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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tony The Tramp, by Horatio Alger
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
+other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
+the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
+to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
+
+
+
+Title: Tony The Tramp
+       Right is Might
+
+Author: Horatio Alger
+
+Release Date: March 12, 2018 [EBook #56730]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TONY THE TRAMP ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Carol Brown, and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+book was produced from images made available by the
+HathiTrust Digital Library.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE BEST OF THE
+
+Famous Alger Stories for Boys
+
+
+A new edition, five by seven inches, from new plates, with new
+illustrations. Bound in cloth, and stamped in colors on the front
+cover in several designs.
+
+     DISTINCTIVELY GOOD LOOKING VOLUMES. THE LOWEST PRICED
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+     OF THE HIGHER PRICED EDITIONS
+
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+line of BOYS’ BOOKS.
+
+ALGER stands on the boy’s level, appeals to his heart, and what his
+heroes suggest or achieve is in the line of advancement to high
+standards.
+
+ALGER’S BOOKS go to the right spot every time. His characters are
+living boys who do things.
+
+ALGER could look on life as boys do, and entered into their plans,
+hopes, and aspirations as they do.
+
+The episodes are graphic, exciting, realistic. The tendency of ALGER
+stories is to the formation of an honorable, manly character. They
+convey lessons of pluck, perseverance, and independence.
+
+Their high moral character, clean, manly tone, and the wholesome
+lessons they teach without being _goody-goody_, make ALGER BOOKS as
+acceptable to the parents as to the boys.
+
+
+  THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY
+  147 FOURTH AVENUE      NEW YORK, N. Y.
+
+
+
+
+[Frontispiece: “Tony the Tramp, now the Hon. Anthony Middleton of
+Middleton Hall.”]
+
+
+
+
+  TONY THE TRAMP
+
+  OR
+
+  RIGHT IS MIGHT
+
+
+  BY
+
+  HORATIO ALGER, JR.
+
+  AUTHOR OF
+  “ONLY AN IRISH BOY,” “SLOW AND SURE,” “FACING THE WORLD,”
+  “JULIUS THE STREET BOY,” “TOM THE BOOTBLACK,”
+  “STRUGGLING UPWARD,” “BOUND TO RISE,”
+  “BRAVE AND BOLD,” ETC.
+
+
+  [Illustration: Printer's Logo]
+
+
+  NEW YORK
+  THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY
+  1909
+
+
+
+
+TONY THE TRAMP
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+TWO TRAMPS
+
+
+A man and a boy were ascending a steep street in a country town in
+eastern New York. The man was tall and dark-complexioned, with a
+sinister look which of itself excited distrust. He wore a slouch hat,
+which, coming down over his forehead, nearly concealed from view his
+low, receding brow. A pair of black, piercing eyes looked out from
+beneath the brim. The first impression produced upon those who met him
+was that he was of gypsy blood, and the impression was a correct one.
+Where he was born no one seemed to know; perhaps he did not himself
+know, for all his life he had been a wanderer, but English was the
+tongue which he spoke, and, apart from the gypsy dialect, he knew no
+other.
+
+His companion was a boy of fourteen. Between the two there was not the
+slightest resemblance. Though browned by exposure to the sun and the
+wind, it was easy to see that the boy was originally of light
+complexion. His hair was chestnut and his eyes blue. His features were
+regular and strikingly handsome, though owing to the vagrant life he
+was compelled to lead, he was not able to pay that attention to
+cleanliness which he might have done if he had had a settled home.
+
+It was five o’clock in the afternoon, and the boy looked weary. He
+seemed scarcely able to drag one foot after the other. His companion
+turned upon him roughly.
+
+“What are you dawdling that way for, Tony?” he demanded. “You creep
+like a boy of three.”
+
+“I can’t help it, Rudolph,” said the boy wearily; “I’m tired.”
+
+“What business have you to be tired?”
+
+“I’ve walked far to-day.”
+
+“You’ve walked no further than I. I don’t dawdle like you.”
+
+“You’re a man. You’re stronger than I am, Rudolph.”
+
+“And you’re a milksop,” said the man contemptuously.
+
+“I’m nothing of the sort,” said the boy, with a flash of spirit. “I’m
+not made of cast iron, and that’s why I can’t stand walking all day
+long. Besides, I have had no dinner.”
+
+“That isn’t my fault, is it?”
+
+“I didn’t say it was, but it makes me weak for all that.”
+
+“Well,” said Rudolph, “perhaps you’re right. I feel like eating
+something myself. We’ll go to some house and ask for supper.”
+
+Tony looked dissatisfied.
+
+“I wish we were not obliged to beg our meals,” he said; “I don’t like
+it.”
+
+“Oh, you’re getting proud, are you?” sneered Rudolph. “If you’ve got
+money to pay for your supper we won’t beg, as you call it.”
+
+“Why can’t we do as other people do?” asked Tony.
+
+“What’s that?”
+
+“Live somewhere, and not go tramping round the country all the time.
+It would be a good deal pleasanter.”
+
+“Not for me. I’m a vagrant by nature. I can’t be cooped up in one
+place. I should die of stagnation. I come of a roving stock. My mother
+and father before me were rovers, and I follow in their steps.”
+
+The man spoke with animation, his eye flashing as he gazed about him,
+and unconsciously quickened his pace.
+
+“Then I’m not like you,” said Tony decidedly. “I don’t want to be a
+tramp. Were my father and mother rovers like yours?”
+
+“Of course they were,” answered Rudolph, but not without hesitation.
+“Ain’t I your uncle?”
+
+“I don’t know. Are you?” returned Tony searchingly.
+
+“Haven’t I told you so a hundred times?” demanded Rudolph impatiently.
+
+“Yes,” said the boy slowly, “but there’s no likeness between us.
+You’re dark and I am light.”
+
+“That proves nothing,” said the elder tramp hastily. “Brothers are
+often as unlike. Perhaps you don’t want to look upon me as a
+relation?”
+
+The boy was silent.
+
+“Are you getting ashamed of me?” demanded Rudolph, in a harsh tone.
+
+“I am ashamed of myself,” said Tony bitterly. “I’m nothing but a
+tramp, begging my bread from door to door, sleeping in barns,
+outhouses, in the fields, anywhere I can. I’m as ignorant as a boy of
+eight. I can just read and that’s all.”
+
+“You know as much as I do.”
+
+“That don’t satisfy me. When I grow up I don’t want to be——”
+
+Tony hesitated.
+
+“You don’t want to be like me. Is that it?” asked Rudolph angrily.
+
+“No, I don’t want to be like you,” answered Tony boldly. “I want to
+have a home, and a business, and to live like other people.”
+
+“Humph!” muttered Rudolph, fixing his eyes thoughtfully upon his young
+companion. “This is something new. You never talked like that before.”
+
+“But I’ve felt like that plenty of times. I’m tired of being a tramp.”
+
+“Then you’re a fool. There’s no life so free and independent. You can
+go where you please, with no one to order you here nor there, the
+scene changing always, instead of being obliged to look always upon
+the same people and the same fields.”
+
+“What’s the good of it all? I’m tired of it. I’ve got no home, and
+never had any.”
+
+“You’ve got no spirit. You’re only fit for a farmboy or an
+apprentice.”
+
+“I wish I was either one.”
+
+“Sit down here if you are tired,” said the man abruptly, throwing
+himself down under a wide-spreading tree by the roadside.
+
+Tony stretched himself out at a little distance, and uttered a sigh of
+relief as he found himself permitted to rest.
+
+“Have you been thinking of this long?” asked Rudolph.
+
+“Of what?”
+
+“Of not liking to be a tramp?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“You have not spoken of it before.”
+
+“I’ve been thinking of it more lately.”
+
+“How did that come?”
+
+“I’ll tell you,” said Tony. “Don’t you remember last week when we
+passed by a schoolhouse? It was recess, and the boys were out at play.
+While you were away a few minutes, one of the boys sat down by me and
+talked. He told me what he was studying, and what he was going to do
+when he got older, and then he asked me about myself.”
+
+“What did you tell him?”
+
+“What did I tell him?” said Tony bitterly. “I told him that I was a
+tramp, and that when I got older I should be a tramp still.”
+
+“Well,” said Rudolph sharply, “what then?”
+
+“The boy told me I ought to get some regular work to do, and grow into
+a respectable member of society. He said that his father would help
+me, he thought, and——”
+
+“So you want to leave me, do you?” demanded Rudolph fiercely. “Is that
+what you’re coming to, my chicken?”
+
+“It isn’t that so much as the life you make me lead. I want to leave
+that, Rudolph.”
+
+“Well, you can’t do it,” said the man shortly.
+
+“Why not?”
+
+“I say so, and that’s enough.”
+
+Tony was silent for a moment. He was not greatly disappointed, for he
+expected a refusal. He changed the subject.
+
+“Rudolph,” he said, “there’s something else I want to ask you about.”
+
+“Well?”
+
+“Who am I?”
+
+“Who are you? A young fool,” muttered the tramp, but he appeared a
+little uneasy at the question.
+
+“I want to know something about my father and mother.”
+
+“Your mother was my sister. She died soon after you were born.”
+
+“And my father?”
+
+“He was put in jail for theft, and was shot in trying to make his
+escape. Does that satisfy you?”
+
+“No, it doesn’t, and what’s more, I don’t believe it,” said Tony
+boldly.
+
+“Look here,” said Rudolph sternly. “I’ve had enough of your insolence.
+Do you see this strap?”
+
+He produced a long leather strap, which he drew through his fingers
+menacingly.
+
+“Yes, I see it.”
+
+“You’ll feel it if you ain’t careful. Now get up. It’s time to be
+moving.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+AT THE FARMHOUSE
+
+
+“Where are we going to stop to-night?” asked Tony ten minutes later.
+
+“There,” answered Rudolph, pointing out a farmhouse a little to the
+left.
+
+“Suppose they won’t let us.”
+
+“They will admit us into the barn at least, if we play our cards
+right. Listen to what I say. You are to be my son.”
+
+“But I am not your son.”
+
+“Be silent!” said the other tramp, “and don’t you dare to contradict
+me. You have been sick, and are too weak to go further.”
+
+“That is a lie, Rudolph.”
+
+“That doesn’t matter. If they believe it, they won’t turn us away.
+Perhaps they will let you sleep in the house.”
+
+“Away from you?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+Tony was puzzled. It seemed as if Rudolph wanted him to be more
+comfortably provided for than himself, but the boy knew him too well
+not to suspect that there was some concealed motive for this apparent
+kindness.
+
+“Well, what are you thinking about?” demanded Rudolph, suspiciously,
+as he observed the boy’s earnest gaze.
+
+“Why do you want me to sleep in the house?” he asked.
+
+“I will tell you. When all the family are asleep, I want you to steal
+downstairs, open the back door, and let me in.”
+
+“What for?” asked the boy, startled.
+
+“Never you mind. Do as I tell you.”
+
+“But I don’t want to do it. You never asked me to do that before.”
+
+“Didn’t I? Well, I had no occasion. I ask you now.”
+
+“What are you going to do? Are you going to harm anyone?”
+
+“No. I’ll tell you what I’m going to do, but mind you, if you breathe
+a word to any being, I’ll cut your tongue out.”
+
+Tony looked troubled, but not frightened.
+
+“Go on,” he said.
+
+Rudolph continued in a rapid tone.
+
+“I want money to carry out a plan of importance. This farm belongs to
+a farmer who is rich, and who keeps a part of his money in the house.”
+
+“How do you know that?”
+
+“A friend of mine stopped there last week, and found out. He put me on
+the scent. The old man keeps from two to three hundred dollars in his
+desk. I must have that money.”
+
+“I don’t want to help you in this, Rudolph,” said Tony. “I won’t
+betray you, but you mustn’t compel me to be a thief.”
+
+“I can’t get along without you, and help me you must.”
+
+“Suppose we fail?”
+
+“Then we must take to our legs. If we’re caught we’re both in the same
+box. I don’t ask you to take any risks that I don’t run myself.”
+
+Tony was about to remonstrate further, but it was too late. They had
+already reached the farmhouse, and caught sight of the owner standing
+under a tree in the front yard.
+
+“Remember!” hissed the older tramp. “Follow my lead, or I’ll beat you
+till you are half dead. Good-evening, sir.”
+
+This last was said in an humble tone to the farmer, who advanced to
+the gate.
+
+“Good-evening,” said the farmer, ingenuously.
+
+He was a man of sixty, roughly dressed to suit his work, with grizzled
+hair, a form somewhat bowed, and a face seamed with wrinkles. He had
+been a hard worker, and showed abundant traces of it in his
+appearance.
+
+“We are very tired and hungry, my boy and I,” whined Rudolph. “We’ve
+traveled many miles since morning. Would you kindly give us some
+supper and a night’s lodging?”
+
+“My wife’ll give you something to eat,” said the old man. “Thank
+Heaven! we’ve got enough for ourselves and a bit for the poor besides.
+But I don’t know about lodging. I don’t like to take in strangers that
+I know nothing about.”
+
+“I don’t blame you, sir,” said Rudolph, in a tone of affected
+humility. “There’s many rogues going round the country, I’ve heard,
+but I’m a poor, hard-working man.”
+
+“Then why are you not at work?”
+
+“Times are hard, and I can get nothing to do. I am in search of work.
+I can do almost anything. I’m a carpenter by trade.”
+
+Rudolph knew no more of the carpenter’s trade than the man in the
+moon, but that would do as well as any other.
+
+“Where are you from?”
+
+“From Buffalo,” he answered, with slight hesitation.
+
+“Is business dull there?”
+
+“Nothing doing.”
+
+“Well, my friend, you haven’t come to the right place. There’s nothing
+but farming done here.”
+
+“I don’t know anything about that,” said Rudolph, hastily, for he had
+no disposition to be set to work in the fields.
+
+“I don’t need any extra hands,” said the farmer.
+
+“I am glad of that,” thought the tramp.
+
+“Go round to the back door, and I will speak to my wife about supper,”
+said the old man.
+
+“Come, Tony,” said Rudolph, motioning to take the boy’s hand, but Tony
+did not see fit to notice the movement, and walked in silence by his
+side.
+
+A motherly looking old woman made her appearance at the back door.
+
+“Come in,” she said. “Come right in, and sit down to the table. Abner,
+make room for the poor man and his son.”
+
+Abner was a stalwart youth of eighteen, hard-handed and muscular. He
+was the only permanent “hired man” employed on the farm. In haying
+time there were others transiently employed.
+
+A farmer’s table is plentiful, though homely. The two tramps made an
+abundant meal, both doing justice to the homely fare. The farmer’s
+wife looked on with hospitable satisfaction. She could not bear to
+have anybody hungry under her roof.
+
+“You’ll excuse our appetite, ma’am,” said Rudolph, “but we’ve had
+nothing to eat since breakfast.”
+
+“Eat as much as you like,” said she. “We never stint anybody here. Is
+that your son?”
+
+“Yes, ma’am.”
+
+Tony bent his eyes upon his plate, and frowned slightly. He wanted to
+deny it, but did not dare.
+
+“He don’t look a bit like you,” said the woman. “He’s light, and
+you’re very dark.”
+
+“His mother was light,” said Rudolph. “He takes after her.”
+
+“How old is he?”
+
+“Tony, tell the lady how old you are.”
+
+“Fourteen.”
+
+“He is well grown at his age.”
+
+“Yes; he will make a good-sized man. He’s been sick.”
+
+“Has he? What has been the matter?”
+
+“I don’t know. Poor folks like us can’t call in a doctor.”
+
+“He don’t look sick,” said the farmer’s wife thoughtfully.
+
+“He’s delicate, though he don’t look it. It’s sleeping out in the open
+air, I expect.”
+
+“Do you have to sleep out in the open air?”
+
+“Yes; we can’t afford to pay for lodgings, and people won’t take us
+into their houses. I don’t mind myself—I’m tough—but Tony can’t
+stand it as well as I can.”
+
+While this conversation was going on, Tony fixed his eyes upon his
+plate. He was angry that such falsehoods should be told about him, but
+if he should utter a word of objection he knew that there would be an
+explosion of wrath on the part of his guardian, and he remained
+silent.
+
+The farmer’s wife was a simple-minded, kind-hearted woman, and though
+Tony did not look at all delicate, she never thought of questioning
+the statement of Rudolph. Indeed she was already revolving in her mind
+inviting the boy to sleep in the house. She was rather prejudiced in
+favor of Rudolph by his show of parental solicitude.
+
+When supper was over, having in the meantime consulted her husband,
+she said to Rudolph:
+
+“My husband says you may sleep in the barn, if you don’t smoke. We can
+find a bed for your son with Abner. You won’t mind taking him into
+your room?”
+
+“He can come,” said Abner good-naturedly.
+
+So it was arranged. At half-past eight, for they retired at that early
+hour in the farmhouse, Rudolph left the fireside, and sought the barn.
+As he left the room he looked suspiciously at Tony, and shook his head
+warningly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+RUDOLPH’S DISAPPOINTMENT
+
+
+Abner slept in a large room in the attic. It had been roughly
+partitioned off, and was not even plastered. The beams were plainly
+visible. Upon nails which had been driven into them hung Abner’s
+limited wardrobe. There were two cot beds in the room, as a part of
+the year the farmer employed more than one hired man.
+
+“You can sleep there, youngster,” said Abner, pointing to one of the
+beds. “This is my bed.”
+
+“Thank you,” said Tony politely.
+
+“I s’pose you’ve traveled round considerable,” said Abner, with
+curiosity.
+
+“Yes, a good deal.”
+
+“Do you like it?”
+
+“No; I’m tired of it.”
+
+“How do you make your livin’?”
+
+“As we can. We often go hungry.”
+
+“Why don’t your father settle down somewhere?”
+
+Tony thought of disclaiming the relationship implied, but he reflected
+that Rudolph would be angry, and merely answered:
+
+“He prefers to travel round.”
+
+“Was you ever in New York?” asked Abner.
+
+“Do you mean the city of New York? Yes.”
+
+“I’d like to see it,” said Abner, regarding Tony with new respect.
+“I’ve heard a sight about it. It’s powerful big, isn’t it?”
+
+“It’s very large.”
+
+“There’s as many as a thousand houses, isn’t there?”
+
+“There’s a hundred thousand, I should think,” answered Tony.
+
+“Sho! you don’t say so!” exclaimed Abner, awestruck. “I’d like to go
+there.”
+
+“Didn’t you ever visit the city?”
+
+“No; I never traveled any. I never was more’n fifteen miles from home.
+Dad wouldn’t let me. When I’m a man, I’m bound to see the world.”
+
+“Ain’t you a man now?” inquired Tony, surveying his herculean
+proportions with astonishment.
+
+“No; I’m only eighteen.”
+
+“You’re as big as a man.”
+
+“Yes, I’m pooty big,” said Abner, with a complacent grin. “I can do a
+man’s work.”
+
+“I should think you might. I thought you were more than four years
+older than me. I’m fourteen.”
+
+“I guess I weigh twice as much as you.”
+
+“I’m not small for my age,” said Tony jealously.
+
+“Maybe not. I’m a regular bouncer. That’s what dad says. Why, I’m half
+as big again as he is.”
+
+“Does he ever lick you?” asked Tony, smiling.
+
+“I’d like to see him try it,” said Abner, bursting into a roar of
+laughter. “He’d have to get upon a milkin’ stool. Does your dad lick
+you?”
+
+“No,” answered Tony shortly.
+
+“He looks as if he might sometimes. He’s kinder fractious-looking.”
+
+Tony did not care to say much on the subject of Rudolph. He felt that
+it was his policy to be silent. If he said anything he might say too
+much, and if it got to Rudolph’s ears, the man’s vindictive temper
+would make it dangerous for him.
+
+“We get along pretty well,” he said guardedly. “Do you get up early?”
+
+“Four o’clock. You won’t have to, though.”
+
+“What time do you get breakfast?”
+
+“Half-past five, after I’ve milked and done the chores. You must be up
+by that time, or you won’t get anything to eat.”
+
+“That’s pretty early,” thought Tony. “I don’t see the use of getting
+up so early.”
+
+“I guess I’ll go to sleep,” said Abner. “I’m tuckered out.”
+
+“Good-night,” said Tony.
+
+“Good-night.”
+
+The young giant turned over, closed his eyes, and in five minutes was
+asleep.
+
+Tony did not compose himself to sleep so readily, partly because Abner
+began to snore in a boisterous manner, partly because he felt
+disturbed by the thought of the treachery which Rudolph required at
+his hands.
+
+Tony was only a tramp, but he had an instinct of honor in him. In the
+farmhouse he had been kindly treated and hospitably entertained. He
+felt that it would be very mean to steal down in the dead of night and
+open the door to his companion in order that he might rob the
+unsuspecting farmer of his money. On the other hand, if he did not do
+this he knew that he would be severely beaten by Rudolph.
+
+“Why am I tied to this man?” he thought. “What chance is there of my
+ever being anything but a tramp while I stay with him?”
+
+He had thought this before now, but the circumstances in which he now
+found himself placed made the feeling stronger. He had been often
+humiliated by being forced to beg from door to door, by the thought
+that he was a vagrant, and the companion of a vagrant, but he had not
+been urged to actual crime until now. He knew enough to be aware that
+he ran the risk of arrest and imprisonment if he obeyed Rudolph. On
+the other hand, if he refused he was sure of a beating.
+
+What should he do?
+
+It was certainly a difficult question to decide, and Tony debated it
+in his own mind for some time. Finally he came to a determination.
+Rudolph might beat him, but he would not be guilty of this treachery.
+
+He felt better after he had come to this resolve, and, the burden
+being now off his mind, he composed himself to sleep.
+
+He did not know how long he slept, but he had a troubled dream. He
+thought that in compliance with his companion’s order he rose and
+opened the door to him. While Rudolph was opening the farmer’s desk,
+he thought that heavy steps were heard and Abner and the farmer
+entered the room, provided with a lantern. He thought that Rudolph and
+himself were overpowered and bound. Just as he reached this part he
+awoke, and was reassured by hearing Abner’s heavy breathing.
+
+“I’m glad it’s a dream,” he thought, breathing a sigh of relief.
+
+At this instant his attention was called by a noise upon the panes of
+the only window in the room.
+
+He listened, and detected the cause.
+
+Some one was throwing gravel stones against it.
+
+“It’s Rudolph,” he thought instantly. “He’s trying to call my
+attention.”
+
+He thought of pretending to be asleep, and taking no notice of the
+signal. But he feared Abner would awake, and ascertain the meaning of
+it. He decided to go to the window, show himself, and stop the noise
+if he could.
+
+He rose from his bed, and presented himself at the window. Looking
+down, he saw the dark figure of Rudolph leaning against the well curb,
+with his eyes fixed on the window.
+
+“Oh, you’re there at last!” growled Rudolph. “I thought I’d never wake
+you up. Is the man asleep?”
+
+“Yes,” said Tony.
+
+“Then come down and let me in.”
+
+“I would rather not,” said Tony, uneasily.
+
+“What’s the fool afraid of?” answered Rudolph, in a low, menacing
+tone.
+
+“The man might wake up.”
+
+“No danger. Such animals always sleep heavily. There’s no danger, I
+tell you.”
+
+“I don’t want to do it,” said Tony. “It would be mean. They’ve treated
+me well, and I don’t want to help rob them.”
+
+“Curse the young idiot!” exclaimed Rudolph, in low tones of
+concentrated passion. “Do you mean to disobey me?”
+
+“I can’t do as you wish, Rudolph. Ask me anything else.”
+
+“I wish I could get at him!” muttered Rudolph, between his teeth. “He
+never dared to disobey me before. Once more! Will you open the door to
+me?” demanded Rudolph.
+
+Tony bethought himself of an expedient. He might pretend that Abner
+was waking up.
+
+“Hush!” he said, in feigned alarm. “The man is waking up. Get out of
+sight quick.”
+
+He disappeared from the window, and Rudolph, supposing there was
+really danger of detection, hurriedly stole away to the barn, where he
+had been permitted to lodge.
+
+He came out half an hour later, and again made the old signal, but
+this time Tony did not show himself. He had made up his mind not to
+comply with the elder tramp’s demands, and it would do no good to
+argue the point.
+
+“I wish I knew whether he was asleep, or only pretending, the young
+rascal,” muttered Rudolph. “I must manage to have him stay here
+another night. That money must and shall be mine, and he shall help to
+get it for me.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+SETTING A TRAP
+
+
+At half-past five Tony got up. He would have liked to remain in bed
+two hours longer, but there was no chance for late resting at the
+farmhouse. Rudolph, too, was awakened by Abner, and the two tramps
+took their seats at the breakfast table with the rest of the family.
+
+Rudolph furtively scowled at Tony. To him he attributed the failure of
+his plans the night before, and he was furious against him—the more
+so that he did not dare to say anything in presence of the farmer’s
+family.
+
+“Where are you going to-day?” asked the farmer, addressing Rudolph.
+
+“I am going to walk to Crampton. I may get employment there.”
+
+“It is twelve miles away. That is a good walk.”
+
+“I don’t mind for myself. I mind it for my son,” said Rudolph
+hypocritically.
+
+“He can stay here till you come back,” said the farmer’s wife
+hospitably.
+
+“If you’re willing to have him, I’ll leave him for one more night,”
+said Rudolph. “It’ll do him good to rest.”
+
+“He can stay as well as not,” said the farmer. “When are you coming
+back?”
+
+“Perhaps to-night. But I think not till to-morrow.”
+
+“Don’t trouble yourself about your son. He will be safe here.”
+
+“You are very kind,” said the elder tramp. “Tony, thank them good
+people for their kindness to you.”
+
+“I do thank them,” said Tony, glancing uneasily at the other.
+
+When breakfast was over, Rudolph took his hat and said:
+
+“I’ll get started early. I have a long walk before me.”
+
+Tony sat still, hoping that he would not be called upon to join him.
+But he was destined to be disappointed.
+
+“Come and walk a piece with me, Tony,” said Rudolph. “You needn’t walk
+far.”
+
+Reluctantly Tony got his hat and set out with him.
+
+As long as they were in sight and hearing, Rudolph spoke to him
+gently, but when they were far enough for him to throw off the mask
+safely he turned furiously upon the boy.
+
+“Now, you young rascal,” he said roughly, “tell me why you did not
+obey me last night.”
+
+“It wasn’t safe,” said Tony. “We should both have been caught.”
+
+“Why should we? Wasn’t the man asleep?”
+
+“He stirred in his sleep. If I had moved about much, or opened the
+door, it would have waked him up.”
+
+“You are a coward,” sneered Rudolph. “When I was of your age I
+wouldn’t have given up a job so easily. Such men sleep sound. No
+matter if they do move about, they won’t wake up. If you had had a
+little more courage we should have succeeded last night in capturing
+the money.”
+
+“I wish you’d give it up, Rudolph,” said Tony earnestly.
+
+“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” said the tramp harshly.
+“You’re a milksop. The world owes us a living, and we must call for
+it.”
+
+“I’d rather work than steal.”
+
+“There’s no work to be had, and we must have money. More depends on it
+than you think. But we’ve got one more night to work in.”
+
+“What do you mean to do?” asked Tony uneasily.
+
+“Thanks to my management, you will sleep in the same room to-night.
+Look round the house during the day; see if the key’s in the desk. If
+you can get hold of the money, all the better. In that case, come and
+hide it in that hollow tree, and we can secure it after the hue and
+cry is over. Do you hear?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“But if there is no chance of that, look out for me at midnight. I
+will throw gravel against your window as a signal. When you hear it,
+steal downstairs, with your shoes in your hands, and open the door to
+me. I will attend to the rest. And mind,” he added sternly, “I shall
+take no excuses.”
+
+“Suppose I am caught going downstairs?”
+
+“Say you are taken sick. It will be easy enough to make an excuse.”
+
+“Are you going to Crampton?” asked Tony.
+
+“Of course not. Do you think I am such a fool as to take a long walk
+like that?”
+
+“You said you were going.”
+
+“Only to put them off the scent. I shall hide in yonder wood till
+night. Then I will find my way back to the farmhouse.”
+
+“Do you want me to go any further with you?”
+
+“No; you can go back now if you want to. Don’t forget my directions.”
+
+“I will remember them,” said Tony quietly.
+
+The two parted company, and Tony walked slowly back to the farm. He
+was troubled and perplexed. He was in a dilemma, and how to get out of
+it he did not know.
+
+It was not the first time that he thought over his relations to
+Rudolph.
+
+As far back as he could remember he had been under the care of this
+man. Sometimes the latter had been away for months, leaving him in the
+charge of a woman whose appearance indicated that she also was of
+gypsy descent. He had experienced hunger, cold, neglect, but had lived
+through them all, tolerably contented. Now, however, he saw that
+Rudolph intended to make a criminal of him, and he was disposed to
+rebel. That his guardian was himself a thief, he had reason to know.
+He suspected that some of his periodical absences were spent inside
+prison walls. Would he be content to follow his example?
+
+Tony answered unhesitatingly, “No.” Whatever the consequences might
+be, he would make a stand there. He had reason to fear violence, but
+that was better than arrest and imprisonment. If matters came to the
+worst, he would run away.
+
+When he had come to a decision he felt better. He returned to the
+farm, and found Abner just leaving the yard with a hoe in his hand.
+
+“Where are you going?” he asked.
+
+“To the cornfield.”
+
+“May I go with you?”
+
+“If you want to.”
+
+So Tony went out to the field with the stalwart “hired man,” and kept
+him company through the forenoon.
+
+“That’s easy work,” said Tony, after a while.
+
+“Do you think you can do it?”
+
+“Let me try.”
+
+Tony succeeded tolerably well, but he could not get over the ground so
+fast as Abner.
+
+“Why don’t you hire out on a farm?” asked Abner, as he took back the
+hoe.
+
+“I would if I could,” answered Tony.
+
+“Why can’t you? Won’t your father let you?”
+
+“He wants me to go round with him,” answered Tony.
+
+“Wouldn’t he take me instead of you?” asked Abner, grinning. “I’d like
+to travel round and see the world. You could stay here and do the farm
+work.”
+
+“If he and the farmer agree to the change, I will,” answered Tony,
+with a smile.
+
+At noon they went back to the farmhouse to dinner. Tony stared with
+astonishment at the quantity of food Abner made away with. He
+concluded that farm work was favorable to the appetite.
+
+The afternoon passed rapidly away, and night came. Again Tony went up
+to the attic to share Abner’s room. He got nervous as the night wore
+on. He knew what was expected of him, and he shrank from Rudolph’s
+anger. He tried to go to sleep, but could not.
+
+At last the expected signal came. There was a rattling of gravel
+stones upon the window.
+
+“Shall I lie here and take no notice?” thought Tony.
+
+In this case Rudolph would continue to fling gravel stones, and Abner
+might wake up. He decided to go to the window and announce his
+determination.
+
+When Rudolph saw him appear at the window, he called out:
+
+“Come down quick, and open the door.”
+
+“I would rather not,” answered Tony.
+
+“You must!” exclaimed Rudolph, with a terrible oath. “If you dare to
+refuse I’ll flay you alive.”
+
+“I can’t do it,” said Tony, pale, but resolute. “You have no right to
+ask it of me.”
+
+Just then Tony was startled by a voice from the bed:
+
+“Is that your father? What does he want?”
+
+“I would rather not tell,” said Tony.
+
+“You must!” said Abner sternly.
+
+“He wants me to open the door and let him into the house,” Tony
+confessed reluctantly.
+
+“What for?”
+
+“He wants to get your master’s money.”
+
+“Ho, ho!” said Abner. “Well, we’ll go down and let him in.”
+
+“What!” exclaimed Tony, in surprise.
+
+“Call from the window that you will be down directly.”
+
+“I don’t want to get him into trouble.”
+
+“You must, or I shall think you are a thief, too.”
+
+Thus constrained, Tony called out that he would come down at once.
+
+“I thought you’d think better of it,” muttered Rudolph. “Hurry down,
+and waste no time.”
+
+Five minutes later Abner and Tony crept downstairs, the former armed
+with a tough oak stick.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+IN A TRAP
+
+
+Unsuspicious of danger, Rudolph took a position on the doorstep. He
+was incensed with Tony for having given him so much unnecessary
+trouble, and he was resolved to give the boy a lesson.
+
+It was quite dark in the shadow of the house, and when the door
+opened, Rudolph, supposing, of course, it was Tony who had opened it,
+seized the person, whom he saw but dimly, by the arm, exclaiming,
+venomously, as he tried to shake him:
+
+“I’ll teach you to keep me waiting, you young rascal!”
+
+He was not long in finding out his mistake.
+
+Abner was considerably larger and more muscular than the tramp, and he
+returned the compliment by shaking off Rudolph’s grasp and seizing him
+in his own viselike grip.
+
+“You’ll teach me, will you, you villain!” retorted Abner. “I’ll teach
+you to come here like a thief!”
+
+“Let go!” exclaimed the tramp, as he felt himself shaken roughly.
+
+“Not till I’ve given you a good drubbing,” returned Abner, and he
+began to use his cudgel with effect on the back and shoulders of the
+tramp. “You’ve come to the wrong house, you have.”
+
+Rudolph ground his teeth with ineffectual rage. He lamented that he
+had not a knife or pistol with him, but he had made so sure of easy
+entrance into the house, and no resistance, that he had not prepared
+himself. As to brute force, he was no match for Abner.
+
+“The boy betrayed me!” he shrieked. “I’ll have his life!”
+
+“Not much,” said Abner. “You’ll be lucky to get away with your own. It
+isn’t the boy. I was awake and heard you ask him to let you in. Now
+take yourself off.”
+
+As he said this he gave a powerful push, and Rudolph reeled a moment
+and sank upon the ground, striking his head with violence.
+
+“He won’t try it again,” said Abner, as he shut the door and bolted
+it. “I guess he’s got enough for once.”
+
+Tony stood by, ashamed and mortified. He was afraid Abner would class
+him with the tramp who had just been ignominiously expelled from the
+house. He was afraid he, too, would be thrust out of doors, in which
+case he would be exposed to brutal treatment from Rudolph. But he did
+not need to fear this. Abner had seen and heard enough to feel
+convinced that Tony was all right in the matter, and he did not mean
+to make the innocent suffer for the guilty.
+
+“Now let us go to bed, Tony,” he said, in a friendly manner. “You
+don’t want to go with him, do you?”
+
+“No,” said Tony. “I never want to see him again.”
+
+“I shouldn’t think you would. He’s a rascal and a thief.”
+
+“I hope you don’t think I wanted to rob the house,” said Tony.
+
+“No; I don’t believe you’re a bit like him. What makes you go with
+him?”
+
+“I won’t any more.”
+
+“He isn’t your father?”
+
+“No; I don’t know who my father is.”
+
+“That’s strange,” said Abner, who had seen but little of the world.
+Everyone that he knew had a father, and knew who that father was. He
+could not realize that anyone could have an experience like Tony’s.
+
+“I wish I did know my father,” said Tony, thoughtfully. “I’m alone in
+the world now.”
+
+“What do you mean to do?”
+
+“I’ll go off by myself to-morrow, away from Rudolph. I never want to
+see him again.”
+
+“Have you got any money?”
+
+They had now got back into the chamber, and were taking off their
+clothes.
+
+“I’ve got five cents,” answered Tony.
+
+“Is that all?”
+
+“Yes, but I don’t mind. I’ll get along somehow.”
+
+Tony had always got along somehow. He had never—at least not for long
+at a time—known what it was to have a settled home or a permanent
+shelter. Whether the world owed him a living or not, he had always got
+one, such as it was, and though he had often been cold and hungry,
+here he was at fourteen, well and strong, and with plenty of pluck and
+courage to carry with him into the life struggle that was opening
+before him. Abner’s training had been different, and he wondered at
+the coolness with which Tony contemplated the future. But he was too
+sleepy to wonder long at anything, and, with a yawn, he lapsed into
+slumber.
+
+Tony did not go to sleep immediately. He had need to be thoughtful. He
+had made up his mind to be his own master henceforth, but Rudolph he
+knew would have a word to say on that point. In getting away the next
+morning he must manage to give the tramp a wide berth. It would be
+better for him to go to some distant place, where, free from
+interference, he could make his own living.
+
+There was another thought that came to him. Somewhere in the world he
+might come across a father or mother, or more distant relative—one of
+whom he would not be ashamed, as he was of the companion who tried to
+draw him into crime. This was the last thought in his mind, as he sank
+into a sound sleep from which he did not awaken till he was called for
+breakfast.
+
+To say that Rudolph was angry when he recovered from the temporary
+insensibility occasioned by his fall would be a very mild expression.
+He had not only been thwarted in his designs, but suffered violence
+and humiliation in the presence of the boy of whom he regarded himself
+as the guardian. He thirsted for revenge, if not on Abner, then on
+Tony, whom it would be safer to maltreat and abuse.
+
+Anger is unreasonable, and poor Tony would have fared badly if he had
+fallen into Rudolph’s clutches just then. It made no difference that
+Abner had exonerated Tony from any share in the unpleasant surprise he
+had met. He determined to give him a severe beating, nevertheless.
+
+There is an old proverb: “You must catch your hare before you cook
+it.” This did not occur to the tramp. He never supposed Tony would
+have the hardihood or courage to give him the slip.
+
+The remainder of the night spent by Tony in sleeping was less
+pleasantly spent by Rudolph in the barn.
+
+He meant to be up early, as he knew he was liable to arrest on account
+of his last night’s attempt, and lie in wait for Tony, who, he
+supposed, would wait for breakfast.
+
+He was right there. Tony did remain for breakfast. The farmer—Mr.
+Coleman—had already been informed of Rudolph’s attempted burglary,
+and he did Tony the justice to exonerate him from any share in it.
+
+“What are you going to do, my boy?” he asked, at the breakfast table.
+
+“I am going to set up for myself,” answered Tony, cheerfully.
+
+“That’s right. Have nothing more to do with that man. He can only do
+you harm. Have you got any money?”
+
+“I’ve got five cents.”
+
+“That isn’t enough to buy a farm.”
+
+“Not a very large one,” said Tony, smiling.
+
+Abner nearly choked with laughter. This was a joke which he could
+appreciate.
+
+“I don’t think I’ll go to farming,” continued Tony.
+
+“You can stay here a week or two,” said the farmer, hospitably, “till
+you get time to look around.”
+
+“Thank you,” said Tony. “You are very kind, but I don’t think it will
+be safe. Rudolph will be on the watch for me.”
+
+“The man you came with?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Guess he won’t touch you while I’m round,” said Abner.
+
+“I don’t think he’ll want to tackle you again,” said Tony.
+
+“Didn’t I lay him out, though?” said Abner, with a grin. “He thought
+it was you, ho! ho!”
+
+“He didn’t think so long,” said Tony. “I haven’t got such an arm as
+you.”
+
+Abner was pleased with this compliment to his prowess, and wouldn’t
+have minded another tussle with the tramp.
+
+“Where do you think that chap you call Rudolph is?” he asked.
+
+“He’s searching for me, I expect,” said Tony. “If I’m not careful
+he’ll get hold of me.”
+
+Just then a neighbor’s boy, named Joe, came to the house on an errand.
+He was almost Tony’s size. He waited about, not seeming in any hurry
+to be gone.
+
+“Abner,” said the farmer, “if you’ve got nothing else to do, you may
+load up the wagon with hay and carry it to Castleton. We shall have
+more than we want.”
+
+“All right,” said Abner.
+
+“May I go, too? May I ride on the hay?” asked Joe eagerly.
+
+“Will your father let you?” asked the farmer.
+
+“Oh, yes; he won’t mind.”
+
+“Then you may go,” was the reply. “Do you want to go, too, Tony?”
+
+Tony was about to say yes, when an idea seized him.
+
+“If the other boy goes, Rudolph will think it is I, and he will follow
+the wagon. That will give me a chance of getting off in another
+direction.”
+
+“So it will,” said Abner. “What a headpiece you’ve got,” he added
+admiringly. “I wouldn’t have thought of that.”
+
+Abner’s headpiece was nothing to boast of. He had strength of body,
+but to equalize matters his mind was not equally endowed.
+
+The plan was disclosed to Joe, who willingly agreed to enter into it.
+This was the more feasible because he was of about Tony’s size, and
+wore a hat just like his.
+
+The hay was loaded, and the wagon started off with Abner walking
+alongside. Joe was perched on top, nearly buried in the hay, but with
+his hat rising from the mass. This was about all that could be seen of
+him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+ABNER’S RUSE
+
+
+Abner and Joe had gone about half a mile when from the bushes by the
+roadside Rudolph emerged. He had seen the hat, and he felt sure that
+Tony was trying to escape him in that way.
+
+“Well,” said Abner, with a grin, as he recognized his midnight foe,
+“how do you feel this morning?”
+
+“None the better for you, curse you!” returned the tramp roughly.
+
+Abner laughed.
+
+“That’s what I thought,” he said, cracking his whip.
+
+Rudolph would like to have punished him then and there for his
+humiliation of the night before, but Abner looked too powerful as he
+strode along manfully with vigorous steps. Besides, he had a heavy
+whip in his hand, which the tramp suspected would be used
+unhesitatingly if there were occasion. The prospect was not inviting.
+But, at any rate, Rudolph could demand that Tony be remitted to his
+custody.
+
+“Where’s my boy?” asked the tramp, keeping at a safe distance.
+
+“Didn’t know you had a boy,” said Abner.
+
+“I mean that villain Tony. Isn’t that he on that load of hay?”
+
+“Kind o’ looks like him,” answered Abner, grinning.
+
+Rudolph looked up, and caught sight of the hat.
+
+“Come down here, Tony,” he said sternly.
+
+Joe, who had been instructed what to do, answered not a word.
+
+“Come down here, if you know what’s best for you,” continued the
+tramp.
+
+“Guess he’s hard of hearing,” laughed Abner.
+
+“Stop your wagon,” said Rudolph furiously, “I want to get hold of
+him.”
+
+“Couldn’t do it,” said Abner coolly. “I’m in a hurry.”
+
+“Will you give me the boy or not?” demanded the tramp hoarsely.
+
+“He can get off and go along with you if he wants to,” said Abner. “Do
+you want to get down, Tony?”
+
+“No!” answered the supposed Tony.
+
+“You see, squire, he prefers to ride,” said Abner. “Can’t blame him
+much. I’d do it in his place.”
+
+“Where are you going?” demanded the tramp, who hadn’t discovered that
+the voice was not that of Tony.
+
+“I’m going to Castleton,” answered Abner.
+
+“Are you going to leave the hay there?”
+
+“Yes, that’s what I calc’late to do.”
+
+“How far is it?”
+
+“Six miles.”
+
+“I’ll walk along, too.”
+
+“Better not, squire, you’ll get tired.”
+
+“I’ll risk that.”
+
+Rudolph’s plan was manifest. When the hay was unloaded, of course Tony
+would have to get down. Then he would get hold of him.
+
+“You can do just as you’ve a mind to,” said Abner. “You’ll be company
+to Tony and me, but you needn’t put yourself out on our account, hey,
+Tony?”
+
+There was a smothered laugh on top of the hay, which the tramp heard.
+His eyes snapped viciously, and he privately determined to give Tony a
+settlement in full for all his offenses just as soon as he got hold of
+him.
+
+So they jogged on, mile after mile. Abner walked on one side, swinging
+his whip, and occasionally cracking it. The tramp walked on the other
+side of the road, and the boy rode along luxuriously imbedded in his
+fragrant couch of hay. Abner from time to time kept up the tramp’s
+illusion by calling out, “Tony, you must take keer, or you’ll fall
+off.”
+
+“I’ll catch him if he does,” said Rudolph grimly.
+
+“So you will,” chuckled Abner. “You’d like to, wouldn’t you?”
+
+“Certainly. He is my son,” said Rudolph.
+
+“Do you hear that, Tony? He says you’re his son,” said Abner, grinning
+again.
+
+There was another laugh from the boy on the load of hay.
+
+“You won’t find anything to laugh at when I get hold of you,” muttered
+Rudolph.
+
+So they journeyed into Castleton.
+
+From time to time Abner, as he thought how neatly the tramp had been
+sold, burst into a loud laugh, which was echoed from the hay wagon.
+Rudolph was not only angry, but puzzled.
+
+“Does the boy hope to escape me?” he asked himself. “If so, he will
+find himself badly mistaken. He will find that I am not to be trifled
+with.”
+
+“Say, squire, what makes you look so glum?” asked Abner. “Maybe it’s
+because I didn’t let you in when you called so late last night. We
+don’t receive visitors after midnight.”
+
+Rudolph scowled, but said nothing.
+
+“How long has the boy been with you?” asked Abner, further.
+
+“Since he was born,” answered the tramp. “Ain’t I his father?”
+
+“I don’t know. If it’s a conundrum, I give it up.”
+
+“Well, I am, and no one has a right to keep him from me,” said the
+tramp, in a surly manner.
+
+“I wouldn’t keep him from you for a minute,” said Abner innocently.
+
+“You are doing it now.”
+
+“No, I ain’t.”
+
+“I can’t get at him on that hay.”
+
+“He can come down if he wants to. I don’t stop him. You can come down
+if you want to, Tony,” he said, looking up to where the boy’s hat was
+visible.
+
+Tony did not answer, and Abner continued:
+
+“You see he don’t want to come. He’d rather ride. You know he’s been
+sick,” said Abner, with a grin, “and he’s too delicate to walk. He
+ain’t tough, like you and me.”
+
+“He’ll need to be tough,” muttered the tramp, as he thought of the
+flogging he intended to give Tony.
+
+“What did you say?”
+
+“Never mind.”
+
+“Oh, I don’t mind,” said Abner. “You can say what you want to. This is
+a free country, only you can’t do what you’ve a mind to.”
+
+Rudolph wished that he had a double stock of strength. It was very
+provoking to be laughed at and derided by Abner, without being able to
+revenge himself. A pistol or a knife would make him even with the
+countryman, but Rudolph was too much of a coward to commit such
+serious crimes where there was so much danger of detection and
+punishment.
+
+At last they entered Castleton.
+
+The hay was to be delivered to a speculator, who collected large
+quantities of it, and forwarded it over the railroad to a large city.
+
+It had to be weighed, and Abner drove at once to the hay scales.
+
+“Now,” thought Rudolph, with exultation, “the boy must come down, and
+I shall get hold of him.”
+
+“I guess you’d better slide down,” said Abner. “I can’t sell you for
+hay, Tony.”
+
+There was a movement, and then the boy slid down, Abner catching him
+as he descended.
+
+Rudolph’s face changed ominously when he saw that it wasn’t Tony who
+made his appearance.
+
+“What does this mean?” he demanded furiously.
+
+“What’s the matter?”
+
+“This isn’t Tony.”
+
+“Come to look at him, it isn’t,” said Abner, with a twinkle in his
+eye.
+
+“Didn’t you say it was Tony?” asked the tramp, exasperated.
+
+“I guess I was mistaken, squire,” said Abner, grinning.
+
+“Where is he, then?”
+
+“I don’t know, I’m sure. It seems he didn’t come. Guess he must have
+given us the slip.”
+
+The tramp, unable to control his rage, burst into a volley of
+execrations.
+
+“Hope you feel better, squire,” said Abner, when he got through.
+
+“I’d like to see you hanged,” retorted Rudolph bitterly.
+
+“Thank you,” said Abner, “I’ll invite you when it comes off.”
+
+The tramp strode off, vowing dire vengeance against both Abner and
+Tony.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+A STRANGE HOTEL
+
+
+From the upper window in the farmhouse, which was situated on elevated
+ground, Tony saw his old guardian follow Abner. Thus the way was
+opened for his escape.
+
+“Won’t you stay longer with us?” asked the farmer.
+
+“Thank you,” answered Tony, “but I wouldn’t dare to. Rudolph may be
+back for me, and I want to get away before he has a chance.”
+
+“Are you going to walk?” asked the farmer’s wife.
+
+“Yes,” said Tony. “I’ve only got five cents in my pocket, and I can’t
+ride far on that.”
+
+“I’m afraid you will be tired,” she said.
+
+“Oh, I’m used to tramping,” returned Tony lightly.
+
+“Can’t you put up some dinner for him, wife?” suggested the farmer.
+“It’ll make him hungry walking.”
+
+“To be sure, I will,” she replied, and a large supply of eatables were
+put in a paper, sufficient to last Tony twenty-four hours at least.
+
+The farmer deliberated whether he should not offer our hero half a
+dollar, but he was close, so far as money was concerned, and he
+decided in the negative.
+
+So Tony set out, taking a course directly opposite to that pursued by
+Abner. In this way he thought he should best avoid the chance of
+meeting Rudolph.
+
+About five o’clock he felt that it was about time to look about for a
+night’s rest. A hotel was, of course, out of the question, and he
+looked about for a farmhouse. The nearest dwelling was a small one, of
+four rooms, setting back from the road, down a lane.
+
+“Perhaps I can get in there,” thought Tony.
+
+An old man, with a patriarchal beard, whose neglected and squalid
+dress seemed to indicate poverty, was sitting on the doorstep.
+
+“Good-evening,” said Tony.
+
+“Who are you?” demanded the old man suspiciously.
+
+“I am a poor traveler,” said Tony.
+
+“A tramp,” said the old man, in the same tone.
+
+“Yes, I suppose so,” said Tony.
+
+“Well, I’ve got nothing for you.”
+
+“I don’t want anything except the chance to sleep.”
+
+“Don’t you want any supper?”
+
+“No; I’ve got my supper here,” returned our hero.
+
+“What have you got there?” asked the old man.
+
+“Some bread and butter, and cold meat.”
+
+“It looks good,” said the other, with what Tony thought to be a
+longing look.
+
+“I’ll share it with you, if you’ll let me sleep here to-night,” said
+Tony.
+
+The old man was a miser, as Tony suspected. He was able to live
+comfortably, but he deprived himself of the necessaries of life in
+order to hoard away money. His face revealed that to Tony. He had
+nearly starved himself, but he had not overcome his natural appetites,
+and the sight of Tony’s supper gave him a craving for it.
+
+“I don’t know,” he said doubtfully. “If I let you sleep here, you
+might get up in the night and rob me.”
+
+“You don’t look as if you had anything worth stealing.”
+
+“You’re quite right,” said old Ben Hayden. “I’ve only saved a little
+money—a very little—to pay my funeral expenses. You wouldn’t take
+that.”
+
+“Oh, no,” said Tony. “I wouldn’t take it if you’d give it to me.”
+
+“You wouldn’t? Why not?”
+
+“Because you need it yourself. If you were a rich man it would be
+different.”
+
+“So it would,” said old Hayden. “You’re a good boy—an excellent boy.
+I’ll trust you. You can stay.”
+
+“Then let us eat supper,” said Tony.
+
+He sat down on the doorstep and gave the old man half of his supply of
+food. He was interested to see the avidity with which he ate it.
+
+“Is it good?” he asked.
+
+“I haven’t eaten anything so good for a long time. I couldn’t afford
+to buy food.”
+
+“I am sorry for you.”
+
+“You haven’t got any left for breakfast.”
+
+“Oh, somebody will give me breakfast,” said Tony.
+
+“Do you travel round all the time?”
+
+“Yes; but I hope to get a chance to go to work soon. I’d rather live
+in one place.”
+
+“You might live with me, if I were not so poor.”
+
+“Thank you,” answered Tony politely, but it did not appear that it was
+such a home as he would choose.
+
+“Do you live alone?” he asked.
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“I didn’t know but you might be married.”
+
+“I was married but my wife died long ago.”
+
+“Why don’t you marry again?” inquired Tony.
+
+“I couldn’t afford it,” answered Hayden, frightened at the suggestion.
+“Women have terrible appetites.”
+
+“Have they?” returned Tony, amused.
+
+“And I can’t get enough for myself to eat.”
+
+“Have you always lived here?”
+
+“No; I lived in England when I was a young man.”
+
+“What made you leave it?”
+
+“Why do you ask me that?” demanded old Ben.
+
+“Oh, if it’s a secret, don’t tell me,” said Tony.
+
+“Who said it was a secret?” said the old man irritably.
+
+“Nobody that I know of.”
+
+“Then why do you ask me such questions?”
+
+“Don’t answer anything you don’t want to,” said our hero. “I only
+asked for the sake of saying something.”
+
+“I don’t mind telling,” said old Ben, more calmly. “It was because I
+was so poor. I thought I could do better in America.”
+
+“Do you own this place?”
+
+“Yes, but it’s a very poor place. It isn’t worth much.”
+
+“I shouldn’t think it was,” said Tony.
+
+“You’re a good lad. You see how poor I am.”
+
+“Of course I do, and I’m sorry for you. I would help you only I am
+very poor myself.”
+
+“Have you got any money?” asked Ben, with interest.
+
+“I’ve got five cents,” answered Tony, laughing. “I hope you’ve got
+more than that.”
+
+“A little more—a very little more,” said Ben.
+
+The old miser began to consider whether he couldn’t charge Tony five
+cents for his lodging, but sighed at the recollection that Tony had
+already paid for it in advance by giving him a supper.
+
+At eight o’clock the miser suggested going to bed.
+
+“I haven’t any lights,” he said; “candles cost so much. Besides, a
+body’s better off in bed.”
+
+“I’m willing to go to bed,” said Tony. “I’ve walked a good deal
+to-day, and I’m tired.”
+
+They went into the house. There was a heap of rags in the corner of
+the room when they entered.
+
+“That’s my bed,” said old Ben; “it’s all I have.”
+
+“I can sleep on the floor,” said Tony.
+
+He took off his jacket, rolled it up for a pillow, and stretched
+himself out on the bare floor. He had often slept so before.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+TONY HIRES OUT
+
+
+Tony was not slow in going to sleep. Neither his hard bed nor his
+strange bedchamber troubled him.
+
+Generally he slept all night without awakening, but to-night, for some
+unknown reason, he awoke about two o’clock. It was unusually light for
+that hour, and so he was enabled to see what at first startled him.
+The old man had raised a plank forming a part of the flooring, and had
+lifted from beneath it a canvas bag full of gold pieces. He was taking
+them out and counting them, apparently quite unconscious of Tony’s
+presence.
+
+Tony raised himself on his elbow, and looked at him. It occurred to
+him that for a man so suspicious it was strange that he should expose
+his hoard before a stranger. Something, however, in the old man’s look
+led him to think that he was in a sleep-walking fit.
+
+“Ninety-five, ninety-six, ninety-seven,” Tony heard him count; “that
+makes nine hundred and seventy dollars, all gold, good, beautiful
+gold. Nobody knows the old man is so rich. There’s another bag, too.
+There are one hundred pieces in that. Three more and this will be
+full, too. Nobody must know, nobody must know.”
+
+He put back the pieces, replaced the bag in its hiding place, and
+then, putting back the plank, lay down once more on his heap of rags.
+
+“How uneasy he would be,” thought Tony, “if he knew I had seen his
+treasures. But I wouldn’t rob him for the world, although the money
+would do me good, and he makes no use of it except to look at it.”
+
+Tony slept till six when he was awakened by a piteous groaning.
+
+“What’s the matter?” he asked.
+
+“Who’s there?” demanded Ben, terrified.
+
+“It’s only I. Don’t you remember you let me sleep here last night?”
+
+“Oh, yes. I remember now. I’m sick; very sick.”
+
+“How do you feel?”
+
+“I’m aching and trembling all over. Do you think I’m going to die?” he
+asked, with a startled look.
+
+“Oh, no, I guess not,” said Tony reassuringly.
+
+“I never felt so before,” groaned Ben. “I’m an old man. Don’t you
+really think I shall die?”
+
+Tony knew nothing of medicines or of diseases, but he had the sense to
+understand that the old man would be more likely to recover if his
+terror could be allayed, and he said lightly:
+
+“Oh, it’s only a trifle. You’ve taken cold, very likely. A cup of hot
+tea would be good for you.”
+
+“I haven’t any tea,” groaned Ben. “It costs a great deal, and I’m very
+poor. I can’t afford to buy it.”
+
+Tony smiled, remembering the hoard of gold.
+
+“I guess you’ve got some money,” said Tony. “You’d better let me go to
+the store, and buy some tea and a fresh roll for you.”
+
+“How much will it cost?” asked Ben.
+
+“I can get some bread, and tea, and sugar for thirty or forty cents,”
+answered Tony.
+
+“Forty cents! It’s frightful!” exclaimed Ben. “I—I guess I’ll do
+without it.”
+
+“Oh, well, if you prefer to lie there and die, it’s none of my
+business,” said Tony, rather provoked.
+
+“But I don’t want to die,” whined Ben.
+
+“Then do as I tell you.”
+
+Tony jumped up, unrolled his coat and put it on.
+
+“Now,” he said, “I’m ready to go for you, if you’ll give me the
+money.”
+
+“But you may take it and not come back.”
+
+“If you think you can’t trust me, you needn’t.”
+
+“I think I’ll go myself,” said Ben.
+
+He tried to raise himself, but a twinge of pain compelled him to lie
+down again.
+
+“No, I can’t,” he said.
+
+“Well, do you want me to go for you?”
+
+“Yes,” answered Ben reluctantly.
+
+“Then give me the money.”
+
+Ben produced twenty-five cents from his pocket.
+
+“Isn’t that enough?” he asked.
+
+“Better give me more,” said Tony.
+
+He produced ten cents more, and vowed it was all the money he had in
+the world.
+
+Tony decided not to contradict his assertion, but to make this go as
+far as it would. He put on his hat and started out. He meant also to
+stop at the doctor’s, and ask him to call round, for he thought it
+possible that the old man might be seriously sick.
+
+After he left the grocery store, he called at the house of the village
+doctor.
+
+“Old Ben sick?” said Dr. Compton. “How did you happen to be in his
+house?”
+
+Tony explained.
+
+“He has been repaid for taking you in,” said the doctor. “I’ll put on
+my hat and go right over with you.”
+
+After Tony left the house, old Ben tormented himself with the thought
+that the boy would never come back.
+
+He was relieved by seeing the door open and Tony enter. But he looked
+dismayed when he saw the doctor.
+
+“What did you come for?” he asked peevishly.
+
+“To see what I can do for you, Mr. Hayden.”
+
+“But I can’t pay you,” whined old Ben.
+
+“We’ll talk about that afterward.”
+
+“You can’t charge when I didn’t send for you.”
+
+“Make your mind easy. I won’t charge for this visit. Let me feel your
+pulse.”
+
+Old Ben no longer opposed medical treatment, finding it would cost
+nothing.
+
+“Am I going to die?” he asked, with an anxious look.
+
+“You need nourishing food and care, that is all,” was the reply. “You
+have had a chill, and you are reduced by insufficient food.”
+
+“I have some bread and tea here,” said Tony.
+
+“Then make a fire and boil the tea. And, by the way, Mr. Hayden needs
+somebody for a few days. Can you look after him?”
+
+“If he will give me money enough to buy what he needs,” said Tony.
+
+Old Ben whined that he was poor, and had no money, but the doctor
+interrupted him impatiently.
+
+“That’s all nonsense,” he said. “You may not have much money, but
+you’ve got some, and you’ll die if you don’t spend some on yourself.
+If you don’t agree to it I shall advise this boy here to leave you to
+your fate. Then your only resource will be to go to the poorhouse.”
+
+This proposal was not acceptable to Ben, who was unwilling to leave
+the house where his treasures were concealed. He, therefore,
+reluctantly acceded to the doctor’s conditions, and Tony got his
+breakfast.
+
+“Well,” thought Tony to himself, with a smile, “I’ve got a situation
+as plain cook and housekeeper. I wonder how long it will last, and
+what’ll come of it. I don’t believe Rudolph will look for me here.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE FACE AT THE WINDOW
+
+
+Tony was not only cook and housekeeper, but he was sick nurse as well.
+Nor were his duties easy. The main difficulty was about getting money
+to buy what was absolutely necessary. This was very irritating,
+especially since Tony knew about Ben’s hidden treasure.
+
+One morning Tony went to Ben for money, saying:
+
+“There isn’t a scrap of food in the house except a little tea.”
+
+“You can make some tea. That will do,” said Ben.
+
+“It may do for you, but it won’t for me.”
+
+“It costs a sight to support two people.”
+
+“I don’t know about that. I’ve only spent two dollars in six days. You
+don’t call that much, do you?”
+
+“Two dollars!” ejaculated the old man, terrified. “Oh, it’s too much.
+I am ruined!”
+
+“Are you?” said Tony coolly. “Then all I can say is, you’re easily
+ruined. I want half a dollar.”
+
+“I shan’t give it to you,” snarled Ben.
+
+“Do you mean to starve?”
+
+“I won’t part with all I have. You are robbing me.”
+
+“That won’t make much difference, as you’ll be dead in three days,”
+said Tony.
+
+“What?” almost shrieked Ben, in dismay. “Who told you so? The doctor?”
+
+“No.”
+
+“You ain’t goin’ to murder me, are you?”
+
+“No; you are going to murder yourself.”
+
+“What do you mean?” demanded Ben peevishly.
+
+“You’re not willing to buy anything to eat,” explained Tony, “and you
+can’t live above three days on nothing.”
+
+“Is that all? What made you frighten me so?”
+
+“I only told you the truth. Are you going to give me the money?”
+
+“Perhaps you’ll tell me where I’m going to get so much money?” said
+Ben, in the same tone.
+
+“I will tell you if you want me to,” answered Tony.
+
+“Where?” asked Ben eagerly.
+
+“Under the floor,” returned Tony composedly.
+
+“What!” screamed Ben, in consternation.
+
+“Just where I said. There’s plenty of money under that plank.”
+
+“Who told you?” groaned the old man, livid with terror. “Have—have
+you taken any?”
+
+“Not a dollar. It’s all there.”
+
+“Have you been spying when I was asleep?”
+
+“No, I haven’t. That ain’t my style.”
+
+“How could you find out, then?”
+
+“I’ll tell you. The first night I was here, you got up in your sleep
+and took up the board. Then you drew out two bags of gold pieces and
+counted them.”
+
+“Oh, I’m ruined! I’m undone!” lamented Ben.
+
+“I don’t see how you are.”
+
+“I shall be robbed. There’s only a little there—only a few dollars to
+bury me.”
+
+“I guess you mean to have a tall funeral,” said Tony coolly. “There’s
+a thousand dollars there.”
+
+“No, no, only fifty,” answered the old man.
+
+“There’s no use talking, I know better. If you don’t believe it,
+suppose I count the pieces.”
+
+“No, no!”
+
+“Just as you say. As it is, you’ve got plenty of money, and I know it,
+and if you ain’t willing to use some of it, I’ll go off and leave you
+alone.”
+
+“Don’t go,” said Ben hastily. “You’re a good boy. You wouldn’t rob a
+poor old man, would you?”
+
+“Nor a rich old man either, but I don’t mean to starve. So give me
+fifty cents and I’ll get some fresh bread and butter, and tea and
+sugar.”
+
+“No matter about the butter. It costs too much.”
+
+“I want butter myself. My constitution requires it,” said Tony. “You
+needn’t eat it if you don’t want to.”
+
+Ben groaned again, but he produced the money required, and Tony soon
+returned from the grocery store with small supplies of the articles he
+had named.
+
+“Now we’ll have some breakfast,” said Tony cheerfully. “Don’t you feel
+hungry?”
+
+“A—a little,” acknowledged Ben reluctantly. “I wish I wasn’t. It
+costs so much to live.”
+
+“I don’t think it costs you much,” said Tony. “This morning I’m going
+to give you a boiled egg.”
+
+“I can’t afford it,” groaned the old man.
+
+“You may as well eat it, as it’s here.”
+
+“How much did you pay?”
+
+“Three cents for two.”
+
+Ben groaned again, but when breakfast was ready he showed an unusually
+good appetite, and did not refrain from partaking of the egg,
+expensive as it was.
+
+Dr. Compton came in the next morning, and pronounced the old man
+better and stronger.
+
+“Shall I be able to get up soon, doctor?” asked Ben.
+
+“In a day or two, I think.”
+
+Ben heaved a sigh of relief.
+
+“I’m glad of it,” he said. “I can’t afford to be sick.”
+
+“Has it cost you much?” asked the doctor, amused.
+
+“It costs a sight to live. He eats a good deal.”
+
+“He’s a growing boy; but he’s worth all he costs you. You’d better ask
+him to stay with you a few weeks.”
+
+“No, no; I can’t afford it,” said Ben hastily. “He’s a good boy; but
+he’s very hearty—very hearty.”
+
+“Don’t vex him, doctor,” said our hero. “I’m tired of staying here. I
+want to get out on the road again.”
+
+Ben looked relieved.
+
+“Right, boy,” he said—“you’re right. It’s a dull place. You’ll be
+better off to go.”
+
+“You have been lucky to have him here during your sickness,” said the
+doctor. “Without his care, or that of some one else, you would
+probably have died.”
+
+“But I won’t die now?” asked old Ben anxiously.
+
+“Not at present, I hope. But you must live better than you have been
+accustomed to do.”
+
+“I shall be glad to get away,” said Tony hurriedly, to the doctor,
+outside of the house. “I’m used to tramping, and I can’t stand it much
+longer. There’s one thing I want to tell you before I go.”
+
+“Go on, my boy.”
+
+“I am afraid the old man will be robbed sometime.”
+
+“Is there anything to steal?”
+
+Tony, in a low tone, imparted to Dr. Compton the discovery he had made
+of the miser’s hoards.
+
+“I suspected as much,” said the doctor. “I will do what I can to
+induce Ben to have the gold moved to a place of safety, but I don’t
+feel confident of my ability to do it. Such men generally like to have
+their hoards within their own reach.”
+
+       *     *     *     *     *
+
+Two nights later Tony awoke shortly after midnight. It was a bright,
+moonlight night, as on the first night he slept there. Again he saw
+Ben crouched on the floor, engaged in counting his hoards. The old man
+had recovered enough strength to get out of bed without assistance.
+This time, he was broad awake.
+
+Tony was not the only witness of the spectacle. Casting his eyes
+toward the window, he was startled by seeing a dark, sinister face
+pressed against the pane, almost devouring the old man and his gold.
+
+It was the face of Rudolph, the tramp!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+RUDOLPH’S UNEXPECTED DEFEAT
+
+
+“Has Rudolph tracked me, or is it only accident that has brought him
+here?”
+
+This was the thought which naturally suggested itself to our hero, as
+in a very disturbed state of mind he stared at Rudolph through the
+uncertain light.
+
+Tony felt the difficulties of the position. Not only would the gold be
+taken, but, he, too, would fall into the power of the tramp.
+
+Old Ben had not yet discovered the sinister face at the window. He was
+too busily occupied with his pleasant employment of counting over his
+gold.
+
+But he was speedily aroused by the noise of the window being raised
+from the outside.
+
+Then he turned with a startled look, which quickly deepened into
+astonishment and dismay, as he caught the lowering look fixed upon
+him. There was more than this. There was recognition besides.
+
+“You here?” he gasped.
+
+“Yes, Ben, it’s me. May I come in?”
+
+“No, no!” ejaculated the old man hastily.
+
+“I think I must,” returned the tramp, in the same mocking tone. “I
+came to see you as an old friend, but I never dreamed you were so
+rich.”
+
+“Rich!” repeated Ben. “I’m very poor.”
+
+“That looks like it.”
+
+“It’s only a few dollars—enough to bury me.”
+
+“Very well, Ben, I’ll take charge of it, and when you need burial I’ll
+attend to it. That’s fair, isn’t it?”
+
+Rudolph, who had paused outside, now raised the window to its full
+height, and, despite the old man’s terrified exclamations, bounded
+lightly into the room.
+
+“Help! help! thieves!” screamed Ben.
+
+“Hold your jaw, you driveling old idiot!” said Rudolph, “or I’ll give
+you something to yell about.”
+
+“Help, Tony, help!” continued the old man.
+
+The tramp’s eyes, following the direction of Ben’s, discovered our
+hero on his rude bed in the corner.
+
+“Ho, ho!” he laughed, with a mirth that boded ill to Tony, “so I’ve
+found you at last, have I? You served me a nice trick the other day,
+didn’t you?”
+
+“I hoped I should never set eyes on you again.”
+
+“I’ve no doubt you did. You undertook to run away from me, did you? I
+knew I should come across you sooner or later.”
+
+While this conversation was going on Ben glanced from one to the other
+in surprise, his attention momentarily drawn away from his own
+troubles.
+
+“Do you know this boy, Rudolph?” he inquired.
+
+“I should think I did,” answered the tramp grimly.
+
+“Who is he?” asked Ben, evidently excited.
+
+“What’s that to you?” returned Rudolph. “It’s a boy I picked up, and
+have taken care of, and this is his gratitude to me. A few days since
+he ran away from me, and I’ve had a long chase to find him.”
+
+“Is this true?” asked Ben, turning to Tony.
+
+“Some of it is true,” said our hero. “I’ve been with him ever since I
+could remember, and I ran away because he wanted me to join him in
+robbing a house. He calls me his son, but I know he is not my father.”
+
+“How do you know?” demanded the tramp sternly.
+
+“Didn’t you say so just now?”
+
+“It was none of the old man’s business, and I didn’t care what I told
+him.”
+
+“There’s something within me tells me that there’s no relationship
+between us,” said Tony boldly.
+
+“Is there, indeed? Is there anything within you tells you you are
+going to get a good flogging?”
+
+“No, there isn’t.”
+
+“Then you needn’t trust it, for that is just what is going to happen.”
+
+He advanced toward Tony in a threatening manner, when he was diverted
+from his purpose by seeing the old man hastily gathering up the gold.
+Punishment could wait, he thought, but the gold must be secured now.
+
+“Not so fast, Ben!” he said. “You must lend me some of that.”
+
+“I can’t,” said Ben, hurrying all the faster. “It’s all I have, and I
+am very poor.”
+
+“I am poorer still, for I haven’t a red to bless myself with. Come, I
+won’t take all, but some I must have.”
+
+He stooped over and began to grasp at the gold pieces, some of which
+were heaped up in piles upon the floor.
+
+Even the weakest are capable of harm when exasperated, and Ben was
+gifted with preternatural strength when he saw himself likely to lose
+the hoards of a lifetime, and his anger rose to fever heat against the
+scoundrel whom he had known years before.
+
+With a cry like that of a wild beast, he sprang upon the tramp, who,
+in his crouching position, was unable to defend himself against a
+sudden attack. Rudolph fell backward, striking his head with great
+force against the brick hearth and he lay insensible, with the blood
+gushing from a wound in his head.
+
+The old man stood appalled at the consequence of his sudden attack.
+
+“Have I killed him? Shall I be hanged?”
+
+“No, he’s only stunned,” said Tony, with all his wits about him. “We
+have no time to lose.”
+
+“To run away? I can’t leave my gold,” said Ben.
+
+“I don’t mean that. We must secure him. Have you got some stout cord?”
+
+“Yes, yes,” said Ben, beginning to understand our hero’s design.
+“Stay, I’ll get it right away.”
+
+“You’d better, for he may come to at any minute.”
+
+The old man fumbled round until in some out-of-the-way corner he
+discovered a quantity of stout cord.
+
+The boy set to work with rapid hands to tie the prostrate tramp hand
+and foot.
+
+“How brave you are,” exclaimed the old man, admiringly. “I wouldn’t
+dare to touch him.”
+
+“Nor I, if he were awake. I didn’t think you were so strong. He went
+over as if he were shot.”
+
+“Did he?” asked the old man, bewildered.
+
+“It’s lucky for us you threw yourself upon him as you did. A little
+more cord, Mr. Hayden. I want to tie him securely. You’d better be
+gathering up that gold, and putting it away before he comes to.”
+
+Scarcely was the money put away in its place of concealment when the
+tramp recovered from his fit of unconsciousness, and looked stupidly
+around him. Then he tried to move, and found himself hampered by his
+bonds. Looking up, he met the terrified gaze of old Ben, and the
+steady glance of Tony. Then the real state of the case flashed upon
+him, and he was filled with an overpowering rage at the audacity of
+his late charge, to whom he rightly attributed his present humiliating
+plight.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+CAPTURED AT LAST
+
+
+“Let me up!” roared Rudolph, struggling vigorously with the cords that
+bound him.
+
+Ben was terrified by his demonstration, and had half a mind to comply
+with his demand.
+
+“Don’t you do it, Mr. Hayden!” Tony exclaimed.
+
+“What, young jackanapes!” said the tramp, scowling fiercely. “You dare
+to give him this advice?”
+
+“Yes, I do,” said Tony boldly. “He will be a fool if he releases you.”
+
+“If he don’t I’ll kill him, and you, too.”
+
+“What shall I do?” added Ben helplessly.
+
+“Do you know what he’ll do if you untie him?”
+
+“What will I do?” demanded Rudolph.
+
+“You will steal this old man’s money. It was what you were about to do
+when you fell over backward.”
+
+“He threw me over,” said the tramp.
+
+“I’m very sorry,” stammered Ben.
+
+“If you’re very sorry untie them cords, and let me up.”
+
+“I didn’t tie you.”
+
+“Who did?”
+
+“The—the boy.”
+
+“You dared to do it!” exclaimed Rudolph.
+
+“Yes, I did,” said Tony calmly. “It was the only way to keep you out
+of mischief.”
+
+“Insolent puppy; if I only had my hands free I would strangle you
+both.”
+
+“You hear what he says?” said Tony, turning to old Ben. “Are you in
+favor of untying him now?”
+
+“No, no!” exclaimed Ben, trembling. “He is a dreadful man. Oh, why did
+he come here?”
+
+“I came for your gold, you fool, and I’ll have it.”
+
+“What shall I do?” asked the old man, wringing his hands in the excess
+of his terror.
+
+“Let me up, and I won’t hurt you.”
+
+“Just now you said you would strangle the both of us, Rudolph.”
+
+“I’ll strangle you, you cub, but I will do no harm to the old man.”
+
+“Don’t you trust him, Mr. Hayden,” said Tony. “He will promise
+anything to get free, but he will forget all about it when he is
+unbound.”
+
+“I’d like to choke you!” muttered Rudolph.
+
+“I’ll go and call for help to arrest him,” said Tony.
+
+“And leave me alone with him?” asked Ben, terrified.
+
+“No, we will lock the door, and you shall go and stay outside till I
+come back.”
+
+Tony’s proposal was distasteful to Rudolph. He had a wholesome dread
+of the law, and didn’t fancy the prospect of an arrest. He made a
+fresh and violent struggle which portended danger to his captors.
+
+“Come out quick,” said Tony hastily. “It is not safe for you to stay
+here any longer.”
+
+The old man followed him nothing loath, and Tony locked the door on
+the outside.
+
+“Do you think he will get free?” asked Ben nervously.
+
+“He may, and if he does there is no safety for either of us till he is
+caught again.”
+
+“Oh, my gold! my gold!” groaned Ben. “He may get it.”
+
+“Yes, he may; our only hope is to secure him as soon as possible.”
+
+“I’m so weak I can’t go fast.”
+
+“You must conceal yourself and let me run on.”
+
+“I don’t know of any place.”
+
+“Here’s a place. You will be safe here till I come for you.”
+
+Tony pointed to an old ruined shed.
+
+“Will you be sure and come for me?”
+
+“Yes, don’t be alarmed. Only don’t show yourself till you hear my
+voice.”
+
+Ben crept into the temporary shelter, glad that in his weakened
+condition he should not be obliged to go any further. He tormented
+himself with the thought that even now the desperate tramp might be
+robbing him of his treasures. Still he had great confidence in Tony
+and hope was mingled with his terror.
+
+“He’s a brave boy,” he murmured. “I am glad he was with me, though he
+does eat a sight.”
+
+Tony hurried on to the village, where he lost no time in arousing a
+sufficient number to effect the capture of the burglar. He no longer
+felt any compunction in turning against his quondam guardian.
+
+“I owe him nothing,” thought Tony. “What has he ever done for me? He
+is not my father. Probably he kidnaped me from my real home, and has
+made me an outcast and a tramp like himself.”
+
+Meanwhile Rudolph was not idle.
+
+It may be thought strange that he should have so much difficulty in
+freeing himself from the cords with which Tony had bound him. But it
+must be remembered that the boy had done his work well.
+
+After he had been locked in, Rudolph set to work energetically to
+obtain release. He succeeded in raising himself to his feet, but as
+his ankles were tied together, this did not do him much good. He tried
+to break the cords; but the only result was to chafe his wrists.
+
+“What a fool I am!” he exclaimed, at length. “The old man must have
+some table knives about somewhere. With these I can cut the cords.”
+
+When found, they proved so dull that even if he had had free use of
+one of his hands, it would not have been found easy to make them of
+service. But when added to this was the embarrassment of his fettered
+hands, it will not excite surprise that it required a long time to
+sever the tough cords which bound him. But success came at length.
+
+“Now for revenge!” thought the tramp. “The boy shall rue this night’s
+task, or my name is not Rudolph.”
+
+But, angry as he was, and thirsting as he did for vengeance, he did
+not forget the object which had drawn him thither. Whatever else he
+might do, he must secure the miser’s gold.
+
+He removed the plank, and there, beneath him lay the much-coveted bags
+of golden treasure.
+
+“These,” he said to himself, “will carry me back to England, and
+provide for me like a gentleman, till I can get some more.”
+
+He rose from the floor, and, with the bags in his hand, jumped out of
+the still open window.
+
+But he was too late. Two strong men seized him, each by an arm, and
+said sternly:
+
+“You are our prisoner!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+TONY STARTS OUT ONCE MORE
+
+
+After Rudolph’s seizure Ben discovered the bags of gold in the hands
+of the tramp.
+
+“Give me my money!” he shrieked.
+
+“It’s safe, Ben,” said one of the captors. “But who would have
+supposed you had so much money?”
+
+“It isn’t much,” faltered the old man.
+
+“The bags are pretty heavy,” was the significant rejoinder. “Will you
+take two hundred dollars apiece for them?”
+
+“No,” said the old man, embarrassed.
+
+“Then there is considerable after all. But never mind. Take better
+care of them hereafter.”
+
+Ben stooped to pick up the bags. He had got hold of them when the
+tramp aimed a kick at him which completely upset him.
+
+Even though he fell, however, he did not lose his grip of the bags,
+but clung to them while crying with pain.
+
+“Take that, you old fool!” muttered the tramp. “It’s the first
+installment of the debt I owe you.”
+
+“Take him away, take him away! He will murder me!” exclaimed old Ben,
+in terror.
+
+“Come along. You’ve done mischief enough,” said his captors, sternly,
+forcing the tramp along.
+
+“I’ll do more yet,” muttered Rudolph.
+
+He turned to Tony, who stood at a little distance.
+
+“I’ve got a score to settle with you, young traitor.”
+
+“I’m sorry for you, Rudolph,” said Tony; “but you’ve brought it on
+yourself.”
+
+“Bah! you hypocrite!” retorted the tramp. “I don’t want any of your
+sorrow. It won’t save you when the day of reckoning comes.”
+
+He was not allowed to say more, but was hurried away to the village
+lockup for detention.
+
+Dr. Compton was among the party who had been summoned by Tony. He
+lingered behind, and took Ben apart.
+
+“Mr. Hayden,” he said, “I want to give you a piece of advice.”
+
+“What is it?” asked the old man.
+
+“Don’t keep this gold in your house. It isn’t safe.”
+
+“Who do you think will take it?” asked Ben.
+
+“None of those here this morning, unless this tramp should escape from
+custody.”
+
+“If he don’t, what danger is there?”
+
+“It will get about that you have money secreted here, and I venture to
+say it will be stolen before three months are over.”
+
+“It will kill me,” said Ben piteously.
+
+“Then put it out of reach of danger.”
+
+“Where?”
+
+“I am going over to the county town, where there is a bank. Deposit it
+there, and whenever you want any go and get it.”
+
+“But banks break sometimes,” said Ben, in alarm.
+
+“This is an old established institution. You need not be afraid of
+it.”
+
+“But I can’t see the money—I can’t count it.”
+
+“You can see the deposit record in a book. Even if that doesn’t suit
+you as well, you can sleep comfortably, knowing that you are not
+liable to be attacked and murdered by burglars.”
+
+The old man vacillated, but finally yielded to the force of the
+doctor’s reasoning. A day or two later he rode over to the neighboring
+town, and saw his precious gold deposited in the vaults of the bank.
+
+We are anticipating, however.
+
+When the confusion incident to the arrest was over, Tony came forward.
+
+“Mr. Hayden,” he said, “you are so much better that I think you can
+spare me now.”
+
+“But suppose Rudolph comes back.”
+
+“I don’t think he can. He will be put in prison.”
+
+“I suppose he will. What a bold, bad man.”
+
+“Yes, he is a bad man, but I’m sorry for him.”
+
+“How did you come to be with him?”
+
+“I don’t know, I have been with him as long as I can remember. You
+used to know him, didn’t you?”
+
+“A little,” said the old man hastily.
+
+“Where was it?”
+
+“In England—long ago.”
+
+“In England. Was he born in England?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Do you think I am English, too?”
+
+“I think so; yes, I think so,” answered Ben cautiously.
+
+“Have you any idea who I am—who were my parents?”
+
+“Don’t trouble me now,” said Ben peevishly. “I am not well. My head is
+confused. Some day I will think it over and tell you what I know.”
+
+“But if I am not here?”
+
+“I will write it down, and give it to the doctor.”
+
+“That will do,” said Tony. “I know he will keep it for me. Now,
+good-by.”
+
+“Are you going?”
+
+“Yes, I have my own way to make in the world. I can’t live on you any
+longer.”
+
+“To be sure not,” said Ben. “I am too poor to feed two persons, and
+you have a very large appetite.”
+
+“Yes,” said Tony, laughing, “I believe I have a healthy appetite. I’m
+growing, you know.”
+
+“It must be that. What is your name?”
+
+“That is more than I know. I have always been called Tony, or Tony the
+Tramp. Rudolph’s last name is Rugg, and he pretends that I am his
+son.”
+
+“You are not his son. He never had any son.”
+
+“I am glad to hear that. I shan’t have to say now that my father is in
+jail. Good-by, Mr. Hayden.”
+
+“Good-by,” said Ben, following the boy thoughtfully with his eyes,
+till he had disappeared.
+
+With a light heart, and a pocket still lighter, Tony walked on for
+several miles. Then he stopped at a country grocery store, and bought
+five cents’ worth of crackers. These he ate with a good appetite,
+slaking his thirst at a wayside spring.
+
+He was lying carelessly on the greensward when a tin peddler’s cart
+drove slowly along the road.
+
+“Hello, there!” said the peddler.
+
+“Hello!” said Tony.
+
+“Do you want a lift?”
+
+“Yes,” said Tony, with alacrity.
+
+“Then get up here. There’s room enough for both of us. You can hold
+the reins when I stop anywhere.”
+
+“It’s a bargain,” said Tony.
+
+“Are you travelin’ for pleasure?”
+
+“On business,” said Tony.
+
+“What is your business?”
+
+“I want to find work,” said Tony.
+
+“You’re a good, stout youngster. You’d ought to get something to do.”
+
+“So I think,” said Tony.
+
+“Got any folks?”
+
+“If you mean wife and children, I haven’t,” answered our hero, with a
+smile.
+
+“Ho, ho!” laughed the peddler. “I guess not. I mean father or mother,
+uncles or aunts, and such like.”
+
+“No, I am alone in the world.”
+
+“Sho! you don’t say so. Well, that’s a pity. Why, I’ve got
+forty-’leven cousins and a mother-in-law to boot. I’ll sell her
+cheap.”
+
+“Never mind!” said Tony.
+
+“I’ll tell you what,” said the peddler, “I feel interested in you.
+I’ll take you round with me for a day or two, and maybe I can get you
+a place. What do you say?”
+
+“Yes, and thank you,” said Tony.
+
+“Then it’s settled. Gee up, Dobbin!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+TONY GETS A PLACE
+
+
+Toward the close of the next day the tin peddler halted in front of a
+country tavern.
+
+“I’m going to stay here overnight,” he said.
+
+“Maybe they’ll let me sleep in the barn,” said Tony.
+
+“In the barn! Why not in the house?”
+
+“I haven’t got any money, you know Mr. Bickford.”
+
+“What’s the odds? They won’t charge anything extra for you to sleep
+with me.”
+
+“You’re very kind, Mr. Bickford, but they won’t keep me for nothing,
+and I don’t want you to pay for me.”
+
+At this moment the landlord came out on the piazza, and asked the
+hostler:
+
+“Where’s Tom?”
+
+“Gone home—says he’s sick,” answered James.
+
+“Drat that boy! It’s my opinion he was born lazy. That’s what’s the
+matter with him.”
+
+“I guess you’re right, Mr. Porter,” said James.
+
+“I wouldn’t take him back if I had anybody to take his place.”
+
+“Do you hear that, Tony?” said the peddler.
+
+Tony walked to the landlord and said:
+
+“I’ll take his place.”
+
+“Who are you?” asked the landlord, in surprise.
+
+“I have just come,” said Tony.
+
+“What can you do?”
+
+“Anything you want me to do.”
+
+“Have you any references?”
+
+“I can refer to him,” said Tony, pointing to the tin peddler.
+
+“Oh, Mr. Bickford,” said the landlord, with a glance of recognition.
+“Well, that’s enough. I’ll take you. James, take this boy to the
+kitchen, and give him some supper. What’s your name, boy?”
+
+“Tony Rugg.”
+
+“Very well, Tony, I’ll give you three dollars a week and your board as
+long as we suit each other.”
+
+“I’ve got work sooner than I expected,” thought Tony.
+
+The hostler set him to work in the barn, and, though he was new to the
+work, he quickly understood what was wanted, and did it.
+
+“You work twice as fast as Sam,” said the hostler.
+
+“Won’t Sam be mad when he finds I have taken his place?” asked Tony.
+
+“Probably he will, but it’s his own fault.”
+
+“Not if he’s sick.”
+
+“He’s no more sick than I am.”
+
+“Well, I am glad he left a vacancy for me,” said Tony.
+
+“Where did you work last?” asked the hostler.
+
+“Nowhere.”
+
+“Never worked? Then how did you live?”
+
+“I traveled with my guardian.”
+
+“Were you rich?” asked James.
+
+“No; I just went round and lived as I could. I didn’t like it, but I
+couldn’t help it. I had to go where Rudolph chose to lead me.”
+
+“Where is he now?”
+
+“I don’t know. I got tired of being a tramp, and ran away from him.”
+
+“You did right,” said James, who was a steady man, and looked forward
+to a snug home of his own ere long. “All the same, Mr. Porter wouldn’t
+have taken you if he had known you were a tramp.”
+
+“I hope you won’t tell him, then.”
+
+“No; I won’t tell him. I want you to stay here.”
+
+Tony was assigned to a room in the attic. There were two beds in this
+chamber, one being occupied by James. He slept soundly, and was up
+betimes in the morning. After breakfast Mr. Bickford, the tin peddler,
+made ready to start.
+
+“Good-by, Tony,” he said, in a friendly manner, “I’m glad you’ve got a
+place.”
+
+“I wouldn’t have got it if I hadn’t you to refer to.”
+
+“The landlord didn’t ask how long I’d known you,” said Bickford,
+smiling. “Good luck to you.”
+
+As the peddler drove away, Tony noticed a big, overgrown boy, who was
+just entering the hotel yard.
+
+“That’s Sam,” said the hostler. “He don’t know he’s lost his place.”
+
+Sam was about two inches taller than Tony, red-haired, and freckled,
+with a big frame, loosely put together. He was a born bully, and many
+were the tricks he had played on smaller boys in the village.
+
+Sam strutted into the yard with the air of a proprietor. He took no
+particular notice of Tony, but accosted James. The latter made a
+signal to Tony to be silent.
+
+“Well, have you just got along?” asked the hostler.
+
+“Ye-es,” drawled Sam.
+
+“What made you go home yesterday afternoon?”
+
+“I didn’t feel well,” said Sam nonchalantly.
+
+“Do you think Mr. Porter can afford to pay you wages, and let you go
+home three times a week in the middle of the afternoon?”
+
+“I couldn’t work when I was sick of course.”
+
+“I suppose you have come to work this morning?”
+
+“Ye-es, but I can’t work very hard—I ain’t quite got over my
+headache.”
+
+“Then you’ll be glad to hear that you won’t have to work at all.”
+
+“Ain’t there anything to do?” asked Sam.
+
+“Yes, there’s plenty to do, but your services ain’t required. You’re
+bounced!”
+
+“What!” exclaimed Sam.
+
+“Mr. Porter’s got tired of your delicate health. It interferes too
+much with business. He’s got a tougher boy to take your place.”
+
+“Where is he?” demanded Sam.
+
+“There,” answered the hostler, pointing out our hero, who stood
+quietly listening to the conversation.
+
+Sam regarded Tony with a contemptuous scowl.
+
+“Who are you?” he demanded roughly.
+
+“Your successor,” answered Tony coolly.
+
+“What business had you to take my place?”
+
+“The landlord hired me.”
+
+“I don’t care if he did. He hired me first.”
+
+“Then you’d better go to him and complain about it. It’s none of my
+business——”
+
+“It’s my business,” said Sam, with emphasis.
+
+“Just as you like.”
+
+“Will you give up the place?”
+
+“No,” said Tony. “You must think I’m a fool. What should I give it up
+for?”
+
+“Because it belongs to me.”
+
+“I don’t see that. I suppose Mr. Porter has a right to hire anybody he
+likes.”
+
+“He had no right to give you my place.”
+
+“That’s his business. What shall I do next, James?”
+
+“Go and shake down some hay for the horses.”
+
+Sam walked off deeply incensed, muttering threats of vengeance against
+Tony.
+
+Three days later a boy entered the stable, and, calling for Tony,
+presented the following missive:
+
+     “If you ain’t a coward, meet me to-morrow night at seven
+     o’clock, back of the schoolhouse, and we’ll settle, by
+     fighting, which shall have the place, you or I? If you get
+     licked you must clear out and leave it to me.”
+
+          “SAM PAYSON.”
+
+Tony showed the note to the hostler.
+
+“Well, Tony, what are you going to do about it?”
+
+“I’ll be on hand,” said Tony, promptly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE BOYS’ DUEL
+
+
+Sam Payson felt perfectly safe in challenging Tony to single combat.
+He had seen that he was two inches shorter and probably twenty pounds
+lighter. But appearances were deceitful, and he had no idea that Tony
+had received special training which he lacked.
+
+In the course of his wanderings Tony had attracted the attention of a
+pugilist.
+
+“I’ll tell you what, Rudolph,” said the pugilist, “you can make
+something of that boy?”
+
+“How?” asked the tramp.
+
+“I’ll teach him to box, and you can get an engagement for him in a
+circus.”
+
+“Do it if you like,” said the tramp.
+
+So Tony received a gratuitous course of lessons in boxing, which were
+at last interrupted by a little difficulty between his teacher and the
+officers of the law, resulting in the temporary confinement of the
+former. The lessons were never resumed, but they had gone so far that
+Tony was a skillful boxer for a boy.
+
+He, too, had measured Sam and felt quite sure of being able to conquer
+him, and that with ease. He did not, however, mention the grounds of
+his confidence to James, when the latter expressed some apprehension
+that he would find Sam too much for him.
+
+“Don’t be alarmed, James,” said Tony quietly.
+
+“He’s bigger than you,” said James doubtfully.
+
+“I know that, but he’s clumsy.”
+
+“He’s slow, but he’s pretty strong.”
+
+“So am I.”
+
+“You’ve got pluck, and you deserve to win, Tony.”
+
+“I mean to,” answered Tony. “Come along and see that it’s all fair.”
+
+“I will if I can get away. Will you give up your place if you are
+licked?”
+
+“Yes,” replied Tony. “I’ll give up my place and leave the village.”
+
+“I don’t believe Mr. Porter will take Sam back.”
+
+“I see you are expecting I will be whipped,” said Tony, laughing; “but
+you’re mistaken. Sam isn’t able to do it.”
+
+Meanwhile Sam had made known the duel which was about to take place.
+He confidently anticipated victory, and wanted the village boys to be
+witnesses of the manner in which he was going to polish off the
+interloper.
+
+“I’ll learn him to cut me out of my place,” he said boastfully: “I’ll
+learn him to mind his own business.”
+
+“Will you get your place again if you lick him?” asked one of his
+companions.
+
+“Of course, I will.”
+
+“Suppose he won’t give it up?”
+
+“Then I’ll lick him every day till he’s glad to clear out. All you
+boys know I don’t stand no nonsense.”
+
+The result of Sam’s boastful talk was that about a hundred boys
+collected behind the schoolhouse.
+
+Many of them who had suffered from Sam’s bullying disposition would
+have been glad to see him worsted, but none anticipated it.
+
+Nothing was known of Tony except that he was considerably smaller and
+lighter, and probably weaker.
+
+Tony tried to be on hand at the time appointed, but he had more than
+usual to do, and it was five minutes past seven before he entered the
+field.
+
+There had been various speculations as to the cause of his delay.
+
+“He won’t come,” said Sam, with a sneer.
+
+“What’ll you do if he don’t come?” asked John Nolan.
+
+“What will I do? I’ll pitch into him wherever I see him.”
+
+“There he comes!” shouted a small boy.
+
+All eyes were turned upon Tony, as he entered the field, with James at
+his side.
+
+“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting, boys,” said our hero politely.
+
+“We concluded you’d backed out,” said Sam.
+
+“That isn’t my style,” returned Tony, with a quiet smile. “I had more
+to do than usual to-night.”
+
+“You’ve still more to do,” said Sam jeeringly. “I pity you.”
+
+“Do you? You’re very kind,” said Tony, unmoved.
+
+“Oh, don’t thank me too soon.”
+
+“Then I won’t. When are the exercises to commence?”
+
+“He takes it cool,” said Nolan.
+
+“Oh, it’s only show off,” said Sam. “You’ll see how he’ll wilt down
+when I get hold of him.”
+
+The two boys stripped off coat and vest and faced each other. Tony was
+wary and looked into the eyes of his adversary, showing no disposition
+to begin.
+
+Sam swung heavily with his right. With scarcely an effort, Tony
+blocked the blow and returned it quick as lightning, striking Sam full
+in the nose.
+
+Sam was not only maddened but disagreeably surprised, especially when
+he discovered that blood was trickling from the injured organ. He was
+still more incensed by the murmur of applause which followed from the
+crowd of boys.
+
+He breathed an audible curse, and losing all prudence began to swing
+at Tony with each fist in rapid succession, with the intention of
+overpowering him. But unfortunately for him this exposed him to
+attack, and a couple of heavy blows in his face warned him that this
+was too dangerous.
+
+Tony stood upright, as cool and collected as at first. He had warded
+off every blow of his adversary.
+
+There was a murmur of surprise among the boys. They had come to see
+Tony used up, and all the using up proved to be from the other side.
+James was as much delighted as surprised. He could not repress
+clapping his hands and was quickly imitated by the boys.
+
+“Tony knows how to take care of himself,” he thought. “That’s why he
+took matters so coolly.”
+
+Sam felt humiliated and maddened. He regretted now that he had
+undertaken a task which seemed every moment more formidable. What! was
+it possible that he, Sam Payson, the crack fighter of the village, was
+being ignominiously whipped, and that by a smaller boy? He felt that
+if he permitted this, his prestige would be forever gone, and with it
+the influence which he so much prized. He must make one desperate
+effort.
+
+“If I can only get hold of him,” he thought. “I can shake the life out
+of him.”
+
+He tried to grasp Tony round the body intending to throw him; but our
+hero was too quick for him, and showered the blows upon him with such
+rapidity that, blinded and overwhelmed, Sam himself staggered and fell
+on his back.
+
+Instead of following up the victory, Tony drew off and let his
+adversary rise. Sam renewed the attack so wildly that in two minutes
+he was again lying flat.
+
+“That’s enough, Sam! You’re whipped!” shouted the boys.
+
+He got up sullenly, and, in a voice nearly choked with rage, said:
+
+“I’ll be even with you yet, see if I don’t.”
+
+“Hurrah for the stranger!” shouted the boys, enthusiastically, as they
+crowded around our hero.
+
+“Boys,” said Tony modestly, “I’m much obliged to you for your
+congratulations. Was it a fair fight?”
+
+“Yes, yes!”
+
+“Then it’s all right. Don’t say anything to him about it. He feels
+bad, as I should in his place. I haven’t any ill will toward him, and
+I hope he hasn’t toward me.”
+
+This speech made Tony a still greater favorite, and the boys, making a
+rush, took him on their shoulders, and bore him in triumph to the inn.
+Poor Sam slunk home, suffering keener mortification than he had ever
+before experienced in his life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+RUDOLPH ESCAPES
+
+
+Leaving Tony for a short time, we must return to Rudolph, whom we left
+in charge of a self-constituted body of police on his way to the
+lockup.
+
+When first arrested Rudolph was disposed to be violent and abusive.
+His disappointment was keen, for he was just congratulating himself on
+the possession of the miser’s gold. Five minutes later, and he would
+probably have been able to make good his escape. Mingled with his
+disappointment was a feeling of intense hostility against Tony for his
+part in defeating his plans.
+
+“I’ll be revenged upon him yet,” he muttered.
+
+They reached the lockup and he was led in. A small oil lamp was
+lighted and set on the floor.
+
+“Where are the handcuffs?” asked one of the captors.
+
+“I don’t know. They haven’t been needed for so long that they have
+been mislaid.”
+
+“They won’t be needed now. The man can’t get out.”
+
+Rudolph’s face betrayed satisfaction.
+
+“There’s your bed,” said Moses Hunt, who had Rudolph by the arm,
+pointing to a rude cot.
+
+Rudolph threw himself upon it.
+
+“I’m dead tired,” he said, and closed his eyes.
+
+The door was locked and Rudolph was left alone.
+
+When five minutes had elapsed—time enough for his captors to get
+away—he got up.
+
+“I must get away from this if I can,” thought the tramp, “and before
+morning. I am glad they didn’t put on handcuffs. Let me see, how shall
+I manage it?”
+
+He looked about him thoughtfully.
+
+It was a basement room, lighted only by windows three feet wide and a
+foot high.
+
+“I should like to set fire to the building, and burn it up,” thought
+the tramp. “That would cost them something. But it wouldn’t be safe.
+Like as not I would be burned up myself, or at any rate be taken again
+in getting away. No, no! that won’t do. I wonder if I can’t get
+through one of those windows?”
+
+He stood on the chair, and as the room was low-ceiled he found he
+could easily reach the windows.
+
+He shook them and found to his joy that it would be a comparatively
+easy thing to remove one of them.
+
+“What fools they are!” he muttered contemptuously. “Did they really
+expect to keep me here?”
+
+He removed the window, and by great effort succeeded in raising
+himself so that he might have a chance of drawing himself through the
+aperture. It did not prove so easy as he expected. He did, however,
+succeed at length, and drew a long breath of satisfaction as he found
+himself once more in the possession of his liberty.
+
+“I’m a free man once more,” he said. “What next?”
+
+He would have been glad to return to the miser’s house and possess
+himself of some of his gold, but the faint gray of dawn was already
+perceptible, and there was too much risk attending it.
+
+Moreover, prudence dictated his putting as great a distance as
+possible between himself and the village.
+
+The hundred miles intervening between New York and that place he got
+over in his usual way, begging a meal at one house and a night’s
+lodging at another. He was never at a loss for a plausible story. At
+one place, where he was evidently looked upon with suspicion, he said:
+
+“I ain’t used to beggin’. I’m a poor, hard-workin’ man, but I’ve heard
+that my poor daughter is sick in New York, and I want to get to her.”
+
+“What took her to New York?” asked the farmer whom he addressed.
+
+“She went to take a place in a store.”
+
+“I’m sorry for you,” said the farmer’s wife, sympathizingly. “Ephraim,
+can’t we help along this poor man?”
+
+“If we can believe him. There’s many impostors about.”
+
+“I hope you don’t take me for one,” said Rudolph meekly. “Poor Jane;
+what would she think if she knew her poor father was so
+misunderstood.”
+
+“Poor man! I believe you,” said the farmer’s wife. “You shall sleep in
+Jonathan’s bed. He’s away now.”
+
+So Rudolph was provided with two abundant meals and a comfortable bed.
+The farmer’s wife never doubted his story, though she could not help
+feeling that his looks were not prepossessing.
+
+A few days later he was in New York. As a general thing he shunned the
+city, for he was already known to the police, and he felt that
+watchful eyes would be upon him as soon as it was known that he was
+back again.
+
+On the second day he strolled into a low drinking place in the lower
+part of the city.
+
+A man in shirt sleeves, and with an unhealthy complexion, was mixing
+drinks behind the bar.
+
+“Hello, Rudolph! Back again?” was his salutation.
+
+“Yes,” said the tramp, throwing himself down in a seat.
+
+“Where have you been?”
+
+“Tramping round the country.”
+
+“Where’s the boy you used to have with you?”
+
+“Run away; curse him!”
+
+“Got tired of your company, eh?”
+
+“He wants to be honest and respectable.”
+
+“And he thought he could learn better under another teacher, did he?”
+said the bartender, with a laugh.
+
+“Yes, I suppose so. I’d like to wring his neck.”
+
+“You’re no friend to the honest and respectable, then.”
+
+“No, I’m not.”
+
+“Then, there’s no love lost, for they don’t seem to fancy you. What’ll
+you have to drink?”
+
+“I’ve got no money.”
+
+“I’ll trust. You’ll have some sometime.”
+
+“Give me some whisky, then,” said the tramp.
+
+The whisky was placed in his hands. He gulped it down, and breathed a
+sigh of satisfaction.
+
+Then resuming his seat, he took up a morning paper. At first he read
+it listlessly, but soon his face assumed a look of eager interest.
+
+This was the paragraph that arrested his attention:
+
+     “Should this meet the eye of Rudolph Rugg, who left England
+     in the fall of 1887, he is requested to communicate with
+     Jacob Morris, attorney at law, Room 1,503, No. —— Nassau
+     street.”
+
+Rudolph rose hurriedly.
+
+“Going?” asked the bartender.
+
+“Yes; I’ll be back again soon.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+AT THE ST. REGIS
+
+
+When Rudolph reached the sidewalk he stopped to reflect on the meaning
+of the advertisement.
+
+“Perhaps it’s a trap,” he thought. “Perhaps after so many years they
+want to punish me. Shall I go?”
+
+His hesitation was only temporary.
+
+Ten minutes’ walk brought him to Nassau street. He ascended to the
+proper floor, opened the door of No. 1,503, and found himself in a
+lawyer’s office. A tall man of forty was seated at a desk.
+
+“Well,” he said, “what can I do for you, sir?”
+
+The address was not very cordial, for Rudolph did not have the look of
+one likely to be a profitable client.
+
+“Are you Mr. Jacob Morris, attorney-at-law?”
+
+“That is my name.”
+
+“I am Rudolph Rugg.”
+
+“Rudolph Rugg!” exclaimed the lawyer briskly, jumping from his chair.
+“You don’t say so. I am very glad to see you. Take a chair, please.”
+
+Reassured by this reception, Rudolph took the seat indicated.
+
+“So you saw my advertisement?”
+
+“Yes, sir. I only saw it this morning.”
+
+“It has been inserted for the last two weeks, daily. How happens it
+that you did not see it sooner?”
+
+“I have been away from the city. It was only an accident that I
+happened to see it to-day.”
+
+“A lucky accident, Mr. Rugg.”
+
+“I hope it is, sir, for I’ve been out of luck. What is the business,
+sir?”
+
+“My business has been to find you.”
+
+“What for?”
+
+“For a client of mine—an English lady.”
+
+“A lady?” ejaculated the tramp.
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Who is it?”
+
+“I suppose I am at liberty to tell. The lady is Mrs. Harvey Middleton,
+of Middleton Hall, England.”
+
+A peculiar expression swept over Rudolph’s face, but he only said:
+
+“I have heard the name of Harvey Middleton. Is—is the lady in New
+York?”
+
+“Yes; she is staying at the St. Regis Hotel.”
+
+“And she wants to find me?”
+
+“Yes. She authorized me to seek you out.”
+
+“Well,” said Rudolph, “what next?”
+
+“I shall at once send a messenger to Mrs. Middleton, and await her
+orders. You will stay here.”
+
+He went to the door, and called “John” in a loud voice.
+
+“Look here,” said Rudolph, suspiciously. “Just tell me one thing.
+There ain’t any trap, is there?”
+
+“Trap, my good friend? What can you mean?”
+
+“You ain’t sending for the police?”
+
+“To be sure not. Besides, why should a gentleman like you fear the
+police?”
+
+“Oh, that’s all gammon. I do fear the police uncommon. But if you tell
+me it’s all on the square, I’ll believe you.”
+
+“On my honor, then, it’s all on the square, as you call it. No harm
+whatever is designed you. Indeed, I have reason to think that you will
+make considerable money out of it. Now, hark ye, my friend, a word in
+confidence. We can do each other good.”
+
+“Can we?” asked the tramp.
+
+“Yes, and I’ll tell you how. This lady, Mrs. Middleton, appears to be
+rich.”
+
+“She is rich.”
+
+“So much the better for us. I mean to give her the idea that I have
+been at great trouble and expense in finding you.”
+
+“I see,” said Rudolph, smiling. “You mean to charge it in the bill?”
+
+“Of course, I shall represent that I sent out messengers in search of
+you, and you were found by one of them.”
+
+       *     *     *     *     *
+
+In a private parlor at the St. Regis sat a lady of middle age. She had
+a haughty face, and stern, compressed lips. She was one to repel
+rather than to attract. She had a note before her, which she threw
+down with an exclamation of impatience.
+
+“So he has heard nothing yet. For three weeks I have been wasting my
+time at this hotel, depending on this lawyer, and he has done
+absolutely nothing.”
+
+At this moment a light knock was heard at the door.
+
+“Enter,” said the lady.
+
+“A note for Mrs. Middleton,” announced a servant.
+
+She took the missive and hastily opened it. It read thus:
+
+     “MY DEAR MADAM: At last, after unwearied exertions, I have
+     succeeded. The man, Rudolph Rugg, has been found by one of
+     my messengers, and is at this moment in my office, ready to
+     obey your summons. Shall I send him to you?”
+
+         Yours respectfully,
+             “JACOB MORRIS.”
+
+     “P.S.—I assured you at the outset that if he were living I
+     would find him. I am sure you will appreciate my exertions
+     in your behalf.”
+
+“That means a larger bill,” thought the lady. “However, I am willing
+to pay handsomely. The man is found, and he can doubtless produce the
+boy.”
+
+“Wait!” she said, in an imperious tone, to the servant, who was about
+to withdraw. “There is an answer.”
+
+She hastily penciled the following note:
+
+     “I am very glad you have found Rudolph Rugg. I wish to speak
+     to him at once. Send him here directly.”
+
+“Short and not sweet!” commented the lawyer, when it was placed in his
+hands. “She says nothing about the compensation.”
+
+“Is it about me?” asked the tramp.
+
+“Yes; it is from Mrs. Middleton. She wants you to come to the hotel at
+once. But, my friend, I would advise you, since you are about to call
+upon a lady, to put on a better suit of clothes.”
+
+“How am I to do it,” he demanded roughly, “when these are all the
+clothes I have?”
+
+The lawyer whistled.
+
+“A pretty-looking figure to call upon a lady at a fashionable hotel!”
+he thought.
+
+“You must go as you are,” he said. “Wait a minute.”
+
+He took a blank card and wrote upon it the name:
+
+     RUDOLPH RUGG
+
+“When you reach the hotel,” he said, “inquire for Mrs. Middleton and
+send that card up to her.”
+
+“Very well, sir.”
+
+The tramp started, his mind busily occupied.
+
+“What does she want with me? She wasn’t Mrs. Middleton when I knew
+her, she was Miss Vincent, the governess. I suppose she’s a great lady
+now. So she got Mr. Harvey to marry her. That ain’t surprisin’. She
+looked like a schemer even then, and I was a fool not to see what she
+was at. Likely she was up to the other thing. Well, I shall soon
+know.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+TWO CONSPIRATORS
+
+
+“You want to see Mrs. Middleton?” demanded the hotel clerk, surveying
+Mr. Rugg’s exterior.
+
+“Yes,” said the tramp.
+
+“I don’t think she’ll see one of your sort.”
+
+“That’s where you’re mistaken, young feller.”
+
+“You’re a strange visitor for a lady.”
+
+“What if I am? There’s my card.”
+
+The clerk took the card, and looked at it doubtfully. Then summoning
+an attendant, he said:
+
+“Take this up to 57.”
+
+Presently the servant returned.
+
+“The gentleman is to go up,” he said.
+
+Rudolph looked at the clerk triumphantly.
+
+“What did I tell you?” he said.
+
+“Show the gentleman up,” said the clerk, purposely emphasizing the
+word.
+
+As Rudolph entered the handsome parlor occupied by Mrs. Middleton, she
+said:
+
+“Take a seat, sir.” Then to the attendant: “You may go. You are
+Rudolph Rugg?” she commenced when they were alone.
+
+“Yes, ma’am,” he answered; “and you are Miss Vincent, the governess. I
+haven’t forgotten you.”
+
+“I am Mrs. Harvey Middleton,” she said haughtily.
+
+“Excuse me, ma’am. I hadn’t heard as you had changed your condition.
+You was the governess when I knowed you.”
+
+“You never knew me,” she said.
+
+“Well, I knowed Mr. Harvey, at any rate.”
+
+“That is not to the purpose. Do you know why I have sought you out?”
+
+“I couldn’t guess, ma’am,” said Rudolph cunningly.
+
+He could guess, but he wanted to force her to speak out.
+
+“Where is the boy? Is he living?”
+
+“What boy?” asked Rudolph vacantly.
+
+“You know very well. Anthony Middleton, my husband’s cousin, whom you
+stole away when he was scarcely more than an infant.”
+
+“Can you prove what you say, Miss Vincent—I mean Mrs. Middleton?”
+
+“Yes. It is idle to beat about the bush. My husband has told me all.”
+
+“Then he has told you that he hired me to carry the boy off, in order
+that he might inherit the estate?”
+
+“Yes, he told me that,” she answered composedly.
+
+“Well, I didn’t think he’d own up to that.”
+
+“My husband and I had no secrets.”
+
+“What does he want of the boy now?” asked Rudolph.
+
+“It is I that want to find the boy.”
+
+“Without his knowledge?”
+
+“If you refer to my husband, he is dead.”
+
+“Well, I didn’t expect that. Who has got the estate?”
+
+“I have.”
+
+The tramp whistled. Here was a poor governess, who had succeeded in
+life with a vengeance. When he knew her she was not worth fifty pounds
+in the world. Now she was mistress of a fine English estate, with a
+rental of two thousand pounds.
+
+“Wasn’t there no heirs?” he asked.
+
+“Only this boy.”
+
+“And if this boy was alive, would the estate be his?”
+
+The lady paused, meanwhile fixing her eyes steadily upon the man
+before her. Then she approached him and placed her jeweled hand on his
+arm.
+
+“Rudolph Rugg,” she said, “do you want to be comfortable for life?”
+
+“Yes, ma’am, that’s exactly what I do want.”
+
+“It will come to you now if you say the word,” she said.
+
+“I’ll say it quick enough. Tell me what you want.”
+
+“You talk like a sensible man. But first tell me, is the boy living?”
+
+“He is alive and well.”
+
+“When did you see him last?”
+
+“Last week.”
+
+“Very well, you know where he is. That is important. Now, in order
+that you may understand what service I want of you, I must tell you a
+little of my circumstances. I told you that my husband left me the
+estate.”
+
+“Yes, ma’am.”
+
+“But only in trust.”
+
+“For the boy?” asked the tramp, in excitement.
+
+“Precisely.”
+
+“Well, I’ll be blowed.”
+
+“What excites you, Mr. Rugg?”
+
+“To think that Tony the Tramp should be the owner of a splendid estate
+in old Hingland.”
+
+“I am the owner,” said the lady, frowning.
+
+“But you’re only takin’ care of it for him.”
+
+“I don’t mean that he shall ever know it.”
+
+Rudolph whistled.
+
+“My husband secured the inheritance, as you are aware, through the
+disappearance of his young cousin.”
+
+“And mighty well he managed it.”
+
+“But after he was given over by the doctors, he became a prey to
+superstitious fears, the result of his weakness, and at times
+experienced great regret for the hand he had in the abduction of the
+boy.”
+
+“You surprise me, ma’am. He wasn’t that sort when I knew him.”
+
+“No; he was then bold and resolute. Ill health and the approach of
+death made him superstitious.”
+
+“You ain’t that way, ma’am, I take it.”
+
+“No; I have a stronger will and greater resolution.”
+
+Her face did not belie her words. There was a cold look in her light
+gray eyes, and a firmness in her closely pressed lips, which made it
+clear that she was not likely to be affected by ordinary weakness. She
+was intensely selfish, and thoroughly unscrupulous as to the means
+which she employed to carry out her selfish ends.
+
+“So you’re afraid the boy’ll turn up, ma’am?”
+
+“Precisely.”
+
+“Then why do you look for him?”
+
+“I want to guard against his ever turning up.”
+
+“He don’t know about the property.”
+
+“But he might have learned, or you might. My husband, with the idea of
+reparation, left the property to me, in trust, but if it should ever
+be fully ascertained that the boy had died, then it was to be mine
+absolutely.”
+
+“I begin to see what you’re driving at, ma’am.”
+
+“You say the boy is alive?”
+
+“Stout and hearty, ma’am. He’s been under my care ever since he was a
+young un, ma’am, and I’ve treated him like he was my own.”
+
+“Indeed!”
+
+“Yes, ma’am. I’m poor, but I’ve always shared my crust with him,
+givin’ him the biggest half.”
+
+“Very kind, I’m sure,” said the lady, sarcastically. “I suppose you’re
+very fond of him.”
+
+“Of course I am,” said Rudolph. “But,” he added, after a slight pause,
+“there’s one thing I like better.”
+
+“What is that?”
+
+“Money.”
+
+“Good! I see we understand one another.”
+
+“That’s so, ma’am. You needn’t be afraid to say anything to me.
+Business is business.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+ROGUES CONFER
+
+
+“It appears to me, Mr. Rugg, that you have not prospered,” said the
+lady.
+
+“That’s where you’re right, ma’am.”
+
+“I am sorry for that.”
+
+“So am I,” said the tramp, adding, with a cunning look, “but times
+will be better now.”
+
+“Why will they be better?” asked Mrs. Middleton.
+
+“Tony won’t see me want when he comes into two thousand a year.”
+
+“Who said he was coming into it?”
+
+“You said he was the heir.”
+
+“He hasn’t got the estate, and I don’t mean he shall have it.”
+
+“How will you prevent that, ma’am?”
+
+Mrs. Middleton again put her hand on the man’s tattered coat sleeve,
+and, in a voice scarcely above a whisper, said:
+
+“Mr. Rugg, you must prevent it.”
+
+“How can I prevent it?” asked the tramp, with an assumption of
+innocence.
+
+Mrs. Middleton said, with slow significance:
+
+“This boy is in my way. Don’t you think he might manage to get sick
+and die?”
+
+“Perhaps he might,” said Rudolph, who did not appear to be shocked at
+the suggestion.
+
+“Couldn’t you manage it?” she asked.
+
+“I might,” he answered shrewdly, “if it was going to do me any good.”
+
+“Then the only question is as to pay,” she continued.
+
+“That’s about it, ma’am. It’s a big risk. I might get caught and then
+money wouldn’t do me much good.”
+
+“Nothing venture, nothing have. You don’t want to be a pauper all your
+life?”
+
+“No, I don’t,” answered the tramp, with energy. “I’m tired of tramping
+round the country, sleeping in barns and under haystacks, and picking
+up meals where I can.”
+
+“Do as I wish and you need never suffer such privations again,” said
+the tempter.
+
+“How much will you give me?” asked Rudolph.
+
+“Five hundred dollars down, and five hundred dollars income as long as
+you live.”
+
+This was good fortune of which Rudolph had not dreamed, but he
+understood how to make the most of the situation.
+
+“It is not enough,” he said, shaking his head.
+
+“Not enough!” exclaimed Mrs. Middleton. “Why, it seems to me very
+liberal. You can live comfortably all your life just for doing one
+thing.”
+
+“A thing which may bring me to the gallows. It’s all very well to
+talk, but I can’t risk my neck for that.”
+
+The lady was not surprised. She had expected that she would be
+compelled to drive a bargain, and she had named a sum less than she
+was willing to pay.
+
+“You see,” continued Rudolph, “it’s going to be a great thing for you.
+You’ll be sure of a big estate and an income of two thousand
+pounds—that’s ten thousand dollars—a year, and it’ll be me that
+gives it to you.”
+
+“You overestimate your service, Mr. Rugg,” she said, coldly. “If I
+decline to proceed further the estate will be mine.”
+
+“Not if I bring on the boy, and say he’s the real heir.”
+
+“I shall deny it,” said the lady, composedly, “and challenge you to
+the proof.”
+
+“Then I’ll prove it.”
+
+“Who will believe you?” asked Mrs. Middleton, quietly.
+
+“Why shouldn’t they?”
+
+“You are a tramp, and a discreditable person. I suppose the boy is one
+of the same sort.”
+
+“No, he isn’t. I don’t like him overmuch, but he’s a handsome chap,
+looks the gentleman every inch.”
+
+“I should charge you with conspiracy, Mr. Rugg. You’d find it uphill
+work fighting me, without influence and without money.”
+
+“Then, if there ain’t no danger from me or the boy, why do you want me
+to put him out of the way?”
+
+Mrs. Middleton hesitated.
+
+“I may as well tell you,” she said. “I take it for granted you will
+keep the matter secret.”
+
+“Of course I will.”
+
+“Then it is this: I married Mr. Harvey Middleton to secure a home and
+a position. I didn’t love him.”
+
+“Quite right, ma’am.”
+
+“He had no reason to complain of me, and when he died he left me in
+charge of the estate.”
+
+“For the boy?”
+
+“Yes, for the boy, and this has given me trouble.”
+
+“He hasn’t never troubled you.”
+
+“Not yet, and but for one thing I would not have come to America in
+search of him.”
+
+“What is that?”
+
+“I want to marry again.”
+
+The tramp whistled.
+
+Mrs. Middleton frowned, but went on:
+
+“This time I love the man I want to marry. He is from an excellent
+family, but he is a younger son, and has little or nothing himself. If
+the estate were mine absolutely, there would be no opposition on the
+part of his family, but with the knowledge that the boy may turn up at
+any time nothing will be done.”
+
+“I see,” said the tramp, nodding.
+
+“But for this I would never have stirred in the matter at all. I did
+not think it probable that the boy would ever hear of his
+inheritance.”
+
+“He don’t even know who he is,” said Rudolph.
+
+“You never told him, then?” said the lady.
+
+“No. What was the good?”
+
+“There was no good, and you did wisely. Now I have told you how
+matters stand, and I renew the offer which I made a few minutes
+since.”
+
+“It is too little,” said the tramp, shaking his head.
+
+“Tell me what you expect.”
+
+“I want just double what you offered me, ma’am.”
+
+“Why, that’s extortion.”
+
+“That’s as you choose to consider it, ma’am.”
+
+“Suppose I refuse?”
+
+“Then I’ll go and see a lawyer.”
+
+“Even if you succeeded, and got the boy in possession, do you think he
+would give you any more than I?”
+
+This was a consideration which had not occurred to the tramp. He asked
+himself, moreover, did he really wish Tony to come into such a piece
+of good fortune, after the boy had been instrumental in having him
+arrested. No, anything but that!
+
+“I’ll tell you what I’ll do, ma’am,” he said. “I’ll say eight hundred
+dollars down, and the same every year.”
+
+To this sum Mrs. Middleton finally agreed.
+
+“You say you know where the boy is?” she asked.
+
+“Yes, ma’am.”
+
+“Then there need be no delay.”
+
+“Only a little. But I shall want some money.”
+
+Mrs. Middleton took out her purse.
+
+“Here are a hundred dollars,” she said. “The rest shall be paid you
+when you have earned it.”
+
+Rudolph went downstairs, thinking:
+
+“That woman’s a devil if ever there was one. How coolly she hires me
+to kill the boy. I don’t half like the job. It’s too risky. But
+there’s money in it, and I can’t refuse. The first thing is to find
+him!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE FIGHTING QUAKER
+
+
+The tramp decided that the best way to find Tony would be to return to
+that part of the country where he had lost him, and make inquiries for
+a boy of his description. He could do it comfortably now, being
+provided with funds, thanks to Mrs. Middleton.
+
+But there was a difficulty which gave him uneasiness. He was liable to
+be arrested.
+
+“I must disguise myself,” thought Rudolph.
+
+It was not the first time in his varied experience that he had felt
+the need of a disguise, and he knew just where to go to find one. In
+the lower part of the city there was a shop well provided with such
+articles as he required. He lost no time in seeking it out.
+
+“What can I do for you, Mr. Rugg?” asked the old man who kept the
+establishment.
+
+“I want a disguise.”
+
+“Then you’ve come to the right shop. What will you be—a sailor, a
+Quaker, a——”
+
+“Hold, there,” said Rudolph. “You’ve named the very thing.”
+
+“What?”
+
+“A Quaker. Can you make me a good Broadbrim?”
+
+“Yea, verily,” answered the old man, laughing. “I can suit thee to a
+T.”
+
+“Do so, then.”
+
+From out of a pile of costumes the old man drew a suit of drab and a
+broad-brimmed hat.
+
+“How will that do?” he asked.
+
+“First tell me the price.”
+
+“Thirty dollars.”
+
+“Thirty dollars!” exclaimed the tramp, aghast. “Do you think I’m made
+of money?”
+
+“Look at the quality, my good friend.”
+
+“Why, I may not want the things for more than a week.”
+
+“Then I’ll tell you what I’ll do. If you only use them a week, you
+shall bring them back, and I will pay you back twenty-five dollars;
+that is,” the old man added, cautiously, “if you don’t hurt ’em too
+much.”
+
+“That’s better,” said Rudolph. “I’ll try them on.”
+
+He went into an inner room provided for the purpose, and soon came out
+entirely transformed. In addition to the drab suit, a gray wig had
+been supplied.
+
+The old man laughed heartily.
+
+“How does thee like it?” he asked.
+
+“Capital,” said Rudolph. “Would you know me?”
+
+“I wouldn’t dream it was you. But, Mr. Rugg, there’s one thing you
+mustn’t forget.”
+
+“What’s that?”
+
+“To use the Quaker lingo. Just now you said, ‘Would you know me?’ That
+isn’t right.”
+
+“What should I say?”
+
+“Would thee know me?”
+
+“All right. There’s your money.”
+
+“There you are again. You must say thy money.”
+
+“I see you know all about it. You’ve been a Quaker yourself, haven’t
+you?”
+
+“Not I; but I was brought up in Philadelphia, and I have seen plenty
+of the old fellows. Now, don’t forget how to talk. Where are you
+going?”
+
+“Into the country on a little expedition,” said Rudolph.
+
+“Well, good luck to you.”
+
+“I wish thee good luck, too,” said the tramp.
+
+“Ha! ha! you’ve got it; you’ll do.”
+
+The tramp emerged into the street, a very fair representative of a
+sedate Quaker. He soon attracted the attention of some street boys,
+who, not suspecting his genuineness, thought him fair game.
+
+“How are you, old Broadbrim?” said one.
+
+Rudolph didn’t resent this.
+
+“You’d make a good scarecrow,” said another.
+
+Still the tramp kept his temper.
+
+A third boy fired a half-eaten apple at him.
+
+This was too much for the newly converted disciple of William Penn.
+
+“Just let me catch you, you little rascal, and I’ll give you the worst
+licking you ever had.”
+
+The boys stared open mouthed at such language.
+
+“He’s a fighting Quaker,” said the first one. “Keep out of his way.”
+
+“If thee don’t, thee’ll catch it,” said Rudolph, fortunately
+remembering how he must talk.
+
+He had thought of pursuing the disturbers of his peace, but motives of
+prudence prevented him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+RUDOLPH FINDS TONY
+
+
+Four days afterward Rudolph arrived in the town where Tony was
+employed. He had not been drawn thither by any clew, but by pure
+accident.
+
+He put up for the night at the hotel where our hero had found work. He
+enrolled himself on the register as “Obadiah Latham, Philadelphia.”
+
+“Can thee give me a room, friend?” he inquired.
+
+“Certainly, sir,” was the polite reply. “Here, Henry, show this
+gentleman up to No. 6. No. 6 is one of our best rooms, Mr. Latham.”
+
+“I thank thee,” said the tramp.
+
+“The Quakers are always polite,” said the bookkeeper. “They are good
+pay, too, and never give any trouble. I wish we had more of them stop
+here.”
+
+“If all your customers were of that description, your bar wouldn’t pay
+very well.”
+
+“That is true.”
+
+But later in the evening the speaker was obliged to change his
+opinion.
+
+The Quaker came to the bar and asked:
+
+“Will thee give me a glass of brandy?”
+
+“Sir!” said the barkeeper, astounded.
+
+“A glass of brandy!” repeated Rudolph, irritably.
+
+“I beg pardon, sir, but I was surprised. I did not know that gentlemen
+of your faith ever drank liquor.”
+
+“Thee is right,” said the tramp, recollecting himself. “It is only for
+my health. Thee may make it strong, so that I may feel better soon.”
+
+Rudolph drained the glass, and then, after a little hesitation, he
+said:
+
+“I feel better. Will thee mix me another glass, and a little
+stronger?”
+
+A stronger glass was given him.
+
+The barkeeper looked at him shrewdly.
+
+“Quaker as he is, he is evidently used to brandy,” he said to himself.
+“If he wasn’t, those two glasses would have upset him.”
+
+But Rudolph did not appear to be upset.
+
+He put his broad-brimmed hat more firmly on his head, and went
+outside. He decided to take a walk about the village. He little
+suspected that Tony was in the stable yard in the rear of the hotel.
+
+He walked on for perhaps a quarter of a mile, and then leaned against
+a fence to rest. As he stood here two boys passed him slowly,
+conversing as they walked.
+
+“I was surprised, Sam, at Tony Rugg’s licking you,” said the first.
+
+“He couldn’t do it again,” said Sam, sullenly.
+
+Rudolph’s attention was at once drawn.
+
+“Boys,” he asked, “did thee mention the name of Tony Rugg?”
+
+“Yes, sir.”
+
+“Does thee know such a boy?”
+
+“Yes, sir. He is working at the hotel. He got my place away from me,”
+said Sam. “Do you know him?”
+
+“I once knew such a boy.”
+
+Rudolph was very much elated at what he had heard.
+
+“Well, good luck has come to me at last,” he said to himself. “The
+young scoundrel, is found, and now I must consider how to get him into
+my hands once more.”
+
+The Quaker, to designate him according to his present appearance, at
+once made his way back to the hotel.
+
+“There can’t be two Tony Ruggs in this world,” he said to himself. “I
+am sure this is the boy.”
+
+On reaching the hotel he sauntered out to the stable yard in the rear
+of the house. His eyes lighted with pleasure, for he at once caught
+sight of Tony, standing beside James, the hostler.
+
+“There comes old Broadbrim,” said James, in a low voice. “The
+barkeeper told me he took two stiff horns of brandy. He’s a queer sort
+of Quaker.”
+
+Tony gave a glance at the tramp but entertained no suspicion of his
+not being what he represented. Rudolph came nearer. His disguise had
+been so successful that he felt perfectly safe from discovery.
+
+“Does thee keep many horses?” he asked.
+
+“Yes, sir; we have twelve.”
+
+“That is a large number. Yea, verily, it is.”
+
+“Well, it is. There’s a good deal of carting to do for the hotel;
+besides Mr. Porter keeps a livery stable. Was you ever this way
+before?” asked James.
+
+“Nay, verily.”
+
+“Are you going away to-morrow morning?”
+
+“Nay, friend, I think I shall tarry a day or two. Is that lad thy
+son?”
+
+“Tony, he asks if you are my son,” said James, laughing. “No, his name
+is Tony Rugg, while mine is James Woodley.”
+
+“Anthony, was thee born in this town?” asked the tramp, boldly defying
+detection.
+
+“No, sir,” answered Tony. “I only came here a few weeks ago.”
+
+“I’d like to choke the boy. I can hardly keep my hands off him,”
+thought Rudolph. “But I’d better be going. He is looking at me
+closely.”
+
+“Good-night,” he said, and the two responded civilly.
+
+“Well, Tony, what do you think of Broadbrim?”
+
+“I don’t know, there’s something in his voice that sounds familiar to
+me.”
+
+“Perhaps you may have met him somewhere.”
+
+“No; I never met any Quaker before.”
+
+“Well, there’s stranger likenesses sometimes. Did I ever tell you my
+adventure out in Maine?”
+
+“No, what was it?”
+
+“I went down East to see a sister of mine that is married down near
+Augusta. When, as I was goin’ through Portland, a woman came up and
+made a great ado about my deserting her. She took me for her husband,
+and came near having me arrested for desertion. You see, I and her
+husband was alike as two peas, that’s what some of her neighbors
+said.”
+
+“How did you get off?”
+
+“Luckily I had documents in my pocket showing who I was. Besides, my
+brother-in-law happened to be in the city, and he identified me.”
+
+Rudolph sat in the public room of the hotel for a time, and then he
+went up to his room, partly to be out of the way of possible
+recognition, partly to think how he could manage to get Tony into his
+clutches once more.
+
+He had a back room, the window of which looked out upon the stable
+yard. He seated himself at this window, and could easily see and hear
+all that passed there.
+
+Tony and the hostler were lounging about, the latter smoking a clay
+pipe, their work being done for the day.
+
+“Tony,” said the hostler, “I almost forgot to tell you you’re to go to
+Thornton to-morrow.”
+
+“What for?”
+
+“There’s a top-buggy Mr. Porter has sold to a man there. You’re to
+take it over, and lead the horse back.”
+
+“All right. I’d just as leave go as stay here. Can I find the road
+easily?”
+
+“There’s no trouble about that. Part of it runs through the
+woods—about a mile, I should say.”
+
+“Did Mr. Porter say when he wanted me to start?”
+
+“About nine o’clock; by that time you’ll be through with your chores.”
+
+Rudolph heard this conversation with pleasure.
+
+“It’s the chance I was waiting for,” he said to himself. “I’ll lie in
+wait for him as he comes back.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+IN THE WOODS
+
+
+Rudolph took care to breakfast in good season the next morning. He
+felt that this day was to make his fortune. The deed which would
+entitle him to a life support was to be perpetrated on that day. He
+shuddered a little when he reflected that a life must be sacrificed,
+and that the life of the boy who had been for years under his
+guardianship, who had slept at his side, and borne with him the perils
+and privations of his adventurous career. He was a reckless man, but
+he had never before shed blood, or at any rate taken the life of a
+human being.
+
+“What’s the odds?” he said to himself. “The boy’s got to die some time
+or other, and his dying now will make me comfortable for life. No more
+hungry tramps for me. I’ll settle down and be respectable. Eight
+hundred dollars a year will relieve me from all care.”
+
+At a few minutes after nine Tony set out on his journey. It never
+occurred to him that the old Quaker in suit of sober drab, who sat on
+the piazza and saw him depart, was a man who cherished sinister
+designs upon him. In fact, he had forgotten all about him, and was
+intent upon his journey alone.
+
+“Take care of yourself, Tony,” said James.
+
+“Oh, yes, I’ll do that,” said Tony, little dreaming how necessary the
+admonition was likely to prove.
+
+“I may as well be starting, too,” thought Rudolph.
+
+About two miles on began the woods. They extended for nearly a mile on
+either side of the road.
+
+“I’ll explore a little,” thought Rudolph. “I shall have plenty of time
+before the boy comes back.”
+
+Some forty rods from the road on the right-hand side the tramp
+discovered a ruined hut, which had once belonged to a recluse who had
+for years lived apart from his kind. This had now fallen into decay.
+
+The general appearance of the building satisfied Rudolph that it was
+deserted.
+
+A rod to the east there was a well, open to the view; the curb having
+decayed, and being in a ruined condition, Rudolph looked down into it,
+and judged that it might be about twenty feet deep.
+
+A diabolical suggestion came to him. If he could only lure Tony to
+this well and dispose of him forever.
+
+“I’ll do it,” he muttered to himself.
+
+Meantime, Tony drove rapidly to Thornton and sought the purchaser of
+the buggy. There was a delay of half an hour in finding him, but at
+last his business was done, and he set out for home.
+
+It was not quite so amusing leading the horse as sitting in a buggy
+and driving him. But all our pleasures have to be paid for, and Tony
+was ready to pay the price for this one. After all, he reflected, it
+was quite as amusing as working about the stable yard, especially
+after it occurred to him to mount the animal.
+
+Everything went smoothly till he entered the woody part of the road.
+
+“Now I shall be home soon,” he said to himself. “But, hello! who’s
+that?” as a figure stepped out from the side of the road. “Oh, it’s
+the Quaker. I wonder what brought him here?”
+
+“Friend, is thee in a hurry?” asked the impostor.
+
+“I suppose I ought to get back as soon as I can,” said Tony. “Why,
+what’s up?”
+
+“Thee is the boy from the hotel, is thee not?”
+
+“Well, what do you want of me?”
+
+“There’s a man in the woods that has fallen down a well, and I fear he
+is badly hurt.”
+
+“How did you find him?”
+
+“I was walking for amusement when I heard groans, and, looking down, I
+could see the poor man.”
+
+Tony never thought of doubting this statement, and said, in a tone of
+genuine sympathy: “Poor fellow!”
+
+“Will thee go with me and help get him out?”
+
+“Yes,” said Tony, readily, “I’ll do it. Never mind if I am a little
+late. Where shall I put the horse?”
+
+“Lead him into the woods, and tie him to a tree.”
+
+“All right. I guess that will be the best way.”
+
+The horse was disposed of as had been suggested and the two set out on
+what Tony supposed to be their charitable errand.
+
+“I don’t see what made you go into the woods?” said our hero, a little
+puzzled.
+
+“I was brought up in the woods, my young friend. It reminds me of the
+time when I was a boy like thee.”
+
+“Oh, that’s it. Well, it was lucky for the man—that is, if we can get
+him out. Did you speak to him?”
+
+“Yea, verily.”
+
+“And did he answer?”
+
+“He groaned. I think he was insensible. I saw that I should need help,
+and I came to the road again. Luckily thee came by.”
+
+“Had you been waiting long?”
+
+“Only five minutes,” answered Rudolph.
+
+In reality he had been compelled to wait nearly an hour, much to his
+disgust. In fact, he had been led to fear that there might be some
+other road by which one could return from Thornton, and that Tony had
+taken it. Should this be the case, his elaborate trap would be
+useless.
+
+They had come quite near the ruined dwelling, and already the curb of
+the well was visible.
+
+“Is that the well?” asked Tony.
+
+“Yes,” answered the Quaker.
+
+“Let us hurry, then,” said Tony.
+
+But the time had come when Tony was to have revealed to him the real
+character of his companion. A branch, which hung unusually low,
+knocked off the hat and wig of the pseudo Quaker, and Tony was
+petrified with dismay when he saw revealed the black, cropped head and
+sinister face of Rudolph, the tramp.
+
+“Rudolph!” he exclaimed, stopping short in his amazement.
+
+“Yes,” said the tramp, avowing himself, now that he saw disguise was
+useless; “it’s Rudolph. At last I have you, you young scamp!” and he
+seized the boy’s arms as in the grip of a vise.
+
+Tony tried to shake off the grip, but what could a boy do against an
+athletic man?
+
+“It’s no use,” said the tramp, between his teeth. “I’ve got you, and I
+don’t mean to let you go.”
+
+“What do you mean to do, Rudolph?” asked Tony, uneasily.
+
+“What do I mean to do? I mean to make you repent of what you’ve done
+to me, you young whelp.”
+
+“What have I done?”
+
+“What haven’t you done? You betrayed me, and sold me to my enemies.
+That’s what you’ve done.”
+
+“I’ve only done what I was obliged to do. I don’t want to do you any
+more harm. Let me go, and I won’t meddle with you any more, nor say a
+word about you at the hotel.”
+
+“Really,” said Rudolph, with a disagreeable sneer, “I feel very much
+obliged to you. You are very kind, upon my soul. So you won’t tell at
+the hotel that the Quaker gentleman is only a tramp, after all.”
+
+“No, I will say nothing about you.”
+
+“I don’t think you are to be trusted, boy.”
+
+“Did you ever know me to tell a lie, Rudolph?” asked Tony, proudly. “I
+don’t pretend to be a model boy, but there’s one thing I won’t do, and
+that is lie.”
+
+“I think I had better make sure that you don’t say anything about me,”
+said the tramp, significantly.
+
+“How?” asked Tony.
+
+“I don’t mean to let you go back to the hotel at all.”
+
+“But I must go back. I must carry the horse back.”
+
+“That’s of no importance.”
+
+“Yes, it is,” persisted Tony, anxiously. “They will think I have
+stolen it.”
+
+“Let them think so.”
+
+“But I don’t want them to think me a thief.”
+
+“I can’t help it.”
+
+“What are you going to do with me? Where are we going?”
+
+“Before I tell you that I will tell you something more. You have often
+asked me who you were.”
+
+“You always told me I was your son.”
+
+“It was not true,” said Rudolph, calmly. “You are not related to me.”
+
+“I felt sure of it.”
+
+“Oh, you did!” sneered the tramp. “You are glad that you are not my
+son!”
+
+“Who am I?”
+
+“I will tell you this much, that you are the heir to a fortune.”
+
+“I—the heir to a fortune!” exclaimed Tony, in natural excitement.
+
+“Yes; and I could help you to secure it, if I pleased.”
+
+Tony knew not what to say or to think. Was it possible that he—Tony
+the Tramp—was a gentleman’s son, and heir to a fortune? It was almost
+incredible. Moreover, what was the object of Rudolph in imparting this
+secret, and at this time, when he sought revenge upon him?
+
+“Is this true?” he asked.
+
+“Perfectly true.”
+
+“And you know my real name and family?”
+
+“Yes, I do.”
+
+“Oh, Rudolph, tell me who I am,” Tony said, imploringly. “Help me to
+the fortune which you say I am entitled to, and I will take care that
+you are rewarded.”
+
+Rudolph surveyed the boy, whom he still held in a firm grasp, and
+watched his excitement with malicious satisfaction.
+
+“There’s one objection to my doing that, boy,” he said.
+
+“What is that?”
+
+“I’ll tell you,” he hissed, as his grip grew tighter, and his dark
+face grew darker yet with passion, “I hate you!”
+
+This he uttered with such intensity that Tony, brave as he was, was
+startled and dismayed.
+
+“Then why did you tell me?” he asked.
+
+“That you might know what you are going to lose—that you might repent
+betraying me,” answered Rudolph, rapidly. “You ask what I am going to
+do with you? I am going to throw you down that well, and leave you
+there—to die!”
+
+Then commenced a struggle between the man and boy. Tony knew what he
+had to expect, and he fought for dear life. Rudolph found that he had
+undertaken no light task, but he, too, was desperate. He succeeded at
+last in dragging Tony to the well curb, and raising him in his sinewy
+arms, he let him fall.
+
+Then, without waiting to look down, he hurried out of the wood with
+all speed. He reached the hotel, settled his bill, and paid to have
+himself carried over to the nearest railroad station.
+
+Not until he was fairly seated in the train, and was rushing through
+the country at the rate of forty miles an hour, did he pause to
+congratulate himself.
+
+“Now for an easy life!” he ejaculated. “My fortune is made! I shall
+never have to work any more.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+“I HOLD YOU TO THE BOND”
+
+
+On reaching New York, Rudolph made his way at once to the shop from
+which he had obtained his Quaker dress.
+
+“Has thee come back?” asked the old man, in a jocular tone.
+
+“Yea, verily,” answered Rudolph.
+
+“How do you like being a Quaker?”
+
+“I’ve had enough of it. I want you to take them back. You promised to
+return me twenty-five dollars.”
+
+“Let me look at them,” said the old man, cautiously. “They’ve seen
+hard usage,” he said. “Look at that rip, and that spot.”
+
+“Humbug!” answered Rudolph. “There’s nothing but what you can set
+straight in half an hour, and five dollars is handsome pay for that.”
+
+But the old man stood out for seven, and finally the tramp, though
+grumbling much, was obliged to come to his terms.
+
+“Where have you been?” asked the old man, whose curiosity was aroused
+as to what prompted Rudolph to obtain the disguise.
+
+“That’s my business,” said Rudolph, who had his reasons for secrecy,
+as we know.
+
+“I meant no offense—I only wondered if you left the city.”
+
+“Yes, I’ve been into New Jersey,” answered the tramp, who thought it
+politic to put the costumer on the wrong scent. “You see, I’ve got an
+old uncle—a Quaker—living there. The old man’s got plenty of money,
+and I thought if I could only make him think me a good Quaker, I
+should stand a good chance of being remembered in his will.”
+
+“I see—a capital idea. Did it work?”
+
+“I can’t tell yet. He gave me four dollars and his blessing for the
+present,” said Rudolph, carelessly.
+
+“That’s a lie, every word of it!” said the old man to himself, after
+the tramp went out. “You must try to fix up a more probable story next
+time, Mr. Rudolph. He’s been up to some mischief, probably. However,
+it’s none of my business. I’ve made seven dollars out of him, and that
+pays me well—yes, it pays me well.”
+
+When Rudolph left the costumer’s, it occurred to him that the tramp’s
+dress which he had resumed had better be changed, partly because he
+thought it probable that a journey lay before him. He sought out a
+large readymade clothing establishment on Broadway, and with the money
+which had been returned to him obtained a respectable-looking suit,
+which quite improved his appearance. He regarded his reflection in a
+long mirror with considerable satisfaction. He felt that he would now
+be taken for a respectable citizen, and that in discarding his old
+dress he had removed all vestiges of the tramp. In this, however, he
+was not wholly right. His face and general expression he could not
+change. A careful observer could read in them something of the life he
+had led. Still, he was changed for the better, and it pleased him.
+
+“Now,” he reflected, “I had better go and see Mrs. Harvey Middleton. I
+have done the work, and I shall claim the reward.”
+
+He hurried to the St. Regis, and, experienced now in the ways of
+obtaining access to a guest, he wrote his name on a card and sent it
+up.
+
+“The lady will see you,” was the answer brought back by the servant.
+
+“Of course she will,” thought Rudolph. “She’ll want to know whether
+it’s all settled, and she has no further cause for fear.”
+
+Mrs. Middleton looked up as he entered.
+
+“Sit down, Mr. Rugg,” she said, politely.
+
+Her manner was cool and composed; but when the servant had left the
+room, she rose from her chair, and in a tone which showed the anxiety
+which she had till then repressed, she asked, abruptly: “Well, Mr.
+Rugg, have you any news for me?”
+
+“Yes, ma’am, I have,” he answered, deliberately.
+
+“What is it? Don’t keep me in suspense,” she said, impatiently.
+
+“The job’s done,” said Rudolph, briefly.
+
+“You mean that the boy——”
+
+“Accidentally fell down a well and was killed,” said the visitor,
+finishing the sentence.
+
+“Horrible!” murmured the lady.
+
+“Wasn’t it?” said Rudolph, with a grin. “He must have been very
+careless.”
+
+Mrs. Middleton did not immediately speak. Though she was responsible
+for this crime, having instigated it, she was really shocked when it
+was brought home to her.
+
+“You are sure he is dead?” she said, after a pause.
+
+“When a chap pitches head first down a well thirty feet deep, there
+isn’t much hope for him, is there?”
+
+“No, I suppose not. Where did this accident happen?” asked the lady.
+
+“That ain’t important,” answered Rudolph. “It’s happened—that’s all
+you need to know. Tony won’t never come after that estate of his.”
+
+“It would have done him little good. He was not fitted by education to
+assume it.”
+
+“No; but he might have been educated. But that’s all over now. It’s
+yours. Nobody can take it from you.”
+
+“True!” said Mrs. Middleton, and a look of pleasure succeeded the
+momentary horror. “You will be ready to testify that the boy is dead?”
+
+“There won’t be any danger, will there? They won’t ask too many
+questions?”
+
+“As to that, I think we had better decide what we will say. It won’t
+be necessary to say how the boy died.”
+
+“Won’t it?”
+
+“No. Indeed, it will be better to give a different account.”
+
+“Will that do just as well?”
+
+“Yes. You can say, for instance, that he died of smallpox, while under
+your care in St. Louis, or any other place.”
+
+“And that I tended him to the last with the affection of a father,”
+added Rudolph, grinning.
+
+“To be sure. You must settle upon all the details of the story, so as
+not to be caught in any discrepancies.”
+
+“What’s that?” asked the tramp, rather mystified.
+
+“Your story must hang together. It mustn’t contradict itself.”
+
+“To be sure. How long are you going to stay in New York?”
+
+“There is no further occasion for my staying here. I shall sail for
+England in a week.”
+
+“Will it be all right about the money?” asked Rudolph, anxiously.
+
+“Certainly.”
+
+“How am I to be sure of that?”
+
+“The word of a lady, sir,” said Mrs. Middleton, haughtily, “ought to
+be sufficient for you.”
+
+“That’s all very well, but suppose you should get tired of paying me
+the money?”
+
+“Then you could make it very disagreeable for me by telling all you
+know about the boy. However, there will be no occasion for that. I
+shall keep my promise. Will you be willing to sail for England next
+week?”
+
+“Do you mean that I am to go with you?”
+
+“I mean that you are to go. Your testimony must be given on the other
+side, in order to make clear my title to the estate.”
+
+“I see, ma’am. If I’d known that, I wouldn’t have had no fears about
+the money.”
+
+“You need have none, Mr. Rugg,” said Mrs. Middleton, coldly. “The fact
+is, we are necessary to each other. Each can promote the interests of
+the other.”
+
+“That’s so, ma’am. Let’s shake hands on that,” said Rudolph, advancing
+with outstretched hand.
+
+“No, thank you,” said Mrs. Middleton, coldly. “You forget yourself,
+sir. Do not forget that I am a lady, and that you are——”
+
+“We are equal, ma’am, in this matter,” said Rudolph offended. “You
+needn’t shrink from shaking hands with me.”
+
+“That is not in the agreement,” said Mrs. Middleton, haughtily. “I
+shall do what I have agreed, but except so far as it is necessary in
+the way of business, I wish you to keep yourself away from me. We
+belong to different grades in society.”
+
+“Why didn’t you say that the other day, ma’am?” said Rudolph,
+frowning.
+
+“Because I didn’t suppose it to be necessary. You did not offer to
+shake hands with me then. Besides, at that time you had not——”
+
+“Pushed the boy down the well, if that’s what you mean,” said Rudolph,
+bluntly.
+
+“Hush! Don’t refer to that. I advise you this for your own sake.”
+
+“And for the sake of somebody else.”
+
+“Mr. Rugg, all this discussion is idle. It can do no good. For
+whatever service you have rendered, you shall be well paid. That you
+understand. But it is best that we should know as little of each other
+henceforth as possible. It might excite suspicion, as you can
+understand.”
+
+“Perhaps you are right, ma’am,” said Rudolph, slowly.
+
+“Call here day after to-morrow, and I will let you know by what
+steamer I take passage for England, that you may obtain a ticket. Good
+afternoon.”
+
+Rudolph left the lady’s presence not wholly pleased.
+
+“Why wouldn’t she take my hand?” he muttered to himself. “She’s as
+deep in it as I am.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+TONY’S ESCAPE
+
+
+We must now return to our young hero, who was certainly in a critical
+position. Though strong for his age, the reader will hardly be
+surprised that he should have been overpowered by a man like Rudolph.
+
+When the false Quaker’s hat and wig were taken off, though he was at
+first surprised, he for the first time understood why the man’s face
+and voice had seemed familiar to him from the time they first met.
+
+He struggled in vain against the fate in store for him. He felt that
+with him it was to be a matter of life and death, and, taken by
+surprise though he was, he was on the alert to save his life if he
+could.
+
+The well curb was partially destroyed, as we have said, but the rope
+still hung from it. At the instant of his fall, Tony managed while in
+transit to grasp the rope by one hand. He swung violently from one
+side to the other, and slipped a few feet downward. This Rudolph did
+not see, for as soon as he had hurled the boy into the well, he
+hurried away.
+
+Tony waited for the rope to become steady before attempting to ascend
+hand over hand. Unfortunately for his purpose, the rope was rotten,
+and broke just above where he grasped it, precipitating him to the
+bottom of the well. But he was already so far from the opening that
+his fall was not over ten feet. Luckily, also, the water was not over
+two feet in depth. Therefore, though he was jarred and startled by the
+sudden descent, he was not injured.
+
+“Well,” thought Tony, “I’m as low as I can get—that’s one comfort.
+Now is there any chance of my setting out?”
+
+He looked up, and it gave him a peculiar sensation to see the blue sky
+from the place where he stood. He feared that Rudolph was still at
+hand, and would resist any efforts he might make to get out of the
+well.
+
+“If he don’t interfere, I’m bound to get out,” he said to himself,
+pluckily.
+
+His feet were wet, of course, and this was far from comfortable.
+
+He made a brief examination of the situation, and then decided upon
+his plan. The well, like most in the country, was made of a wall of
+stones, piled one upon another. In parts it looked rather loose, and
+Tony shuddered as he thought of the possibility of the walls falling,
+and his being buried in the ruins.
+
+“It would be all up with me then,” he thought. “I must get out of this
+as soon as I can. If I can only climb up as far as the rope, I can
+escape.”
+
+This, in fact, seemed to be his only chance. Using the wall as a
+ladder, he began cautiously to ascend. More than once he came near
+falling a second time, but by great exertion he finally reached the
+rope. He did not dare to trust to it entirely, but contrived to ascend
+as before, clinging to the rope with his hands. He was in constant
+fear that it would break a second time, but the strain upon it was not
+so great, and finally, much to his delight, he reached the top.
+
+He breathed a deep sigh of relief when he found himself once more on
+_terra firma_. He looked about him cautiously, under the apprehension
+that Rudolph might be near by, and ready to attack him again. But, as
+we know, his fears were groundless.
+
+“He made sure that I was disposed of,” thought Tony. “What could have
+induced him to attempt my life? Can it be true, as he said, that I am
+heir to a fortune? Why couldn’t he tell me? I would have paid him well
+for the information when I got my money. Then he said he knew who I
+was—I care more for that than for the money.”
+
+But Tony could not dwell upon these thoughts. The claims of duty were
+paramount. He must seek the horse, and go back to the hotel. He had
+been detained already for nearly three-quarters of an hour, and they
+would be wondering what had become of him.
+
+He made his way as quickly as possible to where he had tied the horse.
+But he looked for him in vain. He had been untied and led
+away—perhaps stolen. Tony felt assured that the horse, of himself,
+could not leave the spot.
+
+“It must be Rudolph,” he said to himself. “He has made off with the
+horse. Now I am in a precious scrape. What will Mr. Porter say to me?”
+
+Tony was in error, as we know, in concluding that Rudolph had carried
+away the horse. The tramp had no use for him. Besides, he knew that
+such a proceeding would have exposed him to suspicion, which it was
+very important for him to avoid.
+
+Who, then, had taken the horse? That is a question which we are able
+to answer, though Tony could not.
+
+Fifteen minutes before Sam Payson, whose place Tony had taken, with a
+companion, Ben Hardy, while wandering through the woods, had espied a
+horse.
+
+“Hello!” said Ben. “Here’s a horse!”
+
+“So it is!” said Sam. “It’s rather odd that he should be tied here.”
+
+“I wonder whose it is?”
+
+Sam had been examining him carefully, and had recognized him.
+
+“It’s Mr. Porter’s Bill. Don’t you see that white spot? That’s the way
+I know him. I have harnessed that horse fifty times.”
+
+“But how did he come here? That’s the question.”
+
+“I’ll tell you,” said Sam. “I was at the hotel this morning, and heard
+that that boy Tony was to go over to Thornton with him.”
+
+“That don’t explain why he is tied here, does it?”
+
+“Tony must have tied him while he was taking a tramp in the woods.
+Wouldn’t Porter be mad if he knew it?”
+
+“I shouldn’t wonder if Tony would get bounced.”
+
+“Nor I. I’ll tell you what, Ben, I’ve a grand mind to untie the horse
+and take him back myself.”
+
+“What’s the good? It would be an awful job. We came out here to have
+some fun,” grumbled Ben.
+
+“This would be fun to me. I’ll get Tony into trouble, and very likely
+get back the place he cheated me out of. I guess it’ll pay.”
+
+“All right, Sam. I didn’t think of that. I’d like to see how Tony
+looks when he comes back and finds the horse gone.”
+
+“It’ll serve him right,” said Sam. “What business had he to interfere
+with me, I’d like to know?”
+
+“If you’re going to do it, you’d better hurry up. He may get back any
+time.”
+
+“That’s so. Here goes, then.”
+
+In a trice Bill was untied, and Sam, taking the halter, led him away.
+When Tony came up he was not in sight.
+
+Though Tony felt convinced that Rudolph had carried away the horse, he
+felt it to be his duty to look about for him. There was a bare chance
+that he might find him somewhere in the wood. In this way he lost
+considerable time. Had he started for the hotel immediately, he would
+very likely have overtaken the two boys.
+
+Sam kept on his way, and finally arrived at the hotel.
+
+As he led the horse into the stable yard, James, the hostler,
+exclaimed, in surprise:
+
+“How came you by that horse, Sam Payson?”
+
+“Is that the way you thank me for bringing him back?” asked Sam.
+
+“He left the stable under the charge of Tony Rugg this morning.”
+
+“Pretty care he takes of him, then!”
+
+“What do you mean? Where did you find him?”
+
+“Down in the woods.”
+
+“What woods?”
+
+“Between here and Thornton.”
+
+“Wasn’t Tony with him?”
+
+“No.”
+
+“Are you sure of that? Are you sure you two boys didn’t attack Tony
+and take the horse away?” demanded James, suspiciously.
+
+“No, we didn’t. If you don’t believe me, you may ask Ben.”
+
+“How was it, Ben?” he asked.
+
+“Just as Sam has said. We found the horse alone in the woods. We
+thought he might be stolen, and we brought him home. It was a good
+deal of trouble, for it’s full two miles.”
+
+James looked from one to the other in perplexity.
+
+“I don’t understand it at all,” he said. “It don’t look like Tony to
+neglect his duty that way.”
+
+“You’ve got too high an opinion of that boy entirely,” said Sam,
+sneeringly.
+
+Just then the landlord passed through the yard.
+
+“What’s all this?” he asked.
+
+The matter was explained to him.
+
+“Send Tony to me as soon as he comes back,” he said, with a frown of
+displeasure. “This must be looked into.”
+
+“He’ll give Tony fits!” said Sam, gleefully.
+
+“You know how it is yourself, Sam,” said James.
+
+“I never ran off and left the horse in the woods,” retorted Sam.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+TONY IS DISCHARGED
+
+
+Presently Tony came into the yard. He was looking very sober. He had
+lost the horse, and he didn’t know how to excuse himself. He didn’t
+feel that he had been to blame, but he suspected that he should be
+blamed, nevertheless.
+
+“What did you do with the horse, Tony?” asked James.
+
+“He was stolen from me,” answered Tony.
+
+“How could that be?”
+
+“I expect it was the Quaker.”
+
+“The Quaker?” repeated James, in amazement. “Are you sure you’re not
+crazy—or drunk?”
+
+“Neither one,” said Tony. “It’s a long story, and——”
+
+“You must tell it to Mr. Porter, then. He wants to see you right off.
+But I’ll tell you for your information that the horse is here.”
+
+“Is here? Who brought him?”
+
+“Sam Payson brought him a short time since.”
+
+“Sam Payson! Where did he say he found him?”
+
+“In the woods.”
+
+“Then he might have left it there,” said Tony, indignantly. “What
+business had he to untie him, and give me all this trouble?”
+
+“You can speak to Mr. Porter about that.”
+
+“Where is he?”
+
+“In the office.”
+
+Tony entered the office.
+
+Mr. Porter regarded him with a frown.
+
+“How is this, Tony?” he began. “You leave my horse in the woods to be
+brought home by another boy. He might have been stolen, do you know
+that?”
+
+“I’ve been deceived and led into a trap,” said Tony.
+
+“What on earth do you mean? Who has deceived and trapped you?”
+
+“The Quaker, who was stopping here. Has he come back?”
+
+“He has settled his bill and left the hotel. What cock-and-bull story
+is this you have hatched up?”
+
+“It is a true story, Mr. Porter. This man was not a Quaker at all. He
+was a tramp.”
+
+“Take care what you say, Tony. Do you take me for a fool?”
+
+“He is a man I used to know. When I was coming home he was waiting for
+me in the woods, only I didn’t know who he really was. He told me
+there was a man who had fallen into a well in the woods, and he wanted
+my help to get him out. So I tied the horse and went with him. I
+wouldn’t have left him but for that story of the man in the well.”
+
+“Go on,” said the landlord. “I warn you I don’t believe a word of this
+wonderful story of yours.”
+
+“I can’t help it,” said Tony, desperately. “It’s true.”
+
+“Go on, and I’ll give you my opinion of it afterward.”
+
+“Just before we got to the well, a branch took off his hat and wig,
+and I saw that he was no Quaker, but my enemy, Rudolph Rugg.”
+
+“Rudolph Rugg! A very good name for a romance.”
+
+Tony proceeded:
+
+“Then I tried to get away, but it was too late. The man seized me and
+threw me down the well. But first he told me that he knew who I was,
+and that I was heir to a large fortune.”
+
+“Indeed! How happens it that you are not at the bottom of the well
+still?”
+
+“I got out.”
+
+“So I see. But how?”
+
+“I climbed up by the stones till I reached the rope, and then I found
+it easy. I hurried to where I had left the horse, but he was gone. I
+supposed that the Quaker had taken him, but James tells me Sam Payson
+found him and brought him back.”
+
+“Look here, boy,” said the landlord, sternly, “do you expect me to
+believe this romance of yours?”
+
+“I don’t know whether you will or not, sir. All I can say is that it
+is the exact truth.”
+
+“I cannot keep you in my employ any longer. I have been deceived in
+you, and should no longer trust you. You certainly have mistaken your
+vocation. You are not fit to be a stableboy.”
+
+“I should like to know what I am fit for?” said Tony, despondently.
+
+“I will tell you, then. Judging from the story you have told me, I
+should think you might succeed very well in writing dime novels. I
+don’t know whether it pays, but you can try it.”
+
+“Sometime you will find out that I have told the truth,” said Tony.
+
+“Perhaps so, but I doubt it.”
+
+“When do you want me to go?”
+
+“You can stay till to-morrow morning. Wait a minute. Here is a
+five-dollar bill. That is a fair price for the time you have been with
+me.”
+
+As Tony was going out he came near having a collision with Sam Payson.
+
+Sam looked at him inquiringly.
+
+“Have you been bounced?” he asked.
+
+“Yes,” said Tony. “It was your fault. What made you take that horse?”
+
+“I was afraid Mr. Porter might lose him. Is he in?”
+
+“Yes. You can apply for my place, if you want to.”
+
+“I mean to.”
+
+Sam went in, and addressed the landlord.
+
+“I brought your horse back,” he said.
+
+“Thank you. Here’s two dollars for your trouble.”
+
+Sam tucked it away with an air of satisfaction.
+
+“Tony tells me he is going away.”
+
+“Yes. He don’t suit me.”
+
+“Wouldn’t I suit you?” asked Sam, in an ingratiating tone.
+
+“No; I’ve tried you, and you won’t suit,” was the unexpected reply.
+
+“But I brought back the horse,” pleaded Sam, crestfallen.
+
+“I’ve paid you for that,” said the landlord. “Didn’t I pay you
+enough?”
+
+“Yes, sir; but I thought you’d take me back again.”
+
+“I know you too well, Sam Payson, to try any such experiment. The
+Widow Clark told me yesterday that she wanted to get her boy into a
+place, and I am going to offer it to him.”
+
+“He don’t know anything about horses,” said Sam.
+
+“He will soon learn. He is a good boy, and industrious. I am sure he
+will suit me better than you.”
+
+“I wish I hadn’t brought back his old horse,” muttered Sam, as he left
+the office and went back into the yard. He hoped to triumph over Tony,
+by telling that he had taken his place, but the opportunity was not
+allowed him.
+
+“Well, Sam, are you going to take my place?” asked Tony.
+
+“No, I’m not,” said Sam.
+
+“Didn’t you ask for it?”
+
+“The old man had promised it to another boy,” said Sam, sourly.
+
+“He’s been pretty quick about it, then,” said James.
+
+“A boy that don’t know the first thing about horses,” grumbled Sam.
+
+“Who is it?”
+
+“Joe Clark.”
+
+“He’s a good boy; I’m glad he’s coming, though I’m sorry to lose
+Tony.”
+
+“Thank you, James,” said Tony. “I’d like to stay, but I can’t blame
+Mr. Porter for not believing my story. It was a strange one, but it’s
+true, for all that.”
+
+James shrugged his shoulders.
+
+“Then you believe you’re heir to a fortune, as he told you?”
+
+“Yes; he had no reason to tell me a lie.”
+
+“What’s that?” asked Sam.
+
+“The Quaker gentleman who was here told Tony that he was heir to a
+large fortune.”
+
+“Ho! ho!” laughed Sam, boisterously. “That’s a likely story, that is!”
+
+“Why isn’t it?” asked Tony, frowning.
+
+“You heir to a fortune—a clodhopper like you! Oh, I shall split!”
+said Sam, giving way to another burst of merriment.
+
+“I am no more a clodhopper than you are,” said Tony, “and I advise you
+not to laugh too much, or I may make you laugh on the other side of
+your mouth.”
+
+“It’ll take more than you do to do it!” said Sam, defiantly.
+
+“I have done it already, Sam Payson, and I’m ready to try it again
+before I leave town.”
+
+“I wouldn’t dirty my hands with you!” said Sam, scornfully.
+
+“You’d better not!”
+
+When Sam had gone, Tony turned to James.
+
+“I wonder whether I shall ever see you again, James?” he said,
+thoughtfully.
+
+“I hope so, Tony. I’m sorry you’re going; but you couldn’t expect Mr.
+Porter to swallow such a tough story as that.”
+
+“Then you don’t believe it, James? I’ll come back some day just to
+prove to you that it is true.”
+
+“Come back, at any rate; I shall be glad to see you. When do you go?”
+
+“To-morrow morning.”
+
+“Where shall you go first?”
+
+“To New York; but I’ll help you till I go.”
+
+So Tony did his work as usual for the remainder of the day. He felt
+rather sober. Just as he had found a home, his evil genius, in the
+character of Rudolph, had appeared and deprived him of it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+TONY IN NEW YORK
+
+
+Though Tony was out of a place, he was considerably better off than he
+had ever been. He had five dollars in his pocket for the first time in
+his life. A few weeks ago he would have considered himself rich with
+this amount, and would have been in high spirits. But now he took a
+different view of life. He had known what it was to have a settled
+home, and to earn an honest living, and he had learned to like it. But
+fortune was against him, and he must go.
+
+“Good-by, James,” he said, soberly, to the hostler, the next morning.
+
+“Good-by, Tony, and good luck,” said the kind-hearted hostler.
+
+“I hope I shall have good luck, but I don’t expect it,” said Tony.
+
+“Pooh, nonsense! You’re young, and the world is before you.”
+
+“That’s so, James, but so far the world has been against me.”
+
+“Come here a minute, Tony,” said James, lowering his voice.
+
+As Tony approached, he thrust a bank-note hastily into his hand.
+
+“Take it,” he said, quickly. “I don’t need it, and you may.”
+
+Tony looked at the bill, and found it was a ten-dollar note.
+
+“You’re very kind, James,” he said, touched by a kindness to which he
+was unaccustomed, “but I can’t take it.”
+
+“Why not? I sha’n’t need it.”
+
+“Nor I, James. I’ve got some money. It isn’t much, but I’m used to
+roughing it. I’ve done it all my life. I always come down on my feet
+like a cat.”
+
+“But you may get hard up.”
+
+“If I do, I’ll let you know.”
+
+“Will you promise that?”
+
+“Honor bright.”
+
+So James took back the money reluctantly, and Tony bade him good-by.
+
+It was a rainy day when Tony arrived in New York. The stores were
+deserted, and the clerks lounged idly behind the counters. Only those
+who were actually obliged to be out appeared in the streets. If Tony’s
+hopes had been high, they would have been lowered by the dreary
+weather. He wandered aimlessly about the streets, having no care about
+his luggage, for he had brought none, looking about him listlessly. He
+found himself after a while in the lower part of Broadway, near where
+most of the European steamer lines have their offices.
+
+All at once Tony saw a figure that attracted his eager attention.
+
+It was Rudolph Rugg, his old comrade, and now bitter enemy.
+
+“Where is he going?” thought Tony.
+
+This question was soon solved.
+
+Rudolph entered the office of the Cunard line of steamers.
+
+“What can he want there?” thought Tony. “I’ll watch him.”
+
+He took a position near by, yet far enough off to avoid discovery, and
+waited patiently for Rudolph to reappear. He waited about fifteen
+minutes. Then he saw the tramp come out with a paper in his hand,
+which he appeared to regard with satisfaction. He turned and went up
+Broadway.
+
+As soon as he thought it safe, Tony crossed the street and entered the
+office. He made his way up to the counter, and inquired the price of
+passage. The rates were given him.
+
+“Can you tell me,” he asked, carelessly, “if a Mr. Rugg is going
+across on one of your steamers?”
+
+“Mr. Rugg? Why, it is the man who just left the office.”
+
+“Did he buy a passage ticket?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“When does he sail?”
+
+“On Saturday.”
+
+“And where does he go?”
+
+“To Liverpool, of course. Can I sell you a ticket?”
+
+“I haven’t decided,” said Tony.
+
+“If you go, you will find it for your advantage to go by our line.”
+
+“I’ll go by your line, if I go at all,” said Tony. “I wonder whether
+he’d be so polite if he knew I had but three dollars and a quarter in
+my pocket,” said our hero to himself.
+
+Then he began to wonder how it happened that Rudolph was going. First,
+it was a mystery where he could have obtained the money necessary for
+the purchase of a ticket. Next, what could be his reason for leaving
+America.
+
+“Probably he has picked somebody’s pocket,” thought Tony.
+
+That disposed of the difficulty, but, as we know, Tony was mistaken.
+It was money that he had received for a worse deed, but Tony never
+thought of connecting the state of Rudolph’s purse with the attempt
+that had been made upon his own life.
+
+When Tony came to think of it, he felt glad that Rudolph was going
+abroad. He felt that his own life would be safer with an ocean flowing
+between him and the man who latterly had exhibited such an intense
+hatred for him. As to his motive, why perhaps he thought that he would
+be safer in London than in New York.
+
+Tony bethought himself of securing a temporary home. He was not a
+stranger in New York, and knew exactly where to go. There was a house
+not far from Greenwich street, where he had lodged more than once
+before, and where he was known. It was far from a fashionable place,
+but the charge was small, and that was a necessary consideration with
+Tony.
+
+He rang the bell, and the proprietor, a hard-favored woman of fifty,
+came to open it.
+
+“How do you do, Mrs. Blodgett?” said Tony.
+
+“Why, it’s Tony,” said the woman, not unkindly. “Where have you been
+this long time?”
+
+“In the country,” answered our hero.
+
+“And where is your father?”
+
+“Do you mean the man I used to be with?”
+
+“Yes. He was your father, wasn’t he?”
+
+“No. He was no relation of mine,” said Tony, hastily. “We used to go
+together, that is all.”
+
+“Where is he?”
+
+“I don’t know exactly. We had a falling out, and we’ve parted.”
+
+“Well, Tony, what can I do for you?”
+
+“Have you got any cheap room to let, Mrs. Blodgett?”
+
+“I’ve got a room in the attic. It’s small, but if it’ll suit you, you
+can have it for a dollar a week.”
+
+“It’s just the thing,” said Tony, in a tone of satisfaction. “Can I go
+right up?”
+
+“Yes, if you want to. I generally want a week’s pay in advance, but
+you’ve been here before——”
+
+“No matter for that. Here’s the money,” said Tony.
+
+“I’ll show you the way up.”
+
+“All right. I guess I’ll lie down a while. I’ve been about the streets
+all day, and am pretty tired.”
+
+The room was hardly large enough to swing a cat in, and the furniture
+was shabby and well-worn; but Tony was not particular. He threw
+himself on the bed, and soon fell asleep.
+
+How long he slept he did not know, but when he woke up the room was
+quite dark. He stretched, and did not immediately remember where he
+was; but it flashed upon him directly.
+
+“I wonder what time it is?” he asked himself. “I must have slept a
+long time. I feel as fresh as a lark. I’ll get up and take a tramp.”
+
+When he went downstairs he found that it was already ten o’clock.
+
+“I feel as fresh as if it were morning,” thought Tony. “I’ll go out on
+Broadway and watch some of the theaters when the people come out.”
+
+Ten o’clock seems late in the country; it is the usual hour for
+retiring for many families; but in the city it is quite different.
+There are still many to be seen in the streets, and for many it is the
+commencement of a season of festivity.
+
+Tony walked for half an hour. He was so thoroughly rested that he felt
+no fatigue. Presently he stepped into a crowded billiard room, and,
+seating himself, began to watch a game between a young man of
+twenty-five and a man probably fifteen years his senior. The first was
+evidently a gentleman by birth and education; his dress and manners
+evinced this. The other looked like an adventurer, though he was well
+dressed.
+
+“Come, let us play for the drinks,” said the elder.
+
+“I’ve drank enough,” said the young man.
+
+“Nonsense. You can stand a little more.”
+
+“Just as you say.”
+
+The game terminated in favor of the elder, and the drinks were
+brought.
+
+This went on for some time. The young man was evidently affected.
+Finally he threw down his cue, and said:
+
+“I won’t play again!”
+
+“Why not?”
+
+“My hand is unsteady. I have drank too much.”
+
+“I’ve drank as much as you, but I’m all right.”
+
+“You can stand more than I. I’ll settle for the drinks and games and
+go home.”
+
+“Sha’n’t I see you home?” asked the elder.
+
+“I don’t want to trouble you.”
+
+“No trouble at all.”
+
+The young man paid at the bar, displaying a well-filled pocketbook.
+There was something in his companion’s expression which made Tony
+suspicious. He formed a sudden resolve.
+
+“I’ll follow them,” he said, and when they left the room he was close
+behind them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+A STRANGE ADVENTURE
+
+
+The young man leaned on the arm of his companion. He was affected by
+the potations in which he had indulged, and was sensible of his
+condition.
+
+“I ought not to have drank so much,” he said, in unsteady accents.
+
+“Pooh! it’s nothing,” said the other, lightly. “Where are you
+stopping?”
+
+“St. Regis.”
+
+“We’d better walk. It will do you good to walk.”
+
+“Just as you say.”
+
+“Of course I would only advise you for your good.”
+
+“I know it; but, old fellow, why did you make me drink so much?”
+
+“I thought you could stand it better. I’m as cool as a cucumber.”
+
+He pressed the young man’s arm, and led him into a side street.
+
+“What’s that for? This ain’t the way to the St. Regis.”
+
+“I know it.”
+
+“Why don’t we go up Broadway?”
+
+“You are not fit to go in yet. You need a longer walk, so that your
+condition will not be noticed when you go in.”
+
+“Go along, old fellow. You’re right.”
+
+Still Tony kept behind. All seemed right enough, but somehow he could
+not help feeling suspicious of the older man.
+
+“I’ll watch him,” he thought, “and if he attempts any mischief, I’ll
+interfere.”
+
+The two men walked in a westerly direction, crossing several streets.
+
+“Look here,” said the young man, “we’d better turn back.”
+
+Now was the time.
+
+The other looked swiftly around, but did not notice Tony, who was
+tracking him in the darkness.
+
+“Give me your pocketbook and watch at once!” he whispered.
+
+“What!” exclaimed the young man, startled, and trying to release his
+arm.
+
+“Give me your watch and money at once, or I’ll blow your brains out!”
+
+“Look here, you’re only trying to play a joke on me.”
+
+“You’re mistaken. I’m a desperate man. I will do as I say.”
+
+“Then you’re a villain,” said the young man, with spirit. “You’ve made
+me drunk in order to rob me.”
+
+“Precisely. Your money or your life. That’s about what I mean.”
+
+“I’ll call the police.”
+
+“If you do it will be your last word. Now, make up your mind!”
+
+The young man, instead of complying, endeavored to break away, but in
+his intoxication he had lost half his strength, and was no match for
+the other.
+
+“You fool, your blood be on your own hands!” said his companion, and
+he drew a pistol from his side pocket.
+
+An instant and he would have fired, but Tony was on the alert. He
+sprang forward, seized the would-be murderer by the arm, and the
+pistol went off, but the bullet struck a brick wall on the opposite
+side of the street.
+
+“Police!” shouted Tony, at the top of his lungs.
+
+“Confusion!” exclaimed the villain. “I must be getting out of this!”
+
+He turned to fly, but Tony seized him by the coat, and he struggled
+fiercely, but in vain.
+
+“Let go, you young scoundrel!” he shouted, “or I’ll shoot you!”
+
+“With an unloaded pistol?” asked Tony. “That don’t scare much!”
+
+A quick step was heard, and a policeman turned the corner.
+
+“What’s the matter?” he asked.
+
+“I charge this man with an attempt at murder,” said Tony.
+
+“The boy is right,” said the young man.
+
+“They are both lying!” said the adventurer, furiously. “It’s a plot
+against me.”
+
+“I know you, Bill Jones!” said the policeman, after a careful scrutiny
+of the man’s features. “You’re a hard ticket. Come along with me. You
+two must go with me to prefer your charge.”
+
+“Let me have your arm, my boy,” said the young man. “I’m ashamed to
+own that I need your help. It is the last time I will allow liquor to
+get the better of me.”
+
+“I guess you’re about right there,” said Tony. “You’ve had a narrow
+escape.”
+
+“I owe my life to you,” said the young man, warmly. “How did you
+happen to come up just in the nick of time?”
+
+“I suspected the man meant you no good. I followed you from the
+billiard saloon where I saw you playing.”
+
+“You were sharper than I. I never suspected harm. You have done me the
+greatest possible service.”
+
+“Curse the young brat!” muttered the man in custody. “I’d like a good
+chance to wring your neck!”
+
+“I’ve no doubt of it,” said Tony. “I’ll keep out of your way.”
+
+The station house was not far off. The party entered. The charge was
+formally made, and Tony and the young man went out.
+
+“Won’t your father and mother feel anxious about your being out so
+late?” asked George Spencer, for this was the young man’s name.
+
+“I don’t think they will,” answered Tony. “I haven’t got any, for that
+matter.”
+
+“Who do you live with, then?”
+
+“I take care of myself.”
+
+“Have you no one belonging to you?”
+
+“Not one.”
+
+“Are you poor?” asked Spencer, for the first time taking notice of
+Tony’s rather shabby apparel.
+
+“Oh, no!” said our hero. “I’ve got a little over two dollars in my
+pocket.”
+
+“Is that all?”
+
+“Yes, and it’s a good deal more than I generally have.”
+
+“You don’t say so. How do you make your living?”
+
+“Any way I can—any way that’s honest.”
+
+“And don’t you ever get discouraged—down in the mouth?”
+
+“Not often,” answered Tony. “I’ve always got along, and I guess
+something will turn up for me. But there’s one thing I am sorry for.”
+
+“What’s that?”
+
+“I would like to get some sort of an education. I don’t know much.”
+
+“Can’t you read?”
+
+“A little, and write a little. I mostly picked it up myself.”
+
+The young man whistled.
+
+“Have you any place to sleep to-night?”
+
+“I’ve hired an attic room for a week.”
+
+“What do you pay?”
+
+“A dollar a week.”
+
+“Of course it is a poor room?”
+
+“Yes; but it’s all I can expect, and better than I often have. Why,
+I’ve slept in barns and under haystacks plenty of times.”
+
+“What is your name?”
+
+“Tony Rugg.”
+
+“Well, Tony, you must come and stop with me to-night.”
+
+“With you?”
+
+“Yes, at the St. Regis Hotel. You can help me get there, and share my
+room.”
+
+Tony hesitated.
+
+“Do you mean it?” he asked.
+
+“Why shouldn’t I?”
+
+“Because you are a gentleman, and I—do you know what they call me?”
+
+“What?”
+
+“Tony the Tramp.”
+
+“It is your misfortune, and not your fault. I repeat my invitation.
+Will you come?”
+
+“I will,” answered Tony.
+
+He saw that the young man was in earnest, and he no longer persisted
+in his refusal.
+
+“To-morrow morning I will talk with you further about your affairs. I
+want to do something for you.”
+
+“You are very kind.”
+
+“I ought to be. Haven’t you saved my life? But there is the hotel.”
+
+Tony and his new friend entered the great hotel. It was brilliantly
+lighted, though it was now nearly midnight.
+
+Mr. Spencer went up to the desk.
+
+“My key,” he said. “No. 169.”
+
+“Here it is, sir.”
+
+“This young man will share my room. I will enter his name.”
+
+The clerk looked at Tony in surprise. He looked rather shabby for a
+guest of the great caravansary.
+
+“Has he luggage?” asked the clerk.
+
+“None to-night. I will pay his bill.”
+
+“All right, sir.”
+
+They got into the elevator, and presently came to a stop. Mr. Spencer
+opened the door of No. 169.
+
+It was a good-sized and handsomely furnished chamber, containing two
+beds.
+
+“You will sleep in that bed, Tony,” said Spencer. “I feel dead tired.
+Will you help me off with my coat?”
+
+Scarcely was the young man in bed than he fell asleep. Tony lay awake
+some time, thinking of his strange adventure.
+
+“It’s the first time in my life,” he said to himself, “when I’ve had
+two beds—one here and the other at my lodgings. What would Rudolph
+say if he knew I was stopping at a fashionable hotel, instead of being
+at the bottom of the well where he threw me?”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+BREAKFAST AT THE ST. REGIS
+
+
+When Tony woke up in the morning, he looked about him with momentary
+bewilderment, wondering where he was.
+
+George Spencer was already awake.
+
+“How did you sleep, Tony?” he asked.
+
+“Bully!”
+
+“It must be late. Please look at my watch and tell me what time it
+is.”
+
+“Half-past eight,” said Tony, complying with his request. “Why, it’s
+late.”
+
+“Not very. I didn’t get up till ten yesterday. Well, what do you say
+to getting up and having some breakfast?”
+
+“Am I to breakfast with you, Mr. Spencer?”
+
+“To be sure you are, unless you have another engagement,” added
+Spencer, jocosely.
+
+“If I have it can wait,” said Tony. “How much do they charge here for
+board, Mr. Spencer?”
+
+“Four or five dollars a day. I really don’t know exactly how much.”
+
+“Four or five dollars a day!” exclaimed Tony, opening his eyes in
+amazement. “How much I shall cost you!”
+
+“I expect you will cost me a good deal, Tony,” said the young man. “Do
+you know, I have a great mind to adopt you.”
+
+“Do you really mean it, Mr. Spencer?”
+
+“Yes; why shouldn’t I? I like what I have seen of you, and I have
+plenty of money.”
+
+“It must be a nice thing to have plenty of money,” said Tony,
+thoughtfully.
+
+“There is danger in it, too, Tony. I am ashamed to tell you how much I
+have spent in gambling and dissipation.”
+
+“I wouldn’t do it, Mr. Spencer,” said Tony, soberly.
+
+“Capital advice, Tony. I am going to keep you with me for fear I might
+forget, that is, if you think you like me well enough to stay.”
+
+“I am sure to like you, Mr. Spencer, but you may get tired of me.”
+
+“I’ll let you know when I do, Tony. How much income do you think I
+have?”
+
+“A thousand dollars?” guessed Tony, who considered that this would be
+a very large income.
+
+Spencer laughed.
+
+“It is over ten thousand,” he said.
+
+“Ten thousand!” exclaimed Tony. “How can you spend it all?”
+
+“I did spend it all last year, Tony, and got a thousand dollars in
+debt. I gambled, and most of it went that way. But I’ll leave that
+off. I shall have you to take up my time now.”
+
+“Did you know that man you played billiards with last night, Mr.
+Spencer?”
+
+“I made his acquaintance in a gambling house, and I was well punished
+for keeping company with such a man.”
+
+Tony was now nearly dressed.
+
+“You didn’t get your clothing from a fashionable tailor, I should
+judge,” said his new guardian.
+
+“No,” said Tony. “I haven’t been to fashionable tailors much.”
+
+“After breakfast I must go with you and see you properly clothed. If
+you are to be my ward, I must have your appearance do me credit.”
+
+“How very kind you are to me, Mr. Spencer,” said Tony, gratefully. “I
+don’t know how to repay you.”
+
+“You’ve done something in that way already.”
+
+“It seems like a dream that a poor boy like me should be adopted by a
+rich gentleman.”
+
+“It is a dream you won’t wake up from very soon. Now if you are ready
+we will go down to breakfast.”
+
+Tony hung back.
+
+“Won’t you be ashamed to have me seen with you in these clothes?” he
+asked.
+
+“Not a bit. Besides, you will soon be in better trim. Come along,
+Tony.”
+
+They went down together, and entered the breakfast room. A
+considerable number of persons were there. Several stared in surprise
+at Tony as he entered and took his seat. Our hero noticed it, and it
+made him nervous.
+
+“Do you see how they look at me?” he said.
+
+“Don’t let it affect your appetite, Tony,” said his friend. “When you
+appear among them again you will have no reason to feel ashamed.”
+
+A speech which Tony heard from a neighboring table did not serve to
+reassure him.
+
+An overdressed lady of fifty said to a tall, angular young lady, her
+daughter:
+
+“Elvira, do you see that very common-looking boy at the next table?”
+
+“Yes, ma.”
+
+“He looks low. He is not as well dressed as our servants. It is very
+strange they should let him eat at an aristocratic hotel like this.”
+
+“Isn’t he with that gentleman, ma?”
+
+“It looks like it. He may be the gentleman’s servant. I really think
+it an imposition to bring him here.”
+
+Mr. Spencer smiled.
+
+“Don’t mind it, Tony,” he said. “I know those people by sight. They
+are parvenus. I suppose you don’t understand the word. They are vulgar
+people who have become rich by a lucky speculation. They will change
+their tune presently. What will you have for breakfast?”
+
+“There’s such a lot of things,” said Tony. “I don’t know what to
+choose.”
+
+“You’ll get used to that. I’ll order breakfast for both.”
+
+The waiter appeared, and Mr. Spencer gave the order.
+
+The waiter looked uncomfortable.
+
+“Mr. Spencer,” he said, “it’s against the rules for you to bring your
+servant to the table with you.”
+
+“I have not done so,” said Mr. Spencer, promptly. “This young
+gentleman is my ward.”
+
+“Oh, excuse me,” said the waiter, confused.
+
+“Has anyone prompted you to speak to me about him?”
+
+“Those ladies at the next table.”
+
+“Then those ladies owe an apology to my ward,” said the young man,
+loud enough for the ladies to hear.
+
+The shot told. The ladies looked confused and embarrassed, and Tony
+and his guardian quietly finished their breakfast.
+
+There was another lady who noticed Tony, and this was Mrs. Harvey
+Middleton. She was to sail for England in the afternoon.
+
+As Tony and Mr. Spencer were going out of the breakfast room, they met
+her entering.
+
+She started at the sight of Tony, and scanned his face eagerly.
+
+“Who are you, boy?” she asked, quickly, laying her hand on his arm.
+
+Tony was too surprised to answer, and Mr. Spencer answered for him.
+
+“He is my ward, madam,” he answered. “He has been roughing it in the
+country, which accounts for the state of his wardrobe.”
+
+“Oh, I beg pardon, sir,” said Mrs. Middleton. “I thought his face
+looked familiar.”
+
+“You see, Tony, that your appearance attracts attention,” said Mr.
+Spencer, laughing. “Now we’ll go out, and I’ll get you a fit-out.”
+
+They went to a well-known clothier’s, and Mr. Spencer purchased two
+handsome suits for our hero, one of which he put on at once. At
+another place a plentiful supply of underclothing was purchased. Next
+a hat and shoes were procured. Tony’s hair was cut, he took a bath,
+and in a couple of hours he was transformed into a young gentleman of
+distinguished appearance.
+
+“Really, Tony, I shouldn’t have known you,” said his friend.
+
+“I shouldn’t have known myself,” said Tony. “I almost think it must be
+some other boy. Who’d think I was Tony the Tramp, now?”
+
+“You are not to be a tramp any longer. I have not yet formed my plans
+for you, but I shall soon. I suppose, Tony, your education has been
+neglected.”
+
+“I should think it had,” answered Tony. “I’m as ignorant as a horse.”
+
+“Then you ought to learn something.”
+
+“I wish I could.”
+
+“You shall, but, as I said, I must arrange details later.”
+
+       *     *     *     *     *
+
+About this time Rudolph and Mrs. Middleton were conversing,
+preparatory to starting for the steamer.
+
+“You are sure the boy is dead?” she said.
+
+“Sure? I ought to be. Didn’t I see him dead with my own eyes?”
+
+“I saw a boy this morning who looked as, I suppose, the boy would have
+looked—of the same age, too.”
+
+“Where did you see him?”
+
+“He was with a gentleman, coming out of the breakfast room as I was
+entering it.”
+
+“It couldn’t have been he,” said Rudolph, positively. “Even if he were
+alive, he wouldn’t be here. But he’s dead, I tell you. There’s no
+doubt of it.”
+
+“There are strange resemblances,” said the lady. “But, of course, it
+couldn’t have been the boy. Indeed the gentleman with him told me that
+it was his ward.”
+
+Rudolph laughed.
+
+“Tony wasn’t likely to have a gentleman for a guardian,” he said.
+
+But Rudolph would have felt less easy in his mind if he had known that
+the boy whom he supposed dead at the bottom of a well was really in
+the hotel at that very moment, and, strangely enough, in the adjoining
+room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+TONY AND HIS GUARDIAN HOUSEKEEPING
+
+
+“Now, Tony,” said George Spencer, after dinner, “I want to tell you
+what plans I have formed for you and myself. I have got tired of hotel
+life, and want a home. I shall seek a couple of handsomely furnished
+rooms uptown, make it social and pleasant with books and pictures, and
+we will settle down and enjoy ourselves.”
+
+“I am afraid you will get tired of me, Mr. Spencer,” said Tony,
+modestly. “I am too ignorant to be much company for you.”
+
+“Ignorance, like poverty, can be remedied,” said the young man. “I
+shall obtain a private tutor for you, and expect you to spend some
+hours daily in learning.” Tony’s face lighted up.
+
+“That is just what I would like,” he said.
+
+“You would like it better than going to school?”
+
+“Yes, for at school I should be obliged to go into a class with much
+younger boys.”
+
+“While with a tutor you can go on as fast as you please.”
+
+“Yes, sir.”
+
+“To-night we both need a little recreation. Suppose we go to Wallack’s
+Theater. Have you ever been there?”
+
+“Yes, sir; but I didn’t take a reserved seat.”
+
+“I suppose not.”
+
+“I sat in the upper gallery.”
+
+“To-night you shall be fashionable. Have you a pair of kid gloves?”
+
+“The last pair I had is worn out,” said Tony, laughing.
+
+“Then you must have another pair. We will get a pair on our way
+there.”
+
+It was already time to start.
+
+At half-past eight Tony found himself occupying an orchestra chair
+near the stage, his hands encased in a pair of gloves of faultless
+fit, and looking enough like a young patrician to pass muster among
+his fashionable neighbors.
+
+“How does it seem, Tony?” asked Spencer, smiling.
+
+“Tiptop,” answered Tony; “but how queer kid gloves feel! I never had a
+pair on in my life before.”
+
+“There are the two ladies who found fault with your appearance at the
+breakfast table this morning.”
+
+“They are looking at me through an opera glass.”
+
+“Wondering if you can be the same boy. I have no doubt they are
+puzzled to account for your transformation.”
+
+Mr. Spencer was right. The two ladies were at the same moment
+exchanging remarks about our hero.
+
+“Goodness! Elvira, there is that boy that was at breakfast this
+morning at the hotel.”
+
+“The boy that was so shabbily dressed, mamma? Where?”
+
+“Just to the left. He isn’t shabby now. See how he is togged out. Who
+would have thought it?”
+
+“It’s queer, isn’t it?”
+
+“I think we must have been mistaken about him. He looks like a young
+gentleman now. But why should he have worn such clothes before?”
+
+“I can’t tell, I am sure.”
+
+“That’s a nice-looking young man, Elvira. I wish he would take a fancy
+to you.”
+
+“La, mamma! How you talk!” said Elvira, bridling and smiling.
+
+“Depend upon it, Tony, those ladies will be polite to you if they get
+a chance,” said Spencer, laughing.
+
+“It makes a great deal of difference how a feller is dressed,” said
+Tony.
+
+“You are right, Tony; but don’t say feller. Remember, you are
+fashionable now.”
+
+“There’s a gentleman in front that I know,” said Tony, suddenly.
+
+“Where?”
+
+“The man with a partly bald head.”
+
+“How do you know him?”
+
+“He was staying two or three days at the country hotel where I was a
+stableboy.”
+
+“Do you think he would know you now?”
+
+“May I see?”
+
+“Yes, but don’t let him find you out. It won’t do in society to let it
+be known that you were ever a stableboy.”
+
+“All right.”
+
+Tony leaned over, and, addressing the gentleman, said:
+
+“Would you be kind enough to lend me your program a minute, sir?”
+
+“Certainly,” was the reply. Then, looking at Tony: “Your face looks
+very familiar. Where have I seen you before?”
+
+“Perhaps at the St. Regis, sir,” said Tony; “I am stopping there.”
+
+“No; I never go to the St. Regis. Bless me! you’re the very image of a
+boy I have seen somewhere.”
+
+“Am I?” said Tony. “I hope he was a good-looking boy.”
+
+“He was; but he was not dressed like you. In fact—I remember now—he
+was employed as stableboy in a country hotel.”
+
+“A stableboy!” exclaimed Tony, with comic horror. “I hope you don’t
+think I am the boy.”
+
+“Of course not. But really the resemblance is wonderful.”
+
+“Mr. Spencer,” said Tony, “this gentleman has met a stableboy who
+looks like me.”
+
+“I really beg your pardon,” said the gentleman; “I meant no offense.”
+
+“My ward would not think of taking offense,” said Mr. Spencer,
+courteously.
+
+Tony smiled to himself; he had a strong sense of humor, and was much
+amused.
+
+It is needless to say that he enjoyed the performance—all the more so
+from his luxurious seat and nearness to the stage.
+
+“It’s a good deal better than sitting in the gallery,” he said, in a
+whisper, to his companion.
+
+“I should think so. I never sat up there, Tony.”
+
+“And I never sat anywhere else.”
+
+As they were leaving the theater they found themselves close to the
+ladies whom they had noticed at breakfast.
+
+Elvira chanced to drop her handkerchief, probably intentionally.
+
+Tony stooped and picked it up. Though he had led the life of a tramp,
+he had the instincts of a gentleman.
+
+“Thank you, young gentleman,” said Elvira. “You are very polite.”
+
+“Oh, don’t mention it!” said Tony.
+
+“Really, mamma, he is a born gentleman,” said Elvira, later, to her
+mother. “How could we make such a mistake?”
+
+“His clothes were certainly very shabby, my dear.”
+
+“Very likely he had been out hunting or something. We must not judge
+so hastily next time.”
+
+The ladies were foiled in their intentions of cultivating the
+acquaintance of Tony and his guardian, as two days later they left the
+hotel and installed themselves in an elegant boarding house on Madison
+avenue.
+
+“Now,” said Mr. Spencer, “we must go to work.”
+
+“I must,” said Tony.
+
+“And I, too,” said Spencer.
+
+“What can you have to do?”
+
+“I have received a proposal to invest a part of my money—only
+one-fourth—in a business downtown, and shall accept. I don’t need to
+increase my income, but I think I shall be less likely to yield to
+temptation if I have some fixed employment. I shall be so situated
+that I can do as much or as little as I please. As to yourself I have
+put an advertisement in a morning paper for a teacher, and expect some
+applicants this morning. I want you to choose for yourself.”
+
+“I am afraid I shan’t be a very good judge of teachers. Shall I
+examine them, to see if they know enough?”
+
+“I think, from what you say of your ignorance, that any of them will
+know enough to teach you for the present. The main thing is to select
+one who knows how to teach, and whom you will like.”
+
+“I wish you were a teacher, Mr. Spencer.”
+
+“Why?”
+
+“Because then I should have a teacher whom I liked.”
+
+“Thank you, Tony,” said the young man, evidently gratified. “The
+liking is mutual. I think myself fortunate in having you for my
+companion.”
+
+“The luck is on my side, Mr. Spencer. What would I be but for you? I
+wouldn’t be a tramp any more, for I am tired enough of that, but I
+should have to earn my living as a newsboy or a bootblack, and have no
+chance of getting an education.”
+
+So the relations between Tony and his new friend became daily more
+close, until Mr. Spencer came to regard him as a young brother, in
+whose progress he was warmly interested.
+
+A tutor was selected, and Tony began to study. His ambition was
+roused. He realized for the first time how ignorant he was, and it is
+not too much to say that he learned in one month as much as most boys
+learn in three. He got rid of the uncouth expressions which he had
+acquired in early life, and adapted his manners to the new position
+which he found himself occupying in society. Mr. Spencer, too, was
+benefited by his new friend. He gave up drink and dissipation, and
+contented himself with pleasures in which he could invite Tony to
+participate.
+
+Meanwhile Mrs. Harvey Middleton and Rudolph had arrived in England,
+and we must leave our hero for a time and join them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+HOME AGAIN
+
+
+When Mrs. Harvey Middleton reached England she delayed but a day in
+London to attend to necessary business. This business was solely
+connected with her mission to America. Rudolph Rugg accompanied her to
+the chambers of a well-known lawyer, and testified to having had the
+charge of Tony, closing with the description of his death. Of course
+nothing was said of the well, or about his having thrown him in, for
+Rudolph was not a fool. The details of a probable story had been got
+up by Mrs. Middleton and Rugg in concert. According to them and the
+written testimony, Tony had been run over by a train on the Erie
+Railway, and a newspaper paragraph describing such an accident to an
+unknown boy was produced in corroboration.
+
+It was an ingenious fabrication, and Mrs. Middleton plumed herself
+upon it.
+
+“Poor boy!” she said, with a hypocritical sigh, “his was a sad fate.”
+
+“It was, indeed,” said the lawyer; “but,” he added, dryly, “you have
+no cause to regret it, since it secures you the estate.”
+
+“Don’t mention it, Mr. Brief. It is sad to profit by such a tragedy.”
+
+“You don’t take a business view of it, madam. Such things happen, and
+if we can’t prevent them, we may as well profit by them.”
+
+“Of course I shall not refuse what has fallen in my way,” said Mrs.
+Middleton; “but I had formed the plan, if I found the boy alive, of
+bringing him home and educating him for his position. He would not
+have let me want.”
+
+“Don’t she do it well, though?” thought Rudolph, who heard all this
+with a cynical admiration for the ex-governess. “If I was a gentleman
+I’d make up to her, and make her Mrs. Rugg if she’d say the word.”
+
+“You think this man’s evidence will substantiate my claim to the
+estate?” she asked, after a pause.
+
+“I should say there was no doubt on that point, unless, of course, his
+evidence is impeached or contradicted.”
+
+“That is hardly likely, Mr. Brief. The poor man suffered much at the
+death of the boy, to whom he was ardently attached.”
+
+“So you loved the boy, Mr. Rugg?” said the lawyer.
+
+“Oh, uncommon!” answered Rudolph. “He was my pet, and the apple of my
+eye. We were always together, Tony and I.”
+
+“And I suppose he loved you?”
+
+“He couldn’t bear me out of his sight. He looked upon me as a father,
+sir.”
+
+“If he’d come into the estate he would probably have provided for
+you,” suggested the lawyer, watching him keenly.
+
+“It’s likely, sir. I wish he had.”
+
+“So it is a personal loss to you—the death of the boy?”
+
+“Yes, sir.”
+
+“Mrs. Middleton probably will not forget your services to the boy.”
+
+“No, sir. I shall, of course, do something for Mr. Rugg, though,
+perhaps, not as much as my poor cousin would have done. Mr. Rugg, will
+you see me to my carriage?”
+
+“Certainly, ma’am.”
+
+Mrs. Middleton was anxious to go away. The conversation had taken a
+turn which she did not like. It almost seemed as if the lawyer were
+trying to find out something and she thought it best to get Rudolph
+away from the influence, lest Mr. Brief might catechise him and draw
+out something to her disadvantage.
+
+“Mr. Rugg,” she said, as they were going downstairs, “I advise you not
+to go near Mr. Brief again.”
+
+“Why not, ma’am?”
+
+“These lawyers are crafty. Before you knew what he was after he would
+extract the secret from you, and there would be trouble for both of
+us.”
+
+“Do you think so, ma’am? I didn’t see nothing of it.”
+
+“I think he suspects something. That matters nothing, if it does not
+go beyond suspicion. Unless he can impeach your testimony or draw you
+into contradictions we are safe, and you are sure of an income for
+life.”
+
+“You needn’t be afraid for me, ma’am. We’re in the same boat.”
+
+She frowned a little at the familiar tone in which he spoke. It was as
+if he put himself on an equality with her. But it was true,
+nevertheless, and it was unpleasant for her to think of.
+
+Was there nothing else that was unpleasant? Did she not think of the
+poor boy, who, as she thought, was killed, and at her instigation?
+Yes, she thought of him, but as much as she could, she kept the
+subject away from her thoughts.
+
+“He’s better off,” she said to herself. “He didn’t know anything of
+the property, and he wasn’t fit to possess it. All the troubles of
+life are over for him.”
+
+“What are your plans, Mr. Rugg?” she asked.
+
+“I have a mind to go down to Middleton Hall with you, ma’am. I used to
+live there years ago, and I might find some of my old cronies.”
+
+“For that very reason you must not go,” she said, hastily. “They would
+be asking you all sorts of questions, and you’d be letting out
+something.”
+
+“They wouldn’t get nothing out of me.”
+
+“If you made no answer it would be as bad. They would suspect you.”
+
+“And you, too.”
+
+“Precisely.”
+
+“It’s rather hard, Mrs. Middleton, I can’t see my old friends.”
+
+“You can make new ones. A man with money can always find friends.”
+
+“That’s true, ma’am,” said Rudolph, brightening up. “Then you
+recommend me to stay in London.”
+
+“In London or anywhere else that you like better. Only don’t come
+within twenty miles of Middleton Hall.”
+
+“Well, ma’am, you’re wiser than I am, and you know better what it’s
+best to do.”
+
+“Of course I do. You are safe in being guided by me.”
+
+“But about the money, ma’am. How am I to get that if I don’t see you?”
+
+“Once a quarter I will pay in forty pounds to your account at any bank
+you choose. You can let me know.”
+
+“All right, ma’am. It’s strange to me to think of having a bank
+account.”
+
+“It need not be strange henceforth. And now, Mr. Rugg, we must part. I
+must hasten down to Middleton Hall to look after the estate. I have
+been absent from it now for nearly three months.”
+
+“I suppose you are in a hurry to see your young man?” said Rudolph,
+with a grin.
+
+“Mr. Rugg,” said the lady, haughtily, “I beg you will make no
+reference to my private affairs. You speak as if I were a nursery
+maid.”
+
+“I beg your pardon, ma’am. No offense was meant.”
+
+“Then none is taken. But remember my caution.”
+
+She stepped into the hansom which was waiting for her, and Rudolph
+remained standing on the sidewalk.
+
+“She’s puttin’ on airs,” said the tramp, frowning. “She forgets all
+about her bein’ a governess once without five pounds in the world. She
+acts as if she was a lady born. I don’t like it. She may try her airs
+on others, but not on Rudolph Rugg. He knows a little too much about
+you, Mrs. Harvey Middleton. Rich as you are, you’re in his power, and
+if he was so inclined, he could bring you down from your high place,
+so he could.”
+
+But Rudolph’s anger was only transient. He was too astute not to
+understand clearly that he could not harm Mrs. Middleton without
+harming himself quite as much. As things stood, he was securely
+provided for. No more tramping about the country for him in all
+weathers. He had enough to lodge and feed him, and provide all the
+beer and tobacco he could use. This was certainly a comfortable
+reflection. So he sought out a comfortable lodging and installed
+himself before night, determined to get what enjoyment he could out of
+London, and the income he had so foully won.
+
+And Mrs. Middleton, she, too, congratulated herself.
+
+She leaned back in the cab and gave herself up to joyful anticipations
+of future happiness and security.
+
+“Thank Heaven! I have got rid of that low fellow,” she ejaculated,
+inwardly. “I never want to see the brute again. He was necessary to my
+purpose, and I employed him, but I should be glad if he would get
+drowned, or be run over, or end his miserable life in some way, so
+that I might never see or hear of him again.”
+
+But the thought of Rudolph did not long trouble her. She thought
+rather of handsome Capt. Lovell, whom she loved, and to marry whom she
+had committed this crime, and the hard woman’s face softened, and a
+smile crept over her face.
+
+“I shall soon see him, my Gregory!” she murmured. “He will soon be
+mine, and I shall be repaid for my long, wearisome journey.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+CAPT. GREGORY LOVELL
+
+
+A carriage drove rapidly up the avenue leading to Middleton Hall.
+
+The Hall was not large, but was handsome and well-proportioned, and
+looked singularly attractive, its gray walls forming a harmonious
+contrast with the bright green ivy that partially covered them, and
+the broad, smooth lawn that stretched out in front.
+
+Mrs. Middleton regarded her home with unmingled satisfaction. It was
+to be her home now as long as she lived. Now that the boy was dead, no
+one could wrest it from her. She would live there, but not in solitary
+grandeur. The news of her success would bring Capt. Gregory Lovell to
+her side, and their marriage would follow as soon as decency would
+permit. If afterward he should desire to have the name of the
+residence changed to Lovell Hall, Mrs. Middleton decided that she
+would not object. Why should she? She had no superstitious love for
+her present name, while Lovell had for her the charm which love always
+gives to the name of the loved one.
+
+The housekeeper, stout and matronly, received her mistress at the
+door.
+
+“Welcome home, Mrs. Middleton,” she said. “How long it seems since you
+went away!”
+
+“How do you do, Sarah?” said her mistress, graciously. “I can assure
+you I am glad to be back.”
+
+“You will find everything in order, mum, I hope and believe,” said
+Sarah. “We expected to see you sooner.”
+
+“I hoped to be back sooner, but the business detained me longer than I
+desired.”
+
+“And how did you succeed, mum, if I may be so bold?” inquired the
+housekeeper, curiously.
+
+“As I expected, Sarah. I found that the poor boy was dead.”
+
+“Indeed, mum!”
+
+“I hoped to bring him back with me, according to my poor husband’s
+desire, but it was ordered otherwise by an inscrutable Providence.”
+
+Sarah coughed.
+
+“It is very sad,” she said, but she looked curiously at her mistress.
+
+She knew very well that this sad news rejoiced the heart of Mrs.
+Middleton, and the latter knew that she could not for a moment impose
+upon her clear-sighted housekeeper. But the farce must be kept up for
+the sake of appearances.
+
+“Come up to my chamber with me, Sarah. I want to ask you what has been
+going on since I was away. Have you heard from Lady Lovell’s family?
+Are they all well?”
+
+Lady Lovell was the mother of Capt. Gregory Lovell, and the question
+was earnestly put.
+
+“They are all well except the captain,” answered Sarah.
+
+“Is he sick?” demanded her mistress, turning upon her swiftly.
+
+“No, mum; I only meant to say the captain was gone away.”
+
+“Gone away! When? Where?”
+
+“He’s ordered to India, I believe, mum. He went away a month ago.”
+
+Mrs. Middleton sank into her chair quite overcome. Her joy was
+clouded, for the reward of her long and toilsome journey was snatched
+from her.
+
+“Did he not leave any message?” she asked. “Did he not call before he
+went away?”
+
+“Yes, mum. He left a note.”
+
+“Give it to me quick. Why did you not mention it before?”
+
+“It’s the first chance I got, mum. The letter is in my own chamber. I
+took the best care of it. I will get it directly.”
+
+“Do go, Sarah.”
+
+Mrs. Middleton awaited the return of Sarah with nervous impatience.
+Perhaps the captain had thrown her over after all, and, loving him as
+she did, this would have torn the heart of the intriguing woman, who,
+cold and selfish as she was so far as others were concerned, really
+loved the handsome captain.
+
+Sarah speedily reappeared with the letter.
+
+“Here it is, mum,” she said. “I have taken the best care of it.”
+
+Mrs. Middleton tore it open with nervous haste. This is the way it
+ran:
+
+     “MY DEAR JANE: I am about to set out for India—not
+     willingly, but my regiment is ordered there, and I must obey
+     or quit the service. This, as you well know, I cannot do;
+     for, apart from my official pay, I have but a paltry two
+     hundred pounds a year, and that is barely enough to pay my
+     tailor’s bill. I am sorry to go away in your absence. If I
+     were only sure you would bring home good news, I could
+     afford to sell my commission and wait. But it is so
+     uncertain that I cannot take the risk.
+
+     “I need not say, my dear Jane, how anxious I am to have all
+     the impediments to our union removed. I am compelled to be
+     mercenary. It is, alas! necessary for me, as a younger son,
+     to marry a woman with money. I shall be happy indeed if
+     interest and love go hand in hand, as they will if your
+     absolute claim to your late husband’s estate is proved
+     beyond a doubt. I append my India address, and shall
+     anxiously expect a communication from you on your return. If
+     you have been successful, I will arrange to return at once,
+     and our union can be solemnized without delay. Once more,
+     farewell.
+
+         “Your devoted
+              “GREGORY LOVELL.”
+
+Mrs. Middleton, after reading this letter, breathed a sigh of relief.
+He was still hers, and she had only to call him back. There would be a
+vexatious delay, but that must be submitted to. She had feared to lose
+him, and this apprehension, at least, might be laid aside.
+
+To some the letter would have seemed too mercenary. Even Mrs.
+Middleton could not help suspecting that, between love and interest,
+the latter was far the most powerful in the mind of Capt. Lovell. But
+she purposely closed her eyes to this unpleasant suspicion. She was in
+love with the handsome captain, and it was the great object of her
+life to become his wife. She decided to answer the letter immediately.
+
+Her desk was at hand, and she opened it at once, and wrote a brief
+letter to her absent lover.
+
+     “DEAR GREGORY: I have just returned. I am deeply
+     disappointed to find you absent; for, my darling, I have
+     succeeded. I have legal proof—proof that cannot be
+     disputed—that the boy, my husband’s cousin, is dead. The
+     poor boy was accidentally killed. I have the sworn affidavit
+     of the man who took him to America, and who was his constant
+     companion there.
+
+     “It is a sad fate for the poor boy. I sincerely deplore his
+     tragical end—he was run over by a train—yet—is it
+     wicked?—my grief is mitigated by the thought that it
+     removes every obstacle to our union. I do not for an instant
+     charge you with interested motives. I am sure of your love,
+     but I also comprehend the necessities of your position. You
+     have been brought up as a gentleman, and you have the tastes
+     of a gentleman. You cannot surrender your social position.
+     It is necessary that, if you marry, you should have an
+     adequate income to live upon. My darling Gregory, I am proud
+     and happy in the thought that I can make you such. You know
+     my estate. The rental is two thousand pounds, and that is
+     enough to maintain our social rank. Come home, then, as soon
+     as you receive this letter. I am awaiting you impatiently,
+     and can hardly reconcile myself to the delay that must be.
+     Make it as short as possible, and let me hear from you at
+     once.
+
+         “Your own
+             “JANE MIDDLETON.”
+
+There was unexpected delay in the reception of this letter. It was
+three months before it came into the hands of Capt. Lovell. When at
+length it was received, he read it with a mixture of emotions.
+
+“Decidedly,” he said, removing the cigar from his mouth, “the old girl
+is fond of me. I wish I were fond of her, for I suppose I must marry
+her. It will be rather a bad pill to swallow, but it is well gilded.
+Two thousand pounds a year are not to be thrown away by a fellow in my
+straits. The prospect might be brighter, but I suppose I have no right
+to complain. It will make me comfortable for life. I must take care to
+have the estate settled upon me, and then the sooner the old girl dies
+the better.”
+
+So Capt. Lovell wrote at once, saying that he would return home as
+soon as he could make arrangements for doing so—that every day would
+seem a month till he could once more embrace his dear Jane. The letter
+was signed, “Your devoted Gregory.”
+
+Mrs. Middleton read it with unfeigned delight. Her plans had
+succeeded, and the reward would soon be hers.
+
+But there was fresh delay. Arrangements to return could not be made so
+easily as Capt. Lovell anticipated. It was seven months from the day
+that Mrs. Middleton reached England when Capt. Lovell was driven to
+his hotel in London. Meanwhile events had occurred which were to have
+an effect upon Mrs. Middleton’s plans.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+TONY ASTONISHES HIS OLD FRIENDS
+
+
+“Tony,” said George Spencer, one evening, “you have been making
+wonderful progress in your studies. In six months you have
+accomplished as much as I did at boarding school in two years, when at
+your age.”
+
+“Do you really mean it, Mr. Spencer?” said Tony, gratified.
+
+“I am quite in earnest.”
+
+“I am very glad of it,” said Tony. “When I began I was almost
+discouraged. I was so much behind boys of my age.”
+
+“And now your attainments raise you above the average. Your tutor told
+me so yesterday, when I made inquiries.”
+
+“I am rejoiced to hear it, Mr. Spencer. I was very much ashamed of
+myself at first, and did not like to speak before your friends for
+fear they would find out what sort of a life I had led. That is what
+made me work so hard.”
+
+“Well, Tony, you may congratulate yourself on having succeeded. I
+think you can venture now to take a little vacation.”
+
+“A vacation! I don’t need one.”
+
+“Suppose it were spent in Europe?”
+
+“What!” exclaimed Tony, eagerly, “you don’t think of our going
+abroad?”
+
+“Yes. The house with which I am connected wants me to go abroad on
+business. If I go you may go with me if you would like it.”
+
+“Like it!” exclaimed Tony, impetuously. “There is nothing I would like
+better.”
+
+“So I supposed,” said George Spencer, smiling. “I may as well tell you
+that our passage is taken for next Wednesday, by the _Coronia_.”
+
+“And this is Friday evening. How soon it seems!”
+
+“There won’t be much preparation to make—merely packing your trunk.”
+
+“Mr. Spencer,” said Tony, “I want to ask a favor.”
+
+“What is it?”
+
+“I have told you about being employed at a country hotel, just before
+I came to the city and found you.”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“I would like to go back there for a day, just to see how all my old
+friends are.”
+
+“You don’t mean to apply again for your old place?”
+
+“Not unless you turn me off, and I have to find work somewhere.”
+
+“Turn you off, Tony! Why, I shouldn’t know how to get along without
+you. You are like a younger brother to me,” said the young man,
+earnestly.
+
+“Thank you, Mr. Spencer. You seem like an older brother to me.
+Sometimes I can hardly believe that I was once a tramp.”
+
+“It was your misfortune, Tony, not your fault. So you want to go back
+and view your former home?”
+
+“Yes, Mr. Spencer.”
+
+“Then you had better start to-morrow morning, so as to be back in good
+time to prepare for the journey.”
+
+“Do you know, Mr. Spencer,” said Tony, “I’ve got an idea. I’ll go back
+wearing the same clothes I had on when I left there.”
+
+“Have you got them still?”
+
+“Yes, I laid them away, just to remind me of my old life. I’ll take my
+other clothes and after a while I can put them on.”
+
+“What is your idea in doing this, Tony?” asked the young man.
+
+“I want to give them a surprise.”
+
+“Very well, do as you please. Only don’t stay away too long.”
+
+       *     *     *     *     *
+
+Tony proceeded to carry out the plan he had proposed.
+
+He traveled by rail to a village near by, and then with his bundle
+suspended to a stick, took up his march to the tavern.
+
+He entered the familiar stable yard. All looked as it did the day he
+left. There was only one person in the yard, and that one Tony
+recognized at once as his old enemy, Sam Payson, who appeared to be
+filling his old position, as stableboy.
+
+“Hello, Sam!” said Tony, whose entrance had not been observed.
+
+Sam looked up and whistled.
+
+“What! have you come back?” he said, not appearing overjoyed at the
+sight of Tony.
+
+“Yes, Sam,” said Tony.
+
+“Where have you been all the time?”
+
+“In New York part of the time.”
+
+“What have you been doing for a living?”
+
+“Well, I lived with a gentleman there.”
+
+“What did you do—black his boots?”
+
+“Not exactly.”
+
+“Did he turn you off?”
+
+“No; but he’s going to Europe next Wednesday.”
+
+“So you’re out of a place?”
+
+“I have no employment.”
+
+“What made you come back here?” demanded Sam, suspiciously.
+
+“I thought I’d like to see you all again.”
+
+“That don’t go down,” said Sam, roughly. “I know well enough what
+you’re after.”
+
+“What am I after?”
+
+“You’re after my place. You’re hoping Mr. Porter will take you on
+again. But it’s no use. There ain’t any chance for you.”
+
+“How long have you been back again, Sam?”
+
+“Three months, and I am goin’ to stay, too. You got me turned off
+once, but you can’t do it again.”
+
+“I don’t want to.”
+
+“Oh, no, I presume not,” sneered Sam. “Of course, you don’t. You’ve
+got on the same clothes you wore away, haven’t you?”
+
+“Yes, it’s the same suit, but I’ve got some more things in my bundle.”
+
+“I guess you haven’t made your fortune, by the looks.”
+
+“The fact is, Sam, I haven’t earned much since I went away.”
+
+“I knew you wouldn’t. You ain’t so smart as people think.”
+
+“I didn’t know anybody thought me smart.”
+
+“James, the hostler, is always talking you up to me, but I guess I can
+rub along as well as you.”
+
+“You talk as if I was your enemy, Sam, instead of your friend.”
+
+“I don’t want such a friend. You’re after my place, in spite of all
+you say.”
+
+Just then James, the hostler, came out of the stable.
+
+“What! is it you, Tony?” he asked, cordially.
+
+“Yes, James; I hope you’re well.”
+
+“Tiptop; and how are you?” asked the hostler, examining Tony,
+critically.
+
+“I’m well.”
+
+“Have you been doing well?”
+
+“I haven’t wanted for anything. I’ve been with a gentleman in New
+York.”
+
+Here Mr. Porter appeared on the scene.
+
+He, too, recognized Tony.
+
+“What! back again, Tony?” he said.
+
+“I thought I’d just look in, sir.”
+
+“Do you want a place?”
+
+“What sort of a place?”
+
+“Your old place.”
+
+Sam heard this, and looked the picture of dismay. He took it for
+granted that Tony would accept at once, and privately determined that
+if he did he would give him a flogging, if it were a possible thing.
+
+He was both relieved and surprised when Tony answered:
+
+“I am much obliged to you, Mr. Porter, but I wouldn’t like to cut out
+Sam. Besides, I have a place engaged in New York.”
+
+“I would rather have you than Sam, any day.”
+
+“Thank you, sir, but I’ve made an engagement, and can’t break it.”
+
+“How long are you going to stay here?”
+
+“If you’ve a spare room, I’ll stay over till to-morrow.”
+
+“All right. Go into the office, and they’ll give you one.”
+
+“I say, Tony,” said Sam, after the landlord had gone, “you’re a better
+fellow than I thought you were. I thought you’d take my place when it
+was offered you.”
+
+“You see you were mistaken, Sam. I’ll see you again.”
+
+Tony went into the hotel—went up to a small chamber that had been
+assigned him, changed his clothes for a handsome suit in his bundle,
+took a handsome gold watch and chain from his pocket and displayed
+them on his vest, and then came down again.
+
+As he entered the yard again, Sam stared in amazement.
+
+“It can’t be you, Tony!” he said. “Where’d you get them clothes? and
+that watch?”
+
+“I came by them honestly, Sam.”
+
+“But I can’t understand it,” said Sam, scratching his head. “Ain’t you
+poor, and out of work?”
+
+“I’m out of work, but not poor. I’ve been adopted by a rich gentleman,
+and am going to sail for Europe on Wednesday.”
+
+“Cracky! who ever heard the like? Wouldn’t he adopt me, too?”
+
+“I believe there is no vacancy,” said Tony, smiling.
+
+“Was that the reason you wouldn’t take my place?”
+
+“One reason.”
+
+“James!” called Sam, “just look at Tony, now.”
+
+James stared, and when explanation was made, heartily congratulated
+our hero.
+
+“Sam,” said Tony, producing a couple of showy neckties, “to prove to
+you that I am not your enemy, I have brought you these.”
+
+“They’re stunning!” exclaimed the enraptured Sam. “I always thought
+you was a good fellow, Tony. Are they really for me?”
+
+“To be sure they are, but I’m afraid, Sam, you didn’t always think
+quite so well of me.”
+
+“Well, I do now. You’re a trump.”
+
+“And, James, I’ve brought you a present, too.” Here Tony produced a
+handsome silver watch with a silver chain appended. “It’s to remember
+me by.”
+
+“I’d remember you without it, Tony, but I’m very much obliged to you.
+It’s a real beauty.”
+
+When the landlord was told of Tony’s good fortune, he was as much
+surprised as the rest. Our hero was at once changed to the handsomest
+room in the hotel, and was made quite a lion during the remainder of
+his stay.
+
+There is something in success after all.
+
+“Good-by, Tony,” said Sam, heartily, when our hero left the next day.
+“You’re a gentleman, and I always said so.”
+
+“Thank you, Sam. Good luck to you!” responded Tony, smiling.
+
+“I’m a much finer fellow than when I was a tramp,” he said to himself.
+“Sam says so, and he ought to know. I suppose it’s the way of the
+world. And now for Europe!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+TONY’S BAD LUCK
+
+
+Two weeks later Tony and his friend were guests at a popular London
+hotel, not far from Charing Cross.
+
+“We will postpone business till we have seen a little of London,” said
+George Spencer. “Luckily my business is not of a pressing character,
+and it can wait.”
+
+“You have been in London before, Mr. Spencer,” said Tony. “I am afraid
+you will find it a bore going round with me.”
+
+“Not at all. I spent a week here when a boy of twelve, and saw nothing
+thoroughly, so I am at your disposal. Where shall we go first?”
+
+“I should like to see Buckingham Palace, where the king lives.”
+
+“He doesn’t live there much. However, we’ll go to see it, but we’ll
+take the Parliament House and Westminster Abbey on the way.”
+
+In accordance with this program they walked—for the distance was but
+small—to Westminster Abbey. It would be out of place for me to
+describe here that wonderful church where so much of the rank and
+talent of past ages lies buried. It is enough to say that Tony enjoyed
+it highly. He afterward visited the Parliament House. This occupied
+another hour. When they came out Mr. Spencer said:
+
+“Tony, I have got to go to my banker’s. Do you care to come?”
+
+“No, thank you, Mr. Spencer, I would rather walk round by myself.”
+
+“Very well, Tony, just as you please. Only don’t get lost.”
+
+“I’ll take care of that; I’m used to cities.”
+
+“You are not used to London. It is one of the blindest cities in the
+world; it is a complete labyrinth.”
+
+“I don’t mean to get lost. You’ll find me at the hotel at four
+o’clock.”
+
+“Very well. That will be early enough.”
+
+So George Spencer went his way, and Tony set out upon his rambles.
+
+He found plenty to amuse him in the various buildings and sights of
+the great metropolis. But after a while he began to wonder where he
+was. He had strayed into a narrow street, scarcely more than a lane,
+with a row of tumble-down dwellings on either side.
+
+“There’s nothing worth seeing here,” said our hero. “I’ll inquire my
+way to Charing Cross.”
+
+He went into a small beer house, and preferred his request.
+
+“Charing Cross!” repeated the publican. “It’s a good ways from ’ere.”
+
+“How far?” asked Tony.
+
+“A mile easy, and there’s no end of turns.”
+
+“Just start me, then,” said Tony, “and I’ll reach there. Which way is
+it?”
+
+“Turn to the left when you go out of this shop.”
+
+“All right, and thank you.”
+
+Tony noticed that there were three or four men seated at tables in the
+back part of the shop, but he had not the curiosity to look at them.
+If he had, he would have been startled, for among these men was
+Rudolph Rugg, more disreputable than ever in appearance, for he had
+been drinking deeply for the last six months. He stared at Tony as one
+dazed, for he supposed him dead long ago at the bottom of a well,
+three thousand miles away.
+
+“What’s the matter, Rugg?” asked his companion. “You look as if you’d
+seen a ghost.”
+
+“So I have,” muttered Rugg, starting for the door.
+
+“Where are you going?”
+
+“I’ve got a headache,” said Rudolph.
+
+“You’ve left your drink.”
+
+“I don’t want it.”
+
+“What’s come over him?” said his late companion, in surprise.
+
+“No matter. He’ll be back soon.”
+
+Rudolph swiftly followed Tony. He wanted to find out whether it was
+really the boy whom he had sought to murder or not. Then, what did his
+appearance in London mean? Was he possibly in search of him—Rugg? It
+was wonderful, certainly. How had he obtained the means of coming to
+England?—as a gentleman, too, for Rudolph had not failed to notice
+his rich clothes. Had he obtained rich and powerful friends, and was
+he in search of the inheritance that had been wrongfully kept from
+him?
+
+Rudolph asked himself all these questions, but he could not answer
+one.
+
+“If I could only ask him,” he thought, “but that wouldn’t be safe.”
+
+By this time he had come in sight of Tony, who was walking along
+slowly, not feeling in any particular hurry.
+
+An idea struck Rudolph.
+
+A boy who had been employed in begging was standing on the sidewalk.
+
+“Gi’ me a penny, sir,” he said.
+
+Rudolph paused.
+
+“Walk along with me, and I’ll show you how you can earn half a crown,”
+he said.
+
+“Will you?” said the boy, his face brightening.
+
+“Yes, I will, and you won’t find it hard work, either.”
+
+“Go ahead, guv’nor.”
+
+“Do you see that boy ahead?”
+
+“That young gentleman?”
+
+“Yes,” said Rudolph.
+
+“I see him.”
+
+“I want you to manage to get him up to my room; it’s No. 7 ——
+street, top floor, just at the head of the stairs.”
+
+“Shall I tell him you want to see him?”
+
+“No, he wouldn’t come. Tell him your poor grandfather is sick in
+bed—anything you like, only get him to come.”
+
+“S’posin’ he won’t come?”
+
+“Then follow him, and find out where he is staying. Do you
+understand?”
+
+“Yes, guv’nor. I’ll bring him.”
+
+“Go ahead, and I’ll hurry round to the room. I’ll be in bed.”
+
+“All right.”
+
+The boy was a sharp specimen of the juvenile London beggar. He was up
+to the usual tricks of his class, and quite competent to the task
+which Rudolph had engaged him to perform.
+
+He came up to Tony, and then began to whimper.
+
+“What’s the matter, Johnny?” said Tony, addressing him by the usual
+New York name for an unknown boy.
+
+“Oh, my poor grandfather is so sick!” said the boy.
+
+“What’s the matter with him?”
+
+“I don’t know. I guess he’s goin’ to die.”
+
+“Why don’t you send for a doctor?”
+
+“He wouldn’t come—we’re so poor.”
+
+“Do you live near here?”
+
+“Oh, yes, sir; only a little way.”
+
+“I want to go to Charing Cross—is it much out of the way?”
+
+“No, sir; it’s right on the way there.”
+
+“Then, if you’ll show me the way to Charing Cross afterward, I will go
+round with you and look at your grandfather. Perhaps I can do
+something for him.”
+
+“Oh, sir, how kind you are! I know’d you was a gentleman when I fust
+saw you.”
+
+“When was your grandfather taken sick?”
+
+“Two days ago,” said the boy.
+
+“Is he in bed?”
+
+“Yes, sir. Leastways, he was when I came out. We didn’t have no
+breakfast.”
+
+“I am sorry for that. Don’t you want to buy something to take to him?”
+
+“If you’ll give me a shillin’, sir, I’ll ask him what he can eat. Sick
+folks can’t eat the same things as the rest of us.”
+
+“To be sure. You are right. Well, here’s a shilling.”
+
+“The boy little thinks that I have known many a time what it is to be
+without breakfast, or money to buy any,” thought Tony. “I’ll do
+something for the poor man, if only to show how grateful I am for my
+own good fortune.”
+
+He followed the boy for about ten minutes, until they reached rather a
+shabby building. This was No. 7.
+
+“Come right up after me,” said the boy.
+
+The two went up till they reached the room indicated by Rudolph. The
+boy pushed the door open.
+
+A sound of groaning proceeded from the bed.
+
+“Grandfather, I’ve brought a kind young gentleman,” said the boy.
+
+“Come here,” muttered the person in bed.
+
+Tony came up to the bed.
+
+In an instant Rudolph had thrown off the clothes, and had him seized
+by the arm.
+
+“There’s your money, boy. Go!” he said to the other, flinging a half
+crown.
+
+“I’ve got you at last!” he shouted. “Now, you young villain, I’ll get
+even with you!”
+
+His face was almost fiendish with rage, as he uttered these words.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+VENGEANCE
+
+
+To say that Tony was not startled would not be true. Without a
+moment’s warning he found himself in the power of his old
+enemy—completely in his power, knowing, too, the desperate character
+of the man which would let him stick at nothing.
+
+Rudolph enjoyed his evident surprise.
+
+“I’ve been waiting for this,” he said. “It’s a great joy to me to have
+you here in my power.”
+
+By this time Tony had collected himself, and had become composed.
+
+“Rudolph,” he said, “what makes you hate me so?”
+
+“Haven’t you tried to injure me—didn’t you get me arrested? Do you
+forget that night in the old miser’s hut?”
+
+“No, I don’t forget it, but you forced me to act as I did. But even if
+I did injure you, you took your revenge.”
+
+“When, and how?”
+
+“When you threw me into the well. How could you do such a dark deed?
+What had I done that you should seek to murder me?”
+
+“How did you get out?” asked Rudolph, giving way to curiosity.
+
+“I climbed out.”
+
+“How?”
+
+“By means of the wall that lined the well. Finally I got hold of the
+rope.”
+
+“So that was the way, was it? I ought to have made surer of your
+fate.”
+
+“How could you do that?”
+
+“By throwing some rocks down on you,” answered the tramp, with a
+malignant frown.
+
+“I am glad I have not such a wicked disposition as you, Rudolph,” said
+Tony, looking at him fixedly.
+
+“Take care how you insult me, boy!” said Rudolph, angrily.
+
+“I have no wish to insult you. Now tell me why you have lured me here?
+I suppose you hired the boy.”
+
+“I did, and he did the work well,” said the tramp, triumphantly.
+
+“Well, now, I am here, what do you want of me?”
+
+“First, tell me how you happen to be in London? Did you know I was
+here?”
+
+“I knew you crossed the Atlantic.”
+
+“How?”
+
+“I saw you buy your ticket.”
+
+“What!” exclaimed the tramp, in surprise. “Did you reach New York so
+soon?”
+
+“Yes. I lost my situation at the inn, for they did not believe my
+story about having been thrown down the well by a Quaker.” Rudolph
+laughed.
+
+“It was a good disguise,” he said. “So they discharged you? That was
+good.”
+
+“I did not think so at the time, but it proved to be the luckiest
+thing that could happen to me.”
+
+“How was that?”
+
+“It led me to go to New York. There I found a rich and generous
+friend. I have been with him ever since.”
+
+“As a servant?”
+
+“No; as his adopted brother. He supplied me with teachers, and in
+little more than six months I have acquired as much as most boys do in
+two or three years.”
+
+“So you have gone in for education, have you?” said Rudolph, sneering.
+
+“Yes. Could I go in for anything better?”
+
+“And you consider yourself a young gentleman now, do you?”
+
+“That is the rank I hold in society,” said Tony, calmly.
+
+“And you forget that you were once Tony the Tramp?”
+
+“No, Rudolph, I have not forgotten that. It was not my fault, and I am
+not ashamed of it. But I should be ashamed if I had not left that kind
+of life as soon as I was able.”
+
+“By Heaven, you shall go back to it!” said Rudolph, malignantly.
+
+“I never will,” answered Tony, gently, but firmly.
+
+“I will force you to it.”
+
+“Neither you nor anyone else can force me to it. I will black boots in
+the streets first.”
+
+“That will suit me just as well,” said the tramp, laughing
+maliciously. “You have grown too proud. I want to lower your pride,
+young popinjay!”
+
+“I am not afraid of anything you can do to me, Rudolph,” said Tony,
+bravely.
+
+“Suppose I choose to kill you?”
+
+“You won’t dare do it. We are not in the woods now.”
+
+Tony had hit the truth. Rudolph did not dare to kill him, though he
+would have been glad to. But he knew that he would himself be
+arrested, and he had more to live for now than formerly. He had an
+income, and comfortably provided for, and he did not choose to give up
+this comfortable and independent life.
+
+“No,” he said, “I won’t kill you; but I will be revenged for all that.
+First I will keep you from that generous friend of yours.”
+
+“What will he think has become of me?” thought Tony, uneasily.
+
+A thought came to him. He would appeal to the man’s love of money.
+
+“Rudolph,” he said, “I am afraid my friend will be uneasy about me. If
+you will let me go I will give you ten pounds that I have in my
+pocket.”
+
+“I don’t believe you have so much money,” said Rudolph, cunningly.
+
+Tony fell into the snare unsuspectingly. He drew out his pocketbook
+and displayed two five-pound notes on the Bank of England.
+
+Rudolph quickly snatched them from him.
+
+“They are mine already,” he said, with a mocking laugh.
+
+“So I see,” said Tony, coolly; “but I was about to offer you fifty
+pounds besides.”
+
+“Have you the money in your pocketbook?”
+
+“No, I haven’t, but I could get it from Mr. Spencer?”
+
+“It don’t go down, Tony,” said Rudolph, shaking his head. “I am not so
+much in need of money as to pay so dearly for it. Listen to me. If you
+have been lucky, so have I. I have an income, safe and sure, of one
+hundred and fifty pounds.”
+
+“You have!” exclaimed Tony, surprised.
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Do you hold any position?”
+
+“No; I merely promise to keep my mouth shut.”
+
+“Is it about me?”
+
+“Yes. The long and the short of it is that there is an English estate,
+bringing in two thousand pounds rental, that of right belongs to you.”
+
+“To me—an estate of two thousand pounds a year!” exclaimed Tony, in
+astonishment.
+
+“Yes; the party who owns it pays me an income as hush money. I have
+only to say the word, and the estate will be yours, Tony.”
+
+“Say the word, Rudolph, and you shall have the same income,” entreated
+Tony. “It isn’t the money I so much care for, but I want to know who I
+am. I want to be restored to my rightful place in society. Is my
+mother living?”
+
+“No.”
+
+“Nor my father?”
+
+“No.”
+
+Tony looked sober.
+
+“Then I should not care so much for the money. Still, it ought to be
+mine.”
+
+“Of course it ought,” said Rudolph, gloating over the boy’s emotion.
+
+“You shall lose nothing by telling me—by becoming my friend. I will
+never refer to the past—never speak of what happened in America.”
+
+“No doubt,” sneered Rudolph, “but it can’t be.”
+
+“Why can’t it be?”
+
+“Because I hate you!” hissed the tramp, with a baleful look. “Not
+another word. It’s no use. I shall lock you up here for the present,
+while I am out. When I come back I will let you know what I am going
+to do to you.”
+
+He left the room, locking the door behind him.
+
+Tony sat down to reflect upon the strange position in which he was
+placed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV
+
+MRS. MIDDLETON AND HER LOVER
+
+
+When Rudolph left Tony imprisoned he began to think over the situation
+with regard to his own interest.
+
+He was already dissatisfied with the income he received from Mrs.
+Middleton; though at the time it seemed to him large, he found that he
+could easily spend more. He did not have expensive lodgings—in fact,
+they were plain, and quite within his means, but he drank and gambled,
+and both these amusements were expensive. He had already made up his
+mind to ask for a larger income, and Tony’s offer stimulated him to
+ask at once.
+
+“If Mrs. Middleton won’t, the boy will,” he said to himself.
+
+Mrs. Middleton was in London. In fact, at that moment she was
+_tête-à-tête_ with Capt. Lovell, to whom she had been formally
+betrothed. He had satisfied himself that the prospects were all right,
+and then had renewed his offer. The marriage was to take place in a
+month, and Mrs. Middleton was in town to make suitable preparations
+for it. She was perfectly happy, for she was about to marry a man she
+loved.
+
+As for Capt. Lovell, he was well enough contented. He did not care a
+farthing for the lady as regards love, but he was decidedly in love
+with her property.
+
+“It will make me comfortable for life,” he said, with a shrug of the
+shoulders, “and after marriage, I can pay as little attention to Mrs.
+Lovell as I choose. She must be content with marrying my name.”
+
+The widow had taken handsome apartments at a West End boarding house;
+there she received callers.
+
+Capt. Lovell was lounging in an easy-chair looking rather bored. His
+fiancée was inspecting an array of dry goods which had been sent in
+from a fancy London shop.
+
+“Don’t you think this silk elegant, Gregory?” she asked, displaying a
+pattern.
+
+“Oh, ah, yes, I suppose so,” he answered, with a yawn.
+
+“I would like to have your taste, Gregory.”
+
+“I have no taste, my dear Mrs. Middleton, about such matters.”
+
+“Don’t you think it will become me?”
+
+“Why, to be sure; everything becomes you, you know.”
+
+She laughed.
+
+“Would a yellow turban become me?” she asked.
+
+“Well, perhaps not,” he said; “but of course you know best.”
+
+“How little you men know about a lady’s dress!”
+
+“I should think so. The fact is, my dear Mrs. Middleton, that part of
+my education was neglected.”
+
+“When I am your wife, Gregory, I shall always appeal to your taste.”
+
+“Will you?” he said, rather frightened. “’Pon my honor, I hope you
+won’t, now.”
+
+“And I shall expect you to consult me about your wardrobe.”
+
+“What! about my trousers and coats? Really, that’s very amusing, ’pon
+my honor it is.”
+
+“Don’t you think I feel an interest in how my dear Gregory is
+dressed?”
+
+“I don’t know, I’m sure.”
+
+“But I do, and shall I tell you why?”
+
+“If you want to.”
+
+“Because I love you,” she said, softly, and she rose from her chair,
+and crossing, laid her hand affectionately on his shoulder.
+
+He shrank, just the least in the world, and felt annoyed, but didn’t
+like to say so. She might be angry, and though he did not love her, he
+did want to marry her, and so escape from his money troubles.
+
+“Of course, I’m ever so much obliged to you,” he said, “and all that
+sort of thing.”
+
+“And you love me, Gregory, don’t you?” she asked, tenderly.
+
+“Deuce take her, I wish she’d stop,” he said to himself. “She makes me
+awful uncomfortable.”
+
+“Don’t you love me, Gregory?”
+
+“If I didn’t love you, do you think I would have asked you to become
+Mrs. Lovell?” he said, evading the question.
+
+“To be sure, Gregory,” she replied, trying to look satisfied.
+
+“And now I really must go—I must, ’pon honor!” he said, rising.
+
+“You have been here so short a time,” she pleaded.
+
+“But I promised to be at the club. I’m to meet a fellow officer, and
+it’s the hour now.”
+
+“Then I must let you go. But you’ll come again soon?”
+
+“Yes, ’pon honor!” and the captain kissed his hand to his fiancée.
+
+“I wonder if he really loves me?” she said to herself, wistfully.
+
+At this moment the servant entered.
+
+“Please, ma’am, there is a rough-looking man below who says he wants
+to see you. His name is Rugg.”
+
+“Admit him,” said Mrs. Middleton, looking annoyed.
+
+“Why are you here, Mr. Rugg?” demanded Mrs. Middleton, coolly.
+
+“On business,” said the tramp, throwing himself, uninvited, upon the
+same chair from which Capt. Lovell had just risen.
+
+Mrs. Middleton flushed with anger, but she did not dare to treat his
+insolence as it deserved.
+
+“What business can you have with me?” she asked, coldly.
+
+“It’s about the allowance.”
+
+“It was paid punctually, was it not?”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Then you can have no business with me. Have I not told you that you
+are not to call upon me at any time? My agent attends to that.”
+
+“I want the allowance raised,” said Rudolph, abruptly.
+
+“Raised?”
+
+“Yes, you must double it.”
+
+Mrs. Middleton was now really angry.
+
+“I never heard such insolence,” she said. “You have taken your trouble
+for nothing. I shall not give you a pound more.”
+
+“You’d better, Mrs. Middleton,” said Rudolph, “or I may tell all I
+know.”
+
+“You would only ruin yourself, and lose your entire income.”
+
+“I should ruin you, too.”
+
+“Not at all. No one would believe you against me. Besides, are you
+ready to be tried for murder?”
+
+“Who has committed murder?”
+
+“You have.”
+
+“Prove it.”
+
+“Didn’t you kill the boy?”
+
+“No.”
+
+“You swore to me he was dead.”
+
+“Suppose he didn’t die.”
+
+“You are wasting your time, Mr. Rugg,” said Mrs. Middleton, coldly.
+“Of course I understand your motives. You have been extravagant, and
+wasted your money, hoping to get more out of me. But it is useless.”
+
+“You’ll be sorry for this, ma’am,” said Rugg, angrily.
+
+“I don’t think I shall. Before doing anything that you will be sorry
+for, consider that to a man in your position the income I give you is
+very liberal.”
+
+“Liberal! It isn’t one-tenth of what you get.”
+
+“Very true, but the case is different.”
+
+“You may believe me or not, but the boy is alive, and I know where he
+is.”
+
+Mrs. Middleton did not believe one word of what he said. She was
+convinced that Tony had been killed by the man before her, and was
+indignant at the trick which she thought he was trying to play upon
+her. She felt that if she yielded to his importunity, it would only be
+the beginning of a series of demands. She had courage and firmness,
+and she decided to discourage him once for all in his exactions.
+
+“I don’t believe you,” she said, “and I am not afraid.”
+
+“Then you won’t increase my income?” he said.
+
+“No, I will not. Neither now nor at any other time will I do it. What
+I have agreed to do I will do, but I will not give you a penny more.
+Do you understand me, Mr. Rugg?”
+
+“I believe I do,” said Rudolph, rising, “and I tell you you’ll be
+sorry for what you are saying.”
+
+“I will take the risk,” she said, contemptuously.
+
+Rudolph’s face was distorted with passion as he left the room.
+
+“I hate her more than the boy,” he muttered. “He shall have the
+estate.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV
+
+TONY’S ESCAPE
+
+
+When Tony found himself left a prisoner in his enemy’s room, he did
+not immediately make an effort to escape. In fact, he didn’t feel
+particularly alarmed.
+
+“I am in a large city, and there are other lodgers in this building.
+There can be no danger. I will wait a while and think over what
+Rudolph has told me. Can it be true that I am heir to a large estate
+in England, and that he can restore me to it if he will? He can have
+no motive in deceiving me. It must be true.”
+
+Tony felt that he would give a great deal to know more. Where was this
+estate, and who now held it? It occurred to him that somewhere about
+the room he might find some clew to the mystery. He immediately began
+to explore it.
+
+Rudolph was not a literary man. He had neither books nor papers, whose
+telltale testimony might convict him. In fact, the best of his
+personal possessions was very small. A few clothes were lying about
+the room. Tony decided to examine the pockets of these, in the hope of
+discovering something in his interest. Finally he found in the pocket
+of a shooting coat a small memorandum book, in which a few entries,
+chiefly of bets, had been made. In these Tony felt no interest, and he
+was about to throw down the book when his eye caught this entry:
+
+     “Dead broke. Must write to Mrs. Middleton for more money.”
+
+Tony’s heart beat rapidly.
+
+This must be the person from whom Rudolph received his income, and, by
+consequence, the person who was in fraudulent possession of the estate
+that was rightfully his.
+
+Mrs. Middleton!
+
+“I wish I knew where she lives,” thought our hero. “No doubt there are
+hundreds of the name in England.”
+
+This might be, but, probably, there was but one Mrs. Middleton in
+possession of an estate worth two thousand pounds rental.
+
+“I am on the track,” thought Tony. “Now let me get away, and consult
+George Spencer.”
+
+It was easier said than done. The door was locked, and it was too
+strong to break down.
+
+“There must be somebody in the room below,” thought Tony. “I’ll pound
+till they hear me.”
+
+He jumped up and down with such force that it did attract attention in
+the room below. Presently he heard a querulous voice at the keyhole:
+
+“What’s the matter? Are you mad?”
+
+“No, but I’m locked in,” said Tony. “Can’t you let me out?”
+
+“I have no key to the door, but the landlady has.”
+
+“Won’t you please ask her to let me out? I’ll be ever so much
+obliged.”
+
+“Stop pounding, then.”
+
+“I will.”
+
+Scarcely two minutes had elapsed when a key was heard in the lock, and
+the door was opened.
+
+“How came you here, sir?” asked the landlady—a short, stout
+woman—suspiciously.
+
+“The gentleman locked me in—in a joke,” said Tony.
+
+“Maybe you’re a burglar,” said the landlady, eyeing him doubtfully.
+
+Tony laughed.
+
+“Do I look like it?” he asked.
+
+“Well, no,” the landlady admitted, “but appearances are deceitful.”
+
+“Not with me, I assure you. I am really sorry to put you to so much
+trouble to let me out. Won’t you accept of this?” and Tony produced a
+half sovereign.
+
+“Really, sir, I see that you are quite the gentleman,” said the
+landlady, pocketing the piece with avidity. “Can’t I do anything for
+you?”
+
+“Only if you’d be kind enough to give this to the gentleman when he
+returns.”
+
+Tony hastily wrote a line on a card, and gave it to the now complacent
+dame.
+
+Fifteen minutes after Tony’s departure Rudolph returned.
+
+He sprang upstairs, only to find the room empty and the bird flown.
+
+“What’s come of the boy?” he exclaimed, in dismay. “How did he get
+out?”
+
+He summoned the landlady quickly.
+
+“Do you know anything of the boy that was in my room, Mrs. Jones?”
+
+“Yes, Mr. Rugg, I let him out. He said you locked him in for fun.”
+
+“Humph! What else did he say?”
+
+“He left this card for you.”
+
+Rugg seized it hastily, and read with startled eyes:
+
+     “I am at Morley’s. Come and see me soon, or I will go to
+     Mrs. Middleton.
+         Tony.”
+
+“Confusion! where did the boy find out?” thought the tramp. “I must do
+something, or I am ruined.”
+
+It was a mystery to him how Tony had learned so much, and he naturally
+concluded that he knew a good deal more. He felt that no time was to
+be lost, and started at once for Morley’s. Inquiring for Tony, he was
+at once admitted to the presence of Tony and George Spencer.
+
+“So you got my card?” said Tony.
+
+“Yes. What do you know about Mrs. Middleton?” demanded Rudolph.
+
+“That she possesses the estate which ought to be mine. That’s about
+it, isn’t it?”
+
+“Yes,” said Rudolph; “but you can’t get it without me.”
+
+“Why not?”
+
+“I was the man that was hired to abduct you when you was a boy.”
+
+“Can you prove that?” asked Spencer.
+
+“I can.”
+
+“Will your story be believed?”
+
+“Yes. The tenantry will remember me. I was one of them at the time.”
+
+“Are you ready to help my young friend here to recover his rights?”
+asked Spencer.
+
+“This morning I said no. Now I say yes, if he’ll do the fair thing by
+me.”
+
+A conference was entered into, and a bargain was finally made. Rudolph
+was to receive two hundred pounds a year as a reward for his services,
+if successful.
+
+When this arrangement had been completed, an appointment was made for
+the next morning, at which hour a lawyer of repute was also present.
+After listening attentively to Rudolph’s statement, he said,
+decisively:
+
+“Your young friend has a strong case, but I advise you to see Mrs.
+Middleton privately. It may not be necessary to bring the matter into
+court, and this would be preferable, as it would avoid scandal.”
+
+“I put myself in your hands,” said Tony, promptly.
+
+“Mrs. Harvey Middleton is in London,” said the lawyer. “I will call
+this afternoon.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI
+
+ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL
+
+
+Mrs. Harvey Middleton sat in her boudoir, trying to read a novel. But
+it failed to interest her. She felt uneasy, she scarcely knew why. The
+evening previous she had been at the Haymarket Theater, and had been
+struck by a boy’s face. Ten feet from her sat Tony, with his friend,
+George Spencer. He looked wonderfully like his father as she
+remembered him, and she was startled. She did not know Tony, but
+Rugg’s angry warning struck her.
+
+“Was he right? Can this be the boy I have so much reason to dread?”
+she asked herself.
+
+She was thinking of this when the servant entered the room with a
+card.
+
+“C. Barry,” she repeated, “wishes to see Mrs. Middleton on business of
+the greatest importance.”
+
+“Ask him to come up,” she said, uneasily.
+
+It was the lawyer, as the reader may have suspected.
+
+“Mrs. Middleton,” he said, with a bow. “I must apologize for my
+intrusion.”
+
+“You say your business is important?” said the lady.
+
+“It is—of the first importance.”
+
+“Explain yourself, I beg.”
+
+“I appear before you, madam, in behalf of your late husband’s cousin,
+Anthony Middleton, who is the heir of the estate which you hold in
+trust.”
+
+It was out now, and Mrs. Middleton was at bay.
+
+“There is no such person,” she said. “The boy you refer to is dead.”
+
+“What proof have you of his decease?”
+
+“I have the sworn statement of the man who saw him die.”
+
+“And this man’s name?”
+
+“Is Rudolph Rugg.”
+
+“I thought so. Mr. Rugg swore falsely. He is ready to contradict his
+former statement.”
+
+“He has been tampered with!” exclaimed Mrs. Middleton, pale with
+passion.
+
+“That may be,” said the lawyer; but he added, significantly: “Not by
+us.”
+
+“The boy is an impostor,” said Mrs. Middleton, hotly. “I will not
+surrender the estate.”
+
+“I feel for your disappointment, madam; but I think you are hasty.”
+
+“Who will believe the statement of a common tramp?”
+
+“You relied upon it before, madam. But we have other evidence,”
+continued the lawyer.
+
+“What other evidence?”
+
+“The striking resemblance of my young friend to the family.”
+
+“Was—was he at the Haymarket Theater last evening?” asked the lady.
+
+“He was. Did you see him?”
+
+“I saw the boy I suppose you mean. He had a slight resemblance to Mr.
+Middleton.”
+
+“He is his image.”
+
+“Suppose—suppose this story to be true, what do you offer me?” asked
+Mrs. Middleton, sullenly.
+
+“An income of three hundred pounds from the estate,” said the lawyer.
+“If the matter comes to court, this Rugg, I am bound to tell you, has
+an ugly story to tell, in which you are implicated.”
+
+Mrs. Middleton knew well enough what it meant. If the conspiracy
+should be disclosed, she would be ostracized socially. She rapidly
+made up her mind.
+
+“Mr. Barry,” she said, “I will accept your terms, on a single
+condition.”
+
+“Name it, madam.”
+
+“That you will give me six weeks’ undisturbed possession of the
+estate, keeping this matter secret meanwhile.”
+
+“If I knew your motive I might consent.”
+
+“I will tell you in confidence. Within that time I am to be married.
+The abrupt disclosure of this matter might break off the marriage.”
+
+“May I ask the name of the bridegroom?”
+
+“Capt. Gregory Lovell.”
+
+The lawyer smiled. He knew of Capt. Lovell, and owed him a grudge. He
+suspected that the captain was mercenary in his wooing, and he thought
+that it would be a fitting revenge to let matters go on.
+
+“I consent, upon my own responsibility,” he said.
+
+“Thank you,” said Mrs. Middleton, with real gratitude.
+
+She would not lose the man she loved after all.
+
+A month later the marriage of Capt. Gregory Lovell, of her majesty’s
+service, and Mrs. Harvey Middleton, of Middleton Hall, was celebrated.
+There was a long paragraph in the morning _Post_, and Mrs. Lovell was
+happy.
+
+When, a week later, at Paris, the gallant captain was informed of the
+trick that had been played upon him, there was a terrible scene. He
+cursed his wife, and threatened to leave her.
+
+“But, Gregory, I have three hundred pounds income,” she pleaded. “We
+can live abroad.”
+
+“And I have sold myself for that paltry sum!” he said, bitterly.
+
+But he concluded to make the best of a bad bargain. Between them they
+had an income of five hundred pounds, and on this they made shift
+abroad, where living is cheap. But the marriage was not happy. He was
+brutal at times, and his wife realized sadly that he had never loved
+her. But she has all the happiness she deserves, and so has he.
+
+Rudolph drank himself to death in six months. So the income which he
+was to receive made but a slight draft upon the Middleton estate.
+
+And Tony! No longer Tony the Tramp, but the Hon. Anthony Middleton, of
+Middleton Hall—he has just completed a course at Oxford, and is now
+the possessor of an education which will help fit him for the
+responsibilities he is to assume. His frank, off-hand manner makes him
+an immense favorite with the circle to which he now belongs. He says
+little of his early history, and it is seldom thought of now. He has
+made a promise to his good friend, George Spencer, to visit the United
+States this year, and will doubtless do so. He means at that time to
+visit once more the scenes with which he became familiar when he was
+only Tony the Tramp.
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+The Famous Alger Stories for Boys
+
+
+Give your boy all he wants of the ALGER BOOKS. They are always
+unusually interesting, and in a quiet way convey lessons of pluck,
+perseverance, and manly independence.
+
+
+THIS IS ONE VOLUME OF THE SERIES
+
+_The following books are ready for delivery_:
+
+   1. Strong and Steady
+   2. Strive and Succeed
+   3. Try and Trust
+   4. Bound to Rise
+   5. Risen From the Ranks
+   6. Herbert Carter’s Legacy
+   7. Brave and Bold
+   8. Jack’s Ward
+   9. Shifting for Himself
+  10. Wait and Hope
+  11. Paul the Peddler
+  12. Phil the Fiddler
+  13. Slow and Sure
+  14. Julius the Street Boy
+  15. Tom the Bootblack
+  16. Struggling Upward
+  17. Facing the World
+  18. The Cash Boy
+  19. Making His Way
+  20. Tony the Tramp
+  21. Joe’s Luck
+  22. Do and Dare
+  23. Only an Irish Boy
+  24. Sink or Swim
+
+The ALGER BOOKS have held the foremost place in juvenile fiction for
+forty years, and they are read to-day with the same avidity as they
+were a generation ago—and they will continue to be read with equal
+interest so long as boys are boys.
+
+There are several editions of these stories, but none of them are
+equal to this new edition from new plates for general excellence, at
+the lowest price for which a well-made cloth bound book has ever been
+offered by any publisher.
+
+
+  THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY
+  147 FOURTH AVENUE      NEW YORK, N. Y.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber’s Note:
+
+Words and phrases in italics are surrounded by underscores, _like
+this_. Dialect, obsolete and alternative spellings were not changed.
+Obvious printing errors, such as backwards, upside down, or partially
+printed letters, were corrected. Final stops missing at the end of
+sentences were added. Missing or unprinted quotation marks were added
+where appropriate.
+
+The following items were changed:
+
+    ‘boldy’ to ‘boldly’ …answered Tony boldly.…
+    ‘waitng’ to ‘waiting’ …chance I was waiting for,…
+    ‘eying’ to ‘eyeing’ …said the landlady, eyeing him…
+
+Two words, missing from a damaged page, were added using text from an
+earlier edition of the book on file at the Library of Congress,
+Washington, D.C.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Tony The Tramp, by Horatio Alger
+
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+
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+      Tony the Tramp, by Horatio Alger, Jr.—A Project Gutenberg eBook
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+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tony The Tramp, by Horatio Alger
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
+other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
+the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
+to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
+
+
+
+Title: Tony The Tramp
+       Right is Might
+
+Author: Horatio Alger
+
+Release Date: March 12, 2018 [EBook #56730]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TONY THE TRAMP ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards, Carol Brown, and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+book was produced from images made available by the
+HathiTrust Digital Library.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+<div class="chapter"><!--001.png-->
+
+<p class="p4 center large">THE BEST OF THE</p>
+
+<h3 class="h3head">Famous Alger Stories for Boys</h3>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+
+<p>A new edition, five by seven inches, from new plates, with
+new illustrations. Bound in cloth, and stamped in colors on
+the front cover in several designs.</p>
+
+<p class="blockquote">DISTINCTIVELY GOOD LOOKING VOLUMES.
+THE LOWEST PRICED CLOTH BOUND EDITION
+AND BETTER IN MANY WAYS THAN
+SOME OF THE HIGHER PRICED EDITIONS</p>
+
+<p>More <span class="sc">Alger Books</span> are sold and they are more popular than
+any other line of <span class="sc">Boys’ Books</span>.
+
+<span class="sc">Alger</span> stands on the boy’s level, appeals to his heart, and
+what his heroes suggest or achieve is in the line of advancement
+to high standards.
+
+<span class="sc">Alger’s Books</span> go to the right spot every time. His characters
+are living boys who do things.
+
+<span class="sc">Alger</span> could look on life as boys do, and entered into their
+plans, hopes, and aspirations as they do.</p>
+
+<p>The episodes are graphic, exciting, realistic. The tendency
+of <span class="sc">Alger</span> stories is to the formation of an honorable, manly
+character. They convey lessons of pluck, perseverance, and
+independence.</p>
+
+<p>Their high moral character, clean, manly tone, and the wholesome
+lessons they teach without being <em>goody-goody</em>, make <span class="sc">Alger
+Books</span> as acceptable to the parents as to the boys.</p>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+
+<p class="p2 center">THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY</p>
+<p><span class="street sc">147 Fourth Avenue</span>      <span class="city sc">New York, N. Y.</span></p>
+</div><!--end chapter, advertisement-->
+
+<!--002.png--><!--Blank Page-->
+
+<!--003.png-->
+<div class="chapter">
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px">
+ <img src="images/frontis.jpg"
+ width="333" height="500"
+ alt="Illustration: Frontis"
+ />
+ <p class="caption">“Tony the Tramp, now the Hon. Anthony<br />
+Middleton of Middleton Hall.”</p>
+</div>
+</div><!--end chapter, frontis-->
+
+<div class="chapter"><!--004.png-->
+
+<h1 class="p4 h1head ls">TONY THE TRAMP</h1>
+
+<p class="p2 center">OR</p>
+
+<h4 class="h4head ls">RIGHT IS MIGHT</h4>
+
+<p class="p4 center">BY</p>
+
+<h2 class="h2head"><span class="sc">HORATIO ALGER, Jr.</span></h2>
+
+<p class="p2 center small">AUTHOR OF<br />
+“ONLY AN IRISH BOY,” “SLOW AND SURE,” “FACING THE WORLD,”<br />
+“JULIUS THE STREET BOY,” “TOM THE BOOTBLACK,”<br />
+“STRUGGLING UPWARD,” “BOUND TO RISE,”<br />
+“BRAVE AND BOLD,” ETC.</p>
+
+
+<div class="p4 figcenter">
+ <img src="images/logo.jpg"
+ width="100px"
+ alt="Illustration: Printer's logo"
+ />
+</div>
+
+<p class="p4 center">NEW YORK</p>
+<p class="center">THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY</p>
+<p class="center">1909</p>
+</div><!--end chapter, title page-->
+<!--005.png--><!--Blank Page-->
+
+<div class="chapter"><!--006.png-->
+<p class="p4 center large"><span class="strong">TONY THE TRAMP</span></p>
+
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="One">I</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">TWO TRAMPS</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">A man</span> and a boy were ascending a steep street in a
+country town in eastern New York. The man was tall
+and dark-complexioned, with a sinister look which of itself
+excited distrust. He wore a slouch hat, which, coming
+down over his forehead, nearly concealed from view his low,
+receding brow. A pair of black, piercing eyes looked out
+from beneath the brim. The first impression produced
+upon those who met him was that he was of gypsy blood,
+and the impression was a correct one. Where he was born
+no one seemed to know; perhaps he did not himself know,
+for all his life he had been a wanderer, but English was
+the tongue which he spoke, and, apart from the gypsy
+dialect, he knew no other.</p>
+
+<p>His companion was a boy of fourteen. Between the two
+there was not the slightest resemblance. Though browned
+by exposure to the sun and the wind, it was easy to see
+that the boy was originally of light complexion. His
+hair was chestnut and his eyes blue. His features were
+regular and strikingly handsome, though owing to the
+vagrant life he was compelled to lead, he was not able to
+pay that attention to cleanliness which he might have done
+if he had had a settled home.</p>
+
+<p>It was five o’clock in the afternoon, and the boy looked
+weary. He seemed scarcely able to drag one foot after
+the other. His companion turned upon him roughly.</p>
+
+<p><!--007.png-->
+“What are you dawdling that way for, Tony?” he
+demanded. “You creep like a boy of three.”</p>
+
+<p>“I can’t help it, Rudolph,” said the boy wearily; “I’m
+tired.”</p>
+
+<p>“What business have you to be tired?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve walked far to-day.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’ve walked no further than I. I don’t dawdle like
+you.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’re a man. You’re stronger than I am, Rudolph.”</p>
+
+<p>“And you’re a milksop,” said the man contemptuously.</p>
+
+<p>I’m nothing of the sort,” said the boy, with a flash of
+spirit. “I’m not made of cast iron, and that’s why I can’t
+stand walking all day long. Besides, I have had no
+dinner.”</p>
+
+<p>“That isn’t my fault, is it?”</p>
+
+<p>“I didn’t say it was, but it makes me weak for all that.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well,” said Rudolph, “perhaps you’re right. I feel
+like eating something myself. We’ll go to some house
+and ask for supper.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony looked dissatisfied.</p>
+
+<p>I wish we were not obliged to beg our meals,” he said;
+“I don’t like it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, you’re getting proud, are you?” sneered Rudolph.
+“If you’ve got money to pay for your supper we
+won’t beg, as you call it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why can’t we do as other people do?” asked Tony.</p>
+
+<p>What’s that?”</p>
+
+<p>“Live somewhere, and not go tramping round the
+country all the time. It would be a good deal pleasanter.”</p>
+
+<p>“Not for me. I’m a vagrant by nature. I can’t be
+cooped up in one place. I should die of stagnation. I
+come of a roving stock. My mother and father before me
+were rovers, and I follow in their steps.”</p>
+
+<p>The man spoke with animation, his eye flashing as he
+gazed about him, and unconsciously quickened his pace.</p>
+
+<p>Then I’m not like you,” said Tony decidedly. “I
+<!--008.png-->
+don’t want to be a tramp. Were my father and mother
+rovers like yours?”</p>
+
+<p>“Of course they were,” answered Rudolph, but not
+without hesitation. “Ain’t I your uncle?”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t know. Are you?” returned Tony searchingly.</p>
+
+<p>Haven’t I told you so a hundred times?” demanded
+Rudolph impatiently.</p>
+
+<p>Yes,” said the boy slowly, “but there’s no likeness
+between us. You’re dark and I am light.”</p>
+
+<p>“That proves nothing,” said the elder tramp hastily.
+“Brothers are often as unlike. Perhaps you don’t want
+to look upon me as a relation?”</p>
+
+<p>The boy was silent.</p>
+
+<p>Are you getting ashamed of me?” demanded Rudolph,
+in a harsh tone.</p>
+
+<p>I am ashamed of myself,” said Tony bitterly. “I’m
+nothing but a tramp, begging my bread from door to
+door, sleeping in barns, outhouses, in the fields, anywhere
+I can. I’m as ignorant as a boy of eight. I can just read
+and that’s all.”</p>
+
+<p>“You know as much as I do.”</p>
+
+<p>“That don’t satisfy me. When I grow up I don’t
+want to be&mdash;&#8203;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p>Tony hesitated.</p>
+
+<p>You don’t want to be like me. Is that it?” asked
+Rudolph angrily.</p>
+
+<p>No, I don’t want to be like you,” answered Tony
+<a name="boldly" id="boldly"></a>boldly. “I want to have a home, and a business, and to
+live like other people.”</p>
+
+<p>“Humph!” muttered Rudolph, fixing his eyes thoughtfully
+upon his young companion. “This is something
+new. You never talked like that before.”</p>
+
+<p>“But I’ve felt like that plenty of times. I’m tired of
+being a tramp.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then you’re a fool. There’s no life so free and independent.
+You can go where you please, with no one to
+<!--009.png-->
+order you here nor there, the scene changing always, instead
+of being obliged to look always upon the same people
+and the same fields.”</p>
+
+<p>“What’s the good of it all? I’m tired of it. I’ve got
+no home, and never had any.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’ve got no spirit. You’re only fit for a farmboy
+or an apprentice.”</p>
+
+<p>“I wish I was either one.”</p>
+
+<p>“Sit down here if you are tired,” said the man abruptly,
+throwing himself down under a wide-spreading tree by
+the roadside.</p>
+
+<p>Tony stretched himself out at a little distance, and
+uttered a sigh of relief as he found himself permitted to
+rest.</p>
+
+<p>Have you been thinking of this long?” asked Rudolph.</p>
+
+<p>Of what?”</p>
+
+<p>“Of not liking to be a tramp?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>“You have not spoken of it before.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve been thinking of it more lately.”</p>
+
+<p>“How did that come?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll tell you,” said Tony. “Don’t you remember last
+week when we passed by a schoolhouse? It was recess, and
+the boys were out at play. While you were away a few
+minutes, one of the boys sat down by me and talked. He
+told me what he was studying, and what he was going
+to do when he got older, and then he asked me about
+myself.”</p>
+
+<p>“What did you tell him?”</p>
+
+<p>“What did I tell him?” said Tony bitterly. “I told
+him that I was a tramp, and that when I got older I should
+be a tramp still.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well,” said Rudolph sharply, “what then?”</p>
+
+<p>“The boy told me I ought to get some regular work
+to do, and grow into a respectable member of society.
+<!--010.png-->
+He said that his father would help me, he thought,
+and&mdash;&#8203;&mdash;”
+
+“So you want to leave me, do you?” demanded Rudolph
+fiercely. “Is that what you’re coming to, my
+chicken?”</p>
+
+<p>“It isn’t that so much as the life you make me lead.
+I want to leave that, Rudolph.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, you can’t do it,” said the man shortly.</p>
+
+<p>Why not?”</p>
+
+<p>“I say so, and that’s enough.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony was silent for a moment. He was not greatly
+disappointed, for he expected a refusal. He changed the
+subject.</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph,” he said, “there’s something else I want to
+ask you about.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well?”</p>
+
+<p>“Who am I?”</p>
+
+<p>“Who are you? A young fool,” muttered the tramp,
+but he appeared a little uneasy at the question.</p>
+
+<p>I want to know something about my father and
+mother.”</p>
+
+<p>“Your mother was my sister. She died soon after you
+were born.”</p>
+
+<p>“And my father?”</p>
+
+<p>“He was put in jail for theft, and was shot in trying
+to make his escape. Does that satisfy you?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, it doesn’t, and what’s more, I don’t believe it,”
+said Tony boldly.</p>
+
+<p>Look here,” said Rudolph sternly. “I’ve had enough
+of your insolence. Do you see this strap?”</p>
+
+<p>He produced a long leather strap, which he drew
+through his fingers menacingly.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, I see it.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’ll feel it if you ain’t careful. Now get up. It’s
+time to be moving.”</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter"><!--011.png-->
+
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Two">II</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">AT THE FARMHOUSE</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">“Where</span> are we going to stop to-night?” asked Tony
+ten minutes later.</p>
+
+<p>There,” answered Rudolph, pointing out a farmhouse
+a little to the left.</p>
+
+<p>Suppose they won’t let us.”</p>
+
+<p>“They will admit us into the barn at least, if we play
+our cards right. Listen to what I say. You are to be
+my son.”</p>
+
+<p>“But I am not your son.”</p>
+
+<p>“Be silent!” said the other tramp, “and don’t you
+dare to contradict me. You have been sick, and are too
+weak to go further.”</p>
+
+<p>“That is a lie, Rudolph.”</p>
+
+<p>“That doesn’t matter. If they believe it, they won’t
+turn us away. Perhaps they will let you sleep in the
+house.”</p>
+
+<p>“Away from you?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony was puzzled. It seemed as if Rudolph wanted
+him to be more comfortably provided for than himself, but
+the boy knew him too well not to suspect that there was
+some concealed motive for this apparent kindness.</p>
+
+<p>Well, what are you thinking about?” demanded Rudolph,
+suspiciously, as he observed the boy’s earnest gaze.</p>
+
+<p>Why do you want me to sleep in the house?” he
+asked.</p>
+
+<p>I will tell you. When all the family are asleep, I want
+you to steal downstairs, open the back door, and let me
+in.”</p>
+
+<p>“What for?” asked the boy, startled.</p>
+
+<p>Never you mind. Do as I tell you.”</p>
+
+<p><!--012.png-->
+“But I don’t want to do it. You never asked me to do
+that before.”</p>
+
+<p>“Didn’t I? Well, I had no occasion. I ask you now.”</p>
+
+<p>“What are you going to do? Are you going to harm
+anyone?”</p>
+
+<p>“No. I’ll tell you what I’m going to do, but mind you,
+if you breathe a word to any being, I’ll cut your tongue
+out.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony looked troubled, but not frightened.</p>
+
+<p>Go on,” he said.</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph continued in a rapid tone.</p>
+
+<p>I want money to carry out a plan of importance.
+This farm belongs to a farmer who is rich, and who keeps
+a part of his money in the house.”</p>
+
+<p>“How do you know that?”</p>
+
+<p>“A friend of mine stopped there last week, and found
+out. He put me on the scent. The old man keeps from
+two to three hundred dollars in his desk. I must have that
+money.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t want to help you in this, Rudolph,” said Tony.
+“I won’t betray you, but you mustn’t compel me to be a
+thief.”</p>
+
+<p>“I can’t get along without you, and help me you must.”</p>
+
+<p>“Suppose we fail?”</p>
+
+<p>“Then we must take to our legs. If we’re caught we’re
+both in the same box. I don’t ask you to take any risks
+that I don’t run myself.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony was about to remonstrate further, but it was too
+late. They had already reached the farmhouse, and
+caught sight of the owner standing under a tree in the
+front yard.</p>
+
+<p>Remember!” hissed the older tramp. “Follow my
+lead, or I’ll beat you till you are half dead. Good-evening,
+sir.”</p>
+
+<p>This last was said in an humble tone to the farmer, who
+advanced to the gate.</p>
+
+<p><!--013.png-->
+“Good-evening,” said the farmer, ingenuously.</p>
+
+<p>He was a man of sixty, roughly dressed to suit his
+work, with grizzled hair, a form somewhat bowed, and a
+face seamed with wrinkles. He had been a hard worker,
+and showed abundant traces of it in his appearance.</p>
+
+<p>We are very tired and hungry, my boy and I,”
+whined Rudolph. “We’ve traveled many miles since
+morning. Would you kindly give us some supper and a
+night’s lodging?”</p>
+
+<p>“My wife’ll give you something to eat,” said the old
+man. “Thank Heaven! we’ve got enough for ourselves
+and a bit for the poor besides. But I don’t know about
+lodging. I don’t like to take in strangers that I know
+nothing about.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t blame you, sir,” said Rudolph, in a tone of
+affected humility. “There’s many rogues going round
+the country, I’ve heard, but I’m a poor, hard-working
+man.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then why are you not at work?”</p>
+
+<p>“Times are hard, and I can get nothing to do. I am
+in search of work. I can do almost anything. I’m a
+carpenter by trade.”</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph knew no more of the carpenter’s trade than
+the man in the moon, but that would do as well as any
+other.</p>
+
+<p>“Where are you from?”</p>
+
+<p>“From Buffalo,” he answered, with slight hesitation.</p>
+
+<p>“Is business dull there?”</p>
+
+<p>“Nothing doing.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, my friend, you haven’t come to the right place.
+There’s nothing but farming done here.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t know anything about that,” said Rudolph,
+hastily, for he had no disposition to be set to work in the
+fields.</p>
+
+<p>I don’t need any extra hands,” said the farmer.</p>
+
+<p>I am glad of that,” thought the tramp.</p>
+
+<p><!--014.png-->
+“Go round to the back door, and I will speak to my
+wife about supper,” said the old man.</p>
+
+<p>Come, Tony,” said Rudolph, motioning to take the
+boy’s hand, but Tony did not see fit to notice the movement,
+and walked in silence by his side.</p>
+
+<p>A motherly looking old woman made her appearance at
+the back door.</p>
+
+<p>Come in,” she said. “Come right in, and sit down
+to the table. Abner, make room for the poor man and his
+son.”</p>
+
+<p>Abner was a stalwart youth of eighteen, hard-handed
+and muscular. He was the only permanent “hired man”
+employed on the farm. In haying time there were others
+transiently employed.</p>
+
+<p>A farmer’s table is plentiful, though homely. The two
+tramps made an abundant meal, both doing justice to the
+homely fare. The farmer’s wife looked on with hospitable
+satisfaction. She could not bear to have anybody
+hungry under her roof.</p>
+
+<p>You’ll excuse our appetite, ma’am,” said Rudolph,
+“but we’ve had nothing to eat since breakfast.”</p>
+
+<p>“Eat as much as you like,” said she. “We never stint
+anybody here. Is that your son?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, ma’am.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony bent his eyes upon his plate, and frowned slightly.
+He wanted to deny it, but did not dare.</p>
+
+<p>He don’t look a bit like you,” said the woman. “He’s
+light, and you’re very dark.”</p>
+
+<p>“His mother was light,” said Rudolph. “He takes
+after her.”</p>
+
+<p>“How old is he?”</p>
+
+<p>“Tony, tell the lady how old you are.”</p>
+
+<p>“Fourteen.”</p>
+
+<p>“He is well grown at his age.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes; he will make a good-sized man. He’s been sick.”</p>
+
+<p>“Has he? What has been the matter?”</p>
+
+<p><!--015.png-->
+“I don’t know. Poor folks like us can’t call in a doctor.”</p>
+
+<p>“He don’t look sick,” said the farmer’s wife thoughtfully.</p>
+
+<p>He’s delicate, though he don’t look it. It’s sleeping
+out in the open air, I expect.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you have to sleep out in the open air?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes; we can’t afford to pay for lodgings, and people
+won’t take us into their houses. I don’t mind myself&mdash;I’m
+tough&mdash;but Tony can’t stand it as well as I can.”</p>
+
+<p>While this conversation was going on, Tony fixed his
+eyes upon his plate. He was angry that such falsehoods
+should be told about him, but if he should utter a word of
+objection he knew that there would be an explosion of
+wrath on the part of his guardian, and he remained silent.</p>
+
+<p>The farmer’s wife was a simple-minded, kind-hearted
+woman, and though Tony did not look at all delicate, she
+never thought of questioning the statement of Rudolph.
+Indeed she was already revolving in her mind inviting the
+boy to sleep in the house. She was rather prejudiced in
+favor of Rudolph by his show of parental solicitude.</p>
+
+<p>When supper was over, having in the meantime consulted
+her husband, she said to Rudolph:</p>
+
+<p>“My husband says you may sleep in the barn, if you
+don’t smoke. We can find a bed for your son with Abner.
+You won’t mind taking him into your room?”</p>
+
+<p>“He can come,” said Abner good-naturedly.</p>
+
+<p>So it was arranged. At half-past eight, for they retired
+at that early hour in the farmhouse, Rudolph left
+the fireside, and sought the barn. As he left the room he
+looked suspiciously at Tony, and shook his head warningly.</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter"><!--016.png-->
+
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Three">III</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">RUDOLPH’S DISAPPOINTMENT</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Abner</span> slept in a large room in the attic. It had
+been roughly partitioned off, and was not even plastered.
+The beams were plainly visible. Upon nails which
+had been driven into them hung Abner’s limited wardrobe.
+There were two cot beds in the room, as a part
+of the year the farmer employed more than one hired
+man.</p>
+
+<p>You can sleep there, youngster,” said Abner, pointing
+to one of the beds. “This is my bed.”</p>
+
+<p>“Thank you,” said Tony politely.</p>
+
+<p>I s’pose you’ve traveled round considerable,” said Abner,
+with curiosity.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, a good deal.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you like it?”</p>
+
+<p>“No; I’m tired of it.”</p>
+
+<p>“How do you make your livin’?”</p>
+
+<p>“As we can. We often go hungry.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why don’t your father settle down somewhere?”</p>
+
+<p>Tony thought of disclaiming the relationship implied,
+but he reflected that Rudolph would be angry, and merely
+answered:</p>
+
+<p>“He prefers to travel round.”</p>
+
+<p>“Was you ever in New York?” asked Abner.</p>
+
+<p>Do you mean the city of New York? Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’d like to see it,” said Abner, regarding Tony with
+new respect. “I’ve heard a sight about it. It’s powerful
+big, isn’t it?”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s very large.”</p>
+
+<p>“There’s as many as a thousand houses, isn’t
+there?”</p>
+
+<p><!--017.png-->
+“There’s a hundred thousand, I should think,” answered
+Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Sho! you don’t say so!” exclaimed Abner, awestruck.
+“I’d like to go there.”</p>
+
+<p>“Didn’t you ever visit the city?”</p>
+
+<p>“No; I never traveled any. I never was more’n fifteen
+miles from home. Dad wouldn’t let me. When I’m a
+man, I’m bound to see the world.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ain’t you a man now?” inquired Tony, surveying his
+herculean proportions with astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>No; I’m only eighteen.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’re as big as a man.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, I’m pooty big,” said Abner, with a complacent
+grin. “I can do a man’s work.”</p>
+
+<p>“I should think you might. I thought you were more
+than four years older than me. I’m fourteen.”</p>
+
+<p>“I guess I weigh twice as much as you.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m not small for my age,” said Tony jealously.</p>
+
+<p>Maybe not. I’m a regular bouncer. That’s what dad
+says. Why, I’m half as big again as he is.”</p>
+
+<p>“Does he ever lick you?” asked Tony, smiling.</p>
+
+<p>I’d like to see him try it,” said Abner, bursting into a
+roar of laughter. “He’d have to get upon a milkin’ stool.
+Does your dad lick you?”</p>
+
+<p>“No,” answered Tony shortly.</p>
+
+<p>He looks as if he might sometimes. He’s kinder fractious-looking.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony did not care to say much on the subject of Rudolph.
+He felt that it was his policy to be silent. If he
+said anything he might say too much, and if it got to
+Rudolph’s ears, the man’s vindictive temper would make
+it dangerous for him.</p>
+
+<p>We get along pretty well,” he said guardedly. “Do
+you get up early?”</p>
+
+<p>“Four o’clock. You won’t have to, though.”</p>
+
+<p>“What time do you get breakfast?”</p>
+
+<p><!--018.png-->
+“Half-past five, after I’ve milked and done the chores.
+You must be up by that time, or you won’t get anything
+to eat.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s pretty early,” thought Tony. “I don’t see
+the use of getting up so early.”</p>
+
+<p>“I guess I’ll go to sleep,” said Abner. “I’m tuckered
+out.”</p>
+
+<p>“Good-night,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Good-night.”</p>
+
+<p>The young giant turned over, closed his eyes, and in
+five minutes was asleep.</p>
+
+<p>Tony did not compose himself to sleep so readily, partly
+because Abner began to snore in a boisterous manner,
+partly because he felt disturbed by the thought of the
+treachery which Rudolph required at his hands.</p>
+
+<p>Tony was only a tramp, but he had an instinct of honor
+in him. In the farmhouse he had been kindly treated and
+hospitably entertained. He felt that it would be very
+mean to steal down in the dead of night and open the door
+to his companion in order that he might rob the unsuspecting
+farmer of his money. On the other hand, if he
+did not do this he knew that he would be severely beaten
+by Rudolph.</p>
+
+<p>Why am I tied to this man?” he thought. “What
+chance is there of my ever being anything but a tramp
+while I stay with him?”</p>
+
+<p>He had thought this before now, but the circumstances
+in which he now found himself placed made the feeling
+stronger. He had been often humiliated by being forced
+to beg from door to door, by the thought that he was a
+vagrant, and the companion of a vagrant, but he had not
+been urged to actual crime until now. He knew enough to
+be aware that he ran the risk of arrest and imprisonment
+if he obeyed Rudolph. On the other hand, if he refused
+he was sure of a beating.</p>
+
+<p>What should he do?</p>
+
+<p><!--019.png-->
+It was certainly a difficult question to decide, and Tony
+debated it in his own mind for some time. Finally he
+came to a determination. Rudolph might beat him, but
+he would not be guilty of this treachery.</p>
+
+<p>He felt better after he had come to this resolve, and,
+the burden being now off his mind, he composed himself
+to sleep.</p>
+
+<p>He did not know how long he slept, but he had a troubled
+dream. He thought that in compliance with his
+companion’s order he rose and opened the door to him.
+While Rudolph was opening the farmer’s desk, he thought
+that heavy steps were heard and Abner and the farmer
+entered the room, provided with a lantern. He thought
+that Rudolph and himself were overpowered and bound.
+Just as he reached this part he awoke, and was reassured
+by hearing Abner’s heavy breathing.</p>
+
+<p>I’m glad it’s a dream,” he thought, breathing a sigh
+of relief.</p>
+
+<p>At this instant his attention was called by a noise upon
+the panes of the only window in the room.</p>
+
+<p>He listened, and detected the cause.</p>
+
+<p>Some one was throwing gravel stones against it.</p>
+
+<p>It’s Rudolph,” he thought instantly. “He’s trying
+to call my attention.”</p>
+
+<p>He thought of pretending to be asleep, and taking no
+notice of the signal. But he feared Abner would awake,
+and ascertain the meaning of it. He decided to go to the
+window, show himself, and stop the noise if he could.</p>
+
+<p>He rose from his bed, and presented himself at the window.
+Looking down, he saw the dark figure of Rudolph
+leaning against the well curb, with his eyes fixed on the
+window.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, you’re there at last!” growled Rudolph. “I
+thought I’d never wake you up. Is the man asleep?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Then come down and let me in.”</p>
+
+<p><!--020.png-->
+“I would rather not,” said Tony, uneasily.</p>
+
+<p>What’s the fool afraid of?” answered Rudolph, in a
+low, menacing tone.</p>
+
+<p>The man might wake up.”</p>
+
+<p>“No danger. Such animals always sleep heavily.
+There’s no danger, I tell you.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t want to do it,” said Tony. “It would be
+mean. They’ve treated me well, and I don’t want to help
+rob them.”</p>
+
+<p>“Curse the young idiot!” exclaimed Rudolph, in low
+tones of concentrated passion. “Do you mean to disobey
+me?”</p>
+
+<p>“I can’t do as you wish, Rudolph. Ask me anything
+else.”</p>
+
+<p>“I wish I could get at him!” muttered Rudolph, between
+his teeth. “He never dared to disobey me before.
+Once more! Will you open the door to me?” demanded
+Rudolph.</p>
+
+<p>Tony bethought himself of an expedient. He might
+pretend that Abner was waking up.</p>
+
+<p>Hush!” he said, in feigned alarm. “The man is waking
+up. Get out of sight quick.”</p>
+
+<p>He disappeared from the window, and Rudolph, supposing
+there was really danger of detection, hurriedly stole
+away to the barn, where he had been permitted to lodge.</p>
+
+<p>He came out half an hour later, and again made the old
+signal, but this time Tony did not show himself. He had
+made up his mind not to comply with the elder tramp’s
+demands, and it would do no good to argue the point.</p>
+
+<p>I wish I knew whether he was asleep, or only pretending,
+the young rascal,” muttered Rudolph. “I must manage
+to have him stay here another night. That money
+must and shall be mine, and he shall help to get it for
+me.”</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter"><!--021.png-->
+
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Four">IV</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">SETTING A TRAP</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">At</span> half-past five Tony got up. He would have liked
+to remain in bed two hours longer, but there was no chance
+for late resting at the farmhouse. Rudolph, too, was
+awakened by Abner, and the two tramps took their seats
+at the breakfast table with the rest of the family.</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph furtively scowled at Tony. To him he attributed
+the failure of his plans the night before, and he
+was furious against him&mdash;the more so that he did not dare
+to say anything in presence of the farmer’s family.</p>
+
+<p>Where are you going to-day?” asked the farmer, addressing
+Rudolph.</p>
+
+<p>I am going to walk to Crampton. I may get employment
+there.”</p>
+
+<p>“It is twelve miles away. That is a good walk.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t mind for myself. I mind it for my son,” said
+Rudolph hypocritically.</p>
+
+<p>He can stay here till you come back,” said the
+farmer’s wife hospitably.</p>
+
+<p>If you’re willing to have him, I’ll leave him for
+one more night,” said Rudolph. “It’ll do him good to
+rest.”</p>
+
+<p>“He can stay as well as not,” said the farmer. “When
+are you coming back?”</p>
+
+<p>“Perhaps to-night. But I think not till to-morrow.”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t trouble yourself about your son. He will be
+safe here.”</p>
+
+<p>“You are very kind,” said the elder tramp. “Tony,
+thank them good people for their kindness to you.”</p>
+
+<p>“I do thank them,” said Tony, glancing uneasily at
+the other.</p>
+
+<p><!--022.png-->
+When breakfast was over, Rudolph took his hat and
+said:</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll get started early. I have a long walk before me.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony sat still, hoping that he would not be called upon
+to join him. But he was destined to be disappointed.</p>
+
+<p>Come and walk a piece with me, Tony,” said Rudolph.
+“You needn’t walk far.”</p>
+
+<p>Reluctantly Tony got his hat and set out with him.</p>
+
+<p>As long as they were in sight and hearing, Rudolph
+spoke to him gently, but when they were far enough for
+him to throw off the mask safely he turned furiously upon
+the boy.</p>
+
+<p>Now, you young rascal,” he said roughly, “tell me
+why you did not obey me last night.”</p>
+
+<p>“It wasn’t safe,” said Tony. “We should both have
+been caught.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why should we? Wasn’t the man asleep?”</p>
+
+<p>“He stirred in his sleep. If I had moved about much,
+or opened the door, it would have waked him up.”</p>
+
+<p>“You are a coward,” sneered Rudolph. “When I was
+of your age I wouldn’t have given up a job so easily.
+Such men sleep sound. No matter if they do move about,
+they won’t wake up. If you had had a little more courage
+we should have succeeded last night in capturing the
+money.”</p>
+
+<p>“I wish you’d give it up, Rudolph,” said Tony earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>You don’t know what you’re talking about,” said the
+tramp harshly. “You’re a milksop. The world owes us
+a living, and we must call for it.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’d rather work than steal.”</p>
+
+<p>“There’s no work to be had, and we must have money.
+More depends on it than you think. But we’ve got one
+more night to work in.”</p>
+
+<p>“What do you mean to do?” asked Tony uneasily.</p>
+
+<p>Thanks to my management, you will sleep in the same
+<!--023.png-->
+room to-night. Look round the house during the day;
+see if the key’s in the desk. If you can get hold of the
+money, all the better. In that case, come and hide it in
+that hollow tree, and we can secure it after the hue and
+cry is over. Do you hear?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>“But if there is no chance of that, look out for me at
+midnight. I will throw gravel against your window as a
+signal. When you hear it, steal downstairs, with your
+shoes in your hands, and open the door to me. I will attend
+to the rest. And mind,” he added sternly, “I shall
+take no excuses.”</p>
+
+<p>“Suppose I am caught going downstairs?”</p>
+
+<p>“Say you are taken sick. It will be easy enough to
+make an excuse.”</p>
+
+<p>“Are you going to Crampton?” asked Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Of course not. Do you think I am such a fool as to
+take a long walk like that?”</p>
+
+<p>“You said you were going.”</p>
+
+<p>“Only to put them off the scent. I shall hide in yonder
+wood till night. Then I will find my way back to the
+farmhouse.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you want me to go any further with you?”</p>
+
+<p>“No; you can go back now if you want to. Don’t forget
+my directions.”</p>
+
+<p>“I will remember them,” said Tony quietly.</p>
+
+<p>The two parted company, and Tony walked slowly back
+to the farm. He was troubled and perplexed. He was
+in a dilemma, and how to get out of it he did not know.</p>
+
+<p>It was not the first time that he thought over his relations
+to Rudolph.</p>
+
+<p>As far back as he could remember he had been under
+the care of this man. Sometimes the latter had been away
+for months, leaving him in the charge of a woman whose
+appearance indicated that she also was of gypsy descent.
+He had experienced hunger, cold, neglect, but had lived
+<!--024.png-->
+through them all, tolerably contented. Now, however, he
+saw that Rudolph intended to make a criminal of him, and
+he was disposed to rebel. That his guardian was himself
+a thief, he had reason to know. He suspected that some
+of his periodical absences were spent inside prison walls.
+Would he be content to follow his example?</p>
+
+<p>Tony answered unhesitatingly, “No.” Whatever the
+consequences might be, he would make a stand there. He
+had reason to fear violence, but that was better than arrest
+and imprisonment. If matters came to the worst, he
+would run away.</p>
+
+<p>When he had come to a decision he felt better. He
+returned to the farm, and found Abner just leaving the
+yard with a hoe in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>Where are you going?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p>To the cornfield.”</p>
+
+<p>“May I go with you?”</p>
+
+<p>“If you want to.”</p>
+
+<p>So Tony went out to the field with the stalwart “hired
+man,” and kept him company through the forenoon.</p>
+
+<p>That’s easy work,” said Tony, after a while.</p>
+
+<p>Do you think you can do it?”</p>
+
+<p>“Let me try.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony succeeded tolerably well, but he could not get
+over the ground so fast as Abner.</p>
+
+<p>Why don’t you hire out on a farm?” asked Abner, as
+he took back the hoe.</p>
+
+<p>I would if I could,” answered Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Why can’t you? Won’t your father let you?”</p>
+
+<p>“He wants me to go round with him,” answered Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Wouldn’t he take me instead of you?” asked Abner,
+grinning. “I’d like to travel round and see the world.
+You could stay here and do the farm work.”</p>
+
+<p>“If he and the farmer agree to the change, I will,” answered
+Tony, with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>At noon they went back to the farmhouse to dinner.
+<!--025.png-->
+Tony stared with astonishment at the quantity of food
+Abner made away with. He concluded that farm work
+was favorable to the appetite.</p>
+
+<p>The afternoon passed rapidly away, and night came.
+Again Tony went up to the attic to share Abner’s room.
+He got nervous as the night wore on. He knew what was
+expected of him, and he shrank from Rudolph’s anger.
+He tried to go to sleep, but could not.</p>
+
+<p>At last the expected signal came. There was a rattling
+of gravel stones upon the window.</p>
+
+<p>Shall I lie here and take no notice?” thought Tony.</p>
+
+<p>In this case Rudolph would continue to fling gravel
+stones, and Abner might wake up. He decided to go to
+the window and announce his determination.</p>
+
+<p>When Rudolph saw him appear at the window, he called
+out:</p>
+
+<p>“Come down quick, and open the door.”</p>
+
+<p>“I would rather not,” answered Tony.</p>
+
+<p>You must!” exclaimed Rudolph, with a terrible oath.
+“If you dare to refuse I’ll flay you alive.”</p>
+
+<p>“I can’t do it,” said Tony, pale, but resolute. “You
+have no right to ask it of me.”</p>
+
+<p>Just then Tony was startled by a voice from the bed:</p>
+
+<p>“Is that your father? What does he want?”</p>
+
+<p>“I would rather not tell,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>You must!” said Abner sternly.</p>
+
+<p>He wants me to open the door and let him into the
+house,” Tony confessed reluctantly.</p>
+
+<p>What for?”</p>
+
+<p>“He wants to get your master’s money.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ho, ho!” said Abner. “Well, we’ll go down and let
+him in.”</p>
+
+<p>“What!” exclaimed Tony, in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>Call from the window that you will be down directly.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t want to get him into trouble.”</p>
+
+<p>“You must, or I shall think you are a thief, too.”</p>
+
+<p><!--026.png-->
+Thus constrained, Tony called out that he would come
+down at once.</p>
+
+<p>I thought you’d think better of it,” muttered Rudolph.
+“Hurry down, and waste no time.”</p>
+
+<p>Five minutes later Abner and Tony crept downstairs,
+the former armed with a tough oak stick.</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Five">V</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">IN A TRAP</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Unsuspicious</span> of danger, Rudolph took a position on
+the doorstep. He was incensed with Tony for having
+given him so much unnecessary trouble, and he was resolved
+to give the boy a lesson.</p>
+
+<p>It was quite dark in the shadow of the house, and when
+the door opened, Rudolph, supposing, of course, it was
+Tony who had opened it, seized the person, whom he saw
+but dimly, by the arm, exclaiming, venomously, as he tried
+to shake him:</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll teach you to keep me waiting, you young rascal!”</p>
+
+<p>He was not long in finding out his mistake.</p>
+
+<p>Abner was considerably larger and more muscular than
+the tramp, and he returned the compliment by shaking off
+Rudolph’s grasp and seizing him in his own viselike grip.</p>
+
+<p>You’ll teach me, will you, you villain!” retorted Abner.
+“I’ll teach you to come here like a thief!”</p>
+
+<p>“Let go!” exclaimed the tramp, as he felt himself
+shaken roughly.</p>
+
+<p>Not till I’ve given you a good drubbing,” returned
+Abner, and he began to use his cudgel with effect on the
+back and shoulders of the tramp. “You’ve come to the
+wrong house, you have.”</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph ground his teeth with ineffectual rage. He
+lamented that he had not a knife or pistol with him, but
+<!--027.png-->
+he had made so sure of easy entrance into the house, and
+no resistance, that he had not prepared himself. As to
+brute force, he was no match for Abner.</p>
+
+<p>The boy betrayed me!” he shrieked. “I’ll have his
+life!”</p>
+
+<p>“Not much,” said Abner. “You’ll be lucky to get
+away with your own. It isn’t the boy. I was awake and
+heard you ask him to let you in. Now take yourself off.”</p>
+
+<p>As he said this he gave a powerful push, and Rudolph
+reeled a moment and sank upon the ground, striking his
+head with violence.</p>
+
+<p>He won’t try it again,” said Abner, as he shut the
+door and bolted it. “I guess he’s got enough for once.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony stood by, ashamed and mortified. He was afraid
+Abner would class him with the tramp who had just been
+ignominiously expelled from the house. He was afraid
+he, too, would be thrust out of doors, in which case he
+would be exposed to brutal treatment from Rudolph. But
+he did not need to fear this. Abner had seen and heard
+enough to feel convinced that Tony was all right in the
+matter, and he did not mean to make the innocent suffer
+for the guilty.</p>
+
+<p>Now let us go to bed, Tony,” he said, in a friendly
+manner. “You don’t want to go with him, do you?”</p>
+
+<p>“No,” said Tony. “I never want to see him again.”</p>
+
+<p>“I shouldn’t think you would. He’s a rascal and a
+thief.”</p>
+
+<p>“I hope you don’t think I wanted to rob the house,”
+said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>No; I don’t believe you’re a bit like him. What
+makes you go with him?”</p>
+
+<p>“I won’t any more.”</p>
+
+<p>“He isn’t your father?”</p>
+
+<p>“No; I don’t know who my father is.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s strange,” said Abner, who had seen but little
+of the world. Everyone that he knew had a father, and
+<!--028.png-->
+knew who that father was. He could not realize that anyone
+could have an experience like Tony’s.</p>
+
+<p>I wish I did know my father,” said Tony, thoughtfully.
+“I’m alone in the world now.”</p>
+
+<p>“What do you mean to do?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll go off by myself to-morrow, away from Rudolph.
+I never want to see him again.”</p>
+
+<p>“Have you got any money?”</p>
+
+<p>They had now got back into the chamber, and were
+taking off their clothes.</p>
+
+<p>I’ve got five cents,” answered Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Is that all?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, but I don’t mind. I’ll get along somehow.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony had always got along somehow. He had never&mdash;at
+least not for long at a time&mdash;known what it was to
+have a settled home or a permanent shelter. Whether the
+world owed him a living or not, he had always got one,
+such as it was, and though he had often been cold and
+hungry, here he was at fourteen, well and strong, and
+with plenty of pluck and courage to carry with him into
+the life struggle that was opening before him. Abner’s
+training had been different, and he wondered at the coolness
+with which Tony contemplated the future. But he
+was too sleepy to wonder long at anything, and, with a
+yawn, he lapsed into slumber.</p>
+
+<p>Tony did not go to sleep immediately. He had need to
+be thoughtful. He had made up his mind to be his own
+master henceforth, but Rudolph he knew would have a
+word to say on that point. In getting away the next
+morning he must manage to give the tramp a wide berth.
+It would be better for him to go to some distant place,
+where, free from interference, he could make his own
+living.</p>
+
+<p>There was another thought that came to him. Somewhere
+in the world he might come across a father or
+mother, or more distant relative&mdash;one of whom he would
+<!--029.png-->
+not be ashamed, as he was of the companion who tried to
+draw him into crime. This was the last thought in his
+mind, as he sank into a sound sleep from which he did not
+awaken till he was called for breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>To say that Rudolph was angry when he recovered from
+the temporary insensibility occasioned by his fall would
+be a very mild expression. He had not only been
+thwarted in his designs, but suffered violence and humiliation
+in the presence of the boy of whom he regarded himself
+as the guardian. He thirsted for revenge, if not on
+Abner, then on Tony, whom it would be safer to maltreat
+and abuse.</p>
+
+<p>Anger is unreasonable, and poor Tony would have
+fared badly if he had fallen into Rudolph’s clutches just
+then. It made no difference that Abner had exonerated
+Tony from any share in the unpleasant surprise he had
+met. He determined to give him a severe beating, nevertheless.</p>
+
+<p>There is an old proverb: “You must catch your hare
+before you cook it.” This did not occur to the tramp.
+He never supposed Tony would have the hardihood or
+courage to give him the slip.</p>
+
+<p>The remainder of the night spent by Tony in sleeping
+was less pleasantly spent by Rudolph in the barn.</p>
+
+<p>He meant to be up early, as he knew he was liable to
+arrest on account of his last night’s attempt, and lie in
+wait for Tony, who, he supposed, would wait for breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>He was right there. Tony did remain for breakfast.
+The farmer&mdash;Mr. Coleman&mdash;had already been informed of
+Rudolph’s attempted burglary, and he did Tony the justice
+to exonerate him from any share in it.</p>
+
+<p>What are you going to do, my boy?” he asked, at the
+breakfast table.</p>
+
+<p>I am going to set up for myself,” answered Tony,
+cheerfully.</p>
+
+<p><!--030.png-->
+“That’s right. Have nothing more to do with that man.
+He can only do you harm. Have you got any money?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve got five cents.”</p>
+
+<p>“That isn’t enough to buy a farm.”</p>
+
+<p>“Not a very large one,” said Tony, smiling.</p>
+
+<p>Abner nearly choked with laughter. This was a joke
+which he could appreciate.</p>
+
+<p>I don’t think I’ll go to farming,” continued Tony.</p>
+
+<p>You can stay here a week or two,” said the farmer,
+hospitably, “till you get time to look around.”</p>
+
+<p>“Thank you,” said Tony. “You are very kind, but I
+don’t think it will be safe. Rudolph will be on the watch
+for me.”</p>
+
+<p>“The man you came with?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>“Guess he won’t touch you while I’m round,” said Abner.</p>
+
+<p>I don’t think he’ll want to tackle you again,” said
+Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Didn’t I lay him out, though?” said Abner, with a
+grin. “He thought it was you, ho! ho!”</p>
+
+<p>“He didn’t think so long,” said Tony. “I haven’t got
+such an arm as you.”</p>
+
+<p>Abner was pleased with this compliment to his prowess,
+and wouldn’t have minded another tussle with the tramp.</p>
+
+<p>Where do you think that chap you call Rudolph is?”
+he asked.</p>
+
+<p>He’s searching for me, I expect,” said Tony. “If
+I’m not careful he’ll get hold of me.”</p>
+
+<p>Just then a neighbor’s boy, named Joe, came to the
+house on an errand. He was almost Tony’s size. He
+waited about, not seeming in any hurry to be gone.</p>
+
+<p>Abner,” said the farmer, “if you’ve got nothing else
+to do, you may load up the wagon with hay and carry it
+to Castleton. We shall have more than we want.”</p>
+
+<p>“All right,” said Abner.</p>
+
+<p><!--031.png-->
+“May I go, too? May I ride on the hay?” asked Joe
+eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>Will your father let you?” asked the farmer.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, yes; he won’t mind.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then you may go,” was the reply. “Do you want to
+go, too, Tony?”</p>
+
+<p>Tony was about to say yes, when an idea seized him.</p>
+
+<p>If the other boy goes, Rudolph will think it is I, and
+he will follow the wagon. That will give me a chance of
+getting off in another direction.”</p>
+
+<p>“So it will,” said Abner. “What a headpiece you’ve
+got,” he added admiringly. “I wouldn’t have thought
+of that.”</p>
+
+<p>Abner’s headpiece was nothing to boast of. He had
+strength of body, but to equalize matters his mind was
+not equally endowed.</p>
+
+<p>The plan was disclosed to Joe, who willingly agreed to
+enter into it. This was the more feasible because he was
+of about Tony’s size, and wore a hat just like his.</p>
+
+<p>The hay was loaded, and the wagon started off with Abner
+walking alongside. Joe was perched on top, nearly
+buried in the hay, but with his hat rising from the mass.
+This was about all that could be seen of him.</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Six">VI</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">ABNER’S RUSE</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Abner</span> and Joe had gone about half a mile when from
+the bushes by the roadside Rudolph emerged. He had
+seen the hat, and he felt sure that Tony was trying to
+escape him in that way.</p>
+
+<p>Well,” said Abner, with a grin, as he recognized his
+midnight foe, “how do you feel this morning?”</p>
+
+<p>“None the better for you, curse you!” returned the
+tramp roughly.</p>
+
+<p><!--032.png-->
+Abner laughed.</p>
+
+<p>That’s what I thought,” he said, cracking his whip.</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph would like to have punished him then and there
+for his humiliation of the night before, but Abner looked
+too powerful as he strode along manfully with vigorous
+steps. Besides, he had a heavy whip in his hand, which
+the tramp suspected would be used unhesitatingly if there
+were occasion. The prospect was not inviting. But, at
+any rate, Rudolph could demand that Tony be remitted to
+his custody.</p>
+
+<p>Where’s my boy?” asked the tramp, keeping at a safe
+distance.</p>
+
+<p>Didn’t know you had a boy,” said Abner.</p>
+
+<p>I mean that villain Tony. Isn’t that he on that load
+of hay?”</p>
+
+<p>“Kind o’ looks like him,” answered Abner, grinning.</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph looked up, and caught sight of the hat.</p>
+
+<p>Come down here, Tony,” he said sternly.</p>
+
+<p>Joe, who had been instructed what to do, answered not
+a word.</p>
+
+<p>Come down here, if you know what’s best for you,”
+continued the tramp.</p>
+
+<p>Guess he’s hard of hearing,” laughed Abner.</p>
+
+<p>Stop your wagon,” said Rudolph furiously, “I want
+to get hold of him.”</p>
+
+<p>“Couldn’t do it,” said Abner coolly. “I’m in a hurry.”</p>
+
+<p>“Will you give me the boy or not?” demanded the
+tramp hoarsely.</p>
+
+<p>He can get off and go along with you if he wants to,”
+said Abner. “Do you want to get down, Tony?”</p>
+
+<p>“No!” answered the supposed Tony.</p>
+
+<p>You see, squire, he prefers to ride,” said Abner.
+“Can’t blame him much. I’d do it in his place.”</p>
+
+<p>“Where are you going?” demanded the tramp, who
+hadn’t discovered that the voice was not that of Tony.</p>
+
+<p>I’m going to Castleton,” answered Abner.</p>
+
+<p><!--033.png-->
+“Are you going to leave the hay there?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, that’s what I calc’late to do.”</p>
+
+<p>“How far is it?”</p>
+
+<p>“Six miles.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll walk along, too.”</p>
+
+<p>“Better not, squire, you’ll get tired.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll risk that.”</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph’s plan was manifest. When the hay was unloaded,
+of course Tony would have to get down. Then he
+would get hold of him.</p>
+
+<p>You can do just as you’ve a mind to,” said Abner.
+“You’ll be company to Tony and me, but you needn’t put
+yourself out on our account, hey, Tony?”</p>
+
+<p>There was a smothered laugh on top of the hay, which
+the tramp heard. His eyes snapped viciously, and he privately
+determined to give Tony a settlement in full for
+all his offenses just as soon as he got hold of him.</p>
+
+<p>So they jogged on, mile after mile. Abner walked on
+one side, swinging his whip, and occasionally cracking it.
+The tramp walked on the other side of the road, and the
+boy rode along luxuriously imbedded in his fragrant
+couch of hay. Abner from time to time kept up the
+tramp’s illusion by calling out, “Tony, you must take
+keer, or you’ll fall off.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll catch him if he does,” said Rudolph grimly.</p>
+
+<p>So you will,” chuckled Abner. “You’d like to,
+wouldn’t you?”</p>
+
+<p>“Certainly. He is my son,” said Rudolph.</p>
+
+<p>Do you hear that, Tony? He says you’re his son,”
+said Abner, grinning again.</p>
+
+<p>There was another laugh from the boy on the load of
+hay.</p>
+
+<p>You won’t find anything to laugh at when I get hold
+of you,” muttered Rudolph.</p>
+
+<p>So they journeyed into Castleton.</p>
+
+<p>From time to time Abner, as he thought how neatly
+<!--034.png-->
+the tramp had been sold, burst into a loud laugh, which
+was echoed from the hay wagon. Rudolph was not only
+angry, but puzzled.</p>
+
+<p>Does the boy hope to escape me?” he asked himself.
+“If so, he will find himself badly mistaken. He will find
+that I am not to be trifled with.”</p>
+
+<p>“Say, squire, what makes you look so glum?” asked
+Abner. “Maybe it’s because I didn’t let you in when you
+called so late last night. We don’t receive visitors after
+midnight.”</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph scowled, but said nothing.</p>
+
+<p>How long has the boy been with you?” asked Abner,
+further.</p>
+
+<p>Since he was born,” answered the tramp. “Ain’t I
+his father?”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t know. If it’s a conundrum, I give it up.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, I am, and no one has a right to keep him from
+me,” said the tramp, in a surly manner.</p>
+
+<p>I wouldn’t keep him from you for a minute,” said Abner
+innocently.</p>
+
+<p>You are doing it now.”</p>
+
+<p>“No, I ain’t.”</p>
+
+<p>“I can’t get at him on that hay.”</p>
+
+<p>“He can come down if he wants to. I don’t stop him.
+You can come down if you want to, Tony,” he said, looking
+up to where the boy’s hat was visible.</p>
+
+<p>Tony did not answer, and Abner continued:</p>
+
+<p>“You see he don’t want to come. He’d rather ride.
+You know he’s been sick,” said Abner, with a grin, “and
+he’s too delicate to walk. He ain’t tough, like you and
+me.”</p>
+
+<p>“He’ll need to be tough,” muttered the tramp, as he
+thought of the flogging he intended to give Tony.</p>
+
+<p>What did you say?”</p>
+
+<p>“Never mind.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, I don’t mind,” said Abner. “You can say what
+<!--035.png-->
+you want to. This is a free country, only you can’t do
+what you’ve a mind to.”</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph wished that he had a double stock of strength.
+It was very provoking to be laughed at and derided by
+Abner, without being able to revenge himself. A pistol
+or a knife would make him even with the countryman, but
+Rudolph was too much of a coward to commit such serious
+crimes where there was so much danger of detection and
+punishment.</p>
+
+<p>At last they entered Castleton.</p>
+
+<p>The hay was to be delivered to a speculator, who collected
+large quantities of it, and forwarded it over the
+railroad to a large city.</p>
+
+<p>It had to be weighed, and Abner drove at once to the
+hay scales.</p>
+
+<p>Now,” thought Rudolph, with exultation, “the boy
+must come down, and I shall get hold of him.”</p>
+
+<p>“I guess you’d better slide down,” said Abner. “I
+can’t sell you for hay, Tony.”</p>
+
+<p>There was a movement, and then the boy slid down,
+Abner catching him as he descended.</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph’s face changed ominously when he saw that it
+wasn’t Tony who made his appearance.</p>
+
+<p>What does this mean?” he demanded furiously.</p>
+
+<p>What’s the matter?”</p>
+
+<p>“This isn’t Tony.”</p>
+
+<p>“Come to look at him, it isn’t,” said Abner, with a
+twinkle in his eye.</p>
+
+<p>Didn’t you say it was Tony?” asked the tramp, exasperated.</p>
+
+<p>I guess I was mistaken, squire,” said Abner, grinning.</p>
+
+<p>Where is he, then?”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t know, I’m sure. It seems he didn’t come.
+Guess he must have given us the slip.”</p>
+
+<p>The tramp, unable to control his rage, burst into a volley
+of execrations.</p>
+
+<p><!--036.png-->
+“Hope you feel better, squire,” said Abner, when he
+got through.</p>
+
+<p>I’d like to see you hanged,” retorted Rudolph bitterly.</p>
+
+<p>Thank you,” said Abner, “I’ll invite you when it
+comes off.”</p>
+
+<p>The tramp strode off, vowing dire vengeance against
+both Abner and Tony.</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Seven">VII</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">A STRANGE HOTEL</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">From</span> the upper window in the farmhouse, which was
+situated on elevated ground, Tony saw his old guardian
+follow Abner. Thus the way was opened for his escape.</p>
+
+<p>Won’t you stay longer with us?” asked the farmer.</p>
+
+<p>Thank you,” answered Tony, “but I wouldn’t dare to.
+Rudolph may be back for me, and I want to get away
+before he has a chance.”</p>
+
+<p>“Are you going to walk?” asked the farmer’s wife.</p>
+
+<p>Yes,” said Tony. “I’ve only got five cents in my
+pocket, and I can’t ride far on that.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m afraid you will be tired,” she said.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, I’m used to tramping,” returned Tony lightly.</p>
+
+<p>Can’t you put up some dinner for him, wife?” suggested
+the farmer. “It’ll make him hungry walking.”</p>
+
+<p>“To be sure, I will,” she replied, and a large supply of
+eatables were put in a paper, sufficient to last Tony
+twenty-four hours at least.</p>
+
+<p>The farmer deliberated whether he should not offer our
+hero half a dollar, but he was close, so far as money was
+concerned, and he decided in the negative.</p>
+
+<p>So Tony set out, taking a course directly opposite to
+that pursued by Abner. In this way he thought he should
+best avoid the chance of meeting Rudolph.</p>
+
+<p>About five o’clock he felt that it was about time to look
+<!--037.png-->
+about for a night’s rest. A hotel was, of course, out of
+the question, and he looked about for a farmhouse. The
+nearest dwelling was a small one, of four rooms, setting
+back from the road, down a lane.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps I can get in there,” thought Tony.</p>
+
+<p>An old man, with a patriarchal beard, whose neglected
+and squalid dress seemed to indicate poverty, was sitting
+on the doorstep.</p>
+
+<p>Good-evening,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Who are you?” demanded the old man suspiciously.</p>
+
+<p>I am a poor traveler,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>A tramp,” said the old man, in the same tone.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, I suppose so,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Well, I’ve got nothing for you.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t want anything except the chance to sleep.”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t you want any supper?”</p>
+
+<p>“No; I’ve got my supper here,” returned our hero.</p>
+
+<p>What have you got there?” asked the old man.</p>
+
+<p>Some bread and butter, and cold meat.”</p>
+
+<p>“It looks good,” said the other, with what Tony
+thought to be a longing look.</p>
+
+<p>I’ll share it with you, if you’ll let me sleep here to-night,”
+said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>The old man was a miser, as Tony suspected. He was
+able to live comfortably, but he deprived himself of the
+necessaries of life in order to hoard away money. His
+face revealed that to Tony. He had nearly starved himself,
+but he had not overcome his natural appetites, and
+the sight of Tony’s supper gave him a craving for it.</p>
+
+<p>I don’t know,” he said doubtfully. “If I let you sleep
+here, you might get up in the night and rob me.”</p>
+
+<p>“You don’t look as if you had anything worth stealing.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’re quite right,” said old Ben Hayden. “I’ve
+only saved a little money&mdash;a very little&mdash;to pay my funeral
+expenses. You wouldn’t take that.”</p>
+
+<p><!--038.png-->
+“Oh, no,” said Tony. “I wouldn’t take it if you’d
+give it to me.”</p>
+
+<p>“You wouldn’t? Why not?”</p>
+
+<p>“Because you need it yourself. If you were a rich man
+it would be different.”</p>
+
+<p>“So it would,” said old Hayden. “You’re a good boy&mdash;an
+excellent boy. I’ll trust you. You can stay.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then let us eat supper,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>He sat down on the doorstep and gave the old man half
+of his supply of food. He was interested to see the avidity
+with which he ate it.</p>
+
+<p>Is it good?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p>I haven’t eaten anything so good for a long time. I
+couldn’t afford to buy food.”</p>
+
+<p>“I am sorry for you.”</p>
+
+<p>“You haven’t got any left for breakfast.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, somebody will give me breakfast,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Do you travel round all the time?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes; but I hope to get a chance to go to work soon.
+I’d rather live in one place.”</p>
+
+<p>“You might live with me, if I were not so poor.”</p>
+
+<p>“Thank you,” answered Tony politely, but it did not
+appear that it was such a home as he would choose.</p>
+
+<p>Do you live alone?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>“I didn’t know but you might be married.”</p>
+
+<p>“I was married but my wife died long ago.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why don’t you marry again?” inquired Tony.</p>
+
+<p>I couldn’t afford it,” answered Hayden, frightened at
+the suggestion. “Women have terrible appetites.”</p>
+
+<p>“Have they?” returned Tony, amused.</p>
+
+<p>And I can’t get enough for myself to eat.”</p>
+
+<p>“Have you always lived here?”</p>
+
+<p>“No; I lived in England when I was a young man.”</p>
+
+<p>“What made you leave it?”</p>
+
+<p>“Why do you ask me that?” demanded old Ben.</p>
+
+<p><!--039.png-->
+“Oh, if it’s a secret, don’t tell me,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Who said it was a secret?” said the old man irritably.</p>
+
+<p>Nobody that I know of.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then why do you ask me such questions?”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t answer anything you don’t want to,” said our
+hero. “I only asked for the sake of saying something.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t mind telling,” said old Ben, more calmly. “It
+was because I was so poor. I thought I could do better in
+America.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you own this place?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, but it’s a very poor place. It isn’t worth much.”</p>
+
+<p>“I shouldn’t think it was,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>You’re a good lad. You see how poor I am.”</p>
+
+<p>“Of course I do, and I’m sorry for you. I would help
+you only I am very poor myself.”</p>
+
+<p>“Have you got any money?” asked Ben, with interest.</p>
+
+<p>I’ve got five cents,” answered Tony, laughing. “I
+hope you’ve got more than that.”</p>
+
+<p>“A little more&mdash;a very little more,” said Ben.</p>
+
+<p>The old miser began to consider whether he couldn’t
+charge Tony five cents for his lodging, but sighed at the
+recollection that Tony had already paid for it in advance
+by giving him a supper.</p>
+
+<p>At eight o’clock the miser suggested going to bed.</p>
+
+<p>I haven’t any lights,” he said; “candles cost so much.
+Besides, a body’s better off in bed.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m willing to go to bed,” said Tony. “I’ve walked a
+good deal to-day, and I’m tired.”</p>
+
+<p>They went into the house. There was a heap of rags in
+the corner of the room when they entered.</p>
+
+<p>That’s my bed,” said old Ben; “it’s all I have.”</p>
+
+<p>“I can sleep on the floor,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>He took off his jacket, rolled it up for a pillow, and
+stretched himself out on the bare floor. He had often
+slept so before.</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter"><!--040.png-->
+
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Eight">VIII</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">TONY HIRES OUT</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Tony</span> was not slow in going to sleep. Neither his hard
+bed nor his strange bedchamber troubled him.</p>
+
+<p>Generally he slept all night without awakening, but to-night,
+for some unknown reason, he awoke about two
+o’clock. It was unusually light for that hour, and so he
+was enabled to see what at first startled him. The old
+man had raised a plank forming a part of the flooring, and
+had lifted from beneath it a canvas bag full of gold pieces.
+He was taking them out and counting them, apparently
+quite unconscious of Tony’s presence.</p>
+
+<p>Tony raised himself on his elbow, and looked at him.
+It occurred to him that for a man so suspicious it was
+strange that he should expose his hoard before a stranger.
+Something, however, in the old man’s look led him to think
+that he was in a sleep-walking fit.</p>
+
+<p>Ninety-five, ninety-six, ninety-seven,” Tony heard him
+count; “that makes nine hundred and seventy dollars, all
+gold, good, beautiful gold. Nobody knows the old man is
+so rich. There’s another bag, too. There are one hundred
+pieces in that. Three more and this will be full, too.
+Nobody must know, nobody must know.”</p>
+
+<p>He put back the pieces, replaced the bag in its hiding
+place, and then, putting back the plank, lay down once
+more on his heap of rags.</p>
+
+<p>How uneasy he would be,” thought Tony, “if he knew
+I had seen his treasures. But I wouldn’t rob him for the
+world, although the money would do me good, and he
+makes no use of it except to look at it.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony slept till six when he was awakened by a piteous
+groaning.</p>
+
+<p><!--041.png-->
+“What’s the matter?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Who’s there?” demanded Ben, terrified.</p>
+
+<p>It’s only I. Don’t you remember you let me sleep
+here last night?”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, yes. I remember now. I’m sick; very sick.”</p>
+
+<p>“How do you feel?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m aching and trembling all over. Do you think I’m
+going to die?” he asked, with a startled look.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, no, I guess not,” said Tony reassuringly.</p>
+
+<p>I never felt so before,” groaned Ben. “I’m an old
+man. Don’t you really think I shall die?”</p>
+
+<p>Tony knew nothing of medicines or of diseases, but he
+had the sense to understand that the old man would be
+more likely to recover if his terror could be allayed, and
+he said lightly:</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, it’s only a trifle. You’ve taken cold, very likely.
+A cup of hot tea would be good for you.”</p>
+
+<p>“I haven’t any tea,” groaned Ben. “It costs a great
+deal, and I’m very poor. I can’t afford to buy it.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony smiled, remembering the hoard of gold.</p>
+
+<p>I guess you’ve got some money,” said Tony. “You’d
+better let me go to the store, and buy some tea and a fresh
+roll for you.”</p>
+
+<p>“How much will it cost?” asked Ben.</p>
+
+<p>I can get some bread, and tea, and sugar for thirty
+or forty cents,” answered Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Forty cents! It’s frightful!” exclaimed Ben. “I&mdash;I
+guess I’ll do without it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, well, if you prefer to lie there and die, it’s none of
+my business,” said Tony, rather provoked.</p>
+
+<p>But I don’t want to die,” whined Ben.</p>
+
+<p>Then do as I tell you.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony jumped up, unrolled his coat and put it on.</p>
+
+<p>Now,” he said, “I’m ready to go for you, if you’ll
+give me the money.”</p>
+
+<p>“But you may take it and not come back.”</p>
+
+<p><!--042.png-->
+“If you think you can’t trust me, you needn’t.”</p>
+
+<p>“I think I’ll go myself,” said Ben.</p>
+
+<p>He tried to raise himself, but a twinge of pain compelled
+him to lie down again.</p>
+
+<p>No, I can’t,” he said.</p>
+
+<p>Well, do you want me to go for you?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes,” answered Ben reluctantly.</p>
+
+<p>Then give me the money.”</p>
+
+<p>Ben produced twenty-five cents from his pocket.</p>
+
+<p>Isn’t that enough?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Better give me more,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>He produced ten cents more, and vowed it was all the
+money he had in the world.</p>
+
+<p>Tony decided not to contradict his assertion, but to
+make this go as far as it would. He put on his hat and
+started out. He meant also to stop at the doctor’s, and
+ask him to call round, for he thought it possible that the
+old man might be seriously sick.</p>
+
+<p>After he left the grocery store, he called at the house
+of the village doctor.</p>
+
+<p>Old Ben sick?” said Dr. Compton. “How did you
+happen to be in his house?”</p>
+
+<p>Tony explained.</p>
+
+<p>He has been repaid for taking you in,” said the doctor.
+“I’ll put on my hat and go right over with you.”</p>
+
+<p>After Tony left the house, old Ben tormented himself
+with the thought that the boy would never come back.</p>
+
+<p>He was relieved by seeing the door open and Tony enter.
+But he looked dismayed when he saw the doctor.</p>
+
+<p>What did you come for?” he asked peevishly.</p>
+
+<p>To see what I can do for you, Mr. Hayden.”</p>
+
+<p>“But I can’t pay you,” whined old Ben.</p>
+
+<p>We’ll talk about that afterward.”</p>
+
+<p>“You can’t charge when I didn’t send for you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Make your mind easy. I won’t charge for this visit.
+Let me feel your pulse.”</p>
+
+<p><!--043.png-->
+Old Ben no longer opposed medical treatment, finding it
+would cost nothing.</p>
+
+<p>Am I going to die?” he asked, with an anxious look.</p>
+
+<p>You need nourishing food and care, that is all,” was
+the reply. “You have had a chill, and you are reduced
+by insufficient food.”</p>
+
+<p>“I have some bread and tea here,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Then make a fire and boil the tea. And, by the way,
+Mr. Hayden needs somebody for a few days. Can you
+look after him?”</p>
+
+<p>“If he will give me money enough to buy what he
+needs,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Old Ben whined that he was poor, and had no money,
+but the doctor interrupted him impatiently.</p>
+
+<p>That’s all nonsense,” he said. “You may not have
+much money, but you’ve got some, and you’ll die if you
+don’t spend some on yourself. If you don’t agree to it I
+shall advise this boy here to leave you to your fate. Then
+your only resource will be to go to the poorhouse.”</p>
+
+<p>This proposal was not acceptable to Ben, who was unwilling
+to leave the house where his treasures were concealed.
+He, therefore, reluctantly acceded to the doctor’s
+conditions, and Tony got his breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>Well,” thought Tony to himself, with a smile, “I’ve
+got a situation as plain cook and housekeeper. I wonder
+how long it will last, and what’ll come of it. I don’t believe
+Rudolph will look for me here.”</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Nine">IX</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">THE FACE AT THE WINDOW</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Tony</span> was not only cook and housekeeper, but he was
+sick nurse as well. Nor were his duties easy. The main
+difficulty was about getting money to buy what was absolutely
+<!--044.png-->
+necessary. This was very irritating, especially
+since Tony knew about Ben’s hidden treasure.</p>
+
+<p>One morning Tony went to Ben for money, saying:</p>
+
+<p>“There isn’t a scrap of food in the house except a little
+tea.”</p>
+
+<p>“You can make some tea. That will do,” said Ben.</p>
+
+<p>It may do for you, but it won’t for me.”</p>
+
+<p>“It costs a sight to support two people.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t know about that. I’ve only spent two dollars
+in six days. You don’t call that much, do you?”</p>
+
+<p>“Two dollars!” ejaculated the old man, terrified.
+“Oh, it’s too much. I am ruined!”</p>
+
+<p>“Are you?” said Tony coolly. “Then all I can say
+is, you’re easily ruined. I want half a dollar.”</p>
+
+<p>“I shan’t give it to you,” snarled Ben.</p>
+
+<p>Do you mean to starve?”</p>
+
+<p>“I won’t part with all I have. You are robbing me.”</p>
+
+<p>“That won’t make much difference, as you’ll be dead in
+three days,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>What?” almost shrieked Ben, in dismay. “Who told
+you so? The doctor?”</p>
+
+<p>“No.”</p>
+
+<p>“You ain’t goin’ to murder me, are you?”</p>
+
+<p>“No; you are going to murder yourself.”</p>
+
+<p>“What do you mean?” demanded Ben peevishly.</p>
+
+<p>You’re not willing to buy anything to eat,” explained
+Tony, “and you can’t live above three days on nothing.”</p>
+
+<p>“Is that all? What made you frighten me so?”</p>
+
+<p>“I only told you the truth. Are you going to give
+me the money?”</p>
+
+<p>“Perhaps you’ll tell me where I’m going to get so much
+money?” said Ben, in the same tone.</p>
+
+<p>I will tell you if you want me to,” answered Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Where?” asked Ben eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>Under the floor,” returned Tony composedly.</p>
+
+<p>What!” screamed Ben, in consternation.</p>
+
+<p><!--045.png-->
+“Just where I said. There’s plenty of money under
+that plank.”</p>
+
+<p>“Who told you?” groaned the old man, livid with terror.
+“Have&mdash;have you taken any?”</p>
+
+<p>“Not a dollar. It’s all there.”</p>
+
+<p>“Have you been spying when I was asleep?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, I haven’t. That ain’t my style.”</p>
+
+<p>“How could you find out, then?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll tell you. The first night I was here, you got up
+in your sleep and took up the board. Then you drew out
+two bags of gold pieces and counted them.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, I’m ruined! I’m undone!” lamented Ben.</p>
+
+<p>I don’t see how you are.”</p>
+
+<p>“I shall be robbed. There’s only a little there&mdash;only a
+few dollars to bury me.”</p>
+
+<p>“I guess you mean to have a tall funeral,” said Tony
+coolly. “There’s a thousand dollars there.”</p>
+
+<p>“No, no, only fifty,” answered the old man.</p>
+
+<p>There’s no use talking, I know better. If you don’t
+believe it, suppose I count the pieces.”</p>
+
+<p>“No, no!”</p>
+
+<p>“Just as you say. As it is, you’ve got plenty of money,
+and I know it, and if you ain’t willing to use some of it,
+I’ll go off and leave you alone.”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t go,” said Ben hastily. “You’re a good boy.
+You wouldn’t rob a poor old man, would you?”</p>
+
+<p>“Nor a rich old man either, but I don’t mean to starve.
+So give me fifty cents and I’ll get some fresh bread and
+butter, and tea and sugar.”</p>
+
+<p>“No matter about the butter. It costs too much.”</p>
+
+<p>“I want butter myself. My constitution requires
+it,” said Tony. “You needn’t eat it if you don’t want
+to.”</p>
+
+<p>Ben groaned again, but he produced the money required,
+and Tony soon returned from the grocery store
+with small supplies of the articles he had named.</p>
+
+<p><!--046.png-->
+“Now we’ll have some breakfast,” said Tony cheerfully.
+“Don’t you feel hungry?”</p>
+
+<p>“A&mdash;a little,” acknowledged Ben reluctantly. “I wish
+I wasn’t. It costs so much to live.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t think it costs you much,” said Tony. “This
+morning I’m going to give you a boiled egg.”</p>
+
+<p>“I can’t afford it,” groaned the old man.</p>
+
+<p>You may as well eat it, as it’s here.”</p>
+
+<p>“How much did you pay?”</p>
+
+<p>“Three cents for two.”</p>
+
+<p>Ben groaned again, but when breakfast was ready he
+showed an unusually good appetite, and did not refrain
+from partaking of the egg, expensive as it was.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Compton came in the next morning, and pronounced
+the old man better and stronger.</p>
+
+<p>Shall I be able to get up soon, doctor?” asked Ben.</p>
+
+<p>In a day or two, I think.”</p>
+
+<p>Ben heaved a sigh of relief.</p>
+
+<p>I’m glad of it,” he said. “I can’t afford to be sick.”</p>
+
+<p>“Has it cost you much?” asked the doctor, amused.</p>
+
+<p>It costs a sight to live. He eats a good deal.”</p>
+
+<p>“He’s a growing boy; but he’s worth all he costs you.
+You’d better ask him to stay with you a few weeks.”</p>
+
+<p>“No, no; I can’t afford it,” said Ben hastily. “He’s a
+good boy; but he’s very hearty&mdash;very hearty.”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t vex him, doctor,” said our hero. “I’m tired of
+staying here. I want to get out on the road again.”</p>
+
+<p>Ben looked relieved.</p>
+
+<p>Right, boy,” he said&mdash;“you’re right. It’s a dull place.
+You’ll be better off to go.”</p>
+
+<p>“You have been lucky to have him here during your
+sickness,” said the doctor. “Without his care, or that of
+some one else, you would probably have died.”</p>
+
+<p>“But I won’t die now?” asked old Ben anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>Not at present, I hope. But you must live better
+than you have been accustomed to do.”</p>
+
+<p><!--047.png-->
+“I shall be glad to get away,” said Tony hurriedly, to
+the doctor, outside of the house. “I’m used to tramping,
+and I can’t stand it much longer. There’s one thing I
+want to tell you before I go.”</p>
+
+<p>“Go on, my boy.”</p>
+
+<p>“I am afraid the old man will be robbed sometime.”</p>
+
+<p>“Is there anything to steal?”</p>
+
+<p>Tony, in a low tone, imparted to Dr. Compton the discovery
+he had made of the miser’s hoards.</p>
+
+<p>I suspected as much,” said the doctor. “I will do
+what I can to induce Ben to have the gold moved to a
+place of safety, but I don’t feel confident of my ability
+to do it. Such men generally like to have their hoards
+within their own reach.”</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>Two nights later Tony awoke shortly after midnight.
+It was a bright, moonlight night, as on the first night he
+slept there. Again he saw Ben crouched on the floor,
+engaged in counting his hoards. The old man had recovered
+enough strength to get out of bed without assistance.
+This time, he was broad awake.</p>
+
+<p>Tony was not the only witness of the spectacle. Casting
+his eyes toward the window, he was startled by seeing
+a dark, sinister face pressed against the pane, almost devouring
+the old man and his gold.</p>
+
+<p>It was the face of Rudolph, the tramp!</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Ten">X</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">RUDOLPH’S UNEXPECTED DEFEAT</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">“Has</span> Rudolph tracked me, or is it only accident that
+has brought him here?”</p>
+
+<p>This was the thought which naturally suggested itself
+to our hero, as in a very disturbed state of mind he stared
+at Rudolph through the uncertain light.</p>
+
+<p><!--048.png-->
+Tony felt the difficulties of the position. Not only
+would the gold be taken, but, he, too, would fall into the
+power of the tramp.</p>
+
+<p>Old Ben had not yet discovered the sinister face at the
+window. He was too busily occupied with his pleasant
+employment of counting over his gold.</p>
+
+<p>But he was speedily aroused by the noise of the window
+being raised from the outside.</p>
+
+<p>Then he turned with a startled look, which quickly
+deepened into astonishment and dismay, as he caught the
+lowering look fixed upon him. There was more than this.
+There was recognition besides.</p>
+
+<p>You here?” he gasped.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, Ben, it’s me. May I come in?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, no!” ejaculated the old man hastily.</p>
+
+<p>I think I must,” returned the tramp, in the same
+mocking tone. “I came to see you as an old friend, but
+I never dreamed you were so rich.”</p>
+
+<p>“Rich!” repeated Ben. “I’m very poor.”</p>
+
+<p>“That looks like it.”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s only a few dollars&mdash;enough to bury me.”</p>
+
+<p>“Very well, Ben, I’ll take charge of it, and when you
+need burial I’ll attend to it. That’s fair, isn’t it?”</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph, who had paused outside, now raised the window
+to its full height, and, despite the old man’s terrified
+exclamations, bounded lightly into the room.</p>
+
+<p>Help! help! thieves!” screamed Ben.</p>
+
+<p>Hold your jaw, you driveling old idiot!” said Rudolph,
+“or I’ll give you something to yell about.”</p>
+
+<p>“Help, Tony, help!” continued the old man.</p>
+
+<p>The tramp’s eyes, following the direction of Ben’s, discovered
+our hero on his rude bed in the corner.</p>
+
+<p>Ho, ho!” he laughed, with a mirth that boded ill to
+Tony, “so I’ve found you at last, have I? You served
+me a nice trick the other day, didn’t you?”</p>
+
+<p>“I hoped I should never set eyes on you again.”</p>
+
+<p><!--049.png-->
+“I’ve no doubt you did. You undertook to run away
+from me, did you? I knew I should come across you
+sooner or later.”</p>
+
+<p>While this conversation was going on Ben glanced from
+one to the other in surprise, his attention momentarily
+drawn away from his own troubles.</p>
+
+<p>Do you know this boy, Rudolph?” he inquired.</p>
+
+<p>I should think I did,” answered the tramp grimly.</p>
+
+<p>Who is he?” asked Ben, evidently excited.</p>
+
+<p>What’s that to you?” returned Rudolph. “It’s a
+boy I picked up, and have taken care of, and this is his
+gratitude to me. A few days since he ran away from me,
+and I’ve had a long chase to find him.”</p>
+
+<p>“Is this true?” asked Ben, turning to Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Some of it is true,” said our hero. “I’ve been with
+him ever since I could remember, and I ran away because
+he wanted me to join him in robbing a house. He calls
+me his son, but I know he is not my father.”</p>
+
+<p>“How do you know?” demanded the tramp sternly.</p>
+
+<p>Didn’t you say so just now?”</p>
+
+<p>“It was none of the old man’s business, and I didn’t
+care what I told him.”</p>
+
+<p>“There’s something within me tells me that there’s no
+relationship between us,” said Tony boldly.</p>
+
+<p>Is there, indeed? Is there anything within you tells
+you you are going to get a good flogging?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, there isn’t.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then you needn’t trust it, for that is just what is
+going to happen.”</p>
+
+<p>He advanced toward Tony in a threatening manner,
+when he was diverted from his purpose by seeing the
+old man hastily gathering up the gold. Punishment
+could wait, he thought, but the gold must be secured
+now.</p>
+
+<p>Not so fast, Ben!” he said. “You must lend me some
+of that.”</p>
+
+<p><!--050.png-->
+“I can’t,” said Ben, hurrying all the faster. “It’s all
+I have, and I am very poor.”</p>
+
+<p>“I am poorer still, for I haven’t a red to bless myself
+with. Come, I won’t take all, but some I must have.”</p>
+
+<p>He stooped over and began to grasp at the gold pieces,
+some of which were heaped up in piles upon the floor.</p>
+
+<p>Even the weakest are capable of harm when exasperated,
+and Ben was gifted with preternatural strength
+when he saw himself likely to lose the hoards of a lifetime,
+and his anger rose to fever heat against the scoundrel
+whom he had known years before.</p>
+
+<p>With a cry like that of a wild beast, he sprang upon
+the tramp, who, in his crouching position, was unable to
+defend himself against a sudden attack. Rudolph fell
+backward, striking his head with great force against the
+brick hearth and he lay insensible, with the blood gushing
+from a wound in his head.</p>
+
+<p>The old man stood appalled at the consequence of his
+sudden attack.</p>
+
+<p>Have I killed him? Shall I be hanged?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, he’s only stunned,” said Tony, with all his wits
+about him. “We have no time to lose.”</p>
+
+<p>“To run away? I can’t leave my gold,” said Ben.</p>
+
+<p>I don’t mean that. We must secure him. Have you
+got some stout cord?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, yes,” said Ben, beginning to understand our
+hero’s design. “Stay, I’ll get it right away.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’d better, for he may come to at any minute.”</p>
+
+<p>The old man fumbled round until in some out-of-the-way
+corner he discovered a quantity of stout cord.</p>
+
+<p>The boy set to work with rapid hands to tie the prostrate
+tramp hand and foot.</p>
+
+<p>How brave you are,” exclaimed the old man, admiringly.
+“I wouldn’t dare to touch him.”</p>
+
+<p>“Nor I, if he were awake. I didn’t think you were so
+strong. He went over as if he were shot.”</p>
+
+<p><!--051.png-->
+“Did he?” asked the old man, bewildered.</p>
+
+<p>It’s lucky for us you threw yourself upon him as you
+did. A little more cord, Mr. Hayden. I want to tie him
+securely. You’d better be gathering up that gold, and
+putting it away before he comes to.”</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely was the money put away in its place of concealment
+when the tramp recovered from his fit of unconsciousness,
+and looked stupidly around him. Then he
+tried to move, and found himself hampered by his bonds.
+Looking up, he met the terrified gaze of old Ben, and the
+steady glance of Tony. Then the real state of the case
+flashed upon him, and he was filled with an overpowering
+rage at the audacity of his late charge, to whom he rightly
+attributed his present humiliating plight.</p>
+
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Eleven">XI</abbr></h3>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h4 class="h4head">CAPTURED AT LAST</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">“Let</span> me up!” roared Rudolph, struggling vigorously
+with the cords that bound him.</p>
+
+<p>Ben was terrified by his demonstration, and had half a
+mind to comply with his demand.</p>
+
+<p>Don’t you do it, Mr. Hayden!” Tony exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>What, young jackanapes!” said the tramp, scowling
+fiercely. “You dare to give him this advice?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, I do,” said Tony boldly. “He will be a fool if
+he releases you.”</p>
+
+<p>“If he don’t I’ll kill him, and you, too.”</p>
+
+<p>“What shall I do?” added Ben helplessly.</p>
+
+<p>Do you know what he’ll do if you untie him?”</p>
+
+<p>“What will I do?” demanded Rudolph.</p>
+
+<p>You will steal this old man’s money. It was what you
+were about to do when you fell over backward.”</p>
+
+<p>“He threw me over,” said the tramp.</p>
+
+<p><!--052.png-->
+“I’m very sorry,” stammered Ben.</p>
+
+<p>If you’re very sorry untie them cords, and let me up.”</p>
+
+<p>“I didn’t tie you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Who did?”</p>
+
+<p>“The&mdash;the boy.”</p>
+
+<p>“You dared to do it!” exclaimed Rudolph.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, I did,” said Tony calmly. “It was the only way
+to keep you out of mischief.”</p>
+
+<p>“Insolent puppy; if I only had my hands free I would
+strangle you both.”</p>
+
+<p>“You hear what he says?” said Tony, turning to old
+Ben. “Are you in favor of untying him now?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, no!” exclaimed Ben, trembling. “He is a dreadful
+man. Oh, why did he come here?”</p>
+
+<p>“I came for your gold, you fool, and I’ll have it.”</p>
+
+<p>“What shall I do?” asked the old man, wringing his
+hands in the excess of his terror.</p>
+
+<p>Let me up, and I won’t hurt you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Just now you said you would strangle the both of us,
+Rudolph.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll strangle you, you cub, but I will do no harm to
+the old man.”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t you trust him, Mr. Hayden,” said Tony. “He
+will promise anything to get free, but he will forget all
+about it when he is unbound.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’d like to choke you!” muttered Rudolph.</p>
+
+<p>I’ll go and call for help to arrest him,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>And leave me alone with him?” asked Ben, terrified.</p>
+
+<p>No, we will lock the door, and you shall go and stay
+outside till I come back.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony’s proposal was distasteful to Rudolph. He had a
+wholesome dread of the law, and didn’t fancy the prospect
+of an arrest. He made a fresh and violent struggle which
+portended danger to his captors.</p>
+
+<p>Come out quick,” said Tony hastily. “It is not safe
+for you to stay here any longer.”</p>
+
+<p><!--053.png-->
+The old man followed him nothing loath, and Tony
+locked the door on the outside.</p>
+
+<p>Do you think he will get free?” asked Ben nervously.</p>
+
+<p>He may, and if he does there is no safety for either
+of us till he is caught again.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, my gold! my gold!” groaned Ben. “He may
+get it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, he may; our only hope is to secure him as soon
+as possible.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m so weak I can’t go fast.”</p>
+
+<p>“You must conceal yourself and let me run on.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t know of any place.”</p>
+
+<p>“Here’s a place. You will be safe here till I come
+for you.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony pointed to an old ruined shed.</p>
+
+<p>Will you be sure and come for me?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, don’t be alarmed. Only don’t show yourself till
+you hear my voice.”</p>
+
+<p>Ben crept into the temporary shelter, glad that in his
+weakened condition he should not be obliged to go any
+further. He tormented himself with the thought that even
+now the desperate tramp might be robbing him of his
+treasures. Still he had great confidence in Tony and hope
+was mingled with his terror.</p>
+
+<p>He’s a brave boy,” he murmured. “I am glad he was
+with me, though he does eat a sight.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony hurried on to the village, where he lost no time in
+arousing a sufficient number to effect the capture of the
+burglar. He no longer felt any compunction in turning
+against his quondam guardian.</p>
+
+<p>I owe him nothing,” thought Tony. “What has he
+ever done for me? He is not my father. Probably he
+kidnaped me from my real home, and has made me an
+outcast and a tramp like himself.”</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Rudolph was not idle.</p>
+
+<p>It may be thought strange that he should have so much
+<!--054.png-->
+difficulty in freeing himself from the cords with which
+Tony had bound him. But it must be remembered that
+the boy had done his work well.</p>
+
+<p>After he had been locked in, Rudolph set to work energetically
+to obtain release. He succeeded in raising himself
+to his feet, but as his ankles were tied together, this
+did not do him much good. He tried to break the cords;
+but the only result was to chafe his wrists.</p>
+
+<p>What a fool I am!” he exclaimed, at length. “The
+old man must have some table knives about somewhere.
+With these I can cut the cords.”</p>
+
+<p>When found, they proved so dull that even if he had
+had free use of one of his hands, it would not have been
+found easy to make them of service. But when added to
+this was the embarrassment of his fettered hands, it will
+not excite surprise that it required a long time to sever
+the tough cords which bound him. But success came at
+length.</p>
+
+<p>Now for revenge!” thought the tramp. “The boy
+shall rue this night’s task, or my name is not Rudolph.”</p>
+
+<p>But, angry as he was, and thirsting as he did for vengeance,
+he did not forget the object which had drawn him
+thither. Whatever else he might do, he must secure the
+miser’s gold.</p>
+
+<p>He removed the plank, and there, beneath him lay the
+much-coveted bags of golden treasure.</p>
+
+<p>These,” he said to himself, “will carry me back to
+England, and provide for me like a gentleman, till I can
+get some more.”</p>
+
+<p>He rose from the floor, and, with the bags in his hand,
+jumped out of the still open window.</p>
+
+<p>But he was too late. Two strong men seized him, each
+by an arm, and said sternly:</p>
+
+<p>“You are our prisoner!”</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter"><!--055.png-->
+
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Twelve">XII</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">TONY STARTS OUT ONCE MORE</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">After</span> Rudolph’s seizure Ben discovered the bags of
+gold in the hands of the tramp.</p>
+
+<p>Give me my money!” he shrieked.</p>
+
+<p>It’s safe, Ben,” said one of the captors. “But who
+would have supposed you had so much money?”</p>
+
+<p>“It isn’t much,” faltered the old man.</p>
+
+<p>The bags are pretty heavy,” was the significant rejoinder.
+“Will you take two hundred dollars apiece for
+them?”</p>
+
+<p>“No,” said the old man, embarrassed.</p>
+
+<p>Then there is considerable after all. But never mind.
+Take better care of them hereafter.”</p>
+
+<p>Ben stooped to pick up the bags. He had got hold of
+them when the tramp aimed a kick at him which completely
+upset him.</p>
+
+<p>Even though he fell, however, he did not lose his grip
+of the bags, but clung to them while crying with pain.</p>
+
+<p>Take that, you old fool!” muttered the tramp. “It’s
+the first installment of the debt I owe you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Take him away, take him away! He will murder
+me!” exclaimed old Ben, in terror.</p>
+
+<p>Come along. You’ve done mischief enough,” said his
+captors, sternly, forcing the tramp along.</p>
+
+<p>I’ll do more yet,” muttered Rudolph.</p>
+
+<p>He turned to Tony, who stood at a little distance.</p>
+
+<p>I’ve got a score to settle with you, young traitor.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m sorry for you, Rudolph,” said Tony; “but you’ve
+brought it on yourself.”</p>
+
+<p>“Bah! you hypocrite!” retorted the tramp. “I don’t
+want any of your sorrow. It won’t save you when the
+day of reckoning comes.”</p>
+
+<p><!--056.png-->
+He was not allowed to say more, but was hurried away
+to the village lockup for detention.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Compton was among the party who had been summoned
+by Tony. He lingered behind, and took Ben apart.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Hayden,” he said, “I want to give you a piece of
+advice.”</p>
+
+<p>“What is it?” asked the old man.</p>
+
+<p>Don’t keep this gold in your house. It isn’t safe.”</p>
+
+<p>“Who do you think will take it?” asked Ben.</p>
+
+<p>None of those here this morning, unless this tramp
+should escape from custody.”</p>
+
+<p>“If he don’t, what danger is there?”</p>
+
+<p>“It will get about that you have money secreted here,
+and I venture to say it will be stolen before three months
+are over.”</p>
+
+<p>“It will kill me,” said Ben piteously.</p>
+
+<p>Then put it out of reach of danger.”</p>
+
+<p>“Where?”</p>
+
+<p>“I am going over to the county town, where there is a
+bank. Deposit it there, and whenever you want any go
+and get it.”</p>
+
+<p>“But banks break sometimes,” said Ben, in alarm.</p>
+
+<p>This is an old established institution. You need not
+be afraid of it.”</p>
+
+<p>“But I can’t see the money&mdash;I can’t count it.”</p>
+
+<p>“You can see the deposit record in a book. Even if
+that doesn’t suit you as well, you can sleep comfortably,
+knowing that you are not liable to be attacked and murdered
+by burglars.”</p>
+
+<p>The old man vacillated, but finally yielded to the force
+of the doctor’s reasoning. A day or two later he rode
+over to the neighboring town, and saw his precious gold
+deposited in the vaults of the bank.</p>
+
+<p>We are anticipating, however.</p>
+
+<p>When the confusion incident to the arrest was over,
+Tony came forward.</p>
+
+<p><!--057.png-->
+“Mr. Hayden,” he said, “you are so much better that
+I think you can spare me now.”</p>
+
+<p>“But suppose Rudolph comes back.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t think he can. He will be put in prison.”</p>
+
+<p>“I suppose he will. What a bold, bad man.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, he is a bad man, but I’m sorry for him.”</p>
+
+<p>“How did you come to be with him?”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t know, I have been with him as long as I can
+remember. You used to know him, didn’t you?”</p>
+
+<p>“A little,” said the old man hastily.</p>
+
+<p>Where was it?”</p>
+
+<p>“In England&mdash;long ago.”</p>
+
+<p>“In England. Was he born in England?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you think I am English, too?”</p>
+
+<p>“I think so; yes, I think so,” answered Ben cautiously.</p>
+
+<p>Have you any idea who I am&mdash;who were my parents?”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t trouble me now,” said Ben peevishly. “I am
+not well. My head is confused. Some day I will think it
+over and tell you what I know.”</p>
+
+<p>“But if I am not here?”</p>
+
+<p>“I will write it down, and give it to the doctor.”</p>
+
+<p>“That will do,” said Tony. “I know he will keep it
+for me. Now, good-by.”</p>
+
+<p>“Are you going?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, I have my own way to make in the world. I
+can’t live on you any longer.”</p>
+
+<p>“To be sure not,” said Ben. “I am too poor to feed
+two persons, and you have a very large appetite.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes,” said Tony, laughing, “I believe I have a
+healthy appetite. I’m growing, you know.”</p>
+
+<p>“It must be that. What is your name?”</p>
+
+<p>“That is more than I know. I have always been called
+Tony, or Tony the Tramp. Rudolph’s last name is Rugg,
+and he pretends that I am his son.”</p>
+
+<p><!--058.png-->
+“You are not his son. He never had any son.”</p>
+
+<p>“I am glad to hear that. I shan’t have to say now
+that my father is in jail. Good-by, Mr. Hayden.”</p>
+
+<p>“Good-by,” said Ben, following the boy thoughtfully
+with his eyes, till he had disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>With a light heart, and a pocket still lighter, Tony
+walked on for several miles. Then he stopped at a country
+grocery store, and bought five cents’ worth of crackers.
+These he ate with a good appetite, slaking his thirst
+at a wayside spring.</p>
+
+<p>He was lying carelessly on the greensward when a tin
+peddler’s cart drove slowly along the road.</p>
+
+<p>Hello, there!” said the peddler.</p>
+
+<p>Hello!” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Do you want a lift?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes,” said Tony, with alacrity.</p>
+
+<p>Then get up here. There’s room enough for both of
+us. You can hold the reins when I stop anywhere.”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s a bargain,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Are you travelin’ for pleasure?”</p>
+
+<p>“On business,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>What is your business?”</p>
+
+<p>“I want to find work,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>You’re a good, stout youngster. You’d ought to get
+something to do.”</p>
+
+<p>“So I think,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Got any folks?”</p>
+
+<p>“If you mean wife and children, I haven’t,” answered
+our hero, with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>Ho, ho!” laughed the peddler. “I guess not. I mean
+father or mother, uncles or aunts, and such like.”</p>
+
+<p>“No, I am alone in the world.”</p>
+
+<p>“Sho! you don’t say so. Well, that’s a pity. Why,
+I’ve got forty-’leven cousins and a mother-in-law to boot.
+I’ll sell her cheap.”</p>
+
+<p>“Never mind!” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p><!--059.png-->
+“I’ll tell you what,” said the peddler, “I feel interested
+in you. I’ll take you round with me for a day or two,
+and maybe I can get you a place. What do you say?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, and thank you,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Then it’s settled. Gee up, Dobbin!”</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Thirteen">XIII</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">TONY GETS A PLACE</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Toward</span> the close of the next day the tin peddler halted
+in front of a country tavern.</p>
+
+<p>I’m going to stay here overnight,” he said.</p>
+
+<p>Maybe they’ll let me sleep in the barn,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>In the barn! Why not in the house?”</p>
+
+<p>“I haven’t got any money, you know Mr. Bickford.”</p>
+
+<p>“What’s the odds? They won’t charge anything extra
+for you to sleep with me.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’re very kind, Mr. Bickford, but they won’t keep
+me for nothing, and I don’t want you to pay for me.”</p>
+
+<p>At this moment the landlord came out on the piazza,
+and asked the hostler:</p>
+
+<p>“Where’s Tom?”</p>
+
+<p>“Gone home&mdash;says he’s sick,” answered James.</p>
+
+<p>Drat that boy! It’s my opinion he was born lazy.
+That’s what’s the matter with him.”</p>
+
+<p>“I guess you’re right, Mr. Porter,” said James.</p>
+
+<p>I wouldn’t take him back if I had anybody to take his
+place.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you hear that, Tony?” said the peddler.</p>
+
+<p>Tony walked to the landlord and said:</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll take his place.”</p>
+
+<p>“Who are you?” asked the landlord, in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>I have just come,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>What can you do?”</p>
+
+<p>“Anything you want me to do.”</p>
+
+<p><!--060.png-->
+“Have you any references?”</p>
+
+<p>“I can refer to him,” said Tony, pointing to the tin
+peddler.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, Mr. Bickford,” said the landlord, with a glance
+of recognition. “Well, that’s enough. I’ll take you.
+James, take this boy to the kitchen, and give him some
+supper. What’s your name, boy?”</p>
+
+<p>“Tony Rugg.”</p>
+
+<p>“Very well, Tony, I’ll give you three dollars a week
+and your board as long as we suit each other.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve got work sooner than I expected,” thought Tony.</p>
+
+<p>The hostler set him to work in the barn, and, though he
+was new to the work, he quickly understood what was
+wanted, and did it.</p>
+
+<p>You work twice as fast as Sam,” said the hostler.</p>
+
+<p>Won’t Sam be mad when he finds I have taken his
+place?” asked Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Probably he will, but it’s his own fault.”</p>
+
+<p>“Not if he’s sick.”</p>
+
+<p>“He’s no more sick than I am.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, I am glad he left a vacancy for me,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Where did you work last?” asked the hostler.</p>
+
+<p>Nowhere.”</p>
+
+<p>“Never worked? Then how did you live?”</p>
+
+<p>“I traveled with my guardian.”</p>
+
+<p>“Were you rich?” asked James.</p>
+
+<p>No; I just went round and lived as I could. I didn’t
+like it, but I couldn’t help it. I had to go where Rudolph
+chose to lead me.”</p>
+
+<p>“Where is he now?”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t know. I got tired of being a tramp, and ran
+away from him.”</p>
+
+<p>“You did right,” said James, who was a steady man,
+and looked forward to a snug home of his own ere long.
+“All the same, Mr. Porter wouldn’t have taken you if he
+had known you were a tramp.”</p>
+
+<p><!--061.png-->
+“I hope you won’t tell him, then.”</p>
+
+<p>“No; I won’t tell him. I want you to stay here.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony was assigned to a room in the attic. There were
+two beds in this chamber, one being occupied by James.
+He slept soundly, and was up betimes in the morning.
+After breakfast Mr. Bickford, the tin peddler, made ready
+to start.</p>
+
+<p>Good-by, Tony,” he said, in a friendly manner, “I’m
+glad you’ve got a place.”</p>
+
+<p>“I wouldn’t have got it if I hadn’t you to refer to.”</p>
+
+<p>“The landlord didn’t ask how long I’d known you,”
+said Bickford, smiling. “Good luck to you.”</p>
+
+<p>As the peddler drove away, Tony noticed a big, overgrown
+boy, who was just entering the hotel yard.</p>
+
+<p>That’s Sam,” said the hostler. “He don’t know he’s
+lost his place.”</p>
+
+<p>Sam was about two inches taller than Tony, red-haired,
+and freckled, with a big frame, loosely put together. He
+was a born bully, and many were the tricks he had played
+on smaller boys in the village.</p>
+
+<p>Sam strutted into the yard with the air of a proprietor.
+He took no particular notice of Tony, but accosted
+James. The latter made a signal to Tony to be silent.</p>
+
+<p>Well, have you just got along?” asked the hostler.</p>
+
+<p>Ye-es,” drawled Sam.</p>
+
+<p>What made you go home yesterday afternoon?”</p>
+
+<p>“I didn’t feel well,” said Sam nonchalantly.</p>
+
+<p>Do you think Mr. Porter can afford to pay you
+wages, and let you go home three times a week in the
+middle of the afternoon?”</p>
+
+<p>“I couldn’t work when I was sick of course.”</p>
+
+<p>“I suppose you have come to work this morning?”</p>
+
+<p>“Ye-es, but I can’t work very hard&mdash;I ain’t quite got
+over my headache.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then you’ll be glad to hear that you won’t have to
+work at all.”</p>
+
+<p><!--062.png-->
+“Ain’t there anything to do?” asked Sam.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, there’s plenty to do, but your services ain’t required.
+You’re bounced!”</p>
+
+<p>“What!” exclaimed Sam.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Porter’s got tired of your delicate health. It interferes
+too much with business. He’s got a tougher boy
+to take your place.”</p>
+
+<p>“Where is he?” demanded Sam.</p>
+
+<p>There,” answered the hostler, pointing out our hero,
+who stood quietly listening to the conversation.</p>
+
+<p>Sam regarded Tony with a contemptuous scowl.</p>
+
+<p>Who are you?” he demanded roughly.</p>
+
+<p>Your successor,” answered Tony coolly.</p>
+
+<p>What business had you to take my place?”</p>
+
+<p>“The landlord hired me.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t care if he did. He hired me first.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then you’d better go to him and complain about it.
+It’s none of my business&mdash;&#8203;&mdash;”
+
+“It’s my business,” said Sam, with emphasis.</p>
+
+<p>Just as you like.”</p>
+
+<p>“Will you give up the place?”</p>
+
+<p>“No,” said Tony. “You must think I’m a fool. What
+should I give it up for?”</p>
+
+<p>“Because it belongs to me.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t see that. I suppose Mr. Porter has a right
+to hire anybody he likes.”</p>
+
+<p>“He had no right to give you my place.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s his business. What shall I do next, James?”</p>
+
+<p>“Go and shake down some hay for the horses.”</p>
+
+<p>Sam walked off deeply incensed, muttering threats of
+vengeance against Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Three days later a boy entered the stable, and, calling
+for Tony, presented the following missive:</p>
+
+<p class="blockquote">“If you ain’t a coward, meet me to-morrow night at
+seven o’clock, back of the schoolhouse, and we’ll settle, by
+<!--063.png-->
+fighting, which shall have the place, you or I? If you
+get licked you must clear out and leave it to me.”</p>
+
+<p class="sigright">“<span class="sc">Sam Payson.</span>”</p>
+
+<p>Tony showed the note to the hostler.</p>
+
+<p>Well, Tony, what are you going to do about it?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll be on hand,” said Tony, promptly.</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Fourteen">XIV</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">THE BOYS’ DUEL</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Sam Payson</span> felt perfectly safe in challenging Tony
+to single combat. He had seen that he was two inches
+shorter and probably twenty pounds lighter. But appearances
+were deceitful, and he had no idea that Tony
+had received special training which he lacked.</p>
+
+<p>In the course of his wanderings Tony had attracted the
+attention of a pugilist.</p>
+
+<p>I’ll tell you what, Rudolph,” said the pugilist, “you
+can make something of that boy?”</p>
+
+<p>“How?” asked the tramp.</p>
+
+<p>I’ll teach him to box, and you can get an engagement
+for him in a circus.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do it if you like,” said the tramp.</p>
+
+<p>So Tony received a gratuitous course of lessons in boxing,
+which were at last interrupted by a little difficulty
+between his teacher and the officers of the law, resulting in
+the temporary confinement of the former. The lessons
+were never resumed, but they had gone so far that Tony
+was a skillful boxer for a boy.</p>
+
+<p>He, too, had measured Sam and felt quite sure of being
+able to conquer him, and that with ease. He did not,
+however, mention the grounds of his confidence to James,
+when the latter expressed some apprehension that he would
+find Sam too much for him.</p>
+
+<p><!--064.png-->
+“Don’t be alarmed, James,” said Tony quietly.</p>
+
+<p>He’s bigger than you,” said James doubtfully.</p>
+
+<p>I know that, but he’s clumsy.”</p>
+
+<p>“He’s slow, but he’s pretty strong.”</p>
+
+<p>“So am I.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’ve got pluck, and you deserve to win, Tony.”</p>
+
+<p>“I mean to,” answered Tony. “Come along and see
+that it’s all fair.”</p>
+
+<p>“I will if I can get away. Will you give up your place
+if you are licked?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes,” replied Tony. “I’ll give up my place and leave
+the village.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t believe Mr. Porter will take Sam back.”</p>
+
+<p>“I see you are expecting I will be whipped,” said
+Tony, laughing; “but you’re mistaken. Sam isn’t able
+to do it.”</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Sam had made known the duel which was
+about to take place. He confidently anticipated victory,
+and wanted the village boys to be witnesses of the manner
+in which he was going to polish off the interloper.</p>
+
+<p>I’ll learn him to cut me out of my place,” he said
+boastfully: “I’ll learn him to mind his own business.”</p>
+
+<p>“Will you get your place again if you lick him?” asked
+one of his companions.</p>
+
+<p>Of course, I will.”</p>
+
+<p>“Suppose he won’t give it up?”</p>
+
+<p>“Then I’ll lick him every day till he’s glad to clear out.
+All you boys know I don’t stand no nonsense.”</p>
+
+<p>The result of Sam’s boastful talk was that about a hundred
+boys collected behind the schoolhouse.</p>
+
+<p>Many of them who had suffered from Sam’s bullying
+disposition would have been glad to see him worsted, but
+none anticipated it.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing was known of Tony except that he was considerably
+smaller and lighter, and probably weaker.</p>
+
+<p>Tony tried to be on hand at the time appointed, but he
+<!--065.png-->
+had more than usual to do, and it was five minutes past
+seven before he entered the field.</p>
+
+<p>There had been various speculations as to the cause of
+his delay.</p>
+
+<p>He won’t come,” said Sam, with a sneer.</p>
+
+<p>What’ll you do if he don’t come?” asked John Nolan.</p>
+
+<p>What will I do? I’ll pitch into him wherever I see
+him.”</p>
+
+<p>“There he comes!” shouted a small boy.</p>
+
+<p>All eyes were turned upon Tony, as he entered the field,
+with James at his side.</p>
+
+<p>I’m sorry to have kept you waiting, boys,” said our
+hero politely.</p>
+
+<p>We concluded you’d backed out,” said Sam.</p>
+
+<p>That isn’t my style,” returned Tony, with a quiet
+smile. “I had more to do than usual to-night.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’ve still more to do,” said Sam jeeringly. “I pity
+you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you? You’re very kind,” said Tony, unmoved.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, don’t thank me too soon.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then I won’t. When are the exercises to commence?”</p>
+
+<p>“He takes it cool,” said Nolan.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, it’s only show off,” said Sam. “You’ll see how
+he’ll wilt down when I get hold of him.”</p>
+
+<p>The two boys stripped off coat and vest and faced each
+other. Tony was wary and looked into the eyes of his
+adversary, showing no disposition to begin.</p>
+
+<p>Sam swung heavily with his right. With scarcely an
+effort, Tony blocked the blow and returned it quick as
+lightning, striking Sam full in the nose.</p>
+
+<p>Sam was not only maddened but disagreeably surprised,
+especially when he discovered that blood was trickling
+from the injured organ. He was still more incensed by
+the murmur of applause which followed from the crowd of
+boys.</p>
+
+<p>He breathed an audible curse, and losing all prudence
+<!--066.png-->
+began to swing at Tony with each fist in rapid succession,
+with the intention of overpowering him. But unfortunately
+for him this exposed him to attack, and a couple of
+heavy blows in his face warned him that this was too dangerous.</p>
+
+<p>Tony stood upright, as cool and collected as at first.
+He had warded off every blow of his adversary.</p>
+
+<p>There was a murmur of surprise among the boys. They
+had come to see Tony used up, and all the using up proved
+to be from the other side. James was as much delighted
+as surprised. He could not repress clapping his hands
+and was quickly imitated by the boys.</p>
+
+<p>Tony knows how to take care of himself,” he thought.
+“That’s why he took matters so coolly.”</p>
+
+<p>Sam felt humiliated and maddened. He regretted now
+that he had undertaken a task which seemed every moment
+more formidable. What! was it possible that he, Sam
+Payson, the crack fighter of the village, was being ignominiously
+whipped, and that by a smaller boy? He felt
+that if he permitted this, his prestige would be forever
+gone, and with it the influence which he so much prized.
+He must make one desperate effort.</p>
+
+<p>If I can only get hold of him,” he thought. “I can
+shake the life out of him.”</p>
+
+<p>He tried to grasp Tony round the body intending to
+throw him; but our hero was too quick for him, and showered
+the blows upon him with such rapidity that, blinded
+and overwhelmed, Sam himself staggered and fell on his
+back.</p>
+
+<p>Instead of following up the victory, Tony drew off and
+let his adversary rise. Sam renewed the attack so wildly
+that in two minutes he was again lying flat.</p>
+
+<p>That’s enough, Sam! You’re whipped!” shouted the
+boys.</p>
+
+<p>He got up sullenly, and, in a voice nearly choked with
+rage, said:</p>
+
+<p><!--067.png-->
+“I’ll be even with you yet, see if I don’t.”</p>
+
+<p>“Hurrah for the stranger!” shouted the boys, enthusiastically,
+as they crowded around our hero.</p>
+
+<p>Boys,” said Tony modestly, “I’m much obliged to
+you for your congratulations. Was it a fair fight?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, yes!”</p>
+
+<p>“Then it’s all right. Don’t say anything to him about
+it. He feels bad, as I should in his place. I haven’t any
+ill will toward him, and I hope he hasn’t toward me.”</p>
+
+<p>This speech made Tony a still greater favorite, and the
+boys, making a rush, took him on their shoulders, and
+bore him in triumph to the inn. Poor Sam slunk home,
+suffering keener mortification than he had ever before
+experienced in his life.</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Fifteen">XV</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">RUDOLPH ESCAPES</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Leaving</span> Tony for a short time, we must return to Rudolph,
+whom we left in charge of a self-constituted body
+of police on his way to the lockup.</p>
+
+<p>When first arrested Rudolph was disposed to be violent
+and abusive. His disappointment was keen, for he was
+just congratulating himself on the possession of the
+miser’s gold. Five minutes later, and he would probably
+have been able to make good his escape. Mingled with his
+disappointment was a feeling of intense hostility against
+Tony for his part in defeating his plans.</p>
+
+<p>I’ll be revenged upon him yet,” he muttered.</p>
+
+<p>They reached the lockup and he was led in. A small oil
+lamp was lighted and set on the floor.</p>
+
+<p>Where are the handcuffs?” asked one of the captors.</p>
+
+<p>I don’t know. They haven’t been needed for so long
+that they have been mislaid.”</p>
+
+<p><!--068.png-->
+“They won’t be needed now. The man can’t get out.”</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph’s face betrayed satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>There’s your bed,” said Moses Hunt, who had Rudolph
+by the arm, pointing to a rude cot.</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph threw himself upon it.</p>
+
+<p>I’m dead tired,” he said, and closed his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>The door was locked and Rudolph was left alone.</p>
+
+<p>When five minutes had elapsed&mdash;time enough for his
+captors to get away&mdash;he got up.</p>
+
+<p>I must get away from this if I can,” thought the
+tramp, “and before morning. I am glad they didn’t put
+on handcuffs. Let me see, how shall I manage it?”</p>
+
+<p>He looked about him thoughtfully.</p>
+
+<p>It was a basement room, lighted only by windows three
+feet wide and a foot high.</p>
+
+<p>I should like to set fire to the building, and burn it
+up,” thought the tramp. “That would cost them something.
+But it wouldn’t be safe. Like as not I would be
+burned up myself, or at any rate be taken again in getting
+away. No, no! that won’t do. I wonder if I can’t get
+through one of those windows?”</p>
+
+<p>He stood on the chair, and as the room was low-ceiled
+he found he could easily reach the windows.</p>
+
+<p>He shook them and found to his joy that it would be a
+comparatively easy thing to remove one of them.</p>
+
+<p>What fools they are!” he muttered contemptuously.
+“Did they really expect to keep me here?”</p>
+
+<p>He removed the window, and by great effort succeeded
+in raising himself so that he might have a chance of drawing
+himself through the aperture. It did not prove so
+easy as he expected. He did, however, succeed at length,
+and drew a long breath of satisfaction as he found himself
+once more in the possession of his liberty.</p>
+
+<p>I’m a free man once more,” he said. “What next?”</p>
+
+<p>He would have been glad to return to the miser’s house
+and possess himself of some of his gold, but the faint gray
+<!--069.png-->
+of dawn was already perceptible, and there was too much
+risk attending it.</p>
+
+<p>Moreover, prudence dictated his putting as great a distance
+as possible between himself and the village.</p>
+
+<p>The hundred miles intervening between New York and
+that place he got over in his usual way, begging a meal
+at one house and a night’s lodging at another. He was
+never at a loss for a plausible story. At one place, where
+he was evidently looked upon with suspicion, he said:</p>
+
+<p>“I ain’t used to beggin’. I’m a poor, hard-workin’
+man, but I’ve heard that my poor daughter is sick in New
+York, and I want to get to her.”</p>
+
+<p>“What took her to New York?” asked the farmer
+whom he addressed.</p>
+
+<p>She went to take a place in a store.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m sorry for you,” said the farmer’s wife, sympathizingly.
+“Ephraim, can’t we help along this poor man?”</p>
+
+<p>“If we can believe him. There’s many impostors
+about.”</p>
+
+<p>“I hope you don’t take me for one,” said Rudolph
+meekly. “Poor Jane; what would she think if she knew
+her poor father was so misunderstood.”</p>
+
+<p>“Poor man! I believe you,” said the farmer’s wife.
+“You shall sleep in Jonathan’s bed. He’s away now.”</p>
+
+<p>So Rudolph was provided with two abundant meals and
+a comfortable bed. The farmer’s wife never doubted his
+story, though she could not help feeling that his looks
+were not prepossessing.</p>
+
+<p>A few days later he was in New York. As a general
+thing he shunned the city, for he was already known to
+the police, and he felt that watchful eyes would be upon
+him as soon as it was known that he was back again.</p>
+
+<p>On the second day he strolled into a low drinking place
+in the lower part of the city.</p>
+
+<p>A man in shirt sleeves, and with an unhealthy complexion,
+was mixing drinks behind the bar.</p>
+
+<p><!--070.png-->
+“Hello, Rudolph! Back again?” was his salutation.</p>
+
+<p>Yes,” said the tramp, throwing himself down in a
+seat.</p>
+
+<p>Where have you been?”</p>
+
+<p>“Tramping round the country.”</p>
+
+<p>“Where’s the boy you used to have with you?”</p>
+
+<p>“Run away; curse him!”</p>
+
+<p>“Got tired of your company, eh?”</p>
+
+<p>“He wants to be honest and respectable.”</p>
+
+<p>“And he thought he could learn better under another
+teacher, did he?” said the bartender, with a laugh.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, I suppose so. I’d like to wring his neck.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’re no friend to the honest and respectable, then.”</p>
+
+<p>“No, I’m not.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then, there’s no love lost, for they don’t seem to
+fancy you. What’ll you have to drink?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve got no money.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll trust. You’ll have some sometime.”</p>
+
+<p>“Give me some whisky, then,” said the tramp.</p>
+
+<p>The whisky was placed in his hands. He gulped it
+down, and breathed a sigh of satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>Then resuming his seat, he took up a morning paper.
+At first he read it listlessly, but soon his face assumed a
+look of eager interest.</p>
+
+<p>This was the paragraph that arrested his attention:</p>
+
+<p class="blockquote">“Should this meet the eye of Rudolph Rugg, who left
+England in the fall of 1887, he is requested to communicate
+with Jacob Morris, attorney at law, Room 1,503, No.
+&mdash;&#8203;&mdash; Nassau street.”</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph rose hurriedly.</p>
+
+<p>Going?” asked the bartender.</p>
+
+<p>Yes; I’ll be back again soon.”</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter"><!--071.png-->
+
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Sixteen">XVI</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">AT THE ST. REGIS</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">When</span> Rudolph reached the sidewalk he stopped to reflect
+on the meaning of the advertisement.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps it’s a trap,” he thought. “Perhaps after so
+many years they want to punish me. Shall I go?”</p>
+
+<p>His hesitation was only temporary.</p>
+
+<p>Ten minutes’ walk brought him to Nassau street. He
+ascended to the proper floor, opened the door of No.
+1,503, and found himself in a lawyer’s office. A tall man
+of forty was seated at a desk.</p>
+
+<p>Well,” he said, “what can I do for you, sir?”</p>
+
+<p>The address was not very cordial, for Rudolph did not
+have the look of one likely to be a profitable client.</p>
+
+<p>Are you Mr. Jacob Morris, attorney-at-law?”</p>
+
+<p>“That is my name.”</p>
+
+<p>“I am Rudolph Rugg.”</p>
+
+<p>“Rudolph Rugg!” exclaimed the lawyer briskly,
+jumping from his chair. “You don’t say so. I am very
+glad to see you. Take a chair, please.”</p>
+
+<p>Reassured by this reception, Rudolph took the seat indicated.</p>
+
+<p>So you saw my advertisement?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, sir. I only saw it this morning.”</p>
+
+<p>“It has been inserted for the last two weeks, daily.
+How happens it that you did not see it sooner?”</p>
+
+<p>“I have been away from the city. It was only an accident
+that I happened to see it to-day.”</p>
+
+<p>“A lucky accident, Mr. Rugg.”</p>
+
+<p>“I hope it is, sir, for I’ve been out of luck. What is
+the business, sir?”</p>
+
+<p>“My business has been to find you.”</p>
+
+<p>“What for?”</p>
+
+<p><!--072.png-->
+“For a client of mine&mdash;an English lady.”</p>
+
+<p>“A lady?” ejaculated the tramp.</p>
+
+<p>Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>“Who is it?”</p>
+
+<p>“I suppose I am at liberty to tell. The lady is Mrs.
+Harvey Middleton, of Middleton Hall, England.”</p>
+
+<p>A peculiar expression swept over Rudolph’s face, but
+he only said:</p>
+
+<p>“I have heard the name of Harvey Middleton. Is&mdash;is
+the lady in New York?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes; she is staying at the St. Regis Hotel.”</p>
+
+<p>“And she wants to find me?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes. She authorized me to seek you out.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well,” said Rudolph, “what next?”</p>
+
+<p>“I shall at once send a messenger to Mrs. Middleton,
+and await her orders. You will stay here.”</p>
+
+<p>He went to the door, and called “John” in a loud
+voice.</p>
+
+<p>Look here,” said Rudolph, suspiciously. “Just tell
+me one thing. There ain’t any trap, is there?”</p>
+
+<p>“Trap, my good friend? What can you mean?”</p>
+
+<p>“You ain’t sending for the police?”</p>
+
+<p>“To be sure not. Besides, why should a gentleman like
+you fear the police?”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, that’s all gammon. I do fear the police uncommon.
+But if you tell me it’s all on the square, I’ll believe
+you.”</p>
+
+<p>“On my honor, then, it’s all on the square, as you call
+it. No harm whatever is designed you. Indeed, I have
+reason to think that you will make considerable money out
+of it. Now, hark ye, my friend, a word in confidence. We
+can do each other good.”</p>
+
+<p>“Can we?” asked the tramp.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, and I’ll tell you how. This lady, Mrs. Middleton,
+appears to be rich.”</p>
+
+<p>“She is rich.”</p>
+
+<p><!--073.png-->
+“So much the better for us. I mean to give her the
+idea that I have been at great trouble and expense in finding
+you.”</p>
+
+<p>“I see,” said Rudolph, smiling. “You mean to charge
+it in the bill?”</p>
+
+<p>“Of course, I shall represent that I sent out messengers
+in search of you, and you were found by one of them.”</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>In a private parlor at the St. Regis sat a lady of middle
+age. She had a haughty face, and stern, compressed
+lips. She was one to repel rather than to attract. She
+had a note before her, which she threw down with an exclamation
+of impatience.</p>
+
+<p>So he has heard nothing yet. For three weeks I have
+been wasting my time at this hotel, depending on this
+lawyer, and he has done absolutely nothing.”</p>
+
+<p>At this moment a light knock was heard at the door.</p>
+
+<p>Enter,” said the lady.</p>
+
+<p>A note for Mrs. Middleton,” announced a servant.</p>
+
+<p>She took the missive and hastily opened it. It read
+thus:</p>
+
+<p class="blockquote">“<span class="sc">My dear Madam</span>: At last, after unwearied exertions,
+I have succeeded. The man, Rudolph Rugg, has been
+found by one of my messengers, and is at this moment in
+my office, ready to obey your summons. Shall I send him
+to you?”</p>
+
+<p class="sigright"><span class="l4">Yours respectfully,</span><br />
+     “<span class="sc">Jacob Morris</span>.”</p>
+
+<p class="blockquote">“P.S.&mdash;I assured you at the outset that if he were
+living I would find him. I am sure you will appreciate
+my exertions in your behalf.”</p>
+
+<p>“That means a larger bill,” thought the lady. “However,
+I am willing to pay handsomely. The man is found,
+and he can doubtless produce the boy.”</p>
+
+<p><!--074.png-->
+“Wait!” she said, in an imperious tone, to the servant,
+who was about to withdraw. “There is an answer.”</p>
+
+<p>She hastily penciled the following note:</p>
+
+<p class="blockquote">“I am very glad you have found Rudolph Rugg. I
+wish to speak to him at once. Send him here directly.”</p>
+
+<p>“Short and not sweet!” commented the lawyer, when
+it was placed in his hands. “She says nothing about the
+compensation.”</p>
+
+<p>“Is it about me?” asked the tramp.</p>
+
+<p>Yes; it is from Mrs. Middleton. She wants you to
+come to the hotel at once. But, my friend, I would advise
+you, since you are about to call upon a lady, to put
+on a better suit of clothes.”</p>
+
+<p>“How am I to do it,” he demanded roughly, “when
+these are all the clothes I have?”</p>
+
+<p>The lawyer whistled.</p>
+
+<p>A pretty-looking figure to call upon a lady at a fashionable
+hotel!” he thought.</p>
+
+<p>You must go as you are,” he said. “Wait a minute.”</p>
+
+<p>He took a blank card and wrote upon it the name:</p>
+
+<p class="center box">RUDOLPH RUGG</p>
+
+<p>“When you reach the hotel,” he said, “inquire for
+Mrs. Middleton and send that card up to her.”</p>
+
+<p>“Very well, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>The tramp started, his mind busily occupied.</p>
+
+<p>What does she want with me? She wasn’t Mrs. Middleton
+when I knew her, she was Miss Vincent, the governess.
+I suppose she’s a great lady now. So she got
+Mr. Harvey to marry her. That ain’t surprisin’. She
+looked like a schemer even then, and I was a fool not to
+see what she was at. Likely she was up to the other thing.
+Well, I shall soon know.”</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter"><!--075.png-->
+
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Seventeen">XVII</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">TWO CONSPIRATORS</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">“You</span> want to see Mrs. Middleton?” demanded the
+hotel clerk, surveying Mr. Rugg’s exterior.</p>
+
+<p>Yes,” said the tramp.</p>
+
+<p>I don’t think she’ll see one of your sort.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s where you’re mistaken, young feller.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’re a strange visitor for a lady.”</p>
+
+<p>“What if I am? There’s my card.”</p>
+
+<p>The clerk took the card, and looked at it doubtfully.
+Then summoning an attendant, he said:</p>
+
+<p>“Take this up to 57.”</p>
+
+<p>Presently the servant returned.</p>
+
+<p>The gentleman is to go up,” he said.</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph looked at the clerk triumphantly.</p>
+
+<p>What did I tell you?” he said.</p>
+
+<p>Show the gentleman up,” said the clerk, purposely
+emphasizing the word.</p>
+
+<p>As Rudolph entered the handsome parlor occupied by
+Mrs. Middleton, she said:</p>
+
+<p>“Take a seat, sir.” Then to the attendant: “You may
+go. You are Rudolph Rugg?” she commenced when
+they were alone.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, ma’am,” he answered; “and you are Miss Vincent,
+the governess. I haven’t forgotten you.”</p>
+
+<p>“I am Mrs. Harvey Middleton,” she said haughtily.</p>
+
+<p>Excuse me, ma’am. I hadn’t heard as you had
+changed your condition. You was the governess when I
+knowed you.”</p>
+
+<p>“You never knew me,” she said.</p>
+
+<p>Well, I knowed Mr. Harvey, at any rate.”</p>
+
+<p>“That is not to the purpose. Do you know why I
+have sought you out?”</p>
+
+<p><!--076.png-->
+“I couldn’t guess, ma’am,” said Rudolph cunningly.</p>
+
+<p>He could guess, but he wanted to force her to speak out.</p>
+
+<p>Where is the boy? Is he living?”</p>
+
+<p>“What boy?” asked Rudolph vacantly.</p>
+
+<p>You know very well. Anthony Middleton, my husband’s
+cousin, whom you stole away when he was scarcely
+more than an infant.”</p>
+
+<p>“Can you prove what you say, Miss Vincent&mdash;I mean
+Mrs. Middleton?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes. It is idle to beat about the bush. My husband
+has told me all.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then he has told you that he hired me to carry the
+boy off, in order that he might inherit the estate?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, he told me that,” she answered composedly.</p>
+
+<p>Well, I didn’t think he’d own up to that.”</p>
+
+<p>“My husband and I had no secrets.”</p>
+
+<p>“What does he want of the boy now?” asked Rudolph.</p>
+
+<p>It is I that want to find the boy.”</p>
+
+<p>“Without his knowledge?”</p>
+
+<p>“If you refer to my husband, he is dead.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, I didn’t expect that. Who has got the estate?”</p>
+
+<p>“I have.”</p>
+
+<p>The tramp whistled. Here was a poor governess, who
+had succeeded in life with a vengeance. When he knew
+her she was not worth fifty pounds in the world. Now she
+was mistress of a fine English estate, with a rental of two
+thousand pounds.</p>
+
+<p>Wasn’t there no heirs?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Only this boy.”</p>
+
+<p>“And if this boy was alive, would the estate be his?”</p>
+
+<p>The lady paused, meanwhile fixing her eyes steadily
+upon the man before her. Then she approached him and
+placed her jeweled hand on his arm.</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph Rugg,” she said, “do you want to be comfortable
+for life?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, ma’am, that’s exactly what I do want.”</p>
+
+<p><!--077.png-->
+“It will come to you now if you say the word,” she said.</p>
+
+<p>I’ll say it quick enough. Tell me what you want.”</p>
+
+<p>“You talk like a sensible man. But first tell me, is
+the boy living?”</p>
+
+<p>“He is alive and well.”</p>
+
+<p>“When did you see him last?”</p>
+
+<p>“Last week.”</p>
+
+<p>“Very well, you know where he is. That is important.
+Now, in order that you may understand what service I
+want of you, I must tell you a little of my circumstances.
+I told you that my husband left me the estate.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, ma’am.”</p>
+
+<p>“But only in trust.”</p>
+
+<p>“For the boy?” asked the tramp, in excitement.</p>
+
+<p>Precisely.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, I’ll be blowed.”</p>
+
+<p>“What excites you, Mr. Rugg?”</p>
+
+<p>“To think that Tony the Tramp should be the owner
+of a splendid estate in old Hingland.”</p>
+
+<p>“I am the owner,” said the lady, frowning.</p>
+
+<p>But you’re only takin’ care of it for him.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t mean that he shall ever know it.”</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph whistled.</p>
+
+<p>My husband secured the inheritance, as you are
+aware, through the disappearance of his young cousin.”</p>
+
+<p>“And mighty well he managed it.”</p>
+
+<p>“But after he was given over by the doctors, he became
+a prey to superstitious fears, the result of his weakness,
+and at times experienced great regret for the hand he had
+in the abduction of the boy.”</p>
+
+<p>“You surprise me, ma’am. He wasn’t that sort when
+I knew him.”</p>
+
+<p>“No; he was then bold and resolute. Ill health and the
+approach of death made him superstitious.”</p>
+
+<p>“You ain’t that way, ma’am, I take it.”</p>
+
+<p>“No; I have a stronger will and greater resolution.”</p>
+
+<p><!--078.png-->
+Her face did not belie her words. There was a cold look
+in her light gray eyes, and a firmness in her closely
+pressed lips, which made it clear that she was not likely
+to be affected by ordinary weakness. She was intensely
+selfish, and thoroughly unscrupulous as to the means
+which she employed to carry out her selfish ends.</p>
+
+<p>So you’re afraid the boy’ll turn up, ma’am?”</p>
+
+<p>“Precisely.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then why do you look for him?”</p>
+
+<p>“I want to guard against his ever turning up.”</p>
+
+<p>“He don’t know about the property.”</p>
+
+<p>“But he might have learned, or you might. My husband,
+with the idea of reparation, left the property to me,
+in trust, but if it should ever be fully ascertained that the
+boy had died, then it was to be mine absolutely.”</p>
+
+<p>“I begin to see what you’re driving at, ma’am.”</p>
+
+<p>“You say the boy is alive?”</p>
+
+<p>“Stout and hearty, ma’am. He’s been under my care
+ever since he was a young un, ma’am, and I’ve treated him
+like he was my own.”</p>
+
+<p>“Indeed!”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, ma’am. I’m poor, but I’ve always shared my
+crust with him, givin’ him the biggest half.”</p>
+
+<p>“Very kind, I’m sure,” said the lady, sarcastically.
+“I suppose you’re very fond of him.”</p>
+
+<p>“Of course I am,” said Rudolph. “But,” he added,
+after a slight pause, “there’s one thing I like better.”</p>
+
+<p>“What is that?”</p>
+
+<p>“Money.”</p>
+
+<p>“Good! I see we understand one another.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s so, ma’am. You needn’t be afraid to say anything
+to me. Business is business.”</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter"><!--079.png-->
+
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Eighteen">XVIII</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">ROGUES CONFER</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">“It</span> appears to me, Mr. Rugg, that you have not prospered,”
+said the lady.</p>
+
+<p>That’s where you’re right, ma’am.”</p>
+
+<p>“I am sorry for that.”</p>
+
+<p>“So am I,” said the tramp, adding, with a cunning
+look, “but times will be better now.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why will they be better?” asked Mrs. Middleton.</p>
+
+<p>Tony won’t see me want when he comes into two
+thousand a year.”</p>
+
+<p>“Who said he was coming into it?”</p>
+
+<p>“You said he was the heir.”</p>
+
+<p>“He hasn’t got the estate, and I don’t mean he shall
+have it.”</p>
+
+<p>“How will you prevent that, ma’am?”</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Middleton again put her hand on the man’s tattered
+coat sleeve, and, in a voice scarcely above a whisper,
+said:</p>
+
+<p>“Mr. Rugg, you must prevent it.”</p>
+
+<p>“How can I prevent it?” asked the tramp, with an assumption
+of innocence.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Middleton said, with slow significance:</p>
+
+<p>“This boy is in my way. Don’t you think he might
+manage to get sick and die?”</p>
+
+<p>“Perhaps he might,” said Rudolph, who did not appear
+to be shocked at the suggestion.</p>
+
+<p>Couldn’t you manage it?” she asked.</p>
+
+<p>I might,” he answered shrewdly, “if it was going to
+do me any good.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then the only question is as to pay,” she continued.</p>
+
+<p>That’s about it, ma’am. It’s a big risk. I might get
+caught and then money wouldn’t do me much good.”</p>
+
+<p><!--080.png-->
+“Nothing venture, nothing have. You don’t want to
+be a pauper all your life?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, I don’t,” answered the tramp, with energy.
+“I’m tired of tramping round the country, sleeping in
+barns and under haystacks, and picking up meals where
+I can.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do as I wish and you need never suffer such privations
+again,” said the tempter.</p>
+
+<p>How much will you give me?” asked Rudolph.</p>
+
+<p>Five hundred dollars down, and five hundred dollars
+income as long as you live.”</p>
+
+<p>This was good fortune of which Rudolph had not
+dreamed, but he understood how to make the most of the
+situation.</p>
+
+<p>It is not enough,” he said, shaking his head.</p>
+
+<p>Not enough!” exclaimed Mrs. Middleton. “Why, it
+seems to me very liberal. You can live comfortably all
+your life just for doing one thing.”</p>
+
+<p>“A thing which may bring me to the gallows. It’s all
+very well to talk, but I can’t risk my neck for that.”</p>
+
+<p>The lady was not surprised. She had expected that she
+would be compelled to drive a bargain, and she had named
+a sum less than she was willing to pay.</p>
+
+<p>You see,” continued Rudolph, “it’s going to be a
+great thing for you. You’ll be sure of a big estate and
+an income of two thousand pounds&mdash;that’s ten thousand
+dollars&mdash;a year, and it’ll be me that gives it to you.”</p>
+
+<p>“You overestimate your service, Mr. Rugg,” she said,
+coldly. “If I decline to proceed further the estate will
+be mine.”</p>
+
+<p>“Not if I bring on the boy, and say he’s the real
+heir.”</p>
+
+<p>“I shall deny it,” said the lady, composedly, “and challenge
+you to the proof.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then I’ll prove it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Who will believe you?” asked Mrs. Middleton, quietly.</p>
+
+<p><!--081.png-->
+“Why shouldn’t they?”</p>
+
+<p>“You are a tramp, and a discreditable person. I suppose
+the boy is one of the same sort.”</p>
+
+<p>“No, he isn’t. I don’t like him overmuch, but he’s a
+handsome chap, looks the gentleman every inch.”</p>
+
+<p>“I should charge you with conspiracy, Mr. Rugg.
+You’d find it uphill work fighting me, without influence
+and without money.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then, if there ain’t no danger from me or the boy,
+why do you want me to put him out of the way?”</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Middleton hesitated.</p>
+
+<p>I may as well tell you,” she said. “I take it for
+granted you will keep the matter secret.”</p>
+
+<p>“Of course I will.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then it is this: I married Mr. Harvey Middleton to
+secure a home and a position. I didn’t love him.”</p>
+
+<p>“Quite right, ma’am.”</p>
+
+<p>“He had no reason to complain of me, and when he
+died he left me in charge of the estate.”</p>
+
+<p>“For the boy?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, for the boy, and this has given me trouble.”</p>
+
+<p>“He hasn’t never troubled you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Not yet, and but for one thing I would not have come
+to America in search of him.”</p>
+
+<p>“What is that?”</p>
+
+<p>“I want to marry again.”</p>
+
+<p>The tramp whistled.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Middleton frowned, but went on:</p>
+
+<p>“This time I love the man I want to marry. He is
+from an excellent family, but he is a younger son, and
+has little or nothing himself. If the estate were mine absolutely,
+there would be no opposition on the part of his
+family, but with the knowledge that the boy may turn up
+at any time nothing will be done.”</p>
+
+<p>“I see,” said the tramp, nodding.</p>
+
+<p>But for this I would never have stirred in the matter
+<!--082.png-->
+at all. I did not think it probable that the boy would ever
+hear of his inheritance.”</p>
+
+<p>“He don’t even know who he is,” said Rudolph.</p>
+
+<p>You never told him, then?” said the lady.</p>
+
+<p>No. What was the good?”</p>
+
+<p>“There was no good, and you did wisely. Now I have
+told you how matters stand, and I renew the offer which
+I made a few minutes since.”</p>
+
+<p>“It is too little,” said the tramp, shaking his head.</p>
+
+<p>Tell me what you expect.”</p>
+
+<p>“I want just double what you offered me, ma’am.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, that’s extortion.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s as you choose to consider it, ma’am.”</p>
+
+<p>“Suppose I refuse?”</p>
+
+<p>“Then I’ll go and see a lawyer.”</p>
+
+<p>“Even if you succeeded, and got the boy in possession,
+do you think he would give you any more than I?”</p>
+
+<p>This was a consideration which had not occurred to
+the tramp. He asked himself, moreover, did he really
+wish Tony to come into such a piece of good fortune, after
+the boy had been instrumental in having him arrested.
+No, anything but that!
+
+“I’ll tell you what I’ll do, ma’am,” he said. “I’ll
+say eight hundred dollars down, and the same every
+year.”</p>
+
+<p>To this sum Mrs. Middleton finally agreed.</p>
+
+<p>You say you know where the boy is?” she asked.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, ma’am.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then there need be no delay.”</p>
+
+<p>“Only a little. But I shall want some money.”</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Middleton took out her purse.</p>
+
+<p>Here are a hundred dollars,” she said. “The rest
+shall be paid you when you have earned it.”</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph went downstairs, thinking:</p>
+
+<p>“That woman’s a devil if ever there was one. How
+coolly she hires me to kill the boy. I don’t half like the
+<!--083.png-->
+job. It’s too risky. But there’s money in it, and I can’t
+refuse. The first thing is to find him!”</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Nineteen">XIX</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">THE FIGHTING QUAKER</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">The</span> tramp decided that the best way to find Tony
+would be to return to that part of the country where he
+had lost him, and make inquiries for a boy of his description.
+He could do it comfortably now, being provided
+with funds, thanks to Mrs. Middleton.</p>
+
+<p>But there was a difficulty which gave him uneasiness.
+He was liable to be arrested.</p>
+
+<p>I must disguise myself,” thought Rudolph.</p>
+
+<p>It was not the first time in his varied experience that
+he had felt the need of a disguise, and he knew just where
+to go to find one. In the lower part of the city there was
+a shop well provided with such articles as he required.
+He lost no time in seeking it out.</p>
+
+<p>What can I do for you, Mr. Rugg?” asked the old
+man who kept the establishment.</p>
+
+<p>I want a disguise.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then you’ve come to the right shop. What will you
+be&mdash;a sailor, a Quaker, a&mdash;&#8203;&mdash;”
+
+“Hold, there,” said Rudolph. “You’ve named the
+very thing.”</p>
+
+<p>“What?”</p>
+
+<p>“A Quaker. Can you make me a good Broadbrim?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yea, verily,” answered the old man, laughing. “I
+can suit thee to a T.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do so, then.”</p>
+
+<p>From out of a pile of costumes the old man drew a suit
+of drab and a broad-brimmed hat.</p>
+
+<p>How will that do?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p><!--084.png-->
+“First tell me the price.”</p>
+
+<p>“Thirty dollars.”</p>
+
+<p>“Thirty dollars!” exclaimed the tramp, aghast. “Do
+you think I’m made of money?”</p>
+
+<p>“Look at the quality, my good friend.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, I may not want the things for more than a
+week.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then I’ll tell you what I’ll do. If you only use them a
+week, you shall bring them back, and I will pay you back
+twenty-five dollars; that is,” the old man added, cautiously,
+“if you don’t hurt ’em too much.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s better,” said Rudolph. “I’ll try them on.”</p>
+
+<p>He went into an inner room provided for the purpose,
+and soon came out entirely transformed. In addition to
+the drab suit, a gray wig had been supplied.</p>
+
+<p>The old man laughed heartily.</p>
+
+<p>How does thee like it?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Capital,” said Rudolph. “Would you know me?”</p>
+
+<p>“I wouldn’t dream it was you. But, Mr. Rugg, there’s
+one thing you mustn’t forget.”</p>
+
+<p>“What’s that?”</p>
+
+<p>“To use the Quaker lingo. Just now you said, ‘Would
+you know me?’ That isn’t right.”</p>
+
+<p>“What should I say?”</p>
+
+<p>“Would thee know me?”</p>
+
+<p>“All right. There’s your money.”</p>
+
+<p>“There you are again. You must say thy money.”</p>
+
+<p>“I see you know all about it. You’ve been a Quaker
+yourself, haven’t you?”</p>
+
+<p>“Not I; but I was brought up in Philadelphia, and I
+have seen plenty of the old fellows. Now, don’t forget
+how to talk. Where are you going?”</p>
+
+<p>“Into the country on a little expedition,” said Rudolph.</p>
+
+<p>Well, good luck to you.”</p>
+
+<p>“I wish thee good luck, too,” said the tramp.</p>
+
+<p>Ha! ha! you’ve got it; you’ll do.”</p>
+
+<p><!--085.png-->
+The tramp emerged into the street, a very fair representative
+of a sedate Quaker. He soon attracted the attention
+of some street boys, who, not suspecting his genuineness,
+thought him fair game.</p>
+
+<p>How are you, old Broadbrim?” said one.</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph didn’t resent this.</p>
+
+<p>You’d make a good scarecrow,” said another.</p>
+
+<p>Still the tramp kept his temper.</p>
+
+<p>A third boy fired a half-eaten apple at him.</p>
+
+<p>This was too much for the newly converted disciple of
+William Penn.</p>
+
+<p>Just let me catch you, you little rascal, and I’ll give
+you the worst licking you ever had.”</p>
+
+<p>The boys stared open mouthed at such language.</p>
+
+<p>He’s a fighting Quaker,” said the first one. “Keep
+out of his way.”</p>
+
+<p>“If thee don’t, thee’ll catch it,” said Rudolph, fortunately
+remembering how he must talk.</p>
+
+<p>He had thought of pursuing the disturbers of his peace,
+but motives of prudence prevented him.</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Twenty">XX</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">RUDOLPH FINDS TONY</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Four</span> days afterward Rudolph arrived in the town
+where Tony was employed. He had not been drawn thither
+by any clew, but by pure accident.</p>
+
+<p>He put up for the night at the hotel where our hero had
+found work. He enrolled himself on the register as “Obadiah
+Latham, Philadelphia.”</p>
+
+<p>“Can thee give me a room, friend?” he inquired.</p>
+
+<p>Certainly, sir,” was the polite reply. “Here, Henry,
+show this gentleman up to No. 6. No. 6 is one of our
+best rooms, Mr. Latham.”</p>
+
+<p><!--086.png-->
+“I thank thee,” said the tramp.</p>
+
+<p>The Quakers are always polite,” said the bookkeeper.
+“They are good pay, too, and never give any trouble. I
+wish we had more of them stop here.”</p>
+
+<p>“If all your customers were of that description, your
+bar wouldn’t pay very well.”</p>
+
+<p>“That is true.”</p>
+
+<p>But later in the evening the speaker was obliged to
+change his opinion.</p>
+
+<p>The Quaker came to the bar and asked:</p>
+
+<p>“Will thee give me a glass of brandy?”</p>
+
+<p>“Sir!” said the barkeeper, astounded.</p>
+
+<p>A glass of brandy!” repeated Rudolph, irritably.</p>
+
+<p>I beg pardon, sir, but I was surprised. I did
+not know that gentlemen of your faith ever drank
+liquor.”</p>
+
+<p>“Thee is right,” said the tramp, recollecting himself.
+“It is only for my health. Thee may make it strong, so
+that I may feel better soon.”</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph drained the glass, and then, after a little hesitation,
+he said:</p>
+
+<p>“I feel better. Will thee mix me another glass, and a
+little stronger?”</p>
+
+<p>A stronger glass was given him.</p>
+
+<p>The barkeeper looked at him shrewdly.</p>
+
+<p>Quaker as he is, he is evidently used to brandy,” he
+said to himself. “If he wasn’t, those two glasses would
+have upset him.”</p>
+
+<p>But Rudolph did not appear to be upset.</p>
+
+<p>He put his broad-brimmed hat more firmly on his head,
+and went outside. He decided to take a walk about the
+village. He little suspected that Tony was in the stable
+yard in the rear of the hotel.</p>
+
+<p>He walked on for perhaps a quarter of a mile, and then
+leaned against a fence to rest. As he stood here two boys
+passed him slowly, conversing as they walked.</p>
+
+<p><!--087.png-->
+“I was surprised, Sam, at Tony Rugg’s licking you,”
+said the first.</p>
+
+<p>He couldn’t do it again,” said Sam, sullenly.</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph’s attention was at once drawn.</p>
+
+<p>Boys,” he asked, “did thee mention the name of Tony
+Rugg?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“Does thee know such a boy?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, sir. He is working at the hotel. He got my
+place away from me,” said Sam. “Do you know him?”</p>
+
+<p>“I once knew such a boy.”</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph was very much elated at what he had heard.</p>
+
+<p>Well, good luck has come to me at last,” he said to
+himself. “The young scoundrel, is found, and now I must
+consider how to get him into my hands once more.”</p>
+
+<p>The Quaker, to designate him according to his present
+appearance, at once made his way back to the hotel.</p>
+
+<p>There can’t be two Tony Ruggs in this world,” he
+said to himself. “I am sure this is the boy.”</p>
+
+<p>On reaching the hotel he sauntered out to the stable
+yard in the rear of the house. His eyes lighted with
+pleasure, for he at once caught sight of Tony, standing
+beside James, the hostler.</p>
+
+<p>There comes old Broadbrim,” said James, in a low
+voice. “The barkeeper told me he took two stiff horns
+of brandy. He’s a queer sort of Quaker.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony gave a glance at the tramp but entertained no
+suspicion of his not being what he represented. Rudolph
+came nearer. His disguise had been so successful that he
+felt perfectly safe from discovery.</p>
+
+<p>Does thee keep many horses?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, sir; we have twelve.”</p>
+
+<p>“That is a large number. Yea, verily, it is.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, it is. There’s a good deal of carting to do for
+the hotel; besides Mr. Porter keeps a livery stable. Was
+you ever this way before?” asked James.</p>
+
+<p><!--088.png-->
+“Nay, verily.”</p>
+
+<p>“Are you going away to-morrow morning?”</p>
+
+<p>“Nay, friend, I think I shall tarry a day or two. Is
+that lad thy son?”</p>
+
+<p>“Tony, he asks if you are my son,” said James, laughing.
+“No, his name is Tony Rugg, while mine is James
+Woodley.”</p>
+
+<p>“Anthony, was thee born in this town?” asked the
+tramp, boldly defying detection.</p>
+
+<p>No, sir,” answered Tony. “I only came here a few
+weeks ago.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’d like to choke the boy. I can hardly keep my hands
+off him,” thought Rudolph. “But I’d better be going.
+He is looking at me closely.”</p>
+
+<p>“Good-night,” he said, and the two responded civilly.</p>
+
+<p>Well, Tony, what do you think of Broadbrim?”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t know, there’s something in his voice that
+sounds familiar to me.”</p>
+
+<p>“Perhaps you may have met him somewhere.”</p>
+
+<p>“No; I never met any Quaker before.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, there’s stranger likenesses sometimes. Did I
+ever tell you my adventure out in Maine?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, what was it?”</p>
+
+<p>“I went down East to see a sister of mine that is married
+down near Augusta. When, as I was goin’ through
+Portland, a woman came up and made a great ado about
+my deserting her. She took me for her husband, and
+came near having me arrested for desertion. You see, I
+and her husband was alike as two peas, that’s what some
+of her neighbors said.”</p>
+
+<p>“How did you get off?”</p>
+
+<p>“Luckily I had documents in my pocket showing who
+I was. Besides, my brother-in-law happened to be in the
+city, and he identified me.”</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph sat in the public room of the hotel for a time,
+and then he went up to his room, partly to be out of the
+<!--089.png-->
+way of possible recognition, partly to think how he could
+manage to get Tony into his clutches once more.</p>
+
+<p>He had a back room, the window of which looked out
+upon the stable yard. He seated himself at this window,
+and could easily see and hear all that passed there.</p>
+
+<p>Tony and the hostler were lounging about, the latter
+smoking a clay pipe, their work being done for the day.</p>
+
+<p>Tony,” said the hostler, “I almost forgot to tell you
+you’re to go to Thornton to-morrow.”</p>
+
+<p>“What for?”</p>
+
+<p>“There’s a top-buggy Mr. Porter has sold to a man
+there. You’re to take it over, and lead the horse back.”</p>
+
+<p>“All right. I’d just as leave go as stay here. Can I
+find the road easily?”</p>
+
+<p>“There’s no trouble about that. Part of it runs
+through the woods&mdash;about a mile, I should say.”</p>
+
+<p>“Did Mr. Porter say when he wanted me to start?”</p>
+
+<p>“About nine o’clock; by that time you’ll be through
+with your chores.”</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph heard this conversation with pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>It’s the chance I was <a name="wait" id="wait"></a>waiting for,” he said to himself.
+“I’ll lie in wait for him as he comes back.”</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Twenty-one">XXI</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">IN THE WOODS</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Rudolph</span> took care to breakfast in good season the next
+morning. He felt that this day was to make his fortune.
+The deed which would entitle him to a life support was to
+be perpetrated on that day. He shuddered a little when
+he reflected that a life must be sacrificed, and that the life
+of the boy who had been for years under his guardianship,
+who had slept at his side, and borne with him the perils
+and privations of his adventurous career. He was a reckless
+<!--090.png-->
+man, but he had never before shed blood, or at any
+rate taken the life of a human being.</p>
+
+<p>What’s the odds?” he said to himself. “The boy’s
+got to die some time or other, and his dying now will make
+me comfortable for life. No more hungry tramps for me.
+I’ll settle down and be respectable. Eight hundred dollars
+a year will relieve me from all care.”</p>
+
+<p>At a few minutes after nine Tony set out on his journey.
+It never occurred to him that the old Quaker in suit
+of sober drab, who sat on the piazza and saw him depart,
+was a man who cherished sinister designs upon him. In
+fact, he had forgotten all about him, and was intent upon
+his journey alone.</p>
+
+<p>Take care of yourself, Tony,” said James.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, yes, I’ll do that,” said Tony, little dreaming how
+necessary the admonition was likely to prove.</p>
+
+<p>I may as well be starting, too,” thought Rudolph.</p>
+
+<p>About two miles on began the woods. They extended
+for nearly a mile on either side of the road.</p>
+
+<p>I’ll explore a little,” thought Rudolph. “I shall have
+plenty of time before the boy comes back.”</p>
+
+<p>Some forty rods from the road on the right-hand side
+the tramp discovered a ruined hut, which had once belonged
+to a recluse who had for years lived apart from his
+kind. This had now fallen into decay.</p>
+
+<p>The general appearance of the building satisfied Rudolph
+that it was deserted.</p>
+
+<p>A rod to the east there was a well, open to the view; the
+curb having decayed, and being in a ruined condition, Rudolph
+looked down into it, and judged that it might be
+about twenty feet deep.</p>
+
+<p>A diabolical suggestion came to him. If he could only
+lure Tony to this well and dispose of him forever.</p>
+
+<p>I’ll do it,” he muttered to himself.</p>
+
+<p>Meantime, Tony drove rapidly to Thornton and sought
+the purchaser of the buggy. There was a delay of half
+<!--091.png-->
+an hour in finding him, but at last his business was done,
+and he set out for home.</p>
+
+<p>It was not quite so amusing leading the horse as sitting
+in a buggy and driving him. But all our pleasures have
+to be paid for, and Tony was ready to pay the price for
+this one. After all, he reflected, it was quite as amusing
+as working about the stable yard, especially after it occurred
+to him to mount the animal.</p>
+
+<p>Everything went smoothly till he entered the woody
+part of the road.</p>
+
+<p>Now I shall be home soon,” he said to himself. “But,
+hello! who’s that?” as a figure stepped out from the side
+of the road. “Oh, it’s the Quaker. I wonder what
+brought him here?”</p>
+
+<p>“Friend, is thee in a hurry?” asked the impostor.</p>
+
+<p>I suppose I ought to get back as soon as I can,” said
+Tony. “Why, what’s up?”</p>
+
+<p>“Thee is the boy from the hotel, is thee not?”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, what do you want of me?”</p>
+
+<p>“There’s a man in the woods that has fallen down a
+well, and I fear he is badly hurt.”</p>
+
+<p>“How did you find him?”</p>
+
+<p>“I was walking for amusement when I heard groans,
+and, looking down, I could see the poor man.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony never thought of doubting this statement, and
+said, in a tone of genuine sympathy: “Poor fellow!”</p>
+
+<p>“Will thee go with me and help get him out?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes,” said Tony, readily, “I’ll do it. Never mind if I
+am a little late. Where shall I put the horse?”</p>
+
+<p>“Lead him into the woods, and tie him to a tree.”</p>
+
+<p>“All right. I guess that will be the best way.”</p>
+
+<p>The horse was disposed of as had been suggested and
+the two set out on what Tony supposed to be their charitable
+errand.</p>
+
+<p>I don’t see what made you go into the woods?” said
+our hero, a little puzzled.</p>
+
+<p><!--092.png-->
+“I was brought up in the woods, my young friend. It
+reminds me of the time when I was a boy like thee.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, that’s it. Well, it was lucky for the man&mdash;that
+is, if we can get him out. Did you speak to him?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yea, verily.”</p>
+
+<p>“And did he answer?”</p>
+
+<p>“He groaned. I think he was insensible. I saw that I
+should need help, and I came to the road again. Luckily
+thee came by.”</p>
+
+<p>“Had you been waiting long?”</p>
+
+<p>“Only five minutes,” answered Rudolph.</p>
+
+<p>In reality he had been compelled to wait nearly an
+hour, much to his disgust. In fact, he had been led to
+fear that there might be some other road by which one
+could return from Thornton, and that Tony had taken it.
+Should this be the case, his elaborate trap would be
+useless.</p>
+
+<p>They had come quite near the ruined dwelling, and already
+the curb of the well was visible.</p>
+
+<p>Is that the well?” asked Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Yes,” answered the Quaker.</p>
+
+<p>Let us hurry, then,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>But the time had come when Tony was to have revealed
+to him the real character of his companion. A branch,
+which hung unusually low, knocked off the hat and wig of
+the pseudo Quaker, and Tony was petrified with dismay
+when he saw revealed the black, cropped head and sinister
+face of Rudolph, the tramp.</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph!” he exclaimed, stopping short in his amazement.</p>
+
+<p>Yes,” said the tramp, avowing himself, now that he
+saw disguise was useless; “it’s Rudolph. At last I have
+you, you young scamp!” and he seized the boy’s arms as
+in the grip of a vise.</p>
+
+<p>Tony tried to shake off the grip, but what could a boy
+do against an athletic man?</p>
+
+<p><!--093.png-->
+“It’s no use,” said the tramp, between his teeth. “I’ve
+got you, and I don’t mean to let you go.”</p>
+
+<p>“What do you mean to do, Rudolph?” asked Tony, uneasily.</p>
+
+<p>What do I mean to do? I mean to make you repent
+of what you’ve done to me, you young whelp.”</p>
+
+<p>“What have I done?”</p>
+
+<p>“What haven’t you done? You betrayed me, and sold
+me to my enemies. That’s what you’ve done.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve only done what I was obliged to do. I don’t want
+to do you any more harm. Let me go, and I won’t meddle
+with you any more, nor say a word about you at the
+hotel.”</p>
+
+<p>“Really,” said Rudolph, with a disagreeable sneer, “I
+feel very much obliged to you. You are very kind, upon
+my soul. So you won’t tell at the hotel that the Quaker
+gentleman is only a tramp, after all.”</p>
+
+<p>“No, I will say nothing about you.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t think you are to be trusted, boy.”</p>
+
+<p>“Did you ever know me to tell a lie, Rudolph?” asked
+Tony, proudly. “I don’t pretend to be a model boy, but
+there’s one thing I won’t do, and that is lie.”</p>
+
+<p>“I think I had better make sure that you don’t say anything
+about me,” said the tramp, significantly.</p>
+
+<p>How?” asked Tony.</p>
+
+<p>I don’t mean to let you go back to the hotel at
+all.”</p>
+
+<p>“But I must go back. I must carry the horse back.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s of no importance.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, it is,” persisted Tony, anxiously. “They will
+think I have stolen it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Let them think so.”</p>
+
+<p>“But I don’t want them to think me a thief.”</p>
+
+<p>“I can’t help it.”</p>
+
+<p>“What are you going to do with me? Where are we
+going?”</p>
+
+<p><!--094.png-->
+“Before I tell you that I will tell you something more.
+You have often asked me who you were.”</p>
+
+<p>“You always told me I was your son.”</p>
+
+<p>“It was not true,” said Rudolph, calmly. “You are
+not related to me.”</p>
+
+<p>“I felt sure of it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, you did!” sneered the tramp. “You are glad
+that you are not my son!”</p>
+
+<p>“Who am I?”</p>
+
+<p>“I will tell you this much, that you are the heir to a
+fortune.”</p>
+
+<p>“I&mdash;the heir to a fortune!” exclaimed Tony, in natural
+excitement.</p>
+
+<p>Yes; and I could help you to secure it, if I pleased.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony knew not what to say or to think. Was it possible
+that he&mdash;Tony the Tramp&mdash;was a gentleman’s son,
+and heir to a fortune? It was almost incredible. Moreover,
+what was the object of Rudolph in imparting this secret,
+and at this time, when he sought revenge upon him?
+
+“Is this true?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Perfectly true.”</p>
+
+<p>“And you know my real name and family?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, I do.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, Rudolph, tell me who I am,” Tony said, imploringly.
+“Help me to the fortune which you say I am entitled
+to, and I will take care that you are rewarded.”</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph surveyed the boy, whom he still held in a firm
+grasp, and watched his excitement with malicious satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>There’s one objection to my doing that, boy,” he said.</p>
+
+<p>What is that?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll tell you,” he hissed, as his grip grew tighter, and
+his dark face grew darker yet with passion, “I hate you!”</p>
+
+<p>This he uttered with such intensity that Tony, brave as
+he was, was startled and dismayed.</p>
+
+<p>Then why did you tell me?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p><!--095.png-->
+“That you might know what you are going to lose&mdash;that
+you might repent betraying me,” answered Rudolph,
+rapidly. “You ask what I am going to do with you? I
+am going to throw you down that well, and leave you
+there&mdash;to die!”</p>
+
+<p>Then commenced a struggle between the man and boy.
+Tony knew what he had to expect, and he fought for dear
+life. Rudolph found that he had undertaken no light
+task, but he, too, was desperate. He succeeded at last in
+dragging Tony to the well curb, and raising him in his
+sinewy arms, he let him fall.</p>
+
+<p>Then, without waiting to look down, he hurried out of
+the wood with all speed. He reached the hotel, settled his
+bill, and paid to have himself carried over to the nearest
+railroad station.</p>
+
+<p>Not until he was fairly seated in the train, and was
+rushing through the country at the rate of forty miles an
+hour, did he pause to congratulate himself.</p>
+
+<p>Now for an easy life!” he ejaculated. “My fortune
+is made! I shall never have to work any more.”</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Twenty-two">XXII</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">“I HOLD YOU TO THE BOND”</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">On</span> reaching New York, Rudolph made his way at once
+to the shop from which he had obtained his Quaker dress.</p>
+
+<p>Has thee come back?” asked the old man, in a jocular
+tone.</p>
+
+<p>Yea, verily,” answered Rudolph.</p>
+
+<p>How do you like being a Quaker?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve had enough of it. I want you to take them back.
+You promised to return me twenty-five dollars.”</p>
+
+<p>“Let me look at them,” said the old man, cautiously.
+“They’ve seen hard usage,” he said. “Look at that rip,
+and that spot.”</p>
+
+<p><!--096.png-->
+“Humbug!” answered Rudolph. “There’s nothing
+but what you can set straight in half an hour, and five
+dollars is handsome pay for that.”</p>
+
+<p>But the old man stood out for seven, and finally the
+tramp, though grumbling much, was obliged to come to
+his terms.</p>
+
+<p>Where have you been?” asked the old man, whose
+curiosity was aroused as to what prompted Rudolph to
+obtain the disguise.</p>
+
+<p>That’s my business,” said Rudolph, who had his reasons
+for secrecy, as we know.</p>
+
+<p>I meant no offense&mdash;I only wondered if you left the
+city.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, I’ve been into New Jersey,” answered the tramp,
+who thought it politic to put the costumer on the wrong
+scent. “You see, I’ve got an old uncle&mdash;a Quaker&mdash;living
+there. The old man’s got plenty of money, and I thought
+if I could only make him think me a good Quaker, I should
+stand a good chance of being remembered in his will.”</p>
+
+<p>“I see&mdash;a capital idea. Did it work?”</p>
+
+<p>“I can’t tell yet. He gave me four dollars and his
+blessing for the present,” said Rudolph, carelessly.</p>
+
+<p>That’s a lie, every word of it!” said the old man to
+himself, after the tramp went out. “You must try to
+fix up a more probable story next time, Mr. Rudolph.
+He’s been up to some mischief, probably. However, it’s
+none of my business. I’ve made seven dollars out of him,
+and that pays me well&mdash;yes, it pays me well.”</p>
+
+<p>When Rudolph left the costumer’s, it occurred to him
+that the tramp’s dress which he had resumed had better
+be changed, partly because he thought it probable that a
+journey lay before him. He sought out a large readymade
+clothing establishment on Broadway, and with the
+money which had been returned to him obtained a respectable-looking
+suit, which quite improved his appearance.
+He regarded his reflection in a long mirror with considerable
+<!--097.png-->
+satisfaction. He felt that he would now be taken
+for a respectable citizen, and that in discarding his old
+dress he had removed all vestiges of the tramp. In this,
+however, he was not wholly right. His face and general
+expression he could not change. A careful observer could
+read in them something of the life he had led. Still, he
+was changed for the better, and it pleased him.</p>
+
+<p>Now,” he reflected, “I had better go and see Mrs.
+Harvey Middleton. I have done the work, and I shall
+claim the reward.”</p>
+
+<p>He hurried to the St. Regis, and, experienced now in
+the ways of obtaining access to a guest, he wrote his name
+on a card and sent it up.</p>
+
+<p>The lady will see you,” was the answer brought back
+by the servant.</p>
+
+<p>Of course she will,” thought Rudolph. “She’ll want
+to know whether it’s all settled, and she has no further
+cause for fear.”</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Middleton looked up as he entered.</p>
+
+<p>Sit down, Mr. Rugg,” she said, politely.</p>
+
+<p>Her manner was cool and composed; but when the servant
+had left the room, she rose from her chair, and in a
+tone which showed the anxiety which she had till then repressed,
+she asked, abruptly: “Well, Mr. Rugg, have you
+any news for me?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, ma’am, I have,” he answered, deliberately.</p>
+
+<p>What is it? Don’t keep me in suspense,” she said,
+impatiently.</p>
+
+<p>The job’s done,” said Rudolph, briefly.</p>
+
+<p>You mean that the boy&mdash;&#8203;&mdash;”
+
+“Accidentally fell down a well and was killed,” said
+the visitor, finishing the sentence.</p>
+
+<p>Horrible!” murmured the lady.</p>
+
+<p>Wasn’t it?” said Rudolph, with a grin. “He must
+have been very careless.”</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Middleton did not immediately speak. Though
+<!--098.png-->
+she was responsible for this crime, having instigated it,
+she was really shocked when it was brought home to her.</p>
+
+<p>You are sure he is dead?” she said, after a pause.</p>
+
+<p>When a chap pitches head first down a well thirty feet
+deep, there isn’t much hope for him, is there?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, I suppose not. Where did this accident happen?”
+asked the lady.</p>
+
+<p>That ain’t important,” answered Rudolph. “It’s
+happened&mdash;that’s all you need to know. Tony won’t
+never come after that estate of his.”</p>
+
+<p>“It would have done him little good. He was not fitted
+by education to assume it.”</p>
+
+<p>“No; but he might have been educated. But that’s
+all over now. It’s yours. Nobody can take it from
+you.”</p>
+
+<p>“True!” said Mrs. Middleton, and a look of pleasure
+succeeded the momentary horror. “You will be ready
+to testify that the boy is dead?”</p>
+
+<p>“There won’t be any danger, will there? They won’t
+ask too many questions?”</p>
+
+<p>“As to that, I think we had better decide what we will
+say. It won’t be necessary to say how the boy died.”</p>
+
+<p>“Won’t it?”</p>
+
+<p>“No. Indeed, it will be better to give a different account.”</p>
+
+<p>“Will that do just as well?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes. You can say, for instance, that he died of smallpox,
+while under your care in St. Louis, or any other
+place.”</p>
+
+<p>“And that I tended him to the last with the affection
+of a father,” added Rudolph, grinning.</p>
+
+<p>To be sure. You must settle upon all the details of
+the story, so as not to be caught in any discrepancies.”</p>
+
+<p>“What’s that?” asked the tramp, rather mystified.</p>
+
+<p>Your story must hang together. It mustn’t contradict
+itself.”</p>
+
+<p><!--099.png-->
+“To be sure. How long are you going to stay in New
+York?”</p>
+
+<p>“There is no further occasion for my staying here. I
+shall sail for England in a week.”</p>
+
+<p>“Will it be all right about the money?” asked Rudolph,
+anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>Certainly.”</p>
+
+<p>“How am I to be sure of that?”</p>
+
+<p>“The word of a lady, sir,” said Mrs. Middleton,
+haughtily, “ought to be sufficient for you.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s all very well, but suppose you should get tired
+of paying me the money?”</p>
+
+<p>“Then you could make it very disagreeable for me by
+telling all you know about the boy. However, there will
+be no occasion for that. I shall keep my promise. Will
+you be willing to sail for England next week?”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you mean that I am to go with you?”</p>
+
+<p>“I mean that you are to go. Your testimony must be
+given on the other side, in order to make clear my title to
+the estate.”</p>
+
+<p>“I see, ma’am. If I’d known that, I wouldn’t have had
+no fears about the money.”</p>
+
+<p>“You need have none, Mr. Rugg,” said Mrs. Middleton,
+coldly. “The fact is, we are necessary to each other.
+Each can promote the interests of the other.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s so, ma’am. Let’s shake hands on that,” said
+Rudolph, advancing with outstretched hand.</p>
+
+<p>No, thank you,” said Mrs. Middleton, coldly. “You
+forget yourself, sir. Do not forget that I am a lady, and
+that you are&mdash;&#8203;&mdash;”
+
+“We are equal, ma’am, in this matter,” said Rudolph
+offended. “You needn’t shrink from shaking hands with
+me.”</p>
+
+<p>“That is not in the agreement,” said Mrs. Middleton,
+haughtily. “I shall do what I have agreed, but except
+so far as it is necessary in the way of business, I wish you
+<!--100.png-->
+to keep yourself away from me. We belong to different
+grades in society.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why didn’t you say that the other day, ma’am?” said
+Rudolph, frowning.</p>
+
+<p>Because I didn’t suppose it to be necessary. You did
+not offer to shake hands with me then. Besides, at that
+time you had not&mdash;&#8203;&mdash;”
+
+“Pushed the boy down the well, if that’s what you
+mean,” said Rudolph, bluntly.</p>
+
+<p>Hush! Don’t refer to that. I advise you this for
+your own sake.”</p>
+
+<p>“And for the sake of somebody else.”</p>
+
+<p>“Mr. Rugg, all this discussion is idle. It can do no
+good. For whatever service you have rendered, you shall
+be well paid. That you understand. But it is best that
+we should know as little of each other henceforth as possible.
+It might excite suspicion, as you can understand.”</p>
+
+<p>“Perhaps you are right, ma’am,” said Rudolph, slowly.</p>
+
+<p>Call here day after to-morrow, and I will let you know
+by what steamer I take passage for England, that you
+may obtain a ticket. Good afternoon.”</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph left the lady’s presence not wholly pleased.</p>
+
+<p>Why wouldn’t she take my hand?” he muttered to
+himself. “She’s as deep in it as I am.”</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Twenty-three">XXIII</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">TONY’S ESCAPE</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">We</span> must now return to our young hero, who was certainly
+in a critical position. Though strong for his age,
+the reader will hardly be surprised that he should have
+been overpowered by a man like Rudolph.</p>
+
+<p>When the false Quaker’s hat and wig were taken off,
+though he was at first surprised, he for the first time understood
+<!--101.png-->
+why the man’s face and voice had seemed familiar
+to him from the time they first met.</p>
+
+<p>He struggled in vain against the fate in store for him.
+He felt that with him it was to be a matter of life and
+death, and, taken by surprise though he was, he was on
+the alert to save his life if he could.</p>
+
+<p>The well curb was partially destroyed, as we have said,
+but the rope still hung from it. At the instant of his fall,
+Tony managed while in transit to grasp the rope by one
+hand. He swung violently from one side to the other,
+and slipped a few feet downward. This Rudolph did not
+see, for as soon as he had hurled the boy into the well, he
+hurried away.</p>
+
+<p>Tony waited for the rope to become steady before attempting
+to ascend hand over hand. Unfortunately for
+his purpose, the rope was rotten, and broke just above
+where he grasped it, precipitating him to the bottom of
+the well. But he was already so far from the opening that
+his fall was not over ten feet. Luckily, also, the water
+was not over two feet in depth. Therefore, though he
+was jarred and startled by the sudden descent, he was not
+injured.</p>
+
+<p>Well,” thought Tony, “I’m as low as I can get&mdash;that’s
+one comfort. Now is there any chance of my setting
+out?”</p>
+
+<p>He looked up, and it gave him a peculiar sensation to
+see the blue sky from the place where he stood. He feared
+that Rudolph was still at hand, and would resist any
+efforts he might make to get out of the well.</p>
+
+<p>If he don’t interfere, I’m bound to get out,” he said
+to himself, pluckily.</p>
+
+<p>His feet were wet, of course, and this was far from
+comfortable.</p>
+
+<p>He made a brief examination of the situation, and then
+decided upon his plan. The well, like most in the country,
+was made of a wall of stones, piled one upon another. In
+<!--102.png-->
+parts it looked rather loose, and Tony shuddered as he
+thought of the possibility of the walls falling, and his
+being buried in the ruins.</p>
+
+<p>It would be all up with me then,” he thought. “I
+must get out of this as soon as I can. If I can only climb
+up as far as the rope, I can escape.”</p>
+
+<p>This, in fact, seemed to be his only chance. Using the
+wall as a ladder, he began cautiously to ascend. More
+than once he came near falling a second time, but by great
+exertion he finally reached the rope. He did not dare to
+trust to it entirely, but contrived to ascend as before,
+clinging to the rope with his hands. He was in constant
+fear that it would break a second time, but the strain upon
+it was not so great, and finally, much to his delight, he
+reached the top.</p>
+
+<p>He breathed a deep sigh of relief when he found himself
+once more on <span class="decoration" lang="la" xml:lang="la">terra firma</span>. He looked about him cautiously,
+under the apprehension that Rudolph might be
+near by, and ready to attack him again. But, as we
+know, his fears were groundless.</p>
+
+<p>He made sure that I was disposed of,” thought Tony.
+“What could have induced him to attempt my life? Can
+it be true, as he said, that I am heir to a fortune? Why
+couldn’t he tell me? I would have paid him well for the information
+when I got my money. Then he said he knew
+who I was&mdash;I care more for that than for the money.”</p>
+
+<p>But Tony could not dwell upon these thoughts. The
+claims of duty were paramount. He must seek the horse,
+and go back to the hotel. He had been detained already
+for nearly three-quarters of an hour, and they would be
+wondering what had become of him.</p>
+
+<p>He made his way as quickly as possible to where he had
+tied the horse. But he looked for him in vain. He had
+been untied and led away&mdash;perhaps stolen. Tony felt assured
+that the horse, of himself, could not leave the spot.</p>
+
+<p>It must be Rudolph,” he said to himself. “He has
+<!--103.png-->
+made off with the horse. Now I am in a precious scrape.
+What will Mr. Porter say to me?”</p>
+
+<p>Tony was in error, as we know, in concluding that Rudolph
+had carried away the horse. The tramp had no
+use for him. Besides, he knew that such a proceeding
+would have exposed him to suspicion, which it was very
+important for him to avoid.</p>
+
+<p>Who, then, had taken the horse? That is a question
+which we are able to answer, though Tony could not.</p>
+
+<p>Fifteen minutes before Sam Payson, whose place Tony
+had taken, with a companion, Ben Hardy, while wandering
+through the woods, had espied a horse.</p>
+
+<p>Hello!” said Ben. “Here’s a horse!”</p>
+
+<p>“So it is!” said Sam. “It’s rather odd that he should
+be tied here.”</p>
+
+<p>“I wonder whose it is?”</p>
+
+<p>Sam had been examining him carefully, and had recognized
+him.</p>
+
+<p>It’s Mr. Porter’s Bill. Don’t you see that white spot?
+That’s the way I know him. I have harnessed that horse
+fifty times.”</p>
+
+<p>“But how did he come here? That’s the question.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll tell you,” said Sam. “I was at the hotel this
+morning, and heard that that boy Tony was to go over
+to Thornton with him.”</p>
+
+<p>“That don’t explain why he is tied here, does it?”</p>
+
+<p>“Tony must have tied him while he was taking a tramp
+in the woods. Wouldn’t Porter be mad if he knew it?”</p>
+
+<p>“I shouldn’t wonder if Tony would get bounced.”</p>
+
+<p>“Nor I. I’ll tell you what, Ben, I’ve a grand mind to
+untie the horse and take him back myself.”</p>
+
+<p>“What’s the good? It would be an awful job. We
+came out here to have some fun,” grumbled Ben.</p>
+
+<p>This would be fun to me. I’ll get Tony into trouble,
+and very likely get back the place he cheated me out of.
+I guess it’ll pay.”</p>
+
+<p><!--104.png-->
+“All right, Sam. I didn’t think of that. I’d like to see
+how Tony looks when he comes back and finds the horse
+gone.”</p>
+
+<p>“It’ll serve him right,” said Sam. “What business had
+he to interfere with me, I’d like to know?”</p>
+
+<p>“If you’re going to do it, you’d better hurry up. He
+may get back any time.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s so. Here goes, then.”</p>
+
+<p>In a trice Bill was untied, and Sam, taking the halter,
+led him away. When Tony came up he was not in sight.</p>
+
+<p>Though Tony felt convinced that Rudolph had carried
+away the horse, he felt it to be his duty to look about for
+him. There was a bare chance that he might find him
+somewhere in the wood. In this way he lost considerable
+time. Had he started for the hotel immediately, he would
+very likely have overtaken the two boys.</p>
+
+<p>Sam kept on his way, and finally arrived at the hotel.</p>
+
+<p>As he led the horse into the stable yard, James, the
+hostler, exclaimed, in surprise:</p>
+
+<p>“How came you by that horse, Sam Payson?”</p>
+
+<p>“Is that the way you thank me for bringing him
+back?” asked Sam.</p>
+
+<p>He left the stable under the charge of Tony Rugg
+this morning.”</p>
+
+<p>“Pretty care he takes of him, then!”</p>
+
+<p>“What do you mean? Where did you find him?”</p>
+
+<p>“Down in the woods.”</p>
+
+<p>“What woods?”</p>
+
+<p>“Between here and Thornton.”</p>
+
+<p>“Wasn’t Tony with him?”</p>
+
+<p>“No.”</p>
+
+<p>“Are you sure of that? Are you sure you two boys
+didn’t attack Tony and take the horse away?” demanded
+James, suspiciously.</p>
+
+<p>No, we didn’t. If you don’t believe me, you may ask
+Ben.”</p>
+
+<p><!--105.png-->
+“How was it, Ben?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Just as Sam has said. We found the horse alone in
+the woods. We thought he might be stolen, and we
+brought him home. It was a good deal of trouble, for
+it’s full two miles.”</p>
+
+<p>James looked from one to the other in perplexity.</p>
+
+<p>I don’t understand it at all,” he said. “It don’t look
+like Tony to neglect his duty that way.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’ve got too high an opinion of that boy entirely,”
+said Sam, sneeringly.</p>
+
+<p>Just then the landlord passed through the yard.</p>
+
+<p>What’s all this?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p>The matter was explained to him.</p>
+
+<p>Send Tony to me as soon as he comes back,” he said,
+with a frown of displeasure. “This must be looked into.”</p>
+
+<p>“He’ll give Tony fits!” said Sam, gleefully.</p>
+
+<p>You know how it is yourself, Sam,” said James.</p>
+
+<p>I never ran off and left the horse in the woods,” retorted
+Sam.</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Twenty-four">XXIV</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">TONY IS DISCHARGED</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Presently</span> Tony came into the yard. He was looking
+very sober. He had lost the horse, and he didn’t know
+how to excuse himself. He didn’t feel that he had been
+to blame, but he suspected that he should be blamed, nevertheless.</p>
+
+<p>What did you do with the horse, Tony?” asked
+James.</p>
+
+<p>He was stolen from me,” answered Tony.</p>
+
+<p>How could that be?”</p>
+
+<p>“I expect it was the Quaker.”</p>
+
+<p>“The Quaker?” repeated James, in amazement. “Are
+you sure you’re not crazy&mdash;or drunk?”</p>
+
+<p>“Neither one,” said Tony. “It’s a long story, and&mdash;&#8203;&mdash;”</p>
+
+<p><!--106.png-->
+“You must tell it to Mr. Porter, then. He wants to
+see you right off. But I’ll tell you for your information
+that the horse is here.”</p>
+
+<p>“Is here? Who brought him?”</p>
+
+<p>“Sam Payson brought him a short time since.”</p>
+
+<p>“Sam Payson! Where did he say he found him?”</p>
+
+<p>“In the woods.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then he might have left it there,” said Tony, indignantly.
+“What business had he to untie him, and give
+me all this trouble?”</p>
+
+<p>“You can speak to Mr. Porter about that.”</p>
+
+<p>“Where is he?”</p>
+
+<p>“In the office.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony entered the office.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Porter regarded him with a frown.</p>
+
+<p>How is this, Tony?” he began. “You leave my horse
+in the woods to be brought home by another boy. He
+might have been stolen, do you know that?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve been deceived and led into a trap,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>What on earth do you mean? Who has deceived and
+trapped you?”</p>
+
+<p>“The Quaker, who was stopping here. Has he come
+back?”</p>
+
+<p>“He has settled his bill and left the hotel. What cock-and-bull
+story is this you have hatched up?”</p>
+
+<p>“It is a true story, Mr. Porter. This man was not a
+Quaker at all. He was a tramp.”</p>
+
+<p>“Take care what you say, Tony. Do you take me for
+a fool?”</p>
+
+<p>“He is a man I used to know. When I was coming
+home he was waiting for me in the woods, only I didn’t
+know who he really was. He told me there was a man
+who had fallen into a well in the woods, and he wanted
+my help to get him out. So I tied the horse and went
+with him. I wouldn’t have left him but for that story of
+the man in the well.”</p>
+
+<p><!--107.png-->
+“Go on,” said the landlord. “I warn you I don’t believe
+a word of this wonderful story of yours.”</p>
+
+<p>“I can’t help it,” said Tony, desperately. “It’s true.”</p>
+
+<p>“Go on, and I’ll give you my opinion of it afterward.”</p>
+
+<p>“Just before we got to the well, a branch took off his
+hat and wig, and I saw that he was no Quaker, but my
+enemy, Rudolph Rugg.”</p>
+
+<p>“Rudolph Rugg! A very good name for a romance.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony proceeded:</p>
+
+<p>“Then I tried to get away, but it was too late. The
+man seized me and threw me down the well. But first he
+told me that he knew who I was, and that I was heir to a
+large fortune.”</p>
+
+<p>“Indeed! How happens it that you are not at the bottom
+of the well still?”</p>
+
+<p>“I got out.”</p>
+
+<p>“So I see. But how?”</p>
+
+<p>“I climbed up by the stones till I reached the rope, and
+then I found it easy. I hurried to where I had left the
+horse, but he was gone. I supposed that the Quaker had
+taken him, but James tells me Sam Payson found him and
+brought him back.”</p>
+
+<p>“Look here, boy,” said the landlord, sternly, “do you
+expect me to believe this romance of yours?”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t know whether you will or not, sir. All I can
+say is that it is the exact truth.”</p>
+
+<p>“I cannot keep you in my employ any longer. I have
+been deceived in you, and should no longer trust you. You
+certainly have mistaken your vocation. You are not fit
+to be a stableboy.”</p>
+
+<p>“I should like to know what I am fit for?” said Tony,
+despondently.</p>
+
+<p>I will tell you, then. Judging from the story you
+have told me, I should think you might succeed very well
+in writing dime novels. I don’t know whether it pays,
+but you can try it.”</p>
+
+<p><!--108.png-->
+“Sometime you will find out that I have told the truth,”
+said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps so, but I doubt it.”</p>
+
+<p>“When do you want me to go?”</p>
+
+<p>“You can stay till to-morrow morning. Wait a minute.
+Here is a five-dollar bill. That is a fair price for the
+time you have been with me.”</p>
+
+<p>As Tony was going out he came near having a collision
+with Sam Payson.</p>
+
+<p>Sam looked at him inquiringly.</p>
+
+<p>Have you been bounced?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Yes,” said Tony. “It was your fault. What made
+you take that horse?”</p>
+
+<p>“I was afraid Mr. Porter might lose him. Is he in?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes. You can apply for my place, if you want to.”</p>
+
+<p>“I mean to.”</p>
+
+<p>Sam went in, and addressed the landlord.</p>
+
+<p>I brought your horse back,” he said.</p>
+
+<p>Thank you. Here’s two dollars for your trouble.”</p>
+
+<p>Sam tucked it away with an air of satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>Tony tells me he is going away.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes. He don’t suit me.”</p>
+
+<p>“Wouldn’t I suit you?” asked Sam, in an ingratiating
+tone.</p>
+
+<p>No; I’ve tried you, and you won’t suit,” was the unexpected
+reply.</p>
+
+<p>But I brought back the horse,” pleaded Sam, crestfallen.</p>
+
+<p>I’ve paid you for that,” said the landlord. “Didn’t I
+pay you enough?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, sir; but I thought you’d take me back again.”</p>
+
+<p>“I know you too well, Sam Payson, to try any such
+experiment. The Widow Clark told me yesterday that she
+wanted to get her boy into a place, and I am going to
+offer it to him.”</p>
+
+<p>“He don’t know anything about horses,” said Sam.</p>
+
+<p><!--109.png-->
+“He will soon learn. He is a good boy, and industrious.
+I am sure he will suit me better than you.”</p>
+
+<p>“I wish I hadn’t brought back his old horse,” muttered
+Sam, as he left the office and went back into the yard. He
+hoped to triumph over Tony, by telling that he had taken
+his place, but the opportunity was not allowed him.</p>
+
+<p>Well, Sam, are you going to take my place?” asked
+Tony.</p>
+
+<p>No, I’m not,” said Sam.</p>
+
+<p>Didn’t you ask for it?”</p>
+
+<p>“The old man had promised it to another boy,” said
+Sam, sourly.</p>
+
+<p>He’s been pretty quick about it, then,” said James.</p>
+
+<p>A boy that don’t know the first thing about horses,”
+grumbled Sam.</p>
+
+<p>Who is it?”</p>
+
+<p>“Joe Clark.”</p>
+
+<p>“He’s a good boy; I’m glad he’s coming, though I’m
+sorry to lose Tony.”</p>
+
+<p>“Thank you, James,” said Tony. “I’d like to stay,
+but I can’t blame Mr. Porter for not believing my story.
+It was a strange one, but it’s true, for all that.”</p>
+
+<p>James shrugged his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>Then you believe you’re heir to a fortune, as he told
+you?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes; he had no reason to tell me a lie.”</p>
+
+<p>“What’s that?” asked Sam.</p>
+
+<p>The Quaker gentleman who was here told Tony that
+he was heir to a large fortune.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ho! ho!” laughed Sam, boisterously. “That’s a
+likely story, that is!”</p>
+
+<p>“Why isn’t it?” asked Tony, frowning.</p>
+
+<p>You heir to a fortune&mdash;a clodhopper like you! Oh,
+I shall split!” said Sam, giving way to another burst of
+merriment.</p>
+
+<p>I am no more a clodhopper than you are,” said Tony,
+<!--110.png-->
+“and I advise you not to laugh too much, or I may make
+you laugh on the other side of your mouth.”</p>
+
+<p>“It’ll take more than you do to do it!” said Sam, defiantly.</p>
+
+<p>I have done it already, Sam Payson, and I’m ready
+to try it again before I leave town.”</p>
+
+<p>“I wouldn’t dirty my hands with you!” said Sam,
+scornfully.</p>
+
+<p>You’d better not!”</p>
+
+<p>When Sam had gone, Tony turned to James.</p>
+
+<p>I wonder whether I shall ever see you again, James?”
+he said, thoughtfully.</p>
+
+<p>I hope so, Tony. I’m sorry you’re going; but you
+couldn’t expect Mr. Porter to swallow such a tough story
+as that.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then you don’t believe it, James? I’ll come back
+some day just to prove to you that it is true.”</p>
+
+<p>“Come back, at any rate; I shall be glad to see you.
+When do you go?”</p>
+
+<p>“To-morrow morning.”</p>
+
+<p>“Where shall you go first?”</p>
+
+<p>“To New York; but I’ll help you till I go.”</p>
+
+<p>So Tony did his work as usual for the remainder of the
+day. He felt rather sober. Just as he had found a home,
+his evil genius, in the character of Rudolph, had appeared
+and deprived him of it.</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Twenty-five">XXV</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">TONY IN NEW YORK</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Though</span> Tony was out of a place, he was considerably
+better off than he had ever been. He had five dollars in
+his pocket for the first time in his life. A few weeks ago
+he would have considered himself rich with this amount,
+and would have been in high spirits. But now he took a
+<!--111.png-->
+different view of life. He had known what it was to have
+a settled home, and to earn an honest living, and he had
+learned to like it. But fortune was against him, and he
+must go.</p>
+
+<p>Good-by, James,” he said, soberly, to the hostler, the
+next morning.</p>
+
+<p>Good-by, Tony, and good luck,” said the kind-hearted
+hostler.</p>
+
+<p>I hope I shall have good luck, but I don’t expect it,”
+said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Pooh, nonsense! You’re young, and the world is before
+you.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s so, James, but so far the world has been
+against me.”</p>
+
+<p>“Come here a minute, Tony,” said James, lowering his
+voice.</p>
+
+<p>As Tony approached, he thrust a bank-note hastily into
+his hand.</p>
+
+<p>Take it,” he said, quickly. “I don’t need it, and you
+may.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony looked at the bill, and found it was a ten-dollar
+note.</p>
+
+<p>You’re very kind, James,” he said, touched by a kindness
+to which he was unaccustomed, “but I can’t take it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why not? I sha’n’t need it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Nor I, James. I’ve got some money. It isn’t much,
+but I’m used to roughing it. I’ve done it all my life. I
+always come down on my feet like a cat.”</p>
+
+<p>“But you may get hard up.”</p>
+
+<p>“If I do, I’ll let you know.”</p>
+
+<p>“Will you promise that?”</p>
+
+<p>“Honor bright.”</p>
+
+<p>So James took back the money reluctantly, and Tony
+bade him good-by.</p>
+
+<p>It was a rainy day when Tony arrived in New York.
+The stores were deserted, and the clerks lounged idly behind
+<!--112.png-->
+the counters. Only those who were actually obliged
+to be out appeared in the streets. If Tony’s hopes had
+been high, they would have been lowered by the dreary
+weather. He wandered aimlessly about the streets, having
+no care about his luggage, for he had brought none,
+looking about him listlessly. He found himself after a
+while in the lower part of Broadway, near where most of
+the European steamer lines have their offices.</p>
+
+<p>All at once Tony saw a figure that attracted his eager
+attention.</p>
+
+<p>It was Rudolph Rugg, his old comrade, and now bitter
+enemy.</p>
+
+<p>Where is he going?” thought Tony.</p>
+
+<p>This question was soon solved.</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph entered the office of the Cunard line of
+steamers.</p>
+
+<p>What can he want there?” thought Tony. “I’ll
+watch him.”</p>
+
+<p>He took a position near by, yet far enough off to avoid
+discovery, and waited patiently for Rudolph to reappear.
+He waited about fifteen minutes. Then he saw the tramp
+come out with a paper in his hand, which he appeared to
+regard with satisfaction. He turned and went up Broadway.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as he thought it safe, Tony crossed the street
+and entered the office. He made his way up to the counter,
+and inquired the price of passage. The rates were given
+him.</p>
+
+<p>Can you tell me,” he asked, carelessly, “if a Mr.
+Rugg is going across on one of your steamers?”</p>
+
+<p>“Mr. Rugg? Why, it is the man who just left the office.”</p>
+
+<p>“Did he buy a passage ticket?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>“When does he sail?”</p>
+
+<p>“On Saturday.”</p>
+
+<p><!--113.png-->
+“And where does he go?”</p>
+
+<p>“To Liverpool, of course. Can I sell you a ticket?”</p>
+
+<p>“I haven’t decided,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>If you go, you will find it for your advantage to go
+by our line.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll go by your line, if I go at all,” said Tony. “I
+wonder whether he’d be so polite if he knew I had but
+three dollars and a quarter in my pocket,” said our hero
+to himself.</p>
+
+<p>Then he began to wonder how it happened that Rudolph
+was going. First, it was a mystery where he could
+have obtained the money necessary for the purchase of a
+ticket. Next, what could be his reason for leaving
+America.</p>
+
+<p>Probably he has picked somebody’s pocket,” thought
+Tony.</p>
+
+<p>That disposed of the difficulty, but, as we know, Tony
+was mistaken. It was money that he had received for a
+worse deed, but Tony never thought of connecting the
+state of Rudolph’s purse with the attempt that had been
+made upon his own life.</p>
+
+<p>When Tony came to think of it, he felt glad that Rudolph
+was going abroad. He felt that his own life would
+be safer with an ocean flowing between him and the man
+who latterly had exhibited such an intense hatred for him.
+As to his motive, why perhaps he thought that he would
+be safer in London than in New York.</p>
+
+<p>Tony bethought himself of securing a temporary home.
+He was not a stranger in New York, and knew exactly
+where to go. There was a house not far from Greenwich
+street, where he had lodged more than once before, and
+where he was known. It was far from a fashionable
+place, but the charge was small, and that was a necessary
+consideration with Tony.</p>
+
+<p>He rang the bell, and the proprietor, a hard-favored
+woman of fifty, came to open it.</p>
+
+<p><!--114.png-->
+“How do you do, Mrs. Blodgett?” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Why, it’s Tony,” said the woman, not unkindly.
+“Where have you been this long time?”</p>
+
+<p>“In the country,” answered our hero.</p>
+
+<p>And where is your father?”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you mean the man I used to be with?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes. He was your father, wasn’t he?”</p>
+
+<p>“No. He was no relation of mine,” said Tony, hastily.
+“We used to go together, that is all.”</p>
+
+<p>“Where is he?”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t know exactly. We had a falling out, and
+we’ve parted.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, Tony, what can I do for you?”</p>
+
+<p>“Have you got any cheap room to let, Mrs. Blodgett?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve got a room in the attic. It’s small, but if it’ll
+suit you, you can have it for a dollar a week.”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s just the thing,” said Tony, in a tone of satisfaction.
+“Can I go right up?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, if you want to. I generally want a week’s pay
+in advance, but you’ve been here before&mdash;&#8203;&mdash;”
+
+“No matter for that. Here’s the money,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>I’ll show you the way up.”</p>
+
+<p>“All right. I guess I’ll lie down a while. I’ve been
+about the streets all day, and am pretty tired.”</p>
+
+<p>The room was hardly large enough to swing a cat in,
+and the furniture was shabby and well-worn; but Tony
+was not particular. He threw himself on the bed, and
+soon fell asleep.</p>
+
+<p>How long he slept he did not know, but when he woke
+up the room was quite dark. He stretched, and did not
+immediately remember where he was; but it flashed upon
+him directly.</p>
+
+<p>I wonder what time it is?” he asked himself. “I
+must have slept a long time. I feel as fresh as a lark. I’ll
+get up and take a tramp.”</p>
+
+<p><!--115.png-->
+When he went downstairs he found that it was already
+ten o’clock.</p>
+
+<p>I feel as fresh as if it were morning,” thought Tony.
+“I’ll go out on Broadway and watch some of the theaters
+when the people come out.”</p>
+
+<p>Ten o’clock seems late in the country; it is the usual
+hour for retiring for many families; but in the city it is
+quite different. There are still many to be seen in the
+streets, and for many it is the commencement of a season
+of festivity.</p>
+
+<p>Tony walked for half an hour. He was so thoroughly
+rested that he felt no fatigue. Presently he stepped into
+a crowded billiard room, and, seating himself, began to
+watch a game between a young man of twenty-five and a
+man probably fifteen years his senior. The first was evidently
+a gentleman by birth and education; his dress and
+manners evinced this. The other looked like an adventurer,
+though he was well dressed.</p>
+
+<p>Come, let us play for the drinks,” said the elder.</p>
+
+<p>I’ve drank enough,” said the young man.</p>
+
+<p>Nonsense. You can stand a little more.”</p>
+
+<p>“Just as you say.”</p>
+
+<p>The game terminated in favor of the elder, and the
+drinks were brought.</p>
+
+<p>This went on for some time. The young man was evidently
+affected. Finally he threw down his cue, and said:</p>
+
+<p>“I won’t play again!”</p>
+
+<p>“Why not?”</p>
+
+<p>“My hand is unsteady. I have drank too much.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve drank as much as you, but I’m all right.”</p>
+
+<p>“You can stand more than I. I’ll settle for the drinks
+and games and go home.”</p>
+
+<p>“Sha’n’t I see you home?” asked the elder.</p>
+
+<p>I don’t want to trouble you.”</p>
+
+<p>“No trouble at all.”</p>
+
+<p>The young man paid at the bar, displaying a well-filled
+<!--116.png-->
+pocketbook. There was something in his companion’s expression
+which made Tony suspicious. He formed a sudden
+resolve.</p>
+
+<p>I’ll follow them,” he said, and when they left the room
+he was close behind them.</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Twenty-six">XXVI</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">A STRANGE ADVENTURE</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">The</span> young man leaned on the arm of his companion.
+He was affected by the potations in which he had indulged,
+and was sensible of his condition.</p>
+
+<p>I ought not to have drank so much,” he said, in unsteady
+accents.</p>
+
+<p>Pooh! it’s nothing,” said the other, lightly. “Where
+are you stopping?”</p>
+
+<p>“St. Regis.”</p>
+
+<p>“We’d better walk. It will do you good to walk.”</p>
+
+<p>“Just as you say.”</p>
+
+<p>“Of course I would only advise you for your good.”</p>
+
+<p>“I know it; but, old fellow, why did you make me drink
+so much?”</p>
+
+<p>“I thought you could stand it better. I’m as cool as a
+cucumber.”</p>
+
+<p>He pressed the young man’s arm, and led him into a
+side street.</p>
+
+<p>What’s that for? This ain’t the way to the St.
+Regis.”</p>
+
+<p>“I know it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why don’t we go up Broadway?”</p>
+
+<p>“You are not fit to go in yet. You need a longer walk,
+so that your condition will not be noticed when you go in.”</p>
+
+<p>“Go along, old fellow. You’re right.”</p>
+
+<p>Still Tony kept behind. All seemed right enough, but
+<!--117.png-->
+somehow he could not help feeling suspicious of the older
+man.</p>
+
+<p>I’ll watch him,” he thought, “and if he attempts any
+mischief, I’ll interfere.”</p>
+
+<p>The two men walked in a westerly direction, crossing
+several streets.</p>
+
+<p>Look here,” said the young man, “we’d better turn
+back.”</p>
+
+<p>Now was the time.</p>
+
+<p>The other looked swiftly around, but did not notice
+Tony, who was tracking him in the darkness.</p>
+
+<p>Give me your pocketbook and watch at once!” he
+whispered.</p>
+
+<p>What!” exclaimed the young man, startled, and trying
+to release his arm.</p>
+
+<p>Give me your watch and money at once, or I’ll blow
+your brains out!”</p>
+
+<p>“Look here, you’re only trying to play a joke on me.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’re mistaken. I’m a desperate man. I will do as
+I say.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then you’re a villain,” said the young man, with
+spirit. “You’ve made me drunk in order to rob me.”</p>
+
+<p>“Precisely. Your money or your life. That’s about
+what I mean.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll call the police.”</p>
+
+<p>“If you do it will be your last word. Now, make up
+your mind!”</p>
+
+<p>The young man, instead of complying, endeavored to
+break away, but in his intoxication he had lost half his
+strength, and was no match for the other.</p>
+
+<p>You fool, your blood be on your own hands!” said
+his companion, and he drew a pistol from his side pocket.</p>
+
+<p>An instant and he would have fired, but Tony was on
+the alert. He sprang forward, seized the would-be murderer
+by the arm, and the pistol went off, but the bullet
+struck a brick wall on the opposite side of the street.</p>
+
+<p><!--118.png-->
+“Police!” shouted Tony, at the top of his lungs.</p>
+
+<p>Confusion!” exclaimed the villain. “I must be getting
+out of this!”</p>
+
+<p>He turned to fly, but Tony seized him by the coat, and
+he struggled fiercely, but in vain.</p>
+
+<p>Let go, you young scoundrel!” he shouted, “or I’ll
+shoot you!”</p>
+
+<p>“With an unloaded pistol?” asked Tony. “That
+don’t scare much!”</p>
+
+<p>A quick step was heard, and a policeman turned the
+corner.</p>
+
+<p>What’s the matter?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p>I charge this man with an attempt at murder,” said
+Tony.</p>
+
+<p>The boy is right,” said the young man.</p>
+
+<p>They are both lying!” said the adventurer, furiously.
+“It’s a plot against me.”</p>
+
+<p>“I know you, Bill Jones!” said the policeman, after a
+careful scrutiny of the man’s features. “You’re a hard
+ticket. Come along with me. You two must go with me
+to prefer your charge.”</p>
+
+<p>“Let me have your arm, my boy,” said the young man.
+“I’m ashamed to own that I need your help. It is the last
+time I will allow liquor to get the better of me.”</p>
+
+<p>“I guess you’re about right there,” said Tony.
+“You’ve had a narrow escape.”</p>
+
+<p>“I owe my life to you,” said the young man, warmly.
+“How did you happen to come up just in the nick of
+time?”</p>
+
+<p>“I suspected the man meant you no good. I followed
+you from the billiard saloon where I saw you
+playing.”</p>
+
+<p>“You were sharper than I. I never suspected harm.
+You have done me the greatest possible service.”</p>
+
+<p>“Curse the young brat!” muttered the man in custody.
+“I’d like a good chance to wring your neck!”</p>
+
+<p><!--119.png-->
+“I’ve no doubt of it,” said Tony. “I’ll keep out of
+your way.”</p>
+
+<p>The station house was not far off. The party entered.
+The charge was formally made, and Tony and the young
+man went out.</p>
+
+<p>Won’t your father and mother feel anxious about
+your being out so late?” asked George Spencer, for this
+was the young man’s name.</p>
+
+<p>I don’t think they will,” answered Tony. “I haven’t
+got any, for that matter.”</p>
+
+<p>“Who do you live with, then?”</p>
+
+<p>“I take care of myself.”</p>
+
+<p>“Have you no one belonging to you?”</p>
+
+<p>“Not one.”</p>
+
+<p>“Are you poor?” asked Spencer, for the first time taking
+notice of Tony’s rather shabby apparel.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, no!” said our hero. “I’ve got a little over two
+dollars in my pocket.”</p>
+
+<p>“Is that all?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, and it’s a good deal more than I generally have.”</p>
+
+<p>“You don’t say so. How do you make your living?”</p>
+
+<p>“Any way I can&mdash;any way that’s honest.”</p>
+
+<p>“And don’t you ever get discouraged&mdash;down in the
+mouth?”</p>
+
+<p>“Not often,” answered Tony. “I’ve always got along,
+and I guess something will turn up for me. But there’s
+one thing I am sorry for.”</p>
+
+<p>“What’s that?”</p>
+
+<p>“I would like to get some sort of an education. I don’t
+know much.”</p>
+
+<p>“Can’t you read?”</p>
+
+<p>“A little, and write a little. I mostly picked it up
+myself.”</p>
+
+<p>The young man whistled.</p>
+
+<p>Have you any place to sleep to-night?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve hired an attic room for a week.”</p>
+
+<p><!--120.png-->
+“What do you pay?”</p>
+
+<p>“A dollar a week.”</p>
+
+<p>“Of course it is a poor room?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes; but it’s all I can expect, and better than I often
+have. Why, I’ve slept in barns and under haystacks
+plenty of times.”</p>
+
+<p>“What is your name?”</p>
+
+<p>“Tony Rugg.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, Tony, you must come and stop with me to-night.”</p>
+
+<p>“With you?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, at the St. Regis Hotel. You can help me get
+there, and share my room.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony hesitated.</p>
+
+<p>Do you mean it?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Why shouldn’t I?”</p>
+
+<p>“Because you are a gentleman, and I&mdash;do you know
+what they call me?”</p>
+
+<p>“What?”</p>
+
+<p>“Tony the Tramp.”</p>
+
+<p>“It is your misfortune, and not your fault. I repeat
+my invitation. Will you come?”</p>
+
+<p>“I will,” answered Tony.</p>
+
+<p>He saw that the young man was in earnest, and he no
+longer persisted in his refusal.</p>
+
+<p>To-morrow morning I will talk with you further
+about your affairs. I want to do something for you.”</p>
+
+<p>“You are very kind.”</p>
+
+<p>“I ought to be. Haven’t you saved my life? But there
+is the hotel.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony and his new friend entered the great hotel. It
+was brilliantly lighted, though it was now nearly midnight.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Spencer went up to the desk.</p>
+
+<p>My key,” he said. “No. 169.”</p>
+
+<p>“Here it is, sir.”</p>
+
+<p><!--121.png-->
+“This young man will share my room. I will enter his
+name.”</p>
+
+<p>The clerk looked at Tony in surprise. He looked rather
+shabby for a guest of the great caravansary.</p>
+
+<p>Has he luggage?” asked the clerk.</p>
+
+<p>None to-night. I will pay his bill.”</p>
+
+<p>“All right, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>They got into the elevator, and presently came to a
+stop. Mr. Spencer opened the door of No. 169.</p>
+
+<p>It was a good-sized and handsomely furnished chamber,
+containing two beds.</p>
+
+<p>You will sleep in that bed, Tony,” said Spencer. “I
+feel dead tired. Will you help me off with my coat?”</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely was the young man in bed than he fell asleep.
+Tony lay awake some time, thinking of his strange adventure.</p>
+
+<p>It’s the first time in my life,” he said to himself,
+“when I’ve had two beds&mdash;one here and the other at my
+lodgings. What would Rudolph say if he knew I was
+stopping at a fashionable hotel, instead of being at the
+bottom of the well where he threw me?”</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Twenty-seven">XXVII</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">BREAKFAST AT THE ST. REGIS</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">When</span> Tony woke up in the morning, he looked about
+him with momentary bewilderment, wondering where he
+was.</p>
+
+<p>George Spencer was already awake.</p>
+
+<p>How did you sleep, Tony?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Bully!”</p>
+
+<p>“It must be late. Please look at my watch and tell me
+what time it is.”</p>
+
+<p>“Half-past eight,” said Tony, complying with his request.
+“Why, it’s late.”</p>
+
+<p><!--122.png-->
+“Not very. I didn’t get up till ten yesterday. Well,
+what do you say to getting up and having some breakfast?”</p>
+
+<p>“Am I to breakfast with you, Mr. Spencer?”</p>
+
+<p>“To be sure you are, unless you have another engagement,”
+added Spencer, jocosely.</p>
+
+<p>If I have it can wait,” said Tony. “How much do
+they charge here for board, Mr. Spencer?”</p>
+
+<p>“Four or five dollars a day. I really don’t know exactly
+how much.”</p>
+
+<p>“Four or five dollars a day!” exclaimed Tony, opening
+his eyes in amazement. “How much I shall cost you!”</p>
+
+<p>“I expect you will cost me a good deal, Tony,” said
+the young man. “Do you know, I have a great mind to
+adopt you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you really mean it, Mr. Spencer?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes; why shouldn’t I? I like what I have seen of you,
+and I have plenty of money.”</p>
+
+<p>“It must be a nice thing to have plenty of money,” said
+Tony, thoughtfully.</p>
+
+<p>There is danger in it, too, Tony. I am ashamed to tell
+you how much I have spent in gambling and dissipation.”</p>
+
+<p>“I wouldn’t do it, Mr. Spencer,” said Tony, soberly.</p>
+
+<p>Capital advice, Tony. I am going to keep you with
+me for fear I might forget, that is, if you think you like
+me well enough to stay.”</p>
+
+<p>“I am sure to like you, Mr. Spencer, but you may get
+tired of me.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll let you know when I do, Tony. How much income
+do you think I have?”</p>
+
+<p>“A thousand dollars?” guessed Tony, who considered
+that this would be a very large income.</p>
+
+<p>Spencer laughed.</p>
+
+<p>It is over ten thousand,” he said.</p>
+
+<p>Ten thousand!” exclaimed Tony. “How can you
+spend it all?”</p>
+
+<p><!--123.png-->
+“I did spend it all last year, Tony, and got a thousand
+dollars in debt. I gambled, and most of it went that way.
+But I’ll leave that off. I shall have you to take up my
+time now.”</p>
+
+<p>“Did you know that man you played billiards with last
+night, Mr. Spencer?”</p>
+
+<p>“I made his acquaintance in a gambling house, and I
+was well punished for keeping company with such a man.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony was now nearly dressed.</p>
+
+<p>You didn’t get your clothing from a fashionable
+tailor, I should judge,” said his new guardian.</p>
+
+<p>No,” said Tony. “I haven’t been to fashionable
+tailors much.”</p>
+
+<p>“After breakfast I must go with you and see you properly
+clothed. If you are to be my ward, I must have
+your appearance do me credit.”</p>
+
+<p>“How very kind you are to me, Mr. Spencer,” said
+Tony, gratefully. “I don’t know how to repay you.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’ve done something in that way already.”</p>
+
+<p>“It seems like a dream that a poor boy like me should
+be adopted by a rich gentleman.”</p>
+
+<p>“It is a dream you won’t wake up from very soon.
+Now if you are ready we will go down to breakfast.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony hung back.</p>
+
+<p>Won’t you be ashamed to have me seen with you in
+these clothes?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Not a bit. Besides, you will soon be in better trim.
+Come along, Tony.”</p>
+
+<p>They went down together, and entered the breakfast
+room. A considerable number of persons were there.
+Several stared in surprise at Tony as he entered and took
+his seat. Our hero noticed it, and it made him nervous.</p>
+
+<p>Do you see how they look at me?” he said.</p>
+
+<p>Don’t let it affect your appetite, Tony,” said his
+friend. “When you appear among them again you will
+have no reason to feel ashamed.”</p>
+
+<p><!--124.png-->
+A speech which Tony heard from a neighboring table
+did not serve to reassure him.</p>
+
+<p>An overdressed lady of fifty said to a tall, angular
+young lady, her daughter:</p>
+
+<p>“Elvira, do you see that very common-looking boy at
+the next table?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, ma.”</p>
+
+<p>“He looks low. He is not as well dressed as our servants.
+It is very strange they should let him eat at an
+aristocratic hotel like this.”</p>
+
+<p>“Isn’t he with that gentleman, ma?”</p>
+
+<p>“It looks like it. He may be the gentleman’s servant.
+I really think it an imposition to bring him here.”</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Spencer smiled.</p>
+
+<p>Don’t mind it, Tony,” he said. “I know those people
+by sight. They are parvenus. I suppose you don’t understand
+the word. They are vulgar people who have
+become rich by a lucky speculation. They will change
+their tune presently. What will you have for breakfast?”</p>
+
+<p>“There’s such a lot of things,” said Tony. “I don’t
+know what to choose.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’ll get used to that. I’ll order breakfast for
+both.”</p>
+
+<p>The waiter appeared, and Mr. Spencer gave the order.</p>
+
+<p>The waiter looked uncomfortable.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Spencer,” he said, “it’s against the rules for you
+to bring your servant to the table with you.”</p>
+
+<p>“I have not done so,” said Mr. Spencer, promptly.
+“This young gentleman is my ward.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, excuse me,” said the waiter, confused.</p>
+
+<p>Has anyone prompted you to speak to me about
+him?”</p>
+
+<p>“Those ladies at the next table.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then those ladies owe an apology to my ward,” said
+the young man, loud enough for the ladies to hear.</p>
+
+<p>The shot told. The ladies looked confused and embarrassed,
+<!--125.png-->
+and Tony and his guardian quietly finished their
+breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>There was another lady who noticed Tony, and this
+was Mrs. Harvey Middleton. She was to sail for England
+in the afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>As Tony and Mr. Spencer were going out of the breakfast
+room, they met her entering.</p>
+
+<p>She started at the sight of Tony, and scanned his face
+eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>Who are you, boy?” she asked, quickly, laying her
+hand on his arm.</p>
+
+<p>Tony was too surprised to answer, and Mr. Spencer answered
+for him.</p>
+
+<p>He is my ward, madam,” he answered. “He has been
+roughing it in the country, which accounts for the state of
+his wardrobe.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, I beg pardon, sir,” said Mrs. Middleton. “I
+thought his face looked familiar.”</p>
+
+<p>“You see, Tony, that your appearance attracts attention,”
+said Mr. Spencer, laughing. “Now we’ll go out,
+and I’ll get you a fit-out.”</p>
+
+<p>They went to a well-known clothier’s, and Mr. Spencer
+purchased two handsome suits for our hero, one of which
+he put on at once. At another place a plentiful supply of
+underclothing was purchased. Next a hat and shoes were
+procured. Tony’s hair was cut, he took a bath, and in a
+couple of hours he was transformed into a young gentleman
+of distinguished appearance.</p>
+
+<p>Really, Tony, I shouldn’t have known you,” said his
+friend.</p>
+
+<p>I shouldn’t have known myself,” said Tony. “I almost
+think it must be some other boy. Who’d think I
+was Tony the Tramp, now?”</p>
+
+<p>“You are not to be a tramp any longer. I have not
+yet formed my plans for you, but I shall soon. I suppose,
+Tony, your education has been neglected.”</p>
+
+<p><!--126.png-->
+“I should think it had,” answered Tony. “I’m as ignorant
+as a horse.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then you ought to learn something.”</p>
+
+<p>“I wish I could.”</p>
+
+<p>“You shall, but, as I said, I must arrange details
+later.”</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>About this time Rudolph and Mrs. Middleton were
+conversing, preparatory to starting for the steamer.</p>
+
+<p>You are sure the boy is dead?” she said.</p>
+
+<p>Sure? I ought to be. Didn’t I see him dead with my
+own eyes?”</p>
+
+<p>“I saw a boy this morning who looked as, I suppose,
+the boy would have looked&mdash;of the same age, too.”</p>
+
+<p>“Where did you see him?”</p>
+
+<p>“He was with a gentleman, coming out of the breakfast
+room as I was entering it.”</p>
+
+<p>“It couldn’t have been he,” said Rudolph, positively.
+“Even if he were alive, he wouldn’t be here. But he’s
+dead, I tell you. There’s no doubt of it.”</p>
+
+<p>“There are strange resemblances,” said the lady. “But,
+of course, it couldn’t have been the boy. Indeed the gentleman
+with him told me that it was his ward.”</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph laughed.</p>
+
+<p>Tony wasn’t likely to have a gentleman for a guardian,”
+he said.</p>
+
+<p>But Rudolph would have felt less easy in his mind if
+he had known that the boy whom he supposed dead at the
+bottom of a well was really in the hotel at that very moment,
+and, strangely enough, in the adjoining room.</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter"><!--127.png-->
+
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Twenty-eight">XXVIII</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">TONY AND HIS GUARDIAN HOUSEKEEPING</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">“Now</span>, Tony,” said George Spencer, after dinner, “I
+want to tell you what plans I have formed for you and
+myself. I have got tired of hotel life, and want a home.
+I shall seek a couple of handsomely furnished rooms uptown,
+make it social and pleasant with books and pictures,
+and we will settle down and enjoy ourselves.”</p>
+
+<p>“I am afraid you will get tired of me, Mr. Spencer,”
+said Tony, modestly. “I am too ignorant to be much
+company for you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ignorance, like poverty, can be remedied,” said the
+young man. “I shall obtain a private tutor for you, and
+expect you to spend some hours daily in learning.”
+Tony’s face lighted up.</p>
+
+<p>That is just what I would like,” he said.</p>
+
+<p>You would like it better than going to school?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, for at school I should be obliged to go into a
+class with much younger boys.”</p>
+
+<p>“While with a tutor you can go on as fast as you
+please.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“To-night we both need a little recreation. Suppose
+we go to Wallack’s Theater. Have you ever been there?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, sir; but I didn’t take a reserved seat.”</p>
+
+<p>“I suppose not.”</p>
+
+<p>“I sat in the upper gallery.”</p>
+
+<p>“To-night you shall be fashionable. Have you a pair
+of kid gloves?”</p>
+
+<p>“The last pair I had is worn out,” said Tony, laughing.</p>
+
+<p>Then you must have another pair. We will get a
+pair on our way there.”</p>
+
+<p><!--128.png-->
+It was already time to start.</p>
+
+<p>At half-past eight Tony found himself occupying
+an orchestra chair near the stage, his hands encased in a
+pair of gloves of faultless fit, and looking enough like a
+young patrician to pass muster among his fashionable
+neighbors.</p>
+
+<p>How does it seem, Tony?” asked Spencer, smiling.</p>
+
+<p>Tiptop,” answered Tony; “but how queer kid gloves
+feel! I never had a pair on in my life before.”</p>
+
+<p>“There are the two ladies who found fault with your
+appearance at the breakfast table this morning.”</p>
+
+<p>“They are looking at me through an opera glass.”</p>
+
+<p>“Wondering if you can be the same boy. I have no
+doubt they are puzzled to account for your transformation.”</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Spencer was right. The two ladies were at the
+same moment exchanging remarks about our hero.</p>
+
+<p>Goodness! Elvira, there is that boy that was at breakfast
+this morning at the hotel.”</p>
+
+<p>“The boy that was so shabbily dressed, mamma?
+Where?”</p>
+
+<p>“Just to the left. He isn’t shabby now. See how he is
+togged out. Who would have thought it?”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s queer, isn’t it?”</p>
+
+<p>“I think we must have been mistaken about him. He
+looks like a young gentleman now. But why should he
+have worn such clothes before?”</p>
+
+<p>“I can’t tell, I am sure.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s a nice-looking young man, Elvira. I wish he
+would take a fancy to you.”</p>
+
+<p>“La, mamma! How you talk!” said Elvira, bridling
+and smiling.</p>
+
+<p>Depend upon it, Tony, those ladies will be polite to
+you if they get a chance,” said Spencer, laughing.</p>
+
+<p>It makes a great deal of difference how a feller is
+dressed,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p><!--129.png-->
+“You are right, Tony; but don’t say feller. Remember,
+you are fashionable now.”</p>
+
+<p>“There’s a gentleman in front that I know,” said Tony,
+suddenly.</p>
+
+<p>Where?”</p>
+
+<p>“The man with a partly bald head.”</p>
+
+<p>“How do you know him?”</p>
+
+<p>“He was staying two or three days at the country hotel
+where I was a stableboy.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you think he would know you now?”</p>
+
+<p>“May I see?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, but don’t let him find you out. It won’t do
+in society to let it be known that you were ever a stableboy.”</p>
+
+<p>“All right.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony leaned over, and, addressing the gentleman, said:</p>
+
+<p>“Would you be kind enough to lend me your program
+a minute, sir?”</p>
+
+<p>“Certainly,” was the reply. Then, looking at Tony:
+“Your face looks very familiar. Where have I seen you
+before?”</p>
+
+<p>“Perhaps at the St. Regis, sir,” said Tony; “I am
+stopping there.”</p>
+
+<p>“No; I never go to the St. Regis. Bless me! you’re
+the very image of a boy I have seen somewhere.”</p>
+
+<p>“Am I?” said Tony. “I hope he was a good-looking
+boy.”</p>
+
+<p>“He was; but he was not dressed like you. In fact&mdash;I
+remember now&mdash;he was employed as stableboy in a country
+hotel.”</p>
+
+<p>“A stableboy!” exclaimed Tony, with comic horror.
+“I hope you don’t think I am the boy.”</p>
+
+<p>“Of course not. But really the resemblance is wonderful.”</p>
+
+<p>“Mr. Spencer,” said Tony, “this gentleman has met
+a stableboy who looks like me.”</p>
+
+<p><!--130.png-->
+“I really beg your pardon,” said the gentleman; “I
+meant no offense.”</p>
+
+<p>“My ward would not think of taking offense,” said Mr.
+Spencer, courteously.</p>
+
+<p>Tony smiled to himself; he had a strong sense of humor,
+and was much amused.</p>
+
+<p>It is needless to say that he enjoyed the performance&mdash;all
+the more so from his luxurious seat and nearness to the
+stage.</p>
+
+<p>It’s a good deal better than sitting in the gallery,”
+he said, in a whisper, to his companion.</p>
+
+<p>I should think so. I never sat up there, Tony.”</p>
+
+<p>“And I never sat anywhere else.”</p>
+
+<p>As they were leaving the theater they found themselves
+close to the ladies whom they had noticed at breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>Elvira chanced to drop her handkerchief, probably intentionally.</p>
+
+<p>Tony stooped and picked it up. Though he had led the
+life of a tramp, he had the instincts of a gentleman.</p>
+
+<p>Thank you, young gentleman,” said Elvira. “You
+are very polite.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, don’t mention it!” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Really, mamma, he is a born gentleman,” said Elvira,
+later, to her mother. “How could we make such a mistake?”</p>
+
+<p>“His clothes were certainly very shabby, my dear.”</p>
+
+<p>“Very likely he had been out hunting or something.
+We must not judge so hastily next time.”</p>
+
+<p>The ladies were foiled in their intentions of cultivating
+the acquaintance of Tony and his guardian, as two days
+later they left the hotel and installed themselves in an elegant
+boarding house on Madison avenue.</p>
+
+<p>Now,” said Mr. Spencer, “we must go to work.”</p>
+
+<p>“I must,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>And I, too,” said Spencer.</p>
+
+<p>What can you have to do?”</p>
+
+<p><!--131.png-->
+“I have received a proposal to invest a part of my
+money&mdash;only one-fourth&mdash;in a business downtown, and
+shall accept. I don’t need to increase my income, but I
+think I shall be less likely to yield to temptation if I have
+some fixed employment. I shall be so situated that I can
+do as much or as little as I please. As to yourself I have
+put an advertisement in a morning paper for a teacher,
+and expect some applicants this morning. I want you to
+choose for yourself.”</p>
+
+<p>“I am afraid I shan’t be a very good judge of teachers.
+Shall I examine them, to see if they know enough?”</p>
+
+<p>“I think, from what you say of your ignorance, that
+any of them will know enough to teach you for the present.
+The main thing is to select one who knows how to
+teach, and whom you will like.”</p>
+
+<p>“I wish you were a teacher, Mr. Spencer.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why?”</p>
+
+<p>“Because then I should have a teacher whom I liked.”</p>
+
+<p>“Thank you, Tony,” said the young man, evidently
+gratified. “The liking is mutual. I think myself fortunate
+in having you for my companion.”</p>
+
+<p>“The luck is on my side, Mr. Spencer. What would I
+be but for you? I wouldn’t be a tramp any more, for I
+am tired enough of that, but I should have to earn my living
+as a newsboy or a bootblack, and have no chance of
+getting an education.”</p>
+
+<p>So the relations between Tony and his new friend became
+daily more close, until Mr. Spencer came to regard
+him as a young brother, in whose progress he was warmly
+interested.</p>
+
+<p>A tutor was selected, and Tony began to study. His
+ambition was roused. He realized for the first time how
+ignorant he was, and it is not too much to say that he
+learned in one month as much as most boys learn in three.
+He got rid of the uncouth expressions which he had acquired
+in early life, and adapted his manners to the new
+<!--132.png-->
+position which he found himself occupying in society.
+Mr. Spencer, too, was benefited by his new friend. He
+gave up drink and dissipation, and contented himself with
+pleasures in which he could invite Tony to participate.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Mrs. Harvey Middleton and Rudolph had
+arrived in England, and we must leave our hero for a time
+and join them.</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Twenty-nine">XXIX</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">HOME AGAIN</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">When</span> Mrs. Harvey Middleton reached England she
+delayed but a day in London to attend to necessary business.
+This business was solely connected with her mission
+to America. Rudolph Rugg accompanied her to the
+chambers of a well-known lawyer, and testified to having
+had the charge of Tony, closing with the description of
+his death. Of course nothing was said of the well, or
+about his having thrown him in, for Rudolph was not a
+fool. The details of a probable story had been got up by
+Mrs. Middleton and Rugg in concert. According to them
+and the written testimony, Tony had been run over by a
+train on the Erie Railway, and a newspaper paragraph
+describing such an accident to an unknown boy was produced
+in corroboration.</p>
+
+<p>It was an ingenious fabrication, and Mrs. Middleton
+plumed herself upon it.</p>
+
+<p>Poor boy!” she said, with a hypocritical sigh, “his
+was a sad fate.”</p>
+
+<p>“It was, indeed,” said the lawyer; “but,” he added,
+dryly, “you have no cause to regret it, since it secures
+you the estate.”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t mention it, Mr. Brief. It is sad to profit by
+such a tragedy.”</p>
+
+<p>“You don’t take a business view of it, madam. Such
+<!--133.png-->
+things happen, and if we can’t prevent them, we may as
+well profit by them.”</p>
+
+<p>“Of course I shall not refuse what has fallen in my
+way,” said Mrs. Middleton; “but I had formed the plan,
+if I found the boy alive, of bringing him home and educating
+him for his position. He would not have let me
+want.”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t she do it well, though?” thought Rudolph, who
+heard all this with a cynical admiration for the ex-governess.
+“If I was a gentleman I’d make up to her, and
+make her Mrs. Rugg if she’d say the word.”</p>
+
+<p>“You think this man’s evidence will substantiate my
+claim to the estate?” she asked, after a pause.</p>
+
+<p>I should say there was no doubt on that point, unless,
+of course, his evidence is impeached or contradicted.”</p>
+
+<p>“That is hardly likely, Mr. Brief. The poor man suffered
+much at the death of the boy, to whom he was
+ardently attached.”</p>
+
+<p>“So you loved the boy, Mr. Rugg?” said the lawyer.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, uncommon!” answered Rudolph. “He was my
+pet, and the apple of my eye. We were always together,
+Tony and I.”</p>
+
+<p>“And I suppose he loved you?”</p>
+
+<p>“He couldn’t bear me out of his sight. He looked
+upon me as a father, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“If he’d come into the estate he would probably have
+provided for you,” suggested the lawyer, watching him
+keenly.</p>
+
+<p>It’s likely, sir. I wish he had.”</p>
+
+<p>“So it is a personal loss to you&mdash;the death of the
+boy?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“Mrs. Middleton probably will not forget your services
+to the boy.”</p>
+
+<p>“No, sir. I shall, of course, do something for Mr.
+Rugg, though, perhaps, not as much as my poor cousin
+<!--134.png-->
+would have done. Mr. Rugg, will you see me to my carriage?”</p>
+
+<p>“Certainly, ma’am.”</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Middleton was anxious to go away. The conversation
+had taken a turn which she did not like. It almost
+seemed as if the lawyer were trying to find out something
+and she thought it best to get Rudolph away from the
+influence, lest Mr. Brief might catechise him and draw
+out something to her disadvantage.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Rugg,” she said, as they were going downstairs,
+“I advise you not to go near Mr. Brief again.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why not, ma’am?”</p>
+
+<p>“These lawyers are crafty. Before you knew what he
+was after he would extract the secret from you, and there
+would be trouble for both of us.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you think so, ma’am? I didn’t see nothing of it.”</p>
+
+<p>“I think he suspects something. That matters nothing,
+if it does not go beyond suspicion. Unless he can
+impeach your testimony or draw you into contradictions
+we are safe, and you are sure of an income for life.”</p>
+
+<p>“You needn’t be afraid for me, ma’am. We’re in the
+same boat.”</p>
+
+<p>She frowned a little at the familiar tone in which he
+spoke. It was as if he put himself on an equality with
+her. But it was true, nevertheless, and it was unpleasant
+for her to think of.</p>
+
+<p>Was there nothing else that was unpleasant? Did she
+not think of the poor boy, who, as she thought, was killed,
+and at her instigation? Yes, she thought of him, but as
+much as she could, she kept the subject away from her
+thoughts.</p>
+
+<p>He’s better off,” she said to herself. “He didn’t know
+anything of the property, and he wasn’t fit to possess it.
+All the troubles of life are over for him.”</p>
+
+<p>“What are your plans, Mr. Rugg?” she asked.</p>
+
+<p>I have a mind to go down to Middleton Hall with
+<!--135.png-->
+you, ma’am. I used to live there years ago, and I might
+find some of my old cronies.”</p>
+
+<p>“For that very reason you must not go,” she said,
+hastily. “They would be asking you all sorts of questions,
+and you’d be letting out something.”</p>
+
+<p>“They wouldn’t get nothing out of me.”</p>
+
+<p>“If you made no answer it would be as bad. They
+would suspect you.”</p>
+
+<p>“And you, too.”</p>
+
+<p>“Precisely.”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s rather hard, Mrs. Middleton, I can’t see my old
+friends.”</p>
+
+<p>“You can make new ones. A man with money can
+always find friends.”</p>
+
+<p>“That’s true, ma’am,” said Rudolph, brightening up.
+“Then you recommend me to stay in London.”</p>
+
+<p>“In London or anywhere else that you like better.
+Only don’t come within twenty miles of Middleton
+Hall.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, ma’am, you’re wiser than I am, and you know
+better what it’s best to do.”</p>
+
+<p>“Of course I do. You are safe in being guided by
+me.”</p>
+
+<p>“But about the money, ma’am. How am I to get that
+if I don’t see you?”</p>
+
+<p>“Once a quarter I will pay in forty pounds to your
+account at any bank you choose. You can let me know.”</p>
+
+<p>“All right, ma’am. It’s strange to me to think of
+having a bank account.”</p>
+
+<p>“It need not be strange henceforth. And now, Mr.
+Rugg, we must part. I must hasten down to Middleton
+Hall to look after the estate. I have been absent from
+it now for nearly three months.”</p>
+
+<p>“I suppose you are in a hurry to see your young
+man?” said Rudolph, with a grin.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Rugg,” said the lady, haughtily, “I beg you
+<!--136.png-->
+will make no reference to my private affairs. You speak
+as if I were a nursery maid.”</p>
+
+<p>“I beg your pardon, ma’am. No offense was meant.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then none is taken. But remember my caution.”</p>
+
+<p>She stepped into the hansom which was waiting for her,
+and Rudolph remained standing on the sidewalk.</p>
+
+<p>She’s puttin’ on airs,” said the tramp, frowning.
+“She forgets all about her bein’ a governess once without
+five pounds in the world. She acts as if she was a
+lady born. I don’t like it. She may try her airs on
+others, but not on Rudolph Rugg. He knows a little
+too much about you, Mrs. Harvey Middleton. Rich as
+you are, you’re in his power, and if he was so inclined,
+he could bring you down from your high place, so he
+could.”</p>
+
+<p>But Rudolph’s anger was only transient. He was too
+astute not to understand clearly that he could not harm
+Mrs. Middleton without harming himself quite as much.
+As things stood, he was securely provided for. No more
+tramping about the country for him in all weathers. He
+had enough to lodge and feed him, and provide all the
+beer and tobacco he could use. This was certainly a comfortable
+reflection. So he sought out a comfortable lodging
+and installed himself before night, determined to get
+what enjoyment he could out of London, and the income
+he had so foully won.</p>
+
+<p>And Mrs. Middleton, she, too, congratulated herself.</p>
+
+<p>She leaned back in the cab and gave herself up to joyful
+anticipations of future happiness and security.</p>
+
+<p>Thank Heaven! I have got rid of that low fellow,”
+she ejaculated, inwardly. “I never want to see the brute
+again. He was necessary to my purpose, and I employed
+him, but I should be glad if he would get drowned, or be
+run over, or end his miserable life in some way, so that I
+might never see or hear of him again.”</p>
+
+<p>But the thought of Rudolph did not long trouble her.
+<!--137.png-->
+She thought rather of handsome Capt. Lovell, whom she
+loved, and to marry whom she had committed this crime,
+and the hard woman’s face softened, and a smile crept over
+her face.</p>
+
+<p>I shall soon see him, my Gregory!” she murmured.
+“He will soon be mine, and I shall be repaid for my long,
+wearisome journey.”</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Thirty">XXX</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">CAPT. GREGORY LOVELL</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">A carriage</span> drove rapidly up the avenue leading to
+Middleton Hall.</p>
+
+<p>The Hall was not large, but was handsome and well-proportioned,
+and looked singularly attractive, its gray
+walls forming a harmonious contrast with the bright
+green ivy that partially covered them, and the broad,
+smooth lawn that stretched out in front.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Middleton regarded her home with unmingled satisfaction.
+It was to be her home now as long as she
+lived. Now that the boy was dead, no one could wrest it
+from her. She would live there, but not in solitary grandeur.
+The news of her success would bring Capt. Gregory
+Lovell to her side, and their marriage would follow as
+soon as decency would permit. If afterward he should
+desire to have the name of the residence changed to Lovell
+Hall, Mrs. Middleton decided that she would not object.
+Why should she? She had no superstitious love for her
+present name, while Lovell had for her the charm which
+love always gives to the name of the loved one.</p>
+
+<p>The housekeeper, stout and matronly, received her mistress
+at the door.</p>
+
+<p>Welcome home, Mrs. Middleton,” she said. “How
+long it seems since you went away!”</p>
+
+<p><!--138.png-->
+“How do you do, Sarah?” said her mistress, graciously.
+“I can assure you I am glad to be back.”</p>
+
+<p>“You will find everything in order, mum, I hope and
+believe,” said Sarah. “We expected to see you sooner.”</p>
+
+<p>“I hoped to be back sooner, but the business detained
+me longer than I desired.”</p>
+
+<p>“And how did you succeed, mum, if I may be so bold?”
+inquired the housekeeper, curiously.</p>
+
+<p>As I expected, Sarah. I found that the poor boy was
+dead.”</p>
+
+<p>“Indeed, mum!”</p>
+
+<p>“I hoped to bring him back with me, according to my
+poor husband’s desire, but it was ordered otherwise by an
+inscrutable Providence.”</p>
+
+<p>Sarah coughed.</p>
+
+<p>It is very sad,” she said, but she looked curiously at
+her mistress.</p>
+
+<p>She knew very well that this sad news rejoiced the heart
+of Mrs. Middleton, and the latter knew that she could not
+for a moment impose upon her clear-sighted housekeeper.
+But the farce must be kept up for the sake of appearances.</p>
+
+<p>Come up to my chamber with me, Sarah. I want to
+ask you what has been going on since I was away. Have
+you heard from Lady Lovell’s family? Are they all
+well?”</p>
+
+<p>Lady Lovell was the mother of Capt. Gregory Lovell,
+and the question was earnestly put.</p>
+
+<p>They are all well except the captain,” answered Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>Is he sick?” demanded her mistress, turning upon
+her swiftly.</p>
+
+<p>No, mum; I only meant to say the captain was gone
+away.”</p>
+
+<p>“Gone away! When? Where?”</p>
+
+<p>“He’s ordered to India, I believe, mum. He went away
+a month ago.”</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Middleton sank into her chair quite overcome.
+<!--139.png-->
+Her joy was clouded, for the reward of her long and toilsome
+journey was snatched from her.</p>
+
+<p>Did he not leave any message?” she asked. “Did he
+not call before he went away?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, mum. He left a note.”</p>
+
+<p>“Give it to me quick. Why did you not mention it
+before?”</p>
+
+<p>“It’s the first chance I got, mum. The letter is in my
+own chamber. I took the best care of it. I will get it
+directly.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do go, Sarah.”</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Middleton awaited the return of Sarah with nervous
+impatience. Perhaps the captain had thrown her
+over after all, and, loving him as she did, this would have
+torn the heart of the intriguing woman, who, cold and
+selfish as she was so far as others were concerned, really
+loved the handsome captain.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah speedily reappeared with the letter.</p>
+
+<p>Here it is, mum,” she said. “I have taken the best
+care of it.”</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Middleton tore it open with nervous haste. This
+is the way it ran:</p>
+
+<p class="blockquote">“<span class="sc">My Dear Jane</span>: I am about to set out for India&mdash;not
+willingly, but my regiment is ordered there, and I must
+obey or quit the service. This, as you well know, I cannot
+do; for, apart from my official pay, I have but a paltry
+two hundred pounds a year, and that is barely enough
+to pay my tailor’s bill. I am sorry to go away in your
+absence. If I were only sure you would bring home good
+news, I could afford to sell my commission and wait. But
+it is so uncertain that I cannot take the risk.</p>
+
+<p class="blockquote">“I need not say, my dear Jane, how anxious I am to
+have all the impediments to our union removed. I am
+compelled to be mercenary. It is, alas! necessary for me,
+as a younger son, to marry a woman with money. I shall
+<!--140.png-->
+be happy indeed if interest and love go hand in hand, as
+they will if your absolute claim to your late husband’s
+estate is proved beyond a doubt. I append my India address,
+and shall anxiously expect a communication from
+you on your return. If you have been successful, I will
+arrange to return at once, and our union can be solemnized
+without delay. Once more, farewell.</p>
+
+<p class="sigright"><span class="l4">“Your devoted</span><br />
+     “<span class="sc">Gregory Lovell</span>.”</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Middleton, after reading this letter, breathed a
+sigh of relief. He was still hers, and she had only to call
+him back. There would be a vexatious delay, but that
+must be submitted to. She had feared to lose him, and
+this apprehension, at least, might be laid aside.</p>
+
+<p>To some the letter would have seemed too mercenary.
+Even Mrs. Middleton could not help suspecting that, between
+love and interest, the latter was far the most powerful
+in the mind of Capt. Lovell. But she purposely closed
+her eyes to this unpleasant suspicion. She was in love
+with the handsome captain, and it was the great object of
+her life to become his wife. She decided to answer the letter
+immediately.</p>
+
+<p>Her desk was at hand, and she opened it at once, and
+wrote a brief letter to her absent lover.</p>
+
+<p class="blockquote">“<span class="sc">Dear Gregory</span>: I have just returned. I am deeply
+disappointed to find you absent; for, my darling, I have
+succeeded. I have legal proof&mdash;proof that cannot be disputed&mdash;that
+the boy, my husband’s cousin, is dead. The
+poor boy was accidentally killed. I have the sworn affidavit
+of the man who took him to America, and who was
+his constant companion there.</p>
+
+<p class="blockquote">“It is a sad fate for the poor boy. I sincerely deplore
+his tragical end&mdash;he was run over by a train&mdash;yet&mdash;is it
+wicked?&mdash;my grief is mitigated by the thought that it
+<!--141.png-->
+removes every obstacle to our union. I do not for an
+instant charge you with interested motives. I am sure of
+your love, but I also comprehend the necessities of your
+position. You have been brought up as a gentleman, and
+you have the tastes of a gentleman. You cannot surrender
+your social position. It is necessary that, if you
+marry, you should have an adequate income to live upon.
+My darling Gregory, I am proud and happy in the
+thought that I can make you such. You know my estate.
+The rental is two thousand pounds, and that is enough
+to maintain our social rank. Come home, then, as soon
+as you receive this letter. I am awaiting you impatiently,
+and can hardly reconcile myself to the delay that must
+be. Make it as short as possible, and let me hear from
+you at once.</p>
+
+<p class="sigright"><span class="l8">“Your own</span><br />
+     “<span class="sc">Jane Middleton</span>.”</p>
+
+<p>There was unexpected delay in the reception of this letter.
+It was three months before it came into the hands of
+Capt. Lovell. When at length it was received, he read it
+with a mixture of emotions.</p>
+
+<p>Decidedly,” he said, removing the cigar from his
+mouth, “the old girl is fond of me. I wish I were fond
+of her, for I suppose I must marry her. It will be rather
+a bad pill to swallow, but it is well gilded. Two thousand
+pounds a year are not to be thrown away by a fellow in
+my straits. The prospect might be brighter, but I suppose
+I have no right to complain. It will make me comfortable
+for life. I must take care to have the estate settled
+upon me, and then the sooner the old girl dies the
+better.”</p>
+
+<p>So Capt. Lovell wrote at once, saying that he would
+return home as soon as he could make arrangements for
+doing so&mdash;that every day would seem a month till he
+could once more embrace his dear Jane. The letter was
+signed, “Your devoted Gregory.”</p>
+
+<p><!--142.png-->
+Mrs. Middleton read it with unfeigned delight. Her
+plans had succeeded, and the reward would soon be hers.</p>
+
+<p>But there was fresh delay. Arrangements to return
+could not be made so easily as Capt. Lovell anticipated.
+It was seven months from the day that Mrs. Middleton
+reached England when Capt. Lovell was driven to his
+hotel in London. Meanwhile events had occurred which
+were to have an effect upon Mrs. Middleton’s plans.</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Thirty-One">XXXI</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">TONY ASTONISHES HIS OLD FRIENDS</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">“Tony</span>,” said George Spencer, one evening, “you have
+been making wonderful progress in your studies. In six
+months you have accomplished as much as I did at boarding
+school in two years, when at your age.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you really mean it, Mr. Spencer?” said Tony,
+gratified.</p>
+
+<p>I am quite in earnest.”</p>
+
+<p>“I am very glad of it,” said Tony. “When I began I
+was almost discouraged. I was so much behind boys of
+my age.”</p>
+
+<p>“And now your attainments raise you above the average.
+Your tutor told me so yesterday, when I made inquiries.”</p>
+
+<p>“I am rejoiced to hear it, Mr. Spencer. I was very
+much ashamed of myself at first, and did not like to speak
+before your friends for fear they would find out what sort
+of a life I had led. That is what made me work so hard.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, Tony, you may congratulate yourself on having
+succeeded. I think you can venture now to take a
+little vacation.”</p>
+
+<p>“A vacation! I don’t need one.”</p>
+
+<p><!--143.png-->
+“Suppose it were spent in Europe?”</p>
+
+<p>“What!” exclaimed Tony, eagerly, “you don’t think
+of our going abroad?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes. The house with which I am connected wants me
+to go abroad on business. If I go you may go with me
+if you would like it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Like it!” exclaimed Tony, impetuously. “There is
+nothing I would like better.”</p>
+
+<p>“So I supposed,” said George Spencer, smiling. “I
+may as well tell you that our passage is taken for next
+Wednesday, by the <cite>Coronia</cite>.”</p>
+
+<p>“And this is Friday evening. How soon it seems!”</p>
+
+<p>“There won’t be much preparation to make&mdash;merely
+packing your trunk.”</p>
+
+<p>“Mr. Spencer,” said Tony, “I want to ask a favor.”</p>
+
+<p>“What is it?”</p>
+
+<p>“I have told you about being employed at a country
+hotel, just before I came to the city and found you.”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>“I would like to go back there for a day, just to see
+how all my old friends are.”</p>
+
+<p>“You don’t mean to apply again for your old place?”</p>
+
+<p>“Not unless you turn me off, and I have to find work
+somewhere.”</p>
+
+<p>“Turn you off, Tony! Why, I shouldn’t know how to
+get along without you. You are like a younger brother
+to me,” said the young man, earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>Thank you, Mr. Spencer. You seem like an older
+brother to me. Sometimes I can hardly believe that I was
+once a tramp.”</p>
+
+<p>“It was your misfortune, Tony, not your fault. So
+you want to go back and view your former home?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, Mr. Spencer.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then you had better start to-morrow morning, so as
+to be back in good time to prepare for the journey.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you know, Mr. Spencer,” said Tony, “I’ve got an
+<!--144.png-->
+idea. I’ll go back wearing the same clothes I had on
+when I left there.”</p>
+
+<p>“Have you got them still?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, I laid them away, just to remind me of my old
+life. I’ll take my other clothes and after a while I can put
+them on.”</p>
+
+<p>“What is your idea in doing this, Tony?” asked the
+young man.</p>
+
+<p>I want to give them a surprise.”</p>
+
+<p>“Very well, do as you please. Only don’t stay away
+too long.”</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>Tony proceeded to carry out the plan he had proposed.</p>
+
+<p>He traveled by rail to a village near by, and then with
+his bundle suspended to a stick, took up his march to the
+tavern.</p>
+
+<p>He entered the familiar stable yard. All looked as it
+did the day he left. There was only one person in the yard,
+and that one Tony recognized at once as his old enemy,
+Sam Payson, who appeared to be filling his old position,
+as stableboy.</p>
+
+<p>Hello, Sam!” said Tony, whose entrance had not been
+observed.</p>
+
+<p>Sam looked up and whistled.</p>
+
+<p>What! have you come back?” he said, not appearing
+overjoyed at the sight of Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, Sam,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Where have you been all the time?”</p>
+
+<p>“In New York part of the time.”</p>
+
+<p>“What have you been doing for a living?”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, I lived with a gentleman there.”</p>
+
+<p>“What did you do&mdash;black his boots?”</p>
+
+<p>“Not exactly.”</p>
+
+<p>“Did he turn you off?”</p>
+
+<p>“No; but he’s going to Europe next Wednesday.”</p>
+
+<p>“So you’re out of a place?”</p>
+
+<p><!--145.png-->
+“I have no employment.”</p>
+
+<p>“What made you come back here?” demanded Sam,
+suspiciously.</p>
+
+<p>I thought I’d like to see you all again.”</p>
+
+<p>“That don’t go down,” said Sam, roughly. “I know
+well enough what you’re after.”</p>
+
+<p>“What am I after?”</p>
+
+<p>“You’re after my place. You’re hoping Mr. Porter
+will take you on again. But it’s no use. There ain’t any
+chance for you.”</p>
+
+<p>“How long have you been back again, Sam?”</p>
+
+<p>“Three months, and I am goin’ to stay, too. You got
+me turned off once, but you can’t do it again.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t want to.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, no, I presume not,” sneered Sam. “Of course,
+you don’t. You’ve got on the same clothes you wore
+away, haven’t you?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, it’s the same suit, but I’ve got some more things
+in my bundle.”</p>
+
+<p>“I guess you haven’t made your fortune, by the looks.”</p>
+
+<p>“The fact is, Sam, I haven’t earned much since I went
+away.”</p>
+
+<p>“I knew you wouldn’t. You ain’t so smart as people
+think.”</p>
+
+<p>“I didn’t know anybody thought me smart.”</p>
+
+<p>“James, the hostler, is always talking you up to me,
+but I guess I can rub along as well as you.”</p>
+
+<p>“You talk as if I was your enemy, Sam, instead of
+your friend.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t want such a friend. You’re after my place,
+in spite of all you say.”</p>
+
+<p>Just then James, the hostler, came out of the stable.</p>
+
+<p>What! is it you, Tony?” he asked, cordially.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, James; I hope you’re well.”</p>
+
+<p>“Tiptop; and how are you?” asked the hostler, examining
+Tony, critically.</p>
+
+<p><!--146.png-->
+“I’m well.”</p>
+
+<p>“Have you been doing well?”</p>
+
+<p>“I haven’t wanted for anything. I’ve been with a gentleman
+in New York.”</p>
+
+<p>Here Mr. Porter appeared on the scene.</p>
+
+<p>He, too, recognized Tony.</p>
+
+<p>What! back again, Tony?” he said.</p>
+
+<p>I thought I’d just look in, sir.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you want a place?”</p>
+
+<p>“What sort of a place?”</p>
+
+<p>“Your old place.”</p>
+
+<p>Sam heard this, and looked the picture of dismay. He
+took it for granted that Tony would accept at once, and
+privately determined that if he did he would give him a
+flogging, if it were a possible thing.</p>
+
+<p>He was both relieved and surprised when Tony answered:</p>
+
+<p>“I am much obliged to you, Mr. Porter, but I wouldn’t
+like to cut out Sam. Besides, I have a place engaged in
+New York.”</p>
+
+<p>“I would rather have you than Sam, any day.”</p>
+
+<p>“Thank you, sir, but I’ve made an engagement, and
+can’t break it.”</p>
+
+<p>“How long are you going to stay here?”</p>
+
+<p>“If you’ve a spare room, I’ll stay over till to-morrow.”</p>
+
+<p>“All right. Go into the office, and they’ll give you
+one.”</p>
+
+<p>“I say, Tony,” said Sam, after the landlord had gone,
+“you’re a better fellow than I thought you were. I
+thought you’d take my place when it was offered you.”</p>
+
+<p>“You see you were mistaken, Sam. I’ll see you again.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony went into the hotel&mdash;went up to a small chamber
+that had been assigned him, changed his clothes for a
+handsome suit in his bundle, took a handsome gold watch
+and chain from his pocket and displayed them on his vest,
+and then came down again.</p>
+
+<p><!--147.png-->
+As he entered the yard again, Sam stared in amazement.</p>
+
+<p>It can’t be you, Tony!” he said. “Where’d you get
+them clothes? and that watch?”</p>
+
+<p>“I came by them honestly, Sam.”</p>
+
+<p>“But I can’t understand it,” said Sam, scratching his
+head. “Ain’t you poor, and out of work?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’m out of work, but not poor. I’ve been adopted by
+a rich gentleman, and am going to sail for Europe on
+Wednesday.”</p>
+
+<p>“Cracky! who ever heard the like? Wouldn’t he adopt
+me, too?”</p>
+
+<p>“I believe there is no vacancy,” said Tony, smiling.</p>
+
+<p>Was that the reason you wouldn’t take my place?”</p>
+
+<p>“One reason.”</p>
+
+<p>“James!” called Sam, “just look at Tony, now.”</p>
+
+<p>James stared, and when explanation was made, heartily
+congratulated our hero.</p>
+
+<p>Sam,” said Tony, producing a couple of showy neckties,
+“to prove to you that I am not your enemy, I have
+brought you these.”</p>
+
+<p>“They’re stunning!” exclaimed the enraptured Sam.
+“I always thought you was a good fellow, Tony. Are
+they really for me?”</p>
+
+<p>“To be sure they are, but I’m afraid, Sam, you didn’t
+always think quite so well of me.”</p>
+
+<p>“Well, I do now. You’re a trump.”</p>
+
+<p>“And, James, I’ve brought you a present, too.” Here
+Tony produced a handsome silver watch with a silver chain
+appended. “It’s to remember me by.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’d remember you without it, Tony, but I’m very
+much obliged to you. It’s a real beauty.”</p>
+
+<p>When the landlord was told of Tony’s good fortune, he
+was as much surprised as the rest. Our hero was at once
+changed to the handsomest room in the hotel, and was
+made quite a lion during the remainder of his stay.</p>
+
+<p><!--148.png-->
+There is something in success after all.</p>
+
+<p>Good-by, Tony,” said Sam, heartily, when our hero
+left the next day. “You’re a gentleman, and I always
+said so.”</p>
+
+<p>“Thank you, Sam. Good luck to you!” responded
+Tony, smiling.</p>
+
+<p>I’m a much finer fellow than when I was a tramp,” he
+said to himself. “Sam says so, and he ought to know. I
+suppose it’s the way of the world. And now for Europe!”</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Thirty-Two">XXXII</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">TONY’S BAD LUCK</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Two</span> weeks later Tony and his friend were guests at a
+popular London hotel, not far from Charing Cross.</p>
+
+<p>We will postpone business till we have seen a little of
+London,” said George Spencer. “Luckily my business is
+not of a pressing character, and it can wait.”</p>
+
+<p>“You have been in London before, Mr. Spencer,” said
+Tony. “I am afraid you will find it a bore going round
+with me.”</p>
+
+<p>“Not at all. I spent a week here when a boy of twelve,
+and saw nothing thoroughly, so I am at your disposal.
+Where shall we go first?”</p>
+
+<p>“I should like to see Buckingham Palace, where the
+king lives.”</p>
+
+<p>“He doesn’t live there much. However, we’ll go to see
+it, but we’ll take the Parliament House and Westminster
+Abbey on the way.”</p>
+
+<p>In accordance with this program they walked&mdash;for the
+distance was but small&mdash;to Westminster Abbey. It would
+be out of place for me to describe here that wonderful
+church where so much of the rank and talent of past ages
+lies buried. It is enough to say that Tony enjoyed it
+<!--149.png-->
+highly. He afterward visited the Parliament House.
+This occupied another hour. When they came out Mr.
+Spencer said:</p>
+
+<p>“Tony, I have got to go to my banker’s. Do you care
+to come?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, thank you, Mr. Spencer, I would rather walk
+round by myself.”</p>
+
+<p>“Very well, Tony, just as you please. Only don’t get
+lost.”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ll take care of that; I’m used to cities.”</p>
+
+<p>“You are not used to London. It is one of the blindest
+cities in the world; it is a complete labyrinth.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t mean to get lost. You’ll find me at the hotel
+at four o’clock.”</p>
+
+<p>“Very well. That will be early enough.”</p>
+
+<p>So George Spencer went his way, and Tony set out
+upon his rambles.</p>
+
+<p>He found plenty to amuse him in the various buildings
+and sights of the great metropolis. But after a while he
+began to wonder where he was. He had strayed into a
+narrow street, scarcely more than a lane, with a row of
+tumble-down dwellings on either side.</p>
+
+<p>There’s nothing worth seeing here,” said our hero.
+“I’ll inquire my way to Charing Cross.”</p>
+
+<p>He went into a small beer house, and preferred his request.</p>
+
+<p>Charing Cross!” repeated the publican. “It’s a
+good ways from ’ere.”</p>
+
+<p>“How far?” asked Tony.</p>
+
+<p>A mile easy, and there’s no end of turns.”</p>
+
+<p>“Just start me, then,” said Tony, “and I’ll reach there.
+Which way is it?”</p>
+
+<p>“Turn to the left when you go out of this shop.”</p>
+
+<p>“All right, and thank you.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony noticed that there were three or four men seated
+at tables in the back part of the shop, but he had not
+<!--150.png-->
+the curiosity to look at them. If he had, he would have
+been startled, for among these men was Rudolph Rugg,
+more disreputable than ever in appearance, for he had
+been drinking deeply for the last six months. He stared
+at Tony as one dazed, for he supposed him dead long ago
+at the bottom of a well, three thousand miles away.</p>
+
+<p>What’s the matter, Rugg?” asked his companion.
+“You look as if you’d seen a ghost.”</p>
+
+<p>“So I have,” muttered Rugg, starting for the door.</p>
+
+<p>Where are you going?”</p>
+
+<p>“I’ve got a headache,” said Rudolph.</p>
+
+<p>You’ve left your drink.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t want it.”</p>
+
+<p>“What’s come over him?” said his late companion, in
+surprise.</p>
+
+<p>No matter. He’ll be back soon.”</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph swiftly followed Tony. He wanted to find out
+whether it was really the boy whom he had sought to
+murder or not. Then, what did his appearance in London
+mean? Was he possibly in search of him&mdash;Rugg?
+It was wonderful, certainly. How had he obtained the
+means of coming to England?&mdash;as a gentleman, too, for
+Rudolph had not failed to notice his rich clothes. Had
+he obtained rich and powerful friends, and was he in
+search of the inheritance that had been wrongfully kept
+from him?</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph asked himself all these questions, but he could
+not answer one.</p>
+
+<p>If I could only ask him,” he thought, “but that
+wouldn’t be safe.”</p>
+
+<p>By this time he had come in sight of Tony, who was
+walking along slowly, not feeling in any particular hurry.</p>
+
+<p>An idea struck Rudolph.</p>
+
+<p>A boy who had been employed in begging was standing
+on the sidewalk.</p>
+
+<p>Gi’ me a penny, sir,” he said.</p>
+
+<p><!--151.png-->
+Rudolph paused.</p>
+
+<p>Walk along with me, and I’ll show you how you can
+earn half a crown,” he said.</p>
+
+<p>Will you?” said the boy, his face brightening.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, I will, and you won’t find it hard work, either.”</p>
+
+<p>“Go ahead, guv’nor.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you see that boy ahead?”</p>
+
+<p>“That young gentleman?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes,” said Rudolph.</p>
+
+<p>I see him.”</p>
+
+<p>“I want you to manage to get him up to my room; it’s
+No. 7 &mdash;&#8203;&mdash; street, top floor, just at the head of the
+stairs.”</p>
+
+<p>“Shall I tell him you want to see him?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, he wouldn’t come. Tell him your poor grandfather
+is sick in bed&mdash;anything you like, only get him to
+come.”</p>
+
+<p>“S’posin’ he won’t come?”</p>
+
+<p>“Then follow him, and find out where he is staying.
+Do you understand?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, guv’nor. I’ll bring him.”</p>
+
+<p>“Go ahead, and I’ll hurry round to the room. I’ll be
+in bed.”</p>
+
+<p>“All right.”</p>
+
+<p>The boy was a sharp specimen of the juvenile London
+beggar. He was up to the usual tricks of his class, and
+quite competent to the task which Rudolph had engaged
+him to perform.</p>
+
+<p>He came up to Tony, and then began to whimper.</p>
+
+<p>What’s the matter, Johnny?” said Tony, addressing
+him by the usual New York name for an unknown boy.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, my poor grandfather is so sick!” said the boy.</p>
+
+<p>What’s the matter with him?”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t know. I guess he’s goin’ to die.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why don’t you send for a doctor?”</p>
+
+<p>“He wouldn’t come&mdash;we’re so poor.”</p>
+
+<p><!--152.png-->
+“Do you live near here?”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, yes, sir; only a little way.”</p>
+
+<p>“I want to go to Charing Cross&mdash;is it much out of
+the way?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, sir; it’s right on the way there.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then, if you’ll show me the way to Charing Cross
+afterward, I will go round with you and look at your
+grandfather. Perhaps I can do something for him.”</p>
+
+<p>“Oh, sir, how kind you are! I know’d you was a gentleman
+when I fust saw you.”</p>
+
+<p>“When was your grandfather taken sick?”</p>
+
+<p>“Two days ago,” said the boy.</p>
+
+<p>Is he in bed?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, sir. Leastways, he was when I came out. We
+didn’t have no breakfast.”</p>
+
+<p>“I am sorry for that. Don’t you want to buy something
+to take to him?”</p>
+
+<p>“If you’ll give me a shillin’, sir, I’ll ask him what he
+can eat. Sick folks can’t eat the same things as the rest
+of us.”</p>
+
+<p>“To be sure. You are right. Well, here’s a shilling.”</p>
+
+<p>“The boy little thinks that I have known many a
+time what it is to be without breakfast, or money to buy
+any,” thought Tony. “I’ll do something for the poor
+man, if only to show how grateful I am for my own good
+fortune.”</p>
+
+<p>He followed the boy for about ten minutes, until they
+reached rather a shabby building. This was No. 7.</p>
+
+<p>Come right up after me,” said the boy.</p>
+
+<p>The two went up till they reached the room indicated
+by Rudolph. The boy pushed the door open.</p>
+
+<p>A sound of groaning proceeded from the bed.</p>
+
+<p>Grandfather, I’ve brought a kind young gentleman,”
+said the boy.</p>
+
+<p>Come here,” muttered the person in bed.</p>
+
+<p>Tony came up to the bed.</p>
+
+<p><!--153.png-->
+In an instant Rudolph had thrown off the clothes, and
+had him seized by the arm.</p>
+
+<p>There’s your money, boy. Go!” he said to the other,
+flinging a half crown.</p>
+
+<p>I’ve got you at last!” he shouted. “Now, you young
+villain, I’ll get even with you!”</p>
+
+<p>His face was almost fiendish with rage, as he uttered
+these words.</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Thirty-Three">XXXIII</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">VENGEANCE</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">To</span> say that Tony was not startled would not be true.
+Without a moment’s warning he found himself in the
+power of his old enemy&mdash;completely in his power, knowing,
+too, the desperate character of the man which would
+let him stick at nothing.</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph enjoyed his evident surprise.</p>
+
+<p>I’ve been waiting for this,” he said. “It’s a great joy
+to me to have you here in my power.”</p>
+
+<p>By this time Tony had collected himself, and had become
+composed.</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph,” he said, “what makes you hate me so?”</p>
+
+<p>“Haven’t you tried to injure me&mdash;didn’t you get me
+arrested? Do you forget that night in the old miser’s
+hut?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, I don’t forget it, but you forced me to act as I
+did. But even if I did injure you, you took your revenge.”</p>
+
+<p>“When, and how?”</p>
+
+<p>“When you threw me into the well. How could you
+do such a dark deed? What had I done that you should
+seek to murder me?”</p>
+
+<p>“How did you get out?” asked Rudolph, giving way
+to curiosity.</p>
+
+<p><!--154.png-->
+“I climbed out.”</p>
+
+<p>“How?”</p>
+
+<p>“By means of the wall that lined the well. Finally I
+got hold of the rope.”</p>
+
+<p>“So that was the way, was it? I ought to have made
+surer of your fate.”</p>
+
+<p>“How could you do that?”</p>
+
+<p>“By throwing some rocks down on you,” answered the
+tramp, with a malignant frown.</p>
+
+<p>I am glad I have not such a wicked disposition as
+you, Rudolph,” said Tony, looking at him fixedly.</p>
+
+<p>Take care how you insult me, boy!” said Rudolph,
+angrily.</p>
+
+<p>I have no wish to insult you. Now tell me why you
+have lured me here? I suppose you hired the boy.”</p>
+
+<p>“I did, and he did the work well,” said the tramp, triumphantly.</p>
+
+<p>Well, now, I am here, what do you want of me?”</p>
+
+<p>“First, tell me how you happen to be in London? Did
+you know I was here?”</p>
+
+<p>“I knew you crossed the Atlantic.”</p>
+
+<p>“How?”</p>
+
+<p>“I saw you buy your ticket.”</p>
+
+<p>“What!” exclaimed the tramp, in surprise. “Did you
+reach New York so soon?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes. I lost my situation at the inn, for they did not
+believe my story about having been thrown down the well
+by a Quaker.” Rudolph laughed.</p>
+
+<p>It was a good disguise,” he said. “So they discharged
+you? That was good.”</p>
+
+<p>“I did not think so at the time, but it proved to be the
+luckiest thing that could happen to me.”</p>
+
+<p>“How was that?”</p>
+
+<p>“It led me to go to New York. There I found a rich
+and generous friend. I have been with him ever since.”</p>
+
+<p>“As a servant?”</p>
+
+<p><!--155.png-->
+“No; as his adopted brother. He supplied me with
+teachers, and in little more than six months I have acquired
+as much as most boys do in two or three years.”</p>
+
+<p>“So you have gone in for education, have you?” said
+Rudolph, sneering.</p>
+
+<p>Yes. Could I go in for anything better?”</p>
+
+<p>“And you consider yourself a young gentleman now,
+do you?”</p>
+
+<p>“That is the rank I hold in society,” said Tony,
+calmly.</p>
+
+<p>And you forget that you were once Tony the
+Tramp?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, Rudolph, I have not forgotten that. It was not
+my fault, and I am not ashamed of it. But I should be
+ashamed if I had not left that kind of life as soon as I was
+able.”</p>
+
+<p>“By Heaven, you shall go back to it!” said Rudolph,
+malignantly.</p>
+
+<p>I never will,” answered Tony, gently, but firmly.</p>
+
+<p>I will force you to it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Neither you nor anyone else can force me to it. I
+will black boots in the streets first.”</p>
+
+<p>“That will suit me just as well,” said the tramp, laughing
+maliciously. “You have grown too proud. I want
+to lower your pride, young popinjay!”</p>
+
+<p>“I am not afraid of anything you can do to me, Rudolph,”
+said Tony, bravely.</p>
+
+<p>Suppose I choose to kill you?”</p>
+
+<p>“You won’t dare do it. We are not in the woods now.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony had hit the truth. Rudolph did not dare to kill
+him, though he would have been glad to. But he knew
+that he would himself be arrested, and he had more to live
+for now than formerly. He had an income, and comfortably
+provided for, and he did not choose to give up this
+comfortable and independent life.</p>
+
+<p>No,” he said, “I won’t kill you; but I will be revenged
+<!--156.png-->
+for all that. First I will keep you from that
+generous friend of yours.”</p>
+
+<p>“What will he think has become of me?” thought
+Tony, uneasily.</p>
+
+<p>A thought came to him. He would appeal to the man’s
+love of money.</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph,” he said, “I am afraid my friend will be
+uneasy about me. If you will let me go I will give you
+ten pounds that I have in my pocket.”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t believe you have so much money,” said Rudolph,
+cunningly.</p>
+
+<p>Tony fell into the snare unsuspectingly. He drew out
+his pocketbook and displayed two five-pound notes on the
+Bank of England.</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph quickly snatched them from him.</p>
+
+<p>They are mine already,” he said, with a mocking
+laugh.</p>
+
+<p>So I see,” said Tony, coolly; “but I was about to
+offer you fifty pounds besides.”</p>
+
+<p>“Have you the money in your pocketbook?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, I haven’t, but I could get it from Mr. Spencer?”</p>
+
+<p>“It don’t go down, Tony,” said Rudolph, shaking his
+head. “I am not so much in need of money as to pay so
+dearly for it. Listen to me. If you have been lucky, so
+have I. I have an income, safe and sure, of one hundred
+and fifty pounds.”</p>
+
+<p>“You have!” exclaimed Tony, surprised.</p>
+
+<p>Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>“Do you hold any position?”</p>
+
+<p>“No; I merely promise to keep my mouth shut.”</p>
+
+<p>“Is it about me?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes. The long and the short of it is that there is an
+English estate, bringing in two thousand pounds rental,
+that of right belongs to you.”</p>
+
+<p>“To me&mdash;an estate of two thousand pounds a year!”
+exclaimed Tony, in astonishment.</p>
+
+<p><!--157.png-->
+“Yes; the party who owns it pays me an income as
+hush money. I have only to say the word, and the estate
+will be yours, Tony.”</p>
+
+<p>“Say the word, Rudolph, and you shall have the same
+income,” entreated Tony. “It isn’t the money I so much
+care for, but I want to know who I am. I want to be
+restored to my rightful place in society. Is my mother
+living?”</p>
+
+<p>“No.”</p>
+
+<p>“Nor my father?”</p>
+
+<p>“No.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony looked sober.</p>
+
+<p>Then I should not care so much for the money. Still,
+it ought to be mine.”</p>
+
+<p>“Of course it ought,” said Rudolph, gloating over the
+boy’s emotion.</p>
+
+<p>You shall lose nothing by telling me&mdash;by becoming
+my friend. I will never refer to the past&mdash;never speak of
+what happened in America.”</p>
+
+<p>“No doubt,” sneered Rudolph, “but it can’t be.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why can’t it be?”</p>
+
+<p>“Because I hate you!” hissed the tramp, with a baleful
+look. “Not another word. It’s no use. I shall lock
+you up here for the present, while I am out. When I
+come back I will let you know what I am going to do to
+you.”</p>
+
+<p>He left the room, locking the door behind him.</p>
+
+<p>Tony sat down to reflect upon the strange position in
+which he was placed.</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter"><!--158.png-->
+
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Thirty-four">XXXIV</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">MRS. MIDDLETON AND HER LOVER</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">When</span> Rudolph left Tony imprisoned he began to think
+over the situation with regard to his own interest.</p>
+
+<p>He was already dissatisfied with the income he received
+from Mrs. Middleton; though at the time it seemed to him
+large, he found that he could easily spend more. He did
+not have expensive lodgings&mdash;in fact, they were plain, and
+quite within his means, but he drank and gambled, and
+both these amusements were expensive. He had already
+made up his mind to ask for a larger income, and Tony’s
+offer stimulated him to ask at once.</p>
+
+<p>If Mrs. Middleton won’t, the boy will,” he said to
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Middleton was in London. In fact, at that moment
+she was <span class="decoration" lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">tête-à-tête</span> with Capt. Lovell, to whom she
+had been formally betrothed. He had satisfied himself
+that the prospects were all right, and then had renewed
+his offer. The marriage was to take place in a month,
+and Mrs. Middleton was in town to make suitable preparations
+for it. She was perfectly happy, for she was about
+to marry a man she loved.</p>
+
+<p>As for Capt. Lovell, he was well enough contented. He
+did not care a farthing for the lady as regards love, but
+he was decidedly in love with her property.</p>
+
+<p>It will make me comfortable for life,” he said, with a
+shrug of the shoulders, “and after marriage, I can pay
+as little attention to Mrs. Lovell as I choose. She must
+be content with marrying my name.”</p>
+
+<p>The widow had taken handsome apartments at a West
+End boarding house; there she received callers.</p>
+
+<p>Capt. Lovell was lounging in an easy-chair<a href="#tn">looking</a>
+<!--159.png-->
+rather bored. His fiancée was inspecting an array of
+dry goods which had been sent in from a fancy London
+shop.</p>
+
+<p>Don’t you think this silk elegant, Gregory?” she
+asked, displaying a pattern.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, ah, yes, I suppose so,” he answered, with a yawn.</p>
+
+<p>I would like to have your taste, Gregory.”</p>
+
+<p>“I have no taste, my dear Mrs. Middleton, about such
+matters.”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t you think it will become me?”</p>
+
+<p>“Why, to be sure; everything becomes you, you know.”</p>
+
+<p>She laughed.</p>
+
+<p>Would a yellow turban become me?” she asked.</p>
+
+<p>Well, perhaps not,” he said; “but of course you know
+best.”</p>
+
+<p>“How little you men know about a lady’s dress!”</p>
+
+<p>“I should think so. The fact is, my dear Mrs. Middleton,
+that part of my education was neglected.”</p>
+
+<p>“When I am your wife, Gregory, I shall always appeal
+to your taste.”</p>
+
+<p>“Will you?” he said, rather frightened. “’Pon my
+honor, I hope you won’t, now.”</p>
+
+<p>“And I shall expect you to consult me about your
+wardrobe.”</p>
+
+<p>“What! about my trousers and coats? Really, that’s
+very amusing, ’pon my honor it is.”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t you think I feel an interest in how my dear
+Gregory is dressed?”</p>
+
+<p>“I don’t know, I’m sure.”</p>
+
+<p>“But I do, and shall I tell you why?”</p>
+
+<p>“If you want to.”</p>
+
+<p>“Because I love you,” she said, softly, and she rose
+from her chair, and crossing, laid her hand affectionately
+on his shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>He shrank, just the least in the world, and felt <a href="#tn">annoyed</a>
+but didn’t like to say so. She might be angry,
+<!--160.png-->
+and though he did not love her, he did want to marry her,
+and so escape from his money troubles.</p>
+
+<p>Of course, I’m ever so much obliged to you,” he said,
+“and all that sort of thing.”</p>
+
+<p>“And you love me, Gregory, don’t you?” she asked,
+tenderly.</p>
+
+<p>Deuce take her, I wish she’d stop,” he said to himself.
+“She makes me awful uncomfortable.”</p>
+
+<p>“Don’t you love me, Gregory?”</p>
+
+<p>“If I didn’t love you, do you think I would have asked
+you to become Mrs. Lovell?” he said, evading the question.</p>
+
+<p>To be sure, Gregory,” she replied, trying to look satisfied.</p>
+
+<p>And now I really must go&mdash;I must, ’pon honor!” he
+said, rising.</p>
+
+<p>You have been here so short a time,” she pleaded.</p>
+
+<p>But I promised to be at the club. I’m to meet a fellow
+officer, and it’s the hour now.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then I must let you go. But you’ll come again
+soon?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, ’pon honor!” and the captain kissed his hand to
+his fiancée.</p>
+
+<p>I wonder if he really loves me?” she said to herself,
+wistfully.</p>
+
+<p>At this moment the servant entered.</p>
+
+<p>Please, ma’am, there is a rough-looking man below
+who says he wants to see you. His name is Rugg.”</p>
+
+<p>“Admit him,” said Mrs. Middleton, looking annoyed.</p>
+
+<p>Why are you here, Mr. Rugg?” demanded Mrs.
+Middleton, coolly.</p>
+
+<p>On business,” said the tramp, throwing himself, uninvited,
+upon the same chair from which Capt. Lovell had
+just risen.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Middleton flushed with anger, but she did not
+dare to treat his insolence as it deserved.</p>
+
+<p><!--161.png-->
+“What business can you have with me?” she asked,
+coldly.</p>
+
+<p>It’s about the allowance.”</p>
+
+<p>“It was paid punctually, was it not?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then you can have no business with me. Have I not
+told you that you are not to call upon me at any time?
+My agent attends to that.”</p>
+
+<p>“I want the allowance raised,” said Rudolph, abruptly.</p>
+
+<p>Raised?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, you must double it.”</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Middleton was now really angry.</p>
+
+<p>I never heard such insolence,” she said. “You have
+taken your trouble for nothing. I shall not give you a
+pound more.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’d better, Mrs. Middleton,” said Rudolph, “or I
+may tell all I know.”</p>
+
+<p>“You would only ruin yourself, and lose your entire
+income.”</p>
+
+<p>“I should ruin you, too.”</p>
+
+<p>“Not at all. No one would believe you against me.
+Besides, are you ready to be tried for murder?”</p>
+
+<p>“Who has committed murder?”</p>
+
+<p>“You have.”</p>
+
+<p>“Prove it.”</p>
+
+<p>“Didn’t you kill the boy?”</p>
+
+<p>“No.”</p>
+
+<p>“You swore to me he was dead.”</p>
+
+<p>“Suppose he didn’t die.”</p>
+
+<p>“You are wasting your time, Mr. Rugg,” said
+Mrs. Middleton, coldly. “Of course I understand your
+motives. You have been extravagant, and wasted
+your money, hoping to get more out of me. But it is
+useless.”</p>
+
+<p>“You’ll be sorry for this, ma’am,” said Rugg, angrily.</p>
+
+<p>I don’t think I shall. Before doing anything that
+<!--162.png-->
+you will be sorry for, consider that to a man in your
+position the income I give you is very liberal.”</p>
+
+<p>“Liberal! It isn’t one-tenth of what you get.”</p>
+
+<p>“Very true, but the case is different.”</p>
+
+<p>“You may believe me or not, but the boy is alive, and
+I know where he is.”</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Middleton did not believe one word of what he
+said. She was convinced that Tony had been killed by the
+man before her, and was indignant at the trick which she
+thought he was trying to play upon her. She felt that
+if she yielded to his importunity, it would only be the
+beginning of a series of demands. She had courage and
+firmness, and she decided to discourage him once for all
+in his exactions.</p>
+
+<p>I don’t believe you,” she said, “and I am not afraid.”</p>
+
+<p>“Then you won’t increase my income?” he said.</p>
+
+<p>No, I will not. Neither now nor at any other time
+will I do it. What I have agreed to do I will do, but I
+will not give you a penny more. Do you understand me,
+Mr. Rugg?”</p>
+
+<p>“I believe I do,” said Rudolph, rising, “and I tell you
+you’ll be sorry for what you are saying.”</p>
+
+<p>“I will take the risk,” she said, contemptuously.</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph’s face was distorted with passion as he left
+the room.</p>
+
+<p>I hate her more than the boy,” he muttered. “He
+shall have the estate.”</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Thirty-five">XXXV</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">TONY’S ESCAPE</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">When</span> Tony found himself left a prisoner in his enemy’s
+room, he did not immediately make an effort to
+escape. In fact, he didn’t feel particularly alarmed.</p>
+
+<p>I am in a large city, and there are other lodgers in
+<!--163.png-->
+this building. There can be no danger. I will wait a
+while and think over what Rudolph has told me. Can it
+be true that I am heir to a large estate in England, and
+that he can restore me to it if he will? He can have no
+motive in deceiving me. It must be true.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony felt that he would give a great deal to know more.
+Where was this estate, and who now held it? It occurred
+to him that somewhere about the room he might find some
+clew to the mystery. He immediately began to explore it.</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph was not a literary man. He had neither books
+nor papers, whose telltale testimony might convict him.
+In fact, the best of his personal possessions was very
+small. A few clothes were lying about the room. Tony
+decided to examine the pockets of these, in the hope of
+discovering something in his interest. Finally he found
+in the pocket of a shooting coat a small memorandum
+book, in which a few entries, chiefly of bets, had been
+made. In these Tony felt no interest, and he was about
+to throw down the book when his eye caught this entry:</p>
+
+<p class="blockquote">“Dead broke. Must write to Mrs. Middleton for more
+money.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony’s heart beat rapidly.</p>
+
+<p>This must be the person from whom Rudolph received
+his income, and, by consequence, the person who was in
+fraudulent possession of the estate that was rightfully his.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Middleton!
+
+“I wish I knew where she lives,” thought our hero.
+“No doubt there are hundreds of the name in England.”</p>
+
+<p>This might be, but, probably, there was but one Mrs.
+Middleton in possession of an estate worth two thousand
+pounds rental.</p>
+
+<p>I am on the track,” thought Tony. “Now let me get
+away, and consult George Spencer.”</p>
+
+<p>It was easier said than done. The door was locked,
+and it was too strong to break down.</p>
+
+<p><!--164.png-->
+“There must be somebody in the room below,” thought
+Tony. “I’ll pound till they hear me.”</p>
+
+<p>He jumped up and down with such force that it did
+attract attention in the room below. Presently he heard
+a querulous voice at the keyhole:</p>
+
+<p>“What’s the matter? Are you mad?”</p>
+
+<p>“No, but I’m locked in,” said Tony. “Can’t you let
+me out?”</p>
+
+<p>“I have no key to the door, but the landlady has.”</p>
+
+<p>“Won’t you please ask her to let me out? I’ll be ever
+so much obliged.”</p>
+
+<p>“Stop pounding, then.”</p>
+
+<p>“I will.”</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely two minutes had elapsed when a key was heard
+in the lock, and the door was opened.</p>
+
+<p>How came you here, sir?” asked the landlady&mdash;a
+short, stout woman&mdash;suspiciously.</p>
+
+<p>The gentleman locked me in&mdash;in a joke,” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Maybe you’re a burglar,” said the landlady, <a name="eyeing" id="eyeing"></a>eyeing
+him doubtfully.</p>
+
+<p>Tony laughed.</p>
+
+<p>Do I look like it?” he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Well, no,” the landlady admitted, “but appearances
+are deceitful.”</p>
+
+<p>“Not with me, I assure you. I am really sorry to put
+you to so much trouble to let me out. Won’t you accept
+of this?” and Tony produced a half sovereign.</p>
+
+<p>Really, sir, I see that you are quite the gentleman,”
+said the landlady, pocketing the piece with avidity.
+“Can’t I do anything for you?”</p>
+
+<p>“Only if you’d be kind enough to give this to the gentleman
+when he returns.”</p>
+
+<p>Tony hastily wrote a line on a card, and gave it to the
+now complacent dame.</p>
+
+<p>Fifteen minutes after Tony’s departure Rudolph returned.</p>
+
+<p><!--165.png-->
+He sprang upstairs, only to find the room empty and
+the bird flown.</p>
+
+<p>What’s come of the boy?” he exclaimed, in dismay.
+“How did he get out?”</p>
+
+<p>He summoned the landlady quickly.</p>
+
+<p>Do you know anything of the boy that was in my
+room, Mrs. Jones?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes, Mr. Rugg, I let him out. He said you locked
+him in for fun.”</p>
+
+<p>“Humph! What else did he say?”</p>
+
+<p>“He left this card for you.”</p>
+
+<p>Rugg seized it hastily, and read with startled eyes:</p>
+
+<p class="blockquote">“I am at Morley’s. Come and see me soon, or I will
+go to Mrs. Middleton.</p>
+
+<p class="sigright">Tony.”</p>
+
+<p>“Confusion! where did the boy find out?” thought the
+tramp. “I must do something, or I am ruined.”</p>
+
+<p>It was a mystery to him how Tony had learned so much,
+and he naturally concluded that he knew a good deal more.
+He felt that no time was to be lost, and started at once
+for Morley’s. Inquiring for Tony, he was at once admitted
+to the presence of Tony and George Spencer.</p>
+
+<p>So you got my card?” said Tony.</p>
+
+<p>Yes. What do you know about Mrs. Middleton?” demanded
+Rudolph.</p>
+
+<p>That she possesses the estate which ought to be mine.
+That’s about it, isn’t it?”</p>
+
+<p>“Yes,” said Rudolph; “but you can’t get it without
+me.”</p>
+
+<p>“Why not?”</p>
+
+<p>“I was the man that was hired to abduct you when
+you was a boy.”</p>
+
+<p>“Can you prove that?” asked Spencer.</p>
+
+<p>I can.”</p>
+
+<p>“Will your story be believed?”</p>
+
+<p><!--166.png-->
+“Yes. The tenantry will remember me. I was one of
+them at the time.”</p>
+
+<p>“Are you ready to help my young friend here to recover
+his rights?” asked Spencer.</p>
+
+<p>This morning I said no. Now I say yes, if he’ll do
+the fair thing by me.”</p>
+
+<p>A conference was entered into, and a bargain was finally
+made. Rudolph was to receive two hundred pounds a
+year as a reward for his services, if successful.</p>
+
+<p>When this arrangement had been completed, an appointment
+was made for the next morning, at which hour
+a lawyer of repute was also present. After listening attentively
+to Rudolph’s statement, he said, decisively:</p>
+
+<p>“Your young friend has a strong case, but I advise
+you to see Mrs. Middleton privately. It may not be necessary
+to bring the matter into court, and this would be
+preferable, as it would avoid scandal.”</p>
+
+<p>“I put myself in your hands,” said Tony, promptly.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Harvey Middleton is in London,” said the lawyer.
+“I will call this afternoon.”</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">CHAPTER <abbr title="Thirty-six">XXXVI</abbr></h3>
+
+<h4 class="h4head">ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL</h4>
+
+<p class="p2"><span class="sc">Mrs.</span> Harvey Middleton sat in her boudoir, trying to
+read a novel. But it failed to interest her. She felt uneasy,
+she scarcely knew why. The evening previous she
+had been at the Haymarket Theater, and had been struck
+by a boy’s face. Ten feet from her sat Tony, with his
+friend, George Spencer. He looked wonderfully like his
+father as she remembered him, and she was startled. She
+did not know Tony, but Rugg’s angry warning struck
+her.</p>
+
+<p>Was he right? Can this be the boy I have so much
+reason to dread?” she asked herself.</p>
+
+<p><!--167.png-->
+She was thinking of this when the servant entered the
+room with a card.</p>
+
+<p>C. Barry,” she repeated, “wishes to see Mrs. Middleton
+on business of the greatest importance.”</p>
+
+<p>“Ask him to come up,” she said, uneasily.</p>
+
+<p>It was the lawyer, as the reader may have suspected.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Middleton,” he said, with a bow. “I must apologize
+for my intrusion.”</p>
+
+<p>“You say your business is important?” said the lady.</p>
+
+<p>It is&mdash;of the first importance.”</p>
+
+<p>“Explain yourself, I beg.”</p>
+
+<p>“I appear before you, madam, in behalf of your late
+husband’s cousin, Anthony Middleton, who is the heir of
+the estate which you hold in trust.”</p>
+
+<p>It was out now, and Mrs. Middleton was at bay.</p>
+
+<p>There is no such person,” she said. “The boy you
+refer to is dead.”</p>
+
+<p>“What proof have you of his decease?”</p>
+
+<p>“I have the sworn statement of the man who saw him
+die.”</p>
+
+<p>“And this man’s name?”</p>
+
+<p>“Is Rudolph Rugg.”</p>
+
+<p>“I thought so. Mr. Rugg swore falsely. He is ready
+to contradict his former statement.”</p>
+
+<p>“He has been tampered with!” exclaimed Mrs. Middleton,
+pale with passion.</p>
+
+<p>That may be,” said the lawyer; but he added, significantly:
+“Not by us.”</p>
+
+<p>“The boy is an impostor,” said Mrs. Middleton, hotly.
+“I will not surrender the estate.”</p>
+
+<p>“I feel for your disappointment, madam; but I think
+you are hasty.”</p>
+
+<p>“Who will believe the statement of a common tramp?”</p>
+
+<p>“You relied upon it before, madam. But we have other
+evidence,” continued the lawyer.</p>
+
+<p>What other evidence?”</p>
+
+<p><!--168.png-->
+“The striking resemblance of my young friend to the
+family.”</p>
+
+<p>“Was&mdash;was he at the Haymarket Theater last evening?”
+asked the lady.</p>
+
+<p>He was. Did you see him?”</p>
+
+<p>“I saw the boy I suppose you mean. He had a slight
+resemblance to Mr. Middleton.”</p>
+
+<p>“He is his image.”</p>
+
+<p>“Suppose&mdash;suppose this story to be true, what do you
+offer me?” asked Mrs. Middleton, sullenly.</p>
+
+<p>An income of three hundred pounds from the estate,”
+said the lawyer. “If the matter comes to court, this
+Rugg, I am bound to tell you, has an ugly story to tell,
+in which you are implicated.”</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Middleton knew well enough what it meant. If
+the conspiracy should be disclosed, she would be ostracized
+socially. She rapidly made up her mind.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Barry,” she said, “I will accept your terms, on
+a single condition.”</p>
+
+<p>“Name it, madam.”</p>
+
+<p>“That you will give me six weeks’ undisturbed possession
+of the estate, keeping this matter secret meanwhile.”</p>
+
+<p>“If I knew your motive I might consent.”</p>
+
+<p>“I will tell you in confidence. Within that time I am
+to be married. The abrupt disclosure of this matter
+might break off the marriage.”</p>
+
+<p>“May I ask the name of the bridegroom?”</p>
+
+<p>“Capt. Gregory Lovell.”</p>
+
+<p>The lawyer smiled. He knew of Capt. Lovell, and
+owed him a grudge. He suspected that the captain was
+mercenary in his wooing, and he thought that it would
+be a fitting revenge to let matters go on.</p>
+
+<p>I consent, upon my own responsibility,” he said.</p>
+
+<p>Thank you,” said Mrs. Middleton, with real gratitude.</p>
+
+<p>She would not lose the man she loved after all.</p>
+
+<p><!--169.png-->
+A month later the marriage of Capt. Gregory Lovell,
+of her majesty’s service, and Mrs. Harvey Middleton, of
+Middleton Hall, was celebrated. There was a long paragraph
+in the morning <cite>Post</cite>, and Mrs. Lovell was happy.</p>
+
+<p>When, a week later, at Paris, the gallant captain was
+informed of the trick that had been played upon him,
+there was a terrible scene. He cursed his wife, and threatened
+to leave her.</p>
+
+<p>But, Gregory, I have three hundred pounds income,”
+she pleaded. “We can live abroad.”</p>
+
+<p>“And I have sold myself for that paltry sum!” he
+said, bitterly.</p>
+
+<p>But he concluded to make the best of a bad bargain.
+Between them they had an income of five hundred pounds,
+and on this they made shift abroad, where living is cheap.
+But the marriage was not happy. He was brutal at
+times, and his wife realized sadly that he had never loved
+her. But she has all the happiness she deserves, and so
+has he.</p>
+
+<p>Rudolph drank himself to death in six months. So the
+income which he was to receive made but a slight draft
+upon the Middleton estate.</p>
+
+<p>And Tony! No longer Tony the Tramp, but the Hon.
+Anthony Middleton, of Middleton Hall&mdash;he has just completed
+a course at Oxford, and is now the possessor of an
+education which will help fit him for the responsibilities
+he is to assume. His frank, off-hand manner makes him
+an immense favorite with the circle to which he now belongs.
+He says little of his early history, and it is seldom
+thought of now. He has made a promise to his good
+friend, George Spencer, to visit the United States this
+year, and will doubtless do so. He means at that time
+to visit once more the scenes with which he became familiar
+when he was only Tony the Tramp.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2 center">THE END</p>
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter"><!--170.png-->
+
+<h3 class="p4 h3head">The Famous Alger Stories for Boys</h3>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+<p>Give your boy all he wants of the <span class="sc">Alger Books</span>. They are
+always unusually interesting, and in a quiet way convey lessons
+of pluck, perseverance, and manly independence.</p>
+
+<p class="center">THIS IS ONE VOLUME OF THE SERIES</p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="decoration">The following books are ready for delivery</span>:</p>
+
+<ul>
+<li>&ensp;1. Strong and Steady</li>
+<li>&ensp;2. Strive and Succeed</li>
+<li>&ensp;3. Try and Trust</li>
+<li>&ensp;4. Bound to Rise</li>
+<li>&ensp;5. Risen From the Ranks</li>
+<li>&ensp;6. Herbert Carter’s Legacy</li>
+<li>&ensp;7. Brave and Bold</li>
+<li>&ensp;8. Jack’s Ward</li>
+<li>&ensp;9. Shifting for Himself</li>
+<li>10. Wait and Hope</li>
+<li>11. Paul the Peddler</li>
+<li>12. Phil the Fiddler</li>
+<li>13. Slow and Sure</li>
+<li>14. Julius the Street Boy</li>
+<li>15. Tom the Bootblack</li>
+<li>16. Struggling Upward</li>
+<li>17. Facing the World</li>
+<li>18. The Cash Boy</li>
+<li>19. Making His Way</li>
+<li>20. Tony the Tramp</li>
+<li>21. Joe’s Luck</li>
+<li>22. Do and Dare</li>
+<li>23. Only an Irish Boy</li>
+<li>24. Sink or Swim</li>
+</ul>
+
+<p>The <span class="sc">Alger Books</span> have held the foremost place in juvenile
+fiction for forty years, and they are read to-day with the same
+avidity as they were a generation ago&mdash;and they will continue
+to be read with equal interest so long as boys are boys.</p>
+
+<p>There are several editions of these stories, but none of them
+are equal to this new edition from new plates for general excellence,
+at the lowest price for which a well-made cloth bound
+book has ever been offered by any publisher.</p>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+
+<p class="p2 center">THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY</p>
+<p><span class="street sc">147 Fourth Avenue</span>      <span class="city sc">New York, N. Y.</span></p>
+</div><!--end chapter, end book-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h4 class="h4head">Transcriber’s Note:</h4>
+
+<p>Dialect, obsolete and alternative spellings were not changed.
+Obvious printing errors, such as backwards, upside down, or partially
+printed letters, were corrected. Final stops missing at the end of
+sentences were added. Missing or unprinted quotation marks were added
+where appropriate.</p>
+
+<p>The following items were changed:</p>
+
+<ul>
+<li>‘boldy’ to ‘<a href="#boldly">boldly</a>’</li>
+<li>‘waitng’ to ‘<a href="#wait">waiting</a>’</li>
+<li>‘eying’ to ‘<a href="#eyeing">eyeing</a>’</li>
+</ul>
+
+<p><a name="tn" id="tn"></a>Two words, missing from a damaged page, were added
+based on comparison of surrounding text from a 1900 edition of the
+book on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter, tnote-->
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Tony The Tramp, by Horatio Alger
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+</pre>
+
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author	nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org>	2025-02-08 01:26:25 -0800
committer	nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org>	2025-02-08 01:26:25 -0800
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