CHAPTER XXIII. MR. BUNDY IS DISAPPOINTED, AND OLIVER MEETS SOME FRIENDS.

T HE village lay farther up on the hill. Oliver and his companion followed the road, looking about them enquiringly.

"Suppose you find this man, what will you do?" asked Oliver curiously.

He had an idea that Nicholas Bundy might pull out a revolver and lay his old enemy dead at his feet. This, in a law-abiding community, might entail uncomfortable consequences, and he might be deprived of his new friend almost as soon as the friendship had begun.

"I will punish him," said Nicholas, his brow contracting into a frown.

"You won't shoot him?"

"No. I shall bide my time, and consider how best to ruin him. If he is rich, I will strip him of his wealth; if he is respected and honored, I will bring a stain upon his name. I will do for him what he has done for me."

The provincialisms which at times disfigured his speech were dropped as he spoke of his enemy, and his face grew hard and his expression unrelenting.

"How he must hate this man!" thought Oliver.

They stepped into a grocery store on the way, and here Mr. Bundy enquired for Rupert Jones.

"Do you know any such man?" he asked.

"Oh, yes; he trades here."

Nicholas Bundy's face lighted up with joy.

"Is he a friend of yours?"

"No," he replied hastily. "But I want to see him; that is, if he is the man I mean. Will you describe him?"

The grocer paused, and then said:

"Well, he is about thirty-five years old, and――"

"Only thirty-five?" repeated Nicholas in deep disappointment.

"I don't think he can be any more. He has a young wife."

"Is he tall or short?"

"Quite tall."

"Then it is not the man I mean," said Bundy. "Oliver, come."

As they left the store he said:

"I thought it was too good news to be true. I must search for him longer; but I have nothing else to do. There are many Joneses in the world."

"Yes, but Rupert Jones is not a common name," said Oliver.

"You say right, boy, Rupert is not a common name. That is what encourages me. Well, shall we go back?"

"I think as we are over here we may as well stay a while," said Oliver. "The day is pleasant and we can look upon it as an excursion."

"Just as you say, Oliver. There is no more to be done to-day. Have you never been here before?"

"No."

"I used to come over when I was a clerk. I often engaged a boat at the Battery and rowed down here myself."

"That must have been pleasant."

"If you like rowing we can go back to the ferry pier and engage a boat for an hour."

"I should like that very much."

"I shall like it also. It is long since I did anything at rowing."

They engaged a stout row-boat, and rowed out half a mile from shore. Oliver knew something about rowing, as there was a pond in his native village, where he had obtained some practice, generally with Frank Dudley. What was his surprise when bending over the oar to hear his name called. Looking up, he recognized Frank and Carrie Dudley and their father.

"Why, it's Oliver!" exclaimed Frank joyfully. "Where have you come from, Oliver?"

"From the shore."

"I mean, how do you happen to be here?"

"Only an excursion, Frank. What brings you here? And Carrie, too. I hope you are well, Carrie."

"All the better for meeting you, Oliver," said Carrie, smiling and blushing. "I have been missing you very much."

Oliver was pleased to hear this. What boy would not be pleased to hear such a confession from the lips of a pretty girl?

"I thought Roland would make up for my absence," he said slyly. "He told me when we met the other day what pleasant calls he had at your house."

"The pleasure is all on his side, then," said Carrie, tossing her head. "I hate the sight of him."

"Poor Roland! He is to be pitied!"

"You needn't pity him, Oliver," said Frank. "He loses no opportunity of trying to set us against you. But he hasn't succeeded yet."

"And he won't!" chimed in Carrie, with emphasis.

This conversation scarcely occupied a minute, though it may seem longer. Meanwhile Dr. Dudley and Nicholas Bundy were left out of the conversation. Oliver remembered this, and introduced them."Dr. Dudley," he said, "permit me to introduce my friend, Mr. Bundy."

"I am glad to make the acquaintance of any friend of yours, Oliver. We are just going in. Won't you and Mr. Bundy join us at dinner in the hotel?"

Nicholas Bundy did not in general take kindly to new friends, but he saw that Oliver wished the invitation to be accepted, and he assented with a good grace. The boat was turned, and they were soon on land again.

"Who is this man, Oliver?" asked Frank in a low tone.

"He is a new acquaintance, but he has been very kind to me, and I have needed friends."

"Is it true that your step-father has cast you off? Roland has been spreading that report."

"It is true enough."

"What an outrage!" exclaimed Frank indignantly. "But, at least, he makes you an allowance out of your mother's property?"

"He sent me twenty dollars, and let me understand that I was to expect no more of him."

"What an old rascal!"

"I hate him!" said Carrie. "I would like to pull his hair."

"That's a regular girl's wish," said Frank, laughing. "Perhaps you can make it do by pulling Roland's, sis."

"I will, when he next says anything against Oliver."

"Look here, Oliver," said Frank, lowering his voice, "if you are in want of money, I've got five dollars at home that I can let you have as well as not. I'll send it in a letter."

"I've got three dollars, Oliver," said Carrie eagerly. "You'll take that, too, won't you?"

Oliver was moved by these offers.

"You are true friends, both of you," he said; "but I have been lucky, and I shall not need to accept your kindness just yet. I have nearly a hundred dollars in my pocket-book, and Mr. Bundy is paying me ten dollars a week for going around with him. But, though I don't need it, I thank you all the same."

"He looks rough," said Carrie, stealing a look at the tall, slouching figure walking beside her father; "but if he is kind, I shall like him."

"He has done more than I have yet told you. He has promised to provide for me as long as I will stay with him."

"He's a good man," said Carrie impulsively. "I'm going to thank him."

She went up to Nicholas Bundy and took his rough hand in hers.

"Mr. Bundy," she said, "Oliver tells me you have been very kind to him. I want to thank you for it."

"My little lady," said Nicholas, surprised and pleased, "if I'd been kind, that would pay me; but I've only been kind to myself. I'm alone in the world. I've got no wife nor child, nor a single relation, but I've got enough to keep two on, and as long as Oliver will stay with me he shall want for nothing. He's company to me, and that's what I need."

"I wish you were his step-father instead of Mr. Kenyon."

"What sort of a man is Mr. Kenyon?" asked Nicholas of Dr. Dudley.

"He is a very unprincipled schemer, in my opinion," was the reply. "He has managed to defraud Oliver of his mother's property and cast him penniless on the world."

"He is a scoundrel, no doubt; but I am not sorry for what he has done," replied Mr. Bundy. "But for him I should be a solitary man. Now I have a young friend to keep me company. Let the boy's inheritance go? I will provide for him!"

They dined together, and then Dr. Dudley and his family were obliged to return.

"Shall I give your love to Roland?" asked Frank.

"I think you had better keep it yourself, Frank," and Oliver pressed his hand warmly. "You needn't tell Roland that I am prospering, nor his father, either. I prefer, at present, that they should not know it."

They parted, with mutual promises to write at regular intervals.