Luke Walton

When Luke reached the house on Prairie Avenue he was about to ring the bell when Harold Tracy opened the door.

"You here again!" he said, in a tone of displeasure. "Weren't you here this morning?"

"Yes."

"Did Aunt Eliza ask you to come this afternoon?"

"No."

"Then what brings you?"

"Business," answered Luke, curtly, and he quietly entered the hall, and said to a servant who was passing through, "Will you be kind enough to ask Mrs. Merton if she will see me?"

"Well, you're cheeky!" ejaculated Harold, who had in tended to keep him out.

"As long as Mrs. Merton doesn't think so, I shall not trouble myself," said Luke, coldly.

"Sooner or later Aunt Eliza will see you in your true colors," said Harold, provoked.

"I think she does now."

At this moment the servant returned.

"You are to go upstairs," she said. "Mrs. Merton will see you."

The old lady was sitting back in an easy-chair when Luke entered. She smiled pleasantly.

"This is an unexpected pleasure," she said, "this after-noon call."

"I will tell you at once what brought me, Mrs. Merton."

"It isn't sickness at home, I hope?"

"No, I came for a comparative stranger."

Then Luke told the story of Ambrose Kean, his sudden yielding to temptation, his repentance and remorse.

"I am interested in your friend," said Mrs. Merton. "You say he appropriated fifty dollars?"

"Yes, but it was to help his mother."

"True, but it was a dangerous step to take. It won't be considered a valid excuse."

"He realizes all that. His employer is a just but strict man, and if the theft is discovered Kean will be arrested, and, of course, convicted."

"And you think I will help him? Is that why you have come to me with this story?"

"I don't think I would have done so if he had not mentioned you as an old friend and schoolmate of his mother."

"What's that?" added Mrs. Merton, quickly. "His mother an old schoolmate of mine?"

"That is what he says."

"What was her name before marriage?"

"Mary Robinson."

"You don't say so!" Mrs. Merton exclaimed with vivacity. "Why, Mary was my favorite at school. And this young man is her son?

"I would have helped him without knowing this, but now I won't hesitate a moment. Mary's boy! You must bring him here. I want to question him about her."

"I can tell you something about her. She lost her money by investing in a California mine – I think it was the Excelsior Mine."

"She, too?"

Luke looked surprised. He did not understand the meaning of this exclamation.

"I have a thousand shares of that worthless stock myself," continued the old lady. "It cost me two thousand dollars, and now it is worth nothing."

"The one who introduced the stock was a Mr. Browning, of Milwaukee."

"I know. He was an unscrupulous knave, I have no doubt. I could afford the loss, but hundreds invested, like poor Mary, who were ruined. Is the man living, do you know?"

"Yes, he is living in Milwaukee. He is rich, and is prominently spoken of as a candidate for mayor."

"If he is ever a candidate I will take care that his connection with this swindling transaction is made known. A man who builds up a fortune on the losses of the poor is a contemptible wretch, in my opinion."

"And mine, too," said Luke. "It is very strange that he answers the description of a man who cheated our family out of ten thousand dollars."

"Indeed! How was that?"

Luke told the story, and Mrs. Merton listened with great interest.

"So all corresponds except the name?"

"Yes."

"He may have changed his name."

"I have thought of that. I mean to find out some time."

"I won't keep you any longer. Your friend is, no doubt, in great anxiety. I have the money here in bills. I will give them to you for him."

Mrs. Merton was in the act of handing a roll of bills to Luke when the door opened suddenly, and Mrs. Tracy entered.

She frowned in surprise and displeasure when she saw her aunt giving money to "that boy," as she contemptuously called him.

CHAPTER XXII