"I don't know—I don't keeps priches to sell; may pe vun tollar."
Betterson gave the German a dollar, saying,—
"Allow me to pay for them; for, if I mistake not, you will never see the young man or your breeches again."
He was quite right: the German never did.
Neither—it may as well be said here—did Radcliff's own relatives see him again for many years. What various adventures were his can only be surmised, until one of the "Philadelphia partners," settling up his accounts with the world, left him a legacy of six thousand dollars, when he once more bloomed out as a fine gentleman, and favored his Western friends with a visit.
He ran through his little fortune in a few months, and once more disappeared from view, to turn up again, five or six years later (when Jack and Vinnie saw him for the last time), as a runner for one of the great Chicago hotels.
CHAPTER XL.
PEAKSLOW'S HOUSE-RAISING.
"Mercy on me!" said Caroline, hearing an unusual noise in the front part of the house; "now we are to have the racket of those Peakslow children! What could you have been thinking of, Lavinia dear? I'm sure I didn't know what I was saying when I gave my consent to their coming. The idea of their turning our library into a kitchen! Not that I blame you, Lavinia dear. I ought to have considered."