Part 34 (1/2)
The senator's son faced Link Merwell and Job Haskers, and both stared at him as if they were looking at a ghost, and backed away.
”Roger Morr!” faltered Merwell.
”Yes, Link. You didn't expect I'd follow you so soon, did you?” cried Roger. ”Now, I've got a nice account to settle with you. I want to know what you did with my suit-case, and I want to know what you mean by impersonating me.”
”I--I----” began Merwell, and then stopped, not knowing how to proceed.
”This is--er--very unfortunate,” murmured Job Haskers. He would have retired had there been any place to retire to, which there was not.
”Say, are you Roger Morr?” gasped Abe Blower, gazing fixedly at the senator's son.
”I am. And you are Abe Blower?”
”I sure am. But see here----”
”We'll explain everything in a few minutes, Mr. Blower. These fellows are swindlers! They robbed me of my suit-case and then got ahead of me, and that fellow impersonated me,” and Roger pointed to Merwell. ”We hired Mr. Dillon to bring us to you--or at least he offered to come. He knows that I am the real Roger Morr, and Maurice Harrison was my mother's brother.”
”Well, I never! But wot did they think to gain----”
”They wanted to locate the lost mine before I got here, that was their game. What they intended to do later I don't know, but probably Job Haskers was going to cook up some deal whereby our family could be kept out of the property. He is a rascal----”
”See here, Morr, I won't--er--have you--ahem!--talk about me in this----” commenced the former teacher.
”But I will talk about you!” interrupted Roger. ”You are a rascal, almost as bad as Merwell here, and you know it.”
”Yes, and we know it, don't we, Phil?” cried another voice, and Dave and Phil stepped into view.
”Porter--and Lawrence!” faltered the former teacher of Oak Hall, and he looked almost ready to drop. ”I--I----” He did not know how to finish.
”Say, I want to git the straight o' this!” burst out Abe Blower.
”This young man is givin' it to you straight, Abe,” replied Tom Dillon, pointing to Roger. ”And these are his friends--all true blue to the core. These other fellers are first-cla.s.s swindlers. They took you in good an' proper.”
”If they did, they shall suffer fer it!” roared the other miner. ”Do you know, I kinder suspected somethin' was wrong. They didn't act as open as honest folks should. An' they was in an all-fired hurry to git away from b.u.t.te and from Black Cat Camp.”
”Because they knew we were following them,” explained Dave. ”Link, I guess you had better admit that the game is up,” he went on, turning to his former schoolmate.
”Is it up?” sneered Link Merwell. ”Well, I don't know, Dave Porter. We have as much right to hunt for that lost mine as you have.”
”Oh, so that's the game, eh?” burst out Roger.
”You had no right to impersonate Roger,” a.s.serted our hero. ”He can have you arrested for that.”
”Huh, that was--er--only done for--er--fun,” faltered Link Merwell. ”And as for your old suit-case, it's on check at the Glenrose Hotel in b.u.t.te, and there's the check for it,” and he drew the bra.s.s disc from his pocket and pa.s.sed it over to the senator's son.
”Why did you take my suit-case?”
”Oh, for fun.”