"All right. Be sure, now."
Frank was gone less than the five minutes. He returned with a little tin pail holding a pint of hot coffee, a picnic plate containing two sandwiches, a piece of pie and some doughnuts.
"There, try that," he said, placing the things on a b.u.mper post.
"Say," choked up Markham--but Frank strode away, whistling to himself.
He did not approach Markham until every vestige of the lunch had disappeared.
"That"s the first square meal I"ve had for two days," said Markham in a grateful, contented tone. "Say, you"re good."
"Am I?" smiled Frank. "I"m good for your railroad fare to where I live, and a job right on top of it for you, if you say so."
"Do you honestly mean that?" asked Markham, almost solemnly, his voice quite tremulous.
"Every word of it," declared Frank. "I live at Greenville. It"s about a hundred and fifty miles down state. Say the word, Markham. I can see you"re in trouble or distress of some kind. I"m not prying to find out what it is. I only want to show what I think of you for saving my money, and maybe my life with a courage that has got to belong to a first-cla.s.s fellow."
Markham bowed his head as if in deep thought. Frank saw a tear fall to the platform. Finally his companion spoke again.
"If you will advance my fare," he said, "I"ll pay you back first money I earn."
"That"s a bargain," said Frank. "Come on. We"ll buy your ticket right now."
"No," demurred Markham, holding back in a timorous way. "You get both tickets. I"ll be somewhere on the train. I"d rather sort of hang around the smoker and the platforms till we get beyond the city limits."
"All right," said Frank.
He had a vague idea in his mind that Markham was afraid to show himself publicly in the city, for some reason or other. Frank even speculated as to the possibility of Markham being disguised. He looked, acted and talked like a boy about his own age. The moustache, however, suggested that he was a young man of about twenty.
Frank made his new acquaintance promise positively he would be on the train. He went back to the depot and bought another ticket to Greenville. He was somewhat anxious and impatient until the train started up.
There was a first stop at the limits of the city. Just as the train steamed ahead again, some one entered at the rear door of the coach.
"h.e.l.lo--good," exclaimed Frank, as Markham quietly sat down in the seat beside him. "Why--"
Frank paused there, staring at his fellow-pa.s.senger. Markham had washed the grime from his face. He no longer wore the cap pulled down over his eyes. Looking bright as a dollar, he smiled, pleasantly.
"Pretty grimy, wasn"t I?" he laughed.
"Why, yes," stammered the puzzled Frank, "but say--what has become of your moustache?"
CHAPTER XII
A BOY WITH A MYSTERY
The boy who called himself Markham flushed scarlet at Frank"s sudden words. His hand went with a quick, nervous movement to his upper lip. He looked dreadfully embarra.s.sed.
"Never mind," said Frank abruptly, trying to make it easy for the young fellow. "You look better without it."
Markham had gained time now to cover his confusion. He swallowed a lump in his throat and smiled feebly.
"You see," he stammered somewhat, "that wasn"t a real moustache--that one I"ve dropped."
"Oh, wasn"t it?" said Frank.
"No. How I happened to have it was this," explained Markham, rather lamely, but with apparent truth. "See?" and he produced from a pocket two false moustaches and as many small goatees. "Fact is, I wanted to earn some money. I saw a peddler selling those things on a street corner. They went like hot cakes. I asked him where he bought them. He told me, said he had taken them up only temporarily to make a little pocket money. He was nearly sold out, and offered me about a dozen of them for a quarter. I sold nearly all of them, and then went to the address he gave me to stock up again. They wouldn"t sell under a gross--three dollars and sixty cents, I think the price was. I didn"t have that much, so my scheme fell down."
Markham now took a printed circular from his pocket, as if to verify his statement. Frank glanced over it with increasing interest. It advertised a city firm supplying street peddlers with all kinds of goods.
"Yes," said Frank, "I noticed a man selling these same articles on a street corner. It"s a pretty catchy novelty with boys and young men."
"It is, for a fact," declared Markham. "Look here: did you ever see "Teddy"s Teeth?" That"s an old novelty--look."
Markham produced and put in his mouth a row of false teeth, welted the reverse side of a moustache, placed it on his upper lip, a minute black dab of hair on his chin, and turned for inspection to Frank.
The latter laughed heartily. The transformation from Markham"s natural face was immense.
"You have no idea how those things catch people the first time they see them," said Markham. "I"ve noticed that fellows from the country buy best. Say, if I had a gross of them, I bet I could sell them in two days, down your way."
"I think you could, too, Markham," replied Frank, "and you have set me thinking on an entirely new business proposition. Can I keep this circular?"
"Surely, if it"s any use to you."
"It may be," said Frank, "in fact, I think I shall order a gross as soon as I get home, just to experiment on."
"Going peddling?" insinuated Markham.
"Why, I"ll tell you," answered Frank. "Settle down comfortably, and we"ll chat a little. It will do me good to talk out what"s continually on my mind. More than that, I shouldn"t wonder if you, with all your experience, could give me some very valuable points. The long and short of it is, I am going into the mail order business."
"Oh!" said his companion wistfully, "isn"t that grand."
Frank told his new friend all about himself, his business and his hopes and plans. The other listened with great attention. When Frank had finished talking, Markham showed by his expression of face that he considered him a pretty smart business boy.
"If you can afford to hang around with me till I get my bearings," added Frank, "I"ll guarantee you a comfortable home anyway, and good money if you know how to earn it."
Markham"s eyes grew big with excitement. Then his face fell, as he said:
"I"d like nothing better in the world, but business men don"t hire strangers without a recommendation. I can give none. I"ll be square with you. My name isn"t Markham at all. I can"t tell you my real one until maybe a long, long time. I wore that moustache partly as a disguise."
"Well, all that is your business, Markham," said Frank.
"I know that, but it must look suspicious to you. If I told you that I am leaving the city to get away from some one who is hunting me, would you feel like trusting me much?"
Frank took his companion"s hand in his own and looked him straight in the eyes.
"Markham," he said, "I am willing to put entire confidence in you. I owe you that much, surely. Your secrets are not my business, I would like to ask one question only: You haven"t run away from home, have you?"