"Oh, I know--I don't deny that I am a fool! At the same time I can't help it. I never saw a girl before this one that I cared a snap for. She seems to be my affinity." Frank's laugh rang out merrily. "Affinity is good!" he exclaimed. "You are hard hit. And the girl threw you down when you appeared on the scene. What do you make of that?" Bart scowled. "I am sure of one thing." "And that is--what?" "She is in trouble." "Who is the man with her?" "That is what I'd like to know. I am sure she fears him. She must have seen him, and she must have feared to recognize me. There can be no other explanation." "He is not her father, is he?" "That creature the father of that girl? Well, not much!" "No, he is not. If I remember right, she called him Paul. Can he be her brother?" "Never!" "Then, what is he?" "You tell." "I can't." "More than ever am I sure she is in trouble--great trouble. I am determined to know the truth. I will learn it from her own lips." "How?" "By following her till I get an opportunity to speak with her." "Well, Bart, you are so badly struck that all I can do is hang by you and see you through. We will solve the mystery of this girl, if we are capable of doing so." "Right you are, Frank." Then they spoke of other matters, old friends at Fardale, and how things were moving there. Bart told all about the events that had taken place at the academy since Frank left, how they had missed him as a leader in sports of all kinds, how often he was spoken of with admiration and affection by his old comrades, and how even the professors held him up as a model to be emulated. "They seem to have forgotten the pranks you were up to and the larks you were in," said Bart; "but they remember that you stood at the head in everything you undertook." Then Frank told of his own adventures in knocking about, and Bart regarded him with still greater admiration. "You are the luckiest fellow alive!" declared the dark-haired lad. "I wish I had a rich and eccentric old uncle to kick the bucket and leave me a big fortune on condition that I would 'travel over the world to advance my education and broaden my ideas.' Say, that uncle of yours was a good thing!" "Uncle Asher was original in everything." "I should guess yes. When are you going abroad?" "Very soon. Professor Scotch will make arrangements for such a move while he is in the East." "You are the envy of Fardale. Hans Dunnerwust returned with a stock of tales of astounding adventures, which he managed to bungle badly in the telling. And now I suppose Barney Mulloy will take his turn. Between them they will make you out one of the most remarkable heroes of modern times." Thus the boys chatted till Carson City was reached. All the while Bart was watching the girl closely, and he saw that she really intended to get off at Carson.