ny him at least temporary shelter, and a share of
their slender meals.

So, greatly to the disgust of Thad in particular, Mr. Hosmer now came
forward to offer his hand to the tramp, who took it eagerly. The
look on Brother Lu's face impressed Hugh as one of strange import.
He could not make it out at all, and even found himself vaguely
wondering whether this man might not after all be some sort of artful
impostor, who, having learned about the lost brother, chose to play
the part simply to be well taken care of for a time.

But then surely Matilda would soon be able to tell, when she got to
talking of their childhood days. A thousand things were apt to come
up, and even a cunning schemer could not help betraying his vast
ignorance along such lines.

About this time Brother Lu seemed to have one of his periodical
outbursts of violent coughing. Indeed, he rather outdid himself
on this occasion, as though determined to make a good showing before
his newly-found relatives, and thus enlist their full-fledged sympathy
in the start.

Matilda seemed fairly shocked as he strained, and writhed, and almost
burst a blood vessel with his efforts. Thad stood and watched, his
lip curling as though he could no longer be deceived. To him the
whole thing was now very much in the nature of a fraud, a delusion,
and a snare. He did not doubt the identity of Brother Lu, but as
to the genuine nature of his malady, that was another question entirely,
and Thad could not be impressed again. He fully believed the man
was faking sickness just to gain the sympathy of these simple people,
and work out the game he had in view, which Thad was convinced was
to make a snug nest for himself during the rest of the summer, perhaps
for all time.

"Let's be going along, Hugh," he said, as he wheeled on his chum, the
light of honest indignation glowing in his eyes; "this thing is making
me feel sick, and I can't stand much more of it!"

Hugh himself was agreeable. He intended, however, to see considerably
more of Brother Lu in the immediate future, and expected to be able
to gauge the fellow for what he really was. If he felt positive that
there was a chance of his being an impostor, Hugh would consider it
his duty to warn Mr. Hosmer, so that with the help of his wife they
might catch the fellow in some sort of trap and expose him. Even
though he did turn out to be the genuine article, Hugh felt that it
would be a shame to have him hanging o