THE ST. JAMES HOTEL, IN DENVER.
"What has been your success here, Mr. Plympton?" inquired Rupert.
"No better than in Rochester. Why is it that no one is willing to employ
an old man? I am in good bodily health, and I can do as good work as I
ever could, but no one will have me."
"Chicago seems to be a city of young men--more so than New York."
"Have you noticed that? Some of the successful business men are men
young enough to be my sons."
"I understand you to say that you wished to go to Denver. Have you any
reason to think you will succeed any better there?"
"No, but I have a nephew somewhere in Colorado, and perhaps in Denver.
If I can fall in with him, I am sure he will help me. I haven't seen
Giles for twenty years, but--"
"Giles!" repeated Rupert, in surprise. "What is his full name?"
"Giles Packard. He is my sister's son."
"Well, that is astonishing," ejaculated Rupert.
"What is astonishing?"
"Your nephew is my particular friend, and I am going out to Colorado at
his special invitation."
"Is it possible?" asked the old man, eagerly. "Then you know where he
lives?"
"Yes."
"Will you tell him you met me, and ask him if he will send money to
bring me on to where he lives? Giles was always good-hearted, and I am
sure he will do it."
"It won't be necessary to wait. I will buy you another ticket, and take
you on with me."
John Plympton's face lighted up with joy.
"How kind you are," he said, grasping Rupert's hand. "I hope when you
are old you will find some one who will be as kind to you. You are not
related to me in any way, you only saw me within the hour, yet you are
going to do me a great kindness. May heaven bless you."
"Thank you, but don't give me too much credit. I am sure Mr. Packard
will approve what I am doing, and will consider it a favor done to
himself."
"I hope so, but my niece's treatment has made me uncertain how far the
ties of relationship will be regarded. Yet I will accept your offer
thankfully."
Rupert lost no time in purchasing another ticket, and secured Pullman
accommodations for himself and his new acquaintance.
"You used to live in Buffalo," he said.
"Yes, I worked in one place there for fifteen years."
"Did you ever hear of the firm of Rollins & Lorimer?"
"Certainly. They were dry-goods merchants."
"I am Rupert Rollins, son of the senior partner."
"Is it possible? I knew your father well. He was a fine man."
"I am glad to hear you say so."
"But I didn't like Mr. Lorimer as well."
"I have little reason to like him, for he ruined my poor father, and
indirectly caused his death."
"I am not surprised to hear it. I never had any dealings with Mr.
Lorimer, but I knew his reputation. Is your mother living?"
"Yes, thank God, she is living, and my sister Grace as well."
"Did your father lose all his property?"
"All."
"How, then, is your mother getting along?"
Rupert explained.
"And yourself? Are you in any employment?"
"I have been a bell-boy in a New York hotel for the last year and a
half."
"You could hardly be very well paid."
"Yes, I received larger pay than I would have received in a mercantile
house. But I have finally given up the business."
"What do you propose to do?"
"I shall ask the advice of your nephew. He is a very good friend of
mine--the best I have outside my own family with one exception--and I
shall be guided by what he says."
"I wish I had been able to go to him instead of to my niece and her
husband."
"I don't see how they could have treated you so meanly."
"Mary would have treated me better, but she is under the thumb of her
husband, and he is as mean a man as I ever encountered."
"Excepting Mr. Lorimer."
"There isn't much choice between them."
"Did he give you a note for the three thousand dollars you lent him?"
"Yes, I have his note--but what is it worth?"
"Keep it and show it to Mr. Packard. He may be able to advise you how to
secure it."
"Do you know if Giles has been successful? Has he bettered himself in
Colorado?"
"I have reason to think that he is a rich man. He has been very kind to
me, who am a recent acquaintance, and I am sure he will not turn his
back upon his uncle."
This assurance brightened up the old man, who rapidly recovered his
cheerfulness, and looked forward to a meeting with the nephew whom he
had not seen for twenty years.
Rupert had telegraphed to Mr. Packard when he would reach Denver, and
received a return telegram directing him to go to the St. James Hotel.
Thither he repaired, taking his companion with him.
Mr. Plympton displayed some anxiety as they were approaching Denver.
"Perhaps my nephew will receive me coldly," he said. "If he does, there
will be nothing left me but destitution and the poorhouse."
"Don't be alarmed, Mr. Plympton," rejoined Rupert. "You have not seen
your nephew for twenty years. I have met him more recently, and I
probably know him better than you. Leave all in my hands. I will speak
to him about you."
They reached the St. James, and Rupert engaged rooms for both. On
examining the hotel register he found that Giles Packard had already
arrived. He had been in the hotel hardly half an hour when Mr. Packard
entered.
His face lighted up with pleasure when he saw Rupert.
"I am delighted to see you, Rupert," he said. "Somehow you seem very
near to me. I shall take you, after a day or two in Denver, to my cattle
ranch near Red Gulch, and I think I can promise you a good time and a
comfortable home for as long as you are willing to stay."
"Have you room for another, Mr. Packard? I have brought a companion with
me."
"Why, certainly. Any friend of yours shall have a cordial welcome."
"But he is nearer to you than to me."
Mr. Packard's face expressed surprise.
"I don't understand you."
"I found a relative of yours in Chicago. He was in hard luck, and I
thought you would be willing to help him. Here he is."
He led Giles Packard up to his uncle, who anxiously scanned the face of
his nephew.
"Don't you know me, Giles?" he asked, in a tremulous tone.
"Surely you are not my Uncle John?"
"The same. I hope you will forgive me for seeking you out."
"Don't speak like that, Uncle John. I have not forgotten that I am your
nephew."
"But, Giles, I come to you as a pauper."
"I have enough for us both. Did you save nothing, then, by your long
years of business?"
"I saved three thousand dollars."
Then he explained how he had been defrauded of it by Eben Jackson.
Giles Packard's face became stern.
"The scoundrel!" he exclaimed. "And after he got your money he had no
further use for you?"
"No, he turned me out to starve."
"You were very imprudent in trusting him with the money."
"So I was, but he promised, if I lent it to him, that he would give me a
position in his store."
"And he broke his promise?"
"No; he employed me for about two months, but in the end he would only
give me my board, and refused to let me have money enough to buy a suit
of clothes. Then I became indignant and left the house."
"Did you make an effort to recover the money?"
"Yes, but it was of no use. He refused to give it back."
"He must have given you a note?"
"Yes, I have his note."
"I will give you the money, and you will transfer the note to me. He
will find me a different customer to deal with."
"Keep the money yourself, Giles, and pay me interest on it. I shall not
be afraid to trust you."
"I will. If I treat you as Eben Jackson did, may I lose my property and
become a pauper."
"You are sure you can afford to do this, Giles? You have accumulated
some property?"
"Well," answered Giles, smiling, "I am not a millionaire, but I think
perhaps I might realize seventy-five thousand dollars if I should take
account of stock. I have been very successful in gathering property, but
I have had a great many lonely hours."
"Don't you need a bookkeeper?" asked the old man, eagerly.
"Yes, I can find you something to do in your own line, Uncle John. My
business isn't very complicated, but I find it necessary to keep some
accounts. I will give you a home and you shall want for nothing. Has
Eben Jackson got any children?"
"Yes, he has two, a boy and a girl. They are fourteen and eleven."
"What sort of children are they?"
"The boy is like his father. He never treated me with respect, but
looked upon me as a poor relation. The girl is of a better disposition."
"And they would be among my heirs. I will look them up some day, and
shape my will accordingly. Shall you be ready to go back with me on
Monday, Rupert?"
"I will be ready whenever you are, Mr. Packard."