"You, poor boy! What can you do? I heard that you had been discharged from your place on the steamboat," added his mother. "Worse than that: they say you took some money that didn't belong to you."
"Did Corny Minkfield bring that story over here?" demanded Dory indignantly.
"No: your uncle heard it over at Plattsburgh."
Dory told enough of his story to prove that he did not steal the money with which he bought the boat, but he could not tell where he got it. Then he produced the seventy dollars he had in his pocket, and gave that to his mother.
"Why, Dory, where in the world did you get so much money?" exclaimed Mrs. Dornwood, as she took the bills; and the amount was more than she had ever before possessed at one time since she was married.
"I received one hundred and five dollars for a service I rendered to a man near Plattsburgh, and I earned ten dollars by helping the officer capture Pearl Hawlinshed," replied Dory.
His mother wanted to know who had given him the money, and for what; and Dory could only reply that he had promised not to tell. Mrs. Dornwood was not satisfied, and she greatly feared that her son had been doing something wrong.
"I can't tell when I promised not to tell," added he. "The man that gave it to me said that I had saved him from losing a very large sum. With a part of this I bought the Goldwing."
"I have heard all about the Goldwing Club, and so has your uncle Royal," said Mrs. Dornwood. "When he came up yesterday morning, he set about finding you. We couldn't tell any thing at all what had become of you. I supposed you was at work on the steamer till Royal told me you had been turned away."
"It wasn't my fault that I was turned off. Major Billcord blamed me for what was not my fault," replied Dory.