The Adventures of a Country Boy at a Country Fair Part 28

"Why didn't you bring this out before, an' then, perhaps, the business would 'a' looked different?" Jim growled, as he drank long and deep; "but it won't make any difference about my goin' up the creek."

"That's all right; I'm satisfied."

As the two men began to drink a great hope sprang up in Sam's heart that they would become so stupefied by the liquor that he might make his escape. They had not thought it necessary to replace the bonds which had cost him so much suffering, and at the first signs of unconsciousness he resolved to make one dash for liberty, either by taking to the boat, or attempting to make his way toward the fair grounds on that side of the creek.

There was no such good fortune in store for the prisoner, however. The men drank themselves into the most friendly humor, and then the supply of liquor was exhausted.

After advising Jim not to start until sunset, Phil lay down to sleep, and Sam thought it wise to feign slumber also, lest the wakeful burglar should take it into his head to administer the promised flogging in order to pa.s.s the time more agreeably.

CHAPTER XXII.

_A DISASTER._

Teddy was decidedly uncomfortable in mind after Uncle Nathan departed.

By a combination of circ.u.mstances which could not well have been avoided, he had been made to appear as a confederate of Hazelton, and if all the facts concerning his relations with the fakir should become known public opinion would he against him.

He did not allow these forebodings to interfere with business, however.

Customers were plenty; the nickels were coming in as rapidly as he could make change, and Tim had no hesitancy in saying that Mr. Sweet had set their receipts of one day considerably too low.

"We've done twice as much as we did yesterday at this time, an' I'm countin' on gettin' twelve or fifteen dollars as my share of this day's work."

"It looks as though you wouldn't be disappointed, and that's a fact. I wish I knew where we could get a few more canes, for we've lost quite a good many this morning."

"There's no time to go to Waterville; but we can shorten the board by putting the uprights closer together, an' that'll make the layout look all right. Here comes your mother, an' if you want to go off with her I'll promise to keep things goin' here."

That was exactly what Teddy did want to do. He felt that it was necessary she should know the true condition of affairs, and he could not talk with her confidentially near the cane-board, therefore when she came up he proposed that they walk toward the grand stand, where the Waterville band was doing its best to put in the shade the performances of the musicians from the Run.

"You are looking worried, Teddy," Mrs. Hargreaves said, as they moved away in the proposed direction. "What is the matter? Isn't business as good as you expected?"

"It is a great deal better; but Uncle Nathan has been here again, and this time I'm afraid it is in his power to do me some harm."

Then Teddy told his mother all that had happened, explaining in detail the suspicions which might be aroused against him, and she was quite as disturbed as he when the recital was finished.

"I will talk with him myself," she said, after some thought.

"Don't do anything of the kind, for then he will be worse than ever, thinking he can frighten me into giving half of all I have made, and that I won't do, no matter how many warrants he gets out."

"But Teddy, don't you think----"

Mrs. Hargreaves was interrupted by a cry from a half-intoxicated man who halted directly in front of the young fakir, and shouted to some of his companions in the rear:

"Here he is! This is the sneak who helped take that jewelry swindler's money away. I saw him then, an' can swear to his face."

As a matter of course the tone as well as the words was sufficient to attract a crowd in this place where the throng was so dense that one could only make his way from one portion of the grounds to the other with the greatest difficulty, and for a moment, while Teddy stood unable to decide what should be said or done, every person looked at him threateningly.

"His partner has been arrested, an' we'll serve him in the same way,"

the man continued, as he advanced toward the boy.

"Why do you want to talk to me like that?" Teddy cried, looking around in vain for a friend. "There are plenty of people here who know me, for I live down at the Run, an' never swindled anybody."

"That's a lie!" the man replied, fiercely, seizing the boy by the collar.

"It's the truth!" Mrs. Hargreaves cried. "I'm his mother, and we have lived at the Run ever since he was born. Deacon Jones is our neighbor, and he can answer for the truth of it."

[Ill.u.s.tration: "I tell you to let go of him. He is an acquaintance"]

"I'll see whether he can or not," and the bully was about to drag Teddy away, aided by his half-intoxicated friend, when a familiar voice from the outskirts of the crowd cried:

"Hold on there! What are you about?"

"I've caught the feller what sneaked away the jewelry swindler's money, an' am goin' to put him with his partner."

"You are going to take your hand off his collar this instant, or get yourself into trouble," and the merchant from Waterville forced his way through the throng until he stood by Teddy's side.

"Is that you, Mr. Reaves?" the bully asked, in surprise. "Well, you don't want to interfere in this business, for the boy is a bad one all the way through. He was deep enough to get the best of us yesterday; but he won't be so lucky now."

"I tell you to let go of him. He is an acquaintance of mine whom I would trust a good deal sooner than some whom I see now."

"But you are makin' a big mistake, Mr. Reaves, for I saw him makin' off with the valise where our money had been put."

It was evident the bully had considerable respect for the merchant, for he released his hold on Teddy; but was determined that the boy's alleged character should be made known to all in the vicinity.

"I happen to know all about that affair," Mr. Reaves replied, as he led Teddy and his mother out of the throng, "and if you want the full particulars of the affair come to my store when you are more sober than now."

A very large number of those present were acquainted with the merchant, and for the majority his statement was sufficient to absolve Teddy of wrongdoing; but a few, among whom were the intoxicated party and his friends, vowed to sift the matter more thoroughly before the fair came to an end.

Mrs. Hargreaves was terribly excited, and at once insisted that Teddy should go home with her immediately, regardless of how much money he was making; but Mr. Reaves said in a matter-of-fact tone, as if such incidents were of everyday occurrence:

"It would be foolish for him to do that, more especially since it would be a tacit acknowledgment of guilt, and, besides, his business here is too valuable to be abandoned simply because a drunken rowdy chooses to make trouble. I was on my way to see him; I have found a lawyer who will under-take Hazelton's case, and he can at the same time give Teddy some good advice."

Then the merchant introduced Mr. Harvey as the most prominent attorney in the county, and, offering Mrs. Hargreaves his arm, added:

"We will go toward the cane-board, and give them an opportunity to talk.

"There is a great deal to be said which cannot interest us, and when they are done we shall be readily found."

The widow could do no less than comply, and as soon as they were comparatively alone the lawyer said to Teddy:

"Now, I want you to begin and tell me the whole story from the time your money was stolen until this minute. Don't omit any particulars because you may chance to think they are not important; but give every detail, and thus I shall be made acquainted with your own case as well as that of Hazelton."

Teddy obeyed this command to the letter. He dwelt upon the most minute transaction or trifling movement at sufficient length to give the listener a clear idea of all that had happened, and laid bare his own business affairs, even to the extent of making the lawyer acquainted with the amount of receipts each day.

"I don't suppose it makes any difference what I think," he said, in conclusion; "but I am almost certain Mr. Hazelton did not have anything to do with the robbery, and even if I had suspected him, that which Dan and I heard while we were in the museum tent would have convinced me that the men whom we saw on the creek are the thieves."

"I believe as you do, my boy, and will send a man to the barn you speak of this very night, although so much time has now elapsed that I have no hope of finding anything criminating. However, regardless of what may happen, I believe we can show that the fakir was not the guilty party, and, to guard against a possible attack by your uncle, it will be necessary to know exactly where we can get bail in case you should be arrested."