position, and the thought brought with it such solid satisfaction that
he determined to profit by the circumstance in the future; he was young
in years but already he had begun to see that one cannot have too many
friends and well wishers in life.

Once again he was grappling with the problem as to what he should do in
order to continue this method of assisting to lighten the many burdens
that had fallen on the shoulders of his mother.

Just as he neared the town he heard a great spluttering behind him and
stepped aside to allow the party on the motor-cycle to pass; as he
suspected it was Ferd Graylock returning from a little whirl around the
country, and cutting his customary wide swathe along the road.

He happened to recognize Dick as he swept by with a popping from the
exhaust, and shutting off power applied the brake so that he came to a
stop.

Dick was surprised and a little annoyed.

He hoped that Ferd did not mean to be as disagreeable as usual, and
perhaps force him into a war of words, or even worse; and remembering
what he had promised the anxious little inmate of the rose cottage, he
shut his teeth hard with the firm determination not to be drawn into a
row if it could possibly be avoided.

As he walked on he presently came up to where the other stood, with one
foot on the ground, balancing his machine and ready to go on again
slowly, pedalling as Dick tramped.

"Hello! Dick. Thought that was you. You jumped just in time or I might
have hit you a nasty blow. Fact is I was forgetting that the beastly old
town was so close by. Hear you've been working down at old Cartwright's
mill. Got a steady job?"

Dick was surprised at being spoken to in this fashion by the one whom he
had grown to look upon as his inveterate enemy, and who in the past had
never addressed him save to utter some sneering insult; could it be that
after all there was a spark of decency in Ferd, and that when he came to
reflect on how shabbily he had treated the boy who had shown such
willingness to help him drag his motor-cycle out of the ditch, he was a
little ashamed of his actions?

Dick was quick to seize the olive branch, though rather skeptical with
regard to what it could really mean.

"I have been working there five days, and would like to keep right
along only Toby has got well enough to go on his job again. Now I must
look around and see if I can find something else to do, for I've got to
bring in some money to help ou