“You excite my curiosity. Do you mind throwing light on the mystery?”
“Not at all, sir. I ran away this morning from a boarding-school in the next town.”
“You ran away from school? That doesn’t sound well.”
“I dare say not, but if you knew Mr. Ezekiel Snowdon, you wouldn’t be surprised at my running away.”
“Ezekiel Snowdon? Why, I once went to school to a teacher of that name. Describe him.”
Bernard did so.
“It must be the same man.”
“Where was he teaching?”
“He came to Springfield, Illinois, and was engaged to teach. That was my native town, and I was a lad of thirteen at the time.”
“Did you like him?”