"Ach, vat a habbiness!" he beamed. "Matt shpeaks many dimes aboudt you! Yah, py shiminy, he dell me all aboudt vat you dit mit each odder in Arizona. Der lapel vat I tote iss Carl Pretzel. Don'd you know somet'ing aboudt me?"
"Well, Je-ru-sa-lem!" grinned Chub. "Say, I guess I have heard about you. The last letter I got from Matt had a long spiel about some work you and he did down near Lamy, New Mexico. Didn't Matt get a letter from me in Denver?"
"Nix, und he don'd got any ledder from dere here, vich vas forwardet. You wride him, hey?"
"Sure, I wrote him. Told him dad was going to Chicago to close a deal for his mine, and that Little Chub was going to trail along, drop off at Ottawa and see the big race. Matt's in it, eh? Had a notion he would be; and I'll bet a button against a last year's bird's nest that he wins!"
"I'll bed more as dot!" chuckled Carl, tickled out of his shoes to find some one who liked Matt as well as he did. "Say," he babbled, "I peen glad as plazes, Chub, dot you habbened aroundt."
"So am I; but where the nation is Matt? I can hardly wait till I grab hold of him and give his fist a shake."
"He was schnoozing mit himseluf," answered Carl. "He has peen vorking like der tickens und I bed you he was dired. Oof you haf got t'roo mit your preakfast, vy nod valk oop to his room mit me? He vill be so habby as I don'd know ven he findts oudt dot you vas here."
"Go you!" and Chub pushed back from the table and got up.
Together the two boys left the dining-room, passed through the office and climbed the stairs. Carl was cackling to himself all the way up the flight, for he knew how surprised Matt would be and how mightily pleased to meet his old friend, Chub.
The door was still closed. Carl listened to see if he could hear Matt moving around.