“Come up to the house with me,” he said, rising.
Jack followed him to the house, where the Judge opened his desk and took out a red-backed memorandum-book, and dictated while Jack copied in his own handwriting the description of a piece of land on a slip of paper.
“If you go over to school, to-morrow, an hour earlier than usual,” he said, “call at the county clerk’s office, show him your memorandum, and find out in whose name that land stands. It is timber-land five miles back, and worth five hundred dollars. When you get the name of the owner, you will know what to do; if not, you can ask me, but you’d better not mention my name to anybody in this matter.”
Jack thanked Mr. Kane, but left him feeling puzzled. In fact, the farmer-judge seemed to like to puzzle people, or at least he never told anything more than was necessary.
The next morning, the boys were off early to Port William. Jack wondered if the land might belong to his father, but then he was sure his father never had any land in Kentucky. Or, was it the property of some dead uncle or cousin, and was he to find a fortune, like the hero of a cheap story? But when the county clerk, whose office it is to register deeds in that county, took the little piece of paper, and after scanning it, took down some great deed-books and mortgage-books, and turned the pages awhile, and then wrote “Francis Gray, owner, no incumbrance,” on the same slip with the description, Jack had the key to Mr. Kane’s puzzle.
It was now Thursday forenoon, and Jack was eager on all accounts to get home, especially to see the lawyer in charge of his father’s claim against Mr. Gray. So the next day at noon, as there was nothing left but the closing exercises, the three boys were excused, and bade good-bye to their teacher and school-mates, and rowed back to their own side of the river. They soon had the skiff loaded, for all three were eager to see the folks at Greenbank. Jack’s mother had been at home more than a week, and he was the most impatient of the three. But they could not leave without a good-bye to Judge Kane and his wife, to which good-bye they added a profusion of bashful boyish thanks for kindness received. The Judge walked to the boat-landing with them. Jack began to tell him about the land.
“Don’t say anything about it to me, nor to anybody else but your lawyer,” said Mr. Kane; “and do not mention my name. You may say to your lawyer that the land has just changed hands, and the matter must be attended to soon. It won’t stand exposed in that way long.”
When the boys were in the boat ready to start, Mr. Kane said to Bob:
“You wouldn’t mind working for me this summer at the regular price?”
“I’d like to,” said Bob.