“Wish I could,” answered Monty, with a warm glow in his heart. He hadn’t often had such a look of rapturous gratitude turned upon him and it gave him a most delightful sensation. “But you see we’re off by the afternoon train. Going to hurry along now till we get into camp. See you later, maybe.”
Then they were at the hotel entrance and master Tommy made haste to bestow his treasure in the safest place he knew until his brief hour of recreation should arrive and he could take it home. But how he worked that day! Even the keen-eyed proprietor could find no manner of fault with the nimble little fellow, who answered bells like a flash, so smilingly trotted about with pitchers of ice-water, and so regretfully watched the departure of the Breckenridge party from the house. And in justice to him be it said this regret was after all and most sincerely for the courteous treatment all of them had given him.
“Some folks—some folks think a bell-boy hain’t no feelings, but I might ha’ been—Why, I might ha’ been them, their own folks, so nice they all were to me;” thought the lad, watching the afternoon train bearing them all away, and secretly wiping the tears from his eyes. However, even for him, deserted as his childish heart felt then, there was comfort. The circus was coming to-morrow! It would be his day off and he had the money to pay for his ticket and one for Ma!
The train was nearing Wolfville where the travelers were to leave it for a brief visit to “Evangeline land” before proceeding to Halifax whence the campers would set out. Aunt Lucretia had checked off the various stations from her time-table and now announced:
“Better get your things together, everybody. Next stop will be ours.”
Then Montmorency Vavasour-Stark got his courage to the sticking point and went forward to where the Judge stood looking through the car door at the landscape whirling by.
“Judge Breckenridge will you do me a favor? Another one, I mean, for you’ve done a lot already.”
“Certainly, if it’s within my power.”
“It is, easy enough. I want you to take this and keep it for me. I want to actually give it away, or put it beyond my reach. I’ve been thinking it’s the boys without money that amount to something. I want to make myself poor and see if I’m worth ‘shucks’ aside from my father’s cash.”
He held out a fat pocketbook but, for a moment, the Judge did not appear to see it. He looked the lad critically over, his keen, but kindly eyes interested and yet doubtful. Then he said: