"A. D. T. 79."
"Then it was the telegraph boy, after all!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Schuyler in a rage. "I only wish I had known it. Are you a friend of--the telegraph boy?"
"Am I a friend of Mark Mason? I should smile."
"Step in a minute, then!" said Schuyler, with an a.s.sumed friendliness.
As the unsuspecting Tom stepped inside the hall, the young man began to shower blows on his shoulders with a cane that he s.n.a.t.c.hed from the hat rack.
Tom was for a minute dazed. Then his wits returned to him. He lowered his head and b.u.t.ted Schuyler in the stomach with such force that the latter fell over backwards with an e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n of pain.
Then Tom darted through the open door, but paused on the steps to say, "With the compliments of Tom Trotter."
Schuyler picked himself up, uttering execrations, and looked for the boy, but he was gone!
[Ill.u.s.tration: "Schuyler fell over backwards with a cry of pain."--Page 98.
_Mark Mason"s Victory._]
CHAPTER XIII.
MARK STARTS ON A JOURNEY.
"SHALL you want me to-morrow, Mr. Swan?" asked Mark, as the clock struck six, and the jeweler prepared to close up.
"Yes; I shall probably want you for a week."
"Very well, sir; I will so report at the office."
The next morning about eight o"clock Mark reported for duty and waited for orders.
The jeweler looked up from a letter he had been reading.
"How would you like to make a journey?" he asked.
"Very much, sir."
"I shall probably send you to Cleveland."
"Is Cleveland in Ohio?" asked Mark, his eyes sparkling.
"Yes. Do you think you can find your way there?"
"I"ll try."
"You generally succeed in what you undertake to do. Well, I will explain. I have a customer living in Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, who used to be a New York society lady. She bought a good deal of jewelry, and always purchased of me. This is what she writes."
The material part of the letter was this:
"I want a diamond pin worth about one thousand dollars. My husband has agreed to give it to me for a birthday present, and left the selection to me. I can"t find anything here that I want, and have been led to think of my old jeweler in New York. You know my taste. Select what you think I will like and send me by private messenger. I might of course employ an express, but there have been some express robberies recently, and I am ready to pay the extra expense required by a special messenger.
Send at once.
"ARABELLA LORING."
"You see," said the jeweler, "that this is an important matter. The messenger will bear great responsibility on account of the value of what he has in charge."
"Do you think I am old enough for the commission, Mr. Swan?" said Mark modestly.
"It is not so much a matter of age as of shrewdness and reliability. I have been led to think that you possess these qualifications. Of course there would be danger of your being robbed if it were known that you carried such a valuable parcel."
"I am not afraid, sir."
"Of course, again, you must take care not to let it be known what you have in charge. Make what statements you like as to your business. I can safely leave that to your own shrewdness."
"When do you want me to start, Mr. Swan?"
"There is a train this afternoon for Buffalo on the New York Central road. Can you get ready to take that?"
"Yes, sir. May I go home and let my mother know? I am not quite sure whether I have a supply of clean clothes."
"You can buy anything that you need on the way. Have you a gripsack?"
"Yes, sir. My mother has one."
"Will it do?"
"I think so."
"So far so good then. Now about money. I can"t tell just how much you will need, but I will give you a certain amount, and if there is any over when you return you can account for it to me."
Mrs. Mason was greatly surprised when Mark came home and inquired for her traveling bag.
"What do you want of it, Mark?" she asked.
"I am going to start for Cleveland this afternoon."
"You"re only funning, Mark," said Edith.
"No, I am not. I have agreed to go to Cleveland on business."