Frank laughed.
"Now, you are jealous, old man," he said. "It came about naturally enough, and she acted like a lady."
"But not like the Vida Melburn I know."
"I do not believe she is the Vida Melburn you know. You have been deceived by a resemblance, my boy."
Bart shook his head.
"Not much! Don"t take me for a fool, Frank! I am not such a dunderhead as that--oh, no!"
"Then she lied to one of us."
Bart"s face lighted a bit.
"Possibly she did not care to give you her right name, having made your acquaintance in such a manner. That must be the real explanation."
"Look here, Bart, that girl is too unsophisticated, too innocent to work that kind of a game. She has the most innocent face I ever saw."
"You are right," the dark-haired lad confessed, "Vida would not be likely to do such a thing. She is frank and open as the day."
"Well, what do you make of it?"
"I don"t know what to make of it."
"Tell me how you came to know her."
"She was visiting at Fardale, and I became acquainted with her. She liked me and--I liked her. We were together a great deal. She did not tell me much about herself, but, still, I learned a few things. Her home is in Sacramento, but she has relatives in Carson City. I found out that there had been trouble between her father and mother, and they had separated. That is how her father happened to send her East. Her relatives at Fardale did not regard me with favor for some reason, and they ordered me to have nothing more to say to her. Still, we met occasionally, and--to tell the truth, old boy--I fell in love with her.
They found out we were seeing each other secretly, and they made a rumpus about it. Then they wrote to her father, and they sent for her to return to the West. She was shipped off in a hurry, so we would see no more of each other; but she wrote me a short note, telling me to address her at Austin, Nevada. I did so, and, as I happen to have a rich old uncle in California, I proposed to come out here. She answered, saying she would be in Reno just three days ago, and for me to meet her at the railway station, if possible. It looked impossible then, but I was hard hit, and I made a big hustle to get away from school and come out here.
I worked all kinds of schemes on the governor, and he finally agreed to let me come West to visit Uncle Hiram. I came, and I was in Reno on the date set, but she did not appear. I have been there every day since, and to-day she came. You know the rest."
Frank regarded his friend steadfastly for some moments, smiling covertly.
"You are a queer fellow, Bart," he said. "You go to extremes in everything. Now, stop and think of chasing away out here after a girl.
It is----"
Bart interrupted him with a sharp gesture.
"Oh, I know--I don"t deny that I am a fool! At the same time I can"t help it. I never saw a girl before this one that I cared a snap for. She seems to be my affinity."
Frank"s laugh rang out merrily.
"Affinity is good!" he exclaimed. "You are hard hit. And the girl threw you down when you appeared on the scene. What do you make of that?"
Bart scowled.
"I am sure of one thing."
"And that is--what?"
"She is in trouble."
"Who is the man with her?"
"That is what I"d like to know. I am sure she fears him. She must have seen him, and she must have feared to recognize me. There can be no other explanation."
"He is not her father, is he?"
"That creature the father of that girl? Well, not much!"
"No, he is not. If I remember right, she called him Paul. Can he be her brother?"
"Never!"
"Then, what is he?"
"You tell."
"I can"t."
"More than ever am I sure she is in trouble--great trouble. I am determined to know the truth. I will learn it from her own lips."
"How?"
"By following her till I get an opportunity to speak with her."
"Well, Bart, you are so badly struck that all I can do is hang by you and see you through. We will solve the mystery of this girl, if we are capable of doing so."
"Right you are, Frank."
Then they spoke of other matters, old friends at Fardale, and how things were moving there. Bart told all about the events that had taken place at the academy since Frank left, how they had missed him as a leader in sports of all kinds, how often he was spoken of with admiration and affection by his old comrades, and how even the professors held him up as a model to be emulated.
"They seem to have forgotten the pranks you were up to and the larks you were in," said Bart; "but they remember that you stood at the head in everything you undertook."
Then Frank told of his own adventures in knocking about, and Bart regarded him with still greater admiration.
"You are the luckiest fellow alive!" declared the dark-haired lad. "I wish I had a rich and eccentric old uncle to kick the bucket and leave me a big fortune on condition that I would "travel over the world to advance my education and broaden my ideas." Say, that uncle of yours was a good thing!"
"Uncle Asher was original in everything."
"I should guess yes. When are you going abroad?"
"Very soon. Professor Scotch will make arrangements for such a move while he is in the East."
"You are the envy of Fardale. Hans Dunnerwust returned with a stock of tales of astounding adventures, which he managed to bungle badly in the telling. And now I suppose Barney Mulloy will take his turn. Between them they will make you out one of the most remarkable heroes of modern times."
Thus the boys chatted till Carson City was reached.