over a slip of paper, and
the manager took his departure.

That night, as the rumble of circus wagons leaving the town came faintly
to the ears of Dick and his father, as they sat in the library, Mr.
Hamilton remarked:

"Well, did you get your money's worth, Dick?"

"I certainly did, dad. The look on the faces of those orphans was worth
twice as much as I spent."

"Still, you might have invested four hundred dollars in some business
and gotten large returns from it."

"I invested it in happiness, dad," was Dick's answer.

And then Mr. Hamilton turned away, loving his son more than ever. But
still he wondered if Dick would ever be able to fulfil the conditions of
his mother's will.

CHAPTER XI

"HANK" DARBY IN BUSINESS

Hamilton Corners did not cease talking of the circus, and Dick's part in
it, for several weeks. Among the boys, Dick was more of a hero than ever
and many were his champions. Only Simon and Guy sneered, but they took
care to do it when no one else was present. The truth was, Simon hated
to see Dick spend money unless he had a chance to get some of it, and,
since the failure of the bond scheme, this did not seem very likely to
happen.

For Mr. Hamilton had warned his son not to get too intimate with Simon.
A youth, he said, who had as a friend a man of the character of Colonel
Dendon was not a safe chum. Dick promised not to have too much to do
with either Simon or Guy, but he was too independent a boy to cut them
altogether.

"Are you going to be busy this afternoon, dad?" asked Dick of his father
one morning. "Because if you're not, I'd like to come down to the bank
and talk over a little business with you. I think it's about time I made
some large investment in order to comply with mother's will, and I want
to ask your advice."

"Come along," answered Mr. Hamilton, good-naturedly. "I will aid you all
I can, but I'd rather you would learn to depend on yourself. Experience
is the best teacher, but her lessons come a trifle high."

Several days previous to this Dick had been in correspondence with a New
York firm, and he wanted some advice before he went any further into a
certain scheme. Accordingly, at the time appointed, he went to his
father's bank, carrying a lot of printed matter and some letters.

"Well, what is it?" asked Mr. Hamilton, when he and his son were seated
in the private office.

"I was thinking of investing in this company, formed to supply a new
kind of pre