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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 www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Bound to Succeed - or, Mail Order Frank's Chances - -Author: Allen Chapman - -Release Date: December 30, 2012 [EBook #41741] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOUND TO SUCCEED *** - - - - -Produced by Donald Cummings and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41741 *** BOUND TO SUCCEED @@ -6463,366 +6428,4 @@ THE END. 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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 www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Bound to Succeed - or, Mail Order Frank's Chances - -Author: Allen Chapman - -Release Date: December 30, 2012 [EBook #41741] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOUND TO SUCCEED *** - - - - -Produced by Donald Cummings and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - - - BOUND TO - SUCCEED - - Or - - Mail Order Frank's Chances - - BY - ALLEN CHAPMAN - - AUTHOR OF "THE HEROES OF THE SCHOOL," "NED WILDING'S - DISAPPEARANCE," "FRANK ROSCOE'S SECRET," "FENN - MASTERSON'S DISCOVERY," "BART KEENE'S - HUNTING DAYS," ETC., ETC. - - - [Illustration: The - GOLDSMITH - Publishing Co. - CLEVELAND OHIO - MADE IN U.S.A.] - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1907, BY - CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - I. WAKING UP 1 - II. A FIVE-DOLLAR JOB 11 - III. A BUSINESS CALL 19 - IV. A BREAK FOR LIBERTY 28 - V. THE BALLOONIST'S RESCUE 37 - VI. "MAIL ORDER FRANK" 51 - VII. STRICTLY BUSINESS 57 - VIII. A STEP FORWARD 67 - IX. SENSE AND SYSTEM 76 - X. A VISIT TO THE CITY 87 - XI. A FRIEND IN NEED 99 - XII. A BOY WITH A MYSTERY 109 - XIII. A GOOD START 117 - XIV. A MEAN ENEMY 126 - XV. A PIECE OF CHALK 133 - XVI. "FRANK'S MAIL ORDER HOUSE" 143 - XVII. A NEST EGG 153 - XVIII. A SUSPICIOUS VISITOR 162 - XIX. MISSING 169 - XX. A BAD BUSINESS 176 - XXI. AN UNEXPECTED MEETING 185 - XXII. GOOD NEWS 194 - XXIII. A RIVAL CONCERN 200 - XXIV. AN UNWELCOME VISITOR 206 - XXV. TROUBLE BREWING 213 - XXVI. MYSTERIOUS STET 219 - XXVII. THE POST-OFFICE INSPECTOR 225 - XXVIII. A HEART OF GOLD 232 - XXIX. CONCLUSION 237 - - - - -BOUND TO SUCCEED - - - - -CHAPTER I - -WAKING UP - - -"Mother, I must do something, and that right quickly." - -It was Frank Newton who was talking. His voice was composed, but -determined. His face was calm, but there was a resolute look in his -eyes. It told that under the surface some unusual emotion was stirring -Frank. - -"I don't see how you can do any more than you are doing now," responded -his mother with an anxious sigh. "Of course it seems hard to get along -with so little when we have been used to having so much. But, oh, Frank, -when I think of what was once--you away, I knew not where, and my heart -breaking to find out--I am grateful and happy, and so very proud of you, -my dear, dear boy." - -Frank's lip quivered at the fervent words spoken. They inspired him with -their eloquence. His hand trembled as it rested on his mother's arm -gently and lovingly. - -"It's worth everything to have you talk that way, mother," he said in -quite a husky voice, "and kind words and good opinion just makes me the -more resolved to better things." - -"Don't be ungrateful or complaining, my boy." - -"It's never that, mother." - -"And don't be too ambitious, or too reckless. We have a roof to shield -us and food to eat, thanks to your busy endeavors. The lawyer gives us -hopes that we may recover something from the wreck of our lost fortune. -I don't know of any better outlook for the present, than to wait -patiently and see what turns up in the way of an improvement in -affairs." - -Frank shook his head, and paced up and down the floor of the best room -of the cozy little cottage that was their present home. - -"It's no use, mother," he said finally. "The lost fortune is a dream, a -bubble. We may just as well get down to that. Mr. Beach, the lawyer, -gives us hopes, but they are not based on much. At the same time, -he takes his fees. We can't stand that any longer. I told him so, -yesterday. I don't believe there is the least show in the world for our -claim. I am sure that Mr. Beach shares my opinion now. No," continued -Frank definitely, "what future there is for us must be worked out by our -own independent exertions." - -"It is a bitter wrong then," spoke his mother. "When your father, Mr. -Newton, died, he left me his town property here. When I married a second -time, and Mr. Ismond became your stepfather, I had implicit confidence -in him at first. He got me to sign the property over to him. Then I saw -my mistake. When his tyrannical ways drove you away from home I lost all -regard for him." - -"He certainly was very cruel and unjust to me," murmured Frank, recalling -many dark days of his young life. - -"When he died," resumed Frank's mother, "I was amazed to find that all -my rights to the estate were forfeited. It looked very much as though -Mr. Ismond had been planning to rob us of everything when death overtook -him. A man named Purnell, Gideon Purnell, held the title to our property -under mortgage and sale. He sold it to Abner Dorsett, who now holds it. -The law says Dorsett was an innocent purchaser, and therefore cannot be -disturbed." - -"Innocent!" flashed out Frank. "Oh, what a shame! Why, we know better -than that, mother. We are sure that Purnell was his tool and partner. -Anyhow, we cannot hold Dorsett to make any restitution. I hope some day, -though, to run across this Purnell. If I ever do, I'll not lose sight of -him till I know the truth of the wicked plot that made us paupers. He, -and he only, holds the key to the situation." - -"Mr. Dorsett is a bad man," said the widow. "His actions show he is not -just. Else, why does he care to put obstacles in your way when you seek -work? I wish we could leave Greenville, Frank. That man terrifies me. -He may get you into some trouble. I have seen him prowling around -here often. Then, the other day, our poor, faithful dog, Christmas, -disappeared. That same night I saw Dorsett crouching under the window -yonder. It looks as if he fears something we may know or do, and is -lurking around eavesdropping to find out what it is." - -"He will find a trap set for him the next time he comes nosing around -here," declared Frank with a grim-set lip. "Mother, don't worry your -mind any further, I am determined to get steady work and earn more -money. I wish, too, we could leave Greenville. If it was any use I would -stay and fight Dorsett to the last ditch. It's no use, and I know it. -Let us get out of the sight and memory of the old life. I'm going to -strike out new." - -"But how, what at?" inquired Mrs. Ismond doubtfully. - -"I don't know yet, I will before another sun rises, though," asserted -Frank, staunchly. "That is, if good hard thinking can suggest the right -way to go about it." - -Frank took up his cap and walked from the house. He paused to place a -silver fifty cent piece on the kitchen dresser. He had earned it before -breakfast, cutting a lawn and trimming hedges up at Judge Bascom's -place. - -Frank had been doing such odd jobs about town for the past four months. -He was courteous, accommodating and energetic. Everybody he worked for -liked him, and he never shirked an honest task. - -He made out fairly well as a general utility boy about the village. The -worst of it was, however, that his good luck came in streaks. One very -busy week Frank made over ten dollars. Then the next week all he could -get to do was chopping wood at fifty cents a day. - -"There is something better in me than that," Frank resolved. "I've got -the problem to solve what it is, and I feel that it is up to me to -figure it out right now." - -Frank's face clouded slightly as he crossed the yard and his eye fell -on an empty dog house. It made Frank feel lonesome and worried to -realize that its former tenant, the dog, Christmas, was missing. - -The faithful animal, a veritable chum to Frank, had disappeared one -night. Frank had spent two days looking for him with no results. - -Christmas was a connecting link between the present and a very vivid -section of the past in Frank Newton's experience. The thought of this -instantly sent Frank's mind drifting among the vital and exciting -incidents in that career. - -Frank was a peculiar boy. He had great sturdiness of character, what -some people call "nerve," and up to two years before our story begins -had led a happy, joyous existence. He had been an active spirit, and -always a leader in boyish sports and fun. - -It had been a black day for Frank when his mother had married Ismond. -Too late Mrs. Newton had learned that she had wedded a fortune-hunter. -Too soon Frank discovered that the miserable schemer planned to drive -him away from home, so he might more easily rob the lad's mother of her -fortune. - -Frank stood Ismond's abuse just as long as he could. Then he ran away -from home. - -At first he followed a circus, tired of it, and got a job tending a -lemonade stand at an ocean resort. He made all sorts of acquaintances, -good and bad. The latter did not demoralize him, but they did harden -him. He grew to be a cynical, unhappy boy. - -In his wanderings Frank brought up at a town called Pleasantville. This -was the home of Bart Stirling, the hero of another volume of this -series, "Bart Stirling's Road to Success," and of Darry and Bob Haven, -whose stirring careers my former readers have followed in the volume -entitled, "Working Hard to Win." - -Frank arrived at Pleasantville in the company of two men, who had -devised a great fraud upon the meanest but richest man in the place, -Colonel Harrington. In disgust of their swindling ways, Frank destroyed -the papers they hoped to impose upon the colonel. In escaping from them -he was severely crippled and laid up for several weeks. - -Soon his money gave out. He was turned away from the village hotel for -not paying his board. - -He proved a boy of ready resources, however. Bob Haven formed his -acquaintance in the midst of one of his original and daring schemes for -raising money quickly. - -Frank paid up his debts and hung around Pleasantville, living upon his -surplus. He was at a stage of his career where he was sick of change and -adventures. He longed for home. In the friendship of the Haven boys and -Bart Stirling, he began slowly to feel his way back to a natural boyhood -plane. - -One night a terrible fire burned down the Pleasantville Hotel. It needed -just such an incident to rouse up in Frank the latent chivalry and -courage of his fine soul. At the risk of his life he saved fourteen -inmates penned up in the burning attic of the hotel, by helping them -across a plank leading into an adjoining building. He braved death again -by going back into the roaring flames to save a little sleeping child. - -Frank rescued the child, but at fearful cost. He was dreadfully burned, -almost blinded. For weeks he lay at the town hospital, hovering betwixt -life and death. When he finally recovered, it was to learn that the town -had gone wild over his heroism. In the paper they owned called the -_Pleasantville Weekly Herald_, the Haven boys had given him "a write up" -that had thrilled the community. - -More than that, Frank's friends had learned that the name they had -known him by, Percy St. Clair, was an assumed one. They accidentally -discovered his real name, sent word to his native town, and when the -injured hero awoke to health again it was to find his devoted mother at -his side, nursing him. - -Frank now learned that he was some good in the world, after all. The -ovation of the grateful and enthusiastic town folks, the loyal, hearty -friendship of such comrades as Bart Stirling and Darry and Bob Haven -warmed his heart to some of its old-time cheer and courage. The day he -left Pleasantville with his mother for their home at Greenville, Frank -Newton stepped over the threshold of a new life. - -An episode of Frank's departure was the acquisition of Christmas. This -faithful canine Bart Stirling had adopted when he was homeless. Haven -Brothers had later employed him to run the pony press in their amateur -job printing office. Frank loved dogs, and Christmas had taken a great -fancy to him. - -The animal whined and ran after Frank when he set out for the train. -Frank drove Christmas back, but it was only to find the loyal dog hidden -under the car seat, twenty miles on the homeward trip. - -When they reached Greenville, Frank wrote about Christmas to his -Pleasantville friends. His letter, however, showed his half-hidden -reluctancy towards giving up the faithful old dog. Haven Brothers made -Frank a present of Christmas by return mail. - -Of all this Frank now thought as he made his way towards the business -centre of Greenville. - -"Hey there, Frank Newton, the very fellow!" - -Frank looked up quickly. A rapid voice had interrupted his reverie. Its -owner was a Mr. Buckner, a local insurance agent and real estate man. - -Mr. Buckner's office sided on the street where Frank was walking. From -its open window the proprietor beckoned animatedly. - -"Want me?" called up Frank. - -"Sure, if you can hustle," retorted Mr. Buckner. - -"I can always do that if there's anything in it," was the laughing -rejoinder. - -Frank crossed the street at a bound, darted around to the front of the -building, and was up the stairs four steps at a time. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -A FIVE-DOLLAR JOB - - -Frank found Mr. Buckner at his desk, tearing out a freshly-written slip -from his check book. - -"Good--sit down," said the business man. "Ready in a second. Now then," -he added a minute later, after filling out a receipt blank, "want to -make five dollars?" - -"A week?" smiled Frank. - -"A day--an hour, if you can get the action on this job that quick," -responded Buckner briskly. "See here, Frank," he continued, consulting -his watch, "a certain individual started down that south road yonder in -his buggy for Riverton half-an-hour ago." - -"Yes, sir," nodded Frank. - -"How soon can he get there?" - -"Horse any good?" questioned Frank. - -"No, common every-day hack." - -"Well," calculated Frank, "it's fifteen miles around by that road. -Taking it fairly easy, he'd get to Riverton in about two hours and -a-half." - -"Very good," said Buckner. "Can you do it in less time?" - -"On foot?" - -"Any way, so you get there." - -"Sure," said Frank confidently. "I can make it in an hour by crossing -the flats." - -"Aha!" observed Buckner, "I see." - -"Direct across the swamp stretch it is barely six miles to Riverton," -went on Frank. - -"But there's no road?" - -"Except the trail us boys have blazed out from time to time," explained -Frank, his eyes brightening at the memory of many a famous camping out -experience in "the Big Woods." "I can bike it four miles, wade one, and -there's only an easy mile stretch to come after that." - -"U-um," muttered Mr. Buckner in a musing tone, half to himself. "I'd -rather not excite the suspicions of a certain person already on the -road, so your suggestion strikes me very good, Frank. Will you guarantee -to get to Riverton first?" - -"I will--with time to spare," promised Frank, readily. - -"I rely on you, then. It is quite an important matter. Here is a check -for two hundred dollars. It is made payable to James Pryor. He is a fire -insurance adjuster at Riverton, with an office over the bank there. You -find him out, hand him that check, get him to sign this receipt, and -your work is done." - -"That's easy," said Frank with a pleasant smile. "It isn't worth five -dollars, though." - -"I'm doing this hiring," retorted Buckner with a quizzical laugh. -"Client's money, see? By the way, too, do this little commission up trim -and neat, and there will be some more work for you from the same party." - -Frank was mightily pleased at his task and the prospects. He stowed the -check and receipt in a safe pocket, and started to leave the office. - -"My client wants to buy up some salvage from a fire at Riverton," Mr. -Buckner explained. - -"I see," nodded Frank. - -"A certain party here has been juggling with the situation. He put in a -lot of dummy bids. We learned what his best bid was, and offered the -same amount. Just now we got a letter--as he did also--accepting first -payment from either of us. By the way, too," continued Mr. Buckner, with -a queer twinkle in his eye, "when you come to find who it is you have -helped to outwit, you may experience a decided personal pleasure in the -discovery. Report soon as you get back to Greenville, Frank." - -"That will be one o'clock at the latest," pledged the boy. - -He glanced at the clock, and was down the stairs quicker than he had come -up them. Frank was back home in a jiffy. He made a brief explanation to -his mother. Getting out his bicycle he tied to the handles a pair of long -rubber boots. Soon he was sailing down the road to the south. - -The Big Woods formed a long six-mile barrier between Greenville and -Riverton direct. Its centre was practically impassible during wet -seasons. It was a dismal, slushy waste. For this reason the only road to -Riverton wound in a semi-circle many miles out of the natural course. - -Frank entered the woods at a familiar opening near the edge of the town. -For two miles there was a hard trodden path, and he made good time on -his wheel. For two more, he had to pick a straggling course. Many times -he had to dismount from the bicycle and run it past obstacles. However, -it was not long before he reached the edge of the flats. - -"Capital!" said Frank, after an eager survey of the swampy stretch. "I -couldn't strike it drier. Now then, for a wade." - -Frank ran his bicycle to cover, and drew on the long rubber boots. For a -distance of a quarter-of-a-mile he made ready progress by stepping from -one dried-up clump of grass or reeds to another. He had to pick his -course more particularly, however, as he got to the wet spots. Wading -was not difficult, as the water was not deep. Only once did Frank sink -above the knees. - -"Whew! that was a hot tug," panted the youth, as he reached the west -slope of the flats. - -Frank threw himself flat on dry ground and rested for five minutes. Then -he arose and removed the rubber boots. He hid these among some bushes -and resumed his travels at a lively gait. - -Presently Frank was passing the vicinity of a board fence. It reached up -fully fifteen feet, and its top was studded with sharp-pointed nails. -Frank was not near enough to observe it more than casually. He had no -time to make a closer inspection, and, past a reach of timber, it was -shut out entirely from his view. - -"Hello!" again he exclaimed a few minutes later, and paused this time to -look across a ditch. An object of decided curiosity and interest held -Frank's attention. This was a little ragged urchin curled up fast asleep -against a clump of dry weeds. - -He was barefooted, and up to the knees he was spattered and caked with -dry mud. His face was dust-covered, tired-looking and tear-stained. -Frank's sympathy was easily aroused. He voted the little fellow some -wretched, homeless lad on a tramp. - -By the side of the boy was quite a large bundle. It was enclosed in a -newspaper. The breeze blew the sheets aside and the contents were -disclosed quite readily to Frank's view. - -"Well!" said Frank, his eyes opening wide, "he's not a vegetarian, -that's sure." - -The remark was called forth by a sight of a mass of cold cooked meat -that might well make Frank stare, on account of its volume and variety. -It looked as if the young wayfarer had gathered up a lunch for many -days. There were parts of mutton chops, chunks of roast beef, and cuts -of pork, flanked by bones and remnants of hash and sausages. - -"Hope he's here when I come back this way," said Frank. "Looks pretty -forelorn. I'd be glad to give him a lift." - -Frank hurried forward now. He soon reached the outskirts of Riverton. -Within ten minutes he gained the business centre of the little town. -Frank located the bank. He was soon at the door of an office over it -bearing the words in gilt letters: - -_James Pryor, Fire Insurance._ - -The door was open. Seated behind a wire railing at a desk was a -cross-looking old man writing in a book. Frank approached him with -the question. - -"Is Mr. Pryor in?" - -"Eleven," snapped out the man without looking up from his work. - -"You mean he will be here at eleven o'clock?" pursued Frank. - -"Yes." - -"I'll wait for him then," said Frank, selecting a chair. He felt a -trifle disappointed and worried. The "certain other party" was on the -road to Riverton. It was part of Frank's contract to see Pryor before -his arrival. - -Several people came in and inquired for the insurance man during the -next half-hour. Some of them went away saying they would return at -eleven o'clock. Some others sat down like Frank, and waited. Frank heard -the old clerk explain to one caller that Mr. Pryor was in his private -room, but engaged in a most important consultation with a client. - -Frank grew restless. He approached the cross-grained clerk again. - -"Excuse me," he said politely, "but I understand that Mr. Pryor is in -his private room." - -"What of it? Can't be disturbed," snapped out his representative. - -Frank retreated. He managed to endure a further tedious wait of a -quarter-of-an-hour. Finally he strolled to the window looking down on -the street. - -"That 'other party' is on his way here," mused Frank anxiously. "Suppose -he gets here before eleven o'clock? That gives him an even chance with -myself. Oh, the mischief!" exclaimed Frank suddenly. "Now the pot's in -the fire, sure!" - -Frank gave a great start, and stared fixedly at a horse and gig that -came clattering to a stop just then in front of the bank. - -Frank recognized the vehicle and its driver. As he did so, he as quickly -guessed that this new arrival must be the "certain party" alluded to by -Mr. Buckner. - -The new comer was Abner Dorsett, the man who had helped to swindle -Frank's mother out of her fortune. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -A BUSINESS CALL - - -Frank watched Dorsett dismount from the gig and tie his horse. He -realized that he would be up into the insurance man's office in a few -minutes. - -"I must do something, and quickly," thought Frank. "The second that man -sees me he will suspect my mission here. He is a person of substance, -and will carry weight. I shall be left if he gets into action first." - -Frank reflected rapidly. The old clerk, as he had already found out, was -unapproachable. Frank was seized with a wild impulse to leap over the -wire railing and rush past the clerk to the door of Mr. Pryor's private -office. - -"Maybe it's locked, though," said Frank. "No, I won't do that. I don't -see that I can do much of anything, except to wait and take my chance -of getting the check into Mr. Pryor's hands before Mr. Dorsett guesses -what's up." - -Frank glanced at the clock. It showed ten minutes to eleven. He went -out into the hall and drew back into the shelter of a big fuel box -there. - -Dorsett came up the stairs, buggy whip in hand. He bustled into the -office in his usual self-important way. Frank noticed that the old -clerk sat down on him promptly. He was not one bit impressed with the -bombastic visitor from Greenville. - -Dorsett scowled as the clerk pointed to the clock, and impatiently -fumbling the whip, sat down with the others in the office to await the -royal pleasure of its closeted proprietor. - -Frank did a lot of thinking. He planned all kinds of wild dashes when -the door of that private office should open. Then, happening to stroll -down the hall, a new idea was suggested to him. - -"Would it win?" Frank breathlessly asked himself. - -He had come out on a little landing. This was that platform of stairs -running down into the rear of the lot that the bank and the insurance -office occupied. - -Six feet away from it to the left were two windows. They were both open. -The low hum of voices reached Frank's ears. Judging from the situation of -the apartment beyond, Frank was sure that he had located the insurance -man's private room. - -"I wonder if I dare?" he challenged himself. "I wonder if it would -work?" - -His eyes snapped and his fingers tingled. Then Frank studied the outlook -more carefully. He calculated first his chances of getting to the first -window. He also planned just what he would say in the way of explanation -and apology once he reached it. - -Two feet away from the platform a lightning rod ran straight up the -building. Frank seized this. He fearlessly swung himself free of the -platform, bracing his toes on a protending joint of the rod. - -At the side of the nearest window, top and bottom, were two hinge -standards. They had been imbedded in the solid masonry when the place -was built to hold iron shutters, if such were ever needed. The bank -floor below was guarded with these, but none had been put in place on -the upper story. - -Frank swung one hand free, and bending to a rather risky angle hooked a -forefinger around the upper one of these standards. At the same time he -gave his body a swing clear of his footing. - -He aimed to land his feet on the sill of the nearest window. In this -Frank succeeded. There was no time, however, to chance losing the -foothold thus gained. He promptly slid his free hand down under the -frame of the raised window. He got a firm clutch. Relaxing his hold of -the hinge standard, he stooped. - -The next moment, on a decidedly reckless and awkward balance, Frank -tumbled rather than dropped inside of the room that was his objective -point of assault. - -"Hello! what's this?" instantly hailed him. - -Frank nimbly gained an upright position. He faced two men who, seated -at a table covered with papers, began to push back their chairs in a -somewhat startled way. They stared hard at the intruder. - -Frank promptly doffed his cap. He made his most courteous bow. - -"Excuse me, gentlemen," he said in a rather flustrated way, "but which -is Mr. Pryor, please?" - -"I am Pryor," answered one of the twain, and Frank saw from the gathering -frown on the speaker's face that a storm was brewing unless he headed it -off summarily. - -"I must beg your pardon, Mr. Pryor," said Frank, "but it is a matter of -some business importance. I have been waiting for over an hour to see -you. It won't take but a moment, sir," and Frank swiftly produced the -check and the receipt entrusted to him by Mr. Buckner. Before Pryor -realized it, they were thrust into his hands and he was looking at them. - -"Oh, this can wait," he said pettishly. "I don't like this kind of an -intrusion, young man." - -"I am very sorry, Mr. Pryor," interrupted Frank in a gentle, polite -tone, "but I am only a paid messenger, and I promised Mr. Buckner to be -back with that receipt at a certain time." - -"So you seized the bull by the horns," broke in Pryor's companion with a -great chuckle. "And outwitted old Grumper, the clerk, ha! ha! Pryor, -nail the boy on a year's contract. He's got the making in him of a -first-class insurance solicitor, in his originality, daring and--" - -"Cheek," muttered Pryor. "Well, well--here's your receipt." - -Frank seized the paper that Pryor signed with a swift scrawl of the pen, -with an eagerness that was a kind of delighted rapture. - -"Oh, thank you, sir," he said, "and a thousand apologies for my rude -intrusion." - -"Hold on," ordered Pryor, as Frank returned towards the window. - -"Yes, unless you carry extra accident insurance," put in Pryor's -companion. "You might not find it so easy getting out of that window as -you did getting in, young fellow." - -Mr. Pryor had gone to the clouded glass door, which Frank knew opened -into the main office. He slipped its catch and opened it. Frank -understood that he was to pass out that way. He started forward, making -a deferential bow to his host. - -"Hi, I say, Pryor--one minute!" sounded a voice in the outer office, and -Frank wondered what was about to happen as he recognized the tones as -belonging to Dorsett. - -"In a few minutes," responded Pryor, with an impatient wave of his hand. - -"All right. It's about the salvage business, you know," went on Dorsett -from behind the wire grating. "Want to pay you the money and close up -the deal." - -"Oh, that?" spoke Pryor, with a sudden glance at Frank and a grim -twinkle in his eyes. "You young schemer!" he said to Frank in an -undertone, with a slight chuckle. "I understand your peculiar tactics, -now. You'll do, decidedly, young man!" - -Frank tried to look all due humility, but he could not entirely suppress -a satisfied smile. As he passed out Pryor said to Dorsett: "You are too -late on that matter. I have just closed the salvage business with -Buckner of Greenville." - -"You've what?" howled Dorsett, with a violent start. "Why, I'm here -first. No one passed me on the road. I--er, hum"--Dorsett turned white -as his eye fell on Frank. He glared and shook his driving whip. - -The animated and interested friend of Pryor stuck his head past the open -doorway. - -"I say, youngster," he asked guardedly, his face all a-grin, "how did -you circumvent the old chap?" - -"Well, I nearly swam part of the way," explained Frank. "Thank you, Mr. -Pryor," he added, as the latter opened the wire gate for him to pass -out. - -The old clerk had sprung to his feet, gaping in consternation at him. -Pryor's friend was convulsed with internal mirth. Pryor himself did not -look altogether displeased at the situation. - -Frank thought that Dorsett would actually leap upon him and strike him -with the whip. The latter, however, with a hoarse growl in his throat, -allowed Frank to proceed on his way unhindered. - -"We shall hear from this of course--my mother and I," said the youth to -himself as he gained the street. "Mr. Dorsett will store this up against -me, hard. All right--I've done my simple duty and I'll stand by the -results." - -A minute later, looking back the way he had come, Frank saw Dorsett -come threshing out into the street. He kicked a dog out of his path, -rudely jostled a pedestrian, jumped into the gig and went tearing down -the homeward road plying the whip and venting his cruel rage on the poor -animal in the shafts. - -Frank started back towards Greenville the way he had come. He was -greatly pleased at his success, and cheeringly anticipated the good the -five dollars would do his mother and himself. - -As Frank passed the spot where he had noticed the barefooted, -mud-bespattered urchin lying asleep by the side of the ditch, he could -find no trace of the lad. - -A little farther on Frank came in sight of the high board fence he had -so curiously observed on his way to Riverton. - -The wind was his way, and as he approached the queer barrier he was -somewhat astonished at a great babel of canine barking and howls that -greeted his ears. - -"Sounds like a kennel," he reflected, "but's a big one. Why, if there -isn't the little fellow with the package of meat." - -Frank wonderingly regarded a tattered, forlorn figure at a distance -seeming to be glued right up face forward against the fence. - -The boy had piled two or three big boulders on top of one another. These -he had surmounted, and was peering through a high up crack or knot hole -in the fence. - -On one arm he carried the newspaper package Frank had noticed. Bit by -bit he poised its contents, hurling them over the fence. - -A loud clamor of yelps and barkings would greet this shower of food. -Frank drew nearer, mightily interested. - -The little fellow would throw over a bone and peer inside the enclosure. - -"Get it, Fido!" Frank heard him shout. "They won't let him--those big -ones," he wailed. "Oh, you dear, big fellow, help him, help him. No, -they won't let him. Fido, Fido, Oh, my! oh my!" - -The little fellow slipped down to a seat on the boulders now and began -to cry as if his heart would break. Frank approached and pulled at his -arm. - -"Hi, youngster," he challenged, "what in the world are you up to, -anyhow?" - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -A BREAK FOR LIBERTY - - -The little ragamuffin addressed by Frank raised his dirt-creased, -tear-stained face pathetically. He looked at his questioner for a moment -and then went on crying harder than ever. - -"Well," said Frank, "this is a queer go. Come, little son, brace up and -tell what is the matter with you. Who is Fido--a dog?" - -"Sure. He's in there, he's been in there for two days now, and I cannot -get him out." - -"There appears to be a good many dogs in there, judging from the -racket," said Frank. "What kind of a place is this, anyhow?" - -"It's the pound," explained the urchin. "Belongs to Riverton, but Sile -Stoggs runs it. Know Stoggs?" - -"I don't," answered Frank. - -"He's a brute--Oh, what a brute!" cried the little fellow. "Was a -constable--the mean kind. Turned a poor woman out of her house in the -cold last winter. She died, and her two big brothers met Stoggs one -dark night and nearly kicked the life out of him. He had to give up -business, for they crippled him." - -"Go ahead," encouraged Frank. - -"He had some pol--politicattle friends, I think they call it. One of -them was a sharp lawyer. He raked up a lot of old ord--ordinants." - -"Ordinances, I suppose you mean?" suggested Frank. - -"Yes, sir, that sounds more like it,--anyway, village laws, see? They -said Riverton should have a pound. They worked it so that Stoggs got the -job of poundmaster. The town pays him a big rent for these old barracks. -Used to be a trotting park. He drives around in a little dog cart, and -picks up all the stray horses and cows he can catch. Then the owners -have to pay two dollars to get them out of the pound. Stoggs gets half. -Wish that was Stogg," and the boy kicked a dirt clump so hard that he -stubbed his toe and winced. - -"And what about the dogs?" asked Frank. - -"That's a new wrinkle. About a month ago Stoggs' lawyer fished up -another old law about dog license, or tax, or something of that kind. -Since then he's been capturing all the dogs he could find for miles -around. It wouldn't matter, if he was kind to them," went on the lad, -"but he isn't. He starves them. He beats them, too awfully. And you'd -ought to see the dirty old water trough where he makes them drink. -Mother is poor. We can't pay any two dollars to get Fido out. But I come -here every day and bring all the meat I can gather up, and feed the poor -things. The trouble is, though, there is so many of them in there, and -they are so hungry, and poor Fido is so small, he hardly ever gets a -nibble. There's a grand, big dog in there looks out for him when he can, -and divides a bone with him, but the rough dogs get most of the food." - -"Have you tried to get this Stoggs to let you have Fido back?" inquired -Frank. - -"Yes, but he only abused me, laughed at me, and drove me away. Yesterday -he caught me trying to dig that board loose near the boulders. He kicked -me, and struck me twice with his club. Wish I had a shovel. It would be -safe to dig a bit now. A big balloon went over here a little while ago. -I saw Stoggs in his cart driving over to the hill to get a better sight -of it." - -"H'm," mused Frank. "Quite an interesting situation. I'll take a look -inside there, I guess. Hey, hello, why--Christmas!" - -Frank, in mingled pleasure and astonishment, fairly shouted out this -name. The minute he had mounted the boulders and peered in through the -crack in the fence, he made out his own missing canine among a motley -group of over forty dogs. - -Slam! came an instantaneous bound against the fence that made it quiver -and creak. Slam--slam! right up to the spot where Frank had uttered the -name, Christmas sprang repeatedly. He was mad with joy and excitement at -recognizing his young master's voice. - -Frank was now quite as much stirred up as his youthful companion. He -had to call to Christmas to reassure and quiet the animal. The dog was -tearing at the fence barrier in such a frenzied manner that Frank feared -he would severely injure himself. - -"How did Christmas ever get this far away from home?" he reflected, -getting off the boulders and onto the ground again. "Say, if that Stoggs -has gone deliberately out of his territory and caught him at Greenville, -I'll get the boys to come here and tar and feather him. Easy, old -fellow," called Frank to Christmas, who, yelping frantically, could -still be heard throwing himself against the boards of the fence. - -"My goodness!" shouted Frank's companion, suddenly. "Look at that, now." - -His eyes goggled as a great snap sounded out. - -"The mischief!" exclaimed Frank. "This won't do." - -Christmas, it seemed, had flung his body with terrific force against the -very plank where the owner of Fido had been digging. Its ground end was -soaked and rotted by the damp earth that had surrounded it. It gave, -vibrating, and Christmas forced his head and shoulders through the -aperture. He wriggled and howled, for the board closed on him like a -wedge. Then, making a desperate lunge, the dog bore the board outwards. -There was a sharp snap. Obliquely the timber ripped four feet up its -length. - -Bursting the slivered section fully apart, Christmas, with a joyous -howl, sprang free. He bounded upon his master in frantic delight, with -such impetuosity that he bore Frank flat to the ground. - -"Here, behave, old fellow. Well, I'm glad, too," said Frank. "For -mercy's sake!" - -With difficulty restraining the wild caresses of his loyal dumb friend, -Frank regained his feet to stare about him in consternation. - -Christmas had blazed the way to freedom, and a vast concourse was -following his lead. It was like bees pouring out from a bee hive. -Through the break in the fence there came bounding what seemed to be an -endless procession. There were big dogs and little dogs, mastiffs, fox -terriers and collies. One magnificent St. Bernard got wedged in the -fence break. Those behind fairly pushed him through, letting loose a -stream of canines like corn from a spout. - -Out bounded the released animals, fairly crazy with delight at finding -their freedom. Nearly all of them instantly made for a near ditch -filled with clear water. They lapped it up luxuriously, they rolled and -wallowed in the pure, cool element. Then, like diverging spokes from one -central source, they streaked it homewards as instinct told them their -proper compass point. - -The little ragged urchin Frank found seated on the ground, fondling and -crying over the tiniest, silken-haired poodle he had ever seen. Its own -affectionate antics were fairly affecting. Beside the pair, limping -on three legs, a forlorn little fox-terrier looked homelessly and -friendlessly longing, as if begging for a share of attention. - -"Yes, I'll take you, too!" cried the ragged youngster, putting Fido -under one arm and gathering up the crippled canine in the other. "Say," -he shouted to Frank, "you're a brick! Oh, but you've done a good day's -work. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Only, get now--don't wait. If -Stoggs catches us, he'll send us to jail for life. Why," continued the -urchin with a start, staring hard at Christmas, "is that your dog?" - -"It is," nodded Frank. - -The little fellow stooped and deliberately kissed Christmas, his eyes -full of grateful tears, purring out fond terms of endearment. - -"You're two grand fellows!" he blubbered. "That's the dog that was such -a good friend to Fido," and Fido, whimpering, struck out his head and -rubbed noses with Christmas, who frolicked around all hands as if some -great jubilee was going on. - -"Yes, I fancy we had better be moving on," said Frank, with a glance -into the enclosure to find it entirely deserted by its recent inmates. - -"About your dog, though," said his companion, hurriedly. "I can tell you -something about him." - -"Can you, indeed?" asked Frank. - -"Yes, sir. I was here the day a man drove up in a gig from Riverton-way -with your dog." - -"In a gig?" repeated Frank, pricking up his ears. - -"Yes, I was hanging around near the house at the front of the pound. The -man called Stoggs out. He had your dog tied behind the axle. He made a -bargain with Stoggs for five dollars to get rid of the animal--send him -away somewhere. He was a man with reddish side-whiskers and a cast in -one eye." - -Frank's own good eyes flamed. He drew his breath with an angry catch in -it. - -"Dorsett," he said. "The villain did it, eh? I wondered how poor -Christmas came to be cooped up here, so far away from home. The mean -sneak! He did it so he could snoop around the house and spy on us -without interruption. Going? Good-bye. I hope you will keep Fido safe -and sound from the dogcatchers this time." - -"You bet I will," cried the little fellow, bolting off with his double -canine burden. "And you're a brick!" - -Frank turned his face in the direction of home. He soon got out of sight -of the pound with no indication of his having been seen or pursued. -Christmas bounded over the fresh turf, cutting up all kinds of antics -and barking joyously. - -When they reached the flats Frank secured his rubber boots and was soon -in the midst of the morass. Christmas led the way, making grand fun of -leaps and dousings, and they reached the woods beyond with no mishap. - -Frank drew his bicycle from the spot where he had hidden it, secured -his rubber boots to the machine, and was speedily threading the path he -had traversed in the opposite direction earlier in the day. - -Passing down a gentle declivity in an open space, Christmas set up a -sudden bark. Frank turned, to observe the dog halted and looking aloft. - -"Hello!" exclaimed Frank, also glancing skywards. "That must be the -balloon the little fellow at the pound was telling about." - -The balloon was about two miles distant, and was instantly obscured from -view by some tall trees. - -Frank had kept on going without looking ahead. The momentary distraction -had its result. - -Too late he turned the handle bars of the bicycle and set the brake. - -Bump! the machine struck a jagged tree stump, and Frank Newton took a -header. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE BALLOONIST'S RESCUE - - -There was a sharp bang as the bicycle struck the tree stump. Frank -righted himself readily and ran to the machine where it had fallen. - -"Pshaw!" he exclaimed, "tire punctured and the wheel a pretty bad wreck -generally." - -This was true. A jagged sliver had ripped a hole in both the outer and -inner tubes of the front wheel. The hard bang against the tree stump had -twisted several spokes out of place and set a rim wobbling. - -Frank had started in such a hurry from Riverton that morning that he had -not thought of taking his mending kit along. He debated what he should -do without further loss of time. - -"I might carry it," he reflected. "If I try to run it, I will loosen it -up more and lose some of the parts. Guess I'll leave it here, get my -message to Mr. Buckner, stop at the house for my tool kit, and fix the -machine up right here. This way, my staunch and trusty friend," he -hailed to Christmas. "Watch it, old fellow, watch it," said Frank to -the dog, placing his hand on the wheel. - -Christmas looked longingly after his young master as Frank started on -foot for Greenville. However, the animal posed right alongside the -bicycle. Frank knew that it would take a loaded cannon to drive the -trusty canine from the vicinity of his charge until he himself -reappeared and gave the word. - -It was just one o'clock when Frank, a trifle dusty and footsore, entered -the office of Mr. Buckner. - -"Well, well, good for you, Frank," commended the insurance man, as he -glanced at the clock and then at his visitor's beaming face. "Of course -you succeeded?" - -"I did," admitted Frank, a little proudly, "but there was a tangle." - -"Ah, indeed?" - -"Yes, sir. Dorsett was on the spot. There is the receipt. I had to climb -for it." - -"What do you mean?" - -Frank told of the circumstances of his exploit at Mr. Pryor's office at -Riverton. Mr. Buckner lay back in his chair chuckling and laughing. Then -he got up and clapped Frank approvingly on the shoulder with one hand, -and with the other extended a crisp new five-dollar bill. - -"I am glad to get this," said Frank, "but I have hardly earned so much, -I think." - -"What! when you saved the day by your nimbleness and square common -sense? See here, Frank, I'm mightily pleased with you, and if you will -drop in here to-morrow I think I can put you in the way of earning a few -more of those precious notes." - -Frank bowed his thanks and left the office with a light heart. He went -straight home, entered the house quietly, and actually startled his -mother by silently dropping the five-dollar bill on the book in her lap. - -Mrs. Ismond shared her son's pleasure when Frank recited his brisk -experiences of the morning. He ate a good lunch with appetizing vigor, -secured his bicycle repair kit, and was soon down the road, whistling -cheerily all the way to the big woods. - -As Frank neared the spot where he had left Christmas and the bicycle, he -was greeted with loud and repeated barking. - -"That's strange," he mused. "Christmas isn't given to such demonstrations -when on duty. Some one must have come in sight or hearing. Hey, old -fellow, what's all this rumpus?" questioned Frank, as, emerging from a -copse, he came in full view of the dog. - -Christmas was running up and down in front of the bicycle. He would face -in a certain direction and pose and bark. He even ran up to his master -as Frank approached, and seizing his coat in his teeth gently but -resolutely pulled him in the direction he had pointed. - -"He means something by all this," declared Frank. "Go ahead," he -ordered. - -Christmas, thus advised, bounded forward among some big trees. Frank, -coming up with him after a jaunt of about three hundred feet, found him -squatted on his haunches under a giant oak tree, looking up among its -branches. Frank looked up, too. A moving object attracted his attention. - -"Why," said Frank, staring fixedly, "it's a balloon." - -This he discerned beyond question. He could plainly make out its slack -rigging. An ungainly, half-distended gas bag was wobbling about in the -topmost branches of the tree. Lower down, turned sideways and partly -smashed in, was a big wicker basket. - -"It must be the balloon that little ragged fellow told about, the same -one that I saw when I took that header from the bicycle," decided -Frank. "There couldn't have been any one in it. Oh, say--but there -was, Mercy!" and Frank gave a violent start and quick gasp. He stood -transfixed with a sudden thrilling emotion akin to terror. - -His eye sweeping the tree expanse keenly, he now made out, lying across -two limbs about thirty feet from the ground, a human figure. - -This form was motionless, and bent the branches considerably. As the -breeze stirred them, they rocked like a cradle. - -Frank guessed out the situation instantly. The balloon had driven or -dropped into the tree top, shattering the cage and tipping out its -pilot. - -The latter had sustained a twenty-foot fall, striking some big branches -with enough force to stun him. He had landed on his present frail perch. -Frank's heart almost stood still as he realized that a single waking -moment, a treacherous shifting of the wind, might precipitate the -imperilled balloonist to the ground with a broken neck. - -Frank's nerves were on a hard strain, but he grew composed as he decided -what he would do. He motioned the dog to silence, and at once started to -climb the tree. - -He kept his eye on the swaying figure overhead all the time. At length -Frank reached a big crotched branch shooting out from the main trunk not -four feet under that which sustained the unconscious balloonist. - -Frank braced his feet across the crotch. He took a great, long breath of -relief and satisfaction, for he found himself now so situated that if -the man should stir or slip from his insecure resting place, he could -retard his fall. - -Frank had, upon leaving home, placed a long coil of rope in his coat -pocket. This he intended to use to tie up the bicycle in case he found -it necessary to take it home to repair it. He now used this to form a -criss-cross sort of a hammock directly under the two branches supporting -the balloonist. - -"There," said Frank finally, feeling he had the man in right shape at -last. "If he drops, that contrivance will hold him like a net." - -The youth rested for a few minutes, for it had been no easy task to slip -the rope around the two branches and secure it stoutly. When he again -stood up, he moved along his footing so that his face was on a level -with the strange bed of the balloonist. - -The latter lay sunk down among bending twigs like a person in a hammock. -His face was bloodless, and over one temple was a great lump. That was -probably where a heavy branch had struck and stunned him. - -The stranger was fairly well-dressed, and he had intelligent features. -For all this, however, there was a careless, easy-going look about him. -He did not at all suggest to Frank the quick-witted, nerve-strained -typical aeronaut. - -Frank made his footing very sure, braced firmly, and with one hand took -a stout grasp under the sleeper's collar. - -"Wake up--wake up," he called directly in his ear. - -The man stirred faintly, only. Frank continued to call out to him. He -also with his other hand slapped his chest, his cheeks, his outstretched -palms. - -Finally with a deep groan the man opened his eyes wide suddenly. He -stared and mumbled and tried to start up, but Frank held him flat. - -"Easy, mister, now," warned Frank gently. "Take time to find out the fix -you are in. Then let me help you to the ground." - -"Help me--why, ginger! I understand," exclaimed the balloonist. - -He lay back weakly, staring at Frank, then all about him, and finally up -at the gas bag flopping about in the upper branches of the tree top. - -"I remember now," he went on in a drawling, reminiscent tone. "It was a -quick drop. Valve blew out. A regular smash when we landed. She's a -wreck, isn't she? And say," and the man glancing sideways downward -shuddered, "if I had gone the full header it would have been all day -with me, eh?" - -Frank nodded. Briefly he explained how he had come to discover the -refugee's plight. He helped the man to sit up, guiding and assisting -him. The latter came slowly out of his maze of bewilderment, and looked -grateful. - -"You've saved me, I guess," he observed. "One move or slip, and I'd have -gone shooting down the rest of the way." - -"When you are ready, let me help you to the ground," suggested Frank. - -"Oh, I'm all right now. Just a little shaking up," assured the man. "No, -no, don't you worry. I'm at home among trapezes." - -The balloonist extricated himself successfully from the swaying branches -and poised in a crotch nearer to the main trunk of the tree. - -"Just a minute," he said, deftly going up the tree, clambering over the -shattered basket and reaching up. - -There was a great hiss and a dense taint of escaping gas in the air as -he operated some valve in the mechanism of the balloon. The gas bag -dropped gracefully to a mass of silken and rubber folds. - -Then the man started to descend, Frank preceding him. Both reached the -ground in safety. The balloonist took an approving look at Frank, patted -Christmas and began arranging his disordered attire. - -"What are you going to do next?" asked Frank, after his companion had -walked around the tree two or three times, viewing its top speculatively -the while, and whistling softly to himself. - -"Well, the bag is safe for a time. I guess I'd better get to the nearest -town and telegraph the boss. It will be a job getting the balloon out of -that fix without further damage." - -"If you will rest a bit till I fix up a broken bicycle I have over -yonder, I will pilot you to Greenville," said Frank. - -"Good for you," commended the man, and he followed Frank to the spot -where the wheel lay. - -Frank set at work on the damaged bicycle. He now had the necessary tools -and material at hand to fix it up. At the end of ten minutes he had the -wheel in safe shape to roll it home, where he could repair it more -permanently. - -Meantime his companion rattled on volubly. He told Frank his name was -Park Gregson. He was a sort of a "knockaround." He had been with a -circus, had fought Indians, had been major in the South African War, had -circumnavigated the globe twice, in fact, a Jack-of-all-trades and -master of none for over fifteen years. - -"That balloon," he explained, "belongs to a professional aeronaut. He -hired me to help him. She's a new one, that yonder. I was making a trial -cruise. Professor Balmer, who owns her, is at Circleville. As I say, I -must wire him to come and get her on her feet again." - -"You mean her wings?" suggested Frank. - -"Exactly. Ready? No, you needn't help me, I'm only a trifle bruised and -stiff." - -Frank led the way townwards. He stopped at the house to put his bicycle -away. Then he accompanied his companion to the railroad depot. Here Park -Gregson wrote out a telegram and handed it to the operator. - -"Expect an answer," he observed. "I'll call for it. No, send it to me. I -say, Newton," he addressed Frank with friendly familiarity, "where's the -best place to put up till the professor reports himself?" - -"There's a fairly good hotel here," said Frank. - -Gregson looked a trifle embarrassed for an instant. Then he laughed, -saying. - -"They'll have to take me in penniless till the professor arrives." - -"That will be all right," declared Frank. "I'll vouch for you. But say, -if you would be our guest at home, you will be very welcome." - -"And I will be very delighted to have your most entertaining company," -instantly replied Gregson. "I'll make it all right when the boss comes." - -Frank was glad to offer this hospitality to his new chance acquaintance. -The man interested him. Everything he talked about he covered in a vivid -way that made his descriptions instructive. Already he had suggested -some points to Frank that had set the latter thinking in new directions. -The wide experience of the man was suggestive and valuable to Frank. - -Park Gregson asked the telegraph operator to send any reply to his -message to the Newton home, and accompanied Frank there. - -As they neared the cottage a man in a gig came driving down the road. It -was Dorsett. - -He glared fiercely at Frank, and then bestowed an inquisitive, suspicious -look upon the stranger. - -Frank introduced Gregson to his mother, who prepared a lunch for him. -Gregson was more shaken up than he had expressed, and was glad to lie -down and rest in the neatly-furnished spare room of the cottage. - -Frank had some odd chores to do about the village. When he came -home again about six o'clock he found Gregson refreshed-looking and -comfortably seated in the parlor reading a book. - -They had a pleasant time at the supper table. Then they adjourned to the -cozy little sitting-room. Christmas was allowed to stay in the house, -and seemed to enjoy the animated ways of the balloonist as much as the -others. - -Park Gregson fairly fascinated them with the story of his travels and -adventures in many countries. - -"You see, I have been quite a rolling stone, Mrs. Ismond," he said. "A -harmless one, though." - -"Have you never thought of settling down to some regular occupation, -sir?" suggested Frank's mother. - -"It's not in me, madam, I fear," declared the knockaround. "I did try it -once, for a fact. Yes, I actually went into business." - -"What was the line, Mr. Gregson?" asked Frank. - -"Mail order business." - -Frank showed by the expression of his face that the balloonist had -struck a theme of great interest to him. - -"I had a partner," went on Gregson. "We advertised and sold sets of -rubber finger tips to protect the hands of housewives when working about -the house." - -"Was it a success?" inquired Frank. - -"It was great--famous. The orders just rolled in. We made money hand -over fist and spent it like water. One day, though, there came a stop to -it all. A lawyer served an injunction on us. It seemed that the device -was a French invention patented in this country. My partner sloped with -most of the funds, leaving me stranded. All the same, it's a great -business--the mail order line." - -For over an hour Frank kept their guest busy answering a hundred earnest -questions as to all the details of the mail order business. - -When Gregson had retired for the night Frank sat silent and thoughtful -in the company of his mother. Finally he said. - -"Mother, Mr. Gregson's talk has done me a lot of good." - -"I saw you were very much interested," remarked Mrs. Ismond. - -"Interested!" repeated Frank with vim, unable to control his restless -spirit and getting up and pacing the room to and fro--"I am simply wild -to go deeper into this mail order business. Why, it looks plain as day -to me--the way to begin it--the way to exploit it--the way to make a -great big success of it. He says that little metal novelties of the -household kind take the best. I was just thinking: there's a hardware -novelties factory right on the spot at Pleasantville, and--Down, -Christmas, down!" - -The dog had interrupted Frank with a low growl. Then, before Frank could -deter him, the animal flew at the open window of the sitting-room. - -Frank seized Christmas by the collar, just as the animal was aiming to -leap clear through it to the garden outside. - -"Why, what is the matter, Christmas?" spoke Mrs. Ismond, arising to her -feet in some surprise. - -Just then a frightful shriek rang out from under the open window, -accompanied by the frantic words: - -"Help, murder, help--I'm nearly killed!" - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -"MAIL ORDER FRANK" - - -At the outcry from beyond the window of the little sitting-room, the -dog, Christmas, became fairly frantic. Seizing him by the collar, -however, Frank gave him a stern word. Wont to obey, the animal retreated -to one side of the room, but still growling, and his fur bristling. - -Frank instantly caught up the lamp from the table and carried it to -the window. His mother peered out in a startled way at the scene now -illuminated without. - -"Why, it is Mr. Dorsett!" she exclaimed. - -"As I expected," said Frank, quietly. - -"Frank," murmured his mother, anxiously, "what have you been doing?" - -"Preparing for eavesdroppers--and sneaks. Caught one first set of the -trap, it seems," responded Frank in clear, loud tones. - -The captured lurker was indeed Dorsett. He was panting and infuriated. -One foot was held imprisoned in a wooden spring clamp chained to a log -in a hole in the ground. This aperture had been covered with light -pieces of sod which Dorsett was pushing aside with his cane, while he -continued to groan with pain. - -The lamplight enabled him to discern more clearly the trap that had -caught him. He managed to pull one side of the contrivance loose and got -his foot free. - -Wincing with pain and limping, he came closer to the window, boiling -with rage. - -"So you did it, and boast of it, do you?" he howled at Frank. - -"I did and do," answered Frank calmly. "This is our home, Mr. Dorsett, -not a public highway." - -Dorsett uttered a terrific snort of rage. He brandished his cane, struck -out with it, and its end went through the panes of both the upper and -the raised lower sash. - -Frank receded a step, unhurt, with the words: - -"Very well. You will pay for that damage, I suppose you know. You will -get no further rent until you repair it." - -"Rent!" roared the frenzied Dorsett. "You'll never pay me rent again. -I'll show you. Tenants at will, ha! Can't stroll around my own property, -hey? Why, I'll--I'll crush you." - -"Mr. Dorsett," spoke up the widow in a dignified tone, "it is true this -is your property, but you have no right to spy upon us. You took away -our dog--" - -"Who says so--who says so?" shouted the infuriated man. - -"Christmas himself will say so in an unmistakable manner if I let him -loose at you," answered Frank. "The poundmaster at Riverton might be a -credible witness, also." - -"You'll pay for this, oh, but you'll pay for this!" snarled the wretched -old man as he limped away to the street. - -Mrs. Ismond sank to a chair, quite pale and agitated over the disturbing -incident of the moment. - -"Frank," she said in a fluttering tone, "that man alarms me. It makes me -uneasy to think he is lurking about us all the time. I am unhappy to -think we are subject to his caprices, where once he owned the property." - -"We own it yet, by rights," declared Frank. "Some day I may prove it -to Dorsett. But do not worry, mother. You must have guessed from my -interest in what Mr. Gregson said to-night, that I believe there is -something for me in this mail order idea. I have not yet formed my -plans, but I am going to get into business for myself." - -The boy heard their guest stirring about up stairs, probably aroused by -the window smashing. He reassured Gregson and went to bed himself. - -Frank lay awake until nearly midnight thinking over all that Gregson had -told him. He went mentally through every phase of the mail order idea -that he knew anything about. - -When Frank finally fell asleep it was to dream of starting in business -for himself. At broad daylight he was in a big factory which his own -endeavors had built up. Around him were his busy employes nailing up -great boxes of merchandise ordered from all parts of the country. - -The sound of the hammers seemed still echoing in his ears as he was -aroused by the voice of his mother from her own room. - -"Frank! Frank!" she called. - -"Yes, mother," he answered, springing out of bed. - -"Some one is knocking at the front door." - -"Knocking?" repeated Frank, hurrying into his clothes. "That's no -knocking, it sounds more like hammering." - -Christmas was barking furiously. The hammering had ceased by the time -Frank had got down the stairs and to the front door. He unlocked it -quickly. - -At the end of the graveled walk, just turning into the street was old -Dorsett. He waved a hammer in his hand malignantly as he noticed Frank. - -"We'll see if I am to have free range of my own premises," he shouted. -"Young man, you get your traps out of here within the time limit of the -law, or I'll throw you into the street, bag and baggage." - -Frank saw that Dorsett had just nailed a square white sheet of paper -across the door panel. He stood reading it over as his mother came out -onto the porch. - -"Was that Mr. Dorsett, Frank?" she inquired. - -"Yes, some more of his friendly work." - -"What is it, Frank?" - -"A five-days' notice to quit," answered Frank. - -Mrs. Ismond scanned the legal document with a pale and troubled face. -Frank affected unconcern and indifference. - -"Don't let that worry you, mother," he said, leading her back into the -house. - -"But, Frank, he can put us out!" - -"If we stay to let him, probably. The law he has invoked to rob us, may -also enable him to evict us, mother, but he won't win in the end. You -say you dislike the place. Very well, we will move." - -"But where to, Frank?" - -"This isn't the only house in Greenville, is it, mother?" asked Frank, -smiling reassuringly. "What's more, Greenville isn't the only town in -creation. Stop your fretting, now. I've got a grand plan, and I am sure -to carry it out. Just leave everything to me. My head is just bursting -with all the ideas that interesting balloonist has put into it. Why, -mother, if I can only get a start, if I can get hold of a few novelties -and do a little advertising--" - -"Oh, Frank, it takes money to do all that!" - -"And brains. Mostly brains and industry, Mr. Gregson says. Mother, now -or soon, here, at Greenville or somewhere else, I am determined to give -the mail order idea a trial." - -"Mail order, Frank?" - -"Capital! excellent!" cried Frank with enthusiasm. "Why, mother, you -have suggested the very catchy name. I will use to advertise by--'Mail -Order Frank'!" - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -STRICTLY BUSINESS - - -The balloonist, Park Gregson, needed rest after his strenuous experience -of the previous day, so Frank did not disturb him. He and his mother had -their breakfast together, then Frank started out on his usual daily -round of duties. - -He did his chores about the house. Then he went down to the eight -o'clock train to get a bundle of daily newspapers from the city. These -he delivered to his regular customers. At nine o'clock he went to the -office of Mr. Beach, the lawyer. - -Frank was informed by the attorney's clerk that Mr. Beach had left -Greenville to see a distant client. He would not be back for two days. - -"I need somebody's advice about this five-day notice of Mr. Dorsett," -reflected Frank, and proceeded to visit the insurance man, Mr. Buckner. - -"Good!" exclaimed the latter briskly, as Frank put in an appearance, "I -was just about to send for you." - -"To send for me?" repeated Frank. - -"Yes, I told you that you might expect some further business commissions -from me, you remember?" - -"Yes, Mr. Buckner." - -"Well, they have materialized. Can you give me your time unrestrictedly -for a week or ten days?" - -"Why--yes, I think so," answered Frank, but somewhat slowly, for he -thought of their family complications. - -Mr. Buckner was a keen-witted man. He read something under the surface -in Frank's hesitancy. - -"Something troubling you, Frank?" he suggested. - -"Oh, nothing serious, Mr. Buckner. It seems we have offended Mr. Dorsett. -He is our landlord. He has ordered us to leave the house we rent from him -within five days." - -"Hum, the old curmudgeon! His house! I wonder whose it would be if some -of his clever rascality was investigated?" - -"Well, I suppose we have got to go," said Frank. "He is ugly and -determined." - -"Oh, that difficulty can be easily solved," declared Mr. Buckner, -lightly. "You know the vacant store front on Cedar street? I am -agent for that property, owner a non-resident. There are five nice, -comfortable living rooms upstairs. It's only two blocks' move for you. -If it suits you, make the move. You need pay no rent until you decide -where you wish to locate permanently." - -"You are very kind," said Frank. - -"Why--never thought of it!" exclaimed Mr. Buckner, with new animation of -manner and voice. "The very thing, it exactly fits!" - -"What do you mean?" inquired Frank. - -"Sit down, and I'll explain. You took a check yesterday to pay for some -salvage at a fire at Riverton." - -"Yes, sir," nodded Frank. - -"I notified my client last night by telegraph of our success. He's a -Lancaster man, in the hardware line. He ran up to Greenville last -evening to see me. It seems that Morton, the man burned out at Riverton, -was also in the hardware line. Everything he had was burned up in the -fire. When they came to clear the wreck, they found all the metal stock -he carried massed in among the ashes in the cellar. The insurance -company had it put in big packing cases. It was all mixed up, some of -the stock damaged entirely. My client, however, decided that it might -net him a profit on the two hundred dollars he paid for it." - -"I see," said Frank. - -"What he has engaged me to do, is to go or send to Riverton and get the -stuff carted over here. Then he wants the rubbish gone over, and the -good stuff selected and sorted out. It seems that Morton had been -neglecting his regular hardware business for some time. He invented an -apple corer that wouldn't core very well. He bought a lot of little -stuff, such as initial buttons, needles and the like, and was trying to -get into the mail order business, when the fire came along." - -"The mail order business?" said Frank in a quick breath. - -"Yes. Now he's going to take his insurance money and buy an interest in -some publishing business in the city. Well, you can see that a little -time and care may result in picking out quite a lot of really valuable -stuff from the mass, brushing it up and all that." - -"Yes, indeed," murmured Frank. - -"We can store the plunder in the Cedar Street building. You take charge -of it, hire what help you need, and I'll divide with you what I charge -my client for my services. Pretty liberal, ain't I now, Frank?" asked -Mr. Buckner, with a smile. "You doing all the work, and me getting a -full half of the pay." - -"Yes, but you are the directing genius of the affair, you know," -suggested Frank pleasantly. - -"Oh, I can direct all right, if you will do the hustling," laughed the -insurance man. "Settled, is it? All right. My client thinks it will take -a week or ten days to sort the stuff into some kind of shape. He'll be -here to inspect progress next Saturday. You make your arrangements, and -draw five dollars a day." - -Frank was quite stunned at the munificent offer. - -"I trust you implicitly, Frank," went on his kind friend. "Here is a -letter to the custodian of the property at Riverton, and here is twenty -dollars to carry around with you to meet any expense that may come up. -Hire the moving teams as cheaply as you can, store the boxes at the -Cedar Street place. I leave the details entirely to you. When can you -start in?" - -"Right now," replied Frank promptly. - -"All right, get into action." - -Frank was proud and pleased as he hurried back home. He did not let the -grass grow under his feet, but neither did he go off in a wild tangent -that might disorder things. He was all business and system. - -First, he reported to his mother. They decided to move at once. Then he -sought out Nelson Cady, a close chum, and commissioned him to look -after his evening paper route and other odd jobs he did daily. Frank -decided he could save money by hiring home talent to do the moving of -the salvage stuff. He was not much acquainted at Riverton. The teamsters -there might be extortionate, as it was a double trip for the wagons. - -Within an hour's time Frank had made an excellent bargain, and all -interested were duly satisfied with the arrangement. An honest old negro -named Eben Johnson, who carted ashes and other refuse for the town, was -not doing much that especial day. He agreed to lease his two teams and -one driver for twelve hours for seven dollars and the keep of man and -horses. - -Frank knew he could make no more economical arrangement than this. By -eleven o'clock he was on the way to Riverton, acting himself as driver -of one of the teams. - -The driver of the other team was a good-natured though rather shiftless -fellow, named Boyle. When they reached Riverton, Frank took him to a -restaurant, gave him the best meal he had ever eaten, and made the -fellow his friend for life. The horses were given a first class feed and -a good rest. - -Frank found he had to handle eight immense packing cases and one zinc -box. This latter was full of books and papers. These went to the -purchaser, it seemed, along with the "good will" of the business. - -The eight packing cases were tremendously heavy. A glance at their -contents showed Frank a confused jumble. There were hammers and hatchets -with their handles burned off, saws and chisels, blackened, and some of -them burned out of shape by the fire. There were nails, tacks, hinges, -keys, door knobs, in fact a confusing mass of mixed hardware of every -description. - -Frank and his man could not handle four of the cases alone. The lad had -to hire a couple of men to help them load these onto the wagons. As they -got all ready to start for home, the custodian came up with a little -wizened man with a Jewish cast of countenance, and introduced him as Mr. -Moss. - -"There's a lot of junk not worth carting away over at the ruins," -explained the custodian to Frank. "This man wants to buy it." - -"All right," said Frank, "let him make an offer." - -"Mein frient, two dollars would be highway robbery for dot oldt stuff," -asserted the junk dealer, with a characteristic shrug of his shoulders. - -"Is that your offer, Mr. Moss?" asked Frank in a business-like tone. - -"I vill gif it chust to spite oldt Isaacs, my combetitor," declared -Moss. - -"Well, we will go and take a look at the stuff," said Frank. - -"Mein frient, dot vos useless," insisted Moss. "Time ish monish. Tree -tollars!" - -"No," said Frank definitely. "I always calculate to know what I'm -about." - -He left the wagons, and accompanied by Moss soon reached the blackened -ruins of the hardware store. - -Just as they arrived there, a shrewd-faced little urchin approaching -them halted, and gave both a keen look. - -"Hoo!" he yelled--"I must tell vader!" - -Moss threw his cane after the disappearing urchin, and looked perturbed -and anxious. - -"Dot vos de stuff," he explained, pointing out two cindery piles back of -the ruins. - -"Why," said Frank, poking in and out among the debris, "there is quite a -heap of it." - -"Ashes, mein frient, ashes," suavely observed the junk dealer. - -"Not at all," retorted Frank. "Here is a stove, all but the top. Here -are a lot of hoes and rakes, twisted a little, but not entirely -worthless. Both heaps are nearly all solid metal. There must be over a -ton of iron here." - -"Four tollars--I tell you vot I do: four tollars," said Moss fervently. - -Frank shook his head and continued to look calculatingly at the -blackened heaps. - -"Five tollars," spoke Moss with sudden unction. "Mein tear younug -frient--cash. Say nodings. Dere vos de monish." - -But Frank looked resolutely away from the bank note tendered as a near -shout rang out. - -A stout, clumsy man had come lumbering around the corner at his best -gait, in a frantic state of excitement. - -He was in his shirt sleeves, drenched with perspiration and waving his -arms wildly. Beside him ran the urchin Frank had before noticed. It was -apparent that he had succeeded in satisfying his father that a sale of -the fire debris was on. - -"Mishter, Mishter," he called, "it is Ezekiels Isaacs. I vill puy de -goods. How mooch is offered?" - -"Five dollars so far," repeated Frank tranquilly. - -"Six," instantly bolted out the newcomer. - -"Seven!" snarled Moss. - -"Ten tollars," pronounced the other, pulling out a fat pocketbook. - -"Gentlemen," said Frank. "I have made up my mind. You must start your -real bids at double that, or I cannot entertain an offer." - -"Yesh," cried Moss eagerly--"twenty tollars." - -"Und a kee-varter!" howled his rival. - -"Un a hal-luf!" - -"Tage it!" roared Moss, waving his cane in impotent rage, and turned -away disgusted. - -"Of course you gif me four per cent. discount for cash?" demanded the -successful bidder. - -"Of course I shall not," dissented Frank. "Shall I call back Mr. Moss? -No? Thanks,--that is correct, twenty dollars and fifty cents. Here is a -receipt." - -Frank felt that he had closed an exceptionally good sale. Within -half-an-hour the wagons were started on their way for Greenville. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -A STEP FORWARD - - -The return trip took three hours. It was just five o'clock when the -wagons drew up in front of the store front building on Cedar Street, in -Greenville. - -A man whom Mr. Buckner had hired was sweeping out the place. With his -aid and that of another helper, the big packing cases were stowed in the -main floor room as Frank wanted them. - -Frank had just paid off the two outsiders, when the man he had leased -the wagons from drove up in a light vehicle. He was all smiles. He -looked over the horses and turned to Frank. - -"Mistah Newton, sah," he observed, "the mussiful man am kind to his -beast. Ah see dem hosses in good trim, sah, and am obleeged. Sah, you am -a good-luck boy. Like to hire you as my manager, sah, ef I had enough -money. Ha! Ha!" - -"Where does the good luck come in, Mr. Johnson?" inquired Frank -smilingly. - -"Ah tell you 'bout dat, sah. Logic am logic. Theyfoh, it follows ef I'd -gone up to dat no-good, cheap hauling for de lumbah comp'ny I'd been out -five dollahs, 'cause you paid me seben, 'sides having de hosses worked -to death. Again, sah, de suckamstance am dis: I happened to be in town -when a stranger gen'man came 'long and hiahed me to drive him into de -woods. Got another gen'man from your house. I helped dem get a b'loon -down from a tree, load it on de wagon and took it to de train. One ob de -gen'mans knew you 'ticularly, sah." - -"Yes, Mr. Gregson," murmured Frank. "Did both leave town?" - -"Yes, sah, with the b'loon." - -Frank was sorry he had not seen his entertaining acquaintance before he -went away. Mr. Johnson continued: - -"Rar gen'man, dose, 'specially dat professor. What think, sah? He say: -'How much am dis exertion on youah part worth, Mistah Johnsing?' and -when I say, 'Bout eight bits, Mistah Professor,' he laugh and gib me a -five dollah gold piece. And de other gen'man say to me confimadentially: -'Mistah Johnsing, please tell young Mistah Newton I shall write to him, -and when I get making a little money I shall do myself de pleashah of -sending him a gold watch and chain, and dat dog of his a gold collah.' -Deed he did, sah." - -Frank laughed pleasantly, believing that "Mistah Johnsing" was romancing -a trifle. Then he said: "I believe our contract on the teams was for -twelve hours' service, Mr. Johnson?" - -"Dat am correct, sah." - -"If you say so, I will give them a good feed and do our moving from the -house to the rooms upstairs here. Of course I will pay your man for the -extra labor." - -"Dat am highly satisfact'ry to me, Mistah Newton." - -The two teams were driven over to the cottage and unhitched in front of -it. Frank rigged up a convenient feed trough, gave the horses their -oats, and invited Boyle to join him at supper. - -Frank had talked over the moving question with his mother that morning. -He found that she had put in a busy day. All the pictures were removed -from the walls and neatly encased in newspapers. The books had been -placed in boxes; everything, even to the beds, carried from upstairs. - -Notwithstanding all this, Mrs. Ismond spread out an appetizing meal for -the two workers. - -"Mother, this really won't do," remonstrated Frank seriously. - -"What won't do, my son?" asked his mother, smiling. - -"Carrying those heavy things down stairs." - -"But I did not do that--at least not all of it," the widow hastened to -say. "Your friend, Nelson Cady, happened along about three o'clock. -Nothing would do but he must lend a helping hand. Then his chums found -him out. They were soon in service, too." - -Just as Frank finished his supper there were cheery boyish hails -outside. Nelson and five of his cohorts animatedly demanded that they -become part and parcel in the fun and excitement of moving. - -Soon there was a procession carrying various articles to the rooms on -Cedar Street. The wagons took the heavy furniture and such like. Just at -dark the last had left the cottage. Looking back, Frank saw Mr. Dorsett -sneaking into his empty house from the rear. - -"He doesn't look particularly happy, now he has had his own way," -reflected Frank. "I hope mother doesn't take the change to heart." - -His first question was along that very line, as the last chair was set -in place in the new family habitation. - -"Sad, Frank?" said his mother--"no, indeed! When we were forced from -the old home on the hill a year ago, I was very sorrowful. It is a -positive relief now, though, to get out of the shadow of Mr. Dorsett and -all belonging to him. It is nice, and home-like and cozy here, and I am -sure we shall be very comfortable and happy in our new home." - -Many hands had aided in bestowing the family goods just where Mrs. -Ismond wanted them. There was very little tidying up to do half-an-hour -after Frank had dismissed the teamster, with a dollar for his extra -work. - -Then he led a gay procession down the principal village street. They -entered a little ice cream parlor, and Frank "treated"--one ice cream -and a glass of soda water all around. - -"I want to see you, Nelson, as early in the morning as I can," said -Frank, as they separated for the night. - -"Business?" inquired Nelson, in a serious way. - -"Why, yes. Truth is, I can put some loose change in your pocket, if you -care to undertake a ten-days' job I have in hand." - -Nelson shook his head dubiously, with a very important air. - -"Dunno," he said calculatingly. "You see, I am expecting a letter any -day now." - -Frank smiled to himself. Nelson had been "expecting a letter" every day -for a year. Every boy in the village knew this, and occasionally guyed -and jollied him about it. - -Nelson's great ambition was to become a cowboy. On one occasion he had -run away from home, bound for far-away Idaho. He got as far as the city, -was nearly starved and half-frozen, and came home meekly the next day. - -His father gave him a good, sensible talk. He tried to convince Nelson -that he was too young to undertake the rough life of a cowboy. This -failing, he agreed that if Nelson would get some respectable stockman in -Idaho to ensure him a regular berth for a year, he would let him go west -and pay his fare there. - -Since then Nelson had spent nearly all the pocket money he could earn -writing to people in Idaho, from the Governor down. Nobody seemed to -want an inexperienced, home-bred boy to round their stock, however. -Still, Nelson kept on hoping and trying. - -"I'll risk your letter coming before your contract with me is finished, -Nelson," said Frank kindly. "About this cowboy business, though--take my -advice and that of your good, kind father: don't waste your best young -years just for the sake of novelty and adventure. No ambitious boy can -afford it." - -"But I have a longing for the wild ranch life," said Nelson earnestly. - -"All right, then do your duty to those at home, earn a good start here, -where you have friends to help you, and begin with a ranch of your own. -When I have made enough money, I would like to run a ranch myself. But I -want to own it. I want to make a business investment--not fun and -frolic--out of it." - -"All right, I'll be on hand in the morning," promised Nelson. - -"I have been saving a surprise for you, Frank," said his mother, as he -rejoined her about nine o'clock. "What do you think? Your friend, Mr. -Gregson, insisted on leaving you twenty-five dollars." - -"Oh, that won't do at all!" cried Frank instantly. - -"The professor, who was with him, insisted that it must. Besides, they -left all sorts of kind regards for you." - -Frank's was a truly grateful heart. It had been a splendid day for him. -He took up a lamp and went downstairs, whistling happily. - -"There's a lot of work to do here," he said, going from box to box, -flashing the light across the contents. "There must be a million needles -in that packing case. Poor Morton's apple corer--there's several -thousands of those. And here's a great jumble of lawn mower repair -material." - -Frank stood mapping out how he would handle the mass of stuff. About to -leave the room, he set down the lamp and curiously inspected the zinc -box that had apparently been the burned-out hardware man's safe. - -It was filled with papers of various kinds: receipted bills, statements -of accounts and letters. Many of these latter were from mail customers -who had bought the apple corer and were dissatisfied with its operation. - -Many of the papers were partly burned away. All were grimed with smoke. -Finally from the very bottom of the box Frank fished up a square -package. Opening this, he found it to be some part of a mail order -office equipment. - -Frank's eye sparkled. There were several sheets of cardboard. On each of -them a colored map of a State of the Union was printed. Each town had a -hole near it. This was to hold minute wooden pegs of different hues, -each color designating "written to," or "first customer," or "agent," -and the like. - -At a glance Frank took in the value and utility of this outfit. As he -drew some typewritten sheets from a big manilla envelope, he grew -positively excited at the grand discovery he had made. - -"Fifty thousand names!" exclaimed Frank--"possible mail order customers -all over the country! Oh, if this outfit were only mine! Can I get it, -or its duplicate? Why," he said, in a fervent, deep-drawn breath, -"circumstances seem absolutely pushing me into the mail order -business!" - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -SENSE AND SYSTEM - - -Frank was up and stirring before six o'clock the next morning. He felt -like a person beginning life brand-new again. - -When his mother appeared half-an-hour later, she found everything tidied -up, including Frank himself, who hurried through a good, hearty -breakfast with an important business engagement in view. - -"You will excuse me for calling at your home instead of the office," -said Frank to Mr. Buckner, a little later. - -"That's all right, Frank," declared the insurance man, shaking hands -heartily with his early caller. "Time is money, and of course you want -to utilize it to the best advantage. Well, what's the news?" - -Frank recited the progress of the day previous. When he came to tell of -the sale of the old junk at Riverton, his host laughed till the tears -ran down his cheeks. - -"You'll do, Frank," he observed with enthusiasm--"decidedly, you'll do! -You got the moving done at just half what I expected to pay, and -collected twenty dollars and a half we never knew a word about." - -"Then you want me to go on getting the burned stuff in order, do you?" -inquired Frank. - -"Certainly--that was all understood, wasn't it? I'll try and drop around -to-day or to-morrow and take a look at the plunder, just out of -curiosity. As to getting it in shape for my client's inspection, I leave -that in your able charge exclusively." - -"Thank you," said Frank. - -Nelson Cady was piping a cheery whistle in front of the store when Frank -got home. - -"Got no letter yet," he announced in his old important way, "so I reckon -I can give you a lift, Frank." - -"Good for you," commended Frank. "You know how to work all right when -you want to, Nelson." - -Frank unlocked the store door with a proud sense of proprietorship. Both -entered the long, rambling room. - -"Now then, Nelson," said Frank, "I offer you ten cents an hour, and make -you superintendent of the little plant here." - -"What am I expected to superintend?" asked Nelson. - -"Did you notify any of the boys?" - -"Oh, yes--I could get an army of them, if needed." - -"I think about half-a-dozen will answer," said Frank. - -"They'll be here shortly all right," responded Nelson. "It's vacation, -and--there's the first arrival now." - -A curly-pated, eager-faced little urchin popped in through the open -doorway. - -"Hey, Nelse, am I early enough?" he asked anxiously. - -"Five cents an hour," announced Frank, with a welcoming smile. - -"Oh, my!" cried the little fellow--"five times twenty-four is, let me -see--a naught and two to carry, a dollar and twenty cents. Whoop!" - -"Here, here, you don't suppose we're going to work all day and all -night, too, do you?" said Nelson. "Eight hours will tire you out soon -enough." - -"Forty cents a day, then," cried the little fellow. "Say, I'll be rich!" - -Within the next ten minutes as many as a dozen other boys arrived. The -news of Frank Newton having work to be done, had spread like wildfire -among juvenile Greenville. All hands begged for employment, but Frank -could not hire all of them. He engaged first boys whose families needed -help, and promised the others they should work as substitutes when any -of the original employes dropped out of the ranks. - -"Now then, friends," said Frank, as soon as the hiring business was -disposed of, "Nelson Cady will direct what you are to do. You had better -all of you go home first and put on the oldest duds you can find, for -this is going to be dirty work. Look here, Nelson." - -Frank had got a big piece of chalk at a carpenter's shop on his way home -from the interview with Mr. Buckner. - -With this he now divided the floor space of one whole side of the store -into sections about six feet square. - -"You see, Nelson," he said to his superintendent, "first you tip over -one of those big packing cases onto the floor." - -"All right, Frank." - -"Then begin picking out an article at a time. Suppose it is a hammer -comes first: write with chalk on the edge of a section 'Hammers,' and -then group all the hammers you find by themselves." - -"I understand," nodded Nelson. - -"Label all the squares plainly. Mass everything of its class in distinct -heaps. That is the first start in your work." - -Frank had some of his regular village chores to do. He was gone over an -hour attending to various duties. - -As he came back to the store again, Frank was spurred up by the busy hum -of industry. Half-a-dozen urchins peering enviously in at the open front -door made way for him. He gave them a kind word and stepped inside to -take a sweeping view of his juvenile working force. - -A great rattlety-bang was going on as the boys pulled over the heap of -debris. Hands and faces were grimed. There were some blistered fingers, -but the boys were working like bees in a hive. - -The chalked-off sections had begun to grow in number. One was labelled -"Needles." Frank stared in some wonder. There were papers of needles -whole, and others with half their original paper coverings burned away, -of loose needles, some rusted and blackened, some still bright and -shining; there seemed to be thousands upon thousands. - -Then there was a lot of pieces of lawn mowers, blades, wheels, screws, -cogs and axles. Hinges of all sizes and qualities showed up prominently. -Pocket knives, scissors and carpenter tools were likewise greatly in -evidence. - -One pile was growing rapidly with the minutes. This was a heap of apple -corers. It was a contrivance with a small wooden knob. A screw held a -tapering piece of thin metal, which penetrated the centre of an apple. -Then a twist was supposed to cut out the core. - -From letters in the zinc box which Frank had read, he knew that -purchasers of this device had complained about it greatly. In the first -place it was arbitrarily set for one uniform cut. No matter whether the -apple to be operated on was large or small, the hole made was exactly -the same. If the fruit was hard and crisp, according to the letters of -complaint the corer split the apple. If it was soft, the corer mushed -the apple. There were already sorted out several hundreds of these -corers. Frank wished he could get hold of them and improve them. - -Frank looked over all the selected stuff in view. Then he went in turn -to the village blacksmith, the local hardware store and to a druggist -friend. He returned with some sponges, soft rags, sandpaper and a can of -oil. He chalked off new spaces at the rear end of the store, three being -devoted to each article labelled. Then he ordered his helpers to grade -the various utensils dug out of the debris. Thus, hammers: those burned -beyond practical use were put in heap one, second best, heap two; those -that were only slightly marred were placed in heap three. - -When Mr. Buckner came to the store the following day at noon the work -had progressed famously. The insurance man was greatly gratified at the -layout. - -"Sense and system," he said, and told Frank he was proud of him. - -Certainly Frank had proceeded on a routine that was bound to bring good -results. What he called the finished product was now strongly in -evidence. He had divided his working force. Five of the small boys -helped him in getting all the salable stuff sorted by itself. - -Mr. Buckner's client did not put in an appearance until the following -Tuesday. By that time the place looked more like a real hardware store -than a repairing shop. - -All the best stuff was classified and neatly laid out. The hardware man -from Lancaster made one sweeping inspection of the various piles of -merchandise. There was quite a delighted expression on his face as he -turned to Frank. - -"Young man," he said, "Mr. Buckner prepared me to meet a brisk, -enterprising fellow of about your size, but the way you have handled -this business is a marvel." - -Frank flushed with pleasure. - -"Right at the start," continued his visitor, "I offer you a good, -permanent position in my store at Lancaster at eight dollars a week." - -"I thank you greatly," replied Frank, "but I have partly decided on some -other plans with my mother." - -"All right. If you change your mind, come to me. Now then, to size up -this proposition in detail." - -The speaker looked into and over everything. When he had gone one round -he picked up an empty red cardboard box and began to cut it up into -small squares. - -"I seem to have made a fine investment, Buckner," he said to the -insurance man. "There's over two hundred dollars in those lawn mower -parts alone. The regular stuff like tools and cutlery are good for -as much more. See here, Newton: I am going to put one of these -red cardboard squares on all the lots I wish you to ship to me at -Lancaster." - -"Yes, sir," nodded Frank. - -"Get some strong boxes and pack the stuff well, send by freight." - -The hardware merchant now went from pile to pile, placing the red bits -of cardboard on about two-thirds of the stuff. - -"Aren't you going to take those needles?" inquired Buckner, noticing -that his client had passed them by. "Why, there's fully a million of -them." - -"No use for them." - -"And this big pile of apple corers?" - -The hardware man shrugged his shoulders. - -"No," he said plumply. "They busted Morton. If he couldn't make them go, -I can't." - -"And those other heaps of second-best stuff?" inquired Frank. "I should -think they would sell for something." - -"And spoil the sale of good-profit goods. No, no. That's poor business -policy. I shall make double good as it is. Just dump the balance into -some junk shop. Whatever you get for it you can keep, Newton." - -"Oh, sir," interrupted Frank quickly, "you hardly estimate the real -value there. Why, anyone taking the trouble to put those needles up into -packages could clean up a good many dollars. There's a lot of sewing -machine needles there, too. They are worth three for five cents -anywhere." - -"All right," retorted his employer with an expansive smile. "You do it, -Newton, I won't. Take the stuff with my compliments, and thank you in -the bargain for all the pains you have gone to in turning me out a -first-class job." - -"Takes your breath away, does it, Frank?" said Buckner, with a friendly -nudge. "It will give you some interesting dabbling to do for quite a -time to come, eh?" - -"Yes, indeed," murmured Frank, his eyes shining bright with pleasure. He -was fairly overcome at the unexpected donation. He seized the hardware -man's hand and shook it fervently. "Sir," he said gratefully, "I feel -that you have given me my start in life." - -"Have I?" laughed his employer lightly. "Glad. Well, the matter's -settled," he continued, consulting his watch--"I must catch my train." - -"One little matter, please," said Frank, advancing to the zinc box and -throwing back its cover. - -He rapidly described what it contained, including the lists of names -and the mail order routing cards. - -The hardware man listened in a bored, impatient way. - -"Don't want any of the truck," he said. "Burn it up, do what you want -with it. Get that freight on to me quick as you can, Newton. Buckner -here will settle your bill for services. Good-bye." - -Frank Newton stood like one in a dream after his visitors had departed. - -A great wave of hope, ambition, the grandest anticipations filled his -mind. - -"Mine!" he said, passing slowly from heap to heap consigned to him as a -free gift. "Mine," he repeated, his hand resting on the zinc box. "At -least fifty dollars in cash out of the work I have done, and the basis -of a regular business in what that man has given me. Oh, what a royal -start!" - - - - -CHAPTER X - -A VISIT TO THE CITY - - -"It almost frightens me!" said Frank Newton's mother. - -The speaker looked quite serious, as she sat facing her son, who had -just read over to her the contents of several closely-written sheets of -paper. - -"It needn't, mother," answered Frank with a bright, reassuring smile. -"Mr. Buckner gave me my motto when I started in at this work. It was -'Sense and System.' They seem to win." - -"Yes, Frank, and I am very proud and happy to see you so much in -earnest, and so successful." - -"I have over one hundred dollars in hand," proceeded Frank. "We shall -get fully as much more from the sale of our assorted needle packages and -the general junk stuff down stairs. Mother, I call that pretty fine luck -for three weeks' work." - -"You have certainly been very fortunate," murmured Mrs. Ismond. - -"Then if it is a streak of fortune solely," said Frank, "I propose to -make it the basis of my bigger experiment. Yes, mother, I have fully -decided I shall get into the mail order business right away. The first -step in that direction is to see Mr. Morton, the Riverton hardware -merchant who was burned out. He has gone into some book concern in the -city. I shall go there on the night train, see him, and then I will know -definitely where I stand." - -"Is it necessary to see him?" asked Frank's mother. "Mr. Buckner says -that everything he left at the fire was sold as salvage. The Lancaster -man made you a present of that old zinc box. I don't see, having -abandoned it, how Mr. Morton has any further claim on it." - -"That is because you have not thought over the matter as much as I -have," observed Frank. "Perhaps Mr. Morton doesn't know that the papers -in the zinc box were nearly all saved. No, mother, I intend to start my -business career on clean, clear lines. I feel it my duty to apprise Mr. -Morton of the true condition of things. If I lose by it, all right. I -have acted according to the dictates of my conscience." - -Mrs. Ismond glanced fondly and fervently at Frank. Her approbation of -his sentiments showed in her glistening eyes. - -A week had passed by since the Lancaster man had settled up with Frank. -It had been a busy, bustling week for the embryo young mail order -merchant and his assistants. - -Frank had got his employees to sort out the myriad of needles into lots -of twenty-four. He bought some little pay envelopes, and had printed on -these: "Frank's Mail Order House. Two Dozen Assorted Needles." - -As said before, this was vacation time. There was scarcely a boy in -Greenville who did not take a turn at selling the needle packages, which -Frank wholesaled at six cents each. - -Most of the boys sold a few packages at home and to immediate neighbors, -and then quit work. Others, however, made a regular business of it. -Nelson Cady took in two partners, borrowed a light gig, and to date had -met with signal success in covering other towns in the county. - -"Why," he had declared enthusiastically to Frank only that evening, when -he handed over the cash for two hundred new packages of the needles, -which Mrs. Ismond was kept busy putting up, "if the needles hold out, I -could extend and extend my travelling trips and work my way clear to -Idaho." - -"You are certainly making more than expenses," said Frank -encouragingly. - -"Yes, but you see"--with his usual seriousness explained Nelson, "that -letter may come any day, and I want to be on hand to get it." - -"Of course," nodded Frank gravely, but he felt that poor Nelson's hopes -were like those of the man whose ship never came in. - -While his young assistants were thus earning good pocket money and Frank -was accumulating more and more capital daily, he kept up a powerful -thinking. - -A limitless field of endeavor seemed spread out before him. The handling -of the salvage stock had been a positive education to him. - -"I see where the Riverton hardware man failed," Frank said to himself -many times, "and I think I know how I can succeed." - -Frank packed up the contents of the zinc box in a satchel with a couple -of clean collars, cuffs and handkerchiefs, and consulted a railway -time-table. - -"If I take the train that goes through Greenville at three o'clock in -the morning, mother," he said, "I arrive at the city at exactly ten -o'clock. Just the hour for business." - -"Well, then, after supper you lay down and sleep till two o'clock. I -will busy myself putting up some more of the needles," suggested Mrs. -Ismond. "I will have a little early morning lunch ready for you, and you -can start off rested." - -"Thank you," said Frank warmly. "It's worth working for such a mother as -you." - -Frank reached the deserted railway depot of Greenville in time for the -train. Nearly everybody was dozing in the car he entered. He had a seat -to himself, and plenty of time and opportunity for reflection. - -Frank consulted the sheets of writing he had read to his mother the -evening previous. They contained his business plans. He had figured out -what two hundred dollars would do towards starting a modest mail order -business. However, so much depended on the result of his interview with -Mr. Morton in the city, that Frank awaited that event with a good deal -of anxiety. - -When the train neared the terminus Frank took a good wash, put on a -clean collar, and tidied up generally. Leaving the train he bought a -satisfactory meal at a restaurant, and was ready for business. - -Frank soon located the book concern in which Mr. Morton had invested -his money. It occupied four gaudy offices, one of which was occupied -exclusively by Mr. Morton. Frank had to wait his turn for an interview. -While seated in the anteroom, he learned something of the business -going on from the conversation of some callers there. - -It appeared that the concern sold book outfits to canvassers on a -conditional salary guarantee. From what Frank gleaned very few ever made -good, so the chief revenue of the company came from the original outfit -sale. - -Finally Frank was called into Mr. Morton's office. The latter looked him -over with an urbane smile. - -"Came in response to our advertisement for agents, I suppose?" he -inquired. - -"Not at all," replied Frank. "It is solely on personal business. I came -to see you, sir--about your old business at Riverton." - -Mr. Morton shrugged his shoulders impatiently, as though the reminder -was unpleasant. - -"Bills?" he growled out. "Thought I'd settled everything--sick of the -whole business, and threw it up in the air for good. Go on." - -"Why," said Frank, "I sort of represent the people who bought the -salvage from the fire insurance folks." - -"I have nothing to do with that." - -"Among the debris there was a zinc box with some of your papers in it." - -"Yes, I remember," nodded Mr. Morton. "Nearly all burned up, weren't -they?" - -"No, sir. In looking them over I found some of your old customers' -accounts, and that like. I thought they might be valuable to you, so I -came down from Greenville where I live to bring them to you." - -"You did?" exclaimed Mr. Morton with a stare, partly suspicious, partly -surprised. "That's queer." - -Frank said no more. He opened the suit case and removed its two neatly -put up packages. One contained the private papers of Mr. Morton. The -other contained the mailing lists and mail order system layout. - -Frank placed the two parcels on the desk before his host. The latter -chanced to open the larger package first. He carelessly ran over the -lists and the accompanying literature. - -"H'm," he said rather irritably, "I've little use for that monument of -my fool-killer experiment!" - -Frank was relieved--in fact, pleased, to observe Mr. Morton -contemptuously sweep aside the litter before him and inspect the second -package. - -This interested him. He sorted out quite a lot of bills and receipts. - -"Guess I'm a careless business man," he spoke at last. "That fire so -discouraged me I just got out, bag and baggage. There's some good, -collectible bills here. Now then, young man," he continued, facing -squarely about on Frank, "don't tell me you came way down here from -Greenville with that stuff just out of courtesy and kindness." - -"I will tell you the whole story, if you have the time to listen to it," -replied Frank. - -"Certainly--fire away." - -Frank recited his experience with the salvage from start to finish. He -wound up with the words: "You can see, sir, very plainly that I have -hopes of getting those lists. I have a little money, and I will be glad -to buy them." - -Mr. Morton studied Frank in a pleased, interested way. - -"Young man," he said, "you have acted very honorably in coming to me the -way you have. As to that mail order literature, cart it away. I don't -want it. I might sell the lists, if I had the time--I haven't--so they -are yours. And, look here, these bills--I'll give you half of what you -collect on them." - -"You will?" exclaimed Frank, doubly delighted. "I will gladly meet the -trial for ten per cent." - -"No," insisted Mr. Morton, "there's some expense and trouble, you not -living in Riverton. You'll have to hire a rig to visit some of my former -debtors. I've stated the proposition. Here, I'll write you out an -authority to act as my agent." - -Frank arose to leave the office half-an-hour later a satisfied and -grateful boy. Mr. Morton had quizzed him considerably as to his future -plans. He was down on the mail order business, for he had made a failure -of it himself, but he said a good many enlightening things that at least -warned Frank of the pitfalls in his business course. - -"Please, one more word, Mr. Morton," said Frank, taking up his repacked -suit case--"about those apple corers of yours?" - -"Whew!" cried his host with a wry grimace, "have I got to think of that -grand flare-up again?" - -"There's a lot of them, you know, among the salvage?" suggested Frank. - -"Yes, and there would have been a lot more if the fire hadn't stopped -returns," declared Mr. Morton. "That was a bad investment." - -"Did you patent the apple corer Mr. Morton?" asked Frank. - -"No--yes--my attorney filed the caveat, I believe. I don't think we ever -completed the patent transaction, and of course I shan't throw away any -more good money on it." - -"I was thinking," said Frank, "that with a little modification--improvement, -you know? maybe it might be made to work satisfactorily." - -Mr. Morton made such an excited jump straight towards his young visitor -that Frank was rather startled. - -"Young man," he said, very solemnly, "if you want me to lose all the -really profound admiration I feel towards you for the business-like way -in which you have managed things, don't, for mercy's sake, tell me that -you have been bitten, too, with the fatal, crazy, irrational dream that -you want to invent something!" - -"Why," said Frank, with a smile, "is it as bad as that?" - -"Worse!" declared Mr. Morton, with a comical groan. "Get the patent bee -in your bonnet, and you're lost, doomed!" in a mock-hollow tone observed -Mr. Morton, shaking Frank by the arm. "Drop it, drop it, or you're on -the rocks." - -"Then," suggested Frank, "you won't mind if I experiment with the -corer?" - -"Mind? I wish you'd sink it. I wish I could forget the money I lost in -it. It's yours, though, if you want it, only never mention that an old -dreamer of my name ever got dazzled with a toy like that. Stick to the -straight business line, lad--mail order, if you must, but cut off the -frills. Don't wreck your ship on gewgaws that are a delusion and a -snare." - -Frank left the office of the book concern in a happy, hopeful mood. -Everything had come out beyond his fondest anticipations. He was glad he -had been truthful and honest in the broadest sense of the word. - -He went back to the railroad depot and left his suit case in the check -room. A return train for Greenville left at two o'clock, but Frank -wanted to see the city. Outside of that, he wished to visit one or two -large mail order houses. - -Frank employed six hours to grand advantage. He came to the depot -feeling that the money he had spent was a good investment. - -After a light lunch he sat down on a bench in the waiting room. He -counted over the little pile of bank notes in his pocketbook with a -pleased smile. - -"Just think," he reflected, "I expected to pay Mr. Morton twenty, maybe -thirty dollars for those lists and the routing outfit, and here I am -going back home with practically all my original capital. Then, too, the -collection of those bills at Riverton: why, it just seems as if fortune -has picked me out as a special favorite." - -Frank found the train he was to take would not leave for over an hour. -It was already made up and standing on its track, but still locked up -and unlighted. Frank went outside and strolled up and down the dark -platform alongside the train. - -He was full of pleasing, engrossing thoughts, and did not notice a -large, shrewd-eyed man who had followed him from the waiting room. - -Frank was just returning to promenade back from the front end of the -train, when a sharp rustle made him turn half around. - -Instantly a pair of brawny arms were stretched out towards him. Both of -his hands were imprisoned in the grasp of a sprawling fist. - -"Hey, keep quiet, or I'll smash you," spoke a harsh voice. "Now then, -young man, I want that money you've got in your pocket." - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -A FRIEND IN NEED - - -"Hands off!" cried Frank. - -His assailant laughed coarsely. He had Frank firmly in his grasp. -Pushing him against the steps of one of the coaches, still gripping his -two wrists in one hand he bent him back flat. - -No one was in sight down the long, poorly-illuminated passenger -platform. Frank at once guessed that the fellow had seen him counting -over his money in the waiting room and had followed him to this spot. - -Frank twisted his lower limbs to one side. His assailant was trying with -his free hand to reach the pocket in which he had seen Frank place his -little cash capital. Frank's movement disconcerted the would-be thief. -He grew angry as his captive wriggled onto one side, holding his pocket -pinned up against the car step. - -"Hi, you, turn over," growled the fellow. - -He gave Frank a jerk and then slapped him hard against the side of the -head. He managed to thrust his hand into his pocket containing the -money. - -"Ouch!" he yelled, just as his eager fingers touched the roll of bank -notes. "Zounds! who did that?" - -Whack--Frank caught this sound, preceded by the air-cutting whistle of -some swiftly-directed object. - -Whack--whack! the sound was repeated. Frank was free. His assailant had -relaxed his grasp. His hands were now busy warding off mysterious blows -in the face. - -Frank darted to one side, his precious savings clasped by one hand. He -stared in wonder. - -Some one on the roof of the front passenger coach was leaning over its -rounding edge. He was armed with a jointed piece of iron. This he plied -whip-fashion. Twice its end had struck the robber's face, leaving two -great red welts. - -Then a spry, nimble form dropped from the car roof to the platform. -Frank made out a boy about his own age. He was dressed wretchedly, and -was thin and weak-looking, and his face was grimed, but he must have had -pluck, for, running straight up to the would-be thief, he plied the -weapon in his grasp like a flail. - -A sharp blow made the ruffian roar with pain. Holding a hand to his -eye, he retreated down the platform, fairly beaten off. - -"There's a police officer," said Frank suddenly, noticing a man wearing -a uniform come running down the platform from the direction of the -waiting room. - -"Oh, pshaw!" ejaculated his rescuer, springing nimbly to the platform of -the nearest coach. - -"Hold on, hold on," cried Frank--"I want to thank you, I--" - -But his mysterious friend had sprung across the car platform in a jiffy. -He was swallowed up in the darkness beyond. - -"What's up?" hailed the policeman, running up breathlessly. - -"A man tried to rob me," explained Frank. - -"Thought I made out a struggle. Did he get anything?" - -"No." - -"Where did he go?" - -Frank pointed towards the fan-shaped network of tracks melting into the -gloom of the switchyards. - -The policeman ran in that direction. Frank did not accompany him. He did -not believe the officer would catch the thief. Besides, Frank was more -interested in the strange young fellow who had done him such good -service in his time of need. - -Frank stepped up on the coach platform and peered up and down the -sidings near by. His rescuer was nowhere in sight. Frank was sorry for -this. The boy had struck him as a hard-luck object. His manifest -reluctance against being seen by the officer suggested something -sinister about him. - -Frank stood waiting for the return of the policeman, a vivid picture of -his rescuer in his mind. The boy had worn a cap pulled far down over his -eyes. He seemed young, yet Frank recalled that he wore a moustache. - -"I'd like to give him something for saving me the loss of all that -money," said Frank. "The poor fellow looked as if he needed it. Any -trace of the man, sir?" - -"No," answered the policeman, coming back from a fruitless search. -"Better keep nearer the lights, young fellow. All kinds of rough -characters hang around here, on the lookout for somebody to rob." - -Frank walked with the policeman to the depot rotunda. He stayed outside, -however. Once or twice he walked the whole breadth of the rotunda, -peering down the passenger tracks and wishing he could find the boy who -had beaten off the thief. - -"There is some one now," suddenly exclaimed Frank to himself. - -He made a dash down a lonely platform and ran across a couple of tracks. - -"Yes, it's him," declared Frank. "Hey, just a minute. Why, what are you -running away from me for?" - -The person Frank was after had started up quickly at the first hail. -Frank overtook him, cornering him where some milk cars blocked the way -south. - -The strange boy braced back against the side of a car, pulled his cap -down further over his eyes, and said. - -"Want me?" - -"Sure, I want you," cried Frank spiritedly. "First, to shake hands with -you and thank you for your bravery in my behalf." - -"Oh, that wasn't anything," observed the strange boy. - -"No, only the saving of all the money I've got in the world," retorted -Frank. - -He shook the boy's hand warmly. The latter at last slightly returned the -hand pressure, but kept looking about him furtively and uneasily. - -"By the way," said Frank, "what was that you hit that man with?" - -"A loose-jointed ventilator slide bar I found on top of the coach." - -"And, if I may ask, what was you ever doing perched up there?" - -"Well, if you must know, I was waiting for the train to start out. In -fact," confessed the speaker in a low, constrained tone, "beating my -way, stealing a ride." - -"Where to?" asked Frank. - -"Oh--anywhere, anywhere away from the city." - -The boy said this in such a forlorn way that Frank felt there was some -pathetic cause for the despair expressed. - -"You ran away from the policeman, too," suggested Frank. - -"Yes, he wouldn't have much use for my kind," observed the boy. - -Frank was silent for a moment, intensely studying as far as the dim -light would allow the figure and face of his companion. - -"What's your name?" he asked suddenly. - -"My name--oh," sort of stammered the boy, "why, it's Markham." - -"Well, Markham," said Frank very kindly, placing a gentle hand on the -lad's arm, "you and I should be good friends. Don't edge away from me. -You say you were trying to get out of the city. Had you no idea of where -you were bound for?" - -"Nowhere, but the country. Some place where I'd be safe--I mean where -they couldn't find--that is, oh, just to get to some quiet little -country town where I could get work." - -"I've got the town and I'll guarantee the work," cried Frank heartily, -slapping Markham on the shoulder. "See here, no secrets between friends -now. You've got no money, or you wouldn't be riding on car tops." - -"That's true enough," admitted the boy, forcing a laugh. - -"And maybe you're hungry." - -There was no reply to this, but Markham's eager eyes strayed in the -direction of the lighted waiting room and its gleaming coffee tank and -polished lunch counter. - -"Come on," urged Frank, keeping up a cheery, good-fellow air. "I'm ready -for a bite, too." - -Markham held back as Frank tried to pull him along with him. - -"See here--" - -"Newton--Frank Newton, that's me." - -"Well, I can't go with you. In the first place, I'm a sight for -respectable people. In the next place," went on Markham, "there's some -people I don't want to risk meeting." - -Frank reflected for a moment or two. - -"Will you stay here for five minutes till I come back?" he asked. - -"Why, yes, if you want me to," was the reply. - -"All right. Be sure, now." - -Frank was gone less than the five minutes. He returned with a little -tin pail holding a pint of hot coffee, a picnic plate containing two -sandwiches, a piece of pie and some doughnuts. - -"There, try that," he said, placing the things on a bumper post. - -"Say," choked up Markham--but Frank strode away, whistling to himself. -He did not approach Markham until every vestige of the lunch had -disappeared. - -"That's the first square meal I've had for two days," said Markham in a -grateful, contented tone. "Say, you're good." - -"Am I?" smiled Frank. "I'm good for your railroad fare to where I live, -and a job right on top of it for you, if you say so." - -"Do you honestly mean that?" asked Markham, almost solemnly, his voice -quite tremulous. - -"Every word of it," declared Frank. "I live at Greenville. It's about a -hundred and fifty miles down state. Say the word, Markham. I can see -you're in trouble or distress of some kind. I'm not prying to find out -what it is. I only want to show what I think of you for saving my money, -and maybe my life with a courage that has got to belong to a first-class -fellow." - -Markham bowed his head as if in deep thought. Frank saw a tear fall to -the platform. Finally his companion spoke again. - -"If you will advance my fare," he said, "I'll pay you back first money I -earn." - -"That's a bargain," said Frank. "Come on. We'll buy your ticket right -now." - -"No," demurred Markham, holding back in a timorous way. "You get both -tickets. I'll be somewhere on the train. I'd rather sort of hang around -the smoker and the platforms till we get beyond the city limits." - -"All right," said Frank. - -He had a vague idea in his mind that Markham was afraid to show himself -publicly in the city, for some reason or other. Frank even speculated as -to the possibility of Markham being disguised. He looked, acted and -talked like a boy about his own age. The moustache, however, suggested -that he was a young man of about twenty. - -Frank made his new acquaintance promise positively he would be on -the train. He went back to the depot and bought another ticket to -Greenville. He was somewhat anxious and impatient until the train -started up. - -There was a first stop at the limits of the city. Just as the train -steamed ahead again, some one entered at the rear door of the coach. - -"Hello--good," exclaimed Frank, as Markham quietly sat down in the seat -beside him. "Why--" - -Frank paused there, staring at his fellow-passenger. Markham had washed -the grime from his face. He no longer wore the cap pulled down over his -eyes. Looking bright as a dollar, he smiled, pleasantly. - -"Pretty grimy, wasn't I?" he laughed. - -"Why, yes," stammered the puzzled Frank, "but say--what has become of -your moustache?" - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -A BOY WITH A MYSTERY - - -The boy who called himself Markham flushed scarlet at Frank's sudden -words. His hand went with a quick, nervous movement to his upper lip. He -looked dreadfully embarrassed. - -"Never mind," said Frank abruptly, trying to make it easy for the young -fellow. "You look better without it." - -Markham had gained time now to cover his confusion. He swallowed a lump -in his throat and smiled feebly. - -"You see," he stammered somewhat, "that wasn't a real moustache--that -one I've dropped." - -"Oh, wasn't it?" said Frank. - -"No. How I happened to have it was this," explained Markham, rather -lamely, but with apparent truth. "See?" and he produced from a pocket -two false moustaches and as many small goatees. "Fact is, I wanted to -earn some money. I saw a peddler selling those things on a street -corner. They went like hot cakes. I asked him where he bought them. He -told me, said he had taken them up only temporarily to make a little -pocket money. He was nearly sold out, and offered me about a dozen of -them for a quarter. I sold nearly all of them, and then went to the -address he gave me to stock up again. They wouldn't sell under a -gross--three dollars and sixty cents, I think the price was. I didn't -have that much, so my scheme fell down." - -Markham now took a printed circular from his pocket, as if to verify his -statement. Frank glanced over it with increasing interest. It advertised -a city firm supplying street peddlers with all kinds of goods. - -"Yes," said Frank, "I noticed a man selling these same articles on a -street corner. It's a pretty catchy novelty with boys and young men." - -"It is, for a fact," declared Markham. "Look here: did you ever see -'Teddy's Teeth?' That's an old novelty--look." - -Markham produced and put in his mouth a row of false teeth, welted the -reverse side of a moustache, placed it on his upper lip, a minute black -dab of hair on his chin, and turned for inspection to Frank. - -The latter laughed heartily. The transformation from Markham's natural -face was immense. - -"You have no idea how those things catch people the first time they see -them," said Markham. "I've noticed that fellows from the country buy -best. Say, if I had a gross of them, I bet I could sell them in two -days, down your way." - -"I think you could, too, Markham," replied Frank, "and you have set me -thinking on an entirely new business proposition. Can I keep this -circular?" - -"Surely, if it's any use to you." - -"It may be," said Frank, "in fact, I think I shall order a gross as soon -as I get home, just to experiment on." - -"Going peddling?" insinuated Markham. - -"Why, I'll tell you," answered Frank. "Settle down comfortably, and -we'll chat a little. It will do me good to talk out what's continually -on my mind. More than that, I shouldn't wonder if you, with all your -experience, could give me some very valuable points. The long and short -of it is, I am going into the mail order business." - -"Oh!" said his companion wistfully, "isn't that grand." - -Frank told his new friend all about himself, his business and his hopes -and plans. The other listened with great attention. When Frank had -finished talking, Markham showed by his expression of face that he -considered him a pretty smart business boy. - -"If you can afford to hang around with me till I get my bearings," added -Frank, "I'll guarantee you a comfortable home anyway, and good money if -you know how to earn it." - -Markham's eyes grew big with excitement. Then his face fell, as he said: - -"I'd like nothing better in the world, but business men don't hire -strangers without a recommendation. I can give none. I'll be square with -you. My name isn't Markham at all. I can't tell you my real one until -maybe a long, long time. I wore that moustache partly as a disguise." - -"Well, all that is your business, Markham," said Frank. - -"I know that, but it must look suspicious to you. If I told you that I -am leaving the city to get away from some one who is hunting me, would -you feel like trusting me much?" - -Frank took his companion's hand in his own and looked him straight in -the eyes. - -"Markham," he said, "I am willing to put entire confidence in you. I owe -you that much, surely. Your secrets are not my business, I would like -to ask one question only: You haven't run away from home, have you?" - -"I have no home," answered Markham in a subdued tone. - -"An orphan?" insinuated Frank, gently. - -"No, my father is living. He is in the Philippines. He will be out of -service next January. All I am waiting for is for him to get back to -this country to right my wrongs." - -"Don't worry about it, Markham," said Frank, observing deep sadness and -distress shadow the bright face of his companion. "You come home with -me. I've got so good a mother she will welcome you gladly." - -"But I want to work," said Markham. - -"Haven't I got work waiting ready for you, and lots of it, too?" -demanded Frank. - -"That's so, is it?" said Markham, brightening up. "My! to be away--away -from the city in a quiet, beautiful town. Oh, dear! Oh, dear! You are -the first real friend I've found in six months, and--I can't help it." - -"That's right--get rid of all your old troubles," said Frank, and he did -not think the less of his new friend because he had a good, solid cry. -"There's nothing but sunshine ahead for you, if I can help you any." - -Frank warmed to the boy as they continued their conversation. A dark -spell seemed to lift from Markham's spirit, each mile accomplished away -from the great city that appeared to hold some secret, haunting dread -for him. - -"Greenville," announced Frank heartily at length--"and home." - -The hour was late, the streets deserted, but, as they strolled away from -the little railroad depot, Markham walked like a person in some rapt -dream. He drew in great luxurious breaths of the flower-perfumed air. He -viewed pretty moonlit lawns and gardens as if he were looking at some -fascinating picture. - -"Like it, do you?" smiled Frank. - -"I love the country. I always did," replied Markham. "This is just grand -to me. Look here, now," he continued, "you had better let me stow myself -in some friendly haystack or under some hedge till morning. Don't -disturb your mother to-night about me." - -"Disturb her?" said Frank. "No danger of her going to bed till I show -up, if it's till morning. There we are--there's the light in the window -for us, Markham." - -Frank led his friend upstairs over the store. Markham lagged behind -until the greetings between mother and son were over. He stepped a -little timidly forward, as he heard Frank say: - -"Mother, I have brought a friend home with me. This is my mother, -Markham." - -Mrs. Ismond received the homeless boy with a sweet, welcoming smile that -won his heart entirely. She told Frank to take him into the sitting -room while she herself hustled about the kitchen. Frank left Markham -long enough to join his mother and tell her what he owed to his new -companion. - -"It's late," said Mrs. Ismond a few minutes later, "but you must eat a -good meal after your long, busy day, and I positively will wake up -nobody in this house until nine o'clock in the morning." - -There were only two beds in the house. Frank shared his with Markham. -The latter wore a happy smile on his face as he stretched himself out -luxuriously. - -"That supper!" he said, in a rapturous sort of a way. "This nice -comfortable bed! I've got to shut my eyes for fear it will all turn out -a dream." - -Frank was glad to lie thinking for a spell undisturbed. His companion -fell into a profound, exhausted slumber. Mrs. Ismond retired, and the -house was all quiet at last. - -Like a panorama all the varied events of the preceding twenty-four -hours passed vividly through Frank's mind. He felt greatly satisfied -with the outcome of his visit to the city. - -Then Frank began to scan the future, his plans, his ambitions. He felt -truly rich with his little money capital, the present work in hand, the -mail order lists, the apple corer, and other things. - -"How sick that man is of his apple corer," mused Frank. "There are over -five thousand of the crude, unsatisfactory things in that big box down -stairs. He had a good idea all right, but didn't know how to apply it. -He gave it--to--me--be--" - -There Frank drifted into a doze. It was strange, but he half-dreamed, -half-thought out some wonderful transformation of the hardware man's -invention, and, all of a sudden, in a lightning flash, a great, surging -idea swept through his brain with tremendous force. - -It lifted him out of his sleep half-dazed, he gave a jump from the bed -to the floor. There he wavered, rubbing his eyes, and then irresistibly -shouting out: - -"Eureka--I've found it!" - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -A GOOD START - - -Frank did not go to sleep again, he couldn't. As he lay there, it seemed -to him as though every nerve in his body was wide awake and on a terrific -tension. - -Frank had heard of some of the great inventions of the world discovered -in a dream. Had he, too, in a dream, or a half-waking doze, had the same -experience. - -"It came like a flash," he reflected. "It's plain as day now. The apple -corer improved, remodeled, in perfect working order and a success. Oh, I -simply can't lie here." - -Frank wriggled and tossed restlessly. Then, when he was certain that -Markham was asleep again, he slipped quietly out of bed, put on part of -his clothes and glided noiselessly downstairs. - -Frank softly closed the store door communicating with the hallway. He -lit a lamp and went over to a counter containing the great heap of apple -corers. - -He selected one, got a sheet of tin and a pair of stovepipe shears, and -became engrossed in cutting out and forming cones, funnels and all kinds -of odd-shaped contrivances. - -For fully two hours Frank was working at his task. He seemed to be -supplying the crude apple corer with an inner sheath, to which he had -supplied a small three-bladed device. He turned it about, altered it, -worked over it, and a broad smile of satisfaction stole across his face -as he progressed. - -"Frank, this is not sleeping." - -Frank looked up from his task, quite startled, to find his mother -standing a few feet away, watching him. - -"I know it isn't, mother," he responded gaily. "It's work, good work, -too, so it couldn't wait." - -"But, Frank--" - -"Listen, mother," he said, "I have dreamed out an invention. Really I -have. If my improved apple corer works as I think it will, this is a -lucky spell of wakefulness. I don't want to say much about it till I am -sure of it, but I believe I have invented something practical and of -value." - -Frank treasured his little model in his pocket, and consented to go back -to bed now. He was up bright and early. First thing he was down in his -work shop. At breakfast he was more quiet than usual. Frank was doing a -great deal of thinking. - -"I have certainly got the patent right bee in my bonnet," he reflected. -"It's a fascinating little insect. Ah, Markham, we were going to let you -sleep till you were rested up completely," added Frank, as their guest -put in an appearance. - -Markham was pleasant, polite and contented. He put some things in order -for Mrs. Ismond, offered to help her with the dishes, and went -downstairs finally to join Frank. - -"Now then," he said briskly, "I'm fed up and rested up--what is there to -do?" - -Frank explained about the needle packages. He told Markham as well as he -could what towns in the vicinity had been covered. - -"There's a row of little settlements to the east," he explained. "You -can use my bicycle if you like and give them a call." - -"This is real life," jubilated Markham, as he set off on the wheel with -a hundred packages of the needles done up in a cardboard box. - -Frank received visits from several of his boy employes that morning. -Then he set about disposing of some odds and ends of the salvage stock -about town. - -From two till five o'clock he was busy working on his "patent." From -then until six o'clock he wrote several letters, went out and mailed -them, and kept thinking and planning on the mail order business. - -Markham, dusty and tired, wheeled up to the store about seven o'clock. -He had an immense bouquet of wild flowers, which delighted Mrs. Ismond, -to whom he gracefully presented it. - -"What a day it has been for me," he exclaimed, after a good wash up. -"Why, I seem to be free, really free for the first time in my life--the -pretty roads, the lovely flowers, the sweet singing birds--" - -"And the needles?" suggested practical Frank. - -"Oh, I sold them before noon," said Markham, indifferently. - -"All of them?" - -"Fifteen packages to one little country store. Knocked a cent off my -profit, but time counts, you know." - -"I sent an order to the city for a gross of those false moustaches," -announced Frank. - -"You did?" exclaimed Markham. "That's famous! When will they be here?" - -"Day after to-morrow, I think. Then I'm going down to Riverton to -collect some bills. I calculate it will take about three days to clean -up the lot. Mother, you must run the business here while I'm gone. We -will have to stay at Riverton nights." - -"Shall I keep on with the needles?" asked Markham. - -"Yes, but not here. We will make Riverton headquarters for this trip. -You can come with me, and try the false moustaches on the community." - -"Some needles, too," said Markham. "I'll guarantee to sell a gross of -the moustaches in two days." - -Markham did quite as well the second day as he had the first. It pleased -Frank to note how he seemed emerging from a worried-looking, distressed -refugee into a bright, laughing, happy boy. Mrs. Ismond had taken a -great liking to him, and he seemed never tired of helping Frank with his -chores clear up to bed time. - -The moustaches arrived the next afternoon. They had a merry evening, -Markham applying moustache, goatee and false teeth to his face, and -giving character imitations thus disguised, which he had seen at some -show. - -Frank hired a light wagon and horse for three days, and the next morning -he and Markham drove over to Riverton. They arranged for a cheap -lodging, and separated. Frank had routed the bills he had to collect -systematically. The first batch took in a twenty miles circuit among -farmers. - -When evening came he had presented bills amounting to about two hundred -dollars. As the horse walked slowly back the road to Riverton, Frank -figured out the day's results. - -"Pretty good," he said, running over the paper slips in a package. "I -have collected forty-four dollars and eighty cents--got twenty dollars -in sixty days' notes, four promises to pay, four people call again, -three parties moved away, and six bills no good." - -Frank drove leisurely down the principal street of Riverton, bound for -the livery stable where he had arranged to put up the horse during their -sojourn in town. - -He halted with some curiosity and amusement at a corner where a crowd -was gathered. Mounted on a dry goods box, Markham was addressing a large -and jolly audience. - -He was giving character sketches in a really entertaining way. After -every sally of laughter he would ply his wares. Everybody seemed buying. - -"He's a bright fellow and a first-class peddler," Frank reflected, as -he continued on his way, unobserved by the friend he had started in -business. - -"All sold out and the public hungry for more," announced Markham, as he -joined Frank on agreement at a restaurant. "Those false teeth also. I'll -bet fifty people asked for them. Say, it would pay to wire a quick -duplicate order on the moustaches and a gross of the teeth. I can -certainly sell the outfit before we leave this town." - -"I'll see if I can't arrange it," said Frank, and after supper he did -so. Frank got track of a purchasing agent, who for a small commission -went daily from Riverton to the city, bringing back with him what light -stuff he could carry in his two valises--all the baggage the railroad -company would allow through free. - -Just at dusk Saturday evening the two friends started cheerily homewards. -Frank had made exactly thirty-eight dollars for his three days' work. -Markham's profits amounted to a little over seventeen dollars. - -"I want you to be my banker, Frank," he said. "Haven't I done quite -well? Next week I'll cut a still wider swath." - -"Not peddling, Markham," said Frank. - -"Why not?" inquired Markham, in some surprise. - -"Well, I'll tell you. To-night about closes up what business I have in -hand. You know all my hopes and plans tend towards starting a mail order -business. We would soon exhaust this district, selling on a small scale. -I want to reach a wider one. I have found out what takes with the -public. Next week I am going to gather together what we have, and move -to another town." - -Markham's face fell. He looked a trifle uneasy. - -"Nearer the city?" he asked, in quite an anxious tone. - -"No, nearly a hundred and fifty miles north of here. The fact is, -Markham, I am going to move to Pleasantville. I have some rare, royal -friends there. Two of them, Darry and Bob Haven, are in the printing -business. They own and publish a weekly newspaper. They can help me -immensely. Then there is a mightier reason, too, for locating at -Pleasantville." - -"What's that, Frank?" asked the interested Markham. - -"A man named Dawes runs a novelty factory there--makes all kinds of -little hardware specialties. It is just the place to manufacture my -apple corer, if it is a success. If it is not, I can advertise the list -he already manufactures, and get up something else." - -"There's a good deal of money in those little devices when a fellow gets -up the right thing, I suppose?" asked Markham. - -"Sure, anything new and handy goes great," responded Frank. "I have read -of a dozen little simple inventions that have made a great fortune for -the owners." - -Markham was studiously silent for a few minutes. Then he asked: - -"Do they make things in wire at that Pleasantville factory--I mean, do -they have the material and machinery to make wire things?" - -"If not, they can easily get them," answered Frank. "Why do you ask, -Markham?" - -"Well," said Markham, with a little conscious laugh, "the truth is, I -have invented something myself." - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -A MEAN ENEMY - - -"You have invented something yourself?" repeated Frank, with a good deal -of curiosity. - -"Yes," nodded Markham. - -"What is it?" - -"A puzzle." - -"What kind of a puzzle?" pressed Frank. - -"I'll show it to you," said Markham, fishing in his pocket. "There it -is. I don't suppose it's much," he continued in a deprecating way, -"though two or three fellows who saw it said it was quite clever." - -Frank inspected the article his companion now handed him with a good -deal of interest. It was roughly made of wire. There was a ring linked -into a triangle, and the latter linked onto two other rings. The lower -one of these had a link connected with a wire square. Lying loose around -this link was a larger ring of wire. - -"What's the puzzle?" inquired Frank, looking over the little device. - -"To get that big ring over all the other rings, the little square and -the triangle." - -"Oh, I see," said Frank, working at the device industriously, but -finally asking: "Can it be done?" - -"Readily--look here," and Markham, taking the puzzle, deftly slipped the -ring over all the obstacles, and then worked it back again into its -original place. - -"I say, that is mighty clever," declared Frank. "Show me slower, now. -The slip over the triangle is the trick, eh? Good! Markham, that thing -would sell like hot cakes." - -"Think so?" asked Markham, seriously. - -"I certainly do. If I was started in the mail order business, I wouldn't -hesitate to illustrate and advertise it in my catalogue." - -"Well," said Markham, "that pleases me, for I can show in a small way my -appreciation of all your kindness to me. Frank, I give it to you. If -it's worth patenting, all right. I know it's original. It's yours, -freely." - -"On royalty--yes," answered Frank. "I'll have some nicely finished -models made when we get to Pleasantville. We're getting to be great -business men, aren't we, Markham, talking about patents and royalties? -How did you come to make the thing, anyhow?" - -"Oh, I was for--for a long time in a place where there was lots of -wire," explained Markham lamely. "I had too much leisure. It bored me. I -had to find something to work at to kill time." - -The old gloom that Frank did not like came into the boy's face as he -spoke. Frank drifted off into generalizations on his mail order dreams -to lead his mind into more pleasant channels. - -There was a great confab at the supper table that evening. Frank told -his mother all his plans in detail. She had too much confidence in his -good judgment to oppose his wishes. - -"I will be glad to get anywhere away from a place where I have seen so -much sorrow," she said. "Besides that, the Haven boys and Bart Stirling -and their friends are certainly good friends of yours. Has my son ever -told you of the lives he saved at the great fire at the Pleasantville -hotel?" Mrs. Ismond asked of Markham. - -"Oh, pshaw, mother," said Frank--"don't go to lionizing me, now." - -His mother was fondly persistent, however, and Markham, with gleaming -eyes, was soon reading a treasured newspaper clipping telling of -Frank's heroic exploit, as already related in detail in "Two Boy -Publishers." - -"That's fine," he exclaimed with enthusiasm, "and I'm proud to know your -son, Mrs. Ismond." - -The next day Frank wrote a report to Mr. Morton about the collections. -He returned the unpaid bills with notations as to the condition of each -claim, explaining that he was going to move to a distant town, and -naming Mr. Buckner as a reliable man to follow up the collections. - -Frank saw their lawyer, Mr. Beach. The attorney stated that their suit -against Dorsett would not be tried for over a year. He took Mrs. -Ismond's new address, and promised to look out for her interests. - -Then Frank arranged to sell off some of their furniture. It took two -days to pack up the rest. Tuesday morning early all arrangements had -been completed for their removal. They had engaged a freight car to -carry their belongings to Pleasantville. - -Frank closed up his business with Nelson Cady and the other boys. -The old store building was vacated. Markham was to go with them to -Pleasantville. - -Mrs. Ismond was to spend the day until train time with an old neighbor. -Frank and Markham were also invited there to dinner. - -They had just finished the meal. Frank was looking over a time-table and -telling of a letter he had received from Darry Haven that morning, when -there came a thundering knock at the front door. - -"Frank," said Mrs. Ismond, in quite a startled tone, as her hostess -opened the front door, "it is that man, Mr. Dorsett." - -"Is the widow Ismond here?" demanded Dorsett's gruff tones. - -"Mrs. Ismond is here, yes," replied her friend. "Won't you come in, -sir?" - -"No," sneered Dorsett, "short and sweet is my errand." - -"What do you want of my mother, Mr. Dorsett?" demanded Frank, stepping -to the open doorway. - -"Oh, you're here, are you?" snarled Dorsett. - -"Frank, do not have any words with him," spoke Mrs. Ismond, hastening to -her son's side. - -Dorsett stood outside. With him was a low-browed fellow whom Frank -recognized as a chronic hanger-on about the village justice's place. - -"I've come--with my deputy and witness, ma'am," announced Dorsett, "to -inform you that I have learned that you are about to leave town." - -"Yes, that is correct," answered Mrs. Ismond. - -"Very well, then here," and he produced a legal-looking slip of paper, -"is a little bill you will have to settle first." - -"We owe you nothing that I am aware of," said Mrs. Ismond. - -"Mistake," snapped Dorsett. "When I sued on my claim to your homestead, -I entered judgment against you for the costs of court. There's the -amount--fifty-seven dollars." - -"And not satisfied with robbing me of my home and my income, in fact -everything I had in the world, you have the heartlessness to press such -a claim as this at such a time?" asked Mrs. Ismond bitterly. - -"Law is law," prated the mean old usurer. - -"Why have you never mentioned this before?" demanded Frank, his eyes -flashing dangerously. - -"Because, you insolent young snip," retorted old Dorsett, "I wanted to -pay you off for some of your fine airs." - -"Well, Mr. Dorsett," said Mrs. Ismond, "I shall contest this unjust -claim." - -"All right," jeered Dorsett, retreating down the steps, and beckoning to -his companion, "then within thirty minutes I'll put an embargo on your -leaving the county until I have my money, according to law." - -Mrs. Ismond sunk to a chair quite pale and distressed. - -"Frank," she gasped in a frightened way, "what is he going to do?" - -"Some mean trick, be sure of that," said Frank. "Mother, I'll stay here -ten years but I will never pay that outrageous claim." - -"Be assured I would never let you," replied his mother, firmly. - -"I wish I knew what he was up to?" murmured Frank in a troubled way. - -"Leave that for me to find out for you," said Markham briskly, bolting -from the house like a shot. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -A PIECE OF CHALK - - -Frank Newton had said that Markham was a first-class peddler. If he had -followed his young friend as he darted from the house, he would also -have noted him quite a proficient amateur detective. - -Markham looked down the street after the retreating figures of old -Dorsett and his companion. He saw they were bound for the business -centre of the town. He cut down an alley, and heading them off allowed -them to pass him by and quietly followed on their trail. - -When they went up into a building occupied as offices for a justice of -the peace and lawyers, Markham in a few moments trailed after them. - -Loitering about the hall, he could watch them conversing with a village -magistrate at his desk. The latter consulted a copy of the statutes, -expounded some point under discussion, and finally filled out several -legal blanks. - -Markham was industriously reading the notices tacked to the justice's -bulletin board outside of his office door, as Dorsett came out of the -room. - -"Hold on, Sherry," he said to his companion. "I'll settle with you now." - -"All right, governor," bobbed the man. - -"You are deputized to serve these papers. Don't get them mixed. Got any -tacks?" - -"I'll get some all right." - -"Very well. When you have disposed of the first two documents, serve the -last one on Mrs. Ismond, see?" - -"Sure, I see, governor--ah, and glad to see this five-dollar bill. First -one I've seen, in fact, for an age." - -"When you're all through, report to me." - -"I will, governor." - -They kept together till they reached the street. Arrived there, Dorsett -went one way, his hireling another. - -Markham put after the latter, who was so elated over the possession of -money that he chuckled and swung along the street with a great air of -importance and enjoyment. - -The man Sherry went straight to the railway depot. Markham, looking in -through one of its windows, saw him approach the station agent. To him -Sherry read one of the documents and came out again. - -The second day of Markham's residence in Greenville, he had done quite -an heroic act. It had made the railroad men his friends. One of their -number had celebrated pay day too freely. He had stumbled across a -track. - -Markham had run at the top of his speed, and had even risked life and -limb to reach him in time to drag him out of the way of a freight train -backing down upon him. - -"Mr. Young," said Markham, running into the depot by one side door as -Sherry left it by another, "you remember me?" - -"Sure, I do. How are you?" said the depot master heartily. - -"I'm worried to death to find out what that man who was just here is up -to," said Markham, hurriedly. - -"Up to? Down to, you mean," flared out Young. "He's served a paper on me -as the representative of the railway company, notifying me that we are -to hold the car containing Mrs. Ismond's furniture until the matter of a -debt she owes old Dorsett is settled in court." - -"Mrs. Ismond does not rightfully owe him a cent," asserted Markham. -"It's a mean, malicious trick of the old reprobate to persecute my -friend, Frank Newton. Can they stop the car?" - -The station agent shrugged his shoulders dubiously. - -"They won't get any help from me," he said. "That man asked me where the -car was. I told him to find out--I wasn't hunting for it. I'd like -nothing better than to delay him for two hours. By five o'clock the -north freights will have left the yards. Once out of the county, that -furniture would be safe." - -"Thank you," said Markham. "I'll see what I can do." - -He ran out of the depot forthwith. Sherry had crossed the road. Markham -saw him coming out of one of the taverns lining the street in that -immediate vicinity. - -Sherry had one or two men with him with whom he had evidently been -treating. They walked along with him until they reached another haunt -of the same class, and went in there. - -Markham got in a doorway near the entrance to the place. In a few -minutes Sherry came out to the street. - -He had his hat stuck back and his head up by this time, and was -officious and blatant in his manner. - -"I'd like to stay with you, boys," he announced. "Join you later. Got a -big responsibility on my shoulders just now." - -"That so?" smirked one of the hangers on. - -"You bet. See that paper?" and Sherry produced a document. - -"We see it." - -"I can tie up the whole railroad system here if I want to," he bragged. - -Markham hurried off in the direction of the freight tracks. There was a -wide crossing where the sidings began. A flagman guarded this. Markham -ran up to him. This man, as he knew, was a brother of the railroader he -had saved from being run over by the freight train. - -"Mr. Boyce," said Markham, "will you do me a favor?" - -"Sure, will I," cried the flagman. "We're a whole family of friends to -you, boy." - -"All right. Have you got a piece of chalk--the kind they use for marking -on the cars?" - -"Dozens of it. Here's a handful, my hearty," and the flagman darted -into the little shanty and out again with a fistful of great chunks of -chalk. - -"All right," said Markham, selecting a piece. "Now then, do you see that -man coming down the track?" - -"Yes," nodded the flagman. - -"He will ask you about the out freights, maybe about some particular car. -It's the car holding Frank Newton's furniture that he's after--their -household goods they're shipping to Pleasantville." - -"Aha," nodded Boyce. - -"I will be in sight," went on Markham, rapidly. "Point me out to him. -Say I can tell him, will you?" - -"But what for--no, that's all right. I will, I will," pledged the -flagman. - -Markham ran down a siding. He was busy about a certain car for a few -minutes. As, after interviewing the flagman, Sherry came that way, he -discovered Markham seated on top of a locked box car idly kicking his -heels against its side. - -"Hey, hello," hailed Sherry--"this the out freights?" - -"How should I know?" muttered Markham. - -"Oh, I know you. You're the fellow who trains with young Newton. Of -course you'd be here, and of course this is the car. Yes," decided -Sherry, scanning its side. "Sure. Here's the destination marked in -chalk." - -Sherry read the sprawling writing: "7-23, Pleasantville," marked across -the locked door of the car, and pulled out a document. - -"That's the way we do it," he said in a boastful chuckle, picking up a -coupling pin and using it to hammer some tacks through the paper. "There -you are. In the name of the law this car seized in transit, ipse dixit, -e pluribus unum, according to the statoots therein pervided. Quite a -lawyer, hey? Boy, it's a life sentence to tamper with that car till the -judge says move her." - -"It is?" said Markham, tranquilly. - -The big braggart swaggered away. Markham jumped down, watched him out -of sight, jumped up and cracked his heels together. Then with his -handkerchief he rubbed off the destination mark that had deluded old -Dorsett's boisterous and self-important emissary. - -Then Markham chuckled as he glanced at the document tacked to the car -door. He now moved over to a line of made-up freights on another track. -He lingered in their vicinity for over an hour. - -When he had seen an engine run on a caboose and then switch to the head -of the train, Markham, with a good deal of complacency in his face, -started back to join his friends. - -As he neared the house where he had left Mrs. Ismond and Frank, he -noticed a man leave the place. It was Sherry. - -"All right," announced Markham, breaking in upon his friends a moment -later. "I've found out what old Dorsett is up to." - -"Yes, so have we," answered Frank, who stood by the side of his mother, -who was looking down dejectedly. "They have just notified us that the -car containing our furniture is attached." - -"That so?" said Markham, with a broad smile. "Well, what are you going -to do, Frank?" - -"We can't leave Greenville, that's all," said Frank, with a sigh. -"Mother, I'll go down to the station and get the money back for our -tickets." - -"Hold on," cried Markham, "you won't do any such thing. How soon does -that train leave, Frank?" - -"In half an hour." - -"Well, get your traps together. You're going to take that train all -right." - -"Why, what are you talking about?" demanded Frank, staring at Markham in -wonder. - -"I mean that fellow who was just here has made a mess of it," said -Markham. "He's attached a car all right, but not your car." - -"What?" - -"No, sir-ree! Your car, my dear Frank, I am happy to tell you, is by -this time twenty miles over the county line whirling on its way to -Pleasantville. Hip, hip, hurrah!" - -"See here, Markham," said Frank, seriously, seizing his friend's arm in -an endeavor to cure his jubilant antics. "What have you been up to." - -"Me? Nothing," declared Markham, assuming the vacant bumpkin look he -expressed so well when he gave a character delineation. "It's old -Dorsett's emissary who was up to something--up to the wrong car, see? He -has tacked that attachment notice onto a poor innocent old car filled -with ballasting cinders. Never mind now. I'll tell you later. Don't miss -the train, Frank." - -There were hurried good-byes to their kind-hearted neighbor. Frank and -Markham, each carrying two satchels, piloted Mrs. Ismond to the railroad -station. - -Just as the train came in from the south a man drove past the depot -platform. He drew up his horse with a jerk. It was Dorsett. - -He stared in amazement at the departing trio. Then suddenly, as if -suspecting some trick, he got out of his gig and hurried across to the -train. - -Frank had got his mother to a comfortable seat. The coach window was -open. - -"You leave at your peril, widow Ismond," shouted Dorsett. "That stuff of -yours is attached. We've stopped the freight car, and--" - -"All aboard!" sang out the conductor. - -"Hold on, stop--zounds!" yelled Dorsett at the top of his voice. - -He was lifted from his feet suddenly. Some one rushing down the platform -at cyclone speed had collided with him. - -It was Nelson Cady. He was hatless, his hair flying in the wind, his -whole appearance that of fearful excitement. - -"Say, conductor," he panted out breathlessly. "Three people just got on -the train--where are they? Must see Frank Newton!" - -"Hi, there, Nelson," hailed Frank, waving his hand through the open -coach window. - -"Oh, jolly!" shouted Nelson, keeping on a run with the moving train. -"See Frank!" - -Nelson tugged at his pocket. He pulled out a white, fluttering sheet of -paper. - -"Frank, Frank," his excited tones rang out after the vanishing -train--"I've got my letter at last!" - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -"FRANK'S MAIL ORDER HOUSE" - - -"Gentlemen, you embarrass me." - -"Hear! hear!" - -"I may say, I am overwhelmed--overpowered--" - -"Good! Get over it, and give us a speech." - -"No, a toast first. 'Frank's Mail Order House.' Stet, fill up the -sparking glasses once more." - -"Hip, hurrah! Success to Frank Newton and his new business venture." - -A merry friendly party was gathered about a long folding table in the -middle of a spacious room. There were seven of them, and they were -having a jolly good time. An acceptable lunch graced the banqueting -board. Attired in a neat waiter's apron and entering heart and soul into -the enjoyment of the occasion, Stet, general utility boy for Haven -Bros., helped the guests from a great pail of ice cold lemonade, and -made himself generally useful about the table. - -This was Pleasantville, where Frank Newton, his mother, and Markham had -arrived just one week previous. The room in which Frank's friends were -giving him a welcome was located on the lower floor of the old building -that Haven Bros. had transformed into a print shop in their early -amateur publishing career. - -Long since the firm of Haven Bros. had risen to the dignity of occupying -quarters right next to the _Eagle_, on the main street of the village. - -They had a lease of the old quarters, however. When Frank came again -upon the scene a joint committee of his loyal friends had met in -executive session to see what they could do to put him on his feet. - -This old structure stood back from the street, but had a pleasing lawn -and flower beds on either side of the broad walk approaching it. The -building was just off the principal Pleasantville thoroughfare. - -There were two large rooms on the lower floor and a spacious store room -above. The Havens and Bart Stirling had fitted up one of the lower rooms -as an office. Bob Haven had donated a desk and several chairs. His -brother Darry had put in a table and a file cabinet. Bart had furnished -a neat rug. That evening they had gone to the cottage which Mrs. Ismond -had rented, and had led Frank over to this little surprise party, -comprising themselves, Jim Dunlap, an old printer, and Baker Mills, also -an employe of the _Herald_. - -Markham was somewhat reticent at first, but he soon warmed up in response -to the free and hearty spirits surrounding him. - -He was immensely interested as the crowd began to chat on experiences. -The story of how Bart Stirling had risen from a "sub" in a little -express office to assistant manager of a large office, as already -related in "The Young Express Agent," was particularly fine to his way -of thinking. - -The career of the Havens was quite as remarkable. They now ran the -leading weekly newspaper in Pleasantville, and had a job printing -business that employed two men besides themselves. - -Stet, the boy they had rescued from hard usage and extortion at the -hands of their rival, Jasper Mackey, publisher of the Pleasantville -_Eagle_, had become a valued fixture with them. - -Mrs. Haven, who furnished fashion plates for some city magazines, got up -an original pen and ink sketch for the _Herald_ each week. The Haven -boys were generally conceded to get out the most readable weekly -newspaper in that section of the state. - -"I declare," said Frank, with a grateful and a gratified look about the -place, "you fellows have just about equipped me for business." - -"Oh, not yet," said Bob Haven. "My sister is away for a month, and I -have arranged to loan you her typewriter till you can afford to get one -of your own." - -"Say," broke in Markham, eagerly, "I'm just at home on that machine." - -"Good for you," approved Bob. "Then there's a painter, here owes us a -bill for printing he never could pay in cash. He's painting a neat -gold-lettered sign for the front of your place. 'Frank's Mail Order -House.'" - -"Yes," put in Darry, "and I've dug out of storage an upright showcase we -took for a debt. It's got twelve glass shelves. Set it up at the edge of -the walk with samples of the various articles you are going to sell, and -I'll warrant many farmer groups coming to town will drop in to look -around and invest." - -"This is simply immense," said Frank. "I'm just bursting with vanity, or -self-importance, or ambition, or something of that sort." - -He briefly outlined his plans to his friends. Frank had only that day -held a two hours' consultation with John Dawes, who owned the novelty -works at the edge of the town. - -Dawes made a specialty of manufacturing light hardware specialties. His -own list embraced over two hundred articles, ranging from pocket rules -to tool chests. He supplied a great many mail order people all over -the country, and told Frank he would be glad to encourage a local -institution. - -"He has given me as low a rate as any customer he has on his books, he -says," reported Frank. "Besides that, being directly on the spot, I save -the freight charges, you see." - -"Good," said Bart Stirling, "you've struck the right location, sure." - -"Mr. Dawes is going to make my apple corer and a puzzle belonging to -Markham," said Frank. "Then I have made arrangements with a dozen large -city supply houses. I am going to push that harmless comical novelty, -the false moustache wrinkle. I have also ordered quite a line of cheap -jewelry, especially initial cuff buttons and friendship and birthday -rings. I can sell at one dollar and a half a solid gold birthday ring -that retailers everywhere mark at three dollars as a minimum price. -Soon as I get onto all the ropes, I intend to reach out for class and -fraternity emblem trade, selling on sample, and having the goods made -by a city jewelry manufacturer." - -"That's it," suddenly broke in Bob Haven to Markham, who had carelessly -slipped on one of the false moustaches in question. "Heard about your -talent as an entertainer." - -"Yes, give us a round, Markham," suggested Bart. - -Markham got up on a chair, put on Stet's cap, applied goatee and false -teeth, and soon had the audience screaming with hilarity over a very -creatable representation of a stranded actor giving a monologue in a -country grocery store. - -The party broke up with congratulatory hand shakes and all kind of good -wishes for the success of Frank's new business enterprise. - -When Bart and the others had gone, Frank and Markham looked about their -business quarters with a proud air of satisfaction and comfort. - -"I tell you, Frank, those fellows are royal good friends of yours," -spoke Markham. - -"Yes," said Frank with real emotion, "they have indeed given me the lift -they promised me. We are of poor business material, indeed, if we cannot -make this fine beginning lead to a grand success. Now then, for a -genuine start in the morning. If you will act as typewriter till we can -afford to hire one, I will fold a batch of our first circulars." - -"Sure, I will," said Markham readily. - -Bob Haven had brought a thousand circulars just off the press. Haven -Bros. were to do all the printing for the mail order business. Mrs. -Haven had made several sketches, little inch squares, showing the false -moustache outfit, the wire puzzle, the initial jewelry and several other -minor specialties. Below followed a list of nearly fifty articles, of -which Frank had a small stock on hand and could replenish on short order -from city supply houses with which he had made a definite arrangement. - -The two boys spread out one of the mailing lists Frank had got from the -salvage stock. Four boxes containing a thousand envelopes were placed -ready beside the printed circulars. Frank put out the lights and locked -the office door with the care of a miser securing his treasure. - -Markham routed Frank out of bed at five o'clock the next morning. -They arrived at the office by six. Somewhere Markham had learned the -typewriter perfectly. By four o'clock in the afternoon the thousand -circulars were all folded, and the thousand envelopes all addressed and -stamped. - -"Why, hello, my young friends," hailed the village postmaster cheerily, -as this big mail was deposited on the stamp table. "If you keep this -up, you'll soon have this promoted to a second-class post office." - -Frank wound up the day's labor by polishing up the show case Darry Haven -had sent around that afternoon. They fitted up its glass shelves with -samples of the goods they advertised. They got a staunch iron standard -to support the case, and screwed this securely to the walk just at the -edge of the street. - -"We'll work to-morrow morning on our catalogue and the advertising Darry -Haven is going to place for us," said Frank, as they left for home that -evening. - -"Don't go in too deep at first, Frank," suggested Markham. - -"No, I have formulated a definite system," declared Frank, "and I shall -try to stick to it. You see, I left Greenville with about two hundred -dollars. It has taken about fifty of that to get mother settled here, -and incidental expenses. Then I have your twenty-five dollars you -insist on leaving in trust with me. I have put fifty dollars aside -for preliminary printing and some advertising in county papers Darry -is going to get cheap for me. If returns are favorable I shall print a -small catalogue, and put just half of our profits back into circularizing -and advertising as fast as the money comes in." - -They had barely settled down to work the next morning when two schoolboys -put in an appearance. One wanted to buy a "Twelve Tools in One" specialty -as marked in the show case at twenty-five cents. The other produced a -dime for a set of the false teeth. - -"Profits fifteen cents and a-half to date," cried Markham gaily, as -their first customers departed. "Those little fellows will spread our -fame." - -"When we get into full running order this local trade will be a nuisance -to us," declared Markham towards noon. - -In fact, he was kept on the jump attending to local customers all the -morning. A raw young farmer had come in to blushingly buy a friendship -ring. Several curious townspeople strolled to the office door, and out -of good nature invested in various knickknacks displayed. One boy bought -a false moustache, and within an hour twenty others visited the place -clamoring for duplicates. - -"About to-morrow the answers to our circulars will begin to come in," -observed Markham. "That will be the real test of the merit of this -business." - -"We will close up for the afternoon," said Frank. "There's a lot of -little things to do about the house and lot mother has rented. I -promised she should have our help for half a day." - -After dinner Frank and Markham put on some old clothes and set briskly -at work. They mended the back stoop of the cottage, propped up a fence, -raked the yard and got the wood shed in order. - -About four o'clock both started in at the cistern at the side of the -house. Its top had settled in, and new boards were required here and -there, and a new trough from the house eaves. - -Markham was holding a board that Frank was nailing, when some one -passing by on the street whistling caused both to look up. - -"Don't let go--the board will spring loose," warned Frank, turning -quickly as the pressure from the board end was suddenly removed--"why, -Markham--" - -"Oh, the mischief!" muttered Markham. - -In wonderment and consternation at a swift glance Frank noticed a -strangely startled expression on his companion's face. - -Then, his eyes fixed steadfastly upon the street, Markham deliberately -jumped down into the cistern out of sight. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -A NEST EGG - - -"Quick, grab the pole!" shouted Frank. - -As he spoke he thrust a long scantling down into the cistern. - -"Reach for my hand--grab it. You'll be drowned," continued Frank. - -"Don't bother--I'm all safe," came up Markham's hollow tones. "There's -only about three feet of water here." - -"How did you ever come to slip in?" asked Frank. - -"Say," spoke Markham, not replying to the direct inquiry, "while I'm in -here I may as well see if everything is sound and straight with the -cistern." - -Frank saw him flare a match. Some curious thoughts were running through -Frank's mind as to the strange actions of his companion and helper. - -Before he could analyze them, however, Frank saw Bob Haven turn in at -the gate. He had a package under his arm. Bob stood still for a moment -to gaze after the person who had just preceded him. - -This latter was a young man, dressed loudly in brand new clothes, waving -a slender cane with a dandified air, his whole bearing suggesting a -person trying to look important and attract attention. This was the -fellow the sight of whom had apparently induced Markham to plunge out of -sight into the cistern. - -Bob Haven stared hard after the receding figure of the stranger. - -"Well, well!" he was saying as he approached Frank. - -"What's the matter, Bob?" inquired Frank. - -"Did you see that fellow just passed by?" - -"Yes, do you know him?" - -"I did once--thoroughly. Heard he was in town. The nerve, now!" - -"Who is he?" - -"He's bad all through. Name is Dale Wacker. When Bart Stirling first -took his father's place as express agent here, that fellow's uncle -plotted to down him. Worse than that, he stole a lot of stuff from the -express people. The police were after him. Dale, his nephew, was mixed -up in it, and had to leave town. Heard he was in jail somewhere for some -new exploits. Came back yesterday, I learned. Seemed to have plenty of -money and tried to cut a figure showing it. Says he's a travelling man -now, and earning untold wealth. Guess he's on the way to the depot now, -to find new victims to swindle where he isn't so well known as he is -here. I say, who's in there, anyhow?" - -As Bob spoke, Markham came climbing up the scantling out of the cistern. -He was wet to the knees and looked troubled of face. - -Frank noticed that he glanced anxiously in the direction of the street. - -"Better go and get on dry clothes," suggested Frank. - -"Oh, this job won't take us long to finish, now," answered Markham. - -"Well, I've got some printing to deliver," said Bob. "Come over to the -house after supper, fellows." - -"All right," acquiesced Frank, but Markham said nothing. He acted -subdued and worried until the cistern was finished. He stuck closely to -the house after the work was done, and made some excuse for not going -over to visit Bob and Darry after supper. - -Frank was slightly disturbed at these actions--secretly he feared that a -sight of the fellow Bob had called Dale Wacker had caused Markham to get -out of sight. Frank wished he knew why. - -Frank found his mother and Markham both reading when he came home, about -nine o'clock. He kept his eye on the latter as he remarked to his mother -that Darry had read to him a little news item he had gathered in for the -_Herald_ late that afternoon. - -It was about a fellow named Dale Wacker, Frank narrated. It seemed he -was on his way to the railroad depot, when an old German peddler to whom -he had owed money for over two years recognized and hailed him. - -The peddler gave Wacker a great scoring and demanded his money. A crowd -gathered, and Wacker started on his way at a fast walk. The peddler -whipped up his horse to keep pace with him, whilst administering a -continuous tongue-lashing. - -The sorry nag did not keep up with the procession as Wacker broke into a -run. Seizing a basket of eggs, the peddler jumped down from the wagon. -He was a big, fat, unwieldly person, but he pursued the fugitive -vigorously. - -The crowd hooted and yelled as the German began to pelt the eggs after -the fugitive. Two eggs struck Wacker in the middle of the back. One -shied off his hat and broke on the back of his head. Bespattered and -hatless, the fellow reached the depot just in time to grab the platform -rail of the last car on a departing train. - -"Oh, got out of town, did he?" asked Markham quite eagerly. - -"Yes, it seems so--faster than he had calculated on," responded Frank. - -"Won't be likely to come back again after that reception, eh?" said -Markham. - -"I should think not. He'll be afraid of something worse." - -Markham brightened up. He acted like a different person at once. He -laughed, told some funny stories, was his natural self once more, and -Frank was very glad of it. - -"Poor fellow," he mused. "He's got some harrowing secret on his mind, -that's sure, and he doesn't want to meet certain people for some reason -or other, and this Dale Wacker is one of them. Well, he's been true blue -to me, and I won't worry him by asking about this mystery. It will come -out some time, and if he's in danger of trouble I'll stick to him like -a brother, for I know he hasn't got a grain of real badness in his -nature." - -With the morning all of Markham's recent disquietude seemed to have -entirely disappeared. When they got down to the office he kept a close -watch until nine o'clock. - -"Mail's in, Frank," he announced at last, putting on his cap. - -"All right," nodded Frank, keeping on with his writing. - -"Fatal hour approaches. We shall soon know our doom," continued Markham -in a mock-alarm way. - -He picked up a new canvas mail satchel marked "F. M. O. H.," and started -for the door. - -"See here," hailed Frank, "don't you think you can about carry all of -our first morning's mail in some modest pocket?" - -"Don't care if I can. Big mail satchel makes a good business impression, -see?" and Markham darted off, wondering if Frank's heart was beating as -fast as his own over the suspense attached to their first mail results. - -Frank was indeed anxious, but he tried to go on with his writing. All the -same his nerves were on keen edge and his hand was a trifle unsteady, as -Markham returned from the post office and placed the satchel on the desk -before him. - -"Eight letters," said Frank, drawing out the mail in the satchel. "That -isn't so bad. Well, let us see what our correspondents have to say." - -Frank cut open the end of the first missive, and Markham watched him -like a ferret. - -"No money in this one," reported Frank, the enclosure in hand. "Well, -well, listen to this now! 'You are a frod. I bot an apple corer last -munth, and it was no good. You out to be persecuted.'" - -Frank was quite disappointed, and Markham gulped several times as each -succeeding letter produced no money or stamps. Two people asked for a -catalogue. One correspondent wanted a "Twelve Tools in One" sent to him, -and if found satisfactory would remit forthwith. - -Another correspondent sent an order for a ring, and wanted it "charged." -Then there was a man who asked if they could furnish him with a cheap -second-hand thrasher for his farm. - -One client wrote that if they would send him samples of their entire -list, he would show the goods in his town and possibly get them lots of -customers. - -"Ah," said Frank, feeling of the last letter, "here is something -tangible, sure, Markham. I can feel the coin." - -"Maybe it's a cent," suggested Markham, with a slight tinge of sarcasm. - -"No, a ten-cent piece, sure enough," declared Frank. "For your puzzle, -Markham, too." - -"Yes," put in Markham, picking up the coin that Frank had placed on his -desk, "but the dime is--lead!" - -Frank pulled a dismal face. Markham looked actually mad. Then their -glances met. They broke into a hearty laugh mutually. - -"Humph!" commented Markham. - -"Amusing, isn't it?" asked Frank, trying hard to keep up his courage. - -"Oh, well, there's the afternoon mail," suggested Markham, getting up -and beginning to fold some more circulars. "Who expected any mail of -consequence this morning, anyhow?" - -Frank resumed his task of working on the catalogue. He whistled a cheery -bar or two, felt too serious to keep it up, and went on with his work in -a half-hearted way. - -"This Frank's Mail Order House?" demanded a brisk voice, half an hour -later. - -"Don't you know it is?" challenged Frank, arising to welcome Ned Davis, -a bright young fellow, who was the messenger of the local bank. - -"All right," chirped Ned. "Got a letter this morning from a correspondent -at Bayview. Enclosure. Man running a small store there asks us if Frank's -Mail Order House is a reliable concern. If so, instructs us to place this -order with you." - -Ned importantly spread out quite a voluminous order list before Frank. - -"Accompanied with the cash," added Ned, and set down a crisp, -encouraging-looking five-dollar bill beside the document. - -"Oh!" ejaculated Markham, almost falling off his chair with surprise. - -"Ned," said Frank, with a touch of genuine feeling, "thank you." - -"That's all right," responded Ned. "We're simply working to get your -bank account when it runs up into the thousands, see?" - -"Will it ever, I wonder?" murmured Frank. - -"Isn't that a nest egg?" challenged the practical young financier. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -A SUSPICIOUS VISITOR - - -Frank looked up from his work with an eager flush on his face. Markham, -who had gone to the post office, was returning. His light, springy step -coming up the walk, and cheery, ringing whistle told Frank that he was -the bearer of good news. - -"Afternoon mail," sang out Markham, putting the satchel down on Frank's -desk. "And she's a cracker-jack!" - -"Good," said Frank. - -"Over thirty letters," continued Markham gaily. "Stamps in some, coin in -others. My finger tips just itched to feel those letters, Frank. I just -had to do it. Oh, if this suspense keeps up I'll be rifling the mails -next." - -Frank slitted all the letters in turn. Four postal cards asking for -catalogues were promptly disposed of. The first of the letters was from -a country newspaper offering reduced terms for advertising. - -There was an application for an agency. No. 3 wanted to be hired in the -office--could count money and put on postage stamps fast. - -Frank was not given to being very demonstrative on any occasion. As, -however, he now began to stare at the next letter he opened and almost -uttered a shout, Markham knew that something very much out of the -ordinary had come up. - -"What is it, Frank?" he questioned eagerly. - -"Markham," said Frank, quite unnerved with excitement, "it's a big, big -order." - -"How big?" demanded Markham. "Quick, I'm on the edge of nervous -prostration." - -"Fifty to one hundred dollars," announced Frank, in quite a husky voice. -"A few more of such orders and we'll know where we stand. It's from the -owner of a general store at Decatur. He writes that he has purchased -from an advertising agency fifty-two picture rebuses--easy ones--one -for each week in the year. Accompanying them are fifty-two separate -advertisements. These he intends to insert in his weekly paper. He wants -to offer each week ten prizes for the ten persons who first appear at -his store with correct solutions of the rebuses." - -"I see," nodded Markham--"good idea." - -"He wants us to designate fifty-two novelties that we can supply, about -half and half ten-and-twenty-cent articles. He will take ten of each -article, or five hundred and twenty in all. Think of it, Markham!" - -"It's grand, yes, just grand!" declared Markham, in a tone of suppressed -excitement. - -"He says he will trust to our judgment to select the most catchy -novelties, only he expects us to give him special figures on the lot." - -"Of course you'll do it, Frank?" - -"Yes, and make a neat profit, too. Well, this is encouraging." - -"Yes, Frank, that one order will cover the cost of all the circularizing -we have done to date. Hello! hello! hello!" - -In three different crescendo tones Markham tallied off three letters -which Frank opened next in turn, and in each instance with cash -results--two silver dimes and thirty cents in postage stamps. - -When the entire mail was opened, Frank had a little heap at his elbow -representing six dollars and eighty cents, three dollars of which was to -pay for two rings. - -"Seven orders for your puzzle, Markham," announced Frank, "besides what -goes in the big order. Only one apple corer ordered. I'm afraid my -prized invention is a frost." - -"Not at all," dissented Markham. "Look here, it's plain from the letter -you got this morning that the Riverton hardware man had already used at -least some of the names in the mail order lists. If I were you, Frank, -in any new printed matter you get out I would refer to your apple -corer as a decided improvement on the old one. I think, even, I would -illustrate these improvements." - -"An excellent idea, Markham," declared Frank. "Further, I don't know but -it would be a good thing to offer one of the new corers, free on return -of an old one, charging only the postage." - -"Oh, we're learning," declared Markham, buoyantly. "This thing is a -decided go." - -Frank was immersed in business during the rest of that week. Markham -proved an energetic and reliable assistant. There were circulars to send -out, orders to fill, letters to write. - -Saturday night they had to work till eleven o'clock to clean up their -desks. Frank was rushing the catalogue copy. Mrs. Haven was busy making -new drawings, which had to be sent to the city to be photo-engraved. -Orders, too, were sent daily to the city supply houses. - -Up at the novelty factory they were filling Frank's first big order for -a thousand of the wire puzzles and a thousand of the new apple corers. - -This latter device was really a very meritorious article. Retaining the -form and dimensions of the original sheath, Frank had set inside two -moving pieces of tin that acted as knives. These ran into a spiral tube -which penetrated the apple without injuring it, and a twist on a knob -cut the core out clean as a whistle. - -Monday morning's mail was the largest yet received, due, Frank believed, -to some little advertising Haven Bros. had caused to be inserted in a -few neighboring country newspapers. - -His little capital was now again nearly at the two hundred dollar mark. -About noon Frank made up a package of about two hundred dollars. He -had arranged to pay this amount to Haven Bros., draw against it if he -ran short of funds, otherwise leave it in their hands to pay for the -catalogue, which would be quite an expensive job. - -Markham had gone to the post-office with some mail. Frank looked up as a -footstep sounded on the walk outside of the office door. - -It was not Markham, as Frank at first expected. Instead, a person he -regarded in a decidedly unfavorable light came into view. - -The visitor was Dale Wacker, the boy Bob Haven had designated to Frank -the day that Markham made his sensational dive into the cistern. - -He was not dressed as jauntily as on that occasion. His appearance was -shabby and unkempt now. He slouched up to the door with a sneak-thief -air, yet withal the brass and effrontery of a person possessed of few -fine sensibilities. - -"Say," spoke Wacker to Frank, "you run this shop?" - -"I'm interested in this business, yes," answered Frank distantly. - -"Pretty good graft? Looking for some such fake myself. What I wanted to -know, though, was about one of your samples in the show case out there." - -"Well?" demanded Frank. - -"That wire puzzle." - -"What about it?" - -"Where did you run across it?" - -Frank did not like the speech nor manner of his visitor. - -"Is that particularly any of your business?" he asked. - -"Why, you see, just curious about it, that's all," stammered Wacker, -somewhat taken aback at Frank's sharp challenge. "Do you own it?" - -Frank's eye flashed with manifest resentment at Wacker's cool -effrontery. - -"See here," he said pretty firmly, "I have no time to waste answering -idle and impertinent questions," and turned away from the door. - -"Well, I'd seen it before, that's all," muttered Wacker. - -"Oh, I fancy not," said Frank. - -"Oh, yes, I did. Huh! guess I did--I was with the fellow who first made -it when he got it up." - -Frank was surprised. He must have shown it to the keen-eyed fellow -quizzing him, for Wacker exclaimed: - -"Aha--interested now, hain't you? Tell you something more: the owner -made me a duplicate of his original puzzle, and--there it is." - -And to Frank's amazement Mr. Dale Wacker pulled from his pocket a crude -copy of the wire puzzle. - -It was the exact counterpart of the one Markham had furnished as a model -for those now being sold broadcast by Frank's Mail Order House. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -MISSING - - -Frank was a good deal upset. In the light of the cistern episode and the -knowledge that Markham seemed afraid to meet certain people, he believed -that the advent of his present visitor boded no good for his friend and -helper. - -As Dale Wacker showed the wire puzzle, stating that he knew its inventor, -Frank felt that he was in the presence of a mystery. - -"Let me look at that, will you?" he said. - -"Sure," grinned Wacker. "Why not? Take a good look, too. Seems familiar? -Quite the right thing, eh?" - -"What do you mean?" demanded Frank. - -"Why, just this," retorted Wacker: "How do you come to be selling an -article that no one has a right to sell except my friend who made it? I -happen to know he invented that puzzle. I was with him when he did." - -"When was that?" asked Frank. - -"Oh, about six months ago." - -"And where?" - -"Now you're asking questions, hey?" said Wacker, with a cunning air. -"You tell me first: do you know the fellow who made that puzzle?" - -"What's his name?" asked Frank. - -"Dick Welmore." - -"Never heard of him." - -"Aha!" cried Dale Wacker triumphantly, "then I've got you. I say, young -fellow, you're violating the law, you are. See here, I'm hard up. I -know where Dick Welmore is snug and tight. If you don't make it worth -my while, I'll go to him and have you prosecuted for stealing his -invention." - -"Get out of here," cried Frank, with flashing eyes. - -"Hold on, now. Say, give me a job, and I'll keep mum. Say, I can write a -good hand. Once I took stock, see--" - -"Yes, I reckon you've taken stock to your cost, if what I hear is true. -March out, and it won't be healthy for you to come around here again." - -"I can make you trouble." - -"Try it." - -Frank gave Wacker a decided push through the open doorway. Wacker was -muttering under his breath all kinds of dire threats. - -At exactly that moment Frank looked along the walk to the street at the -echo of a cherry whistle. It was instantly checked. Markham, tripping -towards the office, halted with a shock. Like a flash he turned at a -sight of Wacker. He disappeared so quickly that Frank wondered if Wacker -got a clear look at him. - -The latter, with a malignant growl at Frank, went away without another -word. In some perplexity Frank sat down at his desk, thinking hard and -fast. - -"I just couldn't truckle with that fellow," he said. "Dick Welmore, eh? -Can that be Markham's real name? Evidently, though, this Wacker doesn't -know Markham is here. He thinks he is somewhere else, 'snug and tight.' -Oh, bother! there's only one right course to take in such a case, and -I'll follow it." - -Frank decided that at quitting time he would lock himself and Markham -into the office, and ask for an explanation of his fear and dread of -meeting Dale Wacker. - -"It won't be to Markham's discredit, I'll guarantee," reflected Frank. -"He's square, if there ever was a square boy. Here he is now." - -Markham appeared, breathing hard and looking excited. He tried, however, -to appear calm. His face was quite pale. Frank saw that he was under an -intense nervous strain. - -"Oh, Markham," said Frank, not indicating that he noticed his friend's -perturbation, "I want you to take that money to Darry Haven." - -"All right," answered Markham, glancing over his shoulder towards the -street. - -"Be careful of it, won't you now?" directed Frank, with a little laugh. -"Remember, it's our entire capital, and here's the mailing lists. Tell -Darry to get them set up and printed just as quick as he can. We need -them at once." - -Frank had decided to have the mailing list names printed, each on a -separate line with a broad margin. This he did so they could keep a -permanent record of the result of using each name. Besides that, in the -fire at Riverton the lists had got charred, and some of them were -brittle and broken away, and some pages hard to decipher. - -Markham clasped the wallet containing the money tightly in one hand, -thrust it into his outside coat pocket, and tucked the rolled-up lists -under his arm. - -"Be back soon," he said. - -"All right, do so. Want to have a little talk with you." - -Markham looked up quickly, hesitated, gave a sigh, and started rapidly -down the walk. - -"I'll have it over and done with, soon as he comes back," reflected -Frank. "Poor fellow. Something's on his mind. I'm going to help him get -rid of it." - -Frank resumed his task. He was soon engrossed in finishing up a page of -writing. - -"Good," he said finally, with satisfaction, "the last copy for the -catalogue. It will make twenty-four printed pages. The cuts I have had -made and the cuts the supply houses have loaned me make a very fine -showing. Well, the first two weeks show up pretty good. Business -started, and paying expenses. Why, that's queer," exclaimed Frank with a -start, as he chanced to glance at the clock--"Markham has been gone a -full half-hour." - -It was queer. Markham had less than three squares to go on his errand. -Usually he made the trip to Haven Bros. in five minutes. - -Frank walked to the door and looked out. He stood there, growing -restless and anxious, as ten minutes went by. Then he grew restless, put -on his cap, waited five minutes longer, and, closing the office door, -went out to the street. - -"Pshaw," he said, looking up and down the street, "what am I worrying -about? Got that Dale Wacker on my mind, and it has upset me. Markham is -probably chatting with Bob Haven. Well, I've gone so far, I'll step over -to the printing office and see." - -Frank walked rapidly to the principal street, and up the flight of -stairs in a business block to Haven Bros.'s office. - -As he entered he noticed all hands busy at cases and presses. Bob, shirt -sleeves rolled up, was working on some chases on an imposing stone. -Darry was reading proof at his desk. - -But there was no Markham. Frank experienced a sensation of dread for -which he could not account. He tried to keep cool, but the first word he -spoke as he approached Darry made the latter look up quickly. - -"Got the money I sent you, Darry?" asked Frank. - -"Why, no--did you send it?" - -"Yes--over half-an-hour ago." - -"Who by?" - -"Markham." - -"Oh, then, he's doing some other errand first," said Darry. "Sit down, -if you're going to wait for him." - -"No, I'll watch them doing things," answered Frank, with an assumed -lightness of tone. - -He strolled about the neat little office, pretending to be interested. -It was a dead failure. A lump of lead seemed bearing him down. Frank -glanced at his watch. An hour had passed since he had sent Markham on -his errand. - -"Be back soon, Darry," he said, and went out of the printing office with -a dull, sick feeling at heart. - -Frank returned to his office. Markham was not there. He went back to the -print shop. - -"Markham been here yet?" he inquired in a failing voice to Darry. - -"Not yet, Frank." - -"Then something's wrong," suddenly burst out Frank, unable longer to -endure the strain of suspense and dread. - -"Why, how pale you are," began Darry, rising from his chair. - -"Yes, Darry," said Frank in a quivering tone--"Markham is missing, and -with him my mailing lists and over two hundred dollars in cash." - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -A BAD BUSINESS - - -Frank came down to the office the next morning looking haggard and -troubled. Stet was hanging around the door. - -"Darry Haven told me to wait till you came down, and then let him know," -said the little fellow. - -"All right," nodded Frank in a dull way. - -Stet darted off with his usual elfish nimbleness. Frank unlocked the -door and sat down before his desk rather gloomily. He mechanically -arranged some papers. Darry was with him before he had accomplished -much. Stet accompanied him. - -"Well, Frank," questioned Darry, "any word of Markham?" - -"Not a trace, Darry." - -"Strange, isn't it?" observed Darry in a musing way. "I declare I can't -understand it." - -"Nor I," said Frank. "It's him I'm thinking of, not of myself. I -haven't slept a wink all night. Honest, Darry, if he was an own brother -I couldn't feel more anxious. Mother is quite as worried. I went -everywhere about town last evening till the stores shut up. I telephoned -several neighboring towns. I saw trainmen around the depot." - -"And found no one who had seen Markham after you sent him on that errand -with the money and the mailing lists?" - -"Not a soul, Darry." - -"How do you explain it?" - -"I can't. I suppose some people who don't know Markham as I do, would -say I was a fool to take up a stranger and put so much trust in him, -that it served me right to have him run away with all I have in the -world first chance he got. Well, let me tell you, Darry, that boy -wouldn't do me a wrong turn wilfully for a million dollars, and I know -it." - -Darry sighed and was silent. He had liked Markham, but his young -business career had brought him in contact with so many weak and -absolutely bad people, that secretly he feared that Markham had yielded -to temptation, and they would not hear of him again. - -"Have you no theory as to the reason why Markham should be missing so -mysteriously?" he asked. - -"Why, yes, I have, in a way, Darry," responded Frank, "but it is all -guess-work. I told you last night about some secret in his life." - -"Yes, I know," nodded Darry. - -"I also told you that I was convinced that Dale Wacker knew Markham, and -that Markham for some reason dreaded meeting him." - -"It certainly looked that way, judging from Markham's actions." - -"Very well, I think they ran into each other after Markham went on the -errand to you. Wacker is a blackmailer, as his talk to me about the -puzzle plainly shows. Does he know something about Markham that might -make him trouble? It certainly looks that way. He may have terrorized -Markham into running away." - -"All right, if that is true, then Markham, if he is an honest boy, will -send back your money and the mailing lists." - -"Of course he will," declared Frank. "I've been expecting to receive -them every hour." - -"And if he doesn't," suggested Darry, somewhat skeptically. - -"If he doesn't," repeated Frank, slowly but steadily, "then make up your -mind to one thing." - -"And what is that?" - -"That Markham is in the power of some one who holds him a prisoner, and -can't get word to me." - -"H'm," said Darry simply. Frank's eyes flashed. - -"Furthermore," he went on, "assuming that, I shall make it my business -to investigate along that line, I shall never lose faith in Markham's -honesty and fidelity to me till I have used every endeavor to find out -when, where and why he dropped out of sight so mysteriously." - -"You're a staunch friend, you are," commented Darry. "In the meantime, -though, Frank, your capital is gone. Worse than that, the whole basis of -your business has gone with it." - -"Yes, the mailing lists," said Frank. "I've thought that all out, Darry. -You will have to stop work on the catalogue and the rest of the -printing. I can't pay for the work." - -"We'll trust you." - -"No," said Frank steadily, "I can't run into debt." - -"We might spare a little cash till--till you hear from the other." - -"I won't involve my friends. I have planned it all out. My mother is -coming down to the office to take care of the little business that will -come in from the advertising." - -"And what will you do?" asked Darry curiously. - -"I have arranged to hire a horse and wagon. I shall go out and visit -small towns and sell from door to door, or even from the wagon, till I -hear from that missing money, or get on my feet again." - -"You're a good one," pronounced Darry with an admiring sparkle in his -eye, slapping Frank heartily on the shoulder. "You're a stubborn one, -too, so I won't intrude offers of assistance only to be turned down." - -"All the time," resumed Frank, "I shall be looking out for a trace of -Markham. See here, Darry, I can't get that Dale Wacker off my mind. Who -are his companions? Where does he hang out? How am I going to set a -watch on him?" - -"He may not even be in town," suggested Darry. "You know Bob and I went -all over Pleasantville last evening, like yourself seeking a trace of -Markham. It looked as if Wacker had flashed into town and out again. We -didn't run across him, and we didn't find anybody who had seen him since -late in the afternoon." - -"Say, can I speak a word?" piped in an anxious voice. - -It was little Stet who had spoken. Frank and Darry had forgotten all -about him. Now Stet got up timorously from the door step. - -"Oh, it's you," said Darry. "Heard all we've said, too, I suppose, -Stet?" - -"Yes, I have," replied Stet. "Had to--ought to--I'm interested, I am. I -like you. I like Mr. Newton. You're both my friends. I like Markham, -too. He gave Hemp Carson, the _Eagle_ manager, a setting down for -pitching onto me. I don't like Dale Wacker. Huh! hadn't ought to. He -robbed me of two dollars once. Well, Dale Wacker is in Pleasantville. I -saw him this morning. He came in on a farmer's wagon from somewhere out -of town." - -"That's news, anyway," said Darry. - -"You were going to give me my regular ten days' vacation next week, you -know," continued Stet to Darry. "Make it begin to-day, and I'll soon -find out for you all there is to find out about Dale Wacker's doings." - -"But that is hardly a vacation, Stet?" suggested Frank. - -"It will be," chuckled the little fellow, "if I can get my two dollars' -worth of satisfaction out of him by showing him up." - -"All right," said Darry, "try it, Stet, if you want to." - -Stet went away forthwith. Frank went into details with Darry as to the -mail order business. It must remain partially inactive until something -encouraging developed. - -The morning mail was a pretty good one. About ten o'clock Mrs. Ismond -came down to the office, and Frank initiated his mother into the -business routine. - -"Just get the mail each day, and fill what orders you can," said Frank. -"When you can't fill an order, return the money. You see, mother, I want -to take the bulk of stock on hand with me for quick sales, and I can't -order any more until I get some money ahead." - -Frank put in two hours about town trying to look up Markham. The result -was quite as discouraging as upon the day previous. He closed an -arrangement for the hire of a horse and a light wagon, and packed up -some goods at the office, ready for his trip into the country. - -Mrs. Ismond, with a woman's instinctive capacity for neatness, had the -office in attractive order by late afternoon, and all the work attended -to. - -"Don't get discouraged, Frank," she said, as they were on their way -home. "It won't take a great deal of money to keep up the business in a -small way. I sent out a hundred circulars this afternoon, and I will -keep on at that average while you are away." - -"Why," spoke Frank, "how can you do that, with no mailing list -addresses?" - -"Oh, I set my wits at work and made quite a discovery," responded Mrs. -Ismond with a bright smile. "The Pleasantville _Herald_ has quite a list -of exchanges. I asked Darry to send me some. They come from all over the -State. I selected a number of promising names from little news items in -the papers. For instance: I took girls' names from church and society -items, and boys' names from baseball club items and the like. Good, -fresh names, Frank--don't you see?" - -"I do see," said Frank, "and it's a grand idea, mother." - -After supper Mrs. Ismond went upstairs to make up a little parcel of -collars, handkerchiefs and the like for her son's journey. - -Frank looked up from the county map from which he was formulating a -route, as his mother reappeared. At a glance he saw that she was very -much agitated. - -"Oh, Frank!" she panted, sinking into a chair pale and -distressed-looking. - -"Why, what's the matter, mother?" exclaimed Frank, arising quickly to -his feet. - -Mrs. Ismond had a worn yellow sheet of paper in her hand. - -"Markham," she said, in a sad, pained way. "I was getting out some -neckties for you, and by mistake opened the bureau drawer where he kept -his belongings. I found this." - -"What is it, mother?" asked Frank, taking the paper from her hand. He -saw for himself, and his face turned quite as white and troubled as her -own. - -"Too bad--too bad," said Frank, looking down at the time-worn sheet of -paper in a disheartened way. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -AN UNEXPECTED MEETING - - -It was a depressing discovery that Mrs. Ismond had made. Frank sat -staring at the paper in his hand in silence for some minutes. - -This was a printed sheet. It was headed: "Reward--One Hundred -Dollars." In short, the warden of the Juvenile Reformatory at Linwood, -offered that amount for the return to that institution of an escaped -inmate--Richard Markham Welmore. - -"Yes, it is our Markham," murmured Frank--"that is his middle name. The -description answers him exactly," and again Frank said in a troubled -way: "Too bad--too bad." - -Frank knew what his mother was thinking of--that they had harbored a -convicted criminal, who had weakly yielded to temptation, beggaring -them, and going back to his old evil ways. - -He now knew what Dale Wacker meant when he spoke of the inventor of the -wire puzzle as being in a "snug, tight place." Markham had sought -relief from his irksome confinement getting up the pleasant little -novelty that had taken so well. Evidently Wacker, when he first called -on Frank, was not aware of the fact that Markham had escaped. - -Wacker had probably once himself been an inmate of the reformatory. He -knew its rules and routine. Coming across Markham on his way to Haven -Bros., what more natural, Frank reasoned, than that he should take -advantage of this knowledge? His recognition by Wacker would crush -Markham. Had Wacker terrified him so that he had led him to some quiet -spot, bargained with him, robbed him, sent him back to the reformatory, -and laid claim to the reward? - -"I am going to find out," cried Frank, starting for his cap, but -instantly quieting down again as he reflected farther. - -His impulse was to hurry downtown and telegraph the reformatory at -Linwood for information. Suddenly, however, he reflected that if -his surmises were wrong, and things turned out differently than he -theorized, he would simply be putting the authorities on the track of -the unfortunate Markham. - -"Mother," he said, "nothing will make me believe that Markham voluntarily -stole my money. No, this Dale Wacker had a hand in this disappearance. -Perhaps poor Markham met him and fled, and is in hiding. We may hear from -him yet." - -"But, Frank," suggested Mrs. Ismond in a broken tone of voice, "we are -sure now that Markham was a--a bad boy." - -"Why so?" asked Frank. - -"He was the inmate of a reformatory." - -"When I think of the old wasted days in my own life when I ran away from -home," said Frank, "and the evil men I met who would have got me into -any kind of trouble to further their own schemes, and I innocently -walking into their trap, I shall give Markham the benefit of a doubt, -every time. What right have we to assume that he was not a victim of -wrong? No, no! He was a true friend, an honest worker. I won't desert or -forget him until I have cleared up all this mystery." - -Frank was up before five o'clock the next morning. He had just finished -cutting a week's supply of kindling wood in the wood shed, when Stet -popped into view over the back fence. - -Stet tried to look like a real detective. He glanced back over his -shoulder. He even said "Hist!" in first hailing Frank. Then he asked: - -"Going away to-day?" - -"I've got to, Stet," answered Frank. "Have you been looking up that -Wacker fellow?" - -"I've been doing nothing else," answered Stet, putting on a serious, -careworn look. "Say, he's a bad one. Hangs out at the worst places on -Railroad Street, and plays cards all the time." - -"Throwing away his money, eh?" - -"He don't seem to have much. No," said Stet, "I saw him borrow from two -or three chums. But he's got great prospects, I heard him say. He's -waiting for somebody to come to Pleasantville, or for something to -happen. You leave it to me. I'll watch him like a ferret, only you'd -better leave word where I can find you, if anything important comes up." - -"All right, Stet. My mother will know where I am each day I am gone." - -"And say," continued Stet, "I want you to say something to me." - -"Say something to you, Stet?" repeated Frank in a puzzled way. - -"Uh--huh." - -"What?" - -"I want you to look at me fierce, and frown, and say that you order me -out of your place, and if I show up again you'll break every bone in my -body." - -"See here--" began Frank in wonderment. - -"Now, you just say it," persisted Stet. "I know my business," and he -blinked and chuckled craftily. - -"All right--here goes." - -"Good as a play," declared Stet, as Frank went through the rigmarole. -"Now I needn't tell any lies. Thrown out by my friends, discharged from -my job, O--O--Oh!" and Stet affected sobs of the deepest misery. "Had -Bob Haven kicked me--not hard--out of the shop last night. See? Object -of abuse and sympathy. Oh, I'm fixed now to play Mr. Dale Wacker good -and strong." - -Stet disappeared the way he had come in a high state of elation. Frank -went into the house for breakfast. He walked as far as the office with -his mother. Then he went to the livery stable where he had hired the -turnout. - -He was soon on the road. Frank tried to forget the anxieties of the mail -order business and his missing friend. He planned to cover six little -towns by nightfall. - -Frank had good luck from the start. At a crossroads there was a country -schoolhouse, a general store and some twenty houses. The man running the -store was just stocking in for the fall term of school. Frank came in -the nick of time. He sold the man over ten dollars worth of notions and -novelties. - -Watering his horse at a roadhouse, a little later on, he interested some -loungers on the veranda. Frank got rid of two rings, a cheap watch, a -pedometer and three of Markham's puzzles. - -At noon he took dinner at Carrollville, quite a good-sized town. A small -circus was playing here. Frank conceived the idea of buying a privilege -to sell on the circus grounds. The manager wanted ten dollars for a -permit, however, so Frank took up his stand near the railway depot. - -As the crowds came for their trains at five o'clock, he opened up his -novelty stock. - -"A pretty thrifty day," mused Frank, an hour later, as he started for -his final stop of the day at Gray's Lake. "Profits eleven dollars and -twenty cents. Why, thirty days of this kind of trade will give me back -my lost capital." - -Gray's Lake was a settlement and a summer resort. Frank put up the -horse, got a good supper, and then selected the newest and most salable -of the trinkets and novelties he carried in stock. - -Among these was a good assortment of leather souvenir postal cards, just -then a decided novelty outside of the large cities. He had brought along -a large jewelry tray. This he suspended by a strap from his neck, and -went up to the big hotel at the end of the lake. - -A group of girls in a summer house running out over the water furnished -Frank with his first customers. He sold two friendship rings and sixteen -postal cards. - -A crowd of idle men took fire on the puzzle proposition, as two men -examining the wire devices got rating one another as to their respective -ability to get the ring off first. A dozen puzzles were purchased in as -many minutes. - -Frank went the rounds of the verandas, meeting with very fair success. -The people there had plenty of money to spare, time hung rather heavy on -their hands, and they welcomed his arrival as a diversion. - -Frank grew to have a decided respect for Markham's little puzzle. He had -struck the right crowd to sell it to, this time. At the end of an hour -fully fifty persons could be seen on the well-lighted verandas and -in the hotel rotunda, working over the clever puzzle. An occasional -utterance of satisfaction would greet the solution of the puzzle. - -"Markham has certainly left me a money-winner, if he never came back," -reflected Frank. - -He was passing along a lighted walk near the lake beach, when a young -lady ran past him towards a group of friends. - -A foppishly-dressed man with a great black moustache was hastening after -her, but she was calling laughingly back at him: - -"No, no, count, you would take all night getting that ring off--I'll try -some one else." - -"It ees a meestake. Allow me to try once more, my dear young lady." - -"Hello!" ejaculated Frank, with a violent start. Then in a flash he -slipped the tray from place, set it hastily on a vacant bench, and as -the man was passing by him caught him deliberately by the sleeve. - -"Sare!" challenged the man, with a supercilious stare. "Oh!" he added, -wilting down in an instant. - -"I suppose you don't know me?" demanded Frank. - -"Nevare, sare." - -"I am Frank Newton, of Greenville, and, for all your false moustache and -broken English, you are Gideon Purnell." - -"Let go!" hissed the man, with a rapid glance at the group just beyond -them. - -"No," replied Frank firmly, only tightening his grasp on the man's coat -sleeve. "I have been looking for you for over a year. I knew I should -find you some time. I have found you now." - -"What do you want?" stammered his crestfallen companion. - -"Ten minutes' quiet conversation with you." - -"About what?" - -"You know. You were the tool Mr. Dorsett used to rob my mother of -her fortune. He got what he was after. You overstepped yourself. You -forged two names in your crooked dealings, as Mr. Beach, our lawyer at -Greenville, has the proof." - -"Boy," said Purnell, in a low, quick tone, "don't make a rumpus here. -Come and see me to-morrow, and I will do the square thing by you." - -"You'll do it now," declared Frank definitely, "or I will expose you to -the people here, and wire Mr. Beach for instructions." - -"At least let me go and make some excuse to my friends yonder," pleaded -"the count." - -"Go ahead," said Frank. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -GOOD NEWS - - -Frank kept a close watch on Purnell. He had reason to do so. Upon what -he might by threats or persuasion compel this man to divulge, hung all -the future prospects of his mother ever recovering her stolen fortune. - -When Frank's step-father died, this person, one of his former associates, -had produced notes and deeds apparently giving him the ownership to -everything that Mr. Ismond owned. - -There were many flaws to his claim. Mrs. Ismond's lawyer, Mr. Beach, -discovered two arrant forgeries. Before any action at law could be -taken, however, Purnell transferred all the property to "an innocent -purchaser," Dorsett. - -Mrs. Ismond brought suit against the latter, but even Mr. Beach did not -believe the law would force him to restore what he claimed to have -bought for a valid consideration. Their only hope seemed to be to find -Purnell, who had disappeared. If through him they could connect Dorsett -with a conspiracy, Mrs. Ismond would win her case. - -This was the first time since he had fled from Greenville that Frank had -seen this man. Now he forgot his sample case, Markham, and the whole -mail order business amid the keen importance of keeping track of the -slippery fugitive, and forcing from him a confession. - -Purnell approached the party of young ladies, still acting the exquisite -and playing the foreign count he pretended to be. He bowed and smirked, -and backed away to Frank. - -Instantly his face lost its mask. With a scowl he dropped his affected -foreign drawl. - -"You will have it out, here and now, will you?" he growled, grinding his -teeth viciously. - -"Yes, I'll have it out, or you in," responded Frank pointedly. - -"Then come to my room." - -The false count led the way into the hotel, hurried up a staircase, and, -unlocking a door on the second floor, ushered Frank into a room. He lit -the gas and threw himself into a chair, glaring at Frank in a savage and -desperate way. - -"You're a determined young man, you are," he observed. - -"Why not?" demanded Frank. "It has been the resolve of my life to hunt -you down. If you escape me this time, I shall find you later. You are -masquerading here under false pretences. I can expose you. Should I -telegraph Mr. Beach, he would at once send an officer to arrest you." - -"That won't help your case any," observed the man. - -"I don't care. It will prove that Dorsett had a criminal for a partner, -and that will influence the court when my mother's suit comes to trial." - -"Name your terms," spoke Purnell suddenly. - -"Very well," said Frank gravely: "you helped rob my mother of the estate -her husband left her. What you got out of it I don't know, but it seems -to have made it necessary for you to continue the career of a fugitive -and a fraud." - -"What I got!" snapped out Purnell, springing to his feet in hot anger. -"I got what everybody gets who deals with that old rascal--the bad end -of the trade, drat him!" - -"I'll leave you alone to your own devices," said Frank. "I'll promise to -see that you get some money when my mother recovers hers, if you will -write out, sign and swear to the facts of your conspiracy with Dorsett -against my mother." - -"All right," answered Purnell, after a moment of thought. "I've got -some papers that apply to the matter. They are in my sitting room. I'll -get them." - -The speaker walked to a door, turned a key and disappeared beyond the -threshold. Frank sat awaiting his return. He congratulated himself on -the ease with which he had intimidated the man to his purposes. - -Two minutes passed by, and Frank became impatient, five, and his -suspicions were aroused. He walked to the door and knocked, tried it, -pushed it open, and found himself, not in a connecting room, but in a -side corridor. - -"Well, he has slipped me," instantly decided Frank. - -He realized that he had been tricked badly. Frank went to the hotel -office to make some inquiries, made a tour of the grounds, and, finally -surmising that the object of his search had fled for good, regained his -sample tray and returned to the town. - -Frank did not stay all night at the local hotel, although he went there -to ask for mail. He had given his mother a list of the hotels in the -various towns he expected to visit, secured from a guide book. - -There was a brief note from his mother. It imparted no particular news, -saying only that she was attending to orders as they came in. - -Frank found a cheap lodging, and was back at the hotel at the lake by -six o'clock the next morning. A brief talk with the clerk convinced him -that Purnell would not be likely to return to that hostelry. - -He had gone, owing a week's bill, and the two valises left in his room -were found to be filled with bricks. - -"I've missed my man this time," reflected Frank, as he hitched up the -horse an hour later. "I may as well go right on my route. I'll find him -again, some time." - -At Derby, Frank upon his arrival went to the telegraph office. He sent a -message to the reformatory at Linwood, asking if one Richard Welmore was -still an inmate of that institution. He asked, further, if one Dale -Wacker had ever been a prisoner there. - -He went on selling in the town, with fair returns, until mid-afternoon. -A reply to his message awaited him on his next visit to the telegraph -office. It read: - - "Dale Wacker paroled on bond of his uncle. Richard Welmore - escaped about six months since. One hundred dollars reward for - his capture. If know his whereabouts, wire at once." - -"That upsets one of my theories," thought Frank. "Markham has not been -captured for the reward." - -Brandon was his next town. The day following he made Essex. He was -pretty tired as he drove to its livery stable, about eight o'clock in -the evening. - -After supper he went to the local hotel, and asked if there was any mail -for Frank Newton. - -"No," replied the clerk whom he questioned, "but here's a telegram been -waiting here for you since noon." - -"Thank you for your trouble," said Frank, rather anxiously tearing open -the yellow envelope. - -"That's all right," nodded the hotel clerk. "Good news, I reckon?" he -smiled, as Frank's face lit up magically at a hasty perusal of the -message. - -"I should say so!" declared Frank. - -The message was from Darry Haven, at Pleasantville, and it read: - - "Come home at once. Money found." - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - -A RIVAL CONCERN - - -"I call that extraordinary," declared Bob Haven. - -"Certainly a sensational and a puzzling piece of business," echoed his -brother, Darry. - -"It is the best news I have had for a long time," said Frank, buoyantly. -"I tell you, fellows, you don't know what a load it has lifted from my -mind." - -"I should think so," nodded Darry--"to get back all that two hundred -dollars, when you had given it up as lost." - -It was ten o'clock in the morning. Frank's clothing was covered with -dust. His eyes looked tired and sleepy. Upon the receipt of the telegram -at Essex, he had hitched up the horse promptly and started for -Pleasantville. - -Darry welcomed him with effusion, and he and Bob at once led Frank into -their little editorial sanctum. - -There were some quick developments, and now Frank sat, a queerly -decorated sheet of paper in his hand. On the table before him was the -wallet which had disappeared four days previous with Markham. - -"Tell your story all over again, slowly and carefully," said Frank to -Darry. "It's something to get back that money, but it's a good deal more -to find out what has become of Markham." - -"Well," said Darry, "it's just as I told you. Yesterday noon in our mail -we found that letter you have. As you see, it has an envelope bearing -our name and address printed. We send these out when we solicit -business, and I supposed it was some new customer asking an estimate on -a printing job. Judge of my surprise, when I found enclosed that -letter." - -"Yes," murmured Frank, "it's a queer-looking affair." - -"You can see how it was put together. It must have taken hours for its -sender to cut all kinds of letters from a printed newspaper, and slowly -and patiently paste them onto that blank sheet. Letter by letter he -built up those words and sentences." - -Frank once more read over the letter in his hands, which ran: - - "tell frAnk newTon Money is beHind coAl BoX, thiRd flooR, YoUr - buiLDiNg--mARkHAm." - -"Well," resumed Darry, "Bob and I went up stairs here at once. None of -the offices on the third floor has been occupied for a long time. In the -hall is a big box with a slanting cover, to hold fuel for tenants in -winter time. Everything was dirty, and plainly across the dusty box -cover it showed where someone had recently rested, or been pushed over -against the wall. We pulled out the box. Sure enough, in the four-inch -space behind the box was your money." - -"Then a hot wire, and here you are," observed Bob briskly. - -"See here, fellows," said Frank, "I think I can figure this thing out." - -"Go ahead," encouraged Darry. - -"Markham sent that letter. He didn't write, because he had no pencil. A -pencil is usually an easy thing to get, so he must have been shut up -somewhere. He found in his pocket a sheet of paper--" - -"Oh, by the way," here interrupted Darry, "I forgot to explain -something. I recognize the sheet of paper as a blank sample I gave -Markham, enclosed in that same envelope, stamped, to give to Mr. Dawes -up at the novelty works when he went there again. Mr. Dawes asked for a -sample of one linen letter paper. If he wanted a lot, he was to write -the amount on the sheet, and mail to us." - -"Well," continued Frank, "somehow Markham made paste--probably out of a -piece of bread. He compiled that letter." - -"But how did he get it mailed?" suggested Bob. - -"Suppose he was a prisoner, and threw it from a window into the road, -chancing its discovery and mailing by some passer-by." - -"That's so," nodded Darry. "I believe you are correct in your -conclusions, Frank. As to the mailing lists, which Markham also had with -him, that's a later mystery to develop." - -"Now then," spoke Frank, "I think I can also figure out something else. -I believe that Dale Wacker followed Markham. He was probably right on -his heels when Markham entered this building. Markham saw him, got -scared, and, to evade him, ran up to the third floor. There he found no -rooms open to hide in. He was cornered, intimidated, maybe attacked by -Wacker. He thought of that two hundred dollars, and dropped it behind -the fuel box. Then--" - -Frank paused here, and shook his head in doubt and perplexity. - -"Poor Markham," commented Bob. "It looks likely that he is held a -prisoner somewhere. Maybe because his captor knows he threw away that -package of money, and won't let him go free till he tells where. Anyhow, -he's a good one, surmounting all the difficulties of his situation and -getting that letter to you." - -"I suppose you will take up the mail order business actively again, now -you are in funds?" suggested Darry. - -"Surely," said Frank. "Here, take the money and hurry up the catalogue." - -Frank felt immensely relieved as he proceeded to his office. His mind, -however, was full of plans looking to the discovery of Markham's place -of captivity. - -The letter had been mailed at Hazelhurst, a mining town about thirty -miles distant. Frank noted this fact, determining to make that town the -starting point of his investigations, as soon as he got present pressing -business in such a shape that he might leave the office in charge of -his mother for a day or two. - -Mrs. Ismond was very happy over Frank's return, and greatly pleased over -the recovery of the missing money. She had quite an encouraging report -to make concerning orders received during that day and the one -preceding. - -"Oh, by the way, Frank," she said, suddenly recollecting something, -"here is a letter addressed to you marked 'personal.' I found it pushed -under the office door this morning." - -"It's from Stet," said Frank, glancing at the enclosure, which -interested him very much. - - "On account of our strained relations," wrote Stet, "being - ordered from your premises and kicked out of Haven Bros., I - have wormed myself into the confidence of Dale Wacker. He has - rented a room in the Main Street Block, and started into the - mail order business. An old fellow is sending out circulars for - him, and they have got a bunch of printed matter from the - _Eagle_ Job Print, and he ordered one thousand watches from the - city last night." - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV - -AN UNWELCOME VISITOR - - -"If Markham were only here!" - -Frank Newton said this, with a sigh in a fervent way. His mother had -some household duties to attend to, and had asked to be spared from the -office for the rest of that afternoon. Frank had accompanied her as far -as the neat, convenient cottage they now claimed as home. - -"Yes, Frank," she said, in quite a sad tone, "it is a pity he is not -here to share our good fortune, just as he did your first hard efforts -to establish business." - -"That business is certainly a winner now," said Frank. "Mother, I feel -it my duty to take a day off, or even two, if necessary." - -"To look for a trace of Markham?" - -"Yes." - -"That would be only right, Frank." - -"It shall be to-morrow," said Frank. "Good-bye till supper time." - -Frank walked slowly back to the office reviewing the immediate past of -the mail order business, and speculating as to the demands and prospects -of the future. - -"Sense and system" had worked wonders in the past few days. With the -recovery of the missing money Frank had been enabled to take up his old -plans afresh. - -The catalogues were rushed to a finish. He paid up all the small -accumulated bills, and ordered fresh supplies from the city. He put -himself in touch with attractive novelty markets, and there was scarcely -a mail that did not bring a proposal to have him advertise and sell some -catchy mail order specialty. - -Haven Brothers increased their advertising for him. Then Frank had -conceived a clever follow-up system for both prospective and old -customers. He took care to sell just what he had advertised, and there -were no complaints. - -The wire puzzle was still the leading seller of his list, but the -apple-corer, strengthened by the special notices Markham had suggested, -was beginning to take hold, too. - -Things looked very fair and prosperous for Frank that afternoon. The -only depressing feature was the continued absence of Markham and the -mystery surrounding it. - -Frank had hurried up to get the day off he now promised himself. There -had been so much to do. Even now he was due in the city to talk over a -proposition with a big manufacturer there. This gentleman offered to -furnish Frank free an eight-page illustrated insert for his catalogue -and special buying terms, if he would push the goods actively. - -The loss of the mailing lists had been severely felt at first. Mrs. -Ismond's bright wits, however, had quite solved that difficulty. She -continued to send out circulars from the country papers that were -exchanges on the Pleasantville _Herald_ list. - -"The business is growing fast," reflected Frank. "Those who buy once, -very often write for some article I haven't got in stock. Why not run a -special purchasing department? It looks very much as if this business -will some day run into a great big mail order house, selling everything -and having a warehouse of its own. Hold on, son--what's the hurry?" - -A bareheaded, wild-eyed youngster turning a corner had bolted into Frank -with considerable force. Frank grabbed him quickly and swung to a -rebound poise, or both might have measured their length on the walk. - -"The very--fellow I--was after!" panted the urchin in a gasp. - -"That so?" said Frank. - -"Yes. Say, the fellows all like you." - -"I'm glad. Thanks," smiled Frank. - -"And sent me--to hunt you--and come back." - -"Back where, son?" - -"Office--mail order house. Riot!" - -"Why, what do you mean?" inquired Frank, quickening his steps. - -"Big fellow from the country. Been drinking. Smashed one of your -windows. Went away. Came back and smashed in the door. Says he'll wreck -the place." - -"Why, what for?" demanded Frank, now walking still faster. - -"Says he's a customer of yours. Says you swindled him. Says he'll wipe -you out. That's it--run." - -Frank was not only puzzled, but quite startled. He broke into a run. As -he turned into the street where the office was located, he heard a -mingled chorus of yells and cries. - -A crowd made up mostly of boys filled the lawn space in front of the -office. A glance showed to Frank the lower sash of the big front window -in ruins. - -The showcase outside lay tipped over on the ground. The office door, -with an upper panel slivered, hung on one hinge. From inside the place -there came slamming, crashing sounds. - -Frank realized that something serious was happening. He could not -imagine what it could be. He was not the boy, however, to remain -inactive while a wanton destruction of the little personal property he -owned was going on. - -"Here he is!" cried an eager voice. - -"Say, Newton, don't go in there. The man's wild, crazy. He'll half kill -you." - -"We shall see about that," retorted Frank, grimly. - -He parted the excited crowd and sprang past the threshold of the -dismantled door. His eyes flashed as he took a glance about the place. - -A waste basket had been kicked to the other side of the room, littering -the place from end to end. A file cabinet had been upset against his -desk. Packages of circulars ready for the mail had been hurled pell-mell -against a partition. - -The author of all this reckless riot was just now pulling at some -temporary shelves crossing a corner of the room, holding boxes of -envelopes. All came down with a crash as Frank shouted sternly: - -"Stop that--what are you doing?" - -"Huh!" growled the worker of all this mischief. "I'm cleaning out this -place." - -He was a husky, big-boned farmer-looking man of middle age. - -Frank saw that he had a wicked eye. He also discerned that the fellow -had been drinking heavily. - -The stranger put his foot across a wicker basket and crushed it to -splinters. - -"What--what you got to say about it," he demanded, facing on Frank. - -The big mailing table stood between them. The fellow leaned upon it as -he stared insolently and savagely at Frank. - -"I happen to be the proprietor of this place," remarked Frank. - -"Whoop! you are?" yelled the man in a sort of frantic joy. "You're the -mail order shark, are you? Here's luck. Better than smashing your traps. -Say, I'm going to eat you!" - -The man made a pounce around the table to catch Frank. His big fists -warned the latter. The fellow in his present condition was positively -dangerous, and was four times as big and strong as Frank. - -"Hold on," cried Frank, seeking to temporize, but still keeping his -distance by following the table and keeping its broad surface between -them. "What do you mean by this riot and destruction?" - -"Let me get you once, oh, let me just get my hands on you once," grated -out the man, with a savage crunching of his teeth, "and I'll tell you -all about it. Won't come to time, eh? Then--I'll come to you!" - -Now excited, alarmed boyish faces peered in at the door and window. - -"Run for it, Newton," advised a quick voice. - -"Call the police--there'll be murder done here soon," gasped another -voice. - -The stranger had sprung to the top of the table, poised to next spring -upon Frank and put a stop to his retreating tactics. - -He staggered as he tried to hold his footing. Frank acted quickly. - -Jumping to the farther end of the table he seized its edge, gave it a -lift and sent the troublesome intruder sliding off his balance on a -sharp slant. - -Crash! the fellow struck the half-shattered front window and went -through it headlong. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV - -TROUBLE BREWING - - -Frank was astonished at the ease and rapidity with which he had dumped -his troublesome visitor clear out of the office. - -"Good for you Newton!" hailed an approving chorus of voices. - -"Look out for him!" - -"No, he's got all he wants." - -Frank parted the excited ring surrounding the ejected visitor. There lay -the big, brawny fellow, quiet enough now. - -"He's dead," pronounced one awesome voice. - -"No, only stunned," dissented a second speaker. - -"Yes, that is the case," said Frank. - -In falling the man had struck a row of white boulders edging a flower -bed. There was quite a contusion near one temple and he was bleeding at -the nose. - -"The man's hurt," said Frank. "Some of you help me lift him onto the -grass, some one go for a doctor." - -"No need," sharply spoke a bystander--"here's the police." - -"Make way there, what's the rumpus here, anyhow?" challenged a -stentorian voice. - -Frank felt relieved. The speaker was the town marshal. The gathering had -been reported to him and he had hurried to the spot. - -The marshal dispersed the crowd. Two assistants brought a litter and -marched off with the insensible man upon it. Frank closed the office -door and barricaded the window as best he could. - -Then he accompanied the marshal to the town lock-up. The prisoner was -taken to a cell and a physician was called. By and by the marshal came -back to Frank. He had a wallet, pocket knife and other little articles -in his hand. - -"Only stunned, the rest of it is what he's drank," he explained. "No -need of worrying, Newton. He's got over two hundred dollars in this -pocketbook, so we'll make him meet your bill of damages. What will it -be?" - -"Oh, from ten to twenty-five dollars." - -Bob Haven had heard of the trouble and soon joined Frank, and helped him -to get things back into order. A carpenter was called on to repair -window and door. - -"Sort of queer--the fellow making a break on you this way," suggested -Bob. - -"It mystifies me," confessed Frank. - -"You don't suppose he could be one of your old apple-corer customers, do -you?" inquired Bob. - -"Hardly. He acted like a man having some solid grievance. Here's the -marshal coming. He may have some inkling of the fellow's motive." - -The marshal looked quite grave as he came down the walk and beckoned -Frank out of the office. - -"That man's name is Halsey," he said "and he comes from Westboro. -Newton, he makes some pretty serious charges against you. Says he has -been badly swindled." - -"Not by me," declared Frank. "There must be some mistake." - -"He says not. He claims he sent some money to you and got a worthless -article in return." - -"Let me see the man at once," urged Frank. "His charge is utterly -unfounded. I am not in business to defraud people, but to make regular -customers of them." - -"We all know that, Newton," said the marshal in a kindly tone. - -Frank readily accompanied the marshal. When they reached the police -station he was taken down stairs into the lock-up. - -"Hi, let me out of here, will you?" demanded his recent visitor, noisily -jangling the door of his cell. - -"Keep quiet, you," ordered the marshal. "Here's the young man who runs -the mail order business here in Pleasantville." - -"Oh, is it," cried the prisoner, with a savage stare at Frank. "Let me -out, officer. I want about two minutes chance at the miserable -swindler." - -"It will pay you to act with some reason," warned the marshal. "Now -then, you made the charge to me that you had been swindled." - -"Outrageously," cried the prisoner. - -"Give us the details. Young Newton has the confidence of everybody in -Pleasantville, and we don't believe he would do a dishonest act." - -"Don't?" flared up the prisoner. "Why, I've got the proofs. I got a -circular a few days ago, saying that I had been selected as the man in -Westboro to receive a full-size hunting-case watch and chain, cut shown, -for eleven dollars, provided I would show it to my neighbors and advise -them to buy." - -"Never sent out such a circular," asserted Frank. - -"I sent the money. The watch came yesterday evening. It was a five-cent -toy watch, tin cases, paper face, no works." - -"Where is the circular you speak of?" asked Frank. - -"I left it at home. It was from the United States Mail Order House, -Pleasantville--" - -"Oh," interrupted Frank with sudden enlightenment. Then, turning to the -marshal, he added: "This man probably tells the strict truth, but my -business advertises only as 'Frank's Mail Order House.'" - -"Then there's two in Pleasantville?" demanded the prisoner. - -"I think so, yes," answered Frank. "I shall soon find out. At any rate, -you have made a mistake in charging me with this swindle. You have -damaged my office, and you must pay for it." - -"Son," eagerly ejaculated the prisoner, pressing his face close to the -iron bars of his cell door, "you find me the right swindler, and give me -a brief interview with him, and I'll pay your bill twice over." - -"We'll let you know in a little time," said the marshal, moving off. - -"And now for the United States Mail Order House," said Frank to himself, -as he left the village lock-up. "Of course that means--Dale Wacker." - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI - -MYSTERIOUS STET - - -Main Street Block was the oldest business building in Pleasantville. It -was here, according to Stet's brief report, that Dale Wacker had gone -into the mail order business. - -Frank attended to some necessary writing at the office. Then he went to -Main Street Block. Downstairs the street floor of the building was -occupied by stores that did a good trade. The upper floors, however, -were only partly occupied. - -Frank went up the dusty stairs to the second story. Here were a -photographer, a surveyor, and a tailor. - -Frank ascended the last flight of stairs. When he arrived at their top -he found a small hallway ending at a door. - -"Why," he said, "this floor is not divided off into offices. Looks as if -it had been used for a lodge room. Yes, there is a peep-hole in that -door. I'll knock, anyhow." - -Frank did knock. He heard some fumbling at a dirt-grimed window at one -side of the hall. It moved slightly in as if set on hinges. - -Then there was dead silence. Again he hammered at the door. A slight -snap suddenly sounded. This was caused by the cover to the little -circular hole in being shot back. - -"What do you want?" sharply demanded the voice of some one behind the -hole, invisible for the darkness of the closed in room or entry beyond. - -"Is this the United States Mail Order House?" asked Frank. - -"The what?" - -Frank repeated the magnificent-sounding name. - -"Never heard of it." - -"Well, then, is there a Mr. Wacker here?" persisted Frank. - -"No. Nobody but a sick old man. Go away." - -"Hold on," said Frank, but the wicket went shut with a sudden snap. - -"Of course this is the place," thought Frank. "That's something to know. -Hello--" - -Five steps down the stairs Frank started. Something had struck his -shoulder. As he turned he noticed the window being pulled to. Also at -his feet the object that had struck him. - -It was a little piece of tin--around it was tied a fragment of coarse -manilla paper. Frank picked it up. He slipped it into his pocket and -descended to the street. Turning the corner he untied the paper. It was -scrawled over, and read: - - "Keep cool. Be shady. Things working. Important. Midnight." - -Frank had to smile at all this serio-tragic phraseology. - -"Stet wrote that," he said. "Still the dark and mysterious detective! -Probably enjoying it. He usually means something though, for all his -extravagant ways of mystery. That means he has news to tell me. But -where does he expect to see me at midnight? And why midnight? - -"Ah! Brr-rr-r! Hist! Good old Stet! He'll probably do something -sensational soon, but meantime I must pursue my investigations." - -These did not result in much. Frank went to the post-office. The -postmaster told him that twice a day either Dale Wacker or an old man -who was evidently associated with him brought a great many letters to -mail. In return they received as many as forty letters a day. They -presented a good many money orders, always for the same amount--eleven -dollars. - -The afternoon was nearly gone by this time. Frank called at the town -hall but found that the marshal had gone home to sleep until midnight. - -"I will see him bright and early in the morning," decided Frank. "He -can't make any mistake by assuming that old lodge room to be the -headquarters of the United States Mail Order House Swindle. Those fellows -are taking some risks. They will be in for a sudden disappearance unless -the marshal nabs them soon." - -"Are you going to take a day or two looking up Markham?" his mother -asked at the tea table. - -"I can't to-morrow, mother," continued Frank--"other important business. -I hope to get the day following, though." - -Frank put in an hour on a small set of books he kept at home covering -the mail order business. Then he went to bed. - -Something disturbed him about two hours later, for, almost wide awake, -he counted the strokes of the town bell. It was just twelve o'clock. - -"Midnight, eh?" mused Frank. "That was Stet's dark and deadly hour. I -say--if it isn't Stet on hand!" - -Some pebbles struck the upper closed sash of the room in which Frank -slept. Beyond the wire screen covering the lower half of the window -Frank made out a form moving to and fro. - -"Hist!" sounded out. - -"Yes, Stet," said Frank, slipping out of bed, "I hear you. Well?" - -"It's me," said Stet. "Lift up the screen, will you?" - -"Oh, want to come in!" - -"I don't, but I do want to give you something." - -"Why, what is this?" asked Frank, as lifting the screen Stet shoved a -round package into his hand. - -"It's your missing mailing lists." - -"And where did you get them?" - -"Dale Wacker has been using them ever since he started in business," -explained Stet. "Where he got them is easy to guess." - -"From Markham, of course." - -"That's it. This was my first chance to get away from them. Say, there's -Wacker and his partner. They're up to the worst swindle you ever heard -of. They've taken in a big lot of money. They're booked to leave -to-morrow, so I sneaked the lists out of the outfit. I'm not going back -to them." - -"Why, then--" - -"I'm going down to Hazelhurst," proceeded Stet. - -Frank was surprised that Stet should mention the very place he had most -in his mind. - -"To Hazelhurst?" he repeated curiously. - -"Yes. From something I heard Wacker say to his partner, I am pretty sure -that Wacker has got Markham hidden away or a prisoner somewhere around -Hazelhurst." - -"Why, Stet," said Frank, "I have thought that, too. I was going there -myself to-morrow, only some important business hinders me." - -"Tell you what I'll do," suggested Stet; "let me see what I can find -at Hazelhurst. There's going to be a big blow-up with Wacker & Co. -to-morrow. As I have sort of been in with them, maybe it would be -best for me to keep out of the way so I won't get hit with any of the -pieces." - -"What do you mean by a blow up, Stet?" inquired Frank. - -"'Splosion." - -"Indeed?" - -"Sure thing! Say about ten o'clock to-morrow morning you hang around -Main Street Block, and see what a telegram I sent to-day is going to -fetch the United States Mail Order House." - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII - -THE POST-OFFICE INSPECTOR - - -"Now then, my friend, behave yourself." - -"Haven't I paid the damages?" - -"You have, but don't get into any further expensive mischief." - -"H'm!" observed the victim of Dale Wacker's mail order swindle, "that's -to be seen, if I ever get my hands on the real fellow who robbed me. As -to you, stranger," to Frank, "just send in your bill double. Sorry I -disturbed you, but we all make mistakes." - -"No, Mr. Halsey," replied Frank, "I only ask you to pay the cost of that -window you smashed and the door you broke." - -"How much--let me settle it now," urged Halsey. - -"I'll trust you," said Frank. "I will send the bill when the carpenter -gets the repairs done." - -The trial had come off. A small fine had been imposed by the village -judge on Halsey for his disorderly conduct. The marshal had explained -to him that Frank was not the person who had swindled him. He added that -very probably through Frank's investigation they would soon discover the -identity of the United States Mail Order House. - -"You can come with us, but you will have to curb your fighting -proclivities," warned the marshal. "Here is where the law steps in, -and you must not interfere with its course." - -"I came a long way to get satisfaction," muttered Halsey. "Somehow, I'll -have it too." - -The marshal led the way, and they were soon mounting the stairs of Main -Street Block. They proceeded quietly, so as to give no warning or create -any curiosity with other occupants of the building. - -"There is the door," said Frank in a guarded tone, as they reached the -landing of the third story. - -The marshal advanced and gave a firm resounding knock on its panels. -They could detect a stir within. Then the wicket shot back. - -"Who are you--what do you want? Thunder! it's the marshal." - -Frank fancied he recognized the tones as belonging to Dale Wacker. - -"That's who it is," answered the official. "Here, here I want a word -with you, young man." - -The wicket was shot as suddenly as it had been opened. They could hear a -quick scramble in the room beyond. - -"Open this door," loudly demanded the marshal, resuming his knocking. - -"They won't do it," spoke up Halsey, advancing a step. "Say," lifting -his ponderous fist, "I'll soon clear the way, if you say the word." - -"No," responded the marshal, putting up a detaining hand. "We have no -legal right to invade the premises. Whoever is in there, cannot escape. -There is no other stairway leading to the street except this one." - -"What are you going to do?" asked Frank. - -"Why, you had better go back to the town hall with Halsey," advised the -officer. "See the clerk, and let Halsey swear out a criminal warrant -against Dale Wacker and others concerned in a swindling scheme at this -place." - -"All right," nodded Frank. "Come Mr. Halsey, let us make haste." - -"I will save you any delay, gentlemen," spoke up a new voice. - -All three turned, to observe a keen-faced, bright-eyed man who had come -quickly up the stairs. There was a certain half-military, half-official -precision to his make up that at once impressed Frank. - -"Yes," continued the newcomer, coming forward on the landing as though -he had a perfect right there, "I'll soon get action here. You are the -town marshal, I believe?" - -"That's right," nodded the officer, regarding the speaker in some -wonderment. - -"Well, I am a post-office inspector. Came on a telegram. Got the birds -caged in there? Give me a few facts, will you?" - -The marshal briefly recited his suspicions and the case of Halsey. The -inspector as tersely told of a telegram the post-office department had -received, exposing the operations of the United States Mail Order House. -Frank at once decided that Stet was its author. - -"No dilatory fraud order case here," observed the inspector briskly. -"It's got to be a raid, I see. Here, let me have a try. In there!" -called out the official in a loud tone of voice, pounding on the door -panels, "open in the name of the law, or we shall be obliged to use -force." - -There was no response whatever to this mandatory challenge. The -inspector placed his ear to the door. Then he said sharply. - -"Watch out close. I will be back at once." - -"He's brought the locksmith with him," announced the marshal a few -minutes later, peering over the banisters. "Those government fellows -act pretty swiftly when they make up their minds. We haven't the power -that they have." - -The inspector, arrived with the locksmith, ordered the latter to open -the door. - -Frank looked about him curiously as, the door once opened, all hands -passed into the room beyond. Its tables were littered with envelopes, -circulars and letters. - -The big lodge chamber was partitioned off at one end by a cambric -curtain. Here there was a couch, a small oil stove and some eatables -and dishes, evidences of light housekeeping on the premises. - -The inspector darted about from corner to corner, and into all the -little apartments that had formerly been in service as lodge and rooms. - -"H'm," he observed, coming back from his inspection to the others, -"birds have flown." - -He moved to an open window. Pendant from an iron shutter hinge was a -strong portable knotted fire escape. Its ground end trailed into an -inside court of the building. - -"If you think you know the people who were here and who have certainly -escaped," suggested the inspector to the marshal, "you had better get -your men on their track before they leave town." - -"All right," said the marshal glumly making for the door. - -"Here, I'm in on that arrangement," observed Halsey. - -The inspector with an eagle glance at the letters on the tables and a -business-like air, sat down to look over a mass of correspondence lying -before him. Frank went up to him. - -"Can I be of any assistance to you, sir?" he asked. - -"You helped in this thing. Yes, yes you can help me," said the inspector. -"Take this note to the local postmaster, will you?" - -The inspector wrote a few words on his own card. It summoned the -postmaster. The inspector directed that official to deliver all future -mail of the Wacker outfit to himself or his representative. - -When the postmaster was gone the inspector impressed Frank into service. -This consisted in sorting out the letters and taking down the names of -the persons who had been swindled. - -"Now you can go for the marshal, if you will," said the inspector, about -an hour later. - -Frank found that official just returned from an unsuccessful search for -Dale Wacker and the old man with the big beard, his presumable partner, -whom Stet had vaguely described to Frank. - -"I must catch the afternoon train for the city and make my report to -headquarters," said the inspector, when Frank returned to him with the -marshal. "I want you to put a trustworthy custodian in charge here until -we can send a regular man to close up the matter, and start after those -swindlers." - -"I'll put one of my deputies in charge," said the marshal. "As to Wacker -and his partner, they're probably safe and far by this time." - -The inspector regarded the speaker with a half-pitying, -half-contemptuous look. - -"That's as may be," he observed, "for the present. We don't let matters -drop that easily, ourselves. There's something you mustn't forget -officer: When the United States Government gets after a guilty man, if -he fled to the furthest corners of the earth, we never let up till we -find him." - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII - -A HEART OF GOLD - - -It had been a strenuous day for Frank. He and his mother had put in -double duty at the office that afternoon. Everything in the mail order -business was moving along smoothly. Only this complication of Dale -Wacker and Markham comprised a disturbing, unsettled element in the -situation. - -It was a beautiful moonlight night. Frank enjoyed the quiet of the hour -after the stirring turmoil of the day, and prolonged his stroll. Almost -instinctively his footsteps led him in the direction of the scene of the -main commotion of the day--Main Street Block. - -"Hello," said Frank suddenly and in some surprise, as, passing its -gloomy entrance, he observed a solitary figure seated on a step in its -shadow. - -Frank recognized the man whom the marshal had appointed as custodian of -the raided mail order concern up-stairs. - -"Oh, that you, Newton?" spoke the man in a somewhat embarrassed way. - -"Yes," replied Frank, "just headed for bed. Enjoying the fine evening?" - -"Well," said the custodian slowly, "I can't say I am. Sort of lonely. -Don't be in a rush. Dull and sleepy hanging around this desolate old -barracks." - -"Why don't you go to bed, then?" suggested Frank. "There's a comfortable -cot upstairs there." - -"Ugh," responded the custodian, with a grim shudder--"catch me!" - -"Why, what's the matter?" pressed Frank, discerning that something -really was wrong. - -"I believe the place is haunted. I have heard some awful groans." - -Frank was interested, and finally said he would go with the watchman and -make an investigation. For quarter of an hour they found nothing, then -Frank discovered the form of a man lying in the bottom of a disused coal -chute. The man was in great pain. Much to the youth's amazement the -fellow proved to be Gideon Purnell. - -Frank questioned the rascal and found out Purnell had been Wacker's -partner in the dishonest mail order scheme. Purnell had fallen down the -chute while trying to escape from the marshal. His back was injured and -the fellow was in a dying condition. He begged Frank to take him to -some place where he could die in peace. - -"I am sorry for you," said Frank. "If you really are badly hurt--" - -"Don't doubt it. I know what I'm talking about," said Purnell. "I've -only a few days left." - -"I want to do right," said Frank slowly. - -"Then help a poor, broken wretch to die in peace," pleaded Purnell. - -"I'll be back soon," said Frank simply, deeply affected himself. - -Frank acted on an impulse he could hardly control. He ran to the Haven -home and roused up Darry and Bob. There was animated explanation and -discussion. - -Half-an-hour later, secret and stealthy as midnight marauders, the trio -of friends wheeled the Haven Brothers' delivery hand cart down the alley -behind Main Street Block. - -"Bet the fellow played you--bet he's made off," predicted Bob. - -However, they found Purnell just where Frank had left him, only -insensible now. They lifted him, a dead weight, into the cart. Then Bob, -piloting the way, warned Frank and Darry of late pedestrians, and thus -they reached Frank's home. - -"Where am I--in a hospital?" spoke Purnell weakly, arousing from his -stupor an hour later. - -"You are at my home," said Frank, coming to the side of the comfortable -bed where the sufferer lay. - -"Oh, no! no!" panted Purnell. "Let me hide my head with shame--let me -die. In your home--under the roof of the people I ruined--robbed! Heaven -have pity on me!" - -"Don't think about that," said Frank soothingly. "We have tried to make -you comfortable. In the morning we will get a doctor." - -"Not a doctor, boy, no, but a lawyer," spoke Purnell in broken tones. -"Boy, the meanest thing I ever did was to rob your mother of her -fortune. Let the last thing I can do on earth be to give it back to -her." - -Frank remained by the side of the sufferer until early morning. Then Bob -Haven came with a telegram from Stet. - -"Hurrah! Markham is found!" cried Frank, reading the message. "Stet -found him in a coal mine. He was a prisoner." - -"Good for Stet!" said Bob. - -"Just what I say. Markham is coming here. Bob, the skies are clearing, -it would seem." - -"I am glad of it, Frank." - -The news about Markham was indeed true. He had been kept a prisoner in -an abandoned mine by an old man who was a tool of Wacker. The old man -had been well-thrashed by Stet and had fled to parts unknown. Markham -had quite a story to tell, as we shall soon see. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX - -CONCLUSION - - -There was no regret with Frank for the kindness he had shown Gideon -Purnell. That man had died three days after Frank had removed him to the -little cottage, leaving a signed confession that meant the defeat of -Dorsett in his suit at law. - -Markham referred to the matter of his disappearance, but in a vague, -constrained way. - -He stated that Dale Wacker had a certain power to do him great harm. So -great was his dread, that he had consented to accompany Wacker away from -the town. He had managed, however, first to drop the two hundred dollars -where it was later recovered by Frank. - -"Never mind what it was," explained Markham, "but that boy could do me -great harm. I hoped to temporize with him. He took me to a lonely -farmhouse. Here he had a friend as bad as himself. They locked me up, -took the mailing lists away from me, and said I should never go free -till I told what I had done with your money, which, somehow, Wacker -knew I had in my possession when he first overtook me. It was at the -farmhouse that I made up that letter to Haven Brothers. I dropped it -next day from a wagon in which they drove me to the mine." - -"All right, Markham," said Frank, "there's more to tell I know, but -you'll tell me when the right time comes, I am sure." - -"The right time will soon be here, never fear," declared Markham, with -emotion. "I have written a letter that will bring me a friend who will -quickly clear up all this mystery." - -The old office had been cut up into four rooms. A young lady kept the -books. Frank had engaged a crippled young man as a stenographer, and he -was a good one. Markham and himself had each an office to himself. -Upstairs was the stock and shipping rooms employing four boys. - -"System and sense" had been Frank's watchwords--the mail order business -was a pronounced success on that basis. - -"A gentleman to see you," spoke the stenographer, arousing Frank from a -most pleasing day dream. - -Frank looked up to greet a bronzed, earnest-eyed man of middle age. He -was erect and military in his bearing. - -"Is a young man named Markham employed here?" inquired the stranger. - -"He is interested in the business here, yes," said Frank. - -This would have been news to Markham himself. The wire puzzle had -brought in lots of money. Frank had planned to tell Markham that very -evening that the latter should have a settled, tangible interest in the -mail order business. - -"I did not know that," said the visitor, with a quick sparkle in his -eyes that Frank could not at all understand. "I very much wish to see -him." - -"He is away on some business," explained Frank, "but I think he will -return within an hour." - -"May I wait?" politely inquired the gentleman. - -"Certainly," said Frank, "just step into his office." - -Frank ushered the stranger into the next office, pulled a chair near the -window, and handed him the daily paper from the city. - -He resumed his work. Engrossed in this, he almost forgot about the -waiting stranger. Frank finally discovered that over an hour had gone -by. He stepped to the door of the adjoining office. - -"I am sorry for your long wait, sir," he said, "but I feel certain -Markham will be here soon. Is it anything I can attend to for him?" - -"No," was the definite reply. - -Just then Frank heard some one inquiring for him in the outer office. -This seemed to be a day for strangers. Two men whom he had never seen -before entered his room. - -One free and easy of manner at once addressed Frank. - -"Is your name Newton?" - -"Yes," responded Frank, none too well pleased at the man's familiarity. - -"Believe you telegraphed to the reformatory at Linwood some time since -about a boy named Welmore--Richard Markham Welmore?" - -Frank started. He was greatly taken aback. - -"Did I?" he said simply. - -"You did," asserted the stranger promptly. "You've given us some trouble -running you down. Welmore, under the name of Markham, is now in your -employ." - -"What of it?" inquired Frank, with dire forebodings of trouble. - -"We want him, that's all, my dear young friend," broke in the other man. -"Dangerous character, escaped criminal. This is an officer of the -institution." - -"What is your interest in this matter, may I ask?" demanded Frank. - -"Distant relative, guardian, best friend. Sad case. Left on my hands, -cared for him, spent my means educating him. Repaid kindness by robbing -me." - -"That is a falsehood!" - -Like a thunder clap the words sounded out. The waiting stranger in the -next room spoke them. As he appeared in the open doorway, the man whose -veracity he challenged looked as though confronted by an accusing -nemesis. - -"Welmore!" he almost screamed. He turned white as a sheet and cowered -back. - -"Yes, Jasper Lane--false friend, perjurer and thief," flashed out the -other. "You cared for Dick Welmore? You expended your means on him? -Where is the two thousand dollars I left you for his education?" - -"Keep him off--don't let him touch me," pleaded the other man. - -"Pah!" coarsely uttered the reformatory man, giving Lane a disgusted -push to one side. "Mister," he continued, addressing Lane's accuser, "if -there's been crooked business here, we didn't know it." - -"There has been," affirmed the other. "My boy wrote me about it. I have -hastened from the Philippines to right his wrongs. This creature, Lane, -accused him falsely, had him imprisoned. I secured the proofs of it -before I came here to find my son Dick Welmore." - -"Markham's father!" murmured Frank. - -"Well," said the officer, "your boy will have to go with me, but if you -can prove what you say, the court will not long hold him." - -"You, Jasper Lane," spoke Mr. Welmore sternly, "you do not leave my side -till you have righted my boy." - -"I'll do it, I'll do it! Don't expose me, don't ruin my reputation!" -whined Jasper Lane. - -"There is Markham--Dick--now," announced Frank, as a cheery whistle -sounded outside. - -The next moment Markham entered the room, grew pale as he first noticed -Lane, saw his father, and flew to his parent's arms with a wild cry of -delight. - -"Father," he said, leading Mr. Welmore towards Frank, "this is Frank -Newton, the best friend I ever had in the world." - - * * * * * - -"Seen your sign outside--Boy Wanted--I need a job." - -"All right, in a moment. Sit down." - -Frank did not look up from the letter he was reading to give attention -to the applicant for work. - -It was a very interesting letter for Frank, for it was from Dick Welmore, -or Markham, as we have known him. - -It told that the youth had been completely vindicated and released, and -would be back at his business post of duty in the morning. - -It also enclosed an item cut from a city paper, telling of the arrest -and conviction of Dale Wacker for robbing street mail boxes. - -"All right," said Frank now, for the first moment glancing at the boy he -had requested to be seated. "Want work, do you--Why, Nelson Cady!" - -"It's me, yes," confessed Frank's visitor. - -"Why," said Frank, "I thought you were in Idaho?" - -"Was--ain't now. Never will be again," declared Nelson. - -"And you have come back to try something more congenial, Nelson?" -insinuated Frank, with a friendly smile. - -"Yes. I want work. Give it to me, will you?" pleaded Nelson. - -"Have you been home yet?" asked Frank. - -"No, nor won't go there until I have earned enough to pay back the money -my father started me out with." - -"I'll hire you, Nelson," said Frank readily, "only I must advise your -father where you are." - -The result of his decision to put aside roaming and adventure for -practical business will be told in another volume, to be entitled "The -Young Storekeeper." In that volume we shall meet Frank and some of our -other friends again. - -The following week Frank found that the business needed more space, and -closed an advantageous lease for the third floor of Main Street Block. - -Right in the heart of the bustling little town, one morning, a big gilt -sign announced to the public the new and enlarged quarters of FRANK'S -MAIL ORDER HOUSE. - - -THE END. - - - - - Transcriber's Notes: - - --Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_). - - --Punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently corrected. - - --Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved. - - --Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved. - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Bound to Succeed, by Allen Chapman - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BOUND TO SUCCEED *** - -***** This file should be named 41741-8.txt or 41741-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/1/7/4/41741/ - -Produced by Donald Cummings and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - -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. 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