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Thus the talk ran on, from one subject to another. Andy had given his young partner the full particulars of his own roving life, and in return Matt had related everything concerning himself, and the two felt as if they had known each other for years; in fact, as Matt once stated later on, they were more like brothers than mere partners in business.
Andy was deeply interested in the fact of Mr. Lincoln’s disappearance, and he wondered nearly as much as did Matt himself if the unfortunate man would ever turn up again.
As for the boy, he could not bring himself to believe that his parent was dead, and although he rarely mentioned his father’s name, he was constantly on the watch for him, and often when they were stopping at a place he would go off on what he termed a “still hunt,” hoping thereby to pick up a stray bit of information which would put him on the right track to learn of his father’s whereabouts.
The drive up through Walnut Port to Lehigh Gap was very nice. At the latter place they stopped over night, and then pushed on to Lehighton, sometimes along the river, and then by way of a road through and around the mountains.
“This scenery is just grand!” cried Matt, as they were driving on about ten o’clock in the forenoon.243“Just look at that mountain over yonder! And see how the river winds along through the valley below here!”
“It is very fine, indeed!” returned Andy. “But I’ll tell you what: I would rather be on horseback than in the wagon. It seems to me that some of the bends around the mountain side are positively dangerous.”
“Oh, I guess not, Andy. Why, look, there is a regular wagon road. If other wagons can pass along here, I fancy we can do so, too.”
“Other wagons may not be as heavy as ours, with that big case tied on behind. Don’t you notice how Billy slips every once in awhile?”
“Well, we might have had him shod sharp when we had the wagon overhauled,” returned Matt slowly, as he noticed for the first time that Billy did slip more than usual. “We can have it done during our stop at Mauch Chunk or at Lehighton, if it becomes necessary. Maybe we are on the wrong road again.”
“Well, certainly this road is growing worse instead of better,” said Andy soberly. “Just look at that turn ahead! The road isn’t over ten feet wide, and it slopes down to that steep hill——”
“Drive as close to the inside wall as you can,” was Matt’s somewhat nervous reply, as he saw244the possible danger ahead. “Steady now, Billy, steady!”
The horse moved along slowly up to the curve which ran around the mountain side. As Andy had said, the road at this point was scarcely ten feet wide, and on the other side was a steep downward slope, terminating below at a tiny brook filled with loose rocks.
The curve was reached, and the two were just congratulating themselves upon having passed the dangerous spot in safety, when a large bird, flying from a near-by bush, frightened Billy and caused him to shy to one side.
In another instant the wagon was at the very edge of the slope!
245CHAPTER XXXII.AN INTERESTING LETTER.
To Andy and Matt it looked as if the entire turn-out must slide down the hillside to the bottom, there to be smashed into a hundred pieces.
It was small wonder, therefore, that both gave a loud cry of alarm and that both caught at the lines to lead Billy away from the danger so imminent.
The horse continued to move ahead, but instead of drawing closer to the inside, he walked upon the very outer edge of the road.
“I’ll lead him!” cried Andy, and while Matt continued to hold the lines, he sprang out and caught Billy by the bridle.
Ordinarily, the faithful animal would have come along willingly, but he now seemed to grow obstinate, and pulled back when Andy caught hold. The wagon stopped, and then the rear wheels were sent partly down the slope.
“Pull him up!” cried Matt. “Pull him, Andy!”
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“He won’t come!” gasped Andy, tugging at the bridle with might and main.
“But he must come! The wagon will go down in another second!”
“I can’t help it, I can’t make him come,” panted Andy, between his clinched teeth, as he renewed the struggle to bring the wagon up on the level once more.
Tying the lines fast, Matt sprang out. He had seen a loose stone of fair size close at hand, and this he now picked up. Running around to the rear of the wagon, he placed it on the sloping ground so that one of the wheels was blocked from further slipping.
“Good!” cried Andy. “Can you find another stone?”
“I’m going to push on the other wheel. Get up, Billy, get up there!”
Matt placed his shoulder to the wheel, and exerted all of his strength, and seeing this, Andy also urged the horse. Billy gave a tug—there was a moment’s strain—and then the turn-out rolled up once more upon the level road.
“Thank goodness for that!” burst out Andy. “I thought for a moment that it was a goner!”
“So did I, Andy. You had better lead him until we reach a safer bit of the road.”
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“I intend to do that. And after this I’ll know enough to lead him around such a bend, instead of taking such a dangerous chance.”
Only a hundred feet further on the mountain road left the proximity of the slope, and then the two once more climbed up on the seat. Billy, the horse, did not appear to be in the least disturbed over the adventure, but Matt and Andy were bathed in a cold perspiration which did not leave them until some time after.
At Lehighton, where they stopped for dinner, they determined to drive right through to Mauch Chunk, four miles further on. Many people from the former place did their trading at Mauch Chunk, and the young auctioneers thought they would catch just as much trade by not stopping on the way.
At Mauch Chunk a stop was made for three days, and during that time there were several excursions to the place from New York and Philadelphia, the city folks coming up to see the autumnal beauties of Glen Onoko and the various mountains through which the Switchback gravity road runs. These crowds helped business some, and the stay proved nearly as profitable as the one at Easton had been.
On the first day at Mauch Chunk Matt procured the money order of which he had spoken, and sent248it to Ida Bartlett, with a long letter, in which he thanked her for her kindness, and gave her an account of the trip since leaving the metropolis. He stated that if she wished to write to him within the week to address the letter to Wilkesbarre, or, on the following week to Scranton, as they were bound for both places.
During their spare hours both Andy and Matt took the ride on the gravity road and enjoyed it very much. The rhododendrons were out in full bloom, and Matt wished he could send Ida Bartlett a bunch of the beautiful flowers.
They were soon once again on the road. But Billy’s shoes had been carefully attended to, and now they were very careful whenever they came to a spot that looked at all dangerous.
“One scare is enough,” was the way Andy put it, and Matt thoroughly agreed with him.
After leaving Mauch Chunk they passed through Penn Haven and Leslie Run, and so on to White Haven. At the latter place they stopped for two days, but found it very unprofitable, as there was little or no money afloat.
“Well, we have to take the bad with the good,” said Andy, in reply to Matt’s remark concerning the dullness of trade. “We cannot expect to make money wherever we go. If that was to be done, I249reckon there would be many other auctioneers in the field.”
“That reminds me: I wonder what has become of those auctioneers we heard of in Bethlehem?”
“I’m sure I don’t know. But it is likely that we will hear from them again, sooner or later.”
On leaving White Haven for Wilkesbarre, they struck the first snow-storm of the season. It was not a heavy storm, and yet, as the wind blew in their faces, the drive of thirty miles proved anything but pleasant. They were glad enough when the city was reached, and they were able to put up the turn-out at a livery stable and warm up around the office stove.
“We won’t be able to travel much longer, if this keeps on,” remarked Andy. “We’ll have to pick out some place to settle down in for the winter.”
“Have you any place in view?” asked Matt, with interest.
“I’ve had my eye on Middletown, New York State. That’s a lively place, and it gets a trade from a good many miles around.”
“Do you think we can make it?”
“I think so. We can go from Scranton to Carbondale, and Honesdale, and so on through Lackawaxen and Port Jervis. By taking that route we250can stop on the way and still reach Middletown inside of two weeks.”
“Well, I shouldn’t like to miss a letter from Miss Bartlett, if it was sent.”
“You can leave directions to forward it if it comes after we are gone. The post-office authorities will willingly send the letter wherever you direct.”
“Perhaps she has already written.”
“If you think so, why don’t you call at the post-office and find out?”
“I will—as soon as we have had something to eat and drink.”
They passed over to the Commercial Hotel, and after brushing up, entered the dining-room. Here a late dinner was served for them, and it is needless to say that both did full justice to all that was set before them.
After they had finished Andy went off to hunt up an empty store, and Matt, after securing directions, walked off to the post-office.
To his delight, there was a letter for him, and addressed in Ida Bartlett’s hand. As it was the first letter he had received since being on the road, the reader can understand his curiosity to master its contents. Standing back in an out-of-the-way spot of the corridor, he split open the envelope with his251penknife, and was soon reading that which had been written.
The letter surprised him not a little. After acknowledging the receipt of the money order and congratulating him upon his evident success, Ida Bartlett wrote as follows:
“And now, Matt, I am going to tell you something that I think will interest you even more than it does me. It is about Mr. Fenton and the mining shares which he once sold your father. Last week Mr. Gaston, the bookkeeper, had a quarrel with Mr. Fenton, and was discharged. Before he left, however, he and Mr. Fenton had some high words, which I, being in the next office, could not help hearing.“During this quarrel something was said about the shares sold to William Lincoln, and Mr. Gaston said that if the papers in connection with the shares which your father had bought could be recovered, he would expose Mr. Fenton. I could not understand the whole drift of the matter, but Mr. Fenton seemed to be glad that your father was missing—he said he was most likely dead—and that the papers had disappeared with him.“Do you know anything of the papers? Mr. Gaston has gone to Boston, but I could write to him if you think that Mr. Fenton is a swindler and that you can get back any money which he may have defrauded your father out of. I myself am going to leave Mr. Fenton’s employ on the first of next month, having secured a better place with another firm of brokers. Let me hear from you again as soon as possible. I hope if he has any money belonging to your father you can get it.”
“And now, Matt, I am going to tell you something that I think will interest you even more than it does me. It is about Mr. Fenton and the mining shares which he once sold your father. Last week Mr. Gaston, the bookkeeper, had a quarrel with Mr. Fenton, and was discharged. Before he left, however, he and Mr. Fenton had some high words, which I, being in the next office, could not help hearing.
“During this quarrel something was said about the shares sold to William Lincoln, and Mr. Gaston said that if the papers in connection with the shares which your father had bought could be recovered, he would expose Mr. Fenton. I could not understand the whole drift of the matter, but Mr. Fenton seemed to be glad that your father was missing—he said he was most likely dead—and that the papers had disappeared with him.
“Do you know anything of the papers? Mr. Gaston has gone to Boston, but I could write to him if you think that Mr. Fenton is a swindler and that you can get back any money which he may have defrauded your father out of. I myself am going to leave Mr. Fenton’s employ on the first of next month, having secured a better place with another firm of brokers. Let me hear from you again as soon as possible. I hope if he has any money belonging to your father you can get it.”
252CHAPTER XXXIII.THE RIVAL AUCTIONEERS.
It may well be imagined that Matt read Ida Bartlett’s letter with great interest. The young auctioneer had never received a communication as surprising as was this one.
He went over every word carefully several times, then placed the letter in his pocket, and started off to find Andy.
Half an hour later he came across his partner on the main street. Andy had just rented a store, one of two vacant ones which were side by side, and was now on his way to drive the wagon around and unload the stock.
“Well, did you get a letter, Matt?”
“I did.”
“Good enough. Any special news?”
“Yes, indeed. Just read that.”
And the young auctioneer passed the communication over for his partner’s perusal.
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Andy read the letter as carefully as had Matt. He emitted a long, low whistle.
“What do you think of it?”
“I hardly know what to think, Matt. Do you know anything about this mining share business?”
“I know that Randolph Fenton sold my father some shares, that is all. I never saw the certificates, if that is what they are called.”
“Did you ever see the papers in connection with the shares?”
“No.”
“Then they must have been in your father’s possession when he disappeared.”
“I don’t know about that. Mother might have had them when father was first sent to the asylum for treatment. Although I remember hearing her once say that since father’s mind had become affected he would not trust any one with his affairs, but kept all his money and papers hidden away.”
“It’s too bad you haven’t the papers.”
“That’s so. If I had them I would hunt up Mr. Gaston, and get him to expose Randolph Fenton.”
“It might pay you to do that anyway.”
“I don’t know. If there was any likelihood of this being the case, I think Miss Bartlett would have written to that effect.”
“What do you intend to do?”
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“I am going to write to her again, telling her just how matters stand with me, and ask her if she thinks it will do any good for me to come on. If she thinks it will, I’ll try to manage it some way to take a run to New York.”
“You can do that whenever you wish, Matt. I will take care of things the same as you did when I was gone.”
On the way to the stable where the wagon and Billy were located they talked the matter over at a greater length. Andy took a warm personal interest in the matter, and did not hesitate to say so.
“If this Fenton swindled your father, I trust you are able to prove it and get your money back,” he said. “I don’t know of any one that deserves money more than you do.”
The wagon was soon driven around to the store, and the goods unloaded. Then the show-window and the shelves were arranged to attract the eye, after which Andy hung out the red flag, which now began to look to the young auctioneers like an old friend.
As soon as everything was in shape for business Matt brought out paper, pen and ink, and set to work upon the letter to Ida Bartlett. At first he hardly knew how to express himself, but before he had finished he had filled eight pages, and told the255young lady exactly how matters stood. He begged for her further assistance, and assured her that she should not lose through her kindness to him.
The letter finished, Matt did not place it in a letter-box, but marched with it to the post-office, that it might be included with the first out-going New York mail.
“If I only could find father,” he sighed to himself as he turned back to the store. “Something in my heart tells me that he is not dead, and yet, if this is so, where can he be?”
On arriving at the store he found Andy already busy with a crowd which had begun to collect the moment that the red flag was hung out. Matt had to begin work at once, and this was a good thing for the boy, for it kept him from brooding over his parent’s possible fate and thus growing melancholy.
“If I am any kind of a judge, we are going to do the best business yet at this city,” said Andy, as there came a little lull in trade. “It started off briskly, and it has kept on steadily ever since.”
“Well, that just suits me,” laughed Matt. “To my way of thinking we cannot do too much business.”
During the next day Matt noticed two sharp-eyed men hanging around the place a good deal.256At first he paid no attention to them, but at last pointed them out to Andy.
“Yes, I noticed them myself,” returned the senior partner. “They do not look as if they wanted to buy, but just as if they were spying.”
“Supposing I call them in and ask them to buy?” suggested Matt, for both of the men were at that moment gazing in the window at the articles displayed there.
“Certainly, you can do that if you want to,” returned Andy.
So Matt walked from behind the counter toward the door, but before he could reach it one of the men saw him and spoke to his companion, and both hurried up the street and around the nearest corner.
“Humph! that’s queer, to say the least,” said the young auctioneer, and Andy agreed with him.
There had been a “To Let” bill upon the show-window of the vacant store next door, but on the following morning when the young auctioneers opened up they found the bill gone. The door of the store was open, and inside a boy somewhat younger than Matt was cleaning up.
“Hullo!” cried Matt, stopping short. Then he poked his head in at the door and confronted the boy.
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“So we are going to have neighbors, eh?” he remarked pleasantly.
“Bet your life!” was the slangy reply from the boy, as soon as he had noted who had addressed him. “You didn’t expect us, did you?”
“No, I didn’t know the store was taken until a moment ago,” said Matt.
“Well, it can’t be helped. It was the only store vacant in the neighborhood.”
“Can’t be helped?” repeated Matt, somewhat puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, I thought you might object to our opening up alongside of you.”
“I don’t see why I should. What business are you in?”
“Same line.”
Matt was taken aback somewhat by this unexpected reply, and his face showed it.
“Do you mean to say you are going to open an auction store here?”
“That’s it, and we are going to make it everlastingly warm for you fellows, too,” went on the boy triumphantly. “We’ve been a-watching how you run things, and we are going to scoop every bit of trade when we get started.”
Matt drew a long breath. Here was certainly a new experience. He and Andy had expected to258encounter rivals, but had never dreamed of having them at such close quarters.
“Well, I suppose we will have to stand it,” he said, hardly knowing how else to reply to the boy’s bragging statement.
“If I was you I’d pack up and try some other place,” went on the boy. “Gissem & Fillow will take every bit of trade—they always do wherever they go.”
“Gissem & Fillow? Are those the names of the men who run the concern?”
“Yes, and they are the slickest auctioneers in the country.”
“Perhaps you only think so.”
“Oh, I know it. I’ll bet you a new hat you don’t take in a dollar after we get a-going.”
“Thank you, but I don’t bet. May I ask where you came from?”
“We came from Stroudsburg.”
“Were you down in Bethlehem before that?”
“Yes. How did you know that?”
“We came through there after you had gone.”
“Bet you didn’t sell anything. We squeezed the town dry.”
“We didn’t sell much,” returned Matt. He was on the point of stating that he had heard how the259folks had been swindled, but he changed his mind. “How long do you expect to remain here?”
“Oh, a week or so. You might as well pack up and leave.”
“I guess we will venture to remain, at least a day or two longer,” said Matt. “Perhaps we’ll be able to do a little in spite of you.”
At that moment a large wagon began to back up to the curb. The seat was occupied by two men, and Matt at once recognized them as the fellows he had caught hanging around the previous day. They were the rival auctioneers, who had been watching to learn how Matt and Andy conducted their business.
260CHAPTER XXXIV.MATT SPEAKS HIS MIND.
Matt did not wait to encounter the rival auctioneers, but walked away and entered the door of his own store. Andy was busy, dusting up, and to his partner he told what he had heard.
“Phew!” whistled Andy. “That will make matters rather interesting. Is that their wagon out there?”
“I suppose it is. Those are the same two men, I am certain.”
“Yes, they are. Well, if they are the swindlers folks in Bethlehem said they were we ought not to fear them. People are not fools, and they soon learn if a man is honest or not.”
“They may take away a good bit of trade, nevertheless, Andy. And we were just congratulating ourselves on what a fine week we were going to have.”
“We must do our best, Matt. This puts me on my mettle.”
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They talked the matter over a bit, and then set to work to “put their best foot forward,” as Andy termed it. The window was cleaned as it had never been cleaned before, and also the show-cases and shelves, and then they proceeded to make the most elaborate display possible.
“There; that ought to attract people, if anything will,” remarked Andy, when the work was finished.
“You are right; the window couldn’t look better. But perhaps they will put out big price signs.”
“Never mind, they can’t afford to sell any cheaper than we can. I bought all the goods at bottom figures. Let us start up before they get ready.”
They began to play on several instruments, and as soon as half a dozen people were collected Andy began to talk and tell jokes. Before the rival auctioneers had their stock inside of their store Matt and Andy were doing a pretty fair business.
Seeing this, Gissem & Fillow hurried up their preparations, and by noon both places were “going it for all they were worth,” as Matt expressed it.
Gissem seemed to be the principal member of the firm, Fillow and the boy being merely helpers. He was a tall, thin-faced and clean-shaven man, with hard, steely-blue eyes.
“This way for bargains!” he cried out, coming out upon the sidewalk. “This way, gents and262ladies! The only place in Wilkesbarre selling reliable goods at rock-bottom figures! Don’t be deceived by rival concerns trying to obtain a bit of our well-earned prosperity! Come right in and be convinced!” And he kept on in this strain for fully five minutes.
“Well, that is what I call downright mean,” cried Matt to Andy. “Of course all these cracks at rival concerns are meant for us. He wants to draw the crowd away from us.”
“More than that, he is trying to scare them, so that if they won’t patronize him they won’t purchase anywhere,” returned the senior partner. “It is certainly not a fair way to do.”
“Can’t we stop, him, Andy?”
“I don’t see how. He has mentioned no names.”
Andy began to talk, but as he was inside of the store while Gissem was outside, very few of the people on the street were attracted. They made several sales to those inside, but after the purchasers were gone the store was empty. In the meantime, the next place was filled to overflowing.
“Let us give them a tune,” suggested Matt. “I see our rivals have no musical instruments.”
He brought out a banjo, and Andy took up the largest accordion in the place. Sitting down in a263spot from which the music could float out of the door, they played several of their best selections.
The music pleased many people. They stopped listening to Gissem, and after some hesitation several came in. More followed, and seeing this, Matt and Andy kept on until the store was once more filled.
Then Matt began to talk. He made no wild statements, but in an earnest manner told what they had to sell, and asked those around him to examine the goods carefully.
“That fellow next door said to beware of rival concerns,” remarked a man in the crowd slyly, and several smiled at the words.
“Well, I take it that people are bright enough to know what they are doing,” returned Matt. “We are too busy to talk about our neighbors. We are here to show what we have and sell goods—if we can. We do not misrepresent, and if any one is dissatisfied with his purchase he can return it and get his money back. Isn’t that fair enough?”
“I reckon it is.”
“We carry a large stock, as you can see, and we sell everything for what it is.”
“Let me see those spoons, will you?” questioned a man standing beside the one talking to Matt.
“Certainly, sir,” and the young auctioneer handed over several samples.
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“Are these triple plated?”
“No, sir; they are single plated, on white metal.”
“Then they are just as good as triple plated?”
“Almost as good, for ordinary wear. Here are some that are triple plated.”
“I know they are.”
“Oh, you do.”
“Yes, I know all about spoons, for I used to be in the plating business. I only asked to see what you would say. That man next door tried to sell my friend some single plated ones for triple plated. I brought him in here to see what you had to say about your stock.”
“Well, I have not misrepresented, have I?”
“No; you have told the exact truth. John, if you want any spoons, you might as well buy them here, for I see they are put at a very reasonable figure.”
Upon this, the man who had first spoken began to pick out some of the goods. What his friend had said had been heard by the crowd, who now began to feel more like trusting in what the young auctioneers might have to say.
Matt sold the spoons, and in the meantime Andy put up a number of other articles at auction, and sold them at fairly good prices.
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They managed to keep busy until two o’clock in the afternoon, when trade fell off once more. Seeing this, Andy prepared to go out to dinner. He had just put on his hat when Gissem, the rival auctioneer, rushed in.
“See here, I want to talk to you two fellows!” he blustered.
“Well, what is it?” questioned Matt, as coolly as he could.
“You’ve been telling people I tried to stick a man on a lot of tin-plated spoons, saying they were solid silver.”
“Who said so?”
“Never mind who said so. Let me tell you I ain’t going to stand such work.”
“Excuse me, sir, but we circulated no such story,” interrupted Andy. “We know enough to mind our own business.”
“But they told me one or the other of you had said so. We won’t stand that—we’ll have you arrested for—for defamation of character!” stormed the rival auctioneer, working himself up into a fine pitch of assumed indignation.
“We have said nothing concerning you,” said Matt. “We have not even advised people to beware of our rivals, nor have we mentioned your stop266in Bethlehem, and how the folks of that town regarded your doings there,” he went on pointedly.
“What—what do you mean?” stammered Gissem, taken by surprise.
“I mean just what I infer. We know how people there were swindled, and we know how anxious some of them are to lay hands on a certain firm of auctioneers.”
“Have a care, boy, or I’ll—I’ll——”
“What will you do?”
“Never mind; you’ll see fast enough.”
“You cannot bully me. Now that you have taken the trouble to come in here, let me tell you something. You just cast several reflections upon our characters. That has got to be stopped.”
“Humph! Why, you are but a boy and dare talk to me.”
“Never mind, he knows what he is saying,” put in Andy. “We are not to be mistreated by rivals or by any one else.”
“Don’t talk to me!” snapped Gissem, and unable to keep up the talk with credit to himself, he fled from the store.
“I don’t think he will dare to bother us again,” said Andy. “He is too much afraid to have his past record raked up.”
Andy went off to dinner, leaving Matt in sole267charge. The snow had cleared away, but it was still cold, and to keep himself warm, Matt went to the rear of the establishment and got his overcoat. He was just putting on the garment when a noise near the show-window attracted his attention. He ran forward, and saw that a thin stream of water was coming down through the boards of the ceiling. The water was splashing on some of the stock, and unless it was speedily checked it would do a good bit of damage.
Matt knew that the upper part of the building was not occupied. In the rear of the store was a door leading to the back hallway, and through this he ran and started to go upstairs.
As he did so, somebody started to come down. It was the boy who worked for the rival auctioneers.
268CHAPTER XXXV.TOM INWOLD.
As soon as the boy saw Matt he stopped short, and then endeavored to retreat. But Matt was coming up the steps in a tremendous hurry, and in ten seconds he was close enough to the boy to catch him by the arm.
“Let go of me!” cried the boy, badly frightened.
“What have you done?” questioned Matt sternly, and without waiting for a reply, forced the boy to accompany him into the rooms.
A glance around revealed the cause of the flood below. In one of the rooms was a sink with city water. The water had been turned on full, and the sink-holes stopped up with putty. The sink had overflowed, and the water was running through several cracks in the floor.
As rapidly as he could Matt turned off the faucet. Then leaving the water still in the sink to the brim, he dashed downstairs.
“You come with me and help me save my stock!”269he cried to the boy. “If you don’t I’ll hand you over to the first policeman I can find.”
“Oh, please don’t have me arrested!” howled the boy, almost scared out of his wits by the threat. “I—I—didn’t mean any harm!”
“You didn’t mean any harm? We’ll see. Come down now.”
The boy hesitated, and then followed Matt into the store. Here a portion of the stock had to be removed, and then the young auctioneer set the boy to work mopping up the water on the counter and the floor.
“Say, please don’t have me arrested, will you?” asked the boy, almost in tears over what he considered a very serious predicament.
“You ought to be taught a lesson,” returned Matt severely. “What put you up to the idea of letting the water overflow?”
“What Mr. Gissem said. He was awful mad after he was in here, and he told Mr. Fillow he wished that you would burn out or that the water pipes would burst and drown you out. Then he asked me if I couldn’t worry you a bit, and I said I’d try, and that’s the truth of it.”
“Well, that man ought to be cowhided!” was Matt’s vigorous exclamation. “Excuse me, but is he any relation to you?”
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“Oh, no.”
“Is Mr. Fillow?”
“No, neither of them.”
“Then how do you come to be traveling with them?”
The boy’s face took on a sober look, and he swallowed something like a lump in his throat.
“I—I got tired of going to school and I ran away from home.”
“What do you mean—” Matt stopped short as a certain thought flashed over his mind. “Say, is your name Tom Inwold, and do you come from Plainfield?”
At this unexpected question the boy looked at Matt in amazement, his mouth wide open, and his eyes as big as they could well be.
“Who told you who I was?” he gasped.
“No one; I guessed it.”
“But I don’t know you.”
“That’s true. We stopped in Plainfield a number of weeks ago, and there I met your mother.”
“And what did she say?” faltered Tom Inwold.
“She told me that you had run away with an auctioneer.”
“And—and was that all?” went on the boy, his voice trembling with emotion.
“No; she was very anxious to have you come271home again. She missed you very much, and she could not understand how you could have the heart to leave her.”
At these words, which Matt delivered very seriously, the tears sprang into Tom Inwold’s eyes. Evidently he was not hard-hearted, and had been led astray purely by bad associates.
“I—I wish I was back home again,” he said in a low voice.
“You do not like being an auctioneer’s helper, then?”
“No, I don’t. I might like you, but Gissem and Fillow treat me awful.”
“In what way?”
“Well, in the first place they don’t half feed me, and then they don’t pay me the wages they promised.”
“What did they promise you?”
“Five dollars a week to start on, and ten dollars when I was worth it. I’ve been with them a long time, but I was never able to get a cent out of them.”
“Supposing you had the money, would you go home?” asked Matt kindly, for he saw that the boy’s better feelings had been touched.
“I don’t know if I would dare. Ma might whip272me and have me sent to the reform school, or something like that.”
“I don’t think she would—not if you promise to turn over a new leaf. I should think you would rather go home than remain where you have to work for nothing.”
“I guess I would go home if I had a railroad ticket and some clothes fit to wear. You can see how this suit looks,” and Tom Inwold showed up his ragged elbows and patched trousers.
“I’ll see if I can do something for you,” said Matt.
When Andy came back he told his partner Tom Inwold’s story. To this the boy himself added the tale of his hardships while with the rival auctioneers, and added that he was very sorry he had endeavored to do any injury to the stock in the store.
“I believe he means it,” said Matt, as he and Andy walked a little to one side. “And I would like to do something for the lad, for his mother’s sake as much as his own.”
“I think I can fix it,” replied Andy. “I’ll have a talk with this Gissem.”
“He ought to pay the boy something for his work.”
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“I reckon he will—when I tell him that he is liable to arrest for enticing the boy from home.”
Andy told Tom Inwold to accompany him to the store next door. At first the boy hung back, but when Andy promised that he would take the responsibility of the coming interview entirely upon his own shoulders, the lad consented to go along.
They were gone nearly an hour, and during that time Matt heard some pretty loud talking through the partition which separated the two stores. But when Andy and Tom Inwold came back he saw by their faces that they had triumphed.
“At first Gissem was in for facing me down,” said Andy. “Said he had nothing to do with the boy, and all that. But I threatened him with immediate arrest, and promised to have the mother of the boy here to testify against him, and then he weakened, and at length gave Tom thirty dollars, with which to buy a new suit of clothes, a pair of shoes, a hat, and a railroad ticket, upon conditions that he would not be prosecuted. I reckon he was badly scared, too.”
Matt was much pleased. Leaving Andy in charge of the store, he went out to dinner, taking Tom Inwold along with him. After the meal the wearing apparel was purchased and donned, and then they made their way to the depot. Here a ticket for274Plainfield was procured, and the young auctioneer saw to it that the boy boarded the proper train.
“I’ll never forget you, never,” said Tom Inwold on parting, and he never has, nor has Mrs. Inwold, who was grateful to the last degree for what Matt had been instrumental in doing for her.
On the following morning, on going down to the store to open up, Andy and Matt saw that the entire stock of the store adjoining had been removed during the night. Gissem had been fearful of trouble, despite what Andy had promised, and had taken time by the forelock, and left for parts unknown. The young auctioneers never met him or his partner again.
By having the entire field to themselves the young auctioneers did a splendid business, and when they were ready to pack up and start for Scranton they found that they had cleared nearly ninety dollars by their stay in Wilkes-Barre.
In the meantime the weather had been growing steadily colder, and they found it necessary to invest in a second-hand robe to keep them warm when driving.
“It looks a bit like snow,” remarked Andy, as they drove out of the city one morning. “I hope we don’t catch it before we reach where we are275going to. A snowstorm in the mountains is not a very pleasant thing to encounter.”
“We must run our chances,” returned Matt, and Billy was urged forward, and soon the city outskirts were left far behind.
The sun had shone for awhile, but about nine o’clock it went under a heavy cloud. Then it began to get slightly warmer, and Andy was certain that snow was coming.
His prediction was fulfilled. By ten o’clock it was snowing furiously, and by eleven the ground was covered to the depth of half a foot.
“That settles it; we can’t make Scranton to-day, nor even Pittston,” said Matt. “We had better hunt up some sort of a house with a barn attached, where we can put up.”
But Andy was for continuing the journey, so onward they went, until at last, just before the noon hour, they found the road getting too heavy for Billy. They went down into a hollow which the falling snow had covered, and there the wagon remained, despite every effort to budge it.
They looked around in some dismay. Not even a house nor a building of any sort was in sight.
“This is a pretty pickle,” muttered Andy. “I wish we had followed your advice and sought shelter.”
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“We’ve got to do something,” returned Matt. “If we stay here we’ll be completely snowed under. The snow is coming down thicker every minute. What’s to be done?”
Ah! what was to be done? That was a question not easy to answer. Both of the young auctioneers were much disturbed.