it took several days to straighten matters out around the vernon household, and so robert's proposed visit home had to be deferred until the middle of the week following.
mrs. vernon was truly grateful to the youth for all he had done, and did not hesitate to declare that she was going to make him her principal heir when she died.
"you did nobly, robert," she said. "your mother should be proud of you. no woman could have a better son."
as frederic vernon had disappeared, the scandal was hushed up, the detective paid off, and there the matter was allowed to drop. this was a great relief to dr. rushwood, who had dreaded an exposure. but exposure soon came through another so-styled patient, and the doctor had to depart in a great hurry, which he did, leaving a great number of unpaid bills behind him.
one day came a letter for robert, which made him feel very sober. it was from his mother.
"i wish you would come home and assist me in my money affairs," wrote mrs. talbot. "mr. talbot had asked me for more than i am willing to lend him, and lately he has taken to drink and is making me very miserable."
"the wretch!" muttered robert, when he had finished the communication. "what a pity mother ever threw herself away on such a man. i'll run home this very afternoon," and receiving permission from mrs. vernon he hurried up and caught the first train leaving after the lunch hour.
robert had not been to granville for a long time, and he felt rather strange as he stepped off the train. no one was at the depot to receive him, yet he met several people that he knew.
"why if it aint robert frost!" cried sam jones, his old school chum. "how are you getting along, robert? but there's no need to ask, by the nice clothes you are wearing."
"i am doing very well, sam," replied our hero. "and how are you faring?"
"pretty good. i am learning the carpenter's trade."
"i see."
"come home to stay?"
"no, just to see my mother."
sam jones' face fell a little.
"it's too bad she's having such a hard time of it, robert--indeed it is."
"so you know she is having a hard time?"
"why, everybody in granville knows it. mr. talbot is drinking like a fish, and using up her money fast, too, so they say."
"it's a shame," muttered robert. "it's a wonder mother didn't write before."
"going up to the house now?" continued sam.
"yes."
"you'll be in time for a jolly row. i just saw your step-father going up there, and he was about half full."
"it's too bad, sam. i'll have to do the best i can. i wish my mother would come to chicago and live with me."
the two boys separated, and our hero continued on his way to what had once been his happy home.
the main street of granville was a winding one, and after running away from the railroad for a short distance, it crossed the tracks a second time and then led up a hill, on the top of which was built the frost homestead.
as robert approached the railroad he saw a familiar figure ahead of him, reeling from side to side of the dusty roadway. the figure was that of his step-father.
the sight filled him with disgust, and he did not know whether to stop and speak to the man or pass him by unnoticed.
while he was deliberating james talbot reeled down to the railroad tracks, staggered, and fell headlong. he tried to rise, but the effort seemed a failure, and then he sank down in a drunken stupor.
"he is too drunk to walk any further," thought robert. "oh, what a beast he is making of himself! if he----"
our hero broke off short, as the whistle of an approaching train reached his quick ears. the afternoon express was coming--along the very tracks upon which his step-father lay!
the boy's heart seemed to stop beating. the drunken man was unconscious of his danger--he could not help himself. supposing he was left where he lay? there would be a rushing and crushing of heavy wheels, and then all would be over, and this man, who was not fit to live, would be removed from the frost path forever!
this was the thought that came into robert's mind, a thought born of the evil one himself. but then came another thought, as piercing as a shaft of golden light, "love your enemies." the boy dropped the valise he was carrying and leaped forward madly.
"get up! get up!" he yelled, as he caught the drunken man by the arm. "get up! the train is coming!"
"whazzer mazzer!" hiccoughed james talbot dreamily. "lemme alone, i shay!"
"get off the railroad track!" went on robert. "the train is coming!"
"train!" repeated the drunkard. "i--hic--don't shee no train."
but now the whistle sounded louder than ever, and around the turn of the hill appeared the locomotive of the express, speeding along at a rate of fifty-five miles an hour. the sight caused robert's heart to thump loudly, while james talbot gazed at the iron monster as though transfixed with terror.
"we're lost!" he screamed hoarsely, and then straightened out and sank back like one dead.
what happened in the next few seconds robert could hardly tell in detail. he had a hazy recollection of catching his step-father by the leg and jerking him from the track and falling down on top of him. man and boy rolled into a dry ditch, and as they went down the express thundered by, the engineer being unable to stop the heavy train short of twice its own length. and when robert came to his senses he was lying on a grassy bank and sam jones and several others were bathing him with water.
"my step-father--is he saved?" were the youth's first words.
"yes, he was saved," answered one of the men. "but he seems to be suffering from another stroke of paralysis."
robert soon felt strong enough to get up, and asked for his valise, which was handed over to him. his brave deed had been witnessed by sam jones and a farmer who had been driving toward the railroad crossing. both of these explained to the crowd how our hero had risked his life to save that of his intoxicated step-father.
a stretcher was procured and mr. talbot was placed upon this and carried to his home. the whole lower portion of his body seemed to be paralyzed and he spoke with great difficulty. strange to say the shock had completely sobered him.
it was a strange meeting between mrs. talbot and robert. tears were in the eyes of the mother, tears which only her son understood. with great care james talbot was carried to a bed-chamber on the second floor of the house and here made as comfortable as possible, while one of the neighbors went off to summon a doctor.
"they tell me you risked your life to save him," whispered mrs. talbot to robert. "oh, robert, my boy! my only boy!" and she clasped him about the neck and burst into a passionate fit of weeping.
when the doctor had made a careful examination he looked very grave.
"the shock is a heavy one, mrs. talbot," he said. "and coming on top of that which he had some time ago, is likely to prove serious."
"do you mean he will die?" she asked quickly.
"'while there is life there is hope,' that is all i can say," said the physician, and then gave directions as to what should be done for the sufferer.
in the morning james talbot was no better, physically, although able to talk a little. from his wife he learned what robert had done for him.
"he's a good boy," he whispered huskily. "a better boy than i am a man."
"james, when you get well you must give up drinking," she replied.
"i won't get well, sarah--i feel it. but i won't drink any more, i promise you." and then she kissed him on the forehead. she had loved him once, and now, when he lay helpless, she could not help but love him again.
two days later it was evident that the end was drawing near. before this came he asked for his wife and told her to bring robert. when the two were at his bedside he placed their hands one within the other.
"robert, i'm going," he said slowly and painfully. "will you forgive the past?"
"i will," answered robert. his emotion was such that he could scarcely speak.
"and, sarah, will you forgive me, too?" went on the dying man, turning his yearning eyes toward his wife.
"oh, james, james, there is nothing to forgive!" she wailed, and fell on his bosom.
"i've done a good deal of wrong, and this is the end of it. robert, be a good boy and take care of your mother, for she is the best woman in the world. i--i--wish--i had--been--better too. if i----"
james talbot tried to say more, but could not. a spasm had seized him, and when it was over the paralysis had touched his tongue, and his speech was silenced forever. he died at sunset, and was buried on the sunday following, in the little granville cemetery where robert's father rested.
the taking off of james talbot made a great change in robert's mother. she became a deep-thinking, serious woman, and from that hour on her heart and soul were wrapped up in her only child.
to get her away from the scene of her sorrows, robert wrote to mrs. vernon, and that lady promptly invited the widow to pay her a visit, and this invitation was accepted. the two ladies soon became warm friends, and it was decided that in the future mrs. talbot was to spend her winters in chicago, while each summer mrs. vernon and robert should come to granville for an outing.
"because, you see," said mrs. vernon, "we'll have to divide robert between us, since neither of us can very well give him up."
* * * * *
several years have passed since the events recorded above took place. robert has gone through a college education, and, in connection with mr. farley, manages all of mrs. vernon's business affairs for her. it is well known that he will be the rich lady's principal heir when she dies, but he openly declares that it is his hope she will live for many a long year to come.
robert frequently hears from dick marden and from his old fellow clerk, livingston palmer. through marden robert received a thousand dollars with the compliments of felix amberton. both the lumberman and the miner are doing well. livingston palmer has mastered stenography thoroughly and is now mr. farley's private clerk, at a salary of thirty dollars per week. to use palmer's own words, "this beats clerking in a cut-rate ticket office or traveling with a theatrical company all to pieces."
as yet robert is unmarried. but he is a frequent visitor at the home of herman wenrich, and rumor has it that some day he will make pretty nettie wenrich his wife. he is interested in a number of business ventures of his own, and is fast becoming rich, but no matter what good luck may befall him, it is not likely that he will ever forget the thrilling adventures through which he passed when he was unconsciously falling in with fortune.
