RUDOLPH FINDS TONY
Four days afterward Rudolph arrived in the town where Tony was
employed. He had not been drawn thither by any clew, but by pure
accident.
He put up for the night at the hotel where our hero had found work. He
enrolled himself on the register as “Obadiah Latham, Philadelphia.”
“Can thee give me a room, friend?” he inquired.
“Certainly, sir,” was the polite reply. “Here, Henry, show this
gentleman up to No. 6. No. 6 is one of our best rooms, Mr. Latham.”
“I thank thee,” said the tramp.
“The Quakers are always polite,” said the bookkeeper. “They are good
pay, too, and never give any trouble. I wish we had more of them stop
here.”
“If all your customers were of that description, your bar wouldn’t pay
very well.”
“That is true.”
But later in the evening the speaker was obliged to change his
opinion.
The Quaker came to the bar and asked:
“Will thee give me a glass of brandy?”
“Sir!” said the barkeeper, astounded.
“A glass of brandy!” repeated Rudolph, irritably.
“I beg pardon, sir, but I was surprised. I did not know that gentlemen
of your faith ever drank liquor.”
“Thee is right,” said the tramp, recollecting himself. “It is only for
my health. Thee may make it strong, so that I may feel better soon.”
Rudolph drained the glass, and then, after a little hesitation, he
said:
“I feel better. Will thee mix me another glass, and a little
stronger?”
A stronger glass was given him.
The barkeeper looked at him shrewdly.
“Quaker as he is, he is evidently used to brandy,” he said to himself.
“If he wasn’t, those two glasses would have upset him.”
But Rudolph did not appear to be upset.
He put his broad-brimmed hat more firmly on his head, and went
outside. He decided to take a walk about the village. He little
suspected that Tony was in the stable yard in the rear of the hotel.
He walked on for perhaps a quarter of a mile, and then leaned against
a fence to rest. As he stood here two boys passed him slowly,
conversing as they walked.
“I was surprised, Sam, at Tony Rugg’s licking you,” said the first.
“He couldn’t do it again,” said Sam, sullenly.
Rudolph’s attention was at once drawn.
“Boys,” he asked, “did thee mention the name of Tony Rugg?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Does thee know such a boy?”
“Yes, sir. He is working at the hotel. He got my place away from me,”
said Sam. “Do you know him?”
“I once knew such a boy.”
Rudolph was very much elated at what he had heard.
“Well, good luck has come to me at last,” he said to himself. “The
young scoundrel, is found, and now I must consider how to get him into
my hands once more.”
The Quaker, to designate him according to his present appearance, at
once made his way back to the hotel.
“There can’t be two Tony Ruggs in this world,” he said to himself. “I
am sure this is the boy.”
On reaching the hotel he sauntered out to the stable yard in the rear
of the house. His eyes lighted with pleasure, for he at once caught
sight of Tony, standing beside James, the hostler.
“There comes old Broadbrim,” said James, in a low voice. “The
barkeeper told me he took two stiff horns of brandy. He’s a queer sort
of Quaker.”
Tony gave a glance at the tramp but entertained no suspicion of his
not being what he represented. Rudolph came nearer. His disguise had
been so successful that he felt perfectly safe from discovery.
“Does thee keep many horses?” he asked.
“Yes, sir; we have twelve.”
“That is a large number. Yea, verily, it is.”
“Well, it is. There’s a good deal of carting to do for the hotel;
besides Mr. Porter keeps a livery stable. Was you ever this way
before?” asked James.
“Nay, verily.”
“Are you going away to-morrow morning?”
“Nay, friend, I think I shall tarry a day or two. Is that lad thy
son?”
“Tony, he asks if you are my son,” said James, laughing. “No, his name
is Tony Rugg, while mine is James Woodley.”
“Anthony, was thee born in this town?” asked the tramp, boldly defying
detection.
“No, sir,” answered Tony. “I only came here a few weeks ago.”
“I’d like to choke the boy. I can hardly keep my hands off him,”
thought Rudolph. “But I’d better be going. He is looking at me
closely.”
“Good-night,” he said, and the two responded civilly.
“Well, Tony, what do you think of Broadbrim?”
“I don’t know, there’s something in his voice that sounds familiar to
me.”
“Perhaps you may have met him somewhere.”
“No; I never met any Quaker before.”
“Well, there’s stranger likenesses sometimes. Did I ever tell you my
adventure out in Maine?”
“No, what was it?”
“I went down East to see a sister of mine that is married down near
Augusta. When, as I was goin’ through Portland, a woman came up and
made a great ado about my deserting her. She took me for her husband,
and came near having me arrested for desertion. You see, I and her
husband was alike as two peas, that’s what some of her neighbors
said.”
“How did you get off?”
“Luckily I had documents in my pocket showing who I was. Besides, my
brother-in-law happened to be in the city, and he identified me.”
Rudolph sat in the public room of the hotel for a time, and then he
went up to his room, partly to be out of the way of possible
recognition, partly to think how he could manage to get Tony into his
clutches once more.
He had a back room, the window of which looked out upon the stable
yard. He seated himself at this window, and could easily see and hear
all that passed there.
Tony and the hostler were lounging about, the latter smoking a clay
pipe, their work being done for the day.
“Tony,” said the hostler, “I almost forgot to tell you you’re to go to
Thornton to-morrow.”
“What for?”
“There’s a top-buggy Mr. Porter has sold to a man there. You’re to
take it over, and lead the horse back.”
“All right. I’d just as leave go as stay here. Can I find the road
easily?”
“There’s no trouble about that. Part of it runs through the
woods—about a mile, I should say.”
“Did Mr. Porter say when he wanted me to start?”
“About nine o’clock; by that time you’ll be through with your chores.”
Rudolph heard this conversation with pleasure.
“It’s the chance I was waiting for,” he said to himself. “I’ll lie in
wait for him as he comes back.”