by Charles King
CHAPTER XXVIII.
_A FAILURE._
Tired though Teddy was, a long time elapsed after the conclusion of thefakirs' feast before he could close his eyes in slumber.
Now that the excitement of the party had died away, the fact that he wasa prisoner, suffered to remain outside the prison only because men ofwealth were willing to guarantee he would respond to the call of thecourt, came into his mind even more vividly than at the time of thearrest, and despite all the words of cheer which had been spoken hereally began to believe Uncle Nathan could show plausible proof of hisguilt.
Under almost any other circumstances he would have speculated upon whatshould be done with the large amount of money he had already earned, andrejoiced at the thought that he could supply his mother with what shemight need for the present, at all events.
The profits of the cane and knife boards were hardly thought of on thisnight while the one painful fact stood before him so prominently andmenacingly.
His companions had been asleep many hours before slumber visited hiseyelids, and so heavy was his heart even while in dreamland that heawoke with the first dawn of day, and aroused the others to the lastday's work they would be called upon to do at the Peach Bottom fairduring the present season.
"Why is it that you have turned out so early?" Mr. Sweet asked, in asleepy tone, rising to his feet as the only effectual method of drivingthe drowsiness from his eyelids.
"I sha'n't feel much like sleeping till I know how the case is comingout," Teddy replied, sadly.
"There is no need to worry with such friends as you have got. Put itright out of your mind until business closes to-night, for there's a bigpile of work to be done if you expect to make much money."
"I wish I could," Teddy said, with a long-drawn sigh as he aroused Timand Dan.
Half an hour later the three boys were eating what it was believed wouldbe their last meal in the very unsatisfactory boarding-house, andTeddy's place of business was the first opened on that morning.
There were no more early visitors; but the fakirs who had been presentat the feast on the evening previous gathered around, all appearingvery eager to spend money, and trade was as lively as it had been on anyother morning.
The crowd bought rings and threw them recklessly until each man hadspent considerably more than a dollar, when Teddy suddenly realized thatthis sudden passion for canes only arose from a desire to aid him. Thenhe said, decidedly:
"There's no need of you fellows doin' this. I know you want to see meout of the scrape; but I've made a lot of money already, an' don't wantto take yours."
"You can't have too much, my boy," one of them said with a laugh, "andwe want to see you go away with a pile. Trade has been boomin' for allhands, an' it would be kinder rough if we couldn't have a little fun nowthe fair is the same as over."
This did not satisfy Teddy, and he continued to expostulate against thegenerosity; but all to no purpose. The fakirs played until a sufficientnumber of visitors had arrived to warrant their opening the otherbooths, and then Tim and Teddy were left alone, Dan having started forthe exhibition building some time previous.
Until ten o'clock there was no more than work enough to keep one boymoderately busy, and Teddy experienced a deep sense of relief as Mr.Harvey came up to the stand with a cheery "good morning."
"I hear that your Uncle Nathan succeeded in carrying out his threat,"the visitor said, as if speaking about what was a very trifling matter.
"Yes, sir; an' do you think he can send me to prison?"
"Not a bit of it. You are under bail, and I venture to predict that hewill not carry it to court, for he has sufficient sense to know it mayprove a very expensive job. We sent our men to the barn on the marsheslast night."
"What did you find?" Teddy asked, eagerly.
"More than I expected. There were no goods in the building, but somehave evidently been buried there, and this fact, together with theevidence that boats have been drawn up on the shore recently, provesyour story as to what was seen when you boys followed the two men to becorrect."
"The other fellow has run away, I suppose."
"I think he is yet in the immediate vicinity, otherwise Jim would bewilling to talk."
"Have you seen him since he was arrested?"
"I have just come from the jail. I told him of the evidence we alreadyhad to connect him with the burglary, and that we should push him hardin the interest of you and Hazelton. He understands that there is anopportunity to turn State's witness, but he absolutely refuses to speakon any subject. Therefore I fancy his partner has not yet got away."
"Then there has been no good done in arresting him," Teddy said,mournfully.
"That is where you are making a mistake. I have prepared an affidavitfor you and Dan to swear to, and shall endeavor to have a warrant issuedat once charging him with burglary, so he can't give us the slip in casehe gets clear in the matter of swindling."
"Do you want Dan an' I now?"
"Yes; go after him. I will only keep you ten or fifteen minutes."
Teddy turned to go toward the exhibition buildings, but halted aninstant to ask:
"Have you seen my uncle this morning?"
"No, but I shall do so later in the day, and after we have a littleconversation I do not think he will be so eager to see you in prison."
The lawyer's confident manner had very much to do with taking the loadof sorrow from Teddy's mind, and he looked almost cheerful as he askedof the manager of the Stevens exhibit that Dan be allowed to accompanyhim, explaining the reason for making the request.
"Of course he can go," the gentleman replied, readily. "Trade won't beso good to-day but that he can be spared as well as not, and even if itwas rushing, he should have permission to leave."
When the boys were at the cane-board once more Mr. Harvey hurried themaway to the magistrate's office, and there a long document was read,which described in detail all they had seen on the day when Sam firstgave an exhibition of his skill as a detective.
They marveled not a little that the lawyer should have remembered sowell every trifling incident. Nothing, however apparently unimportant,had escaped him, and, as Dan said:
"It is written down better than if he had really been with us."
This document was sworn to and signed by both, after which Mr. Harveytold them that they might return to work, adding as he turned to Teddy:
"The man who has been arrested on your complaint will have a hearingto-morrow, and it is absolutely necessary you should be at this officeas early as nine o'clock. I don't know whether Dan will be allowed totell what he has heard Sam say regarding the matter, but he had bettercome with you."
"I'll be on hand," the young fakir replied. "Do you know when I'm to betried?"
"That case won't come up for some time in view of the evidence yourlawyer is collecting," the 'Squire said.
"Don't worry about it, for I think the real burglars will soon becaught."
"An' does Mr. Hazelton have to stay in jail all the time?"
"There is no other way out of it, since he hasn't got friends who can gobail for him."
Teddy wanted very much to ask permission to see the prisoner, butinasmuch as he was accused of being equally guilty with the fakir ithardly seemed just the proper thing to make the request, and he left theoffice, followed by Dan, who said, as they gained the open air:
"You ain't goin' to have half so much trouble as you think, Teddy.Anybody can see that even the 'Squire is on your side, although he didissue the warrant, an' the proof must be mighty strong to make any of'em believe you did anything against the old miser. But this keeps ushere on the grounds another day, doesn't it?"
"Yes, an' if Mr. Sweet packs up his tent to-night, we'll have to huntfor a place to sleep in the village."
"That don't worry me very much. I've made a good week's work out of thefair, an' can afford to spend a little money."
"I shall pay all the bills, of course," Teddy replied, quickly. "Itwouldn't be any m
ore'n right because you are goin' to stay to help me."
Dan was quite positive he would pay his own bills, and his companionequally certain he should not; but there was little chance fordiscussion, since they had arrived opposite the grand stand by thistime, and were hailed by Deacon Jones, who looked as if he consideredhimself the one important personage on the grounds as he said:
"I want both of you boys to be here at exactly two o'clock. Don't failto come, no matter how much business you may have on hand."
"What's the matter?" Teddy asked, immediately thinking some new troublethreatened him.
"There will be plenty of time for explanation after you get here," wasthe mysterious reply, and then the deacon signified that the interviewwas at an end by turning to speak with some gentlemen who had beenwatching the boys closely.
"What do you suppose is up now?" Teddy asked with a sigh, and Danreplied, mournfully:
"I'm sure I don't know," but in his own mind he was convinced that thedeacon intended to surrender the boy whose surety he had appearedwilling to become on the evening previous.
Teddy was so disturbed by dismal forebodings that Dan was very carefulto hide his suspicions, since it could do only harm to discuss them, andthe two parted, feeling as if Uncle Nathan had outwitted Mr. Harvey.
On retuning to his place of business Teddy did not have the heart towait upon the customers, and after telling Tim what had been said tohim, he added:
"I can't work; it's no use to try. There must have been something newcome up, an' I won't be able to show that I'm innocent of robbing thestore."
Dan could give him no consolation, for he also felt that matters wereapproaching a dangerous crisis, and he simply said:
"Loaf around, old fellow, an' I'll look out for the work here. Try toput it out of your mind, for things won't be made better by worryin'over 'em."
Just at this moment Teddy's mother arrived. She had heard all theparticulars concerning the arrest and subsequent release, thereforebegan at once to sympathize with her son.
"Then you know what the deacon is goin' to do?" Teddy asked.
This was something of which Mrs. Hargreaves was ignorant, but upon beingtold, appeared even more distressed than her son, thus increasinginstead of lightening his troubles.
