to slip backwards."

"I'll help you all I can, Nat," and Dave held out his hand, which the
other grasped vigorously.

"This talk with Uncle Tom woke me up," went on Nat, a moment later.
"When I get home, I am going to try to wake dad up, too. It's going to
be no easy task, but I'll do it. I know ma will be on my side--she was
never after the money like dad was. I am going to prove to him that he
has got to do something else besides get money."

"I wish you luck, Nat," replied Dave. He could not help but smile when
he thought of the hard-fisted money-lender, and what he might say when
his son went at the task of making him more kind and benevolent.

"And, by the way, Dave, now I am going to turn over a new leaf, I want
to tell you about a letter I received some time ago," went on Nat, after
a pause, during which the train stopped at a station to take on some
passengers.

"A letter?"

"Yes. You'd never guess who it was from."

"Gus Plum?"

"No, Link Merwell."

"Link Merwell!" exclaimed our hero, in surprise. "What did he write to
you about, Nat? Not that diamond robbery?"

"Oh, no, he had precious little to say about that, for he must know I
knew he and Jasniff were guilty. He wrote about you. It was a long
letter--nearly eight pages--and he spoke about what you had done to get
him and me into trouble."

"I never tried to get you into trouble, Nat."

"I know it. But I used to think you were trying to do it. Well, Link
wrote about it, and he wanted to know if I would help him in a scheme to
pay you back. He said he had a dandy scheme to pay you off."

"Oh, he did?" said Dave, with interest. "What was the scheme?"

"He didn't say."

"What did you answer?"

"I didn't answer the letter. I kept it to think about. Then, yesterday,
after my last talk with Uncle Tom, I made up my mind to wash my hands of
Link Merwell, and I burned the letter up."

CHAPTER X

DAVE AT HOME

"I'm glad you washed your hands of Merwell, Nat," replied Dave, with
warmth. "He is not the sort for any respectable fellow to associate
with. But about that letter. Have you any idea what he was going to do?"

"No. All he said was, 'If you will join with me we can pay Dave Porter
off good and get him in the biggest kind of a hole.' I guess you had
better keep your eyes open, Dave."

"I am doing that already."

"I--I made up my mind I'd tell you--when I got to Crumville," faltered
the money-lender's son. "I didn't want you t