CONCLUSION.
Several days passed. On Thursday afternoon Kit arrived in Smyrna,
accompanied by his generous California friend Henry Miller. They put up
at the hotel, and after dinner Kit walked over to the house occupied by
his uncle.
Mr. Watson saw him from the window, and hastening to the door opened it
himself.
"Good afternoon, Uncle Stephen," said Kit.
"So you're back!" said his uncle curtly.
"Yes; did you expect me?"
"James Schuyler told me you were coming."
"Yes, I wrote him that he might inform you."
"That was a good thought of yours. I have made arrangements for you."
"What arrangements?"
"I shall take you over to Oakford on Saturday, and place you with Aaron
Bickford to learn the blacksmith's trade. This time I'd advise you not
to run away."
Kit didn't exhibit any dismay when his uncle informed him of the plan he
had arranged for him.
"I will talk this over with you, Uncle Stephen," he said. "With your
permission I will go into the house."
"You can stay here till Saturday. Then you will go with me to Oakford."
Kit followed his uncle into the house. "I have something important to
say to you, Uncle Stephen," he went on. "Sit down, and I will tell you
what I have discovered within the last few months."
Stephen Watson anxiously awaited Kit's communication.
"Can he have found out?" he asked himself. "But no! it is impossible."
"I will give you five minutes to tell me your astonishing discovery," he
said, with an attempt at his usual sneer.
"I may need a longer time, but I will be as quick as I can. Among the
places where our circus exhibited was Glendale, Pennsylvania.
Remembering that you once lived there, I made inquiries about you in the
village. I saw the house where you lived for many years. Judge of my
surprise when I learned that you were always in extreme poverty. Then I
recalled your story of having lent my father ten thousand dollars, in
payment of which you took the bulk of his property. I mentioned it, and
found that it was pronounced preposterous. I discovered that on the
other hand, you were frequently the recipient of money gifts from my
poor father. In return for this you have attempted to rob his son. The
note which you presented against the estate was undoubtedly a forgery.
But even had it been genuine, the property of which you took possession
must have amounted to at least twenty thousand dollars."
Stephen Watson had not interrupted Kit by a word. He was panic stricken,
and absolutely did not know what to say. He finally succeeded in
answering hoarsely: "This is an outrageous falsehood, Christopher
Watson. It is an ingenious scheme to rob me of what rightfully belongs
to me. You must be a fool to think I am going to be frightened by a
boy's wild fiction. Leave my house! I would have allowed you to stay
till Saturday, but this is too much. If you come here again, I will
horsewhip you!"
But even when he was making this threat his face was pallid, and his
glance uneasy.
At this moment the bell rang.
Kit himself answered the call, and returned with his friend, Henry
Miller.
"Why, it is Mr. Miller!" said Stephen Watson, who had not forgotten that
Miller was very wealthy. "When did you return from California?"
"Kit, have you told your uncle?" asked Henry Miller, ignoring this
greeting.
"Yes, and he orders me to leave the house."
"Hark you, Stephen Watson!" said Henry Miller sternly. "You are in a bad
box. For over a week Kit and I have been looking up matters, and we are
prepared to prove that you have outrageously defrauded him out of his
father's estate. We have enlisted a first class lawyer in the case, and
now we come to you to know whether you will surrender or fight."
"Mr. Miller, this is very strange. Are you in the plot too?"
"Don't talk of any plots, Stephen Watson. Your fraud is so transparent
that I wonder you dare to hope it would succeed. You probably presumed
upon Kit's being a boy of an unsuspicious nature. But he has found a
friend, who was his father's friend before him, and who is determined
that he shall be righted."
"I defy you!" exclaimed Stephen Watson recklessly, for he saw that
submission would be ruin, and leave him penniless.
"Wait a minute! I'll give you another chance. Do you know what we are
prepared to prove? Well, I will tell you. We can prove that you are not
only a swindler but a forger, and our success will consign you to a
prison cell. You deserve it, no doubt, but you shall have a chance."
"What terms do you offer?" asked Stephen Watson, overwhelmed by the
conviction that what Miller said was true.
"Surrender unconditionally, restore to Kit his own property, and----"
"But it will leave me penniless!" groaned Stephen Watson.
"Just as I supposed. In Kit's behalf, I will promise that you shall not
starve. You once kept a small grocery store, and understand the trade.
We will set you up in that business wherever you choose, and will give
you besides a small income, say three hundred dollars a year, so that
you may be able to live modestly."
"But Ralph, my poor boy, what will become of him?"
"I will pay the expenses of his education," said Kit, "and when he
leaves school, I will make him an allowance so that he can enter a store
and qualify himself to earn his own living. He won't be able to live as
he has lived, but he shall not suffer."
"It is more than either of you deserve," said Henry Miller. "I was not
in favor of treating you so generously, but Kit, whom you have
defrauded, insisted upon it. You ought to thank him on your knees."
Stephen Watson did not speak. He looked the picture of misery.
"Do you agree to this?" asked Mr. Miller.
"I must!" replied Watson, sullenly.
It made a great sensation in Smyrna when Kit took his proper place as
the true master of his dead father's estate. Stephen Watson left town
suddenly, and Ralph followed him. No sorrow was felt for his reverse of
fortune, for he had made no friends in the town. He and Ralph settled
down in a small Western city, and started a grocery store. From time to
time Kit receives abject letters, pleading for more money, and sometimes
he sends it, but always against the advice of Henry Miller, who says
rightly that Stephen Watson already fares better than he deserves.
Ralph is turning out badly. His pride received a severe shock when his
cousin was raised above him, and he has formed bad habits which in time
will wreck him physically, unless he turns over a new leaf.
It is hardly necessary to say that Kit decided not to learn the
blacksmith's trade. His old employer, Aaron Bickford, has tried hard to
get into his good graces and secure his trade, but Kit employs another
man for whom he has a greater respect.
Kit has made more than one visit to the worthy Mayor Grant from whom he
received so much kindness when a young acrobat, and a marked partiality
for Evelyn, the mayor's pretty daughter, may some day lead to a nearer
connection between the families.
Good, like bad fortune, seldom comes singly, and besides recovering his
own property, Kit finds himself the favorite and presumed heir of Henry
Miller, the wealthy Californian, who has taken up his home with our
hero. Last summer they took a trip to California, and Kit was charmed
with the wonderful Yosemite Valley and the Geysers. He has decided to
become a lawyer, though he will be in a position to live without
employment of any kind.
A few months after his return, Kit read in the paper of the killing of
Dick Hayden, the miner, in a drunken brawl at Coalville.
He at once took steps to seek out the daughter, Janet, who had rendered
him such signal service when he was captured by the ruffians, and
brought her to Smyrna, where he provided a happy home for her in a
family of his acquaintance.
Nor has Kit forgotten his circus friends. Last year when Barlow's circus
returned from its wanderings he invited those whom he knew best, the
giant, his two brother acrobats, and Mlle. Lefroy, to pass a week as his
guests. For the sake of old times and experiences he is always ready to
help poor professionals, and has been a friend in need to many. He knows
that with all their weaknesses, they are generous to a fault, and ready
to divide their last dollar with a needy comrade. There are some who
think Kit shows a strange taste in keeping up acquaintance with his old
associates, but like his friend, Charlie Davis, who has also retired
from the circus, he will always have a kindly feeling for those with
whom he traveled when a YOUNG ACROBAT.
THE END.