boy's eyes and the angry colour faded from his cheeks. He turned
restlessly in his bed and tried to banish these thoughts and bring
back his schemes of vengeance, but he could not do it. He knew what
was the right--what he ought to do--but he was not willing to do it.
Hour after hour he argued the matter with himself, finding all sorts
of reasons why, in this case, he might take vengeance into his own
hands and "learn that Dick Hunt a lesson," yet feeling and knowing in
the depths of his heart that whatever the old Tode Bryan might have
done, Theodore Bryan, who was trying to be the bishop's shadow,
certainly had no right to do evil to somebody else simply because that
somebody had done evil to him.
It was nearly morning before the long battle with himself was over,
but it ended at last, and it was Theodore, and not Tode who was
victorious, and it was the memory of the bishop's face, and of the
bishop's prayer that day in the poorhouse, that finally settled the
matter.
"He'd fight for somebody else, the bishop would, but he wouldn't ever
fight for himself, an' I mustn't neither," the boy murmured, softly,
and then with a long breath he turned his face to the wall and fell
asleep, and he had but just awakened from that sleep when Mr. Scott,
with Tag under his arm, came through the long corridor to the ward
where Theodore was lying in the very last cot, next the wall.
Mr. Scott had promised not to let the dog out of his arms, but if he
had been better acquainted with Tag he would never have made such a
rash promise. As the gentleman followed the nurse into the ward, the
dog's eyes flashed a swift glance over the long line of cots, and the
next instant something dark went flying down the room and up on to
that last cot in the row, and there was Tag licking his master's face
and hands, and wagging his tail, and barking like mad.
"Dear me!" exclaimed the nurse, running toward the corner. "This will
never do. He'll drive the patients into fits! Why didn't you keep hold
of him?"
She threw the question back in a reproachful tone to Mr. Scott.
He laughed a little as he answered, "If you will try to pick him up
now and hold him, you will understand why."
Even as he spoke, the nurse was making an attempt to capture and
silence the noisy little fellow. She might as well have tried to pick
up a ball of quicksilver. Tag slipped through her fingers like an eel,
scurrying from one end of the cot to the other, and barking excitedly
all the time.
"Can't you stop him, Theodore?" exclaimed Mr. Scott, as he reached the
corner where the boy lay.
"Here, Tag, lie down and be still," cried the boy, and with one last
defiant yap at the nurse, Tag nosed aside the bedclothes and snuggled
down beside his master with a sigh of glad content.
"Well, if ever I let a dog into _my_ ward again!" exclaimed the
nurse, in a tone of stern determination.
"I'm sorry he made such a noise, ma'am. It was only because he was so
glad to find me," said Theodore, quickly.
The nurse turned away in offended silence, and Mr. Scott sat down by
the bed and began to talk with the boy.
He listened with a grave face to Theo's story. When it was ended, he
asked, "Did you recognise either of the boys?"
"Yes, sir; one, certainly, and I think I know one of the others."
"Well?" said the teacher, inquiringly.
Theodore hesitated a moment, then answered in a low tone, "You 'member
them verses you showed me that first Sunday, Mr. Scott?"
The gentleman smiled down into the sober, boyish face. "I remember,"
he replied, "but, Theo, this is a grave matter. To beat a boy until he
is unconscious, and then leave him to live or die, is a crime. Such
boys ought not to be shielded."
"Mr. Scott, I had an awful time over that last night," answered the
boy, earnestly. "I wanted to pay them fellers for this job--you better
b'lieve I did, but," he shook his head slowly, "I can't do it. You
see, sir, I ain't Tode no more--I'm Theodore, now."
There was a look on the homely, boyish face that forbade further
discussion of the matter, and, after a moment's silence, Mr. Scott
said in a different tone, "Well, my boy, when are you going home? Nan
and the baby want to see you."
Theo glanced impatiently about the long room.
"She said I'd got to stay in bed till the doctor had seen me," he
replied, "'n the doctor'll be here 'bout nine o'clock."
"She" was the nurse.
"It's nearly nine now. I'll wait until the doctor comes, then,"
Mr. Scott said.
The doctor pronounced the boy quite fit to leave the hospital, and his
clothes being brought to him, the curtains were drawn around his cot
and he dressed himself hastily. But as he pushed aside the curtains,
Mr. Scott saw a troubled look on his face, and asked:
"What's the matter, Theodore?"
Without answering the boy crossed the room to the nurse.
"Where's the money that was in my pocket?" he asked, anxiously.
The nurse looked at him sharply. "If there was any money in your
pockets when you were brought here it would be in them now," she
answered, shortly. "You can go to the office and ask any questions you
like."
Theodore turned toward his teacher a very sorrowful face.
"I've been robbed, too," he said.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Theodore. How much have you lost?"
"Five dollars. She says to ask at the office, but 'twon't do no good,
I s'pose."
"No, nothing would have been taken from your pockets here, but we will
stop at the office and see if we can learn anything," Mr. Scott said.
Tag had kept close to his master's heels, and now at his teacher's
suggestion Theodore picked up the dog, who went forth quietly enough
in that fashion.
Inquiries at the office convinced the boy that he had been robbed
before he was brought there, and naturally enough he came to the
conclusion that his money had gone into the pockets of Dick Hunt and
his companions.
At the door of the tenement house Mr. Scott left Theo, who hurried
eagerly up the stairs. On the landing he met Jimmy Hunt, who called
out:
"Hi--o, Tode, where ye been all night? Say, what was the matter? Did
Mr. Scott find ye?"
"Yes," was Theo's only response, as he pushed open Nan's door, to be
greeted with such a warm welcome that he hardly knew what to say and
had to hide his embarrassment by poking the baby's ribs to make him
laugh. Jimmy Hunt had followed him into the room and listened with
open mouth as well as ears to the brief story that the boy told in
reply to Nan's questions.
"Oh, 'twasn't much. I got knocked down an' carried to the hospital,
an' they wouldn't let me come away till morning--that's all."
"An' wasn't ye hurt?" cried Jimmy, in a disappointed tone. It seemed
to him altogether too tame an affair if nobody was hurt.
"My shoulder's sprained, an' my head was hurt a little," Theo
answered. "Say, Jim, where's Dick?"
"I d'know. Out somewheres," replied Dick's brother, indifferently.
"Why ain't you in school, Jimmy?" was Theo's next question.
"Well, I like that!" exclaimed Jimmy, in a tone of deep
disgust. "Ain't I been a-racin' all over town for you this mornin',
a-gettin' Mr. Scott to hunt ye up, an' goin' ter see 'f your stand's
open, an' carryin' things 'round fer Nan, too? How could I do all
that an' be in school, I'd like to know?"
"'Deed, you couldn't, Jimmy," replied Nan, soothingly. "I don't know
what I should have done this morning without him, Theo. He was my
right hand man."
Jimmy coloured with satisfaction at this high praise, and his delight
was complete when Theodore added,
"That so? Well now, Jimmy boy, I ain't goin' to forget this."
"Huh! Twarn't nothin'. I liked to do it," replied Jimmy, and then
overcome by a sudden and unaccountable fit of bashfulness he ran
hastily out of the room.
Then Theodore told Nan the details of his adventure, but not even to
her would he tell the name of his enemy, and Nan did not guess, for
she would never have imagined that Mrs. Hunt's Dick could have served
Theo so.
Dick had gone out as usual after breakfast and did not come home even
to get his supper, but of late his habits had been so irregular that
nothing was said at home about his absence.
After supper Jimmy was sent out on an errand and Dick met him and
questioned him in regard to Theo's return, and what he had to say.
Jimmy waxed indignant over the story which he filled in from his own
imagination with many vivid details.
"Some fellers pitched into him an' knocked him down an' beat him an'
left him for dead an' they took him t' the hospital an' kep' him there
all night. Guess them fellers'll suffer for it! They robbed him,
too. Took five dollars out o' his pockets."
"They didn't neither!" exclaimed Dick, hastily, thrown off his guard
by this unexpected statement.
"Come now, Dick Hunt, mebbe you know more'n I do about it," retorted
Jimmy, with withering sarcasm, little suspecting how much more his
brother _did_ know. "Mebbe you heard what Nan said to ma 'bout
it."
"No, no! 'Course I d'know nothin' 'bout it. How would I know?"
replied Dick, quickly and uneasily. "Say, Jimmy, is he--is Tode goin'
to have them fellers took up?"
"'Spect he is--I would," answered Jimmy; then remembering his errand,
he ran off, leaving Dick looking after him with a haggard, miserable
face.
"Robbed," Dick said to himself, as he walked moodily and aimlessly
on. "We didn't do that anyhow. Somebody must 'a' gone through his
pockets after we cleared out. Nice box I'm in now!"
Dick did not go home at all that night. He was afraid that he might be
arrested if he did.
"He knows 'twas me did it, an' he's keepin' dark 'bout it till they
can nab me," he thought.
He hunted up the three boys who had been so ready to help him the
night before, but he found them now firmly banded together against
him. Moreover, they had spread such reports of him among their
companions, that Dick found himself shunned by them all. He dared not
go home, so he wandered about the streets, eating in out-of-the-way
places, and sleeping where he could. One day Carrots told him that
Tode Bryan was huntin' everywhere for him. Then Dick, in desperation,
made up his mind to go to sea--he could stand the strain no longer. He
dared not go home, even to bid his mother goodbye. Dick was selfish
and cruel, but he had even yet a little lingering tenderness for his
mother. It was not enough to make him behave himself and do what he
knew would please her, but it did make him wish that he could see her
just for a moment before going away. It was enough to make him creep
cautiously to the house after dark, and stand in the shadow, looking
up at her window, while he pictured to himself the neat, pleasant
room, where at that hour, she would be preparing supper. While he
stood there, Theo came out of the house, with Tag, as usual, at his
heels. Tag ran over to the dark corner and investigated Dick, but
cautiously, for there was no friendship between him and this member of
the Hunt family. Dick stood silent and motionless afraid that the dog
might bark and draw Theo over there, but he stood ready for flight
until Theo whistled and Tag ran back to him, and presently followed
him off in another direction. Then, with a breath of relief, Dick
stole off into the darkness, and the next day he left the city on a
vessel bound for South America, rejoicing that at last he was beyond
reach of Tode Bryan.
Dick was not mistaken in thinking that Theo had been searching for
him, but he was greatly mistaken as to the boy's purpose in
it. Theodore was entirely ready now to obey that command that
Mr. Scott had shown him and to do his best to "overcome evil with
good." He took it for granted that Dick and the others had robbed as
well as beaten him, but all the same, he felt that he was bound to
forget all that and find some way to show them a kindness. But though
Theo was always on the lookout for him, Dick managed to keep out of
his sight while he remained in the city. After Dick had sailed, some
boy told Jimmy where his brother had gone, and so at last the news
reached Theodore.
Since his return from the bishop's, Theo had had few idle moments, but
after losing the five dollars he worked early and late to make up the
loss. He grew more silent and thoughtful, and when alone his thoughts
dwelt almost continually on that happy day when he should look once
more into the bishop's kind face.
"I'll tell him all about it," he would say to himself, "how I saw that
Mrs. Russell drop the pocketbook, an' how I slipped under the wagon
an' snatched it up out o' the mud, an' used the money. I'll tell it
all, an' ev'rything else bad that I can 'member, so he'll know jest
what a bad lot I've been, an' then I'll tell him how sorry I am, an'
how I'm a-huntin' ev'rywhere for that Jack Finney, an' how I'll keep
a-huntin' till I find him."
All this and much more Theodore planned to tell the bishop, and, as he
thought about it, it seemed as if he could not wait another hour, so
intense was his longing to look once more into that face that was like
no other earthly face to him, to listen again to the voice that
thrilled his heart, and hear it say, "My boy, I forgive you." Many a
time he dreamt of this and started up from sleep with those words
ringing in his ears, "My boy, I forgive you," and then finding himself
alone in his dark, dismal little room, he would bury his wet cheeks in
the pillow and try to stifle the longing in his lonely, boyish heart.
Even Nan, who knew him better than did any one else, never guessed how
his heart hungered to hear those words from the lips of the bishop.
But little by little--in nickels and dimes and quarters--Theodore laid
by another five dollars. He knew to a penny how much there was, but
when he brought the last dime, he and Nan counted it all to make
sure. There was no mistake. It amounted to thirty-seven dollars and
twenty-five cents, and the boy drew a long, glad breath as he looked
up at Nan with shining eyes and flushed cheeks, saying,
"To-morrow, Nan, I can see--_him!_"
"Don't look so--so awfully glad, Theo. I'm afraid something will
happen," said Nan, with a troubled expression in her eyes as she
looked at him.
"Don't you worry. I ain't a-goin' to be robbed again--you better
believe I ain't!" cried the boy. Then he glanced at his worn suit and
tried to pull down his jacket sleeves, as he added, wistfully, "D'you
think I look well enough to go there, Nan? I wanted to buy a collar
an' necktie, but, I just _couldn't_ wait any longer."
Nan's private opinion was, that if the bishop could only see Theo's
face at that moment, the garments he wore would be a matter of small
importance. She answered, quickly,
"You look plenty well enough, Theo. Don't worry about that."
She gathered up the money and put it back into the box in which it had
been kept, and the boy went across the room to the bed where the baby
lay asleep.
"Seems to me he looks kind o' peaked--don't he, Nan?" he remarked,
uneasily.
Nan cast an anxious glance at the little, thin face, and shook her
head. "He doesn't get strong as I hoped he would," she answered,
sadly.
"Oh well, he will, when it comes warmer, so he can get out doors
oftener," the boy said, as he went away to his room.
He hurried through his work the next day, closing his stand at the
earliest possible moment, and rushing home to get ready for his
visit. He always, now, kept his face and hands scrupulously clean. His
hair might have been in better condition if he had had money to buy a
comb or a brush, but those were among the luxuries that he felt he
must deny himself until he had made all the restitution in his power.
To-day, however, when he went to Nan's room for his money, she offered
him the use of her comb, and helped him reduce his rough, thick hair
to some kind of order. Even then he looked at himself somewhat
doubtfully. His suit was so shabby in spite of Nan's careful mending,
and his shoes were worse than his suit, but they were polished to the
last degree. He had exchanged a sandwich and two doughnuts for that
"shine."
"You look well enough, Theo," Nan said, "plenty well enough. Now go
on, and oh, I do _hope_ it will be all right."
"I know 'twill," cried the boy, joyously, as he tucked the money
carefully into an inside pocket. "Oh, Nan!"
He looked at her with such a happy face that her own beamed a bright
response. Then he ran off and Nan stood in the doorway watching him as
he went down the stairs, closely followed by his inseparable
companion, Tag.
"The dear boy! He is fairly pale," said Nan, to herself, as she turned
back into her room. "It is strange how he loves that bishop--and what
a different boy he is, too, since he came home. I don't see how the
bishop can help loving him. Oh, I do hope nothing will happen to
spoil his visit. He has looked forward to it so long."
The boy felt as if he were walking on air as he went rapidly through
the crowded streets, seeing nothing about him, so completely were his
thoughts occupied with the happiness before him. As he got farther up
town the crowd lessened, and when he turned into the street on which
the bishop lived, the passers-by were few.
At last he could see the house. In a few minutes he would reach
it. Then his joyous anticipations suddenly vanished and he began to be
troubled.
What if Brown wouldn't let him in, he thought, or--what if the bishop
should refuse to see him or to listen to his story?
As these thoughts came to him his eager pace slackened and for a
moment he was tempted to turn back. Only for a moment, however. He
_knew_ that the bishop would not refuse to see him, and as for
Brown, if Brown refused to admit him, he would go to the servants'
door and ask for Mrs. Martin.
So thinking, he pushed open the iron gate and went slowly up the walk.
"Stay here, Tag. Lie down, sir!" he ordered, and the dog obediently
dropped down on the steps, keeping his bright eyes fastened on his
master, as the boy rang the bell. Theo could almost hear his heart
beat as he waited. Suddenly the door swung open and there was Brown
gazing severely at him.
"Well--what do _you_ want?" questioned the man, brusquely.
"I want--Don't you know me, Brown? I want to see--Mrs. Martin."
The boy's voice was thick and husky, and somehow he could not utter
the bishop's name to Brown standing there with that cold frown on his
face.
"Oh--you want to see Mrs. Martin, do you? Well, I think you've got
cheek to come here at all after leaving the way you did," Brown
growled. He held the door so that the boy could not enter, and seemed
more than half inclined to shut it in his face.
"Oh, please, Brown, _do_ let me in," pleaded the boy, with such a
heart-broken tone in his voice, that Brown relented--he wasn't half so
gruff as he pretended to be--and answered, grudgingly,
"Well, come in, if you must, an' I'll find out if Mrs. Martin will see
you."
With a sudden gleam of joy in his eyes, Theodore slipped in.
"Come along!" Brown called over his shoulder, and the boy followed to
the housekeeper's sitting-room. The door of the room stood open, and
Mrs. Martin sat by the window with a newspaper in her hand. She
glanced up over her spectacles as Brown's tall figure appeared at the
door.
"Mrs. Martin, this boy says he wants to see you," he announced, and
then sauntered indifferently away to his own quarters.
Mrs. Martin took off her glasses as she called, "Come in, boy, and
tell me what you want."
Theo walked slowly toward her hoping that she would recognise him, but
she did not. Indeed it was a wonder that Brown had recognised him, so
different was his appearance in his rough worn clothes, from that of
the handsomely dressed lad, whose sudden departure had so grieved the
kindhearted housekeeper.
"Don't you know me, Mrs. Martin?" the boy faltered, sorrowfully, as he
paused beside her chair.
"No, I'm sure I--why! You don't mean to say that you are our deaf and
dumb boy!" exclaimed the good woman, as she peered earnestly into the
grey eyes looking down so wistfully into hers.
"Yes, I'm the bad boy you were so good to, but I've been keepin'
straight ever since I was here, Mrs. Martin," he answered,
earnestly. "I have, truly."
"Bless your dear heart, child," cried the good woman, springing up
hastily and seizing the boy's hands. "I'm sure you have. I guess
_I_ know a bad face when I see one, and it don't look like
yours. Sit down, dear, and tell me all about it."
In the fewest possible words Theo told his story, making no attempt to
excuse anything. The housekeeper listened with keen interest, asking
a question now and then, and reading in his face the confirmation of
all he said. He did not say very much about the bishop, but the few
words that he did say and the look in his eyes as he said them, showed
her what a hold upon the boy's heart her master had so unconsciously
gained, and her own interest in the friendless lad grew deeper.
When his story was told, she wiped her eyes as she said, slowly, "And
to think that you've been working all these weeks to save up that
money! Well, well, how glad the dear bishop will be! He's said all the
time that you were a good boy."
"Oh, has he?" cried Theo, his face all alight with sudden joy. "I was
afraid he'd think I was all bad when he found out how I'd cheated
him."
"No, no!" exclaimed Mrs. Martin. "He was grieved over your going off
so, and he has tried his best to find you, but you see he didn't know
where to look for you."
"Did he try to find me, Mrs. Martin? Oh, I'm so glad! And can I see
him now, please?"
The boy's voice trembled with eagerness as he spoke.
The housekeeper's kind face was full of pity and sympathy as she
exclaimed, "Why, my boy, didn't you know? The bishop is in California.
He went a week ago to stay three months."
All the glad brightness faded from the boy's face as he heard this. He
did not speak, but he turned aside, and brushed his sleeve hastily
across his eyes. Mrs. Martin laid her hand gently on his shoulder.
"I'm so sorry," she said, "and he will be too, when he knows of your
coming. I will write him all about it."
Still the boy stood silent. It seemed to him that he could not bear
it. It had not once occurred to him that the bishop might be away, and
now there was no possibility of seeing him for three long months. It
seemed an eternity to the boy. And to think that he was there--at
home--a week ago!
"If they hadn't stole that five dollars from me, I might 'a' seen him
last week," the boy said to himself, bitter thoughts of Dick Hunt
rising in his heart. At last he turned again to the housekeeper and at
the change in his face her eyes filled with quick tears.
He took from his pocket the little roll of money and held it out,
saying in a low unsteady voice, "You send it to him--an' tell
him--won't you?"
"I'll write him all about it," the housekeeper repeated, "and don't
you be discouraged, dear. He'll want to see you just as soon as he
gets home, I know he will. Tell me where you live, so I can send you
word when he comes."
In a dull, listless voice the boy gave the street and number, and she
wrote the address on a slip of paper.
"Remember, Theodore, I shall write the bishop all you have told me,
and how you are trying to find the Finney boy and to help others just
as he does," said the good woman, knowing instinctively that this
would comfort the boy in his bitter disappointment.
He brightened a little at her words but he only said, briefly,
"Yes--tell him that," and then he went sorrowfully away.
Mrs. Martin stood at the window and looked after him as he went slowly
down the street, his hands in his pockets and his eyes on the ground,
while Tag, well aware that something was wrong, trotted beside him
with drooping ears and tail.
"Tell me that that's a bad boy!" the good woman said to herself. "I
know better! I don't care what that Mr. Gibson said. I never took much
stock in Mr. Gibson myself, anyhow. He always had something to say
against anybody that the bishop took an interest in. There--I wish I'd
told Theodore that he was here only as a substitute, and had to leave
when the regular secretary was well enough to come back. I declare my
heart aches when I think of that poor little fellow's face when I told
him that the bishop was gone. Ah well, this is a world of
disappointment!" and with a sigh she turned away from the window.
Nan sat in a rocking-chair with Little Brother in her arms, when
Theodore opened her door.
"Oh Theo--what is it? What is the matter?" she cried, as she saw his
face.
He dropped wearily into a seat and told her in a few words the result
of his visit.
"Oh, I am so sorry!" she exclaimed. "And it seems so hard to think
that you would have seen the bishop if you hadn't lost that five
dollars!"