Such and similar were the questions that rushed through the brain of Harvey as he held converse with the young woman. While by no means ready to give up hope, he felt that the outlook for his friend could not well be much darker.
Since his caller had nothing further of importance to impart, she bade him good-night and thanked him for the liberal tip he gave her.
“I’ll say nothing to your father of what you have told me,” he promised, as she rose to go.
“You can tell him all you wanter; I don’t care what paw thinks about it.”
“There is no need of disclosing anything and I don’t believe he wishes to talk with me after our spat this evening in the dining-room.”
The night was unusually chilly for the season, but the sky showed signs of clearing. Harvey was hopeful that the morrow would be pleasant, although the country which he had entered lies so far north and is so elevated that he found a marked difference between its temperature and that of his own home. It was on the edge of the Adirondack region famous throughout the Union, and so great an attraction that some of its annual visitors come from across the ocean.
His plan was to go to the headquarters of Professor Morgan, tell Bunk the real situation and compel him to return to his home in New Jersey. The actual problem he would have to face was the inventor, who was likely to interpose and probably forbid any action of the kind.
“I am glad I brought my revolver,” reflected the youth, as he lay in bed waiting for slumber to close his eyelids; “I pray that I shall never have to use it, but it may prove the only means of saving Bunk and perhaps myself.”
When he awoke in the morning he was delighted to find that the day was an ideal one. The sun was shining brightly, the sky was free of clouds and the air mild, but with the crispness peculiar to that remarkable section of our country. The landlord did not appear at the breakfast table, but remained in his office smoking a big briarwood pipe, from which fact Harvey decided that he had already broken fast. His daughter Ann did the honors, and the remembrance of the tip of the night before made her do her best to please the guest. When she had set down a plate of hot griddlecakes and a cup of steaming coffee, she said:
“Professor Morgan was here last night when you and me was talking up-stairs.”