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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/4997-0.txt b/4997-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..eda0807 --- /dev/null +++ b/4997-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8016 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of Two Boys and a Fortune, by Matthew White, Jr. + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: Two Boys and a Fortune + Or, The Tyler Will + +Author: Matthew White, Jr. + +Release Date: April 7, 2002 [eBook #4997] +[Most recently updated: September 8, 2021] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +Produced by: Jim Weiler, xooqi.com + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWO BOYS AND A FORTUNE *** + + + + +Two Boys and a Fortune + +Or, The Tyler Will + +by Matthew White, Jr. + +1907 + + +Contents + + PREFACE + CHAPTER I. THE MAN ON THE BRIDGE + CHAPTER II. IN THE MISER’S HOME + CHAPTER III. MR. TYLER’S WILL + CHAPTER IV. THE TWIN BROTHERS + CHAPTER V. BREAKING THE NEWS + CHAPTER VI. REX GOES TO TOWN + CHAPTER VII. REGINAND’S HUMILIATION + CHAPTER VIII. IN SYDNEY’S OFFICE + CHAPTER IX. THE MYSTERY ABOUT SYDNEY + CHAPTER X. ROY MAKES A NEW ACQUAINTANCE + CHAPTER XI. MR. CHARLES KEELER + CHAPTER XII. AN ALARMING DISCOVERY + CHAPTER XIII. DISCUSSION OF WAYS AND MEANS + CHAPTER XIV. WHAT HAPPENED AT MIDNIGHT + CHAPTER XV. DUDLEY HARRINGTON + CHAPTER XVI. REX DETERMINES TO TAKE MATTERS INTO HIS OWN HANDS + CHAPTER XVII. REX ARRIVES IN NEW YORK + CHAPTER XVIII. REX SEES A HORRIBLE SPECTACLE + CHAPTER XIX. A MEMORABLE NIGHT + CHAPTER XX. THE CRISIS + CHAPTER XXI. MILES HARDING + CHAPTER XXII. SEARCHING FOR REX + CHAPTER XXIII. A TELEGRAM + CHAPTER XXIV. FOUND AT LAST + CHAPTER XXV. MILES HARDING’S STORY + CHAPTER XXVI. IN WINTER DAYS + CHAPTER XXVII. SYDNEY GOES ON A MYSTERIOUS EXPEDITION + CHAPTER XXVIII. THE STRANGE CONDUCT OF MRS. FOX + CHAPTER XXIX. A MIDNIGHT VISIT + CHAPTER XXX. SYDNEY FREES HIS MIND + CHAPTER XXXI. THE CONFESSION TO THE BOYS + CHAPTER XXXII. A HARD DAY FOR THE TWINS + CHAPTER XXXIII. A QUEER FISH POND PARTY + CHAPTER XXXIV. REX RISES TO THE OCCASION + CHAPTER XXXV. A FISTIC ENCOUNTER + CHAPTER XXXVI. MILES BREAKS THE NEWS + + + + +PREFACE + + +Among all my books, this one will always occupy a particularly warm +spot in my heart; for listen, reader, and I will let you into a little +secret. Riddle Creek is really Ridley, and is a true-enough stream, +flowing through one of the most charming regions in Delaware County, +Pennsylvania. The railroad trestle which plays such an important part +in the first chapter forms a picturesque feature of the landscape, in +full view of a home where I was wont to spend many a joyous +holiday-time and which I had in mind whenever I mentioned the Pellery. + +Again, the odd little house on Seventh Street, Philadelphia, described +in Chapter XXVII, actually existed until pulled down some years since +to make room for a big manufacturing plant. I used to visit there every +time I went to the Quaker City, and all the furnishings mentioned stand +out vividly in my recollection to this day, even to the guitar off in +one corner. I never played Fish Pond there, but I have eaten some of +the best dinners I ever tasted in that famous kitchen below stairs, +which had to serve for dining room as well. That kitchen and the great +cat, who used to sun himself in the shop window, loom large in my +memories of boyhood. + +Matthew White, Jr. + + +_New York City._ + +_Jan. 5, 1907._ + + + + +CHAPTER I +THE MAN ON THE BRIDGE + + +“Look there! I believe that man is actually going to try to cross the +trestle.” + +Roy Pell pulled his sister Eva quickly toward him as he spoke, so that +she could look up between the trees to the Burdock side of the railway +bridge almost directly above their heads. + +“Why, it’s Mr. Tyler!” exclaimed Jess, who had a better view from where +she sat on the log that spanned Riddle Creek. “Oh, Roy, something’s +sure to happen to him! He’s awfully feeble.” + +“And there’s a train almost due,” added Eva. “What can he be thinking +of to attempt such a thing?” + +“Oh!” and Jess gave a shrill scream. “He’s fallen!” + +Roy said never a word. He quickly passed his fishing-line to Eva, ran +nimbly across the tree trunk to the Burdock side of the creek, and then +started to climb the steep bank. The girls sat there and watched him +breathlessly, now and then darting a look higher up at the spot on the +trestle where the figure that had dropped still lay across the ties, as +if too badly hurt to rise. + +The two Pell girls and their twin brothers, Rex and Roy, had gone down +to sit on the log in search of coolness on this blazing hot July +afternoon. Rex had been giving vent to his disgust because he wasn’t +able to accept the invitation to join a jolly party of friends for a +trip to Lake George and down the St. Lawrence. Cause why? Lack of +funds. + +“You ought to have known you couldn’t go when Scott asked you, Rex,” +Roy had told him. “You would need at least fifty dollars for the +outing. And that sum will clothe you for almost a year. And clothes +with you, Rex, ought to be of sufficient importance to be considered.” + +“I suppose I might as well go and tell Scott about it and have it over +with,” Rex had replied, creasing his handsome forehead into a frown. “I +dare say he’ll be calling me ‘Can’t Have It Pell’ pretty soon. It was +only two months ago I asked for a bicycle and didn’t get it, and there +was the new pair of skates I wanted last winter.” + +“Don’t be late for tea,” Eva called out after him as he made his way to +the shore. + +She kept her eyes on the trim figure till it was hidden by the trees +which grew thick along the road that led up to town. + +“Well, if anybody in this world ought to have money it is that good +looking brother of ours,” remarked Jess with a sigh. “He’d appreciate +it so thoroughly. I don’t wonder he’s crabbed this afternoon. Just +think of the chance for a good time he’s had to let slip just for lack +of a little money.” + +“Fifty dollars isn’t a little money, Jess,” returned Roy, casting his +line. + +“I know it isn’t to us, but it is to most of the people we know, Scott +Bowman for instance. Do you suppose we shall _ever_ be rich, Roy?” + +“We are rich now; at least you and Eva are, in my opinion.” + +“We rich?” Eva nearly slipped from her position on the log at the +statement. + +“Why, yes; haven’t you both contented dispositions, and isn’t that +worth a small fortune?” + +“But why have you left yourself out, Roy?” Eva wanted to know. “Surely +you who never grumble, are satisfied with things.” + +“No, I’m not.” A flash came into the boy’s eyes that made him really +handsome for the moment. “I’m chafing inwardly all the while at having +to be idle this way when it seems there ought to be so much I could do +to help along.” + +“But you are getting ready to do it as soon as you finish school,” +rejoined his sister. “And you must have a vacation, you know. Besides, +think how much you do to help Sydney.” + +“Oh, I only do a little copying for him now and then.” + +He was going to add more, but at this point he caught that glimpse of +the man on the trestle which brought about the interruption in the talk +already described. + +Roy soon emerged from the line of shade in his climb up the embankment +and the scorching afternoon sun beat down on him mercilessly. But he +did not cease his exertions to reach the top as quickly as possible. He +knew that a train for the city would be along very soon now; he +remembered the curve just beyond the bridge; the engineer could not see +whether there was an obstruction in the way, until he should be too +close on it to stop. + +Then he thought of Mr. Tyler, and of how nobody liked him, with all his +money, which he hoarded like a miser. He was probably crossing the +bridge now to take the train for the city from Marley, and save the +additional five cents he might have to pay if he boarded it at Burdock, +which was much nearer his home. + +But he was human, he was an old man; he was helpless now, doubtless +overcome by the heat. And there was nobody about but Roy to prevent +what might be a tragedy. + +On he toiled. The loose dirt slid out from under his feet and rattled +down the hillside behind him. The perspiration poured from his face in +streams. What a contrast this was, he thought, to sitting there over +the creek placidly fishing! + +He had gained the top now and, scarcely pausing to take a long breath, +he ran out over the ties till he reached Mr. Tyler’s prostrate form. He +had fallen fortunately not very far from the beginning of the trestle, +but he was quite unconscious and could not help himself. Roy must carry +him away from his dangerous position. + +He bent to his task, which was not such an arduous one as might be +supposed. Mr. Tyler was little more than a bag of bones, weighing not +as much as did Roy himself. The latter picked him up as carefully as he +could, not daring to look down lest he should grow dizzy. Then he began +to bear his burden back to _terra firma._ + +He had almost reached the ground when the old man stirred and opened +his eyes. He started to struggle, but Roy looked down at him and spoke +sternly. + +“Keep quiet, Mr. Tyler,” he said, “or you will have us both over the +trestle.” + +The miser shuddered, but he made no reply and kept perfectly still till +Roy placed him on the grass in the shade of a horse chestnut tree. The +boy threw himself down beside him, and began to fan himself with his +straw hat. The next minute, with a shrill whistle, the train rushed by +them. + +“You saved my life, Roy Pell,” said Mr. Tyler after the skurrying dust +raised from the ballast had settled into place. “You are a brave boy.” + +Roy made no reply. He was still very hot and he was thinking that his +whole adventure was very much like a scene in a book. + +“I ought to say ‘Oh, it is nothing,’ I suppose,” he reflected with a +half smile. “But then that wouldn’t be the truth. From the way I feel +now it was a good deal.” + +“I’ve missed that train, I suppose,” Mr. Tyler went on. + +At this Roy wanted to laugh. It sounded so ridiculous. And yet it was +quite characteristic of this singular old man. But young Pell mopped +his face vigorously with his handkerchief to hide his mirth and then +said, rising to his feet: + +“Do you feel all right, Mr. Tyler?” + +“Oh, I guess so,” was the reply, and the old man started to get up too. + +But he immediately fell back again and a frightened look came into his +face. + + + + +CHAPTER II +IN THE MISER’S HOME + + +“Have you hurt yourself, Mr. Tyler?” asked Roy anxiously. “You didn’t +break a limb when you fell, did you?” + +“No, no, it is here,” and the old man put his hand up to his head. + +“The sun was too hot for you,” went on Roy. “You haven’t got over it +yet.” + +“I am afraid I shall never get over it, Roy Pell.” The miser looked at +him in a steady way that would have frightened some boys. “And I don’t +want to die yet, not till I have made my will. I must have a lawyer. +Where is Sydney Pell, that brother of yours.” + +“He isn’t my brother. He’s a boy that father adopted when he was very +young, but he’s better than a good many brothers. And he’s a good +lawyer, too. Would you like to see him. He’ll be back on the +five-thirty train.” + +“Yes, I should like to see him if it won’t be too late. What time is it +now? You haven’t got a watch, have you? Look at mine and tell me.” + +“Quarter past five, and now you ought to be taken home right away, and +have a doctor.” + +“You think I am very bad then?” Again the frightened look came into the +old man’s face. + +“No, of course not. Lots of people have to call the doctor when they’re +not going to die.” + +“Don’t speak of dying. I’m afraid to die. See, I don’t mind telling you +so. And I ought to be. I haven’t done very much good in the world. +There isn’t anybody I can think of will be sorry to have me go. That +isn’t the way to live, Roy Pell. You ought to be happy, so happy, +because you are young, and have your life before you to make it the way +it should be made.” + +“You have life before you, too, Mr. Tyler. You are not so very old. +You’re not much more than seventy.” + +“I’m seventy-two. But come, let me see if I can get up with your help. +I want you to take me home, so you can go for Sydney. He’s a good boy, +you say, one I can trust?” The old man looked in Roy’s face closely as +the latter bent over him. + +“Sydney is the best fellow that ever lived,” replied Roy soberly. “He’s +been a staff to my mother ever since father died, and has almost taken +his place to us children.” + +“Yes, yes. I’ve heard that what your father did for him years ago was +like bread cast upon the waters that’s coming back after many days. Let +me see, how old are you?” + +“Fifteen. I tell you what, Mr. Tyler. The girls are down under the +bridge. Wait a minute till I call down to them to send Syd over as soon +as he comes. Then I’ll go home with you and needn’t leave you.” + +“All right. You’re very good to me, Roy Pell.” The miser sank back on +the grass, while Roy hurried to the edge of the bluff and making a +trumpet of his hands, called down: + +“Eva! Jess!” + +“Yes, are you all right, Roy?” came back the answer in Eva’s tones. + +“All O. K., but Mr. Tyler’s a little done up. I’m going home with him. +And he wants you to send Syd over as soon as he gets back. It’s some +business matter, quite important, and we may both be late for tea. +Don’t wait. Do you understand?” + +“Yes, all right. We’ll go to meet Syd now. Shall we send the doctor, +too?” + +Roy thought a minute. + +“Yes. I think you’d better,” he called down. + +“I told them to send the doctor to your house,” he reported to Mr. +Tyler. He half expected the latter to raise a protest, but he didn’t. + +“All right,” he said feebly. “He’ll do for one of the witnesses. Now.” + +Roy bent down so that the old man might lean on his shoulder. He put +one arm about his back to steady him, and thus supported he was able to +move slowly along the cinder path beside the track. + +“What did you attempt to walk across the trestle for, Mr. Tyler?” asked +Roy. + +“I made up my mind suddenly to go to town,” was the answer. “There +wasn’t time to go around by the turnpike. I thought I could get across +before the train came. I’ve seen boys go over it.” + +“But you’re not a boy,” rejoined Roy, with a smile. + +“No. I’m not a boy,” and Roy could feel a shudder pass through the arm +that was resting on his shoulder. + +Mr. Tyler lived in a house not far from the Burdock station. An old +woman did the cooking for him and went home at night. For the rest he +dwelt almost like a hermit, and so far as any one knew he had not a +relative in the world. But the report had gone out as it always does in +such cases, that he was very rich, and now his desire to see a lawyer +and make a will convinced Roy that for once rumor must be right. + +“I wonder how much he’s got and to whom he’ll leave it?” he asked +himself, but now they were within sight of the little house and the old +man leaned so heavily upon him, that all his attention was centered on +getting him safely to the end of their journey. + +By the time this was accomplished Mr. Tyler was so completely exhausted +that he dropped down on the first chair they reached. + +“After you are rested a bit,” said Roy, “I’ll help you to get to bed.” + +“No, no,” protested the old man; “so many people die in their beds. Go +and tell Ann to get a little more for dinner to-night. You and Sydney +must stay and eat it with me. It will take quite a time to have my will +drawn up. You’ll find her in the kitchen.” + +The woman was not much surprised when Roy told her of the condition in +which her master had come home. + +“It’s what I’ve been expecting every day,” she said. “He doesn’t eat +enough to keep a bird alive. I’m amazed to think he should ask you to +stop to dinner. It’s little enough you’ll get, Master Roy, but I’ll do +my best.” + +The house was a bare looking place, furnished only with the merest +necessities. No pictures were on the walls, no books on the tables; Roy +wondered what the old man did to pass the time here by himself. There +was not even a sofa for him to lie upon. He asked about this when he +returned to the front room. + +“Then you’d better come in and lie on the outside of your bed if you +won’t get in it,” he suggested. + +To this the older man acceded and allowed Roy to assist him to the +adjoining apartment where he slept. + +“No,” he murmured, “I haven’t wasted much on myself, you see. That will +leave still more for those who come after me. What would you do with +$500,000 if you had it, Roy Pell?” + +The question came so suddenly and in such contrasted tones to the +mumble in which the miser had heretofore been speaking that for the +moment Roy was too startled to make reply. + +“No, I’m not raving, Roy Pell,” went on the old man. “There’s a +possibility—” he checked himself quickly—“what would you do with all +that money if you had it?” + +“I’d give it to my mother,” answered Roy. + +“Good boy, of course. I didn’t think of that. You’re a minor, and +you’re not selfish. You’d rather she would have it, eh, than that it +should be held by her in trust for you? But if you got it, you’d +promise to see that it was spent, and not hoarded as I have hoarded +mine? You’d promise that wouldn’t you?” + +Roy by this time began to think that the partial sunstroke had +completely unhinged Mr. Tyler’s brain, already a little out of plumb. + +“Oh, yes,” he laughed. “There’s no danger of our hoarding money. There +are too many things to spend it on for that.” + +“Then you’re squeezed a little down at your place, eh?” + +“Oh, we can get along,” returned Roy hastily; “but we can’t do much +branching out. My mother has only the income from father’s insurance, +and then there’s the place which we own, with the taxes to pay.” + +The old man now relapsed into silence. He seemed to be thinking, +deeply. Suddenly he started up and exclaimed: + +“It must be nearly time for Sydney to be here. Won’t you go outside and +watch for him?” + +Roy was very glad to leave the miser. He realized that perhaps it was +wrong for him to feel that way, but then, believing him to be a little +unbalanced, it was but natural that he should be sensible of some +constraint in his presence. + +“I wonder if he has got $500,000 put away somewhere?” he asked himself +when he reached the little portico. “He talked exactly as if he was +going to give it to me. I suppose for what I did for him on the bridge. +That would be just like a story episode, so much like one that there’s +no chance of its coming true. But what would Rex say if it did? Ah, +here comes Syd.” + +Roy left the porch and hurried out to the gate to meet the fellow who +had been nearer and dearer to him than a brother as far back as he +could remember. + +“Poor old chap,” he said as they met and he turned around, slipping his +arm within that of the tall young lawyer, “it was a shame to make you +walk all that distance in the hot sun when you must be tired out from +your day in town. But there’s a job at the end of the walk.” + +“And a cheerful brother, too,” added the other. “Poor Rex! I saw him +over at the station. He takes it terribly to heart that he cannot go +off with the Bowmans. I wish I were rich, if only for you boys’ sakes. +But what’s this heroic deed I hear of your doing for old Mr. Tyler? +Positively, Roy, I’m proud of you.” + +“Oh, the train didn’t come along for a good five minutes after I’d got +him off the trestle. You see that takes a good deal of the ‘heroic +rescue’ business out of the thing. But come on inside. He’s been quite +anxious to see you. I’ve made him lie down, for I think he’s in a very +bad way.” + + + + +CHAPTER III +MR. TYLER’S WILL + + +“Is that you, Sydney Pell?” called out Mr. Tyler as soon as he heard +footsteps in the hallway. + +“Yes, Mr. Tyler, What can I do for you?” and Sydney followed Roy into +the bedroom. + +“You can make my will,” replied the old man promptly. “That doesn’t +mean that I am going to die right away,” he added hastily, “but I’ve +had a warning. Why, I may have time to make two or three wills before I +give up the ship.” + +He laughed hoarsely and started to get up. But he was weaker than he +supposed, and fell back on the bed with a little gasp just as he had +done out by the trestle. + +“Don’t exert yourself too much, Mr. Tyler,” said Sydney. “I can fix the +thing up for you while you are lying right here. I think I saw a bottle +of ink and some paper in the other room. Roy can help me bring in that +table that stands there, and then I can take down whatever you wish and +you can sign it. But you will want witnesses.” + +“There’s Ann, she can be one,” responded the old man. + +“And I told the girls to send a doctor up here. He can be another,” put +in Roy. Then he added, when all was arranged: “I suppose I had better +go out.” + +“Yes, you can go out and watch for the doctor,” said Sydney. “Now +then,” he went on, turning to Mr. Tyler when they were alone, and after +he had written out the regulation formal preamble, “I am ready.” + +The miser said nothing in reply for a minute or two. He kept +interlocking his wasted fingers with one another, glancing now and then +out of the window, where he could see Roy pacing back and forth in +front of the cottage. Finally he murmured so low that Sydney was +obliged to bend forward to catch the words: + +“Would you be surprised to hear that I had a vast amount of money in +the deposit companies in Philadelphia?” + +“No, Mr. Tyler,” replied Sydney. “It has always been supposed that you +were a man of wealth.” + +“I am, I am,” muttered the miser. “I have something like half a +million. And yet what good has it done me? I have hoarded it just for +the sake of hoarding. It began to come to me when I was quite young. I +was surprised. Some property was wanted by the city. They paid me well +for it. I invested what I got and doubled it, I kept on making money +till I loved it for itself alone and could not bear to part with it +even on the chance of making more. So I left it all to draw interest +except what little it takes to support me in the poor way in which I +live.” + +He paused and Sydney adjudged it proper to inquire. + +“Then you have no relatives, no one dependent on you?” + +“I have outlived them all,” was the reply. “There was a boy, though, +who was once in my employ and whom I came to think a good deal of. But +he grew up and went into stocks and tried to bear the market against +me. I never forgave Maurice Darley for that. And yet I loved him once. +I brought him up, out of the gutter, as it were, and there was a time +when he loved me. There is another brother in your family whom I see +sometimes and who reminds me of him.” + +“Reginald—Rex, as we call him—you mean?” + +“Yes, but perhaps he would not have done for me what Roy did this +afternoon. You have heard of it. He risked his life for mine. He will +make a good man. I am sure of it. And he is unselfish. To make him +happy you must make others happy around him. Yes, I will do it. Quick, +write down that I leave all my fortune unreservedly, to—what is his +full name?” + +“Whose full name?” Sydney had dropped his pen and sat staring at Mr. +Tyler as if in a daze. + +“Why your brother—Roy Pell’s.” + +“Royal Fillmore Pell,” Sydney repeated the name mechanically, still too +amazed at the inference he must draw from the question to be really +conscious of what he was saying. + +“Thank you. A fine name it is, and fitted to a splendid boy. Then +write—but no. I had determined not to leave it to him. What is his +mother’s name? She must have it all outright. Then it can be used at +once in the way to please Roy best. Now Mrs. Pell’s full name?” + +“Jessica Fillmore Pell. I suppose, as a lawyer, I ought not to express +any surprise at what you are doing, but you can see how close home it +comes to me, Mr. Tyler. You know the relation in which I stand to this +family, with whom I am connected by no ties of blood, but who have been +so good to me.” + +“And you have deserved it, young man. I am not leaving money to a +family of whom I know nothing. Have you got that: all my fortune +unreservedly to Jessica Fillmore Pell?” + +“Yes, Mr. Tyler.” + +“Roy knows something of this, and if people think it strange or hint +that I am out of my head to leave my money in this way, you can tell +them what he did for me this afternoon. That ought to satisfy them. Now +I want to tell you where my money is invested so that you can get at it +easily, for I want you, Sydney, to be one of my executors, and I will +take Dr. Martin for the other. Here he comes now. We will continue this +business presently.” + +Roy came in with the doctor; a cheery man, whom everybody in the +neighborhood liked. + +“Doctor,” began Mr. Tyler, before the physician could say anything, “I +want you to witness my will. Roy, run out to the kitchen and get Ann to +come in here.” + +“Ann,” said Roy, appearing in the rear regions, “Mr. Tyler wants you to +come out and witness his will.” + +“Is the poor man dying then?” exclaimed the woman, looking frightened. + +“Oh, no, he only—” + +“Never mind bothering Ann about that now,” said the doctor presenting +himself at this moment Roy returned to the bedroom with the physician, +where he found that Mr. Tyler had decided he would have Sydney for a +witness in place of Ann. + +“I’d rather have a man,” he explained. “I forgot that he could do it +just as well as not.” + +Then the instrument was duly signed and witnessed. + +“I am perfectly sane, you can declare, can’t you, Dr. Martin?” asked +the miser when the thing was done. “I don’t want any mistake to be made +about it.” + +“You need have no fear on that score,” + +“Dinner’s ready, Mr. Tyler,” announced Ann, making her appearance at +this point. + +“All right, you boys go out and eat it,” said the old man. “The doctor +wants to see me I suppose. Ann can bring me a little broth in here +afterwards. And about signing that, Sydney, I want to add a clause +leaving something to Ann. I forgot about her.” + +Silently the two Pells went out into the dining room, and in almost +silence they ate the broth which the housekeeper placed before them. +Then when she had gone out Sydney said: + +“You know how much Mr. Tyler is worth, Roy, do you?” + +“He told me something like $500,000. I didn’t know whether to believe +it or not That’s a great sum of money, Sydney. I feel awfully queer +about the whole thing. Does it seem all right to you that he should +leave it all to mother just because of the little thing I did for him +this afternoon? I don’t want to seem to feel that she oughtn’t to have +it. But the whole thing seems so odd.” + +“Not nearly so queer as a great many wills that are made every day,” +rejoined Sydney. “But don’t worry over it, Roy,” he added with a laugh. +“You look as if you had been convicted of some crime. Remember you +haven’t got the money yet, and may not have it for a great many years +to come.” + +“It isn’t my money, Syd. It’s to be left to mother.” + +“Well, if it hadn’t been for you she wouldn’t have it. But by the way, +you had better get home as soon as you can. I think mother is inclined +to worry about you from what Jess said. I can stay with the old man as +long as it is necessary.” + +“And I shan’t say anything about that will, Syd. I’d rather you +wouldn’t either, just yet.” + +“No, it is best to keep it as quiet as we can. It seems strange that +the old man should have talked so freely about it as he did.” + +The meal was soon finished, and the two starting to enter the bedroom, +met the doctor in the doorway. + +“He’s in a bad way,” he whispered to Sydney. “I shall come back again +this evening. Come, Roy, are you going down? I’ll take you along with +me in the carriage.” + +“Yes, you’d better go, Roy,” urged Sydney. “You look worn out. Tell +mother I’ll stay here as long as I’m wanted.” + +“Good-by, Mr. Tyler,” said Roy, stepping into the bedroom and extending +his hand to the old man. + +“Good-by, Roy Pell. You have made me think better of my kind to-day. In +fact I think you have made a changed man of me. Would you—would you +mind coming up to see me to-morrow?” + +“No, of course I wouldn’t mind. I’ll come. I hope you’ll be better in +the morning. Good-night,” and Roy went off with the doctor. + +“Well, Roy,” said the latter, as they drove away, “you are to be +congratulated. You have brought your family into a nice little +inheritance if all our miserly old friend says is true.” + +“Perhaps it isn’t,” returned Roy, “so please don’t congratulate me or +say anything about it just yet.” + +Roy was so tired when he got home that he did not give very spirited +answers to the questions his family showered upon him. He went to bed +very shortly and was asleep before Rex came to take his place beside +him. + +All in the household were locked in slumber when Sydney let himself in +with his key about eleven. He did not retire. He went into the library, +got out some law books, and sitting down at the table, appeared as if +about to do some work. But he did not pick up the pen. He sat there, +his head sunk on his chest, with a look of misery on his face that was +pitiable to see. + + + + +CHAPTER IV +THE TWIN BROTHERS + + +The Pells breakfasted early so that Sydney might catch the 7:30 express +for the city. On the morning following the events narrated in the +preceding chapter the entire family were gathered at the table with the +exception of Rex, who was invariably late, and Sydney himself. + +“It’s very strange,” remarked Mrs. Pell “He is always on time. He can +barely catch his train now. I wish you, Roy, would run up to his room +and see what is the matter. He may be ill.” + +Roy soon ascended the two flights of stairs to the apartment with the +dormer window that had always been Syd’s. The door was open and the +room was empty. The bed had been slept in, but the suit Syd had worn +the day before was not about. He had evidently dressed and gone. + +“I wonder if he can be up at Mr. Tyler’s?” thought Roy. + +He returned to the dining room with his report. + +“It is very odd,” remarked Mrs. Pell. “It is not like Sydney to go off +in that way, but he will explain when he comes home to-night. He may +have been obliged to go to town at seven on business for Mr. Tyler.” + +“That’s so; what did the old gentleman want with Syd,” asked Jessie, +turning to Roy. “You were so sleepy when you came home last night that +you didn’t half satisfy our curiosity.” + +“He wanted him to make his will,” answered Roy. + +“And did he?” went on Jess. + +“Yes. I say, mother, hadn’t I better go and stir up Rex? I’m afraid +he’s gone off to sleep again.” + +“There, he’s coming now. I hear his step on the stairs, so you just sit +still and answer my questions. I’m not half through yet,” and Jess +checked off on her fingers the two queries to which she had already had +responses. “Now then, is he as rich as we all thought him?” + +“Richer. Good afternoon to you, Rex. Better late than never. I’m going +to keep you company, by taking a second cup of coffee. Mother, may I, +please?” + +“Royal Pell, what is the matter with you?” exclaimed Jess. “You haven’t +been like the same fellow since you climbed up to that trestle +yesterday afternoon. You seem to be trying to keep something back. +Don’t you notice it, mother?” + +“I have,” put in Rex, before Mrs. Pell could speak. “I couldn’t get a +word out of him before he went to sleep last night. One would think +he’d had a trouble like mine to bear,” and Rex sighed with the air of a +martyr. + +Roy glanced over at him quickly. What would this luxury loving brother +of his say if he only knew! But Roy did not dare tell yet. Mr. Tyler +might live for years, and have ample opportunity to change his mind +about his will. Yes, it was better to keep the matter to himself as +long as he could. + +“What’s queer about me?” he said now. + +“Why, you’re giving such short answers to our questions about the old +miser,” returned Jess promptly. “As a rule you’d tell us all we wanted +to know without our having to draw it out as if we were pulling teeth.” + +“Well, what is it you want to know?” + +“Oh, all about your experience over at Mr. Tyler’s. The people up in +the town will hear about your being there and will expect us to know +all the details. It is quite an event for a queer old character like +the Burdock miser to make a will.” + +“But people when they make their wills don’t usually tell everybody in +the house what they put into them. It’s a sort of confidential matter, +don’t you understand?” + +“I’ll wager you know all about it, Roy,” broke in Rex suddenly, +dropping the biscuit he was buttering and staring at his brother +fixedly for a moment “I shouldn’t be surprised if the old fellow had +made you his heir for what you did for him.” + +“Well, if he did,” answered Roy with a smile, “it wouldn’t enable you +to take that trip to Canada, as he isn’t dead yet and may live to be +ninety.” + +“He’s just the kind that do hang on,” remarked Jess. “People that +nobody seems to care about generally do.” + +“That reminds me, mother,” added Rex, “if I don’t go on this trip +there’ll be a lot of money saved. Can’t I have some of it spent for a +new tennis suit? I need one badly.” + +Mrs. Pell smiled, a little sadly though. + +“My dear boy,” she rejoined, “there is your patent method of +manufacturing money again. You conceive a desire for something very +expensive, then when you give that up and select something much +cheaper, you imagine that you have saved more than enough to pay for +it.” + +“It’s a thundering grind to be decently poor any way.” Rex pushed back +his chair suddenly, his brow clouded with a frown as it had been the +afternoon before down on the log. + +“‘Decently poor!’ What do you mean by that, Rex?” asked Eva. + +“Oh, to have the taste and wish for nice things and the privilege of +going with nice people who own them, and yet not be able to have them +yourself. I sometimes wish I was like black Pete. He doesn’t know any +better than to be contented if he makes a dollar or two a week.” + +“Oh, Reggie, Reggie!” murmured Mrs. Pell sadly. + +This one of her boys caused her more anxiety than all the other +children combined. He was so proud, so aspiring, and yet he had not +half the ability of Roy, who was rather overshadowed by the other’s +dashing, winning manner. For Rex could be charming when he so minded. + +He went out on the side piazza now and began to shy strawberries at two +of the puppies. The berries had just been picked and left by the cook +on the window sill for the girls to hull. + +“Rex,” exclaimed Roy severely, coming out upon him suddenly. “Aren’t +you ashamed to use those berries in that way?” + +Roy hated waste above all things. + +Rex checked the toss he was about to make, and transferred the berry to +his mouth instead. + +“Has your majesty any objections to that disposition of the fruit?” he +asked with an assumption of the courtliness that became him so well. + +“Well, it’s a legitimate disposition at any rate,” returned Roy. Then +he went out to the barn to feed the chickens and look after the cow, +for the Pells kept no hired man. The boys attended to the kitchen +garden—at least Roy did most of it, and there had been no horses kept +by the family since shortly after Mr. Pell’s death. + +This was another of Rex’s trials. + +“Think of living in the country without a horse!” he would exclaim. +“And then to have the stable on the place into the bargain! It’s enough +to make the horse we haven’t got laugh.” + +To be sure he had plenty of rides. The Bowmans who came down to Marley +for the summer, were very fond of him, and nearly every day during the +summer Scott took him out in his cart. + +But Rex sighed to return this hospitality. All of his friends were glad +to come down to the Pellery, as Rex called it, for Mrs. Pell was a +great favorite and the young people were lively and bright. Rex +fretted, however, because he had no “attractions” to offer them. + +He was feeling particularly gloomy this morning. Having exhausted +himself in regretting the good time he would lose in not being able to +go with the Bowmans, he had taken to lamenting his condition here in +Marley during vacation with Scott away. He was not so fond of reading +as was Roy, and without plenty of congenial society, he was apt to find +that time hung heavy on his hands. + +Scott had gone to Philadelphia this morning to make some purchases for +his journey. He would not be back till afternoon. Rex had not yet +planned what to do with himself in the meantime. + +“Where are you going?” he called out presently, when he saw Roy walking +down toward the gate. + +“Over to Mr. Tyler’s to see how he is. Want to come?” + +“I believe I do,” answered Rex slowly. “Hold on a minute till I get my +cap.” + +Roy was rather surprised that his brother should wish to go. He +wondered just how Mr. Tyler would like his bringing him. Then he +remembered what the miser had said about Rex reminding him somewhat of +Maurice Darley and thought perhaps he might be glad to see him on this +account. + +It was cooler than it had been the previous day. The country about +Marley and Burdock was beautiful, extremely rolling and rich in +vegetation, so the walk was a pleasant one. + +“Say, did Mr. Tyler really have Syd make his will last night?” asked +Rex as they were crossing the covered bridge over the creek. + +“Yes,” answered Roy. + +“Did he have much to leave?” went on Rex, stooping down as they emerged +on the road again, to pluck a tall blade of grass which he began to +munch between his white teeth. + +“About half a million.” Roy thought he might as well tell this. He knew +that if he tried to evade the question his brother would be apt to +think he was keeping something back. + +“What?” Rex stopped stock still in the road to utter the exclamation. +“That old bag of bones worth half a million dollars! Nonsense.” + +“I think it’s more likely he should be worth that amount,” returned +Roy, “than the Bowmans, for instance, who seem to spend their income +right up to the handle. You know everybody has always thought Mr. Tyler +had money.” + +“I know they have, but such a sum as that!” + +Rex walked on again, knitting his brows in thought. There was silence +between the boys while they ascended the hill on the opposite side of +the creek. Then as they reached the top, Rex was about to ask another +question when Roy clutched his arm suddenly. + +“Look there,” he cried. “Isn’t that undertaker Green’s wagon in front +of the house? Mr. Tyler must be dead!” + + + + +CHAPTER V +BREAKING THE NEWS + + +“Great Cæsar, Roy! What’s come over you?” + +Rex was staring in amazement at his brother, who had turned quite white +at the sight of the undertaker’s wagon standing in front of the miser’s +home. He had halted and gone off to one side of the road to lean +against a tree, where he stood now, mopping his face with his +handkerchief. + +“I hadn’t any idea he would die so soon,” he said. “It seems like an +awful shock, although I do remember that Dr. Martin said he was in a +pretty bad way. And he asked me to come and see him to-day; I mean Mr. +Tyler did. I wonder when he died.” + +“What luck for his heirs,” remarked Rex. + +“Don’t!” cried Roy, starting forward as if to place his hand over his +brother’s mouth. “You don’t know what you’re saying.” + +“Well, I suppose it was a little rough when the old man’s scarcely cold +perhaps. I say, aren’t you going on? We can find out just when he died, +you know.” + +Mechanically Roy followed his brother, his eyes still fixed on that +black wagon. He could not realize it yet. Mr. Tyler dead so soon after +making that will which left Mrs. Pell all his money. No more poverty +for them. The stable need no longer be empty and— + +Roy checked these thoughts with a half suppressed exclamation of +disgust. It seemed sacrilegious to be speculating in this fashion on +the gain from the death of the old man who had been so fond of life, +for all he had made such poor use of it. + +They were now close enough to the cottage to see that the doctor’s +carriage stood there just behind the ominous vehicle belonging to Mr. +Green. The doctor himself was coming out of the house. + +Seeing the boys he halted till they came up with him. + +“Oh, doctor, when did it happen?” asked Roy. + +“Last night about ten,” was the answer. “Didn’t Sydney tell you?” + +“No, I haven’t seen Syd since I left him here yesterday. Is he here +now?” + +“No. He is very busy in town seeing about the arrangements there. You +know he is one of the executors. Things take queer turns in this world +of ours, don’t they? You little thought at this time yesterday morning +that before twenty-four hours had passed you would be the means of +bringing a great fortune into the family. But good-by. I must hurry off +to do what I can for the living now.” + +“There is nothing that I can do for him, is there?” Roy stepped apart +from his brother and closer to the doctor to ask the question. + +“No, my boy,” was the answer. “Nothing now. You have obeyed his last +request of you. It is not your fault that you are too late.” + +The physician drove off, leaving the two boys standing in the road in +front of the silent cottage, for the undertaker was carrying on his +work noiselessly. + +“Roy,” said Rex suddenly, placing a hand on each of his brother’s +shoulders, and looking him squarely in the face, “what did Dr. Martin +mean by what he said just now about your being the means of bringing a +fortune into the family?” + +“Don’t—don’t ask anything about it just here. Come, let’s hurry off +toward home. I’ll tell you on the way.” + +Roy slipped his arm through his brother’s and led him off down the +hill. + +“Now then,” said Rex impatiently when they had reached the Marley +turnpike again, “you must tell me. Did Mr. Tyler leave you any money +for what you did for him yesterday?” + +“No,” replied Roy, in a kind of burst, “but he left his whole fortune +to mother.” + +Rex did not stop and throw up his hands as Roy had half expected he +would do. He came closer to his brother and suddenly passed one arm +about his neck as they walked on together and drew him close to him. + +“Oh, Roy,” he said, “we owe all this to you.” + +Then he walked off to the side of the road and dropped down on the +grass. Roy came over to take his place beside him. + +“I didn’t want to say anything about it before,” he explained. “It +might have been years before we came into the money. And now it may not +be nearly so much as I said. We only have old Mr. Tyler’s word for it, +but both Syd and Dr. Martin seemed to think he was telling the truth.” + +“Does mother know?” asked Rex in a low voice. He seemed to be quite +changed since he had heard the wonderful news. His manner had become +quiet, subdued, more like Roy’s. + +“No, nobody knows but you, and Syd and Dr. Martin.” + +“But you will tell mother as soon as you get back?” + +“Yes, I suppose I had better.” + +“I can’t realize it yet, Roy. Half a million! That’s five hundred +thousand dollars. And now we live on an income of about two thousand!” + +Rex brought his eyes down from the sky where he had been allowing them +to soar, and fixed them on his last summer’s tan shoes. They were whole +yet, but had lost their freshness. He could have new ones now, he +reflected, without waiting for these old ones to wear out. + +“How did he come to do it, Roy?” he went on, “Hasn’t he any relatives, +or anybody of his own?” + +“I don’t know. Syd can tell you more about it than I can. Come, we had +better be getting home.” + +The boys rose and resumed their walk. Presently Rex remarked: + +“When shall we get hold of the money, do you suppose, Roy?” + +“I don’t know. Don’t talk about it in that way. It seems awful.” + +“Why, Roy, one would think you wished we hadn’t got it. What makes you +act so queer about the thing?” + +“Because the thing itself seems queer, I suppose.” + +“You are not sorry about it, are you? You almost act so.” + +“Oh, no, I’m not sorry, but I can’t seem to realize it yet.” + +“Well, I can, now I’ve had a little chance to get used to it. I can +realize that it means a new tennis suit for me, unlimited pairs of +shoes, horses and carriages and perhaps my trip to Canada with the +Bowmans.” + +“Rex, don’t go on in that strain with the man still unburied. If you +only knew how it sounds.” + +Reginald looked a little abashed, and as they reached a fork in the +road just then, announced that he was going up in the town to see his +friend Charlie Minturn. + +“Don’t tell him about this,” Roy begged. + +“What do you take me for?” returned Rex in his most dignified manner. +He strode on up the hill, his head thrown back, his chin the least bit +elevated in the air. + +“I’m afraid for Reggie,” murmured Roy as he kept on toward the Pellery. +“Poverty didn’t suit him at all, but it seems to me riches are going to +suit him too well.” + +The girls were hulling the strawberries on the side porch when he +reached the house. + +“Where’s mother?” he asked as he came up and sat down at their feet. + +“Gone to market,” replied Eva. + +“Where have you and Rex been?” inquired Jess. “I saw you crossing the +bridge together. I thought the Crawfords were away. There’s nobody else +you’d be likely to go and see over in Burdock.” + +“There’s Mr. Tyler,” replied Roy. “He asked me to go up and see him +to-day, but I was too late. He’s dead.” + +“Dead! Oh, Roy!” + +Both girls uttered the exclamation. Death almost always horrifies. They +had Roy tell them in detail all about the talk he had had with the +miser the previous afternoon. But he said nothing about the will. He +thought his mother ought to know first. + +“There come mother and Rex now!” exclaimed Jess presently. + +“I suppose he’s told her,” thought Roy. + +This was the case. There was a flush in Mrs. Pell’s cheeks as she came +up, and Rex exclaimed as soon as he was within speaking distance: +“Mother knows. Have you told the girls yet, Roy?” + +A look of annoyance crossed Mrs. Pell’s face, but before either she or +Roy could say anything, Jess sprang to her feet, nearly upsetting the +bowl of strawberries in the act. + +“Told you what? There’s been an air of mystery about you ever since you +left the creek yesterday afternoon.” + +“Of course there has,” exclaimed Rex exuberantly. “And it’s something +worth being mysterious about, eh, brub? What should you say, sisters +mine, if I should tell you that the magic wand of fortune has been +waved over the Pellery, which will transform yonder sober fowls into +gallant steeds, these homely pups into expensive hounds of the hunt, +and—” + +“Reginald.” + +Rex always knew he had gone too far when his mother spoke like that. He +ceased abruptly and dashed into the house, as if to cut himself off +from temptation to transgress further. The next moment they heard him +whistling a comic opera air up in his room. + +“Mother, you tell me what all this means, won’t you?” This from Jess in +almost a desperate tone. + +“Yes, you may as well all know now,” said Mrs. Pell, sinking into a +chair. “I find that half of the town seems to be aware of it already.” + +“It! It! Quick, mother. It isn’t something awful, is it?” + +“No, not awful for us my dears. It is just this. Your brother Roy +touched old Mr. Tyler’s heart by what he did for him yesterday, and in +the will he made last night he left all his fortune, about half a +million, to me.” + +Both girls sat there as if stricken dumb, staring at their mother as +she told them the wonderful news. + + + + +CHAPTER VI +REX GOES TO TOWN + + +“I’m very sorry, indeed, this came out now. It seems unfeeling to talk +about it while that poor old man’s body is above ground, and then the +amount of the fortune he possessed may be grossly exaggerated.” + +This was Mrs. Pell’s summary of the matter, delivered several times +during that afternoon. The girls took the thing very quietly. + +“I am so glad on Syd’s account,” Eva said though more than once. “He +has always worked so hard for us.” + +Jess seemed dazed by the possibility of the new order of things, while +Roy was disinclined to talk about it at all. Rex, however, made up for +the apparent apathy of the others. + +At lunch he wanted to know when they were going to move. + +“Of course we don’t want to go on staying in a bandbox of a place like +this, when mother is a millionaire,” he said. + +“Only half a one,” Jess corrected him with a smile. + +“Well, no matter about that. I’ve been figuring up on the income that +we could get without touching the principal, and I make it $25,000 a +year.” + +“Oh, Reggie, Reggie, I am afraid you are incorrigible,” groaned his +mother. + +“Why, I don’t see anything out of the way in doing a little calculating +here in the privacy of our home. I don’t go up and proclaim it from the +housetops.” + +“But you may be reckoning without your host, my dear brub,” interposed +Jess. “What if Mr. Tyler had only a thousand in bank instead of five +hundred thousand?” + +“Yes; we can’t know anything certain till Syd comes home to-night,” +added Roy. + +“I can’t wait for that,” muttered Rex, under his breath. + +He subsided for the rest of his meal, however, but as soon as he had +finished went up to his room and proceeded to go through all the +pockets of his different suits. + +“Short by a quarter,” he murmured as he finally sat down on the edge of +the bed and jingled the small change he had collected, “I’ll have to go +to mother after all.” + +He glanced up at a time-table stuck in the mirror, hurriedly changed +his knockabout suit for his best one, and then rushed down to the +dining room where Mrs. Pell was helping Eva shell peas for dinner. + +He went straight up to her and put his arm affectionately about her +neck. + +“Moms,” he said in his winning way, “I want to run up to the city for +this afternoon. I’m a quarter short to buy my ticket. Won’t you please +let me have it? I can pay you back out of my allowance.” + +“What do you want to go to the city for, Rex?” + +“Oh, I can’t stay here in uncertainty. I want to see Syd to know for +sure about things. Besides, it will keep me from shocking you here if I +go.” + +“But Sydney is sure to be very busy. You will bother him by going to +the office.” + +“No, I won’t. He never lets me bother him. Besides, I only want to see +him for a minute. You know I haven’t been in town since school closed. +The train goes in twenty minutes, and I’ll come back with Syd. Please, +moms.” + +“All right, Rex, you may go, but remember I trust you not to annoy +Sydney. You will find my purse in my top bureau drawer, left hand +corner.” + +“You are the best mother a boy ever had.” With a hasty kiss Rex was +off, secured his quarter, and then with a wave of his hand toward the +family, struck out across the pasture for the path that led up over the +hill in a short cut to the station. + +There was nobody so easy to get along with as Rex—as long as you +allowed him to have his own way. + +“That is a crazy notion of his, wanting to go in to town just because +he can’t wait till Syd comes out,” remarked Roy when he heard of it. At +the same time he felt a sensation of relief to think that his impulsive +brother was out of Marley and away from the temptation to disquiet the +family by telling his fellow townsmen what he meant to do with their +money when they came into it. + +Rex meanwhile was enjoying himself hugely. He saw nobody he knew at +this unusual hour of going to town, but he lay back in his seat while +the breeze, created by the swift motion of the cars, rushed +refreshingly past him, and built air castles of the most luxurious +description. + +“It must be so,” he told himself, whenever the doubts suggested by Jess +arose in his mind to trouble him. “Dr. Martin congratulated Roy. +Everybody has known that Mr. Tyler had lots of money somewhere.” + +When the train reached Philadelphia, Rex hurried off to the law office +where Syd had his desk. It was some distance from the station, but +having spent all his money for his excursion ticket, he had none left +for car fare. + +“This will be the last time I’ll be so short,” he mused, a smile which +he could not repress playing about the corners of his mouth. + +Buoyed up by this reflection he did not so much mind the distance, nor +the heat, which he found much more oppressive here in the city than it +was in Marley. He reached Syd’s place at last only to find that his +brother was out and that the boy was not just sure when he would be +back. + +“But he’ll be here before he goes to the train, won’t he?” asked Rex. + +“Oh yes, sure,” was the reply. “His satchel is here with the books he +always takes.” + +“I’ll come back again then.” Rex went out, thinking that now there was +no danger of his ever having to step into the shoes of this office boy. +Syd had remarked once or twice that he thought he could get him a +position in a law office when he was through school. + +Rex wandered along the street aimlessly for a while. If it hadn’t been +midsummer he might have gone over to Spruce and Walnut and called on +some of his friends, but they were either at their summer homes in +Marley or off traveling. + +He was therefore reduced to walking to kill time, choosing the shady +side and watching for any incident of city life that might divert his +mind. He came to a bicycle emporium presently and stood for some time +in front of it, trying to decide which wheel he should select when he +came to purchase as he hoped to do very shortly now. + +“That’s the dandy kind,” remarked a voice over his shoulder. “The +Wizard motor. You can ride over all sorts of roads with it.” + +Rex turned and saw a fellow about a year older than himself. He had a +red face and wore an outing shirt that was not as fresh as it might +have been. + +Rex, who was rather fastidious as to his friends, simply said “Yes,” +and moved on. + +The fellow noticed the look which accompanied the word. + +“The dude!” he muttered. “Thinks he’s too good to talk with the likes +o’ me. I’ll get even with him.” + +He waited an instant and then followed Rex at a distance. Presently +something that he espied ahead caused him to scan the sidewalk and the +street next it closely. + +Then he stepped out into the roadway and picked up a piece of coal that +had dropped from a passing cart. He quickened his steps and nearly +caught up with Rex just as the latter was passing a Chinese laundry. + +“Run for your life! Runaway team behind you!” he exclaimed suddenly, +darting forward and calling out the words almost in Rex’s ear. At the +same instant he flung the piece of coal he had picked up straight into +the window of the Chinese laundry. + +There was a crash of glass and Rex, connecting the sound with the +warning he had received, immediately took to his heels. + +“There he goes!” called out the red faced youth to the Chinaman who +promptly appeared in the door of his shop. + +The Celestial’s almond eyes caught sight of Rex’s fleeing figure. It +was enough. He dropped his iron and rushed after Rex, the +conscienceless hoodlum joining in the chase. + +Rex, hearing no further sound to tell him that a dangerous runaway was +close upon him, had just decided to slacken his pace and turn around to +investigate, when he felt a hand laid on his shoulder. + +“Me got you,” crowed a wheezy voice in his ear. “Now for pleecy man.” + +Rex was horrified to find himself in the grasp of a Chinese laundryman. + +“Let go of me! What do you want?” he cried, struggling to get free. + +“You breakee glass. You go to jailee. Here pleecyman now.” + +True enough, among the crowd that had hastily collected, was a +blue-coated officer. + +“Make him let me go,” exclaimed Rex, appealing to the representative of +the law. “I didn’t do anything to him.” + +“Yes, he did,” called out a bystander, whose sympathies had been +awakened for the much suffering heathen. “I saw him running for all he +was worth. That’s pretty strong evidence, isn’t it?” + +The policeman appeared to think so, for he came up and caught Rex by +the arm. + + + + +CHAPTER VII +REGINAND’S HUMILIATION + + +Rex never felt so humiliated in his life. Here he was, surrounded by a +crowd, captured by a policeman and accused by a miserable Chinaman of +breaking a pane of glass. + +“It’s all a mistake, I tell you,” he cried, starting to wrest himself +loose from the officer’s grasp, and then suddenly remaining passive as +he reflected that this was undignified. + +“What did you run for then!” questioned the policeman. + +“Because he told me to—the fellow with the red face,” and Rex looked +around in the throng to pick out the cause of his misfortune, but that +individual had discreetly disappeared. + +“I don’t see him now,” he went on. + +“I guess you don’t,” put in the bystander who had already spoken. “Do +you run every time anybody tells you to?” + +“He said there was a runaway team behind me. Then I heard the glass +break. He must have thrown the stone himself.” + +Rex tried to speak calmly, but he was boiling over with rage at the +trick which he now realized had been played upon him. + +“Me wantee new glass,” the Chinaman insisted. “Play money.” + +How fervently Rex wished at that moment that they had come into their +inheritance. He would have put his hand into his pocket, drawn out a +five dollar bill with a lordly air and handed it over with the words: +“Take this. I didn’t break the glass, but I pity the poor heathen’s +distress.” + +As it was, he had not a penny about him. It was difficult to keep up an +air of bravado under these circumstances. + +The crowd was growing bigger each minute. The policeman looked somewhat +perplexed. He judged from Rex’s appearance that he was not a hoodlum +who would be likely to throw a stone at a Chinaman’s window, but he +admitted that he had been running, and here was a man ready to swear +that he saw him throw the stone. + +“What is your name?” he asked. + +“Reginald Bemis Pell,” replied Rex promptly. He was proud of his name, +and brought it out now with a kind of flourish. + +“Where do you live?” went on the officer, while the crowd pressed +closer to hear the replies. + +“At Marley.” + +“You don’t look like a boy who would break windows for the fun of it.” + +“Of course I wouldn’t, and when my brother hears of this outrage he’ll +raise a big fuss over it. He’s a lawyer and knows how to do it.” + +Rex didn’t feel a bit humorous when he made this assertion, but there +was something in it that struck the crowd as very funny. A good many +laughed, and the policeman tried to repress a smile. + +“Where is this brother of yours?” + +“Right here in the city,” and Rex gave the address. + +“That’s not far,” said the officer. “We’ll go round there and see if +you have told us a straight story. Come along, John,” he added to the +laundryman. + +Rex glowed with a sense of triumph for a minute, and then began to +reflect on what Syd would say at seeing him appear in such company—with +a police officer and a Chinaman. And there was the crowd that strung on +behind as the three moved off! + +“I wish I’d stayed at home,” groaned poor Rex to himself. + +However, he tried to take some comfort from the fact that the +policeman’s arm was not on his shoulder. People they passed might think +it was the Chinaman who was under arrest. Then he felt that he ought to +be glad that it was midsummer, with no chance of his meeting any of his +friends. + +He was trying to decide what he should do in case Syd had not come back +by the time they reached the office, when just as they turned into +Chestnut Street a familiar voice cried out: + +“Hello, Rex, what under the sun?” + +It was Scott Bowman. He had just come out of a trunk store in time to +confront the sorry procession. + +Rex wished the manhole cover over which he was passing would suddenly +give way and precipitate him under the sidewalk in theatrical trap door +fashion. Scott was the last person in all the world whom he wished to +see. + +“Don’t you come near me, Scott,” he answered, “if you don’t want to be +disgraced. I’m under arrest.” + +The look of utter and complete amazement on young Bowman’s face at +hearing this did more to convince the officer he had the wrong person +in custody than anything else. He allowed Rex to stop and parley with +his friend. + +The situation was explained in few words. Scott was a year older than +Rex. His father was a city official with a salary of ten thousand a +year. He was highly indignant when he heard of the outrage. + +“This is monstrous,” he said, and announcing who he was, demanded that +Rex be instantly released. + +“But I can’t do that, Mr. Bowman, if that is really your name,” +responded the officer somewhat nettled. “Because this young gentleman +happens to be a friend of yours, it doesn’t make it any the less likely +that he broke that window.” + +“‘If that is really my name?’” repeated Scott, highly incensed. “You’ll +find out whether that is my name or not when I report this affair to my +father.” + +The officer smiled; so did a number in the crowd. Rex felt that his +former humiliation was nothing compared to that which he was now +undergoing, having caused his friend to be treated in this insulting +fashion. + +“Come on,” said the policeman, and the line of march to Sydney’s office +was resumed, Scott valiantly falling into place beside Rex, vowing +vengeance on the entire force of bluecoats. + +“Don’t stay with me, Scott,” Rex implored him. “You’ve borne enough. I +don’t want to drag you down into the mire too.” + +“Do you suppose I’d desert a friend in a time of need like this?” +returned Scott. “I’m going to take this officer’s number now while I +think of it.” + +Scott fished a pencil out of one pocket and a railroad timetable out of +the other, and glancing at the shield on the breast of the policeman +made a record of the figures on it in a very conspicuous manner. But +the officer did not tremble with apprehension. He simply turned to Rex +and observed, “This is the place, isn’t it?” + +They had reached the building in which Sydney had his office. + +“Yes, this is the place,” replied Rex slowly. He was thinking how +dreadful it would be to present himself before Syd with this crowd at +his heels. + +“I don’t know whether he’s in or not,” he added. “Will you mind going +up and finding out, Scott?” + +“Of course I won’t. I know just where the room is and I’ll bring him +down in a jiffy.” + +The policeman motioned the crowd back and he and Rex and the patient +Chinaman went into the marble corridor and waited, while the throng +peered in at them from the doorway and a new one began to gather from +among those who passed to and fro in the building. + +“I’m glad I never knew this was going to happen to me,” reflected Rex. +“I’d never have known a happy day if I had.” + +He had no fear of going to jail. He felt that there was justice enough +in the world to ward that off. + +But the ignominy of his present position was torture enough to a proud +spirit like his. + +Ah, here was one of the elevators coming down, with Scott looking +eagerly out at him. And Syd was with him. + +But was it Syd, this fellow with the pallid cheeks and deep circles +under the eyes? Yes, it certainly was his brother, for he stepped out +ahead of Scott and came over at once to pass his arm about Rex in +gesture of protection. + +Reginald gave an almost unconscious sigh of relief. Within that embrace +he felt that he was safe. + +“Now what is all this about?” said Sydney, in his business-like tone, +addressing the officer. “It seems you have arrested my brother here for +breaking a Chinaman’s windows. Did you see him throw the stone?” + +“No, but a gentleman did,” replied the officer. + +“Where’s that gentleman now?” + +He was not to be found. He had dropped out of the procession before it +reached Chestnut Street. + +“He was a bystander. He is not here now,” answered the policeman. “I +didn’t think the boy did it myself, but he admits that he was running +when the alarm was given.” + +“That amounts to nothing. Do you arrest everybody that runs in the +street? Explain why you were running, Rex.” + +Rex did so, as he had already done. + +“This fellow who told you that there was a runaway coming for you,” +went on Sydney; “had you seen him before?” + +“Yes; he came up and spoke to me while I was looking in a store window +at some bicycles.” + +“Did you answer him?” + +“Yes.” + +“Pleasantly?” + +Rex hesitated a moment. + +“Well, I didn’t exactly like his looks, so I said ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ I +forget which now, and went on.” + +“This seems like a clear case of the wrong man, officer,” summed up +Sydney. “It was that hoodlum who broke the glass just for the sake of +getting my brother into trouble. You ought to see that plainly enough. +You do, don’t you?” + +“Yes, now. I didn’t know all the story before. I beg the young +gentleman’s pardon. Come, John, we’ll have to look elsewhere for your +tormentor,” and the officer took the Chinaman by the arm and walked out +with him. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII +IN SYDNEY’S OFFICE + + +“I’m awfully sorry, Syd,” began Rex, as soon as the three were left +alone and had stepped into the elevator. “I never felt so disgraced in +my life.” + +“You did nothing wrong,” replied Syd, pressing his hand against his +forehead for an instant as if it pained him. “But what are you doing in +town?” + +“I came to see you,” answered Rex, and then looked at Scott, who had +said that as it was so near train time he would wait and go to the +station with the Pells. “But you are ill,” he went on the next instant, +his eyes coming back to the other’s face. “What is the matter, Syd?” + +“Oh, I’m all right,” responded the young lawyer. He forced a smile to +his lips, and turning to Scott asked when the Bowmans expected to start +on their trip. + +“Monday,” was the reply. “It’s too bad Rex can’t come with us. I was +counting on him. We’d have no end of fun.” + +“Oh, Syd,” suddenly broke in Rex, “did you know that old Mr. Tyler was +dead? Or did he die before you came home last night?” + +A sort of spasm passed over Sydney’s face, but they were just stepping +out of the elevator, and neither of the boys noticed it. + +“Yes; he died before I left,” he answered, as they entered his rooms, +which he shared with a fellow member of the bar who was now away. “But +I’ve got some last things to attend to before I leave. You fellows make +yourselves comfortable in there and I’ll be ready in five minutes.” + +He pointed to the adjoining room, where Rex and Scott at once +established themselves in the window and looked down on the busy street +far below them. + +“I didn’t know Tyler was dead,” began Scott. “I heard what Roy did for +him on the bridge, though. By George, that was plucky! But by the way, +what’s the matter with your brother Sydney? He looks terribly. Didn’t +you notice it?” + +“Of course I did and spoke about it He’s working too hard, I guess. I +say, Scott, you won’t tell anybody about my adventure this afternoon?” + +“Of course I shan’t; only father, to report how insulting that +policeman was.” + +“No, let that go. I wouldn’t like even your father to hear it. I feel +humiliated enough that you should know about it. Say, Scott!” Rex +paused suddenly. The recollection of his recent experience stung him +whenever it came up in his mind. He felt that Scott must be constantly +thinking of it, too. He wanted to tell him something that would banish +it from his thoughts. + +“Well, my boy, what is it?” rejoined Scott. + +“If I tell you something, will you promise to keep it a secret +till—till everybody knows it, as they will probably in a day or two?” + +“Of course I will. It must be something mighty important from your +mysterious air, old fellow.” + +“It is, awfully important.” Rex’s eyes were fixed on Scott’s trowsers. +He saw that they were a new pair, evidently purchased to be worn on the +trip. What a thing it was to have money so that you could get extra +things whenever you wanted them and not be obliged to wait till you +could afford it! And the Pells would even be richer than the Bowmans. + +Rex paused so long while he was thinking over all this that Scott broke +in with, “Well, what is it? Don’t keep me on the rack so long.” + +“Perhaps I shouldn’t tell you,” went on Rex; “but some people know it +in Marley already, and you are my best friend, you know. Old man Tyler +left his money to mother and it’s something like half a million!” + +“Reginald Pell!” Scott brought out these words with strong emphasis, +then seized his friend’s hand and wrung it heartily. + +“Don’t!” said Rex, seeing that Syd was coming toward them. “It seems +awful to be congratulated now when the old man isn’t buried yet, and—” + +“What’s that you’re saying?” Sydney had hastened forward and laid his +hand on Rex’s shoulder. + +Rex colored. Syd looked so very serious, and now, as he stood there in +the full glare of daylight, the signs of suffering on his face were +plainly apparent. + +“Syd, you are ill?” exclaimed Rex, forgetting about what he had been +saying. “You ought to be at home at once.” + +“Never mind about me, Reggie. Tell me what you were just telling +Scott.” + +“I didn’t think it was any harm. A good many people in Marley know it +now. I was telling him about—about Mr. Tyler’s will.” + +“What about it?” Sydney’s eyes were looking steadily, unsmilingly down +into his brother’s as he put the question. + +Rex was really frightened now. He had never seen Sydney look just like +this before. + +“I told him about leaving his money to us on account of what Roy had +done,” he faltered. “I didn’t—” + +Sydney’s eyes closed; he started to reel backwards and would have +fallen had not Scott sprung forward and caught him. + +“Help me ease him down in the chair, Rex,” he called out. + +Scarcely knowing what he was doing, Reginald took hold of his brother’s +other arm and between them the two boys got him down gently into a +chair that stood near the window. + +“He isn’t dead, is he?” + +Rex’s voice was hardly more than a whisper as he put the awful +question. Sydney certainly looked almost like a corpse, with his pallid +face and his head hanging itself lifelessly over on one side. + +It was a trying situation for the two boys. Neither of them had had the +slightest experience with cases of this sort. It was so late in the +afternoon that the offices around them were all empty. + +“No, he is not dead, I’m sure of that,” Scott replied, who, as the +senior of Rex by some eleven months, felt that it was natural for the +other to seem to rely upon him. “We ought to have a doctor at once, +though.” + +“But we can’t leave him that way while I go for one. Besides, I don’t +know where to go.” + +“Neither do I. Our doctor is clear at the other end of town and besides +he’s down at Atlantic City by this time anyway.” + +“It’s awful, isn’t it? Oh, what shall we do, Scott?” + +“We might ring for an ambulance. That’s the quickest way.” + +“Oh, we don’t want to have him taken to the hospital. Come, help me get +him out of that chair. It’s horrible to see his head hang over like +that.” + +“But where can we put him? There’s no lounge about, is there?” + +“No, but we might let him lie on the floor, on that rug yonder. See, we +can take this cushion out of this chair for a pillow.” + +With much difficulty, for they felt that they must go about the work of +transfer with the greatest care, the unconscious man was removed and +placed in what both boys considered would be an easier position for +him. But when he was stretched out at their feet, the spectacle was +such an ominous one that Rex almost wished that they had left him where +he was. + +“Don’t you think we ought to throw water in his face or fan him or +something?” he asked helplessly. + +“I don’t know what we ought to do, Rex, except I think we ought to have +a doctor the first thing. I tell you! You stay here with him and I’ll +go down and find a drug store. They’ll know where I can get a doctor +there.” + +“All right; be as quick as you can.” + +Scott was off on the instant and Rex was left alone with the +unconscious Sydney. His mind was filled with a multitude of thoughts in +regard to the strange seizure. Was he, Reginald, responsible for it? +What if he had not come to Philadelphia, would it have happened? + +He tried to console himself with the reflection that the thing was +bound to occur any way, and that it was providential that he and Scott +were present to give aid. + +Then he remembered how the attack had come on at the very moment when +Sydney learned that he (Rex) had told of their inheritance from the +miser, and he felt more dismal than ever. + +It was very quiet in that great office building at this time of the +day. The noise of the car bells and traffic that came in through the +open windows from the street far below only made the stillness within +more marked. The office boy had taken the mail and gone home just +before Rex and Scott arrived. + +Rex glanced up at the clock. They would not be able to catch the +express now. How good Scott was to stay with him. He would pay him back +for it all when they came into their fortune. + +But he seemed to be a long while gone. Rex left his position by Sydney +and went to the window. By leaning very far out he could just see over +the heavy stone still to the street below. But it was quite impossible +to recognize any one at that distance. + +He wriggled back till his feet touched the floor again, and then +returned to take up his watch by Sydney once more. He wished that Roy +was with him. Though they were twins he felt that his brother possessed +twice the self reliance in emergencies that he did. + +“I wonder if I ought to telegraph to mother,” was his next thought. + +Then he heard the door of the elevator slide back, and the next instant +Scott Bowman appeared, accompanied by a short man with side whiskers +and spectacles. + + + + +CHAPTER IX +THE MYSTERY ABOUT SYDNEY + + +The boys stood by in anxious suspense while the doctor made his +examination. + +“It is utter collapse from severe mental strain,” he said after a +minute. “He will come around presently.” + +He wrote out a prescription and gave it to Scott to take out for him +and then turned to Rex. + +“You are Mr. Pell’s brother, I believe?” he said. + +“Yes,” answered Rex, for the fact that there was no blood relation +between them was one that very seldom recurred to the boys’ minds. + +“Then perhaps you will be able to assign some cause for this seizure. +Was Mr. Pell excited by anything in particular when it took him?” + +Rex hesitated. Remembering how Sydney had been affected by learning +that he had revealed the facts about Mr. Tyler’s will to Scott, he felt +that he ought not to speak of the matter to any one else. + +“Yes, he was excited by a—a family affair,” he replied, hoping this was +all he need say on the matter. + +“Humph!” muttered the physician, and he not only took another critical +look at Sydney’s face, but favored Rex with a long stare, too. + +“Will he be well enough to go down to Marley to-night?” asked the +latter. + +“You live out of town then?” returned the doctor. “There’s no place +where you could take him here in the city?” + +“None, but a hotel,” rejoined Rex. “And I’m sure my mother would rather +have him home.” + +At this point Sydney stirred and opened his eyes. He looked first at +the doctor, frowned deeply, and then as Rex came forward within his +range of vision, he beckoned the boy to him. + +Rex hurried over and knelt by his side. + +“Who is that?” asked Sydney. + +“It’s a doctor. You fainted or something and Scott went out to get him. +How do you feel?” + +“Pretty weak, but ask him to step into the next room a minute. I want +to speak to you.” + +“Doctor, will you mind waiting in the next room a minute? My brother +wants to see me about something.” + +Rex was afraid the physician might feel offended or else object to +leaving his patient, but he said, “Why, certainly,” and then came over +to take a close look at the young lawyer before leaving him. + +As soon as he had gone Sydney put out one arm and passing it around +Rex’s neck, drew the boy’s ear close to his mouth. + +“Did I say anything while I was unconscious?” he whispered. + +“No,” replied Rex, mystified. “Nothing at all. But what does all this +mean, Syd? What is worrying you so terribly?” + +“Don’t let it worry you and then it will worry me less. What time is +it?” + +“Half past five.” + +“Then we ought to catch the six o’clock train.” + +“But you’re not strong enough to go now,” objected Rex. “You’re as pale +as a ghost.” + +“Am I?” A wan smile lit up Sydney’s face for an instant “Well, then, +exercise will perhaps bring some of the color back. You can call the +doctor in now and we’ll see what he says.” + +Scott arrived with the filled prescription just as Rex brought the +physician back into the room. Sydney objected to lying on the floor any +longer and they helped him to a chair. + +“Yes, you can go home if you don’t do any walking,” said the doctor +after another examination. + +“All right, I can go down in the elevator, get a carriage from the +hotel across the street and ride right up to the station. You rush down +and engage one, Rex. Scott will stay here and help the doctor down with +me. Then he can go along with us. Don’t lose any time, Reggie.” + +With an immensely relieved mind Rex hurried off to execute the +commission. He had really feared at one time that Sydney was going to +die. + +He was rallying rapidly now. When he entered the coach he took out his +pocketbook and paid the doctor for his services. + +“We owe you something, Scott,” he added after they had started, “for +what you got at the drug store.” + +Scott protested, but was in the end obliged to take what he had paid +out. + +“It’s been an exciting afternoon for you fellows,” remarked Sydney, and +Rex could not help but notice that while his tone was light, his face +was still pale and that he did not look at them while he was speaking. + +“I want you to promise me one thing, though. That you will not speak of +my fainting spell at home, or you either, Scott. I have a particular +reason for asking that favor.” + +Both boys promised to respect his wishes, and then Sydney quickly +changed the subject to the Bowmans’ trip, asking at what hotels they +were going to stop, and so on until the carriage reached the station. +He seemed so much better by this time that when he met a friend on the +train and took a seat with him, Rex and Scott almost forgot that he had +been ill. + +They found places together near by, but neither said much during the +short ride. Rex felt that Scott must be thinking of how Sydney had +broken in upon his revelation of their inheritance, and wondering what +it could mean. He couldn’t explain it, so he thought best not to broach +the subject. + +And as this filled so large a part of his thoughts there was nothing +else he cared to talk about. After all his trip to Philadelphia had not +been productive of any results. He knew no more now than when he +started about the extent of Mr. Tyler’s fortune. + +When they reached Marley, Sydney took a hack that always waited at the +station, and he and Rex rode down to the Pellery, Scott living close to +the station in the other direction. + +“Do you feel all right, Syd?” asked Rex during the ride. + +Sydney nodded without making any reply, and soon they reached home. Rex +was unusually silent during dinner. He looked up in surprised fashion +when he learned that Sydney had gone off without his breakfast that +morning. Sydney explained that it was due to urgent business in town. +Rex wondered what the family would think if they knew about the scene +at the office that afternoon. + +Nobody said anything about Mr. Tyler after Sydney had admitted that he +died before he left him the previous night. Rex was the one most likely +to discourse on the subject, but now he had his reasons for not +broaching it. + +The next morning Sydney did not go to the city. He devoted himself to +making arrangements for Mr. Tyler’s burial. The death was published in +all the Philadelphia papers, and the Pells expected that some one might +come down, claiming to be a relative. + +But no one appeared, and on Saturday the funeral was held in the little +house in Burdock. All the Pells were present, and a great number of +people from Marley. + +The news that the miser was very wealthy and had left all his money, +except a small legacy to his servant, to Mrs. Pell, spread rapidly and +created a great sensation. + +Everybody connected it with Roy’s act of rescue on the trestle, and so +many spoke to him about it that he was almost afraid to show himself in +public. + +“What do you care?” said Jess, when he complained to her about it. “It +certainly isn’t a thing you are ashamed of.” + +“But I don’t know what to say,” he returned. “It sounds silly to tell +them it wasn’t anything, and I can’t say, yes, I think it was a very +brave act. So there I am.” + +“You poor boy. What do you do, usually?” + +“Try to get around it by telling them that I’m not the heir but mother. +I suppose that’s kind of mean, too, for I know she hates to be spoken +to about it as much as I do.” + +The Pells were the observed of all observers at the funeral. Eva had +declared at first that she thought they ought not to go. + +“We’ll just make a show of ourselves,” she said. “It was very +unfortunate all this got out before Mr. Tyler was buried.” + +But Mrs. Pell announced that respect for the dead demanded their +presence, so they went. Every one remarked on the pallor of Sydney. His +mother had worried over it considerably. + +“You must be the first to take advantage of our altered circumstances, +my dear boy,” she had told him. “I want you to give up work for a while +and go away for a good long rest.” + +“Oh, no, no!” he cried out in such terror that the poor woman was +startled. + +He noticed it and tried to smile as he went on: + +“Of course all this business about the Tyler will has been an extra +strain on me, but that will soon be off now. It is you and the children +who must benefit by the money that has come so unexpectedly. You will +make me, oh, so much happier, if you will not count me in on it. You +will not need my help now, and my income will be abundant for my own +wants.” + +Seeing that he felt so strongly on the matter, Mrs. Pell said no more +at the time, but she often thought of that talk later and shivered as +she recalled it. + + + + +CHAPTER X +ROY MAKES A NEW ACQUAINTANCE + + +It was just a month after our story opened that July afternoon. Roy was +fishing from the tree trunk over the creek again, but he was alone this +time and the expression on his face was almost as discontented as +Reginald’s had been on that former occasion. + +His float bobbed under two or three times, but he paid no attention to +the fact. He was too deeply absorbed in thought. Now and then he would +glance up at the trestle far above him, and something very like a sigh +would pass his lips. + +There was a snapping of twigs on the Marley end of the log and Roy +turned his head quickly to find a young man regarding him attentively. +He might have been anywhere from twenty-five to thirty. He had a small +brown mustache and rather a dark complexion. + +He held a small oblong box in both his hands. Roy at once recognized it +as a camera and realized at the same instant that it was pointed at +him. + +As their eyes met, the stranger flushed slightly, but said in a +pleasant voice: + +“I hope you don’t mind being taken?” + +Roy did mind. He was in a mood just now to object to everything, but +the other’s voice was such an agreeable one, the glance of his eye so +kindly that the boy’s real self came to the surface through his +temporarily baser one, and he replied: + +“Oh, I s’pose not, but I haven’t got the pleasant look the +photographers tell you to put on. Aren’t you afraid I’ll break your +camera?” + +The answer was a quick snap and then the young man slung the camera +over his shoulder and stepping out on the tree trunk slipped down to a +seat beside Roy. + +“You have a very cozy retreat here,” he remarked, “how’s the fishing?” + +“I don’t know. To tell the truth I wasn’t thinking of my line at all +and I’m almost sorry I let you take that picture. I don’t see what you +wanted it for any way, I hope you won’t show it around much. You don’t +live in Marley, do you?” + +“No.” + +“I’m glad of that” + +“Why?” with a smile. + +“Because nobody I know will be apt to see the picture.” + +“You’re quite a modest young man.” + +“Oh, it isn’t that, but I must have looked so disagreeable at that +particular moment. At least I must have done so if my looks were +anything like my feelings.” + +“No, if I remember rightly you were smiling at the instant I pressed +the button. You know you were saying something about fearing you would +break the camera, and a smile usually goes with that remark.” + +Roy looked up quickly. The stranger was an odd one. He had a queer way +of putting things. Roy began to be interested. + +“Have you taken many pictures around here?” + +“Quite a number. It’s a very pretty place.” + +“Isn’t it?” + +“That bridge quite adds to the attractiveness of the landscape. In fact +that is the reason I am here. I was coming through on the train and as +we crossed, the prospect of this little valley was so tempting that I +decided to stop off and explore. I am very glad I did now, for it gave +me the added pleasure of meeting you.” + +“That sounds as though you were talking to a girl,” said Roy. + +“Does it? Well, as I am particularly fond of boys I suppose I may be +allowed to say the same sort of things to them.” + +“You’re fond of boys? That’s queer. I didn’t know any one liked boys +except their mothers and now and then a girl or two.” + +Roy laughed a little as he added this last, and the stranger joined in +heartily. + +“You’re very frank,” he remarked; “but that’s what boys usually are, +and it’s one of the reasons I like them. They generally say right out +just what they think.” + +“What’s another reason?” + +The man with the camera hesitated an instant before replying. Then he +said: + +“Well, I’m going to be frank, too. Another reason I like boys is +because I find them useful to me.” + +“Useful to you?” repeated Roy, perplexed. + +“Yes, as a matter of study. You see, I write about them sometimes.” + +“Why, are you an author?” + +Roy turned full around on the log as he put the question, his face all +aglow with animation. + +“I suppose that’s what I must call myself even if I’m not a +particularly famous one.” + +“Please tell me the names of some of your books. Perhaps I’ve read +them.” + +The young man smiled at his companion’s eagerness and mentioned a story +which had been Roy’s Christmas present two years before. + +“Did you write that?” he exclaimed. “Why, then you are Mr. Charles +Keeler!” + +“Yes, I am Mr. Keeler. I suppose you are disappointed in me. Most +people are when they see the people who write books they have read.” + +“That was a splendid story,” Roy drew in a long breath before he made +this reply. He was still looking at Mr. Keeler as if he could not yet +quite comprehend the thing. “I’m awfully glad to meet you and I’d like +to shake hands.” + +“With the greatest of pleasure. I’m very glad you liked my book; I know +you wouldn’t say so if you didn’t. That’s where boys are superior to +grown people. They are almost always sincere in the expression of their +opinions.” + +“Do you know I’ve never seen an author before?” went on Roy, who had +wound up his line and had given himself over to a full enjoyment of +this unexpected opportunity. “I don’t see how you do it. I hate to +write compositions at school. Nearly every boy I know does. Did you?” + +“Yes, when I had to write on subjects that were assigned by the teacher +I used to count the lines then just the same as the rest of the +fellows. But when they let me write a story I didn’t mind.” + +“I don’t see how you can. I should think you’d never know what to say +next.” + +Mr. Keeler smiled, showing his white teeth which contrasted so strongly +with the deep tan on his complexion. + +“Oh, that all comes when you have your scheme arranged,” he said. “But +of course you have to possess a natural taste for the work. You can’t +suddenly decide that you would like to be an author and then study for +it as you might learn to be a carpenter or a mason.” + +“Oh, it’s like poets, then, who are ‘born, not made,’” returned Roy. + +“Precisely, and that being the case it comes natural to write, although +there is a great deal of hard work about it.” + +“You said you studied boys. How do you mean?” + +“Well, take yourself for example. When I saw you sitting here fishing I +wanted your picture so I could look at it some day and perhaps make up +a story about you.” + +“A story about me!” exclaimed Roy. Then he added in a sober tone, “I +don’t believe you could make up a more wonderful story than something +that has really happened to me.” + +“Is that so? I remember now you said you were very much disturbed over +something that you thought would make you look disagreeable.” + +“Yes, I came down here because I was at odds with myself and everybody +else, I wonder what you’d do with a hero who was just in my position. +I’ve half a mind to tell you all about it. You don’t know who I am, so +it won’t matter. Do you live in Philadelphia?” + +“No, in New York just at present.” + +“Good, then I believe I’ll tell you, but you must promise you won’t use +it in a book unless I tell you you can.” + +“Here’s my hand on it,” and once more hands were clasped over the tree +trunk. + +“And you must promise, too, to believe everything I tell you. Some of +it will seem pretty steep.” + +“Oh, well, you know, that fact is stranger than fiction, so don’t worry +about that.” + +“I won’t tell you everything,” began Roy, with a quick glance up at the +trestle, “but first I’ll have to go back a little and say that almost +as far back as I can remember we’ve lived in that house you can see +down yonder with the peaked roof. We had only about enough money to +keep us comfortable, for father died when I was a little fellow, and +there were five of us children. But we had good times and I was looking +forward to the future when I would be a man and Rex and I—that’s my +twin brother—could give mother some of the luxuries with what we should +earn, for I expected that by that time Sydney would be married and have +a home of his own. You’re not bored listening to all this, are you? +There’s a more exciting part coming?” + +“I never was so absorbed in a story in my life, my dear fellow. Go on, +please.” + +“Well, over yonder, not far from the end of the trestle, lived an old +man—but never mind the name. At any rate he was sort of a miser, or +rather he had lots of money which he never spent and when he died he +left it all to my mother.” + +“You’ve left something out I think,” interrupted Mr. Keeler, and there +was a smile about the corners of his mouth that caused Roy to flush +deeply. + + + + +CHAPTER XI +MR. CHARLES KEELER + + +“Well, why don’t you go on?” asked Mr. Keeler, as Roy paused. + +“You’ve heard something about the affair. I can see you have by the way +you look. Please tell me what it was.” + +“Only a very little,” was the reply. “As I was crossing the trestle in +the train a while ago I heard a lady behind me telling a gentleman who +was with her that this was the place where Roy Pell rescued the old +miser. So now you see I know who you are, but I hope that won’t make +any difference about your telling the story. You left off in the most +interesting place. It would be worse than the serials in the weekly +papers, for I couldn’t look forward to getting the continuation next +Saturday.” + +Roy smiled and then said “All right, you’ve promised not to use it +unless I give you leave, you know. But I don’t want you to think of me +as a regular hero because I lugged that old man off the bridge. There +would have been plenty of time for me to have run down to Burdock and +stopped the train and got help there, but I really didn’t think of it.” + +“Oh, no, that isn’t the part I’m interested in at all. What I want to +know is the reason you seemed so glum over having come into a fortune. +Was it much, may I inquire?” + +“About half a million, but I haven’t been one mite happier since we’ve +had it. In the first place my oldest brother has been sick ever since. +We don’t know what’s the matter with him and he won’t give up his law +business and go away for rest as mother wants him to. He says he has +got too much to do looking after the investing of her money. Then +there’s Rex, he wants so many things that he can’t settle on any one. +He got a bicycle almost the first thing, and now he’s tired of it and +wants a horse, and Jess says there’s no good of getting that because we +ought to go to Europe and take Syd with us.” + +“And Eva, she wants to go to Vassar, and mother doesn’t want to give +her up, and the worst of it all is we’ve sold the place and we are +going to move into the city next month, and I hate to leave Marley, +although the rest all want to go. So we’re all pulling different ways, +and nobody a bit happy, for if he’s got what he wanted he has to +remember that it’s what the rest didn’t want. I had a fling out about +the whole thing just before I left the house and I came down to grumble +to the creek. Why, that’s funny!” + +“What’s funny?” inquired Mr. Keeler, as Roy looked up with a half +smile. + +“Why, it’s just a month ago to-day since Rex came down here to mope +because we didn’t have money enough to let him go on a trip to Canada, +and now I’ve come here to do the same thing because we’re come into a +fortune.” + +“Then you don’t care for the money?” remarked the author. + +“Not if it’s going to break up a family the way it has ours. Jess used +to be awfully lively and full of fun, and now she’s all the time +talking about new clothes and the places she wants to go, and how she’s +going to have her room decorated in the new house.” + +“But I thought you said she wanted to go to Europe.” + +“So I did. That’s one of the troubles. She don’t know what she wants. +It’s one thing one minute and another the next.” + +“But your mother? Doesn’t she have something to say about it?” + +“Yes, but she’s so fond of us all, she wants to do what will give us +the most pleasure. And of course when we all want different things +that’s pretty hard to do.” + +“And the ‘different thing’ that I want is to stay right here in Marley. +I’d graduate at the academy here next June, and then all my friends are +here, and I like the country. Now if your hero in a story was in a fix +like this what would you do with him?” + +“It depends on the sort of story I was writing. If it was one with a +motive, a moral, so to speak, I’d have him give up his own desire and +say he’d be perfectly willing to do what the rest wanted to do.” + +“But if the rest wanted to do different things? Here’s Rex wanting to +live in Philadelphia, and Eva thinking it would be ever so much nicer +to live in Boston, and Jess divided half of the time between New York +and Europe, and Sydney looking as if he’d drop into the grave right off +if we didn’t do something quick—what then?” + +Roy spoke very earnestly, and Mr. Keeler did not smile this time. He +began to pick at the bark on the tree trunk and did not reply for some +little time after Roy had paused. + +“I think,” he said finally, “that in that case I should have had my +hero try to make himself contented with whichever decision was arrived +at. Half a million ought to atone for a great many drawbacks.” + +“Oh, I know a lot of people envy us,” broke in Roy. “Charley Minturn +says I ought to be the happiest fellow going. But I’m not. That’s +because I’m going—to leave Marley. I s’pose you think it’s queer for me +to tell all this to a stranger. But it’s just because you are a +stranger that I feel that I can do it. You can understand how that can +be, can’t you, Mr. Keeler?” + +“Yes, perfectly. But I think you attach too much importance to your +feeling for Marley. Of course you think now that you will not be +contented elsewhere because you do not yet know the attractions of +other places. I remember when I was in my teens, living abroad, I +thought I could not be happy anywhere but in Paris. I had been there +all winter, and when spring came and we were to go to Germany I felt +just as you do over leaving Marley. But when we were settled in our +German home I grew to like it just as I had Paris. That is the way it +is sure to be with you.” + +“Why, you’ve done me lots of good,” exclaimed Roy. “I should never have +thought of looking at things that way. So you’ve lived in Europe? Rex +only wants to travel there.” + +“He’s your twin brother, you say? Does he look like you?” + +“No; only the least bit. He is the good looking member of the family. +There he goes now on his wheel. Would you like to meet him?” + +“Indeed I should,” replied Mr. Keeler heartily. “It would seem exactly +like a character out of a story.” + +Roy put his fingers between his lips and gave a peculiar whistle, +composed of three distinct notes. Rex, who was just passing under the +trestle, turned around in his saddle, and when he saw some one beside +his brother on the tree trunk, he made a half circle in the road and +came scudding back on his machine. + +He ran this in a little distance among the trees, left it leaning +against one of them and then came on foot to the edge of the creek. His +bicycle suit was very becoming to him. Roy watched Mr. Keeler’s face +and saw that he was favorably impressed at once. + +He accomplished the introduction, mentioning the book both boys had +read. Rex seemed immensely pleased at meeting the author, and put on +his most charming manner. + +“Won’t you come over to the house, Mr. Keeler?” he said. “We can give +you some lemonade and I’d like you to see the view of the trestle from +our piazza.” + +“You are very kind,” returned the young man, looking at his watch, “but +I am afraid I shall not have time. I had planned to take the next train +in to town. I have only about twenty minutes in which to catch it now.” + +“Stay to tea then and go up some time this evening,” went on Rex. “I am +sure our mother would be delighted to meet you, and so would the girls. +Wouldn’t they, Roy?” + +“Yes, indeed, please stay, Mr. Keeler.” + +Roy would not have dared to make this request if he had been left to +himself. That was the difference in character of the two brothers. One +was impulsive, ready to do anything on the spur of the moment: the +other cautious, shrinking sometimes. He was just as anxious as Rex to +extend the hospitality of the Pellery to their new acquaintance, but +felt that he had not known the other long enough to warrant him in +doing so. + +Mr. Keeler hesitated. He was in his element now in the society of two +boys of such contrasted temperaments, making admirable studies. + +“I was going back to New York to-night,” he said. “But I suppose I +could put it off till morning.” + +“Do; then you can stay to tea at the Pellery,” exclaimed Rex. “That’s +what we call our house. It makes it seem like a nest, you know. If you +don’t mind I’ll mount my wheel and run on ahead to tell them you are +coming, so that we can receive you in proper state.” + +There was no opportunity given Mr. Keeler to decline. Rex rushed ahead, +mounted his wheel and was off before he could answer. + +“You will stay, won’t you?” asked Roy. + +“With pleasure if you think it will not inconvenience your mother. That +is decidedly important. You do not know but I may be some moonshiner +from the Cumberland, or a bandit from Italy. My complexion certainly +answers to the latter description. You see, you have only my word for +who I really am.” + +“I guess that’s good enough,” laughed Roy, “How do you like Rex?” + +“Immensely.” + +“Everybody does. I suppose we ought to be very proud of him, and we +are, but then we are afraid for him at the same time. What a boy he is! +See, he’s hunted up our big flag and hung it from Syd’s window in honor +of your coming. You’ll have to make a speech now.” + + + + +CHAPTER XII +AN ALARMING DISCOVERY + + +Rex come down to the gate to meet them. + +“I’m sorry that mother isn’t home,” he said. “She’s just had a telegram +from Syd that takes her to town and will keep her there with him all +night Some business connected with the new house,” he added with a +glance at Roy. + +“But the girls are home and will be delighted to receive you with +fitting honors,” he went on. He did not say that he had had quite a +time to induce them to appear at all. He had rushed into the house in +his impetuous way announcing that Roy was coming along with a young man +they had met down at the creek who was a famous author and was so nice, +and whom they had invited to tea. + +“But we don’t know him, Rex,” Eva had exclaimed in considerable dismay. +“You oughtn’t to bring strange people to the house in that way.” + +“Oh, but it’s just the same thing as if we did know him,” and Rex went +on to explain about the story he had written, which they had all read +and admired. + +“But is he nice and respectable himself?” Jess inquired. “You know some +of these writers are horribly poor and go about with threadbare +clothes. He might not be the right sort of man for us to know at all.” + +“Jess!” Eva exclaimed severely. “The idea of your thinking that because +people are poor they can’t be respectable! We shall be very glad to +meet your friend, Rex,” and Jess felt that she was in such disgrace +that when Mr. Keeler was presented she tried to redeem herself by being +excessively friendly. + +And this was not difficult for her to do. He was certainly very +different from what she had expected. He had neither long hair like the +traditional poet, nor trousers fringed around the bottom like the +literary hireling of Grub Street. + +Indeed, she found him quite handsome; he dressed almost as well as Rex +did, and he was a most interesting talker. And all the while she was +sensible of having seen his face somewhere before. + +She thought at first it might have been in a portrait painted as a +frontispiece to his book. At the first opportunity she slipped off to +the boys’ room and looked it up. But there was no portrait there. + +Finally she decided that she must have passed him in the street in the +city some time and resolved to think no more about it. + +Eva was pleased with the visitor too. They had a very merry supper +party. The clash of opinions about what to do with their money was +stilled for the time while they all listened to the very entertaining +stones told by their guest. + +He was, it seemed, on his way home from the oil regions of Pennsylvania +whither he had gone to secure the local color for a new story. In fact +he had traveled very extensively in his short life, for he was not yet +thirty. + +At one time he had lived among a tribe of blacks in Africa; at another +been a member of a party of exiled Russians, on tramp to the mines of +Siberia. He was telling of an exciting adventure he had had among the +Arabs when the twinkling lights in a train crossed the trestle caused +him to come to a sudden pause. + +“I must be thinking of the time,” he said taking out his watch, and +trying to see the figures on its face by the moonlight. “I don’t want +to miss the last train in to town.” + +“Oh, do, please,” pleaded Rex. “You can stay here just as well as not. +Syd won’t be home and you can have his room. The last train goes in +half an hour; you won’t nearly have exhausted your stock of stories by +then. Please stay.” + +“We should be very glad to have you do so, Mr. Keeler,” said Eva. + +“But this is trespassing altogether too much on your hospitality,” he +returned. “Besides, you scarcely know me and I didn’t come prepared. I +left Philadelphia this morning, meaning to be back there by night.” + +“Oh, we’ll fix you out,” said Rex with an air of finality, “so go on +with your Arab story.” + +It was most comfortable on that porch with its southern exposure, the +fireflies dancing to the chirp of the crickets, the span of the +railroad trestle looking like a fairy bridge against the background of +the sky. Mr. Keeler decided to stay. + +Roy wondered what the others would think if they knew that their guest +was aware of what had recently befallen the family. He should most +decidedly not have told all he had if he had foreseen what was coming. + +At ten o’clock Eva suggested that Mr. Keeler was probably tired from +his journey, so the boys went up stairs with him. + +“I’ll come down and lock up,” Roy called back to his sisters. + +When he returned in a few minutes, leaving Rex talking bicycle with +their guest, he found the girls standing in the library, over a large +book which they had open on the table before them. + +“Look there!” exclaimed Jess, almost in a tragic tone, just as he +entered. + +She was pointing at something in the upper left hand corner of the +page. Eva started as she looked at it and then turned a frightened face +toward Roy. + +“Roy, come here,” she said. + +“Why, what’s the matter with you girls?” he exclaimed. “You look as if +you’d each seen a ghost.” + +“It’s worse than that!” answered Jess in a sepulchral tone. “Look +here.” + +She pointed to the spot on which Eva’s gaze had been riveted. + +“Why, it’s Mr. Keeler’s picture!” exclaimed Roy. + +“Read what it says underneath,” went on Jess in the same tone. + +Roy let his eyes drop to the printed lines beneath the portrait, which +was one of six which adorned the page. This is what he read: + +Martin Blakesley, + + +_Alias “Gentleman George,” “Lancelot Marker” etc., Confidence Man._ + + +“What book is this?” asked Roy. + +His voice was hard. He hardly recognized it himself when he heard it. + +“‘Noted Criminals of the United States,’” replied Jess. “Syd brought it +home last week to look up something or other he wanted to use in a +case. I was glancing through it this morning and saw this picture then. +I knew I’d seen Mr. Keeler somewhere before as soon as I laid eyes on +him this afternoon.” + +“Perhaps it’s only somebody that looks like him,” said Eva faintly. “He +has a larger mustache than that now.” + +“It’s had plenty of time to grow,” rejoined Jess significantly. “This +book was published two or three years ago. See, here is his history. +No. 131,” and she began to look over the pages till she came to the +paragraphs of description accompanying the portrait. + +The three heads bent over the page eagerly, while Roy, in a low voice, +read the facts about No. 131. He had been in jail twice, it seemed, his +last term having expired, as Roy figured, some four months previous. He +was noted for his suave manners and the facility with which he imposed +on strangers. + +“That’s the man,” murmured Jess. “What are we going to do?” + +Eva stepped back to the sofa and sank down upon it as if every bit of +strength had gone away from her. + +“It doesn’t seem possible,” was all Roy could say for the moment. + +Then he turned back to the picture and studied it long and intently. +Meanwhile the steady murmur of voices could be heard from above. Rex +was showing Mr. Keeler the treasures in their room. + +“I had better go up and ask him to leave,” then said Roy suddenly. + +“Oh, no, no, that will precipitate a quarrel,” exclaimed Jess. “He may +murder us all.” + +“What do you want me to do then?” asked Roy. + +“I don’t see that you can do anything except sit up with Eva and me +down here till morning. I’m sure I should never sleep a wink if I went +to bed.” + +“I’m hoping yet there’ll be some way to prove we are mistaken in +thinking him the same person,” put in Eva. + +“You might take this book up, Roy, and show it to him, then if he +didn’t flush when he saw this picture we’d know it was all right.” + +“And if it wasn’t, poor Roy might be stabbed where he stood,” added +Jess cheerfully. “I tell you! we might cry fire and scare him out that +way.” + +“Don’t be silly, Jess,” Roy admonished her, and then he returned once +more to the study of the face of the criminal. + +There was a sudden crash up stairs. Jess uttered a half stifled scream. + +“Oh, Roy,” she cried, “do go and see! He may have killed poor Rex!” + + + + +CHAPTER XIII +DISCUSSION OF WAYS AND MEANS + + +Roy bounded up the stairway two steps at a time. He was conscious that +both his sisters had walked to the foot of it and were looking after +him fearfully. Then he heard Rex’s voice. Evidently his brother was not +hurt. + +“Oh, it didn’t matter in the least,” Rex was saying. “It was an old +thing, we shouldn’t have taken it with us to the new house.” + +He and Mr. Keeler were bending over a heap of fragments on the floor. +Roy stepped into the room and saw that they had once been the clock +that stood on a bracket near the foot of the bed. + +“I was reaching up to get that wasp’s nest we stuck behind it,” Rex +explained. “My coat sleeve caught on the clock and pulled the whole +thing over.” + +Roy gave a sigh of relief and then almost smiled as he recalled what +he and his sisters had thought for a minute had really happened. He +bent down and helped the others to pick up the pieces. + +“I think this should be a warning to me to go to bed at once,” said Mr. +Keeler with a laugh. “Good-night, boys, I shall be on hand for eight +o’clock breakfast.” + +He went out into the hall and up the stairs to the third floor, where +Roy had already lighted the lamp for him in Syd’s room. + +“An awfully nice fellow, isn’t he, Roy?” remarked Rex, rolling the +fragments of the clock up in an old newspaper. + +Roy did not make any reply. He had sat down on a chair by the bureau, +on which he was resting his elbow. His eyes were fixed thoughtfully on +the book rack opposite in which stood the volume of which Mr. Keeler +was the author. + +“Rex,” he said suddenly, “come on downstairs.” + +“I’ve got to go down any way with this rubbish. But what’s come over +you, Roy? You look as sober as a judge in a criminal case.” + +“I’ll show you in the library,” was all Roy’s reply, then recollecting +that the girls would be anxious to hear his report, he hurried out and +down the stairs. + +Eva and Jess were still standing by the newel post. + +“Well?” they asked in a breath. + +“It was only the old clock Rex knocked down. Mr. Keeler has gone up to +bed.” + +“Did you tell Rex?” + +“No, not yet. Here he comes now.” + +Eva went out and showed her brother where to deposit the contents of +the newspaper. Then she brought him back into the library and pointed +out the portrait of Martin Blakesley. + +Rex understood at once what it meant, for he had been looking at the +book. + +“Whew!” he brought out this low whistle and then glanced from one to +the other of his companions. + +“You think it is the same man then?” said Roy. + +“It looks exactly like him, and I suppose it would be as easy for him +to take the name Keeler as any other alias.” + +“But there is a Charles Keeler,” went on Roy, “I didn’t know these men +would dare masquerade around the country as such famous people. They +would be sure to be found out.” + +“What are you going to do about it?” asked Rex. + +It was characteristic of him that, though he had himself invited Keeler +to the house, he was now putting all the responsibility on his brother. + +“Let’s sit down and talk it over calmly,” replied Roy. “I’ve been +thinking the thing over and I can’t see what harm it can do to let Mr. +Keeler stay.” + +“What, a confidence man!” exclaimed Rex and Jess in a breath. + +“He may have reformed,” continued Roy. “He didn’t plan deliberately to +come to this house, nothing he has said or done since he has been here +has made us suspect him of being anything else than what he claimed to +be.” + +“But if he has reformed what would he be going around pretending to be +what he wasn’t for?” interrupted Jess, “You don’t suppose that Martin +Blakesley and Charles Keeler, the author, are one and the same person, +do you?” + +Roy did not answer for a minute. He had plainly not thought of this +side of the matter. + +“Ugh! it makes me creep,” went on Jess, “to feel that a man who has +been in state’s prison twice is in this very house and going to stay +here all night. I’m going to stay up until morning. I think I’ll sit +down here and read the lives of these criminals. It will be an +appropriate occupation.” + +“You girls needn’t stay up at all,” said Rex. “Roy and I will stand +guard.” + +“Oh, I couldn’t sleep if I went to bed,” declared Jess. “I don’t know +as I can ever sleep again so long as we are in this house. Think how he +must know all the ins and outs of it by this time!” + +“How silly you talk, Jess,” interposed Eva. “One would think to hear +you that Mr. Keeler was a common burglar. As Roy says, he didn’t plan +to come here, and like as not he’ll go away in the morning without +having disturbed us in the least.” + +“You’re standing up for him, are you, Eva? Well, I thought his good +looks were making an impression on you.” + +“Jessie, you have no right to talk in that way. I’m not standing up for +him at all. I’m only trying to get you to look at the facts of the case +in a sensible way.” + +“But there’s nothing sensible in inviting a jail bird to the house, and +having him stay all night. It isn’t the sort of thing you can prepare +yourself to bear up under in dignified fashion.” + +“Shall I go up to town and get the constable to come down and arrest +him?” asked Rex. + +“You can’t do that!” returned Roy promptly. “He hasn’t committed any +crime.” + +“But if we wait till he does commit one, it will be like locking the +stable door after the horse has been stolen.” + +“You might go over to the Burtons’, Roy, and get Will to come and stay +with us,” Eva suggested. + +“And rouse them up at this hour of the night? It’s getting on to be +eleven o’clock. And it would be a pretty reason to give, wouldn’t it: +‘If you please, Mr. Burton, we invited a convict to spend the night +with us, and now we’re afraid.’” + +Eva couldn’t resist smiling at Roy’s way of putting it. + +Rex yawned heavily. + +“I’m awfully sleepy,” he said. + +“Yes; and you and Rex were the ones who were to stand guard,” Jess +reminded him promptly. + +“Well, I’m beginning to agree with Eva now,” Rex returned. “I haven’t +an idea that man intends to harm any of us. Perhaps there is some +mistake after all and he isn’t Martin Blakesley, only somebody that +looks like him.” + +“I don’t go to bed on any such uncertainty as that,” declared Jess. + +“What would we do if we stayed up and we heard him coming down stairs +to burglarize the house?” Rex wanted to know. + +“If you and Roy weren’t shaking in your boots too much to take aim you +might bring him to a halt by pointing Syd’s pistol at his head.” + +“I suppose we could ask him to wait first till we ran up to Syd’s +bureau drawer and got it,” retorted Rex with fine irony. + +“Mercy sakes! There he is right in the room with the only weapon we’ve +got in the house!” and Jess looked really terrified now. “Why didn’t +one of you think to take it out?” + +“Why didn’t you think to tell us who Mr. Keeler was before we asked him +to stay all night?” Eva retorted. “You said you knew all the time you +had seen him somewhere before.” + +“The boys had no business to pick up a stranger and bring him to the +house in this way,” Jess replied. “What do you suppose mother will say +when we tell her?” + +“You needn’t tell her,” said Rex. + +“Needn’t tell her!” exclaimed Jess. “When she finds half the silver +gone and Syd’s pistol missing I suppose we can say that the cat carried +them off.” + +“Well, I didn’t pick the fellow up,” affirmed Rex. “It was Roy. He +called to me to come and meet him.” + +“And you invited him to the house,” Roy couldn’t resist adding. + +“Come,” interposed Eva, “stop quarreling over what is past and decide +what we must do in the present. For my part I can’t think we are in any +personal danger. If the man up stairs is the same one described in the +book he has evidently reformed.” + +“But remember what it says about his smooth ways,” interjected Jess. +“That is just where he has made his reputation, by his easy way of +crawling into people’s confidence.” + +“I tell you what to do,” said Roy. “You and Rex, Eva, go up to bed. +Jess and I will stay up all night and stand watch.” + +“But what good will that do you if you haven’t any weapons?” Rex wanted +to know. + +“We can run, any way,” answered Jess. “That will be better than lying +still to be murdered in our beds.” + +After some further discussion the matter was settled in this way. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV +WHAT HAPPENED AT MIDNIGHT + + +When Rex and Eva had gone up stairs, and Jess and Roy were left to +themselves in the parlor, the brother and sister looked at each other +rather soberly for the first few minutes. + +“Are you very sleepy, Roy?” asked Jess presently. + +She sat by the table still, with that book about criminals open before +her, but she had not looked at it for some time now. + +“No, not a bit. Shall I read you something? There’s that book of Mark +Twain’s we haven’t finished yet.” + +“I couldn’t put my mind to listen to anything. I never was so nervous +in my life. And I’m getting worse.” + +“There’s really nothing to be nervous about, Jess. I have no doubt that +Mr. Keeler is in bed sound asleep by this time, with no thought of +burglarizing the house.” + +“I wish I could think so, but I can’t.” + +“Think of something else then. When are we going to leave Marley?” + +“The first of September. The new house is a beauty. You haven’t seen it +yet, have you?” + +“No, and I don’t know as I ever want to.” + +“Oh come, Roy, it is ridiculous your being so set or staying in Marley. +We can come out here in the summer perhaps, although I’d prefer to go +abroad.” + +“It must have been nice to live in Europe for a while as Mr. Keeler +did, you get so well acquainted with the people.” + +“I wonder if they got well acquainted with him,” remarked Jess +significantly. + +“Oh, I forgot,” returned Roy, and then he remembered what Mr. Keeler +had said to him down by the creek about trying to make himself +contented with whatever was for the good of the greatest number. + +It could not be possible that a man who could give such excellent +advice had a record behind him like Martin Blakesley. + +“Then you don’t want me to read to you,” Roy added. “What shall we do +then? What do you say to a game of Authors?” + +“All right. Mr. Keeler isn’t represented, so I guess I can stand it.” + +Roy took the cards from the drawer of the bookcase and they began to +play. But Jess’s thoughts wandered and Roy was obliged to remind her to +take her turn many times. + +Suddenly she held up a finger hushing him to silence. + +“Don’t you hear something?” she asked in a tremulous whisper. + +“Nothing but the crickets outside and the splash of the water over the +dam,” he replied. + +“No, it’s something in the house up stairs. Hear it now; like the +creaking of a board.” + +Roy did hear it this time plainly. + +“It’s Rex or Eva,” he said reassuringly. + +“No, it isn’t. See, it’s nearly midnight. They were asleep long ago. +Oh, Roy, that man may stop on the way down and murder them both.” + +Jess had risen and stood there, staring toward the doorway into the +hall, her eyes filled with terror. + +Roy rose, too. He realized that the noise was not likely to be made by +his brother or sister, and the servant slept in the rear of the house +and always used the back stairs. He had often wondered whether he would +be brave in a time of real danger as fellows in the books he read were. +He did not feel by any means comfortable now. But he was not actually +terrified. + +“I’ll go up and see what it is, Jess,” he said, and started toward the +door. + +But his sister flung herself upon him, the tears starting from her +eyes. + +“Don’t leave me or I shall die,” she moaned. + +She drew him back toward a sofa in the far corner of the room, and held +him tightly by the wrist. + +The noise from above drew nearer. They made it out to be the creaking +of the stairs. + +Jess was trembling frightfully. Roy could almost hear her teeth +chatter. He wished that he could think of something to say to make her +feel less terrified. He was sure if he had been a boy in a book he +could have thought of something. + +He determined to ask Mr. Keeler in the morning what would be the proper +thing under the circumstances. Then he laughed out half hysterically as +he realized that it would hardly be the thing to mention the matter to +Mr. Keeler. + +Jess heard the laugh and it frightened her more than ever. She thought +Roy was more terrified even than she and was losing control of himself. + +Nearer and nearer came the creak of descending footsteps. Roy started +to go to the door. He felt that he could not remain in suspense an +instant longer. + +But Jess held him back. + +“Don’t, Roy,” she whispered. “He will kill you.” + +And at that instant a man’s form passed the doorway. + +It was Mr. Keeler. He had on his trousers, shirt and shoes, but nothing +else. His hair was all rumpled and one hand was stretched out in front +of him as though he had been feeling his way. + +He halted for an instant at the foot of the stairs and turned his face +toward the library. Then Roy saw that his eyes were closed. + +“He’s walking in his sleep,” he whispered to Jess. “I must go and wake +him or he may do himself some damage.” + +“Let him alone. He may go out and then we can lock the door against +him.” + +“Jess, would you be as cruel as that?” + +“Perhaps he isn’t asleep. He may be only shamming.” + +“I’m going to find out at any rate. There, he’s fumbling with the lock. +You’d better take the opportunity to go up stairs.” + +Jess still held on to her brother’s wrist, but now she suffered herself +to be led across the floor to the hall, reaching which, she let go and +sped up stairs. Roy turned at once and laid his hand on the shoulder of +their guest. + +Some way his fears and suspicions of the man had all departed. + +“Mr. Keeler,” he said, in a firm tone. + +The other left off his working with the lock and a tremor ran through +him. + +Roy slipped his hand down till it rested under the other’s elbow. + +“Come into the library and sit down a moment,” he said gently. + +“Where am I? What have I been doing?” + +Roy knew that the man was awake now. + +“You have been walking in your sleep,” he replied. + +“I beg your pardon. Did you dress and come down after me?” + +“Oh, no, I haven’t been to bed yet.” + +Roy flushed as he made this answer, and at this moment the clock on the +mantel chimed out twelve strokes. + +“Are you in the habit of sitting up till midnight?” asked Mr. Keeler. +“I suppose—” + +He paused suddenly. His gaze had fallen on that book of criminals Jess +had left lying open on the table. What appeared to be his own portrait +stared back at him from the corner of the right hand page. + +Roy’s heart almost stood still for a second as he saw that the whole +thing was out. Mr. Keeler dropped into a chair by the table still +keeping his eyes fixed on that picture. + +Finally he raised them and looked at Roy. + +“You have discovered the likeness then?” he said. + +There was a depth of misery in his tone that went straight to the boy’s +heart. + +“Yes,” he said. “My oldest brother is a lawyer, you know. He brought +this book home yesterday.” + +“And you thought I was this man?” went on Mr. Keeler. + +“We didn’t know what else to think,” answered Roy in a low voice. + +“And you were going to sit up all night to make sure that I didn’t run +off with the silver?” + +The smile that accompanied these words was a very sad one. Then the +face grew suddenly grave again and without waiting for Roy to make a +response to his awkward question, Mr. Keeler continued: + +“I don’t blame you for thinking that brother Martin and I were one and +the same person. He is only a year younger than I and people could +never tell us apart when we were boys. I remember we used to help them +out by wearing sleeve buttons, an M on his and a C on mine. + +“We were left orphans when very young, and Mart began to go to the bad +at once. It commenced with robbing birds’ nests and orchards, and ended +with the confidence game for which he was last sent to jail. That is +the reason I use my pen name always. I wonder if you believe what I am +telling you.” + +“Yes, Mr. Keeler, I do,” responded Roy heartily. + +“I am sorry I stayed,” went on the author. “I should not have run the +risk. I had had nobody to vouch for me here, you see. I will go away +now if you say so.” + +“Oh, no, no! I am so sorry it happened. It was only the merest chance +we found out anything about it. It’s all right now.” + +Involuntarily Roy put out his hand. The other took it with a glad light +in his eyes. Then Roy turned out the lamp and they both went up stairs. + +It was many a week before the young people of the Pell family ceased to +talk among themselves over their singular experience with Mr. Charles +Keeler. He left on the nine o’clock express the next morning, and +everybody had been pleasant to him at the breakfast table except Jess, +who did not come down. + +Roy told the true state of the case before he went to bed that night, +and the explanation was very gladly received by both Rex and Eva. + +“It may be so,” Jess replied; “but I’ll take my breakfast after he is +gone.” + +Roy told Sydney about the occurrence, and thought at first, from his +brother’s looks, that he was going to give him a severe rating for what +he had done. A sort of convulsive tremor shook his frame, and he +hastily took out his handkerchief to wipe away the beads of +perspiration that had gathered on his forehead. + +But he uttered no word of reproof; merely said that the boys should be +careful about the friends they made. + +“Don’t you think Mr. Keeler is all right, Syd?” asked Roy. + +“Yes, as it turned out, certainly I do,” was the reply. “But it might +have been otherwise.” + +For his part, Roy was very glad of the meeting. Since he had had that +interview down by the creek he had been much more reconciled to leaving +Marley. + +“What if I had the burden to carry about with me that Mr. Keeler has!” +he often told himself. “The consciousness that my brother was a +scoundrel, a jailbird!” + + + + +CHAPTER XV +DUDLEY HARRINGTON + + +The family moved into their city home early in September. And a +beautiful one it was, with enough ground about it to give windows on +all sides. + +Of course a small army of servants was necessary to the running of such +a dwelling, and Roy, Eva and Jess had many laughable experiences at +first in accustoming themselves to being waited on. But Rex took to +luxury as naturally as a duck to water. + +He seemed to be growing up terribly fast since a fortune had come into +the family. He insisted on having a latch key as soon as they moved to +town, and felt very much aggrieved because his mother would not buy him +a dog cart. + +“But you are too young, my son,” Mrs. Pell said in response to this +request. “Remember you are not yet sixteen.” + +“Well, I shall be next month,” he replied, “and I know perfectly well +how to manage a horse, I’ve been out with Scott so much.” + +He had had Scott and Charlie Minturn to visit him just as soon as they +were settled and took solid satisfaction in entertaining them in the +style to which he had been accustomed at their homes. But they did not +seem to have any better time than they used to do down at “the Pellery” +at Marley. + +In fact they had enjoyed it there because things were different. Now it +was Rex who was different They could not state in just what the +difference lay, but they felt it. And when they had gone Rex realized +that he had not enjoyed their visit as much as he had expected to. + +To be sure, the “solid satisfaction” was there at the thought of having +entertained them as he had long wished to be able to do, but then there +had seemed a constraint which had not existed before. + +The trouble was here: he had relied on externals to please them this +time, and had not exerted himself personally as he had been wont to do. +In fact Rex was not at heart as contented as he had expected to be. + +To be sure, he had now all the clothes he wanted, shoes galore, and +more spending money than any boy of fifteen ought to have, but all the +while he was thinking that he was missing something. And he was not +exactly sure what this was. + +He thought he had discovered one of the things toward the latter part +of September, when the people who occupied the adjoining house to the +Pells returned to town. They were evidently a family of great +wealth—the Harringtons. Rex found what their name was from the +servants. + +There was a young man in the household—Dudley Harrington. He was about +twenty, and affected the sharpest crease to his trousers, the highest +puffs to his neckties, carried his cane with the handle down and was +altogether a dude of the latest type. + +To become acquainted with this splendid youth now grew to be Reginald +Pell’s one absorbing ambition. He had always preferred to associate +with boys older than himself; to be on terms of intimacy with a young +man out of his teens, and who sported a mustache that was far advanced +in the budding stage—that would be a triumph indeed. + +But would he be able to accomplish his purpose? Although he was tall +for his age, Rex could not hope that the object of his admiration would +look upon him as anything else than a schoolboy. But he did not see him +go out with many fellows of his own age. + +He seemed to be the only child. The parents were elderly people, and +the son was a good deal by himself. + +Rex saw him sometimes in his own room, his feet on the table, a +cigarette between his lips, the floor around him strewn with +newspapers. + +“I wonder if he doesn’t ride a wheel,” he asked himself one day. “I’ve +half a mind to ask him to go out with me. We’re neighbors. There can’t +be anything out of the way in my speaking to him.” + +The school which Rex and Roy were to attend did not open till the first +of October, so the boys had a good deal of time on their hands just at +present Roy spent much of it at Marley visiting his friends there; Rex +was thus left to his own devices. On one of these days of Roy’s absence +Rex was riding his wheel in the Park when he passed Dudley Harrington, +also mounted on a silent steed. + +Instinctively almost Rex half bowed. It seemed natural to do so, when +this fellow lived right next door and was so frequently in his +thoughts. He was half alarmed at his temerity, when some one rode up by +his side and said: + +“Fine day for wheeling, isn’t it?” + +It was Harrington. He had circled about and caught up with him. + +Rex was so overwhelmed that he nearly lost his balance. But he +recovered himself in an instant, and his natural repose of manner +asserted itself. + +“Yes, indeed,” he answered. “I was wondering if you had a wheel. Most +fellows have one nowadays.” + +“Oh, this isn’t mine. It’s one I hired. I keep mine at New Haven.” + +“Oh, you’re a Yale man then,” exclaimed Rex, prouder than ever at +having formed this acquaintance. + +“Yes, go back next week,” was the answer. “And glad enough I’ll be, +too. It’s fearfully slow here at this time of year. Nobody back in town +I know. Wouldn’t have been myself, only the governor fell sick and I +didn’t want the mater to come on alone with him.” + +“What are you—senior?” inquired Rex respectfully. + +“Oh, bless you no, only sophomore. By the way, you have just moved into +that house next door, haven’t you?” + +“Yes, about three weeks ago.” + +“Well, there was a stupid lot enough there before you. A set of old +maids, most of ’em. You must be sociable and come in to see a fellow. +We’ve a pool table. You play—look out there!” + +Rex was glad a man in a buggy stopped suddenly in front of him just +then, calling for this diversion in subject. He did not know how to +play pool and did not care to confess the fact just then. + +When they were riding on unhindered again, he begun to talk about Yale +and led the other on to relate several of his first year experiences. +By the time they struck the pavements again they were quite well +acquainted. + +“Let me see—your name’s Pell, isn’t it?” said Harrington, as they +dismounted between the two houses. + +“Yes, and I’m Reginald.” + +Harrington put out his hand. + +“Well, I’m awfully glad to have met you, Pell. I say, come in to-night +and see a fellow, won’t you? That is if you haven’t anything better to +do.” + +Rex privately thought that he couldn’t possibly have this, but he only +said, “I’ll be most happy to come.” + +The friendship thus begun, progressed very rapidly. Rex speedily +learned how to play pool, but of this he said nothing at home. +Harrington seemed to have taken a decided fancy to the fellow who did +not conceal the fact that he was proud to be acquainted with him. + +Rex’s one source of regret was the fact that they were so soon to be +separated. + +“I say, Reggie,” said Harrington suddenly on the day before his +departure, “suppose you come over to New Haven with me. Just on a +visit, I mean. I’ll give you no end of a good time. We’ll stop a night +in New York on the way. Oh, you must come.” + + + + +CHAPTER XVI +REX DETERMINES TO TAKE MATTERS INTO HIS OWN HANDS + + +Rex’s cup of joy was full when Dudley Harrington asked him to go to New +Haven with him. It would be pleasure indeed to go anywhere in company +with that fascinating young gentleman, but to visit a college town in +his company, to be introduced as his friend—this would be bliss indeed, +thought Rex. + +But on top of this realization of how much he wanted to go, came the +fear that he could not obtain permission to accept. It was a +humiliating reminder of his youth, Rex felt, to reflect that he must +ask his mother before coming to any decision. + +“I’d love to go, Harrington,” he said. “I’ll let you know about it in +the morning. That will be time enough, won’t it?” + +“Plenty. I’ll leave on the Limited, at five, I think. Get our dinner on +board and be ready for fun in New York when we get there. I say, why +don’t you decide now, Reggie?” + +“Oh, I guess I can go,” stammered Rex. + +He hated to confess that he must first ask leave. + +“When can I get back?” he asked. + +“Oh, by Saturday, or you can stay over till Monday with me if you will. +We never do much the first of the term, and I’ve got plenty of room in +my quarters.” + +The Pells knew that Rex had formed the acquaintance of “the Harrington +fellow.” They also knew that he was to go to college in a few days, so, +if Mrs. Pell feared any evil influence over Reginald, she consoled +herself with the thought that this would be removed in a very short +time. + +Now when Rex came with the request that he be allowed to go to New +Haven with his new friend, her answer was a prompt and decided “No.” + +“But I’ve as good as told him I’d go, mother,” he pleaded. + +“You had no right to do that,” rejoined Mrs. Pell. “You wouldn’t be in +your element at all in the company of his friends, and of course you +are sure to meet a great many of them.” + +“I’m in my element in his company. He’s had me over there every day +since we got acquainted. Besides, just think, I’ve never been to New +York in my life since I was a baby, and this will be a splendid chance +for me to see it. I can pay all my own expenses, so I needn’t be under +obligations to him. Please, mother; I didn’t go on that trip with the +Bowmans and now after school commences I shan’t have another chance.” + +But Mrs. Pell was firm. She was a woman quick to discern character and +she had seen enough of Dudley Harrington through the windows to +conclude that he was not the sort of person to whom she wished to +intrust an impulsive boy like Rex for two or three days. She chided +herself now for having permitted the intimacy to go as far as it had. + +Rex knew that it was useless to say more, and presently went to his +room. + +Here he threw himself on his sofa and brooded over his troubles. It +seemed to him that he was the most unlucky fellow that ever lived. He +never could have what he wanted. Even the money that he imagined was +going to bring so much happiness failed to keep to the agreement, as he +looked upon it. + +“But just wait till I’m a little older,” he told himself. “I’ll make up +for lost time then.” + +Still, this would not help him out of his present slough of despond. He +thought of how lonesome he should be after Harrington went away the +next day. He could have Scott or Charlie Minturn up to see him, to be +sure, but somehow, since he had known Harrington, these old friends had +not seemed so entertaining to him as they once had. + +“And that trip to New Haven would bridge over the time nicely till +school opens,” he told himself. “I don’t see why mother won’t let me +go.” + +But he knew perfectly well what the reason was. He realized that +Harrington had habits which none of his associates had ever had. But +what of it? + +“I needn’t smoke or drink if I don’t want to,” he argued. “I haven’t +done it yet. Besides, it will do me good to see a little of the world.” + +He rose from the sofa, lighted the gas, and just as he had done that +day when he had heard who was Mr. Tyler’s heir, he collected the money +from his different pockets and counted it up. His allowance was a +liberal one, and he had been saving up to buy a birthday present for +his mother. + +“Seven dollars and forty cents,” he repeated to himself. “I wonder how +much the fare will be.” + +He put on his hat and went down stairs. + +“Where are you going, Rex?” asked his mother, as he passed the group +who were sitting on the front porch, for it was a sultry evening. + +“Only down the street a little way. I’ll be right up,” he replied. + +“I wonder if Harrington’s people ask him where he’s going every step he +takes,” he muttered to himself as he strode off. + +He forgot the five years’ difference in their ages; thought only of the +surveillance under which he chafed. + +He kept on till he reached the hotels, and entering one of them, he +hunted around till he found a railway guide. + +A short consultation of this apprized him of the fact that he had +enough to pay his fare to New Haven and back, but very little more. + +“I suppose I shall have no expense while there,” he mused, “being +Harrington’s guest. I think I may risk it, and if I get stuck he’ll +help me out, though I’d hate to ask him.” + +For Rex had formed a resolution. He had determined to go on the coveted +trip without his mother’s consent. He could leave a note explaining +where he was. + +It would not be half as terrible a thing, he argued, as for a fellow to +run away from home and not mean to come back. There would be a great +row raised about it, he supposed, but meanwhile he would have had a +good time and the worst that they would do to him would be to send him +away to boarding school, and he shouldn’t mind that very much. + +He thought all this out on his way back from the hotel. To be sure, he +would have to use the money he had been saving up for his mother’s +present, but then he was in no mood to give her anything now. + +He felt some twinges as his thoughts touched on this point, but at that +moment some one took his stand in front of him and exclaimed: +“Surrender or give the countersign.” + +It was Harrington. + +“Yale,” answered Rex promptly. + +“You’ve decided to go, then,” said Harrington. turning around to walk +back with him. “That’s right. We’ll have oceans of fun. We’ll meet +Stout and Cheever in New York, and we can just paint the town, I tell +you.” + +Rex was not certain that he would do any town painting. He would be +quite content to be in Harrington’s company. + +“I can go if it doesn’t cost too much,” he replied, thinking it best to +be frank on that point on the start. “You see, my allowance isn’t a big +one as yet, and I don’t dare ask for any more.” + +“Oh, ten dollars will squeeze through easy enough.” + +Harrington said this as though ten dollars was no harder to get than +ten cents. Rex’s heart sank. Where was he to obtain the two dollars and +forty cents he still lacked? + +“Won’t you come in?” Harrington asked, as Rex stopped in front of the +Pells’. + +“No; not to-night, I’ll meet you at the station to-morrow at a quarter +to five.” + +“What’s the matter with my calling here for you and our going up +together?” + +“Oh, I’ll have to go down town first and start from there.” Rex felt +that this was a very lame excuse. He was not accustomed to telling +untruths. + +But Harrington seemed not to notice. + +“All right, just as you say,” he replied. “But I’ll see you in the +morning any way.” + +“Good night,” Rex called after him. + +He felt that his not going home with Harrington was a good stroke of +policy. He decided to add another to it by sitting with the family a +while before he went up to his room. + +“Scott wanted to know if you can’t come down and see him to-morrow, +Rex,” began Roy, as his brother seated himself on the top step and +began fanning himself with his hat. “He told me to tell you to come +down on the 5:30 prepared to stay all night.” + +Rex’s heart gave a sudden leap. Circumstances seemed to favor his plan. +If he only had three dollars more now! + +“I guess I’ll go” he said. “Are you going, Roy?” + +“No, I’m going to that ratification meeting with Syd to-morrow night, +you know. If you don’t go down to Marley, Rex, you’d better come with +us. There are to be some fine speeches.” + +“Perhaps I will,” responded Rex. + +He was turning over in his mind how he was going to get that money. The +matter of his getting off to the station was simple enough now. He +could even go with Harrington without exciting suspicion. It would be +supposed he was bound for Marley. + +What a web of deceit he was planning to wind about himself. But he +forcibly put this thought out of his mind whenever it obtruded itself. +He would have time enough to repent when he came back. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII +REX ARRIVES IN NEW YORK + + +“I say, Roy, can you lend me three dollars?” + +Rex had crossed the hall to his brother’s room some time after the +family had come up stairs. + +“Why, where’s all your money gone to, Rex? I thought you were saving up +to get mother a present.” + +“So I was, but—but I’ve bought it and now I haven’t got enough left to +take me down to Marley to-morrow night. Just let me have three dollars. +I’ll pay you back when I get my next allowance on Monday,” + +“You’ve bought mother’s present!” exclaimed Roy. “What did you get? Let +me see it,” + +“No, I want to keep it a secret till I give it to her,” replied Rex +quickly. “Now about that three dollars, can you let me have it, old +fellow?” + +“Certainly I can, but be sure to give it back to me Monday, as I +haven’t enough to get the present I have set my heart on. I’ll—but +there, if you won’t tell about yours, I shan’t say anything about mine. +Then we’ll have a grand surprise party all around on the third.” + +Roy stepped to his dressing case and took out a two dollar and a one +dollar bill, which he handed to Rex. + +“Thanks, ever so much,” murmured the latter. “Good night,” and he +hurried back to his own room. + +He had never felt so mean in his life. Not only had he just obtained +money under false pretenses, but he had told two or three falsehoods of +the most unblushing description. + +Roy’s very readiness to oblige him added to his weight of remorse. + +He sat down on the edge of the bed and began to tuck the money away in +his pocket book. Was he really a criminal? he asked himself. + +How horrified they had all been when they thought Mr. Charles Keeler +had been an inmate of jails. Was it any worse to have committed a crime +and have been punished for it, than to commit the crime and not be +found out? + +For a moment or two he was—shall I call it tempted?—to go back to his +brother’s room, return the three dollars and confess the whole thing. +Then he thought of New York, of his induction to a college town, of his +promise to Harrington to meet him at the station. + +“No; I must go now,” he reflected. “I can call it sowing my wild oats,” +and he undressed as quickly as possible and got into bed, as if fearful +that his repentant tendencies would conquer in spite of him. + +He was very quiet the next day. About ten o’clock Harrington came in to +see him. It was the first time he had ever been to the house. Rex had +not asked him, thinking he had no special attractions to offer him. + +Mrs. Pell and the girls were out shopping. Roy was down at the office +with Syd. Rex asked Harrington if he would like to come up in his room. + +“Of course I would. A fellow’s generally curious about the inside of a +house when he’s been looking on the outside of it half the days of his +life.” + +So Rex took him up stairs. He admired the “den,” as he called it, +immensely. + +“Wait till you see mine at Yale,” he added, as he struck a match to +light his inveterate cigarette. “I don’t do much fixing up at home +here, I’m here so little. By the way, you don’t mind me smoking, do +you?” + +“Oh, no,” replied Rex faintly. + +Nevertheless, he was wondering what his mother would say if the odor +still lingered when she came. Sydney did not smoke at all, and the +entire family abominated cigarettes. + +Mrs. Pell did come home shortly after Harrington had taken his +departure. She came up to the third floor to put away some flannels she +had bought for the boys. + +“Reginald,” she said, as soon as she entered the room, “you have been +smoking.” + +Rex was reading by the window, and he turned around in startled +disquiet. + +“No, I haven’t, mother,” he replied quickly. + +“Where does that smell of cigarette smoke come from, then?” and Mrs. +Pell coughed and then came up close to look her son in the eye. + +“Dudley Harrington has been here,” he replied. “He was smoking.” + +“You are sure you were not smoking with him?” went on Mrs. Pell, adding +with a sudden bending down over him, “Kiss me.” + +Rex complied, glad indeed that this time, at any rate, there was +nothing he wished to conceal. + +“Forgive me for doubting you, Reggie,” said his mother, as she lingered +an instant to stroke the hair back from his forehead. + +Once more Rex weakened in his purpose, if one can be said to weaken +when he is really stronger for the moment to resist an impulse for +evil. But then he reflected that now he had the money and the +opportunity of getting off to the station without being questioned. The +facts seemed to will that he should go. + +And he went, stopping for Harrington at half past four. When they +reached the station he found that he had to pay a dollar extra for the +privilege of riding over to New York in the Chicago Limited. + +But it was very select to travel on such a train, and the dinner that +he and Harrington ate en route was one long to be remembered. + +In fact there were so many new and novel sensations and impressions +received from this first stage of his trip, that Rex was surprised he +did not derive more solid enjoyment from it. + +It was impossible for him to keep out of his mind, however, the fact +that he was now supposed to be at Marley with Scott Bowman. He had come +away without leaving behind him the note he had at first planned to +write. + +“You must come to Yale sure, Reggie,” Harrington told him. “Can’t you +get ready to enter next fall? I’ll be a junior then, and can look out +for you, you know.” + +“I wish I could,” returned Rex, rather more soberly than the nature of +the subject seemed to warrant. + +He was thinking that it would be so much pleasanter to go to New Haven +legitimately than in his present stolen fashion. + +When they arrived at New York, Harrington said he would go at once to +the hotel where he was to meet some of “the boys.” Rex wondered whether +they were going to stop at this hotel over night, and if to, how much +it would cost. But he decided he would not ask, but wait and find out. + +It was nearly eight when Harrington sent up his card to J. Ashley Stout +in one of the plainer looking hotels on upper Broadway. Word came back +that Mr. Stout was in his room on the fifth floor and would be glad to +have Mr. Harrington come up. + +“Come on, Reggie,” said the Philadelphian. + +Rex was not sure whether he liked Harrington to call him Reggie. +Sometimes it seemed to place him on a more familiar footing with the +collegian, and at other times he had a suspicion that the name was +employed merely to recall to the younger the fact of the difference in +their ages. + +Mr. Stout proved to be a young man with a red face, a very unpleasant +complexion, and an abnormally weak voice. He had neither coat, vest nor +collar on, and his eyes looked as if the bell boy’s knock had awakened +him from a sound sleep. + +“Glad to see you, Harri, old boy,” he said, shaking Harrington +vigorously by the hand. “Excuse appearances. Was just taking a snooze +to prepare for the evening.” + +“No apologies, Jack. Let me introduce my friend, Reginald Pell. He’s a +neighbor of mine at home. He’s going up to Yale with me to see if he +likes it well enough to be one of us next year.” + +“Proud to know any friend of Harri’s, I’m sure,” and Mr. Stout gave Rex +a hand that was so disagreeably clammy that the younger lad could +scarcely resist the impulse to take out his handkerchief and wipe off +the touch of it. + +From the conversation that ensued he ascertained that Stout came from +somewhere up in New York State and that for some reason or other he +appeared to be quite a favorite with his classmates. One or two others +were expected in the course of the evening, and the hope that they +might go to the theater was now quenched in Rex’s breast. + +Harrington and Stout talked volubly of things in which he was not the +least interested—other college men. New Haven girls, fraternity +affairs, and the like. Rex sat there listening, trying to look as if he +were having a good time, but failing signally. However, this made no +difference, as neither Harrington nor Stout paid any attention to him. + +Presently Stout began to complete his dressing, talking all the while. +Although he was not angry, he seemed to find it necessary to interlard +his conversation with some very strong and unpleasant sounding +expressions, and once or twice Harrington followed his example. + +In fact the latter did not appear to be the same fellow here in New +York that he was at home. Once in a while he looked at Rex and smiled +as if mutely reminding the latter that he owed the good time he was +having to him. But Rex found it harder and harder to smile back, and he +welcomed a knock that by and by came at the door as signalizing a. +change of some sort. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII +REX SEES A HORRIBLE SPECTACLE + + +Three new fellows followed the knock into the room. They were noisily +greeted by Stout and Harrington. In the confusion it was some time +before Rex was introduced. + +Tom Cheever was a tall youth, continually feeling of his upper lip as +if to see if his mustache had arrived; Dan Tilford had a narrow face, +pallid from much cigarette smoking, and an eye that never seemed fixed +on any object he gazed at; Harry Atkins was a handsome fellow of +eighteen, who seemed of quieter temperament than the others. + +Stout gave an order to the boy who had shown the last callers up, and +the lad presently appeared staggering under a big bowl of what Stout +declared was the “rummest punch” New York could brew. + +“Help yourselves, fellows!” he cried. “Remember that the last night of +vacation only comes once a year.” + +The room was already filled with cigarette smoke. Two or three of these +cigarettes had been offered to Rex, but he had declined with a +vacillating “Not now, thank you.” + +When the punch was passed around he took the glass that was handed to +him, but only pretended to drink. He did not care for liquor; he knew +that it would give him a headache. He was having a terribly stupid time +as it was. It was not worth while to aggravate it by the addition of +physical suffering. + +He was appalled at the swiftness with which the others tossed off the +drink. It seemed scarcely five minutes before Stout was calling out: + +“Fill ’em up again, men! Here’s to the coming year. May none of us be +plucked and ponies be plentiful.” + +He took up glass after glass and refilled it. Rex saw what was coming +and tried to be prepared for it. + +“Why, Pell!” exclaimed the hospitable host, “you haven’t drunk a drop. +What does this mean?” + +“I don’t drink, thank you,” stammered Rex, conscious that he ought to +look the other straight in the eye as he made this response, but +dropping his handkerchief so that he might have an excuse to stoop down +and pick it up instead. + +“Oh, yes you do, when you are among gentlemen like us, Reggie.” +Harrington came forward hastily to say this. + +The others held their glasses half way to their lips and watched for +the outcome with interest. + +If Rex were the hero of this tale it would doubtless be my pleasant +duty to record the fact that he lifted the glass from the table, poured +the contents into the bowl, and said that he could not go back on his +principles. + +But Rex unfortunately is not of the stuff of which heroes are made. He +felt that he would rather endure a headache than the jeers of those +five fellows. + +“Of course,” he said feebly, and drank off the glassful at one draft. + +“And now for another,” said Stout, promptly filling it up again. + +Rex had never signed the pledge, but he knew that his mother did not +want him to touch liquor. And it had been no deprivation for him to +refrain, as he did not like it. What he had just drunk burnt his throat +like fire. It seemed as if he could not possibly swallow any more. + +His misery showed itself in his face. Atkins, who was standing just +opposite on the other side of the table on which the punch bowl had +been placed, saw it. + +“I say, Pell,” he called out softly, “come here a minute.” + +He stepped over to the open window, which looked out on an airshaft. +Wondering what he wanted, Rex followed him. + +The others were busy with the punch. + +“You don’t want that, I know,” whispered Atkins. “I don’t want any more +either. Look here.” + +As he spoke, he dexterously emptied his glass out of the window. Rex +was quick to follow his example. + +“Those fellows don’t know when they’ve had enough,” he said, “and +somebody ought to keep a level head on his shoulders to look out for +them.” + +Rex’s heart sank within him. And it was for this that he had spent the +money he had been saving for his mother’s birthday gift! for this he +had deceived this mother! for this told those falsehoods to Roy! + +“Are you fellows ready for another round?” called out Stout, looking +over at them. “Slip up to the captain’s office and get a settler.” + +His voice already began to sound thick. + +“We must go and pretend to join them,” Atkins whispered. + +So glasses were filled for the third time, and on this occasion Atkins +retired with Rex to the other side of the room, and watching his +opportunity, poured his punch into the water pitcher. Rex, in trying to +do likewise, let slip the glass, and it fell with a crash into the +basin. + +A roar of laughter greeted the incident. + +“Good for you, Pell,” cried Tom Cheever. “Trying to infuse a little +life into the party. That’s right, my boy, that’s right.” + +The fellow came over toward Rex, walking a little unsteadily, and with +such a leer in his eye that Rex shrank back against the wall. + +At that moment Harrington came up and put his arm around Rex’s neck. + +“I always said that Reggie Pell was a gentleman,” he mumbled. “Now you +can see it for yourselves.” + +“And his clothes fit him,” added Dan Tilford, as a special mark of +approval. + +“Oh, they imagine they’re having no end of sport,” whispered Atkins. +“Look at Harrington. He’s half seas over, too.” + +He was so far over, indeed, that he was very ill for a time. It was a +fearful scene. + +“Here, Pell,” Atkins called to him from the bed where he had gone to +look after Cheever. “See what you can do for your friend.” + +And Rex went over to Harrington and tried to pilot him to a seat. Then +he held the other’s head and shut his eyes, while he wondered if there +was ever such a donkey on the face of the earth as he, Reginald Pell, +to do all that he had done for this. + +If it hadn’t been close on to midnight he would have gone home there +and then. But now Harrington was well nigh helpless, and Rex knew +nothing about New York. Where was he going to sleep that night? +Harrington was in no condition to have questions put to him now. + +A fixed look came over Rex’s face. + +“I must go now,” he said, looking around for his hat and valise. + +“What, you’re not going off and leave Harrington, are you?” asked +Atkins. + +“I can’t do anything more for him and I must get out of this place. +Perhaps I’ll call in the morning to see how he is. Good night. I’m much +obliged to you.” + +“Well, I suppose you are better off out of here, but aren’t you going +to hire a room in the hotel?” + +“No, I want to get as far away from the place as possible.” + +Rex noticed that Stout was looking around at him. He shut the door +quickly and hurried off. He breathed a great sigh of relief when he +reached the open air. + +He turned down a side street to collect his thoughts before deciding +what to do. He wandered till he reached the middle of the block, then, +finding his valise heavy, he set it down on the sidewalk to rest a +minute. + +It was after midnight and very quiet. Suddenly he felt something hit +him in the face, and then for a minute or two all was a blank to him. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX +A MEMORABLE NIGHT + + +When Rex came to his senses again he found himself leaning against a +brown stone stoop. His head felt very queer. + +“I wonder if it can be the effect of that glass of punch I drank?” he +asked himself. + +Then he glanced down at the sidewalk and saw that his valise—a handsome +new one—was missing. A terrible fear came to him. + +He put his hand to the breast pocket of his coat. Yes, it was true. He +had been assaulted and robbed in the street. + +His money, his return ticket to Philadelphia, were gone, to say nothing +of his satchel and the clothes that were in it. He looked helplessly up +and down the street. + +All was quiet as it had been before. A man was coming toward him on the +other side of the way. But that individual could have had nothing to do +with robbing him. + +No, the thief had made his escape long since, and it was hopeless to +try to overtake him. + +Rex had one thing with which to console himself. His watch—a silver one +Syd had recently given him—had not been taken. He thrust his hands into +his trousers pockets. + +Yes, there was some loose change there. He took it out and anxiously +counted it under a lamp. There were seventy-three cents all told. + +And now the question arose, What was he to do? For one instant the +expedient of returning to the hotel and throwing himself on the good +will of those he had left there suggested itself to him. But only for +an instant. + +The recollection of the scene he had quitted came back with all its +vividness. No, he would not go back there. + +He deserved all that had befallen him. He had been a fool ever to take +up with Harrington. The fellow had only encouraged him because it +flattered his vanity to be looked up to the way Rex had looked up to +the collegian. + +But he had no time now for self reproaches. He must decide what he +should do. + +He looked at his watch. It was ten minutes to one. He did not remember +to have been up so late in his life. But he did not feel sleepy. He was +far too excited for that. + +“If I could only get back to Philadelphia,” was his thought. + +He knew that the single fare was two dollars and a half. What if he +bought a ticket to a place as far as his seventy-three cents would +carry him? He would be that much nearer home at any rate. + +But there were no trains at this time of night, What should he do with +himself in the meantime? To pay for a night’s lodging would only still +further deplete his scanty stock of cash. + +Poor Rex felt as destitute, as desolate as any waif in all that great +city. He had been cared for all his life, and now that he was suddenly +thrown upon his own resources, he felt helpless, like a rudderless bark +on a tossing sea. + +For all he was much more ready to express an opinion than Roy, he had +not half the push and energy of the latter, who, although quieter, was +nevertheless the more determined character of the two. + +Rex walked on now rapidly till he reached the lighted avenue. He had +had all the experience he wanted of lingering in the side street. He +halted on the corner and looked up and down in search of an Elevated +Railroad station. He thought he had better get down to where the train +started, so that he might be ready to take the first one. + +The idea of telegraphing home had already occurred to him, but he +dismissed it at once. + +“No,” he said, “I’ve done enough harm as it is. Some one would have to +come on for me, and mother would worry. They’ll think now till noon +to-morrow, and perhaps later, that I’m with Scott. Perhaps I can even +get back before they know I haven’t been there.” + +If he only had his wheel! He had no clear idea of just how far the two +cities were apart. He only knew that it hadn’t taken him very long to +come over in the Chicago Limited. + +He found the station of the Elevated, and after waiting a long time he +boarded a train. The people scattered through the cars were nearly all +asleep. Rex dropped off himself almost as soon as he sank into a seat. +He was utterly worn out. + +The next thing of which he was conscious was that the train was at a +standstill and that the guard was shaking him, with the words: + +“Here, wake up, young man. We’re at the Battery. The train doesn’t go +any farther.” + +Rex rubbed his eyes. It took him an instant or two to realize where he +was. + +The guard was not rough with him. + +“Where do you want to go?” he asked. + +“To the Pennsylvania station,” answered Rex. + +“Then you’ve come too far. You ought to have got off at Cortlandt +Street.” + +“Is it too far to walk back?” asked Rex, mindful of his small supply of +money. + +“About three stations. You can keep along the river. It’ll be nearer +that way.” + +“Thank you,” returned Rex. He wasn’t in a hurry. He might as well walk. +But he was terribly sleepy, and when he got to the foot of the +stairway, he became rather confused. + +He heard the water washing against the sea wall. He walked on in the +direction of the sound and found himself standing at the very end of +Manhattan Island looking toward the bay. + +It was very quiet except for the light splash of the waves and the soft +sound of escaping steam from an engine overhead. Rex was not certain in +which direction he ought to go to reach the ferry. There seemed to be +water on both sides of him. + +There was nobody around of whom to inquire except a tramp or two asleep +on one of the benches, and he did not wish to go near them. He turned +away from the river and walked off through Battery Park till he saw a +policeman. + +The latter directed him how to go, looking at him pretty sharply. Rex +hurried off, but presently stopped under a lamp post to glance at his +watch. It was a quarter to two. There was no need to hurry. + +But he was afraid to walk slow. It was very quiet along the water front +at this time of night. He did not want to be “held up” again and lose +his watch and what little money he had left. + +Here was a man coming toward him now. But he was drunk. Rex was not +afraid of him. He was only filled with a shame that sent the color to +his cheeks. + +Why was Dudley Harrington any better than this reeling sailor? And +Harrington had been his ideal. + +He reached the ferry just as a boat went out. He fell asleep while +waiting for the next one. He was awakened by one of the attendants. The +company evidently did not intend to allow the ferry rooms to be turned +into a free lodging house. + +The ticket office was not open on the New York side, so Rex just paid +his ferriage. On reaching Jersey City he found that there was to be no +train till 6:20 a. m. + +He could not sleep in the waiting room. He walked out in the streets of +the city a little distance, but was so tired he could scarcely drag one +foot after the other. He was so sleepy, too, that his eyes kept closing +every minute. + +Then he was afraid of meeting a footpad. He did not know where to go. +To hire a room at a hotel would take all his money. And yet he could +not walk the streets all night. + +Ah, he was being well punished for all his sins! And where had been the +“good time” for which he had been willing to commit them? + +He thought of Roy asleep in his comfortable bed at home. When should he +(Rex) ever be able to feel as cosy in mind as this twin brother of his +must? For even if he did succeed in getting home without something +terrible befalling him, there remained his confession to make. + +For he must tell everything. He had made up his mind to that. + +But this was in the future. Meantime the present must be provided for. +He turned and walked back to the ferry. + +If he could only lie down somewhere, he thought. + +There was a boat just starting out. He paid his three cents and went +aboard. He fell asleep almost as soon as he touched the seat. A man +came through when they reached New York, woke him up and made him get +off. + +But he was reckless now. He walked out to the street, but immediately +turned about again, paid another ferriage and walked on the boat, where +he instantly fell asleep once more. + +And he kept this up till half-past five, when it began to grow light. +Then he went ashore to the station in Jersey City and bought some +fruit, which he ate for his breakfast. + +By that time the ticket office was open and he went up to the agent and +asked how far he could ride for fifty cents. + +The man looked at him closely for a minute. + +“Which way?” he inquired then. + +“I want to go to Philadelphia,” Rex answered frankly. All his pride had +gone now. “I’ve only got fifty cents to spend on the ride, though. I +want to get as close to it as I can.” + +The agent named a town and passed out a ticket. + +When the cars were opened Rex lost no time in settling himself in a +seat. He put his ticket in his hat and went to sleep at once. + +The result was that he was carried past his stopping place, and the +station at which he was set off was a few miles nearer Philadelphia +than he had hoped to get. But the brakeman told him that the Quaker +City was still fifty miles away. + + + + +CHAPTER XX +THE CRISIS + + +“Fifty miles!” + +Rex repeated these words to himself as he stood on the platform of the +station and looked after the swiftly vanishing cars. + +How soon that train would cover them! It seemed such a simple thing to +stay on board and be carried there, so cruel to be left behind simply +for the lack of a little more money. + +It was still quite early in the morning. People were coming down to +take the train to the city. They had all been in their beds and had a +good night’s sleep doubtless. They were much better fitted for a long +tramp than was he, who had not been to bed at all. + +But he must set off at once. He asked the baggage man to tell him the +road to Philadelphia. + +“Sure, there it is, in front of you,” replied the other, pointing to +the gleaming steel rails. + +“No, no; I mean the carriage road,” returned Rex. + +The man looked surprised, but gave him directions how to find it, and +presently Rex was tramping down its dusty length. + +“But I can never get there by to-night, nor by to-morrow night either,” +he kept saying to himself. “And I shall have to eat, and my money will +not hold out till then.” + +Again he thought of telegraphing—this time to Sydney. But where should +he stay while he was waiting for the answer? Then he remembered how ill +Syd still looked, and he recalled the doctor’s inquiry that afternoon +in the office as to whether he had had a shock. + +No; he must leave telegraphing as the very last resort of all. + +He trudged on, and presently saw a tramp coming towards him. + +“Good morning,” said the fellow, halting where he came up. “What time +is it, boss?” + +Rex had just looked at his watch, so without taking it out he told the +time. + +The man took a step closer to him, but just then a cloud of dust +appeared in the road, and a buggy came into view. The tramp moved on +without a word. + +This incident did not tend to make Rex any more comfortable in mind. +And now his body was beginning to rebel. + +His stomach felt light, his heart heavy, and his limbs appeared to be +weighted with lead. Coming to a spot where trees grew by the roadside +he halted and stretched himself on the grass to rest. + +He was no longer sleepy, but so tired. He felt that he was going to be +ill. + +The thought terrified him. Sick out here on the highway, only a few +cents in his pockets, and not a friend anywhere about! + +It was growing hot and he was getting hungry. His breakfast had been a +very light one. The last regular meal he had eaten was on the Chicago +Limited. How long ago that seemed now! + +He took out his money and counted it over. There was but sixteen cents +left. He felt that he could eat that much worth for his very next meal. + +There seemed to be no way out of it but to telegraph home, and he had +better do it, he decided, before he was too ill to attend to it. + +But there was no place now from which to send a message. He must keep +on till he came to the next town. + +He rose to his feet and had taken but a few steps when some one came up +from behind and touched him on the shoulder. + +He turned quickly, in fear of another tramp. It was a tramp truly, but +a mere boy, not much older than himself. He was very pale and sickly +looking, his clothes were torn in two or three places and his shoes +were worn clear down to the uppers. + +He did not speak. He stood there looking at Rex, amazement depicted in +his gaze. + +“I—I made a mistake,” he stammered out at last “I thought you were one +of us. I saw you lying down there under the tree. Your shoes were all +dusty. I knew you’d been tramping.” + +But Rex did not feel astonished. He felt so ill and faint that his head +swam, and he began to totter. + +“I’ll have to lie down again, I guess,” he said weakly. + +He had just time to move aside out of the dust when he fell like a log. + +“What’s the matter? Are you sick?” + +The shabby looking youth had dropped to one knee beside Rex and was +looking down at him with pitying eyes. + +“Yes,” was all Rex had strength to murmur. + +Then he closed his eyes and did not care what became of him. The +strange lad let his other knee sink to the earth and remained in this +attitude for several minutes, gazing earnestly at Rex. + +“Poor chap,” he muttered. “I can’t make out what he’s doing tramping +the country this way. He don’t look poor. What’ll I do with him?” + +The first thing to be done, evidently, was to get him out of the sun, +which beat down on the spot where he had fallen with fierce intensity. + +The stranger bent over, and exerting all his strength lifted Rex in his +arms and bore him back along the road to the grassy strip under the +trees where he had recently been lying. + +Rex opened his eyes for an instant when he felt himself raised from the +ground. Then, when he saw the pity in the plain face looking down into +his, he closed them again with a little sigh. + +And now once more the strange youth sat contemplating the boy, who +seemed to be a tramper like himself, but who, in every other respect, +was so vastly different. + +He noted the fine, delicately chiseled features, the smallness of his +feet, the whiteness and smoothness of his hands. He had seen boys like +this before, but he had never before touched one, never had one of them +dependent on him, as it were, as this fellow appeared to be now. + +Miles Harding did not know just what to do with the responsibility. And +yet he was happy at having it; he felt glad that he had been able to do +that little thing of carrying the boy from the sun into the shade. + +It was not often that he was able to do anything for anybody. He was +always in need of having something done for himself. + +He tried to think of something else he might do. He noticed that Rex’s +head did not seem to rest very comfortably. + +He took off his coat and started to make a roll of it for a pillow. But +he stopped when he had it half finished. + +“Maybe he wouldn’t like that,” he muttered, looking down at the garment +as he unrolled it again. + +It had been made for a man. There were rents in two places and +plentiful sprinklings of grease spots. + +The day was growing steadily warmer. Even under the tree one felt the +heat. + +“He wouldn’t catch cold without his own,” Miles murmured, and he bent +over Rex and lifted him gently while he tried to take off his coat. + +Rex opened his eyes and looked at him again as if in protest. + +“I was going to make a pillow for you out of your coat,” Miles +explained. “You don’t feel able to walk till we get to a house, do +you?” + +Rex slowly shook his head. He was in that condition which sometimes +comes to those in seasickness, when he didn’t care whether he lived or +died. + +“Have you got pain?” went on Miles. + +“Only when I walk,” answered Rex; then, as if talking, too, hurt him, +he closed his eyes and sank back upon the pillow the other made for him +out of his coat. + +Meantime clouds had been gathering in the west. Miles had been too much +occupied with his unexpected charge to notice them. But now he looked +up and saw the threatening aspect of the heavens with troubled +countenance. + +He rose to his feet and strode out into the middle of the road, looking +first in one direction, then the other. + +His eye brightened as he saw a buggy coming from the westward. + +He watched impatiently, till it came up, and then saw that it contained +two men. He held up his hand as a signal for them to stop. But the +driver, who had been talking earnestly with his companion, cut the +horse with his whip, shook his head and drove on. + +Miles remained there, standing in the road, a hopeless droop coming +over his whole figure. + +“They think I want to beg of them, I suppose,” he told himself. “What +shall I do?” + +Already the sun had gone under the cloud masses and the air was much +cooler. The wind rose and began to rustle the leaves. + +Quite a distance off down the road, in the direction whence the buggy +had come, the red tops of two chimneys could be seen peeping above the +trees. + +“He can’t stay here in the rain,” Miles muttered. “I must try to get +him to that house.” + +He turned to Rex again. He took the coat from under his head and made +him put it on. + +“It’s going to storm,” he said, “I’m going to carry you to that house.” + +“You can’t,” was all Rex had strength to say. + +“I’m going to try,” returned Miles, and he gathered Rex up in his arms +just as the wind came sweeping down upon them in a gust that was +ominous of that which was to follow. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI +MILES HARDING + + +It was physically impossible for Miles Harding to carry Rex very far +without stopping to rest. The life of a tramp, with insufficient +nourishment, was not calculated to strengthen the long arms which could +easily wrap themselves about the other boy, but had little power to +retain him in their embrace. + +But Miles fought to do his best. He only consented to stop and deposit +his burden on the grass when he felt that, did he not do so, he would +be compelled to drop it. + +Then, after resting a moment or two, he would be off again. + +“Don’t; you will strain yourself,” Rex whispered once, protestingly. + +But Miles’s only answer was, “I must. You can’t be out here in the +storm.” + +In this way they progressed until they had nearly reached the house. +Then the rain began to come down in torrents. + +Miles made a last desperate effort. Picking Rex up, he ran the +intervening distance, although it was twice as far as he usually bore +his burden without stopping. + +He dashed in at the gate and then, so exhausted was he that he sank +down beside Rex when he deposited the latter on the floor of the +piazza. He lay there breathing hard, while the rain came down in +sheets. + +He had not even strength to turn his head when he heard the screen door +behind him open and some one come out. + +“Who—who are you and what do you want?” + +The question was put by a very sweet girlish voice. And the girl who +put it was herself exceedingly pretty. + +She had opened the door that led out from the wide, breezy hall, and +stepped upon the piazza. She now looked down upon the two boys lying +there with undisguised astonishment. + +Then she came around so that Miles could see her. + +“I beg your pardon, miss,” he said, stopping between every three or +four words to take breath; “I wanted to get—him out of the—rain. This +was the nearest—house. I hope you don’t mind.” + +“Is he ill?” she asked. + +Rex’s face was turned partly towards her. It was very pale now, but +Florence Raynor was thinking also how very handsome it was and in what +contrast to that of the fellow who had answered her. + +“Yes, he’s very sick, I’m afraid,” replied Miles. + +“Is he your brother?” went on Florence. + +“Oh, no; just—a friend.” + +Miles hesitated before he added the last word; then when he had said it +a look of pride came into his eyes for an instant. + +“I’ll call mother,” said the girl, and she hurried off to the kitchen, +where Mrs. Raynor was making cake. + +“Oh, mama,” she exclaimed, “the noise I heard was two tramps who had +come in on our piazza out of the rain. At least one of them is a tramp, +and the other is the nicest looking boy, about the age of our Bert. +He’s sick and just as pale! But he’s dressed very well, and I can’t +understand how they came to be together. Won’t you come out and see +them, please?” + +Mrs. Raynor scraped the dough from her lingers and followed her +daughter to the front porch. Miles had gone over to take Rex’s head on +his knee and was softly stroking the hair back from the damp forehead. + +“Oh, yes; the poor fellow is very ill,” Mrs. Raynor exclaimed as soon +as she saw him. + +She scarcely gave a glance at Miles. She stood for one instant as if +thinking deeply. Then with a resolved tone, she turned to Harding. + +“Can you help me get him up stairs and in bed?” she asked. + +“I guess so, ma’am,” Miles replied. “I’ve got my breath back now. I +have to carry him, you know. You’re awfully good to take him in this +way.” + +“One must be terribly hard hearted to turn away one in his condition. +Come.” + +Between them they lifted Rex and bore him into the house and up the +broad, easy stairs to a little room at the head of them. + +“We must get these wet clothes off at once,” said Mrs. Raynor, and +Miles stayed there to help her. + +They put him to bed, and then the good lady declared that they ought to +have a doctor. + +“Let me go for one,” Miles exclaimed. “I want to do something for him.” + +Mrs. Raynor, now that Rex no longer absorbed her entire attention, +turned her gaze on his companion. Miles colored beneath it. + +“Perhaps you don’t think I’m fit to go?” he said slowly. + +It was Mrs. Raynor’s turn to color now. She saw that this fellow, so +shabbily dressed, was of very sensitive nature. A happy way of turning +the thing off occurred to her. + +“You are wet, too,” she said. “And it is raining still. I will have the +man from the barn go.” + +She hurried off down stairs to call him. Miles lingered, looking toward +the bed, where lay the fellow who had attracted him so strongly. + +“I s’pose they don’t want me hanging around here any longer,” he mused. +“They can do everything for him there is to be done. But I don’t want +to leave him.” + +Miles Harding’s nature was a singular one for a boy brought up as he +had been. Thrown upon his own resources when he was hardly more than +twelve, he had received some pretty hard knocks from the world. But the +hardness of these had not cultivated, a like hardness in him whom they +struck. + +His temperament had always been a sympathetic one. He had many times +received harsh treatment that would never have come to him, by seeking +to protect some persecuted cat or dog. + +Thus far the recipient of his kindly ministrations had always been some +dumb animal. Now that the opportunity had offered to extend these to a +human being, Miles was loath to put it aside. + +“What a nice fellow he is!” he murmured. “I wonder where he belongs!” + +Just then Florence came to the door. The thought instantly flashed into +Miles’s brain that she had been sent there to see that he did not steal +anything. + +But he was accustomed to being the object of such suspicions. And yet, +somehow, the idea that he should be, hurt him more than usual on the +present occasion. + +“My mother would like to see you down stairs,” said Florence. “I will +stay here with him.” + +Miles went down and found Mrs. Raynor at the foot of the stairway. + +“It has just occurred to me,” she said, “that you may think it best to +send to the home of this young man. Who is he?” + +A troubled look came over Miles’s face. He feared that what he was +about to say would settle the matter once for all about his being +allowed to stay with the fellow up stairs. But he had to tell the +truth. + +“I don’t know his name,” he answered. “I fell in with him on the road. +But I’d so much like to do something for him. You are sure there is +nothing I can do?” + +“You have already done a great deal for him,” returned Mrs. Raynor, +“if, as I understand, you carried him in here out of the rain. And you +haven’t any idea where he belongs?” + +“No, I saw him lying on the grass as I was walking along the road. I +was going to Trenton to try and get a job in the potteries there. But +I’d like to find out how he gets along.” + +“You shall. Sit down on the porch here while I take your coat in and +hang it by the stove to dry. I’ll send Tim for the doctor at once.” + +When Mrs. Raynor returned up stairs a little later, Florence met her at +the door of her brother’s room, where Rex had been carried, Bert being +away at boarding school. + +“He’s very sick, don’t you think, mama?” she asked. + +“I’m afraid so, my dear. I want to do all I can for him. I can’t help +thinking how grateful I should be to have any one do as much for our +Bert.” + +“And see what nice clothes he wears,” went on Florence in the same +whispering tone. “How do you suppose he ever got into association with +that fellow down stairs?” + +“Hush, dear,” cautioned her mother. “Behind those poor clothes is a +very warm heart.” + +“But is he going to stay, too?” went on Florence. + +“He wants to. Perhaps we can find something for him to do about the +garden.” + +“Do you think he’s honest, though?” + +“We must run our chances on that. He is certainly very different from +most fellows of his appearance.” + +The doctor arrived inside of an hour. He made an examination and then +reported that Rex was in for a bad case of intermittent fever. + +“He may not be able to be moved for six weeks,” he added. + +And Rex knew nothing of it, but began to toss in the delirium of his +fever, living over again some of the bitter experiences of the past few +hours. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII +SEARCHING FOR REX + + +“What train did Rex say he would be back on, Roy?” + +This was the question asked by Mrs. Pell at the breakfast table on the +morning that Rex was trudging along the dusty road between New York and +Philadelphia. + +“He didn’t say,” replied Roy. “He’ll surely be home by lunch, though. +Scott is going to West Chester with his mother at noon.” + +Lunch hour arrived and still no Reginald. But Mrs. Pell did not worry. +He had so many friends in Marley that there were plenty of places where +he might have gone from the Bowmans’. + +But when dinner time came and he had not yet appeared, the entire +family began to speculate on the reasons for it. + +“He’s probably at the Minturns,” said Sydney, when informed of the +facts. “Charlie may have persuaded him to stay over another night with +him.” + +“Rex should have sent us word then,” rejoined his mother. + +Another day passed, and by this time Mrs. Pell began to grow seriously +alarmed. + +“You must go down to Marley the first thing in the morning, Roy,” she +said. + +And Roy went, repairing first to the Bowmans’. He found Scott just +about to take his mother out in his cart. + +“What have you done with that brother of mine?” Roy began when +greetings had been exchanged. + +“And I’d like to know why that brother of yours doesn’t permit himself +to be heard from,” returned Scott promptly. “He didn’t show up +Wednesday night nor send me any message explaining why he didn’t come.” + +“Didn’t come?” echoed Roy. “Do you mean to say that Rex hasn’t been +here?” + +“Of course he hasn’t, and I think it mighty shabby of him.” + +“Why, that’s the queerest thing I ever heard of,” said Roy slowly. + +“Why is it?” + +“Because he started to come down here Wednesday afternoon by the 5:30 +express.” + +“He did?” + +It was now Scott’s turn to look astonished. + +“And you say he never got here?” went on Roy. + +“Of course he didn’t. You don’t suppose we have him smuggled away +somewhere, do you?” + +“Haven’t you any idea where your brother is?” here interrupted Mrs. +Bowman. + +“We were sure he was here, somewhere in Marley,” answered Roy. “But he +can’t be, if he didn’t come to you first.” + +“What could have happened to the fellow?” said Scott, beginning to see +that the matter was more serious than he had at first supposed. + +“I can’t imagine. It’s the strangest thing I ever heard of.” Roy looked +really worried. “I thought he might possibly be at the Minturns’, but +he wouldn’t have gone there till he had been here.” + +“Let down that seat behind, jump in, and I’ll drive you over there,” +said Scott. + +But Charlie had not seen or heard from Rex in ten days, nor was news to +be obtained of him from any other of his Marley friends. Roy went home +seriously alarmed. + +He hated to bring such a report to his mother, but he knew it would be +better that she should be informed of all the facts. + +She was somewhat stunned at first at the tidings, but quickly rallied. + +“We must find him,” she said. “Something has happened to him. Did you +think to ask Apgar if he remembered seeing Rex on his train Wednesday +night?” + +Apgar was the conductor on the 5:30 express. + +“No, I’ll go down to the station and ask him this afternoon before he +goes out.” + +Roy returned with the announcement that Apgar was sure Rex had not been +on his train. + +“Then there is only one other theory.” Mrs. Pell looked very grave as +she spoke. + +“What is that, mother?” + +She did not reply at once. Reginald was very dear to her. She hated to +expose his failings even to his own brother. But it must be done. + +“You remember, Roy,” she went on, “how he teased me to let him go to +New Haven with young Harrington? It is possible he may have gone after +all. I wish you would go in next door and see if you can find out.” + +Roy instantly recalled the three dollars Rex had borrowed from him, but +he said nothing of it. He went at once to make his call next door. + +He asked for Mrs. Harrington, telling the servant that he wished to see +her on a matter of importance. He sent up his name, Roy Pell. + +“You are the young man my son speaks of,” said Mrs. Harrington when she +appeared in the great drawing room, and put up her lorgnette to survey +her caller. + +“No, that is Reginald, my brother. I called in to find out if he went +off to New Haven with your son.” + +“What! you know nothing of his whereabouts yourselves?” + +Mrs. Harrington did not seek to conceal her surprise. Roy felt +humiliated, but there was nothing for it but to admit the fact. + +“We are afraid he may have gone off without my mother’s leave,” he +said. “He was very anxious to go with your son. He had an invitation to +go down to Marley the same day. We thought he had gone, but we find now +that he has not been there.” + +“Your mother did not wish him to go with Dudley, you say?” + +There was a trace of severity in Mrs. Harrington’s tones. + +“She thought he had better not. He is much older than Rex. Do you know +whether or not they went off together?” + +“I heard Dudley say something about having invited young Pell to go to +New Haven with him. They went to the station together.” + +“Then Rex must have gone. I am very sorry to have troubled you, Mrs. +Harrington.” Roy now made a little bow, and he hurried off. + +“Then he wanted that three dollars from me to spend on the trip,” he +was saying to himself. “But that wouldn’t have been enough. He must +have used the money he said he was saving up for mother’s present. Ah, +Reggie, I didn’t think it of you!” + +When he told the news at home there was a good deal of discussion +concerning what ought to be done about it. + +“Let him alone,” suggested Jess. “He feels bad enough about it by this +time.” + +“But I don’t know when he will be back,” said Mrs. Pell. + +Eva suggested that they write him a letter in care of young Harrington +and request him to come home at once, but it was Sydney’s idea that was +acted on. + +A telegraphic dispatch was sent to Dudley Harrington, Yale, New Haven. + +“Is Reginald Pell with you?” it ran. + +The answer came duly, “No, he is not.” + +The family looked at one another, consternation depicted in their +faces. Sydney tried to comfort them by explaining that doubtless +Harrington was inclined to be very literal under the circumstances and +that Rex was not with him because he had just started for home. + +But Mrs. Pell was not content to rest under this uncertainty. Another +message was sent to New Haven reading thus: + +“Did Reginald Pell start away from Philadelphia with you?” + +The response to this was one word, “Yes.” + +The Pells were now really alarmed. It was decided that Sydney should +start the first thing: Saturday morning for New Haven, but Friday night +he was seized with another of his bad turns, which had been growing +more and more frequent of late. Roy offered to go in his place, and +Mrs. Pell consented to the substitution. + +So Roy set out and reached New Haven in the course of the afternoon. He +would have enjoyed the trip if his mind had not been so worried about +Rex. He found Harrington’s room with little trouble. + +He heard the notes of the banjo issuing from inside. He had to knock +hard before he could make himself heard. + +There were three fellows there, two of them in the luxuriously +cushioned window seat. Roy was a little dazzled by the unexpected +splendor of the room. + +He knew Harrington, of course, the fellow in the blue striped blazer. +He went up to the collegian at once. + +“I guess you know me,” he said. “I’m Roy Pell, Rex’s brother. I came up +to find out what you could tell me about him.” + +The three fellows exchanged glances. + +“Why, isn’t he home?” answered Harrington. + +“No. When did he leave New Haven?” + +“He hasn’t been to New Haven,” replied Harrington slowly. + +“Not been here!” exclaimed Roy. “Where did you leave him, then?” + +“In New York.” + +“When?” + +“Wednesday night” + +“Was he going home?” + +“I don’t know,” and Harrington looked confused as he made this +unsatisfactory answer. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII +A TELEGRAM + + +Roy saw at a glance that something was being concealed from him. + +“How is it you don’t know where Rex went when he left you?” he +inquired. + +“Well, I didn’t see which way he went when he left the hotel,” answered +Harrington. “I supposed though, he went home, and am surprised to hear +he isn’t there. Atkins, here, may be able to tell you more than I can. +Mr. Atkins, this is Roy Pell, Reggie’s brother.” + +The pleasantest faced fellow in the room came forward and put out his +hand. + +“I’m glad to meet you, Pell,” he said, “and wish I could give you some +definite information about your brother. I thought with Harri here that +he was certainly at home.” He glanced over at the other two, who were +softly strumming their banjoes in the window seat. “Come across the +hall into my room,” he added. + +“Good day, Mr. Harrington,” called out Roy, and followed Atkins. + +He could see that Harrington was relieved to have him go. + +“Now I’ll tell you the straight of it, Pell,” began Atkins, when he had +invited his visitor to make himself comfortable in one of the many +lounging chairs with which the apartment abounded. “You see, Harrington +brought your brother to one of the pre-term time jollifications some of +the fellows think they must have before coming up here. I was there. I +didn’t care about going very much, but my room mate would go, and I +went to take care of him more than anything else. + +“Well, all the fellows except your brother and myself were more than +half seas over before midnight. He became disgusted and got out. I was +busy with Cheever, and didn’t have time to question him. Naturally +Harrington feels a little sore over the thing. But he hadn’t any idea +your brother hadn’t gone home till he got your telegrams.” + +“But Rex—where do you suppose he is all this time?” Roy was terribly +anxious. The whole affair was much worse than he had anticipated. + +He was glad of one thing, though; that Rex had been disgusted with the +orgy. + +“I wish I could tell you,” answered Atkins. “I managed to get Cheever +over to our house before morning. I don’t know what Harrington said +about young Pell’s disappearance when he came to himself.” + +“What did Reggie want to go with such fellows for?” groaned Roy. “But +the wonder to me is why Harrington ever took him up. There must be at +least five years’ difference in their ages.” + +“Oh, Harri appeared to be quite fond of him. I guess your brother +flattered him some. Dudley can stand a deal of that.” + +“But I must find Rex. I’m sure he hadn’t money enough to keep him all +this while. And I don’t know where to look first.” + +“I wish I could help you,” returned Atkins. “I tell you what I’ll do. +I’ll get ready now and go down to New York with you. You can come to +our house and stay over Sunday with me. My father is a lawyer. He may +be able to tell us what to do. What do you say?” + +“You’re awfully kind,” returned Roy. “But I don’t like to intrude.” + +“It won’t be intruding. The pater likes me to bring fellows with me. I +wasn’t going this week, but that won’t matter. He’ll be glad to see me. +You’ll come, won’t you?” + +Roy thanked him again and accepted. He liked the genial hearted fellow +as much as Rex had done. + +On the way down Atkins told him of the devices for disposing of the +punch. + +“You don’t suppose the glass he drank went to his head so as to do him +any injury, do you?” asked Roy. + +Atkins reassured him on this point, and then suggested that they had +better go to the hotel where the jollification had been held to see if +any trace of Rex could be obtained there. + +But the clerk informed them that no such person had hired a room. + +That evening they discussed the matter with Judge Atkins without +telling the details of the jollification, which doubtless he was astute +enough to guess at. The result was that messages were sent to all the +police precincts, and a detective was put on the case. + +Roy sent a telegram to his mother Saturday night making it as hopeful +as he could, but his own heart was growing heavier and heavier. + +Atkins did his best to cheer him up, and under other circumstances Roy +would have had a most enjoyable time. But he could not keep his +thoughts from Rex. + +He went home on Monday, fearful of the meeting with his mother. He felt +at times as if the worst news, if it might be but definite, would be +better to carry home than those tidings he must take, which would keep +them all in such awful suspense. + +Sydney had recovered, but the shock of Roy’s announcement threw him +back into a relapse. And yet he insisted on seeing Roy. + +“Mr. Tyler’s money has not made us happy after all, has it, Roy?” he +said, after the sad affair had been talked over. + +“I was afraid that it wouldn’t, Syd. Still, this might have happened +just the same. You have not been well though, old fellow, since that +night you came over to Burdock to make the old man’s will.” + +“Have you noticed that, Roy?” said Sydney quickly. + +“Yes, it seems, as you say, that we must pay up for having the money in +some way. But where can poor Rex be? I wonder if he is ashamed or +afraid to come home?” + +Anxiously the reports from the detectives were awaited. But when they +came they were only depressing. Positively no trace of the missing boy +could be found. + +Advertisements were inserted in the New York and Philadelphia papers, +but nothing came of them. The family were by this time well nigh +distracted. They had not even the poor satisfaction of mourning the +lost as one dead. They could only wait and hope, but as the days passed +into a week, this last seemed futile. + +The time came for school to open, but Roy had little heart to go alone. +Still, he must attend to his education. + +The first week of it dragged slowly by. Some of his Marley friends +wanted him to come down there and spend his Saturday. + +He had not yet decided Friday night whether he wanted to go, when the +door bell rang, and a messenger appeared with a telegram for Roy Pell. + +It was dated at some town in Jersey of which he had never heard, and +was very brief, but the one word signed to it was worth a hundred +lines, for that name was “Rex.” + +“All safe. Will write soon.” + +That was all, and when he read it to the family, the wild exclamations +of joy were succeeded by perplexed impatience. + +“Why didn’t he tell us where to find him?” Eva wanted to know. + +“Why didn’t he send word to mother?” added Jess. + +“Why does he not explain his long silence?” said Mrs. Fell fearing the +worst. + +Sydney was away at Harrisburg, and Roy decided that instead of going to +Marley the following day, he would find out where this New Jersey town +was and hunt up Rex at once. + +Mrs. Pell wanted to go with him, but Roy reminded her that he might +have considerable difficulty in tracing Rex, so it was decided that she +wait until she heard from him. + +From a railroad time table Roy ascertained where he must go, and by the +first train he could get in the morning he set out. + +“Be very gentle with him, Roy,” his mother said at parting. “By his +sending to you he evidently thinks I am greatly displeased with him.” + +“Trust me, mother,” Roy assured her with a smile. + +He felt very happy this morning, happier than he had, it seemed to him, +since they had come into their fortune. Of such worth is sorrow +sometimes, to make a contrast by which to intensify joy. + +On arriving at his destination he went to the man in the ticket office +and put the following inquiry: + +“Do you know anybody in the place named Reginald Pell?” + +“No,” was the reply. “Has he lived here long?” + +“No, he doesn’t really live here. He’s my twin brother, you see, and I +have a telegram from him, but he didn’t say where he was staying. Is +this a very big place?” + +The ticket agent smiled. “Well, it isn’t exactly a metropolis,” he +said. + +“Thank you,” responded Roy, and he walked out of the rear door toward +the dusty road, thinking he was not going to have such an easy job to +find Rex after all, if he was in the town where he was supposed to be. + +The station was built at a little distance from the town proper. Roy +walked on along a board walk until he came to the first house, one of +those white, green shuttered affairs whose number is legion in the +rural districts. + +A woman without a hat on was sweeping the leaves from the path that led +down to the gate. The lines about her mouth were rather stern, but Roy +made up his mind to begin with her. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV +FOUND AT LAST + + +“Excuse me,” began Roy, leaning over the gate and taking off his broad +brimmed straw hat, “do you know a boy named Rex Pell?” + +He had decided that this would be the shortest way of getting at +things. + +The woman looked up quickly, resting her chin on the top of her broom +handle. + +“Do you think I look as if I knew much about boys?” she replied. “Well, +I don’t and I don’t want to.” + +“Excuse me,” said Roy, and he hurried on, glad to get away. + +The next house was a larger one. There was a good deal of piazza around +it and some pretensions were made at keeping the lawn in good +condition. + +Roy’s knock at the door was answered so promptly that he was fain to +believe that some one must have been peeping through the shutters +watching his approach. + +A tall woman with light hair received him very effusively. + +“I’ve been expecting you,” she said, with an expansive smile. “I +thought you’d come on that train.” + +“This must be the place,” thought Roy. “She knows Rex sent the dispatch +and thought some of us would come on.” + +“I suppose you’d like to go straight up stairs?” she continued, when +she had taken his hat and hung it on the stand in the hall. + +“Yes, I would,” and Roy’s heart sank. + +Rex must be sick, he decided, and not able to leave his bed. He +followed the light haired woman to the floor above, where she threw +open the door of a room with a sort of flourish. + +Roy halted on the threshold. There was a double bed inside, but nobody +on it nor was anybody to be seen in the apartment. + +“Where is my brother?” he asked. + +“Your brother?” exclaimed the woman. “I did not understand that there +were two of you. Your father’s letter mentioned only one son. Wait, I +will get—” + +“No, there must be some mistake,” Roy interposed. “I thought my +brother, Rex Pell, might be here.” + +“What, you are not Eric Levens, then?” + +“No, indeed, and don’t you know anything about my brother? I am so +sorry.” + +“I thought you were the young gentleman I expected who was to look at +this room to see whether he liked it well enough to stay while his +father went to Europe. But why are you sorry that I do not know +anything about your brother? Have you lost him?” + +“In a sort of a way, yes,” and Roy told his story, or as much of it as +he could, without bringing in the fact of Rex’s having run away from +home. + +“Oh, I guess I can help you,” exclaimed the woman, when he had +finished. “Maybe he is the young fellow who is staying at the Raynors’. +I heard about it last Sunday at church.” + +“About _it?_ About what?” + +Roy’s face grew pale. The woman looked a little uncomfortable. + +“Don’t be too anxious,” she replied. “He must be better now if he could +send a message. But he’s had the intermittent fever. He was found on +the piazza of the house one rainy evening about ten days ago by +Florence Raynor. A trampish looking young fellow had carried him in out +of the wet, and they say he’s been devoted to him ever since.” + +“Where do the Raynors live?” asked Roy, already impatient to be off. + +“Come here to the window and I can show you the house. It is clear at +the end of this street beyond all the others. You can just see the +chimneys above the trees.” + +Roy was soon hurrying away in the direction pointed out. + +Although he feared that Rex might have been ill, the certainty of it +made his heart very sore for his brother. + +“Sick among strangers!” was his thought. “I wish mother had come with +me.” + +A young girl was reading on the piazza when he opened the gate and +walked up the path between the box hedges. + +“Is my brother Rex here?” he said, pausing at the foot of the steps, +his hat in his hand. + +She had raised her head as the gate latch clicked, and now their eyes +met. Even in that moment Roy noted how very pretty she was. + +“You are the Roy that he sent the telegram to?” she exclaimed. Then +paused suddenly, and blushed. + +“Yes, I’m Roy, and I’ve had a hard time to find him. How is he?” + +“He’s better. He was asleep just now. If you will come in I will call +mother.” + +“Rex has certainly fallen into good hands,” thought Roy when he was +left alone. + +Mrs. Raynor came out in a moment and greeted Roy most cordially. + +“I’m glad you came,” she said. “It will do your brother good to see +you,” + +“You’ve been very, very kind to him,” answered Roy. + +“No; it wasn’t any trouble, because we all took to him so. It was a +pleasure to do for him.” + +“But why didn’t he let us know before where he was?” asked Roy. + +“Bless you, he only knew himself yesterday. He’s had a hard tug of it, +and not a scrap or a card could we find about him, only the letters R. +B. P. P, on his linen.” + +“Then he’s been out of his head?” + +“Yes; and you must be prepared to find him greatly changed. But he’ll +come around again all right, the doctor says. I’ll go up now and see if +he is awake and call you.” + +The summons to ascend came a few minutes later, and presently Roy found +himself standing by his brother’s bedside. Mrs. Raynor considerately +withdrew and left the two together, warning them that she should be +back in ten minutes to prevent her patient from becoming unduly +excited. + +Rex had changed. There was no longer any plumpness in his cheeks, and +his face was very white. But so were his teeth, and his eyes were as +lustrous as ever. + +“Roy!” He uttered the one word in a weak voice, and held tightly in +both of his the hands that his brother extended to him. + +A moment of the precious ten was lost to silence as the two looked at +each other, but in that look was that which hours of speech could not +have expressed. Roy read in it true repentance, a pleading for +forgiveness, and Rex saw that there was no chiding for him from those +at home, only love and pity. + +“Do you know all, Roy; the very worst?” Rex then whispered. + +“Don’t think of that now, Reggie. It is all right. I want to talk about +yourself—your sickness.” + +“But I must think of it. I have been thinking of it ever since I came +to my senses yesterday. Did you know that I told you lies, that I acted +them, that I took the money I had been saving up for mother’s present +to pay the expenses of this wretched trip?” + +“But you didn’t go all the way, Reggie. I found that out. You turned +back. What happened to you then?” + +Rex told the terrible tale of the robbery, of the awful night he had +passed riding back and forth across the river, and had got as far as +his falling asleep on the train when Mrs. Raynor appeared and smilingly +announced that time was up. + +“Miles will tell you the rest, Roy,” said Rex. “He’s the best fellow. I +don’t know what would have become of me if it hadn’t been for him. And +Mrs. Raynor, too. When I get well they must all come to Philadelphia +and we’ll give them the very best time.” + +There was a touch of his old self in the heartiness with which he +uttered these words. Roy’s coming and comforting words had lifted a +heavy burden from his heart. + +They left him to try to get to sleep again. Roy went down stairs with +Mrs. Raynor. + +“I ought to go home at once and tell my mother about Rex,” he said. + +“Why not send a message and stay with him?” suggested the other. “We +should be very glad to have you. There is plenty of room in the house. +Or send word for your mother to come on. I know she must be anxious to +see her son.” + +Roy hesitated. He scarcely knew what to do. Then he remembered Sydney’s +absence and reflected that the girls could not very well be left alone. +He decided to stay himself till Monday, and to send word that Rex was +all right now. + +He hurried off to the station to write his dispatch and came back as +quickly to the Raynors’. He recollected that he had not yet seen the +Miles of whom Rex spoke, the fellow who could tell him the continuation +of his brother’s adventures. + +He asked Florence, whom he found on the lawn, where he could find +Miles. + +“He’s out in the field now,” she replied, “digging potatoes. But it’s +almost twelve. He’ll be in then for his dinner. He just adores that +brother of yours.” + +“But who is he?” Roy persisted. + +“Well, he hasn’t told us his story yet. We took him on trust, and he’s +turned out all right so far. But there he comes now.” + +“Excuse me,” said Roy. “I’ll go and see him.” And he hurried off around +the corner of the house. + +The next minute he stood face to face with the youth who is destined to +play a highly important part in the remainder of this tale. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV +MILES HARDING’S STORY + + +Miles knew Roy at once. + +“This is Miles, isn’t it?” said Roy in his pleasant way, and he put out +his hand. + +“Yes, but wait a minute.” + +Miles hurried to the pump near the kitchen door. He gave his hands a +douse of water, dried them quickly on a roller towel in the woodshed, +and then came back to greet the brother of the boy of whom he was so +fond. + +“You got the telegram all right then?” he said. “Rex was so weak when +he told me where to send it, I wasn’t sure I’d get it quite right.” + +“I want to thank you for all you did for him,” went on Roy. “He’s told +me about it, except the details. He said you’d do that—about what +happened to him after he got out of the train. But don’t let me keep +you from your dinner.” + +“I’d rather talk to you than eat,” said Miles frankly. + +Mrs. Raynor appeared at this moment and compromised matters by bringing +Miles’ dinner to him out on the side porch. Roy sat by and listened to +the recital, most modestly given, of the facts with which the reader is +already acquainted. + +It was time for Miles to return to his work when it was finished, and +Florence came to summon Roy to their own dinner. + +“Isn’t he queer?” she said, referring to Miles. “He seems so quiet and +talks so well for a man who was—well, a tramp. I don’t know what else +you could call him. You ought to have seen the clothes he had on when +he first came. Mamma made him burn them.” + +“He looks as if he might have an interesting story to tell,” commented +Roy. + +“We’ll get him to tell it to-night if your brother is well enough,” +said Mrs. Raynor. “He promised that we should hear it as soon as Rex +was able to listen too.” + +Roy took Rex’s dinner up to him, and the twins had an hour to +themselves, during which Rex went more into detail concerning his +experiences with Harrington and his crowd. They compared notes on Harry +Atkins, and then fell to talking of Miles Harding. + +“He’s something more than a common tramp,” Rex insisted. “He can read a +little and write some. Isn’t it funny how much he thinks of me, when I +haven’t done a thing for him? Mrs. Raynor lets him come up and sit with +me every evening when his work is done. Of course I didn’t know this +till yesterday, when I came to my senses.” + +After the doctor’s visit about three, Rex went to sleep and Roy played +a game of tennis with Florence. + +“I don’t want to seem glad that your brother is sick,” she said, “but +it’s awfully nice to have company. I get so lonely when Bert is away.” + +That evening they all assembled in Rex’s room—Mrs. Raynor was a widow, +so the family at home consisted only of herself and Florence—and Miles, +seated at the foot of the bed, told the story of his life. + +“I don’t know where I was born,” he began. “The first thing I can +remember is living in a tenement house in New York, where I had to +sleep three in a bed with the two Morrisey boys. Mr. Morrisey was a +truckman, and there was five children of them, and I made six. I always +thought I was a Morrisey, too, till one day Jimmy, he got mad at me, +and told me I needn’t talk so big because I was only living on charity. + +“I went to his mother and asked her about it, and she told me that it +was true, that I wasn’t really her child, but that she thought as much +of me as if I was, and that there wasn’t any charity about it. But I +wanted to know all about myself, and at last she said that I’d been +given to Mr. Morrisey when I was a wee baby by a friend of his who +couldn’t afford to keep me and who made him vow that he’d never tell +where I came from. + +“Jimmy only found it out by accident one night, listening to his father +and mother talking when they thought he was asleep. She said I wasn’t +to feel bad about it; because they thought everything of me. + +“But I did feel bad about it. It seemed too hard when the Morriseys had +all they could do to get along they should have one more mouth—and that +not a Morrisey one—to feed. + +“I studied as hard as I could at school, so as to try and get through +sooner and go to work and begin to pay them back, but when I was twelve +Mr. Morrisey was kicked to death by a horse and the next year Mrs. +Morrisey married a man who took her and the children out to Dakota to +live. + +“She wanted me to go along, but I knew Mr. Rollings didn’t like me, and +besides I wanted to stay East where there was some chance of my finding +out who my parents were. I got a place as cash boy in a Japanese store +and boarded with some people who lived across the hall from where the +Morriseys had their rooms. + +“But Mr. Benton used to get drunk and when he was that way he’d beat +me, just for the fun of it, it seemed to me. Then when they cut down +the number of boys employed in the store and I couldn’t find another +place right away, he growled so about my not paying my board that I did +my things up in a bundle one night and hid myself on a canal boat down +at the East River docks. + +“The captain was awful mad when he found me after we had got clear up +the North River. He gave me a good thrashing and then said he was going +to drop me overboard. But he didn’t and I stayed on board all that +season, driving mules and being sworn at and kicked and trounced like +any other boy on the canal. I sometimes wonder why I didn’t wear out. + +“When navigation closed I was set adrift, and had a hard scrub of it to +get along for a time. I almost starved for a while in Albany, trying to +pick up odd jobs. Then I came near freezing to death. + +“Finally I got a place as errand boy in a grocery store and kept that +till some money was missing and they said I took it. I never stole in +my life. Mrs. Morrisey brought me up too well for me to do that. But I +couldn’t prove I didn’t and I had to go. The man said I ought to +consider myself lucky I wasn’t sent to jail. + +“After that I had a worse time of it than ever. Whenever I applied for +a position they wanted to know why I had left my last place. And when I +told them, they wouldn’t have anything to do with me. + +“Then came the days when sometimes I thought I might as well steal, I +was suffering because I was accused of doing it. When I was very hungry +and saw chances of sneaking apples out of grocery-men’s barrels, it +seemed as if I had almost a right to do it. But I never did. + +“Something always turned up to keep me from starving. Once a woman +stopped me in the street and gave me a dollar. She said I looked so +hungry she couldn’t go by me without doing it. + +“Another time I was taken sick in one of the parks, something like Rex. +I fell down in a kind of faint, and when I came to I was in a hospital +and I stayed there quite a little while. + +“After I got out it was spring and I thought I’d try the country. I +didn’t beg; only asked for work. Sometimes I got it; many more times I +didn’t. + +“Now and then if they didn’t give me work they’d offer me milk or a cup +of coffee, so I managed to pull through somehow. + +“At last I got back to New York. I’d been wanting to get there again +ever since the thought came to me one day that perhaps some friends of +Mr. Morrisey’s might know something about the man who had given me to +him when I was a baby. + +“With a good deal of trouble I found one of them. He was a bricklayer, +and he told me as near as he could remember the man who gave me to Tim +Morrisey was from Philadelphia, and that’s all he knew. + +“Then I wanted to go to Philadelphia. + +“‘But what good will that do you, Miles?’ Mr. Beesley asked. ‘You can’t +find out any more there, nor as much, as you can here.’ + +“‘No,’ I told him, ‘but if I’m there maybe somebody else’ll find out +something from passing me in the street.’ + +“‘That’s an idea, sure enough,’ he said, so I started for Philadelphia, +and that’s how I came to fall in with Rex.” + +Miles finished his story with this word. It almost seemed as if he had +done it on purpose, planning for it, as it were. He always spoke the +name with a little pause before it, as if it were something sacred. + +Rex had told him to call him by it the day before when he had started +in to address him as “Mr. Pell.” All of Reginald’s striving after +premature manhood had been left in that past which preceded his +experiences in the hotel at New York. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI +IN WINTER DAYS + + +Miles’s story had been listened to with the closest attention by all +the little party. + +“It’s just like a chapter out of a book,” Florence whispered to Roy. “I +wonder if he’ll ever find out who he really is?” + +“But how did you come by the name Harding?” Roy inquired. “Weren’t you +Miles Morrisey once?” + +“Yes, but when they went away, and I got to having such hard knocks +from the world, I didn’t want to drag the name down with me, and so I +thought Harding would suit me pretty well, and took it.” + +Rex seemed inclined to grow excited over the theme, so Mrs. Raynor +proposed an immediate adjournment. + +“To-morrow is Sunday,” she said, “and Miles can have a long day with +you.” + +In the course of this long day, the wanderer told Roy why he had been +so drawn to Rex. + +“I’d seen lots of nice looking fellows like him,” he said, “but they +always looked down on me and kind of kept off, as if they didn’t want +me to touch them with my dirty clothes. But I had to touch Rex when he +fell over, and he didn’t seem to mind it.” + +Rex flushed when Roy told him this. + +“I’m afraid I didn’t seem to mind because I was too far gone to mind +anything,” he said. “But I do like Miles and would like to do all I can +for him.” + +Roy returned home Monday morning, and Mrs. Pell went out to Rex that +night. He improved rapidly, and within a fortnight was able to be moved +to Philadelphia. + +It was pitiable to see the effect of the parting on Miles. The Raynors +had found him very capable and were anxious to keep him. There was no +reason why he should not stay, except his desire to be where Rex was, +and his quixotic notion that he might meet his father or mother should +he go to Philadelphia. + +“Keep a look out for me, Rex,” he said, “and if you hear of any +position you think I could fill, let me know.” + +Rex promised, and after he got home told his mother that when she could +make up her mind to completely forgive him for all he had done, he +wished that she would think of something they could do for Miles. + +“I have forgiven you already, Reggie,” was the reply. “I know that you +have suffered enough not to need any other lesson. Now, why not make +Miles a present of a complete outfit? Wouldn’t he take it all right? +Then when he is properly fitted out you can invite him on here for +Thanksgiving day.” + +Rex talked over the idea with Roy and then they wrote to Mrs. Raynor +about it. The end of the matter was that they procured Miles’s measure, +and sent him the things as a present from Rex. + +The invitation for Thanksgiving was in the letter that accompanied +them. + +The young fellow’s gratitude was beyond the power of expression, and +over and over again he asked Mrs. Raynor if she thought it was right +for him to accept the invitation. + +“Of course it is right,” she told him. “They would not have asked you +if they had not wanted you.” + +His happiness seemed to shine out of every feature of his face when he +boarded the Philadelphia train Wednesday afternoon. Rex met him at the +station, and was surprised to see what a good looking fellow he made +when he was properly rigged out. + +“Maybe I’ll make some awful blunders,” Miles confided to him on the way +to the house. “Remember I’ve never been with swell folks before.” + +“We’re not swell,” Rex laughed. + +He had half a mind to let him know then and there where they got their +money, but decided that he wouldn’t. That night he took his guest to +the theater, and the next day Sydney had a long talk with him. + +His manners were much easier among the unaccustomed surroundings than +Rex had dared to hope they would be. Mrs. Pell was very much attracted +by him, and both girls declared he was “so interesting.” + +In his talk with him Sydney sought to draw out all the facts he could +about the Morriseys. + +“That boy you had the fight with, Miles,” he said—“Jimmy, I think you +told Rex his name was—did you never ask him any questions about what he +overheard that night?” + +“No. Mr. Morrisey seemed not to want me to talk about it, and besides, +I never would have asked Jimmy after what had happened.” + +“But you’d ask him now, wouldn’t you?” went on Sydney. “You say that +you heard his mother was dead. He seems to be the only person left from +whom you can get a clew.” + +“Yes, I’d ask him now if I had the chance,” Miles admitted “But I don’t +know just where he is. You see, I’ve lost track of the Morriseys +lately.” + +“But you could find it again couldn’t you? Write to the place where you +heard they were last. Where was that?” + +“Bismarck.” + +“Very good. Do that, and when you have found out all you can from +Jimmy, let me know.” + +Miles promised to attend to this, but since he had fallen in with Rex, +his desire to hunt up his parents seemed not as strong as it had been. +He went back to the Raynors enthusiastic over his visit, and talked of +it for weeks afterward. + +Meanwhile Roy and Rex settled down to their school life. The change +made in Rex by his New York experience was quite noticeable. While +retaining all his dignity of manner, he was more thoughtful of the +feelings of others than he had been. + +He worried a good deal at first about the opinion Scott Bowman must +have of him, and truth to tell Scott did feel a little sore over the +way he had been treated. + +The two boys did not write or see each other till they met accidentally +in the street at Christmas time. + +Rex saw Scott coming and grew red in spite of himself. There was a +chance, he felt, that the other might go by without speaking to him. +But Scott halted and put out his hand. + +“Hello, Rex,” he said, “you _are_ a stranger.” + +And at these words a great burden was lifted from Reginald’s mind. + +The truth of the matter was, it was very difficult to keep at odds with +a fellow with the fascinating personality of Rex Pell, and now since +the recent change in him he was more attractive than ever. He took +Scott home to lunch with him, and related in detail his adventures on +his memorable trip. + +“Where the fun in being ‘tough’ comes in,” he concluded, “I don’t see.” + +At Christmas time Mrs. Pell had Mrs. Raynor and Florence in for a +visit. + +“Has Miles heard from Jimmy Morrisey yet?” Rex inquired. + +“No,” Florence replied. “He didn’t write till about three weeks ago.” + +“You’ll let him come in and see us New Year’s, won’t you?” Rex went on. + +“Yes indeed, if you would like to have him.” + +Miles came for New Year’s and brought the information that he had heard +from Jimmy Morrisey at last. He was a hall boy in a New York hotel, and +said that as near as he could remember the name he had heard his father +mention that night in his talk with his mother was Darley. + +Rex wrote the name down on a piece of paper and put it away to show to +Sydney on his return from his Florida trip, for his health had been +growing steadily poorer and Mrs. Pell had persuaded him finally to go +South with a friend for a while. + +“You know he isn’t really my own brother,” Rex confided to Miles. “But +he’s a distant relative. His father and mother died when he was very +little.” + +Miles was much interested on hearing this. It served in some way to +establish another bond between himself and the Pells. + +“I’ll let you know what Syd finds out about this as soon as he finds +out anything,” Rex told Miles at parting. + +Miles had begun to attend school. He had not had an opportunity to +study since leaving the Morriseys. He was naturally quick, and made +good progress. + +“He’ll know too much by spring to be put to garden work again,” Mrs. +Raynor had said when she was in. “I hardly know what to do with him +then.” + +“Oh, don’t worry about that,” laughed Jess. “By that time he may have +found his parents and be a millionaire.” + +“How you talk, Jess,” interposed her sister. “If he ever does find his +people, it doesn’t follow that they will be wealthy. Indeed, he’d +probably never have been given to the Morriseys if his father hadn’t +been too poor to support him.” + +Eva took a deep interest in the case. She was of a literary turn of +mind, and wove many a romance in her busy brain about the early history +of this strange youth, who seemed so extraordinarily gentle, +considering his rough bringing up. + +Sydney came home just before the twins’ vacation ended. + +“Oh, Syd!” Rex suddenly exclaimed, that first evening as they were all +seated in the library, listening to Florida experiences. “Miles has +heard from this Morrisey boy.” + +“Well,” replied Sydney, “did he learn anything of importance?” + +“Yes, he found out the name his father and mother used when they were +talking about the man who brought Miles to them.” + +“And what was it?” + +“Darley.” + +Sydney fell back in his chair and grew as white as a ghost. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII +SYDNEY GOES ON A MYSTERIOUS EXPEDITION + + +The family were greatly alarmed at Sydney’s collapse. Mrs. Pell had +fondly hoped that his Southern trip would be of permanent benefit to +him, and here he was breaking down on the first night of his return. + +Not one of them associated his seizure in any way with the subject on +which they had been talking except Rex. He could not but recall a +somewhat similar attack, when Sydney had fainted in his office while he +(Rex) was telling Scott Bowman of their inheritance. + +But Miles Harding’s affairs had nothing to do with this. What did it +all mean? Rex asked himself, as he sped off for the doctor. + +When he got back, Sydney had come to, but seemed to be suffering +severely. And yet when asked if he was in pain, he would shake his head +and beg so imploringly that they would leave him to himself, that the +fears of the family were intensified many fold. + +The doctor was utterly nonplused. He prescribed a quieting potion, and +went away, promising to return again in the morning. + +“And perhaps you had better humor him in his desire to be left alone,” +he said to Mrs. Pell. “But of course arrange to be near in case another +collapse occurs.” + +The household separated for bed that night with sober faces. + +“Syd hasn’t been like himself since Mr. Tyler died,” remarked Roy, +lingering at the door of Rex’s room. + +Rex did not reply immediately. He stood looking at his brother intently +for an instant, then he put a hand on Roy’s shoulder, gently pulled him +into the room and closed the door behind him. + +“Sit down a minute, Roy,” he said gravely; “I want to tell you +something.” + +“What is it? What makes you look so solemn, Reggie? Is it anything +about Syd?” + +“Yes, it’s about Syd. Something that happened last summer, and which he +told me not to tell; but it seems to me that I ought to tell now.” + +In a few words then, Rex related what he and Scott Bowman had +witnessed, adding an account of what Sydney had said to him when he +asked to have the doctor sent out of the room. + +“It’s queer, isn’t it, Roy?” Rex added. + +“Yes, but I can’t connect it with the present case.” + +“Neither can I. That makes it queerer still. Perhaps you’d better not +say anything about what I told you.” + +“No, I shan’t,” and the boys sat quiet a while longer, discussing the +mystery of this affair in lowered tones. + +Meanwhile Sydney in his room across the hall, was lying in his bed with +his eyes wide open staring at the ceiling. Now and then he passed his +hand across his forehead, on which the perspiration kept gathering. + +“It is Nemesis,” he murmured over and over. “I have felt that it would +come, and now at last it has appeared, and through Rex, of all the +others!” + +All through that night he remained thus wakeful. He watched, +helplessly, the gradual breaking of the dawn, knowing that he had not +slept a moment and feeling that he must have this physical ill to bear +in addition to the mental one which already weighed him down to the +earth. + +But he had come to the turning point now. In some way this was a +relief, even though the prospect immediately ahead of him was such a +fearsome one. + +He wished that he could go up to the office without seeing any of the +family, as he had done that other morning in Marley. + +But he could not do this now. They would worry and send after him. He +must try and get through the ordeal of facing them as best he could. + +He rose at the usual time, but before he had finished dressing there +was a knock at the door and Roy’s voice wanting to know how he was. + +“All right,” he replied, and then, as his brother asked if he might +come in, he opened the door. + +“All right!” exclaimed Roy, after one look at his face, “Oh, Syd!” + +“It’s only because I haven’t slept,” Sydney hastened to assure him. + +“Then what are you getting up for?” Roy went on. + +“I must go down town. I have that to do which will ease my mind, and +_make me all right again, I trust.”_ + +The last words were added in so low a tone as to be scarcely audible. + +“Oh, Syd, what is it? What is worrying you? Can’t I help you in any +way?” + +“No, Roy, you cannot now. Perhaps—later—I will need—need your pity.” + +“Pity! Oh, Syd, you do not know what you say.” + +“Don’t, Roy. I have a hard task to perform; do not, I beg of you, make +it harder.” + +Roy said no more; he would not after this. He went back to his own room +and went over in his mind all that had befallen them since they had +been what the world called wealthy. + +“Not one bit happier, though; no, not as happy,” he added for himself. + +At the breakfast table Sydney insisted that he felt plenty well enough +to go to the office. + +“Can’t you see, mother,” he said at last, “that it is a matter of the +mind and not of the body. Let me have the opportunity of easing that, +and—you will see the result.” + +But when he left the house he did not go at once to his office. He +stopped at the first drug store he passed, and walked up to the little +stand on which the city directory was kept. + +He turned the pages to D, and then looked up Darley. + +There were several of the name, and a frown contracted his brow. But he +took out his pencil and memorandum book, and made a note of the various +addresses. Then he went on, but soon turned into a street that would +not take him to the office. He boarded a car and rode off in the +direction of South street. In the course of twenty minutes he was +waiting for his ring to be answered at the door of a very modest little +house near the Baltimore tracks. + +But after he had been admitted, he did not remain long inside. + +“I must try another,” he muttered, consulting his memorandum. + +He tried several others, but with equal ill success. The quest seemed +hopeless. + +“There may be nothing in it after all,” he murmured. “But that does not +lighten my load here;” and he pressed his hand over his heart. + +All that day he kept up his hunt, scarcely stopping to get a little +lunch at noon. Toward nightfall he called at an address on Seventh +Street next to the last on his list. + +It was an odd looking house—apparently a store, for there was a regular +shop window, but there was nothing in it but curtains that screened off +the interior, and no sign, and the door when he tried it, was locked. +But there was a bell handle close beside it, and this he pulled. + +The door was opened after quite an interval, to a mere crack, and the +voice of an aged woman wanted to know who was there. + +“A gentleman to see Mr. David Darley,” Sydney answered. + +“You can’t see him,” came back the reply, “He’s been dead these five +months.” + +“Well, then,” went on Sydney, pushing against the door to prevent any +possibility of its being shut in his face, “I want to see some of his +relations—his wife, or daughter, or somebody.” + +“There ain’t any of them either,” was the reply. “There’s only me.” + +“Well, then, I’d like to see you,” Sydney rejoined, feeling that this, +too, was to be a wild goose chase, but determined, nevertheless, to +leave no stone unturned. + +“What do you want to see me about?” went on the old lady. “I don’t know +you.” + +“I just want to ask you some questions about Mr. Darley. Are you any +relation of his?” + +“I’m his mother-in-law,” and the door was slowly opened, but only wide +enough to admit Sydney, when it was closed behind him with great +rapidity. + +He looked with some curiosity at the person who admitted him. She was +very small, not much above his waist in height, and quite old, with +snow white hair and a very peaceful expression of face that contrasted +markedly with her evident fear of strangers. + +She did not ask Sydney to be seated, and remained standing herself, +taking up her station in the doorway that led into the room beyond, as +if seeking to bar out any intrusion there. + +The apartment in which Sydney found himself was a very pleasant one, +well lighted from the large window, whose upper portion was undraped. +There were some pictures on the walls, a piano stood at one side, and a +guitar could be seen off in one corner. + +But Sydney was not in the mood to take many notes of his surroundings. +He proceeded at once with the business in hand. + +“Was Mr. David Darley any relation to Maurice Darley?” he inquired. + +“Will it hurt David if I answer?” replied the old lady cautiously. + +“How can it, since you say he is dead?” Sydney responded with the +flicker of a smile. + +“Well, then,” answered the other, heaving a little sigh, “I don’t see +as it can do any harm for me to say that David was his brother.” + +“At last,” burst forth Sydney with something between a shout and a +groan. He put his hand against the wall as if to steady himself. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII +THE STRANGE CONDUCT OF MRS. FOX + + +All the suspicions of the little white haired old lady seemed to be +revived by Sydney’s manner of receiving the intelligence she gave him. + +“Maybe I’ve made a mistake about it,” she said, pinching nervously at +the edges of a white apron she wore. “It may be another man of the same +name.” + +“Is this Maurice Darley dead?” asked Sydney, paying no attention to her +disturbed equanimity. + +“I don’t know. Maybe he is,” was the reply. + +“When did you see him last?” went on Sydney. + +“How do you know I ever saw him?” asked the old lady quickly. + +Sydney began to lose his patience. + +“You seem to think I mean you some harm,” he said. “You are quite wrong +there. It is a matter of money, of a fortune that belongs to Mr. +Maurice Parley, if I can find him.” + +The old lady looked at him keenly. + +“That’s what caused all his trouble,” she said slowly. “Fortunes. He +was always thinking of them.” + +“Can’t you tell me where he is now?” Sydney went on in a coaxing tone. +“You appear to know a good deal about him.” + +“Oh, Mr.—I? Do I show it?” A terrified look came into the old lady’s +eyes. Her fingers clutched tightly at each side of the doorway over +which she had mounted guard. + +Sydney was by this time convinced that there was some mystery about +Maurice Darley, which the woman before him was seeking to conceal. + +“What if he is dead?” + +The old lady brought this out with a sort of triumphant tone. + +“But he isn’t dead,” Sydney returned, with almost the same manner. “If +he was you would have said so long ago. You see I can understand some +things. But why are you so secret about him? Tell me, did you ever hear +him speak of a Mr. Tyler?” + +“Hush, hush!” The old lady put her fingers over her lips and advanced +to Sydney as if to thrust him out of the door. “Not now. Not here,” she +added in an imploring tone. + +Sydney was compelled to back out of the door into the street, but he +held it open partially to say: + +“I must find out about Maurice Darley. It is for his good, not mine. +Where can I see you about him? Will you come to my office on Chestnut +Street?” + +“No, no. I can’t go away,” the old lady replied. + +She was glancing backward over her shoulder every instant or two. + +“Will you give me your name, then, so I can write to you?” Sydney went +on. “Or if I write to Mr. Darley here will you give it to him?” + +“No, only write to me, Mrs. Hannah Fox,” and with that the door was +closed in his face. + +Sydney lingered in front of it a second. He had a blind impulse to ring +the bell and compel her to open it again. But he knew that it would be +useless, so he turned his steps slowly toward Chestnut street and went +to his office. + +He found that his absence all day had been productive of not a little +harm. + +“But this is a part of the expiation,” he murmured to himself. + +He put aside the letters waiting to be answered, and set himself to the +task of composing the one to Mrs. Fox. It took him a long while to +write it. He tore up several completed ones. + +The usual hour for closing the office arrived. The boy hovered about +his desk, seeming to hope that his presence would remind his employer +that it was time to go home. + +Sydney looked up at last. + +“You may go, John,” he said. “I will mail this.” + +But when the boy had gone he read over what he had written, then tore +it into very small pieces and dropped them in the waste paper basket. +Then he took a fresh sheet and began again. + +He was half way down the first page when the door opened and Rex came +in. + +“Syd,” he exclaimed, “aren’t you coming home to dinner? We waited till +seven o’clock, then mother grew so worried that I came down to see if +anything had happened.” + +“How good you are to me, Reggie,” said the other. “And how little I +deserve it.” + +His head went down on his two arms upon the desk. His frame shook as if +with sobbing. + +“Syd, you dear old fellow, don’t talk that way. What is troubling you?” +Rex had put his arm about his brother’s neck; his forehead pressed +close against the bowed head. + +“Don’t, Reggie. If you only knew you would not want to touch me.” + +Sydney lifted his head suddenly, but his arms were still crossed over +the half written letter. + +“Syd, what do you mean?” + +Rex looked at his brother in deep perplexity, his handsome brow +wrinkled with the anxiety Sydney’s appearance and demeanor were causing +him. + +“You will know soon enough, Reggie, and then promise me that you will +try to think of me as friendly as you can; not give away utterly to +your contempt. It was partly for y—. No, I will not say that. No, go +home, Rex. Tell mother I am all right, and will be back some time +to-night, and not to worry.” + +“But you ought not to stay here and work, Syd,” Rex persisted. “You are +not fit to do it.” + +“I must do what I’ve set out to do.” Sydney’s voice was almost stern as +he made this reply. + +Rex saw that it was useless to linger, and went sadly home. Something +dreadful had evidently come over Sydney. What it was he did not pretend +to know. But he made up his mind not to tell the family all that Sydney +had said. + +It was nearly nine that night before the young lawyer finished the +letter to Mrs. Fox to suit him. He dropped it in the corner letter box +on his way home, and then stepped in at a restaurant to at least go +through the form of eating something. + +“When shall I tell them at home about it?” was his one thought, and the +ever recurring echo to it was, “Not yet! not yet!” + +Almost his greatest trial of the day was forcing himself to remain in +the library a half hour after he reached the house, and trying to +appear himself. He was conscious that Rex was watching him closely. + +But it was natural for him to plead fatigue after a hard day’s work. He +locked himself in his room after he reached it. With hands tightly +pressed against his forehead, he sank into a chair. + +“I foresaw all this,” he muttered. “I knew that I must always suffer. +That what I did was done for others is no excuse; and now they must +suffer, too.” + +He slept this night from sheer exhaustion, but the sleep was much +disturbed by dreams, in all of which a white haired old lady with the +face of a fox seemed to be trying to do him some bodily injury. + +The next day he seemed to exist for nothing but the arrival of the +mails. But night came, and no response to his letter to Mrs. Fox. + +The following morning he tried to get up, but his head was so dizzy +that he was forced to drop back on the pillow again. Fortunately he had +not locked his door this time, so that when they came to inquire about +him, they were able to get in. + +It was Roy who came first. + +“My mail from the office,” was all Sydney had strength to say when he +saw him. + +“Yes, I will bring it for you,” replied Roy, and he decided to give up +school for the day. + +The doctor was summoned again, and prescribed perfect quiet, but after +he had gone, Sydney asked so persistently if Roy had come with his +letters, that when he did arrive, Mrs. Pell thought that the quickest +way to quiet the patient was to let him come in with them. + +“I only want to see one of them,” Sydney whispered quickly, as Rex took +a seat by the bedside, some dozen letters in his lap. + +“Which one, Syd?” asked Roy, gently. + +“It is from an old lady—a Mrs. Fox. It will probably be in a plain +envelope.” + +“Perhaps this is it, then. Shall I open it and see?” + +“No, no. Give it to me,” replied Sydney quickly. + +He took the envelope and the knife Roy handed to him, but his fingers +trembled so that he could do nothing. + +“I shall have to let you open it after all, Roy,” he said, and handed +them both back. + +Roy slit the end of the envelope in a second, and once more put it into +his brother’s hands. With dilated eyes and breath coming in brief +gasps, Sydney drew out the inclosure. + +He unfolded it and looked eagerly at the signature. + +“I can’t see quite clearly, Rex,” he said after an instant. “Is that +Fox signed to this?” + +“Yes. Hannah M. Fox.” + +“Thank you.” Sydney turned to the front page and began to read. +Suddenly he gave a little cry. + +“I can’t see the words, Roy,” he said. “Something is the matter with my +sight. You will have to read it to me. Never mind if some of the things +it says sound strange to you. I will explain them by and by. Here.” + +Roy took the letter, and read as follows: + +Mr. Sydney F. Pell. + + +Dear Sir:—Come tomorrow night at midnight. Don’t ring. Knock lightly on +the door. Yours truly, + + +Hannah M. Fox. + + +“And that is to-night,” murmured Sydney. “How can I go?” + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX +A MIDNIGHT VISIT + + +“Do you want me to write a note for you saying you can’t come?” said +Roy. + +“No, no. I must go,” replied Sydney. + +“But you can’t,” Roy was about to answer. Then he checked himself, and +said instead: “Well, perhaps you will be well enough to go to-night. Is +it far?” for there was no address given in the letter. + +“No, not very. It is right in the city here. But you can’t write for +me. The old lady mustn’t know that you’ve seen her letter. She’d notice +the difference in the handwriting. But midnight! What a queer time to +appoint. It’s just like her, though. Now I will try and get some sleep +so as to help prepare myself for to-night.” + +The receipt of the letter appeared to have eased Sydney’s mind +somewhat, for he slept until well on in the afternoon, and then he woke +feeling somewhat better. + +“I can go to-night, Roy, after all,” he said to his brother cheerfully. + +But Roy did not see how he could go. Still he thought it was best not +to say anything till the time came. + +Just before night, Sydney called Roy to the bedside. + +“Order a coupé for me to be here at half past eleven to-night,” he +said. + +“But you are not fit to go, Syd,” the other could not help but respond. + +“I will be when the time comes,” was the reply. “You will see. Say +nothing to the others about it.” + +“Then let me go with you,” suggested Roy. + +“Well, perhaps you may, but you will sit in the carriage. Now go out +and order it, please.” + +Roy felt somewhat burdened with a secret to keep from the family. But +he trusted Sydney fully, so he felt that it was all right The patient +grew a little better in the evening. + +At half past eight he called Roy to him and whispered: “You had better +lie down and get some rest now. Take my alarm clock and put it at +quarter past eleven.” + +But Roy knew it was no use to take the clock. He was sure he could not +sleep. He was far too anxious and excited for that. He lay down on the +sofa in his own room and tried to read. But he did not see a word on +the page. He was thinking of Sydney. + +Presently Rex came in. He flung himself down on the bed, exclaiming: +“Roy, I feel exactly as if something was going to happen. I can’t get +to sleep, so there’s no use in my going to bed. I’m worried about Syd. +There is something mighty queer about him.” + +“Oh, he’s much better to-night,” Roy responded encouragingly. + +“Yes, I know; but it’s his actions all through this thing that I’m +worried about. Do you know that I sometimes think, Roy—” here Rex sat +up on the bed and lowered his voice impressively—“I sometimes think +that perhaps there was a touch of insanity in Syd’s family. You know we +are always forgetting that he isn’t one of us.” + +“Is it anything in particular makes you think that, Reggie?” said Roy, +wondering what Rex would say if he knew about that night’s expedition. + +“Well, yes, one thing taken with a lot of other things,” and he +proceeded to tell of what Sydney had said to him at the office when he +went down there the previous night. + +“He seems to have the idea that he has committed some crime,” Rex went +on. “I really think that we ought to watch him carefully.” + +“It doesn’t seem to me to be as serious as that,” responded Roy. “But +as you say, we ought to watch him carefully.” + +Rex lay quiet for a time. Roy’s thoughts were disturbing ones. +Reginald, too, was worrying over Sydney’s condition. But that note from +Hannah Fox was something tangible. There was no chimera of the +imagination about that. + +Perhaps it was a real anxiety that was preying on Syd’s mind. Very +likely something connected with his parentage. + +Roy had not thought of this before. He was about to suggest it to +relieve his brother’s mind when he looked up and saw that Rex was +asleep. + +Then he glanced at the clock on the bureau and saw that it pointed to +five minutes to eleven. + +“I’ll let him sleep on now,” he decided, “or he’ll be sure to be around +when we go, and I’m sure Syd doesn’t want him to know.” + +Roy went across the hall to his elder brother’s room. + +He found him sitting on the side of the bed, looking very pale. + +“I guess you’ll have to help me dress, Roy,” he said with a sorry sort +of smile. + +“Perhaps you’d better send a telegram,” Roy rejoined. “There won’t be +any handwriting to recognize on that.” + +“No, no, I must go myself. You will understand some day, very soon, why +I feel this way, and then, Roy, you may pity me and forgive me if you +can.” + +Roy thought of his brother’s theory. Sydney’s talk was very strange, +but not stranger than this midnight proceeding. Well, he would wait +until he had seen this last through before deciding whether or not he +ought to report to his mother. + +He helped Sydney on with his clothes, then went to the window to see if +the carriage was there. He saw it standing in the glare of a street +lamp. It was just half past eleven. He started to his own room to get +his coat. + +“Be careful to make no noise, Roy,” Sydney cautioned him. + +But when Roy entered his own apartment, there was Rex sitting up on the +bed, rubbing his eyes. + +Roy hoped he would go at once to his room, but he began to talk about +the strangeness of his having fallen asleep in that way, and then when +he saw what time it was, wanted to know why Roy hadn’t gone to bed. + +“How could I when you were in the way?” Roy answered smilingly, and +just then Sydney called to him softly from down the hall, “Roy, aren’t +you coming?” + +There was no help for it. Roy went to the closet and took down his +overcoat. + +“Why, where are you going this time of night, Roy Pell?” demanded Rex. + +“Just out for a little while; good night, old fellow. You’d better go +straight to bed.” + +“But look here, Roy.” Rex was following him out into the hall. “This is +mighty queer, your going off this way. Does mother know about it?” + +Rex ceased abruptly. He had come face to face with Sydney, all dressed +for the street. + +“Reggie, what are you doing up?” Sydney asked, and to Rex his voice +sounded cold and stern. + +“I fell asleep on Roy’s bed. But where are you two going? You’re not +fit to be out of bed, Syd,” as the latter reeled and made a quick +clutch at the bannisters. + +“Rex, help me down stairs with him and don’t make any noise.” Roy spoke +in an authoritative tone, and Rex meekly obeyed. + +“Perhaps Rex had better come along, too. I ordered a coach, so that you +could put your feet up. There’ll be plenty of room.” + +Roy whispered this in Sydney’s ear as they went slowly down the stairs. + +“All right; just as you say. I suppose it won’t make much difference +how soon you all know now.” + +“Rex, you may come along if you like,” said Roy, when they reached the +lower hall, and Sydney was sitting on the settee. “Run up quickly and +get your coat.” + +Rex eagerly seized the opportunity, and in five minutes they were all +in the carriage, and the driver had started for Seventh Street. + +Sydney was considerably exhausted by the effort he had already made. He +lay back in the seat breathing heavily. + +“Do you know where we are going and what for?” Rex leaned forward to +whisper in Roy’s ear. + +“It’s a mystery to me, too, but we want to watch out carefully that no +harm comes to Syd,” Roy whispered back. + +When the carriage halted before the little dwelling where Mrs. Fox +lived Roy started to get out, but Sydney drew him back. + +“No, I must be alone,” he said. “Have the carriage wait here till I +come out.” + +But he had scarcely taken a step from the carriage when his weakness +overpowered him. He tottered, and would have fallen had not Rex sprung +out and caught him. Roy was at his other side in an instant, and +together the two boys supported him. + +“You will have to help me up to the door, I guess,” he whispered +faintly; “but don’t ring; knock lightly.” + +There was no one passing at the moment, nor did any light shine from +the interior of the place, Roy knocked against the glass in the door, +and the latter was opened on the merest crack. + +“Who’s there?” came the demand in a quivering old woman’s voice. + +“Sydney Pell. I am ill, but I was bound to come. My two brothers are +with me. Can’t they help me in to a seat? They will then go away +again.” + +“No, no; they can’t come in,” was the quick response. “There must be no +noise. It’s a risk to have you here.” + +“Then can you open the door wide enough to help me in?” returned +Sydney. + +The answer was the swinging back of the door and the reaching out of +the old lady’s arm. + +“Go back to the carriage, boys, and wait,” said Sydney, and the next +instant he had disappeared within the mysterious dwelling. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX +SYDNEY FREES HIS MIND + + +“You’re pretty weak, aren’t you?” This was Mrs. Fox’s remark as she +eased Sydney down into a rocking chair in the little parlor. It was +quite dark, save for the faint light that came in from the street lamp +over the curtain pole in the window. + +“I suppose I was too weak to venture to come,” Sydney answered, “but I +felt that I must. Did you understand all that I meant to say in my +note?” + +“I understand that you know of a great sum of money that is coming to +Maurice Darley. It’s strange, very strange.” + +“Why is it? Did you know anything about it? Did you expect it?” + +There was a note of alarm in Sydney’s tones. + +“No, not that in particular. But you must tell me all the details +before I dare to tell any more.” + +The old lady seated herself on a low chair close to Sydney’s side. It +was extremely weird, this confidential talk in the darkness. + +“What details do you want?” Sydney asked. + +“Why, proofs that there is really something to this fortune. Maurice +has talked too much about others that have nothing to them.” + +“You see him often, then,” exclaimed Sydney eagerly. “He’s here, +perhaps.” + +“S’h!” commanded the old Lady in a stern whisper. “Yes, he is here. He +is in the back room yonder. I am so afraid he will hear us. That is why +I had you come at midnight, when he would be sound asleep.” + +“But why can I not see him?” + +“Because he is weak—weak in his mind. He is all the while fancying that +he is rich. A talk about money would excite him so that I fear the +consequences.” + +“And you say he knew Mr. Tyler?” Sydney remembered and spoke this name +very softly. + +“Yes, he talks of him continually now.” + +“Was he in his office once?” + +“Yes, I believe so.” + +“One more question. Has this Mr. Darley any children?” + +“He had one once—a boy. But it must have died when a baby, soon after +Mrs. Darley did. And now do you know why I do not want you to come here +with stories of riches for Maurice Darley? He’s daft on the subject +already. I do not want him to go so far that they will take him away +from me.” + +“You are fond of him, then?” asked Sydney. + +“He is all I have. If he goes I must live alone. It is my delight to +care for him. The little money David left me is enough for my simple +wants, Maurice lives like a lord in his fancies. Why do you want to +come and disturb us in our content?” + +“Because I must,” Sydney broke out, as passionately as he could in +restrained tones. “Don’t you understand that the money which belongs to +Maurice Darley I have been diverting to other uses? It was left to him +by Mr. Tyler, but I tore up the will. He made it about three hours +after another one, in which he had left everything to the woman who had +acted as a mother to me for twenty years. + +“He was a vacillating old man. I felt that he might change his mind +back again if he should live three hours longer, so when he was dead I +tore up the last will. I alone knew what it contained, and I have been +a miserable man ever since.” + +Sydney bowed his head on his hands, and there was silence in the little +room for a moment or two. + +“You—you are a criminal, then?” said the old lady presently. + +Sydney winced at the term, but at the same time he felt a sense of +relief, as one does after taking a plunge into cold water. At any rate +the shock of the first contact was over. + +“Yes, I suppose I am,” he answered. “And I am ready to suffer the +penalty. The only excuse I have to offer is the fact that what I did, I +did not for myself, but for those I love, who have done so much for me. +And now it is not joy, but misery, I shall bring them.” + +“You are repentant, though,” murmured the old lady softly. “It is not +as if you were hardened and only gave up when some one else found it +out and forced you to. There is hope for you in that. But how much +money is there?” + +“Nearly half a million. But some of it has been used, put into a house, +which of course will be given up to Mr. Darley.” + +“Then you will take him away from me?” It was almost a wail with which +the old lady said this. + +“No, you can come with him, of course.” + +“No. It will be his taking care of me then, and that will be so +different. Oh, why did you come to disturb us?” She seemed quite +forgetful for the time of the presence of any one else in the room, of +her own caution to Sydney to speak quietly. Suddenly she appeared to +recollect this latter necessity. + +She ceased the half moaning she had begun and clutched Sydney’s arm +tightly. + +“I suppose,” she whispered, “that it would not be right to ask you to +keep this money?” + +“I can’t keep it,” Sydney replied. “I have suffered enough from it +already.” + +“But how can you give it to a man who is not in his right mind? He +thinks he is a wealthy man. I have given him a quantity of gilt paper +to play with. He is like a child, you know. The possession of real +money will not make him any happier.” + +“But there is the son,” suggested Sydney. + +“I told you he was dead.” + +“I am not so sure of that. I think I have seen him. Would he not be +about seventeen now?” + +“Yes, and you have seen him?” + +It was with difficulty the old lady kept her tones within bounds. + +“But you cannot be sure it is the same,” she went on. + +“No. I cannot be certain, but I am pretty sure.” + +“Perhaps he looks like his father. Wait, I think I can find a picture +of him in the dark.” + +“But I cannot see it in the dark.” + +“By holding it close to the window you can get the ray from the lamp on +it There! here it is, I think.” + +Mrs. Fox took the portrait to the front of the room, and parting the +curtains a little, held it for Sydney to look at. + +“Yes, it is very like,” he said. “This picture must have been taken +when Mr. Darley was quite young.” + +“He sat for it before he was married. But where is this boy?” + +“Living at a little town out in New Jersey. He wants to find his +father.” + +“How comes it he isn’t dead?” the old lady wanted to know. + +Sydney told the story of Miles Harding as he had heard it from Rex. + +“Do you know why he was compelled to give up the child?” he added. + +“Poverty, I suppose. You know he was very sick once, and he lost +everything. That was what unsettled his reason. But to think he should +have given out that the child was dead!” + +“Did you ever hear him speak of the Morriseys?” + +“No, I never heard the name before. But I should like to see this boy. +Does he know that his father is living?” + +“No, not yet; you see I did not hear of it until tonight. But I must +not stay longer. My brothers are waiting for me in the carriage. We +must arrange what we are going to do.” + +“I don’t know what to say. The boy ought to have his rights. Can’t we +fix it all quietly some way? I don’t think you meant to do wrong.” + +“Yes, I did. I did everything with my eyes open. I ought to suffer for +it. The only trouble is that those I love will suffer with me. But +don’t you think the restoration of fortune will bring back Mr. Darley’s +mind?” + +“I don’t know. I can’t tell about that. He is very queer.” + +“Do you have a doctor for him?” + +“Oh, no. I’d be afraid they’d want to take him away. I expect I’m +selfish about it. But bring the boy here. He is old enough. We can talk +it over with him, and maybe his father will recognize him.” + +“I can come any time, then?” said Sydney. + +“Yes, now I know who you are.” + +“Good night, then. I shall see you soon again. I feel better than when +I came.” + +Sydney rose and walked to the door without assistance. As soon as the +boys saw him they hurried out to help him into the carriage. Within +three minutes they were driving towards home and a church clock near by +chimed one—for half past twelve. + +“Boys,” began Sydney, “I have something to tell you. I was not glad +before that I was not your own brother. I am glad of it now, because—I +am a criminal.” + +There was a pause. No one spoke. There was no sound but the rattle of +the wheels. It was too dark to see the expression on the faces of the +twins. Rex was leaning partly forward, one hand gripping Roy’s knee. He +could think of nothing save the night Mr. Keeler had spent with them +and the horror they had had of him before they found out that it was +his brother whose picture was in that book. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI +THE CONFESSION TO THE BOYS + + +The carriage had gone two squares before the silence in it was broken. +Then Roy spoke. + +“What is it, Syd?” he said. “I am sure you are worrying yourself +needlessly over something—are magnifying it from a molehill into a +mountain.” + +“Needlessly? Oh, boys, would that I were! But as soon as I tell you, +you will understand it all. And I shall tell you now—in a minute. But +just give me your hand, each of you, that I may feel the warm pressure +of your confidence before—before you know the worst of me.” + +Roy and Rex instantly put out their hands. Syd took one in each of his +and held them tight for an instant. Then he dropped them quickly and +began to speak rapidly. + +“Do you remember, Roy, the night last July you went home in Dr. +Martin’s carriage and left me alone with Mr. Tyler? The will that left +all his money to mother had been signed and witnessed; you know what it +contained. I felt so rejoiced for you all, although I had no idea then +that there was a chance of your so soon coming into possession. + +“I sat talking to the old man for an hour or so, about his investments +and the various savings banks in which his money was deposited. Finally +he appeared to grow restless. + +“‘Have you got that will I made, Sydney?’ he asked. + +“I pointed it out to him where it lay on the table. + +“‘I can make another one, can’t I?’ he went on. + +“‘As many as you please,’ I told him. + +“‘Then write out this one and I’ll sign it,’ he said, and he dictated a +document that left every penny of his fortune, except the five thousand +to Ann and a thousand he left to you, Roy, to Maurice Darley, if +living, or his heirs if dead. + +“‘You and Ann can witness it,’ he told me, and I called her in, and she +wrote her name under mine. + +“He named myself and Dr. Martin as executors just as before, and said +that I could probably find Maurice Darley without much trouble. He +turned over in bed then and I asked him where Darley was when he last +heard from him, but he did not answer. I went over to the bed and +looked at him, and found that he was dead. + +“Then the temptation flashed into my mind. + +“‘What a shame,’ I thought, ‘that owing to the caprice of a foolish old +man these people who have been so good to me should be deprived of the +fortune which had just been left to them. This Darley is undoubtedly +rich. He has behaved contemptibly to the man who did so much for him. +Why should he get the money?’ + +“Then I recollected that you had gone into the kitchen, Roy, earlier in +the evening, to get Ann to sign the first will, and then the doctor had +told you that it was not necessary. I reasoned that she would +undoubtedly suppose that the will she did sign was the only one that +had been made, because I was sure she had not read it. + +“All these things flashed into my mind within a few seconds of time as +I stood by the bedside of the dead man. My determination was quickly +taken. I knew that Ann had gone home, that there was no one near to see +the deed. + +“I took the new will and held it in the flame of the candle till it was +entirely consumed. Then I blew the cinders, so that they scattered +about the room and would not attract attention.” + +“Oh, Syd!” This in a kind of gasp from Roy. + +Rex said nothing. He was sitting upright now, still seeming to see +before him the face of “No. 131,” Mr. Keeler’s criminal brother. + +“Yes, I knew you would all shrink from me when you knew,” went on +Sydney. He spoke in a voice that was almost hard now. It was as if it +had become so from the spurring that was necessary to enable him to +make his confession. “I shrank from myself as soon as the last piece of +tinder had vanished from the candlestick. I could not bear to stay in +the house. I hurried off to the undertaker’s, and then stopped at Dr. +Martin’s to tell him that the miser was dead. + +“He said something about the good fortune that had come to us so +quickly. I shuddered and hurried home. But I could not sleep. I seemed +to have become an old man in that one instant while I held that sheet +of paper in the flame of the candle.” + +“That’s the reason we did not see you at breakfast the next morning?” +said Roy softly. + +“Yes, I felt that I could not face you all just yet.” + +“And that is why you looked so terrible and fainted away when I told +Scott Bowman about our inheritance at your office?” added Rex. + +“Yes; I was planning all sorts of ways to fix things, so we needn’t +take the money. Then I saw it was too late. Now you know what has been +on my mind all these months. I knew that my health was being undermined +by the strain. But I did not care for that. I even hoped at times that +I might die, because then I felt that you need never know.” + +“And—and was it anything in particular that made you tell us to-night?” +asked Rex. + +“Yes. It seems very strange how things come about, but then it often +happens so. Do you remember, Reggi—Rex, telling me the name of the man +who left your friend Miles with the Morriseys’?” + +“Yes, and it was Darley, the same name you mentioned just now. And you +fainted then, just as you did that time at the office. You don’t mean +that Miles—” + +“Yes, I am almost certain that Miles Morrisey is really a Darley, the +son of Maurice Darley, to whom all this money belongs. When I suspected +this I knew that the end had come—that I must trace the thing down and +confess.” + +At this point the carriage halted before the door of the house. Rex +sprang out, then Roy, and both boys waited to help Sydney. But he made +no movement to follow them. + +“Aren’t you going to get out, Syd?” asked Roy. + +“No; I have no right to live among you any more. Now that you know, it +will seem like having a convict in the house. I can go to some hotel. +You can send my things to me and I will stay there till—till this is +settled up and they put me away.” + +Roy stepped into the carriage and put his face so close to Sydney’s +that the latter felt the smooth flesh against his day’s growth of +beard. + +“Dear old fellow,” whispered Roy, “you must come. We haven’t cast you +off. And—and besides, we want you with us to help us decide what to +do.” + +“Don’t be so good to me, Roy. I can’t bear it.” + +But as he spoke, Sydney got out, and the three went up the steps. + +Nothing was said as they ascended the stairs. There was danger of +disturbing the household. + +“Good night, Syd,” said Roy, when they reached the top. + +He put out his hand, but Sydney did not see it in the darkness. + +“Good night, Roy,” he responded. + +Rex said nothing, but when Sydney’s door closed behind him, he drew Roy +into his room with him. + +“You must stay with me to-night, Roy,” he said, and he began taking off +his coat. + +“Why didn’t you speak to Syd before we came in, Reggie?” + +“I couldn’t, Roy. I feel awfully sorry for him. But he’s committed a +crime, and I can’t help but think all the while of Mr. Keeler’s +brother.” + +“It’s terrible—awful.” Roy’s face was pale; he looked almost as Sydney +had looked at one time. + +“What are we going to do?” Rex sat down on the edge of the bed, a +despairing droop to the shoulders that he usually carried so squarely. + +“We must give up everything to the rightful heir.” + +“But where shall we go then? We’ve sold our house in Marley and spent +the money we got for it. We’ll be worse off than we were before, Roy. +Oh, dear, why did you ever look up at that trestle and see that old man +crawl out on it?” + +“I’ve wished I hadn’t before now,” replied Roy gravely. + +“The money hasn’t made us happy as you expected it would, and now see +what misery it has brought. But I suppose it’s wrong for me to regret +doing what I did. And don’t think so hard of Syd, Reggie. Remember that +he did what he did, not for himself, but for us.” + +“I’ll try my best, but I don’t feel now as if I could ever touch him +again. And think what he has brought us to! Poverty, after just giving +us the taste of wealth.” The twins did not sleep much that night. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII +A HARD DAY FOR THE TWINS + + +Roy and Rex slept far into the morning, which was Saturday. They were +awakened finally by a persistent knocking on the door and Jess’s voice: + +“Are you boys going to sleep all day? Have you forgotten we were all +going to Marley at eleven o’clock? And here’s a note Syd left for you, +Rex. He’s much better and gone to the office. Get up now or we shan’t +save breakfast” + +“All right,” responded Roy, and he shook his brother and told him about +Syd’s note. + +“I wonder what it’s about,” murmured Rex. + +Then he saw it on the carpet, where Jess had poked it under the door. +He snatched it up eagerly and read: + +“I am going to telegraph for Miles to come in and stay over Sunday. He +must be told while he is here. He will get to the house in time for +dinner.” + +“I wonder if he expects me to tell him?” muttered Rex. “Great Scott, +it’ll be mighty queer to entertain a fellow in a house that really +belongs to him!” + +“And I wonder when mother and the girls are to be told,” added Roy. “Do +you suppose Syd could have told mother already?” + +But there was no sign that Mrs. Pell knew from her demeanor when she +poured the coffee for them. + +“I must go down and see Syd about it,” said Roy as they went out into +the hall together. “You’ll have to go to Marley without me.” + +“And I’m sure I don’t want to go,” added Rex. + +Their decision carried dismay to the hearts of the girls. + +“You must go, boys,” said Eva. “The Minturns have invited us to lunch, +we have accepted, and it would be very impolite for you not to go now. +Besides, Jess and I can’t come home after dark alone.” + +“If you knew what I do you wouldn’t feel like going either,” returned +Rex, not heeding the warning glance cast at him by his brother. + +“What do you know, Rex?” asked Jess, looking from one twin to the other +with a keen gaze. “There is something between those two,” she added, +turning to her sister. “You take Roy, Eva, and I’ll take Rex, and we’ll +make them up and confess.” + +The method of “making” employed was to tickle the boys, who were each +very susceptible to this form of torture. This was terrible. To have +the thing turned into a joke when it was so fearfully serious. Roy +spoke up quickly: + +“We’ll tell you in a little while now, girls,” he said. “But seriously, +I think you had better give up this trip to Marley.” + +“But what excuse will we send the Minturns?” + +Roy hesitated. This was a poser. + +“Can’t you put it off?” he said finally, as a makeshift. + +“Of course we can’t, without giving a reason for it,” returned Jess. “I +think you boys are just as mean as you can be. Because you’ve got up +some scheme between you that you’d rather do than go with us, you just +won’t go.” + +“Ah, Jess, it isn’t that. It’s—but I can’t tell you now. Come, Rex, +we’d better go after all. One day won’t make any difference.” + +Rex objected a little longer, but was at last won over. + +“I don’t suppose we could tell them without Syd’s consent,” he said +when he and Roy had gone up stairs to get their coats. “But it’ll seem +exactly like dancing on our own graves.” + +“Oh, not so bad as that, Reggie,” returned Roy. + +The day was a terribly hard one to both boys. All sorts of plans were +discussed and adopted for future good times. + +Charlie and Ethel Minturn were invited up for a week from that day to +take lunch and go to a matinee. + +“They’ll never be able to take them,” Rex found opportunity to whisper +to his brother. “I wish we’d told the girls about it this morning.” + +“So do I, but I didn’t like to till Syd said he was ready.” + +The Minturns could not fail to notice that the twins had something on +their minds. Ethel spoke of it. + +“Oh, it’s some piece of boys’ mischief, I’ll be bound,” exclaimed Jess, +whereupon Roy and Rex exchanged glances and their hearts sank lower +still. + +On the way home in the train Rex announced that Miles Morrisey was +coming that evening to spend Sunday with them. + +“But I thought you and Roy were going to a meeting of your school +society,” returned Jess. “If it hadn’t been for that we could have +stayed to dinner at the Minturns’.” + +“Great Scott, I forgot all about the Stylus!” exclaimed Rex. “Well, it +don’t matter; we’ll have to give it up any way.” + +The coming of night seemed to bring with it to Reginald a realizing +sense of all that the new order of things would mean. He relapsed into +thoughtfulness, in the midst of which he half sprang from his seat with +an inarticulate exclamation. + +“What’s the matter, Rex?” inquired Eva. “Oh, nothing,” he responded. +But the color deepened slightly in his cheek, and he looked furtively +at Roy. + +The cause of his start was the remembrance of what Sydney had said +about the name Darley having caused him to determine to confess. + +“If I had not gone off with Harrington that time,” was Rex’s inference, +“Miles would not have come into my life, and we would not now be facing +poverty.” + +But the blush was the shame at the idea that he would be willing to +enjoy the fruits of Sydney’s crime provided he did not know about it. + +“I always feel sorry for Miles when he comes to see us,” remarked Eva. + +“Why?” asked Rex quickly. + +“Because he seems to feel embarrassed, as though he were out of place. +He isn’t in the least. He has very nice manners, and I’m sure is a +perfect gentleman. But what he needs is a little more self assurance.” + +“Oh, he’ll get that fast enough now,” said Rex, and then looked fixedly +away from the scandalized glance he knew Roy was directing at him. + +“I’ll go home with the girls if you’ll wait at the station for Miles, +Rex,” and Reginald was glad to be left alone for a few minutes. + +“It doesn’t seem as if it could be so,” he mused, as he walked up and +down the pavement opposite the Public Buildings. “Miles and I to change +places!” + +People hurrying to catch outgoing trains jostled him; the clang of the +cable car bells sounded every few seconds; the noises of the city life +he loved were all about him. + +“Where shall I be a year from now?” he asked himself. + +But it was nearly time for Miles’s train. Rex turned and went up the +stairway to the left of the station building. As he did so, he passed a +familiar face coming down. It was the boy who got him into trouble with +the Chinaman that July afternoon six months before. + +But Rex felt no resentment now. + +“If that was the only trouble I had to think about!” he told himself +enviously. + +Of such power is comparison. + +Miles’s train was on time. Rex saw Miles standing on the step of the +forward car, ready to spring off at the first opportunity. His face +lighted up to a still greater radiance at sight of Rex waiting for him. + +“I didn’t think you’d come to meet me,” he said, as he shook hands. “It +is awfully good of you. I’m so glad to see you.” + +There was no doubt of this. One could read it at once in the way he +looked at his companion. + +“I suppose you were surprised to get Syd’s telegram,” remarked Rex. +“What did he say in it?” + +“Come and spend Sunday with Rex,” answered the other. “I was here only +a little while ago, but I was glad enough to come again. It is ever so +kind in you to send for me.” + +“Didn’t you think there might be any other reason for our sending for +you?” asked Rex, after an instant’s pause. + +A troubled look crossed Miles’s face. + +“No; what do you mean, Rex?” + +“Don’t you remember what you found out a little while ago—about the man +who left you with the Morriseys?” + +“Oh, my father. Has your brother heard anything about him? Is that what +you want me for?” + +“It’s about that; yes. I’m not sure whether your father has been found, +but something else has been found that belongs to you.” + +“And what is that?” asked Miles eagerly. + +“A fortune.” + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII +A QUEER FISH POND PARTY + + +Miles stared at Rex as though he did not comprehend the meaning of the +word. + +“A fortune?” he repeated. “What fortune?” + +“Why, your fortune, to be sure,” returned Rex. + +“But I don’t understand,” went on Miles. “How can I have a fortune?” + +“Easy enough, since your father has one. Syd knows all about it. You’re +a lucky fellow, Miles. It’s somewhere about half a million.” + +Miles looked very grave for half a minute, then a smile broke out over +his face. + +“Come, Rex,” he said, “I see through your joke, so you might as well +drop it. You oughtn’t to have made the sum so high if you expected me +to believe it.” + +“It’s true, all the same, Miles.” + +But Miles still shook his head and declared he should wait to believe +till Mr. Sydney told him all about it. + +“I wonder if Syd will tell him the whole thing tonight?” Rex asked +himself, but Sydney was not home to dinner. + +There was a note from him to Rex, however, asking that he and Roy and +Miles should meet him at the Continental Hotel that night at eight. +This threw Rex into a great state of excitement. He knew that the +crisis was at hand. + +Roy took things more quietly, but inwardly he was none the less +excited. + +“Syd wants us to meet him down town,” he said as they rose from the +table. + +He had been waiting for Rex to tell Miles, but the other had not yet +brought himself to do it. + +“Where are you going?” Jess wanted to know. “To the theater?” + +“No, indeed,” responded Rex. Then he folded up his napkin quickly and +left the dining room. + +“Has this visit got anything to do with my father?” Miles whispered to +Roy, as they went out into the hall together. + +“I think it has, Miles, but I don’t know much more about it than you +do.” + +There was not much said by the three boys on their way down town. Rex +was in one of his silent moods, and made no effort to get out of it. + +Roy tried to talk, but there was such a weight on his mind that he made +but poor success of the attempt. + +Miles was far too excited, however, to notice the difference in manner +of the twins compared with their usual cordiality. + +They found Sydney waiting for them in the corridor of the hotel. He was +looking very haggard, but he seemed very glad to see Miles. + +“I have good news for you, my boy,” he said; “good and bad, too. I have +found your father, but he is not quite himself.” + +“What do you mean?” exclaimed Miles, while Roy and Rex looked their +interest. + +“His mind is affected,” Sydney went on. “We hope the sight of you may +have a favorable effect, but be careful not to be excited yourself when +you see him. Take it quite as a matter of course.” + +Miles drew in a long breath. It was going to be rather a difficult +matter for him to take easily a meeting with the father he had thought +never to see. + +“Where is he?” he asked in a faint tone. + +“Not far from here. Come, we will go there at once.” + +On the way to Mrs. Fox’s Sydney explained that he and the old lady had +arranged that she should give a sort of boys’ party at which Mr. Darley +should be present. He would then have an opportunity to study Miles +quietly, while the latter was engaged in playing games. + +“You look so much like him,” Sydney added, “that we hope he may +recognize you.” + +Miles appeared to be somewhat astonished when they halted before the +odd little home in Seventh Street. But he said nothing, and the next +moment they were all being warmly welcomed by Mrs. Fox. + +The old lady was so excited that both her hands and voice trembled. She +came near crying when she first saw Miles, but she greeted him exactly +as she had the twins. There was a game of Fish Pond on the center +table. + +“Now, boys,” she said, “try your luck.” + +They all drew up to the table, Sydney taking a rod, too. The old lady +stood looking on behind Miles’s chair. Presently she went out into the +back room and in a few minutes returned, accompanied by a gentleman who +did not look to be over thirty-seven. He was dressed very handsomely +and his resemblance to Miles was striking. + +“Mr. Darley, boys,” said Mrs. Fox, as the two came up to the table. “Go +right on with your fishing; we will watch you.” + +She had taken up her stand this time behind Rex, who was sitting just +opposite Miles. + +“Glad to meet you, boys,” remarked Mr. Darley, in a pleasant voice. +“How is the market?” + +Rex, with an effort, collected himself sufficiently to answer, “Oh, +pretty fair, sir.” + +“Only pretty fair, eh?” went on the other. “Keep at it, though. You’re +bound to win some time, as I have. Look here.” + +He put his hand in the side pocket of his coat and drew forth a great +mass of chips, all covered with gilt paper. + +A look of agony was on Miles’s face. It was almost worse than finding +no father at all, to find such a one as this. + +“Don’t you want to take my rod and fish a while, sir?” he said, feeling +that it would be impossible for him to longer sit still. + +“Thank you; you are very kind. I might take a single flyer.” + +Mr. Darley stepped around to take Miles’s seat, but as the other rose +they were face to face, and very close to each other for an instant. +Mr. Darley put out both hands and grasped the boy by the shoulders. + +“What is your name?” he said in a tone that was quite different from +the one in which he had hitherto spoken. It was much more decided, and +firmer. + +“Miles,” answered the other, trying his best to keep his excitement +down. + +He could see Mrs. Fox standing just behind his father, her hands +clasped together in an agony of suspense. + +“Miles, eh! Well, you look as if your name ought to be Maurice. Great +Cæsar! doesn’t he look like me, Mrs. Fox?” + +He wheeled around so suddenly that the poor old lady was taken quite +unawares. She dropped her hands quickly to her sides and had not a word +to say. + +“Don’t he look like me?” Mr. Darley now appealed to Sydney, who managed +to stammer out: “I certainly see a strong resemblance, sir.” + +“What is your last name, young man?” went on the other. + +Miles hesitated an instant. He was about to say Darley, but some happy +instinct prompted him to substitute “Morrisey.” + +Mr. Darley started. + +“Morrisey, you say?” he exclaimed. + +A swift change passed over his features. He had dropped his hand from +Miles’s shoulders, but now reached forth and caught him by the arm. + +“Come with me,” he said quietly, and led him into the back room. + +The others looked at one another without speaking. No one thought of +the game. The fish lines, tangled up, were lying in the pasteboard +pond. + +Mrs. Fox had sunk down on the sofa, her head covered with her apron. +From the inner room came the subdued sound of voices. + +“Do you suppose he has recognized him?” It was Rex who at length broke +the silence, and he spoke in an awed whisper. + +Nobody made any reply, for footsteps were heard approaching from the +rear. It was Miles. His face was handsomer than Rex had ever seen it. +It was lighted up with joy. + +He came straight to Rex and put a hand on his shoulder, while he leaned +over till his chin rested on the other’s head. + +“I want to tell you first, Rex,” he said, “who have been the means of +bringing me to this happiness. He knows me. His mind has come back to +him. He called me Maurice, and he remembers giving me to the Morriseys +to take care of for a while. Then his brain went back on him, and he +thought I was dead.” + +“Where is he?” asked Rex. + +“Lying down on the bed. He is utterly exhausted. I must go back to him +now,” and Miles hurried off again. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV +REX RISES TO THE OCCASION + + +“It’s wonderful. I never heard anything like it.” This was Mrs. Fox’s +exclamation when the four were left alone in the front room again. + +“All the credit belongs to you, Mr. Pell,” she went on, turning to +Sydney. “It was you thought of this way of doing things.” + +“Oh, he might have recognized him any other way just as quickly,” +returned Sydney. “And now some one must tell him about Mr. Tyler’s +legacy,” he added. “I want to get that off my mind.” + +“I guess he can’t stand that to-night, Mr. Pell,” returned the old +lady. “You’d better leave it till tomorrow. I’ll keep Miles here with +him to-night—there’s room—and then they can both go to see you +to-morrow.” + +“Yes, that will be the best way,” Sydney agreed. “But I had hoped to +get it off my mind by this time. Come, boys.” + +“I trust I shall see you both again,” said Mrs. Fox, as she shook hands +with the twins. + +Then the three Pells went out and homeward. It was only nine o’clock. + +“Mother ought to know, don’t you think so, Syd?” said Roy. + +“Yes, she must know to-night. But I don’t see how I can tell her. I +don’t see how I can. She trusts me so fully.” + +“Then let me tell her,” suggested Roy. + +“No, no. I must confess myself. I shall do it now as soon as we get +home. Then I can be ready to put myself in Mr. Darley’s hands +to-morrow.” + +“Do you think he will—will—” Rex began and came to a sudden stop. + +“Send me to jail?” Syd finished for him. “He may. He has a right to do +it. I deserve to go. Oh, boys, I wonder how you can bear to be with +me.” + +“You did it for our sakes, Syd,” responded Roy. + +But Rex said nothing. + +When they reached the house they found Eva and Jess in the parlor, +entertaining company. + +“Come in, boys,” Eva called as they passed the door. + +Roy and Rex obeyed the summons, leaving Sydney to go up to Mrs. Pell in +the library. + +They found Mr. Keeler to be the caller. Rex started when he saw who it +was. + +“Why, where is Miles?” asked Jess. + +“He stayed with his father,” replied Rex. + +“His father!” echoed both girls. “Why, has he found him?” + +“Yes,” answered Roy, “Syd found him. There’s a story for you, Mr. +Keeler, a regular romance.” + +Rex began to look nervous. He feared that his escapade with Harrington +was about to be related. But Roy skillfully told the main points in +Miles’s career without encroaching on this. + +Mr. Keeler stayed until ten o’clock, and while they were talking and +laughing in the parlor, the twins were thinking of what was going on in +the room above. + +When they went to kiss their mother good night they saw that she knew. +The girls exclaimed at once at sight of her face. + +“You are ill,” cried Eva. + +“No, Eva,” rejoined Mrs. Pell, “it is worse than illness.” + +The tears welled up in her eyes. She could say no more. + +Sydney was not with her, neither was he in his room. The girls were +clamorous to know what was the matter. + +“Tell them, Roy, I can’t,” Mrs. Pell at last found voice to say. + +Rex could not stay to hear. And Roy never suffered as he did in the few +moments it took him to relate his foster brother’s crime. It seemed as +though it were as cruel as to drive nails into the fair flesh of the +young girls. And yet they must know. + +“How could he do it, how could he?” Eva murmured again and again. + +“Perhaps he didn’t,” Jess suddenly exclaimed. “He’s nothing to show for +it—the second will, I mean. Perhaps there’s something wrong with his +brain, and he only imagines there was one and he destroyed it.” + +But Roy shook his head. There was Ann to prove, if necessary, that she +had signed the other document. + +For a long while they sat there. It seemed as if black despair had +settled upon them and there was no way out. + +For years Mrs. Pell had leaned upon Sydney. In an emergency like the +present, he would be just the one to whom she would go for counsel. And +now—he had failed her utterly. + +“What did you say to him, mother?” asked Roy after a while. “Were—were +you kind to him?” + +“I tried to be. I tried to remember that he had done all for our sakes, +but I feel like a ship without a rudder.” + +Roy left his seat near Eva and slipped into a chair next his mother, +who had bowed her head on the desk in front of her. + +She had been writing a note to a charitable society of which she was a +member. The check she was to send them lay all signed, ready to be +inclosed. + +“Moms,” whispered Roy, using the pet name Rex had invented and pressing +one of his mother’s hands tightly in his, “you have us. We are growing +fast. I am sure we shall get along.” + +“Bless you, my boy.” His mother kissed him on the forehead, then lifted +her eyes reverently, as she added: “Yes, and I must not forget that +there is One who is always a friend to the needy. And now, children, we +must go to bed. To-morrow we will decide what to do.” + +Roy stopped at Rex’s door, went in and found his brother tossing in +bed. + +“Have you told the girls?” he asked. + +“Yes.” + +“How did they take it?” + +“Better than I expected they would.” + +“But what are we going to do, Roy?” Rex went on. “We can’t stay here.” + +“No, of course not.” + +“But what will people say? Won’t there be a terrible scandal?” + +“You mustn’t talk that way, Rex. Remember that you and I are the ones +mother must depend on now. If she sees us looking on the dark side +it’ll make it so much the harder for her.” + +“That’s it,” returned Rex. “Life is something you must go ahead with. +You can’t lay it down when you get tired. All right; I’ll remember what +you say, Roy, but it’s an awful come down.” + +Rex, however, “came up to the scratch,” as he himself would have +expressed it, nobly the next day. + +Nobody went to church, and about half past eleven the door bell rang +and “Mr. Darley and son” were announced. + +Miles, as we shall continue to call him, sent up word to know if he +could come up to Rex’s room. + +“Do you know?” asked Reginald, as he met him in the doorway. + +“Yes; Mr. Sydney came around to us this morning. I can’t understand it. +But I don’t want you to feel—” + +Miles hesitated. It was very embarrassing for him to express just what +he wanted to say. Rex helped him out. + +“I’m awfully glad for you, old fellow,” he said heartily. “And I don’t +want you to worry about us. We’ll get along some way.” + +“But that won’t do,” Miles persisted. “If it hadn’t been for you I +might have been a common tramp now and never found my father.” + +“And if it hadn’t been for you I would probably have been dead long +ago,” Rex retorted. “So you see we’re quits.” + +“No, we’re not, and I don’t want that we should, till I give you what I +think you ought to have. Father says I may and—” + +“Miles Harding—Darley, I mean, if you do that I’ll—I’ll never speak to +you again. There, take your choice—quits or my friendship.” + +Rex’s pride conquered. Miles was still his slave. + +“I’ll never say another word about it, Rex,” he replied meekly, and for +the first time Reginald felt that he could face poverty bravely. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV +A FISTIC ENCOUNTER + + +It is summer again, but in Batemans the town in which we now find our +friends, the Pells, this banner season of the year, does not deck +itself with all the attractions that caused it to be eagerly looked +forward to in Marley. + +There are no creek, no hills, no trees, nothing but board walks, board +houses, board fences, and the “boarders we take,” as Rex would conclude +the sentence. And these are the same in summer as they are in winter, +except that they are all hotter and more unpleasant than ordinary. + +Batemans is a far Western town. A friend of Mrs. Pell’s was putting up +a hotel there at the time of her trouble. He had appealed to her for +some woman to run it. + +“I don’t want a man,” he wrote. “There are too many men out here now. I +want somebody who will give home comforts which I want to make a +speciality of, in place of a bar.” + +Mrs. Pell considered it a providential opportunity. She replied stating +that she would take it herself if she could have her children to help +her. And they had gone out there in February. + +Mr. Darley had been kindness itself. He not only refused to prosecute +Sydney, but wanted to settle a portion of his fortune on the Pells. + +“You are fully entitled to this,” he said. “It is through you that my +boy has been restored to me.” + +But Mrs. Pell was firm as Rex had been firm. + +“It is enough that you allow us the time in which to make our plans,” +she returned. + +Rex never murmured at the prospect of Batemans. Not even when the +dreary aspect of the place, with mud two feet deep in its streets, +first dawned upon him. He felt that he ought to rejoice rather that his +new lot was to be cast so far away from all his old friends. + +There were no educational facilities in Batemans; at least none of +which the twins could avail themselves. Then they found plenty to do in +helping their mother. + +Rex acted as clerk, made out the bills and received the guests; Roy saw +to the purchasing of supplies, and aided his brother in keeping +objectionable characters out of the house. + +There were no amusements and no society except that which they +furnished themselves in the family circle, Roy often thought if he had +had this life to look forward to, his whole previous existence would +have been embittered. But now that he was living it, strength seemed +given him in some way to bear the burden. + +Sydney had gone to England. They asked him to write and let them know +how he was getting along, but he would not promise. + +Miles wrote regularly to Rex, even when the latter did not reply. He +and his father had moved into the handsome home next the Harringtons’, +with Mrs. Fox as housekeeper. + +“I wonder what people think of the thing,” Rex said once to Roy. + +There had been no publicity about the transfer. Only a few people knew +of it and the cause. + +On this July day on which we are writing, it was unusually hot. The +heat seemed to be frying in the air. It was a day of all others on +which to keep quiet and calm. + +But this was the day on which the waiters of the Homestead House had +chosen to go out on strike for an increase of wages which Mrs. Pell was +not empowered to give them. They threw down their aprons just before +the dinner hour at one o’clock. + +“Never mind, mother,” said Roy. “Rex and I will pitch in and help.” + +And they did, they and Eva and Jess. Rex was just carrying a tray of +dishes into the pantry when he heard a louder voice than usual coming +from one of the tables. + +He looked around. He saw Jess, flushed to her hair, standing behind a +young man who had come in with one of the regular guests, and whom he +had not noticed before. + +“Come now, I’ll give you a nice tip if you’ll do it for me,” Rex heard +the fellow say. + +He thought he recognized the voice. He put his tray down and hurried to +his sister’s side. + +She had started to walk away, but the man had caught her by the dress +and held her fast. + +“He wants me to go to the saloon across the street and bring him a +bottle of beer,” said Jess. + +Rex stooped quickly and disengaged the fellow’s hand with no gentle +touch. In doing so he looked him straight in the face. It was Ashby +Stout. + +“Great Scott, it’s little Pell,” exclaimed Stout. Then he added +quickly: “Look here, youngster, what right have you to send that girl +away from here?” + +“A brother’s right,” replied Rex promptly. + +“Whew!” whistled Stout under his breath, and he turned to Driscoll, the +friend with whom he had come in. “Say, Sammy,” he whispered, “what +position does this chap hold in the place?” + +“He’s the manager’s son,” was the reply. + +Having accomplished his purpose Rex went on, took up his tray and +carried it into the pantry. His eyes still flashed from anger. + +“Jess,” he said, going up to his sister, “you must not go into that +dining room again.” + +“But I’ll have to,” she replied, “I’ve got lots of orders to fill.” + +“Never mind. I’ll attend to yours and mine, too. I’m not going to have +that ruffian ogling you, I know who he is.” + +“You do? Who is he?” + +“Never mind. It is enough that I know everything bad about him and +nothing good. Give me your orders.” + +And Jess complied. Of course this compelled Rex to wait on Stout. But +he gritted his teeth and went through with the process in dignified +silence, taking no notice of the attempt Stout made to draw him into +conversation. + +When dinner was over and Rex was back in his place behind the desk, +making up accounts, Stout strolled in, a cigarette between his lips. + +He affected to be examining the register for a little while, then +suddenly looked up to remark: “I say, Pell, that’s a deuced pretty +sister of yours.” + +I won’t say that Rex did right, I can’t say that he did wrong, but on +the instant and without a word he leaned forward and hit J. Ashby Stout +a blow on the chin that sent him staggering backward over a chair that +stood just behind him. + +There happened to be no one else in the office just at that moment. So +Mr. Stout was obliged to pick himself up, which he did, muttering +wrathfully under his breath, while Rex, very white, went on with his +work. + +“If you’re not a coward, sir, you’ll come out here and give me +satisfaction for that insult, sir.” + +So spoke Mr. Stout. Rex closed his books and came out in front of the +desk. + +“I allow no one to speak of my sister in that tone,” he said. + +“And I allow no one to strike me,” blustered Mr. Stout, launching out a +blow directly at Rex’s face. + +Rex dodged and planted another blow on Mr. Stout’s chin. Then they both +went at it. Sometimes one was struck, sometimes the other. I am aware +that this is contrary to all precedents in story writing. Following out +these, J. Ashby Stout should have gone down under the first blow, and +then been glad to slink off without risking another encounter with the +redoubtable hero. + +But then as I think I have remarked once before, Rex is not the hero of +this story. He is a boy of very impulsive nature, as often wrong as +right in his motives. Perhaps he might have taken a wiser method of +standing up for his sister on the present occasion. Be this as it may, +he did not regret the black eye he went up to his room to bathe a +little while later. + +And while the battle did not result in a decisive victory for either +side, it was noticeable that Mr. J. Ashby Stout did not again accompany +Driscoll to the Homestead. But some one else appeared the next day to +whom Rex found it necessary to explain how he came by his battered +visage. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI +MILES BREAKS THE NEWS + + +A compromise had been effected with the striking waiters, and the heat +had lessened a little in its intensity. The two things, together with +the nonappearance of Ashby Stout were blessings for which Rex had to be +grateful. + +But when the stage came in and he recognized among the passengers Miles +Darley and the latter’s father, he did not know whether he was glad or +not. They were links connecting him with that past life which he was +trying his best to forget. Now it seemed to him that only by forgetting +it and thus doing away with the power of contrast, could he be happy in +the present. + +“You dear old fellow!” Miles rushed forward with this exclamation and +fairly took Rex in his arms. + +He had grown much in the past few months and the clothes he wore set +off his figure to great advantage. + +“I won’t say where on earth did you come from,” said Rex, “but where in +the world are you going to, that you should take in this forsaken +place?” + +“Well, that’s polite, I’m sure,” laughed Miles, “Can’t you imagine that +Batemans may be our objective point?” + +“No, because I’m certain you can’t be interested in saw mills, and +that’s the only thing that brings people here.” + +“But I can be interested in you, can’t I, Rex? I’ve missed you +terribly. That great house seems so lonely with only three of us in +it.” + +“But you needn’t have stayed there in the summer. There’s the White +Mountains or the sea coast—lots of places you could have gone to.” + +“If we choose to come here instead, it’s all right, isn’t it, Rex?” + +“Of course it is, old fellow, and now I see that the best way in which +I can entertain you is to tell you right off how I came by this black +eye,” which Rex proceeded at once to do. + +“Good for you, my little game cock!” exclaimed Miles, when he had heard +the story. “Speaking of Stout, your friend Harrington has tried to +scrape acquaintance with me, but he hasn’t got beyond the scraping +stage yet. I wonder what Stout was doing out here.” + +“His father’s in the lumber business, I believe. But I’m afraid you’ll +find it pretty hot, Miles.” + +“Well, I’ve had so many cold days in my time I guess I can stand a +little heat.” + +Rex was not the only one of the Pells who was astonished by the advent +of the Darleys. Their coming was a complete surprise to the entire +family. And a still greater cause of astonishment was the prolongation +of their stay. + +They rented two of the best rooms in the house, had awnings put up at +the windows and wicker furniture sent on from Denver. Mr. Darley took +frequent trips to neighboring towns. It was understood by the gossips +at Batemans that he was a large Eastern capitalist, looking about for +profitable mining investments. + +July, August and half of September passed, and still the Darleys +remained. Miles was supremely content, for he was with Rex, for whom +his admiration appeared to increase with each day’s added intimacy. +Miles had brought his books, and they studied together some. And in +spite of the forlornness of the place, the five young people managed to +have a pretty good time. + +One afternoon Roy and Rex were washing the omnibus out at the stable. +The driver, hearing of a big strike that had been made at a mine some +sixty miles away, threw up his position at once and started off to try +to get rich at a hand stroke. And the boys were forced to throw +themselves into the breach until another man could be obtained in his +place. + +This is the sort of thing they had trained themselves to expect since +coming to Batemans. + +“Where’s Miles?” asked Roy, as he brought a fresh pail of water and set +it down beside his brother. + +“He was coming out but his father called him into his room.” + +“We’ll miss them when they go, won’t we, Reggie? It has been jolly good +fun to have Miles with us all summer. You ought to feel quite proud to +think you are a strong enough magnet to keep him here.” + +“I can’t understand it at all, why they should have stayed,” returned +Rex. + +He did not speak very cheerfully. The Darleys were to leave the very +next week. It was impossible but that Rex should realize vividly to +what they were returning. He did not tell Roy so, but he wished they +had not come. + +There was only one wheel of the omnibus to finish when Miles came +hurrying toward them. There was an expression on his face which neither +of the twins could comprehend. It was a blending of fear, joy and +stupefaction. + +“Here, let me help,” he said, as he came up. “I want you fellows to +hurry and get through. I’ve something to tell you.” + +But they had so nearly finished that there was nothing left for him to +undertake. + +“What have you got to tell us?” asked Rex, throwing his sponge back +into the bucket. + +“I wish I knew how you fellows would take it,” returned Miles, a flush +creeping over his face. + +“Try us and find out,” rejoined Roy with a smile. + +“I’m simply delighted myself,” went on the other. “I wonder how I can +keep my two feet on the ground. It seems too good to be true.” + +“Then why are you in doubt how we’ll take it,” said Rex. “What pleases +you ought certainly to please us.” + +“But perhaps this won’t. It’s so—so, unexpected and altogether jolly.” + +“Well, Miles Darley, you are certainly the most incomprehensible fellow +this afternoon,” exclaimed Roy. “What’s it about?” + +“Well, it’s about the Pells and the Darleys,” explained Miles, the +color still surging in his cheeks. “In union there is strength, you +know, and—haven’t you guessed it yet?” + +“No, indeed, we haven’t and just you tell us right out what it is +without any more fooling,” and Rex made a playful dab at his friend +with the big sponge. + +“All right, here goes then,” and Miles drew in his breath. “Your mother +has told my father that she will be Mrs. Darley, and that makes us +brothers, Rex, don’t you see, and we’re all going back to Philadelphia +together—well, don’t you like it?” + +Miles checked himself suddenly, for Roy and Rex stood staring at him as +if struck dumb, too amazed to allow any expression to appear on their +faces. + +But it was all true; they were to have another test of fortune, and +though its bringing about seemed in some sense to deprive the boys of +their mother, they knew that not only was this not so, but that they +were to gain a father thereby. “And a brother, too, don’t forget that,” +Miles adds at my side. + +THE END. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWO BOYS AND A FORTUNE *** + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Two Boys and a Fortune<br /> +Or, The Tyler Will</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Matthew White, Jr.</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: April 7, 2002 [eBook #4997]<br /> +[Most recently updated: September 8, 2021]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Jim Weiler, xooqi.com</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWO BOYS AND A FORTUNE ***</div> + +<h1>Two Boys and a Fortune</h1> + +<h3>Or, The Tyler Will</h3> + +<h2 class="no-break">by Matthew White, Jr.</h2> + +<h3>1907</h3> + +<hr /> + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#pref01">PREFACE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap01">CHAPTER I. THE MAN ON THE BRIDGE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap02">CHAPTER II. IN THE MISER’S HOME</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap03">CHAPTER III. MR. TYLER’S WILL</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap04">CHAPTER IV. THE TWIN BROTHERS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap05">CHAPTER V. BREAKING THE NEWS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap06">CHAPTER VI. REX GOES TO TOWN</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap07">CHAPTER VII. REGINAND’S HUMILIATION</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap08">CHAPTER VIII. IN SYDNEY’S OFFICE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap09">CHAPTER IX. THE MYSTERY ABOUT SYDNEY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap10">CHAPTER X. ROY MAKES A NEW ACQUAINTANCE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap11">CHAPTER XI. MR. CHARLES KEELER</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap12">CHAPTER XII. AN ALARMING DISCOVERY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap13">CHAPTER XIII. DISCUSSION OF WAYS AND MEANS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap14">CHAPTER XIV. WHAT HAPPENED AT MIDNIGHT</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap15">CHAPTER XV. DUDLEY HARRINGTON</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap16">CHAPTER XVI. REX DETERMINES TO TAKE MATTERS INTO HIS OWN HANDS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap17">CHAPTER XVII. REX ARRIVES IN NEW YORK</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap18">CHAPTER XVIII. REX SEES A HORRIBLE SPECTACLE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap19">CHAPTER XIX. A MEMORABLE NIGHT</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap20">CHAPTER XX. THE CRISIS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap21">CHAPTER XXI. MILES HARDING</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap22">CHAPTER XXII. SEARCHING FOR REX</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap23">CHAPTER XXIII. A TELEGRAM</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap24">CHAPTER XXIV. FOUND AT LAST</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap25">CHAPTER XXV. MILES HARDING’S STORY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap26">CHAPTER XXVI. IN WINTER DAYS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap27">CHAPTER XXVII. SYDNEY GOES ON A MYSTERIOUS EXPEDITION</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap28">CHAPTER XXVIII. THE STRANGE CONDUCT OF MRS. FOX</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap29">CHAPTER XXIX. A MIDNIGHT VISIT</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap30">CHAPTER XXX. SYDNEY FREES HIS MIND</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap31">CHAPTER XXXI. THE CONFESSION TO THE BOYS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap32">CHAPTER XXXII. A HARD DAY FOR THE TWINS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap33">CHAPTER XXXIII. A QUEER FISH POND PARTY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap34">CHAPTER XXXIV. REX RISES TO THE OCCASION</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap35">CHAPTER XXXV. A FISTIC ENCOUNTER</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap36">CHAPTER XXXVI. MILES BREAKS THE NEWS</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="pref01"></a>PREFACE</h2> + +<p> +Among all my books, this one will always occupy a particularly warm spot in my +heart; for listen, reader, and I will let you into a little secret. Riddle +Creek is really Ridley, and is a true-enough stream, flowing through one of the +most charming regions in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The railroad trestle +which plays such an important part in the first chapter forms a picturesque +feature of the landscape, in full view of a home where I was wont to spend many +a joyous holiday-time and which I had in mind whenever I mentioned the Pellery. +</p> + +<p> +Again, the odd little house on Seventh Street, Philadelphia, described in +Chapter XXVII, actually existed until pulled down some years since to make room +for a big manufacturing plant. I used to visit there every time I went to the +Quaker City, and all the furnishings mentioned stand out vividly in my +recollection to this day, even to the guitar off in one corner. I never played +Fish Pond there, but I have eaten some of the best dinners I ever tasted in +that famous kitchen below stairs, which had to serve for dining room as well. +That kitchen and the great cat, who used to sun himself in the shop window, +loom large in my memories of boyhood. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +Matthew White, Jr. +</p> + +<p> +<i>New York City.</i> +</p> + +<p> +<i>Jan. 5, 1907.</i> +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap01"></a>CHAPTER I<br /> +THE MAN ON THE BRIDGE</h2> + +<p> +“Look there! I believe that man is actually going to try to cross the +trestle.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy Pell pulled his sister Eva quickly toward him as he spoke, so that she +could look up between the trees to the Burdock side of the railway bridge +almost directly above their heads. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, it’s Mr. Tyler!” exclaimed Jess, who had a better view +from where she sat on the log that spanned Riddle Creek. “Oh, Roy, +something’s sure to happen to him! He’s awfully feeble.” +</p> + +<p> +“And there’s a train almost due,” added Eva. “What can +he be thinking of to attempt such a thing?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh!” and Jess gave a shrill scream. “He’s +fallen!” +</p> + +<p> +Roy said never a word. He quickly passed his fishing-line to Eva, ran nimbly +across the tree trunk to the Burdock side of the creek, and then started to +climb the steep bank. The girls sat there and watched him breathlessly, now and +then darting a look higher up at the spot on the trestle where the figure that +had dropped still lay across the ties, as if too badly hurt to rise. +</p> + +<p> +The two Pell girls and their twin brothers, Rex and Roy, had gone down to sit +on the log in search of coolness on this blazing hot July afternoon. Rex had +been giving vent to his disgust because he wasn’t able to accept the +invitation to join a jolly party of friends for a trip to Lake George and down +the St. Lawrence. Cause why? Lack of funds. +</p> + +<p> +“You ought to have known you couldn’t go when Scott asked you, +Rex,” Roy had told him. “You would need at least fifty dollars for +the outing. And that sum will clothe you for almost a year. And clothes with +you, Rex, ought to be of sufficient importance to be considered.” +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose I might as well go and tell Scott about it and have it over +with,” Rex had replied, creasing his handsome forehead into a frown. +“I dare say he’ll be calling me ‘Can’t Have It +Pell’ pretty soon. It was only two months ago I asked for a bicycle and +didn’t get it, and there was the new pair of skates I wanted last +winter.” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t be late for tea,” Eva called out after him as he made +his way to the shore. +</p> + +<p> +She kept her eyes on the trim figure till it was hidden by the trees which grew +thick along the road that led up to town. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, if anybody in this world ought to have money it is that good +looking brother of ours,” remarked Jess with a sigh. “He’d +appreciate it so thoroughly. I don’t wonder he’s crabbed this +afternoon. Just think of the chance for a good time he’s had to let slip +just for lack of a little money.” +</p> + +<p> +“Fifty dollars isn’t a little money, Jess,” returned Roy, +casting his line. +</p> + +<p> +“I know it isn’t to us, but it is to most of the people we know, +Scott Bowman for instance. Do you suppose we shall <i>ever</i> be rich, +Roy?” +</p> + +<p> +“We are rich now; at least you and Eva are, in my opinion.” +</p> + +<p> +“We rich?” Eva nearly slipped from her position on the log at the +statement. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, yes; haven’t you both contented dispositions, and isn’t +that worth a small fortune?” +</p> + +<p> +“But why have you left yourself out, Roy?” Eva wanted to know. +“Surely you who never grumble, are satisfied with things.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, I’m not.” A flash came into the boy’s eyes that +made him really handsome for the moment. “I’m chafing inwardly all +the while at having to be idle this way when it seems there ought to be so much +I could do to help along.” +</p> + +<p> +“But you are getting ready to do it as soon as you finish school,” +rejoined his sister. “And you must have a vacation, you know. Besides, +think how much you do to help Sydney.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, I only do a little copying for him now and then.” +</p> + +<p> +He was going to add more, but at this point he caught that glimpse of the man +on the trestle which brought about the interruption in the talk already +described. +</p> + +<p> +Roy soon emerged from the line of shade in his climb up the embankment and the +scorching afternoon sun beat down on him mercilessly. But he did not cease his +exertions to reach the top as quickly as possible. He knew that a train for the +city would be along very soon now; he remembered the curve just beyond the +bridge; the engineer could not see whether there was an obstruction in the way, +until he should be too close on it to stop. +</p> + +<p> +Then he thought of Mr. Tyler, and of how nobody liked him, with all his money, +which he hoarded like a miser. He was probably crossing the bridge now to take +the train for the city from Marley, and save the additional five cents he might +have to pay if he boarded it at Burdock, which was much nearer his home. +</p> + +<p> +But he was human, he was an old man; he was helpless now, doubtless overcome by +the heat. And there was nobody about but Roy to prevent what might be a +tragedy. +</p> + +<p> +On he toiled. The loose dirt slid out from under his feet and rattled down the +hillside behind him. The perspiration poured from his face in streams. What a +contrast this was, he thought, to sitting there over the creek placidly +fishing! +</p> + +<p> +He had gained the top now and, scarcely pausing to take a long breath, he ran +out over the ties till he reached Mr. Tyler’s prostrate form. He had +fallen fortunately not very far from the beginning of the trestle, but he was +quite unconscious and could not help himself. Roy must carry him away from his +dangerous position. +</p> + +<p> +He bent to his task, which was not such an arduous one as might be supposed. +Mr. Tyler was little more than a bag of bones, weighing not as much as did Roy +himself. The latter picked him up as carefully as he could, not daring to look +down lest he should grow dizzy. Then he began to bear his burden back to +<i>terra firma.</i> +</p> + +<p> +He had almost reached the ground when the old man stirred and opened his eyes. +He started to struggle, but Roy looked down at him and spoke sternly. +</p> + +<p> +“Keep quiet, Mr. Tyler,” he said, “or you will have us both +over the trestle.” +</p> + +<p> +The miser shuddered, but he made no reply and kept perfectly still till Roy +placed him on the grass in the shade of a horse chestnut tree. The boy threw +himself down beside him, and began to fan himself with his straw hat. The next +minute, with a shrill whistle, the train rushed by them. +</p> + +<p> +“You saved my life, Roy Pell,” said Mr. Tyler after the skurrying +dust raised from the ballast had settled into place. “You are a brave +boy.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy made no reply. He was still very hot and he was thinking that his whole +adventure was very much like a scene in a book. +</p> + +<p> +“I ought to say ‘Oh, it is nothing,’ I suppose,” he +reflected with a half smile. “But then that wouldn’t be the truth. +From the way I feel now it was a good deal.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ve missed that train, I suppose,” Mr. Tyler went on. +</p> + +<p> +At this Roy wanted to laugh. It sounded so ridiculous. And yet it was quite +characteristic of this singular old man. But young Pell mopped his face +vigorously with his handkerchief to hide his mirth and then said, rising to his +feet: +</p> + +<p> +“Do you feel all right, Mr. Tyler?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, I guess so,” was the reply, and the old man started to get up +too. +</p> + +<p> +But he immediately fell back again and a frightened look came into his face. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a>CHAPTER II<br /> +IN THE MISER’S HOME</h2> + +<p> +“Have you hurt yourself, Mr. Tyler?” asked Roy anxiously. +“You didn’t break a limb when you fell, did you?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, no, it is here,” and the old man put his hand up to his head. +</p> + +<p> +“The sun was too hot for you,” went on Roy. “You +haven’t got over it yet.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am afraid I shall never get over it, Roy Pell.” The miser looked +at him in a steady way that would have frightened some boys. “And I +don’t want to die yet, not till I have made my will. I must have a +lawyer. Where is Sydney Pell, that brother of yours.” +</p> + +<p> +“He isn’t my brother. He’s a boy that father adopted when he +was very young, but he’s better than a good many brothers. And he’s +a good lawyer, too. Would you like to see him. He’ll be back on the +five-thirty train.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I should like to see him if it won’t be too late. What time +is it now? You haven’t got a watch, have you? Look at mine and tell +me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Quarter past five, and now you ought to be taken home right away, and +have a doctor.” +</p> + +<p> +“You think I am very bad then?” Again the frightened look came into +the old man’s face. +</p> + +<p> +“No, of course not. Lots of people have to call the doctor when +they’re not going to die.” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t speak of dying. I’m afraid to die. See, I don’t +mind telling you so. And I ought to be. I haven’t done very much good in +the world. There isn’t anybody I can think of will be sorry to have me +go. That isn’t the way to live, Roy Pell. You ought to be happy, so +happy, because you are young, and have your life before you to make it the way +it should be made.” +</p> + +<p> +“You have life before you, too, Mr. Tyler. You are not so very old. +You’re not much more than seventy.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’m seventy-two. But come, let me see if I can get up with your +help. I want you to take me home, so you can go for Sydney. He’s a good +boy, you say, one I can trust?” The old man looked in Roy’s face +closely as the latter bent over him. +</p> + +<p> +“Sydney is the best fellow that ever lived,” replied Roy soberly. +“He’s been a staff to my mother ever since father died, and has +almost taken his place to us children.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, yes. I’ve heard that what your father did for him years ago +was like bread cast upon the waters that’s coming back after many days. +Let me see, how old are you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Fifteen. I tell you what, Mr. Tyler. The girls are down under the +bridge. Wait a minute till I call down to them to send Syd over as soon as he +comes. Then I’ll go home with you and needn’t leave you.” +</p> + +<p> +“All right. You’re very good to me, Roy Pell.” The miser sank +back on the grass, while Roy hurried to the edge of the bluff and making a +trumpet of his hands, called down: +</p> + +<p> +“Eva! Jess!” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, are you all right, Roy?” came back the answer in Eva’s +tones. +</p> + +<p> +“All O. K., but Mr. Tyler’s a little done up. I’m going home +with him. And he wants you to send Syd over as soon as he gets back. It’s +some business matter, quite important, and we may both be late for tea. +Don’t wait. Do you understand?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, all right. We’ll go to meet Syd now. Shall we send the +doctor, too?” +</p> + +<p> +Roy thought a minute. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes. I think you’d better,” he called down. +</p> + +<p> +“I told them to send the doctor to your house,” he reported to Mr. +Tyler. He half expected the latter to raise a protest, but he didn’t. +</p> + +<p> +“All right,” he said feebly. “He’ll do for one of the +witnesses. Now.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy bent down so that the old man might lean on his shoulder. He put one arm +about his back to steady him, and thus supported he was able to move slowly +along the cinder path beside the track. +</p> + +<p> +“What did you attempt to walk across the trestle for, Mr. Tyler?” +asked Roy. +</p> + +<p> +“I made up my mind suddenly to go to town,” was the answer. +“There wasn’t time to go around by the turnpike. I thought I could +get across before the train came. I’ve seen boys go over it.” +</p> + +<p> +“But you’re not a boy,” rejoined Roy, with a smile. +</p> + +<p> +“No. I’m not a boy,” and Roy could feel a shudder pass +through the arm that was resting on his shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Tyler lived in a house not far from the Burdock station. An old woman did +the cooking for him and went home at night. For the rest he dwelt almost like a +hermit, and so far as any one knew he had not a relative in the world. But the +report had gone out as it always does in such cases, that he was very rich, and +now his desire to see a lawyer and make a will convinced Roy that for once +rumor must be right. +</p> + +<p> +“I wonder how much he’s got and to whom he’ll leave +it?” he asked himself, but now they were within sight of the little house +and the old man leaned so heavily upon him, that all his attention was centered +on getting him safely to the end of their journey. +</p> + +<p> +By the time this was accomplished Mr. Tyler was so completely exhausted that he +dropped down on the first chair they reached. +</p> + +<p> +“After you are rested a bit,” said Roy, “I’ll help you +to get to bed.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, no,” protested the old man; “so many people die in their +beds. Go and tell Ann to get a little more for dinner to-night. You and Sydney +must stay and eat it with me. It will take quite a time to have my will drawn +up. You’ll find her in the kitchen.” +</p> + +<p> +The woman was not much surprised when Roy told her of the condition in which +her master had come home. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s what I’ve been expecting every day,” she said. +“He doesn’t eat enough to keep a bird alive. I’m amazed to +think he should ask you to stop to dinner. It’s little enough +you’ll get, Master Roy, but I’ll do my best.” +</p> + +<p> +The house was a bare looking place, furnished only with the merest necessities. +No pictures were on the walls, no books on the tables; Roy wondered what the +old man did to pass the time here by himself. There was not even a sofa for him +to lie upon. He asked about this when he returned to the front room. +</p> + +<p> +“Then you’d better come in and lie on the outside of your bed if +you won’t get in it,” he suggested. +</p> + +<p> +To this the older man acceded and allowed Roy to assist him to the adjoining +apartment where he slept. +</p> + +<p> +“No,” he murmured, “I haven’t wasted much on myself, +you see. That will leave still more for those who come after me. What would you +do with $500,000 if you had it, Roy Pell?” +</p> + +<p> +The question came so suddenly and in such contrasted tones to the mumble in +which the miser had heretofore been speaking that for the moment Roy was too +startled to make reply. +</p> + +<p> +“No, I’m not raving, Roy Pell,” went on the old man. +“There’s a possibility—” he checked himself +quickly—“what would you do with all that money if you had +it?” +</p> + +<p> +“I’d give it to my mother,” answered Roy. +</p> + +<p> +“Good boy, of course. I didn’t think of that. You’re a minor, +and you’re not selfish. You’d rather she would have it, eh, than +that it should be held by her in trust for you? But if you got it, you’d +promise to see that it was spent, and not hoarded as I have hoarded mine? +You’d promise that wouldn’t you?” +</p> + +<p> +Roy by this time began to think that the partial sunstroke had completely +unhinged Mr. Tyler’s brain, already a little out of plumb. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, yes,” he laughed. “There’s no danger of our +hoarding money. There are too many things to spend it on for that.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then you’re squeezed a little down at your place, eh?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, we can get along,” returned Roy hastily; “but we +can’t do much branching out. My mother has only the income from +father’s insurance, and then there’s the place which we own, with +the taxes to pay.” +</p> + +<p> +The old man now relapsed into silence. He seemed to be thinking, deeply. +Suddenly he started up and exclaimed: +</p> + +<p> +“It must be nearly time for Sydney to be here. Won’t you go outside +and watch for him?” +</p> + +<p> +Roy was very glad to leave the miser. He realized that perhaps it was wrong for +him to feel that way, but then, believing him to be a little unbalanced, it was +but natural that he should be sensible of some constraint in his presence. +</p> + +<p> +“I wonder if he has got $500,000 put away somewhere?” he asked +himself when he reached the little portico. “He talked exactly as if he +was going to give it to me. I suppose for what I did for him on the bridge. +That would be just like a story episode, so much like one that there’s no +chance of its coming true. But what would Rex say if it did? Ah, here comes +Syd.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy left the porch and hurried out to the gate to meet the fellow who had been +nearer and dearer to him than a brother as far back as he could remember. +</p> + +<p> +“Poor old chap,” he said as they met and he turned around, slipping +his arm within that of the tall young lawyer, “it was a shame to make you +walk all that distance in the hot sun when you must be tired out from your day +in town. But there’s a job at the end of the walk.” +</p> + +<p> +“And a cheerful brother, too,” added the other. “Poor Rex! I +saw him over at the station. He takes it terribly to heart that he cannot go +off with the Bowmans. I wish I were rich, if only for you boys’ sakes. +But what’s this heroic deed I hear of your doing for old Mr. Tyler? +Positively, Roy, I’m proud of you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, the train didn’t come along for a good five minutes after +I’d got him off the trestle. You see that takes a good deal of the +‘heroic rescue’ business out of the thing. But come on inside. +He’s been quite anxious to see you. I’ve made him lie down, for I +think he’s in a very bad way.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a>CHAPTER III<br /> +MR. TYLER’S WILL</h2> + +<p> +“Is that you, Sydney Pell?” called out Mr. Tyler as soon as he +heard footsteps in the hallway. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Mr. Tyler, What can I do for you?” and Sydney followed Roy +into the bedroom. +</p> + +<p> +“You can make my will,” replied the old man promptly. “That +doesn’t mean that I am going to die right away,” he added hastily, +“but I’ve had a warning. Why, I may have time to make two or three +wills before I give up the ship.” +</p> + +<p> +He laughed hoarsely and started to get up. But he was weaker than he supposed, +and fell back on the bed with a little gasp just as he had done out by the +trestle. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t exert yourself too much, Mr. Tyler,” said Sydney. +“I can fix the thing up for you while you are lying right here. I think I +saw a bottle of ink and some paper in the other room. Roy can help me bring in +that table that stands there, and then I can take down whatever you wish and +you can sign it. But you will want witnesses.” +</p> + +<p> +“There’s Ann, she can be one,” responded the old man. +</p> + +<p> +“And I told the girls to send a doctor up here. He can be another,” +put in Roy. Then he added, when all was arranged: “I suppose I had better +go out.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, you can go out and watch for the doctor,” said Sydney. +“Now then,” he went on, turning to Mr. Tyler when they were alone, +and after he had written out the regulation formal preamble, “I am +ready.” +</p> + +<p> +The miser said nothing in reply for a minute or two. He kept interlocking his +wasted fingers with one another, glancing now and then out of the window, where +he could see Roy pacing back and forth in front of the cottage. Finally he +murmured so low that Sydney was obliged to bend forward to catch the words: +</p> + +<p> +“Would you be surprised to hear that I had a vast amount of money in the +deposit companies in Philadelphia?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Mr. Tyler,” replied Sydney. “It has always been supposed +that you were a man of wealth.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am, I am,” muttered the miser. “I have something like half +a million. And yet what good has it done me? I have hoarded it just for the +sake of hoarding. It began to come to me when I was quite young. I was +surprised. Some property was wanted by the city. They paid me well for it. I +invested what I got and doubled it, I kept on making money till I loved it for +itself alone and could not bear to part with it even on the chance of making +more. So I left it all to draw interest except what little it takes to support +me in the poor way in which I live.” +</p> + +<p> +He paused and Sydney adjudged it proper to inquire. +</p> + +<p> +“Then you have no relatives, no one dependent on you?” +</p> + +<p> +“I have outlived them all,” was the reply. “There was a boy, +though, who was once in my employ and whom I came to think a good deal of. But +he grew up and went into stocks and tried to bear the market against me. I +never forgave Maurice Darley for that. And yet I loved him once. I brought him +up, out of the gutter, as it were, and there was a time when he loved me. There +is another brother in your family whom I see sometimes and who reminds me of +him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Reginald—Rex, as we call him—you mean?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, but perhaps he would not have done for me what Roy did this +afternoon. You have heard of it. He risked his life for mine. He will make a +good man. I am sure of it. And he is unselfish. To make him happy you must make +others happy around him. Yes, I will do it. Quick, write down that I leave all +my fortune unreservedly, to—what is his full name?” +</p> + +<p> +“Whose full name?” Sydney had dropped his pen and sat staring at +Mr. Tyler as if in a daze. +</p> + +<p> +“Why your brother—Roy Pell’s.” +</p> + +<p> +“Royal Fillmore Pell,” Sydney repeated the name mechanically, still +too amazed at the inference he must draw from the question to be really +conscious of what he was saying. +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you. A fine name it is, and fitted to a splendid boy. Then +write—but no. I had determined not to leave it to him. What is his +mother’s name? She must have it all outright. Then it can be used at once +in the way to please Roy best. Now Mrs. Pell’s full name?” +</p> + +<p> +“Jessica Fillmore Pell. I suppose, as a lawyer, I ought not to express +any surprise at what you are doing, but you can see how close home it comes to +me, Mr. Tyler. You know the relation in which I stand to this family, with whom +I am connected by no ties of blood, but who have been so good to me.” +</p> + +<p> +“And you have deserved it, young man. I am not leaving money to a family +of whom I know nothing. Have you got that: all my fortune unreservedly to +Jessica Fillmore Pell?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Mr. Tyler.” +</p> + +<p> +“Roy knows something of this, and if people think it strange or hint that +I am out of my head to leave my money in this way, you can tell them what he +did for me this afternoon. That ought to satisfy them. Now I want to tell you +where my money is invested so that you can get at it easily, for I want you, +Sydney, to be one of my executors, and I will take Dr. Martin for the other. +Here he comes now. We will continue this business presently.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy came in with the doctor; a cheery man, whom everybody in the neighborhood +liked. +</p> + +<p> +“Doctor,” began Mr. Tyler, before the physician could say anything, +“I want you to witness my will. Roy, run out to the kitchen and get Ann +to come in here.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ann,” said Roy, appearing in the rear regions, “Mr. Tyler +wants you to come out and witness his will.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is the poor man dying then?” exclaimed the woman, looking +frightened. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, no, he only—” +</p> + +<p> +“Never mind bothering Ann about that now,” said the doctor +presenting himself at this moment Roy returned to the bedroom with the +physician, where he found that Mr. Tyler had decided he would have Sydney for a +witness in place of Ann. +</p> + +<p> +“I’d rather have a man,” he explained. “I forgot that +he could do it just as well as not.” +</p> + +<p> +Then the instrument was duly signed and witnessed. +</p> + +<p> +“I am perfectly sane, you can declare, can’t you, Dr. +Martin?” asked the miser when the thing was done. “I don’t +want any mistake to be made about it.” +</p> + +<p> +“You need have no fear on that score,” +</p> + +<p> +“Dinner’s ready, Mr. Tyler,” announced Ann, making her +appearance at this point. +</p> + +<p> +“All right, you boys go out and eat it,” said the old man. +“The doctor wants to see me I suppose. Ann can bring me a little broth in +here afterwards. And about signing that, Sydney, I want to add a clause leaving +something to Ann. I forgot about her.” +</p> + +<p> +Silently the two Pells went out into the dining room, and in almost silence +they ate the broth which the housekeeper placed before them. Then when she had +gone out Sydney said: +</p> + +<p> +“You know how much Mr. Tyler is worth, Roy, do you?” +</p> + +<p> +“He told me something like $500,000. I didn’t know whether to +believe it or not That’s a great sum of money, Sydney. I feel awfully +queer about the whole thing. Does it seem all right to you that he should leave +it all to mother just because of the little thing I did for him this afternoon? +I don’t want to seem to feel that she oughtn’t to have it. But the +whole thing seems so odd.” +</p> + +<p> +“Not nearly so queer as a great many wills that are made every +day,” rejoined Sydney. “But don’t worry over it, Roy,” +he added with a laugh. “You look as if you had been convicted of some +crime. Remember you haven’t got the money yet, and may not have it for a +great many years to come.” +</p> + +<p> +“It isn’t my money, Syd. It’s to be left to mother.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, if it hadn’t been for you she wouldn’t have it. But by +the way, you had better get home as soon as you can. I think mother is inclined +to worry about you from what Jess said. I can stay with the old man as long as +it is necessary.” +</p> + +<p> +“And I shan’t say anything about that will, Syd. I’d rather +you wouldn’t either, just yet.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, it is best to keep it as quiet as we can. It seems strange that the +old man should have talked so freely about it as he did.” +</p> + +<p> +The meal was soon finished, and the two starting to enter the bedroom, met the +doctor in the doorway. +</p> + +<p> +“He’s in a bad way,” he whispered to Sydney. “I shall +come back again this evening. Come, Roy, are you going down? I’ll take +you along with me in the carriage.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, you’d better go, Roy,” urged Sydney. “You look +worn out. Tell mother I’ll stay here as long as I’m wanted.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good-by, Mr. Tyler,” said Roy, stepping into the bedroom and +extending his hand to the old man. +</p> + +<p> +“Good-by, Roy Pell. You have made me think better of my kind to-day. In +fact I think you have made a changed man of me. Would you—would you mind +coming up to see me to-morrow?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, of course I wouldn’t mind. I’ll come. I hope +you’ll be better in the morning. Good-night,” and Roy went off with +the doctor. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, Roy,” said the latter, as they drove away, “you are to +be congratulated. You have brought your family into a nice little inheritance +if all our miserly old friend says is true.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps it isn’t,” returned Roy, “so please +don’t congratulate me or say anything about it just yet.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy was so tired when he got home that he did not give very spirited answers to +the questions his family showered upon him. He went to bed very shortly and was +asleep before Rex came to take his place beside him. +</p> + +<p> +All in the household were locked in slumber when Sydney let himself in with his +key about eleven. He did not retire. He went into the library, got out some law +books, and sitting down at the table, appeared as if about to do some work. But +he did not pick up the pen. He sat there, his head sunk on his chest, with a +look of misery on his face that was pitiable to see. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap04"></a>CHAPTER IV<br /> +THE TWIN BROTHERS</h2> + +<p> +The Pells breakfasted early so that Sydney might catch the 7:30 express for the +city. On the morning following the events narrated in the preceding chapter the +entire family were gathered at the table with the exception of Rex, who was +invariably late, and Sydney himself. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s very strange,” remarked Mrs. Pell “He is always +on time. He can barely catch his train now. I wish you, Roy, would run up to +his room and see what is the matter. He may be ill.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy soon ascended the two flights of stairs to the apartment with the dormer +window that had always been Syd’s. The door was open and the room was +empty. The bed had been slept in, but the suit Syd had worn the day before was +not about. He had evidently dressed and gone. +</p> + +<p> +“I wonder if he can be up at Mr. Tyler’s?” thought Roy. +</p> + +<p> +He returned to the dining room with his report. +</p> + +<p> +“It is very odd,” remarked Mrs. Pell. “It is not like Sydney +to go off in that way, but he will explain when he comes home to-night. He may +have been obliged to go to town at seven on business for Mr. Tyler.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s so; what did the old gentleman want with Syd,” asked +Jessie, turning to Roy. “You were so sleepy when you came home last night +that you didn’t half satisfy our curiosity.” +</p> + +<p> +“He wanted him to make his will,” answered Roy. +</p> + +<p> +“And did he?” went on Jess. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes. I say, mother, hadn’t I better go and stir up Rex? I’m +afraid he’s gone off to sleep again.” +</p> + +<p> +“There, he’s coming now. I hear his step on the stairs, so you just +sit still and answer my questions. I’m not half through yet,” and +Jess checked off on her fingers the two queries to which she had already had +responses. “Now then, is he as rich as we all thought him?” +</p> + +<p> +“Richer. Good afternoon to you, Rex. Better late than never. I’m +going to keep you company, by taking a second cup of coffee. Mother, may I, +please?” +</p> + +<p> +“Royal Pell, what is the matter with you?” exclaimed Jess. +“You haven’t been like the same fellow since you climbed up to that +trestle yesterday afternoon. You seem to be trying to keep something back. +Don’t you notice it, mother?” +</p> + +<p> +“I have,” put in Rex, before Mrs. Pell could speak. “I +couldn’t get a word out of him before he went to sleep last night. One +would think he’d had a trouble like mine to bear,” and Rex sighed +with the air of a martyr. +</p> + +<p> +Roy glanced over at him quickly. What would this luxury loving brother of his +say if he only knew! But Roy did not dare tell yet. Mr. Tyler might live for +years, and have ample opportunity to change his mind about his will. Yes, it +was better to keep the matter to himself as long as he could. +</p> + +<p> +“What’s queer about me?” he said now. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, you’re giving such short answers to our questions about the +old miser,” returned Jess promptly. “As a rule you’d tell us +all we wanted to know without our having to draw it out as if we were pulling +teeth.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, what is it you want to know?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, all about your experience over at Mr. Tyler’s. The people up +in the town will hear about your being there and will expect us to know all the +details. It is quite an event for a queer old character like the Burdock miser +to make a will.” +</p> + +<p> +“But people when they make their wills don’t usually tell everybody +in the house what they put into them. It’s a sort of confidential matter, +don’t you understand?” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll wager you know all about it, Roy,” broke in Rex +suddenly, dropping the biscuit he was buttering and staring at his brother +fixedly for a moment “I shouldn’t be surprised if the old fellow +had made you his heir for what you did for him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, if he did,” answered Roy with a smile, “it +wouldn’t enable you to take that trip to Canada, as he isn’t dead +yet and may live to be ninety.” +</p> + +<p> +“He’s just the kind that do hang on,” remarked Jess. +“People that nobody seems to care about generally do.” +</p> + +<p> +“That reminds me, mother,” added Rex, “if I don’t go on +this trip there’ll be a lot of money saved. Can’t I have some of it +spent for a new tennis suit? I need one badly.” +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Pell smiled, a little sadly though. +</p> + +<p> +“My dear boy,” she rejoined, “there is your patent method of +manufacturing money again. You conceive a desire for something very expensive, +then when you give that up and select something much cheaper, you imagine that +you have saved more than enough to pay for it.” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s a thundering grind to be decently poor any way.” Rex +pushed back his chair suddenly, his brow clouded with a frown as it had been +the afternoon before down on the log. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Decently poor!’ What do you mean by that, Rex?” asked +Eva. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, to have the taste and wish for nice things and the privilege of +going with nice people who own them, and yet not be able to have them yourself. +I sometimes wish I was like black Pete. He doesn’t know any better than +to be contented if he makes a dollar or two a week.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Reggie, Reggie!” murmured Mrs. Pell sadly. +</p> + +<p> +This one of her boys caused her more anxiety than all the other children +combined. He was so proud, so aspiring, and yet he had not half the ability of +Roy, who was rather overshadowed by the other’s dashing, winning manner. +For Rex could be charming when he so minded. +</p> + +<p> +He went out on the side piazza now and began to shy strawberries at two of the +puppies. The berries had just been picked and left by the cook on the window +sill for the girls to hull. +</p> + +<p> +“Rex,” exclaimed Roy severely, coming out upon him suddenly. +“Aren’t you ashamed to use those berries in that way?” +</p> + +<p> +Roy hated waste above all things. +</p> + +<p> +Rex checked the toss he was about to make, and transferred the berry to his +mouth instead. +</p> + +<p> +“Has your majesty any objections to that disposition of the fruit?” +he asked with an assumption of the courtliness that became him so well. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, it’s a legitimate disposition at any rate,” returned +Roy. Then he went out to the barn to feed the chickens and look after the cow, +for the Pells kept no hired man. The boys attended to the kitchen +garden—at least Roy did most of it, and there had been no horses kept by +the family since shortly after Mr. Pell’s death. +</p> + +<p> +This was another of Rex’s trials. +</p> + +<p> +“Think of living in the country without a horse!” he would exclaim. +“And then to have the stable on the place into the bargain! It’s +enough to make the horse we haven’t got laugh.” +</p> + +<p> +To be sure he had plenty of rides. The Bowmans who came down to Marley for the +summer, were very fond of him, and nearly every day during the summer Scott +took him out in his cart. +</p> + +<p> +But Rex sighed to return this hospitality. All of his friends were glad to come +down to the Pellery, as Rex called it, for Mrs. Pell was a great favorite and +the young people were lively and bright. Rex fretted, however, because he had +no “attractions” to offer them. +</p> + +<p> +He was feeling particularly gloomy this morning. Having exhausted himself in +regretting the good time he would lose in not being able to go with the +Bowmans, he had taken to lamenting his condition here in Marley during vacation +with Scott away. He was not so fond of reading as was Roy, and without plenty +of congenial society, he was apt to find that time hung heavy on his hands. +</p> + +<p> +Scott had gone to Philadelphia this morning to make some purchases for his +journey. He would not be back till afternoon. Rex had not yet planned what to +do with himself in the meantime. +</p> + +<p> +“Where are you going?” he called out presently, when he saw Roy +walking down toward the gate. +</p> + +<p> +“Over to Mr. Tyler’s to see how he is. Want to come?” +</p> + +<p> +“I believe I do,” answered Rex slowly. “Hold on a minute till +I get my cap.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy was rather surprised that his brother should wish to go. He wondered just +how Mr. Tyler would like his bringing him. Then he remembered what the miser +had said about Rex reminding him somewhat of Maurice Darley and thought perhaps +he might be glad to see him on this account. +</p> + +<p> +It was cooler than it had been the previous day. The country about Marley and +Burdock was beautiful, extremely rolling and rich in vegetation, so the walk +was a pleasant one. +</p> + +<p> +“Say, did Mr. Tyler really have Syd make his will last night?” +asked Rex as they were crossing the covered bridge over the creek. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” answered Roy. +</p> + +<p> +“Did he have much to leave?” went on Rex, stooping down as they +emerged on the road again, to pluck a tall blade of grass which he began to +munch between his white teeth. +</p> + +<p> +“About half a million.” Roy thought he might as well tell this. He +knew that if he tried to evade the question his brother would be apt to think +he was keeping something back. +</p> + +<p> +“What?” Rex stopped stock still in the road to utter the +exclamation. “That old bag of bones worth half a million dollars! +Nonsense.” +</p> + +<p> +“I think it’s more likely he should be worth that amount,” +returned Roy, “than the Bowmans, for instance, who seem to spend their +income right up to the handle. You know everybody has always thought Mr. Tyler +had money.” +</p> + +<p> +“I know they have, but such a sum as that!” +</p> + +<p> +Rex walked on again, knitting his brows in thought. There was silence between +the boys while they ascended the hill on the opposite side of the creek. Then +as they reached the top, Rex was about to ask another question when Roy +clutched his arm suddenly. +</p> + +<p> +“Look there,” he cried. “Isn’t that undertaker +Green’s wagon in front of the house? Mr. Tyler must be dead!” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap05"></a>CHAPTER V<br /> +BREAKING THE NEWS</h2> + +<p> +“Great Cæsar, Roy! What’s come over you?” +</p> + +<p> +Rex was staring in amazement at his brother, who had turned quite white at the +sight of the undertaker’s wagon standing in front of the miser’s +home. He had halted and gone off to one side of the road to lean against a +tree, where he stood now, mopping his face with his handkerchief. +</p> + +<p> +“I hadn’t any idea he would die so soon,” he said. “It +seems like an awful shock, although I do remember that Dr. Martin said he was +in a pretty bad way. And he asked me to come and see him to-day; I mean Mr. +Tyler did. I wonder when he died.” +</p> + +<p> +“What luck for his heirs,” remarked Rex. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t!” cried Roy, starting forward as if to place his hand +over his brother’s mouth. “You don’t know what you’re +saying.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I suppose it was a little rough when the old man’s scarcely +cold perhaps. I say, aren’t you going on? We can find out just when he +died, you know.” +</p> + +<p> +Mechanically Roy followed his brother, his eyes still fixed on that black +wagon. He could not realize it yet. Mr. Tyler dead so soon after making that +will which left Mrs. Pell all his money. No more poverty for them. The stable +need no longer be empty and— +</p> + +<p> +Roy checked these thoughts with a half suppressed exclamation of disgust. It +seemed sacrilegious to be speculating in this fashion on the gain from the +death of the old man who had been so fond of life, for all he had made such +poor use of it. +</p> + +<p> +They were now close enough to the cottage to see that the doctor’s +carriage stood there just behind the ominous vehicle belonging to Mr. Green. +The doctor himself was coming out of the house. +</p> + +<p> +Seeing the boys he halted till they came up with him. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, doctor, when did it happen?” asked Roy. +</p> + +<p> +“Last night about ten,” was the answer. “Didn’t Sydney +tell you?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, I haven’t seen Syd since I left him here yesterday. Is he here +now?” +</p> + +<p> +“No. He is very busy in town seeing about the arrangements there. You +know he is one of the executors. Things take queer turns in this world of ours, +don’t they? You little thought at this time yesterday morning that before +twenty-four hours had passed you would be the means of bringing a great fortune +into the family. But good-by. I must hurry off to do what I can for the living +now.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is nothing that I can do for him, is there?” Roy stepped +apart from his brother and closer to the doctor to ask the question. +</p> + +<p> +“No, my boy,” was the answer. “Nothing now. You have obeyed +his last request of you. It is not your fault that you are too late.” +</p> + +<p> +The physician drove off, leaving the two boys standing in the road in front of +the silent cottage, for the undertaker was carrying on his work noiselessly. +</p> + +<p> +“Roy,” said Rex suddenly, placing a hand on each of his +brother’s shoulders, and looking him squarely in the face, “what +did Dr. Martin mean by what he said just now about your being the means of +bringing a fortune into the family?” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t—don’t ask anything about it just here. Come, +let’s hurry off toward home. I’ll tell you on the way.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy slipped his arm through his brother’s and led him off down the hill. +</p> + +<p> +“Now then,” said Rex impatiently when they had reached the Marley +turnpike again, “you must tell me. Did Mr. Tyler leave you any money for +what you did for him yesterday?” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” replied Roy, in a kind of burst, “but he left his whole +fortune to mother.” +</p> + +<p> +Rex did not stop and throw up his hands as Roy had half expected he would do. +He came closer to his brother and suddenly passed one arm about his neck as +they walked on together and drew him close to him. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Roy,” he said, “we owe all this to you.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he walked off to the side of the road and dropped down on the grass. Roy +came over to take his place beside him. +</p> + +<p> +“I didn’t want to say anything about it before,” he +explained. “It might have been years before we came into the money. And +now it may not be nearly so much as I said. We only have old Mr. Tyler’s +word for it, but both Syd and Dr. Martin seemed to think he was telling the +truth.” +</p> + +<p> +“Does mother know?” asked Rex in a low voice. He seemed to be quite +changed since he had heard the wonderful news. His manner had become quiet, +subdued, more like Roy’s. +</p> + +<p> +“No, nobody knows but you, and Syd and Dr. Martin.” +</p> + +<p> +“But you will tell mother as soon as you get back?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I suppose I had better.” +</p> + +<p> +“I can’t realize it yet, Roy. Half a million! That’s five +hundred thousand dollars. And now we live on an income of about two +thousand!” +</p> + +<p> +Rex brought his eyes down from the sky where he had been allowing them to soar, +and fixed them on his last summer’s tan shoes. They were whole yet, but +had lost their freshness. He could have new ones now, he reflected, without +waiting for these old ones to wear out. +</p> + +<p> +“How did he come to do it, Roy?” he went on, “Hasn’t he +any relatives, or anybody of his own?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know. Syd can tell you more about it than I can. Come, we +had better be getting home.” +</p> + +<p> +The boys rose and resumed their walk. Presently Rex remarked: +</p> + +<p> +“When shall we get hold of the money, do you suppose, Roy?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know. Don’t talk about it in that way. It seems +awful.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why, Roy, one would think you wished we hadn’t got it. What makes +you act so queer about the thing?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because the thing itself seems queer, I suppose.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are not sorry about it, are you? You almost act so.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, no, I’m not sorry, but I can’t seem to realize it +yet.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I can, now I’ve had a little chance to get used to it. I can +realize that it means a new tennis suit for me, unlimited pairs of shoes, +horses and carriages and perhaps my trip to Canada with the Bowmans.” +</p> + +<p> +“Rex, don’t go on in that strain with the man still unburied. If +you only knew how it sounds.” +</p> + +<p> +Reginald looked a little abashed, and as they reached a fork in the road just +then, announced that he was going up in the town to see his friend Charlie +Minturn. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t tell him about this,” Roy begged. +</p> + +<p> +“What do you take me for?” returned Rex in his most dignified +manner. He strode on up the hill, his head thrown back, his chin the least bit +elevated in the air. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m afraid for Reggie,” murmured Roy as he kept on toward +the Pellery. “Poverty didn’t suit him at all, but it seems to me +riches are going to suit him too well.” +</p> + +<p> +The girls were hulling the strawberries on the side porch when he reached the +house. +</p> + +<p> +“Where’s mother?” he asked as he came up and sat down at +their feet. +</p> + +<p> +“Gone to market,” replied Eva. +</p> + +<p> +“Where have you and Rex been?” inquired Jess. “I saw you +crossing the bridge together. I thought the Crawfords were away. There’s +nobody else you’d be likely to go and see over in Burdock.” +</p> + +<p> +“There’s Mr. Tyler,” replied Roy. “He asked me to go up +and see him to-day, but I was too late. He’s dead.” +</p> + +<p> +“Dead! Oh, Roy!” +</p> + +<p> +Both girls uttered the exclamation. Death almost always horrifies. They had Roy +tell them in detail all about the talk he had had with the miser the previous +afternoon. But he said nothing about the will. He thought his mother ought to +know first. +</p> + +<p> +“There come mother and Rex now!” exclaimed Jess presently. +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose he’s told her,” thought Roy. +</p> + +<p> +This was the case. There was a flush in Mrs. Pell’s cheeks as she came +up, and Rex exclaimed as soon as he was within speaking distance: “Mother +knows. Have you told the girls yet, Roy?” +</p> + +<p> +A look of annoyance crossed Mrs. Pell’s face, but before either she or +Roy could say anything, Jess sprang to her feet, nearly upsetting the bowl of +strawberries in the act. +</p> + +<p> +“Told you what? There’s been an air of mystery about you ever since +you left the creek yesterday afternoon.” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course there has,” exclaimed Rex exuberantly. “And +it’s something worth being mysterious about, eh, brub? What should you +say, sisters mine, if I should tell you that the magic wand of fortune has been +waved over the Pellery, which will transform yonder sober fowls into gallant +steeds, these homely pups into expensive hounds of the hunt, and—” +</p> + +<p> +“Reginald.” +</p> + +<p> +Rex always knew he had gone too far when his mother spoke like that. He ceased +abruptly and dashed into the house, as if to cut himself off from temptation to +transgress further. The next moment they heard him whistling a comic opera air +up in his room. +</p> + +<p> +“Mother, you tell me what all this means, won’t you?” This +from Jess in almost a desperate tone. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, you may as well all know now,” said Mrs. Pell, sinking into a +chair. “I find that half of the town seems to be aware of it +already.” +</p> + +<p> +“It! It! Quick, mother. It isn’t something awful, is it?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, not awful for us my dears. It is just this. Your brother Roy touched +old Mr. Tyler’s heart by what he did for him yesterday, and in the will +he made last night he left all his fortune, about half a million, to me.” +</p> + +<p> +Both girls sat there as if stricken dumb, staring at their mother as she told +them the wonderful news. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap06"></a>CHAPTER VI<br /> +REX GOES TO TOWN</h2> + +<p> +“I’m very sorry, indeed, this came out now. It seems unfeeling to +talk about it while that poor old man’s body is above ground, and then +the amount of the fortune he possessed may be grossly exaggerated.” +</p> + +<p> +This was Mrs. Pell’s summary of the matter, delivered several times +during that afternoon. The girls took the thing very quietly. +</p> + +<p> +“I am so glad on Syd’s account,” Eva said though more than +once. “He has always worked so hard for us.” +</p> + +<p> +Jess seemed dazed by the possibility of the new order of things, while Roy was +disinclined to talk about it at all. Rex, however, made up for the apparent +apathy of the others. +</p> + +<p> +At lunch he wanted to know when they were going to move. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course we don’t want to go on staying in a bandbox of a place +like this, when mother is a millionaire,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +“Only half a one,” Jess corrected him with a smile. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, no matter about that. I’ve been figuring up on the income +that we could get without touching the principal, and I make it $25,000 a +year.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Reggie, Reggie, I am afraid you are incorrigible,” groaned his +mother. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, I don’t see anything out of the way in doing a little +calculating here in the privacy of our home. I don’t go up and proclaim +it from the housetops.” +</p> + +<p> +“But you may be reckoning without your host, my dear brub,” +interposed Jess. “What if Mr. Tyler had only a thousand in bank instead +of five hundred thousand?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; we can’t know anything certain till Syd comes home +to-night,” added Roy. +</p> + +<p> +“I can’t wait for that,” muttered Rex, under his breath. +</p> + +<p> +He subsided for the rest of his meal, however, but as soon as he had finished +went up to his room and proceeded to go through all the pockets of his +different suits. +</p> + +<p> +“Short by a quarter,” he murmured as he finally sat down on the +edge of the bed and jingled the small change he had collected, +“I’ll have to go to mother after all.” +</p> + +<p> +He glanced up at a time-table stuck in the mirror, hurriedly changed his +knockabout suit for his best one, and then rushed down to the dining room where +Mrs. Pell was helping Eva shell peas for dinner. +</p> + +<p> +He went straight up to her and put his arm affectionately about her neck. +</p> + +<p> +“Moms,” he said in his winning way, “I want to run up to the +city for this afternoon. I’m a quarter short to buy my ticket. +Won’t you please let me have it? I can pay you back out of my +allowance.” +</p> + +<p> +“What do you want to go to the city for, Rex?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, I can’t stay here in uncertainty. I want to see Syd to know +for sure about things. Besides, it will keep me from shocking you here if I +go.” +</p> + +<p> +“But Sydney is sure to be very busy. You will bother him by going to the +office.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, I won’t. He never lets me bother him. Besides, I only want to +see him for a minute. You know I haven’t been in town since school +closed. The train goes in twenty minutes, and I’ll come back with Syd. +Please, moms.” +</p> + +<p> +“All right, Rex, you may go, but remember I trust you not to annoy +Sydney. You will find my purse in my top bureau drawer, left hand +corner.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are the best mother a boy ever had.” With a hasty kiss Rex was +off, secured his quarter, and then with a wave of his hand toward the family, +struck out across the pasture for the path that led up over the hill in a short +cut to the station. +</p> + +<p> +There was nobody so easy to get along with as Rex—as long as you allowed +him to have his own way. +</p> + +<p> +“That is a crazy notion of his, wanting to go in to town just because he +can’t wait till Syd comes out,” remarked Roy when he heard of it. +At the same time he felt a sensation of relief to think that his impulsive +brother was out of Marley and away from the temptation to disquiet the family +by telling his fellow townsmen what he meant to do with their money when they +came into it. +</p> + +<p> +Rex meanwhile was enjoying himself hugely. He saw nobody he knew at this +unusual hour of going to town, but he lay back in his seat while the breeze, +created by the swift motion of the cars, rushed refreshingly past him, and +built air castles of the most luxurious description. +</p> + +<p> +“It must be so,” he told himself, whenever the doubts suggested by +Jess arose in his mind to trouble him. “Dr. Martin congratulated Roy. +Everybody has known that Mr. Tyler had lots of money somewhere.” +</p> + +<p> +When the train reached Philadelphia, Rex hurried off to the law office where +Syd had his desk. It was some distance from the station, but having spent all +his money for his excursion ticket, he had none left for car fare. +</p> + +<p> +“This will be the last time I’ll be so short,” he mused, a +smile which he could not repress playing about the corners of his mouth. +</p> + +<p> +Buoyed up by this reflection he did not so much mind the distance, nor the +heat, which he found much more oppressive here in the city than it was in +Marley. He reached Syd’s place at last only to find that his brother was +out and that the boy was not just sure when he would be back. +</p> + +<p> +“But he’ll be here before he goes to the train, won’t +he?” asked Rex. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh yes, sure,” was the reply. “His satchel is here with the +books he always takes.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll come back again then.” Rex went out, thinking that now +there was no danger of his ever having to step into the shoes of this office +boy. Syd had remarked once or twice that he thought he could get him a position +in a law office when he was through school. +</p> + +<p> +Rex wandered along the street aimlessly for a while. If it hadn’t been +midsummer he might have gone over to Spruce and Walnut and called on some of +his friends, but they were either at their summer homes in Marley or off +traveling. +</p> + +<p> +He was therefore reduced to walking to kill time, choosing the shady side and +watching for any incident of city life that might divert his mind. He came to a +bicycle emporium presently and stood for some time in front of it, trying to +decide which wheel he should select when he came to purchase as he hoped to do +very shortly now. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s the dandy kind,” remarked a voice over his shoulder. +“The Wizard motor. You can ride over all sorts of roads with it.” +</p> + +<p> +Rex turned and saw a fellow about a year older than himself. He had a red face +and wore an outing shirt that was not as fresh as it might have been. +</p> + +<p> +Rex, who was rather fastidious as to his friends, simply said +“Yes,” and moved on. +</p> + +<p> +The fellow noticed the look which accompanied the word. +</p> + +<p> +“The dude!” he muttered. “Thinks he’s too good to talk +with the likes o’ me. I’ll get even with him.” +</p> + +<p> +He waited an instant and then followed Rex at a distance. Presently something +that he espied ahead caused him to scan the sidewalk and the street next it +closely. +</p> + +<p> +Then he stepped out into the roadway and picked up a piece of coal that had +dropped from a passing cart. He quickened his steps and nearly caught up with +Rex just as the latter was passing a Chinese laundry. +</p> + +<p> +“Run for your life! Runaway team behind you!” he exclaimed +suddenly, darting forward and calling out the words almost in Rex’s ear. +At the same instant he flung the piece of coal he had picked up straight into +the window of the Chinese laundry. +</p> + +<p> +There was a crash of glass and Rex, connecting the sound with the warning he +had received, immediately took to his heels. +</p> + +<p> +“There he goes!” called out the red faced youth to the Chinaman who +promptly appeared in the door of his shop. +</p> + +<p> +The Celestial’s almond eyes caught sight of Rex’s fleeing figure. +It was enough. He dropped his iron and rushed after Rex, the conscienceless +hoodlum joining in the chase. +</p> + +<p> +Rex, hearing no further sound to tell him that a dangerous runaway was close +upon him, had just decided to slacken his pace and turn around to investigate, +when he felt a hand laid on his shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +“Me got you,” crowed a wheezy voice in his ear. “Now for +pleecy man.” +</p> + +<p> +Rex was horrified to find himself in the grasp of a Chinese laundryman. +</p> + +<p> +“Let go of me! What do you want?” he cried, struggling to get free. +</p> + +<p> +“You breakee glass. You go to jailee. Here pleecyman now.” +</p> + +<p> +True enough, among the crowd that had hastily collected, was a blue-coated +officer. +</p> + +<p> +“Make him let me go,” exclaimed Rex, appealing to the +representative of the law. “I didn’t do anything to him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, he did,” called out a bystander, whose sympathies had been +awakened for the much suffering heathen. “I saw him running for all he +was worth. That’s pretty strong evidence, isn’t it?” +</p> + +<p> +The policeman appeared to think so, for he came up and caught Rex by the arm. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap07"></a>CHAPTER VII<br /> +REGINAND’S HUMILIATION</h2> + +<p> +Rex never felt so humiliated in his life. Here he was, surrounded by a crowd, +captured by a policeman and accused by a miserable Chinaman of breaking a pane +of glass. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s all a mistake, I tell you,” he cried, starting to wrest +himself loose from the officer’s grasp, and then suddenly remaining +passive as he reflected that this was undignified. +</p> + +<p> +“What did you run for then!” questioned the policeman. +</p> + +<p> +“Because he told me to—the fellow with the red face,” and Rex +looked around in the throng to pick out the cause of his misfortune, but that +individual had discreetly disappeared. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t see him now,” he went on. +</p> + +<p> +“I guess you don’t,” put in the bystander who had already +spoken. “Do you run every time anybody tells you to?” +</p> + +<p> +“He said there was a runaway team behind me. Then I heard the glass +break. He must have thrown the stone himself.” +</p> + +<p> +Rex tried to speak calmly, but he was boiling over with rage at the trick which +he now realized had been played upon him. +</p> + +<p> +“Me wantee new glass,” the Chinaman insisted. “Play +money.” +</p> + +<p> +How fervently Rex wished at that moment that they had come into their +inheritance. He would have put his hand into his pocket, drawn out a five +dollar bill with a lordly air and handed it over with the words: “Take +this. I didn’t break the glass, but I pity the poor heathen’s +distress.” +</p> + +<p> +As it was, he had not a penny about him. It was difficult to keep up an air of +bravado under these circumstances. +</p> + +<p> +The crowd was growing bigger each minute. The policeman looked somewhat +perplexed. He judged from Rex’s appearance that he was not a hoodlum who +would be likely to throw a stone at a Chinaman’s window, but he admitted +that he had been running, and here was a man ready to swear that he saw him +throw the stone. +</p> + +<p> +“What is your name?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Reginald Bemis Pell,” replied Rex promptly. He was proud of his +name, and brought it out now with a kind of flourish. +</p> + +<p> +“Where do you live?” went on the officer, while the crowd pressed +closer to hear the replies. +</p> + +<p> +“At Marley.” +</p> + +<p> +“You don’t look like a boy who would break windows for the fun of +it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course I wouldn’t, and when my brother hears of this outrage +he’ll raise a big fuss over it. He’s a lawyer and knows how to do +it.” +</p> + +<p> +Rex didn’t feel a bit humorous when he made this assertion, but there was +something in it that struck the crowd as very funny. A good many laughed, and +the policeman tried to repress a smile. +</p> + +<p> +“Where is this brother of yours?” +</p> + +<p> +“Right here in the city,” and Rex gave the address. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s not far,” said the officer. “We’ll go +round there and see if you have told us a straight story. Come along, +John,” he added to the laundryman. +</p> + +<p> +Rex glowed with a sense of triumph for a minute, and then began to reflect on +what Syd would say at seeing him appear in such company—with a police +officer and a Chinaman. And there was the crowd that strung on behind as the +three moved off! +</p> + +<p> +“I wish I’d stayed at home,” groaned poor Rex to himself. +</p> + +<p> +However, he tried to take some comfort from the fact that the policeman’s +arm was not on his shoulder. People they passed might think it was the Chinaman +who was under arrest. Then he felt that he ought to be glad that it was +midsummer, with no chance of his meeting any of his friends. +</p> + +<p> +He was trying to decide what he should do in case Syd had not come back by the +time they reached the office, when just as they turned into Chestnut Street a +familiar voice cried out: +</p> + +<p> +“Hello, Rex, what under the sun?” +</p> + +<p> +It was Scott Bowman. He had just come out of a trunk store in time to confront +the sorry procession. +</p> + +<p> +Rex wished the manhole cover over which he was passing would suddenly give way +and precipitate him under the sidewalk in theatrical trap door fashion. Scott +was the last person in all the world whom he wished to see. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t you come near me, Scott,” he answered, “if you +don’t want to be disgraced. I’m under arrest.” +</p> + +<p> +The look of utter and complete amazement on young Bowman’s face at +hearing this did more to convince the officer he had the wrong person in +custody than anything else. He allowed Rex to stop and parley with his friend. +</p> + +<p> +The situation was explained in few words. Scott was a year older than Rex. His +father was a city official with a salary of ten thousand a year. He was highly +indignant when he heard of the outrage. +</p> + +<p> +“This is monstrous,” he said, and announcing who he was, demanded +that Rex be instantly released. +</p> + +<p> +“But I can’t do that, Mr. Bowman, if that is really your +name,” responded the officer somewhat nettled. “Because this young +gentleman happens to be a friend of yours, it doesn’t make it any the +less likely that he broke that window.” +</p> + +<p> +“‘If that is really my name?’” repeated Scott, highly +incensed. “You’ll find out whether that is my name or not when I +report this affair to my father.” +</p> + +<p> +The officer smiled; so did a number in the crowd. Rex felt that his former +humiliation was nothing compared to that which he was now undergoing, having +caused his friend to be treated in this insulting fashion. +</p> + +<p> +“Come on,” said the policeman, and the line of march to +Sydney’s office was resumed, Scott valiantly falling into place beside +Rex, vowing vengeance on the entire force of bluecoats. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t stay with me, Scott,” Rex implored him. +“You’ve borne enough. I don’t want to drag you down into the +mire too.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you suppose I’d desert a friend in a time of need like +this?” returned Scott. “I’m going to take this +officer’s number now while I think of it.” +</p> + +<p> +Scott fished a pencil out of one pocket and a railroad timetable out of the +other, and glancing at the shield on the breast of the policeman made a record +of the figures on it in a very conspicuous manner. But the officer did not +tremble with apprehension. He simply turned to Rex and observed, “This is +the place, isn’t it?” +</p> + +<p> +They had reached the building in which Sydney had his office. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, this is the place,” replied Rex slowly. He was thinking how +dreadful it would be to present himself before Syd with this crowd at his +heels. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know whether he’s in or not,” he added. +“Will you mind going up and finding out, Scott?” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course I won’t. I know just where the room is and I’ll +bring him down in a jiffy.” +</p> + +<p> +The policeman motioned the crowd back and he and Rex and the patient Chinaman +went into the marble corridor and waited, while the throng peered in at them +from the doorway and a new one began to gather from among those who passed to +and fro in the building. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m glad I never knew this was going to happen to me,” +reflected Rex. “I’d never have known a happy day if I had.” +</p> + +<p> +He had no fear of going to jail. He felt that there was justice enough in the +world to ward that off. +</p> + +<p> +But the ignominy of his present position was torture enough to a proud spirit +like his. +</p> + +<p> +Ah, here was one of the elevators coming down, with Scott looking eagerly out +at him. And Syd was with him. +</p> + +<p> +But was it Syd, this fellow with the pallid cheeks and deep circles under the +eyes? Yes, it certainly was his brother, for he stepped out ahead of Scott and +came over at once to pass his arm about Rex in gesture of protection. +</p> + +<p> +Reginald gave an almost unconscious sigh of relief. Within that embrace he felt +that he was safe. +</p> + +<p> +“Now what is all this about?” said Sydney, in his business-like +tone, addressing the officer. “It seems you have arrested my brother here +for breaking a Chinaman’s windows. Did you see him throw the +stone?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, but a gentleman did,” replied the officer. +</p> + +<p> +“Where’s that gentleman now?” +</p> + +<p> +He was not to be found. He had dropped out of the procession before it reached +Chestnut Street. +</p> + +<p> +“He was a bystander. He is not here now,” answered the policeman. +“I didn’t think the boy did it myself, but he admits that he was +running when the alarm was given.” +</p> + +<p> +“That amounts to nothing. Do you arrest everybody that runs in the +street? Explain why you were running, Rex.” +</p> + +<p> +Rex did so, as he had already done. +</p> + +<p> +“This fellow who told you that there was a runaway coming for you,” +went on Sydney; “had you seen him before?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; he came up and spoke to me while I was looking in a store window at +some bicycles.” +</p> + +<p> +“Did you answer him?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +“Pleasantly?” +</p> + +<p> +Rex hesitated a moment. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I didn’t exactly like his looks, so I said ‘yes’ +or ‘no,’ I forget which now, and went on.” +</p> + +<p> +“This seems like a clear case of the wrong man, officer,” summed up +Sydney. “It was that hoodlum who broke the glass just for the sake of +getting my brother into trouble. You ought to see that plainly enough. You do, +don’t you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, now. I didn’t know all the story before. I beg the young +gentleman’s pardon. Come, John, we’ll have to look elsewhere for +your tormentor,” and the officer took the Chinaman by the arm and walked +out with him. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap08"></a>CHAPTER VIII<br /> +IN SYDNEY’S OFFICE</h2> + +<p> +“I’m awfully sorry, Syd,” began Rex, as soon as the three +were left alone and had stepped into the elevator. “I never felt so +disgraced in my life.” +</p> + +<p> +“You did nothing wrong,” replied Syd, pressing his hand against his +forehead for an instant as if it pained him. “But what are you doing in +town?” +</p> + +<p> +“I came to see you,” answered Rex, and then looked at Scott, who +had said that as it was so near train time he would wait and go to the station +with the Pells. “But you are ill,” he went on the next instant, his +eyes coming back to the other’s face. “What is the matter, +Syd?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, I’m all right,” responded the young lawyer. He forced a +smile to his lips, and turning to Scott asked when the Bowmans expected to +start on their trip. +</p> + +<p> +“Monday,” was the reply. “It’s too bad Rex can’t +come with us. I was counting on him. We’d have no end of fun.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Syd,” suddenly broke in Rex, “did you know that old Mr. +Tyler was dead? Or did he die before you came home last night?” +</p> + +<p> +A sort of spasm passed over Sydney’s face, but they were just stepping +out of the elevator, and neither of the boys noticed it. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; he died before I left,” he answered, as they entered his +rooms, which he shared with a fellow member of the bar who was now away. +“But I’ve got some last things to attend to before I leave. You +fellows make yourselves comfortable in there and I’ll be ready in five +minutes.” +</p> + +<p> +He pointed to the adjoining room, where Rex and Scott at once established +themselves in the window and looked down on the busy street far below them. +</p> + +<p> +“I didn’t know Tyler was dead,” began Scott. “I heard +what Roy did for him on the bridge, though. By George, that was plucky! But by +the way, what’s the matter with your brother Sydney? He looks terribly. +Didn’t you notice it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course I did and spoke about it He’s working too hard, I guess. +I say, Scott, you won’t tell anybody about my adventure this +afternoon?” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course I shan’t; only father, to report how insulting that +policeman was.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, let that go. I wouldn’t like even your father to hear it. I +feel humiliated enough that you should know about it. Say, Scott!” Rex +paused suddenly. The recollection of his recent experience stung him whenever +it came up in his mind. He felt that Scott must be constantly thinking of it, +too. He wanted to tell him something that would banish it from his thoughts. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, my boy, what is it?” rejoined Scott. +</p> + +<p> +“If I tell you something, will you promise to keep it a secret +till—till everybody knows it, as they will probably in a day or +two?” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course I will. It must be something mighty important from your +mysterious air, old fellow.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is, awfully important.” Rex’s eyes were fixed on +Scott’s trowsers. He saw that they were a new pair, evidently purchased +to be worn on the trip. What a thing it was to have money so that you could get +extra things whenever you wanted them and not be obliged to wait till you could +afford it! And the Pells would even be richer than the Bowmans. +</p> + +<p> +Rex paused so long while he was thinking over all this that Scott broke in +with, “Well, what is it? Don’t keep me on the rack so long.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps I shouldn’t tell you,” went on Rex; “but some +people know it in Marley already, and you are my best friend, you know. Old man +Tyler left his money to mother and it’s something like half a +million!” +</p> + +<p> +“Reginald Pell!” Scott brought out these words with strong +emphasis, then seized his friend’s hand and wrung it heartily. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t!” said Rex, seeing that Syd was coming toward them. +“It seems awful to be congratulated now when the old man isn’t +buried yet, and—” +</p> + +<p> +“What’s that you’re saying?” Sydney had hastened +forward and laid his hand on Rex’s shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +Rex colored. Syd looked so very serious, and now, as he stood there in the full +glare of daylight, the signs of suffering on his face were plainly apparent. +</p> + +<p> +“Syd, you are ill?” exclaimed Rex, forgetting about what he had +been saying. “You ought to be at home at once.” +</p> + +<p> +“Never mind about me, Reggie. Tell me what you were just telling +Scott.” +</p> + +<p> +“I didn’t think it was any harm. A good many people in Marley know +it now. I was telling him about—about Mr. Tyler’s will.” +</p> + +<p> +“What about it?” Sydney’s eyes were looking steadily, +unsmilingly down into his brother’s as he put the question. +</p> + +<p> +Rex was really frightened now. He had never seen Sydney look just like this +before. +</p> + +<p> +“I told him about leaving his money to us on account of what Roy had +done,” he faltered. “I didn’t—” +</p> + +<p> +Sydney’s eyes closed; he started to reel backwards and would have fallen +had not Scott sprung forward and caught him. +</p> + +<p> +“Help me ease him down in the chair, Rex,” he called out. +</p> + +<p> +Scarcely knowing what he was doing, Reginald took hold of his brother’s +other arm and between them the two boys got him down gently into a chair that +stood near the window. +</p> + +<p> +“He isn’t dead, is he?” +</p> + +<p> +Rex’s voice was hardly more than a whisper as he put the awful question. +Sydney certainly looked almost like a corpse, with his pallid face and his head +hanging itself lifelessly over on one side. +</p> + +<p> +It was a trying situation for the two boys. Neither of them had had the +slightest experience with cases of this sort. It was so late in the afternoon +that the offices around them were all empty. +</p> + +<p> +“No, he is not dead, I’m sure of that,” Scott replied, who, +as the senior of Rex by some eleven months, felt that it was natural for the +other to seem to rely upon him. “We ought to have a doctor at once, +though.” +</p> + +<p> +“But we can’t leave him that way while I go for one. Besides, I +don’t know where to go.” +</p> + +<p> +“Neither do I. Our doctor is clear at the other end of town and besides +he’s down at Atlantic City by this time anyway.” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s awful, isn’t it? Oh, what shall we do, Scott?” +</p> + +<p> +“We might ring for an ambulance. That’s the quickest way.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, we don’t want to have him taken to the hospital. Come, help me +get him out of that chair. It’s horrible to see his head hang over like +that.” +</p> + +<p> +“But where can we put him? There’s no lounge about, is +there?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, but we might let him lie on the floor, on that rug yonder. See, we +can take this cushion out of this chair for a pillow.” +</p> + +<p> +With much difficulty, for they felt that they must go about the work of +transfer with the greatest care, the unconscious man was removed and placed in +what both boys considered would be an easier position for him. But when he was +stretched out at their feet, the spectacle was such an ominous one that Rex +almost wished that they had left him where he was. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t you think we ought to throw water in his face or fan him or +something?” he asked helplessly. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know what we ought to do, Rex, except I think we ought to +have a doctor the first thing. I tell you! You stay here with him and +I’ll go down and find a drug store. They’ll know where I can get a +doctor there.” +</p> + +<p> +“All right; be as quick as you can.” +</p> + +<p> +Scott was off on the instant and Rex was left alone with the unconscious +Sydney. His mind was filled with a multitude of thoughts in regard to the +strange seizure. Was he, Reginald, responsible for it? What if he had not come +to Philadelphia, would it have happened? +</p> + +<p> +He tried to console himself with the reflection that the thing was bound to +occur any way, and that it was providential that he and Scott were present to +give aid. +</p> + +<p> +Then he remembered how the attack had come on at the very moment when Sydney +learned that he (Rex) had told of their inheritance from the miser, and he felt +more dismal than ever. +</p> + +<p> +It was very quiet in that great office building at this time of the day. The +noise of the car bells and traffic that came in through the open windows from +the street far below only made the stillness within more marked. The office boy +had taken the mail and gone home just before Rex and Scott arrived. +</p> + +<p> +Rex glanced up at the clock. They would not be able to catch the express now. +How good Scott was to stay with him. He would pay him back for it all when they +came into their fortune. +</p> + +<p> +But he seemed to be a long while gone. Rex left his position by Sydney and went +to the window. By leaning very far out he could just see over the heavy stone +still to the street below. But it was quite impossible to recognize any one at +that distance. +</p> + +<p> +He wriggled back till his feet touched the floor again, and then returned to +take up his watch by Sydney once more. He wished that Roy was with him. Though +they were twins he felt that his brother possessed twice the self reliance in +emergencies that he did. +</p> + +<p> +“I wonder if I ought to telegraph to mother,” was his next thought. +</p> + +<p> +Then he heard the door of the elevator slide back, and the next instant Scott +Bowman appeared, accompanied by a short man with side whiskers and spectacles. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap09"></a>CHAPTER IX<br /> +THE MYSTERY ABOUT SYDNEY</h2> + +<p> +The boys stood by in anxious suspense while the doctor made his examination. +</p> + +<p> +“It is utter collapse from severe mental strain,” he said after a +minute. “He will come around presently.” +</p> + +<p> +He wrote out a prescription and gave it to Scott to take out for him and then +turned to Rex. +</p> + +<p> +“You are Mr. Pell’s brother, I believe?” he said. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” answered Rex, for the fact that there was no blood relation +between them was one that very seldom recurred to the boys’ minds. +</p> + +<p> +“Then perhaps you will be able to assign some cause for this seizure. Was +Mr. Pell excited by anything in particular when it took him?” +</p> + +<p> +Rex hesitated. Remembering how Sydney had been affected by learning that he had +revealed the facts about Mr. Tyler’s will to Scott, he felt that he ought +not to speak of the matter to any one else. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, he was excited by a—a family affair,” he replied, +hoping this was all he need say on the matter. +</p> + +<p> +“Humph!” muttered the physician, and he not only took another +critical look at Sydney’s face, but favored Rex with a long stare, too. +</p> + +<p> +“Will he be well enough to go down to Marley to-night?” asked the +latter. +</p> + +<p> +“You live out of town then?” returned the doctor. +“There’s no place where you could take him here in the city?” +</p> + +<p> +“None, but a hotel,” rejoined Rex. “And I’m sure my +mother would rather have him home.” +</p> + +<p> +At this point Sydney stirred and opened his eyes. He looked first at the +doctor, frowned deeply, and then as Rex came forward within his range of +vision, he beckoned the boy to him. +</p> + +<p> +Rex hurried over and knelt by his side. +</p> + +<p> +“Who is that?” asked Sydney. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s a doctor. You fainted or something and Scott went out to get +him. How do you feel?” +</p> + +<p> +“Pretty weak, but ask him to step into the next room a minute. I want to +speak to you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Doctor, will you mind waiting in the next room a minute? My brother +wants to see me about something.” +</p> + +<p> +Rex was afraid the physician might feel offended or else object to leaving his +patient, but he said, “Why, certainly,” and then came over to take +a close look at the young lawyer before leaving him. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as he had gone Sydney put out one arm and passing it around Rex’s +neck, drew the boy’s ear close to his mouth. +</p> + +<p> +“Did I say anything while I was unconscious?” he whispered. +</p> + +<p> +“No,” replied Rex, mystified. “Nothing at all. But what does +all this mean, Syd? What is worrying you so terribly?” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t let it worry you and then it will worry me less. What time +is it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Half past five.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then we ought to catch the six o’clock train.” +</p> + +<p> +“But you’re not strong enough to go now,” objected Rex. +“You’re as pale as a ghost.” +</p> + +<p> +“Am I?” A wan smile lit up Sydney’s face for an instant +“Well, then, exercise will perhaps bring some of the color back. You can +call the doctor in now and we’ll see what he says.” +</p> + +<p> +Scott arrived with the filled prescription just as Rex brought the physician +back into the room. Sydney objected to lying on the floor any longer and they +helped him to a chair. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, you can go home if you don’t do any walking,” said the +doctor after another examination. +</p> + +<p> +“All right, I can go down in the elevator, get a carriage from the hotel +across the street and ride right up to the station. You rush down and engage +one, Rex. Scott will stay here and help the doctor down with me. Then he can go +along with us. Don’t lose any time, Reggie.” +</p> + +<p> +With an immensely relieved mind Rex hurried off to execute the commission. He +had really feared at one time that Sydney was going to die. +</p> + +<p> +He was rallying rapidly now. When he entered the coach he took out his +pocketbook and paid the doctor for his services. +</p> + +<p> +“We owe you something, Scott,” he added after they had started, +“for what you got at the drug store.” +</p> + +<p> +Scott protested, but was in the end obliged to take what he had paid out. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s been an exciting afternoon for you fellows,” remarked +Sydney, and Rex could not help but notice that while his tone was light, his +face was still pale and that he did not look at them while he was speaking. +</p> + +<p> +“I want you to promise me one thing, though. That you will not speak of +my fainting spell at home, or you either, Scott. I have a particular reason for +asking that favor.” +</p> + +<p> +Both boys promised to respect his wishes, and then Sydney quickly changed the +subject to the Bowmans’ trip, asking at what hotels they were going to +stop, and so on until the carriage reached the station. He seemed so much +better by this time that when he met a friend on the train and took a seat with +him, Rex and Scott almost forgot that he had been ill. +</p> + +<p> +They found places together near by, but neither said much during the short +ride. Rex felt that Scott must be thinking of how Sydney had broken in upon his +revelation of their inheritance, and wondering what it could mean. He +couldn’t explain it, so he thought best not to broach the subject. +</p> + +<p> +And as this filled so large a part of his thoughts there was nothing else he +cared to talk about. After all his trip to Philadelphia had not been productive +of any results. He knew no more now than when he started about the extent of +Mr. Tyler’s fortune. +</p> + +<p> +When they reached Marley, Sydney took a hack that always waited at the station, +and he and Rex rode down to the Pellery, Scott living close to the station in +the other direction. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you feel all right, Syd?” asked Rex during the ride. +</p> + +<p> +Sydney nodded without making any reply, and soon they reached home. Rex was +unusually silent during dinner. He looked up in surprised fashion when he +learned that Sydney had gone off without his breakfast that morning. Sydney +explained that it was due to urgent business in town. Rex wondered what the +family would think if they knew about the scene at the office that afternoon. +</p> + +<p> +Nobody said anything about Mr. Tyler after Sydney had admitted that he died +before he left him the previous night. Rex was the one most likely to discourse +on the subject, but now he had his reasons for not broaching it. +</p> + +<p> +The next morning Sydney did not go to the city. He devoted himself to making +arrangements for Mr. Tyler’s burial. The death was published in all the +Philadelphia papers, and the Pells expected that some one might come down, +claiming to be a relative. +</p> + +<p> +But no one appeared, and on Saturday the funeral was held in the little house +in Burdock. All the Pells were present, and a great number of people from +Marley. +</p> + +<p> +The news that the miser was very wealthy and had left all his money, except a +small legacy to his servant, to Mrs. Pell, spread rapidly and created a great +sensation. +</p> + +<p> +Everybody connected it with Roy’s act of rescue on the trestle, and so +many spoke to him about it that he was almost afraid to show himself in public. +</p> + +<p> +“What do you care?” said Jess, when he complained to her about it. +“It certainly isn’t a thing you are ashamed of.” +</p> + +<p> +“But I don’t know what to say,” he returned. “It sounds +silly to tell them it wasn’t anything, and I can’t say, yes, I +think it was a very brave act. So there I am.” +</p> + +<p> +“You poor boy. What do you do, usually?” +</p> + +<p> +“Try to get around it by telling them that I’m not the heir but +mother. I suppose that’s kind of mean, too, for I know she hates to be +spoken to about it as much as I do.” +</p> + +<p> +The Pells were the observed of all observers at the funeral. Eva had declared +at first that she thought they ought not to go. +</p> + +<p> +“We’ll just make a show of ourselves,” she said. “It +was very unfortunate all this got out before Mr. Tyler was buried.” +</p> + +<p> +But Mrs. Pell announced that respect for the dead demanded their presence, so +they went. Every one remarked on the pallor of Sydney. His mother had worried +over it considerably. +</p> + +<p> +“You must be the first to take advantage of our altered circumstances, my +dear boy,” she had told him. “I want you to give up work for a +while and go away for a good long rest.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, no, no!” he cried out in such terror that the poor woman was +startled. +</p> + +<p> +He noticed it and tried to smile as he went on: +</p> + +<p> +“Of course all this business about the Tyler will has been an extra +strain on me, but that will soon be off now. It is you and the children who +must benefit by the money that has come so unexpectedly. You will make me, oh, +so much happier, if you will not count me in on it. You will not need my help +now, and my income will be abundant for my own wants.” +</p> + +<p> +Seeing that he felt so strongly on the matter, Mrs. Pell said no more at the +time, but she often thought of that talk later and shivered as she recalled it. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap10"></a>CHAPTER X<br /> +ROY MAKES A NEW ACQUAINTANCE</h2> + +<p> +It was just a month after our story opened that July afternoon. Roy was fishing +from the tree trunk over the creek again, but he was alone this time and the +expression on his face was almost as discontented as Reginald’s had been +on that former occasion. +</p> + +<p> +His float bobbed under two or three times, but he paid no attention to the +fact. He was too deeply absorbed in thought. Now and then he would glance up at +the trestle far above him, and something very like a sigh would pass his lips. +</p> + +<p> +There was a snapping of twigs on the Marley end of the log and Roy turned his +head quickly to find a young man regarding him attentively. He might have been +anywhere from twenty-five to thirty. He had a small brown mustache and rather a +dark complexion. +</p> + +<p> +He held a small oblong box in both his hands. Roy at once recognized it as a +camera and realized at the same instant that it was pointed at him. +</p> + +<p> +As their eyes met, the stranger flushed slightly, but said in a pleasant voice: +</p> + +<p> +“I hope you don’t mind being taken?” +</p> + +<p> +Roy did mind. He was in a mood just now to object to everything, but the +other’s voice was such an agreeable one, the glance of his eye so kindly +that the boy’s real self came to the surface through his temporarily +baser one, and he replied: +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, I s’pose not, but I haven’t got the pleasant look the +photographers tell you to put on. Aren’t you afraid I’ll break your +camera?” +</p> + +<p> +The answer was a quick snap and then the young man slung the camera over his +shoulder and stepping out on the tree trunk slipped down to a seat beside Roy. +</p> + +<p> +“You have a very cozy retreat here,” he remarked, +“how’s the fishing?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know. To tell the truth I wasn’t thinking of my line +at all and I’m almost sorry I let you take that picture. I don’t +see what you wanted it for any way, I hope you won’t show it around much. +You don’t live in Marley, do you?” +</p> + +<p> +“No.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’m glad of that” +</p> + +<p> +“Why?” with a smile. +</p> + +<p> +“Because nobody I know will be apt to see the picture.” +</p> + +<p> +“You’re quite a modest young man.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, it isn’t that, but I must have looked so disagreeable at that +particular moment. At least I must have done so if my looks were anything like +my feelings.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, if I remember rightly you were smiling at the instant I pressed the +button. You know you were saying something about fearing you would break the +camera, and a smile usually goes with that remark.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy looked up quickly. The stranger was an odd one. He had a queer way of +putting things. Roy began to be interested. +</p> + +<p> +“Have you taken many pictures around here?” +</p> + +<p> +“Quite a number. It’s a very pretty place.” +</p> + +<p> +“Isn’t it?” +</p> + +<p> +“That bridge quite adds to the attractiveness of the landscape. In fact +that is the reason I am here. I was coming through on the train and as we +crossed, the prospect of this little valley was so tempting that I decided to +stop off and explore. I am very glad I did now, for it gave me the added +pleasure of meeting you.” +</p> + +<p> +“That sounds as though you were talking to a girl,” said Roy. +</p> + +<p> +“Does it? Well, as I am particularly fond of boys I suppose I may be +allowed to say the same sort of things to them.” +</p> + +<p> +“You’re fond of boys? That’s queer. I didn’t know any +one liked boys except their mothers and now and then a girl or two.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy laughed a little as he added this last, and the stranger joined in +heartily. +</p> + +<p> +“You’re very frank,” he remarked; “but that’s +what boys usually are, and it’s one of the reasons I like them. They +generally say right out just what they think.” +</p> + +<p> +“What’s another reason?” +</p> + +<p> +The man with the camera hesitated an instant before replying. Then he said: +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I’m going to be frank, too. Another reason I like boys is +because I find them useful to me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Useful to you?” repeated Roy, perplexed. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, as a matter of study. You see, I write about them sometimes.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why, are you an author?” +</p> + +<p> +Roy turned full around on the log as he put the question, his face all aglow +with animation. +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose that’s what I must call myself even if I’m not a +particularly famous one.” +</p> + +<p> +“Please tell me the names of some of your books. Perhaps I’ve read +them.” +</p> + +<p> +The young man smiled at his companion’s eagerness and mentioned a story +which had been Roy’s Christmas present two years before. +</p> + +<p> +“Did you write that?” he exclaimed. “Why, then you are Mr. +Charles Keeler!” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I am Mr. Keeler. I suppose you are disappointed in me. Most people +are when they see the people who write books they have read.” +</p> + +<p> +“That was a splendid story,” Roy drew in a long breath before he +made this reply. He was still looking at Mr. Keeler as if he could not yet +quite comprehend the thing. “I’m awfully glad to meet you and +I’d like to shake hands.” +</p> + +<p> +“With the greatest of pleasure. I’m very glad you liked my book; I +know you wouldn’t say so if you didn’t. That’s where boys are +superior to grown people. They are almost always sincere in the expression of +their opinions.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you know I’ve never seen an author before?” went on Roy, +who had wound up his line and had given himself over to a full enjoyment of +this unexpected opportunity. “I don’t see how you do it. I hate to +write compositions at school. Nearly every boy I know does. Did you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, when I had to write on subjects that were assigned by the teacher I +used to count the lines then just the same as the rest of the fellows. But when +they let me write a story I didn’t mind.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t see how you can. I should think you’d never know +what to say next.” +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Keeler smiled, showing his white teeth which contrasted so strongly with +the deep tan on his complexion. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, that all comes when you have your scheme arranged,” he said. +“But of course you have to possess a natural taste for the work. You +can’t suddenly decide that you would like to be an author and then study +for it as you might learn to be a carpenter or a mason.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, it’s like poets, then, who are ‘born, not +made,’” returned Roy. +</p> + +<p> +“Precisely, and that being the case it comes natural to write, although +there is a great deal of hard work about it.” +</p> + +<p> +“You said you studied boys. How do you mean?” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, take yourself for example. When I saw you sitting here fishing I +wanted your picture so I could look at it some day and perhaps make up a story +about you.” +</p> + +<p> +“A story about me!” exclaimed Roy. Then he added in a sober tone, +“I don’t believe you could make up a more wonderful story than +something that has really happened to me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is that so? I remember now you said you were very much disturbed over +something that you thought would make you look disagreeable.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I came down here because I was at odds with myself and everybody +else, I wonder what you’d do with a hero who was just in my position. +I’ve half a mind to tell you all about it. You don’t know who I am, +so it won’t matter. Do you live in Philadelphia?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, in New York just at present.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good, then I believe I’ll tell you, but you must promise you +won’t use it in a book unless I tell you you can.” +</p> + +<p> +“Here’s my hand on it,” and once more hands were clasped over +the tree trunk. +</p> + +<p> +“And you must promise, too, to believe everything I tell you. Some of it +will seem pretty steep.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, well, you know, that fact is stranger than fiction, so don’t +worry about that.” +</p> + +<p> +“I won’t tell you everything,” began Roy, with a quick glance +up at the trestle, “but first I’ll have to go back a little and say +that almost as far back as I can remember we’ve lived in that house you +can see down yonder with the peaked roof. We had only about enough money to +keep us comfortable, for father died when I was a little fellow, and there were +five of us children. But we had good times and I was looking forward to the +future when I would be a man and Rex and I—that’s my twin +brother—could give mother some of the luxuries with what we should earn, +for I expected that by that time Sydney would be married and have a home of his +own. You’re not bored listening to all this, are you? There’s a +more exciting part coming?” +</p> + +<p> +“I never was so absorbed in a story in my life, my dear fellow. Go on, +please.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, over yonder, not far from the end of the trestle, lived an old +man—but never mind the name. At any rate he was sort of a miser, or +rather he had lots of money which he never spent and when he died he left it +all to my mother.” +</p> + +<p> +“You’ve left something out I think,” interrupted Mr. Keeler, +and there was a smile about the corners of his mouth that caused Roy to flush +deeply. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap11"></a>CHAPTER XI<br /> +MR. CHARLES KEELER</h2> + +<p> +“Well, why don’t you go on?” asked Mr. Keeler, as Roy paused. +</p> + +<p> +“You’ve heard something about the affair. I can see you have by the +way you look. Please tell me what it was.” +</p> + +<p> +“Only a very little,” was the reply. “As I was crossing the +trestle in the train a while ago I heard a lady behind me telling a gentleman +who was with her that this was the place where Roy Pell rescued the old miser. +So now you see I know who you are, but I hope that won’t make any +difference about your telling the story. You left off in the most interesting +place. It would be worse than the serials in the weekly papers, for I +couldn’t look forward to getting the continuation next Saturday.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy smiled and then said “All right, you’ve promised not to use it +unless I give you leave, you know. But I don’t want you to think of me as +a regular hero because I lugged that old man off the bridge. There would have +been plenty of time for me to have run down to Burdock and stopped the train +and got help there, but I really didn’t think of it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, no, that isn’t the part I’m interested in at all. What I +want to know is the reason you seemed so glum over having come into a fortune. +Was it much, may I inquire?” +</p> + +<p> +“About half a million, but I haven’t been one mite happier since +we’ve had it. In the first place my oldest brother has been sick ever +since. We don’t know what’s the matter with him and he won’t +give up his law business and go away for rest as mother wants him to. He says +he has got too much to do looking after the investing of her money. Then +there’s Rex, he wants so many things that he can’t settle on any +one. He got a bicycle almost the first thing, and now he’s tired of it +and wants a horse, and Jess says there’s no good of getting that because +we ought to go to Europe and take Syd with us.” +</p> + +<p> +“And Eva, she wants to go to Vassar, and mother doesn’t want to +give her up, and the worst of it all is we’ve sold the place and we are +going to move into the city next month, and I hate to leave Marley, although +the rest all want to go. So we’re all pulling different ways, and nobody +a bit happy, for if he’s got what he wanted he has to remember that +it’s what the rest didn’t want. I had a fling out about the whole +thing just before I left the house and I came down to grumble to the creek. +Why, that’s funny!” +</p> + +<p> +“What’s funny?” inquired Mr. Keeler, as Roy looked up with a +half smile. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, it’s just a month ago to-day since Rex came down here to mope +because we didn’t have money enough to let him go on a trip to Canada, +and now I’ve come here to do the same thing because we’re come into +a fortune.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then you don’t care for the money?” remarked the author. +</p> + +<p> +“Not if it’s going to break up a family the way it has ours. Jess +used to be awfully lively and full of fun, and now she’s all the time +talking about new clothes and the places she wants to go, and how she’s +going to have her room decorated in the new house.” +</p> + +<p> +“But I thought you said she wanted to go to Europe.” +</p> + +<p> +“So I did. That’s one of the troubles. She don’t know what +she wants. It’s one thing one minute and another the next.” +</p> + +<p> +“But your mother? Doesn’t she have something to say about +it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, but she’s so fond of us all, she wants to do what will give +us the most pleasure. And of course when we all want different things +that’s pretty hard to do.” +</p> + +<p> +“And the ‘different thing’ that I want is to stay right here +in Marley. I’d graduate at the academy here next June, and then all my +friends are here, and I like the country. Now if your hero in a story was in a +fix like this what would you do with him?” +</p> + +<p> +“It depends on the sort of story I was writing. If it was one with a +motive, a moral, so to speak, I’d have him give up his own desire and say +he’d be perfectly willing to do what the rest wanted to do.” +</p> + +<p> +“But if the rest wanted to do different things? Here’s Rex wanting +to live in Philadelphia, and Eva thinking it would be ever so much nicer to +live in Boston, and Jess divided half of the time between New York and Europe, +and Sydney looking as if he’d drop into the grave right off if we +didn’t do something quick—what then?” +</p> + +<p> +Roy spoke very earnestly, and Mr. Keeler did not smile this time. He began to +pick at the bark on the tree trunk and did not reply for some little time after +Roy had paused. +</p> + +<p> +“I think,” he said finally, “that in that case I should have +had my hero try to make himself contented with whichever decision was arrived +at. Half a million ought to atone for a great many drawbacks.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, I know a lot of people envy us,” broke in Roy. “Charley +Minturn says I ought to be the happiest fellow going. But I’m not. +That’s because I’m going—to leave Marley. I s’pose you +think it’s queer for me to tell all this to a stranger. But it’s +just because you are a stranger that I feel that I can do it. You can +understand how that can be, can’t you, Mr. Keeler?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, perfectly. But I think you attach too much importance to your +feeling for Marley. Of course you think now that you will not be contented +elsewhere because you do not yet know the attractions of other places. I +remember when I was in my teens, living abroad, I thought I could not be happy +anywhere but in Paris. I had been there all winter, and when spring came and we +were to go to Germany I felt just as you do over leaving Marley. But when we +were settled in our German home I grew to like it just as I had Paris. That is +the way it is sure to be with you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why, you’ve done me lots of good,” exclaimed Roy. “I +should never have thought of looking at things that way. So you’ve lived +in Europe? Rex only wants to travel there.” +</p> + +<p> +“He’s your twin brother, you say? Does he look like you?” +</p> + +<p> +“No; only the least bit. He is the good looking member of the family. +There he goes now on his wheel. Would you like to meet him?” +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed I should,” replied Mr. Keeler heartily. “It would +seem exactly like a character out of a story.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy put his fingers between his lips and gave a peculiar whistle, composed of +three distinct notes. Rex, who was just passing under the trestle, turned +around in his saddle, and when he saw some one beside his brother on the tree +trunk, he made a half circle in the road and came scudding back on his machine. +</p> + +<p> +He ran this in a little distance among the trees, left it leaning against one +of them and then came on foot to the edge of the creek. His bicycle suit was +very becoming to him. Roy watched Mr. Keeler’s face and saw that he was +favorably impressed at once. +</p> + +<p> +He accomplished the introduction, mentioning the book both boys had read. Rex +seemed immensely pleased at meeting the author, and put on his most charming +manner. +</p> + +<p> +“Won’t you come over to the house, Mr. Keeler?” he said. +“We can give you some lemonade and I’d like you to see the view of +the trestle from our piazza.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are very kind,” returned the young man, looking at his watch, +“but I am afraid I shall not have time. I had planned to take the next +train in to town. I have only about twenty minutes in which to catch it +now.” +</p> + +<p> +“Stay to tea then and go up some time this evening,” went on Rex. +“I am sure our mother would be delighted to meet you, and so would the +girls. Wouldn’t they, Roy?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, indeed, please stay, Mr. Keeler.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy would not have dared to make this request if he had been left to himself. +That was the difference in character of the two brothers. One was impulsive, +ready to do anything on the spur of the moment: the other cautious, shrinking +sometimes. He was just as anxious as Rex to extend the hospitality of the +Pellery to their new acquaintance, but felt that he had not known the other +long enough to warrant him in doing so. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Keeler hesitated. He was in his element now in the society of two boys of +such contrasted temperaments, making admirable studies. +</p> + +<p> +“I was going back to New York to-night,” he said. “But I +suppose I could put it off till morning.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do; then you can stay to tea at the Pellery,” exclaimed Rex. +“That’s what we call our house. It makes it seem like a nest, you +know. If you don’t mind I’ll mount my wheel and run on ahead to +tell them you are coming, so that we can receive you in proper state.” +</p> + +<p> +There was no opportunity given Mr. Keeler to decline. Rex rushed ahead, mounted +his wheel and was off before he could answer. +</p> + +<p> +“You will stay, won’t you?” asked Roy. +</p> + +<p> +“With pleasure if you think it will not inconvenience your mother. That +is decidedly important. You do not know but I may be some moonshiner from the +Cumberland, or a bandit from Italy. My complexion certainly answers to the +latter description. You see, you have only my word for who I really am.” +</p> + +<p> +“I guess that’s good enough,” laughed Roy, “How do you +like Rex?” +</p> + +<p> +“Immensely.” +</p> + +<p> +“Everybody does. I suppose we ought to be very proud of him, and we are, +but then we are afraid for him at the same time. What a boy he is! See, +he’s hunted up our big flag and hung it from Syd’s window in honor +of your coming. You’ll have to make a speech now.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap12"></a>CHAPTER XII<br /> +AN ALARMING DISCOVERY</h2> + +<p> +Rex come down to the gate to meet them. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m sorry that mother isn’t home,” he said. +“She’s just had a telegram from Syd that takes her to town and will +keep her there with him all night Some business connected with the new +house,” he added with a glance at Roy. +</p> + +<p> +“But the girls are home and will be delighted to receive you with fitting +honors,” he went on. He did not say that he had had quite a time to +induce them to appear at all. He had rushed into the house in his impetuous way +announcing that Roy was coming along with a young man they had met down at the +creek who was a famous author and was so nice, and whom they had invited to +tea. +</p> + +<p> +“But we don’t know him, Rex,” Eva had exclaimed in +considerable dismay. “You oughtn’t to bring strange people to the +house in that way.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, but it’s just the same thing as if we did know him,” and +Rex went on to explain about the story he had written, which they had all read +and admired. +</p> + +<p> +“But is he nice and respectable himself?” Jess inquired. “You +know some of these writers are horribly poor and go about with threadbare +clothes. He might not be the right sort of man for us to know at all.” +</p> + +<p> +“Jess!” Eva exclaimed severely. “The idea of your thinking +that because people are poor they can’t be respectable! We shall be very +glad to meet your friend, Rex,” and Jess felt that she was in such +disgrace that when Mr. Keeler was presented she tried to redeem herself by +being excessively friendly. +</p> + +<p> +And this was not difficult for her to do. He was certainly very different from +what she had expected. He had neither long hair like the traditional poet, nor +trousers fringed around the bottom like the literary hireling of Grub Street. +</p> + +<p> +Indeed, she found him quite handsome; he dressed almost as well as Rex did, and +he was a most interesting talker. And all the while she was sensible of having +seen his face somewhere before. +</p> + +<p> +She thought at first it might have been in a portrait painted as a frontispiece +to his book. At the first opportunity she slipped off to the boys’ room +and looked it up. But there was no portrait there. +</p> + +<p> +Finally she decided that she must have passed him in the street in the city +some time and resolved to think no more about it. +</p> + +<p> +Eva was pleased with the visitor too. They had a very merry supper party. The +clash of opinions about what to do with their money was stilled for the time +while they all listened to the very entertaining stones told by their guest. +</p> + +<p> +He was, it seemed, on his way home from the oil regions of Pennsylvania whither +he had gone to secure the local color for a new story. In fact he had traveled +very extensively in his short life, for he was not yet thirty. +</p> + +<p> +At one time he had lived among a tribe of blacks in Africa; at another been a +member of a party of exiled Russians, on tramp to the mines of Siberia. He was +telling of an exciting adventure he had had among the Arabs when the twinkling +lights in a train crossed the trestle caused him to come to a sudden pause. +</p> + +<p> +“I must be thinking of the time,” he said taking out his watch, and +trying to see the figures on its face by the moonlight. “I don’t +want to miss the last train in to town.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, do, please,” pleaded Rex. “You can stay here just as +well as not. Syd won’t be home and you can have his room. The last train +goes in half an hour; you won’t nearly have exhausted your stock of +stories by then. Please stay.” +</p> + +<p> +“We should be very glad to have you do so, Mr. Keeler,” said Eva. +</p> + +<p> +“But this is trespassing altogether too much on your hospitality,” +he returned. “Besides, you scarcely know me and I didn’t come +prepared. I left Philadelphia this morning, meaning to be back there by +night.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, we’ll fix you out,” said Rex with an air of finality, +“so go on with your Arab story.” +</p> + +<p> +It was most comfortable on that porch with its southern exposure, the fireflies +dancing to the chirp of the crickets, the span of the railroad trestle looking +like a fairy bridge against the background of the sky. Mr. Keeler decided to +stay. +</p> + +<p> +Roy wondered what the others would think if they knew that their guest was +aware of what had recently befallen the family. He should most decidedly not +have told all he had if he had foreseen what was coming. +</p> + +<p> +At ten o’clock Eva suggested that Mr. Keeler was probably tired from his +journey, so the boys went up stairs with him. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll come down and lock up,” Roy called back to his sisters. +</p> + +<p> +When he returned in a few minutes, leaving Rex talking bicycle with their +guest, he found the girls standing in the library, over a large book which they +had open on the table before them. +</p> + +<p> +“Look there!” exclaimed Jess, almost in a tragic tone, just as he +entered. +</p> + +<p> +She was pointing at something in the upper left hand corner of the page. Eva +started as she looked at it and then turned a frightened face toward Roy. +</p> + +<p> +“Roy, come here,” she said. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, what’s the matter with you girls?” he exclaimed. +“You look as if you’d each seen a ghost.” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s worse than that!” answered Jess in a sepulchral tone. +“Look here.” +</p> + +<p> +She pointed to the spot on which Eva’s gaze had been riveted. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, it’s Mr. Keeler’s picture!” exclaimed Roy. +</p> + +<p> +“Read what it says underneath,” went on Jess in the same tone. +</p> + +<p> +Roy let his eyes drop to the printed lines beneath the portrait, which was one +of six which adorned the page. This is what he read: +</p> + +<p class="center"> +Martin Blakesley, +</p> + +<p class="center"> +<i>Alias “Gentleman George,” “Lancelot Marker” etc., +Confidence Man.</i> +</p> + +<p> +“What book is this?” asked Roy. +</p> + +<p> +His voice was hard. He hardly recognized it himself when he heard it. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Noted Criminals of the United States,’” replied Jess. +“Syd brought it home last week to look up something or other he wanted to +use in a case. I was glancing through it this morning and saw this picture +then. I knew I’d seen Mr. Keeler somewhere before as soon as I laid eyes +on him this afternoon.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps it’s only somebody that looks like him,” said Eva +faintly. “He has a larger mustache than that now.” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s had plenty of time to grow,” rejoined Jess +significantly. “This book was published two or three years ago. See, here +is his history. No. 131,” and she began to look over the pages till she +came to the paragraphs of description accompanying the portrait. +</p> + +<p> +The three heads bent over the page eagerly, while Roy, in a low voice, read the +facts about No. 131. He had been in jail twice, it seemed, his last term having +expired, as Roy figured, some four months previous. He was noted for his suave +manners and the facility with which he imposed on strangers. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s the man,” murmured Jess. “What are we going to +do?” +</p> + +<p> +Eva stepped back to the sofa and sank down upon it as if every bit of strength +had gone away from her. +</p> + +<p> +“It doesn’t seem possible,” was all Roy could say for the +moment. +</p> + +<p> +Then he turned back to the picture and studied it long and intently. Meanwhile +the steady murmur of voices could be heard from above. Rex was showing Mr. +Keeler the treasures in their room. +</p> + +<p> +“I had better go up and ask him to leave,” then said Roy suddenly. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, no, no, that will precipitate a quarrel,” exclaimed Jess. +“He may murder us all.” +</p> + +<p> +“What do you want me to do then?” asked Roy. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t see that you can do anything except sit up with Eva and me +down here till morning. I’m sure I should never sleep a wink if I went to +bed.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’m hoping yet there’ll be some way to prove we are mistaken +in thinking him the same person,” put in Eva. +</p> + +<p> +“You might take this book up, Roy, and show it to him, then if he +didn’t flush when he saw this picture we’d know it was all +right.” +</p> + +<p> +“And if it wasn’t, poor Roy might be stabbed where he stood,” +added Jess cheerfully. “I tell you! we might cry fire and scare him out +that way.” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t be silly, Jess,” Roy admonished her, and then he +returned once more to the study of the face of the criminal. +</p> + +<p> +There was a sudden crash up stairs. Jess uttered a half stifled scream. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Roy,” she cried, “do go and see! He may have killed poor +Rex!” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap13"></a>CHAPTER XIII<br /> +DISCUSSION OF WAYS AND MEANS</h2> + +<p> +Roy bounded up the stairway two steps at a time. He was conscious that both his +sisters had walked to the foot of it and were looking after him fearfully. Then +he heard Rex’s voice. Evidently his brother was not hurt. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, it didn’t matter in the least,” Rex was saying. +“It was an old thing, we shouldn’t have taken it with us to the new +house.” +</p> + +<p> +He and Mr. Keeler were bending over a heap of fragments on the floor. Roy +stepped into the room and saw that they had once been the clock that stood on a +bracket near the foot of the bed. +</p> + +<p> +“I was reaching up to get that wasp’s nest we stuck behind +it,” Rex explained. “My coat sleeve caught on the clock and pulled +the whole thing over.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy gave a sigh of relief and then almost smiled as he recalled what he and +his sisters had thought for a minute had really happened. He bent down and +helped the others to pick up the pieces. +</p> + +<p> +“I think this should be a warning to me to go to bed at once,” said +Mr. Keeler with a laugh. “Good-night, boys, I shall be on hand for eight +o’clock breakfast.” +</p> + +<p> +He went out into the hall and up the stairs to the third floor, where Roy had +already lighted the lamp for him in Syd’s room. +</p> + +<p> +“An awfully nice fellow, isn’t he, Roy?” remarked Rex, +rolling the fragments of the clock up in an old newspaper. +</p> + +<p> +Roy did not make any reply. He had sat down on a chair by the bureau, on which +he was resting his elbow. His eyes were fixed thoughtfully on the book rack +opposite in which stood the volume of which Mr. Keeler was the author. +</p> + +<p> +“Rex,” he said suddenly, “come on downstairs.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ve got to go down any way with this rubbish. But what’s +come over you, Roy? You look as sober as a judge in a criminal case.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll show you in the library,” was all Roy’s reply, +then recollecting that the girls would be anxious to hear his report, he +hurried out and down the stairs. +</p> + +<p> +Eva and Jess were still standing by the newel post. +</p> + +<p> +“Well?” they asked in a breath. +</p> + +<p> +“It was only the old clock Rex knocked down. Mr. Keeler has gone up to +bed.” +</p> + +<p> +“Did you tell Rex?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, not yet. Here he comes now.” +</p> + +<p> +Eva went out and showed her brother where to deposit the contents of the +newspaper. Then she brought him back into the library and pointed out the +portrait of Martin Blakesley. +</p> + +<p> +Rex understood at once what it meant, for he had been looking at the book. +</p> + +<p> +“Whew!” he brought out this low whistle and then glanced from one +to the other of his companions. +</p> + +<p> +“You think it is the same man then?” said Roy. +</p> + +<p> +“It looks exactly like him, and I suppose it would be as easy for him to +take the name Keeler as any other alias.” +</p> + +<p> +“But there is a Charles Keeler,” went on Roy, “I didn’t +know these men would dare masquerade around the country as such famous people. +They would be sure to be found out.” +</p> + +<p> +“What are you going to do about it?” asked Rex. +</p> + +<p> +It was characteristic of him that, though he had himself invited Keeler to the +house, he was now putting all the responsibility on his brother. +</p> + +<p> +“Let’s sit down and talk it over calmly,” replied Roy. +“I’ve been thinking the thing over and I can’t see what harm +it can do to let Mr. Keeler stay.” +</p> + +<p> +“What, a confidence man!” exclaimed Rex and Jess in a breath. +</p> + +<p> +“He may have reformed,” continued Roy. “He didn’t plan +deliberately to come to this house, nothing he has said or done since he has +been here has made us suspect him of being anything else than what he claimed +to be.” +</p> + +<p> +“But if he has reformed what would he be going around pretending to be +what he wasn’t for?” interrupted Jess, “You don’t +suppose that Martin Blakesley and Charles Keeler, the author, are one and the +same person, do you?” +</p> + +<p> +Roy did not answer for a minute. He had plainly not thought of this side of the +matter. +</p> + +<p> +“Ugh! it makes me creep,” went on Jess, “to feel that a man +who has been in state’s prison twice is in this very house and going to +stay here all night. I’m going to stay up until morning. I think +I’ll sit down here and read the lives of these criminals. It will be an +appropriate occupation.” +</p> + +<p> +“You girls needn’t stay up at all,” said Rex. “Roy and +I will stand guard.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, I couldn’t sleep if I went to bed,” declared Jess. +“I don’t know as I can ever sleep again so long as we are in this +house. Think how he must know all the ins and outs of it by this time!” +</p> + +<p> +“How silly you talk, Jess,” interposed Eva. “One would think +to hear you that Mr. Keeler was a common burglar. As Roy says, he didn’t +plan to come here, and like as not he’ll go away in the morning without +having disturbed us in the least.” +</p> + +<p> +“You’re standing up for him, are you, Eva? Well, I thought his good +looks were making an impression on you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Jessie, you have no right to talk in that way. I’m not standing up +for him at all. I’m only trying to get you to look at the facts of the +case in a sensible way.” +</p> + +<p> +“But there’s nothing sensible in inviting a jail bird to the house, +and having him stay all night. It isn’t the sort of thing you can prepare +yourself to bear up under in dignified fashion.” +</p> + +<p> +“Shall I go up to town and get the constable to come down and arrest +him?” asked Rex. +</p> + +<p> +“You can’t do that!” returned Roy promptly. “He +hasn’t committed any crime.” +</p> + +<p> +“But if we wait till he does commit one, it will be like locking the +stable door after the horse has been stolen.” +</p> + +<p> +“You might go over to the Burtons’, Roy, and get Will to come and +stay with us,” Eva suggested. +</p> + +<p> +“And rouse them up at this hour of the night? It’s getting on to be +eleven o’clock. And it would be a pretty reason to give, wouldn’t +it: ‘If you please, Mr. Burton, we invited a convict to spend the night +with us, and now we’re afraid.’” +</p> + +<p> +Eva couldn’t resist smiling at Roy’s way of putting it. +</p> + +<p> +Rex yawned heavily. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m awfully sleepy,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; and you and Rex were the ones who were to stand guard,” Jess +reminded him promptly. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I’m beginning to agree with Eva now,” Rex returned. +“I haven’t an idea that man intends to harm any of us. Perhaps +there is some mistake after all and he isn’t Martin Blakesley, only +somebody that looks like him.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t go to bed on any such uncertainty as that,” declared +Jess. +</p> + +<p> +“What would we do if we stayed up and we heard him coming down stairs to +burglarize the house?” Rex wanted to know. +</p> + +<p> +“If you and Roy weren’t shaking in your boots too much to take aim +you might bring him to a halt by pointing Syd’s pistol at his +head.” +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose we could ask him to wait first till we ran up to Syd’s +bureau drawer and got it,” retorted Rex with fine irony. +</p> + +<p> +“Mercy sakes! There he is right in the room with the only weapon +we’ve got in the house!” and Jess looked really terrified now. +“Why didn’t one of you think to take it out?” +</p> + +<p> +“Why didn’t you think to tell us who Mr. Keeler was before we asked +him to stay all night?” Eva retorted. “You said you knew all the +time you had seen him somewhere before.” +</p> + +<p> +“The boys had no business to pick up a stranger and bring him to the +house in this way,” Jess replied. “What do you suppose mother will +say when we tell her?” +</p> + +<p> +“You needn’t tell her,” said Rex. +</p> + +<p> +“Needn’t tell her!” exclaimed Jess. “When she finds +half the silver gone and Syd’s pistol missing I suppose we can say that +the cat carried them off.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I didn’t pick the fellow up,” affirmed Rex. “It +was Roy. He called to me to come and meet him.” +</p> + +<p> +“And you invited him to the house,” Roy couldn’t resist +adding. +</p> + +<p> +“Come,” interposed Eva, “stop quarreling over what is past +and decide what we must do in the present. For my part I can’t think we +are in any personal danger. If the man up stairs is the same one described in +the book he has evidently reformed.” +</p> + +<p> +“But remember what it says about his smooth ways,” interjected +Jess. “That is just where he has made his reputation, by his easy way of +crawling into people’s confidence.” +</p> + +<p> +“I tell you what to do,” said Roy. “You and Rex, Eva, go up +to bed. Jess and I will stay up all night and stand watch.” +</p> + +<p> +“But what good will that do you if you haven’t any weapons?” +Rex wanted to know. +</p> + +<p> +“We can run, any way,” answered Jess. “That will be better +than lying still to be murdered in our beds.” +</p> + +<p> +After some further discussion the matter was settled in this way. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap14"></a>CHAPTER XIV<br /> +WHAT HAPPENED AT MIDNIGHT</h2> + +<p> +When Rex and Eva had gone up stairs, and Jess and Roy were left to themselves +in the parlor, the brother and sister looked at each other rather soberly for +the first few minutes. +</p> + +<p> +“Are you very sleepy, Roy?” asked Jess presently. +</p> + +<p> +She sat by the table still, with that book about criminals open before her, but +she had not looked at it for some time now. +</p> + +<p> +“No, not a bit. Shall I read you something? There’s that book of +Mark Twain’s we haven’t finished yet.” +</p> + +<p> +“I couldn’t put my mind to listen to anything. I never was so +nervous in my life. And I’m getting worse.” +</p> + +<p> +“There’s really nothing to be nervous about, Jess. I have no doubt +that Mr. Keeler is in bed sound asleep by this time, with no thought of +burglarizing the house.” +</p> + +<p> +“I wish I could think so, but I can’t.” +</p> + +<p> +“Think of something else then. When are we going to leave Marley?” +</p> + +<p> +“The first of September. The new house is a beauty. You haven’t +seen it yet, have you?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, and I don’t know as I ever want to.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh come, Roy, it is ridiculous your being so set or staying in Marley. +We can come out here in the summer perhaps, although I’d prefer to go +abroad.” +</p> + +<p> +“It must have been nice to live in Europe for a while as Mr. Keeler did, +you get so well acquainted with the people.” +</p> + +<p> +“I wonder if they got well acquainted with him,” remarked Jess +significantly. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, I forgot,” returned Roy, and then he remembered what Mr. +Keeler had said to him down by the creek about trying to make himself contented +with whatever was for the good of the greatest number. +</p> + +<p> +It could not be possible that a man who could give such excellent advice had a +record behind him like Martin Blakesley. +</p> + +<p> +“Then you don’t want me to read to you,” Roy added. +“What shall we do then? What do you say to a game of Authors?” +</p> + +<p> +“All right. Mr. Keeler isn’t represented, so I guess I can stand +it.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy took the cards from the drawer of the bookcase and they began to play. But +Jess’s thoughts wandered and Roy was obliged to remind her to take her +turn many times. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly she held up a finger hushing him to silence. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t you hear something?” she asked in a tremulous whisper. +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing but the crickets outside and the splash of the water over the +dam,” he replied. +</p> + +<p> +“No, it’s something in the house up stairs. Hear it now; like the +creaking of a board.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy did hear it this time plainly. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s Rex or Eva,” he said reassuringly. +</p> + +<p> +“No, it isn’t. See, it’s nearly midnight. They were asleep +long ago. Oh, Roy, that man may stop on the way down and murder them +both.” +</p> + +<p> +Jess had risen and stood there, staring toward the doorway into the hall, her +eyes filled with terror. +</p> + +<p> +Roy rose, too. He realized that the noise was not likely to be made by his +brother or sister, and the servant slept in the rear of the house and always +used the back stairs. He had often wondered whether he would be brave in a time +of real danger as fellows in the books he read were. He did not feel by any +means comfortable now. But he was not actually terrified. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll go up and see what it is, Jess,” he said, and started +toward the door. +</p> + +<p> +But his sister flung herself upon him, the tears starting from her eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t leave me or I shall die,” she moaned. +</p> + +<p> +She drew him back toward a sofa in the far corner of the room, and held him +tightly by the wrist. +</p> + +<p> +The noise from above drew nearer. They made it out to be the creaking of the +stairs. +</p> + +<p> +Jess was trembling frightfully. Roy could almost hear her teeth chatter. He +wished that he could think of something to say to make her feel less terrified. +He was sure if he had been a boy in a book he could have thought of something. +</p> + +<p> +He determined to ask Mr. Keeler in the morning what would be the proper thing +under the circumstances. Then he laughed out half hysterically as he realized +that it would hardly be the thing to mention the matter to Mr. Keeler. +</p> + +<p> +Jess heard the laugh and it frightened her more than ever. She thought Roy was +more terrified even than she and was losing control of himself. +</p> + +<p> +Nearer and nearer came the creak of descending footsteps. Roy started to go to +the door. He felt that he could not remain in suspense an instant longer. +</p> + +<p> +But Jess held him back. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t, Roy,” she whispered. “He will kill you.” +</p> + +<p> +And at that instant a man’s form passed the doorway. +</p> + +<p> +It was Mr. Keeler. He had on his trousers, shirt and shoes, but nothing else. +His hair was all rumpled and one hand was stretched out in front of him as +though he had been feeling his way. +</p> + +<p> +He halted for an instant at the foot of the stairs and turned his face toward +the library. Then Roy saw that his eyes were closed. +</p> + +<p> +“He’s walking in his sleep,” he whispered to Jess. “I +must go and wake him or he may do himself some damage.” +</p> + +<p> +“Let him alone. He may go out and then we can lock the door against +him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Jess, would you be as cruel as that?” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps he isn’t asleep. He may be only shamming.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’m going to find out at any rate. There, he’s fumbling with +the lock. You’d better take the opportunity to go up stairs.” +</p> + +<p> +Jess still held on to her brother’s wrist, but now she suffered herself +to be led across the floor to the hall, reaching which, she let go and sped up +stairs. Roy turned at once and laid his hand on the shoulder of their guest. +</p> + +<p> +Some way his fears and suspicions of the man had all departed. +</p> + +<p> +“Mr. Keeler,” he said, in a firm tone. +</p> + +<p> +The other left off his working with the lock and a tremor ran through him. +</p> + +<p> +Roy slipped his hand down till it rested under the other’s elbow. +</p> + +<p> +“Come into the library and sit down a moment,” he said gently. +</p> + +<p> +“Where am I? What have I been doing?” +</p> + +<p> +Roy knew that the man was awake now. +</p> + +<p> +“You have been walking in your sleep,” he replied. +</p> + +<p> +“I beg your pardon. Did you dress and come down after me?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, no, I haven’t been to bed yet.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy flushed as he made this answer, and at this moment the clock on the mantel +chimed out twelve strokes. +</p> + +<p> +“Are you in the habit of sitting up till midnight?” asked Mr. +Keeler. “I suppose—” +</p> + +<p> +He paused suddenly. His gaze had fallen on that book of criminals Jess had left +lying open on the table. What appeared to be his own portrait stared back at +him from the corner of the right hand page. +</p> + +<p> +Roy’s heart almost stood still for a second as he saw that the whole +thing was out. Mr. Keeler dropped into a chair by the table still keeping his +eyes fixed on that picture. +</p> + +<p> +Finally he raised them and looked at Roy. +</p> + +<p> +“You have discovered the likeness then?” he said. +</p> + +<p> +There was a depth of misery in his tone that went straight to the boy’s +heart. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” he said. “My oldest brother is a lawyer, you know. He +brought this book home yesterday.” +</p> + +<p> +“And you thought I was this man?” went on Mr. Keeler. +</p> + +<p> +“We didn’t know what else to think,” answered Roy in a low +voice. +</p> + +<p> +“And you were going to sit up all night to make sure that I didn’t +run off with the silver?” +</p> + +<p> +The smile that accompanied these words was a very sad one. Then the face grew +suddenly grave again and without waiting for Roy to make a response to his +awkward question, Mr. Keeler continued: +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t blame you for thinking that brother Martin and I were one +and the same person. He is only a year younger than I and people could never +tell us apart when we were boys. I remember we used to help them out by wearing +sleeve buttons, an M on his and a C on mine. +</p> + +<p> +“We were left orphans when very young, and Mart began to go to the bad at +once. It commenced with robbing birds’ nests and orchards, and ended with +the confidence game for which he was last sent to jail. That is the reason I +use my pen name always. I wonder if you believe what I am telling you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Mr. Keeler, I do,” responded Roy heartily. +</p> + +<p> +“I am sorry I stayed,” went on the author. “I should not have +run the risk. I had had nobody to vouch for me here, you see. I will go away +now if you say so.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, no, no! I am so sorry it happened. It was only the merest chance we +found out anything about it. It’s all right now.” +</p> + +<p> +Involuntarily Roy put out his hand. The other took it with a glad light in his +eyes. Then Roy turned out the lamp and they both went up stairs. +</p> + +<p> +It was many a week before the young people of the Pell family ceased to talk +among themselves over their singular experience with Mr. Charles Keeler. He +left on the nine o’clock express the next morning, and everybody had been +pleasant to him at the breakfast table except Jess, who did not come down. +</p> + +<p> +Roy told the true state of the case before he went to bed that night, and the +explanation was very gladly received by both Rex and Eva. +</p> + +<p> +“It may be so,” Jess replied; “but I’ll take my +breakfast after he is gone.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy told Sydney about the occurrence, and thought at first, from his +brother’s looks, that he was going to give him a severe rating for what +he had done. A sort of convulsive tremor shook his frame, and he hastily took +out his handkerchief to wipe away the beads of perspiration that had gathered +on his forehead. +</p> + +<p> +But he uttered no word of reproof; merely said that the boys should be careful +about the friends they made. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t you think Mr. Keeler is all right, Syd?” asked Roy. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, as it turned out, certainly I do,” was the reply. “But +it might have been otherwise.” +</p> + +<p> +For his part, Roy was very glad of the meeting. Since he had had that interview +down by the creek he had been much more reconciled to leaving Marley. +</p> + +<p> +“What if I had the burden to carry about with me that Mr. Keeler +has!” he often told himself. “The consciousness that my brother was +a scoundrel, a jailbird!” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap15"></a>CHAPTER XV<br /> +DUDLEY HARRINGTON</h2> + +<p> +The family moved into their city home early in September. And a beautiful one +it was, with enough ground about it to give windows on all sides. +</p> + +<p> +Of course a small army of servants was necessary to the running of such a +dwelling, and Roy, Eva and Jess had many laughable experiences at first in +accustoming themselves to being waited on. But Rex took to luxury as naturally +as a duck to water. +</p> + +<p> +He seemed to be growing up terribly fast since a fortune had come into the +family. He insisted on having a latch key as soon as they moved to town, and +felt very much aggrieved because his mother would not buy him a dog cart. +</p> + +<p> +“But you are too young, my son,” Mrs. Pell said in response to this +request. “Remember you are not yet sixteen.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I shall be next month,” he replied, “and I know +perfectly well how to manage a horse, I’ve been out with Scott so +much.” +</p> + +<p> +He had had Scott and Charlie Minturn to visit him just as soon as they were +settled and took solid satisfaction in entertaining them in the style to which +he had been accustomed at their homes. But they did not seem to have any better +time than they used to do down at “the Pellery” at Marley. +</p> + +<p> +In fact they had enjoyed it there because things were different. Now it was Rex +who was different They could not state in just what the difference lay, but +they felt it. And when they had gone Rex realized that he had not enjoyed their +visit as much as he had expected to. +</p> + +<p> +To be sure, the “solid satisfaction” was there at the thought of +having entertained them as he had long wished to be able to do, but then there +had seemed a constraint which had not existed before. +</p> + +<p> +The trouble was here: he had relied on externals to please them this time, and +had not exerted himself personally as he had been wont to do. In fact Rex was +not at heart as contented as he had expected to be. +</p> + +<p> +To be sure, he had now all the clothes he wanted, shoes galore, and more +spending money than any boy of fifteen ought to have, but all the while he was +thinking that he was missing something. And he was not exactly sure what this +was. +</p> + +<p> +He thought he had discovered one of the things toward the latter part of +September, when the people who occupied the adjoining house to the Pells +returned to town. They were evidently a family of great wealth—the +Harringtons. Rex found what their name was from the servants. +</p> + +<p> +There was a young man in the household—Dudley Harrington. He was about +twenty, and affected the sharpest crease to his trousers, the highest puffs to +his neckties, carried his cane with the handle down and was altogether a dude +of the latest type. +</p> + +<p> +To become acquainted with this splendid youth now grew to be Reginald +Pell’s one absorbing ambition. He had always preferred to associate with +boys older than himself; to be on terms of intimacy with a young man out of his +teens, and who sported a mustache that was far advanced in the budding +stage—that would be a triumph indeed. +</p> + +<p> +But would he be able to accomplish his purpose? Although he was tall for his +age, Rex could not hope that the object of his admiration would look upon him +as anything else than a schoolboy. But he did not see him go out with many +fellows of his own age. +</p> + +<p> +He seemed to be the only child. The parents were elderly people, and the son +was a good deal by himself. +</p> + +<p> +Rex saw him sometimes in his own room, his feet on the table, a cigarette +between his lips, the floor around him strewn with newspapers. +</p> + +<p> +“I wonder if he doesn’t ride a wheel,” he asked himself one +day. “I’ve half a mind to ask him to go out with me. We’re +neighbors. There can’t be anything out of the way in my speaking to +him.” +</p> + +<p> +The school which Rex and Roy were to attend did not open till the first of +October, so the boys had a good deal of time on their hands just at present Roy +spent much of it at Marley visiting his friends there; Rex was thus left to his +own devices. On one of these days of Roy’s absence Rex was riding his +wheel in the Park when he passed Dudley Harrington, also mounted on a silent +steed. +</p> + +<p> +Instinctively almost Rex half bowed. It seemed natural to do so, when this +fellow lived right next door and was so frequently in his thoughts. He was half +alarmed at his temerity, when some one rode up by his side and said: +</p> + +<p> +“Fine day for wheeling, isn’t it?” +</p> + +<p> +It was Harrington. He had circled about and caught up with him. +</p> + +<p> +Rex was so overwhelmed that he nearly lost his balance. But he recovered +himself in an instant, and his natural repose of manner asserted itself. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, indeed,” he answered. “I was wondering if you had a +wheel. Most fellows have one nowadays.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, this isn’t mine. It’s one I hired. I keep mine at New +Haven.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, you’re a Yale man then,” exclaimed Rex, prouder than +ever at having formed this acquaintance. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, go back next week,” was the answer. “And glad enough +I’ll be, too. It’s fearfully slow here at this time of year. Nobody +back in town I know. Wouldn’t have been myself, only the governor fell +sick and I didn’t want the mater to come on alone with him.” +</p> + +<p> +“What are you—senior?” inquired Rex respectfully. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, bless you no, only sophomore. By the way, you have just moved into +that house next door, haven’t you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, about three weeks ago.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, there was a stupid lot enough there before you. A set of old +maids, most of ’em. You must be sociable and come in to see a fellow. +We’ve a pool table. You play—look out there!” +</p> + +<p> +Rex was glad a man in a buggy stopped suddenly in front of him just then, +calling for this diversion in subject. He did not know how to play pool and did +not care to confess the fact just then. +</p> + +<p> +When they were riding on unhindered again, he begun to talk about Yale and led +the other on to relate several of his first year experiences. By the time they +struck the pavements again they were quite well acquainted. +</p> + +<p> +“Let me see—your name’s Pell, isn’t it?” said +Harrington, as they dismounted between the two houses. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, and I’m Reginald.” +</p> + +<p> +Harrington put out his hand. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I’m awfully glad to have met you, Pell. I say, come in +to-night and see a fellow, won’t you? That is if you haven’t +anything better to do.” +</p> + +<p> +Rex privately thought that he couldn’t possibly have this, but he only +said, “I’ll be most happy to come.” +</p> + +<p> +The friendship thus begun, progressed very rapidly. Rex speedily learned how to +play pool, but of this he said nothing at home. Harrington seemed to have taken +a decided fancy to the fellow who did not conceal the fact that he was proud to +be acquainted with him. +</p> + +<p> +Rex’s one source of regret was the fact that they were so soon to be +separated. +</p> + +<p> +“I say, Reggie,” said Harrington suddenly on the day before his +departure, “suppose you come over to New Haven with me. Just on a visit, +I mean. I’ll give you no end of a good time. We’ll stop a night in +New York on the way. Oh, you must come.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap16"></a>CHAPTER XVI<br /> +REX DETERMINES TO TAKE MATTERS INTO HIS OWN HANDS</h2> + +<p> +Rex’s cup of joy was full when Dudley Harrington asked him to go to New +Haven with him. It would be pleasure indeed to go anywhere in company with that +fascinating young gentleman, but to visit a college town in his company, to be +introduced as his friend—this would be bliss indeed, thought Rex. +</p> + +<p> +But on top of this realization of how much he wanted to go, came the fear that +he could not obtain permission to accept. It was a humiliating reminder of his +youth, Rex felt, to reflect that he must ask his mother before coming to any +decision. +</p> + +<p> +“I’d love to go, Harrington,” he said. “I’ll let +you know about it in the morning. That will be time enough, won’t +it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Plenty. I’ll leave on the Limited, at five, I think. Get our +dinner on board and be ready for fun in New York when we get there. I say, why +don’t you decide now, Reggie?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, I guess I can go,” stammered Rex. +</p> + +<p> +He hated to confess that he must first ask leave. +</p> + +<p> +“When can I get back?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, by Saturday, or you can stay over till Monday with me if you will. +We never do much the first of the term, and I’ve got plenty of room in my +quarters.” +</p> + +<p> +The Pells knew that Rex had formed the acquaintance of “the Harrington +fellow.” They also knew that he was to go to college in a few days, so, +if Mrs. Pell feared any evil influence over Reginald, she consoled herself with +the thought that this would be removed in a very short time. +</p> + +<p> +Now when Rex came with the request that he be allowed to go to New Haven with +his new friend, her answer was a prompt and decided “No.” +</p> + +<p> +“But I’ve as good as told him I’d go, mother,” he +pleaded. +</p> + +<p> +“You had no right to do that,” rejoined Mrs. Pell. “You +wouldn’t be in your element at all in the company of his friends, and of +course you are sure to meet a great many of them.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’m in my element in his company. He’s had me over there +every day since we got acquainted. Besides, just think, I’ve never been +to New York in my life since I was a baby, and this will be a splendid chance +for me to see it. I can pay all my own expenses, so I needn’t be under +obligations to him. Please, mother; I didn’t go on that trip with the +Bowmans and now after school commences I shan’t have another +chance.” +</p> + +<p> +But Mrs. Pell was firm. She was a woman quick to discern character and she had +seen enough of Dudley Harrington through the windows to conclude that he was +not the sort of person to whom she wished to intrust an impulsive boy like Rex +for two or three days. She chided herself now for having permitted the intimacy +to go as far as it had. +</p> + +<p> +Rex knew that it was useless to say more, and presently went to his room. +</p> + +<p> +Here he threw himself on his sofa and brooded over his troubles. It seemed to +him that he was the most unlucky fellow that ever lived. He never could have +what he wanted. Even the money that he imagined was going to bring so much +happiness failed to keep to the agreement, as he looked upon it. +</p> + +<p> +“But just wait till I’m a little older,” he told himself. +“I’ll make up for lost time then.” +</p> + +<p> +Still, this would not help him out of his present slough of despond. He thought +of how lonesome he should be after Harrington went away the next day. He could +have Scott or Charlie Minturn up to see him, to be sure, but somehow, since he +had known Harrington, these old friends had not seemed so entertaining to him +as they once had. +</p> + +<p> +“And that trip to New Haven would bridge over the time nicely till school +opens,” he told himself. “I don’t see why mother won’t +let me go.” +</p> + +<p> +But he knew perfectly well what the reason was. He realized that Harrington had +habits which none of his associates had ever had. But what of it? +</p> + +<p> +“I needn’t smoke or drink if I don’t want to,” he +argued. “I haven’t done it yet. Besides, it will do me good to see +a little of the world.” +</p> + +<p> +He rose from the sofa, lighted the gas, and just as he had done that day when +he had heard who was Mr. Tyler’s heir, he collected the money from his +different pockets and counted it up. His allowance was a liberal one, and he +had been saving up to buy a birthday present for his mother. +</p> + +<p> +“Seven dollars and forty cents,” he repeated to himself. “I +wonder how much the fare will be.” +</p> + +<p> +He put on his hat and went down stairs. +</p> + +<p> +“Where are you going, Rex?” asked his mother, as he passed the +group who were sitting on the front porch, for it was a sultry evening. +</p> + +<p> +“Only down the street a little way. I’ll be right up,” he +replied. +</p> + +<p> +“I wonder if Harrington’s people ask him where he’s going +every step he takes,” he muttered to himself as he strode off. +</p> + +<p> +He forgot the five years’ difference in their ages; thought only of the +surveillance under which he chafed. +</p> + +<p> +He kept on till he reached the hotels, and entering one of them, he hunted +around till he found a railway guide. +</p> + +<p> +A short consultation of this apprized him of the fact that he had enough to pay +his fare to New Haven and back, but very little more. +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose I shall have no expense while there,” he mused, +“being Harrington’s guest. I think I may risk it, and if I get +stuck he’ll help me out, though I’d hate to ask him.” +</p> + +<p> +For Rex had formed a resolution. He had determined to go on the coveted trip +without his mother’s consent. He could leave a note explaining where he +was. +</p> + +<p> +It would not be half as terrible a thing, he argued, as for a fellow to run +away from home and not mean to come back. There would be a great row raised +about it, he supposed, but meanwhile he would have had a good time and the +worst that they would do to him would be to send him away to boarding school, +and he shouldn’t mind that very much. +</p> + +<p> +He thought all this out on his way back from the hotel. To be sure, he would +have to use the money he had been saving up for his mother’s present, but +then he was in no mood to give her anything now. +</p> + +<p> +He felt some twinges as his thoughts touched on this point, but at that moment +some one took his stand in front of him and exclaimed: “Surrender or give +the countersign.” +</p> + +<p> +It was Harrington. +</p> + +<p> +“Yale,” answered Rex promptly. +</p> + +<p> +“You’ve decided to go, then,” said Harrington. turning around +to walk back with him. “That’s right. We’ll have oceans of +fun. We’ll meet Stout and Cheever in New York, and we can just paint the +town, I tell you.” +</p> + +<p> +Rex was not certain that he would do any town painting. He would be quite +content to be in Harrington’s company. +</p> + +<p> +“I can go if it doesn’t cost too much,” he replied, thinking +it best to be frank on that point on the start. “You see, my allowance +isn’t a big one as yet, and I don’t dare ask for any more.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, ten dollars will squeeze through easy enough.” +</p> + +<p> +Harrington said this as though ten dollars was no harder to get than ten cents. +Rex’s heart sank. Where was he to obtain the two dollars and forty cents +he still lacked? +</p> + +<p> +“Won’t you come in?” Harrington asked, as Rex stopped in +front of the Pells’. +</p> + +<p> +“No; not to-night, I’ll meet you at the station to-morrow at a +quarter to five.” +</p> + +<p> +“What’s the matter with my calling here for you and our going up +together?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, I’ll have to go down town first and start from there.” +Rex felt that this was a very lame excuse. He was not accustomed to telling +untruths. +</p> + +<p> +But Harrington seemed not to notice. +</p> + +<p> +“All right, just as you say,” he replied. “But I’ll see +you in the morning any way.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good night,” Rex called after him. +</p> + +<p> +He felt that his not going home with Harrington was a good stroke of policy. He +decided to add another to it by sitting with the family a while before he went +up to his room. +</p> + +<p> +“Scott wanted to know if you can’t come down and see him to-morrow, +Rex,” began Roy, as his brother seated himself on the top step and began +fanning himself with his hat. “He told me to tell you to come down on the +5:30 prepared to stay all night.” +</p> + +<p> +Rex’s heart gave a sudden leap. Circumstances seemed to favor his plan. +If he only had three dollars more now! +</p> + +<p> +“I guess I’ll go” he said. “Are you going, Roy?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, I’m going to that ratification meeting with Syd to-morrow +night, you know. If you don’t go down to Marley, Rex, you’d better +come with us. There are to be some fine speeches.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps I will,” responded Rex. +</p> + +<p> +He was turning over in his mind how he was going to get that money. The matter +of his getting off to the station was simple enough now. He could even go with +Harrington without exciting suspicion. It would be supposed he was bound for +Marley. +</p> + +<p> +What a web of deceit he was planning to wind about himself. But he forcibly put +this thought out of his mind whenever it obtruded itself. He would have time +enough to repent when he came back. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap17"></a>CHAPTER XVII<br /> +REX ARRIVES IN NEW YORK</h2> + +<p> +“I say, Roy, can you lend me three dollars?” +</p> + +<p> +Rex had crossed the hall to his brother’s room some time after the family +had come up stairs. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, where’s all your money gone to, Rex? I thought you were +saving up to get mother a present.” +</p> + +<p> +“So I was, but—but I’ve bought it and now I haven’t got +enough left to take me down to Marley to-morrow night. Just let me have three +dollars. I’ll pay you back when I get my next allowance on Monday,” +</p> + +<p> +“You’ve bought mother’s present!” exclaimed Roy. +“What did you get? Let me see it,” +</p> + +<p> +“No, I want to keep it a secret till I give it to her,” replied Rex +quickly. “Now about that three dollars, can you let me have it, old +fellow?” +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly I can, but be sure to give it back to me Monday, as I +haven’t enough to get the present I have set my heart on. +I’ll—but there, if you won’t tell about yours, I shan’t +say anything about mine. Then we’ll have a grand surprise party all +around on the third.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy stepped to his dressing case and took out a two dollar and a one dollar +bill, which he handed to Rex. +</p> + +<p> +“Thanks, ever so much,” murmured the latter. “Good +night,” and he hurried back to his own room. +</p> + +<p> +He had never felt so mean in his life. Not only had he just obtained money +under false pretenses, but he had told two or three falsehoods of the most +unblushing description. +</p> + +<p> +Roy’s very readiness to oblige him added to his weight of remorse. +</p> + +<p> +He sat down on the edge of the bed and began to tuck the money away in his +pocket book. Was he really a criminal? he asked himself. +</p> + +<p> +How horrified they had all been when they thought Mr. Charles Keeler had been +an inmate of jails. Was it any worse to have committed a crime and have been +punished for it, than to commit the crime and not be found out? +</p> + +<p> +For a moment or two he was—shall I call it tempted?—to go back to +his brother’s room, return the three dollars and confess the whole thing. +Then he thought of New York, of his induction to a college town, of his promise +to Harrington to meet him at the station. +</p> + +<p> +“No; I must go now,” he reflected. “I can call it sowing my +wild oats,” and he undressed as quickly as possible and got into bed, as +if fearful that his repentant tendencies would conquer in spite of him. +</p> + +<p> +He was very quiet the next day. About ten o’clock Harrington came in to +see him. It was the first time he had ever been to the house. Rex had not asked +him, thinking he had no special attractions to offer him. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Pell and the girls were out shopping. Roy was down at the office with Syd. +Rex asked Harrington if he would like to come up in his room. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course I would. A fellow’s generally curious about the inside +of a house when he’s been looking on the outside of it half the days of +his life.” +</p> + +<p> +So Rex took him up stairs. He admired the “den,” as he called it, +immensely. +</p> + +<p> +“Wait till you see mine at Yale,” he added, as he struck a match to +light his inveterate cigarette. “I don’t do much fixing up at home +here, I’m here so little. By the way, you don’t mind me smoking, do +you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, no,” replied Rex faintly. +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless, he was wondering what his mother would say if the odor still +lingered when she came. Sydney did not smoke at all, and the entire family +abominated cigarettes. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Pell did come home shortly after Harrington had taken his departure. She +came up to the third floor to put away some flannels she had bought for the +boys. +</p> + +<p> +“Reginald,” she said, as soon as she entered the room, “you +have been smoking.” +</p> + +<p> +Rex was reading by the window, and he turned around in startled disquiet. +</p> + +<p> +“No, I haven’t, mother,” he replied quickly. +</p> + +<p> +“Where does that smell of cigarette smoke come from, then?” and +Mrs. Pell coughed and then came up close to look her son in the eye. +</p> + +<p> +“Dudley Harrington has been here,” he replied. “He was +smoking.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are sure you were not smoking with him?” went on Mrs. Pell, +adding with a sudden bending down over him, “Kiss me.” +</p> + +<p> +Rex complied, glad indeed that this time, at any rate, there was nothing he +wished to conceal. +</p> + +<p> +“Forgive me for doubting you, Reggie,” said his mother, as she +lingered an instant to stroke the hair back from his forehead. +</p> + +<p> +Once more Rex weakened in his purpose, if one can be said to weaken when he is +really stronger for the moment to resist an impulse for evil. But then he +reflected that now he had the money and the opportunity of getting off to the +station without being questioned. The facts seemed to will that he should go. +</p> + +<p> +And he went, stopping for Harrington at half past four. When they reached the +station he found that he had to pay a dollar extra for the privilege of riding +over to New York in the Chicago Limited. +</p> + +<p> +But it was very select to travel on such a train, and the dinner that he and +Harrington ate en route was one long to be remembered. +</p> + +<p> +In fact there were so many new and novel sensations and impressions received +from this first stage of his trip, that Rex was surprised he did not derive +more solid enjoyment from it. +</p> + +<p> +It was impossible for him to keep out of his mind, however, the fact that he +was now supposed to be at Marley with Scott Bowman. He had come away without +leaving behind him the note he had at first planned to write. +</p> + +<p> +“You must come to Yale sure, Reggie,” Harrington told him. +“Can’t you get ready to enter next fall? I’ll be a junior +then, and can look out for you, you know.” +</p> + +<p> +“I wish I could,” returned Rex, rather more soberly than the nature +of the subject seemed to warrant. +</p> + +<p> +He was thinking that it would be so much pleasanter to go to New Haven +legitimately than in his present stolen fashion. +</p> + +<p> +When they arrived at New York, Harrington said he would go at once to the hotel +where he was to meet some of “the boys.” Rex wondered whether they +were going to stop at this hotel over night, and if to, how much it would cost. +But he decided he would not ask, but wait and find out. +</p> + +<p> +It was nearly eight when Harrington sent up his card to J. Ashley Stout in one +of the plainer looking hotels on upper Broadway. Word came back that Mr. Stout +was in his room on the fifth floor and would be glad to have Mr. Harrington +come up. +</p> + +<p> +“Come on, Reggie,” said the Philadelphian. +</p> + +<p> +Rex was not sure whether he liked Harrington to call him Reggie. Sometimes it +seemed to place him on a more familiar footing with the collegian, and at other +times he had a suspicion that the name was employed merely to recall to the +younger the fact of the difference in their ages. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Stout proved to be a young man with a red face, a very unpleasant +complexion, and an abnormally weak voice. He had neither coat, vest nor collar +on, and his eyes looked as if the bell boy’s knock had awakened him from +a sound sleep. +</p> + +<p> +“Glad to see you, Harri, old boy,” he said, shaking Harrington +vigorously by the hand. “Excuse appearances. Was just taking a snooze to +prepare for the evening.” +</p> + +<p> +“No apologies, Jack. Let me introduce my friend, Reginald Pell. +He’s a neighbor of mine at home. He’s going up to Yale with me to +see if he likes it well enough to be one of us next year.” +</p> + +<p> +“Proud to know any friend of Harri’s, I’m sure,” and +Mr. Stout gave Rex a hand that was so disagreeably clammy that the younger lad +could scarcely resist the impulse to take out his handkerchief and wipe off the +touch of it. +</p> + +<p> +From the conversation that ensued he ascertained that Stout came from somewhere +up in New York State and that for some reason or other he appeared to be quite +a favorite with his classmates. One or two others were expected in the course +of the evening, and the hope that they might go to the theater was now quenched +in Rex’s breast. +</p> + +<p> +Harrington and Stout talked volubly of things in which he was not the least +interested—other college men. New Haven girls, fraternity affairs, and +the like. Rex sat there listening, trying to look as if he were having a good +time, but failing signally. However, this made no difference, as neither +Harrington nor Stout paid any attention to him. +</p> + +<p> +Presently Stout began to complete his dressing, talking all the while. Although +he was not angry, he seemed to find it necessary to interlard his conversation +with some very strong and unpleasant sounding expressions, and once or twice +Harrington followed his example. +</p> + +<p> +In fact the latter did not appear to be the same fellow here in New York that +he was at home. Once in a while he looked at Rex and smiled as if mutely +reminding the latter that he owed the good time he was having to him. But Rex +found it harder and harder to smile back, and he welcomed a knock that by and +by came at the door as signalizing a. change of some sort. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap18"></a>CHAPTER XVIII<br /> +REX SEES A HORRIBLE SPECTACLE</h2> + +<p> +Three new fellows followed the knock into the room. They were noisily greeted +by Stout and Harrington. In the confusion it was some time before Rex was +introduced. +</p> + +<p> +Tom Cheever was a tall youth, continually feeling of his upper lip as if to see +if his mustache had arrived; Dan Tilford had a narrow face, pallid from much +cigarette smoking, and an eye that never seemed fixed on any object he gazed +at; Harry Atkins was a handsome fellow of eighteen, who seemed of quieter +temperament than the others. +</p> + +<p> +Stout gave an order to the boy who had shown the last callers up, and the lad +presently appeared staggering under a big bowl of what Stout declared was the +“rummest punch” New York could brew. +</p> + +<p> +“Help yourselves, fellows!” he cried. “Remember that the last +night of vacation only comes once a year.” +</p> + +<p> +The room was already filled with cigarette smoke. Two or three of these +cigarettes had been offered to Rex, but he had declined with a vacillating +“Not now, thank you.” +</p> + +<p> +When the punch was passed around he took the glass that was handed to him, but +only pretended to drink. He did not care for liquor; he knew that it would give +him a headache. He was having a terribly stupid time as it was. It was not +worth while to aggravate it by the addition of physical suffering. +</p> + +<p> +He was appalled at the swiftness with which the others tossed off the drink. It +seemed scarcely five minutes before Stout was calling out: +</p> + +<p> +“Fill ’em up again, men! Here’s to the coming year. May none +of us be plucked and ponies be plentiful.” +</p> + +<p> +He took up glass after glass and refilled it. Rex saw what was coming and tried +to be prepared for it. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, Pell!” exclaimed the hospitable host, “you +haven’t drunk a drop. What does this mean?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t drink, thank you,” stammered Rex, conscious that he +ought to look the other straight in the eye as he made this response, but +dropping his handkerchief so that he might have an excuse to stoop down and +pick it up instead. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, yes you do, when you are among gentlemen like us, Reggie.” +Harrington came forward hastily to say this. +</p> + +<p> +The others held their glasses half way to their lips and watched for the +outcome with interest. +</p> + +<p> +If Rex were the hero of this tale it would doubtless be my pleasant duty to +record the fact that he lifted the glass from the table, poured the contents +into the bowl, and said that he could not go back on his principles. +</p> + +<p> +But Rex unfortunately is not of the stuff of which heroes are made. He felt +that he would rather endure a headache than the jeers of those five fellows. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course,” he said feebly, and drank off the glassful at one +draft. +</p> + +<p> +“And now for another,” said Stout, promptly filling it up again. +</p> + +<p> +Rex had never signed the pledge, but he knew that his mother did not want him +to touch liquor. And it had been no deprivation for him to refrain, as he did +not like it. What he had just drunk burnt his throat like fire. It seemed as if +he could not possibly swallow any more. +</p> + +<p> +His misery showed itself in his face. Atkins, who was standing just opposite on +the other side of the table on which the punch bowl had been placed, saw it. +</p> + +<p> +“I say, Pell,” he called out softly, “come here a +minute.” +</p> + +<p> +He stepped over to the open window, which looked out on an airshaft. Wondering +what he wanted, Rex followed him. +</p> + +<p> +The others were busy with the punch. +</p> + +<p> +“You don’t want that, I know,” whispered Atkins. “I +don’t want any more either. Look here.” +</p> + +<p> +As he spoke, he dexterously emptied his glass out of the window. Rex was quick +to follow his example. +</p> + +<p> +“Those fellows don’t know when they’ve had enough,” he +said, “and somebody ought to keep a level head on his shoulders to look +out for them.” +</p> + +<p> +Rex’s heart sank within him. And it was for this that he had spent the +money he had been saving for his mother’s birthday gift! for this he had +deceived this mother! for this told those falsehoods to Roy! +</p> + +<p> +“Are you fellows ready for another round?” called out Stout, +looking over at them. “Slip up to the captain’s office and get a +settler.” +</p> + +<p> +His voice already began to sound thick. +</p> + +<p> +“We must go and pretend to join them,” Atkins whispered. +</p> + +<p> +So glasses were filled for the third time, and on this occasion Atkins retired +with Rex to the other side of the room, and watching his opportunity, poured +his punch into the water pitcher. Rex, in trying to do likewise, let slip the +glass, and it fell with a crash into the basin. +</p> + +<p> +A roar of laughter greeted the incident. +</p> + +<p> +“Good for you, Pell,” cried Tom Cheever. “Trying to infuse a +little life into the party. That’s right, my boy, that’s +right.” +</p> + +<p> +The fellow came over toward Rex, walking a little unsteadily, and with such a +leer in his eye that Rex shrank back against the wall. +</p> + +<p> +At that moment Harrington came up and put his arm around Rex’s neck. +</p> + +<p> +“I always said that Reggie Pell was a gentleman,” he mumbled. +“Now you can see it for yourselves.” +</p> + +<p> +“And his clothes fit him,” added Dan Tilford, as a special mark of +approval. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, they imagine they’re having no end of sport,” whispered +Atkins. “Look at Harrington. He’s half seas over, too.” +</p> + +<p> +He was so far over, indeed, that he was very ill for a time. It was a fearful +scene. +</p> + +<p> +“Here, Pell,” Atkins called to him from the bed where he had gone +to look after Cheever. “See what you can do for your friend.” +</p> + +<p> +And Rex went over to Harrington and tried to pilot him to a seat. Then he held +the other’s head and shut his eyes, while he wondered if there was ever +such a donkey on the face of the earth as he, Reginald Pell, to do all that he +had done for this. +</p> + +<p> +If it hadn’t been close on to midnight he would have gone home there and +then. But now Harrington was well nigh helpless, and Rex knew nothing about New +York. Where was he going to sleep that night? Harrington was in no condition to +have questions put to him now. +</p> + +<p> +A fixed look came over Rex’s face. +</p> + +<p> +“I must go now,” he said, looking around for his hat and valise. +</p> + +<p> +“What, you’re not going off and leave Harrington, are you?” +asked Atkins. +</p> + +<p> +“I can’t do anything more for him and I must get out of this place. +Perhaps I’ll call in the morning to see how he is. Good night. I’m +much obliged to you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I suppose you are better off out of here, but aren’t you +going to hire a room in the hotel?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, I want to get as far away from the place as possible.” +</p> + +<p> +Rex noticed that Stout was looking around at him. He shut the door quickly and +hurried off. He breathed a great sigh of relief when he reached the open air. +</p> + +<p> +He turned down a side street to collect his thoughts before deciding what to +do. He wandered till he reached the middle of the block, then, finding his +valise heavy, he set it down on the sidewalk to rest a minute. +</p> + +<p> +It was after midnight and very quiet. Suddenly he felt something hit him in the +face, and then for a minute or two all was a blank to him. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap19"></a>CHAPTER XIX<br /> +A MEMORABLE NIGHT</h2> + +<p> +When Rex came to his senses again he found himself leaning against a brown +stone stoop. His head felt very queer. +</p> + +<p> +“I wonder if it can be the effect of that glass of punch I drank?” +he asked himself. +</p> + +<p> +Then he glanced down at the sidewalk and saw that his valise—a handsome +new one—was missing. A terrible fear came to him. +</p> + +<p> +He put his hand to the breast pocket of his coat. Yes, it was true. He had been +assaulted and robbed in the street. +</p> + +<p> +His money, his return ticket to Philadelphia, were gone, to say nothing of his +satchel and the clothes that were in it. He looked helplessly up and down the +street. +</p> + +<p> +All was quiet as it had been before. A man was coming toward him on the other +side of the way. But that individual could have had nothing to do with robbing +him. +</p> + +<p> +No, the thief had made his escape long since, and it was hopeless to try to +overtake him. +</p> + +<p> +Rex had one thing with which to console himself. His watch—a silver one +Syd had recently given him—had not been taken. He thrust his hands into +his trousers pockets. +</p> + +<p> +Yes, there was some loose change there. He took it out and anxiously counted it +under a lamp. There were seventy-three cents all told. +</p> + +<p> +And now the question arose, What was he to do? For one instant the expedient of +returning to the hotel and throwing himself on the good will of those he had +left there suggested itself to him. But only for an instant. +</p> + +<p> +The recollection of the scene he had quitted came back with all its vividness. +No, he would not go back there. +</p> + +<p> +He deserved all that had befallen him. He had been a fool ever to take up with +Harrington. The fellow had only encouraged him because it flattered his vanity +to be looked up to the way Rex had looked up to the collegian. +</p> + +<p> +But he had no time now for self reproaches. He must decide what he should do. +</p> + +<p> +He looked at his watch. It was ten minutes to one. He did not remember to have +been up so late in his life. But he did not feel sleepy. He was far too excited +for that. +</p> + +<p> +“If I could only get back to Philadelphia,” was his thought. +</p> + +<p> +He knew that the single fare was two dollars and a half. What if he bought a +ticket to a place as far as his seventy-three cents would carry him? He would +be that much nearer home at any rate. +</p> + +<p> +But there were no trains at this time of night, What should he do with himself +in the meantime? To pay for a night’s lodging would only still further +deplete his scanty stock of cash. +</p> + +<p> +Poor Rex felt as destitute, as desolate as any waif in all that great city. He +had been cared for all his life, and now that he was suddenly thrown upon his +own resources, he felt helpless, like a rudderless bark on a tossing sea. +</p> + +<p> +For all he was much more ready to express an opinion than Roy, he had not half +the push and energy of the latter, who, although quieter, was nevertheless the +more determined character of the two. +</p> + +<p> +Rex walked on now rapidly till he reached the lighted avenue. He had had all +the experience he wanted of lingering in the side street. He halted on the +corner and looked up and down in search of an Elevated Railroad station. He +thought he had better get down to where the train started, so that he might be +ready to take the first one. +</p> + +<p> +The idea of telegraphing home had already occurred to him, but he dismissed it +at once. +</p> + +<p> +“No,” he said, “I’ve done enough harm as it is. Some +one would have to come on for me, and mother would worry. They’ll think +now till noon to-morrow, and perhaps later, that I’m with Scott. Perhaps +I can even get back before they know I haven’t been there.” +</p> + +<p> +If he only had his wheel! He had no clear idea of just how far the two cities +were apart. He only knew that it hadn’t taken him very long to come over +in the Chicago Limited. +</p> + +<p> +He found the station of the Elevated, and after waiting a long time he boarded +a train. The people scattered through the cars were nearly all asleep. Rex +dropped off himself almost as soon as he sank into a seat. He was utterly worn +out. +</p> + +<p> +The next thing of which he was conscious was that the train was at a standstill +and that the guard was shaking him, with the words: +</p> + +<p> +“Here, wake up, young man. We’re at the Battery. The train +doesn’t go any farther.” +</p> + +<p> +Rex rubbed his eyes. It took him an instant or two to realize where he was. +</p> + +<p> +The guard was not rough with him. +</p> + +<p> +“Where do you want to go?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“To the Pennsylvania station,” answered Rex. +</p> + +<p> +“Then you’ve come too far. You ought to have got off at Cortlandt +Street.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is it too far to walk back?” asked Rex, mindful of his small +supply of money. +</p> + +<p> +“About three stations. You can keep along the river. It’ll be +nearer that way.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you,” returned Rex. He wasn’t in a hurry. He might as +well walk. But he was terribly sleepy, and when he got to the foot of the +stairway, he became rather confused. +</p> + +<p> +He heard the water washing against the sea wall. He walked on in the direction +of the sound and found himself standing at the very end of Manhattan Island +looking toward the bay. +</p> + +<p> +It was very quiet except for the light splash of the waves and the soft sound +of escaping steam from an engine overhead. Rex was not certain in which +direction he ought to go to reach the ferry. There seemed to be water on both +sides of him. +</p> + +<p> +There was nobody around of whom to inquire except a tramp or two asleep on one +of the benches, and he did not wish to go near them. He turned away from the +river and walked off through Battery Park till he saw a policeman. +</p> + +<p> +The latter directed him how to go, looking at him pretty sharply. Rex hurried +off, but presently stopped under a lamp post to glance at his watch. It was a +quarter to two. There was no need to hurry. +</p> + +<p> +But he was afraid to walk slow. It was very quiet along the water front at this +time of night. He did not want to be “held up” again and lose his +watch and what little money he had left. +</p> + +<p> +Here was a man coming toward him now. But he was drunk. Rex was not afraid of +him. He was only filled with a shame that sent the color to his cheeks. +</p> + +<p> +Why was Dudley Harrington any better than this reeling sailor? And Harrington +had been his ideal. +</p> + +<p> +He reached the ferry just as a boat went out. He fell asleep while waiting for +the next one. He was awakened by one of the attendants. The company evidently +did not intend to allow the ferry rooms to be turned into a free lodging house. +</p> + +<p> +The ticket office was not open on the New York side, so Rex just paid his +ferriage. On reaching Jersey City he found that there was to be no train till +6:20 a. m. +</p> + +<p> +He could not sleep in the waiting room. He walked out in the streets of the +city a little distance, but was so tired he could scarcely drag one foot after +the other. He was so sleepy, too, that his eyes kept closing every minute. +</p> + +<p> +Then he was afraid of meeting a footpad. He did not know where to go. To hire a +room at a hotel would take all his money. And yet he could not walk the streets +all night. +</p> + +<p> +Ah, he was being well punished for all his sins! And where had been the +“good time” for which he had been willing to commit them? +</p> + +<p> +He thought of Roy asleep in his comfortable bed at home. When should he (Rex) +ever be able to feel as cosy in mind as this twin brother of his must? For even +if he did succeed in getting home without something terrible befalling him, +there remained his confession to make. +</p> + +<p> +For he must tell everything. He had made up his mind to that. +</p> + +<p> +But this was in the future. Meantime the present must be provided for. He +turned and walked back to the ferry. +</p> + +<p> +If he could only lie down somewhere, he thought. +</p> + +<p> +There was a boat just starting out. He paid his three cents and went aboard. He +fell asleep almost as soon as he touched the seat. A man came through when they +reached New York, woke him up and made him get off. +</p> + +<p> +But he was reckless now. He walked out to the street, but immediately turned +about again, paid another ferriage and walked on the boat, where he instantly +fell asleep once more. +</p> + +<p> +And he kept this up till half-past five, when it began to grow light. Then he +went ashore to the station in Jersey City and bought some fruit, which he ate +for his breakfast. +</p> + +<p> +By that time the ticket office was open and he went up to the agent and asked +how far he could ride for fifty cents. +</p> + +<p> +The man looked at him closely for a minute. +</p> + +<p> +“Which way?” he inquired then. +</p> + +<p> +“I want to go to Philadelphia,” Rex answered frankly. All his pride +had gone now. “I’ve only got fifty cents to spend on the ride, +though. I want to get as close to it as I can.” +</p> + +<p> +The agent named a town and passed out a ticket. +</p> + +<p> +When the cars were opened Rex lost no time in settling himself in a seat. He +put his ticket in his hat and went to sleep at once. +</p> + +<p> +The result was that he was carried past his stopping place, and the station at +which he was set off was a few miles nearer Philadelphia than he had hoped to +get. But the brakeman told him that the Quaker City was still fifty miles away. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap20"></a>CHAPTER XX<br /> +THE CRISIS</h2> + +<p> +“Fifty miles!” +</p> + +<p> +Rex repeated these words to himself as he stood on the platform of the station +and looked after the swiftly vanishing cars. +</p> + +<p> +How soon that train would cover them! It seemed such a simple thing to stay on +board and be carried there, so cruel to be left behind simply for the lack of a +little more money. +</p> + +<p> +It was still quite early in the morning. People were coming down to take the +train to the city. They had all been in their beds and had a good night’s +sleep doubtless. They were much better fitted for a long tramp than was he, who +had not been to bed at all. +</p> + +<p> +But he must set off at once. He asked the baggage man to tell him the road to +Philadelphia. +</p> + +<p> +“Sure, there it is, in front of you,” replied the other, pointing +to the gleaming steel rails. +</p> + +<p> +“No, no; I mean the carriage road,” returned Rex. +</p> + +<p> +The man looked surprised, but gave him directions how to find it, and presently +Rex was tramping down its dusty length. +</p> + +<p> +“But I can never get there by to-night, nor by to-morrow night +either,” he kept saying to himself. “And I shall have to eat, and +my money will not hold out till then.” +</p> + +<p> +Again he thought of telegraphing—this time to Sydney. But where should he +stay while he was waiting for the answer? Then he remembered how ill Syd still +looked, and he recalled the doctor’s inquiry that afternoon in the office +as to whether he had had a shock. +</p> + +<p> +No; he must leave telegraphing as the very last resort of all. +</p> + +<p> +He trudged on, and presently saw a tramp coming towards him. +</p> + +<p> +“Good morning,” said the fellow, halting where he came up. +“What time is it, boss?” +</p> + +<p> +Rex had just looked at his watch, so without taking it out he told the time. +</p> + +<p> +The man took a step closer to him, but just then a cloud of dust appeared in +the road, and a buggy came into view. The tramp moved on without a word. +</p> + +<p> +This incident did not tend to make Rex any more comfortable in mind. And now +his body was beginning to rebel. +</p> + +<p> +His stomach felt light, his heart heavy, and his limbs appeared to be weighted +with lead. Coming to a spot where trees grew by the roadside he halted and +stretched himself on the grass to rest. +</p> + +<p> +He was no longer sleepy, but so tired. He felt that he was going to be ill. +</p> + +<p> +The thought terrified him. Sick out here on the highway, only a few cents in +his pockets, and not a friend anywhere about! +</p> + +<p> +It was growing hot and he was getting hungry. His breakfast had been a very +light one. The last regular meal he had eaten was on the Chicago Limited. How +long ago that seemed now! +</p> + +<p> +He took out his money and counted it over. There was but sixteen cents left. He +felt that he could eat that much worth for his very next meal. +</p> + +<p> +There seemed to be no way out of it but to telegraph home, and he had better do +it, he decided, before he was too ill to attend to it. +</p> + +<p> +But there was no place now from which to send a message. He must keep on till +he came to the next town. +</p> + +<p> +He rose to his feet and had taken but a few steps when some one came up from +behind and touched him on the shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +He turned quickly, in fear of another tramp. It was a tramp truly, but a mere +boy, not much older than himself. He was very pale and sickly looking, his +clothes were torn in two or three places and his shoes were worn clear down to +the uppers. +</p> + +<p> +He did not speak. He stood there looking at Rex, amazement depicted in his +gaze. +</p> + +<p> +“I—I made a mistake,” he stammered out at last “I +thought you were one of us. I saw you lying down there under the tree. Your +shoes were all dusty. I knew you’d been tramping.” +</p> + +<p> +But Rex did not feel astonished. He felt so ill and faint that his head swam, +and he began to totter. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll have to lie down again, I guess,” he said weakly. +</p> + +<p> +He had just time to move aside out of the dust when he fell like a log. +</p> + +<p> +“What’s the matter? Are you sick?” +</p> + +<p> +The shabby looking youth had dropped to one knee beside Rex and was looking +down at him with pitying eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” was all Rex had strength to murmur. +</p> + +<p> +Then he closed his eyes and did not care what became of him. The strange lad +let his other knee sink to the earth and remained in this attitude for several +minutes, gazing earnestly at Rex. +</p> + +<p> +“Poor chap,” he muttered. “I can’t make out what +he’s doing tramping the country this way. He don’t look poor. +What’ll I do with him?” +</p> + +<p> +The first thing to be done, evidently, was to get him out of the sun, which +beat down on the spot where he had fallen with fierce intensity. +</p> + +<p> +The stranger bent over, and exerting all his strength lifted Rex in his arms +and bore him back along the road to the grassy strip under the trees where he +had recently been lying. +</p> + +<p> +Rex opened his eyes for an instant when he felt himself raised from the ground. +Then, when he saw the pity in the plain face looking down into his, he closed +them again with a little sigh. +</p> + +<p> +And now once more the strange youth sat contemplating the boy, who seemed to be +a tramper like himself, but who, in every other respect, was so vastly +different. +</p> + +<p> +He noted the fine, delicately chiseled features, the smallness of his feet, the +whiteness and smoothness of his hands. He had seen boys like this before, but +he had never before touched one, never had one of them dependent on him, as it +were, as this fellow appeared to be now. +</p> + +<p> +Miles Harding did not know just what to do with the responsibility. And yet he +was happy at having it; he felt glad that he had been able to do that little +thing of carrying the boy from the sun into the shade. +</p> + +<p> +It was not often that he was able to do anything for anybody. He was always in +need of having something done for himself. +</p> + +<p> +He tried to think of something else he might do. He noticed that Rex’s +head did not seem to rest very comfortably. +</p> + +<p> +He took off his coat and started to make a roll of it for a pillow. But he +stopped when he had it half finished. +</p> + +<p> +“Maybe he wouldn’t like that,” he muttered, looking down at +the garment as he unrolled it again. +</p> + +<p> +It had been made for a man. There were rents in two places and plentiful +sprinklings of grease spots. +</p> + +<p> +The day was growing steadily warmer. Even under the tree one felt the heat. +</p> + +<p> +“He wouldn’t catch cold without his own,” Miles murmured, and +he bent over Rex and lifted him gently while he tried to take off his coat. +</p> + +<p> +Rex opened his eyes and looked at him again as if in protest. +</p> + +<p> +“I was going to make a pillow for you out of your coat,” Miles +explained. “You don’t feel able to walk till we get to a house, do +you?” +</p> + +<p> +Rex slowly shook his head. He was in that condition which sometimes comes to +those in seasickness, when he didn’t care whether he lived or died. +</p> + +<p> +“Have you got pain?” went on Miles. +</p> + +<p> +“Only when I walk,” answered Rex; then, as if talking, too, hurt +him, he closed his eyes and sank back upon the pillow the other made for him +out of his coat. +</p> + +<p> +Meantime clouds had been gathering in the west. Miles had been too much +occupied with his unexpected charge to notice them. But now he looked up and +saw the threatening aspect of the heavens with troubled countenance. +</p> + +<p> +He rose to his feet and strode out into the middle of the road, looking first +in one direction, then the other. +</p> + +<p> +His eye brightened as he saw a buggy coming from the westward. +</p> + +<p> +He watched impatiently, till it came up, and then saw that it contained two +men. He held up his hand as a signal for them to stop. But the driver, who had +been talking earnestly with his companion, cut the horse with his whip, shook +his head and drove on. +</p> + +<p> +Miles remained there, standing in the road, a hopeless droop coming over his +whole figure. +</p> + +<p> +“They think I want to beg of them, I suppose,” he told himself. +“What shall I do?” +</p> + +<p> +Already the sun had gone under the cloud masses and the air was much cooler. +The wind rose and began to rustle the leaves. +</p> + +<p> +Quite a distance off down the road, in the direction whence the buggy had come, +the red tops of two chimneys could be seen peeping above the trees. +</p> + +<p> +“He can’t stay here in the rain,” Miles muttered. “I +must try to get him to that house.” +</p> + +<p> +He turned to Rex again. He took the coat from under his head and made him put +it on. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s going to storm,” he said, “I’m going to +carry you to that house.” +</p> + +<p> +“You can’t,” was all Rex had strength to say. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m going to try,” returned Miles, and he gathered Rex up in +his arms just as the wind came sweeping down upon them in a gust that was +ominous of that which was to follow. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap21"></a>CHAPTER XXI<br /> +MILES HARDING</h2> + +<p> +It was physically impossible for Miles Harding to carry Rex very far without +stopping to rest. The life of a tramp, with insufficient nourishment, was not +calculated to strengthen the long arms which could easily wrap themselves about +the other boy, but had little power to retain him in their embrace. +</p> + +<p> +But Miles fought to do his best. He only consented to stop and deposit his +burden on the grass when he felt that, did he not do so, he would be compelled +to drop it. +</p> + +<p> +Then, after resting a moment or two, he would be off again. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t; you will strain yourself,” Rex whispered once, +protestingly. +</p> + +<p> +But Miles’s only answer was, “I must. You can’t be out here +in the storm.” +</p> + +<p> +In this way they progressed until they had nearly reached the house. Then the +rain began to come down in torrents. +</p> + +<p> +Miles made a last desperate effort. Picking Rex up, he ran the intervening +distance, although it was twice as far as he usually bore his burden without +stopping. +</p> + +<p> +He dashed in at the gate and then, so exhausted was he that he sank down beside +Rex when he deposited the latter on the floor of the piazza. He lay there +breathing hard, while the rain came down in sheets. +</p> + +<p> +He had not even strength to turn his head when he heard the screen door behind +him open and some one come out. +</p> + +<p> +“Who—who are you and what do you want?” +</p> + +<p> +The question was put by a very sweet girlish voice. And the girl who put it was +herself exceedingly pretty. +</p> + +<p> +She had opened the door that led out from the wide, breezy hall, and stepped +upon the piazza. She now looked down upon the two boys lying there with +undisguised astonishment. +</p> + +<p> +Then she came around so that Miles could see her. +</p> + +<p> +“I beg your pardon, miss,” he said, stopping between every three or +four words to take breath; “I wanted to get—him out of +the—rain. This was the nearest—house. I hope you don’t +mind.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is he ill?” she asked. +</p> + +<p> +Rex’s face was turned partly towards her. It was very pale now, but +Florence Raynor was thinking also how very handsome it was and in what contrast +to that of the fellow who had answered her. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, he’s very sick, I’m afraid,” replied Miles. +</p> + +<p> +“Is he your brother?” went on Florence. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, no; just—a friend.” +</p> + +<p> +Miles hesitated before he added the last word; then when he had said it a look +of pride came into his eyes for an instant. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll call mother,” said the girl, and she hurried off to the +kitchen, where Mrs. Raynor was making cake. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, mama,” she exclaimed, “the noise I heard was two tramps +who had come in on our piazza out of the rain. At least one of them is a tramp, +and the other is the nicest looking boy, about the age of our Bert. He’s +sick and just as pale! But he’s dressed very well, and I can’t +understand how they came to be together. Won’t you come out and see them, +please?” +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Raynor scraped the dough from her lingers and followed her daughter to the +front porch. Miles had gone over to take Rex’s head on his knee and was +softly stroking the hair back from the damp forehead. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, yes; the poor fellow is very ill,” Mrs. Raynor exclaimed as +soon as she saw him. +</p> + +<p> +She scarcely gave a glance at Miles. She stood for one instant as if thinking +deeply. Then with a resolved tone, she turned to Harding. +</p> + +<p> +“Can you help me get him up stairs and in bed?” she asked. +</p> + +<p> +“I guess so, ma’am,” Miles replied. “I’ve got my +breath back now. I have to carry him, you know. You’re awfully good to +take him in this way.” +</p> + +<p> +“One must be terribly hard hearted to turn away one in his condition. +Come.” +</p> + +<p> +Between them they lifted Rex and bore him into the house and up the broad, easy +stairs to a little room at the head of them. +</p> + +<p> +“We must get these wet clothes off at once,” said Mrs. Raynor, and +Miles stayed there to help her. +</p> + +<p> +They put him to bed, and then the good lady declared that they ought to have a +doctor. +</p> + +<p> +“Let me go for one,” Miles exclaimed. “I want to do something +for him.” +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Raynor, now that Rex no longer absorbed her entire attention, turned her +gaze on his companion. Miles colored beneath it. +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps you don’t think I’m fit to go?” he said +slowly. +</p> + +<p> +It was Mrs. Raynor’s turn to color now. She saw that this fellow, so +shabbily dressed, was of very sensitive nature. A happy way of turning the +thing off occurred to her. +</p> + +<p> +“You are wet, too,” she said. “And it is raining still. I +will have the man from the barn go.” +</p> + +<p> +She hurried off down stairs to call him. Miles lingered, looking toward the +bed, where lay the fellow who had attracted him so strongly. +</p> + +<p> +“I s’pose they don’t want me hanging around here any +longer,” he mused. “They can do everything for him there is to be +done. But I don’t want to leave him.” +</p> + +<p> +Miles Harding’s nature was a singular one for a boy brought up as he had +been. Thrown upon his own resources when he was hardly more than twelve, he had +received some pretty hard knocks from the world. But the hardness of these had +not cultivated, a like hardness in him whom they struck. +</p> + +<p> +His temperament had always been a sympathetic one. He had many times received +harsh treatment that would never have come to him, by seeking to protect some +persecuted cat or dog. +</p> + +<p> +Thus far the recipient of his kindly ministrations had always been some dumb +animal. Now that the opportunity had offered to extend these to a human being, +Miles was loath to put it aside. +</p> + +<p> +“What a nice fellow he is!” he murmured. “I wonder where he +belongs!” +</p> + +<p> +Just then Florence came to the door. The thought instantly flashed into +Miles’s brain that she had been sent there to see that he did not steal +anything. +</p> + +<p> +But he was accustomed to being the object of such suspicions. And yet, somehow, +the idea that he should be, hurt him more than usual on the present occasion. +</p> + +<p> +“My mother would like to see you down stairs,” said Florence. +“I will stay here with him.” +</p> + +<p> +Miles went down and found Mrs. Raynor at the foot of the stairway. +</p> + +<p> +“It has just occurred to me,” she said, “that you may think +it best to send to the home of this young man. Who is he?” +</p> + +<p> +A troubled look came over Miles’s face. He feared that what he was about +to say would settle the matter once for all about his being allowed to stay +with the fellow up stairs. But he had to tell the truth. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know his name,” he answered. “I fell in with +him on the road. But I’d so much like to do something for him. You are +sure there is nothing I can do?” +</p> + +<p> +“You have already done a great deal for him,” returned Mrs. Raynor, +“if, as I understand, you carried him in here out of the rain. And you +haven’t any idea where he belongs?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, I saw him lying on the grass as I was walking along the road. I was +going to Trenton to try and get a job in the potteries there. But I’d +like to find out how he gets along.” +</p> + +<p> +“You shall. Sit down on the porch here while I take your coat in and hang +it by the stove to dry. I’ll send Tim for the doctor at once.” +</p> + +<p> +When Mrs. Raynor returned up stairs a little later, Florence met her at the +door of her brother’s room, where Rex had been carried, Bert being away +at boarding school. +</p> + +<p> +“He’s very sick, don’t you think, mama?” she asked. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m afraid so, my dear. I want to do all I can for him. I +can’t help thinking how grateful I should be to have any one do as much +for our Bert.” +</p> + +<p> +“And see what nice clothes he wears,” went on Florence in the same +whispering tone. “How do you suppose he ever got into association with +that fellow down stairs?” +</p> + +<p> +“Hush, dear,” cautioned her mother. “Behind those poor +clothes is a very warm heart.” +</p> + +<p> +“But is he going to stay, too?” went on Florence. +</p> + +<p> +“He wants to. Perhaps we can find something for him to do about the +garden.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you think he’s honest, though?” +</p> + +<p> +“We must run our chances on that. He is certainly very different from +most fellows of his appearance.” +</p> + +<p> +The doctor arrived inside of an hour. He made an examination and then reported +that Rex was in for a bad case of intermittent fever. +</p> + +<p> +“He may not be able to be moved for six weeks,” he added. +</p> + +<p> +And Rex knew nothing of it, but began to toss in the delirium of his fever, +living over again some of the bitter experiences of the past few hours. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap22"></a>CHAPTER XXII<br /> +SEARCHING FOR REX</h2> + +<p> +“What train did Rex say he would be back on, Roy?” +</p> + +<p> +This was the question asked by Mrs. Pell at the breakfast table on the morning +that Rex was trudging along the dusty road between New York and Philadelphia. +</p> + +<p> +“He didn’t say,” replied Roy. “He’ll surely be +home by lunch, though. Scott is going to West Chester with his mother at +noon.” +</p> + +<p> +Lunch hour arrived and still no Reginald. But Mrs. Pell did not worry. He had +so many friends in Marley that there were plenty of places where he might have +gone from the Bowmans’. +</p> + +<p> +But when dinner time came and he had not yet appeared, the entire family began +to speculate on the reasons for it. +</p> + +<p> +“He’s probably at the Minturns,” said Sydney, when informed +of the facts. “Charlie may have persuaded him to stay over another night +with him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Rex should have sent us word then,” rejoined his mother. +</p> + +<p> +Another day passed, and by this time Mrs. Pell began to grow seriously alarmed. +</p> + +<p> +“You must go down to Marley the first thing in the morning, Roy,” +she said. +</p> + +<p> +And Roy went, repairing first to the Bowmans’. He found Scott just about +to take his mother out in his cart. +</p> + +<p> +“What have you done with that brother of mine?” Roy began when +greetings had been exchanged. +</p> + +<p> +“And I’d like to know why that brother of yours doesn’t +permit himself to be heard from,” returned Scott promptly. “He +didn’t show up Wednesday night nor send me any message explaining why he +didn’t come.” +</p> + +<p> +“Didn’t come?” echoed Roy. “Do you mean to say that Rex +hasn’t been here?” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course he hasn’t, and I think it mighty shabby of him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why, that’s the queerest thing I ever heard of,” said Roy +slowly. +</p> + +<p> +“Why is it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because he started to come down here Wednesday afternoon by the 5:30 +express.” +</p> + +<p> +“He did?” +</p> + +<p> +It was now Scott’s turn to look astonished. +</p> + +<p> +“And you say he never got here?” went on Roy. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course he didn’t. You don’t suppose we have him smuggled +away somewhere, do you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Haven’t you any idea where your brother is?” here +interrupted Mrs. Bowman. +</p> + +<p> +“We were sure he was here, somewhere in Marley,” answered Roy. +“But he can’t be, if he didn’t come to you first.” +</p> + +<p> +“What could have happened to the fellow?” said Scott, beginning to +see that the matter was more serious than he had at first supposed. +</p> + +<p> +“I can’t imagine. It’s the strangest thing I ever heard +of.” Roy looked really worried. “I thought he might possibly be at +the Minturns’, but he wouldn’t have gone there till he had been +here.” +</p> + +<p> +“Let down that seat behind, jump in, and I’ll drive you over +there,” said Scott. +</p> + +<p> +But Charlie had not seen or heard from Rex in ten days, nor was news to be +obtained of him from any other of his Marley friends. Roy went home seriously +alarmed. +</p> + +<p> +He hated to bring such a report to his mother, but he knew it would be better +that she should be informed of all the facts. +</p> + +<p> +She was somewhat stunned at first at the tidings, but quickly rallied. +</p> + +<p> +“We must find him,” she said. “Something has happened to him. +Did you think to ask Apgar if he remembered seeing Rex on his train Wednesday +night?” +</p> + +<p> +Apgar was the conductor on the 5:30 express. +</p> + +<p> +“No, I’ll go down to the station and ask him this afternoon before +he goes out.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy returned with the announcement that Apgar was sure Rex had not been on his +train. +</p> + +<p> +“Then there is only one other theory.” Mrs. Pell looked very grave +as she spoke. +</p> + +<p> +“What is that, mother?” +</p> + +<p> +She did not reply at once. Reginald was very dear to her. She hated to expose +his failings even to his own brother. But it must be done. +</p> + +<p> +“You remember, Roy,” she went on, “how he teased me to let +him go to New Haven with young Harrington? It is possible he may have gone +after all. I wish you would go in next door and see if you can find out.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy instantly recalled the three dollars Rex had borrowed from him, but he said +nothing of it. He went at once to make his call next door. +</p> + +<p> +He asked for Mrs. Harrington, telling the servant that he wished to see her on +a matter of importance. He sent up his name, Roy Pell. +</p> + +<p> +“You are the young man my son speaks of,” said Mrs. Harrington when +she appeared in the great drawing room, and put up her lorgnette to survey her +caller. +</p> + +<p> +“No, that is Reginald, my brother. I called in to find out if he went off +to New Haven with your son.” +</p> + +<p> +“What! you know nothing of his whereabouts yourselves?” +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Harrington did not seek to conceal her surprise. Roy felt humiliated, but +there was nothing for it but to admit the fact. +</p> + +<p> +“We are afraid he may have gone off without my mother’s +leave,” he said. “He was very anxious to go with your son. He had +an invitation to go down to Marley the same day. We thought he had gone, but we +find now that he has not been there.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your mother did not wish him to go with Dudley, you say?” +</p> + +<p> +There was a trace of severity in Mrs. Harrington’s tones. +</p> + +<p> +“She thought he had better not. He is much older than Rex. Do you know +whether or not they went off together?” +</p> + +<p> +“I heard Dudley say something about having invited young Pell to go to +New Haven with him. They went to the station together.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then Rex must have gone. I am very sorry to have troubled you, Mrs. +Harrington.” Roy now made a little bow, and he hurried off. +</p> + +<p> +“Then he wanted that three dollars from me to spend on the trip,” +he was saying to himself. “But that wouldn’t have been enough. He +must have used the money he said he was saving up for mother’s present. +Ah, Reggie, I didn’t think it of you!” +</p> + +<p> +When he told the news at home there was a good deal of discussion concerning +what ought to be done about it. +</p> + +<p> +“Let him alone,” suggested Jess. “He feels bad enough about +it by this time.” +</p> + +<p> +“But I don’t know when he will be back,” said Mrs. Pell. +</p> + +<p> +Eva suggested that they write him a letter in care of young Harrington and +request him to come home at once, but it was Sydney’s idea that was acted +on. +</p> + +<p> +A telegraphic dispatch was sent to Dudley Harrington, Yale, New Haven. +</p> + +<p> +“Is Reginald Pell with you?” it ran. +</p> + +<p> +The answer came duly, “No, he is not.” +</p> + +<p> +The family looked at one another, consternation depicted in their faces. Sydney +tried to comfort them by explaining that doubtless Harrington was inclined to +be very literal under the circumstances and that Rex was not with him because +he had just started for home. +</p> + +<p> +But Mrs. Pell was not content to rest under this uncertainty. Another message +was sent to New Haven reading thus: +</p> + +<p> +“Did Reginald Pell start away from Philadelphia with you?” +</p> + +<p> +The response to this was one word, “Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +The Pells were now really alarmed. It was decided that Sydney should start the +first thing: Saturday morning for New Haven, but Friday night he was seized +with another of his bad turns, which had been growing more and more frequent of +late. Roy offered to go in his place, and Mrs. Pell consented to the +substitution. +</p> + +<p> +So Roy set out and reached New Haven in the course of the afternoon. He would +have enjoyed the trip if his mind had not been so worried about Rex. He found +Harrington’s room with little trouble. +</p> + +<p> +He heard the notes of the banjo issuing from inside. He had to knock hard +before he could make himself heard. +</p> + +<p> +There were three fellows there, two of them in the luxuriously cushioned window +seat. Roy was a little dazzled by the unexpected splendor of the room. +</p> + +<p> +He knew Harrington, of course, the fellow in the blue striped blazer. He went +up to the collegian at once. +</p> + +<p> +“I guess you know me,” he said. “I’m Roy Pell, +Rex’s brother. I came up to find out what you could tell me about +him.” +</p> + +<p> +The three fellows exchanged glances. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, isn’t he home?” answered Harrington. +</p> + +<p> +“No. When did he leave New Haven?” +</p> + +<p> +“He hasn’t been to New Haven,” replied Harrington slowly. +</p> + +<p> +“Not been here!” exclaimed Roy. “Where did you leave him, +then?” +</p> + +<p> +“In New York.” +</p> + +<p> +“When?” +</p> + +<p> +“Wednesday night” +</p> + +<p> +“Was he going home?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know,” and Harrington looked confused as he made +this unsatisfactory answer. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap23"></a>CHAPTER XXIII<br /> +A TELEGRAM</h2> + +<p> +Roy saw at a glance that something was being concealed from him. +</p> + +<p> +“How is it you don’t know where Rex went when he left you?” +he inquired. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I didn’t see which way he went when he left the +hotel,” answered Harrington. “I supposed though, he went home, and +am surprised to hear he isn’t there. Atkins, here, may be able to tell +you more than I can. Mr. Atkins, this is Roy Pell, Reggie’s +brother.” +</p> + +<p> +The pleasantest faced fellow in the room came forward and put out his hand. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m glad to meet you, Pell,” he said, “and wish I +could give you some definite information about your brother. I thought with +Harri here that he was certainly at home.” He glanced over at the other +two, who were softly strumming their banjoes in the window seat. “Come +across the hall into my room,” he added. +</p> + +<p> +“Good day, Mr. Harrington,” called out Roy, and followed Atkins. +</p> + +<p> +He could see that Harrington was relieved to have him go. +</p> + +<p> +“Now I’ll tell you the straight of it, Pell,” began Atkins, +when he had invited his visitor to make himself comfortable in one of the many +lounging chairs with which the apartment abounded. “You see, Harrington +brought your brother to one of the pre-term time jollifications some of the +fellows think they must have before coming up here. I was there. I didn’t +care about going very much, but my room mate would go, and I went to take care +of him more than anything else. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, all the fellows except your brother and myself were more than half +seas over before midnight. He became disgusted and got out. I was busy with +Cheever, and didn’t have time to question him. Naturally Harrington feels +a little sore over the thing. But he hadn’t any idea your brother +hadn’t gone home till he got your telegrams.” +</p> + +<p> +“But Rex—where do you suppose he is all this time?” Roy was +terribly anxious. The whole affair was much worse than he had anticipated. +</p> + +<p> +He was glad of one thing, though; that Rex had been disgusted with the orgy. +</p> + +<p> +“I wish I could tell you,” answered Atkins. “I managed to get +Cheever over to our house before morning. I don’t know what Harrington +said about young Pell’s disappearance when he came to himself.” +</p> + +<p> +“What did Reggie want to go with such fellows for?” groaned Roy. +“But the wonder to me is why Harrington ever took him up. There must be +at least five years’ difference in their ages.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Harri appeared to be quite fond of him. I guess your brother +flattered him some. Dudley can stand a deal of that.” +</p> + +<p> +“But I must find Rex. I’m sure he hadn’t money enough to keep +him all this while. And I don’t know where to look first.” +</p> + +<p> +“I wish I could help you,” returned Atkins. “I tell you what +I’ll do. I’ll get ready now and go down to New York with you. You +can come to our house and stay over Sunday with me. My father is a lawyer. He +may be able to tell us what to do. What do you say?” +</p> + +<p> +“You’re awfully kind,” returned Roy. “But I don’t +like to intrude.” +</p> + +<p> +“It won’t be intruding. The pater likes me to bring fellows with +me. I wasn’t going this week, but that won’t matter. He’ll be +glad to see me. You’ll come, won’t you?” +</p> + +<p> +Roy thanked him again and accepted. He liked the genial hearted fellow as much +as Rex had done. +</p> + +<p> +On the way down Atkins told him of the devices for disposing of the punch. +</p> + +<p> +“You don’t suppose the glass he drank went to his head so as to do +him any injury, do you?” asked Roy. +</p> + +<p> +Atkins reassured him on this point, and then suggested that they had better go +to the hotel where the jollification had been held to see if any trace of Rex +could be obtained there. +</p> + +<p> +But the clerk informed them that no such person had hired a room. +</p> + +<p> +That evening they discussed the matter with Judge Atkins without telling the +details of the jollification, which doubtless he was astute enough to guess at. +The result was that messages were sent to all the police precincts, and a +detective was put on the case. +</p> + +<p> +Roy sent a telegram to his mother Saturday night making it as hopeful as he +could, but his own heart was growing heavier and heavier. +</p> + +<p> +Atkins did his best to cheer him up, and under other circumstances Roy would +have had a most enjoyable time. But he could not keep his thoughts from Rex. +</p> + +<p> +He went home on Monday, fearful of the meeting with his mother. He felt at +times as if the worst news, if it might be but definite, would be better to +carry home than those tidings he must take, which would keep them all in such +awful suspense. +</p> + +<p> +Sydney had recovered, but the shock of Roy’s announcement threw him back +into a relapse. And yet he insisted on seeing Roy. +</p> + +<p> +“Mr. Tyler’s money has not made us happy after all, has it, +Roy?” he said, after the sad affair had been talked over. +</p> + +<p> +“I was afraid that it wouldn’t, Syd. Still, this might have +happened just the same. You have not been well though, old fellow, since that +night you came over to Burdock to make the old man’s will.” +</p> + +<p> +“Have you noticed that, Roy?” said Sydney quickly. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, it seems, as you say, that we must pay up for having the money in +some way. But where can poor Rex be? I wonder if he is ashamed or afraid to +come home?” +</p> + +<p> +Anxiously the reports from the detectives were awaited. But when they came they +were only depressing. Positively no trace of the missing boy could be found. +</p> + +<p> +Advertisements were inserted in the New York and Philadelphia papers, but +nothing came of them. The family were by this time well nigh distracted. They +had not even the poor satisfaction of mourning the lost as one dead. They could +only wait and hope, but as the days passed into a week, this last seemed +futile. +</p> + +<p> +The time came for school to open, but Roy had little heart to go alone. Still, +he must attend to his education. +</p> + +<p> +The first week of it dragged slowly by. Some of his Marley friends wanted him +to come down there and spend his Saturday. +</p> + +<p> +He had not yet decided Friday night whether he wanted to go, when the door bell +rang, and a messenger appeared with a telegram for Roy Pell. +</p> + +<p> +It was dated at some town in Jersey of which he had never heard, and was very +brief, but the one word signed to it was worth a hundred lines, for that name +was “Rex.” +</p> + +<p> +“All safe. Will write soon.” +</p> + +<p> +That was all, and when he read it to the family, the wild exclamations of joy +were succeeded by perplexed impatience. +</p> + +<p> +“Why didn’t he tell us where to find him?” Eva wanted to +know. +</p> + +<p> +“Why didn’t he send word to mother?” added Jess. +</p> + +<p> +“Why does he not explain his long silence?” said Mrs. Fell fearing +the worst. +</p> + +<p> +Sydney was away at Harrisburg, and Roy decided that instead of going to Marley +the following day, he would find out where this New Jersey town was and hunt up +Rex at once. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Pell wanted to go with him, but Roy reminded her that he might have +considerable difficulty in tracing Rex, so it was decided that she wait until +she heard from him. +</p> + +<p> +From a railroad time table Roy ascertained where he must go, and by the first +train he could get in the morning he set out. +</p> + +<p> +“Be very gentle with him, Roy,” his mother said at parting. +“By his sending to you he evidently thinks I am greatly displeased with +him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Trust me, mother,” Roy assured her with a smile. +</p> + +<p> +He felt very happy this morning, happier than he had, it seemed to him, since +they had come into their fortune. Of such worth is sorrow sometimes, to make a +contrast by which to intensify joy. +</p> + +<p> +On arriving at his destination he went to the man in the ticket office and put +the following inquiry: +</p> + +<p> +“Do you know anybody in the place named Reginald Pell?” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” was the reply. “Has he lived here long?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, he doesn’t really live here. He’s my twin brother, you +see, and I have a telegram from him, but he didn’t say where he was +staying. Is this a very big place?” +</p> + +<p> +The ticket agent smiled. “Well, it isn’t exactly a +metropolis,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you,” responded Roy, and he walked out of the rear door +toward the dusty road, thinking he was not going to have such an easy job to +find Rex after all, if he was in the town where he was supposed to be. +</p> + +<p> +The station was built at a little distance from the town proper. Roy walked on +along a board walk until he came to the first house, one of those white, green +shuttered affairs whose number is legion in the rural districts. +</p> + +<p> +A woman without a hat on was sweeping the leaves from the path that led down to +the gate. The lines about her mouth were rather stern, but Roy made up his mind +to begin with her. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap24"></a>CHAPTER XXIV<br /> +FOUND AT LAST</h2> + +<p> +“Excuse me,” began Roy, leaning over the gate and taking off his +broad brimmed straw hat, “do you know a boy named Rex Pell?” +</p> + +<p> +He had decided that this would be the shortest way of getting at things. +</p> + +<p> +The woman looked up quickly, resting her chin on the top of her broom handle. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you think I look as if I knew much about boys?” she replied. +“Well, I don’t and I don’t want to.” +</p> + +<p> +“Excuse me,” said Roy, and he hurried on, glad to get away. +</p> + +<p> +The next house was a larger one. There was a good deal of piazza around it and +some pretensions were made at keeping the lawn in good condition. +</p> + +<p> +Roy’s knock at the door was answered so promptly that he was fain to +believe that some one must have been peeping through the shutters watching his +approach. +</p> + +<p> +A tall woman with light hair received him very effusively. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ve been expecting you,” she said, with an expansive smile. +“I thought you’d come on that train.” +</p> + +<p> +“This must be the place,” thought Roy. “She knows Rex sent +the dispatch and thought some of us would come on.” +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose you’d like to go straight up stairs?” she +continued, when she had taken his hat and hung it on the stand in the hall. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I would,” and Roy’s heart sank. +</p> + +<p> +Rex must be sick, he decided, and not able to leave his bed. He followed the +light haired woman to the floor above, where she threw open the door of a room +with a sort of flourish. +</p> + +<p> +Roy halted on the threshold. There was a double bed inside, but nobody on it +nor was anybody to be seen in the apartment. +</p> + +<p> +“Where is my brother?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Your brother?” exclaimed the woman. “I did not understand +that there were two of you. Your father’s letter mentioned only one son. +Wait, I will get—” +</p> + +<p> +“No, there must be some mistake,” Roy interposed. “I thought +my brother, Rex Pell, might be here.” +</p> + +<p> +“What, you are not Eric Levens, then?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, indeed, and don’t you know anything about my brother? I am so +sorry.” +</p> + +<p> +“I thought you were the young gentleman I expected who was to look at +this room to see whether he liked it well enough to stay while his father went +to Europe. But why are you sorry that I do not know anything about your +brother? Have you lost him?” +</p> + +<p> +“In a sort of a way, yes,” and Roy told his story, or as much of it +as he could, without bringing in the fact of Rex’s having run away from +home. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, I guess I can help you,” exclaimed the woman, when he had +finished. “Maybe he is the young fellow who is staying at the +Raynors’. I heard about it last Sunday at church.” +</p> + +<p> +“About <i>it?</i> About what?” +</p> + +<p> +Roy’s face grew pale. The woman looked a little uncomfortable. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t be too anxious,” she replied. “He must be better +now if he could send a message. But he’s had the intermittent fever. He +was found on the piazza of the house one rainy evening about ten days ago by +Florence Raynor. A trampish looking young fellow had carried him in out of the +wet, and they say he’s been devoted to him ever since.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where do the Raynors live?” asked Roy, already impatient to be +off. +</p> + +<p> +“Come here to the window and I can show you the house. It is clear at the +end of this street beyond all the others. You can just see the chimneys above +the trees.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy was soon hurrying away in the direction pointed out. +</p> + +<p> +Although he feared that Rex might have been ill, the certainty of it made his +heart very sore for his brother. +</p> + +<p> +“Sick among strangers!” was his thought. “I wish mother had +come with me.” +</p> + +<p> +A young girl was reading on the piazza when he opened the gate and walked up +the path between the box hedges. +</p> + +<p> +“Is my brother Rex here?” he said, pausing at the foot of the +steps, his hat in his hand. +</p> + +<p> +She had raised her head as the gate latch clicked, and now their eyes met. Even +in that moment Roy noted how very pretty she was. +</p> + +<p> +“You are the Roy that he sent the telegram to?” she exclaimed. Then +paused suddenly, and blushed. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I’m Roy, and I’ve had a hard time to find him. How is +he?” +</p> + +<p> +“He’s better. He was asleep just now. If you will come in I will +call mother.” +</p> + +<p> +“Rex has certainly fallen into good hands,” thought Roy when he was +left alone. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Raynor came out in a moment and greeted Roy most cordially. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m glad you came,” she said. “It will do your brother +good to see you,” +</p> + +<p> +“You’ve been very, very kind to him,” answered Roy. +</p> + +<p> +“No; it wasn’t any trouble, because we all took to him so. It was a +pleasure to do for him.” +</p> + +<p> +“But why didn’t he let us know before where he was?” asked +Roy. +</p> + +<p> +“Bless you, he only knew himself yesterday. He’s had a hard tug of +it, and not a scrap or a card could we find about him, only the letters R. B. +P. P, on his linen.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then he’s been out of his head?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; and you must be prepared to find him greatly changed. But +he’ll come around again all right, the doctor says. I’ll go up now +and see if he is awake and call you.” +</p> + +<p> +The summons to ascend came a few minutes later, and presently Roy found himself +standing by his brother’s bedside. Mrs. Raynor considerately withdrew and +left the two together, warning them that she should be back in ten minutes to +prevent her patient from becoming unduly excited. +</p> + +<p> +Rex had changed. There was no longer any plumpness in his cheeks, and his face +was very white. But so were his teeth, and his eyes were as lustrous as ever. +</p> + +<p> +“Roy!” He uttered the one word in a weak voice, and held tightly in +both of his the hands that his brother extended to him. +</p> + +<p> +A moment of the precious ten was lost to silence as the two looked at each +other, but in that look was that which hours of speech could not have +expressed. Roy read in it true repentance, a pleading for forgiveness, and Rex +saw that there was no chiding for him from those at home, only love and pity. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you know all, Roy; the very worst?” Rex then whispered. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t think of that now, Reggie. It is all right. I want to talk +about yourself—your sickness.” +</p> + +<p> +“But I must think of it. I have been thinking of it ever since I came to +my senses yesterday. Did you know that I told you lies, that I acted them, that +I took the money I had been saving up for mother’s present to pay the +expenses of this wretched trip?” +</p> + +<p> +“But you didn’t go all the way, Reggie. I found that out. You +turned back. What happened to you then?” +</p> + +<p> +Rex told the terrible tale of the robbery, of the awful night he had passed +riding back and forth across the river, and had got as far as his falling +asleep on the train when Mrs. Raynor appeared and smilingly announced that time +was up. +</p> + +<p> +“Miles will tell you the rest, Roy,” said Rex. “He’s +the best fellow. I don’t know what would have become of me if it +hadn’t been for him. And Mrs. Raynor, too. When I get well they must all +come to Philadelphia and we’ll give them the very best time.” +</p> + +<p> +There was a touch of his old self in the heartiness with which he uttered these +words. Roy’s coming and comforting words had lifted a heavy burden from +his heart. +</p> + +<p> +They left him to try to get to sleep again. Roy went down stairs with Mrs. +Raynor. +</p> + +<p> +“I ought to go home at once and tell my mother about Rex,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +“Why not send a message and stay with him?” suggested the other. +“We should be very glad to have you. There is plenty of room in the +house. Or send word for your mother to come on. I know she must be anxious to +see her son.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy hesitated. He scarcely knew what to do. Then he remembered Sydney’s +absence and reflected that the girls could not very well be left alone. He +decided to stay himself till Monday, and to send word that Rex was all right +now. +</p> + +<p> +He hurried off to the station to write his dispatch and came back as quickly to +the Raynors’. He recollected that he had not yet seen the Miles of whom +Rex spoke, the fellow who could tell him the continuation of his +brother’s adventures. +</p> + +<p> +He asked Florence, whom he found on the lawn, where he could find Miles. +</p> + +<p> +“He’s out in the field now,” she replied, “digging +potatoes. But it’s almost twelve. He’ll be in then for his dinner. +He just adores that brother of yours.” +</p> + +<p> +“But who is he?” Roy persisted. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, he hasn’t told us his story yet. We took him on trust, and +he’s turned out all right so far. But there he comes now.” +</p> + +<p> +“Excuse me,” said Roy. “I’ll go and see him.” And +he hurried off around the corner of the house. +</p> + +<p> +The next minute he stood face to face with the youth who is destined to play a +highly important part in the remainder of this tale. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap25"></a>CHAPTER XXV<br /> +MILES HARDING’S STORY</h2> + +<p> +Miles knew Roy at once. +</p> + +<p> +“This is Miles, isn’t it?” said Roy in his pleasant way, and +he put out his hand. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, but wait a minute.” +</p> + +<p> +Miles hurried to the pump near the kitchen door. He gave his hands a douse of +water, dried them quickly on a roller towel in the woodshed, and then came back +to greet the brother of the boy of whom he was so fond. +</p> + +<p> +“You got the telegram all right then?” he said. “Rex was so +weak when he told me where to send it, I wasn’t sure I’d get it +quite right.” +</p> + +<p> +“I want to thank you for all you did for him,” went on Roy. +“He’s told me about it, except the details. He said you’d do +that—about what happened to him after he got out of the train. But +don’t let me keep you from your dinner.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’d rather talk to you than eat,” said Miles frankly. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Raynor appeared at this moment and compromised matters by bringing +Miles’ dinner to him out on the side porch. Roy sat by and listened to +the recital, most modestly given, of the facts with which the reader is already +acquainted. +</p> + +<p> +It was time for Miles to return to his work when it was finished, and Florence +came to summon Roy to their own dinner. +</p> + +<p> +“Isn’t he queer?” she said, referring to Miles. “He +seems so quiet and talks so well for a man who was—well, a tramp. I +don’t know what else you could call him. You ought to have seen the +clothes he had on when he first came. Mamma made him burn them.” +</p> + +<p> +“He looks as if he might have an interesting story to tell,” +commented Roy. +</p> + +<p> +“We’ll get him to tell it to-night if your brother is well +enough,” said Mrs. Raynor. “He promised that we should hear it as +soon as Rex was able to listen too.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy took Rex’s dinner up to him, and the twins had an hour to themselves, +during which Rex went more into detail concerning his experiences with +Harrington and his crowd. They compared notes on Harry Atkins, and then fell to +talking of Miles Harding. +</p> + +<p> +“He’s something more than a common tramp,” Rex insisted. +“He can read a little and write some. Isn’t it funny how much he +thinks of me, when I haven’t done a thing for him? Mrs. Raynor lets him +come up and sit with me every evening when his work is done. Of course I +didn’t know this till yesterday, when I came to my senses.” +</p> + +<p> +After the doctor’s visit about three, Rex went to sleep and Roy played a +game of tennis with Florence. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t want to seem glad that your brother is sick,” she +said, “but it’s awfully nice to have company. I get so lonely when +Bert is away.” +</p> + +<p> +That evening they all assembled in Rex’s room—Mrs. Raynor was a +widow, so the family at home consisted only of herself and Florence—and +Miles, seated at the foot of the bed, told the story of his life. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know where I was born,” he began. “The first +thing I can remember is living in a tenement house in New York, where I had to +sleep three in a bed with the two Morrisey boys. Mr. Morrisey was a truckman, +and there was five children of them, and I made six. I always thought I was a +Morrisey, too, till one day Jimmy, he got mad at me, and told me I +needn’t talk so big because I was only living on charity. +</p> + +<p> +“I went to his mother and asked her about it, and she told me that it was +true, that I wasn’t really her child, but that she thought as much of me +as if I was, and that there wasn’t any charity about it. But I wanted to +know all about myself, and at last she said that I’d been given to Mr. +Morrisey when I was a wee baby by a friend of his who couldn’t afford to +keep me and who made him vow that he’d never tell where I came from. +</p> + +<p> +“Jimmy only found it out by accident one night, listening to his father +and mother talking when they thought he was asleep. She said I wasn’t to +feel bad about it; because they thought everything of me. +</p> + +<p> +“But I did feel bad about it. It seemed too hard when the Morriseys had +all they could do to get along they should have one more mouth—and that +not a Morrisey one—to feed. +</p> + +<p> +“I studied as hard as I could at school, so as to try and get through +sooner and go to work and begin to pay them back, but when I was twelve Mr. +Morrisey was kicked to death by a horse and the next year Mrs. Morrisey married +a man who took her and the children out to Dakota to live. +</p> + +<p> +“She wanted me to go along, but I knew Mr. Rollings didn’t like me, +and besides I wanted to stay East where there was some chance of my finding out +who my parents were. I got a place as cash boy in a Japanese store and boarded +with some people who lived across the hall from where the Morriseys had their +rooms. +</p> + +<p> +“But Mr. Benton used to get drunk and when he was that way he’d +beat me, just for the fun of it, it seemed to me. Then when they cut down the +number of boys employed in the store and I couldn’t find another place +right away, he growled so about my not paying my board that I did my things up +in a bundle one night and hid myself on a canal boat down at the East River +docks. +</p> + +<p> +“The captain was awful mad when he found me after we had got clear up the +North River. He gave me a good thrashing and then said he was going to drop me +overboard. But he didn’t and I stayed on board all that season, driving +mules and being sworn at and kicked and trounced like any other boy on the +canal. I sometimes wonder why I didn’t wear out. +</p> + +<p> +“When navigation closed I was set adrift, and had a hard scrub of it to +get along for a time. I almost starved for a while in Albany, trying to pick up +odd jobs. Then I came near freezing to death. +</p> + +<p> +“Finally I got a place as errand boy in a grocery store and kept that +till some money was missing and they said I took it. I never stole in my life. +Mrs. Morrisey brought me up too well for me to do that. But I couldn’t +prove I didn’t and I had to go. The man said I ought to consider myself +lucky I wasn’t sent to jail. +</p> + +<p> +“After that I had a worse time of it than ever. Whenever I applied for a +position they wanted to know why I had left my last place. And when I told +them, they wouldn’t have anything to do with me. +</p> + +<p> +“Then came the days when sometimes I thought I might as well steal, I was +suffering because I was accused of doing it. When I was very hungry and saw +chances of sneaking apples out of grocery-men’s barrels, it seemed as if +I had almost a right to do it. But I never did. +</p> + +<p> +“Something always turned up to keep me from starving. Once a woman +stopped me in the street and gave me a dollar. She said I looked so hungry she +couldn’t go by me without doing it. +</p> + +<p> +“Another time I was taken sick in one of the parks, something like Rex. I +fell down in a kind of faint, and when I came to I was in a hospital and I +stayed there quite a little while. +</p> + +<p> +“After I got out it was spring and I thought I’d try the country. I +didn’t beg; only asked for work. Sometimes I got it; many more times I +didn’t. +</p> + +<p> +“Now and then if they didn’t give me work they’d offer me +milk or a cup of coffee, so I managed to pull through somehow. +</p> + +<p> +“At last I got back to New York. I’d been wanting to get there +again ever since the thought came to me one day that perhaps some friends of +Mr. Morrisey’s might know something about the man who had given me to him +when I was a baby. +</p> + +<p> +“With a good deal of trouble I found one of them. He was a bricklayer, +and he told me as near as he could remember the man who gave me to Tim Morrisey +was from Philadelphia, and that’s all he knew. +</p> + +<p> +“Then I wanted to go to Philadelphia. +</p> + +<p> +“‘But what good will that do you, Miles?’ Mr. Beesley asked. +‘You can’t find out any more there, nor as much, as you can +here.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘No,’ I told him, ‘but if I’m there maybe +somebody else’ll find out something from passing me in the street.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘That’s an idea, sure enough,’ he said, so I started +for Philadelphia, and that’s how I came to fall in with Rex.” +</p> + +<p> +Miles finished his story with this word. It almost seemed as if he had done it +on purpose, planning for it, as it were. He always spoke the name with a little +pause before it, as if it were something sacred. +</p> + +<p> +Rex had told him to call him by it the day before when he had started in to +address him as “Mr. Pell.” All of Reginald’s striving after +premature manhood had been left in that past which preceded his experiences in +the hotel at New York. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap26"></a>CHAPTER XXVI<br /> +IN WINTER DAYS</h2> + +<p> +Miles’s story had been listened to with the closest attention by all the +little party. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s just like a chapter out of a book,” Florence whispered +to Roy. “I wonder if he’ll ever find out who he really is?” +</p> + +<p> +“But how did you come by the name Harding?” Roy inquired. +“Weren’t you Miles Morrisey once?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, but when they went away, and I got to having such hard knocks from +the world, I didn’t want to drag the name down with me, and so I thought +Harding would suit me pretty well, and took it.” +</p> + +<p> +Rex seemed inclined to grow excited over the theme, so Mrs. Raynor proposed an +immediate adjournment. +</p> + +<p> +“To-morrow is Sunday,” she said, “and Miles can have a long +day with you.” +</p> + +<p> +In the course of this long day, the wanderer told Roy why he had been so drawn +to Rex. +</p> + +<p> +“I’d seen lots of nice looking fellows like him,” he said, +“but they always looked down on me and kind of kept off, as if they +didn’t want me to touch them with my dirty clothes. But I had to touch +Rex when he fell over, and he didn’t seem to mind it.” +</p> + +<p> +Rex flushed when Roy told him this. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m afraid I didn’t seem to mind because I was too far gone +to mind anything,” he said. “But I do like Miles and would like to +do all I can for him.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy returned home Monday morning, and Mrs. Pell went out to Rex that night. He +improved rapidly, and within a fortnight was able to be moved to Philadelphia. +</p> + +<p> +It was pitiable to see the effect of the parting on Miles. The Raynors had +found him very capable and were anxious to keep him. There was no reason why he +should not stay, except his desire to be where Rex was, and his quixotic notion +that he might meet his father or mother should he go to Philadelphia. +</p> + +<p> +“Keep a look out for me, Rex,” he said, “and if you hear of +any position you think I could fill, let me know.” +</p> + +<p> +Rex promised, and after he got home told his mother that when she could make up +her mind to completely forgive him for all he had done, he wished that she +would think of something they could do for Miles. +</p> + +<p> +“I have forgiven you already, Reggie,” was the reply. “I know +that you have suffered enough not to need any other lesson. Now, why not make +Miles a present of a complete outfit? Wouldn’t he take it all right? Then +when he is properly fitted out you can invite him on here for Thanksgiving +day.” +</p> + +<p> +Rex talked over the idea with Roy and then they wrote to Mrs. Raynor about it. +The end of the matter was that they procured Miles’s measure, and sent +him the things as a present from Rex. +</p> + +<p> +The invitation for Thanksgiving was in the letter that accompanied them. +</p> + +<p> +The young fellow’s gratitude was beyond the power of expression, and over +and over again he asked Mrs. Raynor if she thought it was right for him to +accept the invitation. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course it is right,” she told him. “They would not have +asked you if they had not wanted you.” +</p> + +<p> +His happiness seemed to shine out of every feature of his face when he boarded +the Philadelphia train Wednesday afternoon. Rex met him at the station, and was +surprised to see what a good looking fellow he made when he was properly rigged +out. +</p> + +<p> +“Maybe I’ll make some awful blunders,” Miles confided to him +on the way to the house. “Remember I’ve never been with swell folks +before.” +</p> + +<p> +“We’re not swell,” Rex laughed. +</p> + +<p> +He had half a mind to let him know then and there where they got their money, +but decided that he wouldn’t. That night he took his guest to the +theater, and the next day Sydney had a long talk with him. +</p> + +<p> +His manners were much easier among the unaccustomed surroundings than Rex had +dared to hope they would be. Mrs. Pell was very much attracted by him, and both +girls declared he was “so interesting.” +</p> + +<p> +In his talk with him Sydney sought to draw out all the facts he could about the +Morriseys. +</p> + +<p> +“That boy you had the fight with, Miles,” he +said—“Jimmy, I think you told Rex his name was—did you never +ask him any questions about what he overheard that night?” +</p> + +<p> +“No. Mr. Morrisey seemed not to want me to talk about it, and besides, I +never would have asked Jimmy after what had happened.” +</p> + +<p> +“But you’d ask him now, wouldn’t you?” went on Sydney. +“You say that you heard his mother was dead. He seems to be the only +person left from whom you can get a clew.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I’d ask him now if I had the chance,” Miles admitted +“But I don’t know just where he is. You see, I’ve lost track +of the Morriseys lately.” +</p> + +<p> +“But you could find it again couldn’t you? Write to the place where +you heard they were last. Where was that?” +</p> + +<p> +“Bismarck.” +</p> + +<p> +“Very good. Do that, and when you have found out all you can from Jimmy, +let me know.” +</p> + +<p> +Miles promised to attend to this, but since he had fallen in with Rex, his +desire to hunt up his parents seemed not as strong as it had been. He went back +to the Raynors enthusiastic over his visit, and talked of it for weeks +afterward. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile Roy and Rex settled down to their school life. The change made in Rex +by his New York experience was quite noticeable. While retaining all his +dignity of manner, he was more thoughtful of the feelings of others than he had +been. +</p> + +<p> +He worried a good deal at first about the opinion Scott Bowman must have of +him, and truth to tell Scott did feel a little sore over the way he had been +treated. +</p> + +<p> +The two boys did not write or see each other till they met accidentally in the +street at Christmas time. +</p> + +<p> +Rex saw Scott coming and grew red in spite of himself. There was a chance, he +felt, that the other might go by without speaking to him. But Scott halted and +put out his hand. +</p> + +<p> +“Hello, Rex,” he said, “you <i>are</i> a stranger.” +</p> + +<p> +And at these words a great burden was lifted from Reginald’s mind. +</p> + +<p> +The truth of the matter was, it was very difficult to keep at odds with a +fellow with the fascinating personality of Rex Pell, and now since the recent +change in him he was more attractive than ever. He took Scott home to lunch +with him, and related in detail his adventures on his memorable trip. +</p> + +<p> +“Where the fun in being ‘tough’ comes in,” he +concluded, “I don’t see.” +</p> + +<p> +At Christmas time Mrs. Pell had Mrs. Raynor and Florence in for a visit. +</p> + +<p> +“Has Miles heard from Jimmy Morrisey yet?” Rex inquired. +</p> + +<p> +“No,” Florence replied. “He didn’t write till about +three weeks ago.” +</p> + +<p> +“You’ll let him come in and see us New Year’s, won’t +you?” Rex went on. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes indeed, if you would like to have him.” +</p> + +<p> +Miles came for New Year’s and brought the information that he had heard +from Jimmy Morrisey at last. He was a hall boy in a New York hotel, and said +that as near as he could remember the name he had heard his father mention that +night in his talk with his mother was Darley. +</p> + +<p> +Rex wrote the name down on a piece of paper and put it away to show to Sydney +on his return from his Florida trip, for his health had been growing steadily +poorer and Mrs. Pell had persuaded him finally to go South with a friend for a +while. +</p> + +<p> +“You know he isn’t really my own brother,” Rex confided to +Miles. “But he’s a distant relative. His father and mother died +when he was very little.” +</p> + +<p> +Miles was much interested on hearing this. It served in some way to establish +another bond between himself and the Pells. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll let you know what Syd finds out about this as soon as he +finds out anything,” Rex told Miles at parting. +</p> + +<p> +Miles had begun to attend school. He had not had an opportunity to study since +leaving the Morriseys. He was naturally quick, and made good progress. +</p> + +<p> +“He’ll know too much by spring to be put to garden work +again,” Mrs. Raynor had said when she was in. “I hardly know what +to do with him then.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, don’t worry about that,” laughed Jess. “By that +time he may have found his parents and be a millionaire.” +</p> + +<p> +“How you talk, Jess,” interposed her sister. “If he ever does +find his people, it doesn’t follow that they will be wealthy. Indeed, +he’d probably never have been given to the Morriseys if his father +hadn’t been too poor to support him.” +</p> + +<p> +Eva took a deep interest in the case. She was of a literary turn of mind, and +wove many a romance in her busy brain about the early history of this strange +youth, who seemed so extraordinarily gentle, considering his rough bringing up. +</p> + +<p> +Sydney came home just before the twins’ vacation ended. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Syd!” Rex suddenly exclaimed, that first evening as they were +all seated in the library, listening to Florida experiences. “Miles has +heard from this Morrisey boy.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” replied Sydney, “did he learn anything of +importance?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, he found out the name his father and mother used when they were +talking about the man who brought Miles to them.” +</p> + +<p> +“And what was it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Darley.” +</p> + +<p> +Sydney fell back in his chair and grew as white as a ghost. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap27"></a>CHAPTER XXVII<br /> +SYDNEY GOES ON A MYSTERIOUS EXPEDITION</h2> + +<p> +The family were greatly alarmed at Sydney’s collapse. Mrs. Pell had +fondly hoped that his Southern trip would be of permanent benefit to him, and +here he was breaking down on the first night of his return. +</p> + +<p> +Not one of them associated his seizure in any way with the subject on which +they had been talking except Rex. He could not but recall a somewhat similar +attack, when Sydney had fainted in his office while he (Rex) was telling Scott +Bowman of their inheritance. +</p> + +<p> +But Miles Harding’s affairs had nothing to do with this. What did it all +mean? Rex asked himself, as he sped off for the doctor. +</p> + +<p> +When he got back, Sydney had come to, but seemed to be suffering severely. And +yet when asked if he was in pain, he would shake his head and beg so +imploringly that they would leave him to himself, that the fears of the family +were intensified many fold. +</p> + +<p> +The doctor was utterly nonplused. He prescribed a quieting potion, and went +away, promising to return again in the morning. +</p> + +<p> +“And perhaps you had better humor him in his desire to be left +alone,” he said to Mrs. Pell. “But of course arrange to be near in +case another collapse occurs.” +</p> + +<p> +The household separated for bed that night with sober faces. +</p> + +<p> +“Syd hasn’t been like himself since Mr. Tyler died,” remarked +Roy, lingering at the door of Rex’s room. +</p> + +<p> +Rex did not reply immediately. He stood looking at his brother intently for an +instant, then he put a hand on Roy’s shoulder, gently pulled him into the +room and closed the door behind him. +</p> + +<p> +“Sit down a minute, Roy,” he said gravely; “I want to tell +you something.” +</p> + +<p> +“What is it? What makes you look so solemn, Reggie? Is it anything about +Syd?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, it’s about Syd. Something that happened last summer, and +which he told me not to tell; but it seems to me that I ought to tell +now.” +</p> + +<p> +In a few words then, Rex related what he and Scott Bowman had witnessed, adding +an account of what Sydney had said to him when he asked to have the doctor sent +out of the room. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s queer, isn’t it, Roy?” Rex added. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, but I can’t connect it with the present case.” +</p> + +<p> +“Neither can I. That makes it queerer still. Perhaps you’d better +not say anything about what I told you.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, I shan’t,” and the boys sat quiet a while longer, +discussing the mystery of this affair in lowered tones. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile Sydney in his room across the hall, was lying in his bed with his +eyes wide open staring at the ceiling. Now and then he passed his hand across +his forehead, on which the perspiration kept gathering. +</p> + +<p> +“It is Nemesis,” he murmured over and over. “I have felt that +it would come, and now at last it has appeared, and through Rex, of all the +others!” +</p> + +<p> +All through that night he remained thus wakeful. He watched, helplessly, the +gradual breaking of the dawn, knowing that he had not slept a moment and +feeling that he must have this physical ill to bear in addition to the mental +one which already weighed him down to the earth. +</p> + +<p> +But he had come to the turning point now. In some way this was a relief, even +though the prospect immediately ahead of him was such a fearsome one. +</p> + +<p> +He wished that he could go up to the office without seeing any of the family, +as he had done that other morning in Marley. +</p> + +<p> +But he could not do this now. They would worry and send after him. He must try +and get through the ordeal of facing them as best he could. +</p> + +<p> +He rose at the usual time, but before he had finished dressing there was a +knock at the door and Roy’s voice wanting to know how he was. +</p> + +<p> +“All right,” he replied, and then, as his brother asked if he might +come in, he opened the door. +</p> + +<p> +“All right!” exclaimed Roy, after one look at his face, “Oh, +Syd!” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s only because I haven’t slept,” Sydney hastened to +assure him. +</p> + +<p> +“Then what are you getting up for?” Roy went on. +</p> + +<p> +“I must go down town. I have that to do which will ease my mind, and +<i>make me all right again, I trust.”</i> +</p> + +<p> +The last words were added in so low a tone as to be scarcely audible. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Syd, what is it? What is worrying you? Can’t I help you in any +way?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Roy, you cannot now. Perhaps—later—I will +need—need your pity.” +</p> + +<p> +“Pity! Oh, Syd, you do not know what you say.” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t, Roy. I have a hard task to perform; do not, I beg of you, +make it harder.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy said no more; he would not after this. He went back to his own room and +went over in his mind all that had befallen them since they had been what the +world called wealthy. +</p> + +<p> +“Not one bit happier, though; no, not as happy,” he added for +himself. +</p> + +<p> +At the breakfast table Sydney insisted that he felt plenty well enough to go to +the office. +</p> + +<p> +“Can’t you see, mother,” he said at last, “that it is a +matter of the mind and not of the body. Let me have the opportunity of easing +that, and—you will see the result.” +</p> + +<p> +But when he left the house he did not go at once to his office. He stopped at +the first drug store he passed, and walked up to the little stand on which the +city directory was kept. +</p> + +<p> +He turned the pages to D, and then looked up Darley. +</p> + +<p> +There were several of the name, and a frown contracted his brow. But he took +out his pencil and memorandum book, and made a note of the various addresses. +Then he went on, but soon turned into a street that would not take him to the +office. He boarded a car and rode off in the direction of South street. In the +course of twenty minutes he was waiting for his ring to be answered at the door +of a very modest little house near the Baltimore tracks. +</p> + +<p> +But after he had been admitted, he did not remain long inside. +</p> + +<p> +“I must try another,” he muttered, consulting his memorandum. +</p> + +<p> +He tried several others, but with equal ill success. The quest seemed hopeless. +</p> + +<p> +“There may be nothing in it after all,” he murmured. “But +that does not lighten my load here;” and he pressed his hand over his +heart. +</p> + +<p> +All that day he kept up his hunt, scarcely stopping to get a little lunch at +noon. Toward nightfall he called at an address on Seventh Street next to the +last on his list. +</p> + +<p> +It was an odd looking house—apparently a store, for there was a regular +shop window, but there was nothing in it but curtains that screened off the +interior, and no sign, and the door when he tried it, was locked. But there was +a bell handle close beside it, and this he pulled. +</p> + +<p> +The door was opened after quite an interval, to a mere crack, and the voice of +an aged woman wanted to know who was there. +</p> + +<p> +“A gentleman to see Mr. David Darley,” Sydney answered. +</p> + +<p> +“You can’t see him,” came back the reply, “He’s +been dead these five months.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, then,” went on Sydney, pushing against the door to prevent +any possibility of its being shut in his face, “I want to see some of his +relations—his wife, or daughter, or somebody.” +</p> + +<p> +“There ain’t any of them either,” was the reply. +“There’s only me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, then, I’d like to see you,” Sydney rejoined, feeling +that this, too, was to be a wild goose chase, but determined, nevertheless, to +leave no stone unturned. +</p> + +<p> +“What do you want to see me about?” went on the old lady. “I +don’t know you.” +</p> + +<p> +“I just want to ask you some questions about Mr. Darley. Are you any +relation of his?” +</p> + +<p> +“I’m his mother-in-law,” and the door was slowly opened, but +only wide enough to admit Sydney, when it was closed behind him with great +rapidity. +</p> + +<p> +He looked with some curiosity at the person who admitted him. She was very +small, not much above his waist in height, and quite old, with snow white hair +and a very peaceful expression of face that contrasted markedly with her +evident fear of strangers. +</p> + +<p> +She did not ask Sydney to be seated, and remained standing herself, taking up +her station in the doorway that led into the room beyond, as if seeking to bar +out any intrusion there. +</p> + +<p> +The apartment in which Sydney found himself was a very pleasant one, well +lighted from the large window, whose upper portion was undraped. There were +some pictures on the walls, a piano stood at one side, and a guitar could be +seen off in one corner. +</p> + +<p> +But Sydney was not in the mood to take many notes of his surroundings. He +proceeded at once with the business in hand. +</p> + +<p> +“Was Mr. David Darley any relation to Maurice Darley?” he inquired. +</p> + +<p> +“Will it hurt David if I answer?” replied the old lady cautiously. +</p> + +<p> +“How can it, since you say he is dead?” Sydney responded with the +flicker of a smile. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, then,” answered the other, heaving a little sigh, “I +don’t see as it can do any harm for me to say that David was his +brother.” +</p> + +<p> +“At last,” burst forth Sydney with something between a shout and a +groan. He put his hand against the wall as if to steady himself. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap28"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII<br /> +THE STRANGE CONDUCT OF MRS. FOX</h2> + +<p> +All the suspicions of the little white haired old lady seemed to be revived by +Sydney’s manner of receiving the intelligence she gave him. +</p> + +<p> +“Maybe I’ve made a mistake about it,” she said, pinching +nervously at the edges of a white apron she wore. “It may be another man +of the same name.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is this Maurice Darley dead?” asked Sydney, paying no attention to +her disturbed equanimity. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know. Maybe he is,” was the reply. +</p> + +<p> +“When did you see him last?” went on Sydney. +</p> + +<p> +“How do you know I ever saw him?” asked the old lady quickly. +</p> + +<p> +Sydney began to lose his patience. +</p> + +<p> +“You seem to think I mean you some harm,” he said. “You are +quite wrong there. It is a matter of money, of a fortune that belongs to Mr. +Maurice Parley, if I can find him.” +</p> + +<p> +The old lady looked at him keenly. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s what caused all his trouble,” she said slowly. +“Fortunes. He was always thinking of them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Can’t you tell me where he is now?” Sydney went on in a +coaxing tone. “You appear to know a good deal about him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Mr.—I? Do I show it?” A terrified look came into the old +lady’s eyes. Her fingers clutched tightly at each side of the doorway +over which she had mounted guard. +</p> + +<p> +Sydney was by this time convinced that there was some mystery about Maurice +Darley, which the woman before him was seeking to conceal. +</p> + +<p> +“What if he is dead?” +</p> + +<p> +The old lady brought this out with a sort of triumphant tone. +</p> + +<p> +“But he isn’t dead,” Sydney returned, with almost the same +manner. “If he was you would have said so long ago. You see I can +understand some things. But why are you so secret about him? Tell me, did you +ever hear him speak of a Mr. Tyler?” +</p> + +<p> +“Hush, hush!” The old lady put her fingers over her lips and +advanced to Sydney as if to thrust him out of the door. “Not now. Not +here,” she added in an imploring tone. +</p> + +<p> +Sydney was compelled to back out of the door into the street, but he held it +open partially to say: +</p> + +<p> +“I must find out about Maurice Darley. It is for his good, not mine. +Where can I see you about him? Will you come to my office on Chestnut +Street?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, no. I can’t go away,” the old lady replied. +</p> + +<p> +She was glancing backward over her shoulder every instant or two. +</p> + +<p> +“Will you give me your name, then, so I can write to you?” Sydney +went on. “Or if I write to Mr. Darley here will you give it to +him?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, only write to me, Mrs. Hannah Fox,” and with that the door was +closed in his face. +</p> + +<p> +Sydney lingered in front of it a second. He had a blind impulse to ring the +bell and compel her to open it again. But he knew that it would be useless, so +he turned his steps slowly toward Chestnut street and went to his office. +</p> + +<p> +He found that his absence all day had been productive of not a little harm. +</p> + +<p> +“But this is a part of the expiation,” he murmured to himself. +</p> + +<p> +He put aside the letters waiting to be answered, and set himself to the task of +composing the one to Mrs. Fox. It took him a long while to write it. He tore up +several completed ones. +</p> + +<p> +The usual hour for closing the office arrived. The boy hovered about his desk, +seeming to hope that his presence would remind his employer that it was time to +go home. +</p> + +<p> +Sydney looked up at last. +</p> + +<p> +“You may go, John,” he said. “I will mail this.” +</p> + +<p> +But when the boy had gone he read over what he had written, then tore it into +very small pieces and dropped them in the waste paper basket. Then he took a +fresh sheet and began again. +</p> + +<p> +He was half way down the first page when the door opened and Rex came in. +</p> + +<p> +“Syd,” he exclaimed, “aren’t you coming home to dinner? +We waited till seven o’clock, then mother grew so worried that I came +down to see if anything had happened.” +</p> + +<p> +“How good you are to me, Reggie,” said the other. “And how +little I deserve it.” +</p> + +<p> +His head went down on his two arms upon the desk. His frame shook as if with +sobbing. +</p> + +<p> +“Syd, you dear old fellow, don’t talk that way. What is troubling +you?” Rex had put his arm about his brother’s neck; his forehead +pressed close against the bowed head. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t, Reggie. If you only knew you would not want to touch +me.” +</p> + +<p> +Sydney lifted his head suddenly, but his arms were still crossed over the half +written letter. +</p> + +<p> +“Syd, what do you mean?” +</p> + +<p> +Rex looked at his brother in deep perplexity, his handsome brow wrinkled with +the anxiety Sydney’s appearance and demeanor were causing him. +</p> + +<p> +“You will know soon enough, Reggie, and then promise me that you will try +to think of me as friendly as you can; not give away utterly to your contempt. +It was partly for y—. No, I will not say that. No, go home, Rex. Tell +mother I am all right, and will be back some time to-night, and not to +worry.” +</p> + +<p> +“But you ought not to stay here and work, Syd,” Rex persisted. +“You are not fit to do it.” +</p> + +<p> +“I must do what I’ve set out to do.” Sydney’s voice was +almost stern as he made this reply. +</p> + +<p> +Rex saw that it was useless to linger, and went sadly home. Something dreadful +had evidently come over Sydney. What it was he did not pretend to know. But he +made up his mind not to tell the family all that Sydney had said. +</p> + +<p> +It was nearly nine that night before the young lawyer finished the letter to +Mrs. Fox to suit him. He dropped it in the corner letter box on his way home, +and then stepped in at a restaurant to at least go through the form of eating +something. +</p> + +<p> +“When shall I tell them at home about it?” was his one thought, and +the ever recurring echo to it was, “Not yet! not yet!” +</p> + +<p> +Almost his greatest trial of the day was forcing himself to remain in the +library a half hour after he reached the house, and trying to appear himself. +He was conscious that Rex was watching him closely. +</p> + +<p> +But it was natural for him to plead fatigue after a hard day’s work. He +locked himself in his room after he reached it. With hands tightly pressed +against his forehead, he sank into a chair. +</p> + +<p> +“I foresaw all this,” he muttered. “I knew that I must always +suffer. That what I did was done for others is no excuse; and now they must +suffer, too.” +</p> + +<p> +He slept this night from sheer exhaustion, but the sleep was much disturbed by +dreams, in all of which a white haired old lady with the face of a fox seemed +to be trying to do him some bodily injury. +</p> + +<p> +The next day he seemed to exist for nothing but the arrival of the mails. But +night came, and no response to his letter to Mrs. Fox. +</p> + +<p> +The following morning he tried to get up, but his head was so dizzy that he was +forced to drop back on the pillow again. Fortunately he had not locked his door +this time, so that when they came to inquire about him, they were able to get +in. +</p> + +<p> +It was Roy who came first. +</p> + +<p> +“My mail from the office,” was all Sydney had strength to say when +he saw him. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I will bring it for you,” replied Roy, and he decided to give +up school for the day. +</p> + +<p> +The doctor was summoned again, and prescribed perfect quiet, but after he had +gone, Sydney asked so persistently if Roy had come with his letters, that when +he did arrive, Mrs. Pell thought that the quickest way to quiet the patient was +to let him come in with them. +</p> + +<p> +“I only want to see one of them,” Sydney whispered quickly, as Rex +took a seat by the bedside, some dozen letters in his lap. +</p> + +<p> +“Which one, Syd?” asked Roy, gently. +</p> + +<p> +“It is from an old lady—a Mrs. Fox. It will probably be in a plain +envelope.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps this is it, then. Shall I open it and see?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, no. Give it to me,” replied Sydney quickly. +</p> + +<p> +He took the envelope and the knife Roy handed to him, but his fingers trembled +so that he could do nothing. +</p> + +<p> +“I shall have to let you open it after all, Roy,” he said, and +handed them both back. +</p> + +<p> +Roy slit the end of the envelope in a second, and once more put it into his +brother’s hands. With dilated eyes and breath coming in brief gasps, +Sydney drew out the inclosure. +</p> + +<p> +He unfolded it and looked eagerly at the signature. +</p> + +<p> +“I can’t see quite clearly, Rex,” he said after an instant. +“Is that Fox signed to this?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes. Hannah M. Fox.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you.” Sydney turned to the front page and began to read. +Suddenly he gave a little cry. +</p> + +<p> +“I can’t see the words, Roy,” he said. “Something is +the matter with my sight. You will have to read it to me. Never mind if some of +the things it says sound strange to you. I will explain them by and by. +Here.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy took the letter, and read as follows: +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +Mr. Sydney F. Pell. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +Dear Sir:—Come tomorrow night at midnight. Don’t ring. Knock +lightly on the door. Yours truly, +</p> + +<p class="right"> +Hannah M. Fox. +</p> + +<p> +“And that is to-night,” murmured Sydney. “How can I +go?” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap29"></a>CHAPTER XXIX<br /> +A MIDNIGHT VISIT</h2> + +<p> +“Do you want me to write a note for you saying you can’t +come?” said Roy. +</p> + +<p> +“No, no. I must go,” replied Sydney. +</p> + +<p> +“But you can’t,” Roy was about to answer. Then he checked +himself, and said instead: “Well, perhaps you will be well enough to go +to-night. Is it far?” for there was no address given in the letter. +</p> + +<p> +“No, not very. It is right in the city here. But you can’t write +for me. The old lady mustn’t know that you’ve seen her letter. +She’d notice the difference in the handwriting. But midnight! What a +queer time to appoint. It’s just like her, though. Now I will try and get +some sleep so as to help prepare myself for to-night.” +</p> + +<p> +The receipt of the letter appeared to have eased Sydney’s mind somewhat, +for he slept until well on in the afternoon, and then he woke feeling somewhat +better. +</p> + +<p> +“I can go to-night, Roy, after all,” he said to his brother +cheerfully. +</p> + +<p> +But Roy did not see how he could go. Still he thought it was best not to say +anything till the time came. +</p> + +<p> +Just before night, Sydney called Roy to the bedside. +</p> + +<p> +“Order a coupé for me to be here at half past eleven +to-night,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +“But you are not fit to go, Syd,” the other could not help but +respond. +</p> + +<p> +“I will be when the time comes,” was the reply. “You will +see. Say nothing to the others about it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then let me go with you,” suggested Roy. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, perhaps you may, but you will sit in the carriage. Now go out and +order it, please.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy felt somewhat burdened with a secret to keep from the family. But he +trusted Sydney fully, so he felt that it was all right The patient grew a +little better in the evening. +</p> + +<p> +At half past eight he called Roy to him and whispered: “You had better +lie down and get some rest now. Take my alarm clock and put it at quarter past +eleven.” +</p> + +<p> +But Roy knew it was no use to take the clock. He was sure he could not sleep. +He was far too anxious and excited for that. He lay down on the sofa in his own +room and tried to read. But he did not see a word on the page. He was thinking +of Sydney. +</p> + +<p> +Presently Rex came in. He flung himself down on the bed, exclaiming: +“Roy, I feel exactly as if something was going to happen. I can’t +get to sleep, so there’s no use in my going to bed. I’m worried +about Syd. There is something mighty queer about him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, he’s much better to-night,” Roy responded encouragingly. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I know; but it’s his actions all through this thing that +I’m worried about. Do you know that I sometimes think, Roy—” +here Rex sat up on the bed and lowered his voice impressively—“I +sometimes think that perhaps there was a touch of insanity in Syd’s +family. You know we are always forgetting that he isn’t one of us.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is it anything in particular makes you think that, Reggie?” said +Roy, wondering what Rex would say if he knew about that night’s +expedition. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, yes, one thing taken with a lot of other things,” and he +proceeded to tell of what Sydney had said to him at the office when he went +down there the previous night. +</p> + +<p> +“He seems to have the idea that he has committed some crime,” Rex +went on. “I really think that we ought to watch him carefully.” +</p> + +<p> +“It doesn’t seem to me to be as serious as that,” responded +Roy. “But as you say, we ought to watch him carefully.” +</p> + +<p> +Rex lay quiet for a time. Roy’s thoughts were disturbing ones. Reginald, +too, was worrying over Sydney’s condition. But that note from Hannah Fox +was something tangible. There was no chimera of the imagination about that. +</p> + +<p> +Perhaps it was a real anxiety that was preying on Syd’s mind. Very likely +something connected with his parentage. +</p> + +<p> +Roy had not thought of this before. He was about to suggest it to relieve his +brother’s mind when he looked up and saw that Rex was asleep. +</p> + +<p> +Then he glanced at the clock on the bureau and saw that it pointed to five +minutes to eleven. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll let him sleep on now,” he decided, “or +he’ll be sure to be around when we go, and I’m sure Syd +doesn’t want him to know.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy went across the hall to his elder brother’s room. +</p> + +<p> +He found him sitting on the side of the bed, looking very pale. +</p> + +<p> +“I guess you’ll have to help me dress, Roy,” he said with a +sorry sort of smile. +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps you’d better send a telegram,” Roy rejoined. +“There won’t be any handwriting to recognize on that.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, no, I must go myself. You will understand some day, very soon, why I +feel this way, and then, Roy, you may pity me and forgive me if you can.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy thought of his brother’s theory. Sydney’s talk was very +strange, but not stranger than this midnight proceeding. Well, he would wait +until he had seen this last through before deciding whether or not he ought to +report to his mother. +</p> + +<p> +He helped Sydney on with his clothes, then went to the window to see if the +carriage was there. He saw it standing in the glare of a street lamp. It was +just half past eleven. He started to his own room to get his coat. +</p> + +<p> +“Be careful to make no noise, Roy,” Sydney cautioned him. +</p> + +<p> +But when Roy entered his own apartment, there was Rex sitting up on the bed, +rubbing his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +Roy hoped he would go at once to his room, but he began to talk about the +strangeness of his having fallen asleep in that way, and then when he saw what +time it was, wanted to know why Roy hadn’t gone to bed. +</p> + +<p> +“How could I when you were in the way?” Roy answered smilingly, and +just then Sydney called to him softly from down the hall, “Roy, +aren’t you coming?” +</p> + +<p> +There was no help for it. Roy went to the closet and took down his overcoat. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, where are you going this time of night, Roy Pell?” demanded +Rex. +</p> + +<p> +“Just out for a little while; good night, old fellow. You’d better +go straight to bed.” +</p> + +<p> +“But look here, Roy.” Rex was following him out into the hall. +“This is mighty queer, your going off this way. Does mother know about +it?” +</p> + +<p> +Rex ceased abruptly. He had come face to face with Sydney, all dressed for the +street. +</p> + +<p> +“Reggie, what are you doing up?” Sydney asked, and to Rex his voice +sounded cold and stern. +</p> + +<p> +“I fell asleep on Roy’s bed. But where are you two going? +You’re not fit to be out of bed, Syd,” as the latter reeled and +made a quick clutch at the bannisters. +</p> + +<p> +“Rex, help me down stairs with him and don’t make any noise.” +Roy spoke in an authoritative tone, and Rex meekly obeyed. +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps Rex had better come along, too. I ordered a coach, so that you +could put your feet up. There’ll be plenty of room.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy whispered this in Sydney’s ear as they went slowly down the stairs. +</p> + +<p> +“All right; just as you say. I suppose it won’t make much +difference how soon you all know now.” +</p> + +<p> +“Rex, you may come along if you like,” said Roy, when they reached +the lower hall, and Sydney was sitting on the settee. “Run up quickly and +get your coat.” +</p> + +<p> +Rex eagerly seized the opportunity, and in five minutes they were all in the +carriage, and the driver had started for Seventh Street. +</p> + +<p> +Sydney was considerably exhausted by the effort he had already made. He lay +back in the seat breathing heavily. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you know where we are going and what for?” Rex leaned forward +to whisper in Roy’s ear. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s a mystery to me, too, but we want to watch out carefully that +no harm comes to Syd,” Roy whispered back. +</p> + +<p> +When the carriage halted before the little dwelling where Mrs. Fox lived Roy +started to get out, but Sydney drew him back. +</p> + +<p> +“No, I must be alone,” he said. “Have the carriage wait here +till I come out.” +</p> + +<p> +But he had scarcely taken a step from the carriage when his weakness +overpowered him. He tottered, and would have fallen had not Rex sprung out and +caught him. Roy was at his other side in an instant, and together the two boys +supported him. +</p> + +<p> +“You will have to help me up to the door, I guess,” he whispered +faintly; “but don’t ring; knock lightly.” +</p> + +<p> +There was no one passing at the moment, nor did any light shine from the +interior of the place, Roy knocked against the glass in the door, and the +latter was opened on the merest crack. +</p> + +<p> +“Who’s there?” came the demand in a quivering old +woman’s voice. +</p> + +<p> +“Sydney Pell. I am ill, but I was bound to come. My two brothers are with +me. Can’t they help me in to a seat? They will then go away again.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, no; they can’t come in,” was the quick response. +“There must be no noise. It’s a risk to have you here.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then can you open the door wide enough to help me in?” returned +Sydney. +</p> + +<p> +The answer was the swinging back of the door and the reaching out of the old +lady’s arm. +</p> + +<p> +“Go back to the carriage, boys, and wait,” said Sydney, and the +next instant he had disappeared within the mysterious dwelling. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap30"></a>CHAPTER XXX<br /> +SYDNEY FREES HIS MIND</h2> + +<p> +“You’re pretty weak, aren’t you?” This was Mrs. +Fox’s remark as she eased Sydney down into a rocking chair in the little +parlor. It was quite dark, save for the faint light that came in from the +street lamp over the curtain pole in the window. +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose I was too weak to venture to come,” Sydney answered, +“but I felt that I must. Did you understand all that I meant to say in my +note?” +</p> + +<p> +“I understand that you know of a great sum of money that is coming to +Maurice Darley. It’s strange, very strange.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why is it? Did you know anything about it? Did you expect it?” +</p> + +<p> +There was a note of alarm in Sydney’s tones. +</p> + +<p> +“No, not that in particular. But you must tell me all the details before +I dare to tell any more.” +</p> + +<p> +The old lady seated herself on a low chair close to Sydney’s side. It was +extremely weird, this confidential talk in the darkness. +</p> + +<p> +“What details do you want?” Sydney asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, proofs that there is really something to this fortune. Maurice has +talked too much about others that have nothing to them.” +</p> + +<p> +“You see him often, then,” exclaimed Sydney eagerly. +“He’s here, perhaps.” +</p> + +<p> +“S’h!” commanded the old Lady in a stern whisper. “Yes, +he is here. He is in the back room yonder. I am so afraid he will hear us. That +is why I had you come at midnight, when he would be sound asleep.” +</p> + +<p> +“But why can I not see him?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because he is weak—weak in his mind. He is all the while fancying +that he is rich. A talk about money would excite him so that I fear the +consequences.” +</p> + +<p> +“And you say he knew Mr. Tyler?” Sydney remembered and spoke this +name very softly. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, he talks of him continually now.” +</p> + +<p> +“Was he in his office once?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I believe so.” +</p> + +<p> +“One more question. Has this Mr. Darley any children?” +</p> + +<p> +“He had one once—a boy. But it must have died when a baby, soon +after Mrs. Darley did. And now do you know why I do not want you to come here +with stories of riches for Maurice Darley? He’s daft on the subject +already. I do not want him to go so far that they will take him away from +me.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are fond of him, then?” asked Sydney. +</p> + +<p> +“He is all I have. If he goes I must live alone. It is my delight to care +for him. The little money David left me is enough for my simple wants, Maurice +lives like a lord in his fancies. Why do you want to come and disturb us in our +content?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because I must,” Sydney broke out, as passionately as he could in +restrained tones. “Don’t you understand that the money which +belongs to Maurice Darley I have been diverting to other uses? It was left to +him by Mr. Tyler, but I tore up the will. He made it about three hours after +another one, in which he had left everything to the woman who had acted as a +mother to me for twenty years. +</p> + +<p> +“He was a vacillating old man. I felt that he might change his mind back +again if he should live three hours longer, so when he was dead I tore up the +last will. I alone knew what it contained, and I have been a miserable man ever +since.” +</p> + +<p> +Sydney bowed his head on his hands, and there was silence in the little room +for a moment or two. +</p> + +<p> +“You—you are a criminal, then?” said the old lady presently. +</p> + +<p> +Sydney winced at the term, but at the same time he felt a sense of relief, as +one does after taking a plunge into cold water. At any rate the shock of the +first contact was over. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I suppose I am,” he answered. “And I am ready to suffer +the penalty. The only excuse I have to offer is the fact that what I did, I did +not for myself, but for those I love, who have done so much for me. And now it +is not joy, but misery, I shall bring them.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are repentant, though,” murmured the old lady softly. +“It is not as if you were hardened and only gave up when some one else +found it out and forced you to. There is hope for you in that. But how much +money is there?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nearly half a million. But some of it has been used, put into a house, +which of course will be given up to Mr. Darley.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then you will take him away from me?” It was almost a wail with +which the old lady said this. +</p> + +<p> +“No, you can come with him, of course.” +</p> + +<p> +“No. It will be his taking care of me then, and that will be so +different. Oh, why did you come to disturb us?” She seemed quite +forgetful for the time of the presence of any one else in the room, of her own +caution to Sydney to speak quietly. Suddenly she appeared to recollect this +latter necessity. +</p> + +<p> +She ceased the half moaning she had begun and clutched Sydney’s arm +tightly. +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose,” she whispered, “that it would not be right to +ask you to keep this money?” +</p> + +<p> +“I can’t keep it,” Sydney replied. “I have suffered +enough from it already.” +</p> + +<p> +“But how can you give it to a man who is not in his right mind? He thinks +he is a wealthy man. I have given him a quantity of gilt paper to play with. He +is like a child, you know. The possession of real money will not make him any +happier.” +</p> + +<p> +“But there is the son,” suggested Sydney. +</p> + +<p> +“I told you he was dead.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am not so sure of that. I think I have seen him. Would he not be about +seventeen now?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, and you have seen him?” +</p> + +<p> +It was with difficulty the old lady kept her tones within bounds. +</p> + +<p> +“But you cannot be sure it is the same,” she went on. +</p> + +<p> +“No. I cannot be certain, but I am pretty sure.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps he looks like his father. Wait, I think I can find a picture of +him in the dark.” +</p> + +<p> +“But I cannot see it in the dark.” +</p> + +<p> +“By holding it close to the window you can get the ray from the lamp on +it There! here it is, I think.” +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Fox took the portrait to the front of the room, and parting the curtains a +little, held it for Sydney to look at. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, it is very like,” he said. “This picture must have been +taken when Mr. Darley was quite young.” +</p> + +<p> +“He sat for it before he was married. But where is this boy?” +</p> + +<p> +“Living at a little town out in New Jersey. He wants to find his +father.” +</p> + +<p> +“How comes it he isn’t dead?” the old lady wanted to know. +</p> + +<p> +Sydney told the story of Miles Harding as he had heard it from Rex. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you know why he was compelled to give up the child?” he added. +</p> + +<p> +“Poverty, I suppose. You know he was very sick once, and he lost +everything. That was what unsettled his reason. But to think he should have +given out that the child was dead!” +</p> + +<p> +“Did you ever hear him speak of the Morriseys?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, I never heard the name before. But I should like to see this boy. +Does he know that his father is living?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, not yet; you see I did not hear of it until tonight. But I must not +stay longer. My brothers are waiting for me in the carriage. We must arrange +what we are going to do.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know what to say. The boy ought to have his rights. +Can’t we fix it all quietly some way? I don’t think you meant to do +wrong.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I did. I did everything with my eyes open. I ought to suffer for +it. The only trouble is that those I love will suffer with me. But don’t +you think the restoration of fortune will bring back Mr. Darley’s +mind?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know. I can’t tell about that. He is very +queer.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you have a doctor for him?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, no. I’d be afraid they’d want to take him away. I expect +I’m selfish about it. But bring the boy here. He is old enough. We can +talk it over with him, and maybe his father will recognize him.” +</p> + +<p> +“I can come any time, then?” said Sydney. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, now I know who you are.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good night, then. I shall see you soon again. I feel better than when I +came.” +</p> + +<p> +Sydney rose and walked to the door without assistance. As soon as the boys saw +him they hurried out to help him into the carriage. Within three minutes they +were driving towards home and a church clock near by chimed one—for half +past twelve. +</p> + +<p> +“Boys,” began Sydney, “I have something to tell you. I was +not glad before that I was not your own brother. I am glad of it now, +because—I am a criminal.” +</p> + +<p> +There was a pause. No one spoke. There was no sound but the rattle of the +wheels. It was too dark to see the expression on the faces of the twins. Rex +was leaning partly forward, one hand gripping Roy’s knee. He could think +of nothing save the night Mr. Keeler had spent with them and the horror they +had had of him before they found out that it was his brother whose picture was +in that book. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap31"></a>CHAPTER XXXI<br /> +THE CONFESSION TO THE BOYS</h2> + +<p> +The carriage had gone two squares before the silence in it was broken. Then Roy +spoke. +</p> + +<p> +“What is it, Syd?” he said. “I am sure you are worrying +yourself needlessly over something—are magnifying it from a molehill into +a mountain.” +</p> + +<p> +“Needlessly? Oh, boys, would that I were! But as soon as I tell you, you +will understand it all. And I shall tell you now—in a minute. But just +give me your hand, each of you, that I may feel the warm pressure of your +confidence before—before you know the worst of me.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy and Rex instantly put out their hands. Syd took one in each of his and held +them tight for an instant. Then he dropped them quickly and began to speak +rapidly. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you remember, Roy, the night last July you went home in Dr. +Martin’s carriage and left me alone with Mr. Tyler? The will that left +all his money to mother had been signed and witnessed; you know what it +contained. I felt so rejoiced for you all, although I had no idea then that +there was a chance of your so soon coming into possession. +</p> + +<p> +“I sat talking to the old man for an hour or so, about his investments +and the various savings banks in which his money was deposited. Finally he +appeared to grow restless. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Have you got that will I made, Sydney?’ he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“I pointed it out to him where it lay on the table. +</p> + +<p> +“‘I can make another one, can’t I?’ he went on. +</p> + +<p> +“‘As many as you please,’ I told him. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Then write out this one and I’ll sign it,’ he said, +and he dictated a document that left every penny of his fortune, except the +five thousand to Ann and a thousand he left to you, Roy, to Maurice Darley, if +living, or his heirs if dead. +</p> + +<p> +“‘You and Ann can witness it,’ he told me, and I called her +in, and she wrote her name under mine. +</p> + +<p> +“He named myself and Dr. Martin as executors just as before, and said +that I could probably find Maurice Darley without much trouble. He turned over +in bed then and I asked him where Darley was when he last heard from him, but +he did not answer. I went over to the bed and looked at him, and found that he +was dead. +</p> + +<p> +“Then the temptation flashed into my mind. +</p> + +<p> +“‘What a shame,’ I thought, ‘that owing to the caprice +of a foolish old man these people who have been so good to me should be +deprived of the fortune which had just been left to them. This Darley is +undoubtedly rich. He has behaved contemptibly to the man who did so much for +him. Why should he get the money?’ +</p> + +<p> +“Then I recollected that you had gone into the kitchen, Roy, earlier in +the evening, to get Ann to sign the first will, and then the doctor had told +you that it was not necessary. I reasoned that she would undoubtedly suppose +that the will she did sign was the only one that had been made, because I was +sure she had not read it. +</p> + +<p> +“All these things flashed into my mind within a few seconds of time as I +stood by the bedside of the dead man. My determination was quickly taken. I +knew that Ann had gone home, that there was no one near to see the deed. +</p> + +<p> +“I took the new will and held it in the flame of the candle till it was +entirely consumed. Then I blew the cinders, so that they scattered about the +room and would not attract attention.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Syd!” This in a kind of gasp from Roy. +</p> + +<p> +Rex said nothing. He was sitting upright now, still seeming to see before him +the face of “No. 131,” Mr. Keeler’s criminal brother. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I knew you would all shrink from me when you knew,” went on +Sydney. He spoke in a voice that was almost hard now. It was as if it had +become so from the spurring that was necessary to enable him to make his +confession. “I shrank from myself as soon as the last piece of tinder had +vanished from the candlestick. I could not bear to stay in the house. I hurried +off to the undertaker’s, and then stopped at Dr. Martin’s to tell +him that the miser was dead. +</p> + +<p> +“He said something about the good fortune that had come to us so quickly. +I shuddered and hurried home. But I could not sleep. I seemed to have become an +old man in that one instant while I held that sheet of paper in the flame of +the candle.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s the reason we did not see you at breakfast the next +morning?” said Roy softly. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I felt that I could not face you all just yet.” +</p> + +<p> +“And that is why you looked so terrible and fainted away when I told +Scott Bowman about our inheritance at your office?” added Rex. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; I was planning all sorts of ways to fix things, so we needn’t +take the money. Then I saw it was too late. Now you know what has been on my +mind all these months. I knew that my health was being undermined by the +strain. But I did not care for that. I even hoped at times that I might die, +because then I felt that you need never know.” +</p> + +<p> +“And—and was it anything in particular that made you tell us +to-night?” asked Rex. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes. It seems very strange how things come about, but then it often +happens so. Do you remember, Reggi—Rex, telling me the name of the man +who left your friend Miles with the Morriseys’?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, and it was Darley, the same name you mentioned just now. And you +fainted then, just as you did that time at the office. You don’t mean +that Miles—” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I am almost certain that Miles Morrisey is really a Darley, the son +of Maurice Darley, to whom all this money belongs. When I suspected this I knew +that the end had come—that I must trace the thing down and +confess.” +</p> + +<p> +At this point the carriage halted before the door of the house. Rex sprang out, +then Roy, and both boys waited to help Sydney. But he made no movement to +follow them. +</p> + +<p> +“Aren’t you going to get out, Syd?” asked Roy. +</p> + +<p> +“No; I have no right to live among you any more. Now that you know, it +will seem like having a convict in the house. I can go to some hotel. You can +send my things to me and I will stay there till—till this is settled up +and they put me away.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy stepped into the carriage and put his face so close to Sydney’s that +the latter felt the smooth flesh against his day’s growth of beard. +</p> + +<p> +“Dear old fellow,” whispered Roy, “you must come. We +haven’t cast you off. And—and besides, we want you with us to help +us decide what to do.” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t be so good to me, Roy. I can’t bear it.” +</p> + +<p> +But as he spoke, Sydney got out, and the three went up the steps. +</p> + +<p> +Nothing was said as they ascended the stairs. There was danger of disturbing +the household. +</p> + +<p> +“Good night, Syd,” said Roy, when they reached the top. +</p> + +<p> +He put out his hand, but Sydney did not see it in the darkness. +</p> + +<p> +“Good night, Roy,” he responded. +</p> + +<p> +Rex said nothing, but when Sydney’s door closed behind him, he drew Roy +into his room with him. +</p> + +<p> +“You must stay with me to-night, Roy,” he said, and he began taking +off his coat. +</p> + +<p> +“Why didn’t you speak to Syd before we came in, Reggie?” +</p> + +<p> +“I couldn’t, Roy. I feel awfully sorry for him. But he’s +committed a crime, and I can’t help but think all the while of Mr. +Keeler’s brother.” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s terrible—awful.” Roy’s face was pale; he +looked almost as Sydney had looked at one time. +</p> + +<p> +“What are we going to do?” Rex sat down on the edge of the bed, a +despairing droop to the shoulders that he usually carried so squarely. +</p> + +<p> +“We must give up everything to the rightful heir.” +</p> + +<p> +“But where shall we go then? We’ve sold our house in Marley and +spent the money we got for it. We’ll be worse off than we were before, +Roy. Oh, dear, why did you ever look up at that trestle and see that old man +crawl out on it?” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ve wished I hadn’t before now,” replied Roy gravely. +</p> + +<p> +“The money hasn’t made us happy as you expected it would, and now +see what misery it has brought. But I suppose it’s wrong for me to regret +doing what I did. And don’t think so hard of Syd, Reggie. Remember that +he did what he did, not for himself, but for us.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll try my best, but I don’t feel now as if I could ever +touch him again. And think what he has brought us to! Poverty, after just +giving us the taste of wealth.” The twins did not sleep much that night. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap32"></a>CHAPTER XXXII<br /> +A HARD DAY FOR THE TWINS</h2> + +<p> +Roy and Rex slept far into the morning, which was Saturday. They were awakened +finally by a persistent knocking on the door and Jess’s voice: +</p> + +<p> +“Are you boys going to sleep all day? Have you forgotten we were all +going to Marley at eleven o’clock? And here’s a note Syd left for +you, Rex. He’s much better and gone to the office. Get up now or we +shan’t save breakfast” +</p> + +<p> +“All right,” responded Roy, and he shook his brother and told him +about Syd’s note. +</p> + +<p> +“I wonder what it’s about,” murmured Rex. +</p> + +<p> +Then he saw it on the carpet, where Jess had poked it under the door. He +snatched it up eagerly and read: +</p> + +<p> +“I am going to telegraph for Miles to come in and stay over Sunday. He +must be told while he is here. He will get to the house in time for +dinner.” +</p> + +<p> +“I wonder if he expects me to tell him?” muttered Rex. “Great +Scott, it’ll be mighty queer to entertain a fellow in a house that really +belongs to him!” +</p> + +<p> +“And I wonder when mother and the girls are to be told,” added Roy. +“Do you suppose Syd could have told mother already?” +</p> + +<p> +But there was no sign that Mrs. Pell knew from her demeanor when she poured the +coffee for them. +</p> + +<p> +“I must go down and see Syd about it,” said Roy as they went out +into the hall together. “You’ll have to go to Marley without +me.” +</p> + +<p> +“And I’m sure I don’t want to go,” added Rex. +</p> + +<p> +Their decision carried dismay to the hearts of the girls. +</p> + +<p> +“You must go, boys,” said Eva. “The Minturns have invited us +to lunch, we have accepted, and it would be very impolite for you not to go +now. Besides, Jess and I can’t come home after dark alone.” +</p> + +<p> +“If you knew what I do you wouldn’t feel like going either,” +returned Rex, not heeding the warning glance cast at him by his brother. +</p> + +<p> +“What do you know, Rex?” asked Jess, looking from one twin to the +other with a keen gaze. “There is something between those two,” she +added, turning to her sister. “You take Roy, Eva, and I’ll take +Rex, and we’ll make them up and confess.” +</p> + +<p> +The method of “making” employed was to tickle the boys, who were +each very susceptible to this form of torture. This was terrible. To have the +thing turned into a joke when it was so fearfully serious. Roy spoke up +quickly: +</p> + +<p> +“We’ll tell you in a little while now, girls,” he said. +“But seriously, I think you had better give up this trip to +Marley.” +</p> + +<p> +“But what excuse will we send the Minturns?” +</p> + +<p> +Roy hesitated. This was a poser. +</p> + +<p> +“Can’t you put it off?” he said finally, as a makeshift. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course we can’t, without giving a reason for it,” +returned Jess. “I think you boys are just as mean as you can be. Because +you’ve got up some scheme between you that you’d rather do than go +with us, you just won’t go.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah, Jess, it isn’t that. It’s—but I can’t tell +you now. Come, Rex, we’d better go after all. One day won’t make +any difference.” +</p> + +<p> +Rex objected a little longer, but was at last won over. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t suppose we could tell them without Syd’s +consent,” he said when he and Roy had gone up stairs to get their coats. +“But it’ll seem exactly like dancing on our own graves.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, not so bad as that, Reggie,” returned Roy. +</p> + +<p> +The day was a terribly hard one to both boys. All sorts of plans were discussed +and adopted for future good times. +</p> + +<p> +Charlie and Ethel Minturn were invited up for a week from that day to take +lunch and go to a matinee. +</p> + +<p> +“They’ll never be able to take them,” Rex found opportunity +to whisper to his brother. “I wish we’d told the girls about it +this morning.” +</p> + +<p> +“So do I, but I didn’t like to till Syd said he was ready.” +</p> + +<p> +The Minturns could not fail to notice that the twins had something on their +minds. Ethel spoke of it. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, it’s some piece of boys’ mischief, I’ll be +bound,” exclaimed Jess, whereupon Roy and Rex exchanged glances and their +hearts sank lower still. +</p> + +<p> +On the way home in the train Rex announced that Miles Morrisey was coming that +evening to spend Sunday with them. +</p> + +<p> +“But I thought you and Roy were going to a meeting of your school +society,” returned Jess. “If it hadn’t been for that we could +have stayed to dinner at the Minturns’.” +</p> + +<p> +“Great Scott, I forgot all about the Stylus!” exclaimed Rex. +“Well, it don’t matter; we’ll have to give it up any +way.” +</p> + +<p> +The coming of night seemed to bring with it to Reginald a realizing sense of +all that the new order of things would mean. He relapsed into thoughtfulness, +in the midst of which he half sprang from his seat with an inarticulate +exclamation. +</p> + +<p> +“What’s the matter, Rex?” inquired Eva. “Oh, +nothing,” he responded. But the color deepened slightly in his cheek, and +he looked furtively at Roy. +</p> + +<p> +The cause of his start was the remembrance of what Sydney had said about the +name Darley having caused him to determine to confess. +</p> + +<p> +“If I had not gone off with Harrington that time,” was Rex’s +inference, “Miles would not have come into my life, and we would not now +be facing poverty.” +</p> + +<p> +But the blush was the shame at the idea that he would be willing to enjoy the +fruits of Sydney’s crime provided he did not know about it. +</p> + +<p> +“I always feel sorry for Miles when he comes to see us,” remarked +Eva. +</p> + +<p> +“Why?” asked Rex quickly. +</p> + +<p> +“Because he seems to feel embarrassed, as though he were out of place. He +isn’t in the least. He has very nice manners, and I’m sure is a +perfect gentleman. But what he needs is a little more self assurance.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, he’ll get that fast enough now,” said Rex, and then +looked fixedly away from the scandalized glance he knew Roy was directing at +him. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll go home with the girls if you’ll wait at the station +for Miles, Rex,” and Reginald was glad to be left alone for a few +minutes. +</p> + +<p> +“It doesn’t seem as if it could be so,” he mused, as he +walked up and down the pavement opposite the Public Buildings. “Miles and +I to change places!” +</p> + +<p> +People hurrying to catch outgoing trains jostled him; the clang of the cable +car bells sounded every few seconds; the noises of the city life he loved were +all about him. +</p> + +<p> +“Where shall I be a year from now?” he asked himself. +</p> + +<p> +But it was nearly time for Miles’s train. Rex turned and went up the +stairway to the left of the station building. As he did so, he passed a +familiar face coming down. It was the boy who got him into trouble with the +Chinaman that July afternoon six months before. +</p> + +<p> +But Rex felt no resentment now. +</p> + +<p> +“If that was the only trouble I had to think about!” he told +himself enviously. +</p> + +<p> +Of such power is comparison. +</p> + +<p> +Miles’s train was on time. Rex saw Miles standing on the step of the +forward car, ready to spring off at the first opportunity. His face lighted up +to a still greater radiance at sight of Rex waiting for him. +</p> + +<p> +“I didn’t think you’d come to meet me,” he said, as he +shook hands. “It is awfully good of you. I’m so glad to see +you.” +</p> + +<p> +There was no doubt of this. One could read it at once in the way he looked at +his companion. +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose you were surprised to get Syd’s telegram,” +remarked Rex. “What did he say in it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Come and spend Sunday with Rex,” answered the other. “I was +here only a little while ago, but I was glad enough to come again. It is ever +so kind in you to send for me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Didn’t you think there might be any other reason for our sending +for you?” asked Rex, after an instant’s pause. +</p> + +<p> +A troubled look crossed Miles’s face. +</p> + +<p> +“No; what do you mean, Rex?” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t you remember what you found out a little while +ago—about the man who left you with the Morriseys?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, my father. Has your brother heard anything about him? Is that what +you want me for?” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s about that; yes. I’m not sure whether your father has +been found, but something else has been found that belongs to you.” +</p> + +<p> +“And what is that?” asked Miles eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +“A fortune.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap33"></a>CHAPTER XXXIII<br /> +A QUEER FISH POND PARTY</h2> + +<p> +Miles stared at Rex as though he did not comprehend the meaning of the word. +</p> + +<p> +“A fortune?” he repeated. “What fortune?” +</p> + +<p> +“Why, your fortune, to be sure,” returned Rex. +</p> + +<p> +“But I don’t understand,” went on Miles. “How can I +have a fortune?” +</p> + +<p> +“Easy enough, since your father has one. Syd knows all about it. +You’re a lucky fellow, Miles. It’s somewhere about half a +million.” +</p> + +<p> +Miles looked very grave for half a minute, then a smile broke out over his +face. +</p> + +<p> +“Come, Rex,” he said, “I see through your joke, so you might +as well drop it. You oughtn’t to have made the sum so high if you +expected me to believe it.” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s true, all the same, Miles.” +</p> + +<p> +But Miles still shook his head and declared he should wait to believe till Mr. +Sydney told him all about it. +</p> + +<p> +“I wonder if Syd will tell him the whole thing tonight?” Rex asked +himself, but Sydney was not home to dinner. +</p> + +<p> +There was a note from him to Rex, however, asking that he and Roy and Miles +should meet him at the Continental Hotel that night at eight. This threw Rex +into a great state of excitement. He knew that the crisis was at hand. +</p> + +<p> +Roy took things more quietly, but inwardly he was none the less excited. +</p> + +<p> +“Syd wants us to meet him down town,” he said as they rose from the +table. +</p> + +<p> +He had been waiting for Rex to tell Miles, but the other had not yet brought +himself to do it. +</p> + +<p> +“Where are you going?” Jess wanted to know. “To the +theater?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, indeed,” responded Rex. Then he folded up his napkin quickly +and left the dining room. +</p> + +<p> +“Has this visit got anything to do with my father?” Miles whispered +to Roy, as they went out into the hall together. +</p> + +<p> +“I think it has, Miles, but I don’t know much more about it than +you do.” +</p> + +<p> +There was not much said by the three boys on their way down town. Rex was in +one of his silent moods, and made no effort to get out of it. +</p> + +<p> +Roy tried to talk, but there was such a weight on his mind that he made but +poor success of the attempt. +</p> + +<p> +Miles was far too excited, however, to notice the difference in manner of the +twins compared with their usual cordiality. +</p> + +<p> +They found Sydney waiting for them in the corridor of the hotel. He was looking +very haggard, but he seemed very glad to see Miles. +</p> + +<p> +“I have good news for you, my boy,” he said; “good and bad, +too. I have found your father, but he is not quite himself.” +</p> + +<p> +“What do you mean?” exclaimed Miles, while Roy and Rex looked their +interest. +</p> + +<p> +“His mind is affected,” Sydney went on. “We hope the sight of +you may have a favorable effect, but be careful not to be excited yourself when +you see him. Take it quite as a matter of course.” +</p> + +<p> +Miles drew in a long breath. It was going to be rather a difficult matter for +him to take easily a meeting with the father he had thought never to see. +</p> + +<p> +“Where is he?” he asked in a faint tone. +</p> + +<p> +“Not far from here. Come, we will go there at once.” +</p> + +<p> +On the way to Mrs. Fox’s Sydney explained that he and the old lady had +arranged that she should give a sort of boys’ party at which Mr. Darley +should be present. He would then have an opportunity to study Miles quietly, +while the latter was engaged in playing games. +</p> + +<p> +“You look so much like him,” Sydney added, “that we hope he +may recognize you.” +</p> + +<p> +Miles appeared to be somewhat astonished when they halted before the odd little +home in Seventh Street. But he said nothing, and the next moment they were all +being warmly welcomed by Mrs. Fox. +</p> + +<p> +The old lady was so excited that both her hands and voice trembled. She came +near crying when she first saw Miles, but she greeted him exactly as she had +the twins. There was a game of Fish Pond on the center table. +</p> + +<p> +“Now, boys,” she said, “try your luck.” +</p> + +<p> +They all drew up to the table, Sydney taking a rod, too. The old lady stood +looking on behind Miles’s chair. Presently she went out into the back +room and in a few minutes returned, accompanied by a gentleman who did not look +to be over thirty-seven. He was dressed very handsomely and his resemblance to +Miles was striking. +</p> + +<p> +“Mr. Darley, boys,” said Mrs. Fox, as the two came up to the table. +“Go right on with your fishing; we will watch you.” +</p> + +<p> +She had taken up her stand this time behind Rex, who was sitting just opposite +Miles. +</p> + +<p> +“Glad to meet you, boys,” remarked Mr. Darley, in a pleasant voice. +“How is the market?” +</p> + +<p> +Rex, with an effort, collected himself sufficiently to answer, “Oh, +pretty fair, sir.” +</p> + +<p> +“Only pretty fair, eh?” went on the other. “Keep at it, +though. You’re bound to win some time, as I have. Look here.” +</p> + +<p> +He put his hand in the side pocket of his coat and drew forth a great mass of +chips, all covered with gilt paper. +</p> + +<p> +A look of agony was on Miles’s face. It was almost worse than finding no +father at all, to find such a one as this. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t you want to take my rod and fish a while, sir?” he +said, feeling that it would be impossible for him to longer sit still. +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you; you are very kind. I might take a single flyer.” +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Darley stepped around to take Miles’s seat, but as the other rose +they were face to face, and very close to each other for an instant. Mr. Darley +put out both hands and grasped the boy by the shoulders. +</p> + +<p> +“What is your name?” he said in a tone that was quite different +from the one in which he had hitherto spoken. It was much more decided, and +firmer. +</p> + +<p> +“Miles,” answered the other, trying his best to keep his excitement +down. +</p> + +<p> +He could see Mrs. Fox standing just behind his father, her hands clasped +together in an agony of suspense. +</p> + +<p> +“Miles, eh! Well, you look as if your name ought to be Maurice. Great +Cæsar! doesn’t he look like me, Mrs. Fox?” +</p> + +<p> +He wheeled around so suddenly that the poor old lady was taken quite unawares. +She dropped her hands quickly to her sides and had not a word to say. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t he look like me?” Mr. Darley now appealed to Sydney, +who managed to stammer out: “I certainly see a strong resemblance, +sir.” +</p> + +<p> +“What is your last name, young man?” went on the other. +</p> + +<p> +Miles hesitated an instant. He was about to say Darley, but some happy instinct +prompted him to substitute “Morrisey.” +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Darley started. +</p> + +<p> +“Morrisey, you say?” he exclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +A swift change passed over his features. He had dropped his hand from +Miles’s shoulders, but now reached forth and caught him by the arm. +</p> + +<p> +“Come with me,” he said quietly, and led him into the back room. +</p> + +<p> +The others looked at one another without speaking. No one thought of the game. +The fish lines, tangled up, were lying in the pasteboard pond. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Fox had sunk down on the sofa, her head covered with her apron. From the +inner room came the subdued sound of voices. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you suppose he has recognized him?” It was Rex who at length +broke the silence, and he spoke in an awed whisper. +</p> + +<p> +Nobody made any reply, for footsteps were heard approaching from the rear. It +was Miles. His face was handsomer than Rex had ever seen it. It was lighted up +with joy. +</p> + +<p> +He came straight to Rex and put a hand on his shoulder, while he leaned over +till his chin rested on the other’s head. +</p> + +<p> +“I want to tell you first, Rex,” he said, “who have been the +means of bringing me to this happiness. He knows me. His mind has come back to +him. He called me Maurice, and he remembers giving me to the Morriseys to take +care of for a while. Then his brain went back on him, and he thought I was +dead.” +</p> + +<p> +“Where is he?” asked Rex. +</p> + +<p> +“Lying down on the bed. He is utterly exhausted. I must go back to him +now,” and Miles hurried off again. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap34"></a>CHAPTER XXXIV<br /> +REX RISES TO THE OCCASION</h2> + +<p> +“It’s wonderful. I never heard anything like it.” This was +Mrs. Fox’s exclamation when the four were left alone in the front room +again. +</p> + +<p> +“All the credit belongs to you, Mr. Pell,” she went on, turning to +Sydney. “It was you thought of this way of doing things.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, he might have recognized him any other way just as quickly,” +returned Sydney. “And now some one must tell him about Mr. Tyler’s +legacy,” he added. “I want to get that off my mind.” +</p> + +<p> +“I guess he can’t stand that to-night, Mr. Pell,” returned +the old lady. “You’d better leave it till tomorrow. I’ll keep +Miles here with him to-night—there’s room—and then they can +both go to see you to-morrow.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, that will be the best way,” Sydney agreed. “But I had +hoped to get it off my mind by this time. Come, boys.” +</p> + +<p> +“I trust I shall see you both again,” said Mrs. Fox, as she shook +hands with the twins. +</p> + +<p> +Then the three Pells went out and homeward. It was only nine o’clock. +</p> + +<p> +“Mother ought to know, don’t you think so, Syd?” said Roy. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, she must know to-night. But I don’t see how I can tell her. I +don’t see how I can. She trusts me so fully.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then let me tell her,” suggested Roy. +</p> + +<p> +“No, no. I must confess myself. I shall do it now as soon as we get home. +Then I can be ready to put myself in Mr. Darley’s hands to-morrow.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you think he will—will—” Rex began and came to a +sudden stop. +</p> + +<p> +“Send me to jail?” Syd finished for him. “He may. He has a +right to do it. I deserve to go. Oh, boys, I wonder how you can bear to be with +me.” +</p> + +<p> +“You did it for our sakes, Syd,” responded Roy. +</p> + +<p> +But Rex said nothing. +</p> + +<p> +When they reached the house they found Eva and Jess in the parlor, entertaining +company. +</p> + +<p> +“Come in, boys,” Eva called as they passed the door. +</p> + +<p> +Roy and Rex obeyed the summons, leaving Sydney to go up to Mrs. Pell in the +library. +</p> + +<p> +They found Mr. Keeler to be the caller. Rex started when he saw who it was. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, where is Miles?” asked Jess. +</p> + +<p> +“He stayed with his father,” replied Rex. +</p> + +<p> +“His father!” echoed both girls. “Why, has he found +him?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” answered Roy, “Syd found him. There’s a story +for you, Mr. Keeler, a regular romance.” +</p> + +<p> +Rex began to look nervous. He feared that his escapade with Harrington was +about to be related. But Roy skillfully told the main points in Miles’s +career without encroaching on this. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Keeler stayed until ten o’clock, and while they were talking and +laughing in the parlor, the twins were thinking of what was going on in the +room above. +</p> + +<p> +When they went to kiss their mother good night they saw that she knew. The +girls exclaimed at once at sight of her face. +</p> + +<p> +“You are ill,” cried Eva. +</p> + +<p> +“No, Eva,” rejoined Mrs. Pell, “it is worse than +illness.” +</p> + +<p> +The tears welled up in her eyes. She could say no more. +</p> + +<p> +Sydney was not with her, neither was he in his room. The girls were clamorous +to know what was the matter. +</p> + +<p> +“Tell them, Roy, I can’t,” Mrs. Pell at last found voice to +say. +</p> + +<p> +Rex could not stay to hear. And Roy never suffered as he did in the few moments +it took him to relate his foster brother’s crime. It seemed as though it +were as cruel as to drive nails into the fair flesh of the young girls. And yet +they must know. +</p> + +<p> +“How could he do it, how could he?” Eva murmured again and again. +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps he didn’t,” Jess suddenly exclaimed. +“He’s nothing to show for it—the second will, I mean. Perhaps +there’s something wrong with his brain, and he only imagines there was +one and he destroyed it.” +</p> + +<p> +But Roy shook his head. There was Ann to prove, if necessary, that she had +signed the other document. +</p> + +<p> +For a long while they sat there. It seemed as if black despair had settled upon +them and there was no way out. +</p> + +<p> +For years Mrs. Pell had leaned upon Sydney. In an emergency like the present, +he would be just the one to whom she would go for counsel. And now—he had +failed her utterly. +</p> + +<p> +“What did you say to him, mother?” asked Roy after a while. +“Were—were you kind to him?” +</p> + +<p> +“I tried to be. I tried to remember that he had done all for our sakes, +but I feel like a ship without a rudder.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy left his seat near Eva and slipped into a chair next his mother, who had +bowed her head on the desk in front of her. +</p> + +<p> +She had been writing a note to a charitable society of which she was a member. +The check she was to send them lay all signed, ready to be inclosed. +</p> + +<p> +“Moms,” whispered Roy, using the pet name Rex had invented and +pressing one of his mother’s hands tightly in his, “you have us. We +are growing fast. I am sure we shall get along.” +</p> + +<p> +“Bless you, my boy.” His mother kissed him on the forehead, then +lifted her eyes reverently, as she added: “Yes, and I must not forget +that there is One who is always a friend to the needy. And now, children, we +must go to bed. To-morrow we will decide what to do.” +</p> + +<p> +Roy stopped at Rex’s door, went in and found his brother tossing in bed. +</p> + +<p> +“Have you told the girls?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +“How did they take it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Better than I expected they would.” +</p> + +<p> +“But what are we going to do, Roy?” Rex went on. “We +can’t stay here.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, of course not.” +</p> + +<p> +“But what will people say? Won’t there be a terrible +scandal?” +</p> + +<p> +“You mustn’t talk that way, Rex. Remember that you and I are the +ones mother must depend on now. If she sees us looking on the dark side +it’ll make it so much the harder for her.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s it,” returned Rex. “Life is something you must +go ahead with. You can’t lay it down when you get tired. All right; +I’ll remember what you say, Roy, but it’s an awful come +down.” +</p> + +<p> +Rex, however, “came up to the scratch,” as he himself would have +expressed it, nobly the next day. +</p> + +<p> +Nobody went to church, and about half past eleven the door bell rang and +“Mr. Darley and son” were announced. +</p> + +<p> +Miles, as we shall continue to call him, sent up word to know if he could come +up to Rex’s room. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you know?” asked Reginald, as he met him in the doorway. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; Mr. Sydney came around to us this morning. I can’t understand +it. But I don’t want you to feel—” +</p> + +<p> +Miles hesitated. It was very embarrassing for him to express just what he +wanted to say. Rex helped him out. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m awfully glad for you, old fellow,” he said heartily. +“And I don’t want you to worry about us. We’ll get along some +way.” +</p> + +<p> +“But that won’t do,” Miles persisted. “If it +hadn’t been for you I might have been a common tramp now and never found +my father.” +</p> + +<p> +“And if it hadn’t been for you I would probably have been dead long +ago,” Rex retorted. “So you see we’re quits.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, we’re not, and I don’t want that we should, till I give +you what I think you ought to have. Father says I may and—” +</p> + +<p> +“Miles Harding—Darley, I mean, if you do that +I’ll—I’ll never speak to you again. There, take your +choice—quits or my friendship.” +</p> + +<p> +Rex’s pride conquered. Miles was still his slave. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll never say another word about it, Rex,” he replied +meekly, and for the first time Reginald felt that he could face poverty +bravely. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap35"></a>CHAPTER XXXV<br /> +A FISTIC ENCOUNTER</h2> + +<p> +It is summer again, but in Batemans the town in which we now find our friends, +the Pells, this banner season of the year, does not deck itself with all the +attractions that caused it to be eagerly looked forward to in Marley. +</p> + +<p> +There are no creek, no hills, no trees, nothing but board walks, board houses, +board fences, and the “boarders we take,” as Rex would conclude the +sentence. And these are the same in summer as they are in winter, except that +they are all hotter and more unpleasant than ordinary. +</p> + +<p> +Batemans is a far Western town. A friend of Mrs. Pell’s was putting up a +hotel there at the time of her trouble. He had appealed to her for some woman +to run it. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t want a man,” he wrote. “There are too many men +out here now. I want somebody who will give home comforts which I want to make +a speciality of, in place of a bar.” +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Pell considered it a providential opportunity. She replied stating that +she would take it herself if she could have her children to help her. And they +had gone out there in February. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Darley had been kindness itself. He not only refused to prosecute Sydney, +but wanted to settle a portion of his fortune on the Pells. +</p> + +<p> +“You are fully entitled to this,” he said. “It is through you +that my boy has been restored to me.” +</p> + +<p> +But Mrs. Pell was firm as Rex had been firm. +</p> + +<p> +“It is enough that you allow us the time in which to make our +plans,” she returned. +</p> + +<p> +Rex never murmured at the prospect of Batemans. Not even when the dreary aspect +of the place, with mud two feet deep in its streets, first dawned upon him. He +felt that he ought to rejoice rather that his new lot was to be cast so far +away from all his old friends. +</p> + +<p> +There were no educational facilities in Batemans; at least none of which the +twins could avail themselves. Then they found plenty to do in helping their +mother. +</p> + +<p> +Rex acted as clerk, made out the bills and received the guests; Roy saw to the +purchasing of supplies, and aided his brother in keeping objectionable +characters out of the house. +</p> + +<p> +There were no amusements and no society except that which they furnished +themselves in the family circle, Roy often thought if he had had this life to +look forward to, his whole previous existence would have been embittered. But +now that he was living it, strength seemed given him in some way to bear the +burden. +</p> + +<p> +Sydney had gone to England. They asked him to write and let them know how he +was getting along, but he would not promise. +</p> + +<p> +Miles wrote regularly to Rex, even when the latter did not reply. He and his +father had moved into the handsome home next the Harringtons’, with Mrs. +Fox as housekeeper. +</p> + +<p> +“I wonder what people think of the thing,” Rex said once to Roy. +</p> + +<p> +There had been no publicity about the transfer. Only a few people knew of it +and the cause. +</p> + +<p> +On this July day on which we are writing, it was unusually hot. The heat seemed +to be frying in the air. It was a day of all others on which to keep quiet and +calm. +</p> + +<p> +But this was the day on which the waiters of the Homestead House had chosen to +go out on strike for an increase of wages which Mrs. Pell was not empowered to +give them. They threw down their aprons just before the dinner hour at one +o’clock. +</p> + +<p> +“Never mind, mother,” said Roy. “Rex and I will pitch in and +help.” +</p> + +<p> +And they did, they and Eva and Jess. Rex was just carrying a tray of dishes +into the pantry when he heard a louder voice than usual coming from one of the +tables. +</p> + +<p> +He looked around. He saw Jess, flushed to her hair, standing behind a young man +who had come in with one of the regular guests, and whom he had not noticed +before. +</p> + +<p> +“Come now, I’ll give you a nice tip if you’ll do it for +me,” Rex heard the fellow say. +</p> + +<p> +He thought he recognized the voice. He put his tray down and hurried to his +sister’s side. +</p> + +<p> +She had started to walk away, but the man had caught her by the dress and held +her fast. +</p> + +<p> +“He wants me to go to the saloon across the street and bring him a bottle +of beer,” said Jess. +</p> + +<p> +Rex stooped quickly and disengaged the fellow’s hand with no gentle +touch. In doing so he looked him straight in the face. It was Ashby Stout. +</p> + +<p> +“Great Scott, it’s little Pell,” exclaimed Stout. Then he +added quickly: “Look here, youngster, what right have you to send that +girl away from here?” +</p> + +<p> +“A brother’s right,” replied Rex promptly. +</p> + +<p> +“Whew!” whistled Stout under his breath, and he turned to Driscoll, +the friend with whom he had come in. “Say, Sammy,” he whispered, +“what position does this chap hold in the place?” +</p> + +<p> +“He’s the manager’s son,” was the reply. +</p> + +<p> +Having accomplished his purpose Rex went on, took up his tray and carried it +into the pantry. His eyes still flashed from anger. +</p> + +<p> +“Jess,” he said, going up to his sister, “you must not go +into that dining room again.” +</p> + +<p> +“But I’ll have to,” she replied, “I’ve got lots +of orders to fill.” +</p> + +<p> +“Never mind. I’ll attend to yours and mine, too. I’m not +going to have that ruffian ogling you, I know who he is.” +</p> + +<p> +“You do? Who is he?” +</p> + +<p> +“Never mind. It is enough that I know everything bad about him and +nothing good. Give me your orders.” +</p> + +<p> +And Jess complied. Of course this compelled Rex to wait on Stout. But he +gritted his teeth and went through with the process in dignified silence, +taking no notice of the attempt Stout made to draw him into conversation. +</p> + +<p> +When dinner was over and Rex was back in his place behind the desk, making up +accounts, Stout strolled in, a cigarette between his lips. +</p> + +<p> +He affected to be examining the register for a little while, then suddenly +looked up to remark: “I say, Pell, that’s a deuced pretty sister of +yours.” +</p> + +<p> +I won’t say that Rex did right, I can’t say that he did wrong, but +on the instant and without a word he leaned forward and hit J. Ashby Stout a +blow on the chin that sent him staggering backward over a chair that stood just +behind him. +</p> + +<p> +There happened to be no one else in the office just at that moment. So Mr. +Stout was obliged to pick himself up, which he did, muttering wrathfully under +his breath, while Rex, very white, went on with his work. +</p> + +<p> +“If you’re not a coward, sir, you’ll come out here and give +me satisfaction for that insult, sir.” +</p> + +<p> +So spoke Mr. Stout. Rex closed his books and came out in front of the desk. +</p> + +<p> +“I allow no one to speak of my sister in that tone,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +“And I allow no one to strike me,” blustered Mr. Stout, launching +out a blow directly at Rex’s face. +</p> + +<p> +Rex dodged and planted another blow on Mr. Stout’s chin. Then they both +went at it. Sometimes one was struck, sometimes the other. I am aware that this +is contrary to all precedents in story writing. Following out these, J. Ashby +Stout should have gone down under the first blow, and then been glad to slink +off without risking another encounter with the redoubtable hero. +</p> + +<p> +But then as I think I have remarked once before, Rex is not the hero of this +story. He is a boy of very impulsive nature, as often wrong as right in his +motives. Perhaps he might have taken a wiser method of standing up for his +sister on the present occasion. Be this as it may, he did not regret the black +eye he went up to his room to bathe a little while later. +</p> + +<p> +And while the battle did not result in a decisive victory for either side, it +was noticeable that Mr. J. Ashby Stout did not again accompany Driscoll to the +Homestead. But some one else appeared the next day to whom Rex found it +necessary to explain how he came by his battered visage. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap36"></a>CHAPTER XXXVI<br /> +MILES BREAKS THE NEWS</h2> + +<p> +A compromise had been effected with the striking waiters, and the heat had +lessened a little in its intensity. The two things, together with the +nonappearance of Ashby Stout were blessings for which Rex had to be grateful. +</p> + +<p> +But when the stage came in and he recognized among the passengers Miles Darley +and the latter’s father, he did not know whether he was glad or not. They +were links connecting him with that past life which he was trying his best to +forget. Now it seemed to him that only by forgetting it and thus doing away +with the power of contrast, could he be happy in the present. +</p> + +<p> +“You dear old fellow!” Miles rushed forward with this exclamation +and fairly took Rex in his arms. +</p> + +<p> +He had grown much in the past few months and the clothes he wore set off his +figure to great advantage. +</p> + +<p> +“I won’t say where on earth did you come from,” said Rex, +“but where in the world are you going to, that you should take in this +forsaken place?” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, that’s polite, I’m sure,” laughed Miles, +“Can’t you imagine that Batemans may be our objective point?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, because I’m certain you can’t be interested in saw +mills, and that’s the only thing that brings people here.” +</p> + +<p> +“But I can be interested in you, can’t I, Rex? I’ve missed +you terribly. That great house seems so lonely with only three of us in +it.” +</p> + +<p> +“But you needn’t have stayed there in the summer. There’s the +White Mountains or the sea coast—lots of places you could have gone +to.” +</p> + +<p> +“If we choose to come here instead, it’s all right, isn’t it, +Rex?” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course it is, old fellow, and now I see that the best way in which I +can entertain you is to tell you right off how I came by this black eye,” +which Rex proceeded at once to do. +</p> + +<p> +“Good for you, my little game cock!” exclaimed Miles, when he had +heard the story. “Speaking of Stout, your friend Harrington has tried to +scrape acquaintance with me, but he hasn’t got beyond the scraping stage +yet. I wonder what Stout was doing out here.” +</p> + +<p> +“His father’s in the lumber business, I believe. But I’m +afraid you’ll find it pretty hot, Miles.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I’ve had so many cold days in my time I guess I can stand a +little heat.” +</p> + +<p> +Rex was not the only one of the Pells who was astonished by the advent of the +Darleys. Their coming was a complete surprise to the entire family. And a still +greater cause of astonishment was the prolongation of their stay. +</p> + +<p> +They rented two of the best rooms in the house, had awnings put up at the +windows and wicker furniture sent on from Denver. Mr. Darley took frequent +trips to neighboring towns. It was understood by the gossips at Batemans that +he was a large Eastern capitalist, looking about for profitable mining +investments. +</p> + +<p> +July, August and half of September passed, and still the Darleys remained. +Miles was supremely content, for he was with Rex, for whom his admiration +appeared to increase with each day’s added intimacy. Miles had brought +his books, and they studied together some. And in spite of the forlornness of +the place, the five young people managed to have a pretty good time. +</p> + +<p> +One afternoon Roy and Rex were washing the omnibus out at the stable. The +driver, hearing of a big strike that had been made at a mine some sixty miles +away, threw up his position at once and started off to try to get rich at a +hand stroke. And the boys were forced to throw themselves into the breach until +another man could be obtained in his place. +</p> + +<p> +This is the sort of thing they had trained themselves to expect since coming to +Batemans. +</p> + +<p> +“Where’s Miles?” asked Roy, as he brought a fresh pail of +water and set it down beside his brother. +</p> + +<p> +“He was coming out but his father called him into his room.” +</p> + +<p> +“We’ll miss them when they go, won’t we, Reggie? It has been +jolly good fun to have Miles with us all summer. You ought to feel quite proud +to think you are a strong enough magnet to keep him here.” +</p> + +<p> +“I can’t understand it at all, why they should have stayed,” +returned Rex. +</p> + +<p> +He did not speak very cheerfully. The Darleys were to leave the very next week. +It was impossible but that Rex should realize vividly to what they were +returning. He did not tell Roy so, but he wished they had not come. +</p> + +<p> +There was only one wheel of the omnibus to finish when Miles came hurrying +toward them. There was an expression on his face which neither of the twins +could comprehend. It was a blending of fear, joy and stupefaction. +</p> + +<p> +“Here, let me help,” he said, as he came up. “I want you +fellows to hurry and get through. I’ve something to tell you.” +</p> + +<p> +But they had so nearly finished that there was nothing left for him to +undertake. +</p> + +<p> +“What have you got to tell us?” asked Rex, throwing his sponge back +into the bucket. +</p> + +<p> +“I wish I knew how you fellows would take it,” returned Miles, a +flush creeping over his face. +</p> + +<p> +“Try us and find out,” rejoined Roy with a smile. +</p> + +<p> +“I’m simply delighted myself,” went on the other. “I +wonder how I can keep my two feet on the ground. It seems too good to be +true.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then why are you in doubt how we’ll take it,” said Rex. +“What pleases you ought certainly to please us.” +</p> + +<p> +“But perhaps this won’t. It’s so—so, unexpected and +altogether jolly.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, Miles Darley, you are certainly the most incomprehensible fellow +this afternoon,” exclaimed Roy. “What’s it about?” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, it’s about the Pells and the Darleys,” explained +Miles, the color still surging in his cheeks. “In union there is +strength, you know, and—haven’t you guessed it yet?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, indeed, we haven’t and just you tell us right out what it is +without any more fooling,” and Rex made a playful dab at his friend with +the big sponge. +</p> + +<p> +“All right, here goes then,” and Miles drew in his breath. +“Your mother has told my father that she will be Mrs. Darley, and that +makes us brothers, Rex, don’t you see, and we’re all going back to +Philadelphia together—well, don’t you like it?” +</p> + +<p> +Miles checked himself suddenly, for Roy and Rex stood staring at him as if +struck dumb, too amazed to allow any expression to appear on their faces. +</p> + +<p> +But it was all true; they were to have another test of fortune, and though its +bringing about seemed in some sense to deprive the boys of their mother, they +knew that not only was this not so, but that they were to gain a father +thereby. “And a brother, too, don’t forget that,” Miles adds +at my side. +</p> + +<h5>THE END.</h5> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWO BOYS AND A FORTUNE ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Two Boys and a Fortune + +Author: Matthew White, Jr. + +Release Date: January, 2004 [EBook #4997] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on April 7, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, TWO BOYS AND A FORTUNE *** + + + + +This eBook was produced by Jim Weiler, xooqi.com + + + + TWO BOYS AND A FORTUNE + +Or, The Tyler Will + + BY + +MATTHEW WHITE, JR., 1907 + + PREFACE + +Among all my books, this one will always occupy a particularly warm +spot in my heart; for listen, reader, and I will let you into a little +secret. Riddle Creek is really Ridley, and is a true-enough stream, +flowing through one of the most charming regions in Delaware County, +Pennsylvania. The railroad trestle which plays such an important part +in the first chapter forms a picturesque feature of the landscape, in +full view of a home where I was wont to spend many a joyous +holiday-time and which I had in mind whenever I mentioned the Pellery. + +Again, the odd little house on Seventh Street, Philadelphia, described +in Chapter XXVII, actually existed until pulled down some years since +to make room for a big manufacturing plant. I used to visit there +every time I went to the Quaker City, and all the furnishings +mentioned stand out vividly in my recollection to this day, even to +the guitar off in one corner. I never played Fish Pond there, but I +have eaten some of the best dinners I ever tasted in that famous +kitchen below stairs, which had to serve for dining room as well. That +kitchen and the great cat, who used to sun himself in the shop window, +loom large in my memories of boyhood. + + Matthew White, Jr. + +New York City. + +Jan. 5, 1907. + + CHAPTER I + + THE MAN ON THE BRIDGE + +"Look there! I believe that man is actually going to try to cross the +trestle." + +Roy Pell pulled his sister Eva quickly toward him as he spoke, so that +she could look up between the trees to the Burdock side of the railway +bridge almost directly above their heads. + +"Why, it's Mr. Tyler!" exclaimed Jess, who had a better view from +where she sat on the log that spanned Riddle Creek. "Oh, Roy, +something's sure to happen to him! He's awfully feeble." + +"And there's a train almost due," added Eva. "What can he be thinking +of to attempt such a thing?" + +"Oh!" and Jess gave a shrill scream. "He's fallen!" + +Roy said never a word. He quickly passed his fishing-line to Eva, ran +nimbly across the tree trunk to the Burdock side of the creek, and +then started to climb the steep bank. The girls sat there and watched +him breathlessly, now and then darting a look higher up at the spot on +the trestle where the figure that had dropped still lay across the +ties, as if too badly hurt to rise. + +The two Pell girls and their twin brothers, Rex and Roy, had gone down +to sit on the log in search of coolness on this blazing hot July +afternoon. Rex had been giving vent to his disgust because he wasn't +able to accept the invitation to join a jolly party of friends for a +trip to Lake George and down the St. Lawrence. Cause why? Lack of +funds. + +"You ought to have known you couldn't go when Scott asked you, Rex," +Roy had told him. "You would need at least fifty dollars for the +outing. And that sum will clothe you for almost a year. And clothes +with you, Rex, ought to be of sufficient importance to be considered." + +"I suppose I might as well go and tell Scott about it and have it over +with," Rex had replied, creasing his handsome forehead into a frown. +"I dare say he'll be calling me 'Can't Have It Pell' pretty soon. It +was only two months ago I asked for a bicycle and didn't get it, and +there was the new pair of skates I wanted last winter." + +"Don't be late for tea," Eva called out after him as he made his way +to the shore. + +She kept her eyes on the trim figure till it was hidden by the trees +which grew thick along the road that led up to town. + +"Well, if anybody in this world ought to have money it is that good +looking brother of ours," remarked Jess with a sigh. "He'd appreciate +it so thoroughly. I don't wonder he's crabbed this afternoon. Just +think of the chance for a good time he's had to let slip just for lack +of a little money." + +"Fifty dollars isn't a little money, Jess," returned Roy, casting his +line. + +"I know it isn't to us, but it is to most of the people we know, Scott +Bowman for instance. Do you suppose we shall ever be rich, Roy?" + +"We are rich now; at least you and Eva are, in my opinion." + +"We rich?" Eva nearly slipped from her position on the log at the +statement. + +"Why, yes; haven't you both contented dispositions, and isn't that +worth a small fortune?" + +"But why have you left yourself out, Roy?" Eva wanted to know. "Surely +you who never grumble, are satisfied with things." + +"No, I'm not." A flash came into the boy's eyes that made him really +handsome for the moment. "I'm chafing inwardly all the while at having +to be idle this way when it seems there ought to be so much I could do +to help along." + +"But you are getting ready to do it as soon as you finish school," +rejoined his sister. "And you must have a vacation, you know. Besides, +think how much you do to help Sydney." + +"Oh, I only do a little copying for him now and then." + +He was going to add more, but at this point he caught that glimpse of +the man on the trestle which brought about the interruption in the +talk already described. + +Roy soon emerged from the line of shade in his climb up the embankment +and the scorching afternoon sun beat down on him mercilessly. But he +did not cease his exertions to reach the top as quickly as possible. +He knew that a train for the city would be along very soon now; he +remembered the curve just beyond the bridge; the engineer could not +see whether there was an obstruction in the way, until he should be +too close on it to stop. + +Then he thought of Mr. Tyler, and of how nobody liked him, with all +his money, which he hoarded like a miser. He was probably crossing the +bridge now to take the train for the city from Marley, and save the +additional five cents he might have to pay if he boarded it at +Burdock, which was much nearer his home. + +But he was human, he was an old man; he was helpless now, doubtless +overcome by the heat. And there was nobody about but Roy to prevent +what might be a tragedy. + +On he toiled. The loose dirt slid out from under his feet and rattled +down the hillside behind him. The perspiration poured from his face in +streams. What a contrast this was, he thought, to sitting there over +the creek placidly fishing! + +He had gained the top now and, scarcely pausing to take a long breath, +he ran out over the ties till he reached Mr. Tyler's prostrate form. +He had fallen fortunately not very far from the beginning of the +trestle, but he was quite unconscious and could not help himself. Roy +must carry him away from his dangerous position. + +He bent to his task, which was not such an arduous one as might be +supposed. Mr. Tyler was little more than a bag of bones, weighing not +as much as did Roy himself. The latter picked him up as carefully as +he could, not daring to look down lest he should grow dizzy. Then he +began to bear his burden back to terra firma. + +He had almost reached the ground when the old man stirred and opened +his eyes. He started to struggle, but Roy looked down at him and spoke +sternly. + +"Keep quiet, Mr. Tyler," he said, "or you will have us both over the +trestle." + +The miser shuddered, but he made no reply and kept perfectly still +till Roy placed him on the grass in the shade of a horse chestnut +tree. The boy threw himself down beside him, and began to fan himself +with his straw hat. The next minute, with a shrill whistle, the train +rushed by them. + +"You saved my life, Roy Pell," said Mr. Tyler after the skurrying dust +raised from the ballast had settled into place. "You are a brave boy." + +Roy made no reply. He was still very hot and he was thinking that his +whole adventure was very much like a scene in a book. + +"I ought to say 'Oh, it is nothing,' I suppose," he reflected with a +half smile. "But then that wouldn't be the truth. From the way I feel +now it was a good deal." + +"I've missed that train, I suppose," Mr. Tyler went on. + +At this Roy wanted to laugh. It sounded so ridiculous. And yet it was +quite characteristic of this singular old man. But young Pell mopped +his face vigorously with his handkerchief to hide his mirth and then +said, rising to his feet: + +"Do you feel all right, Mr. Tyler?" + +"Oh, I guess so," was the reply, and the old man started to get up +too. + +But he immediately fell back again and a frightened look came into his +face. + + CHAPTER II + + IN THE MISER'S HOME + +"Have you hurt yourself, Mr. Tyler?" asked Roy anxiously. "You didn't +break a limb when you fell, did you?" + +"No, no, it is here," and the old man put his hand up to his head. + +"The sun was too hot for you," went on Roy. "You haven't got over it +yet." + +"I am afraid I shall never get over it, Roy Pell." The miser looked at +him in a steady way that would have frightened some boys. "And I don't +want to die yet, not till I have made my will. I must have a lawyer. +Where is Sydney Pell, that brother of yours." + +"He isn't my brother. He's a boy that father adopted when he was very +young, but he's better than a good many brothers. And he's a good +lawyer, too. Would you like to see him. He'll be back on the +five-thirty train." + +"Yes, I should like to see him if it won't be too late. What time is +it now? You haven't got a watch, have you? Look at mine and tell me." + +"Quarter past five, and now you ought to be taken home right away, and +have a doctor." + +"You think I am very bad then?" Again the frightened look came into +the old man's face. + +"No, of course not. Lots of people have to call the doctor when +they're not going to die." + +"Don't speak of dying. I'm afraid to die. See, I don't mind telling +you so. And I ought to be. I haven't done very much good in the world. +There isn't anybody I can think of will be sorry to have me go. That +isn't the way to live, Roy Pell. You ought to be happy, so happy, +because you are young, and have your life before you to make it the +way it should be made." + +"You have life before you, too, Mr. Tyler. You are not so very old. +You're not much more than seventy." + +"I'm seventy-two. But come, let me see if I can get up with your help. +I want you to take me home, so you can go for Sydney. He's a good boy, +you say, one I can trust?" The old man looked in Roy's face closely as +the latter bent over him. + +"Sydney is the best fellow that ever lived," replied Roy soberly. +"He's been a staff to my mother ever since father died, and has almost +taken his place to us children." + +"Yes, yes. I've heard that what your father did for him years ago was +like bread cast upon the waters that's coming back after many days. +Let me see, how old are you?" + +"Fifteen. I tell you what, Mr. Tyler. The girls are down under the +bridge. Wait a minute till I call down to them to send Syd over as +soon as he comes. Then I'll go home with you and needn't leave you." + +"All right. You're very good to me, Roy Pell." The miser sank back on +the grass, while Roy hurried to the edge of the bluff and making a +trumpet of his hands, called down: + +"Eva! Jess!" + +"Yes, are you all right, Roy?" came back the answer in Eva's tones. + +"All O. K., but Mr. Tyler's a little done up. I'm going home with him. +And he wants you to send Syd over as soon as he gets back. It's some +business matter, quite important, and we may both be late for tea. +Don't wait. Do you understand?" + +"Yes, all right. We'll go to meet Syd now. Shall we send the doctor, +too?" + +Roy thought a minute. + +"Yes. I think you'd better," he called down. + +"I told them to send the doctor to your house," he reported to Mr. +Tyler. He half expected the latter to raise a protest, but he didn't. + +"All right," he said feebly. "He'll do for one of the witnesses. Now." + +Roy bent down so that the old man might lean on his shoulder. He put +one arm about his back to steady him, and thus supported he was able +to move slowly along the cinder path beside the track. + +"What did you attempt to walk across the trestle for, Mr. Tyler?" +asked Roy. + +"I made up my mind suddenly to go to town," was the answer. "There +wasn't time to go around by the turnpike. I thought I could get across +before the train came. I've seen boys go over it." + +"But you're not a boy," rejoined Roy, with a smile. + +"No. I'm not a boy," and Roy could feel a shudder pass through the arm +that was resting on his shoulder. + +Mr. Tyler lived in a house not far from the Burdock station. An old +woman did the cooking for him and went home at night. For the rest he +dwelt almost like a hermit, and so far as any one knew he had not a +relative in the world. But the report had gone out as it always does +in such cases, that he was very rich, and now his desire to see a +lawyer and make a will convinced Roy that for once rumor must be +right. + +"I wonder how much he's got and to whom he'll leave it?" he asked +himself, but now they were within sight of the little house and the +old man leaned so heavily upon him, that all his attention was +centered on getting him safely to the end of their journey. + +By the time this was accomplished Mr. Tyler was so completely +exhausted that he dropped down on the first chair they reached. + +"After you are rested a bit," said Roy, "I'll help you to get to bed." + +"No, no," protested the old man; "so many people die in their beds. Go +and tell Ann to get a little more for dinner to-night. You and Sydney +must stay and eat it with me. It will take quite a time to have my +will drawn up. You'll find her in the kitchen." + +The woman was not much surprised when Roy told her of the condition in +which her master had come home. + +"It's what I've been expecting every day," she said. "He doesn't eat +enough to keep a bird alive. I'm amazed to think he should ask you to +stop to dinner. It's little enough you'll get, Master Roy, but I'll do +my best." + +The house was a bare looking place, furnished only with the merest +necessities. No pictures were on the walls, no books on the tables; +Roy wondered what the old man did to pass the time here by himself. +There was not even a sofa for him to lie upon. He asked about this +when he returned to the front room. + +"Then you'd better come in and lie on the outside of your bed if you +won't get in it," he suggested. + +To this the older man acceded and allowed Roy to assist him to the +adjoining apartment where he slept. + +"No," he murmured, "I haven't wasted much on myself, you see. That +will leave still more for those who come after me. What would you do +with $500,000 if you had it, Roy Pell?" + +The question came so suddenly and in such contrasted tones to the +mumble in which the miser had heretofore been speaking that for the +moment Roy was too startled to make reply. + +"No, I'm not raving, Roy Pell," went on the old man. "There's a +possibility--" he checked himself quickly-- "what would you do with +all that money if you had it?" + +"I'd give it to my mother," answered Roy. + +"Good boy, of course. I didn't think of that. You're a minor, and +you're not selfish. You'd rather she would have it, eh, than that it +should be held by her in trust for you? But if you got it, you'd +promise to see that it was spent, and not hoarded as I have hoarded +mine? You'd promise that wouldn't you?" + +Roy by this time began to think that the partial sunstroke had +completely unhinged Mr. Tyler's brain, already a little out of plumb. + +"Oh, yes," he laughed. "There's no danger of our hoarding money. There +are too many things to spend it on for that." + +"Then you're squeezed a little down at your place, eh?" + +"Oh, we can get along," returned Roy hastily; "but we can't do much +branching out. My mother has only the income from father's insurance, +and then there's the place which we own, with the taxes to pay." + +The old man now relapsed into silence. He seemed to be thinking, +deeply. Suddenly he started up and exclaimed: + +"It must be nearly time for Sydney to be here. Won't you go outside +and watch for him?" + +Roy was very glad to leave the miser. He realized that perhaps it was +wrong for him to feel that way, but then, believing him to be a little +unbalanced, it was but natural that he should be sensible of some +constraint in his presence. + +"I wonder if be has got $500,000 put away somewhere?" he asked himself +when he reached the little portico. "He talked exactly as if he was +going to give it to me. I suppose for what I did for him on the +bridge. That would be just like a story episode, so much like one that +there's no chance of its coming true. But what would Rex say if it +did? Ah, here comes Syd." + +Roy left the porch and hurried out to the gate to meet the fellow who +had been nearer and dearer to him than a brother as far back as he +could remember. + +"Poor old chap," he said as they met and he turned around, slipping +his arm within that of the tall young lawyer, "it was a shame to make +you walk all that distance in the hot sun when you must be tired out +from your day in town. But there's a job at the end of the walk." + +"And a cheerful brother, too," added the other. "Poor Rex! I saw him +over at the station. He takes it terribly to heart that he cannot go +off with the Bowmans. I wish I were rich, if only for you boys' sakes. +But what's this heroic deed I hear of your doing for old Mr. Tyler? +Positively, Roy, I'm proud of you." + +"Oh, the train didn't come along for a good five minutes after I'd got +him off the trestle. You see that takes a good deal of the 'heroic +rescue' business out of the thing. But come on inside. He's been quite +anxious to see you. I've made him lie down, for I think he's in a very +bad way." + + CHAPTER III + + MR. TYLER'S WILL + +"Is that you, Sydney Pell?" called out Mr. Tyler as soon as he heard +footsteps in the hallway. + +"Yes, Mr. Tyler, What can I do for you?" and Sydney followed Roy into +the bedroom. + +"You can make my will," replied the old man promptly. "That doesn't +mean that I am going to die right away," he added hastily, "but I've +had a warning. Why, I may have time to make two or three wills before +I give up the ship." + +He laughed hoarsely and started to get up. But he was weaker than he +supposed, and fell back on the bed with a little gasp just as he had +done out by the trestle. + +"Don't exert yourself too much, Mr. Tyler," said Sydney. "I can fix +the thing up for you while you are lying right here. I think I saw a +bottle of ink and some paper in the other room. Roy can help me bring +in that table that stands there, and then I can take down whatever you +wish and you can sign it. But you will want witnesses." + +"There's Ann, she can be one," responded the old man. + +"And I told the girls to send a doctor up here. He can be another," +put in Roy. Then he added, when all was arranged: "I suppose I had +better go out." + +"Yes, you can go out and watch for the doctor," said Sydney. "Now +then," he went on, turning to Mr. Tyler when they were alone, and +after he had written out the regulation formal preamble, "I am ready." + +The miser said nothing in reply for a minute or two. He kept +interlocking his wasted fingers with one another, glancing now and +then out of the window, where he could see Roy pacing back and forth +in front of the cottage. Finally he murmured so low that Sydney was +obliged to bend forward to catch the words: + +"Would you be surprised to hear that I had a vast amount of money in +the deposit companies in Philadelphia?" + +"No, Mr. Tyler," replied Sydney. "It has always been supposed that you +were a man of wealth." + +"I am, I am," muttered the miser. "I have something like half a +million. And yet what good has it done me? I have hoarded it just for +the sake of hoarding. It began to come to me when I was quite young. I +was surprised. Some property was wanted by the city. They paid me well +for it. I invested what I got and doubled it, I kept on making money +till I loved it for itself alone and could not bear to part with it +even on the chance of making more. So I left it all to draw interest +except what little it takes to support me in the poor way in which I +live." + +He paused and Sydney adjudged it proper to inquire. + +"Then you have no relatives, no one dependent on you?" + +"I have outlived them all," was the reply. "There was a boy, though, +who was once in my employ and whom I came to think a good deal of. But +he grew up and went into stocks and tried to bear the market against +me. I never forgave Maurice Darley for that. And yet I loved him once. +I brought him up, out of the gutter, as it were, and there was a time +when he loved me. There is another brother in your family whom I see +sometimes and who reminds me of him." + +"Reginald-- Rex, as we call him-- you mean?" + +"Yes, but perhaps he would not have done for me what Roy did this +afternoon. You have heard of it. He risked his life for mine. He will +make a good man. I am sure of it. And he is unselfish. To make him +happy you must make others happy around him. Yes, I will do it. Quick, +write down that I leave all my fortune unreservedly, to-- what is his +full name?" + +"Whose full name?" Sydney had dropped his pen and sat staring at Mr. +Tyler as if in a daze. + +"Why your brother-- Roy Pell's." + +"Royal Fillmore Pell," Sydney repeated the name mechanically, still +too amazed at the inference he must draw from the question to be +really conscious of what he was saying. + +"Thank you. A fine name it is, and fitted to a splendid boy. Then +write-- but no. I had determined not to leave it to him. What is his +mother's name? She must have it all outright. Then it can be used at +once in the way to please Roy best. Now Mrs. Pell's full name?" + +"Jessica Fillmore Pell. I suppose, as a lawyer, I ought not to express +any surprise at what you are doing, but you can see how close home it +comes to me, Mr. Tyler. You know the relation in which I stand to this +family, with whom I am connected by no ties of blood, but who have +been so good to me." + +"And you have deserved it, young man. I am not leaving money to a +family of whom I know nothing. Have you got that: all my fortune +unreservedly to Jessica Fillmore Pell?" + +"Yes, Mr. Tyler." + +"Roy knows something of this, and if people think it strange or hint +that I am out of my head to leave my money in this way, you can tell +them what he did for me this afternoon. That ought to satisfy them. +Now I want to tell you where my money is invested so that you can get +at it easily, for I want you, Sydney, to be one of my executors, and I +will take Dr. Martin for the other. Here he comes now. We will +continue this business presently." + +Roy came in with the doctor; a cheery man, whom everybody in the +neighborhood liked. + +"Doctor," began Mr. Tyler, before the physician could say anything, "I +want you to witness my will. Roy, run out to the kitchen and get Ann +to come in here." + +"Ann," said Roy, appearing in the rear regions, "Mr. Tyler wants you +to come out and witness his will." + +"Is the poor man dying then?" exclaimed the woman, looking frightened. + +"Oh, no, he only--" + +"Never mind bothering Ann about that now," said the doctor presenting +himself at this moment Roy returned to the bedroom with the physician, +where he found that Mr. Tyler had decided he would have Sydney for a +witness in place of Ann. + +"I'd rather have a man," he explained. "I forgot that he could do it +just as well as not." + +Then the instrument was duly signed and witnessed. + +"I am perfectly sane, you can declare, can't you, Dr. Martin?" asked +the miser when the thing was done. "I don't want any mistake to be +made about it." + +"You need have no fear on that score," + +"Dinner's ready, Mr. Tyler," announced Ann, making her appearance at +this point. + +"All right, you boys go out and eat it," said the old man. "The doctor +wants to see me I suppose. Ann can bring me a little broth in here +afterwards. And about signing that, Sydney, I want to add a clause +leaving something to Ann. I forgot about her." + +Silently the two Pells went out into the dining room, and in almost +silence they ate the broth which the housekeeper placed before them. +Then when she had gone out Sydney said: + +"You know how much Mr. Tyler is worth, Roy, do you?" + +"He told me something like $500,000. I didn't know whether to believe +it or not That's a great sum of money, Sydney. I feel awfully queer +about the whole thing. Does it seem all right to you that he should +leave it all to mother just because of the little thing I did for him +this afternoon? I don't want to seem to feel that she oughtn't to have +it. But the whole thing seems so odd." + +"Not nearly so queer as a great many wills that are made every day," +rejoined Sydney. "But don't worry over it, Roy," he added with a +laugh. "You look as if you had been convicted of some crime. Remember +you haven't got the money yet, and may not have it for a great many +years to come." + +"It isn't my money, Syd. It's to be left to mother." + +"Well, if it hadn't been for you she wouldn't have it. But by the way, +you had better get home as soon as you can. I think mother is inclined +to worry about you from what Jess said. I can stay with the old man as +long as it is necessary." + +"And I shan't say anything about that will, Syd. I'd rather you +wouldn't either, just yet." + +"No, it is best to keep it as quiet as we can. It seems strange that +the old man should have talked so freely about it as he did." + +The meal was soon finished, and the two starting to enter the bedroom, +met the doctor in the doorway. + +"He's in a bad way," he whispered to Sydney. "I shall come back again +this evening. Come, Roy, are you going down? I'll take you along with +me in the carriage." + +"Yes, you'd better go, Roy," urged Sydney. "You look worn out. Tell +mother I'll stay here as long as I'm wanted." + +"Good-by, Mr. Tyler," said Roy, stepping into the bedroom and +extending his hand to the old man. + +"Good-by, Roy Pell. You have made me think better of my kind to-day. +In fact I think you have made a changed man of me. Would you-- would +you mind coming up to see me to-morrow?" + +"No, of course I wouldn't mind. I'll come. I hope you'll be better in +the morning. Good-night," and Roy went off with the doctor. + +"Well, Roy," said the latter, as they drove away, "you are to be +congratulated. You have brought your family into a nice little +inheritance if all our miserly old friend says is true." + +"Perhaps it isn't," returned Roy, "so please don't congratulate me or +say anything about it just yet." + +Roy was so tired when he got home that he did not give very spirited +answers to the questions his family showered upon him. He went to bed +very shortly and was asleep before Rex came to take his place beside +him. + +All in the household were locked in slumber when Sydney let himself in +with his key about eleven. He did not retire. He went into the +library, got out some law books, and sitting down at the table, +appeared as if about to do some work. But he did not pick up the pen. +He sat there, his head sunk on his chest, with a look of misery on his +face that was pitiable to see. + + CHAPTER IV + + THE TWIN BROTHERS + +The Pells breakfasted early so that Sydney might catch the 7:30 +express for the city. On the morning following the events narrated in +the preceding chapter the entire family were gathered at the table +with the exception of Rex, who was invariably late, and Sydney +himself. + +"It's very strange," remarked Mrs. Pell "He is always on time. He can +barely catch his train now. I wish you, Roy, would run up to his room +and see what is the matter. He may be ill." + +Roy soon ascended the two flights of stairs to the apartment with the +dormer window that had always been Syd's. The door was open and the +room was empty. The bed had been slept in, but the suit Syd had worn +the day before was not about. He had evidently dressed and gone. + +"I wonder if he can be up at Mr. Tyler's?" thought Roy. + +He returned to the dining room with his report. + +"It is very odd," remarked Mrs. Pell. "It is not like Sydney to go off +in that way, but he will explain when he comes home to-night. He may +have been obliged to go to town at seven on business for Mr. Tyler." + +"That's so; what did the old gentleman want with Syd," asked Jessie, +turning to Roy. "You were so sleepy when you came home last night that +you didn't half satisfy our curiosity." + +"He wanted him to make his will," answered Roy. + +"And did he?" went on Jess. + +"Yes. I say, mother, hadn't I better go and stir up Rex? I'm afraid +he's gone off to sleep again." + +"There, he's coming now. I hear his step on the stairs, so you just +sit still and answer my questions. I'm not half through yet," and Jess +checked off on her fingers the two queries to which she had already +had responses. "Now then, is he as rich as we all thought him?" + +"Richer. Good afternoon to you, Rex. Better late than never. I'm going +to keep you company, by taking a second cup of coffee. Mother, may I, +please?" + +"Royal Pell, what is the matter with you?" exclaimed Jess. "You +haven't been like the same fellow since you climbed up to that trestle +yesterday afternoon. You seem to be trying to keep something back. +Don't you notice it, mother?" + +"I have," put in Rex, before Mrs. Pell could speak. "I couldn't get a +word out of him before he went to sleep last night. One would think +he'd had a trouble like mine to bear," and Rex sighed with the air of +a martyr. + +Roy glanced over at him quickly. What would this luxury loving brother +of his say if he only knew! But Roy did not dare tell yet. Mr. Tyler +might live for years, and have ample opportunity to change his mind +about his will. Yes, it was better to keep the matter to himself as +long as he could. + +"What's queer about me?" he said now. + +"Why, you're giving such short answers to our questions about the old +miser," returned Jess promptly. "As a rule you'd tell us all we wanted +to know without our having to draw it out as if we were pulling +teeth." + +"Well, what is it you want to know?" + +"Oh, all about your experience over at Mr. Tyler's. The people up in +the town will hear about your being there and will expect us to know +all the details. It is quite an event for a queer old character like +the Burdock miser to make a will." + +"But people when they make their wills don't usually tell everybody in +the house what they put into them. It's a sort of confidential matter, +don't you understand?" + +"I'll wager you know all about it, Roy," broke in Rex suddenly, +dropping the biscuit he was buttering and staring at his brother +fixedly for a moment "I shouldn't be surprised if the old fellow had +made you his heir for what you did for him." + +"Well, if he did, "answered Roy with a smile, "it wouldn't enable you +to take that trip to Canada, as he isn't dead yet and may live to be +ninety." + +"He's just the kind that do hang on," remarked Jess. "People that +nobody seems to care about generally do." + +"That reminds me, mother," added Rex, "if I don't go on this trip +there'll be a lot of money saved. Can't I have some of it spent for a +new tennis suit? I need one badly." + +Mrs. Pell smiled, a little sadly though. + +"My dear boy," she rejoined, "there is your patent method of +manufacturing money again. You conceive a desire for something very +expensive, then when you give that up and select something much +cheaper, you imagine that you have saved more than enough to pay for +it." + +"It's a thundering grind to be decently poor any way." Rex pushed back +his chair suddenly, his brow clouded with a frown as it had been the +afternoon before down on the log. + +"'Decently poor!' What do you mean by that, Rex?" asked Eva. + +"Oh, to have the taste and wish for nice things and the privilege of +going with nice people who own them, and yet not be able to have them +yourself. I sometimes wish I was like black Pete. He doesn't know any +better than to be contented if he makes a dollar or two a week." + +"Oh, Reggie, Reggie!" murmured Mrs. Pell sadly. + +This one of her boys caused her more anxiety than all the other +children combined. He was so proud, so aspiring, and yet he had not +half the ability of Roy, who was rather overshadowed by the other's +dashing, winning manner. For Rex could be charming when he so minded. + +He went out on the side piazza now and began to shy strawberries at +two of the puppies. The berries had just been picked and left by the +cook on the window sill for the girls to hull. + +"Rex," exclaimed Roy severely, coming out upon him suddenly. "Aren't +you ashamed to use those berries in that way?" + +Roy hated waste above all things. + +Rex checked the toss he was about to make, and transferred the berry +to his mouth instead. + +"Has your majesty any objections to that disposition of the fruit?" he +asked with an assumption of the courtliness that became him so well. + +"Well, it's a legitimate disposition at any rate," returned Roy. Then +he went out to the barn to feed the chickens and look after the cow, +for the Pells kept no hired man. The boys attended to the kitchen +garden-- at least Roy did most of it, and there had been no horses +kept by the family since shortly after Mr. Pell's death. + +This was another of Rex's trials. + +"Think of living in the country without a horse!" he would exclaim. +"And then to have the stable on the place into the bargain! It's +enough to make the horse we haven't got laugh." + +To be sure he had plenty of rides. The Bowmans who came down to Marley +for the summer, were very fond of him, and nearly every day during the +summer Scott took him out in his cart. + +But Rex sighed to return this hospitality. All of his friends were +glad to come down to the Pellery, as Rex called it, for Mrs. Pell was +a great favorite and the young people were lively and bright. Rex +fretted, however, because he had no "attractions" to offer them. + +He was feeling particularly gloomy this morning. Having exhausted +himself in regretting the good time he would lose in not being able to +go with the Bowmans, he had taken to lamenting his condition here in +Marley during vacation with Scott away. He was not so fond of reading +as was Roy, and without plenty of congenial society, he was apt to +find that time hung heavy on his hands. + +Scott had gone to Philadelphia this morning to make some purchases for +his journey. He would not he back till afternoon. Rex had not yet +planned what to do with himself in the meantime. + +"Where are you going?" he called out presently, when he saw Roy +walking down toward the gate. + +"Over to Mr. Tyler's to see how he is. Want to come?" + +"I believe I do," answered Rex slowly. "Hold on a minute till I get my +cap." + +Roy was rather surprised that his brother should wish to go. He +wondered just how Mr. Tyler would like his bringing him. Then he +remembered what the miser had said about Rex reminding him somewhat of +Maurice Darley and thought perhaps he might be glad to see him on this +account. + +It was cooler than it had been the previous day. The country about +Marley and Burdock was beautiful, extremely rolling and rich in +vegetation, so the walk was a pleasant one. + +"Say, did Mr. Tyler really have Syd make his will last night?" asked +Rex as they were crossing the covered bridge over the creek. + +"Yes," answered Roy. + +"Did he have much to leave?" went on Rex, stooping down as they +emerged on the road again, to pluck a tall blade of grass which he +began to munch between his white teeth. + +"About half a million." Roy thought he might as well tell this. He +knew that if he tried to evade the question his brother would be apt +to think he was keeping something back. + +"What?" Rex stopped stock still in the road to utter the exclamation. +"That old bag of bones worth half a million dollars! Nonsense." + +"I think it's more likely he should be worth that amount," returned +Roy, "than the Bowmans, for instance, who seem to spend their income +right up to the handle. You know everybody has always thought Mr. +Tyler had money." + +"I know they have, but such a sum as that!" + +Rex walked on again, knitting his brows in thought. There was silence +between the boys while they ascended the hill on the opposite side of +the creek. Then as they reached the top, Rex was about to ask another +question when Roy clutched his arm suddenly. + +"Look there," he cried. "Isn't that undertaker Green's wagon in front +of the house? Mr. Tyler must be dead!" + + CHAPTER V + + BREAKING THE NEWS + +"Great Caesar, Roy! What's come over you?" + +Rex was staring in amazement at his brother, who had turned quite +white at the sight of the undertaker's wagon standing in front of the +miser's home. He had halted and gone off to one side of the road to +lean against a tree, where he stood now, mopping his face with his +handkerchief. + +"I hadn't any idea he would die so soon," he said. "It seems like an +awful shock, although I do remember that Dr. Martin said he was in a +pretty bad way. And he asked me to come and see him to-day; I mean Mr. +Tyler did. I wonder when he died." + +"What luck for his heirs," remarked Rex. + +"Don't!" cried Roy, starting forward as if to place his hand over his +brother's mouth. "You don't know what you're saying." + +"Well, I suppose it was a little rough when the old man's scarcely +cold perhaps. I say, aren't you going on? We can find out just when he +died, you know." + +Mechanically Roy followed his brother, his eyes still fixed on that +black wagon. He could not realize it yet. Mr. Tyler dead so soon after +making that will which left Mrs. Pell all his money. No more poverty +for them. The stable need no longer be empty and-- + +Roy checked these thoughts with a half suppressed exclamation of +disgust. It seemed sacrilegious to be speculating in this fashion on +the gain from the death of the old man who had been so fond of life, +for all he had made such poor use of it. + +They were now close enough to the cottage to see that the doctor's +carriage stood there just behind the ominous vehicle belonging to Mr. +Green. The doctor himself was coming out of the house. + +Seeing the boys he halted till they came up with him. + +"Oh, doctor, when did it happen?" asked Roy. + +"Last night about ten," was the answer. "Didn't Sydney tell you?" + +"No, I haven't seen Syd since I left him here yesterday. Is he here +now?" + +"No. He is very busy in town seeing about the arrangements there. You +know he is one of the executors. Things take queer turns in this world +of ours, don't they? You little thought at this time yesterday morning +that before twenty-four hours had passed you would be the means of +bringing a great fortune into the family. But good-by. I must hurry +off to do what I can for the living now." + +"There is nothing that I can do for him, is there?" Roy stepped apart +from his brother and closer to the doctor to ask the question. + +"No, my boy," was the answer. "Nothing now. You have obeyed his last +request of you. It is not your fault that you are too late." + +The physician drove off, leaving the two boys standing in the road in +front of the silent cottage, for the undertaker was carrying on his +work noiselessly. + +"Roy," said Rex suddenly, placing a hand on each of his brother's +shoulders, and looking him squarely in the face, "what did Dr. Martin +mean by what he said just now about your being the means of bringing a +fortune into the family?" + +"Don't-- don't ask anything about it just here. Come, let's hurry off +toward home. I'll tell you on the way." + +Roy slipped his arm through his brother's and led him off down the +hill. + +"Now then," said Rex impatiently when they had reached the Marley +turnpike again, "you must tell me. Did Mr. Tyler leave you any money +for what you did for him yesterday?" + +"No," replied Roy, in a kind of burst, "but he left his whole fortune +to mother." + +Rex did not stop and throw up his hands as Roy had half expected he +would do. He came closer to his brother and suddenly passed one arm +about his neck as they walked on together and drew him close to him. + +"Oh, Roy," he said, "we owe all this to you." + +Then he walked off to the side of the road and dropped down on the +grass. Roy came over to take his place beside him. + +"I didn't want to say anything about it before," he explained. "It +might have been years before we came into the money. And now it may +not be nearly so much as I said. We only have old Mr. Tyler's word for +it, but both Syd and Dr. Martin seemed to think he was telling the +truth." + +"Does mother know?" asked Rex in a low voice. He seemed to be quite +changed since he had heard the wonderful news. His manner had become +quiet, subdued, more like Roy's. + +"No, nobody knows but you, and Syd and Dr. Martin." + +"But you will tell mother as soon as you get back?" + +"Yes, I suppose I had better." + +"I can't realize it yet, Roy. Half a million! That's five hundred +thousand dollars. And now we live on an income of about two thousand!" + +Rex brought his eyes down from the sky where he had been allowing them +to soar, and fixed them on his last summer's tan shoes. They were +whole yet, but had lost their freshness. He could have new ones now, +he reflected, without waiting for these old ones to wear out. + +"How did he come to do it, Roy?" he went on, "Hasn't he any relatives, +or anybody of his own?" + +"I don't know. Syd can tell you more about it than I can. Come, we had +better be getting home." + +The boys rose and resumed their walk. Presently Rex remarked: + +"When shall we get hold of the money, do you suppose, Roy?" + +"I don't know. Don't talk about it in that way. It seems awful." + +"Why, Roy, one would think you wished we hadn't got it. What makes you +act so queer about the thing?" + +"Because the thing itself seems queer, I suppose." + +"You are not sorry about it, are you? You almost act so." + +"Oh, no, I'm not sorry, but I can't seem to realize it yet." + +"Well, I can, now I've had a little chance to get used to it. I can +realize that it means a new tennis suit for me, unlimited pairs of +shoes, horses and carriages and perhaps my trip to Canada with the +Bowmans." + +"Rex, don't go on in that strain with the man still unburied. If you +only knew how it sounds." + +Reginald looked a little abashed, and as they reached a fork in the +road just then, announced that he was going up in the town to see his +friend Charlie Minturn. + +"Don't tell him about this," Roy begged. + +"What do you take me for?" returned Rex in his most dignified manner. +He strode on up the hill, his head thrown back, his chin the least bit +elevated in the air. + +"I'm afraid for Reggie," murmured Roy as he kept on toward the +Pellery. "Poverty didn't suit him at all, but it seems to me riches +are going to suit him too well." + +The girls were hulling the strawberries on the side porch when he +reached the house. + +"Where's mother?" he asked as he came up and sat down at their feet. + +"Gone to market," replied Eva. + +"Where have you and Rex been?" inquired Jess. "I saw you crossing the +bridge together. I thought the Crawfords were away. There's nobody +else you'd be likely to go and see over in Burdock." + +"There's Mr. Tyler," replied Roy. "He asked me to go up and see him +to-day, but I was too late. He's dead." + +"Dead! Oh, Roy!" + +Both girls uttered the exclamation. Death almost always horrifies. +They had Roy tell them in detail all about the talk he had had with +the miser the previous afternoon. But he said nothing about the will. +He thought his mother ought to know first. + +"There come mother and Rex now!" exclaimed Jess presently. + +"I suppose he's told her," thought Roy. + +This was the case. There was a flush in Mrs. Pell's cheeks as she came +up, and Rex exclaimed as soon as he was within speaking distance: +"Mother knows. Have you told the girls yet, Roy?" + +A look of annoyance crossed Mrs. Pell's face, but before either she or +Roy could say anything, Jess sprang to her feet, nearly upsetting the +bowl of strawberries in the act. + +"Told you what? There's been an air of mystery about you ever since +you left the creek yesterday afternoon." + +"Of course there has," exclaimed Rex exuberantly. "And it's something +worth being mysterious about, eh, brub? What should you say, sisters +mine, if I should tell you that the magic wand of fortune has been +waved over the Pellery, which will transform yonder sober fowls into +gallant steeds, these homely pups into expensive hounds of the hunt, +and--" + +"Reginald." + +Rex always knew he had gone too far when his mother spoke like that. +He ceased abruptly and dashed into the house, as if to cut himself off +from temptation to transgress further. The next moment they heard him +whistling a comic opera air up in his room. + +"Mother, you tell me what all this means, won't you?" This from Jess +in almost a desperate tone. + +"Yes, you may as well all know now," said Mrs. Pell, sinking into a +chair. "I find that half of the town seems to be aware of it already." + +"It! It! Quick, mother. It isn't something awful, is it?" + +"No, not awful for us my dears. It is just this. Your brother Roy +touched old Mr. Tyler's heart by what he did for him yesterday, and in +the will he made last night he left all his fortune, about half a +million, to me." + +Both girls sat there as if stricken dumb, staring at their mother as +she told them the wonderful news. + + CHAPTER VI + + REX GOES TO TOWN + +"I'm very sorry, indeed, this came out now. It seems unfeeling to talk +about it while that poor old man's body is above ground, and then the +amount of the fortune he possessed may be grossly exaggerated." + +This was Mrs. Pell's summary of the matter, delivered several times +during that afternoon. The girls took the thing very quietly. + +"I am so glad on Syd's account," Eva said though more than once. "He +has always worked so hard for us." + +Jess seemed dazed by the possibility of the new order of things, while +Roy was disinclined to talk about it at all. Rex, however, made up for +the apparent apathy of the others. + +At lunch he wanted to know when they were going to move. + +"Of course we don't want to go on staying in a bandbox of a place like +this, when mother is a millionaire," he said. + +"Only half a one," Jess corrected him with a smile. + +"Well, no matter about that. I've been figuring up on the income that +we could get without touching the principal, and I make it $25,000 a +year." + +"Oh, Reggie, Reggie, I am afraid you are incorrigible," groaned his +mother. + +"Why, I don't see anything out of the way in doing a little +calculating here in the privacy of our home. I don't go up and +proclaim it from the housetops." + +"But you may be reckoning without your host, my dear brub," interposed +Jess. "What if Mr. Tyler had only a thousand in bank instead of five +hundred thousand?" + +"Yes; we can't know anything certain till Syd comes home to-night," +added Roy. + +"I can't wait for that," muttered Rex, under his breath. + +He subsided for the rest of his meal, however, but as soon as he had +finished went up to his room and proceeded to go through all the +pockets of his different suits. + +"Short by a quarter," he murmured as he finally sat down on the edge +of the bed and jingled the small change he had collected, "I'll have +to go to mother after all." + +He glanced up at a time-table stuck in the mirror, hurriedly changed +his knockabout suit for his best one, and then rushed down to the +dining room where Mrs. Pell was helping Eva shell peas for dinner. + +He went straight up to her and put his arm affectionately about her +neck. + +"Moms," he said in his winning way, "I want to run up to the city for +this afternoon. I'm a quarter short to buy my ticket. Won't you please +let me have it? I can pay you back out of my allowance." + +"What do you want to go to the city for, Rex?" + +"Oh, I can't stay here in uncertainty. I want to see Syd to know for +sure about things. Besides, it will keep me from shocking you here if +I go." + +"But Sydney is sure to be very busy. You will bother him by going to +the office." + +"No, I won't. He never lets me bother him. Besides, I only want to see +him for a minute. You know I haven't been in town since school closed. +The train goes in twenty minutes, and I'll come back with Syd. Please, +moms." + +"All right, Rex, you may go, but remember I trust you not to annoy +Sydney. You will find my purse in my top bureau drawer, left hand +corner." + +"You are the best mother a boy ever had." With a hasty kiss Rex was +off, secured his quarter, and then with a wave of his hand toward the +family, struck out across the pasture for the path that led up over +the hill in a short cut to the station. + +There was nobody so easy to get along with as Rex-- as long as you +allowed him to have his own way. + +"That is a crazy notion of his, wanting to go in to town just because +he can't wait till Syd comes out," remarked Roy when he heard of it. +At the same time he felt a sensation of relief to think that his +impulsive brother was out of Marley and away from the temptation to +disquiet the family by telling his fellow townsmen what he meant to do +with their money when they came into it. + +Rex meanwhile was enjoying himself hugely. He saw nobody he knew at +this unusual hour of going to town, but he lay back in his seat while +the breeze, created by the swift motion of the cars, rushed +refreshingly past him, and built air castles of the most luxurious +description. + +"It must be so," he told himself, whenever the doubts suggested by +Jess arose in his mind to trouble him. "Dr. Martin congratulated Roy. +Everybody has known that Mr. Tyler had lots of money somewhere." + +When the train reached Philadelphia, Rex hurried off to the law office +where Syd had his desk. It was some distance from the station, but +having spent all his money for his excursion ticket, he had none left +for car fare. + +"This will be the last time I'll be so short," he mused, a smile which +he could not repress playing about the corners of his mouth. + +Buoyed up by this reflection he did not so much mind the distance, nor +the heat, which he found much more oppressive here in the city than it +was in Marley. He reached Syd's place at last only to find that his +brother was out and that the boy was not just sure when he would be +back. + +"But he'll be here before he goes to the train, won't he?" asked Rex. + +"Oh yes, sure," was the reply. "His satchel is here with the books he +always takes." + +"I'll come back again then." Rex went out, thinking that now there was +no danger of his ever having to step into the shoes of this office +boy. Syd had remarked once or twice that he thought he could get him a +position in a law office when he was through school. + +Rex wandered along the street aimlessly for a while. If it hadn't been +midsummer he might have gone over to Spruce and Walnut and called on +some of his friends, but they were either at their summer homes in +Marley or off traveling. + +He was therefore reduced to walking to kill time, choosing the shady +side and watching for any incident of city life that might divert his +mind. He came to a bicycle emporium presently and stood for some time +in front of it, trying to decide which wheel he should select when he +came to purchase as he hoped to do very shortly now. + +"That's the dandy kind," remarked a voice over his shoulder. "The +Wizard motor. You can ride over all sorts of roads with it." + +Rex turned and saw a fellow about a year older than himself. He had a +red face and wore an outing shirt that was not as fresh as it might +have been. + +Rex, who was rather fastidious as to his friends, simply said "Yes," +and moved on. + +The fellow noticed the look which accompanied the word. + +"The dude!" he muttered. "Thinks he's too good to talk with the likes +o' me. I'll get even with him." + +He waited an instant and then followed Rex at a distance. Presently +something that he espied ahead caused him to scan the sidewalk and the +street next it closely. + +Then he stepped out into the roadway and picked up a piece of coal +that had dropped from a passing cart. He quickened his steps and +nearly caught up with Rex just as the latter was passing a Chinese +laundry. + +"Run for your life! Runaway team behind you!" he exclaimed suddenly, +darting forward and calling out the words almost in Rex's ear. At the +same instant he flung the piece of coal he had picked up straight into +the window of the Chinese laundry. + +There was a crash of glass and Rex, connecting the sound with the +warning he had received, immediately took to his heels. + +"There he goes!" called out the red faced youth to the Chinaman who +promptly appeared in the door of his shop. + +The Celestial's almond eyes caught sight of Rex's fleeing figure. It +was enough. He dropped his iron and rushed after Rex, the +conscienceless hoodlum joining in the chase. + +Rex, hearing no further sound to tell him that a dangerous runaway was +close upon him, had just decided to slacken his pace and turn around +to investigate, when he felt a hand laid on his shoulder. + +"Me got you," crowed a wheezy voice in his ear. "Now for pleecy man." + +Rex was horrified to find himself in the grasp of a Chinese +laundryman. + +"Let go of me! What do you want?" he cried, struggling to get free. + +"You breakee glass. You go to jailee. Here pleecyman now." + +True enough, among the crowd that had hastily collected, was a +blue-coated officer. + +"Make him let me go," exclaimed Rex, appealing to the representative +of the law. "I didn't do anything to him." + +"Yes, he did," called out a bystander, whose sympathies had been +awakened for the much suffering heathen. "I saw him running for all he +was worth. That's pretty strong evidence, isn't it?" + +The policeman appeared to think so, for he came up and caught Rex by +the arm. + + CHAPTER VII + + REGINAND'S HUMILIATION + +Rex never felt so humiliated in his life. Here he was, surrounded by a +crowd, captured by a policeman and accused by a miserable Chinaman of +breaking a pane of glass. + +"It's all a mistake, I tell you," he cried, starting to wrest himself +loose from the officer's grasp, and then suddenly remaining passive as +he reflected that this was undignified. + +"What did you run for then!" questioned the policeman. + +"Because he told me to-- the fellow with the red face," and Rex looked +around in the throng to pick out the cause of his misfortune, but that +individual had discreetly disappeared. + +"I don't see him now," he went on. + +"I guess you don't," put in the bystander who had already spoken. "Do +you run every time anybody tells you to?" + +"He said there was a runaway team behind me. Then I heard the glass +break. He must have thrown the stone himself." + +Rex tried to speak calmly, but he was boiling over with rage at the +trick which he now realized had been played upon him. + +"Me wantee new glass," the Chinaman insisted. "Play money." + +How fervently Rex wished at that moment that they had come into their +inheritance. He would have put his hand into his pocket, drawn out a +five dollar bill with a lordly air and handed it over with the words: +"Take this. I didn't break the glass, but I pity the poor heathen's +distress." + +As it was, he had not a penny about him. It was difficult to keep up +an air of bravado under these circumstances. + +The crowd was growing bigger each minute. The policeman looked +somewhat perplexed. He judged from Rex's appearance that he was not a +hoodlum who would be likely to throw a stone at a Chinaman's window, +but he admitted that he had been running, and here was a man ready to +swear that he saw him throw the stone. + +"What is your name?" he asked. + +"Reginald Bemis Pell," replied Rex promptly. He was proud of his name, +and brought it out now with a kind of flourish. + +"Where do you live?" went on the officer, while the crowd pressed +closer to hear the replies. + +"At Marley." + +"You don't look like a boy who would break windows for the fun of it." + +"Of course I wouldn't, and when my brother hears of this outrage he'll +raise a big fuss over it. He's a lawyer and knows how to do it." + +Rex didn't feel a bit humorous when he made this assertion, but there +was something in it that struck the crowd as very funny. A good many +laughed, and the policeman tried to repress a smile. + +"Where is this brother of yours?" + +"Right here in the city," and Rex gave the address. + +"That's not far," said the officer. "We'll go round there and see if +you have told us a straight story. Come along, John," he added to the +laundry-man. + +Rex glowed with a sense of triumph for a minute, and then began to +reflect on what Syd would say at seeing him appear in such company-- +with a police officer and a Chinaman. And there was the crowd that +strung on behind as the three moved off! + +"I wish I'd stayed at home," groaned poor Rex to himself. + +However, he tried to take some comfort from the fact that the +policeman's arm was not on his shoulder. People they passed might +think it was the Chinaman who was under arrest. Then he felt that he +ought to be glad that it was midsummer, with no chance of his meeting +any of his friends. + +He was trying to decide what he should do in case Syd had not come +back by the time they reached the office, when just as they turned +into Chestnut Street a familiar voice cried out: + +"Hello, Rex, what under the sun?" + +It was Scott Bowman. He had just come out of a trunk store in time to +confront the sorry procession. + +Rex wished the manhole cover over which he was passing would suddenly +give way and precipitate him under the sidewalk in theatrical trap +door fashion. Scott was the last person in all the world whom he +wished to see. + +"Don't you come near me, Scott," he answered, "if you don't want to be +disgraced. I'm under arrest." + +The look of utter and complete amazement on young Bowman's face at +hearing this did more to convince the officer he had the wrong person +in custody than anything else. He allowed Rex to stop and parley with +his friend. + +The situation was explained in few words. Scott was a year older than +Rex. His father was a city official with a salary of ten thousand a +year. He was highly indignant when he heard of the outrage. + +"This is monstrous," he said, and announcing who he was, demanded that +Rex be instantly released. + +"But I can't do that, Mr. Bowman, if that is really your name," +responded the officer somewhat nettled. "Because this young gentleman +happens to be a friend of yours, it doesn't make it any the less +likely that he broke that window." + +"'If that is really my name?'" repeated Scott, highly incensed. +"You'll find out whether that is my name or not when I report this +affair to my father." + +The officer smiled; so did a number in the crowd. Rex felt that his +former humiliation was nothing compared to that which he was now +undergoing, having caused his friend to be treated in this insulting +fashion. + +"Come on," said the policeman, and the line of march to Sydney's +office was resumed, Scott valiantly falling into place beside Rex, +vowing vengeance on the entire force of bluecoats. + +"Don't stay with me, Scott," Rex implored him. "You've borne enough. I +don't want to drag you down into the mire too." + +"Do you suppose I'd desert a friend in a time of need like this?" +returned Scott. "I'm going to take this officer's number now while I +think of it." + +Scott fished a pencil out of one pocket and a railroad timetable out +of the other, and glancing at the shield on the breast of the +policeman made a record of the figures on it in a very conspicuous +manner. But the officer did not tremble with apprehension. He simply +turned to Rex and observed, "This is the place, isn't it?" + +They had reached the building in which Sydney had his office. + +"Yes, this is the place," replied Rex slowly. He was thinking how +dreadful it would be to present himself before Syd with this crowd at +his heels. + +"I don't know whether he's in or not," he added. "Will you mind going +up and finding out, Scott?" + +"Of course I won't. I know just where the room is and I'll bring him +down in a jiffy." + +The policeman motioned the crowd back and he and Rex and the patient +Chinaman went into the marble corridor and waited, while the throng +peered in at them from the doorway and a new one began to gather from +among those who passed to and fro in the building. + +"I'm glad I never knew this was going to happen to me," reflected Rex. +"I'd never have known a happy day if I had." + +He had no fear of going to jail. He felt that there was justice enough +in the world to ward that off. + +But the ignominy of his present position was torture enough to a proud +spirit like his. + +Ah, here was one of the elevators coming down, with Scott looking +eagerly out at him. And Syd was with him. + +But was it Syd, this fellow with the pallid cheeks and deep circles +under the eyes? Yes, it certainly was his brother, for he stepped out +ahead of Scott and came over at once to pass his arm about Rex in +gesture of protection. + +Reginald gave an almost unconscious sigh of relief. Within that +embrace he felt that he was safe. + +"Now what is all this about?" said Sydney, in his business-like tone, +addressing the officer. "It seems you have arrested my brother here +for breaking a Chinaman's windows. Did you see him throw the stone?" + +"No, but a gentleman did," replied the officer. + +"Where's that gentleman now?" + +He was not to be found. He had dropped out of the procession before it +reached Chestnut Street. + +"He was a bystander. He is not here now," answered the policeman. "I +didn't think the boy did it myself, but he admits that he was running +when the alarm was given." + +"That amounts to nothing. Do you arrest everybody that runs in the +street? Explain why you were running, Rex." + +Rex did so, as he had already done. + +"This fellow who told you that there was a runaway coming for you," +went on Sydney; "had you seen him before?" + +"Yes; he came up and spoke to me while I was looking in a store window +at some bicycles." + +"Did you answer him?" + +"Yes." + +"Pleasantly?" + +Rex hesitated a moment. + +"Well, I didn't exactly like his looks, so I said 'yes' or 'no, ' I +forget which now, and went on." + +"This seems like a clear case of the wrong man, officer," summed up +Sydney. "It was that hoodlum who broke the glass just for the sake of +getting my brother into trouble. You ought to see that plainly enough. +You do, don't you?" + +"Yes, now. I didn't know all the story before. I beg the young +gentleman's pardon. Come, John, we'll have to look elsewhere for your +tormentor," and the officer took the Chinaman by the arm and walked +out with him. + + CHAPTER VIII + + IN SYDNEY'S OFFICE + +"I'm awfully sorry, Syd," began Rex, as soon as the three were left +alone and had stepped into the elevator. "I never felt so disgraced in +my life." + +"You did nothing wrong," replied Syd, pressing his hand against his +forehead for an instant as if it pained him. "But what are you doing +in town?" + +"I came to see you," answered Rex, and then looked at Scott, who had +said that as it was so near train time he would wait and go to the +station with the Pells. "But you are ill," he went on the next +instant, his eyes coming back to the other's face. "What is the +matter, Syd?" + +"Oh, I'm all right," responded the young lawyer. He forced a smile to +his lips, and turning to Scott asked when the Bowmans expected to +start on their trip. + +"Monday," was the reply. "It's too bad Rex can't come with us. I was +counting on him. We'd have no end of fun." + +"Oh, Syd," suddenly broke in Rex, "did you know that old Mr. Tyler was +dead? Or did he die before you came home last night?" + +A sort of spasm passed over Sydney's face, but they were just stepping +out of the elevator, and neither of the boys noticed it. + +"Yes; he died before I left," he answered, as they entered his rooms, +which he shared with a fellow member of the bar who was now away. "But +I've got some last things to attend to before I leave. You fellows +make yourselves comfortable in there and I'll be ready in five +minutes." + +He pointed to the adjoining room, where Rex and Scott at once +established themselves in the window and looked down on the busy +street far below them. + +"I didn't know Tyler was dead," began Scott. "I heard what Roy did for +him on the bridge, though. By George, that was plucky! But by the way, +what's the matter with your brother Sydney? He looks terribly. Didn't +you notice it?" + +"Of course I did and spoke about it He's working too hard, I guess. I +say, Scott, you won't tell anybody about my adventure this afternoon?" + +"Of course I shan't; only father, to report how insulting that +policeman was." + +"No, let that go. I wouldn't like even your father to hear it. I feel +humiliated enough that you should know about it. Say, Scott!" Rex +paused suddenly. The recollection of his recent experience stung him +whenever it came up in his mind. He felt that Scott must be constantly +thinking of it, too. He wanted to tell him something that would banish +it from his thoughts. + +"Well, my boy, what is it?" rejoined Scott. + +"If I tell you something, will you promise to keep it a secret till-- +till everybody knows it, as they will probably in a day or two?" + +"Of course I will. It must be something mighty important from your +mysterious air, old fellow." + +"It is, awfully important." Rex's eyes were fixed on Scott's trowsers. +He saw that they were a new pair, evidently purchased to be worn on +the trip. What a thing it was to have money so that you could get +extra things whenever you wanted them and not be obliged to wait till +you could afford it! And the Pells would even be richer than the +Bowmans. + +Rex paused so long while he was thinking over all this that Scott +broke in with, "Well, what is it? Don't keep me on the rack so long." + +"Perhaps I shouldn't tell you," went on Rex; "but some people know it +in Marley already, and you are my best friend, you know. Old man Tyler +left his money to mother and it's something like half a million!" + +"Reginald Pell!" Scott brought out these words with strong emphasis, +then seized his friend's hand and wrung it heartily. + +"Don't!" said Rex, seeing that Syd was coming toward them. "It seems +awful to be congratulated now when the old man isn't buried yet, +and--" + +"What's that you're saying?" Sydney had hastened forward and laid his +hand on Rex's shoulder. + +Rex colored. Syd looked so very serious, and now, as he stood there in +the full glare of daylight, the signs of suffering on his face were +plainly apparent. + +"Syd, you are ill?" exclaimed Rex, forgetting about what he had been +saying. "You ought to be at home at once." + +"Never mind about me, Reggie. Tell me what you were just telling +Scott." + +"I didn't think it was any harm. A good many people in Marley know it +now. I was telling him about-- about Mr. Tyler's will." + +"What about it?" Sydney's eyes were looking steadily, unsmilingly down +into his brother's as he put the question. + +Rex was really frightened now. He had never seen Sydney look just like +this before. + +"I told him about leaving his money to us on account of what Roy had +done," he faltered. "I didn't--" + +Sydney's eyes closed; he started to reel backwards and would have +fallen had not Scott sprung forward and caught him. + +"Help me ease him down in the chair, Rex," he called out. + +Scarcely knowing what he was doing, Reginald took hold of his +brother's other arm and between them the two boys got him down gently +into a chair that stood near the window. + +"He isn't dead, is he?" + +Rex's voice was hardly more than a whisper as he put the awful +question. Sydney certainly looked almost like a corpse, with his +pallid face and his head hanging itself lifelessly over on one side. + +It was a trying situation for the two boys. Neither of them had had +the slightest experience with cases of this sort. It was so late in +the afternoon that the offices around them were all empty. + +"No, he is not dead, I'm sure of that," Scott replied, who, as the +senior of Rex by some eleven months, felt that it was natural for the +other to seem to rely upon him. "We ought to have a doctor at once, +though." + +"But we can't leave him that way while I go for one. Besides, I don't +know where to go." + +"Neither do I. Our doctor is clear at the other end of town and +besides he's down at Atlantic City by this time anyway." + +"It's awful, isn't it? Oh, what shall we do, Scott?" + +"We might ring for an ambulance. That's the quickest way." + +"Oh, we don't want to have him taken to the hospital. Come, help me +get him out of that chair. It's horrible to see his head hang over +like that." + +"But where can we put him? There's no lounge about, is there?" + +"No, but we might let him lie on the floor, on that rug yonder. See, +we can take this cushion out of this chair for a pillow." + +With much difficulty, for they felt that they must go about the work +of transfer with the greatest care, the unconscious man was removed +and placed in what both boys considered would be an easier position +for him. But when he was stretched out at their feet, the spectacle +was such an ominous one that Rex almost wished that they had left him +where he was. + +"Don't you think we ought to throw water in his face or fan him or +something?" he asked helplessly. + +"I don't know what we ought to do, Rex, except I think we ought to +have a doctor the first thing. I tell you! You stay here with him and +I'll go down and find a drug store. They'll know where I can get a +doctor there." + +"All right; be as quick as you can." + +Scott was off on the instant and Rex was left alone with the +unconscious Sydney. His mind was filled with a multitude of thoughts +in regard to the strange seizure. Was he, Reginald, responsible for +it? What if he had not come to Philadelphia, would it have happened? + +He tried to console himself with the reflection that the thing was +bound to occur any way, and that it was providential that he and Scott +were present to give aid. + +Then he remembered how the attack had come on at the very moment when +Sydney learned that he (Rex) had told of their inheritance from the +miser, and he felt more dismal than ever. + +It was very quiet in that great office building at this time of the +day. The noise of the car bells and traffic that came in through the +open windows from the street far below only made the stillness within +more marked. The office boy had taken the mail and gone home just +before Rex and Scott arrived. + +Rex glanced up at the clock. They would not be able to catch the +express now. How good Scott was to stay with him. He would pay him +back for it all when they came into their fortune. + +But he seemed to be a long while gone. Rex left his position by Sydney +and went to the window. By leaning very far out he could just see over +the heavy stone still to the street below. But it was quite impossible +to recognize any one at that distance. + +He wriggled back till his feet touched the floor again, and then +returned to take up his watch by Sydney once more. He wished that Roy +was with him. Though they were twins he felt that his brother +possessed twice the self reliance in emergencies that he did. + +"I wonder if I ought to telegraph to mother," was his next thought. + +Then he heard the door of the elevator slide back, and the next +instant Scott Bowman appeared, accompanied by a short man with side +whiskers and spectacles. + + CHAPTER IX + + THE MYSTERY ABOUT SYDNEY + +The boys stood by in anxious suspense while the doctor made his +examination. + +"It is utter collapse from severe mental strain," he said after a +minute. "He will come around presently." + +He wrote out a prescription and gave it to Scott to take out for him +and then turned to Rex. + +"You are Mr. Pell's brother, I believe?" he said. + +"Yes," answered Rex, for the fact that there was no blood relation +between them was one that very seldom recurred to the boys' minds. + +"Then perhaps you will be able to assign some cause for this seizure. +Was Mr. Pell excited by anything in particular when it took him?" + +Rex hesitated. Remembering how Sydney had been affected by learning +that he had revealed the facts about Mr. Tyler's will to Scott, he +felt that he ought not to speak of the matter to any one else. + +"Yes, he was excited by a-- a family affair," he replied, hoping this +was all he need say on the matter. + +"Humph!" muttered the physician, and he not only took another critical +look at Sydney's face, but favored Rex with a long stare, too. + +"Will he be well enough to go down to Marley to-night?" asked the +latter. + +"You live out of town then?" returned the doctor. "There's no place +where you could take him here in the city?" + +"None, but a hotel," rejoined Rex. "And I'm sure my mother would +rather have him home." + +At this point Sydney stirred and opened his eyes. He looked first at +the doctor, frowned deeply, and then as Rex came forward within his +range of vision, he beckoned the boy to him. + +Rex hurried over and knelt by his side. + +"Who is that?" asked Sydney. + +"It's a doctor. You fainted or something and Scott went out to get +him. How do you feel?" + +"Pretty weak, but ask him to step into the next room a minute. I want +to speak to you." + +"Doctor, will you mind waiting in the next room a minute? My brother +wants to see me about something." + +Rex was afraid the physician might feel offended or else object to +leaving his patient, but he said, "Why, certainly," and then came over +to take a close look at the young lawyer before leaving him. + +As soon as he had gone Sydney put out one arm and passing it around +Rex's neck, drew the boy's ear close to his mouth. + +"Did I say anything while I was unconscious?" he whispered. + +"No," replied Rex, mystified. "Nothing at all. But what does all this +mean, Syd? What is worrying you so terribly?" + +"Don't let it worry you and then it will worry me less. What time is +it?" + +"Half past five." + +"Then we ought to catch the six o'clock train." + +"But you're not strong enough to go now," objected Rex. "You're as +pale as a ghost." + +"Am I?" A wan smile lit up Sydney's face for an instant "Well, then, +exercise will perhaps bring some of the color back. You can call the +doctor in now and we'll see what he says." + +Scott arrived with the filled prescription just as Rex brought the +physician back into the room. Sydney objected to lying on the floor +any longer and they helped him to a chair. + +"Yes, you can go home if you don't do any walking," said the doctor +after another examination. + +"All right, I can go down in the elevator, get a carriage from the +hotel across the street and ride right up to the station. You rush +down and engage one, Rex. Scott will stay here and help the doctor +down with me. Then he can go along with us. Don't lose any time, +Reggie." + +With an immensely relieved mind Rex hurried off to execute the +commission. He had really feared at one time that Sydney was going to +die. + +He was rallying rapidly now. When he entered the coach he took out his +pocketbook and paid the doctor for his services. + +"We owe you something, Scott," he added after they had started, "for +what you got at the drug store." + +Scott protested, but was in the end obliged to take what he had paid +out. + +"It's been an exciting afternoon for you fellows," remarked Sydney, +and Rex could not help but notice that while his tone was light, his +face was still pale and that be did not look at them while he was +speaking. + +"I want you to promise me one thing, though. That you will not speak +of my fainting spell at home, or you either, Scott. I have a +particular reason for asking that favor." + +Both boys promised to respect his wishes, and then Sydney quickly +changed the subject to the Bowmans' trip, asking at what hotels they +were going to stop, and so on until the carriage reached the station. +He seemed so much better by this time that when he met a friend on the +train and took a seat with him, Rex and Scott almost forgot that he +had been ill. + +They found places together near by, but neither said much during the +short ride. Rex felt that Scott must be thinking of how Sydney had +broken in upon his revelation of their inheritance, and wondering what +it could mean. He couldn't explain it, so he thought best not to +broach the subject. + +And as this filled so large a part of his thoughts there was nothing +else he cared to talk about. After all his trip to Philadelphia had +not been productive of any results. He knew no more now than when he +started about the extent of Mr. Tyler's fortune. + +When they reached Marley, Sydney took a hack that always waited at the +station, and he and Rex rode down to the Pellery, Scott living close +to the station in the other direction. + +"Do you feel all right, Syd?" asked Rex during the ride. + +Sydney nodded without making any reply, and soon they reached home. +Rex was unusually silent during dinner. He looked up in surprised +fashion when he learned that Sydney had gone off without his breakfast +that morning. Sydney explained that it was due to urgent business in +town. Rex wondered what the family would think if they knew about the +scene at the office that afternoon. + +Nobody said anything about Mr. Tyler after Sydney had admitted that he +died before he left him the previous night. Rex was the one most +likely to discourse on the subject, but now he had his reasons for not +broaching it. + +The next morning Sydney did not go to the city. He devoted himself to +making arrangements for Mr. Tyler's burial. The death was published in +all the Philadelphia papers, and the Pells expected that some one +might come down, claiming to be a relative. + +But no one appeared, and on Saturday the funeral was held in the +little house in Burdock. All the Pells were present, and a great +number of people from Marley. + +The news that the miser was very wealthy and had left all his money, +except a small legacy to his servant, to Mrs. Pell, spread rapidly and +created a great sensation. + +Everybody connected it with Roy's act of rescue on the trestle, and so +many spoke to him about it that he was almost afraid to show himself +in public. + +"What do you care?" said Jess, when he complained to her about it. "It +certainly isn't a thing you are ashamed of." + +"But I don't know what to say," he returned. "It sounds silly to tell +them it wasn't anything, and I can't say, yes, I think it was a very +brave act. So there I am." + +"You poor boy. What do you do, usually?" + +"Try to get around it by telling them that I'm not the heir but +mother. I suppose that's kind of mean, too, for I know she hates to be +spoken to about it as much as I do." + +The Pells were the observed of all observers at the funeral. Eva had +declared at first that she thought they ought not to go. + +"We'll just make a show of ourselves," she said. "It was very +unfortunate all this got out before Mr. Tyler was buried." + +But Mrs. Pell announced that respect for the dead demanded their +presence, so they went. Every one remarked on the pallor of Sydney. +His mother had worried over it considerably. + +"You must be the first to take advantage of our altered circumstances, +my dear boy," she had told him. "I want you to give up work for a +while and go away for a good long rest." + +"Oh, no, no!" he cried out in such terror that the poor woman was +startled. + +He noticed it and tried to smile as he went on: + +"Of course all this business about the Tyler will has been an extra +strain on me, but that will soon be off now. It is you and the +children who must benefit by the money that has come so unexpectedly. +You will make me, oh, so much happier, if you will not count me in on +it. You will not need my help now, and my income will be abundant for +my own wants." + +Seeing that he felt so strongly on the matter, Mrs. Pell said no more +at the time, but she often thought of that talk later and shivered as +she recalled it. + + CHAPTER X + + ROY MAKES A NEW ACQUAINTANCE + +It was just a month after our story opened that July afternoon. Roy +was fishing from the tree trunk over the creek again, but he was alone +this time and the expression on his face was almost as discontented as +Reginald's had been on that former occasion. + +His float bobbed under two or three times, but he paid no attention to +the fact. He was too deeply absorbed in thought. Now and then he would +glance up at the trestle far above him, and something very like a sigh +would pass his lips. + +There was a snapping of twigs on the Marley end of the log and Roy +turned his head quickly to find a young man regarding him attentively. +He might have been anywhere from twenty-five to thirty. He had a small +brown mustache and rather a dark complexion. + +He held a small oblong box in both his hands. Roy at once recognized +it as a camera and realized at the same instant that it was pointed at +him. + +As their eyes met, the stranger flushed slightly, but said in a +pleasant voice: + +"I hope you don't mind being taken?" + +Roy did mind. He was in a mood just now to object to everything, but +the other's voice was such an agreeable one, the glance of his eye so +kindly that the boy's real self came to the surface through his +temporarily baser one, and he replied: + +"Oh, I s'pose not, but I haven't got the pleasant look the +photographers tell you to put on. Aren't you afraid I'll break your +camera?" + +The answer was a quick snap and then the young man slung the camera +over his shoulder and stepping out on the tree trunk slipped down to a +seat beside Roy. + +"You have a very cozy retreat here," he remarked, "how's the fishing?" + +"I don't know. To tell the truth I wasn't thinking of my line at all +and I'm almost sorry I let you take that picture. I don't see what you +wanted it for any way, I hope you won't show it around much. You don't +live in Marley, do you?" + +"No." + +"I'm glad of that" + +"Why?" with a smile. + +"Because nobody I know will be apt to see the picture." + +"You're quite a modest young man." + +"Oh, it isn't that, but I must have looked so disagreeable at that +particular moment. At least I must have done so if my looks were +anything like my feelings." + +"No, if I remember rightly you were smiling at the instant I pressed +the button. You know you were saying something about fearing you would +break the camera, and a smile usually goes with that remark." + +Roy looked up quickly. The stranger was an odd one. He had a queer way +of putting things. Roy began to be interested. + +"Have you taken many pictures around here?" + +"Quite a number. It's a very pretty place." + +"Isn't it?" + +"That bridge quite adds to the attractiveness of the landscape. In +fact that is the reason I am here. I was coming through on the train +and as we crossed, the prospect of this little valley was so tempting +that I decided to stop off and explore. I am very glad I did now, for +it gave me the added pleasure of meeting you." + +"That sounds as though you were talking to a girl," said Roy. + +"Does it? Well, as I am particularly fond of boys I suppose I may be +allowed to say the same sort of things to them." + +"You're fond of boys? That's queer. I didn't know any one liked boys +except their mothers and now and then a girl or two." + +Roy laughed a little as he added this last, and the stranger joined in +heartily. + +"You're very frank," he remarked; "but that's what boys usually are, +and it's one of the reasons I like them. They generally say right out +just what they think." + +"What's another reason?" + +The man with the camera hesitated an instant before replying. Then he +said: + +"Well, I'm going to be frank, too. Another reason I like boys is +because I find them useful to me." + +"Useful to you?" repeated Roy, perplexed. + +"Yes, as a matter of study. You see, I write about them sometimes." + +"Why, are you an author?" + +Roy turned full around on the log as he put the question, his face all +aglow with animation. + +"I suppose that's what I must call myself even if I'm not a +particularly famous one." + +"Please tell me the names of some of your books. Perhaps I've read +them." + +The young man smiled at his companion's eagerness and mentioned a +story which had been Roy's Christmas present two years before. + +"Did you write that?" he exclaimed. "Why, then you are Mr. Charles +Keeler!" + +"Yes, I am Mr. Keeler. I suppose you are disappointed in me. Most +people are when they see the people who write books they have read." + +"That was a splendid story," Roy drew in a long breath before he made +this reply. He was still looking at Mr. Keeler as if he could not yet +quite comprehend the thing. "I'm awfully glad to meet you and I'd like +to shake hands." + +"With the greatest of pleasure. I'm very glad you liked my book; I +know you wouldn't say so if you didn't. That's where boys are superior +to grown people. They are almost always sincere in the expression of +their opinions." + +"Do you know I've never seen an author before?" went on Roy, who had +wound up his line and had given himself over to a full enjoyment of +this unexpected opportunity. "I don't see how you do it. I hate to +write compositions at school. Nearly every boy I know does. Did you?" + +"Yes, when I had to write on subjects that were assigned by the +teacher I used to count the lines then just the same as the rest of +the fellows. But when they let me write a story I didn't mind." + +"I don't see how you can. I should think you'd never know what to say +next." + +Mr. Keeler smiled, showing his white teeth which contrasted so +strongly with the deep tan on his complexion. + +"Oh, that all comes when you have your scheme arranged," he said. "But +of course you have to possess a natural taste for the work. You can't +suddenly decide that you would like to be an author and then study for +it as you might learn to be a carpenter or a mason." + +"Oh, it's like poets, then, who are 'born, not made,'" returned Roy. + +"Precisely, and that being the case it comes natural to write, +although there is a great deal of hard work about it." + +"You said you studied boys. How do you mean?" + +"Well, take yourself for example. When I saw you sitting here fishing +I wanted your picture so I could look at it some day and perhaps make +up a story about you." + +"A story about me!" exclaimed Roy. Then he added in a sober tone, "I +don't believe you could make up a more wonderful story than something +that has really happened to me." + +"Is that so? I remember now you said you were very much disturbed over +something that you thought would make you look disagreeable." + +"Yes, I came down here because I was at odds with myself and everybody +else, I wonder what you'd do with a hero who was just in my position. +I've half a mind to tell you all about it. You don't know who I am, so +it won't matter. Do you live in Philadelphia?" + +"No, in New York just at present." + +"Good, then I believe I'll tell you, but you must promise you won't +use it in a book unless I tell you you can." + +"Here's my hand on it," and once more hands were clasped over the tree +trunk. + +"And you must promise, too, to believe everything I tell you. Some of +it will seem pretty steep." + +"Oh, well, you know, that fact is stranger than fiction, so don't +worry about that." + +"I won't tell you everything," began Roy, with a quick glance up at +the trestle, "but first I'll have to go back a little and say that +almost as far back as I can remember we've lived in that house you can +see down yonder with the peaked roof. We had only about enough money +to keep us comfortable, for father died when I was a little fellow, +and there were five of us children. But we had good times and I was +looking forward to the future when I would be a man and Rex and I-- +that's my twin brother-- could give mother some of the luxuries with +what we should earn, for I expected that by that time Sydney would be +married and have a home of his own. You're not bored listening to all +this, are you? There's a more exciting part coming?" + +"I never was so absorbed in a story in my life, my dear fellow. Go on, +please." + +"Well, over yonder, not far from the end of the trestle, lived an old +man-- but never mind the name. At any rate he was sort of a miser, or +rather he had lots of money which he never spent and when he died he +left it all to my mother." + +"You've left something out I think," interrupted Mr. Keeler, and there +was a smile about the corners of his mouth that caused Roy to flush +deeply. + + CHAPTER XI + + MR. CHARLES KEELER + +"Well, why don't you go on?" asked Mr. Keeler, as Roy paused. + +"You've heard something about the affair. I can see you have by the +way you look. Please tell me what it was." + +"Only a very little," was the reply. "As I was crossing the trestle in +the train a while ago I heard a lady behind me telling a gentleman who +was with her that this was the place where Roy Pell rescued the old +miser. So now you see I know who you are, but I hope that won't make +any difference about your telling the story. You left off in the most +interesting place. It would be worse than the serials in the weekly +papers, for I couldn't look forward to getting the continuation next +Saturday." + +Roy smiled and then said "All right, you've promised not to use it +unless I give you leave, you know. But I don't want you to think of me +as a regular hero because I lugged that old man off the bridge. There +would have been plenty of time for me to have run down to Burdock and +stopped the train and got help there, but I really didn't think of +it." + +"Oh, no, that isn't the part I'm interested in at all. What I want to +know is the reason you seemed so glum over having come into a fortune. +Was it much, may I inquire?" + +"About half a million, but I haven't been one mite happier since we've +had it. In the first place my oldest brother has been sick ever since. +We don't know what's the matter with him and he won't give up his law +business and go away for rest as mother wants him to. He says he has +got too much to do looking after the investing of her money. Then +there's Rex, he wants so many things that he can't settle on any one. +He got a bicycle almost the first thing, and now he's tired of it and +wants a horse, and Jess says there's no good of getting that because +we ought to go to Europe and take Syd with us." + +"And Eva, she wants to go to Vassar, and mother doesn't want to give +her up, and the worst of it all is we've sold the place and we are +going to move into the city next month, and I hate to leave Marley, +although the rest all want to go. So we're all pulling different ways, +and nobody a bit happy, for if he's got what he wanted he has to +remember that it's what the rest didn't want. I had a fling out about +the whole thing just before I left the house and I came down to +grumble to the creek. Why, that's funny!" + +"What's funny?" inquired Mr. Keeler, as Roy looked up with a half +smile. + +"Why, it's just a month ago to-day since Rex came down here to mope +because we didn't have money enough to let him go on a trip to Canada, +and now I've come here to do the same thing because we're come into a +fortune." + +"Then you don't care for the money?" remarked the author. + +"Not if it's going to break up a family the way it has ours. Jess used +to be awfully lively and full of fun, and now she's all the time +talking about new clothes and the places she wants to go, and how +she's going to have her room decorated in the new house." + +"But I thought you said she wanted to go to Europe." + +"So I did. That's one of the troubles. She don't know what she wants. +It's one thing one minute and another the next." + +"But your mother? Doesn't she have something to say about it?" + +"Yes, but she's so fond of us all, she wants to do what will give us +the most pleasure. And of course when we all want different things +that's pretty hard to do." + +"And the 'different thing' that I want is to stay right here in +Marley. I'd graduate at the academy here next June, and then all my +friends are here, and I like the country. Now if your hero in a story +was in a fix like this what would you do with him?" + +"It depends on the sort of story I was writing. If it was one with a +motive, a moral, so to speak, I'd have him give up his own desire and +say he'd be perfectly willing to do what the rest wanted to do." + +"But if the rest wanted to do different things? Here's Rex wanting to +live in Philadelphia, and Eva thinking it would be ever so much nicer +to live in Boston, and Jess divided half of the time between New York +and Europe, and Sydney looking as if he'd drop into the grave right +off if we didn't do something quick-- what then?" + +Roy spoke very earnestly, and Mr. Keeler did not smile this time. He +began to pick at the bark on the tree trunk and did not reply for some +little time after Roy had paused. + +"I think," he said finally, "that in that case I should have had my +hero try to make himself contented with whichever decision was arrived +at. Half a million ought to atone for a great many drawbacks." + +"Oh, I know a lot of people envy us," broke in Roy. "Charley Minturn +says I ought to be the happiest fellow going. But I'm not. That's +because I'm going-- to leave Marley. I s'pose you think it's queer for +me to tell all this to a stranger. But it's just because you are a +stranger that I feel that I can do it. You can understand how that can +be, can't you, Mr. Keeler?" + +"Yes, perfectly. But I think you attach too much importance to your +feeling for Marley. Of course you think now that you will not be +contented elsewhere because you do not yet know the attractions of +other places. I remember when I was in my teens, living abroad, I +thought I could not be happy anywhere but in Paris. I had been there +all winter, and when spring came and we were to go to Germany I felt +just as you do over leaving Marley. But when we were settled in our +German home I grew to like it just as I had Paris. That is the way it +is sure to be with you." + +"Why, you've done me lots of good," exclaimed Roy. "I should never +have thought of looking at things that way. So you've lived in Europe? +Rex only wants to travel there." + +"He's your twin brother, you say? Does he look like you?" + +"No; only the least bit. He is the good looking member of the family. +There he goes now on his wheel. Would you like to meet him?" + +"Indeed I should," replied Mr. Keeler heartily. "It would seem exactly +like a character out of a story." + +Roy put his fingers between his lips and gave a peculiar whistle, +composed of three distinct notes. Rex, who was just passing under the +trestle, turned around in his saddle, and when he saw some one beside +his brother on the tree trunk, he made a half circle in the road and +came scudding back on his machine. + +He ran this in a little distance among the trees, left it leaning +against one of them and then came on foot to the edge of the creek. +His bicycle suit was very becoming to him. Roy watched Mr. Keeler's +face and saw that he was favorably impressed at once. + +He accomplished the introduction, mentioning the book both boys had +read. Rex seemed immensely pleased at meeting the author, and put on +his most charming manner. + +"Won't you come over to the house, Mr. Keeler?" he said. "We can give +you some lemonade and I'd like you to see the view of the trestle from +our piazza." + +"You are very kind," returned the young man, looking at his watch, +"but I am afraid I shall not have time. I had planned to take the next +train in to town. I have only about twenty minutes in which to catch +it now." + +"Stay to tea then and go up some time this evening," went on Rex. "I +am sure our mother would be delighted to meet you, and so would the +girls. Wouldn't they, Roy?" + +"Yes, indeed, please stay, Mr. Keeler." + +Roy would not have dared to make this request if he had been left to +himself. That was the difference in character of the two brothers. One +was impulsive, ready to do anything on the spur of the moment: the +other cautious, shrinking sometimes. He was just as anxious as Rex to +extend the hospitality of the Pellery to their new acquaintance, but +felt that he had not known the other long enough to warrant him in +doing so. + +Mr. Keeler hesitated. He was in his element now in the society of two +boys of such contrasted temperaments, making admirable studies. + +"I was going back to New York to-night," he said. "But I suppose I +could put it off till morning." + +"Do; then you can stay to tea at the Pellery," exclaimed Rex. "That's +what we call our house. It makes it seem like a nest, you know. If you +don't mind I'll mount my wheel and run on ahead to tell them you are +coming, so that we can receive you in proper state." + +There was no opportunity given Mr. Keeler to decline. Rex rushed +ahead, mounted his wheel and was off before he could answer. + +"You will stay, won't you?" asked Roy. + +"With pleasure if you think it will not inconvenience your mother. +That is decidedly important. You do not know but I may be some +moonshiner from the Cumberland, or a bandit from Italy. My complexion +certainly answers to the latter description. You see, you have only my +word for who I really am." + +"I guess that's good enough," laughed Roy, "How do you like Rex?" + +"Immensely." + +"Everybody does. I suppose we ought to be very proud of him, and we +are, but then we are afraid for him at the same time. What a boy he +is! See, he's hunted up our big flag and hung it from Syd's window in +honor of your coming. You'll have to make a speech now." + + CHAPTER XII + + AN ALARMING DISCOVERY + +Rex come down to the gate to meet them. + +"I'm sorry that mother isn't home," he said. "She's just had a +telegram from Syd that takes her to town and will keep her there with +him all night Some business connected with the new house," he added +with a glance at Roy. + +"But the girls are home and will be delighted to receive you with +fitting honors," he went on. He did not say that he had had quite a +time to induce them to appear at all. He had rushed into the house in +his impetuous way announcing that Roy was coming along with a young +man they had met down at the creek who was a famous author and was so +nice, and whom they had invited to tea. + +"But we don't know him, Rex," Eva had exclaimed in considerable +dismay. "You oughtn't to bring strange people to the house in that +way." + +"Oh, but it's just the same thing as if we did know him," and Rex went +on to explain about the story he had written, which they had all read +and admired. + +"But is he nice and respectable himself?" Jess inquired. "You know +some of these writers are horribly poor and go about with threadbare +clothes. He might not be the right sort of man for us to know at all." + +"Jess!" Eva exclaimed severely. "The idea of your thinking that +because people are poor they can't be respectable! We shall be very +glad to meet your friend, Rex," and Jess felt that she was in such +disgrace that when Mr. Keeler was presented she tried to redeem +herself by being excessively friendly. + +And this was not difficult for her to do. He was certainly very +different from what she had expected. He had neither long hair like +the traditional poet, nor trousers fringed around the bottom like the +literary hireling of Grub Street. + +Indeed, she found him quite handsome; he dressed almost as well as Rex +did, and he was a most interesting talker. And all the while she was +sensible of having seen his face somewhere before. + +She thought at first it might have been in a portrait painted as a +frontispiece to his book. At the first opportunity she slipped off to +the boys' room and looked it up. But there was no portrait there. + +Finally she decided that she must have passed him in the street in the +city some time and resolved to think no more about it. + +Eva was pleased with the visitor too. They had a very merry supper +party. The clash of opinions about what to do with their money was +stilled for the time while they all listened to the very entertaining +stones told by their guest. + +He was, it seemed, on his way home from the oil regions of +Pennsylvania whither he had gone to secure the local color for a new +story. In fact he had traveled very extensively in his short life, for +he was not yet thirty. + +At one time he had lived among a tribe of blacks in Africa; at another +been a member of a party of exiled Russians, on tramp to the mines of +Siberia. He was telling of an exciting adventure he had had among the +Arabs when the twinkling lights in a train crossed the trestle caused +him to come to a sudden pause. + +"I must be thinking of the time," he said taking out his watch, and +trying to see the figures on its face by the moonlight. "I don't want +to miss the last train in to town." + +"Oh, do, please," pleaded Rex. "You can stay here just as well as not. +Syd won't be home and you can have his room. The last train goes in +half an hour; you won't nearly have exhausted your stock of stories by +then. Please stay." + +"We should be very glad to have you do so, Mr. Keeler," said Eva. + +"But this is trespassing altogether too much on your hospitality," he +returned. "Besides, you scarcely know me and I didn't come prepared. I +left Philadelphia this morning, meaning to be back there by night." + +"Oh, we'll fix you out," said Rex with an air of finality, "so go on +with your Arab story." + +It was most comfortable on that porch with its southern exposure, the +fireflies dancing to the chirp of the crickets, the span of the +railroad trestle looking like a fairy bridge against the background of +the sky. Mr. Keeler decided to stay. + +Roy wondered what the others would think if they knew that their guest +was aware of what had recently befallen the family. He should most +decidedly not have told all he had if he had foreseen what was coming. + +At ten o'clock Eva suggested that Mr. Keeler was probably tired from +his journey, so the boys went up stairs with him. + +"I'll come down and lock up," Roy called back to his sisters. + +When he returned in a few minutes, leaving Rex talking bicycle with +their guest, he found the girls standing in the library, over a large +book which they had open on the table before them. + +"Look there!" exclaimed Jess, almost in a tragic tone, just as he +entered. + +She was pointing at something in the upper left hand corner of the +page. Eva started as she looked at it and then turned a frightened +face toward Roy. + +"Roy, come here," she said. + +"Why, what's the matter with you girls?" he exclaimed. "You look as if +you'd each seen a ghost." + +"It's worse than that!" answered Jess in a sepulchral tone. "Look +here." + +She pointed to the spot on which Eva's gaze had been riveted. + +"Why, it's Mr. Keeler's picture!" exclaimed Roy. + +"Read what it says underneath," went on Jess in the same tone. + +Roy let his eyes drop to the printed lines beneath the portrait, which +was one of six which adorned the page. This is what he read: + + Martin Blakesley, + + Alias "Gentleman George," "Lancelot Marker" etc., Confidence Man. + +"What book is this?" asked Roy. + +His voice was hard. He hardly recognized it himself when he heard it. + +"'Noted Criminals of the United States,'" replied Jess. "Syd brought +it home last week to look up something or other he wanted to use in a +case. I was glancing through it this morning and saw this picture +then. I knew I'd seen Mr. Keeler somewhere before as soon as I laid +eyes on him this afternoon." + +"Perhaps it's only somebody that looks like him," said Eva faintly. +"He has a larger mustache than that now." + +"It's had plenty of time to grow," rejoined Jess significantly. "This +book was published two or three years ago. See, here is his history. +No. 131," and she began to look over the pages till she came to the +paragraphs of description accompanying the portrait. + +The three heads bent over the page eagerly, while Roy, in a low voice, +read the facts about No. 131. He had been in jail twice, it seemed, +his last term having expired, as Roy figured, some four months +previous. He was noted for his suave manners and the facility with +which he imposed on strangers. + +"That's the man," murmured Jess. "What are we going to do?" + +Eva stepped back to the sofa and sank down upon it as if every bit of +strength had gone away from her. + +"It doesn't seem possible," was all Roy could say for the moment. + +Then he turned back to the picture and studied it long and intently. +Meanwhile the steady murmur of voices could be heard from above. Rex +was showing Mr. Keeler the treasures in their room. + +"I had better go up and ask him to leave," then said Roy suddenly. + +"Oh, no, no, that will precipitate a quarrel," exclaimed Jess. "He may +murder us all." + +"What do you want me to do then?" asked Roy. + +"I don't see that you can do anything except sit up with Eva and me +down here till morning. I'm sure I should never sleep a wink if I went +to bed." + +"I'm hoping yet there'll be some way to prove we are mistaken in +thinking him the same person," put in Eva. + +"You might take this book up, Roy, and show it to him, then if he +didn't flush when he saw this picture we'd know it was all right." + +"And if it wasn't, poor Roy might be stabbed where he stood," added +Jess cheerfully. "I tell you! we might cry fire and scare him out that +way." + +"Don't be silly, Jess," Roy admonished her, and then he returned once +more to the study of the face of the criminal. + +There was a sudden crash up stairs. Jess uttered a half stifled +scream. + +"Oh, Roy," she cried, "do go and see! He may have killed poor Rex!" + + CHAPTER XIII + + DISCUSSION OF WAYS AND MEANS + +Roy bounded up the stairway two steps at a time. He was conscious that +both his sisters had walked to the foot of it and were looking after +him fearfully. Then he heard Rex's voice. Evidently his brother was +not hurt. + +"Oh, it didn't matter in the least," Rex was saying. "It was an old +thing, we shouldn't have taken it with us to the new house." + +He and Mr. Keeler were bending over a heap of fragments on the floor. +Roy stepped into the room and saw that they had once been the clock +that stood on a bracket near the foot of the bed. + +"I was reaching up to get that wasp's nest we stuck behind it," Rex +explained. "My coat sleeve caught on the clock and pulled the whole +thing over." + +Roy. gave a sigh of relief and then almost smiled as he recalled what +he and his sisters had thought for a minute had really happened. He +bent down and helped the others to pick up the pieces. + +"I think this should be a warning to me to go to bed at once," said +Mr. Keeler with a laugh. "Good-night, boys, I shall be on hand for +eight o'clock breakfast." + +He went out into the hall and up the stairs to the third floor, where +Roy had already lighted the lamp for him in Syd's room. + +"An awfully nice fellow, isn't he, Roy?" remarked Rex, rolling the +fragments of the clock up in an old newspaper. + +Roy did not make any reply. He had sat down on a chair by the bureau, +on which he was resting his elbow. His eyes were fixed thoughtfully on +the book rack opposite in which stood the volume of which Mr. Keeler +was the author. + +"Rex," he said suddenly, "come on downstairs." + +"I've got to go down any way with this rubbish. But what's come over +you, Roy? You look as sober as a judge in a criminal case." + +"I'll show you in the library," was all Roy's reply, then recollecting +that the girls would be anxious to hear his report, he hurried out and +down the stairs. + +Eva and Jess were still standing by the newel post. + +"Well?" they asked in a breath. + +"It was only the old clock Rex knocked down. Mr. Keeler has gone up to +bed." + +"Did you tell Rex?" + +"No, not yet. Here he comes now." + +Eva went out and showed her brother where to deposit the contents of +the newspaper. Then she brought him back into the library and pointed +out the portrait of Martin Blakesley. + +Rex understood at once what it meant, for he had been looking at the +book. + +"Whew!" he brought out this low whistle and then glanced from one to +the other of his companions. + +"You think it is the same man then?" said Roy. + +"It looks exactly like him, and I suppose it would be as easy for him +to take the name Keeler as any other alias." + +"But there is a Charles Keeler," went on Roy, "I didn't know these men +would dare masquerade around the country as such famous people. They +would be sure to be found out." + +"What are you going to do about it?" asked Rex. + +It was characteristic of him that, though he had himself invited +Keeler to the house, he was now putting all the responsibility on his +brother. + +"Let's sit down and talk it over calmly," replied Roy. "I've been +thinking the thing over and I can't see what harm it can do to let Mr. +Keeler stay." + +"What, a confidence man!" exclaimed Rex and Jess in a breath. + +"He may have reformed," continued Roy. "He didn't plan deliberately to +come to this house, nothing he has said or done since he has been here +has made us suspect him of being anything else than what he claimed to +be." + +"But if he has reformed what would he be going around pretending to be +what he wasn't for?" interrupted Jess, "You don't suppose that Martin +Blakesley and Charles Keeler, the author, are one and the same person, +do you?" + +Roy did not answer for a minute. He had plainly not thought of this +side of the matter. + +"Ugh! it makes me creep," went on Jess, "to feel that a man who has +been in state's prison twice is in this very house and going to stay +here all night. I'm going to stay up until morning. I think I'll sit +down here and read the lives of these criminals. It will be an +appropriate occupation." + +"You girls needn't stay up at all," said Rex. "Roy and I will stand +guard." + +"Oh, I couldn't sleep if I went to bed," declared Jess. "I don't know +as I can ever sleep again so long as we are in this house. Think how +he must know all the ins and outs of it by this time!" + +"How silly you talk, Jess," interposed Eva. "One would think to hear +you that Mr. Keeler was a common burglar. As Roy says, he didn't plan +to come here, and like as not he'll go away in the morning without +having disturbed us in the least." + +"You're standing up for him, are you, Eva? Well, I thought his good +looks were making an impression on you." + +"Jessie, you have no right to talk in that way. I'm not standing up +for him at all. I'm only trying to get you to look at the facts of the +case in a sensible way." + +"But there's nothing sensible in inviting a jail bird to the house, +and having him stay all night. It isn't the sort of thing you can +prepare yourself to bear up under in dignified fashion." + +"Shall I go up to town and get the constable to come down and arrest +him?" asked Rex. + +"You can't do that!" returned Roy promptly. "He hasn't committed any +crime." + +"But if we wait till he does commit one, it will be like locking the +stable door after the horse has been stolen." + +"You might go over to the Burtons', Roy, and get Will to come and stay +with us," Eva suggested. + +"And rouse them up at this hour of the night? It's getting on to be +eleven o'clock. And it would be a pretty reason to give, wouldn't it: +'If you please, Mr. Burton, we invited a convict to spend the night +with us, and now we're afraid.'" + +Eva couldn't resist smiling at Roy's way of putting it. + +Rex yawned heavily. + +"I'm awfully sleepy," he said. + +"Yes; and you and Rex were the ones who were to stand guard," Jess +reminded him promptly. + +"Well, I'm beginning to agree with Eva now," Rex returned. "I haven't +an idea that man intends to harm any of us. Perhaps there is some +mistake after all and he isn't Martin Blakesley, only somebody that +looks like him." + +"I don't go to bed on any such uncertainty as that," declared Jess. + +"What would we do if we stayed up and we heard him coming down stairs +to burglarize the house?" Rex wanted to know. + +"If you and Roy weren't shaking in your boots too much to take aim you +might bring him to a halt by pointing Syd's pistol at his head." + +"I suppose we could ask him to wait first till we ran up to Syd's +bureau drawer and got it," retorted Rex with fine irony. + +"Mercy sakes! There he is right in the room with the only weapon we've +got in the house!" and Jess looked really terrified now. "Why didn't +one of you think to take it out?" + +"Why didn't you think to tell us who Mr. Keeler was before we asked +him to stay all night?" Eva retorted. "You said you knew all the time +you had seen him somewhere before." + +"The boys had no business to pick up a stranger and bring him to the +house in this way," Jess replied. "What do you suppose mother will say +when we tell her?" + +"You needn't tell her," said Rex. + +"Needn't tell her!" exclaimed Jess. "When she finds half the silver +gone and Syd's pistol missing I suppose we can say that the cat +carried them off." + +"Well, I didn't pick the fellow up," affirmed Rex. "It was Roy. He +called to me to come and meet him." + +"And you invited him to the house," Roy couldn't resist adding. + +"Come," interposed Eva, "stop quarreling over what is past and decide +what we must do in the present. For my part I can't think we are in +any personal danger. If the man up stairs is the same one described in +the book he has evidently reformed." + +"But remember what it says about his smooth ways," interjected Jess. +"That is just where he has made his reputation, by his easy way of +crawling into people's confidence." + +"I tell you what to do," said Roy. "You and Rex, Eva, go up to bed. +Jess and I will stay up all night and stand watch." + +"But what good will that do you if you haven't any weapons?" Rex +wanted to know. + +"We can run, any way," answered Jess. "That will be better than lying +still to be murdered in our beds." + +After some further discussion the matter was settled in this way. + + CHAPTER XIV + + WHAT HAPPENED AT MIDNIGHT + +When Rex and Eva had gone up stairs, and Jess and Roy were left to +themselves in the parlor, the brother and sister looked at each other +rather soberly for the first few minutes. + +"Are you very sleepy, Roy?" asked Jess presently. + +She sat by the table still, with that book about criminals open before +her, but she had not looked at it for some time now. + +"No, not a bit. Shall I read you something? There's that book of Mark +Twain's we haven't finished yet." + +"I couldn't put my mind to listen to anything. I never was so nervous +in my life. And I'm getting worse." + +"There's really nothing to be nervous about, Jess. I have no doubt +that Mr. Keeler is in bed sound asleep by this time, with no thought +of burglarizing the house." + +"I wish I could think so, but I can't." + +"Think of something else then. When are we going to leave Marley?" + +"The first of September. The new house is a beauty. You haven't seen +it yet, have you?" + +"No, and I don't know as I ever want to." + +"Oh come, Roy, it is ridiculous your being so set or staying in +Marley. We can come out here in the summer perhaps, although I'd +prefer to go abroad." + +"It must have been nice to live in Europe for a while as Mr. Keeler +did, you get so well acquainted with the people." + +"I wonder if they got well acquainted with him," remarked Jess +significantly. + +"Oh, I forgot," returned Roy, and then he remembered what Mr. Keeler +had said to him down by the creek about trying to make himself +contented with whatever was for the good of the greatest number. + +It could not be possible that a man who could give such excellent +advice had a record behind him like Martin Blakesley. + +"Then you don't want me to read to you," Roy added. "What shall we do +then? What do you say to a game of Authors?" + +"All right. Mr. Keeler isn't represented, so I guess I can stand it." + +Roy took the cards from the drawer of the bookcase and they began to +play. But Jess's thoughts wandered and Roy was obliged to remind her +to take her turn many times. + +Suddenly she held up a finger hushing him to silence. + +"Don't you hear something?" she asked in a tremulous whisper. + +"Nothing but the crickets outside and the splash of the water over the +dam," he replied. + +"No, it's something in the house up stairs. Hear it now; like the +creaking of a board." + +Roy did hear it this time plainly. + +"It's Rex or Eva," he said reassuringly. + +"No, it isn't. See, it's nearly midnight. They were asleep long ago. +Oh, Roy, that man may stop on the way down and murder them both." + +Jess had risen and stood there, staring toward the doorway into the +hall, her eyes filled with terror. + +Roy rose, too. He realized that the noise was not likely to be made by +his brother or sister, and the servant slept in the rear of the house +and always used the back stairs. He had often wondered whether he +would be brave in a time of real danger as fellows in the books he +read were. He did not feel by any means comfortable now. But he was +not actually terrified. + +"I'll go up and see what it is, Jess," he said, and started toward the +door. + +But his sister flung herself upon him, the tears starting from her +eyes. + +"Don't leave me or I shall die," she moaned. + +She drew him back toward a sofa in the far corner of the room, and +held him tightly by the wrist. + +The noise from above drew nearer. They made it out to be the creaking +of the stairs. + +Jess was trembling frightfully. Roy could almost hear her teeth +chatter. He wished that he could think of something to say to make her +feel less terrified. He was sure if he had been a boy in a book he +could have thought of something. + +He determined to ask Mr. Keeler in the morning what would be the +proper thing under the circumstances. Then he laughed out half +hysterically as he realized that it would hardly be the thing to +mention the matter to Mr. Keeler. + +Jess heard the laugh and it frightened her more than ever. She thought +Roy was more terrified even than she and was losing control of +himself. + +Nearer and nearer came the creak of descending footsteps. Roy started +to go to the door. He felt that he could not remain in suspense an +instant longer. + +But Jess held him back. + +"Don't, Roy," she whispered. "He will kill you." + +And at that instant a man's form passed the doorway. + +It was Mr. Keeler. He had on his trousers, shirt and shoes, but +nothing else. His hair was all rumpled and one hand was stretched out +in front of him as though he had been feeling his way. + +He halted for an instant at the foot of the stairs and turned his face +toward the library. Then Roy saw that his eyes were closed. + +"He's walking in his sleep," he whispered to Jess. "I must go and wake +him or he may do himself some damage." + +"Let him alone. He may go out and then we can lock the door against +him." + +"Jess, would you be as cruel as that?" + +"Perhaps he isn't asleep. He may be only shamming." + +"I'm going to find out at any rate. There, he's fumbling with the +lock. You'd better take the opportunity to go up stairs." + +Jess still held on to her brother's wrist, but now she suffered +herself to be led across the floor to the hall, reaching which, she +let go and sped up stairs. Roy turned at once and laid bis hand on the +shoulder of their guest. + +Some way his fears and suspicions of the man had all departed. + +"Mr. Keeler," he said, in a firm tone. + +The other left off his working with the lock and a tremor ran through +him. + +Roy slipped his hand down till it rested under the other's elbow. + +"Come into the library and sit down a moment," he said gently. + +"Where am I? What have I been doing?" + +Roy knew that the man was awake now. + +"You have been walking in your sleep," he replied. + +"I beg your pardon. Did you dress and come down after me?" + +"Oh, no, I haven't been to bed yet." + +Roy flushed as he made this answer, and at this moment the clock on +the mantel chimed out twelve strokes. + +"Are you in the habit of sitting up till midnight?" asked Mr. Keeler. +"I suppose--" + +He paused suddenly. His gaze had fallen on that book of criminals Jess +had left lying open on the table. What appeared to be his own portrait +stared back at him from the corner of the right hand page. + +Roy's heart almost stood still for a second as he saw that the whole +thing was out. Mr. Keeler dropped into a chair by the table still +keeping his eyes fixed on that picture. + +Finally he raised them and looked at Roy. + +"You have discovered the likeness then?" he said. + +There was a depth of misery in his tone that went straight to the +boy's heart. + +"Yes," he said. "My oldest brother is a lawyer, you know. He brought +this book home yesterday." + +"And you thought I was this man?" went on Mr. Keeler. + +"We didn't know what else to think," answered Roy in a low voice. + +"And you were going to sit up all night to make sure that I didn't run +off with the silver?" + +The smile that accompanied these words was a very sad one. Then the +face grew suddenly grave again and without waiting for Roy to make a +response to his awkward question, Mr. Keeler continued: + +"I don't blame you for thinking that brother Martin and I were one and +the same person. He is only a year younger than I and people could +never tell us apart when we were boys. I remember we used to help them +out by wearing sleeve buttons, an M on his and a C on mine. + +"We were left orphans when very young, and Mart began to go to the bad +at once. It commenced with robbing birds' nests and orchards, and +ended with the confidence game for which he was last sent to jail. +That is the reason I use my pen name always. I wonder if you believe +what I am telling you." + +"Yes, Mr. Keeler, I do," responded Roy heartily. + +"I am sorry I stayed," went on the author. "I should not have run the +risk. I had had nobody to vouch for me here, you see. I will go away +now if you say so." + +"Oh, no, no! I am so sorry it happened. It was only the merest chance +we found out anything about it. It's all right now." + +Involuntarily Roy put out his hand. The other took it with a glad +light in his eyes. Then Roy turned out the lamp and they both went up +stairs. + +It was many a week before the young people of the Pell family ceased +to talk among themselves over their singular experience with Mr. +Charles Keeler. He left on the nine o'clock express the next morning, +and everybody had been pleasant to him at the breakfast table except +Jess, who did not come down. + +Roy told the true state of the case before he went to bed that night, +and the explanation was very gladly received by both Rex and Eva. + +"It may be so," Jess replied; "but I'll take my breakfast after he is +gone." + +Roy told Sydney about the occurrence, and thought at first, from his +brother's looks, that he was going to give him a severe rating for +what he had done. A sort of convulsive tremor shook his frame, and he +hastily took out his handkerchief to wipe away the beads of +perspiration that had gathered on his forehead. + +But he uttered no word of reproof; merely said that the boys should be +careful about the friends they made. + +"Don't you think Mr. Keeler is all right, Syd?" asked Roy. + +"Yes, as it turned out, certainly I do," was the reply. "But it might +have been otherwise." + +For his part, Roy was very glad of the meeting. Since he had had that +interview down by the creek he had been much more reconciled to +leaving Marley. + +"What if I had the burden to carry about with me that Mr. Keeler has!" +he often told himself. "The consciousness that my brother was a +scoundrel, a jailbird!" + + CHAPTER XV + + DUDLEY HARRINGTON + +The family moved into their city home early in September. And a +beautiful one it was, with enough ground about it to give windows on +all sides. + +Of course a small army of servants was necessary to the running of +such a dwelling, and Roy, Eva and Jess had many laughable experiences +at first in accustoming themselves to being waited on. But Rex took to +luxury as naturally as a duck to water. + +He seemed to be growing up terribly fast since a fortune had come into +the family. He insisted on having a latch key as soon as they moved to +town, and felt very much aggrieved because his mother would not buy +him a dog cart. + +"But you are too young, my son," Mrs. Pell said in response to this +request. "Remember you are not yet sixteen." + +"Well, I shall be next month," he replied, "and I know perfectly well +how to manage a horse, I've been out with Scott so much." + +He had had Scott and Charlie Minturn to visit him just as soon as they +were settled and took solid satisfaction in entertaining them in the +style to which he had been accustomed at their homes. But they did not +seem to have any better time than they used to do down at "the +Pellery" at Marley. + +In fact they had enjoyed it there because things were different. Now +it was Rex who was different They could not state in just what the +difference lay, but they felt it. And when they had gone Rex realized +that he had not enjoyed their visit as much as he had expected to. + +To be sure, the "solid satisfaction" was there at the thought of +having entertained them as he had long wished to be able to do, but +then there had seemed a constraint which had not existed before. + +The trouble was here: he had relied on externals to please them this +time, and had not exerted himself personally as he had been wont to +do. In fact Rex was not at heart as contented as he had expected to +be. + +To be sure, he had now all the clothes he wanted, shoes galore, and +more spending money than any boy of fifteen ought to have, but all the +while he was thinking that he was missing something. And he was not +exactly sure what this was. + +He thought he had discovered one of the things toward the latter part +of September, when the people who occupied the adjoining house to the +Pells returned to town. They were evidently a family of great wealth-- +the Harringtons. Rex found what their name was from the servants. + +There was a young man in the household-- Dudley Harrington. He was +about twenty, and affected the sharpest crease to his trousers, the +highest puffs to his neckties, carried his cane with the handle down +and was altogether a dude of the latest type. + +To become acquainted with this splendid youth now grew to be Reginald +Pell's one absorbing ambition. He had always preferred to associate +with boys older than himself; to be on terms of intimacy with a young +man out of his teens, and who sported a mustache that was far advanced +in the budding stage-- that would be a triumph indeed. + +But would he be able to accomplish his purpose? Although he was tall +for his age, Rex could not hope that the object of his admiration +would look upon him as anything else than a schoolboy. But he did not +see him go out with many fellows of his own age. + +He seemed to be the only child. The parents were elderly people, and +the son was a good deal by himself. + +Rex saw him sometimes in his own room, his feet on the table, a +cigarette between his lips, the floor around him strewn with +newspapers. + +"I wonder if he doesn't ride a wheel," he asked himself one day. "I've +half a mind to ask him to go out with me. We're neighbors. There can't +be anything out of the way in my speaking to him." + +The school which Rex and Roy were to attend did not open till the +first of October, so the boys had a good deal of time on their hands +just at present Roy spent much of it at Marley visiting his friends +there; Rex was thus left to his own devices. On one of these days of +Roy's absence Rex was riding his wheel in the Park when he passed +Dudley Harrington, also mounted on a silent steed. + +Instinctively almost Rex half bowed. It seemed natural to do so, when +this fellow lived right next door and was so frequently in his +thoughts. He was half alarmed at his temerity, when some one rode up +by his side and said: + +"Fine day for wheeling, isn't it?" + +It was Harrington. He had circled about and caught up with him. + +Rex was so overwhelmed that he nearly lost his balance. But he +recovered himself in an instant, and his natural repose of manner +asserted itself. + +"Yes, indeed," he answered. "I was wondering if you had a wheel. Most +fellows have one nowadays." + +"Oh, this isn't mine. It's one I hired. I keep mine at New Haven." + +"Oh, you're a Yale man then," exclaimed Rex, prouder than ever at +having formed this acquaintance. + +"Yes, go back next week," was the answer. "And glad enough I'll be, +too. It's fearfully slow here at this time of year. Nobody back in +town I know. Wouldn't have been myself, only the governor fell sick +and I didn't want the mater to come on alone with him." + +What are you-- senior?" inquired Rex respectfully. + +"Oh, bless you no, only sophomore. By the way, you have just moved +into that house next door, haven't you?" + +"Yes, about three weeks ago." + +"Well, there was a stupid lot enough there before you. A set of old +maids, most of 'em. You must be sociable and come in to see a fellow. +We've a pool table. You play-- look out there!" + +Rex was glad a man in a buggy stopped suddenly in front of him just +then, calling for this diversion in subject. He did not know how to +play pool and did not care to confess the fact just then. + +When they were riding on unhindered again, he begun to talk about Yale +and led the other on to relate several of his first year experiences. +By the time they struck the pavements again they were quite well +acquainted. + +"Let me see-- your name's Pell, isn't it?" said Harrington, as they +dismounted between the two houses. + +"Yes, and I'm Reginald." + +Harrington put out his hand. + +"Well, I'm awfully glad to have met you, Pell. I say, come in to-night +and see a fellow, won't you? That is if you haven't anything better to +do." + +Rex privately thought that he couldn't possibly have this, but he only +said, "I'll be most happy to come." + +The friendship thus begun, progressed very rapidly. Rex speedily +learned how to play pool, but of this he said nothing at home. +Harrington seemed to have taken a decided fancy to the fellow who did +not conceal the fact that he was proud to be acquainted with him. + +Rex's one source of regret was the fact that they were so soon to be +separated. + +"I say, Reggie," said Harrington suddenly on the day before his +departure, "suppose you come over to New Haven with me. Just on a +visit, I mean. I'll give you no end of a good time. We'll stop a night +in New York on the way. Oh, you must come." + + CHAPTER XVI + + REX DETERMINES TO TAKE MATTERS INTO HIS OWN HANDS + +Rex's cup of joy was full when Dudley Harrington asked him to go to +New Haven with him. It would be pleasure indeed to go anywhere in +company with that fascinating young gentleman, but to visit a college +town in his company, to be introduced as his friend-- this would be +bliss indeed, thought Rex. + +But on top of this realization of how much he wanted to go, came the +fear that he could not obtain permission to accept. It was a +humiliating reminder of his youth, Rex felt, to reflect that he must +ask his mother before coming to any decision. + +"I'd love to go, Harrington," he said. "I'll let you know about it in +the morning. That will be time enough, won't it?" + +"Plenty. I'll leave on the Limited, at five, I think. Get our dinner +on board and be ready for fun in New York when we get there. I say, +why don't you decide now, Reggie?" + +"Oh, I guess I can go," stammered Rex. + +He hated to confess that he must first ask leave. + +"When can I get back?" he asked. + +"Oh, by Saturday, or you can stay over till Monday with me if you +will. We never do much the first of the term, and I've got plenty of +room in my quarters." + +The Pells knew that Rex had formed the acquaintance of "the Harrington +fellow." They also knew that he was to go to college in a few days, +so, if Mrs. Pell feared any evil influence over Reginald, she consoled +herself with the thought that this would be removed in a very short +time. + +Now when Rex came with the request that he be allowed to go to New +Haven with his new friend, her answer was a prompt and decided "No." + +"But I've as good as told him I'd go. mother," he pleaded. + +"You had no right to do that," rejoined Mrs. Pell. "You wouldn't be in +your element at all in the company of his friends, and of course you +are sure to meet a great many of them." + +"I'm in my element in his company. He's had me over there every day +since we got acquainted. Besides, just think, I've never been to New +York in my life since I was a baby, and this will be a splendid chance +for me to see it. I can pay all my own expenses, so I needn't be under +obligations to him. Please, mother; I didn't go on that trip with the +Bowmans and now after school commences I shan't have another chance." + +But Mrs. Pell was firm. She was a woman quick to discern character and +she had seen enough of Dudley Harrington through the windows to +conclude that he was not the sort of person to whom she wished to +intrust an impulsive boy like Rex for two or three days. She chided +herself now for having permitted the intimacy to go as far as it had. + +Rex knew that it was useless to say more, and presently went to his +room. + +Here he threw himself on his sofa and brooded over his troubles. It +seemed to him that he was the most unlucky fellow that ever lived. He +never could have what he wanted. Even the money that he imagined was +going to bring so much happiness failed to keep to the agreement, as +he looked upon it. + +"But just wait till I'm a little older," he told himself. "I'll make +up for lost time then." + +Still, this would not help him out of his present slough of despond. +He thought of how lonesome he should be after Harrington went away the +next day. He could have Scott or Charlie Minturn up to see him, to be +sure, but somehow, since he had known Harrington, these old friends +had not seemed so entertaining to him as they once had. + +"And that trip to New Haven would bridge over the time nicely till +school opens," he told himself. "I don't see why mother won't let me +go." + +But he knew perfectly well what the reason was. He realized that +Harrington had habits which none of his associates had ever had. But +what of it? + +"I needn't smoke or drink if I don't want to," he argued. "I haven't +done it yet. Besides, it will do me good to see a little of the +world." + +He rose from the sofa, lighted the gas, and just as he had done that +day when he had heard who was Mr. Tyler's heir, he collected the money +from his different pockets and counted it up. His allowance was a +liberal one, and he had been saving up to buy a birthday present for +his mother. + +"Seven dollars and forty cents," he repeated to himself. "I wonder how +much the fare will be." + +He put on his hat and went down stairs. + +"Where are you going, Rex?" asked his mother, as he passed the group +who were sitting on the front porch, for it was a sultry evening. + +"Only down the street a little way. I'll be right up," he replied. + +"I wonder if Harrington's people ask him where he's going every step +he takes," he muttered to himself as he strode off. + +He forgot the five years' difference in their ages; thought only of +the surveillance under which he chafed. + +He kept on till he reached the hotels, and entering one of them, he +hunted around till he found a railway guide. + +A short consultation of this apprized him of the fact that he had +enough to pay his fare to New Haven and back, but very little more. + +"I suppose I shall have no expense while there," he mused, "being +Harrington's guest. I think I may risk it, and if I get stuck he'll +help me out, though I'd hate to ask him." + +For Rex had formed a resolution. He had determined to go on the +coveted trip without his mother's consent. He could leave a note +explaining where he was. + +It would not be half as terrible a thing, he argued, as for a fellow +to run away from home and not mean to come back. There would be a +great row raised about it, he supposed, but meanwhile he would have +had a good time and the worst that they would do to him would be to +send him away to boarding school, and he shouldn't mind that very +much. + +He thought all this out on his way back from the hotel. To be sure, he +would have to use the money he had been saving up for his mother's +present, but then he was in no mood to give her anything now. + +He felt some twinges as his thoughts touched on this point, but at +that moment some one took his stand in front of him and exclaimed: +"Surrender or give the countersign." + +It was Harrington. + +"Yale," answered Rex promptly. + +"You've decided to go, then," said Harrington. turning around to walk +back with him. "That's right. We'll have oceans of fun. We'll meet +Stout and Cheever in New York, and we can just paint the town, I tell +you." + +Rex was not certain that he would do any town painting. He would be +quite content to be in Harrington's company. + +"I can go if it doesn't cost too much," he replied, thinking it best +to be frank on that point on the start. "You see, my allowance isn't a +big one as yet, and I don't dare ask for any more." + +"Oh, ten dollars will squeeze through easy enough." + +Harrington said this as though ten dollars was no harder to get than +ten cents. Rex's heart sank. Where was he to obtain the two dollars +and forty cents he still lacked? + +"Won't you come in?" Harrington asked, as Rex stopped in front of the +Pells'. + +"No; not to-night, I'll meet you at the station to-morrow at a quarter +to five." + +"What's the matter with my calling here for you and our going up +together?" + +"Oh, I'll have to go down town first and start from there." Rex felt +that this was a very lame excuse. He was not accustomed to telling +untruths. + +But Harrington seemed not to notice. + +"All right, just as you say," he replied. "But I'll see you in the +morning any way." + +"Good night," Rex called after him. + +He felt that his not going home with Harrington was a good stroke of +policy. He decided to add another to it by sitting with the family a +while before he went up to his room. + +"Scott wanted to know if you can't come down and see him to-morrow, +Rex," began Roy, as his brother seated himself on the top step and +began fanning himself with his hat. "He told me to tell you to come +down on the 5:30 prepared to stay all night." + +Rex's heart gave a sudden leap. Circumstances seemed to favor his +plan. If he only had three dollars more now! + +"I guess I'll go" he said. "Are you going, Roy?" + +"No, I'm going to that ratification meeting with Syd to-morrow night, +you know. If you don't go down to Marley, Rex, you'd better come with +us. There are to be some fine speeches." + +"Perhaps I will," responded Rex. + +He was turning over in his mind how he was going to get that money. +The matter of his getting off to the station was simple enough now. He +could even go with Harrington without exciting suspicion. It would be +supposed he was bound for Marley. + +What a web of deceit he was planning to wind about himself. But he +forcibly put this thought out of his mind whenever it obtruded itself. +He would have time enough to repent when he came back. + + CHAPTER XVII + + REX ARRIVES IN NEW YORK + +"I say, Roy, can you lend me three dollars?" + +Rex had crossed the hall to his brother's room some time after the +family had come up stairs. + +"Why, where's all your money gone to, Rex? I thought you were saving +up to get mother a present." + +"So I was, but-- but I've bought it and now I haven't got enough left +to take me down to Marley to-morrow night. Just let me have three +dollars. I'll pay you back when I get my next allowance on Monday," + +"You've bought mother's present!" exclaimed Roy. "What did you get? +Let me see it," + +"No, I want to keep it a secret till I give it to her," replied Rex +quickly. "Now about that three dollars, can you let me have it, old +fellow?" + +"Certainly I can, but be sure to give it back to me Monday, as I +haven't enough to get the present I have set my heart on. I'll-- but +there, if you won't tell about yours, I shan't say anything about +mine. Then we'll have a grand surprise party all around on the third." + +Roy stepped to his dressing case and took out a two dollar and a one +dollar bill, which he handed to Rex. + +"Thanks, ever so much," murmured the latter. "Good night," and he +hurried back to his own room. + +He had never felt so mean in his life. Not only had he just obtained +money under false pretenses, but he had told two or three falsehoods +of the most unblushing description. + +Roy's very readiness to oblige him added to his weight of remorse. + +He sat down on the edge of the bed and began to tuck the money away in +his pocket book. Was he really a criminal? he asked himself. + +How horrified they had all been when they thought Mr. Charles Keeler +had been an inmate of jails. Was it any worse to have committed a +crime and have been punished for it, than to commit the crime and not +be found out? + +For a moment or two he was-- shall I call it tempted?-- to go back to +his brother's room, return the three dollars and confess the whole +thing. Then he thought of New York, of his induction to a college +town, of his promise to Harrington to meet him at the station. + +"No; I must go now," he reflected. "I can call it sowing my wild +oats," and he undressed as quickly as possible and got into bed, as if +fearful that his repentant tendencies would conquer in spite of him. + +He was very quiet the next day. About ten o'clock Harrington came in +to see him. It was the first time he had ever been to the house. Rex +had not asked him, thinking he had no special attractions to offer +him. + +Mrs. Pell and the girls were out shopping. Roy was down at the office +with Syd. Rex asked Harrington if he would like to come up in his +room. + +"Of course I would. A fellow's generally curious about the inside of a +house when he's been looking on the outside of it half the days of his +life." + +So Rex took him up stairs. He admired the "den," as he called it, +immensely. + +"Wait till you see mine at Yale," he added, as he struck a match to +light his inveterate cigarette. "I don't do much fixing up at home +here, I'm here so little. By the way, you don't mind me smoking, do +you?" + +"Oh, no," replied Rex faintly. + +Nevertheless, he was wondering what his mother would say if the odor +still lingered when she came. Sydney did not smoke at all, and the +entire family abominated cigarettes. + +Mrs. Pell did come home shortly after Harrington had taken his +departure. She came up to the third floor to put away some flannels +she had bought for the boys. + +"Reginald," she said, as soon as she entered the room, "you have been +smoking." + +Rex was reading by the window, and he turned around in startled +disquiet. + +"No, I haven't, mother," he replied quickly. + +"Where does that smell of cigarette smoke come from, then?" and Mrs. +Pell coughed and then came up close to look her son in the eye. + +"Dudley Harrington has been here," he replied. "He was smoking." + +"You are sure you were not smoking with him?" went on Mrs. Pell, +adding with a sudden bending down over him, "Kiss me." + +Rex complied, glad indeed that this time, at any rate, there was +nothing he wished to conceal. + +"Forgive me for doubting you, Reggie," said his mother, as she +lingered an instant to stroke the hair back from his forehead. + +Once more Rex weakened in his purpose, if one can be said to weaken +when he is really stronger for the moment to resist an impulse for +evil. But then he reflected that now he had the money and the +opportunity of getting off to the station without being questioned. +The facts seemed to will that he should go. + +And he went, stopping for Harrington at half past four. When they +reached the station he found that he had to pay a dollar extra for the +privilege of riding over to New York in the Chicago Limited. + +But it was very select to travel on such a train, and the dinner that +he and Harrington ate en route was one long to be remembered. + +In fact there were so many new and novel sensations and impressions +received from this first stage of his trip, that Rex was surprised he +did not derive more solid enjoyment from it. + +It was impossible for him to keep out of his mind, however, the fact +that he was now supposed to be at Marley with Scott Bowman. He had +come away without leaving behind him the note he had at first planned +to write. + +"You must come to Yale sure, Reggie," Harrington told him. "Can't you +get ready to enter next fall? I'll be a junior then, and can look out +for you, you know." + +"I wish I could," returned Rex, rather more soberly than the nature of +the subject seemed to warrant. + +He was thinking that it would be so much pleasanter to go to New Haven +legitimately than in his present stolen fashion. + +When they arrived at New York, Harrington said he would go at once to +the hotel where he was to meet some of "the boys." Rex wondered +whether they were going to stop at this hotel over night, and if to, +how much it would cost. But he decided he would not ask, but wait and +find out. + +It was nearly eight when Harrington sent up his card to J. Ashley +Stout in one of the plainer looking hotels on upper Broadway. Word +came back that Mr. Stout was in his room on the fifth floor and would +be glad to have Mr. Harrington come up. + +"Come on, Reggie," said the Philadelphian. + +Rex was not sure whether he liked Harrington to call him Reggie. +Sometimes it seemed to place him on a more familiar footing with the +collegian, and at other times he had a suspicion that the name was +employed merely to recall to the younger the fact of the difference in +their ages. + +Mr. Stout proved to be a young man with a red face, a very unpleasant +complexion, and an abnormally weak voice. He had neither coat, vest +nor collar on, and his eyes looked as if the bell boy's knock had +awakened him from a sound sleep. + +"Glad to see you, Harri, old boy," he said, shaking Harrington +vigorously by the hand. "Excuse appearances. Was just taking a snooze +to prepare for the evening." + +"No apologies, Jack. Let me introduce my friend, Reginald Pell. He's a +neighbor of mine at home. He's going up to Yale with me to see if he +likes it well enough to be one of us next year." + +"Proud to know any friend of Harri's, I'm sure," and Mr. Stout gave +Rex a hand that was so disagreeably clammy that the younger lad could +scarcely resist the impulse to take out his handkerchief and wipe off +the touch of it. + +From the conversation that ensued he ascertained that Stout came from +somewhere up in New York State and that for some reason or other he +appeared to be quite a favorite with his classmates. One or two others +were expected in the course of the evening, and the hope that they +might go to the theater was now quenched in Rex's breast. + +Harrington and Stout talked volubly of things in which he was not the +least interested-- other college men. New Haven girls, fraternity +affairs, and the like. Rex sat there listening, trying to look as if +he were having a good time, but failing signally. However, this made +no difference, as neither Harrington nor Stout paid any attention to +him. + +Presently Stout began to complete his dressing, talking all the while. +Although he was not angry, he seemed to find it necessary to interlard +his conversation with some very strong and unpleasant sounding +expressions, and once or twice Harrington followed his example. + +In fact the latter did not appear to be the same fellow here in New +York that he was at home. Once in a while he looked at Rex and smiled +as if mutely reminding the latter that he owed the good time he was +having to him. But Rex found it harder and harder to smile back, and +he welcomed a knock that by and by came at the door as signalizing a. +change of some sort. + + CHAPTER XVIII + + REX SEES A HORRIBLE SPECTACLE + +Three new fellows followed the knock into the room. They were noisily +greeted by Stout and Harrington. In the confusion it was some time +before Rex was introduced. + +Tom Cheever was a tall youth, continually feeling of his upper lip as +if to see if his mustache had arrived; Dan Tilford had a narrow face, +pallid from much cigarette smoking, and an eye that never seemed fixed +on any object he gazed at; Harry Atkins was a handsome fellow of +eighteen, who seemed of quieter temperament than the others. + +Stout gave an order to the boy who had shown the last callers up, and +the lad presently appeared staggering under a big bowl of what Stout +declared was the "rummest punch" New York could brew. + +"Help yourselves, fellows!" he cried. "Remember that the last night of +vacation only comes once a year." + +The room was already filled with cigarette smoke. Two or three of +these cigarettes had been offered to Rex, but he had declined with a +vacillating "Not now, thank you." + +When the punch was passed around he took the glass that was handed to +him, but only pretended to drink. He did not care for liquor; he knew +that it would give him a headache. He was having a terribly stupid +time as it was. It was not worth while to aggravate it by the addition +of physical suffering. + +He was appalled at the swiftness with which the others tossed off the +drink. It seemed scarcely five minutes before Stout was calling out: + +"Fill 'em up again, men! Here's to the coming year. May none of us be +plucked and ponies be plentiful." + +He took up glass after glass and refilled it. Rex saw what was coming +and tried to be prepared for it. + +"Why, Pell!" exclaimed the hospitable host," you haven't drunk a drop. +What does this mean?" + +"I don't drink, thank you," stammered Rex, conscious that he ought to +look the other straight in the eye as he made this response, but +dropping his handkerchief so that he might have an excuse to stoop +down and pick it up instead. + +"Oh, yes you do, when you are among gentlemen like us, Reggie." +Harrington came forward hastily to say this. + +The others held their glasses half way to their lips and watched for +the outcome with interest. + +If Rex were the hero of this tale it would doubtless be my pleasant +duty to record the fact that he lifted the glass from the table, +poured the contents into the bowl, and said that he could not go back +on his principles. + +But Rex unfortunately is not of the stuff of which heroes are made. He +felt that he would rather endure a headache than the jeers of those +five fellows. + +"Of course," he said feebly, and drank off the glassful at one draft. + +"And now for another," said Stout, promptly filling it up again. + +Rex had never signed the pledge, but he knew that his mother did not +want him to touch liquor. And it had been no deprivation for him to +refrain, as he did not like it. What he had just drunk burnt his +throat like fire. It seemed as if he could not possibly swallow any +more. + +His misery showed itself in his face. Atkins, who was standing just +opposite on the other side of the table on which the punch bowl had +been placed, saw it. + +"I say, Pell," he called out softly, "come here a minute." + +He stepped over to the open window, which looked out on an airshaft. +Wondering what he wanted, Rex followed him. + +The others were busy with the punch. + +"You don't want that, I know," whispered Atkins. "I don't want any +more either. Look here." + +As he spoke, he dexterously emptied his glass out of the window. Rex +was quick to follow his example. + +"Those fellows don't know when they've had enough," he said, "and +somebody ought to keep a level head on his shoulders to look out for +them." + +Rex's heart sank within him. And it was for this that he had spent the +money he had been saving for his mother's birthday gift! for this he +had deceived this mother! for this told those falsehoods to Roy! + +"Are you fellows ready for another round?" called out Stout, looking +over at them. "Slip up to the captain's office and get a settler." + +His voice already began to sound thick. + +"We must go and pretend to join them," Atkins whispered. + +So glasses were filled for the third time, and on this occasion Atkins +retired with Rex to the other side of the room, and watching his +opportunity, poured his punch into the water pitcher. Rex, in trying +to do likewise, let slip the glass, and it fell with a crash into the +basin. + +A roar of laughter greeted the incident. + +"Good for you, Pell," cried Tom Cheever. "Trying to infuse a little +life into the party. That's right, my boy, that's right." + +The fellow came over toward Rex, walking a little unsteadily, and with +such a leer in his eye that Rex shrank back against the wall. + +At that moment Harrington came up and put his arm around Rex's neck. + +"I always said that Reggie Pell was a gentleman," he mumbled. "Now you +can see it for yourselves." + +"And his clothes fit him," added Dan Tilford, as a special mark of +approval. + +"Oh, they imagine they're having no end of sport," whispered Atkins. +"Look at Harrington. He's half seas over, too." + +He was so far over, indeed, that he was very ill for a time. It was a +fearful scene. + +"Here, Pell," Atkins called to him from the bed where he had gone to +look after Cheever. "See what you can do for your friend." + +And Rex went over to Harrington and tried to pilot him to a seat. Then +he held the other's head and shut his eyes, while he wondered if there +was ever such a donkey on the face of the earth as he, Reginald Pell, +to do all that he had done for this. + +If it hadn't been close on to midnight he would have gone home there +and then. But now Harrington was well nigh helpless, and Rex knew +nothing about New York. Where was he going to sleep that night? +Harrington was in no condition to have questions put to him now. + +A fixed look came over Rex's face. + +"I must go now," he said, looking around for his hat and valise. + +"What, you're not going off and leave Harrington, are you?" asked +Atkins. + +"I can't do anything more for him and I must get out of this place. +Perhaps I'll call in the morning to see how he is. Good night. I'm +much obliged to you." + +"Well, I suppose you are better off out of here, but aren't you going +to hire a room in the hotel?" + +"No, I want to get as far away from the place as possible." + +Rex noticed that Stout was looking around at him. He shut the door +quickly and hurried off. He breathed a great sigh of relief when he +reached the open air. + +He turned down a side street to collect his thoughts before deciding +what to do. He wandered till he reached the middle of the block, then, +finding his valise heavy, he set it down on the sidewalk to rest a +minute. + +It was after midnight and very quiet. Suddenly he felt something hit +him in the face, and then for a minute or two all was a blank to him. + + CHAPTER XIX + + A MEMORABLE NIGHT + +When Rex came to his senses again he found himself leaning against a +brown stone stoop. His head felt very queer. + +"I wonder if it can be the effect of that glass of punch I drank?" he +asked himself. + +Then he glanced down at the sidewalk and saw that his valise-- a +handsome new one-- was missing. A terrible fear came to him. + +He put his hand to the breast pocket of his coat. Yes, it was true. He +had been assaulted and robbed in the street. + +His money, his return ticket to Philadelphia, were gone, to say +nothing of his satchel and the clothes that were in it. He looked +helplessly up and down the street. + +All was quiet as it had been before. A man was coming toward him on +the other side of the way. But that individual could have had nothing +to do with robbing him. + +No, the thief had made his escape long since, and it was hopeless to +try to overtake him. + +Rex had one thing with which to console himself. His watch-- a silver +one Syd had recently given him-- had not been taken. He thrust his +hands into his trousers pockets. + +Yes, there was some loose change there. He took it out and anxiously +counted it under a lamp. There were seventy-three cents all told. + +And now the question arose, What was he to do? For one instant the +expedient of returning to the hotel and throwing himself on the good +will of those he had left there suggested itself to him. But only for +an instant. + +The recollection of the scene he had quitted came back with all its +vividness. No, he would not go back there. + +He deserved all that had befallen him. He had been a fool ever to take +up with Harrington. The fellow had only encouraged him because it +flattered his vanity to be looked up to the way Rex had looked up to +the collegian. + +But he had no time now for self reproaches. He must decide what he +should do. + +He looked at his watch. It was ten minutes to one. He did not remember +to have been up so late in his life. But he did not feel sleepy. He +was far too excited for that. + +"If I could only get back to Philadelphia," was his thought. + +He knew that the single fare was two dollars and a half. What if he +bought a ticket to a place as far as his seventy-three cents would +carry him? He would be that much nearer home at any rate. + +But there were no trains at this time of night, What should he do with +himself in the meantime? To pay for a night's lodging would only still +further deplete his scanty stock of cash. + +Poor Rex felt as destitute, as desolate as any waif in all that great +city. He had been cared for all his life, and now that he was suddenly +thrown upon his own resources, he felt helpless, like a rudderless +bark on a tossing sea. + +For all he was much more ready to express an opinion than Roy, he had +not half the push and energy of the latter, who, although quieter, was +nevertheless the more determined character of the two. + +Rex walked on now rapidly till he reached the lighted avenue. He had +had all the experience he wanted of lingering in the side street. He +halted on the corner and looked up and down in search of an Elevated +Railroad station. He thought he had better get down to where the train +started, so that he might be ready to take the first one. + +The idea of telegraphing home had already occurred to him, but he +dismissed it at once. + +"No," he said, "I've done enough harm as it is. Some one would have to +come on for me, and mother would worry. They'll think now till noon +to-morrow, and perhaps later, that I'm with Scott. Perhaps I can even +get back before they know I haven't been there." + +If he only had his wheel! He had no clear idea of just how far the two +cities were apart. He only knew that it hadn't taken him very long to +come over in the Chicago Limited. + +He found the station of the Elevated, and after waiting a long time he +boarded a train. The people scattered through the cars were nearly all +asleep. Rex dropped off himself almost as soon as he sank into a seat. +He was utterly worn out. + +The next thing of which he was conscious was that the train was at a +standstill and that the guard was shaking him, with the words: + +"Here, wake up, young man. We're at the Battery. The train doesn't go +any farther." + +Rex rubbed his eyes. It took him an instant or two to realize where he +was. + +The guard was not rough with him. + +"Where do you want to go?" he asked. + +"To the Pennsylvania station," answered Rex. + +"Then you've come too far. You ought to have got off at Cortlandt +Street." + +"Is it too far to walk back?" asked Rex, mindful of his small supply +of money. + +"About three stations. You can keep along the river. It'll be nearer +that way." + +"Thank you," returned Rex. He wasn't in a hurry. He might as well +walk. But he was terribly sleepy, and when he got to the foot of the +stairway, he became rather confused. + +He heard the water washing against the sea wall. He walked on in the +direction of the sound and found himself standing at the very end of +Manhattan Island looking toward the bay. + +It was very quiet except for the light splash of the waves and the +soft sound of escaping steam from an engine overhead. Rex was not +certain in which direction he ought to go to reach the ferry. There +seemed to be water on both sides of him. + +There was nobody around of whom to inquire except a tramp or two +asleep on one of the benches, and he did not wish to go near them. He +turned away from the river and walked off through Battery Park till he +saw a policeman. + +The latter directed him how to go, looking at him pretty sharply. Rex +hurried off, but presently stopped under a lamp post to glance at his +watch. It was a quarter to two. There was no need to hurry. + +But he was afraid to walk slow. It was very quiet along the water +front at this time of night. He did not want to be "held up" again and +lose his watch and what little money he had left. + +Here was a man coming toward him now. But he was drunk. Rex was not +afraid of him. He was only filled with a shame that sent the color to +his cheeks. + +Why was Dudley Harrington any better than this reeling sailor? And +Harrington had been his ideal. + +He reached the ferry just as a boat went out. He fell asleep while +waiting for the next one. He was awakened by one of the attendants. +The company evidently did not intend to allow the ferry rooms to be +turned into a free lodging house. + +The ticket office was not open on the New York side, so Rex just paid +his ferriage. On reaching Jersey City he found that there was to be no +train till 6:20 a. m. + +He could not sleep in the waiting room. He walked out in the streets +of the city a little distance, but was so tired he could scarcely drag +one foot after the other. He was so sleepy, too, that his eyes kept +closing every minute. + +Then he was afraid of meeting a footpad. He did not know where to go. +To hire a room at a hotel would take all his money. And yet he could +not walk the streets all night. + +Ah, he was being well punished for all his sins! And where had been +the "good time" for which he had been willing to commit them? + +He thought of Roy asleep in his comfortable bed at home. When should +he (Rex) ever be able to feel as cosy in mind as this twin brother of +his must? For even if he did succeed in getting home without something +terrible befalling him, there remained his confession to make. + +For he must tell everything. He had made up his mind to that. + +But this was in the future. Meantime the present must be provided for. +He turned and walked back to the ferry. + +If he could only lie down somewhere, he thought. + +There was a boat just starting out. He paid his three cents and went +aboard. He fell asleep almost as soon as he touched the seat. A man +came through when they reached New York, woke him up and made him get +off. + +But he was reckless now. He walked out to the street, but immediately +turned about again, paid another ferriage and walked on the boat, +where he instantly fell asleep once more. + +And he kept this up till half-past five, when it began to grow light. +Then he went ashore to the station in Jersey City and bought some +fruit, which he ate for his breakfast. + +By that time the ticket office was open and he went up to the agent +and asked how far he could ride for fifty cents. + +The man looked at him closely for a minute. + +"Which way?" he inquired then. + +"I want to go to Philadelphia," Rex answered frankly. All his pride +had gone now. "I've only got fifty cents to spend on the ride, though. +I want to get as close to it as I can." + +The agent named a town and passed out a ticket. + +When the cars were opened Rex lost no time in settling himself in a +seat. He put his ticket in his hat and went to sleep at once. + +The result was that he was carried past his stopping place, and the +station at which he was set off was a few miles nearer Philadelphia +than he had hoped to get. But the brakeman told him that the Quaker +City was still fifty miles away. + + CHAPTER XX + + THE CRISIS + +"Fifty miles!" + +Rex repeated these words to himself as he stood on the platform of the +station and looked after the swiftly vanishing cars. + +How soon that train would cover them! It seemed such a simple thing to +stay on board and be carried there, so cruel to be left behind simply +for the lack of a little more money. + +It was still quite early in the morning. People were coming down to +take the train to the city. They had all been in their beds and had a +good night's sleep doubtless. They were much better fitted for a long +tramp than was he, who had not been to bed at all. + +But he must set off at once. He asked the baggage man to tell him the +road to Philadelphia. + +"Sure, there it is, in front of you," replied the other, pointing to +the gleaming steel rails. + +"No, no; I mean the carriage road," returned Rex. + +The man looked surprised, but gave him directions how to find it, and +presently Rex was tramping down its dusty length. + +"But I can never get there by to-night, nor by to-morrow night +either," he kept saying to himself. "And I shall have to eat, and my +money will not hold out till then." + +Again he thought of telegraphing-- this time to Sydney. But where +should he stay while he was waiting for the answer? Then he remembered +how ill Syd still looked, and he recalled the doctor's inquiry that +afternoon in the office as to whether he had had a shock. + +No; he must leave telegraphing as the very last resort of all. + +He trudged on, and presently saw a tramp coming towards him. + +"Good morning," said the fellow, halting where he came up. "What time +is it, boss?" + +Rex had just looked at his watch, so without taking it out he told the +time. + +The man took a step closer to him, but just then a cloud of dust +appeared in the road, and a buggy came into view. The tramp moved on +without a word. + +This incident did not tend to make Rex any more comfortable in mind. +And now his body was beginning to rebel. + +His stomach felt light, his heart heavy, and his limbs appeared to be +weighted with lead. Coming to a spot where trees grew by the roadside +he halted and stretched himself on the grass to rest. + +He was no longer sleepy, but so tired. He felt that he was going to be +ill. + +The thought terrified him. Sick out here on the highway, only a few +cents in his pockets, and not a friend anywhere about! + +It was growing hot and he was getting hungry. His breakfast had been a +very light one. The last regular meal he had eaten was on the Chicago +Limited. How long ago that seemed now! + +He took out his money and counted it over. There was but sixteen cents +left. He felt that he could eat that much worth for his very next +meal. + +There seemed to be no way out of it but to telegraph home, and he had +better do it, he decided, before he was too ill to attend to it. + +But there was no place now from which to send a message. He must keep +on till he came to the next town. + +He rose to his feet and had taken but a few steps when some one came +up from behind and touched him on the shoulder. + +He turned quickly, in fear of another tramp. It was a tramp truly, but +a mere boy, not much older than himself. He was very pale and sickly +looking, his clothes were torn in two or three places and his shoes +were worn clear down to the uppers. + +He did not speak. He stood there looking at Rex, amazement depicted in +his gaze. + +"I-- I made a mistake," he stammered out at last "I thought you were +one of us. I saw you lying down there under the tree. Your shoes were +all dusty. I knew you'd been tramping." + +But Rex did not feel astonished. He felt so ill and faint that his +head swam, and he began to totter. + +"I'll have to lie down again, I guess," he said weakly. + +He had just time to move aside out of the dust when he fell like a +log. + +"What's the matter? Are you sick?" + +The shabby looking youth had dropped to one knee beside Rex and was +looking down at him with pitying eyes. + +"Yes," was all Rex had strength to murmur. + +Then he closed his eyes and did not care what became of him. The +strange lad let his other knee sink to the earth and remained in this +attitude for several minutes, gazing earnestly at Rex. + +"Poor chap," he muttered. "I can't make out what he's doing tramping +the country this way. He don't look poor. What'll I do with him?" + +The first thing to be done, evidently, was to get him out of the sun, +which beat down on the spot where he had fallen with fierce intensity. + +The stranger bent over, and exerting all his strength lifted Rex in +his arms and bore him back along the road to the grassy strip under +the trees where he had recently been lying. + +Rex opened his eyes for an instant when he felt himself raised from +the ground. Then, when he saw the pity in the plain face looking down +into his, he closed them again with a little sigh. + +And now once more the strange youth sat contemplating the boy, who +seemed to be a tramper like himself, but who, in every other respect, +was so vastly different. + +He noted the fine, delicately chiseled features, the smallness of his +feet, the whiteness and smoothness of his hands. He had seen boys like +this before, but he had never before touched one, never had one of +them dependent on him, as it were, as this fellow appeared to be now. + +Miles Harding did not know just what to do with the responsibility. +And yet he was happy at having it; he felt glad that he had been able +to do that little thing of carrying the boy from the sun into the +shade. + +It was not often that he was able to do anything for anybody. He was +always in need of having something done for himself. + +He tried to think of something else he might do. He noticed that Rex's +head did not seem to rest very comfortably. + +He took off his coat and started to make a roll of it for a pillow. +But he stopped when he had it half finished. + +"Maybe he wouldn't like that," he muttered, looking down at the +garment as he unrolled it again. + +It had been made for a man. There were rents in two places and +plentiful sprinklings of grease spots. + +The day was growing steadily warmer. Even under the tree one felt the +heat. + +"He wouldn't catch cold without his own," Miles murmured, and he bent +over Rex and lifted him gently while he tried to take off his coat. + +Rex opened his eyes and looked at him again as if in protest. + +"I was going to make a pillow for you out of your coat," Miles +explained. "You don't feel able to walk till we get to a house, do +you?" + +Rex slowly shook his head. He was in that condition which sometimes +comes to those in seasickness, when he didn't care whether he lived or +died. + +"Have you got pain?" went on Miles. + +"Only when I walk," answered Rex; then, as if talking, too, hurt him, +he closed his eyes and sank back upon the pillow the other made for +him out of his coat. + +Meantime clouds had been gathering in the west. Miles had been too +much occupied with his unexpected charge to notice them. But now he +looked up and saw the threatening aspect of the heavens with troubled +countenance. + +He rose to his feet and strode out into the middle of the road, +looking first in one direction, then the other. + +His eye brightened as he saw a buggy coming from the westward. + +He watched impatiently, till it came up, and then saw that it +contained two men. He held up his hand as a signal for them to stop. +But the driver, who had been talking earnestly with his companion, cut +the horse with his whip, shook his head and drove on. + +Miles remained there, standing in the road, a hopeless droop coming +over his whole figure. + +"They think I want to beg of them, I suppose," he told himself. "What +shall I do?" + +Already the sun had gone under the cloud masses and the air was much +cooler. The wind rose and began to rustle the leaves. + +Quite a distance off down the road, in the direction whence the buggy +had come, the red tops of two chimneys could be seen peeping above the +trees. + +"He can't stay here in the rain," Miles muttered. "I must try to get +him to that house." + +He turned to Rex again. He took the coat from under his head and made +him put it on. + +"It's going to storm," he said, "I'm going to carry you to that +house." + +"You can't," was all Rex had strength to say. + +"I'm going to try," returned Miles, and he gathered Rex up in his arms +just as the wind came sweeping down upon them in a gust that was +ominous of that which was to follow. + + CHAPTER XXI + + MILES HARDING + +It was physically impossible for Miles Harding to carry Rex very far +without stopping to rest. The life of a tramp, with insufficient +nourishment, was not calculated to strengthen the long arms which +could easily wrap themselves about the other boy, but had little power +to retain him in their embrace. + +But Miles fought to do his best. He only consented to stop and deposit +his burden on the grass when he felt that, did he not do so, he would +be compelled to drop it. + +Then, after resting a moment or two, he would be off again. + +"Don't; you will strain yourself," Rex whispered once, protestingly. + +But Miles's only answer was, "I must. You can't be out here in the +storm." + +In this way they progressed until they had nearly reached the house. +Then the rain began to come down in torrents. + +Miles made a last desperate effort. Picking Rex up, he ran the +intervening distance, although it was twice as far as he usually bore +his burden without stopping. + +He dashed in at the gate and then, so exhausted was he that he sank +down beside Rex when he deposited the latter on the floor of the +piazza. He lay there breathing hard, while the rain came down in +sheets. + +He had not even strength to turn his head when he heard the screen +door behind him open and some one come out. + +"Who-- who are you and what do you want?" + +The question was put by a very sweet girlish voice. And the girl who +put it was herself exceedingly pretty. + +She had opened the door that led out from the wide, breezy hall, and +stepped upon the piazza. She now looked down upon the two boys lying +there with undisguised astonishment. + +Then she came around so that Miles could see her. + +"I beg your pardon, miss," he said, stopping between every three or +four words to take breath; "I wanted to get-- him out of the-- rain. +This was the nearest-- house. I hope you don't mind." + +"Is he ill?" she asked. + +Rex's face was turned partly towards her. It was very pale now, but +Florence Raynor was thinking also how very handsome it was and in what +contrast to that of the fellow who had answered her. + +"Yes, he's very sick, I'm afraid," replied Miles. + +"Is he your brother?" went on Florence. + +"Oh, no; just-- a friend." + +Miles hesitated before he added the last word; then when he had said +it a look of pride came into his eyes for an instant. + +"I'll call mother," said the girl, and she hurried off to the kitchen, +where Mrs. Raynor was making cake. + +"Oh, mama," she exclaimed, "the noise I heard was two tramps who had +come in on our piazza out of the rain. At least one of them is a +tramp, and the other is the nicest looking boy, about the age of our +Bert. He's sick and just as pale! But he's dressed very well, and I +can't understand how they came to be together. Won't you come out and +see them, please?" + +Mrs. Raynor scraped the dough from her lingers and followed her +daughter to the front porch. Miles had gone over to take Rex's head on +his knee and was softly stroking the hair back from the damp forehead. + +"Oh, yes; the poor fellow is very ill," Mrs. Raynor exclaimed as soon +as she saw him. + +She scarcely gave a glance at Miles. She stood for one instant as if +thinking deeply. Then with a resolved tone, she turned to Harding. + +"Can you help me get him up stairs and in bed?" she asked. + +"I guess so, ma'am," Miles replied. "I've got my breath back now. I +have to carry him, you know. You're awfully good to take him in this +way." + +"One must be terribly hard hearted to turn away one in his condition. +Come." + +Between them they lifted Rex and bore him into the house and up the +broad, easy stairs to a little room at the head of them. + +"We must get these wet clothes off at once," said Mrs. Raynor, and +Miles stayed there to help her. + +They put him to bed, and then the good lady declared that they ought +to have a doctor. + +"Let me go for one," Miles exclaimed. "I want to do something for +him." + +Mrs. Raynor, now that Rex no longer absorbed her entire attention, +turned her gaze on his companion. Miles colored beneath it. + +"Perhaps you don't think I'm fit to go?" he said slowly. + +It was Mrs. Raynor's turn to color now. She saw that this fellow, so +shabbily dressed, was of very sensitive nature. A happy way of turning +the thing off occurred to her. + +"You are wet, too," she said. "And it is raining still. I will have +the man from the barn go." + +She hurried off down stairs to call him. Miles lingered, looking +toward the bed, where lay the fellow who had attracted him so +strongly. + +"I s'pose they don't want me hanging around here any longer," he +mused. "They can do everything for him there is to be done. But I +don't want to leave him." + +Miles Harding's nature was a singular one for a boy brought up as he +had been. Thrown upon his own resources when he was hardly more than +twelve, he had received some pretty hard knocks from the world. But +the hardness of these had not cultivated, a like hardness in him whom +they struck. + +His temperament had always been a sympathetic one. He had many times +received harsh treatment that would never have come to him, by seeking +to protect some persecuted cat or dog. + +Thus far the recipient of his kindly ministrations had always been +some dumb animal. Now that the opportunity had offered to extend these +to a human being, Miles was loath to put it aside. + +"What a nice fellow he is!" he murmured. "I wonder where he belongs!" + +Just then Florence came to the door. The thought instantly flashed +into Miles's brain that she had been sent there to see that he did not +steal anything. + +But he was accustomed to being the object of such suspicions. And yet, +somehow, the idea that he should be, hurt him more than usual on the +present occasion. + +"My mother would like to see you down stairs," said Florence. "I will +stay here with him." + +Miles went down and found Mrs. Raynor at the foot of the stairway. + +"It has just occurred to me," she said, "that you may think it best to +send to the home of this young man. Who is he?" + +A troubled look came over Miles's face. He feared that what he was +about to say would settle the matter once for all about his being +allowed to stay with the fellow up stairs. But he had to tell the +truth. + +"I don't know his name," he answered. "I fell in with him on the road. +But I'd so much like to do something for him. You are sure there is +nothing I can do?" + +"You have already done a great deal for him," returned Mrs. Raynor, +"if, as I understand, you carried him in here out of the rain. And you +haven't any idea where he belongs?" + +"No, I saw him lying on the grass as I was walking along the road. I +was going to Trenton to try and get a job in the potteries there. But +I'd like to find out how he gets along." + +"You shall. Sit down on the porch here while I take your coat in and +hang it by the stove to dry. I'll send Tim for the doctor at once." + +When Mrs. Raynor returned up stairs a little later, Florence met her +at the door of her brother's room, where Rex had been carried, Bert +being away at boarding school. + +"He's very sick, don't you think, mama?" she asked. + +"I'm afraid so, my dear. I want to do all I can for him. I can't help +thinking how grateful I should be to have any one do as much for our +Bert." + +"And see what nice clothes he wears," went on Florence in the same +whispering tone. "How do you suppose he ever got into association with +that fellow down stairs?" + +"Hush, dear, "cautioned her mother. "Behind those poor clothes is a +very warm heart." + +"But is he going to stay, too?" went on Florence. + +"He wants to. Perhaps we can find something for him to do about the +garden." + +"Do you think he's honest, though?" + +"We must run our chances on that. He is certainly very different from +most fellows of his appearance." + +The doctor arrived inside of an hour. He made an examination and then +reported that Rex was in for a bad case of intermittent fever. + +"He may not be able to be moved for six weeks," he added. + +And Rex knew nothing of it, but began to toss in the delirium of his +fever, living over again some of the bitter experiences of the past +few hours. + + CHAPTER XXII + + SEARCHING FOR REX + +"What train did Rex say he would be back on, Roy?" + +This was the question asked by Mrs. Pell at the breakfast table on the +morning that Rex was trudging along the dusty road between New York +and Philadelphia. + +"He didn't say," replied Roy. "He'll surely be home by lunch, though. +Scott is going to West Chester with his mother at noon." + +Lunch hour arrived and still no Reginald. But Mrs. Pell did not worry. +He had so many friends in Marley that there were plenty of places +where he might have gone from the Bowmans'. + +But when dinner time came and he had not yet appeared, the entire +family began to speculate on the reasons for it. + +"He's probably at the Minturns," said Sydney, when informed of the +facts. "Charlie may have persuaded him to stay over another night with +him." + +"Rex should have sent us word then," rejoined his mother. + +Another day passed, and by this time Mrs. Pell began to grow seriously +alarmed. + +"You must go down to Marley the first thing in the morning, Roy," she +said. + +And Roy went, repairing first to the Bowmans'. He found Scott just +about to take his mother out in his cart. + +"What have you done with that brother of mine?" Roy began when +greetings had been exchanged. + +"And I'd like to know why that brother of yours doesn't permit himself +to be heard from," returned Scott promptly. "He didn't show up +Wednesday night nor send me any message explaining why he didn't +come." + +"Didn't come?" echoed Roy. "Do you mean to say that Rex hasn't been +here?" + +"Of course he hasn't, and I think it mighty shabby of him." + +"Why, that's the queerest thing I ever heard of," said Roy slowly. + +"Why is it?" + +"Because he started to come down here Wednesday afternoon by the 5:30 +express." + +"He did?" + +It was now Scott's turn to look astonished. + +"And you say he never got here?" went on Roy. + +"Of course he didn't. You don't suppose we have him smuggled away +somewhere, do you?" + +"Haven't you any idea where your brother is?" here interrupted Mrs. +Bowman. + +"We were sure he was here, somewhere in Marley," answered Roy. "But he +can't be, if he didn't come to you first." + +"What could have happened to the fellow?" said Scott, beginning to see +that the matter was more serious than he had at first supposed. + +"I can't imagine. It's the strangest thing I ever heard of." Roy +looked really worried. "I thought he might possibly be at the +Minturns', but he wouldn't have gone there till he had been here." + +"Let down that seat behind, jump in, and I'll drive you over there," +said Scott. + +But Charlie had not seen or heard from Rex in ten days, nor was news +to be obtained of him from any other of his Marley friends. Roy went +home seriously alarmed. + +He hated to bring such a report to his mother, but he knew it would be +better that she should be informed of all the facts. + +She was somewhat stunned at first at the tidings, but quickly rallied. + +"We must find him," she said. "Something has happened to him. Did you +think to ask Apgar if he remembered seeing Rex on his train Wednesday +night?" + +Apgar was the conductor on the 5:30 express. + +"No, I'll go down to the station and ask him this afternoon before he +goes out." + +Roy returned with the announcement that Apgar was sure Rex had not +been on his train. + +"Then there is only one other theory." Mrs. Pell looked very grave as +she spoke. + +"What is that, mother?" + +She did not reply at once. Reginald was very dear to her. She hated to +expose his failings even to his own brother. But it must be done. + +"You remember, Roy," she went on, "how he teased me to let him go to +New Haven with young Harrington? It is possible he may have gone after +all. I wish you would go in next door and see if you can find out." + +Roy instantly recalled the three dollars Rex had borrowed from him, +but he said nothing of it. He went at once to make his call next door. + +He asked for Mrs. Harrington, telling the servant that he wished to +see her on a matter of importance. He sent up his name, Roy Pell. + +"You are the young man my son speaks of," said Mrs. Harrington when +she appeared in the great drawing room, and put up her lorgnette to +survey her caller. + +"No, that is Reginald, my brother. I called in to find out if he went +off to New Haven with your son." + +"What! you know nothing of his whereabouts yourselves?" + +Mrs. Harrington did not seek to conceal her surprise. Roy felt +humiliated, but there was nothing for it but to admit the fact. + +"We are afraid he may have gone off without my mother's leave," he +said. "He was very anxious to go with your son. He had an invitation +to go down to Marley the same day. We thought he had gone, but we find +now that he has not been there." + +"Your mother did not wish him to go with Dudley, you say?" + +There was a trace of severity in Mrs. Harrington's tones. + +"She thought he had better not. He is much older than Rex. Do you know +whether or not they went off together?" + +"I heard Dudley say something about having invited young Pell to go to +New Haven with him. They went to the station together." + +"Then Rex must have gone. I am very sorry to have troubled you, Mrs. +Harrington." Roy now made a little bow, and he hurried off. + +"Then he wanted that three dollars from me to spend on the trip," he +was saying to himself. "But that wouldn't have been enough. He must +have used the money he said he was saving up for mother's present. Ah, +Reggie, I didn't think it of you!" + +When he told the news at home there was a good deal of discussion +concerning what ought to be done about it. + +"Let him alone," suggested Jess. "He feels bad enough about it by this +time." + +"But I don't know when he will be back," said Mrs. Pell. + +Eva suggested that they write him a letter in care of young Harrington +and request him to come home at once, but it was Sydney's idea that +was acted on. + +A telegraphic dispatch was sent to Dudley Harrington, Yale, New Haven. + +"Is Reginald Pell with you?" it ran. + +The answer came duly, "No, he is not." + +The family looked at one another, consternation depicted in their +faces. Sydney tried to comfort them by explaining that doubtless +Harrington was inclined to be very literal under the circumstances and +that Rex was not with him because he had just started for home. + +But Mrs. Pell was not content to rest under this uncertainty. Another +message was sent to New Haven reading thus: + +"Did Reginald Pell start away from Philadelphia with you?" + +The response to this was one word, "Yes." + +The Pells were now really alarmed. It was decided that Sydney should +start the first thing: Saturday morning for New Haven, but Friday +night he was seized with another of his bad turns, which had been +growing more and more frequent of late. Roy offered to go in his +place, and Mrs. Pell consented to the substitution. + +So Roy set out and reached New Haven in the course of the afternoon. +He would have enjoyed the trip if his mind had not been so worried +about Rex. He found Harrington's room with little trouble. + +He heard the notes of the banjo issuing from inside. He had to knock +hard before he could make himself heard. + +There were three fellows there, two of them in the luxuriously +cushioned window seat. Roy was a little dazzled by the unexpected +splendor of the room. + +He knew Harrington, of course, the fellow in the blue striped blazer. +He went up to the collegian at once. + +"I guess you know me," he said. "I'm Roy Pell, Rex's brother. I came +up to find out what you could tell me about him." + +The three fellows exchanged glances. + +"Why, isn't he home?" answered Harrington. + +"No. When did he leave New Haven?" + +"He hasn't been to New Haven," replied Harrington slowly. + +"Not been here!" exclaimed Roy. "Where did you leave him, then?" + +"In New York." + +"When?" + +"Wednesday night" + +"Was he going home?" + +"I don't know," and Harrington looked confused as he made this +unsatisfactory answer. + + CHAPTER XXIII + + A TELEGRAM + +Roy saw at a glance that something was being concealed from him. + +"How is it you don't know where Rex went when he left you?" he +inquired. + +"Well, I didn't see which way he went when he left the hotel," +answered Harrington. "I supposed though, he went home, and am +surprised to hear he isn't there. Atkins, here, may be able to tell +you more than I can. Mr. Atkins, this is Roy Pell, Reggie's brother." + +The pleasantest faced fellow in the room came forward and put out his +hand. + +"I'm glad to meet you, Pell," he said, "and wish I could give you some +definite information about your brother. I thought with Harri here +that he was certainly at home." He glanced over at the other two, who +were softly strumming their banjoes in the window seat. "Come across +the hall into my room," he added. + +"Good day, Mr. Harrington," called out Roy, and followed Atkins. + +He could see that Harrington was relieved to have him go. + +"Now I'll tell you the straight of it, Pell," began Atkins, when he +had invited his visitor to make himself comfortable in one of the many +lounging chairs with which the apartment abounded. "You see, +Harrington brought your brother to one of the pre-term time +jollifications some of the fellows think they must have before coming +up here. I was there. I didn't care about going very much, but my room +mate would go, and I went to take care of him more than anything else. + +"Well, all the fellows except your brother and myself were more than +half seas over before midnight. He became disgusted and got out. I was +busy with Cheever, and didn't have time to question him. Naturally +Harrington feels a little sore over the thing. But he hadn't any idea +your brother hadn't gone home till he got your telegrams." + +"But Rex-- where do you suppose he is all this time?" Roy was terribly +anxious. The whole affair was much worse than he had anticipated. + +He was glad of one thing, though; that Rex had been disgusted with the +orgy. + +"I wish I could tell you," answered Atkins. "I managed to get Cheever +over to our house before morning. I don't know what Harrington said +about young Pell's disappearance when he came to himself." + +"What did Reggie want to go with such fellows for?" groaned Roy. "But +the wonder to me is why Harrington ever took him up. There must be at +least five years' difference in their ages." + +"Oh, Harri appeared to be quite fond of him. I guess your brother +flattered him some. Dudley can stand a deal of that." + +"But I must find Rex. I'm sure he hadn't money enough to keep him all +this while. And I don't know where to look first." + +"I wish I could help you," returned Atkins. "I tell you what I'll do. +I'll get ready now and go down to New York with you. You can come to +our house and stay over Sunday with me. My father is a lawyer. He may +be able to tell us what to do. What do you say?" + +"You're awfully kind," returned Roy. "But I don't like to intrude." + +"It won't be intruding. The pater likes me to bring fellows with me. I +wasn't going this week, but that won't matter. He'll be glad to see +me. You'll come, won't you?" + +Roy thanked him again and accepted. He liked the genial hearted fellow +as much as Rex had done. + +On the way down Atkins told him of the devices for disposing of the +punch. + +"You don't suppose the glass he drank went to his head so as to do him +any injury, do you?" asked Roy. + +Atkins reassured him on this point, and then suggested that they had +better go to the hotel where the jollification had been held to see if +any trace of Rex could be obtained there. + +But the clerk informed them that no such person had hired a room. + +That evening they discussed the matter with Judge Atkins without +telling the details of the jollification, which doubtless he was +astute enough to guess at. The result was that messages were sent to +all the police precincts, and a detective was put on the case. + +Roy sent a telegram to his mother Saturday night making it as hopeful +as he could, but his own heart was growing heavier and heavier. + +Atkins did his best to cheer him up, and under other circumstances Roy +would have had a most enjoyable time. But he could not keep his +thoughts from Rex. + +He went home on Monday, fearful of the meeting with his mother. He +felt at times as if the worst news, if it might be but definite, would +be better to carry home than those tidings he must take, which would +keep them all in such awful suspense. + +Sydney had recovered, but the shock of Roy's announcement threw him +back into a relapse. And yet he insisted on seeing Roy. + +"Mr. Tyler's money has not made us happy after all, has it, Roy?" he +said, after the sad affair had been talked over. + +"I was afraid that it wouldn't, Syd. Still, this might have happened +just the same. You have not been well though, old fellow, since that +night you came over to Burdock to make the old man's will." + +"Have you noticed that, Roy?" said Sydney quickly. + +"Yes, it seems, as you say, that we must pay up for having the money +in some way. But where can poor Rex be? I wonder if he is ashamed or +afraid to come home?" + +Anxiously the reports from the detectives were awaited. But when they +came they were only depressing. Positively no trace of the missing boy +could be found. + +Advertisements were inserted in the New York and Philadelphia papers, +but nothing came of them. The family were by this time well nigh +distracted. They had not even the poor satisfaction of mourning the +lost as one dead. They could only wait and hope, but as the days +passed into a week, this last seemed futile. + +The time came for school to open, but Roy had little heart to go +alone. Still, he must attend to his education. + +The first week of it dragged slowly by. Some of his Marley friends +wanted him to come down there and spend his Saturday. + +He had not yet decided Friday night whether he wanted to go, when the +door bell rang, and a messenger appeared with a telegram for Roy Pell. + +It was dated at some town in Jersey of which he had never heard, and +was very brief, but the one word signed to it was worth a hundred +lines, for that name was "Rex." + +"All safe. Will write soon." + +That was all, and when he read it to the family, the wild exclamations +of joy were succeeded by perplexed impatience. + +"Why didn't he tell us where to find him?" Eva wanted to know. + +"Why didn't he send word to mother?" added Jess. + +"Why does he not explain his long silence?" said Mrs. Fell fearing the +worst. + +Sydney was away at Harrisburg, and Roy decided that instead of going +to Marley the following day, he would find out where this New Jersey +town was and hunt up Rex at once. + +Mrs. Pell wanted to go with him, but Roy reminded her that he might +have considerable difficulty in tracing Rex, so it was decided that +she wait until she heard from him. + +From a railroad time table Roy ascertained where he must go, and by +the first train he could get in the morning he set out. + +"Be very gentle with him, Roy," his mother said at parting. "By his +sending to you he evidently thinks I am greatly displeased with him." + +"Trust me, mother," Roy assured her with a smile. + +He felt very happy this morning, happier than he had, it seemed to +him, since they had come into their fortune. Of such worth is sorrow +sometimes, to make a contrast by which to intensify joy. + +On arriving at his destination he went to the man in the ticket office +and put the following inquiry: + +"Do you know anybody in the place named Reginald Pell?" + +"No," was the reply. "Has he lived here long?" + +"No, he doesn't really live here. He's my twin brother, you see, and I +have a telegram from him, but he didn't say where he was staying. Is +this a very big place?" + +The ticket agent smiled. "Well, it isn't exactly a metropolis," he +said. + +"Thank you," responded Roy, and he walked out of the rear door toward +the dusty road, thinking he was not going to have such an easy job to +find Rex after all, if he was in the town where he was supposed to be. + +The station was built at a little distance from the town proper. Roy +walked on along a board walk until he came to the first house, one of +those white, green shuttered affairs whose number is legion in the +rural districts. + +A woman without a hat on was sweeping the leaves from the path that +led down to the gate. The lines about her mouth were rather stern, but +Roy made up his mind to begin with her. + + CHAPTER XXIV + + FOUND AT LAST + +"Excuse me," began Roy, leaning over the gate and taking off his broad +brimmed straw hat, "do you know a boy named Rex Pell?" + +He had decided that this would be the shortest way of getting at +things. + +The woman looked up quickly, resting her chin on the top of her broom +handle. + +"Do you think I look as if I knew much about boys?" she replied. +"Well, I don't and I don't want to." + +"Excuse me," said Roy, and he hurried on, glad to get away. + +The next house was a larger one. There was a good deal of piazza +around it and some pretensions were made at keeping the lawn in good +condition. + +Roy's knock at the door was answered so promptly that he was fain to +believe that some one must have been peeping through the shutters +watching his approach. + +A tall woman with light hair received him very effusively. + +"I've been expecting you," she said, with an expansive smile. "I +thought you'd come on that train." + +"This must be the place," thought Roy. "She knows Rex sent the +dispatch and thought some of us would come on." + +"I suppose you'd like to go straight up stairs?" she continued, when +she had taken his hat and hung it on the stand in the hall. + +"Yes, I would," and Roy's heart sank. + +Rex must be sick, he decided, and not able to leave his bed. He +followed the light haired woman to the floor above, where she threw +open the door of a room with a sort of flourish. + +Roy halted on the threshold. There was a double bed inside, but nobody +on it nor was anybody to be seen in the apartment. + +"Where is my brother?" he asked. + +"Your brother?" exclaimed the woman. "I did not understand that there +were two of you. Your father's letter mentioned only one son. Wait, I +will get--" + +"No, there must be some mistake," Roy interposed. "I thought my +brother, Rex Pell, might be here." + +"What, you are not Eric Levens, then?" + +"No, indeed, and don't you know anything about my brother? I am so +sorry." + +"I thought you were the young gentleman I expected who was to look at +this room to see whether he liked it well enough to stay while his +father went to Europe. But why are you sorry that I do not know +anything about your brother? Have you lost him?" + +"In a sort of a way, yes," and Roy told his story, or as much of it as +he could, without bringing in the fact of Rex's having run away from +home. + +"Oh, I guess I can help you," exclaimed the woman, when he had +finished. "Maybe he is the young fellow who is staying at the +Raynors'. I heard about it last Sunday at church." + +"About it? About what?" + +Roy's face grew pale. The woman looked a little uncomfortable. + +"Don't be too anxious," she replied. "He must be better now if he +could send a message. But he's had the intermittent fever. He was +found on the piazza of the house one rainy evening about ten days ago +by Florence Raynor. A trampish looking young fellow had carried him in +out of the wet, and they say he's been devoted to him ever since." + +"Where do the Raynors live?" asked Roy, already impatient to be off. + +"Come here to the window and I can show you the house. It is clear at +the end of this street beyond all the others. You can just see the +chimneys above the trees." + +Roy was soon hurrying away in the direction pointed out. + +Although he feared that Rex might have been ill, the certainty of it +made his heart very sore for his brother. + +"Sick among strangers!" was his thought. "I wish mother had come with +me." + +A young girl was reading on the piazza when he opened the gate and +walked up the path between the box hedges. + +"Is my brother Rex here?" he said, pausing at the foot of the steps, +his hat in his hand. + +She had raised her head as the gate latch clicked, and now their eyes +met. Even in that moment Roy noted how very pretty she was. + +"You are the Roy that he sent the telegram to?" she exclaimed. Then +paused suddenly, and blushed. + +"Yes, I'm Roy, and I've had a hard time to find him. How is he?" + +"He's better. He was asleep just now. If you will come in I will call +mother." + +"Rex has certainly fallen into good hands," thought Roy when he was +left alone. + +Mrs. Raynor came out in a moment and greeted Roy most cordially. + +"I'm glad you came," she said. "It will do your brother good to see +you," + +"You've been very, very kind to him," answered Roy. + +"No; it wasn't any trouble, because we all took to him so. It was a +pleasure to do for him." + +"But why didn't he let us know before where he was?" asked Roy. + +"Bless you, he only knew himself yesterday. He's had a hard tug of it, +and not a scrap or a card could we find about him, only the letters R. +B. P. P, on his linen." + +"Then he's been out of his head?" + +"Yes; and you must be prepared to find him greatly changed. But he'll +come around again all right, the doctor says. I'll go up now and see +if he is awake and call you." + +The summons to ascend came a few minutes later, and presently Roy +found himself standing by his brother's bedside. Mrs. Raynor +considerately withdrew and left the two together, warning them that +she should be back in ten minutes to prevent her patient from becoming +unduly excited. + +Rex had changed. There was no longer any plumpness in his cheeks, and +his face was very white. But so were his teeth, and his eyes were as +lustrous as ever. + +"Roy!" He uttered the one word in a weak voice, and held tightly in +both of his the hands that his brother extended to him. + +A moment of the precious ten was lost to silence as the two looked at +each other, but in that look was that which hours of speech could not +have expressed. Roy read in it true repentance, a pleading for +forgiveness, and Rex saw that there was no chiding for him from those +at home, only love and pity. + +"Do you know all, Roy; the very worst?" Rex then whispered. + +"Don't think of that now, Reggie. It is all right. I want to talk +about yourself-- your sickness." + +"But I must think of it. I have been thinking of it ever since I came +to my senses yesterday. Did you know that I told you lies, that I +acted them, that I took the money I had been saving up for mother's +present to pay the expenses of this wretched trip?" + +"But you didn't go all the way, Reggie. I found that out. You turned +back. What happened to you then?" + +Rex told the terrible tale of the robbery, of the awful night he had +passed riding back and forth across the river, and had got as far as +his falling asleep on the train when Mrs. Raynor appeared and +smilingly announced that time was up. + +"Miles will tell you the rest, Roy," said Rex. "He's the best fellow. +I don't know what would have become of me if it hadn't been for him. +And Mrs. Raynor, too. When I get well they must all come to +Philadelphia and we'll give them the very best time." + +There was a touch of his old self in the heartiness with which he +uttered these words. Roy's coming and comforting words had lifted a +heavy burden from his heart. + +They left him to try to get to sleep again. Roy went down stairs with +Mrs. Raynor. + +"I ought to go home at once and tell my mother about Rex," he said. + +"Why not send a message and stay with him?" suggested the other. "We +should be very glad to have you. There is plenty of room in the house. +Or send word for your mother to come on. I know she must be anxious to +see her son." + +Roy hesitated. He scarcely knew what to do. Then he remembered +Sydney's absence and reflected that the girls could not very well be +left alone. He decided to stay himself till Monday, and to send word +that Rex was all right now. + +He hurried off to the station to write his dispatch and came back as +quickly to the Raynors'. He recollected that he had not yet seen the +Miles of whom Rex spoke, the fellow who could tell him the +continuation of his brother's adventures. + +He asked Florence, whom he found on the lawn, where he could find +Miles. + +"He's out in the field now," she replied, "digging potatoes. But it's +almost twelve. He'll be in then for his dinner. He just adores that +brother of yours." + +"But who is he?" Roy persisted. + +"Well, he hasn't told us his story yet. We took him on trust, and he's +turned out all right so far. But there he comes now." + +"Excuse me," said Roy. "I'll go and see him." And he hurried off +around the corner of the house. + +The next minute he stood face to face with the youth who is destined +to play a highly important part in the remainder of this tale. + + CHAPTER XXV + + MILES HARDING'S STORY + +Miles knew Roy at once. + +"This is Miles, isn't it?" said Roy in his pleasant way, and he put +out his hand. + +"Yes, but wait a minute." + +Miles hurried to the pump near the kitchen door. He gave his hands a +douse of water, dried them quickly on a roller towel in the woodshed, +and then came back to greet the brother of the boy of whom he was so +fond. + +"You got the telegram all right then?" he said. "Rex was so weak when +he told me where to send it, I wasn't sure I'd get it quite right." + +"I want to thank you for all you did for him," went on Roy. "He's told +me about it, except the details. He said you'd do that-- about what +happened to him after he got out of the train. But don't let me keep +you from your dinner." + +"I'd rather talk to you than eat," said Miles frankly. + +Mrs. Raynor appeared at this moment and compromised matters by +bringing Miles' dinner to him out on the side porch. Roy sat by and +listened to the recital, most modestly given, of the facts with which +the reader is already acquainted. + +It was time for Miles to return to his work when it was finished, and +Florence came to summon Roy to their own dinner. + +"Isn't he queer?" she said, referring to Miles. "He seems so quiet and +talks so well for a man who was-- well, a tramp. I don't know what +else you could call him. You ought to have seen the clothes he had on +when he first came. Mamma made him burn them." + +"He looks as if he might have an interesting story to tell," commented +Roy. + +"We'll get him to tell it to-night if your brother is well enough," +said Mrs. Raynor. "He promised that we should hear it as soon as Rex +was able to listen too." + +Roy took Rex's dinner up to him, and the twins had an hour to +themselves, during which Rex went more into detail concerning his +experiences with Harrington and his crowd. They compared notes on +Harry Atkins, and then fell to talking of Miles Harding. + +"He's something more than a common tramp," Rex insisted. "He can read +a little and write some. Isn't it funny how much he thinks of me, when +I haven't done a thing for him? Mrs. Raynor lets him come up and sit +with me every evening when his work is done. Of course I didn't know +this till yesterday, when I came to my senses." + +After the doctor's visit about three, Rex went to sleep and Roy played +a game of tennis with Florence. + +"I don't want to seem glad that your brother is sick," she said, "but +it's awfully nice to have company. I get so lonely when Bert is away." + +That evening they all assembled in Rex's room-- Mrs. Raynor was a +widow, so the family at home consisted only of herself and Florence-- +and Miles, seated at the foot of the bed, told the story of his life. + +"I don't know where I was born," he began. "The first thing I can +remember is living in a tenement house in New York, where I had to +sleep three in a bed with the two Morrisey boys. Mr. Morrisey was a +truckman, and there was five children of them, and I made six. I +always thought I was a Morrisey, too, till one day Jimmy, he got mad +at me, and told me I needn't talk so big because I was only living on +charity. + +"I went to his mother and asked her about it, and she told me that it +was true, that I wasn't really her child, but that she thought as much +of me as if I was, and that there wasn't any charity about it. But I +wanted to know all about myself, and at last she said that I'd been +given to Mr. Morrisey when I was a wee baby by a friend of his who +couldn't afford to keep me and who made him vow that he'd never tell +where I came from. + +"Jimmy only found it out by accident one night, listening to his +father and mother talking when they thought he was asleep. She said I +wasn't to feel bad about it; because they thought everything of me. + +"But I did feel bad about it. It seemed too hard when the Morriseys +had all they could do to get along they should have one more mouth-- +and that not a Morrisey one-- to feed. + +"I studied as hard as I could at school, so as to try and get through +sooner and go to work and begin to pay them back, but when I was +twelve Mr. Morrisey was kicked to death by a horse and the next year +Mrs. Morrisey married a man who took her and the children out to +Dakota to live. + +"She wanted me to go along, but I knew Mr. Rollings didn't like me, +and besides I wanted to stay East where there was some chance of my +finding out who my parents were. I got a place as cash boy in a +Japanese store and boarded with some people who lived across the hall +from where the Morriseys had their rooms. + +"But Mr. Benton used to get drunk and when he was that way he'd beat +me, just for the fun of it, it seemed to me. Then when they cut down +the number of boys employed in the store and I couldn't find another +place right away, he growled so about my not paying my board that I +did my things up in a bundle one night and hid myself on a canal boat +down at the East River docks. + +"The captain was awful mad when he found me after we had got clear up +the North River. He gave me a good thrashing and then said he was +going to drop me overboard. But he didn't and I stayed on board all +that season, driving mules and being sworn at and kicked and trounced +like any other boy on the canal. I sometimes wonder why I didn't wear +out. + +"When navigation closed I was set adrift, and had a hard scrub of it +to get along for a time. I almost starved for a while in Albany, +trying to pick up odd jobs. Then I came near freezing to death. + +"Finally I got a place as errand boy in a grocery store and kept that +till some money was missing and they said I took it. I never stole in +my life. Mrs. Morrisey brought me up too well for me to do that. But I +couldn't prove I didn't and I had to go. The man said I ought to +consider myself lucky I wasn't sent to jail. + +"After that I had a worse time of it than ever. Whenever I applied for +a position they wanted to know why I had left my last place. And when +I told them, they wouldn't have anything to do with me. + +"Then came the days when sometimes I thought I might as well steal, I +was suffering because I was accused of doing it. When I was very +hungry and saw chances of sneaking apples out of grocery-men's +barrels, it seemed as if I had almost a right to do it. But I never +did. + +"Something always turned up to keep me from starving. Once a woman +stopped me in the street and gave me a dollar. She said I looked so +hungry she couldn't go by me without doing it. + +"Another time I was taken sick in one of the parks, something like +Rex. I fell down in a kind of faint, and when I came to I was in a +hospital and I stayed there quite a little while. + +"After I got out it was spring and I thought I'd try the country. I +didn't beg; only asked for work. Sometimes I got it; many more times I +didn't. + +"Now and then if they didn't give me work they'd offer me milk or a +cup of coffee, so I managed to pull through somehow. + +"At last I got back to New York. I'd been wanting to get there again +ever since the thought came to me one day that perhaps some friends of +Mr. Morrisey's might know something about the man who had given me to +him when I was a baby. + +"With a good deal of trouble I found one of them. He was a bricklayer, +and he told me as near as he could remember the man who gave me to Tim +Morrisey was from Philadelphia, and that's all he knew. + +"Then I wanted to go to Philadelphia. + +"'But what good will that do you, Miles?' Mr. Beesley asked. 'You +can't find out any more there, nor as much, as you can here.' + +"'No,' I told him, 'but if I'm there maybe somebody else'll find out +something from passing me in the street.' + +"'That's an idea, sure enough,' he said, so I started for +Philadelphia, and that's how I came to fall in with Rex." + +Miles finished his story with this word. It almost seemed as if he had +done it on purpose, planning for it, as it were. He always spoke the +name with a little pause before it, as if it were something sacred. + +Rex had told him to call him by it the day before when he had started +in to address him as "Mr. Pell." All of Reginald's striving after +premature manhood had been left in that past which preceded his +experiences in the hotel at New York. + + CHAPTER XXVI + + IN WINTER DAYS + +Miles's story had been listened to with the closest attention by all +the little party. + +"It's just like a chapter out of a book," Florence whispered to Roy. +"I wonder if he'll ever find out who he really is?" + +"But how did you come by the name Harding?" Roy inquired. "Weren't you +Miles Morrisey once?" + +"Yes, but when they went away, and I got to having such hard knocks +from the world, I didn't want to drag the name down with me, and so I +thought Harding would suit me pretty well, and took it." + +Rex seemed inclined to grow excited over the theme, so Mrs. Raynor +proposed an immediate adjournment. + +"To-morrow is Sunday," she said, "and Miles can have a long day with +you." + +In the course of this long day, the wanderer told Roy why he had been +so drawn to Rex. + +"I'd seen lots of nice looking fellows like him," he said, "but they +always looked down on me and kind of kept off, as if they didn't want +me to touch them with my dirty clothes. But I had to touch Rex when he +fell over, and he didn't seem to mind it." + +Rex flushed when Roy told him this. + +"I'm afraid I didn't seem to mind because I was too far gone to mind +anything," he said. "But I do like Miles and would like to do all I +can for him." + +Roy returned home Monday morning, and Mrs. Pell went out to Rex that +night. He improved rapidly, and within a fortnight was able to be +moved to Philadelphia. + +It was pitiable to see the effect of the parting on Miles. The Raynors +had found him very capable and were anxious to keep him. There was no +reason why he should not stay, except his desire to be where Rex was, +and his quixotic notion that he might meet his father or mother should +he go to Philadelphia. + +"Keep a look out for me, Rex," he said, "and if you hear of any +position you think I could fill, let me know." + +Rex promised, and after he got home told his mother that when she +could make up her mind to completely forgive him for all he had done, +he wished that she would think of something they could do for Miles. + +"I have forgiven you already, Reggie," was the reply. "I know that you +have suffered enough not to need any other lesson. Now, why not make +Miles a present of a complete outfit? Wouldn't he take it all right? +Then when he is properly fitted out you can invite him on here for +Thanksgiving day." + +Rex talked over the idea with Roy and then they wrote to Mrs. Raynor +about it. The end of the matter was that they procured Miles's +measure, and sent him the things as a present from Rex. + +The invitation for Thanksgiving was in the letter that accompanied +them. + +The young fellow's gratitude was beyond the power of expression, and +over and over again he asked Mrs. Raynor if she thought it was right +for him to accept the invitation. + +"Of course it is right," she told him. "They would not have asked you +if they had not wanted you." + +His happiness seemed to shine out of every feature of his face when he +boarded the Philadelphia train Wednesday afternoon. Rex met him at the +station, and was surprised to see what a good looking fellow he made +when he was properly rigged out. + +"Maybe I'll make some awful blunders," Miles confided to him on the +way to the house. "Remember I've never been with swell folks before." + +"We're not swell," Rex laughed. + +He had half a mind to let him know then and there where they got their +money, but decided that he wouldn't. That night he took his guest to +the theater, and the next day Sydney had a long talk with him. + +His manners were much easier among the unaccustomed surroundings than +Rex had dared to hope they would be. Mrs. Pell was very much attracted +by him, and both girls declared he was "so interesting." + +In his talk with him Sydney sought to draw out all the facts he could +about the Morriseys. + +"That boy you had the fight with, Miles," he said-- "Jimmy, I think +you told Rex his name was-- did you never ask him any questions about +what he overheard that night?" + +"No. Mr. Morrisey seemed not to want me to talk about it, and besides, +I never would have asked Jimmy after what had happened." + +"But you'd ask him now, wouldn't you?" went on Sydney. "You say that +you heard his mother was dead. He seems to be the only person left +from whom you can get a clew." + +"Yes, I'd ask him now if I had the chance," Miles admitted "But I +don't know just where he is. You see, I've lost track of the Morriseys +lately." + +"But you could find it again couldn't you? Write to the place where +you heard they were last. Where was that?" + +"Bismarck." + +"Very good. Do that, and when you have found out all you can from +Jimmy, let me know." + +Miles promised to attend to this, but since he had fallen in with Rex, +his desire to hunt up his parents seemed not as strong as it had been. +He went back to the Raynors enthusiastic over his visit, and talked of +it for weeks afterward. + +Meanwhile Roy and Rex settled down to their school life. The change +made in Rex by his New York experience was quite noticeable. While +retaining all his dignity of manner, he was more thoughtful of the +feelings of others than he had been. + +He worried a good deal at first about the opinion Scott Bowman must +have of him, and truth to tell Scott did feel a little sore over the +way he had been treated. + +The two boys did not write or see each other till they met +accidentally in the street at Christmas time. + +Rex saw Scott coming and grew red in spite of himself. There was a +chance, he felt, that the other might go by without speaking to him. +But Scott halted and put out his hand. + +"Hello, Rex," he said, "you are a stranger." + +And at these words a great burden was lifted from Reginald's mind. + +The truth of the matter was, it was very difficult to keep at odds +with a fellow with the fascinating personality of Rex Pell, and now +since the recent change in him he was more attractive than ever. He +took Scott home to lunch with him, and related in detail his +adventures on his memorable trip. + +"Where the fun in being 'tough' comes in," he concluded, "I don't +see." + +At Christmas time Mrs. Pell had Mrs. Raynor and Florence in for a +visit. + +"Has Miles heard from Jimmy Morrisey yet?" Rex inquired. + +"No," Florence replied. "He didn't write till about three weeks ago." + +"You'll let him come in and see us New Year's, won't you?" Rex went +on. + +"Yes indeed, if you would like to have him." + +Miles came for New Year's and brought the information that he had +heard from Jimmy Morrisey at last. He was a hall boy in a New York +hotel, and said that as near as he could remember the name he had +heard his father mention that night in his talk with his mother was +Darley. + +Rex wrote the name down on a piece of paper and put it away to show to +Sydney on his return from his Florida trip, for his health had been +growing steadily poorer and Mrs. Pell had persuaded him finally to go +South with a friend for a while. + +"You know he isn't really my own brother," Rex confided to Miles. "But +he's a distant relative. His father and mother died when he was very +little." + +Miles was much interested on hearing this. It served in some way to +establish another bond between himself and the Pells. + +"I'll let you know what Syd finds out about this as soon as he finds +out anything," Rex told Miles at parting. + +Miles had begun to attend school. He had not had an opportunity to +study since leaving the Morriseys. He was naturally quick, and made +good progress. + +"He'll know too much by spring to be put to garden work again," Mrs. +Raynor had said when she was in. "I hardly know what to do with him +then." + +"Oh, don't worry about that," laughed Jess. "By that time he may have +found his parents and be a millionaire." + +"How you talk, Jess," interposed her sister. "If he ever does find his +people, it doesn't follow that they will be wealthy. Indeed, he'd +probably never have been given to the Morriseys if his father hadn't +been too poor to support him." + +Eva took a deep interest in the case. She was of a literary turn of +mind, and wove many a romance in her busy brain about the early +history of this strange youth, who seemed so extraordinarily gentle, +considering his rough bringing up. + +Sydney came home just before the twins' vacation ended. + +"Oh, Syd!" Rex suddenly exclaimed, that first evening as they were all +seated in the library, listening to Florida experiences. "Miles has +heard from this Morrisey boy." + +"Well," replied Sydney, "did he learn anything of importance?" + +"Yes, he found out the name his father and mother used when they were +talking about the man who brought Miles to them." + +"And what was it?" + +"Darley." + +Sydney fell back in his chair and grew as white as a ghost. + + CHAPTER XXVII + + SYDNEY GOES ON A MYSTERIOUS EXPEDITION + +The family were greatly alarmed at Sydney's collapse. Mrs. Pell had +fondly hoped that his Southern trip would be of permanent benefit to +him, and here he was breaking down on the first night of his return. + +Not one of them associated his seizure in any way with the subject on +which they had been talking except Rex. He could not but recall a +somewhat similar attack, when Sydney had fainted in his office while +he (Rex) was telling Scott Bowman of their inheritance. + +But Miles Harding's affairs had nothing to do with this. What did it +all mean? Rex asked himself, as he sped off for the doctor. + +When he got back, Sydney had come to, but seemed to be suffering +severely. And yet when asked if he was in pain, he would shake his +head and beg so imploringly that they would leave him to himself, that +the fears of the family were intensified many fold. + +The doctor was utterly nonplused. He prescribed a quieting potion, and +went away, promising to return again in the morning. + +"And perhaps you had better humor him in his desire to be left alone," +he said to Mrs. Pell. "But of course arrange to be near in case +another collapse occurs." + +The household separated for bed that night with sober faces. + +"Syd hasn't been like himself since Mr. Tyler died," remarked Roy, +lingering at the door of Rex's room. + +Rex did not reply immediately. He stood looking at his brother +intently for an instant, then he put a hand on Roy's shoulder, gently +pulled him into the room and closed the door behind him. + +"Sit down a minute, Roy," he said gravely; "I want to tell you +something." + +"What is it? What makes you look so solemn, Reggie? Is it anything +about Syd?" + +"Yes, it's about Syd. Something that happened last summer, and which +he told me not to tell; but it seems to me that I ought to tell now." + +In a few words then, Rex related what he and Scott Bowman had +witnessed, adding an account of what Sydney had said to him when he +asked to have the doctor sent out of the room. + +"It's queer, isn't it, Roy?" Rex added. + +"Yes, but I can't connect it with the present case." + +"Neither can I. That makes it queerer still. Perhaps you'd better not +say anything about what I told you." + +"No, I shan't," and the boys sat quiet a while longer, discussing the +mystery of this affair in lowered tones. + +Meanwhile Sydney in his room across the hall, was lying in his bed +with his eyes wide open staring at the ceiling. Now and then he passed +his hand across his forehead, on which the perspiration kept +gathering. + +"It is Nemesis," he murmured over and over. "I have felt that it would +come, and now at last it has appeared, and through Rex, of all the +others!" + +All through that night he remained thus wakeful. He watched, +helplessly, the gradual breaking of the dawn, knowing that he had not +slept a moment and feeling that he must have this physical ill to bear +in addition to the mental one which already weighed him down to the +earth. + +But he had come to the turning point now. In some way this was a +relief, even though the prospect immediately ahead of him was such a +fearsome one. + +He wished that he could go up to the office without seeing any of the +family, as he had done that other morning in Marley. + +But he could not do this now. They would worry and send after him. He +must try and get through the ordeal of facing them as best he could. + +He rose at the usual time, but before he had finished dressing there +was a knock at the door and Roy's voice wanting to know how he was. + +"All right," he replied, and then, as his brother asked if he might +come in, he opened the door. + +"All right!" exclaimed Roy, after one look at his face, "Oh, Syd!" + +"It's only because I haven't slept," Sydney hastened to assure him. + +"Then what are you getting up for?" Roy went on. + +"I must go down town. I have that to do which will ease my mind, and +make me all right again, I trust." + +The last words were added in so low a tone as to be scarcely audible. + +"Oh, Syd, what is it? What is worrying you? Can't I help you in any +way?" + +"No, Roy, you cannot now. Perhaps-- later-- I will need-- need your +pity." + +"Pity! Oh, Syd, you do not know what you say." + +"Don't, Roy. I have a hard task to perform; do not, I beg of you, make +it harder." + +Roy said no more; he would not after this. He went back to his own +room and went over in his mind all that had befallen them since they +had been what the world called wealthy. + +"Not one bit happier, though; no, not as happy," he added for himself. + +At the breakfast table Sydney insisted that he felt plenty well enough +to go to the office. + +"Can't you see, mother," he said at last, "that it is a matter of the +mind and not of the body. Let me have the opportunity of easing that, +and-- you will see the result." + +But when he left the house he did not go at once to his office. He +stopped at the first drug store he passed, and walked up to the little +stand on which the city directory was kept. + +He turned the pages to D, and then looked up Darley. + +There were several of the name, and a frown contracted his brow. But +he took out his pencil and memorandum book, and made a note of the +various addresses. Then he went on, but soon turned into a street that +would not take him to the office. He boarded a car and rode off in the +direction of South street. In the course of twenty minutes he was +waiting for his ring to be answered at the door of a very modest +little house near the Baltimore tracks. + +But after he had been admitted, he did not remain long inside. + +"I must try another," he muttered, consulting his memorandum. + +He tried several others, but with equal ill success. The quest seemed +hopeless. + +"There may be nothing in it after all," he murmured. "But that does +not lighten my load here;" and he pressed his hand over his heart. + +All that day he kept up his hunt, scarcely stopping to get a little +lunch at noon. Toward nightfall he called at an address on Seventh +Street next to the last on his list. + +It was an odd looking house-- apparently a store, for there was a +regular shop window, but there was nothing in it but curtains that +screened off the interior, and no sign, and the door when he tried it, +was locked. But there was a bell handle close beside it, and this he +pulled. + +The door was opened after quite an interval, to a mere crack, and the +voice of an aged woman wanted to know who was there. + +"A gentleman to see Mr. David Darley," Sydney answered. + +"You can't see him," came back the reply, "He's been dead these five +months." + +"Well, then," went on Sydney, pushing against the door to prevent any +possibility of its being shut in his face, "I want to see some of his +relations-- his wife, or daughter, or somebody." + +"There ain't any of them either," was the reply. "There's only me." + +"Well, then, I'd like to see you," Sydney rejoined, feeling that this, +too, was to be a wild goose chase, but determined, nevertheless, to +leave no stone unturned. + +"What do you want to see me about?" went on the old lady. "I don't +know you." + +"I just want to ask you some questions about Mr. Darley. Are you any +relation of his?" + +"I'm his mother-in-law," and the door was slowly opened, but only wide +enough to admit Sydney, when it was closed behind him with great +rapidity. + +He looked with some curiosity at the person who admitted him. She was +very small, not much above his waist in height, and quite old, with +snow white hair and a very peaceful expression of face that contrasted +markedly with her evident fear of strangers. + +She did not ask Sydney to be seated, and remained standing herself, +taking up her station in the doorway that led into the room beyond, as +if seeking to bar out any intrusion there. + +The apartment in which Sydney found himself was a very pleasant one, +well lighted from the large window, whose upper portion was undraped. +There were some pictures on the walls, a piano stood at one side, and +a guitar could be seen off in one corner. + +But Sydney was not in the mood to take many notes of his surroundings. +He proceeded at once with the business in hand. + +"Was Mr. David Darley any relation to Maurice Darley?" he inquired. + +"Will it hurt David if I answer?" replied the old lady cautiously. + +"How can it, since you say he is dead?" Sydney responded with the +flicker of a smile. + +"Well, then," answered the other, heaving a little sigh, "I don't see +as it can do any harm for me to say that David was his brother." + +"At last," burst forth Sydney with something between a shout and a +groan. He put his hand against the wall as if to steady himself. + + CHAPTER XXVIII + + THE STRANGE CONDUCT OF MRS. FOX + +All the suspicions of the little white haired old lady seemed to be +revived by Sydney's manner of receiving the intelligence she gave him. + +"Maybe I've made a mistake about it," she said, pinching nervously at +the edges of a white apron she wore. "It may be another man of the +same name." + +"Is this Maurice Darley dead?" asked Sydney, paying no attention to +her disturbed equanimity. + +"I don't know. Maybe he is," was the reply. + +"When did you see him last?" went on Sydney. + +"How do you know I ever saw him?" asked the old lady quickly. + +Sydney began to lose his patience. + +"You seem to think I mean you some harm," he said. "You are quite +wrong there. It is a matter of money, of a fortune that belongs to Mr. +Maurice Parley, if I can find him." + +The old lady looked at him keenly. + +"That's what caused all his trouble," she said slowly. "Fortunes. He +was always thinking of them." + +"Can't you tell me where he is now?" Sydney went on in a coaxing tone. +"You appear to know a good deal about him." + +"Oh, Mr.-- I? Do I show it?" A terrified look came into the old lady's +eyes. Her fingers clutched tightly at each side of the doorway over +which she had mounted guard. + +Sydney was by this time convinced that there was some mystery about +Maurice Darley, which the woman before him was seeking to conceal. + +"What if he is dead?" + +The old lady brought this out with a sort of triumphant tone. + +"But he isn't dead," Sydney returned, with almost the same manner. "If +he was you would have said so long ago. You see I can understand some +things. But why are you so secret about him? Tell me, did you ever +hear him speak of a Mr. Tyler?" + +"Hush, hush!" The old lady put her fingers over her lips and advanced +to Sydney as if to thrust him out of the door. "Not now. Not here," +she added in an imploring tone. + +Sydney was compelled to back out of the door into the street, but he +held it open partially to say: + +"I must find out about Maurice Darley. It is for his good, not mine. +Where can I see you about him? Will you come to my office on Chestnut +Street?" + +"No, no. I can't go away," the old lady replied. + +She was glancing backward over her shoulder every instant or two. + +"Will you give me your name, then, so I can write to you?" Sydney went +on. "Or if I write to Mr. Darley here will you give it to him?" + +"No, only write to me, Mrs. Hannah Fox," and with that the door was +closed in his face. + +Sydney lingered in front of it a second. He had a blind impulse to +ring the bell and compel her to open it again. But he knew that it +would be useless, so he turned his steps slowly toward Chestnut street +and went to his office. + +He found that his absence all day had been productive of not a little +harm. + +"But this is a part of the expiation," he murmured to himself. + +He put aside the letters waiting to be answered, and set himself to +the task of composing the one to Mrs. Fox. It took him a long while to +write it. He tore up several completed ones. + +The usual hour for closing the office arrived. The boy hovered about +his desk, seeming to hope that his presence would remind his employer +that it was time to go home. + +Sydney looked up at last. + +"You may go, John," he said. "I will mail this." + +But when the boy had gone he read over what he had written, then tore +it into very small pieces and dropped them in the waste paper basket. +Then he took a fresh sheet and began again. + +He was half way down the first page when the door opened and Rex came +in. + +"Syd," he exclaimed, "aren't you coming home to dinner? We waited till +seven o'clock, then mother grew so worried that I came down to see if +anything had happened." + +"How good you are to me, Reggie," said the other. "And how little I +deserve it." + +His head went down on his two arms upon the desk. His frame shook as +if with sobbing. + +"Syd, you dear old fellow, don't talk that way. What is troubling +you?" Rex had put his arm about his brother's neck; his forehead +pressed close against the bowed head. + +"Don't, Reggie. If you only knew you would not want to touch me." + +Sydney lifted his head suddenly, but his arms were still crossed over +the half written letter. + +"Syd, what do you mean?" + +Rex looked at his brother in deep perplexity, his handsome brow +wrinkled with the anxiety Sydney's appearance and demeanor were +causing him. + +"You will know soon enough, Reggie, and then promise me that you will +try to think of me as friendly as you can; not give away utterly to +your contempt. It was partly for y--. No, I will not say that. No, go +home, Rex. Tell mother I am all right, and will be back some time +to-night, and not to worry." + +"But you ought not to stay here and work, Syd," Rex persisted. "You +are not fit to do it." + +"I must do what I've set out to do." Sydney's voice was almost stern +as he made this reply. + +Rex saw that it was useless to linger, and went sadly home. Something +dreadful had evidently come over Sydney. What it was he did not +pretend to know. But he made up his mind not to tell the family all +that Sydney had said. + +It was nearly nine that night before the young lawyer finished the +letter to Mrs. Fox to suit him. He dropped it in the corner letter box +on his way home, and then stepped in at a restaurant to at least go +through the form of eating something. + +"When shall I tell them at home about it?" was his one thought, and +the ever recurring echo to it was, "Not yet! not yet!" + +Almost his greatest trial of the day was forcing himself to remain in +the library a half hour after he reached the house, and trying to +appear himself. He was conscious that Rex was watching him closely. + +But it was natural for him to plead fatigue after a hard day's work. +He locked himself in his room after he reached it. With hands tightly +pressed against his forehead, he sank into a chair. + +"I foresaw all this," he muttered. "I knew that I must always suffer. +That what I did was done for others is no excuse; and now they must +suffer, too." + +He slept this night from sheer exhaustion, but the sleep was much +disturbed by dreams, in all of which a white haired old lady with the +face of a fox seemed to be trying to do him some bodily injury. + +The next day he seemed to exist for nothing but the arrival of the +mails. But night came, and no response to his letter to Mrs. Fox. + +The following morning he tried to get up, but his head was so dizzy +that he was forced to drop back on the pillow again. Fortunately he +had not locked his door this time, so that when they came to inquire +about him, they were able to get in. + +It was Roy who came first. + +"My mail from the office," was all Sydney had strength to say when he +saw him. + +"Yes, I will bring it for you," replied Roy, and he decided to give up +school for the day. + +The doctor was summoned again, and prescribed perfect quiet, but after +he had gone, Sydney asked so persistently if Roy had come with his +letters, that when he did arrive, Mrs. Pell thought that the quickest +way to quiet the patient was to let him come in with them. + +"I only want to see one of them," Sydney whispered quickly, as Rex +took a seat by the bedside, some dozen letters in his lap. + +"Which one, Syd?" asked Roy, gently. + +"It is from an old lady-- a Mrs. Fox. It will probably be in a plain +envelope." + +"Perhaps this is it, then. Shall I open it and see?" + +"No, no. Give it to me," replied Sydney quickly. + +He took the envelope and the knife Roy handed to him, but his fingers +trembled so that he could do nothing. + +"I shall have to let you open it after all, Roy," he said, and handed +them both back. + +Roy slit the end of the envelope in a second, and once more put it +into his brother's hands. With dilated eyes and breath coming in brief +gasps, Sydney drew out the inclosure. + +He unfolded it and looked eagerly at the signature. + +"I can't see quite clearly, Rex," he said after an instant. "Is that +Fox signed to this?" + +"Yes. Hannah M. Fox." + +"Thank you." Sydney turned to the front page and began to read. +Suddenly he gave a little cry. + +"I can't see the words, Roy," he said. "Something is the matter with +my sight. You will have to read it to me. Never mind if some of the +things it says sound strange to you. I will explain them by and by. +Here." + +Roy took the letter, and read as follows: + + Mr. Sydney F. Pell. + + Dear Sir:-- Come tomorrow night at midnight. Don't ring. Knock + lightly on the door. Yours truly, + + Hannah M. Fox. + +"And that is to-night," murmured Sydney. "How can I go?" + + CHAPTER XXIX + + A MIDNIGHT VISIT + +"Do you want me to write a note for you saying you can't come?" said +Roy. + +"No, no. I must go," replied Sydney. + +"But you can't," Roy was about to answer. Then he checked himself, and +said instead: "Well, perhaps you will be well enough to go to-night. +Is it far?" for there was no address given in the letter. + +"No, not very. It is right in the city here. But you can't write for +me. The old lady mustn't know that you've seen her letter. She'd +notice the difference in the handwriting. But midnight! What a queer +time to appoint. It's just like her, though. Now I will try and get +some sleep so as to help prepare myself for to-night." + +The receipt of the letter appeared to have eased Sydney's mind +somewhat, for he slept until well on in the afternoon, and then he +woke feeling somewhat better. + +"I can go to-night, Roy, after all," he said to his brother +cheerfully. + +But Roy did not see how he could go. Still he thought it was best not +to say anything till the time came. + +Just before night, Sydney called Roy to the bedside. + +"Order a coup for me to be here at half past eleven to-night," he +said. + +"But you are not fit to go, Syd," the other could not help but +respond. + +"I will be when the time comes," was the reply. "You will see. Say +nothing to the others about it." + +"Then let me go with you," suggested Roy. + +"Well, perhaps you may, but you will sit in the carriage. Now go out +and order it, please." + +Roy felt somewhat burdened with a secret to keep from the family. But +he trusted Sydney fully, so he felt that it was all right The patient +grew a little better in the evening. + +At half past eight he called Roy to him and whispered: "You had better +lie down and get some rest now. Take my alarm clock and put it at +quarter past eleven." + +But Roy knew it was no use to take the clock. He was sure he could not +sleep. He was far too anxious and excited for that. He lay down on the +sofa in his own room and tried to read. But he did not see a word on +the page. He was thinking of Sydney. + +Presently Rex came in. He flung himself down on the bed, exclaiming: +"Roy, I feel exactly as if something was going to happen. I can't get +to sleep, so there's no use in my going to bed. I'm worried about Syd. +There is something mighty queer about him." + +"Oh, he's much better to-night," Roy responded encouragingly. + +"Yes, I know; but it's his actions all through this thing that I'm +worried about. Do you know that I sometimes think, Roy--" here Rex sat +up on the bed and lowered his voice impressively--"I sometimes think +that perhaps there was a touch of insanity in Syd's family. You know +we are always forgetting that he isn't one of us." + +"Is it anything in particular makes you think that, Reggie?" said Roy, +wondering what Rex would say if he knew about that night's expedition. + +"Well, yes, one thing taken with a lot of other things," and he +proceeded to tell of what Sydney had said to him at the office when he +went down there the previous night. + +"He seems to have the idea that he has committed some crime," Rex went +on. "I really think that we ought to watch him carefully." + +"It doesn't seem to me to be as serious as that," responded Roy. "But +as you say, we ought to watch him carefully." + +Rex lay quiet for a time. Roy's thoughts were disturbing ones. +Reginald, too, was worrying over Sydney's condition. But that note +from Hannah Fox was something tangible. There was no chimera of the +imagination about that. + +Perhaps it was a real anxiety that was preying on Syd's mind. Very +likely something connected with his parentage. + +Roy had not thought of this before. He was about to suggest it to +relieve his brother's mind when he looked up and saw that Rex was +asleep. + +Then he glanced at the clock on the bureau and saw that it pointed to +five minutes to eleven. + +"I'll let him sleep on now," he decided, "or he'll be sure to be +around when we go, and I'm sure Syd doesn't want him to know." + +Roy went across the hall to his elder brother's room. + +He found him sitting on the side of the bed, looking very pale. + +"I guess you'll have to help me dress, Roy," he said with a sorry sort +of smile. + +"Perhaps you'd better send a telegram," Roy rejoined. "There won't be +any handwriting to recognize on that." + +"No, no, I must go myself. You will understand some day, very soon, +why I feel this way, and then, Roy, you may pity me and forgive me if +you can." + +Roy thought of his brother's theory. Sydney's talk was very strange, +but not stranger than this midnight proceeding. Well, he would wait +until he had seen this last through before deciding whether or not he +ought to report to his mother. + +He helped Sydney on with his clothes, then went to the window to see +if the carriage was there. He saw it standing in the glare of a street +lamp. It was just half past eleven. He started to his own room to get +his coat. + +"Be careful to make no noise, Roy," Sydney cautioned him. + +But when Roy entered his own apartment, there was Rex sitting up on +the bed, rubbing his eyes. + +Roy hoped he would go at once to his room, but he began to talk about +the strangeness of his having fallen asleep in that way, and then when +he saw what time it was, wanted to know why Roy hadn't gone to bed. + +"How could I when you were in the way?" Roy answered smilingly, and +just then Sydney called to him softly from down the hall, "Roy, aren't +you coming?" + +There was no help for it. Roy went to the closet and took down his +overcoat. + +"Why, where are you going this time of night, Roy Pell?" demanded Rex. + +"Just out for a little while; good night, old fellow. You'd better go +straight to bed." + +"But look here, Roy." Rex was following him out into the hall. "This +is mighty queer, your going off this way. Does mother know about it?" + +Rex ceased abruptly. He had come face to face with Sydney, all dressed +for the street. + +"Reggie, what are you doing up?" Sydney asked, and to Rex his voice +sounded cold and stern. + +"I fell asleep on Roy's bed. But where are you two going? You're not +fit to be out of bed, Syd," as the latter reeled and made a quick +clutch at the bannisters. + +"Rex, help me down stairs with him and don't make any noise." Roy +spoke in an authoritative tone, and Rex meekly obeyed. + +"Perhaps Rex had better come along, too. I ordered a coach, so that +you could put your feet up. There'll be plenty of room." + +Roy whispered this in Sydney's ear as they went slowly down the +stairs. + +"All right; just as you say. I suppose it won't make much difference +how soon you all know now." + +"Rex, you may come along if you like," said Roy, when they reached the +lower hall, and Sydney was sitting on the settee. "Run up quickly and +get your coat." + +Rex eagerly seized the opportunity, and in five minutes they were all +in the carriage, and the driver had started for Seventh Street. + +Sydney was considerably exhausted by the effort he had already made. +He lay back in the seat breathing heavily. + +"Do you know where we are going and what for?" Rex leaned forward to +whisper in Roy's ear. + +"It's a mystery to me, too, but we want to watch out carefully that no +harm comes to Syd," Roy whispered back. + +When the carriage halted before the little dwelling where Mrs. Fox +lived Roy started to get out, but Sydney drew him back. + +"No, I must be alone," he said. "Have the carriage wait here till I +come out." + +But he had scarcely taken a step from the carriage when his weakness +overpowered him. He tottered, and would have fallen had not Rex sprung +out and caught him. Roy was at his other side in an instant, and +together the two boys supported him. + +"You will have to help me up to the door, I guess," he whispered +faintly; "but don't ring; knock lightly." + +There was no one passing at the moment, nor did any light shine from +the interior of the place, Roy knocked against the glass in the door, +and the latter was opened on the merest crack. + +"Who's there?" came the demand in a quivering old woman's voice. + +"Sydney Pell. I am ill, but I was bound to come. My two brothers are +with me. Can't they help me in to a seat? They will then go away +again." + +"No, no; they can't come in," was the quick response. "There must be +no noise. It's a risk to have you here." + +"Then can you open the door wide enough to help me in?" returned +Sydney. + +The answer was the swinging back of the door and the reaching out of +the old lady's arm. + +"Go back to the carriage, boys, and wait," said Sydney, and the next +instant he had disappeared within the mysterious dwelling. + + CHAPTER XXX + + SYDNEY FREES HIS MIND + +"You're pretty weak, aren't you?" This was Mrs. Fox's remark as she +eased Sydney down into a rocking chair in the little parlor. It was +quite dark, save for the faint light that came in from the street lamp +over the curtain pole in the window. + +"I suppose I was too weak to venture to come," Sydney answered, "but I +felt that I must. Did you understand all that I meant to say in my +note?" + +"I understand that you know of a great sum of money that is coming to +Maurice Darley. It's strange, very strange." + +"Why is it? Did you know anything about it? Did you expect it?" + +There was a note of alarm in Sydney's tones. + +"No, not that in particular. But you must tell me all the details +before I dare to tell any more." + +The old lady seated herself on a low chair close to Sydney's side. It +was extremely weird, this confidential talk in the darkness. + +"What details do you want?" Sydney asked. + +"Why, proofs that there is really something to this fortune. Maurice +has talked too much about others that have nothing to them." + +"You see him often, then," exclaimed Sydney eagerly. "He's here, +perhaps." + +"S'h!" commanded the old Lady in a stern whisper. "Yes, he is here. He +is in the back room yonder. I am so afraid he will hear us. That is +why I had you come at midnight, when he would be sound asleep." + +"But why can I not see him?" + +"Because he is weak-- weak in his mind. He is all the while fancying +that he is rich. A talk about money would excite him so that I fear +the consequences." + +"And you say he knew Mr. Tyler?" Sydney remembered and spoke this name +very softly. + +"Yes, he talks of him continually now." + +"Was he in his office once?" + +"Yes, I believe so." + +"One more question. Has this Mr. Darley any children?" + +"He had one once-- a boy. But it must have died when a baby, soon +after Mrs. Darley did. And now do you know why I do not want you to +come here with stories of riches for Maurice Darley? He's daft on the +subject already. I do not want him to go so far that they will take +him away from me." + +"You are fond of him, then?" asked Sydney. + +"He is all I have. If he goes I must live alone. It is my delight to +care for him. The little money David left me is enough for my simple +wants, Maurice lives like a lord in his fancies. Why do you want to +come and disturb us in our content?" + +"Because I must," Sydney broke out, as passionately as he could in +restrained tones. "Don't you understand that the money which belongs +to Maurice Darley I have been diverting to other uses? It was left to +him by Mr. Tyler, but I tore up the will. He made it about three hours +after another one, in which he had left everything to the woman who +had acted as a mother to me for twenty years. + +"He was a vacillating old man. I felt that he might change his mind +back again if he should live three hours longer, so when he was dead I +tore up the last will. I alone knew what it contained, and I have been +a miserable man ever since." + +Sydney bowed his head on his hands, and there was silence in the +little room for a moment or two. + +"You-- you are a criminal, then?" said the old lady presently. + +Sydney winced at the term, but at the same time he felt a sense of +relief, as one does after taking a plunge into cold water. At any rate +the shock of the first contact was over. + +"Yes, I suppose I am," he answered. "And I am ready to suffer the +penalty. The only excuse I have to offer is the fact that what I did, +I did not for myself, but for those I love, who have done so much for +me. And now it is not joy, but misery, I shall bring them." + +"You are repentant, though," murmured the old lady softly. "It is not +as if you were hardened and only gave up when some one else found it +out and forced you to. There is hope for you in that. But how much +money is there?" + +"Nearly half a million. But some of it has been used, put into a +house, which of course will be given up to Mr. Darley." + +"Then you will take him away from me?" It was almost a wail with which +the old lady said this. + +"No, you can come with him, of course." + +"No. It will be his taking care of me then, and that will be so +different. Oh, why did you come to disturb us?" She seemed quite +forgetful for the time of the presence of any one else in the room, of +her own caution to Sydney to speak quietly. Suddenly she appeared to +recollect this latter necessity. + +She ceased the half moaning she had begun and clutched Sydney's arm +tightly. + +"I suppose," she whispered, "that it would not be right to ask you to +keep this money?" + +"I can't keep it," Sydney replied. "I have suffered enough from it +already." + +"But how can you give it to a man who is not in his right mind? He +thinks he is a wealthy man. I have given him a quantity of gilt paper +to play with. He is like a child, you know. The possession of real +money will not make him any happier." + +"But there is the son," suggested Sydney. + +"I told you he was dead." + +"I am not so sure of that. I think I have seen him. Would he not be +about seventeen now?" + +"Yes, and you have seen him?" + +It was with difficulty the old lady kept her tones within bounds. + +"But you cannot be sure it is the same," she went on. + +"No. I cannot be certain, but I am pretty sure." + +"Perhaps he looks like his father. Wait, I think I can find a picture +of him in the dark." + +"But I cannot see it in the dark." + +"By holding it close to the window you can get the ray from the lamp +on it There! here it is, I think." + +Mrs. Fox took the portrait to the front of the room, and parting the +curtains a little, held it for Sydney to look at. + +"Yes, it is very like," he said. "This picture must have been taken +when Mr. Darley was quite young." + +"He sat for it before he was married. But where is this boy?" + +"Living at a little town out in New Jersey. He wants to find his +father." + +"How comes it he isn't dead?" the old lady wanted to know. + +Sydney told the story of Miles Harding as he had heard it from Rex. + +"Do you know why he was compelled to give up the child?" he added. + +"Poverty, I suppose. You know he was very sick once, and he lost +everything. That was what unsettled his reason. But to think he should +have given out that the child was dead!" + +"Did you ever hear him speak of the Morriseys?" + +"No, I never heard the name before. But I should like to see this boy. +Does he know that his father is living?" + +"No, not yet; you see I did not hear of it until tonight. But I must +not stay longer. My brothers are waiting for me in the carriage. We +must arrange what we are going to do." + +"I don't know what to say. The boy ought to have his rights. Can't we +fix it all quietly some way? I don't think you meant to do wrong." + +"Yes, I did. I did everything with my eyes open. I ought to suffer for +it. The only trouble is that those I love will suffer with me. But +don't you think the restoration of fortune will bring back Mr. +Darley's mind?" + +"I don't know. I can't tell about that. He is very queer." + +"Do you have a doctor for him?" + +"Oh, no. I'd be afraid they'd want to take him away. I expect I'm +selfish about it. But bring the boy here. He is old enough. We can +talk it over with him, and maybe his father will recognize him." + +"I can come any time, then?" said Sydney. + +"Yes, now I know who you are." + +"Good night, then. I shall see you soon again. I feel better than when +I came." + +Sydney rose and walked to the door without assistance. As soon as the +boys saw him they hurried out to help him into the carriage. Within +three minutes they were driving towards home and a church clock near +by chimed one-- for half past twelve. + +"Boys," began Sydney, "I have something to tell you. I was not glad +before that I was not your own brother. I am glad of it now, because-- +I am a criminal." + +There was a pause. No one spoke. There was no sound but the rattle of +the wheels. It was too dark to see the expression on the faces of the +twins. Rex was leaning partly forward, one hand gripping Roy's knee. +He could think of nothing save the night Mr. Keeler had spent with +them and the horror they had had of him before they found out that it +was his brother whose picture was in that book. + + CHAPTER XXXI + + THE CONFESSION TO THE BOYS + +The carriage had gone two squares before the silence in it was broken. +Then Roy spoke. + +"What is it, Syd?" he said. "I am sure you are worrying yourself +needlessly over something-- are magnifying it from a molehill into a +mountain." + +"Needlessly? Oh, boys, would that I were! But as soon as I tell you, +you will understand it all. And I shall tell you now-- in a minute. +But just give me your hand, each of you, that I may feel the warm +pressure of your confidence before-- before you know the worst of me." + +Roy and Rex instantly put out their hands. Syd took one in each of his +and held them tight for an instant. Then he dropped them quickly and +began to speak rapidly. + +"Do you remember, Roy, the night last July you went home in Dr. +Martin's carriage and left me alone with Mr. Tyler? The will that left +all his money to mother had been signed and witnessed; you know what +it contained. I felt so rejoiced for you all, although I had no idea +then that there was a chance of your so soon coming into possession. + +"I sat talking to the old man for an hour or so, about his investments +and the various savings banks in which his money was deposited. +Finally he appeared to grow restless. + +"'Have you got that will I made, Sydney?' he asked. + +"I pointed it out to him where it lay on the table. + +"'I can make another one, can't I?' he went on. + +"'As many as you please,' I told him. + +"'Then write out this one and I'll sign it,' he said, and he dictated +a document that left every penny of his fortune, except the five +thousand to Ann and a thousand he left to you, Roy, to Maurice Darley, +if living, or his heirs if dead. + +"'You and Ann can witness it,' he told me, and I called her in, and +she wrote her name under mine. + +"He named myself and Dr. Martin as executors just as before, and said +that I could probably find Maurice Darley without much trouble. He +turned over in bed then and I asked him where Darley was when he last +heard from him, but he did not answer. I went over to the bed and +looked at him, and found that he was dead. + +"Then the temptation flashed into my mind. + +"'What a shame,' I thought, 'that owing to the caprice of a foolish +old man these people who have been so good to me should be deprived of +the fortune which had just been left to them. This Darley is +undoubtedly rich. He has behaved contemptibly to the man who did so +much for him. Why should he get the money?' + +"Then I recollected that you had gone into the kitchen, Roy, earlier +in the evening, to get Ann to sign the first will, and then the doctor +had told you that it was not necessary. I reasoned that she would +undoubtedly suppose that the will she did sign was the only one that +had been made, because I was sure she had not read it. + +"All these things flashed into my mind within a few seconds of time as +I stood by the bedside of the dead man. My determination was quickly +taken. I knew that Ann had gone home, that there was no one near to +see the deed. + +"I took the new will and held it in the flame of the candle till it +was entirely consumed. Then I blew the cinders, so that they scattered +about the room and would not attract attention." + +"Oh, Syd!" This in a kind of gasp from Roy. + +Rex said nothing. He was sitting upright now, still seeming to see +before him the face of "No. 131," Mr. Keeler's criminal brother. + +"Yes, I knew you would all shrink from me when you knew," went on +Sydney. He spoke in a voice that was almost hard now. It was as if it +had become so from the spurring that was necessary to enable him to +make his confession. "I shrank from myself as soon as the last piece +of tinder had vanished from the candlestick. I could not bear to stay +in the house. I hurried off to the undertaker's, and then stopped at +Dr. Martin's to tell him that the miser was dead. + +"He said something about the good fortune that had come to us so +quickly. I shuddered and hurried home. But I could not sleep. I seemed +to have become an old man in that one instant while I held that sheet +of paper in the flame of the candle." + +"That's the reason we did not see you at breakfast the next morning?" +said Roy softly. + +"Yes, I felt that I could not face you all just yet." + +"And that is why you looked so terrible and fainted away when I told +Scott Bowman about our inheritance at your office?" added Rex. + +"Yes; I was planning all sorts of ways to fix things, so we needn't +take the money. Then I saw it was too late. Now you know what has been +on my mind all these months. I knew that my health was being +undermined by the strain. But I did not care for that. I even hoped at +times that I might die, because then I felt that you need never know." + +"And-- and was it anything in particular that made you tell us +to-night?" asked Rex. + +"Yes. It seems very strange how things come about, but then it often +happens so. Do you remember, Reggi-- Rex, telling me the name of the +man who left your friend Miles with the Morriseys'?" + +"Yes, and it was Darley, the same name you mentioned just now. And you +fainted then, just as you did that time at the office. You don't mean +that Miles--" + +"Yes, I am almost certain that Miles Morrisey is really a Darley, the +son of Maurice Darley, to whom all this money belongs. When I +suspected this I knew that the end had come-- that I must trace the +thing down and confess." + +At this point the carriage halted before the door of the house. Rex +sprang out, then Roy, and both boys waited to help Sydney. But he made +no movement to follow them. + +"Aren't you going to get out, Syd?" asked Roy. + +"No; I have no right to live among you any more. Now that you know, it +will seem like having a convict in the house. I can go to some hotel. +You can send my things to me and I will stay there till-- till this is +settled up and they put me away." + +Roy stepped into the carriage and put his face so close to Sydney's +that the latter felt the smooth flesh against his day's growth of +beard. + +"Dear old fellow," whispered Roy, "you must come. We haven't cast you +off. And-- and besides, we want you with us to help us decide what to +do." + +"Don't be so good to me, Roy. I can't bear it." + +But as he spoke, Sydney got out, and the three went up the steps. + +Nothing was said as they ascended the stairs. There was danger of +disturbing the household. + +"Good night, Syd," said Roy, when they reached the top. + +He put out his hand, but Sydney did not see it in the darkness. + +"Good night, Roy," he responded. + +Rex said nothing, but when Sydney's door closed behind him, he drew +Roy into his room with him. + +"You must stay with me to-night, Roy, "he said, and he began taking +off his coat. + +"Why didn't you speak to Syd before we came in, Reggie?" + +"I couldn't, Roy. I feel awfully sorry for him. But he's committed a +crime, and I can't help but think all the while of Mr. Keeler's +brother." + +"It's terrible-- awful." Roy's face was pale; he looked almost as +Sydney had looked at one time. + +"What are we going to do?" Rex sat down on the edge of the bed, a +despairing droop to the shoulders that he usually carried so squarely. + +"We must give up everything to the rightful heir." + +"But where shall we go then? We've sold our house in Marley and spent +the money we got for it. We'll be worse off than we were before, Roy. +Oh, dear, why did you ever look up at that trestle and see that old +man crawl out on it?" + +"I've wished I hadn't before now," replied Roy gravely. + +"The money hasn't made us happy as you expected it would, and now see +what misery it has brought. But I suppose it's wrong for me to regret +doing what I did. And don't think so hard of Syd, Reggie. Remember +that he did what he did, not for himself, but for us." + +"I'll try my best, but I don't feel now as if I could ever touch him +again. And think what he has brought us to! Poverty, after just giving +us the taste of wealth." The twins did not sleep much that night. + + CHAPTER XXXII + + A HARD DAY FOR THE TWINS + +Roy and Rex slept far into the morning, which was Saturday. They were +awakened finally by a persistent knocking on the door and Jess's +voice: + +"Are you boys going to sleep all day? Have you forgotten we were all +going to Marley at eleven o'clock? And here's a note Syd left for you, +Rex. He's much better and gone to the office. Get up now or we shan't +save breakfast" + +"All right," responded Roy, and he shook his brother and told him +about Syd's note. + +"I wonder what it's about," murmured Rex. + +Then he saw it on the carpet, where Jess had poked it under the door. +He snatched it up eagerly and read: + +"I am going to telegraph for Miles to come in and stay over Sunday. He +must be told while he is here. He will get to the house in time for +dinner." + +"I wonder if he expects me to tell him?" muttered Rex. "Great Scott, +it'll be mighty queer to entertain a fellow in a house that really +belongs to him!" + +"And I wonder when mother and the girls are to be told," added Roy. +"Do you suppose Syd could have told mother already?" + +But there was no sign that Mrs. Pell knew from her demeanor when she +poured the coffee for them. + +"I must go down and see Syd about it," said Roy as they went out into +the hall together. "You'll have to go to Marley without me." + +"And I'm sure I don't want to go," added Rex. + +Their decision carried dismay to the hearts of the girls. + +"You must go, boys," said Eva. "The Minturns have invited us to lunch, +we have accepted, and it would be very impolite for you not to go now. +Besides, Jess and I can't come home after dark alone." + +"If you knew what I do you wouldn't feel like going either," returned +Rex, not heeding the warning glance cast at him by his brother. + +"What do you know, Rex?" asked Jess, looking from one twin to the +other with a keen gaze. "There is something between those two," she +added, turning to her sister. "You take Roy, Eva, and I'll take Rex, +and we'll make them up and confess." + +The method of "making" employed was to tickle the boys, who were each +very susceptible to this form of torture. This was terrible. To have +the thing turned into a joke when it was so fearfully serious. Roy +spoke up quickly: + +"We'll tell you in a little while now, girls," he said. "But +seriously, I think you had better give up this trip to Marley." + +"But what excuse will we send the Minturns?" + +Roy hesitated. This was a poser. + +"Can't you put it off?" he said finally, as a makeshift. + +"Of course we can't, without giving a reason for it," returned Jess. +"I think you boys are just as mean as you can be. Because you've got +up some scheme between you that you'd rather do than go with us, you +just won't go." + +"Ah, Jess, it isn't that. It's-- but I can't tell you now. Come, Rex, +we'd better go after all. One day won't make any difference." + +Rex objected a little longer, but was at last won over. + +"I don't suppose we could tell them without Syd's consent," he said +when he and Roy had gone up stairs to get their coats. "But it'll seem +exactly like dancing on our own graves." + +"Oh, not so bad as that, Reggie," returned Roy. + +The day was a terribly hard one to both boys. All sorts of plans were +discussed and adopted for future good times. + +Charlie and Ethel Minturn were invited up for a week from that day to +take lunch and go to a matinee. + +"They'll never be able to take them," Rex found opportunity to whisper +to his brother. "I wish we'd told the girls about it this morning." + +"So do I, but I didn't like to till Syd said he was ready." + +The Minturns could not fail to notice that the twins had something on +their minds. Ethel spoke of it. + +"Oh, it's some piece of boys' mischief, I'll be bound," exclaimed +Jess, whereupon Roy and Rex exchanged glances and their hearts sank +lower still. + +On the way home in the train Rex announced that Miles Morrisey was +coming that evening to spend Sunday with them. + +"But I thought you and Roy were going to a meeting of your school +society," returned Jess. "If it hadn't been for that we could have +stayed to dinner at the Minturns'." + +"Great Scott, I forgot all about the Stylus!" exclaimed Rex. "Well, it +don't matter; we'll have to give it up any way." + +The coming of night seemed to bring with it to Reginald a realizing +sense of all that the new order of things would mean. He relapsed into +thoughtfulness, in the midst of which he half sprang from his seat +with an inarticulate exclamation. + +"What's the matter, Rex?" inquired Eva. "Oh, nothing," he responded. +But the color deepened slightly in his cheek, and he looked furtively +at Roy. + +The cause of his start was the remembrance of what Sydney had said +about the name Darley having caused him to determine to confess. + +"If I had not gone off with Harrington that time," was Rex's +inference, "Miles would not have come into my life, and we would not +now be facing poverty." + +But the blush was the shame at the idea that he would be willing to +enjoy the fruits of Sydney's crime provided he did not know about it. + +"I always feel sorry for Miles when he comes to see us," remarked Eva. + +"Why?" asked Rex quickly. + +"Because he seems to feel embarrassed, as though he were out of place. +He isn't in the least. He has very nice manners, and I'm sure is a +perfect gentleman. But what he needs is a little more self assurance." + +"Oh, he'll get that fast enough now," said Rex, and then looked +fixedly away from the scandalized glance he knew Roy was directing at +him. + +"I'll go home with the girls if you'll wait at the station for Miles, +Rex," and Reginald was glad to be left alone for a few minutes. + +"It doesn't seem as if it could be so," he mused, as he walked up and +down the pavement opposite the Public Buildings. "Miles and I to +change places!" + +People hurrying to catch outgoing trains jostled him; the clang of the +cable car bells sounded every few seconds; the noises of the city life +he loved were all about him. + +"Where shall I be a year from now?" he asked himself. + +But it was nearly time for Miles's train. Rex turned and went up the +stairway to the left of the station building. As he did so, he passed +a familiar face coming down. It was the boy who got him into trouble +with the Chinaman that July afternoon six months before. + +But Rex felt no resentment now. + +"If that was the only trouble I had to think about!" he told himself +enviously. + +Of such power is comparison. + +Miles's train was on time. Rex saw Miles standing on the step of the +forward car, ready to spring off at the first opportunity. His face +lighted up to a still greater radiance at sight of Rex waiting for +him. + +"I didn't think you'd come to meet me," he said, as he shook hands. +"It is awfully good of you. I'm so glad to see you." + +There was no doubt of this. One could read it at once in the way he +looked at his companion. + +"I suppose you were surprised to get Syd's telegram," remarked Rex. +"What did he say in it?" + +"Come and spend Sunday with Rex," answered the other. "I was here only +a little while ago, but I was glad enough to come again. It is ever so +kind in you to send for me." + +"Didn't you think there might be any other reason for our sending for +you?" asked Rex, after an instant's pause. + +A troubled look crossed Miles's face. + +"No; what do you mean, Rex?" + +"Don't you remember what you found out a little while ago-- about the +man who left you with the Morriseys?" + +"Oh, my father. Has your brother heard anything about him? Is that +what you want me for?" + +"It's about that; yes. I'm not sure whether your father has been +found, but something else has been found that belongs to you." + +"And what is that?" asked Miles eagerly. + +"A fortune." + + CHAPTER XXXIII + + A QUEER FISH POND PARTY + +Miles stared at Rex as though he did not comprehend the meaning of the +word. + +"A fortune?" he repeated. "What fortune?" + +"Why, your fortune, to be sure," returned Rex. + +"But I don't understand," went on Miles. "How can I have a fortune?" + +"Easy enough, since your father has one. Syd knows all about it. +You're a lucky fellow, Miles. It's somewhere about half a million." + +Miles looked very grave for half a minute, then a smile broke out over +his face. + +"Come, Rex," he said, "I see through your joke, so you might as well +drop it. You oughtn't to have made the sum so high if you expected me +to believe it." + +"It's true, all the same, Miles." + +But Miles still shook his head and declared he should wait to believe +till Mr. Sydney told him all about it. + +"I wonder if Syd will tell him the whole thing tonight?" Rex asked +himself, but Sydney was not home to dinner. + +There was a note from him to Rex, however, asking that he and Roy and +Miles should meet him at the Continental Hotel that night at eight. +This threw Rex into a great state of excitement. He knew that the +crisis was at hand. + +Roy took things more quietly, but inwardly he was none the less +excited. + +"Syd wants us to meet him down town," he said as they rose from the +table. + +He had been waiting for Rex to tell Miles, but the other had not yet +brought himself to do it. + +"Where are you going?" Jess wanted to know. "To the theater?" + +"No, indeed," responded Rex. Then he folded up his napkin quickly and +left the dining room. + +"Has this visit got anything to do with my father?" Miles whispered to +Roy, as they went out into the hall together. + +"I think it has, Miles, but I don't know much more about it than you +do." + +There was not much said by the three boys on their way down town. Rex +was in one of his silent moods, and made no effort to get out of it. + +Roy tried to talk, but there was such a weight on his mind that he +made but poor success of the attempt. + +Miles was far too excited, however, to notice the difference in manner +of the twins compared with their usual cordiality. + +They found Sydney waiting for them in the corridor of the hotel. He +was looking very haggard, but he seemed very glad to see Miles. + +"I have good news for you, my boy," he said; "good and bad, too. I +have found your father, but he is not quite himself." + +"What do you mean?" exclaimed Miles, while Roy and Rex looked their +interest. + +"His mind is affected," Sydney went on. "We hope the sight of you may +have a favorable effect, but be careful not to be excited yourself +when you see him. Take it quite as a matter of course." + +Miles drew in a long breath. It was going to be rather a difficult +matter for him to take easily a meeting with the father he had thought +never to see. + +"Where is he?" he asked in a faint tone. + +"Not far from here. Come, we will go there at once." + +On the way to Mrs. Fox's Sydney explained that he and the old lady had +arranged that she should give a sort of boys' party at which Mr. +Darley should be present. He would then have an opportunity to study +Miles quietly, while the latter was engaged in playing games. + +"You look so much like him," Sydney added, "that we hope he may +recognize you." + +Miles appeared to be somewhat astonished when they halted before the +odd little home in Seventh Street. But he said nothing, and the next +moment they were all being warmly welcomed by Mrs. Fox. + +The old lady was so excited that both her hands and voice trembled. +She came near crying when she first saw Miles, but she greeted him +exactly as she had the twins. There was a game of Fish Pond on the +center table. + +"Now, boys," she said, "try your luck." + +They all drew up to the table, Sydney taking a rod, too. The old lady +stood looking on behind Miles's chair. Presently she went out into the +back room and in a few minutes returned, accompanied by a gentleman +who did not look to be over thirty-seven. He was dressed very +handsomely and his resemblance to Miles was striking. + +"Mr. Darley, boys," said Mrs. Fox, as the two came up to the table. +"Go right on with your fishing; we will watch you." + +She had taken up her stand this time behind Rex, who was sitting just +opposite Miles. + +"Glad to meet you, boys," remarked Mr. Darley, in a pleasant voice. +"How is the market?" + +Rex, with an effort, collected himself sufficiently to answer, "Oh, +pretty fair, sir." + +"Only pretty fair, eh?" went on the other. "Keep at it, though. You're +bound to win some time, as I have. Look here." + +He put his hand in the side pocket of his coat and drew forth a great +mass of chips, all covered with gilt paper. + +A look of agony was on Miles's face. It was almost worse than finding +no father at all, to find such a one as this. + +"Don't you want to take my rod and fish a while, sir?" he said, +feeling that it would be impossible for him to longer sit still. + +"Thank you; you are very kind. I might take a single flyer." + +Mr. Darley stepped around to take Miles's seat, but as the other rose +they were face to face, and very close to each other for an instant. +Mr. Darley put out both hands and grasped the boy by the shoulders. + +"What is your name?" he said in a tone that was quite different from +the one in which he had hitherto spoken. It was much more decided, and +firmer. + +"Miles," answered the other, trying his best to keep his excitement +down. + +He could see Mrs. Fox standing just behind his father, her hands +clasped together in an agony of suspense. + +"Miles, eh! Well, you look as if your name ought to be Maurice. Great +Caesar! doesn't he look like me, Mrs. Fox?" + +He wheeled around so suddenly that the poor old lady was taken quite +unawares. She dropped her hands quickly to her sides and had not a +word to say. + +"Don't he look like me?" Mr. Darley now appealed to Sydney, who +managed to stammer out: "I certainly see a strong resemblance, sir." + +"What is your last name, young man?" went on the other. + +Miles hesitated an instant. He was about to say Darley, but some happy +instinct prompted him to substitute "Morrisey." + +Mr. Darley started. + +"Morrisey, you say?" he exclaimed. + +A swift change passed over his features. He had dropped his hand from +Miles's shoulders, but now reached forth and caught him by the arm. + +"Come with me," he said quietly, and led him into the back room. + +The others looked at one another without speaking. No one thought of +the game. The fish lines, tangled up, were lying in the pasteboard +pond. + +Mrs. Fox had sunk down on the sofa, her head covered with her apron. +From the inner room came the subdued sound of voices. + +"Do you suppose he has recognized him?" It was Rex who at length broke +the silence, and he spoke in an awed whisper. + +Nobody made any reply, for footsteps were heard approaching from the +rear. It was Miles. His face was handsomer than Rex had ever seen it. +It was lighted up with joy. + +He came straight to Rex and put a hand on his shoulder, while he +leaned over till his chin rested on the other's head. + +"I want to tell you first, Rex," he said, "who have been the means of +bringing me to this happiness. He knows me. His mind has come back to +him. He called me Maurice, and he remembers giving me to the Morriseys +to take care of for a while. Then his brain went back on him, and he +thought I was dead." + +"Where is he?" asked Rex. + +"Lying down on the bed. He is utterly exhausted. I must go back to him +now," and Miles hurried off again. + + CHAPTER XXXIV + + REX RISES TO THE OCCASION + +"It's wonderful. I never heard anything like it." This was Mrs. Fox's +exclamation when the four were left alone in the front room again. + +"All the credit belongs to you, Mr. Pell," she went on, turning to +Sydney. "It was you thought of this way of doing things." + +"Oh, he might have recognized him any other way just as quickly," +returned Sydney. "And now some one must tell him about Mr. Tyler's +legacy," he added. "I want to get that off my mind." + +"I guess he can't stand that to-night, Mr. Pell," returned the old +lady. "You'd better leave it till tomorrow. I'll keep Miles here with +him to-night-- there's room-- and then they can both go to see you +to-morrow." + +"Yes, that will be the best way," Sydney agreed. "But I had hoped to +get it off my mind by this time. Come, boys." + +"I trust I shall see you both again," said Mrs. Fox, as she shook +hands with the twins. + +Then the three Pells went out and homeward. It was only nine o'clock. + +"Mother ought to know, don't you think so, Syd?" said Roy. + +"Yes, she must know to-night. But I don't see how I can tell her. I +don't see how I can. She trusts me so fully." + +"Then let me tell her," suggested Roy. + +"No, no. I must confess myself. I shall do it now as soon as we get +home. Then I can be ready to put myself in Mr. Darley's hands +to-morrow." + +"Do you think he will-- will--" Rex began and came to a sudden stop. + +"Send me to jail?" Syd finished for him. "He may. He has a right to do +it. I deserve to go. Oh, boys, I wonder how you can bear to be with +me." + +"You did it for our sakes, Syd," responded Roy. + +But Rex said nothing. + +When they reached the house they found Eva and Jess in the parlor, +entertaining company. + +"Come in, boys," Eva called as they passed the door. + +Roy and Rex obeyed the summons, leaving Sydney to go up to Mrs. Pell +in the library. + +They found Mr. Keeler to be the caller. Rex started when he saw who it +was. + +"Why, where is Miles?" asked Jess. + +"He stayed with his father," replied Rex. + +"His father!" echoed both girls. "Why, has he found him?" + +"Yes," answered Roy, "Syd found him. There's a story for you, Mr. +Keeler, a regular romance." + +Rex began to look nervous. He feared that his escapade with Harrington +was about to be related. But Roy skillfully told the main points in +Miles's career without encroaching on this. + +Mr. Keeler stayed until ten o'clock, and while they were talking and +laughing in the parlor, the twins were thinking of what was going on +in the room above. + +When they went to kiss their mother good night they saw that she knew. +The girls exclaimed at once at sight of her face. + +"You are ill," cried Eva. + +"No, Eva," rejoined Mrs. Pell, "it is worse than illness." + +The tears welled up in her eyes. She could say no more. + +Sydney was not with her, neither was he in his room. The girls were +clamorous to know what was the matter. + +"Tell them, Roy, I can't," Mrs. Pell at last found voice to say. + +Rex could not stay to hear. And Roy never suffered as he did in the +few moments it took him to relate his foster brother's crime. It +seemed as though it were as cruel as to drive nails into the fair +flesh of the young girls. And yet they must know. + +"How could he do it, how could he?" Eva murmured again and again. + +"Perhaps he didn't," Jess suddenly exclaimed. "He's nothing to show +for it-- the second will, I mean. Perhaps there's something wrong with +his brain, and he only imagines there was one and he destroyed it." + +But Roy shook his head. There was Ann to prove, if necessary, that she +had signed the other document. + +For a long while they sat there. It seemed as if black despair had +settled upon them and there was no way out. + +For years Mrs. Pell had leaned upon Sydney. In an emergency like the +present, he would be just the one to whom she would go for counsel. +And now-- he had failed her utterly. + +"What did you say to him, mother?" asked Roy after a while. "Were-- +were you kind to him?" + +"I tried to be. I tried to remember that he had done all for our +sakes, but I feel like a ship without a rudder." + +Roy left his seat near Eva and slipped into a chair next his mother, +who had bowed her head on the desk in front of her. + +She had been writing a note to a charitable society of which she was a +member. The check she was to send them lay all signed, ready to be +inclosed. + +"Moms," whispered Roy, using the pet name Rex had invented and +pressing one of his mother's hands tightly in his, "you have us. We +are growing fast. I am sure we shall get along." + +"Bless you, my boy." His mother kissed him on the forehead, then +lifted her eyes reverently, as she added: "Yes, and I must not forget +that there is One who is always a friend to the needy. And now, +children, we must go to bed. To-morrow we will decide what to do." + +Roy stopped at Rex's door, went in and found his brother tossing in +bed. + +"Have you told the girls?" he asked. + +"Yes." + +"How did they take it?" + +"Better than I expected they would." + +"But what are we going to do, Roy?" Rex went on. "We can't stay here." + +"No, of course not." + +"But what will people say? Won't there be a terrible scandal?" + +"You mustn't talk that way, Rex. Remember that you and I are the ones +mother must depend on now. If she sees us looking on the dark side +it'll make it so much the harder for her." + +"That's it," returned Rex. "Life is something you must go ahead with. +You can't lay it down when you get tired. All right; I'll remember +what you say, Roy, but it's an awful come down." + +Rex, however, "came up to the scratch," as he himself would have +expressed it, nobly the next day. + +Nobody went to church, and about half past eleven the door bell rang +and "Mr. Darley and son" were announced. + +Miles, as we shall continue to call him, sent up word to know if he +could come up to Rex's room. + +"Do you know?" asked Reginald, as he met him in the doorway. + +"Yes; Mr. Sydney came around to us this morning. I can't understand +it. But I don't want you to feel--" + +Miles hesitated. It was very embarrassing for him to express just what +he wanted to say. Rex helped him out. + +"I'm awfully glad for you, old fellow," he said heartily. "And I don't +want you to worry about us. We'll get along some way." + +"But that won't do," Miles persisted. "If it hadn't been for you I +might have been a common tramp now and never found my father." + +"And if it hadn't been for you I would probably have been dead long +ago," Rex retorted. "So you see we're quits." + +"No, we're not, and I don't want that we should, till I give you what +I think you ought to have. Father says I may and--" + +"Miles Harding-- Darley, I mean, if you do that I'll-- I'll never +speak to you again. There, take your choice-- quits or my friendship." + +Rex's pride conquered. Miles was still his slave. + +"I'll never say another word about it, Rex," he replied meekly, and +for the first time Reginald felt that he could face poverty bravely. + + CHAPTER XXXV + + A FISTIC ENCOUNTER + +It is summer again, but in Batemans the town in which we now find our +friends, the Pells, this banner season of the year, does not deck +itself with all the attractions that caused it to be eagerly looked +forward to in Marley. + +There are no creek, no hills, no trees, nothing but board walks, board +houses, board fences, and the "boarders we take," as Rex would +conclude the sentence. And these are the same in summer as they are in +winter, except that they are all hotter and more unpleasant than +ordinary. + +Batemans is a far Western town. A friend of Mrs. Pell's was putting up +a hotel there at the time of her trouble. He had appealed to her for +some woman to run it. + +"I don't want a man," he wrote. "There are too many men out here now. +I want somebody who will give home comforts which I want to make a +speciality of, in place of a bar." + +Mrs. Pell considered it a providential opportunity. She replied +stating that she would take it herself if she could have her children +to help her. And they had gone out there in February. + +Mr. Darley had been kindness itself. He not only refused to prosecute +Sydney, but wanted to settle a portion of his fortune on the Pells. + +"You are fully entitled to this," he said. "It is through you that my +boy has been restored to me." + +But Mrs. Pell was firm as Rex had been firm. + +"It is enough that you allow us the time in which to make our plans," +she returned. + +Rex never murmured at the prospect of Batemans. Not even when the +dreary aspect of the place, with mud two feet deep in its streets, +first dawned upon him. He felt that he ought to rejoice rather that +his new lot was to be cast so far away from all his old friends. + +There were no educational facilities in Batemans; at least none of +which the twins could avail themselves. Then they found plenty to do +in helping their mother. + +Rex acted as clerk, made out the bills and received the guests; Roy +saw to the purchasing of supplies, and aided his brother in keeping +objectionable characters out of the house. + +There were no amusements and no society except that which they +furnished themselves in the family circle, Roy often thought if he had +had this life to look forward to, his whole previous existence would +have been embittered. But now that he was living it, strength seemed +given him in some way to bear the burden. + +Sydney had gone to England. They asked him to write and let them know +how he was getting along, but he would not promise. + +Miles wrote regularly to Rex, even when the latter did not reply. He +and his father had moved into the handsome home next the Harringtons', +with Mrs. Fox as housekeeper. + +"I wonder what people think of the thing," Rex said once to Roy. + +There had been no publicity about the transfer. Only a few people knew +of it and the cause. + +On this July day on which we are writing, it was unusually hot. The +heat seemed to be frying in the air. It was a day of all others on +which to keep quiet and calm. + +But this was the day on which the waiters of the Homestead House had +chosen to go out on strike for an increase of wages which Mrs. Pell +was not empowered to give them. They threw down their aprons just +before the dinner hour at one o'clock. + +"Never mind, mother," said Roy. "Rex and I will pitch in and help." + +And they did, they and Eva and Jess. Rex was just carrying a tray of +dishes into the pantry when he heard a louder voice than usual coming +from one of the tables. + +He looked around. He saw Jess, flushed to her hair, standing behind a +young man who had come in with one of the regular guests, and whom he +had not noticed before. + +"Come now, I'll give you a nice tip if you'll do it for me," Rex heard +the fellow say. + +He thought he recognized the voice. He put his tray down and hurried +to his sister's side. + +She had started to walk away, but the man had caught her by the dress +and held her fast. + +"He wants me to go to the saloon across the street and bring him a +bottle of beer," said Jess. + +Rex stooped quickly and disengaged the fellow's hand with no gentle +touch. In doing so he looked him straight in the face. It was Ashby +Stout. + +"Great Scott, it's little Pell," exclaimed Stout. Then he added +quickly: "Look here, youngster, what right have you to send that girl +away from here?" + +"A brother's right," replied Rex promptly. + +"Whew!" whistled Stout under his breath, and he turned to Driscoll, +the friend with whom he had come in. "Say, Sammy," he whispered, "what +position does this chap hold in the place?" + +"He's the manager's son," was the reply. + +Having accomplished his purpose Rex went on, took up his tray and +carried it into the pantry. His eyes still flashed from anger. + +"Jess," he said, going up to his sister, "you must not go into that +dining room again." + +"But I'll have to," she replied, "I've got lots of orders to fill." + +"Never mind. I'll attend to yours and mine, too. I'm not going to have +that ruffian ogling you, I know who he is." + +"You do? Who is he?" + +"Never mind. It is enough that I know everything bad about him and +nothing good. Give me your orders." + +And Jess complied. Of course this compelled Rex to wait on Stout. But +he gritted his teeth and went through with the process in dignified +silence, taking no notice of the attempt Stout made to draw him into +conversation. + +When dinner was over and Rex was back in his place behind the desk, +making up accounts, Stout strolled in, a cigarette between his lips. + +He affected to be examining the register for a little while, then +suddenly looked up to remark: "I say, Pell, that's a deuced pretty +sister of yours." + +I won't say that Rex did right, I can't say that he did wrong, but on +the instant and without a word he leaned forward and hit J. Ashby +Stout a blow on the chin that sent him staggering backward over a +chair that stood just behind him. + +There happened to be no one else in the office just at that moment. So +Mr. Stout was obliged to pick himself up, which he did, muttering +wrathfully under his breath, while Rex, very white, went on with his +work. + +"If you're not a coward, sir, you'll come out here and give me +satisfaction for that insult, sir." + +So spoke Mr. Stout. Rex closed his books and came out in front of the +desk. + +"I allow no one to speak of my sister in that tone," he said. + +"And I allow no one to strike me," blustered Mr. Stout, launching out +a blow directly at Rex's face. + +Rex dodged and planted another blow on Mr. Stout's chin. Then they +both went at it. Sometimes one was struck, sometimes the other. I am +aware that this is contrary to all precedents in story writing. +Following out these, J. Ashby Stout should have gone down under the +first blow, and then been glad to slink off without risking another +encounter with the redoubtable hero. + +But then as I think I have remarked once before, Rex is not the hero +of this story. He is a boy of very impulsive nature, as often wrong as +right in his motives. Perhaps he might have taken a wiser method of +standing up for his sister on the present occasion. Be this as it may, +he did not regret the black eye he went up to his room to bathe a +little while later. + +And while the battle did not result in a decisive victory for either +side, it was noticeable that Mr. J. Ashby Stout did not again +accompany Driscoll to the Homestead. But some one else appeared the +next day to whom Rex found it necessary to explain how be came by his +battered visage. + + CHAPTER XXXVI + + MILES BREAKS THE NEWS + +A compromise had been effected with the striking waiters, and the heat +had lessened a little in its intensity. The two things, together with +the nonappearance of Ashby Stout were blessings for which Rex had to +be grateful. + +But when the stage came in and he recognized among the passengers +Miles Darley and the latter's father, he did not know whether he was +glad or not. They were links connecting him with that past life which +he was trying his best to forget. Now it seemed to him that only by +forgetting it and thus doing away with the power of contrast, could he +be happy in the present. + +"You dear old fellow!" Miles rushed forward with this exclamation and +fairly took Rex in his arms. + +He had grown much in the past few months and the clothes he wore set +off his figure to great advantage. + +"I won't say where on earth did you come from," said Rex, "but where +in the world are you going to, that you should take in this forsaken +place?" + +"Well, that's polite, I'm sure," laughed Miles, "Can't you imagine +that Batemans may be our objective point?" + +"No, because I'm certain you can't be interested in saw mills, and +that's the only thing that brings people here." + +"But I can be interested in you, can't I, Rex? I've missed you +terribly. That great house seems so lonely with only three of us in +it." + +"But you needn't have stayed there in the summer. There's the White +Mountains or the sea coast-- lots of places you could have gone to." + +"If we choose to come here instead, it's all right, isn't it, Rex?" + +"Of course it is, old fellow, and now I see that the best way in which +I can entertain you is to tell you right off how I came by this black +eye," which Rex proceeded at once to do. + +"Good for you, my little game cock!" exclaimed Miles, when he had +heard the story. "Speaking of Stout, your friend Harrington has tried +to scrape acquaintance with me, but he hasn't got beyond the scraping +stage yet. I wonder what Stout was doing out here." + +"His father's in the lumber business, I believe. But I'm afraid you'll +find it pretty hot, Miles." + +"Well, I've had so many cold days in my time I guess I can stand a +little heat." + +Rex was not the only one of the Pells who was astonished by the advent +of the Darleys. Their coming was a complete surprise to the entire +family. And a still greater cause of astonishment was the prolongation +of their stay. + +They rented two of the best rooms in the house, had awnings put up at +the windows and wicker furniture sent on from Denver. Mr. Darley took +frequent trips to neighboring towns. It was understood by the gossips +at Batemans that he was a large Eastern capitalist, looking about for +profitable mining investments. + +July, August and half of September passed, and still the Darleys +remained. Miles was supremely content, for he was with Rex, for whom +his admiration appeared to increase with each day's added intimacy. +Miles had brought his books, and they studied together some. And in +spite of the forlornness of the place, the five young people managed +to have a pretty good time. + +One afternoon Roy and Rex were washing the omnibus out at the stable. +The driver, hearing of a big strike that had been made at a mine some +sixty miles away, threw up his position at once and started off to try +to get rich at a hand stroke. And the boys were forced to throw +themselves into the breach until another man could be obtained in his +place. + +This is the sort of thing they had trained themselves to expect since +coming to Batemans. + +"Where's Miles?" asked Roy, as he brought a fresh pail of water and +set it down beside his brother. + +"He was coming out but his father called him into his room." + +"We'll miss them when they go, won't we, Reggie? It has been jolly +good fun to have Miles with us all summer. You ought to feel quite +proud to think you are a strong enough magnet to keep him here." + +"I can't understand it at all, why they should have stayed," returned +Rex. + +He did not speak very cheerfully. The Darleys were to leave the very +next week. It was impossible but that Rex should realize vividly to +what they were returning. He did not tell Roy so, but he wished they +had not come. + +There was only one wheel of the omnibus to finish when Miles came +hurrying toward them. There was an expression on his face which +neither of the twins could comprehend. It was a blending of fear, joy +and stupefaction. + +"Here, let me help," he said, as he came up. "I want you fellows to +hurry and get through. I've something to tell you." + +But they had so nearly finished that there was nothing left for him to +undertake. + +"What have you got to tell us?" asked Rex, throwing his sponge back +into the bucket. + +"I wish I knew how you fellows would take it," returned Miles, a flush +creeping over his face. + +"Try us and find out," rejoined Roy with a smile. + +"I'm simply delighted myself," went on the other. "I wonder how I can +keep my two feet on the ground. It seems too good to be true." + +"Then why are you in doubt how we'll take it," said Rex. "What pleases +you ought certainly to please us." + +"But perhaps this won't. It's so-- so, unexpected and altogether +jolly." + +"Well, Miles Darley, you are certainly the most incomprehensible +fellow this afternoon," exclaimed Roy. "What's it about?" + +"Well, it's about the Pells and the Darleys," explained Miles, the +color still surging in his cheeks. "In union there is strength, you +know, and-- haven't you guessed it yet?" + +"No, indeed, we haven't and just you tell us right out what it is +without any more fooling," and Rex made a playful dab at his friend +with the big sponge. + +"All right, here goes then," and Miles drew in his breath. "Your +mother has told my father that she will be Mrs. Darley, and that makes +us brothers, Rex, don't you see, and we're all going back to +Philadelphia together-- well, don't you like it?" + +Miles checked himself suddenly, for Roy and Rex stood staring at him +as if struck dumb, too amazed to allow any expression to appear on +their faces. + +But it was all true; they were to have another test of fortune, and +though its bringing about seemed in some sense to deprive the boys of +their mother, they knew that not only was this not so, but that they +were to gain a father thereby. "And a brother, too, don't forget +that," Miles adds at my side. + + THE END. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, TWO BOYS AND A FORTUNE *** + +This file should be named 4997.txt or 4997.zip + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, +even years after the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. 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