His tone was not nearly so benevolent. Opposition, as always, was rousing Anthony"s unfortunate stubbornness; with or without reason, had David but known it, every mention of that cap and coat was diminishing his chances of walking out of the Lasande--and it is possible that he sensed something of the kind, for his smile disappeared abruptly, and the a.s.surance that had been with him was no more.
"I can"t tell you where I live!" he said hoa.r.s.ely.
"In the name of heaven, why not?" Anthony snapped.
"Because--because--well, you may not understand this, sir, but I promised father I wouldn"t tell any one where we live."
"What?"
"I did, and I can"t break a promise!" David insisted. "You see, father was rich once, and he"s terribly proud. He doesn"t want any one to know we live in such a poor place, because somebody he used to know might hear of it and try to help him, and that would break father"s heart."
"His heart"s in pretty bad shape, isn"t it?" Johnson Boller muttered.
"Frightful!" said David. "And that"s why I"ll have to go now and explain to him and think it all over and----"
"Why think it over?" Anthony rasped. "Isn"t your mind made up now?"
"Of course it is," the boy said hastily. "Only I"ll have to tell father and then come back here in the morning, Mr. Fry; only--_I have, to go home now_!"
His voice broke strangely.
Anthony Fry looked him over with a quant.i.ty of sour curiosity.
If the golden opportunity before his very eyes was making even the trace of an impression on David Prentiss, the boy"s faculty for masking his true emotions was downright amazing. That bright, rather attractive young countenance told of absolutely nothing but the heartfelt desire to escape from the gentleman who wished to improve his condition.
It was the same old story, world-old and world-wide. David, once he was out of this apartment, would never return; with opportunity fairly pushing against him, he turned from her in terror, refusing to know that she was there.
Well, then, he _should_ see her!
Anthony"s square chin set. He rose with a jerk and stood surveying the nervous David, a tall, commanding, rather fearsome figure. Some little time he transfixed the lad with his cold, hard eyes, while David grew paler and paler; then he walked down upon David, who cringed visibly, and seized his shoulders.
"David," he said sternly, "you have no conception at all of what I am trying to offer you. I"m going to keep you here until you have."
"Keep me--here?" David faltered.
"Just that."
It was in Johnson Boller"s mind to rise and deliver a little speech of his own, pointing out the legal rights of David Prentiss and the chance that, at some later date, interested parties might hear of this evening and use it in moving Anthony toward an insane asylum. Yet he did not speak, for he grew interested in David himself.
That bewildered youngster was shrinking and shrinking away from Anthony.
He was wilting before the stem eye, and he was smiling in the sickliest, most ghastly fashion. And now he was nodding submissively and speaking:
"Yes, I"ll stay, Mr. Fry."
"Ah!" said Anthony.
"I--I"m glad to stay," David a.s.sured him.
Then, looking at Anthony, he contrived another smile and yawned; and having yawned once, he yawned again, vastly, and stretching the second time.
"The--the trouble with me is that I"m sleepy," David stated, in a strange, low voice. "I get that way because I"m not used to late hours, and when I do get sleepy I--I can"t think or talk or do anything. I"ll be myself in the morning, Mr. Fry; but if I"m going to stay here, I"d like to go to bed now."
He yawned again and still again, quite noisily and eying Anthony in an odd, expectant, pleading way. Anthony, after a puzzled moment, shrugged his shoulders and smiled.
"Go to bed if you like, David," he said. "There are one or two things I want to say to you first."
"Yes, sir," David said obediently.
"To-morrow, when you have slept on it, I"m confident that you will see the huge opportunity that I have offered you, and that you will stay with me as one of my little household. It is not an exacting position, but there are one or two laws you must remember. For the first--no dissipation. You don"t drink, David?"
"Not a drop, sir."
"And for another," Anthony said gravely, "no women!"
"Eh?" said David.
"Absolutely no women in this Hotel Lasande!" Anthony repeated, with a fanatic force that caused Johnson Boller to snort disgustedly and throw up his hands. "This is, perhaps, more strictly than any other house in New York an all-man establishment. There are not even women servants here, David, and other sorts of women _don"t_ run in and out of here. In fact, the ladies who do come--relatives of the tenants, of course--are so very few that they"re all known to the clerks. So, while you may have a sweetheart, David, and while she may be all very well in her place--keep her out of here!"
"But----"
"That"s the unwritten law of the house, and it makes for profound peace," Anthony concluded. "You"ll appreciate it more fully when you have lived here for a time."
David, facing Mr. Fry, gazed at the floor and yawned again.
"I guess I"ll go to bed," he said weakly.
"And before that we"ll start you on the right track," Anthony said with a gentle smile. "You"ll take a good, hot bath."
He pressed the b.u.t.ton and Wilkins appeared.
"The guest-chamber for young Mr. Prentiss, Wilkins," said Anthony. "You will outfit him with pajamas of my own and the gray bathrobe I used last year. To-morrow we"ll get you something that fits, David."
David nodded numbly.
"And, Wilkins," said his master, "you will a.s.sist Mr. Prentiss with his bath."
David"s nod broke in two.
"I don"t want any help," he said.
"But Wilkins----"
"Wilkins or anybody else; I don"t want any help with a bath. I know how to take a bath, at least. I don"t know how you swells take yours, but I take mine alone; I don"t want any one pottering around me, and I won"t have it!"
His countenance flushed angrily, and Anthony favored him with an indulgent smile. After all, he was very young.
"As you please, David. Show him to the north bathroom, Wilkins. That is all."
But he tapped Wilkins"s shoulder and held him back a moment to add: