THE MASTER MECHANIC.
"Well, sir, what do you think of that?" said Julian, when he was
certain that Claus had gone down the stairs and out on the street. "He
had better try some other way of getting that box."
"He has failed," said Jack, putting a frying-pan filled with bacon on
the stove. "Casper Nevins is at the bottom of that. I tell you, that
money is safe yet."
"Do you know that I looked upon it as gone when he first came here and
handed out his card?" said Julian. "I thought he was Haberstro, sure
enough."
"I confess that I thought so, too. Now let us go on and get supper.
The next time we save that money, somebody else will have a hand in
it."
"Why, will we have to fight for it?"
"It looks that way to me now. We don't know anything about business,
and the first thing we know we'll get tripped up."
"I did not think of that," said Julian, drawing a long breath. "I wish
Mr. Wiggins were going out to Denver with us. I will get advice from
him before we start."
"We have not got out there yet," said Jack, with a laugh. "If we do
get there, we will go to the lawyer who drew up those deeds. He must
be an honest man."
The boys continued to talk in this way until the room was swept up and
the dishes washed, and when bedtime came they went to sleep. The next
morning found them on duty again. Casper was not there to greet him
and make inquiries concerning the box, but there were other boys there
who wanted to know why Casper had been discharged. They appealed to
Julian, for he was in the back room shortly before; but he thought the
best thing he could do was to keep a still tongue in his head.
"Mr. Wiggins knows why he discharged Casper, and if he won't tell you,
I don't know where else you can apply."
"You had a hand in it and I know it," said one boy who was enough like
Casper to have been his brother. "Maybe you are a spy on us."
"You come out in the back yard and I'll show you who is a spy!" said
Julian, rising to his feet. "No one ever accused me of that before. If
I am a spy, you want to do your duty right up to the handle."
This was something new on Julian, for we know how hard he worked to
keep the police off from Casper's track. Some of the other boys turned
away as if they were quite willing to believe that Julian was seeking
for promotion, while some others stood up close to him, as if to
assure him of their protection.
"If you will stay by me when Mr. Wiggins comes here, I will ask him
before you if I had anything to do with Casper's discharge. He will
tell you the truth."
But the boys wisely appealed to him not to do that. Since Casper had
been discharged, they wanted their skirts clear of him, and the best
way to do that would be to say nothing about it.
"But, Julian, you want to keep clear of that fellow who called you a
spy," said one of the boys. "He has been jealous of you for a long
time, in fact ever since the day you came into the office, and just as
soon as he gets a good chance he is going to split on you."
"Thank you; I did not suppose I had an enemy in this city. Let him
keep watch, if he wants to. My conduct will bear investigation."
Julian did not do his work with his usual energy that day, for he
could not bear to think that one boy was acting as a spy upon him. He
carried his dispatches as well as he could, never stopping to gaze in
at the prize windows or to make one of a crowd who gathered around
some show that had stopped for a moment on a corner, and that was as
well as anybody could do. Jack laughed loudly when he saw what a
gloomy face Julian had on when he told him of the matter.
"What do you care for spies?" said Jack. "Do your duty faithfully, and
then you will be all right. In our place we don't have any such
things. The boys are always glad to see me promoted, for they think
they have a new mechanic to assist them when they get into trouble."
For another month things moved along in their usual way, and nothing
was heard from Mr. Haberstro. Julian did not meet Casper or Claus, for
they had disappeared completely. He held frequent and earnest
consultations with Mr. Wiggins on the subject of the box, put other
advertisements in the papers, and finally Mr. Wiggins took Julian down
to the bank and talked to the president. It excited Julian wonderfully
to know that the box was theirs.
"I should not wait any longer, if I were in your place," said the
president. "You have done all that you can to find the owner, and he
does not make his appearance. You can go out there and lay claim to
the property, and enjoy it; and if at any time this Mr. Haberstro
turns up, you can give the property over to him. But I want you to be
careful in what you are doing. There are plenty of Haberstros in the
world who would like nothing better than to get that box."
"By George, Jack," said Julian, when he went home that night, "did I
not tell you that that box was ours? I have talked with the president
of the bank about it, and he says we can go out there and enjoy that
property."
Jack took his usual seat, with his leg thrown over the table, and
looked at Julian without speaking. He had never laid great stress on
having that box. He supposed that Haberstro would show himself in due
time, and all they would have to do would be to give up the money and
go on with their work. His good fortune was a little too much for him
to take in all at once. A dollar a day was pretty big wages for him,
and he supposed that it would last till he learned his trade, and that
then he would receive more money. But a hundred thousand dollars, to
say nothing of the gold-mine! Why, that mine had already yielded its
owner fifty thousand dollars!
"Jack, why don't you say something?" exclaimed Julian. "You don't act
as though you were a bit pleased. I wish, now, that I had been a mile
away when that box was put up for sale."
Jack roared. He was always ready to laugh when Julian talked in this
way.
"I am very glad you _were_ there when it was sold," said he; "but the
idea of owning so much money rather takes my breath away. I was just
wondering what we would do if some more Haberstros came up and
demanded the money. I suppose there are some men like that in Denver,
as well as there are here."
"The president cautioned me about that. He told me to be careful in
what we did. Now, Jack, when will we start?"
"I don't know. I shall have to see the master mechanic about that. You
know that I am as deeply indebted to him as you are to Mr. Wiggins."
"Does he know about the box?"
"Not a thing. I thought I had better see you about that before I
broached the subject to him."
"Well, then, tell it to him to-morrow. We don't want to be any longer
in getting out there than we can help. We want to be there before the
snow flies, or the first thing we know we'll be snowed up."
"Are you going to see Mr. Wiggins about it?"
"I am. Let us go out to Denver at once."
"I tell you it comes hard to say good-bye to those fellows; I have
been with them so long that I hate to do it. If I get in trouble in
any way, they will always help me out."
The next day Julian talked to Mr. Wiggins about going out to Denver,
and the latter's face grew grave at once. He could not bear to let
Julian go out there among strangers. He had always had him under his
eye, was waiting for a chance to promote him, and now he was going
away.
"I will go down and get the box," said he. "And remember one thing,
Julian: You may get into a hard row of stumps out there, and I want
you to write to me fully and plainly of what you are doing. If you
want some money, say so; and if you want to come back here in the
office, say that also, and I will try and make room for you."
Julian's eyes filled with tears when he saw Mr. Wiggins go out on the
street and turn toward the bank. He found, with Jack, that it was
going to be hard work to say good-bye. When he went out into the other
room, the boys noticed at once that he had been crying.
"Aha!" said the boy who had once accused him of being a spy, "you have
come up with a round turn, have you?"
"Yes," said Julian, "I've got it at last."
"It serves you right!" said the boy. "If Wiggins gave it to you in
pretty good order I shall be satisfied. You know now how Casper felt
when he was discharged."
"Are you discharged, Julian?" whispered another of the boys.
"I guess I have got something like it," was the reply; "you won't see
me here to-morrow."
Julian walked to the window and looked out on the street, and in a few
minutes Mr. Wiggins came up with the box. The boy followed him into
the back room, all the boys, of whom there were half a dozen in the
office, looking on with surprise. Mr. Wiggins's face was grave, but
he was not angry, and they did not know what to make of it.
"I think I would do this up and send it by express--wouldn't you?"
said he. "If this is put in your trunk, and the cars run off the track
and get smashed, your trunk might get smashed, too, and the box with
it. Before I put the cover on I will write a letter to our agent in
Denver. I have never seen him, but that won't matter; and then, if you
want any good advice, go to him. Come in in the course of half an
hour--"
"No, sir!" said Julian, emphatically; "I am going to do my duty as
long as I stay in the office."
"Well, go ahead; I will give you the box, sealed and addressed to
yourself, to-night."
Julian went out and took his seat among the boys, and about half of
them felt a little bit sorry for him, but the other half did not. Here
was one favorite out of the way, and consequently there was a chance
for somebody else. Presently his name was called, and then Julian went
away to deliver his dispatch.
When six o'clock came, Julian went into the back room and received the
package.
"You will be around here before you go?" said Mr. Wiggins, extending
his hand. "Then I won't bid you good-bye. Take this box to the express
office and send it off. Have you any money?"
Yes, Julian had plenty of money. Did Mr. Wiggins suppose that he was
going to spend all his month's wages in two days? He took the box and
went out, and took his way toward the express office, wondering what
the clerk would say if he knew what was in that package. The clerk
turned out to be the same one who had given him the box, but he said
nothing about it; and when Julian had paid the express charges on it
he came out and started for home. As he was going up the stairs he
heard the sound of voices in the room, and opened the door to find a
man there, dressed in his best, and with a very smiling face, which he
turned toward Julian.
"So this is the boy who bought himself rich," said he, getting on his
feet "I know you from the description I have received of your
uniform. I congratulate you heartily, but I am sorry you are going to
take Jack away from me. When you are awful home-sick, and are short of
money, you can write to me, and I will send you something to come home
on."
"This is Mr. Dawson, our master mechanic," said Jack.
"I am glad to meet you, Mr. Dawson," said Julian, shaking the man's
hand very cordially. "Jack often found fault with me for going to that
office, but I struck it once,--didn't I?"
"Well, I should say you _did_," returned Mr. Dawson, with a laugh;
"you couldn't do it again if you were to try it your lifetime."
"Sit down, sir; we will have supper ready after awhile, and you must
join us."
"That's just what I came up here for. Jack is going away pretty
shortly, and I shall not see him any more, so I came up to be with him
as long as I could."
Mr. Dawson moved back his chair so that he would not be in the way,
and Julian pulled off his coat and went to work; but he saw by the
extra bundles there were on the table that his chum had been going
back on his principles. There were cream cakes and peaches by the
dozen, as well as sundry other little things that Jack had purchased
for supper. It was a better meal than they had been accustomed to for
a long time, and if there was any faith in the way that master
mechanic asked for peaches, he thoroughly enjoyed it.
"I hope you boys will live this way while you are gone," said he, as
he pushed back his chair and declined having any more. "You must
remember that a hundred thousand dollars don't go very far. There
certainly is an end to it, and the first thing you know you'll be
there. Now, I hope you fellows won't object if I smoke a cigar?"
The "fellows" did not object, nor did he raise any complaint when they
proceeded to wash the dishes. It was eleven o'clock when Mr. Dawson
said it was time he was going home, and when the boys felt the hearty
grasp of his hand at parting, they told themselves that there was one
friend they were leaving behind.