by Charles King
CHAPTER IV.
_UNCLE NATHAN._
When Teddy reached the depot he was not obliged to hunt very long forSam, for that young gentleman crept out from behind a pile of baggage onseeing his friend was alone, and asked, in a hoarse whisper:
"What did that feller do to you?"
"Nothing; but that don't prove we should get out of another scrape soeasily, and you must be careful, or we'll be in no end of trouble beforethe fair is ended."
"I was only tryin' to catch your money."
"It surely wouldn't have done any harm if you had found out whether thatwas the man or not before you started the whole crowd after him."
"That's right, rub it into a feller when he tries to do you a goodturn," Sam said, sarcastically, and then remembering an instant laterthat he proposed to be this boy's guest, he added, "I was only lookin'out for you, an' so long as there's been no harm done we needn't talkabout it. Do you still mean to walk home?"
"There's nothing else to be done, if we want to get to the Run to-night,for the stage left while we were chasing that man."
This was exactly what he did not want to do; but, under thecircumstances, there was no help for it, and the young gentleman whoexpected to form such a prominent portion of the fair set out by theside of the friend whom he had injured while thinking to do him a favor.
At the end of a trifle less than three hours, when both were footsore,hungry, and weary, the boys arrived at Teddy's home, and Mrs. Hargreavesmade the stranger welcome despite the inconvenience caused by hiscoming.
Not until after Sam had retired did Teddy tell his mother of the theft,and for several moments the widow was in great mental distress; butfinally she viewed the matter in a more cheerful light, and it wasresolved that Uncle Nathan should not be told of the mishap.
"It would only make him angry," Mrs. Hargreaves said, "and you must payhim before the merchant who was so kind to you gets his money; but I amterribly afraid, Teddy, that the whole scheme will be a failure."
The amateur fakir assured her as best he could, and when they retiredthat night both Teddy and his mother were in a comparatively contentedframe of mind.
The following day was Sunday, on which not even the all engrossing topicof cane-boards and knives was to be discussed; but before the family hadfinished breakfast the arrival of a stranger forced them into worldlytopics.
The newcomer was none other than the man whom Sam had accused of beingthe thief, and he explained the cause of his visit by saying:
"I have reason to believe that Long Jim, the fakir who got away withyour son's money, will be over here to-night, because the hotels atPeach Bottom are crowded, and it is possible he may be forced to give upthe stuff." Although not exactly understanding what he meant, the widowinsisted on his coming into the house, and he laid the details of hisplan before Teddy and Sam.
"I'll hang around here for him," the stranger said, "and you shall sayif he is the man who did you up; after that I'll take a hand in thebusiness, and it'll be queer if between us all we can't make him do thesquare thing, more especially since the rest of his gang haven't comeyet."
As might be expected, Teddy was excited by the prospect of recoveringthe money which he had believed was lost beyond reclaim, and plans wereat once laid to trap the dishonest fakir.
While this conversation was being carried on Uncle Nathan came in tolearn how his nephew had succeeded in town, and the stranger introducedhimself as Frank Hazelton, a dealer in jewelry, which was to be onexhibition during the coming week at the fair.
The old man was delighted to make the stranger's acquaintance, for hefancied there would be an opportunity for him to take the agency of avaluable line of goods without the outlay of any money, and in a veryfew moments the two were fast friends.
Uncle Nathan not only monopolized nearly all the conversation, butinsisted on showing Mr. Hazelton around the village, and actually forcedthe latter to accompany him, despite the fact that it was Sunday, whenan honest merchant is not supposed to so much as think of business.
On the following day it would be necessary for those who had purchasedthe privilege of doing business on the fair grounds to be present, readyto select their different sites for working, and very shortly after thesun sank behind the hills Sam and Teddy retired in order to be ready foran early start next morning, since the first stage left the Run athalf-past five.
It lacked fully an hour of that time when the boys were called tobreakfast by Mrs. Hargreaves, and in less than fifteen minutes they wereat the table eating a hearty breakfast, which was interrupted by theappearance of Uncle Nathan, who looked as if he had not been in bedsince the evening previous.
"I've been robbed!" he cried, passionately, "and this is what comes oftrying to help my nephew enter a disreputable line of business. Ibelieve you induced that man to come here, explaining all about mystore, simply that he might act the burglar. And it wouldn't take muchto make me think you had agreed to divide with him the ill-gottengains," he added, shaking his fist in the direction of Teddy, who was soastounded by the news as to be literally incapable of movement.
"What do you mean, Nathan?" Mrs. Hargreaves cried.
"Just what I said! My store was robbed last night, and your precious sonknows the thief better than I do!"
"You mean the man who came here yesterday?" the widow asked, while Teddyand Sam gazed at the old man in open-mouthed astonishment.
"Of course I do; who else could it be? Didn't I take him over thereyesterday, and didn't I explain just how difficult it was to depositmoney in a bank, because a man would have to pay a dollar to go toWaterville an' back, or trust the stage driver to do the business?"
By this time Teddy had recovered something like composure, and he said,gravely:
"We have no means of knowing what you said to Mr. Hazelton, but if youtold him all your business, that is no concern of ours. You insisted onhis going away with you, and we haven't seen him since."
"But you lied to me about my money."
"In what way?"
"You never said a word about its being stolen."
"If I never said a word I couldn't have told a lie. He has evidentlygiven the whole story; but what happened in Waterville has nothing to dowith the robbery of your store."
"Oh, it hasn't, eh? Well, I'm beginning to think it was a job cooked upby all hands to get the best of me."
"If it had been," and now Teddy was on his feet, looking the angry oldman squarely in the face, "why wouldn't I have said something about itin order to make the story seem straighter? A merchant in Watervilletrusted me for the goods I wanted after he heard the money was gone, andI count on paying you before I do him."
"Oh, you do, eh? Well, it's mighty doubtful whether you or this preciousfriend of yours will ever see the fair, for I'm going to get out awarrant for the whole lot before I'm done with this thing."
"Would you arrest Teddy when he has been in this house ever since youleft here yesterday morning?" Mrs. Hargreaves cried.
"I'll have my money back, and the sooner your smart son tells me whereit is, the sooner he can go about his business; but he must first pay meback my eighteen dollars."
"I only borrowed fifteen, Uncle Nathan, and that you will get beforenext Wednesday. If you want to arrest me, go ahead; but I promise thatyou'll be sorry for it."
"So you threaten, do you? That's what comes of trying to help anungrateful boy! I knew he was going to the bad from the first minute hetalked about having a cane-board," the old man added, as he turned tothe widow, "and I predict that he'll come to no good even if he managesto get out of this scrape."
"You thought it was a good idea for me to do as I proposed," Teddyreplied, standing his ground bravely, "and was willing to loan me themoney, provided I would pay you three dollars for the use of fifteen forone week."
"That's right; throw in my teeth what I wanted to do in order to helpyou along, and call me an old skinflint. I am old enough to expect suchthings from such as you."
"I haven
't called you any names, nor do I intend to do so; I only wantedmother to know the truth of the business between us. Do you reallybelieve I had any hand in breaking into your store?"
"If you didn't your friends did, and that amounts to the same thing, asyou'll soon find out. I'll have a warrant issued for the arrest of thewhole crowd, if you don't tell me the truth this very minute."
"But I don't know anything, Uncle Nathan."
"I'll have the truth out of you before the day is ended," the old mancried, angrily, and without saying or doing anything save to shake hisfist in the direction of his nephew and Sam he left the house.
As yet none of the little party knew the full extent of what hadhappened, but before Uncle Nathan was fairly out of the yard a neighborcame around to tell Mrs. Hargreaves that the old man's store had beenentered by burglars on the night previous, and a large amount of money,together with the most valuable goods, had been carried away.
It is not difficult to imagine the consternation which seized upon thelittle party after Uncle Nathan's departure. Teddy was so overwhelmedthat it was literally impossible for him to say a word, and Sam shooklike one in an ague fit at the thought that he might be carried off tojail before it was possible for him to astonish the people by his skillas an oarsman.
"You must not think of leaving here until we know what your uncleproposes to do," Mrs. Hargreaves said, as she returned to thedining-room after talking with the neighbor. "Of course I know thatneither of you two boys had anything to do with the robbery; but youmust not run away."
"I've got to leave, no matter what the old fool says," Sam replied. "Idon't know how the folks would get along if I didn't show up, an' itwon't do to disappoint them."
"Are you going?" Teddy asked, and Sam replied in a voice which trembleddespite all his efforts to make it sound firm:
"Of course I am. You don't allow I'm such an idiot as to stay till hecan have me arrested, an' if you're sensible, both of us will go."
"I must stay here, an' lose all my chances of making money," Teddy said,gloomily.
"All right, then I'm off, an' after I once get on the fair grounds I'llbet that old duffer won't get hold of me."
Sam did not propose to lose any time. He had no baggage, and in a veryfew moments after so deciding he was walking up the road over which thestage would pass, while Teddy, with a heavier heart than he had everknown before, waited for his uncle to send the officers of the law tocarry him to prison.