"It isn't exactly my trouble, Uncle Barney. It's somebody else's," went on the oldest Rover boy. "A young lady I know is very much worried over something, and she has asked me if I can't do something to help her get rid of that worry."
"Must be some young lady you know pretty well, then, Jack;" and the old lumberman smiled again.
"I do know her quite well. And I think a great deal of her friendship. Her folks have some trouble on hand—quite a good deal of it in fact—and it worries the girl a good deal, and that, of course, worries me. You see, there has been a terrible mistake made, and neither the girl nor her folks know how to get at it to remedy it."
"I see—I see!" The old lumberman nodded his head several times. "That's the way it is often. Things get into a snarl, and a fellow can't see his way clear to straighten 'em out. I've been there myself, and I know."
"This young lady I'm speaking about has an old relative—a sort of uncle—that she thinks a great deal of. Her folks think a great deal of this gentleman, too. Now, years ago, her folks and the old gentleman had a quarrel, and now the old gentleman won't let her come anywhere near him, even though she would love dearly to talk to him and try to explain matters, so that he would understand that it was not her folks' fault that the quarrel had taken place."
"See here! what are you talking about?" exclaimed Uncle Barney, eyeing Jack suspiciously. "Come now, no beating about the bush!"
"Well, if you must know, I'm speaking about Ruth Stevenson, who goes to a young ladies' school not far from Colby Hall. She and I are very good friends, and she has told me a good deal about this quarrel you had with her father."
"It was Fred Stevenson's fault—it wasn't my fault!" grumbled the old lumberman.
"Maybe it was, Uncle Barney. I don't know anything about that. But I do know that Ruth has told me that her father never wanted nor tried to do you any injury. He claims that it was all a mistake, and that you should have given him a chance to explain."
"It wasn't any mistake—I know just exactly what happened!"