"'No.'

"'Think.'

"'_Have you a strawberry on your arm_?'

"'No.'

"'Then--you are--_you are_--YOU ARE--my own--my long--lost son!'

[Illustration: The Long-Lost Son.]

"And she caught him in her arms.

"Here endeth the first part of my grandfather's adventures, but he
had many more, good and bad; for he was a remarkable man, though I
say it; and if any of you ever want to hear more about him, which I
doubt, all you've got to do is to say so. But perhaps it's just as
well to let the old gentleman drop, for his adventures were rather
strange; but the narration of them is not very profitable, not that
I go in for the utilitarian theory of conversation; but I think, on
the whole, that, in story-telling, fiction should be preferred to
dull facts like these, and so the next time I tell a story I will
make one up."

The Club had listened to the story with the gravity which should be
manifested toward one who is relating family matters. At its close
the Senator prepared to speak. He cleared his throat:

"Ahem! Gentlemen of the Club! our adventures, thus far, have not
been altogether contemptible. We have a President and a Secretary;
ought we not also to have a Recording Secretary--a Historian?"

"Ay!" said all, very earnestly.

"Who, then, shall it be?"

All looked at Dick.

"I see there is but one feeling among us all," said the Senator.
"Yes, Richard, you are the man. Your gift of language, your fancy,
your modesty, your fluency--But I spare you. From this time forth
you know your duty."

Overcome by this honor, Dick was compelled to bow his thanks in
silence and hide his blushing face.

"And now," said Mr. Figgs, eagerly, "I want to hear _the Higgins
Story_."

The Doctor turned frightfully pale. Dick began to fill his pipe.
The Senator looked earnestly out of the window. Buttons looked at
the ceiling.

"What's the matter?" said Mr. Figgs.

"What?" asked Buttons.

"The Higgins Story?"

The Doctor started to his feet. His excitement was wonderful. He
clenched his fist.

"I'll quit! I'm going back. I'll join you at Rome by another route.
I'll--"

"No, you won't!" said Buttons; "for on a journey like this it would
be absurd to begin the Higgins Story."

"Pooh!" said Dick, "it would require nineteen days at least to get
through the introductory part."

"When, then, can I hear it?" asked Mr. Figgs, in perplexity.

CHAPTER XVII.

NIGHT ON THE ROAD.--THE CLUB ASLEEP.--THEY ENT