Howard Roger Garis

“ Following the startling announcement of the little man Dick and Gibbs, the butler, seemed paralyzed. The room was so still that the ticking of the machine on the floor sounded like an immense alarm clock. Then, as the seconds passed and the stranger stood calmly looking alternately at Dick, Gibbs, and the box, the butler, with a sudden start back to life, exclaimed:
"Jump out of the window, Master Dick! I'll attend to this lunatic!"
"I'm not a lunatic!" shouted the little man. "I'm Professor Messapatomia!"
"Jump!" shouted Gibbs to Dick. "It isn't far to the ground. ”

“ But Grit had no intentions of wasting time on Simon when his revenge was not complete. He dropped the large piece of cloth he had torn from Simon's trousers and kept on after the two other fleeing individuals.
The ragged youth was the faster runner, and the man, lagging behind, turned as if to beat off the dog. But Grit was fearless. Right at the man he sprang, and the fellow gave a yell of agony as he saw the brute launched at his throat. But Grit was not blood-thirsty. He caught the man by the lapel of his ragged coat, and, in an instant, had pulled him to the ground. ”

“ It's a big change to find somebody who will talk."
"Please don't make up a lot of silly, sensational stuff?" pleaded Dick. "I'm tired of all that. I'm no different from other fellows."
"Oh, yes, you are!" interrupted Larry with a laugh. "You have millions of money, and you'll find that makes all the difference in the world. It will gain you friends, position—in fact, almost anything. At least so they tell me," he added with another smile. "I never had a million myself. But now let's get down to business. What do you think of New York? Can you spend money here as fast as you want to?" ”

“ There's secrets, you understand, that a man don't like strangers to know."
"I understand," replied Dick, with a laugh. "But we only want to see how they get the gold out of mines."
"Oh, yes, you can see that," was the driver's answer. "But there's lots of mines nearer than the Hop Toad and the Dolphin; lots of 'em."
"Aren't those good mines?" asked Dick, anxious to get the opinion of what might be presumed to be an unprejudiced observer.
"Well, so folks say," was the cautious answer. "All mines is good—until they're found out to be bad. I guess they're getting gold out of both mines. ”

“ Hamilton knew several families.
"Perhaps you'd like to take a look about the house," suggested Mr. Hamilton, after a pause "I've been putting in some improvements lately, and enlarging the conservatory. Dick will show you around."
"What? Tramp through the house just to look at it? I don't believe in doing that," replied Uncle Ezra, firmly. "Things wear out fast enough as it is without using them when it isn't necessary. No use walking on the best carpets when there isn't a need for it. Besides, I don't believe in spending money on a house when it's good enough. ”

“ We rise at a certain hour, and we have our meals at certain hours. Folks that come to see us have to do as we do or they don't get any meals. I hope you understand that."
"Yes, sir," replied Dick, his heart sinking down deeper than ever. It was worse than he had thought. Still the idea of a meal, after his long ride, seemed good.
Mr. Larabee's fine country home was considered one of the best places in that part of the state. There was not a crooked fence on it, the gravel walks were as trim as though no one had ever stepped on their surface, and the grass was always cut to a certain length. ”

“ Hamilton.
"And when he smiles he looks like—a cat," went on Dick.
"I can't say that I fancy his looks," agreed the millionaire, with a chuckle. "But I don't do business on looks. I go by facts."
"Is this mining stock good?"
"I think so. I wrote to some men in Yazoo City and I made other investigations, so that I think it as safe an investment as any are in these days. Of course, nothing is a sure thing in this world, but I believe this Hop Toad Mine has one of the richest veins of ore of any mine in that vicinity."
"Then I'm going to invest some of my money in a gold mine," decided Dick. ”

“ Instead he hurriedly gathered up his papers and fairly raced from the room.
"Is he—is he a swindler?" asked Dick, faintly.
"One of the slickest in New York," was the answer. "His game is to sell fake bonds in companies that never existed, though some of them are legally organized. Once in a while, just to fool the police, he deals in regular stocks, but the kind he usually sells are fake ones. I'm the hotel detective," the man went on. "We have to be always on the lookout for such chaps as he is, especially when we have young millionaires stopping at the house," and he smiled at Dick. ”

“ Then you shall have the check book, Dick. But there is another matter," and Mr. Hamilton turned to the second page of the document in his hand.
Dick's heart sank. Perhaps, after all, he was not to have the wealth with which his imagination was already building fairy castles in the air.
"In case you fail to make this paying investment," went on Mr. Hamilton, "not only do you lose control of the money for a long time, but you have to undergo a sort of penance. It is this. You will have to go and live with your Uncle Ezra Larabee at Dankville—"
"Uncle Ezra!" exclaimed Dick, and his face fell. ”

“ But one thing I can't tell you to a certainty is that it came from the Hop Toad or Dolphin mine. You see we assayers have to take the word of the miners as to where the ore comes from. All we do is to make a test, and, by finding out how much gold there is to a certain amount of ore, figure out how much it will assay to a ton of the same ore. That's the basis on which mines are valued."
"I can assure you that this ore we have came from the Dolphin and Hop Toad mines," said Dick. "We saw it taken out."
"Seeing isn't always believing, when it comes to mines," replied the assayer. ”

“ But Smith had no such intentions. Making a sort of megaphone of his hands, he shouted up the shaft:
"Nash! Nash! Stop the engine! Don't hoist the bucket! We're not in it!"
But the engineer at the mouth of the shaft never heard him. Higher and higher went the bucket, carrying the boys. They looked up the black opening and could see the moon shining overhead.
"Lucky escape!" murmured Dick. "I wonder how that bucket came to go up just when we needed it most?" ”

“ Dick put in several notices that afternoon, offering to pay a reward of a hundred dollars for the return of Grit.
"Now we'll have to wait," said the millionaire. "Never mind, Dick; if Grit is gone you can get another dog," for Mr. Hamilton was as fond of animals as was his son.
"There'll never be another Grit," answered Dick, sorrowfully.
Meanwhile, Grit was being led across the country fields which stretched out back of the Hamilton mansion.
"I've got to keep off the roads," muttered the youth who had hold of the leash. "There's too many people as knows a dorg like this. ”

“ You see his bones stick out like so many points."
"They do, for a fact," and Dick looked at the horse, that presented more angles than he had ever before imagined a horse possessed.
"There's one consolation," went on Henry. "He's cheap, but there's another disadvantage, he looks it. So does the wagon. Whenever I start away from home to collect old metal I always tell dad not to worry if I don't get back that night. There's no telling which will break down first—the horse or the wagon. It's like taking a voyage in a sailing ship, no telling when you'll arrive. ”

“ Hamilton's wealth, and, as he employed many men in the various industries, which he controlled or was interested in, he was regarded as the most important man in the place.
But this did not make him overbearing in character. In fact, he was a very kind man, always ready to help the poor, and as he had begun as a poor boy and made his money by hard work, he had a great sympathy for those not so well off in this world's goods.
Dick took after his father. Though surrounded by wealth all his life, and accustomed to luxury, he was a lad of democratic spirit. ”

“ Do youse want a cop to put you out? He don't know no better, mister," she said, turning to Dick. "He didn't mean nothin'. Johnny, do you hear me? Come off that grass right away, or the man will have youse arrested."
"No, no! Nothing of the sort!" exclaimed Dick, with a laugh. "You can eat the grass if you want to. Do just as you please. There isn't a policeman within twenty miles."
Then there was a mad rush over the big lawn that led up to Sunnyside. The children yelled, laughed, shouted, and fairly tumbled over each other in the very joy of being in the country. ”

“ Don't say anything about this bond business to any other reporters."
"I'm not likely to, unless they ask me to," replied Dick. "But why?"
"Because I want to get a beat out of it."
"A beat?" inquired "Bricktop," while the other boys looked puzzled.
"Yes. An exclusive story. I don't want the reporters for any other papers to get hold of it. If I have it all alone in the Leader it will be a feather in my cap. News that no other paper has is the very best kind."
"Gilt-edged, I suppose," put in Dick.
"That's it," replied Larry quickly. "Now don't tell any other reporters, will you?" ”

“ Hamilton said by way of reproof. "No, I've no objection to you going to New York. Hire the car you wish, and be sure they supply a good driver. You're not quite capable of managing one of those ponderous machines yet. But be careful. Don't go to buying any gold bricks," and he laughed.
"No danger," replied Dick. "I've cut my eye teeth."
It was arranged that they should start in three days. Dick engaged the largest and finest car in the garage of a neighboring city, and told his friends to get ready.
"Are you going?" asked Guy of Simon, the day before that set for the trip. ”

“ You're Richard, do you hear?"
"Yes, sir," answered Dick, meekly enough, though there was an angry light in his eyes.
"Now, then, Richard, you've come to visit us for a certain purpose," went on his uncle. "What it is we needn't discuss now. The train was a little ahead of time or I'd been here sooner." Mr. Larabee did not seem to think that he might be a little late. "I always make it a point to be on time," he added. "Now, jump in. Your aunt has a meal ready and she musn't be kept waiting. I want you to understand from the start that everything is done on time in my house. ”

“ Perhaps if he had asked Simon Scardale that question that youth might have been confused, but Dick never thought of it.
"It certainly is very unpleasant notoriety," remarked Mr. Hamilton, "but you'll have to put up with it. You are a sort of ward of the public now, and the newspapers think they have a proprietary interest in you. I have been through it all, and so has nearly every other person of wealth. The best way is to pay no attention to it, and to treat with courtesy any newspaper men who may wish to interview you. ”

“ I intend to do some investing sooner or later; but I'm going to begin small. A hundred thousand is a little too large for me just yet."
"I was afraid so," replied Colonel Dendon, with a queer smile. "Well, I must be going. I'm a very busy man."
He turned as if about to leave the room, and then he suddenly seemed to remember something.
"Now I think of it, I have a few securities that I might let your friend have as a favor to you," he said, addressing Simon. "They are mining stocks. I took them from a man who failed, and I know they are valuable. ”

“ Then all you have to do is to take your pole and line and catch all the fish you want."
"Fish!" repeated Dick, somewhat in a daze. He had expected the house to be half-blown apart, yet the machine only scattered harmless pieces of paper about.
"Fish, of course," replied the professor. "What did you think this was?"
"Aren't you an Anarchist, and isn't that an infernal machine?" demanded Gibbs, wiping away some of the water he had accidentally spilled over his head when the professor knocked up his arm.
"Anarchist? Infernal machine?" ”

“ I—"
"Yes, and you refused because you're afraid!" retorted Guy.
"That's where you're wrong," replied Dick coolly. "I refused because, in the first place, I don't play billiards in a public resort like this. I like the game, but I have a fine table at home, and I see no reason why I should waste my time hanging around in a place that's thick with tobacco smoke, and where the language isn't the most polite, not to put it too strong. Besides, the tables are in such poor condition that—"
"Oh, so you've turned Miss Nancy!" exclaimed Simon, with a mean smirk. ”

“ In fact, I have bad news for you."
"Bad news?"
"Yes, I have just learned that they are going to put a fertilizer factory up on the property adjoining that which you bought, and yours will be valueless to sell for building lots. No one will want to live next to a fertilizer factory."
"Then it means—" faltered Dick.
"It means that your investment hasn't turned out well," went on the agent. "In fact, your land is worth less than half what you paid for it." ”

“ Dick had generously arranged so that no boy or girl need pay, and hundreds of those in Hamilton Corners, as well as those in the surrounding suburbs, besides the orphans, saw the show free.
Dick wanted to go off with some of his chums and view the performance, but the head matron of the asylum asked him to sit with her in the midst of her little charges.
"They want to see you," she explained. "They think you own the circus, and that you are the most wonderful person in the world." ”

“ I congratulate you," and he shook hands rather stiffly.
"Well, who would have thought it?" gasped Dick, hardly able to believe his good fortune. "I never gave that investment a thought—in fact, I never considered it an investment, Henry."
"It was, all the same, and I'm glad I am able to do you a favor, for you did me a mighty good turn. The old metal business is in fine shape, and I have more than I can attend to."
"Yes, we must be going, I have a big scheme on hand," put in Mr. Darby. "A very big scheme, there are enormous possibilities in it. Enormous, sir!" ”