Part 61 (2/2)

”Gracious, this is style!” murmured the youth, as he began to disrobe.

”I wonder if I will ever own anything as nice?”

On the walls were a number of steel engravings and etchings, and on the mantel rested a large photograph of a handsome, middle-aged lady.

Hal gazed at the portrait for fully five minutes. The features were so motherly they appealed to his heart.

”It must be a picture of the late Mrs. Sumner,” he thought. ”What a good woman she must have been! No wonder Mr. Sumner and Miss Laura miss her.”

And then, as he thought of his own condition--that of a mere poor-house foundling--his eyes grew moist.

”How I wish I had known a mother, and that she was like her,” was his soliloquy. ”Or that I had a father like kind Mr. Sumner--and such a girl like Miss Laura for a sister,” he added, suddenly, and then he blushed.

His mind presently turned back to the missing tin box, and thinking over this, he soon fell asleep.

He was up bright and early. When he went down to the library he found Laura Sumner there, and the old broker soon joined them.

A hasty breakfast was had, livened by the bright conversation of Laura, who was of a vivacious turn of mind, and then Mr. Sumner and Hal hurried off to police headquarters.

Their quest was soon explained to the officer in charge, and two men were detailed to accompany them to the old mansion up on the Jerome Avenue road.

It had stopped snowing, and the early morning sun made everything glisten. A large sleigh was procured, and one of the policemen and Hal mounted the box and off they drove.

It was twenty minutes to eight when the vicinity of the old Flack mansion was reached. The sleigh was driven around a bend and into a clump of trees, and then the party dismounted.

”I'll go ahead, and see if anybody is around,” said Hal. ”If it's all right I'll wave a handkerchief from one of the windows.”

The youth was somewhat excited. Supposing Macklin had made up the story of the meeting between Hardwick and Allen? Such a thing was possible.

”But no, he wouldn't dare,” thought Hal. ”He is thoroughly scared, and wants to gain our good graces by giving the others away.”

The deserted mansion was in a dilapidated condition. More than half the shutters were gone, and the front door stood wide open.

Sneaking up along an old hedge, Hal gained the half-tumbled-down piazza and glided swiftly into the hall, now more than quarter filled with snow, which the sharp wind had driven in.

”Certainly a cheerless place,” he thought. ”But I suppose they thought no one would come here, and so they would be free from interruption.”

He entered the parlor of the house, and then walked through to the dining-room, the library, and then the kitchen. Nothing was disturbed, and the smooth snow, wherever it had drifted in, did not show the first sign of a footstep.

”Good! I am in plenty of time,” said Hal to himself. ”I must tramp around a bit, and then bind myself up as best I can.”

He waved his handkerchief out of one of the windows and then proceeded to tie his feet together.

He had just finished the work, when Horace Sumner and two officers rushed in.

”They are coming!” exclaimed the old broker. ”There are Allen, Hardwick, and two strangers.”

”The strangers must be Parsons and Samuels,” said Hal. ”Here, bind my hands, and shove me into the closet, and then hide.”

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