CHAPTER XXXI
DICK HALLIARD IS ASTOUNDED
There were hopes until the following morning that Bob Budd might haveescaped the flood. The fact that one of the Piketon Rangers hadmanaged with help to extricate himself gave slight grounds for beliefthat a second had been equally fortunate.
This hope grew less and less as the night passed, and the peoplewandering up and down the valley, hallooing and calling the name ofBob, received no response. Only a few retained the slightestexpectation of ever seeing him again.
Long before morning broke the flood had spent its force. Such a vastoutlet as the sweeping away of most of the bank was like the slidingdoors which admit passengers to the ferryboat. It was of such extentthat the supply quickly ran out.
In the middle of the valley, where the whole force of the torrent wasfelt, large trees had been uprooted and hurled forward with a momentumwhich helped to uproot others in turn.
The prodigious power rapidly diminished as the ground rose on eitherside, until it was seen that the trunks were able to hold their own.There was considerable dislocation of vegetation, so to speak, butnothing to be compared to that in the middle of the valley.
The sheet of water had been plentifully stocked with fish, which werenow scattered everywhere along the valley, napping in little pools ofwater as they did on the muddy bottom of the pond itself. It was averitable picnic for the small boys.
Captain Jim Budd was on the ground as soon after he heard of the lossof Bob as he could reach the place. He was thoughtful enough toarrange matters so that his wife should learn nothing of theoccurrence until his return. He placed a trusted friend on guard tokeep busy mongers from her.
Captain Jim was the contrast of Mr. Wagstaff as regarded the youth inwhom he was interested. He proclaimed to every one that Bob was notonly the brightest, but the best principled boy in Piketon and theneighborhood. Had he lived he would have made his mark in the law orministry or whatever profession he chose to honor with his attention.He had always been truthful, honest, and obedient, and his loss was inthe nature of a general calamity.
It seems incredible that a man of sense should talk in this fashion,and not only utter such words, but believe them. The reader, however,who has heard other parents talk, can credit the statement that suchwas the fact.
The first thing that Captain Jim did, after learning the facts, was tooffer a reward of one thousand dollars for the recovery of the body ofhis nephew. No doubt, he said, the whole neighborhood would insist onattending his remains to the grave, that they might render a fittingtribute to one thus cut off in the prime of his promising youngmanhood. The Captain, therefore, felt it his duty to defer to soproper a desire. He would erect a monument over the remains, to whichparents might impressively point, as they urged their offspring toemulate the virtues of Robert Budd.
The large reward offered for the recovery of the body resulted in theemployment of fully a hundred and sometimes more people, who roamed upand down the narrow valley through which the flood had swept fromearly morning until darkness forced a cessation of the search.
Some three miles below the bursted dam the valley widened to fullydouble its width. There naturally the current expanded and lost thetremendous power displayed above. Most of this portion, like the rest,was covered with trees, so that places innumerable existed where abody might be hidden, thus making it almost impossible to find itunless by a fortunate accident.
The surprise was general that the search should be prosecuted so longand so thoroughly without result. It seemed that every foot of groundhad been covered and no spot left unvisited. The bushy tops of trees,prostrate trunks, timbers, undergrowth, shrubbery, rifts of leaves,and, indeed, everything that looked as if it could hide a body aslarge as a dog were examined again and again, but without theslightest success.
An excitement was roused by the report, the second day after thesearch had been instituted, that the body had been recovered, but itproved to be the remains of a heifer that was unfortunately caught inthe swirl and was unable to save herself.
Gradually the belief spread that Bob Budd's remains would never befound, and most of the searchers gave up the task. A few, prompted bythe promise of a still larger reward, kept at it, hoping that somelucky chance might give them the opportunity to earn more money thanthey could do otherwise in several years.
The disappointment was a sorrowful one to Captain Jim Budd and hiswife Ruth, the news having been broken to the latter. They could notreconcile themselves to the thought that their beloved nephew shouldbe denied the last rites that were paid to the humblest individual;and while all knew the character of the missing young man, they deeplypitied his relatives.
Dick Halliard returned to his duties in the store of Mr. Hunter morethoughtful than ever before. He was grateful that McGovern had shownso strong a resolution of reforming his life and turning from his evilways, but it was shocking to recall that Wagstaff and Bob Budd wereplaced beyond the power of undoing the evil they had committed.
Bob, as we have shown, was a native of Piketon, and had spent most ofhis life there. He was an only son, who was left a considerablefortune by his father, who appointed Uncle Jim Budd his guardian. Thisold gentleman, though he sometimes flared up and threatened Bobbecause of his extravagance and waywardness, was foolishly indulgent.Whatever firmness he might have shown at times in dealing with hisnephew was spoiled by his wife, who refused the young man nothing thatwas in her power to grant. Bob was not naturally vicious, and hisrelatives were largely responsible for his going wrong.
One cause for deep satisfaction on the part of Dick was the wonderfulproof of the truth of the words spoken by Dr. Armstrong, when theyouth summoned him hastily to the bedside of his parent. From thatevening there was a marked improvement in his condition, and hisconvalescence was steady until, in the course of a few months, he wascompletely restored to health and vigor.
After thinking over the question for a day or two, Dick decided totell his parents everything. They had learned of what had occurred,and he believed it would be a pleasure to them to be told that oneresult of the blow was the reformation of McGovern.
Such was the fact, but the greatest happiness that could come to thefather and mother was that of learning the nobility of their boy, whohad conducted himself so admirably through more than one crisis, moretrying than most youths older than he are ever called upon to face.
Matters stood thus at the end of a week after the flood, when DickHalliard was surprised by the reception of a letter from New York. Hedid not recognize the handwriting, and broke the seal with no littlecuriosity. A glance at the bottom of the page showed the name of JimMcGovern as the writer.
"My dear Dick," he said, after giving the particulars of the funeralover the remains of Wagstaff, "I can never tell you how deeplygrateful I am to you; I am not one of those who gush, and will not saymore except to repeat a remark which my father made when I had toldhim all. 'There is no earthly honor,' said he, 'which could be givenme, that I would not surrender for the sake of having a son likeRichard Halliard.' Considered strictly as a compliment, I think youwill admit, Dick, that _that_ has some weight. I know yourmodesty, but I must beg you as a favor to me to read all my letter upto this point, when you must stop, for here comes something which is asecret for the present between you and me. You will not give a hint ofit to any one.
"Come to think, however, there is no secret that I'm going to revealin the letter, but I will tell you the next time we meet that willmake your hair lift your hat. I want you to get permission right awayfrom Mr. Hunter to come to New York for a couple of days. Telegraph mewhat time you will reach here, and I will meet you at the station andtake you home. If anything should happen to prevent my being there ontime come to No. -- Madison Avenue, give your name, and wait for me. Myfolks will be delighted to receive you, and you will not be kept longwaiting.
"I have arranged to enter Yale at the next term. I shall need to brushup in my studies, but I'm confident I'll get there all the same,
ifyou'll excuse a little slang which still clings to me. But above allthings, come to New York _as soon as you can_. I promise you willnot regret it."
As may be supposed, Dick Halliard found more than one cause forsurprise in this letter. The first was the fact that the writerpossessed a much better education than he suspected. The compositionwas not only correct as regards grammar, punctuation, and spelling,but the statement of his decision to enter Yale College showed theadvantages the youth had received, and which were far superior to whatwould be supposed by one who heard McGovern discourse when a member ofthe Piketon Rangers.
But Dick was shrewd, and, although he respected the request of thewriter that nothing should be revealed about the letter, he suspectedthe nature of the "secret" to which he referred in such stronglanguage.
"Jim is in the flush of a mistaken sense of gratitude to me," he saidto himself, "and he has persuaded his father to feel very much thesame way. They want to get me down there to their home, that they mayall see and tell me how thankful they are, and perhaps they mean tomake me a present of some kind. I don't think I'll go."
Nothing could be more distasteful to young Halliard than a proceedingof the kind he had in mind. It is no misstatement to say that he wouldhave preferred to receive personal chastisement to that of being madea lion of by any one.
And yet he disliked to disappoint Jim, who was so strenuous in hisinvitation. He would be grieved and repeat it more urgently thanbefore until further refusal would offend him.
"I'll go!" finally concluded the youth, "but I will give Jim tounderstand from the beginning that, if he attempts to show me off orto tell others anything about me, or tries to force a testimonial onme, I will take the next train home and forever afterward keep him atarm's length."
With this resolution in his mind, he went to Mr. Hunter's privateoffice and asked him whether he could be spared from the store acouple of days.
"We should miss you at _any_ time," said the genial merchant,resting his hand affectionately on his shoulder; "but there is norequest that Richard Halliard can make of me which I will notcheerfully grant if it is in my power to do so. Yes, take a couple ofdays off, and a week if you wish, and may you have as good a time asyou deserve, young man."
Dick blushed under this warm compliment, and, thanking his employer,went home, where he told his parents of McGovern's request, andsecured their consent to his departure.
Jim met him at the station with a carriage, and drove him hurriedlyhomeward. After the warm greeting Dick wanted to warn him about thelion and testimonial business, but reflected that it would be in badtaste, since it was possible that Jim held no such intentions. In thatevent he would resemble the politician who declines the honor that hasnever been offered him.
McGovern seemed restless and uneasy on the way, often forcing anunnatural gayety, which did not deceive his friend, of whom he showedsuch extreme fondness.
Dick admired the handsome residence before which the carriage halted,and it was with considerable awe that he followed Jim up the broadstone steps, and was ushered into his father's library. McGovernshowed commendable taste in not presenting his visitor to the membersof the household immediately on his arrival.
"But I have a friend in the library," he said, as he led the waythither, "that I think you will be glad to meet."
A young man rose to his feet, and came briskly forward.
"How are you, Dick?"
"Heaven save me!" gasped Dick Halliard, in amazement, recognizing thesmiling youth as no other than Bob Budd himself!