Fame and Fortune Weekly, No. 801, February 4, 1921
TekstCHAPTER XII. – The Man in the Tree
When Dick returned to the store at the beginning of the new year he found he was promoted to a regular position in the store proper, with an increase of wages. His rise had been so far fairly rapid, and was due to his natural abilities as a salesman, his attractive personality and magnetic ways, and his strict attention to his duties and to the interests of his employer. His advancement created no envy among the other clerks, for they all liked him. He possessed all the elements that make people popular with those they come in contact with; and his power extended over both sexes. Dick presided chiefly over the silverware department, as he was more familiar with that branch than the others.
He gradually extended his knowledge to watches, and subsequently to jewelry, but the unset diamond line was a special branch that required an expert to deal with, and it was attended to by one clerk only. This man was the head of the jewelry department. His pay was much higher than that of the other clerks, but then his responsibilities, knowledge and experience were greater than theirs. The days passed into weeks, and the weeks resolved themselves into months, and Easter week came around, bringing its expected invitation to Dick to spend the week-end with the Masons. He and Madge corresponded regularly now, and the latest piece of news he got from her was that she was slated for Vassar College at the beginning of the fall term. The four-year course would carry her into her twentieth year. Dick would be twenty-two then, if he lived, and he wondered if they would still think as much of each other as they did now.
So he went down to Carlin early on Saturday afternoon and was met by the auto, with Madge in it, and whirled over the road to the house. They were just turning in at the gate when a seedy, hard-featured man came along. He scowled when his eyes rested on Dick's face, and then the boy recognized him as Samuel Parker, one of the two burglars who had robbed the Mason house. His time, reduced by commutation for good behavior, had just expired at the State prison, and he had come back to his old stamping-grounds, to find things about as he had left them.
His wife had managed to get along through the sympathy of neighbors who had given her various kinds of employment, and many of the farmers occasionally chipped in a dollar apiece to help her out when she was hard pressed. She kept a cow, chickens, and raised her own vegetables, so she did not fare so badly. Now that her husband had returned, the question arose as to whether he would be able to get any employment on the farm where he had picked up odd jobs before he got into trouble. Dick was surprised to see him at liberty, not knowing that his sentence had expired, and he called Madge's attention to him.
"Yes, he's been around for about a week," she said. "Father said his time was up."
"I see. He got a commutation of twenty months. Well, he isn't as tough a nut as his companion, who enticed him into the job. That chap has three years and a half more to serve, deducting his commutation. Then he will be arrested as soon as he comes out and taken to New York to answer to the indictment the district attorney secured against him for assaulting me in the sample room of our store and stealing $100 worth of our stock. He'll get another five years at least for that, at Sing Sing. It will simply be a change of prisons for him."
Dick inquired if the gypsies had taken their departure, and Madge said she believed they had.
"This is the time that Miriam, the head of the tribe, said I was going to come into a fortune that she alleged I already possessed, but I don't see any signs of the matter coming to pass yet," he said.
"I wonder what she meant by saying that you possessed it. She must have referred to that piece of land father gave you."
"That isn't money."
"You could realize money on it."
"Not over $400 at the most, and that is no fortune."
"Well, she told you so much that you say proved true that I shall be surprised if she made a mistake in this matter."
"I'll be surprised if she hit the truth, for coming into a fortune in money is the very last thing I dream of at this moment."
They got out of the auto and entered the house. On the following day after dinner, as it was a nice afternoon, Dick proposed to Madge that they take a walk. So they went out and spent a couple of hours strolling along the road. They passed Dick's property and he saw that the gypsies had gone away. On their way back he proposed that they go over to the spring and have a drink.
"I'm not thirsty, but I'll go with you," she said.
The fence rails were wide enough apart for her to get through, while Dick took the customary way and climbed over. The spring was down in a gully near the fence which marked the end of Dick's land in that direction, and taking a silver-plated collapsible cup out of his pocket the boy filled it and offered it to Madge. She took a drink and then he helped himself. The young trees, now well advanced, which we mentioned before as growing at this end of Dick's property were gradually forming a small wood that would occupy about one acre of the five. On their way back they walked through these trees, as Dick was somewhat interested in their growth. They were cedar trees and would ultimately make good railroad ties.
"I wish the whole property was wooded like this," he said. "I would in such a case make a good thing out of the trees."
"As lumber?" said Madge.
"As railroad ties. Those articles are always in demand. Hello!" he exclaimed, stopping, "here's one of the old guard still standing."
He pointed at a hoary-looking old tree that had been dead for years. It showed evidence of having been struck by lightning a long time since. This had killed it, and now it stood like the mummified corpse of some old grizzled veteran of many wars, its two withered arms pointing heavenward at an acute angle that formed the whole trunk into the shape of the letter Y. Dick approached it and struck the tree with the palm of his hand. It gave forth a hollow sound and shook under the blow.
"That old monarch won't last much longer," he said. "It feels as if a strong wind would blow it over. It seems to be nothing but a shell, and yet it looks as solid as a rock outside. It's funny how some trees decay from the inside. I'm going to climb up and see if there's an opening between those limbs."
He started to do so, with the assistance of the knobby projections, when he was surprised to hear a noise inside the tree that made him suspect some kind of an animal had taken refuge there. He kept on till his head rose above the fork and he saw a great hole extending downward. He was about to ask Madge to hand him a long stick he saw lying on the ground, when, to his astonishment, a rough voice floated upward.
"Is that you, Parker?" were the words that reached his ears.
"Hello! Who are you?" cried Dick.
A muttered imprecation followed, and then silence.
"Who are you?" again asked Dick.
There was no reply. Dick climbed higher after telling the surprised girl that there was a man inside of the tree, pulled out his match safe and flashed a light into the tree. He saw a slouched hat, which evidently covered a head, and a pair of broad shoulders.
"Come on now, I see you. What are you doing in there?" said Dick.
"None of your business," replied a voice from under the hat.
"Maybe it isn't, but it strikes me that you have no business there. So you're a friend of Parker's, eh? Birds of a feather flock together, they say, so I guess you're not a very creditable sort of individual. I'd like you to know that you're trespassing on – "
"Trespassin' be jiggered! I'm just restin' here. Go away and leave me alone."
"Not until I find out who you are. Your presence in this hollow tree looks suspicious."
"What's suspicious about it? Can't a fellow roost inside a tree if he wants to when he ain't got nowhere else to go?"
Dick climbed down the tree and, taking Madge by the arm, started off. There was a large rock close by of sufficient size for a person to conceal himself behind.
"You go on, Madge, a little way, and I'll follow in a few minutes. I have an idea that fellow will show himself presently to see if the coast is clear, and I'm going to hide behind this rock and catch a sight of him if he comes up."
The girl kept on at a slow pace and Dick dropped on his hands and knees behind the stone. Five minutes passed and nothing happened. Dick was beginning to think that he had calculated wrongly, when he saw the crown of a hat rise between the fork of the two limbs. A face followed the hat, a tough-looking face, and Dick gave a gasp as he recognized it. It was the countenance of Bulger, supposed to be serving the rest of his time at the Trenton State prison.
CHAPTER XIII. – The Hidden Treasure
Bulger looked around cautiously on every side, and believing that the person who had discovered him had gone away he sank back into his hiding place.
Dick hastily rejoined Madge and told her about the identity of the man in the tree. He also outlined his plans for the rascal's arrest. They were about to hurry to the house when Dick caught sight of a figure slouching through the trees toward the gully. He guessed it was Parker, and he altered his arrangements.
"Parker is coming to see Bulger. There he is yonder, just going down into the gully. I'm going to remain and see what happens. You hurry to the house and send John and William here as fast as they can come. Tell them to fetch their revolvers and a piece of rope. Now, then, Madge, put your best foot forward."
She hastened away, while he crept back toward the big rock. Parker was coming up the gully with a package and a tin bucket in his hands. Presumedly they held food for the escaped convict. Dick gained the rock without attracting Parker's attention. The ex-convict approached the tree, laid his burdens on the ground and, climbing up, stuck his head down the opening. He remained a few minutes talking with the man inside and then returned to the ground and carried up first the package and then the pail, which he passed down to Bulger. He remained at the crotch talking to his pal. Suddenly there was a cracking sound and the tree began to bend over.
Parker uttered an exclamation of alarm and started to clamber down. His movements brought matters to a head. The tree broke off at its roots and went over, carrying the ex-convict with it. As it hit the ground Dick saw a pair of legs, which belonged to Bulger, kicking like mad in the air. As they hit the roots of the tree they made the punky material fly about in a cloud. Parker was half-stunned for a moment and then he got up and went to his companion's aid, catching him by the legs and pulling him out, all covered with dirt. Bulger swore like a trooper, blaming his pal for the catastrophe.
"Where am I goin' to roost now?" said Bulger. "You'll have to take me over to your place after dark and let me stay in your barn. I can't stay out here all night, and, what's more, I won't."
"I s'pose you'll have to come, but it's dangerous for me."
"Dangerous be blamed! It's your duty to help an old pal when he's in deep."
He gave the roots of the tree a kick, expressive of his sentiments. The kick uncovered something that attracted his attention.
"Hello! What's this?" he cried.
He stooped and picked a bag out of the dust.
"What have you got there?" asked Parker, looking interested.
"Blame my hide, if it ain't a bag of money!" cried Bulger.
"Money!" cried Parker. "Then we'll divvy up."
"No, we won't divvy nothin'. Findin's is keepin's. I wonder if there's any more?"
Down he got on his hands and knees and scratched in the dust, bringing to light a second bag.
"Hurray! Another! I'm made for fair. Here's a third and there's more underneath. I'm rich!"
Dick beheld all this with feelings of the greatest astonishment. Bags of money hidden in the roots of the dead tree! Then the gypsy woman's prediction occurred to him like a flash. This was his fortune, then, and these rascals had brought it to light. What was on his property belonged to him by right of ownership in all. And now these fellows had it in their clutches, or rather Bulger had it, and seemed disposed to hold on to all of it. That was too much for Dick to stand. He was about to rush on Bulger and order him to give up the money when Parker snatched up a couple of the bags.
"Drop them!" roared Bulger.
"I'm only takin' my share," said Parker.
Bulger sprang up and jumped at the ex-convict, who had to let the bags fall to defend himself. In another moment they were both at it, hammer-and-tongs, with the advantage in Bulger's favor, owing to his build and strength. Dick saw his advantage. Dashing forward, he picked up the long stick which lay on the ground and began laying it on the heads and shoulders of the two fighters. That brought the scrap to a sudden end, and the men turned to face this new and unexpected trouble. They at once recognized Dick, and as they bore him no good will, Bulger particularly, they lost no time in making a rush at him.
"Now we've got you!" hissed Bulger.
At that critical moment for Dick the gardener and the footman came on the scene and sprang to the boy's assistance. The gardener seized Bulger and the footman nabbed Parker, compelling them to release Dick. The boy then assisted the gardener in securing the escaped convict, and they had their hands full doing it. The butler was able to subdue Parker alone. Bulger was bound with the rope, and he was furious at his capture, not to speak of the loss of the money he believed he had come into. The young New Yorker then called the attention of the butler and the gardener to the bags of money lying on the ground.
"They came out of the roots of that tree, and as this property is mine, the money is mine, too, unless somebody can establish a mighty strong claim to it. It has evidently been hidden there for a great many years. The person who put it there is doubtless dead, else he would have reclaimed it long ago. I shall take charge of it by right of ownership in the property," said Dick, who at once set about gathering together the six bags Bulger had brought to light, while the ruffian hurled imprecations at him as he watched him. Dick then hunted for more, and found six additional bags. The weight of the whole was more than even the three of them could carry, had they not been embarrassed by the two prisoners, so Dick told the men to take the rascals to the house and lock them up while he would remain in charge of the money.
Then came a fresh difficulty. Bulger refused to walk.
"Return to the house, William, and get Mr. Mason to telephone to the village for the constables," said Dick. "I'll see that Parker doesn't get away."
So the butler departed on his errand. He was back in twenty minutes, accompanied by Mr. Mason and a neighboring farmer, who had called at the house. The prisoners were taken to the road where the automobile stood. Then the twelve bags of money were carried and put in the vehicle. Leaving the two servants to walk, the rest of the party proceeded to the house in the vehicle. Bulger and Parker were locked up in an outhouse to await the arrival of the constable, while the money was taken into the house and displayed before the astonished eyes of the ladies.
The money-bags were then opened and found to contain gold eagles of a date about the time of the War of the Rebellion, and being counted footed up $120,000.
"What a lucky boy you are!" Madge said to him, after supper.
"I hope I am," he replied.
"Hope!" she exclaimed, in surprise. "Why, you are, with all that money."
"There is something better than money. Something I'd rather have than all the gold I have come in possession of."
"What is that?"
"It's your love, Madge," he replied earnestly.
"Oh, Dick!" she cried blushingly.
"Have I got it, or have I dreamed in vain?"
He put his arm around her waist and she did not draw back. Dick did not return to New York by the early train on Monday morning, as he had arranged to do, instead of which he went to Carlin with Mr. Mason in the auto and placed the money in the Carlin National Bank, receiving therefor a draft on a bank in New York for the amount. Then he sent off two telegrams – one to the manager of the store, the other to his mother. The first read: "Will report Tuesday morning."
The second was worded: "I've found the fortune. Will be home to-night in time for dinner." Then he returned to the house to take lunch with the Masons. On the road he confessed to Mr. Mason that he loved Madge, and that she reciprocated his affection.
"I want you to sanction our engagement, with a view to our marriage as soon as she shall have graduated from Vassar."
"Ask her mother, my boy," said the gentleman. "As far as I am concerned, you need fear no obstacle from me."
While they were away, Madge sought her mother and told her that Dick had asked her to marry him four years hence when she had completed her education. Then Mrs. Mason kissed her daughter and told her that she and Mr. Mason were both well disposed toward Dick, and they were perfectly satisfied to receive him into the family at the proper time as their son-in-law.
Then the happy girl ran and broke the news to her aunt, who congratulated her on winning such a fine young man as she had always believed Dick Darling to be. Dick decided not to press any charge against Parker, and so that rascal was allowed to go free, while Bulger was taken back to Trenton, and his punishment for taking French leave was the loss of his commutation time, so he was obliged to serve the full ten years, after which he would have to face the other indictment, so his chances of staying in prison for a good part of his life were good.
During the summer the Darlings moved into a house of their own in the Bronx, and Nellie and May gave up their jobs for good. So four years passed away and Dick continued to rise in the store till one day Mr. Bacon offered to sell him a half interest in the business, and make him the manager of the store. Dick accepted his proposal, and thus, on the eve of his marriage to Madge he invested a large part of the fortune which came to him through the acquisition of a five-acre plot of ground worth not over $250.