“The Earl of Ordway!” gasped Nick. “What—do—you—know—about—that?”
“I’m not an earl,” declared Hugh uncomfortably. “It—it’s only a courtesy-title. And, anyhow, I don’t see what difference it makes!”
“It doesn’t, Hobo! Not a bit!” said Pop soothingly. “We’ll all try to forget it and let you live it down. After all, it isn’t your fault, is it, fellows?”
“Of course not!” laughed Hanrihan. “He couldn’t help it! Buck up, Hobo! No one’s going to hold it against you!”
Bowles gasped. “Against his Lordship, sir! Against him?”
“Bowles, shut up! I’m not your Lordship. I’m——” Hugh’s puckered brow smoothed and he laughed—“I’m just Hobo Ordway. Now forget it, fellows, won’t you? It’s all piffling poppycock, anyway! That’s just what it is, by Jove, piffling poppycock, if you know what I mean!”
Transcriber’s Notes:
Except for the frontispiece, illustrations have been moved to follow the text that they illustrate, so the page number of the illustration may not match the page number in the List of Illustrations.
Printer’s, punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently corrected.