First at the North Pole: or, Two Boys in the Arctic Circle. Stratemeyer Edward

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СКАЧАТЬ you know if he has an opening for a chopper, or on the teams?”

      “No opening whatever. We laid off four men last week, and we’re going to lay off four more this coming Saturday.”

      The clerk went on figuring, and in silence Andy withdrew. He had had a walk of nearly five miles for nothing. Was it any wonder that he was disheartened?

      “It’s the same story everywhere,” he told himself, as he moved away slowly. “I might tramp to the Elroy place – that’s six miles from here – but what’s the use? I’ll wear out boot-leather for nothing. I guess Uncle Si and I will have to pull up stakes or starve.”

      Not knowing what else to do, Andy walked along to where a number of men were at work. Just then the twelve o’clock whistle sounded, and the workers “knocked off” for their midday meal.

      “Hello, Andy!” sung out a cheery voice, and, turning, the boy saw a brawny chopper named Bill Carrow approaching. Carrow had once worked with Mr. Graham, and knew the son fairly well.

      “Hello,” returned the youth. “Going to feed the inner man?” and he smiled.

      “That’s what, son. How are you?” And the lumberman shook hands.

      “Fairly well, but I’d feel better if I had a job.”

      “Out of work, eh? That’s too bad. I don’t suppose there is any opening here.”

      “The clerk said there wasn’t any – said they were discharging hands instead of taking ’em on.”

      “That’s true. Business is bad – account of the panic last year, you know.” Bill Carrow paused a moment. “Had your dinner?”

      “No, but I can wait until – ”

      “You ain’t going to wait. You come with me and I’ll fill you up. Your father did the same for me many a time. Come on.”

      Andy was hungry, and could not resist this kindly invitation. Soon the pair were eating a plain but substantial dinner, which Carrow procured from the camp cook. It was disposed of in a corner of the mess cabin, apart from the other lumbermen. As they ate the lumberman asked the youth about himself and his uncle.

      “That uncle of yours ought to be ashamed of himself, that’s my opinion of it,” said Bill Carrow. “If I was you, I’d not lift my finger to support him. He was the laziest young feller I ever knew, and it’s nothing but laziness now. He ought to be supporting you instead of you supporting him.”

      “I can support myself – if he’d only leave me alone and not try to get my money away from me.”

      “He squandered that money your father left – I know all about it. I’d make him go to work.”

      “I can’t make him do anything.”

      “The boys ought to go over and ride him on a rail, or tar and feather him. I guess that would wake him up.”

      “Oh, I hope they don’t do that! He’s a bad man when he gets in a rage.” Andy did not want any more trouble than had already fallen to his portion.

      “By the way, Andy, did a man named Hopton call on you lately?” asked Carrow, after a pause.

      “Hopton? I never heard of him. Who is he?”

      “Why, as near as I can learn, he is a real estate man – deals in timber and farm lands. He came here a week or so ago, thinking you had a job here. I told him where you lived, and I supposed he called on you.”

      “I didn’t see him. What did he want?”

      “He wouldn’t say – leastwise, I didn’t ask him, seeing’s it was none of my business. But he did ask me, confidential like – after he found out that I had known your father well – if your folks had any timber lands over in Michigan.”

      “Oh!” Andy uttered the exclamation before he had time to think. “Did he – that is, did he ask about any land in particular?”

      “No. I told him I didn’t think you owned any land anywhere. He looked satisfied at that and went away. But I thought he called on you.”

      “Where was he from?”

      “I don’t know. But they might tell you at the office. Have you got any land?”

      It was an awkward question. Andy did not wish to tell a falsehood, nor did he wish to disclose the secret left by his parent. He bit off a mouthful of bread and pretended to choke upon it.

      “Hi, look out, or you’ll choke to death!” cried Bill Carrow, slapping him on the back. Then Andy ran to the door and continued to cough, until the awkward question was forgotten. Other workmen came up, and the talk became general. Perhaps Carrow suspected that the boy did not wish to answer him, for he did not refer to the matter again.

      After thanking his friend for the dinner, Andy walked back to the office. He found the clerk smoking a pipe and reading a Bangor newspaper, having finished his midday meal a few minutes previously.

      “It’s no use,” he said, as Andy came in. “We can’t possibly take you on.”

      “I came back to get a little information, if you’ll be kind enough to give it. Do you know a man named Hopton?”

      “Why, yes. I suppose you mean A. Q. Hopton, the real estate dealer.”

      “Does he deal in timber lands?”

      “I think he does.”

      “Where is he from?”

      “He has an office in Portland, and another in Grand Rapids, Michigan.”

      “Do you know where he is now?”

      “No. He was here on business some days ago. Perhaps he went back to Portland.”

      “Thank you.”

      “Want to buy a few thousand acres of land?” and the clerk chuckled at his joke.

      “No, I thought I could sell him a linen duster to keep the icicles off when he’s on the road,” answered Andy, with a grin. And then, as there seemed nothing more to say, he walked away, and was soon leaving the Storburgh lumber camp behind him.

      What he had heard set him to thinking deeply. What did this A. Q. Hopton know about the lumber tract in Michigan? Was it valuable, and did it really belong to his father’s estate?

      “I wish I knew more about such things,” mused Andy. “The last time I tried to read the papers over I couldn’t make head or tail of them. I guess it would take a smart lawyer to get to the bottom of it – and a lawyer would want a lot of money for the work. I wonder – ” And then Andy came to a sudden halt.

      Was it possible that Mr. A. Q. Hopton had called at the cabin during his absence and interviewed Uncle Si? And if so, how much had Uncle Si been able to tell the real estate dealer? Had the two gone on a hunt for the papers, and, if so, had they found the documents?

      “If Uncle Si has gone into any kind of a deal on this without consulting me, I’ll – I’ll bring him to account for it!” cried the youth, vehemently. “After this he has got to СКАЧАТЬ