“You—you’re sure?” asked Dan anxiously.
“Yes, sir. He couldn’t get in without my knowing it, sir. There ain’t nothin’ happened to him, sir, has there?”
“No, no, but I couldn’t find him, and one of the fellows said he’d seen him coming this way. I’m much obliged.” And Dan turned toward the main drive which led to the Lodge and the gates, and so to the village road. At the Lodge he asked again, but the gardener’s wife declared that Gerald hadn’t entered the gates that day.
“Well, if you should see him, I wish you’d tell him that I want to see him on a very important matter. I’m his roommate at school, you know.”
“Yes, sir, very well, sir, I’ll be sure and tell him.”
Dan hurried through the gates and along the road which leads to the station. He had not expected to find Gerald at Sound View, and so was not disappointed. He looked at his watch and increased his pace. Some distance away the noon express whistled for the station. Dan reached the train just as the conductor raised his hand in signal to the engineer. He sank into a seat in one of the day coaches and got his breath back. When the conductor came through Dan paid his fare, and asked when the train was due in New York.
“Three-thirty,” was the reply.
It would be quick work, thought Dan. He must get to Gerald’s house, persuade Gerald to return, and then reach the station in time for the five o’clock train back to Wissining. That would bring them to the school at about a quarter before eight and if all went well there was no reason why any one should suspect their absence. But to take a later train would be to court disaster, since they would reach the school long after ten o’clock, and would be almost certain to be discovered. An hour and a half was mighty little time, Dan thought anxiously, in which to reach the Pennimore house, show Gerald the error of his ways, and return to the station. But he believed he could do it. If only the train was on time! Dan pulled out the rest of his money and counted it over. There wasn’t a great deal of it, but it ought to do. He was good and hungry by now, and the waiter’s announcement of “Dinner now ready in the dining car!” found at least one sympathetic listener. But dinner in the dining car meant parting from a whole dollar, and Dan’s finances wouldn’t stand that. At New Haven, however, he jumped out and bought a cup of coffee, a sandwich and three bananas. He managed to get through with the coffee and sandwich while the train waited, but the bananas were taken on board and lasted for several miles. After that he felt more cheerful and looked forward quite optimistically to his task ahead. He squandered another ten cents on a magazine and managed to pass the rest of the journey without difficulty. The train rolled into the big station just on time, and Dan was off it and racing up the platform before it had come to a stop. There was no time to lose.
His plans were all made, and it only remained to carry them out. During his visit to the city with Gerald he had made the acquaintance of taxicabs, and now he climbed into one with a nonchalant air, and gave the driver the address. But, although he lolled back in the seat as though taxicabs were an everyday occurrence with him, he kept an anxious eye on the meter as they sped uptown. It was simply scandalous the way that thing acted! Every time he turned his head away for a moment it added another ten cents to his indebtedness! But he made the trip for a dollar and twenty cents, not including the ten cents he gave the driver, and was delighted to find that it was still only ten minutes to four when he rang the door-bell.
“Will you ask Gerald if I can see him, please?”