Justin Wood smiled as he saw how unconscious Lane was of his presence. Then he walked forward quietly and laid his hand on Lane\'s arm.

"Mr. Lane," he said, "this is an unexpected pleasure."

Lane turned quickly, and looked very much disconcerted when he saw who it was that accosted him.

"I—I didn\'t expect to meet you here," he stammered.

"I presume not. Don\'t you recognize this boy?"

"Scott Walton?"

"Yes; I am glad you have not forgotten him. He is here on business."

"On business?"

"Yes; in a fit of absence of mind you relieved him of fifty dollars, or the equivalent in English[Pg 64] bank notes. I don\'t say anything about the considerably larger sum which you took from me in London, for I can stand the loss, but this boy is poor and wants the money back."

"I can\'t give it to him," said Lane, desperately.

"Why not?"

"Because I have spent most of it."

"So you have spent nearly fifty dollars in one day?"

"Yes; I bet on the races."

"That was foolish. If you had lost your own money it would have served you right. But you had no business to squander the boy\'s money in that way. How much money have you got left?"

"I—don\'t know."

"Out with your pocketbook, man, and find out," said Wood, impatiently.

As Lane still hesitated, Justin Wood added, sternly: "Do as I tell you, or I will arrest you myself and march you to the station house."

The young man looked as if he were quite capable of carrying out his threat, and Lane very reluctantly took out his pocketbook.

"I have twelve dollars," he said.

"Then give ten dollars to the boy, and keep two dollars for yourself."

[Pg 65]

"It is all the money I have," whined Lane.

"That is no concern of mine. The money doesn\'t belong to you."

"I am a very poor man."

"You are smart enough to make a living by fair means. If you keep on as you are doing now, you will obtain your board at the expense of the State."

Lane, very unwillingly, handed two five-dollar bills to Scott.

"We are letting you off very easy," said Justin Wood. "We will give you a chance to reform, but if ever I catch you trying any of your tricks elsewhere, I will reveal what I know of you."

Crawford Lane rose from his chair and with a look of chagrin made haste to leave the hotel. He had already taken dinner there, and intended to remain until the next day, but now he felt unable to do so.

"I am glad to get some of my money back," said Scott, in a tone of satisfaction. "I was reduced to sixty cents. Ten dollars will last me for a good while."

"Take care not to let your worthy relative know you have so much money, or he will want you to give it up to him."

[Pg 66]

"But for you I should not have recovered it," said Scott, gratefully.

"I am very glad to have been the means of your getting it back. I have a personal grudge against that rascal."

"Of how much did he rob you?"

"I can\'t tell precisely, for I am rather careless about my money, and seldom know just how much I have. To the best of my knowledge he must have taken about three hundred dollars."

"That is a good deal of money."

"It was much less to me than the sum he took was to you. It did not especially inconvenience me. But it is getting late, and we had better take the next boat back to New York."

This they did. On the same boat, though they were unconscious of it, was Crawford Lane. He saw them, however, and reflected bitterly that the fifty dollars which he had taken from Scott was nearly all gone, though it was only the second day since he got possession of it.

It was half-past four when they reached the Gilsey House.

"I think I must be getting back to my new home," said Scott. "Thank you very much for your kindness to me."

[Pg 67]

"You have given me a pleasant day, Scott," replied the young man, genially. "Call and see me again when you have time."

"Thank you, sir."

When Scott reached the house in West Forty-seventh Street, he found Loammi already the............