Then he turned away to eat his breakfast.
When Frank left that morning the old engineer was sleeping, having eaten some gruel which little Jack had prepared for him.
Frank’s heart was not as light as it might have been when he went to work, for he could not help thinking of the secret the blind girl had revealed to him, and he pitied her.
Frank was put on with an engineer by the name of Hank Slattery. It happened that Slattery was almost the only friend old Joe Hicks had on the road. He scowled blackly at Frank, but said nothing at first. When they had hitched on and pulled out, Slattery observed:
“So you’re the chap that kicked Joe Hicks out of a job, are ye?”
“No, sir, I am not,” was the reply.
“What? Why, your name’s Merriwell?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then you’re the one. No use denyin’ it.”
“I do deny it, for it isn’t true. I never kicked any man out of a job. Old Joe had no one but himself to blame. If he had treated me right, it would have been all right.”