No; Julian a.s.sured him that it had no reference to their property, which was not theirs yet until the court had pa.s.sed upon it, but it was in regard to their going to school in order to learn something.
Mr. Fay was all attention now, and when Julian spoke of joining some mercantile academy, he slapped his hands down upon his knees as if that was the best thing the boys could do.
"I have no fears that your money will not prove useful to you," said he; "the idea of your wanting to go to school is a big feather in your caps. Some young men, with such an amount of money as you have coming to you, would loaf around and do nothing until their funds were all gone; but you don"t act that way. Believe me, there is an end to that hundred thousand dollars somewhere."
"That is just what the president of the bank told us when we called upon him," said Julian. "We have worked so hard for the little money we have that we intend to take care of it. But, Mr. Fay, we don"t believe that Mr. Gibson did right in giving us these funds."
"What"s the reason you don"t?"
"Why, he said he would have to get word from the court before all the property could be turned over to us--"
"Oh, that"s all right; Mr. Gibson knew what he was doing. You will find it all right when the Judge hears the case. Now, do you know where the business college is situated?"
Julian was not so sure about that, but he received certain instructions from Mr. Fay that made him think he could find it; so the boys put on their caps and went out.
CHAPTER XIX.
GOING TO SCHOOL.
"Is the boss mechanic anywhere about?" asked Jack, who chanced to be the first who entered the college when they found it.
They had opened a door, and found themselves in one of the study-rooms of the school. There were fifty men and women there, all interested with their books, and the best of order prevailed. A young man, whose seat was near the door, on seeing that the boys were strangers, had arisen and asked them what he could do for them.
"The boss mechanic?" he repeated, in a surprised tone.
"He means the man who is at the head of this inst.i.tution," said Julian. We want to see him for a few minutes, if you please."
"Oh, yes," said the young man, as he gave Jack a looking over. "I guess you have worked at manual labor all your life."
"Yes, I have," replied Jack; "I have done nothing but lift heavy iron for a good many years, and now I want to find an easier way of making a living."
"You have come to the right place to find it. Step this way."
The student led the way around the room, pa.s.sing close to the scholars, some of whom merely glanced up, others paying not the least attention to them, until he opened a door and ushered them into a private office. He introduced the boys as persons who had come there to see the "boss mechanic," and then went out; while a pleasant-faced, elderly gentleman replied that he was the "boss mechanic" of that school, and asked them what they wanted. Jack, who had made a blunder by the first question he asked, remained silent, leaving Julian to do all the talking.
"We want to get an education," said Julian.
"Well, that is what this school can give you," said the man. "What do you want to study?"
"Stenography and type-writing."
"And you?" he added, turning to Jack.
"Bookkeeping and writing; I write a fearful hand."
The superintendent, having made a start with the boys, invited them to sit down, and in a few minutes he learned something of the boys"
history, and what occupation they had been engaged in previous to coming to Denver. Without telling him anything of their circ.u.mstances, they chanced to mention the names of Mr. Fay and Mr. Gibson, and after that Julian thought he seemed to take more interest in them. After a little conversation the boys pulled out their roll of bills and paid for six months" instruction and the books they would need, and then arose to go, after telling him they would be on hand in the morning, ready to go to work.
"I"ll tell you what"s a fact," said Jack, pausing on the stairs and pulling out his diminished roll of bills; "we will have to go to the bank and get some more money, the first thing you know."
"That is so," replied Julian. "And I have just thought of another thing. Did you see how neatly all those students were dressed? I am going to draw two hundred dollars--"
"Man alive!" said Jack, appalled by the sum mentioned. "Suppose Mr.
Haberstro comes up--"
"I don"t bother my head about him. We will go and get some money, and then we will go to a tailor"s and get some clothes worth having. If Mr. Haberstro is going to appear, Mr. Gibson will show us the way out."
Jack was not convinced by any means, but he kept close by Julian"s side until he reached the bank. Julian made out the check for him and he signed his name, and the money was paid to each of them without a word of protest. Jack felt a little uneasy after that. He did not like to have so much money about him. He carried his left hand in the pocket where he had placed the bills, and looked at every roughly-dressed man he met, as if he were afraid that somebody would rob him.
"I don"t feel exactly right," said he to Julian. "As soon as we get home I"ll put this money in my trunk, and then I know it will be safe."
"Don"t keep your hand on it all the while, or you will lead somebody to suspect something," said Julian. "Now, here is a tailor shop; let us go in and see what we can do."
Jack fairly gasped when Julian said he wanted the finest suit of clothes there was in the store. He wanted two suits--one for every day and one for Sundays. Of course the merchant was eager to show them to him, and the result was that he ordered the best suits he had ever had in his life. Jack did not believe in expensive clothes, but Julian urged it upon him, telling him that he would look as though he came from the country among all those nicely-dressed students, and Jack finally yielded to him.
"That"s the worst expenditure of money that I was ever guilty of,"
said he, when they were fairly on the street.
"Grumbling again, are you?" was Julian"s comment. "Never mind; you will get used to it after a while."
The next thing the boys had in view was to join the Young Men"s Christian a.s.sociation, so that they could get some books to take home with them; and when that was done they considered themselves settled for the winter. They went to school the next day, and from that time until spring opened they never missed a lesson. Jack was rather awkward at first. The hands which had been in the habit of lifting heavy bars of iron could not accommodate themselves to a pen very readily; and oftentimes, when Julian sat in his room, of nights, reading, Jack was there learning to write. No two boys ever behaved themselves better than they did, and it was not long before they became favorites, both with the boarders and others who came there to visit. Jack soon got used to his fine clothes, and wore them as if he had been accustomed to them all his life. They took an evening now and then to call upon Mr. Banta, and they always found him as talkative as ever. Sometimes they became so interested in his tales of life in the gold-camps that it was ten o"clock before they returned home. Mr. Fay and Mr. Gibson also came in for visits occasionally, and once the latter took out a bundle of papers, which he handed to Julian.
"What are these?" he asked.
"They are your property," said the lawyer. "You can keep the papers yourself, or you can let me keep them, and I will put them in my till in the bank."
"Do you mean that all comes to us?" inquired Julian, while a thrill shot all through him.
"Yes, sir; the court decided so a week ago."
"Jack," said Julian, turning to his companion, "are you sorry, now, that I went to the express office and invested in that "old horse"?"
Jack could not say anything. He remembered how he had scolded Julian for that, and he did not want it thrown up to him so often. Julian then went on and told Mr. Gibson what had happened in their room the night he brought the "old horse" home, and the lawyer laughed loudly at his description of it.
"Mr. Gibson, we really wish you would take charge of this matter for us," said Julian. "You hope so, too--don"t you, Jack?"
"Of course; we don"t know what to do with it."
And so the matter was settled, and the boys breathed a good deal easier while they were on their way home. There was one thing that often came into their minds, and that was, What had become of Claus and Casper Nevins? Had they given up all hopes of gaining possession of that hundred thousand dollars? Jack scouted the idea. Casper might have given it up, but Claus would stick to his idea until he got into jail by it. He was not a man who gave up so easily. It is true they had not seen anything of him since they came to Denver, but Jack was sure they would hear from him at some other time.
"You will see," exclaimed Jack, when he confided his opinions to Julian. "You want to be on the watch, or the first thing you know he will jump down on us."
"I guess Mr. Gibson can shut him up very easily," said Julian.
"Yes; but it may happen when Mr. Gibson is not around."