At this moment the door was softly opened and a darkey put his head into the room to announce:
"Da's a gentleman in de back pa'lor wants to see Moster Rodney."
CHAPTER V.
A WARNING.
"A gentleman to see me?" repeated Rodney, his surprise and indignation giving place to a feeling of uneasiness. "Who is he? What's his name?"
"I dunno, sah," replied the servant. "I never seen him round here afore."
Wondering who the visitor could be and how he knew where to find him, seeing that he and his father had not been in that house more than half an hour, the Harrington boy arose and followed the servant into the back parlor. Whom he expected to meet when he got there it is hard to tell, but it is certain that he felt greatly relieved when he found that the visitor was a Mooreville boy—a "student" in the telegraph office. His uneasy feelings vanished at once only to return with redoubled force when Griffin—that was the visitor's name—said in a loud, earnest whisper:
"Shut the door tight and come up close so that you can hear every word I say. I am liable to get myself into the worst kind of a scrape by trying to befriend you."
"The door is all right, and besides there are no eavesdroppers in this house," answered Rodney. "What in the world is the matter, and why are you likely to get yourself into trouble by coming here?"
"Have you heard anything since you have been in town?" asked Griffin, in reply. "I don't suppose any one will bother you, seeing that you are alone, but if your whole company had tried to go, you might have been stopped. If you hadn't, it wouldn't have been Randolph's fault."