Jack stared dumbly at his hands, and presently the other went on.
“Come back, and I’ll do everything I can to help you, my boy. Just what that will be or what it will amount to, I can’t say at this moment; but what assistance I can give you may be certain of having. You won’t find it an empty promise.”
He paused, and Jack looked up.
“I wish I’d—wish I might have talked to you before,” he said.
“So do I, Weatherby; but it isn’t too late now. I have a suspicion that you’ve come away without signing off. You needn’t tell me whether I’m right or wrong. But you may rest assured that there’ll be no trouble about it. To-morrow you and I’ll go back together and try it over.”
“But what—where am I going to go now?” asked Jack dismally.
“Why, you’ll come home with me, of course,” replied the professor. “No one need ever know but that you and I came off together. We’ll have to take a pretty early train back in the morning, but I guess you won’t mind that. My mother and sister will be very glad to see you, and— Hello, here we are! Grab your bag, Weatherby, and come along.”
“But—” stammered the boy.
“All right; you can tell me about that when you get outside. Besides,” he laughed, “you’ve got to get off here, anyhow; your fare is only paid this far. Hurry up, or we’ll both get left!”
A moment later Jack found himself out on a sunny platform, dodging a baggage-truck and following his hurrying guide through the throng.