"A young man to see you, Mr. Davis," said Bridget, entering the breakfast-room.

"Who is it?"

"I think it's young Robert Rushton, but he's much grown entirely."

"That boy home again!" exclaimed the superintendent, in displeased surprise. "Well, you may ask him into the next room."

"Good-morning, Mr. Davis," said Robert, as the superintendent entered.

"Good-morning. When did you get home?" was the cold reply.

"Last evening."

"Where have you been?"

"To Calcutta."

"On a fool's errand."

"I felt it my duty to search for my father."

"I could have told you beforehand you would not succeed. Did you go as a sailor?"

"No."

"Where did you raise money to pay your expenses?"

"I found friends who helped me."

"It is a poor policy for a boy to live on charity."

"I never intend to do it," said Robert, firmly. "But I would rather do it than live on money that did not belong to me."

"What do you mean by that, sir?" said the superintendent, suspiciously.

"It was a general remark," said Robert.

"May I ask what is your motive in calling upon me?" asked Mr. Davis. "I suppose you have some object."

"I have, and I think you can guess it."

"I am not good at guessing," said Davis, haughtily.

"Then I will not put you to that trouble. You remember, before I sailed for Calcutta, I called here and asked you to restore the sum of five thousand dollars deposited with you by my father?"

"I remember it, and at the time I stigmatized the claim as a fraudulent one. No such sum was ever deposited with me by your father."

"How can you say that, when my father expressly stated it in the letter, written by him, from the boat in which he was drifting about on the ocean?"

"I have no proof that the letter was genuine, and even if it were, I deny the claim. I am not responsible for money I never received."

"I understand you then refuse to pay the money?"

"You would have understood it long ago, if you had not been uncommonly thick-headed," sneered the superintendent. "Let this be the end of it.

When you present my note of acknowledgment for the amount, I will pay it and not before."

"That is all I ask," said Robert.

"What?" demanded the superintendent.

"I mean that this a.s.surance is all I want. The note shall be presented to you in the course of the day."

"What do you mean?" asked Davis, startled.

"I mean this, Mr. Davis: that I found my father in Calcutta. He came home with me, and, far from having perished at sea, is now alive and well. He has with him your note for five thousand dollars, and will present it in person."

"You are deceiving me!" exclaimed Davis, in consternation.

"You will soon learn whether I am deceiving you or not," said Robert. "I will now bid you good-morning. My father will call upon you in the course of the day."

He rose to go, leaving the superintendent thunderstruck at the intelligence of Captain Rushton's return. The five thousand dollars, with arrears of interest, would take the greater part of the money whose sudden acquisition had so elated him. While he was considering the situation, his wife entered.

"I think, Mr. Davis," she said, "I will go to New York to-day to buy carpeting, if you can spare the money."

"Neither now nor at any other time," he roared, savagely; "the old carpet must do."

"Why, then, did you tell me fifteen minutes since that I might buy one?

What do you mean by such trifling, Mr. Davis?" said his wife, her eyes flashing.

"I mean what I say. I've changed my mind. I can't afford to buy a new carpet."

There was a stormy scene between man and wife, which may be pa.s.sed over in silence. It ended with a fit of hysterics on the part of Mrs. Davis, while her husband put on his hat and walked gloomily over to the factory. Here he soon received a call from Halbert, who informed him, with great elation, that Mr. Paine knew of a desirable pony which could be had on the same terms as his son's.

"I've changed my mind," said his father. "A pony will cost too much money."

All Halbert's entreaties were unavailing, and he finally left his father's presence in a very unfilial frame of mind.

CHAPTER x.x.xV.

CONCLUSION.

The arrival of Captain Rushton, confidently supposed to be dead, produced a great sensation in Millville, and many were the congratulatory visits received at the little cottage. Mrs. Rushton was doubly happy at the unexpected return of her husband and son, and felt for the first time in her life perfectly happy. She cared little for poverty or riches, as long as she had regained her chief treasures.

When Captain Rushton called upon the superintendent, the latter received him with embarra.s.sment, knowing that the captain was aware of his intended dishonesty. He tried to evade immediate payment, but on this point his creditor was peremptory. He had no further confidence in Mr.