CHAPTER IX
THE MYSTERIOUS MEN
There was no help for it. Dan could not make the Randalls take the medicine, though he knew when he got back to Mr. Savage, he would be blamed for their failure to keep it.
“Come on in and shut the door, Sam,” commanded the woman sharply. “First thing you know you’ll catch cold, and then you’ll have to take medicine.”
“If he does I hope I don’t have to bring it,” thought Dan.
“Good night,” said Mr. Randall, as he closed the door and locked it. Overhead Mrs. Randall slammed down the window.
“And they didn’t even say thank you,” mused Dan as he put the bottle into his pocket and mounted Bess.
Certainly it was a very mean way to treat him, for he had done his best. He was glad that Mrs. Randall had recovered, but he knew Mr. Savage would think less of that than the fact that he had spent a dollar for medicine, and was not likely to get it back.
“Maybe he’ll keep the bottle for himself,” thought Dan. “In that case he’ll not be so angry at me for bringing it back.” But this was a remote possibility.
The only consolation the boy had was that he had done his best. That he was late was no fault of his, for any one might have been deceived about the roads.
Tired and hungry, for the ride gave him a hearty appetite, Dan started back. He thought his employer’s sister might at least have asked him to come in after his long journey, and have given him something to eat. But Mrs. Randall was not that kind of a person. Her husband was a goodhearted man, but his wife ruled him, and he was somewhat afraid of her.