and that he had helped lower it by
forty-two seconds.

That evening the club held a meeting, and Harry was presented with the
bicycle, something he had been wishing for for some time. Jerry's prize
was a silver watch and chain.

"This just suits me," he said. "Now, when I'm away from home, I'll be able
to tell what time it is."

The celebration was at its height, when a message came for Jerry from his
home, stating that his father had been kicked by one of the horses and was
badly injured.

This news shocked the youth a good deal, and bidding his friends a hasty
good-night, the young oarsman set off for the farm on a run.

He found his father lying on a couch in the dining-room. A doctor had just
arrived, and he was doing all that he could for the sufferer.

"Where did the horse kick him, mother?" he questioned, hurriedly.

"In the side, right under the heart," replied Mrs. Upton. "Oh, I do trust
it is not serious!"

"So do I. What can I do?"

"I don't know. We must see what the doctor says."

The medical man, after a long examination, declared that several ribs had
been fractured, and that Mr. Upton was suffering from shock. Some medicine
was administered, and the patient was carefully carried upstairs and
placed upon a bed.

No one in the farmhouse slept that night. Mrs. Upton sat by her husband's
side, and Jerry came and went, ready to do anything that might be asked of
him.

Two days later the doctor pronounced the wounded man out of danger. But
his injuries were severe, and it would be a long while before Mr. Upton
would be able to go around as before.

His enforced idleness made the farmer fret a good deal. It was true that
the harvest work on the farm was over, but he had wished to do much more.

"And I reckon that trip to New York is now out of the question," Jerry
heard him say to Mrs. Upton.

"Why, father, were you going to New York?" asked the boy, in much
curiosity.

"I had an idea that way, son," returned Mr. Upton, slowly. "I was going on
business," he added, after a pause.

At this Jerry was more curious than ever. New York was over two hundred
miles from Lakeview, and he had never heard of his parent having business
in the metropolis.

"You see it's this way, Jerry," said Mr. Upton, noticing his look. "When
your uncle Charley died he left all his property to me. Some time ago I
was cleaning out one of his old trunks and I ran across some deeds to
property in California. From what