When Bruce returned to New York after his short vacation in the country, he received such a hearty welcome from every member of the company, that he realized the fact that it is a good thing for one to go away now and then if only to indicate the value of one’s services.

He had not only enjoyed himself during his absence and gained new health and strength from the clear lake air but he had also proved to the chief and his subordinates that he was a decidedly useful boy. The many little duties which he performed about the quarters had been done so quietly and unostentatiously as well as effectively that it was not until he was out of the city that the others realized how much trouble he saved them. As it was, the men had to burden their minds with a number of small details which had previously been left entirely in Bruce’s hands, and every time that one of them was called upon to feed the horses or perform some small duty for the chief he thought of Bruce and wondered how much longer that boy was going to stay away.

279On his return he found awaiting him a letter bearing no signature and written in an unformed, girlish hand telling him what he already knew about the interest which Mr. Dexter had felt in him, and although there was nothing in the note to indicate its origin, Bruce knew that it must have been inspired by Laura herself. And a very delightful thing it was to believe that this young girl had taken so much trouble on his account as to ask somebody in America to give him this information. But why did she not write to him herself? That is what puzzled him, for of course he knew nothing about Mr. Van Kuren’s reason for breaking off the intimacy.

He had scarcely recovered from the glow of satisfaction which suffused him, as he read his anonymous letter, and thought of the young girl to whose kindly interest he owed it, when Chief Trask approached him and informed him that he was to sleep in the quarters with the men in future, in order to be on hand in case of a night alarm.

“You see, my boy, you’re growing older every day now, and I want you to learn this business through and through, so as to be ready to take a man’s place when the time comes.”

280And, in accordance with the Chiefs orders, which he was only too glad to obey, Bruce established himself in the dormitory above the truck quarters, and as he placed his head on the pillow that night, and saw that his turnout was lying on the floor beside him, he realized that, although his name was not on the pay-roll of the department, he was really a fireman at last, and would be expected to respond to an alarm as readily as any of the men in the company.

The next morning as soon he had finished feeding the horses, and attended to the other small duties required of him, he took his particular friend, Charley Weyman, aside and told him of his experiences in the little graveyard at Rocky Point. He told him how Skinny had been sent there by the man whom the newsboy called “Scar-faced Charley,” and who was, he was positive, none other than the mysterious stranger that Charley Weyman himself had first told him about.

At the mention of this man, Weyman’s face assumed an expression of intense interest, which deepened as Bruce continued with his account of how Skinny had been employed to visit the grave in the little burying ground and ascertain if possible the whereabouts 281of any living member of the Decker family.

“And so this ugly-faced chap is taking all this trouble to find out whether you were ever burned, and if so, whether you are alive or dead?” exclaimed the fireman. “Well, if it’s worth anything to him to find out about you, my opinion is that it’s worth just as much to you to find out why he is so much interested. He was just as much concerned about your father that’s dead and gone, and he don’t seem inclined to lose sight of the family. If I were you, I’d lose no time in finding out what it all means. But let me tell you one thing, that fellow never brought good luck to anybody. Your father was never the same man after he had a visit from him, and if you get him coming around here after you, you may have cause to be sorry for it.”

“You know he’s living in the same house where I went to call on Mr. Dexter,” said Bruce, “and I’ve been thinking of going up there to pay him a visit and put it to him fair and square, ‘what do you want of me, an............