“Well, my boy, you haven't told me your name yet.”
“Clarence, sir.”
“So Susy calls you, but what else?”
“Clarence Brant.”
“Any relation to Colonel Brant?” asked the second man carelessly.
“He was my father,” said the boy, brightening under this faint prospect of recognition in his loneliness.
The two men glanced at each other. The leader looked at the boy curiously, and said,—
“Are you the son of Colonel Brant, of Louisville?”
“Yes, sir,” said the boy, with a dim stirring of uneasiness in his heart. “But he's dead now,” he added finally.
“Ah, when did he die?” said the man quickly.