Part 4 (1/2)

”My father was in business in Boston about fifteen years ago,” Ross began ”I was just a baby then, and, of course, I don't know anything about those days except what I've been told since by ood business e trade We had a home in a suburb near Boston and all the , and father had put into it not only all his own ready money, but a lot that he had borrowed from his friends Then hard times came Of course he had to retrench in every way he could He took in his sails and worked hard to weather the stors were looking brighter, a big bank failure knocked him out completely”

There was a murh, he came doith brain fever,” went on Ross

”I suppose it was brought on by worry and overwork Anyhen he got on his feet again, everything had gone to smash and he didn't have a cent left Worse than that, he was in debt for a good h,” and there was a touch of pride in the boy's voice ”Everybody that knew hiood, he could have started in all over again, and even some of the et him on his feet

But the doctor told hio on under the circuo away soone to his creditors, but mother owned a small place up in Canada on the Gulf of St Lawrence She had inherited it from her father, and as it was free and clear, the whole family packed up and went out there

”It was a coe froan to ood deal of valuable luood demand for this, he sold it at a profit Then, too, he traded a good deal with the trappers who ca with their skins and furs

”Money began to pile up and father was feeling fine It wasn't so h of course that was a great thing, but he was fairly crazy to pay off every cent of the money he ohen he went into bankruptcy He was a very proud man and couldn't bear to be in any one's debt I've often heard hiain would be the happiest day of his life

”He had kept a careful record of every cent he owed in a little memorandum book Here it is now”

Ross reached into his pocket and drew out a sht of the fire

CHAPTER V

THE CHEST OF GOLD

Ross Montgoes rapidly, and the boys could see a number of accounts in a precise, methodical script

”The first two or three years were the hardest,” the strange boy went on, ”but after that the money came in fast Fatherinterests, and everything he touched see hiether to pay all his debts and make hi about it, though He had burned his fingers so badly in that big bank failure that he never would trust a bank again Every dollar he got above what he needed to use in business, he stored away in an oak chest that he kept in a secret place at home He had no use for paper et anything else, but the first chance he got he'd change it for gold Of course it was just a whim of his, but somehow it made him feel safer Maybe it was a little e of brain fever At any rate that's the way he felt, and he kept piling up the gold in that old chest All sorts of lish, Canadian, French and American coins I was small then and didn't know much of the value of money, but I can reathered up a handful and let the coins fall in a shower back into the chest----”

”Gee!” interrupted Teddy, ”just think of it A rain of gold!”

”I'd like to be caught out in such a shower,” laughed Fred

”And I wouldn't want any umbrella to ward it off either,” added Bill

”Cork up, you o on with his story,” Lester laughingly advised

”It brought bad luck to father, though,” said Ross soberly ”If it hadn't been for that gold he ht be alive to-day”

It was the first intimation the boys had had that the lad's father was dead, and they kept a respectful silence during thewith painful o,” the boy went on at last, ”father concluded that he had enough on hand to settle with all his creditors, capital and interest, and still have enough left to make him independent for life He planned to leave mother and me--I haven't any brothers or sisters--at home, while he caoing to pick out a hoh he had made the money in Canada, he had always felt homesick for his own country

”Then the question caet the money down here Of course, the safer ould have been to take it to soet a draft on Boston But I've told you of the bitter feeling he had toward all banks, and he'd counted so long on turning over that identical gold to his creditors that he couldn't give it up

”We were a long distance froe city, and the only way to travel by sea was to take so vessel that stopped once in a while at a town near by There was a good deal of s on just then between Canada and this country, and as there was a big profit in it, al vessels took a hand in it now and then

Sometimes it would be opiuht over to Quebec Then, too, there were French laces and silks and wines