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diff --git a/old/52287-0.txt b/old/52287-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 6778a25..0000000 --- a/old/52287-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6520 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Struggle for a Fortune, by Harry Castlemon, -Illustrated by W. H. Fry - - -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'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: A Struggle for a Fortune - - -Author: Harry Castlemon - - - -Release Date: June 9, 2016 [eBook #52287] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A STRUGGLE FOR A FORTUNE*** - - -E-text prepared by David Edwards, Wayne Hammond, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images -generously made available by the Google Books Library Project -(http://books.google.com) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustration. - See 52287-h.htm or 52287-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/52287/52287-h/52287-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/52287/52287-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - the Google Books Library Project. See - https://books.google.com/books?id=NWQZAAAAYAAJ - - -Transcriber's note: - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=). - - - - - -[Illustration: The space below was literally filled up with bags] - - -A STRUGGLE FOR A FORTUNE - -HARRY CASTLEMON - -Illustrated by W. H. Fry - - - - - - - -M. A. Donohue & Company -Chicago - -Copyright, 1905, -By -The Saalfield Publishing Company - - - - -A Struggle for a Fortune. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -_About Money._ - - -It was in a little log cabin with a dirt floor and a stick chimney -which occupied almost the whole of one side of it, situated a few miles -from Pond Post Office, a small hamlet located somewhere in the wilds of -Missouri, that the opening scene of this story took place. There were -four occupants of the cabin, sitting around in various attitudes, and -they all seemed to be looking at a fifth person, Jonas Keeler by name, -who was standing in the middle of the floor with a whip in his hand -and a fierce frown on his face. Something was evidently troubling this -man Jonas, and, if we listen to a few scraps of the conversation that -passed between him and his wife, perhaps we can ascertain what it was. - -“And is there any thing else that you want?” inquired Jonas, in a tone -that was fully as fierce as his frown. “It beats the world how many -things I have to get when I go to town. It is coffee here, and flour -there, until I have to have a memory as long as this whip-stock for -fear that I will forget some of them.” - -“But, father, we have got to live somehow,” said his wife, who was -seated on a rickety chair. “We can’t grow fat on air.” - -“To be sure you can’t, but it seems to me that you might make things -last longer. We wasn’t in this fix before the war. Then we had a house -and something that was fit to eat; but ever since the rebs and the -Yanks have got in here and burned us out, things is all mussed up and I -don’t know which way to turn.” - -“Why, father, you have money now,” said his wife. - -“Where did I get money? Not much I ain’t. It has been this way ever -since that old man Nickerson came here to board. I didn’t agree to take -him for nothing, and I would not have done it if you hadn’t showed -signs of getting up on your ear.” - -“I know you didn’t. He gave you one thousand dollars when he first came -here, and you said it would be more than enough to keep him as long as -he lived.” - -“But I did not suppose he was going to last forever, did I? He has -chawed that up in tobacco long ago; and every time I go to town I am -getting him a plug out of my own pocket.” - -“Do you mean to say that he has used up a thousand dollars in three -years?” asked Mrs. Keeler, in a tone of astonishment. - -“Now look at you. You seem to think that amount of money will last -forever. He has chawed that up and more, too. He must have had more -than a thousand dollars when he came here. The folks down to Manchester -used to say he was worth ten thousand dollars. What did you do with all -that money, old man?” - -This question, addressed in no very amiable tone of voice, was spoken -to a person who was seated in a remote corner of the cabin as if he -was anxious to get out of reach of the speaker. He was a very aged -man, with white locks that came down upon his shoulders and hands that -trembled in spite of all he could do to prevent it, and there was -something in his eyes and face which he turned toward Jonas that would -have appealed to any heart except the heart of Jonas Keeler. The old -man was not in his right mind. He had worked hard and laboriously, -his hands showed that, for the little money he possessed--Jonas said -it was more than a thousand dollars--but those days were passed now. -Something, no one could have told exactly what it was, had operated -on his mind until he hardly knew what he was doing. But there was one -thing he did know and that was that during the last year his supply of -tobacco had been extremely limited. What Jonas did with the thousand -dollars that he gave him when he first came to his cabin and took -up his abode with him, no one ever knew. Some believed that he had -invested it in a mortgage while others thought he had it stowed away so -that he could draw on it whenever necessity required it. At any rate -his money went somewhere, and Jonas never got him a thing when he went -to town without finding fault about it. - -There had been a time when this Mr. Nickerson who lived a short -distance from Manchester, was thought to be the richest person in all -that county. Every thing he had about him went to show it. His horses -were the fattest, his beef cattle brought the most money and his farm -was nicely kept up. But the war broke out about this time, and Mrs. -Keeler often wondered what had become of old man Nickerson who lived -twenty miles away. He had been the husband of her sister, but since her -death he had lived alone on his farm. He often said that he would not -go into either army, he had no hand in bringing on the war and those -who were to blame for it could settle the matter among themselves, and -the consequence was he was robbed by both Union and Confederates. Every -thing he had in sight was gone except one thousand dollars, which he -finally gave into the hands of Jonas Keeler with the understanding -that the amount was to support him while he lived. - -“I don’t much like the idea of giving up my money,” said Mr. Nickerson, -after he had taken a long time to think the matter over. “If I keep it -with me I can get tobacco and other little things that I need; but now -that I have let Jonas have it,--I don’t know; I don’t know. The first -thing I know that thousand dollars will all be gone, and then what will -I do? We’ll see what sort of a man Jonas is to live up to his word.” - -Jonas Keeler did not believe in war either, and he tried by every -means in his power to keep out of it. He hid in the woods when either -army came near him, and of course he lost everything he had. The -Confederates stole his horses and cattle, and the Union fellows said -if he were not a rebel he ought to be, and burned his house over his -head. But Jonas had the thousand dollars to go on and with this he was -remarkably content. He kept along until the war closed and then he was -ready to set out and make his living over again; but he found that it -was a hard thing to do. It was tiresome work to get up where he was -before, he never grew any richer, and Jonas, from being a quiet and -peaceable man, became sullen and morose, did not like to hear anybody -talk of spending money, even though he knew he must spend some in order -to live, and finally got so that his family were afraid of him. There -was one thing that he never could get through his head: Mr. Nickerson -had never said anything about what had become of the rest of his -money, and Jonas finally came to the conclusion that it was concealed -somewhere, and he wanted to know where it was. - -“You need not talk to me about that sum being all the old man had,” -said he, when he had held one of his long arguments with his wife. “He -had more money than that and I know it. What did he do when Daddy Price -took him off into the army? He buried it; that’s what he did with it.” - -“But the rebels must have got it,” said Mrs. Keeler. “You know they -went all over his house and took everything there was in it.” - -“But they never got any money,” said Jonas. “The old man hangs onto a -dollar until the eagle hollers before he will give it up, and if they -had found anything he would not fail to say so. He has got that money -hidden somewhere, and I wish I knew where it was. He makes me so mad -when he denies it, that I have half a mind to take him by the scurf of -the neck and throw him out of doors.” - -“Don’t do that, Jonas; don’t do that,” said Mrs. Keeler in alarm. “The -old gentleman is getting feeble, I can see that plainly enough, and the -only way you can do is to treat him kindly.” - -“Good gracious! Ain’t that what I have been doing ever since he has -been here?” demanded Jonas in a heat. “I tell you that his tobacco -money is pretty near gone, and when it is _all_ gone he will not get -any more. It is high time he was quitting that bad habit.” - -Mrs. Keeler made no remark when she heard this. The idea that a man -ninety years old could cease a habit that he had been accustomed to all -his life, was absurd. Jonas himself really delighted in a good smoke. -How would he feel if he were deprived of that privilege? Furthermore, -his wife did not believe that all Mr. Nickerson’s money was gone. She -was certain that Jonas could find a good deal of it if he looked around -and tried. - -This conversation took place some time previous to the beginning of -our story. Mr. Nickerson’s thousand dollars were nearly gone, at least -Jonas said so, and at the time we introduce them to the reader it was -all gone, and the old man did not know what he would do next. He had -not a bit of that staff of life, as he regarded it, remaining, and now -Jonas wanted to know where he had hidden the rest of his money. He had -held a long talk with the old man down to the stable but could not get -any thing out of him. That was one thing that put him in such bad humor. - -“What did you do with all that money, old man?” repeated Jonas, when -Mr. Nickerson looked up at him with a sickly smile on his face. - -“What money?” inquired the old gentleman, as if he had never heard of -the subject before. - -“Aw! what money!” said Jonas; and when he got into conversation on this -matter he nearly always forgot himself and shouted out the words as if -the man he was addressing were a mile away. “I mean the money you had -stowed away in your pocket-book where the soldiers could not find it; -the money we were talking about down to the barn. Where did you put it?” - -“I gave you every cent I had left,” was the reply. “If there was any -more the rebels have got it. Say, Jonas, are you going to get me a plug -of tobacco when you go down town?” - -“There it is again. No, I ain’t. Your money is all gone, and you will -have to do without it from this time on.” - -Jonas started toward the door as if he were in a hurry to get out, but -before he had made many steps he suddenly paused in his walk, gazed -steadily at the dirt floor and then turned to Mr. Nickerson again. - -“Don’t you remember where a dollar or two of that money went?” said he; -and he tried to make his voice as pleading as he knew how. “If you -could remember that, I might find you a plug or two of tobacco while I -am down town.” - -“There was no more of it in the purse other than the money I gave you,” -said the old man, once more resting his forehead on his hands and his -elbows on his knees. “That was all I had left to give you. You saw the -inside of the purse as plainly as I did.” - -“But you must have some other that was not in the purse,” said Jonas. -“Where did you put that?” - -“All I had was there in my pocket and you have got that. I want a plug -of tobacco, too.” - -“Well, you don’t get it out of me this trip,” shouted Jonas. “If you -won’t tell where your money is you can go without tobacco.” - -Jonas went out, climbed into his wagon and drove off while the old man -raised his head from his hands, tottered to the door and watched him as -he was whirled away down the road. Then he came back and seated himself -on the chair again. - -“Jonas still sticks to it that I had more money in that purse than I -gave him,” whined Mr. Nickerson. “I hid it under the doorstep before -Price took me away to the army. He knew that I was not able to do -anything toward driving the mules, I was too old; but he took me along -just to let me see that the Confederates ruled this State instead -of the Union people. He set me to getting the mules out of the mud -holes they got into, but in a few days he saw that I was not of any -use at that, so he discharged me where I was all of one hundred miles -from home, and left me to get there the best I could. I made it after -awhile, although I suffered severely while I was doing it, found my -thousand dollars right where I had left it and came up here and gave -it to Jonas, consarn my picture. He said it would be enough to get me -all the tobacco and clothes I needed, and now it is all gone. What I am -going to do beats me.” - -“I have not got a cent, Mr. Nickerson,” said Mrs. Keeler. “If I had -I would give it to you in a minute. I have not seen the color of any -body’s money since the war.” - -“I know you haven’t, Mandy,” said Mr. Nickerson. “I have not any kith -nor kin of my own, but you have always been good to me, and some day--” - -The old man started as if he had been shot, looked all around him, -his gaze resting on the faces of the two boys who stood near the door -listening to what he had to say, and then hid his face in his hands -and burst into a loud cough, doubling himself up as if he were almost -strangled. Perhaps the boys were taken by surprise--and perhaps they -were not; but Jonas’s wife was really alarmed. - -“Why, Mr. Nickerson, what is the matter?” she inquired. - -“Oh, it is nothing. It will pass off in a few minutes. I get to -coughing that way once in a while.” - -“Especially when you are going to say something you don’t want to,” -murmured one of the boys under his breath. “And some day you are going -to pay mother for her goodness to you. I wish I knew what you meant by -that.” - -The boys turned and left the cabin, but they did not go in company with -each other. In fact, they tried to get as far apart as possible. There -was something wrong with them--a person could see that at a glance. -What these young fellows had to make them enemies, living there in the -wilderness with not another house in sight, shall be told further on. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -_A Friend In Need._ - - -“Nat, what do you reckon he meant by that?” - -“Meant by what?” - -“Why he said that mother had always been good to him, and that some -day--then he went off coughing and didn’t say the rest.” - -“I don’t know, I am sure.” - -“I reckon he has got some money stowed away somewhere, as pap always -said he had, and that when he is gone mother will come into it. By -gracious! I wish I could find it.” - -“Would you take it away from your mother?” - -“Yes, sir, I would. I would take it away from any body. I need some -clothes, don’t I?” - -“You would have to go down to Manchester if you got any money, and -that is a long ways from here.” - -“I don’t care; I would find it if I was there. Are you going to get him -any tobacco?” - -“Me? What have I got to buy him tobacco with? You talk as if I had lots -of money hidden away somewhere.” - -“‘Cause if I see you slipping away any where and I can’t find you, I -will tell pap of it when he comes home. You know what you will get if I -do that?” - -“Well, you keep your eyes on me and see if I slip away any where except -down to the potato patch,” said Nat, indignantly. “That is where I am -going now.” - -The two boys separated and went off in different directions, Nat -wending his way to the potato patch and the other going toward the -miserable hovel they called a barn to finish his task of shelling corn. - -“What a mean fellow that Nat Wood is,” said Caleb Keeler, as he turned -and gave his departing companion a farewell look. “That boy has got as -much as four or five dollars hidden away about this place somewhere, -and I tell you I am going to find it some day. Then won’t I have some -clothes to wear? I’ve got a pair of nice shoes which pap made him give -me, but I will have more if I find that money. Dog-gone him, he has no -business to keep things hidden away from us.” - -These two boys, Caleb Keeler and Nat Wood, cherished the most undying -hatred to one another, and as far as Nat was concerned, there was -reason for it. It was all on account of his lost shoes, and they had -been taken away from him a year ago. The weather was getting cold, -every morning the grass and leaves were wet and it was as much as -a bare-footed boy wanted to do to run around in them, and Nat had -prepared for it by going down to the store one evening and purchasing -a pair of brogans and two pairs of stockings. He fully expected to -get into trouble on account of them, and sure enough he did. The next -morning he came out with them on, and his appearance was enough to -create astonishment on Caleb’s part who stood and looked at him with -mouth and eyes wide open. - -“Well, if you haven’t got a pair of shoes I never want to see daylight -again,” said Caleb, as soon as he had recovered from his amazement. -“Where did you get them?” - -“I bought them,” said Nat. - -“Where did you buy them?” - -“Down to the store.” - -“Where did you get your money?” - -“I earned it.” - -“You did, eh? Well, you ain’t been a doing any thing about here to earn -any money,” declared Caleb, after he had fairly taken in the situation. -“If you have money to buy a pair of shoes you can get a pair for me -too. How much did they cost you?” - -“Two dollars.” - -“Have you got any more of them bills?” - -“Not another bill,” said Nat; and to prove it he turned his pockets -inside out. There was nothing in them except a worn jack-knife with -all the blades broken which nobody would steal if he had the chance. - -“I don’t care for what you have in your pockets,” exclaimed Caleb, who -grew angry in a moment. “You have got more hidden around in the bushes -somewhere. You want to get two dollars between this time and the time -we get through breakfast, now I tell you. I will go down to the store -with you.” - -“Well, I won’t do it,” said Nat. - -“If you don’t do it I will tell pap.” - -“You can run and tell him as soon as you please. If you want shoes, go -to work and earn the money.” - -Caleb waited to hear no more. He dropped the milk bucket as if it were -a coal of fire and walked as straight toward the house as he could -go. He slammed the door behind him but in two minutes he reappeared, -accompanied by his father. Things began to look dark for Nat. - -“There, sir, I have lost my shoes,” said he. “If Uncle Jonas takes -these away from me he will be the meanest man I ever saw. They are -mine and I don’t see why I can not be allowed to keep them.” - -When Jonas came up he did not appear so cross as he usually did. In -fact he tried to smile, but Nat knew there was something back of it. - -“Hallo, where did you get them shoes, Natty?” was the way in which he -began the conversation. - -“I got them down to the store,” was the reply, “and Caleb wants me to -buy him a pair; but I have not got the money to do it.” - -“Don’t you reckon you could find two extry dollars somewhere?” said -Jonas. - -“No, nor one dollar. I will tell you what I will do,” said Nat, seeing -that the smile of his uncle’s face speedily gave way to his usual -fierce frown. “I will tell you right where my money is hidden and then -Caleb can go and find it.” - -“Well, that’s business,” said Caleb, smiling all over. - -“If you will do that then me and you won’t have any trouble about them -shoes,” chimed in Jonas, once more calling the smile to his face. -“Where have you got it? How many years have you been here, Natty?” -continued Jonas, for just then an idea occurred to him. “You have been -here just eleven years--you are fourteen now--and you have kept that -money hidden out there in the brush all this while. Now why did you do -that?” - -It was right on the point of Nat’s tongue to tell Jonas that he did -not have the money when he came there, but he knew that by so doing he -would bring some body else into trouble; so he said nothing. - -“I was older than you and knew more, and you ought to have given me -the money to keep for you,” continued Jonas. “If you had done that you -could have come to me any time that you wanted a pair of shoes, and you -could have got them without the least trouble.” - -“Won’t you take what there is left in my bag after you see it?” asked -Nat, hopefully. - -“That depends. I want first to see how much you have in that bag. Where -is it?” - -“Caleb, you know where that old fallen log is beside the branch near -the place where we get water?” said Nat. “Well, go on the off side of -that and you will see leaves pushed against the log. Brush aside the -leaves and there you will find the bag.” - -Caleb at once posted off and Jonas, after looking in vain for a seat, -turned the milk bucket upside down, perched himself upon it and resumed -his mild lecture to Nat over keeping his money hidden from him for so -many years. He was the oldest and knew more about money than Nat did, -he was a little fellow when he came there--when Jonas reached this -point in his lecture he stopped and looked steadily at the floor. Nat -was only three years old when he came to take up his abode under the -roof of Jonas Keeler, to be abused worse than any dog that ever lived, -both by Jonas and his son Caleb, and how could he at that tender age -hide away his money so that Jonas could not find it? - -“Wh-o-o-p!” yelled Jonas, speaking out before he knew what he was doing. - -“What is the matter?” inquired Nat. - -“Nothing much,” replied Jonas. “I was just a-thinking; that’s all. If -Nat was only three years old when he came here to live with me,” he -added to himself, “he couldn’t have had that money. Somebody has given -it to him since, and it was not so very long ago, either. Whoop!” and -it was all he could do to keep from uttering the words out loud. “He -has got it from the old man; there’s where he got it from. And didn’t -I say that the old man had something hidden out all these years? He -didn’t give me a quarter of what he saved from the rebels. Now he has -got to give me that money or there’s going to be a fracas in this -house. I won’t keep him no longer. You can bet on that.” - -At this point in his meditations Jonas was interrupted by the return -of his son who was coming along as though he had nothing to live for, -swinging his hand with the bag in it to let his father believe that -there was nothing in it that he cared to save. - -“What’s the matter?” inquired Jonas. - -“I have found the bag but there is nothing in it, dog-gone the luck,” -sputtered Caleb. “There is just a ‘shinplaster’ in it and it calls for -two bits. Where is the rest of your money?” he added, turning fiercely -upon Nat. - -“That is all I have,” replied Nat. “It was in that bag, wasn’t it? Then -I have no more to give you.” - -Jonas took the bag, glanced at the shinplaster and put it into his -pocket. The smile had now given away to the frown. - -“Say, pap, ain’t you going to give that to me!” asked Caleb, who began -to see that the interest he had taken in unearthing Nat’s money was not -going to help very much. - -“No; you can’t get no shoes with that money. I will take it and get -some coffee with it the next time I go to town. Is this all the money -you have left, Nat?” - -“Every cent; and now you are going to take that away from me, too?” - -“Of course; for I think it is the properest thing to do. You don’t ever -go to church--” - -“And what is the reason I don’t? It is because I have not got any -clothes to wear,” said Nat, who plainly saw what was coming next. - -“That’s neither here nor there,” said Jonas. “Caleb goes to church, and -he would go every Sunday if he had the proper things.” - -“You bet I would,” said Caleb. - -“So I think that if you don’t go to church and Caleb does, you had -better take off them shoes. Take them off and give them to Caleb.” - -“Now, Uncle Jonas, you are not going to make me go bare-footed this -cold weather,” said Nat, anxiously. “If Caleb wants shoes let him go to -work and earn them.” - -“I can’t go to work about here,” said Caleb. “There’s nobody will hire -me to do a thing.” - -“Because you are too lazy; that’s what’s the matter with you,” said -Nat, under his breath. - -“Take off them shoes,” said Jonas. - -Nat hesitated, but it was only for an instant. Jonas was not the man to -allow his orders to be disobeyed with impunity, so he arose from his -seat on the milk bucket with alacrity, disappeared in a little room -where he kept a switch which he had often used on the boys when they -did anything that Jonas considered out of the way, and when he brought -it out with him he found Nat on the floor taking off his shoes. - -“You have come to time, have you?” said the man with a grin. “So you -are going to take them off and give them to Caleb, are you?” - -“I am going to take them off because I can’t well help myself,” said -Nat, boldly. “If I was as big as you are I would not take them off.” - -“None of that sort of talk to me,” said Jonas, lifting the switch as if -he were about to let it fall upon Nat’s shoulders. “You would take them -off if you were as big as a mountain.” - -When he had removed his shoes Caleb picked them up and in company with -his father started toward the house. He wanted to put them where they -would be safe, and Nat stood there in his bare feet watching him until -he closed the door behind him. - -We have not referred to the relationship which Nat bore to Jonas -Keeler, but no doubt those into whose hands this story falls will -be surprised to hear it. Jonas was his uncle, and, by the way, Mr. -Nickerson was no relation to any body under that roof. Nat’s father and -mother were dead; his father was killed in the rebel army. Jonas found -him in Manchester and brought him home “to keep him safe and sound;” at -least that was what he said; but those who knew Jonas thought that the -reason was because he suspected that Nat was heir to some money which -would some day turn up in his favor. He did not see where the money was -to come from, but he believed it, and that was enough. The truth of the -matter was, Nat did not have a cent. After he had been there for some -years Jonas began to think so too, and from that time his treatment -of Nat was anything but what it ought to be. It was only when Mr. -Nickerson began to take an interest in him that Nat had anything that -he could call his own. He did not like the way Nat was abused--he was -in his right mind then and hale and hearty in spite of his years--and -took pity on him and determined to help him. That was where Nat’s -money came from, and the way he happened to get it was this: - -One day, when Jonas went to town, Mr. Nickerson watched his opportunity -and followed him out to the field where he was at work alone. Nat -greeted him very cordially for he was always glad to see him. Mr. -Nickerson was the only one except Mrs. Keeler, who had a kind word to -say to him, and Nat remembered him for it. - -“Do you know what I would do if Jonas abused me as badly as he does -you?” said he. - -“No, sir, I don’t,” replied Nat. - -“I would sit down and rest. He has gone away to town now, and when he -comes home he can’t tell whether you have been at work or not.” - -The boy leaned on his plow handles--he was eight years old and ought -not to have been required to do that sort of work--and looked at Mr. -Nickerson without speaking. He wanted to see if the man was in earnest. - -“Jonas knows just how much I ought to have done, and when he comes home -and finds that I have not got it all done, he will use that switch on -me.” - -Mr. Nickerson saw that there was some sense in this reasoning, and -after kicking some clods out of his way and looking toward the house to -make sure that there was no one watching him, he went on to say-- - -“Jonas uses you pretty rough, does he not?” - -“Well, I will be a man some day, and then I will take it out of him, I -bet you,” said Nat; and when he uttered the words he clenched his hands -and his eyes flashed as if there were plenty of spirit in him. - -“But that is going to be a long time for you to wait. If you had money -do you think you could hide it where Jonas and Caleb could not find it?” - -“But I haven’t got any,” said Nat. - -“But I say supposing you had some; could you keep it out of their -reach?” said Mr. Nickerson, when he saw Nat’s eyes brighten when he -thought of all the fine things that money would buy for him. “If you -don’t keep it out of their way you will get me into trouble.” - -“Were you going to give me some money?” stammered Nat. - -“I had thought some of it,” said the man, lowering his voice almost to -a whisper and glancing again toward the house. “I have some money but -I dare not keep it. Last night while I was awake, I saw Jonas come in -very quietly and go through my trousers’ pocket; but he did not find -any money there. If he had looked under the head of my bed close to the -wall, he would have found two hundred dollars.” - -While Mr. Nickerson spoke he had drawn a well-filled book from his -pocket, opened it and showed to the astonished boy a whole lot of -greenbacks which he had stowed away there. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -“_Mental Reservation._” - - -Nat had never seen so much money before in his life. He thought if he -were worth that much that he would drop the plow handles then and there -and take to the woods. - -“Where did you get so much?” he stammered at length. - -“I worked for it, and that’s the way Jonas will have to get every cent -he makes,” said Mr. Nickerson. “What would you do if you had all this -money?” - -“I would go down to the store and buy some new over-alls,” replied Nat, -pushing out one leg so that Mr. Nickerson could see the gaping rent in -his knee. “They haven’t been mended since I put them on.” - -“Yes; and then when Jonas comes home he would see the new over-alls and -would want to know where you got them. That plan would not work at -all, for the first thing you know you would get me into trouble as well -as yourself. Now I am going to give you half of this, because I think -you are too smart a boy to let it fall into the hands of any body else.” - -“But what shall I do with it? If you think Jonas will notice my new -clothes when he comes home, I can’t buy any.” - -“I don’t give it to you to buy good clothes with. In fact you had -better let them alone. But when I was of your age I liked to have -something to eat when I went to town of a Saturday afternoon--some -candy and nuts and such like things.” - -“Were you ever a boy?” said Nat, in surprise. The idea that that old, -gray-headed man could remember so long ago as that fairly took his -breath away. - -“Oh, yes; I can remember when I was a boy, and it don’t seem so very -far off, either. I was a young boy, bare-footed as yourself, but I -always had money. My father let me have it all, and I never thought of -running away from him to get a chance to spend it. You don’t get much -candy, I suppose?” - -“No, I don’t. I hardly know what it tastes like.” - -“Well, you go down town and ask the grocery man to change one of these -bills for you. You see they are all fives, and if you don’t spend more -than ten cents at a time and keep the rest hidden away, it will be long -before any body finds out that you have got any money.” - -As Mr. Nickerson spoke he glanced toward the house again, looked all -around to make sure that there was nobody in sight, and placed a -handful of bills in Nat’s grasp, reaching down by the side of him so -that no one could see him do it. - -“Oh, Mr. Nickerson, you don’t know how much I thank you for--” - -“Yes, I understand all about that. But there is something else that I -want to talk to you about. I want you to get me some tobacco with that -money.” - -“I’ll do it, and Jonas and Caleb won’t know a thing about it. I will -hide it where they will never think of looking for it.” - -“That is what I wanted,” said Mr. Nickerson, with a pleased smile on -his face. “But you must be very careful. Don’t take but one bill at a -time, and then if anybody should see you and take it away from you, -they won’t get all the money.” - -Mr. Nickerson turned abruptly away from him and walked toward the -house, and Nat, feeling as he had never felt before, seized the plow -handles and went on with his work. He glanced up and down the field and -toward the house to satisfy himself that Caleb was not in sight, and -when he went by a little clump of bushes that grew at the lower end of -the lot he dropped the plow, took the reins off his neck and ran toward -a fence corner and took his bills from his pocket. - -“I guess this place will do until I can find a better one,” he -muttered, as he scraped away the leaves and placed his treasure within -it. “By gracious! It is always darkest just before day-light. And how -do you suppose that Mr. Nickerson knew that I was planning to run away -from Jonas? Now I tell you that he had better keep a civil tongue in -his head or the first thing he knows when he calls me in the morning, -and comes to my bed to use that switch on me because I don’t get up, I -won’t be there. But then I can’t go as long as Mr. Nickerson lasts. He -will want me to get some tobacco for him.” - -Nat laid ninety-five dollars in the hole which he had dug for it, -placed a chunk over it so that the leaves would not blow off and with a -five-dollar bill safe in his pocket he returned to his work. He wanted -to yell, he felt so happy; but when he raised his eyes as he turned his -horse about, he saw Caleb standing in the upper end of the clump of -bushes, regarding him intently. How long had Caleb been there and what -had he seen? There was one thing about it: If he knew, the secret of -that money he would have the hardest fight of his life before he placed -his hands upon it. - -“What’s the matter with you?” said Caleb, who did not fail to notice -the look that came upon Nat’s face. - -“There is nothing the matter with me,” said Nat. “I don’t see why I -should do all the work and you sitting around and doing nothing.” - -“What was old man Nickerson doing out here so long with you?” asked -Caleb, who did not think it worth while to go into an argument about -the work that Nat had spoken of. “He was here with you for half an -hour, and you had all this piece of ground to be plowed up before pap -came home. And you stayed here and listened to him, too.” - -“Where were you?” asked Nat. - -“I was around in the barn where I could see everything you did,” -replied Caleb, with a knowing shake of his head. - -“What did you see him do?” - -“I saw him talking to you; that’s what I saw him do. You wasted fully -half an hour with him.” - -Nat drew a long breath of relief and felt considerably more at ease -when he heard this, for if that was all that Caleb had seen, the -secret of his money was safe. He had not seen Mr. Nickerson when he -passed his hand down by his side and placed the bills safe in Nat’s -hands. - -“What was he talking to you about?” demanded Caleb. - -“About certain things that happened when he was a boy,” returned Nat. -“If you wanted to hear what he said you ought to have come out and -listened. But I must go on or I will not get this piece plowed by the -time your father comes back. Get up here, you ugly man’s horse.” - -“Now you just wait and see if I don’t tell pap of that,” said Caleb, -who grew angry in a moment. “I learn you to call pap’s horse ugly.” - -“I didn’t say he was ugly. I said he belonged to an ugly man; and if -your father did not look mad when he went to town, just because Mr. -Nickerson wanted some tobacco, I don’t want a cent.” - -The horse, after being persuaded by the lines, reluctantly resumed his -work and Caleb was left there standing alone. There was something -about Nat that did not look right to him. He always was independent, -and acted as though he did not care whether Caleb spoke to him or not, -but just now he seemed to be more so than ever. - -“I wish I knew what was up between that boy Nat and old man Nickerson,” -said he, as he started out toward the barn. “Every move that old man -makes I think he has got some money hidden somewhere about here. Pap -thinks so and so do I. I just keep a watch of Nat more closely than I -have heretofore, and if I can find his money--whoop-pe!” - -Jonas did not find any fault when he came home that night, for Nat, -by keeping the horses almost in a trot, had got the field plowed, the -team unharnessed and fed before he returned. He found fault with him -and brought his switch into play more than once on other matters, but -during the five years that elapsed he never said “money” to him once. -During these five years he always kept his money concealed, and every -time he went to town he always bought a goodly store of tobacco for -the old man. And nobody ever suspected him or Mr. Nickerson, either. Of -course, during this time, Jonas became more sullen and ugly than ever, -and worse than all, Nat could see that there was something having an -affect upon his old friend, Mr. Nickerson. Either it was his age or the -treatment he received that had a gloomy impression upon him, but at any -rate Mr. Nickerson was losing his mind. He no longer talked with Nat -the way he used to, but was continually finding fault with his money -and where it went to so suddenly that he could not get any more tobacco -to chew to help him while away the hours. Jonas encouraged him to talk -this way for somehow he got it into his head that Mr. Nickerson would -some day forget himself, and that he would tell where he had hidden his -money; but not a thing did he get out of him. The old gentleman was -apparently as innocent of any thing he had concealed as though he had -never heard any thing about it. - -“You may as well give that up,” said his wife, after Jonas had tried -for a long time to induce him to say something. “If he had any money -when the war broke out, the rebels have got it.” - -“Not much I won’t give it up,” declared Jonas, turning fiercely upon -Mrs. Keeler. “If this old place could talk it would tell a heap. I have -hunted it over and over time and again, but I can’t find any thing. I -tell you I am going to get rid of him some day. I will send him to the -poor house; and there’s where he ought to be.” - -When Nat heard Jonas talk in this way it always made him uneasy. As -soon as it came dark he would go to the place where he had hidden his -tobacco and money and take them out and conceal them somewhere else, -carefully noting the spot and telling the old man about it. - -At the end of five years his money was all gone, and then Nat was in -a fever of suspense because he did not know where he was going to get -some more tobacco for Mr. Nickerson and candy for himself; and when he -was asked for more he was obliged to say that his tobacco money had -all been exhausted. - -“Well, I expected it,” said Mr. Nickerson. “But it has lasted you a -good while, has it not? There’s some difference between you and Jonas. -I gave him all of a thousand dollars when I came here--” - -Nat fairly gasped for breath. He wondered what Jonas could have done -with all that money. - -“It is a fact,” said the old man. “He told me that it would keep me in -spending money as long as I lived, and now it has been gone for several -years. You had a hundred dollars, and it has lasted until now. You go -out to the barn and in about half an hour I will be out there.” - -Like one in a dream Nat made his way to the tumble-down building that -afforded the cattle a place of refuge in stormy weather, and looked -around for something to do while he awaited Mr. Nickerson’s return. If -we were to say that he was surprised we would not have expressed it. -Was the old man made of money? It certainly looked that way, for when -a hundred dollars was gone he simply said “he had expected it” and -went out to find more. In a few minutes he returned and placed another -package of bills in Nat’s pocket. - -“Do you know you told a lie to Jonas every time he asked you about this -money?” said Nat. - -“No, I did not,” said Mr. Nickerson, earnestly. “I told him that I did -not have any more money for him; and I didn’t have, either. I have not -got a cent about me.” - -Nat was not old enough to remember the form of oath administered by the -United States government to all its employees--“do you solemnly promise -without any mental reservation”--for if he had been he would have seen -how Mr. Nickerson got around it. Jonas did not administer this form of -oath, Mr. Nickerson had a “mental reservation” that he had some money -hidden but he did not say anything about it. He supposed that he was -living up to the truth. - -“I did not have a cent,” repeated the old man. “He could have searched -me all over and not found any. When he asked me if I had any more -concealed somewhere in the bushes, I found some way to avoid it. It is -all right. I have not lied to him.” - -With a hundred extra dollars in his pocket Nat thought he was able to -buy himself a pair of shoes when the weather became cold. He bought -them and as we have seen they were taken away from him and given to -Caleb, because Caleb went to church and Nat did not. He had to wait -a long time before Jonas bought him some foot-wearing apparel out of -some of Mr. Nickerson’s money, and then he invested in them because he -was fearful that his neighbors would have something to say about the -boy’s condition, going about in all that sloppy weather with nothing to -wear on his bare feet. This brings us down to the time when our story -begins, when Jonas got into his wagon and drove toward town and Nat -went to the potato patch to finish picking and digging and Caleb to the -barn to complete his task of shelling corn. - -We left Mr. Nickerson sitting in company with Jonas’s wife, bemoaning -his loss of tobacco and trembling for fear of something he had said in -regard to what he would do with his money in case he were done with it. - -“I wish I had some money so that I could give you some of it when I am -gone,” whined the old man. “For I shall not last much longer.” - -“Oh, yes you will,” returned Mrs. Keeler. “You will last many years -yet. There is Mr. Bolton who is almost a hundred years old.” - -“But he gets different treatment from what I do,” said Mr. Nickerson. -“He has tobacco every day in the week, if he is a mind to ask for it. -And he did not give his son one thousand dollars to keep him while he -lived.” - -“Well, I can’t help that,” said Mrs. Keeler, with a sigh. “Your money -is all gone, at least Jonas says so, and I don’t see what else you can -do.” - -“I don’t either,” said the old man; and as he spoke he got upon his -feet and staggered toward the door. “Thank goodness I have a little -money left,” he added to himself. “I must go and get me some tobacco. -I have to be all by myself when Jonas is here, or else he would see me -chewing it and would want to know where I got it. I hate to be so sly -about everything I do.” - -Mr. Nickerson left the house without any hat on, he was so wrapped up -in his troubles that he forgot that he had a hat, and tottered toward -the barn where Caleb was at work shelling corn. Caleb looked up when -he heard his footsteps but when he saw who it was he went on with his -work, paying no heed to him. The old man went by and just then an idea -occurred to Caleb. - -“I wonder if old Nickerson is going after some tobacco?” said he, -laying down his ear of corn and rising hastily to his feet. “He thinks -I am blind and Nat does, too; but I have seen him chewing tobacco -plenty of times when he has asked father to get him some and he would -not do it. I guess I’ll keep an eye on him.” - -That was easy enough to do, for Mr. Nickerson did not pay much -attention to what was going on near him. He stepped hastily out of the -barn and followed along after him until he saw him enter the little -clump of bushes at the lower end of the potato patch. He did not dare -go any farther for fear the rustling of the bushes would attract the -old man’s attention, but kept on around the clump until he reached a -place where he could see the whole of the field without being seen -himself. Mr. Nickerson presently appeared, kept on to a certain fence -corner in which he was lost to view. - -“Dog-gone my buttons! He has got some money there,” whispered Caleb, so -excited that he could scarcely stand still. “If he hasn’t got money he -has some tobacco, and I will just take it when he goes.” - -While he was wondering how he was going to work to find out what Mr. -Nickerson had found there, he cast his eyes toward the upper end of -the field and saw that Nat had ceased his work, was standing with his -hands resting on his hips and closely watching Mr. Nickerson. He made -no attempt to stop him, and according to Caleb’s way of looking at it, -that was all the evidence he wanted to prove that Nat was in some way -interested in what was hidden there. - -“Now what is to be done?” said Caleb to himself. “Nat must know what is -concealed there. I declare I have two fellows to fight now.” - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -_A Keepsake._ - - -Caleb stood and thought about it. He could not go to the fence corner -where the old man was while Nat was in plain sight, and he must think -up some way of getting him away from there. It is true that he might -have waited until darkness came to conceal his movements, but Caleb -was a boy who did not believe in doing business that way. He wanted to -find out what was in that fence corner, and he must find it out now. He -could not afford to wait until night came. - -“You must come away from there, Mister Nat,” said he, as he crouched -down behind the bushes and made his way toward the house. “You must -come away in five minutes, for I am not going to run any risk of your -slipping up and hiding that thing, whatever it is, that the old man -has found.” - -In a few minutes he reached the house and went directly to the -water-pail in order to quench his thirst; but there was no water there. - -“Mother, send Nat down to the branch after some water,” said he. - -“Suppose you go yourself,” was the reply. “Nat is busy digging -potatoes.” - -“I can’t go. I am busy getting that corn ready for pap to take to mill -tomorrow. I am so thirsty I can’t speak the truth. Nat can go as well -as not.” - -“Bessie, go out and call Nat to get some water,” said Mrs. Keeler. “I -suppose he will have to go.” - -Bessie went, and as soon as she was clear of the house Caleb bent his -steps toward the barn and from the barn to the bushes, where he arrived -just in time to see Mr. Nickerson come out of the fence corner, biting -a plug of tobacco as he came. - -“That’s all the tobacco you will get out of that pile,” chuckled -Caleb, as he rubbed his hands together. “I will take it all and give it -to pap.” - -Presently Bessie was heard calling Nat. The latter threw his hoe -spitefully down and went to obey the order, and as soon as he was out -of sight Caleb arose from the bushes and ran for the fence corner. He -had taken particular pains to mark the corner, and in fact there was -little need of it, for the old man’s marks were plainly visible there. -He found the leaves raked to one side, a little hollow exposed but -there was nothing in it. Caleb threw himself on his knees and made the -cavity larger, but there was not a thing that rewarded his search. - -“There was just one plug of tobacco left and he got it,” said Caleb, -who was very much disappointed. “And there’s no money in it either. Now -had I better tell pap or not? There is a heap of skirmishing going on -here, the first thing you know, and if I keep watch perhaps I can find -some money. I guess I’ll think about that for awhile.” - -Being anxious to reach the cover of the bushes before Nat should -return, Caleb did not stop long in the fence corner, but made all haste -to get out of sight. And he was none too soon. The bushes had hardly -closed up behind him before Nat came into view. - -When darkness came the boys began to do their chores and Jonas returned -from town. One could always tell Jonas when he was half a mile away -because he shouted at his horses as though they were hard of hearing. -Mr. Nickerson heard him coming and went down to the barn to meet him. - -“Did you get any tobacco for me, Jonas?” said he, in a whining voice -which had of late years become habitual with him. - -“No, I did not,” roared Jonas. “You won’t tell me where your money is, -and you can go without tobacco. I wish there was something else you -liked as well as you do that weed, and I would shut down on that too.” - -“I shall not be with you long,” began Mr. Nickerson. “I feel that I am -going--” - -“Aw! Get along with, that,” interrupted Jonas, who hung one of his -harnesses on its peg and then turned savagely upon the speaker. “You -have always got something the matter with you when you don’t get any -tobacco.” - -“I have a keepsake for you up at the house,” continued the old man. “If -you will come up there when you get through I will give it to you.” - -Jonas began to prick up his ears at this. He wished now that he had -brought the old gentleman some tobacco; but as he had not done it, he -made all haste to smooth matters over as well as he could. - -“I didn’t mean anything, Mr. Nickerson,” said he, coming forward to -shake him by the hand. “But I met with a heap of bother while I was -down town to-day, and I absolutely forgot all about your tobacco. Never -mind; I will send Nat down after it.” - -“Thank you. Thank you,” said the old man. “It will be a heap of comfort -to me. You don’t know how long the time seems without it.” - -“Yes, I know. I like a smoke pretty well, and I would not give it up -to please anybody. Now you run along to the house and in a few minutes -I will be there. A keepsake,” he muttered to himself. “It is money, I -know. I believe I took the right course when I shut down on that man’s -weed.” - -It was astonishing what that word “keepsake” made in Jonas’s feelings. -He had but two expressions which came to his face--the smile and the -frown. No one to have seen him as he finished putting out his team, -would have thought that a frown ever came on his countenance. He was -all smiles, and once or twice he forgot himself so as to try to strike -up a whistle. This attracted the attention of Caleb who was amazed at -it. - -“What’s the matter with you, pap?” said he. - -“There is nothing the matter with me,” replied Jonas, cheerfully. “When -a man does right he always feels happy. That’s the kind of opinion -you want to grow up with. If you make everybody around you jovial, of -course you are jovial yourself.” - -“Are you happy because you didn’t get the old man what he wanted?” -continued Caleb, who would have given everything he had to know what -had brought about that wonderful change in his father’s appearance. -Caleb knew that he could bring the frown back to his face in short -order. He had but to mention that the old man had a plug of tobacco in -his pocket, and that he had seen him dig it out of the fence corner; -but something told him that he had better keep quiet. He was going to -keep close watch of Nat and Mr. Nickerson now--he did not know how -he was going to do it, for he kept close watch of them already--and -perhaps they would lead him to the place where they had concealed some -money. - -“Yes, sir, that is a point that I want you to remember all your life,” -Jonas went on. “I forgot all about Mr. Nickerson’s tobacco, and that -was the reason I didn’t bring it. But I will make up for it after -supper. Have you milked, Caleb? Then pick up your pail and let’s go up -to the house. A keepsake,” Jonas kept saying to himself, as he walked -along. “He knows that I want money worse than anything else, and that -was what he meant. The idea that he should keep money in that house so -long, and I was looking everywhere for it!” - -Jonas was in a hurry, anybody could have seen that and he kept Caleb -in a trot to keep pace with him. When he opened the door he greeted -his wife with a cheerful “hello!” and picked up his youngest child and -kissed him. Mrs. Keeler was as much amazed at his actions as Caleb was. -She stood in the middle of the floor with her arms down by her side and -her mouth open, seemingly at a loss to comprehend his movements. - -“Now, then, where is Mr. Nickerson?” said Jonas, pulling an empty chair -toward him. - -“Mr. Nickerson,” said Caleb to himself. “There is something in the wind -there. He never called him Mr. Nickerson before unless he had something -to make out of him. He was always ‘that old man’ or ‘that inspired -idiot’ when he wanted him to do errands for him. What’s up, I wonder?” - -“I forgot all about his tobacco,” said Jonas, seating himself and -repeating what he had said to Caleb. “I had a heap of trouble down -town, but I will send Nat down after it as soon as we get a bite to -eat. Ah, Mr. Nickerson, you are on hand, I see. What’s this?” - -The old man had in his hand the “keepsake” which he intended to give to -Jonas. It was a book bound in cloth. It had been well-read evidently, -for some of the leaves were loose and one cover was nearly off. But the -leaves were all there, and there was _something_ in it that Jonas did -not know anything about; if he had known it he would have received it -very differently. - -“What is that?” asked Jonas. - -“It is the keepsake I promised you,” said Mr. Nickerson. “Take it, -read every word of it and you will find something in it before you get -through that will make you open your eyes and bless your lucky stars -that you have been so good to me.” - -Jonas took the book and ran his thumb over the leaves. He turned the -back of the book toward him and read the name “Baxter’s Saints’ Rest” -on it in gilt type. The expression of intense disgust that came upon -his face when he looked at the book set Caleb to snickering, and even -Nat, who was leaning against the door post a little distance away, -smiled in spite of himself. - -“And is this the only keepsake you have got to give me?” shouted Jonas. - -“It is the only one,” said Mr. Nickerson. “Read it carefully, every -word of it, and you will thank me for giving it to you.” - -“Where’s the money?” exclaimed Jonas, who could not get that thing out -of his mind. - -“You have got all the money I have to give you. I gave you a thousand -dollars--” - -Jonas became furious all on a sudden. With a muttered exclamation under -his breath, he drew back the book with the intention of throwing at -the old man’s head; but he stayed his hand in time. Then he turned it -upon Caleb; but the boy had rushed out of the door and was safe. But -Nat stood there, he had not moved at all, and instantly the book left -Jonas’s hand and flew with terrific force at the boy’s head. It struck -the door post and bounded out of doors, and Nat slowly straightened up -and went after it. It was a work of some difficulty to pick it up, for -the leaves were scattered in every direction, but Nat got it done at -last and went away with it. - -“Jonas, Jonas, you will be sorry for that,” said Mr. Nickerson, who -covered his face with his hands. - -“Get out of here! Get out, you inspired idiot!” roared Jonas, striding -up and down the cabin as if he were demented. “Don’t you dare come into -this house again.” - -“Oh, father!” exclaimed Mrs. Keeler. - -“Shut up your yawp, old woman,” said Jonas, turning upon her. “That -was the keepsake he had to give to me, was it? I thought it was money, -dog-gone it, and here he comes and presents me with a _book_! He shan’t -stay in my house no longer.” - -Mr. Nickerson went out and tottered to the barn, and when Nat found him -there a few minutes later he was doubled up with his elbows on his -knees, but his jaws were working vigorously. If there was nothing else -which could comfort him, he found it in his tobacco. - -“Here’s your book, Mr. Nickerson,” said Nat, who, if he had been big -enough, would have resented the way the old man had been treated. -“Shall I take it back and put it among your things?” - -“No; never mind that now. Jonas has told me that I can not go into his -house again, and he may rest assured that I will never do it.” - -“He did not mean what he said,” exclaimed Nat. “He is all over his -passion by this time.” - -“It is too late. He will never see a cent of my money. Did you put -those leaves all in just as you found them?” - -“I tried, but I reckon I did not succeed very well.” - -“Did you find anything that did not belong there?” - -“I found two leaves that were pasted together,” said Nat, and he -grew excited at once when he saw the expression that came upon Mr. -Nickerson’s face. “Did you know about those two leaves?” - -“Have you brought them with you?” - -“I have. I would have left the whole book behind before I would them, -for I knew they meant something,” said Nat, producing them from his -pocket the leaves of which he had spoken. “Now, by holding it up to the -light this way,” he added, “in order to see what was in them, I can see -through the leaves, and I can see a third piece of paper in there.” - -“Yes; and there is something on that paper, too,” said the old man -rising to his feet and going toward the door. “We must first make sure -that there is nobody coming; for you have a fortune right there in your -hands.” - -“A fortune?” gasped Nat. - -“It was the money I had in the bank at the time the war broke out,” -said Mr. Nickerson, who, having looked up and down the place and toward -the house to satisfy himself that he and Nat were safe from intrusion, -returned to his seat. “It is all in gold, too.” - -“How-how much is there of it?” said Nat, who did not know whether to -believe the story or not. - -“As much as three or four thousand dollars; perhaps more; I did not -count it. You see I drew this money at different times, and as fast as -I got it, I hid it. When the rebels came there and took me away, they -searched the house high and low for some money that they supposed I -had, but it was not in the house; It was out in the field. You see this -black line?” he continued, taking the two leaves and pointing with his -shivering finger to one of the marks on the inclosed paper. “By the -way, you don’t want to take this out until you are already to go to -work, for fear that somebody may steal it from you. Well, you go to the -house--” - -“But how can I tell where it is?” cried Nat. “Those men cleaned you -out. They thought they would get something by doing that.” - -“They didn’t, so they might as well have left me my house. However, it -don’t matter much now. I shall never live in it again. You can tell -where the house stood, even if it isn’t there now, can’t you? You go -to the corner of that house nearest the woods, hold this paper before -you and follow as straight a course as you can down the hill and across -the break until you come to a brier patch. It is made up entirely of -briers, for I cut them down and put them there. Then leave that to your -right and go thirty yards and you will strike a stone, as big as you -can lift, which does not look as though it had ever been touched. But -it has been, and you can pry it up if you want to. When you get that -stone out of its place, you dig down about two feet, and there you will -find it.” - -Nat listened with all his ears, but there was one thing that did not -look right about it: The old man talked about the place and the way to -find it as though there had never been anything the matter with him at -all. If there was something wrong about his mind, Nat failed to see -what it was. He talked as though he were reading from a book. - -“But what makes you give all this to me?” said Nat at length. “You -don’t act as though you had any interest in it at all.” - -“I am not going to last long, and I know it,” said Mr. Nickerson. “I -have neither kith nor kin in this land, or in any other so far as I -know, and since Jonas does not want the money, why you can have it. I -know enough about law to know that there is nobody can take it away -from you. If you could, I say if you could without too much trouble, -call and see Jonas’s wife after you get the money, and give her one -thousand dollars, I could rest easy. Could you do that much for me?” - -“Of course I can. I will give it all to her if you say so.” - -“No, I don’t want you to do that. I know you would give it all to her, -because you are an honest boy. You have been good to me during the -years I have been here, never had anything cross to say to me, you -don’t like Jonas, and neither do I. Mandy has been good to me, too, but -you see if I give her this money Jonas will have a chance to take it. -I don’t want him to see a cent of it.” - -“But Mr. Nickerson, what was your object in pasting your description in -the book this way? The book might have been stolen.” - -“But it was not stolen. As many as fifty soldiers, Union and -Confederate, have had that book in their hands, and when they came to -turn it up and see what the title was, they threw it aside. No soldier -wants to read a book like that. It is growing late and I must lie down -somewhere.” - -“Come into my room and turn into my bunk,” said Nat. “You will sleep -well there.” - -“Jonas has turned me out of his house and I am going to stay out,” said -Mr. Nickerson, with more spirit than he usually exhibited. “I will lie -down here and die in his barn.” - -“Don’t talk that way, Mr. Nickerson,” said Nat; and some way or other -he could not get it out of his head that the old man was in earnest. -“If you are going to stay here I will go up and get a couple of -blankets and a pillow for you. I will see you all right in the morning.” - -He laid the book beside the old man, folded up the two leaves and put -them into his pocket and hurried toward the house. Somehow he did not -feel exactly right about Mr. Nickerson. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -_Jonas Tries to Make Amends._ - - -It is hard to tell what Jonas Keeler’s feelings were as he paced back -and forth in his narrow cabin, his eyes flashing, his hands clenched -and his lips framing to himself words that he dared not utter aloud. He -was disappointed--sorely disappointed because Mr. Nickerson, who knew -that he wanted money, that he thought of nothing else, had presumed to -present him a book for a keepsake. Sometimes he felt so angry at him -that he had half a mind to go out, find the old man and throw him over -the bars. His wife said nothing for some minutes, but seeing that Jonas -was getting madder instead of better natured, she ventured to put in a -word or two. - -“Father, you didn’t do right in talking to the old man the way you -did,” said she, hardly knowing how her words would be received. - -“The old fool!” hissed Jonas, throwing his hat into one corner and -burying both of his hands in his hair. “What did he want to give me a -book for when he knows how badly I need money? I am sorry that I was so -good natured with him afterward.” - -“But father, there was something in the book,” continued Mrs. Keeler, a -sudden idea occurring to her. - -Jonas stopped quickly and faced her, a queer expression on his face. - -“There may have been something in the book that told you where his -money was. That is if he has got any money; which I don’t believe.” - -Jonas began to see the matter in a different light now. He pulled a -chair close to his wife’s side and sat down in it. - -“Do you think there was money in the book?” he almost whispered. - -“No, I don’t. You threw the book with force enough to tear it all to -pieces; but there may have been a paper or something else in the leaves -which told where his money was hidden. But between you and me, I would -not put the least faith in it.” - -“Why wouldn’t you?” - -“Because the old gentleman is not in his right mind. You have talked -about money, money and nothing but money ever since he has been here, -and you have finally got him in the way of believing that he has some.” - -“Well, I don’t know about that. The old fellow talks plainly enough -sometimes, and then again he rattles on and you can’t make head or tail -of what he says. But I wonder if there was anything in that book? If -there was anything there, it must have been put in years ago, when the -old man was right in his top story.” - -“It would not do any harm for you to find out. You can tell him that -you did not mean anything by what you had said--” - -“That depends upon whether I do or not,” said Jonas hastily. “I will -wait until I see what is in that book first. If there is a plan in -there which tells where to go to find the money, but you say he hasn’t -got any, why then I will be kinder good natured with him; but if there -is nothing there, he can just keep out of my house; and that’s all -there is about it.” - -Jonas thought that by this time Mr. Nickerson had gone to bed, so he -went out and started toward a little lean-to, it could scarcely have -been called any thing better, which was the place where the old man -slept. There were leaks in the roof and sundry cracks through which the -severe winds could seek entrance, but that was not the kind of sleeping -place Jonas had in the cabin. There everything was tight, and there -were a few articles of furniture scattered around, such as a table and -chairs and a wash stand. In place of a shake-down he had a regular -bed-stead and the blankets and quilts on it were abundant to keep him -warm in the coldest weather. It was dark in the lean-to, but Jonas knew -the way. He groped his way up to the shake-down but there was nobody -in it. In fact the bed had not been slept in at all. - -“By George! I reckon the old fool took me at my word,” said Jonas, as -he turned toward the door. “I did not think the fellow had so much -pluck. I wonder where he is!” - -He bent his steps this time toward the lean-to which Nat called his -room. It was a little better than Mr. Nickerson’s and but a very little -better. It was tight but there was no furniture in it; the dirt floor -did duty as chairs and washstand. Whenever Nat got up in the morning -and desired to perform his ablutions, there was the branch handy, and -it was but little trouble to go down there. It was dark in here, too, -but a slight feeling among the bed clothes showed Jonas that somebody -had been there. The pillow was gone, and so were the quilts that Nat -usually spread over him. - -“This beats my time all hollow,” said Jonas, pulling off his hat and -wiping his forehead. “If he should go out among the neighbors--but -then he can’t have gone that far. Nat is going to make him up a bed -somewhere.” - -Jonas’s next trip was to the barn, and there he found Mr. Nickerson -stretched out on a rude bed which Nat had made for him, and a lighted -lantern throwing a dim light over the scene. Jonas first impulse was -to find out what had become of that book. It was there, lying on the -pillow close beside Mr. Nickerson’s head. Nat was seated on the floor a -little ways from him, but he did not say anything when Jonas came in. - -“Hello!” said the new-comer, with an attempt to appear cheerful. “What -you laying down out here for? Why don’t you get up and go to your own -room?” - -“You have told me once that I need not come into your house any more,” -said the old man, in his usual whining tone, “and I am going to take -you at your word. I shall never go into your house again.” - -“Shaw!” said Jonas, with a sorry effort at a laugh. “You didn’t pay any -attention to what I said, do you? If I had brought your tobacco you -would be all right now; but I was bothered so with a heap of things -that happened while I was down town, that I forgot all about it. I -didn’t mean nothing. Is this the book you were going to give me for a -keepsake!” - -“Oh, yes, that’s the one.” - -“What does it say in it?” continued Jonas; and Nat could see that he -was turning over the leaves very carefully. - -“I wanted you to read it all, every word of it, and perhaps it would -have done you some good.” - -“Well, get up and go into the house. The old woman has got some hot tea -left for you, and you will sleep better there than you will here. Have -you got a programme, or whatever you call it, so that I can find where -your money is hidden!” - -“No, there is nothing of the kind there,” said Mr. Nickerson, with -a movement which showed plainly that he wished Jonas would go away. -“There is nothing but reading in the book.” - -Jonas was getting angry again. Nat could see that by the looks of his -face. - -“Are you sure there is nothing in it?” he asked, in a voice which -trembled in spite of himself. - -“Not a thing. You can examine it and see for yourself. I shall not last -long--” - -“I don’t want to hear no such talk as that. You will last longer than I -will, I bet you. Nat, have you got any of this book stowed away about -your good clothes?” - -“No, sir, I have not,” answered Nat, rising to his feet. “You can -search me and see.” - -Nat was perfectly safe in making this proposition. We said he had put -those two leaves into his pocket; so he did; but he had taken pains -to conceal them since. In a remote corner of the barn were some corn -huskings which Caleb had left there as he was working at the grain to -be taken to the mill. Underneath that pile were the two leaves that -Jonas wanted to find. - -“That’s the way you always serve me when you think I have got anything -you want,” said Nat boldly. “You took a quarter away from me that I -had left after buying my shoes, and I haven’t seen it since.” - -“Of course I did. It was the properest thing that I should have the -handling of all your money; but any more such talk as that will bring -the switch down on your shoulders in good shape. You hear me? There’s -nothing but reading in this book, you say old man?” - -“That’s all, and you would not have it when I offered it to you. I gave -you a thousand dollars which you promised--” - -“Aw! shut up about that,” said Jonas, rising to his feet; for in order -to hold conversation with Mr. Nickerson he had kneeled down by his -side. “There’s nothing in here that tells about the money?” - -“No, no, there is nothing of that kind, I have not got any money. I am -a poor, feeble old man and shall not last long--” - -“I will bet you won’t,” roared Jonas, livid with rage and shaking his -fist in the old man’s face. “You won’t get a bite of anything to eat -until you tell me where that money is; you hear me?” - -“I don’t expect it; I never have expected it. I shall die before -morning--” - -Jonas did not wait to hear any more, nor did he say anything further -about Mr. Nickerson getting up and going to his own room. He did stop -long enough to throw the book at Nat, but Nat was on the alert and the -missive did not touch him. It ruined the book so far as reading was -concerned. The remaining leaves were torn out of it and scattered all -over the floor, and it was useless for anybody to think of putting them -together again. - -“Thank goodness, he has gone at last,” said Mr. Nickerson, with a long -drawn sigh of relief. “I expected he would come here.” - -“So did I; and I took my leaves and hid them under this pile of corn,” -said Nat. “Now I wish there was something else that I could do for you.” - -“There is nothing, nothing. I shall not be here much longer to bother -him, but he will think of me when I am gone. Nat, you must try to get -that money. Don’t you let anybody see that paper. Hide it carefully so -that no one can find it. Good night. I want to sleep now. Come in in -the morning and see me.” - -“I will do it,” said Nat getting upon his feet and shaking the old man -cordially by the hand. “I shall not wait until morning, either. You may -want something or other during the night.” - -Nat went away feeling heavy hearted over what had just occurred. -Something, he did not know what told him that the old man would never -live to see the sun rise again. He felt guilty in going away from him, -but Mr. Nickerson had requested it and he did not see what else there -was to be done. - -“I won’t take my clothes off at all when I lie down,” said Nat, going -into his lean-to and shutting the door behind him. “And to think that I -am rich and going to be rich through his death! I wish the old man was -in perfect health and was going off with me. I would make his life be -as peaceable as I knew how.” - -Nat’s brain was so upset with all that had happened that he could not -think very readily, but he did not ponder upon anything so much as he -did upon what the old gentleman had said to Jonas: “I shall die before -morning.” That was bringing the matter pretty close to him, and he -resolved that he would not go to sleep at all; but his work with the -potatoes had wearied him, and almost before he knew it he was in the -land of dreams. He awoke with a start and it was broad day-light. To -roll off his shake-down, seize his hat and make his way to the barn -was the work of a very few minutes. Everything seemed quiet and still -there. With cautious haste he opened the door and saw Mr. Nickerson -lying on his shake-down just as he left him the night before. He wanted -to say something to him but he did not dare. He drew a step closer and -one look was enough. With frantic speed he ran to the house, pushed -open the door and seized Jonas by the shoulder. - -“Wake up, here,” he said, in a trembling voice. “The old man has -bothered you for the last time. He is dead.” - -Jonas was a sound sleeper and it was a hard task to awaken him; but -there was something so thrilling in Nat’s words that he was on his feet -in an instant. He looked at the boy as though he did not know what he -meant. - -“Mr. Nickerson lies dead down in your barn,” said Nat, earnestly. “He -told you last night that he would die before morning, and sure enough -he has.” - -“Why-I-You don’t mean it!” exclaimed Jonas, his eyes wide with -excitement. - -“Don’t stop to talk, Jonas,” said Mrs. Keeler nervously. “Did you see -him, Nat?” - -“I have just come from there.” - -“Then go along and see if you can do something,” urged his wife. “Maybe -he ain’t dead.” - -Jonas had by this time hurriedly put his clothes on, and he led the -way to the barn with top speed, stopping only to call Caleb on the -way. Everything was as Nat had left it the night before. There was -“Baxter’s Saints’ Rest” with the leaves all torn out of it, lying by -the dead man’s head, and it seemed as though the old man had not moved -a finger since Nat bade him good night. - -“Well, sir, he has gone up,” said Jonas; and Nat looked to see some -little twinge of remorse in his tones. But there was not a particle -that he could see, not even an expression of regret. - -“Yes, he is gone, and now what remains for us to do? We can’t let him -lie here,” said Nat, as he looked at the withered form of the old man. - -“Say, Nat, don’t you say any thing about his being out here where the -neighbors can hear it,” said Jonas, with a scowl, pulling Nat up close -to him and whispering the words in his ear. “If you do, remember that -switch.” - -“I am not at all afraid of your whipping me,” said Nat, wrenching his -arm out of Jonas’s grasp. “You have done that for the last time. You -had better make arrangements to do something with Mr. Nickerson’s -body, if you are going to.” - -Jonas stood and looked at Nat as if he could scarcely believe his ears. -The rebellion, which he had been working up for so long, had come -suddenly and promptly, too, and the man was afraid of it. What was Nat -going to do? There was but one thing that came up in Jonas’ mind and -that was money. It dawned upon him that Mr. Nickerson had possibly -taken the boy into his confidence and Jonas saw that if such were the -case he must keep quiet in order to find out what it was. - -“I don’t mean to harm you, Natty,” said he, but his looks certainly -belied him, “but you can see for yourself how the neighbors will talk -if they find out that the old man had been sleeping in my barn.” - -“I understand all about that,” said Nat. “You need not fear of my -saying any thing. You had better shut up Caleb’s mouth if you want the -thing kept secret.” - -Jonas evidently thought so too. He took Caleb off on one side and -held a very earnest conversation with him, and after this, with Mrs. -Keeler’s help, who came down to the barn as soon as she was fairly -dressed, they made out to carry the old man’s body up to the house -and lay it on Jonas’s bed. Nobody passed along the road while they -were doing it. When the neighbors came there they would think that Mr. -Nickerson had died in that room; they would not think of the barn at -all. When this much had been done Nat was sent off post haste on a mule -for the doctor, and Caleb was commanded to go around to those who lived -close by and tell them of the bereavement that had come upon the house -of Jonas Keeler during the night. After that Jonas seated himself upon -a chair in the cabin, folded his arms, dropped his chin upon his breast -and waited for the neighbors to come. - -After that each one had his particular duties to perform, though the -neighbors did the most of it. Jonas was too weak and dispirited to do -any thing, even to doing the chores, and left it all to Caleb, who -went about wondering if the old man’s taking off was going to work -any change in his circumstances. Nat’s first care was to find the two -leaves that were pasted together and hide them where there was no -possibility of any body’s hunting them out. Then he settled down to -think about his future. Mr. Nickerson was gone, and what had he to keep -him longer under Jonas’s roof? He had seventy-five dollars in money, -he had kept a strict account of that, and what was there to hinder him -from going down to Manchester and making an effort to enrich himself? -It required long study, but by the time the funeral was over Nat had -decided upon his course. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -_Nat Sees a Friend._ - - -“There’s just this much about it,” said Nat, when Mr. Nickerson had -been laid away in a little grove of evergreens behind the barn, and the -neighbors had gone home one after the other and the family had returned -to the house, “it is going to be something of a job for me to go down -there and get that money. In the first place there is Jonas, who will -be furious when he finds that I have run away from home, especially if -he thinks I am going to make something by it. He will follow me night -and day, and I can’t make a move of any sort without he will see it. -Then he will bring me home and won’t I ketch it, though?” - -This bothered Nat more than any thing else. He wanted some little time -to think seriously about the way to beat Jonas at his own game, and -went into the barn, drew a milk-stool to the threshold so that he could -see anybody that approached him from the house and sat down to go over -the points again. - -“I have got to have help,” thought Nat, “and there is only one boy in -the settlement that I can trust; and when it comes to that, I can’t -trust him, either. He is a lazy, good-for-nothing fellow, and worse -than all, I dare not tell him what I am looking after. I must go it -alone if I can; but if I find that I can’t do it, I must see Peleg -Graves about it.” - -Come to look at the matter Nat was in bad straits, and that was a fact. -Of course there were plenty of boys he could have got to assist him, -but the trouble was he did not know any of them. He and Caleb were much -alike in this respect. The families around them were a little better -off than they were, nobody liked Jonas on account of his shiftless -ways, and his boys, Nat and Caleb, had been brought up to follow very -much in his footsteps, and his bad example had a deteriorating effect -on their character--they were like dogs without a master. That was the -way Nat looked at it, and it was the source of infinite annoyance to -him. - -“Whenever I go down town I can just go alone,” Nat had often said -to himself. “All the boys there have their friends who are glad to -see them. It is ‘Hello, Jim!’ or ‘Hello, Tom!’ here and there and -everywhere; but if any one looks at me he seems to say: ‘What you doing -here, Nat? You have not any business to come to town.’ And I have more -money to spend than any of them. But Peleg has never been that way. He -has always seemed glad to see me, but I think the candy I was eating -had something to do with it.” - -After long reflection Nat finally made up his mind that he would call -upon Peleg and see what he had to say about it; but there was one thing -on which he was fully resolved: He would not let Peleg know what they -were searching for until they found the money. He was not going to -stay about Jonas’s house any longer--that was another thing that he -had decided upon; and something happened just then to make him adhere -to this decision. The door of the house opened at this point in his -meditations and Caleb came out. Of course he was very solemn, almost -any body would be if one had died so near him, but he came along toward -Nat as if he had something on his mind. - -“Well, Nat, your friend has gone at last,” said he, by way of beginning -the conversation. - -“That is a fact. He was the only friend I had about the house.” - -“You will not have any more money to buy tobacco for him, will you?” -asked Caleb. “What are you going to do?” - -“How did I get any money to buy any tobacco for him?” inquired Nat. -That was just what Nat had been doing for a number of years, but how -did Caleb find it out? - -“Oh, you can’t fool me,” said Caleb, with a laugh. “I saw him go into -the fence corner the day before he died and take a plug of tobacco out -of there. I did not say any thing to pap about it, for I did not know -but it was some secret business that you and old man Nickerson had. I -did not want to go back on you--” - -“If he found any tobacco there he must have got it himself,” said Nat, -for he did not care to listen any more to the falsehoods Caleb was -about to utter. “I don’t know any thing about it.” - -“Aw, now, what is the use of fooling in that way? I would like to know -how Mr. Nickerson could have got any tobacco for himself. He has not -been to town in two years to my certain knowledge. You got it the last -time you were there and stowed it away where he could find it.” - -Nat was amazed at this revelation. In spite of all his cunning Caleb -had succeeded in getting upon his secret at last. If the latter told -his father of it he would feel the switch sure enough; that is if he -stayed about the premises. Without making any reply he picked up his -stool, moved it back where it belonged and made ready to walk out of -the barn. - -“You see I am on to those little tricks of yours,” said Caleb. “Don’t -go yet for I have something to say to you. Now I will tell you this to -begin with, Nat Wood: You know where Mr. Nickerson had the rest of that -money hidden.” - -“What money?” asked Nat, innocently. - -“The money he had hidden when he came here,” Caleb almost shouted, -doubling up his fists as though he had more than half a mind to strike -Nat for professing so much ignorance. “Pap says you know where it is -and he is going to have it out of you, too.” - -“I will bet you he don’t,” said Nat to himself. “That money is mine and -if I don’t have it, it can stay there until it rots.” - -“Now I will tell you what we will do, Nat,” continued Caleb, dropping -his threatening manner and laying his hand patronizingly on Nat’s -shoulder. “Me and you will keep this still from pap, and go down to -Manchester and dig up that money. Oh man alive, won’t we live high--” - -“You seem to think it, if there is any of it at all, is in the ground,” -interrupted Nat. - -“Where else should it be put? If it is in the ground no one can stumble -on it while he is roaming around through the woods. I will go with you -and will start now, if you say so.” - -“Well, if you are going down to Manchester to look for that money, -which I don’t believe is there, you can go,” said Nat. “But I will stay -here. I am not going to dig around unless I can make something by it.” - -“Oh, come on now, Nat,” said Caleb, coaxingly. “You know where it is -and I will bet on it.” - -“If you do bet on it you will lose whatever you bet. But I have already -had my say. I won’t go down to Manchester with you.” - -“If you don’t go I will tell pap,” said Caleb, growing angry again. - -“You can run and tell him as soon as you please. If I could see the -money sticking up before me this minute I would not give you a cent of -it. It does not belong to you.” - -“Then I bet you I am going to tell pap,” said Caleb, who was so nearly -beside himself that he walked up and down the barn swinging his hands -about his head. “You will get that switch over your shoulders before -you go to bed tonight. Whoop-pe! I would not have the licking you will -get for anything.” - -Caleb marched away as if he were afraid he would forget his errand -before he got to the house, and Nat leaned against the door-post and -watched him. There was one good reason why Caleb would not tell his -father of the tobacco hidden in the fence corner, and that was the fear -that the switch would be used upon himself. Why had he not told his -father of it when he came from town? Jonas was in just the right mood -to use that switch then, and he would have beaten Nat most unmercifully -until he got at the full history of the tobacco money. But Caleb had -let it go for three days now, and perhaps Jonas felt differently -about it. Nat did not know this. He stood there in the door of the -barn waiting for Jonas to come, but he waited in vain. Nat was doing -some heavy thinking in the meantime, and he finally concluded that he -would go and see Peleg and have the matter settled before he went any -further. With a parting glance at the house he put the bushes that -lined the potato patch between them, broke into a run and in a quarter -of an hour he was at Peleg’s barn. Peleg was there. He was engaged in -getting some corn ready to go to the mill and he was husking it. - -“Well, Nat, where are you going to find another friend like Mr. -Nickerson was to you?” was the way he greeted Nat when he came into the -barn. - -“I don’t know,” was Nat’s reply. “I am left alone in the world. There -is nobody who cares a cent whether I live or die.” - -When Peleg saw what humor Nat was in, how solemn he talked about the -loss of his friend, he faced about on his seat and looked at him. Any -boy who had been in Nat’s place would have been satisfied that Peleg -could not be trusted, and would have turned away from him to look -elsewhere for a friend. He was not a bad looking boy, but he had a kind -of sneaking, hang-dog way with him that did not go far toward making -his friends. But he had friends and that was the worst of it. It was a -sort of policy with Peleg to agree to every thing that any body said -to him. He did that with an object, and Nat always thought that he -listened with the intention of learning something. Perhaps if we follow -him closely we shall see how nearly he drew Nat on to tell him all -about the money and the plans he had laid for obtaining possession of -it. - -“‘Shaw! I would not talk that way,” said Peleg, throwing an ear of corn -into the pile. “You have got friends enough here. There is Caleb and -Jonas--” - -“I reckon you don’t know what sort of friends they are to me,” Nat -interposed. - -“Well, between I and you, I have often thought that they might have -used you a little better,” said Peleg, sinking his voice almost to a -whisper. “Jonas uses that switch on you most too much.” - -“Yes, and he has done that for the last time. I am not going to stand -it any longer.” - -“What are you going to do--run away from home?” - -“I am going to run away from Jonas. I don’t call that my home--I never -had one; but I want to get away and make my own living.” - -“That’s right, my boy; that’s right. You will make a better living than -you do there. Look at the clothes you wear!” - -“I will have better before long,” said Nat, crossing one leg over the -other when he saw that Peleg was looking steadily at the huge rent in -his overalls. - -“Say,” whispered Peleg, getting upon his feet and approaching his face -close to Nat’s. “Did old Nickerson leave you any money? You need not be -afraid to talk to me about that,” he continued, seeing that Nat looked -down at the ground and hesitated. “They say that the old man was, or -had been, powerful rich, and if he was a friend to any body in that -house he ought to be to you.” - -“I know he was my friend. He always had something kind to say to me.” - -“I knew it; I knew it all the time. Say! Jonas has not used up all that -thousand dollars that the old man gave him?” - -“What do you know about that?” asked Nat, in surprise. “Has Jonas been -talking about it?” - -“I won’t say that he has or that he hasn’t,” said Peleg, with a knowing -shake of his head. “I don’t mind telling you, for I know it won’t go -any further, that I have heard something about it. You would not expect -me to say more without breaking my word, and that is something I never -do. But I tell you that he has got a heap of that thousand dollars -left.” - -“That’s what I have often thought. Where has he got it hidden?” - -“That’s another thing I must not tell you, but I know where, or at -least I can come within a thousand miles of it, where he hides it. You -see I know a heap of things that people don’t think I do. If you should -tell me that you know where that money is--” - -“But I don’t,” said Nat. “I know where some of it is--that is the most -of his fortune is concealed.” - -“Aha!” said Peleg while a smile, a very faint smile which nobody would -have noticed, overspread his face. He did not give utterance to this -expression but said it to himself, while Nat himself, always on the -lookout for some such signs, did not know how extremely delighted -he was by it. Peleg was in a fair way to learn all about it. “If -you should tell me where this money is hidden,” he went on after -controlling himself, “I would die before any one should find out from -me the exact spot. You see the way the thing works with me is this: -If a person tells you a secret, that is yours to keep. Don’t tell any -body of it; and in a very short time people will learn that you can be -trusted.” - -“I don’t know just where this money is,” said Nat, and he hesitated a -long while before he said the next words. “I know where the papers are.” - -“What papers!” - -“The papers that tell where the money is hidden.” - -“Where are they?” - -“I have got them safe and I should like to see any body find them.” - -“That’s right; keep them safe,” said Peleg, although he was much -disappointed because the papers were not instantly produced. “Don’t you -let a living soul into it unless you find some one to tell the secret -to.” - -“I am going down to look those papers up now,” said Nat. - -“Down where?” - -“Down to Manchester,” replied Nat; whereupon that same smile came upon -Peleg’s face once more. He was thinking how he was going to work to get -a sight at those papers. - -“It is going to be no easy task to go down there and find the papers -all by myself,” continued Nat, walking back and forth across the floor -and wondering how in the world he was going to propose the matter to -Peleg. “You see the minute I go away Jonas will suspect something, and -if there is any point he will go for it will be Manchester.” - -“That’s a fact,” said Peleg, a bright idea striking him. “And if he -found you there your chance of digging up the papers would be up -stump. When do you want to go?” - -“I would go now, this very night, if I had some one to go with me. -I would find the money, if there is any, and go away where I am not -known.” - -“That is just what I would do,” replied Peleg, with sundry motions of -his head which he thought added emphasis to his words. “Then nobody can -ask you where you got so many stamps.” - -“I don’t fear for that,” said Nat, hastily. “I want everybody to know -where I got them. I will get away and put them in the bank; then I -should like to see any body get hold of them.” - -“That’s the idea. When you once get it into the bank it is safe. You -say you want somebody to help you. That shows you are wise. If there -is any body on top of this broad earth who will be up to tricks, it is -that Jonas Keeler.” - -“There is Caleb,” suggested Nat. “He won’t come out where any body can -see him, but he will sneak around in the bushes. Jonas and Caleb will -go together.” - -“Oh, Caleb,” said Peleg, contemptuously. “Caleb is a fellow to -be--Well, I reckon we would best look out for him too,” he added, for -it suddenly occurred to him that the more persons Nat had against him -the greater need he would have for somebody to protect him. “If there -is any body can get away with Caleb, I am the one. There ain’t any -scheme that boy is up to that I can’t see through. I will go halvers -with you on that money, or rather the papers that will tell where it is -hidden, when we get it.” - -“Then you and I can’t hitch,” replied Nat, surprised at the -proposition. “I can not pay any such sum as that.” - -“What for?” demanded Peleg. “You are going to make as much as three or -four thousand dollars by it.” - -“I don’t know what I will make and I don’t care. It will be enough to -take me away from the house in which I now live, and that is all I -want. I might as well go home.” - -“Well, what will you give? Maybe you think it is fun to go down there -and beat Jonas and Caleb when they are trying to get the money or the -papers away from you? I shall want good pay for doing that.” - -“I will give you good pay; more than double what you can make here. -I will give you a dollar a day, payment to begin when we strike -Manchester.” - -It was now Peleg’s turn to be astonished. He stared hard at Nat to see -if he was in earnest, and then went back to his seat and began husking -corn. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -_Mr. Graves Is Astonished_. - - -There were two very badly disappointed boys in Peleg Graves’s barn that -day, and each one thought that he had good grounds for it. - -“The little fule!” said Peleg, spitefully snatching up an ear of com -which happened to be nearest to him. “Here he is, almost rolling in -wealth, and he won’t go halvers with me on that money. A dollar a -day! Well, that is more than I could get for shucking corn or digging -potatoes these times, and now Peleg, I want to ask you a question: Did -you make a mistake there? I reckon you did. Suppose he makes a go of it -and finds the papers--‘Shaw! I can see through a ladder as plain as he -can. The papers are the money; that’s what’s the matter. And suppose -he finds it with my help, what is there to hinder me from getting up -some dark night and taking the money--Whoop-pee! Why did not I think of -that?” - -“I reckon I may as well go home, and I am sorry that I ever came up -here,” said Nat to himself, as he walked listlessly about the barn -floor. “I have put Peleg on his guard now, and he will make another one -that I will have to fight in order to get that money. Peleg would go -halvers with me on that money! I will give him a dollar a day and that -is every cent I will give him.” - -“Are you off, Nat?” inquired Peleg, facing around on his stool again. - -“Yes, I might as well,” replied Nat, who had started for home. “You -want altogether too much for helping me.” - -“Well, now, hold on. Don’t go yet. Maybe you and I can come to some -understanding. You don’t think it is worth while to watch Jonas and -Caleb, but I tell you--” - -“Yes, I do. But supposing I don’t find the money? Then I can’t pay you -a thing.” - -“That’s so,” said Peleg, for the thought was new to him. “I did not -think of that. Now see here; I will tell you how we will fix this -thing. You want me to stay with you until you find the money, don’t -you?” - -“Of course I do,” said Nat. - -“Well, you give me a dollar a day--But hold on. Have you got any money -at all? I had better know that before we start.” - -“Oh, yes, I have as much as--as ten dollars, and I will give you your -pay every night.” - -“Where did you get ten dollars?” asked Peleg, who was very much -surprised. “Why don’t you buy a new pair of overalls?” - -“I have my reasons. They are good ones, too. Are you going with me -or ain’t you? We have some other little matters to decide, and it is -getting along toward dark.” - -“If you say so we will go tonight,” replied Peleg, getting upon his -feet again. - -“What will you say to your folks?” - -“I will tell them that I am going out after the cows, or any thing else -that I think of. My folks won’t trouble us, I will bet on that. But we -have got to have something to eat.” - -“I have thought of that, and I can buy everything we want in -Manchester--every thing except the meat. You have a gun--” - -“Yes; but we must get some powder and shot for that. I am all out.” - -“We can do that, too. Now I will tell you what I have decided upon.” - -The two boys drew closer together and for fifteen minutes there was -some whispering done between them. At the end of that time it was all -over and the boys departed satisfied--at least one of them was. - -“I am afraid I made a mistake in coming here at all,” was what Nat -said to himself. “I ought to have gone on and done the best I could -by myself. Peleg is up to something and he will bear watching. Do you -suppose he means to run down and tell Jonas about my running away?” - -This thought created consternation in Nat’s mind and he faced about and -looked at the barn in which he had left Peleg. But if the truth must -be told, Peleg had no intention of going near Jonas. He was too sharp -to throw away the easy means he had of making a fortune by doing that. -When Nat went away he leaned against the hay-mow, or rather the place -where it would have been if there had been any hay there, and broke -into a silent but hearty fit of merriment. - -“Peleg, the thing you have often wanted has come to you at last,” he -whispered, walking to the door and peeping slyly out to see if Nat had -really gone. “Your fortune has come to you at last. Now what be I going -to do; for I must get away from here as soon as it comes dark. In the -first place I will go in and tell pap about it.” - -Peleg hurried to the house without taking pains to shut the barn door, -and broke into the living room where his father and mother were sitting -engaged in smoking. This was the way in which they always passed their -time when they could find nothing better to do, and that happened very -frequently. - -“Have you got that corn all shucked?” inquired his father. - -“Naw; and what’s more, I ain’t a-going to shuck no more to-night,” -replied Peleg. - -“What’s to do now?” - -“Well I will tell you,” said Peleg, drawing a chair without any back -close in front of the fire. “I have got a chance to make a fortune; but -if I tell you what it is you must go halvers with me, or I shan’t tell -you a thing.” - -Mr. Graves and his wife were both amazed. They took their pipes from -their mouths, straightened up and looked hard at Peleg to see if he -were in earnest. - -“You remember old man Nickerson, I reckon, don’t you?” continued Peleg. -“Well, he’s gone dead, you know, and he has willed a whole pile of -money, or papers and such things which shows where the money is, and -Nat wants me to go down to Manchester with him and help dig it up.” - -“Who teld you about this?” demanded Mr. Graves. - -“Nat was here not two minutes ago and he told me himself. He’s going -as soon as it comes dark.” - -“Now the best thing you can do is to run over and tell Jonas about it,” -said Mr. Graves, knocking the ashes from his pipe and getting upon his -feet. “The idea of that little snipe having a whole pile of money--it -is not to be thought of.” - -“Well, I just ain’t a-going to say a word to Jonas about it,” said -Peleg. “They isn’t any body knows about that money excepting you and -me. I am going to have it all.” - -Mr. Graves looked hard at his son again and finally took his chair once -more. He saw in a moment what Peleg was up to, but he wanted to hear -the whole plan. - -“What you going to do? How be I going to help you?” - -It did not take Peleg many minutes to make his father understand -what he had decided to do, and in fact there was not much for him to -explain. He was going to get his gun and go over to Nat’s house and -wait until he was ready. When he came out he was going to join him, -and together they would go to Manchester and camp out until they found -the papers which would tell them where the money was concealed. After -that was done he would be ready to begin operations. Mr. Graves might -blacken up his face to resemble a negro, come up and overpower them and -take the money, or he might watch his opportunity and approach the camp -while the two boys were away buying provisions. - -“Who told you about this?” said Mr. Graves, who was lost in admiration -of Peleg’s cunning. It sounded like some novel that he used to read in -his schoolboy days. - -“Nobody didn’t tell me of it,” said Peleg. “I got it all up out of my -own head. Don’t you think it will work?” - -“Of course it will. How long are you going to stay down to Manchester?” - -“I didn’t ask him about that; probably not more’n three or four days.” - -“But you have got to live while you are looking for the papers. Have -you got any thing cooked, S’manthy?” - -“That’s taken care of, for Nat is going to support us. He has as much -as ten dollars that he is going--” - -“Where did he get ten dollars? It looks to me as though that boy has -been stealing.” - -“Couldn’t old man Nickerson have given him that sum while he was alive? -That boy has come honestly by his money, and, look here, pap, don’t you -fool yourself. If Nat has got ten dollars he has got twenty dollars; -and don’t you forget it.” - -“Do you reckon that old man Nickerson gave him all that money?” said -Mr. Graves, who was profoundly astonished at Nat’s wealth. - -“I don’t know where else he could have got it. Now I want some clothes -to take with me and my gun. What be you going to do, pap, when we find -that money?” - -“You have got to find the papers first.” - -“Now just listen at you,” said Peleg, with evident disgust. “There -ain’t no papers there. When we find the place where the thing is -hidden, it will be money, and nothing else. Nat ain’t got no papers. -You hear me?” - -“Then I reckon I had best wait a while until I see you again,” said Mr. -Graves, reflectively. “If you find the money I want to take it all.” - -“How much will that be, Peleg?” said the woman, who had been so -surprised at this conversation that she had taken no part in it. “It -will be as much as three or four hundred dollars, won’t it?” - -“Three or four hundred fiddle-sticks!” said Peleg. “Old man Nickerson -was worth a power of money, and if he has got any hidden it all amounts -to three or four thousand dollars.” - -“Good lands!” gasped Mrs. Graves, settling back in her chair. “I can -have some good clothes with that. Three or four thousand! I reckon I’d -best fill up for another smoke.” - -Peleg began to stir about and in a short time he had collected his -wardrobe, which did not amount to much seeing that he carried the -whole of it in an old valise, and his gun that was going to furnish -them with game while they were looking for the money. It was about as -worthless a thing as ever was fashioned in wood and iron, but still -it managed to bring down a squirrel or rabbit every time Peleg went -hunting. - -“Now if any body comes here and wants to know where I am, you can tell -him that you don’t know,” said Peleg, as he slung his bundle on his -single barrel and put the whole on his shoulder. “You had better come -down that way to-morrow, pap, but let me tell you one thing: You had -better keep out of sight. If Nat so much as suspects that there is -somebody watching us, he will quit the work right then and there, and -we shan’t find any money.” - -Mr. Graves said that he would take abundant care of that, and Peleg -opened the door and went out. There was no “good-by” about it. As soon -as he was gone Mr. Graves proceeded to fill up for another smoke. - -“That there is a powerful good boy who has just went out,” said he. -“What on earth should we do without him? I tell you, S’manthy, we are -going to be wonderful rich in a few days from now. I know of three or -four horses that I want--” - -With this introduction Mr. Graves went on to enumerate the various -horses and cows and farming utensils he needed and must have to make -his calling as agriculturist successful, and when he got through his -wife took up the strain, and by the time that twelve o’clock came they -had not only three or four thousand dollars of Mr. Nickerson’s money -laid out, but they had some more thousands besides. It is hard to tell -what they did not provide for. They had a new house built up, the weeds -all cut down, an orchard in full bearing where the worthless brier -patch used to stand, and every thing fixed up in first-class shape. But -they got tired of this after a while, and went to bed. - -“Pe-leg!” shouted Mr. Graves, when he awoke at daylight. “It is high -time you was up. Well, now, what am I calling him for? He is a long way -from here by this time, and, S’manthy, perhaps he has got onto that -money after all.” - -“He could not have found it before he got where it was,” suggested Mrs. -Graves. “He must camp out some time, else why did he take his gun with -him?” - -“That’s so,” said Mr. Graves, after thinking a moment. “I don’t feel -like myself at all this morning; do you, S’manthy? Now I have got to -get up and build the fire; but I don’t mind that. In a little while -we’ll have somebody to build it for us. Who’s that coming there?” added -Mr. Graves, who, as he drew on his trousers, went to the window and -glanced up and down the road. “If there ain’t Jonas I am a Dutchman. He -wants to see what has become of Nat.” - -“You won’t tell him, of course?” said his wife. - -“Mighty clear of me. I don’t know where he is and neither do you.” - -The silence that followed on the inside of the cabin was broken at last -by the hasty crunch of earth and stones outside the door, and then -Jonas laid his heavy hand upon it. - -“Who’s that?” shouted Mr. Graves. - -“It is me; don’t you know Jonas?” answered a voice. “Get up here. I -want to ask you a question.” - -“All right. I will soon be there. Now, old woman, you cover up and -don’t open your head while he is here.” - -In a few minutes Mr. Graves opened the door and the two men greeted -each other cordially. - -“Howdy, Jonas. What started you out so early? How’s all your family?” - -“My family is all right, but I am just now hunting for that boy, Nat. -Ain’t seen anything of him, have you?” - -“Nat? No; has he run away?” asked Mr. Graves, accidentally letting out -the very thing which he was afraid his wife would mention to Jonas if -she were allowed to talk. “I mean--you have been using that switch on -him lately,” he hastily added, after he had caught his breath. - -“No, I hadn’t, but I wish I had,” declared Jonas, for the idea of Nat’s -running away was the very thing that was uppermost in his mind. “I -have used that boy altogether too well; and now that old man Nickerson -has gone, he has cleared out.” - -“Well, now, what does the fule boy want to run away for?” said Mr. -Graves, looking down at the ground. “He will want some money, if he is -going to do that.” - -“He has plenty of it, or thinks he has,” said Jonas, angrily. “You -ain’t seen Peleg around here lately, have you?” - -“Peleg? No, he has gone out after the cows,” said Mr. Graves; and a -moment later, as if to show how very much mistaken he was, one of the -cows in the barnyard set up a prolonged lowing as if to inquire why -somebody did not come out and milk her. “I declare, there’s the cows -already,” added Mr. Graves, not at all abashed. “That boy is around -here somewhere. Pe-leg,” he shouted, looking around as though he -expected Peleg to appear. - -“You needn’t call to him that way, pap, ‘cause he ain’t there,” said -Mrs. Graves under the bed clothes. “Didn’t you hear him say that he -was going fishing to-day?” - -“That’s so; so I did. What do you want of Peleg, Jonas?” - -“I just wanted to know if he could tell me where Nat was; but if he -ain’t here, of course he can’t tell me. You’re sure he ain’t gone to -Manchester along with Nat?” - -“No,” said Mr. Graves, as if he were surprised to hear it. “What does -he want to go down to Manchester for? If he don’t come home pretty soon -I will go after him.” - -“Nat has got an idea that there is some money down there, and he has -gone after it. If he only knew it, I have got all the money that was -there long ago.” - -Mr. Graves was really surprised now. - -“The old man did not have but a thousand dollars, and he gave that to -me to spend for him,” said Jonas. “When that boy gets through looking I -hope he will come back.” - -The speaker went away without saying another word, and Mr. Graves -stood in his door and watched him go. If Jonas told the truth Peleg had -his journey for nothing. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -_The Storekeeper Speaks_. - - -Very different were Nat Wood’s feelings as he walked slowly toward the -place he called home. He was certain that during the last hour of his -life he had made a bad mistake in that he yielded to his first impulse -and took Peleg into his confidence. But the thing had been done, Peleg -knew that the money was there, or somewhere about Manchester, and now -he had to watch his corners very closely in order to succeed at all. - -“There is one thing about it,” said Nat, as he went up behind the -bushes which stood between the potato patch and the house. “I will keep -a close watch of Peleg, and if I have any reason to suppose that he is -working for himself, I will lead him off the track and go somewhere -else. Peleg is a pretty sharp boy, but I don’t believe he can get ahead -of me.” - -While Nat was thinking this matter over he drew up behind the bushes -and took a long and earnest survey of the house. There was no one -stirring around it. Having made sure that no one was watching him Nat -hurried to a fence corner, not the one that Mr. Nickerson went to in -order to get his plug of tobacco, but another one that lay further off, -and after a few minutes’ search arose to his feet with two articles -in his hand which he hastily crammed into his pocket. One was a roll -of money--he did not look it over for he knew how much there was in -it--and the other was the two leaves of “Baxters’ Saints’ Rest,” still -pasted together, which told him where the money was concealed. The -money was what he had left from the sum Mr. Nickerson had last given -him for the purchase of tobacco. - -“I don’t see what is the need of my taking these two leaves with me,” -said Nat, as he pushed the remnants of the twigs and bushes back to the -place which they had occupied before. “Peleg might find it and then -know as much about the money as I do. I reckon I had best get that in -my head and then destroy the leaves.” - -To think with Nat was to act. He produced the two leaves from his -pocket, seated himself upon the ground and tore them open. The stray -leaf, the one on which the diagram that showed where the money was -concealed, fell out; and although it was pretty dark so that he could -barely trace the lines, they were made with a heavy lead pencil, and -furthermore there were but two lines on the page. The first led from -a pile of rubbish--Nat did not know what else to call it; it probably -intended to represent the ruins of Mr. Nickerson’s house--to a second -pile of rubbish, which was doubtless intended to show the pile of -briers. The second line ran across a little wavering stream which was -intended to stand for the brook, up to another pile, and there it -stopped. If Nat could only find that pile, his fortune was secure. - -It did not take Nat long to make himself master of this diagram, and -hastily putting the leaves back again, he buried them in the hole from -which he had taken them out, smoothing over the leaves so that no one -would suspect that anybody had been there. - -“So far so good,” said Nat, with a long-drawn sigh of relief. “I don’t -believe that either Jonas or Caleb will find them there. Now the next -thing is something else.” - -It was to separate ten dollars from his roll of bills so that he could -show them to Peleg when he came to pay for the various things at -Manchester. If he showed more than that amount something would be added -to Peleg’s suspicions, and no doubt it would lead to an open rupture. -The rest of the bills he stowed away in his hat, pressing them down -tightly between the outside and the lining, and holding them there by -means of a pin which he took from his sleeve. His work was all done -now, and he was ready to meet Peleg as soon as he put in an appearance. -But in order to make sure that he had not been watched Nat drew along -the fence corner into the bushes, until he came within sight of the -house again. There was no one there, and no one in the barn, either; -so he concluded that he had done this part of his work without being -seen. - -“If I can get through with the rest without having some one to see me, -I shall be glad of it,” said Nat, going past the house and out to the -bars. “Good-by, old home, for it is the only home I have had since I -can remember. I hope some day to have a place that I can call my own.” - -His soliloquy was interrupted by the appearance of a person on the -road who moved and acted in a way that showed him that the time for -operations had come. It was Peleg. He carried his single barrel over -his shoulder, supporting an old-fashioned valise which contained his -change of underwear. - -“Well, I am all ready,” said Peleg, in a whisper. - -“So am I,” said Nat. - -“Why, you have not taken a thing with you,” said Peleg, when he looked -around to see Nat pick up something. “Are you going to come back here -after your clothes?” - -“All the clothes I have in the world I have got upon my back,” said -Nat, holding up both hands and turning slowly around so that his -companion could see him. “I am ready to go if you are.” - -“You must have a clean shirt if nothing more. What will you do when the -one you have on now is all soiled?” - -“I will take it off and wash it.” - -“_You_ will?” exclaimed Peleg, in unbounded astonishment. “Don’t you -have no women to do that sort of work? My mother always washes my -clothes.” - -“Well, you are lucky to have a mother. I have had none since I can -remember. I have to do all such little things myself.” - -“This beats me. What did you say to Jonas?” - -“Not a thing. I have not seen him since I saw you.” - -“Have you got your papers?” said Peleg, who was particularly anxious -on that score. “You had better give them to me; because when Jonas -overhauls us he will search all your clothes.” - -“Let him search,” said Nat, turning upon Peleg and looking at him as -closely as he could in the dark. “I have got my papers, but they are -right in here,” he added, touching his forehead with his right hand. -“He won’t get them out of there.” - -“_Well!_” said Peleg, looking down at the ground they were so rapidly -leaving behind. “That’s a pretty way to do business. You have got me to -help you in looking for that money, and you had ought to let me into -the whole of it.” - -“In other words, I must tell you my secret, must I?” demanded Nat, -stopping in his headlong gait. “I did not agree to do that. You may go -back on me the first thing.” - -“No, I won’t; I pledge you my word that I will stay by you. Now if you -don’t tell me all of it I won’t go.” - -These were very pleasant words to Nat Wood. He had been wondering -all the time how he was to be rid of Peleg, and now he was going -to accomplish his object without half trying. Peleg stopped when he -uttered this threat, but Nat kept on as fast as ever. - -“I tell you I won’t go if you don’t tell me just what you are going to -do and all about it,” said Peleg, taking his bundle off his shoulders. - -“All right. Then stay where you are. I can get along without you.” - -“You forget Jonas and Caleb,” said Peleg, raising his voice as to -reach the ears of Nat who was rapidly widening the distance between -them. “Who is going to watch them while you are doing the digging? The -little fule,” muttered Peleg, raising his bundle to his shoulder again -and hurrying after Nat. “What has come over him to make him so mighty -independent all at once? A little while ago he was just begging me to -go with him; but now he wants to shake me off altogether. Hold up, Nat.” - -But Nat was past holding up for Peleg or anybody else. He kept on his -way without changing his pace, and when at last Peleg overtook him he -had passed a half a mile down the road. - -“What’s the use of you being in such a hurry, Nat?” panted Peleg. “I -can’t keep up with you if you go so fast.” - -“I’ve got to hurry in order to get to my camping grounds before -daylight,” replied Nat. “If you want to go with me, come on; if you -don’t, stay back.” - -“But, Nat, it ain’t right for you to do all the work by yourself,” said -Peleg. - -“I don’t intend to do it all. You must do some of it, if you go with -me. I won’t pay you a dollar a day for doing nothing.” - -“Of course. I expect to do some of it; but how can I know what to work -at unless you tell me something.” - -“I will tell you what I want as soon as we come to our camping ground, -and that ought to satisfy you,” said Nat, who plainly saw that he was -not going to get rid of Peleg so easily. “I may want you to watch for -Jonas while I work.” - -“Well, if you do that, it will be right into my hand,” said Peleg, to -himself. “Only I would rather watch for pap. If I see him, I won’t let -you know a thing about it.” - -Seeing that Nat was neither to be frightened nor coaxed into revealing -his secret, Peleg finally gave up the attempt in disgust, and hurried -along by Nat’s side toward Manchester. Nat had but little to say to him -for he was thinking over what was to be done when they once reached -their camping grounds. He must be rid of Peleg in some way, and the -more he thought about it the more he saw that his success depended -entirely upon his finding the money alone and unaided. - -“If ever a boy deserves kicking I am the one,” Nat kept saying to -himself. “Why didn’t I leave Peleg alone husking his corn? He would -have been safe there, but now he has got onto my back and I can’t shake -him off. Can I get him to go back to the store after some provisions, -while I look for the money? That’s a plan worth thinking of.” - -The way to Manchester seemed wonderfully long, it is always long if -one is anxious to reach a place, and it was after daylight when they -came within sight of it. Fortunately the stores were open and the boys -had no difficulty in buying what they wanted. The first thing was the -ammunition for Peleg’s shotgun; and when that had been purchased and -stowed away in the boy’s valise, the provisions came next, and they -found that they had more than they could carry. - -“There are other things to come,” said Nat, pulling out his ten dollars -at which Peleg glanced with envious eyes. “I must get a spade and -pick-ax before I go any further.” - -“Why, what do you want to do with them?” asked Peleg, in surprise. - -“How am I going to do any digging without them?” asked Nat in reply. -“There is no telling how deep the money is in the ground.” - -Peleg was obliged to be content with this explanation although he -was not satisfied with it. He could not bear to see any of Nat’s -money go for such useless things as a spade and pick-ax, because he -calculated at some future time to handle all that money himself. And -when they were purchased there was another thing that filled him with -astonishment. - -“I wish you would set these implements away somewhere, together with -the provisions that we shall not be able to take with us, until Peleg -comes after them,” said Nat to the storekeeper. “He will be after them -bright and early to-morrow morning.” - -“All right,” said the storekeeper. “I will set the whole thing right -here in this corner, and if my partner is in here you will know them -when you see them. Any thing else that I can show you?” - -“Nothing else, thank you,” replied Nat “I have every thing I need.” - -“What are you boys going to do up there in the woods?” asked the -storekeeper. “You are not going after rabbits with nothing but a single -barrel shotgun. You won’t get enough to pay you for your ammunition.” - -“Oh, no; we are going up there to see about some timber that belongs to -us.” - -“Well, don’t let the ghosts catch you,” said the man, with a laugh. - -“Ghosts!” replied Peleg; and he let the butt of his single barrel -heavily down upon the floor. - -“Yes; there is lots of them up there.” - -“Why--why--whereabouts?” inquired Peleg; and it was all he could do to -pronounce the words so that the storekeeper could understand him. - -“Well, I don’t know that they have any particular place, but the heft -of them appears up about old man Nickerson’s farm,” said the man; and -he drew a little on his imagination because he saw that Peleg was -frightened. “If anybody goes on that place he wants to look out. You -see,” here the storekeeper leaned his elbows on the counter and sank -his voice almost to a whisper. “They used to tell here before the war -that the old man was worth a power of money, and the rebels came here -to gobble it up.” - -“Did they get any?” asked Peleg. - -“Naw they didn’t. I was in that party and I know just what they got. -It was all in gold, too, but the old fellow had it hidden so that we -could not find it. We took him off and put him in the army, but he was -too old to be of any use there, and so we turned him loose. There’s -been a power of men up there looking for it, but they stay just one -night.” - -“They see the ghosts, do they?” said Nat - -“That’s what they do,” said the storekeeper, looking all around the -room as if he expected to see something advancing upon him. “And I tell -you they don’t wait until daylight comes. I have seen as many as two -or three on my porch waiting for me to open the store, and the tales -they told were just awful. They say--Whew! I’ll bet you don’t get me up -there for no five thousand dollars.” - -“What do they say?” asked Nat. “Is old man Nickerson among the ghosts?” - -“Yes, he is there, and he is the worst one in the lot; but the worst -of it is, he has been somewhere and got ten or a dozen other ghosts -to help him along, and the screeching they keep up is enough to drive -one crazy. But I reckon you boys ain’t going up as far as old man -Nickerson’s.” - -“That is the place where we are going,” said Nat. “We shall not stop -until we get there.” - -“Among all them ghosts?” exclaimed the storekeeper, and he staggered -back from the counter as if Nat had aimed a blow at him. “Well, -good-by. I shall never see you again,” added the man, as he -straightened up and thrust his hand out toward Nat. “You need not think -to be free of them for they come to see everybody that goes there.” - -“But the others came back in safety and so can I,” said Nat. - -“Yes; but the last time they appeared to a person they told him that -the next one who came there he would leave his bones for the vultures -to pick over,” said the man, and he tried to shiver when he uttered the -words. “I would not go up there, if I was you.” - -“I want to see what a ghost looks like. Come on, Peleg. We have wasted -too much time already. You will have those things ready for Peleg -tomorrow?” - -“Yes, provided he is able to come after them. And say, Peleg. I want -you to take particular notice of the way the ghosts look and what they -say and what they do, and all that--” - -“You had better get somebody else to go up there, if that is what you -want to find out,” said Peleg. “If I see one of them, or hear him -coming through the bushes, I will start a running till you can’t see me -for the dust. If Nat isn’t afraid of the ghosts, I am.” - -Nat had by this time taken as many of the provisions as he could carry -and had left the store, and Peleg, after some hesitation, prepared to -follow him. Nat did not believe in ghosts; and even if ghosts were -there and Mr. Nickerson was among them, he would not let the rest of -the spirits trouble him, for he had given him the money before his -death, and had told him just where it was concealed. But his nerves now -were not as firm as they were before he went into that store. He did -not know what he had to contend with up there in the woods, and the -woods were so far away from everybody that it was useless for him to -call for help in case he needed it. - -“But I am going after that money,” said he, firmly, as he walked along -as if there were no such things as ghosts in the world. “It is up -there, there was not any ghosts around when it was hidden and I don’t -believe there are any ghosts now. At least I must see them before I -will give it up.” - -At this moment Peleg overtook him. One glance at his face was enough to -show him what he thought about it. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -_Peleg Sees Enough._ - - -“Say, Nat,” said Peleg, catching his companion by the arm and speaking -almost in a whisper as if he were afraid that the ghosts might overhear -him, “don’t let’s go any further. Let us go back.” - -“What will we do with all these provisions?” exclaimed Nat. - -“Let’s take them home and eat them there. I am afraid to go to those -woods. Don’t you believe in ghosts?” - -“I don’t know what to say,” said Nat, pulling his arm out of Peleg’s -grasp. “That storekeeper talked as though he meant all he said, did he -not? He would not try to scare us.” - -“No, sir,” said Peleg, emphatically. “Let us go back. I don’t believe -there is any money hidden around here anyway.” - -It was no part of Nat’s plan to make Peleg think differently. If he -thought they were on a wild goose chase, so much the better for Nat. He -would go on and prosecute the search, and if he succeeded, no one would -be the wiser for it. - -“If pap were here,” continued Peleg, and then he suddenly stopped. - -“Does your father believe in ghosts, too?” asked Nat. - -“Of course he does. He has seen them.” - -“Then of course he believes in them. I must see one before I will put -any faith in it.” - -“But what will you do if you leave your bones up here for the vultures -to pick?” urged Peleg, with a shudder. “I reckon you will believe in -them then.” - -“That will be my misfortune and not my fault. So, Mr. Graves believes -in ghosts, does he?” said Nat, to himself. “I wish to goodness that I -knew whether or not Jonas and Caleb believed in them, too. Somehow I -feel more afraid of those two men than I do of anything else.” Then -aloud he said: “If I believed as your father does I would not come up -here for anything; but I have not seen the ghosts yet, and until I do, -I am going to stick to my plan. You can carry the provisions up to Mr. -Nickerson’s house, can’t you, and then you can put them down and go -back if you want to.” - -“And do you mean that you are really going on?” exclaimed Peleg, who -was really amazed at the boy’s courage. - -“Yes, sir, I am going on; and no one will care whether I succeed or -not. Come on, Peleg. You must walk faster than that.” - -There was no use of trying to get rid of Peleg; Nat saw that plainly -enough. He increased his pace and Peleg, as if afraid of being left -behind, increased his own and readily kept up with him. He did not have -any more to say about the ghosts until after they had covered the half -of a dozen miles that lay between them and Mr. Nickerson’s farm; and -then they turned off the road, climbed a fence and found themselves in -a thicket of bushes which enveloped them on all sides so that they -could not see two feet in advance of them. Then Peleg’s courage gave -away altogether. - -“I believe I won’t go any further,” said he; and he made a move as if -he were going to put down the provisions he was carrying. “It is awful -dark in there, ain’t it?” - -“Pretty dark,” whispered Nat, bending down and trying to see through -the bushes. “But this is nothing to what it will be when night comes. -If we are going to hear anything we will hear it then. Will you be -afraid to come down here to get the spade and pick-ax to-morrow?” - -“You just bet I will,” answered Peleg, and Nat noticed that his face -was as white as it could get. “If you don’t get that spade and pick-ax -until I bring them up to you, you will wait a long while before you do -any digging.” - -“Well, pick up the provisions and come along,” said Nat, who was -getting really impatient. “Stay right close behind me, and if I see any -ghosts I will shoo them off.” - -Once more Nat started on and Peleg, not daring to remain behind, -gathered up his burden and kept along close on his heels. It was a -long way through the bushes to the back of Mr. Nickerson’s farm, -and with almost every step Peleg heard something that alarmed him; -a bird chirped in the thicket close beside him or a ground squirrel -vociferously scolded them as they drew near and hurried off to his -retreat, and several times he was on the point of throwing down the -provisions and taking to his heels. But there was the money that they -were after. That had a stronger attraction to him than his fear of the -ghosts, and when Nat threw aside the last branch and stepped out into -the open field, Peleg was right behind, although he was all out of -breath and sweating so, as he affirmed, that he could hear it rattling -on the leaves. - -“When we go back let us go the other way,” panted Peleg, looking around -for a place to sit down. “I am just tired out. Now what are you going -to do? Here is the spot, and if you have not got them papers with you, -how do you know where to dig?” - -“The papers are all in my head where no one will get them,” said Nat, -laying down his armful of provisions and looking around to see if there -was a path that led down the hill. “You stay here and rest, and I will -go on and see--” - -“Not much I won’t stay here,” exclaimed Peleg, rising to his feet as -Nat started off. “I am going to stay close by you. I wish I had known -about the ghosts. I wouldn’t have come one peg.” - -“So do I,” said Nat to himself. “If I can get up some way to scare you -to-night, I shall be happy.” - -To have seen Nat go to work one would have supposed that he knew where -the money was hidden and all about it. He went as straight as he could -go to the corner of the ruins of Mr. Nickerson’s house, and there he -stopped and his lips moved as if he were holding a consultation with -himself. - -“Six to one and a half dozen to the other,” he muttered, as if he were -not aware that Peleg was anywhere within reach of him. “That paper is -burned up here in the ruins, but I have got it in my head.” - -“What are you trying to get through yourself, Nat?” said Peleg. “Talk -English so that I can understand you.” - -Nat did not act as though he had heard him at all. - -“The next is a beech tree on the right hand side,” continued Nat. “Now -let me see if that can be found.” - -“What about the beech tree? There is one down there at the foot of the -hill.” - -Nat had already started off toward the beech tree, and a little way -from it found a pile of briers; but did not look at them more than -once. He went around on the left hand side of the beech tree, and -throwing back his head gazed earnestly into the branches. - -“Now whichever way that limb points, it points to the hiding-place of -the papers,” said Nat. “But there are not any limbs that point any -way. They all seem to point upward to the sky. If this is the tree I’ll -soon make the limb move. Here, watch that branch and see if it don’t -stir. Six of one and half a dozen of the other.” - -“What do you keep saying those words for all the time?” inquired Peleg. -“Why don’t you talk so that I can understand it?” - -“That is a secret that Mr. Nickerson used while he was engaged in -burying the papers,” said Nat, a bright idea striking him. “Come here -and I will tell you all about it,” he added, catching Peleg by the -arm and drawing his face close to his own. “You see these trees and -everything about here is in sympathy with Mr. Nickerson, because he is -dead, you know. I might come up here or you might come up here and look -for those papers, and if we did not have the secret that Mr. Nickerson -used while concealing them, why, we wouldn’t know any more about it -than we do now. I declare that branch moves; don’t you see it?” - -Peleg looked earnestly into the tree but could see nothing. Nat even -got hold of him and pulled him around and twisted his head on one side -so that he could see the upper part of the tree, but the moving of the -limb was something that Peleg could not discern. - -“It only moved a little bit so that I could see it,” said Nat, in -explanation. “You have got to be quick or you can’t see it. Now we will -go off this way and see if we can find something else.” - -There was some little thing about this that was certainly -uncanny--something that did not look natural to Peleg. The idea of a -boy having some mysterious words at his command which made inanimate -nature obey him was a new thing to him, and he did not know what to -make of it; but Nat seemed to think it was all right and went ahead as -if he had been expecting it. He stepped across the brook and moved up -the hill, but before he had taken many steps he came back and put his -face close to Peleg’s again. - -“I must tell you one thing so that you will not be frightened,” said -he, in a whisper. “When I get on the track of those papers you’ll hear -something.” - -“What is it like?” said Peleg, in the same cautious whisper. - -“I don’t know. It may be like the report of a cannon; or it may be like -something else you never heard of. You must keep your mind on those -papers while we are looking for them.” - -Nat went on ahead and in a few moments more he stepped upon the very -stone which was buried half way in the earth and covered the hiding -place of his money. His heart bounded at the thought. If Peleg was away -and he had the pick-ax and spade at his command he would be a rich boy -in less than half an hour. - -“I don’t see it,” said he, dolefully. - -“Don’t see what?” said Peleg. “If you repeat your words once more -perhaps it will come to you.” - -“Six of one and a half dozen of the other,” exclaimed Nat; and -instantly there came a response that he had not been expecting. A huge -dead poplar, which stood on the bank a hundred feet away, suddenly -aroused itself into life and action, took part in Nat’s invocation and -sent a thrill of terror through him and Peleg. A branch of the tree -about fifty feet from the ground, as large as any of the ordinary trees -that were standing around them, ceased its hold upon the parent trunk -and came with a stunning crash to the ground. Peleg was so startled -that he fairly jumped, while Nat stood perfectly thunderstruck. - -This was nothing more than the boys had been accustomed to all their -lives. Such sounds were not new in the country in which they had been -brought up, and when any settler heard a sound like that coming from -the woods he said: “Now we are going to have falling weather.” An old -“deadening” is the best place to watch for omens of this kind. The -farmer, not having the time or force to clear his land, cuts away all -the underbrush and uses his axe to “circle” the trees so that he can -put in his crop. The trees stand there until they dry and rot, all the -vitality being taken away from them, and finally drop all their limbs -until the trunk stands bare. Nat, after he had taken time to think -twice, knew in a moment what had caused the poplar to shed its limbs, -and was aware that it was one of the incidents of his everyday life; -but Peleg, who had been warned that something was going to happen if -they found the trail of the papers, was frightened out of his wits. -After it struck the ground he remained motionless. - -“What did I tell you?” whispered Nat. “Didn’t I tell you that you would -hear something drop?” - -“Whew!” stammered Peleg. “I have seen enough of this place. I am going -home as quick as I can go.” - -“Hold on, Peleg,” exclaimed Nat, who was overjoyed to hear him talk -this way. “We will hear something else pretty soon, and that will let -us know that we are close to the papers.” - -“You can stay and look for them until you are blind,” said Peleg, who -was taking long strides toward the other side of the brook. “You will -never see them papers. I believe you are cahoots with the ‘Old Fellow’ -himself.” - -As Peleg said this he pointed with his finger toward the ground. He did -not care to mention who the “old fellow” was. When he was across the -brook he broke into a run and dashed up the hill. He did not even stop -to take with him his gun, ammunition or the provisions he had brought -up from Manchester. He kept clear of the bushes--you could not have -hired Peleg to go through them alone--and when he struck the open field -he increased his pace and was out of sight in a moment. Nat waited -until he was well under way and then followed him to the top of the -bank. He was just in time to see Peleg’s coat tails disappear over the -bars; and then he dug out at his best gait for home. - -“There!” said Nat taking off his hat and feeling for the extra money he -had stowed away. “I am well rid of him, thank goodness. Now I will go -to work and make a camp, get something to eat, and to-morrow morning -I will go down and get the spade and pick-ax; that is, if the ghosts -leave anything of me. But I don’t believe there are any ghosts. The -storekeeper said that just to frighten him.” - -But before Nat began his lean-to he wanted to see the stone that -covered his fortune. It seemed strange to him that all he had to do was -to pry the stone out of its place, dig for a few minutes and then he -would be worth more money than he ever saw. - -“There is one thing that I forgot,” said he, after he had tested the -weight of the stone by trying his strength upon it. “But I will get -that to-morrow. I must cut a lever with which to handle this weight.” - -For the first time in a long while Nat was happy. He would be so that -night--there would not anybody come near him after dark--but the next -morning he would come back to himself again--sly and cunning, and -afraid to make a move in any direction without carefully reconnoitering -the ground. Jonas and Caleb had got him in the way of living so. - -“But I will soon be free from them,” said Nat, as he left the stone -walked across the brook and seated himself proceeded to find some of -the cheese and crackers which Peleg had brought up. “I am free from -them now; but if they come after me and catch me, why then I have got -my whole business to do over again. I hope Peleg will go safely home -and spread the story of the ghosts that are living here, for I don’t -think Jonas will care to face them.” - -Nat thoroughly enjoyed his meal, for the walk of twenty miles along -that rough road was enough to give him an appetite, and all the while -he was looking about him and selecting the limbs with which he intended -to build his lean-to. He did not expect to be there a great while, not -longer than to-morrow at any rate, but he did not believe in sleeping -out while there was timber enough at hand to build him a shelter. The -lean-to was soon put up, and in a very short space of time all the -luggage he had was conveyed under it. A fire would come handy as soon -as it grew dark, and all the rest of the time he spent in collecting -fuel for it; so that when the sun went down and it began to grow gloomy -in the woods, he was as well sheltered as a boy in his circumstances -could expect. - -“I am glad that Peleg is not here,” said Nat, as he looked all around -to make sure that he had not forgotten something, and began another -assault on the crackers and cheese. “I know that nothing will come -here to bother me, but Peleg would all the while be listening for one -of those ghosts to come down on him. There’s an owl now. His hooting -sounds awful lonely in the woods.” - -While Nat was stretched out on his bed of boughs listening to the -mournful notes of the owl, his thoughts were exceedingly busy with sad -remembrances of the old man who had labored so hard to save his money -from the rebels, little dreaming that the amount would one day fall -into the hands of one who needed it as badly as Nat did. - -“I really wish I had some one to enjoy it with me, but I have not got -any body,” Nat kept saying to himself. “The first thing I will do will -be to get an education; then I can tell what I am going to do.” - -So saying Nat arose and replenished the fire, then lay down and fell -into a quiet sleep. He did not see a ghost nor did he dream of one the -whole night. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -_Peleg’s Ghost Story._ - - -“Bless my lucky stars, Peleg Graves, you clear of Nat Wood at last. -Ever since I first met him there at home, when he didn’t have a single -thing to take with him except the clothes he had on his back, I have -been afraid of that fellow. He didn’t have but one shirt to bless -himself with, and when it got soiled, he would take it off and wash it. -The idea of him washing his clothes! I guess he thought that the Old -Fellow would wash them.” Here Peleg cast frightened glances toward the -bushes on each side of the road as if he was fearful that “the other -fellow” would suddenly come out at him. He fancied he could almost -see him with his flashing eyes, horns on his head and cloven feet all -ready to take the rush, but as he went on he began to gather courage. -“And then his having a secret, too, and he wouldn’t tell me what it -meant. ‘Here I am and there I am,’” whispered Peleg, who was so badly -frightened that he could not remember the words Nat had used. “Now what -did those words mean? I tell you there is somebody helping Nat; you -hear me?” - -While Peleg was going over his soliloquy in this way he was making good -time down the road, and finally he became weary with his headlong pace -and slackened his gait to a walk; a fast walk it was, too, so that in a -very short while all Nat and his strange words were left behind. - -It was twenty miles to the place where Peleg lived, and although faint -with hunger and so weary that he could scarcely drag one foot after the -other, he never stopped to ask one of the good-hearted settlers for a -bite to eat, and never thought of sitting down to rest his tired limbs. -He kept on, anxious to get his roof over his head and impatient to hear -what his father would have to say about Nat and his doings, until just -as the sun was rising he came within sight of the cabin door and saw -Mr. Graves standing there and taking a look at the weather. The man was -so surprised to see him that he was obliged to take two looks before he -could make up his mind that it was Peleg and nobody else. - -“Is that you, Peleg?” he exclaimed, as the boy threw down one of the -bars and crawled through it “Where’s the money?” - -“Oh, pap!” was all that Peleg could say in reply. - -Mr. Graves began to look uneasy. Like all ignorant men he was very -superstitious, and he straightway believed that Peleg had seen -something that he could not understand. - -“Say, Peleg,” he added in a lower tone, stepping off the porch and -taking the boy by the arm. “What did you see up there in the woods? You -have not been to Manchester and back, have you?” - -“Yes, I have, too; and if you want to go down there and search for that -money, you can go; but I am going to stay here. I wish you would give -me a bite to eat and a drink of water. I am just about dead.” - -Peleg had by this time reached the porch, and he threw himself down -upon it as if he had lost all strength, and rested his head upon his -hands. Mr. Graves began to believe that Peleg had seen something that -was rather more than his nerves could stand, and went around the house -after a drink of water, while his mother, who had been aroused by this -time, came to the door. She saw Peleg sitting there with his head -buried in his hands, and of course her mother’s heart went out to him. - -“Oh, Peleg, what is the matter?” she exclaimed. - -“Oh, mother, you just ought to hear the words that Nat uses to find out -whether or not he is on the trail of those papers,” said Peleg, lifting -a very haggard face and looking at her. - -At that moment Mr. Graves came around the corner of the house with a -gourd full of drinking water. Peleg seized it as though he had not had -any for a month, and never let the gourd go until he had drunk the -whole of it. - -“That makes me feel some better,” said he. - -“You passed several streams on the way,” said Mr. Graves. “Why didn’t -you stop and get a drink?” - -“Oh, pap, I dassent. I can hear those words ringing in my ears now, and -I wanted to get so far away that I couldn’t hear them. ‘Here I am and -there I am!’ Oh, my soul!” - -“Why--what are you trying to get through yourself?” inquired Mr. -Graves; and if the truth must be told he drew a little closer to Peleg. - -“Well, sir, I am telling you the truth when I say that that there Nat -has some dealings with that Fellow down there,” said Peleg, pointing -toward the ground. “He goes around looking for those papers--” - -“Ah! Get out!” exclaimed Graves. - -“It is a fact; and if you don’t believe it, you can just go down there -and watch him as I did. He says that everything, the trees and the -rocks and the leaves and the bushes, are in cahoots with him because -he took such good care of old man Nickerson when he was alive, buying -him tobacco and such, and that he told him what words to use while -looking for those papers. Why, the branches of the trees moved and -pointed out the way to him.” - -Mr. Graves was completely amazed by this revelation, and seated himself -on the porch beside Peleg; while S’manthy gasped for breath and found -it impossible for her to say anything. She lifted her hands in awe -toward the rafters of the porch for a moment, closed her eyes, and then -her hands fell helplessly by her side. She shook her head but could not -utter a sound. - -“It is a fact, I tell you; that isn’t all I have seen, either,” said -Peleg. “When we came to Manchester and Nat wanted to buy some grub and -things--pap, he has ten dollars; and he wouldn’t offer me a cent of it.” - -“Where did he get ten dollars?” asked Mr. Graves, in surprise. - -“I don’t know. I expect it must have been some he had left that the old -man gave him. He bought some grub and a pick-ax and a spade, and left -them there so that I could go and get them this morning; and that set -the storekeeper to going. He warned me not to let the ghosts catch me--” - -“Oh, my soul!” exclaimed S’manthy, raising her hands toward the rafters -again. “Have they got ghosts up there?” - -“You just bet they have,” answered Peleg, trembling all over. “But Nat -didn’t seem afraid of them at all.” - -Mr. Graves leaned back against the post near which he was sitting, -stretched his legs out straight before him and looked fixedly at the -ground. He had never heard of ghosts being in the woods, and this made -him wonder if he would dare go after the cows when they failed to come -up. - -“I don’t think you had better go back there any more, Peleg,” said he, -when he had taken time to think the matter over. - -“You may just bet I won’t go back. I have not got use for a boy who -will talk to them in language I cannot understand. And worse than -that, he led the way to old man Nickerson’s farm by the back way, -through bushes that grew thicker’n the hair on a dog’s back, and he -wanted me to come back the same way. Mighty clear of me!” - -“I reckon we had best go and let Jonas know about this,” said Mr. -Graves, after thinking once more upon the matter. - -“Well, you can go and I will stay here and get something to eat,” said -Peleg. “He will find Nat within a few rods of the old man’s house. -Dog-gone such luck! Why couldn’t the old man have left his money out in -plain sight so that a fellow could get it?” - -“Did you see any of the ghosts?” said his mother, in a low tone. - -“No, I didn’t, and I kept a close watch for them, too. You see Nat says -they don’t come around until at night. I wonder if there is anything -left of that boy up there?” - -“I hope to goodness that they have cleaned him out entirely,” said Mr. -Graves, angrily. “If we can’t have any of that money I don’t want him -to have it, either. Now you go in and take a bite, and I will make up -my mind what we are going to do.” - -“Are you waiting for me to go up to Jonas’s house with you?” - -“Yes, I reckon you had better. You have been up there and saw how the -matter stands, and you can tell him better than I can.” - -“I am mighty glad he won’t ask me to go back to old man Nickerson’s -woods with him,” whispered Peleg, as he followed his mother into the -house. “I wouldn’t stir a peg to please anybody.” - -“What do ghosts look like, Peleg?” asked S’manthy, as she brought out a -plate of cold bread and meat and set them on the table before the boy. -“I have often heard of them but I never saw them.” - -“Don’t ask me. I looked everywhere for them, but they would not show -up. I’ll bet Nat can tell by this time how they look--that is if he -did not get scared at them like myself and run away.” - -By the time that Peleg had satisfied his appetite Mr. Graves had -thought over the situation and determined upon his course. He would not -go near Mr. Nickerson’s farm--he was as close to it as he wanted to -be; but he would go up and tell Jonas what Peleg had seen. Jonas was -a good fellow, and perhaps he would do as much for him under the same -circumstances. If Jonas and Caleb thought enough of the money that was -hidden there to go up and face the ghosts, that was their lookout and -not his. - -“You had your gun, Peleg,” said Mr. Graves, when the boy came out the -door and put on his hat “Why didn’t you depend upon that!” - -“Course I had my gun; but it was not loaded. I declare, I never once -thought of that old single barrel.” - -“If one of them had seen that gun in your hands--” - -“Shaw! I ain’t thinking of that. I ran away so quick that I left it -behind. Maybe Nat used it last night.” - -“But you say he ain’t afraid of them,” suggested his father. “What -should he want to use your gun for?” - -“Of course he ain’t afraid of them in the day-time; but when it comes -down dark night in the woods, and you hear the bushes rattling and -something go g-g-r-r--” - -“Oh, Peleg, stop!” ejaculated his mother, who was all in a tremble. - -“Stop your noise, Peleg,” said Mr. Graves, who could not bear to hear -him imitate the ghosts in this way. “Maybe they don’t go that way at -all.” - -“Well, if you want to find out, you had best go up there and stay all -night,” said Peleg, shaking his head in a wise manner. “And I will -tell you another thing that happened while I was up there. Nat told me -that I must not be frightened, for when he got onto the trail of those -papers again----” - -“Did he lose the trail of them?” asked Mr. Graves. - -“I reckon so; for he looked up into a tree and said: ‘Here I am and -there I am,’ and the tree showed him which way to go.” - -“Aw! Get out,” exclaimed Mr. Graves. “Could a tree speak to him or -point with its branches to tell him when he was going wrong?” - -“That tree did as sure as you live,” said Peleg confidently. - -“Did you see it?” - -“Yes sir, I did. That tree was standing like any other tree, with its -branches pointing upward, and when he said those words of his, one of -the limbs pointed out so,” said Peleg, indicating the movement with his -finger. - -Mr. Graves looked rather hard at Peleg, as if he did not know whether -to believe the statement or not, and the boy met his gaze without -flinching. When Peleg told a lie he generally looked down at the ground. - -“Well, go on. What did you see next?” - -“Well, sir, when we got a little further he said I would hear -something pretty soon, and it would make me wish that I had never been -born. I tell you I did hear it, and--Oh, my soul! How can I ever tell -it!” - -“What did it sound like, Peleg?” asked his mother. - -“A dead tree was standing a short distance away and when Nat went on -with his words: ‘Here I am and there I am,’ one of the branches on that -tree let go all holds and came down to the ground with a crash and -broke all to pieces. I certainly thought I was going with it, too.” - -For the first time that day Mr. Graves uttered an exclamation of -disgust, turned on his heel and went into the house for his rifle. - -“You can hear those sounds right here on the place,” remarked his -mother. “That’s nothing new.” - -“The little fule!” exclaimed Mr. Graves, who just then came out again -with his rifle. “You got so frightened with the ghosts that you don’t -know the signs of falling weather when you hear them. It is going to -rain very shortly.” - -“Well, I just want you to go up there if you dare,” said Peleg, -somewhat taken aback by this explanation of the phenomenon which had -frightened him. “Here you are, making all sorts of fun at my ghost -stories, and you have gone and got your rifle to protect you. Leave -that at home if you are not afraid to go up to Jonas’s house without -it.” - -“No, I reckon I will just take it along. What you have said about the -ghosts may be true; but I don’t believe in such things as the trees and -bushes telling him where to go. Come on now, and we’ll go up and see -Jonas.” - -“And are you going to leave me here all alone?” inquired Mrs. Graves, -who went into the house for a shawl to throw over her head. “I’m going, -too.” - -“Now, S’manthy,” began her husband. - -“I know all about it; but I ain’t a going to stay here all by myself -after such talk as we have had,” said the woman, determinedly. “I have -some business with Jonas’s wife as much as you have with him.” - -Mr. Graves said no more. He probably knew how an argument would come -out with his wife. He cast apprehensive glances at the bushes as he -walked along, and seemed to be much occupied with his own thoughts. -The money was there, there could be no mistake about that, and he had -intended to go up there that very day so as to be on hand in case Peleg -needed assistance; but the boy’s returning home with such a story had -put new ideas into his head. Taking into consideration the way he felt -now he would not have gone a step toward Mr. Nickerson’s woods if he -knew the foot of every tree in them had a gold mine buried beneath it -which he could have for the digging. He fully credited the tales about -the ghosts; the rest of it he did not put any faith in. - -“That’s the end of my dreams,” he muttered, as he walked along. “I say -as Peleg did, dog-gone such luck! If the old man had left his money out -where we could find it, well and good; but, as it stands, I have got to -be a poor man all my life.” - -In due time they arrived at Jonas’s house where they found his wife -engaged in getting breakfast while her husband, with Caleb to help him, -was engaged, down to the barn. Mrs. Graves stopped in the house, which -she speedily turned upside down with her stories, while Mr. Graves -kept on and found Jonas sitting on an inverted bucket, meditatively -chewing a piece of straw, and Caleb walking around with his hands in -his pockets. They had been discussing Nat’s absence, but they could not -come to any determination about it. Nat was gone, it was money took him -away and how were they going to work to cheat him out of it? - -“Howdy,” said Jonas, who, upon looking up, discovered Mr. Graves -approaching. “Have you started out bright and early this morning to go -hunting?” - -“Well--no,” replied Mr. Graves, taking his rifle from his shoulder. “I -did not know but I might see a squirrel or two bobbing around. Seen -anything of Nat lately?” - -“No, I have not. Do you know what has become of him?” - -“You’re right I do. He is up to old man Nickerson’s woods.” - -“There now. We always allowed that he had gone up there. Has he got -onto the trail of any money?” - -“He has, but that’s all the good it will do him. Peleg has been up -there with him.” - -Jonas simply nodded his head as if to say that he knew as much long -ago. He learned it when he went to Mr. Graves’ house to inquire about -Nat. - -“But it won’t do him any good, getting on the trail of that money -won’t,” continued Mr. Graves. “There are ghosts up in those woods.” - -“Ghosts!” exclaimed Jonas and Caleb in a breath. They looked hard at -Mr. Graves and then they looked at Peleg. The boy simply nodded to show -that his father was right. - -“Did you see any of them?” asked Caleb, who was in a fair way of being -frightened. - -“Naw; I didn’t see any of them nor hear them, I didn’t stay long -enough for that I took my foot in my hand and came home.” - -“Peleg has & long story to tell, and I thought you would rather hear it -from him than anybody else, so I brought him along.” - -As this was the introduction to Peleg’s story those who were standing -up found places to sit down, and waited impatiently for him to begin. - - - - -CHAPTER XL - -_Nat’s Fortune_. - - -“Well, sir, I have slept all night in these woods alone and there has -no ghost been near to warn me that I had better quit my search and go -home,” said Nat, sitting up on his bed of boughs and rubbing his eyes. -“I reckon the ghosts all exist in that storekeeper’s imagination. Now I -must take a good look at that rock again, eat some crackers and cheese -and go down after that spade and pick-ax. By this time tomorrow I shall -be a rich man.” - -Nat had often wondered how much there was of that money that was hidden -away, and he was always obliged to confess that he did not know. The -neighbors all insisted that old man Nickerson was “powerful rich,” and -acting upon this supposition he thought that about $5,000 would amply -repay him for all his trouble. That would get him a nice education, and -that was all that Nat asked for. He could then take care of himself. - -Nat sprang off his bed, performed the hasty operation of washing his -hands and face in the brook, and not having any towel to wipe upon, -went up the bank toward the stone, shaking the water off his hands as -he went. The rock was all there; he was certain on that point. If he -had that spade and pick-ax in his hands he would soon know how much he -was worth. The only trouble with him now was, to dig it up, reach St. -Louis with it in some way or other and put it in the bank. Once there -he would like to see Jonas and Caleb get their hands upon it. - -The next thing was breakfast, and that was very soon dispatched, and -then he tried to make himself a little more respectable to the persons -who met him on the way by brushing off his clothes and bringing some -pins into play to hide his rents. Then he stood up and looked at -himself. - -“They will show anyway, I don’t care how I pin them,” said Nat, at -length. “Well, what’s the odds? Everyone knows how I lived there under -that man’s roof, and I can’t be expected to look any better. Maybe I -will look as well as the best of them one of these days.” - -Nat’s first care was to hide Peleg’s gun and ammunition for fear -that some one might come along and appropriate them to his own use. -The whole thing was not worth two dollars, but still that would be -something for Peleg to lose. He would go frantic if he found that the -gun had been stolen. This done he was ready to leave his camp and he -took the near way through the bushes; and when they had closed up -behind him he could not help thinking how frightened Peleg was when he -came through there. He neither saw nor heard anything alarming, and -in a short time he climbed the fence and was out in the road. As luck -would have it a team was going by, and the man pulled up his horses and -offered him a ride. - -“Going fur?” said he. “Well jump in.” - -“Thank you,” said Nat “It’s about six miles to Manchester, and I -believe it is cheaper riding than walking.” - -“What are you doing down there in old man Nickerson’s?” asked the man. -“Ain’t you the boy that lives with old man Keeler! I hear that old man -Nickerson is dead.” - -“Yes sir. He just died a few days ago.” - -“Well, how much did he leave old man Jonas’s wife! I hear he was -powerful rich.” - -“I don’t know how much he was worth, but I don’t believe he left -anything.” - -“Now that is mighty mean of him. He has some money somewhere, and the -man what finds it is rich as Julius Caesar.” - -“I thought he must be worth $5,000 dollars,” said Nat. - -“Oh, my! Say $15,000 or $20,000, and you will just about hit it. You -see some fellows living around here think that the rebels got it, but -the old man was too sharp for them. Then they got mad and burned his -house and left him out in the cold; and then Jonas took him in. Did he -leave Jonas anything!” - -“No, I am quite sure he did not. Are there any ghosts down here in the -woods!” - -“Naw. There are some fellows who have been up here a time or two, and -when they came back they told wonderful stories of what they had seen -back there in the timber. But there is nothing to it.” - -Nat became silent after this and so did the man He began to be real -uneasy now, for there was a difference in the sum the old man had left -behind him. He drew a long breath every time he thought of the wide -gulf there was between $5,000 and $15,000 or $20,000, so much so that -the driver looked at him in surprise; but he had nothing to say for -which Nat was very thankful. In due time they arrived at Manchester, -and Nat, after thanking the man once more for his kindness, sprang from -the wagon and went into the store. - -“Well, sir, I declare, if one of them boys hasn’t come back,” said the -storekeeper, hurrying forward to shake hands with Nat. “Did you see -any of them ghosts and what did they say to you!” - -“I did not see one,” said Nat, with a smile. “I guess last night was -not their night to come out. Have you got my things handy?” - -“Yes sir. They are right up here where I put them. But what has become -of your pardner?” - -“You scared him out.” - -“Do you mean that he has run away? Well, I am sorry for that,” said the -storekeeper, on receiving an affirmative nod from Nat. - -“I am not sorry for it,” said Nat to himself. “It gave me just the -chance I was waiting for--to dig without his knowing it.” - -Without waiting for the man to ask him any more questions Nat picked -up the things he had left behind, including the pick-ax and spade, -and turned to go out when the storekeeper evidently wanted some other -matters settled. - -“You said yesterday that you were going up to them woods to look for -timber,” said he. “Now what do you want to do with those things!” he -went on, pointing to the spade and pick-ax. - -“There are some other things we wanted to fix,” said Nat, without an -instant’s hesitation. “We are going to put in some crops there, and we -want to repair the old man’s fence which has become torn down during -the war.” - -“Oh!” said the man, staring rather hard at Nat. “You will need an ax, -then.” - -“That reminds me. I came pretty near forgetting it.” - -Nat laid down his bundles again and the man turned to get the implement -he had spoken of, and while he was getting it down he kept his eyes -fastened on Nat’s face. But he said nothing more and saw him take his -purchases and leave the store. - -“Now maybe that story will do and maybe it won’t,” said the man, as -he came out from behind the counter and watched Nat going along the -street. “There is something else that you want to dig for. I wonder if -it is the old man’s money?” - -“They say that he had sights and gobs of it when he buried it to keep -it out of the hands of the rebels,” said a man who was seated in the -back part of the store, and who now came up to listen to what the -storekeeper had to say. “But the rebels didn’t get none of it. He hid -it where they couldn’t find it.” - -“They say he is living up to Jonas Keeler’s,” said the first. - -“Old man Nickerson is dead. He has been dead two or three days. It is a -wonder you had not heard of it.” - -“Well, sir, that boy is going to dig for the money,” said the -storekeeper, doubling up his huge fist and bringing it down upon the -counter. “Now what be we going to do about it!” - -“I don’t know of any other way than for me and you to go up there and -watch him while he digs for it,” said the customer, in a whisper. “When -he gets it dug up, we’ll just take it.” - -“And what will the boy do?” asked the storekeeper. - -“Oh, we can easy fool him. Let us play ghosts.” - -That was something new to the storekeeper. He drew nearer to his -customer and the two whispered long and earnestly. At length they -seemed to agree upon a plan, for the customer went out and the -storekeeper went back to his place behind the counter. - -“I let that fellow talk too much,” said Nat, as he walked hurriedly -away with his bundles in his arms. “He knows that I want to dig in the -ground, or else I wouldn’t have called for these things. I must get -back to my camp and go to work as soon as possible, or else I shall -have some one else on my back.” - -Nat was now harassed by another fear and to save his life he could not -shake it off. That storekeeper at Manchester knew there was no such -thing as ghosts in the woods, he knew that Peleg had been frightened -away by the bare mention of such objects as might be around in the -event of their search proving successful, and how did he know but that -the storekeeper and some one like him, might take it into their heads -to come up and look into the matter. He was now more afraid of those -men than he was of Jonas and Caleb. - -“I tell you it all depends upon getting my work done quick,” said Nat, -turning about and looking at the store. “That storekeeper will come up -there for fifteen or twenty--By gracious! I wish I had that money dug -up now.” - -The longer Nat dwelt upon the matter the greater haste seemed necessary -and the longer the distance was to the Nickerson woods. He broke into a -dog trot before he was fairly out of sight of the city, and by the time -he climbed the fence that threaded the bushes he was nearly exhausted. -Everything there was just as he left it; but so out of breath was Nat -that he threw himself on his bed of boughs and heartily wished he -possessed the strength of a dozen men. At length he sprang up and went -to work. He must do something or else see his fortune slip through his -grasp. He cut the lever with which to move the rock, trimmed it off -neatly and catching up his pick-ax and spade he jumped across the brook -and made his way up the hill. Hastily clearing away the bushes that had -grown up around the rock he thrust his lever under one side of it, got -under the other end, and to his surprise the rock moved with scarcely -an effort on his part. - -“Hail Columbia happy land!” gasped Nat, as he eased up for a moment on -the lever and surged upon it to obtain a new hold upon the rock. “The -thing moves, and that proves that it has been pried out of its bed -before. Come out here and let us see what’s under you.” - -The rock was heavier than Nat thought it was, but by dint of sheer hard -work he finally succeeded in getting it out of its bed and moved away -so that he could use his spade. To have seen him go about his work one -would have thought he had an all day’s job before him and that he was -to ask for his pay when his work was done. Although his face was very -white and his hands trembled, he took a spadeful of earth before he -threw it out, and once, when he saw the perspiration gathering upon -him, he stopped, took off his hat and wiped his forehead ere he set in -again. - -“I just know there is something here, but I will take it easy and -by the time I strike the money--but perhaps it isn’t money at all,” -murmured Nat, pausing in his exertions to see how much he had -accomplished. “Whatever there is, it has got to come out.” - -Before Nat got down as far as he wanted to go he came to the conclusion -that Mr. Nickerson must have thought that he had plenty of time at his -disposal, for he dug down at least two feet before he struck anything. -But the earth was soft, in all these years it had not become packed at -all, and that showed that there had been somebody there before him. -At length his spade hit something hard--something which he could not -remove. He dug down by the side of it and then found that it was a -board which completely filled up the space. To get the dirt off of the -rest of the board was comparatively easy, and then Nat threw out his -spade, stepped to one side and placed his hands under it. The sight -that met his gaze was enough to deprive him of the little strength he -had left. The space below him was literally filled up with bags--small -bags, to be sure, but one of them was so heavy that when Nat came to -lift it from its place and put it out of the hole so that he could -examine it, he found that handling it was quite as much as he wanted to -do. - -“Hail Columbia happy land!” said Nat again. “I am in luck for once in -my life. There is more than $5,000 in that bag.” - -Nat followed the bag out of the hole, carefully untied the string with -which it was closed and he was astonished at what he saw. The bag was -filled with gold pieces, twenties and tens and fives down to ones. That -one bag alone must have contained almost the sum he had named. - -“Now everything depends upon my quickness,” said Nat, seating himself -beside the bag and looking thoughtfully at the others. “What shall I -do with them now that I have got them? I must put them somewhere else.” - -Nat went about this work as though he could see into the future and -knew what was going to happen there in his camp in less than ten -minutes. He sprang into the hole again and as fast as he could raise -the bags they came out on the earth he had shoveled up. Then he came -out and running into his camp seized Peleg’s valise and emptied the -contents upon the ground. It was better than nothing, although it would -not hold more than two bags. The other one he carried under his arm -and then began looking around for some place to hide them. It did not -matter much where he put them so long as they could effectually hide -the spot from curious eyes. At last he stopped before a huge log which -had a quantity of leaves piled against it. To scrape those leaves away -with his hands was an easy matter, and his bags were hastily put in, -and yet there was enough for three others. They were quickly stowed -away in the new place, and with the spade Nat made everything look as -natural as it did before. - -The next thing was to fill up the hole and restore the rock to its -bed. It seemed to him that this was a task beyond his powers but -perseverance conquers all obstacles, and when it was done he threw -some leaves over the earth that was scattered around, put the branches -back in their place and then he was tired enough to sit down; but -there was still one thing that remained to be done. The contents of -Peleg’s valise had to be returned, and when this was done, without any -reference being made to the order in which his underwear was placed, -and his spade and pick-ax had been brought under the lean-to and the ax -hidden away in the bushes, Nat was ready to sit down and draw a long -breath of relief. - -“Hail Columbia, happy land!” said he to himself. “It is better to be -born lucky than rich. There must be as much as thirty or forty thousand -dollars in those bags. It is mine, Mr. Nickerson told me that he had no -kith or kin to leave it to, and I will die before I will give it up. I -am quite willing that anybody should come in here and go all over the -woods, and if he did not see me hide the money he will have his trouble -for his pains.” - -While this thought was passing through his mind he heard a sudden -rattling in the bushes behind him, and before he could start to -his feet to see who it was, the branches parted and Jonas Keeler’s -forbidding face came through. The face, half hidden by thick, bushy -whiskers, did not look much as it did when Nat last saw him. There was -an eager expression upon it, and his hands trembled so that he could -scarcely take his rifle down from his shoulder. - -“Well, sir, we have found you at last,” said Jonas, with a grin. - -“Yes sir, you have found me at last,” repeated Nat, sinking back upon -his bed of boughs again. - -Just at that moment the bushes parted again and Caleb came out. He -seemed more eager than his father was. He looked all around to make -sure that there was no one else present, and then walked into the camp -as though he had a right to. - -“Thank goodness here’s a gun,” said he, and the tenderness with which -he picked up his single barrel and looked it carefully over, would have -led one to believe that it was worth money. “Did you see anything to -shoot with it?” - -“No,” replied Nat. “The woods were perfectly quiet last night.” - -“Now, Nat, let us come to business at once,” said Jonas setting his -rifle down by the side of a tree and pushing back his sleeve. “Where is -the money that you have come here to dig up?” - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -_Two Brave Hunters._ - - -“Ghosts,” said Jonas Keeler, leaning his back against the side of the -barn and crossing his legs. “I didn’t know that there was any around -here, although we used to hear and see plenty of them down in Pike -County where I lived when I was a boy.” - -“Where did you go to find them, pap?” asked Caleb, who seemed to be -deeply interested in what his father had to say. - -“We didn’t go anywhere to see them. They generally came to us, and they -came, too, just when we didn’t want to see them. We used to find them -in grave-yards; and now and then they would come into our barns and -houses. What did they do to you, Peleg? You need not be afraid to speak -of them here, because there ain’t no ghosts about.” - -“They didn’t do anything to me,” answered Peleg, “cause why, I got -afraid and dug out.” - -Peleg had been looking for a place to sit down, and when nothing else -offered he sat down on the floor of the barn and drew his feet under -him. His story was a long one and immensely thrilling. He said that he -and Nat did not hear anything out of the ordinary until they came to -Manchester, and then the storekeeper put them on their guard. He told -about the queer things he had heard while going through the bushes, and -then he came to the strange words Nat had used--“Here I am and there -I am” until Jonas began to look wild. But when he came to the tree on -the hillside which dropped its boughs when Nat called upon him, Jonas’s -face, which had thus far betrayed the deepest interest, suddenly gave -away to a smile, and he finally threw his head back against the barn -and broke out into a violent laugh. - -“Now I will tell you what’s the fact; it is the truth and nothing -else,” stammered Peleg, who was lost in wonder. “I saw it with my own -eyes.” - -“No doubt you did,” said Jonas, wiping his eyes to get rid of the -tears that held to them. “But don’t you know that that was the sign of -falling weather? If you don’t, you have lived in this country a good -while for nothing.” - -“That’s what I tell him,” said Mr. Graves. “He has got so interested in -the ghosts that he is willing to believe he sees ghosts in everything.” - -“Well, all I have to say is, let them that think differently go down -there and stay all night,” said Peleg. “I won’t do it for no man’s -money.” - -“Did Nat feel afraid when you spoke of the ghosts?” asked Jonas. - -“Naw. That boy ain’t afraid of anything. He even called after me when I -started for home to come back again, but I didn’t go.” - -“Caleb, have you got them cows milked?” asked Jonas, getting upon his -feet. “Then you had better stir your stumps and we will go in and get -some breakfast. It is after grub time now, and I begin to feel hungry.” - -“Well, Jonas, what are you going to do?” inquired Mr. Graves, who -somehow took this as a gentle hint that he had got through with their -conversation. “Are you going down there to see about that money?” - -“Naw,” said Jonas; whereupon Caleb, who had gathered up a milk-bucket, -turned and looked at him with mouth and eyes wide open. “There ain’t no -money there. When Nat gets tired of looking for it he will come back.” - -Mr. Graves acted as though he wanted to say something else, but Jonas -picked up a fork and began tossing about the fodder and paid no further -attention to him. He waited a minute or two, then motioned to Peleg, -put his rifle on his shoulder and went out. Jonas continued tossing -about the fodder until they were well on their way to the house, and -then stood the fork up where it belonged and called to Caleb in a -whisper: - -“Say; do you believe all that boy said about ghosts?” said he. - -“Yes. Don’t you?” said Caleb in surprise. - -“No, I don’t. There may be some down there--I ain’t disputing that; but -Nat never used words to help him look for that money. Say, I am going -down there.” - -“Oh, pap!” was all Caleb could say in reply. - -“I am, and if there is money there, I will bet you he has found it.” - -“But, pap, you said there wasn’t any there.” - -“Don’t you see I said that just to keep old man Graves and his boy at -home? Hurry up and milk them cows and I will hitch up the horse.” - -“Are you going with the wagon?” - -“Course. It is easier to ride than it is to walk, and the first thing -we know--” - -“Must I go with you?” said Caleb, almost ready to drop. - -“Of course you are. I can’t go alone; and think of the money we will -have when we come back!” - -“Well, pap, you can go and I’ll stay here. It ain’t safe to go. Peleg -has been down there and he said he would not go again for no man’s -money. I’ve got a heap of work to do--” - -“Now, Caleb, you just shut up about the work you’ve got to do,” said -Jonas angrily. “You will have to go with me and that is all about it. -If Nat is not afraid of the ghosts, why should you be?” - -“Yes; but you know how good Nat was to the old man when he was alive. -If I had been that way, I could have gone, too.” - -Jonas evidently did not hear this last remark of Caleb’s, for he seized -the harness and went in to fix up the horse which did not look able to -travel twenty miles to save his life. But then that was the way that -Jonas’s stock all looked. In a few minutes he had the harness on and -led him out of the barn to hitch him to the wagon. It was just at this -time that Mr. Graves and his party were going outside the bars and his -wife was coming down the walk to meet him. She was coming with long -strides, too, as if she had something on her mind. - -“Say, Jonas,” said she, as soon as she was near enough to make him hear. - -“Well, say it yourself,” retorted Jonas. “I know all about it. I am -going down to old man Nickerson’s woods, me and Caleb are, and we are -going to have that money. Have you anything to say against it?” - -“Oh, Jonas, don’t you know that there are ghosts down there?” said Mrs. -Keeler, almost ready to believe that the man had taken leave of his -senses to propose such a thing. - -“Then that’s what his wife stopped in the house for,” said Jonas, and -he shouted out the words so that Mr. Graves could hear them. “What does -she know about ghosts? Now I heard all Peleg’s story, and I listened to -it as though I believed it; but if Nat is down there and can stay there -all night without the ghosts troubling him, why can’t other people do -it, too? There ain’t no ghosts there.” - -“Do you really think so, Jonas?” - -“I know it. You see by going with the horse we’ll get there in the -daytime, and everybody knows that ghosts can’t hurt you then. I will -make him get that money and then me and you will have good times.” - -“But maybe Nat won’t do it. He would be a fule to tell you where that -money is hidden.” - -Jonas was by this time engaged in hitching one of the traces to the -whiffletree of the wagon. He stopped in his work, leaned against his -horse which did not seem able to bear any weight but his own, and put -his hands into his pockets. - -“That boy is a plumb dunce if he is going down there to find that -money and then give it up to you, who didn’t do the first thing toward -helping him,” continued Mrs. Keeler. - -“What’s the reason Nat won’t give up the money to me?” demanded Jonas. - -“Because you won’t have your switch handy.” - -“I have my knife in my pocket, and I tell you that switches are as -handy down there in the woods as they be up here,” said Jonas, once -more turning to his work. “What did that old woman Graves have to say -to you?” - -“Oh, she told the awfulest stories of what Peleg had seen,” said Mrs. -Keeler, moving up to be a little closer to her husband. “She told about -the heads and horns coming out of the bushes--” - -“She made that all up out of her own head,” interrupted Jonas, who -became angry again. “Peleg did not see anything, because if he had, Nat -would have become frightened, too. Now is breakfast ready? I am just -crazy to be on my way to them woods. When you see us coming back, you -can just take them old caliker gowns of yours and bundle them into the -fire. You won’t have any more use for them.” - -Mrs. Keeler tried to look pleased at this, but somehow or other she -could not help thinking of the work Jonas would have to do before she -could take those “caliker gowns” and tumble them into the fire. But -she did not say any more for she knew it would be useless. She led the -way toward the house to get breakfast ready, and Jonas followed with -the wagon. Caleb came along presently with the milk, and he was the -most sober one in the lot. He knew better than to refuse to go with his -father, for there was that switch down in the barn. It had not been -brought into use since his father threatened to apply it to Nat for -saying that he would not give up the shoes he had purchased, and Caleb -did not want to see it brought out for his benefit. - -Jonas was evidently not at ease during breakfast, for he talked -incessantly about the money which he knew was there, and the way he was -going to induce Nat to show it to him. - -“Just let me touch that switch to him once and see how quick he will -run to that place where the money is hidden,” said Jonas, with an -approving wink at his son. “He will go so fast that you can’t see him -for the dust. If he don’t do it, I have another thing that will get -next to him. I’ll tie him up and leave him there in the woods without a -bite to eat or a drop to drink, and see how long he will be in coming -to his senses.” - -The breakfast being over there was nothing to detain them. Caleb got -up and took down his father’s rifle which he closely examined. With -that in his hands he was pretty sure that he could fight his way with -any ghost that came in his path. - -“Put a double charge of powder in there and two bullets,” said Jonas. -“That’s the way I come it over a deer, and I will bet you if one of -them ghosts gets those balls in his head--Well, he will be a dead -ghost, that’s all.” - -“You will let me carry the rifle, won’t you?” said Caleb. - -“No, I reckon I had best carry it myself and you do the driving,” said -Jonas, stretching out his hand for the weapon. “You can drive that old -horse a heap faster than I can, and if I see one of those horns stuck -out from the bushes--” - -“Now, Jonas, don’t talk that way,” whined Mrs. Keeler, casting uneasy -glances about the room. “There may be one of them here now.” - -“Naw, there ain’t. There ain’t no ghosts in the world. If you are ready -Caleb, jump in. You will see us somewhere about sun-down.” - -Jonas went ahead to lower the bars so that the wagon could drive -through, and then, paying no further attention to his wife, he climbed -to his seat, and Caleb cracked the whip and drove off. - -“Hit the old fellow and make him go faster,” said Jonas. “We must get -there by sun up, and have plenty of time to do the work besides. If we -don’t, we have got to come home in the dark.” - -This was all the encouragement that Caleb needed to make him keep up a -tremendous beating of the horse all the way to Manchester. The horse -suffered and did his best, but he did not seem to carry them over the -miles very rapidly; but at length, to Caleb’s immense relief, the -village appeared in sight. Of course the travelers were hungry and the -horse needed watering, and so they drew up before the store at which -Nat had purchased his things. Of course, too, the storekeeper knew -them; he knew everybody within a circle of twenty miles around, and -greeted them very cordially. - -“Well, if there ain’t Jonas,” said he, briskly. “Are you going up to -the woods to see how Nat is getting on? He was in here an hour or so -ago, but I don’t see what he got those things for. He told me that he -was going to look at some timber, and he bought a pick-ax and spade. -Now what is he going to do with them?” - -This was the same man who had waited on Nat when he was in the store, -and he was determined to find out what those digging implements were to -be used for. The customer whom he had consulted, was outside attending -to some necessary business and getting a team ready to go up to Mr. -Nickerson’s woods and find out, but he looked upon Jonas’s coming as a -most fortunate thing, and he hoped that by some adroit questioning he -could learn something; but he soon gave it up as a bad job. - -“Now the boy doesn’t want a pick-ax and spade to find timber with, does -he?” continued the storekeeper. “He must be going to dig in the ground -with them, and I would like to know what he is after. He said he was -going to repair some fences; but I did not believe it.” - -“Give me ten cents’ worth of crackers and ten cents’ worth of cheese,” -said Jonas, who wanted to get a little time to think about this matter. -“I believe we are going to have falling weather before long.” - -“It looks like it now,” said the man, hurrying to fulfill Jonas’s -order. “We need rain badly. What did you say Nat wanted that spade and -pick-ax for?” - -“Oh yes; he is going to fix some fences, and of course he needs a -spade to get the blocks in right,” said Jonas, who had been doing some -tremendous thinking while the storekeeper was getting out his crackers -and cheese. “I am going up to look at him and see that he does his work -right Yes, the old man is dead,” said he, in reply to a question. “And -if I can pay the tax rates on this place I shall have it.” - -“Did he leave you anything?” asked the storekeeper. “I suppose that is -what you are looking out for.” - -“I don’t know why I should look for that more’n anything else,” said -Jonas, in a tone of voice that showed the storekeeper that he did not -care to answer any more questions on this point. “The money was his -own, and he left it to whom he pleased.” - -Having secured his crackers and cheese and the horse having drunk all -he could, Jonas and Caleb climbed into the wagon again and continued on -their way. At this moment the customer drove up with a team. - -“It is no go, Eph,” said the storekeeper. “That’s Jonas in that wagon. -He did not say anything about money, but I will tell you what I think: -If the old man has left any money, he has got it hidden up there in the -woods. Let us wait until the boy comes down here and then go for him.” - -“It beats the world how everybody seems to think that the old man had -left us some money,” said Jonas, as plainly as a mouthful of cracker -would permit. “Everyone seems to think that the old man had money, and -I believe he had, too. And it all rests with Nat. If he’s found it I -am going to know where it is. Hit him hard, Caleb, and make him go -faster.” - -The six miles that lay between them and the village seemed to have -lengthened out wonderfully, but the old horse finally covered the -distance at last and drew up at the place where the boys had crossed -the fence to enter the bushes. There had been somebody through there, -that was plain; but Caleb’s eyes grew wild when he looked at the dark -masses of brush that lay before him; and even Jonas was not quite so -lively as he had been. - -“I tell you it is mighty dark in there,” said the elder, getting his -rifle into shape for instant shooting. “Go ahead, Caleb.” - -“Now I won’t do it,” said Caleb, seizing his father’s arm and trying to -push him toward the fence. “Give me the gun and I’ll go.” - -But that gun was something that Jonas did not want to part with. He -felt safe when he had that weapon, and that was more than could be said -if Caleb had charge of it. - -“Well, stay right close behind me and then nobody can hurt you,” said -Jonas, speaking two words for himself and one for Caleb. “Don’t run -away. The best way to fight these ghosts is to--” - -“But, pap, you say there isn’t any,” Caleb reminded him. - -“Now I don’t believe there is; but it is well to be on the safe side. -Come on, now.” - -It was hard work for Jonas to screw up his courage to cross the fence, -but he finally did it at last. As soon as he was safe in the bushes -Caleb scrambled after him. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -_The Rabbit’s Foot._ - - -Jonas and Caleb found it a hard task to work their way through those -thick bushes toward the back end of Mr. Nickerson’s dooryard. There had -been a path in former times, but it had been used so very seldom of -late that the briers and branches had grown over it until it was pretty -nearly obstructed. Caleb listened for the queer sounds that Peleg had -heard while going through there, but nothing attracted his attention -and he began to believe that there was nothing unusual in there. Jonas -worked his way ahead without saying anything, and finally pushed the -last bush aside and sprang out in full view of Nat’s camp. He cast -his eager eyes around to see if any of the money had been dug up, but -he could see nothing of it. Nat looked just like a hunter who was -enjoying a rest after a long day in the woods. - -“Well, sir, we have found you at last,” were the first words Jonas -uttered. “Now where is the money that you have come to dig up?” - -“What money?” inquired Nat, slowly rising to his feet. - -“Aw! What money?” shouted Jonas, going under the lean-to, catching up -Peleg’s valise and shaking it to be sure that there was no money in it. -“I mean that money you have come here to dig up--the money that old man -Nickerson hid here during the war; the money that you have been drawing -on to buy him tobacco? Where is it?” - -“You have the camp and you see everything that is to be seen,” said -Nat. “Where the money is I don’t know. Yes, I do know,” he added to -himself. “But I am going to keep it to myself.” - -“Whoo-pee!” said Jonas again. “Did you come down here for nothing? I -know you didn’t; and I must know where that money is and all about it, -or there will be the worst whipped boy here in these woods that you -ever heard tell of. Once more and for the last time, I ask you where it -is.” - -“You can just look around and find it for yourself,” replied Nat, who, -by gradually working his way around, had succeeded in getting between -Jonas and the bushes. “If Mr. Nickerson left any money I don’t know -where it is. He would not leave it up here in the woods for it to rot -all away and do nobody any good.” - -“No, I don’t think he would do that. He thought too much of a dollar to -waste it in that way; but he could leave it up here in the woods and -tell you where to find it when he was through with it. Now, Nat, where -is it? Tell me, honor bright, and I will give you half of it; I will, -so sure as I stand here.” - -“You must look around and find it, for I don’t know where it is,” -replied Nat; and the expression on his face showed that he was in -earnest in his decision to keep the hiding place of the money all to -himself. “If you find it you can have it all.” - -“I’ll bet you I do, and you will go without shoes and clothes this -winter,” said Jonas, slipping his hand into his pocket and looking -around at the trees as if he were searching for a switch. “I made you -an offer and you won’t take it, and now I will look for myself; but -first you are going to have something to remember that offer by. What -do you find there, Caleb?” - -“There ain’t nothing in Peleg’s valise because I have looked all -through it,” replied Caleb. “But here is something I can’t see into.” - -As he spoke he passed the spade over to his father, running his fingers -through some dirt that still adhered to it. - -“That spade has been used since it came up here, and if it could speak -it would tell you something about the money,” continued Caleb. “He has -dug it up and hid it away in another place.” - -“Caleb, you are right” said Jonas, examining the spade. “Now where is -it? Caleb, you just keep an eye on him while I cut a switch. I will bet -you that he will tell all about it in less’n five minutes.” - -“I can’t tell you about a thing that I don’t know,” said Nat. - -“No; but you only think you have forgotten. A switch has a big means -of starting one’s intellect, and when you see that swinging over your -head, you will think faster than you do now.” - -“Pap, I believe we are onto the track of the money at last,” said -Caleb, who seemed to have forgotten all about the ghosts. “Lay it onto -him good fashion, and we’ll go back home--by gracious! I wouldn’t take -ten dollars for my chance.” - -The words seemed to encourage Jonas, who presently pulled down a big -bough and began to cut it loose. It was a large limb, larger than the -one he would have taken to beat his horse with, and while he used his -knife upon it, Caleb slipped around until he got on the outside of Nat, -that is between him and the bushes, and stood regarding him with a -smile of intense satisfaction. - -“Don’t hit me with that thing,” said Nat, suddenly straightening up -until he seemed to grow larger and stronger than Caleb had ever seen -him look before. “If you do you will at ways regret it.” - -“Oh, no, I won’t hit you with it,” said Jonas, with a sort of laugh -that sounded more like the growl of an enraged animal. “I’ll just wear -you out with it unless you tell me what has been going on here and all -about it. You know where that money is, and I am going to find out -before I let you go. You hear me?” - -There was something about Nat that did not look exactly right to Caleb. -He thought that his father had undertaken a bigger job than he could -accomplish by endeavoring to force the boy to tell where his money was -hidden, and if he could work it some way so as to get “upon Nat’s blind -side” and coax him to tell what he wanted to know, why the way would be -so much the easier for them. He resolved to try it, but he did not have -time to try it all. - -“Come now, Nat, you see how pap is going to lick you, don’t you?” said -he. “Now tell me where the money is and you will get off scott free. -Come now, Nat. Me and you has always been the best of friends--” - -What else Caleb was going to say he did not have time to say it, that -is while he was standing erect. The place on which Nat was standing -was suddenly vacant, Caleb’s left arm received a wrench and his foot -a trip, and both of them sent him headlong into the bushes. A moment -afterward Nat dashed into the bushes and was out of sight in an instant. - -“By gum!” said Caleb, slowly raising himself upon his elbow and gazing -in the direction Nat had taken. “Pap, he has got away.” - -“_Well!_” exclaimed Jonas, who being concealed from view of the boys -had not seen Nat when he made his bold dash for freedom. “Has he run -away?” - -“Yes, sir, he has run away; and he throwed me--” - -Jonas came around the tree and found that Nat was not there. He glanced -all around in every direction but the boy he had hoped to try the -switch upon was somewhere else. Caleb was just crawling to his feet. - -“And did you stand there and let him go?” demanded Jonas, and he half -raised the switch as if he had a mind to lay it over Caleb’s shoulders. -“Why didn’t you stop him?” - -“You might as well try to stop a hurricane as to stop that fellow,” -said Caleb, holding one hand to his elbow. “I never saw a boy go so -before.” - -“Well, now, catch him; catch him,” shouted Jonas. “Which way did he go?” - -“Out there among the bushes; and pap, I just ain’t a-going in there -after him. Maybe he’ll get those ghosts on his side.” - -Jonas, who had been on the point of rushing into the bushes in pursuit -of Nat, stopped when he heard those words and pulled off his hat and -dashed it upon the ground at his feet. Then Caleb saw that his father -was afraid of ghosts as he was himself. It was only his desire to -possess the money that had induced him to come there. Caleb stood -holding fast to his elbow and waiting to see what he was going to do -about it. - -“Dog-gone such luck!” said Jonas. - -“That’s just what I say,” replied Caleb. “Why did not the old man leave -his money to you or mam like he had oughter do? Now nobody won’t get -it.” - -“Nobody except that miserable Nat,” sputtered Jonas. “I have a good -notion to use the switch on you for letting him go.” - -“Well, pap, you would not make anything by that. I was talking to him -like a Dutch uncle, and the first thing I knew I was flat on my back, -and he was just going out of sight. I did not hear anything of him from -the time he struck the bushes. Do you hear him now?” - -Jonas listened but all the sound he heard was the chirping of birds and -the faint sough of the wind as the breeze swept through the bushes. -Everything was as still as a graveyard; it seemed too still for the -woods. Jonas listened for a moment and then gathered up his hat and put -it on his head. - -“Let’s go home,” whispered Caleb. “This ain’t no place for us.” - -“That’s just what I was thinking of,” said Jonas, in the same cautious -whisper. “Let’s take everything he has got in his lean-to and dig out. -We shall have to hurry because it will be dark before we reach home.” - -“I don’t believe in taking Peleg’s valise and gun back to him,” -observed Caleb. “He brought them out here and he can take them back.” - -“Well, that is so,” said Jonas, who was busy picking up the spade and -pick-ax and such provisions as he could find. “But in the present -opportunity we want Peleg and his pap to believe that we were here. We -have got a fearful story to tell when we go back, and we want them to -believe us.” - -“That is so, too; but, pap, we won’t go back through the bushes, will -we?” - -“Not much we won’t,” exclaimed Jonas, as if he were surprised at the -mere mention of such a thing. “Nat’s in there, and who knows but what -he has got some of the ghosts to help him along?” - -“I’ll bet you that is just what he did,” said Caleb, dropping the -armful of things which he had gathered up. “I did not hear hide nor -hair of him after he got into the bushes.” - -Father and son were not long in picking up the things that were -scattered about the lean-to (they did not find the ax because that -was concealed in the bushes), and with them in their hands they beat -a hasty retreat from the camp, following the course that Peleg had -pursued when he was there on a former occasion. They reached the bars, -stopping now and then to cast furtive glances behind them, and when -they got fairly into the road their courage began to return to them. - -“I will tell you just what is the matter with us,” said Jonas. “We have -not got a rabbit’s foot between us.” - -“I do think in my soul that that’s what’s the matter,” said Caleb, -stopping short and looking at his father. “Do you reckon that Nat has -one of them?” - -Now a rabbit’s foot is something that is held in high esteem by the -negroes at the South, and by some of the white people, too. Whenever -you kill a rabbit, take one of the feet off and put it into your -pocket; or, if you are already provided for in that respect, take the -foot and give it to some one who has not got any. Thus equipped you are -free from every danger. Ghosts can not disturb you, and if you have to -pass a graveyard or a house that is haunted after dark, it will see you -safely through. Beyond a doubt this was what was the matter with Jonas -and his son. They had thought of their rabbit’s feet when it was too -late to be of service to them. They were kept at home on the mantle -piece, snugly stowed away so that they could be seized at a moment’s -warning, and they had come away and never thought a word about them. - -“Now did anybody ever hear of such luck?” said Jonas, in disgust. “I -have a rabbit’s foot and so have you; and by leaving them at home is -what has beaten us. We will go down there to-morrow or next day and see -what luck we shall have.” - -“Do you reckon that Nat has one of them!” repeated Caleb, who was -greatly relieved to know what it was that had brought them such ill -luck. “Of course he had, or he never could have called upon them ghosts -to help him.” - -“Dog-gone such luck,” repeated Jonas, who kept turning this matter over -in his mind. “He wouldn’t go away and leave his rabbit’s foot behind -when he was engaged in such business, would he? I tell you I am going -to keep it in my pocket wherever I go. It ain’t safe to be without it.” - -It was a long way by the road to the place where they had left their -horse, and every step of the way they looked at the bushes fearful that -Nat would come out at them accompanied by one or more of the ghosts. -When they reached the wagon Jonas climbed in without any words, leaving -Caleb to turn the horse around, and to take care of his rifle which he -hastily handed to him. - -“I think I will drive going back,” said he, “He is going toward home -now, and perhaps I can make him step pearter than you did.” - -Caleb saw through his father’s little trick, but he gave in to it -without saying a word. He was going to have the handling of the rifle -now, and he breathed a good deal easier as he clutched the weapon and -seated himself on the seat beside Jonas. He did not care if Nat had -three or four ghosts to back him up. He was a sure shot with a gun, and -he was certain that there would be one ghost less in the country should -one show himself. - -The old horse stepped out wonderfully under the new driver, and it was -not long before Jonas’s courage all came back to him and he could talk -about what happened there in Mr. Nickerson’s dooryard without shouting -himself hoarse. - -“That there is what’s the matter with us, Caleb,” said he, turning on -his seat and greeting him with an approving wink. “It beats the world, -as long as I have lived in this country, that I did not think of that -rabbit’s foot before I left home. But we will try them again some -day--” - -“It has got to be pretty soon too, pap,” interrupted Caleb. “Nat has -seen that money already. He has got it hidden somewhere else.” - -“I believe you are right,” said Jonas, “or else how come that dirt -on his spade? And to think we had to give it up just on account of -not having that rabbit’s foot! These little things sometimes make big -changes in our affairs, Caleb?” - -Caleb must have thought of this matter all the way home, but he -breathed a little easier when the ancestral roof came in sight. His -mother was there and she came down to the bars to lower them. As the -tired old horse entered the yard she looked at Jonas, but the latter -shook his head in a most discouraging manner. - -“I just knew how it would be,” said she. - -“And just on account of leaving that rabbit’s foot behind,” said Caleb. - -“I noticed them, and I had a good notion to holler at you and tell you -to take them with you,” said Mrs. Keeler. “But I supposed that you -knew what you were doing.” - -None of the family said anything more until they had got to the barn -and turned the horse out, and fed him with a handful of grass, and then -Jonas seated himself on a bucket, which he turned upside down, and -gave his wife a full history of the events that had happened to them -since they went away in the morning; that is he had the groundwork of -truth for its foundation, but there was many a little item which he -put in that occurred to him as he went along. Whenever he touched upon -anything which his wife found it hard to believe, he always appealed to -Caleb, and the latter never failed to corroborate all he said. - -“And do you think that he got those spirits to help him when he went -into the bushes?” asked Mrs. Keeler. - -“He did; else why didn’t he make some noise while he was going through -them?” asked Jonas, in reply. “He went along as still as a bird on the -wing. It was of no use for anybody to try to follow him. Well, that -is once we failed, but the next time we will fight him with his own -weapons. Caleb, don’t you forget those two rabbits’ feet the next time -we go.” - -“You bet I won’t,” replied Caleb. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -_The Storekeeper in Action._ - - -Nat’s heart was in his month because he did not believe he could escape -from Jonas, and Caleb so easily. The noise he necessarily made in -running through the bushes would naturally guide them in the pursuit, -and Jonas was noted for his lightness of foot, and Caleb also, for that -matter. But it was now or never. The switch was being prepared for him, -and in a few minutes more he would feel the full weight of Jonas’s arm; -and that it would fall by all his strength, Nat did not doubt in the -least. - -“Here goes,” said Nat, to himself. “If I fail they can’t any more than -whip me, and if I get away--” - -Nat did not wait to finish all the sentence that was in his mind. He -bounded from his place as if he had been set upon springs, a short -skirmish with Caleb who was overturned as easily as a child, and he was -safe in the bushes which closed up behind him, and the twigs in his -path seemed to give away before him on their own accord. He ran down -the path with all the speed he could command, jumped as far to the left -as he could and stretched himself out flat on the ground and waited to -see what was going to happen. By the merest accident he lay down not -ten feet from his camp, and consequently he was within full hearing of -their voices while they remained there. - -“By gum!” said Caleb, slowly, as he picked himself up from the bushes -into which he had been thrown. “Pap, he has got away.” - -He heard Jonas when he came around the trees and knew when he raised -the switch intending to use it on Caleb for not keeping guard over Nat. -He listened in the hope that Caleb would feel the full force of that -switch, for he had a long account against him and he did not think that -any blow he could have received would have been amiss. - -“He has got my shoes,” said Nat to himself, and it was all that he -could do to refrain from speaking the words outright. “Give him a few -good licks to pay him for that.” - -But we know that Jonas did not use the switch upon Caleb, but talked -with him about other matters. He knew when they examined the spade -again to find the dirt upon it, but all thoughts that they would pursue -him were turned into another channel by Caleb’s request: “Let us go -home. This is no place for us.” But there was another fear that came -over him just then. They were going home, but they intended to remove -everything there was in his camp, provisions and all, and leave Nat to -get along as best he could. - -“Never mind; I’ve got my money in my hat,” said Nat, pulling off the -article in question and feeling of his roll of bills. “And even if he -robs me, what harm will it do? I have some more money stowed away, and -it is where nobody can find it.” - -Nat lay there in his concealment and waited patiently for Jonas and -Caleb to get through with picking up the articles they wanted to take -with them and leave the camp. He knew they would not come back through -the bushes, but would go across the field and so steer clear of them. -He drew a long breath of relief, and finally raised himself upon his -knees as they passed out of the ravine, but still he did not think it -wise to show himself until the creaking of wheels, loudly proclaiming -their need of wagon grease, was heard, slowly at first, then increasing -in volume as the horse responded to the whip, and when it had died -away entirely he got upon his feet and made his way back to the camp. -Everything that could have been of use to him had disappeared. - -“Now the next thing will be something else and what shall it be?” said -Nat, throwing himself upon his bed of boughs and turning the matter -over in his mind. “I can’t live without something to eat--that is plain -enough to be seen; and I don’t know about going down to Manchester for -more grub. Of course somebody there saw Jonas when he came through, and -what kind of an excuse will I make for coming back there after more -provisions! I have told so many lies lately that I want to keep out of -it now, if I can.” - -For ten minutes Nat laid there trying to make up his mind what to do, -and then got up prepared for action. He wanted to see where he had -left his money, and then he would go on to Manchester and be governed -by circumstances. If Jonas had not stopped there to converse upon his -object of going to old man Nickerson’s fields, well and good. He would -purchase some new clothes, the first he had ever owned, enough crackers -and cheese to last him on his way to St Louis, come back to his camp -after dark, secure his money, and then the place which had known him so -long would know him no more forever. When be was away among strangers -and nobody knew who he was, he would be ready to begin his life over -again. - -“That is what I will do,” said Nat, wending his way up the hill. “My -first thing must be to get some new clothes, or when I come to put that -money in the bank they will think right away that I have stolen it, -and there will be more trouble for me. I should not dare to send for -anyone here to prove who I am, for they would turn me out the biggest -rascal upon earth, so that they could get the money; so what should I -do? By George! I am not out of trouble yet.” - -In a few minutes Nat arrived beside the log under which he had buried -Mr. Nickerson’s money, or rather he called it his own money now, and -everything looked just as it did when he left there. No one had been -near it. He threw some more bushes over the place, kicked some leaves -around it and then set out for Manchester. He felt his responsibility -and it is not right to say that he carried a light heart beneath his -jacket, for he did not. He began to see that there was a big difference -in wishing for money and having it. He found that it was some trouble -to take care of his treasure. - -He shortly reached the road near the spot where Jonas and Caleb had -left their horse, but there was no one in sight. He climbed over the -fence and kept on his way, looking neither to the right hand nor the -left, so impatient was he to reach his journey’s end, and finally he -stood in the store where he had been several times before; but he did -not know what those two men in the back part of the store were talking -about. They looked up as Nat entered, and instantly a smile overspread -their faces and one of them hastened forward to greet him. - -“Well, if here ain’t that smart looking boy again I don’t want a cent,” -said he, and he was so pleased to see Nat that he laughed all over. -“Say, Jonas and Caleb have just been here, and I would like to know -what made them leave in such a hurry. They did not see any ghosts, did -they!” - -“No,” said Nat, in disgust. “Have you been treating them to some -stories, too? They left some work to do back at home, and went there to -attend to it. You scared one fellow out but you can’t scare me out.” - -“I never was so sorry for anything in my life,” said the man. “I saw -that Peleg could be easily frightened, and so I started that ghost -story on him.” - -“Have you got anything to eat in the store?” asked Nat, who did not -want to talk about the ghosts any more. “They took away all the -provisions I had.” - -“Of course we have,” said the man briskly. “What do you want? Say. Did -you find that money you were looking for?” - -“What money?” asked Nat, in surprise. - -“Oh, come Nat, there is no use of your trying to play off on us in that -style,” said the storekeeper; and there was just a shade that darkened -his brow as if he were getting angry. “You went up there to dig up some -money, didn’t you, now?” - -“I wish you would give me those provisions and let me go along back,” -said Nat, who did not much like the way the man eyed him. “I don’t know -anything about any money.” - -“See here, Nat,” whispered the man, putting his face close to the boy’s -ear and holding his arm, “if you will tell me where that money is--” - -“I tell you I don’t know anything about it,” declared Nat, pulling away -from the man’s grasp. “If you don’t want to sell me some grub, I will -go elsewhere.” - -“Come with me; I want to see you,” whispered the storekeeper, retaining -his hold upon Nat’s arm and drawing him toward a side door. - -“Say what you have got to say right here,” said Nat. “There is no -secret about it. I dug up no money while I was there, and I don’t care -who knows it.” - -“But I don’t want that everybody should know what I am going to say to -you,” urged the man; and as if to add emphasis to his words he seized -the boy with both hands, fairly lifted him from the floor, carried him -through the side door which closed behind him. “Now will you listen to -what I have to say to you?” he added, with a wicked glitter in his eye. -“I have got you now, and here you are going to stay as long as I want -you.” - -At this moment the door opened and the customer came in. He, too, was -in the plot if such it could be called, for he evinced no surprise at -what he saw. - -“Is the way all clear?” asked the storekeeper. - -“Yes; there is no one on the streets,” replied the customer. “Now what -be you going to do with him?” - -“We’ll take him back in the storeroom and shut him up there,” was the -answer. “What do you think of that, my boy? There you will wait until -you are ready to reply to such questions as I ask you, with a big -bull dog to keep an eye on you. If you try to get out there won’t be -anything left of you in the morning.” - -While the man was talking in this way he was dragging rather than -leading Nat toward the back part of the store, and at last halted in -front of a door where he released him, and began searching in his -pockets to find the key. It was dark in there, owing to the fact that -there were no windows to let in light upon the scene, and when he found -the key and inserted it into the lock, a growl followed by a deep-toned -bark came from the inside. The animal that uttered it must have been -fierce; that was easy enough to be seen. - -“Now you see what you’ll get if you try to get away,” said the -storekeeper, throwing open the door. “I reckon you will think twice -before you come any of your tricks on Benny; hey, old dog.” - -Nat’s heart seemed to stop beating. If there was anything in the -world that he was afraid of it was a savage dog. He looked at Benny, -and rightly concluded that “he would not come any of his tricks” on -that beast. He was the worst looking dog that Nat had ever seen. He -was small, but he had an immense head, and his under jaw stuck out so -that his teeth could be plainly seen. He was yellow all over except -his head, which was as black as if he had been painted, and he was -bob-tailed. He did not appear to be gratified by this intrusion at all. -He would hardly get out of his way when the man pushed him aside and -pointed to a box and told Nat to sit down there. - -“I tell you I don’t know anything about that money,” said Nat, who was -quite alarmed at the idea of being shut in that room over night with -such a dog for a companion. “I will go up there with you and help you -dig for it; that is if you think it is in the ground.” - -“Of course we know it is in the ground or else you wouldn’t need a -spade and pick-ax to throw it out with,” answered the storekeeper. “You -tell us where it is, and let us go up and dig for it.” - -“I can’t tell you for I don’t know;” said Nat. - -“Very well; then you can stay here until you find out,” said the man, -fiercely. “When you get so hungry and thirsty that you can’t stand it -any longer, you just yell and I will be around. Will you tell us?” - -“I have already answered your question until I am tired of it,” said -Nat, seating himself on the box, with a determined look on his face. -“If I stay here until I die you won’t get anything else out of me.” - -“Well, good-by,” said the man, moving toward the door. “We are going up -right now to look for it, and when we come back, perhaps we will tell -you how much we have made. Watch him, Benny. Keep an eye on him, and if -he goes near that window, just take him down and serve him the way you -did that burglar that got into the store last week.” - -With this parting advice to his dog the storekeeper went out followed -by his customer, and Nat heard the key as it grated harshly in the -lock. He sat perfectly still, he was afraid to do otherwise, for, now -that his eyes became somewhat accustomed to the darkness, he could -see that the dog kept his position beside the door, and seemed to be -awaiting some move on his part. Once or twice he licked his huge jaw as -if he were tired of waiting. - -“Well, sir, I am in for it now,” said Nat, running his eye along the -wall as if he were looking for that window of which the storekeeper -had spoken. “I would not be safer if I were shut up in jail. That -dog--Whew! I don’t want anything to do with him.” - -The dog evidently knew what opinion Nat cherished toward him, for after -waiting in vain for him to make some advances, he came over to Nat and -laid his chin upon his knee. Nat could hardly keep from yelling when -he saw the dog advancing toward him, but when he reached the boy and -worked his nose as if he were trying to place his hand upon his head, -his heart gave a thrill of delight. - -“Well, by gum!” said Nat, unconsciously making use of the same -expression that Caleb had used when Nat threw him headlong into the -bushes. “I believe the dog is friendly;” and he raised his hand and -placed it on the dog’s head. - -Nat had never been more astonished in his life. The dog’s appearance -was against him; but that was as far as it went. He was a good, honest -dog in reality, and seemed to sympathize with Nat in his trouble. - -“Benny, good Benny; I believe you are a good dog yet,” said Nat, -reaching down and patting the animal on the side. Benny not only -submitted to it, but when he saw that Nat was about to stop he worked -his nose again as if he meant him to continue. “I believe now that I -will try that window,” said Nat, a bright idea striking him. “Since -Benny is all right if I sit here, he will be all right if I move -around.” - -Nat had by this time located the window, and he arose from his box and -moved toward it as though he had a perfect right there. Benny moved -with him, and did not raise any objections when Nat seized the staple -with which the window was fastened and exerted his strength to open -it. It was a heavy window, and was doubtless used for passing in and -out bulky goods that would take up too much room in the store; but it -yielded to Nat’s muscle at last, and by pushing it open a little way he -let a flood of light into his prison and could also see what there was -outside. He found that the opening gave entrance into a kind of stable -yard, bounded by a shed on one side, and by pushing it open a little -more, he saw that on the other side it ran down to the street. His -escape was now only the question of a few minutes had he cared to leave -at this time. - -“Glory!” whispered Nat, closing and fastening the shutter and stooping -down to caress Benny. “I dare not try it now, for fear that that -storekeeper may be on the watch; but when it comes dark, we won’t stay -in this house any longer. Hail! Columbia happy land!” - -Nat now felt at ease. He pulled off his hat, felt of his roll of -bills and then began to pat the dog and talk to him. He had certainly -determined on one thing and that was to take the dog with him. He had -some money, how much he did not know, and it would be the source of -immense relief to him to know that he had someone whose looks would -help him through. - -“I will bet that there won’t be anybody pitch into me to see what I -have got with me, if he only takes one look at you,” said Nat, stroking -the dog’s head. “I never had a dog take up with me this way before. I -tell you, Benny, you came in just right.” - -It must have been two o’clock by the time Nat was shut up in that -room, so he had six or seven hours of waiting to go through before the -storekeeper would come around again to see how he felt over telling him -where he had left that money. There was one thing about it: He would -not tell him; he would die first He kept repeating this resolution over -and over again until the sun went down, and it began to grow so dark in -his prison that he could not see his hand before him. An hour passed, -and then a key rattled in the lock, the dog gave one of his tremendous -barks and took his stand in front of the door, which presently opened -admitting somebody, it was so dark that he could not see a single -feature on him. But it was the storekeeper. He knew him as soon as he -spoke. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -_Nat Wood, Gentleman._ - - -“Hi there!” exclaimed the storekeeper, as he threw open the door and -stepped over threshold. “Keeping watch over him yet, ain’t you, Benny? -I told you it wouldn’t be safe for you to try to get away. Yes, here’s -some supper for you, Benny. Nat can’t have any until he gets ready to -talk to me. How do you come on, Nat?” - -“About as comfortably as I can, kept here in the dark and with a savage -dog for a companion,” said Nat. “I wish you would take me out where it -is a little lighter.” - -“I could not possibly think of it,” said the man, with a laugh. “You -think you are smart, don’t you! We know where that money was hidden, -and we have been up there and got it.” - -It was lucky for Nat that the storekeeper had come in there without a -light, for the way these words were spoken fairly took his breath away. -This was something that he had not bargained for. He settled back on -his box trying to find something to lean against, and could not say -anything to save his life. - -“What do you say to that, my boy?” asked the man. “You did not know -that we could find that money without asking you, did you?” - -“Where--where did you find it?” stammered Nat, suppressing his -excitement, and it was all he could do to utter the words. - -“Oh, we found it under a tree where the old man had left it,” said the -storekeeper, carelessly. “I tell you he must have gone down deep, for -we dug a trench there that was as deep as we were.” - -Nat straightened up again and drew a long breath. If the storekeeper -told the truth, he had not yet found the money. He had not dug in the -place where it was concealed in the first instance, because he did not -say anything about the stone which needed a lever to pry it out of its -bed. - -“Well, you have done more than I could do,” said he, after thinking a -moment. “You have the money--How much did you get?” - -“Oh, about fifteen or twenty thousand dollars,” replied the man. “We -were in such a hurry that we didn’t stop to count it. But we have -enough to keep us without work as long as we live.” - -“Now what is to hinder you from turning me loose?” asked Nat “I can’t -do you any more good by staying here.” - -“I forgot to speak about that to my pardner,” said the man, who was -taken all aback by this proposition. “And he has gone away and I shan’t -see him for a week.” - -“And are you going to keep me here all that time?” - -“We might as well. You see we don’t want you to go up and tell Jonas -and Caleb about this thing, for they might make us trouble.” - -“I’ll promise you that I shall not go near Jonas and Caleb. I want to -get as far away from Manchester as I can. You might give me something -to eat, any way.” - -“Well, I will see what my pardner says about it. If you keep still--” - -“Why, your partner has gone away,” said Nat. - -“I mean when he comes back. It won’t take you long to stay here a week. -Now if you keep still--” - -“Are you going to keep me a whole week without anything to eat?” asked -Nat, in surprise. “I can’t possibly live as long as that.” - -“Maybe my pardner has not gone yet, and I can speak to him. Now if you -keep still, that dog would not pester you; but if you get up and go to -roaming around, he’ll pin you. Then you won’t tell me where the money -is--humph!” - -This was another evidence that the man had not been near the place -where the money was supposed to be hidden. He came pretty near letting -the cat out of the bag that time. Nat did not say a word in reply. He -wanted the man to believe that he put faith in his story. - -“Well, good-by. I shall not be in here before to-morrow morning; and if -you have anything to say to me--” - -“What have I got to say? You have found the money, and what more do you -want?” - -The man muttered something under his breath that sounded a good deal -like an oath by the time it got to Nat’s ears, turned on his heel and -walked out, slamming the door after him. Nat waited until the sound of -his footsteps had died away, then threw himself back on his box and -laughed silently to himself. - -“If everybody is as big a fraud as that man, my money is safe,” said -he, rubbing his hands together. “He has found the money, and yet he -wanted me to tell him where it was. Now, Benny,” placing his hand upon -the dog, which just then came up and put his head upon his knee. “We -will wait until twelve o’clock, and then we will start for Pond Post -Office. I know it is a small place but I reckon I can get some clothes -there, and a couple of big valises that I can carry my money in.” - -The time now seemed longer to Nat than it did before. He felt at his -ease, and he longed to be up and doing. Every minute that he lingered -in his prison-pen was just so much taken away from the enjoyment of -his money; and he fretted and chafed over it. He wanted to get up and -pace the room in order to make the time pass more rapidly away, but was -checked by the thought that the storekeeper might come back there and -listen at the door to see what he was doing, and thus put it out of his -power to escape by the window. - -“If he hears me walking about he will know that Benny and me are all -right,” said Nat, “and that will arouse his suspicions so that he will -put me somewhere else. I reckon I had best sit down here on my box and -wait for the hours to go by.” - -A short time afterward, perhaps it was two or three hours, he heard a -faint rustling outside the door, whereupon the dog left him and took -up his stand directly in front of it to see what was going to happen. -If it was the storekeeper and he wanted to know what was going on in -the room, he had his trouble for his pains. Whatever it was that made -the noise outside it finally ceased altogether and then everything was -quiet. - -This happened two or three times, and on each occasion Nat was sure -that he was being watched; but every time the watcher went away without -hearing or seeing anything suspicious. At last Nat heard some sounds -coming from the store which indicated that the proprietor was going to -shut up for the night; and then his heart began to beat more rapidly. -The time for action was fast approaching. He heard the banging of -shutters, the goods which had been outside for inspection during the -day, were brought in and stood up beside the counter, and finally the -storekeeper’s tread was heard outside the door. He tried the lock and -found that it was safe. - -“Are you all right in there?” Nat heard him inquire. - -“As tight as you please,” answered Nat; “but in half an hour more I -will be down the road,” he added, to himself. - -“You don’t know anything about that money yet, I suppose?” said the man. - -“How can I know anything about it when you have got it?” asked Nat. -“You have hidden it away somewhere. The best thing you can do is to -take it up and clear yourself before I get out.” - -“You are going to make trouble for me, are you?” said the voice, -angrily. “Well, if you get tired of waiting for grub just let me know. -Good-by.” - -“Good-by. And it will be a long time before you see me again,” said Nat -mentally. - -Nat knew when the storekeeper went out and locked the door behind him, -and then he heard him go down the street. He knew that he did not sleep -in the building but his house lay at some distance from the store, so -the coast was clear at last. He resolved to make the attempt at once, -being satisfied if he were well on the street it would take a better -man than the storekeeper to overhaul him. It was but the work of a few -seconds to go to the window and remove the hasp with which it was -confined. As the shutter swung loose he found that the moon was shining -brightly and that the ten miles that lay between him and Pond Post -Office could be made easily as it could by broad daylight. - -“Come along, Benny,” said Nat placing both hands upon the sill and -springing up so that all he had to do was to drop his legs outside. -“But maybe you don’t want to go.” - -While Nat was talking about it he was free; and he afterward said that -he never felt anything so good as he did when he found the solid earth -under his feet once more. The dog made three attempts to follow him, -but the window was rather high and all he could do was to get his fore -feet upon the sill and each time he fell back making more noise than -was agreeable to Nat. The next time he tried it Nat seized him by the -thin skin on the back of his neck, and in a moment more he was standing -by Nat’s side on the ground. We say he was standing by Nat’s side; but -if the truth must be told, he was prancing around all over the ground -as if he were overjoyed at finding himself at liberty once more. - -“I will tell you what’s the matter with you,” said Nat, after he had -looked carefully around him and had drawn a bee-line for the bars that -led him out into the street. “You have been shut up and deprived of -your freedom so long that you don’t know what to do with yourself when -you are let out. Well, you stick to me and I will see that you are not -shut up any more.” - -Nat’s first impulse, when he found himself outside the bars, was to -strike up a whistle; but before the first note had fairly left his -lips he caught his breath and looked all around to see if there was -anybody within hearing. The street was silent and deserted; but that -was no sign that there was not somebody stirring in the houses by which -he passed so rapidly. He felt of his roll of bills to make sure that -he had it, and settled down into a good fast walk, turning his head -occasionally to be certain that he was not followed. There was one -thing that Nat kept saying to himself: “I have had a struggle for this -fortune, and now that it is fairly within my grasp, nobody need think -that I am going to give it up. If I don’t enjoy it, the money can stay -there until it rots.” - -The next thing that Nat had to decide upon was, as he expressed it, -something else. He was free but his money was not free. The way to -get his fortune to St. Louis was what troubled him; and he thought -about it until he arrived within sight of Pond Post Office. He began -to feel sleepy, too. It was then about two o’clock, so that he had to -wait for five long hours before the single store of which the village -could boast would be open and ready for business. So he climbed the -fence, followed by the dog, found himself a comfortable place under -the protection of a beech tree and stretched himself out and prepared -to go into the land of dreams. That would have been considered a hard -couch by some lads who are raised in the city, but Nat had so long been -accustomed to hard things that he did not mind it. He slept until the -sun was well up, and his dog kept watch over him. - -“Now the next thing will be something to eat, Benny,” said Nat, -pausing for a while in his operations of smoothing down his hair to pat -the dog on the head. “I think you could eat a good breakfast, don’t -you? I tell you what we will do: If they don’t have anything at the -store worth eating, we will go to someone’s house and ask for a meal. -I’ve got money to pay for it.” - -Nat’s next duty was to take out his roll of bills and select enough -to pay for his clothes and have a little left over for a bite to eat. -When this had been done he put the balance of the roll back again, and -the rest into his pocket where it would come handy. Then he climbed -the fence and started for Pond Post Office again. He found very few -people stirring there but the groceryman was up, and to him Nat at once -addressed himself. - -“You look as though you had something to eat here,” said he. - -“Well, yes; that’s our business,” said the man, smiling upon Nat. -“Gracious! What a horrid looking dog. Will he bite?” - -“Not while I am around,” said Nat. “Have you got a suit of clothes! -You see I need one badly enough.” - -“Well, I should say you did. I was looking at your clothes when you -came up. How big a priced one do you want! We have some for $5.00 and -some as high as $20.00.” - -“Let me see a sorter of betwixt and between,” said Nat, as he followed -the man into the store. “Something that will do to wear between here -and St. Louis.” - -“Are you going as far as St Louis?” asked the man, in amazement. “Then -you want something pretty nice. Now there’s a suit that will jest suit -you.” - -Nat had never bought any clothes before, and consequently he was rather -awkward about it. As far as he could see the clothes were well made -(the man took his measure around the chest and of the length of his -leg to make sure that they would fit him) the price suited him and he -took them on the spot. Then he needed a couple of shirts, two pairs of -stockings and a pair of shoes and a hat; all of which he took upon the -man’s recommendation, and so his trading was quickly done. - -“Now I wish to get a couple of valises to put them into,” said Nat, -looking around the store and trying to select the articles in question. - -“One’s going to be enough for you,” said the man. “Now here is a -valise--” - -“That is not the kind I want,” said Nat. “I want some old-fashioned -carpet things, with a mouth like a catfish. You see I have lots of -things to carry with me.” - -“Are you going to walk?” asked the storekeeper, still more amazed. -“Why, it must be as much as one hundred and fifty miles.” - -“I don’t care how far it is, I have got to go there, unless I can find -some person who is kind enough to give me a lift.” - -“You can do that, of course; but I was just thinking that your legs -will ache before you get there. Now you hold on a minute. I have two -old carpet sacks in my garret that are doing no good to anybody, and if -you will wait a minute I will bring them down to you.” - -The man went to his drawer, put away the money that Nat had given him -and went out, leaving him for the next ten minutes there alone in the -store. What a chance it would have been for Nat to steal something; but -the thought never came into his head. He was leaning back against the -counter when the man left, and that was the way he was standing when he -came back. - -“Those are just the things,” said he, taking the carpet sacks and -turning them over to see that there were no holes in them. “How much -apiece for them?” - -“Oh, a quarter; or, as you were raised in this country, two bits,” said -the storekeeper, smiling at Nat. “How do I know that you were raised in -this country? I know it by your looks. I was raised in New York. Now -do you want something to eat? Well, come here. I don’t know whether I -have anything that dog will eat or not. Where did you get that fellow? -He would be just the one to guard a fellow’s melon patch, wouldn’t he? -There, take your pick. It’s my treat.” - -Nat knew enough about the ways of the country to know that the -storekeeper was going to give him his provisions for nothing because of -the dry goods he had purchased. The only things he could find were some -crackers and cheese. He took enough of them as he thought to last him -to Manchester and back, and then the groceryman excused himself once -more and went into the back room with a huge knife in his hand. When he -returned he brought with him a piece of fresh meat which he handed to -the dog. - -“I did some butchering yesterday, and I think that if that dog won’t -eat anything else, he will eat fresh meat,” said he. “See him take it -down.” - -The dog did “take it down” and devoured his meal as if he were almost -starved. It was no wonder that he wanted Nat for a master when he was -going to get such good living as this. He put all the things he had -purchased into one of his valises, bade the proprietor good-by and -took his way back toward Manchester, feeling much lighter hearted than -he did when he came down. But he did not go very far before he began -looking up and down the road to see if anyone was watching him; and -having satisfied his mind on this score he once more climbed the fence -into the woods, and when he was safe from everybody’s view he stopped, -and lowered his bundles to the ground. - -“Now when I put these things down I am Nat, the tramp; and when I put -on my other clothes, I am something else,” said he, taking his suit out -and unfolding it before him. “Let us see how it looks to be dressed up -as a white man.” - -This was Nat’s object in getting so far away from the road so that he -could make a change in his appearance. To take off the clothes he then -had on did not require a second’s time, but it took more time than it -did to put on the others. In fifteen minutes he was all dressed, and -then he wished he had a looking glass to view himself. He certainly -did look like a different person; and it is doubtful if any one who -was acquainted with him had met him on the road, if he would have -recognized him. His first care was to put what remained of his roll of -bills safe in his vest pocket. There were no holes in the vest for the -bills to work out, and when Nat tucked them away he felt that he was -somebody. - -“Now I am Nat Wood, gentleman,” said he, as he surveyed himself as -well as he could by turning first one leg and then the other to make -an estimate of himself. “I tell you it makes a fellow feel grand to -be dressed up as I am. Supposing Caleb should see me now? Whoo-pe! He -would not rest easy until he got these things on his own back.” - -Having put away his old clothing in one of the valises--it is true -the clothes were old but they might be of some assistance to him some -day--he took a carpet sack in each hand and kept on his way toward -Manchester. The dog did not know hardly what to make of it. He looked -at Nat closely; for several minutes before he would follow him, and -then he seemed to think it was all right and ran on as freely as he did -before. - -Nat did not go through Manchester; he knew too much for that. He went -ahead until he saw the roofs of the houses, and then turned out into -the fields and took a round-about course to bring him to the woods back -of Mr. Nickerson’s yard. He was very still about it, halting every few -feet to listen, and finally he stopped in a ravine where he threw his -bundles off again. He was now within reach of the place where he had -hidden his money. He wanted to be sure that his fortune was safe before -he had anything to eat. - -“Come this way, Benny; it is right out here,” said Nat. “If that is -gone I am gone; but I don’t think there has anybody discovered it.” - -Nat presently stood beside the log which concealed his treasure, but -this time he was not satisfied with what he saw on the outside. The -leaves and twigs were there as he had left them, but that did not suit -him. He looked sharply through the woods in all directions, then -kneeled down beside the log and with a few sweeps cleared away all the -_debris_ which he had placed there. The bags were where he had left -them. He ran his hand over them and could distinctly feel the “yellow -boys” with which they were filled. - -“Thank goodness, it is all mine, and no one else has a right to lay a -claim to any of it,” said Nat, as he pushed the twigs and branches back -to their place. “Mr. Nickerson gave it to me before he died, he has -neither kith nor kin to say that he owns it, and now if I can find some -honest lawyer in St Louis to stand up for me, I am all right.” - -This was a matter that created considerable confusion in Nat’s mind. He -did not know where to go to find an honest lawyer, but he supposed that -there must be some people who would look out for him if he only knew -whom to speak to. As he had done a hundred times before he dismissed -this matter with the thought that it would be time enough to attend to -that when he reached St. Louis; and he turned to go back to the ravine -where to solace himself with a handful of crackers and cheese. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -_Benny, the Tramp._ - - -That was a long night to Nat Wood for, if the truth must be told, he -did not once close his eyes in sleep. He had an opportunity to judge of -the watchfulness of his new friend, for Benny seemed to be wide awake -and never once forgot that everything depended on Nat’s vigilance. He -lay close beside Nat on the leaves, and once or twice he raised his -head and growled at something, but nothing came near to disturb them. -At the first peep of day Nat arose from his couch, he and the dog -finished what was left of the crackers and cheese and then the boy went -to the place where he had left his treasure and filled up his carpet -sacks; and when he had them loaded he was surprised at their weight. -It did not seem possible that he could carry that gold one hundred and -fifty miles. - -“But I may strike a railroad before I have gone far,” said Nat, drawing -in a long breath and picking up a valise in each hand. “I will go as -straight South as I can go, and when I become tired of my burden I can -put it down and rest. I will reach St. Louis or die in the attempt.” - -Nat took good care to keep clear of the road until he had passed -Manchester for fear that some one would see him and recognize him in -spite of his new suit, and when at last he climbed the fence into the -highway, he drew another long breath and went ahead with new zeal. He -did not fail to look back occasionally to see if he were followed, but -every time there was no one in sight, and he was more than once tempted -to believe that his struggles were over; that the money was his own, -and all he had to do was to hurry down to St. Louis and deposit it in -the bank. But it would be a week at least, and perhaps two, before that -would happen, and in the meantime he was resolved that he would go -hungry and sleepless, too, but that his treasure should be safe. - -Nat wanted to buy some more crackers and cheese and feed his dog before -he left the country where he was known, and with this object in view he -approached the store at which he had purchased his new suit. The man -was busy sweeping out, but he knew Nat in spite of the wonderful change -in his appearance. - -“Well, sir, you got your things, didn’t you?” said he, with the smile -which Nat had noticed on his face the day before. “You are off now, I -suppose? But you must not try to walk all that distance. It is too far.” - -“I am off now,” replied Nat. “But I should like to have some more -crackers and cheese and a bite of fresh meat for Benny, if it is not -too much trouble for you to get it.” - -“Of course I can. I was thinking about you yesterday after you had been -in here, and there is no need that you should walk all that distance. -Follow this road about twenty miles and you will strike a little -village called Bridgeport. There you will hit the Alton road, and all -you have to do is to pay your fare and get on board. You have money -enough for that, I suppose?” - -Nat selected a couple of crackers and a liberal piece of cheese from -the amount the grocer weighed out to him, saw his dog devour a huge -piece of beef which had also been furnished to him, leaned against the -counter to rest his tired limbs and pondered upon a thought that had -just then occurred to him. He had never ridden on a railroad, he did -not know what to do when he got there, but what would be done with -Benny! - -“But there is one thing about it,” said the man, giving utterance to -the thought that was in Nat’s mind. “You can’t take your dog with you -on a passenger train.” - -“I have been thinking about that, and the best thing I can do is to go -on foot all the way,” said Nat. “I can’t think of leaving Benny behind.” - -“Of course I don’t know what rules they have with their freight -trains,” said the man. “Perhaps they will let you take him with you, -and perhaps they won’t. You can tell when you get to Bridgeport. -Good-by. I hope you will get safe through.” - -Nat picked up his valises again and left the store. It seemed now that -Benny was a hindrance to him rather than a success, and for a minute or -two he did not know but he would prefer to give him up than keep him. -It did not seem possible that he could walk all the way to St Louis and -carry his treasure besides, and he looked down at Benny who gazed back -at him, and wagged his tail in a forlorn sort of way as if the man had -given him a bad reputation. - -“No, I won’t do it Benny,” said Nat, putting one of his valises on the -ground long enough to pat the dog on the head. “I’ll keep you with me -until the time comes for you to show what you are made of; then if you -fail me, I will know what to do with you.” - -Perhaps, when Nat came to think about it, it was better after all to -keep the dog and trust to luck. There were plenty of persons who met -him on the road who would have been glad to snatch his valises and -make off with them, if they only knew how much was in them; and with -Benny there to protect him he did not think they would attempt it. So -Benny was accepted on sufferance. - -Nat had not proceeded very far on his road before he heard the sound -of wheels behind him, and in a few minutes a man drove by in a lumber -wagon. The man looked down at Nat and then pulled up his team. - -“Soger, would you work?” said he, with a laugh. “You have a heavy load -there. Are you going fur?” - -“I am going down to Bridgeport,” said Nat. “If you have a place for me -I shall be glad to get in.” - -“You are as welcome as the flowers in May,” said the man. “Climb in. -Gosh! What an ugly looking dog you have. Will he bite?” - -“He has never bitten anybody since I had him,” said Nat, lifting his -carpet sacks one after the other and putting them into the wagon with -a good deal of trouble. “He won’t bite if he is let alone.” - -“Well, you just bet your bottom dollar that I won’t interfere with him. -What you got in there? It seems mighty heavy.” - -“Yes. It is some tools that I work with. Do you know anybody in -Bridgeport?” - -This question got the man off on a new subject, and during the ride -to Bridgeport, and he went all the way so that Nat had his arms well -rested by the time they got there, he never referred to the contents -of the valises again. Benny ran along the wagon in front of him, and -every time the man saw him he would remark on his savage appearance, -and say that he did not see what a man could be thinking of to have -such an ill-looking brute hanging around him. The man had been in the -Confederate army, too, and during the ride he kept Nat interested in -his exploits, until Nat was really surprised when he pointed to the -roofs of some houses in the distance and said: - -“We are near our journey’s end at last. There is Bridgeport Did you -say that you wanted to get out at the depot? Well, I am going right -there.” - -After a few cracks with the whip and turning several corners the man -drew up at a long, low building, and Nat, after thanking him for his -kindness, took his valises and got out. Presently he was standing in -front of an open window, on the other side of which, on a high stool, -was perched a clerk who was busy smoking a cigar. - -“Well, my friend, what can I do for you on this fine morning?” was the -way he greeted Nat. - -“I want to know what is the fare to St Louis,” said Nat. - -“Eight seventy-five,” said the clerk, laying down his cigar and -reaching for a ticket “Do you want to go there?” - -“Yes, sir; but I want to know in the first place whether or not you -will take my dog on a passenger train,” said Nat. - -“Where’s the dog?” - -“He is right here.” - -“Hold him up so that I can see him.” - -“I can’t. He is too heavy.” - -The clerk reached for his cigar again, got down from his stool and -unlocked the door leading into his room. He came out of it, but He went -back in less time than it takes to tell it. - -“Good Lord! Do you want to take that beast on the train?” said he. He -vanished in his room on the instant and closed the door, all except a -little opening through which he talked to Nat. “No, _sir_. There is not -a baggage-smasher on the road who will take charge of that dog between -here and St. Louis. You must be crazy.” - -“Well, would they take him on a freight train?” - -“_Cer_-tainly not. We want to have some men to handle the freight train -when they get to St. Louis, don’t we?” - -“I suppose you do; but what is the reason you can’t have them any way?” - -“Why, that dog will eat the train men all up, if he once gets in -action. No, sir. You can’t take that beast on any train on this road.” - -“Then I don’t see any way but for me to go on foot,” said Nat, who was -very much disappointed. - -“That’s the only way that I know of, unless you will kill the dog.” - -“I won’t do that, you bet. Does this road go straight to St. Louis?” - -“As straight as a die, and that’s the way,” said the clerk, pointing -out the direction. “I don’t see what you want with that thing. The best -thing you can do is to kill him.” - -Nat picked up his valises, walked slowly out of the other side of the -depot and looked down the track. For miles it was perfectly straight, -and there was not another house within sight. His arms ached awfully -when he thought of the many miles of such track he would have to face -during his tramp, but he never once was guilty of a traitorous thought -to Benny. They were in for it, and the sooner they started in on it, -the sooner it would be done. - -“Now the first thing to be done, Benny, is to lay in a lot of -provisions,” said Nat, as if the dog could understand every word he -said. “And the next thing is to start on our way. Let us go down this -way and see what we can find.” - -Nat had set out with the intention of finding a grocery store and a -butcher shop at which to purchase his provisions, but he had not made -many steps before he found one much sooner than he had expected; or -rather, some thing who kept guard over it saw him coming down the -street and sprang to meet him half way. It was the big dog which kept -watch over the butcher stand. He saw Benny, he did not like the looks -of him and proceeded to let him know it in language that anybody could -understand. He came at full speed down the road, seize Benny by the -neck and rolled him over in the gutter. They were both fair sized dogs, -and those who saw the movement were pretty certain that they were about -to witness a good fight; but it was all over in less than two seconds, -Benny seemed surprised to find himself in the gutter, turned his head -to see who it was that had dared to molest him and went to work in -earnest to put a stop to it. He seized his assailant by the foreleg, -but before he had taken a fairly good hold the butcher’s dog set up a -fearful howl, slunk out of the fight as quickly as he could and limping -on three legs, howling at every jump, he went back to his place in the -butcher’s shop. A moment later the butcher appeared. Nat knew that it -was the butcher, for his coat was off, he had his apron on and his -sleeves were rolled up. - -“Now, Benny, you have got me into a terrible scrape,” said Nat, -reaching down to give the dog a reassuring pat. “He will want to kill -you, but he will have to kill me first.” - -The butcher seemed to be surprised to find that his favorite had been -whipped, but still he did not show it. He examined his dog and then -looked up to see what had caused it; and when he saw Nat approaching he -grinned all over. - -“Young man, is that your dog?” said he. - -Nat replied that it was. - -“Well, sir, he is a nobby fellow,” said the butcher; and giving no heed -to Benny’s savage looks he caught him by the upper jaw and raised his -lips so that he could see his teeth. Then he released his hold upon -him and patted him on the side so loudly that you could have heard it -across the street. “I have said that I would give twenty-five dollars -for any dog that could whip Barney, and this dog has done it with just -one grip. You will take that for him, won’t you?” - -“No, sir,” replied Nat. “The dog is not for sale.” - -“Then I will give you twenty plus ten, which makes thirty when I went -to school. Come in and get it.” - -“That is more than the dog is worth, but he is not for sale at any -price. I need the dog more than you do. But I will tell you what I -would like to have. He wants a piece of meat.” - -“Well, if you won’t sell the dog, come in and fill him up on meat You -wouldn’t look at forty dollars for that dog, would you?” - -No, Nat thought that he would not sell the dog, and he went into the -butcher shop and got a piece of meat that fairly made him open his -eyes. He was not charged a cent for it, either. While the butcher was -examining the dog and complimenting him, Nat managed to unclose one of -his valises and crowd the meat into it, and no one was the wiser for -what he had done. - -Of course the victory that Benny had won brought him into notice along -the street, and when he went into another store to buy his crackers -and cheese, he had plenty of friends to admire him. But Nat got away -as soon as he could, and felt much easier when he was walking down the -track toward St. Louis. - -“That’s a good name for you, Benny, and you will keep it as long as I -have anything to do with you. Benny, the tramp. That’s what you are, -Benny, and you must always come when I call you.” - -Nat’s first care was to find a place where he could sit down and -satisfy his appetite without having some one to talk to him about -Benny. A mile further on he found it, and there he and Benny made away -with enough meat and crackers and cheese to last them until night. -While there a passenger train went along, and it went swiftly, too, as -if the distance that lay between it and St. Louis was just nothing at -all for it to accomplish. Nat sighed but he looked at Benny, and got up -and followed after the train. - -We might make this portion of our story still more interesting by -telling of the wonderful scrapes that Nat and his money got into from -the rough looking tramps who met him along the way and who wanted to -know what was in his carpet-sacks, which he never allowed out of his -grasp; but unfortunately Nat did not meet with any such adventures. It -is true that one or two tramps--Nat was sure they were tramps although -he had never seen one before--made some inquiries in regard to the -contents of his valises, but the sight of the dog, which growled and -showed his teeth every time one of them came up, induced them to be -satisfied with what Nat had to say about it--that he had some tools -which would be necessary to carry on his business when he got to St. -Louis. He bought his food from farm houses which were scattered at -intervals along the railroad, slept beside the fence or in deserted -barns every time he got the chance, and finally, when he was thinking -about taking one of his gold pieces to buy him another pair of shoes, -for his bills, although he had held on to them “until the eagle -hollered,” were all gone, he discovered, one night when the sun was -about two hours high, some buildings in the distance, which were larger -than any he had seen yet. By cautious inquiries at the next house at -which he stopped to buy food, he learned that he was at his journey’s -end. How his heart thrilled with the thought! He had been more than two -weeks on the way, and to say that he was tired would be hardly saying -enough. In a few days his money would be safe, and then he could lie -down and sleep. - -“But our labor is not over yet,” said Nat, as he separated the meat -from the sandwiches that he had purchased and handed it to the dog. -“Now is the time to look out for every person we meet. There is not one -of them who would not knock me on the head to gain this money. And yet -I am to find a good, honest lawyer in all this crowd of people!” - -Nat did not know how he was going to succeed, whether or not he could -find what he wanted in all that crowd, but he resolved to try it at -the first opportunity. Arriving at a place where a road ran across the -track he turned into it, making out with much difficulty some of the -signs that graced the front ends of buildings as he walked along, and -finally stopped at the front of a more pretentious building than the -rest, for there was a sign that struck his eye; “Lodgings 50 cents.” - -Nat pushed the door open and he and Benny walked in. He did not like -the appearance of the room in which he found himself, but then he -supposed that all hotels in the city looked like that. There was a bar -in one corner of it, behind which stood a man that reminded him of -Jonas Keeler as far as his appearance was concerned. On the other side -of the room were tables in front of which were men playing cards, and -others with men sprawling out upon them with their heads pillowed upon -their arms as if fast asleep. He thought of backing out and trying it -again at another place; but the man behind the bar discovered him and -came out. - -“Ah! Here you are. You want a supper and some lodging, I suppose? Are -you traveling far? Hello? Where did you get that dog? Will he bite?” - -“He has been with me a long time, and I never saw him bite anybody yet. -He always sleeps with me and he won’t let any one harm me. I want a bed -but I don’t want any supper.” - -“Heavens and earth! What’s in your grip?” said the man lifting one from -the floor where Nat had placed it. - -“They are tools I work with; hammers and the like.” - -“Oh. You are a machinist, are you? Well, come along and I will show you -to your room. I hope that dog won’t nail me until I get down.” - -The man stepped behind the bar to obtain a key to Nat’s room, and -carrying the carpet-sack in one hand while Nat followed with the -other, they went through the room and up the stairs to Nat’s apartment. - -“There, sir, you can lock yourself in and be safe until morning. -Good-night.” - -Nat was too tired to look around his room and see what sort of a place -it was. He turned down the quilts with the remark that the sheets might -have been cleaner, pulled off his clothes, and tumbled into bed; and he -had hardly struck the pillow before he was sound asleep. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -_Conclusion._ - - -There was one little thing that troubled Nat, and it came to him the -first thing when he opened his eyes in the morning. His bills were all -gone, and he must unlock one of his valises, undo one of his bags and -take out gold enough to pay the proprietor for his lodgings. There was -not anything so very wrong in that, but suppose the proprietor should -become suspicious and ask to see the rest of his valise; and suppose, -too, that he should take it away from him? - -“It has got to be done, and I might as well have it over with,” said -Nat, throwing aside the quilts and jumping out on the floor. “You will -stand by me, Benny, won’t you?” - -Nat went to his valise and opened it, and was surprised to find that -one of the bags was decayed and its contents had ran out. But the -carpet sack had caught them and there was none of them missing. He took -up a ten dollar gold piece and put it in his pocket; and then went on -with his dressing with all possible speed. It was early yet and he -hoped to find no one in the bar except the proprietor. He did not want -any breakfast, either. It would be time enough to think about that -after he had seen his money safe. The proprietor was alone in the room, -engaged in washing up, but he greeted Nat with a hearty good morning. - -“I want to pay for my lodging,” said Nat. “My bills are all gone and so -I will have to hand you that.” - -“W-h-e-w!” exclaimed the man, as Nat laid his piece on the counter. -“You must have been living with some rich people since you were here.” - -The man took up the ten dollar gold piece, jingled it upon the counter -to see if it was all right, then turned to his drawer to get the money -that he was to give Nat in change. - -“Breakfast will be ready in a little while, lad, you had better wait,” -said he, at length. - -Nat made some excuse, he hardly knew what, took up both his valises -and left the room to run into the arms of a policeman before he got to -the sidewalk. He knew it was a policeman, because he had a badge on -his breast, was dressed in uniform and was swinging his club along as -if waiting for a chance to use it on somebody. The police were always -ready to assist a friendless person, and Nat was certain that this one -would assist him. He walked up to him and put his valises down by his -side. - -“Well, sir, what have you got there?” said he; and Nat was delighted to -see him smile in a friendly sort of way. - -“It is money,” said Nat, sinking his voice. - -“Money?” said the officer, more than half inclined to believe that the -boy was crazy. “What are you going to do with it?” - -“I want to get it into the bank where it will be safe,” said Nat. “You -don’t believe it, do you? Well, step here and I will show you.” - -Nat drew off on one side and the policeman, placing his club behind -him, strolled slowly after him. He saw Nat unlock the valise with a -smile, but when the contents of it were shown to him the smile gave -away to a look of profound astonishment. - -“Where did you get all this?” he asked. - -“In the ground. Have you got a hotel or any place you stop at when you -are asleep?” - -“Hotel? No. We have a police court, if that is what you mean.” - -“Well, have you got any lawyers there?” - -“Oh, yes; there are plenty of them there.” - -“I want to find a good, honest lawyer who will take charge of this -money and tell me what to do with it. You see I am a stranger here.” - -“Yes; I saw that.” - -“Now can I find such a one up there?” - -“Yes, of course you can, and it is the very place for you to go. I will -show you where it is. I will carry one of your carpet sacks and you -can carry the other.” - -There were more people stirring now than there were when Nat came out -of his hotel, and nearly all who passed him on the street turned too -look at him with astonishment and others with amusement. They thought -that Nat was being arrested for something he had done; but those -who looked at his innocent face as he walked along talking to the -policeman, knew better than that. - -“I am so glad to be where I can tell the truth regarding this money,” -said Nat; and the long-drawn sigh that he uttered gave evidence to his -words. - -“What did you tell folks you had?” asked the officer. - -“I told them that I had tools which I needed to work with when I -reached St Louis,” said Nat. “And they thought I was a machinist, and -did not ask any more questions. But I will tell you what is a fact: The -presence of that dog has saved me from being robbed more than once.” - -The policeman said he was sure of that, and at last turned to the right -and led Nat up a flight of stone steps and into the court room. There -were plenty of police officers standing around, but they all made room -for them to pass and looked at Nat with some curiosity. The room in -which the trials were held was arranged with benches and chairs, and -around the outside were more chairs and to these he conducted Nat and -set him down in front of a window. - -“Now you keep still right here, and when the judge comes you can talk -to him,” said he. - -“But I don’t know the judge when I see him,” said Nat. - -“I will speak to one of those policemen there and he will tell him. I -must go now.” - -“Why can’t you stay with me?” - -“Because I must go on my beat. If anybody talks to you about your -money, you can say what you please. There’s men enough here to protect -you. So long.” - -There was a good deal of this talk that Nat could not understand, but -he asked no questions. Everybody could see that he was a stranger -there and to the city besides, and all he wanted to know now was where -to go to place his money so that it would be safe. He looked at the -policemen, but they did not seem to have anything to do but just to -stand around and wait for somebody. They were tall, broad-shouldered -fellows, and he was certain that Jonas, if he could have found his way -into that court room, would think twice before laying claim to any of -Nat’s money. When he grew tired of looking at them he turned and looked -out of the window. The people seemed to have increased in numbers, -and it was a mystery where they all came from. He thought he would -never get weary of looking at them, and when he turned to look at the -policemen again, he found that the court room was filled; but no one -paid any attention to him. A few looked at the dog, others cast glances -toward the carpet-sacks, and Nat finally wondered what had become of -the police justice all this time; but while he was turning the matter -over in his mind the crowd in front of the door gave way, and two -gentlemen who seemed to have a right there, came in. They exchanged -greetings with those they met, and presently one of them was stopped by -a policeman, who seemed to be communicating something to him. Nat was -certain that one of them was talking about him, for they nodded their -heads in his direction, and finally the two men came toward the corner -where he was sitting. - -“Do you want to see me, young man?” one of them inquired. - -“I want to see the judge when he comes,” replied Nat. “I want to find a -good, honest lawyer to tell me what to do.” - -“Humph!” exclaimed the man. “You want to find a good, _honest_ lawyer, -do you? Well, you have come to a bad shop to find him. How do you think -Judge Daniels will suit you?” - -“I don’t know the man, for I am a stranger in a strange place; but I -will talk to any man whom you recommend.” - -“Daniels, I guess you are in for it,” said the man, turning to his -companion. “This is Judge Daniels, and you may tell him what you want.” - -The speaker turned away and Nat proceeded to give the man who had been -called Judge Daniels a good looking over. All he saw was the man’s -face. It was a benevolent looking face, and more than all there was a -smile upon it which instantly won Nat’s heart. - -“What do you want to say to me?” was the way in which he began the -conversation. - -“I have a long story to tell, and you will have to sit down beside me -while I tell it,” said Nat. “In the first place, you will not steal -every thing I have got will you?” - -“No, I don’t think I shall do that,” said the man, as he seated himself -in one of the chairs alongside of Nat. “There is no necessity for it.” - -“Well, sir, it is money that I have in these two carpet-sacks,” said -Nat, sinking his voice to a whisper. “I have dug it out of the ground, -and carried it all the way from Bridgeport on foot.” - -The man continued to regard him with a smile until Nat unlocked his -valise; and then he looked surprised. He listened while Nat told his -story never once interrupting him, but he kept his eyes fastened upon -the boy as if he meant to look him through. - -“You want in the first place, to put that money in the bank where it -will be safe,” said he, at length. “Then are you willing to go back -with me to Bridgeport so that I can collect evidence that your story is -true?” - -“Yes, sir; I will go with you anywhere,” said Nat. - -This was all that Judge Daniels wanted. He had been doing a heap of -thinking while Nat was telling his story, and when he had seen Nat -close his valise he got up and walked over to where the police justice -sat in his chair. The court was just about ready to begin. He was -evidently astonished at what the judge had to tell him, and when he -came back he was full of business. - -“I will carry one valise, you can carry the other, and we will go down, -get a carriage and take them to the bank,” said he. “That will be the -first job done. I hope the dog will not bite me?” - -Nat hastened to assure him that the dog would not, and together they -left the court room and in a few moments more were seated in a hack, -with Benny for company, and were being whirled away toward the bank in -the lower end of the city. At every turn Nat found something to wonder -at. The streets were crowded with all sorts of vehicles and Nat more -than once held his breath for fear that their driver would run into -some of them. - -Pedestrians crossed and recrossed before them until Nat was certain -that somebody would be run down; but he did not have time to take it -all in. Judge Daniels had a good many questions to ask, and while Nat -was trying to make everything clear to him, they drew up in front of -the bank. - -Judge Daniels was so well known there that he was invited at once -into the private office where there was no one to see them but the -president. At his request Nat related his story once more, the judge -watching it closely to detect any flaws in it, and when the money was -poured out on the table before the president, the latter could scarcely -restrain his astonishment. Several clerks were summoned to count the -money, and Nat strange as it may seem, did not bother his head whether -they counted it right or not. The money was out of his hands, it had -been surrendered to those whose duty it was to look after it, and he -was satisfied. Finally one of the clerks presented a paper to the -president, who looked at it and said: - -“Do you know how much money you have here, Bub?” - -Nat replied that he did not. He took the money as he found it without -stopping to count it. - -“I don’t think you could have counted all this money in a hurry,” said -the president, with a smile. “You have here $40,000 lacking $10. Now -what are you going to do with it?” - -Nat was obliged to confess that he did not know. Judge Daniels and the -president exchanged a few words in a lower tone, and then the latter -arose and picked up his hat. - -“We’ll let it lay here until we go up to that place of yours,” said he. -“Now, Nat, you want some good clothes. Look at your shoes. They are all -giving out.” - -How different this was from what Jonas said to him the last time he -referred to Nat’s shoes! He readily surrendered himself to Judge -Daniels’ guidance, and in half an hour more came out of the tailor shop -with a wonderful change in his appearance. The clothes he had taken off -would do very well for the country but they would hardly do for the -city. It was not possible that anybody who had known him in Manchester -could have recognized him. Then after he had been to a barber shop and -had his hair neatly trimmed, the transformation was complete. - -The next thing was to go to Judge Daniels’ home and get dinner; and -here Nat’s admiration and surprise knew no bounds. It did not seem that -those chairs were made to sit on, or that the carpet was made to walk -on; or that the lady who came to see him, would not take wings and fly -up out of his sight. It was the judge’s wife. She seated herself beside -him on the sofa, listening in unbounded astonishment to Nat’s story, -the Judge watching it all the time to see if there were any flaws in -it, and when it was over she reached down and patted the dog, and Benny -never raised any objections to it. - -During the afternoon they went down to the Judge’s office where there -was another consultation held between him and his partner. The latter -was amazed, but he thought that the best thing the Judge could do would -be to accompany Nat to his home and get all the evidence there was to -be had; so the next morning, Benny being left with the hostler, they -took the cars for Bridgeport. This was the first time that Nat had -been on a railroad train, and sometimes, when he looked out at the -window and saw how fast they were going, he could not help clutching -the seat for fear that the train was going to leave the track. Arriving -at Bridgeport they went to a hotel for the rest of the night, and the -next morning they hired a carriage to take them to Pond Post Office. -We can scarcely imagine what Nat’s feelings were when he gazed upon -the scenes which were so familiar to him; and when at last he got out -of the carriage and opened the bars so that it could be driven through -to where Jonas was standing in the door waiting for them, he felt like -yelling. On the contrary he controlled himself and said quietly: - -“How do you do, Mr. Keeler?” - -“Well, I will be dog-gone!” was all Jonas had to say in reply. - -Getting the evidence he was in search of was not difficult. Jonas saw -in a moment “which side of his bread had the butter onto it,” and -answered all his questions readily; while the antics which Caleb went -through were enough to make Nat fairly burst with merriment. They -were all sincere, too. He said “dog-gone the luck” several times in a -whisper, felt of Nat’s clothing with his fingers, and could not bring -himself to believe that the thing was true. But it was to Mrs. Keeler -that Nat devoted the most of his attention. The woman seemed really -glad of his good luck, and Nat assured her that at some future time -there was a thousand dollars awaiting for her out of Mr. Nickerson’s -money. - -It was a happy moment for Nat when they seated themselves in the -carriage bound for Bridgeport, and Judge Daniels declared that, as far -as he could see, Nat’s story was all true, and that the money which he -had struggled so hard to obtain was all his. All that remained to do -now was to have a guardian appointed and get ready to go to school. - -“It will not take me five minutes to select a guardian,” said Nat. -“Will you take it Judge Daniels?” - -The judge said he would and so the matter was settled. - -Years have passed away since the events that are recorded in this -story took place, and if you go to a certain law firm and ask to see -Nathaniel Wood, you would be fairly surprised to see in that tall, -well-dressed man who is coming toward you the ragged, dirty-faced boy -who was wont to do the chores about Jonas Keeler’s place. Jonas thinks -the world of him, although to tell the truth, he does not do any work -to speak of as long as his remittance from St. Louis lasts. - -“Do you know Nat Wood, that little snipe who used to work on my farm?” -he would say to some listener. “Well, he has got to be a big lawyer in -the city. If he ever runs for President, I am going to vote for him.” - -Benny is dead; he served his day and generation faithfully. He soon -grew to be a regular favorite around the Judge’s house, and although a -tramp would have passed by on the other side, people who came there -on business were readily admitted, and no questions asked. Nat is the -same fellow he always was. He was an honest boy and he grew up to be -an honest man. He is always ready to live over old times; but those he -likes best to talk about are those that attended his Struggle for a -Fortune. - - - - -ALWAYS _ASK FOR THE_ DONOHUE - -COMPLETE EDITIONS--THE BEST FOR LEAST MONEY - - -Mrs. L.T. Meade - -==== _SERIES_ ==== - - -An excellent edition of the works of this very popular author of books -for girls. Printed from large type on an extra quality of paper, cover -design stamped in three colors, large side title letterings, each book -in glazed paper printed wrapper. Each book with a beautiful colored -frontispiece. 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Dearborn Street CHICAGO - - - - -ALWAYS _ASK FOR THE_ DONOHUE - -Complete Editions and you will get the best for the least money - - -_BOOKS BY_ MRS. E. D. E. N. SOUTHWORTH - -AN ATTRACTIVE LIST OF THE WORKS OF THIS POPULAR AUTHOR - - -The first eighteen titles with brackets are books with sequels, -“Victor’s Triumph,” being a sequel to “Beautiful Fiend,” etc. They are -all printed from large, clear type on a superior quality of flexible -paper and bound in English vellum cloth, assorted colors, containing -charming female heads lithographed in twelve colors, as inlays; the -titles being stamped in harmonizing colors of ink or foil. Cloth, 12mo -size. - - { 1 Beautiful Fiend, A - { 2 Victor’s Triumph - - { 3 Bride’s Fate - { 4 Changed Brides - - { 5 Cruel as the Grave - { 6 Tried for Her Life - - { 7 Fair Play - { 8 How He Won Her - - { 9 Family Doom - {10 Maiden Widow - - {11 Hidden Hand, The - {12 Capitola’s Peril - - {13 Ishmael - {14 Self Raised - - {15 Lost Heir of Linlithgow - {16 Noble Lord, A - - {17 Unknown - {18 Mystery of Raven Rocks - - 19 Bridal Eve, The - 20 Bride’s Dowry, The - 21 Bride of Llewellyn, The - 22 Broken Engagement, The - 23 Christmas Guest, The - 24 Curse of Clifton - 25 Deserted Wife, The - 26 Discarded Daughter, The - 27 Doom of Deville, The - 28 Eudora - 29 Fatal Secret, A - 30 Fortune Seeker - 31 Gypsy’s Prophecy - 32 Haunted Homestead - 33 India; or, The Pearl of Pearl River - 34 Lady of the Isle, The - 35 Lost Heiress, The - 36 Love’s Labor Won - 37 Missing Bride, The - 38 Mother-in-Law - 39 Prince of Darkness, and Artist’s Love - 40 Retribution - 41 Three Beauties, The - 42 Three Sisters, The - 43 Two Sisters, The - 44 Vivian - 45 Widow’s Son - 46 Wife’s Victory - -All of the above books may be had at the store where this book was -bought, or will be sent postpaid at 50 cents each by the publishers. - - -M. 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