“Speaking of me?”
“Sure.”
“Then you had not forgotten me?”
“Forgotten you?” came reproachfully from Frank—“you should know I am not the kind of fellow to forget my friends.”
“That’s right,” nodded Bart, quickly; “you always did stick to your friends through thick and thin.”
“Yes, through thick and thin, old chum.”
“But it is most astonishing to see you away out here in this part of the country. Where did you drop from?”
“Oh, we are on a little run across the country,” smiled Merry. “We started from New York, and we’re bound for San Francisco. Permit me to introduce my friends.”
Then he presented the others of the party in turn, and Bart shook hands with them all, expressing his satisfaction at meeting them, but seeming rather reserved and uneasy. Frank observed that Hodge turned his head to glance down the road now and then as if expecting the appearance of some one or something.
“So you’re Hart Bodge—I mean Bart Hodge?” said Harry, as he was introduced. “Well, I’m glad to know you. Merry has talked about you ever since I first met him at Yale. He has told everything about you.”