CHAPTER X--A YOUNG CAPITALIST
Harry Ashley stuck his head up through the trap opening, and climbedinto the room with the announcement:
"Overheard what you said, so--how much do you want?"
Tom only smiled. The idea of a money offer from Harry was amusing. Benassumed a mock gravity of manner with the words:
"Give us a check right on the spot, I suppose?"
"About that, if you don't want too much," answered Harry seriously.
"We won't call on you just yet, Harry," said Tom. "What about Mr.Barton?"
"We got him home all right."
"And the child?"
"You've done a big piece of work with your wireless this night, TomBarnes," replied Harry, his eyes brightening. "We found the doctor atthe Barton home when we arrived. He got there just in time. Said half anhour more and the patient would have been beyond help."
"That's grand!" voiced Ben.
"He's fixed up Mr. Barton's bruises. Says his arm is only sprained, andthat he'll be around as well as ever in a week. I wish you'd heard thatmother speak when they told her about what you had done in saving herchild."
"With your help, remember that."
"H'm," said Harry with a wriggle, and blushing like a school girl. "Thepeddler has gone out into the country to bring a sister of Mrs. Bartonto the house, and I wanted to get back here. Now that Ben is here, itseems jollier than ever. I must go to the peddler's house, though, andtell his wife that her husband won't be home for an hour or two. Ipromised him I would."
"All right, Harry," said Tom briskly. "Then we'll have a little lunch."
But Harry tarried. About to descend the ladder, he turned around withthe pertinent query:
"About that money that had to be paid, or you'd lose the station here."
"You heard about it, did you?" questioned Tom.
"Didn't I tell you I did? Come, Tom, how much do you want?"
"Supposing you knew, what good would that do?"
"I may help you."
Ben looked skeptical and grinned. Then, sobering down, he said:
"Don't make fun of us."
"I'm not."
"It's serious enough as it is. Tom needs a hundred dollars."
"Does he?" exclaimed Harry with animation. "Well, he can have it."
"Who from?"
"Me. One hundred? Oh, that's easy--awfully easy," declared Harry, as ifvery much pleased.
"I suppose you are ready to supply the amount, cash down?" said Ben.
"On the nail head!" cried Harry, a ring of genuine confidence in histone. "See here, you fellows, you've been the truest chums I ever ranacross. I've got a hundred dollars, yes, nearly double that, and allyou've got to do is to take it."
"I only want to borrow--until my aunt collects her interest money," saidTom, half hopeful, half doubting that unexpected good fortune was aboutto materialize.
"Six months, a year--it's all the same to me," declared Harry gaily."I'd give it to you outright if--if I could," he stammered ratherblunderingly. "There you are."
Ben in his stupefaction and Tom in wonder regarded the strange boy whohad so warmly won their friendship during the brief period of theiracquaintanceship. Harry had drawn off his rather threadbare coat. Thenhe reached inside the shirt he wore.
"Well, what next?" interrogated Ben, watching the movement curiously.
"The hundred dollars, of course," pronounced Harry. "Think I'm fooling?"
He had been fumbling with one hand inside his shirt. Something clickedlike a snap of a buckle. Then he drew into view a long snake-likeobject.
"A belt," murmured Ben.
"That's right," nodded Harry.
With a clang he landed it on the table. He beckoned to Tom and Ben toapproach.
"I made that belt myself," he went on, with some pride in his tone."Looks like a sectional rattlesnake, eh? It's made out of snakeskin.See, it's got pockets. This one," and Harry unsnapped abutton--"pennies."
A dozen cent pieces rolled out. He gave them a peep into five othersimilar pockets.
"Nickels, dimes, quarters, half dollars," recited Harry. "Then this oneat the end--ten, twenty, forty, sixty, eighty, one hundred. There's yourmoney, Tom. I'll take your note when it's convenient."
From a last compartment in the belt the speaker had produced a goodlyroll of banknotes. He counted off the bills with the flippancy and skillof a bank cashier. Tom sat staring at the little heap that meant hisbusiness salvation, fairly agape.
"The mischief!" giggled the petrified Ben. "It's real money!"
"Yes, and hard earned, and mine," said Harry.
"But how, where----"
"Did I get it?" smiled Harry. "Work, hard work, fellows," and there wasa mingled pride and fondness in Harry's voice. "That little heap meansover a year of hard knocks and close scrapings, before I had the typhoidfever."
A strange silence fell over the trio of chums. Harry had come into thelife of Tom and Ben in a strange way, and had won their confidence andfriendship from the start. He had become quite a fixture at the Barneshomestead. Mr. Barnes had come to depend on him for an hour or two ofpottering around at odd tasks on the farm, and felt that his younghelper amply paid for his meals and lodging. At length Tom spoke, hisface flushed with pleasure.
"You're a queer fellow, Harry," he said heartily, "and you are a goodfellow. You are willing to lend me this money?"
"Willing?" repeated Harry. "Glad, honored, delighted. Is a hundredenough?"
"Yes, indeed."
"All right, there it is. Don't you look at me in that leery way, BenDixon," said Harry, with a chuckle. "I haven't been stealing anything.That money is mine, all mine, and honestly mine. There is this much Iwill tell you about it, though: it is a part of a certain amount I amhoping to reach to pay a certain person."
"Money that you owe?" ventured Ben, consumed with curiosity.
"Yes, and no. I'm to save five hundred dollars,"
"Whew! that's a heap."
"I'll reach it," declared Harry confidently--"in time. It's money that Imust repay."
"That you borrowed?"
"No."
"Oh, that you took?" insinuated Ben, in his blunt, straightforward way.
"No, sir! Do you take me for a thief?" cried Harry indignantly. "I'lltell you this much more: I was living with a man I didn't like so verymuch. I made up my mind to cut out from him. I wanted first to find somepapers of mine I believed he had in his possession. When he was awayfrom home one night, I took a lighted candle and made a tour ofinvestigation. I came across a pile of banknotes. A strip around themsaid 'Five Hundred Dollars.' I went on searching for what I was after,but didn't find it. When I turned around to take up the candle, thedrawer in which I had placed it was all ablaze. The banknotes were aheap of crisp cinders."
"Well!" ejaculated Ben.
"I tell you I was scared," confessed Harry. "He was a close-fisted,mysterious old fellow, and--well, I decided to get out. I left a notetelling the circumstances of the accident, and said that I would work myfinger nails off to earn that five hundred dollars and bring it back tohim, some day. I've been doing it ever since."
"That's a remarkable story, Harry Ashley," said Ben, in earnestadmiration.
Harry pushed the bills over to Tom, restored the belt to its place, and,with the indifference of a millionaire, started for the trap door.
"I must tell the peddler's wife about her husband's delay," he said."Glad to oblige you, Tom. I'll be back soon."
Tom grasped the banknotes thoughtfully, and with an expression ofgladness and relief on his face.
"What luck!" commented Ben.
"I am awfully glad to get the money," said Tom, with deep feeling."Harry is a splendid fellow. It's only a loan, but think what it meansto me just at this time!"
"There's something!" exclaimed Ben suddenly.
"Hello!" said Tom, all attention at once to the clicks. Then his facebroke into a smile.
"'Donner' again!" cried Ben.
"After a l
apse of two days," observed Tom. "Listen."
The mysterious "spook" of Mr. Edson was in evidence once more.
"He's getting along better," said Ben.
"'Donner' tapped that out pretty fair. 'Lost boy.' What's that? 'Money'again. Thousand dollars.' He's getting extravagant. 'Donner.' H'm!"
There was a lapse. Tom laughed and Ben chuckled. "Donner" was a standingjoke now.
"There, he's at it again," announced Ben a moment later. "'Donner. Lostboy.' Yes, we've heard that before. Hello! here's something new."
"Yes," nodded Tom, translating the message: "Lost boy named ErnestWarren. Look out for sun, moon and stars on his left shoulder."
"Wonder who the lost boy can be?" said Ben in a ruminative tone.
They were soon to learn that--in a startling and unexpected manner.