“I cannot understand him at all, papa, only it seems as if he wishes to stay with me,” said Gladys, with a sigh.
Mr. Huntress thought a moment, then he turned to the coachman and said:
“Drive home, John.”
“Oh, papa, are you going to take him home with us?” cried Gladys, eagerly.
“Yes; for to-night. I find myself strangely interested in him, and I have not the heart to turn him adrift upon the street. He evidently belongs to a good family, and has probably strayed from home and got lost. We will care for him until we can learn who his friends are, and can return him to them,” Mr. Huntress replied, and they then proceeded directly home with their strange protege, where Mrs. Huntress received them with considerable surprise, although her sympathies were also soon enlisted in behalf of their charge, and she bestowed the kindest of care and attention upon the unfortunate waif so singularly thrown into her family.
Mr. Huntress caused an advertisement to be inserted in the papers the next morning, inquiring for the friends of the wanderer.
But a week passed and he received not one word in reply, and thus his identity remained a profound mystery.
Meantime, the object of these inquiries was so docile and tractable, so affectionate in his manner toward every member of the household; he was so trustful, appearing to recognize instinctively that they were kind friends; he was so exceptionally nice about his person and habits, and so gentle in his manner, that they all became greatly attached to him, and they felt more and more convinced that he belonged to some family of good blood and high position, in spite of the very common clothing which he wore, and his imbecile condition.
There was nothing about him to give the least clew to his identity. Every article he had on was thoroughly examined to try to find some name; every pocket was searched with the same purpose, and at last Mr. Huntress began to believe that he must have been brought from a distance to New York by some person or persons, and there willfully deserted for some secret reason, with the hope, perhaps, that the authorities would care for him and have him sent to some institution for weak-minded people.
This view of the affair made him very indignant toward the supposed perpetrators of the deed, and tenfold more tender toward the unfortunate victim of such an inhuman transaction, and one day, upon returning from his business in New York, he was accompanied by one of the most skillful physicians in the city.