"Why, it don"t seem natural-like. You"re a fashionable young lady----"
"Not very fashionable, Dodger, just at present."
"Well, a high-toned young lady--one of the tip-tops, and I am a rough Bowery boy."
"You were once, but you are getting over that rapidly. Did you ever hear of Andy Johnson?"
"Who was he?"
"He became President of the United States. Well, at the age of twenty-one he could neither read nor write."
"At twenty-one?" repeated Dodger. "Why, I"m only eighteen, and I do know something of readin" and writin"."
"To be sure! Well, Andy Johnson was taught to read and write by his wife. He kept on improving himself till, in course of time, he became a United States Senator, Vice-President, and afterward, President.
Now, I don"t expect you to equal him, but I see no reason why you should not become a well-educated man if you are content to work, and keep on working."
"I will keep on, Florence," said Dodger, earnestly.
"If I ever find my relations I don"t want them to be ashamed of me."
It was not the first time he had referred to his uncertain origin.
"Won"t Tim Bolton tell you anything about your family?"
"No; I"ve asked him more"n once. He always says he"s my father, and that makes me mad."
"It is strange," said Florence, thoughtfully. "I had a young cousin stolen many years ago."
"Was it the son of the old gentleman you lived with on Madison Avenue?"
"Yes; it was the son of Uncle John. It quite broke him down. After my cousin"s loss he felt that he had nothing to live for."
"I wish I was your cousin, Florence," said Dodger, thoughtfully.
"Well, then, I will adopt you as my cousin, or brother, whichever you prefer!"
"I would rather be your cousin."
"Then cousin let it be! Now we are bound to each other by strong and near ties."
"But when your uncle takes you back you"ll forget all about poor Dodger."
"No, I won"t, Dodger. There"s my hand on it. Whatever comes, we are friends forever."
"Then I"ll try not to disgrace you, Florence. I"ll learn as fast as I can, and see if I don"t grow up to be a gentleman."
Chapter XVII.
A Mysterious Adventure.
Several weeks pa.s.sed without changing in any way the position or employment of Dodger or Florence.
They had settled down to their respective forms of labor, and were able not only to pay their modest expenses, but to save up something for a rainy day.
Florence had but one source of regret.
She enjoyed her work, and did not now lament the luxurious home which she had lost.
But she did feel sore at heart that her uncle made no sign of regret for their separation.
From him she received no message of forgiveness or reconciliation.
"He has forgotten me!" she said to herself, bitterly. "He has cast me utterly out of his heart. I do not care for his money, but I do not like to think that my kind uncle--for he was always kind till the last trouble--has steeled his heart against me forever."
But she learned through a chance meeting with Jane, that this was not so.
"Mr. Linden is getting very nervous and low-spirited," said the girl, "and sits hour after hour in the library looking into the fire, a-fotchin" deep sighs every few minutes. Once I saw him with your photograph--the one you had taken last spring--in his hands, and he looked sad-like when he laid it down."
"My dear uncle! Then he does think of me sometimes?"
"It"s my belief he"d send for you if Curtis would let him."
"Surely Curtis cannot exercise any restraint upon him?"
"He has frequent talks with the old gentleman. I don"t know what he says, but it"s sure to be something wicked. I expect he does all he can to set him against you. Oh, he"s a cunning villain, he is, even if he is your cousin, Miss Florence."
"And do you think my uncle is unhappy, Jane?" said Florence, thoughtfully.
"That I do, miss."
"He never was very bright or cheerful, you know."
"But he never was like this. And I do think he"s gettin" more and more feeble."
"Do you think I ought to call upon him, and risk his sending me away?"
"It might be worth tryin", Miss Florence."
The result of this conversation was that Florence did make up her mind the very next afternoon to seek her old home. She had just reached the front steps, and was about to ascend, when the door opened and Curtis appeared.
He started at sight of his cousin.
"Florence!" he said. "Tell me why you came here?"
"I am anxious about my uncle," she said. "Tell me, Curtis, how he is."