Bruce was just a little bit annoyed to find himself so easily beaten by a lad whose appearance indicated anything but strength and agility, but when he saw how the little bit of excitement and the triumph of winning the race had restored his friends temper to its usual good-natured pitch and completely dispelled a feeling which might have culminated in a quarrel, he was rather glad on the whole that he himself had lost.
Therefore he simply smiled pleasantly, and said what was perfectly true: “Well, I never thought you could run like that.”
Then they sat down on the big, white marble carriage block and waited for Laura, whom they could see approaching at a leisurely pace. Bruce realized, as he looked about him, that they were not far from the Dexter mansion. In fact, by going out in the middle of the road, he could easily see the dark clump of firs and pines and the grey gate posts which guarded the entrance. As they walked along he and Laura exchanged significant glances from time to time and as they drew near to the house, he said to Harry, “That’s the house I went to for those magazines and papers that day I met you.”
“Why, do you know old man Dexter?” demanded the boy with much interest.
“No,” said Bruce, “except that he was very nice to me that day. Did you ever meet him?”
“Not for a long while,” replied Harry.
“Let’s all go into the grounds and see what the place looks like,” said Laura.
“You’d better not, Laura,” said her brother, significantly, “we’ll be sure to be caught if we do, and you know perfectly well what papa said would happen if he heard of our going there.”
“Well, I’ve a great mind to go in there and ask Mr. Dexter if he has any more magazines for us,” said Bruce, bravely. “I’m not afraid of those thick woods, and I’m not afraid of him either. Come along, let’s all go in there.”
“I’d just as leave go,” said Laura, defiantly, “even if we were told not to, but listen, there comes somebody now.” They had just reached the gateway by this time and as they peered through it into the shadowy depths of the fir woods, they heard the quick hoof-beats of approaching horses, and in another moment a buggy drawn by two black horses, came down through the grounds at a swift pace and passed through the gateway into the road. The tall, bearded and scarred stranger held the reins and beside him sat Mr. Samuel Dexter. Laura held her breath with excitement, and an eager gleam came into Bruce’s eyes as he turned significantly toward her. Another link had been added to the chain in which he was trying to connect the past with the present. Mr. Dexter and the mysterious one were evidently friends, and he resolved that the very next day he would go to him, tell him his own history as far as he knew of it, and ask him to help him solve the remainder of it.