their own importance, and your father is a rich man, at least +for a country place." + +"He is a rich man for any place," said Philip, boastfully. + +"I am glad to hear it, especially as it will make it easier for you to +pay me the trifling sum you owe me." + +"Trifling sum!" ejaculated Philip. "You said it amounted to over +twenty-two dollars." + +"So it does; but that is a trifling sum for the son of a very rich man. +Some persons would charge you for the little service I have done this +afternoon, but that I only did at the bidding of friendship." + +"It was very kind of you," said Philip, uncomfortably; "but you mustn't +think because my father is rich I have plenty of money. The fact is, he +is very stingy with me, and if it wasn't for my mother I would only have +a dollar a week." + +"It is very considerate of the old man, to be sure. You ought to have +five dollars a week." + +"So I ought. If I only had I would be able to pay you up in a short +time." + +"Why don't you suggest to your paternal relative to enlarge the +supplies?" suggested Congreve, knocking off the ashes from his cigar. + +"I have," answered Philip, "and he always says that a dollar a week is +enough for a boy of my age." + +"Parents are apt to have limited ideas on such subjects. That was the +case with my father." + +"What did you do?" + +"Do? I borrowed from him." + +"How could you do that? Was he willing?" + +"He didn't know it." + +"Didn't know that you borrowed money of him?" + +"No. You are an only child, are you not?" + +"Yes." + +"So am I. You will be sole heir to your father's property, won't you?" + +"Of course," answered Philip, with an air of consequence. + +"Then, really, the property may be considered yours now--at least in +part." + +"I suppose so." + +"That's the way I look at it. Well, I happened to know where my father +kept his government bonds, and I borrowed one." + +"Wasn't that stealing?" asked Philip. + +"It would have been if the bond had belonged to a stranger, but, as it +was likely to be mine some day, of course, that made it different." + +"What did your father say?" asked Philip, anxiously. + +"Oh, he made a fuss; but the bond wasn't registered, and he hadn't a +memorandum of the number, so he couldn't do anything. I sold it through +a friend, and while the money lasted I was in clover." + +"My father has got some government bonds," said Philip; "but I shouldn't +dare to take one, although, as you say, they will be mine some day." + +"Suppose your father did find it out--which is not at all likely--you +are his son, and you could tell him plainly that your small allowance +compelled you to do it." + +"I shouldn't know how to dispose of the bond, if I did take one." + +"Oh, I would manage that for you! That is the only thing there would be +any risk about; but you are a friend of mine." + +"Yes, I know you are a good friend," said foolish Philip, who, it is +needless to say, could hardly have had a worse enemy than the one who +offered him such bad advice. + +"So I am, but I don't take any credit for that," answered wily Congreve. +"People are apt to deceive themselves about such things, you know, as a +son's appropriating what really belongs to him; but I know the world +better than you, and understand how to look at things." + +"It may be as you say," said Philip, growing nervous at the idea of +robbing his father, "but I don't think I like the plan." + +"Oh, very well; I only suggested it for your good," said Congreve, +preparing to draw the net around his victim. + +"If you have any other way of paying me the twenty-three dollars you owe +me, it's all the same to me." + +"But I thought," said Philip, in alarm, "that you were in no hurry about +it. You said I might win it back." + +"So you may, and probably will; but if you don't you ought to pay it." + +"I will, sometime." + +"I really should be glad if I could wait till then, but, as it happens, +I have pressing need of the money." + +"But if I can't pay it?" + +"Then I shall feel obliged to call on your father, and ask him to pay +me." + +"You wouldn't do that!" said Philip, panic-stricken. + +"I shall feel obliged to. It is only a trifle, and he will probably pay +it, giving you a little lecture, perhaps, but nothing worse." + +"You don't know him," said Philip, uncomfortably. "He will be awful mad. +He had a cousin who was a gambler, and he has often warned me against +gambling." + +"I don't approve of gambling myself," said Congreve; "but there is a +difference between that and a little stake on a game of cards to make it +interesting." + +"I don't think father would see any difference," suggested Philip, who +did not himself understand what difference there could be. + +It is hardly necessary to say to my young readers that common sense is +the best teacher in such matters, and that no difference appears to +common sense between gambling at cards and gambling in any other form. + +"Oh, well, you know best about that. Then it would be better that I +shouldn't say anything to the old man?" + +"No; don't say anything to him about it," said Philip, eagerly. + +"I won't--that is, if you pay me the money in three days." + +"But how can I do it?" asked Philip, in fresh dismay. + +"Put a bond in my hands, then, and I will dispose of it and give you the +balance. You only owe me twenty-three dollars, and a fifty-dollar bond +would leave you a handsome surplus. If it were a hundred-dollar bond it +would be all the better. Think of having seventy-five dollars or more at +your command." + +The prospect was tantalizing, but Philip still felt afraid to +appropriate one of his father's bonds. If it had been a fear of doing +wrong, I should be glad to say so, but it was more a fear of +consequences. + +"After all," he said, "perhaps I may win it back, and then there won't +be any need of raising money. You said you would give me the chance." + +"So I will. You can come to my room now, if you like, and try your +luck." + +So Philip went, like a fly into the spider's parlor, and the natural +result followed. + +When he left the hotel he had increased his debt to forty dollars, and +the prospect looked darker than ever. + +As he walked home, it is doubtful if he did not feel more uncomfortable +than our unfortunate hero, whom we left, bound hand and foot, in Pegan +Hill Wood. + + + + + CHAPTER XVI + + BOUND HAND AND FOOT + +Though Harry was a courageous boy, his heart sank within him when he +found himself left alone in the wood, bound hand and foot. + +Pegan Hill Woods were of considerable extent. In length they extended +about three miles, while in width they ranged from a mile and a half to +two miles. + +Probably the party had penetrated nearly a mile into the wood, and the +tree against which Harry was leaning was not far from the center of the +wood. The constrained position in which he was sitting became, after a +while, somewhat painful. The cords, too, chafed his flesh. + +Of course, Harry thought of the possibility of escape. If he could only +unloose the cords he could readily find his way home, reaching there +before anxiety or alarm was excited by his absence. + +He set to work upon his task, but found, to his disappointment, that he +had been too securely bound to make this attempt feasible. + +The cord was tied again and again in so hard a knot that, even if he had +had the use of both of his hands, he would have found it a work of time +to undo them. But when, in addition, his hands were tied, it became +well-nigh impossible. + +He worked until he was tired, and rested, feeling that thus far he had +really accomplished nothing. + +"Philip is about the meanest boy I know of," he thought to himself, +bitterly. "I suppose he is triumphing over me, as he has a right to do, +for he has got me into a very awkward scrape." + +This consideration was not likely to make him any less uncomfortable, +for Harry had his share of human nature. From Philip his mind reverted +to James Congreve. The more he thought of Congreve, the less he could +understand him. He was certainly a much more gentlemanly boy--or, +rather, young man--than Philip, and our hero disliked him less, though +it was Congreve who had tied him. + +"He told Philip to his face that he was a bully, and as much as said +that I had served him right in doing what I did in defense of the two +children. I don't see how he can be a friend of Philip." + +Harry had not much knowledge of the world, however, and would have been +surprised to hear that Congreve was more dangerous and unscrupulous, and +altogether bad, than Philip himself, in spite of the latter's unamiable +traits. + +After a while Harry made another attempt to loosen the cords; but the +second time proved as unsuccessful as the first. + +Considerable time had passed--how much he did not know--but, from the +direction in which the sun glanced in the wood, he concluded that it was +as late as six o'clock, and by this time he was almost always at home. + +Indeed, supper must now be ready, and his mother and their boarder, +Uncle Obed, were probably ready to sit down to the table, and only +waiting for him. It was certainly very tantalizing to be lying there +helpless, knowing that his mother would soon be anxious and troubled +about him. + +"If I could only use my knife," thought Harry. "I would make short work +of these cords." + +He had a knife in his pocket. If a boy has only twenty-five cents in his +pocket, he is sure to spend it for some kind of a knife, or he must be +very different from the average boy. + +So, of course, Harry was provided with a knife--a good, strong +jackknife--but, for all the good it was likely to do him, it might as +well have been at home. His hands being tied, of course, he could not +get the knife out of his pocket; and, even if he had done so, how could +he make use of it? + +"I never knew twine was so strong before," thought poor Harry, ruefully, +after a third unsuccessful attempt to get free. + +He lay a while longer, getting more and more hopeless of an early +release. By this time his appetite began to assert itself. He had not +eaten a very hearty dinner, and naturally felt all the more hungry now. + +He began to think wistfully of the good bread and butter and slices of +cold meat and pie which his mother was wont to provide for the evening +meal, and some twinges of excusable envy were felt, as he pictured James +Congreve and Philip, who had brought this trouble upon him, sitting down +at a well-covered supper table, eating as heartily as if they had not +left a victim in the woods, helpless and hungry. + +"I suppose I shall have to stay here all night," thought poor Harry, +despondently. + +In the morning he was confident of being released. James Congreve had +promised that he would come and release him, and Harry felt confident +that he would do so. Had it depended upon Philip, there would be small +chance of it; but it was easy to see that Philip and Congreve were not +alike. Of course, this gave him hope, but it was not pleasant to think +of a night passed in the dark wood; not that Harry was timid or +superstitious--he was neither--but it is hard not to be somewhat +affected by gloomy surroundings. + +While Harry was occupied with these reflections, suddenly a peculiar +sound came to his ears, and, looking up, he was startled by the sight of +a blacksnake, at least four feet long, which, with head erect, was +gazing intently at him. + +Whatever may be the cause of the repulsion that exists between the human +race and the snake, it is, at all events, genuine, and Harry shared it. + +With distended eyes he gazed at this sleek foe of humankind, and felt a +strong desire to throw something at it, or crush it under foot. But, +alas! he was able to do neither. + +Suppose it should advance upon him, helpless and unable to defend +himself, and strike its fangs into his flesh, or curl, with slippery +fold, about him! What could he do? The perspiration came out upon his +brow, and he made a tremendous effort to get away. + +Apparently conscious of his helplessness, the snake remained quietly +looking at him, and began, after a pause, to slowly glide toward him. + +Harry uttered a shrill cry of alarm, which, I am sure, under the +circumstances, was not discreditable to his courage, and his soul was +filled with horror and repulsion. + +It was a fortunate cry, for it brought help. The sound of flying feet +was heard, and an instant later a boy of about his own age came rushing +up. + +"What's the matter?" he asked. + +"Look there!" said Harry, hastily. + +"By Jehosophat!" exclaimed the boy, and, advancing toward the snake, he +aimed a blow at his crest with a rough, stout stick which he held in his +hand. + +The blow fell with good effect. The snake had not yet seen his new +adversary, and was taken unawares. The jagged stick tore his skin, and +his head dropped forward, maimed and writhing. + +"Follow it up!" cried Harry, in excitement. "Kill him!" + +"I'll do it!" said the boy, and he sprang forward to renew his attack. + +He found a rock, or, rather, a large stone, close at hand, with which he +bruised the serpent's head and killed him. + +"Ugh, you ugly beast!" he said, in a tone of disgust, miscalling his +victim. But, then, a country boy is hardly expected to be well up in +natural history. + +"Thank you," said Harry, breathing a sigh of relief. + +"Why didn't you kill him yourself?" asked the boy. Then, for the first +time, noticing in the indistinct light Harry's condition, he said, in +surprise: "What's the matter with you?" + +"You see I'm tied." + +"Who tied you?" + +"That's a long story. Just untie me, there's a good fellow, and I'll +tell you." + +The boy whipped out a knife from his pocket and quickly cut the cord. +Harry sprang up and stretched his arms and legs. + +"It seems good to be free once more," he said. "But who tied you?" + +"Two boys that had a spite against me. At least, one had, and the other +was his friend." + +"How long have you been lying there?" + +"Several hours--I can't tell how long." + +"It's a mean trick, anyway." + +"So it is; I should have had to stay here all night if you hadn't come +along." + +"Or if the snake hadn't swallowed you!" Harry shuddered at the mention +of the snake. + +"That was the worst of it," he said. + + + + + CHAPTER XVII. + + WHAT HARRY SAW IN THE WOOD + +"What is your name?" asked Harry. "I don't remember seeing you before." + +"I live on the other side of the wood. My name is Reuben Richardson." + +"Richardson?" + +"Yes; we only moved here two months since, and I haven't had a chance to +get acquainted much. What is your name?" + +"Harry Gilbert." + +"I suppose you live in the village?" + +"Yes. It's lucky for me you came along. There isn't much traveling +through the wood. How did you happen to be here?" + +"I was exploring a little. I was on my way home when I heard you shout. +I guess I must be going now. I have to get up early in the morning, and +so I go to bed early." + +"Well, good-night, Reuben. Come and see me some day. Anybody will tell +you where I live." + +"Thank you. If you ever come our way, stop at the farm and see me." + +"So I will." + +The two boys parted, with friendly good-nights. + +"Reuben seems a nice sort of boy," said Harry to himself, as he threaded +his way through the woods in a homeward direction. "I don't know what +would have happened to me if he hadn't come along." + +The moon was already up, though it was still early, and cast a mild +radiance through the branches of the trees. The effect was fine, but +Harry had no time for enjoying it, as he was in a hurry to get home and +relieve his mother's anxiety. + +He had gone perhaps a quarter of a mile, when he heard voices, +indistinct as yet, of men, who seemed to be approaching. + +Ordinarily he would have kept right on, without fear or suspicion, but +it might have been the experience through which he had just passed that +made him more cautious. + +At any rate, he began to look around to see where he could best conceal +himself till the newcomers passed. + +He caught sight of a tree that seemed easy to climb, and he swung +himself up at once, ascending from limb to limb till he was probably +twenty-five feet above the ground, concealed by the foliage and the +obscurity of night. + +He had not long to wait. + +Presently there emerged from the thicker recesses of the wood two men, +one of whom carried in his hand a tin box of considerable size. + +Harry scrutinized them both, but he only recognized one. That one was a +man named Ralph Temple, generally considered a ne'er-do-well and a +vagabond, who lived in a tumble-down shanty in the edge of the wood. + +"This is the place I was thinking of," said Temple, halting about twenty +feet from the tree in which Harry was concealed. + +"It seems a lonely, out-of-the-way place," said his companion. + +"Yes; no one is likely to see the box here. No one ever comes here. +There is a path through the wood, which is always used by those who pass +through it." + +"And this is off from the path?" + +"Yes." + +"Where do you think it best to hide the box?" + +"Under that tree will be a good place; say ten feet from it, in an +easterly direction." + +"East and west are all alike to me here; I can't tell the difference." + +"I can; and so could you, with a compass." + +"Shall you know the place again?" + +"Yes; do you notice that mark on the bark of the tree? It was struck by +lightning once, but that was all the harm done to it." + +"Good! That will serve to identify it. But why couldn't we have +concealed it nearer your cabin?" + +"I don't want to fall under suspicion," said Temple, shaking his head. + +"Why should you?" + +Ralph Temple laughed a harsh, unpleasant laugh. + +"The good people round here haven't a very good opinion of me," he said. +"They would be very apt to suspect me, if suspicion came this way. No; +it's better to hide the box here." + +"I wish we could sell the bonds at once." + +"Nearly all are registered, and probably the old man has a record of the +rest, so that if we tried to sell them we would be brought up with a +round turn. No; as I told you, the only way is to wait till a reward is +offered, and then open negotiations for their return. Not immediately, +you know. We will keep them long enough to make the owner feel anxious, +and willing to get them back at any cost." + +"I guess you're right. We must be prudent. If we could only get away +with the whole sum it would make us comfortable for a year or two." + +"How much is there?" + +"Well, there are eight thousand dollars in government bonds, and five +Union Pacific bonds of a thousand dollars each. They're safe as +governments." + +"Thirteen thousand dollars!" said Temple, in a tone of gratification. + +"Yes, and more, for the bonds are all at premium. However, we must lay +back for a reward. It won't do to negotiate them." + +While this conversation had been going on Temple indicated the spot +which he thought suitable, and, with a spade which he carried, had +commenced excavating a hole sufficiently large for the purpose. + +He dug to a depth of about eighteen inches, the box being eight inches +in height, and carefully deposited it in the cavity. + +Then both replaced a part of the earth, and carried away the remainder +to the distance of a hundred feet or so. Finally they brought a quantity +of leaves and covered the spot. + +"There," said Temple, with a look of satisfaction; "it's safe enough +now. It'll take a smart detective to find it, I reckon." + +"You're right there, Ralph," said his companion. "It would be a bad sort +of joke if we couldn't find it ourselves," he added, after a pause. + +"I can find it, never you fear!" said Temple. "I know these woods as well +as anybody, and shan't forget the spot." + +"All the same, I wish I had some of that money now. I'm almost dead +broke." + +"So am I; but I can let you have enough to get back to the city." + +"And suppose," said Vernon, with an uneasy look, "you should take a +fancy to remove that box while I am away?" + +"Don't be afraid. Ralph Temple isn't that kind of a man. He'll stand by +his pard and treat him fair." + +"It would be a rough trick to play on me, Ralph," said Vernon, +apparently not quite free from uneasiness. + +"So it would; but there is no danger. Even if I did couldn't you expose +the whole thing, and have me arrested?" + +"So I could," returned Vernon, more reassured by this consideration than +by his faith in Temple's fair dealing. + +"Well, if you're all ready, we may as well vanish. You can stay with me +to-night, and go to the city in the morning. Watch the papers, and see +if there is anything that promises advantage to us." + +"All right." + +The two men moved off, much to Harry's relief. He was in momentary dread +of a sneeze, and this would betray his whereabouts to Temple and his +partner. + +What these two desperate men would have done to him, had they discovered +him, it was not easy to guess; but, under the influence of vexation and +alarm, they might have brought upon him worse trouble than any he had +yet experienced. + +Such, indeed, was likely, from what he knew of Ralph Temple. He was +generally considered a disreputable character, and the villagers were +ignorant as to how he made his living. + +From time to time he came to the village store provided with money; but +where it came from no one knew, as he was not known to do anything, +except to roam the fields and woods with his gun. Sometimes he +disappeared for a week or a fortnight at a time, but where he went, +unless to the city, no one knew. + +Harry conjectured, from what he had just seen, that Temple was in league +with wicked men in the city, with whom he was engaged in violations of +the law, and in this surmise he was correct. + +He understood a little better now Ralph Temple's object in selecting as +his abode this lonely and out-of-the-way place. + +Harry did not venture to descend from his elevated perch until the two +men had ample time to get beyond sight and hearing. + +When he touched the ground, he first scanned the tree and its vicinity +carefully, so as to make sure he could find it again, and then hurried +home. + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII + + HARRY'S COMMISSION + +It may be well imagined that Harry was in a thrill of excitement as he +walked home. He had just witnessed what was undoubtedly an attempt to +conceal the proceeds of a burglary. He, and he alone, outside of the +guilty parties, knew where the booty was deposited, and he asked himself +what was his duty under the circumstances. + +Of course he had no sympathy with Temple and Vernon. They had made +themselves the enemies of society, and he was in duty bound to defeat +their criminal plans, if possible, and restore the property to its legal +owner or owners. + +Here a difficulty stared him in the face. He didn't know to whom the tin +box and its contents belonged, for not a word had been dropped by the +two thieves which could inform him. They had made up their minds, +however, to wait till a reward should be offered, and then come forward +and claim it, or, at any rate, open negotiations through others looking +to that result. + +Why could not Harry learn, in like manner, who had been robbed, and +communicate with them? This seemed to him the most sensible course. + +Here, again, there was another difficulty. In the little country village +he was not in a position to see any such notice, for they took no daily +paper, and, though Mr. Mead did, his inquiry for it would excite +curiosity and lead to questionings. It seemed necessary for him to go to +New York. + +"Shall I tell mother, or not?" he asked himself. + +On the whole, he thought it better not to do so. So far as he was +concerned, his mother was timid, and she would be anxious lest he should +incur the hostility of the two lawless men of whose crime he had come +into the knowledge. Yet he wanted to consult somebody, for he felt that +the matter was one of no little importance, and that he needed a man's +counsel. + +"I'll speak to Uncle Obed about it," he said to himself. "He isn't used +to cities, to be sure, but he has had a long life, and must have +considerable experience. At any rate, he will be better qualified than I +to know what ought to be done." + +He had scarcely come to this conclusion before he reached the cottage. + +His mother, with a troubled expression of countenance, was sitting at +the table, not sewing or mending, as usual, but with her hands clasped +in her lap, while near her sat Uncle Obed, also looking sober. + +"I am sure something has happened to Harry," she had just been saying. +"I never knew him to stay out so long without telling me." + +"Boys will be boys," answered the old man, not knowing what else to say. +"He's gone off on some lark with some of his playmates." + +"But he never does that without telling me, Mr. Wilkins. He's always so +considerate." + +"He'll be coming home safe and sound, depend upon it," said Uncle Obed, +with a confidence greater than he actually felt. + +"Perhaps he has fallen from a tree--he was always fond of climbing--and +broken his leg," suggested Mrs. Gilbert, dolefully. + +"He's too smart for that," said Uncle Obed. + +"What should I do if he never came home?" exclaimed the poor woman, with +a shudder. + +Mr. Wilkins was hardly prepared to answer this question, and, luckily, +it was not necessary, for just then the latch was lifted and Harry +walked in. + +"Didn't I tell you so?" said Uncle Obed, triumphantly. + +"Oh, Harry, I'm so glad to see you! Where have you been so long?" + +"It's lucky you came just as you did," said Mr. Wilkins. "Your mother +had made up her mind that you had met with an accident." + +"I wanted to come home, but I couldn't," answered Harry. "I was in the +woods." + +"Lost your way?" asked Uncle Obed. + +"Not exactly. Two boys played a trick upon me." + +Of course Harry had to explain what sort of a trick it was. Mrs. Gilbert +was very indignant, and denounced Philip and his confederate in no +sparing terms. + +"You ought to go and complain to Colonel Ross," she said. "Philip ought +not to be allowed to do such things." + +Harry smiled. He had no idea of following this advice. It would have +been an acknowledgment of weakness, and he felt able to defend himself +against Philip Ross and his machinations. + +"Mother," he said, "I've got very particular reasons for not doing this, +and for not even mentioning that I was in the wood. Now, I want you to +promise me not to say a word about it, for a week at least." + +"But if I see Philip," said his mother, "I can't keep silent." + +"You must, for my sake, mother. You don't know how much depends upon +it." + +"I don't understand," said Mrs. Gilbert, thoroughly bewildered. + +"No, I suppose not; but I have a strong reason that I can't mention just +yet." + +"I hope there's nothing wrong going on," said his mother, alarmed. + +"If there is, it isn't anything that I'm to blame for. Only there's a +secret that I can't tell just yet. You'll know it in good time. I want +to consult Uncle Obed to-night about it, and you won't mind if I don't +tell you just yet?" + +"Give the boy his way, ma'am," said Mr. Wilkins. "If there is anything +very bad about it he wouldn't tell me." + +His mother was somewhat reassured, and left the two to themselves. Then +Harry began and told his story. Mr. Wilkins listened with attention, and +not without surprise. + +"Really, Harry, it's quite an adventure, I call it," he said. "Do you +know this man Temple?" + +"I know that he's a sort of tramp. I didn't suppose he was a thief +before." + +"You never saw this other man before?" + +"No; never heard of him." + +"They're a pair of rascals, I reckon. Now, what have you thought of +doing?" + +"Of going to New York to-morrow to find out what I can about the +burglary, or whatever else it was. If I can find out who has been +robbed, I'll go and tell them about it, and where the bonds are hid." + +Uncle Obed nodded approvingly. + +"That's a good idea," he said. + +"What puzzles me," continued Harry, "is how to explain to mother why I +go to the city. I can't tell her, and she'll feel nervous." + +"I can manage that," said Mr. Wilkins. "I'll tell her you have gone on +business for me." + +"But will it be true?" asked Harry. + +"Yes; I've got some cowpons"--that's the way the old man pronounced the +word--"that you can get the money for." + +"Shall I have any difficulty about it, Uncle Obed?" + +"No; you can go to a broker, and he'll give you the money for it, taking +out his commission. How much does it cost to go to New York?" + +"The price of an excursion ticket is a dollar." + +The old man took from his pocket a two-dollar bill. + +"There," said he; "that'll pay your ticket and get you some dinner." + +"But, Uncle Obed, you ought not to pay my expenses." + +"Why not? Ain't you going on my business?" + +"I'm going principally on my own," said Harry. + +"Well," replied the old man, smiling, "then you must take it because I +am your uncle." + +"I know I call you so." + +"You seem a good deal more kin to me than Philip. He's ashamed of his +old uncle, and so is his mother; but you are not. + +"No, no, Harry; it's all right. I ain't exactly poor, but I'd rather my +niece would think so. So don't you say anything to them about the +cowpons." + +"I'm not likely to, Uncle Obed." + +The old man went up to his room and brought down ninety dollars' worth +of government coupons, which, as gold was then ruling at a dollar and +twenty, would bring about a hundred and eight dollars in currency. + +Mrs. Gilbert was much surprised when Harry told her that he intended to +go to New York the next day on business for Uncle Obed; but, of course, +had no idea that he had still more important business of his own. + + + + + CHAPTER XIX + + SECOND VISIT TO THE WOOD + +There was an early train from the neighboring village of Crampton to New +York. Harry got up early, and walked the first part of the way through +the fields to a point where the footpath struck the main road, +three-quarters of a mile from the village. + +In this way it happened that he was not seen by any of his companions, +and his day's expedition was kept a secret. + +Just after breakfast James Congreve received a call at the hotel from +Philip. + +"Our friend in the wood must be hungry by this time," said James. + +"Ho, ho!" laughed Philip, in evident enjoyment. "It's a splendid joke." + +"I fancy he doesn't think so," said Congreve, shrugging his shoulders. + +"Of course he doesn't. He must have been fully scared, staying there all +night." + +"He doesn't strike me as a boy who would easily be frightened," + +"At any rate, he must be hungry," said Philip, in a tone of +satisfaction. "I guess he'll find it doesn't pay to insult me." + +"Well, he's had enough of it; we'll go and release him." + +"What for?" + +"You don't want him to stay there all day, do you?" demanded Congreve. + +"It wouldn't do him any harm," muttered Philip. + +"What a mean fellow you are, Philip! You ought to be satisfied with +keeping him there all night." + +"I wish you wouldn't call me names," said Philip, pettishly. + +"Don't deserve them, then. Well, are you coming with me?' + +"I don't know; it's a good ways," said Philip, hesitating. + +"Just as you like. I am going. I told the boy I would, and I mean to +keep my promise." + +And James Congreve stepped off the piazza and started. + +"Oh, well, I'll go, too. I want to see how he looks," said Philip, and +began to laugh. + +"Take care how you laugh at him there, Phil, or he may pitch into you." + +"You won't let him, will you, James?" said Philip, apprehensively. + +"I thought you were a match for him," said Congreve, with an amused +smile. + +"So I am, but he might take me unawares. He'll be so mad, you know." + +"I'll protect you," said Congreve. "Come along." + +Both boys would have liked to learn whether Harry had been missed at +home, and what was thought of his disappearance; but there seemed to be +no one to ask, and, for obvious reasons, they did not care to show any +curiosity on the subject. + +"I'd like to meet Mr. Wilkins," said Philip. "He boards there, you know, +and he might say something about it." + +"Mr. Wilkins is your uncle, isn't he?" + +"He's a distant relation of ma's," said Philip, reluctantly. "We don't +know much about him." + +"I suppose he's poor?" suggested Congreve, drily. + +"Oh, dear, yes! He was a farmer or something out in Illinois. He probably +pays a dollar or two a week board at Gilberts'. They're dreadfully poor, +you know. I shouldn't be surprised if all hands were in the poorhouse +before the year is out." + +"Your uncle and all?" + +"He isn't my uncle!" said Philip, snappishly. + +"Relative, then. You wouldn't want a relative in the poorhouse?" + +"Pa offered to pay his expenses back to Illinois, but the old fellow was +obstinate and wouldn't go. I expect he's hanging round here in hopes of +getting something out of pa and ma; but it's no use, as he'll find out +sooner or later." + +"Strange he went to board with the Gilberts, isn't it?" + +"Oh, it's a good enough place for a rusty old chap like him. He ain't +used to living in any style. Ma says he's half crazy." + +By this time they had reached the borders of the wood, and soon they +came to the place where Harry had been left bound. + +"Why, he isn't here!" exclaimed Philip, in surprise and disappointment. + +"So it appears." + +"How could he have got away?" + +James Congreve, bending over, searched carefully, and at length got some +light on the subject. + +"Somebody cut the cords," he said. "Look here--and here!" and he pointed +out fragments of the strong cord with which the captive had been bound. + +"That's so. Do you think he did it himself?" asked Philip, +disappointed. + +"No; he was too securely tied. I took care of that. Somebody came along +and released him." + +"I hope he had to stay all night, at any rate," said Philip. + +"That we cannot discover at present. One thing is certain--he's free." + +"I'm sorry I came," muttered Philip. "I have had this long walk for +nothing." + +"You haven't had the satisfaction of releasing him, I suppose, you +mean?" + +"No, I don't. I wanted to see how he looked. It's too bad he got away." + +"There's nothing for it but to go back," said Congreve. "You'd better +look out for him. He may want to pay you off." + +"He'd better not try it," said Philip, but he seemed uneasy at the +thought. + +On their way back they passed, unconsciously, near the place where the +tin box was concealed. + +Hovering near the spot was Ralph Temple, uneasy for the safety of the +buried treasure. + +He eyed the two young fellows with suspicion. They had no guns in their +hands, and he could not understand what object they had in coming to +this out-of-the-way place so early in the morning. + +"What are you about here?" he demanded, roughly. + +Philip was frightened and turned pale; but James Congreve only surveyed +the man curiously, and said: + +"Is that any business of yours, my friend?" + +"You'll find out whether it's any business of mine," returned Temple, +angrily. + +"That's precisely what I would like to find out," said Congreve, coolly. +"You accost us as if you were the owner of the wood, which, I take it, +you are not." + +"Do you want me to wring your neck, young man?" said Temple, with a +growl. + +"Oh, don't make him angry, James!" begged Philip, nervously, laying his +hand on Congreve's arm. + +James--who certainly was not a coward--surveyed his companion +contemptuously. + +"Much obliged to you for your kind offer," said he, addressing Temple, +"but I must decline it." + +"You've got too long a tongue, young man!" said Temple, provoked by the +other's coolness. "I've a mind to teach you a lesson." + +"When I want one I will let you know," said Congreve, changing his tone +and manner and regarding the other scornfully. + +"Meanwhile, my man, I advise you not to drink so early in the morning. +It doesn't improve your naturally bad manners." + +With a muttered exclamation Ralph Temple sprang forward, prepared to +handle Congreve roughly, as he was quite able to do, being much his +superior in size and strength, but, with his hand nearly touching the +shoulder of the young man, recoiled, as Congreve drew out a revolver and +pointed it at him. + +"One step further and I fire!" he said, in a calm, collected tone, while +Philip stood by, as pale as a sheet. + +"Confusion!" exclaimed the ruffian, in mingled amazement and dismay. +"Who are you, anyway?" + +"My name is James Congreve, at your service," said the owner of that +name, bowing. "I regret that I haven't a card about me." + +"You're a cool customer!" muttered Temple, surveying Congreve +curiously. + +"So people tell me. You'll find me at the hotel in the village, if you +have any further business with me." + +Congreve nodded carelessly and left the spot--Phil, in a very nervous +condition, keeping himself somewhat in advance. + +"He's a cool chap," muttered the ruffian. "But it's clear he knows +nothing of our affair. I was a fool to make a fuss. It might lead to +suspicion." + +"What a dreadful man!" said Philip, as the two were walking away. + +"Do you know him?" + +"His name is Ralph Temple. He's a kind of tramp." + +"He's an impertinent fellow, at any rate. It's well I had my revolver +with me." + +They walked back to the village, momentarily expecting to see or hear +something of Harry Gilbert; but neither then nor later in the day was +their curiosity gratified. + + + + + CHAPTER XX + + ON THE WAY TO NEW YORK + +Harry stepped on board the train without seeing any one whom he knew, +and took a seat on the right-hand side. Just in front of him was an +elderly farmer, with a face well browned by exposure to the sun and +wind. He had a kindly face, and looked sociable. It was not long before +he addressed our young hero. + +"Going to New York?" he asked. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Are you acquainted there?" + +"No, sir; not much." + +"Nor I. I was thinking you might be able to direct me to a place where I +could get money for some cowpons." + +"Government coupons?" inquired Harry, becoming interested. + +"Yes. You see, my wife's uncle died not long ago, and left Sarah a +government bond of a thousand dollars, drawing six per cent interest. +There's thirty dollars due the first of this month, and I told Sarah +that I'd go and collect it for her." + +"I've got some business of that same kind," said Harry. "I was told +there were brokers' offices in Wall Street, where I could collect the +money without any trouble." + +"I'll go with you," said the farmer, in a tone of satisfaction. "If +he'll buy yours, he'll buy mine." + +"I shall be glad to have your company," said Harry, politely. + +It flattered his vanity that a man old enough to be his grandfather was +disposed to be guided by him in a matter of such importance. + +Just then a smooth voice was heard from the seat behind. + +"Gentlemen," said a young man, showily dressed and with a profusion of +rings on his fingers, "excuse my interrupting you, but I may be able to +save you some trouble." + +They naturally waited for an explanation of these words. + +"I overheard you saying that you had some coupons to dispose of." + +"Yes," replied the farmer, eagerly. + +"I am myself a banker and broker, and deal in government securities. If +the amount is not too large, I will buy your coupons and pay for them at +once." + +"That will be handy," said the farmer. "I've got thirty dollars in +cowpons." + +"And you, my young friend?" said the so-called broker, addressing +Harry. + +"I have rather more than that," said Harry, in a reserved tone. + +Somehow, he was suspicious of the plausible stranger. + +"I will pay you a higher price than most houses, besides saving you all +the trouble," said the broker, insinuatingly, as he drew out a capacious +wallet, and, opening it, exhibited a pile of bills. + +The farmer immediately drew out his coupon. + +"Let me see," said the broker; "thirty dollars, gold at the present +premium comes to thirty-six dollars." + +"Thirty-six dollars!" repeated the farmer, complacently. "Sarah'll feel +rich when she gets that money." + +"Here's your money," said the broker, producing three ten-dollar bills, +a five and a one. "The bills are new, you perceive." + +The farmer put away the bills in his old wallet, and the stranger +slipped the coupon carelessly into his vest pocket. + +"Now, my young friend, I am ready to attend to your matter," he said, +turning to Harry. + +"I won't trouble you," said Harry, coldly; "I prefer to dispose of the +coupons in the city." + +"Just as you like; but you would do better to deal with me." + +"Why?" asked Harry. + +"In the city they will allow you but a hundred and nineteen for gold." + +"How is it you can afford to do better by me?" asked Harry, shrewdly. + +"Our house makes a point of dealing liberally with their customers," +said the broker. + +"What is the name of your firm?" + +"Chase & Atkins," answered the other glibly. "I am a relative of Salmon +Chase, ex-secretary of the treasury, and, since, chief justice of the +Supreme Court." + +"You don't say!" ejaculated the farmer. "Salmon Chase is a great man." + +"So he is. Thank you, sir, for your appreciation of my distinguished +relative. Of course, it doesn't make me any better to be related to that +great man, but I am naturally proud of it." + +"Hadn't you better sell your coupons to him?" asked the farmer, who was +quite prepossessed in favor of the gentlemanly stranger. + +"No, sir; I was instructed to sell in Wall Street, and I prefer to do +so." + +"Oh, just as you please," said Mr. Chase. "You will lose by it, but +that's your affair. Good-morning, gentlemen. I have a friend in the next +car." + +So saying, he bowed, and left the car. + +"Well, my business was easily done," said the farmer. + +"Will you allow me to look at the bills he gave you?" asked Harry. + +"Sartain! Why?" and the farmer drew out his wallet. + +Harry took one of the bills in his hand and examined it carefully, but +he was not an expert, and could not judge whether it was good or not. + +"Don't you think it's good?" asked the farmer, uneasily. + +"I presume it is; but I didn't like the looks of the man you had +dealings with." + +"He is of good family," said the farmer. + +"He says he is," responded Harry, significantly, "and I hope it's all +right. We'll wait till the conductor comes along, and ask him about the +bills." + +Fifteen minutes elapsed, however, before that official made his rounds, +and during that time the train stopped at two stations. At one of these +Harry's suspicions were increased by seeing that Mr. Chase got out. + +At last the conductor appeared, and Harry passed him the bill. + +"Is that bill good?" he asked. + +The conductor held it up to the light, and shook his head. + +"No," he said; "it's one of a quantity of counterfeits that has lately +made its appearance. Where did you get it?" + +"It belongs to me," said the farmer, his honest countenance exhibiting +much distress. "I took it in payment for some cowpons." + +"Who gave it to you?" + +An explanation was given. + +"I noticed the man," said the conductor. "He is a well-known swindler. +Have you got any more?" + +The others were exhibited. Out of them all the conductor declared that +only the one-dollar bill was genuine. + +Probably it had not been thought worth while to counterfeit a bill of so +low a denomination. + +"Oh, what'll Sarah say?" ejaculated the distressed farmer. "What a +tarnal fool I've been! She wanted me to buy her a nice dress out of it, +and I've only got a dollar left!" + +"Perhaps the man may be caught," suggested Harry. + +"I don't believe it. Simon Jones, you ain't fit to go around alone. +You're as green as--as--a gooseberry!" + +Harry pitied him, but was unable to offer any adequate consolation. + +"Will you give me your name and address?" he said. "And, if I can hear +anything of your coupons, or the man that swindled you, I'll write and +let you know." + +"Will you? I'm obleeged to you," said the farmer, who had formed quite a +high idea of our hero's sagacity from his declining the trap into which +he himself had fallen. "My name is Simon Jones, of Crabtree Hollow, +Connecticut." + +Harry entered it in a little memorandum book which he carried. + +At length the great city was reached, and the crowd of passengers +dispersed in different directions. + +It was over a year since Harry had been in the city, and he was not very +familiar with it, but he had a modest confidence in his ability to get +along. + +"Shine yer boots, guv'nor?" asked a ragged bootblack. + +"How much?" Harry asked. "Seein' it's you, I'll only ask ten cents," +returned the street boy. + +"Thank you. I blacked my own boots before I left home." + +"Do you call that a shine?" said the boy, contemptuously, as his glance +rested on Harry's shoes, which certainly did not vie in polish with +those operated upon by city bootblacks. + +"It'll do for me," answered Harry, good-naturedly. + +"Mornin' papers--_Herald, Times, Tribune, World!"_ called a newsboy. + +"Give me a _Herald,"_ said Harry, who suddenly bethought himself of the +tin box, and was anxious to find out whether any allusion was made to +the theft in the morning papers. + +He opened the paper, and his eyes ran hastily over the crowded columns. + + + + + CHAPTER XXI + + A REWARD OFFERED + +Harry looked over the news columns in vain for an account of the +robbery, or some allusion to the tin box which he had seen concealed in +the wood. + +"There may have been something about it in yesterday's paper," he said +to himself. "I must go to the office of publication and buy a copy." + +It occurred to him, however, that there might be an advertisement +offering a reward for its recovery, and he began to search, with this +object in view. + +Presently his eye lighted on the following: + +"Two Hundred and Fifty Dollars Reward. + +"On the fifteenth instant, a Tin Box, containing a considerable sum in +Five-Twenty Government and Union Pacific Bonds, was stolen from the +office of the subscriber. The above sum will be paid for the discovery +of the thief, or for information leading to the recovery of all, or the +larger part, of the bonds. JAMES P. WHEELER, + +"No. 265 Broadway, Room 10." + +I do not claim to have given the correct number, for obvious reasons. Of +course, the address given in the advertisement was accurate. + +Naturally, Harry was much pleased at his easy success. He had only to go +to the office mentioned and communicate what he knew, and leave Mr. +Wheeler to take the necessary steps for the recovery of the property. + +Should he attend first to that, or to the sale of the coupons? On the +whole, he decided to go to Mr. Wheeler's office first, as the tin box +might be removed at any time, if the suspicions of Vernon or Temple +should be excited. + +It was, of course, perfectly easy to find any address on Broadway, and +not many minutes elapsed before Harry found himself before the door of +office No. 10. + +Entering--for the door was ajar--he saw a large, handsomely fitted-up +office, with a small room partitioned off at one corner. + +In this room sat a man of middle age, with a keen face and a brisk air, +which indicated that he was a trained man of business. + +Outside, at a desk, sat a young man, evidently a clerk, who was busily +engaged in writing. It was he who looked up when Harry entered and +looked hesitatingly about. + +"Well, Johnny, what can I do for you?" said the young man, +patronizingly. + +"Is Mr. Wheeler in the office?" + +"Yes; but he is busy." + +"He will see me," said Harry, with quiet confidence. + +"Will he?" asked the young man, surveying our hero with some curiosity. +"Who do you come from?" + +"From no one. I have business of my own with Mr. Wheeler." + +"Who is it?" asked an imperative voice. + +"A boy to see you, sir," answered the clerk, respectfully. + +"Bring him in, then, and don't waste his time and your own in +unnecessary talk." + +"Waste his time, indeed," muttered the clerk, who evidently did not +regard Harry's time as particularly valuable. + +"Well, young man," said the lawyer--for such was his business--as Harry +entered his presence. "What is it?" + +"I should like a private interview, sir," said Harry, glancing at the +clerk, who was hovering near. + +"Shut the door, and resume your writing, Richard," said Mr. Wheeler. + +Shrugging his shoulders, with a disappointed look, Richard obeyed. + +"I came to see you about the advertisement," said Harry, coming to the +point at once. + +The lawyer started, and eyed Harry keenly. Could the boy be one of the +thieves, or was he merely acting as a go-between? + +"Do you know anything about the box of bonds?" asked Mr. Wheeler, +quickly. + +"Yes, sir; I know where it is concealed." + +"Ha, that is important. Do you come from the parties that took them?" + +Harry colored, and looked indignant. + +"No, sir," he answered, with emphasis. + +Mr. Wheeler smiled. + +"I was bringing no charge against you," he said. "I thought the guilty +parties might have employed you as their agent--their innocent agent. +Now, tell me how you come to know anything about the matter." + +This Harry proceeded to do. As the story is already familiar to the +reader, he shall be spared a repetition of it. It is needless to say +that the lawyer listened with earnest attention. + +"This is a curious story," he said, "but I see no reason to question its +accuracy. I certainly hope it is true." + +"It is true, sir." + +"Of course, I imply no doubt of your word. Now, tell me, did you see +distinctly the faces of the two men who were employed in concealing the +box?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Should you know them again?" + +"I should." + +"Did you recognize either?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Indeed!" exclaimed the lawyer, who did not expect an affirmative +answer. "Who was it?" + +"Ralph Temple." + +"How did you know him?" + +"He lives in a poor cabin just on the outskirts of the wood." + +"How long has he lived there?" + +"About two years." + +"What is his reputation?" + +"Very poor. No one knows how he makes his living, though at times he +seems to have plenty of money." + +"Is he absent a part of his time?" + +"Yes, sir; he is sometimes away for a month at a time." + +"Probably he is in league with some criminals in the city, and may have +an object in living where he does." + +"I thought of that, sir." + +"Did you recognize the other man?" the lawyer next asked. + +"No, sir. It was no one I ever saw before; but I noticed his face well, +and should know him again." + +"So far, so good. Can you find or lead others to the place in the wood +where the box was concealed?" + +"Yes, sir; but I don't think they will leave it there long. Something +ought to be done soon." + +"Something shall be done. By the way, have you mentioned what you saw to +any person?" + +"To only one--an old gentleman boarding at my mother's house." + +The lawyer looked annoyed. + +"I am sorry for that. It may be all over the village before you get +back, and, in that case, your information may do no good." + +"Don't be afraid, sir. Obed Wilkins can keep a secret." + +"Obed Wilkins! Does he come from Illinois?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"I know him," said the lawyer, smiling. "In fact, he is a client of +mine. As you say, he can keep a secret. My boy--by the way, what is your +name?" + +"Harry Gilbert." + +"Very well, Harry, your chance of earning the reward offered is very +good." + +"I did not come here with any thought of the reward." + +"Perhaps not; but the owner can very well afford to pay it, and I advise +you to accept it if your information leads to the recovery of the box." + +"Doesn't it belong to you, sir?" + +"Oh, no. It belongs to one of my clients. It disappeared from my office +two days since. The owner is not yet aware of his loss, but I felt +authorized to offer the reward. May I count on your further help?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Then I shall send you at once with a note to a police officer, +requesting two detectives to accompany you back. I shall give them +instructions, and they will probably go back with you to the country." + +"Very well, sir." + +Mr. Wheeler dashed off a few lines, properly addressed them, and handed +them to Harry. + +"Use all dispatch," he said. + +"I will," answered our hero, promptly. + +As he left the inner office, the clerk outside regarded him curiously. +He was surprised at the long interview accorded him, and wondered what +could be his errand. + +As Harry descended the stairs, he jostled a man who was ascending, and +naturally was led to look at him. Harry came near dropping with sheer +surprise. The man he recognized at once as Vernon, one of the men whom +he had seen in the wood. + + + + + CHAPTER XXII + + BROUGHT TO BAY + +Harry felt that matters were getting exciting, and a crisis seemed +imminent. + +"I will hurry as fast as I can," he said. "I suppose he has come about +the tin box, too. I hope he will stay till I get back." + +Vernon, little dreaming that he was recognized by the office boy--as he +took him to be--who had just jostled against him, kept on his way +upstairs. His appearance was that of a well-dressed man, not much over +thirty, who might be filling a responsible business position in the +city. When, therefore, he said to the clerk, "Is Mr. Wheeler in?" he +received a more polite reply than had been accorded to Harry fifteen +minutes before. + +"Mr. Wheeler?" he asked. + +"Yes," said the lawyer, with his usual scrutinizing look. + +"I should like to speak to you in private, sir." + +"Another claimant for the reward," thought the lawyer. + +"Very well," he said. "Have the kindness to close the door." + +Vernon did so. + +"Now," said the lawyer, abruptly, desiring to get through with his +interview before Harry's return from his mission. + +"You advertised for the recovery of a tin box of valuables?" said +Vernon. + +"Yes." + +"I may be able to assist you in the matter," said Vernon. + +"Indeed! Then you know where it is?" said the lawyer, eying him keenly. + +"I didn't say that, did I?" asked Vernon, smiling craftily. + +"No; but you probably know--that is, if your information is of any +value." + +"That isn't at all necessary," said Vernon, coolly. "I may say as much +as this, however that I am employed by those who do know the whereabouts +of the box." + +"Then there was more than one connected with the robbery?" + +"Yes," said Vernon, hesitating. + +He saw that every word was noted, and afforded a basis for inferences. + +"What do your employers authorize you to say?" asked the lawyer, sitting +back in his chair. + +"That they can lay their hands on the bonds at short notice, and are +ready to return them, if it is made worth their while." + +"I suppose you have read my advertisement, Mr.----" + +"Precisely," answered Vernon, not taking the hint and announcing his +name. + +He might do so soon, but resolved not to be precipitate. + +"Then you know what reward we offer." + +"It isn't enough," said Vernon, briefly. + +"Why not? It seems to me that two hundred and fifty dollars is a very +respectable sum of money." + +"I shall charge my clients as much as that for my agency," said Vernon, +"and they naturally want something for their trouble and risk." + +"Do you know how much the box contains?" + +"Yes; my clients have told me." + +"Do they realize that, if they refuse my offer, they will find +considerable trouble in negotiating the bonds?" + +"Yes; but they can do it. There are parties who will advance them much +more than the reward, and take the risk, holding them till such time as +the affair is forgotten." + +"What parties?" + +"Do you suppose I will tell you that, sir?" asked Vernon, cunningly. + +Mr. Wheeler did not, but he was only filling up the time. He had made up +his mind that the man before him was something more than the agent of +the thieves, and he now wished to protract the interview till Harry +should have had time to return with the two detectives. + +"No," he replied, "I can hardly expect you to answer that question. I +should like to ask you, however, whether you have had any conversation +with your clients about the sum they would consider sufficient to repay +them for their 'trouble'?" + +"Yes, sir; that subject has come up between us." + +"Well?" + +"I think, sir, you will have to multiply the reward you offer by ten." + +"Whew!" exclaimed the lawyer, who was not at all surprised, however. +"This is a large sum." + +"It is only about one-sixth the market value of the bonds." + +"I don't think my client would consent to pay so large a sum as that." + +"Then your client must be prepared to lose the whole amount." + +"It appears to me that a thousand dollars would be an adequate, not to +say a handsome, reward." + +"What would it amount to divided among four persons, after paying me my +commission?" + +"Then there were four persons engaged in the theft?" + +"Better say in the removal of the deposits. It sounds better." + +"Call it so, if you like. Doesn't it occur to you that it hardly +required as many as four persons to remove the tin box, weighing with +its contents, not over two pounds?" + +"I suppose one could have lifted it," said Vernon, smiling. + +"True; but do you know it is my theory that two persons were engaged?" + +Vernon started, and scanned his companion's face anxiously. Did he know +anything? That was what he asked himself. + +"You can form any theories you please," he said, with a forced smile. +"They won't alter facts." + +"You are right, Mr.----" + +"You may call me Thompson." + +"Very well, Mr. Thompson." + +By this time a foot was heard upon the stairs. The door opened, and +Harry Gilbert entered. + +He came forward, not appearing to notice the visitor, and placed in Mr. +Wheeler's hand a scrap of paper, on which he had written in pencil: + +"The man with you is one of the robbers. I can identify him. I met him +as I was going out. The two detectives are in the entry. I thought it +best not to bring them in till I had a chance to tell you this." + +Mr. Wheeler's eyes lighted up as he read this scrap, and he looked +approvingly at Harry. + +"Quite right," he said. Then, turning to Vernon, he continued: "I don't +think we can come to terms. I have reason to doubt whether you can carry +out your promise and deliver the property." + +"I suppose this is a bluff game, intended to deceive me," said Vernon, +showing symptoms of anger. "I can assure you that it will do you no +good." + +"I may find out elsewhere the location of the box." + +"Impossible! I, and I alone--that is, outside of the men who employ +me--can give you this information. They will follow my advice, whatever +it is, and I shall advise them not to surrender the box until they +receive an adequate reward." + +"Such as the sum you name?" + +"Yes." + +"Wouldn't two thousand dollars tempt you?" asked the lawyer. + +"I think not. Still, I will consult them. I might advise them to accept +that sum." + +"My dear sir, I don't want to deceive you. I attach very little +importance to your information, or your power in this matter. In fact, I +have a theory as to the place where the box is concealed." + +"Indeed, sir," said Vernon, with a sneer. "May I ask what is your +theory?" + +"Certainly. I think it is concealed near some country town, in a +secluded spot in a wood." + +Vernon jumped to his feet in dismay. He was convinced that his +confederate had got the start of him and made a bargain with the lawyer, +thus anticipating his own treachery, for he had promised Temple that he +would suffer some time to elapse before communicating with anyone on the +subject. + +"Who has been here?" he asked. + +"One who saw you and your confederate bury the box," answered the +lawyer, sternly. + +Without a word, Vernon dashed from the office, only to be seized by the +two detectives, who had come provided with handcuffs. + +"This is an infamous conspiracy!" declared Vernon, furiously. "If Ralph +Temple has betrayed me---- + +"Harry," said the lawyer, "do you recognize this man?" + +Vernon stared in surprise at the supposed office boy. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Where did you see him last?" + +"In Pegan Hill Wood, in the town of Waybridge." + +"What was he doing?" + +"Burying a tin box in a hole which he dug for the purpose." + +"Who was with him?" + +"A man named Ralph Temple." + +"What do you say to this, Mr. Thompson?" asked the lawyer. + +Vernon turned to Harry. + +"Where were you at the time?" he asked. + +"In a tree just overhead," answered Harry, undauntedly. + +"I was a fool not to look more carefully about me," he said. "What is +your name?" + +"Harry Gilbert." + +"Then, Mr. Harry Gilbert, I owe you a debt which, sooner or later, I +shall manage to pay." + +"Take him away," said the lawyer to the detectives, "and then come back +to me for instructions." + + + + + CHAPTER XXIII + + FINDING THE BOX + +"My boy," said the lawyer, turning to Harry, "you have done yourself +credit. A grown man could not have shown more judgment." + +"Thank you, sir," said Harry, pleased at the compliment. + +"But your work is not yet done. As soon as the detectives have returned, +you must go back at once to Waybridge with them, and lead them to the +place where the box is concealed." + +"I am ready, sir," replied Harry. "But," he added, with a sudden thought +of one of his errands, "will there be time for me to go to Wall Street +first?" + +"Why do you want to go to Wall Street?" + +"I have some coupons which I am to sell for Mr. Wilkins." + +"To what amount?" + +"Ninety dollars gold." + +"I will myself give you the money for them, as that will save time. +Should the search for the box be successful, I will take upon me to pay +you the reward as soon as you desire it." + +"Thank you, sir." + +Harry might have declined the reward, but he felt, justly, that he had +rendered a valuable service to the unknown owner of the bonds, and was +entitled to it. + +Presently the detectives came back. + +"Well," said the lawyer. + +"He is safe under lock and key," promptly answered one of them. + +"How did he appear?" + +"Sullen and despondent. He vows vengeance against this boy." + +"Probably he will not be in a position for some years to harm him. And +now I have some instructions to give you." + +Half an hour later Harry and the two detectives were passengers on a +train bound for a town not far from Waybridge. It was a different +railroad, however, from the one on which Harry had come. The choice was +made from a desire to avoid suspicion. + +From a point four miles distant they took a carriage, hired from a +stable, which left them on the opposite side of the wood from the one by +which Harry had previously entered. + +Of course, they could not penetrate the wood with a vehicle, and the +question came up: + +"Who can be got to look after it?" + +Just then Harry saw in a field near-by Reuben Richardson--the boy who +had released him from his bonds. + +"Reuben!" he called out + +Reuben approached, regarding Harry and his companions with surprise. + +"Have you an hour to spare?" asked one of the detectives. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Then please look after this team, and I'll see that you don't lose your +time." + +"All right, sir." + +Then, free from all anxiety, the three made their way into the forest. +The way seemed blind enough to the two detectives, who were, of course, +on unfamiliar ground. + +"Are you sure you can find the place?" asked one of them, doubtfully, +addressing himself to Harry. + +"Sure," answered Harry, briefly. + +"It seems blind." + +"I know the wood well. I have played here from a boy." + +"Where does this Temple live?" asked the second detective. + +"In the edge of the wood." + +"Near here?" + +"No, on the other side of the wood." + +"It is to be hoped he has not grown distrustful and removed the box." + +"I don't think there is any danger of it, sir. Remember, it is only last +night that it was concealed. Besides, he wouldn't dare to attempt it in +the daytime, when he would be liable to be seen." + +"Quite right. You are unusually considerate for a boy." + +Harry did not disappoint his companions. He led the way to the place +where, the night previous, he had seen the tin box secreted, and +instantly pointed out the exact spot where it was concealed. + +The two detectives lost no time in searching for it. They had brought no +shovel with them, lest, being seen, their object might excite suspicion; +but, by means of sticks which they sharpened into stakes with the help +of sharp jackknives, they turned up the earth, and, in due time, +revealed the box. + +"There it is," said Harry, joyfully, for he was also helping, and it was +his stake that struck it first. + +"So it is," exclaimed the first detective, in a tone of satisfaction. + +There was no loss of time in lifting the box from its place of +concealment. Then it was thought best to replace the earth, and +carefully to cover the place with leaves, so as to hide from the +superficial observer the fact that it had been disturbed. + +"Our errand is accomplished," said the second detective. "Now let us +make all haste back to our wagon." + +"I will guide you," said Harry. + +"Do so, or there is no knowing when we shall get back, or whether we +shall get back at all. I once lost my way in a wood, and was wandering +about four good hours, and all within a radius of two miles, before I +got out. It is difficult to keep your direction in a forest, unless you +have a compass." + +So Harry, who had expected it, served as a guide on the return, and +conducted them safely to the wagon. + +Reuben was paid for his service with a dollar bill, which he declared he +should have considered satisfactory for a whole day's labor. + +Harry was about to say good-by to his companions, but they advised him +to ride back with them to a point on the road where he could make his +way to Waybridge without the trouble of passing through the wood, +besides having a less distance to go. + +"What time is it?" he asked. + +"Two o'clock," answered one of the detectives, consulting his watch. + +"Only two o'clock!" + +Harry could scarcely believe it, so much had happened since he got up in +the morning, yet it was even so. It had taken very little time to do his +business in the city, as we know, and almost half the day still lay +before him. + +Harry thought of what he had accomplished with pardonable pride and +satisfaction. He had frustrated the plans of two daring thieves, caused +the arrest of one of them, and the probable speedy arrest of the other, +arranged for the restoration to the owner of a valuable property, and +earned for himself the munificent sum of two hundred and fifty dollars. + +Nothing particular happened on his homeward walk. + +"Got home so soon, Harry?" asked Uncle Obed, as our hero entered the +little cottage. + +"Yes, sir; and here's the money for your coupons." + +"How about that other matter, Harry?" + +"It came out all right. Where's mother?" + +"Gone to call on one of the neighbors." + +"Then I'll tell you about it; but I don't want to say a word to mother +till the whole thing is settled." + + + + + CHAPTER XXIV + + PHILIP IN A TIGHT PLACE + +Ralph Temple was still at his cottage, or, more properly, hut, waiting +impatiently for Vernon to reappear, that he might obtain his share of +the contents of the tin box. + +He had led a lawless life, and more than once been engaged in dishonest +transactions, but never in one of such magnitude as the present. He +calculated that, even if they surrendered the box in consideration of a +reward, he would not receive less than a thousand dollars, and he was +planning how he would dispose of this sum. + +This was the project which he fixed upon: For years he had been desirous +of visiting California, in the hope that chances of getting rich, +honestly or dishonestly, might be met with in a State whose very name +was suggestive of gold. With a thousand dollars he would feel justified +in going. Moreover, there would be an advantage in leaving a part of the +country where he was an object of suspicion to the authorities, and was +liable at any time to be arrested for complicity in more than one +questionable transaction. + +In his lonely hut he knew nothing of the developments in the last +robbery--whether any reward had been offered as yet. This was +necessarily left in the hands of Vernon, while he remained to guard the +hidden treasure. + +A state of suspense is all the harder to bear when a man has nothing +else to divert his thoughts, and this was the case with Temple. + +"What if the box should be discovered?" was the thought that haunted +him. + +Finally, though he had once before visited the hiding-place of the tin +box, he decided to go again, and started at such a time that he arrived +about an hour after Harry and the detectives had unearthed and removed +it. + +Meanwhile, it becomes necessary to state that Philip Ross, whose +curiosity was excited by the continued absence of Harry, made up his +mind once more to visit the wood to see if he could discover any traces +of his victim. + +"He's hiding in the wood so as to make an excitement," thought Philip. +"He'll make a great fuss about what we did to him." + +In fact, Philip was getting a little anxious about the results of his +high-handed treatment of Harry. He was not sure but Harry might have him +arrested, and this excited his fears. He admitted to himself, +reluctantly, that tying a boy hand and foot, and leaving him all night +in the forest, was rather more than a joke. + +He called at the hotel for Congreve, but was told that he had gone to +ride. + +After a little hesitation, he decided to go to the wood alone, carrying +with him, by way of precaution, a stout cane which belonged to his +father, to defend himself with in case Harry should be lying in wait and +make an attack upon him. + +On his way he had occasion to pass by the locality of the hidden +treasure, though, of course, he knew nothing about this. + +Just at the spot he heard a tramping in the fallen leaves, and, looking +up hastily, saw Ralph Temple approaching. + +Now, Temple, as we know, was a man of questionable reputation, and, +moreover, once already he and Congreve had had an angry altercation with +him. It is not much wonder, therefore, that Philip's heart beat with +fear at the prospect of meeting this man alone, so far from help. + +He could not get away without attracting attention, and, therefore, as +the best thing under the circumstances, hid himself behind the broad +trunk of a stately oak tree, and in fear and trembling waited for the +unwelcome intruder to depart. + +Ralph came along, with a quick, swinging gait. He was a tall man, of +strong frame, and an unprepossessing countenance appropriate enough to +his character and reputation. + +His first glance was directed toward the spot where he had helped bury +the box upon which his future plans depended. + +There was something that startled him in the evident displacement of the +leaves, as if there had been others there since the morning. + +"Can it have been taken?" he asked himself, with a thrill of anxiety. + +He strode forward hurriedly, and, removing the leaves, discovered signs +of recent disturbance. Most suspicious of all, he found one of the +stakes, the end soiled with dirt, which had been used by the +detectives. + +With a beating heart and a muttered imprecation, he began to dig down to +ascertain whether his apprehensions were justified. + +Philip, peering from behind the tree, was very much alarmed by this +incomprehensible proceeding. + +What could the man be doing? Was he insane? He blamed his folly in +seeking again this dangerous neighborhood after the encounter of the +morning. + +"Oh, if I were only safe at home," he mentally ejaculated; "or, if +Congreve were with me. If he discovers me he may kill me." + +He thought of running away, but in the silence of the forest his steps +would undoubtedly be heard, and he would be pursued. So it seemed most +prudent to stay where he was. In fear and trembling he continued to +watch the dreadful outlaw. + +It was not long before Temple made the unwelcome discovery, suspected +from the first, that the box was gone. He desisted from his work and +gave vent to such a volley of imprecations that Philip trembled as if he +had an ague fit. + +Could it be, Temple asked himself, that Vernon had proved false to him, +and, returning, conveyed away the box for his own individual profit? + +"If he has, I'll kill him," he muttered, in a deep, growling tone. + +Philip heard him, and his heart beat fast with fear. Who did Temple want +to kill? Was it himself or Congreve? + +"I'd give a thousand dollars, if I had it, to be at home," thought the +miserable boy. + +As for Temple, he was no less miserable. All his hopes and anticipations +were dashed. The disappearance of the tin box, whoever might have +removed it, would render it impossible to carry out plans of Californian +emigration with which he had been solacing himself all the morning. Such +a big haul as the present might never be made again. + +His first suspicion fell upon his partner, but he also thought of the +two whom he had met in the forenoon in the wood. They had been +suspiciously near the spot, and might be implicated in the loss. It +didn't seem probable, but it was possible. + +At this inauspicious moment Philip, yielding to a tickling in the throat +which he couldn't overcome, coughed. It was not a loud cough, but Temple +heard it. + +He instantly started for the quarter from which the sound proceeded, and +in a few seconds discovered and dragged Philip by the collar from behind +the tree. + +"What are you doing here?" he demanded, sternly. + +"Nothing," answered Philip, trembling. + +"Ha! You are one of the boys that I caught prowling round here this +morning." + +"I have as much right here as you," said Philip, plucking up a little +courage. + +"Have you? We'll see about that," snarled Temple. "Where's the other +fellow?" + +"He isn't here." + +"Isn't here? I don't believe it. He's hiding somewhere near." + +"Then you can find him," said Philip, sullenly. + +"No matter! I've got you, you rascal!" And he shook Philip fiercely. +"What villainous work have you been up to?" + +"I don't know what you mean," said Philip, his teeth chattering. "I am +the son of Colonel Ross, and he won't allow me to be treated this way." + +"I'd treat him the same way if I caught him here," growled Temple, with +a lack of reverence for the colonel's exalted position, which struck +Philip with horror. "Now, tell me what you have done with the tin box, +you young scoundrel!" + +"The tin box!" ejaculated Philip, in genuine amazement. + +"Yes, the tin box. You know well enough what I mean." + +"I don't know anything of any tin box; indeed, I don't." + +"Do you mean to say you didn't dig it up from the place where we put +it?" + +"No; indeed I didn't! I don't know anything about it. What was in it?" + +Was this ignorance real or affected? Temple could not tell. What was +certain was that the box was gone, and this boy was hovering about the +spot. It would be folly to let him go. + +"I don't believe you," he said, bluntly. "You must come with me." + +And he began to drag Philip off in the direction of his hut. + +"Oh, where are you taking me?" asked the frightened boy. + +"You'll know soon enough. I'm going to keep you till the tin box is +restored to me." + +Poor Philip! As he was jerked along by his collar, in the stern grasp of +the outlaw, he suffered a good deal more than Harry had in his recent +captivity. + + + + + CHAPTER XXV + + PHILIP BECOMES A PRISONER + +"Please let me go, and I'll give you five dollars," said poor Philip, as +he was dragged along the forest path by his captor. + +"Humph!" said Temple, grimly, thinking he might as well take the money, +though he had no intention of releasing Philip. "Have you got five +dollars with you?" + +"No." + +"Then you are trying to fool me," exclaimed Temple, with an angry jerk +at the boy's collar. + +"No, I'm not," answered Philip, terrified. "I've got two dollars with +me, and I'll bring you the rest before night. + +"Where will you get it?" + +"From my father." + +"And I suppose you expect me to let you go home and get it?" + +"If you please." + +"But I don't please. You must think I'm a fool. Just as if you would +come back if you had once got away!" + +"But I will. I promise it on my word of honor." + +"Your word of honor," repeated Temple, scornfully. "As if I didn't know +what that amounts to." + +Philip would have resented this imputation if he had dared, but there +was a look of grim resolution about Temple's mouth which made him afraid +to show any resentment. + +"Besides," added Temple, "what do you think I care for five dollars? +After you have stolen thousands of dollars from me, you dare to think I +will let you off for five dollars." + +There was something in this speech which, despite Philip's terror, +attracted his attention. Temple spoke of being robbed of thousands of +dollars, yet he was generally considered a poor outlaw. How could he +have come into possession of so large a sum? + +"Thousands of dollars!" repeated Philip, in undisguised amazement. + +"Yes; what have you got to say about it?" demanded Temple, sharply. + +"I thought you were poor," Philip couldn't help saying. + +Temple paused a moment. He knew that the possession of so much money +would excite surprise in others besides Philip, and he regretted his +imprudence in speaking of thousands of dollars. As it was done, he must +give some kind of an explanation. + +"So I was poor; but a rich cousin in New York died lately, and left me a +large legacy. Not having any safe to put it in," he added, with a grim +smile, "I concealed it in the wood, thinking it would be safe. When I +saw you and that friend of yours prowling around this morning, it +crossed my mind that it was in danger; but I didn't think you were +thieves." + +"We are not," said Philip. "We know nothing about your tin box." + +"That's all very well to say. What were you doing in the wood just +now?" + +"I only went there for a walk." + +"Of course," said Temple, with a sneer. "It's a pleasant place for a +walk, and handy to your house." + +"I hope to die if I ain't telling the truth!" said Philip, desperately. + +"You'll die when your time comes, and it may come sooner than you think +for," said Temple, taking a malicious pleasure in seeing Philip turn +pale and tremble in his grasp. + +"You wouldn't kill me?" faltered Philip. + +"I don't know what I shall do. If you tell me where the box is, I +shan't." + +"But I don't know--hope to die if I do." + +"Who was that fellow with you?" demanded Temple, abruptly. + +"James Congreve." + +"Where does he come from?" + +"From New York." + +"If you haven't stolen the box, he has. It lies between you." + +"James wouldn't steal it. He is a gentleman." + +"So gentlemen don't steal?" sneered Temple. "I am not sure about that. I +know one thing. I've lost the box, and one of you has got it." + +It occurred to Temple that it was more likely to be Congreve, who was +older and bolder than the boy he had captured, but he was not disposed +to let Philip go, nevertheless. + +Again Philip denied the charge, but this time Temple did not answer. + +At length they reached the hut, and entered. + +Now came the critical moment. What was this bad man going to do with +him? Philip asked himself. + +He was dragged into the hut, and then, for the first time, his captor +relaxed his grip. + +"Sit down there," he said, pointing to a wooden chair, from which the +paint had all worn off. + +Philip sat down. + +"Now, if you dare to stir or try to escape I'll kill you," said Temple, +coolly. + +"What a blood-thirsty ruffian!" Philip thought, trembling. + +Temple opened the door of a closet, which was filled with a variety of +articles, including a small supply of kitchen utensils. + +He took out a case-knife, to the horror of poor Philip, who concluded he +was to be butchered in cold blood. Still, he did not dare to leave his +seat, lest his jailer's threat should be carried into execution. He was +happily undeceived, however, for from the floor of the closet Temple +lifted a portion of a clothesline, and with some difficulty, for the +knife was dull, cut off a portion. Then he turned to Philip. + +"I can't stay here to stand guard over you, boy," he said, "but I don't +mean that you shall get away in a hurry. I think I have found a way to +prevent your escaping." + +He approached the boy, and said: + +"Hold out your hands." + +"What are you going to do to me, Mr. Temple?" asked Philip, nervously. + +"Tie you," answered his captor, sententiously. "What do you suppose +ropes are made for?" + +"Please don't tie me," said Philip, in dismay. "I won't run away." + +"No, I don't think you will. Hold out your hands." + +There was no help for it. Philip, much against his will, held out his +hands, and they were tied tightly around the wrists, so that the +stricture was painful. + +"It hurts me," he complained. + +"It would hurt your neck worse," replied Temple. + +Philip understood what he meant, and turned pale. But a ray of hope came +to him in his despondency. Even if his hands were tied he might escape, +and he resolved to do so as soon as Temple was at a safe distance. + +His hands being tied would not prevent his walking or running, and once +out of the wood he would feel comparatively safe. + +He reckoned without his host, however; or, rather, he reckoned without +knowing the intentions of his captor. + +"There," said Temple, when the boy's hands were tied, "so far so good! +Now for your feet!" + +Hope died once more in Philip's breast. He might escape with his hands +tied, but with his feet tied it was quite another matter. In vain he +protested against this second indignity. His jailor was not to be +moved. + +"You may as well spare your breath, boy," he said. "I ain't quite a +fool. I'm not going to leave you free to get away as soon as my back is +turned." + +So Philip's feet were tied, too, and he realized how utterly helpless he +was. + +"There, you can amuse yourself now as much as you like," said Temple, +with a humor that Philip did not by any means appreciate. "You'll have a +nice, easy time, with nothing to do." + +He turned and left the hut, relieving Philip of his presence, which was +one comfort, but did not go very far. + +As my readers will conclude, Philip began to work his wrists up and +down, vainly endeavoring to unloose the rope, but only succeeded in +hurting himself. Next he tried his feet, but they, also, were securely +confined. + +It was a righteous retribution for the trick he had played on Harry +Gilbert. He was being paid off in his own coin. Though his conscience +was not particularly sensitive, it did occur to him that he was in +precisely the same condition as the boy whom he and Congreve had left +alone in the dark wood, fully expecting that he would have to remain all +night. + +But even then he could not be said to feel deep regret for his unworthy +act. He was sensible of the inconvenience to which he was subjected by +his constrained position, and began to chafe and fret under it. + +"I wonder how long he's going to leave me here?" thought Philip, though, +in truth, he hardly knew whether he wanted Temple to return or not. + +"Just as soon as I get away, I'll ask pa to have him arrested. I +wouldn't mind seeing him hung." + +An hour passed--about the longest hour Philip had ever known. At length +his eager ears discerned steps outside the hut. It might be a friend! At +any rate, he would call, and perhaps the call would bring rescue. + +"Hello, there!" he called out. "Come in; I need help!" + + + + + CHAPTER XXVI + + PHILIP IS FORCED TO APOLOGIZE + +There were two persons outside, one of whom was our hero, Harry Gilbert. +The other, though dressed in citizen's clothes, was an officer, who had +been sent to arrest Temple, on a charge of being implicated with Vernon +in the robbery of the tin box. + +Harry at once recognized the voice of Philip, and it is needless to say +that he was filled with genuine surprise. + +"That must be Philip Ross," he said, in a low voice, to the officer. + +"Who is Philip Ross?" + +Harry gave a few words of explanation. He did not, however, mention the +mean trick which Philip had played on him. + +"He is not a friend of Temple?" asked the officer. + +"Oh, no! He must have got into some trouble with Temple. Please stay +here, and let me go in and see what is the matter. I have a reason for +wishing him to think I am alone, just at first." + +"Just as you say," returned the officer. "I take it for granted Temple +isn't here, or the boy wouldn't have called. Suppose the man comes +back?" + +"Let him come in, and you can follow. Between us, I guess we can make +him a prisoner." + +"You have plenty of courage," said the officer. "Are you not afraid to +have him come in upon you?" + +"Not while you are near to help me," answered Harry. "In that cabin we +could pen him up." + +"That's true. Well, go in to your friend." + +"A queer sort of a friend Philip is," thought Harry, but he did not +object to the title. + +Opening the cabin door, which Temple had closed, Harry regarded Philip +with amazement. He could hardly believe the testimony of his eyes when +he saw his enemy, tied hand and foot, very much as he had been the night +before. + +"What's the matter, Philip?" he asked. "What has happened to you?" + +"Can't you see for yourself," demanded Philip, querulously. "I'm tied so +tight I can't move." + +"Who did it?" + +"That thief, Temple! I should like to wring his neck!" said Philip, +spitefully. + +Though Harry was not a vindictive boy, it did strike him as appropriate +that Philip should have a chance to see for himself how it seemed to be +bound. Deferring the gratification of his curiosity, he inquired: + +"How do you like it?" + +"How do I like it?" echoed Philip, furiously. "Don't ask such absurd +questions, but come and untie me." + +"Wait a minute," said Harry. "Perhaps you have forgotten that this is +the way you and Congreve served me only last night. I suppose you +thought it a good joke. Well, Ralph Temple has played the same joke on +you." + +"Joke!" repeated Philip. "He'll find out what kind of a joke it is when +my father has him put in jail." + +"Do you think he deserves to be put in jail just for that?" + +"Yes, I do." + +"Then it seems to me that you and your friend Congreve deserve the same +punishment for what you did to me." + +"It's entirely different; but stop talking and come and untie me." + +"You didn't untie me. You left me to pass the night in the forest +alone." + +Philip eyed Harry attentively, and it struck him that perhaps it would +be better to drop his haughty and domineering tone and temporize a +little, if he wanted a rescue. He could afterward treat Harry as he +pleased. + +"I didn't think you'd make so much of a little matter like that," he +said. "It was a mistake. I didn't mean you to stay all night. Congreve +promised to go back and untie you. Didn't he do it?" + +"No," answered Harry, dryly. + +"Then he broke his promise. Just untie me, that's a good fellow, and +I'll make it up to you. I've got two dollars in my pocket, and you may +have them if you'll get me out of this scrape. Be quick, for Temple may +be coming back, and he may kill us both." + +"I don't want your two dollars, Philip," said Harry. "I am ready to +release you without that----" + +"Quick, then; that's a good fellow." + +"Hear me out. I was going to say, on one condition." + +"What is it?" asked Philip, impatiently. + +"That you will beg my pardon for the trick you played on me," said +Harry, quietly. + +"What! I beg your pardon?" exclaimed Philip, haughtily. + +"That is what I said." + +"Do you think I would demean myself by asking anybody's pardon?" +demanded Philip, his pride getting the better of his prudence. + +"That is exactly what I expect, Philip Ross. If I had played such a mean +trick on any one, I should think it no more than right to do just that +thing." + +"No," said Philip, stubbornly; "I won't do that, but I will give you the +two dollars." + +"I don't want your two dollars," returned Harry, contemptuously. + +Two dollars was not so large a sum in his eyes as it would have been the +day previous, for in the last twenty-four hours he had earned, and was +confident of receiving, a reward of two hundred and fifty dollars. +Still, even if this had not been the case, he would have disdained to +sell his assistance to Philip. + +"The money will do you a great deal more good than my asking your +pardon," argued Philip. + +"No, it won't. I am not very much in need of money, but I won't help a +boy who has acted toward me as you have, unless you will apologize." + +"Don't be a fool! Come and help me, and the money will be yours." + +"It is no use, Philip; my mind is made up. Will you apologize?" + +"No." + +"Then, good-day! Give my respects to Mr. Temple when he returns." + +So saying, Harry turned to leave the cabin, and Philip's heart sank in +dismay as he saw the only one from whom he could hope for help leaving +his presence. + +"Hold on!" he called out. "I'll give you five dollars! I haven't got it +with me, but I can get it from my father. I'll hand it to you +to-morrow." + +Philip hated to humble his pride, and he would rather have paid five +dollars, even if it came out of his own pocket, than submit to such a +humiliation. + +"Good-by, Philip," said Harry, resolutely. + +"Are you really going to leave me? That's mean." + +"You know the condition on which I'll help you." + +"I'll give you ten dollars!" exclaimed Philip, desperately. + +"Not a cent! I won't take a cent from you! Either I will help you or +leave you here, but no money shall pass between us." + +There was a calm resolution in Harry's tone which at last convinced +Philip that he was in earnest. + +"What do you want me to say?" he asked, sullenly. + +"That you are sorry for the mean trick you played on me, and ask my +pardon." + +"All right. Now untie me." + +"You haven't said it." + +"It's the same thing." + +"I don't consider it so." + +"Well, tell me what you want, then," said Philip, querulously. + +"Repeat after me: 'I am sorry for the mean trick I played on you, and I +beg your pardon.'" + +Philip was perforce obliged to do as Harry required, and he repeated the +words, though with a very bad grace. + +"That will do," said Harry. "Now I am satisfied." + +He felt for his knife, but did not have it with him. + +He therefore knelt down, and set to work to untie the knots in the +rope. + +He succeeded at last, but not without considerable difficulty and the +expenditure of not a little time. At last he loosened the last knot, and +said: + +"Now you are free." + +Philip jumped to his feet--for these were the last to be released--with +an exclamation of satisfaction. + +"Thank goodness!" he cried; "now I am free, and can leave this miserable +hut!" + +He looked up, and his hopefulness was succeeded by quick dismay. + +There, in the doorway, scowling at the two boys, was the master of the +cabin. + + + + + CHAPTER XXVII + + THE ARREST + +Philip's face changed suddenly, and he uttered an exclamation of dismay. +He really believed that his life was in danger. + +"There he is!" he ejaculated, his eyes nearly starting out of his head. + +Harry turned, and his glance, too, fell on the menacing face of the +outlaw. But his face did not reflect the terror so plainly to be seen on +Philip's. It should be remembered, however--for I do not wish to give +our hero more credit than he really deserves for his courage--that he +knew help was near at hand, and Philip didn't. + +Ralph Temple didn't speak at first. Then he looked from Philip to Harry, +and demanded, savagely: + +"Who released that boy?" + +"I did," answered Harry, undaunted. + +"How dared you do it!" again demanded Temple, in the same tone. + +"I thought he must be uncomfortable." + +Temple looked at him as if puzzled to account for his cool courage. It +was evident that here was a boy who would not be easily scared. + +"Did you know that I tied him?" asked Temple, fiercely. + +"Yes." + +"And yet you dared to untie him?" + +"Certainly. You had no business to tie him." + +"What! you dare say this to my face?" + +"Why shouldn't I? What did you tie him for?" + +"Didn't he tell you?" + +"No." + +"Then I will, though it's none of your business. He stole my property." + +"Did you do that, Philip?" asked Harry, who was not yet aware of +Temple's suspicion. + +"No; I hope to die. I did not!" answered Philip, solemnly. + +"What does he say that you stole?" continued Harry. + +"He says I stole a tin box, containing some bonds or something." + +"I begin to understand," thought Harry. "Philip is suffering for what I +have done. I must free him, if I can. + +"Was the box in the cabin?" he asked, not considering it prudent to +betray all that he knew. + +"No; it was buried in the earth, out in the woods," said Philip. + +"That's true," said Temple, with an oath. "It was all the property I +had." + +"It's a queer place to keep articles of value," said Harry, looking +steadily at Temple. + +"I shall keep my own property where I please," said Temple, doggedly. +"You don't suppose I'd keep it here in this hut. It wouldn't be safe for +twenty-four hours." + +"Did you see Philip take it?" continued Harry, assuming, unconsciously, +the tone of a judge or advocate. + +"No; but I saw him prowling round near-by, and the earth had been +disturbed. As for the tin box, that was gone, and he stays here till it +is found." + +As he spoke he approached Philip, to tie him anew. + +"Oh, please don't tie me again, Mr. Temple!" pleaded the terrified boy. +"Indeed, I didn't carry off your tin box. I didn't know you had any." + +"Perhaps the box dug itself up and walked off," said Temple, with +withering sarcasm. "You must think I am a fool. Somebody dug it up, and +knows where it is now." + +"It wasn't me." + +"At any rate, it won't do any harm to tie you up until I find out more +about it." + +Temple picked up the rope which Harry had thrown on the floor, and was +about to repeat his work, when Philip exclaimed, partly from the +instinct of self-preservation, partly to gratify his mean spite against +Harry: + +"I shouldn't wonder if Harry Gilbert carried it off himself. He was +prowling about the wood yesterday." + +Harry could hardly believe his ears. This boy who accused him was the +one he had just released from his bonds. + +He looked at Philip, his face expressing the contempt he felt. + +"I suppose this is to pay me for untying you?" he said. + +"I can't help it; I am sure you did it," persisted Philip, thinking what +a fine thing it would be for Harry to change places with him. "I am +rich, and I have no need to steal. You are poor, and, I dare say, would +like to get hold of Mr. Temple's bonds." + +Temple paused a moment, and then said: + +"The boy may be right. I'll tie both of you. One of you knows something +about it, or I'm mistaken." + +Philip's face fell. He had hoped to get free himself. It would be some +satisfaction for him to see the boy he hated in the same plight, but +still he would rather go free. + +"Tie him first," he said. + +It occurred to him that while Harry was being tied he might slip away. + +"I know my own business best, youngster," said Temple. + +And he made Philip sit down again in the chair from which he had been +released. + +"Don't you dare leave the cabin, unless you want to be brought back," he +said to Harry. "Your turn will come next." + +Harry did not answer, but coughed. It was the signal agreed upon between +him and the officer outside. + +Temple was on his knees beside Philip's chair, tying the boy, with his +back toward the door. He listened to hear whether our hero made any +attempt to escape, being prepared to pursue and bring him back by +force. + +He heard a slight motion, and looked around quickly. + +There in the doorway stood a stranger, quietly covering him with a +revolver. + +Temple jumped to his feet, in surprise and alarm. + +"Who are you?" he demanded. + +"I am an officer of the law, Ralph Temple, and I call upon you to +surrender," said the stranger, coolly. + +"An officer? I don't believe it. Where is your uniform?" + +"I had my reasons for not wearing it. Do you surrender?" + +"Why should I? What do you want of me?" asked the outlaw, uneasily. + +"I want you for the theft of a tin box of bonds, taken from an office in +New York." + +"I know nothing about it," said Temple, hastily. + +"That is too late! I have heard you charge that boy with stealing it +from you. You admitted that you had concealed it in the wood." + +"That was my own property. I have been robbed of it." + +"You will have a chance to prove that in a court of law." + +"I'll do that, if you'll let me alone." + +"I have orders to arrest you." + +"Then you'll have to show that you are a stronger man than I!" exclaimed +Temple, with an oath, and he prepared to dash forward. + +"Stay where you are, or I fire!" said the officer, sternly. + +Temple looked in his eyes, and saw that he was dealing with a man of +resolution. He knew something of faces, and he saw that this man would +be as good as his word. + +"What do you want of me?" he said, sullenly. + +"You must go with me." + +"Lead on, then. I'll follow." + +"I must adopt a little prudential measure first, Harry, take these +handcuffs." + +Harry stepped forward and received them from the officer. + +"Hold out your hands"--this was said to Temple--"and let this boy put on +the handcuffs." + +"I'll kill him before I'll allow him to do it!" exclaimed Temple, +violently. + +"I don't think you will, or even make the attempt," said the officer, +quietly. "You forget that I hold your life in my hands," and he made a +slight motion with the revolver. + +"You wouldn't dare to shoot?" + +"If you should prove to be mistaken, it would be a serious mistake," +said the officer, quietly. + +It was his very quietness and freedom from excitement that daunted +Temple. + +"You'll repent this!" he said. "You've got the whip hand on me now, but +the time will come when I'll get even with you." + +"I have been threatened before," said the officer, briefly. "Harry, do +what I told you." + +Temple sullenly held out his wrists, and Harry put on the handcuffs. + +"Now, follow me!" + +They went out of the cabin, Philip following. He tried to be social with +Harry, but our hero had not forgotten his mean attempt to throw +suspicion upon him, after a service received at his hands, and received +his advances very coldly. + + + + + CHAPTER XXVIII + + MR. CHASE IS BROUGHT TO JUSTICE + +Temple's manner was sullen as he walked beside Harry and the officer, +handcuffed. He overcame his sullenness, after a while, so far as to +inquire: + +"How came you to suspect me of this robbery?" + +"Your friend Vernon has confessed it," answered the officer. "You may as +well know, for it will do no harm." + +"So he betrayed me?" said Temple, bitterly. + +"He had no choice. He was trapped himself." + +"Where is he now?" + +"In prison, awaiting trial." + +Temple looked better satisfied. He had suspected Vernon of turning +State's evidence and betraying him. + +"But how was he found out?" he asked, after a pause. + +"The night you hid the tin box in the wood, there was some one who saw +all that passed." + +"Who was that?" asked Temple, eagerly. + +"You will know in due time." + +"Where are you taking me now?" + +"To the county jail." + +"Where is the tin box?" + +"In the hands of the man from whom you stole it, There, I have answered +your questions, and have no more to say." + +"What do you think will be done with me?" asked Temple, anxiously. + +The officer shrugged his shoulders. + +"Gentlemen of your profession," he said, "are generally well informed on +that point. If found guilty, you will be boarded at the expense of the +county for a term of years." + +"Curse the luck!" uttered Temple, savagely, and then was silent. + +Philip had left them, and was on his way home, glad to get out of his +predicament, but more incensed than ever against Harry for the +mortification he had put upon him in compelling him to beg his pardon. + +"I'll get even with him, see if I don't," he muttered. + +When Harry and the officer had lodged their prisoner in jail, the latter +said: + +"I nearly forgot to tell you that Mr. Wheeler wishes you to call at his +office to-morrow." + +"In the morning?" + +"As you please." + +"I think I will go up by the morning train," said Harry, after a little +reflection. + +"Then you will be likely to meet me on the train. I shall be a +passenger." + +"I will look for you. I shall be glad to have company." + +"By the way, that was very creditable work of yours, ferreting out the +bond robbers." + +"I was lucky, that is all," answered Harry, modestly. + +"Partly so, but you have showed excellent judgment throughout, and +personal bravery." + +"Don't flatter me, Mr. Pry. You may make me conceited." + +"You ought to be one of us." + +"I don't think I should like it," said Harry, slowly. + +"Perhaps not, but you're fitted for it, for all that. Well, good-day. I +shall see you to-morrow." + +"You are getting to be an important business man, Harry," said Uncle +Obed, when our hero announced that he had a summons to the city next +day. + +"What is it all about, Harry?" asked his mother, rather puzzled. + +"Let the boy explain in his own good time, Mrs. Gilbert," said the old +man. "I know he isn't in any mischief." + +"I may be able to tell you to-morrow evening, mother. It will be +something that will surprise you." + +"I suppose it is all right, Harry, as Mr. Wilkins says so." + +"Yes, mother, I can assure you of that." + +In due time Harry boarded the morning train. He looked through the cars +till he found Mr. Pry, the detective, and took a seat beside him. + +It was not long before his attention was called to a smooth, plausible +voice, proceeding from a person who sat two seats in advance of the one +he occupied. + +"My dear sir, if it will be any accommodation to you, I will myself buy +your bond, and pay you the market price." + +There was something in the voice, and in the words, that attracted +Harry's attention and excited his suspicions. + +"Excuse me a moment," he said to the detective, and, passing through the +aisle, reached a point where he could look back at the speaker. + +He knew him at once, not only by his face, but by the profusion of rings +upon his fingers. It was the same man that had cheated the poor farmer +by giving him counterfeit money in payment for his coupons. + +If, however, he had any doubt, it was set at rest by what followed. + +"I don't know," said his seat companion, an industrious mechanic; +"perhaps I'd better wait, and sell it in the city." + +"As you please, my friend," said the young man. "I only made the +proposal thinking I might accommodate you." + +"Is that your business--buying bonds?" asked the mechanic. + +"In the city, yes. I am a member of the well-known firm of Chase & +Atkins. Of course, you have heard of them." + +"Ye-es," answered the mechanic, doubtfully. + +"I am Mr. Chase. We do a general banking and brokerage business. Let me +see, what is the denomination of your bond?" + +"Eh?" + +"I mean, of what size? Is it a fifty, or a hundred?" + +"It's only a fifty, sir. It was a present to my wife. Now she wants to +use a little money, and so she has got me to sell it." + +"We give rather higher prices than most brokers," said Chase, smoothly. + +"How can you do that?" asked the mechanic, who was a man of good common +sense. + +"Well, you see, we ship 'em to Europe, and make a handsome profit. It +would be for your advantage to sell to me; but you must act your own +will." + +The mechanic began to think more favorably of the proposal, and asked +one or two more questions. Finally he said: + +"Well, I don't know but I might as well. Have you got money enough with +you?" + +Chase took out a plethoric pocketbook, stuffed with bills, and called +attention to it, smilingly: + +"We bankers always have to be well provided with money." + +The mechanic looked respectfully at the owner of so much money. + +"I dare say it's more than I could earn in a year," he said. + +"I dare say you are right, my friend," said the young man. + +"Very well. Count out the money, and the bond is yours." + +The exchange was made, and both parties seemed well satisfied. + +Chase deposited the bond in an inside pocket and then, saying, +carelessly, "I'll go into the smoking car for a few minutes," rose from +his seat. + +But in the meantime Harry had returned to his own seat, and whispered a +few words in the ear of the detective. + +The latter sharply scrutinized the young man who called himself Chase, +and said, in a low voice: + +"I know him now. He's an old offender. I thought there was something +familiar in his appearance. I'll look after you, my fine fellow." + +He waited till the exchange had been effected, and the young man was on +the point of leaving the car. + +Then he rose, and, hurrying forward, placed his hand on the young man's +shoulder. + +"A word with you, sir," he said. + +"Really, sir, I don't remember you." + +"Perhaps not. I remember you. Do me the favor to return that bond to the +man from whom you obtained it." + +"It is mine. I have paid for it." + +"With counterfeit money." + +"Do you mean to insult me?" demanded Chase; but there was a sudden +pallor on his face and a tremor in his voice. + +"That will do, Jimmy Neal. I told you I knew you. That is an old trick +of yours." + +"Who are you?" asked the detected swindler, in a faltering voice. + +"Pry, the detective." + +"Will you let me go if I restore this bond?" + +"No; there is another case I must inquire into--that of a farmer from +whom you bought some coupons a day or two since, paying him in the same +worthless rags. Sit down here," pointing to a vacant seat. "You may +consider yourself under arrest." + +Great was the consternation of the mechanic when he learned how nearly +he had been swindled, and profuse were his thanks to Harry and the +officer. + +"Be more prudent the next time," said the latter, "and don't sell bonds +to a stranger in the cars again." + +We may as well add that the traveling broker was duly tried, and +sentenced to a term in State's prison, and that enough good money was +found on him to repay the farmer for the coupons he had imprudently +parted with. + +Greatly to his satisfaction, Harry was intrusted with the office of +acquainting Simon Jones with the pleasant fact that his money would be +restored to him. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIX + + HARRY BECOMES A "BONDHOLDER." + +When Harry entered the office of Mr. Wheeler, the lawyer was engaged +with a client. He nodded pleasantly to our hero, and said: + +"I shall be at leisure very soon. You will find the morning paper on +that table." + +When his interview with the client was over, he beckoned to Harry to +approach. + +"Well," he said, "thanks to your good management, we have triumphantly +succeeded. The stolen property is recovered, and the thieves are in +custody." + +"It was not so much good management as good luck," said Harry. + +"Partly both; but, however that may be, the owner of the property +authorizes me to make a substantial acknowledgment for the service you +have rendered him. Let me see--the reward offered was two hundred and +fifty dollars." + +"That's too much, sir." + +"The gentleman who gives it does not think so. Indeed, he authorizes me +to somewhat exceed it. In this envelope"--here the lawyer produced a +large-size package--"you will find two one-hundred-dollar government +bonds and one fifty. The value of the three, at present prices, is +nearer three hundred dollars than two hundred and fifty. I need not +caution you to take good care of them." + +"Are they for me?" asked Harry, his cheeks flushing with pleasure. + +"Yes; they are six per cent. bonds, and will bring you fifteen dollars a +year in interest--not quite enough to live upon," the lawyer added, with +a smile, "but something to add to your income." + +"I can hardly realize that I am worth so much money," said Harry, as he +took the package and put it into his inside coat pocket. + +"Have you a watch?" asked Mr. Wheeler. + +"No, sir," replied Harry, in surprise. + +"I thought not; and I, therefore, ask you to accept one as a gift, not +from my client, but from me." + +He produced a handsome silver watch, manufactured at Waltham, with a +silver chain attached. + +Now, Harry had long wanted a watch, but the prospect of obtaining one +before he was of age had seemed very remote. At the moment, I think, the +present of the watch gratified him as much as that of the bonds, though +the latter were ten times as valuable. + +"It is beautiful," he said; "but, Mr. Wheeler, why should you give me a +present? The bonds were not yours." + +"That is true, but they were under my charge, and I should have been +seriously troubled had they not been recovered. Take the watch, my boy, +and I hope it will please you as much to receive it as it does me to +give it." + +"Thank you, sir," said Harry, warmly. "It seems to me there is no end to +my good fortune." + +"Continue to deserve it, my boy, and I think it will continue. I must +bid you good-morning now, as I have another appointment." + +"Good-morning, sir, and thank you." + +"By the way," the lawyer added, "I shall bear you in mind, and, should I +have any work which I think you can do, I will send for you." + +"I shall be glad to serve you in any way, sir." + +So saying, Harry left the office. He was so much in a hurry to show his +present at home that, though it was still early, he decided to take the +next train, which would bring him home about noon. + +His mother and Mr. Wilkins had just seated themselves at the dinner +table when Harry entered. + +"What! home already, Harry?" asked his mother, in surprise. + +"I judge from your tone, mother, that you haven't got enough dinner for +me," said Harry, gayly. + +"If that's the case, I'll eat a little less," said Uncle Obed. "But why +didn't you stay longer?" + +"Because I got through with my business, and thought I might as well +come home," answered Harry. + +By this time his mother's eyes happened to fall on the silver chain +displayed across his vest. + +"What is that, Harry?" she asked. + +Harry drew out the watch, with pardonable pride. + +"Where did you get it?" asked his mother, in amazement. + +"A lawyer in New York gave it to me." + +"But what lawyer do you know, my son?" asked his mother, more and more +bewildered. + +"That isn't all, mother. Look at that!" + +Harry drew out the package of bonds, and displayed them to his +astonished mother. + +She at once concluded that he had found them. + +"They are not yours, Harry," she said. "If you found them, you must +restore them to the owner." + +"So I will, Mrs. Gilbert. I give these bonds to you, and recommend you +to take good care of them." + +"What does all this mean, Harry? You cannot give away what does not +belong to you." + +Harry felt that it was time to explain, and he did so. It was necessary +to begin with the account of Philip's treatment of him in the wood. + +Mrs. Gilbert was very indignant, and she spoke warmly. + +"It was shameful!" she said. "To leave you there alone in the dark wood, +tied hand and foot! The boy ought to be served in the same way +himself!" + +"Wait till I get through my story, mother," he said, "and perhaps you +will find that Philip got into a little trouble of his own." + +So he continued his story, and told, finally, of how he found Philip +Ross bound, and trembling for his life, in the cabin of Ralph Temple. + +"Served him right," said Mrs. Gilbert, satisfactorily. + +"As things have turned out, I can afford to overlook his past meanness. +He has suffered punishment, though not at my hands." + +"If I had known that you were mixed up with burglars, I should have felt +very anxious, Harry." + +"I know it, and that is why I didn't tell you. However, all's well that +ends well. The tin box is found, the robbers are caught, and I have a +rich mother." + +As he spoke, he put the bonds into his mother's hands. + +"But, Harry, they are yours. I cannot accept them." + +"Take care of them, at any rate, mother, and use the interest. I shall +like it better than to keep them myself." + +"You are a good boy, Harry," said Uncle Obed. "I like to see boys think +considerable of their mothers. And now, if you are both ready for +dinner, I am." + +"Excuse me, Mr. Wilkins. I was so intent upon Harry's story that I am +afraid the dinner is cold." + +They sat down to dinner, and the meal was a very happy one, even if the +dishes were somewhat cold. Harry's good luck put them all in fine +spirits. + +After dinner Harry went out into the village, in the direction of the +store. + +I suspect he wanted to show his watch, as most boys do when for the +first time they become the proud possessor of one. + +On the way he met Philip Ross and James Congreve. The latter he had not +seen since they parted in the wood. + +"There's our young captive, Philip," said Congreve. + +"He's got a watch. At any rate, I see a watch chain," said Philip, whose +curiosity was excited. + +"Hello!" called out Congreve, as they met; "where did you get that +watch?" + +"I don't see wherein my having a watch should concern you; but I do +know, after the contemptible treatment I received at your hands +yesterday, your questions deserve no notice from me. But, as matters +turned out so well, I can afford to swallow my indignation." + +"It was rather a mean trick, leaving you bound in the wood," said +Congreve, candidly. "I wouldn't have done it, except to oblige Philip." + +"Has he told you how he liked being tied himself?" + +Congreve looked, in surprise, at Philip. The latter had not chosen to +say anything about his own adventure in Temple's hut. + +When Harry told the story, not omitting to mention that he had compelled +Philip to beg his pardon before he released him, Congreve burst into +hearty laughter, while Philip stood by, angry and ashamed. + +"That's the best joke I ever heard," said Congreve. "I wish I had been +there to see." + +"I thought you were my friend," said Philip, indignantly. + +"I laugh at my friends sometimes," said Congreve. "What a splendid +joke!" + +Philip didn't see it in that light, and was so mortified that he didn't +give Congreve an opportunity to ask further about the watch, but +hurriedly moved on. All the remainder of the afternoon he passed in a +sullen frame of mind. + + + + + CHAPTER XXX + + CONGREVE'S SCHEME + +James Congreve was a dangerous companion for Philip. He was utterly +unscrupulous, but took care to keep up a semblance of propriety, in +order not to terrify the boy whom he was leading into mischief. + +They had commenced playing cards for amusement--at least, that was +Congreve's pretext--but it had led to playing for a stake. + +Occasionally, when the stake was small, Congreve allowed Philip to win; +but, when more than a dollar was staked on the game, he generally +managed to win himself. + +Of course, Philip did not know that he was a victim, and that his chosen +friend, Congreve, was a skillful sharper, who had practiced his art on +Western steamboats, and was sure to get the better of him. + +Why had he remained in this country village so long? Surely, it didn't +pay him to fleece one victim, and that one a boy. + +I can give the explanation. + +He had been leading a fast life for a year back, and a physician whom he +consulted had recommended country air and quiet for the summer. + +"Unless you follow my directions, Mr. Congreve," he said, "I won't +answer for your life. You have been going at too quick a pace +altogether." + +James was sensible enough to follow this advice, and that is why we find +him a guest at the quiet village hotel. + +The physician's advice proved to be good. His wasted energies were +recuperated, his thin cheeks filled out and showed a healthy color, his +appetite improved, and he felt himself again. + +When the first week in September arrived, he felt that he was well +enough to go back to the city, to more congenial scenes. He was heartily +tired of the country, and anxious to get away. Only one thing remained +to be done, and that was to collect what Philip owed him. + +"I can't wait any longer," he said to himself. "I must compel the boy to +pay up. It will liquidate my hotel bill and leave me something over. I +can't let the thing stand any longer." + +Soon after he had come to this conclusion, Philip entered his friend's +chamber. + +"How are you, Phil?" said Congreve, carelessly. + +"All right!" + +"By the way, I've got some news for you." + +"What is it?" + +"I'm going away." + +"Going away? Where?" + +"Back to the city first. I have an urgent summons from my friends +there." + +"How soon do you go?" + +"That depends upon you." + +"Upon me? I don't understand!" said Philip, puzzled. + +"You ought to. As soon as you have paid me what you owe me. I need it to +enable me to settle up at the hotel." + +Philip turned pale. It was just what he had worried over many a +time--this terrible debt, which he felt utterly unable to liquidate. + +"How much is it?" he asked, nervously. + +"How much? Really, I haven't reckoned it up yet; but I will," said +Congreve, carelessly. + +He took out his wallet, and drew out a variety of papers, to which +Philip's signature was attached. + +Then he sat down at a table, took a pencil from his pocket, set the +different sums on paper, and added them up deliberately. All this was +humbug, for he had added it up before Philip came in, and knew to a +dollar how much it amounted to. Philip stood by, feeling miserably +uncomfortable, while the reckoning went on. + +"Really," said Congreve, looking up at length, in assumed surprise, "I +had no idea it amounted to so much!" + +"How much does it come to?" questioned his wretched dupe. + +"One hundred and thirty-six dollars," was the calm response. + +"A hundred and thirty-six dollars!" gasped Philip. + +"Yes; surprising, isn't it? Little sums count up, you know. However, +we've had some fun out of it, haven't we?" + +"I don't see where the fun comes in," said Philip, bitterly. "Of course, +it's fun for you to win so much." + +"You won some of the time, Phil. Think how many games we have had, and +how exciting it was. You play a good deal better game than you did." + +"But I have lost a big pile of money." + +"Oh, yes. Experience costs money, you know. You'll get it all back, and +more, too, some day." + +"How can I, when you are going away?" + +"I don't mean out of me. I suppose my game is better than yours. I mean +out of somebody else." + +Philip was silent. The hope held out did not seem to comfort him much. + +"When will you pay me that money, Phil?" asked Congreve, abruptly. + +"When? I'm sure I don't know. I haven't any money, you know." + +"That won't do. It isn't satisfactory," said Congreve, assuming a +sternness he had never before exhibited toward his friend. + +"What do you mean?" asked Philip, half frightened, half offended. + +"I mean that I need the money, and must have it." + +"I'd pay it to you if I had it, but I haven't." + +"You must get it." + +"How can I? My father won't give it to me." + +"Listen to me. I am in earnest. I want to ask you a question. Suppose +you had won, wouldn't you have expected me to pay you?" + +"Why, yes, I suppose so." + +"Well, it's a poor rule that doesn't work both ways. I tell you, Phil, I +need that money. I need it to pay my hotel bill." + +"Was that what you depended upon to pay your bills?" asked Philip, with +awakening suspicion. "I thought you had plenty of money." + +This was what Congreve had represented to his dupe, but the question by +no means disconcerted him. + +"Of course," he said; "but a man can't always command his resources. I +have sent in two different directions for money, but they have put me +off, so I have to fall back on you." + +"I'd like to pay the money, and get it off my mind," said Philip, +uncomfortably, "but the fact of it is I can't." + +"This is a debt of honor. Gentlemen always pay their debts of honor. It +takes precedence of all other claims." + +"I have no other claims. That is all I owe to anybody." + +"Well, when can you let me have the money?" + +"I am sure I don't know," returned Philip, sullenly. "I didn't expect +you were going to press me so." + +James Congreve saw that Philip had reached the point which he desired. + +"I press you because I have to," he said. "I have already told you how +you can settle the claim." + +"How?" asked Philip, uneasily. + +He could guess, for there had been conversation on that point before. + +"You know what I mean. Get hold of some of your father's government +bonds," said Congreve, insinuatingly. + +"I don't want to become a thief." + +"Pooh! Isn't he your father, and ain't you an only son? Won't it all be +yours sometime?" + +"Yes, but----" + +"Oh, don't bother with buts! That makes all the difference in the +world." + +"I couldn't do it without being suspected," objected Philip, with whom +this was the principal consideration. + +"Yes, you can. You'll give the bonds to me, and I will dispose of them. +If you could get hold of two hundred-dollar bonds, I would give you the +balance, after deducting the amount of my debt." + +"But I am sure to be suspected." + +"Unless you throw the suspicion upon some one else." + +"How can I?" + +"There's your friend, Harry Gilbert----" + +"He isn't my friend." + +"Well, your enemy, then. So much the better. You can say you saw him +prowling round the house. If you could get him arrested, it would be a +satisfaction, even if he wasn't convicted." + +"That's true. I should like to get even with him." + +"So you can. You can throw suspicion on him, and get off free yourself. +It will be a splendid revenge." + +Philip began to think favorably of the scheme, arid before he left the +hotel had agreed to it. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXI + + THE TEMPTER + +Philip was far from being a model boy--as we have seen, he didn't shrink +from meanness--but it was not without reluctance that he assented to +James Congreve's proposal. He did not feel that abhorrence of theft that +a better principled boy would have done, but the thought of resorting to +it gave him a sense of humiliation. Besides, the fear of detection +inspired in him a certain uneasy feeling. In fact, he retraced his +steps, and sought Congreve in his room again. + +"What! back again?" asked James, in surprise. + +"Yes," replied Philip. "I've changed my mind. I don't want to do what +you proposed to me." + +"Don't want to do it?" repeated Congreve, frowning. "What nonsense is +this?" + +"No nonsense at all," retorted Philip, not liking his friend's tone. "I +don't want to be a thief." + +"You won't be. It's all in the family, you know." + +"What if it is? Father won't take that view of it." + +"That won't matter to you." + +"Why not?" + +"Because he won't know you took the bonds. You're not going to tell +him." + +"He may find out." + +"Look here, Phil. You're the biggest coward I ever met!" + +"If you think so, suppose you do it yourself," said Philip. "That'll +show whether you are a coward or not." + +"That's absurd. It wouldn't be in the family then. The bonds don't +belong to my father. There wouldn't be any excuse for me." + +"You want me to do what you are unwilling to do." + +"You already explained why. Besides, I've no object in taking them. As +for you, why they are part yours already; and, besides, you need the +money you can raise out of them to pay your debts." + +"I haven't any debts, except to you." + +"So much the better for you," answered Congreve, coolly. "You won't have +any one to pay except me." + +"I wish I'd never made your acquaintance," said poor Philip. + +"Very complimentary, upon my word!" replied Congreve, with a sneer. "It +strikes me that you have got as much pleasure out of the acquaintance as +I." + +"I haven't got you into my debt." + +"It isn't my fault if I am a better player at cards than you. However, +that's neither here nor there. I don't propose to play any more with +you. I ought not to have let you run up such a score. Just pay that off, +and I won't trouble you any more." + +"I've told you I can't pay you." + +"Except in one way, and that way is an easy enough one. Listen to +reason, Phil," he said, dropping his sneer. "Don't you see it is going +to benefit you as well as me? You'll have a good deal of money left for +your own use, after paying me, provided you take two hundred-dollar +bonds. It will be convenient to have fifty or sixty dollars in your +pocket, eh?' + +"Yes," assented Philip, more cheerfully. + +"Of course it will, and it will be fun to see Harry Gilbert hauled up +for stealing them. Ho! ho! ho!" + +Philip echoed the laughter. This phase of the transaction certainly did +please him. + +"If it can be brought about," he said, doubtfully. + +"Of course it can. Listen, and I'll tell you how. You can tell your +father you saw Harry acting suspiciously near the house the evening it +is done." + +"But the door would be locked." + +"You can unlock it, and leave it unlocked all night. It will be found so +in the morning; and, even if the bonds are not immediately missed, the +circumstance will be remembered." + +Philip's mind changed again. The plan looked more feasible and +attractive as Congreve represented it. + +"Well, I don't know but I'll try it," he said. + +"I thought you'd be sensible," said Congreve, inwardly rejoiced. "Now, +let me give you one piece of advice." + +"What is that?" + +"Strike while the iron's hot. If you want to know what that means, never +put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day." + +"You don't mean I should go right home and do it?" said Philip, +nervously. + +"No; wait till to-night--when everybody is in bed. Then steal downstairs +and do the job. The sooner it's over, the better!" + +"I'll see about it," replied Philip, hesitatingly. + +"He's a little coward," said Congreve to himself; "but I guess I can +bring him to it." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +PHILIP DOES NOT FEEL HAPPY + +At supper time Philip seemed so sober and preoccupied that his mother +said: + +"What ails you, Philip?" + +"Nothing. What makes you ask?" + +"I thought you were looking unusually sober." + +"I suppose it is because I have a headache," answered the boy. + +It was not a falsehood, for the burden upon his mind had actually given +him a slight headache. + +"You'd better let me mix you some chamomile tea," said Mrs. Ross, with +whom this was a specific against more than one bodily disability. + +"No, thank you," answered Philip, with an involuntary grimace; for, in +his younger days, when it was useless to resist, he had more than once +had an opportunity of learning how far from agreeable chamomile tea was +to the taste. "It doesn't ache much. It will be better soon." + +"The tea will cure you immediately, my son." + +"I won't take it," said Philip, roughly. + +"Don't speak in that way to your mother, Philip," said his father, +reprovingly. + +"Do you ever let her give you chamomile tea, father?" + +"No," smiled the Colonel, "I don't require it." + +"Nor I; and, if I did, I prefer the headache." + +"I am not sure whether I don't agree with you," said his father, smiling +again. + +When supper was over, Philip lounged about restlessly. Nothing could be +done as yet--nothing, indeed, till his father had retired and was fairly +asleep--and, in the meantime, he had to wait in suspense. + +He strolled out to the stable without any definite object to take him +there. He was in an unquiet, irritable frame of mind, which was likely +to exhibit itself on the smallest provocation. + +A boy of seventeen, Tom Calder by name, was employed by Colonel Ross to +look after his two horses and attend to any errands or light duties that +might be required about the house. + +Philip, as he entered the stable, saw Tom sitting on a kitchen chair, +which had been transferred to the stable, engaged in reading a weekly +paper. + +"What are you doing there, Tom?" he demanded, in an imperious tone. + +If Philip had asked in a civil tone, Tom would have answered him with +civility, but the boy's tone was offensive, and Tom was too spirited to +bear it. + +"What's that to you, Phil?" he retorted. + +"You'll find out what it is!" answered Philip, angrily. + +"That's just what I'm wanting to do." + +"And don't you presume to call me Phil, either." + +"Why--isn't it your name?" + +"Yes; but it isn't for you to call me by it." + +"What am I to call you, now?" + +"You can call me Master Philip, or Mr. Philip." + +"Ho! ho! It's a joke you're playing on me!" + +"No, it isn't. It is your duty to treat me with respect. But you haven't +answered my question." + +"What is it?" + +"What are you doing there?" + +"Reading a paper. Can't you see for yourself?" + +"That isn't what my father pays you for. Go right to work." + +"Shure, you want me to work day and night! That's what Tom Calder won't +do for no man last of all for a boy like you!" + +"If you ain't careful, my father will send you away." + +"If he does, I'll get another place soon," said Tom, indifferently. + +"You're an impudent loafer!" + +"The same to yourself," said Tom, indifferently. + +After a little further altercation, Philip walked off in dudgeon. It was +clear that he couldn't bully Tom. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXIII + + STEALING THE BONDS + +Contrary to his usual custom, Philip spent the evening at home; and, as +he must have something to occupy him, he spent it in reading. Usually, +he cared very little for reading, and was prone to spend the evening +out. + +Mrs. Ross regarded her son with approval, as she saw him steadily +reading all the evening. + +"I do believe you're getting studious, Phil," she said. + +"I'm interested in a story," remarked Phil. + +"How much better it is to spend the evening at home reading than to be +gadding about?" said his mother. + +"Well, you know a boy can't be always reading," observed Philip. + +If Mrs. Ross had been a close observer, she might have noticed that +Philip got over wonderfully few pages. Indeed, he sometimes held the +book open at the same place for half an hour together. The fact was that +Philip cared very little for reading, unless he could get hold of some +highly sensational story about highwaymen or pirates. He simply used the +book as a cover. + +The Colonel, his father, was sitting in a room which he called his +office, opening out of the family sitting-room, and Philip had seated +himself so that he could look into that room, and watch what his father +was doing. + +Near his desk, Colonel Ross kept a small, iron-bound trunk, which he +used as a sort of safe, or a repository for valuable papers, and +sometimes for bonds and securities. It was imprudent, for anyone might +readily have carried it off; but the Colonel didn't think of this, or, +at any rate, didn't feel inclined to go to the expense of a safe. +Indeed, most of his bonds and securities were deposited in the strong +room of the county bank, and, therefore, his imprudence was less. + +Philip's eager attention was roused when he saw his father rise from his +desk, take up the trunk and open it, as it lay on the desk where he +placed it. + +"Now, I may find out what he has inside," thought Philip. + +Colonel Ross opened it, as I have said, and took out several envelopes. +Opening one of these, he drew therefrom what Philip recognized to be +government bonds, and spread them out before him. + +What was the object of this examination, Philip could not divine, nor +did he particularly care, though he might had he known that his father +was considering the expediency of selling them, and buying another +security--the stock of a certain railroad--which would pay larger +dividends. His main interest was to ascertain whether his father had any +government bonds, and this question he was now able to answer in the +affirmative. + +After a brief inspection, Colonel Ross replaced in the trunk the +securities he had taken from it, and locked the trunk. The bunch of +keys, one of which opened the trunk, he laid on the desk, unconsciously, +probably. + +"I hope he'll forget 'em," said Philip to himself. "It'll save me a good +bit of trouble." + +It seemed likely that the keys would be forgotten, for Colonel Ross, as +though his business were ended, took the lamp from his desk, and entered +the sitting-room, where his wife and son were seated. + +"I don't know how it is, wife," he said, "but I feel sleepy." + +"It isn't your bed hour yet. It is only half-past nine." + +"That is true, but I shall go to bed earlier than usual to-night." + +"All the better for me," thought Philip. "Now, if mother would only go, +too!" + +It seemed as if everything was turning out favorably for his plan, for +his mother answered: + +"Well, I think I will accompany you--that is, if Philip won't feel +lonely." + +Philip's heart beat with eager satisfaction. He had expected that he +would be obliged to go to bed, and wait there till his father and mother +were asleep, then steal downstairs, running the risk of detection, light +a lamp, and commit the theft. Now it looked as if he could do it much +more easily. + +He answered, in as indifferent a voice as he could assume: + +"I am not at all sleepy. I'll stay up a little longer and read." + +Mrs. Ross nodded, in a satisfied way, to her husband. + +"I do believe Phil's getting fond of reading," she said. + +"I hope he is," returned the father. + +"Phil," said his mother, "the servant is out tonight. A cousin of hers +is sick, and I gave her permission to stay with her all night. Are you +willing to close up the house?" + +"Oh, yes," answered Phil, briskly. "I'm glad she's away," he thought. +"She won't be spying round and see what I'm about. Besides, I can leave +the door open, so that it will be easier to accuse Harry Gilbert." + +"Good-night," said his mother. + +"Good-night, mother." + +"Don't stay up too late reading." + +"No, I won't." + +"How many more pages are there, Philip?" asked his father. + +"About four hundred," answered Phil, looking over to the end. + +"Then I wouldn't advise you to sit up till you've finished the book," he +said, jocosely. + +"I guess not. I shan't sit up more than half an hour." + +So Colonel and Mrs. Ross went upstairs, and the coast was clear. + +When he was left alone, and felt that the hour so long anticipated had +come, Philip's heart beat fast. + +"Come; it's easier than I hoped," he said to himself. "And father left +his keys, too, on the desk. I hope he won't think of them, and come +downstairs after them. That might upset my plans, though I've got a lot +of old keys in my pocket, and one of them might answer. However, there's +none so good as the real thing." + +Philip had to consider whether he would wait till his father and mother +were asleep, or act sooner. He at length decided, in the words of +Shakespeare, though he was not familiar with them: + + "If 'twere done with when 'tis done, + Then, 'twere well it were done quickly." + +The argument was this: If he acted soon, he could make use of his +father's keys, and that would save him trouble. On the other hand, there +was some risk that his father might think of them, and, coming +downstairs, surprise him. However, Philip didn't think this was likely, +and, in any event, he resolved to take the risk. He could pretend that +he had just caught sight of his keys, and was going to carry them +upstairs for safekeeping. + +Indeed, Philip did not wait more than ten minutes. + +"Father must be in bed by this time," he said to himself. + +He took the small lamp by which he was reading, and entered his father's +office. + +There lay the keys, and there stood the trunk. + +He took the bunch of keys and selected a small one, which he thought +likely to fit the trunk. + +It did. + +The lid was lifted, and Philip, with eager hand, took the envelope which +he knew contained the government bonds. It was a bulky envelope, and +contained probably eight or ten bonds. + +Of course, Philip didn't venture to take all. He selected two, of one +hundred dollars each, and replaced the others in the envelope, and +afterward in the trunk. + +He put the bonds in his inside coat pocket, and, hastily refastening the +trunk, replaced the keys on his father's desk. + +He breathed a sigh of relief to think the thing was done, and walked +over to the window. + +What was his gratification to see Harry Gilbert walking by on the other +side of the street. + +"All happens right," he said. "Now, Harry can't say he was at home. I'll +fix him. I'll say I saw him at the window, looking in, and his denial +won't amount to much, when he admits, as he will, that he was near the +house." + +He would have felt differently had he seen the face of Tom Calder +peering in at one of the side windows. Tom had spent the evening in the +village, and was now on his return to his chamber, on the second floor +of the stable. His attention was attracted by the light in the room, +and, as the curtain was partly raised, he took the liberty of peering +in, unobserved. + +"By gracious!" he exclaimed, in amazement. "Phil is stealing gov'ment +bonds from his father. He's a bad one, but I didn't think that of him." + +Tom slipped out, resolved to consider at his leisure what he had better +do about imparting his secret information. It was well he did, for Phil +himself almost immediately came to the same window. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXIV + + PHILIP GETS RID OF HIS PLUNDER + +"Philip," said his mother, at the breakfast table the next morning, "the +servant tells me she found the outside door unlocked this morning. +Didn't I ask you to lock it before you went to bed?" + +"So you did, mother. I really hope you'll excuse me. When I got ready to +go to bed, I forgot all about it." + +"It might have proved serious," remarked his father, "for I found this +morning that I had left my bunch of keys on my desk. I don't see how I +came to be so negligent." + +"It's lucky no burglar or dishonest person knew of it," said Mrs. Ross. +"You might have met with a serious loss." + +"So I might, for I had about a thousand dollars' worth of government +bonds in my trunk, besides certificates of various kinds of stock. The +latter would have done no one any good, though the loss would have +annoyed me, but the government bonds might readily be sold." + +"I shouldn't think you'd keep the trunk downstairs, father," said +Philip, who felt easy, as there seemed no likelihood of suspicion being +fixed upon him. + +He resolved so to act as to divert any future suspicion. + +"I don't know but it is imprudent," said Colonel Ross. + +"Of course it is," said his wife. "You deserve to suffer loss." + +"I will take it upstairs hereafter," said her husband, "especially," he +added, jocularly, "if Philip is to be trusted to lock the front door." + +Philip smiled, but his smile was not exactly an easy one, for he was +every minute apprehensive that it would occur to his father to open the +trunk and examine the contents. He did not want this to happen till he +was out of the way, for it would be rather a trial to his nerves to hear +the announcement made of the loss, while he knew that the missing bonds +were concealed in his inside coat pocket. + +Philip was in a hurry to see Congreve, and get rid of his troublesome +deposit. He hurried through his breakfast, therefore, and rose from the +table. + +"You've eaten very little, Phil," said his mother. + +"Oh, I'm not hungry," said Philip, carelessly. "I didn't get up early +enough to raise an appetite." + +"You got up as early as usual," said his father. + +"Perhaps reading in the evening didn't agree with me," replied Philip, +smiling. + +"Where are you going?" asked his mother. + +"Just out for a walk." + +"Will you call at the grocery store and tell them to send up a barrel of +flour?" + +"All right." + +Usually Philip, who was far from obliging naturally, made a fuss when +asked to do an errand, but now he spoke very good-humoredly. He was so +anxious to get out of the house that he was ready to promise anything. + +"I really think Philip is improving," said his mother, after he had gone +out. + +"There's some room for it," remarked his father, dryly. + +Philip, as may be supposed, made his way as quickly as possible to the +hotel. As he came up, he saw the one of whom he was in search--James +Congreve--standing on the piazza, smoking a cigarette. + +"Well?" he said, guessing something from the evident excitement of +Philip's manner. + +"Let us go up to your room, Congreve," said Phil. + +"All right." + +He led the way upstairs to the small room which he occupied as a +bedroom, and Philip followed him in. The latter carefully closed the +door. + +"I've got 'em," he exclaimed, triumphantly. + +"The bonds? You don't say!" + +"As true as you stand there." + +"Let me see them." + +Philip drew the bonds from his pocket, and handed them to Congreve. + +The latter said, joyfully: + +"You're a trump, Phil!" + +"Yes, I think I managed pretty well," said Phil, complacently. + +"Tell me how you did it." + +So Phil explained. + +"You were in precious luck, I can tell you. I had no idea things would +turn in your favor so. Let me see--here are two one-hundreds." + +"Yes; that's what you said." + +"True. Were there more in the trunk?" + +"Yes; I heard father say there were a thousand dollars in bonds." + +James Congreve's face was overspread by an expression of covetousness. + +"It's a pity you didn't take more," he said. + +"But what was the need of taking more? These will pay my debt to you." + +"Of course. Still, it seemed such a good chance." + +"You don't think I'm going to set up as a thief, do you, Congreve?" +asked Philip, in surprise. + +"No, of course not. I didn't mean anything. Well, Phil, the sooner these +are disposed of the better." + +"You are going to attend to that?" + +"Yes. I believe I will take the next train up to the city." + +"When will you be back?" + +"To-night. I will bring you the balance of the money--say, fifty +dollars." + +"There ought to be more than that for me." + +"Oh, it will be all right! Only, you know, I will have to sell them +below the market price, at some place where no questions are asked." + +"I've no doubt you'll do the square thing," said Philip, who did not +know that this statement of Congreve's was only a flimsy pretense to +enable him to appropriate a larger share of the plunder, as it may +fairly be called. + +"I'll promise you fifty dollars, whatever the bonds bring," said +Congreve. + +"Thank you." + +"Now, I must get ready, for the next train leaves for the city in half +an hour." + +"I'll go along with you to the depot," said Philip. + +"No, you'd better not. After the loss is discovered, it might excite +some remark, and possibly suspicion, if it were remembered." + +"Then I'll be going. I've got an errand over at the store. Shall I see +you to-night?" + +"You'd better not come around till to-morrow morning. It may help avert +suspicion." + +"Just as you say." + +"A pretty good haul!" said Congreve to himself. "I didn't think the +little fool would have spunk enough to do it, but he has. I may pay him +that fifty dollars, and then again I may not. I don't think I shall care +to come back again to this dull hole to-night. I shall have to leave my +trunk, but it isn't worth the sum I owe the landlord, and he is welcome +to it. With the price of these bonds I can start anew cheaper." + +Philip left his friend, without the least suspicion that he intended to +play him false. He felt very comfortable. He had got the bonds out of +his possession, so that there was no danger of their being found on him, +and he was to receive, the next morning, fifty dollars, a larger sum +than he had ever possessed at one time in his life. He made up his mind +that he would put it away in his trunk, and use it from time to time as +he had occasion for it. + +He went to the grocery store, and left his mother's order. Then he took +an aimless walk, for Congreve was away, and there was no one else he +cared to be with. + +So he turned to go home. He rather dreaded to enter the house, lest his +father might have discovered his loss. In the yard he saw Tom Calder. +Tom, remembering what he had seen the evening before, looked at Philip +with a significant grin, but said nothing. + +"What are you grinning at?" demanded Philip, + +"Nothing. I feel gay and festive, that is all," responded the stable +boy. + +"Where's my father?" + +"He went out to ride in the buggy." + +Philip felt relieved. Evidently the loss had not been discovered yet. He +was glad to have it put off. + +"Is there any news?" asked Tom, with another grin. + +"News? Why should there be any?" + +"I don't know. I thought you might know of some." + +"You talk like a fool," said Philip, angrily, and went into the house. + +"There'll be some news soon, I reckon," said Tom to himself, with a +grin. "I won't say nothing till the time comes. Wonder if Philip'll +think I am talking like a fool then?" + + + + + CHAPTER XXXV + + THROWING SUSPICION ON HARRY + +During the day Colonel Ross had no occasion to look into his trunk of +securities. Clearly, he had no suspicion that he had met with a loss. + +It might strike the reader as curious that Philip began to be impatient +to have his father make the discovery. An impending blow always leads to +a state of suspense which is by no means agreeable. When the blow falls, +a certain relief is felt. So Philip knew that the discovery would be +made sooner or later, and he wanted to have the matter settled, and +clear himself at once from suspicion by diverting it to Harry Gilbert. + +In the hope that his father would find out his loss, he lingered round +the house through the afternoon, filling up the time as well as he +could. Usually, he would have passed at least a part of the time with +James Congreve, but the latter had gone to the city. + +"Don't you feel well, Philip?" asked his mother. + +"Certainly! What makes you ask?" + +"You don't generally stay at home all the afternoon." + +"Oh, well, there isn't anything going on in the village." + +"Where is that friend of yours who is staying at the hotel?" + +"He went away this morning to the city." + +"Isn't he coming back?" + +"Oh, yes, I suppose so." + +"I suppose you feel lonely without him?" + +"Yes, mother." + +"Have you seen anything of Uncle Obed lately?" asked Mrs. Ross, making a +wry face as she pronounced the word admitting the relationship. + +"Yes; I saw him walking with the Gilbert boy the other evening." + +"Did you speak to him?" + +"No; I just nodded. I don't care about getting intimate with him. I wish +he'd leave town." + +"As likely as not, he'll use up all his money, and then come on your +father for help." + +"I hope father won't give him anything, then," said Philip. + +"I am willing that he should give him enough to get him back to +Illinois. He ought never to have left there. If he thinks we are going +to pay his board here, all I can say is that he is very much mistaken," +said Mrs. Ross, pressing her thin lips together with emphasis. + +"That's the talk, ma! I am glad you don't mean to be imposed upon. I +suppose old Wilkins thinks you are soft, and won't see him suffer. You'd +better keep a stiff upper lip." + +"He will know me better after a while," said Mrs. Ross. + +The afternoon wore away, and supper came. Philip partook as usual, and +waited afterward in the confident expectation that his father would open +the small trunk. He was not mistaken. + +Upon retiring to his special apartment, Colonel Ross took up the trunk, +and, producing the key, opened it. + +It so happened that he was after some papers, and did not immediately +take up the envelope containing the government bonds. Philip was rather +afraid he wouldn't, and ventured to remind him of them by a question. + +"How many government bonds have you in that envelope, pa?" he asked. + +"A little over a thousand dollars," answered Colonel Ross. + +"Will you let me look at one? I want to see how it looks." + +This question led the colonel to open the envelope. He took out a bond +and handed it to Philip. + +"Are these coupons?" asked Philip, who knew perfectly well, but only +wanted to fix his father's attention. + +"Yes, they are promises to pay interest semiannually. In January and +July I cut off one of these little slips, and receive the interest it +represents in gold." + +"That's very convenient, isn't it?" + +"Yes, for I can get the coupons cashed at any bank or broker's office." + +Almost mechanically, he began to draw out the bonds and count them. But +his air of inattention was quickly replaced by a look of surprise and +anxiety. He counted the bonds over again, more deliberately, but each +time the number came short two. + +"That's strange," he said, in a low tone. + +"What is strange, pa?" + +"Two bonds seem to be missing," said his father, in a tone of concern. + +"I've got one, you know, in my hand." + +"Yes, yes. I reckoned that." + +"How large were they? Is it much of a loss?" + +"One hundred dollars apiece, and each worth a hundred and fifteen +dollars, on account of the premium. Do you know anything about them?" +and Colonel Ross fixed a piercing eye on his son. + +"I, pa? How should I know anything about them? Why, I didn't know +exactly how they looked. When did you see them all last?" + +"Last evening. I happened to count them then." + +"They must have been taken from the trunk since then." + +"Then I am almost sure I know how it happened," said Philip, suddenly, +as if a light had dawned upon him. + +"I should like to have you tell me, then." + +"You remember, pa, you left the keys on the desk?" + +"Yes; but there was no one here except you," and again the father had +suspicion of his son. + +"I hope you don't think I'd do such a thing as that?" said Philip, +virtuously. "But I am afraid it is my fault, for I left the outside door +unlocked all night. Any one might have come in and stolen the bonds." + +"That is true; but why didn't they take more, or all? You didn't see any +one round when you went to bed, did you?" + +"Yes, I did," answered Philip, with well-feigned eagerness. "Just as I +was going to bed, I went into the next room, where the trunk is, and, +turning to look out of the window, I was quite startled to see Harry +Gilbert's face close to the window. The light shining through the +doorway was quite strong enough for him to see the trunk and keys lying +on your desk. It's as sure as can be that he took the bonds. You see, he +could slip in after I went upstairs, and there was nothing to prevent. +He might have been lurking around when you were examining the bonds last +night, and saw you place them back in the envelope." + +"What is all this about?" asked Mrs. Ross, entering the room at this +point. + +It was explained to her, and she instantly adopted her son's view. + +"Phil's hit the nail on the head, I do believe," she said. "I didn't +think he was so sharp. Colonel Ross, I have no doubt the Gilbert boy +took the bonds." + +"Then, why didn't he take more?" asked Ross. + +"Oh, he got frightened--thought he heard a noise, or perhaps he thought +it would not be discovered so quick if he only took two. There are +reasons enough." + +Philip and Mrs. Ross assumed so confident a tone that Colonel Ross, +though at first inclined to discredit the charge, ended by believing it +very probable. + +"This thing must be attended to," he said. "What are you going to do +about it, pa?" + +"I shall go before Justice Slocum, and get a warrant to search Widow +Gilbert's house. If I find anything, I shall have Harry arrested." + +"Now, you're in a scrape, Harry Gilbert," said Philip to himself, +exultantly. + +"I guess I'll go along with you, pa," he said, aloud, "and see if James +Congreve has got back from the city." + + + + + CHAPTER XXXVI + + HARRY IS CHARGED WITH THEFT + +Philip called at the hotel, and inquired, with considerable confidence, +if "Mr. Congreve" was in. + +"He has not returned," answered the landlord. + +"Then he won't be back to-night," said Philip, feeling considerably +disappointed. + +"No; the last train is in." + +"I wonder if he had any trouble in selling the bonds," thought Philip; +but this thought was one to which he didn't think it prudent to give +expression. + +He walked home slowly, while Colonel Ross kept on his way to the modest +home of the Gilberts. We will precede him. + +The little family was gathered in the plain sitting-room. There were but +three--Mrs. Gilbert, Harry and Uncle Obed. + +The old man--to begin with the oldest first--was sitting in a rocking +chair, with his hands folded in his lap, and an expression of placid +contentment on his face. He had reached the age when rest is agreeable, +and was satisfied to sit through the evening, now watching Harry or his +mother, and now occupied with thoughts of earlier days and distant +scenes. He was thoroughly satisfied with the new home he had found, +plain and humble though it was. Indeed, perhaps, for that very reason, +it suited him better. + +Mrs. Gilbert was sewing. She had time enough to sew for some of her +neighbors, and in that way earned a moderate sum for herself, though, as +the family was now situated, she could have dispensed with it. + +Harry was reading a "Life of Benjamin Franklin," which he had taken from +the Sunday school library, and was evidently deeply interested in it. + +"What are you reading, Harry?" asked the old man, after a while. + +"Franklin's life, Uncle Obed." + +"You couldn't read anything better. Old Ben is a good model for American +boys. He was a great man." + +"So he was, Uncle Obed; and he began poor, too." + +"Sarten, sarten! Poor boys make the smartest men--that's my +observation." + +"Then I've got one thing in my favor," said Harry, smiling. + +"And you will succeed, too; I make no doubt of it. You've made a pretty +good beginning already." + +"Thank you, Uncle Obed, for your favorable opinion. I hope I shall +deserve it." + +"You're worth half a dozen boys like Philip Ross. I reckon he'll never +amount to much." + +"He doesn't think so," said Harry, smiling. "He thinks himself a very +important character." + +"Like enough! He looks like it. He doesn't care to own me as a +relation." + +"It would be different if you were rich, Uncle Obed." + +"Mebbe so. I think so myself. Thank the Lord, I ain't beholden to him or +his family for any favors. They wanted to send me home to Illinoy. I was +too unfashionable for them, I expect, but I've found a home--yes, I've +found a good home." + +"I am glad we succeeded in making it comfortable for you, Mr. Wilkins," +said Mrs. Gilbert, looking up from her sewing. + +"You do, ma'am," said the old man. "I ain't been so well taken care of +for years as I am now. I wish I could do something to show my +gratitude." + +"The money you pay us is of great service. It makes the largest part of +our income. I am only afraid you pay too much." + +"No, I don't," said Uncle Obed. "Money isn't of much vally, compared +with a good home. If I ain't as rich as my niece, I can afford to pay +fair board. When a man's turned seventy, as I have, the best money can +do for him is to give him a happy home." + +Mrs. Gilbert and Harry were pleased to find their boarder so contented. +The money he paid weekly, with unvarying punctuality, made things easy +for the widow, and relieved her of the anxiety which she had constantly +felt before his arrival. + +The conversation above recorded was scarcely over, when a knock was +heard at the front door--a sharp, peremptory knock--as of one who +demanded admittance, rather than requested it. + +All looked up, with some surprise, for it was now eight o'clock, and +they did not often have evening callers. + +"I will go to the door, mother," said Harry. "You need not interrupt +your sewing." + +So Harry opened the outer door, and, considerably to his surprise, saw +standing on the step the dignified figure of Colonel Ross. + +"Colonel Ross!" he exclaimed, in surprise. + +"I will come in a few minutes," said the Colonel, stiffly. + +"Certainly, sir. Excuse my not inviting you." + +"It is very excusable--under the circumstances," said the Colonel, +stiffly. + +"What does he mean?" thought Harry. "I can't tell what circumstances he +refers to." + +"Mother," said he, opening the door of the sitting-room, "here is +Colonel Ross." + +"Take a seat, Colonel Ross," said the widow, politely. + +Colonel Ross seated himself deliberately in a chair near his wife's +uncle. + +"Glad to see you, Mr. Ross," said Uncle Obed, thinking the visit was +meant for him. "You're very kind to look in on an old man." + +"I--well, my visit this evening has a different object." + +"Oh, come to see Mrs. Gilbert! Well, how's Lucinda?" + +"Mrs. Ross is enjoying her usual health," said Colonel Ross, +ceremoniously. + +"Glad to hear it," said the old man. "She hasn't called on me yet, +though I'm the only relation she's got within a thousand miles." + +"Mrs. Ross is very much occupied," said her husband, coldly. "However, +you will excuse me if I proceed to the object of my visit. I regret to +say that last evening the trunk in which I keep a part of my securities +was opened, and two government bonds abstracted." + +"You don't say so!" exclaimed Mr. Wilkins, really surprised. "When did +it happen?" + +"Sometime in the evening or night. The outer door was left unlocked, +through the neglect of my son, Philip, who sat up later than his mother +or myself. Unfortunately, I had myself carelessly left my bunch of keys, +including the key to this trunk, on my desk, so that the thief found his +work very easy." + +"You and Philip were both careless. Have you got track of the rogue?" + +"I think I have," answered Colonel Ross, in a significant tone. + +"I'm glad on't. These fellows ought to be caught. I don't have much +sympathy for a thief." + +"I am glad to hear you say so," said Colonel Ross. + +"You didn't think I had, did you?" asked the old man, puzzled. + +"I thought you might have, when you came to know who it was I suspect." + +"I don't see as that will make any difference. Who is it?" + +"My son, just before retiring, saw a person prowling round the house, +and looking into the window. Doubtless, he saw the bunch of keys, and +was tempted to enter and steal the bonds." + +"Have you arrested him?" + +"Not yet; but probably I shall before long." + +"Who is it, Colonel Ross?" asked Mrs. Gilbert, with interest. + +"Madam," said the Colonel, slowly, "it pains me to say that the person +seen prowling round my house, and looking in at my window, was your son, +Harry!" + +"Harry!" ejaculated the widow, scarcely thinking she had heard aright. + +"It's ridiculous!" exclaimed Uncle Obed. + +"Colonel Ross," said Harry, rising to his feet, and confronting the +visitor, with clear eyes and an expression of honest indignation, "do +you mean to say that you suspect me of stealing any of your property?" + +"Young man, I advise you not to be impudent or brazen-faced. Do you mean +to deny that you were near my house last evening between half-past nine +and ten o'clock?" + +"No, I don't. I did pass your house about that time." + +"I am glad you have the sense to own it. You may as well confess the +rest--that you entered through the unlocked door, opened my small trunk, +and took out two government bonds of a hundred dollars each." + +"Whoever charges me with that utters a falsehood," said Harry, boldly. +"I passed your house, but I did not enter it, and did not even look in +the window, and it is news to me that the door was unlocked, or the keys +on the desk. In fact, I didn't know you had a trunk in which you kept +your bonds." + +"Of course you deny it," said Colonel Ross, "but I think it entirely +likely that the stolen bonds are at this very moment hidden beneath this +roof." + + + + + CHAPTER XXXVII + + SEARCHING THE COTTAGE + +"Colonel Ross, your suspicions are very insulting and entirely +unwarranted," said the Widow Gilbert, with a flush on her usually pale +cheek. + +"Of course I knew you would not believe anything against your son, whom +you believe to be a model," said Colonel Ross, with a sneer. + +"So he is--a model!" said the widow, warmly. + +"Then all I can say is that there is a strong reason to suspect that +this model son of yours is a thief." + +"I deny it." + +"I notice, however, that you are afraid to have the house searched." + +"I have never expressed any unwillingness." + +"Then I understand that you give your consent." + +"I do." + +"Very well. Then allow me to call in a party not interested, who will +attend to that duty." + +Colonel Ross went to the outer door, and, opening it, called: + +"Constable, you are wanted!" + +At this summons a tall, stout man--Mr. Rogers, the village +constable--came forward, as it seemed, rather reluctantly. + +"Constable," said Colonel Ross, "Mrs. Gilbert has given her consent to +have the house searched for the bonds which were abstracted from my +trunk last evening." + +"Mr. Rogers," said Mrs. Gilbert, who knew the constable well, "Colonel +Ross has made a cruel and unwarranted charge against Harry. I hope you +don't believe he is a thief." + +"I don't," said the constable, bluntly. "I've known your boy ever since +he was a baby, and I never knew him to do a mean thing." + +"Constable," said Colonel Ross, angrily, "it does not become you to +screen the guilty or make excuses for him." + +"It strikes me you're rather too fast, Colonel Ross, in making him out +guilty. What proof have you of it?" + +"My son's word." + +"Oh!" said the constable, expressively. + +"You have only to do your duty and search the house, and I venture to +predict that the evidence will be forthcoming that will convince even +you." + +"Mrs. Gilbert," said the constable, "I hope you'll excuse me for obeying +the Colonel. I have to do it, you know." + +"Do your duty, Mr. Rogers. We are not afraid to have the house searched +from top to bottom." + +"I don't want to disturb your things, Mrs. Gilbert. Suppose you go round +and open everything to us." + +"If that will be satisfactory to Colonel Ross. I want him satisfied." + +"As long as I am present, with a right to examine, I shall not object." + +"It seems to me, Colonel Ross," remarked Uncle Obed, "you are not +treating the boy right." + +"It is immaterial to me what you think, Mr. Wilkins," replied the +Colonel, with asperity. + +"Mebbe so," said the old man. "I calculate it won't always be so. The +time may come when you will care more for my opinion." + +"You flatter yourself unduly, Mr. Wilkins, I assure you." + +"Mebbe so," answered the old man, not appearing at all discomposed by +the rude tone of his niece's husband. + +"We will begin here, gentlemen," said Mrs. Gilbert. + +So saying, she went about from place to place down below, opening +whatever drawers there were, even in the pantry, and revealing nothing +that looked like the bonds. + +"I didn't expect they were downstairs," said the Colonel. + +"Then we will go upstairs. You shall not say that we have concealed +anything or shrunk from any investigation." + +"Very well." + +Mrs. Gilbert thereupon led the way upstairs, and the search began. +Finally, they came to her own bureau. The upper drawer was opened, and +the sharp eyes of the Colonel detected a large envelope. It was the one +that contained the bonds which had been presented to Harry for his +service in ferreting out the burglars in the wood. + +Singular as it may seem, neither Harry nor his mother had thought of +them, and the false inference that might be drawn from their discovery. +It was natural, therefore, that each should look startled and +discomposed. + +"Ha! what have we here?" demanded Colonel Ross, clutching the envelope. + +"Those are my property," said Harry, who was the first to recover his +self-possession. + +"I will take the liberty to examine. Ha! government bonds, as I live. +Constable, what do you say now?" demanded the Colonel, triumphantly. + +The constable, who knew nothing of Harry's gift, looked very +uncomfortable indeed. Despite his belief in Harry's honesty, he was +staggered by this apparent evidence to the contrary. + +"What is this, Mrs. Gilbert?" he asked. + +"They are bonds belonging to Harry. He speaks the truth." + +"A likely story," exclaimed Colonel Ross. "Really, Mrs. Gilbert, your +conduct is most extraordinary. I begin to think you had some knowledge +of your son's act." + +"Colonel Ross, don't you dare to insult my mother," said Harry, so +fiercely that the Colonel retreated a little, under the impression that +our hero intended to make an insult upon him. + +"Be careful, boy," he warned. "I've caught you red-handed in the +commission of a crime that may send you to State's prison. You'd better +take heed what you say!" + +"Mr. Rogers," said Mrs. Gilbert, "that envelope contains government +bonds that belong to my son. Ask Colonel Ross how many he lost." + +"Two bonds of a hundred dollars each," answered the Colonel. "And here +they are," he continued, producing two bonds of that denomination from +the envelope. + +"Look again. See if there are no more," said Harry. + +The Colonel, evidently surprised, produced a fifty. + +"Do you mean to say that you lost that, also?" inquired Harry. + +"No," replied the Colonel, evidently puzzled; "you must have got that +from somewhere else." + +"I got the whole somewhere else," said Harry. + +"It is entirely useless, Harry Gilbert, to attempt to impose upon me by +any such ridiculous story. As to the extra bond, I don't know where it +came from. Perhaps your mother had it before. It doesn't alter the fact +that I have found my stolen bonds in your possession." + +"When did you lose your bonds?" asked Uncle Obed, who thought it time to +"put in his oar," as he afterward expressed it. + +"Last evening." + +"You're sure you had 'em up to that time, are you?" + +"Yes; I looked them over, and counted them early in the evening." + +"Then, all I can say is that the bonds you've got in your hands have +been in the house several days. Harry showed them to me when he first +got 'em." + +"Really, Mr. Wilkins, I don't like to doubt the word of an old man like +you; but, sir, your statement is absolutely incredible." + +"It is true," said Mrs. Gilbert. "I, too, assert the same thing." + +"Then you are all in a conspiracy," said Colonel Ross, in a passion. + +"And you have evidently plotted the ruin of an innocent boy," said Mrs. +Gilbert, with spirit. + +"You have always pretended to be poor," continued Colonel Ross, "and now +you expect me to believe that your son owns nearly three hundred +dollars' worth of bonds!" + +"I do, for it is true." + +"Where did he get them?" + +"They were given him." + +"Utterly absurd! People don't often give boys such presents as that. +Constable, I call on you to arrest that boy." + +"Where is your warrant, Colonel?" + +"Arrest him on suspicion." + +"I could not do it." + +"Then you mean to connive at his escape?" + +"No; I'll stay here to-night, if you insist upon it." + +"Do so, and I will take the bonds." + +"Lay them down, Colonel Ross; they are my property!" said Harry, +sternly. + +"You can't be allowed to take 'em, Colonel, till you prove that they are +yours. One you admit is not," said the constable. + +"It doesn't matter much," replied the Colonel, discomfited. "They will +find their way back to me soon. This boy won't take on so high a tone +tomorrow." + + + + + CHAPTER XXXVIII + + PHILIP'S SURPRISE + +"Where did that other bond come from?" thought Colonel Ross, as he +wended his way homeward. "I can't understand it. Perhaps the boy took it +from some one else. It is just possible that his mother may have owned a +fifty-dollar bond." + +To do Colonel Ross justice, he really thought that the bonds he had +discovered were his own, and he was convinced, by what his son had told +him, that Harry had really entered his house on the night when the outer +door had been left open and abstracted them. + +Philip, disappointed at not finding his friend Congreve at the hotel, +took his way home, and was already in the house when his father +returned. He was naturally curious to hear something of the result of +his errand. + +"Well, father," he said, eagerly, as the Colonel entered the room where +he was seated, "what luck did you have?" + +"I found the bonds," said his father, briefly. + +Nothing could have astonished Philip more, knowing what he did as to +the manner in which they had really been disposed of. He looked the +picture of amazement. + +"Found the bonds!" he ejaculated. + +"Certainly! What is there remarkable about that?" + +"And Harry Gilbert really had them?" said Philip, not knowing what to +think. + +"Of course!" + +"Where were they found?" + +"In the bureau drawer in his mother's room." + +"What can it mean?" thought Philip, in a whirl of amazement. "I gave +them to Congreve to carry to New York, and how in the world could +Gilbert have got hold of them? There must be some mistake somewhere." + +"What did Harry say when you found the bonds?" he asked. + +"He denied that they were mine; said they were his." + +"But where could he get them?" + +"That is the question. He said they were given to him, or some such +ridiculous nonsense, and his mother actually backed him up in this +preposterous statement." + +"I was never so astonished in the whole course of my life!" said Philip; +and he spoke the honest truth. + +"You, my son, are entitled to great credit for your vigilance, and you +apprising me that the boy was prowling about the house on the evening in +question. I shall make you a present of ten dollars." + +"Oh, thank you, father," said Philip, his eyes expressing his delight, +as his father drew from his pocketbook two five-dollar bills and placed +them in his hand. + +"At any rate, it has turned out pretty lucky for me," he thought to +himself. "All the same, it is a puzzle where those bonds came from. +Congreve wouldn't go and give them to Harry? No, of course not! Well, +the best I can do is to keep mum." + +"There is one circumstance that rather puzzles me," said the Colonel, +reflectively. + +"What is it, father?" + +"I only miss two hundred-dollar bonds, and I found in the boy's +possession a fifty-dollar bond in addition. That is certainly +singular." + +"So it is," said Philip, showing his own surprise. + +"He must have stolen that from some other party," continued the +Colonel. + +"As like as not," chimed in Philip, glibly. "Have you got the bonds with +you?" he asked, after a pause. "Did you bring them back?" + +"No. Rogers, the constable, said I could not take them till I had proved +them to be my property. He is a stupid old countryman, and knows nothing +about law. He was evidently prejudiced in favor of the Gilberts." + +"Well, what did you do with Harry?" + +"He ought to have been taken to the lockup, but the constable didn't +want to do it, and I agreed that he might stay in the house, under guard +of the constable, of course, for I apprehended the boy might make an +effort to run away." + +"Did he seem much frightened?" asked Philip, curiously. + +"No; he seemed very indignant at being suspected. Of course, it was all +put on. He was actually insolent, and defied me to take the bonds. I +suppose he thought he could put me off the scent by his bravado." + +"What are you going to do to-morrow?" asked Philip. + +"I shall have him taken before a magistrate, and shall formally charge +him with the theft." + +"What did Uncle Obed say?" inquired Philip, suddenly. + +"It really is of very little consequence what that old man said," +returned Colonel Ross, stiffly. "Of course, he sided with the Gilberts, +and he actually had the effrontery to say that the bonds had been in the +house for several days." + +"He couldn't have given the bonds to Harry, could he?" + +"Of course not. The man is a pauper, or about the same as one. Every day +I expect he will come to me to ask pecuniary assistance." + +"Will you give him any money if he does?" + +"Yes; enough to get him back to Illinois. He ought never to have left +there." + +Philip went to bed in a state of wonderment, but at the same time in a +state of satisfaction. Suspicion had been diverted from him, the real +culprit, and the boy whom he hated more than any other was likely to +suffer for his misdeeds. + +If he had had a conscience, this thought ought to have made him +uncomfortable, but it did not. He thought, rather, that under cover of +this charge made against another, he and Congreve would be free to use +the proceeds of the stolen bonds, and he began even to plan in what way +he would spend his portion. + +Meanwhile, a very different scene took place in the cottage of the +Gilberts, after the Colonel had taken his leave. + +"I hope, Mr. Rogers," said Mrs. Gilbert to the constable, "you don't +believe my boy guilty of this base deed which the colonel charges upon +him?" + +"I've always thought highly of Harry, ma'am," said the constable, "and I +can't think now he'd take anything that wasn't his; but it is rather +strange that them bonds should be found in this house now, ain't it?" + +"No, indeed. Is the Colonel the only man in town that owns bonds?" + +"I expect not; though, so far as my own experience goes, I know I ain't +got any. I always thought--begging your pardon, Mrs. Gilbert--that you +was poor, and now what am I to think?" + +"You needn't think I am rich; but Harry owns those bonds, and they are +the reward of his own good conduct. Would you like to hear how he came +by them?" + +"Yes, ma'am, if you don't mind telling me." + +"I don't mind telling you, though I didn't choose to tell the Colonel." + +Whereupon, Mrs. Gilbert related the story of the tin box secreted in the +wood, and how, through Harry's prompt action, those who had purloined it +had been brought to justice. + +"You've got a smart boy, Mrs. Gilbert," said the constable, admiringly. +"I couldn't have done as well myself. There won't be any difficulty in +clearing Harry now." + +"What would you advise, Mr. Rogers?" + +"Nothing at present; but if we find it necessary to-morrow, we can get +that lawyer's testimony, which will certainly clear Harry of this +charge." + + + + + CHAPTER XXXIX + + HOW CONGREVE SUCCEEDED + +Philip would not have felt flattered if he had been able to read the +thoughts of his friend James Congreve, when the latter was riding away +from the village where he had been boarding, toward the great city. + +"That's the last I shall ever see of the young snob, I hope," he said to +himself. "I've got all I can out of him, and now I wash my hands of him. +I wish him joy of waiting for me to-night. It'll be many a long day +before he sees me or the balance of the bonds." + +James Congreve settled back in his seat, bought a paper from the paper +boy on the train, and began to read in a very comfortable frame of +mind. + +From time to time he put his hand on the inside pocket in which he had +placed the bonds, to make sure of their safety, for no one knew better +than he that there were dishonest persons to be met with who were +willing to appropriate valuables belonging to others. + +It was some time since he had been so well off as he would be when he +had converted these bonds into money. Indeed, all the summer long he had +been short of funds, or he would not have spent so long a time in a +country village, which to him was dull and afforded him a small field +for his peculiar talents. + +Arriving in New York, Congreve took his way to Wall Street. Here it was +that he expected to get rid of the bonds, or, rather, exchange them for +greenbacks. + +In this street brokers' and bankers' offices abound, and all negotiable +securities readily find a purchaser. He stepped into an office nearly +opposite the opening of New Street, and, approaching the counter, said, +as he drew out his bonds: + +"What are you paying for government sixes?" + +"Let me see the date," said the clerk. He spread open the bonds, and +then answered: "One hundred and fifteen and three-eighths." + +"Very well," replied Congreve. "I will sell them." + +The clerk took them and stepped to the desk, to make an entry of the +purchase. + +"What name?" he asked, turning to Congreve. + +"John Baker," said Congreve, with momentary hesitation. + +For obvious reasons, he thought it best not to mention his own name, as +trouble might possibly come from the possession of the bonds. + +"Shall I give you a check?" was the next question. + +"I would prefer the money," answered Congreve. + +"Go to the cashier's window, and he will attend to you." + +"Not much trouble about that," thought Congreve, complacently, when he +was startled by a voice at his elbow. + +"How are you, Congreve?" + +Looking around hastily, he saw a hand extended, and recognized a young +man who had at one time been a fellow-boarder with him in Fourteenth +Street. It is safe to say that James Congreve wished him anywhere else +at that most unfortunate time. + +"Hush!" said he, in a subdued whisper; "I will speak to you outside." + +He hoped the clerk had not heard the name by which he had been +addressed; but he hoped in vain. The latter, pausing in his writing, +came to the counter and said: + +"Didn't this gentleman call you Congreve?" + +"Yes," admitted Congreve, uneasily. + +"You just gave your name as John Baker." + +"Oh, no! That is, I didn't say my name was John Baker. That is the +gentleman for whom I am selling the bonds." + +"Then they do not belong to you?" + +"No." + +"Where does Mr. Baker live?" + +"In New Haven," answered Congreve, glibly, for he had a ready +invention. + +"We do not care to buy," said the clerk, coldly, for there was something +in Congreve's manner which made him suspicious. + +"Really," said Congreve, laughing in a constrained manner, "you appear +to be very cautious." + +"We have to be." + +"Shall I tell Mr. Baker it will be necessary for him to come to New York +in person to dispose of his bonds? He is my uncle, and I simply am doing +him a favor in disposing of them." + +"Very possibly; but I think we won't purchase them." + +"Oh, well! I can carry them elsewhere," said Congreve, raging inwardly. + +His acquaintance, whose recognition had interfered with his plans, +followed him to the door, in rather a perplexed frame of mind. + +"Where have you been all summer, Congreve?" he asked, thinking it best +to ignore the scene which he had just witnessed. + +"None of your business," answered Congreve, sharply. + +"What does this mean?" asked the young man, in astonishment. + +"It means, sir, that I do not wish to keep up my acquaintance with you. +Didn't you know any better than to blurt out my name just now, and so +get me into trouble?" + +"If you are ashamed to appear under your real name, I don't care to know +you," answered the young man, with spirit. "So, good-morning to you, Mr. +Congreve, or Mr. Baker, or whatever else you call yourself." + +"Good riddance," said Congreve. + +"There's something wrong about that fellow," said Tom Norcross to +himself, as he looked after Congreve, while the latter was crossing the +street. "I don't believe he came by those bonds honestly. His manner was +certainly very suspicious." + +Congreve entered another banking house, and here he had no difficulty in +disposing of his bonds. He came out with two hundred and thirty dollars +in his pocket, and feeling less irritable than before. + +"So that's done," he said to himself, "and I am well provided with money +for the present. Now I must make up for lost time, and try to enjoy +myself a little. I was nearly moped to death in that dull country +village, with no better company than a young snob. Now to see life!" + +First of all, Congreve installed himself at a fashionable boarding house +uptown. Then he purchased a seat for the evening's performance at +Wallack's Theater, and then sought out some of his old companions in +haunts where he knew they were likely to be found. He had a few games of +cards, in which his luck varied. He rose from the card table a loser in +the sum of twenty-five dollars. + +"That is unlucky," thought Congreve. "However, I've got two hundred +dollars left. I must be more cautious, or my money won't last long." + +Still, he felt in tolerably good spirits when he went to the theater, +and enjoyed the performance about as much as if his pleasures were +bought with money honestly earned. + +It so happened that the clerk at the first banking house who had refused +to purchase the bonds sat two rows behind him, and easily recognized his +customer of the morning. + +"I suspect Mr. Baker, alias Congreve, has disposed of his bonds," he +thought to himself. "I am really curious to know whether he had any +right to sell them." + +From time to time this thought came back to the clerk, till he formed a +resolution quietly to follow Congreve, after the close of the +performance, and ascertain where he lived. + +Congreve, seated in front, was not aware of the presence of the clerk, +or he might have taken measures to defeat his design. + +When James Congreve left the theater, he was at first inclined to stop +at Delmonico's on the way uptown, and indulge in a little refreshment; +but he felt somewhat fatigued with his day's travel, and, after a +moment's indecision, concluded instead to return at once to his boarding +place. + +"He lives in a nice house," said the clerk to himself. "Let me notice +the number. I may find it desirable to know where to find him." + +To anticipate matters a little, word came to New York in the afternoon +of the next day that two bonds, the numbers of which were given, had +been stolen from Colonel Ross, and search was made for the young man who +was suspected of having negotiated them. The clerk, who, previous to +returning the bonds to Congreve, had taken down the numbers, at once +identified them as the ones referred to, and gave information to the +police. + +The result was that just as Congreve was sitting down to supper on the +evening of the second day, he was informed that a man wished to see him +at the door. On answering the call, he saw before him a small man, of +quiet manner, dressed in a sober suit of black. + +"You name is Congreve, I believe?" he said, politely, + +"Yes, sir," answered James, in a hesitating tone. + +"Then I must trouble you to go with me." + +"I have just sat down to supper." + +"I am really sorry to disturb you, but you are charged with selling two +stolen bonds in Wall Street yesterday." + +"There is some mistake," said Congreve, hurriedly. "Colonel Ross sent me +the bonds by his son, with a request that I would sell them for him." + +"Glad to hear it," said the detective, laconically. "Then you will be +able to clear yourself. Meanwhile, you must come with me." + +And James Congreve spent the night in a boarding house by no means +fashionable. + + + + + CHAPTER XL + + PREPARING TO PROSECUTE + +"I am going to the bottom of this affair," said Colonel Ross, as he +sipped his second cup of coffee at the breakfast table the next morning. +"The Gilbert boy must suffer the consequences of his crime." + +"Will he be sent to prison, pa?" inquired Philip. + +"It is a State's prison offense, my son," answered his father. + +Was it on Harry's account that Philip suddenly turned pale and looked +nervous? I cannot credit him with a sufficient amount of feeling for +another. He could not help recalling the fact that it was he and not +Harry who had been guilty of this State's prison offense. + +"However, the thing can't possibly be traced to me," he reflected, +somewhat more comfortable in mind. "I don't know as I care whether Harry +Gilbert goes to prison or not. He is very proud and stuck-up, and it +will take down his pride." + +"I commend your decision," said Mrs. Ross, to her husband. "In my +opinion, mercy would be misplaced in such a case as this. The boy who is +degraded enough to steal is likely to continue in his criminal course, +and the sooner he is punished the better." + +There was something in this remark, also, that made Philip wince. + +"Where will Harry Gilbert be tried?" asked Philip. + +"Before Squire Davis. I directed the constable to carry him round there +at nine o'clock this morning." + +"May I go, too?" + +"Yes; your testimony will be needed to show that the boy was prowling +around our house on the evening in question." + +"Very well," answered Philip, with satisfaction. "I'll go along with +you." + +"Do so, my son." + +As it was not yet time to go to the office of the justice, Philip +stepped out into the yard, where Tom Calder, the stable boy, was washing +a carriage. + +"I guess I'll tell him the news," thought Philip. "Tom," he said, "we've +discovered who stole the bonds the other night." + +"Have you?" asked Tom, with a queer smile. + +"Yes. Would you like to know who it is?" + +"Uncommon." + +"It's Harry Gilbert." + +Tom Calder pursed up his lips in genuine amazement, and emitted a shrill +whistle. + +"You don't say!" he exclaimed. + +"Yes," said Philip, complacently. "The governor had the house +searched--Widow Gilbert's, of course--and he found the bonds there." + +"That beats all I ever heard!" ejaculated Tom. + +"Oh, it doesn't surprise me at all!" said Philip, carelessly. "I've long +suspected Harry Gilbert of being dishonest." + +"I don't believe it, for my part," said Tom, manfully standing by a boy +who, on more than one occasion, had done him a favor. "Harry Gilbert is +as honest a boy as there is in town." + +"Your opinion isn't of much importance," said Philip, in a tone of +superiority, "and it won't save the Gilbert boy from going to State's +prison." + +"Do you mean to say the one who took the bonds will have to go to +State's prison?" + +"Yes; that's what father says, and he knows a good deal about the law." + +"Maybe he'll change his mind," said Tom Calder, in a peculiar tone. +"When is the trial coming off?" + +"This morning, at nine o'clock, at the office of Squire Davis." + +Tom nodded his head thoughtfully, but only said: + +"Are you going to be there?" + +"Yes." + +"What time is it now?" + +"Quarter past eight." + +"Somebody else will be there," said Tom to himself; and Philip left him +and went back into the house. + + + + + CHAPTER XLI + + HARRY MANAGES HIS OWN CASE + +Trial Justice Davis sat in his office. He was a man of sixty, with a +keen but not unbenevolent face, looking all the more sagacious, perhaps, +because of a pair of gold spectacles which surmounted his nose. He had +been apprised of the trial at which he was expected to preside, and he +looked surprised and regretful. + +"I can't believe that boy is guilty," he said to himself. "I have always +looked upon him as one of the best boys in town." + +At nine, the principal parties concerned entered the office. First, +Colonel Ross and Philip walked in--Philip with an attempt to be at ease, +but with a perceptibly nervous air, notwithstanding. + +Harry Gilbert entered, walking beside the constable. Behind him followed +his mother and Uncle Obed. Mrs. Gilbert looked anxious, though the +constable assured her that there was no need of it, and that Harry would +be triumphantly acquitted. Harry did not look in the least frightened, +but seemed much more at ease than Philip. + +A trial before a police justice in a country town is much more informal +than in a city, and this should be remembered by those who read this +chapter. + +"What charge do you bring against Harry Gilbert, Colonel?" asked the +justice. + +"I charge him with entering my house on the evening of the nineteenth +instant, opening the small trunk in which I keep my valuable papers and +securities, and abstracting therefrom two United States Government +bonds, of the par value of a hundred dollars each." + +"You hear the charge, Harry," said the justice. "Are you guilty or not +guilty?" + +"Not guilty," answered Harry, in clear, ringing accents, surveying the +Colonel proudly. + +"You ought to have some one to defend you," said the justice. + +"I will defend myself," said Harry, resolutely. + +"Very well. Colonel Ross, I will hear your testimony." + +The Colonel, being sworn, testified that he had missed the bonds on the +morning afterward, and had been led, by what his son told him, to +suspect Harry Gilbert. He had gone to the cottage, and found the bonds. +He was about to rehearse Philip's information, but the justice stopped +him, and said he would hear Philip in person. + +"Have you any question to ask the witness?" asked the justice of Harry. + +"Can I reserve my questions?" asked Harry. + +"Yes; if you desire it." + +Philip was next sworn. He testified that, on the evening in question, he +had seen Harry prowling round the house, just before going up to bed. + +"How did you happen to sit up so late?" asked Harry. + +"That's my affair," replied Philip, haughtily. + +"Answer!" thundered the justice, angrily. "No insolence here, sir!" + +"I was reading," said Philip, frightened. + +"Did you go into the room where the trunk was?" asked Harry, in his +capacity as lawyer. + +"Ye-es." + +"Did you open the trunk?" + +"No," answered Philip, nervously. + +"I protest against the prisoner's insolence to my son," exclaimed +Colonel Ross, angrily. + +"It is a question he has a right to ask," said the justice, calmly. + +"Did you see the keys which your father left on his desk?" asked Harry. + +"No," answered Philip, ill at ease. + +"I should now like to question Colonel Ross," said Harry. + +The Colonel, with a curl of the lip, took the stand again. + +"Really," he said, "it looks as if my son and I were on trial instead of +the prisoner." + +"Colonel Ross, you must be aware that I am according Harry no unusual +privileges. It is as a lawyer--his own advocate--that he questions +you." + +"Go on," said the Colonel, haughtily. + +"Colonel Ross," continued Harry, "do you generally keep a list of the +numbers on your bonds?" + +"Of course!" + +"Can you furnish the numbers of the bonds that were taken from you?" + +"I can give the numbers of the whole ten bonds. I don't know which were +taken. I have not compared my list with those that remain." + +"Have you the numbers with you?" + +"Yes, I have them in my notebook." + +"Will you be kind enough to repeat them so that the court may take them +down?" + +"Certainly! though I don't see what good that will do." + +"It is of material importance," said the justice, nodding approval. + +Colonel Ross drew from his inside coat pocket a large wallet, and, +opening it, took out a memorandum, from which he read as follows: + +"The numbers run from 17,810 to 17,817, inclusive." + +"Then the stolen bonds are somewhere between those numbers?" said +Harry. + +"Of course." + +Harry turned to the constable. + +"Mr. Rogers," he said, "have you the bonds which were found at our +house?" + +"Yes," answered the constable. + +"Will you hand them to Squire Davis, and ask him to read off the +numbers?" + +"You will do as Harry requests you," said the justice. + +The constable placed the envelope in his hands, and Justice Davis, +opening it, drew out three bonds. + +"I find two one-hundred-dollar bonds," he said, "and one fifty-dollar +bond." + +"The two hundred-dollar bonds are mine," said Colonel Ross. + +"That is, you claim them," said the justice, cautiously. "I will read +the numbers. + +"This one," he proceeded, unfolding one, "is numbered 9,867, and the +other"--after a pause--"11,402. It strikes me, Colonel Ross, that you +will have to look further for your bonds." + +If such a dignified-looking man as Colonel Ross could look foolish, the +Colonel looked so at that moment. He realized that he had made a +ridiculous exhibition of himself, and he felt mortified to think that he +had been so careless as not to have thought of comparing the numbers of +the bonds the moment he had discovered them in Harry Gilbert's +possession. + +"Harry Gilbert is honorably discharged, and the bonds are restored to +him," said the justice. + +"Thank you, sir," said Harry, glancing not without natural exultation, +at Colonel Ross and Philip. + +Philip, by the way, looked as uncomfortable as his father. + +Here there was an unexpected and startling interruption. + +"I can tell Colonel Ross all about it!" said a distinct voice from near +the door. + +"Come forward then and give your information," said the justice. + +This call was answered by Tom Calder, who elbowed his way to the front, +dressed in his farm attire, and in his shirt sleeves. + +Philip's face might have been observed to grow pale when he heard Tom's +voice, and he looked decidedly sick when the boy walked up to give his +testimony. Unobserved by any one, for all eyes were fixed upon Tom, he +edged to the door, and slipped out, in an agony of apprehension, for he +foresaw what was coming. + +"Proceed," said the justice. + +"That night when the Colonel missed the bonds," began Tom, "I was coming +home some time after nine, when I happened to look into the window, and +there I saw Phil Ross with his father's little trunk open before him. I +saw him take out a couple of bonds, and slip them into his inside +pocket. Then he carefully locked the trunk again, laid the keys on the +desk, and left the room. That's all I saw." + +"It's a falsehood!" ejaculated Colonel Ross, furiously. + +"You just ask Phil about it, Colonel," said Tom, composedly. + +Colonel Ross looked around for Philip, but no Philip was to be seen. + +"I seed him slip out of the door just as Tom was beginnin' to talk," +said a small urchin. + +Overcome with mortification, and compelled to suspect that Tom's story +was true, Colonel Ross hurried home, where he found Philip. + +Sternly calling him to account, the Colonel extorted a confession, not +only that he had taken the bonds, but what had become of them. The +result was that information was sent to the police of New York, and +James Congreve was arrested. + +I may as well finish this part of the story by saying that Congreve was +compelled to give up what remained of his ill-gotten gains, but Colonel +Ross failed to prosecute him, because he could not do so without +involving his own son also. It was only two months, however, before +Congreve was detected in a more serious affair, for which he was forced +to stand trial, and is even now serving a term of imprisonment, received +as a penalty for the later crime. + +As for Philip, he was so mortified and shamed by the exposure of his +dishonesty, and his attempt to fix the crime upon another, that he asked +his father to send him to a boarding school at a distance, and his +request was complied with. + +Tom Calder was immediately discharged by Colonel Ross, but within a week +he was engaged elsewhere at an advanced salary. His new employer was Mr. +Obed Wilkins, better known to us as Uncle Obed. + +If this statement excites surprise, I must refer my readers to the next +chapter for an explanation. + + + + + CHAPTER XLII + + CONCLUSION + +The house of Colonel Ross was the finest in the village, with one +exception. A certain Mr. Carrington, a city merchant, had, five years +before, built a country villa surpassing it, a little distance away on +the same street. + +It was provided with handsome grounds, and originally cost, everything +included, thirty-five thousand dollars, exclusive of furniture. + +It was the day after Harry's triumphant acquittal that Uncle Obed +remarked, casually: + +"I hear that Mr. Carrington is anxious to sell his estate." + +"I am not surprised," answered Mrs. Gilbert. "He bought it chiefly to +please a young wife, and her sudden death sadly disturbed all his +plans." + +"I have made some inquiries," continued Uncle Obed, "and find that he is +willing to sell everything, even to the furniture, for fifteen thousand +dollars." + +"That is a great bargain, for he could scarcely have paid less than +forty thousand dollars for the whole." + +"I have about decided to buy the place," said Mr. Wilkins, quietly. + +"What!" exclaimed Mrs. Gilbert and Harry, in concert. + +"Since you both think it will be a good bargain, I think I will buy it," +continued Uncle Obed, his eyes twinkling. + +"That's a good joke," said Harry. + +"No joke at all, as you will find." + +"You don't mean to say you can afford to buy such a place?" said Harry, +in amazement. + +"I consider myself worth seventy-five thousand dollars," said Mr. +Wilkins. + +Mrs. Gilbert and Harry stared at him in undisguised astonishment. + +"I thought you were a very poor man," said the widow. + +"I know you did," said Uncle Obed, laughing. + +"What will Colonel Ross say?" wondered Harry. + +"I feel more interested in what my niece will say," said the old man. + +"I am afraid they will take you away from us, Uncle Obed, when they find +out that you are rich." + +"Not against my will, I think," replied the old man, with quiet +determination. + +"They won't want to send you back to Illinois now." + +"I don't know but they will, when they find I won't go with them." + +"Do you think of moving into the new house, Mr. Wilkins?" asked Mrs. +Gilbert, anxiously. + +"Yes, I think I shall." + +"We shall be sorry to lose you," she said, soberly. + +"You are not going to lose me," assured Uncle Obed. "Do you think I am +going to live alone? I should die of loneliness. No! You and Harry go +with me, and I shall take the liberty of paying all the expenses of +housekeeping." + +"How kind you are, Uncle Obed," said Harry. + +"No, I'm not. I'm a selfish old man, looking out for what will make my +home happy. And that's not all. Mrs. Gilbert, didn't you tell me you had +a sister--a dressmaker in New York--in poor health." + +"Yes, poor Maria. She is in poor health, but cannot afford a vacation." + +"You shall offer her a home with you. There's plenty of room in +Carrington's house. She will be company for all of us, especially when +Master Harry goes to college." + +"When I go to college!" Harry ejaculated. + +"Certainly! Wouldn't you like it?" + +"Very much; but it would take so many years, when I could be earning +nothing." + +"I will see that you are provided for, Harry; but I don't want you to go +away from home at present, if it can be avoided. Isn't there any one in +the village with whom you can prepare for college?" + +"Mr. Rodman, the minister, is an excellent scholar, and I am sure he +would be glad to take a pupil." + +"Then go to see him at once. Tell him I don't want him to work for +nothing. I will pay him well for his services, and buy him all the +sticks he needs to flog you when you require it." + +"That doesn't frighten me," said Harry, smiling. + +"You will wonder how I became so rich," said Mr. Wilkins, after a pause. +"I will tell you. Ten years ago I befriended a young man, and furnished +him the means to go to California. There he prospered, and became very +rich. A year since he returned, on a visit, and, to my amazement, +insisted upon my accepting seventy thousand dollars as a free gift. +This, added to the little property I already had, made me worth rather +over seventy-five thousand dollars. Recently, feeling lonely, I came +East, intending, if my relatives here received me kindly, to make my +home with them, and make Philip Ross my heir. You know how my +expectations were disappointed. It was a grief to me, but it is all +right now. I look upon you and your mother as relatives, and I intend to +treat you as such, and, in return, I know you will provide me with a +happy home during my few remaining years." + +It is needless to say what hearty assurances Uncle Obed received that +his happiness would be consulted, and secured, so far as Harry and his +mother were able to effect it. + +The next day Uncle Obed, accompanied by Harry, went to the city, and +returned the owner of the Carrington estate. + +The Gilberts immediately began to make arrangements for moving into the +new house. No sooner did Colonel Ross and his family receive a hint of +what was going on than in amazement Mrs. Ross called at the little +cottage, where she found all in confusion. + +"Is it true, Uncle Obed," asked Mrs. Ross, abruptly, "that you are a +rich man?" + +"I believe so, Niece Lucinda," answered the old man, meekly. + +"I am so glad," said Mrs. Ross, with suavity. "We all rejoice in your +good fortune, dear uncle! And now, Uncle Obed, you must come over to our +house at once. We will set aside the best room for you, and we will try +to make you happy. This little house is not suitable for you." + +"So I thought, and for that reason I have bought the Carrington place." + +"So I heard," said Mrs. Ross; "but, of course, you won't think of living +there alone?" + +"No; Mrs. Gilbert and Harry will live with me there." + +Mrs. Ross darted a glance of hatred and suspicion at the widow, whom she +mentally accused of scheming for Uncle Obed's wealth. + +"Better let the place, and come to live with us, dear Uncle Obed," she +said, sweetly. + +"No, thank you. We'll be good neighbors, Niece Lucinda, and I shall be +glad to exchange calls; but I want a home of my own." + +And to this determination Mr. Wilkins adhered, in spite of all his niece +could say. + +So Harry and his mother and his aunt took up their residence at the fine +Carrington house, which Uncle Obed took care to support in a befitting +manner, though not extravagantly. + +He bought a horse and carriage, and engaged Tom Calder as a stable boy, +as we have already hinted. Harry began at once to prepare for college, +under the care of the minister. + +Five years have passed away. He is now at Yale College, but comes home +often to see his mother and Uncle Obed. He is one of the highest +scholars in his class, and Uncle Obed is proud of his success. + +He is recognized as the heir of Mr. Wilkins, much to the chagrin of Mrs. +Lucinda Ross and family. + +Philip is a spendthrift, and is giving his parents serious anxiety. He, +too, entered college; but was expelled the first year. It is to be hoped +he will some day turn over a new leaf. + +For Harry I confidently expect a useful and honorable career, and I am +sure that all my young readers will rejoice at the prosperity which has +come to the struggling boy. + + + + 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. + +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 S1.00. + +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. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tin Box, by Horatio Alger + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TIN BOX *** + +***** This file should be named 27222.txt or 27222.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/7/2/2/27222/ + +Produced by Gary Sandino, from scans generously provided +by the Internet Archive. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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