“i’d like to know what’s come over that boy lately,” said tom brophy, one morning, as he pointed to bruce, who was standing idly by the wall with his broom in his hand gazing vacantly into space instead of attending to his work.

“i don’t know,” rejoined weyman, “but my opinion is that he’s in love. when he first came here, he was as active and steady a lad as one would expect to see, but within a fortnight or so he has changed tremendously. you see he got acquainted with a young chap up town, and he’s been up there two or three times to visit him. this other boy’s father is well fixed, and the first time bruce went up there he came back crazy over the big house and the servants and horses and all the rest of it. he’ll make a big mistake if he tries to fly too high.”

“well, all i’ve got to say is this,” observed brophy, “that if he don’t mind his eye he’ll have the chief jumping on him some day with both feet, and when the chief jumps on a man he’s liable to know it.”

117both weyman and brophy were right in regard to the young boy. he had altered materially since his acquaintance with harry and laura van kuren. it had made him dissatisfied to see children of his own age living in the style that he had never dreamt of before, and he could not help asking himself why it was that he, bruce decker, should be obliged to look after horses, and run errands for the chief of a fire battalion while harry, who was neither better nor cleverer than he was, had a pony of his own to ride, wore good clothes every day, and in short, lived upon the very fat of the land; and this problem, which he put to himself very often now, always led him to speculate as to his own origin, and to wonder whether laura could be right in her belief that he was being unjustly kept out of innumerable good things that rightfully belonged to him.

charley weyman, who was a close observer and took a deep interest in the son of his old friend, was right in his surmise that bruce was in love, although the boy himself would have been very much surprised if he had been told of it. never in all his life had he met any girl as pretty, as well-bred and as charming as laura van kuren. she seemed to him to have no fault, except perhaps her habit of quarreling 118with her brother, but that was an occurrence of such frequency that bruce had become accustomed to it and was no longer surprised when the two children fell out. he had noticed, too, that they never “stayed mad” with one another, to use an expressive phrase in vogue among children, and although he had once seen laura so far forget the ethics of society as to hurl a half a brick at her brother’s head, he noticed that within five minutes afterward they were playing together as happily as if nothing had happened. and then what boy could resist a girl who took as deep an interest in him as laura did in the young fireman?

why, she even took a much deeper interest in solving what she called, quoting from one of her favorite romances “the mystery that shrouded his birth” than he did himself, and if it had not been for her active co-operation and sympathy he was sure that the incident of the old doorway of the dexter mansion would have passed from his mind without his making any effort to learn its significance.

moreover, the novelty of life in the great city was beginning to wear off, and he could not deny that his work at quarters was becoming a trifle irksome to him. it was always the same thing, rubbing down the horses, cleaning out 119their stalls, waiting in the building while the men were away and now and then doing an errand for chief trask or charley weyman. he had not even been allowed to go to a fire since the important day when he drove the truck down to the tenement house region and beheld for the first time the tall man with the black beard and the scarred face.

he was thinking of all these things and some others besides as he stood leaning against the wall with his broom in his hand, and as he resumed his work with a discontented sigh, he determined to take the first opportunity to go up town and ask mr. dexter about the man with whom he had seen him driving. he had to wait nearly a week before he could get an afternoon off, and a very long week it seemed to him, too. finally, one bright afternoon saw him speeding northward on the elevated railroad, his face bright at the prospect of seeing laura and his heart beating with excitement as he thought of the interview which he had planned.

he had determined to go at first to the van kuren’s, because laura had charged him so solemnly not to do anything in the matter without first consulting her, that he felt that it would be absolute treachery on his part to ask the all-important 120question unless he had first obtained her permission.

descending the steps of the elevated station, he started at a brisk walk in the direction of his friend’s house, and what was his surprise and delight on turning the first corner to find himself face to face with both children who, accompanied by mr. reed, the tutor, were just starting for a long walk. they hailed him with boisterous delight and bruce, having first bowed with much deference to mr. reed, of whom he stood in considerable awe, shook hands with both laura and harry and told them that he was just on his way to call on them.

“we are just going out for a walk master decker,” said mr. reed, “and we would be very glad to have you accompany us.” mr. reed would not have invited any of the boys in the neighborhood to go with them, but he had been struck with the respectful manner in which bruce had lifted his cap to him. then they all set off together, bruce and harry marching ahead, while the tutor brought up in the rear with laura.

“which way shall we go to-day?” said harry, turning to the tutor, and at the same moment bruce contrived to throw a significant glance at laura, a glance which the young girl comprehended 121at once and which prompted her to exclaim “oh, let’s follow this road along to where we were the other day, harry, there’s a place there with lots of lovely flowers and there’s one tree that i don’t know the name of and i want to ask mr. reed what it is.”

“very well,” rejoined the tutor pleasantly, “we’ll go where you say, miss laura,” and bruce chuckled to himself, as he noticed how the quick-witted girl’s tact served his purpose.

they had not gone far before he contrived to fall behind the others with her for a moment, and whisper: “that’s just what i wanted; i came up here to go and see that mr. dexter, but i wouldn’t go until i had told you about it first; i’m going to ask him who that man is he was driving with the other day.”

laura gave him a quick look which expressed her gratitude, and then said: “be careful not to let mr. reed know that we ever talked about this mr. dexter before, because it would be awful if papa were to find out that we went as far through the gateway as we did that afternoon. when we get there, just tell him that you have an errand with an old gentleman who lives in the house, and we’ll walk along slowly while you’re inside. that’s the best way.”

122that ended their conversation and a moment later bruce and harry had leaped the fence into an adjoining field, and were down on their knees in the grass hunting for mushrooms. neither the tutor nor either of the children could distinguish the edible mushrooms from toadstools and other fungi, but bruce, who had often gathered them near his country home, readily pointed out the difference in appearance and smell between the two. mr. reed seemed very much pleased with what the boy told him; for although he was thoroughly well versed in books and a most accomplished classical scholar and instructor, there were a great many things concerning everyday life of which he was ignorant, and it was plain to both of his young pupils that bruce was rising rapidly in the tutor’s esteem. it was not long before they had gathered what the young country boy called “a good mess” of edible fungi, and when he had solemnly certified to the fact that there was not a toadstool in the whole lot, they were wrapped up in a bit of old newspaper and carefully hidden away in a cool, damp spot beside the very brook into which harry had fallen the week before.

bruce delivers a lecture on botany.—page 122.

123“we’ll stop and get them on our return,” said the tutor, “and i shall tell mr. van kuren when they are served at dinner to-night that it was you who showed us how to distinguish them.”

they were drawing nearer the dexter mansion as he said this, and bruce took occasion to say to the tutor “by the way, i have a little errand here and if you’ve no objection i would like to stop a few minutes. there is an old gentlemen who sometimes sends magazines and books down to our quarters for the men to read, and i must see him for a moment.”

“certainly,” replied the tutor “where does he live?”

“in the next house—that one with the big hedge in front of it,” replied the boy.

mr. reed stopped short, and the smile disappeared from his face and was replaced by a queer look of annoyance and anxiety.

“do you mean mr. dexter,” he asked.

“yes, sir.”

mr. reed looked at his watch, and then said quietly: “it’s rather later than i thought it was, so i think we will return to the house. we shall walk slowly, so you may overtake us if your visit is not too long, master decker.”

bruce and laura exchanged glances but did not dispute mr. reed’s order, and then, while the others turned their faces toward their home, 124bruce darted through the gateway, and sped along the winding path through the fir trees.

ten minutes later, laura, who had exhausted her ingenuity in devising excuses for delaying their return, heard with delight bruce’s familiar voice behind them, and stopped to wait for him. as he approached she saw that his face, which had been so bright and smiling all the afternoon, was sober and pale now, and the thought flashed across her mind that perhaps he had encountered the ghost of one of his relatives in the old house, some long-veiled woman flitting up and down the old staircase as spirits always did in the romances with which she was familiar.

“well?” she said, as bruce joined her.

“i was just too late,” said the boy with something like a sob in his voice, “mr. dexter sailed for europe yesterday, and there’s nobody there but an old couple who are taking care of the house. they don’t know when he will be back or anything about it. there goes my last and only chance.”