GOOD NEWS--CONCLUSION
To get to his own place, Chet had to pass the cabin belonging to Andy,
and so the chums left the village together, in a carriage they hired
with some of the money Barwell Dawson had given them.
The thoughts of each youth were busy, so but little was said by them
during the journey. As they came in sight of Andy's home, they saw smoke
curling from the chimney.
"Uncle Si must have gotten back from work," said Andy. "Most likely he's
cooking supper. Chet, will you stop?"
"Well, I'd rather see my father first," was the answer.
"I don't blame you. Well, come over tomorrow, unless----Hello, there is a
stranger!"
Andy pointed to a man who had come to the cabin door, he having heard
the sound of the carriage wheels. Chet stared hard at the individual.
Then he took a flying leap to the ground and ran forward.
"Father!"
The man started, and then flung out his hands.
"If it isn't Chet--my own son Chet!" he burst out, joyfully. "I was just
wishing with all my heart that I knew where you were." And he shook
hands over and over again.
"And I've been hurrying to you as fast as I could for weeks," answered
Chet, with a glad look in his eyes. "I heard you were at our cabin, and
was going there."
"I was there, and came here to ask Mr. Graham about you," answered
Tolney Greene.
Josiah Graham had come to the door, holding in his hand a frying pan
containing bacon. He gave one look at the newcomers.
"Andy!" he burst out, and in his amazement let the frying pan clatter to
the doorstep, scattering the strips of bacon in all directions. "Is it
really you, or your ghost?"
"No ghost about me, Uncle Si," answered the boy. "They tell me you have
gone to work."
"Why, er--ye-as, I have a job at the sawmill."
"I am glad to know it."
"I--er--I got over my sickness, an' so I'm a-goin' to work stiddy after
this," went on Josiah Graham, lamely.
"That's the best news I've heard in a year."
"Where have you been, Andy?"
"Oh, on a little trip, to the North Pole and elsewhere," was the cool
reply.
"You're joking me! But have your fun,--it ain't none o' my affair. But I
want to tell yer somethin'," went on the old man, impressively. "I got
them papers back."
"So I heard. I hope you'll not give them to that A. Q. Hopton."
"Not much! Hopton is a swindler--I found thet out in Portland, when I was
there."
"What about Hopton?" demanded Mr. Greene, who had been in earnest
conversation with Chet. "Do you mean the real estate dealer?"
"I do," answered Josiah Graham.
"Where is he now? He is the man who caused me all my trouble. Just let
me get at him! He covered up his tracks pretty well, but I've now got
the evidence against him."
"I don't know where Hopton is now, but I guess I kin find out," answered
Josiah Graham.
All entered the cabin, and there each told his story in detail. The men
listened to the boys in open-mouthed wonder.
"And to think you came north, and was so close to me!" said Mr. Greene
to his son.
He said he had been half crazy when he signed articles for the trip on
the _Betsey Andrews_. Then he had gotten word about A. Q. Hopton, and
had discovered that the real estate man was guilty of the crimes of
which he himself was accused. He had gone to the captain of the whaler
to get his release, but the captain had refused to let him go, and had
locked him up aboard the ship until the voyage was well begun.
"He was a strange man, that captain," said Mr. Greene. "And it is no
wonder that he lost his ship and his life in the frozen north."
"And you have the evidence to prove your innocence, and prove this A. Q.
Hopton guilty?" asked Chet.
"Yes, my son, I can prove that Hopton was guilty, and nobody else."
"Oh, how glad I am of it!" murmured Chet.
A substantial supper was prepared for all,--Andy assisting his uncle in
getting it ready.
"Uncle Si isn't a bit like his old self," whispered Andy to Chet, when
they sat down. "Going to work has waked him up and made another man of
him."
"Hope he sticks to it," answered Chet.
That evening, after all the stories had been told in detail, Josiah
Graham brought out the papers Andy had lost in the woods. As the
storekeeper had said, they had been well soaked by the snow and rain,
but they were still decipherable.
"I am going to tell Mr. Dawson about them, and then turn them over to
some first-class lawyer," said Andy. "If they are really worth anything,
I want to know it."
On the following day the two boys and Mr. Greene returned to Portland.
Chet's father conferred with the police, and as a consequence Mr. A. Q.
Hopton was located, some days later, in Augusta, and placed in custody.
He was subjected to a close examination, and finally broke down, and
confessed his guilt. He said that Tolney Greene had had nothing to do
with the crimes, and Chet's father was completely exonerated. He also
told about the timber land in Michigan, and through a firm of good
lawyers Andy's claim to a substantial interest was established,--an
interest said to be worth fifteen thousand dollars.
"With all that money, you won't have to work no more," said Josiah
Graham to the boy.
"But I am going to work, just the same," answered Andy. "And you are
going to work with me, Uncle Si. Some day, we'll have a big lumber camp
of our own."
"And what is thet Greene boy goin' to do?"
"He is going into partnership with me--when we are old enough," answered
Andy.
"Do you think it's wuth it, to work so hard when you've got so much
money?" asked Uncle Si, wistfully.
"Certainly I do. It's the best thing for me--and for you, too. I
shouldn't want to be idle, even if I was a millionaire."
"Well, jest as you say, Andy." The old man heaved a long sigh. "I
suppose you are right--anyway, it's your money." And then he went to work
again, and said no more on the subject.
As soon as his name was cleared, Tolney Greene looked around for work.
Through Andy's influence, he obtained the position of superintendent at
the lumber tract in Michigan, and Chet went to work with him.
"And what are you going to do?" asked Chet of Andy, one day.
"I am going to rest for a month or so," was the answer. "Then Mr.
Dawson, who has been appointed my guardian, is going to send me to a
first-class boarding school."
"And after that, Andy?"
"I am going into the lumber business--and you are going with me, Chet."
"Me?"
"Yes."
"But I haven't any money."
"Never mind, when I go in for myself you are going to have an interest,"
replied Andy, and his tone showed that he meant what he said.
The report that the Barwell Dawson expedition had reached the North Pole
created a great stir. Many would not believe it, and the explorer and
Professor Jeffer were called upon to submit proofs. This they did
willingly. Then Barwell Dawson was asked to lecture, but declined. But
Professor Jeffer took to the platform, and made a great deal of money
thereby, and from the book he issued later.
"It was a grand trip--a truly marvelous trip," the professor was wont to
say. "But--but I do not think I desire to go again."
"You are right," answered Barwell Dawson. "Once is sufficient. After
this I shall devote my time to hunting and exploring in localities not
quite so cold."
"And where there is plenty of food," put in Andy.
"Yes, don't forget the food," said Chet. "As long as I live I never want
to get so close to starving again!"
And all the others agreed with him.
THE END
End of Project Gutenberg's First at the North Pole, by Edward Stratemeyer